My Favorite Things-- EXTRAS and Trick Pens

One of my favorite scenes from EXTRAS (courtesy of ExtrasSEries2).

"It's like a Picadilly Circus in here."

Star Trek Cribs - The Director's Cut

G4TV's commerical is awesome... Simply awesome.

Hook, Line, and Sinker

alexlloyd69 posted this clip, featuring one of Tim's best pranks, where Gareth falls for it hook, line, and-- well, you know the rest...

Keith's Appraisal

Yet another U.K. OFFICE clip from vanillabuzz. Keith absolutely rules. And this clip also gives a great example of why Ricky Gervais is such a master of comedy: three simples words "Always the same."

Gareth Is On the Case

What if Gareth had become a cop instead of an Assistant (to the) Regional Manager? One shudders to imagine...

Gareth Explains His Manliness

Another great OFFICE (U.K.) bit; this time courtesy of vanillabuzz.

One word: clueless.

The Office - Stapler Banter

One of my favorite bits from the U.K. OFFICE courtesy of wdb81. "It's got YOUR name on it."

Elevator Guy from 'The Loop'

I couldn't find the bit about half a yardstick (still rules), but "theguyotc" posted this bit that includes the line "power against power".

ABC Longs To Be Hero, Too-- Rescues Show

First NBC renewed Friday Night Lights when it could have (by rights) let it go (props to The Peacock).

Then CBS brings Jericho back from the dead (nice move by The Eye).

ABC felt left out, so they, too, revived a show that was expected to be dead when it wasn't mentioned at upfronts. They elected to bring back According to Jim. They even did CBS one better by giving the show an eighteen episode commitment (Jericho just got seven).

Hmmm. You know, ABC, if you wanted to make a statement, you could have brought back Brothers and Sisters or SportsNight (Sorkin's not real busy now)...

My Favorite Things-- THE LOOP

I hope to do a little feature from time to time that just, simply, explains something I find just funny or helpful or whatever. No real rhyme or reason. Here's the first:



Last Sunday, I was watching The Loop (which has become one of my two favorite shows airing new episodes this summer), and one of the characters said one of the most crass, but funny things I've heard in a long time.



Our "hero", Sam, gets bugged by Derek about every episode. They nearly always meet in the elevator, and Derek gives Sam a hard time by bragging about his own sexual accomplishments using very unsubtle metaphors while they wait for the elevator to take them to the right floor. One from Sunday just stuck with me. I'm going to paraphrase here because after I laughed at the crass part, I missed some of the rest:



"Where was I last night? You could guess I was half a yardstick in some Brazilian model..."



"Half a yardstick..." Three words that say so much...

Rabid Wolverine

Well, I intended on doing some funny bits tonight, but as I flipped on the VCR that had recorded The 4400 last night, I saw that WWE Raw was doing a tribute show. And my heart sank. I stopped watching pro wrestling about 18 months ago, but I still feel an affinity and admiration for many of the performers-- a large number of whom unfortunately have short lifespans.

Monday, Chris Benoit and his wife and young son were found dead in their home.

It's pretty early to tell what exactly happened, but from what I gathered from doing a little research on the Web, police are looking at the scene as a double-murder/suicide. Autopsies are supposed to be performed Tuesday, but police have stated that guns were not involved and there was no indication of stabbing, either.

I'm sure in the next few weeks, the truth will be known and people will have various opinions on the events leading up to the deaths, but I wanted to take just a little time to honor the man dubbed "The Crippler" and "The Rabid Wolverine".

To watch the guy in a match was to see someone who gave it all-- all the time-- as well as to see one of the greatest technicians of the "sport", ever. I used to read a lot of backstage stuff, and I can't remember a single person who had anything bad to say about the guy. "Dependable", "amazing", "professional", "calm", "respect" were just a few of the words used to describe him by anyone who talked about him.

His character never really struck a chord in me; I never really rooted for him. But I respected him. To watch a match he was in was to watch a master do his thing.

Pro wrestling gets laughed at by society at large for being fake, but I followed it enough to know that even though things are predetermined and matches are usually planned-out, these guys still take risks with their bodies. Being a pro wrestler takes an unbelievable amount of dedication. It is not an easy life. Jumping off the top rope onto another person hurts. Getting smacked by chair would do serious damage to someone in the "real world", but it still has to hurt like Hell in the ring. These professionals know how to take a hit-- but they still get hit. I'm sure Benoit wouldn't disagree with me since he had to have neck surgery a few years back to repair the damage he had done to him in his career.

For pro wrestling to lose someone like Benoit is a terrible blow. It's hard to compare him to people in other fields, but losing Benoit is to wrestling like losing Pacino in acting or Scorsese in directing. "Sports Entertainment" lost one of its greatest workers of all time Monday.

I don't even watch it anymore, but I will miss him.