Monthly Archives: July 2012
DirecTV and Viacom Reach an Agreement
DirecTV customers will get back the 17 Viacom channels that they lost during the 10-day standoff between the two companies. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. However, the deal gives DirecTV subscribers the ability to see Viacom programming on various electronic devices via the DirecTV Everywhere platform. It also includes an option for DirecTV to carry Viacom’s premium movie channel EPIX.
Sullivan & Son: Crass, but Pretty Funny
The promos for TBS’s new sitcom, Sullivan & Son seemed crass, stereotypical, and at times cringe worthy. There was very little context, so I really wasn’t sure if I was going to like this or be offended by it. There is a lot of shock value in the show. It is crass, stereotypical, and cringe worthy. It just also happens to be pretty funny. The series opened with two episodes last night that both showed potential.
Steve Sullivan is the son. He is a workaholic corporate attorney on Wall Street who is visiting his family in Pittsburgh for his father’s birthday party. The party is being held at Sullivan & Son, a bar that the Sullivan family has owned for generations. Steve is bringing his girlfriend of 8 months to the party. It is his first time back home since they started dating and she is obviously more serious than he is about the relationship. This type of dynamic seems to really establish Sullivan’s character from the get-go. Steve is portrayed by showrunner and comic Steve Byrne. He is a man who is simply going through the motions of life. He has a “big and important” job (which he has to describe several times throughout the show) and a girlfriend who assumes they are going to move in together. He is following a safe and conventional path, but that isn’t what he wants. In this sense, Steve’s character seems very real as he struggles to grow.
The 2012 Emmy Nominees
Earlier today, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the 2012 Emmy Awards nominees. HBO (81 nominations) and CBS (60 nominations) lead the networks in nominations. Mad Men and American Horror Story (tied with 17 nominations) were shows nominated for the most awards.
Here is list of shows nominated in the major categories:
Best Comedy
The Big Bang Theory
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Girls
Modern Family
30 Rock
Veep
Best Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Mad Men
AGT Results Recap: July 18th
Ashleigh and Pudsey
A poor night of performances has become the norm on this season’s America’s Got Talent, so the result shows are not really exciting. It’s hard to root for anybody to advance. AGT makes it seem like sending four acts to the next round makes the decision tough because two-thirds of the acts get sent home. However, the real challenge is not deciding which acts have to go home, but rather which average acts will get an undeserving chance at winning the competition. In a season like this, a semifinal of 24 acts seems too big. America is forced to choose the best of the worse.
The first result grouped Mike Price, Jacob Williams, and Cristin Sandu. This was an easy decision for America, but it wasn’t a rewarding one. This group was made up of a juggler who dropped his props, a balancing act that failed, and a promising comedian whose skills are still raw. Williams was the only performer out of these three whose act went as planned. Of course, that gave him an advantage. I’m happy for Williams. While he may have deserved to advance, he also got pretty lucky.
Cool TV Video of the Day: This is Your Life
Earlier today, I wrote about ABC’s Trust Us With Your Life, which is clearly influenced by This is Your Life. Both shows have celebrities discuss their life in front of an audience. However, This is Your Life surprised celebrities with people from their past and revealed information that the famous person might not have wanted to reveal. Needless to say, many stars did not want to participate in the program and those who were forced to participate resented it. Even, Ralph Edwards, who was the host, did not want his life revealed on television. Legend has it that Edwards threatened to quit if the staff ever tried to turn the tables on him.
NBC aired This is Your Life from 1952-1961. The episode with Dick Clark is presented below in three parts, two of which are after the jump.
AGT’s Third Quarterfinal Performance Night
All Beef Patty
This season, I have come to expect disappointment from America’s Got Talent. Most of the acts that made it this far do not deserve to be performing on a national stage in front of millions. They are just not good enough. Some have promise, but are very unpolished. Some are just outright horrible to the point that I feel sorry that they were given so much false hope. Some are good, but they serve as only a mildly pleasant surprise. The competition is far easier for them than it should be. The performances this season have repeatedly come up short. Tuesday night’s show was no exception.
Trust Us With Your Life or Not
ABC‘s Trust Us with Your Life is easy to forget about because it’s on Tuesday nights, which are dominated by America’s Got Talent. I thought this was the debut of Trust Us with Your Life, it was actually the second week and the third and fourth episodes of the series aired.
Trust Us with Your Life is essentially a rehash of Whose Line is it Anyway? meets a really bad talk show. The show’s not terrible, but I could have lived without it. The guests add nothing, except tell wacky stories that are acted out by the cast. The entire cast is talented, but are limited in trying to be somewhat faithful to the celebrities memory. The two shows also pretty much share the same cast, which I am convinced has nothing better to do than to make poor imitations of their most successful show. Only this time they did it sans Drew Carey and added Jonathan Magnum and Fred Willard.
Despite the surprise absence of Drew Carey, not having anything to do with him was the best decision the producers could have made. It is the best attempt to recreate Whose Line is it Anyway? so far, but that’s not saying much. Past attempts at recreating the magic in Whose Line? revolved around Carey, so much so that his name was in the title of the two previous improv shows with the same cast: Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show and Drew Carey’s Improv-A-Ganza. Both shows were terrible and didn’t even make it past a season, which is a fate Trust Us will probably share. When done well, these type of shows work best in America after 11pm. However, the only improv show that has worked so far is Whose Line is it Anyway?. Will someone please make Whose Line 2.0, so the fans no longer have to sit through poor imitations?
Wait! What's A Dial? 
Cool TV Video of The Day: Bill Maher Blames Parents And Television
Jul 19
Posted by Jeremy Einbinder
The following is a clip of the “New Rules” segment from a 2010 episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. In the video, the political comedian has harsh criticisms about a lack of quality education taught to children. He rejects the notion that teachers should be blamed for parents’ incompetence. He also ironically slams television as one of the reasons parents are not taking responsibility.
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Posted in Comedy, Cool TV Video of The Day, HBO, Talk Shows
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Tags: bill maher, commentary, education, new rules segment, real time, reatime with bill maher, talk show