TVSquad

I can admit that I'm no longer the hip young kid that I quite honestly never was. So it didn't surprise me that MTV was able to launch a new show and I was completely unaware of it. But, I've talked to younger friends who do watch MTV, and they don't remember any promotion for Popzilla either.

I found it purely by accident, and when it popped onto my screen, I was looking at something that looked like a mix of old Walt Disney animation and something the folks at Jib-Jab would have come up with. Utilizing photographs for the heads of celebrities, exaggerated slightly for comic effect, and little white Disney gloves, the show skewers celebrities and pop culture in short skits like Robot Chicken, and it's far funnier than it has any right to be.

First of all, I have to say that I'm terribly distracted at the moment, because my daughter is watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Even though I just watched it a few months ago, I wouldn't mind watching the entire series again from start to finish. But, alas, there are other things in my stack o' DVDs, so I'll have to be content with hearing it in the background while I work. She just watched the first two eps, and I had totally forgotten that Darla showed up in the very first episode. Interesting. Anyways...

I'll get back to The Wire -- I still have season five to watch -- but this week's Jane After Dark is all about Mad Men. Sometimes I fall deeply and madly in love with a TV show, and that's how it is with AMC's love letter to the 1960s. I raced through season one right after it was released on DVD, but stupidly waited for season two on DVD. I bought it last week and watched the entire season, devouring it like a hearty tenderloin that's perfectly cooked, so I'd be caught up for the season three premiere on August 16. If you haven't watched season two yet, spoilers follow after the jump...

You think you know pop culture? Do you watch Jeopardy and think, "I'd clean up on that show!" What about The World Series of Pop Culture on VH-1 -- are you a wiz at that one? Well, you don't have to wait for new episodes. Check out this new web site, Hey, Nielsen, and get going on the quizzes. It's killer.

Experts from all kinds of pop culture web sites -- including our own King of TV Paul Goebel right here on TV Squad -- have contributed to the quizzes. And you can actually win some cool stuff -- iPod nano, one-year subscription to Netflix, $1,000 -- if you're smart enough. I, sadly, am not. I was severely slapped down by the quiz I took. I dare you to try and do better! I'm going back to the books before my next shot!

I've always found the guest interview segments of The Colbert Report to be the oddest part of the show. Because it's not like a separate segment, where Colbert comes out of his character for a serious chat with the guest, he stays in character throughout the entire interview, and it's up to the guest to make his point, plug his book, or just completely play along with the "sketch" and have some fun with it. Some of the best moments of the show is when the guest catches Colbert offguard and Colbert laughs and slips out of character for just a moment.

So what should you do if you're a guest on the show? Troy Patterson over at Slate has some tips. Basically, it comes down to 1.) Act your age, 2.) Laugh Uproariously, 3.) Embrace The Theater, and 4.) Go on the offensive.

Sounds like good advice to me.