Comedy Archives - Page 99 of 131

Ghosts of Christmas TV Past #1

December 1, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

By Jeff Pfeiffer Happy Holidays! ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and also to look back at some Christmas memories. What better way to be jolly than to enjoy some Yuletide TV programs from the past? Throughout the month I’ll be looking back at some famous, and perhaps some not-so-famous, Christmas shows from television days gone by. Hopefully you’ll find them as merry in their various ways as I do. First off is a program I was reminded of when I saw it on BBC America the other night — Blackadder’s Christmas Carol from 1988. The hilarious Blackadder sitcom aired […]

FX unveils midseason schedule

December 1, 2009 StayTuned Staff

LOS ANGELES, December 1, 2009 — FX’s midseason schedule features a lineup of new and returning original series, kicking off 2010 with the final season of the Emmy® and Golden Globe® award winning drama Nip/Tuck on Wednesday, Jan. 6; the new animated comedy Archer debuting on Thursday, Jan. 14; and the third season of the Emmy and Golden Globe award winning drama Damages on Monday, Jan. 25. FX’s new drama Justified (formerly Lawman) starring Timothy Olyphant debuts in March, and the new comedy Louie, starring Louis C.K., will launch in the spring. Nip/Tuck, The Final Season, premieres on Wednesday, Jan. […]

The music of Glee: Ballad

November 19, 2009 StayTuned Staff

Last night’s episode of Glee, titled “Ballad,” was packed with songs — or, in some cases, snippets of songs — so let’s jump right in a discuss them. The first performance was a duet by Rachel (Lea Michele) and Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) on “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie. Though the singing was beyond competent, this scene was all about comedic effect and the awkwardness of Rachel’s developing crush on her teacher. To that degree, it totally worked. The internal monologues of each character were hilarious, making this the best use of “Endless Love” in a comedy […]

Simpsons Character Contest winner announced

November 19, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

Peggy Black of Orange, CT, has hit it big in yellow and been selected by producers of The Simpsons as the winner of their Character Contest, which called for submissions of new secondary character ideas for the long-running animated comedy. Black created the character Ricardo Bomba (nicknamed “La Bomba”), a smooth-talking ladies’ man from South America with a luxurious black mane, chiseled physique and silky smooth voice. By day, Ricardo works as safety inspector at the nuclear power plant, and by night works Springfield’s singles scene. Bomba will make his debut in the “Million Dollar Maybe” episode of The Simpsons, […]

Former “Battlestar” beauties guest on CBS sitcoms

November 16, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

Two fan-favorite actresses from Syfy’s departed hit series Battlestar Galactica will be making guest appearances on two popular CBS comedies. In the Nov. 16 “Gorp. Fnark. Schmegle.” episode of Two and a Half Men, Tricia Helfer (on the right in this photo; she played sexy Cylon “Number Six” on Battlestar) stops by. Helfer plays Gail, Chelsea’s (Jennifer Taylor) college roommate, who is invited by Chelsea to stay at the house while getting over a bad breakup. Naturally, Charlie (Charlie Sheen) is intrigued, and likely a bit frustrated, by this development.

Classic TV Has Its Place: Loving and hating “MAS*H”

November 13, 2009 StayTuned Staff

by kpaloucek I grew up in a M*A*S*H-obsessed household. As a family, we watched syndicated episodes most nights after the local news (and before The Odd Couple, which served as something of a chaser), and throughout much of the ’80s, we started to tape and watch them as an alternative to the programming that was on in what we felt was a rather schlocky era in television. In hindsight, I don’t think we were far wrong about that evaluation — while the ’80s certainly had their share of memorable series, the lingering memory I have of television in that era […]

The music of “Glee”: Wheels

November 12, 2009 StayTuned Staff

We haven’t seen a new episode of Glee for a while, so we’ve really been looking forward to “Wheels.” In the time the show has been on hiatus, a soundtrack album was released (for the full tracklist, scroll down to the bottom of this post) and the series surpassed the two million download mark. Artie (Kevin McHale) gives “Dancing With Myself” by Billy Idol the John Mayer treatment, crooning over a lazily strummed acoustic guitar. We’ve noticed from earlier performances that he’s got a surprisingly soulful voice, and the song is an interesting choice, considering that the original is a […]

Starz to bring back “Party Down” for Season 2

November 5, 2009 StayTuned Staff

Burbank, CA. – November 4, 2009 – Starz’s hilarious original comedy series Party Down ramps up the second season humor with the return of Jane Lynch and Kristen Bell as guest stars. The critically acclaimed half-hour comedy — about a team of Los Angeles cater-waiters stuck working for tips while hoping for their big break in Hollywood — is currently in production on 10 new episodes, scheduled to return to the air on Starz in April 2010. Jane Lynch, who currently stars in Glee on FOX, reprises her Party Down role as Constance Carmel, an actress who spent years in […]

Nickelodeon’s “Big Time Rush” poised to be a music cash cow

November 4, 2009 StayTuned Staff

Having launched so many showbiz careers (of admittedly variable quality), American Idol and its producers are enjoying success not beyond their wildest imaginations, but exactly as they imagined it. In addition to the usual advertising revenue generated by the show, money is sluicing in via the ongoing synergy with AT&T, album and download sales, licensing and so forth, not to mention the ongoing careers of its participants. In the wake of that kind of success, it was certain that other shows would come along and do their emulation act. Shows like Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, Nickelodeon’s Instant Star and, most […]

The music of “Glee”: Mash-Up

October 22, 2009 StayTuned Staff

There was no big group production at the end of this week’s episode, which was a bit of a letdown. That doesn’t mean, however, that “Mash-Up” was light on the music. We got five performances in all, and here’s what we thought of each: First up is Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) doing “Bust a Move” by Young MC. So far, during Glee’s short run, we’ve already heard Schue offer his take on songs by Color Me Badd, Bell Biv DeVoe and, in this episode, Sisqó. Since we’re not the biggest fans of the genre or era that spawned those tracks, […]