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Posts tagged as “Guest Post”

The "Late Late Show": Ode to the Scottish Conan Guy. I know.

The "Late Late Show": Ode to the Scottish Conan Guy. I know.

So, for my third blog (is it? Geez, work around these parts is getting way too slow…) I will pay a long overdue homage to the work accomplished by then-Scot-now-American Craig Ferguson.

If all the spin in the world was true, very late-night television would consist of Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel. But, yet, on CBS, the Late Late Show has been existing for 14 years (that’s right). Ferguson is only the third host of the Late Late Show, taking over from Craig Killborn (yeah, who?) since January 2005. Like Killborn, Ferguson is a relative unknown in the public eye, but he is familiar to some American viewers, having starred as Drew Carey’s boss in “The Drew Carey Show”. But nevermind that: his ratings have increased substantially in the pas few months against all odds, where his main competition is Jimmy Fallon over at NBC. Except that, save for The Roots, Fallon’s “Late Night” will never hold a candle to what Ferguson does, even with four times the budget.

Here’s a breakdown of the wonder of “Late Late Night”.

It may be the first post-modern late-show of History, as Ferguson is really aware of the pitfalls of late-night. He really had no resources, his show being the last broadcast in standard-def (yes! Even after Kimmel!) and he makes frequent references to that during his monologue. His monologue is stuffed with purposely lame late-night jokes. For a few weeks, he even inserted a “Late Night Octomom Joke” graphic, to cheer after a lame pun. But his 10 minutes of monologues are, for the most part, an exercise in free-wheeling and ranting about nothing. He can educate about an aspect of wildlife (he did a whole thing about Shark Week, and seems keen on all things animals), or foreign people, or just about anything. The most refreshing aspect of Craig Ferguson is his inability to stay on topic, while other hosts try hard to squeeze as much juice as they can out of the day’s news stories.

Another good example of the unpredictable aspect of the show is the intro. Visibly forced down by CBS as a way to keep viewers before the actual show starts, Ferguson didn’t seem at ease with it at first, and a lot of “I’ve got nothing” ensued. But….one day, he made the intro as a small musical, with puppets lip-synching. And ever since, he really made the segment into his own, be it a small riff on foreign members in the audience, or Brittany Murphy on a swing pushed by no-nonsense comic Steven Wright, or even dance routines to Britney Spears, the intros were a way to introduce a new audience to the show.

But the most interesting aspect is Craig Ferguson seems genuinely enthusiastic about hosting a late-night talk show, and usually gives a warm welcome to his guests, which he always seems interested in. Of course, his best guests are the ones that can adapt to his unique style of rants. So far, my personal Top would include Scots Ewan McGregor and Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell (their segments are a must-see), Stephen Wright, Eddie Izzard, Alfred Molina, and on a more serious note, Lawrence Fishburne and the wonderful interview he did with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

I would talk some more about the “Late Late Show”, but I’ll say this. At his worst, Ferguson will still be entertaining and lively with the dullest of guests, and at his best…well, it’s moments of brilliance that become fine American television. To me, unpredictability IS addictive, and he’s the best of the three really-late-night talk-show hosts. Bar none.

Craig Ferguson is The Man. And you can quote me on that.

Don Bluth: The Man who would not scream "Eek-A-Mouse"

Don Bluth: The Man who would not scream "Eek-A-Mouse"
Hey again, Lordofnoyze here with an unusual look at one overlooked master of animation. Now, for this blog, I will talk about a time way before DreamWorks Animation and Pixar, way before 3-D (well, as we know it or we are about to know it…I see you, James). Ever since the launch of Walt Disney Studios, in the 1930s, the Mouse firm maintained a strong domination in terms of animation feature films. (Warner Bros. and Universal only competed in short films).
That is, until the 1980s, when a renegade director born in El Paso, Texas (*insert Clint Eastwood music here*) took the challenge to direct animation feature films and fight Dinsey on their own turf.

The first Don Bluth-directed movie was for MGM, a little movie called “Brisby and The Secret of Nimh“. It was adapted from a Robert O’Brien book, that may have its second coming on screen thanks to Paramount and Neil Burger (but this time, it would be live-action…with a little CGI enhancement, of course).

It was followed by two videogames: “Dragon’s Lair“, and “Space Ace“. But Don Bluth hit the jackpot when he associated with Steven Spielberg and Universal. The results were two of the better-remembered 80’s kids flicks: “An American Tail” in 1986, and “The Land Before Time” in 1988. It spawned two franchises built around the heroes, Fievel the Mouse from the West, and Littlefoot. Fievel had one theatrical sequel, and two direct-to-video sequels. Littlefoot returned in a staggering 12 video sequels (!!!), the most recent dating way back to 2007. Both also had animated shows, and proved worth a lot of money for Universal.

This is where I pause. You know the first time when I cried while watching a movie? Nope, it sure wasn’t “Bambi”. It was the earthquake scene of “The Land Before Time”, when Littlefoot loses his mother. It was disturbing as hell to me, and it was the first time where I realised my own mortality, as well as the ones around me. Needless to say, putting four orphan dinosaurs put into situations of danger, all while grieving, took a lot of balls. It made for a highly emotional movie, that disputed any of the Disney classics.

Shortly after that, Bluth reunited with MGM for his most daring movie yet, “All Dogs Go To Heaven“. And if you thought that “The Land Before Time” had dark subject matter, I present to you the IMDB pitch.

A dog returns from the dead looking for revenge on his killer using an orphan
girl who can talk to animals.

Yes, we’re talking about a G-rated movie.

And a kind soul put the ending on YouTube, so to all of you that are not afraid of spoilers (right…like you cared about this movie until now), enjoy the imagery.

I mean…

Come on.
The movie was the first one produced under his new Sullivan Bluth Studios in Ireland. Right after the average box office scores, trouble began. Right after finding trouble in investments, and having a hard time distributing “Rock-A-Doodle“, his final movie for the Lion Firm, Bluth signed a deal with Warner Animation Studios, a newly founded wing destined to produce animation movies…and also compete with Disney. He produced two movies under the Warner banner: an adaptation of “Thumbelina“, one of Hans Christian Andersen’s tales, and “The Pebble and The Penguin“. The first one did good, the second one was a flop, critically and commercially.

Bluth had to wait until 1997 until luck found him again. 20th Century Fox appointed him and Gary Goldman to be chairmen of Fox Animation Studios, also a new division destined to compete with Disney and soon-to-be-open DreamWorks Animation. The success of “Anastasia“, with voices from Meg Ryan, John Cusack and Kelsey Grammer, led to a DTV sequel around Bartok the rat (again). But the phenomenal flop of “Titan A.E.” in 2000, scripted by three screenwriters well-known of us geeks, John August, Ben Edlund and Joss Whedon, led to an early retirement.

Now he’s opened his own website, donbluth.com, and his Don Bluth Films based in Phoenix, AZ, produces content for Web and IPhones alike.

OK, so…what’s my point?

Well, Bluth is a forgotten “artisan” that always stayed true to 2-D animation, and if you can see anything in his movies, it’s uncompromising (and yes, often dark) subject matter. But even if seeing it with very young kids is not a very good idea, it stays great to rediscover an alternative to rosy-colored, two-dimensional characters. I mean, for crissakes, the dogs in “Charlie” gamble, and it’s set in 1930s New Orleans, Vice City before Miami claimed that crown!!! But think about it: if there weren’t any Bluth movies, would Disney execs have accepted a pitch where an old man goes on a quest for adventure when his wife dies of illness?

(Well…they probably would have, since it’s Pixar. But you get my point.)

So, here’s my 2 cents to respect the artist. And I’ll leave you with a few in-depth links:
– Interview to IGN back when Titan A.E. was released

Oh, and a lot of his movies may be available on the YouTubes.

I said “may”.

Better Off Ted: Better Living Through Comedy

Better Off Ted: Better Living Through Comedy

Hello, Blog Nation. My name is Lordofnoyze, alias Lordy, and I have the honor to be the first guest blogger of TV Calling, so I hope to be up to the task. Either that, or I’m off answering calls in a Madagascar-based hotline company. And nobody wants that, especially not the fellow employees there.

I’m a French (former?) student about to embark in a career of journalism. But as a side hobby, ever since my teenage years, I’ve developed an unhealthy addiction for all things TV and TV shows. Soon, the voices in my…..er, I’ve been compelled to write about the good, the bad and the ugly in the now-defunct website “Ligue des Téléspectateurs Extraordinaires”, where I was getting a kick out at reviewing shows like “Boston Public”, “X-Files” or “American Dreams”. But college life, and the aforementioned closure of the site, got in the way, and after a (mostly) failed attempt at starting my own personal blog, I went on hiatus. Until today.

Also, I love pop and hip-hop music, so if you see a few “clever” musical references in some of the blogs, it’s not by pure randomness. And I love inserting them, especially when Lex is not looking. So, without further ado, here’s my first, show-and-prove blog.

For my first guest blog, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about an underrated, and below-the-radar comedy of this year. It just happens to close its season on July 28, burning off the 5 last episodes in summer. A usual move for shows that are cancelled (hello, Pushing Daisies! Dirty Sexy Money! Eli Stone!) , but not when the show is being renewed. I’m talking about “Better Off Ted”, one of the many ABC’s midseason entries (remember In The Motherhood? Yeah, me neither.)

A show that premiered somewhere in March, with little fanfare, and was paired with “Scrubs” on Wednesdays, just before “Lost”. Of course, it attracted under 5 million viewers, and 7 episodes were aired during the “normal” season. The show was as good as dead, but Steve McPherson and his army of drones considered there was “something” there and decided to save the show until Midseason 2010, where it will be paired with the new, almost-JD-less “Scrubs: TNG”, a.k.a. “Scrubs: the Yung, Hip, Med School Years”.

So what was that “something”? Did McPherson lose his mind?

Well, as all network presidents, he’s already genetically insane. But he’s right to keep the show on the air. Here’s why:

Set in the headquarters of a fictional multinational company called Veridian Dynamics, “Better Off Ted” is barely hilarious. No, it’s not the second coming of “Arrested Development”, even if it features a top-notch, pitch-perfect performance of Portia De Rossi as the cutthroat boss, Veronica. But it slowly unveils a sense of absurdity and delicate lunacy that is welcomed.

The 7 first episodes are really solid, mainly thanks to a really good pace in editing and directing (CRUCIAL in comedy), and a very promising cast. The lead, Jay Harrington, is hardly recognizable, but he’s been seen in the promising thriller “The Inside” opposite Rachel Nichols, and with Tim Minear as his boss. That doesn’t tell us much about his comedy chops. But he was really good as the unlucky reporter in “Back To You”, the FOX comedy that never really delivered on its great potential. As things stand, his character, Ted, is a handsome everyman that has to handle daily crises alongside Veronica. He also has to deal with the sexual tension with Linda (comedy journeywoman Andrea Anders), and the everlasting disputes and ramblings of Phil and Lem, the scene-stealing tandem of the show.

Of course, it already seems like the comedy version of “Fringe”, with mad science aplenty. But the show works primarily because of the interaction and cracks between his characters, and the evil and outright absurdity that is Veridian Dynamics is kept in the second plan. Unless you wanna count the hilarious commercials, that illustrate the “theme” of each episode.

Plenty of credit goes to Victor Fresco, creator of “Andy Richter Controls the Universe”, another underrated gem that recently was released in DVD in the USA. But it feels like the show has yet to really deliver and free itself of the conventions, since it already has a universe of its own. For example, the lab rats that are partners of Phil and Lem, or Ted’s daughter, were barely used during the season, but are strong nevertheless.

So, if you want to check those out, the final episodes are being aired on ABC over the next few weeks. Definitely more worthy of your time than, say, the umpteenth season of “Entourage”.