Big News of the Week: A Melancholy Happy Trails to Dom DeLuise: Some of the funniest movies of my childhood were The Cannonball Run movies and Dom DeLuise was certainly one of the reasons the two movies were so hilarious. And the laughs kept coming with his cameos in Mel Brooks films: Blazing Saddles and History of the World pt. I and his numerous television guest appearances on series and game shows throughout the eighties. They just don’t make comics like Dom DeLuise anymore and that’s a shame.
Coalition Links of the Week:
Inspired by the Bones/Family Guy crossover, Buzz dreamed up some other funny TV crossovers she'd love to see — complete with goofy photoshopping! (BuzzSugar)
The Tony Award nominations are out and while it's about Broadway Theatre, the show is still on TV, so Vance gives his two cents on this years picks.(Tapeworthy)
This week, Jace reviewed the first two episodes of Showtime's sensational new comedy Nurse Jackie, starring Edie Falco, which launches in June. (Televisionary)
Whether it'll stick around remains to be seen, but Marisa wants to have the (almost) final word on Dollhouse. (TiFaux)
This week, the TV Addict offered up his snap judgements on NBC's new fall offerings. (The TV Addict)
Eric was lucky enough to interview Cassidy Freeman just a week before the Smallville season finale. (TV Fanatic)
Free Download of the Week: Free Green Day Song (Rhapsody): All week Rhapsody has been giving away free Green Day songs and as I write this you can get their new single Know Your Enemy (please note that Rhapsody changes randomly, so you better not procrastinate to get it). And if you are a Rhapsody subscriber, you can stream the new album 21st Century Breakdown for free (non-members get 25 free streams per month so you could get two listens in before you run out).
Video of the Week: Certainly we have all seen this story before: overeducated and unemployable. It is doubtful that anything will come close to being as great as Wonderfalls in telling that story, but Post Grad features Matt Saresen saranading Rory Gilmore, so hopefully it will be at the very least watchable.
Next Week Pick of the Week: The Big Bang Theory, Monday at 8:00 on CBS: The funniest show end with what CBS calls “The coolest finale ever!” Of course this is because the foursome will be going on an exposition to the Arctic. But will Leonard really make the trip after it was revealed Penny called out his name in the heat of passion? I may have to brush up on the Schrödinger's cat experiment before I predict that.
Looking ever further into the future, TNT looks to have a big push this summer with seven new and returing shows premiering throughout the season. I am sure I will have more on the shows at a later date. Until then, here are the premiere dates:
Monday, June 8
9:00 - The Closer
10:00 - Raising the Bar
Tuesday, June 16
8:00 - Wedding Day (A new reality show from Survivor's Mark Burnett)
9:00 - HawthoRNe (A new series starring Jada Pinkett Smith)
10:00 - Saving Grace
Wednesday, July 15
9:00 - Leverage
10:00 - Dark Blue (A new series staring Dylan McDermott)
Last month, Barack Obama got a lot flack for selecting his dog Bo from a breeder instead of adopting a rescue dog like he promised during his campaign. An off shoot of that decision is that will increase puppy mills churning out Portuguese water dogs because of his decision. On a special episode of Dog Whisperer tonight at 9:00 on the National Geographic Channel Cesar Millan goes undercover to witness the puppy mills first hand. As the press release says:
Every year, millions of dogs are mass-produced at puppy mills - often packed in tiny wire cages, neglected, dehydrated, dirty, and chronically sick - and then sold legally to pet stores throughout the country. In this powerful episode, Cesar sees puppy mill horror and works to rescue and rehabilitate caged pups with the animal rights group Last Chance for Animals. With hidden cameras, LCA operatives spot check Los Angeles county kennels, rescue eleven dogs considered worthless by breeders and learn from Cesar as he teaches them how to immediately rehabilitate the traumatized pups.
For anyone who is thinking about getting a dog, this is a must see episode. For more facts on puppy mills, head over to NationalGeographic.com. And since they were both mentioned in the special you can find out more about Last Chance for Animals and StopPuppyMills.org at their websites. You can also check out a preview below with a cameo from Sharon Osbourne:
For his tenth studio album, Ben Harper has traded his normal backing band the Innocent Criminals for a new one the Relentless7, but make no doubt, White Lies for Dark Times still sounds like a Ben Harper album. What the Relentless7 adds can be heard most on the rock songs that sound bluesier and closer to a garage band, the three musicians come from Texas, sound than the more polished Innocent Criminal sound.
That influence can be heard of the drums and fuzz first single Shimmer & Shine and the album opener Number with No Name which is a slide guitar from down on the bayou that takes a pit stop in Seattle. The spacey yet raw Up to You Now is reminiscent of something off of Mirror ball which famously saw Neil Young replaced for the album Pearl Jam with Crazy Horse. Lay There & Hate Me features an opening piano groove and bassline that borders on disco with some “ooh’s” that could have been lifted from a Rolling Stones record yet mix together perfectly. While Why Must You Always Dress in Black sounds like something from the Jimi Hendrix catalogue. Keep it Together (So I Can Fall Apart) starts out that way until it breaks down into kind of jam band type groove.
The slower songs sound more like vintage Harper for better or worse. Skin Thin sounds like it has appeared already on his previous nine albums with just a changed lyric or two. On the flip side of the coin is Fly One Time that just builds and builds with a driving groove to the point where Ben’s voice starts to crack. Hopefully the rejuvenation from the Relentless7 keeps Ben Harper putting out listenable music for another ten albums.
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
Magnificent – U2
I have no clue what the white sheet were supposed to symbolize or what was with all the gratuitous close up smoky Arab dude, but at least the new U2 video looks cool.
I had a very She’s All That vibe from this video. Or was it Whatever it Takes? Maybe Get Over It? All those early ’00 teen movies all blend together. Then Evil Taylor Swift conspicuously looks like Jodi Lyn O’Keefe who I think was the ex-girlfriend in all of them. And I think I may take Evil Taylor over the good version.
I am not going to embed the new Eminem video because it is creepy in an early Marilyn Manson video kind of was but with more blood. Eminem always likes to walk up to the line of controversy, but with 3 A.M. he jumps right over the line and is just shocking for the sake of shock. Click the link above to watch the video in its entirety on YouTube at your own digression.
Over the past two years, I have killed Ben Silverman for ruining NBC with bad decision after another and batting an abysmal .000 when it comes to new shows (it is safe to now put Southland in the fail column after losing almost half its viewers in a month). I am sure yesterday’s Infronts will get more run for what was absent (Chuck, My Name Is Earl, Law and Order; but note the press release says “Additional series pickups announced May 19”), but some of the new shows at the very least interesting. Here are the five shows that may get my eye this coming fall (or Spring 2010, or possibly that Summer because NBC won’t be revealing their summer also until May 19).
1. Trauma: I am not a medical fan and don’t recognize anyone in the cast (aside from Puff Daddy, not the real one, the one from the Biggie Bio-pic), but this has me intrigued for one reason: Peter Berg, the guy that gave us Friday Night Lights, so the guy knows about scouting unknown talent. And the preview looks epic. Maybe almost too epic as it looks movie type expensive which means if it doesn’t get a lot of viewers and fast, it will be gone soon. Check out the preview below and be on the lookout for Buddy Garrity (supposedly Kevin Rankin, who you may know better as Herc is in the cast but I didn’t spot him in the preview):
2. Parenthood: I wasn’t at all interested when I heard they were doing another attempt at Parenthood. That was until they started casting some really likeable actors including Peter Krause (Sports Night), Maura Tierney (News Radio), Craig T. Nelson (The Incredibles), Dax Shepard (Idiocracy), Bonnie Bedelia (okay, I have no clue who she is), Monica Potter (Trust Me), Erika Christensen (Traffic) and Sarah Ramos (American Dreams). From the promo below, you can also spot Sam Jaeger (Eli Stone) and Mae Whitman (her?). And the behind the scenes people are also pretty solid with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer from Arrested Development producing along with Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights) who also handles the writing.
3. Community: Break out star alert: Danny Pudi. Plus the show stars Chevy Chase (American Vacation) and comes from some of the directors of Arrested Development. Plenty of laughable moments in the preview below:
4. Day One: Here is a show that can go either way, it is from Jesse Alexander whose credits include Heroes, Lost and Alias so we or more likely looking at something that is high concept but low reward. Plus there is a Hayden Painietere look-a-like in the cast in the form of Addison Timlin (if she wears a cheerleader outfit I am certainly not watching (wait, did I just write that?)). And all the Jericho comparisons are not helping (the title refers to the day after a catastrophic event). But the show stars the enjoyable Julie Gonzalo who looks like she is going back to her Veronica Mars long blond hair as opposed to her more recent short brunette locks on Eli Stone. No promo yet (it won’t premiere until 2010), but here is an interview with Gonzalo:
5. Mercy: Again, not a fan of the medical fair, but Mercy doesn’t focus on doctors, but instead the nurses. And it stars Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and someone who apparently isn’t Tisha Arnold. The lead manages to have only one entry on her resume. But she does grab someone’s nose in the clip below, so that is a plus. Mercy also has producers, writers, and directors with shows like Friday Night Lights (anyone spotting a trend), Pushing Daisies, and Rescue Me on their resumes. Check out a clip below:
Also on the slate for the peacock network is 100 Questions which looks like it wants to be the new Friends, but if watch the preview you will instantly notice the laugh track which is never a good sign for a sitcom. Also expect reality shows from Jerry Seinfeld (as a marriage councilor), Tony Robbins (helping people threw challenges) and Lisa Kudrow (tracing a person’s family tree). Then this winter is the Vancouver Olympics. And of course don’t forget the Jay Leno hour.
This really hasn’t been a good couple of months for duos: Lindsay and Sam, Mike and the Mad Dog, Hannity and Colmes have all gone their separate ways. But fret not hopeless romantics because there still a few duos going strong on our boob tube over the past twelve months of which I made a list of my favorites . Since it ain’t fun if your homies don’t get none, I invited some of mine to make up a definitive list which may or may not been created with the help of Schrödinger's cat. Here is what the feline may have let out of the box:
Greek: Can they have a dodge ball game every week please? You can stream current episodes over at ABCFamily.com. You can also download Greek on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: I don’t text so I was pretty much lost all episode. Isn’t it just easier to actually call someone than trying to type on those small keyboards? You can stream current episodes over at Innertube. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
I Love Money: So they initially censor the fake nipples on the fake breasts (the one for the challenge, not Frenchie’s) but they just basically gave up half way through. Did they use up their censor budget half way through or did the editor just get lazy? You can also download I Love Money on iTunes.
Rescue Me: Yep, I have my dirty and clean piles lying around with the dirty pile typically towering over the clean one. And I am disappointed they didn’t stick with the all-black theme for the bar. You can stream current episodes over at Hulu.
Lost: So Faraday was inflicted with the same illness as Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates then is killed (presumably) by his mother even though she knew (and apparently his father) that her past self would shoot him. Alrighty then. You can stream current episodes over at ABC.com.
Survivor: This may be the oddest season of Survivor yet. You had a tribe that outnumbered the other 6-3 then proceeded to let those three to control the game. Then JT and Steven flip on who they want to align themselves with every week. Then you had this odd vote where Erinn votes for Steven. She did tell Sierra she wouldn’t vote for her, but why not vote for Debbie? And then why did Taj vote for Debbie? Is she no longer in the JT / Steven loop? I just hope Probst calls Coach out for getting caught in a lie by approaching Sierra for an alliance. You can stream current episodes over at Innertube.
My Name Is Earl: I thought this was going to be a blatant rip-off of the Cops episode (like when they did the second part that just wasn’t funny), but Geraldo certainly added something to the episode to make it enjoyable. And the tongue and cheek ending on why they were doing a two partner instead of an hour long was quite brilliant. Like they were poking with a stick hoping they get canceled. You can stream current episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download My Name Is Earl on iTunes.
(Tropic Thunder, Strange Wilderness, Ghost Town)
in telling that story, but Post Grad features Matt Saresen saranading Rory Gilmore, so hopefully it will be at the very least watchable.
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on my 
, I may have ton reconsider my stance. Although if Ashley Alexandra Dupré can charge $4300, I don’t even want a quote from O’Keefe. Not that any of that would happen because let’s face it, My Name Is Earl is the only television show that have realistic looking hookers on it. You can stream current episodes over at 
then is killed (presumably) by his mother even though she knew (and apparently his father) that her past self would shoot him. Alrighty then. You can stream current episodes over at 
