A lot of television programs can take credit for somewhat inspiring MTVs STD-documentary The Jersey Shore – The Real World: Las Vegas, The Sopranos, The Real Housewives of NJ, Jon Bon Jovi, and, most notably, True Life: I Have a Summer Share – but is it possible that the show owes its greatest debt to an early 90s Fox sitcom? Is Jersey Shore really just a reality show rip-off of Down the Shore? Take a look and you decide:
Pretty open and shut case if you ask us.
Filed under Century 21 Reality, Flashback!, Makes You Think
Is it because he cursed in the middle of his first big spot on the show, much like Jenny Slate did last year??? Did opening night jitters get to him???
Well, no. I thought he did, but I’ve gone back and listened to it over and over again and it turns out when I thought he said “I took a break and shit” he just said “I took a break this year.” Whoops.
But still, they did swap out the live version for the dress:
Curious, no? Did they just think the purple shirt was funnier? More Fresh Prince-esque? I guess we’ll never know (and probably shouldn’t care).
Filed under Conspiracy Theory, Saturday Night Live
Well, Fox, you’ve done it again. Axed a show before it even had a chance to reach its bris. Lone Star is officially dead.
But this feels somehow different. This was not The Pitts, or Brothers, or even Kitchen Confidential. This was a show that arrived with critical praise, almost unanimously hailed as the season’s “best new network show.” It had a beautiful backdrop to match its beautiful young faces. It had Jon Voight. And, most importantly, it had an original, complex story. While a lot of shows come and go, and a lot of them deserve to be banished (looking at you, Outsourced), this is certainly not the first series unfairly cut down before it’s time. It joins a group of shows like Love Monkey and Action that share the unfortunate distinction of a premature demise, depriving the viewing public of quality television. Lone Star is not the first and it won’t be the last. But why then is this particular cancellation so troubling?
Amy Poehler returned to host the 36th season premiere of SNL this past week, but did it feel like she ever really left? Between her frequent appearances last season on the big show and her stint co-anchoring Weekend Update Thursday last fall she was really on the show as much as Jenny Slate was, and probably more times than Jay Mohr during his brief run (cheap shot, sorry, Jay). She even capped last season by coming back for the famed, Emmy-winning Betty White episode, joining her fellow former female castmates like Tina Fey and Molly Shannon in helping White carry the hosting weight. That episode, the 2nd to the last of the season, felt more like a prime-time special than a regular show (indeed, it was billed as a Mother’s Day edition, but as a result of coincidental timing and to justify bringing in the ringers to support White, who then proved she really didn’t need assistance). And while host-in-residence Alec Baldwin made his annual appearance to close out the season a week later, White’s episode really felt like the big finish. And wouldn’t you know it, SNL felt like it picked up just where it left off, by pulling out the big guns and bringing back the all-time greats, starting with Ms. Poehler herself.
Filed under Analysis, Saturday Night Live, Yvonne Hudson
It’s the sketch-fan’s bible.
Thank you, The Strand. Now I don’t need to borrow it from the library for the third time.
And apparently three-year olds can’t be exposed to breasts but they can watch a parody of a show that is ostensibly an excuse for soft-core porn. I guess this spoof of True Blood is one of those segments that’s really for the adults, because it’s be a sad state of affairs if today’s parents let their kids see Stephen Moyer’s penis, but not the suggestion of Katy Perry’s cleavage.
To be fair, this follows in the proud tradition of Sesame Street’s 30 Rock and Mad Men parodies, two series that are also NSFC. And they really captured Anna Paquin’s essence.
(what a few days for Sesame Street, ehhh?)
Filed under Good Humor, Muppets
He would have been 74 years young today. Wonder what it he would have thought of all this hoopla over Katy Perry’s breasts. My guess is he wouldn’t have objected. It’s a shame it has to mar his day.
(sidenote: never thought I’d be able to tag a post with “Jim Henson” and “breasts.” Just goes to show that anything is possible).
Filed under Lady Holiday, Muppets, Yasmine Bleeth
Yesterday we gave our brief thoughts on the then impending return of the NBC Thursday night comedies, reflecting on the last season while looking forward to the next. And on the morning after, how do we feel? Impressed, pleased and disappointed, in that order. With the night going from Community to 30 Rock to The Office, we found that the first continues to improve, the second is showing encouraging signs of life, and the third is still struggling to return to its glory days. Taken has a whole, it was a good night, and two out of three ain’t bad. But really, we don’t want “ain’t bad.” We want great, we want three out of three. And, unfortunately, that just didn’t happen.
Filed under Analysis, Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam, Good Humor, Must See TV
It seems like May sweeps was just yesterday, but here we are on the cusp of the return of Thursday night TV-pocolypse. Luckily for our DVR, Survivor was shifted back to Wednesday nights, and Parks and Recreation is (egregiously) on the shelf until mid-season (of course, while that might be good for our DVR, it’s terrible for our collective well-being). But we’re still left with what is now the NBC comedy old guard, The Office & 30 Rock, and the returning sensation, and probably the best of the bunch, Community. And later we have a little cable fun with It’s Always in Philadelphia and Delocated (if you’re eyeballs aren’t bleeding by then). But, for now, let’s quickly focus on the NBC line-up.
The big story on NBC Thursday nights, as we noted above, is not what’s on, but what’s not, that being Parks and Recreation, benched in favor of the already critically reviled Outsourced. Sure, NBC has the right to air whatever it wants, and if it thinks another show will be more successful, and has the potential to be an anchor the way that The Office is and shows like Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier and Cheers were, then we can’t begrudge them that. But Outsourced hasn’t even aired yet and it seems the verdict is already in: it’s a waste of valuable space. One has to wonder if NBC, who proved with the Jay Leno Show that they’re willing to sacrifice quality programming for profit, chose to promote Outsourced because it’s an in-house production, even knowing its an inferior program. Because even if it pulls in rating as low as Parks and Rec, maybe even lower, NBC will still grab a bigger slice of the pie. That’s just conjecture at this point, but there’s certainly a precedent for it, and we know that TV, network television in particular, is a business above all. Let’s just hope that Outsourced is so terrible that it’s yanked sooner than planned and Parks and Recreation can reclaim its rightful place (especially since they rushed the show back into production for its third season to accommodate Amy Poehler’s pregnancy).
More: ‘Community’ is up, ‘The Office’ is down, and ’30 Rock’ is still here.
Filed under Analysis, Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam, Freak Out Control, Good Humor, Must See TV
Jumped The Snark 