Sometimes you stumble across something on the internet and think: why didn't I think of this already? A YouTube geen-yuss has freebased HBO's series The Wire for us and produced an addictive residue consisting of 100 great quotations from the show. Enjoy! And then go watch the series.
Before Harry Potter took over the world, there was a small, made-for-TV movie based on a series of children's books called The Worst Witch. It featured some well-known British actors (Diana Rigg and the fabulous Tim Curry) and a young, up-and-coming actress named Fairuza Balk. HBO started playing it throughout October in the mid-to-late 80s and it was an instant favorite of mine.
A few weeks ago, I invited you to peruse the first episode of HBO's latest comedy Bored to Death. I watched it, as well, and I found it...okay. First episodes are always kind of awkward in their expository nature, so it often takes at least two episodes for me to determine whether or not I like a show.
Also, I realize that I tend to get a little fetishistic about HBO shows (I'm pretty sure I was the only person who like John from Cincinnati and am one of maybe a dozen people who laments the abrupt cancellation of Carnivale), but I'm telling you: Bored to Death is really good and I'm worried that not enough people are watching it.
I'm loyal. To a fault. Especially when it comes to TV shows. I stick with a show far past the time the rest of the world has stopped laughing. I don't know why, optimistically hoping the show will get back on track? Stupidity, maybe? I also feel actual guilt when I abandon a shot mid-way through its run. I hate talking about Lost because I stopped watching Lost AND OOOOH THE GUILT.
I could tell Entourage had been progressively going down hill the last couple seasons. (Although the season opener this year did hold some promise.) Unfortunately, though, the whole world could tell this show wasn't what it used to be, I think. I always got around to watching it, though. Ari Gold's charm apparently goes a long way.
I know. Can you even stand to look at me?
Here's the thing, though. Two things, actually: 1) I am a crazed fan of the books - love the books - on which the show is based, and from what I've seen of the show, it deviates enough from the books to make me whine in frustration, and I hate whining, and 2) it's hard to get in Canada, and I can't be bothered to chase it down (see 1)). So, yeah. I've only seen a few episodes, and was all, like, meh.
That said, I could probably be convinced to watch it more often if it looked a little more like this:
Wanda Sykes is easily one of my most favorite people in general and she's definitely one of my favorite comedians of all time.
So I'm positively giddy that she has a new HBO stand-up special coming up: I'ma Be Me.
Now that True Blood and Weeds are over for the year and with Big Love and The United States of Tara still on hiatus, I'm starting to twitch a little at night when it's time to hunker down and watch a few shows. Sure, I still have Entourage and Mad Men for a few more weeks and Californication is returning this Sunday, but I feel like I need a little more cushioning from the boob tube. I was not terribly in love with Hung, so I'm cautiously excited about their latest comedy, Bored to Death.
This episode was...odd. Maybe that was the intended feeling. The aftermath of Maryann's demise was far too calm and things started going downhill fairly quickly.
I won't lie. This news made me cry and throw things a little bit this morning. Word on the street is that Evan Rachel Wood and Alexander Skarsgard are dating.
Can we be honest for a minute? The last couple of seasons of Entourage have... um... what's the word I'm looking for? Oh, right: suck. They've sucked. Hard. Everything that first caught our attention when the show premiered back in 2004 (crimony... was it really that long ago?) - the feeling you were getting a real insider's view of life in Hollywood, the gleeful, bromance-heavy sense of camaraderie between these four lifelong friends, the glimpses into the absurd, and the sense of real fun that suffused it all - had faded over the years into multiple seasons of heavy-handed plotting and waaaaaaaaay too much focus on the putative heroes of the show, Vince and E.
That's always been one of the great ironies of Entourage: the two protagonists are by far the most boring characters on the show. Vince, whose meteoric rise as a movie star is the engine that pushes everything else in the show forward, is virtually charisma-free — and the more time he spends onscreen, the more aware you become as a viewer that... uh... for an actor playing a great actor, he's not such a great actor. And E? He's intended to be the character we relate to: the normal dude, a little bit brighter than his friends, who hitches a ride up to the stratosphere with his buddy Vince and finds a place for himself in the sun in the process. Except, it turns out that we don't like E. Nobody likes E. He's not funny. He's not engaging. He's not terribly interesting. And the fact that the plot keeps driving him into the arms of ridiculously gorgeous women - one after another after another - seems increasingly more absurd and perverse with each passing season.
Oh, kids, can I just go ahead and grovel some more for not recapping yesterday? Seriously, it hurt. But now we're back and all is right with the world.
Let's first address the dumb look Bill has on his face when he walks into the Queen's mansion and is greeted by the Queen and her midnight snack. Has Bill not been a vampire for over 100 years? Is this a new sight for him? Come on, Bill. Quit acting like such an amateur.
Ugh. Dudes. I am sincerely so sad to report that I couldn't watch True Blood last night and thus the recap will not be going up today. My husband is a DJ and had a rather important gig last night, so I decided to, like, go be a supportive spouse or whatever, even though my heart was in Bon Temps.
So, if I promise to have the recap up by noon tomorrow, will you kindly forgive me this transgression?
In the meantime, I want to share with you what I will be peeking at regular intervals throughout the day until I can be at home with my DVR.
I felt a strong connection to this episode of True Blood, because back before the economy tanked and the price of groceries went through the roof, my friends and I used to celebrate the Fourth of July by building a meat sculpture in the front yard. Ah, memories.
There's a reason HBO is an essential part of modern life: because they consistently produce some of the most compelling television on television. If you've read this site before - like, uh... ever - you're well aware that Team MamaPop brings some big love to the good people at HBO with great regularity, notwithstanding the current inexplicable infatuation with rovampic melodrama.
Their expertise extends beyond fiction, however — as the just-started new season of Hard Knocks makes abundantly clear. As has been the case in previous seasons, this five-week documentary follows the strange and immensely fascinating world of preseason NFL training camps in a unique marriage of documentary, reality TV and sports drama that transcends the appeal of professional football to create a truly compelling on-screen experience.
So, I consulted with many psychologists and doctors and scientists and people with PhDs and we came to the conclusion that last night's episode of True Blood was certifiably INSANE. And insanely good. I give it 5 Heaving Bosoms, including mine.
Based on comments on the True Blood recaps over the past couple of weeks, everyone seems to agree that the character of Eric, played by Swede Alexander Skarsgard, has grown immensely.
Kiss my grits, True Blood is getting crazy.
So, Sookie is still in the Fellowship of the Sun basement attempting to recover from Gabe's attack and reeling from Godric's sudden rescue. Gabe is also a little stunned by this development and says, "Godric, it's me!" Hmm, why does he sound surprised that the vampire that they kidnapped and were fixing to kill would attack his captors? Godric wordlessly snaps Gabe's neck and tells Sookie that they should not have come. Eric swooshes in and drops to his knees before Godric, relieved that he is okay. Godric is in no mood for emotional reunions and calls Eric a fool for sending humans. Eric insists that he had no choice, that he had to find a way to save Godric from the savages of the Fellowship. He asks if Godric has fed but Godric replies that he requires very little blood anymore. An alarm goes off and Godric orders Eric to escape, to save Sookie, and to not spill any blood on his way out.
MAMAPOP IS SMART POP CULTURE ANALYSIS, COMMENTARY, MERCILESS FUN-MAKING AND OTHER SUNDRY AWESOME, DISHED UP DAILY BY PARENTS, FOR PARENTS, AND ANYONE ELSE WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT PLAYTIME IS BETTER WITH VODKA. PLEASE TO ENJOY. READ MORE...
