Category Archives: Count Bleh

Square peg in a round hole.

2010/01/20 · 1:40 am

Rethinking My Faith in Amazon

Every morning I wake up to at least one email from Amazon, whether it be  recommendations of new mystery novels (because those are what I get my dad for his birthday every year) or the “Top Ten Deals in Electronics” (because sometimes I buy electronics).  And almost every morning I think that I should adjust my preferences to discontinue this communication, but I can’t do it, because I’m under the belief that something worthwhile will come along one day.

And I thought today was that day.

Logged into Gmail and saw an email from Amazon with the following subject:

Now available: “The Adventures of Pumpkin Pete” on DVD at Amazon.com

So, naturally, my first thought was “a new Pete & Pete” DVD?  Great!”  But while I did recall an excellent Halloween episode of Pete & Pete, I didn’t think it was called “Pumpkin Pete.”  But what else could it be?  I mean I’ve ordered Pete & Pete DVDs from Amazon three times (had to reorder the second season after I lost my original copy), so they know I like it, and, let’s be honest, if Amazon was a person I’d probably trust him (or her) with my life.

But I was wrong.

This is what they thought I’d be interested in:

Sorry, Amazon, wrong Pete.  I don’t know what to think of you anymore.

But I did go ahead and order Pumpkin Pete anyway.  Needed another item to receive Super Saver Shipping.

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2009/12/23 · 8:00 pm

Christmas Clipdown: ‘Lil Pete & Rite-Aid Have the Same Goal

Was there a show more ahead of its time, more under-appreciated, than Nickelodeon’s Adventures of Pete & Pete?  Freaks and Geeks, you say?  Okay, maybe.  But Pete & Pete is surely up there, and growing from a string of one-minute shorts aired on Nickelodeon during commercial breaks into a full-fledged 22-min series, it featured some of the most unique, quirky characters and stories on TV (back when being “quirky” was still a good thing).  Even though it aired on Nickelodeon, and followed a set of young redheaded brothers, it was far beyond the traditional kiddie fare, attracting guest stars like Iggy Pop, Steve Buscemi, Janeane Garofalo, Chris Elliott and Bebe Neuwirth,  and could be viewed as one of the first single camera, laugh track-free comedies.  Perhaps you could even say that Pete & Pete paved the way for shows like Arrested Development.  But, let’s not get off to topic, that’s a discussion for another day.  Right now it’s all about Christmas.

Pete & Pete often traded in holiday-themed episodes, including Valentine’s Day, Halloween and New Year’s Eve (my favorite would be “Time Tunnel,” set during the Autumnal Equinox, which is not technically a holiday but worth including because of the Pete’s commitment to time travel, something that really hit home with me (make sure you consume plenty of riboflavin!)).  Surprisingly, it took them until the third season to tackle Christmas, presenting us with “O Christmas Pete,” in which Little Pete (Danny Tamberelli, before he lost his boyish charm and went on to join All That), in typical Little Pete fashion, attempts to keep Christmas going year-round and battles the evil garbageman, a typical Pete & Pete villain (they loved to utilize their civil servants).

Keep it going with Part 2 and then the exciting conclusion!

Sidenote:  About 7 years ago, after a Yankee game, I swear that I saw Danny Tamberelli outside the stadium.  I yelled “Little Pete,” but he did not acknowledge me in the slightest.  As a result, I’m positive it was him.

Seriously though, Pete & Pete is probably the best thing ever to air on Nickelodeon (and that’s no small feat (see: Rocko’s Modern Life, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Clarissa Explains It All, Roundhouse, to name a few)) and probably deserved to be on network TV.  And you can quote me on that (seriously, please quote me, I could use the traffic).

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Filed under Count Bleh, Discos and Dragons, Good Humor, Nicktoons, Nostalgia Corner, Snick, Yankee Swap

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2009/12/21 · 8:39 pm

Entertainment Weekly, You Can Consider My Praise Officially Rescinded

A few weeks back I noted that the cover of Entertainment Weekly‘s annual tribute issue, a look back on all those we “loved” and lost this year, made me feel incredibly mortal and guilty for somehow evading Death’s clutches in 2009.  I did, however, look on the bright side and commend EW for at least not going with yet another Twilight cover.  It still stings to see Bea Arthur’s face, but it was preferable to Robert Pattinson’s bird nest for a week.

BUT!!!  As it turns out the issue I received was the subscriber edition and, unbeknownst to me, there were special collector’s editions on newsstands that featured, you guessed it, the cast of Twilight.  And not one special cover, but three.  Because apparently if you don’t get Entertainment Weekly delivered to your house you don’t care that Patrick Swayze died this year.

A word of warning to Taylor Lautner: don’t you dare try to out-hair touch Kristen Stewart.  She will destroy you in that game.

And, for the record, I’m firmly on Team Bea.

EW did get one thing right in this issue, however: #9 on their “Must List,” My Parents Were Awesome.  This site was created by our good friend Eliot Glazer, and is a wonderful window into the past lives of our parents and grandparents.  Did you know they were cool once?  Yeah, I know, hard to believe, but apparently true.  At the very least they definitely had mustaches (well, just the dudes.  Mostly).

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2009/12/16 · 8:28 pm

Hanukkah Night #Seis: Jewing it up on “Late Night’

Like many, I was hard on Jimmy Fallon when he first embarked on his new role as Late Night host back in March.  And the criticism was well-earned.  He seemed ill prepared, unfocused, giggly, and generally too impressed by his guests to offer up anything that resembled an acceptable interview.  However, while his Q&A skills are still raw, he has proven to showcase some of the best, most off-beat sketches on the late night talkies (take a note, Mr. Leno).  From Zack Morris‘ truly satisfying visit to the truly weird  “Let us play with your look” to the truly pitch-perfect Hills knock-off series “7th Floor West,” Fallon has taken advantage of the freedom of the 12:35am slot, and has begun to put together a pretty unique, entertaining show (and the place where revered mid-90s indie-rock heroes come to reunite.  See: Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbox).  Which is all a long way of saying that Andy Samberg visited set the show last night under the guise of Jimmy’s cousin “Jewey Fallon” in order to spread a little Hanukkah cheer.  And you know what?  In comparison to Samberg I kind found myself liking Fallon as much as I have since 10th grade, when he was the new prince of SNL.  Go figure.

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However, as usual, The Roots were the best part.  Just.  Killing.  It.

And if that wet your whistle watch (or rewatch) Fallon and Kimbo Slice wreaking havoc in a commercial for breakaway furniture.

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Filed under Count Bleh, Saturday Night Live, Saved by the Bell, Talkies, Woody Allen, Bar Mitzvahs & Bagels

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2009/12/08 · 12:41 am

100 (and 1) Posts!

That’s right, with our latest SNL recap we officially hit 100 posts!  And now with this entry we’ll formally cross the century mark!  Huzzah!  All in less than a year!  Well on our way to our goal of completely toppling The New York Times.

In honor of reaching the big One Double O, and in hopes of many more unnecessary posts to come, here are a few of our favorite videos from the first hundred days (and by “days” we of course mean posts):

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And, of course, the presumed video of the year:

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Thanks for sticking with us so far; we’re looking forward to bigger and not necessarily better things in the future.  So say we all!

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2009/12/01 · 2:05 am

Congratulations, Entertainment Weekly, You Did It!!!

Your cover made me feel guilty for being alive!

Alright, it’s not EW’s* fault that all these people passed away this year (and what makes it even more depressing is that they couldn’t even fit everyone who died in 09 on the cover.  Didn’t even have room for Ed McMahon!), but it’s still kinda creepy and even at 26 years old this deceased all-star team makes me confront my mortality (also, Dominick Dunne over John Hughes?!  I don’t even know who Dominick Dune is (I thought he was a minor character from the Veronica Mars series finale, which, I admit, is more symptomatic of my ignorance of American literature than an oversight on Entertainment Weekly‘s part)!).  But I guess this was preferable to another Twilight cover (the issue did contain, however, a feature article about the record New Moon opening, so not a total victory over Team Jedward).

If this issue read like the Academy Awards “In Memoriam” montage I would have applauded loudest and longest for Bea Arthur, obviously.

*Entertainment Weekly is a division of Time Warner, of which is completely unaffiliated with Jumped The Snark.

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2009/11/26 · 3:54 pm

Thanksgiving Cooking Tips

Here’s a handy guide to preparing for your Thanksgiving feast—

1. Roast the turkey:

2. Plump it up:
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3. Carve meticulously:

Then serve, enjoy, argue with family members, fall asleep, and promise to never eat again!

Happy Thanksgiving!  See you at the mall!

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2009/11/18 · 1:11 pm

Light the Candles!

Cause it’s birthday time over here at Jumped The Snark!  So, in honor of the occasion, here are a few prudent video selections:

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2009/10/23 · 5:22 pm

Vacation!

Heading outta town in a few hours so posts will be few and far between over the next week.  But we’ll do our best to update via Twitter.  Unless Twitter jumps the shark before then.  Then you’ll just have to wait.

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2009/10/22 · 11:07 pm

The Five Least Awesome Episodes of ‘The Office’

In honor of last week’s rare Office misstep, “Mafia,” and in preparation of tonight’s new episode (which will hopefully wash out the bad taste from last week) we’ve decided to compile the Five Least Awesome The Office episodes, because really, it doesn’t sound right to say the “Five Worst,” as even their five poorest efforts are better than almost anything on TV (looking in your direction, ‘Til Death).  We’ve also gone ahead and disregarded the six episode first season, because during this very brief mid-Spring run they were still trying to find their rhythm, and were basically staging The Office UK re-enactments every week.  For our purposes, the show really started with season 2’s premiere, “The Dundies,” (and indeed when I tell people to watch the show I encourage them to begin at this point and then go back to season 1 once they’re hooked).  So, in descending order, let’s get to it!

Continue to the worst of the cream of the crop…

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