The Gate Show with Fred Stoller

From beautiful downtown....um...Hollywood! Here's everyone's favorite security guard at Sunshine Studios...Fred Stoller, with special guest - Sarah Silverman!

Key and Peele

Key and Peele

If you like funny things, you must watch Key and Peele on Comedy Central on Tuesdays at 10:30pm. They are hilarious and good looking. Plus, a line up of awesome comedians helped them write it, chief amongst them being Sean Conroy, Becky Drysdale (who taught me Improv 101 at UCBNY), Ian Roberts (I still have his improv notes) and Charlie Sander - to name a few I admire.

Pee Wee Herman on 'Top Chef'

My love for Pee Wee Herman (and Paul Reubens) will never cease. The film  Pee Wee's Big Adventure will forever live on in the warmest and fluffiest place in my heart. His television show Pee Wee's Playhouse ignited the smiles and imaginations of a generation of adults who wax lyrical over their Saturday afternoons eating pancakes and watching his show.

That's why last night episode of Top Chef: Texas was such a step out of norm in the realm of food competition. Although the Bravo series has seen it's fair share of famous guest judges, such as Charlize Theron, Jimmy Fallon or Christina Hendricks, who've used personal history and projects to inspire the competition of the day, Pee Wee may hold the most nostalgic,  not just for fun of Miss Yvonne or Captain Carl,  but for the memories of Saturday morning breakfast eaten while laughing at his colorful world as a child.

What breakfast food besides Count Chocula and Fruit Loops conjures childhood memories more than pancakes?  For the first competition, known as "The Quickfire Challenge", chefs were asked by our hero to make the most delicious, unique pancakes ever. As each chef reminisced over their own childhood Saturday mornings with Pee Wee and a plate of dad's flapjacks, lovely displays of the stuff were produced: Confetti Pancakes, Mickey Mouse Pancakes, a Ricotta Pancake with Whipped Crème Fraiche, Marcona Almond with Anise Cookies, and the winning one, a plate of lovely Pancake Bits with Blueberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Bacon and Bruleed Marshmallow. Yummo!  Each dish was met with Pee Wee's exclamation of "That was the best pancake I've ever eaten!" no matter who won or lost.

But things got really nostalgic for "The Elimination Challenge", where chefs were told to make a family style breakfast at The Alamo. If you can recall from the movie, this dreaded location holds bad memories for Pee Wee, thanks to a psychic who erroneously told him his stolen bike was locked in the basement of this historic landmark, only to travel far and wide to find The Alamo has no basement!. The winning plate, it was claimed, would not only be the most delicious, but must be so good, it will wipe away the bad memory from Pee Wee's brain once and for all. The chefs were given bikes to cycle their way to the grocery for ingredients, and then hit The Alamo for the cook off. A chef named Lindsay won the challenge with a  Stuffed Zucchini with Braised Beef Cheeks, Rice and Goat Cheese dish, but the winner is really Pee Wee and Paul Reubens himself - a man with a unique man-child character who's brought so much love to his art, and laughter to us all. It was evident in last night's Top Chef, that even mainstay judge Tom Colicchio's stern manner seemed to melt at little.

'New Girl': Jess Meets Someone Who Hates Her

Record scratch! What? How can you NOT be a dessert person? In last night's episode of New Girl ('Jess & Julia'), Nick's new squeeze Julia, turned off by the adorkableness of Jess, turns down her offer of a cupcake. "I'm not a dessert person" she said.  In one fell swoop, Jess had her number. How can you resist dessert?

So when Jess handed over the cupcake of friendship to Julia last night, all hopes of besties between two funny brunettes came crashing to a halt. Julia, played by Lizzy Caplan, terrific, snarky lady of Party Down (a moment of silence please...RIP) is Nick's new love interest. No, she does not want to know where Jess' secret tampon supply is hidden. No, as an attorney whose been there done that -she is not enamored with the bubbly Katy Perry doppleganger's loveable loopiness. No, Julia will not live in the land of 'Adorkable'. Seeing Jess hurt over this situation was so sad, it was like kicking a puppy.

In the end, they saw eye to eye. Julia and Nick find common ground about their budding relationship, even using her lawyer skills try and help Jess argue a traffic violation in court; however, Adorkable wanted to plead her own case. $800 later, Jess and Julia unite in girlship. Julia accepts Jess' ribbon hat and flakey ways, and Jess forgives her dessert blindness. The boys? They use each others towels to dry off their junk. Sometimes Nick wears Schmidt's underwear which infuriates him. Gee, I don't know why.

There was a brunette trifecta last night. In addition to the highly likeable Deschannel and Caplan, the awesome June Diane Raphael joined in.

Puppy Bowl: Let the Betting Begin

If you don't care about Football, or the Super Bowl, or Madonna - watch Puppy Bowl VIII on Animal Planet this Sunday. Dogs are better than sweaty humans anyway. Even Jimmy Fallon's puppy crew have already place their bets.

Puppy Bowl VIII airs on Sunday, February 5th at 3pm ET/PT on Animal Planet. My hound will be there. Will yours?

'Arrested Development' Developments!

The year 2013 is going to bring plenty of Bluth love around these parts.  News of an Arrested Development movie hit a few months back. Sweetening the deal will be the production of ten new episodes commissioned by and streamed via Netflix leading up to the feature film.

As per Arrested writer Dean Lorey's blog, they've set up offices, parking and are starting to write scripts; therefore, production on this joyous project has begun. As indicated above, episodes are expected to premiere on Netflix in 2013.

Righteous news, indeed! Can I get a COME ON?!



Here's more coverage on the new via MTV's site, where they caught up with Michael Cera at the Sundance Film Festival. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/31/arrested-development-scripts/

Source: NYTimes.com

Dean Winters on 'Up All Night'

Perhaps you've seen Dean Winters as Tommy Gavin's angry brother on Rescue Me, or as Liz Lemon's dummy boyfriend Dennis Duffy on 30 Rock. My first introduction to him was in the HBO series Oz as the terrifying O'Reilly. Now, he can be seen all the time as Mayhem in the ubiquitous AllState Insurance ads. But come Thursday, you'll find him on NBC's Up All Night, where he'll portray Will Arnett's older brother.

Elton John and Leon Russell: The Union

"Respect the elders. Embrace the new. Encourage the impractical and improbable, Without bias." David Fricke

I've been thinking of the forgotten lately. The artists who've pioneered creations, inventions and music. Georges Méliès with his magic visual effects on film, Big Momma Thornton and her original, soulful Hound Dog made famous by Elvis, and Leon Russell, soul master of the keyboard and song, who inspired generations of piano driven rock stars.

Elton John idolized the long haired rock legend, who made it to the top of the pop charts in the early 70's with hits like Masquerade and A Song For You. His music has been covered by The Carpenters, Ray Charles, and Peggy Lee. His star rose to such great heights, George Harrison invited him to join the band for the legendary 1971 Concert For Bangladesh.  Elton's star began to rise as Leon's made its descent into the shadows, yet he never forgot his idol.

In 2009, Elton brought Leon, fraught with health and money issues, out of retirement to collaborate on an album entitled The Union. To document this momentous project between Elton and his idol, award winning Director Cameron Crowe and Producer T. Bone Burnett were brought in to film the recording session and their performance at The Beacon Theater in New York City. The end result is the documentary of the same name -  The Union - premiering this Thursday, February 2nd on HBO.

Bourdain's Grumbling Belly

I've come a bit late to Bourdain.  His first book Kitchen Confidential came out a decade ago, and I've just finished reading it from forward to afterward, diving into each page, hungry for words, craving food and starving for stories about food. Years ago, The Travel Channel gave Anthony Bourdain a platform to display his culinary chops and wanderlust in No Reservations and The Layover, the latter which just had its season finale last week. My DVR is groaning with the volume of episodes it has collected, waiting for my return home from work, where I can delve into my own crappy Lean Cuisine while watching Tony on his journey around the world, eating local goodies from the farms, rivers and streams of far away lands and many an ocean. Breaks bread with people of all economic class, race and religion lands mesmerizing results, as he tastes his way through an itinerary of multiple countries with collected recipes of local people -  from Russia to Namibia, London to America's heartland -  who've worked the land, raised their cattle, and fattened their pigs for sustenance.

If you're familiar with Bourdain, you know he's pretty badass when it comes to his life and food. He's open about his past drug addiction. He will drink many alcoholic beverages on camera, sometimes to the point where it's evident he's shit faced to the wind. In addition, he'll spar with Food Network stars Paula Deen, Rachael Ray and Kwanza Cake Queen Sandra Lee, criticizing them for steering viewers to quick fixes on simple recipes that deaden the palette and murder the soul.

I'm slightly obsessed with this show. After a decade of seeing Bourdain on the New York Times Best Seller list, or seeing him mentioned in Zagats, it's about time I put down my lazy Lean Cuisines and start looking a food in a whole new Bourdain new way.

Love Is All Around....

The legendary, incomparable Mary Tyler Moore will be honored with a Lifetime Acheivement Award this Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild Award to be aired on TNT and TBS at 8pm.  The New York Times has a lovely feature on Mary here--->  NYTimes.com/arts

Dwight Schrute Spins Off. What Does it Mean for 'The Office'?

Deadline Daily is reporting that NBC is developing a spin off show for The Office in the form of Dwight Schrute and his world of beets. The show will be co-Executive Produced by Rainn Wilson and Office Executive Producer Paul Lieberstein. This is an interesting turn up, indicating that The Office may either be on its last legs, or headed for an even deeper reboot.

As a former Office fanatic, I continue to tune into the show each Thursday night. Like a drug addict, I chase that wonderful high experienced when the show was at its peak. But all I see is a sitcom that's a shadow of its old self, with Robert California's strange, twisted vibe and Andy's woeful supervision of Dunder Mifflin stamping out my jones. The sweet Ed Helms continues at the 'helm' in the unremarkable and unenviable role of Andy Bernard, Michael Scott's bumbling predecessor. Unfortunately, Andy as GM hasn't jelled.  In terms of the show itself, the story lines, once heart warming, relatable and smart, are now devoid of quality, believability and laughs. The absence of Michael Scott has sucked the air out of the room. Something's missing, like we went from color to black and white, "from major to minor" -  or to get all Shakespearean  - as if Prince Hal, the life of the party, left Falstaff and the old pals behind to be Henry V. The lights have been turned off, and we wallow in the dark with old memories and nothing to hold onto.

Also, prime characters are underused, such as Creed and Pam (out on Jenna Fischer's maternity leave). Characters we once knew have had personality transplants, characteristically unrecognizable from their former selves (I'm looking at you BJ Novack aka Ryan Howard). Jim and Pam are ghosts now that marital bliss has morphed into parental responsibilities - an aspect of their world in which I'd love to see more. That old Jim/Pam angst has been replaced with Andy and Erin's non-romantic arc, loosely mimicking the Halpert/Beesly pre-coitis relationship that will never touch the painful beauty of Jim and Pam's fractured and ultimately successful courtship.

Deadline Daily has fleshed out more details of NBC's move toward this potential spin off, and discusses how Dwight will be transitioned to the new show. Also, other cast members are not officially signed on for the 2012-2013 season as of this posting, so more developments will be on the horizon.

If all shakes down, perhaps a Dwight spin off spells a new beginning from an old concept that should have ended with Steve Carell's departure last season.

Bret McKenzie Nominated

Today is abuzz with Oscar this and Oscar that. My favorite film this year has been The Artist, and I hope that lovely homage to silent film picks up lots of prizes; however, as a lover of all things Flight of the Conchords, I was thrilled to see that Bret McKenzie, Zoey Deschannel's other half in the land of "adorkable", has been nominated for Best Song with his lovely tune from The Muppets, "Man or Muppet". Hooray, Bret!

Paula Deen Will Never Die!

And that's a good thing, Y'all! The terrific Betsy Sodaro, an up and coming star at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles, is Paula Deen, master slayer of the sugar disease. She's packed with pharmaceuticals, ready to generate revenue for personal wealth, and to eradicate damage causing glucose levels. That silly 'ol diabetes won't know what hit it. From 'Funny or Die's' kitchen, to yours.

Paula Deen's Diabetes Ad - watch more funny videos

Tracy Jordan, Meet Tracy Morgan

"He's not a homophobe. He's an idiot". Liz Lemon

Vote For Leslie Knope!

Last night on Parks and Recreation, the very dishy and funny Mr. Paul Rudd premiered as Bobby Newport, Leslie Knope's opponent for City Council of Pawnee. He's an empty headed rich boy, who, on the silver platter of life, had the world handed to him while sucking on a silver spoon. Leslie, on the other hand, has worked her heart out for her beloved town, and now has to handle low popularity numbers to try and outshine the dashing and dumb Bobby. It makes a lovely combination. Especially when Leslie's camp tries to grapple over using negative ads to thwart him. But, being true to herself, she takes the high road with a very smart advertising spot.



As per Executive Producer Michael Schur, Rudd's role will be a three episode arc with the hope of having him on when his schedule allows.

"You Can Do Anything!"

To the home schooled, and the coddled; to the losers who receive "esteem trophies", to the self entitled and the unearned; this is for you. (Because we need more singers and pop stars than doctors and engineers.)

'Mad Men' Season 5

My Morgan Freeman Tribute

Congratulations to Morgan Freeman, legendary actor and humanitarian who received the 'Cecil B. DeMile Lifetime Achievement Award' at last night's Golden Globes.  A very deserved honor for a distinguished performer. However, we all know his beginnings involved teaching children about words on The Electric Company. And for that, we children of the 70's thank him.

Tebowie

Let the children boogie. But Tim Tebow? Give Jesus a break.