Movies and TV
Unless you still think Will Ferrell’s still got it, it s a light week for movies (though there is a quirky™ offering this week), and we’re in the lull between TV seasons. (Weeds, Burn Notice, True Blood, and Nurse Jackie—which looks fun to me, and includes Merritt Wever, who I think is great—will fix that soon enough). There was some sad news this week, and assorted reality TV drama, but mostly, all’s quiet on the west coast front.
The biggest news seemed to be Conan O’Brien ascending the throne of the Tonight Show. Did you see him? How do you think he did?
Our Far-Flung Correspondents
On a more self-involved note, we’ve been really happy to hear from readers and podcast listeners elsewhere in the world… we seem to have especially strong representation in Australia. Who’s outside the lower 48? Drop a comment below.
Overthinking: The Home Game
In other news: it’s summer. Overthinkers often take time off from our cushy academic gigs, freelance jobs, and obsessive compulsive twittering to catch up on TV shows they may have missed (Chuck, in my case), read *gasp* a book, or get married (two of our single bretheren have fallen this summer alone). We’re all taking some time off in the near future.
So we’re looking for guest writers. Whether you aspire to sit among the pantheon of Overthinkers or you just want to send in a post every now and again, if you subject the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn’t deserve and can write about it in lucid, concise, entertaining prose, we’d love to hear from you. Email the editor with an idea for an article.
Something Strange in the Neighborhood
Finally, this coming Monday marks the 20th anniversary of one of our favorite films (and rebootable 80s franchises) ever. We’re celebrating with a theme week. Who you gonna call?
I enjoyed this impressive bit of overthinking about GM’s new “hey, sorry we’re bankrupt” ad, which seems like the advertising equivalent of buying your significant other a dozen roses after cheating on him or her:
http://www.thebigmoney.com/slideshow/gm-trying-brainwash-you
I’m from Washington DC, which might as well be a foreign country, considering we don’t have any Congresspeople or Senators. Seriously, it’s BS. (/venting)
Anyone catch Burn Notice? Pretty awesome…they set it up quite nicely for the season, I think the one of the last scenes at his mother’s house sumed it up quite nicely; Fi, Micheal and Sam needed to stick together if they wanted to keep Michael alive and all of his “old friends” at bay. Although I thought they could have had waaaaaay more Bruce C in it.
Watching Conan again made me realize how much I had missed him after ‘late night’ went off the air. His first few episodes seemed to try and cram a lot of things into the hour but I think that was because he was getting his footing with being back on the air again and stepping into pretty big shoes. However by Wed he seemed to have settled back into his old format of comedy. It was also great to see more banter between him and Andy Richter.
@Megan, agreed that the later-week Conan episodes have toned down a lot of the frantic energy of the first two shows. I think Conan needed to debut strong and work out the kinks of his new digs. The Foley artist remote was more in his classic style than the (admittedly hilarious) Universal tour.
I’m curious if there’s been a backlash against Will Ferrell and I’m the last to know, because the Onion AV Club blogger went out of his way to diss Land of the Lost when Will appeared on Conan as the first-ever guest of the new Tonight Show. I thought it was a bit much, honestly. I wasn’t a big Ferrell guy when he first got on SNL, but his schtick has started to work on me more than I expected over the years. Maybe I’m like Stan in my all-time favorite South Park episode “Chinpokemon,” always one step behind the times and changing tastes (“Trevor, you’re so lame. Will Ferrell was cool last week. Now Dane Cook is the funniest thing ever. Idiot…”)
I hate to admit it, but I fell for the MTV Bruno/Eminem crash when I saw it live on TV. Somewhere in Hollywood, Ashton Kutcher is kicking himself for not thinking that up beforehand.
Probably a ridiculous question, but did anyone else notice that the setup for the pilot of Royal Pains on USA was almost exactly the same setup for the manga/anime Monster? Obviously the tones were slightly different, however…
Well, David Carradine died, and some of the rumors are pretty crazy. Kinky sex? Oh jeez…
You know, I’m a little afraid of the backlash, but I just have to get this off my chest: I can’t stand Conan O’Brian. Never have, probably never will. I haven’t bothered to see how he did this week because he annoys the crap out of me. I’m not really sure why, and I actually do feel a little bad about it. But he gets to me like a dull cheese grater gets to fine cheddar.
Oh, and I have seen two versions of that GM ad on TV. I had to laugh a little. I mean, really, what else CAN they do if they’re going to try to get any kind of credibility back whatsoever?
@Gab: let the shunning begin.
Just kidding, you are entitled to your feelings re: Conan, he’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. You don’t have to like something that’s insanely popular (I never got into The Sopranos, but that’s a whole other story).
@Trevor: I’m not a big Will Ferrell fan either, although whenever I see him I keep thinking about the last time he was on ‘Late Night’ promoting ‘Semi-Pro’ and the whole kerfuffle with the karate instructor from SC
@Royal Pains: wasn’t that impressed with it, although I loved the banter between the brothers (and the ‘love you/like you’ bit I can really relate too). I think that it might turn out to be another ‘Trust Me’…
hi,
i was wondering where can i watch or download full metal alchemist the 2nd episode 11 been searching for it…
no of the links are working….
The problem is that you’re not offering equivalent exchange. You need to sacrifice an arm or something to get it to work ;-)
Hey now, Fenzel, it’s not like smealtwarm is trying to bring their mother back to life or something.