I have a hard time believing that at this point anyone who would be interested in Joss Whedon’s brilliant Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog hasn’t seen it. It’s been everywhere – on Hulu, YouTube, Netflix… And Whedon’s fans are pretty internet savvy.
But I suppose for those out there who might not know of its existence AND who also watch the CW, Entertainment Weekly has reported that the CW will air DHSAB on Tuesday, October 9 at 9pm.
Yes. Yes it is.
It will be nice to see Neil Patrick Harris (Dr. Horrible), Felicia Day (Penny), and Nathan Fillion (Captain Hammer) together on my television screen, but again a bit anti-climactic as I have not only watched it in full many times on YouTube, but I own the soundtrack AND I saw it in the theater before a midnight showing of Serenity.
Note: There is something awesome about sitting in a huge theater, surrounded by other fans, singing these songs. Oddly comforting.
Bad Horse. He’s bad!
There are rumors of a sequel in the works. Does Cpt. Hammer regain his mojo with the help of some lacy, gently wafting curtains? Will we get some more face time with the infamous Bad Horse?
I can only hope.
IF you haven’t seen it yet and don’t feel like waiting till October, or if you just want to enjoy it all over again…
With the Emmy nods out, we get the other major TV awards – those handed out by the Television Critics Association.
Much like the Emmys, the TCA awards were mostly given to shows NOT on network TV. And it’s not surprising. The bulk of truly excellent television is on those higher channels. Until CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox start taking real risks like AMC, FX, or HBO, I think this will be a trend that will continue for a while.
Individual Achievement in Drama: Claire Danes (“Homeland,” Showtime)
Individual Achievement in Comedy: Louis C.K. (“Louie,” FX)
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: “60 Minutes” (CBS)
Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: “So You Think You Can Dance” (Fox)
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: “Switched at Birth” (ABC Family)
Outstanding New Program: “Homeland” (Showtime)
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: “Masterpiece: Downton Abbey” (PBS) [take that American Horror Story — you are SO not a miniseries]
Outstanding Achievement in Drama: “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: “Louie” (FX)
Career Achievement Award: David Letterman
Heritage Award: “Cheers”
Program of the Year: “Game of Thrones” (HBO)
I can absolutely get behind this list. Whereas Louie didn’t get an Emmy nom for best comedy, it won outright here. So You Think You Can Dance is finally recognized. And because of the split between Program of the Year and Outstanding Drama, they can reward both Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, which are seriously tied for me as best drama.
Of course this still leaves Parks and Recreation and Community out in the cold, but I suppose we can’t have everything.
Entertainment Weekly has posted that AMC has announced that they will not be renewing The Killing for a third season. Based on the popular Swedish show of the same name, the show started off really well: premiere episode was watched by 2.7 million and it got great reviews. But the first season ended without any real satisfaction.
Don’t tease us with the promise of an answer you’re never planning on giving us
Not pictures: Enos’s constant gum chewing
Even though I enjoyed most of season 1 and I do like the show’s starts Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman, I decided that my Sunday nights were way too valuable to devote to a show that just dangled red herring after red herring and never got anywhere, so I didn’t watch the second season. And considering only 1.8 million people watched the second season premiere, too many other people felt the exact same way I did. Even the second season finale didn’t garner huge numbers, with only 1.4 million viewers.
EW quotes AMC’s statement:
“After much deliberation, we’ve come to the difficult decision not to renew The Killing for a third season. AMC is incredibly proud of the show and is fortunate to have worked with such a talented team on this project, from showrunner Veena Sud and our terrific partners at Fox Television Studios to the talented, dedicated crew and exceptional cast.”
That’s all very nice and good but clearly the show just didn’t click. Compare the tepid response to The Killing to the cultural juggernauts of Mad Men, The Walking Dead, and Breaking Bad. The Killing just never measured up.
If Fox really wants to shop it around, good luck but really….no. Just let it die.
Yet again I find myself surprised that a show has returned to the air.
I’ve been so busy with the rumors about the new season of Top Chef possibly being taped in Seattle, that the return of Top Chef‘s redheaded stepchild Top Chef: Masters never occurred to me. But apparently…we get a new season starting tonight. Bios for all the masterchefstestants is on Bravo’s website.
Looks like we’ll be getting heavy hitters like Patricia Yeo, Chris Cosentino, and Art Smith and my favorite food critic Ruth Reichl will be returning the Judges Panel, along with James Oseland and new judge, food writer Francis Lam.
When the show first started, it was a format departure from the regular TC. We didn’t start out with a field of master chefs and whittle them down. We had heats and those winners battled each other. It kept things interesting.
Even the second iteration kept itself apart from the regular TC, with a variation on season 1’s tiered competition.
But the most recent season change the format so that it exactly mirrored what we get when we watch Top Chef and that just wasn’t terribly interesting for me. Sure it’s great to see chefs at the top of their game compete against each other, but to really keep us riveted we need a different sort of competition.
Hopefully this new season will revert back to the non-typical format. Or at a minimum, let’s not have these professionals trying to chop a fish out of a block of ice, ok?
As evidenced by the fact that my very first post on this blog was about The Simpsons, I clearly love that show. True, the love has waned in recent years, recent being the past decade, but I can’t deny the profound effect this television show has had on my life.
And it’s not like I could ever forget the show – even at times when I’d like to. My daily vocabulary is so peppered with Simpson-isms, I don’t even realize they’re there. This is beyond the gut reaction “D’oh!” that we all have from time to time, the ever present “meh”s, and any of Bart’s terrible “eat my shorts” or “don’t have a cow, man” bs. I’m talking about the quotes that require context to really make sense, quotes that might only make sense to other Simpsons fans, and sometimes not even that.
As I ponder going cold-turkey on new episodes (though let’s be honest, I’ll be watching every episode till the bitter end no matter how awful), I thought I would look back on ten out of context Simpsons quotes that pop into my brain on a regular basis.
Note: these quotes are in no particular order and yes, I do realize most of them are from Homer.
Now, when I say, “Hello, Mr. Thompson,” and press down on your foot, you smile and nod.
1. “I think he’s talking to you.” (Cape Feare)
Thinking back, this entire episode is quote-worthy. Homer’s comment on Bart’s plan to trap Sideshow Bob “Ooh, a plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies!” or a juror’s comment during Sideshow Bob’s trial “No one who speaks German can be evil,” or Grandpa’s plaintive cry “I’m cold and there are wolves after me,” this is an episode that keeps on giving. But “I think he’s talking to you,” said with the proper loud whisper is just so effective for conveying utter and ignorant stupidity it wins out.
2. “And here I am using my legs like a sucker!”
(The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons)
This quote also has a varient, “and here I am using my own lungs like a sucker.” The idea of Homer moving into the old folks home with Grandpa was absolutely inspired. It should not be at all surprising that uber-lazy Homer fit right in with people who had chairs to move them about, iron lungs to make them breathe, and liquid Lays potato chips so they don’t have to chew. This quote comes in handy any time I realize that I too have been doing something the hard way…just like a sucker.
3. “Woo hoo! Four day weekend!” (Lisa’s Rival)
From the episode that brought us Homer and his giant pile of sugar (“In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women”), we get the quote that I think I’ve probably said most often. This is one of the more popular quotes here. I feel as though this has actually taken a life outside of The Simpsons. But that doesn’t mean it’s still not an amazing exclamation of unexpected joy.
Why don’t you invent yourself some pants?
4. “Oh, that’s where you’re wrong Marge. He was a shameless self-promoter.”
(The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace)
Yet another episode that is absolutely quote-tastic. Homer’s dismay at wasting half his life, followed by Marge discovering him eating from a bag of flour (“I don’t deserve sugar”) sets up the brilliant plot of Homer as inventor. His obsession with Thomas Alva Edison is what might now be dubbed a “bromance” though I shudder to even type that word. When he goes to visit Bart at school because he can no longer go to the adult library due to some “unpleasantness”, their exchange about the Hardy Boys is spot on – Homer: And, these Hardy Boys books are great, too! This one’s about smugglers!
Bart: They’re all about smugglers.
Homer: No, not this one! “The Smugglers of Pirate Cove”. It’s about pirates.
But it’s the conversation Homer has in bed with Marge when he just cannot shut up about Edison that gets me every time. His tone of voice as he wags his fingers at her, showing off how much he knows about Edison is priceless and eminently quotable.
5. “That’s it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I’m going to clown college!” (Homer the Clown)
From the moment Homer stopped to read the new billboards, “Best in the West. Hee hee, that rhymes,” this episode became one of my favorites. So much of this episode is audio-visual, such as the family turning into clowns holding up ads for Krusty’s Clown College with the circus music in the background, I sometimes imagine whole scenes playing out in my head. Homer’s defiant declaration of his now lifelong desire to attend clown college has come up in conversation rather often. Not because I have declared my desire to go to clown college mind you, but because… Ok. It’s because I want to go to clown college.
6. “No bowl. Stick! Stick!”
(The City of New York vs Homer Simpson)
I realize this is an odd choice from that episode that sees Homer battle the evils of New York City. But Homer’s entire conversation with the Khlav Kalash vendor is gold, beginning with his “Allllllmost…” as he uses a nearby stick to get him closer to the pizza shop across the street. Of course I too would be horrified at the thought of Mountain Dew and down can after can of crab juice. Whenever someone offers me a bowl of anything – ice cream, soup, khlav kalash – my brain immediately answers with the quote above.
7. “Is it about my cube?” (Homer the Smithers)
From Homer serving Mr. Burns breakfast to his imitating Mr. Burns’ mother, this episode is full of great Homer-isms. But it’s Mr. Burns quiet inquiry about his car-turned-cube that sticks in my head. I have made the mistake of asking people that very same question without even realizing it, and then having to backtrack and explain exactly what I mean. The other person just usually shakes their head at me, not quite sure what to make it.
8. “But ‘Football in the Groin’ has a football in the groin”/”It works on so many levels!” (A Star is Burns)
Ok, this is cheating but these two quotes always go hand in hand for me.
Need I say more than ‘football in the groin’?
9. “Don’t you hate pants?” (The Last Temptation of Krust)
Krusty has always been a sell-out. From the beginning Krusty has been that clown that makes you understand why some people are afraid of clowns – he’s not malevolent, but so utterly degenerate that you avoid being near him for fear of coming down with something itchy and uncomfortable. So seeing him become a George Carlin type stand up comic, burning money in defiance of the Man and the System was great. Of course Homer would misunderstand everything Krusty was getting at and just jump on the “burning stuff” bandwagon. The need to ask someone if they hate pants isn’t a frequent one, but anytime I’m in a crowd and people are yelling, I think of this old chestnut. But I don’t burn my pants. No matter how itchy they might be.
10. “Selma Jub-jub is fantastic. He’s everywhere you wanna be.”
(A Fish Called Selma)
Honestly, this quote is just all about the execution. Phil Hartman as Troy McClure was like lightening in bottle. His false enthusiasm about this disgusting reptile just oozes with everything that sums up McClure. This quote serves as the absolute perfect non-sequitur in any conversation. It’s even better when the other person knows that I’m referring to a lizard.
Last minute Runner-up:
“Why must life be so hard? Why I must fail at every attempt at masonry?” (Mom and Pop Art)
Nothing expresses my complete frustration with life as Homer’s cry about his failed attempts at masonry whilst attempting to build an outdoor grill. “Le grille? What the hell is that?” can be substituted here as well. http://youtu.be/Zm080jEt2hc
Anyone else have a Simpsons quote or quotes that pop up in everyday conversation, regardless of context?
Seriously, this thing is just so cute. It makes the Game of Thrones books look like some children’s story. This is the sort of map you’d expect to see of Narnia or Happy Sleepytime Kingdom.
However, we all know that behind these cheery colors and happy faces lies only blood and death and rape and incest and conniving and backstabbing and everything else that makes the books and television series so incredibly addicting.
Still…nice to see what Westeros might have looked like to Sansa before she went to King’s Landing and let ol’ Joffrey teach her a thing or two.
Awww, wookit the cute widdle kraken! (from Vulture)
Sure, I love animated films, but I’m always wary of anything that looks too cutesy. When I saw the original trailer for Despicable Me I was intrigued but mildly cautious. Of course there was no need for caution asDespicable Me was surprisingly entertaining. In fact I watch it any time it’s on cable, which happens to be pretty frequently.
But as anyone who has seen the movie can attest, the best thing in the movie after Julie Andrews’ almost criminally evil mother, are Gru’s minions. (Steve Carell’s Eastern European accent was also highly amusing, as were two of the three orphans.)
(You know the one who isn’t)
The Wrap reports that not only is Despicable Me getting a sequel, but the minions will actually get their very own movie slated to come out in 2014.
I can’t really guess what movie will be about as we don’t really understand anything these creature say, but gestures and facial expressions do help a lot I suppose.
There’s just something wonderful about the opening sequence, with the old man shoes, the shuffle/run down the street, the hunch, and the slowing down to catch his breath. Without saying a word in that opening, you know exactly who he is. In fact, I’d say that what really sells the character is the physicality of it – the way Myers holds his hands, the tilt of the head, the quick step before leaves a room. Chris Farley’s cameo as Drinking Buddy also plays on Farley’s amazing ability to be light on his feet.
And how can you have a discussion of Middle-Aged Man without mentioning his gut…which he’s working on. He’s working on it!
Like so many other people who woke up to the horrible news about the shooting in Aurora, CO Friday morning, I have been trying to put my thoughts together. I don’t pretend to have any deep insights here, but want to get these thoughts out of my head just the same.
Going to the movies has always been my escape, my immediate “go to” whenever I am feeling down or bored or happy. It’s my gut reaction to anything in life – you go to the movies. There is something so visceral for me about sitting in a dark theater, surrounded by strangers who are all there for the same purpose. It’s that momentary creation of a fleeting community that makes the act so special.
Anyone who has waited in line for hours to see a movie at midnight on opening night knows what I’m talking about. You buy your tickets days, even weeks in advance. You plan with your friends. You figure out snacks. The days leading up to that night are heightened because you know you are going to experience something very very special. And as you wait in line, you meet other people who just as excited as you are.
For those of use who do get really excited and invested in movies or television shows, finding these other soul companions is a blessing. When I tell someone that I saw every single Lord of the Rings movie at the opening midnight show, I tend to get a rather strange look in response, a sort of “that’s nice” combined with “I must flee from this person’s presence.” But when I think about seeing The Two Towers, the movie is forever combined with my time waiting in line at the 68th Street Loews: my friends and I got there at 6 pm and took turns in line; we went to dinner in groups; we became friendly with the people behind us and when we found out that they were going to one of their friend’s apartments to watch the new Buffy, the Buffy fan in our group went along with them and had a blast. In New York, you never go to a stranger’s house – but these people weren’t really strangers. Not for that night.
When I stood in line for hours to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I got into a conversation with the people near me. They were dressed up for the occasion – robes, wands, glasses, fake scars – and had even printed up S.P.E.W stickers in protest because the movie was cutting out that plotline. They gave me my very own S.P.E.W sticker which I had stuck on my wallet for several years afterwards.
So to think that someone would decide that this moment when fans who had waited months and months for this film, who had probably talked about the movie to anyone whether the other person cared or not, who had stood in line for hours to get the best seats…that someone who decide to use this moment in such a foul and unthinkable way is beyond me.
At times like this we need to focus on the victims. And here it is too easy to do so. To focus on all the people who only wanted to see Batman but whose lives were so inextricably changed. Or ended. These are people that I can understand. These are people that I could have known. These are people that I could have been. And my heart goes out to their families.
I did go to see The Dark Knight Rises early Saturday morning. I stood in line at 8 am with all the other people who chose to wake up so early on a weekend just to see a movie. No one talked about what had happened in Colorado, but there was a slightly odd feel in the air. We all stood together waiting for the doors to open and when they did, no one pushed, no one shoved. I smiled at the person near me, almost reassuring them that I’m one of the good ones and hoped that their return smile meant the same thing.
And once we were settled and the movie started, we all fell silent and formed that perfect temporary community, in spite of it all.
There’s a lot of theories out there about what happened. So many people trying to make sense of it or trying to figure out how to deal. As with any tragedy – you can’t and you will. But one of the commentaries that spoke most to me was Kevin Smith’s show Spoilers on Hulu. He vocalized so much of what I have been feeling, making me feel less alone in these thoughts.
Movies, TV, and all things Pop Culture 