Author Archives: Allison Lips
Ireland Trolls Eurovision
Each year, every country in the European Broadcasting Union gets the chance to participate in Eurovision, which is a singing contest with a penchant for the strange. Western European countries compete for fun. Eastern and Central European countries take the contest seriously because they view it as a show of independence. Of course, this leads to countries like the United Kingdom and Ireland submitting entries with absolutely no chance of winning.
When it comes to bad Eurovision entries, I present Jemni singing “Cry Baby” in 2003 as Exhibit A. It received nul points. You might want to do yourself a favor and not listen to the whole off-key train wreck.
The Man Who Invented Television Appears On Television
Philo T. Farnsworth may have invented television, but he only made one television appearance ever in 1957 on I’ve Got A Secret.
[He appears at around the 13 minute 20 second mark in the video below.]
Jimmy Fallon Will Be ‘Starring’ in “The Tonight Show”
For some reason, NBC insists Jimmy Fallon is the new Johnny Carson. In order to make those beliefs clearer, the Peacock Network will change the “with” in The Tonight Show With Jay Leno to “starring” for Jimmy Fallon’s tenure, which conjures up images of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Obviously, Jay Leno’s name will no longer be in the show’s title.
It may seem like an argument over semantics, but NBC changing “with” to “starring” is a big deal because it is symbolic. Bringing “starring” back into The Tonight Show title makes it seem like NBC wants to get away from Jay Leno’s tenure and Conan O’Brien’s already forgotten time as host. However, the network cannot relive the past. In fact, there are several reasons why a show starring Jimmy Fallon is a bad idea.
Late to the “Arrested Development” Party? No Problem!
Netflix released the fourth season of Arrested Development on May 26. Now that the initial frenzy is over, it is fair to say that fans who waited seven years for a new season were disappointed. However, I was not one of those fans, which worked out in my favor.
To be honest, I was 12 when I saw first two episodes, which means I was way too young to understand the show. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon once all my friends were declaring it their favorite show, I waited because popularity doesn’t necessarily mean good. Well, my friends were right this time: Arrested Development is an excellent show, but I am happy its new to me.
So, Why am I glad I was late to the Bluth party?
1. I haven’t been annoyed at Fox for the last 7 years.
For some reason, Arrested Development fans are hardcore. Fans who became fans well after Fox canceled the show were annoyed that the show was cancelled. Until recently, half the time a fan brought up Arrested Development, it would be followed by a bitter swipe at Fox. Granted, most fans do not have an attachment to the show that parallels Buster and Lucille’s relationship. However, those that do were the most vocal and tainted even the most well adjusted fans view of Fox and its treatment of the show.
The Top Bits of Fry and Laurie
Before Hugh Laurie was House and Stephen Fry hosted QI, the two friends starred in a variety of sketch shows. The most famous is probably A Bit of Fry and Laurie with the others being Alfresco and Saturday Live, which is similar, but not to be confused with Saturday Night Live.
1. Size Doesn’t Count
The first sketch originally aired in 1987 and was part of Saturday Live. While including it on this list is cheating, the important lesson is that size doesn’t matter and apparently more than one part Stephen’s body is bent.
Amazon Wants You To Remember: Netflix Doesn’t Carry These Shows
Amazon Prime has been busy eating away at Netflix’s content library. The biggest problem for Netflix, so far, is it recently lost a ton of Viacom content. So what shows are Netflix customers now missing?
Here is a lengthy, yet non-exhaustive list of Amazon Prime exclusive shows.
Viacom
Nickelodeon
Dora the Explorer
Spongebob Squarepants
Yo Gabba Gabba
Blue’s Clues
The Backyardigans
Go, Diego, Go!
Osward
Ni Hao Kai-Lan
Wonder Pets
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Little Bear
iCarly
The Fresh Beat Band
Bubble Guppies
Little Bill
Danny Phantom
Gullah Gullah Island
The Wild Thornberrys
Team Umizoomi
Back at the Barnyard
CatDog
Invader Zim
Olivia
VICTORiOUS
The Ren & Stimpy Show
Hey Dude
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
House of Anubis
Big Time Rush
Doug
Fan Boy and Chum Chum
Fred: The Show
Rocket Power
The Amanda Show
Rocko’s Modern Life
All That
The Naked Brothers Band
Jimmy Neutron
Fairly Oddparents
Drake & Josh
Rugrats
Clarissa Explains It All
Hey Arnold
Kenan & Kel
Supah Ninjas
The Angry Beavers Read the rest of this entry
Weekly TV Update: June 3, 20013
This week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
Matt Smith leaves Doctor Who.
Jean Stapleton, who played Archie Bunker’s wife, Edith, on All in the Family, died on Friday.
Dan Harmon announces his return to Community.
The Sopranos tops the Writers Guild of America’s list of Best Written TV Series Ever.
John Oliver talks to The Hollywood Reporter about taking over The Daily Show for the summer. His first day is June 10.
In honor of Jean Stapleton, the All in the Family theme song is after the jump.
Margaret Thatcher on Yes, Minister
Yes, Minister is an excellent show. Real prime ministers are not sitcom writers or actors. What happens when you put the two together? Margaret Thatcher’s poor attempt at trying to appear approachable on what is said to have been her favorite show. Fortunately, the following sketch was never part of a real Yes, Minister episode.
After the jump is a sketch done for Comic Relief that has Minister Jim Hacker asking the British public to donate money.
Best Music Performances at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards
The Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards air tomorrow at 8pm. Let’s be honest, no one over the age of 13 cares about them anymore, but that’s not the point. When we were in the target audience, the KCAs were awesome.
Simple Plan
In 2005, Simple Plan performed their single “Shut Up!” As though that wasn’t enough, Pierre Bouvier announced that they were going to perform a new song. You probably already know where this is going.
Cool TV Video of the Day: British Kid’s Show with Not-So-Innocent Innuendo
Rainbow was a children’s show that aired on ITV from 1972 to 1992. It lasted 15 series/seasons for a total of over 1,000 episodes.
Of course, being part of a long running children’s show, the cast and crew felt the need to let loose once in a while. They probably didn’t expect was that their naughty Christmas tape sketch would go on to YouTube infamy.
Wait! What's A Dial? 