Triumph At The GCAs

Recently Triumph visited the Golden Collar Awards. In case you didn't know, (and you definitely shouldn't) the Golden Collar Awards is an Oscar-type ceremony that gives awards to animals. Yeah.

Here's the video:

NBA Jam / Pearl Jam

In yet another surprise performance, Pearl Jam stopped by Late Night to perform for no particular reason whatsoever.

Watching it live, I wasn't that impressed due to the fact that most of the lyrics were unintelligible. Listening to it now, with headphones, it's much better.

Cocoa

Lately Conan's been testing a new spin-off show and it just may be a hit. Following the success of the Puppy Bowl, Conan's made his own version called "Puppy Conan". That show now has its own spin-off "Hamster Conan" as seen in this clip.

Conan keeps promising that they'll do a real show from the "Puppy Conan" set at some point. I hope it happens because it's so lifelike, it's possible to trick yourself into thinking that he and Andy are giants. It's a great mind bender.

Conan O'Brien Came and Hit the Streets

Conan and one of his writers Deon Cole have lunch in an Inglewood "Soul Food" restaurant:

This segment is quite similar to an older segment where he and Al Sharpton visited a "Soul Food" restaurant in Harlem. Conan's quote was something like, "That's why they call it 'soul food' - because after eating it your soul will leave your body."

Super Bowl of Ties

The tradition is this: without a rooting interest in either team, spend the Super Bowl engaging in activities that are very un-Super-Bowl-ish (see: 2011, 2010). This year? A "Family Ties" marathon, babay!

Now, "Growing Pains" and "Family Ties" aired around the same time and were pretty similar in many respects. And although I've never seen a survey done, I'd guess that most people's favorite show was "Growing Pains". While I enjoyed both shows, I always preferred "Family Ties". "Growing Pains" was more purely comical, which is fine, but "Family Ties" had real heart - tackling head-on the important issues of the day. Plus, I'd rather watch Michael J. Fox and Meredith Baxter than anyone on the other show. Of course, "Growing Pains" had a character named "Boner" so it's not an entirely cut and dry issue.

So, get a spoon and some ice cream, it's time to run it down....

S01 E03: "I Know Jennifer's Boyfriend" - Jennifer becomes friends with a boy but after being teased and bullied, has second thoughts. Good, we're easing into things slowly with some standard 80's sitcom fare. Fair enough.

S01 E04: "Summer of '82" - A college girl appreciates Alex's economic views and sleeps with him. When she doesn't want a serious relationship, Alex feels cheap. Wow, that got out of hand quickly. It jumped up a notch, didn't it? Only episode 4 and already 17 year old Alex had pre-marital sex. I was NOT expecting that. We got 7 seasons to go, writers, pace yourselves. Save something in the tank for Season 7.

S01 E05: "I Never Killed for My Father" - OK, we tackled pretty heady stuff in the last episode. It's time to break up the seriousness with some comedic relief. Steven's (the dad's) father makes a visit and reveals he's going to die soon and there's nothing the doctor's can do.

S01 E06: "Give Your Uncle Arthur a Kiss" - With the fluff out of the way, it's back to serious mode. When a friend of the family, known as "Uncle Arthur", makes a pass at Jennifer, it leaves her hurt and confused. I can't believe my parents let me watch this show. "Family Ties" is not for the weak. Geeeeez. Let's move on.

S01 E07: "Big Brother is Watching" - An examination of both the role of a free press in exposing governmental corruption and the moral dilemma of whether truth should be sacrificed in the name of privacy to protect "the little fish".

S01 E08: "No Nukes is Good Nukes" - The Keaton family debates the topic of nuclear proliferation. When the parents' anti-nuclear weapon demonstration lands them in jail, will it ruin Thanksgiving dinner? Here's the thing. Regardless of your views on nuclear weapons (for or against), don't schedule a protest on Thanksgiving Day, please. That's just poor planning. It's just that kind of poor leadership from the left that makes me suspect a second term for Ronald Reagan is inevitable.

S01 E09: "Death of a Grocer" - Cue another fatal disease! Actually, despite what the title would have you believe, no one actually dies. Alex ditches his job at a friendly "mom and pop" grocery store to work at the monster corporation supermarket but soon regrets this decision. Unfortunately, I was fooled by the title and just waiting for the kindly old man to keel over at every turn. Then with one minute to go in the episode, he decides to close the store early to watch the sunset and I'm thinking, "Oh, here it is." but credits roll instead.

And that's it. We shared some laughs. We shared tears. We made cocoa in the middle of the night. dWe're all better people.

Observations

We all think of 80's sitcoms as fluffy bubble gum laughs of non-material saccharin frivolity. Even the "very special episodes", the thinking goes, were tackling the "tough" topics of littering or poor clock management. With just the first few episodes of "Family Ties" as proof, this notion could not be further from the truth. The key though is to be implicit not explicit. You gotta disguise everything using code. Here are some examples:

Elyse: Steven, what do you think your father would like with dinner - beer or wine?

Steven: Well definitely beer, Elyse. You know how my father feels about wine... it's OK for women and interior decorators.

"Women and interior decorators". Has anyone ever used this phrase ever? Still, message received.

Here's how Alex informs his father that he's had sex:

Alex: Well, you know what you think might have happened?

Steven: [Nods nervously].

Alex: That's what happened.

Clever. He says it but he doesn't actually say it.

See, apparently any taboo topic that everyone's covering these days could be an episode of "Family Ties", you just gotta be euphemistic. I didn't know that. I guess they were more 90's than 50's after all. At least, "Family Ties" was. I haven't revisited other shows of the era.

As an aside, I noticed that a poster hanging in the Keaton's kitchen is a concert poster for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Those crazy hippies.

And that's it.

Sha Na Na Naaaaaaaa.

Steve Merchant on Letterman

Steve Merchant, co-writer, co-director of "The Office" appeared on the Late Show Thursday and talked about being tall.

Steve's on to promote his new stand-up tour as well as the series "Life's Too Short". As someone who's seen "Life's Too Short", I can say it is awful. On the other hand, Steve's produced a new season of "An Idiot Abroad" (now airing on Science Channel) and that one IS a show that humans might enjoy.

30

Tonight marks David Letterman's 30th Anniversary of hosting a late night talk show. Dave hosted "Late Night" from Feb 1, 1982 to 1993 and will have hosted the "Late Show" from 1993 to Feb 1, 2012).

The show will celebrate the same way it always celebrates an anniversary - by having Bill Murray on. Or not. Bill Murray was the guest last night (1/31). Instead, tonight's guest will be Howard Stern. Must be some mix up with the mail. During the show, Regis Philbin refereed as Bill Murray kicked a field goal to the sound of bagpipes. For Letterman, that's called "Tuesday".

Dave's 30 years in late night will be celebrated without much fanfare - no special, no "best of" clip show, and no media blitz interviews. The one place it will probably be acknowledged is in tonight's show (probably the Top Ten and the monologue).

Almost all of the news stories about this event mention that, as of tonight, Letterman will be surpassing Johnny Carson who hosted "The Tonight Show" for 30 seasons. It's just another (albeit insignificant) indicator of just how unimportant "facts" and "research" are in today's media. Every news story just parrots every other news story.

In terms of number of days being a late night talk show host, Letterman has already surpassed Johnny Carson. Letterman has reached his exact 30th anniversary (minus 3 months for the transition from "Late Night" to "Late Show", the hiatus for his heart surgery, and the shingles hiatus). And while Carson hosted for 30 seasons, it was 29 years and 7 months in terms of the calendar.

In terms of number of episodes, more of the same. Carson was the host of "The Tonight Show" for 4,531 episodes. Letterman = 1,819 "Late Night" episodes + 3,614 "Late Show" episodes for a total of 5,433 episodes.

It's only in terms of total number of hours of television hosting that it becomes somewhat of a question mark. Johnny Carson's smaller number of episodes is counteracted by the fact that "The Tonight Show" ran 105 minutes per episode from 1962-1966 and 90 minutes per episode from 1967-1980. Letterman's entire run has been in the 60 and 62 minute eras. In order to come up with concrete numbers I'd have to break into the Museum of Television and Radio. As best I can calculate (rough estimates and round numbers though still putting way more effort and thought into it than is called for), it's close but, again, Letterman comes out on top. The difference being the large number of times Johnny had a guest-host (well over 600 episodes) vs. only a handful for Letterman (heart surgery hiatus, shingles hiatus).

By any measure of time, Letterman surpasses Carson tonight in no way whatsoever. It already happened. Thus ends this sports-like examination of late night comedy.

And congratulations on an unprecedented 10,957 days of late-night television hosting.

Jammin' On The One

The man, the myth, the legend, Bill Cosby was on Late Night last night. He's getting up in age, he's a little bit slower now, he's a bit more rambling. But Bill Cosby not at the top of his game, is still better than almost everyone else at the top of their's.

His walk-on music was, what I call, "Jammin' on the One" from the episode when the Cosby family met Stevie Wonder and helped him make a song using the magic of synthesizers. Awesome. Later, as they throw to commercial, the music is interstitial music from "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids".

Unfortunately, the interview is so long, the excerpt of it on hulu is not the full interview so I had to create a clip out of the full episode. So the video will expire in a few days.

A word of advice to anyone who books Bill Cosby on their show: don't bother booking any other guests. That's the show.

Blog Poster's Fire

John Parr recently remade his hit song "St. Elmo's Fire" to ride the recent Tim Tebow hub bub. But Conan reveals that this isn't the first time he's done it.

You just can't put "fire" behind anything.

Weekend Update Roundup

First, Nicholas Fehn is back with another insightful commentary. Nick is known for taking a sideways glance at the week's news and in these tumultuous times, it's his time to shine. This one is one of his best.

And next Drunk Uncle stops by to offer his views on the year just completed and the year ahead.

Philly Phriction: Fey Vs. Quest

I was unaware of a feud but apparently fellow Philadelphians Tina Fey and Questlove of The Roots have developed either a misunderstanding or a feud or both.

In last night's episode of Late Night, it was time to either squash it or settle it behind the Wawa.

On a personal note, I love Tina Fey's Philly. I could listen to that all day. I wish I could do one. I can do about a million different accents (more or less badly) but I've never been able to do a Philly accent. It's weird.

The Nog Hog Revealed

When Conan first saw it he was appalled. He used his Executive Powers to cancel the sketch immediately. But the audience overruled him and the sketch has aired.

All who are weak of heart, turn away now. This is the Nog Hog:

Don't blame me, I voted "No" on the poll. I am the 10 percent.

Merry Christmas

Conan participates in the office "secret Santa":


The return of Minty, the candy cane that fell on the ground:

Jay Thomas tells the famous Lone Ranger story (now enhanced with a dramatic reenactment):

Darlene Love performs "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)":

Merry Christmas.

Holiday Tips From Stephon

Stephon is back with his tips for tourists spending Christmas in New York City:



It seems Spud Webb is really in demand these days.

Classic Conan Callback, "Clutch Cargo" Confuses Crappy Crowd

THIS IS GONNA BE HUGE, CONAN. Like "Triumph" yet another classic bit has returned on Conan's new show. Again, I am baffled as to how the bit isn't intellectual property of NBC. It's wonderful but it's still puzzling.

Anyways, the classic piece returns and when such a Conan cornerstone unexpectedly comes back from the dead - after a hiatus of literally YEARS (I think) - I would have expected the audience to go crazy. I'd of expected the joy and surprise to overflow forcing the show to pause and wait for the 10 minute standing ovation to subside. Instead, the audience seems to not understand what's going on and, more than anything, they seemed confused.

Loved to see it. Hopefully it's back for good.

Conan - Spaderbating

Spaderbating? In this clip, Conan explains the new fad that's sweeping the 80's.

Head Swap! - Thanksgiving Edition

It's time once again for the smart, hip, biting satire that is ... Head Swap!

The Doors - Reading Rainbow

Underscoring the unpredictable nature of late night television, the Doors stopped by Late Night to reunite and perform live for the first time in four decades.

Legend has it that Jimmy Fallon asked them to change the lyric "I can go twice as high" to "I can go twice as far". Morrison initially agreed but, when it came time for the live performance, sang the taboo version. Jimmy was so angry, he vowed to never have them back.

Take Me Home... Take Me Away

This cover of Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight" is awesome. It's SO awesome that I've never made it through the whole thing. Is this a joke? Is it serious? Is the dad Neil Young? Why does his bullet wound have a fluorescent glow? If the set of notes contained in the original don't intersect with the set of notes in the cover, can it truly be said to be a cover? Have we reached the very limits of auto-tuning technology? Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one?!

Get caught up in the magic:

Triumph At Occupy Wall Street

In yet another return of a long time character, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is back to report on the situation at Occupy Wall Street.

I'm a little surprised that they're able to do this. It would seem to me that "Triumph" is part of the vast array of things they're not allowed to do on the new show because it's intellectual property of NBC.

I love that, in the beginning there was at least a semblance of keeping the "reality" of the skit - there was some effort made to show the puppet but not the arm controlling it. Now it's so big, they just don't care anymore.

Here's something the other "tour guides" won't tell you... there's a weird moment exactly at 8:26, Triumph is shown with an African American guy in a wizard costume. Could it be the same wizard from when Triumph insulted Star Wars fans (Blackwolf the Dragonmaster)?

I think it is! What in the what?!

Andy Across America

While others flew in a plane, Andy was forced to drive the entire journey from L.A. to New York. He brought along a camera crew to document the experience.

The video vividly relays the excitement mixed with the sleepy boredom, the adventure mixed with the mundanity of the giant undertaking. By the end, his experience of Philadelphia is to groggily force down a cheesesteak. I can't say I blame him. All in all though, I bet it would be pretty cool.

Conan O'brien: Pedicab Driver

Still in New York City, and having failed as a Chinese deliveryman, Conan drives people around in a pedicab.... with sexy results.

Jimmy Fallon on Conan

Jimmy Fallon was the first guest of Conan's during his New York stint. It's always fun when talk show worlds collide. This interview takes the normal amount of clock time yet it seems to go by in seconds. I think upwards of 3 topics are covered in ten minutes.

Conan in New York, Delivers Food

Conan's in New York for a very special week of shows. In this bit, he delivers Chinese food... poorly.

Bit + Andy = Awesome

In "Fan Corrections" viewers try to spot mistakes in the show. So far no criticism has held up against cross-examination. This routine bit is improved immensely by Andy Richter's contribution.

Steel Panther - Crossfire

In case you don't know Steel Panther are a tongue-in-cheek novelty 80's hair metal band. Like Spinal Tap, they stay in-character nearly all the time which blurs the line between a "fake" and "real" band. Some people don't even "get" that it's a joke.

I don't know much about them and I'm not on the lookout for a new hair band but I do know this: they've done a cover of the "Crossfire" theme and that needed to happen:

Conan (Back) On Late Night

For the first time Conan returns to "Late Night" and NBC.

When Conan took over as host, Letterman came on the show for a full interview. Not just a cameo. I wish he had done the same but I'd guess it's unlikely.

I hope we hear the rest of that Fall anecdote at some point.

Late Night - Radiohead

Last night Radiohead was the musical guest on "Late Night". I'm obviously a big fan but if there's a band out there that's capable of making more delicate and beautiful songs than this, please let me know, because I know of none...

Andy Rooney's Lost His Mind, Has Retired

After 33 years after he completely lost his mind, Andy Rooney has finally retired from "60 Minutes". Some people say - though I don't know - that he had valid points for at least the first three years or so. Regardless, I can say unequivocally, from first-hand experience, that he hasn't had a good point in the past 22 years.

But despite retiring, old habits die hard:

Eye In The Sky

Once in a while a song will come on the radio that you haven't heard in a long time and it's the perfect song in that moment. I had that today.

The sound of this song = me on this day.

Top Gun Auditions

The 25th Anniversary Edition of the "Top Gun" DVD features screen test footage heretofore unseen by the general public. You can see it here for the first time:

If you didn't see the season premiere of SNL last week, it's probably worth checking out. In terms of audience reaction, it was probably the strongest episode I've ever seen. In all episodes of SNL there are at least one or two clunkers. It just happens. This episode - every single sketch the audience was howling with laughter. It's probably and anomaly but who knows, perhaps they've hit a stride of some sort.

Pink Floyd Week: Pearl Jam - "Mother"

Pearl Jam raps up Pink Floyd Week with a cover of "Mother". Again, not thrilled with the song choice but the execution is really good:

Nick Thune vs. Andy Richter

After "The Snub Heard Around the World" a new documentary seeks to shed light on the Nick Thune / Andy Richter cold war. The trailer is out and it looks interesting:

Nick and Andy: Coming Soon from Nick Thune

Pink Floyd Week: MGMT - "Lucifer Sam"

Going back to the old school, MGMT perform "Lucifer Sam" on Late Night:

I was kind of wondering if someone would do a cover from the psychedelic phase. Not really familiar with MGMT (or Management as I call them) but they do a good job.

Pink Floyd Week: Roger Waters, Foo Fighters - In The Flesh

Last night Roger Waters joined the Foo Fighters to perform "In The Flesh" as Pink Floyd week continues. Great pairing, I'd like to see other songs. They need more guitars though.

Pink Floyd Week: The Shins - Breathe

It's Pink Floyd Week all this week on the Late Nights with Jim Fallon. Monday they started with The Shins performing "Breathe".

Cinematic Science: Selleck's 'Stache

Recent research has now proven that all movies are improved by Tom Selleck's moustache. It's a force to be reckoned with! Accept it before it destroys you!

Best Friends No More

Jimmy and Stephen Colbert agreed to be Best Friends for Six Months but just recently the six month friend lease expired. In this segment, Jimmy and Stephen contemplate where to go from here...

I was trying to remember where "Somewhere Out There" first appeared. I remembered it was a Disney-like film from way back but which one? It's from "An American Tail". That's way back there.

According to wikipedia, it was co-written by James Horner. There's kind of an odd bit o' trivia. Also according to wikipedia, this clip is part of a "multi-episode arc". Let's hope they find a hatch.

Ricky Crashes the Monologue

Yesterday's monologue on Late Night saw a cameo by an unexpected star:

The Third Guest

For two weeks Conan has scheduled 4 guests every night and made absolutely no effort to try and fit them all in. Every night, after the musical guest, Conan's saying, "My apolologies to (third guest) - we ran out of time." Meanwhile, I'm wondering what they were thinking.

I wasn't paying much attention to the opening credits but the situation becomes much clearer when you do. Here's the run down of the third guests for the last two weeks:

8/18 - Ghost Doctor Steve Zampanides

8/17 - Sandwich King of Cincinnati Steve Zampanides

8/16 - Shark Whisperer Steve Zampanides

8/15 - Gargling Expert Steve Zampanides

8/11 - Animal Impressionist Steve Zampanides

8/10 - Billionaire Matchmaker Steve Zampanides

8/09 - Font Expert Steve Zampanides

8/08 - Hot-Sauce Expert Steve Zampanides

Slow Jam The News: Debt Ceiling Edition

It's a serious issue, it's only getting worse, and it deserves to be slow jammed.

Lost: Deleted Scene

Recently at some "Comic Book-style Convention" the creators of Lost revealed a "Deleted" scene. Frankly, I think a deleted scene from "Lost" should be a "Lost 'Lost' scene". But this lost "Lost" scene was found.

Anyways I thought it was a pretty good "Lost" find...

Losrt

Local Commercials: The Next Generation

Who doesn't love crappy, low-budget local commercials? I know I probably like them more than most. With the rhythm of bad editing, the stilted acting, and the strange "character" spokespeople, bad commercials get deep into your head like a catchy song. Not to mention that one of the other things that bad commercials may also have IS bad songs. You watch it once and it's stupid. You see it again and you start picking up on things. You see it 200 hundred times and it's an addiction. The commercial's in your blood stream and you need your fix. Sometimes I still quote word-for-word the 80s-style commercials that aired during reruns of "Gilligan's Island" when I was a kid. The large majority of which are the "Call the accident lawyers today" and "Join truck driving school" varieties.

It was therefore a great pleasure and a great surprise to see that the art form is not dead and has been taken into the next millennium through the magic of youtube.

Local Commercial Kings, Rhett and Link discuss their company which continues the tradition:

OH, IT LOOKS GOOD!

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, EhEh EhEh

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011)

In Conan mythology the most important period is the murky, uncertain confusion after "The Tonight Show" ended and "Conan" began. Like European history between WWI and WWII it overlaps the aftermath of one cataclysmic event with the build up towards another. It's also the period of which we know least about, as Conan was legally prohibited from appearing on television. It came as quite a shock, then, to learn that despite the TV ban, cameras were rolling the whole time.

"Conan Can't Stop" is a new "fly on the wall" documentary that shows us exactly this sliver of time. As it begins, Conan is still reeling from losing "The Tonight Show" whilst preparing to go on a 2 month, 30 city tour of live venues. We get to go inside his life, inside his home and inside his mind. "I AM angry", Conan says, contradicting most of what he's said publicly, "I'm REALLY angry at times. I'm trying not to be but I'm really, really angry about - and I just have to be honest - I'm really angry about the way I was treated..." A few minutes later we get to witness Conan as he discovers the power of social media. Conan is shown sending a single tweet about his tour and within minutes he's informed that many cities have already sold out.

This first half hour is documentary gold. It's everything you want, and more - a real insight into the man and the events. It's also very funny. It's often been said (ok, by me) that the funniest parts of Conan's talk show(s) are not the monologue, the guests, the written bits, etc. The funniest thing Conan can do is film a remote where he goes some place and reacts spontaneously with real people. In this sense, the documentary is kind of a marathon-length film chunk of just that. It's high-octane Conan improv. Early on Conan realizes his lunch order is incorrect:

C: "I'm going to have to [fire you] over this."

Assistant: "I think the restaurant just messed up because she--"

C: "Well, either way you're losing your job over this."

Assistant: "I really, really do not want to lose my job."

C: "That's what people who lose their job say."

But as the tour gets under way and continues week after week, the film quickly devolves into the same tour documentary that we've all seen too many times. The tour is emotionally draining, the travel is exhausing, every gig runs into the next, every city is the same, he misses his family, he needs a day off but can't get one, and so on and so forth. This is the kind of material that's been retread endlessly and not with entertaining results. In fact it's shocking how closely it resembles a rockumentary. When highlights from the various performances are shown, they are too often musical performances. And not even comedic songs or parody songs, they're old rock standards. I don't really have a problem watching Conan and his band cover "Rock This Town", as such (and it's quite nice to see Conan play "The Weight"), but after the excellence of the first half hour you're very aware that the film is fully capable of so much more. It drags a bit.

To say that the documentary depicts Conan "warts and all" would be very cliched and also very true. The main element of Conan's humor off-camera, biting sarcasm, is also almost entirely absent on his show. Fans who haven't seen the "off-air" side of him may misunderstand but it's explained in the film as a safe way to release negative emotions. That's all well and good and in fact, as in the conversation above, it provides many of the funnier moments. But as Conan dances on the fine line between a sharp jab and geniuine nastiness, he's shown crossing it as well. Scenes where the TV Conan meets and greets fans, signing autographs and humbly thanking them for their support are followed by scenes of Conan (out of the public eye) pettily whining that he shouldn't have to do it. Later, one of the backup singers who is touring with him, wants him to meet her family. He happily and graciously meets them and as soon as they're gone he's outraged that his time is being wasted. I recognize that when cameras follow anyone around for a lengthy amount of time, they're going to find something bad and I don't expect him to be anything but human but it is an unpleasant glimpse - it shows him as disingenuous and self-centered.

Overall, the first half hour and the final few minutes are excellent and are enough to compensate for a weak hour in the middle. But regardless of the general quality of the film, if you're a Conan fan, it's absolutely required viewing. While there is much here which we've seen before, there is also an unequaled, unrivaled glimpse into events of which we know little. In these latter moments, we get to examine Conan O'brien, the man, up-close, uncensored and in real life. The only hitch is that sometimes, up close, you don't like everything you see.

6/10.

Oh, It Looks Goood!

Conan has been doing these "Captain America: World Police" or whatever preview skits for a while now and it's so stupid it makes me laugh every time.

Part of the humor is that they play the same "Entertainment Tonight" clip EVERY SINGLE TIME. It appears they've finally discovered the humor there. And boy, have they!

I just made a post. OH, IT LOOKS GOOD!

John Kruk on Letterman

These old clips are amazing. In just a few decades the entire nature of being a professional athlete has undergone quite a transformation as these clips will show. John Kruk comes on Letterman and talks about baseball with wit and brutal, brutal honesty. This is an interview where political correctness, pretension and ego do not exist.

It takes Krukker about 2 minutes to get warmed up but once he does, it's comedy gold.

Would it even be possible for an athlete to say these things today? I don't think so. The media would eat them alive and leave nothing but a bloody carcass.

Slightly less funny but even more insanely forthright is this interview. Going in reverse chronological order, this one's from 1992:

There's no one like this any more.

Mep Mep Mep

It's "Video Game Week" on "Late Night" which means that every night they have a demo or an early look at some eagerly anticipated video game. I really couldn't give a bit. I'm so out of touch; all the giant video game franchises are just names to me, I don't know what any of it is about.

But to mark the occasion they've created a special 8-bit opening which is awesome:

Now that's a TKO from Tokyo.

The Ambiguously Gay Duo

TAGD IS BACK!!! I don't know how or why the skit was resurrected but I don't care. It's a classic cartoon and I've loved it ever since I first saw it on The Dana Carvey Show. That's right - it started on The Dana Carvey Show. Someday I should make a post about that show.

Anyways, it's back and aired on SNL (as well as Late Night). Here it is:

Review: I don't like the changing of Ace and Gary's voices. Colbert and Carrell had the perfect voices for the pair. But it's much more onerous to play multiple parts (as they do) in live action so it's not bad. I could identify Ed Helms, Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrell as the villains but I was stumped on the Lizard Man. Turns out it's current SNL cast member Fred Armisan.

Sports Show - Roller Derby

Lately I've been enjoying "Sports Show with Norm MacDonald". It's not a talk show (which is good, they're too many of them) it's a kind of comedy show. It's basically "Weekend Update" but about sports.

A recurring segment is sending Norm's nephew Kyle out to a location to report on some event. Here's the latest one where Kyle visits the Roller Derby. I dare say "Kyle" is the master of the awkward interview.

[Original Link Broken]

Bob Marley Week

Recently Late Night with Jimmy Fallon celebrated Bob Marley Week on the show. Ever day of the week, a special musical guest was on to cover a Bob Marley song.

Of all of them, this one stood out as excellent. It's Chris Cornell covering "Redemption Song":