Rainy afternoon

I'm sitting here listening to a 3.5 hour conference call, so I'll probably be posting a crapload of links, trying to catch up after posting kind of sparingly since the election.

I can't remember if I linked to this article or not, but much rending of garments and angry fist-shaking was happening on the internet last week due to Dollhouse being bumped to the death slot on Friday nights. On the plus side, Bones will NOT be on Fridays, and Fringe, which I'm still watching, has a good lead-in with American Idol.

Life has gotten a full season pick-up, which I'm very happy about. Like Bones, it's a procedural with a fun twist, and it centers around a really interesting main character.

The prodigal Darling returns on Dirty Sexy Money, as Juliet is set to make a guest appearance. (She was mostly written off the show after the actress had drug problems, I think.)

Damages is returning in January! Gosh, it seems like such a long time since this show was on (due to the writers' strike), and I've missed it so. Speaking of shows I haven't seen in forever (but have missed somewhat less), Kiefer Sutherland talks about filming the 24 movie in Africa.

My Own Worst Enemy has been canceled. I feel a little bad for Christian Slater, because I like him and wanted his show to do well, but it was pretty sucky, and I didn't watch past the first episode, so it's not terribly surprising.

And finally, the writers of The Daily Show talk about their jobs, and Kristen Bell talks about... a lot of stuff.

Edwards for President!

Did anyone watch the Colbert Report last night? That was some crazy shit! We were all expecting Hillary, since it was announced earlier this week, but then Edwards and Obama made appearances, too!

The two candidates were funny, Hillary fixing the big screen with her "toggle the input" and "call me anytime, Stephen, even at 3am," and Obama (who appeared on the big screen, prompting Stephen to remark, "Won't Hillary be glad she fixed our screen.") putting his "distractions" On Notice. But the real star was candidate #3 and his EdWORDs segment. I totally want him to have a jet ski now. He really went all out making fun of himself - universal haircare, the balloons at the 1,000,000th mention of "my father was a mill worker," and the third trial-lawyer America. Love!

You can watch the whole episode at the Comedy Central website.

Also, I don't watch CSI, but it looks like a fun '90s sitcom. I especially love the requisite roller coaster shot. Hee!

Yay Gov!

Great article from yesterday's Washington Post on Gov. Rendell's role in the campaign - it's funny, and according to Chuck, totally accurate. Frogs, manure, and reality television... plus, you know, political stuff.

Also, if you didn't watch last night, check out the video from his appearance on The Colbert Report. (You can also find interviews with Michelle Obama, Michael Nutter, and the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders.) Don't forget, Hillary's on tonight.

(Sidebar - is it just me, or has the Comedy Central video archive gotten exponentially better? Maybe I'll start catching up on my Daily Show and Colbert eps that I've been missing because I'm an old fart who can't stay up that late.)

"I'm a trained psychologist. I can tell when you're lying."

So, who watched Bones last night? The therapy sessions were hilarious, and omg the double date! "They just need someone to buy them beer." "Why can't we go bowling or something? Why do we have to make things?" Oh, and when Booth and Bones started analyzing Sweets! Hee! Sweets is awesome, so I hope he doesn't turn out to be the serial killer.

For more on Bones, check out this article on its awesomeness, as well as another interview with David Boreanaz.

Stephen Colbert is in Philadelphia this week, covering the primary, naturally. Michelle Obama will be on the show Tuesday, and Hillary on Thursday. I will be watching reruns the next day at 8:30pm, as I'm an old lady who goes to bed at 11.

Quick update

Just stopping by to say yay Hillary, and to let y'all know that Chuck will be airing its two final pre-strike episodes on January 24th. Also, check out this blog interview with all the Daily Show correspondents. Wonder when we'll see them all again on the show...? (But sidebar: John Oliver was hilarious on Tuesday.)

TV update

With the holiday season come and gone, I thought you might be curious when your favorite shows will be coming back. TV Squad has a list, although it looks incomplete... but that might be because there are more shows than I realized that aren't coming back at all due to the writer's strike. :( Anyway, here's the rundown of shows I care about:

1. Friday Night Lights has six episodes left, starting Friday, January 4th.
2. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are both coming back January 7th with new episodes but no writers. Should be fun!
3. Psych is coming back to finish the second half of season 2 starting Friday, January 11th.
4. The seven-episode season 2 of Jericho starts Tuesday, February 12th.
5. Oh, the injustice! Bones doesn't come back until February 22nd (now relegated to Fridays - thanks American Idol!), with only three episodes left to air.

Nowhere to be seen: How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Pushing Daisies, 24, and The Office (which I didn't expect to see), and Chuck, Reaper, and Dirty Sexy Money (which I did expect to have one more episode each). Also not on the list: Torchwood season 2 premieres January 26th, guest-starring James Marsters as a poodle-chasing, Jack-kissing, omnisexual time agent with absolutely no morals. And a big-ass sword.

There's also a bunch of new shows that are premiering as mid-season replacements, but I can't remember what any of them are about. I'll just go back to my Battlestar Galactica DVDs. I just started watching it, since everyone else seems to think it's the best thing ever, and although the miniseries was a little slow, I'm really getting into the show.

Also, a funny mixing of politics and Buffy: The Republican presidential candidates and their corresponding Buffy villains. Hee!

It had to happen eventually...

Stephen Colbert is running for President. No, seriously. From both parties. But only in South Carolina.

(And it is a testament to my immaturity that the line in the second article about "leery Mr. Dawson" made me giggle. Get it? Dawson? Leery? Heh.)

Say it ain't so!

First, I must begin with some horrible, horrible, terribly foreboding news. Veronica Mars may be getting canceled. Please join me in egging the CW offices this weekend. But, on the upside, it looks like Angel is being continued in the same Joss-approved comic format as Buffy. Hey, maybe Rob Thomas can do a VM comic, since that seems to be the trend.

This is kinda cool, in a disturbing kind of way - they're making a Little House on the Prairie musical. As much as I love Little House (the books and the TV show), I'm forced to ask "why?" Even weirder: Melissa Gilbert (the original Laura Ingalls) and Patrick Swayze are playing Ma and Pa Ingalls.

I don't actually watch Dancing with the Stars, but I've been hearing so much about Heather Mills' leg, I admit to a morbid curiosity about whether it will fall off while she's dancing. Maybe Kelly can weigh in with an expert opinion.

Oh, and how awesome is this - there was a three-way tie on Jeopardy. I love it.

Here's a nice article about how I used to have a really important job. I'm still goggling over Hillary's "thousand donors" at the "second million-dollar-plus fundraiser in three days." We maybe had a thousand donors total... and only did two million dollar fundraisers the entire campaign. Man, I'm a little bit jealous of Kathy right now.

In other political news, I love it when candidates and organizations make their interns wear animal costumes.

And this Peep Research website had me and Teresa cracking up for hours at work today.

Quotes of the week:

Dresden Files
"Who are you talking to?"
"The dead. They hunger for human brains. The feasting will begin at sundown." - Harry

24
"Did someone push you down the stairs?" - Karen Hayes
"No, I tripped over your ineptitude." - Tom Lennox

Black Donnellys
when Kevin complains that there's not enough dinner for him
"Well, you shoulda thought of that before you let Tommy steal the casserole. Have some squash." - Mrs. Donnelly
"I don't like squash. I don't even like saying it." - Kevin

The Colbert Report
"Did you know there's wheat in your ice cream?" - Stephen Colbert
"Wheat? I thought they said weed." - Willie Nelson

Giant Dawn cracks me up

A few follow-ups to previous posts:

If you're like me, you're curious how Prince didn't get electrocuted during his Super Bowl halftime show. Here's why.

Some 24 talk from The Watcher. My favorite comments:

• One thing I know for sure: I am never attending a Bauer family reunion.
• I would love to be at the Bauer's for Thanksgiving.....pass the turkey, WHAM!, pass the stuffing, WHAM! you haven't felt pain until you've finished eating mom's food!
• Then again, how could Philip be Graem and Jack's papa unless his wife was a circus midget with rounder face features. Kiefer and Rocket Romano couldn't possibly look less like Cromwell's kids.
• I'd have given all the money in my wallet for Dad Bauer to have come in during the toturer scene and say "that'll do, Jack, that'll do"

And one hilarious Studio 60 comment from TVSquad:

Timothy Busfield deserves his own sitcom. When Studio 60 ends (hopefully in 2015, but probably in April), someone should give him his own show. Here's my premise: Cal and the animal handler have to move into an apartment together. The landlord won't allow animals, so every week they get into wacky adventures trying to hide all the animals. Here's the twist, it's an all-woman apartment building and Cal and the animal handler have to dress as women to fit in!

You'd watch it.

Here's parts one and two of a big Joss Whedon interview on (what else?) the Buffy season 8 comic. Look for parts three and four later this week. I'm still giggling over Giant Dawn, by the way. Apparently, Joss is, too.

It looks like Nobody's Watching won't be making it to real TV after all. That's a shame. At least we'll always have YouTube.

I really wish I could go to this play reading - it's by Ken Levine, whose blog I read regularly, and starring the Baker and the Baker's Wife from Into the Woods! (Chip Zien and Joanna Gleason, for those who may not have purchased multiple copies of the video of their Broadway performance. Don't look at me like that. The first tape wore out, so I got extras, just in case.)

And finally, Stephen Colbert is getting his own ice cream flavor. How awesome is that?

This one's especially for Kelly.

I felt like you could use this advice. (However, this is not to say that you should cease talking to me on IM or reading my blog in order to stop procrastinating.)

Also, it looks like Fox has a mole. Oh, the irony.

And Knox College offered to send Stephen Colbert a fire-proof degree when he threatened to set his on fire on-air because Bill Clinton was succeeding him as commencement speaker. I have two things to say to that. First, Sunnydale High School should've invested in those degrees. And second, what the hell is Knox College that they get waaaaaaaaay better commencement speakers than us?

A random assortment of things

In no particular order...

Good news for those of you who didn't catch The Dresden Files on Sunday night - You can watch the pilot on the website or get it free from iTunes. Also, if you want to hear James Marsters' lovely voice, you can listen to the first few chapters of Summer Knight, the fourth book in the series, and the latest to be recorded as an audio book.

It sounds like Ed Helms (formerly of the Daily Show and currently on The Office) is a really nice guy.

Here's a podcast interview with writer/director Steven DeKnight, who talks about his work on Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Smallville, among other things.

Are you wondering why they didn't get Donald Sutherland to play Kiefer's dad on 24? I was. Here's why.

Your daily dose of satire:

• Who wouldn't want Joss Whedon's grocery list?
• Like I said before, everyone in the universe is running for President. Except John Kerry. (Thank goodness.)

Oh, and by the way, the CIA is now on Facebook. No, really.

OMG I'm gonna go crazy

This place is NUTS. You wouldn't think that, with only 3 people in the office, there would be the potential for mayhem, but apparently, it's possible. Phones ringing off the hook, fax machine working overtime, lots of cursing and freaking out and such.

The problem being that we're about $1 million over budget for the inaugural... (On an unrelated topic, if you'd like to contribute to the inaugural or would like to purchase tickets, please let me know. Judging by Brian's stress level, I think it would be much appreciated.) Hilarious side note - Maria, the inaugural chair, went into Wachovia to get a loan (because they're so desperately broke), and ended up getting a contribution from them while she was sitting there - she's so awesome.

So now that I've shoveled my lunch into my face while sitting at my desk - because I don't have time to actually take a lunch - and will soon be getting indigestion, I'll post some stuff to keep you busy while I lose my mind.

Lots of 24 news, since it's coming back next week. ( FOUR HOUR TWO-DAY season premiere is Sunday 8-10 pm and Monday 8-10pm - holy crap.) If you just can't wait that long, there's an E! True Hollywood Story about the show on Sunday at 6pm. Looks like there's some exciting stuff in store for this season... and hey, she may be dead, but at least Slayer Nikki Wood can be proud that her son is the President. Personally, I'm just excited for the "Jack Bauer on a cell phone piloting a hijacked plane blindfolded" action figure.

Checking in with my other TV shows... Stephen Colbert and Bill O'Reilly will appear on each other's shows on Jan. 18th. I can only imagine how hilariously awesome that will be. (In case you live under a rock, Colbert based his persona on Bill O'Reilly's actual personality. Whether that makes O'Reilly seem funny or absurd is up to you.)

Tommy Schlamme (the lesser-known half of Aaron Sorkin's brain), oddly enough, had an interview with a Christian satire magazine, The Wittenburg Door, and talked about Studio 60. (News flash: Harriet Hayes is based on Kristin Chenowith. In other news: Duh.)

And finally, if anyone still cares about Gilmore Girls, Lauren Graham talked about the end of the show in this interview.

Okay, now back to work (a.k.a. running around like a chicken with its head cut off).

Post-holiday fun

So, anyone else eat too many Christmas cookies the past few days? Trick question! There's no such thing as too many Christmas cookies.

Hope everyone had a good holiday - mine was the same as usual, not too many disasters, family mostly sane and normal. Dad tried to get Aunt Linda drunk on cosmopolitans. Grandmom said mildly offensive things. Someone threw their green beans on the floor and wouldn't own up to it. We had to teach Aunt Donna how to use the pause button on her remote control (seriously, who doesn't know that the two little lines means pause?). Everyone laughed at the story about my mom dropping the entire tray of oatmeal cookies on the floor, but after that, no one ate the oatmeal cookies (we didn't serve the floor cookies, I promise).

My cousin Devi and I did manage to whup my mom and my aunt at Trivial Pursuit. The entire car ride home, my mom kept saying things like "I can't believe you beat us!" and "You got all the easy questions!" (We didn't, by the way, she's just a sore loser, the rest of the family will back me up.)

So here's some exciting new for those who, like me, had to work today: There's a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. It's another animated version, with Sarah Michelle Gellar doing the voice of April.

Also, EW's interview with Stephen Colbert. He's so awesome.

Going to Paris for the weekend? Can I come?

Aww, this time last year, I was leaving for Paris... to embark on a journey in the footsteps of Victor Hugo. Okay, I used college funds to take a vacation. Like you wouldn't do it if you had the chance. I did stay in that spooky hotel that was haunted by Hugo's ghost, and I went on a tour of the Paris sewers. I totally earned that money.

Only 5 shopping days left...

And yet, all my Christmas shopping is done. Weird.

Maybe that's why I am Time's Person of the Year. Yes, you heard right. It's me. What do you mean, it's you? No, it's not, it's me! I have to agree with Stephen Colbert - there would be much less confusion if it were just written in a language that used different words for the second person singular and plural pronouns. But it's not, so I'm going to go on assuming that I am the Person of the Year. I mean, I deserve it, don't you think?

Some things to get you in the holiday spirit: Here's Santa Claus, 24-style, and some info on the New Orleans musicians that performed on Studio 60's Christmas episode.

There's also a cool article about the making of the Charlie Brown Christmas movie. I still love that movie. I've been known to do the dance. Come on, you know what I'm talking about. And how cute is it that the kids doing the voices sometimes didn't know what they were saying, and they had to be taught phonetically... awwww.

Someone has turned Joss Whedon into an elf! And you can Elf Yourself, while you're at it. Also Buffy-related, some more info on who's involved with the season 8 comic.

Stupid Mozilla

Argh... I had a whole post written out, and then Mozilla quit on me and I lost it all. *sigh* You'd think that working at Marshall St. (where the power goes out every five minutes) I'd have learned to save my work. Anyway, let's try to cobble it back together again.

I believe I was talking about other, non-political things that had been going on while I was election-obsessed, but, as is often the way with me, I kept lapsing into political things anyway. Like, for example, the news that Allen conceded to Webb and the Dems now control the Senate. Woohoo! It's a whole new ballgame, folks.

So what else happened in my eaten-by-the-internet post? I remember that I mentioned Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert being featured in Rolling Stone, in an article by NYTimes columnist Maureen Dowd.

I also went on for a bit about how I'm catching up on my TV shows, which I've been taping and watching sporadically the last three weeks. I've cut down to just four shows: Studio 60 (which it seems will be picked up for a full season), Veronica Mars (my connection is too slow, but you can check out this website for video clips and other stuff), Jericho (which is getting a split season - ending with a cliffhanger on Nov. 29th, not to return until February), and The Nine.

I don't really know why, but it seems the Chicago Tribune has written an article about one of my favorite phrases, "not so much," tracing its popularity back to some of my favorite TV shows, such as Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Well, I guess that makes sense.)

I'm not sure why this is funny, maybe it's the dating/politics parallel. It's a parody of an attack ad, about a bad boyfriend. I can't really explain it.

That's all I can remember. Hopefully I'll be back to posting more regularly, now that I have my life back. Whee!

Colbert-iffic

A great (kinda long) piece on Stephen Colbert from NY Magazine.

Also, Jon Stewart is not running for President, FYI.

Random stuff

Still sick, so forgive me if I'm not coherent. (But on an unrelated note, aren't cold pills fascinating?)

First, a follow-up to the Amish shooting tragedy, or "why the Amish are better people than the rest of us." I would imagine that forgiveness in this situation would be really hard, and those people were there the same day comforting the shooter's family. That's pretty damn impressive.

And, as it turns out, the Daily Show is "just as substantive as network coverage." Seriously, a study shows that it's a legitimate source of news. I've been saying this all along - even though it's definitely humor-based, you really need a basic understanding of what's going on in the world in order to get the jokes, because they're very much based on current events and newsworthy issues. My roommates have been known to watch it and go, "I don't get it..." because they didn't know about the news story it was mocking. I've never been a big fan of TV news to begin with, so the Daily Show is really the only "TV news" I watch, but it's always nice to have academic studies as back-up.

This is funny: the 80s movie montage Hall of Fame.

Also, maybe you've heard of it, but it's new to me... AIM Fight.

Jewish? Call Stephen Colbert

I saw this over at Pop Candy: Stephen Colbert gave out a phone number on his show (1-888-OOPS-JEW) so that Jewish viewers could call and ask forgiveness during Rosh Hashanah. Turns out the number actually works, and you can leave a message for Stephen. Here's an article with more details.