Cause it’s birthday time over here at Jumped The Snark! So, in honor of the occasion, here are a few prudent video selections:
Vodpod videos no longer available.Reege No Longer Just a Danger to Himself, Nearly Gives Meryl Streep Heart Attack
Yesterday I turned the TV tuner to Live! with Regis and Kelly specifically to see if Regis would say something ridiculous within one minute. Well, he didn’t disappoint.
A few weeks back Regis gave us a very detailed account of his painful battle with kidney stones many years ago, a fight that he thankfully won just before surgery. On Monday’s show Regis and Kelly welcomed Meryl Streep to the stools and this time Regis decided to stop inflicting pain on himself and turn the cross-hairs on his guest instead. In a smooth segue, Regis informs Streep that her daughter has broken her leg, nearly giving the Oscar Queen a heart attack as this was news to her. In fact, it was news to everyone because ol’ Reege just completely butchered the cue card, which actually said that Streep’s daughter “just got her big break.” Just broke her leg, just got her big break, whatever, same thing.
(forward to 2:15 to see the incident)
You really can tell that Kelly is embarrassed, and these days she has to be feeling more like a handler than a co-host. Let’s face it, the guy ‘s a loose cannon, and he’s going to do some real damage one day.
What makes this extra amazing is that apparently this whole time Regis has been so clueless about names and facts and words and he’s actually been reading cue cards. Who knows what kind of bad news he would have delivered to Streep if he was left completely to his own devices. Swine Flu? SARS? Black Lung? Imbalance of bodily humors?
More: What do Kelly Ripa’s breasts, Costco, Charla Nash & Lou Dobbs have in common?
Filed under Talkies, Team Zissou
In Memorium
I always liked Ken Ober. I also always liked this show because the contestants got to eat popcorn.
But weren’t late 80s game show prizes the worst? They just don’t hold up. A video word processor? They were so close to a computer! And between Remote Control and Double Dare I think Casio gave away more keyboards in the 1980s than they actually sold.
Anyway, it’s a shame. Hope John Sencio‘s doing okay.
(And yet all those insipid wastecases on the Real World-Road Rules Challenge continue to live happy, healthy lives. And Jesse Camp, I assume)
Filed under Match Games, TV Killed the Music Video Star
Carefully With Those Chili Peppers, Guy Fieri, Don’t Want To Get Too Extreme!
Food + Rock + 25 Gallon Margarita Machine + DJ = Guy Fieri Road Show!
Finally (!) more details have emerged about the Guy Fieri Road Show, where Food Meets Rock (again, finally!!!). In a Q&A with the LA Times Mr. Fieri answers all our burning questions about this unique concert/cooking experience. In talking about the origins of the show, Fieri thought “What if we take a cooking demonstration and fortify it with a lot of good music?. . . . Drive it to the next level?” And here, this whole time, I thought the idea is to fortify cooking with unique flavor profiles, or at least some essential vitamins and minerals. The good news? Fieri says that the show will be “everything they won’t let me do on TV,” which we presume means that he’ll now be allowed to wear his sunglasses properly and put on a pair of pants.
Gets even better! Want the chance to try a margarita made in a 6 ft, 25 gal mixer? How about the opportunity to sample The “Bomb” Calamari or “Maui Onion Straws?” Want to sit closer to the DJ who will be playing “everything from old school rock ‘n’ roll to theme-oriented stuff?” Well, for $250 you can sit on the stage and have your dream come true!
Killer.
Via Pop Candy
Filed under Tex Wasabi's, The Sixth Taste, Top Scallop
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:
Vodpod videos no longer available.Filed under Other people's stuff, Saturday Night Live
January Jones Was the Worst Host Ever On the Worst Episode of ‘SNL’ Ever
Or so it would seem.
The reaction to last week’s Taylor Swift SNL was overwhelmingly positive, with most critics/bloggers declaring it the best episode of the (mediocre) season. While I think it was one of the stronger episodes of the season, I’m not quite sure it was the best (I’d probably have to hand that distinction to the Gerard Butler outing, in which Butler was more polished and comfortable than Swift), but certainly it’s possible to make the argument for its season supremacy. But boy, how quickly things change. After the buzzed about Swift edition SNL returned this weekend with Mad Men‘s January Jones as host, and if the blogosphere is to believed it was the worst episode in the history of Saturday Night Live, featuring the most ill-prepared host in 35 years of the show. Well, yes, it was bad, but we’re hyperbolizing just a little bit. If anything, saying that the new episode was that bad gives too much credit to other dreadful performances from this season (basically all but Butler and Swift), and certainly episodes from past seasons (ahem, Michael Phelps). So to get all riled up about a single terrible episode of SNL is about as useless as getting giddy about an excellent episode of SNL, because, no matter what, the show is coming back next week, sometimes it’s going to be inconceivably bad, sometimes surprisingly brilliant, and mostly very average. That’s why teachers invented the bell curve, to bring the extremes back down to earth. So, by all means, complain about the episode, as it was lazy, sloppy and just generally unfunny. But, remember, they have and will do worse.
With that, it’s not worth doing a rundown of the highlights, as there weren’t that many, but a few thoughts:
More: Running out the clock, Jones vs. Hamm, Slate vs. Watkins, and cotton balls made out of clouds…
Filed under Analysis, Bad Humor, Saturday Night Live
More Crocs on Top Chef! But Still Way Behind Tattoos for Most Common Cheftestant Accessory
Months ago I lamented the departure of Top Chef Cheftestant and Hati survivor Ron Duprat, he of the red Crocs. We were going to miss his jolly laugh, his trouble understanding the meaning of words like “vice” and “deconstructed,” and his revolting cocktails. But most of all we were going to miss his plastic footwear, the fire truck red slip-ons that made him stand out from the rest.
It was then, with great pleasure, that I realized it appears that perennial challenge finalist and lover of all things pork Kevin Gillespie has been sporting his own pair of Crocs this whole time, albeit a much a less fashionable black set. Looking back, it was very hard to pick this up, as they just as easily could have been confused for a pair of black boots. But if you know what you’re looking for then you can (sorta) make out the Crocs, like in this picture from the Penn & Teller episode.
Filed under Century 21 Reality, Top Scallop
Will the Real Andy Bernard Please Stand Up?
In our thoughts on The Office last week we posited that the Andy Bernard we currently know and love, the “‘nard dog,” is drastically different from the Andy we first met when Jim transferred to Stamford. Then he was more of a pompous douche, and now he leans more towards well-meaning dork. Once he returned from his anger management training at the end of season 3 he was a understandably a changed man, but it’s sometimes hard to believe that the dandy, over-polite Andy Bernard we know now is the same person who put his fist through a wall in a fit of rage. However, in a deleted scene from last week’s “Double Date” Andy does acknowledge his past temper problems, which helps soothe our unease over the character’s evolution.
Vodpod videos no longer available.We also spoke last week about the equally drastic shift in the character of Ryan, and indeed this is demonstrated by his new threads, as discussed in today’s Office recap.
Filed under Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam, Makes You Think
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).
Vodpod videos no longer available.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
Filed under Good Humor, Muppets, Nostalgia Corner, Other people's stuff
‘Threat Level Midnight 2: Savannah Nights’ (Thoughts on “Murder”)
At this point, midway through its sixth season, it seems that with every episode of The Office we are taking the temperature of the series, gauging if it’s on the decline, on the way back up, or holding steady. It’s unfair, and ultimately a disservice to the show and the viewer. However, it’s the truth, and it’s going to continue, especially because this is a show that has exceeded expectations and reached rare levels of brilliance but has also always seemed to be walking a tightrope. Can the show continue once Pam and Jim get together? Will it lose it’s direction after Pam and Jim get married? Will the magic chemistry between the ensemble cast run out? Or will the writers no longer be able to supply interesting but plausible office-related storylines? Even though the show has been so consistently damn good, there’s still this pervading feeling that all the inventive writing and superior acting could disappear one week, never to return. While we have not actually been faced with this reality, we learned last night that the employees of Dunder Mifflin are very much in this predicament, as it seems all but certain that the company will file for bankruptcy. While we have been fearing a sudden, painful demise of The Office, the characters are now fearful of a sudden, painful demise of their office. It’s a new storyline that hopefully, while putting the employees on the chopping block, allows the show to continue to flourish.
Which is not to say that last night’s outing, “Murder,” was a real step towards silencing doubters.
Filed under Analysis, Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam, Good Humor
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