Don Rickles talks about his recent health problems and Reagan's second inaugural (almost).
Are inaugurals like that anymore? I've never seen anything that looks like that.
The special "One Night Only: An All-Star Comedy Tribute to Don Rickles” will air May 28th on Spike TV.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Tonight Show - The Drum Off
When Will Ferrell was told he looked like Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Will Ferrell replied that he WAS Chad Smith. Chad Smith was a character, he said. This sparked a feud that has lasted for weeks. But in the latest episode of The Tonight Show it was time to finally put an end to this feud with a good old-fashioned drum-off of epicness.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Conan - Norm Macdonald's Talk Show Audition
The always unpredictable Norm Macdonald has thrown his hat in the ring for the Late Late Show host job. Current host, Craig Ferguson, has announced his retirement at the end of the year.
In his recent appearance on Conan, he puts together a 1 minute audition tape:
The Late Late Show with Norm Macdonald? Seems unlikely but man, I'd watch that.
In his recent appearance on Conan, he puts together a 1 minute audition tape:
The Late Late Show with Norm Macdonald? Seems unlikely but man, I'd watch that.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Tonight Show - Lost Monologue Update: Still Lost
A few days ago I wrote a blog entry about how a recent Tonight Show monologue (5/13/14) had been removed from the online version of the show. Since that time, nothing has happened. Jimmy didn't mention the incident in the show, there was no post of facebook, twitter or any social networking site and the missing clip was not posted anywhere as far as I'm aware...
Speculation amongst fans was that the monologue had referenced Jay-Z's current 1 problem and had to be removed because it angered him. It's not a theory that makes much sense but it is a theory. Another fan has speculated that a song was used in the show with an exorbitant licensing fee. That, at least, sounds much more likely. But some of the same concerns remain: why didn't they just edit out the song, why throw out the whole segment? The whole thing is strange.
On a personal note, as someone who's seen every single Tonight Show but can't watch this monologue, does that mean the streak has ended? Can I say that I saw MOST of the episode so it still counts? That's probably what I'll do.
Speculation amongst fans was that the monologue had referenced Jay-Z's current 1 problem and had to be removed because it angered him. It's not a theory that makes much sense but it is a theory. Another fan has speculated that a song was used in the show with an exorbitant licensing fee. That, at least, sounds much more likely. But some of the same concerns remain: why didn't they just edit out the song, why throw out the whole segment? The whole thing is strange.
On a personal note, as someone who's seen every single Tonight Show but can't watch this monologue, does that mean the streak has ended? Can I say that I saw MOST of the episode so it still counts? That's probably what I'll do.
IMDB 250 - The Hunt (2012)
The Hunt (2012)
Lucas is a male teacher who lives alone and works at a kindergarten. He lives in a small small Danish town where everyone knows everyone else. One day a female student says that Lucas exposed himself to her. Could she be making it up? The head of the school suspects not: "I don't think children, not in that way." Lucas is sent home and the girl's parents are called in and told the story. The girl recants, says she made it all up but her parents assure her that it did happen - sometimes when memories are bad, we convince ourselves that we made it up. Lucas finds his life is changed forever - he's fired, ostracized from the community and eventually arrested.
This is Director Thomas Vinterberg's second movie in the IMDB 250 and both deal with sexual abuse. The first was "The Celebration" (1998).
As you'd expect, this isn't the kind of movie that makes for a great Friday evening. Or any evening. This movie is difficult to watch. It's harrowing material. But by no means does that mean it's a bad movie... far from it. It's a thoroughly realistic situation with authentic characters who act the way people sometimes act. Particularly when the stakes are so high and the accusations are so heinous.
7/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 381.
Lucas is a male teacher who lives alone and works at a kindergarten. He lives in a small small Danish town where everyone knows everyone else. One day a female student says that Lucas exposed himself to her. Could she be making it up? The head of the school suspects not: "I don't think children, not in that way." Lucas is sent home and the girl's parents are called in and told the story. The girl recants, says she made it all up but her parents assure her that it did happen - sometimes when memories are bad, we convince ourselves that we made it up. Lucas finds his life is changed forever - he's fired, ostracized from the community and eventually arrested.
This is Director Thomas Vinterberg's second movie in the IMDB 250 and both deal with sexual abuse. The first was "The Celebration" (1998).
As you'd expect, this isn't the kind of movie that makes for a great Friday evening. Or any evening. This movie is difficult to watch. It's harrowing material. But by no means does that mean it's a bad movie... far from it. It's a thoroughly realistic situation with authentic characters who act the way people sometimes act. Particularly when the stakes are so high and the accusations are so heinous.
7/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 381.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
P&S - Casey Kasem is Missing
I love Steve's Casey Kasem impression. I can't get enough of it. Recently it was revealed that Casey Kasem may be on a Native American reservation and it lead to a short tirade.
The pre-requisite to any Steve bit on Kasem is knowing this audio (warning: language):
And this is the new result:
The pre-requisite to any Steve bit on Kasem is knowing this audio (warning: language):
And this is the new result:
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Late Night - Second Chance Theatre
Last night Late Night aired the first truly innovative segment in the Seth Meyers era. It's called "Second Chance Theatre".
It works like this: Seth Meyers was, for a long time, the headwriter at Saturday Night Live and in his tenure there he had the job of deciding which skits work and which don't in order to determine what gets into the actual show. There were quite a few times where a writer was SURE that a skit was funny but Seth disagreed and vetoed it. Now that he has his own show, he's inviting various cast members back to actually perform their rejected sketches and give them a chance to convince the audience that what they wrote actually had merit.
The first episode of Second Chance Theater is Will Forte's sketch "Jennjamin Franklin". I'm not embedding it, if you want to see it it's here, but I'm not going to post it directly because it's actually more disturbing than funny. But what I did enjoy much more is the "after show" where the creators discuss the sketch and how they thought it went.
Turns out I'm not going to embed that video either because hulu is broken. You can watch it here.
It works like this: Seth Meyers was, for a long time, the headwriter at Saturday Night Live and in his tenure there he had the job of deciding which skits work and which don't in order to determine what gets into the actual show. There were quite a few times where a writer was SURE that a skit was funny but Seth disagreed and vetoed it. Now that he has his own show, he's inviting various cast members back to actually perform their rejected sketches and give them a chance to convince the audience that what they wrote actually had merit.
The first episode of Second Chance Theater is Will Forte's sketch "Jennjamin Franklin". I'm not embedding it, if you want to see it it's here, but I'm not going to post it directly because it's actually more disturbing than funny. But what I did enjoy much more is the "after show" where the creators discuss the sketch and how they thought it went.
Turns out I'm not going to embed that video either because hulu is broken. You can watch it here.
Tonight Show - The Lost Monologue
A funny thing happens if you go to hulu and watch the latest episode (the 5/13/14 episode) of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon... the show starts, the band plays, Jimmy comes out and the video cuts to the band playing again. The latest episode on hulu edits out the monologue completely. If you go to the video on nbc.com, it's the same thing.
Lately the show has been uploading monologues to youtube. It's missing from there as well.
Twitter is abuzz with questions and conspiracies. Well, not really but some people are wondering. One theory is that the monologue addresses the Jay-Z surveillance video and this has upset Jay-Z. Hmm, seems pretty vague and pretty unlikely. Everyone's talking about the Jay-Z thing so why would this show be any different? Also, why not just excise that one section and leave the rest intact? But, as no one has a clue at this point, I suppose that theory is as good as any.
The full monologue did air on television and so some viewers did see it, it's just gone from the online sources. Odd.
Lately the show has been uploading monologues to youtube. It's missing from there as well.
Twitter is abuzz with questions and conspiracies. Well, not really but some people are wondering. One theory is that the monologue addresses the Jay-Z surveillance video and this has upset Jay-Z. Hmm, seems pretty vague and pretty unlikely. Everyone's talking about the Jay-Z thing so why would this show be any different? Also, why not just excise that one section and leave the rest intact? But, as no one has a clue at this point, I suppose that theory is as good as any.
The full monologue did air on television and so some viewers did see it, it's just gone from the online sources. Odd.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Tonight Show - Best Show Ever?
It really probably isn't the best show ever. It's really just a catchy title. I should probably change it. Of course, that would take work.
This is a post that's a bit different from the norm. Yesterday's Tonight Show was significant for the lineup of guests it contained. The three guests were Louis C.K., Jack White and Neil Young. It doesn't get much better than that.
Watch the full episode here. If you don't want to watch the whole show and are looking for the one "must-watch" segment, it's the musical performance where Neil Young performs "Crazy" in a recording booth. Why is Neil Young recording in a booth? They explain that in the show but you just said you didn't have time for that! Good grief.
This is a post that's a bit different from the norm. Yesterday's Tonight Show was significant for the lineup of guests it contained. The three guests were Louis C.K., Jack White and Neil Young. It doesn't get much better than that.
Watch the full episode here. If you don't want to watch the whole show and are looking for the one "must-watch" segment, it's the musical performance where Neil Young performs "Crazy" in a recording booth. Why is Neil Young recording in a booth? They explain that in the show but you just said you didn't have time for that! Good grief.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Tonight Show - Word Sneak with Bryan Cranston
Jimmy and Bryan Cranston play "Word Sneak", a game where they are given a list of words that they have to subtly insert into their conversation. Their subtlety needs work but it's fun.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Movie Review: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
This is a slasher movie. And like many slasher movies, it begins with a group of sexy teens headed (unescorted by an adult) to a lake house. They have beer, bros and music and it's time to party. There is a legend that a group of teens was murdered at this very spot years earlier but that's not a big worry.... and there are a couple of creepy "mountain man" locals who seem to be staring and carrying scythes but no matter.
But this is where the movie gets interesting.
The movie steps back from the main college kid plot and follows the creepy locals to explore their perspective. It might be, we start to suspect, that they're actually fairly normal people. In fact, they might be pretty nice guys once you get to know them. I don't know, could it be, perhaps, that this whole "psycho killer" "mass murderer" thing is just one big misunderstanding? What if we sat down with the "slashers", had some chamomile tea and talked things over?
"Tucker & Dale vs. Evil" is an extremely clever turn on the slasher genre and a very funny comedy. Very much in the vein of "Shaun of the Dead" and certainly "The Cabin in the Woods". It's available now on Netflix Instant and definitely worth checking out.
7/10.
This is a slasher movie. And like many slasher movies, it begins with a group of sexy teens headed (unescorted by an adult) to a lake house. They have beer, bros and music and it's time to party. There is a legend that a group of teens was murdered at this very spot years earlier but that's not a big worry.... and there are a couple of creepy "mountain man" locals who seem to be staring and carrying scythes but no matter.
But this is where the movie gets interesting.
The movie steps back from the main college kid plot and follows the creepy locals to explore their perspective. It might be, we start to suspect, that they're actually fairly normal people. In fact, they might be pretty nice guys once you get to know them. I don't know, could it be, perhaps, that this whole "psycho killer" "mass murderer" thing is just one big misunderstanding? What if we sat down with the "slashers", had some chamomile tea and talked things over?
"Tucker & Dale vs. Evil" is an extremely clever turn on the slasher genre and a very funny comedy. Very much in the vein of "Shaun of the Dead" and certainly "The Cabin in the Woods". It's available now on Netflix Instant and definitely worth checking out.
7/10.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Conan - WikiBear
Conan unveils the new teddy bear for children that actively answers kids' questions by looking up the answers on Wikipedia.
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