Summer Lovin

So I spent the summer finally watching two shows that I'd been meaning to watch for a while.

Mad Men and Chuck.

You do not get more different than these two shows. Or their leading men.

I have huge crushes on both of them.

Jon Hamm
and Zachary Levi

One, is a lovable dork who I would go on silly dates with and then introduce to my mother.

The other I would be terrified to speak to but would totally let him take me on a conference room table. (Has Don Draper done it on a conference room table? I feel like he has...)

Anyway, so I got two new TV crushes this year. YAY!

Plus both of their erm...side projects are equal deserving of my adoration, such as:




Really? Wouldn't you buy Jon Hamm's John Ham?





And Zach Levi's a GD DISNEY PRINCE! And the best looking one since Aladdin, I might add.

Oh, and um, speaking of people I'm in love with...

Thor comes out on DVD tomorrow....

SIGH....

Happy New Year from Studio 8H!

OK, so first off I hope everyone had a really great holiday season. I took a few weeks off, as you can see but I'm back now, ready for a new year of reporting to all of you the useless information of what's going on in pop culture.

I'm starting with what got my wheels turning again for the first time this year, the first new SNL. I've considered but never written the things I think that is helping SNL get back to something resembling it's former glory. The first was luck, Sarah Palin, but I've talked about that already, I mean overall. First of all, they've cut the cast down. It's one of the smallest casts in a while, and as a result almost everyone is strong. The only people I don't love on the show right now are Will Forte and Fred Armisen, but I understand why they're there. Pretty much everyone in the cast right now is brilliant, and just like in the early nineties there seem to be two distinct groups both of which bring an interesting perspective to the show. There's the older style people, led by Jason Sedakis and Seth Meyers, included in this group are Kristen Wiig, Armisen, Forte and Keenan, comparitively they're Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Mike Meyers, Julia Sweeney, those guys, really traditional brilliantly funny sketch comedians. Then there are the new "bad boys." Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Bobby Moinahan. Don't tell me the way these guys work doesn't remind you of Sandler, Spade and Farley. They can't touch them brilliance wise because they aren't reinventors like those three were (OK, so the digital shorts are a huge part of the resurgance, but I'll get to that later.) This dynamic worked back then, and from the looks of things, it's going to work again.

Next, they cut sketch length down. Sketches now are five minutes max, I don't know if that was conscious or not, but it's great, it gives jokes enough time to breath and keeps them from getting old. Last night's "Actors with Two First Names Talk Show" was the perfect example. Of course maybe it was just NPH's pitch perfect dry delivery that did it, but it was a hilarious sketch.

Seth Meyers. Period. End of story. At first I was nervous about Seth taking on update by himself. I mean, the last time anyone soloed the desk it was Colin Quinn, and his update is so iconic that Jimmy Fallon refused to do it alone (which gave us Tina in front of the camera! THANK YOU JIMMY!) but Seth's silly sarcastic delivery is like the perfect blend of Kevin Nealon, Norm McDonald, and Quinn. It actually almost resembles Chevy Chase's original. Really? Really!

The digital shorts. It's hard to believe that it all started with a quiet late in the show send up of The OC. But with Laser Cats, people began to see exactly how brilliant Andy Samberg and Bill Hader's little mini movies were. And then the dam broke, Dick in a Box made everyone laugh til they peed, and they've only gotten funnier. James Franco's tiny penis, "Iran so far away," last night's, where NPH played the Doogie Houser, MD theme on a key board while the cast began appearing around him dressed as Doogie playing different instruments. It's was offbeat and perfectly suited to him.

And probably the most crucial:

People want comedy right now. Times are tough, and SNL is the funhouse mirror that we look at the current times in, they take what's bothering us, what's difficult, what we're obsessed with and project it back to us and make us all laugh about it. I already posted on my live journal how obsessed I am with the "Dying Broadway" sketch from last night, but it was hilariously funny. What's happening on Broadway right now isn't funny when you think about it casually, tons of people are out of work, an art form that I'm passionate about (I love musical theatre) seems to be in deep trouble artistically, and the lights seem to be going out, but reflected back in the SNL crazy mirror, it seemed less bad, watching my favorite Broadway characters throw down (Seriously watching Mark Cohen bitch out Elphaba was hiliarious) made it all seem a little silly. That's what the country needs right now, we need to laugh and finally our number one place to go do that is back, and you know, actually funny.

So thank you SNL, thank you very very much.

My Top 10 TV Moments of the Year: 2008

OK, so tis the season for Top 10 lists, and now I'm doing my first one ever. These are not necessarily the best, just my favorites, so here we go:

10. Perfection, always - Dancing With The Stars: Kristi Yamagucci's Win

Yes, I'm starting my list with my top guilty pleasure, that I don't really feel that guilty about. DWTS has had some kick ass champions in the past. Drew Lachey, Emmit Smith, Apollo Anton Ohno, but no one ever dominated like Kristi and Mark did. They got a 28 on the first week out, achieved a 30 earlier than anyone in the competition ever (For an amazing jive that would have and did made the Hough siblings jealous.) Of course they didn't have the stiffest competition. Jason Taylor was closest, and he couldn't touch them. Christian De La Fuente was good and loveable but again, Kristi and Mark just dominated. They had a perfect 30, 30, 30 and the fans behind them. It was nice to see a woman win for once...of course it repeated with Brooke Burke, and I keep meaning to check out the new cast, or see if its posted, but I seriously doubt anyone will ever beat Kristi's pure domination, it just won't happen.

9. "I can see Russia from my house" - Saturday Night Live: The Vice Presidential Debate.

I would be the world's worst TV writer if I overlooked the best political impression SNL's had since Will Ferrell's W. And no, I'm not talking about Tina Fey's Sarah Palin (Although it is amazing) I mean Jason Sedakis's Joe Biden. He even got the crazy eyes. And his declaration about the great city of Scranton, that "No one but me has ever come out of that hell hole!" had me laughing harder than I've ever laughed. And it would be just plain pop culture ignorant to overlook the fantastic impression of Governor Palin that Ms. Fey did. I'm still quoting it, "I'm going to ignore that question and talk about Israel...I'm not saying this to pander to Florida voters, since I was a little girl my two biggest loves were Israel and Cuban food!" It might have been the funniest speech ever done on SNL. I'm grateful for SNL's resurgence and Tina Fey's acceptance by the mainstream, it's been about seven years since I decided I wanted to be her. As my friend Katie put it, "It's a little strange. Everything that Tina Fey has accomplished, the first female head writer of SNL, the Mean Girls screenplay, all those Emmys for 30 Rock, what she gets mainstream recognition for is looking like some other lady."

8. "I want to call my mom!" - Entourage: Tree Trippers

This might be my new favorite episode of Entourage, replacing "One Day in The Valley," or "The Sundance Kids," which were always battling for first in the past. Anytime you take the boys out of LA or their natural habitat is always interesting. This episode, where they decide to take shrooms to make Vince's next career decision is a tour de force of their bonding pattern. Ari runs off on his own and spends the episode on the phone with Lloyd, trying to find his way back to the boys. Arnold, the boys lovable pitbull runs away from the group and the other four search after him. E loses the ability to speak, and Turtle realizes his own uselessness, and begins to beg for his mother. My favorite element of this whole season was the switch of focus from Drama to Turtle. I've always found Turtle endearing and wonderfully sweet and I was happy to see more of his stories told. And happy to see him made romantically fulfilled with Jamie Lynn Sigler.

7. "Same Sideburns, Same Commitment Issues." - 90210: The Bubble

I don't think anyone who's read this blog since September can possibly argue how excited I was when we found out the Dylan was the father of Kelly's son on 90210. Granted I was hoping for Brandon, but it really was an exciting little bit of taste of future plot lines. First of all, I'm still praying for Terminator's cancellation, so that we can get some David in, but honestly, the door is open for Dylan now, come on in Luke. We know you want to. Granted, it was after this that we got that positively classic 90210 moment, Brenda deletes Dylan from her cell phone, to save her friendship with Kelly...*sob* Dylan McKay, Brenda Walsh, soul mates no longer. OK, maybe they were never soul mates, I guess it was established in that episode where Dylan saw his past life and he and Kelly were married in the wild west and Brandon was like the sheriff or something that he and Kelly were soul mates. Whatever, those episodes right before Dylan left were pretty god awful. Let's hope when they bring him back stronger than they did when he came back for the last season of the original, personally I'm thinking Dylan and Brandon smackdown. Then Steve can say something obnoxious. It'll be great.

6. "I have stretch marks, I have a butt, that's who I am!" - America's Next Top Model: Cycle 10 Finale

God Bless Tyra Banks and all she's doing for women in America...that was sarcasm. But for real, Whitney, the first ever plus size model to with ANTM was a cool choice. Granted, Paulina Poriscova clearly hated her, and maybe she was a little more pageant queen than model (My sister would kill me if I didn't disclaim that), but seeing a girl with actual curves, who's an admitted size 14 win this competition which is normally dominated by stick figures and anorexic ghetto girls was really cool.

5. "Her parents have a pool." How I Met Your Mother - Sandcastles in the Sand

This episode is one of the best examples of what makes How I Met Your Mother great. Combining the oddball out there humor, and real friendship heart. Sandcastles in The Sand brings back Robin Scherbotsky's early nineties teenage alter-ego "Robin Sparkles" the Canadian pop sensation who created the hit "Let's go to the mall." "Sandcastles in The Sand" is Robin's other single, which never made the charts. It did however introduce her to Simon, a loser who she dated for the 2 1/2 weeks of Canadian summer. These things aren't what made the episode great, it was three things, 1. Simon was played by James Vanderbeek, who on his return to Robin's life had a receeding hairline and a beer gut. I always appreciate the Creek kids trying to get back in the game. 2. I forget what it was that got Barney upset, but in the end Robin ended up comforting him, which established my new favorite hopeless couple to root for, Barney and Robin. and 3. The actual "Sandcastles in The Sand" video and song which were both as awful as you would think they would be.

4. "I would eat Tangerine Chicken but I don't have Tangerine Chicken" - The Big Bang Theory: The Tangerine Factor

Just like Sandcastles is the best of How I Met Your Mother, the season finale of Big Bang was the perfect storm of this hilarious one note joke show. Adorably awkward Leonard finally made his move on sweet and sexy Penny. In the second season we learned that this didn't work. But it was nice anyway. The B plot line was Sheldon trying to get to the bottom of a mystery, was the chicken at their favorite chinese place tangerine chicken or orange chicken. Oh right and Wollowitz was being pervy looking for Penny's ex boyfriend's blog which detailed their sex life. Largely, brilliant.

3. "It's Not What I'd Have Done." - Heroes: Dual (Much thanks to my brother for helping me pick!)

Peter Petrelli has his powers back. Thank God for it! I'm not among the people who think that this season of Heroes has been horrible so far. I think it's a hell of a lot better than last season. But the pivotal, "We're Baaack," moment for me came when Peter injected himself with the newly perfected formula and got his powers back and flew himself and his brother Nathan out of a burning building. Nathan's response was that it wasn't what he would have done, and at last the Nathan/Peter dynamic was restored to what it always should have been. Nathan is a dick and Peter saves him anyway. Oh right, and we saw how Peter got his scar. Which is kick ass. Between that, Claire forgiving her dad and walking away from the "Petrelli lifestyle" and "killing" Sylar, she's well on her way to fulfilling her destiny, you know becoming a brunette. I can't wait to see what happens next which is part of the redemption. Heroes is on it's way back to what we loved, I promise it is. Oh right, and Milo with the scar...totes hotter than Milo without the scar. Meow!

2. Meeting Half Way - Weight Loss: The Office

The moment Office fans all waited for. Jim proposing to Pam in the most Jim and Pam way possible. They met at a gas station half way between Scranton and New York (For your information, no such place exists.) and he got on one knee in the rain. It was the squeal heard round the world. Jim and Pam's relationship is so wonderful, and sweet and pure, it's nice to see it come to this step. We'll see what happens after the holidays, but I think things will keep being good, don't you?

1. "This is me! And I love you!" - Gossip Girl: Oh Brother, where Bart Thou

Nothing, and I mean nothing captivated me this year like the Gossip Girl fall finale. Chuck's breakdown, the revelation of Lilly and Rufus's baby...and most importantly, as usual, my favorite part of anything Gossip Girl, Blair showing her humanity. Her sobbing begging confession of her feelings to Chuck and his subsequent rejection and then acceptance and then his running away...it's like everything amazing about the Blair and Chuck romance all wrapped up into one angsty perfect hour. I can barely contain my excitement for the coming return...it's only two weeks away, thank God!

So there you have it. Yes 2008 was hard. The economy collapsed, my presidential candidate lost, but there were good things too. Like Turtle finally got a girlfriend, The Heroes began to fulfill their destiny, a fat girl finally won ANTM, Barney and Robin hooked up and Blair and Chuck confessed their love. Perhaps that makes up for it. Maybe.