(S07E03) So far this season, Two and a Half Men has been sailing along, continuing to provide plenty of laughs and just enough vulgarity to keep its crown as a raunchy pleasure. Tonight, however, they hit an iceberg. Too bad really, but half the show — no pun intended — was spot on. If only the other half had been as good.

For some reason, the writers have this idea that Alan as the object of affection to older women is funny. No, not really. It didn’t work when Carol Kane guested as the mother of a girl Alan was dating and it didn’t work tonight with Annie Potts as Judith’s mother, Lenore.

Continue reading Two and a Half Men: Mmm, fish. Yum.

Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

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One of the world’ most quotable and iconic comedy shows made its television debut 40 years ago today.

Monty Python’s Flying Circus first appeared on British television on Oct. 5, 1969, a show that branched into four feature length films, launched the careers of six very funny dudes and inspired millions of countless nerds to quote their most famous lines to death (myself included).

I’m sure everyone with a working set of eyes and a television set remembers the first time they saw Monty Python. What’s your earliest memory of the show and more importantly, did it include any images of nude ladies?

Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Reality-Free, British TV

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If you put the return of Ugly Betty in your datebook — or PDA — for Friday, October 9, it’s time for an update. ABC has moved the season premiere of Ugly Betty to October 16. It’ll be a double shot of Betty, two-hours instead of just one. After the premiere, Ugly Betty will fall into its regular slot of Friday at 9 p.m.

Unfortunately, a double dose of Ugly Betty won’t be enough to pump up the ratings. ABC isn’t doing Betty any favor by plunking it on Friday nights when not only are there less people watching TV. Sure, there are lower expectations, but what does it say about the network’s fait in the show? Why not just put it on Saturday when even less viewers tune in? (What happened to programming for Saturday night anyway? Once upon a time, great shows actually thrived on Saturdays!)

Continue reading Ugly Betty season premiere moved up

Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free

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Jay Leno’s sit-down with Chris Rock on Thursday’s show felt like it didn’t really need Jay. Chris was just doing his act, which is fine since he’s a comedian. If Joe the Plumber was just doing his stand-up act on Jay’s chairs, that would be another story, and quite possibly another universe.

But as another great talk show producer once said, “A host with less talent would have interrupted him.”

Rock’s comedy was on the money, an expected bit of entertainment from a man who knows more about comedy and writing than you or I ever will. His bit about recently arrested film director Roman Polanski was particularly funny, especially since it’s starting to become “The Michael Jackson Death Coverage 2: Electric Bugaloo” on the press. That’s what late night is supposed to do: soften the blows the real world brings.

Continue reading The Jay Leno Show: Chris Rock

Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Jay Leno

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I can admit that I’m no longer the hip young kid that I quite honestly never was. So it didn’t surprise me that MTV was able to launch a new show and I was completely unaware of it. But, I’ve talked to younger friends who do watch MTV, and they don’t remember any promotion for Popzilla either.

I found it purely by accident, and when it popped onto my screen, I was looking at something that looked like a mix of old Walt Disney animation and something the folks at Jib-Jab would have come up with. Utilizing photographs for the heads of celebrities, exaggerated slightly for comic effect, and little white Disney gloves, the show skewers celebrities and pop culture in short skits like Robot Chicken, and it’s far funnier than it has any right to be.

Continue reading Where did MTV’s Popzilla come from, and why do I love it?

Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Animation, Reality-Free

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(S01E02) About half-way into this episode of Eastwick, my husband came into the room and said, “This is mind-numbing dribble, posing as a plot.” My husband never minces words, and while I’m usually the good cop in the relationship, I have to agree with him on this one. It IS mind-numbing dribble. At least, this episode was. I’m a little sad about it, too, because the show seems like it could work. Don’t you think?

Continue reading Eastwick: Reaping and Sewing

Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

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Ryan Reynolds smiles for photographers while making a short visit home in Vancouver, Canada on Monday (September 28).

The 32-year-old will soon be returning to the Big Apple to handle Saturday Night Live hosting duties this week with musical guest Lady Gaga, who will be performing a new single.

With back-to-back features on the horizon, Ryan just finished production on the thriller Buried and can next be seen in the highly anticipated film The Green Lantern due out Summer 2011.

Ryan and Sandra Bullock’s comedy The Proposal is also due out on Blu-Ray and DVD on Tuesday, October 13.

Has the loss of Pushing Daisies left a big gaping hole in your heart? Are you wishing you could get ABC for pushing such quality programming off the air? Do you have some kind of blueprint involved in said wish with images clearly marked “rented van,” “unlocked security door” and “army of heavily armed Mexican banditos”?

Well, call off your henchmen because one of the show’s chief creators has something new and improved on his hands that you might like.

Barry Sonnenfeld, the executive producer of Pushing Daises, is shopping around a new supernatural show that doesn’t sound as deep or detailed as Daises, but could be just as fun.

Continue reading Pushing Daisies chief pushing new superhero sitcom

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(S0301) – What’s with all the parent plotlines on Showtime? First Dexter Morgan becomes a new father, and now Hank Moody on Californication? Granted, it’s the perfect penance for a man who has flaunted the consequences of the reproductive act more than the entire British royal family, but it seems eerily similar and way overdone in the world of television.

It does, however, work as an obstacle and a vehicle for conflict for Hank, whose only daughter Becca moves into that awkward living hell on Earth known as “teenagerhood.” The opening scene of Hank catching Becca and her new best friend Chelsea stoned out of their gourds pretty much set the tone for some, if not most, of Hank’s problems.

How can he tell her to do as he says while still doing what and who he loves most?

Continue reading Californication: Wish You Were Here (season premiere)

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Usually television shows, especially comedies, should try to end a strong note and Jay Leno’s Friday show did just that. Well, the last part did.

The interviews were much improved, including the dreaded “Ten@Ten” segment, the comedy worked for the most part and the show finally seems to be fitting around Jay the way a plastic shrink wrapper engulfs its product. Except there are quite a few air bubbles that need pounding.

Continue reading The Jay Leno Show: Hugh Laurie, Lebron James

Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Jay Leno

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