Grid Effect

We’re posting closer to the PM than usual again, mainly because it’s Monday and we spent all weekend entertaining war bound naval soldiers which entails drinking heavily at several different venues for extended periods of time. So if we had the opportunity to post anything original before the day started, that time has passed with the late arrival to the office and our mounting load of work. Anyhow, all these factors in addition to our general malaise results in some impassioned links to meet my posting quota for the day. We’re pretty sure we’re about two weeks from an Office Space like breakdown.

It’s about time the president finds the time to appear on Deal or No Deal. Howie Mandel’s crowning achievement resembles this country’s approach to international and domestic policy more so than anything born out of a think tank, and it’s time our nation’s leader thanked the producers for the template. Or vice versa.

Hilary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama all made brief appearances in that order on The Colbert Report last Thursday. Edwards was the only one to take a stab at the comedy angle on a comedy show, Clinton and Obama were too busy grandstanding for an eager audience. Still, since Clinton was the first cameo, it gave Colbert the opportunity to mock her after she left. But this is just a great sign, it’s a privilege that all our future leaders, just like our current ones, have the time to dabble in entertainment with everything so hunky-dory in this country and abroad.

From awkward interviews with candidates spouses to awkward cameos from the candidates themselves, Colbert Report resembles Meet The Press nowadays more so than The Daily Show.

Tim Goodman, the resident San Fransiscan always with sage advice for those in television, suggests that HBO open their doors to some of the great storytellers including David Lynch, Spike Lee and Woody Allen. Umm, the first two, sure. They have a history in television, and Spike Lee a history with HBO. But they could offer Woody Allen five billion dollars and all the underage girls in east Asia, and he isn’t doing anything for television.
Has Mr. Goodman seen Annie Hall? Something tells me he resents the medium. Of course, HBO claims to be something beyond television, so maybe Allen will fall for it. We still have high hopes for HBO original productions, but we doubt it ever comes from someone who famously said in response to LA being clean, “That’s because they don’t throw their garbage away, they turn it into television shows.”

Against our better judgment we saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night. It wasn’t terrible or anything, but instead exactly what we expected. On a ten point scale we’d give it a six, and unequivocally the best part of the movie was the generic rock star character, played by Russell Brand. Who, apparently, used to host Big Brother in the UK. This, naturally, ruined our morning. It’s like finding out your childhood baseball hero was ‘roided up.

And finally, a dash of hope for the little guy. Or rather the little, bald, eccentric, millionaire comedian with no mainstream appeal, as David Cross is reportedly dating Amber Tamblyn. Who’s Amber Tamblyn? We have no fucking clue, but a google image search brings up these still shots, so, congratulations, Mr. Cross. It would be a cause for celebration if she didn’t look like she was in high school.

We’ll at least do a nightly preview tomorrow if we can’t find anything worthy of it’s own post.