Yesterday, just days into his new job in the United States Senate, Al Franken finally did what we'd all been waiting for: He cracked a joke. And a pop culture-themed one at that! While questioning Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the former SNL-er asked her about Perry Mason. Earlier in the proceedings, Sotomayor had mentioned how influential the classic television show from the 1950s and '60s had been in her decision to become a lawyer. She'd also made reference to a bit of TV trivia: That Mason only lost a single case to his opposing counsel, prosecutor Hamilton Burger. A fan of Mason himself, Franken asked: "What was the one case in Perry Mason that Burger won?" When Sotomayor couldn't remember, Franken cracked: "Didn't the White House prepare you for that?" It wasn't exactly Stuart Smalley, but how cool was it to see a bit of levity injected into the heavy-duty hearings?
Check out the video below. Can any of you answer Franken's question? In which episode did Mason lose his case?
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa seems to have settled the weeks-long debate over whether the cash-strapped city should cover the $1.4 million tab for providing public safety services for Michael Jackson's televised memorial service last week. According to the L.A. Times, Villaraigosa told reporters the city won't try to recoup any of the cost from AEG, the company that owns the Staples Center (where the service was held), and called the donation website set up by his staff "ridiculous."
Commenters on the Times' blog decried, among other things, the city's perceived "kissing up to the rich and famous." But Villaraigosa's basic message seemed, to me, to be more about pride: It's Los Angeles' job to handle major events just like any other big city, and L.A. doesn't need your charity, thank you very much. He's right; that is what municipalities are for. That said, it doesn't seem like it'd hurt to take donations -- or for AEG or a well-heeled Jackson friend or two to go ahead and help the public cover that considerable tab. Many think of Hollywood when they think of Los Angeles, but there are also some pretty seriously downtrodden neighborhoods that will only deteriorate further in light of the city's -- and the state's, incidentally -- cash flow problems. Desperate times, people.
What do you think, PopWatchers? Should L.A. just suck it up and foot the bill? Should it take donations?
Months before June's commencement address, when it was announced that James Franco would be UCLA's commencement speaker, the entire campus full of Bruins roared, demanding to replace the bleezy smoking dude with someone who was "as esteemed as a commencement speaker of UCLA’s caliber should be." Naturally, they chose that one curly haired guitarist from Linkin Park to replace him. Franco rebutted, stating that he was too busy with preproduction on a movie to speak anyway. Sure.
Finally, in the NSFW video below, we discover the true reason why Franco didn't speak -- UCLA is a school full of pretentious prudes his offer was rescinded. Take a peek below and find out the truth for yourself, and how college like, really does take "minds into space like a rocket!"
For the past few months, it seems as if gossip blogger Perez Hilton was involved in a new controversy every week, from his public debate over gay marriage with former Miss California Carrie Prejean to his recent altercation with Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am in Toronto. Hilton, though, is determined to continue building his brand, with a new site and his own music imprint on Warner Bros. set to debut by the end of summer. “Whether you like me or not, I’m not going away anytime soon,” says the 31 year old. “And I don’t care if you like me, I just care if you read my website.” EW sat down with Hilton in his L.A. condo, filled with fan portraits of Hilton, for a revealing interview.
On his friendship Lady Gaga: “I consider her more than a dear friend. I consider her my wife, my sister, my daughter. I‘m so thankful for her success and I feel like I’m succeeding because she’s succeeding. It’s that close of a bond. I saw the potential in her from the very beginning before anyone else.”
On why he’s good for gay America: “I think I am just by the sheer fact of my existence. I know that I personally would have loved to have me around when I was a gay teenager. Because when I was a gay teenager there weren’t that many openly gay celebrities. And I would have loved to have been like, ‘Wow look at that dude. He’s gay. He’s REALLY gay. And he’s successful and he’s not apologizing for that and he seems really happy.’ So I hope that though they may not agree with everything I say that I inspire gay youth to be themselves and to say what they think and to be proud of who they are.”
On the Funny or Die spoof, featuring Breckin Meyer and Zac Efron, of his tearful post-will.i.am encounter video post: “It was funny, but at the same time it was making fun of a violent attack. I wasn’t hurt but I was surprised because I’ve been nothing but glowing about Zac Efron. Maybe I was hurt a little, yeah.”
For more on Hilton, including his much-criticized treatment of Michael Jackson’s death, pick up the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly hitting stands Friday, July 10.
This past Saturday, NBC Late Night host Jimmy Fallon headed to the White House to emcee a Fourth of July USO concert honoring military heroes and their families. Fallon, who performed along with the Foo Fighters, Michelle Branch and "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band shared his photos and his memories of the event with EW.com, including his encounter with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle.
Hey, everybody. Hope this Independence Day is treating you well. As consumers of pop culture, we at EW.com have got to know how you prefer to consume the ultimate July 4th pop culture event: fireworks. There are some spectacular ones on television every year, such as Macys' 4th of July fireworks which aired tonight on NBC, or you may have a favorite local tradition that you must honor every year. To me, not even the most spectacular televised shows can compare to even the most quaint neighborhood display. Which do you prefer? Tell us in our poll below and have a great 4th of July!
Fans and friends of Michael Jackson have issued tributes both touching and heartbreaking since his death Thursday, but perhaps the coolest tribute comes courtesy of the dedicated, dancing CPDRC prisoners in the Philippines (who also brought us the infamous "Thriller" dance video). The 1500 coordinated viral-video stars gathered together after his death to choreograph new Jackson-inspired numbers, reportedly sweating it out for nine hours in preparation for the tribute to their idol. Here are their interpretations of "Ben," "I'll Be There," and "We Are the World." Enjoy!
I doubt any of you are too hard-up for another ultra-catty summer reality TV series, but I'd like to announce that I have a new favorite. It's called Obama's Press Conferences. It's airing all the time, y'all. Sometimes there are even repeats! Jump to 2:11 in the video below for the good stuff. This is way better than Teresa flipping over a table. Hey, press, ask him about his smoking some more. Do it. Do it!
Thanks to The Daily Show for selecting choice clips from this hot new summer series -- and to Jon Stewart for amending the Z Snap to include an impressive four prongs.
While watching the street protests in Iran these past two
weeks -- turns out more votes were cast in 50 cities in the June 12 presidential
election than the actual number of Iranians who live there -- I kept asking myself the
same question. Why does this sound so familiar? Where have I seen it
before? And then it hit me. Substitute a fat, blond comedian (with a
skinny, annoying sidekick) for Mir-Hossein Mousavi, and you’ve pretty
much got the plot of Black Sheep, the terrible 1996 Chris Farley-David Spade comedy about a hijinks-filled gubernatorial campaign in the state of Washington.
In Black Sheep,
Farley plays Mike Donnelly, doltish younger brother of politician Al
Donnelly (Tim Matheson) who keeps making embarrassing gaffes on the
campaign trail (“He’s Roger Clinton, Billy Carter, and the whole Reagan
family rolled into one,” the Ahmadinejad-like incumbent governor
describes him). But after his brother gets defeated at the polls,
Farley’s character figures out the election has been rigged when he
notices -- just like the Guardian Council admitted in Iran this
weekend! -- that more votes were counted in some cities than the actual
number of Washingtonians. With the help of a wacko Vietnam
veteran-turned-survivalist (Gary Busey), Farley and Spade crash the
falsely relected Governor’s victory speech and stage an angry protest
that ultimately leads to the reversal of the election, making Tim
Matheson governor.
Eerily similar, no? We’re not sure what Black Sheep
can tell us about how things will turn out in Iran, but it’s comforting
proof of something I have long suspected: That nothing, great or small,
ever happens on this planet that Hollywood hasn’t already turned into a
crappy movie. What do you think, PopWatchers? What other bad movies
remind you of current events?
I like to think my iPod can do anything, including but not limited to: entertaining me when I'm bored on the subway; delighting my friends during a dance party on Fire Island; transporting me away from annoying shoppers or people on the street. And now -- if that weren't enough! -- it seems iPods can save your life, according to a testimonial by a British girl whose life was maybe (sort of?) spared after her iPod diverted the voltage from a lightening bolt that struck her.
Please watch me while I swoon even more over a lifeless gadget. From doing a little more reading about the story, though, it seems that it could have been a lot of things that spared the girl's life -- the fact that she was holding hands with her boyfriend and sitting down at the time could have contributed. But whatever. I prefer giving the savior credit to a simple musical device that only continues to bring joy to the world. First, it revolutionized music. Now: saving lives! Can the iPod do anything wrong?
What else do I love? Imagining the other headlines that could crop up from the iPod's turn as a life-saving device: "iPod Nano Serves as Life Raft for Drowning Toddler!" or "Mugger Apprehended by Rogue iPod!" Maybe? It's far-fetched, but I'm having a fanciful afternoon. For giving me a moment of fancy, for saving the life of a young woman, for your future good deeds (I'll keep you near in case I plan to get mugged or drown sometime soon), just wanted to simply say: Thank you, iPod.
