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Posts tagged as heroes

Heroes

The Scott Baio Essential Eight: A List of Films Featuring Chachi You Need to See Before You Die

by | August 21st, 2012

Few entities are as daunting as the Scott Baio filmography. Really, what are the requisites, and what do I need to know about them before diving in on an otherwise desolate Friday night in my studio apartment across from the abandoned railroad tracks? Don't worry, Splitsider's got you covered. Here now, what we like to call "The Essential Eight" of Baio's illustrious Hollywood run. You can't call yourself a scholar of cinema until you've sat through them all.

Heroes

The Comedy Innovations of Michael Nesmith

by | April 9th, 2012

To me, as a kid watching The Monkees, it was all about Michael Nesmith. Sure, the others all had their appeal: Davy Jones was the pretty boy teen idol, Micky Dolenz was the funny one, and even Peter Tork had his own dimwitted charm. But none could compare to Nez.

With his string bean physique, slight Texas drawl and his twelve string Gretsch, he was the unspoken leader of the band, oscillating between acting as straight man and ringleader to group's cartoon antics. His sense of humor was a little bit smarter, a little dryer, a little more adult. And it goes without saying that he is the only [...]

Heroes

Your First, Glorious Look at "Fat Mac" from It's Always Sunny

by | June 24th, 2011

When the news broke that It's Always Sunny's Rob McElhenney had gained 50 pounds just because playing Mac as a fat guy would be funny, it was hilarious, but not as hilarious as it could have been, as there was no photo of this new, fatter Mac. Well, we've got some treasure here: the first photo of the new and, uh, improved McElhenney. He's really embraced his new girth, donning a Hawaiian print fat guy shirt and everything. Amazing.

Heroes

"For five hundred dollars, I'll write for Hitler."

by | June 11th, 2012

"For five hundred dollars, I'll write for Hitler. Five hundred dollars when you're starving and you've got a car payment due? Here's what I'm saying: 'You go through any door that opens.' In the beginning, you go through the doors. You don't know which is going to be the one." — The indefatigable Joan Rivers to NPR, talking about her career and her new book, I Hate Everyone, Starting with Me.

Late Night

The Awkward, Hostile, and Absolutely Hilarious Late Night Appearances of Charles Grodin

by | December 12th, 2011

Imagine you’re Roman Polanski. (Stay with me, this isn’t going where you think.) It’s 1968, and you’re working on Rosemary’s Baby, a thriller that will go on to earn six Golden Globe and two Academy Award nominations. Everything’s going great until a bit player delays a day of shooting to debate your carefully scripted delivery. “To me, that’s not being a troublemaker — that’s just being alive,” actor Charles Grodin recalls the incident, more Zen than mortified, in a 1997 interview with Charlie Rose. The memory, and the glib explanation of it, exemplify performer-turned-pundit Grodin’s infamous churlishness, part of a personality introduced over dozens of wonderfully awkward late [...]

Heroes

Gesundheit, Mr. Vonnegut

by | April 13th, 2012

“All the great story lines are great practical jokes that people fall for over and over again.” — Kurt Vonnegut, The Paris Review – The Art Of Fiction No. 64

Five years ago this week, 84-year-old Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. — humanist, satirist, father of seven, World War II veteran, and man after whom an asteroid is named — died from irreversible head injuries caused from falling down a flight of stairs.

Lung cancer would have made sense, at least. He'd chain-smoked since adolescence and only made two brief attempts at quitting. But you'd just assume he'd gently waft, like Pall Mall smoke, to wherever he so well pleased to go [...]

Heroes

Nichols and May: The Cool Parents of Modern Comedy

by | August 9th, 2011

When it comes to comedy duos, it’s hard to find a cooler one than Nichols and May. In fact, what do other comedy teams have on these two? Abbott and Costello? Hacks. Cheech and Chong? Junkies. Flight of the Conchords? Foreigners. Laurel and Hardy? Clowns. The Smothers Brothers? Pinkos. Penn & Teller? Degenerates. None of them can hold a lighter to the smooth, refreshing, great tasting comedy that Mike Nichols and Elaine May brought to the stage. Mmmmm… satisfying! Of course I’m joking with the 1960s cigarette copy and the knocking on those other guys (except for those shifty Smothers Brothers). But what is it about Nichols and May? [...]

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