Around 15 million people tuned in last night for this new NBC comedy. I liked its Coen Brothers-lite charm and Jason Lee makes an engaging lead character. With 246 people to cross of his list, the network certainly has a long run on its hand if America keeps watching. Nothing remarkable but amusing nonetheless. The second season of The Office was also fun to watch (if a little bit more mainstream than the first few eps) though it lost 6 million of Earl’s viewers.
I couldn’t figure out why I thought I would like this show… I think Jason Lee is all right, but other than that, I had no reason to think it would be good. But I laughed a lot during the half-hour, and I’ll actually try to watch it again next week.
The Office meanwhile lost me within the first ten minutes. That show just doesn’t work for me.
Is there anything else decent on this fall? I’d watch West Wing if I had any idea when it was on. But then again I can just watch reruns on Bravo almost non-stop.
There was an article in the LA Times about the Embassy building that some here (and their spouses) lived at a while.
When the $1-million Trinity Church property opened Sept. 20, 1914, The Times described the Methodists’ complex as “probably the most complete religious plant in the world.” In addition to the large auditorium and men-only hotel, it boasted a cafeteria, roof garden, library, gymnasium, smoking room, bowling alley, nursery, barber shop, hospital and 16 club rooms.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hotel19sep19,1,7213501.story
LA Times has an annoying reg. policy so I’ll put part of it here:
Early in the last century, it housed the city’s first permanent symphony orchestra. During the Jazz Age and beyond, it swayed to the sounds of such legends as Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Rock ‘n’ roll followed, and then a long period as a nondescript university property.
But in its next incarnation, if developers’ hopes are realized, the former Trinity Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles will be teeming with mostly young, hip and affluent patrons who currently gravitate to the Sunset Strip.
The Trinity’s comeback is key to the builders’ $30-million makeover of a defunct downtown hotel, later known as the Embassy, that contains the auditorium and was once at the center of civic culture. The landmark auditorium, part of a sprawling church complex that opened in 1914, will reopen in about 18 months inside the new Gansevoort West hotel on Grand Avenue at 9th Street.
The developers expect to hold concerts, performances and perhaps movie premieres in the triple-decked, 1,800-seat hall, decorated with the elaborate stained-glass windows and skylight that graced the original theater. Other historical details, including Italian marble and wrought-iron decorations, will be preserved as the theater and hotel are brought up to modern standards.
speaking of crap tv, i watched some of david spade’s new show on comedy central today. some of you may remember david spade–he was the mark mauer of snl in the mid 90s. someone should do a show with spade and saget as room-mates–perhaps call it “spade and saget”? but i digress, in a very in-crowdy kind of way. anyway. i mostly find spade quite annoying and registered not inconsiderable schadenfreude at the downward spiral that his credit card commercials represented. yet i must admit that this show, which gives him free reign to just be bitchy, was quite funny. i don’t know if i could take 30 minutes of spade every week (day?) but stopping by occasionally while looking for “insomniac” or “the daily show” might not be bad. the highlight of today’s visit was a live report from the premiere of a new straight to video patrick swayze film at some blockbuster somewhere.
i caught about 15 minutes of tonight’s episode of “my name is earl” and quite liked it. now i may even have to check out the “marathon” on saturday. i put marathon in quotes because 4 episodes is no marathon. why, i remember when i had to watch a marathon in nineteen dickety two; we had to say dickety because the kaiser had stolen our word for “twenty” etc.
I’m glad you’re taking back your snarky “crap TV” line especially considering that Earl, while not reinventing the wheel, is entertaining. I still argue The Office deserves a second look. It too is funny.
okay, i have now watched 1.5 episodes of this show and it is very funny. too bad i forgot about the “marathon” last weekend. it would have filled the time i spent lying on the couch quite nicely.
taping “the office” to watch later; we still haven’t watched the tape of last week’s episode either.
these have been some highlights from our non-stop fun-a-thon in boulder, colorado.
Yes, another great hour of comedy. It was one of the better Earls of the season, but I must confess I love watching The Office. Tonight I laughed and laughed.
I laughed and laughed, too. But I wasn’t watching tv. And… wait… I was crying. I was crying and crying.
I’m back! Although I might lose the “who-has-the-bigger-responsibility” game with Chris Howell, I’m glad he missed me. And while not free and peaceful, I’ve got the paper-monkey off my back and have more time to noodle away my “claims” and “ideas” here, instead of in forums that count professionally. Thank god.
I really liked the first episode of “Earl” that I saw, which Jeff graciously taped for me. The second episode I thought… well, sweet-natured, but similar. I made it part-way through the third; I think it’s a reasonable but unexceptional comedy, and once I got the hang of its shtick, I didn’t feel like sticking around.
And even with Tim Meadows popping in, I just don’t relish “The [American] Office.”
I’ve also officially given up on “Lost,” after mistakenly missing an episode and now feeling like I’m free. (Imagine if we could kick all addictions this easily! Just forget to shoot up, and the urge goes away….)