I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Alice, Shaquille O’Neal, Chuck, Haven, Community, and Harry Potter.
- One last Alice promo before its premiere this Sunday on Syfy.
- Coming tonight to Showtime tonight at 11:00 is Shaquille O’Neal Presents: All-Star Comedy Jam – Live from South Beach hosted by D.L. Hughley for those in need of a laugh.
- Another week, another Chuck promo. Hopefully this over promotion leads to some decent viewership because NBC doesn’t have much going for it these days. And be sure to mark your calendar for January 10 when it does return.
- Another one of Steven King’s work is coming to television, this time his novella The Colorado Kid is coming to Syfy sometime 2010 under the name Haven.
- Community is getting into the holiday spirit while filming their upcoming episode that will feature someone Chevy Chase should be familier with. Check out this video get get a holiday greeting from the cast and find out who from Chase’s past will be showing up.
- Just a reminder that it is Harry Potter for ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas (just do not ask my how Harry Potter is related to Christmas) and will be airing exclusive footage from the upcoming Blu-Ray release of the Ultimate Editions of Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets this Tuesday. For the full rundown of this year’s festivities, check out ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas 2009 Schedule.
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.
I would say the new Paramore video is Alice in Wonderland on a psychedelic trip, but the original was already that to begin with. And though it may not fit with her persona, Hayley Williams actually looks thoroughly attractive with the blonde hair and summer dress here.
When you hear a band is going to name their album Contra, you assume it is some pretentious political statement about the Nicaraguan rebels. But no, Vampire Weekend named their new album after one of the great video games of all time which gave way to the greatest cheat code of all time that, even though I haven’t played the game in almost two decades, I still know by heart.
I’m really not a fan of Shakira’s turn into electronic and Lil’ Wayne is the most overrated rapper of all time, but she really hasn’t looked much better than the two videos from her new album.
I am not sure what is more disturbing, that Demi Lovato raided Rob Halford’s closet for the performance portion of the video, that she is sporting the Amy Winehouse for the girls night out scenes, or that I even watched it. At any rate, I swear this song was on the Less Than Zero soundtrack even though it actually predates the person singing the song.
Last year’s Grammy Nomination special was a good watch if not overblown with most performances paying tributes to past winners. This year was as lame as lame gets with no nod to the past except Maxwell’s excellent tribute to Michael Jackson. The Black Eyed Peas sucked massively. Sugarland was bland. And who cares about Nick Jonas and the Association? He and his brothers have only been nominated once and his new band as never played live ever. It would have been fine for the Kids Choice Awards, but not something associated with the Grammy’s. Oh and I would call the LL Cool J opening embarrassing, but this is coming from a guy who stars on an NCIS spin-off, nothing gets less credible than that.
And of course there were the award nominations which may have been the worst collection of artists ever assembled for a Grammy telecast. When they read Song of the Year, if it weren’t for the inclusion of Maxwell, I would have thought it was a VMA nomination. And Record of the Year was even worse because it was the same nominees with the Black Eyed Peas switched out for Maxwell. Best New Artist was conspicuously absent from the show, but I understood why when I saw the actual nominees. Below are some of the major categories and my thoughts (for all 109 categories, including one that has Michael J. Fox, Richard Dreyfuss, Jimmy Carter and Carrie Fisher battling it out, head over to Grammy.com):
I have a feeling (no crappy song reference intended) that Beyonce is going to go home with more than a few Grammy’s this year (she leads the nominations with ten; but keep in mind there are an absurd amount of R&B categories), they have loved her in the past and with the amount of nominations she garnered, they still do. So what is the dude who wrote the song basically reproduced the same song for Kelly Clarkson and Leona Lewis. Of course, keep in mind the Joe Satriani stealing Viva la Vida won this award last year. Hopefully Use Somebody wins because it was truly the best song of the last twelve months.
Who Will Win: I Am...Sasha Fierce Who Should Win: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
Remember the good old days when the Grammy’s were considered too old, when Herbie Hancock was beating out Kanye West, Amy Winehouse (or as Ringo Starr says, Amy White House) and Foo Fighters? Now they look like as if MTV were doing the nominations. With any luck everyone else splits the youth vote and the Dave Matthews Band. But then again, the Grammy’s didn’t even bother to put LeRoi Moore in the In Memoriam section last year so I won’t hold my breath.
Who Will Win: No Line on the Horizon Who Should Win: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
Conventional wisdom would say that since the Dave Matthews Band was nominated over U2 for Album of the Year they would beat them here, but I wouldn’t be surprised that people vote for U2 here since they weren’t nominated for the big one. Keep in mind U2 nor Green Day, who both have won the award recently, were not nominated for Record of the Year, but Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas were. Really, when was the last U2 record not nominated for that award?
Song of the Year Poker Face - Lady Gaga & RedOne Pretty Wings - Hod David & Musze (Maxwell) Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - Thaddis Harrell, Beyonce Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart Use Somebody - Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill (Kings of Leon) You Belong With Me - Liz Rose & Taylor Swift
Who Will Win: Pretty Wings Who Should Win: Use Somebody
Keep in mind that this is a songwriting award. Poker Face was nominated for a songwriting award. Just let that soak in for a moment. I should be taking this time to laugh at Single Ladies being nominated for a songwriting award, but Poker Face is an even bigger joke to be nominated for a songwriting award.
Now I understand why this category wasn’t announced live. And to think, one of these artist can pick up an award previously won by Milli Vanilli. And so what if Silversun Pickups released their second album this year or that Keri Hilson (note that the misspelling of her name was a cut and paste, not my mistake) was been in the biz since 2001.
I have never been a big fan of conspiracy theories, there are no aliens in Area 51, if you drained Loch Ness you won’t find a pre-historic animal, Bush didn’t down the Twin Towers (although with that said, basketball referees are totally in the tank). That doesn’t mean that I don’t like listening to conspiracy theories and the more out there, the more entertaining like how Woody Harrelson’s father assassinated JFK.
And who better to host a show on conspiracy theories than former Navy Seal turned professional wrestler turned governor turned television host Jesse Ventura. Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura follows “The Body” as his team hunts down the truth behind some conspiracy theories floating around out there including secret societies, 9/11 cover ups, and global warming.
Tonight’s premiere features Ventura’s team as they try to get information on a research center in Alaska that some think the United States military is building a secret government weapon that can control the weather and people’s minds. My theory is that our government has not actually been successful because if they were, they would just brainwash Jesse to believe it wasn’t so to keep other people from discovering it. But anyways.
Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura airs Wednesdays at 10:00 on TruTV.
I am not Jewish but I have an uncle who is so I know the inferiority complex one may have celebrating Chanukah over Christmas. That all changed in 1996 when even the good Christian children around the world wanted to celebrate the eight crazy nights thanks to Adam Sandler who proceeded to run down a who’s who of Jew (and one famous non-Jew: O.J. Simpson) on The Chanukah Song part 1. And apparently there were so many Jews in showbiz he recorded two more versions on 1999’s Stan and Judy’s Kid and the soundtrack for his animated holiday movie Eight Crazy Nights to round out the trilogy. And fellow Jew Neil Diamond (who for some reason never got a shout out from Sandler in any of his three versions) even recently did his own version of the song which is this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.
As a wise man once told me, this is the most wonderful time of the year. And you can see it in all the Christmas traditions. Let’s face it, Christmas songs and movies are not the best written things ever, but yet each December we enjoy them both with a smile on our faces and not pick them apart like we do non-holiday themed entertainment the rest of the year. I know I will be cozying up next to the fire more than one night with ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas. Here is the complete schedule for the 2009 holidays:
(7:00-7:30 AM ET/PT) A GARFIELD CHRISTMAS (7:30-8:00 AM ET/PT) THE LITTLE RASCALS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL – ABC Family Premiere (8:00-10:00 AM ET/PT) I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS (10:00 AM-12:00 PM ET/PT) SNOW (12:00-2:00 PM ET/PT) Snow 2: Brain Freeze (2:00-4:00 PM ET/PT) A CAROL CHRISTMAS (4:00-6:00 PM ET/PT) HOLIDAY IN HANDCUFFS (6:00-8:00 PM ET/PT) SANTA BABY (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) SANTA BABY 2: CHRISTMAS MAYBE - ABC Family Original Movie Premiere (10:00 PM-12:00AM ET/PT) SANTA BABY 2: CHRISTMAS MAYBE
Monday, December 14
(5:00-7:00 PM ET/PT) ELOISE AT CHRISTMASTIME (7:00-7:30 PM ET/PT) WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY – ABC Family Premiere (7:30-8:00 PM ET/PT) WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO – ABC Family Premiere (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) MARY POPPINS
(7:00-9:00 AM PT/ET) Chasing Christmas (9:00-11:00 AM ET/PT) CHRISTMAS DO-OVER (11:00 AM-1:00 PM ET/PT) SONS OF MISTLETOE (1:00-3:00 PM ET/PT) THE CHRISTMAS LIST (3:00-5:00 PM ET/PT) UNLIKELY ANGEL (5:00-7:00 PM ET/PT) A CAROL CHRISTMAS (7:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) SANTA BABY (9:00-11:00 PM ET/PT) SANTA BABY 2: CHRISTMAS MAYBE
is coming to Syfy sometime 2010 under the name Haven.
and Chamber of Secrets
this Tuesday. For the full rundown of this year’s festivities, check out ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas 2009 Schedule.
to round out the trilogy. And fellow Jew 
– Basic Cable Premiere
– Exclusive Television Premiere
– ABC Family Premiere
– ABC Family Premiere
– Basic Cable Premiere
(Animated)
– ABC Family Premiere
(Live Action)
– ABC Family Premiere
– ABC Family Premiere
(Gene Wilder version) 
