THE NEWS BUNDLE: Comedy Central Renews 'Key & Peele' For Second Season Just Two Weeks After Series Premiere →

filmthrasher:

Key & Peele is easily one of my favorite series on television right now…and it’s only two episodes in. The series is incredibly funny, and it stems from its great titular hosts. With critical acclaim as well, along with audiences loving the Chappelle Show-esque comedy, it seems Comedy Central has yet another hit on their hands. Now, the network has decided to keep the laughs coming, by renewing the new show for a second season.

Yes! Last night’s episode was so funny. It’s always nice to have another good sketch comedy show on the air.

theavc:

There’s only one set of Homeland DVDs in the office, which with any other TV series would lead to mutiny. Fortunately once you start watching Homeland, you biologically cannot stop, so no one has to wait too long for their fix. If you’ve already finished the show, you can enjoy part one of our first season Walkthrough with the show’s co-creator. If you haven’t, you should probably finish the show before Friday, when we publish the fourth installment of our interview.

Fuck the Oscars, this is what you should be watching and reading. Actually, I’ll go on the record as saying that TV is film’s equal when it comes to acting/acting/direction, once you get down to shows like Breaking Bad (that cinematography), Mad Men (that subtlety of characterization and plotting), and Homeland (I just really enjoy it, alright).

KNOPE, LEMON, & FEMINISM →

backshootingford:

becauseofthiswoman:

zimshan:

If I ruled the world, I would make everyone read this post. That is how much I love this post.

Everyone should read this post <3

This was super interesting.

I find it difficult to deem a fictional character as the model for feminism because, hey, they’re fictional. They’re limited by their shows’ thirty-minute lengths and the fact that the show itself (and therefore what the characters do and say) has to be entertaining (in a drama, that usually means inner conflict; in a comedy, that usually means being goofy sometimes). I’m not saying that a female fictional character can’t be strong and someone to look up to, I just don’t think it’s altogether…wise, I guess, to depend on it. Rather, I’d focus more on Tina Fey and Amy Poehler themselves, as actresses/writers/producers/comedians/mothers/wives/etc. Seriously, in my opinion, they display what you’re looking for in that model. But that’s just me.

I agree with Mariana on that note. While it’s interesting to look at fictional characters as paradigms or products of feminist thought, it’s not always realistic. This was still very interesting to read, though.

However, since we are talking about fictional feminist icons, my money is all on Veronica Mars and Ripley from the original Alien. They top everyone else for me, from Knope to Buffy.

I’m up to episode seven of Enlightened.

I’m finding this show to be compulsively watchable—especially since it has a half-hour length—despite it being rather low-key.

Laura Dern is incredible. Her character is very well-drawn! She has causes, but often veers into narcissism when trying to get others to join her; she wants to connect, but sometimes doesn’t know how; she seeks self-actualization, but has much to learn. Of course, the surrounding cast does too. I’ve been glancing at the comments on the AV Club (lol amirite) and I’m surprised by how lukewarm the response to both the show and Dern in particular can be. Perhaps it’s one of those things that you either love or hate. I’m finding it to be more quickly-paced than anything I’ve seen on HBO this side of Curb Your Enthusiasm, though, which makes the complaints that “nothing ever happens” particularly interesting to me. If anything, the series almost feels British in its temperament; Mike White even wrote all ten episodes himself, giving it a nice authorial consistency.

I think that the epiphanies in each episode are my favorite part of the show. Despite Dern’s attempts at social justice in almost every episode—trying to get others within the soul-crushing corporate bureaucracy she and they are stuck in to be aware of issues or join a rally—Enlightened is about connection. Its main concern is that hunger we all feel in each other’s presence. The most important moments turn out to be so simple: going to lunch with a lonely co-worker, being honest with our relatives about how we feel, or more often, letting go of the anger and frustration that overtakes us throughout the day.

I just watched the first episode of Enlightened! I really enjoyed it.

Between this and Homeland, I suppose that my new TV niche is comprised of series which star strong (and realistic) female leads who are either on the verge of a psychological breakdown or overcoming one? (And coincidentally, who are also blondes?). I can dig it. Both Laura Dern and Claire Danes are great actresses, too.

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I know that a few of my followers were fans of Whose Line Is It Anyway? or like improv in general, so I thought I’d make a post about Drew Carey’s Improv-a-Ganza, a new show which airs on the Game Show Network that’s basically a continuation of that one with a slightly re-jiggered cast. After watching more improv over the last year or so, I gave it a shot—I never got around to watching Whose Line back in the day. It’s pretty good! I watched episode five, since I like one of the comedians who was in it (Heather Anne Campbell, who I know of from the SelectButton.net forums and The Gamer’s Quarter, way back). If your cable company is like mine (Cablevision) and dropped GSN from its line-up (in my case, right before this show started airing, argh), there are full episodes at its website, under “Videos.”

dicksonland: The original Battlestar Galactica series bible is Ron Moore's rebuke to Star Trek →

dicksonland:

Moore’s first mistake was thinking that Star Trek was something that needed to be rebuked. His second mistake — in retrospect — was not delivering what he promised:

The jabs at Star Trek from Moore — who had only recently ended a long stint on The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and (briefly)…

I still have to watch more BSG—I saw the first season and most of the second several years ago—but this is still interesting. Also, dare I say that JMS did TV space-opera better than both Star Trek and BSG with Babylon 5?

(Source: gravitysrobot, via internethanley)

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chrisdwoo:

popculturebrain:

Proving Scientifically That ‘30 Rock’ Is Better Than ‘$#*! My Dad Says’ | Splitsider

Proven in every single way except the one that matters.

Sexism in The Walking Dead: An Ongoing Discussion →

I enjoyed last night’s pilot as much as you all, but I did get this vibe from it. The dialogue in the beginning—besides being really boring and stupid (get to the car chase already, dammit!)—was the worst offender. I’m hoping the show is great, but it sucks that Kirkman apparently has this bias.

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tinyvessels:

NEW FAVORITE SHOW

Pretty much this. I was kind of surprised by how great this was. Solid character development, violent as all hell (AMC can show a lot) and it even managed to make the zombies sympathetic. The scene involving this specific one was rather poignant. This is the first drama I’ve fallen for in a long, long time and I’ll be watching it every week.

I could totally be on Jeopardy!

Just saying.

They have try-outs in Hartford sometimes…

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itssaturdaynightlive:

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch/Who watches over you/Make a little birdhouse in your soul.

Bored to Death does so much right.

(Source: amyohconnor, via fuckyeahtheymightbegiants)

FACT OF THE DAY! most of the laugh tracks you hear on television were recorded in the 1950s, which means a lot of the people you hear laughing are dead.

yourfilthymugglemother:

-infamoushogwartsjaguar:

lessthanashley:

niggayougay:

themarmaladekat:

number4privetdrive:

buttercrumbs:

that’s creepy

 DA FUCK.

CANNED LAUGHTER WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.

(Source: capnskull, via backshootingford)

Trailer for The Walking Dead.

I’ve never read the comics (always wanted to, though!) but I am increasingly excited about this show. Seriously, this and 30 Rock are the only things I will watch (maybe finally getting into Parks and Rec and Community, too) and it will be fantastic. The idea of a TV series that uses Romero zombies makes me giddy.

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Yes. I’m all for trippy endings and that was…extremely bizarre.

Can you believe that the DVDs cut that ending out, according to the reviews on Amazon? How awful is that?

I’ve been thinking about this show lately, and what it accomplishes. The format is a breath of fresh air—it’s pretty experimental for a show of this type—even if the individual episodes are a tad uneven. The characterization is pretty solid overall, as well, though certain characters are of more interest to me than others (Cassie and Sid are easily my two favorites).

One thing I wish the show had more of—with the exception of the absurd ending to the first series—is a greater sense of reality. I was talking to Catherine about this earlier: at times it’s so melodramatic, so over-the-top, that it takes me completely out of its element. Sure, I laugh (how couldn’t I, at some of this dialogue, these storylines?), but it ruins the dramatic tension of the situations. I really wish someone could take the narrative structure of Skins and apply the tone of My So-Called Life to it. That would be great.

Skins is fun, though. I’ve heard the second series is even better than the first, so I’m pumped to see more. Who knows, maybe the show’s melodramatic absurdity will win me over (that ending went a long way towards that goal). I just wish watching it were a less frustrating experience; I feel like I see a better show trapped inside.