Grid Effect

A few more links to survive the morning. It warrants mentioning that the number of TV shows we review on this site is dwindling, so expect to see a lot more posts like this and nightly previews and whatever else we can find that’s easy.

Jimmy Fallon, who we expect to be nothing short of an unmitigated disaster when he takes over for the 12:30am slot after Conan bolts for The Tonight Show, is admittedly off to an interesting start hiring The Roots as his house band. We are conflicted with this because 1) Is this really the best gig The Roots can pull now? They’ve been relegated to peers with the assorted cast of characters that plays on Kimmel? And 2) There is no way Fallon is able to command a stage every night without some casual interaction, so at least The Roots might be able to liven up the broadcast. Ultimately it’s just depressing that they now have to be a sidesshow to someone like Jimmy Fallon.

Who else feels old with this development?

HBO has renewed Little Britain USA despite fledgling ratings and mixed reviews. They’re reportedly looking to add new characters in an attempt to bring in a new audience. I’m not going to lie, I’ve never watched the show and have no idea what it consists of. But usually when no one was interested in your old characters, they’re not going to be interested in your new ones, either. This is kind of indicative of why HBO is struggling right now, is it not?

Because she’s an attractive actress in Hollywood and attractive actresses in Hollywood are entitled, spoiled and temperamental, Kristin Chenoweth demands to know the fate of her series Pushing Daisies. She explains her demeanor as “impatient” and her mood as “frustrated”, because she’s totally different from every other actress that everyone else on set has to tolerate. Sad thing is, as closely as I follow all this shit (other than just I follow all this shit), is that I had no idea who she was until I saw that picture of her on the link. It must be even more frustrating being completely obsolete when you’re a fame whore.

Rashida Jones is set to join the cast of Amy Poehler’s Office-like or Office spinoff series, making every coed capable of a school-girl crush squeal in delight. One thing I’m confused about and haven’t been able to find any updates for, is Ed Helms still being offered his own spinoff? And if so, is this his series? Are Amy Poehler’s new show and Ed Helms’ new show one in the same?

Because every facet of every industry in America has to immediately react to Barack Obama winning the presidency, NBC is producing a new series entitled Making Friends With Black People; that will focus on race relations in contemporary America. Amazingly enough, the show is still planning on casting the series without any black people in it, just white people talking about everyday happenings that involved black people.* Wow, what a brave new world we live in.

I’ve got great news for those of you who can’t get enough melodramatic crime shows for the 150 hours a week they consume during CBS’ primetime schedule: You can now watch reruns for Numb3rs and Criminal Minds over the weekend. Now, instead of doing something remotely interesting with your free time — Like watching The Wire – now you can melt your brain with the same bland nonsense you watch all week. Huzzah! For the first time in my life, I actually wish that writers weren’t getting residuals on syndication.

And finally, this article reports on the undying popularity of Alvin and The Chipmunks even fifty years after its inception. Of course its still popular. Kids watch it and kids are by and large idiots. Put an image of an animal on a screen, give him a “wacky” voice and watch them come filing in. It works for Madagascar 2 I don’t understand why it wouldn’t still work for Alvin and The Chipmunks. I’m pretty sure that’s how the Hitler youth got started, Goebbels came running onto a stage in a bunny suit and screamed propaganda into a microphone with a high pitched voice, he had them asking for autographs once he finished his speech. *

*Neither of these are even remotely true.

Maybe some links later but I wouldn’t hold my breath.