Category — Comedy

Just watch it and thank me later. If Hulu was a real person, I would bake him/her cookies for this!

“30 Rock” premieres on your actual television set next Thursday, October 30th at 9:30/8:30c on NBC.

In case you haven’t noticed by now, I like a lot of things HBO. If it weren’t for John from Cincinnati a miss or two they’ve had in the past, I could say I like all things HBO.

Anyway, part of my Sunday night lovefest with my TV each week is HBO’s new animated series “The Life and Times of Tim.” Tonight will be the fourth installment of awkward, as this show seems to have an endless supply of inappropriate moments. I’m not in love with the show yet, but each of the previous weeks has been amusing enough to keep me coming back.

The show is about a young guy named Tim, as you may have deduced.  Each week he gets himself into various pickles, and as viewers, our collective schadenfreude is satisfied. To give you a sense of the kind of predicaments Tim gets into, the first cartoon of the series’ premiere episode was called “Angry Unpaid Hooker.” Yup. Quite a pickle, indeed.

For me at least, the humor on “Tim” is such that I recognize that it is funny, and why it’s funny, I’m just not actually laughing aloud at it, aside from the odd snort or chortle. My enthusiasm for this animated series just isn’t all that…animated, I guess, but it is there. And, that’s enough for me to keep tuning in. I’m pretty hard to please when it comes to comedy, so I’m just delighted to have found a new show that doesn’t totally suck. Perhaps you’ll agree “Tim” doesn’t suck, too.

[Picture source: acriticalmoment.com]

“The Sarah Silverman Program” is back on Comedy Central, and the second season is off to a strong start. I’m hoping more poop songs will abound as the season progresses.

The show seems to already have hit its stride in the latest installment, entitled “High, It’s Sarah.” As you may have guessed, this episode is all about “Sarah” (played by Sarah Silverman) getting really, really stoned with “Brian” (played by Brian Posehn). I wonder if these two did any research for their roles. Sounds like a real stretch for them both.

Of course, in the reality– if you can call it that– of this series, way more ridiculous and funny consequences follow than would ever happen to any of us real people after too many bong rips. If only life had writers, no weed laws, and occasional cameos from Eddie Peppitone. If you missed this when it aired a couple of weeks ago, try to catch a rerun of it or the other two episodes that have aired since then. Com Central is pretty decent about second chances. And third, fourth and fifth chances, for that matter.

Technically, this is the second half of the second season that is airing right now. I know this because I just checked to make sure the first season is available on DVD, only to discover that both the first season and “Season Two, Vol. 1″ are available, which is news to me. It’s now about to become news to my credit card company, because I’m off to buy them both. Toodles!

[Picture source: www.JewishJournal.com Seriously.]

Pop Candy’s interview with Ed Asner reminded me of how hilarious he was on “Mary Tyler Moore” as her boss, Lou. And let’s not forget that Ms. Moore still has that natural tv magic. She’s pretty funny on her “Lipstick Jungle” guest spot as Wendy’s mom, brutally honest but with a warm heart. Once you get past that botox face, you see that she’s still the woman who played that spunky reporter all those years ago.

The “Mary Tyler Moore Show” was one of the first television shows to focus on an unmarried (aka gasp, single!) woman with a promising career. And whatdyaknow, the character works in a television newsroom as an associate producer. The show was all about Mary and her adventures at work with Lou, Ted Baxter the anchorman (Ted Knight), and Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod). Plus, her trials at home with her friend and neighbor Rhoda, played by Valerie Harper. The show was created by the legendary James L. Brooks, who went on to later produce “The Simpsons” with Matt Groening.

“Mary Tyler Moore” theme song:

Mary Tyler Moore played one of those seminal television characters that you’ll never forget. I think I need to rent some dvd of the first seasons and get reacquainted with Mary and her friends.

Last night, FX premiered its new sitcom, “Testees,” following a new episode of the already successful series “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” To cut to the chase, after viewing the first episode of “Testees,” I am not a fan.

“Testees” was created by Kenny Hotz, of “Kenny vs. Spenny,” which you probably never saw. (You didn’t miss anything.) “Testees” is about two guys, Peter and Ron, who live together and work together.  By “work together,” I mean they participate in clinical studies for pay, and the idea is that hilarity ensues. It doesn’t.

In last night’s episode, Peter (the curly haired one on the left, above) is given a drug that, apparently, makes him pregnant. Yes, the first episode of “Testees” is an even less funny version of the movie Junior. I didn’t think it was possible to make a less funny version of Junior.

Anyway, I’m going to go ahead and tell you to skip this one. It tries too hard to be edgy, and ends up being juvenile and vulgar, instead. Considering that this appraisal is coming from a person who still giggles uncontrollably every time someone says “butt cheeks,” you can rest assured that this show is truly crude, and in a bad way. Worse yet, it’s crude in an unfunny way.

All of the jokes are about as subtle as the poor attempt at double entendre that is the title. (”Testees?” Get it? Because they’re “testees” in clinical tests, but “testes/testis” also means “balls!” Hilarious!)

Save the space on your DVR and record something better, instead.

[Picture source: FXnetworks.com]

Nathan Fillion of “Serenity” and now “Desperate Housewives” fame, stars in ABC’s newest midseason replacement, “Castle”. Yes, it’s another cop procedural. Yes, it’s a story of opposites attract. And if you ask me, it totally ripped it’s premise from the pages of Basic Instinct: mystery novelist’s books scarily similar to actual murder cases. Lucky for us, it’s a comedy drama, so it has a lighter tone and considerably better acting!

Check the television pilot trailer:

Source: Pop Candy

Yesterday, we watched all the Sarah Palin/Tina Fey skits in succession (thanks to the wonders of DVR technology!), which made the latest skit even more hilarious! Last saturday’s episode of “SNL” sent up the VP debate. Tina Fey continued her astute Sarah Palin impression, while Jason Sudeikis took a stab at Joe Biden, and Queen Latifah was the best as the book-plugging moderator, Gwen Ifills. Thanks to Hulu, you can relive these comedy skits over and over.

Keep the political parodies coming SNL writers! They’re making Saturday Night Live funny again, if only for a few minutes for these hilarious cold opens.

“Venture Bros” is a hilarious action comedy spoof of “Johnny Quest” created from the minds of Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer. Cartoon Network just aired its third season on its adult swim programming block.

The show follows the trials and tribulations of Dr. Rusty Venture, a hack scientist still living in the shadow of his genius inventor/astronaut/scientist dad, his bodyguard Brock Sampson - a true killing machine, and his forever young twin sons - Hank and Dean. Each episode the Venture clan finds itself in meandering and sometimes nonsensical adventures as they try fend off the attack’s from Venture’s arch enemy, The Monarch.

And there’s more pop culture references tucked away in each episode than you can shake a stick at!

Fun fact: James Urbaniak, who played the internet cafe owner on “Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles” is the voice of Dr. Venture. You can peruse his thoughts on politics, character acting, and “Venture Bros” at Voucher Ankles.

Doc Hammer on myspace
Venture Bros on adultswim
Youtube video of Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend talking to Venture Bros panel at NY Comic Con

Tonight, HBO is premiering Chris Rock’s newest standup special, and ideally his biggest and blackest yet. It’s called “Kill the Messenger,” and I’m hoping the title’s significance will illuminate after viewing.

I’ve been trying to sort out if Rock is the Messenger, and he’s simply toying with the his trademark reputation for viciously and hilariously telling it like it is, for “bringing the pain,” if you will. Then, I started thinking about the whole notion of how a comic is always striving to “kill” with a really great set, and I became less confident with my original hypothesis. I became even more confused when I remembered the movie “The Messenger,” staring Milla Jovovich, and wondered if perhaps Rock was referencing that. After watching that piece of crap, I started vomiting out of my eyes, and the only person I wanted to kill was myself. In conclusion, I guess all questions about the title remain unanswered until later tonight.

“Kill the Messenger” will be on HBO at 9pm eastern, and it’s a pretty big event. Not only is it the first Chris Rock special since “Never Scared,” which was four years ago, but it was shot in three different countries and cut together as one performance. Pretty cool, no?

I will admit my favorite special is by far Rock’s first one on HBO, “Bring the Pain,” but Chris’ appearences on the Late Show with David Letterman and the Howard Stern Show earlier this week have proven he’s just as sharp– and vicious– as ever.

“Samantha Who” stars Christina Applegate as the titular character amnesiac who has no memory of her previously mean-spirited ways.

Recent Emmy winner, Jean Smart plays her unforgiving mother and Jennifer Esposito plays her best friend, Andrea. They all help Samantha in her quest to reconcile the person she was with the one she is now. Season one was surprisingly very funny and Applegate was perfectly cast since she excels at playing both the nice and mean version of Samantha.

Buy season one on dvd today so you can catch up before the season two premiere on October 13th on ABC.

Samantha Who - Season 1 DVD