Adam Frucci
Most Recently: Real Talk About Dan Harmon and 'Community'
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Real Talk About Dan Harmon and 'Community'
Over at Vulture, Josef Adalian dives deep into the whole Harmon/Community brouhaha, talking to folks from the show and the industry in general to really break down what happened, why, and what tomorrow will bring for the Greendale Seven. The entire piece is excellent and well worth reading! Included are some more specific details about Harmon's rough relationship with network suits: READ MORE
If you like The Simpsons — which I assume you do if you are reading this website — you are going to want to check out/follow Movie Simpsons, a new Tumblr that pairs animated gifs of movie references from The Simpsons with animated gifs of the original source material. It is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
Comedy Karaoke at the 'SNL' Afterparty with the Foo Fighters and a Slew of Castmembers
After the season finale 'SNL' on Saturday, a stage was set up at the 30 Rock rink for the afterparty, where the Foo Fighters (actually, their cover band alter ego "Chevy Metal") set up shop and played for a couple hours. They did a bunch of covers and invited a number of castmembers up to sing/play with them. Above you can see Kristen Wiig singing "I Love Rock n Roll" with help from Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg. Other songs included Will Forte singing some Black Sabbath, Amy Poehler singing "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett and Fred Armisen playing drums on Cheap Trick's "Surrender." It was just like when you and your friends do karaoke, but much more famous! Buzzfeed has a couple of other (much worse) videos if you're curious.
Patton and Maron Sittin' in a Plane, T-W-E-E-T-I-N-G
This morning, Patton Oswalt and Marc Maron happened to be on the same flight from NYC to LA. They couldn't sit together, as Patton was in first class and Maron was stuck in coach. So they did what came most naturally: they tweeted at each other from different parts of the airplane. And it was wonderful. Here's the full exchange, in chronological order for your easy reading pleasure: READ MORE
Peter Serafinowicz Directed the New Hot Chip Music Video and Cast Reggie Watts in it and I Don't Get It
Here's the new music video from Hot Chip, directed by Peter Serafinowicz and featuring Terence Stamp, Reggie Watts and Lara Stone. In it, Stamp leads a group of dancing monks and Watts and Stone fight in a couple of spaceships. I think? I'll be honest, I have no clue what it all means. I think I preferred his last effort for Hot Chip, which was easier to follow and also much more unsettling in the best way possible. But this one's still fun and the song is catchy, so I suppose it doesn't really matter. But please, if you've got a deep reading of this thing, feel free to leave it in the comments.
What Was the Best Sitcom of the Season?
So, the 2011-2012 TV season is pretty much finished at this point. Looking back, there's only one question that comes to mind: which single show was the very best? There's gotta be one that stands above the rest, right? Well, there's only one way to determine what that show is, and that's a decidedly un-scientific poll.
Now, before we get to it, a couple of notes. First, this is counting shows from the fall and mid-season (January premieres), so summer shows like Louie, Wilfred, Girls, and Veep do not count. Nor do late night shows such as The Daily Show or SNL. It's all prime time comedy from the traditional TV season here, all shows with seasons that have finished up (with a couple of minor exceptions).
So, what's it going to be? There are a lot of great choices here, but remember that there's just no way to say that you really love a few shows and one isn't really better than the other. You've gotta make a choice! The stakes are high (well, non-existant, really), so get to voting. We'll announce the results on Friday. READ MORE
See Bill Murray as FDR in the First 'Hyde Park on Hudson' Trailer
Here's your first look at 'Hyde Park on Hudson,' the upcoming historical dramady that stars one Mr. Bill Murray as former president Franklin Roosevelt. Hitting theaters on December 7th, it tells the true story of "the high tension 1939 meeting between America's First Couple, the King and Queen of England — and the president's cousin and maybe-mistress." It looks pretty interesting; it's actually kind of strange to see Murray playing such a character rather than the various shades of himself we've seen him play in recent years. It also certainly looks to be more drama than comedy, with some wry moments of levity brought by Murray's mischievous president. Could this be the movie that changes Bill Murray from Academy Award Nominee to Academy Award Winner? It's obviously far, far too early to say, but I'll just go ahead and say yes, 100%, bank on it.
Mike Sacks Is Working on a Sequel to 'And Here's the Kicker'
Mike Sacks, the author of the must-read book of interviews with comedy writers And Here's the Kicker (and humor book Your Wildest Dreams Within Reason) has begun work on a sequel, one that'll have him talking to more big names from the world of comedy writing. He tells me that "there were quite a few writers I couldn't reach the first go-round. I hope to be able to connect with them for this version. Looking for a book editor and publisher who enjoyed and is familiar with the first book, and would know how to handle the second." Get on it, publishers.
If you haven't read And Here's the Kicker yet, it just so happens to be the first book in our new Splitsider Comedy Book Club, so it's a perfect time to pick it up and then talk about it with your fellow laughophiles.
Abed Says "Cool" a Lot on 'Community'
Cool cool cool cool. "Cool cool cool, cool cool — cool." Cool cool! Cool cool cool cool Buzzfeed cool. Cool, cool cool cool (cool). Cool, cool cool cool?
Nick Offerman and Craig Robinson Continue Their Chicago v. Chicago Bickering
Here's the second in New Era's series of spots featuring Nick Offerman, Cubs fan, squaring off against Craig Robinson, White Sox fan, in a battle of wits. I've said it before and I'll say it again: using funny people in well-written commercials may not get me to start wearing baseball hats, but it'll get me to watch your commercial. And that's got to be at least a partial victory for them, right?
Bill Lawrence Stepping Down as 'Cougar Town' Showrunner When it Moves to TBS
Cougar Town was saved from the clutches of cancellation at ABC by TBS, who picked the show up for a ten-episode season on basic cable. But a network home isn't all its losing — show creator and showrunner Bill Lawrence is set to step down when production ramps up for the new season. He'll still be involved somewhat, as he's said to plan on being "actively involved in the creative direction of the show," but as for a big kahuna, it'll be someone else. It's not clear who yet, but I'm sure whoever it is will be perfectly able and very comfortable with writing about drinking lots of wine while the sun's up.
The first teaser trailer for Charlie Sheen's new FX show, Anger Management, is here. In it, Charlie causes a literal trainwreck. Get it??
Is CBS Recycling a 90s Fox Sitcom with 'Partners'?
Coming to Mondays at 8:30 on CBS this fall is Partners, a new sitcom from James Burrows that the network describes as being about "two life-long best friends and business partners whose 'bromance' is tested when one of them is engaged to be married."
Coming to Mondays at 8:30 on Fox in the fall of 1996 was Partners, an old sitcom from James Burrows that the network described as "Best friends Bob and Owen work together as aspiring young architects on the rise, their relationship complicated by Owen's recent engagement to Alicia."
OK then! So, what the hell is the deal here? TVbytheNumbers discovered the weird similarities between the two shows, which share a director, name, story and even a timeslot with each another. Of course, there are differences between the two shows, most notably that the friend whose inconvenienced by the engagement is gay in the 2012 version. But even the main creators of the two shows are connected: READ MORE
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