Woody Allen-related stories
Posted Sep 12th 2009 8:42AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TV Royalty, Obituaries, Reality-Free
Yesterday brought sad news for anyone who's a comedy writer, aspired to be a comedy writer, or just appreciated a well-turned and funny phrase.
Larry Gelbart passed away; he had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. He died at his Los Angeles home yesterday morning at the age of 81.
Gelbart is probably best known for his writing on
M*A*S*H during its early years. The almost lyrical comedic dialogue he gave Hawkeye, Trapper, and the rest of the gang is what drew me to the show, and he influenced almost everyone who worked on the show afterwards, including FOS (Friend of Squad) Ken Levine, who was just "too devestated" to write
a tribute on his blog (expect one on Monday, though).
Continue reading Larry Gelbart dead at 81
Posted Jul 21st 2008 10:52AM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Animation, Ask TV Squad, Reality-Free, Saturday Morning, Stump the King
I finally got a question I can answer this week.
Monica writes...
"My friend used to watch this cartoon, but all he remembers is this one character. He says he was a small small guy with a really tall hat. He wore a black robe. He was some kind of emperor..Hm..He was somewhat Asian looking. He thought the name of the show might be hysteria, but i can't find anything on that. anything you can think of will be greatly appreciated. It's one of those i have to figure it out or it'll kill me things. Haha. Thank you."
Continue reading Stump the King: Histeria - VIDEO
Posted Dec 5th 2006 8:42AM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, FOX, American Idol, Celebrities
Ladies, who do you fantasize about when you're making sweet love to your partner?
'American Idol' judge Simon Cowell? Well, in wacky ole England,
Cowell has placed second on a list of women's dream men right after "007" Daniel Craig. Cowell beat out David Beckham, Brad Pitt and Leo DiCaprio. Speaking with
The Sun, Cowell had this to say about the honor: "
I would expect to be very near the top as I'm obviously extremely attractive."
I'm not sure Cowell would even place in the top 10 stateside. What do you think it is that makes England's ladies weak in the knees for the bad boy judge? Could it be the tough, man hair that peeks out of his V-neck sweaters? The confidence? The power? Do they think he'd take charge in the sack? Frankly, he seems like the kinda guy that probably cries after sex. I wonder if in the British broads' fantasies, there's a panel of judges ranking their amorous activities upon completion -- something like Woody Allen's 'Bananas.' Just don't expect much for the East German judge.
Related:
Gee, your hair smells like Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell won't sing for Ricky Gervais' ExtrasPosted Oct 27th 2006 11:39AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Celebrities, Horror
That's Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the right, in her groundbreaking performance as a woman turned into a nymph in the classic 1986 horror flick
Troll. It was
her first big screen appearance after her short stint on
Saturday Night Live. Luckily, she went on to a role in Woody Allen's
Hannah and Her Sisters the very same year, then on some show about nothing. And now, of course, she's on the hit CBS comedy
The New Adventures of Old Christine.
If you've never seen
Troll, it's, um, interesting to say the least. Maybe good for a goofy Halloween DVD to rent. It stars Michael Moriarty, Sonny Bono, Shelley Hack, June Lockhart and Noah Hathaway as the hero of the flick, Harry Potter.
Yup, Harry Potter.
Posted Sep 14th 2006 4:59PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming
At 8, CBS has the season premiere of Survivor: Cook Islands. - FOX has a new episode of 'Til Death at 8, followed by new episodes of Happy Hour and Celebrity Duets.
- TCM has a Dick Cavett special at 8, featuring an interview with Woody Allen. It's followed by Allen's Bananas.
- To gear up for next week's premieres, NBC is repeating the season enders of My Name Is Earl, The Office, and ER. Starts around 8:40.
- MyTV has a new Desire at 8, followed by a new Fashion House.
- At 10, ABC has a new Primetime.
- Showtime has a new episode of The Underground at 10.
- Also at 10: The History Channel has the history of cereal on a new American Eats.
Posted Aug 26th 2006 8:50AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Cable, TV Royalty, Talent, Celebrities, Talk Show
I miss Dick Cavett's talk show. In fact, I miss Dick Cavett's type of talk show on television. Charlie Rose comes close I guess, with the spare set and the serious devotion to subjects, but it's not the same. Luckily, Cavett is coming back to television (sort of), on Turner Classic Movies.
The movie network is going to run eight classic episodes of Dick Cavett's 70's show throughout the fall. The shows will run every Thursday night, as part of a theme night about a certain star or director. The first episode will air on September 7 and will include a brand new interview Cavett has with Mel Brooks. Later Thursdays will have classic interviews with people such as Katherine Hepburn, Groucho Marx, Robert Mitchum, Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Ingmar Bergman, and Bette Davis.
Posted Aug 2nd 2006 3:37PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, OpEd, Retro Squad, Seinfeld
(S03E10) How many shows airing in 1991 would have had a plot revolve around breaking up with a man who had a stroke? I can tell you this much: even Roseanne Barr couldn't have thought of a such a dark plotline, but, for some reason, Larry David could. That's what made
Seinfeld so great; it touched on topics that other sitcoms of its era never even dared to touch. And, though the characters do horrible things to each other and the people who come into their world, it was done in such a funny way that people latched onto these characters. It's a formula that's been tried over and over since without much success; just ask the producers of
Arrested Development how hard it was to get people to like unlikable characters.
Continue reading Seinfeld: The Alternate Side
Posted Jan 9th 2006 8:06PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, Talent, Saturday Night Live, Music and Variety
Saturday Night Live has lined up some pretty impressive talent to host the show this month. I'm sure the first
host, Scarlett Johansson, will boost the ratings. Her appearance, on January 14th, coincides with the release of the
first of two Woody Allen movies that she stars in. She seems like a gutsy gal, so hopefully the
SNL writers
can come up with some bold sketches for her. The band
Death Cab for Cutie is scheduled to perform the same
night. And on January 21 is Peter Sarsgaard, who has had supporting roles in
Jarhead,
Flightplan,
Kinsey,
The Skeleton Key, and was terrific in Zach Braff's
Garden State. I can't
find a whole lot about Peter's background on the internet-- I was wondering whether he had any experience in improv or
stand-up comedy, but I can't tell. And, I'm not sure what his appearance coincides with since
IMDB lists his last flick as
Jarhead, which doesn't come out on
DVD until March. The musical guest pairing up with Sarsgaard is
The Strokes. Wouldn't it be nice if these
actors could get some good sketches on SNL?
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