We love two things here on PopWatch: lists and the debates that follow them. And so, we’ve created the PopWatch Duel. Here’s how it works: We’ll ask two celebs for their picks on a certain topic. You’ll decide whose responses are better by casting a vote in the comments section. (They’ll try to tell themselves that they don’t care who wins.)
In honor of Psych’s return tonight with the first of six new episodes (Fridays, 10 p.m., USA) we asked stars James Roday (left) and Dulé Hill (right) to name the five pop-culture mysteries they’d like solved.
Their responses…
James Roday:
1. Look. Clearly I can appreciate the value of pop-culturalphenomena. They help us define the landscape of entire decades andgive us easy gateways to the type of nostalgia that keeps partiesgoing well after the punch is gone—not to mention the fact thatwithout it, MTV and VH1 might have to dissolve themselves at the riskof actually having to air music videos again. All this being said, HOWMANY TIMES MUST WE BEAR WITNESS TO THE EBBS AND TIDES OF THE LIFE OFPARIS HILTON? For the love of all things holy, at least Britney was aMouseketeer. Plus, she sold about a gazillion records and wasworshiped by every 11-year-old girl in America for an entirecalendar year. Paris has managed to grab headline after headline foressentially screwing up, getting screwed, endangering lives, refusing toeat for YEARS now. She’s yet to bring ANYTHING to the table and yet sheremains on the tip of the tongues and points of the pens of every pop-culture journalist in the country. We do such a lousy job of choosingour celebrities in this country it should be no mystery that we have noclue how to go about electing our leaders either.
2. Oh where have ye gone Kerri Green? You were literally conductingthe pop-culture train for a second in the ’80s— you epitomized andset the girl-next-door standard in Lucas AND The Goonies! C’mon,Three For the Road wasn’t THAT bad. Then poof(!) you disappeared fromour lives forever. You don’t write, you don’t call—was it somethingwe said? It was Molly Ringwald, wasn’t it? She paid you off to walkaway. We know Jake from Sixteen Candles is happy and makingfurniture. All we want is a little teeny bit of closure here.
3. How many shots does Dane Cook get? Just wondering.
4. Why did we choose VHS over Beta? Seriously, the players weresmaller and less cumbersome. The tapes were smaller and you could renttwice as many and still fit them in one bag. For a society that alwayswants MORE at the height of its descent into consumerism overdrive, wechose big ass clunky VHS tapes. Weird.
5. MENUDO. They’re STILL around. It’s like version 29.0. The AtlantaBraves of pop music. Doesn’t matter who’s on the team. It just doesn’tmatter. They still get it done…and in Spanish no less. I don’tunderstand it, but I’ll salute the model. That’s right. I saluteMenudo.
Dulé Hill:
1. Sean Combs has changed his name five thousand, three hundred, and1/24th times. What will the next incarnation of Puff Daddy…uh,Puffy…er, P. Diddy…sorry, Diddy’s name be?
2. How did Kris Kross convince millions of teenagers to wear theirclothes backwards? I mean, that was the dumbest s— ever. Thenagain if that happened in 2008, they would probably have their ownclothing line.
3. Why didn’t Winona Ryder just pay?
4. How exactly did Prince come up with Tara Leigh Patrick’s other name? Carmen Electra?! Where did that come from?
5. Did Martin Sheen really never win an Emmy for his portrayal ofPresident Bartlet on The West Wing? They couldn’t find one to give toMartin Sheen?!? I’m just saying.
6. The bonus question: How did Dulé Hill come up with thesegreat pop-culture mysteries when he is not even into pop culture???? I guess some things we will never know… some things, wewill never know.
Okay, PopWatchers, who wins the duel? James Roday or Dulé Hill? Vote now!
Comments (1-30) of 90 Add your comment
This was a cute idea. I laughed more at James’ comments, but I like Gus better on the show. I’ll go with Dule since I don’t need the pressure of competing with Kerri Green anymore. Stay gone Kerri! Give some other wholesome girls a chance.
Dule Hill gets points for the sheer, hilarious simplicity of his #3, but I gotta say James Roday wins this one hands down. The Paris screed is priceless, I love that he gave a shout out to Kerri Green and dissed Dane Cook, and he makes a good point about Beta vs. VHS. Nice job, James!
I love Psych. I love Dule Hill. I love James Roday. Who knew that Corbin “Arnie Becker” could be funny? However, I will say that I agree with Dule Hill about Sean Puffy Daddy/P Diddy/Diddy/Just Diddy Please perpetual name change. Just baffling.
And I concur with James Roday’s confusion about the umpteenth configuration of Menudo. I recall with relish the ABC Saturday morning cartoon of Menudo [or was it just Ricky Martin flying down the slide in a hot pink shirt promoting "Menudo on ABC" during a cartoon block?] so I call it a draw.
Psych is a funny show and Dule and James are the comforting bookends at the end of a tumultuous week. Bravo to both of you!
I don’t watch Psych, but my guess is these guys complement each other well. Both of their top fives are excellent, but I have to give the nod to Dulé Hill because I loved him on West Wing and the bonus question cracked me up.
I love both of them! James Roday has more explaination for his questions, but Dule Hill made me laugh more. I gotta give Dule Hill the win on this one.
I love Psych. It’s one of those shows where I wish I was part of that world… like Arrested Development, Veronica Mars, The Office. I wish I knew more people like these guys. I completely agree with the Dane Cook, Paris Hilton and Winona Ryder comments. It’s refreshing to see a couple actors not afraid to step on other celebs’ toes. EW should get Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin to do this.
roday, all the way.
What did happen to Kerri Green? I’m with with James.
James gets my vote
James gets my vote
James just for the mention of Lucas! It taught me everything I needed to know about locusts…who knew they only came out every 17 years?
im going with james for his enthusiasm.
Dule.
i’m voting dule…for the simple fact that i also CANNOT BELIEVE that martin sheen never won an emmy for the best show that was ever on television.
mmhmm
Dule. The answer is always Dule.
While I agree completely with the outrage of a snubbed Martin Sheen (and props to Hill for getting to work on such an amazing show for so long), I have to vote for Mr. Roday. That kind of hyper-vitriolic ranting is the kind I like to see!
Tough choice here, but it’s gotta be my Jamie. He hit on more of the stuff I’ve wondered about. I have to give a shout-out to Dulé, though, for his Winona Ryder point.
Dule for sure. Just for the shout out to his West Wing co-star, Martin Sheen.
I’m with James. (Not to mention that I wish I really was *with* James) ((even though that did not affect my answer)) (((much)))
I’m with James, for the Kerri Green one and for the comments about Paris. Although I did see Kerri Green on an old episode of ER – Juliana Margulies’ (I know I spelled that wrong) last season and Maura Tierney’s first.
Both were extremely funny, but I would have to go with Dule. Number 3 is awesome.
Paris Hilton is trash.
Dane Cook is famous why?
And he also let me know what Jake from ‘Sixteen Candles’ is doing now. I was acutally wondering that the other day.
James wins
Oooh, tough choice. The responses were all really funny. I give the edge to James because his choices seemed more random.
EW, please do more of these!!! This is a great idea.
James made some great points but I’ve actually asked myself every question on Dule’s list so I vote for Dule. Please Networks and Studios- give into the writers. We all know they deserve it and life is so much better with shows like this.
Dule Hill wins for his shout out to President Bartlett.
James, just for the glorious rant about Paris Hilton ending in politics! How can you not love a train of thought like that? But, damn, neck and neck otherwise! So right! Both of them!
James Roday
I have a couple pop mysteries I would like solved as well: Will Dule ever tap into his tap danc’n skillz on Psych? Will we ever find out how many cameos James has made in movies?
Dule! What about Martin Sheen? Seriously – he was fantastic on The West Wing.
Love Dule and I’d vote for Bartlett in ‘08, but JR wins this one.