Archive for the ‘Watching’ Category

I really don't see where anything more need be said.

Tonight the surviving members of Monty Python's Flyng Circus reunited on the stage at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York (with a cardboard cutout of the late Graham Chapman) to answer questions from the audience. Which they did, in one or two instances, but only when they couldn't ignore them outright, make up different questions entirely, or mock the questioners and each other. My only complaint is that it was too short, but it was great fun watching them crack each other up.

"Heat Wave," best-selling mystery author Richard Castle's eagerly awaited new book (the first about his new character, Nikki Heat) hit bookstores today!

If you have no idea who best-selling mystery author Richard Castle is, you haven't been watching ABC's "Castle" starring Nathan Fillion. And if you haven't, shame on you. Aside from the fact that Fillion is in it, "Castle" is a refreshing change from the endlessly intense police procedurals and CSI: Whatevers that load up the screen. "Castle" is attitude-TV, the latest progeny of the Rockford Files-Columbo-Murder She Wrote school of detective shows where the actual crime is secondary to watching the stars be wiseasses at each other as they solve it.

Castle is an internationally famous mystery writer who has killed off his main character and needs a new idea. Enter NYPD Detective Kate Beckett, working on a case in which the murder scenes resemble scenes from his books. Castle discovers his new muse — hard-as-nails, intelligent, beautiful Beckett — and uses his pull with the mayor to  hang around the department for "research." Just about everyone on the show shines, but if nothing else watch it for Fillion's charm and the novelty of finally seeing him on a show in its second season.

Through the first season we saw newly-inspired Castle write his new book, "Heat Wave." And then ABC and Hyperion Books actually published the thing, which presents a problem.

We've been told, over and over, that he's a world-class writer, right? So there's a certain level of expectation for the book. Can we, reading it, believe that a best-selling writer wrote it?

The answer is yes, but that writer is Dan Brown.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you saw the Emmys last night, along with Neil Patrick Harris' amazing performance as the host and the revamped show that finally seemed to start treating awards ceremonies the way they should all be treated — with respect, humor, and John Hodgman providing color commentary– you also saw the first time Dr. Horrible ever appeared on broadcast television. At least, outside of a news show reporting on the death of TV.

I almost missed the damn thing.

It was the accountancy part! If there was ever a safe time to hit the bathroom, it should have been the accountancy part! But no, NPH had to make it all "fun" and "entertaining," as he did throughout the rest of the show. There were some clunkers — the fan getting lousy seats got old even before she was on the screen, the presenter banter was only slightly better overall, and the reality show montage and the ultra-violent Family Guy clip just forcibly reminded me why I don't watch reality shows or Family Guy. (Isn't Dirty Jobs a reality show? Why isn't Mike Rowe winning Emmys?) But overall this was the most entertaining Emmys broadcast I've seen in years. Light-hearted, respectful, and it combined the genres to make the show move faster (something I, ahem, suggested last year).

The fans seemed to agree: despite predictable winners and competition from the Giants/Cowboys game, the 61st Emmys saw a million-person jump in ratings from last year.

I think it was Dr. Horrible's doing. Somehow his evil plan backfired and saved the industry. And in recognition of that, and of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog winning its own Emmy, I'm giving one away. Post a comment below and tomorrow night at 9 pm EST I'll pull a name at random and send that winner a Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog DVD, just for the hell of it.

One entry per person, must be 18 to win, must be a mailing address in the U.S. or Canada (unless you're willing to cover shipping charges). Begin!

Note: Winning entry has been drawn,. will announce after I get a response from the winner I just e-mailed.

I know this is old news already, but I just had to post the acceptance speech:

The first hint I ever had that the funny things people said on TV were actually written by someone besides the actors was from watching M*A*S*H. This was a big deal for a 11-year-old.

Hawkeye: Looks like a pregnant bagpipe.
Trapper: Do bagpipes get pregnant?
Hawkeye: Sure they do, right after they make those funny sounds.

(I learned a lot of things from M*A*S*H, actually. I taught myself how to juggle after watching Hawkeye do it. I still know the closing stanzas of "Gunga Din" by heart. I'm pretty sure I could perform an emergency tracheotomy if I had to, and had a ballpoint handy. And I learned that good guys could make fun of religion — or, rather, religious people — and still be good guys.)

Frank: What are you doing there?!
Hawkeye: I just wanted to borrow your Bible, Frank.
Frank: Since when are you interested in the Bible?
Trapper: I peeked at the end, Frank. The Devil did it.

I even recorded the shows, although in those pre-DVR, pre-VCR days that meant me holding a 4-lb tape recorder and a microphone the size of a zucchini up to the TV speaker and hoping for the best. I had boxes of tapes, all duly labeled with episode names and season, and I listened to them over and over in the hopes of capturing that amazing rhythm of puns and snakebite-fast comebacks and just hilarious lines that served as my inspiration for what I wanted to be when I grew up.

A wiseass.

Also  a writer, although I didn't know that yet. It took a few years of steadily watching, and memorizing entire scenes to perform for my friends at school the next day, before I made the connection to the names in the opening credits. More specifically, I noticed that all my favorite episodes had "Larry Gelbart" on them. In the first four years, Gelbart wrote 97 episodes and had his hand in all the rest, sometimes up to his shoulder. Were Hawkeye and Trapper funnier when this guy was behind them, whispering into their ears? Was I not necessarily a M*A*S*H fan as much as a Larry Gelbart fan? OK, it wasn't exactly a Helen Keller "water!" moment, but it was a big thing for pre-pubescent me.

Frank: Colonel, you are not listening to me!
Henry: Uh, you'll have to speak a little louder, Frank. I'm not listening to you.

Of course most of the rest of the series was also brilliant and funny and groundbreaking, but never again quite in the same way for me. Gelbart and fellow producer Gene Reynolds and the other writers and directors and the cast had clearly been out to shake up television, push the boundaries, see what they could get away with. Language. Humor mixed with the horror of inhumanity. Characters with strengths and weaknesses and real changes that were still there the next episode. Episodes from the POV of a patient, episodes in letter form. Ending an episode of a  comedy sitcom with the devastatingly emotional blow of the death of a beloved main character, with no closing punch line to soften the blow. I was spoiled for quality television at a very early age and it's stayed with me.

So did the habit of obsessing over a show beyond what normal people would consider, well, normal. Even in high school when the show was slowing down I went for M*A*S*H bowling afternoons every week with my friends Eric Marle and David Story and Dan Schwieg, all of us in olive drab shirts and dog tags, swigging Sprite in martini glasses and keeping a poker game going in between our turns. But even then we still tended to gravitate toward the earlier shows when we quoted lines  (I was always Trapper).

It cheered me up no end when I bought the DVD sets and got both my sons completely hooked on the show. Finally they starting getting my references! Unfortunately that also meant they started realizing their funny dad didn't write all his own material, either…

BJ: Minding my own business is a full-time job. In my spare time, it's my hobby. I can't divide myself emotionally. I couldn't break my word to Peg, and not because God will send me to Hell without an electric fan or because it's not the right thing to do. I simply don't want to.
Hawkeye: You've got a lot to learn about messing up your life.

Larry Gelbart had a gift for humor and emotion that I envy still. Yes, yes, he worked for Sid Caesar and co-wrote Tootsie and Oh God! and co-wrote the book for A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and many other notable accomplishments, but mostly he showed me (and the world) how to laugh, and he showed me what television was capable of. I am very glad tonight that I got the chance to tell him what his work meant to me; I wrote him a year back, as much of a gushing fanboy letter as I've ever seen, and while I'm sure his response was what he sent to everyone I still hope that my praise, added to the rest, cheered him up.

Gelbart died of cancer this morning at his home. He was 81.

Abyssinia, Larry.

Video: Season 3 – Episode 1: Expansion Time

The wait is over!

Well, actually for the members of the online megahit show The Guild the wait has just begun, as a huge new development in their lives arrives: the new expansion to their game.

"'The Spires of Dragonore!' New continent, new powers. Most importantly: new character hairstyles!"

But will it distract them from their problems? Last season Bladezz deleted Tinkerballa's character after she manipulated him, Codex got dumped by the hunky stuntman she liked and went to find Zaboo, who had apparently gotten over his crush on her with the help of the mouth of the stuntman's hottie roommate Riley, and Vork is… still Vork. Slaying goblins is starting to look a lot easier than all this real-life crap.

Episode one of the new season is now at MSN Video for your viewing pleasure (XBox Live gold members got it a week ago).  You can see it for free along with behind the scenes stuff, the Comic Con panel, the music video, and the previous episodes. But you really should order the Season One and Season Two DVDs for more stuff, commentaries, and because this sort of thing needs to be supported.

Weird Al continues his onslaught of song releases with "Ringtone," and a video made in collaboration with Current TV's "SuperNews":

Next Tuesday he'll be releasing "Internet Leaks," a downloadable mini-album of the five songs he's produced since his last album: his T.I. parody “Whatever You Like,” his Doors pastiche “Craigslist,” his Jungle Cruise homage “Skipper Dan,” his Charles Nelson Reilly tribute “CNR” and "Ringtone." Look for it at iTunes, Amazon, and the usual places. And they'll be on a physical CD when his next album comes out:

The songs on “Internet Leaks” will all show up again on my next full album release, whenever that is (I’m assuming next year sometime, but there’s no way to  be sure). Some people may say, “Why should I buy the ‘Internet Leaks’ tracks now when they’re going to be on your next album anyway?” Well, if all you’re interested in is the physical CD, and you don’t mind waiting a year or so… you probably SHOULDN’T buy the tracks now. Nobody’s forcing you to buy the songs twice – I just wanted to make the tracks available so everybody could enjoy them as early as possible.

By the way, if you DO purchase “Internet Leaks” now, you’ll be able to take advantage of iTunes’ “Complete My Album” function when the full album becomes available. You’ll be able to painlessly add the missing tracks, and the full purchase price of “Internet Leaks” will be deducted from the cost of the album.

The hot new music video from The Guild, written by net-heartthrob Felicia Day and Jed Whedon and performed by Day and the rest of the Guild cast members (with Maurissa Tancharoen dancing and singing backup vocals, I believe), hit the web today and immediately leveled up to #1 in the iTunes Music Videos and held firm. And good, because it's a great pop song in its own right that becomes more addictive the more you listen to it.

Besides, how cool is it that a largely home-made music video by a group of talented geeks pushed Taylor Swift to #2?

Watch it for free above, check out the lyrics here, buy the video at iTunes and get the MP3 from Amazon And get ready for season three of The Guild to start August 25th on Xbox Live and September 1rst on MSN/ZUNE.

Season two of Dollhouse begins September 25 on FOX, and to get ready for it WatchDollhouseWeek.com is gearing up for another communal watching of the first season.

Beginning on August 14, join fans around the world in watching two episodes of Dollhouse back-to-back every Friday, a six-week communal re-watch of Season One in its entirety.

If you tweet about it while you watch (and you really should) add #dollhouse so others can follow along. Live international commentary, anyone?

The program schedule is up at watchdollhouseweek.com and it's set so that you'll finish the unaired 13th episode "Epitaph One" just before the premiere of season two.

Check watchdollhouseweek.com for more details.