So just who had the unbelievably huge Mammoth balls to extort late night legend David Letterman? You're looking at him, not his balls thankfully.
Robert "Joe" Halderman, pictured at the right sitting in his unholy beach chair of evil, is the man the Manhattan District Attorney's Office brought extortion charges against for trying to score more than $2 million from Letterman as part of a blackmail plot.
Letterman admitted on the air that he had a sexual encounter or encounters with members of his staff, and that Halderman used the info he had on those encounters as leverage to extort money from him. I've got three to one odds that the "Fire David Letterman" club awards Halderman their "Humanitarian of the Year Award."
It's hard to come up with a headline to sum up this new project by Andrew Secunda (Upright Citizens Brigadeand Late Night with Conan O'Brien). I love the concept, though. CBS, which is developing the show with Secunda, calls it a multigenerational comedy. The show will be about a couple in love who move in together. From there, we start to get their story in a clever way.
Through the extensive use of flashbacks to their childhoods, we'll see how they developed the quirks and habits that they're discovering about one another now as adults. We'll also see their parents both now and 20 years ago, to see how they shaped their children, and how their own relationships in the past may impact the way their children are today. Why didn't I just say that in the title?
I was wondering when someone would do some sort of parody related to the death of Billy Mays, and it's Jimmy Kimmel Live. There have been jokes here and there, including some by Kimmel himself, but this is the first all-out segment I've seen. Over the line? Judge for yourself.
The world is facing a population explosion of Biblical proportions. People are procreating and reproducing faster than sustenance reserves and housing requirements can keep up with it. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have officially given up adoption for the next three Lents.
Something has to be done that doesn't involve condoms, birth control pills, or taking a hammer to certain parts of the human anatomy.
India claims they have found a solution. Television?
A lot of memories have surfaced of the good times that pop icon and musical genius Michael Jackson provided the world in the wake of his untimely and unfortunate death. However, an elephant in the room has wedged its wide butt in between the happy memories that range from "Billy Jean" to "Rockin' Robin," other than the eye-bleedingly bad Moonwalker movie.
Jackson's life outside of the recording studio and in the blood-soaked pages of the supermarket tabloids provided a lot of fodder for comedies and comedians that turned the man into a punchline just as fast as the radio waves turned him into a legend.
My sister was addicted to Saved by the Bell, and to the hotness that was Zack Morris in particular. I'm not sure if she checked out Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night, but if she had she just might have been stunned to see Zack Morris there. And I do mean Zack Morris, because Mark-Paul Gosselaar did his entire interview in character as the coolest guy from Bayside High.
Considering that Gosselaar has been doing pretty well for himself post-Bell, with big roles in NYPD Blue and Raising the Bar, it's a big deal that he was not only willing to poke fun at his own roots (with The Roots as well for a rousing rendition of "Friends Forever"), but he also committed to Fallon's pet project: the Saved by the Bell reunion. Personally, I think a funny take on where those kids are today could be awesome. You could even work Showgirls into Jessie's post high school career path.
Mr. Conan O'Brien -- or ConeBone69, as some of us like to call him -- is still going through his first week at The Tonight Show, with both fans and critics watching his every move. No pressure. Naturally, we are witnessing the initial jitters and struggle to discover the right rhythm and tone in a new environment, but O'Brien's getting through it with minimal cringing (though the same cannot be said for Andy Richter's weirdly forced laughs).
One of the first things I noticed was that the set doesn't really feel like it's O'Brien's. Maybe it's just a super-jarring change from the cozier and much smaller Late Night home, or maybe it's because the new studio smell hasn't faded. It all seemed too shiny and new to feel real, is what I'm saying. But now this gem of a discovery immediately makes everything better: The new studio is in Super Mario's Mushroom Kingdom.
I don't know about you folks, but I never look at the first episode of any new late-night talk show as a good indication of how a host is going to start out. Why? Everything's new and shiny and there's a big introduction and everyone's nervous, that's why. It's the second night, when things are settling down into more of a routine, that I pay more attention to.
And after watching the second night of Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show, I'm getting worried that, despite all his assurances to the contrary, Conan is too busy easing up on his edginess to make good comedy.
You gotta love the ol' rumor mill. It sleeps less than Amy Winehouse.
Conan O'Brien hasn't even finished his first week as the new host of The Tonight Show and the insiders are already churning out rumblings about Jay Leno's new show.
Some sources close to the network and The Jay Leno Show told Kim Masters of The Daily Beast that Leno is slowly growing unhappy with his new time slot and the changes that are being made to the new show by the network. There are even concerns that the stress of the situation is starting to take a toll on the host's health.
Today is the day Conan O'Brien takes up the mantle of one of the most beloved shows in TV history - The Tonight Show. And since feelings about O'Brien on some of my previous posts have been so strong, I thought it might be a good idea to do a point/counterpoint on the question, "Will Conan O'Brien succeed on The Tonight Show?"
I will be taking the position that he will be successful, and my formidable opponent will be John Scott Lewinski, who will take the position that O'Brien will not be successful.
Does the thought of this face in 720 lines of crystal clear resolution make the soup you had for lunch a week ago rise in your gullet?
If so (you extremely shallow human being who will spend life alone until you die), then you'll be pleasantly surprised to learn that Jimmy Kimmel's first foray into high definition television was quite an improvement.
He even showed his viewers just how beautiful the difference was by making the switch live on the air during Tuesday night's episode.
I had hoped to post the Tim and Eric interview from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon from last night, but this is all NBC posted of the segment. Fallon introduced them by saying they had been eating chocolate since Sunday and hadn't slept, at which point they burst into the studio and threw candy at the audience and the band. They made a passing attempt at answering Fallon's questions, and gave a bit of their history, but mostly stuck to the premise of being hopped up on candy. No one sticks to a premise like Tim and Eric.
If you're not familiar with Tim and Eric, you probably look at these two guys in pink chocolate-stained tuxedos and wonder what the hell you're watching. Sometimes, even when you do know Tim and Eric, and watch Tim & Eric, Awesome Show, Great Job every Sunday at 12:30 AM on Adult Swim, you are apt to say, what the hell am I watching.
I'm dreading the fall 10 PM ET/PT time slot on NBC. Oh, I know there's still a lot of time between now and then. But I figure I need to plan ahead. Sure, I realize I'm a Letterman fan who never took to Leno. However, I don't think I'd enjoy seeing Letterman each weeknight in a primetime slot, either. Sigh.
If you've been living under a rock, you might not realize that Jay Leno will be hosting his show every night during the 10 PM hour while Conan O'Brien hosts The Tonight Show at 11:30. I don't like this, not at all.
So I have to get a contingency plan in place. I've been trying to think of what I'll do for my TV fix at that hour.
Appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman is a big deal for most comics. For Brian Kiley, who appears on the show tonight, it's a little strange. Kiley is a writer for Conan O'Brien (both for Late Night and the new Tonight Show), and starting June 1, his boss will be Letterman's direct competitor.
Kiley has done the Letterman three times before, he notes as an emergency replacement for another act that dropped out. And while he says he would never have gone on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, since that show is in the same time slot as Late Night, O'Brien and Letterman have always had a cordial relationship, and no one ever said anything before. That might change now.
"I kind of viewed it as, well, maybe this is my last time on Dave because the Conan people might not be into it," says Kiley. "So I don't know."
Oh, thank the late night gods! After some rumors surfaced that Max Weinberg wouldn't be relocating with ConeBone69 to LA for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, I was worried. I mean just look at that bored, uninterested face! Because of their bizarre energy and involvement in sketches, the Max Weinberg 7 are the best band in late night (I swear I will fight anyone that suggests anything less).
Late Night would have a totally different tone without elements like Pender's over-energetic, passionate solos and LaBamba's extra-endearing presence. Well, not to worry, people who worry about the same pointless things I do! It looks like Max and the gang are joining Conan in LA.
So just who had the unbelievably huge Mammoth balls to extort late night legend David Letterman? You're looking at him, not his balls thankfully. 
It's hard to come up with a headline to sum up this new project by Andrew Secunda (Upright Citizens Brigade and Late Night with Conan O'Brien). I love the concept, though. 
The world is facing a population explosion of Biblical proportions. People are procreating and reproducing faster than sustenance reserves and housing requirements can keep up with it. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have officially given up adoption for the next three Lents.
My sister was addicted to Saved by the Bell, and to the hotness that was Zack Morris in particular. I'm not sure if she checked out Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night, but if she had she just might have been stunned to see Zack Morris there. And I do mean Zack Morris, because Mark-Paul Gosselaar did his entire interview in character as the coolest guy from Bayside High.
I don't know about you folks, but I never look at the first episode of any new late-night talk show as a good indication of how a host is going to start out. Why? Everything's new and shiny and there's a big introduction and everyone's nervous, that's why. It's the second night, when things are settling down into more of a routine, that I pay more attention to.
You gotta love the ol' rumor mill. It sleeps less than Amy Winehouse. 
Today is the day Conan O'Brien takes up the mantle of one of the most beloved shows in TV history - 
Does the thought of this face in 720 lines of crystal clear resolution make the soup you had for lunch a week ago rise in your gullet? 
I had hoped to post the 
I'm dreading the fall 10 PM ET/PT time slot on NBC. Oh, I know there's still a lot of time between now and then. But I figure I need to plan ahead. Sure, I realize I'm a Letterman fan who never took to Leno. However, I don't think I'd enjoy seeing Letterman each weeknight in a primetime slot, either. Sigh. 
Appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman is a big deal for most comics. For Brian Kiley, who appears on the show tonight, it's a little strange. Kiley is a writer for Conan O'Brien (both for Late Night and the new Tonight Show), and starting June 1, his boss will be Letterman's direct competitor. 
Oh, thank the late night gods! After some rumors surfaced that 
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
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Let's talk about spoilers ...
