Best Television Shows

Archive for May, 2009

Holla Gasmi! Welcome to the second day of auditions for So You Think You Can Dance (dance ……… dance). Tonight we’re heading to Miami and Memphis to see what they have to offer. As usual, we’ll see too many train wreck and loons, and not near enough good auditions to satisfy me.

Don’t blink or you’ll miss him! 

Go to Source

Dear Gasmi,

This week we learn about Lauren’s waxing phobia, the lengths that a modeling agency will go to for free advertising, and the detrimental effects of botox on oral sex.

Once I force my mouth into an O I’m pretty much done for the night.

I’ve got my chianti in the straw covered bottle (shouts out to njgasmifan) and I’m ready to go. Getting rid of the straw and the glass is definitely helping things along…

Go to Source

Gasmii Gasmii Gasmii!

We’re halfway through the season and the rumors and theories are buzzing across the internet. Unfortunately for Harper’s Island, most of them have to do with whether Danny Gokey will make an honest woman of his boo Jamar when the Idol tour hits Iowa. I kid because I love… to hate those closeted fruits.

But what I love even more are your recent comments about my humble re-crap. Thank you all for giving a shit! This episode promises less mayhem, bigger plotholes, and all the Filet O’Fish Hunk you can eat. The smart money’s on our beloved FH as the dangerously unhinged main murderer, but let’s not count out Possible Surprise Psychos Abby, Henry, and yes even Trish. When writers free up their imaginations and dispense with carefully outlined arcs, anything’s possible!

Go to Source

Filed under: OpEd, Video, Animation, Reality-Free

Perhaps some of you are already aware of the existence of this particular gem, but I was surprised to find online a banned episode of Tiny Toon Adventures from the early 90’s. In it, Buster Bunny, Plucky Duck and Hamton Pig find a bottle of beer that never goes empty, then proceed to get drunk, steal a cop car, cause general chaos and collectively die by driving said car over a cliff.

I can understand why Warner Brothers and Steven Spielberg may have wanted to stop this one from the airwaves. Despite dying at the end, I think it more highlights the positive values of being drunk, such as the ability to completely break any law you wish without fear of consequences (much as when your favorite sports team wins some sort of championship). Plus, I very much want to find that particular bottle of beer.

You can judge it for yourselves. Video is after the jump.

Continue reading The Tiny Toons episode you weren’t supposed to see

Permalink | Email this | | Comments

Go to Source

Filed under: Site Announcements, Reality-Free

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best — and worst — the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• I’m always up for a good Dwight Schrute bobblehead, but a Terminator one? I’m not sure I really get the appeal there.
• I get more than enough of Evangeline Lily on Lost, so I’m definitely not sitting around wishing she was in more movies. However, she made the Cinematical Seven: TV Stars Who Should Be In More Movies (female edition) list. See who else made it over at Cinematical.
• Apparently fans have been up in arms about Jonah Hill remaking 21 Jump Street, saying that he was going to make it into a comedy. I loved 21 Jump Street, and I had no idea it wasn’t a comedy already.
• I haven’t seen Sam Raimi’s newest horror flick, Drag Me To Hell yet, but I fully intend to. See what rating Cinematical readers are giving it.
• Cinematical is even suggesting you make it a double-feature weekend, seeing both Drag Me to Hell and Pixar’s latest film, Up. Having seen Up, I highly recommend this. It is an amazing movie that will have you in tears throughout the entire thing (but was still really funny!).

Permalink | Email this | | Comments

Go to Source

Filed under: News, Reality-Free

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann got into a feud this week with talking head Rush Limbaugh. That’s not really news. Olbermann and Limbaugh have long been bees in each other’s bonnets ever since they took to the airwaves that they are destined to break William Shatner and George Takei’s record.

But Olbermann turned up the heat with a blow torch after Limbaugh called out his network on the air.

Limbaugh took MSNBC to task for mentioning him for the bajillionth time and issued a challenge to the network that thankfully didn’t involve full man-on-man wrestling or some kind of hot dog eating contest. He challenged MSNBC not to mention him or his show for 30 days and then compare how well they did in the ratings. Olbermann issued a statement to Limbaugh’s challenge, “F you!” And yes, that was a direct quote.

Continue reading A plea to Keith Olbermann on his new Rush Limbaugh logo: We surrender!

Permalink | Email this | | Comments

Go to Source

Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming

Surviving Suburbia just can’t catch a break. It starts as a high profile return vehicle for Bob Saget over on The CW. Hell, the guy even hosts their fall preview. But it never shows up. So production company ABC snags it and puts it on their air this past winter. But only for a bit before yanking it. Don’t worry, they said, it’ll be back this summer; which translates as we’re burning off the rest of the episodes. And now they’re not even doing that!

So I hope you like The Goode Family, because effective immediately Surviving Suburbia is being yanked in favor of back-to-back Goode. I’m thinking online or DVD may be the only chances left to see the last of Suburbia, if anyone even cares. It’s not all bad news, though. Apparently to make us feel better about losing Bob (he’s still narrating HIMYM so he’s still got a job for awhile), they’re bringing back the already renewed Better Off Ted with new episodes starting June 23 at 9 Eastern. Maybe with less competition, the goofy workplace comedy can find the audience it deserves.

Permalink | Email this | | Comments

Go to Source

Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Music and Variety, Celebrities, British TV

She dreamed a dream, but Susan Boyle’s rags to riches attempt to win the top prize on Britain’s Got Talent came up just short this weekend.

Diversity, a dance troupe, edged out the Scot on the season’s climactic episode. Her seemingly tragic and unjust end seems almost poetically concocted as Boyle sang “I Dream a Dream” for her final number on the show (the same song that stunned audiences the night she appeared on the scene).

But, Boyle was gracious in defeat, offering a nod to the young performers who beat her out: “They’re very entertaining. Lads, I wish you all the best.”

Her defeat comes after a week of controversy as Boyle allegedly laid into multiple reported victims with expletive laced tirades. Her behavior offered the British tabloid press the perfect opportunity to claim she was cracking under the pressure and was out of her depth as a performer. No one will ever know for sure if that bad press cost her the crown.

Continue reading Boyle’s bubble burst as she comes up short on Britain’s Got Talent

Permalink | Email this | | Comments

Go to Source

Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Ratings, Reality-Free

Coming as no surprise to anybody, the final performance of Jay Leno on The Tonight Show absolutely slaughtered the ratings of the rerun of The Late Show with David Letterman. Given the enormity of the event, it’s a good thing Dave just decided to hang it up and show a rerun that night in the first place.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ve always preferred Letterman to Leno, but even I can see how Leno’s laid-back, straight-forward presentation style seems more palatable with mainstream America than Dave’s snark and wit. But then, I’ve never had anything resembling mainstream tastes.

Jay now moves to 10 P.M. and Conan takes his place as Letterman’s direct competitor. Leno’s style does suit the more family-friendly hour he’s been placed at. Starting Monday we’ll learn whether it was the man or the name-brand built by Leno and those before him that kept people watching The Tonight Show.

Permalink | Email this | | Comments

Go to Source

Dramatically speaking, the networks may have pretty much closed up shop for the summer, but Mama is still on the hunt for decent scripted fare up and down the dial. Here’s what to look for this week:

“Breaking Bad” (Sunday, 10 p.m., AMC)
In light of tonight’s season finale, let’s take stock of the many reasons we are glad to have “Breaking Bad” in our lives. Firstly, there are the nuanced performances by the cast led by Bryan Cranston, who has peeled back layers of his once-seemingly pathetic character this year to reveal the calculating criminal beneath. Then there are the memorable little details in the writing that give the series its richness, like the slowly unfolding flash-forwards of the stuff floating in the Whites’ pool or that creepy old man ringing his bell. Add to all this a flair for the outrageous (a pre-credits teaser summarizing the plot sung entirely in Spanish!), and we have one of the truly great TV dramas currently airing. Thank goodness another season is on the horizon. Mama will miss you, Walter! Come back soon.

“Into the Storm” (Sunday, 9 p.m., HBO)
Mama must confess that she has rows and rows of history books weighing down her shelves, so she is a sucker for historical dramas, particularly those on HBO. This sequel to 2002’s “The Gathering Storm,” which starred Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave as Winston and Clemmie Churchill in the years building up to World War II, will cover Churchill’s war years as well as the dramatic 1945 election. Ordinarily Mama is not keen on recasting for sequels, but in this case taking over for Finney and Redgrave are the terrific Brendan Gleeson and Janet McTeer, so we’ll be in able hands.

“In Plain Sight” (Sunday, 10 p.m.), “Burn Notice” (Thursday, 9 p.m.), “Royal Pains ” (Thursday, 10 p.m., all on USA)
With the networks resting on their laurels and digesting plattersful of bacon-wrapped scallops from their upfront parties, USA is planting its flag as the summer destination for drama by premiering three series this week. Tonight, “In Plain Sight” returns with Mary McCormack as a marshal working for the Federal Witness Protection Program in Albuquerque (also the setting of “Breaking Bad” – is this a trend?). Thursday, “Burn Notice” returns for its third outing, with Michael (the alluring Jeffrey Donovan) under investigation but no longer under protection. Following Mama’s Bruce Campbell fix, USA premieres “Royal Pains,” about a blacklisted New York City doctor who finds a new career tending to residents in the Hamptons. So it’s like “Northern Exposure” only instead of quirky locals there are botoxed housefraus. Is this a step in the right direction? I applaud USA going the extra mile to give Mama something to do for the summer, but so far “Burn Notice” is the only must out of these offerings.

“Pushing Daisies” (Saturday, 10 p.m., ABC)
If you still haven’t gotten into this series, consider watching this episode before you inevitably run out to devour the DVD sets. It’ll be like picking out a delicious caramel chocolate from the Whitman’s Sampler and then buying the box. If, like Mama, you have been following “Daisies” since the beginning, then you will be pleased to learn that this week Emerson gets a lead on finding his daughter, and Gina Torres (as Emerson’s ex) and David Arquette (as a suitor for Olive) guest star.

Go to Source