Archive for the ‘Television’ Category
The Situation and The Stars
I know, I know, we’re stretching it with this one, but Dancing with the Stars is music-related, no? Deal with it.
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is really milking his 15 minutes of fame (good for him, btw).
The latest might just be The Situation showing off some moves on ABC’s hit shot, “Dancing with the Stars.” E! Online is proclaiming it’s a done deal; he’s signed on for next season.
E! is comparing The Situation’s role on the show to that of last season’s Kate Gosselin — someone who will draw ratings and really stretch the demographics of the show. E! went on to say that the only difference would be people on set will probably like him. Zing!
My girl (just read over this wife, mmkay?) Audrina Patridge of “The Hills” will be on the next season, too. Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman is rumored to be joing as well.
Everyone knows that MTV made the decision a long time ago to ditch actually showing music videos in favor of greased up guidos and about 300 shows about what it’s like to be a rich and/or pregnant teen. Hell, they even got rid of the “Music Television” tagline on their logo this year.
But wait, there is hope once again!
The New York Post is reporting that the seminal MTV show Beavis and Butt-head will be returning to the airwaves with all new episodes! The new episodes will still feature the boys as high-schoolers, but instead of flinging their cynical and moronic critiques at music videos from the 80s and 90s, their old cracked television will now feature current videos.
Some people might say that Beavis and Butt-head was the first step in MTV’s movement away from featuring music videos. That’s fair and it may be true. But couldn’t it also then be the first step in reversing that trend and leading the station closer to its origins? MTV is never going to be a 24/7 music video station again – the economics just don’t support it. But I’m sure they can get away with showing some, and if so, the return of Beavis and Butt-head is a sneakily awesome move in that direction.
And can you imagine what kind of comments those two will have while watching the “Alejandro” video?
-Sam
If you’ve never watched the TV show Scrubs (first of all, what is wrong with you?), then you wouldn’t be familiar with lowly lawyer Theodore Buckland, aka Ted, and his unassuming band of barbershop quartet a cappella buddies. In the show they are known either as The Worthless Peons or simply Ted’s Band. In real life, the four guys (Sam Lloyd, Philip McNiven, George Miserlis, and Paul Perry) actually are in an a cappella group together called The Blanks.
I’m a huge fan of Scrubs (minus the unnecessary and derivative ninth and final season) so it was with much delight when I was walking around Annapolis, MD that I saw a poster on the window of a restaurant/small concert venue announcing that The Blanks would be playing a Sunday matinee show this weekend! Count me in.
While Conan O’Brien is waiting for his NBC-mandated prohibition from television to end so that he can start his new show on TBS, he’s been touring the country on his “The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour.”
It’s a chance for him to keep him comedy timing sharp as well as to stretch out and dabble in other areas that he only hinted at during his time hosting – namely playing the guitar and singing.
He’s been playing his own tweaked versions of “I Will Survive” and “On The Road Again,” which you can see after the jump. But I wanted to highlight a great rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep” that Conan tried out during a sound check early on in the tour. It’s comes complete with his hilarious Mary Poppins Cockney accent and lyrics about being punched in the throat by British celebrities. Check it out:
The remaining tour dates can be seen here. More videos after the jump:
Last time out, I was telling you that Louis Armstrong is brutal. Well, the torch may have been passed to none other than the Golden Girl herself, Betty White.
White hosted one of the funnier Saturday Night Live episodes of the season this past weekend, displaying a natural comedic skill that stole most of the scenes she was in. One of the funniest was this fresh take on the theme song to Golden Girls:
-Sam
The success of any given SNL episode usually comes down to how funny and versatile the host is. Since the host generally appears in at least half the segments (and usually more if they’re good) it’s crucial that they be able to carry big parts in multiple skits.
So it was no surprise that this week’s episode, with Tina Fey as host, was better than most of the other recent offerings. Fey was a mainstay on the show for about five or six years in the early 00’s and she was noticeably comfortable in the role as host.
But for some episodes, there’s an added element of humor that can come into play from the musical act. Whether it’s Dave Grohl playing drums in a wedding skit or Pearl Jam appearing in a Twilight Zone parody sketch, it’s a nice twist when the musical act can get involved in more than just their two songs.
That’s why it was cool to see Justin Bieber ham it up with Tina Fey in this week’s episode. Playing a high school student with Fey as his teacher, Bieber serenaded Fey with promises to “buy her a panini and some Spanx to keep you teeny.” I know a lot of people laugh off Bieber, and he’s certainly not my kind of music, but I don’t have a problem with him. When it comes to teen pop, there’s much worse options out there. And it’s usually a good thing when an artist can poke fun at themselves.
So kudos Mr. Bieber. Check out the video after the jump (provided NBC hasn’t taken it down yet):
Susan Boyle Version 2.0
I sense a new trend coming along for singing talent shows.
First there was Britain’s Got Talent creating a huge star out of the unassuming and perpetually frazzled Susan Boyle. She was a middle-aged homely woman, so, naturally, everyone was shocked, shocked!, when it turned out that she had a really good voice. After all, everyone knows that only gorgeous people are bestowed the gift of a delightful singing voice.
Of course that’s not true, but you’d be forgiven for believing that since the only people ever actually shown singing in mainstream music are beautiful people. Seriously, try to think of one big pop star who is an uggo. Can’t do it.
But when Susan Boyle mania took over every media outlet for a time, the music industry sat up and took notice (the over 6 million albums sold in the US/UK combined didn’t hurt either). So it’s no surprise that these talent shows are all probably scurrying to find the next unattractive crooner that will garner big ratings.
Taiwan’s Lin Yu Chun may be that person.
Baseball season kicks off in Boston with a little Dr. Dre, Steven Tyler, and Neil Diamond
The 2010 baseball season hit the ground running last night as the Yankees faced off against the Red Sox in Boston. In a perfect world, neither of these two annoying big-money teams would do well, but when you can more or less buy your way into the playoffs every single year, that’s not really likely.
And yes, I’m from New England, and I realize that not liking the Sawx is tantamount to blasphemy in these parts. Oh well, go Cardinals!
Anyhow, last night’s game featured a lot to talk about in regards to music.
If you watched any of the pregame, you probably saw Dr. Dre, decked out in a personalized Sox jersey, taking batting practice and promoting his custom Red Sox Beats headphones. But the interesting news came when he was being interviewed alongside record executive Jimmy Iovine. When asked which song they would suggest a batter use as his at-bat music, they both said “Under Pressure” which is an as yet unreleased song by Dre and Jay-Z, presumably off Dre’s Detox album, which has long been talked about but still has not seen the light of day. But the way Iovine described the song made it seem like it’s completely finished. Perhaps, then, we’ll get a firm release date sometime in the near future? I hope so.
One of the most consistently funny parts of Saturday Night Live these days are the Digital Shorts that feature music by The Lonely Island (aka Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone).
They’ve given us such instant classics as “Dick in a Box,” “Jizz in my Pants,” and “I’m on a Boat.”
This past weekend, they debuted the video for the song “Boombox” (featuring Julian Casablancas) which comes off their first album, Incredibad. It’s not as good as their best stuff, but it’s still pretty damn funny.
So have a look, and remember, kids, this is a cautionary tale:
-Sam
Saturday Night Live is pretty hit or miss these days, but they seem to have some of their best successes when it comes to musical parodies; just look at Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island.
They struck gold again this past Saturday with their take on the “We Are The World” remake that was done to support Haiti.
Willie Nelson, David Crosby, and Josh Groban are my faves.
-Sam