Category Archives: LOST

2010/12/27 · 11:35 am

Winter Cleaning: My (Belated) Top 10 TV Shows of the 2000s

With the snow keeping us indoors we thought it might be a good time to go through our drafts and let some of these long-languishing, somewhat unfinished posts see the light of day.  First up, our best shows of the 2000s, which we held off publishing until we could embed some video evidence.  But, at this point, we’ll put that responsibility in your hands.

My belated best TV shows of the 2000s! (in a semi-particular order)

1. LOST: For the reasons I outline here.

2. The Sopranos: The Godfather of dark, fearless cable shows with flawed central characters.  Might be responsible for killing network TV.

3. Arrested Development:  Simply the smartest sitcom of all time.  It was probably to clever for its own good.  It was basically teaching a master class in comedy while throwing out an impossible amount of sight gags, call backs and cutaways.  We should just be thankful that we got 3 seasons of this masterpiece.

4. Veronica Mars: Could have put it below Freaks and Geeks, but I give it the edge for somehow making it to season three (even if that was a neutered, watered-down version of VM).  I’d put the first season up against any season from the last decade.

5.  Freaks and Geeks: The most gut-wrenchingly accurate depiction of high school ever.  18 episodes of achingly beautiful growing pains [editor’s note: just watched much of IFC’s Freaks and Geeks Holiday Marathon, and if we revised this list today we’d be tempted to put this show at the top of this list.  It’s that fucking good].

More: 6 – 10 and Honorable Mention

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Filed under Best Show You're Not Watching, Bob Loblaw, Dillon Panthers, Discos and Dragons, Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam, Flashback!, Lists, LOST, Mars Investigations, Mr. Gaeta, Prepare for Jump, The Roaring 10s!, The State

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2010/12/04 · 11:44 pm

On the Fourth Night of Hanukkah Jumped the Snark Gave to You…

…four Curb Your Enthusiasm videos…

Including Hurley, a (possible) small penis, Ben Stiller (Jew) and a Bar Mitzvah.

Mazel Tov!

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Filed under Good Humor, Lady Holiday, LOST, Woody Allen, Bar Mitzvahs & Bagels

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2010/11/11 · 5:39 pm

What Was ‘Perfect Strangers’ Trying to Tell Us About 9/11?

We were on Wikipedia this morning reading about old TGIF shows, as is our Thursday morning custom, and we were stunned to learn that the exterior Chicago shots in Perfect Strangers’ opening title sequence were shot on September 11, 1987.

Normally we might not think anything of this, but after reading this yesterday we’re not so sure.  If The Simpsons foretold the events 9/11 four years before they happened, could Perfect Strangers have been warning us fourteen years in advance?  What did they know??

Here’s the video in question:

And now think about the lyrics:

Standing tall, on the wings of my dream.
Rise and fall, on the wings of my dream.

Tall?  Fall?  Wings?  C’mon, guys, pretty prophetic stuff.

MIND. BLOWN.

In addition, the USA Network stopped rerunning the show in syndication as of September 11, 1998, eleven years after the opening sequence footage was shot.

BOOM.

Anyone know if Bronson Pinchot is in the Illuminati?

And that’s not all; Wikipedia also notes that Lost‘s Elizabeth Mitchell appeared in the pilot episode of the classic 1980s Nickelodeon show You Can’t Do That On Television.  However, the show originated out of Canada, while Mitchell was born in LA and grew up in Dallas.  EXPLAIN THAT ONE!  Another one of Lost‘s mysteries that will remain unresolved?  Or is it part of a greater conspiracy?

Think about it.

You’re welcome.

 

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Filed under Conspiracy Theory, LOST, Makes You Think, TGIF

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2010/10/29 · 4:27 pm

Remember Like a Year Ago When All We Did was Write About Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno?

Well, now there’s a book (not written by us).  Bill Carter, who chronicled the first Tonight Show War in The Late Shift, is set to release The War for Late Night, an in-depth look at last winter’s late night talkie drama, what many of us referred to as the Jaypocalypse.  With Conan, beard and all, set to premiere his new show on TBS in just a matter of days, the book should be a fascinating recount of how the late night landscape was perhaps forever changed, and how, in the end, the skirmish might have been the best thing that ever happened to Conan O’Brien.

Read an except from The War for Late Night on Vanity Fair

And since there will inevitably be a movie based on the book, let’s remember the last one:

(Fun Fact: did you know that the actor who played Jay Leno in The Late Shift, Daniel Roebuck, went on to play Dr. Leslie Artz on Lost?  It’s true!  I know, right?!  Oh, and Letterman was played by John Michael Higgins, who is just generally awesome.  Crazy!)

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Filed under Flashback!, Literarally, LOST, Other people's stuff, Talkies

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2010/09/01 · 10:11 am

Not Very Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Random, Belated, Emmy Thoughts

The Emmy’s were handed out three nights ago, and in the internet world that’s about the equivalent of a fortnight, and everyone who can say it better than me has already said it better than me.  But, just to put it on the permanent record, and to get us ready for the impending fall TV season, we thought we’d follow-up with a few humble thoughts of our own, in concise bullet-point form:

  • Loved the opening bit, even if it was somewhat of a rehash of 6-Bee‘s glee club rendition of “We’re Not Going to Take It,” a performance that we still giddily cue up on our screen on a regular basis (as well as an audio version on our iPod).  But with Tina Fey, Jon Hamm, Joel McHale, Jorge Garcia AND Tim Gunn it was like the Ocean’s 11 all-star version of the original Late Night piece, and it truly demanded some freak out control.  Our worlds colliding, but in an amazing way.
  • Speaking of Jon Hamm, now that his comedic genius has finally been exposed to a wide audience (30 Rock is still critically adored but commercially ignored, his appearances in viral videos only legitimately reach a small segment of the online viewing public, and even two turns hosting SNL don’t necessarily make you a household name these days), can we start having him be funny full-time?  He’s so gifted, and so natural, it honestly feels like a waste forcing him to be so stoic and dour and cold on Mad Men (and we know we sound like a broken record on this, but we’re going to keep bring it up until it happens.  Or until Mad Men becomes a farcical satire.  Maybe in season 5).  Sure, he’s magnetic, sexy and mysterious on the AMC drama, but it’s when he’s allowed to do comedy that he truly lights up.  But after being seen dancing like an idiot on HDTVs all across the country maybe someone will give him a chance to headline a comedy.  Perhaps something in the Apatowian genre.  I think that’s a hit.

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Filed under Analysis, Century 21 Reality, Dillon Panthers, Freak Out Control, Intersection of the venn diagram of things that I love, LOST, Must See TV, Participation Award, Saturday Night Live, Top Scallop

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2010/06/08 · 8:33 pm

This Could Only Be Better If It Somehow Involved Pizza AKA LOST & Kermit!

Many years ago two of my greatest, if not my two greatest, passions united in a music video. I speak of course of Weezer and the Muppets, joining forces for the “Keep Fishin’” music video. Unfortunately, by that time Weezer was already on their way to retroactively ruining the fanatical affection I harbored for them during my high school years. The union was still unimaginably cool, but would have required a little bit more freak out control if it was made just a couple of years earlier (or perhaps that’s the benefit of time talking, as well as the carnage inflicted by Make Believe and The Red Album*).

However, I have no such bitterness about this new, brain-exploding team-up, the latest in the “Lost Slapdown” series.  Yes, as odd as it may sound, God (and Disney corporate synergy) have brought together Lost and Kermit the Frog.

But although this is a monumental, colossal cross-over, I will not be getting a tattoo commemorating this meeting of Kermit, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, despite what some have suggested.

Make sure to check out the other Lost-Muppet joint ventures, including Pepe auditioning for the role of the Smoke Monster, Rizzo infiltrating the writers’ room and the Swedish Chef, an apparent avid Lost fan, running the ABC cafeteria.

*For a truly thought-provoking and thoughtful look at the devolution of Weezer, specifically Rivers Cuomo’s fall from ironic yet genuine songwriter to hackneyed hyper-self-aware song-crafter, we urge you to take a look at Chuck Klosterman‘s** essay on the subject in his anthology Eating the Dinosaur.  And just go ahead and read everything else in the compendium, because it’s all genius.

**And if Chuck Klosterman*** does anything with the Muppets I’ll flip out just as much, if not more.  Even if it’s an essay comparing Elmo to Helen Thomas.

***Just realized that “Klosterman” contains the word “lost.”  Whoa.

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Filed under Freak Out Control, Intersection of the venn diagram of things that I love, LOST, Muppets, Other people's stuff, Tyranasaurus Sex, Virulent

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2010/05/17 · 8:57 pm

Need Both a Jumped The Snark & ‘Lost’ Fix?

Been missing Jumped The Snark?  Did last week’s divisive, mythology-thick, Lost not do it for you?  Well, we have a solution for both maladies (sorta): a new episode of Late!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Jumped the Snark may be on somewhat of a temporary hiatus, and by this time next week the story of Lost will be complete.  But one can only hope that Jimmy Fallon and co will always be there to fill the void.

Also, pretty sure Fallon’s fake beard looks better than Matthew Fox’s.  I actually rewatched the Lost season 3 finale last night, the first appearance of the future-beard, and it’s really just unforgivably terrible.  When all is said and done and the history of Lost is written, the mystery of Jack Shephard’s terrible beard may the greatest unanswered question of them all.

Matthew Fox, what do you think?

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Filed under Count Bleh, LOST, Talkies

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2010/04/01 · 10:10 pm

LOST: “The Package”

Randy Jackson and I had a similar reaction to this week’s episode of LOST:

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Filed under All the sudden I could really go for a Coke, Analysis, LOST

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2010/03/30 · 7:18 am

Because For ‘LOST’ Fans a Simple Title Card Isn’t Enough

Ever since Seinfeld, opening title sequences have been getting shorter and shorter, culminating in the extreme minimalism of the LOST opening, which is no more than a word and a musical note, and is just about pitch perfect.  But although they get a blue ribbon for their short, straight to the point title card, one whose brevity allows for maximum time to present questions they most likely won’t answer, fans seem to desire something more traditional, over the years creating mash-up credit sequences inspired by Growing Pains, The A-Team, Full House and Friends.  But they all pale in comparison to this Saul Bass-style opening:

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Pretty flawless.

New challenge: LOST in the key of My Two Dads.  Any takers?  Winner gets a case of Dharma fish biscuits.

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Filed under Growing Pains, LOST, Nostalgia Corner, Other people's stuff, Virulent, Wake Up, SF!

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2010/03/26 · 11:15 am

48 Is a Top-Notch Number

Because apparently some people find this blog to be full of worth and wouldn’t discover these videos otherwise, here’s the third episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon‘s latest opus Late:

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Creepy good.

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Filed under LOST, Talkies, Virulent

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