Good news, PopWatchers! The world won’t be coming to an end in 2012, no matter what Roland Emmerich’s new movie says. We checked with Dr. Edwin Krupp, director of LA’s Griffith Observatory–who also happens to be an expert on the Mayan calendar–and he assured us that the Earth will continue going about its business despite what you’ll be seeing on movie screens when 2012 opens (Nov. 13). “On or about the 21st of December, 2012, the Maya calendar is going to complete one of its cycles, which is called a Baktun,” Krupp says. “It’s just an interval. It happens every 5125 years. This particular interval is Baktun number 13, as it’s known in the traditional Maya scriptures. But the Mayans never said anything about this being the end of time. That’s just something somebody made up. In fact, there’s only one inscription on one Maya monument that refers to Baktun number 13 at all. That inscription is about a Mayan god and how he’s going to do this that and the other thing–but there’s nothing about the end of of the world.” In other words, PopWatchers, whew.
Archive: November 2009 (331-340 of 429)
2012 won't be the end after all
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La Toya Jackson's deleted 'Bruno' scene -- not funny, just sad?
Remember that La Toya Jackson scene cut from Bruno after Michael Jackson’s death? Well, here it is, from the deleted scenes on the DVD (out Nov. 17). This doesn’t strike me as uproariously funny even before MJ’s death, and now it just seems a bit sad.
What do you think?
Was 'The Office"s suicide joke over the line?
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention issued a press release this week criticizing The Office for its “graphic depiction of the suicide method” on last week’s Halloween episode. According to the organization, “‘there comes a point when jokes can go to far and are potentially dangerous and offensive,’” and they’re “calling on all within the entertainment industry to refrain from using suicide and mental illness for comedic entertainment.” (NBC did not respond to a request for comment.) Nothing in the release mentions the fact that Michael is trying — badly, yes — to promote a suicide prevention message. This is the scene in question:
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Is ABC's 'V' anti-Obama? Let the debate begin!
Does ABC’s politically charged reboot of the eighties sci-fi series V have something against President Barack Obama? A number of critics and bloggers have noted what seems to be a critique of the new president’s messianic perception in the show’s pilot episode, which premiered on Tuesday to blockbuster ratings. In case you missed it–or in case the political reading completely escaped you–here’s the basic idea: In V, there’s a charismatic, telegenic extraterrestrial leader Anna (Morena Baccarin) who comes to Earth promising peace and offering universal health care. Anna and her attending alien armada may truly have Earth’s best interest at heart–or they may be leveraging their buzz, celebrity, sex appeal and idealism to lure the planet down a road to ruin.
In my recap of the pilot, I argued that V wasn’t really politically partisan, but rather a mirror to the wide range of reactions–positive and negative; hopeful and skeptical; gullible and cynical–that Obama has inspired. But apparently, the folks at unabashedly conservative Fox News see V as being more pointed and personal in its polemics. According to a new study by Media Matters In America–described as “a progressive research and information center dedicated to monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the media” (read: a non-profit liberal-leaning watchdog group)–Fox News personalities Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck have all “endorsed” V as “a critique of ‘Obama-mania.’” The report quotes Hannity as saying: “You know, I think this is one show that I can actually get behind.”
Now, I can see V being a commentary on “Obama-mania,” but I’m not convinced the show is commenting on President Obama himself. It’ll be interesting to see if V continues to be a favorite of the Fox News set if it’s revealed that Anna has genuinely good intentions but is being thwarted and subverted by her own alien people–like, say, a political faction that’s transparently right-wing. At the same time, I have to wonder about this “Media Matters In America” outfit trying to make some noise with their study: it seems to me they’re exploiting both Fox News and the current hype around V to promote themselves. Perhaps they’re trying to court donations from Geeks For Obama?
Regardless, what do you think of V‘s political metaphor? Do you think the show is pro-Obama or anti-Obama–or neither? And what would happen to your interest in the show if it revealed itself to be clearly Right or clearly Left in its political worldview? Would that annoy you? Intrigue you? Inspire you to watch something else?
Photo Credit: V: Michael Courtney/ABC; Obama: Janet Mayer/PR Photos
Perhaps Germany appreciates Liz Lemon after all
It’s no secret that EW loves 30 Rock and has, quite literally, since Day 1. Which is why we were so surprised by reports earlier this week saying the NBC comedy earned a zero rating (less than 5,000 viewers) in its German debut on Sunday night. So surprised, in fact, the current issue of Entertainment Weekly mentions it on the Bullseye page, where we say the low rating is “another lapse in judgment on Germany’s part.”
Well, turns out that zero rating may have made a helluva headline, but it wasn’t quite fair. You see, yes, it did earn a zero when it debuted on Deutschland’s ZDFNeo digital network last Sunday — BUT (big “but” here), that ignores the fact that 30 Rock was already airing on Germany’s TNT. It stands to reason people watching on one network wouldn’t head over to a different channel for an episode they already saw. What’s more, looks like some 30,000 viewers tuned in to channel ZDFneo Wednesday night to watch the second episode (quite possibly because of all the hubbub over that nasty, headline-grabbing zero rating during the first episode).
So, in short, we want to apologize to our dear 30 Rock for ever doubting its cross-border appeal. If they have TV in space, aliens are no doubt laughing at Jack Donaghy. But more importantly, we want to apologize to Germany for doubting that the folks who gave us Stromberg, a German version of The Office, were anything other than a humorous, judicious people.
‘STROMBERG’
Does 'A Christmas Carol' fall in the uncanny valley?
I’ve been seeing the posters and ads for A Christmas Carol eh-heeverywhere recently, and it gives me the creeps like whoa. Because from where I sit, this version is deep, deep into the uncanny valley. How can this image not give you the chills? Geesh:
For the uninitiated, the uncanny valley is that weird zone where humanoid characters go from cute and adorable to scary and off putting. Wall-E? Adorbs. That thing? See you in my nightmares. We like stuff to have human characteristics up to a point, but then those characteristics get weird and we stop liking it — until they get so human-like that we can’t tell the difference, and then we like them again. That close-but-not-quite-a-person creepiness even popped up on 30 Rock when Tracy tried to make his pornographic video game and Frank explained the valley using Star Wars characters. It turns out even monkeys experience an uncanny valley response.
I think Christmas Carol is valley-bound. Check out Popular Science’s video about the concept after the jump, and tell us PopWatchers: Where does it fall for you? READ FULL STORY »
'Saturday Night Live' sketch ideas for Taylor Swift: Go
Taylor Swift’s first promo for tomorrow’s Saturday Night Live alluded to Kanye West, but a couple more have popped up today, featuring the comparatively bite-size Kristen Wiig. All these promos sure do keep me wishing on a wishing star that Taylor Swift will be a good host tomorrow!
That second one offered shades of both Wiig’s recurring “Penelope” character and Single White Female, the combination of which would probably make for a pretty decent sketch. What do you want to see Taylor do tomorrow night? Leave your craziest sketch ideas in the comments (DON’T BE GROSS), and we’ll post the best ones on PopWatch tomorrow afternoon.
Oprah is pondering some big changes -- but it's not the first time
Where will we get our Oprah fix after 2011? The latest news from her production company Harpo is that Winfrey is still deciding what she’ll do when current syndication deal with CBS expires in mid-2011. Will she re-up or move her talk show to her own LA-based network OWN? One thing to remember: In the eons since Winfrey first signed her syndication deal with King World (way back in 1986), this is not the first time she’s considered walking away from her network talk show.
In 1997, King World saw its stock drop after reports that Winfrey was thinking about quitting. She eventually signed an extension through 2000 (and, big sigh, the stock recovered.) In 2002, Winfrey put out word she planned to retire from the talk show in 2006, only to extend her syndication deal through 2011 a couple years later. And in 2005, Winfrey set a new potential retirement date: 2011. (This time around, Winfrey has promised she’ll announce her intentions by the end of the year.) Is Oprah conflicted about her future in the talk show world? Or is she just a master negotiator when it comes to new contracts? Will you follow Winfrey if she moves to OWN?
Photo Credit: Armando Gallo/Retna Ltd
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