I really planned to update this weekend, but it kind of got away from me. But don’t worry — in my head I am planning several posts, including my thoughts on This American Life (the TV show) season 1. (What I’ll say right now is, thanks Ira Glass, for making me never want to eat pork chops ever again. If you knew me, and knew how much I love pork chops, you’d understand this is truly a travesty.) Also, why I am kicking myself for buying Sports Night two years ago (bonus points if you catch the reference in the title of my blog), Jenny Lewis vs. Amanda Palmer, and my new-found love for Beverly Clearly.
Are you on the edge of your seat yet?
Right now, though, it’s late, and I’ve had a long weekend, so I will end this early. While you’re anxiously awaiting my next post, check out this video. Tina Fey is my hero. She writes, she produces, she acts, and now, she is more Sarah Palin than Sarah Palin. I’m sure you’ve all seen this by now, but do yourself a favor this Monday morning and watch again. And if you haven’t seen it…what are you waiting for??
Video of the Day: Tina Fey vs. Jason Sudakis (COME BACK TO 30 ROCK, FLOYD!)
In my recent excitement over the return of Olive Snook, I forgot another big show returns tonight. For those with Direct TV anyway. Yep, for some lucky bastards people, tonight marks the return of Friday Night Lights.
Unfortunately, I am not one of the lucky few with Direct TV. This fact never bothered me until I learned that, without it, I’ll have to wait until January to watch one of my all-time favorite shows.
I am torn. On the one hand, I am thrilled that the show is still on the air, albeit under odd circumstances. I want it to do well in its return to regular TV in January (or February, or whenever NBC decides to put it back on their schedule). I want to support it in 2009. I want to watch it live, and pretend that I am a member of the Nielsen family and that my eyes matter.
But I also want to watch it now. I want to find out if Jason is having his baby, what’s going on with Tyra and Landry, and how my favorite TV Couple in all of TV Coupledom, Eric and Tami Taylor, are doing.
So…should I be a good little TV watcher and wait until 2009, or should I be corrupt and download?
I’ve been trying to rationalize to myself that, even if I do go the download route, I’ll still watch it when it returns next year. And I think that I will. It won’t be like that one time after college when I had no money and downloaded the new Ben Folds album, promising to buy it when I had the money, but never did. I would totally watch it again in 2009. I would! Stop looking at me like that.
I don’t have this problem with Dexter. I downloaded it all last season, and didn’t feel an ounce of guilt. After all, I don’t have Showtime, so how else am I supposed to see it? And you know what? I bought season 2 when it came out, even though it’s still all on my computer.
So, even if I do download season 3 of Friday Night Lights, I can make up for it by watching it again on NBC, and watching it AGAIN when I buy the DVD. Right?
Look, we all know I’m just gonna download it. I’m not even sure why I am having this discussion with myself, or sharing my inner monologue with you all. I guess it’s like cheating on a test or skipping school – you know it’s wrong, you do it anyway, but you have to tell just one person.
Sorry, Jason Katims. I will watch in 2009. I promise. I promise to you with all of the Interwebs as my witness(es).
Video of the Day: Unfortunately, the Interwebs are scarce with FNL footage. (That is so wrong.) So, I’ll put up a recap of season 1 that I love. (For the record, though, I wanted to put up either: 1.) Coach Taylor’s stirring halftime speech, 2.) Gracie being born or 3.) The Tami and Julie scene when Tami sees Matt buying condoms.) See, after watching this, you really can’t blame me for not waiting. Right?
I love the fall. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. A part of this goes back being in school, and having the sense of a fresh start. I like the idea of leaves crunching underneath my feet. I like the idea of shopping for new clothes and getting out sweaters. I like the idea of Halloween. (Though, to be fair, I haven’t dressed up since being Vampire Willow in college. About three people at the party got it, but it was still fun to plan out a costume, wear leather pants and leather boots, dye my hair bright red, and go around saying, “Bored now” to people who didn’t know what to think.)
In addition to school and leaves and costumes, one of the biggest reasons I love fall is because it’s the start of a new TV season. These last two weeks have been a feast for the TV lover. New episodes of The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Chuck, House, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters…the list goes on and on. (No I don’t watch ALL of those shows. I have a hard enough time just keeping up with Monday night TV.)
Tomorrow night marks the return of one of my favorite shows from last year – Pushing Daisies.
If you aren’t familiar with the show — and there is a good chance you may not be, as it only got in nine episodes before the strike sent it to Hiatusland — here’s a helpful video to catch you up:
(Thank goodness for that. Jim Dale is a much better recapper than me.)
A few weeks ago, season 1 came out on DVD, and I got a refresher course of my own. I remembered the show, and its most pertinent details, but had forgotten a lot of the episodic plot lines.
Here’s what I discovered: I still like the show a lot. It’s not in my top 10 yet, but I do really enjoy it. The best part of the show, for me, isn’t Ned the Piemaker, nor is it Chuck. (Who, quite frankly, grates. She’s just a little too precious and quirky, even for this show. I hope they fix that this year.) It isn’t even Emerson Cod’s love of knitting (though…awesome) or the Darling Mermaid Darlings increasing pie addiction. No, what makes the show for me is one Miss Olive Snook, played by the luminous Kristin Chenoweth.
What started out as a character with pretty much only one defining trait — she is in love with Ned — has turned into a multi-faceted, fascinating supporting role. Throughout the course of nine episodes, we learn that Olive used to be a jockey (a nod, I’m sure, to Chenoweth’s small stature). We learn that her pajamas match her bedspread. We learn she’s not as dumb as she may at first seem. We learn she’s very sweet — faithfully taking pies to Chuck’s aunts and trying to get them out of their house. Most important, we learn she is a good friend, even to Chuck, whom she should hate for stealing the affections of The Piemaker.
Kristin Chenoweth took what was a minor character in the pilot (Pie-lette) and turned Olive into a vital member of the cast. Pushing Daisies wouldn’t be PushingDaisies now without Olive Snook. In fact, if Chenoweth ever leaves the show, I’ll probably stop watching.
Here’s hoping Olive will continue her friendships with Chuck, The Aunts and Emerson in season two. Watching her interact with the others truly makes the show for me.
Plus, you know, she sings.
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While reading reviews of yesterday’s HIMYM (That’s How I Met Your Mother for those not in the know) I was reminded of one of the great moments of the series – Barney’s Top 10 List, and NPH’s dead on impression of David Letterman, complete with, well I don’t want to ruin it for you, but listen for it at the end. So, to file under “Things that are awesome” (and I promise they won’t all feature NPH, this is just odd coincindence), here’s my Featured Video of the Day. Make sure you watch to the end, as after the initial bit, they do an additional bit that did not originally air.
Welcome! Thanks for reading. If you are, I assume that you either know me, or came here accidentally by quoting Kelly Kapoor. Either way, rock on.
So this blog is meant to be a replacement. I blogged for a certain web site for about a year, and, after a lot of thought, decided to start my own. Reasons, if you want them are:
1.) The blog was in conjunction with a paper, and therefore, my content was limited. If I wanted to talk about a TV show or movie, I had to think “Is this family friendly?” This cut out a lot of clips, quotes, and links I would have otherwise used. And on that, I had to make sure my clips were legal. This wasn’t really a big deal. Last, I had to clean up my language. Again, not a huge deal, but sometimes, my reaction warranted an expletive. Example: “Holy shit! Lila just blew up Sergeant Doakes! How the hell will Dexter get to the cabin in time? What’s gonna happen? Fuck!” (If you got that reference, congratulations. You belong here.)
2.) When I started the blog, I was one of about five. Over the year, more and more blogs came trickling in, until I was one of about thirty. I understand that this site wants to expand, and applaud that. However, my ego is much too big to compete with all those folks. Well, okay not really, but I did feel like I got somewhat lost in the shuffle. Hopefully, readers of the old blog will shuffle over here.
– You won’t hear (read?) about my everyday life. I’ve got another place for that, and really, how many people care about that? I went to the new Harris Teeter today! Tomorrow at work, I’m going to sort through some grant files. Fascinating! Not what you’ll get here.
– This is going to be a blog about pop culture. Television, movies, music, theater, celebrity boyfriends (of which there are many), etc. So, you know, basically anything that’s awesome, according to me. Why should you care? I dunno. Maybe you’ll find something you like. I have been told I have an impeccable taste in pop culture. How’s that for persuasion? Really, this is just another in a long line of pop culture blogs. It’s not anything special. But what can I say, I like telling an audience, however small it may be, what I like, what I dislike, and what I think about what I like and dislike. K?
If that’s cool with you, stick with me. I’ll take you places. Well, on your computer. I’ll show you things…you know what, never mind. You get it. I know you do. Otherwise you wouldn’t still be reading. (To those still reading: Hello! I always liked you best. Don’t tell the others.)
So, in keeping with things that are awesome, I give you something I think is quite awesome: A performance from Cabaret, that’s, well, more than a little bit raunchy. Sometimes, when I’m at work, doing something that requires little concentration, I’ll listen to this on repeat. Is that weird?
If you recognize who’s playing the Emcee, then you REALLY belong here. Oh yeah, and expect lots of clips. Embedding is my new best friend.
Retrowatching 