Just wanted to let you guys know that the majority of our usual Olympics coverage has moved over to our sister blog, Stay-at-Home-Yeti. It’s not that I don’t love y’all anymore, it’s just way too hard to juggle two blogs, a toddler and NBC’s wall-to-wall coverage of this year’s Summer Olympics.
So, for now, if you wanna read my take on the events in London…click here.
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By now you’ve probably all heard the news that really isn’t news at all. Yep, that’s right, Anderson Cooper, the king of understated elegance and class — in his personal life at least. His talk show, which we used to LOVE, has become kind of circus-freaky lately — has officially come out as gay. Not really surprising, I mean, hello, the dude wore Prada suits when he hosted “The Mole” back in the day, but, in my mind it’s always good when a major celebrity comes out.
And it’s even better news when a major celebrity comes out and nobody really cares or makes a big old deal about it. That’s the way it should be. Congrats on coming out, dude, but, seriously, try to reign in the crazy next season on “The Anderson Cooper” show. It’s gone a wee bit off the rails…
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For a brief shining moment in our youth, my brother and I were really, really into The Monkees. Re-runs of the show played an Channel 44 every day after school and it was so weird and goofy-funny that we started racing home to watch it. Like, every day. That said, we were also huge fans of another iconic, after-school staple, The Brady Bunch.
So, when a star from The Monkees (Davy Jones) made a now-legendary guest appearance on The Brady Bunch, well, that was big-ass news in our house.
The episode was awesome, Davy Jones rocked it, and Maureen McCormick was at the peak of her loveliness (meaning, she had boobs) but the kicker was the last line of the show when Mr. Jones kissed Marcia on the cheek and she uttered the eternal line: “I’ll never wash this cheek again…” The perfect last line to the perfect episode. Except, it never happened. That’s right, myself and hundreds of other bloggers out there today simply got our Brady Bunch episodes mixed up.
Contrary to popular lore, and Patton Oswald’s hilarious tweet (see, he got it wrong too!) the Davy Jones episode ended with Marcia simply kissing him on the cheek after he promised to take her to the prom. The legendary “cheek washing” line was actually taken from a much earlier episode of the show, where a much younger, (pre-boobs) Marcia uttered the line after being kissed on the cheek by Desi Arnaz Jr.! Yikes, I would have seriously bet everything I own that that line was about Davy Jones…who knew?!
Anyway, regardless of who the line was about, it applies just as nicely to Davy Jones today as it did to Desi Arnaz Jr. in 1970. She might have meant it for someone else, but, leave it to Marcia Brady to perfectly capture the effect Davy Jones had on the world with a single, indelible line of dialog.
Rest in peace, Mr. Jones, you will be missed…
Generally I don’t like to cross-post stuff between my blogs, but, I’m sorry, some things are so awesome that I simply have to share them with you guys as well. The totally-rad daytime TV trainwreck that is We The People With Gloria Allred is one of those things. You seriously must watch this crazy-ass show. Click the link below to read why…
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OK, normally, I wouldn’t be gushing about anyone’s Christmas Special, since, as a general rule, they usually kinda suck. But, just listened to Michael Bublé’s new Christmas album all the way through for the first time and, well, it’s pretty awesome. Fun, light, swinging, at it’s best it sounds like you tossed Bing Crosby and Harry Connick Jr. in a blender…really great stuff.
So, imagine my surprise when I found out that Mr. Bublé’s Christmas Special is airing tonight on NBC! And cooler still is his stellar guest list: Justin Beiber, Kelli Pickler, Thalia, Jennifer Hudson, Ed Helms and Oscar the Grouch?! Wow, seriously, dude, you had me at Beiber. I’m so there.
And, hey, even if the Christmas Special sucks, trust me, the album really is good. So, make sure and check it out!
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Oops…while sitting here drinking my coffee and watching Anderson Cooper interview the cast of “Sister Wives” I realized that I had left Cooper’s new daytime talk show off our list of “must see TV” in my previous post. Sorry, Coop!
I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but, Cooper’s new show is kinda awesome. He’s hard-hitting, probing, sarcastic, geeky and best of all, he is totally hilarious. Yep, I said it, the dude is funny!
We’ve been hardcore Cooper fans since his days hosting the late, great reality show “The Mole”, and though I dig his “serious” work on CNN, I gotta tell ya, Cooper looks really comfortable on daytime TV. Seriously, he’s a natural…
Still not buying it? Well, consider this. Christine stayed home sick from work yesterday, watched several Tivo-ed episodes of Cooper’s show and was totally, 100% healed. Now, if that’s not a glowing recommendation, I don’t know what is. The age of Oprah is officially over…long live the new king of daytime TV!
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Yeah, I know…I’ve been gone a long time. Sorry for that. Between working like mad on a new script (remember when I used to do that?) taking care of Greta and watching just about every new show out there, well, let’s just say it’s been a busy couple of weeks. Whew…
I’ll start with the worst of the new shows. And let me say from the get-go that I am only judging these shows by the pilots, you know, like the networks do. I’m sorry, but, if you can’t grab me from the first episode, I’m done with you. I mean, I wasted two seasons watching “Glee” and all it did was get worse and worse, so, sorry, new shows, I do not have time for lameness.
That said, I gotta tell ya, most of the shows I sampled weren’t that bad. I mean, even the one’s I’m not gonna watch for whatever reason were way better than some of the crap from season’s past, so, good on you, networks! OK, back to the worst of the bunch…
“The Secret Circle” (The CW) This show was just plain old boring, I’ve seen teen witches done better elsewhere, and aside from the presence of the always sexy Natasha Henstridge as the school principal with a secret, I could barely stay awake to the ending. Yawn…
“Free Agents” (NBC) I don’t even know why I watched this show to begin with. I absolutely loathe Hank Azaria and after watching the pilot, I like, double-triple loathe him. Yuck!
“2 Broke Chicks” (CBS) This show really bummed me out, man. I was so looking forward to it and really expecting a lot from the crackling-good cast, but, the writing was just not there to back them up. And on top of all that, the jokes were really gross. And not even clever gross, just gross and crass for crass-ness sake. Urgh…soooo disappointing!
“Whitney” (NBC) Same thing here. Gross humor, crude jokes, yawn. I will say that the lead actors grew on me as the half hour progressed, but, wow, that supporting cast felt like the table scraps from some long-forgotten 90’s sitcom: couple with pushy wife and mousy husband…check. Drunk and single best friend…check. Crazy, self-centered mom…double check. Oy…who needs it?
“The Playboy Club” (NBC) Dear NBC, just because you set a show in the 1960’s does not make it “Mad Men”. It’s not even that the show is that bad, it’s just kinda…eh. And when you think about how much dough NBC spent making and marketing it, “eh” is probably not the reaction they were going for. And for the love of God, please lose the Hugh Hefner voice overs…you weren’t changing the hearts and minds of America, Mr. Hefner, you were peddling smut. Classy, well-lit smut, but, smut nonetheless, so, please, get over yourself.
Now, before we get to the best new shows, I’d like to start with some honorable mention winners. You know, shows that I might watch if there was nothing on, but, not necessarily shows I’d add to my Tivo Season Pass anytime soon. Let’s call them the shows I’d watch if I had all the time in the world to watch TV…
“Pan Am” (ABC) Glossy, juicy, sexy, this show is really a lot of fun. The cast is great, the story possibilities are endless and those planes are so damn sexy, I mean, seriously, did ya see the couches in that French chick’s section? Amazing! I wanna live in that world, but, sadly, I just don’t have time to watch it.
“Charlie’s Angels” (ABC) Same thing here, the show is surprisingly good, with a totally game cast and a premise that, thirty some odd years on, still works. Hot chicks, guns, karate, pretty sunsets…it’s all there and it still works like gangbusters, but, I just don’t have the time. Sorry, Angels…
“The X-Factor” (FOX) OK, now this show was downright awesome! Fun, pithy, emotional…all the things that “American Idol” used to be. And best of all, Paula and Simon are back where they belong…together! The only problem is that it’s on every freaking night, and we are already committed to our returning favorite, “The Sing Off”, so, we might jump back into this one in a month or so, but, for now, it’s a pass.
“Up All Night” (NBC) We’re still kinda on the fence with this one too. Christine and I love all of the parenting stuff — I mean, whoa, some of the shit they joke about is like, ripped from our headlines! — but whenever they cut to Maya Rudolph (who I normally love!) the show goes all kinds of crazy…and not in a good way. We are regular viewers for the moment, but, one of two more wrong moves by Rudolph might just send us packing.
And now, for the best of the best, the shows that we will watch every week until they end, or, you know, get canceled before their prime like the late, great “Swingtown”. Anyway, they are…
“Prime Suspect” (NBC) Only “Whitney” has more billboards down here right now, so, I had a huge awareness of the show going into the season, but what I didn’t know was how totally fucking awesome it would be. Seriously, it’s like, pulse-pounding, truly groundbreaking-television. Fantastic acting, directing, writing, whew…mark my words, amigos, this is gonna be the show to beat at next year’s Emmys. AMAZING!
“New Girl” (FOX) OMG, I can’t tell you how pleased I was that this show didn’t totally suck. I’m not always a fan of Zooey Deschanel, but she lights up the screen with her goofy, sexy charm here. And her supporting cast is also totally awesome. Cute, funny, seriously-sweet…I kinda wanna marry this show.
“Revenge” (ABC) As dark and twisted and soapy-weird as “New Girl” is cute, this show puts the “j” in juicy, baby. And, man alive, is it good! I don’t know how they’re gonna stretch the premise over five years (or beyond), but if the acting, writing and totally cinematic sweep of the show is gonna be this good, well, sign me up! “Revenge” rocks!
So, that’s what I’ve been doing the past couple of weeks…what have you guys been watching?
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OK, I don’t know about y’all, but, I was still mourning the loss of Oprah (I’ll talk more about that in another post), so, when I heard that another one of my old standby’s, Rosie O’Donnell, was ending her daily talk show on SiriusXM radio this afternoon, well, I just about broke down.
I mean, hello? Who is a self-respecting SAHD — Stay-at-home-Dad, for those of you unfamiliar with the parent code — supposed to turn to for much needed laughs, tears or whatever on a daily basis? Urgh, it’s almost enough to make me start watching Ellen again. Just kidding, I still hate that old scab.
But, back to someone I love. In case you hadn’t heard, Rosie is launching a new daily TV talk show on Oprah’s OWN network in the fall, so, she’s leaving for much greener pastures, but, that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna miss her.
I know Rosie Radio was only on SiriusXM for a year and a half, but, I listened to that show EVERY SINGLE DAY. Seriously, Rosie rocked. She was smart, funny, political, and best of all, Rosie and her cohorts could say whatever the hell they wanted because it was satellite radio. So, whoo-hoo, bring on the F-bombs, baby!
Anyway, SiriusXM is gonna be playing repeats of the show Monday thru Thursday and Rosie’s long-time Exec Producer Janette Barber is getting her own SiriusXM show on Fridays, so, that will help lesson the blow a bit. But, trust me, nothing will take the place of having Rosie and company chatting in your ear while you drive home from the park with a sleeping toddler. Ah, the memories…
Best of luck on your new gig, Rosie! We’ll miss you…
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OK, I know it’s a whole day away, but, we are so excited about the season two premiere of “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” tomorrow night on ABC that we just had to blog about it today…er, well…tonight. In any case, now you have a full day’s notice to set your Tivo’s!
And, trust me, you’re gonna wanna them set for this. Because, from the trailers we’ve seen, Tivo-worthy is the name of the game this season on “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution”. I mean, seriously, if you thought those mean old lunch ladies in West Virginia were hard core, just wait till you see Jamie facing off with the shriveled old coots on the L.A. Unified Board of Education. Yikes!
Yep, you read that correctly, this season’s “Food Revolution” is set right here in sunny SoCal, or at least it was until Jamie and company had their permits pulled mid-shoot. The Board also banned “Food Revolution” camera crews from shooting at all public school campuses in Los Angeles to boot! See, I told you this season would be juicy!
So, set your Tivo’s, whip up a healthy snack and tuck on in, because “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” is taking flight tomorrow on ABC!
How boring was last night’s Oscar telecast? So boring that I couldn’t even stay awake to blog about it afterwards…and, trust me, I stay up late up all the time, so, that is really saying something.
Long, strangely-paced, badly-produced, hosted and directed, I gotta tell ya, last night’s show was probably the worst Oscar telecast of my adult life. And, yes, I’m including the David Letterman and Rob Lowe/Snow White fiascos.
The thing that really kills me is that I was so excited about the hosts this year. I love Anne Hathaway to death and James Franco is great in everything I’ve ever seen him in…but, together, wow, they were like, epically bad.
I know most of the blame falls at the feet of the lame-brained writers and producers — did we really need those hideous “Gone With The Wind” and “Titanic” graphics projected in the background? And don’t even get me started about that freaky Bob Hope hologram…yikes! — but Hathaway and Franco were so boring that you could practically hear viewers switching the channel. Urgh…
To her credit, Hathaway at least tried to keep things lively, but the dead-eyed Franco looked like he needed a nap most of the night. Watching Hathaway desperately flit around the stage last night while Franco half-napped at the podium reminded me of those old elementary school group projects where one person on the team always worked harder than the other. As a team, they failed, but, I think I’d give Annie an “A” for effort!
Not helping the overall yawn-factor last night was the fact that almost everyone who was predicted to win, did. Which is cool for the very-deserving winners (way to go, Queen Amidala!) but makes for really boring television. Thankfully, “Inception” cleaned up in the technical categories…so, that was fun to watch, even if Christopher Nolan was denied his Oscar (again!).
Dying to hear what you guys thought of the show, and if you have any suggestions for better hosts for next year — hell, that Bob Hope hologram would be better than Hathaway and Franco! — I’d love to hear them too…so, fire away!
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OK, I know it happened last week, but, my mind is still reeling from watching a freaking supercomputer named Watson beat the pants of the two biggest winners in “Jeopardy” history. I mean, think about it, a gigantic computer with no internet access faced off with two really smart humans on a game show and won. Wow, my brain is still scrambling to make sense of it all…
I know it sounds lame, but, I just kept thinking: this is the future, we are literally watching the future unfold on our TV sets. It wasn’t always perfect (wasn’t it weird how jokey wording or kinda non-specific, broader answers tripped Watson up? Fascinating!) but, for three amazing nights last week, we lived in the future and it was thrilling!
I for one, say, long live, Watson! And as the soundly-defeated Ken Jennings joked in his final answer, I too wholehearted embrace our new “computer overlords”. Bring on the war with the machines, baby!
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Underwater marriage proposals, Gayle and Oprah cuddling with Koala bears, soaring helicopter rides over the heart of the Great Barrier Reef? Whew…what’s not to love about Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventures this week?
Seriously, even dyed-in-the-wool Oprah haters like my wife would have to agree that this is damn fine daytime TV. Need further proof? Well, all the stuff listed above happened in the first half of the first episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday. Yep, and there are still three more days of shrimp-on-the-barbie Australian awesomeness to air! Yee-haw!
So, even if you missed the first couple of episodes, set your Tivo’s now. Because this week on Oprah is gonna rock so hard that I don’t even care if I sound like a total girl gushing about it. Go, Oprah!
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Hooray! for the first time in, like, well…forever…NBC’s Golden Globe Pre-Show was actually worth watching. And it had nothing to do with a strangely-overdressed Natalie Morales or that stupid-old WGA scab, Carson Daly. Nope, this time, they had a real fashionista on the red carpet, someone who knew their shit and had a rocking sense of humor to boot. And guess who that fair lass was?
That’s right, my girl, Alexa Chung, has returned to American television, amigos! I don’t even know why they needed those other two layabouts, because when it came to hip, fresh, and fun red carpet interviews, Alexa Chung ruled the roost.
So, if anyone at NBC is listening, please, for the love of God, ditch the three-host approach and give Alexa full-reign over the red carpet next year. She’ll kill it!
Long live the new queen of all media, Alexa Chung!
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Whoa, talk about an eclectic bunch of nominees. I mean, three nods for “The Tourist” would be shocking enough, but the fact that they came in the Comedy/Musical category? Crazy!
And Johnny Depp is cool and all, but, two nods for totally lame movies in the same category? Yikes, if the Hollywood Foreign Press wanted him to show up that badly they shoulda just cut out the middle man and given him an honorary award already. Jeez! But other than that bit of typical Golden Globe-cheesiness, it was sort of business-as-usual this year at the HFPA.
After dominating the LA and NY Film Critics awards this season, David Fincher’s rocking “The Social Network” is looking like the one to beat with a very well-deserved six nominations. I know it came out a while ago, but “Social” is still one of the best things we’ve seen, and I’m happy to say that after taking a detour into straight-up Robert Zemekis hokumville with his last effort, the vastly-overrated “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, David Fincher is back with a vengeance, baby!
Also was thrilled to see “Inception” score several major nominations yesterday. Like I said before, this movie seriously rocked our world, so, here’s hoping it does the same with the Globe voters!
We haven’t seen “The King’s Speech” yet, but, it looks amazing and we love everyone involved with it, so, kudos to them as well. If there’s any justice in this world, two of our favorite actors of all time, Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter will finally win awards this year for their work. Go, Brits!
I was also glad to see David O. Russell finally score a nomination (for directing “The Fighter”) of any kind after years of creating crazy-cool, fantastically-quirky movies. I know a lot of people hate it, but, I still “Heart Huckabees” to death. So, even if you are a big old a-hole in real life, congrats on joining the ranks of the nominated, Mr. Russell!
The TV side of things was pretty cool too, with many of last year’s nominees returning for a second chance at the gold. My favorite nomination though has got to be “The Walking Dead” for best TV Drama. That show is insanely-good, so, really glad to see it represented here.
Oh, and finally, how cool is it that NIN’s Trent Reznor scored a Best Original Score nomination for his dreamy “Social Network” soundtrack? Reznor’s thumping, trance-like music made the movie, man. So cool!
To see the full list of this year’s Golden Globe nominees, click here. And don’t forget to watch the big show on Sunday, January 16th, 2011. Ricky Gervais is back as host, so, you know it’s gonna be fun!
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OK, how rad was the season-two premiere of “The Sing Off” on NBC last night?
So totally radical that Christine — who was dead-tired after helping me finish the Christmas decorating — stayed up till almost 1:00AM to watch the two-hour season premiere in its tune-filled entirety. Yep, it was that good!
No worries if you missed the first episode (the eliminated groups weren’t that great anyway) but if you love that fake-ass, studio-recorded stuff they do on “Glee” then you’ll really love watching the real thing done right in front of a live studio audience. Holy crap, some of these guys are ah-mazing!
So, please, please, do yourself a favor and check out the rest of the very short season of “The Sing Off” on NBC. And for the love of God, pray that those goofy stoners from the University of Oregon in Eugene sing at least one more Lady Gaga song before they get voted off, that shit was off the hook! WOW!
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Best. Idea. Ever! Hell, if Betty White can get the gig via that now-legendary Facebook campaign, why not Cookie Monster? And seeing as how totally lame the “SNL” season has been thus far, maybe a 40-year old muppet host will be just what the ratings doctor ordered.
Ooo…and just imagine how cool it would be if they had that old “Muppet Show” rock band on as the musical guests! Animal on drums, that sultry, big-lipped Janice singing harmony? Sheer televised awesomeness!
Alright, everyone say it together now: “Me want Cookie Monster!”
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Holy crap! Did anyone else watch this televised insanity last night? Man, if my Mother-in-Law hadn’t strong-armed us into watching part one of the season finale of “Dancing with the Stars” — a show neither Christine or I have ever watched willingly — we would probably have missed it entirely.
But, thanks to Marge, we totally watched the premiere episode of “Skating with the Stars” and, Lord in heaven, I want my hour back.
Seriously, that shit was so crazy! No offense to the sexiest damn replicant in the “Blade Runner” universe, but, when Sean Young is your biggest name star, you know you don’t have any stars. Yikes! And the still-sexy Miss Young tried her damndest, but, wow, bitch could not skate to save her life!
Even Olympic Gold Medalist Jonny Mosely sucked. Sure, he won his gold for skiing, but, still, you’d think he’d have some basic skating skills. Sadly, he didn’t.
The rest of the nobody’s…ahem…”stars”, were fine-to-decent skaters — except for reality show super-bitch Bethenny Frankel, who kinda rocked! — but the highlight of the night was when middle judge and resident super freak, Johnny Weir, inexplicably skated for the crowd.
It was so weird, they just came back from the break and announced that now, Johnny Weir would be skating. Huh? What about the next couple? And how did Johnny change into that strange outfit and frost his tips red so quickly? It was very confusing, amigos.
And the song the Weird One skated to? Wait for it…Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”. Ha! Perfection! Instantly, the show went from plain-old bad TV to totally-surreal Mexican variety show. So awesomely bad! Wow…it’s almost enough to make me wanna watch next week. Almost…
Anybody else watch this craziness? If so, what’d you think?
Oops! Somehow, in my enthusiasm for our spanking-new iPhones, I totally forgot to tell you my new baby’s name. Christine has yet to settle on a cool name for hers, but mine was Desmond from the get go! I mean, come on, how could I not name the coolest, life-altering mobile phone in the world after the coolest, time-bending “Lost” character ever? It was just too perfect, so, Desmond it was…Mr. Hume if you’re nasty.
Now, if I could only talk Christine into naming her iPhone Penny, all would be right with the world, brutha…
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Wait…did I just say summer was over? Well, hold up, amigos. Because after watching this hilarious, awesomely-bad trailer for the new Sy-Fy Original movie “Sharktopus” (airing Saturday, September 25th @ 9:00PM) I must say that the end of summer can surely wait another week.
Other than that it was produced by Roger Corman and stars Eric Roberts, I don’t have a clue what the storyline is here, but, I gotta tell ya, I don’t care…they had me at the title. And that theme song?? OMG, don’t get me started, I’m already making space on our shelf for the soundtrack. “Sharktopus” 4eva!
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Some people say it’s the way the days grow ever shorter, or the subtle chill in the air at night, but for the past twelve seasons, there is one sure-fire way to know that summer has ended in our house…and that’s when “Big Brother” airs it’s season finale. And seeing as that happened on Wednesday, well, I’d say the summer of 2010 is officially over.
So, goodbye road trips, plane trips and warm summer days at the beach, but most of all…goodbye to the positively radiant Chenbot.
Seriously, did any of you see Julie Chen in action this season? Chenbot was looking fine, yo. Motherhood clearly agrees with her circuitry. Wow…
Anyway…now that the show is over and all the sunny, summer distractions are slowly winding down outside, maybe, just maybe, I’ll get back to blogging again on a regular basis. Hooray!
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Unlike with the Oscars, I don’t usually stay up to watch the Emmy nominations announced live…but this year I did, and, wow, what a year to do it. I was cheering so loud when some of those names were read that I actually had to cover my face with a pillow so as to not wake up the girls!
I’m not kidding, amigos, this is probably one of the best rosters of Emmy nominees ever. Finding a good movie to see in a theatre might be getting harder and harder these days, but, man alive, TV is on fire, baby!
Not only did new shows like “Glee”, “Modern Family”, and “The Good Wife” clean up in the nomination department, but, some long-overlooked returning shows finally got some recognition too. I’ve never watched it myself, but the fact that a cult show like “Friday Night Lights” finally scored some Emmy love after barely surviving cancellation for all these years is awesome!
I was also thrilled to see Elizabeth Mitchell finally nab an Emmy nomination for her heartbreaking portrayal of Dr. Juliet Burke on “Lost”. Mitchell was totally robbed last year, so, to see her shortlisted this time is just freaking awesome!
Also very excited to see the rocking-good Archie Panjabi nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Drama for “The Good Wife”. Panjabi’s character steals every scene she’s in, and that’s really saying something when you consider she plays most of her scenes opposite classic scene-stealers (and fellow nominees) Julianna Marguiles and Christine Baranski. So, kudos to you, Panjabi!
I was also very pleased to see the incredible Jane Lynch pick up a nod for “Glee”. She’d better start clearing room on her mantel now, because something tells me she’s gonna be one of those people who win every year they get nominated. And unlike some of those people (Tony Shaloub) she totally deserves it!
Christine was very stoked to see Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” score a nod for Best Reality Program. I know it didn’t get a lot of play in the media, but that show had heart and soul to spare and the fact that it has inspired people across the country to join the “Revolution” is the icing on the cake. Good on you, Jamie!
But the best news of the day, by far, was that the late, great Conan O’Brien version of “The Tonight Show” was nominated for four Emmy’s while Jay Leno, once again, received none. Ha ha, karma’s a bitch…suck it, Jay!
To see a complete list of all this year’s Emmy nominees, click here.
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I should start off by saying that, sadly, “Not Forgotten” came home from the 36th Annual Saturn Awards empty-handed on Thursday night. Sorry…
But one of the things I learned about attending my first big-time award show (as a nominee!) is that it really is an honor just to be nominated. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true. And seeing as the folks who put on the Saturn Awards are some of the coolest, geekiest, sci-fi, fantasy and horror fans imaginable (people like me!) I was even doubly honored.
Seriously, I have never felt more at home in a room full of Hollywood phonies, and that’s because these people were not your everyday Hollywood phonies.
No way, man, these folks were the real deal. That Starlight Ballroom was busting at the seams with talented, creative, film-loving freaks and geeks of every shape and size…and those people know how to party, yo!
This year, the Saturn Awards were held at the Castaway Restaurant in the hills overlooking Burbank…and if there was any doubt as to where you were when you got out of your car, the scads of little alien heads at the bar and the life size astronaut suit on the red carpet totally clued you in.
Still wondering what award show you were at? Well, perhaps you should ask that fellow over there in the Samurai Stormtrooper costume, or the man driving the moon buggy in a grungy space suit. I swear, amigos, I never stopped smiling all night…that place was fanboy heaven.
Rubbing shoulders with people like Sam Raimi, Leonard Nimoy, Billy Dee Williams, Guillermo Del Toro, Malcolm McDowell, the lovely Anna Torv from “Fringe”, cast members from “Heroes”, “Chuck” and “Breaking Bad”, iconic “The Greatest American Hero” star himself, William Katt, and actually being touched by the dude who played touch-happy Jacob on “Lost” (Mark Pellegrino)…I mean, shit, who needs an award with a line-up like that?
Of course, we would have loved to have won our category — we lost to Rod Lurie’s “Nothing But The Truth”, which includes no sci-fi, fantasy or horror to speak of — but, we were having too much fun to dwell on the loss for long. I mean, the food was great, the bar was wide open — Daddy had three mojitos and a chocolate vodka martini, but who’s counting? — and the vibe at the Castaway was awesome, so, what’s to complain about?
And on top of all that coolness, I managed to score two gift bags at the end of the night. Sure, I felt a little greedy lugging them around the after-party in the courtyard, but what can I say, I loves me some free shit. And when that free shit involves “King Kong” and “Avatar” DVD’s, well, all the better!
Thanks again for the nomination, guys…long live the Saturn Awards! To see a full list of this year’s Saturn Award winners, please click here.
And to see more of my super-nerdy pics please click here.
Just found out that “Not Forgotten” had it’s pay-cable debut last night on Showtime. Yay! We don’t have Showtime, but, for those who do, “Not Forgotten” plays several times over the next couple of weeks on the networks of Showtime and will be available at Showtime On Demand through the end of the month.
Finally, those of you who missed “Not Forgotten” on the big screen and on DVD and Blu-Ray will have one more chance to see my movie. Whew! 🙂 Oh yeah, and if you really don’t know anyone with Showtime, you could always watch it on NetFlix On Demand, like my brother-in-law did today. Thanks, Rob!
To see the complete schedule of “NF” air dates on Showtime, click here. And if I could just say one last super nerdy thing before I sign off…how cool is it that my movie was the lead-in tonight for groovy, award-magnet shows like “Nurse Jackie” and “United States of Tara”? Awesome!!
I know much has been written about the recent series finale of “Lost”, so, I won’t bore you yet another analysis of what they got right and less right at the end. But I will tell you that we freaking loved every crazy minute of that finale.
Yes, there are still a couple of unanswered questions — If women couldn’t have babies on the island, why were Ethan and Aaron both born there? What was Widmore’s real end game and how did he find the island again? And where the hell was Walt, who was so central in seasons past, in all this craziness? — but overall, we thought the show ended perfectly.
And as far as the much-maligned “flash-sideways” go, we thought they were some of the coolest moments of the entire series. Seeing Locke finally experience a true and lasting love with Helen, watching Jack be the loving father he never had to his son, David, that shit was beautiful.
But the real kicker was seeing Ben do the right thing and selflessly help his “daughter” Alex this time around. OMG, the post-dinner scene with him and Rousseau in the second-to-last episode just about killed me. I was sobbing!
Christine and I also wept like babies — poor Greta looked so confused! — when Sun and Jin and Sawyer and Juliet were reunited in the finale. That beautiful music and those series-encompassing flashes were just…wow…I’m getting weepy again just thinking about it.
I’ll probably be nerding out over the finer points of the show for years, so for now, let me just say a huge “Lostie” thank you to everyone involved with bringing this trippy, genre-bending series into our lives.
You guys rocked our world for six amazing seasons, so, thanks for the memories, amigos…and, as our Dharma Initiative friends would say, namaste!
Filed under See
Allow me first to set the scene…Greta was asleep, Christine and I were sitting on the couch a good two-and-a-half hours into NBC’s coverage of the Closing Ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympic Games. We were tired, bleary-eyed from laughing, crying, and realizing that tomorrow morning we would have to emerge from our Olympic cocoon and face real life.
And then, just as Michael Buble (wow, is everyone Canadian?) and hundreds of hot, dancing Mountie chicks were wrapping up a rousing version of “O, Canada”, Bob Costas informed us that the network was now cutting away from their coverage — yes, you heard me, cutting away from their fake-live coverage! — to air a sneak preview episode of Jerry Seinfeld’s cheesy-ass new reality show, “The Marriage Ref”. What the hell? Say it ain’t so, Bob!
But, sadly, it was so…and like millions of American television viewers, we did not set our Tivo for NBC’s impromtu hour-long intermission, so, we missed the entire last hour of the Closing Ceremonies. Thanks, NBC!
What really pisses me off is that I checked the Tivo on Saturday night and there was no mention of a one-hour break in the Closing Ceremonies coverage at all. Which means that NBC, in their never-ending quest for total ineptitude decided to make the old switcheroo at the last minute and force feed their loyal Olympic viewers a meal of straight-up dog shit. Sorry, but that’s how it felt. After sixteen days of watching nothing but the networks of NBC, having them pull a stunt like that was like a freaking slap in the face…
And the worst thing was that our Tivo cut-off midway through “The Marriage Ref”…actually, that’s probably a good thing because that show looks super lame. But I’m sorry, NBC, you just don’t cut off something like the Closing Ceremonies at the Olympics to air a reality show. It’s disrespectful to your viewers, to Canada and hell, to the freaking Olympics in general. Seriously, I wanna write a letter to the IOC and get the games switched to another network next time…yikes…
On their website last night, the AP called NBC’s decision to cut off the Closing Ceremonies “spectacularly wrong-headed” and continued on to say that: “those enjoying the festivities were told to come back in an hour — at 11:30 p.m. on a night before work or school — for the conclusion. Incredible that NBC would wrap a show it has high hopes for, and one of its biggest stars, in ill will.”
We could not agree more. Suck it, NBC…
Filed under See
While catching up on our “Alexa Chung” episodes over the weekend, Christine, Greta and I were stunned to hear an emotional Chung proclaim on last Thursday’s episode that not only would that be her last episode of the year, but also, her last episode…bum, bum, bum…ever! Ahhh! Say it ain’t so, Alexa!
Alas, a quick Google search proved that it was indeed so…and that MTV had canceled our beloved “It’s On With Alexa Chung”. Urgh…so sad!!
I mean, I know the show suffered in the ratings and that ill-advised retool at the start of season two certainly didn’t help, but Chung really seemed to find her groove in the last few weeks, and the show had finally settled into what it was meant to be all along: a fun, goofy half hour chat show with music.
I’m not kidding, the last few episodes were golden, baby…A-list talent, crazy skits, cutting-edge music by bands you’ve never heard of…it was awesome. So, to have the show yanked from the schedule just when it was really starting to cook with gas is just plain cruel. Thanks, MTV, for the worst Christmas present ever!
So, as we mourn the loss of the best daytime talk show in years, I’ll leave you with some pics of our favorite Alexa Chung moments from both seasons. She might not brighten our afternoons anymore, but the memory of the lanky, hipster queen of UK chat will live forever in our hearts…
Long live Alexa Chung!
Filed under See
With Greta teething like crazy, no one in our household has been getting much sleep lately. So, since I was still awake at 4:30AM this morning, I figured I may as well stay up to watch the Golden Globe Nominations at 5:00AM. I mean, what’s another half hour at that point, huh?
Well, apparently the Hollywood Foreign Press is as punctual as I am, because, even though their website said the nominations would begin at 5:00AM PST, they didn’t actually get to the good stuff till 5:37AM!! And trust me, trying to stay awake for those last 37 minutes sucked ass. Jesus, get it together, HFPA!
Anyway, there weren’t a whole lot of surprises this year on the movie side, except for the near total snubs of “The Lovely Bones”, “The Road” and “Where The Wild Things Are” — but it was cool to see three of our favorite actors (Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep and Matt Damon) score double nominations and, seriously, anytime Julianne Moore is nominated for an award is a happy day in my book. Now if she could actually win something sometime I’d be even happier!
Also glad to see Tarantino back in the thick of things with “Inglourious Basterds” raking up all kinds of Globes love, and though we haven’t watched our screener of “Up In The Air” yet, I am already in love with the movie from the trailers, so, kudos to Clooney and company on that front too. It was also very cool to see “Avatar” do so well and a smaller movie like “District 9” score a coveted screenplay nomination. Wow…who knew the HFPA dug Sci Fi? Awesome!
But the big news of the day was on the TV front where Fox’s “Glee” very-deservedly cleaned freaking house with three acting nominations and a nod for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy. Hooray! After years of kicking ass in everything she does, Jane Lynch is finally nominated for an award! Coolness! Go-to character actresses like Alison Janney better watch their backs in the years to come, because the white-hot Lynch is on a roll, baby!
Also very happy to see “Big Love” score a few well-deserved nominations (go, Chloë Sevigny!) and we were very excited to see two of our favorite new shows, “Modern Family” and “The Good Wife” score some nods. Rock on, newbies!
My only complaint today are the three nominations for Lifetime’s God-awful “Georgia O’Keefe” biopic. That movie really, really sucked. Not only did it totally squander the considerable talents of it’s two lead actors, Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons, but it was so damn boring that it made Lifetime’s epic 2008 train wreck, “Coco Chanel” look interesting. And yes, I actually Tivo-ed (and watched!!) both of those lame-ass movies. Yikes…
But at the end of the day, the big story at this year’s Globes — which air on NBC on January 17th — isn’t gonna be about the nominees at all. I mean, with Ricky Gervais hosting and the booze flowing freely, who really cares who wins?
To see a full list of this year’s nominees, click here.
Filed under See
Wow…I guess I’m not the only cool thing that turned 40 this year. Ha! Seriously though, the thought of “Sesame Street” being on the air for almost my entire lifetime does make me feel kinda crazy old. I mean, who knew it had been around that long? Yikes…
Anyway, happy 40th birthday to Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch — who apparently had orange fur in the first season! — Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Grover, Guy Smilie, Elmo and all the rest of those bad-ass muppets. You guys made my childhood more awesome than you’ll ever know…
And now that we have a little one of our own in the house, you can bet she’ll get her fill of that iconic theme song on a daily basis too. We haven’t started Tivo-ing “Street” regularly yet, but we have watched some segments online, and, lemme tell ya, Greta is already hooked!
Que viva “La Calle de Sesame”!
make. see. eat. do. 