Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Del Close Marathon



The Match Game 76 is one of the highlights of the Del Close Marathon. I was at this riot, and intend on being there again - if I can get in.

Please note: NSFW

Monday, July 26, 2010

Mad Men "Public Relations"


"Who is Don Draper?" Don't ask. If you do, he'll pull up the Dick Whitman shroud of secrecy. You'll never get beyond that mysterious exterior. Cool, huh? It carried him through the past three seasons we've known him. But not this time, buddy. Don is now a leader and needs to fess up about his business, his professional past, and how he stays afloat. If he doesn't, big hitting trades like Advertising Age won't have any juicy Madison Avenue material to pump into Don's new venture. They need this publicity. The chance he's taken is a big one. He carries the weight of Bert Cooper, Roger Sterling, Lane Pryce, Harry Crane, Joan Holloway, Pete Campbell and Peggy Olsen on his shoulders. He made them take the plunge. Now he has to shed the cloak and dagger James Bond mojo and get real. They aren't the peons anymore. They are now Don's minion, and they want to succeed, for themselves and for him.

Don Draper seems to be undergoing a recession of the soul. Cutting back on his past fabulousness, he rents a furnished apartment in the Village, shines his own shoes, offers to sew on buttons for his son. Despite having a house maid (conjuring up images of The Courtship of Eddie's Father), he doesn't eat her cooking and barely acknowledges her housework. Divorced, dwelling within a non-descript bachelor, Don's new life appears to be as dark as the walls of his bedroom. He pays for sex now, with a regular high class call girl who provides an extra S&M bonus as part of her menu. It's not as if one cannot image Don being with a hooker before, but the fact he now has to pay for love making and accept blind dates from Roger Sterling's child wife - well, its a bit stunning.

Betty Draper has now taken on the surname Francis, replacing one husband for another in the same bed and the same house. Despite being told to move out by a certain date, Betty is not ready to move on, using the old I don't want to uproot the children right now excuse. Please, Bets. Why did you have kids? Don was a cad and it's good you divorced him, but you should have thought of plans for the kin before building your own lifeboat. Don, still paying mortgage and taxes for a house his ex-wife and new husband live in, is galling. When he demands they leave or else pay rent, even Henry agrees. But Betty is a needy, bitter child and refuses. Indeed, Henry's own mother has Betty's number, feeling the chill of her personality, her terrorizing of the kids, her prettiness allowing for men to drop all over her, swoop her up and rescue her frail bones from the harshness of the real world. I hope Betty didn't get rid of her fainting couch. She hasn't moved out of her damsel in distress phase yet.

Peggy Olsen is wonderful. She's come into her own with a more light hearted attitude, a little more comedy in her manner and a stronger sense of self. When her idea of hiring actresses to pose as housewives to go to stores around Queens and buy up loads of canned ham back fired, she handled it with comedic aplomb, the right dose of embarrassment and nada drama. (The actresses in question were a hoot, hating on each other, acting out like Danielle and Teresa in The Housewives of New Jersey). So, more power to Peggy. However, it doesn't end there. Both she and Pete are very friendly co-workers, but their past won't be easy to escape. There is something there. Even a call from Trudy sends Pegs out the door.

And Sally. Just you wait. This is the sixties. Historically we know what happened to the youth of that generation. She's going to come into the prime of her teenage-hood with a load of baggage from Don and Betty. It's going to explode in rebellious anger and hatred all jammed packed in a big wafting cloud of weed. I can see it now. She'll fall in love with per poster of Mick Jagger and be a Rolling Stones bad girl. Maybe even hitch a ride to San Francisco, be part of a cult or some underground political group, just to screw with her parents - Betty especially. I want Sally to evolve into the anti-Betty. No hairdos, dresses and manners, but unshaven body hair, nudity and fuck yous to society. Please, Matt Wiener. Make this happen.

Cutting back to the new agency, now located in the lush offices of the Time Life Building, Don is pitching a campaign to the very conservative owners of Jantzen swimwear. Having told them of their new two piece bathing suit line, they want to be all modest about the marketing of a product that is basically a cute little sexy Gidget bikini. Of course, Don ignores the safety of his clients suggestion and goes all 'sex sells' on them, to which they turn down his idea. After Don explodes and throws them all out of the office like a bunch of misbehaving school boys, we realize that Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce is not going to pander to mediocrity. There will be no more bowing to clients who beg for dumb ideas. No more bad calls on bad marketing campaigns that dangerously ruin SCDP's image. Call in the Wall Street Journal. Don wants to talk about the real Don Draper.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Mad Men: Get Ready!


Mad Men's new season premieres tonight on AMC at 10pm. Is it normal for a person to shriek with happiness every five minutes at the thought Sterling, Cooper, Draper and Pryce? So much to catch up on. I'm paralyzed with anticipation. I'll let AMC's video round up get everyone up to speed:

Saturday, July 24, 2010

'Big Lake' Coming to Comedy Central

From Will Farrell and Adam McKay, Comedy Central brings you 'Big Lake' premiering on August 17th 10pm ET/9pm CT. As mentioned in a previous post, up and coming comedian Chris Gethard co-stars with the awesome Horatio Sanz and Chris Parnell.

Big LakeTuesday August 17, 2010
Comedy Central's New Show
www.comedycentral.com
Futurama New EpisodesIt's Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaRussell Simmons Stand-Up Comedy

Friday, July 23, 2010

In Honor Of 'Mad Men' Season 4 Premiere



The real Mad Men premieres on AMC this Sunday, July 25th at 10pm.

Upright Citizens Brigade - the Los Angeles Version


For some New Yorkers and general Americans or people of other countries, Los Angeles appears to be a world of fake boobs, spray tans, plastic surgery, Lindsay Lohan amber alerts and getting groped "hello" by Andy Dick. I believe that only a fraction of this is true. For me, LA harbors some amazing comedic talent in the country. Many of them started in New York, and due to pilot season, TV development deals and other career opportunities, made the move out west. Yet, when they aren't appearing in a sitcom or film, they still work on stage and create comedy in intimate environs.



Heaps of articles on The Upright Citizens Brigade are written here because, like Juan Valdez who grows the richest coffee in Columbia, the theater harvests the best comedians on television and film today. Once they become big shots on 30 Rock or SNL, they still come back to entertain us little people as if they've never left - because they are basically funny, cool humans.

I've been at UCBLA many times, but I returned last week to haunt the theater in Hollywood to sort of bone up for next weekend's Del Close Marathon at UCB in New York. I caught some of my favorite left coast shows that are must see entertainment.

Here is what I saw with my own eyes:

ASSSSCAT 3000

UCB is known for Improv. They teach it. They worship it. The theater does some amazing sketch, but its building blocks rest on the many Improv teams that perform on both coasts. ASSSSCAT, to me, is the big granddaddy of Improv at the theater. It's performed each weekend at UCBLA and UCBNYC (check site because each coast has a different schedule) where a guest monologist tells a story based on an audience member's suggestion launching three or four beats (beats are kind of like scenes). What makes it amazing is that the guest for the evening could be anyone. Seth Meyers, John Krasinski, Billy Bragg, Will Arnett - anyone. Last Saturday's show had comedian Jen Kirkman, and her stories about her trip to France were hilarious, prompting funny scene work from Ian Roberts, Matt Besser, Sean Conroy, Danielle Schneider and Andy Daly. And by the way....they all have some TV projects coming up:

  • Ian Roberts and Danielle Schneider are in Players, which has returned to Spike TV on Wednesdays.
  • Matt Besser's This Show Will Get You High will be on Comedy Central during the 2010-2011 season. It follows the UCB as they do sketch comedy on the road. Besser will be previewing the show at the Del Close Marathon next Friday. More to come once I've clapped eyes on it then.
  • Andrew Daly will be appearing in the upcoming NBC series The Paul Reiser Show.

Crash Test

Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer host Crash Test on the first and third Mondays of every month. It's basically orgasmic comedy. Paul and Rob have such a solid friendship and comedic chemistry that they are kind like two funny beasts with one back (but not in the sex way). They banter, rant, rave, laugh, talk about anything. But what also makes Crash Test so special is the audience. Many members of the crowd are regular attendees who have some back and forth discussion with Huebel and Scheer. These people are regaled with "baby"nicknames such as "Baby Stargazer", "Baby Twilight", "Baby Glenn Beck". Then, there is Frank Howley, (I call him "Baby Frank" - likely an unofficial baby name) who comes to every show (at least when I'm there) and sits in the same seat, first row, on stage. Woven between the audience banter, on stage antics and videos is a lineup of funny stand up comedians who take the laughter up a notch. Monday's show welcomed Heather Thomas, John Wengert, Sean Conroy and Rob Delaney.

Paul and Rob have upcoming TV projects already mentioned on this blog. Yet, mentioning it again won't hurt:

  • Rob Huebel is currently appearing in the original web episodes of Children's Hospital on Adult Swim. The brand new second series of this very funny show will premiere in August - same channel.
  • Paul Scheer will also be appearing in Children's Hospital new bunch of episodes, and will be returning in FX's The League this Fall.
Comedy Death Ray Podcast

Podcasts are busting with comedy talk shows, but Comedy Death Ray's weekly internet radio show, hosted by Scott Aukerman, mixes up the format with characters, sketch and straightforward interviews. It streams on Indie103.1 each Friday at 12noon PT/3pm ET. Once in a while, Scott will take the podcast live as he did on Tuesday night before Comedy Death Ray's weekly standard show, when he hosted a pre-Comic Con edition of CDR Radio with comic writer Gail Simone and comedian Paul F. Tompkins, known for his CDR characterizations of Ice Tea, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and TLC' s Cake Boss. My quick iPhone photo is above.


Comedy Death Ray

Proceeding Aukerman's Comedy Death Ray Radio Live was Comedy Death Ray itself - a weekly showcase of stand up and sketch. I was lucky to have gone on this particular Tuesday since David Spade and Louis CK dropped in to do some material. In between the comedians Jen Kirman, Kumail Nunjiani, Greg Berendt and Chris Hardwicke was UCB's own Jon Daly as Bill Cosby Bukowski, reading from his selection of Jello Pudding stories which made me loose a chunk of my lung from traumatic laughter.

Facebook

Every Wednesday at UCBLA the lucky people of Los Angeles can see Facebook - because they can. I wish we had this in New York. Sometimes I think I'm moving to this the west coast (next year, in fact) just so I can sit in the audience of this show every week. Two audience members are selected from the audience to share their Facebook accounts and Improv is performed based on their photos and stories. Last Wednesday's line up was out a few people. Paul Scheer usually participates, but I believe Comic Con took him away and regular Seth Morris was out, but Huebel, Chad Carter and Owen Burke, as usual, made Improv look so simple. (It isn't, but it's fun.)

So that's what I did on my summer vacation. I basically did what I do during the year when I can get to LA and did it even more. The excitement is rising for the Del Close Marathon next week, so more fun in the land of Improv will be had. I'll cover it here.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

'Players' on Spike


Back in early 2010, Spike TV aired Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh's comedy Players. Spike took it off air and planned to air the remaining episodes in July. Well, July is here, and as Ian Roberts reminded us last night at the ASSSSCAT show at the Upright Citizens Brigade, it's back on this Wednesday July 21st at 11pm.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

NTSF:SD:SUV



Hold on to your sofa and throw away your remote. You won't want to miss one action packed second of this action packed show filled with action packed action. From the brain of Paul Scheer, watch the trailer for National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sports Utility Vehicle. On Adult Swim.

The Guild: Season Four Available Now

The beauty with web series programming is that the creators have a freedom to write, direct and produce their own content without anyone telling them what to do. Felicia Day is an actress who has been an addicted video gamer for years, having spent her down time on film and TV sets playing WOW with relentless zeal. Taking some of that online experience and personal showbiz know how into practice, she became the creator, star and director of one the most popular web shows streaming today - The Guild. If you haven't clicked across this one, do it now. It's a fun and quirky series about the antics of a group of online gamers who become friends offline. It has caused a buzz on the web for a few years now, and has won loads of awards.

Previous seasons of the series are available on DVD through Amazon with commentary and special features. Not bad for doing it yourself. Season four has just started streaming and available for download at Zune marketplace, Bing and MSN. It arrives just in time for Comic Con, where Day and cast of The Guild will be on hand promoting this terrific geeky show.

Check out The Guild at it's website: http://www.watchtheguild.com/

GQ's Comedy Issue

Image via Gawker.com

Tracy Morgan graces one of the multiple available covers of GQ's Comedy Issue. Meanwhile, I want to take the collage above and tattoo it on my brain. Paul Rudd and Zach Galifianakis will be in the upcoming film Dinner For Schmucks - out on July 30th. The GQ Comedy Issue is out now.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Film Break: Winnebago Man

One hot day in 1988, Jack Rebney set out to make a corporate video for Winnebago. It turned out to be a really crappy day for a really cantankerous man with a smooth voice that spewed a variety of hilarious raunchy language, ruining take after take. Twenty or so years later, YouTube was invented and the outtakes of that event became a viral video. Rebney remained an enigma for years until film maker Ben Steinhauer discovered and convinced him to be part of a documentary about this video phenomenon. Thus came Winnebago Man released on Friday, July 9th. It looks fascinating and funny. Jack is an old crab apple, but he's a lovable one. Gotta see this one.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Party Down Viewing

Last week there were shouts of horror and despair in the comedy geek community when Party Down was unceremoniously taken off Netflix's Instant Play service. It was a low blow to fans who were still mourning its cancellation. The disappearance of the streaming episodes from Netflix was likely due to the preparation of season two's DVD release on September 28th. However, if you're jonesing for Party Down now, co-star Martin Starr tweeted a link to all episodes to tie you over until the DVD plops in stores.

http://www.casttv.com/shows/party-down

Sunday, July 11, 2010

The Benson Interruption Coming to Comedy Central

Photo by Liezl at www.LiezlWasHere.com
(Used with Permission.)


Once a month at Largo in Los Angeles and sometimes at the Upright Citizens Brigade - LA, comedian Doug Benson hosts a comedy showcase called The Benson Interruption. It's a loose and fun evening of professional funny people who test out their material in front of a live audience as Doug interrupts them with commentary and super hilarious conversation. The good news is, Doug's Interruption will be coming to Comedy Central this fall. Although the beautiful Largo has recently become it's main home, the show will most likely tape at another venue yet to be determined (or as Doug says "to be doug-termined"). This is most excellent news with more details to come.

Meanwhile, The Benson Interruption still continues at Largo. If you're in LA, go see it on Monday July 12th (tomorrow!) at 9pm. Guests are Greg Proops, Matt Braunger and Rob Huebel plus more. Give Largo at call for tickets. You lucky LA bastards.

Doug will be bringing the Interruption later this month to New York's Upright Citizens Brigade during the Del Close Marathon. If you can't make it to NYC for the event, stick with me, because I'm going to be all over that place - Doug's show included. Lots of coverage will be had on this blog.

I wrote about Doug's show from last year's pre-Del Close Marathon performance at UCB-NY last year. Check it out here.

Canada Dry Commercial: Starring Ann Margaret

I've seen Mad Men in the year 1969. Don Draper drops acid and produces this far out commercial. This isn't your Bye-Bye Birdie campaign anymore. It's groovy.


(via James Urbaniak)

Friday, July 9, 2010

This is Important: Watch 'Childrens Hospital'


This is your summer school homework assignment. Don't groan, it's cool. Watch the full episode of Children's Hospital over at the Adult Swim site. See all the sexy doctors and the Star Trek nerds and impaled people and laugh - because, you will. Then, on Sunday, July 11th at 10:30am ET/PT tune in and start watching more episodes. After that you can go to the town pool and chose which hunky life guard you're going to crush on all summer.

Update: There's a nice write up on the show from NYTimes.com, which makes me proud to be an employee of the digital grey lady. Thanks Mike Hale: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/arts/television/11hospital.html?_r=2

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Carell on Colbert

Despite having already posted Colbert and Daily Show musing a few times this week, I couldn't resist putting this up. Carell and Colbert together again. It's a comedy so pretty that you just want to put it on your wall and stare at it all day.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Carell Corral
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes2010 ElectionFox News


The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Steve Carell
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes2010 ElectionFox News

Emmys!

Emmy nominations were announced at the crack of dawn this morning. Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show was nominated (*updated: 4 nominations) for best variety, music or comedy series, whereas Jay Leno's version was not. Not surprising is the nom for Glee, not only as best comedy series, but also for best actress (Lea Michele) and supporting actress (Jane Lynch). Modern Family and Nurse Jackie are added to the comedy line up alongside perennials The Office, 30 Rock and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Now in it's 35th year, Saturday Night Live has surpassed the record for most Emmy nominations with 126, a distinction previously held by ER's 124. (SNL's nomination was for Betty White's show.) It's nice to see Amy Poehler get a nomination for best actress in a comedy for Parks and Recreation, but why do I think the aforementioned Michele will beat her? The love for Glee has been fierce this year.

This blog's favorite heavy hitting dramas Breaking Bad and Mad Men were righteously nominated for best in their genre with leads Bryan Cranston and Jon Hamm given the nod for best actor. Aaron Paul got some love with a nomination in the best supporting actor category, an honor in itself, but he deserves a win for his incredible slow burn performance. John Slattery is in the same category as well as...Martin Short for Damages? Interesting.

Seeing Elisabeth Moss and Cristina Hendricks get recognized for Mad Men just makes me smile. Too bad there are no even draws or co-wins. Those ladies light up the screen. Nice to see Connie Britton get best actress nomination, but sad to see her show Friday Night Lights get a pass.

The deliciously stylish and riveting Mad Men might have to take a back seat to insanely brilliant Breaking Bad for the ultimate prize - Best Drama. Both seasons were powerful in story, performance and build up to season finales that left me reeling in different ways. (Mad Men's season finisher made me jump for joy, while Breaking Bad's left me dumbstruck and dazed.) But Cranston's show may end up bringing home the whole enchilada this year. It was explosive, surprising, meticulous in pace and character build, suspense and horror. Perhaps the best television drama I've ever seen. Also nominated for best drama are shows rarely covered on this site, Lost, Dexter, True Blood, The Good Wife mostly due to the fact they've never interested me; however, it's not to say they do not deserve a run at the Emmy. Each drama has a chance, and with Lost causing a major stir this year over their final series and finale, it's a worthy contender. Nevertheless, I predict Breaking Bad is going to run away with the top trophy.

This site doesn't usually get into reality TV, unless it's absolutely hilarious like The Housewives series or Kell on Earth. (I have a secret passion for TLC's Say Yes to the Dress), but I do get a kick out of seeing Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D List get another nomination. It's actually a pretty fun show, although I could have done without her trip to Wasilla and the tired preening over Levi Johnston as featured in one episode. That joke lived beyond its 30 second sell by date, and for me, those 30 seconds were mildly amusing at best. Lets move on from the Palin family tree, please. But still...good for her.

The 62nd Prime Time Emmy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Fallon and held on Sunday, August 29th at 8pm ET/5pm PT on NBC.

Here is a short list of nominees. For complete list, check out www.emmys.com/nominations.

Comedy Series
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“Glee”
“Modern Family”
“Nurse Jackie”
“The Office”
“30 Rock”

Lead Actress in a Comedy
Lea Michele, “Glee”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “The New Adventures of Old Christine”
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation”
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Toni Colette, “The United States of Tara”

Lead Actor in a Comedy
Jim Parsons,”Big Bang Theory”
Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
Matthew Morrison, “Glee”
Tony Shalhoub, “Monk”
Steve Carell, “The Office”
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock

Variety, Music or Comedy Series
“The Colbert Report”
“The Daily Show”
“Real Time With Bill Maher”
“Saturday Night Live”
“The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien”

Lead Actor in a Drama
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Kyle Chandler, “Friday Night Lights”
Hugh Laurie, “House”
Matthew Fox, “Lost”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”

Lead Actress in a Drama
Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”
Glenn Close, “Damages”
Connie Britton, “Friday Night Lights”
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Mariska Hargitay, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”
January Jones, “Mad Men”

Drama
“Breaking Bad”
“Dexter”
“The Good Wife”
“Lost”
“Mad Men”
“True Blood”

Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Chris Colfer, “Glee”
Neil Patrick Harris, “How I Met Your Mother”
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Modern Family”
Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family”
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men”

Supporting Actor In a Drama
Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad”
Martin Short, “Damages”
Terry O’Quinn, “Lost”
Michael Emerson, “Lost”
John Slattery, “Mad Men”
Andre Braugher, “Men of a Certain Age”

Supporting Actress In a Comedy
Jane Lynch, “Glee”
Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”
Sofia Vergara, “Modern Family”
Kristen Wiig, “Saturday Night Live”
Jane Krakowski, “30 Rock”
Holland Taylor, “Two and a Half Men”

Supporting Actress in a Drama
Sharon Gless, “Burn Notice”
Rose Byrne, “Damages”
Archie Panjabi, “The Good Wife”
Christine Baranski, “The Good Wife”
Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”
Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men”

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

"What's The Weather Like Up Your Own Ass?": Carell on Colbert Tonight

Steve Carell has never appeared on The Colbert Report... until tonight. Tune in for his first guest appearance at 11:30am ET.

And from the Comedy Central vault, here's an oldie but goody from The Daily Show: Even Stevphen.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Even Stevphen - World's Policeman or Fireman?
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Women of 'The Daily Show' Speak


Dear Women of the Daily Show,

Thank you for your incredible letter responding to Jezebel on the issue of the lack of women in comedy. Your hard work and dedication have gone unnoticed by the viewing public because you run such a smooth and difficult operation behind the scenes. We viewers tend to think is easy. Of course, it's not.

I always thought Jon Stewart was a decent man, probably difficult at times and demanding at best. Who wouldn't be? If any of us were in his shoes, we'd know that the glare of the public light is harsh, the deadlines until taping are brutal, and the need to create smart, mind blowing news commentary is mandatory. Knowing you all deal with the dynamics of a well respected fake news program that provides important commentary and calls out the hypocrisy in television news and politics, humbles me at best.

However.

You missed the point.

There was never any doubt that The Daily Show employs smart, hard working women behind the camera. The question lies in the fact that women are a scarce commodity as TDS correspondents. I don't know what really goes on behind the scenes or in the writer's room, because no - I don't work there. I'm a viewer with eyes and I can only calls them as I sees them.

There's been a lot of belly aching about the lack of females writing funny bits. Of course, there are ladies who play ball with the boys in the writer's room - Jessie Klein on SNL, Morgan Murphy on Fallon, but it's still an issue in the industry. It may be why I have been unable to try my hand at TV writing. The stories scare the b'geebs out of me.

Furthermore, in the group photo you've kindly provided, there are only two women that grace the camera as correspondents: Samantha Bee and Kristen Schaal. Both are rarely seen, especially the latter. I have no problem that after years of not adding much female talent to your roster, you find Maxim bunny and G4's Attack of the Show's Olivia Munn as a new face in the line up. She's cute and somewhat funny. But if you gave us a few more evenings of Bee or Schaal, you might even out the male to female on air ratio. Also, putting on a chick whose only background is showing her hottness in a lad mag and eating sausages on camera only solidifies the boys club rants.

So here's to the hard working women on The Daily Show. I admire your longevity and your smarts. I just wish you'd understand why Jezebel broached the issue of your program being a boys club. We as viewers and lovers of comedy only hear the words written and see the talent on camera. The testosterone out wieghs the estrogen here. It would be cool to view one or two more consistently contributing female correspondents. It wouldn't hurt if they wrote some of those words too. Ladies can roll with the punches with the big boys too. Tina Fey, anyone?

Also, saying a dude wrote your letter, doesn't really help you. I'm not being snarky, I'm just saying.

Sincerely yours,

Some nobody with a blog

To read some background on what I'm writing about - here is the original Jezebel article posted here. www.jezebel.com

And Here...www.jezebel.com

Tiger Beatdown...well said.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Season Two 'Children's Hospital' Full Episode Available Now

Children's Hospital premieres on Adult Swim next Sunday, July 11th at 10:30pm (ET, PT). Now you can watch a full episode without waiting a full useless and boring week. Go to http://www.adultswim.com/presents/childrenshospital/ now for 15 minutes of hospital hilarity. Don't screw this up, America. We lost Party Down last week. Lets go in there and give Children's Hospital the chance it deserves.

Friday, July 2, 2010

File it Under "Brilliant But Canceled": Party Down

Starz gave it a good try with Party Down, but it pulled the plug. It's a shame that no one really knew where to get Starz in the first place. RIP Party Down. Maybe Facebook's "Save Party Down" group will revive you. It helped Betty White.

Well, Well, Well....

For all their tampering with the fate of The Tonight Show, NBC sure is looking pretty lame for moving Conan in favor of Jay. Leno's numbers haven't been any better than our red headed son's were this time last year. In fact, Leno keeps playing ratings tag with David Letterman who wins the time slot every blue moon, which is more than he did when Leno ruled the night. Meanwhile ABC's Nightline carries a solid lead in the time slot.

It's too early to tell, but right now Conan's smelling pretty sweet now that he's left the network game. He'll still have a ratings tussle with Stewart and Colbert, but he appears to be in good company with a good sense of competition amongst friends - especially since they never weaseled their way into taking away his job.

Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily

Steve Carell's Employee Exit

Well, we all knew this was coming. While promoting the movie Date Night earlier this year, Steve Carell tipped off to the press that he would be leaving the NBC hit series The Office in 2011. It's brought up much debate in the fan community. Many feel the show cannot go on without the character of Michael Scott. Other fans feel that a reboot with a new head character in charge of the Dunder Mifflin office will infuse new blood and recharge the weak battery of a decent ensemble cast. After all, that is what made The Office must see television for many a year: a wonderful group of characters that held equality in laughs and wove well into storylines. One can argue that no one is really "the star"on this show. I agree. Nevertheless, I'm of the camp that feels the show should end when Carell hands in his ID badge.

A tremendous cast needs to rally around a central figure. Michael Scott is the captain and navigator of this ship. His petulant behavior stems from ego, neediness and a sad yet heartwarming loneliness. These elements launched many storylines that fleshed out the everyman lovability of the Dunder Mifflin crew. For every temper tantrum and furrowed brow Michael provided, regardless of how exhausting it was for characters and viewers alike, we'd see the reason for Michael's behavior. We'd ultimately find that he was lonely. His was virtually ignored during his childhood. He wants love and children, but it's always out of reach. So he bullies. He calls meetings every half hour. He makes scenes and loves to stir the pot of gossip and make the office a black hole of procrastination all in the name of 'fun'. The idiosyncrasies of Michael produced a domino effect over the past six seasons. Jim and Pam mothered him. Dwight kissed his ass. Oscar hated his guts. Kevin was clueless and Kelly blissfully unaware of his dumbass deeds while dreaming about different shades of pink. If we didn't have the tentacles of Michael's ridiculousness reaching out to each character, we wouldn't have about 90% of the storylines that gave life to six years of often hilarious and sometimes disappointing episodes of The Office. Carell created this monster. We love him for it.

When Steve Carell leaves the Dunder Mifflin set for the last time after the season finale next year, I hope that will be the end of The Office. It's understandable that the ensemble could continue with a new boss causing a new kind of chaos each episode; however, the heart and soul will change. Indeed, The Office is not "The Steve Carell Show", but when a show is anchored by a central character we all know and love/hate since it's inception (at least in this case, the US), and we find the quality of the show has declined, perhaps it's time for everyone to move on.

Creator Ricky Gervais knew this when he ended the UK's The Office with a poignant sense of closure after two seasons and a Christmas special. Speaking of the devil, Gervais gave Carell his blessing on his blog the other day at http://RickyGervais.com.