Television Without Diddy
These days, MTV is probably the last channel you'd click to hear good music on TV. Between CMJ and Vegas I needed a night of DVR to decompress. This is what I heard...
MY NAME IS EARL
This show is funny if you like redneck and gay jokes. Actually, I did laugh a few times. Nice to see Blake from Rilo Kiley's old sidekick Ethan Suplee back on TV.
HOUSE
Didn't love this show, but awesome Massive Attack song as the theme. Points for going with "Teardrop" and not "Angel," which is the go-to song for TV and movie scenes in which a character takes ecstasy (e.g., The West Wing #422, Go). Blue Lines gets all the praise from trip hop fans, but I'm partial to Mezzanine. Trying to find Elvis' unexpected Xtina cover for you!
Massive Attack - "Teardrop" (MP3)
THE OFFICE
Doesn't trump the original, but this is probably the funniest sitcom on TV right now [Oops, aside from Arrested Dev, obvs. -ed]. And on last night's episode Kevan's friend B.J. won the Dundie for Most Hot. Which is almost as good as Whitest Sneakers. In this episode, MC Michael Scott butchers some Elton at the local Chili's.
THE DAILY SHOW
Fresh from his Emmy wins, Jon Stewart kicked off the show by explaining the facial expression the camera caught him making during Black Eyed Peas' performance. If you missed Jon's "censored" Emmy segment, watch here (.mov) via Lindsay. New correspondent Dan Bakkedahl's bumvertising bit was pretty outrageous.
True Love Always - "September" (MP3)
*Crazy coincidence: just like the song goes, tonight is the 21st night of September. Happy birthday Jennifer!
LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN
After the monologue, Conan couldn't help but comment on the band's song selection.
CONAN: Wait, what song was that?Really awkward. My Name Is Earl's Jason Lee was the guest and got a proper ribbing for naming his son after a Grandaddy song. Jason claims Pilot likes his name, but he's only two.
MAX: That was uh, Foo Fighters.
CONAN: That's like the most modern thing you've ever played! You actually played something from like ... that's like from the mid-'90s! That's a new record for you.
MAX: My son suggested it.
CONAN: That's a great song. Good for you.
Elsewhere, LAW & ORDER: SVU was fucking awesome, but it was heavy on the drama, light on the rock. Hum the L&O theme to yourself if you choose. MTV's THE REALITY SHOW was underwhelming. WEEDS has a new CD soundtrack that includes Sufjan Stevens, Sons & Daughters, New Pornographers, Mountain Goats, and that wacky ticky-tacky theme. Stream the album here.
Yes, I watched a lot of TV last night.
And with that, we're gonna give away some Curb Your Enthusiasm DVDs. The 5th season premieres Sunday at 10 PM and I can't wait. The 10th, 20th, and 30th people who e-mail contests @ stereogum.com with CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM in the subject line will win Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Fourth Season DVDs. You must include your name and address in the e-mail or you can't be considered for the giveaway. US only, sorry. CONTEST IS OVER. YOU WILL BE E-MAILED IF YOU WON.
And that Dylan PBS doc we were talking about yesterday ... Newsweek says, "The press conferences, with questions so clueless they border on the insane, must be seen to be believed." Fun!
Posted at 1:09 PM in Show Tunes
House is an awesome show...for other awesomely dark dramas...check out Nip/Tuck and Starved on FX...
Comedy...yeah The Office is up there...also Arrested Development and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia...good stuff...intelligent humor is always welcome.
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Massive Attack link does not work. Can you try again please?
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yeah, the office is pretty good, but arrested development is untouchable. the season premier from this past monday was amazing.
house is great. the elvis costello cover of "beautiful," however, was not. so so so horrible.
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Nip/Tuck's season premiere last night featured Elbow (during surgery) and Feist (three-way sex).
Gilmore Girls used a big chunk of Pernice Bros' "The Saddest Quo"
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Crap, US only. Ignore my entry. Obviously....
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"US only, sorry".
Buuuh!
:o(
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You're putting "The Office" as funniest sitcom on TV, over "Arrested Development", the funniest sitcom of the last 10 years?!!!
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My Name is Earl was halfway decent. Nice to see Telly from Kids in a role where he isn't date-raping.
Also, I've heard Massive Attack in an assload of shows over the past couple times. Don't ask me to remember any, though. Wait, I remember hearing them on CSI a couple of times, during a couple of those "in the lab/rock video montage" segments.
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I think the US Office is getting better, but it's still not a great show. Arrested Development is, on the other hand. And I'm glad somebody brought up It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia...I've come to LOVE that show.
I caught the "Lost" fever during reruns this summer, so I'm pumped for that.
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****ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT****
TV cannot get better than this.
Best quote from Monday's show—
MIchael: I almost had pop-pop in Reno.
George Michael: Me too.
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Clem Snide also covered "Beautiful" (very well).
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can any briefly go over what happened on nip/tuck last night? i missed it :/
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What is great about Massive Attack is that they do not profit off of selling their songs. Everytime you hear a song of their's in a commercial, the money goes to the International Red Cross. They refuse to profit off commercials. Not sure if the same goes for TV themes, but it probably does. So, the next time you hear MA on an Adidas, Smirnoff, or Victoria's Secret commercial you'll know that it's going to a good cause. I cringed when I heard their song on a commercial until I heard that they donate the money.
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House is such a wonderful show. Wonderful. Wonderful.
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The U.S. "Office" is decent, but I can't help comparing it to the, well, far superior British one, which lasted all of 14 episodes. That's not much to sponge off of for NBC--I wonder how long the decency will last. And...well, more here, from a while ago:
http://marathonpacks.blogspot.com/2005_04_01_marathonpacks_archive.html
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Wow, I thought I was the only one who liked Mezzannine better than Blue Lines (or anything in the Massive Attack catalog, for that matter). It is simply a spectacular album, and "Teardrop" is beautiful-- if I remember correctly, the video was rather trippy and cool.
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While watching TV last night, I saw a car commercial for either Honda or Toyota using M.I.A.'s "Galang" as it's soundtrack. Then I saw a CSI commercial scored to Depeche Mode's "Strangelove". Strange indeed!
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Oh, what I wouldn't do to hear that "Beautiful" cover by EC. Besides watch "House." Which I didn't do. How would you even go about locating that?
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Did anyone else notice Ethan Suplee's browlift? He is no longer very cro-magnumesque.
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Was this week's Office new? I thought it was coming back on the 27th?
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I heart heart heart all the Massive Attack love on here. I was begining to feel like an old fogey, at ripe old age of 22, for telling people that they're my favorite band. But, like was said, they're not only pretty brilliant but are very political, which deserves a ton of (Ali G voice) Respek. How about a song snippet of them from the original War Child?
The only thing that's always been strange to me though, is that out of their "earlier" full lengths people always pick Mezzanine or Blue Lines as a fave. I vote Protection - Karma Coma and the Protection single on one disc? Common
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My favorite song used on a tv commercial is....
You save big money
You save big money
When you shop Menard's
I keep waiting for that old timer's false teeth to fall out when he's singing that song.
This week all ladders 10 perchkeneknlth.....aw crap there go my teeth again.
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Maria, you should also mention Eurochild and Sly on that ever-so-underrated Protection tracklist.
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Eurochild and Sly
:-)
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Sarah -- i did notice that Ethank Suplee looked different...I wasn;t sure if he lost weight, was getting older, or whatever.
"YOU KNOW WHAT? THERE IS NO EASTER BUNNY! OVER THERE IS A GUY IN A SUIT!"
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I got Dylan and Johnny Cash doing "Girl From the North Country" over at http://vaguelyrandom.blogspot.com.
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I can't believe I missed the season premiere of Arrested Development. Goddamnit... *bursts into tears* Somebody hold me, somebody console me, somebody boil me up a pot o' pirogies!
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If anyone cares, here's the tracklisting from Nip/Tuck last night:
* "Stuck In The Middle With You" - Stealers Wheel
* "Dance With Me To The End OF Love" - Madeleine Peyroux
* "Any Day Now" - Elbow
* "I'll Look Around" - Madeleine Peyroux
* "Love's Almighty" - Telepopmusik
* "Last Train To Forever" - Telepopmusik
* "Inside And Out" - Feist
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YES, Arrested Development is by far the best show on TV right now. The problem is that nobody watches it. It's gonna get waxed if more people don't start watching it soon. And yes, I will cry if that happens. STEVE HOLT!
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as arrested development is easily the best show on television now, it comes nowhere near the original Office series. it is flawless (unlike arrested development, anybody remember the middle of the 2nd season... the MARTIN SHORT CAMEO? buster losing his hand to a seal name lucille? shit got terrible.) my name is earl was funny, and mr. stereogum, there was one gay joke, followed by earl accepting this guy for who he was and empowering him. you make it sound like the show was anti-gay... it really wasn't.
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I don't even know if you can compare the original office to a US series with 22 (or 18) episodes a year. The original Office was incredible, but it's obvious that a show with many more episodes a year will have its weaker moments. But I also thought the first couple episodes of season 2 of the Office were pretty mediocre. That said, the way it finished was fantastic television...not just for a sitcom, either.
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the second season of arrested dev rocked just as hard as the first. the martin short cameo seems to be hit or miss, but it really wasn't that bad. it was just one ep, and buster losing a hand was brilliant.
season two DVD soon!!
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season 3 episode 1 is up on limewire. i've watched it 3 times already.
a quote i missed the first time—
Lindsay: i don't know, it's kinda boxy.
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u.s. office, pure crap. I can't believe how ignant we americans are (cliche?), is it really that hard to "get" the british version? my 100th viewing of the original still gets more laughs than NBCs wannabe.
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yeah, buster losing his hand to a seal with a yellow bowtie lead to some awesome moments. how anyone can point to that as evidence that the second season wasn't very good is beyond me.
"what do you expect, mother?! i'm a MACHINE!!!"
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has anyone found elvis' cover yet? i'd really love to hear it again. it caught me off guard at first.
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As far as I know, Elvis recorded that song specifically for the show and there's been no mention of a release. I didn't get to hear it and now I'm pissed that I don't watch that show.
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Love how the discussion always drifts towards all around bests regardless of the seed topic... Happy to see the love for the great Always Sunny in Philly--anyone hear anything RE a 2nd season?--and the brilliant Arrested Dev--this season premiere tanked in ratings though--may not make the season. Ricky Gervais's Extras is a grower and probably won't be a hit here.
Anyone seen that hipster Sears commerical with what sounds like new Grandaddy?
Later 'gummers.
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Found a podcast which includes Costello's version of Beautiful at:
http://www.coverville.com/
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Ignore the last. Just downloaded the beginning of the postcast that mentions he Costello cover and the presenter (host)is boring the shit out of me. Can't be bothered waiting for the rest to download.
Sterogum admins - feel free to delete this and my other post.
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hey- i wonder if anyone could identify a song i've been searching for. it was played at the end of one of the 'Starved' episodes on FX.. i think it may have been episode 4..not sure..it sounded like a 4-5 piece acoustical group and at the refrain the voice would sing 'soni' or 'sunny'. great tune but can't locate any info identifying the series playlist. thanks.
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Three phrases should be among the most common in our daily usage. They are: Thank you, I am grateful and I appreciate.
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Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.
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Arrested Development is by far the best show on TV right now. The problem is that nobody watches it.
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