Monday, September 20
The Sarah Scoop: Finally, TV is Back
The Sarah Scoop: Finally, TV is Back: "If you’ve spent your summer watching reruns and reality TV and have hated it (I know I have), the long wait is over. Monday brings premieres..."
Saturday, September 11
Kids Reenact Keeping Up With The Kardashians
It's hilarious. I especially love that Lamar Odom is just played by a cardboard cut out and the kid who plays Scott.
Friday, September 10
New Blog: A Photo And A Girl
A spin off of my blog, http://www.atvandagirl.blogspot.com, this blog will detail my adventures in semi-photojournalism. I don't promise they'll be good. They're just the photos I take.
Hope you enjoy it, and you can subscribe to the RSS feed for that blog just like you did this one.
A Look At This Year's Emmy Awards
For the most part, the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmys were exactly what you'd expect from a long-running awards show: AMC and HBO's flagship series swept the event, Jimmy Fallon told some jokes. About 13.5 million Americans watched the telecast, which was telecast live on both coasts simultaneously for the first time since 1976.
Unlike other awards shows, like perhaps the Oscars, where the same people regularly win for similar roles in many films, the Emmys almost certainly suffer from the fact that year after year, so long as a show stays good, it keeps up its nominations and wins. HBO's content perhaps deviates from this formula slightly, given their tendency to produce more miniseries and made-for-TV movies than just about anyone else, but they produce the Emmy equivalent of Oscar-bait almost unavoidably, and it works. The network won Outstanding Miniseries for The Pacific (competing only with PBS's Return to Cranford, an adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's spinster stories), Outstanding Made for Television Movie for Temple Grandin, a category in which HBO had 3/5 of the nominees with that film, The Special Relationship and You Don't Know Jack. Though they didn't win Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, four of the six nominees were HBO specials. The same sort of dominance showed up in the Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Miniseries or Movie categories, where Al Pacino and Claire Danes won for You Don't Know Jack and Temple Grandin, respectively, nominated against 5 other HBO films' actors.
For its very good third season, Mad Men received many nominations and few wins, but it kept Outstanding Drama Series and won Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the third year in a row, where it was competing against itself. Virtually its entire cast received nominations for their roles: Jon Hamm, January Jones, John Slattery, Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss, and Robert Morse.
NBC's comedies, both rising and in decline, went widely uncelebrated compared to past performances. The Office received a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, as did 30 Rock, though neither won, marking 30 Rock's first loss in this category (much of both series' principal casts received nominations in their respective categories). Surprisingly, only Amy Poehler received a nomination for Parks and Recreation's vastly improved second season, and even that it didn't win. Provided that it continues to get better -- it's shaken much of the criticisms leveled against it -- perhaps this will change in the years to come. NBC's former drama -- and by this I mean Friday Night Lights -- received nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress, as well as Outstanding Writing, but won nothing.
If anything marks a breakout, then, it's the emergence of pop culture phenomenon Glee, which received 19 nominations, three of which it won, and ABC comedy Modern Family, which received almost 10. Glee took home awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series and Modern Family received awards for Outstanding Comedy Series (over Glee, NBC's comedies, Nurse Jackie and Curb Your Enthusiasm), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (where it was nominated three times), and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. 
Shut out most egregiously was Party Down, which was canceled following low ratings and Adam Scott's departure for a major role in Parks and Recreation's upcoming third season. As one of the better comedies on television, it merited at least consideration for Scott and Ken Marino, if not Jane Lynch, who moved on to the much more successful Glee after the show's first season (and won Outstanding Supporting Actress for her performance).
All in all, it was another under-watched, largely uninteresting awards show with fairly predictable results. If you missed this one, there'll conveniently be another next year.
Andrew Hall is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on online schools for Guide to Online Schools.
Unlike other awards shows, like perhaps the Oscars, where the same people regularly win for similar roles in many films, the Emmys almost certainly suffer from the fact that year after year, so long as a show stays good, it keeps up its nominations and wins. HBO's content perhaps deviates from this formula slightly, given their tendency to produce more miniseries and made-for-TV movies than just about anyone else, but they produce the Emmy equivalent of Oscar-bait almost unavoidably, and it works. The network won Outstanding Miniseries for The Pacific (competing only with PBS's Return to Cranford, an adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's spinster stories), Outstanding Made for Television Movie for Temple Grandin, a category in which HBO had 3/5 of the nominees with that film, The Special Relationship and You Don't Know Jack. Though they didn't win Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, four of the six nominees were HBO specials. The same sort of dominance showed up in the Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Miniseries or Movie categories, where Al Pacino and Claire Danes won for You Don't Know Jack and Temple Grandin, respectively, nominated against 5 other HBO films' actors.
For its very good third season, Mad Men received many nominations and few wins, but it kept Outstanding Drama Series and won Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the third year in a row, where it was competing against itself. Virtually its entire cast received nominations for their roles: Jon Hamm, January Jones, John Slattery, Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss, and Robert Morse.NBC's comedies, both rising and in decline, went widely uncelebrated compared to past performances. The Office received a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, as did 30 Rock, though neither won, marking 30 Rock's first loss in this category (much of both series' principal casts received nominations in their respective categories). Surprisingly, only Amy Poehler received a nomination for Parks and Recreation's vastly improved second season, and even that it didn't win. Provided that it continues to get better -- it's shaken much of the criticisms leveled against it -- perhaps this will change in the years to come. NBC's former drama -- and by this I mean Friday Night Lights -- received nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress, as well as Outstanding Writing, but won nothing.If anything marks a breakout, then, it's the emergence of pop culture phenomenon Glee, which received 19 nominations, three of which it won, and ABC comedy Modern Family, which received almost 10. Glee took home awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series and Modern Family received awards for Outstanding Comedy Series (over Glee, NBC's comedies, Nurse Jackie and Curb Your Enthusiasm), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (where it was nominated three times), and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. Shut out most egregiously was Party Down, which was canceled following low ratings and Adam Scott's departure for a major role in Parks and Recreation's upcoming third season. As one of the better comedies on television, it merited at least consideration for Scott and Ken Marino, if not Jane Lynch, who moved on to the much more successful Glee after the show's first season (and won Outstanding Supporting Actress for her performance).
All in all, it was another under-watched, largely uninteresting awards show with fairly predictable results. If you missed this one, there'll conveniently be another next year.Andrew Hall is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on online schools for Guide to Online Schools.
Thursday, September 9
Want to Give Kristen Bell A Birthday Present?
Kristen Bell, star of Veronica Mars (as well as the upcoming comedy You Again), is asking for a birthday present from all her fans. No, she isn't greedy. She's trying to raise money in order to give clean water the billion people in this world without it and is asking her fans to donate money to the cause.
As Kristen puts it on the Donation Page:
A billion people in the world are living without clean water. EFF THAT.
Water-borne illness is the second highest cause of childhood death in the world. NOT ON MY WATCH.
45,000 people will die this week alone from contaminated water illnesses. Y'ALL, LETS GET OFF OUR HINEYS AND FIX THIS.
Please help me get to my goal of 100K and let's have a clean water toast.
Cheers,
Kristen
Even if you can only afford to give a little, it will still help the cause.
As Kristen puts it on the Donation Page:
A billion people in the world are living without clean water. EFF THAT.
Water-borne illness is the second highest cause of childhood death in the world. NOT ON MY WATCH.
45,000 people will die this week alone from contaminated water illnesses. Y'ALL, LETS GET OFF OUR HINEYS AND FIX THIS.
Please help me get to my goal of 100K and let's have a clean water toast.
Cheers,
Kristen
Even if you can only afford to give a little, it will still help the cause.
The Sarah Scoop: Bristol Palin plans on having modest outfits on DW...
A Post From Sarah Scoop!The Sarah Scoop: Bristol Palin plans on having modest outfits on DW...: "According to People, despite having a child at a young age, Bristol Palin says she’ll have the most modest outfits on this season of Danci..."
Tuesday, September 7
Guest Post: Gugu Mbatha-Raw in New TV Spy Drama “Undercovers” Gets to Kick Some Serious Butt
Another guest post brought to you by the wonderful Phylis Z. Miller:
J.J. Abrams has taken the successful formula he used for the ABC TV drama series “Alias” and used a similar template, including a comic relief character, for his new fall NBC show “Undercovers,” of which I’ve seen the pilot co-written by show co-creator Josh Reims.
This time, though, also sprinkled in are bits of the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt film “Mrs. And Mrs. Smith,” in which the conceit is that both Angelina Jolie’s character and Brad Pitt’s character are assassins who don’t know about each other’s assassin career.
In “Undercovers” the husband and wife team (starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, playing Samantha Bloom, and Boris Kodjoe, playing Steven Bloom) are not at each other’s throats but they are too tired for sex.
Former CIA agents (they met at “The Farm” – the CIA’s training center), they’ve been out of the agency for several years and are now running their own catering business. A CIA representative comes knocking to ask them to find and rescue their former colleague because Samantha Bloom had been working with this agent when she left the agency.
Of course they say no way.
Then Samantha Bloom decides to say yes to the rescue mission before her husband says yes. He, meanwhile, says he would do the mission if his wife isn’t told. Oops, too late; she has already signed on. And, anyway, where is he going to tell his wife he is going when he leaves town, especially with a major catering commission on hand?
Now I did find it somewhat of a disconnect when, in the middle of a very tense life-and-death situation, Samantha Bloom is on her cell advising her sister regarding problems at the catering event. True, I know how much multitasking women do, but this much seems rather ridiculous.
Still, in “Undercovers” the wife gets to be as heroic as her husband, even though, when they are in Russia at the climax of their rescue mission, he does want her to remain safely behind. (Of course she doesn’t.)
Then when their adrenaline kicks in – and they get their mojo back – they sign on permanently while keeping the catering business as their cover.
“Undercovers” will definitely add a nice dimension to the recent run of TV dramas with strong action heroines. Gabrielle Anwar’s Fiona Glenanne in USA Network’s popular “Burn Notice” and Piper Perabo’s Annie Walker in USA Network’s new “Covert Affairs” also each get to kick some serious butt.
And here’s my personal CIA story:
While at Wharton getting an M.B.A., I applied to the CIA and filled out numerous copies of numerous forms on an electric typewriter. But on the day that the CIA called inviting me down to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, for a two-day interview process I had a change of heart. I just couldn’t see myself, currently married with a house in Philly, as a CIA agent stationed in some end-of-the-world country.
To this day I regret at least not going for the two-day interview process. And what really rankles me is that an episode of “Top Chef” this season takes place at Langley. Talk about national security and need-to-know!
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) writes about social media and military-related topics. Her newest book is FOUR COMEDY SCREENPLAYS at http://budurl.com/4comedyscreenplays and her company has just launched the Quick Start Social Media Track at www.millermosaicllc.com/social-media-track
J.J. Abrams has taken the successful formula he used for the ABC TV drama series “Alias” and used a similar template, including a comic relief character, for his new fall NBC show “Undercovers,” of which I’ve seen the pilot co-written by show co-creator Josh Reims. This time, though, also sprinkled in are bits of the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt film “Mrs. And Mrs. Smith,” in which the conceit is that both Angelina Jolie’s character and Brad Pitt’s character are assassins who don’t know about each other’s assassin career.
In “Undercovers” the husband and wife team (starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, playing Samantha Bloom, and Boris Kodjoe, playing Steven Bloom) are not at each other’s throats but they are too tired for sex.
Former CIA agents (they met at “The Farm” – the CIA’s training center), they’ve been out of the agency for several years and are now running their own catering business. A CIA representative comes knocking to ask them to find and rescue their former colleague because Samantha Bloom had been working with this agent when she left the agency.
Of course they say no way.
Then Samantha Bloom decides to say yes to the rescue mission before her husband says yes. He, meanwhile, says he would do the mission if his wife isn’t told. Oops, too late; she has already signed on. And, anyway, where is he going to tell his wife he is going when he leaves town, especially with a major catering commission on hand?
Now I did find it somewhat of a disconnect when, in the middle of a very tense life-and-death situation, Samantha Bloom is on her cell advising her sister regarding problems at the catering event. True, I know how much multitasking women do, but this much seems rather ridiculous.
Still, in “Undercovers” the wife gets to be as heroic as her husband, even though, when they are in Russia at the climax of their rescue mission, he does want her to remain safely behind. (Of course she doesn’t.)
Then when their adrenaline kicks in – and they get their mojo back – they sign on permanently while keeping the catering business as their cover.
“Undercovers” will definitely add a nice dimension to the recent run of TV dramas with strong action heroines. Gabrielle Anwar’s Fiona Glenanne in USA Network’s popular “Burn Notice” and Piper Perabo’s Annie Walker in USA Network’s new “Covert Affairs” also each get to kick some serious butt.
And here’s my personal CIA story:
While at Wharton getting an M.B.A., I applied to the CIA and filled out numerous copies of numerous forms on an electric typewriter. But on the day that the CIA called inviting me down to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, for a two-day interview process I had a change of heart. I just couldn’t see myself, currently married with a house in Philly, as a CIA agent stationed in some end-of-the-world country.
To this day I regret at least not going for the two-day interview process. And what really rankles me is that an episode of “Top Chef” this season takes place at Langley. Talk about national security and need-to-know!
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) writes about social media and military-related topics. Her newest book is FOUR COMEDY SCREENPLAYS at http://budurl.com/4comedyscreenplays and her company has just launched the Quick Start Social Media Track at www.millermosaicllc.com/social-media-trackSunday, September 5
Kristen Bell Tweets To Encourage A Veronica Mars Movie
Fans of Veronica Mars
will always be clamoring for a Veronica Mars movie to be made. Now Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars herself) is helping support their effort.Over the past couple days, Kristen (@IMKristenBell) has been tweeting like crazy to try and get #VeronicaMarsMovie trending and help get support for various petitions and Facebook groups. See and go join here if you a fan of the movies:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5559438802
http://www.petitiononline.com/vmmovie/petition.html
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=97750248959&ref=ts
As you know, I love Veronica Mars pretty much more than any other TV show I have ever seen, and I would die to see a movie. Unfortunately, the studio doesn't believe it'll make enough money, so it's up to fans of Veronica Mars to help make it successful by joining these causes and help make #Veronicamarsmovie a Trending Topic. So who's up to the challenge?
The Sarah Scoop: @KimKardashian 's First Choice Emmy Date
Another post by me @sarahscoop!The Sarah Scoop: @KimKardashian 's First Choice Emmy Date: "According to E! Online Kris Jenner wasn’t necessarily Kim Kardashian’s first choice for her date to the Emmys, instead it was most likely..."
Saturday, September 4
Guest post: Upcoming Television Shows Preview
 |
| Image from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/62/The_Event.jpg |
Blue Bloods (CBS)
Blue Bloods is a police drama set in New York about a family of cops. Tom Selleck plays Frank, the chief of police, whose father was also chief. Donnie Wahlberg plays his oldest son Danny - a blunt investigator and Iraq War vet who uses questionable tactics to close cases. Will Estes plays Jaime, the youngest son who is fresh out of the police academy, and rounding out the cast is daughter Erin, who is assistant district attorney, played by Bridget Moynahan. Blue Bloods was created by some of the people behind The Sopranos, but this show looks at life on the other side of the law, and the family dynamics involved with multiple generations of police.
The Event (NBC)
The Event is a conspiracy thriller that follows Sean, played by Jason Ritter. Sean is on a search for his missing girlfriend Leila (Sarah Roemer), and comes across a vast government conspiracy and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in history. Sean’s journey affects many people including the U.S. President, who is played by Blair Underwood. Laura Innes, Bill Smitrovich and Scott Patterson round out the cast of people whose futures are uncertain in a world where a massive global conspiracy could affect all of mankind.
Outsourced (NBC)
In this workplace comedy, newcomer Ben Rappaport plays Tom, an American who works at one of the world’s largest novelty companies, and who just passed the management-training course. After a little downsizing, Tom is sent to India to look after a group of customer service representatives that aren’t very experienced when it comes to American culture… or customer service. In order to keep his job, he must teach them the tools of the trade, without too much culture clash. The sales team includes many characters including the socially awkward Gupta (Parvesh Cheena), Manmeet (Sacha Dhawan), a young romantic who loves America, and Rajiv (Rizwan Manji), who plays the assistant manager that wants Tom’s job.
The Viamedic writing team has hundreds of articles published online and in print, covering everything from sexual health to parenting to beauty, fashion, entertainment and more. Viamedic.com, a safe medications facilitator offers such medications as Valtrex and Cialis Online.
Lazy Saturday
I know I've been throwing a lot of guest posts at you guys lately, and while they are really wonderful (they are! please check them out and comment on them!) I thought I'd bring you guys a little more personal comments.
This past week I moved into my apartment at Temple University and met my three new roommates. Classes have been good, we haven't done all that much yet. I'm least looking forward to my audio/visual newsgathering class, but very much looking forward to my Design For Journalism class. I'm looking forward to adding some skills to my resume and being able to apply them to this blog (and I'm very much looking forward to adding a custom domain to this blog if I start working and get the money to do so--woo hoo!)TV-wise, not much has started yet, but I can't wait til the fall premieres. Also, my roommates turned me on to two new TV shows--It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia as well as Project Runway. Today I'll probably catch up on last week's Weeds and watch the series Tin Man I mentioned earlier, as well as work on some blogs for Sarah Scoop!
Also--tomorrow I'll be headed to a dusk-til-dawn Drive-in movie-a-thon so I'll be missing Keeping Up With The Kardashians, but I'll try to catch up Monday!
Thursday, September 2
Guest Post: Scott Pilgrim vs the Animation
This Guest post was brought to you by Sara Allen of www.inkandpixelclub.com
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation is an animated short created to promote the live-action film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Both the short and the movie are based on Brian Lee O’Malley’s excellent Scott Pilgrim graphic novels. The short debuted on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block on August 12 and is still available to view on Adult Swim’s website.
The animated short tells how Scott met and briefly dated his band’s drummer, Kim Pine. This part of Scott’s history is fully explored in the comics – in the first chapter of volume 2 – but is only mentioned in passing in the movie. So it’s an ideal subject for a four-minute special. Because this story wasn’t originally meant as an introduction to Scott and his world or a stand-alone narrative, it may be more meaningful to people who have read the comics (which I recommend) or seen the movie (which I also recommend). But even if you aren’t familiar with the story already, the short will whet your appetite for the movie and give you and introduction to Scott, the world he lives in, and the video game styled boss battles he has to fight.
The voices for the main characters are provided by the actors from the film. Even the characters that don’t appear in the movie are voiced by actors who play different characters in the film. Normally it drives me crazy to see “face” actors taking parts that would otherwise go to professional voice actors. (I do consider Mae Whitman a real voice actor because of the large amount of voice work she’s done alongside her onscreen performances, most notably as Katara on Avatar: The Last Airbender.) But between the animation being a teaser for the movie and all of the actors actually doing a pretty good job, I’m happy with the results and I’m making an exception.
Since Scott Pilgrim began life in comics form, animation is an ideal medium to retell his story with. In fact, as much as I did enjoy the movie, part of me still wishes that it had been animated instead of live-action. I felt that way even before I saw Scott, Kim, and their various friends and foes in animation, and watching the short only made it clearer how well an animated Scott Pilgrim works. The style is just about as accurate to O’Malley’s artwork as it can possibly be. Flash animation can often result in characters that look like a group of cutout pieces being tilted back and forth to simulate movement, but that’s not the case here. Animation studio Titmouse Inc. has done quite a bit of work for Cartoon Network before and certainly isn’t slacking off on this project. Details like changes in the shapes of the characters’ eyes add to the illusion of life and the animation in the fight scene is surprisingly fluid and dynamic. It’s a lot of fun to watch and extremely faithful to the source material.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation is a lot of fun. It’s a great introduction to the tone and content of the Scott Pilgrim world for newcomers and a wonderful homage to the comics for longtime fans. So whether you loved the movie, loved the comics, or don’t know a thing about either, check out Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation is an animated short created to promote the live-action film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Both the short and the movie are based on Brian Lee O’Malley’s excellent Scott Pilgrim graphic novels. The short debuted on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block on August 12 and is still available to view on Adult Swim’s website.The animated short tells how Scott met and briefly dated his band’s drummer, Kim Pine. This part of Scott’s history is fully explored in the comics – in the first chapter of volume 2 – but is only mentioned in passing in the movie. So it’s an ideal subject for a four-minute special. Because this story wasn’t originally meant as an introduction to Scott and his world or a stand-alone narrative, it may be more meaningful to people who have read the comics (which I recommend) or seen the movie (which I also recommend). But even if you aren’t familiar with the story already, the short will whet your appetite for the movie and give you and introduction to Scott, the world he lives in, and the video game styled boss battles he has to fight.
The voices for the main characters are provided by the actors from the film. Even the characters that don’t appear in the movie are voiced by actors who play different characters in the film. Normally it drives me crazy to see “face” actors taking parts that would otherwise go to professional voice actors. (I do consider Mae Whitman a real voice actor because of the large amount of voice work she’s done alongside her onscreen performances, most notably as Katara on Avatar: The Last Airbender.) But between the animation being a teaser for the movie and all of the actors actually doing a pretty good job, I’m happy with the results and I’m making an exception.
Since Scott Pilgrim began life in comics form, animation is an ideal medium to retell his story with. In fact, as much as I did enjoy the movie, part of me still wishes that it had been animated instead of live-action. I felt that way even before I saw Scott, Kim, and their various friends and foes in animation, and watching the short only made it clearer how well an animated Scott Pilgrim works. The style is just about as accurate to O’Malley’s artwork as it can possibly be. Flash animation can often result in characters that look like a group of cutout pieces being tilted back and forth to simulate movement, but that’s not the case here. Animation studio Titmouse Inc. has done quite a bit of work for Cartoon Network before and certainly isn’t slacking off on this project. Details like changes in the shapes of the characters’ eyes add to the illusion of life and the animation in the fight scene is surprisingly fluid and dynamic. It’s a lot of fun to watch and extremely faithful to the source material.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation is a lot of fun. It’s a great introduction to the tone and content of the Scott Pilgrim world for newcomers and a wonderful homage to the comics for longtime fans. So whether you loved the movie, loved the comics, or don’t know a thing about either, check out Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
