Quote of the Week: “That explains your low sex drive, and why you rented Memoirs of a Geisha last night. Man, that was the worst kung-fu movie ever.” (Earl Hickey, My Name Is Earl)
Song of the Week: Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd (as sung by Earl Hickey, My Name Is Earl)
Big News of the Week: Only nine days until the return of Veronica Mars. Now there are conflicting reports to just how safe the show is for returning next fall. Granted the people that say it is already canceled are hiding behind unnamed “sources” while the people who actually work with the show say they haven’t heard any such thing. Either way, the upcoming episode may be a make or break one. So if you do not currently watch, this is me begging, I’m on my knees, please tune into The CW May 1st at 9:00, or sometime afterwards, stream the episode at CWTV.com, and you can even download an episode over at iTunes for the low price of $1.99. You can’t even fill up your lawnmower for that low of price.
As for all of you already on the Veronica Mars bandwagon, this is the time to do some blanket marketing because, lets face it, The CW only likes to promote its reality shows. Remind people of the show on a blog, message boards, post a bulletin for all your friends at MySpace. If you have free time and are near a college, you can print out the flyer below (click to enlarge) and post them around high traffic areas on campus. And for more ideas check out SaveVeronicaMars.tv.
Scooter Update: Here are a couple of banners promoting the return of Veronica Mars. Feel free to put them on your own blogs as you wish as the fit nice and cozy on the sidebar. Many thanks to Jonathan P. for creating them.
RW/RR Challenge: The Inferno III: During my First Impressions on the show I said that the only way the Good Guys would win a challenge would be if the Bad Asses implode and it didn’t take them long to do so with infighting and Danny going insane. Can we put money on another person getting the boot for throwing a punch? Check out the latest episode over at MTV.com.
Lost: Yeah, this whole, will Charlie live or die thing is getting old quick. Hopefully this gets resolved by the end of the season because I was already hoping Charlie actually got hit with the arrow just so the whole thing isn’t drug out like typical Lost fashion. I guess how long this will go on will be determine by whether Desmond truly believed it would have been Penny on the other end of the parachute had he let him die. Back in camp I loved how Sawyer felt obligated to make Kate a mixtape because she was nice enough to give him another go around. Check out the latest episodes over at ABC.com.
Survivor: After a slow start, this season is turning out to be one of the more entertaining seasons in recent years with three great tribal councils in as many episodes. The look on Alex’s face when votes started to come in for Eduardo after strutting up to Probst with the idol was priceless. Check out the latest episode on Innertube.
Smallville: About half way through this episode I realized that I could care less about Chloe’s mom. I think she has only been mentioned twice and there was no lead up to this episode about her. And from the ending, it looks like we won’t be hearing from her again. But we did get the huge shocker that Lex faked Lana’s pregnancy. I totally didn’t see that coming. But I guess that explains why she never once was showing even though she had to be pregnant for awhile. Should be interesting how this plays out.
My Name Is Earl: After Our Cops Is On, I didn’t expect to see a funnier half hour of television this season, then enter Norm MacDonald and his, um, melons. And what better role for Norm to play than Burt Reynolds son as he was the best contestant ever on Celebrity Jeopardy. Then the scene where he steps in front of the pitching machine is the most cringworthy thing ever that made me laugh at the same time. It is probably too late to get him on later this season (unless he has already filmed then), but please have more Little Chubby next season. Norm aside, the opening scene hit very close to home for me because I too just kept my ties tied because I never learned how to do it myself until a college classmate forced me to learn after I asked him to tie my tie for me one too many times. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com or download the episode on iTunes.
Promo of the Week: Another great fan made promo, this time thanking Veronica Mars sponsor MasterCard for supporting the show. Although I can’t help but wonder where the Aerie Girl thank you is:
Next Week’s Pick: NFL Draft, Saturday and Sunday at 12:00 on ESPN: For those of us who’s team we root for haven’t sniffed the playoffs in years, this is our Super Bowl. And as an added bonus, tune in to see if Matt Millen takes yet another Wide Receiver with the Lions pick at number two which would be their fourth WR taken with their top pick (all in the overall top ten) in five years. As for the Browns at number three, please, please don’t take Brady Quinn. In fact, don’t take anyone, trade down and stockpile draft picks. But whatever you do, do not take Brady Quinn.
In completely unrelated television news, today is Earth Day and in honor of it Home Depot is giving away 1,000,000 Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. I switched over to energy efficient light bulbs a year ago and there is really no reason not to switch if you haven’t done so yourself. It is a win-win situation, it is good for the environment (Hope Depot says that the million light bulbs will save enough energy it is the equivalent of removing 70,000 cars from the road), plus you will save a lot of money on your electric bill. And despite the extra cost, you will be able to make back the difference from regular light bulbs within a month and after that it is extra money in your pocket (plus they last longer). So if you are still unconvinced, stop by your local Home Depot and pick up a free one to see for yourself, but be sure to get there rarely because it is only why supplies last.
Since I have long been out of the MTV demographic I haven’t watch the channel (except for a few episodes of the current season of The Real World because Brooke LaBarbera is clinically unhinged, and I mean that in a good way) since the last Real World/Road Rules Challenge ended so I was completely unaware that that latest started up until a buddy of mine asked me if I was going to watch it last night. Of course I was going to watch the last great bastion in the MTV reality crown.
This time around we get the third installment of The Inferno hosted by some X-Game athlete, whom like most of these hosts, despite participating in death-defying trick is uber-stiff. But really who need an interesting host when your cast is full of nut jobs? The teams are divided into Good Guys and Bad Asses for I believe the second time in challenge history. There was one questionable selection with Davis Mallory playing for the good guys yet every time I happen upon his season of The Real World he is belligerently drunk and throwing around racial slurs. Even in the commercial for the next episode he goes all mean girls of the females of the house which of course leads to Brooke having a hissy fit. Sadly she wasn’t one of the four Denver cast mates in the Inferno.
The rest of the cast is primarily made up of casts from the last five years with Susie Meister (RR Down Under) and Tim Beggy (RR 2) being the lone old school contestants. And in spite of just being kicked off the latest season of Road Rules for fighting, his second time getting kicked off a show for throwing a punch, Abram Boise returns sporting a clean shaven and Barry Bonds sized dome. But for those who had Chris “CT” Tamburello (RW Paris) getting drunk and belligerent at twelve minutes into the season in your office pool, congratulations, collect your money. And as an added bonus it is actually CT that got thrown off first for throwing a punch. In the highest of high comedy, he punched Davis after he answered yes to if he could take a punch. The best is when Davis said he punched him out of nowhere. Um, Davis, he asked you if you could take a punch. For future reference, if a drunken psychotic meat head asks you if you can take a punch, say no if you don’t want to be punched.
But it looks like it will be a long season for the Good Guys as they lost the first two challenges and it doesn’t look like they have a chance to win anything. It is not a good sign that Alton Williams (RW Las Vegas) voluntarily goes into the Inferno as he may be the only dude on his team has any chance of winning one. Plus they have three of the weakest chicks, Susie, Paula Walnuts (RW Key West), and Cara Zavaleta (RR South Pacific). Really there only hope if there competitor become unhinged much like CT and with Abram and Tonya Cooley (RW Chicago), who apparently since the last challenge has gotten married and taken up soft-core porn, on the team that could be very likely.
Verdict: Unfortunately no Brooke or Casey Cooper, the two most entertaining MTV reality stars in years, but looking from the season promo, this season will still be thoroughly entertaining (really, why can’t the MTV promo monkeys work for Veronica Mars) and if I’m not mistaken I think I heard one of the contestants say she was pregnant. The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno III airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on MTV (and naturally will be repeated constantly throughout the week) and you can stream full episodes over at MTV.com.
Tomorrow I dive head deep into my year end festivities that will overflow into the new year (if you would like to partipate in the 9th Green Reader’s Poll then e-mail me you top ten favorite songs of the past year in order to ScooterKSU@aol.com) and so today I’d like to highlight some shows that will be airing early in the new year before I get bogged down in all things 2006.
Let’s Rob Mick Jagger
Number one on the list of shows that premiere next year is Knights of Prosperity, or as I like to call it Let’s Rob Mick Jagger. The show landed at number two on my preseason poll for fall shows before ABC unceremoniously pulled it for midseason. The show is from the guys behind Ed and stars Daniel Logue, better known as the cabbie from the early 90’s MTV ad campaign and follows him and his buddies around as they, well, try to rob Mick Jagger. The show debuts Wednesday January 3 at 9:00. Check out a music video from the show below.
I’m From Rolling Stone
For years it seems like reality shows on MTV have gotten trashier and trashier (see the evolution of The Real World to Laguna Beach to My Super Sweet 16) but here’s one I’m looking forward to and surprisingly it actually as something to do with music. It’s been a while since MTV had a show that had at least a little to do with music and no, getting a rapper to host a show about fixing up cars doesn’t count. The show follows six interns for the magazine around for a summer and at the end of it one gets a job with editor in the title. The show starts Sunday January 7 at 10:00 and you can check out a trailer below.
The White Rapper Show
This could be the greatest show in the history of VH1 or the biggest train wreck. But if we have learned anything from Flavor of Love those two are not necessarily exclusive. Yet again here’s a show on a music channel that actually has to do with music. Could this be a sign that both networks will be going back to their roots? Probably not. That may be for the best because this is the network that has The Pussycat Dolls at number #1 on the Top Forty Videos of 2006. No seriously. The show drops Monday January 8 at 10:30 (and this is VH1 so it will be repeated multiple time throughout the week so don’t worry about it conflicting with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). Here is the ad for the so with judges M.C. Search and Prince Paul.
Beauty and the Geek 3
This first season of Beauty and the Geek was up there with the greatest reality seasons of all time. The second season: not so much. Hopefully the show breaks the sophomore slump with the new crop of token hot chicks and loveable losers with the two hour premiere on Wednesday January 3 at 8:00. Yeah it conflicts with Let’s Rob Mick Jagger but this is why God gave us VCR’s (or TIVO’s for you pretentious types). The first clip (which is borderline not safe for work) is of Sanjay, who gets the moniker “Virgin” as he sells himself to the girls. The second features beauties Megan Hauserman “Playboy Model” and Cecille “Bikini Model” (which is moderately safe for work but will lower your IQ if watched). And before you ask, the Scooter in the cast is not me.
Since I’m well out of the MTV demographic I missed the premiere of the only show on its schedule that I actually still turn into, the Real World/Road Rules challenge. But this is MTV so it replayed ad nausea as well as being able to stream on their broadband channel Overdrive. This season, coming from Brazil, has been dubbed The Duel because it’s everyone for themselves this year with two members going at it in The Duel with the loser going home. The selection processes is somewhat complicated in itself with the winner of that day’s challenge picks a member of the opposite sex who then does the same until there is only one member of that day’s sex left (they alternate guy and girl duels). The last person then in turns picks anyone aside from that day’s winner to go in The Duel with them that night.
But the show really is more about the characters then the challenges themselves. One of the reasons I stopped watching The Real World circa Chicago is because they cast the same people lately. You got two frat boys with either a token gay or black dude while the girls basically are just there to fill out bikinis but rarely have anything that resembles a personality. But luckily there are plenty of screw balls from back when MTV actually cast real characters. Unfortunately some have gone MIA recently like Veronica, Rachel, Julie, and Abram. But in the challenge we have some old faithfuls like Tina, Beth and I’m sure once liquored up I’m sure Brad, Wes, Derrick, C.T. will make for good entertainment. Thankfully they brought some of the Fresh Meat from last season because Casey Cooper was easily the most entertaining reality star MTV has produced in year. Although most of that last season was thanks to how she reacted to her partner Wes so we will see if she is as entertaining without the antagonist.
The challenges this season should be interesting since it will be everyone for themselves. Surprisingly the first challenge the contestants ended up actually teaming up. Beth was the only smart one and went it alone (naturally) forcing the weaker “team” to go towards her almost giving her the win but Robin ended up taking it in the end. Then after the pick ‘em two newbies from Kew West went into The Duel. In what could be the lamest reality challenge ever where the two had to pick how many watermelons they could life, going back and forth until the other said, “do it.” Random Frat Boy ended up losing to Token Gay Guy.
The other challenge was much more interesting in that each person essentially got to choose which other contestants got eliminated by grabbing that person’s lifer preserver and one all their were gone they would be eliminated. Beth was the first one out for the girls (naturally). Fresh Meat/Cancer Survivor Diem ended up winning because no one wanted to be the heel that knocked out the cancer chick. But the real fireworks came afterwards when Beth and Tina threw down. It should be interesting how this plays out because if you look at the super-slow-mo, Tina barely grazes Beth’s forehead even though Beth acted like she got hit square in the jaw by Mike Tyson.
Verdict: The Real World/Road Rules Challenge are the crack and I’m the addict so I will be watching faithfully every week. The Duel airs on MTV Thursdays at 10:00. You can also check the show as well as The Aftershow (this week with special guest Tina) whenever you want on Overdrive.
There were high hopes for this year’s MTV Music Video Awards after two years of well below sub-par shows. But in the end this year’s VMA’s were just as bad as the previous one with Jack Black somehow finding a way to be unfunny (and this may be a tipping point for Black after being universally panned for Nacho Libre). What was worse was for a show that has built itself of big stage productions and surprised guest, the performances seemed extremely low-budgets compared to years past and the surprised guests this year were Montel Williams, the little kid from the movie no one but movie snobs saw, and Lou Reed and the dude from ZZ Top who were most likely only there because The Raconteurs invited them. Here are more disappointing moments from the five hours of my life that I’ll never get back:
- Just as worthless as the big show was the hour and a half pre-show this basically was a vehicle for people to promote upcoming albums. Usually they have a world premiere video or exclusive interview, but nothing but two horrible performances.
- The show starts out with the chick from Kids Incorporated performing London Bridge, a song easily a lock for the Worst Songs of 2006 list. Blatant guided vocal track here as she didn’t even bother to even lip-sync half the time.
- Kurt Loder and John Norris must have something on the higher ups at the network because as MTV tries to distance itself from what it used to be (even refusing to even acknowledge it’s 25th anniversary) these two still show up every year at the VMA’s.
- Does the world really need a rock opera from My Chemical Romance? Really the world doesn’t need another album from them let along a concept album. But with the goth Sergeant Pepper garb, the creepy skeleton children’s choir, and the lead singer actually trying to sing with a fake British accent maybe the musical version of Jumping the Shark. Oh as for the premiere of their new song, it is easily a lock for the Worst Songs of 2006 list.
- Can we please end the Diddy era? The dude is now walking around with his own spokesman because he’s too elf important to talk. Really no one has capitalized on the death of someone else. Well except for all the Elvis impersonators.
- We start off the big show with Jay-Z welcoming the show back to New York City from a top of a building. This would have been a lot cooler had they not had the My Chemical Romance performance there earlier.
- Who ever decided the show should start off with a performance of a song that no one has ever heard should be fired. Worst show opening ever. When Justin Timberlake then switched to Worst Song of 2006 nominee SexyBack and brought out Big Head Timberland and a blatant guided vocal track, things didn’t get much better. What’s worse is it seems that the phrase Sexyback is going to overtake the go to phase for the corny old dudes replacing Fiddy (as in Fiddy Cent) after corny old dudes Al Gore and Jared Leto both used it.
- I kept waiting and waiting for the opening Jack Black skit to get funny, but sadly it never did. I think that it may have been the goal with the “everything going wrong” theme, but that’s just too high brow for me. Although I like how the MTV execs were the Douches. And what was with Black kissing everyone’s butt all evening? MTV really need to bring Chris Rock back.
- The first presenter is the straight from jail Lil’ Kim. Seeing her makes me wonder should you lose all the street cred you receive for going to jail but by getting released early for good behavior?
- The first shocker of the night was James Blunt for winning Best Male Video. I have a suspicion that this was a last minute decision to give him the award just to give his girlfriend some airtime.
- The least hip-hop song nominated wins Best Hip-Hop award. And up the irony quotient one of the Black Eyed Peas talked about how there is a place for positive rap as he picks up an award for a song about a woman’s naughty bits.
- Shakira and her Indian themed performance for Hips Don't Lie was probably the best of the night, but that’s not really saying much.
- Can someone please explain the allure of Jackass to me? Am I the moron for not finding naked midgets and dudes hitting each other in the testicles funny?
- Lil’ John is up next and tells everyone to get on the feet, but as the camera scans the place, everyone is as slow to get up as if a hymn started to play at church. But I can’t blame them considering it was just for Ludacris whose set looked like it was on a lower budget than most high school plays. Not a good sign for a song called Moneymaker. And had Ludacris not namedropped them, I would have never known that it was the Pussycat Dolls that came on stage at the end of the song.
- Speaking of the Pussycat Dolls, it’s sad tat we live in a world where they actually won a music award. But it’s nice that they thanked God for winning an award that tells dudes to loosen up their buttons. Classy.
- Jessica Simpson actually used the phrase “Push My Tush” while presenting the awards. I actually can feel my IQ dropping. Oh, and to follow up a story I broke here a couple days ago about her hooking up with John Mayer, just days later, Mayer posted on his blog that he really like the Public Enemy song Don’t Believe the Hype.
- OK Go redid their Here it Goes Again video with the treadmills step for step. What a waste of time. I could see the same exact routine on YouTube whenever I want, why would I want to see it live. The least they could have done was to screw p somewhere to make this performance memorable. Complete waste of time.
- What was on Paris Hilton’s head? But something has to be said that her album has been out more than a week and she has yet to perform a song live once. Even Ashlee Simpson’s people trusted her enough to lip-sync, it’s not a good sign that Paris cannot even be trusted to do that. Luckily she didn’t try doing it tonight instead she was just relegated to present the dude from Smallville and his band.
- Did some backstage dude grab Nicole Richie’s butt as she went onstage? I wonder if Nicole realized that Pink was making fun of her during her acceptance speech. I wonder if Pink realized that no one knew she was trying to be ironic.
- Did anyone else start to feel old when Snoop Dogg was talking about how all the new rappers were in diapers when he started? He then presents the Best Rap Video to Chamillionaire who said the best advice he ever got was to stay humble. Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who then named himself Chamillionaire.
- Guided Vocal Alert! Beyoncé gets no introduction and performs her second single off her new album. It’s never a good sign when a label has to rush out a second single before the album is never a good sign. Maybe we can expect that Destiny’s Child reunion sooner than later.
- T.I. is out next to perform a medley of songs I’ve never heard before and hope to never hear again.
- How funny was it that the dude who won Ringtone of the Year actually brought a list of people to thank? Apparently he didn’t get the memo that’s this was a joke award.
- It’s official, I am now totally sick of Fall Out Boy. And what was with the dude with the cape? The band is out to present Panic! at the Disco, or as I like to call it, a bathroom break. The performance would have been much better had the lead singer would have gotten hit with a bottle early in the song. If you want to see that happen, check out YouTube. Now that was entertaining.
- What's with bringing out the ten-year-old girl to the sounds of Rick James Superfreak. That is just totally wrong.
- I know that people like to make fun of past scandals but when your scandal is that you are horrible parents, it’s not a good idea to parody that sediment like Britney and her baby daddy did. Someone please send that tape to child services.
- Christina Aguilera for some reason to performed a balled. The massive guns she was showing off didn’t help with those drag queen comparisons.
- I thought they took out Michael Jackson from the Video Vangard award. Granted they have been sporatic giving it out lately. Hype Williams wins. It's sad that the rap cliches his videos created over a decade ago are still being used today.
- So AFI wins Best Rock Video and they were the only one all night who brings up the voting. This was something I was really wondering about, in the press release for the nominees, it mentioned that there was voting on the website, but I never heard anything about it after that. Nor did anything mention what the votes meant or if they meant why there was still a Viewer’s Choice Award. This is really bugging me.
- During one of their many mini-songs The Raconteurs changed the lyrics of historic song to “internet killed the video star.” Clever. Although this is about a year after I declared Podcasts Killed the Video Star.
- Worst Dressed of the night goes to Jennifer Lopez and her gypsy outfit. Seriously, who brought her out of obscurity? Can we quickly send her back there before she makes more crappy music? She appropriately presents Video of the Year to Panic! at the Disco, a crappy song to top off the crappy year.
- The night ends with The Killers. As the song ends they go to the nosebleed camera and just when you think they are setting up for something special, they cut back to Jack Black who ends the show.
We are a week away from the 2006 MTV Music Awards and I have to say that I’m actually excited. Yeah the last two installments suck and many of the performers are frontrunners for my “Worst of 2006” list, but I still have a sense of optimism. First is that the show was routinely panned by everyone the last two years while exiled in Miami, you know something big will go down as the show goes back home to New York City, hopefully that surprise isn’t as big of a let down as the Guns n’ Roses comeback three years ago. Second is that the first time since the last time Chris Rock, MTV has tapped a host that will actually be entertaining in Jack Black who did a great job co-hosting the Movie Awards a couple years back and hopefully this year’s monologue is Tenacious D heavy.
When I first reported the nominees to the VMA’s oddly enough the only category you couldn’t vote on was the Viewer’s Choice Award, but that is now up including a cool game where you can get extra points for the video of your choosing, so hear over to MTV for that. I also wonder in that post what happened to the MTV2 Award. Apparently that are indeed doing that again and you can go over to MTV2 to cast your vote, but a look at the nominees, you may just want to abstain. Personally, I voted for the award much like I’ve voted for president lately going with the one that sucked the least (for those keeping track at home, that would be Taking Back Sunday) but here are the nominees:
Also since my original post, the performers and presenters list have grown. Set to hand out the Moonmen are Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey (hopefully together so they can just get that out of the way), Jennifer Lopez (crap, she’s still around), Chris Brown and Ne-Yo (aren’t these the same person, I can’t tell them apart), Missy Elliott, Fall Out Boy, Rihanna, Busta Rhymes (well unless he’s in jail at the time), Lil Jon, Amy Lee of Evanescence, Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars (actually I think people would more recognize the name is they said “of My So Called Life” instead), the cast of Jackass: Number Two (crap, their still around, who would have though out of all of them, Don Vito would be the only one currently in jail) and Shaun White. Joining this group is these artist jjust announced today including 50 Cent, Kanye West, Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton (again hopefully together, seeing them catfight may be the only why I can stomach them), LL Cool J, The Pussycat Dolls and Axl Rose (seriously?). Then there are performers who I’ll predict what they will be performing (I am under the impression that The Raconteurs are the house band as that is what they were originally booked as, but recently they have been listed under performers so who knows):
Beyoncé: This should be interesting because, as my sources tell me, she already debut her new single on the BET Awards so I’m betting she shows off her new all-female band with a medley of songs of her yet to be released album while everyone is at home is bored because they don’t recognize the song. It may be saved as the performance screams surprise guest, and I’m not talking Jay-Z.
Justin Timberlake: Speaking of yet to be released album, it’s a lock that JT will lip-syncing the cheesily named SexyBack with Big Head Timbaland doing his part. Much like when he debut the uer-horrible Like I Love You a couple years back no guest appearance can save this stinkfest, even a dude on dude kiss from Lance Bass.
Christina Aguilera: Since no other man was performed at the Movie Awards, the safe bet is that she will perform the new single Candyman next week. With the 50’s feel (in fact it blatantly steals from a song from that era I’m too lazy to look up) I wouldn’t be surprised if the turn the screen to black and white throughout the performance.
Panic! at the Disco: Since I’m not a fourteen year old white girl, I could care less but most likely will be the song that got all the nominations.
T.I.: Since I’m not a fourteen year old white girl, I could care less but will most likely be the song where he steals a line from A Tribe Called Quest (didn’t he make his career stealing a line from Jay-Z?).
The Killers: With there album not out yet, the new single, When You Were Young will get the nod. With Brandon Flowers talking about all the Bruce Springsteen influences on the new album, will The Boss pull another Wallflowers?
Ludacris with Pharrell: Yet another performer whose album has yet to be released, but since the Neptunes produced his new song, it will be that.
The All-American Rejects: Odd choice here as they really don’t have the stature of the other bands something big maybe brewing here with a guest coming onstage with them. I believe the guitarist has tattoos all of his body of band logos from various inspirations and they did do the VH1 Rock Honors performing Def Leppard’s Photograph. I don’t understand how lead nominees Red Hot Chili Peppers aren’t on the performers list, maybe they will jump onstage here and recreate their Give it Away performance from the early nineties.
Shakira: Not only will they be battling for Video of the Year crown, Shakira will most likely try to have more weird performers than P!@TD (is that the right shorthand for the band, and by asking, I just defeated the purpose of the shorthand, but anyway) as she tries to recreate the Carnival theme of Hips Don’t Lie.
OK Go: Just announce the internet phenomenon will be taking the VMA stage. Just like the R.Kelly performance from last year, this performance will disturbing and be thoroughly entertainment at the same time. This maybe the only band that can get away with lip-syncing as long as they are doing some silly dancing, but I have a feeling they will be playing while others will be performing their treadmill opera but times ten.
You can check out the whole list of nominees from my original post - We on Award Tour: 2006 MTV Video Music Awards Nominations and you can also check out my list of best VMA performances I did last year which would most likely be unchanged - Best of the VMA Performances. And you can watch the VMA’s August 29 at 8:00, with the pre-show at 6:30.
In a story I broke yesterday, MTV turns twenty-five today, not that you would learn that from watching the channel as they are too busy showing a mini-marathon of Real World:… um, actually I have no clue where they are this time around. Shouldn’t you be on the wrong side of thirty before being ashamed of your age? But anyways. Yeah, it’s been decades since the channel has shown videos on a regular occasion, and you may not remember due to all the trash on now, but MTV has had a few great shows like the Unplugged series, Remote Control, Rich Girls, and even the Real World didn’t suck in it’s pre-Chicago days. But for my money, the best show was the one the featured the only two high school students even more dumb than the cast of Laguna Beach, Beavis and Butt-head. So in honor of MTV’s birthday, someone’s got to celebrate, the boys will be the first television show inducted into the Scooter Hall of Fame.
As the legend goes, the show started after the Mike Judge cartoon appeared on the weird collection of animated shorts, Liquid Animation. This particular short introduced America to the greatest inventions to sports since fantasy sports, frog baseball. Shortly there after the duo got their own television show. When Beavis and Butt-head first aired, I was definitely smack dab right in the middle of their target demographic. I, like most f my male classmates, watched obsessively and discussed at length the next day in the lunchroom, quoted every line, did the laughs, but were drew the line at burning down our mobile homes (thanks dude who did that which forced MTV to push the just to 11:00 just because you are a moron and your mother was too lazy to be a parent).
There were many classic episodes in the cartoon’s run, my favorites being the time they weren’t allowed to laugh, anytime Cornholio made an appearance, the time Butt-head choked on his chicken (huh, huh, I wrote choked on his chicken) then Beavis had to perform the Heimlich (he, he, I wrote Heimlich), the time the boys had to buy jockstraps but all that fit were eye patches, when Bill Clinton came to speak at Highland High, and many, many more. But the highlight of every episode was when the boys would sit down and watch, mostly obscure, music videos. I doubt Rob Zombie would have had a career had Beavis and Butt-head not made fun of a White Zombie video.
Another great part of the show was when the boys would dream about being other people, most notably when Big Daddy Butt-head stood in for David Letterman with Beaver as his Paul Shaffer. And the secondary characters always added to the show, my favorite being Major Buzzcut, but you were sure to get a laugh whenever Principal McVicker, Mr. Van Driessen, or the dude with the Winger t-shirt.
Unfortunately Mike Judge eventually got bored with his imbecilic creation and pulled the plug on Beavis and Butt-head after their movie was released so he could focus more on the less funny King of the Hill, although we did get the brilliant Office Space in the post-Beavis and Butt-head era. Another unfortunate postscript to the show is it looks like we will never get season sets from the boys with all videos included. Instead it looks like the three set Mike Judge collections (the third and final one being released today) will be as close as a definite set that we will get, well until in about five years when MTV and Judge want to suck even more money out of fans. I’m sure I will break down and buy this collection in the near future (hey Christmas is only five months away, hint, hint.) So happy birthday MTV even though the only music shown on you channel nowadays is the soundtrack to crappy reality shows, and congratulations to Beavis and Butt-head for being inducted to the SHoF.
In honor of Beavis and Butt-head's induction, I compiled a bunch of my favorite clips over at my sister site, Scooter McGavin Takes Pictures.
A day before their twenty-fifth birthday, which I’m sure they will celebrate with a marathon of The Hills rather than break out Thriller one more time, MTV has announced it’s nominations for its annual Video Music Awards. For most of its existence, the award show was ground breaking and even influenced older one. But lately it has just been a forum for artists to hype their latest endeavors. But with all the complaints, I’ll surely be turning in this year much like I have since I first got cable.
Even though the nominees were announced today, there is still no word on a host yet. You’d think after the debacle two years ago where they were host-less, they wouldn’t let that happen again even if that meant bringing in the unfunny Jimmy Fallon one more time. And after the poor performance the extremely boring Diddy last year that they would throw all their money in the budget at Chris Rock for one more go around. But some performers have already been confirm with Justin Timberlake who may or may not have the first dude on dude kiss in VMA history with former boy bander Lance Bass. Oh wait; Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith already did that, never mind then. Also scheduled are The Killers, Beyoncé, Ludacris, T.I., and five time nominee Panic! at the Disco, you know, that band with that horrible song and cheesy Ringling Brothers in a church video, they got more nominations than everyone but Shakira and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And there wasn’t even a new category for band that best ripped off Fall Out Boy’s sound. The Raconteurs will provide the soundtrack for the event, not that I have a clue what that means, are they the house band or something?
In an odd change in VMA format, you actually have a chance to vote this year. This was put near the end of the press release from MTV with little explanation. So I’m not sure if the fans have total control or if we get one vote total. Either way, I this is a bad idea to end all bad ideas because as a wise man once said, “The world is full a stupid people.” So the winner won’t be the ones that deserve it rather those who have fans with absolutely no lives who have nothing better to do than sit on the internet and vote all day. But if you would like to vote, head over to the MTV website. Now on to the nominations for the awards that will be handed out August 31 (if you are interested in buying the video, click the song name where available in iTunes, if you just want the song, click the artist's name):
Who Will Win: Dani California
Who Should Win: Hips Don’t Lie
Should Have Been Nominated: Gnarls Barkley: Crazy
I already stressed my dislike for Panic! and another head scratcher is Madonna. How does a chick on the wrong side of forty in a leotard get a Video of the Year nomination? And it wasn’t even a down year as Crazy, Gold Digger, Wake Me up When September Ends, Doesn’t Remind Me by Audioslave could have been in here.
Who Will Win: Kanye West
Who Should Win: Kanye West
Should Have Been Nominated: Jack Johnson: Upside Down
A poor category, they didn’t even nominate the right Busta Rhymes video (should have been My Chick). Then throw out the two wusses and the Antoine Merriwether look alike, and the only worthy video here is Kanye.
Who Will Win: Ain’t No Other Man
Who Should Win: Hips Don’t Lie
Should Have Been Nominated: Fiona Apple: Not About Love
Again with the old chick in the leotard, but she doesn’t have chance anyways. Nice to see two dudes in the Best Female Category like in previous years. Clarkson’s daddy issues video and is too depressing to win (Walk Away should have been here instead), so between the two hot chicks and the drag queen I’ll go with the best hip shaker to win (although the drag queen will win).
Death Cab for Cutie released two great videos in the past year yet neither got any love, except from me. I’m convinced that Panic! and Fall Out Boy are actually the same band so they cancel each other out so I think muck like the old guard Green Day were the big winner last year, the Red Hot Chili Pepper will get it this year.
Best Rap Video 50 Cent: Window Shopper
Busta Rhymes f/ Mary J. Blige, Rah Digga, Missy Elliott, Lloyd Banks, Papoose & DMX: Touch It (Remix) Chamillionaire: Ridin'
T.I.: What You Know Yung Joc f/ Nitty: It's Goin' Down
Who Will Win: What You Know
Who Should Win: Nothing
First off, there’s a rapper named Nitty? If you are on a song with some dude named Young Joc and you have the wussier name, that’s not a good sign. But anyways. It’s been five years since they introduced the Best Hip-Hop Video award but I still have no idea what the difference between these two awards yet. None of these videos or songs are any good so like my mom told me, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.” So I’ll just go to the next category.
Who Will Win: Check on It
Who Should Win: Be Without You
Should Have Been Nominated: Prince: Black Sweet
Another pretty sad category with only Mary J. the only thing worth watching here. Remember the good old days when there weren’t any rappers in R&B videos? No? Well it has been a long time.
Who Will Win: Gold Digger
Who Should Win: Testify
Should Have Been Nominated: Heard ‘em Say: Kanye West &Adam Levine
Um, the Black Eyed Peas are considered hip-hop? Yeah, okay. Kanye will run away with this award anyways, but Testify had a much more entertaining storyline with actual actors, not just eye candy. In all actuality though, Kanye could have been nominated three times over here.
Best Dance Video
Madonna: Hung Up
Nelly Furtado f/ Timbaland: Promiscuous Pussycat Dolls f/ Snoop Dogg: Buttons Sean Paul: Temperature
Shakira f/ Wyclef Jean: Hips Don't Lie
Who Will Win: Hips Don’t Lie
Who Should Win: Temperature
Two of the video don’t even want to make me dance (Madonna, Pussycat Dolls) and it’s odd that the other ones were all featured in a cell phone commercial (good marketing ploy though because I can’t remember which one) so I’d give this to Sean Paul solely because of the bowling dude in his ad.
Who Will Win: Dani California
Who Should Win: Wake Me up When September Ends
Should Have Been Nominated: Pearl Jam: Life Wasted
Holy Jared Leto sighting! How did he sneak in here? Looking at these nominations, it looks like rock is truly dead. Where’s Pearl Jam, U2 or Snow Patrol? Seriously, will anyone care about Leto, AFI or Panic! in a year or two? Well at least there was no Nickelback.
Best Pop Video
Christina Aguilera: Ain't No Other Man
Madonna: Hung Up
Nelly Furtado f/ Timbaland: Promiscuous Pink: Stupid Girls
Shakira f/ Wyclef Jean: Hips Don't Lie
Who Will Win: Hips Don’t Lie
Who Should Win: Hips Don’t Lie
Wait, isn’t this the same as the Best Female Video? Although why switch in Pink for Kelly Clarkson?
Who Will Win: S.O.S.
Who Should Win: None
Should Have Been Nominated: Crazy
S.O.S. is the best video here, but I swear Rihanna was nominated in this category last year, so I refuse to put my support behind it. The rest of the nominees are all contenders for making my Worst Songs of 2006 list.
Viewer’s Choice
Chris Brown f/ Juelz Santana: Run It!
Fall Out Boy: Dance, Dance
Kelly Clarkson: Because of You
Rihanna: S.O.S.
Shakira f/ Wyclef Jean: Hips Don't Lie
Who Will Win: Dance, Dance
Who Should Win: Hips Don’t Lie
Should Have Been Nominated: Crazy
Again, this award typically goes to the artists whose fans are the biggest losers, so naturally Fall Out Boy will win. Oddly, the only category you cannot vote on as I write this is this one. All in all, this viewer chooses Gnarls Barkley as the best video of the past year. And not that I miss it, but what happened to the MTV2 award?
Best Direction in a Video 10 Years: Wasteland (Director: Christopher Sims)
AFI: Miss Murder (Director: Marc Webb)
Common: Testify (Director: Anthony Mandler)
Gnarls Barkley: Crazy (Director: Robert Hales)
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Dani California (Director: Tony Kaye)
Who Will Win: Dani California
Who Should Win: Testify
Testify could win a short film award, it’s that good. But in a measure of full discloser, I’ve never heard of 10 Years, let alone seen their video.
Best Choreography in a Video
Christina Aguilera: Ain't No Other Man
Madonna: Hung Up
Pussycat Dolls f/ Snoop Dogg: Buttons
Sean Paul: Temperature
Shakira f/ Wyclef Jean: Hips Don't Lie
Who Will Win: Hung Up
Who Should Win: Hips Don’t Lie
Déjà vu all over again as these videos were all nominated in the Best Dance Video category too. I’m sure Madonna will get one of these awards just to get her to show up and more out with more video hofessionals bevause that was that last time anyone actually talked about the VMA’s aside from how bad they were.
Who Will Win: Life Wasted
Who Should Win: Original of the Species
Should Have Been Nominated: Crazy
A hard one between U2, Pearl Jam and Beck (which I though was last year though), but how was the Rorschach inspired Crazy not get a nod?
Best Art Direction in a Video
10 Years: Wasteland
Common: Testify
Panic! at the Disco: I Write Sins Not Tragedies
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Dani California
Shakira f/ Wyclef Jean: Hips Don't Lie
I think I’ll just end the commentary here because I don’t really care about the technical awards and I didn’t play any of the video games, but again, the awards will be handed out on August 31.
Best Editing in a Video
The All-American: Move Along
Angels and Airwaves: The Adventure
Gnarls Barkley: Crazy
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Dani California
U2: Original of the Species
Best Cinematography in a Video
AFI: Miss Murder Ashlee Simpson: Invisible
James Blunt: You're Beautiful
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Dani California
Prince: Black Sweat
Okay one more comment: seriously, Ashlee Simpson?
Best Video Game Soundtrack
Final Night Round 3 (Electronic Arts)
Burnout Revenge (Electronic Arts)
NBA 2K6 (2K Games)
Driver: Parallel Lines (Atari)
Mark Ecko's Getting Up (Atari)
Best Video Game Score
Hitman: Blood Money (Jesper Kyd)
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (Tom Salta)
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Even Magnet Johansen)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Jeremy Soule)
Electroplankton (User Generated Soundtrack)
