Fourth place network NBC seems to be hanging their future on comedies running in shorter seasons for the upcoming fall TV season. With rumors swirling that new series such as “Go On”, “Save Me”, “New Normal” and “Animal Practice” could ramp up their debut seasons as soon as mid-August, NBC just got serious about throwing everything at the proverbial wall to see what sticks.
But that glut of new comedies, along with “1600 Penn”, “Dane Cook-starring “Next Caller” and “Guys With Kids”, doesn’t leave out any of their current stable of Thursday night comedies. “Parks and Recreation”, “Community”, “Up All Night” “Whitney” (which also aired on Wednesdays this year) along with the final seasons of “30 Rock” and “The Office” (not formally announced yet) are also back for the 2012-13 season. Throw in the likely renewal of my least favorite comedy of the year, “Whitney”, and that’s a crowded stable of comedies for the folks at NBC to somehow schedule.
This probably means two full nights of comedies as Comcast-owned NBC tries to scratch their way ahead of ABC next year. I’m totally excited that the core Thursday night comedies will be back for another year and it’s about time the both “30 Rock” and “The Office” are shown the door. “30 Rock” at least still has their core cast but it’s obvious that the pre-taped episodes are starting to run out of ideas -- the live episode featuring the likes of Jon Hamm, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Fallon and Fred Armisen was totally brilliant. That episode alone more than made up for the show-within-a-show “Queen of Jordan” episodes of the past two seasons. “The Office”, though, has obviously struggled after the departure of Steve Carrell but there have been glimpses of brilliance with Ed Helms as the Dunder Mifflin -- Scranton, PA manager. But even the creative folks behind “The Office” know that the show’s time has come.
That’s where “The Farm” comes in. Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute on “The Office”) is rumored to be starring in a sort of spinoff featuring the inept and borderline mad bed and breakfast owner at Schrute Farms. The show isn’t scheduled but is rumored to be somewhat of a replacement for “The Office”. It sounds interesting and if done properly it should be a perfectly fine comedy along the vein of the current quirky and smart laughtrack-free Thursday night NBC lineup.
Back to the new crop of comedies, though. “Go On” sounds like the cream of the crop starring Matthew Perry of “Friends” fame as a guy whose life seemingly revolves around a mandatory support group he attends. Also sounding like a winner is “Animal Kingdom” featuring a doctor who like Dr. House on the FOX drama hates most humans but fortunately the lead in “Animal Kingdom” works as a veterinarian who loves animals.
Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
NBC's Bent is their best sitcom since Community
The first two episodes of NBC's late-season apparent comedy burn-off of "Bent" - starring Amanda Peet and created by Tad Quill (last year's poorly received "Perfect Couples") are in the books and were actually very solid. In a short conversation with MPR's Bob Collins via Twitter last night, he stated that the show's dialogue pacing made something by Aaron Sorkin seem like a slow southern drawl.
To me, "Bent" has an obvious romantic comedy slant to it. The tense romantic chemistry between stars Amanda Peet and the contractor working on her remodeling project -- David Walton -- makes for plenty of awkward and truly funny moments. Throw in the rather adorable and precocious child of Amanda Peet's character played by Joey King and Jeffrey Tambor who stars as David Walton's booze-swilling father who plays piano at an upscale department store while struggling in his dream to become an actor and there are plenty of excellent scenes playing up the sentimental humor and outright gut-busting moments.
"Bent" should be given a true chance. It's time period -- featuring back-to-back episodes stuck at 8 PM C/T on Wednesdays on NBC do the series no favors but NBC also launched a certain single camera sitcom entiled "The Office" in a less-than-favorable Tuesday 8:30 PM timeslot at this exact time of the year with a six episode run for its first season and "The Office" went on to run for at least eight seasons and is still NBC's highest rated sitcom.
"Bent", while not a workplace comedy, could easily be the next relationship-centric single camera comedy to be a cornerstone for NBC while shows like "30 Rock" and "The Office" come to the end of their lifespans.
Check out "Bent" as it sticks to its back-to-back episodes the next two Wednesdays at 8 PM and 8:30 PM C/T the next two weeks.
What others are saying:
Hitflix says:
The New York Times says:
The Los Angeles Times says:
To me, "Bent" has an obvious romantic comedy slant to it. The tense romantic chemistry between stars Amanda Peet and the contractor working on her remodeling project -- David Walton -- makes for plenty of awkward and truly funny moments. Throw in the rather adorable and precocious child of Amanda Peet's character played by Joey King and Jeffrey Tambor who stars as David Walton's booze-swilling father who plays piano at an upscale department store while struggling in his dream to become an actor and there are plenty of excellent scenes playing up the sentimental humor and outright gut-busting moments.
"Bent" should be given a true chance. It's time period -- featuring back-to-back episodes stuck at 8 PM C/T on Wednesdays on NBC do the series no favors but NBC also launched a certain single camera sitcom entiled "The Office" in a less-than-favorable Tuesday 8:30 PM timeslot at this exact time of the year with a six episode run for its first season and "The Office" went on to run for at least eight seasons and is still NBC's highest rated sitcom.
"Bent", while not a workplace comedy, could easily be the next relationship-centric single camera comedy to be a cornerstone for NBC while shows like "30 Rock" and "The Office" come to the end of their lifespans.
Check out "Bent" as it sticks to its back-to-back episodes the next two Wednesdays at 8 PM and 8:30 PM C/T the next two weeks.
What others are saying:
Hitflix says:
... It is snappy, and funny enough when it needs to be. It is acutely aware of all the will-they/won't-they clichés and enjoys letting Pete, Alex and Ben be aware of them, too. And it has absolutely terrific chemistry between Walton and Peet, the kind that can't be manufactured — even though I've seen many, many unfortunate series try. It's not perfect, but it's also not particularly bent.…
The New York Times says:
... Sometimes it’s best not to think too hard and just embrace the idiocy. If you’re able to bring that mind-set to “Bent,” a screwy comedy NBC introduces on Wednesday night, you’ll have a pretty good time. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
... it is all very well done. If the characters are not particularly original, neither do they come off as artificial. The dialogue is 75% banter, but it is crisp and tart, and the actors make even the ripostes you can predict sound spontaneous.
Friday, October 14, 2011
How I justify my hatred for "Whitney"
Some thing are more frustrating than others. For instance, I have a love/hate relationship with television. I ponied up an additional $1.99/month for HD channels on my main TV but I hate the bulk of what is shown. There are entire blocks of channels which I would never consider watching. (Bravo and A&E, I'm looking at you) But yet I continue to pay an exorbitant rate per month to my cable company for this drivel. But then there's the Disney Channel, it helps me get ready for work in the morning because I can plop the little one down in front of The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and for the most part she stays entertained.
But there are certain nights when nothing is the least bit compelling. I catch up on the somewhat imposing stack of past issues of Rolling Stone, do some website design and pay some bills. It beats watching garbage but last night it all came to a head for me.
8:30 PM rolled around, bring with it the conclusion of that particular episode of The Office. With that came Whitney. The first thing that irritates me about that show is the obvious, excessive and annoying laughtrack. Nobody, even threatened with death, would laugh at the lines which are punctuated by far too much laughter. The second thing that grinds my gears is her mouth. Whitney Cummings has an excessively wide mouth. As we commented in the office yesterday, it's specially designed for placing certain objects in it (think large sandwiches, zuchinnis, multiple penises, etc.). The writing of the show is one gigantic stereotype. If I were the boyfriend in that particular relationship I'd probably just have one last vigorous roll in the hay with her and kick her to the curb because she is annoying, grating, coarse, vulgar and maybe a bit low on the intelligence scale.
The disappointing part is that due to this dreadful, lowest common denominator shitfest being on NBC (America's lowest-rated real network -- the CW doesn't count) it has already been given a full season pickup. That means that the few who still watch that particular portion of NBC's Thursday night schedule will be subjected to a full 22 episodes of Whitney, the worst sitcom to land on NBC in the past five years.
I know I'm not alone in loathing Whitney because it tends to lose about 40% of the ratings its lead-in, The Office. But I'm just one guy but I know I'm not alone in hoping for 30 Rock to make its triumphant return to its rightful Thursday night spot on the NBC schedule.
But there are certain nights when nothing is the least bit compelling. I catch up on the somewhat imposing stack of past issues of Rolling Stone, do some website design and pay some bills. It beats watching garbage but last night it all came to a head for me.
8:30 PM rolled around, bring with it the conclusion of that particular episode of The Office. With that came Whitney. The first thing that irritates me about that show is the obvious, excessive and annoying laughtrack. Nobody, even threatened with death, would laugh at the lines which are punctuated by far too much laughter. The second thing that grinds my gears is her mouth. Whitney Cummings has an excessively wide mouth. As we commented in the office yesterday, it's specially designed for placing certain objects in it (think large sandwiches, zuchinnis, multiple penises, etc.). The writing of the show is one gigantic stereotype. If I were the boyfriend in that particular relationship I'd probably just have one last vigorous roll in the hay with her and kick her to the curb because she is annoying, grating, coarse, vulgar and maybe a bit low on the intelligence scale.
The disappointing part is that due to this dreadful, lowest common denominator shitfest being on NBC (America's lowest-rated real network -- the CW doesn't count) it has already been given a full season pickup. That means that the few who still watch that particular portion of NBC's Thursday night schedule will be subjected to a full 22 episodes of Whitney, the worst sitcom to land on NBC in the past five years.
I know I'm not alone in loathing Whitney because it tends to lose about 40% of the ratings its lead-in, The Office. But I'm just one guy but I know I'm not alone in hoping for 30 Rock to make its triumphant return to its rightful Thursday night spot on the NBC schedule.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Fall TV season is here already?!?
Last night seemed to be the unofficial start of the fall television season. Rather than watch the repeated, mindless drivel offered up on basic cable, I flipped to The CW and caught the series premier of The Ringer featuring the return of Sarah Michelle Gellar to network television. I always head into anything on The CW with low expectations and while The Ringer featured some downright shitty green screen work early in the pilot episode, the overall plot was full of mystery and intrigue and wrapped up with some terrific action. I am fairly confident that the series can sustain its intriguing plot of identical twins where one seems determined to have the other killed while the more affluent has staged her own death and is plotting to off her troubled and estranged twin who has assumed the other's identity.
Starting tonight, though, NBC is rolling out its new Wednesday night comedy offerings. While I'm not exactly shouting from the rooftops about Up All Night or Free Agents there is beginning to be some buzz around Up All Night and even one article I saw stating that it's the first good show about a baby. On the flip side, Free Agents is just dreadful looking. It's a cheap retread of a British sitcom of the same name and it stars Hank Azaria, otherwise known as strike one. The second strike is that it's on NBC. The third strike, well watch for yourself as NBC's new Wednesday night comedies debut tonight at 9 PM C/T and find out for yourself just how dreadful Free Agents is.
Starting tonight, though, NBC is rolling out its new Wednesday night comedy offerings. While I'm not exactly shouting from the rooftops about Up All Night or Free Agents there is beginning to be some buzz around Up All Night and even one article I saw stating that it's the first good show about a baby. On the flip side, Free Agents is just dreadful looking. It's a cheap retread of a British sitcom of the same name and it stars Hank Azaria, otherwise known as strike one. The second strike is that it's on NBC. The third strike, well watch for yourself as NBC's new Wednesday night comedies debut tonight at 9 PM C/T and find out for yourself just how dreadful Free Agents is.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Nobody will miss George Lopez
In the suddenly cluttered world of late-night talk shows, there isn't much of an audience. Of course there are the regular viewers such as college students, second-shift workers, prostitutes with time between tricks, insomniacs, drug addicts and senior citizens who get up REALLY early but in the grand scheme of things those aren't truly huge numbers. And none of those segments of the population are going to sit through two or more hours of late-night talk shows. Especially when you factor in all of the late-night talk show choices. There's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brien, The Colbert Report, David Letterman, Nightline, Jay Leno, Chelsea Handler's Chelsea Lately, Jay Leno's Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy Fallon, Craig Ferguson and Last Call with Carson Daly.
Throw George Lopez in the mix and that adds up to a whopping 14 late-night talk/comedy show options. Even for a couch potato with a drug habit and insomnia that's overload. Most working-class folks are in bed, at the latest, by 11 PM (here in the central time zone, at least) and that leaves, at the mmost, an hour of late-night viewing potential. The simple fact is that people are still hard-wired to think that only the big three networks have late-night talk show options. Yeah, Conan's departure from NBC at least helped a few people to remember that the little cable outlet TBS has late-night talk as well but habits are hard to change.
I, for one, love Conan's style of entertainment but I almost always forget he's even an option. Out of habit, I flip my TV to WCCO and start getting ready for bed. I can count the number of times on one hand that I've remembered that Conan is on at 10 PM also. That fact alone said that, unless TBS was willing to lose money to keep an original program on the air, George Lopez's Lopez Tonight was destined for cancellation.
With tonight being the final episode of Lopez Tonight, I truly doubt that even a sliver of the population will miss his show in a month. Nobody will miss George Lopez beause nobody knew he was even on TV. Sadly, I can see Conan meeting the same fate in a year or two unless either Letterman or Leno retires. There just ins't enough audience at 10 PM or 10:30 PM who are willing to stick around for a complete hour of talk and comedy.
Throw George Lopez in the mix and that adds up to a whopping 14 late-night talk/comedy show options. Even for a couch potato with a drug habit and insomnia that's overload. Most working-class folks are in bed, at the latest, by 11 PM (here in the central time zone, at least) and that leaves, at the mmost, an hour of late-night viewing potential. The simple fact is that people are still hard-wired to think that only the big three networks have late-night talk show options. Yeah, Conan's departure from NBC at least helped a few people to remember that the little cable outlet TBS has late-night talk as well but habits are hard to change.
I, for one, love Conan's style of entertainment but I almost always forget he's even an option. Out of habit, I flip my TV to WCCO and start getting ready for bed. I can count the number of times on one hand that I've remembered that Conan is on at 10 PM also. That fact alone said that, unless TBS was willing to lose money to keep an original program on the air, George Lopez's Lopez Tonight was destined for cancellation.
With tonight being the final episode of Lopez Tonight, I truly doubt that even a sliver of the population will miss his show in a month. Nobody will miss George Lopez beause nobody knew he was even on TV. Sadly, I can see Conan meeting the same fate in a year or two unless either Letterman or Leno retires. There just ins't enough audience at 10 PM or 10:30 PM who are willing to stick around for a complete hour of talk and comedy.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Alison Brie of Community rocks some cleavage-bearing lingerie for GQ
I'm a huge fan of the NBC comedy Community. Sure, Joel McHale's Jeff Winger character is the definitive star of the series which enters its third season in September but the ensemble cast has others of star quality.
Take, for example, Donald Glover who plays Troy and his counterpart and weird friend Abed, played by Danny Pudi. Their running gag of a fictional show entitled Troy and Abed in the Morning is pure genius but the real underrated players in the ensemble cast are the neurotic Annie played by the sexy Alison Brie and the too-cool-for-the-room hipster Brita played by Gillian Jacobs.
Those two are so outstanding in their second fiddle roles that they landed a photo shoot for GQ magazine in which the dripping with sexuality duo dressed up in some seductive lingerie for a pin-up style photo. No, there were no nipples peeking through in the photos and there was no visible Alison Brie camel toe that I noticed but you have to appreciate pin-up photography. It's seductive but classy
I say that if you like good comedy check out Community Thursdays at 7 PM C/T on NBC and if you like good looking ladies who are funny as hell, still check out Community because it's definitely better than its comedy competition of The Big Bang Theory.
Take, for example, Donald Glover who plays Troy and his counterpart and weird friend Abed, played by Danny Pudi. Their running gag of a fictional show entitled Troy and Abed in the Morning is pure genius but the real underrated players in the ensemble cast are the neurotic Annie played by the sexy Alison Brie and the too-cool-for-the-room hipster Brita played by Gillian Jacobs.
Those two are so outstanding in their second fiddle roles that they landed a photo shoot for GQ magazine in which the dripping with sexuality duo dressed up in some seductive lingerie for a pin-up style photo. No, there were no nipples peeking through in the photos and there was no visible Alison Brie camel toe that I noticed but you have to appreciate pin-up photography. It's seductive but classy
I say that if you like good comedy check out Community Thursdays at 7 PM C/T on NBC and if you like good looking ladies who are funny as hell, still check out Community because it's definitely better than its comedy competition of The Big Bang Theory.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Ashton Kutcher replaces Sheen on 2 1/2 Men
So Ashton Kutcher, a guy about my own age, will somehow be shoehorned into CBS' 2 1/2 Men for next season. While I'm not exactly sure how the show's writing staff will work this one, I'm sure it will definitely feel contrived. The weak-ass possibilities to explain Sheen's departure from the dysfunctional, sex-fueled household and endless. Will Sheen's departure be explained away as something at least moderately believable or will it be totally far fetched?
Did Sheen die in a drinking accident? Did he contract a particularly nasty strain of chlamydia from one of his many sexual conquests? Did he tan too much and become so small and dried up that he simply blew away? I have a feeling that the show's creator/producer, Chuck Lorre, doesn't particularly care how Sheen's departure is handled -- but he'll probably opt for the most degrading way possible given the past these two have.
Then what about Ashton's arrival as the lead in the series? Ashton Kutcher, while he played a complete dumbass on "That 70s Show", does definitely have comedic chops as an actor. He's practically a decade removed from his time playing the complete doofus Michael Kelso on the FOX sitcom which makes a new TV role well-distanced from his previous work. I actually liked his work in "The Butterfly Effect" which was, in my opinion, his best dramatic work to date while his comedic roles on the big screen have been downright terrible.
While I'm happy to see Charlie Sheen hopefully gone from television and movies for good, I'm not exactly sure that Ashton Kutcher will be a good fit for today's TV landscape. Sure, "2 1/2 Men" has been a hugely successful show during its nearly decade-long run on CBS but that's also an insanely long time and while we always bitch and moan about wanting things to be fresh and new, people often times run aways screaming from something new.
My best guess is that this season's installment of "2 1/2 Men" will begin to slide in the ratings and while it won't completely fall apart and lose viewers in record numbers, CBS will continue to milk the series because of its value in syndication and DVD sales. Expect to see not only one season with Ashton Kutcher in the cast but a second and final season ending in the Spring of 2013 before the show ends with a total of ten seasons in the books. The 10th and final season won't be Seinfeld-esque because I'm guessing that the show will have become a shell of its former self and will go out at the bottom of the ratings versus its other Monday night comedy teammates.
Did Sheen die in a drinking accident? Did he contract a particularly nasty strain of chlamydia from one of his many sexual conquests? Did he tan too much and become so small and dried up that he simply blew away? I have a feeling that the show's creator/producer, Chuck Lorre, doesn't particularly care how Sheen's departure is handled -- but he'll probably opt for the most degrading way possible given the past these two have.
Then what about Ashton's arrival as the lead in the series? Ashton Kutcher, while he played a complete dumbass on "That 70s Show", does definitely have comedic chops as an actor. He's practically a decade removed from his time playing the complete doofus Michael Kelso on the FOX sitcom which makes a new TV role well-distanced from his previous work. I actually liked his work in "The Butterfly Effect" which was, in my opinion, his best dramatic work to date while his comedic roles on the big screen have been downright terrible.
While I'm happy to see Charlie Sheen hopefully gone from television and movies for good, I'm not exactly sure that Ashton Kutcher will be a good fit for today's TV landscape. Sure, "2 1/2 Men" has been a hugely successful show during its nearly decade-long run on CBS but that's also an insanely long time and while we always bitch and moan about wanting things to be fresh and new, people often times run aways screaming from something new.
My best guess is that this season's installment of "2 1/2 Men" will begin to slide in the ratings and while it won't completely fall apart and lose viewers in record numbers, CBS will continue to milk the series because of its value in syndication and DVD sales. Expect to see not only one season with Ashton Kutcher in the cast but a second and final season ending in the Spring of 2013 before the show ends with a total of ten seasons in the books. The 10th and final season won't be Seinfeld-esque because I'm guessing that the show will have become a shell of its former self and will go out at the bottom of the ratings versus its other Monday night comedy teammates.
Friday, April 22, 2011
30 Minutes or Less trailer: "You deflowered my sister!"
Late summer seems to be the hot time to release a movie overflowing with crude language and killer sight gags. And based on the trailer for 30 Minutes of Less, it should have a decent run in the theaters with a cast like Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Asari (from Community) and America's favorite dirtball actor Danny McBride and lines like "You deflowered my sister", nailed by Aziz Asari.
30 Minutes or Less opens August 12.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Happy Endings is well worth your time
A quirky late-season comedy complete with an insecure gay guy who doesn't seem gay, a recently split couple, an obsessive woman and her black husband and an insecure woman who is desperate to find a boyfriend. My description makes ABC newest comedy offering, Happy Endings, seem shallow but it is anything but that.
Elisha Cuthbert, easily the most recognizable name in the series, definitely does not steal the show in this six-person ensemble and my earlier assumption that Casey Wilson (formerly on SNL) is anything but funny was definitely wrong. The ensemble works well. After tonight's two episodes it's tough to pick a favorite character and I hope they continue to explore each of the six characters somewhat equally as they both have plenty to build on from the inaugural episodes.
I don't know if I'd compare Happy Endings to early episodes of Friends because this series actually has more potential. There is already an established relationship and one failed relationship that has the possibility of being rekindles but the romantic entanglements amongst the group of six has less repetitive potential than that of Friends. In addition, Happy Endings makes excellent use of sight gags, cut scenes and flashbacks without overusing the concepts.
In short, Happy Endings is a decent surprise among a sloppy heap of less-than-appealing late-season offerings across the major networks. If it were up to me, I'd make this an early pick to be back next season. Call it a surprise hit if you'd like but it's a definite must-see. Check out Happy Endings in its regular timeslot next Wednesday on ABC at 9 PM C/T.
Elisha Cuthbert, easily the most recognizable name in the series, definitely does not steal the show in this six-person ensemble and my earlier assumption that Casey Wilson (formerly on SNL) is anything but funny was definitely wrong. The ensemble works well. After tonight's two episodes it's tough to pick a favorite character and I hope they continue to explore each of the six characters somewhat equally as they both have plenty to build on from the inaugural episodes.
I don't know if I'd compare Happy Endings to early episodes of Friends because this series actually has more potential. There is already an established relationship and one failed relationship that has the possibility of being rekindles but the romantic entanglements amongst the group of six has less repetitive potential than that of Friends. In addition, Happy Endings makes excellent use of sight gags, cut scenes and flashbacks without overusing the concepts.
In short, Happy Endings is a decent surprise among a sloppy heap of less-than-appealing late-season offerings across the major networks. If it were up to me, I'd make this an early pick to be back next season. Call it a surprise hit if you'd like but it's a definite must-see. Check out Happy Endings in its regular timeslot next Wednesday on ABC at 9 PM C/T.
Elisha Cuthbert returns to TV tonight
Monday, April 11, 2011
When Harry Met Sally 2
This fake trailer for When Harry Met Sally 2 is actually hilarious. Especially good is the role which Helen Mirren plays. Even more proof after her hosting run on SNL this weekend that she is game for anything -- especially this spoof which she really sinks her teeth in to.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
NBC's The Paul Reiser Show must be pretty bad
Believe it or not, I try not to pass judgment on TV shows before they hit the air but sometimes there are some that just scream shit based on the treatment they receive at their network home. The Paul Reiser Show is no exception. It's been in development for well over a year and NBC has so little faith in it that they produced a mere six episodes, held the series back for months and have now given it an April 14 debut at 7:30 PM.
Alonge the vein of Larry David's HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm which the Paul Reiser Show is supposedly modeled after, Larry David has a history of being truly funny. He was the creative voice behind Seinfeld and his quirkiness shows excellently on his HBO show. Paul Reiser, on the other hand, made us all suffer through 6 or 8 seasons of Mad About You and hasn't done anything of note since that time. There's a reason he's been lying dormant for the past decade and a half. He's just not funny anymore and probably wasn't that funny during Mad About You's NBC run in the late 80s and early 90s.
During that time, cable TV didn't do much, if anything, in the way of original scripted content so the networks ruled. But after cable networks stepped up their game, the weaknesses of the networks become painfully apparent. They can't capture a mass audience anymore but still cling to that seemingly ancient identity that they are the gold standard for news and entertainment because they used to be that and by their thinking, things never change. Well, they do and in this new world, Paul Reiser has been exposed as being terribly unfunny.
Will I watch The Paul Reiser Show though? Probably. But will it be funny and capture the minds of more than the 2% of Americans who still watch NBC? Probably not.
Alonge the vein of Larry David's HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm which the Paul Reiser Show is supposedly modeled after, Larry David has a history of being truly funny. He was the creative voice behind Seinfeld and his quirkiness shows excellently on his HBO show. Paul Reiser, on the other hand, made us all suffer through 6 or 8 seasons of Mad About You and hasn't done anything of note since that time. There's a reason he's been lying dormant for the past decade and a half. He's just not funny anymore and probably wasn't that funny during Mad About You's NBC run in the late 80s and early 90s.
During that time, cable TV didn't do much, if anything, in the way of original scripted content so the networks ruled. But after cable networks stepped up their game, the weaknesses of the networks become painfully apparent. They can't capture a mass audience anymore but still cling to that seemingly ancient identity that they are the gold standard for news and entertainment because they used to be that and by their thinking, things never change. Well, they do and in this new world, Paul Reiser has been exposed as being terribly unfunny.
Will I watch The Paul Reiser Show though? Probably. But will it be funny and capture the minds of more than the 2% of Americans who still watch NBC? Probably not.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
NBC's Perfect Couples could be a good show if...
For the most part, the cast of NBC's newest Thursday night comedy, Perfect Couples is a talented bunch. It's the writing, directing and behind-the-scenes folks who are dicking up what could otherwise, with a few changes, be a decent comedy and help to drag NBC out of their deep gutter.
My first gripe has to do with Olivia Munn. I, along with plenty of Americans, find her grating. She's not funny and couldn't utter a funny line if someone was holding a gun to her head. She is a cinder block around the ankle of the show. Oh, sure, some people think she's hilarious because she's easy to look at. We get it, she has boobs, hell, 50% of the world's population has boobs but that doesn't mean I want to see them all once a week or that they are funny people. I don't like her and apparently millions of Americans don't like her (or the series as a whole) either because a number just above nobody is watching Perfect Couples each week. It's a shame too because if you're watching a show purely based on boobs you've A.) a very sad and shallow person and B.) clearly ignoring other, far more appealing female cast member of the show.
Take, for instance, Christine Woods (I couldn't tell you her character's name but she plays the wife from the normal couple). She does her best to work with the dog shit lines and terrible directing that plague this show. She's also easy as hell on the eyes. In fact I'm probably going to hang a poster of her on the back of my bedroom door this weekend. (I'm kidding?) While she was anything but stellar in her role as a lesbian FBI officer in last year's God-awful Flash Forward on ABC, she's clearly far better suited for comedic roles. She seems to play her role at a higher level than the rest of the cast and excels -- I would actually bill her as the true star of this seemingly cobbled-together cast.
If you're still in it purely for the eye candy factor, there's the third female cast memeber, Mary Elizabeth Ellis (the female half of the crazy couple). She's probably better known for her role as "The Waitress" from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX but she brings at least a serviceable amount of crazy to her Perfect Couples role. She's also easy on the eyes but not quite to the level of Christine Woods. In the crazy department, too, she is one-upped by her fiance's character, played by David Walton. Hell, he even has scruffy facial hair and generally messed up hair to add to his level of crazy in the show. As much as I wanted not to laugh at this show from its pilot episode, I've now found myself laughing at his antics as well as those of Christine Woods and her husband, played by Kyle Bornheimer (from the failed CBS comedy Worst Week). While I know, almost for certain, that this show will get the ax at the end of this season, I almost feel that it kind of deserves a second look and a second season. There are worse shows out there.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Bob's Burgers had me at "itchy crotch"
Last night saw the series premiere of yet another animated comedy on FOX. When I first heard of this series nearly a year ago my first thought was "Oh, great. Another animated comedy. What mundane "Family Guy" character are they spinning off now?" But as I learned more about "Bob's Burgers" I warmed to the concept.
Think of it as a workplace comedy centered around a family. Right there the show's creators managed to meld two of the most tried and true sitcom concepts together into one genre which I don't recall having been done before. Right there they had an original concept.
From the first scene I was laughing. The series is one of the most politically incorrect shows in recent memory but it crosses the line without being deranged like "Family Guy" does. With a daughter which a sibling identified as "the worst kind of autistic" to jokes about the restaurant's burgers containing more than the allowable 4% ratio of human flesh and that was what the first episode centered around the pilot episode could easily be described as raucous -- right down to the opening joke about the autistic daughter openly stating that she had an itchy crotch.
Couple that with well thought out sight gags including a bus load of tourists hell-bent on obtaining one of these supposedly human flesh burgers at any cost and a customer who bought "The Molester" -- a burger that comes with candy -- who truly did fit the image of a child molester and "Bob's Burgers" was a twenty minute string of laughs which were well written and far from cheap and expected.
"Bob's Burgers" has a great start and fits well following "The Simpsons" which itself seems to have stepped up its game after twenty or so seasons. If the writers can keep the momentum up and FOX doesn't fuck the show up by shuffling its time period, this is yet another animated winner well worth watching at 7:30 PM on Sunday on FOX.
Think of it as a workplace comedy centered around a family. Right there the show's creators managed to meld two of the most tried and true sitcom concepts together into one genre which I don't recall having been done before. Right there they had an original concept.
From the first scene I was laughing. The series is one of the most politically incorrect shows in recent memory but it crosses the line without being deranged like "Family Guy" does. With a daughter which a sibling identified as "the worst kind of autistic" to jokes about the restaurant's burgers containing more than the allowable 4% ratio of human flesh and that was what the first episode centered around the pilot episode could easily be described as raucous -- right down to the opening joke about the autistic daughter openly stating that she had an itchy crotch.
Couple that with well thought out sight gags including a bus load of tourists hell-bent on obtaining one of these supposedly human flesh burgers at any cost and a customer who bought "The Molester" -- a burger that comes with candy -- who truly did fit the image of a child molester and "Bob's Burgers" was a twenty minute string of laughs which were well written and far from cheap and expected.
"Bob's Burgers" has a great start and fits well following "The Simpsons" which itself seems to have stepped up its game after twenty or so seasons. If the writers can keep the momentum up and FOX doesn't fuck the show up by shuffling its time period, this is yet another animated winner well worth watching at 7:30 PM on Sunday on FOX.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Hulu users show their Jay Leno hatred
Hulu's user demographics must vary greatly from those who watch network television in its traditional format or else tripe like Jay Leno wouldn't be on TV - and even Brett Favre can't get me to watch that crapfest. But it is and this list is just one page (out of four) of the tags Hulu users have attached to episodes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
terrible
horrible
pieceofshit
jerk
washed up hack
bad
wherethefluckisconan
anti-comedy
retirement home entertainment
don't watch this
awful
banality of evil
leno sucks dick
f u c k l e n o
go away jay
gabe's fave
unfunny
no calss
dirtbag
teamconan
imwithcoco
old
joke stealer
hack
we miss conan
betrayer
backstabber
bland
safe jokes for grandma
benedict arnold
judas
not funny at all
unwatchable
must not see tv
depressing
douchebaggery
humorless chin
unfortunate
fail
sellout
failure in the eyes of johnny carson
no good
oprah'sbitch
craptastic
bigjaw
matlockish
complete bull
questionable
washed up
classless
untalented
cry baby
turdsandwich
die in a fire
sad
turd ferguson
stupid
will not watch
rapist
i'm with coco
i want coco
scab
circlecirclecircle
i am old and thus i love jay leno
Check out the rest of the tags and enjoy another 17 years of Jay Leno in late night.
And, seriously, what's with the obligatory American flag lapel pin? Are you running for president Jay?
terrible
horrible
pieceofshit
jerk
washed up hack
bad
wherethefluckisconan
anti-comedy
retirement home entertainment
don't watch this
awful
banality of evil
leno sucks dick
f u c k l e n o
go away jay
gabe's fave
unfunny
no calss
dirtbag
teamconan
imwithcoco
old
joke stealer
hack
we miss conan
betrayer
backstabber
bland
safe jokes for grandma
benedict arnold
judas
not funny at all
unwatchable
must not see tv
depressing
douchebaggery
humorless chin
unfortunate
fail
sellout
failure in the eyes of johnny carson
no good
oprah'sbitch
craptastic
bigjaw
matlockish
complete bull
questionable
washed up
classless
untalented
cry baby
turdsandwich
die in a fire
sad
turd ferguson
stupid
will not watch
rapist
i'm with coco
i want coco
scab
circlecirclecircle
i am old and thus i love jay leno
Check out the rest of the tags and enjoy another 17 years of Jay Leno in late night.
And, seriously, what's with the obligatory American flag lapel pin? Are you running for president Jay?
If photos are your thing, check out MinnPics. It's chock full of the best photos of Minnesota this guy can dig up!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Worst video editing job ever
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Sean Hannity Uses Glenn Beck's Protest Footage | ||||
| ||||
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Insulting border states
I grew up literally within miles of the Iowa border but I've never lived outside of the state of Minnesota. Growing up, 44%* of all jokes had something degratory towards Iowans in the punchline. I gathered from those formidable years that Iowans were A) all Norwegians and B) extremely stupid and some eved fornicated with sheep.
As I grew up, I found myself still poking fun at Iowans. If someone stopped as they pulled off the freeway (Interstate 90) on to southbound U.S. Highway 218 - totally unaware that the turn lane formed a new lane on the U.S. highway - I would often times curse aloud that the person in front of me must be a "stupid Iowan jackass" even if their license plates said otherwise.
But then I moved to the Twin Cities. My rage towards Iowans came to an abrupt end. The cool thing, it seems, was to make Wisconsin the butt of your jokes. (To be fair, the only thing both states have going for them is liquor sales much more relaxed than Minnesota's) The only problem with jokes about Wisconsin is that I am a transplant to the area and, thusly, wasn't raised with an axe to grind against Wisconsin. I don't know the stereotypes (outside of their love of cheese, the Packers and deer hunting) of Wisconsinites and because of that I feel more than a little left out. It's like walking in to a costume party without a costume, you're gonna feel a bit awkward.
So the time has come that I either shelve my fake disdain of Sconnies or get on the bandwagon and learn the age-old jokes. After all, it seems like tradition and traditions are strong and I hope to one day be able to pass on my love of border state degradation to my daughter - and she'll hopefully be doubly blessed because I have my non-love towards Iowa down.
The only question I have is this: do residents of other states (if you live close to the border) practice the same degradation of your neighboring state? What do residents of northern Iowa say about us kind Minnesotans?
One safe haven from both Wisconsin and Iowa is MinnPics. No grudges shall be had in photography because this is one place where we know Minnesota is supreme.
As I grew up, I found myself still poking fun at Iowans. If someone stopped as they pulled off the freeway (Interstate 90) on to southbound U.S. Highway 218 - totally unaware that the turn lane formed a new lane on the U.S. highway - I would often times curse aloud that the person in front of me must be a "stupid Iowan jackass" even if their license plates said otherwise.
But then I moved to the Twin Cities. My rage towards Iowans came to an abrupt end. The cool thing, it seems, was to make Wisconsin the butt of your jokes. (To be fair, the only thing both states have going for them is liquor sales much more relaxed than Minnesota's) The only problem with jokes about Wisconsin is that I am a transplant to the area and, thusly, wasn't raised with an axe to grind against Wisconsin. I don't know the stereotypes (outside of their love of cheese, the Packers and deer hunting) of Wisconsinites and because of that I feel more than a little left out. It's like walking in to a costume party without a costume, you're gonna feel a bit awkward.
So the time has come that I either shelve my fake disdain of Sconnies or get on the bandwagon and learn the age-old jokes. After all, it seems like tradition and traditions are strong and I hope to one day be able to pass on my love of border state degradation to my daughter - and she'll hopefully be doubly blessed because I have my non-love towards Iowa down.
The only question I have is this: do residents of other states (if you live close to the border) practice the same degradation of your neighboring state? What do residents of northern Iowa say about us kind Minnesotans?
One safe haven from both Wisconsin and Iowa is MinnPics. No grudges shall be had in photography because this is one place where we know Minnesota is supreme.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Behold the Cock Shot
It's a great take off of Vince (the Sham-Wow guy) and his stupid ad for the Slap Chopper plus it actually made me laugh to the point that I had tears in mye eyes (And not from the garlic on the guy's twig). I've never heard so many differing phrases alluding to penis but watch the video, share the link and laugh (but turn down your volume a bit).
And when you're done laughing at coarse humor, click over to MinnPics and enjoy a bit of culture.
And when you're done laughing at coarse humor, click over to MinnPics and enjoy a bit of culture.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Sarah Palin is like Jon and Kate plus Eight
Sarah Palin needs to go away. Apparently more than a few people took issue with a joke on David Letterman's Late Show on CBS earlier this week. Letterman apologized in both a serious and backhanded way implying that to take issue with one of his jokes is ludicrous because, as he said, he has thousands of jokes he is ashamed of ever telling. But that's not my real beef.
My real beef is with Sarah Palin and how she has officially wore out her fifteen minutes of "fame". She is only famous (and I use that term loosely) because an old white guy chose her as his running mate to counter an actual progressive action in modern politics - the nomination of Barack Obama for the Democratic ticket.
It seems that it was John McCain's very basic goal to simply pick a woman. He took one from the last place anyone would care about - Alaska - but failed to investigate her qualifications. First off, she has a daughter, Bristol (named after the city in Tennessee? Kudos.) who is obviously the poster for abstinence-only sex education. How'd that work out for you? Oh, you say she has a baby already and was knocked up at the age of 17? That's very mavericky of her.
Sure, kids make decisions, wise or not, that truly should have no bearing on their parents but Sarah Palin was hand-picked to be the candidate for the second most powerful position in the country. For better or worse, that puts your entire family under the scrutiny of the rather bizarre media landscape today. That means that you'll be the butt of plenty of jokes and so will your family. Learn to deal with it. You'll be scrutinized. Your supporters will be outraged by those jokes because that's what they do.
But for her supporters in elected office to call for the firing of David Letterman, that's insane. He apologized. Nothing he said was racially offensive. Sure, he pulled out the slutty remark about Sarah Palin's appearance but it was in the context of a joke and directed a pregnancy joke at the wrong daughter but it's done. It isn't like he called her a cunt. There, I said it.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Hulu keeps getting better
Yes, it's now easy as pie to find old-school clips like this SNL Bill Brasky gem with Will Ferrell and John Goodman and shows on Hulu. Go to www.hulu.com/labs and see what new goodies they're cooking up - it's getting so good I'm seriously considering ditching cable - at least for the summer.
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