Results tagged “lewisblack”

While we still don't believe that Joaquin Phoenix's schtick on Letterman last night isn't anything other than a stunt, it doesn't mean that show's like "Late Night" need to go along with it. Do the producers of his latest movie, we don't even remember what it's called, think that this has helped them? What's your take - is Phoenix faking or tripping?

In the last month or two so, Comedy Central has released several DVDs, a bunch of these were sent to us for review (but sadly not including today's release of "Lewis Black's Root of All Evil - Uncensored"):

Dear NBC, please remove Mary Carillo from all Olympics broadcasts. She towers over the terrified and cowering Chinese locals and her speech impediment caused by her oversized caps a la Matt Dillon in "There's Something About Mary" (or something??!!) is almost as incredibly annoying as the vacuous fluff pieces they have her doing - really, did we need to meet the tallest man in China who could have been her love interest or the overlong visit to the panda breeding center? Why was she dressed in a hospital gown and booties at the breeding center? Was she performing panda pelvic exams or was she receiving one from curious Chinese veterinarians?

It looks like Time Warner Inc. will be spinning off Time Warner Cable and announcing that sometime today. No word yet on how that might affect subscribers (like yours truly) of the TV, phone, and web services that the cable entity offers.

New York City may be all the way across the country, but if Rupert Murdoch gets his way there you can bet he will cast his gaze upon all other major metropolitan areas: the New York Times reports that Murdoch wants to obtain a permanent FCC waiver to acquire two TV NYC stations in addition to his three newspapers and radio assets. Will this be a last hurrah while the friendly Bush Administration still controls the FCC or will a waiver set a new standard for consolidation (and thus, more limited choice)? While Murdoch's News Corp. is based in NYC, it doesn't mean that he doesn't exert considerable influence in the West. Can you imagine LA as an "all FOX all the time" market?

Comedy Central has started to establish some control over Wednesday nights. What's funny is that I started to go back to them on Wednesdays because of Lewis Black's excellent show "Root Of All Evil" (anyone catch him on Conan last week? He was great) and now I'm finding myself re-engaging with "South Park" but I'm sure that program directors at Comedy Central were planning for the flow to happen the other way. Whatever, it's working on me. "Lewis Black's Root Of All Evil" is the TV Junkie Pick tonight and not coincidentally because the incredible Patton Oswalt is on the show as one of the comedian-debaters seeking to prove whether Paris Hilton (or the very idea of her) is more evil than Dick Cheney.

Spike has a new, totally original show that is essentially 'Cops' for the Drug Enforcement Agency and it has the totally original name 'DEA'. “Television viewers will get the same unprecedented access to the inner workings of the DEA as our camera crews – the raids, the risk and the danger,” said Al Roker, executive producer (Al Roker??!! He's so effing hardcore). “When you watch ‘DEA,’ you will feel like you have gone undercover.”

Is Fox TV above the law? The Washington Post reports that Fox is challenging a $91,000 fine levied against them by the FCC for a broadcast of "Married by America" back in 2003 that featured reality show cast members licking whipped cream off of strippers' "digitally obscured" body parts. Since the FCC is controlled by an administration that is full of Fox fans will the network get away with it? It should be noted that just a few weeks before the naughty "Married by America" episode, the FCC fined ABC $1.2 million for an episode of "NYPD Blue" that featured a shot of a woman's bare bottom. Fox is refusing to pay a fine that's 7.5% of the amount that ABC ended up paying which already raises questions.

The 10:00pm slot is hot again tonight but I'm going to have to go with Lewis Black again, that's a great show, maybe Comedy Central has finally figured out what to do with him. In other items, the Nielsen Company, whom I've occasionally reported on/castigated in this column, is inviting LAist to submit some TV Trivia questions for an "Ultimate Pop Culture Trivia Challenge" contest and I'd to invite YOU, our readers, to submit some questions for this. Please send your questions to me at tomdog@gmail.com (we don't want any sneaks to get these in advance through the comments on the website). Your participation would be much appreciated!

I dunno what's up but the 10:00pm and late night slots seem to have a lot going on. Lewis Black has a new show with a new format on Comedy Central tonight and he's on Letterman as well, kudos to Lewis!

Everyone is in a tizzy about The Wire coming to a close yesterday - it's one of the few shows that decided to go out while it was on top so kudos to them. The TV Junkie is barely keeping his head above water with the deluge of new shows coming out in the next week, tonight it's Julianna Margulies' return to the little screen with Canterbury's Law (that's a mouthful, say: Julianna Margulies in Canterbury's Law 10x fast). Stay tuned for more shows this week, including the fabulous Lewis Black (right) in Lewis Black's Root of All Evil which premieres on Wednesday at 10:30pm - I hope he does "the finger thing" a lot.

Did anyone else catch SciFi's Tin Man last night? Definitely worth watching into Part Deux (they will repeat Part One at 7:00pm). I wish I could say the same about Comedy Central's Last Laugh '07 - I love Lewis Black, Dave Attell, and D.L. Hughley, but they crammed their acts, a lengthy animated intro, and a Q/A session into one hour. The end result left a lot to be desired. 7:00pm David Copperfield TCM -...

I hope you've got a bunch of stuff Tivo'd because there's nothing on until Sunday. You tell me that there is stuff on tonight? What, you mean Friday Night Lights, NUMB3RS, or Las Vegas? Please. Tomorrow, there's no reason to turn on prime time TV unless it's for Citizen Kane on TCM at 8:30. The Big Story is Sunday, check it: Sunday 8:00pm Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project HBO - Special. Don Rickles is...

My son has pink eye and I've had to watch daytime TV, a truly terrible terrible thing to have to subject yourself to. I dunno if I'll be able to turn any of the following on.

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This post is like Lewis Black on Sometimes there are stories that slip through the cracks, big and small, around LA and we don't get to them during the week. Stories We Missed is here to catch them and bring them to you. Better late than never, right?

TUESDAY