A Taste of The Soup: Ruining Today’s Youth
The girls from Next Door, some off-color tuna jokes and Dr. Drew’s floating head. What more could you want out of a clip from tonight’s Soup special, TV Under the Influence: Intoxicated Mayhem on TV? Oh, topless reality stars making out in a hot tub? You got it.
Also, don’t forget to read The Soup Blog, served daily, and tune in tonight @ 10 on E!
Review: Rescue Me comedy short
Anna wrote about this a few weeks ago, and for whatever reason, I only got around to watching it this morning. I guess I didn’t realize that it was a fifteen minute mini episode. I just thought it was one of those cheesy three minute trailers that are rarely worth watching. Well this was certainly worth checking out because not only is it laugh out loud funny, but it also highlights the great ensemble cast Rescue Me has. These guys mesh well together.
The setup for Rescue Me 2.5 is pretty straightforward. The crew kicked some ass at a recent fire and they’re going to be honored for meritorious bravery by the mayor in the morning. They even made the front page of the New York Post. The humor starts right there though. Because he didn’t want to squat in front for the photo, Garrity stood to the side and only his left ear made the photo.
So that evening, these “brave” men get spooked when something that The Probie describes as a bear… or maybe a jackal? Coyote? Large cat? Who knows. It’s roaming around the firehouse and no one wants to go near it.
The writing and set-up is what really made this so funny though. Simple things like Probie stabbing Sean in the cheek with a fork are worth chuckling over but it’s the jokes set up in the first thirty seconds that are really worth talking about. Specifically, Sean mentioning that his family is a family of pukers. If one person starts upchucking, others follow suit. To help deal with his nervousness regarding the beast in the house, Lou starts eating some month old cake. Later on, after the whole ordeal is over, the rotten food makes Lou heave a little. Sean was next to him when it happened so you can guess what took place next. Stuff like that was incredibly well written and laid out.
The highlight scene for me was when Lou and Tommy got themselves locked in a closet. Lou admits that he’s afraid of the dark and wants the light on. But Tommy wants it off because he’s claustrophobic. C’mon now, that is hilarious. Whoever hatched that bit needs a pat on the back. Regardless, it seems like these six firefighters aren’t as brave as the FDNY and the city of New York would like to think.
So if you’re looking for something to tide you over until next week’s season three premiere (Tuesday May 30 at 10), this certainly fits the bill. Other shows really need to make shorts like this. It goes a long way to rewarding longtime fans and helping to foster new ones. Plus it makes the cast seem a lot more human because there’s no way they didn’t have a great time putting this together.
Movie Reviews: Get Smart vs. The Love Guru
This was supposed to be a big weekend for comedy, with both Mike Myers and Steve Carell cranking it up to 11 for your pleasurewith a little Timberlake thrown in. But we’ve seen the results, and your choice is between bad and really bad. Or The Incredible Hulk.
Get Smart: A mediocre spoof, with two bickering spies (Carell vs. Anne Hathaway) trying to thwart a plan to nuke L.A. But the gags fall flat, and those two have no chemistry, maknig this another big summer movie that should have heeded its title’s advice. Grade: C
The Love Guru: Myers does the same character he always does, just with a new accent. So you’re in for frozen grins, urination scenes, midget jokes, blatant product placement and that annoying “promised myself I wouldn’t cry!” thing he does. Grade: D
Ten commercials male-bashers will love
Have you ever noticed that men are often the butt of jokes on television? Whether it’s the goofy, lazy husband on sitcoms or the incompetent, oversexed guy on TV commercials, men are often shown in a bad light (I know, I know, woman only make 70 cents for every $1.00 a man makes, but it’s almost Father’s Day so let’s talk about this, OK?). AskMen.com has a list of the 10 worst male-bashing commercials on television.
The Pizza Hut ad. Gah. Another commercial that shows that it’s the mom that can cook and the dad that has to call for takeout. I would guess that even a lot of women wouldn’t like this ad, since it reinforces the whole “women belong in the kitchen and men work and have to order takeout” stereotype. And that AT&T ad. Believe me, there’s no way a guy would admit so to his wife in such a stupid way that he lost $5800 in Vegas. The part you don’t see is when he goes on and on and tells her about the hooker that he was with the night before.
But the one that gets me is the ad for Dairy Queen. There is no other commercial right now that makes me want to throw my remote at my TV. A little girl completely manipulates a boy and gets a free dessert from him, and then tells her mom that “it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.” For one thing, I really doubt a girl that age would even be familiar with that saying, but second, this just reinforces ridiculous stereotypes and really sends a bad message (can you imagine the uproar if the roles were reversed?)
The mom’s expression at the end says it all. She seems to realize “oh my God, I’m raising a whore.”