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Television

Should ‘Community’ Stay In Session — Or Is It Time to Graduate?

By Jason Bailey on

For the past 12 weeks, in this space, Flavorwire has recapped the abbreviated, delayed, and frequently problematic fourth season of NBC’s Community. As you certainly all know by now, the third year of the often brilliant series concluded with the abrupt sacking of creator/showrunner Dan Harmon, whose distinctive, idiosyncratic sensibility gave the show much of its voice, and whose comic genius was reportedly matched only by his inability to suffer suits gladly. The transition to new showrunners Moses Port and David Guarascio was certain to be bumpy, and it was. But now that Community‘s senior year has come to a close, it’s worth asking: should the show carry on, or is it time to send the Greendale crew (and the gifted actors who play them) out into the Real World? … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. After facing the ire of many professional musicians, Amanda Palmer has announced that she’ll now pay the volunteer string, brass, and saxophone players who have been joining her on stage with money — not just “beer, hugs, merch, free tickets, and love.” [via ArtsBeat]

2. Best Coast is opening for Green Day… Read More

Television

Watch a Supercut of Shockingly Similar Aaron Sorkinisms

By Judy Berman on

If, for some reason, you continue watching The Newsroom and you come across a line you’re sure you’ve heard before, don’t assume it’s déjà vu. It’s more likely you really have already encountered it — in some other Aaron Sorkin TV show or movie. This fantastic seven-minute supercut, billed as “a tribute to the work of Aaron Sorkin: the recycled dialogue, recurring phrases, and familiar plot lines,” reveals just how often the renowned writer steals from himself, from catchphrases to dads with secret girlfriends to gay Jesus asides. Hear the cavalcade of “I’m really quite something”s, “I’m not other people”s, and “This isn’t happening”s below. … Read More

Television

Watch 'The West Wing' Cast Reunite in a Walk and Talk for a Good Cause

By Judy Berman on

Perhaps it’s because we can’t help comparing HBO’s new comedy, Veep, to it, but The West Wing has been on our minds more than usual lately. So we’re pretty excited to see that Funny or Die has reunited the cast — yes, even Martin Sheen — for one more of its signature walk-and-talks. This new clip finds Allison Janney’s C.J. Cregg commandingly marching her quick-quipping staff down the hall to the Oval Office, where President Bartlet is primed to give yet another stirring, historically minded speech. Best of all, this reunion is for a good cause: The West Wing cast is promoting Every Body Walk!, a fitness initiative aimed at getting all Americans to spend half an hour a day walking. (Walk and talk, Every Body Walk! — see what they did there?) Watch the video after the jump. … Read More

Television

15 of the All-Time Most Powerful Women on TV

By Judy Berman on

Veronica Mars is coming back to TV. Now, don’t get excited — there are no new episodes in the works. (Kristen Bell is 31 years old at this point, after all.) But this Sunday, fans will be able to stuff themselves with wisecracking teen-sleuth goodness as SOAPnet kicks off its syndication of the series with an 11-hour marathon. We’re so excited to see such a strong female character on television again that we’re celebrating by rounding up 15 of the all-time most powerful women on TV. From Mary Richards to Daenerys Targaryen, our picks are after the jump. Leave your additions in the comments. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. “I agreed to be a part of a fun and creative campaign that was supposed to feature a dream sequence. Unfortunately, that’s not what was happening in that clip. I understand my fans being upset by what they saw. But, if you’re a Mary fan, you have to know I would never allow an… Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Caroline Stanley on

Today at Flavorpill, we saw 50 things that we will never see in real life (a list that includes a chihuahua wearing double cheeseburgers for shoes and someone with a Mrs. Doubtfire tattoo) over on BuzzFeed. We enjoyed Mental Floss’ roundup of 11 outrageously obscure West Wing characters who resurfaced on… Read More

Television

Flavorpill’s Zagat-Style Guide to TV’s Best Thanksgiving Episodes

By Jason Bailey on

Thanksgiving is upon us, and it’s high time to enjoy all of our favorite yearly traditions: the turkey, the stuffing, the pumpkin pie, the awkward family encounters, pretending to care about football… and, most of all, that venerable standby of episodic television, the Thanksgiving show. As best as we can determine, the first weekly series to do a Thanksgiving-centered episode was The Burns and Allen Show, back in 1951; Ozzie and Harriet, Father Knows Best, Make Room for Daddy, and Mr. Peepers quickly followed suit, realizing that a Thanksgiving show offered plenty of fodder for conflict, resolution, and warm holiday cheer. We’ve selected ten of our favorite Thanksgiving episodes — and in the culinary spirit of the holiday, we present them in the ever-popular Zagat’s dining guide format, because why not? Check ‘em out after the jump and add your own in the comments. … Read More

Television

Can This Danish Political Drama Rival ‘The West Wing’?

By Caroline Stanley on

Those of you who have had a West Wing-shaped hole in your TV viewing heart for the past five years, brace yourselves; NBC plans to adapt an award-winning Danish drama known as Borgen (“Government”) that covers much of the same territory, with Friday Night Lights executive producer David Hudgins writing the script and co-producing the series. “Borgen focuses on the fight for political power and its consequences,” reports Deadline. “It centers on smart and sexy 40-year-old populist party leader Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) who scores a surprise election victory only to discover the biggest challenge of her life is yet to come.” Given how well the last TV import from Denmark — The Killing — did with American viewers, and the fact that we’re headed into an election year, we think this one sounds promising. Click through to watch a trailer for the original version (which will air in the US on Link TV), and let us know if you think an adaptation of the material is a good idea. … Read More

Television

TV's Most Egregious Rip-Offs

By Jason Bailey on

As we may have mentioned a time or twelve, we’re less than pleased that we had to go an entire summer without a new season of Mad Men. While we’re waiting for its postponed winter season premiere, however, the fine folks at NBC and ABC have been kind enough to offer up some alternatives — and hey, look at that, they just so happen to each have a show set in the early ‘60s, all full of vintage styles and attitudes! ABC’s Pan Am (starring Christina Ricci) focuses on a group of stewardesses and pilots working for the titular airline; executive producer/director Thomas Schlamme (who, in all fairness, has done a lot of good television) says — insists — “It’s not the time period it takes place in, it’s not the characters. It has nothing to do with Mad Men.” Uh huh. NBC, meanwhile, is offering up The Playboy Club (“Basically, it’s Mad Men with boobs,” said Joel McHale at a press event), focusing on the staff at the famed nightclub — where, huh, Mad Men’s Lane Price had a membership and a girlfriend last season. What a coincidence!

Television is a business, of course, so it would stand to reason that networks would want to hedge their bets by giving viewers more of a good thing they like. More often than not, however, TV’s copycats fail — because viewers see right through the ruse, and because the reason they liked the trendsetters was that they were new and unique, unlike the other stuff on the tube. After the jump, we’ll take a look at some of the most blatant Xeroxes in TV history. … Read More