Addictive Television

It's 3 Am and I'm still up because I just watched the entire first season of "Celebrity Rehab" in one night. At first I was just going to watch one episode but that lead to another and another and I didn't know how to stop. It's almost like a... it's like a strong undeniable, uncontrollable impending urge.. thingey. Not sure about the exact term or how to stop it.

My comical (was it though?) lead-in should not obscure the fact that there is NOTHING funny about the show or the subject matter. And it really throws the usual preconceptions down the drain. In almost any other context, this kind of a group of "celebrities" given on a "reality show", is the kind of thing that you would not only avoid watching but wish that the TV station broadcasting the show gets bombed by Albanian submarines. But instead they're stripped down and seen as real people, real people with problems, imperfect human beings that you root for and, actually care for about as much as you can care for a person behind the wall of the television screen. At least I did. Anyways, no time for any more analysis. It's 3:40 and I have work tomorrow.

Extremely interesting, compelling and emotional show.

A Phoenix Rising From The Awkwardness

Big Late Show news. From their website:

"Is Joaquin Phoenix here?

That's the question everyone was asking after his must-see television appearance with Dave in 2009 that is now part of the upcoming documentary, "I'm Still Here."

On Wednesday, September 22nd, Joaquin returns to the LATE SHOW for his first television appearance since the incident. In anticipation of Joaquin's return, the LATE SHOW will rebroadcast his original appearance on Thursday, September 16th."

This is just the latest "First Interview Since..." interview - a line that includes the return of Crispin Glover after his drug-induced craziness, return of Madonna after her profanity-laced sound off and the return of Farrah Fawcett after her trip to space.

It ought to be interesting to hear the explanation as to whether it was all an act. My guess is he'll dodge the issue as much as possible in order to get people to watch the documentary that he's promoting. Crispin Glover kind of did the same thing. To this day, he refuses to say whether his interview was just an act because that would spoil the post-modern performance art integrity of the blah blah blah... I stopped listening after a while.

Classic Roots Choice #21

Jon Glaser was on Late Night recently and the Roots played him on like so:

[Video Removed]

And people in the know WERE cracking up. Jon Glaser now has his own show but he started out as a writer for Conan O'Brien. During his time there he performed in a comedy trio known as "The Slipnutz". I was going to explain the history of the trio but youtube actually pulls through on this one:

I'm always surprised to see the footage of Slipknot fans actually booing The Slipnutz - it's not like Slipknot fans to have bad taste. My best guess for the reason is this: The Slipnutz weren't wearing masks. The entertainment value of any music is increased 100 fold when the musicians wear masks (every Slipknot fan knows this).

Jon Glaser must of learned this lesson, for in his new show, he wears a mask and that fact causes the show to be different and better than all the other shows. It's called "Delocated" and it airs on Adult Swim.

An Idiot Abroad Episode 0

The zeroeth episode of the new series "An Idiot Abroad" starring Karl Pilkington has been posted online. The show chronicles Karl Pilkington ("a shaved monkey") as he travels the globe and experiences the Seven Wonders of the World.

Sorry for the screen width cut off, just double click to watch it on youtube. Warning: NSFW.

9/02/10

Yeah, that's today's date. I'm celebrating by exuding the kind of "rebellious" attitude that the Walshes despise.

Miscellaneous Web Videos

Apparently filming a propeller with a certain type of cell phone yields this kind of stroboscopic effect:

Conan announces the title of his new show (premiering Nov. 8th):

Jimmy Fallon does 10 second impressions (watching his show, it's struck me how many various impressions he does (not just comedians) yet you never think of him as an impressionist):

Note to self: never get Sharon Osbourne to count 10 seconds. She doesn't factor in pauses for audience applause. It's not an everyday problem though probably. On the plus side, his Steven Wright joke is such a perfect Steven Wright joke. Though he probably wrote it beforehand.