It's been a good four years or so since JibJab made the now classic Bush-Kerry political parody video, "This Land," and now with the election only months away, the time has come for their latest political spoof, "It's Time for Some Campaigning." As a parody of Bob Dylan’s '60s political anthem, "The Times They Are A-Changin'," the video features Obama, McCain, both Clintons and even a cameo from a banjo-playing Dubya. Barack riding a unicorn through the enchanted forest is genius, but the Clinton cigar scene was priceless as well.
read more
Ace, Gary and their creator, Robert Smigel
Perhaps they are kowtowing to the liberal-media agenda or being spurred by the success of Brokeback Mountain. Whatever the case, NBC's Saturday Night Live is letting a couple of homosexual superheroes host the show this weekend. Known as "the Ambiguously Gay Duo," Ace and Gary (voiced by Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell) will take the
read more
Fox may have buried the final (and some of the finest) hours of Arrested Development against Friday's Opening Ceremonies of the (yawn along with me) Winter Olympics, but the show's devoted core fan base got a gold-medal treat.
To the very last moment — an inspired cameo by exec producer (and heretofore never-seen narrator) Ron Howard, saying, "I don't see it as a series. Maybe a movie." — Arrested never compromised its extravagantly peculiar vision, its dense narrative style or its twisted sense of humor. The last four episodes, bundled together and thrown away by a network that had finally given up the good fight, were deliriously funny for those precious few with a taste for such inspired absurdity.
Just a partial list of things you'd never find anywhere else: A ventriloquist puppet wearing a "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black Puppets" T-shirt. A
read more
(Clockwise, from top left) John McCain, Wilton Sekzer, Gore Vidal and Richard Perle
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
The Grand Jury Prize winner at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, Why We Fight (now in select cities) uses President Dwight Eisenhower's legendary 1961 farewell speech — in which he presciently coined the term "military-industrial complex" — as a launching point into a dense discussion of why and for whom the United States decides to go to war. In tackling the formidable topic, director Eugene Jarecki (The Trials of Henry Kissinger) assembles an impressive and more than balanced roster of opinionators, including Senator John McCain, veteran newsman
read more
Michael Rosenbaum, Smallville
At the end of "Lexmas," Smallville's last fresh episode, Lex Luthor — having seen a semi-idyllic (and also semi-tragic) possible future flash before his eyes — vows to use any means possible to win election to the Kansas state senate against his opponent, Jonathan Kent. The moment was chilling, and not because of all of the prop snow. TV Guide went to Michael Rosenbaum for the scoop on the WB drama's brand-new episode, "Fanatic" (airing tonight at 8 pm/ET), and Lex's descent into total villainy.
TV Guide: There has been some debate over what Lex's end-of-"Lexmas" declaration of war against Jonathan is really about. Care to shed some light on his decision to fight dirty?Michael Rosenbau
read more
Reverend Al Sharpton says that his talks with CBS to develop Al in the Family, a TV series based on his life, have ended. "I haven't done the things I've done to be in a sitcom," he tells the News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C. "I'm not interested in being Archie Bunker, I'm looking forward to becoming George Bush." [Insert your own Meathead joke here.]
read more
Singled out: Candice Bergen, Murphy Brown
Question: Once again, your humble readers call upon you to settle an argument, Mr. T. My dope of a brother claims that years after Dan Quayle criticized Murphy Brown for its single-mother story line, Candice Bergen came out and said she agreed with him after all. I can't believe that. Is there any truth to that?
Answer: None whatsoever, Dee. For those who have already forgotten, the whole dustup assumed gigantic proportions when then-vice-president Quayle took his famous potshot at the show as part of the GOP's 1992 "family values" campaign. It again reared its ugly head briefly when former Quayle speechwriter Lisa Schiffren claimed in a 1998 Los Angeles Times op-ed column that Bergen had seen the light and stated in an interview that "the body of the speech was completely sound." Bergen fired back in a letter to the p
read more
Somebody sent a feedback comment last week that read: "So Dave, I take it you don't like the show." Let me explain what a "train wreck" is. You're driving by a train accident and no matter how disastrous it appears to be, you can't help but look away. A TV train wreck is similar — a disaster that is so bad, it's good. I can't help but be amazed at what has become of the Whitney Houston I admired when I was younger. I'm talking the "Greatest Love of All" Whitney. The "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" Whitney. And, of course, the "I Will Always Love You" Whitney. But maybe this is how she's always been — maybe she's just hidden this side? The way Bobby acts on this show is the way I assumed he's always been. But Whitney? "It's Not Right, But It's Okay." On to the countdown…
10:00 pm At long last, they're at home or at least one of their homes. This one's the main one — their "country club" home in Atlanta. Whitney tries to braid Bobby's hair.
read more
On Nov. 3, Montel Williams was briefly detained at Detroit Metro Airport, where baggage screeners found a glass pipe and residue of a marijuana by-product in his bags. That's when the talk show host, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was outed as a user of the herb for medicinal purposes. In his first interview after the incident, Williams makes no apologies. In fact, he devotes several chapters to the case for medical marijuana in his new autobiography, Climbing Higher — yeah, that's the title — in bookstores Jan. 6.TV Guide Online: What happened to you in Detroit?Williams: When my bags were going through a metal detector at the Detroit airport, the security people found my needles. I take injectable drugs every day. Then, one guy found a perfectly clean glass pipe that looks like an egg. He said, "What do you smoke in it?" I said, "None of your business." And it p---ed him off. I also had a little bottle that had been in my bag for
read more
