Hurricane Sandy: NYC Talk Shows Go On

Hurricane Sandy is battering the New York Metropolitan area, knocking out power, flooding subways and endangering lives as it makes its way up the east coast. That has not deterred some talk show hosts who broadcast from my fair, savaged city. With Manhattan a ghost town, as the rain and winds pound off facades of buildings and make streets into roaring rapids, Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman both taped their shows without audiences. However, Comedy Central wisely decided to play it safe, and has canceled the tapings of The Colbert Report and The Daily Show for the next few days.

I'm a bit concerned about the staff who had to make their way into the production office when everyone was urged by the Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Andrew Cuomo to stay at home. Indeed, comedy waits for no one - not even a hurricane named Sandy.

Here's a sampling of what we'll see tonight: Audience-less comedy. Hopefully everyone on staff of both shows made it home safely.

Honey Boo Boo Child on 'Chelsea Lately'

Well, it had to happen. Honey Boo Boo has become an entrepreneur and started her own business, with momma not far behind:

Gajillionaires!

Paul Scheer, Tom Lennon, Jordan Peele, Riki Lindhomme bring you Gajillionaires: Zombie Romney! 

"Night of Too Many Stars"

On October 21st at 8:00pm ET, Comedy Central will bring you Night of Too Many Stars,  an evening dedicated to raising funds for programs to improve and advance the lives of Autistic children and their families.

Here's a tear jerker of a clip. Jodi DiPiazza, an autistic child whose love of music and Katy Perry, has allowed her to blossom in ways her parents never thought possible. Here she is with Perry herself singing "Firework", making them go "ah, ah, ah".

Tina and Amy Are Golden

Amy Poehler and Tina Fey will be hosting the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 13th, live from the Beverly Hilton.   Two superb personalities who've lately helped provide some laughs during the Emmy Awards last year when Best Actress in a Comedy was announced. Who won? Melissa McCarthy took home the crown. But all the "runners up" were thrilled.



Congratulations to two hilarious ladies who inspire girls everywhere that they can be just as funny as the boys.

Source: NYTimes.com/arts

The Greatest Event in Television

The Greatest Event in Television aired last night. It's such an auspicious moment in television history, Adult Swim pre-empted Childrens' Hospital.

Hey Simon & Simon fans, hold onto your underwear. This is going to blow them right off your butt.

Tom Lennon on AOTS

At one point while living here in Los Angeles, both Rob Huebel and Tom Lennon were my neighbors at the same time. The proximity of Huebel's house to Lennon's was so close, their friendship must have blown up into a magnetic force bringing them together in a professional, unshakable bond, so much so, I don't think Huebel told Lennon that he has moved. Furthermore, it seems there is hardly a movie they've done in which they were not both cast: Hell Baby, What to Expect When You're Expecting, Welcome to the Jungle, plus 2009's I Love You Man.

In addition to this, Lennon is a semi-regular guest at Rob's The Shit Show, a get together of comedians, friends and actors who take the stage at the UCBLA to show the audience videos of  past projects that are so embarrassing (to them), it makes their gonads shrivel.   (Seriously. Some are so bad, they're fantastic.)  So, from where I'm sitting, Huebel and Lennon are conjoined at the hip. (Sorry Paul Scheer, Rob's usual comedy partner.)

Huebel has been guest hosting on G4's Attack of the Show this week, and invited Lennon to Bro out with him. At this point, seeing the both of them together is just a natural vision, a force of nature.

 

The Smith's 'Meat is Murder' shirt duly noted.

As for The Shit Show - Lennon is the undisputed winner of embarrassing past projects, especially those of his youth back in Chicago. The corporate video he shows in the clip above was one of the clips once viewed at Rob's shit fest.

If Schmidt is Too Old, I'm a Mummy: Some Thoughts

On this week's New Girl, ("Neighbors") our cuddly roomies welcomed a new cuddly group of dead-eyed millennials who moved in across the hall. Forever the bubbly girl who loves twee things, Jesse took a liking to these knitted capped trust fund bunnies as they twee'd through childish games with enough ironic detachment to make a philosopher cry into his paperwork on Kant. With her pretty hair and cute shorts, Jess' ability to charm the tattoos off these amoebas was due to her skills as a Kindergarten teacher. With their uncooked brains, Jess' imagination and whimsey won them over. They'd beg her to stay for all night hooplahoop parties and games of coy-ish charm. For all the cuteness we as viewers love in Jess, her big eyed ability to go with the flow was the big winner amongst these kids who've never heard of Saved By the Bell. (Where those kids THAT young or just out of touch?)

Meanwhile, our lovable douche bag Schmidt, in his peak of fitness and youth, was not loved by these squirming sperm mutations. But to be fair, Schmidt has the propensity to come off as a narcissistic metrosexual whose shallowness makes him say the dumbest things. But we love him for it - because the writers of this show have allowed us to see the sweeter side of him, the big heart he has for his friends, and his love for CeCe. (Or maybe it's just lust right now. His broken penis may have messed up that relationship for a while). While hanging out with these newbies to the building, Schmidt not only tried too hard to be hip, he succeeded at becoming that annoying uncle who thought he was so cool, but came off as the biggest nerd in the universe. And by "nerd", I mean geek, and by "geek" - I'm talking about old school loser, wedgies at your locker, buck toothed and smells like chicken soup.

So while these children of the 2000's looked at the viral, handsome GQ worthy Schmidt as an old fart they wouldn't allow to play drunken hopscotch with at two in the morning, I began to feel as old a Methuselah. Old. Old. Old. Because if the thirty year old Schmidt is an farty old bugger to these dust heads, then I'm dead and buried in a sarcophagus ready to be dug up any day now.

Oh and Nick? He's the oldest 30 year old man whose ever walked the earth. He's a "get the fuck off my lawn!" kind of old. A shuffle around in your apartment in worn slippers old. He spent most of his time in this episode pranking Schmidt in ways that would impress Jim Halpert. Nick's the best. He makes those of us older than him feel young.

Morrissey on 'Colbert'

No words. I just love this man.

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'Magical Mystery Tour' Out On BluRay

Once upon a time, in the land of Beatles, there lived a man named Paul McCartney. He and his three very cute, charismatic and talented friends wrote terrific music, wore amazing clothes, took the best, most mind expanding drugs and helped change the world from black and white to color. This man named Paul came up with an idea for a film. It would be weird, avant guard, most likely concocted out of a fevered LSD trip where everyone would go off on a bus and have a magical time.

The result - Magical Mystery Tour, which premiered on BBC1 on Boxing Day 1967. It was the closest The Beatles ever came to a flop. The critics hated it, and it left their fans confused. However, don't despair. This "flop" had some of the most terrific, iconic songs ever. "I am the Walrus", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "All You Need is Love", "Fool on the Hill" - we should all fail with such beauty.

The film is a curiosity no matter what you may think of it. The boys were just coming off the success of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and probably felt they had more juice left in the engine to break down a few more walls.  It's a confusing, mind boggling bad film, but as far as I'm concerned, any time spent with the Beatles is time well spent. Period.

Magical Mystery Tour is out on BluRay for your eyes to enjoy. It comes complete with extras, such as deleted scenes and commentary by Macca himself.  The Collector's Edition offers some other goodies such as a 60 page booklet, both BluRay and DVD discs and the album on vinyl.

And here's one of my favorite performances off the promotion of this flick. When the Beatles stopped touring and spent all their time in the studio, they would use the medium of video/film to continue to perform for an audience without actually having to travel. They would periodically send a music video of their latest songs to their old friend Ed Sullivan, who would show them on his show.
 


It's possible the official video of "Hello Goodbye" was edited to contain the original video in color. Since Ed Sullivan's show was still in black and white at the time, it's likely this colorful, joyful song was as black and white as Ed is at the end of the clip.

"She's A-Jew-Able!"

Funnyordie.com gives us an jewish alternative to Zoey Deschannel's Adorableness!

The Jew Girl from Brandon Johnson     

'The Greatest Event in Television History'

I have no idea what this is, but this "special" will premiere on Adult Swim on October 11th at midnight.  There's Adam Scott as host. Jon Hamm will show up, too.

Another Marriage Has Come Undone

Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman announced today that after 30 years of marriage, they are separating.

Here's a little gem from TAXI, when things were likely brighter for them as a couple. Although Devito played the annoying but lovable viper Louie, the writers gave him some heart as this lonely little man began to fall in love with Zena.

Tig Notaro: Live

One night in August, Tig Notaro took the stage at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles and announced she had cancer. What followed turned out to be a humorous and honest contemplation about getting the most rotten news one can imagine receiving a lifetime. To top it off, the diagnosis happened after an avalanche of personal tragedies that would befall her during the spring of 2012.

Her performance was recorded, and her friend Louis CK, who was hosting the show that night, has put it up on his website where you can download it for $5.00. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to various cancer charities.

Buy it and download it here: https://buy.louisck.net/purchase/tig-notaro-live

30 Rock's Goodbye Season Starts Tonight!

Can this really be?  After seven years of TGS, Kenneth the Page, Jenna's neuroses, Jack Donaghy wisdom - is the end really near?

It seems so. After seven years of superb comedy, Liz Lemon and the crew are calling it quits. Tonight is the season premiere of 30 Rock, kicking off the 13 episodes due to air, one by one, like the Abbey Road side two medley going down that inevitable slippery slope to The End. Drats. I'll miss this incredible New York centric show.

Perhaps it's time. 30 Rock has run out of some steam - not in Office proportions - but its sharp wit has dulled a bit over time. But even as the shine wore off, remained one of the best comedies around.

30 Rock airs on NBC Thursdays at 8pm ET/7pm CT.

NTSF:SD:SUV Will Rule The World

It's a double dose of hilarity on tonight's episode of NTSF: SD:SUV. Executive Producer Curtis Gwinn wrote and appears, plus Childrens' Hospital's Rob Huebel will portray Piper's ex-husband, Dragon Shumway (brilliant name!), back to seek revenge. To add more to the goodness, the ladies of NTSF are going to hit the town with guns-a-blaze for the bachelorette party.

NTSF has ruled my heart as my favorite comedy these days, edging Childrens' off its pedestal. Paul Scheer and company have produced a terrific niche comedy, and the outreach among the cast and crew to TV bloggers who've championed them has been nothing but generous.

NTSF has also been renewed by Adult Swim for a third season. Childrens' Hospital has been given the nod for season 5, and is currently writing new episodes. (Source: Adult Swim)

If you haven't already - check out my interview with NTSF's Kate Mulgrew.

Jess and Nick are Rocking My World: New Girl

It's been a while since I've had a crush on a television couple. In a sea of sappy romance between two insanely gorgeous people who look like they've never been turned down by anyone in their lives, there comes a duo - a man and woman - whom I adore individually in such a way that I want them to get together. To "ship" them, if you will.

First it was Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Then came Jim and Pam on The Office. Oh, the angst. Oh, the almost lost love that could have slipped away if Pam had married the doofus Roy - who - actually turned out to become pretty wealthy with his own gravel company. 

And how we have Jess and Nick from the Fox hit New Girl.  She's a twee-like girl with an attitude like a wild daisy. He's a down on his luck guy who is happy not striving for much. Together, they are Edith and Archie Bunker, Louise and George Jefferson or Sandy and Danny from Rydell High- always at odds, always trying to find the same ground - and hot for each other.



It's not just the love we're seeing between Nick and Jess that makes me love this show. What about Schmidt, Nick and Winston's way of protecting her in a brotherly way.