If Jimmy Fallon didn’t already have the planet’s best house band, I’d say he should hire the Muppets, because, as seen in this outtake from their pre-Christmas visit to Late Night, the Muppets don’t only do Christmas Carols:
Vodpod videos no longer available.Although, when I first saw the link I was hoping it was going to be this version of “One.” Now, that would have been cool.
Filed under Mickey Mouse Club, Muppets, Virulent
It’s one thing to wear bright orange Crocs when competing in Kitchen Stadium. It’s another thing to wear them to a film premiere.
And it’s a whole ‘nother thing to wear them to the White House.
At Jumped The Snark we’ve followed the Crocs trend among chefs, from the cheftestants on Top Chef to the granddaddy of Croc-clad cooks, Molto Mario Batali. And while the footwear is indeed silly it seems that one could make a legitimate argument for the functionality of Crocs in the kitchen. And Batali normally gets a pass because his orange Crocs have become his trademark, so much that they were even included on the feet of the rabbit character he voiced in Fantastic Mr. Fox. However, for the latest Iron Chef special event “Super Chef Battle,” in which Batali, Iron Chef Bobby Flay and “Super Chef” Emeril Lagasse visit the White House, wethinks Chef Batali might have chosen a more formal shoe. At least something with laces. Do plastic slippers really belong on the White House lawn?
And hey, this is not to say there’s anything wrong with orange. It can work. Just look at the First Lady. Classy, demure, hip; the woman has style. Perhaps Batali can swap recipes for fashion tips.
But, to Batali’s credit, every time I seem him in Kitchen Stadium I’m consistently impressed by his uncanny cool and sense of whimsy, not to mention the ease in which he prepares and presents what I can only assume are mind-blowing dishes. While “Super Chef” Lagasse was running around like mad, sweating into his three remoulades and nearly burning a turkey roulade, Batali appeared to be working in first gear, moving even slower than the honey from the White House beehive that he poured from an unnecessarily great height. But despite his lack of urgency, he was working with a deft hand, and seemed to create food brilliance (might help that he has another full-fledged Food Network personality as his sous-chef). So either he’s about the best chef going or at least one of the most eccentric.
But I can only imagine what kind of furor the orange Crocs would have elicited had the challenge taken place in Japan. Those guys take their cooking very seriously. Just ask Bobby Flay.
Filed under Team Zissou, The Sixth Taste, Top Scallop
TV might as well have been broken from December 1 to January 4th, because without Regis it was just about dead to me. But after his month-long absence following hip surgery the king of mid-morning made his triumphant return to Live!, to the tune of the Rocky theme no less. They might have his replaced his hip, but let’s hope they didn’t fix his eyes or brain or make him self-aware. Because a sensible, alert, calm, inside-voice Regis is no Regis at all. Unless he’s dangerously unhinged, it’s not Reege.
Vodpod videos no longer available.You can replace hips. You can replace hearts. But you can’t replace crazy.
Ohmigod, I’m going to need freak out control.
Well, folks, less than a month until the final season of LOST premieres. I’ll be honest, because the hiatus is now so lengthy between seasons, I hadn’t been thinking about the show too much lately. And, to be franker still, the show so completely dominates my brainwaves when it’s on – between the actual episodes, the podcasts, countless blog posts, expert analysis, and chats with friends and co-workers – that I rather welcome the respite its extended break provides. When the show is back I’m totally and utterly invested. When it’s in the interim I rest up and allow my mind of focus on other (no less trivial) concerns; which probably explains why I’ve never really been immersed in the between season interactive games like the “LOST Experience.”
However, my excitement for the conclusion began to reemerge when I spoke to a friend over the weekend who, over the last few months, had just watched all five seasons for the first time. After an exhausting task like that her head, I imagine, must feel like Desmond’s when he ping-ponged through time (which, perhaps, makes me her constant. An honor and a responsibility, no doubt). As she just consumed the whole series at once, she was unable to have consistent conversations about the series, in-depth discussions about possible theories and explanations, the time to spend a week reading reactions and frustrations. Thus, as we talked about the island, about Christian Shephard, about Ben, Jacob and the Man in Black, about the clues planted in season one, about Juliet and the H-bomb, and about the probable locations of the characters when the show returns (on the plane? LAX? Exactly where we left them?), her novice enthusiasm, her LOST innocence rubbed off on me, and for the first time since early summer I was really excited about the show’s impending return. I began to remember how much I enjoy discourse around the show, and, even more, just how much I enjoy the show.
And then I saw this and the show was officially back to blowing my mind.
More: But they ripped off Battlestar Galactica! Okay, I’m over it.
Filed under Freak Out Control, LOST, Other people's stuff
First Monday of 2010 and already we have enough Muppet material to last a month. Talk about setting the bar high right off the bat.
Most notably, the Muppets appeared on last night’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (which begs the question, at this point, does EMHE really require the “Home Edition” designation. Do people even remember the original Extreme Makeover, a less dirty, less Foxier version of Fox’s The Swan?). Even better than renovating a home and changing a family’s life is that the Muppets got to work with Sam Champion, who boasts the 2nd best weatherman name, just behind Storm Field (interestingly, however, Champion might be the front-runner for best overall name. It’s fascinating and complex how these things work). As usual, the Muppets demonstrated their unique brand of mayhem, as well as their extra-large hearts inside adorably tiny bodies. Coming on the heels of their work with Habit for Humanity, the Muppets now seem to be the go-to team for carpentry (speaking of which, as it is now 2010, make sure to check out Disney’s “Give a day, get a day” list of participating programs. Surprisingly, being an extra on The New Adventures of Old Christine is already all filled up. Even more surprising is that Disney considers being an extra on a CBS sitcom an acceptable form of volunteerism). But really, will ABC just give the Muppets their own show already? Yes, Muppets Tonight didn’t set the world on fire. And yes, America’s Next Muppet didn’t make it to air. But just because that didn’t work out doesn’t mean that the Muppets don’t deserve another crack at it (and, please, the opportunity should be on ABC, not The Disney Channel. And if not on ABC, maybe they should put Kermit and Co. in a gritty cop drama and send them to FX).
Check out the full show here, and an exclusive clip below:
Vodpod videos no longer available.In other news, it was just announced last week that the Muppets film debut, The Muppet Movie, was included on the list of features to be added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Finally, the government takes a real step to preserve a national treasure (also, many thanks to my roommate who righted a wrong and gave me The Muppet Movie on DVD for HanuChristmas. I’m embarrassed to say that I only had it on VHS (although, I might as well just have waited until they perfect/release the technology to imprint it on my brain)). I guess, unlike his predecessor, Barack Obama cares about the Muppets.
And, finally, I thought it really fitting/kinda sad that Amazon offered me these recommendations today. It’s not that they’re wrong. It’s that they’re so right.
Filed under Century 21 Reality, Mickey Mouse Club, Muppet Mondays, Muppets
Well, T9 has made that a little bit more difficult, because according to the language there’s no such word as doppelganger.* And now it’s too late, bizarro me has already taken me out.
Here’s a relevant and excellent SNL Digital Short (and as it just missed out on my upcoming best SNL sketches of the decade list, I’m happy to get the opportunity to use it here):
Vodpod videos no longer available.*Interestingly this sketch was hard to find for a similar reason. It’s not that Hulu does not recognize the word doppelganger, is that’s they spelled it doppleganger. But I guess we’re all wrong and it should be: doppelgänger. Oh, languages can be so much fun!
Filed under Saturday Night Live, Words T9 Doesn't Know
First, congratulations to Jumped The Snark on two decades of cutting edge, premier, trenchant, award-winning* pop culture commentary. The aughts were good to us, but we’re really excited about reaching new highs in the Roaring Tens.
But before we really hit the new decade you didn’t think we’d begin 2010 without a relevant New Years Eve video, did you? Come on! You should know us better by now!
Of course, the obvious and really only choice for this was, as we teased earlier, the last Pete & Pete special before it became a regular series, the epic “New Year’s Pete.” Little Pete tries to make the better world for all mankind, but realizes that New Years resolutions, and life itself, can be pretty futile. Dark stuff for a quasi-kids show. And probably the only show on Nickelodeon ever to show a character smoke cigarettes. But hey, that’s real life.
And if you’re not too hungover, here’s Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4.
Look for a cameo from a much slimmer Vincent “Big Pussy” Pastore and don’t look for one from Hunter S. Thompson.
Diet starts today, right guys????
*And by “award-winning” we mean that we’ve received over 50 spam comments. Thanks to everyone who helped make our dream a reality!
Filed under Krebstar, Nostalgia Corner, The Roaring 10s!
When we started this blog back in the Triassic Age of March 2009 one of the regular features was “Words T9 Doesn’t Know.” As the site has developed, and as we found more entertaining, more useful content to write about, the number of T9 posts dropped (also due to finding less and less T9 omissions and, probably, sheer laziness), but as we look ahead to an even better year at Jumped The Snark in 2010, let’s look back and note one more egregious T9 blind spot:
Thickens
What if I was trying to text tweet a mystery novel from my cell phone? How would I let people know that the plot was becoming more complex? What if I was trying to explain to a drunk friend via text when his Kraft Mac & Cheese would be ready to eat? Leaving out “thickens” just seems reckless, T9.
And may 2010 be just as reckless.
Filed under Words T9 Doesn't Know
We’ve well-documented how the Muppets are just dominating the end of 2009. However, will it continue in 2010? Well, that remains to be seen, but they’ve already made it so your 2010 will be a little better.
A few months ago Disney announced their “give a day, get a day” promotion, whereby if you volunteer for a day at a participating organization you’ll then receive a free one day ticket to a Disney park (I’m sure there are some annoying restrictions, but I’m not going to do all the work for you), and soon followed up with a series of commercials starring the Muppets touting the promotion. Interesting that they’re using the Muppets and not Mickey and the gang (Disney first made the announcement by having their characters volunteer in five cities, sending Mickey & Co to four of the cities, and assigning Kermit and Miss Piggy to LA, the biggest media market of the five), but when you think about it, it does make sense. Mickey, and the other full body suit characters, can’t talk, can’t emote, and has no expressions beyond hand gestures and head nods. The Muppets, on the other hand, feel living and breathing. You sometimes forget they are not real animate creatures, instead a hand surrounded felt and rubber and glue-on eyes. But while Kermit can speak genuinely and effectively about the importance of Habitat for Humanity, if Goofy attempted to do the same thing it would seem, well, exactly that. Goofy.
Below you can see the Swedish Chef wreaking his usual brand of havoc with Iron Chef Cat Cora, and then check out the additional spots with (ABC stars) Taye Diggs (maybe the only man with the power to make Miss Piggy forget about Kermit), Teri Hatcher, James Denton and Sara Ramirez.
The promotion starts January 1st, 2010. So while we expect big things from the Muppets next year, they’ve already gone ahead and made an impact on the next decade. Hopefully this also means that if you give a day, you get a day with the Muppets. A larger presence at the Disney parks is far overdue, and, as Disney has implicitly admitted, Kermit can do more good than Mickey could ever imagine (and, in case you didn’t know, Mickey’s imagination is ridiculous).
Filed under Analysis, Mickey Mouse Club, Muppet Mondays, Muppets
SNL might not have always been funny. In fact, it might have never really been funny. But it’s always been topical.
Vodpod videos no longer available.Just try to watch the first few minutes of the Community Christmas episode and not get into some (non-denomination) holiday spirit.
Vodpod videos no longer available.And before Dwight was Recyclops he would just come into the office with the Christmas goose. You know, before things got weird.
Vodpod videos no longer available.Merry Happy to all! And to all I’m off for buttermilk pancakes!
Jumped The Snark 