Grid Effect

Welcome back, hope everyone’s weekend was as slow, uneventful and socially isolating as mine was. We’re kind of busy this morning so let’s get the ball rolling with some links.

It seems that Jordana Spiro, the epitome of the girl-next-door type and star of TBS’ semi-hit My Boys, is disappointed the show never gets a broadcast network sized season. Referring to the nine episodes they are doing as “whopping”. Here’s a question, does anyone ever use the word “whopping” and not do so in a sarcastic context? It just doesn’t seem to invoke much seriousness and it seems to be treated as such. But it’s a part of the English language with a literal meaning, yet you never hear anyone say, “the bartender poured me a whopping three ounces of Jamie”. I blame Burger King for this universal cheapening of a word.

Here’s some good news, the cast of Seinfeld will be involved in a multiple episode arc for the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which will debut on September 7th. The only person to not make an appearance on the series is Michael Richards, and if the writers are worth their salt they’ll have him and Wanda butting heads over his Laugh Factory incident. So yeah, I expect that to factor in at some point. Also, since it’s a multiple episode storyline, it won’t be like in the fourth season, when they said Jerry Seinfeld would be making a cameo, and it ended up being a five second shot of him applauding at a Broadway show.

Don’t know if any of you have been following The Daily Show lately, but Jon Stewart has been hammering away at CNBC for their failure to recognize the current economic meltdown. He doubled-down for a Letterman appearance on Thursday night, taking the network to task again for what he perceives as their professional shortcomings. Then I caught Erin Burnett doing everything she could to defend her employer on Bill Maher’s show on Saturday afternoon (it originally airs Friday night). I guess CNBC should be ecstatic that someone outside of Wall St. actually seems to be giving a shit about them now. But given that their audience is so narrow, one has to wonder that even if someone over their had warned everyone of financial Armageddon, would it have really mattered? Not that this is an applicable defense for CNBC to use from the comedian’s brigade of political commentators, but it does make one wonder what CNBC’s actual role is other than entertainment and to make Wall St. feel better about itself.

Here’s confirmation that Amy Ryan will be back for The Office finale this season, so it appears Michael will get his closure. Oh, semi-spoiler alert. Also, this might give us the chance to see Amy Ryan on  screen with Idris Elba for the first time ever, and make way for several Wire references which you know the writers won’t be able to refrain from.

And finally, because there are so few movies worth your money that come out this time of year, we’re going to be inundated with constant updates on what’s happening with the Arrested Development movie. Today’s update: It’s difficult finding the time to shoot because everyone has their own careers (they do?). In other words, it sounds like every other movie that’s ever been shot but with a larger core cast of characters. Anyway, pretend to act hysterical if it better suits you. ZOMG the movie’s in jeopardy!

Back with Flight of The Conchords recap later today.