The world’s youngest photobomber.
Monthly Archives: January 2011
Gratuitous Search Term Bait of the Day: Etymology
There were no new relevant search terms today, but instead of just giving you another Tom Westman or Rashida Jones clip (which we’ll do plenty of, trust us) we’re going to do something a little different. Some of you out there have been using the search term “jumped the snark,” (listen, guys, the site is just jumpedthesnark.com, no tricks. You don’t need to work that hard to find us), so we’ll reciprocate with something based on that. However, we’re not going to self-promote and just link to one of our old posts (or, god forbid, show you our face), but, alternatively, we’re going to offer a little TV history lesson. In case you didn’t know, the name “Jumped the Snark” is derived from the term “jumped the shark” which is colloquially used to describe a TV show that has moved its plot in an unrealistic, absurd or hackneyed direction, often with the introduction of a new character or some sort of stunt episode, signaling that the show’s best days are behind it. “Jumped the shark,” in turn, is derived from a Season 5 episode of Happy Days in which Fonzie literally jumps a shark. But let’s hear about the origins of the term from the writer of the episode in question, Jeff Breederman:
Fascinating stuff.
And, for good measure, here’s the Fonz:
Quiz on Monday.
Carrey On, Jimmy
In a little over 24 hours from now Jim Carrey will return to SNL for the first time since 1996, and there’s absolutely no way its going to satisfy our expectations. We’ve already made the fatal mistake of building it up in our heads, so there’s no way it’s not going to be a colossal disappointment. Nevertheless, we’re excited!
And while Carrey was inside 30 Rock he stopped over at Late Night to chat with another Jim. Behold, Carrey on Fallon:
Vodpod videos no longer available.Wow, lots of energy from Carrey. Makes us wonder if he’s been riding the snake. Sure would help with the weight loss.
See you soon, Jim! Hope you’re ready to shatter our dreams!
Filed under Freak Out Control, Saturday Night Live, Talkies
Get Your Ski Masks Ready! Season 3 of ‘Delocated’ is a Go! (Also, it’s Really Cold Outside)
When we formulated our Best TV Shows of 2010 list last week there was one glaring omission, that being Adult Swim’s Delocated. The truth is that we felt, having worked on the show, that placing the series on that list might have been a conflict of interest (not that anyone who reads this blog would particularly care). However, we were remiss not to note that had there been no conflict then Delocated would have certainly earned a spot on the list. Our apologies for the poor judgment.
HOWEVER, with that we’re happy to bring you some good Delocated news. Over on his Delocated blog, creator and star Jon Glaser has announced that Delocated has, in fact, been picked up for a third season (yay!). So, sometime in 2011, except twelve new episodes, with even more grinders, more jingles, more doo-wop, more explosions and certainly a higher body count. Delocated made a huge leap between its first and second seasons – when it expanded to a full 22 minutes and brought in Steve Cirbus as Yvgeny Mirminksy’s blood-thirsty, psychopathic, terrifying brother Sergei – so we’re triply excited to see how the show raises the bar in Season 3.
Let’s celebrate with some homemade seltz!
Vodpod videos no longer available.Filed under Best Show You're Not Watching, Good Humor
Gratuitious Search Term Bait of the Day: Teenage Wasteland
We’re lucky enough to post one of our all-time favorite clips today, thanks to the popular search terms “miranda cosgrove and justin bieber.” Those words have probably brought more teenage girls and middle age men to this site than any other. They likely realized pretty quickly that this site really isn’t for them, but we were happy to have them nonetheless.
From the wayback machine, here’s a young Justin Bieber calling out at Kanye at the 2009 VMAs:
They look SO young!
(and now we just sit back and watch the page views roll in)
‘Top Chef All-Stars’: It’s Chinatown (It’s Gross)
Before we talk out last night’s Top Chef: All-Stars, we need to talk about our feelings regarding Chinatown.
Chinatown is our least favorite part of Manhattan. That is, of course, if you even choose to consider the neighborhood part of Manhattan, which we have trouble doing. We recently had the misfortune of reporting to an office in the heart of Chinatown everyday, and it was a miserable experience (going to Chinatown, not the job). The Grand St. B-D station is our least favorite stop along the New York City subway’s 656 miles of track.1 We’ve long detested the experience of exiting that station, being hit with the foul stench of imported fish, most pungent in the mornings when the seafood is “fresh.” The neighborhood is a visual and olfactory nightmare of rotting fish, fruit with horns, garbage and garbage juice.
Filed under Century 21 Reality, It's gross., Local Flavor, Top Scallop
Wait, So How Much is a Full-Price Pair of Bonobos?
If we’re getting $50 off our first pair of Bonobos (great name, guys), then we have to imagine that the final cost would be “they owe us $10,” right? Seriously, how expensive could a pair of pants called “Bonobos” be?
Well, then again, they were named “Best Men’s Pants” by NY Magazine, so we’re sure they’re totally worth it.
Filed under Interweb, Makes You Think
In Memorium Nostalgia Corner: Bill Erwin
Well, it’s been a big week for Growing Pains news. Unfortunately, this latest development is of the sadder variety, as we’ve lost another member of the Growing Pains family. It was announced today that veteran actor, Bill Erwin passed away at his home on December 28th, at the admirable age of 96. You may know him best as Sid Fields from Seinfeld, the old man whom Jerry volunteers to assist, a role for which Erwin was nominated for an Emmy. However, long before Seinfeld, Erwin had already made an indelible mark on us from his many appearances on Growing Pains. Over six seasons Erwin appeared on the sitcom eight different times as seven different characters, from Buzz the plumber to Lloyd the fumigator to the school janitor (he was the go-to old man for thankless blue-collar jobs, evidently). He was like Bruce Willis in North, or Rachel Dratch in the first season of 30 Rock, there whenever the Seavers needed him, in whatever guise was most appropriate. We’ve seen him in many roles since then, some he shot after, some he shot before, but, to us, he’ll always be the old man from Growing Pains.
And here he is as Bubs the mechanic, from the Growing Pains meta-episode “Meet the Seavers:”
And if you watched Home Alone over Christmas (like we did a couple of times) you might also recognize Erwin as the old man in the Scranton airport who refuses to give up his plane tickets to Mrs. McCallister:
TV and film just lost a good one, that’s for sure.
[btw, not to be confused with Bill Irwin]
Filed under Growing Pains, In Memoriam, Nostalgia Corner
Gratuitous Search Term Bait of the Day: Muppet Monster(s)
A relatively broad term today, simply: “muppets.” It’s actually quite interesting, and encouraging, that someone ostensibly found our blog via the term “muppets.” That must mean (we guess) that due to our vast library of Muppet-related posts we’re becoming one of the top results for that search. Which is something to be proud of (right? Please say yes).
Since the search term was so wide open we’re going to give you two clips today, that way everyone goes home happy. First, we have this mash-up of the Muppets performing Kanye West’s “Monster,” which is all the rage today:
[sidebar: Is the Muppet remix becoming something of a tired art? How many times can we see some kind of Muppet mash-up until it feels derivative, devaluing both the Muppets and whatever work they are paired with? Only time will tell.]
And, secondly, we’re happy to counter that “Monster” with the original Muppet Monsters, Little Muppet Monsters, the extremely short-lived series that was briefly paired with Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies in 1985. Shelved after airing just three episodes, it remains when of the great Muppet oddities:
Well take the latter any day of the week.
Filed under Gratuitous Search Term Bait, Muppets, Virulent, You Decide
Reginald VelJohnson in Uniform Moment of the Week: Debut Edition!
We recently had the pleasure of viewing Die Hard for the very first time (seriously!) and we were struck by a number of things. For example, it’s really, really good, Bruce Willis had a lot more hair; Alan Rickman is super creepy; you can totally see its influence on Community‘s paintball episode; and the late 80s were a weird time when computer screens only broadcast in two colors, green and black. But perhaps our biggest takeaway was this: Reginald VelJohnson sure does play a lot of cops and other uniformed personnel. And with that small thought, that tiny light bulb, was birthed yet another Jumped the Snark semi-regular feature. So, without anymore hesitation, our first installment of the “Reginald VelJohnson in Uniform Moment of the Week:”
Yes, we did that.
Filed under Greendale Human, Reginald VelJohnson, TGIF, The Big Screen
Jumped The Snark 