Comedy-related stories
Posted Oct 30th 2009 11:59AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E07) This episode brought back many things that fans of
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia have already come to know and love: nearly aggressive patriotism, needless shirtnessness, songs sung in falsetto and, of course, Rickety Cricket. I would like to also submit that the Birds of War get-up (pictured above) would be perfect for this Halloween, especially if you're desperate for few high-fives or silent nods of approval. It covers a wide range, as it appeals to both
Always Sunny fans and people who like America and/or chickens. I mean, eagles.
Continue reading Review: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - The Gang Wrestles for the Troops
Posted Oct 26th 2009 3:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free, Modern Family
One of my favorite character actors will be
guesting on an upcoming episode of Modern Family, Chazz Palminteri. And for a change of pace, Chazz will not be toting a gun. Instead he'll be swinging a golf club, and unless the sitcom takes a radically wicked turn, I don't think Chazz will be taking swings at
Ed O'Neill's head.
On the other hand, things can get pretty intense on the links. In the episode, Chazz is golfing with Ed's character, Jay, and somehow the relationship between Cameron and Mitchell comes into play and there's a big gay understanding... or is that a misunderstanding?
Continue reading Chazz Palminteri to play golf... on Modern Family
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 3:32AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E06) Ooh! Things I learned in high school! This episode of
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia was presented as a frame story, just like
The Canterbury Tales. Did the gang out-Chaucer Chaucer!? Well, no, but it was a lot funnier than the Wife of Bath, I can promise you that.
There were a lot of excellent moments (read on to find out who won the "Best Retch-Face" award, which is as coveted as it is imaginary) and they made for a solid episode, though not one to immediately jump into my favorites. Admittedly, that's an unreasonable weekly expectation anyway. Oh well. At least we got some Greenman.
Continue reading Review: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - The World Series Defense
Posted Oct 21st 2009 4:27PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Reality-Free
Judy Greer blew me away during the incredibly short run of her 2008 ABC series
Miss/Guided. She brought the perfect blend of earnest geekiness, slapstick and petty jealousy to the role of former nerd turned high school guidance counselor. The show was way better than the treatment it got from ABC, which aired all seven episodes in four weeks, but that was so long ago.
In 2008, ABC didn't care about comedy. But now, ABC has this Wednesday night lineup that is doing great (except for
Hank). All the shows are critical darlings (except for
Hank), and they've already been renewed for the full season (except for
Hank). So now's the perfect time to bring Greer back into the fold.
The new
ABC project for Judy Greer is I'm With Stupid. The premise is that Greer has a fling with a "perfect" park ranger while on safari, only to have him show up on her doorstep after she gets home. And the only "perfect" he is, is a perfect idiot. I already like it more than
Hank.
Posted Oct 16th 2009 11:19AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E05) This, more than any of the other episodes from the current season, felt the most true to the show. I know, that's kind of weird, since the canon is growing and developing with every installment, but this episode had all the things that we've come to know and love from
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, from Frank's increasingly speedy spiral toward rock-bottom to Charlie and Dee's personal issues with the Waitress (never give her a name, for the love of everything that is terrible and in poor form). The schemes and the chemistry of the gang was extra-perfect in this episode, especially during the rapid-fire conversations surrounding Mac, Dennis and Charlie.
This is one of those episodes I've pocketed away in case I need to subject -- I mean, introduce -- an uninitiated person to the world of
Always Sunny.
Continue reading It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: The Waitress Is Getting Married
Posted Oct 14th 2009 12:07PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Recently, I spent a couple of hours watching
Gilmore Girls on SoapNet. The experience put a smile on my face and reminded me that I miss the kind of dramedy that Amy Sherman-Palladino created on that show.
The show remains a near perfect blend of character, comedy, drama and emotion to me. So, when I read this morning that
Amy Sherman-Palladino is doing aproject at HBO about a mother-daughter relationship, I let out a "yeah."
True, true, true, Amy's last show was the disappointing sitcom -- hell, call it like it was, dreadful --
The Return of Jezebel James at Fox. No excuses. It was a mess. Still, I'm more than willing to give this writer another chance to soar again.
Continue reading HBO snags Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino
Posted Oct 8th 2009 11:03PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E04) This week didn't really bring anything mind-blowing, but it returned us to old stomping grounds. With this episode,
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia revisited a few familiar themes: gross people from the gang's history and the never-ending quest to bang moms. Mary Lynn Rajskub (remember, it's like "rice cub") made her
Always Sunny debut as Dee and Dennis' "garbage pail cousin," Gail the Snail, and successfully joined the McPoyle brothers in that elite league of characters that make viewers feel greasy just from looking at them too long.
Continue reading It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention
Posted Oct 2nd 2009 3:35PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Exciting news for both fans of
Summer Heights High and men dressing as multiple characters in general! HBO is helping to launch a new
Chris Lilley project called
Angry Boys, set to begin production this month.
I've seen some of Lilley's other work and, while it's intriguing, none of it has been quite as amazing as the sheer ridiculousness that was
Summer Heights High. It became a phenomenon on the Internet and found a good deal of success when it finally came to the States via HBO.
Continue reading New Chris Lilley project in the works
Posted Sep 25th 2009 12:22PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E02) Although it's interesting to see the individual characters play in their own storylines and schemes every once in a while, there's a lot to be said about the chemistry and rapid-fire interactions when all five members of the gang are stuck together for an entire episode. Doubly so when it's an episode that mainly takes place in a tiny car or cramped U-Haul.
In addition to this, their poor decision-making seems to escalate faster when they're feeding off each other's bad intentions, which means more laughter and delighted points-at-the-screen for us bozos.
Continue reading It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: The Gang Hits The Road
Posted Sep 18th 2009 1:00PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free
Mitch Fatel's new special,
Mitch Fatel is Magical, debuts tonight at 11PM on
Comedy Central. And whether you agree that Mitch is, in fact, magical, depends heavily on two things. First, whether you like his delivery, which makes him look like an eight-year-old who has pulled you aside to tell you a really important secret about boogers, complete with a goofy smile at the end. And the second thing is whether you enjoy stand-up comedy about sex.
The more than one-hour of comedy on the DVD version of the special, which is the one I reviewed (it hits stores Tuesday with bonus interviews, animations, etc.), is devoted almost entirely to sex. In fact, the first ten minutes are devoted almost exclusively to boobs. He talks about the variation of nipple types, and how God went crazy on the day he made them - "Mrs. God's like, 'Come to bed, God,' he's like, 'I'm makin' more nipples.'" He's also convinced that Edison invented the light bulb so he could watch oral sex (and invented a movie camera shortly thereafter).
Continue reading Do you think Mitch Fatel is magical?
Posted Sep 18th 2009 11:26AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S05E01) It's Always Sunny is back and it's kicking your ass. Or at least it's threatening you and your wife until you start crying a little bit and agree to partake in the antics, and we wouldn't have it any other way. There were a lot of good moments in the premiere episode, though it didn't really feel like a typical season opener, in as much as it didn't present anything too big and different from the usual
Always Sunny episode. Again, it was funny, of course, but it didn't scream "premiere", and perhaps that's the best thing for
Always Sunny.
Continue reading It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: The Gang Exploits The Mortgage Crisis (season premiere)
Posted Sep 2nd 2009 12:30AM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, America's Got Talent
(S04E21) "We're getting down to the wire." - The HoffThis week's performers needed to up their games big time because some of them did not impress viewers that much in the past four weeks when each performed for a place in the
Top 20. And, as The Hoff pointed, we're getting down to the wire and will soon crown the season four winner of
America's Got Talent.
The first ten acts to show their talent in the semi-finals are from performance shows
one and
two of the Top 48. This way of breaking the acts allows diversity as we were treated to dance, acrobatics, singing, canine tricks, comedy and magic.
Do we have a potential winner amongst tonight's performances? Did the
judges Piers X anyone? Comments and Top 8 -- yes, you read correctly no Top 10 -- predictions coming up!
Continue reading America's Got Talent: Top 20 performance show one
Posted Aug 21st 2009 1:04PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Back in February,
Patton Oswalt headed to DC to record his new comedy special,
My Weakness Is Strong. It's set to air on Comedy Central on Sunday night (that's the 23rd, you lazy bum), with the CD/DVD coming out two days later. If you can't hang on that long, just hop on iTunes, where his album is already rapidly climbing up the charts, currently sitting at #3 and making the likes of Reba McEntire weep Internet-tears.
I was lucky enough to be in attendance when Oswalt taped his special, and I was not disappointed. Since I returned home that evening so many months ago, I have been thinking about the DVD, quietly praying and hoping that the cameras did not catch me wiping tears from my eyes or awkwardly leaning too close to the person sitting next to me as I laughed. Excuse me, I have a surly image to maintain.
Continue reading Patton Oswalt's new comedy special is coming
Posted Aug 21st 2009 8:03AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Leno has heard all of the complaints (many of them from YOU, the one reading this right now) about how he is taking away the 10PM slot that could go to one-hour dramas, and he doesn't want to hear about it anymore.
The comic and Jay Leno Show host says that he is not only employing 22 Writers Guild members on his show, he says that if he didn't do this show then there's no guarantee that NBC would put dramas in that slot because most of them fail and they could just put in reality shows like
The Biggest Loser or news shows like
Dateline in the slot.
Continue reading Leno says he's not destroying the TV drama
Posted Aug 10th 2009 2:01PM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Animation, Cancellations, Reality-Free
Every time
The Goode Family aired on ABC, it felt badly out of place -- right up until its cancellation. Now, its producers are hinting that the show will live again on another network.
ABC canceled Mike Judge's latest animated series last week. It was hardly a shock considering the network moved it around its schedule more than a Three Card Monte dealer shifts the Queen of Hearts. ABC looked for a place to bury the Goodes -- then they killed them.
But, on the show's
Facebook page, show-runners John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky claim the show will return on a new network.
Continue reading Goode Family producers pledge to return
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