A Treat for Lost Fans: Watch the First Few Minutes of the Season 6 Premiere Here

By Beth in ABC, Lost, TV, pop culture, celebrity on January 31 2010

For those of you who don’t want to wait 2 more days to catch a sneak peek of the upcoming season of “Lost”:

If You Have A problem, If no One Else Can Help

By ariel in Uncategorized, Entertainment, comedy, News, Movies, Hollywood, Retro, TV, film, pop culture, America on January 19 2010

A-Team, The Movie! Coming to theaters in June. Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson and Jessica Biel will try to revive the mythological 80′ TV show. While the TV A-Team were a bunch of ex Vietnam soldiers turned into escaping convicts, in the movie they are Iraq war veterans. The trailer sure brings back memories.

Ravens vs. Colts: Who Will Win?

By Beth in Entertainment, CBS, TV, Football, Patriots on January 16 2010

I, for one, am super psyched by the prospect of the Ravens and Colts going head-to-head duking it out for the AFC championship on national TV tonight. As convinced as I am that Manning will pull through for the Colts (unless they decide to pull out all starters in the 2nd half again), Joe Flacco and his Ravens took the Patriots on a ride last week that ultimately led a once shoo-in team (before Wes Welker got injured) for the playoffs to their demise in a disastrous and humiliating showdown.

Whichever team wins tonight and I hold no favorites on this one, it should make for entertaining football and with football fans only a month away from the end of the season altogether, we take what we can, even when we are pretty ardent Patriots and Steelers fans.

Game time is 8:15 ET on CBS.

Where is the Lov(ie)?

By Beth in sports, TV, Football on December 28 2009

In Chicago, where people take their sports teams quite seriously and Da Bears are coming off a 5-9 season, fans are up in arms over the Bears’ losing streak of a season calling for the imminent departure of head coach Lovie Smith. Then again, fans were quick to dismiss former starting QB Rex Grossman and that resulted in his eventually getting traded for Cutler, who in my mind is actually a downgrade. Let’s hope there is some love left for Lovie and that the Bears’ management reconsiders.

Drastic, knee-jerk responses aside, my mind is still a whirl coming off of last night’s Colts game where the undefeated team basically threw the game against the Jets, benching all of their starting players in the second half and succumbing to their first loss of the season against a team that was 7-7. Perhaps the NFL needs to investigate this loss further. I’ve never seen Peyton look so bereft.

Here’s hoping Brett Favre and his Vikings go a long way this season, but maybe tonight they can take a back seat to Lovie.

Mr. Monk Goes Away

By ariel in Uncategorized, Entertainment, comedy, Weird, The Office, TV, pop culture, media, America, celebrity, season finale on December 4 2009

This Friday, after more then 7 years, it’s about time to say goodbye to Adrian Monk, the detective with an OCD that actually helps him solve crimes, and getting him over and over into awkward situations.
The USA Network will air the Final episode of Monk on Friday.
The show was not an immediate hit in our home, and it kind of grew on us in the last couple of years. And even though we did not become addicted to it like we are to let’s say… The Office, we still tried to catch up here and there, and to follow up on the reruns.

So it’s a little sad but not too bad… Worth watching, if you have the time for it.

Mad Men Wraps Up Its 3rd Season

By Beth in Entertainment, Money, TV, pop culture, media on November 8 2009

Tonight marks the season finale of the much-hyped about 60s ad show detailing the lives of Madison Avenue’s finest, Mad Men. Last week’s Kennedy assassination plot explored the emotional subtext between the show’s characters and the outside world - the universe outside the microcosm known as Sterling Cooper. At the end of the episode, we weren’t quite sure if Betty was going to really leave Don; how Don was going to further atone for all of his transgressions (give the guy a rest already!); if Roger was going to end up with his female match, Joan after all; and where the heck in-the-closet illustrator Sal has been for the past few weeks. Yes, this show has truly transformed itself into the high-brow, culturally acceptable soap opera of its time, but having been hooked up until now, I don’t see myself going back in the closet anytime soon. I think most of the show’s fans feel the same way.
Be sure to tune into AMC tonight at 10 PM ET to catch the season finale!

Marge Simpson Bares it All

By Beth in Entertainment, comedy, Female Empowerment, FOX, TV, Comics, pop culture, media on October 10 2009

A little while ago Hugh Hefner teased on his Twitter page that Marge Simpson fans would have a treat in store for them in the November issues of Playboy. Turns out as next month’s cover of Playboy  reveals (see right), Marge is stripping for her fans.

So does anyone else find is downright bizarre that a relatively benign PG-show like The Simpsons is stooping to this level of debasement? Series creator Matt Groening has always made a serious effort to keep his show from veering down that path, so why now?
Surely one might expect such behavior from a Seth MacFarlane matriarch like Family Guy’s Lois, but Marge has always been way too wholesome and morally upright. I guess even I’ll be tempted to buy next month’s issue - if for nothing else, than sheer curiosity. 

One thing’s for sure…November sweeps is coming.

Mad Men is Back & Madder Than Ever

By Beth in Money, environment, love & lies, TV, media, celebrity, Sneak Peak on August 22 2009

Last week’s season premiere of Season 3 of the hit AMC show, Mad Men, delivered on its promise of whetting our appetites just enough to have us waxing nostalgic about why we fell in love with the show in the first place.

Where Season 2 suffered from that second season plateau/slump that have befallen many great shows, Sunday’s exploration of Don Draper’s psyche and his relentless unyielding to rise above the multiple identities he cloaks himself in to complement his mood du jour teased us with the promise of a season where we’ll get to see more Draper, and subsequently more of Draper’s past revealed. And let’s face it. Don Draper is why we all watch this show. The man oozes self-assurance, confidence, and the know-how to navigate the treacherous waters of this world with the right balance of acumen - both in business and in people. He knows why people tick and just how to get them to yield to his agenda, whether it’s in the boardroom or in the bedroom.

Per usual, the show balances the heavy (glimpses into Don Draper’s humble beginnings and his unwanted birth and Don realizing that one of his co-workers is gay when he catches him with this pants down) with lighter fare (the hysterical pitting of 2 Account Managers against one another for title of “Head of Accounts” - when both are convinced they’ve solely snagged the title) and throws in the absurd just to make sure we’re all still watching as intently as before.

We are.

Mad Men airs tomorrow night at 10 PM ET on AMC.

Family Guy, Seth Macfarlane Nominated For Emmy’s Best Comedy Series

By ariel in Uncategorized, Entertainment, comedy, FOX, TV, 30 Rock, Family Guy on July 16 2009

When you read interviews with Seth Macfarlane, you always get the impression that the guy has a chip on his shoulder, and this chip is fat, yellow and his wife has blue hair.

You get the impression that Seth feels that The Simpsons is Fox’s favorite son, while Family Guy (and American Dad,) is more of an unwanted sibling. And Fox preferring The Simpsons makes a lot of sense for obvious reasons.
But now Mcfarlane has a reason to be proud. Family Guy is only the second animated show to be nominated for an Emmy for best comedy series. No disrespect to the Simpsons, but not even Homer and Marge managed to do so. By the way, the first animated show to be nominated in this category was The Flintstones back in 1961.
The chances that Peter Griffin will actually win the Emmy are slim (have we mentioned 30 Rock yet?) But still, the acknowledgement is also important.

Sarah Palin Bids Adieu to Humble Servant Role: Hello YouTube Channel?

By Beth in Baseball, Feminist, TV, business, media, celebrity on July 3 2009

Once a staunch populist and Donna Reed-type iconic darling of the Republican party, Alaska governor Sarah Palin officially announced today she is stepping down from office. Public duties aside, Palin had been criticized lately for straying far from her populist roots and spending her time too entangled in the partisan politics du jour. Whatever the case may be and the public transformation-to-come, Palin will not be out of the news for long as she’s established herself as someone who gravitates to the spotlight and for a politician bidding for the White House that may not be a bad thing. Obama took  “over-exposed” to new heights in his presidential run, utilizing diverse media channels (print, online, TV) and touring the pop culture circuit quite aggressively. Something tells me Sarah would do well to emulate Obama in this regard.  She’s already well on her way to learning (thru some growing pains) how to navigate the treacherous waters of the press. Now she just needs to learn how to tame and master the spin of the internet and work it to her advantage.

Saturation Is an Understatement Or Enough With Michael Jackson

By ariel in Uncategorized, Entertainment, Blog, News, TV, pop culture, media, America, celebrity on June 30 2009

Hearing about Michael Jackson’s death made me sad. Hearing about it constantly for almost a week angers me. Yes he died, yes he was the king of pop (and pop culture is what this blog is about,) but come on, give it a break. Does anyone remember what the main topic on the news was the day before Michael Jackson’s death? Well I do, it was Iran. The current Iranian regime could not have hoped for a better distraction, now, when no one is looking anymore, they can take care of the poor protesters old school middle eastern style, we won’t hear about it until after the funeral.

Uptown Girl Meets Her MidEast Man

By Beth in Hollywood, TV, pop culture, reality TV, celebrity on June 20 2009

Billy Joel’s wife Katie Lee, 33 years his junior, and the former host of the hit Bravo reality TV show, Top Chef, is shagging Israeli fashion designer, Yigal Azrouel . Sidebar: Am I wrong in thinking this guy is a total arse schmuck? Then again, maybe my pragmatism and miserly disposition just don’t see the value in spending $1150 on a cotton dress with a zipper, which by any other name smells like shmatas.

Joel and Lee announced their split just this week amidst rumors of infidelity. While the Joel-Lees are denying the rumors, it would seem that the age difference was a major factor in their split. Joel’s former “Uptown Girl,” Christie Brinkley was in the news last year when news of her former hubby’s scandalous shacking up with their nanny hit the fan.

Now that they’re both older, anyone else think that Joel and Brinkley should just reunite and stop trying to reclaim their youth by marrying adulterous klumniks?

Reality TV bites Al Roker

By ariel in Uncategorized, Entertainment, NBC, TV, pop culture, media, America, reality TV, celebrity on June 16 2009

When everything is said and done, and the dust will settle, Al Roker will ask himself, “How did I get here?” It all started on Monday, when these two clowns whom I’ve never heard of before (Well maybe I have heard of them, but never on purpose,) Heidi and Spencer Pratt (A.K.A Speidi,) showed the entire nation how smart they really are while on The Today Show. Roker, who seems to have something against idiots, threw a couple of punches, then wrote about it on Twitter. The couple, while going from one TV station to another, complained about how he treated them, now everyone is talking about it because it’s not like there is anything that are more important in our world then this, and the interview will surely make its way to The Soup. There you have it, Al Roker is in reality TV world. Next thing you know, will be the star of a show Called “Being Al Roker- The Life Of A Weatherman” which is actually not a bad idea!

Matt Lauer: Star of his Own Land of the Lost

By Beth in NBC, Will Ferrell, comedy, Movies, TV, film, pop culture, Amaldo.Com, The Today Show, Daily Show on June 3 2009

Will Ferrell made a stop on the Today Show today to promote his latest flick, Land of the Lost. Ferrell has been fulfilling his various promotional duties - the press-related racket that comes with being owned by Universal and even made a stop earlier this week to baptize Conan’s new Late Show, and proclaiming himself honorary 1st guest. Ferrell’s memorable entrance on the show featured him sitting atop a sedan chair while 4 men in loincloths carried him and the chair.
But back to Matt Lauer and his visions of stardom.

Lauer was not on hand to interview Will Ferrell (that would be too gauche), but Meredith Vierra was and true to her ever-inappropriate, stick 2-feet-and-elbow-and-a-car-in-her-mouth ways, she simply talked about Matt Lauer’s cameo with little regard for Will or the film. Whether this was calculated or not, the whole interview was about Matt Lauer.

For those of you egging for a real Will Ferrell interview and what components it should entail, check out this Daily Show clip from 2000.

Oprah’s Having a Laugh…On All of Us

By Beth in Advertising, TV, pop culture on May 10 2009

Here’s a revelation: Somehow watching “Oprah” makes people want to eat. The few times I’ve been home early enough to watch the show, it never makes me wanna make a b-line for the fridge, especially when Dr. Oz is on talking about bowel movements or someone is griping about crash diets, but Oprah’s stellar star power and popularity has once again facilitated the way for a major brand to make money, and then fail miserably in the actual follow-through.

This time for KFC.

On last week’s show, Oprah announced that she’d be featuring coupons on her website for free KFC grilled chicken dinners. Her website was flooded with phat consumers, just waiting to get their hands on a golden, fried ticket. (p.s. KFC’s official website also has printable coupons)

Long story short KFC had to end the promotion after they realized they’d have to hire competent people to cook the chicken to meet the demand they were faced with. Ok, I made second part of that sentence up, but really, I can’t be that far off from the truth here.

Ricky Gervais Does It Again

By ariel in Uncategorized, Entertainment, comedy, The Office, British, TV, HBO, media, America, Ricky, Gervais, Out, Of, England, Extras, Stand Up on April 6 2009

You should watch HBO’s special Ricky Gervais- Out of England if:
- You like the dude.
- You like stand up comedy.
- You like The Office/ Extras.
- You had enough of those lame boring (Dane Cook but not limited to) people, who for some unknown reason manage to get a gig/ appear in movies whenever they want.
- You’re having a laugh.
Are you having a laugh?

Ricky Gervais- Out Of England is now on DVD, and is highly recommended.

Bud Is Back (?)

By ariel in Uncategorized, Entertainment, comedy, Weird, Money, Retro, TV, pop culture, indie, media, America, celebrity, Internet, David, Faustino, Bud Bundy, Christina Applegate, Married With Children, Corin, Nemec, Parker Lewis, Star-ving, Online, Crackle on February 27 2009

David Faustino, better known as “Married with Children’s” Bud Bundy, is attempting a comeback in an online show called Star-Ving.

From Crackle: With the money from “Married… with Children” gone, Faustino’s short stature, alcoholism, and sex fueled Hollywood life has kicked him squarely in the cubes. “Star-ving” follows his second attempt at stardom. Pulling along his old buddy Corin Nemec (“Parker Lewis Can’t Lose”)

Guest staring in this hilarious yet extremely vulgar and rude show, are the entire “Married With Children” cast, Gilbert Gottfried, Coolio, Ron Jeramy, Ed Asner and many more.
How far does the show goes? Well let’s just mention that in one episode Christina Applegate’s answer to Faustino’s cry for help is: Leave me alone, I had Cancer (!) and in another he literally eat shit. We’ll stop there… 

Star-ving on Crackle.com

Radical Islam Is In Da House, Big Time

By ariel in Uncategorized, Politics, News, FOX, TV, media, Obama on January 19 2009

This, all smiles in the picture above, is Ingrid Mattson. Dear Ingrid is such a BFF with the Obamas, that she gets to speak at new US president’s inaugural prayer service.
One thing we forgot to mention is that Mattson, is the president of the Islamic Society of North America- a Muslim organization which federal prosecutors in the United States say has ties to Hamas.

But hey, don’t let the facts confuse you, you didn’t make this mistake during the elections, why start now, right?
And by the way, I did not hear a word about this issue in the media (With the exception of Fox news of-course…) They are too busy with the Inauguration… Again those facts… Who has time for this now….

Really?? Seriously?? Waltzes with Terrorists??

By Beth in Politics, NBC, News, New York Times, TV, pop culture, Obama on January 4 2009

Welcome to this week’s feature of “Really?? Seriously??” brought to you by yours truly. This week we explore the way in which news on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas is being broadcast by a few major news channels.

The following is not an epiphany.

It occurred to me this morning that the same media centers who fault Israel for not engaging in a peaceful 2-way dialogue with Hamas are not exactly innocent of presenting their audiences with an entirely objective, impartial view on the conflict and that in fact their view lends itself to continuing resentment and animosity towards Israelis, perpetuating the cycle of war. Is the news to blame for what’s going on? Most likely, not. However, their interpretation of critical events contributes to the collective consciousness of the mass public.

Case-in-point: When my sister watched the local news this past week as they broadcast Palestinians protesting war crimes, you wouldn’t know that across the street (and had the cameraman panned the camera or the clip not gotten cut in production), there were Jewish protesters also reacting to what’s going on. The same type of occurrence happened on my local news and I happen to know that there was a Jewish protest because my sister-in-law was there.

The point is is that the story that’s getting portrayed on the news is one that paints a classic good vs. evil picture of what’s going on in the Middle East. There’s no attempt at digging deeper - just a reinforcement of the superficial platitudes that seem to speak to people because as long as someone else is force-feeding them a line like, “60 Palestinians for every 1 Israeli” which everyone from my hairdresser to my husband got fed this week, then why strain our brains?

Don’t worry about this post ending on too much of a didactic note. I’m getting to the headlines that speak volumes to substantiate the concerns I’ve outlined above. I’ll let you decide after the jump if these headlines aren’t without their loaded, emotional persuasion.

More after the jump… Read More…

Sarah Silverman Effs Obama Too

By Beth in Entertainment, Politics, comedy, Sarah Silverman, Comedy Central, Movies, Hollywood, TV, pop culture, media, celebrity, George Clooney on September 25 2008

I’ve made no secret my distaste for the stale humor of Sarah Silverman, but she did recently win an Emmy for spouting vulgarities at Matt Damon, so apparently the chick holds some mass critical appeal or is one very lucky gal. In this video clip below, here she is telling us why we should all vote Obama. You know…In case there weren’t enough Hollywood celebrities wearing their status like a piece of chintzy Obama shwag these days.