Category Archives: Other people's stuff

Entertainment Weekly, You Can Consider My Praise Officially Rescinded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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Filed under Count Bleh, Golden Girls, Interweb, Makes You Think, Other people's stuff

Have We Entered The Age of Kenan?

We’ve talked about the groundswell of support that has erupted around Kenan Thompson for his work  on SNL this season, and that “What Up With That?” has perhaps become the premier recurring sketch of the season so far, and while we don’t quite buy into all the buzz, there’s no denying he’s having his best season yet.  With his stock at record levels, he was the subject of a profile over at NY Mag, ostensibly cementing this as his breakout season.  Apparently even Lorne Michaels agrees, remarking that “Kenan’s on fire this season.”  Makes sense that Lorne would have a spot for Thompson, because while Thompson has found his groove, there were many sketches in previous years in which Kenan seemed out-of-place, like the SNL intern, incongruous to the rest of the sketch.  Those moments usually resulted some in some of laughter too, but more because they were stilted Kenan Thompson cameos, and not organic comedy.  Now he’s truly enmeshed in the sketches and earning the laughs. Now while we  don’t necessarily agree with any Kenan Thompson “MVP” chants (our allegiance, obviously, belongs to Jason Sudeikis), we’re starting to forgive him for “Deep House Dish” (but there’s still a long way to go).

But let’s not focus on the present, or even the future.  Let’s look back at the past.

And while we’re in the wayback machine, here’s an interview with Thompson I conducted five years ago this month just prior to the release of Fat Albert, and when Thompson was just midway through his 2nd season on SNL.  Interestingly, when asked about SNL he says “Probably one of the most stressful situations I’ve ever seen in life. But it’s only going to last a couple more years and then after that you can do whatever.”  Well, he’s been on the show for six years now and as he’s just hitting his stride it’s probably going to be a few more before he can do “whatever.”  But after paying his dues all this time and likely growing a little wiser, one must wonder if he feels the same way now.  At the moment, something tells me he’s just enjoying it.  But, you know what, I’ll see if I can’t get a follow-up interview.

NY Mag: What Up With Him?

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Filed under Nostalgia Corner, Other people's stuff, Saturday Night Live

Muppet Monday!

For the past few weeks, starting with the days around Thanksgiving and the hoopla over the Muppet’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” video, I’ve been posting Muppet-related entries every Friday (I think).  However, today, we usher in a new era of Muppet posts, “Muppet Mondays,”* a hopefully weekly addition to Jumped The Snark (however, this certainly does not preclude the possibility of posting Muppet-related material on days other than Monday).

The inaugural Muppet Monday post is not just a viral video, but something much greater than yet.  Yesterday, even though I’ve been visiting Southern California for the last 12 years and have been living here for the past 7 months (to the date, in fact) I had yet to visit the original Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland.  Well, that all changed about 36 hours ago.  And sure, I enjoyed myself on the two Buzz Lightyear rides, was charmed by the Monsters, Inc attraction, was thoroughly spooked by Pirates of the Caribbean, and napped during the Finding Nemo submarine tour, these all paled in comparison to what was the clear highlight: Muppet*Vision 3D.

Continue: I see the show, my life is complete. Also, the Muppets & Disney, what could have been…

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Filed under Mickey Mouse Club, Muppet Mondays, Muppets, Other people's stuff

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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Filed under Count Bleh, Golden Girls, Other people's stuff, Yvonne Hudson

Foxy Movie, I Think I Love You

Yeah, we went with that title.  Give us a break, it’s early on a Monday, and it’s not fair to expect words of beauty.

Anyway, we contributed another post to the Awards Picks Red Carpet Blog, this time in praise/reverence of Fantastic Mr. Fox.  Long story short, I loved Up, but I also loved this movie, and now I’m confused.

If your thirst for Mr. Fox and Wes Anderson material is not sated by the review, nor his interview on Fresh Air, nor by this featurette, then check out the A.V. Club’s recent Q&A with Anderson.

Now off to play some Whackbat.

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Filed under Other people's stuff, Team Zissou

‘SNL’ & JGL: Full of Sound and Fury Signifying…What, Exactly?

Well, there was no denying that the energy level was turned up to 11 on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, with a burst of adrenaline that was no doubt due in great part to Joseph Gordon Levitt’s raucous enthusiasm, and, perhaps, with the scathing reviews after last weekend’s January Jones episode, the cast and crew felt they had something to prove.  And they came out and put on an entertaining, upbeat, cue card independent show.  But was it actually any funnier?

Well, yes, it was.  But was it the “best episode of the season,” the superlative that many blogs have given it, so soon after they did the same for the Taylor Swift outing?  That assertion, like the Taylor Swift platitudes, is debatable.  Certainly though, there was no arguing it was better, and, at the very least, not nearly as lazy.  But in this case, let’s not confuse enthusiasm for a good sense of humor, or entertainment for comedy.  They’re definitely related, but one does not necessarily equal the other.

Over on his EW blog Ken Tucker provided an excellent commentary that’s quite similar to my own take (so if you’re in a rush and can only read his review or ours, read his), noting that while Levitt’s frenetic monologue performance of “Make ‘Em Laugh” from Singing in the Rain was impressive (especially his two off-the wall backflips followed by a well-executed pratfall) and a crowd pleaser, it didn’t exactly make you laugh.  It was almost more like a successful awards show opening number than a sharp, funny SNL monologue.  That being said we’ll be lucky if all future hosts can provide as much talent and effort as “regular Joe”  (However, with that kind of energy, one has to wonder if JGL was on more than just regular joe).

Read on: What’s Up With Kenan Thompson, Family Dinners & Pierre Escargot? Plus, Jason Sudeikis makes 12:50am safe again…

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Filed under Analysis, Good Humor, Other people's stuff, Saturday Night Live

All the More Reason for ‘Wayne’s World 3’

An old, but still relevant article on the Huffington Post about the decline of Dana Carvey and Mike Myers, which hits on points we previously made in separate posts about Carvey (re: his Leno appearance) and Meyers (re: The Love Guru).

Better times:

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Filed under Other people's stuff, Saturday Night Live

Sesame Street Socialism

Normally I will not stand for any kind of besmirching of the Muppet or Sesame Street legacy.  They’ve done far too much good and earned too much respect to be the target of an easy joke (I feel the same way about Billy Joel, incidentally another big influence during my youth).  However, with the 40th Anniversary of Sesame Street upon us, they had some fun with our (apparently left-wing) furry friends on The Colbert Report.  Of course, their in-depth knowledge of the show and its characters shows true admiration and reverence, and clearly only devoted fans would be able to develop an argument for Grover as a proponent of same-sex marriage (however, I think the jury is still out on Bert & Ernie.  Just because they lived together, sleeping in the same room all these years doesn’t mean they’re gay.  I mean, do you know how much it costs to rent on Sesame Street?  It’s pure economics.  Also, Kip and Henry shared a room and no one said they were gay.  And they were cross-dressers to boot).

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And while we’re talking about Sesame Street, check out our friend Kieran Walsh’s thoughts on 40 years of Big Bird, Cookie Monster and the gang.

via Comedysmack

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Filed under Good Humor, Muppets, Nostalgia Corner, Other people's stuff

And I Thought The Wicked Queen Was Scary

Seriously, I was crying so much during Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that my mom had to take me out of the theater (it was a rough 18th birthday.  JK!).  I had since believed that the wicked Queen/evil step-mother was the most terrifying of all Disney creations (perhaps something in Fantasia is scarier, but the last time I saw it I fell asleep.  Which is impressive considering it was in IMAX), but after seeing the concept art for a new Mickey Mouse video game, I think we have a new winner (and we all know how serious I am about video game art).  I’m not sure why,  but it seems they have decided to completely reinvent the character, and ward off anyone under the age of 10.  But if the game itself is as cool it looks, I won’t complain.  Take a look at Epic Mickey:

 

Epic Mickey

Courtesy of Disney

 

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Filed under Commodore 64, Other people's stuff, Tyranasaurus Sex

Dr. Michael and Mr. Scott (A Few Final Thoughts On “Double Date”)

One last note on yesterday’s discussion about Michael Scott and the inverse relationship between his inanity to the quality of The Office (and then we’ll leave the show alone until next week).  Just came across a post from Time TV columnist James Poniewozik, who essentially argued the same thing in his round-up of the best comedies currently on air.  However, we disagreed about which Michael showed up in last night’s episode.  Poneiwoznik asserts that “Double Date”s main problem was that it fed us the “too crazy” Michael.  While I agree that it was just a “decent” episode, I don’t think it was because of an over-the-line Michael.  Indeed, he straddled the line, but he ultimately came down on the side of tolerable.  Instead what I think made this just a decent episode is that, as Alan Sepinwall notes, “the episode really didn’t know how to end.”  I wonder if there was a big debate about whether Pam should actually hit Michael.  Oscar belittles Kevin for betting on Pam, remarking that there is no way she can lose.  But, as we saw, by (eventually) slapping him she did lose.  They both lost.  Perhaps it would have been better for Pam to just walk away, but  I guess that would be the old Pam.  And while the Michael-Helene romance was never going to last, it did feel a bit tossed off.  I only wish the Michael-Jan affair could have ended just as quick.

Similarly, and to a greater degree, the B story with Dwight and Andy constantly trying to out-polite each other turned out to be a dead-end.  It was amusing, if a bit too silly, but while it seemed to be leading up to a reveal of some evil Dwight plan, it just escalated to nowhere.  This was far more of a let down than the Pam/Michael showdown.

For further reading see Vulture, AV Club, & PopWatch

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Filed under Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam, Other people's stuff