COMEDY
JON STEWART ‘INTERVIEWS’ RICKY GERVAIS!
Dec 15th
What happens when you put together two of the sharpest comedic minds in the world, Jon Stewart and Ricky Gervais?
You end up with an interview like this…
Ricky is meant to be promoting his new HBO stand up special ‘Out Of England 2‘. Jon is meant to be hosting and conducting an interview. But when the two get together – well let’s just say there’s not much actual interviewing going on really – just a lot of random observations, giggling and inspired silliness…
Oh if only all talk show were like this. Just try watching with a straight face…
FIRST LOOK: COME FLY WITH ME
Dec 13th
The Little Britain Guys Are Back!
Here’s the first look at Come Fly With Me, the new comedy series from David Walliams and Matt Lucas – the guys behind the BBC smash Little Britain.
If you’re British like me, Walliams and Lucas would be household names and phrases like ‘I’m the only gay in the village’, ‘bitty’, ‘but I’m a lady!’ and ‘computer says no‘ will already have you laughing. But if you’re American you probably only know the duo from the HBO Little Britain remake, Walliams from the movie Dinner For Schmucks and Lucas from Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland…
That’s a shame – if you haven’t seen the show yet go online and check it out straight away! I’m a big Little Britain fan and when I tell my American friends the kind of material the duo get away with on a prime-time show on public service television their jaws just drop! Just take a look at the clip below and imagine the equivalent airing on CBS at 9 o’clock in the evening! Can you imagine… (btw nsfw!)
QUICK TAKE: GLEE ‘A VERY GLEE CHRISTMAS’
Dec 8th
Um, gee, thanks Glee!
Exactly what DO you say when someone gives you a Christmas gift you really don’t want? That’s how I felt last night while watching Glee’s 2010 Xmas special, an episode so truly appalling it pretty much sucked the holiday spirits clean away.
I’m used to Glee’s erratic lapses of quality – this is a show that can go from THAT Britney Spears episode to a triumphant Gwyneth Paltrow special in just a few weeks – but blimey, talk about leaving a lump of coal in everyone’s stockings. Honestly, how did the powers at be at Fox let this monstrosity on the air? Was anyone doing quality control? Did anyone even read the script?
All the worst elements of Glee were in full force last night. Endless Rachel whining? Check. Silly and pointless story lines? Check. Sue Sylvester reduced to a one dimensional cartoon character (you WERE right Ed O’Neill) Check. Inconsistent characters. Check…. This Christmas list just goes on and on.
Okay, to be fair, there were three good moments in last night’s show – so let’s deal with them first. Most notable was Kurt and Blaine’s duet on ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ – a refreshing TV moment that felt in More >
QUICK TAKE: GLEE ‘SPECIAL EDUCATION’
Dec 1st
Wow, is it sectionals time already on Glee?
Yep, after weeks of rather pointless rehearsals, solos and ‘Very Special Episodes’, Glee finally brought us back to the central competition of the show, though with little fanfare or set up.
This year’s Sectionals raised many questions: Why were a geriatric choir competing (it was a sweet moment but let’s be honest you were thinking the same); Why were only three acts in the running? And where were Vocal Adrenalin this time around? Speaking of which – will we ever see Cheyenne Jackson and Charice again, or have they disappeared into the Glee casting black hole which last year claimed Molly Shannon?
Anyway, snarkiness aside, last night’s episode was a fairly average affair, but coming off the back of last week’s disastrous, and low rated, Sue Sylvester wedding episode – I’ll take what I can get.
SNEAK PEEK: GLEE – BLAINE IS BACK!
Nov 26th
Sometimes a character just instantly takes off with the public – and boy, has Glee struck gold this season!
I am of course referring to Blaine, Kurt’s gay mentor who took approximately 3 minutes of screen time, singing a certain Katy Perry song, to become an instant fan favorite.
Seriously, it’s pretty stunning how much press coverage Blaine / Darren Criss has received over the last couple of weeks. With Teenage Dream now officially the fastest selling Glee song ever (take that Don’t Stop Believing!) it’s no wonder Criss is set to become a regular cast member.
Personally I’m thrilled. As you know I’ve had my issues with the character of Kurt over the last few months, but Blaine is a fantastic role model for gay kids across America – likable, smart and also sexy (like many gay men on TV, Kurt is kind of asexual)
Well now Blaine is back with another song and he’s taking on Train’s summer smash, Hey Soul Sister. Personally I don’t think it’s quite as good as Teenage Dream, but I’d far rather listen to this track as opposed to anything from last week’s tone deaf episode!
GLEE’S ARTIE: BEFORE HE WAS BIG!
Nov 24th
You know him best as whiny, wheelchair bound Artie Abrams on Glee (probably my least favorite character on the Fox show)
But you may or may not know that actor Kevin McHale had a whole OTHER musical career before his Glee days.
Kevin used to be part of a boyband called NLT (which stands for Not Like Them) a fairly unsuccessful outfit that also featured the Perez Hilton protege Travis Garland.
NLT released four singles in total and they pretty much all bombed. But the videos still live on online and show a whole other side of McHale that’s pretty much never seen on the Fox high school musical…
Personally I can kind of see why the songs never took off – they’re totally forgettable and generic – and the first video is a pure N*Sync rip off. But what do you think? Bland boy band pop – or do you see something special?
Start weighing in all you Gleeks…!
QUICK TAKE: GLEE ‘FURT’
Nov 24th
And this is why guest stars aren’t always a good mix for Glee…
Just one week after Gwyneth Paltrow’s triumphant appearance on Fox’s high school musical, Glee last night introduced us to Sue Sylvester’s Nazi-hunting mother, played by comedy icon Carol Burnett. Except you really wouldn’t know Carol was a famous comedienne given that she couldn’t muster a single laugh – or even a smile – last night. Honestly Burnett’s whole performance and story line were totally flat. Which pretty much sums up the episode as a whole really, definitely one of the worst Glee episodes to date.
And wouldn’t you know it – guess who wrote the script – show creator Ryan Murphy. I’ve talked about Ryan several times here on Remote Patrolled as it really does seem that he’s the show’s weakest creative link – responsible for the worst episodes of the series to date (the Britney special, the Laryngitis episode, the appearance of the Acafellas). Murphy’s heart is in the right place but his writing is horribly heavy handed (I use the phrase ‘after school special’ a lot when reviewing Murphy’s episodes). Plus he lacks the ability to tell good ideas from bad and often pursues truly ridiculous plot lines that More >
RATINGS ROUNDUP – 20TH NOVEMBER
Nov 20th
Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days
WINNERS
PSYCH: In its fifth season – and still going strong, USA’s comedy drama series Psych managed an impressive 2.98 million viewers and a 1.0 18-49 share on Wednesday night. To put that in perspective, those figures are better than pretty much everything on The CW, including America’s Next Top Model and highly touted newbies Hellcats and Nikita. And yet when was the last time you saw the Psych stars on the front cover of a magazine?
I must admit Psych is one of those shows that has largely passed me by too – but with a sixth season already confirmed and these kind of ratings no wonder the USA network is such a drama powerhouse these days…
SARAH PALIN’S ALASKA: Oh yeah – we’re going there! How could we not! Whatever you think of Sarah Palin and her politics you certainly can’t deny the power of Sarah’s fanbase.
As you undoubtedly read, Alaska debuted on TLC with 4.95 million viewers, an absolute smash for the network and proof of the power of the Palin brand.
But I’d hold off on popping those champagne corks quite yet. For starters the show’s 1.2 18-49 rating isn’t all that impressive. Secondly More >
FIRST LOOK: MATT LE BLANC IN ‘EPISODES’
Nov 16th
Okay this looks good!
Check out Matt Le Blanc, crawling from the wreckage that was Joey, in Showtime’s new inside Hollywood comedy series, Episodes.
The new show centers on a British couple (Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig) who produce a critically acclaimed TV series and then proceed to sell the rights to an unscrupulous Hollywood producer. Before they know it, the remake has been Americanized and recast with Matt Le Blanc, playing himself, as the lead actor… and then it all goes downhill from there!
This is the first trailer for the show and I have to say I’m definitely intrigued… I laughed out loud a couple of times, although I have to say the editing is really choppy and the ending fell flat. But there’s certainly promise to the concept. In fact Episodes is very reminscent of Lisa Kudrow’s own Hollywood spoof, The Comeback, a show that’s actually getting a second lease of life on the Sundance channel next year.
The big challenge of course is going to be keeping the show fresh once the initial gags wear off… I mean how long can Matt keep making Joey jokes…
Still Episodes comes from a great pedigree since it’s created by David Crane, co-creator of More >
SNEAK PEEK: GLEE – ‘SINGING IN THE RAIN / UMBRELLA’
Nov 15th
Here’s a quick little look at tomorrow night’s Glee - with the much buzzed about arrival of Gwyneth Paltrow as substitute teacher Holly Holliday.
You may have already seen our Sneak Peek of Gwynnie and the gang taking on Cee Lo’s ‘Forget You’… well now get set for a mash up of Singing In The Rain and Umbrella…
Once you get past all the celebrity fawning – ‘Gwyneth is so amazing’ – I have to say the scene looks pretty great as well as very expensive (how on earth does a high school afford these kind of production numbers?). Buoyed by the success of last week’s Teenage Dream – the fastest selling single in the show’s history – the Glee juggernaut just keeps on rolling…
Check out the full scene tomorrow night on Glee, 8pm / 7c – and don’t forget to swing by Remote Patrolled the next day for my Quick Take…!
