The fall used to mean holidays. Now it means pumpkin coffee.
The movie THE WALK is causing people to throw up. Can you imagine what those theaters must smell like by the 10:00 PM show?
Since I personally prefer not to vomit, I am avoiding THE WALK. And THE INTERN.
Netanyahu may be a jerk but he never met with Kim Davis.
Stephen Colbert’s show is now pretty good… if you tune in ten minutes late.
John Oliver’s show is great… if you only tune in for ten minutes.
The baseball playoffs begin tonight. Exclusive TV coverage can be found on ESPN, MLB-TV, Fox, Fox cable, and TBS. Let me make this easier – the only network not covering the playoffs is BABY FIRST TV.
When you’re listening to networks hype their great new shows, just remember – the big out-of-the-gate hit last season was CRISTELA.
An annual pass at Disneyland now costs $1000. Walt’s heirs can’t afford that.
What did they call bed bugs before there were beds? Or did they come after and it’s just part of evolution?
Trevor Noah is getting there. Give him time. But he’s already made me forget about Craig Kilbourne.
Hey kids, dress as Donald Trump this Halloween. That way, when you go trick-or-treating you can just grab as much candy as you can regardless of anyone else.
Huffpost Headline: Kirsten Dunst thinks TV Is Way Better Than Film. There you have it. The final confirmation.
Another HuffPost Headline: Just Two People Having Sex On Cannes Red Carpet. Just two people? How many usually do it?
There’s going to be a TV adaptation of LETHAL WEAPON. Skinheads are invited to audition for the Mel Gibson role.
Hey, my Cincinnati Bengals are 4-0. I know. Shame on me for not rooting for my local NFL team.
If Hillary loses as President she can play the head nurse on DR. KEN.
Rehearsals continue for HOLLYWOOD SHORTS at the Whitefire Theatre in Studio City (the liver of Broadway) opening Oct. 19th. I have a one-act play that I wrote and directed called WAITING FOR GO. Here's my sensational cast of Paul Pape and Elizabeth Bliss-Bley finding laughs where I didn't know there were laughs. Come see.
"Trevor Noah is getting there. Give him time. But he’s already made me forget about Craig Kilbourne."
ReplyDeleteGood to know, thanks!
"Huffpost Headline: "Kirsten Dunst thinks TV Is Way Better Than Film". There you have it. The final confirmation."
I'm so sick of newspapers at the moment. There was a recent national newspaper that declared the new head of the Labour Party (think Democratic Party): "Verdict: Honest, but Poor Leader". He'd been leader for 13 days at the time.
Here's my sensational cast of Paul Pape and Elizabeth Bliss-Bley finding laughs where I didn't know there were laughs.
ReplyDeleteDown the back of the sofa?
Show Runner: "We need five more jokes before we can go home tonight. Everyone check down the back of the sofas."
Since you asked, Ken, I watch Colbert, Fallon and Conan on YouTube. They each entertain me in different ways. I enjoy them all for different reasons.
ReplyDeleteI loved THE WALK. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is brilliant and Zemeckis's direction is fantastic. Definitely worth seeing.
ReplyDeleteJohnny, I wouldn't really compare Labour under new leader Jeremy Corbyn to the Democrats. For a start, no leading Democrat has invited members of Hamas and Hezbollah to Washington and called them his or her friends.
ReplyDeleteJudd Nelson says he should have beaten up the journalist who came up with the term "Brat Pack." And at the same time, Judd, please do a number on the person who invented the term "Red Sox Nation." It's why I'm rooting for the Rangers, or Astros, or Pirates -- heck, anyone other than the Yankees or Cardinals -- ahead of the Cubs. It would be like 2004, only ten times worse. (Remember all those pink-hatted yuppies sinnging "Sweet Caroline"?) At least in 2005, when they ended an even longer curse -- 88 years to 86, and the Black Sox scandal easily trumps "No, No, Nanette" as curse material, although Ken Burns and his tweedy PBS crowd never would dare admit it -- Chisox fans didn't strut around as if they invented the sport. And in 2015, with "Back to the Future II"...jeez, this could be annoying. In spades.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, today is the 107th birth anniversary of the lady in my avatar. Give Carole Lombard a nice thought today -- or even better, check out one of her movies online. She's why Shelley Long, as wonderful as she is, only ranks as the second greatest comic actress from Fort Wayne, Indiana.
I said in the comment section of another blog that since the secular world is finally coming around to acceptance of gays, I can't be too upset about the Pope, a non-secular figure if there ever was once, meeting with Kim Davis. As for Davis herself, as a public figure, she IS part of the secular world, or should be.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't stand the secular heat, get out of the secular kitchen.
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ReplyDelete"Trevor Noah is getting there. Give him time. But he’s already made me forget about Craig Kilbourne." Funny you should say that. Watching the first segment of last night's show, I was thinking that Noah was channeling too much Kilborn. First time in forever that I'm thinking about giving TDS a rest.
ReplyDeleteBack in the day the PR hype for "The Exorcist" was that it caused people to faint and throw up in the theaters. I guess you can't beat the oldies but goodies in press agentry.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@Peter It's a simple fact that the Labour Party is the dominant centre-left political party in the UK, much like the Democratic Party is the dominant centre-left party of the US. Both are two-party systems. To try and argue otherwise just so you can take a quote out of context order to voice your own political leanings is pointless.
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about Kilborn long before Trevor Noah.
ReplyDeleteSo, Ken...you've never seen MAN ON WIRE?
ReplyDeleteNever mind pumpkin coffee, PUMPKIN BEER! What the hell is that about?
ReplyDeleteI've seen "Man on Wire" (loved it) and I also just saw "The Walk", in 3D IMAX. As a movie? Not the greatest. As an experience? Stunning. The footage of the Twin Towers, and the walk itself, is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience, on a big screen (and in 3D, although I'm not sure that's as necessary). This reminds me of "Gravity", which will never be the same as it was in a theater on a big screen. I got used to JGL's French accent in a few minutes (and he actually DOES sound just like Philip Petit), and however corny the script and voiceover might be, you will forget ALL of it once you're up on that roof with the characters. I can't think of many other movies that made me feel like I'd actually been somewhere else, and experienced an event myself.
ReplyDeleteMy husband enjoys Shock Top Pumpkin. What can I say? Home sick today (leaves falling = allergies) and I watched a horrible "Doris Day" show from 1968. What a nightmare. Do you know anyone who wrote for this travesty? They ran a background laugh track almost throughout the whole show.Very unfunny. Also saw attractions for Carson where he was interviewing Burt Reynolds. So sad to see 2 very big stars of that era. What a drag it is getting old.Janice B.
ReplyDeleteIt took fifteen shows for Colbert, as smart as he is, to realize he shouldn't do the announce. Still, the show is too Colbert-centric as well as scripted. He's always performing, showing us how clever he is in the too many scripted bits, adding to the fake newscast glut among him, Seth Myers, Daily Show, etc., etc. The net effect of his performances is wearying & I'm sick of him before the show is over. He appears less interested in listening to his guests, making them shine & coming in for the occasional witty rejoinder, something Dave was so good at, than being poised to jump on their words & try to top them, often talking over them & making them seem less than comfortable. He's very selfish about sharing the stage with anyone, and plays to the camera instead of mixing it up with others. Less is more, Stephen. And as for the opening, maybe he'll be smart enough to eventually realize the announce of the guests is anticlimactic when it's done twice (once by him, once by the announcer) up front. And when you're going for a joke at the end of the up front piece of business en route to the announce, it's a mistake to do it in conjunction with the music kicking in again, because unless it's a really great joke, which most of them haven't been, it can't help but fall flat. The music screams: Wait till you hear this one! And the joke replies: Meh.
ReplyDeleteKen Said:
ReplyDelete"Trevor Noah is getting there. Give him time. But he’s already made me forget about Craig Kilbourne."
You're delusional.
How can you possibly imagine a twenty-something comedian from South Africa offering any significant political insight to America besides what his writers tell him to say? You've been around, so you know for a fact he's reading off his prompter like a guy who is reading off his prompter. He's got no command of his arena, he's in over his head, and it's not like he has the time to take night classes in political science at his local community college.
If I were a shareholder with Viacom, I would be pissed. Affirmative action has it's limits.
My take on Colbert said...
ReplyDelete"It took fifteen shows for Colbert, as smart as he is..."
Agree with all your points.
Colbert tries WAY too hard. In the context of his former show, it wasn't as apparent since he was "playing a character" that was over the top. As a "normal person," he comes off as supremely neurotic. Being neurotic tends to undermine his political agenda for his show. He may be right, but he's a nut from the get-go, so you can't take him seriously. He just makes you tired, like your yappy drunk uncle during holiday gatherings.
Ken,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on being the only person in Hollywood that didn't get some type of producer credit on LIMITLESS.
Keith
"Dancin; Homer" is on! Quick question--Did you write "Capital City" with Tony Bennett in mind?
ReplyDeleteOverall I like Colbert's show, particularly the non-guest parts. I fast-forward through his Ellen-like dance segment at the beginning and the FIRST chorus of "Stephen, Stephen, Stephen", listen to a minute or two of lame jokes, watch the opening (still amazed at the "toy New York" effect), fast-forward through the SECOND chorus of "Stephen, Stephen, Stephen" (SERIOUSLY? TWICE?) and then it's about 15-20 minutes of comedy, some of which comes close to his "Colbert Report" material. And some, watered down, which falls pretty flat.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part is when the show has a musical guest, and I can stop and delete the show from my TiVo about 47 minutes in.
I watched Colbert on opening night, then two weeks later, and two weeks after that. No improvement. I have this to say to him and any other talk show hosts to whom it applies: When you ask a guest a questions, shut the fuck up and let him or her answer it.
ReplyDeleteWhy does everyone act like pumpkin beer is a new or strange thing? It's been around for hundreds of years, back to the early American settlers, who wanted to brew beer but lacked the traditional ingredients found in Europe. So, they improvised.
ReplyDeleteAt least, that's the story I heard.
Jay Leno is back on the scene. He's lost some weight, looks great, and his monologue kicked butt!!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?t=261&v=CSXeGLImW_E
Rumors around CBS is he's warming up for when he takes over for Colbert. Hope it happens. I miss Jay, and Colbert is just getting worse. He might work out well as a writer for Rachel Maddow though.
John Oliver is really getting bad. He needs to get a writing team together. They are not getting the job done, and they're leaving him out to twist with their lame jokes. Nothing worse than delivering a big joke, and the studio audience doesn't laugh, or tries to politely give him some response because they feel guilty for not finding him funny.
I think the 1931 FRANKENSTEIN had a nurse in the lobby for patrons overcome by shock. Movie hype is just getting sloppier.
ReplyDeleteEvery single goddam MLB playoff game on cable, which I don't have and don't want. Can't see any of the games until the Series. Are they TRYING to drive away viewers and fans, or is MLB no longer pretending to give a damn about anyone who isn't wealthy?
ReplyDeleteDon't get me started about the Don Orsillo firing.
ReplyDeleteTotal Bush League move by the Red Sox. Don won't be starving for long, but it wouldn't bother me if FOX sacked Joe Buck and put Orsillo into that role. He's that good. Better than Joe Buck, in fact.
Why do these organizations make such insane moves? I remember a few years ago when the new Turner people relegated Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren to the radio. Well, keep in mind, Braves fans everywhere had been watching them on WTBS since the 1970s. People rioted. TBS ratings tanked. Skip and Pete were back by July.
I'm with mike and don't like that all of the MLB playoff games are on cable/satellite, but it's been that way for awhile. I listen on the Internet or on Sirius/XM. Honestly, there's too many games for it to air on the networks, especially since only FOX has baseball TV rights over the air.
But don't get me started on all the playoff games. At one time, not so long ago, the World Series would be over by now.