1.20.2012

Welcome Back!

I really need to get Photoshop



Ok I realize I'm not exactly starting off 2012 with a bang posting-wise. I could tell you that I haven't posted much this whole week in a show of solidarity for my blogging brethren who would be affected by SOPA/PIPA but I'm just lazy. I did sign the online petition though because I don't want to live in a world where there is a limit on the number of Alison Brie gifs available.

So in an effort to beg for your forgiveness allow me to inundate you with some awesome television news that you will only find on Blog Name TBA, provided you don't visit any other television blogs or read any television insider magazines.

Tom Hanks and that other guy did it better: ABC cancelled their new comedy "Work It" after only two episodes. This show featured two guys who have to dress as women in order to get better jobs or something. I'll be totally honest with you all, I didn't watch this and I was barely aware of its existence. Apparently I was not in the minority.

Louis CK doesn't give a shit: Awards shows like The Golden Globes are nothing more than an opportunity for talentless assholes to flaunt the fact that their horrible show has far more viewers than quality programming like "Community" and "Parks and Recreation" so it should come as no surprise that Louis CK wants no part of that shit.

"It would be false for me to [host the Golden Globe Awards]...I'd have to go and pretend I give a shit and I don't...

I've said it before and I will say it again, Louis CK is quite possibly one of the funniest men on the planet and it's because of things like this. He honestly doesn't care how he is perceived. He says things he thinks are funny and if you don't like him, go to hell or a Dane Cook show, either one works.

Rob Schneider is a professional coat tail rider: This is a rather old news item but no matter how many times I read it I still get infuriated. The premiere of "Rob", in which Rob Schneider milks the same joke for what seems like an eternity, scored 13.5 million views. Granted it aired after "The Big Bang Theory" pulled in 15 million views. I'm going to pretend that most of that 13.5 million is people that fell asleep after the first 5 minutes of "The Big Bang Theory" and slept right through "Rob" and since the average CBS viewer is approximately 75-100 years old, that could be accurate.

Celebrity Wife Swap is a thing: Somehow for some unGodly reason this show was greenlighted and given a timeslot. So far the 'celebrities' swapping have been Tina Yothers, Niecy Nash, Gary Busey, Flava Flav, Dee Snider, and Ted Haggard. Someone is playing pretty fast and loose with the term 'celebrity'.

1.17.2012

Awards shows are the worst


I try to do everything in my power to avoid talking, thinking, or hearing about television awards shows. My favorites rarely ever get nominated, let alone win and the 2012 People's Choice Awards were no exception. Prepare to be surprised...

Favorite Network TV Comedy:
The Big Bang Theory, Glee, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, and Two and a Half Men.


While I appreciate the inclusion of "Modern Family", the rest of the field is an atrocious mix of kids singing A Capella, smarmy douches, and laugh tracks. Don't even get me started on the fact that "How I Met Your Mother" beat out everyone else. Those idiot kids have been sitting there listening to Bob Saget tell a story for seven seasons now.

Favorite TV Comedy Actor:
Alec Baldwin, Chris Colfer, Cory Monteith, Jim Parsons, and Neil Patrick Harris.


I had to look up the two kids from "Glee" to find out who the hell they were. Who are these 'people' choosing these awards and have any of them ever heard of Nick Offerman? Holy crap people, this category should read Nick Offerman, Nick Offerman, Nick Offerman, Alec Baldwin, and Donald Glover. Oh and NPH picked up the win here.

Favorite TV Comedy Actress:
Courtney Cox, Jane Lynch, Kaley Cuoco, Lea Michele, and Tina Fey.


Once again, no mention of "Parks and Recreation" or the amazing work that Alison Brie did on a little show called "Community", coming back this spring. I don't know what upsets me more, Courtney Cox getting a nomination for "Cougar Town" or Tina Fey getting snubbed in favor of Lea Michele.

Favorite Cable TV Comedy:
Hot in Cleveland, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, And some others


The rest of the field is completely irrelevant. The big story here is that somehow "Hot in Cleveland" beat out "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" for best cable tv comedy. I have no words.


I couldn't agree more Ron.

1.16.2012

Site News: Did you get a haircut?


So I was sitting here at Blog Name TBA headquarters staring at the site and just thought it was about time for a little face lift. You might notice I got rid of the TBA Check presentation image in the background. As much as I love that image it just didn't fit the new template. I pulled some of the crap at the bottom and placed it on the right. So let's say you wanted to see how many posts we've done about Alison Brie, all you need to do is type her name in the field and search away. Also I added a like button for our Facebook page, just click it and stop asking questions.

Whether you like the new changes or love the new changes, leave a comment and let me know.

1.13.2012

I heart Coach Taylor

2006 Dillon Panthers > 2010 East Dillon Lions


People have been trying to get me to watch "Friday Night Lights" for a while now and for some reason I never got around to checking it out. I think it might have something to do with the fact that it jumped over to that special DirectTv channel that only airs reruns of "The Wire" and Earth, Wind, and Fire concerts.

So this Christmas I received season 1 of "Friday Night Lights" from my wonderful and caring sister and I spent the entire rest of my vacation sitting in front of Netflix streaming the crap out of the rest of the series, it was that good.

"Friday Night Lights" is fantastic for so many reasons. The show obviously features football but manages to work it into the plot in a very organic way, not wedging it awkwardly into the story (See, "The League"). The characters, at least to me, are extremely real people. We all know people like these kids, we went to high school with these kids. The connections between the characters feel so real and genuine that you actually lose sight of the fact that it's a television show. And last but not least Kyle Chandler Taylor Kitsch Adrianne Palicki makes me want to write sappy emo love songs.

Unfortunately like everything else I love and cherish, "Friday Night Lights" ended after only five seasons but all five seasons are available for instant streaming on Netflix and absolutely worth checking out.

Omissions and Corrections



So in all of the excitement of "Community" returning to television I neglected to mention some of the more unfortunate things about 2012. Check it:


  • Entertainment Weekly released the list of the most watched shows of 2011 and the results are sure to blow you away. The most watched show of 2011 with 21.4 million viewers was "NCIS". Second most watched, NFL on Sunday night with 19.9 mil, then "Two and a Half Men" with 18.9 mil. In case you were wondering, "Community" ended up with 4.18 million and just to ensure that I continue cutting myself through 2012 "Cops" registered 4.19 million viewers. Really? More people watched "Cops" than "Community"? I hate people.
  • "Harry's Law", which is unfortunately not a "Night Court" spin off (Ed Note: Sad Face), was more popular than "Parks and Recreation". "Parks and Recreation", which has more funny people than the last 10 seasons of "Saturday Night Live", was less popular than a show about a woman named Harry.
  • A cartoon version of "Napoleon Dynamite" is now a thing thanks to the wonderful assholes at Fox. "Sweet!" said that one guy who still thinks it's 2004. All of the original characters will be returning to voice their cartoon counterparts which is probably nice for Jon Heder, he finally has something to do between the his lunch shift and his dinner shift at Golden Corral. 

So maybe the apocalypse isn't coming this year. Or maybe it's already come and hell is having to watch shit like "Rob!" and "2 Broke Girls".

1.10.2012

OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!ONE111


Ok people, this is not a drill. I repeat, this is NOT a drill.

"Community" is in fact returning to television. NBC has reported that 12 new episodes will air this spring. They also finally admitted that maybe the show needs a new time slot.

So the day Blog Name TBA returns from its holiday hiatus is the same day that NBC announces that "Community" will once again return to the airwaves... Coincidence?

Also as if the return of Abed, Troy, and Annie wasn't enough, here's some other awesome news that should restore your faith in humanity one news item at a time:

- Megan Mullally has gone on record as saying that she will be participating in the "Party Down" movie, going as far as to say that John Enbom is writing it now and that the entire cast will be in it.

- There will be no Glee spin-off once the current set of characters graduates. I think I speak for all of humanity when I say 'F yes'

- NBC has also decided to move "Whitney" to its own little island on Wednesday nights along with its new soon to be cancelled sitcom "Are you there God? Its me Chelsea". Let's see how well it does without its "Office" lead in.

- "Parks and Recreation" is going to not only give a recurring role to Louis CK this season but Paul Rudd as well. As if that ensemble cast needed anymore help.


Seriously folks, I could not be more excited about the upcoming year which should be a clear indicator that the Mayans were right and the end of the world is upon us. As long as I get all 12 new episodes of "Community" the world can do whatever the hell it damn well pleases.

And we're baaaaaack!


Now that it's officially 2012 we can look back on the monster 2011 we had here at Blog Name TBA. Since the second we debuted in June we were flooded by pageviews from such exotic locations like Russia, England, Germany, and Kansas. Our farewell post for "Community" got a record 60 pageviews on its first day. We started our very own Facebook fan page (8 fans, NBD). We hit 100 posts before the new year and 2012 promises to be an even better year for all of us (me) here at TBA provided the world doesn't end. So in the spirit of the new year allow me to share with you our New Years goals, resolutions if you will:

1. Berate and degrade some worthless excuse for a celebrity so much that it garners the attention of their publicist thus prompting them to send us a 'Cease and Desist' letter. Rob Schneider, I'm looking at you.

2. Convince Alison Brie that her restraining order is only standing in the way of true happiness for the both of us.

3. Get the attention of CBS and talk them into buying the rights to this blog in order to make it into a horrible abomination of a sitcom.

4. Become famous enough that I can stop plastering every damn post I write on Facebook just to get people to check it out.

12.23.2011

Christmas Bonus. Bam.




Now I realize my last post of the year was supposed to be a Friday Laziness but I was watching TV last night and saw the first promo for the new season of Louie. Then I came across something else that I felt needed to be shared during this Christmas season. Two weeks ago Louis CK did a little special called "Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon Theater". Now keep in mind this was a full on comedy special like you see Friday night on Comedy Central, except it was funny.

What did the funniest ginger in the world (Sorry Carrot Top) do with this comedy special? Did he air it in HBO and make his fans pay subscription fees to watch it? Did he put it on Comedy Central between the 5th consecutive airing of the Colbert Report and South Park? Nay. Hell nay.

Louis CK distributed the entire special online for the low low price of $5.00 American.

Smash cut to today and "Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon Theater" has made over a million dollars renewing my faith in humanity by demonstrating the drawing power of one of the funniest comedians in the business today. And since it was distributed online Louis CK was able to avoid all of the fees and surcharges that normally accompany a dvd release.

So what did he do with the money, you ask?

The first $250,000 covered the expenses (website fees, etc.), then he gave the second $250,000 to his staff as a big fat Christmas bonus. On top of that, he gave $280,000 to charities recommended to him by friends and on Twitter. Warming Glow

And here's what he said about all of this:

That leaves me with 220k for myself. Some of that will pay my rent and will care for my childen. The rest I will do terrible, horrible things with and none of that is any of your business. In any case, to me, 220k is enough out of a million...

The thing is still on sale. I hope folks keep buying it. If I make another million, I'll give more of it away. I'll let you know when that happens because I like you getting to know what happened to your 5 dollars and bringing awareness to the bla bla bla. Louisck.net

We tried to get a comment from Carlos Mencia but his publicist said he was too busy lighting piles of money on fire and transcribing old Bill Cosby albums for his upcoming tour.

Have a great holidays and a Happy New Year folks!

12.22.2011

100 Posts Strong


They said it couldn't be done. They said we'd never hit the 100 post mark. They said we would burn out long before we made it this far.

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that they were wrong. I'd love to throw a big huge bash for my 100th post complete with clips and interviews and retrospectives but there really isn't anything going on today. So in the half assed lazy blogger fashion you've all come to expect from me, here's a bunch of Tracy Jordan quotes:

You can't sue me. I'm already being sued. Double indemnity!

I was just thinking about how weird it is that we eat birds.

We go way back, like spinal cords and car seats.

I watched 'Boston Legal' 9 times before I realized it wasn't a new 'Star Trek'.

Is there nothing sacred? Have we lost our moral center? It just makes me want to pee on someone.

They do that a lot in movies. An Affair to Remember, Sleepless in Seattle, and that remake of an Affair to Remember that I was in, a Blafair to Rememblack.

What is this, Horseville? Cuz I am surrounded by naysayers. Wordplay!

I've seen a blind guy bite a police horse. A puppy committed suicide after he saw our bathroom. I once bit into a burrito and there was a child's shoe in it. I've seen a hooker eat a tire. A pack of wild dogs took over and successfully ran a Wendy's. The sewer people stole my skateboard. The projects I lived in were named after Zachary Taylor, generally considered to be one of the worst presidents of all time. I once saw a baby give another baby a tattoo. They were very drunk!


Seriously though, thank you all for your support and clicks. Without you all this blog would just be me writing in my journal in the dark while I cry, drink peppermint schnapps, and cut myself while I stuff handfuls of Cheetos into my mouth.

I'll have a Friday Laziness tomorrow but then I'm off for a week. See you all after the New Year.

12.20.2011

Anyone up for a road trip?



I've never really appreciated the flash mob as a thing. I've always seen it as far more annoying than anything else especially now that old people have joined in on the 'fun'. But there comes a time when a man has to set aside his own personal beliefs and support something greater than himself...

According to a post on Craigslist a group of "Community" fans are planning a flash mob in Rockefeller Center this Thursday at 1pm. They are asking that people bring their own tiny Christmas tree and sing along to 'O Christmas Tree' with them.

I suppose I could dig deeper into this story and maybe figure out how this flash mob ties into their support for "Community" but they had me at "Community". Also its the holidays and I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but I'm a fairly lazy blogger. I do hope that at some point in the night everyone yells 'Pop Pop' in unison.

So if you're planning to be in New York on Thursday could you maybe take some pictures of this flash mob and interview a couple of people, maybe send me the transcript...that'd be really cool. Also, could you get me a bagel?

Oh Come On!


Unfortunately since the holidays are almost upon us most channels have chosen to mail in these next two weeks and air a bunch of hastily thrown together holiday specials. So I have no other choice but to report on shit like this:

After months of rumors, MTV is officially reviving the hidden-camera prank classic, ordering a new version of Punk’d to series. Jason Goldberg and Ashton Kutcher are back on board as executive producers. But the show’s host is…

… a different question. MTV plans to announce the show’s host/hosts during its New Years Eve party live telecast next week. Access Hollywood reported months ago that a new show was in the works, using different celebrity hosts for each episode — and noting in the premiere that Justin Bieber is the man in the van. EW

Suuuuuper.

So not only do we get Joe Rogen back on network television because of "Fear Factor", we also get to enjoy the vehicle that Ashton Kutcher rode into his lifetime endorsement deal with Von Dutch.

Stay tuned to CBS for the new Guy Fieri reality show where Guy rides around America and hands Smirnoff Ices to everyone he meets. It'll probably be on Thursday night at 9pm/8pm cst and called "Dude Bro, you just got Iced Bro, with Guy Fieri bro."

12.16.2011

Friday Laziness

I'll be perfectly honest with you all, Friday Laziness is the only segment I actually prepare for. Though to be fair that preparation is normally just me googling a bunch of different tv shows and picking the images I like the most. With that being said, I do not recommend googling "Happy Endings". That is all. Enjoy the laziness.






Nothing funny about this picture. I love this show and she is fricken A-dorable.






Enjoy your weekend!

This week in TV news: Friday Edition



Ever been at a party and everyone's talking about books or some other nerdy topic? Doesn't that just make you want to bash some nerds? Well, I'm not telling you to resist that urge, I'm merely giving you some far more interesting things of your own to talk about. Maybe those book nerds will finally quit giving you such condescending looks... If a GED wasn't good enough they wouldn't offer it as a high school diploma substitution, asshole.



MTV's New Year's Eve celebration to feature famous people? - I can neither confirm nor deny this rumor because even though MTV has released a list of celebrities that will be appearing at its New Year's Eve bash, I have no earthly idea who any of these people are.
Mac J. Miller, J. Cole, Tyler Posey, Vanessa Marano, and Katie Leclerc.
Either I'm incredibly old or the bar for fame in this country has been set far too low.
*accidentally reads article about Lindsey Lohan*
Ok, its B.


See you next season, Ronald McDonald - The latest season of "Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia" ended last night and I would like to go on record as saying this was probably the best season thus far. This season alone we got to meet Fat Mac, see two homeless dudes banging under the Boardwalk, we learned how to play Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games, I live blogged the season premiere, and finally after years of doubt and mystery we learned Mac's real name. Also am I the only one that loves the crap out of the jet black skullet that Danny DeVito is sporting this season? Sunny continues to be one of the best comedies on television and the flagship of a brilliant FX lineup.


NBC agrees to produce more crap - In a move that makes me want to cut myself NBC has signed on for a full season of "Whitney". They're also going to subject us to a show based on/written by comedienne Chelsea Handler. Troy and Abed are unemployed because of this shit? Seriously?


Golden Globe Nominations are out - What's that you say? No "Community"? No "Parks and Recreation"? No "Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia" or "the League"? Not even "Happy Endings"?
At least Ron Swanson got a nomination this year, right? You've got to be kidding me...
You tell 'em Ron.

12.14.2011

I regret nothing



After every major breakup, no matter what the circumstances were, there was always that time when you would sit down and cry while reading old love letters and looking at photos of the two of you... Yea I never did that shit either.






I miss you...

Trailers!!!!!!1111exclamation point!!11!!1


The television gods are fickle my friends, very fickle. Mere days after they tore my heart from my chest by making Alison Brie unemployed they see fit to give me a trailer for the FX hit "Justified" AND a trailer for the new season of "30 Rock".

If you haven't seen "Justified" do yourself a favor and Netflix the crap out of that bastard before the new season starts on January 17th. It's an FX Original, do I need to say more?

Also, go to Subway.
*waits for free sandwiches to start rolling in*





CBS don't care



CBS's success is a slap in the face of reason and logic. I realize that statement is news to absolutely no one but it gets better...


Recently a group of WWII Veterans, to honor the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, traveled to Hawaii where their attempt at holding a ceremony at the National Cemetery of the Pacific was repeatedly interrupted by the cast and crew of the CBS 'hit show' "Hawaii Five-O". They reportedly traipsed around the cemetery, refused to stand for the Star Spangled Banner, and even shushed a group of veterans. So the veterans, solidifying their reputation as the greatest generation, did what "Community" fans everywhere have been doing since last Thursday. They gave CBS the bird:

The obscene gesture was delivered in unison from a bus as they were leaving, and left them all in stitches of laughter.

Mr Tubbs said: ‘This was immature of me, but I said, “Gentlemen, if you so choose, how about we give them one big one-fingered military salute?”’

The last thing the production crew saw, he said, was a bunch of 90-year-old men flipping the bird at them. ‘It was one of the priceless moments of my life.’The Daily Mail

Great move CBS, alienate 70% of your viewing audience. Now all you need to do is shush a group of NASCAR fans and the Blog Name TBA mission statement will be realized!

12.12.2011

Site News: Bitches be Clickin'



So I was checking out the pageview stats from over the weekend and thanks to some viral marketing from some of our commenters Facebook efforts the actual human pageviews finally beat out the number of clicks we receive from Russian websites trolling for passwords and personal information!

Assuming those people return to the site this week for more TBA, that puts me in a difficult position. My original core group of readers have become accustomed to my sloppy writing style and unreliable posting schedule. The thought of a whole new group of readers looking to me to entertain them enough to make them stick around is a little daunting. But since my children continue to insist that I feed them, it's a task I accept.

So if you notice that my sentences run on a little less or my posts are a little more regular or my jokes are a little funnier, rest assured faithful readers...it's still me.

The last thing I'd want you all to think is that someone that takes pride in their work has taken over my site.

12.09.2011

Friday Laziness

Oh Charlie... You'll never leave me, right?





I know, I've used this image before. Anyone got a problem with that?




This video starts out slow but hang in there....it's worth it.



Enjoy your weekend!

Farewell Annie's Boobs

"But that's not what she was wearing in the Christmas episode," said the guy totally missing the point



It is with a heavy heart I write this post one day after my beloved "Community" has gone into hibernation. Last night's episode was absolutely incredible. It had everything I could ever ask for:

Alison Brie in a low cut Santa suit singing
Troy and Abed making a rap video
Excellent writing that remained Meta until the very end
Did I mention Alison Brie?

One of the best things about "Community" is that the writers are smart enough to find a way to weave special episodes like last year's claymation Christmas episode into the normal progression of the show. So often when a sitcom does a 'special' episode it never gets mentioned again. But what Dan Harmon and the other writers did with the zombie Halloween episode and the clip show episode...Pure genius.

I could sit here and talk about "Community" for days and looking back at my posting history...I sort of already have, but this may not be goodbye for our friends at Greendale. NBC has yet to cancel the show, it just hasn't been given a spot in the new lineup. "Whitney" has a spot but whatever. So I'm not going to pen a teary farewell speech about how much I'm going to miss everyone or how Joel McHale Alison Brie will be the first person I think about when I wake up and the last person I think about before I fall asleep. I'm simply going to say:


12.08.2011

Guilty Pleasures

Business Cat has nothing to do with this post. He's just here to class up the joint.



I think we can all agree that my taste in television is extraordinary and beyond reproach. But with that being said I am not without my guilty pleasures. I'm not here to recommend these shows to you in any shape or form and chances are if you see me in public I will deny having mentioned these shows. Just FYI.

"DeGrassi" - I can't express to you how many times I wished that I had attended this drama filled Canadian public school. Shootings, big budget movies, teachers surviving cancer, friendship club, teen pregnancies, kids stealing Oxy... Man what doesn't this school have?

"How I Met Your Mother" - Without Josh Radnor this show wouldn't be on this list. Dude is terrible compared to the rest of the cast.

"Good Luck Charlie" - I can't even explain this.

"Hot in Cleveland" - Liking Betty White isn't as popular as it was a year or so ago but that's not even why I like this one. I had a huuuuuuuge crush on Valerie Bertinelli when I was growing up so this one is under the "Crush Rule"

"Melissa and Joey" - See above "Crush Rule". Melissa Joan Hart not Joey Lawrence... Ok maybe a little bit Joey Lawrence.

"iCarly" - I want to go on record as stating that the "Crush Rule" has NOTHING to do with this choice. I want to make that perfectly clear.