This installment of Sketch Comedy Saturday holds a very specific goal. On one hand, it's to serve as a minor aid in the quest to overcome Saturday Night Live withdrawal. It's also a very effective excuse to feel nostalgic for the 90s. Believe it or not, the 90s were almost 20 years ago. Take a moment and let that sink in to your old, old brain, dinosaur.
This week, we will be touching upon a little show called All That, which some of you may remember as Nickelodeon's attempt at a kid version of SNL. Also, the theme song is by TLC, so you know it's 90s-crazy.
Lionel Lum's awesome Bumblebee costume was one of the many cool things I saw at last year's San Diego Comic-Con. The giant show floor was packed with sweaty costumed fans, big geek friendly displays, and a few not-so incognito celebs. Folks at home got a small taste of all the corporate sponsored nerdery thanks to G4's daily coverage. This year, G4 will air the first televised panel in the convention's history.
Attack of the Show hosts Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira will host "The Star Wars Spectacular." The taped panel will feature special guests, a table read and new footage from Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The panel will take place July 24 and air July 25 at 2 p.m. on G4. After the panel broadcast, G4 will air three live hours (on the East Coast) of Comic-Con coverage with celeb interviews and more.
I'll admit, I watched a lot of Alvin and the Chipmunks when I was little, despite all its awkward 80s animation tendencies and general pointlessness. I even kind of liked it. When the Chipettes joined the gang, bringing even more high-pitched sass, I felt no need to cry shark-jumping (probably because the phrase had yet to be coined and I hadn't gotten to that Happy Days episode).
The Chipettes animated on the small screen were kind of girly and cute. The Chipettes in Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel are what you see before you die.
Contrary to what his album covers may suggest, Andrew WK is adorable. No, really. Adorable. I first learned this when I saw him on on MTV's Crashing With Andrew WK, a program in which the frontman hung out with some girls at a North Carolina Central University sorority (I found the first installment here, by the way). It's taken the rest of the world a little more time to catch on, but since Andrew WK kicked off his motivational speaking/performing career, people are starting to get it. The folks over at Cartoon Network saw something in his personality and evidently thought, "Hey! This guy should blow things up with kids!" And they're right. They're so right.
Zachary Johnson and Jeffrey Max are two effed up dudes.
Before they hit the "viralsphere" with Lasagna Cat, the production team and creative geniuses behind Fatal Farm created an incredibly twisted, brilliantly subversive, and unarguably hilarious series of "alternative intros" parodying the openings to classic sitcoms. No two intros follow the same theme or formula, except to say that they're all unequivocally... Messed. Up.
From blood and guts to go-carts and the hinting of pedophilia, each parody brings with it an innate ability to eviscerate any leftover nostalgia from the sight of, say, the Happy Days jukebox or the beginning chords of the theme to Cheers. (Believe us, you'll never think of Rhea Perlman the same way again.)
Strap in, sit back, and take an incredibly disturbing trip down Memory Lane, courtesy of your friendly tour guides at Fatal Farm:
The new Land of the Lost movie opens today, so I thought it would be appropirate to show the opening to the 70s kids show that inspired the film. Sure, the special effects look really lame today, but back then...well, they were lame back then too. But it was a fun show for kids.
Looks like the Disney Channel underestimated the power of Nickelodeon's iCarly. Their attempts to squash the possible threat to their Hannah Montana empire were squashed, however, when a special iCarly smashed the second episode of JONAS, the new star vehicle for the Jonas Brothers. So to make themselves feel better, and despite what Miley Cyrus may have been saying, the show will go on. Disney has picked up Hannah Montana for a fourth season, as well as Demi Lovato's Sonny With a Chance for a second.
As for JONAS, it's already been yanked from Saturdays where, despite an impressive debut, it got slammed in its second outing by iCarly. So now, it's joining the Disney Sunday lineup, where it can nestle snugly behind Hannah Montana and Sonny With a Chance. This does create a powerhouse Sunday night for the network, while protecting the two newer shows with the power of Miley Cyrus.
I started watching The Fairly OddParents a few years ago and completely fell in love with it. I have a couple of the DVD sets, but I was never sure how the DVD sets were organized. Sometimes they're by a "theme" and sometimes they're by a season or volume. But now we have actual complete season sets for seasons one and two, and I'm really looking forward to having them. Funny, though, how no one can agree whether it's Fairly OddParents or Fairly Odd Parents. I see it spelled both ways everywhere.
I won't be buying the Highlander: The Animated Series set though., There can be only one animated set to buy this week and I'm going with OddParents.
I know that I'm not the target demographic for a cable channel like Cartoon Network. Although I still watch Pokemon on Saturday mornings, the last non-Adult Swim original cartoon I watched was Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
Recently, Cartoon Network has announced a block of programming they're calling "CN Real." I'm already upset that a show like Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job isn't animated (don't get me started on Delocated), but isn't getting rid of the cartoons turning the channel into just "Network"?
The N just picked up Gigantic, a half-hour series from former Buffy the Vampire Slayer exec. producer Marti Noxon and Dawn Prouse (Tru Calling, Prison Break). Gigantic is a "dramedy" that skewers the lives of Hollywood kids whose parents are A-list celebs.
Normally, I'd say this premise makes Gigantic sound like another brain dead tween show. You know, the kind that might end up launching the next big bubblegum pop star like Miley Cyrus. But I expect more from Noxon, Prouse and The N.
There's a long-standing tradition of porting successful animated movies to ongoing television series, with mixed results. DreamWorks recently delivered the manic Penguins of Madagascar, and now Nickelodeon is bringing Kung Fu Panda to the screen as a series. Think about this: Penguins is bringing 13 million viewers a week. Granted, they're 2-11 years old, but it's still a pretty impressive number. I expect Panda can bring even bigger numbers. Certainly my son will be thrilled. Now he'll have two reasons to watch Nick (he's in love with iCarly).
He dragged me to the movie, and I was ready to write it off as horrible before it started because I didn't like the title. It was a little too goofy. But the movie was infectious in its joy. The expanded cast of characters leaves to a great deal of potential, and the panda Po himself is so ridiculous as a kung fu master you can't help but enjoy it. And now I can force him to stop watching the horrible Skunk Fu! to get his anthropomorphic martial arts fix.
Ads for fast food kids' meals usually try to appeal to children. Not the child in all of us, actual children.
Burger King's new Kids' Meal ad doesn't just try to appeal to the parents in the room who don't care about their child's cholesterol intake. Its choice of music tries to appeal to the parents who are deaf.
The ad features a new rendition of Sir-Mix-A-Lot's classic big butt anthem "Baby Got Back" that talks about how he now "likes square butts and cannot lie." The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood isn't as amused and has started a letter writing campaign against the restaurant chain and the Nickelodeon network to express their disgust for cubed booty.
Hugh Jackman is already hitting the gym for a sequel to the just-released X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Nicktoons just ordered 26 more episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men.
The animated show was a big hit on Nicktoons, helping give the network its highest-ratings ever in key demos. The new eps will kick off May 22.
I know a lot of X-Men fans had problems with Wolverine and the X-Men, but I love the show. Being a Cyclops fan (yes, we do exist), it sorta bugs me that Wolverine is billed as the leader of the X-Men on the show, but that's a minor complaint. The show is fun, packed with cool, somewhat obscure Marvel mutants, and it's pretty entertaining for kids and adults.
Disney is doing everything they can to make sure that their target demo of 9-14 year olds can't breathe without choking on the Russos of Wizards of Waverly Place. Other than that, And with Miley Cyrus talking publicly about life after Hannah Montana, whenever that might be, it's time to look to Wizards of Waverly Place's Selena Gomez. As such, Disney has renewed Wizards for a third season and even greenlit a telefilm for the property.
What they really need to do is stream it on Hulu to ensure it is. The kids are online, you know.
Journalist Hunter S. Thompson once said about his strange work schedule, "I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours."
It turns out he was right. The truth is told on Saturday mornings.
Haim Saban, one of the founders of Saban Entertainment and creator of kids shows such as the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, has become one of the principal players in a Congressional scandal involving such high-profile names as U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
This installment of Sketch Comedy Saturday holds a very specific goal. On one hand, it's to serve as a minor aid in the quest to overcome Saturday Night Live withdrawal. It's also a very effective excuse to feel nostalgic for the 90s. Believe it or not, the 90s were almost 20 years ago. Take a moment and let that sink in to your old, old brain, dinosaur.
Lionel Lum's awesome 
I'll admit, I watched a lot of Alvin and the Chipmunks when I was little, despite all its awkward 80s animation tendencies and general pointlessness. I even kind of liked it. When the Chipettes joined the gang, bringing even more high-pitched sass, I felt no need to cry shark-jumping (probably because the phrase had yet to be coined and I hadn't gotten to that
Zachary Johnson and Jeffrey Max are two effed up dudes.
Looks like the Disney Channel underestimated the power of Nickelodeon's iCarly. Their attempts to squash the possible threat to their Hannah Montana empire were squashed, however, when a special iCarly smashed the second episode of JONAS, the new star vehicle for the Jonas Brothers. So to make themselves feel better, and despite what Miley Cyrus may have been saying, the show will go on. 
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
I know that I'm not the target demographic for a cable channel like Cartoon Network. Although I still watch 
The N just 
There's a long-standing tradition of porting successful animated movies to ongoing television series, with mixed results. DreamWorks recently delivered the manic Penguins of Madagascar, and now 
Ads for fast food kids' meals usually try to appeal to children. Not the child in all of us, actual children. 
It's true. You really can't kill Wolverine. 
Disney is doing everything they can to make sure that their target demo of 9-14 year olds can't breathe without choking on the Russos of Wizards of Waverly Place. Other than that, And with Miley Cyrus talking publicly about life after Hannah Montana, whenever that might be, it's time to look to Wizards of Waverly Place's Selena Gomez. As such, 
Journalist Hunter S. Thompson once said about his strange work schedule, "I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours."
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
TV Squad previews CBS's new shows
