foreign-related stories
Posted Sep 12th 2007 5:42PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Animation
As you may have been able to tell from my last name, I am Asian. Anime was a big part of my childhood, especially when I lived overseas in those early years. I even went through that awkward
Sailor Moon phase in third grade. However, by the time the anime craze hit America, I was over it. So while my classmates traded Pokemon cards and donned cat ears, I quietly filled my heart with loathing and silently complained about the newer animes that everyone else seemed to love so much. In my eyes, nothing seemed to deliver.
But just this summer, not only did I manage to tolerate an anime show, I fell in love with it. Enter
Death Note, an incredibly engaging anime that just wrapped up its run in Japan three months ago.
Continue reading Finally, an anime that doesn't fill my soul with loathing
Posted Jan 23rd 2007 10:15AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: OpEd, PBS, Documentary
We all know that war and famine still plagues a large portion of the globe, but most people feel there's not much they can do about it, short of throwing money at the problem. In the case of Ed Artis, Jim Laws and Walt Ratterman, however, they actually travel into some of the most dangerous parts of the world to help people directly. Artis, Laws and Ratterman --a retired army medic, a doctor, and a renewable energy expert, respectively-- risk their own lives to make sure people get the help they need.
Continue reading Independent Lens: Beyond the Call - an early look
Posted Oct 16th 2006 8:02PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Animation, Commercials, Web
I found this little gem via
Cartoon Brew and our own
Chris Thilk, editor of TV Squad's sister site
Ad Jab. It's a commercial for chocolate milk featuring 3D CGI versions of Tom and Jerry. Apparently the chocolate milk gives Jerry the power he needs to outwit Tom and crash through walls. This is absolutely true, and any children reading this should drink a glass of chocolate milk and immediately run into a stationary object as fast as they can. The commercial is foreign, and I'm told it's in Hebrew, but I wouldn't know. I don't really care all that much, either, I just think it's fun to look at. You can watch it
here.
Posted Oct 12th 2006 11:57AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on the Bigscreen, Celebrities
If you've never seen Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat in action, I'll direct you to this
recent post, or, just go to YouTube and type in "Borat" and enjoy the hilarity. The character, an out-of-his-element news reporter from Kazakhstan, was part of Cohen's
Da Ali G Show and is the center of the upcoming movie
Borat: Culture Leanings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. If you're wondering how Cohen and his team get normal people to appear on his show, and, more impressively, get them to sign releases allowing themselves to be seen on television, Devin Gordon of
Newsweek spoke with some of the people who were duped by Cohen/Borat. Some of them found it funny, others not so much. While I'm not always the biggest fan of mining humor by accosting unsuspecting people on camera, I find Borat absolutely hysterical. I think part of his secret is acting as if he has no idea that anything he's doing or saying is wrong.
Posted Apr 4th 2006 1:01PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, The CW
A new pilot called
Aliens in America
has been picked up by what will soon be known as
the CW. The comedy will focus on a shy nerdy
kid living in a small Wisconsin town whose mother invites an exchange student to live with the family. The mother hopes
the new friend will help her son become more popular, but the exchange student turns out to be Muslim. Sounds like
another wacky comedy about cultural differences. Right now there's just not enough information to get me too excited
about this show, but who knows, it could be good. The best news to come from this, however, is that the show is being
described as a possible companion to
Everybody Hates Chris, meaning Chris Rock's sitcom may actually make the
transition to the CW after all. Very cool, says I.
Posted Jan 16th 2006 12:31PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Music and Variety
I admit it. I have a proclivity for watching
weird TV shows done in languages I don't understand. Since I know I'm not the only one out there who does this, I
invite you to take a gander at some of these clips of Japanese game
shows. I think the videos are safe for work, depending on your company's tolerance for scantily-clad women (and
men). If you click the above link you'll also find more videos listed in the comments. I'm not making any
claims about the content of those, however. You'll have to venture into that particular jungle on your
own.
[via Boing Boing]
Six Mad Men characters who are in limbo after the finale
Fact or Fiction: Big Bang, Brothers & Sisters and CSI
The TV Squad Podcast: Linda Purl talks about The Office, we talk spoilers, and more
