Category: tv

tv

Take me to the pilot, especially with SNL alumni

Posted on by Beau Dure

Scattered thoughts on new comedy series and pilots:

– I always root for Saturday Night Live alumni to move into prime time, and Nasim Pedrad — underutilized on SNL — deserves it as much as anyone.

– Also nice to see Casey Wilson getting another shot, this one with Tim Meadows.

– The Tina Fey/Ellie Kemper show about someone leaving a doomsday cult has to be good, or I’ll lose faith in humanity.

– Am I miscounting, or is Martin Short in two shows? One with fellow SCTV alum Andrea Martin!

– I caught a bit of Bad Education on the Virgin Atlantic flight. The original is a little difficult to understand — lots of heavy accents and jargon we don’t know in the USA — but it’s not bad at all.

– Mildly surprised to see David Schwimmer return to TV from the theater, but it seems to fit his experimental tastes. No one from Friends needs a hit show again, but Matthew Perry keeps trying.

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music, tv

Is that an iPhone in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Posted on by Beau Dure

I think the Pixies are one of the world’s most overrated bands, so I didn’t know the song in this iPhone ad I’ve seen in heavy rotation. Twitter buddy hoover_dam recognized it. Here’s how Slate put it:

Apple’s new iPhone ad features a song about a giant penis

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. And the singer in this case looks like she’s about 16. I’m not naive about teenagers, but it’s a little disturbing anyway.

I was also told on Twitter that one of the apps in the ad is basically AutoTune for the iPhone. AutoTune. On a Pixies song. On Twitter, I said that’s like using a filter to normalize a face in a Picasso.

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tv

Daytime TV, a quick survey

Posted on by Beau Dure

In case you worry about American civilization, here’s a quick scan of my TV options at 1 p.m. …

CW local affiliate, The Test: It seems two girlfriends have moved in with the same guy. At least one of them has a kid with him and insists she’s staying there because she doesn’t want to make the same mistake she made with her ex-husband, the father of her first child.

VH1, Basketball Wives LA: Seems like a serious issue (fertility) being addressed, so I’ll offer some sympathy and move on.

TLC, 19 Kids and Counting: Duggars Do Asia: The logistics boggle my mind.

Travel Channel, UFOs Crashed My Vacation: Hate when that happens.

American Heroes Channel, Hollywood vs. Commies: Because we often forget the importance of good old American propaganda.

H2 (formerly History International), Ancient Aliens: The description: “Satan may have been an extraterrestrial.” 

Fortunately, one of our public TV stations is airing Black Adder.

But that reality show about the women who think they’re competing for Prince Harry’s hand in marriage doesn’t look so bad now, does it?

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comedy, tv

Me on Family Guy at Popdose

Posted on by Beau Dure

This week’s shocking Family Guy episode inspired me to get back to Popdose where I belong:

The question: Is Brian’s death worth it in the long run?

It’s a tricky question because Brian had more or less split into two characters. The old Brian — an acerbic, sharp-witted Greek chorus who happened to act like a dog on occasion — still appeared in the wonderful “Road” episodes and the time-travel exercises. They had so much time travel fun, I figured they were bound to do a Doctor Who crossover at some point. But in other episodes, Brian was just a douchebag.

Family Guy: Death of Brian | Popdose.

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