NBC Brings Us Holemdy Cheer

Holemdy= Holiday Comedy. I made that up myself. Thanks.

Warning: this is full of spoilers and obnoxiously long

You know, with all the conjecture and criticism surrounding NBC and its Comcast-bought future (may I direct you here and here for more information), last night’s Thursday Night Line-Up reminded me that despite low ratings and a lack of juggernaut TV like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, NBC has some of the best writers, best actors, and best stories on TV.

Last night’s holiday episodes of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and (to a lesser extent) 30 Rock delivered superb episodes in what have been consistently strong seasons. The Office and 30 Rock usually deliver great holiday episodes (Benihana Christmas, anyone?), so it’s nice to see the fledgling Community and Parks do the same.

Here are some something things I thought about them.

Gather round, friends, and say thanks.

It’s that time of year again! Yes, the second best holiday, THANKSGIVING!!!

Alright, that turkey looks a little wimpy. But you get the picture.

But, a shocking development! facetrace’s family has decided to CANCEL Thanksgiving this year and instead jet off to the sunny beachs of Kauai.

This is a fair trade-off. No complaints here.

But since I won’t be able to sit at the kids’ table, gorging myself on my aunt’s perfect pecan pie, I’ll need another platform to give my thanks.

So in no particular order, here are (pop-culture-related) reasons why I’m thankful this year…

 

 

 

After a short blog hiatus, it’s another rainy day! In November?? Go figure.

 

In any case, here’s another small batch of recommended music:

Well, this is topical…

Thanks to my ever-observant co-worker, some journalism scandal today. Bonus points for being British!

Guardian Prevented from Reporting on Parliament

“Today’s published Commons order papers contain a question to be answered by a minister later this week. The Guardian is prevented from identifying the MP who has asked the question, what the question is, which minister might answer it, or where the question is to be found.”

Scandal! Basically the Guardian can’t report on a question that’s going to be answered in some sort of hearing somewhere about something, thanks to a gag order from an unnamed company. I’ll be following this as it goes along, because you know everyone will be up in arms. Unless, of course, it’s just a big old publicity plug by The Guardian. I hope not.

And to tie this in to this blog, this whole news bit has eerily similar themes to my latest netflix rental, State of Play. THUMBS UP. Seriously, rent this. But be warned, there are two versions.

Not this version. No offense to Dame Mirren, Mr. Affleck, Mr. Crowe, etc. But this is just your standard movie remake.

Instead, make sure you get the highly acclaimed, tons-of-BAFTAs-winning, BBC miniseries.

It’s two discs, six episodes, and holy crap GREAT. And yup, that’s James McAvoy on the cover! Along with Bill Nighy (Love Actually, Underworld) and the wonderfully talented John Simms, (Life on Mars, Doctor Who). Also, David Morrissey is great as the burdened MP, and I spent a lot of time thinking that he was related to Morrissey of The Smiths (because of that distinctive forehead). Turns out he’s not.

But still, if you’re looking for some journalist/political/corporate intrigue that is incredibly well-acted, well-directed, well-written, well-produced, you can’t go wrong with State of Play. Trust me on this. Really.

Rainy Saturday

Well, jaceface is off to Greece for a week and it’s gross outside and there’s a pile of dishes in the sink that need to be cleaned. Wouldn’t you rather be here, instead?:

That sort of place shouldn’t even exist. In any case, enjoy a playlist while you avoid the rain.

Our Thoughts on James Franco

So, the internets have announced that James Franco is going to guest star on General Hospital, possibly for a months-long arc. Let me repeat, James Franco- star of huge movies like Spiderman and Milk, an actor who has major box office draw, is taking time out of his schedule to work on a soap opera. For those of you who aren’t familiar with what it’s like to film a soap opera, it’s grueling. Like 15 hour days, no time to do anything else, and the number of people who tune in are in the thousands. Traceface and I react to this news after the jump.

Shocking news, everyone!

TLC renames show to ‘Kate Plus 8’

Apparently the show “will have a deeper focus on Kate’s role as a single mother.” Yes, a single mother with a hefty allowance from a hit TV show and speaking tours, a camera crew of babysitters, and a bodyguard. Just like real life!! It’s nice to see that reality TV still is a window into our own lives.

But TLC, why would you show less of their loving father??

there are too many dealbreakers in this picture to count

Pilot Review: FlashForward

ABC just premiered their biggest SciFi drama since LOST. A prime 8:00 Thursday slot, the show features some pretty heavy hitters- Shakespeare in Love’s Joe Fiennes stars alongside John Cho (Harold or Sulu, depending on your preference), Broadway megastar Brian O’Bryne, Dominic Monagahan (Charlie from LOST), Sonya Walger (Penny from LOST….ABC doesn’t stray too far from the genre actors they know, apparently). The premise of the show kicks in about minute 6, when everyone IN THE ENTIRE WORLD blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. Then it turns out, they didn’t blackout, but had some sort of collective vision of the same hour six months from when the blackout occurs. It’s a very interesting plot, and incredibly unique, especially for network standards. I’m certainly all for shows based on crazy apocalyptic events, but this one left me a little underwhelmed. Let’s explore, shall we?

Jaceface’s List of TV Show Pros and Cons, Flashforward edition.

an artistic interpretation of what we've been doing the past two months

Well, it’s been almost two months, now hasn’t it? And during one of the most exciting times of the year for TV lovers! Here’s a problem about being TV bloggers that I didn’t foresee:

We’re too busy watching TV to blog about TV!

Okay, we’re not watching TV 24/7, so yes, we probably could have dashed off a few entries in the past weeks, but so it goes.

Let’s recap awesome things we missed!

Someone explain this to me.

Gawker just put up a post about how the NYPD has to take over Robert Pattinson’s security detail because his bodyguards are too overwhelmed by crazed fans. If you follow any NYC blogs, those articles have been aplenty lately. For those of us old enough to remember (re: everyone), this very much mirrors the Leonardo DiCaprio/Titanic explosion of ’07. So, my question, teenage girls of the new millennium, how did we go from this:

to THIS?

Really, girls?

God Save the Queen’s TV

This weekend, Jaceface and I made a very important discovery that will affect both our lives and this blog here on out…

WE GET BBC AMERICA FREE ON DEMAND

We Tried

No, I swear, we really did try. jaceface and I did our best to watch all of ‘Labor Pains.’ I don’t think she made it past the first commercial break, and I switched it by the second one, I think. So we really can’t summarize the movie for you, except that it made me feel similar to being vaguely carsick. It’s not like I’m going to throw up or anything, but I’d rather be out of the car than driving around aimlessly, which would have been more entertaining.

But some people were PAID to watch it and report on it, so you can check out recaps by The Fug Girls at NY Magazine or the Onion’s AV Club. Best quote from AV Club: “I gave the movie a C- because I think when you start straying into the D’s and lower people get perversely intrigued and I didn’t want to encourage that sort of thinking.”

One argument I’ll have to raise though: When did everyone decide that Lindsay Lohan was this great actress who is just squandering away her God-given talent? Did I miss her break-through performance? Of course I’ll always love “The Parent Trap” and “Mean Girls,” don’t get me wrong, but I’m not about to nominate her for anything. Okay, okay, I must admit, I never saw “I Know Who Killed Me.” Maybe I’ll netflix that and finally get to see the raw talent that everyone is talking about.

Liveblogging: Labor Pains

Guys! Lindsay Lohan made a movie! Even in her scary-skinny, coke addict, lesbian phase, she is THAT professional, she couldn’t stay away from the SCREEN!

Here’s our liveblog of this epic cinematic event:

8:00 Her boyfriend is an Asian guy who works at a breakfast car on the street.

Apparently you can say “head up his ass” on ABC family. Who knew?

Also, you can smoke cigarettes and talk about getting totally wasted off shots.

OH MY GOD. CREED FROM THE OFFICE IS IN THIS MOVIE

First great line, “Privacy is for people on time” care of Dr. Spaceman from 30 Rock, who plays LaLohan’s boss.

8:10 So far, the majority of screen time/dialogue has been dedicated to Dr. Spaceman’s small lapdog, who just projectile vomited all over the board of the publishing house where Lohan works.

“undersexed jerk” can also be said on ABCFamily

“The legal department is backing the decision that you can’t fire a pregnant woman….no matter how much they deserve it.” ?????

Oh look, everyone in the office is SO exited for her! And there are like 3 other pregnant woman. And a very old man just said “I never touched her!”

Delivery guy just made thrusting movements with his hips.

“Wayward skank” can also be said on ABC Family.

Also, insinuating someone has crabs.

8:15 So, the B-plotline is that Lohan takes care of her 17 year old sister. THEY ARE ALL ON THEIR OWN. It’s complicated though. They say things like “really, cause you were at  bar during my parent teacher conference.”

WHAT IS CHERYL HINES DOING IN THIS MOVIE? Shouting things like, “I’m sure Greg is still a virgin!” in the direction of said Greg.

Lindsay is wearing leggings o play softball! I wonder if they are leggings from her leggings line!

FIRST DRAMATIC MOMENT: Lindsay gets kicked off the softball team because she is pregnant.

8:20 Creed just dropped dead at the softball game. Concern over the small dog.

First commercial break…

Guys… I think I have to abandon this liveblog. It’s at the level of bad where it’s just boring and stupid, but not bad enough where it’s funny or entertaining (re: Another Cinderella Story with Selena Gomez, which I HIGHLY recommend).

Poor Lohan, she can’t even pull of campy bad.

Bite My Shiny Metal…..

To quote T.T. Billingsworth and the Captain…

 

AW HELL NAW.

‘Futurama’ getting new voices for Fry, Leela, Bender, and others

shocked by the article

 FOX statement:

We love the Futurama voice performers and absolutely wanted to use them, but unfortunately, we could not meet their salary demands. While replacing these talented actors will be difficult, the show must go on. We are confident that we will find terrific new performers to give voice to Matt and David’s brilliantly subversive characters.

 

AW.

HELL.

NAW.

I’m going to curl up on the street and slowly, heart-wrenchingly, pass away.

Quick News…

NPH will be hosting this year’s Emmy Awards! And to quote AV Club:

If you’re like us, you watched the Tonys (or the highlights anyway) thinking, “Neil Patrick Harris should host every awards show every year for as long he’s taking in oxygen.”

Yeah, pretty much that.

source.