“…and more press conferences during American Idol!” (img source)
Why does the Great Depression have to be so depressing? Kate Winslet is slated to star in a cable miniseries of the Depression-era novel Mildred Pierce. Why do I get the feeling it’s not a comedy? [EW]
Everyone else seems to be talking about this, so… Seth MacFarlane admitted in a Playboy interview that Stewie from “Family Guy” is gay. How is this news? That’s the basis for half of Stewie’s jokes. [NY Daily News]
The best excuses for getting out of a speeding ticket. “I’m just really wasted and want to get home as soon as possible.” Heh, nice one. [Open Sports]
When fandom goes wrong. Someone liked “The Office” so much they made it into an opera. Thankfully, we can blame the Brits for this one. We Americans are only responsible for the Spider-Man musical. [Guardian UK]
No words… Should have sent an engraver. Farrah Fawcett’s headstone is blank. [Adventures in Grave Hunting]
A Dozen Rainy Fight Scenes. Finally, Christian Slater’s Hard Rain gets the attention it so richly deserves. And this is probably the only list ever made that combines Singin’ in the Rain with Unforgiven and Star Wars: Episode II. [Gunaxin]
Sweet TV, brah. This is the awesomest flatscreen TV set-up I’ve seen in a long time. [Buzzfeed]
You may as well get caught up now. AMC has a four-minute video that will get you caught up on Season 2 of “Mad Men.” Consider it your homework: Season 3 begins on Sunday. [AMC]
Three of the driving forces behind “Arrested Development” — creator/executive producer Mitch Hurwitz, actor Will Arnett, and co-executive producer Jim Vallely — have teamed up to make another sitcom for Fox. Hold on, hold on — be sure to read everything before you go Twitter all your friends about it:
The project, which has received a script commitment, is being written by Hurwitz (right), Arnett and Vallely. It stars Arnett as a rich Beverly Hills jackass who falls in love with a charitable tree-hugging woman who can’t stand his lifestyle or values.
Okay, Will Arnett as a rich jackass sounds promising… so why am I hesitant to be excited about this? Four words: Sit Down, Shut Up. That’s the other project these three guys have worked together on, and it BLEW. Granted, animated shows seem to have a harder time gaining traction in a network’s lineup, but this had nothing to do with the animation — it was the lousy writing and unfunny jokes that killed it. How bad was it? About as bad as “Arrested” was good. Put the two sitcoms together, average them out, and you get slightly better than “According to Jim.”
Yesterday in Brooklyn, television stars gambled for charity. David Cross (left), Michael Ian Black (right), and “This American Life” host Ira Glass (standing at table) all participated in the Honest Elimination Poker Tournament at 826NYC, a non-profit organization that provides free tutoring and various creative writing workshops for children. Impressively, out of about forty players, Cross and Black finished third and fourth, respectively, while Glass busted out early but stuck around to deal to the final table.
I was called into service for the event because apparently, people who run non-profits in Brooklyn aren’t degenerate gamblers — but if they’re lucky, their volunteers are! So I ended up dealing for a couple hours before turning to glorified tasks like changing out chip stacks and shuffling the second deck for Glass.
All three were friendly, engaging, and funny (as well as adroit poker players). Cross downed beers and cheerfully interacted with his table, while Black’s familiar mannerisms came through in everything he did. And both of the comedians made fart sounds, which is something I can always appreciate. Black also took his loss with good humor: he was big-stacked until his pocket aces lost to pocket fives (four spades on the board gave the underdog a flush), and he reacted with a shrug and merely said, “It’s okay, I sucked out earlier today.” (Though he later tweeted, “Poker literally ate my dick today. Literally.”)
Since the event was for charity, no cash prizes were given, but the three celebs did sign the trophies for the top two finishers (Cross: “F-ck you.” Black: “JEWS!”). More pictures of the event are here, and you can see me sweating out the previous night’s booze here. And remember, it was all for the children. I’m such a selfless functioning alcoholic!
I feel like some kind of colossal ass who sucks at his job because I’d never heard that an “Arrested Development” documentary has been in the works (obligatory: a more colossal ass who sucks at his job more than usual). Or at least I assume it’s been news before, since this is the “final” trailer. You wouldn’t have any a final trailer without having earlier trailers, right?
Anyway, the clip is just a bunch of people — stars of the show, Hollywood execs, assorted actors and comics — saying how amazing the show was and how no one watched it. And they’re all absolutely right, but I certainly hope the documentary gives me a little bit more than that. I already feel bad for not going door-to-door and forcing Nielsen families to watch the show, I don’t need some 90-minute guilt trip about how we all missed the most brilliant sitcom ever made because “Temptation Island” was on. Although in America’s defense, “Temptation Island” was awesome.
[More at ArrestedDevelopmentDoc.com; HT: Kottke via @Unsilent]
