Inspired by this amazing Daria photo shoot from deviantART user SoDespair, we decided to scour the Internet for some of the best ’90s-inspired cosplay that we could find. The super meta part in all this is that even though what we now call “cosplay” has been around for ages (you might know it better as “playing dress up,” only really, really well), its soaring popularity took off in the US during the 1990s, thanks to an increasing interest in Japanese anime. Since then, film and television fans have combed through pop culture’s most colorful characters to come up with what are, in many cases at least, truly incredible costumes. Some cosplayers truly transform their roles by staging a scene straight out of the past, while others can be admired for their spot-on caricatures no matter where they flaunt them. Click through for our roundup of seriously ’90s cosplay, and let us know in the comments which costume gets your vote. … Read More
Daria
10 Potentially Awesome TV Spin-Offs That Never Happened
There has been no shortage of terrible TV-show spin-offs over the years. Remember Joey, which followed the least interesting character on Friends? How about Joanie Loves Chachi? The surfeit of awful derivative series make it that much more depressing when a spin-off we really, really want to happen never makes it past the pilot stage. After the jump, we take a look at 10 spin-offs that sounded promising but never made it to primetime. Tell us which ones you’d add in the comments. … Read More
What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office
Today at Flavorpill, we enjoyed Nerve’s roundup of five bands named after Smiths songs — in order of their Smithiness, of course. We wondered what was motivating these women struggling to drink water. We watched four seasons’ worth of Tom Haverford’s absurd pickup lines on Parks and Recreation. We… Read More
10 Sitcoms That Actually Moved Women Forward
‘Tis the season to be a woman on TV comedies. If you’ve spent the last few months living in a television-less cave, you might be surprised to discover that we’ve reached a bit of a renaissance of female-driven network sitcoms. (Also, you might be surprised to be back in society! In that case, hello! Hope your time in the cave was okay!) The latest primetime trend is usually a pretty boring and inconsequential thing to discuss, but we’re now at a moment in which a significant portion of the surviving and debatably thriving fall sitcoms have women as their comedic leads (See: New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, Whitney, etc.). If you ask us, that’s a pretty neat thing!
Still, while we love that these funny ladies are dismantling the boys club of primetime TV while simultaneously getting a shot to spice up the comedy scene, we can’t help but wonder if these shows themselves are doing all that we proclaim they are. If you ask us, it’s not even about feminism, per se; it’s more about pushing the envelope by including female-specific perspectives in humor. (A little less banal period jokes, a little more Bridesmaids, you know?) After the jump, we’re taking a look at some of the great females of sitcom history. Consider it our attempt to remind Zooey that fabulous bangs does not an instant comedic legend make. … Read More
10 Cartoon Ladies With Killer Style
In about a week Shout Factory will be releasing a sparkly pink box set of JEM and The Holograms. The truly outrageous series follows Starlight Music maven Jerrica Benton and her pop music alter-ego, Jem, who leads the band The Holograms. The show has gained a sizable cult following over the years thanks to all the glamour, glitter, fashion, and fame. While the boyfriend drama and scuffles with sinister rival bands, The Misfits and The Stingers, are amusing to watch (note: we never noticed how many catastrophic, fiery explosions happened on the show until recently), Jem’s unlimited wardrobe of ’80s-riffic fashions always wowed us. And her glam rock makeup, and her giant pink hair (everyone’s coiffure is enormous, actually). What other cartoon ladies had great personal style? Here’s our list of fashionable favorites. Now tell us your picks. … Read More
10 Great Pop-Culture Homages to ‘The Shining’
What would you want in a sequel to The Shining? A grown-up Danny Torrance’s return to the Overlook Hotel? Tony-the-index-finger’s escape from an insane asylum? A tribe of psychic energy-sucking vampires on the hunt for Danny’s clairvoyance? If you chose that last one, you’re in luck! After years of rumors, Stephen King’s reading at George Mason University served as a preview of his upcoming Dr. Sleep, a tale of 40-year-old Danny’s run-in with vampires. True, everything is about vampires these days, but y’know, it’s Stephen King — fangs were his forte long before the fad. To honor this news, we’ve gathered some excellent pop-culture homages to King’s 1977 thriller and Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation. Check out some terrifying twins and endless corridors after the jump. … Read More
Hipsters on TV: A Retrospective from Fonzie to ‘Portlandia’
The oxymoronical has happened: Hipsters have gone mainstream. After two weeks on the air, it’s clear that NBC’s Two Broke Girls and Fox’s New Girl are ratings hits — attracting around 12 million and nine million viewers, respectively. What the sitcoms have in common is young female protagonists who (due to living in Williamsburg, baking cupcakes, and dating musicians or wearing glasses and being portrayed by Zooey Deschanel) could fairly be described as hipsters. And it looks like the trend is only just beginning: 25-year-old micro-budget filmmaker Lena Dunham is currently prepping a show called Girls for HBO, and MTV recently gave viewers a sneak preview of the pilot for the Wavves-scored I Just Want My Pants Back, about 20-something creative types living in Brooklyn. (Don’t worry if you missed out — it may well have been the worst half-hour of television we have ever watched.)
But just because they seem to be having a renaissance in 2011, that doesn’t mean hipsters are new to TV. In honor of an archetype whose roots stretch all the way back to the ’50s, we’ve compiled a retrospective of our favorite hipster television characters, from Happy Days to Portlandia. Since we figure you probably know about some incredibly obscure shows we wouldn’t have heard of, we hope you’ll assume your best elitist voice and tell us who we missed in the comments. … Read More
The Most Realistic TV Shows About High School, Like, Ever
Only in its first season now, and just recently renewed for a second, MTV’s Awkward. is one of the most unexpectedly honest series about high school we’ve seen in years. Sure, we all like to gape at the impossibly glamorous teen dramas dreamt up by Josh Schwartz, of The O.C. and Gossip Girl fame. But in real life, high school is raw and uncomfortable and histrionically mundane, and it takes an exceptionally perceptive program to get at the mood of those terrible and wonderful years. In celebration of Awkward., we’ve rounded up the TV shows we think best capture the high school experience. … Read More
The 10 Best Songs by Cartoon Musicians
We all know the mental agony that is the earworm, the frustration of having one song unwelcomely soundtrack your actions throughout a day, from shampooing your hair to hailing a cab. This torture crosses over into the realm of humiliation when the tune you can’t stop humming is performed by a group of cartoon characters. And yet, our enjoyment of these songs isn’t always unwarranted — plenty of the songs we hear on cartoons are catchy as hell. So plug in your earphones and turn away from nearby coworkers because we’ve compiled a list of undeniably good jams that just so happen to have been sung by animated musicians. Check out our choices after the jump and be sure to leave your own suggestions in the comments. … Read More
A Brief Survey of Celebrities and Artists Dressed as Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol’s art was all about reappropriation and recontextualization, so the many pop-culture portrayals of the artist seem like the best possible tribute. Everyone from Guy Pearce to David Bowie has done Warhol on the big screen, and today an image of Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader playing the role in Men in Black III is making the rounds. (Side note: Anyone have a clue what Warhol is even doing in this movie?) Artists have also been known to don the white wig for conceptual commentaries on pop art — and, sometimes, celebrities get dolled up as Warhol just for kicks (or magazine covers). Check out some notable impersonations after the jump. … Read More
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