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January 2010 Archives
FLICK PICKS: Top soundtracks ever
January 28, 2010 3:06 PM
The stabbing violins of Psycho? The signature songs of The Graduate and Saturday Night Fever? The eerie woo-woo-woo-woo-woo of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? The thumping funk of Shaft?
They're all in the new list of 15 Most Influential Soundtracks chosen by Turner Classic Movies in connection with Sunday's Grammy Awards.
It's interesting how many of the picks come from movies released in the '60s and '70s. Maybe that's because the studio system was dying, and filmmakers found a new freedom to play with audio aesthetics as well as visual dynamics and mature content. That era certainly offers a rich mix -- some of the TCM-cited sounds are orchestral, some rock out, and others flash back to find fresh uses for both classical masterpieces and vintage pop songs.
What's also intriguing is that the list only covers a span of 45 years (1932-1977). There wasn't much movie music before that, since silents only started giving way to talk in 1927. But you'd think some scores in the last three decades would have made their mark.
Then again, it's hard to think of any. Maybe Randy Newman's The Natural score? Prince's Purple Rain songs? The retro rock of The Big Chill? But how influential were they? Slumdog Millionaire's Bollywood breakthrough only matters if someone follows the trail it blazed. (Thus disqualified is the deliriously creative song score of South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut.)
Here are TCM's 15 picks (read more about the scores here) --
- King Kong (1933) -- Composer: Max Steiner
- Alexander Nevsky (1938) -- Composer: Sergei Prokofiev
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) -- Composer: Bernard Herrmann
- Blackboard Jungle (1955) -- Music Adaptor: Charles Wolcott
- The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) -- Composer: Elmer Bernstein
- Psycho (1960) -- Composer: Bernard Herrmann
- A Hard Day's Night (1964) -- Musical Director: George Martin; Songs: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
- Goldfinger (1964) -- Composer: John Barry
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) -- Composer: Ennio Morricone
- The Graduate (1967) -- Composer: Dave Grusin; Songs: Paul Simon
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) -- Musical Consultant: Patrick Moore; Music Editor: Frank J. Urioste
- Shaft (1971) -- Composers: Isaac Hayes and J.J. Johnson
- American Graffiti (1973) -- Music Coordinator: Karin Green
- Saturday Night Fever (1977) -- Composers: Barry, Maurice & Robin Gibb and David Shire
- Star Wars (1977) -- Composer: John Williams
DVD UPDATE: (Some of) 'Southland,' (random) Abbott & Costello collection, more
January 25, 2010 12:32 PM
Whaddya bet NBC wishes it had Southland back now? They thought the L.A. copfest was too adult to run at 9 p.m. ET, back when their braintrust had ensconsed Jay Leno at 10. Now that he's outta there, they could really use the drama's grit and gumption -- too bad it's currently on display over at TNT (Tuesdays at 10 ET).
And in this week's new "first season" DVD release.
But the 2-disc set includes only the 7 episodes aired by NBC at 10 p.m. last spring -- not the next 6 produced in anticipation of a second season ordered, then aborted, after NBC realized (duh) that the show's tone was too adult for 9 o'clock (8 Central). Those half-dozen orphan hours will be TNT premieres this spring.
Meanwhile, Southland gets a rush DVD release that fans are already bitching about online. This show is the kind of meaty saga that begs for detailed commentaries illuminating the creators' perspective on policing a sprawling, diverse city. But they're not here. The only extra is a quick behind-the-scenes featurette.
Fans are apparently supposed to be satisfied that Southland's explicit language and adult content are uncensored on DVD.
Well, [bleep] that [bleep]. We'd like more.
Also out this week:
Abbott & Costello: Legends of Laughter -- This 6-disc set comes at a bargain price ($30 list), but it's a decidedly mixed bag. The main content is 14 kinescope shows from the comedy team's hosting stints on early TV's live variety show The Colgate Comedy Hour. Guests include vintage stars like Marlene Dietrich, Louis Armstrong and Peggy Lee, plus some of the shows feature original commercials (which might as well be from the Flintstones' epoch, they look so primitive). Beyond that, you get two (poor prints of) feature films Africa Screams and Jack and the Beanstalk; 17 radio shows (audio); movie trailers; bloopers, and other odd remnants. A&C completists may be thrilled, but others will be scratching their heads. Especially at those amateurish menus with all the misspelled names. Luis Armstrong? (IMPORTANT: Be aware this is NOT The Abbott & Costello Show, the half-hour sitcom that comics like Jerry Seinfeld have cited as influential. That 1952 syndicated series comes out in its entirety March 23 on 9 discs from distributor E1.)
The Waltons Movie Collection -- Speaking of completists, this 3-disc set rounds out the Waltons video library. With all seasons already on DVD, these 6 reunion movies made 1982-1997 portray the family from the 1940s through the late '60s. Celebrate Thanksgiving, Easter, weddings and more with the homey Appalachian clan that proved a surprise '70s Nielsen smash.
MI-5 Volume 7 -- Nailbitingly gritty British intelligence drama adds Richard Armitage (Robin Hood) as an agent recently freed from years in Russian custody. With commentary, behind-the-scenes.
Bonekickers -- Archaeologists do a little History's Mysteries, a little Indiana Jones, and some modern forensics in this recent British drama. Cast includes Adrian Lester (Hustle) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Doctor Who, MI-5). From the creators of Life on Mars.
Callan Set 2 -- Edward Woodward (The Equalizer) contributed two commentaries (before he died last fall) for this final round of his '70s British Cold War espionage saga.
TV FLASHBACK: TV Land adds 'Bewitched' -- and 'Raymond'!
January 22, 2010 2:19 PM
[UPDATE: More good news! TV Land is adding Everybody Loves Raymond, too, starting March 18. After a four-day launch event, the family craziness of Ray, Debra, Frank, Marie and Robert will air weeknights at 9 ET.]
Is TV Land finally getting back to basics? Could the channel be remembering that it once staked out unique territory in celebrating our TV heritage, rather than running me-too reality shows?
One indication: Bewitched twitches back into the TV Land lineup on March 1. Episodes will air at 5 and 5:30 p.m. ET weekdays, running in order from ABC's 1964 pilot.
Samantha, Darrin, Endora, Tabitha, Gladys Kravitz, Larry Tate, Aunt Clara, Uncle Arthur -- hooray!
(And weekend marathons, too! Set the DVR on March 6, 2-8 p.m. ET; March 7, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET; and March 20-21, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. ET.)
I've been rewatching this classic witch-com on DVD lately. And the early black-and-white episodes, in particular, remain fresh and inspired, 45 years later.
Of course, that whole mid-'60s network era -- once derided as a sea of sitcom stupidity -- looks in retrospect like an amazing golden age for flights of fancy. Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Mister Ed, Hogan's Heroes -- all seemingly insane, inane concepts, which turn out to have been enduringly funny and even, sometimes, utterly brilliant. (Green Acres now plays like some kind of delirious Dada masterpiece.)
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. Among the makers of those initial Bewitched episodes were I Love Lucy director William Asher (married at the time to series star Elizabeth Montgomery); smart writer-producer Danny Arnold, who'd go on to create one of TV's sharpest sitcoms ever, Barney Miller; and slick writer-producer Bernard Slade, who continued in sitcom whimsy with The Flying Nun (before hitting the jackpot with his '70s Broadway comedy Same Time, Next Year).
All eight seasons of Bewitched (1964-1972) are also available on DVD (here's the Amazon link), with some nice retrospective extras (including interviews with Asher, who's now 88).
Many Bewitched episodes are also available for viewing online. Hulu is streaming the first two seasons in their original black-and-white, while those early episodes can be seen colorized [see image at right] on Crackle (which runs them full-length and/or as 5-minute minisodes).
NEWS FLASH: NBC settles Jay/Conan mess
January 21, 2010 3:21 PM
And so it's official: Jay gets The Tonight Show back, Conan gets gone.
How convenient that NBC late-night's upcoming Olympic hiatus allows the network to make such a clean break.
(See, we can be just as funny as these guys were before this whole situation kicked them into overdrive.)
Here are Thursday's statements from NBC:
Regarding Conan O'Brien's release from his Tonight Show contract --
NBC and Conan O'Brien have reached a resolution of the issues surrounding O'Brien's contract to host The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
Under terms of an agreement that was signed earlier today, NBC and O'Brien will settle their contractual obligations and the network will release O'Brien from his contract, freeing him to pursue other opportunities after Sept. 1, 2010.O'Brien will make his final appearance as host of The Tonight Show on Jan. 22.
(That's the statement in its entirety. NBC is scheduling Conan Tonight repeats until the Olympics in mid-February.)
Regarding Jay Leno's return to The Tonight Show --
NBC confirmed today that popular late-night host Jay Leno will return to host The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET beginning March 1, 2010 and that Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will continue to be broadcast from 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET. The announcements were made by Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment.
"We're pleased that Jay is returning to host the franchise that he helmed brilliantly and successfully for many years," said Gaspin. "He is an enormous talent, a consummate professional and one of the hardest-working performers on television."Leno previously hosted The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from May 1992-May 2009. The program will continue to showcase many of the features that made Leno America's late-night leader for more than a dozen years.
DVD UPDATE: 'Damages,' 'Weeds,' and Cannell action
January 19, 2010 4:24 PM
[UPDATE BELOW]
Among this week's TV DVD releases: Damages, Weeds, Thirtysomething, Dallas, Defying Gravity . . .
And a test for the two schools of DVD viewers/buyers -- those who never watch the bonus features, and those who wouldn't consider owning a set without extras.
TV crime-action kingpin Stephen J. Cannell this week re-releases his actioners Renegade, Hunter and 21 Jump Street with a bargain price but barebones content. The shows' new first-season DVD sets only ding you $15 each, but you get what you pay for:
Episodes are crammed onto discs (as many as 6 episodes per disc).
Discs come in paper sleeves stacked inside a double-thick plastic case (the size that usually holds a seasons' worth of discs well-protected on those hard-plastic flipper pages).
And there's none of the juicy bonus content from Cannell's previous Anchor Bay sets of these series.
21 Jump Street's original 2004 release [photos show it below the new one] had interviews and/or commentaries with just about everybody except the too-big-now star of the show. (Johnny somebody. Deep? Delp?) That first season's discs were safely stored in thin-pack cases inside an outer box, and the set also included a booklet that nicely put the '80s Fox youth-cop drama in cultural/historical perspective. Renegade came out in 2005 with nearly 100 minutes of interviews with creator Cannell, Lorenzo Lamas and the rest of the cast. Even 2005's Hunter Season 1 had a half-hour's worth with Cannell and costar Stepfanie Kramer.
If you didn't grab those releases then, you'd think you could at least pat yourself on the back now for saving big bucks with the new Mill Creek budget sets. And in stores, that may be true. But as of release date (we checked prices Jan. 18), Amazon.com has the Anchor Bay release of 21 Jump Street Season 1, with all the goodies, for $14.50. (Season 2 is even cheaper, $14.) That's not the case with Renegade and Hunter, but the feature-rich versions only cost a few bucks more.
How many fans will make the effort to ferret out the original releases with all the extras? Or even care about them? It's easier to grab it at the store when you see it, and at these bargain prices, you should see these on shelves more frequently than the earlier versions. Quality or quantity? Your choice.
Cannell has already tested the waters for this strategy with perhaps his most acclaimed series, Wiseguy -- but that Ken Wahl undercover-with-the-mob drama was by then out of print. And the original release in 2003 came in "arcs" rather than seasons, which meant each season included multiple sets, running up the bill considerably. True devotees who buy last summer's budget re-release from Mill Creek [pictured at right] miss out on the commentaries with mercurial star Wahl, interviews, great booklet essays, and more. (But true devotees were already p'd off about the wholesale music substitutions in all the sets. Expect more of those. And don't expect Wiseguy's memorable music-industry arc with Tim Curry, Debbie Harry and Glenn Frey ever.)
[UPDATE: Another Wiseguy option is to buy almost the entire series, out March 9, in a 13-disc set with 68 episodes that lists for $45. The music-industry arc is indeed not included.]
I fall in the extras-necessary category myself. Can't get enough. But I'm curious whether you value them as highly as I do, and what sorts of extras you love (or loathe) best (or worst).
On action releases like these, maybe the gunfire, fistfights and explosions are bonus enough.
Also out this week:
- Damages Season 2 -- Catch up before Season 3 starts Monday (Jan. 25 at 10 p.m. ET on FX). Glenn Close is again joined in legal/lethal thrills by Ted Danson for this second 3-disc set, also featuring new cast member William Hurt (her Big Chill costar from way back). Extras include a Season 1 recap, in case you're starting from scratch, and the creators' explanation/justification for all that time-jumping story construction.
- Weeds Season 5 -- This little box has 3 discs with 13 episodes of Mary-Louise Parker's latest dope-dealing adventures, pregnant by a Mexican mobster, plunging her teen kids deeper into the drug life, too. Extras include a jaunty little history of marijuana through the centuries, a helpful guide to all the show's tangled relationships, 7 smart episode commentaries, Kevin Nealon's backstage video diary, bloopers, webisodes, and more. (Major props for this set having the discs lightly taped into the plastic trays, so they don't fall out to get scratched during shipment!) Also out on Blu-ray.
- Thirtysomething Season 2 -- Michael and Hope and all their comfy Philly friends continue their scary odysseys into real-life late '80s adult life -- family vs. work vs. ideals vs. income. Footloose Gary gets stuck on Susannah, and mean boss Miles Drentell makes his mark.
- Dallas Season 12 -- Larry Hagman's J.R. says bye-bye to Sue Ellen and hello to a prison chain gang, while battling George Kennedy's Carter McKay and traveling to Moscow.
- Defying Gravity -- ABC summer drama series follows 21st century astronauts through all their adventures in space and romance. Includes 5 unaired episodes, making-of featurette.
- Soul of the Church -- Time-capsule spirituals from early '60s NBC series TV Gospel Time feature Ruth Brown, the Rev. James Cleveland, Clouds of Joy, Blind Boys of Mississippi, Dixie Hummingbirds and others, in 16 black-and-white episodes (some poorly preserved). Also includes Mahalia Jackson videos.
DOWNLOAD THIS: Free pilot episodes
January 19, 2010 12:21 PM
Current freebies on iTunes and Amazon.com include a couple of fun new shows that both critics and audiences seem to agree on.
Mark Valley's new comic-book joyride Human Target is gratis at Amazon, for both watching and downloading. And the outrageously action-packed pilot (seen Sunday on Fox) features Battlestar Galactica fave Tricia Helfer as the would-be murder victim Valley protects by turning himself into the title character. [Fox photo above.]
Life Unexpected (which premiered Monday on The CW) was unexpectedly liked by most critics. The pilot hour about a teen girl finally meeting her birth mom (responsible community leader) and birth dad (footloose slacker) is a free download at iTunes.
NBC WATCH: With Jay Leno out at 10, here's what's in
January 14, 2010 3:46 PM
NBC just announced its post-Olympics prime time schedule, and dramas are back at 10 p.m. ET! (Yay!)
And that makes room for Friday Night Lights. (Double yay!)
But one of the new 10 p.m. arrivals is a reality show. (Back to single yay.)
Here's what we'll be seeing at 10 p.m. ET in place of The Jay Leno Show, starting the week of March 1 --
- Monday - Law & Order (premiere runs 9-11 p.m. ET)
- Tuesday - Parenthood, movie spinoff drama with Lauren Graham and Peter Krause [photo at top]
- Wednesday - Law & Order: SVU
- Thursday - The Marriage Ref, "comedy panel series" from Jerry Seinfeld
- Friday - Dateline NBC (runs 9-11 p.m. ET weekly)
- Friday Night Lights is back Friday at 8 ET on April 30
- Trauma returns to the lineup Monday at 9 ET on March 8
Two more unscripted series also will debut. Who Do You Think You Are? (March 5, Friday at 8 ET) explores the family histories of celebs like Sarah Jessica Parker, Spike Lee and Susan Sarandon, adapted from a BBC series, produced by Lisa Kudrow, with "official partner" (read: product placement) Ancestry.com. And Minute to Win It (March 14, Sunday at 8 ET) has spike-haired Food Network guru Guy Fieri hosting timed challenges using ordinary household items.
So, below you'll find NBC's March full schedule after the Vancouver Olympic games end Sunday, Feb. 28. There's way too much L&O. (But that's better than way too much prime-time Jay Leno.) And fans of NBC's powerhouse Thursday-at-10 dramas over the past three decades -- from Hill Street Blues to L.A. Law to ER -- may be dismayed to see The Marriage Ref now filling this key hour.
But NBC was left scrambling by too many self-inflicted wounds -- a scarcity of scripted development and other bonehead decisions like pulling the production plug on an ordered second season of Southland.
Considering everything, this should be considered a stopgap lineup:
MONDAYS
8 p.m. - Chuck
9 p.m. - Trauma (begins March 8)
10 p.m. - Law & Order (returns March 1 at 9-11 p.m. ET; thereafter 10 p.m. ET)
TUESDAYS
8 p.m. - The Biggest Loser
10 p.m. - Parenthood (March 2)
WEDNESDAYS
8 p.m. - Mercy
9 p.m. - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (encores starting March 3)
10 p.m. - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (originals starting March 3)
THURSDAYS
8 p.m. - Community
8:30 p.m. - Parks and Recreation
9 p.m. - The Office
9:30-10 p.m. - 30 Rock
10 p.m. - The Marriage Ref (starts March 4; previews Feb. 28)
FRIDAYS
8 p.m. - Who Do Think You Are? (premieres March 5; Friday Night Lights returns April 30)
9 p.m. - Dateline NBC (begins March 5)
SATURDAYS (starting March 6)
8 p.m. - The Biggest Loser (encore)
9 p.m. - Law & Order (encore)
10 p.m. - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (encore)
SUNDAYS (starting March 14)
7 p.m. - Dateline NBC
8 p.m. - Minute to Win It (premieres March 14)
9 p.m. - The Celebrity Apprentice (season premiere March 14)
NEWS FLASH: Conan not going gentle (later) into the night
January 12, 2010 3:59 PM
And so the ping-pong game continues.
Conan O'Brien just said he won't do The Tonight Show if it's pushed back after midnight ET.
His statement addressed to the "People of Earth" (he used to be a Simpsons writer, remember) contends he believes moving the show from "tonight" to the next day would "seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting," and he won't take part in that.
Conan also says "I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next."
Until, of course, his phone starts ringing. (Immediately upon the release of the statement.)
So now what happens? Will Conan make a monkey of NBC?
You tell us.
Conan's entire statement can be found here.
DVD UPDATE: 'Simpsons' on Blu-ray
January 12, 2010 12:43 PM
Tuesday is the day new TV disc releases drop -- and the day each week we plan to keep you posted on the latest DVD and Blu-ray goodies.
Jan. 12 is actually a slow week for shows hitting home video, but a big one for fans of the animated series that changed prime time 20 years ago. The Simpsons gets its first-ever release on high-def Blu-ray Disc (BD, for those in the know) by jumping the gun on the series' previously orderly ordinal queue. Season 1 was followed by Season 2 was followed by Season 3. Until last year's Season 12 release was followed today by Season 20.
Fox Home Entertainment seems to be celebrating the series' 20th anniversary -- a pretty inescapable milestone considering the way TV's entire Fox network turned yellow last week -- and testing the waters for high-def among Simpsomaniacs. Unfortunately, it's not a fair test.
Today's release of The Simpsons: The Complete Twentieth Season ($60 list, $37 currently at Amazon) is an anomaly among the show's season sets, bereft of all the commentaries, featurettes, storyboards, deleted scenes and other inside goodies that fans have come to expect when Matt Groening's Springfield oeuvre hits disc. The Simpsons DVD sets haven't been mere collections of episodes, they've been bonus-rich celebrations of the show's family humor, pop culture savvy, animation creation and overall artistry in creating an American portrait for the ages.
But the 20th season BD set (or DVD set, also out at $50/$29) holds only one extra, which really isn't: a teaser for Morgan Spurlock's documentary on the cultural impact of The Simpsons, which already aired following the show's 450th episode last Sunday. Why not incude the whole thing? That might actually have been a "special" feature.
Blame the quick turnaround of bringing this season from air to disc in just eight months. After all, The Simpsons Season 12 episodes out on DVD last August were produced in 2000-2001, leaving plenty of time to reflect and reconstruct at length in bonus features. But then, why bother with the quickie 20th? Sure, high-def Blu-ray looks swell -- the shows are finally in the now-standard widescreen ratio, and some parts of the exceedingly crisp animation have an almost 3-D feel between foregrounds and backgrounds. There's also 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (English only) that's uncompressed for sound aficionados.
If you're really, truly that dedicated, you can watch and hear in sterling quality rightawayrightnow. But if you're really, truly that dedicated, you're going to feel cheated without all those bonus goodies. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life.
Until, that is, Groening & Co. catch up to themselves -- Season 13 at least should come out this year -- and eventually produce all the Season 20 extras you crave. Prepare to buy again. And, of course, again, when the "complete series" hits shelves. You know the drill.
Actually, Season 20 is only half high-def. The Simpsons' first HD episode was last Feb. 15's "Take My Life, Please" (Homer's class president election), which means the season's first 9 episodes are standard def (with 12 in HD). The BD set has one BD disc in standard-screen ratio (4x3) and one disc in HD widescreen (16x9). The DVD set arrives on 4 discs, with the season's second half in widescreen standard-def.
The BD set comes in a standard blue-plastic package, though, which is at least a relief to those fans who loathed the recent cardboard accordion DVD innards they feared would scratch discs being removed and reinserted. The tradeoff, however, is a set that feels generic and not nearly as special as Simpsons devotees have come to expect. Season 12's DVD included a comic-book-styled 28-page booklet and similar original artwork on the accordion boards. Season 20's BD has just a flimsy little paper insert containing only the episode titles, not even their air dates or descriptions. At least there's nice every-character-ever art on the wrap.
So it's your choice: Be a Simpsons completist and enjoy HD picture/sound right away, or demand the best and hold off till an extras-crammed Season 20 shows up in 2013 or so.
Possibly on some other format yet to be determined.
Isn't video collecting fun?
Also out this week (Jan. 12, 2010):
- ER Season 12 -- John Leguizamo takes over the department; Neela and Gallant get married; Abby and Kovac get back together; Weaver loses her cane; Carter goes to Darfur.
- Becker Season 3 -- Ted Danson comedy about a cranky Bronx doctor (now seen Fridays on Universal HD) adds Nancy Travis as his new neighbor.
- Route 66 Complete Season 3 -- Among the guest stars this time on this fine location-filmed '60s road drama: Buster Keaton, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., Gene Hackman, Julie Newmar, Rip Torn, Alan Alda, Rod Steiger, John Astin.
- Robin Hood Season 3 -- Final season of the recent romantic British adventure hour, post-Maid Marian.
- Top Gear Seasons 11 & 12 -- Too bad NBC's planned Americanization of this fun-and-funky British car-test hit hasn't panned out. Or maybe it will -- NBC could keep Jay Leno at 10 p.m. hosting it!
Released Jan. 5, 2010:
- Big Love Season 3
- Chuck Season 2 DVD/BD
- Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures (Ralph Bakshi/John Kricfalusi)
THE BIZ: Whither Jay Leno?
January 7, 2010 11:11 PM
Hate to say I told you so, but well, I told you (them) so. Last spring, months before The Jay Leno Show launched -- and crashed -- in NBC's 10 p.m. ET weeknight slot, I wrote a column dissecting how the network's affiliates might be the idea's downfall, regardless how much economic sense the move seemed to make to the bigs in Burbank.
Now word's out that they're trying to find ways to wiggle out of the mess they made by promising Conan O'Brien The Tonight Show and elbowing Jay out of the way. We'll see what happens, but in the meantime, follow this link to the original column.
Then come back here and tell us what you make of it all . . .
CLICK HERE: Tweet dem 'Bones'
January 5, 2010 5:30 PM
Ever thought "Hey, I could ask smarter questions than reporters!"? Here's one way to prove it.
The cast and producers of Bones will be taking viewer questions via Twitter during the show's 8 p.m. ET airing this Thursday (Jan. 7). They'll also offer commentary on this repeat episode (Amish piano prodigy) and tease future Bones happenings.
Two ways to participate -- the Fox network's official Bones page, or Twitter's #bones.
Fresh Bones start up again Jan. 14.
FLICK PICKS: It's a W.C. Fields gift
January 2, 2010 4:00 PM
Never tell me I'm drunk. I'll just say, "And you're crazy. But I'll be sober tomorrow, and you'll be crazy for the rest of your life."
That's one of my favorite W.C. Fields gems to be heard in Sunday's Turner Classic Movies triple feature of memorable Fields films. The old red-nosed misanthrope of the '30s, whose work saw a huge revival in the film-appreciation '70s, deserves another revival now. Compare his cranky comedy to anybody's orneriness today. Fields wins.
Here's Sunday night's TCM lineup of Fields fun:
It's a Gift (8 p.m. ET) -- This 1934 delight is the one with the drunk/ugly rejoinder. Fields inhabits a shopkeeper beset by a nagging wife, nasty kid, blindly destructive customers, loud neighbors, persistent door-to-door salesmen (Carl LaFong, big L, small A, big F, small O, small N, small G), and even annoying inanimate objects. All this, and a cross-country trip to an orange grove, in barely more than an hour. Too many wonderful lines here to memorize. But you'll have fun trying.
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (9:15 p.m. ET) -- The title of this 1941 oddity is itself a memorable quote, but there's much more in a scattershot comedy so surreal, it feels like a drug trip. (Now you know why the long-dead Fields found fresh fame in the '70s.) Among the absurd doings is hard-drinking Fields following his falling booze bottle out of an airplane's open-air observation compartment (!), and landing in an isolated mountain women's colony led by Groucho foil Margaret Dumont's Mrs. Hemoglobin. It's a movie within a movie, except when it isn't. Fields winks at us throughout as he battles with studio executives over his loony artistic visions and explains what the censors cut out. It's even worth sitting through Judy Garland wannabe Gloria Jean's musical numbers.
If I Had a Million (10:30 p.m. ET) -- Fields is featured in just one segment of this collection of vignettes where ordinary people are randomly handed money by a dying millionaire. But his part's a corker. After the beloved new car just purchased by Fields and frequent on-screen lady love Alison Skipworth gets creamed, the pair begins diligently roaming the streets seeking "road hogs" to crash into. Other wonderful chapters -- some silly, some sad -- are headlined by Charlie Ruggles, Charles Laughton and more '30s stars.
If that's not enough Depression-vintage comedy (and it's not for me, since that's my favorite movie era), TCM follows it up with two football-themed silent treats -- Harold Lloyd's The Freshman (Sunday night at midnight ET) and Buster Keaton's College (Sunday night at 1:30 a.m. ET), recalling the 1920s era of Knute Rockne when college football really hit the American national consciousness.
