From Battlestar Galactica (I’m about halfway through season two):

There’s one thing about humans of which we can be certain – they are masters of self-destruction.

I miss Arrested Development.  Still convinced it’s among the best shows of all time.

In anticipation of season three of Mad Men, due to premiere in about two weeks, AMC has put together a fun little marketing gimmick where people can “MadMen” themselves.  I’ve taken the liberty of fashioning myself an avatar, which (quite naturally) finds me having drinks with Don Draper.

Check out AMC’s site for some fun of your own!

From an interview with Tracy Morgan of 30 Rock:

Tina Fey is down like four flat tires. I love her. That’s my girl, Tina Fey-Fey. She’s the coolest. That’s my sister from another mother with a different color.

Body paint is always a nice touch!

Edie Falco has a new show starting on Showtime this week called Nurse Jackie.  I don’t know much about the show and thusly have nothing in the way of expectations; however, Falco is a very good actress and Showtime has put together a solid string of shows in recent years that make great use of the anti-hero (Dexter, Weeds, Californication), so I guess the default setting should be an optimistic one.

But the catalyst for this post really has nothing to do with the content of the show itself.  Rather, my reason for opining relates specifically to one of the show’s marketing posters, which is pictured below.

At first glance, the poster would appear a perfectly fine and appropriate attempt at advertising.  But there is one little detail with which I take issue.  Specifically, it’s the way Falco is “holding” the syringe.  Obviously, there is no actual holding taking place at all.  Rather, she’s making a fist and the syringe has been magically inserted by graphic artists.  How do we know this?  For one, the syringe is located directly behind her ring finger, which means there exists no form of support for the object unless it is taped to her knuckle.  Not a common way of holding a syringe, I’d imagine.  Second, the common grasp finds the syringe situated between the pointer and middle fingers.  I couldn’t imagine why anyone would choose to hold a syringe between their middle and ring fingers.  It’s simply an unnatural hold.

This all means we can only conclude that Falco isn’t actually holding a syringe at all, a lame oversight for a new show’s primary marketing poster.  My guess, however, is that this isn’t an oversight after all, and is more a compromise struck to make room for the “life is full of little pricks” blurb.  The creators are obviously sacrificing form for function here and are assuming that the observant public isn’t all that observant in the first place.  But I’m a stickler for detail.  And I find the syringe placement annoying.

Forgive me the random and highly immaterial rant.  As you should know by now, I’m all about details, so I couldn’t let this one slide.  I will now retreat back to the land of the living where I’ll ponder matters of actual importance.  Or maybe not….

The Daily Beast ran a piece today that lamented the cancellation of a handful of television shows.  Included among them was Arrested Development, one of my favorite sitcoms of all time.  Below is the piece’s assessment of the show, with which I couldn’t agree more:

Arrested Development is probably the best example of the kind of show that had a solid fanbase, critical acclaim, even some Emmy wins, but still couldn’t gain ratings’ traction. If you need proof that television is not a just world, consider this—Arrested Development was canceled after three seasons, while Two and a Half Men will start season seven in the fall.

I’m by no means a fashion maven and am very likely speaking way out of school, but I’m going to give MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow some unsolicited advice.  Here it is, concise and in pictures.

Yes.

No.  Particularly the glasses.

New rule: Television personalities must match their tops and bottoms when it comes to on-air attire.  By this I mean those who wear suit jackets and ties should also wear appropriate dress slacks and shoes.  It strikes me as incredibly lame when the likes of Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck are shown standing up, looking perfectly professional with suit coats and ties but losing that polish by inexplicably insisting on wearing jeans and, in the case of Beck, sneakers.  I take this stand not because I’m a clothing traditionalist by any stretch.  Rather, my view is that if you take the time to go halfway with an outfit, why not complete it, particularly when you hold a position of such notoriety?

The message these guys are sending is that they toe the line of professionalism by faking it from the waist up but don’t care enough about maintaining that standard from the waist down.  It’s kind of like the clothing equivalent of the business mullett – business in the front (top), party in the back (bottom).  I can appreciate that suits aren’t the most comfortable things around, but there is no reason whatsoever that these wimps can’t suck up the discomfort for an hour out of their day and wear a friggin’ suit.  And if they think their style is a cool one, allow me to correct that notion: there is nothing even remotely cool about it.  Nothing at all.  The reality is that by dressing in such haphazard fashion, these guys are either extremely dorky or extremely wimpy.  Or maybe both.

In any event, doesn’t showing them wearing the jeans defeat the purpose of this little charade altogether?  That is, they are mostly shown from the mid-stomach up while seated during their shows, which would theoretically excuse the bottom-half attire since the view is hidden from the television audience.  But by getting up from their chairs and allowing the camera to pan out for the great reveal, it would seem to me that the entire purpose of such clothing machinations are completely defeated.

I’ve clearly thought too long about this and am going to step away from the computer now.

WARNING: Explicit Language

I read recently on The Daily Beast that a wonderful new comedy called Sit Down, Shut Up is about to grace the boob tube.  With a lead of “Arrested Development meets Saturday Night Live“, how could I resist?  It probably would’ve been better – and more accurate – to include The Simpsons in that header, which helps explain why this development has me over the moon.  It turns out that Mitch Hurwitz, the genius behind Arrested Development, has teamed up with the creators of Two and a Half Men to develop this new animated comedy based on the short-lived Australian sitcom of the same name.  The series “revolves around a group of ambivalent if not just plain crazy faculty at a small town Florida high school.”

Making things all the more awesome is the presence of Josh Weinstein, former writer for The Simpsons, and a slew of voices from multiple comedy greats, including a few AD and SNL veterans.  The list of actors lending their voices to the various characters includes: Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Henry Winkler, Cheri Oteri, Will Forte and Kenan Thompson.  Just reading about Arnett’s character gets me all giddy.  He plays “Ennis Hofftard, a bodybuilder who teaches English and always attempts to chase women.”  Apparently, Arnett has mentioned that Hofftard is perhaps the dumbest character he’s ever played, which is saying something given his masterful portrayal of the dimwitted GOB on AD.

A reading of some of the other roles helps to further wet one’s comedic whistle (the below from Wikipedia):

• Kristin Chenoweth as Miracle Grohe, a religious science teacher who often brings her baby (named Merch) to school.
• Jason Bateman as Larry Littlejunk, the gym teacher and only staff member that can teach.
• Cheri Oteri as Helen Klench, the unappreciated librarian who often gets mistaken for objects such as brooms or toilet brushes.
• Kenan Thompson as acting principal Sue Sezno, who, as evidenced by her last name, never says “Yes”.
• Henry Winkler as Willard Deutschebog, a suicidal German teacher whose last name is a play on “douche bag“. No student ever attends his class.

Oh, this is gonna be some pretty rich stuff.  Excuse me while I rub my hands together while sporting a shit-eating grin.

Joining 30 Rock’s Jack Donaghy and The Office’s Michael Scott as one of my favorite characters on television is Murray Hewitt, the hilariously ineffectual band manager of the New Zealand comic and musical duo, Flight of the Conchords.  Hewitt is played to perfection by comedian Rhys Darby, who surely must be on the brink of stardom given his work with the Conchords (assuming there is some sort of justice in this world).