Back in December, “The League” featured an episode where Taco came up with the not-so-crazy idea of a Netflix type service for neck ties called “Neckflix.” The idea is simple: The service would send its customer a few ties each week in the mail, and then the customer could return them for a new set of ties the following week. This way, the customer could wear a different tie every day of the year without actually having to buy 365 new ties.

Genius, right?

David Powers, a lawyer at WilmerHale (Boo! BigLaw) thought so. He and Scott Tindle started their own Neckflix service.

TieTry.com is the brainchild of David Powers, who works for the firm WilmerHale, and Scott Tindle, who is based in Mobile, Ala., and they bill it as a kind of Netflix for your neck. For a monthly subscription charge, TieTry will send customers between one and five neckties to wear without having to buy. Ties are expensive, Powers says, so why plunk down a wad of cash and be stuck with it when you can loan one for a few days at a time.

Yup. That sounds exactly like Taco’s service. Powers claims that he got the idea from reality series “Shark Tank,” in which a group of venture capital investors hear pitches from aspiring entrepreneurs. But we know the truth. I expect that Mr. Powers will soon be hearing from Taco Corp. I don’t expect, however, that Taco Corp. will have a credible intellectual property claim — you can’t patent a business idea — but he could sue for egregious douchebaggery and failure to cite proper inspiration. Or he could just sic Bobbum Man on him.

(Source: AbovetheLaw with a Major Hat Tip to Douglas W. for the heads up)

Recurring characters are like inside jokes: They exist in part to reward viewers of television series, not just the episodes. They’re like drunk uncles or ex-girlfriends who drop by every few months, drink all your beer, dance naked in your living room, puke on the floor and vanish, only to return again six months later looking to crash on your couch. And we let them, goddamnit, because we have an unyielding affection for them, no matter how much they wreck the place.

The best shows use these recurring characters sparingly. They’re typically one note, but it’s a glorious note, and as long as it’s not overplayed, the character can continue to return without ever wearing out his or her welcome (see, e.g., Senor Chang, who was elevated to series regular on “Community” and almost immediately became unbearable).

I’ve taken the liberty of ranking, without comment, television’s best recurring characters. A note about the criteria: To be included on the list, the character must be in an on-going television show; he or she must have been in fewer than 30 percent of the show’s episodes; and he or she must have recurred in two or more seasons of the show. Limit one recurring character per series.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wait, that's what the Black Swan poster really looks like?

The X-Factor (FOX) – Season finale. It’s Melanie Amaro v. Chris Rene v. Josh Krajcik (all terrible pop star names) to become America’s idol. I’m voting for Josh because of his initials, and also because he didn’t write a rap called “Young Homies” or mess up “I Believe I Can Fly.”

Billy on the Street (Fuse) – After watching just the promo clip for “Billy on the Street,” a friend of mine emailed me saying, “I was laughing-crying by the end of it.” One anonymous friend can’t be wrong!

Extreme Christmas Trees (TLC) – There had better be at least one reindeer playing the air guitar in front of a group of elves moshing, or I’m out.

Beavis and Butt-head (MTV) – Season finale. Does Mike Judge ever accidently begin laughing like Beavis or Butt-head? That would be cool. (Follow-up question: does he do the laughs every time on the show, or are they pre-recorded? Inquiring minds, etc.)

The League (FX) – Two-part season finale. Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears guest stars, and a nation of Forte-owning fantasy players weep.

Late-Night Guests: Anderson Cooper, Lindsey Vonn, and Childish Gambino on Letterman; Jonah Hill, Chris Paul, and Il Volo on Leno; Kyra Sedgwick and Frankie Ballard on Ferguson; Jerry O’Connell, David Alan Grier, Jeff Musial, and the Rockettes on Fallon; and Claire Smith, Thomas Haden Church, and Glen Campbell on Conan.

It was an outstanding year for television comedies, as long as you didn’t watch television’s more popular sitcoms, like “Two and a Half Men” or “Mike and Molly.” To achieve the level of success afforded the likes of the CBS comedies, the humor needs to be obvious, conservative, and typically in the area of lowest common denominator. The year’s best comedies, on the other hand, were edgy, risky, weird, manic, and often offensive, which is probably why no more than 4.5 million people saw any of the year’s ten funniest episodes (according to the sham that is the Nielsen Ratings).

I didn’t want to duplicate any TV series on the list because I wanted to provide some depth and variety, which means that the ten funniest episodes of 2011 also fairly reflect the 10 funniest shows of 2011, though perhaps not in the same order. Picking a favorite among the episodes on many of these sitcoms is something of a fool’s errand, but I think the selected episodes are at least representative of their respective shows.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re not watching “The League,” or at the very least, if you don’t have the show in your Instant Netflix queue yet, then you don’t get to sit at the cool kids table. “It’s Always Sunny” and “Archer” tend to get most of the Internet attention when it comes to F/X shows, but it’s “The League” that — in its third season, at least — is the most consistently funny. It’s like an ensemble version of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” that just happens to revolve around a fantasy football league, though the premise is tertiary to the actual shenanigans. Also, never take fantasy football advice from anyone on the show. They’re is some kind of pansy 8-person league where everybody’s team is stacked with studs, and it’s a snake draft. Snake drafts are for amateurs.

Anyway, it’s an awesome show, which has featured guests appearances this season alone from Jeff Goldblum, Sarah Silverman, and Seth Rogen. And F/X yesterday had the good sense to renew show for another season, which means more Nick Kroll, and Nick Kroll is responsible for 30 percent of the sun’s power. FACT. And after the jump, I’m going to throw seven more “The League” connections at you that might just blow your mind.

Read the rest of this entry »