Weekend Preview: Kenny Powers Is Back

02.17.12 Written by Josh

Eastbound & Down (HBO; Sunday, 10 p.m.) – Season premiere. So begins the third and final chapter of one of the most unique comedies in TV history. It’s so good, it could woo you, fu*k you without letting you finish, leave without saying goodbye, come back asking for a gallon of free cocaine, take you out to Buffalo Wild Wings, fu*k you in Buffalo Wild Wings, and make you pay the bill – and you’d still be happy, because you were in its presence for even a moment. Can’t wait. (Trailer after the jump.) “Life’s Too Short” premieres after “Eastbound.” Speaking of…

Family Guy (Fox; Sunday, 9 p.m.) – ‘Ello. Ricky Gervais here. I’m writing this from the UK, where I created such modern masterpieces as “The Office” and “Extras,” to let you know that I’m guest starring on “Family Guy” this Not-the-Lord’s-Day-Because-Haven’t-You-Heard-I’m-An-Atheist. Yes, “Family Guy.” You may be asking yourself why I, Ricky Gervais, the creator of “The Office,” would do such a thing. The answer is simple, really…

/37 minutes later

…And that’s why I was unfairly vilified for my Golden Globes comments.

The Firm (NBC; Saturday, 9 p.m.) – I feel bad for the friends of the actors and actresses from “The Firm.” They must feel obligated to watch the show, just in case, say, Josh Lucas or Precocious Kid asks what they thought of it. “It was so…um…great…when you, like, Firmed and all.”

SNL (NBC; Saturday, 11:30 p.m.) – Whitney Houston or no Whitney Houston, that is the question when Maya Rudolph hosts. Sleigh Bells, who are about as loud as the Guitar Army in Rudolph’s best movie, Idiocracy, are the musical guest.

The Simpsons (Fox; Sunday, 8 p.m.) – 500th episode. Check out our favorite “Simpsons” GIFs here and every Chalkboard Gag here. Fine, one more gratuitous quote: “Look out, Itchy, he’s Irish!”

The Celebrity Apprentice (NBC; Sunday, 9 p.m.) – Season premiere. This year’s apprentices-to-be include Arsenio Hall, Debbie Gibson, Dee Snider, Lou Ferrigno, and George Takei. Those last two should ditch the Trump and start a band together. I would pay literally tens of dollars to see the Gay Hulk Experience.

The Walking Dead (AMC; Sunday, 10 p.m.) – “Shane finds Lori in danger.” That could apply to every episode of this show. Can they just die already, preferably ironically? “Oh no! Lori was killed by a withering scarecrow that didn’t know how to drive and wouldn’t stop whining, and Shane was trampled by a bald, steroid-addicted gorilla that had sex with literally EVERYTHING in its way.” I’d also accept throwing their corpses into a zombie bonfire.

Pan Am (ABC; Sunday, 10 p.m.) – Series finale. *Sad trombone noise*

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Five TV Shows As Offensive as ‘Work It’

01.04.12 Written by Josh


History was made last night, and I hope you weren’t watching. Yesterday, at exactly 8:30 p.m. EST, ABC premiered “Work It,” arguably the most offensive show of all-time. It’s about two dudes who dress up like ladies because women be stealing all our jobs. IT’S A MANCESSION, PEOPLE. The show’s homophobic, sexist, a little racist, and definitely awful. Like, “Homeboys in Outer Space”-level awful.

“Work It” joins a unique group of shows that can only be defined as “offensive,” both critically and culturally. I’m not talking about series like “South Park” and “All In the Family,” which many totally clueless writers have mislabeled as “the most offensive shows ever”; I’m referring to shows so lacking in decency and taste, they make the “Partial Terms of Endearment” episode of “Family Guy” seem like “The Joy of Painting” by comparison.

Here we go.

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TV GIFs of the Week: Rick Perry Hates Your Favorite Things, Zooey > Emily, and More

12.12.11 Written by Josh

Most shows were new last week, so we’ve got plenty of GIF fodder for this week’s post, including: crying judges, incest, Louis C.K. miming sex with an animal, Zooey dancing in her underwear, and Fat Mac’s real name. Plus, for the last time for a few months, “Community.” (The only GIF I wanted to locate but couldn’t was of Beavis getting his ass stuck in copy machine – if you know where to find it, include a link in the comments section.) Please remember to email me any favorites you see throughout the week at Joshua.Kurp@gmail.com.

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Ten of TV’s Most Obnoxious, Overused Tropes

12.07.11 Written by Josh

Imagine them eating in slow-motion, and you've got about three selections from this list.

Did people in the 1960s, when TV was a relatively new source of entertainment, predict that at the end of the “Mr. McBeevee” episode of “The Andy Griffith Show,” the previously-unseen-by-everyone-but-Opie titular character was going to appear? Like we would now. You see, Mr. B is a “Not So Imaginary Friend,” and because of Opie stating that he has 12 hands…The point I’m trying to make is: recognizing tropes have made us more cynical about TV, and that’s why I love them.

One of the reasons why shows like “Community” and “South Park” are so good is because they rarely go the easy route and do something that’s been seen a million times before. Their success comes from the way they subvert tropes, unlike, say, “Two and a Half Men” or “Family Guy,” both of which have been doing the same exact stories with the same exact jokes that “The Honeymooners” did in 1955. Just not as well.

On the following pages are 10 of my least-favorite TV tropes. If ever you’ve groaned at a character screaming in horror when they realize who their bedmate is, or turned the channel when someone thought they were high or drunk when they were actually just given a placebo, this list is for you. (Note: this is not the 10 WORST – it’s 10 that really bug me, even if some of my favorite shows use them. Please list your least favorites.)

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‘Simpsons’ Vs. ‘Family Guy’: Who Stole Which Jokes?

03.23.11 Written by Josh

Read the comments section of any “Family Guy” video on YouTube and inevitably, someone will say that Seth MacFarlane sucks and that the show’s just a rip-off of “The Simpsons”. I’m the biggest “Simpsons” fan around, but even I don’t believe that. Like Roger Myers, Jr. once said:

“Animation is built on plagiarism. If it weren’t for someone plagiarizing ‘The Honeymooners’, we wouldn’t have ‘The Flintstones’. If someone hadn’t ripped off ‘Sgt. Bilko’, there’d be no ‘Top Cat.’ Huckleberry Hound, Chief Wiggum, Yogi Bear? Hah! Andy Griffith, Edward G. Robinson, Art Carney. Your honor, you take away our right to steal ideas, where are they gonna come from?”

With that mind, here are six instances of “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” using the same joke. Note that I said “joke,” rather than “plot” because otherwise, yes, SIMPSONS DID IT!

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