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?
Viacom Puts Some Full Episodes Back Online
The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are back from break and new episodes are now available at both shows’ websites and Hulu.
If you’re looking for your Teen Mom fix, you are still out of luck.
Last night’s episode of The Daily Show is after the jump.
Larry King’s Back
It has been over a year and a half since Larry King hung up his suspenders and retired from Larry King Live. Since retiring, the 78-year-old has expressed a desire to interview people again. His wish has been granted. The first episode of Larry King Now is up on YouTube. King’s first interview on his new show is with Seth MacFarlane.
Cool Video of the Day: A Behind The Scenes Look At Seinfeld
Today’s video is an Inside Look at a well-known Seinfeld episode, which is included as a special feature on the first DVD box set. The episode, “The Chinese Restaurant”, is from season 2 of Seinfeld and is widely regarded as the show’s first “classic” episode. The half hour revolved around Jerry, George, and Elaine waiting to get a table at a Chinese restaurant so they can make it to a movie. This was the first episode of Seinfeld that placed such a heavy emphasis on the minutiae of daily life.
As the video will tell you, NBC did not want this episode produced. They thought it was going to bomb. Seinfeld had yet to come into its own and the network didn’t want the show to take such a risk. Little did they know, “The Chinese Restaurant” would go down as one of the greatest episodes of one of the greatest sitcoms ever.
Unfortunately, embedding has been disabled, so click through to see the video. It will be worth it.
Is Netflix Good For TV?
Since 1997, Netflix has been a go-to for easy access to movies through the web. Expanding its content, Netflix has quickly become an easy way to watch television. The percentage of users who prefer to stream television went from 19 percent to 27 percent in the last year and it is likely to increase. This trend is not only changing the way people watch their shows, but could be good for TV in many ways.
Television is an ever evolving medium that continues to change every day. In fact, the more television that becomes available, the less necessary it is to actually watch it on a television screen. The vast number of show options makes following the intended schedule a nearly impossible task. In this respect, Netflix allows television viewers the ability to watch shows they never have they never time to see or even know about. A marathon of episodes is presented to a Netflix user in a way television does not offer.
Episodes Laughs At Death
Episodes premiered its third show of the season last night. The show continues to provide laughs, even in the most uncomfortable way. The father of network president Merc Lapidus has died and the episode dealt with the awkward ways the Pucks! staff would provide condolences. It was clear how completely inappropriate everyone’s behavior was, which is exaclty what makes it hilarious. There were parts of the show where viewers should not laugh, but they laugh anyway because Episodes runs on cringe comedy. It is a challenge to find humor in the fact that no one cares about someone’s death, yet the show makes it work.
When Lapidus’ father died, everyone’s main concern was appeasing the president of a network and not Lapidus as a person. Everyone in the show is acting selfish and morally questionable. Even so, it never fails to be funny. Their biggest concern is not to make sure Lapidus is happy, but what would be an appropriate thing to send as a condolence. An ongoing joke centers around Matt insisting that a muffin basket is not a big enough gift. He insists on a huge catered dinner, which Sean rejects. Still, there’s a stubbornness to appease Lapidus, or rather conform to “funeral” behavior.
Food Network Star: Promo Time
This season of Food Network Star has been underwhelming because many of the contestants were boring and the format did not work. Other than the handful of finalists, I do not remember anyone’s name because most of the constants were instantly forgettable. As for the format, it managed to make Giada DeLaurentiis, Bobby Flay, and Alton Brown unlikable because they had just as much at stake as the contestants: they would produce the pilot of the winner, if the winner is on their team.
Last night’s episode of Food Network Star seemed rushed. It could have easily been extended to 90 minutes or split over 2 weeks because it contained to distinct situations. Each situation could have made a complete episode, but for some reason neither one got the time it deserved and both were compressed down to a half hour. The first 30 minutes saw the remaining 6 contestants shoot 30 second promos for their potential Food Network show.
Spoiler Alert
Weekly TV Update: July 16
Each week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler leave American Idol.
More American Idol news: Will Aretha Franklin be a new judge?
Aleve may have discovered a way to gets its advertising past a DVR.
Charlie Sheen’s Anger Management keeps losing viewers.
Breaking Bad started a new season last night. Ken Tucker has a review of the show.
Cool TV Video of the Day: No Doubt’s Debut on Television
In honor of No Doubt’s first new song in 11 years, today’s cool video of the day are their network television debut on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The band performs their first hit single, which was “Just a Girl.”
Wait! What's A Dial? 