HenryWinkler-related stories
Posted Sep 20th 2009 5:08PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Friday Night Lights, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
If
Jim Parsons wins the
Emmy tonight for The Big Bang Theory, you better believe he'll be in a position to pick and choose the projects he does in the future. But here's one that I think would be fascinating, to quote Dr. Sheldon Cooper's favorite Vulcan scientist:
Jim Parsons would like to appear on Friday Night Lights.
In a recent interview, Jim was asked about his favorite current show -- other than his own -- and he said it was
Friday Night Lights. That's right, the NBC drama series about high school football deep in the heart of Texas! Somehow it's hard to imagine Sheldon in pads and a helmet. Maybe he could be the water boy? Or the genius offensive coordinator.
Continue reading Jim Parsons on Friday Night Lights? If he had his way...
Posted Apr 20th 2009 3:03PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Reality-Free
What do you call an animated show whose premiere is sandwiched between two other highly-rated animated shows yet still
manages to be third in its timeslot? You could call it a lot of things. You could call it "poor" or "slow". You know what I call it? A one-season show.
Seriously, I watched the premiere of
Sit Down, Shut Up (and it was
reviewed here on TV Squad), and while I thought some bits were funny, I don't see it lasting more than a season on Fox, if that. This is a network that is quick to pull the plug on many quirky shows (including Hurwitz's previous work,
Arrested Development).
I could be wrong.
Arrested Development lasted three seasons and animated shows are only a fraction of the budget of live-action ones. If his last show is any indicator,
Sit Down, Shut Up is probably one of those shows that rewards loyal viewers with various Easter eggs and hidden double-meanings. Hopefully Fox will give it time.
Posted Apr 19th 2009 9:31PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Animation, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E01) I still stand behind the
early look of Sit Down, Shut Up I did a few days ago: the pilot was underwhelming. For everything that works about it, there seem to be at least two things that don't. However, before I did this review, I decided to watch the pilot again, so it would be fresh in my mind. What I found is that the show definitely grows on you.
While I didn't really laugh at all the first time through, re-watching it allowed me to pick up on some of the more subtle things that I missed. That, combined with the fact that I've seen the second episode, which is much better, really made me appreciate this episode more.
Continue reading Sit Down, Shut Up: Pilot (series premiere)
Posted Apr 17th 2009 5:02PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Animation, Early Looks, Reality-Free
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has been breathlessly anticipating
Sit Down, Shut Up (premiering on FOX Sunday at 8:30 PM ET), the newest series from
Arrested Development creator
Mitch Hurwitz.
SDSU is an animated series based on a live-action Australian show by the same name. It follows a group of under-performing teachers at a Florida high school.
The teachers are all flaky, disinterested in their students, and with the exception of Larry Littlejunk (
Jason Bateman), highly under-qualified for their positions. An example? Miracle Grohe (
Kristen Chenoweth), the science teacher, beat Larry out of the job by stripping off all her clothes and yelling, "I ain't come from no monkey!"
The humor manages to be both broad and subtle at the same time, much in the way
Arrested Development managed to be. However, though Bateman himself calls this show an animated version of
AD, that's overstating it a bit.
Sit Down, Shut Up, is more like
Arrested Development's annoying younger brother.
Continue reading Sit Down, Shut Up -- An early look
Posted Apr 10th 2009 2:25PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, Animation, Interviews, Casting, Reality-Free
With
Arrested Development, Mitchell Hurwitz went through the ringer with critical support, winning awards, and grassroots campaigns to convince Fox to keep the show on the air that ultimately failed. So what does Hurwitz do for a follow-up? He takes some of the same cast (Will Arnett, Jason Bateman), goes back to the same network (Fox), and back to an idea he had before
Arrested hit the airwaves.
The new show is
Sit Down, Shut Up, an animated series that debuts April 19th at 8:30 PM, in between
The Simpsons and
Family Guy.
"It's funny, this is a show that I actually wrote in the year 2000, and it was an adaptation of a live-action show from Australia," Hurwitz said in a recent conference call. "I kind of kept it in the drawer for a long time, and finally brought it out, mostly because I needed money, which - I enjoy money, and I also use it for all sorts of different things in my life, but mostly for food and shelter."
Continue reading Mitchell Hurwitz talks Sit Down, Shut Up and Arrested Development
Posted Mar 16th 2009 12:06PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Reality-Free
What are the odds that a big screen adaptation of ABC's 1980's hit
MacGyver will be a success? Judging by the success-to-failure ratio of TV-to-movies, I'd say it's 50-50 at best. For every
The Fugitive, there's
The Wild, Wild West. A
Mission: Impossible reboot works well enough as a Tom Cruise vehicle, but a live action
Speed Racer is an unmitigated disaster. Still, the optimist in me will hope that New Line's
MacGyver to the big screen will work.
They first mentioned this about a year ago, but it's picked up some traction now.
There's no star attached as yet, but a lot of De Laurentiises -- Dino is exec producer, Raffaellla and Martha are producing for Raffaella Productions. (Giada is sticking to the Food Network.) Fortunately, the series creator, Lee Zlotoff is attached, too.
Continue reading MacGyver heading to the big screen...still
Posted Jan 18th 2009 2:03PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Animation, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
The long, drawn-out cancellation of
Arrested Development was one of television's greatest crimes against humanity. It ranks right up there with the approval of a new
Knight Rider when the original was already one too many, the spinoff
Baywatch Nights, and the made-for-TV movie
Knight Rider 2000. That's right, I just hassled the Hoff. If any of you want a piece of me, I also come with a side of "whoop-ass."
But with the
Arrested Development movie clawing its way inch-by-inch towards the big screen, Mitchell Hurwitz will at least have one other project on the horizon and on the very same network that tried to destroy him. Either he's showing he's a good guy and can take rejection in stride, or he's trying to bring down the place from the inside. You make the call.
Fox announced that Hurwitz's new show,
Sit Down, Shut Up, will air sometime next fall. Critics also got an advance screening at
the Television Critics Association conference last week.
Continue reading Arrested Development creator returns to the network that killed him, possibly for vengeance?
Posted Oct 23rd 2008 4:33PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Video, Celebrities, Reality-Free
I recall a time when Ron Howard was diligently trying to distance himself from the two television icons that made him famous: Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham (from
The Andy Griffith Show and
Happy Days, respectively). Now, thanks to
Funny Or Die and in an effort to get his candidate of choice (Barack Obama, if you didn't know) elected, he is prepared to step back into those two roles. And to do so, he takes Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler with him.
I didn't really grow up with Andy Griffith, but it was quite the nostalgia trip to see Ron Howard and Henry Winkler as Richie and the Fonz again. Winkler seemed to just slip back into the character despite all the years.
Continue reading Opie Cunningham is back - VIDEO
Posted Jun 9th 2008 1:02PM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Arrested Development, Retro Squad, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
The list of qualities that made Arrested Development such a great show is quite long, but somewhere near the top, right after the cast, is the list of recurring characters who were so hilarious. Here my ten favorite acquaintances of the Bluth family.
1. Barry Zuckercorn (Henry Winkler)
It is a credit to the brilliance of Arrested Development that an actor like Henry Winkler, who will forever be identified with the role of Fonzie, can be identified with a character who could not be more different. The hilarity that comes from Barry's sexual deviancy and complete legal ineptitude is reason enough to watch.
Continue reading Top ten recurring characters on Arrested Development
Posted May 28th 2008 6:02PM by Erin Martell
Filed under: Celebrities, Reality-Free
Now that local groups have raised enough money, the
Bronze Fonz statue will make its Milwaukee debut at an August 19 dedication ceremony. Henry Winkler will attend the ceremony, along with
Happy Days co-stars Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran, Don Most, and Anson Williams. A few spots for the statue were considered, but the Fonz found a home on the city's RiverWalk.
This project has been in the works since last fall, when a
Milwaukee tourism group announced its plan to raise funds for the statue. The dedication ceremony is invitation-only, but the public is welcome to attend a free frozen custard social following the dedication. Later that day, the
Happy Days cast will throw out the first ball at a Brewers game and Anson Williams, better known as Potsie, will sing the National Anthem.
Continue reading Bronze Fonz hits Milwaukee this summer
Posted Feb 25th 2008 1:03PM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Celebrities, Retro Squad, TV Squad Lists
How good are you at spotting someone's true age? There's been a few times I've caught myself wondering how old that actor really is on TV, when they're playing someone my age and look ten years older. Do I really look that good? Then again, I've seen the opposite and thought, "damn, I am an old decrepit fart." In any case, I'll pull up IMDb and usually find myself in shock of how young/old the actor on-screen really is.
The whole actor-to-character age ratio thing got me curious, so I did a little research (with the help of some of the TV Squad team) and made a list of some of the more extreme and well-known (or, maybe to some, not-so-well-known) examples. By the way, we didn't include actors who played flashback scenes of their characters for short periods of time, as there are more of those than we have room for.
Continue reading Some big actor-to-character age differences on TV
Posted Feb 22nd 2008 12:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Daytime, Celebrities
Reunions are hot, you know? On February 12, for example,
Oprah reunited (most of) the kids from
The Cosby Show, with Bill appearing via satellite. Well, never one to let a good idea go to waste, NBC jumped on the theme. They recently had a
Family Ties reunion on
Today, so now the morning show is commencing tomorrow with a series of more
"Together Again" features. Tune into 8:00 a.m. hour each day so you don't miss a thing!
Continue reading Today to host classic TV cast reunions
Posted Sep 19th 2005 3:23PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming
Not to mention the return of Arrested Development, Two and a Half Men, The King of Queens, 7th Heaven, Las Vegas, Medium, and CSI: Miami. Whoa. That's quite a night of shows, so make sure you TiVo, VCR, and/or court transcriptionists are all set.
We'll have reviews of many of the above later tonight, so don't forget to check back.
So...what are you watching tonight?
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