"Me know that many of you think of me as cookie-eating fanatic, bordering on glutton. Actually, me prefer the term cookie enthusiast."
Sesame Street's Cookie Monster wants to update his images and to do so he is campaigning to host Saturday Night Live. His audition is, by far, better than anything SNL has done recently, plus you get Monster Gaga as the musical guest playing Cookie Face. (Link via The Ampersand)
Well, Internet, I hope you're proud, because that Saturday Night Live episode was terrible and while Betty White was game it was a one-note horny old lady disaster. But Gary Coleman on Yo Gabba Gabba? Someone get on that. (Link via Chuck & Beans)
Saturday Night Live newcomer Jenny Slate said a bad word this weekend. She said "fucking" instead of "frickin" and even the New York Times has weighed in. Oh my frickin ears! I'd rather hear the word fuck over and over again then to have to read the word F-bomb one m0re time. (Link via Buzzfeed)
If you're going to swear, just get right out there and do it like McNulty and Bunk do on The Wire, solving a murder with only one word.
Leave it to Hollywood to produce such an entertaining strike. With all the machinations, scheming and backstabbing, it’s like one of the reality shows they are so worried will take over the airwaves if the writers stay out for months. Which, it seems, could very well happen.
With everyone’s heels dug in, some nastiness is emerging. Fox aired a new Family Guy today, but without the participation or approval of creator Seth MacFarlane, who joined the picket lines when the Writers Guild went on strike on Nov. 5. There was only one complete episode in the can at the time, but three that were near completion. So the network, which has cancelled the show before, is moving ahead without MacFarlane, who also voices Peter, Stewie, Brian, Glen Quagmire and Tom Tucker. Ingrates.
Not surprisingly, this is not going over well with MacFarlane. "It would just be a colossal dick move if they did that," he told Variety. "They've never done anything like this before, in which they've said, 'We're going to finish a show without you. It's really going to be unfortunate and damaging to our relationship if they do it."
Obviously they know that and clearly they don’t care. The networks and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have known this strike was coming and they are prepared for it. If that means stepping on a few writers and creators, then so be it.
On the other side of the picket line is the cast of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, who are staging live performances at a New York improv theater and donating the proceeds to production workers who will be out of work while the strike continues. Doesn’t get much more black and white than that, does it?
Some other interesting tidbits:
- My friend Nik, a TV blogger extraordinaire, is speculating that if the strike goes long, it could mean the end of Lost.
- Another friend, who works at a Toronto production house, says there is renewed U.S. interest in Corner Gas. Already airing on the cable station WGN, it seems the strike has at least one of the big four networks sniffing around.
- Perhaps they’d better settle this strike soon, or my pals at Dose will have to keep pumping out their replacement versions of 24 and Ugly Betty.
What would New Year’s be without me adding to the plethora of lists? So without further ado, here is my picks for the best in pop culture for 2006, in no particular order:
Heroes The most sci-fi show on network television since The X-Files is also the best show on TV this year, topping Prison Break and even Lost. Random people suddenly develop powers and must figure out how to handle and use them, for better or worse. It is the best comic-inspired work of fiction since Sin City, doling out plot developments at a furious pace.
Hiro Nakamura Super Hiro is the heart and soul of Heroes and the one character who wholeheartedly embraces his newfound powers and sets out to do good with them. Also, as a Star Trek quoting Japanese nerd, he provides the show with comic relief.
Truthiness Stephen Colbert was on a tear this year: he lambasted George Bush and the assembled media as a speaker at White House Correspondents' Association Dinner; he had his fans stuff the online ballot box to have a Hungarian bridge named after him; and the Merriam-Webster dictionary selected truthiness as its Word of the Year for 2006. The Colbert Report is spectacular satire.
OK Go I’d never heard of these guys until the day I got sent a link to a video for a catchy song – Here It Goes Again – and their treadmill-hoping, choreographic perfection. Then I watched it over and over and over again.
Royale With Cheese After the unceremonious dumping of Pierce Brosnan as the agent with the licence to kill and years of speculation on who would fill the tux, Daniel Craig emerged as the new, hard-edged 007, reinvigorating the venerable franchise without abandoning its past.
Parkour The most thrilling movie chase of the year had no gadgets and no cars, just two people making their way though a construction site at a death-defying, breakneck speed. The opening sequence of Casino Royale showed a terrorist using the technique, also known as free running, to escape the pursuing James Bond. Pure adrenaline.
Sloan After 15 years, the Canadian power pop quartet refuses to phone it in, releasing the 30-song Never Hear the End of It and heading back out on tour. Much goodness to be had.
Toronto During TIFF Visitors often complain that Torontonians are cold and aloof – and they aren’t wrong – but all of that changes during the Toronto Film Festival. Suddenly complete strangers are chatting with each other with ease while in lines and theatres. They compare notes, thoughts on films, celebs they’ve spotted and then as quickly as it began, it evaporates. I wish the city were like this year-round.
The Tick vs. Season One The big blue bug of justice finally comes to DVD after 12 years and multiple fan requests. A parody of superheroes, The Tick is as dim as he is strong – neigh well invincible – as he battles bizarre villains alongside an equally bizarre cast of characters, including American Maid, Die Fledermaus and the Civic-Minded Five. I’m so thrilled, all I can say is spooooon!
Shut Up and Sing I’m no Dixie Chicks fan, but the documentary on what the country stars went through after lead sing Natalie Maines said “Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,” was a real eye-opener. Their statement is mild by today’s standards though it was almost a career killer a scant three years ago. I picked Fido as my top movie of the Toronto Film Festival, but months later, it’s the Chicks that I keep talking about.
S.O.A.P. Suds Despite massive amounts of internet hype, Snakes on a Plane is grounded. Turns out all the bloggers saying “wouldn’t it be cool if they did…” never had any intention of going to see it. Best web hoax of the year!
Video Mashups It was like the birth of a new art form as digital videos, YouTube and people with loads of free time collided to create some of the most hilarious web moments of the year, from Toy Story 2 recast in the Requiem for a Dream trailer to the Peanuts gang shakin’ like a Polaroid picture to Outkast’s Hey Ya. Absolute brilliance.
Britney Spears While there are many pretenders to her throne, Spears is in a class of her own when it comes to young celebrity train wrecks. From questionable parenting (now where did I put Sean Preston?) to finally dumping her parasite impregnator Kevin Federline, and then partying harder than Paris Hilton in a one-week period, she bows down to none. Keep trying Lindsay and Nicole.
Not Ready for Prime Time Players Saturday Night Live is hot this year, not so much the show, but the shows about the show. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip gives West Wing fans a taste of what they’re missing (even if it does take comedy writing far to seriously) and 30 Rock has all the laughs, especially with the sublime Alec Bladwin playing network blowhard Jack Donaghy. As for SNL itself, on the rare occasions it has a funny skit, I can watch it the next day on YouTube – see Lazy Sunday and Dick in a Box.
Yul & Ozzie The top two finalists in Survivor: Cook Islands actually deserved to be there: Yul for his masterful playing of the game and controlling other contestants without it ever being obvious and Ozzie for being one of the most natural physical players ever to compete. The reality show granddaddy proved it still has chops.
For more lists than you can possibly imagine, be sure to check out Fimoculous' stunning list of lists, including such gems as the Best Re-cut Movie Trailers, the Top 10 Retro Gadgets, the Top 10 Sex Toys, the Top 5 Most Pretentious Looks and more music and film Top 10s than you will ever be able to read.
"How you doin? I love it when a plan comes together. Is that your final answer? Yeah, that’s the ticket. D’oh!"
Cable network TV Land is counting down the Top 100 Greatest Catchphrases in December, but put out its list so we could all bicker and reminisce over their choices and presumably tune in and watch. OK, I’ll bite. Reading over their collection, I could picture so many of them, not just from the episodes, but from friends repeating them, t-shirts and parodies. Some of them were real monsters, but they have all lost their impact when stripped of context.
TV catchphrases really don’t add up to a whole lot of conversation, but they do tend to stick in your head. They also age poorly, being unable to escape the moment in time when they captured the elusive pop culture zeitgeist. I’m sure many of these phrases were a mixed blessing – helping to catapult a series and a star into the limelight and forcing them to repeat it for the rest of their lives. Just ask Gary Coleman. (Ok, not anymore: RIP.)
But with that being said, here’s my Top 10, chosen on the basis that I repeated these phrases at some point in my life, over and over and over again:
D'oh! (Homer Simpson, The Simpsons)
De plane! De plane! (Tattoo, Fantasy Island)
Good night, John Boy. (The Waltons)
Holy ______, Batman! (Robin, Batman)
No soup for you! (Soup Nazi, Seinfeld)
Oh my God! They killed Kenny! (Stan and Kyle, South Park)
Yeah, that's the ticket. (Jon Lovitz, Saturday Night Live)
And now as a cheap ploy to fill an incredible amount of space, here is the full list:
- ... if it weren't for you meddling kids! (Various villains, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?) - Aaay! (Fonzie, Happy Days) - And that's the way it is. (Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News) - Ask not what your country can do for you ... (John F. Kennedy) - Baby, you're the greatest. (Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners) - Bam! (Emeril Lagasse, Emeril Live) - Book 'em, Danno. (Steve McGarrett, Hawaii Five-O) - Come on down! (Johnny Olson, et al, The Price is Right) - Danger, Will Robinson! (Robot, Lost in Space) - De plane! De plane! (Tattoo, Fantasy Island) - Denny Crane. (Denny Crane, Boston Legal) - Do you believe in miracles? (Al Michaels, 1980 Winter Olympics) - D'oh! (Homer Simpson, The Simpsons) - Don't make me angry... (David Banner, The Incredible Hulk) - Dynomite! (J.J., Good Times) - Elizabeth, I'm coming! (Fred Sanford, Sanford and Son) - Gee, Mrs. Cleaver... (Eddie Haskell, Leave it to Beaver) - God'll get you for that. (Maude, Maude) - Good grief. (Charlie Brown, Peanuts Specials) - Good night and good luck. (Edward R. Murrow, See It Now) - Good night, John Boy. (The Waltons) - Have you no sense of decency? (Joseph Welch to Sen. McCarthy) - Heh heh... (Beavis & Butthead, Beavis and Butthead) - Here it is, your moment of Zen. (Jon Stewart, The Daily Show) - Here's Johnny! (Ed McMahon, The Tonight Show) - Hey now! (Hank Kingsley, The Larry Sanders Show) - Hey, hey, hey! (Dwayne Nelson, What's Happening!!) - Hey, hey, hey! (Fat Albert, Fat Albert) - Holy ______, Batman! (Robin, Batman) - Holy crap! (Frank Barone, Everybody Loves Raymond) - Homey don't play that! (Homey the Clown, In Living Color) - How sweet it is! (Jackie Gleason, The Jackie Gleason Show) - How you doin'? (Joey Tribbiani, Friends) - I can't believe I ate that whole thing. (Alka Seltzer) - I know nothing! (Sgt. Schultz, Hogan's Heroes) - I love it when a plan comes together. (Hannibal, The A-Team) - I want my MTV! (MTV) - I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl... (Larry, Newhart) - I'm not a crook. (Richard Nixon) - I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV. (Vicks Formula 44) - I'm Rick James, bitch! (Dave Chappelle as Rick James, Chappelle's Show) - Is that your final answer? (Regis Philbin, Who Wants to be a Millionaire) - It keeps going and going and going... (Energizer Batteries) - It takes a licking... (Timex) - Jane, you ignorant slut. (Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd, Saturday Night Live) - Just one more thing... (Columbo, Columbo) - Let's be careful out there. (Sgt. Esterhaus, Hill Street Blues) - Let's get ready to rumble! (Michael Buffer, Various sporting events) - Live long and prosper. (Spock, Star Trek) - Making whoopie! (Bob Eubanks, The Newlywed Game) - Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! (Jan Brady, The Brady Bunch) - Mom always liked you best. (Tommy Smothers, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour) - Never assume... (Felix Unger, The Odd Couple) - Nip it! (Barney Fife, The Andy Griffith Show) - No soup for you! (Soup Nazi, Seinfeld) - Norm! (Cheers) - Now cut that out! (Jack Benny, The Jack Benny Program) - Oh my God! They killed Kenny! You bastards! (Stan and Kyle, South Park) - Oh, my nose! (Marcia Brady, The Brady Bunch) - One small step for man... (Neil Armstrong) - Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon? (Grey Poupon) - Read my lips: No new taxes! (George H.W. Bush) - Resistance is futile. (Picard as Borg, Star Trek: The Next Generation) - Say good night, Gracie. (George Burns, The Burns & Allen Show) - Schwing! (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as Wayne and Garth, Saturday Night Live) - Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy. (Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle) - Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids! (Trix Cereal) - Smile, you're on Candid Camera! (Candid Camera) - Sock it to me. (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) - Space, the final frontier... (Capt. Kirk, Star Trek) - Stifle! (Archie Bunker, All in the Family) - Suit up! (Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother) - Tastes great! Less filling! (Miller Lite Beer) - Tell me what you don't like about yourself. (Dr. McNamara & Dr. Troy, Nip/Tuck) - That's hot. (Paris Hilton, The Simple Life) - The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. (Jim McKay, ABC's Wide World of Sports) - The tribe has spoken. (Jeff Probst, Survivor) - The truth is out there. (Fox Mulder, The X-Files) - This is the city... (Sgt. Joe Friday, Dragnet) - Time to make the donuts. (Dunkin' Donuts) - Two thumbs up! (Siskel & Ebert / Ebert & Roeper) - Up your nose with a rubber hose. (Vinnie Barbarino, Welcome Back, Kotter) - We are two wild and crazy guys! (Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd, Saturday Night Live) - Welcome to the O.C., bitch. (Luke, The O.C.) - Well, isn't that special? (Dana Carvey as The Church Lady, Saturday Night Live) - We've got a really big show! (Ed Sullivan, The Ed Sullivan Show) - Whassup? (Budweiser) - What you see is what you get! (Geraldine, The Flip Wilson Show) - Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? (Arnold Drummond, Diff'rent Strokes) - Where's the beef? (Wendy's) - Who loves you, baby? (Kojak, Kojak) - Would you believe? (Maxwell Smart, Get Smart) - Yabba dabba do! (Fred Flintstone, The Flintstones) - Yada, yada, yada... (Seinfeld) - Yeah, that's the ticket. (Jon Lovitz, Saturday Night Live) - You eeeediot! (Ren, Ren & Stimpy) - You look mahvelous! (Billy Crystal as Fernando, Saturday Night Live) - You rang? (Lurch, The Addams Family) - You're fired! (Donald Trump, The Apprentice) - You've got spunk... (Mr. Grant, Mary Tyler Moore)
When you sleep in four-hour cycles, the primetime schedule doesn’t have much meaning to you. I have praised digital video recorders as amazing tools many times, but it is a pop culture life preserver when you are a new parent. I’ve been recording everything and am trying to catch up. Some more thoughts on the season so far:
Back when the fall season was announced it was a surprise that there was not one, but two shows paying tribute to Saturday Night Live, which is hardly breaking comedy ground these days. The only thing I’ve heard people talking about SNL in the past couple of years is Ashlee Simpson’s lip synch and Lazy Sunday. Anyway, it seems after 32 years they are again some sort of cultural zeitgeist.
The Aaron Sorkin created Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is almost an exact replica of The West Wing, in terms of tone and pace. It is lightning quick and everyone is so damned sincere. It also appears that everyone who writes comedy are morose characters who never, ever laugh – clowns crying on the outside. I’ve seen three episodes so far and I’m willing to try more, but it could certainly lighten up a smidge.
Former SNL head writer Tina Fey’s 30 Rock, which debuted tonight, takes a very different tact, going for sitcom laughs to show the backstage workings of a live, weekly sketch show. Fey plays a head writer (natch) whose show is taken over by a network executive played by a bombastic Alec Baldwin, who is the best part of the show by far. It’s only been one episode so it may need to find its feet, but despite the different approaches, both shows are treading similar turf. Fey might have the comedy chops, but Sorkin has her on the writing.
This year we also decided to start watching The Amazing Race and I don’t understand why everyone thinks it is so, um, amazing – it seems more contrived than Survivor. All the players rush headlong towards a destination, freaking out along the way, only to be stopped at the entrance to a ticket booth that doesn’t open for hours. Soon all the teams have arrived and they all get on the bus at the same time, completely negating any advantage winning the last challenge had. How pointless.
I must admit that I do enjoy the image of the asshole American tourists (“I’m tired of talking to foreigners,” says Rob, while in Vietnam) and the conniving beauty queens – the casting is excellent. I just wish it were more of a race.
