SNL's New Cast Members

This Vulture post shows us the 3 new SNL cast members for the new season. Will Forte has announced that he's leaving, to which I say, Ohhhhhhhhh Nooooooooo! I'm too uninterested in any of the newbies to watch any of the embedded videos.

For the love of of all that is holy (and funny), please, Lorne Michaels, diversify the SNL cast. There's a whole lot of material that you're missing out on without cast members to represent it. Especially if Keenan leaves, as the Vulture post suggests.

(The picture is the 2008-2009 cast.)

The Emmys

The Emmy's are on on Sunday! What a way to kick off the new TV season. The show is being televised on NBC this year with Jimmy Fallon hosting. I have high hopes for his performance -- I remember his MTV movie award year being pretty good and I love his pop culture tilt. Maybe there will even be an appearance of an old SNL skit or two? Fingers are crossed for the Barry Gibb Talk Show or Robert is Bothered. It will be interesting to see how the Emmys writers/NBC non-address the whole late night debacle.

Here's the official Emmy nomination list, and here's an easier to read all-in-one list.

Here are my thoughts:

-DRAMA-

OUTSTANDING DRAMA
Lost - will Lost win for its last season? I wasn't that impressed...
Breaking Bad - People love this show, but I've never seen it.
Dexter - This is a good show but I think that Michael C. Hall's nom for best actor covers this base.
(09) Mad Men - The Emmys love this show and so I do I. I hope it wins, again.
True Blood - It's crazy that this got nominated!
The Good Wife - Never seen it.

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA (I don't really have a horse in this race.)
Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) - NSI.
Mariska Hargitay (Special Victims Unit) - I love her but I haven't seen the past few seasons.
(09) Glenn Close (Damages) - NSI.
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) - I feel like she wins for this every other year, but NSI.
January Jones (Mad Men) - I don't like her character or her acting.
Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) - NSI.

I'm having a hard time thinking of someone who got shafted in this category...

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Jon Hamm (Mad Men) - Winnah, winnah!
Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) - I still think of Kyle Chandler as the guy from Early Edition. NSI.
(09) Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) - The dad from Malcom in the Middle apparently now plays a meth addict. NSI
Hugh Laurie (House M.D.) - My husband doesn't need any more Emmys.
Michael C. Hall (Dexter) - This wouldn't be sad.
Matthew Fox (Lost) - Best crier in the biz.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
John Slattery (Mad Men) - Silver fox of the year. See Terry O'Quinn.
Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) - NSI.
Martin Short (Damages) - NSI.
Terry O’ Quinn (Lost) - Since this is his last year to be nominated, I hope he wins! Locke/Smokey was just about the best part of this last season.
(09) Michael Emerson (Lost) - Giving googley eyes a bad name since '04. This wouldn't be sad, I suppose. And I love the rumors that he and Terry O'Quinn are shopping for a show to co-star in.
Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age) - NSI.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Sharon Gless (Burn Notice) - NSI.
Christine Baranski (The Good Wife) - NSI.
Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) - second to Peggy.
Rose Byrne (Damages) - NSI.
Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) - NSI.
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) - YES! Sidenote: I was very sad to hear about her and Fred Armisen's divorce.

-COMEDY-

OUTSTANDING COMEDY - My choices are ranked 1-5.
Glee - 3. (This has a good chance of winning, I think.)
Modern Family - 2. This show is incredible.
Nurse Jackie - NSI.
(09) 30 Rock - 1.
The Office - 4. Don't get me wrong, I love the Office, but I think it's past its prime.
Curb Your Enthusiasm - 5. I can't take this show in large doses.

Missing: Community and Parks & Rec could easily be nominated if the Office was.

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Lea Michele (Glee) - 3.
Tina Fey (30 Rock) - 1. Recently overheard in a bar: after a USA! USA! chant, a small but devoted subset of TINA FEY! TINA FEY!
(09) Toni Collette (The United States of Tara) - NSI, though she's an incredible actress.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine) - NSI.
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) - NSI
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) - 2. She kills this role.

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm) - Meh. he's not really acting.
(09) Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) -1.
Matthew Morrison (Glee) - 3.
Steve Carell (The Office) - 2.
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) - This show drives me up a wall.
Tony Shalhoub (Monk) - Thankfully, this is the last year of Monk's existence.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY - I can't decide about this category -- I would be happy if anyone OTHER THAN Jon Cryer wins. I'm sure he's a lovely person, but Two and a Half Men is maybe the worst show that ever existed.
Chris Colfer (Kurt, Glee) - I read someplace that when Chris Colfer auditioned for Glee, they wrote a role specially for him.
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) - I love NPH and Barney is often the best part of the show.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) - He is so damn funny in this show.
(09) Jon Cryer (Two and A Half Men) - Bleh.
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) - "This can't be your first moon landing."
Ty Burrell (Modern Family) - My top choice of the Modern Fam contenders.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Jane Lynch (Glee) - 2. Jane Lynch WILL win an Emmy for this role... but give it to her next year.
Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live) -1. Kristen Wiig is HYSTERICAL and super versatile. This would be highly unlikely, but my choice, nonetheless.
Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) - 3. I don't love Jane Krakowski, but she does really well in the Jenna role.
Julie Bowen (Modern Family) - 5. Julie Bowen must have the best agent in television -- she's been in some of the best shows on TV (Lost, Weeds, Modern Family).
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family) - 4. She is hilarious.
Holland Taylor (Two and A Half Men) - see Jon Cryer.

-REALITY- I am uninterested in this category.

-VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY-

OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
The Colbert Report - 2. Give it to Colbert, already! Stewart wins every year.
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart - 3.
Real Time With Bill Maher - NSI.
Saturday Night Live - 4. This past season was pretty solid, overall, but not as solid as Colbert or Stewart.
The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien - 1. THIS WOULD BE SCANDALOUS.

-MINISERIES OR MOVIE - I hate the miniseries/tv movie categories because I have never seen any of them.

Let the best TV win! I may be so bold as to write a red carpet post tomorrow.

True Blood S3 E9: VOMpires

Yowza. This episode began and ended with Russell Edgington losing his SHIT. His southern gentleman decorum has slowly been cracking as the season has unfolded, and now he's really gone off the campy deep end. I didn't like the closing scene much; I thought it was too over the top, even for True Blood.

I am looking forward to the Eric/Edgington showdown, which I can only hope that Jason will somehow be involved in, because he's on a roll. We all knew that Tara's bludgeoning didn't actually kill Franklin, but Jason's wooden bullet sure did! Poor Tara. It's good to see her getting help. There's obviously something creepy about Holly -- let's just hope she's not a maenad. Also, computers exist in Bon Temps? When she pulled that laptop onto the table, I gasped at the sight. Do they know how to Google there?

I was bored with Sookie and Bill this episode -- I don't really care if he steals her light, or whatever. I was much more interested in Eric and Pam, and how Eric told "the authority" everything. And it was touching that Pam was so concerned for Eric. Also, I am really rooting for Jessica and Hoyt. I think the whole accidental trucker murder is kind of a weak device to keep them apart. The best couple action this episode, though, was by far Lafayette and Jesus. They are adorable, and I can't wait to see what kind of crazy Jesus turns out to be.

Oh right, Sam snapped, too. He's been repressing his frustration for far too long. Sorry, meth lab dad. I have gone so far as to fast forward through the Sam scenes this season because it's so boring. I am not invested in him or his family -- though maybe now that his story is overlapping with Jason's (who has finally found someone as stupid as he is) both plot lines will be worth watching. It's hard to compete with the vampire action this season.

After the last episode that was so good, overall this one felt slow and didn't move much forward, aside from the last 5 minutes. Only 3 episodes left in the season!

Mad Men S3E4: My boyfriend is renting my vagina

Peggy, you are my hero. Elizabeth Moss killed it in this episode. My connection buffered just as she was peeking through the glass into Don's office and I wanted to take a screenshot -- it was brilliant. Even more brilliant: John Slattery (Roger Sterling) directed (and Matthew Weiner is one of the credited writers). But back to Peggy, she stole every scene for me, which is saying a lot because Vincent Kartheiser was incredible as well. Pete is such a slimy "son of a bitch"-- well put, father-in-law -- but at least he's finally figuring out how to be good at it.

And I loved the closing scene of Peggy and her hipster friends separated by a physical barrier from Pete and his father-in-law and the agency mucky mucks -- and then Don with the elderly couple in the hall of his building. Am I reading it correctly that the old lady is creeped out by Don and doesn't want to speak in front of him, or was she just being cranky with her husband?

I love the possibility of Peggy getting deeper into the NY art scene -- but where does Don have left to go? I guess rock bottom... sleeping with Mrs. Blankenship? The thing about not watching shows on TV is that you don't see the "next week on..." trailer snippet during the credits or any subsequent advertising. I have a horrible sneaking suspicion that next week we're going to see Betty's return, which could already be confirmed at this point. I have immensely enjoyed her absence these past few episodes.

Overall, I loved this episode, and it was nice to see a character experiencing some positive forward momentum (even in the midst of revisiting her darkest hour) in a season that has so far been pretty dark.

Why I love "Community"

I just read this interview with Community creator Dan Harmon, and -- mission accomplished, NBC press team -- I am now even more psyched for Season 2. Community was one of my favorite shows last year, and it was also one of the shows that I would always want to talk about with someone (the paintball episode! the Goodfellas episode! John Oliver! the finale was TERRBILE!), but no one watched it. Hence, blog.

Anyway, here is my endorsement. When I saw the commercials for the premiere last fall, I rolled my eyes at the premise: fast-talking lawyer Jeff gets caught with a forged undergrad degree and has to return to Community College to be legit. Enter rag-tag group of misfits. Misfits teach Jeff that life is not all about money and spin. Hilarity ensues. It sounded so lame that I didn't watch the show for months. After seeing just one episode though, I quickly caught up. Here's why:

1. It's insanely, razor-sharp funny, similar to 30 Rock. It's reference-heavy, like Family Guy, which isn't for everyone but I happen to love, and it can cover a lot of pop-culture ground in one episode. (Read this earlier interview with Dan Harmon about his thoughts on the show's humor).

2. The cast is incredible. I have always had a strange affection for Jeff McHale in The Soup, so I was on board for him as lead, but Danny Pudi as Abed, Donald Glover as Troy, Yvette Brown as Shirley, Alison Brie/Trudy Campell as Annie -- rounded out with Ken Jeong as Senor Chang and CHEVY CHASE as Pierce -- all have serious chops and bring weight and depth to already well conceived characters. I linked their IMDB profiles for convenience and conspicuously omitted Gillian Jacobs as Britta because my jury's still out on her -- or maybe just the Britta character.

3. I love the way Community handles the Jeff/Britta will they? won't they? relationship. They're so meta about it from the beginning (and get a kiss out of the way early) that it's not the same old, same old (at least to me).

Hopefully Community will get the attention it deserves in its second season, or it will be another one of those well loved by a few, short lived shows like Freaks and Geeks. And probably Parks and Rec if it's stuck on Tuesdays.