Archive: September 2009 (41-50 of 58)

Sep 10 2009 12:38 PM ET

Russell Brand wears Karl Marx t-shirt on 'The View,' pushes 'socialist agenda,' and comes on to Sherri Shepherd: Good times!

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Categories: Talk Shows, Television

Russell Brand wore a Karl Marx t-shirt on The View this morning, said he was reading Das Kapital in the green-room, and said he was ready to espouse a “socialist ideology — oh, and watch the VMAs,” he added.

On The View to promote his hosting gig on MTV this weekend, the Brit Brand quickly turned the show’s final segment into a hilarious free-for-all. He came on to Sherri Shepherd, complimenting her legs and shoes, noting that her public stance of chastity should be altered. Brand  told Shepherd that if she would see him “outside the precincts of The View” he would “make you forget your own name.” Guest co-host Meghan McCain used this as her segue into Brand being named “shagger of the year,” a nice award to receive, but whose issuing academy was unfortunately never explained.

“I feel a combination of relaxed and aroused in your company,” he said to Whoopi, Barbara, Joy, Shepherd, and McCain.

This, just after a segment during which Juliette Binoche merrily said the French and American translation of the word “merde” repeatedly and was told she’d been “bleeped more times than any guest on the show.”

I’d love to include a clip of any and all of this, but ABC has a lousy website. You can watch the full episode here.

Did you watch The View this morning? What do you think of Russell Brand? And Karl Marx, for that matter?

Sep 10 2009 08:32 AM ET

Obama is told 'You lie!' by Rep. Joe Wilson: Fox immediately schedules new show: 'So You Think You Can Yell'

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Categories: Pundits Right and Left, Reality TV, Television, The President, Theater, TV Last Night

“You lie!” is reportedly what South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson yelled out during President Obama’s speech last night, thus providing a moment of drama that far exceeded the usual goose bumps of suspense such occasions provoke, like whether Joe Biden will look more sleepy during the first five minutes of a presidential address, or the last five.

No matter what side of the aisle you metaphorically sit on, you have to admit, it was a moment filled with more surprise and drama than anything you could have seen during the President’s ratings competition, So You Think You Can Dance. I’ll bet Fox is wishing this morning it hadn’t opted to forgo broadcasting the speech.

I also like the shot at the end of this clip of the guy who looks down at the “What Bill?” sign in his lap as if to say, “How did this get on my pants? Who’s this Bill guy?” Pants, Bill…I’m thinking Clinton, aren’t you?

Did you watch the President’s speech? What did you think of this spontaneous moment?

Sep 9 2009 09:30 AM ET

'Sons of Anarchy' season premiere: Off to a roaring start, and what did you think of the final scene?

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Categories: Misc.

Anyone watch the second-season premiere of Sons of Anarchy last night?

I’ll admit, I was slow to catch up with the, um, charms of this garish pulp-novel of a TV series during its first season. This time around, though, I realized: Oh, it’s supposed to be a garish pulp-novel of a TV series! Last night, creator Kurt Sutter got Sons off to a roaring start, and much of the acting is fantastic, from Charlie Hunnam’s sensitive-souled biker Jax to new bad-guy guest star Adam Arkin as a business-suited white supremicist. (Am I alone in thinking Arkin is one of the most underrated actors in television?)

This is one of the few series that can get away with subplots that would be lurid fantasies, were they not so vivid. As the season proceeds we’ll see the motorcycle club get more involved in overseeing a porn company — lots of opportunities to have extra loose women around for consensual sex.

But the scene that was most shocking last night was, of course, the scene of non-consensual sex: the brutal gang-rape of Katey Segal’s Gemma. Meant to send a signal, as they say in this sort of show, to the Anarchy club, this horrid act will play out over the season with devastating, surprising results. But in the meantime, I’d like to know what you thought of the premiere in general, and of that scene in particular. Me, I thought it wasn’t cheap exploitation, but sent us a signal that the title of this series really means what it says: anarchy can break loose at any time.

And be sure to read the marvelous Mandi Bierly’s exclusive EW.com interview with Charlie Hunnam here.

Sep 8 2009 10:51 PM ET

Jon Gosselin in prime-time: anger, alcohol, Dr. Phil, and love: 'I love Hailey more than Kate'

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Categories: Jon and Kate Plus Eight, Reality TV, Television

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Jon Gosselin dug himself into a deep hole this morning on Good Morning America with a clip of him saying of his wife Kate, “I despise her.” But during tonight’s full-length version of that interview, shown as part of ABC’s Primetime: Family Secrets, Gosselin probably only made things worse for himself. Talking about his girlfriend Hailey Glassman, he said, “I love her more than I did Kate.”

Jon told interviewer Chris Cuomo, “I was abused. I went through therapy.” His message to Kate via the cameras? “Help me out. Go to therapy. Give me closure.”

“We were a better team before [Jon & Kate Plus Eight],” he told Cuomo on Tuesday night:

And indeed, it did sound pretty crass that the only therapy Kate would agree to was the celebrity kind: with Dr. Phil, said Jon. “I said, ‘Huh?’… It was all about protecting the brand [of Jon & Kate Plus Eight].” Jon declined to meet with Dr. Phil, who gave ABC a terse, “No comment.”

Jon’s comments today allowed Kate the opportunity to issue a classy-sounding response, saying, “For the sake of my children I maintain that I’m not going to go into details of aspects I believe should remain private.”

Here’s the thing: as those of us who used to watch Jon & Kate Plus Eight with pleasure during their rosy days know, Jon was always uncomfortable and less articulate in front of the cameras. That’s why Kate’s the one pursuing a TV career, such as her upcoming guest-host stint on The View.

To his credit, Cuomo quietly but persistently tried to point out to Jon, again and again, where he may be going off the rails. But what can you do with a guy who tells you one moment he’s been drinking a lot, and in the next breath says, “My father was an alcoholic,” that his grandfather was an alcoholic, and he knows he doesn’t want to inherit the disease?

Jon seems to tend toward making bad decisions, such as seriously considering a Divorced Dads Club show with Michael Lohan and Kevin Federline. “I don’t know,” he said when Cuomo asked if he was going to do that project. “That’s why I have a legal team. I might not be able to do it.” For his own sake and his kids, let’s hope someone prevents that.

Did you watch? What do you think of Jon Gosselin’s big media day?

Sep 8 2009 07:55 AM ET

Jon Gosselin on 'Good Morning America': 'I despise Kate'

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Categories: Jon and Kate Plus Eight, Reality TV, Talk Shows, Television

In a sound-bite sure to be re-watched in years to come by the eight kids Jon and Kate Gosselin have brought into the world, Jon Gosselin told Good Morning America, “I despise her.”

Kate, said Jon, “beat me down… like a lame fish.” Speaking to interviewer Chris Cuomo, Gosselin, always the less voluble of the couple and recently better known for pictures of his post-separation partying than his pithy statements, let loose.

“‘Stop feeding into the frenzy,’” he responded when Cuomo asked if he had a message to Kate. Jon was referring to Kate’s continuing public profile, such as her recent Larry King Live interview. Even Cuomo seemed taken aback by Jon’s vehemence. When Jon used the word “despise,” Cuomo warned him gently to be careful, that the “tit-for-tat” sniping might be harmful.

Jon just piled on more. “Our relationship will never be fixed,” he said flatly. Asked why he doesn’t still wear his wedding ring, as Kate wears hers, he said, “She took my ring.” When Cuomo looked skeptical, Jon said, “Who else would take it?” He added he’d looked under his kids’ pillows for it, so I guess he considered them no longer suspects.

Cuomo said the interview lasted three hours. Depending on your point of view the good news or the bad is that it’s been edited down to just enough to fit in to tonight’s one-hour ABC show Primetime Family Secrets, at 10 p.m. EST.

Did you watch Good Morning America? What do you think about Jon’s comments?

Sep 6 2009 09:08 PM ET

'Big Brother 11': Natalie tells the biggest, dumbest lie

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Categories: Reality TV, Television

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If there was any doubt that Jeff was the primary source of energy and warmth in the Big Brother 11 house, it was proved decisively on Sunday night. With Jeff booted, the final four were mopey and dopey, and the hour featured a boring “luxury competition,” a clothing spree. But…

SPOILER ALERT: DON’T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHO WHAT HAPPENED DURING THIS EDITION OF BIG BROTHER 11.

But how about that weird fall-out from “Pandora’s Box”? I felt badly for Natalie’s boyfriend Jason on a couple of levels. First, because he’s Natalie’s boyfriend. Second, because he proposed to her for real. (Or as real as anything is real on a reality-TV game-show with a proposal made with a garbage-bag twist-tie instead of an actual ring.) And finally, because the poor, sincere lug was so endearingly nervous (voice breaking, tearing up) that she might turn him down.

Then, how about that lie Natalie told to cover up what happened? (That she was tied up, with earmuffs, and hand-cuffed? Not eligible for the half-million prize? Who was going to buy that?) The remaining three may not be as shrewd as Jeff was (until his final day, that is), but even they saw through her pointless gobbledygook, which only further alienated her one ally, Kevin. Or as he put it, “I bet her name isn’t even Natalie.”

It was hilarious to see Natalie first pout (“Please do not ask me anything more about Pandora’s Box” — she should have added, “because I can’t come up with another lie quickly enough, my brain hurts”), then boast (“You got got by an 18 year-old!” Who cares about this age thing any more?), and finally, make her speeches in putting up Michele and Kevin for eviction. To Kevin: “I just saw three moves in advance and you got duped.” To Michele: “You’re a back-stabber and a liar.” Yes, Natalie, and we all know that kind of player is absolutely unheard-of in Big Brother history and never wins, right?

What a tedious little twisty-tied twerp.

Did you watch? Who do you think will go home during Tuesday’s special live eviction episode?

And: Be sure to check out this charming, revealing exit-interview with Jeff.

Sep 6 2009 09:00 PM ET

The winners of the 'Write your own True Blood episode' competition!

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Categories: Television, Vampires

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Well, there’s been a great response to my “Write Your Own True Blood Episode” competition. The idea was to write a brief summary of an episode that could have aired tonight, an off-week for True Blood before the series’ season-ender next Sunday.

There were two strong patterns in the hundreds of entries I read. I would say that the majority of you are on Team Eric over Team Bill. (Memo to Alan Ball and the True Blood writing staff: Based purely on this anecdotal evidence, you may want to consider making Bill a bit more pro-active next season to balance things out.)

And a lot of you included some variation on ” …and Jason has his shirt off the entire time… ” in your fantasies — er, entries.

My great thanks to everyone who took the time and effort to write in. Here, without further ado, are the winners in the best-written, funniest, and sexiest categories:

BEST ENTRY, SHORT DIVISION:

B.E.V. Thu 09/03/09 1:32 PM

Bill drags Sam to Maryann to be sacrificed. Sam is unwillingly persuaded to be “offered” in order to save Sookie. As Sookie watches horrified and restrained by Eggs, Tara, and Lafayette, Eric returns from the Queen’s and destroys Maryann and saves Sam. Sookie is revolted by Bill’s actions toward Sam, turns her back on him and thanks Eric with a hug that is riddled with conflicted feelings and sexual tension. Jason and Andy burst onto the scene in a “Rambo-esque” fashion, only the battle is already over. While the townsfolk are recovering from their zombie-like state… Eggs takes the egg and disappears. Fade to black.

BEST ENTRY, LONG DIVISION:

TJ  Fri 09/04/09 8:31 PM

[EDITED SLIGHTLY FOR SPACE: KT]

Sookie manages to escape Lafayette, and make it downstairs. There she runs into MaryAnn once again. Sookie, unable to use her new-found ability to stop MaryAnn, is saved by Jason and Andy, who are attacking from outside of the house. A bullet hits MaryAnn, and she slams Sookie down, telling her to stay put. MaryAnn arrives behind Andy and Jason, and suddenly shoves a knife into Andy’s back. Jason quickly fires bullets at MaryAnn, but is unable to hurt her. Jason realizes the gun is of no use, and punches MaryAnn in her face. As his fingers touch MaryAnn, the same glowing effect is shown that happened to Sookie when she touched MaryAnn in episode 10. MaryAnn, still curious as to what Sookie/Jason are, knocks him out and drags him inside to join Sookie (who is also knocked out). Bill, knowing Sookie is in danger, puches Sam knocking him out as well. Bill picks Sam up, and heads to MaryAnn. Eric and the Queen have some fun, and finally she tells Eric some more about Maenads. Eric and the Queen have a longer past, and she trusts him more than Bill. Sookie, who is having a dream of Eric again, now has Lafayette in her dream as well. The Lafayette in her dream is Lafayette’s mind (which has been replaced with MaryAnn’s influence). Sookie and Lafayette are able to speak telepathicaly, because of their bond with Eric, whick also bonds them in a way. Sookie manages to awake Lafayette from being possesed by MaryAnn. Lafayette, who was outside with Tara and Eggs, runs inside the house. He sees Sookie and Jason on the floor (tied). Lafayette remembers a image of the egg upstairs, and knows of its key role in MaryAnn’s ritual. Lafayette runs to detroy the egg, but sees that MaryAnn is already there (doing her shaking thing while holding the egg). MaryAnn does not notice Lafayette, as she is deep in motion. Lafayette realizes he has time, and decides to rescue Sookie and Jason. The three flee from the home. MaryAnn goes downstairs, and sees that the three are gone. Bill arrives, offering Sam in trade for Sookie. MaryAnn agrees, and has Tara and Eggs take Sam. Bill asks for Sookie, but MaryAnn replies saying she is gone. Bill realizes he has made a mstake, and tries to save Sam. MaryAnn easily defeats Bill, and he flees. Bill arrives at his house, where Jessica, Sookie, Jason, and Lafayette are. The five of them try to come up with a plan to ave Sam. Sookie can’t believe that Bill actually turned Sam in; Bill says he did it out of love for Sookie. Jason mourns Andy, who was killed by MaryAnn. The five are attacked by an army of MaryAnn’s followers. Sookie and Jason are taken, the rest defeated, and left in Bill’s home (which is set on fire). Eric and the Queen arrive at Bill’s home, and rescue Bill, Jessica, and Lafayette. MaryAnn speaks to Sookie at her house, and explains that she will have Sookie kill Sam. The ritual begins, and Jason must watch as MaryAnn tries to make Sookie murder Sam. Sam tells Sookie that it is okay, and that it is the only way MaryAnn will leave the town. MaryAnn has Hoyt’s mother bring her the casserole Maxine made, which turns out to be something MaryAnn must eat before her God arrives from the egg. MaryAnn takes a lick of the casserole, and starts to shake uncontrollably. Eric, Bill, The Queen, and Jessica attack the ritual gang. MaryAnn turns into her true self, and explodes. Eric explains that he put Fairy blood in Maxine’s casserole ealier on, when she was on her way to the ritual. Fairy blood is MaryAnn’s greatest weakness. Sookie and Jason both tell of how they would glow when MaryAnn touched them, and the Queen explains that they are related to a Fairy from way back when. The season ends with Jessica leaving with the Queen, Sookie ignoring Bill (because he turned Sam over to Mary Ann), and with Tara and Eggs finally happy together.

THE FUNNIEST ENTRY:

Anne  Fri 09/04/09 4:18 PM

There is a Twilight-True Blood crossover in which it turns out that Eric is a Cullen who got tired of hanging around with those goody two-shoes. The Cullens come to Bon Temps to talk some sense into him, and end up getting eaten by Maryann (they are a special kind of sparkly vampire that she CAN control). Bacchus is displeased with this sacrifice and destroys all the humans in the town. Hungry and angry, the vampires run amuck. Buffy comes and saves the day and offers to introduce Bill to Angel, so that they can give each other brooding tips. Sookie (the only human survivor) and Eric live happily ever after. Oh, and somewhere along the way, Eric lost his clothes.

The Sexiest Entry:

Holly Thu 09/03/09 2:00 PM

Eric in his birthday suit. (That is the entire episode.)

So, TB fans: What do you think? How psyched are you for next week’s True Blood season finale?

Sep 6 2009 10:44 AM ET

Manny Farber, TV critic?

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Categories: Movies, Television, TV Review

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One of the treasure-troves of the fall is about to be unearthed: Farber On Film: The Complete Film Writings of Manny Farber (The Library of America), edited by the poet Robert Polito. For any movie fan who’s carried around and memorized chunks of the only previous, relatively-slim collection of Farber reviews, the eruptive Negative Space, this new volume — 880-plus pages of Manny-festations to be published Oct. 1 — is a dream come true.

So why am I writing about a movie book on a TV blog? Because one element that crops up here and there in Farber on Film is something previously unknown to me: that Farber occasionally reviewed television shows and made some typically original, provocative statements about what we used to call the small screen.

Writing in 1959, Farber asserted, “In its early period, TV hit roads which few in pop-comedy thought to travel… For the first time, large audiences saw a muderously dry infantry life (Sgt. Bilko), a morbid, bickering slum series (The Honeymooners), and a driveling Mr. and Mrs. (I Love Lucy), all of which were funnier in their depiction of the mirthlessness of daily existence than for their expected comic embroidery.”

What Polito describes in his marvelous introduction as Farber’s “fierce, serpentine essays that shun movie-criticism commonplaces like character psychology, story synopsis, and social lessons” was also true of his occasional TV pieces.

Farber wrote about Mike Wallace and Jack Paar, about the vaunted Edward R. Murrow’s celebrity interviews (“answers fell through Murrow’s disinterest like coins in a gum machine”), and took swipes at the pretentions of overrated TV writers such as Rod Serling, Paddy Chayefsky, and other purveyors of “dialogue-character-idea cliches” that give me goosebumps of pleasure. (What I wouldn’t give for reviews by Farber, who died in 2008, of shows like Mad Men and American Idol.)

Yet Farber remained optimistic about television’s potential: “Any year now, TV may realize that little help is needed from neighboring arts… Working well within the restrictions of the medium, TV could shake the now muscle-bound audience out of its easy chairs.”

It’s fascinating to think that, at around the same time Farber was writing some of his greatest film essays — “White Elephant Art Vs. Termite Art,” “Underground Films,” “Cartooned Hip Acting” — he was also casting a sharp eye at television, then commonly considered a vastly inferior medium to film. Yet it also makes sense, since Farber was always ahead of the curve (and frequently around the bend and twisting the curve into a mobius strip), always cussedly independent, and endlessly curious about every way in which people communicated with each other through various media. For Farber, it was primarily film and fine art (he was also a first-rate, utterly original painter). Now we know we can add television to this list.

I cannot urge you enough to pre-order your copy of Farber On Film today.

Sep 5 2009 07:08 PM ET

'Write Your Own True Blood Episode' competition continues!

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Categories: Television, Vampires

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Remember: only one more full day to send in your entries to my “Write Your Own True Blood Episode” competition.

I’ve received a lot of terrific entries so far, including one from “Stacey” making an excellent comparison between Jason and Andy as the Batman and Robin of Bon Temps: That’s the kind of imagination I’m looking for!

All rules are in my original post. Please add your entries in the Comments field there.

Remember, awards will be announced Sunday night at 9 p.m. EST, when a new True Blood would usually air. Tell your friends, and thank you!

Sep 4 2009 10:56 AM ET

Craig Ferguson: Will Jason Ritter ever appear on 'The Late Late Show'?

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Categories: Talk Shows, Television

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It started out as a standard talk-show incident. Jason Ritter was booked as a guest on Tuesday night’s The Late Late Show, but Craig Ferguson (now in high-def and bracingly bitter about it!) got to yakking too long with Quentin Tarantino. Certainly, if there’s a guest who’ll keep you yakking — or being yakked at — it’s the Inglourious Basterd himself.

So Ferguson promised Ritter would be on the next night, Wednesday. Wednesday night: oops, nope. So enthralled by the Betty-Boop charms of Mila Kunis, Craig didn’t have time for Ritter.

By now he was making jokes about having to wear the same tie again, and we talk-show faithful know that what really happened is that Ferguson taped the Ritter interview earlier in the week, and he and his producers were waiting for the proper length segment to shoehorn it in.

But last night: Whoops! Got talking to Carrie Fisher too long about electro-shock therapy and such, and even though Craig had by now dubbed this “Jason Ritter Week”… no Jason. Check out Carrie Fisher’s segment, by the way; quite hilarious:

So tonight’s the last night to get Jason Ritter on the air this week. Will it happen? Personally, and I like Ritter, I think this dandy joke could go on for quite a while. And I like that thin black tie Ferguson has to wear to maintain the amusement.

Have you been watching Craig, with his new opening credits and his high-definition haircut?

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