Last night, as my beloved (when it’s convenient) St. Louis Blues were allowing the Los Angeles Kings to score two goals in the third period and even the series at 2-2 in the process, one of my favorite women in all of show business was not only attending that game, but she was also live-Tweeting the experience, as it was her first ever NHL game. That woman is Retta, who plays the wonderful Donna on Parks and Rec, and she was also the comedienne who delivered my favorite coverage for the 2012 Summer Olympics in Tweet form.

At that time, I pleaded with NBC through Twitter and telepathy to assign Retta to full-time Olympic coverage and now I’m asking the embattled home of my favorite TV show (Parks and Rec, obviously) to let her be an analyst for the rest of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. I guarantee it would increase ratings by at least one person. That person being me. Hey, it beats the crap out of me making endless jokes about not knowing what channel the games are on.

Read the rest of this entry »

Are we havin’ fun yet?

If you don’t follow golf, Australian golfer Adam Scott won The Masters after a clutch playoff putt and is now the protagonist of one of the greatest sports photos ever. If you don’t follow NBC comedy, Adam Scott (no relation) is one of the stars of the best — or, at least, the nicest — shows on television, ‘Parks and Recreation.’ You may also remember him from ‘Party Down,’ or from his run as the Fonzie of ‘Boy Meets World.’

They are not the same dude, but what the Internet presupposes is, maybe they are?

Adam Scott The Actor went on ‘Conan’ last night to clear up the confusion. Video is after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

The NHL needs a “previously on” recap before games, I guess.

Hockey’s been gone so long, even the networks airing hockey games don’t remember what happened the last time the NHL was in season. They know the Kings won the Stanley Cup. Their logo has a basketball on it for some reason, right? They know Wayne Gretzky’s daughter has an Instagram account and a fantastic body, and Wayne Gretzky was a hockey guy, probably. The rest? They’ll just make that up as they go.

As an example of what I’m talking about, here’s an ad for NHL on NBC, wherein they hype saturday’s Pittsburgh/Philadelphia game by saying Claude Giroux and the Flyers “have their sights set on revenge for last season’s playoff loss to Pitt.” Uh, you know, that series the Flyers won in six games and pretty much dominated. Was NBC not around for ‘Knock Knock?’ Oh well, at least they know who Claude Giroux is, and didn’t just call him Eric Lindros.

If we’re gonna fan-fic last year’s playoffs, can we write in a thing where Alex Ovechkin tried really hard, and the Caps didn’t make me feel terrible again?

[h/t to Puck Daddy]

In new TV shows that didn’t necessarily look great but I still wanted to watch and eventually forgot news, NBC’s new apocalyptic drama Revolution debuted to pretty solid ratings on Monday night. In fact, according to the network that is about to end Parks and Rec and 30 Rock in favor of shows like Guys with Kids, Revolution had the highest rated debut for a drama since ABC’s V, which caused me to say, “Oh yeah, what the hell happened to that show?”

But one of the more notable observations of the bazillion Revolution trailers that NBC treated us to this summer was a scene in which the gang was walking by Wrigley Field, which had been overrun by nature. Oh, I suppose I should point out that the plot of this show is that all of the electricity on Earth just stopped and nobody could fix it, so we couldn’t mow the lawn and trim the hedges. I’m assuming we also couldn’t manscape so I’m finally relieved that I can’t grow facial hair.

Anyway, as you can see in the banner image, the show’s writers had a little fun with the Chicago Cubs and this dystopian version of Wrigley, but a funny thing happened when the show debuted…

Read the rest of this entry »

"Let's keep putting Anthony Anderson on TV," said the head of the last place network.

I don’t remember when and how many times I’ve said it in the past, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s performance in Airplane! is probably my all-time favorite athlete-turned-actor moment. And to be fair, Bubba Smith in Police Academy is in the same ballpark. Then maybe Roy Hibbert on Parks and Rec, but that’s only because he was involved in the “Take me there” scene and that has a special place in TV lore. Where was I? Oh yeah, Kareem karapping all over his acting legacy.

NBC will debut Guys with Kids on Sept. 26 as part of its new So You Like CBS Wednesday lineup, and it stars Anthony Anderson as a guy who has the world’s greatest blackmail pictures of a network president. According to the show’s plot synopsis, though, it’s about so much more than that: “30-something dads struggle as parents because they are still children at heart.” Riveting.

Apparently NBC aired the show’s pilot last night, and I wouldn’t know because I was watching Tig’s meltdown on Sons of Anarchy for a second time, but our friends at Guyism checked it out and those poor bastards deserve a few beers for their effort. In the clip after the jump, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stops by someone’s apartment and the guys demand that he dunk a baby. Trust me, it’s even more meh than it sounds.

Read the rest of this entry »

In a few months, I’m going to sink into depression. It won’t be because the Miami Dolphins will be 0 and whatever and it won’t have anything to do with the Orlando Magic embarking on a 4-win season. My misery will stem from 30 Rock airing its final episode and NBC turning its back on one of the greatest comedies in TV history in favor of low hanging fruit like Guys with Kids. But that’s what happens when only a few million people tune in. The Two and a Half Mens of this world win.

One of the many – many, many, many – reasons that I love 30 Rock and consider it in the same category as Seinfeld and Cheers is because of the writing and the lines that most people don’t even hear. With 30 Rock, there’s always a main joke, but beneath that first layer is another layer and another layer, which makes each episode as re-watchable as the next. And within those jokes and layers are some of the smartest and funniest sports jokes that have ever been written for a sitcom.

I actually started working on this before Brandon started this wonderful series, and I had about 60-something scenes and jokes picked out, but I narrowed it down to my favorite moments. Enjoy and reflect, because after this season we’ll have to hope that Tina Fey and Co. take their talents elsewhere.

Read the rest of this entry »