Exciting news time. On October 12th, 2008, at 10PM, on VH1, season 2 of The Pickup Artist begins. The original series spawned numerous parodyvideos, but nothing really compares to the real thing, which is already mostly a parody of itself. Although to be fair, the show, like From G's to Gents, is a surprising mixture of the lowest brand of realitysploitation and genuine emotional uplift. Yes, the "contestants" are socially awkward men put into situations for the express purpose of national ridicule, hosted by a mascaraed Canadian sex clown in a feather-covered Jamiroquai hat, but the show also provides a refreshingly earnest dissection of the societal pressures on mahood and masculine sexuality, not to mention the loose and generally unstable framework upon which we all hang our sense of self-worth and our facade of confidence.
But mostly it's ridiculous!
To make matters even more exciting, there will be a couple new twists to the new season. For one, a lady!
Look, I like Kanye West. I like his music, and I think his boastfulness and outsized ego are funny. As far as I'm concerned, he can pretty much do what he wants in terms of entertainment. Except for a puppet based variety show. If you were to ask me if I thought that Kanye West should pursue a puppet-based variety show I would tell you that no, I do not think so, that perhaps Kanye West should leave puppet-based variety shows alone. From the Hollywood Reporter:
Comedy Central has teamed with Kanye West for a project described as hip-hop meets the Muppets.
A half-hour pilot has been shot for the project, tentatively titled "Alligator Boots." It's from Jackhole Prods., the production company founded by Jimmy Kimmel, Daniel Kellison and Adam Carolla that also was behind Comedy Central's puppet-centric "Crank Yankers."
The project, which is under consideration for 2009, would feature music produced and performed by West and fellow rapper Rhymefest, both of whom are serving as executive producers on the pilot alongside Kellison. West also hosts the pilot; the idea is to have a different celebrity guest host for every episode, similar to the setup on the original "Muppet Show."
It's like the setup of the original Muppet Show except without Jim Henson, the brilliant artist who invented the Muppet Show. And with Kanye West. And called Alligator Boots. And produced by Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Corolla. But otherwise yeah, it's basically the same thing. I would say if you took everything good about the Muppet Show and replaced it with something ridiculous, then totally. Wake up, Mr. West! (I'm sure I'm the first person to make that joke, so let's just assume I own the rights to it.)
I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there's a promo out for the new season of Friday Night Lights. The bad news is that this is the promo:
(via Paul Scheer, who said it all with "more football, less fairy dust.")
"New Season." Yay! "New Network." True! "New Wonders." Um, new wonders?
Who is this promo supposed to appeal to? People who like well written sprawling dramas centered around high school football OK, but REALLY like Charmed? "Dear Friday Night Lights, mostly just be Charmed please." I feel like the best thing about that show was its ability to make fans out of people who wouldn't normally give a shit about football. Now we're supposed to care about the triumphs and defeats of the Dillon Panthers AND muster enthusiasm for sub-par Tim Burton rip-off bullshit that wouldn't even be cool in a Target commercial?
Wait, Where The Hell Is The Visioneers?• Remember all the hype in May about The Visioneers, that wacky movie starring Zach Galifianakis and Judy Greer that we all thought was either going to be amazing or blow? Now, there appears to be no release date other than IMDB's vague "2008." Give us The Visioneers!
I've got a little bit of good news, mixed with a little bit of really weird news. The good news is that there's a chance The Muppet Show might return to television. According to the Telegraph (via BuzzFeed):
The Jim Henson-created characters may be on their way back thanks to a new Disney Film.
In the movie, written by Forgetting Sarah Marshall star and writer Jason Segel, the Muppets reunite to save their studio with one last variety show.
Should the film go well, it opens up the possibility of a television programme, also written by 28-year-old Segel.
The Muppet Show was a really great show! They should make more great shows for TV! Good thinking, Entertainment! But now for the really weird news:
"Oh gosh, no, Chuck. I couldn't eat another piece. Not to mention the fact that i like my pie served on a plate. And I like to eat human-sized portions of pie. That piece of pie is as big as your hand which is as big as your face. No, it's not a trick of the perspective. Your body is insane. Chuck, could you do me a favor? The next time you'd like to know if I am ready for more pie, could you just ask me? I think it's weird that you texted me "ready4more?" when I'm standing right in front of you. Chuck, why are you looking at me like that? All you're doing is offering me a piece of pie and yet I feel that if I am to take this slice of pie I would somehow be entering into a consensual agreement to be raped and then eaten by you. Well you should look in the mirror because you're definitely making an "I'm going to rape and eat you if you take this piece of pie" face. What did you do to the pie, Chuck? What's in the pie? What's in the pie, Chuck? No, I am not ready for any more pie, I told you that. I don't care if you're Chuck Bass, no more pie. I'm done."
Here at http://www.videogum.com, we spend most of the day cracking wise (so wise, we crack the wisest) about the state of pop culture and visual entertainment. It's our job to come up with snap judgments based on little to no information, and to use those snap judgments to over-enthusiastically applaud or unfairly deride the world's latest trampoline accidents and TV show trailers. But sometimes a project comes along about which it's very difficult to form a hyperbolic opinion. What then? Well, if you think it's so easy to blog all day (it's really, really easy), why don't you do it?
Here's the challenge. HBO has a new animated series premiering in September. It's called The Life & Times of Tim. Here's a clip:
See what I mean? It's like ... it's fine. I don't know. It could really go either way.
I have some very exciting news for the entertainers of Hollywood. The sadness and embarrassment you feel when trying to revitalize a waning career will no longer be that bad because now you'll always have the work of Chuck Woolery as a benchmark of sadness by which to compare yourself. "Oh," you will say to your friends and publicists, "I may be playing the same character I played 20 years ago and for way less money, but at least I'm not hosting the Meow Mix Game Show." Reuters:
Game-show veteran Chuck Woolery will host "The Meow Mix Game Show," a cat-centered competition that will air on GSN on November 15.
The half-hour program, in which cats and humans compete for the chance to win $1 million and earn $100,000 for their local feline-related charity, will put a twist on classic game shows like "The Newlywed Game" and "Jeopardy!"
Owners will be quizzed on general feline knowledge, covering such categories as nutrition, behavior, anatomy and the role of cats in pop culture. The competition also will feature interactive challenges in which cats and humans must work together to succeed.
This is mostly just an unfair jab to the floating ribs of Woolery's career. The man is just trying to get through the day and put food on his table and here I am making fun of him. Well, that's how boxing works. Jab jab jab. As far as the actual show is concerned, I will obviously watch this show, at least once. Because it looks insane/retarded and I love seeing cats and humans work together to succeed.
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