Results tagged “hughlaurie”

Before Live Aid, Farm Aid & Chef Aid came The Secret Policemen's Ball - which made the mold for the benefit concert, broke it, taped it back together, and ran with it. With a wealth of British comedy (including The Pythons, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry & Rowan Atkinson) and musical virtuosos (Pete Townshend, Sting, Eric Clapton & Phil Collins in then-unheard-of "unplugged" performances) donating their talents for Amnesty International, the show & tie-in albums, films & tapes, became a phenomenon

       

Large swaths of red-blooded American males have been waiting for this moment since March of 2000 (NSFW) and today that moment finally arrives -- Jessica Biel is nekkid in a movie (unbelievably NSFW)! Of course, by all accounts Powder Blue is a terrible film, but why let something like that stop you from buying it, right? It surely can't be any worse than the week's "big" release, New in Town. What has happened to Renee Zellweger? Not every notable 70s movie was actually good. Zabriskie Point will make you laugh but not in a good way. Forever Strong has two things going for it: it's about rugby and it stars the amazing Gary Cole.

                            

If you've ever been curious about the NASCAR experience, it doesn't get any closer than this. On NASCAR's last visit to Auto Cub Speedway in Fontana last month, LAist got an exclusive, behind-the-scenes view from the pits of Indy 500 winner and Formula One crossover Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, is currently battling for a spot in the Chase at 14th in the standings. There is plenty more of the 2009 Sprint Cup season to come, with NASCAR returning to Fontana in October.

According to the LA Times, about 1 in 4 TVs were tuned to "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" when President Barack Obama made an appearance last week. Leno has had higher ratings only 3 other times in the past, but the media space is a lot more crowded than it was even 4 years ago, so it was a stellar night for NBC.

It's official, Sean Hannity is the only entity that ever existed on "Hannity and Colmes". Alan Colmes has left the show and will not be replaced but he was always treated as either invisible or a punching bag. When watching the show, it was amazing to note that Hannity would either shout Colmes down or Colmes' microphone would seem to get magically weaker. If we were naive we could hope that this is a harbinger of the death of this kind of programming but look at the political entities we are dealing with.

So everyone's seen that NBC is offering Leno a 10:00pm program after he hands off "The Tonight Show" to Conan in the Spring. NBC is trying to protect an aging segment of its audience by doing this and the end result is that they are going to undermine Conan O'Brien's takeover of "The Tonight Show". Since a good percentage of viewership can get Leno at 10pm, NBC is creating a disincentive for viewers to try out the new version of the show as helmed by Conan. This begs the question: don't Republicans have enough late night TV options? Isn't that what Glenn Beck is for?

Convincing people to go to a movie theater and see a documentary is a labor of love for me. Folks always protest that they'd rather see something else--something bigger and shinier!--but if they suck it up and buy the ticket for the doc they are invariably happy that they did. This weekend, a truly great documentary unspools in Los Angeles. It's called Young @ Heart and it's about a group of elderly New Englanders who love to sing, well, Coldplay, Sonic Youth, The Ramones, etc. That's right--it's about senior citizens who live to rock. See it.

I was kind of unhappy at how PBS dropped off Super Tuesday coverage fairly early in the evening. Political sickos pretty much had to rely on CNN which was all tech-ed out: did you see that crazy stage Wolf Blitzer was on? How about the map with _way_ too much information? They didn't even know where to look on that thing and neither did I. Was I looking at specific precincts reporting, or was it statewide? Etc. The pack of political neanderthals they gathered for us was also uninspiring - can they not find some people _without_ political agendas to put on their programs? Who would ever want to hear anything from (the now morbidly obese) Bill Bennett? He's George Wendt without the humor. One thing's for sure, Super Tuesday is now too close too the Super Bowl and makes for an overwhelming 72 hour period, which is fine if you're a TV junkie.

In some TV news with local flavor, Santa Monica-based Ovation, "The Arts Network" (I thought this was Lifetime's tagline?), has announced a series of partnerships with cultural institutions across the country to produce and promote their content and collections. Local organizations include: the LA Opera, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and P.S. ARTS. Now if I could only get Ovation on local cable....

Yesterday I was lucky enough to hang out with a real super hero - even if he just plays one on TV. Greg Grunberg, who plays Officer Matt Parkman on "Heroes", gave me a personal backstage tour, allowed me to view the taping of a scene with the adorable Adair Tishler, and treated me with access to the inner workings of the magical world of NBC's hottest show. We even spent some time with...

Will we be able to survive the onslaught of new shows and season premieres tonight? Will you succumb to the hype of Cane? I've been hearing about that one since the beginning of the year. Reaper, on the CW, is directed by Kevin Smith of Clerks fame. But for quality I'm probably going to have to stick with Damages, at 10pm on FX, since I haven't missed an episode yet and won't miss this one....

Yes folks it that time of year again when people make lists of the top whatevers that did something, didn't do something, inspired them, made them laugh, cry, sick or any number of other things. For better or worse, I'm no different and am caught up in the whole list thing. So, I will be providing a list of my own for your enjoyment, distraction, derision or otherwise perusal. My list is the top-ten...

Tonight - Monday "Breakheart Pass" (TCM, 5:00 p.m.) Charles Bronson starts off Crime/Mystery night on TCM. This is followed by "Murder On the Orient Express", "Sherlock Holmes in Terror By Night", and "The Narrow Margin" "Monday Night Football" (ESPN, 5:30 p.m.) da Bears @ Rams "NBA Basketball" (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Spurs @ Clippers "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) Xmas episode followed by new episodes of everything else on CBS Monday night....

We tuned in a little late to the E! pre-red carpet awards.

We’re pulling for Hugh Laurie, the Droopy Dog-esque star of FOX-TV’s House, during tonight’s Emmy Awards (from the Shrine Auditorium downtown) as best actor in a drama. His role as pain-pill popper Dr. Gregory House is a heartbreaking study of pathos. As the brilliant "leader" of a crack team of physicians who take on the medical cases no one else can solve, Laurie’s character borders on being antisocial; but the hospital he works for can’t get rid of him because, well, he’s that good.

When asked by "Entertainment Weekly" about the biggest difference between London and LA, actor Hugh Laurie replied "People here drive like baboons on crack--they've stolen the keys and sort of figured out how to switch the thing on. I'm staggered by it."