According to IMDb, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has appeared in 147 different TV shows and movies (He was a suspect on Mannix in '71!) That's as good an entrance as any, I suppose, to have a monthly entertainment column in Esquire magazine. Some lines from the first two columns:
I was a teenager when I first read Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If”
One of the best models for male behavior in shows aimed at teens is ABC Family’s Bunheads, which features a group of ballet students and their charming teacher.
And that makes Django [Unchained] melodrama, not literature. It offers no insights, only the most familiar observations.
I have a vast collection of Wild West paraphernalia and have read extensively on the era.
Goes to show you can't judge a book by his purple-and-gold cover.
As successful as the Avengers was, DC Comics (and parent Warner Bros) are desperate to get a Justice League movie off the ground. Unfortunately, for every step forward they make (The Dark Knight) they take a step back (Green Lantern). High, high hopes have been put on this summer's Man of Steel, and Henry Cavill (Superman) is signed on for a JL movie. Warner Bros is including Christopher Nolan in the planning, though that has been seen as an attempt to get Christian Bale to come back as Batman.
Frankly, I think they should hold out there and do a World's Finest movie before continuing on, but that's not how Marvel did it, so neither will DC. The next problem, then, is what to do about Green Lantern. On the positive side, there are a couple different Earth-based Green Lanterns, and a JL movie could use any of them. Hitfix has a gallery of suggestions, the best of which is Idris Elba as John Stewart, though his part in the next Thor movie may exclude him from consideration. Maybe Jason Clarke as Guy Gardner?
For the past few weeks, Vulture has been running a bracket to determine the best sitcom of the past 30 years. This morning they declasred a winner. Before you see who that winner was, take a minute and run through the 4 rounds they set up, and come up with your own opinion:
This will be longer than most, but explains what improv is all about very nicely, if you're interested in reading that sort of thing.
A book that I'm reading (More Baths, Less Talking) mentions a book the author is reading (The Conversations) which talks about a game called Negative Twenty Questions.There's a long excerpt from it, and a description of how it relates to improv, after the jump (Click on Read more):
After Ever After.....
This made me just giggle... not that I'm looking to hate on happily ever after... but this is brilliant! Enjoy and HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!
Alex Trebek has been hosting Jeopardy! since 1984, and it only makes sense that at some point he would be interested in not hosting Jeopardy!. Trebek has made clear that time will be 2016, when his latest contract with Sony expires.
But there's money to be made with Jeopardy!, so the search has begun for someone to play Ryan Seacrest to Trebek's Dick Clark. The New York Post says the front runner is Matt Lauer, whose contract on Today will be over by then. I imagine the contestant interviews being five minutes of Lauer saying, "Wow, you're smart," over and over.
A better choice would be Anderson Cooper, who the Post says is runner-up. Not mentioned? Ken Jennings, who would be the obvious choice in my mind. When you win 74 straight, you inherit the Chocolate Factory, pure and simple.
A decade ago, season-long arcs were all the rage on television, but character was still something we cared about. The shows that missed out having strong characters...
Ah, screw it. I'm typing up a long thing explaining why Veronica Mars was so good, but the short version is: if you haven't seen it, you should.
Especially try to get it all done before 2014, when the movie comes out.
That movie was fully funded on Kickstarter today- over $2 million in the span of 11 hours. That's some Duncan Kane money right there.
Here are the current television power rankings for spring programming as of today:
#10 Parks and Rec - This season isn't as inspired as the past couple, but it still provides great laughs every episode. I can't get enough Ron Swanson!
#9 Top Chef Seattle - The season just ended a couple of weeks ago and this Bravo show again reminded me of how bat-shit crazy Wolfgang Puck is.
#8) The Walking Dead - This third season had a great fall campaign with Rick and company more focused on killing zombies instead of talking about the nature of God. However the last few episodes seemed to have regressed back into the talking trap. Get on with the coming war! By the way, in case you were still wondering - Daryl Mother F******* Dixon is still the best character on TV right now.
#7) Survivor "Fans Vs. Favorites" - Yes, I know some of you are TV snobs who hate the offerings of reality programming. Get over yourself and get to CBS on Wednesday nights. There are some serious wackos being starved to death for your entertainment!
#6 New Girl - This show is fun, heartfelt, and features great writing. Exactly what How I Met Your Mother used to be like.
#5 Stranded - What could be better than watching a bunch of 20-somethings left stranded in a allegedly haunted location for five days and slowly watch them all lose their minds? Not much.
#4 Spartacus God Of War - Lets go through the checklist here:
Graphic and Over-The-Top Violence and Blood - Check!
Ridiculous dialog that makes you have to rewind the DVR to listen to it again - Check!
Needless nudity -Double Check!
This show is my guilty pleasure!
#3 All Star Celebrity Apprentice - Oops. Nevermind. This show is my guilty pleasure.
and how about this:
#2 The Following - I love this show - but I'm starting to have some concerns about it's goal to try and shock the audience with a twist each week. Everybody can't be involved in the conspiracy, can they? CAN THEY??? Are you one of them?????
#1 House Of Cards - A Netflix original show starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. It is like Sopranos meets West Wing. The performances, writing, and story are brilliant! Start streaming this 13 episode season tonight! I'm not sure how The Emmy's won't all be focused on this show next fall.
This whole list is subject to change once Mad Men and Game Of Thrones opens up shop over the next five weeks.
I somehow missed the fact that ESPN, whose 30 for 30 documentary series has been the best thing on their network since the John Clayton commercial, has been doing ten to fifteen minute shorts under the 30 for 30 name over on Grantland. I'm only through a couple of them, but this is my favorite so far:
This video has also been making it's way around the Facebooks and Twitters.
It is fantastically awkward and perfect interview between a very green reporter and Mila Kunis as she suffers through the press tour for her upcoming movie Oz The Great and Powerful.
Hmmm..it's almost too perfect....I'm starting to think this was a set-up - but either way it's great!
This flew around the internet for a few days before I finally gave in and listened to it. Nine Inch Nails' 'Head Like a Hole' mixed with Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe':
I'm sad I have lived this long without knowing about this artist.
I can't get enough of him. I haven't eaten, slept, bathed, made eye contact with my children, or waxed my body since I've started listening to his tunes.
Now it's your turn for this audio addiction:
And yes, I already get the irony of me liking someone who goes by the name of "The Tallest Man On Earth". You can leave your snark in your pockets.
It's been less than a week than we pointed out NBC's woes, but this is a sign of disaster.
In what must have started as a joke, then became a dare, then ended in a reality that I still can't believe, the NBC affiliate in Cleveland didn't even bother to show repeats of The Office last night, and chose to air an old 'special episode' of Matlock instead.
