Maybe more creepy than weird.
Sickos.
Monthly Archives: October 2009
You’re Not There to Make Friends. But Are You There to Cook Good Food? Questionable.
On this week’s Top Chef chefstant and house mother/pariah Robin joined the hallowed ranks of reality TV competitors like Omarosa and Kelly Wiglesworth who have uttered the now legendary phrase “I’m not here to make friends.” This reminded me of a segment from the recent This American Life episode, “Frenemies.” In this act, titled “I am here to make frenemies,” Rich Juzwiak of the blog foufour details the evolution and now ubiquity of this quote in reality TV shows. He also put together a thorough “I’m not here to make friends” highlight reel. Enjoy!
Filed under Century 21 Reality, Other people's stuff, Top Scallop, Virulent
The ‘Office’ Has Not Jumped The Shark
After feeling like I was in the minority with my mild disappointment with last week’s wedding episode, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was not alone in my distaste for last night’s The Office, “Mafia.” I watched it in a new place, with a large dinner still digesting, the mood already soured by another messy, frustrating episode of Glee (a story for another day), so I gave this latest Office entry the benefit of the doubt, even though I found it much too silly and the premise (Michael, Dwight and Andy believe that a local insurance salesman is “connected”) too far fetched, even for this show. Something seemed off, and I sensed there were far too many stretches without laughs, and even the ones that occurred often felt forced. So I was actually rather comforted when I flipped on the ol’ Internet and found near unanimous negative reaction for this episode. However, my appreciation was short lived, as it seems that after one episode, the blogosphere is hitting the panic button, fearing The Office is past its prime, and maybe should be put down like an injured thoroughbred. Indeed, Cinemablend titled their recap, “NBC’s The Office Isn’t The Show It Used To Be.”
Relax.
Where’s Uncle Joey When You Need Him?
Speaking of impressions (and other past their prime comedians with the initials “DC”), Dave Coulier totally should have been on hand last night to save the day when the final dress rehearsal of Bye Bye Birdie experienced some technical difficulties and both Bob Saget and Don Rickles stepped into to lighten/worsen the mood (see: Disaster at Bye Bye Birdie’s Final Preview Inspires Stamos, Saget, and Rickles Comedy Routine). Coulier could have wowed audiences with Mr. Woodchuck for hours, or perhaps tried out his new stand-up bit about farting.
(Coincidentally, a very similar thing happened during my high school’s Student-Faculty production of Bye Bye Birdie, in which I had a memorable role as the Train Conductor. Well, we didn’t have any comedy legends attend the show, but one of the sets did fall down. See? Very similar.)
Let’s Over-Analyze The Poster For the Final Season of LOST!
No, let’s not. The poster is simple, but awesome. The same style they used for the previous five seasons, just a little more epic. Not really giving too much away, but certainly raising enough questions.
It’s a little dark, but methinks it features all of our major past and present Lostaways, including the deceased, like Boone, Charlie, and Libby. Oh, and all the way on the right, looks like Bernard and Rose. Yes, please. But who is that between Jack and Locke, right in the middle. Desmond? Hmmm. And is Locke’s back turned? I wonder…okay, sorry, enough. Just get excited.
via Collider
Filed under Analysis, LOST, Must See TV
Dana Carvey, I Just Don’t Know Anymore
Dana Carvey on The Jay Leno Show attempting to break the record for most impressions in a minute. Unfortunately, this brand of humor is a perfect match for Leno’s graveyard. I wish I could get behind this, but it seems like Carvey is just doing impressions of his impressions, and most of which we’ve been seeing for decades. Sadder still is that he has nothing to promote so he just plugged a hair salon instead (sadder still is I’m not sure if this was a joke or it’s actually where he gets his hair cut). I still maintain that Carvey was one of the most talented SNL cast members of all time, but lately he hasn’t been doing much to prove it. Still waiting for your comeback, Dana. Still waiting.
Filed under Good Humor, Nostalgia Corner, Saturday Night Live
Best Year Ever For Members of The State, State Collaborators, and Titles Containing the Word ‘State’
Two Jumped the Snark favorites, The State member Tom Lennon and friend of The State Rashida Jones, are working on two new, exciting projects (independently, of course. Although I wouldn’t mind seeing them collaborate).
When news broke that Comedy Central canceled the long-running (dare I say institution?) Reno 911, (comedy geeks’) hearts were broken across the country (while Reno might have been growing a bit long in the tooth, it seemed like an odd time to cancel the show, considering that with the arrival of Michael and Michael Have Issues, the recent release of the long-awaited State DVD, and the addition of State-alum to Joe Lo Truglio to the Reno cast, it seemed that The State-related projects were experiencing a wave of enthusiasm). However, the demise of Reno stings a little less with the announcement that Tom Lennon has signed a deal to create and star in a yet untitled comedy for NBC (in addition, the plot is apparently “under wraps” Unless it’s the story of the next generation iPhone, not sure if the secrecy is necessary). Also unknown at this point is when NBC will cancel the show (let’s just hope it’s not a gritty cop drama). Unless the show slots in on Thursday nights, looks like NBC might have to make space elsewhere for comedy (they might want to start with the 10pm slot; at the moment, this hour is devoid of comedy). Additional good news is that frequent Lennon collaborator, fellow State and Reno member, Ben Garant will co-create and also appear on the show (let’s also hope it’s not a serialized version of the Lennon-Garant penned Night at the Museum films). To celebrate, a State sketch!
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Filed under Good Humor, Must See TV, The State
How Did Facebook Know I Love Chipotle BBQ Pork Soft Tacos?!
Courtesy of Facebook’s sponsored links section:
“Food, fun, and Fieri.” Isn’t that a little redundant, Facebook?
I wonder if he’ll teach the crowd how to make the Screaming Gobbler, the turkey sandwich-sushi hybrid available at Fieri’s Rock-n-Roll Sushi BBQ restaurant Tex Wasabi’s. According to the menu, “First you’ll gobble, then you’ll scream!”
Ah, no thanks.
Filed under Interweb, Local Flavor, Tex Wasabi's, The Sixth Taste
Project Runway’s Logan Rips Off Project Runway’s Logan (Badly)
This season Project Runway has had the unfortunate luck of airing on Thursday nights, an evening that is already jammed with enough quality programming to make a DVR sweat. Add in the fact that in its first season on Lifetime the production quality as arguably slipped (the additional switch or production companies from Magical Elves to Bunim-Murray perhaps having something to do with that), the questionable talent of this season’s designers (no one has demonstrated any real mastery or vision yet), the presence of an overwhelming number of tampon and birth control commercials (thank you, Lifetime), and that DirectTV does not offer Lifetime in HD, I have not been as excited to watch Runway as I had been in seasons past, and thus viewing has often slipped until the weekend or even the following week. That was the case with latest episode, which I finally got around to watching last night. Again, the designs and execution were rather disappointing, with a surprising number of hideous messes, and the judges again overlooking an appealing offering from Carol Hannah (girl still has not been in the top 3!). But, what was more interesting than the offensive fashion was what I realized after show when doing my customary post-viewing research. Continue reading
Filed under Analysis, Century 21 Reality, Makes You Think
Jumped The Snark 