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WEIRD & WILD: Could you eat 60 hot dogs in 10 minutes?
July 2, 2009 1:11 PM
Fireworks are soooo 20th century. The modern age knows how to really celebrate America's independence -- gut-stuffing up-chucking gluttony! With that most all-American "food product," too.
Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest (Saturday at noon ET, ESPN) has become the Fourth of July's most anticipated event among the cult cognescenti. Who needs LeBron vs. Kobe when you've got Takeru Kobayashi vs. Joey Chestnut? And that classic Coney Island shore setting? And wanton chewed-food spewing?
For the record, Chestnut owns the 12-minute eating record -- 66 hot dogs. Last year's match changed the traditional time span to 10 minutes (said to be the length of 1916's original match), at which Chestnut and Kobayashi tied with 59. A five-dog "eat-off" found American Chestnut besting the longtime Japanese world champ for the second straight year.
Neither is a beefy dude. And Sonya Thomas, the tiny American who owns most women's records, is even smaller. This isn't just sports, it's sociology.
Lest anyone think this contest is some lame manufactured TV event (which see: The Superstars), it's certified by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE).
And lest you fear America no longer stands for progress, the winner of that first 1916 contest ate 13 hot dogs. We've since progressed nearly five-fold.
Happy hot dog day!
WEIRD & WILD: The incredibly strange Jonathan Ross show
June 30, 2009 6:36 PM
The Incredibly Strange Film Show has to be one of my all-time favorite series, exploring the heights -- or should I say depths? -- of indie B-moviemaking in all its bloody, breasty, low-budget glory. The perpetrator of this loving '80s look at the likes of Russ Meyer, Ray Dennis Steckler and a dozen other gonzo directors was Jonathan Ross, a breezy Brit who conducted low-life interviews and screened sleazy clips with the gusto of a truly irredeemable pop culture junkie.
(Takes one to know one.)
Now Ross puts that jones to weekly use as host of Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (Friday at 8 p.m. ET, BBC America), a London-based chatfest that also takes everything and nothing seriously. And while it couldn't possibly reach the giddy greatness of Incredibly Strange -- masked Mexican wrestler El Santo! -- Friday Night has been keeping Brits amused since 2001 with interviews of actors, rockers and other fame hangers-on. (Most frequent guest: Ricky Gervais.) BBC America picked up the show this month, so far airing outings featuring Hugh Laurie, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman and Jack Black.
This week's BBC America show (July 3) gets lost with Matthew Fox, whom Ross pumps for Lost finale information, then badgers into speaking about spanking.
Next week: Who knows?
SNEAK PEEK: Ken Burns 'National Parks' online
June 30, 2009 6:14 PM
Can't wait to see Ken Burns' fall epic The National Parks: America's Best Idea? Online site PBS Video lets you watch a half-hour preview anytime. Excerpts from the 12-hour project unreel alongside interviews of Burns and collaborator Dayton Duncan discussing their take on the subject.
That same preview can be found on TV, too. PBS has scheduled two national feeds this week -- Wednesday, July 1 at 9:30 p.m. ET and Sunday, July 5 at 10:30 p.m. ET -- but public TV member stations determine their own individual broadcast schedules. So it may run at another time in your area (or not at all; check local listings).
The National Parks: America's Best Idea debuts on public TV in six parts, starting Sept. 27, after six years in production. (Location photo at right shows Burns with cinematographer Buddy Squires.) With the scenic vistas offered by those 391 varied park facilities, you'd expect the widescreen high definition visuals to look amazing -- and they do, even in that little online preview window. (There's a full-screen viewing option, but blowing it up makes the streaming quality not so hot.)
Here's the official PBS description:
"The National Parks: America's Best Idea is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone. As such, it follows in the tradition of Burns' exploration of other American inventions, such as baseball and jazz.
"The narrative traces the birth of the national park idea in the mid-1800s and follows its evolution for nearly 150 years. Using archival photographs, first-person accounts of historical characters, personal memories and analysis from more than 40 interviews, and what Burns believes is the most stunning cinematography in Florentine Films' history, the series chronicles the steady addition of new parks through the stories of the people who helped create them and save them from destruction. It is simultaneously a biography of compelling characters and a biography of the American landscape."
DVD ALERT: 'It's Garry Shandling's Show' and 'Ally McBeal'
June 29, 2009 10:55 AM
Now there's an odd mashup. But they're only together in this alert: Both shows are finally being primed for complete-series DVD release!
It's Garry Shandling's Show is the Larry Sanders creator/star's first sitcom, debuting in 1986 on Showtime and getting a network pickup in 1988 on the nascent Fox network. Shandling plays himself -- an insecure standup comic, natch -- as a San Fernando Valley condo dweller beset with wacky neighbors, strange star pals (Jeff Goldblum, Rob Reiner), and "hilarious" personal situations.
But the whole point was using sitcom conventions to lampoon themselves, at a time TV comedy was taking itself Very Special Episode seriously. Shandling famously "broke the fourth wall" to speak directly to his viewers/studio audience about the goings-on, creating a relaxed and still-enjoyable slice of low-budget videotape tomfoolery. It's a sort of pop culture house of mirrors -- which set the stage for Shandling's more-barbed HBO Larry Sanders Show peek behind the scenes of celebrity.
The Shandling's Show release comes from the fine folks at boutique distributor Shout Factory, who know how to treat TV treats like this. (Their extras-crammed efforts have included My So-Called Life, Freaks & Geeks, SCTV, The Dick Cavett Show and this week's new Parker Lewis Can't Lose.) Looks like it'll be all four Shandling seasons on 16 discs, due Oct. 20. Amazon.com should be taking pre-orders soon.
Ally McBeal was actually one of the first shows on DVD back when the format emerged circa 2000. But all the American market saw of David E. Kelley's fanciful law/romance/Dancing Baby hour was a 2-disc first-season selection called Ally on Sex and the Single Life. Full seasons never materialized from distributor Fox Home Entertainment, possibly because the song-loving show was a music licensing nightmare.
But now Calista Flockhart, Peter MacNicol, Jane Krakowski, Robert Downey Jr. and their loopy lawyer pals look like they're on the way with a full-series giftset in time for holiday giving, as outlined by our friends at TVShowsonDVD. That would mean five seasons on an unannounced number of discs, with a possible simultaneous release of Season 1 for buyers who prefer to collect in lower-cost doses. Amazon is taking pre-orders here.
So now, where's The Wonder Years? Ed? China Beach?
In the meantime, enjoy The Theme Song to It's Garry Shandling's Show ("Garry called me up and asked/If I would write his theme song"):
UPDATED LISTINGS: Programs on Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson (as of Monday 1pm ET)
June 25, 2009 7:30 PM
We'll collect updates here on TV programs scheduled last-minute after the Thursday deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.
Among the specials yet to air (as of Monday 1 p.m. ET) --
BIO Remembers: Farrah Fawcett (on-demand via digital cable; check on-screen menus) -- This archive hour chronicles the actress' life and career.
Michael Jackson on-demand via digital cable (check your cable provider's on-screen menus) -- Look for Michael Jackson's 1978 musical film The Wiz with Diana Ross on pay-per-view, plus a wide selection of free music videos.
American Idol (Monday 8-10 p.m. ET, Fox) -- Encore of March's Michael Jackson-themed performance show.
Biography: Charlie's Angels (Monday at 9 p.m. ET, BIO)
Biography: Farrah Fawcett (Monday at 10 p.m. ET, BIO)
Dateline NBC (Monday 10 p.m. ET, NBC) -- "Living With Michael Jackson," encore of famous Martin Bashir interview.
World Music Awards 2006 (Wednesday 8-10 p.m. ET, MyNetwork) -- Encore includes Michael Jackson accepting an award on the 25th anniversary of his Thriller album, and singing "We Are the World."
E!ES Michael Jackson (Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT, E!) -- Press release: "With full cooperation from Sony, Michael Jackson and the Jackson organization, this one-hour special is the definitive documentary on the pop icon and his music."
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PREVIOUS POST (Friday 9 p.m. ET) --
Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration (Friday 8-10 p.m. ET and 11 p.m.-1 a.m. ET, TV One) -- All-star 2001 concert salute features Jacksons reunion, plus Destiny's Child, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Usher, Britney Spears, 'N Sync, 98 Degrees, James Ingram, Gloria Estefan and others.
Farrah's Story (Friday 8 p.m. ET, NBC) -- Repeat of May's two-hour documentary film chronicling Fawcett's battle with cancer; note that start time moves up one hour. (Also airs Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on Oxygen.)
Dateline NBC (Friday 10 p.m. ET, NBC) -- Ann Curry hosts "Michael Jackson - King of Pop" look back at Jackson's legacy.
E! News Special: Michael & Farrah: Lost Icons (Saturday at 10:30am ET/PT, E!) -- Half-hour special chronicles the lives of the two celebs.
True Hollywood Story: Michael Jackson (Saturday at 11 a.m. ET/PT, Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/PT, E!) -- Two-hour documentary covers the pop icon's life from childhood to superstardom.
The Jacksons: An American Dream (Saturday noon-5 p.m. ET and 7 p.m.-midnight ET, TV One) -- Angela Bassett and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs play the teen musicians' parents in 1992 miniseries chronicling the Jackson 5's rise to fame. Also starring: Holly Robinson-Peete, Terrence Howard, Billy Dee Williams.
Man in the Mirror: Life and Legacy of Michael Jackson (Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, CNN)
Chasing Farrah (Saturday 9 p.m. ET, TV Land) -- First two episodes of the 2005 docusoap following Fawcett's daily life as one of the country's most famous faces.
Biography Remembers: The Michael Jackson Story (Saturday at 10 p.m. ET, Sunday at 4 p.m. ET, A&E; Monday at 11 p.m. ET, BIO)
The Life & Times of Michael Jackson (Sunday at 7 p.m. ET, TV One) -- One-hour documentary.
American Idol (Monday 8-10 p.m. ET, Fox) -- Encore of March's Michael Jackson-themed performance show.
Biography: Charlie's Angels (Monday at 9 p.m. ET, BIO)
Biography: Farrah Fawcett (Monday at 10 p.m. ET, BIO)
E!ES Michael Jackson (Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT, E!) -- Press release: "With full cooperation from Sony, Michael Jackson and the Jackson organization, this one-hour special is the definitive documentary on the pop icon and his music."
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PREVIOUS POST (Thursday 7 p.m. ET) --
20/20 (Thursday 10 p.m. ET, ABC) -- "Farrah Fawcett: Her life, Her Loves, Her Legacy" is a Barbara Walters report featuring interviews with Ryan O'Neal, Charlie's Angels costar Jaclyn Smith, friend Alana Stewart, her physician Dr. Lawrence Piro, hairstylist Jose Eber, and Leonard Goldberg, co-creator of Charlie's Angels. (It's preceded by a 9 p.m. ET special edition of 20/20, "The Life and Death of Michael Jackson.")
Dateline NBC (Thursday 9-11 p.m. ET, NBC) -- The special extended broadcast will cover Michael Jackson's life and death, in addition to the previously announced "Farrah Fawcett: The Life and Death of an Angel." The Fawcett report includes recent interviews with Ryan O'Neal, Alana Stewart, Fawcett's father, sister and Charlie's Angels costar Kate Jackson, as well as unaired parts of a 1997 interview.
CBS News: The Life and Death of Michael Jackson (Thursday 10 p.m. ET, CBS) -- Hour report on the day's events.
Also scheduled --
Farrah's Story (Friday 9 p.m. ET, NBC) -- Repeat of May's two-hour documentary film chronicling Fawcett's battle with cancer, in her own words. (Also airs Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on Oxygen.)
Chasing Farrah (Saturday 9 p.m. ET, TV Land) -- First two episodes of the 2005 docusoap following Fawcett's daily life as one of the country's most famous faces.
WEIRD & WILD: Penn & Teller go for the throat (and private body parts)
June 25, 2009 3:06 PM
There's nothing quite like bombastic comedy magic philosopher Penn Jillette screaming about orgasms. Unless it's a self-proclaimed "erotic rock star" on stage warbling about them. Or a "tantric" master teaching naked women how to literally gush forth with liquid proof of "nothing less than the ever-beating heart of the cosmos."
Ain't it great to have Penn & Teller: Bullshit! back?
Yes, the mad debunkers go after orgasms in the premiere of their adult show's seventh season for Showtime, Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. (The half-hour repeats Friday at 10 p.m. ET and other times all week. It's also waiting at Showtime on Demand.)
Not that Penn & Teller declare orgasms aren't real. (What isn't real is astrology, and that's next week, July 2.) No, P&T really like orgasms. "They're free, they're legal, they burn calories," affirms Penn, the tall, loud one, standing next to stage partner Teller, the small, silent one.
In fact, this latest installment of their freewheeling investigations into assorted dubious aspects of life -- creationism, alien abductions, alternative medicine, 12-stepping, recycling -- is a bit out of character. Typically, Penn & Teller: Bullshit! challenges conventional wisdom and counter-claims to a two-out-of-three verbal wrestling match, assertions vs. facts. This involves setting up straw fish to shoot in a barrel, which mixes metaphors but conveys how P&T unearth the weirdest adherents of whatever they're testing, then skewer them with footage where they babble absurdly, so Penn can berate them profanely in his narrating bellow.
But orgasms? What's the CW? There really isn't one. But since there are oddballs opining weirdly on a hot topic, that's all P&T need. If the "erotic rock star" performs in a black leather jockstrap -- and no, that in itself hardly rates as strange here -- then P&T narrate a host segment wearing black leather jockstraps. They go on to spotlight a pain management doctor who has invented an "orgasmatron" implant for women to operate via remote control for instant jollies. That's not free, but it seems to be legal, and --
Oh, never mind. The idea is to let high-dudgeon Penn bloviate till he nearly bursts a blood vessel, and he is really, really, almost pee-ingly funny doing it. So nitpicking seems beside the point. And these guys do have a point, which is, roughly, to uphold science and reason above wackadoodle dreams and emotion. They don't like seeing the little folks taken for a ride by the big "visionaries."
It's an extension of Penn & Teller's original magic presentations, where they'd show '80s audiences precisely how they were being distracted and misled. But it's also a political statement -- they're libertarian science-lovers who aren't going to believe in God until God appears in their presence and does something, well, magical. (Ideally, on camera.) They're skeptics of everything.
Which is what makes P&T: BS! such a consistent delight. Instead of bludgeoning only the obvious bunk -- next week's show finds Penn stunned that they haven't stomped on astrology yet -- they attack more complicated topics. The July 9 show assesses video games by doing "what any show would do when the network's lawyer leaves on vacation," says Penn -- hand a 9-year-old gamer an automatic weapon to see what happens.
BS! is also beautifully produced. Videotape reports are framed just-so to make the (alleged) wackos look even weirder, and they're tightly edited to spotlight the (alleged) strangeness. Penn & Teller's in-studio host segments take cues from the subject with themed costumes, props and (non-alleged) naked people whenever possible. (Premium cable, you know.) And Penn's over-amped rants as narrator also happen to be finely honed pieces of writing, theater and agitprop. Even if they're going after something you yourself might believe in, their assaults remain laugh-out-loud funny. Even when they hurt.
And that's entertainment, folks. No bullshit.
IN MEMORIAM: Farrah Fawcett
June 25, 2009 1:38 PM
[SEE UPDATE BELOW ON THURSDAY-SATURDAY TV TRIBUTES]
Here's what made Farrah Fawcett a star. The 1976 pilot of ABC's hit Charlie's Angels -- three babes in bikinis solve mysteries -- can be streamed free on Hulu, along with such other classics as the prison episode "Angels in Chains" [photo above].
But to better honor Fawcett, who died Thursday morning of cancer at age 62, you might watch her more dramatic work as an actress. Her 1984 TV movie breakthrough The Burning Bed (abused wife strikes back) has been released on DVD, and also gets a rare TV airing next Tuesday (June 30) -- at 2:35 p.m. and 9:35 p.m. ET on Encore Drama, and at 3:35 p.m. and 10:35 p.m. ET on Movieplex.
Another DVD possibility is Fawcett's 1987 miniseries Poor Little Rich Girl, casting her as tragic heiress Barbara Hutton. It's also available to Netflix subscribers as an instant-view option (online, or over TV with the right device).
And then there's her other TV series work. Before Charlie's Angels, she was David Janssen's neighbor in the cynical '70s sleuth hour Harry O and a guest on then-husband Lee Majors' action smash The Six Million Dollar Man. In the last decade of her life, she appeared in multi-episode arcs on series including Spin City and The Guardian.
Fawcett was also paired with longtime companion Ryan O'Neal in 1991's short-lived sitcom Good Sports, now perhaps a good bet to get a curiosity-fueled DVD release.
But she'll always be known as an Angel, and that '70s "eye candy" series from producer-mogul Aaron Spelling is widely available on DVD. Fawcett starred only in the first season before leaving for "bigger things" that never really materialized. But she did return for a half-dozen subsequent episodes, in the third season, and in the fourth, which on July 21 completes the series' DVD cycle.
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UPDATED Thursday 7 p.m. --
Farrah Fawcett tributes are being hastily scheduled on various channels. So are reports on Thursday's other big death of a legendary entertainer, Michael Jackson.
Among them:
20/20 (Thursday 10 p.m. ET, ABC) -- "Farrah Fawcett: Her life, Her Loves, Her Legacy" is a Barbara Walters report featuring interviews with Ryan O'Neal, Charlie's Angels costar Jaclyn Smith, friend Alana Stewart, her physician Dr. Lawrence Piro, hairstylist Jose Eber, and Leonard Goldberg, co-creator of Charlie's Angels. (It's preceded by a 9 p.m. ET special edition of 20/20, "The Life and Death of Michael Jackson.")
Dateline NBC (Thursday 9-11 p.m. ET, NBC) -- The special extended broadcast will cover Michael Jackson's life and death, in addition to the previously announced "Farrah Fawcett: The Life and Death of an Angel." The Fawcett report includes recent interviews with Ryan O'Neal, Alana Stewart, Fawcett's father, sister and Charlie's Angels costar Kate Jackson, as well as unaired parts of a 1997 interview.
CBS News: The Life and Death of Michael Jackson (Thursday 10 p.m. ET, CBS) -- Hour report on the day's events.
Farrah's Story (Friday 9 p.m. ET, NBC) -- Repeat of May's two-hour documentary film chronicling Fawcett's battle with cancer, in her own words. (Also airs Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on Oxygen.)
Chasing Farrah (Saturday 9 p.m. ET, TV Land) -- First two episodes of the 2005 docusoap following Fawcett's daily life as one of the country's most famous faces.
LISTEN UP: Classic 'Tonight Show' parody from The Credibility Gap
June 24, 2009 11:36 AM
Ed McMahon's second banana work on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show is now a distant memory -- he and Carson left the show in 1992 -- leaving younger viewers to wonder what the big deal was about when the talkfest cohost died this week at age 86.
Wonder no more. We've got a classic distillation of Ed, and Johnny, from their late-night heyday. This straight-from-the-original-LP treat comes from an obscure comedy group called The Credibility Gap, who made dead-on pop culture parody records in the 1970s. And it's no wonder there, either.
Here's the group's makeup:
Harry Shearer -- who'd break out in This Is Spinal Tap and Saturday Night Live, become a reliable source of voices for The Simpsons, and spout off about everything in the world on his weekly public radio monologue, Le Show.
Michael McKean -- soon to be Laverne & Shirley neighbor Lenny, then another Spinal Tap constituent, and a voice on Dinosaurs, and finally a regular in pal Christopher Guest's satire films Best in Show and A Mighty Wind.
David L. Lander -- L&S partner-in-doofusdum Squiggy, before weirding out in David Lynch's Twin Peaks and On the Air, and rampant voice work.
Richard Beebe -- the Pete Best of the bunch.
They're all amazing here, capturing every Carson Tonight Show nuance, whether it's Johnny's "accidental" double entrendres or Ed's obsequious chortling. Enjoy their sendup of Don Rickles, too, and a so-old-it's-new segment on gays in the military. There's even the final-credits promo cut-off, as the network's affiliate stations cut away too soon for local content. They nailed it all, from beginning to end.
If you want a complete taste of the legendary Tonight Show, this is as close an approximation as you'll ever get, in 15 sharp-satire minutes.
And The Credibility Gap has more. The album that holds the Tonight parody, 1974's A Great Gift Idea on Warner Bros., is a feast of '70s sendups -- a hilarious "blaxploitation" trailer (Kingpin, basically casting Martin Luther King as Shaft), a moody-goopy pop culture poem-to-music a la then-trendy Rod McKuen, a greatest-hits record mail-order ad from the screaming K-Tel school, a student-aimed "educational" school film on social diseases, and more.
Buy the whole album here, finally out on CD after a 35-year wait. Or download it even cheaper on MP3.
Just don't expect A Funny Animal Segment.
FLICK PICKS: Oz never did give nothin' to the Tin Man
June 23, 2009 6:04 PM
Here's an interesting juxtaposition:
This week, Sci Fi is repeating its 2007 miniseries Tin Man (Wednesday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. ET, Sci Fi), a modern fantasy reimagining of L. Frank Baum's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, starring Zooey Deschanel, Alan Cumming and Richard Dreyfuss.
Next week, Turner Classic Movies salutes the more familiar MGM musical classic The Wizard of Oz (Thursday, July 2 at 8 p.m. ET, TCM), starring Judy Garland, to kick off its monthlong salute to "Hollywood's greatest year," 1939.
Compare and contrast. At your own risk.
WATCH THIS: Hugh Laurie naked!
June 23, 2009 5:33 PM
Got your attention, eh? The cranky workaholic from House gets to be a blithering husband and dad in the British comedy import Fortysomething, a breathless six weeks of farcical fun.
(Check local public TV listings. In New York, Fortysomething airs on WLIW/21 Tuesday nights at 10:10 ET. In Philadelphia, it's WHYY/12 Sunday nights at 7 ET.)
Laurie not only stars but directs half the episodes of this 2003 limited series about a midlife crisis gone gonzo. He's distracted as a general practitioner with a peculiar partner, as a husband whose smart wife (Anna Chancellor of MI-5) may or may not be cheating on him, and as a father whose growing sons are getting more than he is. Every time he turns around, some bizarre kind of craziness breaks loose in his household or workplace, but he's too uptight to loosen up himself. Which doesn't explain how he ends up dressed as a Muslim woman or holding a variety of sex toys.
Did we mention that in the midst of all this accelerating lunacy Laurie strolls the street without clothes on?
I wrote a longer appreciation of this treat when it came out on DVD. You can read that review here. Then tune to the six hourlong episodes, or do the discs. You get to hear Laurie's natural British voice and savor his innate comedic flair. His 1980s British sketchcom partner Stephen Fry (A Bit of Fry and Laurie) even shows up, playing a cranky fishmonger.
There's much more to Hugh than House.
