Blog Archives
The Colbert Rapport: Will He Last on CBS?
Ever since 2005, Stephen Colbert has been ruling late night television on Comedy Central. Next year he will be leaving his post after ten years to take over for David Letterman on Late Show. This is a drastic change for Colbert, whose current show is a satirical version of The O’Reilly Factor. Will his current rapport with his audience get in the way of his success as himself on CBS?
Letterman announced his departure not even two months after Jimmy had taken over for Leno. I cannot say that I was surprised that by Letterman’s retirement. Everyone knew Fallon was going to be some serious competition. Fallon is more relevant and appealing to the precious 18-49 audience. He has a social media savviness that Letterman doesn’t have. So when Letterman “unexpectedly” announced his retirement, CBS needed a host that would supersede Jimmy’s popularity. Colbert already has a large and loyal audience from his show on Comedy Central, which make him a very good choice for Late Show.
David Letterman Is Retiring in 2015
Wow. David Letterman announcing his upcoming retirement shocked me. It shouldn’t have. We all knew it was coming. No one was under the impression Letterman would be hosting The Late Show until he dies. He’d host it until Jay Leno was out of the collective consciousness or dropped dead. Once Leno said goodbye to The Tonight Show stage one last time, Letterman’s days were numbered. All he did today was confirm everyone’s assumption.
When all is said and done, Letterman will have hosted a late night talk show for 33 years: 11 as host of NBC’s Late Night, the last 22 will be with The Late Show and CBS. It’s hard to believe that 5 years ago few people expected Letterman to surpass his idol Johnny Carson’s reign in late night, which was an impressive 30 years. Now, we’re wondering how CBS will fill the hole in their lineup when Letterman leaves next year.
‘Mom’: “Loathing and Tube Socks” Review
Believe it or not, Mom is the best new sitcom. To be honest, I didn’t have high hopes for the show and really thought it would be cancelled at this point. Well, I was wrong. Shows that I had much higher hopes for, such as We Are Men and The Michael J. Fox Show, have either crashed and burned or their cancellation is only a matter of time. Mom has improved. Stepping back from the show and not reviewing it for a week has made me see that.
In “Loathing and Tube Socks,” Christy comes to terms with the fact that she is the problem in her life, which is only slightly the case. Christy’s attitude doesn’t help matters, but how would you feel if your teenage daughter was pregnant and your mother would make you her fall guy? Granted, Bonnie only made her daughter the fall guy in Christy’s dream, which had them smuggling drugs from Mexico. However, it was clearly a little too real for Christy. Christy even called her mother to yell at her. Bonnie didn’t take to well to this, but Bonnie has little more than a superficial love for her daughter and thinks she’s a crazy person.
‘Mom’ Has To Deal With “A Pee Stick and an Asian Raccoon”
Is it possible for a show to jump the shark at the beginning of the second episode? Yes. Mom can now claim that award.
It’s official, Christy’s daughter, Violet is pregnant. (The pee stick in this episodes title is a pregnancy test. Oh, the writers are so mature.) Considering, Violet’s grandmother and mother both had children in their teens, it was likely, but it didn’t have to happen. Violet could have been the odd woman out in her family. She could have gone onto college and not followed in Grandma “Aunt” Bonnie and Christy’s footsteps. Instead, Violet thinks her life will be fine because the baby isn’t due until after she graduates.
Violet’s life may workout because Bonnie and Christy want to be a better great-grandmother and mother, respectively, than they were a mother, but that’s not guaranteed. Her boyfriend, Luke, is a moron. He’s the guy who’s too stupid to realize that when your girlfriend only has sex with you, you have to be the father of her baby. Luke doesn’t comprehend that and thinks receiving the “iffy” burgers at his fast food job is a perk. He has no future, yet Violet is head-over-heels in love with him. Fortunately for her, Luke’s to stupid to conceive of running away from his pregnant girlfriend.
‘The Crazy Ones’ Is A Half Hour Ad
Do you want to watch a half hour long McDonald’s ad? Of course, you do. Nothing’s better that 30 minutes of trying to convince a celebrity to sing “You Deserve a Break Today.”
Not really.
CBS needs a reality check. No one wants to watch a sitcom length ad, even if it stars Robin Williams. And yet, The Crazy Ones is just that: an ad disguised as a sitcom starring Robin Williams. Since the show does take place at an advertising agency, many viewers may be generous enough to give the show a pass on using real brands because it adds realism. The problem with that is the show isn’t realistic at all.
Not Everyone Will Love ‘Mom’
Mom is a broad comedy that wouldn’t feel out of place in TV Land’s lineup with Hot in Cleveland and The Exes. While it is not the best show ever, Mom works well and is one of the few shows nowadays that an entire family can watch together.
Mom stars Anna Faris as Christy. At first Christy isn’t the most likeable character, even though she is genuine. As the pilot progresses, we find out that Christy can’t connect with her daughter because she takes after her mother, Bonnie, who was a terrible parent. Both women are members of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is where they run into each other after years of not talking. Christy tries to be a better parent than her mother was, but its hard when her mother is the perfect grandmother for Christy’s daughter, Violet. Despite not getting along with her, Violet take after her mother, Christy. Have you noticed a theme yet?
Christy, Bonnie, and Violet have a tendency to date really stupid men. Baxter is the son of Christy’s youngest son and thinks selling pot is a good way to get money for the child support he is six months behind on. Bonnie will do just about anything that moves. Violet has the most stable relationship with men. She has been with her current boyfriend Luke for around a year. However, Luke’s about as bright as Baxter. The only reason Luke likes bananas is because they come with their own container.
‘The Queen Latifah Show’: A New Queen in Daytime
Starting today on CBS owned and operated stations, a new queen of daytime is making her way to the television scene. Not only is she a rapper, actress, television star and former spokesperson for Cover girl, Queen Latifah has decided to come back to television. Fans might know her as Dee Dee from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but she can now put talk show host as well onto her resume.
For The Queen Latifah Show’s debut the eponymous host was determined to bring out the big guns. Who better than her Hairspray costar John Travolta? Coming onto the stage, the show opens to her wearing a Tony Manero white polyester suit, made famous by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. She added her spin to the Bee Gees song “Staying Alive” with “Feeling Alive.”
Celebrating Letterman’s 20 Years on CBS
Yesterday, August 29, marked David Letterman’s 20th year hosting the Late Show on CBS. While fans are probably a little disappointed that Dave didn’t give in and do a retrospective episode or primetime special (Neither one was ever going to happen. This is Letterman we’re talking about.), there’s no reason we can’t, with the help of YouTube, take a look back at Dave’s time on CBS.
First Episode
Dave may not have gotten The Tonight Show and NBC may have tried to sue him for using their intellectual property, but that didn’t stop Dave from bringing Larry “Bud” Melman, now using his real name, Calvert DeForest, to CBS. In fact, DeForest was the first person seen on the Late Show. Unfortunately, the clip below doesn’t have DeForest’s appearance on the first show, but it does have Ed Sullivan introducing Dave.
Salvador Dali Confuses The Panelists On ‘What’s My Line?’
Whenever Salvador Dali is around, things take a turn toward the strange. While What’s My Line?‘s master of ceremonies, John Charles Daly, often finds himself tied by the limitedness of the “yes and no” question format, Dali’s appearance makes matters worse because Dali wants to say “yes” to everything. Then again, you wouldn’t expect anything less from a man who considered himself to be drugs.
James Bond: On TV and American
Everyone knows James Bond as a suave, debonair, British fellow, who likes his martini’s shaken, not stirred. However, that wasn’t always the case when it came to screen adaptations of Ian Fleming’s novels. In 1954, CBS bought the rights to adapt Casino Royale for television. On October 1954 of the same year, this adaptation of Fleming’s first Bond novel aired live as part of CBS’s Climax!, later renamed Climax Mystery Theater, anthology series. For some reason, CBS decided to make James Bond, played by Barry Nelson, an American, who works for a fictional counterpart to the CIA.
Wait! What's A Dial? 