Right on the Money ...

TV 2011 is OFFICIALLY underway now , what with the Big 4 ("5" if you count CW. but you shouldn't) having premiered most of their shiny new offerings, so I wanted to drop in a few cents on what is turning out to be my FAVORITE new find this Fall season, 2 Broke Girls.

It was easy to want to give this show, starring Kat Dennings, a chance. She's only just like the most beautiful girl EVER ... and, incidentally, reminds me so much of someone whom I love in the REAL world ... She has a great track record with comedy - Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, The 40-year old Virgin, the comic relief in Thor this past summer ... But on the flip side, 2BG also airs on CBS, which is easily the LEAST funny of all the Broadcast nets (are we even allowed to CALL them that anymore?). Sandwiched between How I Met Your Mother, which is often hit or miss, and ... *uhg* ... Two & Half Men, it'd be anyone's guess what to expect.

SUPER impressed! Kat Dennings as longtime diner waitress Max steals the show in her deadpan motif, never overplays her tough, snarky Brooklynite character, and meshes perfectly in the mismatched buddy shtick with Beth Behrs's Caroline, one-time upper east-side heiress, now forced to actually WORK for a living and put her considerable, albeit never fully utilized, intellect and education to use. Throw in Garrett Morris, known best from 90's sitcom Martin, Brooke Lyons as Peach, the neglectful socialite young mother that Max works for at her 2nd job, and Matthew Moy playing the hapless Asian owner who, in the premiere, comes up with the grand idea of changing his name to "Bryce Lee" in order to be taken more seriously, and you have the building blocks of a really awesome ensemble.

My ONLY gripe, if any, is the same for MOST programs that attempt to portray NYC through Hollywood camera lenses. It's just ... Not. The environment itself gets painted as  too much a caricature of NY in too many scenes which can be frustrating and hard to just ignore, but ... It's what you come to expect nowadays in TV shows. So ... yeah. I'm not going to hold too much against 2BG for what only a VERY small amount of shows ever get right anyway. Overall? I love it.

Check out 2 Broke Girls! Mondays @ 8:30 pm on CBS.

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Put Yourself Last. Everyone will Thank You for it.

A very simple little thing I wanted to share today and something that has been around for a while but still never ceases to amuse. The Demotivational Posters which can be found at Despair.com are just the funniest things in the world. If you've never gone through their assorted catalog of spirit sucking deflation, you are TOTALLY missing out, and I highly recommend taking a perusal. You will no doubt find a caption that speaks to you and perfectly illustrates the tragedy of YOUR everyday existence.

May I suggest?

If THIS doesn't help you push through and close out the last 2 hours on a Friday with back bending productivity, NOTHING will!

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Support the Anti-Bullying Initiative

EWLYD likes to give back to people and today I'd like to share a PSA I found to help combat the practice of Bullying in your local community ...

Although the NYC "community" can often create Bullies of a different sort ... Bullying is Bullying nonetheless, so watch, learn, and act.

You're welcome.

Hipster Bullies - watch more funny videos

TV Quote of the Week - 9/26/11

Time for another TV Quote of the Week!
Let's do this thang!!

This week, the quote is brought to you from, hands down, the BEST show (that only some of you are watching) on MTV, Awkward. The writing is poetry and if you have not yet partaken, you are COMPLETELY missing out ...

All the characters in this hilarious 30 min teen soap comedy engage in dialogue that is absolute GOLD, but none moreso than Sadie, the WORST of the Mean Girls, and one of the greatest television villains to grace non-pay cable. As the proverbial "devil on the shoulder" of her best friend, the ultra-religious Lissa, Sadie dispenses advice on how to deal with Lissa's boyfriend Jake who'd finally admitted to kissing Jenna (the star of the show). Manipulative as always, Sadie succeeds in rattling Lissa's religious conviction, offering up THIS slice of wisdom over the subject of God:

Sadie: "You should stop listening to him and listen to me. Remember, God sold out his only son to die on a stick."

You really have to catch this show. You will NOT be disappointed!!

Awkward. Tuesdays @ 11pm on MTV.

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Ricci's accommodations are First Class!

I was gonna lead off with something to the effect of "Pan Am takes Flight on ABC", but ... I'm sure there will be enough people writing shit like that today. So if you need me to spell it out DIRECTLY - last night ABC premiered MY most anticipated new show of the Fall, Pan Am, starring one Christina Ricci.

And for those that are brand new to this or haven't been paying any attention to me ... EVER, then you should know that I absolutely love and adore all things Christina Ricci. Therefore, I'm immediately biased in favor of this new show, but I will ATTEMPT to be fair and impartial. And, in my impartiality ... I must say ... "I like it".

I don't yet "love it", as it's not particularly my kind of TV program. Surrounding the lives of the flight crew of Pan Am Airlines, Pan Am is full on drama, with a splash of romance and adventure, and a period piece at the same time. That period being Cold War era 1960s, they have a lot to play with, much of it being very camp, which I do appreciate. Ricci is a delight in every way although she feels a bit "outside the time period" that everyone else lives in. That might be intentional as the stewardesses play as "unconventionals" compared to traditional women of the time, and Ricci's character Maggie is unconventional, even by THEIR standard.

Maggie didn't have all that much to do in the premiere which IS a gripe for me, but I really liked the story between rival stewardess Kate, played by Kelli Garner, and her sister Laura, played by Margot Robbie.  Kate's one-sided jealousy and insecurity towards her younger sister was played note perfect, and I especially love the story of Kate, unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, providing counter-intelligence services for the U.S. government amidst her flight attending duties.

Sadly, but none too surprisingly, the men of Pan Am are dreadfully uninteresting, so whenever it delved into THEIR lives, the show dragged a bit. Thankfully though, Pan Am didn't forget that the stewardesses were centerpiece, and focus quickly shifted back to them before viewers (me) lost interest.

Overall, I'm happy with it, and it's a very welcome new addition to my Sunday night viewing.

Catch Pan Am, Sunday nights @10pm on ABC.

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Jem takes an 80's style ass whupping!

I love ALL the 80's throwback Cartoons, and the revival of several this year on the Hub has been pure perfection. In addition to the reboots, which are also excellent, Sunday morning features a lineup of the classic G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Jem and the Holograms!

"Girl Show" or not, it's awesome 80's goodness that my DVR doesn't ever miss. Though, as cute as Jem and her friends were, I always loved the Misfits - the evil girl band of the show, and ever present thorn in Jem's side. It's funny to watch as the Misfits very nearly KILL Jem on multiple occasions with their pranks that wind up taking disastrous turns.

Here's a priceless little clip of, not so much of an elaborate prank, but just of Jem getting straight jumped by the Misfits one morning on the ski slopes. They just plain did not LIKE her and their attack was something right out of Bad Girls Club. Enjoy!

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TV Quote of the Week - 9/12/11

Another PRICELESS TV Quote of the Week!

It's a little on the early side this week ... or a bit late from LAST week, however you choose to look at it ... Regardless, it's fuckin awesome, and comes to you from the Series premiere episode of MTV's new show Death Valley.

A cross between Reno 911 and True Blood, Death Valley is a faux reality cop show that takes place in LA, amidst a world where supernatural elements such as Vampires, Werewolves, and the like, represent a consistent menace upon the citizenry. During a routine Donut Shop patrol, the Sound Guy gets bitten while filming a Zombie encounter, and finds himself forced to plead his for his life to the on duty Officers that now have to put him down.

Sound Guy: "What are you guys talking about? ... I'm your Sound Guy! ..."


Officer "John John" Johnson: "This the Valley, man ... There's LOTS of Sound Guys."

*SMASH*

Again ... Awesome.

Catch Death Valley, Mondays @ 10:30pm on MTV.

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The Curtain falls on Entourage ...

Last night was the Series Finale for HBO's semi-long running series, Entourage ... "Semi", due to the fact that the last few seasons have been barely what you could even CALL "seasons", averaging only about 8 episodes each ... A bit shy of the 10-13 that you would EXPECT from a cable series, and one of HBO's staples, at that ...

Regardless, for those that want to reminisce along with me, or those that know the series but missed the finale and want to know what happened - here's a quick recap on how everyone's lives wound up!

Turtle

Last season Turtle was doing the whole Avion Tequila thing, trying to be a businessman on his own, without relying solely on Vince. This season he sold his shares of Avion to invest in a restaurant business he wanted to open, only to then see Avion go public, drastically increasing the value of the stock shares he'd just sold. "Bummer", right? Well, good old Vince, having a feeling that Avion would take off, never sold HIS shares of Avion, and also secretly bought Turtle's to hold onto. He returns them to Turtle, and now Turtle is a happy Millionaire, with money of his own to finally invest in his dream restaurant.

Drama

Johnny Drama's career finally has some glimmer of hope. After successfully holding out with Actor-in-arms Andrew "Dice" Clay (the best story of this final season) to get more money from the Johnny Bananas show, and securing the starring role in the Vince-directed made-for-tv movie on CBS, the acting future looks bright for Entourage's lovable loser. Like Turtle, he didn't "find true love" or anything, but they both finished at the top of their game, and excitedly looking forward to all the rewards destined to come with.

Ari

Ari's attempt to balance his work and married life had been a constant struggle throughout the run of the show, with his marriage usually taking a backseat. It had finally come to a head last season when he and his wife separated, and THIS season, both of them dabbled with seeing other people. They were on the verge of divorce, before Ari ultimately had an epiphany and chose to retire from his career as Hollywood's biggest agent, and devote the rest of his time to his wife and marriage that he'd been neglecting all these years. The final scene of the show is of Ari, only having been on his permanent vacation for a week, getting made an offer to take over a Film/Television/Media Empire ... His "dream come true" or his "renewed commitment to his wife"? ... This was the final cliffhanger as we don't know which he was going to choose ...

Eric

E's ending was pretty up in the air (no pun intended). His on again/off again relationship with Sloan has been nothing short of tiring all these seasons, but she's still the love of his life. The 2nd to last episode has Sloan reveal that she's pregnant with Eric's baby and is moving to New York. E, even though Sloan won't take him back, wants to leave his Management company and his friends to go back to New York as to remain a part of their lives. His crew rallies behind him, as E & S's baby is "automatically" their baby as well, whom they'd do anything to support, and Vince is able to convince Sloan to give Eric one more chance. They literally fly off in a jet together "towards and unknown future" ... blah!

Vince

E is the "star" of the show, but the series finale offered the reminder that Vince is ultimately the core of the group, around which the "entourage" always revolved. This season he "beat" his drug addiction and survived rehab, rebuilt his acting career by landing the lead role in the next blockbuster epic, and even took a new turn, writing and soon directing a new film for his bother Drama. Then finally, after pretty much solving everyone else's problems, Vince falls in love with a British journalist, and following the "most incredible" 24 hour date of their lives, the 2 (in true Hollywood fashion) decide to fly off to Paris and get married.

There's been rumor of there potentially being an Entourage Movie, and the series finale DID leave enough lingering questions to be answered ... Eric's future with Sloan, the baby, and his company ... Vince's hasty wedding ... Ari's big choice ... Plus, Sex & the City, another iconic HBO show, did well with IT's theatrical release, ... although Entourage probably doesn't command the same degree of following ...

Nevertheless, I guess only time will tell. But till then? - Thank you Entourage and HBO for 8 fun-filled seasons.


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The most fitting program Title ever ...

2 weeks ago MTV premiered it's "new" web clip show called  Ridiculousness  (surprised that that's actually a word? Me too!) starring Rob Dyrdek, and I decided to give it a look. Question - Would MTV be able to offer anything fresh or new to this already semi-saturated program genre? Answer - Not a chance.

America's Funniest Home Videos was the pioneer of everyday idiots recording "nut-shots" and "hurting themselves unnecessarily", and with all that now available online, it takes a host with truly irreverent humor or at least spark of something extra, to sell a tv show of this nature. I like Rob Dyrdek, but compared to FAR superior vehicles like Comedy Central's Tosh.0, hosted by Daniel Tosh and G4's Web Soup, with Chris Hardwick, Dyrdek comes off as stale and kinda corny. Plus he's got 2 sidekicks for comedic support, which i'm just going to refer to as "Black Guy" and "White Girl" who ultimately add nothing. They're just miserable, particularly White Girl's painfully forced laugh at EVERYTHING, regardless of how poorly timed or unfunny. 

And the WORST part is, the show, which is of the SIMPLEST format, is just so overproduced that by the time the episodes air, the web clips are no longer topical, so ... What's the point? ... *sigh* It's a mess ...

Ridiculousness airs on MTV Mondays @ 10pm ... But it doesn't matter. Skip it, and save DVR space for new eps of Tosh when it returns.

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TV Quote of the Week!!

It's my goal in "Blogger Life" to continually bring you new things that, however big or small, you can take with you, pass along, and enjoy. So today I'm introducing to you, fresh out the box, EWLYD's TV Quote of the Week! - A chewy morsel found along my weekly viewing travels that is just too fun to keep to myself!

This week's TQW comes from Tia & Tamera

Upon noticing her sister Tamera, who is just the cutest thing EVER, enjoying her meal in a slightly dramatic fashion, a slightly exhausted Tia offers up this piece of wisdom:

"Did you notice that Black People always dance when they eat?"

I love it!
... And it's funny cuz it's true.

Catch Tia & Tamera, Mondays @ 9pm on Style Network

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