jim norton-related stories
Posted Sep 23rd 2009 5:00PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, News, OpEd, Reality-Free
There used to be a lot of TV shows on overnight that were worth watching. I don't mean repeats of sitcoms or dramas that usually air earlier, but original programming geared towards the night owl. There aren't many shows like that anymore, but there's one on Fox News (yes, Fox News) at 3 AM and it's well worth catching (if you're worried about staying up that late, well, that's why God put DVRs on this Earth).
If I had to describe
Red Eye it would be like this: it's a mix of
Politically Incorrect and
The McLaughlin Group, only for people who are up late at night drinking or eating too much junk food, with a host who comes at things from a conservative viewpoint but it's not really a political show. They go more for the jokes than they stress any ideology, and it's actually really funny. Like
The Daily Show or
The Colbert Report, it can't be easy to write a show that's on every single night, but host Greg Gutfeld pulls it off.
Continue reading Shows You Should Be Watching: Red Eye
Posted Sep 19th 2009 12:24AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Celebrities, Talk Show, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
Yesterday, Leno mocked "Cash for Clunkers" by mocking up a "Cash for Flunkers" video. Tonight he tapped the same well with a "Cash for Chunkers" joke. I guess that's common in the late night arena, but I've never been a fan of using the same exact set-up on different nights to get a different joke. Unless you acknowledge how weak it is when you do it.
Tonight's correspondent was
The Hangover's Rachael Harris, who came on to show us the lost art of bartering in this tough economic times. Like most of the other correspondent segments, it had some funny moments, but it just seemed to go on forever.
Continue reading The Jay Leno Show: Drew Barrymore
Posted Sep 16th 2009 3:37PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Talk Show, Episode Reviews, Jay Leno
The late night talk show process hasn't been refined in any major way since the early days of
The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Well there is Carson Daly's show, but I don't count that as a late night talk show ... or a show, for that matter.
You've got your monologue, your one or two comedy bits or sketches and banter with the band and the sidekick, throw in two or three guests, end with a musical performance and you're done. It's comedy by the numbers that works as long as the comedy is funny.
So it's refreshing to see Jay Leno and company retooling the format of the bit, even if the result still screams of the old show. It's also nice to see a show that knows and plays on Leno's strengths and weaknesses as a comedian and a talk show host with the skills of an NFL offensive coordinator, even if it sometimes feels as though that offensive coordinator works for the Detroit Lions.
Continue reading The Jay Leno Show: Michael Moore
Posted Mar 19th 2008 12:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, The Daily Show, Interviews
In the last twelve years,
Lewis Black has gone from being "that angry guy on
The Daily Show" to a comedy icon. Now, he finally has his own show.
In
Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, which airs on Wednesdays at 10:30 PM ET on Comedy Central, two comedians argue why the pop culture item they represent is "the root of all evil." Last week's premiere episode, for instance, pitted Oprah against the Catholic church. Black plays the judge who controls the proceedings and makes the ultimate verdict. Sounds corny, but the first episode, which featured Paul F. Tompkins and Greg Giraldo, was wickedly funny and just a tiny bit subversive, everything you want in a good comedy.
I spoke to Black by phone last week; he was in Atlantic City on his stand-up tour. We discussed everything from the 2008 election to being on a cable news show with Ben Stein to sharing a jail cell with
Jim Norton. The interview is after the jump.
Continue reading Lewis Black: The TV Squad Interview
Posted Aug 26th 2007 6:01PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Web, Celebrities
Did you know a person can be funny on television and the internet? It's true. Here's a few examples:
First, comedians Jim Norton (Lucky Louie, Tough Crowd) and Jim Florentine (Crank Yankers, Meet the Creeps) have a new series on Super Deluxe where they give super-brief commentaries on current events. The clips are not safe for work, or for most living creatures, but if you don't mind crude humor and lots of cussing, then check it out.
Continue reading Funny TV people doing funny Web stuff: Florentine, Norton, Besser and Katz
Posted Apr 15th 2007 9:02AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Video, Celebrities
Normally, any post I wrote up in reference to a video found on YouTube would include the video at the end of the post, but since we try to keep our content at least somewhat family safe, you'll have to check it out over at Dead Frog instead. In case I didn't make it clear, the video is definitely not safe for work.
Continue reading Black and Norton do vaudeville
Posted Sep 25th 2006 12:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TV Royalty, OpEd, Celebrities, Talk Show
Say it's 11 AM; Opie and Anthony's XM show is over and you're looking for something to listen to. So why don't you turn on the channel that's the perfect follow-up:
Oprah and Friends!
Yes, kiddies, Oprah and her cabal have started a satellite radio station. But you might have to concentrate hard to actually hear the big O on the channel; according to
this article, she will only be on one 30 minute show per week, dishing with her buddy Gayle King about celebrities and whatnot.
What you
will hear are the people whose careers O has propped up through her TV show: King, trainer Bob Greene, financial expert Jean Chatsky (mmm... Jean Chatsky), psychologist Dr. Robin Smith, and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Oh, and Maya Angelou gets a show, too (let's hope little Jimmy Norton does a guest shot in an O/O&A crossover). So, it's just like the
Oprah show you love, but longer and more self-important. Enjoy!
Posted Jul 11th 2006 11:31PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, NBC, OpEd, Last Comic Standing
(S04E06) One thing you can say about Season Four of
Last Comic Standing is that it's full of surprises. The comics may not be all that funny, the editing may be choppy, the preliminary selections of comics may have been suspicious, and Anthony Clark may look like he's embalmed. But you can't deny that the comics being eliminated aren't the ones anyone expected to go so early. Unfortunately, the by-product of these surprises is a set of finalists (the set of comics that will perform live and have the viewing audience vote by phone, text, and web) that is a pretty uncompelling set of personalities and, for the most part, not very funny.
Continue reading Last Comic Standing: A roast and an ejection
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
