Kid Nation: still awesome!: Vulture: Bonanza City's Paris and Nicole
I can't say this enough: this show is great because the kids are great. My friend Brian saw top-five fave kid Jared with his family in Times Square the other night!
Gabe's Kid Nation Live-blog on The Huffington Post: Kids Imitate Art.
Mine: Kid Nation: The Drinking Game
I am a Fan of This Blogger: Kid Nation: Time is Candy
* My write-up on Vulture: 'All the Girls Hate You!'
Also, Taylor should have her own show called "Taylor Twilight."
* Gabe's Liveblog on Huffpo: 'Save a Polar Bear, Ride an Eskimo'
* Unrelated: Alex Blagg interviews his friend who went on a date with LC on this week's "The Hills"
Last night's Kid Nation won me over into true fanship of the show. In my Vulture write-up today, I wrote profiles/superlatives of the standout kids:
Kid Nation: Who Should Drink the Bleach?
Edited out: my "real life job" choices for each kid, which were:
Jared: Journalist/pundit
Taylor: President Bush
Greg: Functional Alcoholic Plumber
Mallory: Stay-at-home Mom
Blaine: Turtle
Colton: Failed Football Player
On TV tonight: the season premiere of How I Met Your Mother
Out on DVD tomorrow:
* The TV Set (Hilarious satire of the entertainment industry)
* Knocked Up (Duh)
* Single Blog (Looks unintentionally funny)
On CD tomorrow:
* Michael Ian Black: I Am a Wonderful Man
* A very cool Vulture post about how every movie trailer is using the theme from "Brazil" lately (with video). Awesome catch! Sort of on topic: I have a huge pet peeve with copycat "American Beauty" music (and in some cases, the original score) being used CONSTANTLY everywhere from commercials to TV shows to 48 Hours Mystery. It's been 9 years since that movie came out - don't we have another way of evoking the sinister element that lurks behind the tranquility of suburbia by now? It's just lazy. Even the Little Children score was similar (and I loved that movie.)
* Claire Zulkey is quoted in this AP story about hardcover books versus paperback. I hate lugging a hardcover around and wish every book came out in both versions (it seems from the article that they soon will, though.)
* I know I'm years late on this, but I am suddenly and completely addicted to Meerkat Manor. The anthropomorphism makes me giggle (the Meerkats are presented as "hoping", "dreaming", "remembering", "realizing", etc) but I still fall for it. Best celebreality show on TV! (And when you think about it, the Meerkats are as or more capable of complex reasoning and self-awareness as those girls on The Hills.)
* Twitter at the VMAs: I am thinking: the amount of time between 'nerd-buzz' and 'MTV sellout' is getting closer and closer to a literal 15 minutes.
There is a new show: The Pick Up Artist on Vh1. It's based on that dumb book The Game. It is maybe going to be my favorite show. What's amazing about it is when you watch it you're not really making fun of the contestants because they're nice guys. You're making fun of the pick up experts. (And their hats that you're not allowed to touch until you buy them a drink!)
More later, I'm spontaneously going to the beach. Just watch. that. show. Trust me!
The guy from Election and The Office continues his meteoric rise:
"The actor will play Claire's boyfriend, West, who is said to have "a very cool superpower."
I bet it's his face! I guess I have to start watching "Heroes." Also, everyone I know who has seen his movie "Rocket Science" (out 8/10) says it's really good.
If you're like me, you frequently become enraged at the way the internet controls your life. You have no need for a "boss button" because the entire effing web is your boss button and and you long for the simplicity of a blank Excel document or, even better, a cabin in the woods off the grid and untouched by the medium that simultaneously feeds and destroys you like the semen of one of Angelina Jolie's ex boyfriends.
But then, some days, you see something this unbelievably awesome and you're just like "Wow. I love you, Internet!"
UPDATE: What a beautiful dream that could flash on the screen in a blink of an eye and be gone: It doesn't sync well and ends too early, but the juxtaposition with Aeroplane made my neurons fire like crazy. Just paste this in on Stereogum.
(Thanks to Jen, obvs!)
So last night I got home from readings and drinkings and such, and turned on the TV to find that my DVR was taping The Starter Wife. Earlier in the week I'd bought into the hype and taped it, mostly because if I read the next day that it was good, I wanted to have it around. But I decided to go ahead and give it five minutes, and whoa, lo and behold, I kind of loved it! I couldn't keep this Secret Shame to myself though, so I texted my friend Jess, the one most likely to forgive this lapse into cliche-girliness:
Me: Uh...the starter wife is really good?
Jess: I'm about 20 min into it...I love it
Me: Me too, I was hoping you were watching! I love you! Yay!
Jess: I think 90% of all vaginas with access to basic cable are watching, seriously. You're the 3rd one to text! I love you women everywhere. I'm going gay!
Me: Omg I seriously thought I was the only one watching. I might blog this. (Ed: yeah. sigh.)
Jess: I was thinking the same!
Me: You know who is loving this? Aniston!
Jess: Omg sooo right
Me: Ok, it's getting a little obvs but I still love.
Jess: Me too. Tons.
Jess: Love the Ponds placement during her self-affirmation speech
Me: Just got there. I use that moisturizer every day.
Jess: That's a helluva sponsorship deal
Me: I know. Annoying.
I actually didn't realize it was a series (and not a tv movie) until almost the end when I was all "how are they going to wrap this up?" I'm dumb. Anyway, it does get sort of obvious toward the end, but it's summer and all my shows are dark. I'll be watching...probably with friends next week. NOT with Cosmos. That's where I draw the ever-thinning line...
Last night I was watching The Office finale with Stephanie, and (slight spoiler alert!) just at the moment when Jan grabs her (hot) assistant Hunter and tells him good luck with his band and all that, I grabbed the remote, paused, and screamed "OH MY GOD THAT'S THE KID FROM 'ELECTION'!" and grabbed my laptop (this was exactly as fun for Steph as it sounds, I'm sure.)
I found him in the IMDB listing for Election, where he's credited, oddly enough, as "Larry Fouch (as Nick D'Agosto)"
When I found his IMDB page, there was no mention of The Office on it, but I was still 100% sure that it was the same kid. Each of the over 50 times I've seen "Election", I've always wondered what happened to the kid at the end, the one who counts the votes and says earnestly and profoundly "It's a squeaker, Mr. M. I've got Tracy by a vote. Just one vote." I always thought he was really good in that part.
ANYway at the bottom of his IMDB there was already a message board post saying "Credited in tonight's episode of "The Office" (and the show wasn't even over yet, I love the internet.) Anyway, the only point of this post is to come back later and say "Yeah, I was kind of the first person in the world to write about him? So, yeah."
More Administrative Assistant Hunter next season, please!
Also, the finale was awesome. I think Zulkey and I made our Team Pam and Team Karen shirts (sold out!) way too early. Maybe we should make some more with "I think Pam is kind of a bitch" on the back of the Karen ones...
Today The Observer observes that How I Met Your Mother is "the best television show you're not watching."
Of course, that doesn't apply to you because you ARE watching it, right?
Well, sort of -- in this Times article about how How I Met Your Mother creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays incorporate the internet into their show (and vice versa), we learn that tonight's episode, "The Bachelor Party", will feature a scene too racy for TV that will show up on the show's MySpace page (and presumably here, since I play right into their hands.)
Until this article, I had no idea Bays and Thomas were the brains behind the hysterical 1999 Late Show hoax boy band, Fresh Step.
- Letters to Fresh Step (McSwy's)
And...let's go to the mall, again:
"I don't know what happened in your life that caused you to develop a sense of humor as a coping mechanism, maybe it was some sort of brace or corrective boot you wore during childhood but in any case: I'm glad you're on my team."
- Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) to Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) on last night's 30 Rock
I have a friend who wore a scoliosis brace in middle school who is now a humor writer (update: Emily) and our running joke is that I'm jealous of her for the funny-making brace (she assures me that I have and have had quite enough to compensate for -- whew!!)
Apparently my 2003 archives are all messed up but I found an old thing I said about the "Theory of Compensation" quoted on the blog Chaos Theory. It's by no means an original idea, but four jaded New York years later I still believe it to be true.
Anyway, go watch last night's 30 Rock -- the quote above is by no means the funniest part.
It's a great day for comedy fans: the funniest show on TV has been renewed for a second season. In honor of the occasion, Amelie put up Tina Fey's Paris Hilton takedown video.
Also, I have a crush on Jack Donaghy. Not Alec Baldwin -- Jack Donaghy.
Via EW's Popwatch, some of Jack's greatest moments:
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the first episode of the TV version of This American Life is already on Showtime OnDemand (so I assume big fans have already seen it?), but this animated preview of a future episode (by Chris Ware, natch) is going around:
(I tried to embed it but it's HUGE! (That's what she said.) So: here.)
I was going to review the first episode, but I don't really "review" things, per se, so I'll just say that (Spoiler Alert: if you don't already listen to This American Life regularly you might want to just wait for the show). But go ahead and order Showtime now and tell them it's because of TAL, because who knows? Maybe that works...
Continue reading "This American Life (TV) Preview/ Review" »
I just called and ordered Showtime in preparation for March 22nd's premiere of This American Life (the TV version), and discovered that the full first episode is already available on demand. This fact isn't even on the TAL website yet, so I win.
Full review on Monday, because it's Saturday night, but I couldn't wait to share the news (hint: *****) Order Showtime! They also have Saw II right now if that's your thing.
* Over the holiday, Stephanie ("Stiff") and I are going to make elaborate scrapbooks of our trip to the scrapbooking-supply store. It will be the only scrapbooks we ever make (probably.) We have a lot of ideas mapped out and they're so awesome we're making two so we don't fight over custody (and also we might go the Rashomon route in the storytelling.)
* Speaking of Rashomon, after over ten years of using it as a conversational reference, I finally saw the actual movie last weekend, though I fast forwarded through the non-talking parts. (I know.) It was very...Rashomonesque. (I know.)
* Highdea: OCD: The Video Game. You have to navigate the world and accomplish tasks while having OCD. I have OCD, so I'm totally allowed to invent this cool game idea.
* Did you see the first few episodes of 30 Rock? Were you like "Eh, I'll leave it on my DVR schedule but nobody can make me watch it!?" I was, and so were a lot of people I know, but in fact the show has gotten better and better every week, and was so funny last week I've already shown it to three people. I just gave up on finding video from last week's show, but I did send a personalized holiday greeting to a few friends from Alec Baldwin. (If I can still get a moderate amount of glee out knowing Alec is calling my friend Emily and calling her a homemaker from Iowa who enjoys collecting sports memorabilia, irony is not dead (to me.)
I think we can all agree: last night's episode of How I Met Your Mother was, hands down, the BEST EVER.
I've never watched an entire episode of a tv show on the internet before in my entire life, but as Slap Bet Commissioner, I demand you watch it. (You can watch the whole thing for free here, click the innertube link on the right upper corner.)
(Most of) that special, special video after the jump (spoiler alert! watch the show first.)
Make it sparkle!
So I guess that little "jokey" Team Pam vs Team Karen thing Zulkey and I put up Monday has kind of taken off. And, of course, I was the one who was all "No, let's not really do t-shirts, I'm poor, I eat ramen, I'm not putting up any money, wah wah wah".
Anyway, in the interest of getting your shirt asap and Miss Claire (and t-shirt impresario Steve) breaking even:
Order your shirt now! (Paypal, $15 + $4 shipping)
(They're sending out the first batch today!)
And by the way? Pam is totally kicking Karen's ASS, at least when it comes to shirt sales!
I posted today on the Jane blog: Prediction Reality: Ugly Betty Chic
(At least I have multiple witnesses to my Times Styles Nostradamity.)
Sarah Paulson's Nancy Grace on Studio 60 last night put Amy Poehler's inexplicably-praised Nancy Grace on SNL last week to such shame, I can't believe NBC(S) even let both go to air.
Nobody loves Amy P. more than me, but the trashy Southern accent is a thing of such intricate complexity that it should never be attempted except by those with family members who speak it fluently. I should know.
Amy Poehler - Burlington Mass
Sarah Paulson - Tampa, FL
No contest.
(But that said, I fully support all attempts to take down Nancy Grace, successful or not.)
Because you're just dying to know...
Brothers and Sisters: Here's a tip: when you're doing a show about the patriarch of a family-run business and he dies suddenly at the end of the first episode, don't credit him in the opening credits as "Special Guest Star Tom Skerritt." (Also, can Rachel Griffiths only appear in shows where the patriarch of a family business dies in the first episode?)
The Class: Trying too hard.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: It doesn't have to be remotely believable. I will still like it. But it's not remotely believable, except for how bad the sketches are.
SIX DEGREES: During the second episode, just as I was writing in my little notebook:
"Is there some kind of rule now that all 1-hour dramas must be at least 85% montage?"
The show went into a four minute montage, wherein Bridget Moynahan takes Campbell Scott shopping for nice clothes! And he comes out in different outfits! And she vetoes them! And adjusts his collar! While bouncy music plays! Apparently there wasn't a PA on the set to tell them this is is such a cliche that making fun of it is even a cliche.
Also, while New York is a place of infinite coincidence and random moments of chance or fate or whatever, two women from very different walks of life do not become bff at the nail salon. And people don't say things like "Nice Sonic Youth t-shirt. Did you get that at the vintage place on 12th and Hudson?" WTF? There are so many things wrong with this show, and it's so sad, because Campbell Scott and Hope Davis are awesome and Sarah Vowell had a speaking part in the first episode and I really wanted it to succeed.
How I Met Your Mother: Brilliant, duh.
Today's guest post on the Jane blog: I find a reference to The Grapes of Wrath in last night's premiere of How I Met Your Mother.
It just doesn't get any dorkier than that, folks.
(Josh Radnor in a rare moment of introspection, from the Kenyon alumni mag '04)
Today's guest-post on the Jane Magazine blog: Suit Up, Dorks! How I Met Your Mother Season 2 premieres tonight!
Also, trivia: my friend John Green totally went to college with Josh Radnor.
Cartoon idea:
Panel one: Man and Woman are fighting. Woman is crying.
Panel two: Man says angrily "I'll give you something to cry about!"
Panel three: Man leaves room
Panel four: Man returns to room holding a copy of Flowers for Algernon.
And...scene!
It was better last night as I was drifting off to sleep staring at my bookshelf.
WHATEVER YOU DO, do not forget to watch Nightline tonight (ABC, 11:35 pm Est, just watch the Colbert rebroadcast at 1:30a.) Because Sarah Brown's Cringe Reading Series will be featured.
Also, a thing to cover your mouth so that embarrassed-looking snakes cannot enter it has been invented.
Additionally, somebody sent me this review of a recent book today (second post, no permalinks) Better together? Meow!
The long trailer for Tina Fey's 30 Rock. (Premieres Oct. 11/ Wednesdays, 8:30p / 7:30c)
And
The long trailer for Aaron Sorkin's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
(Premieres Sept. 18/ Mondays, 10p / 9c)
I'm really excited about both these shows, and I need to get a life.
Is anyone going to talk about the fact that the guy on the left's stuff was on display for a full count of three on last night's episode of Lucky Louie? (Entourage + Lucky Louie = best hour of TV you can watch right now. I used to hate Entourage until I realized it was about five desperate, insecure, needy people and they're all GUYS. Finally!)
Anyway, dicks in sitcoms. Wave of the future!
The Great Louis CK's much-anticipated new HBO sitcom, Lucky Louie, premieres Sunday night at 10:30. I linked to this article in the Boston Globe about Louis and the show a long time ago, but it's still good. I'm a huge Louis CK fan and I'm crossing my fingers that the planets will align in favor of smart comedy and the show will be a hit. Everyone, watch it!
Last night's Arrested Development? BEST EPISODE EVER. Today I was wondering if "Loblaw" was a real last name, so I googled it and it is. Then I wondered if there were people named "Robert Loblaw." There are. Then I saw that there's a company called Bob Loblaw Video Communications, and I almost peed myself. Then, I read the FAQ:
"what's with the faceless guy?
The faceless guy is actually bob loblaw, a fictional character we invented (if you haven't figured out our name by now, just say it to yourself out loud really fast, you'll get it). Bob represents most organizations out there, no face and/or a lot of "blah blah blah" with little substance in their message (get the name now?). Every day we deal with companies that never show themselves or their true message. One of our goals is to put a unique face on your business or project."
I wonder if Arrested Development got permission to use the name? Either way, I bet they're getting a lot of hits. Some journalist-type should interview the president of the company about it. (Also: is "Bob Loblaw" some sort of old joke?)
I'm also loving the show "Weeds." Especially the character Andy Botwin, played by actor Justin Kirk. One of his quotes from this week's episode made me do a spit-take last night. Mary Louise Parker is considering putting her 10 year old on anti-depressants, and this is her neer-do-well brother in law's advice:
"When my ferret killed himself a couple years ago?, I took Celexa? I gained 40 lbs, I couldn't ejaculate. Is that what you want for your son?"
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