Entries Tagged 'TV' ↓

You’ve gotta wade past 1:50 of what looks like late ’60s, public access-level Dutch TV sitcomedy. But if you live through that, in sight is a glorious YouTube of Carl Douglas lip-syncing his signature 1974 track, “Kung-Fu Fighting.” [Insert Bruce Lee wild cat sound here.]

Devil in the details: Chef Gordon Ramsay emerges from the flames

Hell’s Kitchen, whose 4th season begins tonight on FOX at 9 pm ET/8 pm CT, didn’t get even a nod from me during its first two seasons, but after a chance viewing last year, I’ve become perversely hooked. Set in the titular TV restaurant/studio of Scottish chef Gordon James Ramsay, the contest pits two ambitious teams of would-be head cooks against each other, as they struggle to win top dog status in their own “million-dollar restaurant” (although, when you think of it, a million-dollar restaurant could be, like, a little corner eatery).

So what? This is the essential topology of every r-show since the May 2000 U.S. debut of Survivor. I think what roped me in, however, is:

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Forgive me: I don’t mean to put a sister’s business out in the street, but I have never been as shocked to find out a person’s age as I was during a recent chance lookup of actor Rachel True (Half & Half), right, on Wikipedia.

According to Wiki, True was born on November 15, 1966. This makes her 41 years old.

I’m sorry, but I find this absolutely mind-boggling. My wife and I became real fans of True’s gentle little farce, which ran from September 2002 to May 2006 on the now defunct UPN network. True, with Essence Atkins, played one of two San Francisco-based stepsisters, navigating missteps in careers, relationships, with their mothers, and each other. True, who I’d argue looked no older than 25 in the role—if that—played her character, Mona, with genuine pluck; the one relatively normal human being in a cast of kooks.

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Totally wicked video for “DVNO” by the French dance duo, Justice, from their 2007 album †, usually referred to as Cross. (Plus, to accompany your inevitable sense of deja vu, an attempt to identify the logotypes.) Thanks to Bobby Sattler’s wonderful Whole Lot of BS blog for hipping me to this.

This Skittles “Midas Touch” commercial is a thing of perverse beauty, but you’ve gotta watch the 45-second version, here, with the brief monologue in the center, to glom the true art of it.

Pablo Escobar (1949-1993), Medellín Cartel mastermind, the most notorious drug kingpin in history, and inspiration to an entire generation of rappers…had a soft spot for hippopotamuses.

Please: Would someone just shoot me?

According to this article in Animation Magazine, Tyler Perry is in discussions to do—help me—a Madea cartoon series:

Perry’s yet untitled project will follow his character Madea on her comedic trials and tribulations, and will teach “children about family values, in a way that only Madea could!” “After receiving thousands of letters from parents telling me how much their kids love Madea and realizing that a lot of the plays were not kid friendly,” says Perry, “I wanted to do something more appropriate and this seems to be it. A ‘Madea’ animation looks like the best way.”

Actually, the really best way would be for people to stop watching movies and plays with Madea in them, no?

I don’t really care about the new $44,825, 2008 Mercedes-Benz M-Class, or Benzes generally, but I would give my eyeteeth to get a high-quality loop of the music that beds this commercial, titled “Most.”

In the spot, while car action footage mixes with testimonials to M-B superiority from Mercedes engineers, factory workers, and other employees, a full chorale sings a hushed epinicion, or song of triumph, underneath. One can detect a bowed string bass, and very occasional, light percussion. Together, the sound is warm…and expectant.

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If you’re an adult Black person, you’ve probably had the following experience more than once:

You’re walking down the street, or a supermarket aisle, or an office hallway, when you recognize a white friend or colleague—someone with whom you’ve had fairly regular, or even recent, contact—coming toward you from the opposite direction. Your face warms expectantly as you get closer to them, only to have them go right past you, often after glancing directly at you in your face.

You then turn around and call out their name. They stop, look at you, then burst into smiles and recognition. “I didn’t notice it was you!”, they apologize.

Sound familiar?

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You know the “My Talking Stain” commercial for Tide-to-Go that ran during the Super Bowl, and has been widely circulated since?

In it, a guy is interviewing for a job, but while answering questions, a stain on his shirt—it looks like java—sprouts a mouth and starts talking gibberish. It does this so incessantly that it overwhelms the prospective employer’s attention and completely drowns out the interviewee.

This funny ad urges consumers to buy Tide’s portable stain removing pen and not let the messes on their clothes send an unintended message. In fact, the spot’s so good, I only noticed on, maybe, the third viewing, a little bit of disclaimer text, right at the end:

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