Question: What do you think of FX's comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? I find it refreshing and hilarious. A great way to make up for the sad reality that Arrested Development will never air again!
Answer: I welcomed the show back for its second season with a short notice in my review column, and while I wouldn't dream of comparing Philly to an inspired pinnacle of twisted genius like Arrested Development, I do appreciate its nasty sense of anything-goes humor and its low-key, low-budget, unassuming grunginess. Adding a little star power with Danny DeVito's character doesn't hurt. He seems to be having a great time getting down and dirty with these unrepentant goofs. ...
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Charlie Day, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
For a series about to start only its second season, FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has come a long way. The pilot, made by actors/writers/executive producers Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day, was shot on digital video and edited on a home computer for a grand total of $200. Even with limited publicity and starring relative unknowns, the seven-episode premiere season was able to build a word-of-mouth following that caused network execs to order a 10-epi
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What, if anything, do Star Wars, Mission: Impossible, and Jaws have in common?
What is the formula for blockbuster-movie success? And how does it differ from the recipe for disaster? Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters, an HBO documentary premiering tonight at 9 pm/ET — and based on the new book Boffo! How I Learned to Love the Blockbuster and Fear the Bomb, by Variety editor-in-chief and former studio exec Peter Bart — explores those much-asked questions by way of A-list talking heads and fantastic clips from films both great and... so-so.
Bart says that — especially as cohost of AMC's Sunday Morn
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Question: Hope you had some quality time off! I've been enjoying It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia during Fox's airing of reruns on Sunday nights. I like that the network is exposing it to a wider audience. (I'd heard about it, but not seen it.) What a hoot! Great characters and great writing. How's it doing in the time slot? Might we see more of it? Many times funnier than The War at Home.
Answer: First, I did enjoy a little break, going to Indiana by way of Kentucky for a family reunion. And we're agreed on the last point regarding Philly vs. Home, but from what I gather, Philly hasn't attracted much business on Sundays, where it's stunting in advance of the second-season premiere on June 29. (I've seen the first few episodes of the new season, now featuring Danny DeVito, which could help boost the show's numbers. Pretty funny and very politically incorrect stuff.) I wouldn't worry about its performance on Fox affecting its future on FX. This is an unassuming, low-concept comedy o ...
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Normally I'm a sucker for a good bloodsucker, but I've seen paper cuts go deeper than Blade (Wednesdays at 10 pm/ET on Spike TV), the toothless new TV version of the comic-book-turned-film franchise about a hip-hop, Harley-riding, half-breed vampire who's bad news for his more evil brethren.
Where Buffy the Vampire Slayer took a mediocre film and elevated it to TV art, Blade doesn't even try to improve on the loud, flashily hollow movies. It's just more of the same martial artlessness. I kept expecting to see Batman-style OOF! BAM! graphics on screen.
"Sun's down. Time to make some friends," mutters Blade (Over There's Kirk
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What, if anything, do Star Wars, Mission: Impossible, and Jaws have in common?
What is the formula for blockbuster-movie success? And how does it differ from the recipe for disaster? The new book Boffo! How I Learned to Love the Blockbuster and Fear the Bomb, by Variety editor-in-chief and former studio exec Peter Bart, explores those much-asked questions, as does an accompanying HBO documentary, Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters, premiering June 29 and featuring almost as many A-list talking heads as fantastic clips from films both great and... so-so.
Bart says that — especially as cohost of AMC's Sunday
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Paul Rudd
Not anxious to brave the roads this long holiday weekend? IFC has the perfect compromise: Wanderlust (premiering May 29 at 9 pm/ET), an original documentary detailing Hollywood's many and great road movies, with insightful commentary from such heavyweights as Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider), Alexander Payne (
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Per Variety, Close to Home's Kimberly Elise has scored the female lead opposite Terrence Howard in the inner-city sports drama P.D.R.... A big-screen adaptation of the video game Cold Fear is in the works.... Dane Cook is developing and will star in Dad Knap, about a man who abducts his dad in order to get some quality father-son time.... Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick are neighbors at war over holiday decorations in the comedy All Lit Up.... Per Reuters, George Lopez and Maggie Q have joined Balls of Fury, a comedy set in the world of clandestine Ping-Pong tournaments.
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Danny DeVito is returning to series television for the first time since his days as boss of Taxi's Sunshine Cab Company with a regular gig on FX's It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. DeVito will appear in all 10 episodes of the show's second season (premiering in June), although he'll shoot all of his scenes within 10 to 15 days — roughly half of the show's overall production schedule. That noise you hear is Vincent D'Onofrio calling his agent.
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Remember when sitcoms were more about the characters than the wacky premise that brought them all together? Yeah, me neither. But I will say this about Twins, WB's stab at opposites-running-a-lingerie-biz: While there was definite overkill on "It's funny because she's only wearing undies" gags in the pilot (good rule of thumb: "Buttpucker" gets less funny every time you say it), I suspect the writers may be able to strike a balance as the season goes on. Mitchie the brains (Roseanne's Sara Gilbert) and Farrah the beauty (Passions' Molly Stanton) do have a light and entertaining chemistry, one that I hope won't be murdered in its sleep by the supercontrived love triangle we've got going on in Episode 1 with Jordan, the supposedly charming new marketing guy. Come on, KoMut, the brains-and-beauty behind Will & Grace; I know you can do better than that. I want to see some of the inventiveness that made
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