This airs on the BBC later this month (which means it will be officially in the states around 2019, but downloadable via illegal means within 24 hours). The clip is obviously geared to the twitter people and the blog people, and well, hello.
For me a new Ab Fab always brings me curiosity as to what they've done to the kitchen. I'm trying to spot all the changes. I note that the same Liebherr refrigerator is there and the other major appliances are the same. More to come with that ...
Commercials with no volume were on for this and to my eyes it was some sort of Sarah Michelle Gellar comedy costume adventure show. Here's what I've found on the Facebook and the Twitters:
And you thought this would be negative, didn't you? Here's another surprise: Lady Gaga's Marry the Night as remixed by The Weeknd.
You remember Mary Mary, the homophobic gospel duo that love gay money but not gay people. We, the cable network for women that isn't Lifetime, has cast them in a reality show.
“Erica and Tina are modern women balancing careers and family and doing it in the spotlight. Their issues are the same as so many women today, and this show will capture the entertaining ups and downs of life that they face on a daily basis.” - Kim Martin, president & general manager, WE tv.
The show is likely to be highly edited and as chock full of reality as any other "reality" show which is to say that the hair and makeup will be perfect at all times. The show will join other programs on the network such as Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best? and Bridezillas.
(Praise be to Mr. Lightfoot for the tip.)
Preface: Something for which I'm always late to the table is television, so when something amazing is found, it is typical that I hear from my friends, "Oh, yeah, I saw that last year." It's simply not in my reading list, and I don't have cable (as cable is for suckers).
Available on Netflix streaming now is Downton Abbey. A tale of class and manners in early twentieth century Britain, this one has it all. Costumes, sets, plots, direction and oh, the characters! There's the three disparate daughters, the Turk, the scheming gay footman, and Dame Maggie Smith.
The first season nursed a recent hangover. A second seson starts on PBS this January. And a Christmas special airs in the U.K. shortly. It's a rare mental treasure and pardon the lack of explanation, but you simply must watch it.
This weekend, "Hung" star Thomas Jane 'fessed up to being a hustler in real life when he was 18, homeless and starving in L.A. In the new times we live in, he fully owns letting "a guy buy me a sandwich" and acknowledges he was experimenting with his sexuality. What he says next ruffled some feathers amongst the commenters over on Towleroad but I feel largely sympathetic to his point.
"Jane: You're a lot more open to experimentation as a young man. And for me, being a young artist and broke in Los Angeles, I was exploring my sexual identity. And probably because of my middle-class, white blue-collar upbringing, I would have never had the opportunity to confront some of my own fears and prejudices had I not been hungry enough to be forced to challenge myself in that way.
Interviewer: So then it was productive for you in terms of self-knowledge?
Jane: Yeah, absolutely. It blew the doors off of my conventional upbringing and thinking and opened up possibilities for me that were akin to World War III. And then you actually have a choice, and I chose to be a heterosexual guy because that's what my DNA dictates and my nurture dictates that I am.
Interviewer: Then is that a choice?
I don't know. I think up to a point it's a choice. But I'll tell you what — it's not a choice until you're open enough to experience both male and female sexuality. Until you've tasted the food, you don't know whether you'll like it or not, as my mom always said."
(Emphasis mine)
His reasoning and expression of it is a bit rough, but the point I hear him trying to make is that we ultimately choose how to channel our sexuality, and I agree with him - with qualifications of course - on that point. I'd much rather stand proudly and own my sexuality as something I've "chosen" after having explored, experimented with and ultimately found a particular category that best fits me and my inclinations and desires than the passive-aggressive "It's not a choice!" which could just as easily be interpreted, "I'm a victim, here!", depending on the context.
More importantly (?), the message is you gotta try shit out first before you KNOW. I feel like this is pretty damn fundamental in every other area for Americans, EXCEPT sexuality. I also feel like this is not so true of the young generations coming up now. And - all jokes aside - I think it'll only be when they have that freedom to experiment with different expressions of themselves and their sexuality (within reason?) without condemnation that we'll truly begin to experience sexual freedom.
Image via
Christopher Schulz (he of Pinups) created a zine filled with sketches of a naked Seth Rogen called Seth. Seth Rogan discussed them last night while on Conan. (You can buy Seth (the zine, not the actor) and talk to Christopher about it this weekend at the NY Art Book Fair!)
From the casting call:
CULTURE CLUB CASTING CALL
Do you go out in the city every night? Do you not wait in line? Are you the baddest bartender in town? Do you only buy bottle service? Do you only go to the hottest clubs? Then we are looking for you.
This new show is looking for many different types of people who live in the nightlife scene. Those selected will have camera's follow you around the club in one night to see what the night will bring.
You could be cast as "The Dancer" or "The Flirt" or maybe "The Bartender"! Or maybe "The Guy wondering where the coke is" or "The Dude blowing your boyfriend behing the curtain"? Apply today?
There is a cooking show called "Mad Hungry with Lucinda Scala Quinn".
It is produced by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
Oh, Internet. We deride you at times, but without you we wouldn't know about these things from the past. You would think our parents would have told us, or at least some old queen. There it was on Facebook though. Bette Davis in an Aaron Spelling pilot from the early 1960's. Part one is presented above. The other two parts are also on YouTube.
Here is an hour-long BBC Special on Madonna from 1990 that might just take you back if you are a man of a certain age.
Roseanne Barr penned an amazing article for New York magazine. The opening credits of the show featured street scenes from my home town, including the block where my great-grandfather lived. It was a bit of a connection for me. Also? Roseanne gave Judd Apatow his first television writing gig. Now a macadamia farmer in Hawaii, she escaped the fame game, but still has a reality show coming up.
There are few television shows that are watchable. (Keep in mind this is from someone that cancelled cable years ago and mostly watches Netflix for visual entertainment.) One show that has grown consistently stronger is Parks and Recreation. It occurred to me last night that one of the reasons is that all of the men are sort of doable.
Playing the Tea Party anti-government bureaucrat, Ron Swanson, Offerman isn't an obvious choice. He's kind of surly and furrowed. At the same time, his conviction to curmudgeonery is sort of sexy. Also? The mustache is a pure power play. (And a little research reveals he is married to Megan Mullally which shows a definite appreciation for fun.)
Frankly the character of Tom Haverford reminds me of a certain guy in Brooklyn that lots of people know (Ashton). It's the constant effort to make a buck or find a fuck that makes the character adorable. Add to this his background in sketch and stand-up comedy (and his Twitter) and you've got my favorite guy.
When I let it be known I was writing this, everyone (okay, Facebook) thought I would focus on Andy, the loveable dimwit shoe-shiner. While there is a soft spot in my heart (and a not-so-soft spot for him elsewhere), he's not the one for me, although I totally get it. He's very much make-out material. (And he also has a real-life doppelganger who's been a Pinups cover boy.)
One of the newer cast members, Scott has a good pedigree going into the show. With smaller parts in Monster-In-Law (what?), The Sarah Silverman Show, and The Hangover, he's the slyly funny guy. This has well-suited the character of Ben Wyatt that has evolved in the past season as "the love interest".
In some ways I sort of grew up with Rob Lowe (although he looks younger than me at this point). From the "bad boy" thing to the "sex tape" thing to the rebound into drama and now comedy (for which his timing is great) he's rather perfectly cast as the ambitious neurotic mayor Chris Traeger. Is he a little too clean-cut? Maybe on the screen, but my suspicion is that the bad boy still lurks inside. Here's to growing old together Rob.
And there you have it, the most mainstream thing I've probably ever written, but it's all true! Give the show a chance!
Want to be a "Fashion Star"? A new NBC show by that name is doing a casting call today. Unlike Project Runway, this is not about ballgowns though, its for casual wear like jeans and swimwear. Filling the Heidi Klum spot is Elle Macpherson, showing more of the sportswear vibe.
Bring portfolios and such to The Art Institute Gallery Room, 11 Beach Street between 4 and 7.
Via Racked (who thinks this will make for bad television)
(Unrelated: Fashion Star, the game)
SPOILER: Don't read if you haven't seen the finale of RuPaul's Drag Race!
Last season saw a winner named Tyra. This season sees a winner that has been on America's Next Top Model as a makeup artist. She openly pantomimes Tyra Banks on her show and for two years the winners have been Tyra-related. Is there something going on here?
"I'm that person who still watches them. Well, by “them” I mean “One Life to Live." I'm devastated by its demise and you should be too. We're losing a national treasure. This is akin to tearing down the gilded Penn Station to make room for the depressing Madison Square Garden. The daytime soaps are a national heritage that should be protected and cherished."
FYF friend David Ozanich expresses what he really feels about the shuttering of ABC's "One Life to Live".
