Happy Memorial Day Weekend Friday Morning to those of you in the States! Those of you who ain’t, you’ve got nothing to look forward to – except this OPEN THREAD!
First off, the worst season of American Idol yet came to a close this week. Ratings for the final showdown between Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox, as well as the final Idol appearance of Simon Cowell, were down 16% over last year’s finale. Perhaps America has tired of making people famous simply for being famous? One can only hope. Question: if this ratings slide continues, what desperate stunts will American Idol pull next season in order to grab viewers?
DeWyze, Bowersox and Seacrest. They all sound like boxed wines.
Second, Gary Coleman is in critical condition after suffering a blow to the head in a fall. He was admitted to a Utah hospital on Thursday morning. Coleman was admitted to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center because he lives in Utah, not out of some artificial attempt to prolong his suffering. (We kid; Utah Valley’s a great hospital)
Third, photos of 50 Cent looking dangerously skinny surfaced on the Internet. 50, a/k/a Curtis Jackson, went on a liquid diet to lose weight for a movie. He plays the lead role in “Things Fall Apart,” a movie he wrote himself, about a football player with cancer. Chinua Achebe has already recorded a dis track, with Rick Ross producing. Question: create a vanity project for a struggling musician, model or actor and name it after a critically-acclaimed novel.
I love you like 50 doesn't love cake.
Would you go on a crash diet to produce a benefit concert of Idol winners for Gary Coleman’s recovery? Want to talk more about one of the many, many TV shows that came to an end this week, like 24, Law & Order or Lost? Or is there something we missed? Sound off in the comments, for this is your … Open Thread.
Q1: They’ll fudge the voting so the elephant most inspired by Dashboard Confessional and Good Charlotte makes it next time, just you watch. His name is Babar.
Q2: Eddie Murphy *actually* gains two-hundred pounds for the role of a disenfranchised man who dreams of being a sumo wrestler in _The Idiot_.
_Flash Forward_ definitely ended like a *season* finale, not a series one. It’s going to bug me to no end for ages every time I get reminded of it.
Run a Google Video search for “bill nye bp oil” and you’ll come up with a number of videos where he’s talking like a pundit, giving expert advice on the oil spill. What’s intriguing is how in the space under his name, the spot where the speaker’s “cred” is established (be it something like, “Arizona (R)” or “Author, _The Social Contract_” or “Harvard School of Law”), it says “The Science Guy,” or ” ‘The Science Guy’.” First, I had no idea Bill Nye was making circuits around as an “expert” until I spotted him on CNN this week. But further, I didn’t realize that’s the best he can do for credibility- the networks don’t even label him as a former host, they label him as the personna he took on in the show- nor do they use any of the pro-science organizations he’s a part of to establish his knowledge, either, they just go straight for the dude that hosted the show back then. And there is a strange separation when it’s in quotes on the bottom, as though it being a character is more acknowledged (like when an actor’s character name is below their own name when interviewing for a movie promo). His highest degree isn’t as high as I thought it was until looking into it more- a bachelor’s from Cornell in mechanical engineering. Not to say that’s an easy feat, but I had assumed he held a Ph.D., or at least a master’s. And yet, had he not been the host of the show, he probably *wouldn’t* have the credibility to go on television and give insight about the spill and do for adults with regards to it what he did for kids with regards to tons of science-related topics: put it into terms they could understand, even if they weren’t fans of or good at science. I guess it just warms my heart a little to see he’s still doing it (making science accessible), even if it’s somewhat laughable how he’s labeled.
To balance out all of the negativity I’ve been spewing on this website this week, here’s a recommendation: everyone go rent In the Loop. I loved this movie. Funny, dark, sharply written and observed… Plus, between this and Torchwood: Children of Earth, I’ve decided that Peter Capaldi should be in every movie ever made from now on. Come on, America! We’ve already stolen most of the other great British actors away from the U.K. Get on this!
I would not drink Bowersox wine.
“Cry, the Beloved Country”, by Toby Keith?
Ooh, Rob takes a commanding lead!
Stephen Perry was found dead and is believed to have been murdered. Stephen Perry is most well known as his status as a writer for the ’80s cartoon series ThunderCats and Silverhawks. I don’t remember the latter but I definitely remember watching the former on Toonami and I was wondering if he’d have had any input on the forth coming ThunderCats film.
And I see that Gary Coleman has passed away from his injuries. He’ll be missed as well.
On a less morbid note, that pic of 50 Cent reminds me of Dave Chappel’s crackhead charatcter. I think his name was Tyrone.
I am making the obligatory ‘What you talkin’ ’bout Willis?’ joke.
It does not need to happen again.
Hopefully, he found out what Willis was talkin’ ’bout: http://huff.to/aiGHFr
@RiderIron: I don’t normally think of the writers of shows when I think of shows, but I grew up watching _ThunderCats_ (and Toonami, for that matter), so that makes me rather sad. After looking into the man’s life a little more, his comes across as a very sad story that ended too soon- he was on the way back up, after all.
With regards to a movie, are you talking about the 30-minute short set for 2012?
And I actually thought it *was* Dave Chappel in the picture, for what it’s worth.
Oh, and Dennis Hopper died from the prostate cancer he was diagnosed with in the fall.
Julia Roberts plays a cancer patient in “Heart of Darkness”
And by ‘cancer patient’ I mean, ‘sufferer of a congenital heart condition’
@Gab Warner Bros. was giving Thundercats a full theatrical treatment like Speed Racer but it kinda hit limbo once Speed Racer failed to meet expectations.
I wiki’d Hopper for his filmography and…I’m ashamed to say this but I’ve only seen him in the Super Mario Bros. movie.
You haven’t even seen _Speed_!??!?!