 When we American fans of British comedy fell in love with “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz,” there was little question that the folks at the BBC would eventually take advantage of the growing cult surrounding the work of Simon Pegg and release his early series, “Spaced,” on DVD. And, really, how could they not? After all, look at these raves from famous people who are, by virtue of their fame, better than you:
* “Watching ‘Spaced’ is kinda like watching a Kevin Smith film if Kevin Smith had any real talent.” - Kevin Smith * “I watch and re-watch ‘Spaced’ from time to time to remind myself how good television comedy can be.” - Matt Stone “The best thing out of England since Winston Churchill.” - Seth Rogen “I laughed hard, and I hate comedy.” - Judd Apatow “Annoyingly good.” - Eddie Izzard “‘Spaced’ is a to-be-envied, to-be-cherished blend of pop culture heartbreak and genuine human hilarity. It’s also a foolproof Idiot Test. Here’s how it works: if someone ever tries to duplicate, replicate, or otherwise re-do this one-of-a-kind show, they’re an Idiot! Aren’t we all lucky to have such a thing in our world?” - Patton Oswalt “Innovative. Witty. Hilarious. ‘Spaced’ is the show we American comedians watch and say, ‘How the hell did they get away with this?!’ Buy this and you can officially be cool.” - Bill Hader Of course, some of us couldn’t wait for the domestic release - cough-cough Jason Zingale cough-cough - and had to buy a British copy of the set to watch on their region-free DVD player, but we’re guessing those people will still be ordering this set - due for release on June 17 - if only because of the special features. All two seasons and 14 episodes of “Spaced” will be packaged within the set, of course, but there’ll also be new exclusive commentary with director Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson), and guests Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Bill Hader, Matt Stone, Patton Oswalt and Diablo Cody, an exclusive Spaced On Stage reunion Q&A recorded at the National Film Theatre, London in October 2007, and “Skip to the End,” an exclusive feature length documentary. There’ll also be outtakes, deleted scenes, raw footage, a photo gallery, newly updated cast and crew biographies, but something particularly eyecatching is a feature that the “Gilmore Girls” sets could’ve used: an Homage-O-Meter, an onscreen feature that tracks each pop-culture reference. “Spaced.” You know you want to buy it. Too bad it’s not on Amazon for pre-order yet…but it will be. Oh, yes: it will be. Filed under: TV and TV DVDs and Actors and TV Comedies and External Entertainment and External TV Comments: None Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
 It’s Friday. Wait, that never stops me from posting this sort of stuff any other day…
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 Just when I was beginning to feel comfortable with the various mysteries surrounding the show, the writers had to go and throw a new one into the mix that is so unbelievably confusing, I’m beginning to question if they still know what they’re doing. I mean, I totally buy the whole Ben Linus/Charles Widmore connection, but since when did Locke become such an important entity that he was literally being recruited by Dharma as a child?
Nevertheless, it appears Locke is the new (less evil) Ben, and after dreaming about a conversation with a former Dharma worker named Horace, the trio set off to find the cabin using Locke’s newly learned information. It’s with a map he finds in the Dharma death pit (i.e. the place Ben dumped all the bodies) that they’re able to locate the always moving cabin, but Locke is sent in alone when Ben declares that his destiny has already been fulfilled. When he enters, however, Locke doesn’t find his expected guest, but rather… Dr. Christian Shepherd, who claims he can speak on Jacob’s behalf. This is where the show totally lost me, because not only does it not make sense that Jack’s father is on the island (and seemingly not a ghost), but apparently, Claire is now a part of the whole cabin/Jacob secret as well. She’s acting mighty creepy, too, and if that weren’t enough, Christian has just told Locke that in order to save the island, he’s going to have to move it. In the words of Harold Lee, “What the fuck?” Filed under: TV and TV Dramas and Lost and External Entertainment and External TV Comments: None Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
In fact, Richard Alpert didn’t only visit him as a prematurely born baby (I’m still curious as to how Alpert manages to remain the same age for nearly 50 years), but he contacts him twice more throughout his childhood – once under the guise of a “school for special kids” and again via a pamphlet for a Portland-based science camp. Then, as an adult going through rehab following his accident, Locke is visited by another Dharma suit: Abaddon, who suggests that he experience the Australian walkabout to help discover himself. It’s all very coincidental, and while the writers utilized this same tactic in the first two seasons, those instances weren’t bound by such disbelief.|
People sometimes ask, “Hey what’s entertaining in Philly?” And sometimes I just say, “Hey, just watch the TV if you’re ever in town.” If you do, you might be treated to some great local crap like the following:
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 This week’s episode provided a little bit of movement in the two more compelling ongoing storylines: the fate of the Demetrius and the intra-Cylon war. While I understand how Starbuck’s crew is getting eager to return to the fleet, what are the odds that they stumble upon Leoben at the site of an intra-Cylon battle? It’s obviously not a coincidence so either Starbuck (skinjob or not) is indeed on the path to Earth or she’s (intentionally or unintentionally) leading the ship into a trap. This is the first good clue the ship has discovered on its mission, and there simply isn’t time to go back and check in with the fleet before following the clue to see where it leads. However, that makes me wonder why Adama and Starbuck wouldn’t arrange for some backup meeting point and time if the circumstances prohibited the Demetrius from returning to the fleet at the 60-day mark. Maybe the solution is for Starbuck another crewmember to take a raptor or two and follow the clue while the rest of the crew meets up with the fleet. One thing’s for certain - Starbuck needs to talk to the hybrid, and fast. Leoben wants to form an alliance between the humans and the remaining Sixes, Eights and Twos that would allow Cara to fulfill her destiny, which Leoben says is to lead the humans to Earth. Back on Galactica, Baltar’s tiresome evangelizing intersected with the Tyrol’s semi-dreary mourning/coming-to-grips storyline. The former Chief decided to shave his head and jump rope in his cabin, which are (apparently) common reactions to discovering that you’re a Cylon and losing your wife to suicide. The whole Tyrol/Baltar holding hands thing seems extraneous right now, though I sure hope there is some purpose to it. Watching Baltar preach just makes me squirm, so I hope that he eventually gets what’s coming to him. Filed under: TV and TV Dramas and TV Action and External Entertainment and External TV and Battlestar Galactica and TV Sci-Fi Comments: 2 Comments Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
 Ever since Fox announced they would be pushing back the seventh season premiere of “24” to 2009, the network has been hard at work keeping fans with their fingers on the Jack Bauer dial. That’s included a new season of their web series “The Rookie,” a news announcement revealing plans to produce a two-hour prequel movie, as well as the upcoming re-release of the drama’s explosive first season on DVD.
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Packaged in an über-cool metal tin case with what looks to be a countdown clock imbedded underneath, the seven-disc set includes three hours of never-before-seen features including a season seven preview, over 25 deleted and extended scenes, two behind-the-scenes featurettes and more. This is the perfect chance to relive the series’ hit-making first season, and with Bullz-Eye running a contest in conjunction with its May 20th release, you could even pick up a copy for a free. Head on over to Bullz-Eye now and |
Show: “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”
Role: Opie Taylor. (As if the title of the episode didn’t completely give it away.) You might be surprised to discover that, despite being a spin-off from “The Andy Griffith Show,” there were precious few occasions when Gomer Pyle received visits from his friends and family from Mayberry, NC. In fact, of the 150 episodes of the series that were produced, only three - count ‘em - three episodes featured folks from back home stopping by. We saw Goober pop up once (”A Visit from Cousin Goober”), and Aunt Bee found time in her busy schedule to bless Gomer with her presence (”A Visit from Aunt Bee”), but this time we’re giving props to Opie’s unexpected appearance, which came about through one of the all-time classic sitcom plot lines: a kid running away from home. Why the props for such a predictable premise? Because Opie lives in North Carolina, and “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” took place in California. We have to give Opie credit: when he decides to run away, the kid doesn’t take the half-assed way out. In fact, the idea that a 12-year-old boy could’ve managed to make it across country by himself is something that Gomer can’t even wrap his head around. Now, granted, the man’s not Einstein, but, still, we were kind of wondering about how he managed it ourselves. Opie: I hitched a ride on a plane. You didn’t realize Jim Nabors had that kind of range, did you? Well, he moves back into his dumbfounded expression when Opie explains that he’s traveled cross-country to join the Marines. Why? Because he wasn’t doing so well in school, and to keep from having to deal with a pissed-off Andy Taylor, he figured maybe he’d better go away for awhile…’til, say, adulthood. Filed under: TV and TV DVDs and Actors and Reviews and TV Comedies and External Entertainment and External TV and And Our Very Special Guest Star... Comments: None Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
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It only makes sense that following last week’s awesome episode, tonight’s show would be comparably worse. Them’s the rules of “Lost,” I’m afraid, and though we got some more insight into the events leading up to Jack’s eventual post-rescue breakdown, the action on the island was considerably tame.
Of course, I honestly believe that none of the original freighter folk (Faraday, Charlotte, Lapidus and Miles) are bad people, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’ve been placed in an incredibly awkward and high-tension position. For all the hoo-hah caused about their possible disloyalty, however, it seems like the only reason that entire subplot was written was so that Jin could approach Charlotte about her ability to speak Korean. Charlotte denies it at first, but when Jin threatens (in Korean, of course) to break Daniel’s fingers, she gives in. And what exactly does Jin want in trade for keeping Charlotte’s secret? A promise that when the helicopter arrives, she’ll take Sun away from the island. Filed under: TV and TV Dramas and Lost and External TV Comments: 6 Comments Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
I mean, does Jack’s appendicitis really qualify for that level of dramatic tension? Hardly, but when Juliet announces that she’s going to have to operate, everyone freaks out, including Jack, who becomes so unruly during the actual surgery that Bernard eventually just knocks him out with some chloroform. Before all that, however, Faraday and Charlotte head to the medical hatch to pick up some supplies for the surgery, and since everyone has decided that they’re no longer to be trusted following Bernard’s Morse code trickery last week, Jin and Sun tag along with orders that if they try to run away, they’re to shoot them in the legs. That's always a nice way to make someone feel at home, no?|
Show: “Happy Days” Roles: You will be unsurprised to learn that the most famous puppet of the 1950s and his cowboy-attired “handler” play themselves, if only because, really, who the hell else are they going to play? “Happy Days” enjoyed taking the opportunity to provide a rose-colored look at life in the 1950s, but rarely were they presented with the opportunity to incorporate actual television icons from the era into the fun. Fortunately, wooden puppets don’t age, and people were willing to let it slide that “Buffalo” Bob Smith was sporting a few more wrinkles in 1975 than could be found on his famous visage two decades prior.
The episode revolves around Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) trying to impress his editor at the high school newspaper by scoring a scoop, and his first idea is to interview Mr. Doody, whose show was - rather conveniently, it must be said - to be filming in Milwaukee. The Fonz (Henry Winkler) shoots down this idea, suggesting a more controversial alternative: to wrangle a backstage invite and sneak a shot of Clarabell the Clown without his make-up. So how does he get backstage? By entering a Howdy Doody lookalike contest. It’s ludicrous, of course, but seeing Ron Howard dressed in the standard HD attire is almost as funny as experiencing his disgruntlement after losing to a 9-year-old. While backstage with his right-hand man, Potsie (Anson Williams), Richie does indeed score the picture he’s sought, but after that, things immediately snowball at a ridiculous rate. Within hours of snapping the picture, word has already made it from Milwaukee all the way to the offices of Life Magazine, with the publication immediately getting Richie on the phone and making an offer for the photo. Visions of a journalism school scholarship are floating before Richie’s eyes…until the doorbell rings, and Buffalo Bob and Clarabell stand on the stoop. Mr. C: Well, what brings you to our humble house, huh? Hey, nice, Richie. Way to be a complete dick. What’s next, blackmail? (”You know, Clarabell, for a little bit of dough-re-mi, I could make this photo just, y’know, go away.”) Fortunately, Buffalo Bob decides to take a tactic that only works in sitcoms set in the 1950s: heartfelt honesty. “Richie, there’s a reason why nobody has ever seen Clarabell without makeup. Y’see, behind that make-up, he’s Clarabell the Clown, and there’s sort of a mystique about him. It’s like the Lone Ranger without a mask: he’s a nobody. Y’see, millions of kids watch television every day to see their favorite clown, and to them, this is Clarabell. Now, if they were to see him as an ordinary man, Clarabell lives no more.” (Mrs. C attempts to liken the situation to “Tarzan without his loincloth,” but Mr. C assures her, “No, that’s a little different, Marion.”) Richie is notably unmoved by this plea, trying to play the journalism-school card again, but while Bob makes it clear that it could well be a case of Richie’s future versus Clarabell’s career, he concedes that “you worked hard to get that picture, and I guess you’re entitled to sell it.” And then, with a facer arguably even sadder than the one painted on Clarabell, Bob plays the Ace of Guilt: “Rich, it’s up to you.” You guessed it: Richie tears up the picture. Cue one very excited clown…and one pissed-off, whiny Cunningham. After Bob and Clarabell leave, Richie doesn’t take the schmaltzy way out by saying, “Wow, it sure feels good to do the right thing.” Instead, he reacts exactly how a normal teenager would: he pouts and moans, “What about my scoop?”, providing yet another reason why the first few seasons of “Happy Days” are remembered as some of the best television the 1970s had to offer. Filed under: TV and TV DVDs and Actors and TV Comedies and External Entertainment and External TV and And Our Very Special Guest Star... Comments: None Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
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I like this show as much as the next guy, but his episode was pretty tough to watch. It meandered from depressing storyline to depressing storyline with the speed of a drunk turtle. From the Chief’s badmouthing of his dead wife to Tigh’s fragile grip on reality to Baltar’s fairly lame speech about religion, it was pretty tedious throughout. In fact, it felt a lot like last week’s episode, only without the shocking ending. Hopefully this is a slow buildup and not a trend for the season. A couple of questions occurred to me: 1) Why doesn’t Roslin get another blood transfusion from Hera? That worked the first time, so it would be the first thing I’d try if I were in her situation. 2) What is the meaning of the Chief’s rant in the bar? Was he just trying to get himself reassigned so that he couldn’t do any more damage to the humans or was he seriously upset that he wasn’t able to be with the love of his life (presumably Boomer, who is also a Cylon)? I was never really a fan of the Tigh/Ellen relationship, so seeing her pop back up isn’t a good thing. It was interesting to see Six plant a kiss on Tigh; I thought for a moment that she was going to try to escape (which would have been a whole lot more exciting) but maybe she’s drawn to Tigh because he’s a skinjob. Anyway, we didn’t get any news from the Demetrius or the Cylon fleet, so this episode failed to move those storylines along. From the “next week” scenes, it looks like the Demetrius is heavily involved, so at least we have that to look forward to. Filed under: TV and TV Dramas and TV Action and External TV and Battlestar Galactica and TV Sci-Fi Comments: 5 Comments Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
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Thanks again, YouTube, for allowing me to relive my youth at the click of a button. I remember getting one of these for height=”355″>Christmas and immediately recording crap like “Hey, I’m on the radio!” all thanks to this goofy ass commercial. What cracks me up is the usage of heavy echo in this clip. There was no echo effect with this thing. You basically tuned it to an empty FM band and still had to deal with static interfering from time to time. Oh yeah, and that shot of the “musician” giving a live performance through Mr. Microphone is also hilarious. |
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After a few slow weeks threatened to ruin everything that Carlton Cuse and Co. worked so hard to build to this year, “Lost” returned from its month-long break with both guns literally blazing. Tonight’s episode wasn’t particularly revealing, but it did feature more action than I’ve seen in an entire season, and if this is any indication of how a “Lost” movie might turn out, count me in. Of course, the fact that I enjoyed it so much while simultaneously battling an unexpected sickness speaks volumes of just how good it really was, and while I’d usually follow that up with a play-by-play breakdown of the episode, I’ve decided to take the easier route by pointing out some of my favorite moments:
- Sawyer’s Vietnam moment was equally enjoyable. It had bullet-ridden redshirts, picnic décor-turned-battle shields, and even a rocket launcher. Now we know where all that extra money from the strike went. - Not to be upstaged by a bunch of Army men, Ben called upon the powers of the Black Smoke Monster to open up a can of SFX-powered whoop-ass. It’s been a while since Smokey last showed his amorphous face, but boy was it awesome. - Not only is Ben a Jedi Master when it comes to mind games, but he’s apparently pretty handy with a retractable baton as well. Kudos to Michael Emerson for channeling his inner Neo, but now I want more. - Ben used Desmond’s boat to get off the island? Fair enough, but then where the hell is Desmond? Hmm… maybe he’s on the island with Penny. - We already knew that Sayid was a card-carrying member of the Dharma Assassin Death Squad (DADS), but the fact that Ben tricked him into thinking it was his idea really tickles us. - Emerson is the king of the intimidating one-liner, but when he told Charles Widmore that he was going to track down his daughter (Penelope) and kill her, well, I couldn’t help but cheer him on. Could he really have been a good guy all this time? - “That’s not what he said.” Bernard knows morse code? Ruh-roh, a certain paranoid physicist is in trouble… Filed under: TV and TV Dramas and Lost and External TV Comments: 5 Comments Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
- The expression on Sawyer’s face when Ben handed him the shotgun was priceless. He went from “Holy shit, Ben’s going to shoot me” to “Holy shit, Ben’s my ally” in a matter of milliseconds.|
My absolute fave SCTV skit of all time.
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And scores a perfect 30. Rock on.
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And now…Alex Trebek getting drunk and doing what he does best. NSFW.
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Gee, whatever happened to Alex Winter? And is it more than a safe thing to say that the Ted action figure is much more of a believable actor than Keanu Reeves ever was?
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Ugh. This shit tasted like Kix with marshmallows. I completely forgot the jingle and then I saw this and it all came rushing back like a bad dream.
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Wow. As I was watching this episode, I couldn’t help but think that it felt a lot like filler. Much of it was dedicated to ho-hum storylines like Lee adjusting to his new job, Cally dealing with the difficulty of motherhood and, of course, the grumpy, unbelieving underlings on Cara’s new ship, the Demetrius. But then it happened. The gritty Cally (whom I’ve always liked, even though she was tough to watch for much of this episode) followed Galen to the weapons locker and managed to learn the truth about the three newly aware skinjobs. Suddenly, the secret was out. It was quite the moment, though I question Tigh’s decision to leave a note for a super-secret meeting where an obviously suspicious Cally could (and did) find it. Several questions jumped to mind. Who would she tell? Would anyone believe her? What would she say to the Chief? And what would she do about Nicholas? It turns out she didn’t want to say anything to Galen. Her world was turned upside down, so she reacted by hitting him over the head with a wrench – by the way, that’s some serious symbolism, considering their professions – and then whisking her baby away to the airlock. Apparently, her solution was to commit murder-suicide without bothering to tell anyone in the fleet that there were more cylons in their midst. It was a little on the unbelievable side, but the writers set it up with all of those sleepless nights earlier in the episode. We were to believe that she was tired and she wasn’t thinking straight. Still, as a new father myself, I was appalled at the prospect of her apparent decision to jettison her son out of an airlock. But there was Tory to “save” the day. Of all the new cylons, she seems to be the most complex. Her speech in the airlock and subsequent betrayal was a shock to the system. I don’t think that it was until I saw a lifeless Cally floating through space that it finally hit me – this is really the last season of “Battlestar Galactica.” Heads will roll. The Cally/Galen/Tory storyline was the crux of the episode, but there were some interesting developments at Cylon HQ as well. Genocide seems to be ruling the day, and it’s unclear which side is going to win out. I’m a little hazy on the whole there’s-no-resurrection-ship-nearby-so-we-can’t-survive line of thinking, as dead skinjobs have never had a problem traveling long distances before. But what the heck, I’ll play along. I thought the best moment of that whole mess was when Six had to say “please” to the Centurion. That moment was just dripping with subtext. Speaking of subtext, it seems like VP Tom’s suspicions about Roslin’s presidency is a commentary on the secretiveness of the administration currently inhabiting the White House. Lee didn’t like Roslin’s attitude when he tried to quell concerns about the Demetrius, so he got a little vindictive and brought up that classified executive order. By the way, wasn’t VP Tom pretty annoying with that little knocker of his? Lastly, on the Demetrius, nothing really happened in Starbuck’s world in the last 22 days, and the natives are getting restless. However, we did learn that she just wants “to frack.” Filed under: TV and TV Dramas and TV Action and External Entertainment and External TV and Battlestar Galactica and TV Sci-Fi Comments: 3 Comments Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
 It’s very rare to come across a made-for-TV movie that is both competent and enjoyable, but the BBC-produced “My Boy Jack” (which premieres on PBS April 20th and arrives on DVD two days later) does just that. Based on the stage play written (and adapted) by David Haig, the film stars the veteran actor as popular English author Rudyard Kipling, a major supporter of Britain’s involvement in the first World War.
Surprisingly tame for a war drama, “My Boy Jack” is more about Rudyard Kipling’s struggle to accept the unknown fate of his child than the war itself. Moreover, because it’s based on a play, the story depends entirely on the performances of its cast. Haig, who also played the role of Kipling during the stage production, delivers a tour de force worthy of an Emmy nomination, while Radcliffe (who continues to break “Harry Potter” typecasting with each polar role) delivers a fine performance as the title character. Kim Cattrall, on the other hand, sticks out like a sore thumb, and though she doesn’t do a particularly terrible job as Kipling’s American wife, one really has to question the person in charge of casting the “Sex & the City” star in such a role. Nevertheless, “My Boy Jack” remains an adequate primetime option on a night when there’s normally nothing on. It’s short, intelligent, and features some great performances. Sure, it’s no “Saving Private Ryan,” but there’s just enough going for this war drama to justify recommending it to anyone who likes a little history with their entertainment. Filed under: TV and Movie DVDs and TV Dramas and External Entertainment and External TV Comments: 2 Comments Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
 Tonight’s episode (which was a little bit of a letdown after last week’s terrific return) had three major storylines: 1) Newly-single Michael looks for a date. (hilarious) Classic lines: Creed: “Then I’ll have two chairs. Only one to go.” Michael: “Would an average size rowboat hold her without capsizing?” Michael: “Hmmm. Wendy – a feisty redhead.” Jim: (on bended knee) “Hey, Pam. Will you…wait for me for one second while I tie my shoe?” That last one was a beauty. Filed under: TV and TV Comedies and The Office and External Entertainment and External TV Comments: None Digg this! Add to Del.icio.us |
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