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On And the Best Sitcom Episode of All Time Is...

Interesting. Almost infuriating, but then again that is the point of fun contests like this one. I find it hard to believe that Community beat Arrested Development, let alone The Simpsons in its prime. Hopefully this kind of fan energy and enthusiasm will help convince NBC to keep Community on the air for several more seasons.

Posted on March 8, 2012 at 2:30 am 1

On Time For the Final Vote: Is "Remedial Chaos Theory" or "Marge vs. the Monorail" the Best Sitcom Episode Ever?

I would say that Community-- a show I really, really enjoy but which would have a hard time cracking my Top Ten and might not even crack my Top Twenty favorite sitcoms of all time list-- has benefited greatly in this tournament from being a show that is currently in danger of being canceled in its prime. I think there is a feeling right now that Community needs us all to step up and give the show as much positive energy as possible, to support it in every way. And I can almost get on board with that-- I don't want to see that show canceled. I want to see what they do next. But pitting Community up against The Simpsons is like putting Elvis Costello (my personal all-time favorite) up against The Beatles and asking which one is the best of all time. Both are great, but one is a critical darling and an acquired taste and the other changed the shape of popular culture in ways that are impossible to even quantify. If The Simpsons doesn't win this in a landslide, I'll be stunned. Then again, given the recent "Who is Paul McCartney?" flap on twitter, maybe anything's possible...

Posted on March 5, 2012 at 5:41 pm 0

On What Non-Comedy Songs Make You Laugh?

Tom Waits' "Step Right Up" and "Pasties And A G-String" are both really funny. I think one of the most darkly funny songs is The Velvet Underground's "The Gift" (essentially a story recited over music), but the version I enjoy is from their LIVE reunion disc that came out in the 90s. Cale's delivery is much stronger, much funnier, in this performance, especially at the end. Elvis Costello's "God's Comic" is a funny song in the tradition of Randy Newman, who of course has a ton of really funny songs. "Humans From Earth" by T Bone Burnett. I'd definitely second "Debra" from Beck's Midnite Vultures! Springsteen's "My Best Was Never Good Enough", the final track on his often stark Ghost Of Tom Joad album is a pretty sly song that I for some reason find pretty funny. Stephin Merritt's songs are almost always witty even if they aren't aiming to be laugh-out-loud funny, but I'd cite "The Nun's Litany" as a song that qualifies. I don't know if anyone at all will agree with me that "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" by The Smiths is funny. I think there is something about having that many "Please's" and "Let Me's" that automatically qualifies as legitimately comedic. (Rule Of Three?)

Posted on February 28, 2012 at 5:47 pm 0

On Run, Run From the Haunting Specter of a Ghostbusters 3 With No Bill Murray

Perhaps if enough people "like" this, we can make this crazy idea a reality: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wes-Anderson-should-write-direct-Ghostbusters-3/366336143378826

Posted on February 14, 2012 at 10:43 pm 0

On Run, Run From the Haunting Specter of a Ghostbusters 3 With No Bill Murray

If Aykroyd would allow Wes Anderson to write & direct Ghostbusters 3, I'll bet Murray would agree to do it. Sure, it would be a different movie altogether, but preferable to an Aykroyd-penned, Murray-less Ghostbusters film. The more I think about this, the more the idea of a sad, slightly whimsical Ghostbusters film makes sense (Murray's supposed dismissal "no one wants to see a bunch of fat old men chasing ghosts" is less of a problem when one imagines Anderson applying his trademark melancholy to the task.) Plus, with Anderson at the helm, you know that we'd get a fairly meticulous look at all the new ghostbusting equipment they've developed since the late 1980s.

Posted on February 14, 2012 at 10:19 am 0
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