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11 Shows That Wouldn’t Exist Without ‘Arrested Development’

By Jason Bailey on

Arrested Development fans are busy counting down the hours until Season 4 premieres this Sunday at midnight on Netflix, and here at Flavorwire, we’re no different. So, we’re passing the time by declaring this Arrested Development Week, all leading up to a Recap-a-thon on Sunday, when our own Jason Bailey will review the whole season, episode by episode. Click here to follow our coverage.

By now, the common wisdom is that Arrested Development’s original three-season run was influential and groundbreaking — but what, specifically, do we owe to the show? The dubious film career of Jason Bateman? David Cross appearing in those Alvin and the Chipmunks movies? The forgotten Fox animated flop Sit Down, Shut Up? Hardly. For your consideration, a brief survey of television programs that may never have existed were it not for the Bluth crew. … Read More

Television

What ACLU’s ‘Modern Family’ Marriage Campaign Says About Our Politicized, Wedding-Obsessed Culture

By Tyler Coates on

Yesterday, ACLU Action launched an online campaign urging producers of the massively popular sitcom Modern Family to incorporate a gay-wedding narrative in the show’s sixth season. In an era when no major network shows feature an openly gay character (this season saw the cancellations of The New Normal, Partners, Happy Endings, and Smash), Modern Family stands out in that it features two gay characters who are in a monogamous relationship and are raising an adopted daughter. The ACLU’s campaign argues that the couple should be wed, just like the two heterosexual couples on the show. Despite the good intentions on display, the campaign is completely absurd. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Judy Berman on

1. Forget being re-elected; we imagine Joe Biden’s even more excited to have landed a cameo on Parks and Recreation. The episode in which he appears will air next Thursday, November 15th. We hope Leslie Knope will be able to contain herself. Check out a video preview of Biden’s appearance at

Television

Exclusive Supercut: 50 TV Characters in Hilarious Halloween Costumes

By Michelle Rafferty on

It’s no secret we’ve spent a lot of October covering DIY Halloween getups. But for those who would rather live vicariously through others, or who are still looking for some inspiration, we’ve rounded up some of if the funniest costumes in TV history. Also, if anyone can explain how Penny and Max’s “mom-and-baby” costume works (see opening clip), would you mind dropping us a line in the comments? We’ve been scratching our heads on the logistics of that one for a while. … Read More

Television

The 15 Funniest TV Characters Right Now

By Judy Berman on

Is Andy Dwyer the funniest character on TV? We know we struggle to keep a straight face every time Chris Pratt is on the screen in Parks and Recreation, between his sweetly doofy lines and his perfectly timed pratfalls. (As our colleague Kim Gardner reminds us, he makes an excellent FBI agent, too.) Our love of Andy got us thinking about who else might qualify as television’s most hilarious character right now, so we surveyed the Flavorpill staff to get their picks. See the 15 they shouted out — including now fewer than three more Parks and Rec characters — after the jump. … Read More

Television

‘Modern Family’ Star Ty Burrell Creates Autobiographical Comedy

By Alison Nastasi on

ABC has just grabbed the rights to a comedy written and co-executive produced by Modern Family star Ty Burrell. The Oregon-set story is based on the Emmy-winning actor’s childhood with brother Duncan, who will also produce. “This is a comedy about two city families who buy the only store in a tiny rural community in… Read More

Television

10 Archetypes TV Needs to Get Over

By Judy Berman on

TV audiences apparently can’t get enough of Sherlock Holmes. With tonight’s premiere of Elementary, fans now have two shows starring the legendary fictional detective to choose from: the BBC’s acclaimed Sherlock, which produces just three episodes per season and airs in the US on PBS, and the new American version. The CBS series finds Jonny Lee Miller’s Holmes detoxing in New York, in the care of Lucy Liu’s Watson. Although we find the chemistry between those two promising, we’re not sure primetime needs another Sherlock Holmes.

Of course, both Sherlock Holmeses are just incarnations of an archetype TV dramas love: the rogue good guy. That realization got us thinking about characters we see far too often. So we’ve created a list of tired types we wish TV writers would lay off, at least for a while. Leave your additions in the comments. … Read More

Television

10 Emmy Awards 2012 Moments People Will Be Talking About

By Judy Berman on

It was a cruel irony that the year with the best Emmy nominations yielded one of the worst awards ceremonies in recent memory. Jimmy Kimmel was affable, but not particularly funny. With very few exceptions, the skits and gags were disastrous. (Should we really be encouraging Tracy Morgan these days?) And the winners were so bad, especially in the comedy categories, that we suggest the Academy consider outsourcing those decisions to real comedians for 2013. (Jon Cryer wins for Two and a Half Men?!) And yet, there were a few redeeming moments, thanks to perennial favorites like Breaking Bad, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Amy Poehler, and Jon Stewart. If you DVR’d the ceremony to watch tonight, we recommend you skip it; we’ve rounded up the only ten moments worth talking… Read More

Television

Flavorwire’s Emmy Picks and Predictions

By Judy Berman on

The 64th annual Primetime Emmys air tomorrow night, and at a time where there’s some kind of awards show just about every weekend, it’s one of the few we actually care about. More than the Grammys or the Oscars, the Emmys actually seem to recognize quality. Just take this year’s Outstanding Drama Series nominees: Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Homeland, and Mad Men — great shows, all. Since we’ve got several horses in this race, we’ve hazarded some guesses about which series and actors will take home an Emmy in the awards’ highest-profile categories, along with our own picks for who should win. Take our predictions to task in the comments, but don’t get too upset — with so much stellar programming to celebrate this year, everybody… Read More

Television

Your 2012 Emmy Crash Course

By Michelle Rafferty on

With only three days left until the Emmys, we have some serious cramming to do. In order to prepare, we’ve mapped out the most important episodes to watch, based on nomination submissions, buzz, numbers, and a personal favorite or two. We realize ten episodes is a lot, but if you dedicate yourself to pajamas and Seamless (that wasn’t a plug), we believe you can get through these by Sunday (when the ceremony airs on ABC, 8pm ET). Have a favorite episode that you think should have been submitted or included on this list? Any predictions you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments! … Read More