This “Get Fuzzy” strip from November 2005 has taken on a whole new meaning:

NBC has teamed up with AOL to put the pilot episode of Aaron Sorkin’s new show, “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” up, commercial free, on the Internet a week before it first airs on the peacock.

The pilot was solid… combining the movie-style production and idealism of The West Wing with the quick wit of Sports Night.
It’s pretty bold of NBC to pick up the show, both because it draws it’s schtick from Saturday Night Live and a new show written by and starring Tina Fey will air on the same network.

And the show ends with “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie.  Could it get much better?

NBC has revamped their “The More You Know” line of Public Service Announcements. This one really spoke to me.

Zelda, one of the most successful video game franchises ever, will finally become a feature-length film this fall. They don’t have a King-Kong-sized budget, but an independent group of film makers called BMB Finishes is putting the final touches on The Legend of Zelda: The Hero of Time. The trailer (up on YouTube), shows that the film is features a large cast, detailed sets, and even CGI.

The theme music devolves into the now-cliché theme from Requiem for a Dream, but hey, Peter Jackson did it.

It’s no Lord of the Rings, but you’ve got to admire the effort these guys put into creating this extremely geeky piece of cinema.

Coming soon to a basement near you.

This year’s Winter Olympics were a disappointment. Although the excitement of curling and storied history of snowboardcross always bring tears to my eyes, my heart just wasn’t in it. Torino (Turin?), Italy turned out to be a great location, providing majestic landscapes, old-world charm, and even some snow… but the entire event just doesn’t capture the world’s attention as it once did.

Maybe the dramatic increase in entertainment choices or a media shift toward “micro-casting” to small audiences had an effect on viewership, but one thing is certain: the Olympics need a shot in the arm to draw a crowd and unite the world in peaceful solidarity.

The only real solution: a major change of venue.

The Hoth 2014 Olympic Movement is petitioning the International Olympic Committe to hold the games on the ice planet Hoth, location of the hidden Rebel base in The Empire Strikes Back.

According to the movement’s web site, events could include the 2-man snowspeeder race and the Bi-Hoth-alon. Show your support and sign the petition.

Unfortunately, Hoth won’t actually be eligible for the 2014 Games… the deadline was in July. There’s also apparently a lack of suitable accomodations in the area.

Aaron Sorkin’s handiwork will be back on NBC this fall with a new series that goes behind the scenes of a fictional SNL-type show set in LA.   I’ve seen every episode of Aaron Sorkin’s previous tv efforts, Sports Night and West Wing and I’m hoping this effort lives up to the bar Sorkin has set for himself.

He really hasn’t penned that many scripts (just a couple movies, two seasons of Sports Night, and the first  four seasons of The West Wing), but everything he touches turns into gold.

The cast for the new series, titled “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip“, includes Matthew Perry, D.L. Hughley, and Madison native, Bradley Whitford (Josh in The West Wing).

Whitford should be good (I’m not sure about his performance in The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, I haven’t seen it), but I’m dissapointed that Josh Malina, who has appeared in every project Sorkin has ever written or produced, isn’t included.

Source: AICN

First, the East Coast dudes from The Lonely Island collaborated with Chris Parnell to create Lazy Sunday. Then, the West Coast responded with Lazy Monday.

It may take the Midwest a while to catch onto the latest trends, but when they do, expect it to come full force. Muncie, Indiana natives and Elks Club Mack Daddies Kirby Heyborne and Chris Cox have produced the Midwest’s rap battle response: Lazy Muncie.
And these boys have Jim Davis. Yeah, that Jim Davis.
Midwest Represent!

Step 1: If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud.

The folks at Oxygen.ie claim to have images from a government Web site that has illustrated instructions of what actions to take in the event of a terrorist attack… and they’ve added their own captions.

Some of the best:

If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud.

After exposure to radiation it is important to consider that you may have mutated to gigantic dimensions: watch your head.

If you hear the Backstreet Boys, Michael Bolton or Yanni on the radio, cower in the corner or run like hell.

Always remember to carry food with you during a terrorist attack. At least you’ll be able to enjoy a nice coke and apple before you die.

Note: I highly doubt these images are authentic… they just seem too ridiculous and pointless. But most funny things are.

Self-proclaimed “Sports Guy” and ESPN.com Scribe Bill Simmons live-blogged Super Bowl XL, with extremely witty and insightful (ok, maybe not that insightful) thoughts.

Highlights:

6:50 — Another three-and-out for the Steelers … followed by the game being halted for 75 seconds when Al Michaels realized he accidentally put on an NBC blazer.

6:54 — All right, who was more available this week: Dr. John for the national anthem or Jay Mohr for Diet Pepsi? Is he supposed to be playing Jay Mohr in the commercial? Is he playing Bob Sugar from “Jerry Maguire”? Is he playing another character? Will this be explained later in the game? I’m confused.

8:58 — Random question: Have you ever seen John Madden’s arms dangling by his sides? Has it ever happened? Would he tip over? Watch for this. Meanwhile, three-and-out for the Steelers. There hasn’t been a momentum swing this damaging since Britney Spears met Kevin Federline.

9:11 — I think Madden is trying to combine tonight’s announcing with his recording session for “Madden 2007.” Here’s what he said as Seattle took the field with two minutes left in the third: “This is where adrenaline comes, everything you have, your whole season comes down to this, everyone knows the winners, but forgets the losers.”

(And … cut! Great take, John! Now, do the spiel about how you shouldn’t go for it on fourth down in your own territory, that’s why you have a defense and special teams.)

9:27 — The old gadget play: A reverse to Randle El, who throws a 43-yard pass to Ward for a TD. 21-10, Steelers. Nobody uses those gadget plays better than Pittsburgh. And yes, it’s pretty sad that Randle El was the best QB on the field tonight.

I think my new favorite art form is the movie trailer mashup. I dare you to watch this and not smile.

Brokeback to the Future:

I really think that if you put a wig and some lipstick on Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), he could reprise Kathryn Joosten’s role of Mrs. Landingham on The West Wing. Uncanny.

As part of my internship at the ABC News Political Unit, I work on “The Note”, a daily summary of political news and analysis that has a readership in the “tens of thousands”.

From Friday’s “The Note”:

The Note goes Hollywood:
You won’t want to miss this Sunday’s episode of The West Wing (8 pm ET on NBC), penned by Al Gore’s former chief scribe Eli Attie. In the episode, entitled “Duck and Cover” and dealing with the familiar primetime TV topic of nuclear energy policy, Ron Silver’s Bruno Gianelli character (who is oddly Dick Morrisian) name-checks The Note, and then proclaims himself to be a liberal Democrat in real life! (Okay, maybe not. But he does name-check the Note, per our sources.)

It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa’s already making his trek around the world. Now you can stalk Kris Kringle with NORAD’s Santa Tracker.

Merry Christmas!

The best thing SNL has created lately: The Chronic-WHAT-cles of Narnia

The guys from The Lonely Island, three guys who have been making doing sketch comedy and using Creative Commons licensing, joined the SNL crew this season and have been making some clever contributions, including this message from the United Lettuce Growers Association.

We’ve finally found the man behind the war on Christmas. It’s the one and only Jon Stewart. …at least it is if a six-second joke made over twelve months ago constitutes a war (it apparently does in the no-spin zone).

Just watch the video

Currently playing on i-tunes: Angels We Have Heard on High - Mannheim Steamroller

I was busy eating from Thursday through Sunday so I didn’t get a chance to post anything this weekend. I figured I’d ease into the week with an example of why Get Fuzzy is my favorite comic:

The future looks dim for “Arrested Development”, one of the most clever, witty shows on television, since Fox has cut this season’s order from 22 to 13 episodes. I have no idea why, but the network has decided that re-runs of “Prison Break” will do better in the “Arrested” time slot during Fall sweeps. “Arrested” will return in December, but it looks like its run might end in January. I don’t know what I’ll do if the day comes when I can no longer hear Ron Howard’s whimsical narrations.

On a side note, how can a show called “Prison Break” last longer than one episode?

From Variety.com:

“Arrested Development” may have finally played its last get out of jail free card.

Fox has cut back its episode order on one of TV’s most critically praised shows to just 13 segs, down from 22. Skein, from 20th Century Fox TV and creator Mitch Hurwitz, has also been pulled from the schedule for the rest of the month, another sign that the network may have finally given up on trying to bring an audience to the show.

As for “Arrested,” skein returned from a month’s hiatus this week, while “Kitchen”"Kitchen” was slated to return Monday. Despite tough competition from a high-rated “Monday Night Football” matchup, “Arrested” performed about as well as it had been in the timeslot before baseball. Ratings for “Prison Break,” however, took a notable dip, which is what likely prompted worried Fox execs to reverse their previous plan to keep “Arrested” on the air through year’s end.

Instead of the two laffers, Fox will air repeats of drama “Prison Break” in the 8-9 p.m. Monday slot for the rest of the sweep.

“Arrested” and “Kitchen” will return to the skedsked Dec. 5. Come January, net is expected to stick with its original plan of moving “House” into the Monday-at-8 slot.

Fox wasn’t commenting Thursday, and for now, nobody’s using the word “cancellation.” But in the case of “Arrested,” the handwriting appears to be on the wall.

hat tip: Ain’t it Cool News

Update: Lost Remote’s Steve Safran has a plan for online distribution of Arrested Development.

I said this after I saw the first episode; The Colbert Report is going to be great… for about a week. Stephen Colbert is a talented comic who has a strong grasp onhow to turn current events into sharp-witted material, but his bit as a cocky, Bill O’Reilly type of pundit works best in small doses.

It seems as though the folks at USA Today and The Baltimore Sun agree.

An entire half-hour of Colbert mocking his loud-mouthed, no-spin zone counterparts five times a week is tough to keep fresh, especially when the premise of the comedy remains unchanged from night to night. This isn’t to say that the show is a total flop. Colbert is fine for 15 minutes when he’s on his own, but the comedy is strained when Colbert fires non-sequitors at guests who don’t have the comedic intuition to fire back a witty response. And even if they did, the mock-interviews wouldn’t have the value of those on The Daily Show.

Even the interviews on The Daily Show could use some improvement. Jon Steward has come a long way in his interviewing tactics since his missed opportunity with John Kerry, but reactions from the live studio audience continue to undermine any serious discussion that may materialize. When Stewart interviewed Bill O’Reilly recently, the tone of the exchange took a severe dive after Stewart’s hardcore liberal audience began jeering at almost everything O’Reilly said. The rest of the show depends on audience reaction for the jokes to work, the interview portion would be improved if the audience was instructed to refrain from negative feedback during interviews.

Lost Remote: USA Today pans ‘Colbert Report’

USA Today: ‘Colbert’ tries a bit too hard

The Baltimore Sun: Funny turns tedious on ‘Colbert Report’

According to A.J. Jacobs, editor for Esquire, pretty much anything we want. In his article, My Outsourced Life, Jacobs describes the month he hired several “remote executive assistants” from Asia to take care of most of his everyday tasks like writing e-mails, buying presents, and even calling his parents.

I first read the article in the September issue of Esquire and I’ve been waiting to find it online. I don’t know how much Jacobs’s parents enjoyed talking to an Asian representative instead of their son, but it seems like it went pretty well.

Every weekend, I place a dutiful call to my parents. It’s a nice thing to do, I figure — but it’s also a huge time vacuum. This weekend it’s Mom and Dad’s anniversary, so I can expect it to eat up even more of my day than usual. Mr. Naveen to the rescue. I email Mr. Naveen — the YMII employee who will be on duty at the time — a few concerned-sounding questions and a couple of filial sound bites. Next day, I get this email:

I made an out bound call to Jacob’s parents. They very happily received my call. I first introduced myself to them. Then I wished them Happy Anniversary they both told me thank you. . . . I asked them how is the weather in their place. They told me that it is pretty nice temperature here and the garden looks beautiful.

I won’t reproduce the whole transcript, but apparently my mom’s sprained foot has gotten better (though the rain does not help), and my dad’s law practice is going along very well. As for me, I had a good week, apparently. This was highly successful outsourcing, saving me at least half an hour of sweaty-eared phone time.

From LostRemote:

In a first for NBC’s The West Wing, the series will broadcast a live debate between presidential candidates Congressman Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) and Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) on Sunday, Nov. 6. Also, NBC.com will soon launch campaign sites for the candidates.

Sure, it’s a little gimmicky, but then again, I’ll be watching. I like the idea of the campaign Web sites. Now if they’d only bring Aaron Sorkin back to write the last couple of episodes.

Also, NBC just revamped their Web site with a modern, red and white tech design. The design is the same that they’re using in their on-screen graphics in prime-time.