If I ran the Emmys: Comedy

No matter what Emmy voters say the cast of Parks and Rec should
be happy, they're on one of the best comedies on TV.

Alas between school, football, & my general inability to manage my time we've arrived at the day of the 2012 Emmys &, like last year, I've only managed to post my supporting actor/actress in a comedy picks so I'm going to speed through the rest in 2 posts, sadly, without any videos. First let's finish off the rest of the comedy nominations.

As I've mentioned before I watch more television than most Emmy voters, who are busy actually making TV, so I'm catching some performances & shows that they may be missing out on, & of course actual TV critics see more than I do so here's a professional's take* on lead actress in a comedy, lead actor in a comedy, & outstanding comedy series. 

*Again these posts are indeed a rip off  of Alan Sepinwall's Emmy posts, & I encourage you to read his TV criticism if you enjoy reading such things.

It's important to also note that like actual Emmy voters I'm restricted by whether or not an actor submitted themselves & where they chose to do so, so while I may think someone's a lead character if they submit in supporting I'm bound to honor that (I'm also not nominating anyone from shows I didn't watch at least a few episodes of, sorry Downton Abbey). Click here for the actual Emmy ballot. Now on to the nominees...

"The Office" Watch-"New Guys"

Dwight & "Dwight Jr."

The Office was the best comedy on television over its first four full seasons.* It was the first comedy I truly fell in love with.** Then it fell into mediocrity in its 6th & 7th seasons with special events like Jim & Pam's wedding & baby, or Michael Scott's farewell arc serving as reminders of how great the show once was & occasionally could still be. Then came the 8th season. Season 8 of The Office was always going to have a few bumps in the road as the show had to replace its center in Steve Carell's Michael Scott but it didn't just have a few bumps in the road, it was a disaster that led to the show's first truly bad season of television.***

If I Ran the Emmys: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Community pulls a hat trick in my version of the Emmys. 

We're on to the 2nd round of my "If I Ran the Emmys" series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, which is designed to give praise to those performances & shows I consider most deserving of recognition. As I've mentioned before I watch more television than most Emmy voters, who are busy actually making TV, so I'm catching some performances & shows that they may be missing out on, & of course actual TV critics see more than I do so here's a professional's take.*

*Again these posts are absolutely ripping off Alan Sepinwall's Emmy posts. In fact we even chose 5 of the same actors in this category & the one we did disagree on we just chose different actors from the same show, & that ratio isn't really going to change. So yea... You could just read his stuff, & if you enjoy television criticism than I highly recommend you do, but I hope you'll read mine anyway. 

It's important to also note that like actual Emmy voters I'm restricted by whether or not an actor submitted themselves & where they chose to do so, so while I may think someone's a lead character if they submit in supporting I'm bound to honor that (I'm also not nominating anyone from shows I didn't watch at least a few episodes of, sorry Downton Abbey). Click here for the actual Emmy ballot. As for the actual Emmys two years ago voters & I agreed on two nominees, last year that number shrunk to one & now I'm afraid, as with the Supporting Comedy Actress category, we couldn't find one nominee to agree on. Once again I leave it to you to decide who did a better job of singling out the best performances.

Third Annual NFL Preview!

Can Brady & Gronk lead the Patriots back to the Super Bowl?

It's finally here, the NFL season. After a long wait I got to see my Giants lose the season opener to everyone's favorite team to hate, the Cowboys. Hopefully my picks go better than that game. And there's reason to believe they will! As I'm fond of telling people last year was the third consecutive season I've correctly predicted the AFC Champion,* & I got the the Super Bowl entirely right two years ago. Of course last season I also picked the Browns to make the playoffs, but let's not talk about that. It's going to be a fascinating season as an unprecedented five rookie QBs are set to start week one, the Saints continue to deal with bounty-gate (the players suspensions were overturned but the coach's suspensions have not, & that's more important), Peyton Manning's suiting up for the Broncos, & TIM TEBOW! So let's get on to the picks...

If I Ran the Emmys: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Emmy voters can have the Modern Family ladies,
just leave me ALISON BRIE! & Gillian Jacobs.

For the last two years I've attempted to give my thoughts on who was deserving of Emmy nominations for the 10 major awards (Supporting Actor/Actress in a Comedy/Drama, Lead Actor/Actress in Comedy/Drama, Best Comedy/Drama) but ultimately I've failed to ever publish more than my thoughts on 3 of the aforementioned categories. This year I vow to do them all though!

Before i get to my thoughts on our first category, Supporting Actress in a Comedy, it bears mentioning once again that Emmy voters are people who work, or worked, in the industry (actors, directors, writers, etc.) hence many of them don't have the time to watch a broad variety of shows. I, on the other hand, have plenty of time! So while their choices may get tons of publicity, including here, I'd argue mine may well be more valid. Of course really I think TV critics should be in charge, since it's their job to judge television, so here's a professional's opinion.*

I freely admit that I'm ripping off Alan Sepinwall's Emmy gimmick. As for the similarities between many of our picks, as will be extremely evident in the next category, I would merely say we both watch a lot of TV & have good taste.

It's important to also not that like actual Emmy voters I'm restricted by whether or not an actor submitted themselves & where they chose to do so, so while I may think someone's a lead character if they submit in supporting I'm bound to honor that (I'm also not nominating anyone from shows I didn't watch at least a few episodes of, sorry Downton Abbey). Click here for the actual Emmy ballot. As for the actual Emmys two years ago the voters & I agreed on two of the nominees & the winner, last year we agreed on two again, this year however we have not one common nominee. You be the judge of who did a better job.

The Under the Radar (read: Indie) Summer Movie Preview

Hushpuppy & Beasts of the Southern Wild
are leading this summer's Indies.

For this summer I've decided not to do my normal movie preview. Partly this is because we're already a month in so I'd be late on a few films but also because we're so saturated with previews that most people generally know what movies they are & are not interested in. The majority of Americans made the correct choice in skipping the latest Adam Sandler trash, That's My Boy, & most will wisely line up to see the end of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy in The Dark Knight Rises. There doesn't seem to quite be consensus on The Amazing Spider Man but I'm hopeful people will realize that Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) & Emma Stone (Easy A) are a pretty big improvement on Tobey Maguire & Kirsten Dunst & give this new incarnation of the web slinging superhero a chance.

Regardless after being bombarded with ads for a month what I tell you likely won't make a difference. For example if I tell most guys that Magic Mike is quite likely a better film than Ted they're still more likely to go see the movie centered around a foul mouthed teddy bear than they are the one about male strippers. So instead I will give you the rundown on the indie films on their way over the next two to three months.* In case your questioning my indie taste it should be noted I have previously recommended the hilarious Cedar Rapids, Win Win which was at least equal to Oscar winner The Descendants, Woody Allen's excellent & award winning Midnight in Paris, & another Oscar winner in Beginners. So don't you dare question me! Now onto the movies...**

*It bares mentioning that all release dates are limited, thus if you live in Tucson these movies likely won't show up for 2-4 weeks past the initial release date, & when they do they'll likely only show at El Con or The Loft

**Thanks to Rotten Tomatoes & IMDb for aiding in the summaries.

Unappreciated Greatness: LeBron James-The Best Player in the NBA

That's right LeBron, you are the best.

LeBron James is the best player in the NBA. This statement is not an opinion, it is a fact. Much like arguing against Michael Jordan being the greatest modern day (post-NBA/ABA merger) basketball player of all-time denying LeBron's place at the top merely proves one's ignorance. The problem is too often when people express this opinion they aren't scolded for their stupidity, rather their ignorance is celebrated & this bothers me. Just so we're clear it angers me not because I'm a fan of the Miami Heat (as a Bulls fan I assure you I am not), after all I'm the guy who a year ago wrote an article titled "Why Everyone Hates the Heat." No, it angers me as a basketball fan. You can hate people in sports, God knows I do, but when you are watching greatness you had damn well better respect it. So once & for all let's rid ourselves of this silliness.

Dan Harmon's Gone... Does That Mean "Community's" Dead?

Word broke on Friday night that Community creator/showrunner/writer/God Dan Harmon would not be brought back by Sony (which owns the show) as showrunner. While NBC head Bob Greenblatt had casually mentioned earlier in the week that Harmon's contract had not been renewed & that shows often go through multiple showrunners the news still came as a shock seeing as the show likely only has 13 episodes left, & Harmon is truly the heart & soul of it.

"Parks and Rec" Watch-"Bus Tour"

Bert Macklin is back & ready for action! 

Parks and Recreation: "Bus Tour"

Leslie's campaign has hit into high gear the last 2 episodes and we have reaped the benefits as the show has been firing on all cylinders. 

"The Office" Watch-"Turf War"

Did this week's Office bring any surprises?

The Office: "Turf War"

While Community stumbled slightly this week The Office continued its run of ok episodes, it's sad that that now passes as compliment for the show but that is where we're at in season 8.

"Community" Watch"-Course Listing Unavailable"

Chang's got an army now,
but will the show put it to good use?

We're on to week 3 of NBC Comedy watch & my reviews seem to be getting progressively longer so for this week at least I'm giving each show its own post.

Community-"Course Listing Unavailable"

Whenever a show attempts a serialized story there are bound to be episodes that move the various characters around & then there will be episodes where those moves pay off. This was very much the former kind of episode, which prevented it from reaching the heights of the last 4 weeks.*

*Todd VanDerWerff at the AV Club gives a great review of the episode in which he discusses the potential downside of the serialization of a comedy.  

The Best of the Movies: January-April 2012

The gang from The Cabin in the Woods
are curious to see who the winners are.

The first 4 months of the year at your local cinema can be pretty sketchy. Some years are pretty solid & some are 2010, in which How to Train Your Dragon, Shutter Island, & Kick-Ass were the only legitimately good movies (unless of course you liked Alice in Wonderland) over that 4 month span. This year however there's been a bevy of good movies. I've seen 12 films this year & not one of them has been bad*, though admittedly that doesn't mean they've all been good. In honor of this overly strong opening, before we all get swallowed up in summer blockbuster euphoria with The Avengers opening tomorrow, I'm taking a look back & handing out some awards for the first third of the year.

*This omits a drunken test screening of "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" at Crossroads. That movie is absolutely as bad as you think it is, despite Idris Elba's livening up the film whenever he's on screen.