If It Wasn’t This… It’d Be Something Else
August 8th, 2007 — T.V., Video, When Nerds Attack
In 1979 the television gods smiled down and gave us Legends of the Super Heroes!
Taking a team of some of DC Comics’s greatest superheroes Hanna-Barbera’s producers pitted them in a race to stop a villainous team’s plot—and to also have the occasional roast hosted by Ed McMahon.
Robin Crashes the Batmobile
Ghetto Man Roasts The Super Friends
Aunt Minerva
The Private Lives of Super-Heroes
June 12th, 2007 — T.V.
“I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there. People get the impression that you’re trying to (mess) with them, and it’s not true. You’re trying to entertain them. Anybody who wants to watch it, it’s all there.”
—David Chase, Sopranos creator and man responsible giving many viewers an aneurysm after the series finale concluded last Sunday.
Being a long time Sopranos fan and not an HBO subscriber I was prepared for a grueling wait until the DVDs hit the street. Hearing how things ended, it’ll be even more agonizing. Chase and Co. spent six years crafting an epic story that was as personal a vision as it was at times entertaining. Viewers over the years carped that the Sopranos lost its direction, sharp teeth, and lacked the violent punch that gained people’s attention when it premiered.
To his credit, David Chase never lost sight of any of those elements because he stayed loyal to his characters and their story, allowing them to dictate the action within each season. Not compromising his vision for the big picture, Chase constructed characters that were monsters and humane enough that the audience could care enough to erupt when left without a finite ending.
It’s that kind of dedication to storytelling that audiences and cable subscribers for that matter should be demanding. The good storytellers, like Chase, are the ones we remember and discuss long after things fade to black.
May 13th, 2007 — Audio, T.V., We're All Okay!
30 Rock’s over for the season and thankfully it’ll be back next year even if Alec Baldwin has to pretend to troop through it so his public doesn’t have to concern themselves any longer with his parenting abilities.
Let’s be honest Thursdays have been lonelier and a lot lighter on laughs without Tina Fey & Co. The Office is unevenly funny most of the time and Scrubs keeps trying too hard to maintain any vitality.
Before the withdrawal shakes get too intense:
Go here, to catch up on any episodes you may have missed.
Check out Jesse Thorn’s hysterical interview with Jack McBrayer (Kenneth the page) on The Sound of Young America—available in both audio and video(!) formats.
If anything it’s worth listening to just for this exchange:
Jack: I haven’t made any major irresponsible purchases yet. Oh, I can’t wait to.
Jesse: What’s the first thing you’re gonna buy?
Jack: I’m gonna buy a futon. A futon made of baby skin.
Below, Tina Fey’s trip to the Howard Stern show from last November, in which she dishes on her pre-marital inability to even give it away, SNL, and of course that certain blonde Fraggle-haired-walking-STD who’s currently crusading to further prove that not everyone has to abide by our country’s laws.1
[audio:http://www.notesofadefeatist.com/wp-content/uploads/audio/TinaFeywithHowardStern.mp3]
________________________________________________________April 18th, 2007 — T.V., Video
March 31st, 2007 — T.V., The A/V, Video
While it’s a sketch that ran in the last half hour of SNL, there’s still something amusing about it.
Well, maybe because I loved Black Snake Moan and was just glad somebody else paid it some attention.
February 17th, 2007 — T.V., The A/V, Video
As one of the three people who reluctantly admit to liking Way of the Gun,its shortcomings and all I got excited when I heard about this exchange between Jimmy Kimmel and a sheepish Ryan Phillippe. It appears Phillippe has been dodging Kimmel after a little onset incident involving himself and Sarah Silverman.
Here is the extended version of the one of the most memorable opening scenes in any movie.
After suffering through an episode of Silverman’s new series on Comedy Central, maybe it’s more appropriate to blame this accidental blow to the head as cause for it’s unwatchableness. Phillippe made her incapable of living up to her comedic potential.
February 10th, 2007 — Grievances, Milwaukee--A Place To Be, My $0.02, T.V.
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