Billy Crystal
Just weeks after Chris Rock removed himself from consideration to host the March 5 Oscar ceremony, go-to guy Billy Crystal has invited his name to be crossed off the list as well. Asked as recently as last week to once again work his magic, Crystal tells Variety's Army Archerd, "I feel badly," but his dance card already is full as he juggles stage, film and book projects. Perhaps David Letterman is an option, although Academy execs probably worry about him transmitting secreted coded messages and all.
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Randal, The Apprentice
Everybody Hates ChrisI've never noticed how brown Everybody Hates Chris is (and no, that's not some lame, wannabe Chris Rock ethnic joke), particularly the Rock-family brownstone (oy, sorry about that pun). The sofa, the wallpaper, they're all '70s earth tones, which actually makes sense since the Rocks wouldn't have the money to decorate with the latest '80s fashion — most definitely a good thing. The brand-name toys the kids were hoping for — Cabbage Patch Kids, Atari, Coleco — reminded me of the good ol' days of television when there were commercials, not product placement. Meanwhile, Chris wanted a generic Walkman (how many viewers under 20 had no friggin' idea what he was talking about?). I dug Rochelle's Farrah 'do — apparently the Rocks are so poor, even
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Question: The Golden Globes are my favorite awards show, mainly because they put TV and movie stars all together under one roof — and give them lots of booze. They can always be counted upon for great moments! But if one thing always irks me, it's the supporting actor TV category, which doesn't differentiate between drama, comedy or miniseries. And we end up with a field like this for Best Supporting Actor: Naveen Andrews, Lost; Paul Newman, Empire Falls; Jeremy Piven, Entourage; Randy Quaid, Elvis; Donald Sutherland, Commander in Chief. Seriously? We're putting Jeremy Piven's delightfully shallow superagent up against Andrews' painstaking dramatic portrayal of a tortured (no pun intended) former Iraqi soldier? In the same category? I am sure they must do this to get the time down on the program, but if they must lump TV-movies and miniseries together, can't they at least separate between comedy and drama (two drastically different media)? That would only add two awards to the program, ...
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Comedy legend Richard Pryor died of a heart attack Saturday morning at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 65. Pryor, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1986, first gained fame as a profane stand-up performer whose edgy, freewheeling style and personal take on racial inequality influenced an entire generation of comedians, including Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock and Robin Williams. In the '70s and '80s, he starred in hit films such as Stir Crazy and Silver Streak in addition to writing for TV shows and movies like Sanford and Son and Blazing Saddles. In the early '80s, he also battled drug addiction, which he referenced onstage and in his autobiographical film, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling.
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Richard Pryor
Comedy legend Richard Pryor died of a heart attack Saturday morning at a Los Angeles hospital, the Associated Press reports. The ground-breaking comic and actor was 65 and had been ill with multiple sclerosis (MS), a degenerative disease of the nervous system, for years. Pryor first gained fame as a profane standup performer whose edgy, free-wheeling style and personal take on racial inequality was an influence on an entire generation of comedians, including Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock and Robin Williams. In the 1970s and '80s, he starred in hit films such as Stir Crazy and Silver Streak in addition to writing for TV shows and movies like Sanford and Son and Blazing Saddles. In the early 1980's, he also battled drug addiction, which he referenced on stage and in his autobiographical film, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling. He was diagnosed with MS in the 1990's
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E! will reveal its Entertainer of the Year when it airs the hourlong special The Big, Bad & Best: 2005 on Dec. 12 at 8 pm/ET. The nominees for EOTY are Steve Carell, Mariah Carey, Desperate Housewives, Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Rachel McAdams, Chris Rock, Charlize Theron, Vince Vaughn, Kanye West and Owen Wilson. Well, if that all ain't a Sophie's choice!
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Question: I've got a theory about why so many people are down on sitcoms nowadays. It seems like ever since Seinfeld ended, half-hour comedy series have become increasingly mean-spirited. Will & Grace isn't about situational comedy; it's about making fun of other people. It's not about laughing with the characters; it's about laughing at them. Mean-spirited comedy certainly has its place, and there were times I found shows like Will & Grace, Malcolm in the Middle etc. funny. But now they just wear on my nerves. What do you think? And do the new comedy shows you've been praising fit (or not fit) into this theory?
Answer: What's so great and encouraging about the early success of My Name Is Earl (most notably) and Everybody Hates Chris is that they manage to be both edgy in tone and somehow sweet-natured, and they're not drowning in self-conscious irony. Earl pokes fun at its lowbrow characters (see my recent Review), but is inherently good at heart. Chris benefits from Chris Rock's
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Alias
I can't believe I just had to look up how to spell Eurythmics. Blame the Santa Ana winds or the L.A. fires, accuse me of Valley Fever, it doesn't matter — I'm disappointed, and this week's soundtrack is only the beginning. Observe: — I only laughed once.— I was bored enough to start looking for "clues," like the apple on the teacher's desk. (Does anyone have a screengrab?)— I thought the actual Chris Rock would play a bigger part in the show.— I'm thinking of watching the East Coast broadcast from now on, which would sort of free up my Thursday nights.— I now feel it's OK to point out that I thought Chris had darker skin.
With that said, let me attempt to save face, as this is only the third episode and a whole season is still ahead of us. Chris can't always be funny, and the jocks saved him this time. His comeback to the school bully — "Good luck finding an ax to go with that shirt" — is honestly my fa
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Everybody Hates Chris
UPN has given Everybody Hates Chris a full-season commitment of 22 episodes. Despite losing 22 percent of the premiere-night audience for its second airing, the comedy based on Chris Rock's childhood has delivered a significant bump in key demos for UPN on Thursday nights and, more important, led many folks to figure out once and for all what channel UPN is on.
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Everybody Hates Chris
Yeah, I think that one white kid likes him, but that's about it. And look at him now: Chris Rock, funniest person in America. Chris starts off seeming like a cool kid, unless those posters on his wall are his brother's — then I hate him. Anyway, I'm feeling all the shout-outs to the '80s (the good '80s). Let's just say the soundtrack for this pilot probably cost more than the narrator. But let's not get all emotional; I did laugh, and we have much to discuss....
I never laughed out loud, though, and it's not because I was annoyed about the title. And certainly not because I read that the show received a seal of approval from some Family Friendly Programming Forum. In other words, it was clean. Real clean. But funny and real. I'm afraid of Terry Crews' Papa Rock, but "Unplug that clock — you can't tell time when you sleep" is funny forever. I hate to love Tichina Arnold's Mama Rock, even with her Most V
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