John Travolta’s bald and he doesn’t care if we know it now! Apparently, this Justin Jones dude ran into Travolta at a Planet Fitness. There’s so much sadness in that last sentence. Anyway, they had a nice chat, and old Barbarino even agreed to take this pic with the dude.
The week started out as Amy Poehler’s golden globes made an appearance at an awards show.
Tuesday’s Agent Carter gave me a new-found appreciation for the character. While I thought she kinda came off as a bitch in Captain America and the pilot, she showed a vulnerable side this week, which served to humanize the character. I wasn’t sure I was gonna make the show “appointment television”, but I think I’m gonna stick with it for the next 6 weeks. Hell, I was even upset that the State of the Union is bumping it off the air next week.
On Wednesday, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia came back, but it just didn’t grab me. Apparently, the gang was trying to beat Wade Boggs’s beer chugging record, but it just wasn’t funny. I look at Sunny the way a lot of people look at things like The Simpsons or Family Guy: I don’t feel it’s been funny in years, but I’m amazed that it’s still on. I mean, 10 seasons?! Nobody thought it would go this long, especially not the FX execs. Even moving it to FXX didn’t kill it. Still, I’m waiting for the cast to move on to bigger and better things. Charlie Day seems to be on the rise, but the other guys just aren’t doing much. Plus, where are the other shows they were working on, like their Star Trek parody Boldly Going Nowhere? I haven’t heard anything about that in years. Is it dead? I just think it’s time for the guys at Paddy’s Pub to shut the doors for the last time.
Wednesday also saw the season premiere of Broad City. Kinda like Sunny, it just didn’t do it for me. All the major beats were there: Abbi was neurotic, Ilana wore a bunch of pairs of tiny shorts, and they smoked weed. What more do you need, right? It just wasn’t as witty as I’d come to expect from the show. The plot centered around them trying to get an air conditioner since the summer was hot as balls. They eventually tricked some college kids out of their A/C and hilarity ensued. There was also a running joke about rape culture, but I’m not sure it hit its mark as well as it was supposed to. It’s just the season premiere, though, so maybe they’ll come back stronger next week.
USA canceled the comedy Benched, which kinda makes me sad. I wrote about it when it premiered, but then I kinda forgot to watch it. USA gave it a terrible timeslot (Tuesdays at 10:30), so the network basically buried it like TBS did with Wedding Band (RIP). Tuesdays at 10 is when I watch Forever, ’cause I enjoy that show and it needs viewers (though I’m not a Nielsen family, so it’s not like I even matter). Are you watching Forever? If not, what are you waiting for?! Anyway, I always meant to go back and catch up with Benched on demand, but I don’t even see the point now. Maybe all the Happy Endings alums’ shows will tank, and then the show will come back. Well, a boy can dream.
Oscar nominations were announced yesterday, and people are pissed. Mainly it’s because there were no actors of color nominated for the major categories. I’m not much of a movie guy, so I don’t really have a horse in that race. It seems like everyone expected Selma to be nominated but, to me, it just seemed like the kind of movie that’s made to be nominated for an Oscar. I’m not saying it’s not good, but its release and marketing were strategic in trying to secure it a nomination, and maybe it was just a bit too obvious. People also seemed upset that The LEGO Movie was snubbed in the animation category, but that’s another one that I don’t understand. It was an enjoyable movie, but I kinda felt like it was overrated. And folks kept telling me that “Everything Is Awesome” would get in my head and never get out, but I didn’t find it to be that much of an earworm.
Be sure to check out my Where Are They Now? Power Rangers post that the guys at The Robot’s Pajamas were nice enough to let me write for their site!
Ya know what had the West Week Ever? The Fox drama Empire. I’m approaching things a little differently this week because of the nature of this choice. Empire is basically King Lear for the hip hop generation. I know that 80% of you reading this have never watched it and never will. Hell, on paper, it’s not even my type of show, but I can’t stop watching it. Hip hop mogul Lucius Lyon discovers that he had ALS and probably 3 years to live. Instead of pouring a bucket of ice over his head, he decides to line up his successor. His record label, Empire, is about to go public, and all eyes are on his three sons to see who’ll one day have control of the company. Will it go to bipolar-but-won’t-take-his-meds Andre? Will it go to hotheaded rapper on the rise Hakeem? Or will it go to gay-but-the-hip-hop-community-might-not-accept-him Jamal? And as if this wasn’t enough, Lucius’s ex-wife, Cookie Lyon, has just gotten out of jail, after serving 17 years for taking the rap for Lucius. It was her money that started Empire, and she’s out to collect what she feels she’s owed. Lucius is trying to launch Hakeem’s career, while Cookie decides to back Jamal, convincing him to release a new album. Andre is just hoping that his younger brothers will destroy each other, and he’ll be the last man standing. And to cap it off, the music ain’t bad, either. I’m not a hip hop head, but I’m enjoying the songs that are coming out of the show. In the universe of the show, I can’t wait for Jamal’s album to drop ’cause I love his style (songs are available on iTunes, but I don’t love them that much). We’re only two episodes into the season, but those episodes have already been filled with shade, bibs, and murder. This is my favorite of the midseason shows, and I can’t wait to see where it goes. For that, Empire had the West Week Ever.
Your brief review is the first one to make me curious about Empire. That actually sounds really interesting. I’ll pull it up on On Demand this weekend.
Thank you for writing the Power Rangers article on Robot’s Pajamas this week. It got some good interaction on social media and I thought it was a really cool, fun article.
Regarding the John Travolta photo, it’s worth noting that the dude he took the photo with was working out at one of those 24 hour gyms at 3am. Hmmm, what would Travolta be up to going to a gym at 3am and striking up a conversation with the only other dude there? Look, he’s very likely gay and I just think it’s sad that Scientology is so anti-gay that the dude isn’t comfortable being who he is. I admit this is speculation on my part but… common sense makes me think this is pretty obvious.
Aw man, Benched is gone. Guess I don’t have to worry about going back to watch it OnDeman either.
Empire’s just mindless fun, which is never a bad thing to have in life.
Glad to see you’re enjoying Agent Carter