Archive for the ‘TV’ Category
Critical Transmissions
Author: Penthouse Magazine
With ratings flatlining and scripted TV in critical condition, the networks are pulling out all the stops to revive their fall schedules. Will these new shows be the cure for the network blues, or just a Band-Aid fix to the scourge of hemorrhaging viewers? Our guide takes you through the shows that have a shot at survival and those that could soon be on life support.
The Backstory: In post–Civil War America, a pissed-off Confederate soldier laying rails on the first Transcontinental Railroad hunts down the men who killed his wife.
The Elevator Pitch:Desperado in the days of Glory.
The Good: Tired of shows about the 1960s? Try the 1860s.
The Bad: The Killing proved that AMC can misfire on shows surrounding
mysterious deaths.
The Verdict: We’re saddled up and ready to ride.
Person of Interest(CBS)
The Backstory: A presumed-dead G-man teams up with a mysterious, prognosticating billionaire for some vigilante crime-fighting.
The Elevator Pitch: Burn Notice goes Dark Knight.
The Good: Jim Caviezel (Frequency) and Michael Emerson (Lost bad boy Ben) bring star power to this crime show with a supernatural spin.
The Bad: When these high-concept mysteries fizzle out after half a season, we’re left scratching our heads in frustration.
The Verdict: Our Magic 8 Ball predicts that the outlook is not so good.
The Backstory: Grimm’s fairy tales come to life when a homicide detective discovers he comes from a family of elite monster-hunters who can sniff out evil.
The Elevator Pitch: Agent Mulder rescues Hansel and Gretel.
The Good: Finally, a spooky story that isn’t aimed at teenage girls. (Yes, Supernatural and True Blood, we’re looking at you.)
The Bad: Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood don’t exactly have us shaking in our boots.
The Verdict: We’re curious to see how they handle Rumpelstiltskin’s attempts to steal babies.
Terra Nova (Fox)
The Backstory: Futuristic pioneers abandon a dying Earth and time travel to the dinosaur age to give humanity a second shot.
The Elevator Pitch: Land of the Lost meets Lord of the Flies.
The Good: Producer Steven Spielberg promises plenty of action-packed prehistoric adventure.
The Bad: The TV-size budget might mean more family angst than action.
The Verdict: Wait, does this mean that we killed the dinosaurs?
The Backstory: A tough-as-nails female cop struggles to gain respect and catch the bad guys in the maledominated world of NYPD homicide.
The Elevator Pitch: The Closer meets NYPD Blue.
The Good: Charismatic star Maria Bello (ER) and engaging costars Aidan Quinn (Unknown) and Kirk Acevedo (Fringe) head up a strong ensemble cast.
The Bad: The outdated “boy’s club” posturing will draw more eye rolls
than sympathy.
The Verdict: If it sticks to badass crime-fighting and avoids boring workplace politics, it stands a chance.
Last Man Standing (ABC)
The Backstory: Tim Allen (Home Improvement) is a man’s man forced to play Mr. Mom to his teen daughters.
The Elevator Pitch: 8 Simple Rules for the Tool Time guy.
The Good: Allen has a way of cobbling sitcoms into ratings gold.
The Bad: Parenting high jinks might be as dull as a bag of hammers.
The Verdict: Sounds like a fixer-upper.
The Backstory: Talent agent Hank Azaria (The Simpsons) creates a PR nightmare he can’t fix after a drunken one-night stand with a coworker.
The Elevator Pitch: Better Off Ted meets About Last Night …
The Good: Azaria’s comedic chops could make it a sleeper hit.
The Bad: The tired premise is like an attempt to reinvent the flat tire.
The Verdict: We’re doubtful it will live up to the hype.
The Backstory: A prissy etiquette columnist enlists macho personal trainer Kevin Dillon (Entourage) to help him find the caveman within.
The Elevator Pitch: The Odd Couple on steroids.
The Good: Dillon’s character could be the twin of his Johnny “Drama.”
The Bad: The knucklehead/snob shtick may get old fast.
The Verdict: We’ll sign up for a few sessions.
Allen Gregory (Fox)
The Backstory: An animated comedy about a hilariously pretentious tyke (Superbad’s Jonah Hill) thrown into the perilous world of public school.
The Elevator Pitch: Stewie Griffin takes on Springfield Elementary.
The Good: Hill delivers big laughs as the precocious 7-going-on-47 hero.
The Bad: How edgy can the adventures of a grade-schooler be?
The Verdict: If it lives up to its potential, it’s destined for the honor roll.
Man Up! (ABC)
The Backstory: Three whipped guys try to figure out how to be real men in a world of manscaping and nonfat lattes.
The Elevator Pitch: Butch Eye for the Straight Guy.
The Good: Unapologetic dude humor could strike a note with men everywhere.
The Bad: Uninspired gags and groan worthy clichés could be a real buzzkill.
The Verdict: Man down!
Ringer (CW)
The Backstory: An ex-stripper on the run from the mob pulls a switcheroo with her wealthy twin—but her sister’s life is as dangerous as her own.
The Elevator Pitch: The Parent Trap in witness protection.
The Good: Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sarah Michelle Gellar could slay critics as the problem-prone twins.
The Bad: We’d like to put a hit on the writer responsible for the worst of the pilot’s dialogue.
The Verdict: Double the Buffy, double the fun.
Charlie’s Angels (ABC)
The Backstory: Three sexy former bad girls turn PI in this relaunch of the classic hit series.
The Elevator Pitch: Um … a relaunch of the classic hit.
The Good: Hottie Angels, of course; a cool new Bosley (Ramon Rodriguez) and a sultry Miami backdrop.
The Bad: Another remake of a 1970s series? What’s next, Happy Days: The Next Generation?
The Verdict: It might take divine intervention for this to survive.
The Backstory: Drama abounds for an aspiring actress/waitress at the first Bunny club in 1960s Chicago.
The Elevator Pitch: Mad Men goes to Hooters.
The Good: Besides scantily clad chicks, we’re at a loss.
The Bad: Waitress melodrama? Check, please.
The Verdict: Wake us when they make The Penthouse Club—and let’s hope it’s on cable so the strippers can, you know, strip.
Backstage at the Green Room
Author: Penthouse Magazine
Forget all the phony chat you see on talk shows: Showtime’s The Green Room is like eavesdropping on comedy friends really shooting the shit.
By Harmon Leon
Everybody Loves Raymond’s Ray Romano sits in the center of the room. In a moment of pathos, the sitcom clown lets down his mask. “Before I was famous I used to think cab drivers hated me. Now I think limo drivers hate me.” Romano looks to fellow funnymen Garry Shandling, Judd Apatow, and Marc Maron for validation. “Does that feeling ever go away—a feeling like you’re an imposter?”
Moments later, Maron pipes up: “Are we meeting again here next week?”
This isn’t an intimate comedian group-therapy session; it’s a taping of Showtime’s The Green Room with host Paul Provenza—a show with no structure. No rules. No promotional purposes behind conversations. No setups for comedians to fill in punch lines—just pure talk, battle stories, and love of all things comedy.
“It’s real smart people who are stand-up comics, so they are trained in critical thinking and calling people on their bullshit—so their conversation is interesting and compelling,” says Provenza. The green room is the backstage area where comedians hang out between gigs; the place where comics let their guards down and the best stories are told. The Showtime program features comedians hanging out like that—except with a live audience. Filmed at the Vanguard in Hollywood (transformed into what looks like the living room of, say, an eccentric aunt, or “a bar of a very narcissistic restaurant,” as Shandling puts it), a few hundred people—packed in on chairs and sofas—encircle the comedy icons; it’s like being on the inside with the cool kids with The Aristocrats director Paul Provenza as ringmaster.
“We were just trying to do something that’s authentic,” Provenza says between tapings. “It’s the thing I miss in comedy and television. Authenticity is so hard to come by in our culture and lives.” During these next few nights, he’ll be conducting intimate group chatter with the likes of Lewis Black, Ron White, Margaret Cho, Richard Lewis, Jeffrey Ross, Kathy Griffin, Lisa Lampanelli, Janeane Garofalo, and Dave Attell.
“I’ve been a stand-up professionally since I was 17,” Provenza says. “I know what makes comedians comfortable
and what doesn’t. I know what makes comedians feel like they are in a safe space.”
Los Angeles comedian Troy Conrad agrees: “Paul is like a friend who can keep a secret. It doesn’t matter if there’s a crowd of a few hundred people watching. He can create a level of realness and honesty.“
“Provenza’s lineups are great equalizers,” says executive producer Barbara Romen. “It’s exciting to see fresh young comics meeting, for the first time, their comedy heroes—and chat ting as ‘colleagues’ with perspectives to share. Combining 20-year-old Bo Burnham with Judd Apatow, Garry Shandling, and Ray Romano was an experience in comedic incongruity that none of us will ever forget.”
Apatow—dressed like a character from Freaks and Geeks—first wrote Shandling’s jokes for the 1990 Grammys, while Romano initially met the Knocked Up director 17 years ago on HBO’s Young Comedians special. (“I remember seeing you and thinking, That guy’s going to be a great writer.”) Silent up until this point, YouTube sensation Bo Burnham finally pipes in: “I’m of the younger generation, and I was just wondering—for all of you—who are you?”
Huge laughs.
As the guffaws die, Shandling retorts with perfect timing, “The feeling is sooo mutual.”
“Do you need to be screwed up to be funny?” Burnham confronts his elder neurotic peers. “Comedy comes from so many different places,” he says. “Comedy comes from love. It comes from fear. It comes from hate. I never had nothing but encouragement from my parents.”
Provenza lets everyone have their solo as he frames the comedians, then brings the composition back together as a symphony. “I don’t care who the hot comic is or who has done what movie,” he says. “It’s about the energy of the mix.”
The taping later this night has the combustible jazz-cat mix of Tommy Chong, Rick Shapiro, Joe Rogan, and Eddie Ifft. In Joe Rogan’s solo, he confesses to being stoned on marijuana lollipops throughout season two of Fear Factor. Tommy Chong recalls his dehumanizing prison stint and police bust. (“They came to my door and said, ‘Do you have any drugs on the premises?’ I’m Tommy Chong!”) Former addict Shapiro (“I Sucked Dick for Heroin”) mocks Rogan’s riff about talking to dolphins when high. (“Talk to the dolphin again and get more information out of him!”)
After Shapiro’s rant, Provenza jokes, “If he [wasn’t] doing stand-up comedy, somebody would be dead.” He then turns to Chong: “I thought it was time that someone showed you the effects of too [many] drugs.”
Afterward, the comedians and audience spill out onto the back patio of the Vanguard for free drinks and food. Comedy fans abound. Porn star Ron Jeremy meanders about, while on other nights John Corbett, Steven Weber, and even Sugar Ray Leonard schmooze with comedy icons. Tommy Chong—giving off a Buddhist aura—is surrounded by a flock sharing a joint. (You can’t pass up an opportunity to smoke with Tommy Chong—it’s like being blessed by the holy grail of stonerdom.)
“Someone asked me if I do anything to prepare for the show. And the truth is, I’ve been watching Dog Whisperer,” Provenza states. “You come out and go, ‘Okay, what does this animal want—this creature we call ‘comedian’? Okay, this is Kathy Griffin. I have to make her my bitch immediately.
She has to know who’s boss.’ ”
With a “mission accomplished” glow, Provenza sums up his favorite moment of the evening: pushing Garry Shandling to open up. “I had some conversations with Garry about his Zen Buddhism and his spiritual journey, and I was quite surprised that he choose to be so closed, because he celebrates it.”
Provenza kept badgering Shandling until it finally snapped his Zen, and the formerly neurotic funnyman explained his philosophy on comedy and life: “Authenticity. Not a fake moment onstage. Just being. Be authentic of who I am—to be my true self.”
“I talked to him afterward and said, ‘Why were you holding back on me?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know, I just need to be pushed’—and that was a beautiful moment,” Provenza says. “It goes beyond comedy.”
‘Zo Ride
Author: Penthouse Magazine
This spring, comedian Alonzo Bodden is taking bad drivers to task as the host of the Travel Channel’s new reality competition (of sorts), America’s Worst Driver. Tailgating assholes, beware!
By Kara Wahlgren
Tell us a little bit about America’s Worst Driver.
We went to eight cities around America, and the producers found four drivers and four passengers in each city. An off-duty cop follows each pair in a van. Every time they do something wrong, he hits the lights. If they screw up, they lose points. Through each stage, one person gets eliminated. We put cameras and microphones in each car so we could listen to them fight. Finally, when we get to the worst driver, we destroy their car.
Their own personal car?
Oh, yeah. We’ve had monster trucks, explosives, car-eating robots.
So why would anyone enter this competition?
People entered for a lot of different reasons. A wife in Seattle literally entered to prove to her husband that she was not
America’s worst driver.
When you were sending these bad drivers out onto the streets, did you ever fear for the other people on the road?
Well, we did have two contestants in the course of the competition get pulled over by actual on-duty cops. Now, think about how you drive if you know there’s a cop following you—if you still drive so badly that another cop pulls you over, you have serious problems.
What’s your personal driving pet peeve?
For me, slow people in the fast lane. I really hate when they cut in front of you, then hit the brakes. It’s like, “You really had to get in front of me?”
What state do you think has the worst drivers?
You know something? We had impressions going in, and we found that there are bad drivers everywhere—they just have different ways of doing it. In New York, your bad drivers are timid in a city of aggressive drivers. In Miami, it’s the opposite: You have people ripping around amongst these senior citizens who can’t see over the wheel. So there isn’t one city where I could say, “Wow, these are the worst drivers.” And it’s not a man or woman thing there are bad men drivers, bad women drivers. We had them all.
What’s your own worst driving habit?
Well, some might say I drive too fast. I’d say it’s in a controlled manner. But I’ve been known to speed here and there.
What’s the last thing you got pulled over for?
Doing 85 in a 65 zone. I got out of it because the cop recognized me from television. Now and then, it pays off. But actually, I’m a good driver. I’ve been to high-performance driving schools, and I used to teach traffic school in L.A.
You also used to work as an airplane mechanic. Were there any parts of that job that you liked better than doing comedy?
None. I love being a comic. I mean, the aerospace job was fun just because I’m a techie—I built stealth fighters for Lockheed, so I got to work on top-secret aircraft. But I definitely love this more.
You’re brutally honest in your routines. Have you ever told a joke and then thought, Oh, shit, I crossed the line?
No. There’s no line, because even if they hate you, they’re responding to the joke, and that means they’re listening to you. I was fortunate enough to work with George Carlin once, and he said, “The trick is to take them across the line and then make them glad they came.”
What do you think is the difference between comedians who can get away with it and those who can’t
Attitude and confidence. If you’re scared to say it, they’ll be scared to hear it. People can tell the difference between something funny and something mean-spirited. It’s like the instincts of a dog. You know how they can smell fear? A crowd can tell when you’re serious and when you’re kidding. Michael Richards was a perfect example—the crowd knew he wasn’t kidding. He showed who he truly was in that moment [when he launched into a racist tirade onstage in 2006].
What makes you laugh?
I like smart stuff, like Family Guy or The Simpsons, which are funny on so many subtle levels. I like comics who are completely different from me—guys like Harland Williams or Jeremy Hotz. I like some of the bromance movies, but I’d like to see a funny movie without Seth Rogen in it. I’m not sure if Hollywood allows that.
You’ve done movies. How do they compare to stand-up?
I haven’t done anything where I would consider myself an actor. But I have huge respect for good actors. And I’m just curious how bad actors get movies. I’d like a few of Tyrese Gibson’s gigs. You know how you see it and you’re like, “How did he get that job?” I want to be that guy. I want to be Paul Walker.
What do you hope people take away from AWD?
When people watch this show, they’re going to relate. You’re either going to turn to the person you’re watching with and say, “I’ve seen you do that!” or you’re going to be honest and be like, “Hey, wait a minute, I do that. I don’t use my turn signal, I speed through a school zone, I scare pedestrians.”
Is there anything else coming up for you?
I’ll be doing another Comedy Central one-hour special toward the end of 2010. And then, who knows? I’m doing the next thing they hire me to do.