alyson's association

CBS' Fall Premieres

2013-05-17T12:46:00.002-05:00

This is the last of the Part 1's (unless I decide to write about The CW or something) and I've saved the #1 network for last. CBS has a bunch of new multi-cam comedies while they're going for high-concept dramas that will fit in nicely with their one-dimensional crime dramas. Let's get started.

The Crazy Ones

Stars: Robin Williams, Sarah Michelle Gellar, James Wolk.
Story: A father and daughter work together at an ad agency.
Will I Watch: I'm intrigued with the idea of Sarah Michelle Gellar in a sitcom like this, but I'm not racing to set up a season pass on my DVR or anything.
Will It Last: I'm torn on this one. On one hand, it's in the same comedy block as The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, but I could see it getting cancelled. Maybe because I don't think people care to see Robin Williams on TV anymore (is this just me?) or because the preview didn't look too funny. I'm leaning towards No but I hesitate to give an official guess.

Hostages

Stars: Dylan McDermott, Toni Collette, Tata Donovan.
Story: An FBI agent forces a mother to kill the President in order to save her family. Based on the Israeli format.
Will I Watch: Looks cool, I'm in (until I inevitably get bored).
Will It Last: Well it is CBS, so probably. The 10pm slot on Monday's is going to be really good with Castle, Hostages and The Blacklist going head-to-head.

Intelligence

Stars: Josh Holloway, Marg Helgenberger, Meghan Ory, Michael Rady, James Martinez, John Billingsley.
Story: The logline for this one is confusing no matter how many times you read it, but there's a quote from the preview that refers to the show as "rather than making robots more human-like, they're making humans more robotic" which is interesting and sums it enough. If that's not enough for you, the dude has a microchip in his brain and it helps him access government things. Oh my god. This is kind of like a more government-CBS-techy version of Chuck.
Will I Watch: I just sold myself by comparing it to Chuck, which is a lofty jump but one I think is validated.
Will It Last: Seems a bit too confusing but who knows, Person of Interest has lasted this long.

The Millers

Stars: Will Arnett, Margo Martindale, Beau Bridges, JB Smoove
Story: A recently divorced guy moves back in with his parents to find out his parents are also having marital problems.
Will I Watch: I'm tired of multi-cam shows on CBS. This one doesn't look for me, despite it starring Arnett.
Will It Last: Here's the thing. Arnett is bad luck for shows. It doesn't matter that he's hilarious and great and I'd watch him in basically anything. He can't get on a show that lasts to save his life. But this one is airing after The Big Bang Theory so it'll probably do great in ratings and possibly find an audience that way.

Mom

Stars: Anna Faris, Allison Janney (!!!), Nate Corddry, French Stewart (!!).
Story: A newly-sober mother moves in with her mom. Another Chuck Lorre, CBS multi-cam. Soon, CBS will just call itself the Chuck Lorre Network (and Fox will be called the Seth McFarlane Network. And NBC will retool itself as the Lorne Michaels Network. ABC will stay the same). But this time the cast rocks right out of the gate.
Will I Watch: I'm excited to see Allison Janney back on TV and Anna Faris is always funny. So I'll give it a shot, if only when I'm out of other things to watch.
Will It Last: Most likely. It's airing after 2 Broke Girls and will definitely appeal to that audience. And it's from Chuck Lorre. So come on.

We Are Men

Stars: Jerry O'Connell, Kal Penn, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Smith.
Story: After being left at the altar, a guy moves into an apartment complex and starts hanging around some older dudes (for some reason) while he gets back into the dating world.
Will I Watch: Not even Tony Shalhoub can get me to watch this.
Will It Last: It's saving grace is that it's sandwiched in-between How I Met Your Mother and 2 Broke Girls so it may get some viewers based on that alone. But if I had to guess one sitcom that won't last on CBS' schedule, this would be it. The premise just sounds ridiculous.

None of CBS' comedies look like winners to me yet (except Mom, only for its cast) but I'm excited about Hostages because I love Toni Collette.

Part Two's will come next where I take a look at the network's midseason shows (mostly from NBC).

Until next time...

ABC's 2013 Fall Premieres: Part One

2013-05-15T18:05:00.000-05:00

I'm back with a late update on ABC's new fall shows. We've only got a couple more to go (I don't usually do The CW, but I might do something about TBS or combine the two. WHO KNOWS.). This year, ABC needs a hit after having only one freshman show, Nashville, survive cancellations and that show wasn't even a hit. The network cancelled a whole bunch of comedies and they need something this year to get them back in the game...

Back In The Game (literally did not plan having my last sentence end with "back in the game" and then have the first show be titled that but it's amazing that it worked out that way).

Stars: James Caan, Ben Koldyke, Maggie Lawson, Griffin Gluck, Lenora Crichlow.
Story: A recently divorced mother moves back in with her estranged father and begins to coach her son's baseball team.
Will I Watch: I like Lawson a lot so I'll probably tune in just to see her.
Will It Last: It could do alright considering it's on Wednesday's comedy block, sandwiched between The Middle and Modern Family.

Betrayal

Stars: James Cromwell, Henry Thomas, Hannah Ware, Stuart Townsend, Chris Johnson, Wendy Moniz, Elizabeth McLaughlin, Braeden Lamasters.
Story: An unhappily married photographer has an affair with a lawyer, only to find out he's the defense attorney for a client being prosecuted by her husband.
Will I Watch: This actually seems very Revenge-esque to me and I am missing a show like this since I gave up on Revenge in this past season. So as long as it's good and doesn't get convoluted, I'm in.
Will It Last: It seems to have everything people are looking for in a TV show these days (especially on ABC). If it's handled well, it could please fans who felt something lacking in Revenge and also go well with ABC's surprise hit, Scandal.

The Goldbergs

Stars: Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jeff Garlin, Darien Provost, George Segal, Troy Gentile.
Story: Patton Oswalt narrates his childhood growing up as the youngest in a family during the 80s.
Will I Watch: As a fan of the 80s and sitcoms, I'll tune into this one until it loses my attention.
Will It Last: It's interesting to me that ABC didn't include this comedy in its Wednesday comedy block with The Middle and Modern Family. It seems like a perfect fit to go with their family comedies, which tells me that this show could definitely use some improvement.

Lucky 7

Stars: Matt Long (!!!), Isiah Whitlock, Jr., Stephen Louis Grush, Summer Bishil, Anastasia Philips, Christine Evangelista, Lorraine Bruce, Luis Antonio Ramos.
Story: A group of friends who work at a gas station routinely go in on a lottery pool. When they finally win, their lives are changed in unexpected ways.
Will I Watch: I'll just say a very clear Yes.
Will It Last: I don't know with this one. Maybe? It's up against Person of Interest and Chicago Fire which do well for their respective networks AND it has Matt Long in it (a proven jinx for shows) so right now I have to say no, I don't think so. But I hope that's not the case.

Marvels, Agents of Shield

Stars: Clark Gregg, Ming-Na, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet.
Story: Come on. It's a TV show based off the movie based off the comics. Agents in a covert government organization have to save the world.
Will I Watch: Is there any question? Who won't be watching this one?
Will It Last: If it doesn't do extremely well in ratings I will eat my own hand. This is the biggest new show this pilot season and I have a feeling everyone will be watching.

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland

Stars: Sophie Lowe, Peter Gadiot, Michael Socha, Emma Rigby, and the voice of John Lithgow.
Story: A spinoff of Once Upon A Time, this time dealing with Alice in Wonderland.
Will I Watch: Honestly, I had to give up on OUAT this season because I didn't have time for everything, and I'd rather get back into that show before I try to find time for this one. But it doesn't look bad.
Will It Last: If the same people that watch OUAT watch this one, then yes, it could see some success for ABC.

Super Fun Night

Stars: Rebel Wilson, Lauren Ash, Liza Lapira, Kelen Coleman.
Story: Three friends who have built a tradition out of staying in on Friday nights, change things up and look to have a super fun night every Friday.
Will I Watch: I like single-cam comedies and I like Rebel Wilson so I'll tune in for at least awhile. Though the premise seems like it could get old, but I assume the show will stray from that once they wear it out and find what works best for them.
Will It Last: It's got star power and it scored the post-Modern Family time slot in ABC's schedule, so yes, things look good for this one.

Trophy Wife

Stars: Malin Akerman (!!), Bradley Whitford (!!!), Marcia Gay Harden, Michaela Watkins, Natalie Morales, Ryan Scott Lee, Albert Tsai, Gianna LePera.
Story: A young woman marries a man who has been divorced twice and has three kids.
Will I Watch: I loooove Akerman and Whitford so I'm on board. I even loved the preview for it and this one looks like it could be one of my favorite new comedies this year.
Will It Last: It's up against some ratings monsters so while I hope I'm wrong about it, my guess is no.

Watch the trailers for all of ABC's new shows and let me know which one's you're looking forward to watching. I'm excited about ABC's new schedule and I hope these freshman shows work out better than last years.

Until next time...

FOX's 2013 Fall Premieres

2013-05-14T15:03:00.000-05:00

The thing about Fox this year is that the network didn't actually cancel that many shows, but the new shows its picked up all show that they're going for a different audience than they have in the past couple years. This time, Fox is looking to bring more male viewers to their shows and it shows in pretty much every single show, especially the comedies.

Almost Human

Stars: Karm Urban, Michael Ealy, Lily Taylor, Minka Kelly (!!), Michael Irby, Kackenzie Crook, Mekia Cox.
Story: A cop drama set in the future when all LAPD officers must be paired up with androids.
Will I Watch: The trailer actually makes this show look good and somewhat appealing but hello, my name is Alyson, and I am not into cop dramas.
Will It Last: Almost Human is set to premiere in the late fall and it won't have another scripted drama to compete against. I can't imagine the same people watching The Voice and Dancing with the Stars will be the one's choosing those shows over Almost Human, so this one could potentially hold its own in that time slot. And while a J.J. Abrams show isn't guaranteed success, it's pretty much guaranteed to be good and almost-always find success.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Stars: Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Chelsea Peretti (!!!)
Story: A single-cam comedy about an immature officer who must try and grow up once he gets a strict, new boss.
Will I Watch: I'm surprisingly into this one. I love the cast (even Samberg got laughs out of me in the trailer) and while I'm never interested in dramas about cops, I could totally dig a comedy about cops. Especially one coming from Dan Goor and Michael Schur.
Will It Last: I think it's got some star power which works well enough for Fox's comedies. It's got a fairly tough time slot up against NCIS and The Biggest Loser but I think it's toughest competitor might be Joss Whedon's Marvel's Agents of Shield. But this one definitely has the attention of the comedy crowd.

Dads

Stars: Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi (!!), Brenda Song, Peter Riegert, Martin Mull, Tonita Castro, Erin Pineda, Vanessa Lachey.
Story: Seth McFarlane has another show on Fox but this time it isn't an animated comedy. This live-action, multi-cam comedy is about two successful guys in their 30s who suddenly find themselves living with their dads.
Will I Watch: While I continue to have mixed feelings about McFarlane, I do love Green and Ribisi. Bonus, Dads doesn't seem to be making Ribisi the overly-weird character so I'm excited to see him in a normal role. Count me in.
Will It Last: It could have the same problem that Brooklyn Nine-Nine might run into but c'mon, it's a Seth McFarlane show on Fox. I think both these comedies could really work for the network.

Enlisted

Stars: Keith David, Geoff Stults, Parker Young, Chris Lowell, Angelique Cabral.
Story: A single-cam comedy about three brothers who live and work on an Army base. Created by Kevin Biegel (Cougar Town) and based off his relationship with his siblings.
Will I Watch: Duh. I'm on board with anything created by Biegel and I also really like the cast of this one. I think Young is hilarious on so many levels and his character in this one is playing to his strengths (the dumb one) and Lowell's character is a really fun idea.
Will It Last: It'll be paired with Raising Hope in the late fall which could help it somewhat. However, that time slot is on Friday. So I'll just say it, no it probably will not last.

Rake

Stars: Greg Kinnear, Miranda Otto, Necar Zadegan, Bojana Novakovic, John Ortiz, David Harbour, Tara Summers.
Story: Kinnear stars as a criminal defense lawyer with a tendency towards self-destruction. Based on the Australian show, Rake.
Will I Watch: I actually might. While I'm not one to enjoy the boring law drama, I do like it when a show makes the lawyer a defense attorney. It makes things interesting for me and I like Kinnear. I also like it when a drama is also pretty funny so this one could be enjoyable for me.
Will It Last: Well they're keeping it for mid-season (probably to pair with The Following once The X Factor ends its season) but it could work. People love their law dramas and Fox found success bringing Kevin Bacon to the small screen, so Rake could be a repeat of that.

Sleepy Hollow

Stars: Orlando Jones, Katia Winter, Nicole Beharie, Tom Mison.
Story: A modern-day twist on the Ichobod/Headless Horseman legend from Westchester Country, NY.
Will I Watch: Probably not.
Will It Last: Sleepy Hollow is definitely trying to capitalize on ABC's success, Once Upon a Time and it could work out for the network. Pairing it with Bones is a nice touch but I don't know that this one will find an audience.

Us & Them

Stars: Jason Ritter, Alexis Bledel, Kurt Fuller, Jane Kaczmarek, Kerry Kenney, Dustin Ybarra.
Story: An adaption of the extremely popular BBC series, Gavin and Stacey. However, this single-cam comedy about a young couple trying to make their long-distance relationship work won't be on our screens until midseason.
Will I Watch: Absolutely. I like the concept, I liked the trailer (somewhat) and I like the cast.
Will It Last: Absolutely not. If we even see this one, I don't think it'll find the audience because the episodes will probably be burnt off midseason or even next summer. Like neeext summer. I don't have a good feeling about this one.

Here are all the trailers for the shows I just talked about. I'm not overly excited about any of Fox's new shows but none of them look too bad so it'll be interesting to see how the network does.

Until next time...

NBC's 2013 Fall Premieres: Part One

2013-05-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

It's Upfronts week, finally! That basically means I'm too excited to sleep so I'm up at 8 am which is actually a good thing because then I can get all the news coming out of New York City even faster and write about it for you. Fox and NBC held their upfront presentations today, so we'll kick off this years Pilot Series with a look at the new shows NBC has to offer.

NBC cancelled the majority of it's freshman shows though it is latching onto Revolution and Chicago Fire's minor successes. While it ordered fourteen new shows, only six of them are making it onto its Fall lineup. You guys know the drill. Let's get started.

The Blacklist

Stars: James Spader, Megan Boone, Ryan Eggold, Diego Klattenhoff
Story: A criminal willingly gives himself up and offers to give up names of people he's worked with but he'll only work with a young female agent who he seemingly has no prior connection with.
Will I Watch: This one seems to be a twist on the White Collar premise that USA has found success in. I love that show and I always enjoy a good twist on a tradition, mundane cop drama so I'll tune in to see Spader do work. Though am I the only one finding it more than obvious that the "young female agent he has no ties to" is most certainly his daughter? It's not a spoiler if it's speculation, right? I could be wrong and I hope I am because then the show will actually manage to surprise me. But c'mon.
Will It Last: If ABC doesn't switch up its schedule too much, then the one competitor to The Blacklist will be Castle as I can see their audience being similar. I think it's got a cool spin and Spader looks great so maybe this could be a show that works out for my beloved NBC.

Dracula

Stars: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jessica De Gouw, Katie McGrath, Nonso Anozie
Story: This 10-episode series follows Dracula as he's set on exacting revenge on the Victorian town responsible for ruining his life. That is, until he meets a woman who looks exactly like his deceased wife.
Will I Watch: If there are two things I'm not into it's period dramas and vampires.
Will It Last: If there are two things everyone goes crazy for lately, it's period dramas and vampires (are you guys still into vampires? I don't know anymore). It's a solid bet, regardless, since it's only a 10-episode series, though I think this could find some level of success. Especially since it's on Friday night and doesn't have a lot to compete with.

Ironside

Stars: Blair Underwood, Brent Sexton, Pablo Schreiber, Spencer Gammer (!!)
Story: Based on the 60's show of the same name, this cop drama is set in New York City (rather than San Fransisco) and follows a tough, stubborn detective who is in a wheelchair due to a gunshot wound. Kind of like House-meets-Law Enforcement.
Will I Watch: I'm just not interested. It takes a lot more than a wheelchair disability to get me to watch your boring run-of-the-mill cop drama.
Will It Last: I don't think it's got enough going for it even though it's a remake.

The Michael J. Fox Show

Stars: Michael J. Fox, Betsy Brandt, Kate Finneran, Wendell Pierce, Juliette Goglia
Story: Very much based on Fox's real-life, this single-cam comedy follows Mike Burnaby juggling work, family, and Parkinson's disease.
Will I Watch: I loved Spin City and I'm happy to see Fox back on TV (especially NBC) so I'll give this one a shot. I also enjoy the last line in the trainer when his wife says, "can you not have a personal victory right now? We are starving."
Will It Last: I think NBC is banking too much on Fox being a draw, much like they keep doing with Matthew Perry. But people do like a good comeback so maybe people will tune in just to see how Fox is doing. One thing to note is that it's slightly odd of NBC to put this show in it's 9:30 timeslot rather than earlier. My guess is that it doesn't want it up against one of CBS' shows like Two and a Half Men but it's still odd. It looks good but I'm skeptical to say any comedies on NBC can last these days.

Sean Saves The World

Stars: Sean Hayes, Linda Lavin, Echo Kellum (!!), Thomas Lennon, Lindsay Sloane, Samantha Isler
Story: A recently divorced, gay dad struggles to balance both raising his 14-year-old daughter and his temperamental new boss.
Will I Watch: I enjoyed the trailer a lot and there were a lot of funny lines. I was also excited to see Hayes back on TV, which I didn't realize was something I missed until watching the trailer. The cast is also great and everyone seems to have their moments.
Will It Last: Well, it's interesting to see a multi-cam on NBC because they generally haven't done too well with them in the past few years but maybe this will change that? I don't know, it's too hard to tell these days and once again I feel like I can't say an NBC comedy is going to last.

Welcome To The Family

Stars: Mike O'Malley, Mary McCormack (!!), Ricardo Chavira, Justina Machado, Ella Rae Peck, Joey Haro, Aramis Knight
Story: A white girl and a Latino guy fall in love and become pregnant right out of high school and the families must learn to get along.
Will I Watch: Out of this years new comedies, this one has the weakest premise for me, personally. The show has seemed to avoid its underlying racism by making the guy the smart valedictorian while the white girl is the one who's just lucky to have gotten into a college. However, it still seems a little icky. Though I do love Mary McCormack. But the trailer wasn't enough to interest me so I'll wait to see how critics respond to the pilot and go from there.
Will It Last: I'm just going to go ahead and say No. Especially since, if CBS doesn't move it's lineup around too much, this will go head-to-head with Two and a Half Men.

If you're interested in watching the trailers, you can do so by clicking here. It's not really a surprise that The Family Guide is on the bench for midseason due to Parker Posey dropping out. Though I'm surprised the network went with Welcome To The Family instead of About A Boy, since the latter has the franchise going for it. I'm mostly sad that Undateable is getting the midseason shaft since it's a Bill Lawrence show but what do I know, I'm no network exec.

If you want to read a full write up about all of NBC's new shows (technically, most. There were some picked up after I wrote the article) then head over to Box Office Buz where I'm doing a series of posts about each network's fall lineup. It's got a little more about the networks lineup as a whole and less of whether I'll be tuning into each show.

Until next time...

Weekly Wrap-Up: 5/10

2013-05-10T16:39:00.001-05:00

If you missed me after the end of BEDA, then you haven't been reading Box Office Buz this week because I've been doing daily headlines posts but that's okay because I'm here now to fill you in on my favorite things since the last time we talked. Buckle up.

Louis Peitzman has another great buzzfeed article about the 27 things he learned about love from The Simpsons.

Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous is hilarious and a show that you should all be watching.

If you're looking for some good, new comedians, Vulture has you covered with an extensive list of 50 comedians you should and will know.

Chris Gethard writes beautifully and perfectly about why he no longer drinks.

Rob Delaney, Kristen Schaal, Cecily Strong, and more sit down for a THR Roundtable about comedy.

The funniest thing I read this week was Sofiya Alexandra's review of a fake movie, Bosom Bros 8: Bros 4 Life. You guys need to read it because it's so damn funny and will make you feel all sorts of happy inside.

This sketch from last Saturday's Zach Galifanakis-hosted SNL is one of my favorites from the entire season:

Then, to make it even better, watch Part 2.

I have no interest in The Kentucky Derby and the only reason I know anything about it is because I wrote a sketch based on it, but this NPR piece about a Kentucky Derby Gate-Crasher was exceptionally entertaining.

Everyone and their mother has a podcast these days, and every site has an interview with Marc Maron right now, but this one on Vulture with Julie Klausner about the future of podcasting was my favorite.

Speaking of Julie Klausner, she released a new novel this week (her first young adult novel, also only available as an ebook for now) called Art Girls Are Easy and it's fantastic. Jezebel has an excerpt that will sell you on buying it immediately.

Youtube rolled out a subscription model that will charge viewers a monthly fee to subscribe to certain channels. So naturally I wrote about it.

And then everything I missed + more about comedy in April is here for your pleasure.

There was a lot to cover this time around and although I'm leaving off at least five more things that I thoroughly enjoyed this week, I think that's enough for now, I don't want to overwhelm you.

Until next time...

Kole Presents: 2BrokeGeeks

2013-05-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

Editor's note: Today's guest post is an actual guest post, written by Kole. If you don't remember Kole or you're a new Alyson's Association reader, he's written on the blog before and is one of my best readers/commenters and I always love having him on the site. The best thing about Kole is that he covers a lot of pop culture ground that I don't get to and he makes up for anything I've missed, which is why he's always welcome on Alyson's Association. Enjoy.

As a guest writer and short-term host here on Alyson’s Association, I’d love to start off by thanking Alyson for letting me run the asylum for a little while, and I’d also love to begin with due recognition. How about a round of applause (or complimentary comments) for Alyson’s amazing BEDA so far? As a generally lazy and aimless individual, I give up on things like BEDA, or don’t even attempt them (I have officially never attempted BEDA). In Alyson’s case, she works tirelessly at what I assume are multiple jobs for monetary compensation in order to sustain living or whatever, and then she writes a blog EVERY day in April just so you (the reader) can enjoy it. Does she get paid for the countless hours it takes to write, polish, and present these blogs? Actually, I have no idea, so feel free to take that up with Alyson when she gets back. My guess is she does this out of passion and a love for writing, not compensation or notoriety, and she should be commended for that sort of dedication. And now (drum roll), I’d like to introduce the topic of this guest blog! (cymbal crash!)

Around nine months ago I was perusing through YouTube, scrolling down through my pesky subscription feed when I stumbled upon a “like” that caught my eye. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time (I don’t know, like 5 minutes) trying to figure out which channel it was that liked this particular video to give them some credit, but it is lost to the bowels of the internet forever now and I’m too lazy to dig that up (seriously, do you have any idea how much happens on YouTube in nine months that I just tried to sift through?!). At this point, it is entirely irrelevant, so I digress. The video was titled Marvel Hipsters. The channel was called 2BrokeGeeks. And so it began…

I’m not the type of person who can just jump into a show at episode 4 and “get the premise” even if I “get” the premise. I NEED to know what happened in all of the previous episodes…in chronological order…so I can contextually grasp all of the intricacies of said show. No judgments if you’re the type who strolls carelessly into a show mid-season, I’m just saying we can’t be friends. With that in mind, Marvel Hipsters was the 8^th video posted by 2BrokeGeeks so I had some episodes to catch up on, which quickly became me watching every video they’d uploaded in one sitting. It was glorious! (hint: if you want to know how glorious it was, go watch all their videos, worth it!)

Now is when I’m going to attempt to define 2BrokeGeeks’ rare and fantastic quality with words. Every Friday, a pair of dedicated, financially challenged geeks (Omar and Mia) present a Top 5 list of movies or television shows available instantly on Netflix based on a very specific, and often hilariously named viewer profile. For example, the very first viewer profile was Nostalgic Child of the 90s, and they suggest 5 shows that fit that profile. And here is where some people might think, “Psh! Anyone can suggest movies or shows based on specific preferences, that is easy! And boring!” Well, it might be easy for some veterans of Netflix’s labyrinth of instant streaming shows and films to make informed suggestions, but it takes certain panache to make it as entertaining and informative as Omar and Mia manage. They suggest fantastic films and shows, and they intermix their suggestions with hilarious comedic sketches and quips catered perfectly to that week’s viewer profile, sometimes with the help of a featured guest or personal friend.

To expand even further I’ll need to supply a little context. When I started watching their videos, the channel was in its infancy. Naturally, the channel evolved, and new parts were added, and over time it became better and more diverse. For example, a newly added series called “Wild Card Wednesdays” features a randomly chosen themed video drawn from a hat, ranging from showing their viewers how to plan and throw geek-themed parties on a budget with the added incentive that Wil Wheaton might show up, to geek rants, to B-movie reviews, to nerd songs, and the list runs way too long for this run-on sentence to continue. Even more recently, the channel has continued to evolve and new things continue to crop up. That is the beauty of YouTube; a channel like 2BrokeGeeks is not anchored to one type of video, or one concept, and it is allowed the freedom to grow in whatever creative direction it wants. No executives present to kibosh your art in YouTube Land! #YouTubeMurica

Quick disclaimer: describing the totality and complete premise of a YouTube channel so you (the reader) can decide if you want to check it out or not is destined for failure. Short of watching all of the 2BrokeGeeks videos yourself, my words will only serve to generalize and stereotype, and that isn’t fair to the creative and passionate efforts of Omar and Mia. So please go and check this channel out regardless of your opinion of my blog post and the information I tried to present, because this channel deserves your views and the views of your friends and family, and the tollbooth operator you see on your way to work, and the guy who runs the bakery, and the mailman, and Steve, and maybe your dog or cat or iguana or whatever keeps you company. Seriously, everyone.

As a fan from close to the beginning (hipster cred), I celebrated Omar and Mia’s YouTube milestone when they posted their 100^th video recently. It was so exciting to see a channel that doesn’t feature hundreds of thousands of views chugging along to an impressive milestone like that. Even so, it would seem odd in most YouTube scenarios to “celebrate” because YouTube can be such an isolated viewing experience for many people, or your attempt to reach out is buried in a mountain of comments or simply unanswered. However, from the very beginning, the 2BrokeGeeks community and channel has been a supportive, collaborative, and reciprocating experience that all of the fans get to share with Omar and Mia, whether through video comments, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, or any other source of social media they use. It is so rare to partake in a passionately creative effort with content creators like you can with Omar and Mia, and that is one of a myriad of reasons you should stop reading this and go to YouTube to check out 2BrokeGeeks right now.

Finally, this is where I’ll be tying up this marathon of a blog. Like I complimented this blog’s author (Alyson) for earlier, the 2BrokeGeeks are also individuals that work tirelessly to supply entertaining and informative content to the masses for absolutely zero financial compensation, and they have to fit in their charitable entertainment around the work they have to do that keeps them housed and fed. So please take a moment, go over to their channel and watch their videos, and reward their efforts with deserved appreciation. Preferably watch all of their videos, but definitely give their Fucked Up Kids Movies video a watch. Unlike this post, they almost always curb their videos to a reasonable length so it should be palatable for everyone.

And that concludes my epic guest hosting/hostile takeover of Alyson’s Association! I had an amazing time writing this, and I hope you managed to read most of it, or at least enough to feel obligated to go and check out Omar and Mia and the 2BrokeGeeks channel. Seriously, you won’t regret it. With that, I’ll hand the reigns back over to Alyson and bid you all a fond farewell. Don’t forget to come back here for the rest of Alyson’s amazing BEDA! Until next time…

BEDA, Day 30: Wrapping This Up

2013-04-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

I will be real with you guys right now. I thought there were AT LEAST five more days left to this month. Honestly, I did. So I'm writing this in haste because I didn't have anything prepared to mark the end of this years BEDA.

You guys are clearly aware that I was going through a bit of a writers block the past few months and was really struggling with this blog and feeling pretty bad about it. BEDA forced me to get my shit together and just put something out every day that wasn't a piece of garbage and it got me writing again and this month turned a lot of things around for me. I found myself busy which meant I was staying productive and not binge watching some old show on Netflix. Instead I was getting some quality writing done, whether it be a BEDA post, an article on Box Office Buz, stand-up, a new novel, or script edits.

April is my favorite month of the year because of how much fun BEDA is and this year was no exception. I covered a lot of ground this month and I hope I introduced you guys to at least one new thing you ended up liking. I know I took some days off this month so I didn't blog quite every day, but this month wasn't always easy and sometimes I was in a weird place so I just let myself chill out, but I still feel like this year's BEDA was successful.

For every single person that gave me any sort of feedback this month- thank you. It makes it more fun when I know you guys are liking the posts I'm writing and I love hearing from you all.

The best thing to come out of BEDA this year is the fact that I've still got plenty of ideas for more posts and the drive to write them and publish them for you. I've still got a post coming to you tomorrow, but it won't be written by me. It's awesome and I'm really looking forward to you guys reading it. So while BEDA is over, there's still more fun to be had.

But in the meantime, you should check out Twitter's Comedy Fest which is going on all week. Yesterday it kicked off with Judd Apatow moderating a panel with some of my all time comedy heros, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks.

I'm taking a personal day today by having breakfast and then hitting the beach, tomorrow you can continue to find me on Box Office Buz, which has a hot new re-design.

And if you're bummed out that today's post didn't include anything fun (wait, you guys DON'T like me talking about writing and wrapping up this years BEDA?) I won't leave you totally hanging. Here's a quick list of things I'm into today:

What I'm Watching: Maron.
What I'm Listening To: Brave, by Sara Bareilles.
What I'm Reading: Sleeping With Guns.

Until next time...

Amazon's Top 5 Pilots

2013-04-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

Amazon is getting in the business of producing original series as a way to make Amazon Prime more appealing, and they're doing it in a really cool and interesting way. For the first time ever, the audience has the power to decide which pilots get picked up to series. Eight different pilots have been produced and are now available to watch, and viewers are encouraged to vote and give feedback on which shows were their favorites. The feedback will be what gets these shows a series order and viewers will then get to watch what they actually want to watch.

I watched the eight pilots and decided which ones were my favorites, and here's the list so that you don't have to waste your time with the ones not worth watching.

5. Alpha House- most sites have this show listed further up on their list and I think this is largely because of the cast (John Goodman stars). I enjoyed the show quite a bit, but I wasn't completely sold from the pilot. The idea of republican senates all living under the same roof is intriguing and I love Washington D.C. as a setting, but I'm not sure how I feel about the ensemble cast yet.

4. Betas- While the ensemble cast is what's keeping me from fully accepting Alpha House, it's the exact thing that won me over with Betas. I'm partial to Karan Soni because I think he steals the scene in everything he's in, but I also really enjoyed Jonathan C. Daly and the rest of the cast (including Even Stevens' Margo Harshman). The idea of nerdy guys trying to make a career for themselves by creating the next big social networking app makes for a cool concept and feel for a show.

3. Dark Minions- John Ross Bowie and Kevin Sussman provide the voices for Mel and Andy in this stop motion animated show about two guys who work on a space station. I like animation and stop motion is always really cool to watch so I was excited about this one as soon as it started. I loved the storyline of Mel falling in love with Carly despite them being from completely different worlds and the cliff-hanger ending made me really hope this one gets chosen for a full season.

2. Supanaturals- This animated comedy, produced by one of my personal favorites Kristen Schaal, has the neatest concept out of the bunch and I'm already in love with the two leads, Lucretia and Hezbah. The idea is that these two women regularly save the world from supernatural things while working for a living at the mall. This one is insanely funny and even though it's not ranked #1 on my list, it's the one I'd recommend the most on this list.

1. Onion News Empire- This was the last one I watched because I've only ever been mildly entertained by the whole "fake news" thing that The Onion has going for it. But as far as production quality, characters, cast and dialogue goes, this one is by far the best pilot that Amazon Studios has. It's super funny and includes the line "I bet you're so lonely that when you go on a roller coaster you don't even have anyone to go with" which is just great writing right there. I love the way the show makes fun of regular news channels by basically calling them out on all the shitty things they do and the storyline and characters are also compelling.

So if you haven't watched any of them yet, maybe brighten up your Monday with some new comedies. Also note I didn't include their pilot for Zomebieland, based off the incredible 2009 movie with Woody Harrelson and Emma Stone, because it's no good. I mean, it's worth watching if you have the time and it isn't completely terrible, but it's also not something I really care about seeing more of. The actors just aren't as good as the original (the characters are the same from the movie, just re-cast) and the production quality is lacking.

It's unfortunate because Zombieland is the biggest title that Amazon Studios had going for it, and it'll definitely get picked up to series just because of the films following but if you're expecting to relive the greatness that is the original movie, just watch that instead because at least you get a Bill Murray cameo (coincidentally, Alpha House includes a cameo from Bill Murray AND NOW WE'VE COME FULL CIRCLE).

Until next time...

Weekly Wrap-Up: April 21-27

2013-04-27T17:43:00.000-05:00

Hm, I feel like I just did one of these because this week went by insanely fast. I survived and today I'm rewarding myself by still being in sweat pants at three in the afternoon.

A living legend and one of my personal heroes, Carol Burnett, has an incredible story about her first break and it's going to make you feel really good inside:

I'm always on board when it comes to cool new comedy experiments, and Splitsider's new production company, Splitsider Presents, is no exception. More specifically, their first film, The Exquisite Corpse Project, is no exception to my love of weird, new, interesting ways to "do comedy." I'll talk more about Splitsider Presents later but for now I'm just talking about The Exquisite Corpse Project because it's a really interesting concept for movie making and I'm really digging it right now. Ben Popik got some of his friends together from the sketch group Olde English and came up with an incredibly interesting way of making a movie. Each writer (five in total) would write fifteen minutes of a movie, but they would only get to see the previous five pages that came before their section. The movie is edited together with documentary footage of the filmmaking experience which adds to the uniqueness and craziness of this project.

The film is online, though you do have to pay $5 to watch it, and I recommend it if you have a few bucks to spare and some time to kill.

Nathan Fielder is having a great month, and had an even bigger week with his show, Nathan For You, getting picked up for a second season as well as having a couple pranks go viral on twitter. That's a sloppy sentence, so let's go back. Nathan For You is a very cool new show on Comedy Central and I suggest checking it out. Also, Nathan organized a couple pranks for kids to do on their parents, one involving children texting their mom or dad "got 2 grams for $40" but I can't describe it while also maintaining acceptable grammar, so just click here. Jesus.

Jason Segels young adult novel series, Nightmares!, has new information out now, including a cool story about how Segel got the rights back to his story.

David Sedaris, an author everyone should read and be familiar with, has a new collection of essays out called Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls. To make this link even more better, he lists his favorite unusual titles for books. This is exciting on so many levels.

Alright, that's good for now. I lost focus too many times to count while writing this blog post and it's written very badly but you guys get the gist and now you have cool things to look at, watch and talk about.

Until next time...

Person of the Week: Kate McKinnon (again)

2013-04-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't had much time to spend on the internet this week which is why there hasn't been a Person of the Week yet, and you know, the past two blog posts happened. But it didn't take long for the following video to become my favorite thing from the past week:

I love this video so much that I'm giving it it's own post until waiting to just include it in the Weekly Wrap-Up. Because I can't wait to make you guys watch it. Did you watch it yet? Do it, you freaks.

The beginning of the interview is funny too but you can click on that after you watch the ending where Kate McKinnon does her Ellen impression on Ellen (the show, not on the actual human being).

God I love Kate McKinnon. This is where the post that was solely going to be a short sentence or two about the above video turns into a full fledged love letter to McKinnon. Because she's so damn great.

If you have time to watch one more video (watch this video) then you should watch this sketch, written by the hilarious and great Christine Nangle and starring McKinnon in her UCB days.

This just goes to show you can make anything, anything, funny.

Until next time...

BEDA, Day 25: Alyson Needs Sleep

2013-04-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

Hey gang, Alyson here. Obvs, who else would it be? I don't know the last time I just wrote a blog post for the hell of it (usually I would go back, look, and then LINK TO IT, but right now I just can't even) but it's currently one in the morning and I have all sorts of energy. This energy is stemming from the fact that I have been up since six in the morning and I worked a 13 hour day and have yet to quit for a second.

There's a lot of work-from-home stuff I have to do this week and I'm trying to get it all done before Friday because that's when it's due but I'm also working AT LEAST 12-14 hour days for the rest of this week which is making it very hard to do anything else.

I'm getting insanely distracted right now because WHO KNEW, but a lot of people are up at this hour AND I'M EVEN AT LEAST TWO HOURS BEHIND YOU CRAZIES. Speaking of people I am currently being distracted by, my sister has started a wonderful blog that I'm already obsessed with. If you like my writing, YOU'LL LOVE HERS.

And then long time reader Kole is talking to me on twitter and I'm texting people and my mind just cannot keep up with all this social interaction. WHO SLEEPS ANYMORE?

Did anyone actually watch House Arrest after I linked to it yesterday? I seriously wanted to but I just didn't have the time. Though it's saved in a tab right now so I may just watch it on Saturday which is my day of doing absolutely nothing, I mean nothing, you got it, people?

I really should be going so I can get some sleep because I have about six hours until I'm dragging myself out of bed to make some coffee and them set off into Hollywood. It's actually amazing I don't work earlier than I do being on set and all but thank god I don't have to drive further than Hollywood because last time it was downtown and that was just hell because our call times were FAR earlier than eight am. So this is actually a god send and I'm taking advantage of it. But seriously you guys, I should already be asleep.

Anyways, on Jackie's blog she wrote the best first paragraph that's ever been written so maybe just go read her site today instead of sitting here reading my rambling imposible-to-read run-on sentences, I should probably let me dog out.

Until next time...

Guest Post: Candice Loves House Arrest

2013-04-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

So Alyson's like super busy with work today and she asked me to fill in for her for today's BEDA. I don't know why she even bothers. Doesn't she know that BEDA means that SHE blogs every day in April? Dumb bitch but I love her! You know? Seriously youguys, it's not like you've come here to read what I, Candice, have to say. You don't even know me.

Alyson also made the mistake of letting me write this at midnight while she's working so she won't even read this before I post it tomorrow (technically, today, as you're reading this on Tuesday). I could say anything, I could tell you guys stories about Alyson for days and days and she wouldn't even know until late at night once she gets home from work Wednesday night.

So when Alyson asked me to write today's BEDA post for her I was like "um but sweetheart, I don't care about pop culture." That's a thing you should know about me. I don't care about pop culture. I care more about cats, really. To be more specific, I'm particularly into cats, Ryan Lochte, and the 1996 classic, House Arrest, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Well, I guess you could say that I'm into some kind of pop culture.

Cats are pretty in right now, and I'm not just saying that because of youtube videos. You guys have heard of Lil' Bub, right? He's so in right now and it's for a reason, you guys. That cat is simply adorable I mean MY GOD.

Right!? RIGHT!? I almost want to die because nothing will ever top that cuteness. I look at my cats and I'm just disgusted, they can't do anything cool and they're not as cute so it's just like ugh, you know?

Ryan Lochte is also pretty relevant in this whole pop culture thing that Alyson is obsessed with. You guys realize it's an obsession and you're feeding it by reading her blog, right? If she didn't work four different jobs than I would have to sit down with her and pull an intervention. You think you watch a lot of netflix but you don't even know. Anyhoozle. E! just got even more exciting by giving my man Ryan Lochte a show called What Would Ryan Lochte Do?. Some people are really judgmental of him because he's "dumb" and "doesn't give good interviews" but he's an athlete, you guys. He swims and looks pretty for a living so stop giving him such a hard time. I don't see you guys with a show. Where's What Would Alyson Do? hmmmmm? Just let the man look good on our television.

And then there's House Arrest and you might say "what's House Arrest?" to which I reply, "hold the phone, you've never seen House Arrest? What were you doing in 1996?"Wallace Shawn and Kevin Pollack were in a movie together, you guys, and you've just let that go completely unnoticed? Maybe you're just not remembering your childhood correctly.

Get your shit together, everyone. This movie is the only thing worth watching. "Ever wanted to send your parents to their room?" You're damn straight I've wanted to send my parents to their room! Alyson likes to include links in her posts that go unmentioned and sometimes their like this weird secret of hers because she lives a sad life and gets enjoyment out of the saddest little things, but I'm not gonna' do you guys like that after you've been so welcoming today. If you click the link here, you can watch the entire movie on youtube. Treat yourself today, it's Hump Day.

Alyson also asked me to mention to you all that she would just love you forever if you could tweet about today's BEDA post and pass it along because she'll be on set tomorrow and won't be around to do it. I think she mentioned that she'd make you cookies if you do it.

I hope you're happy, Alyson.

*Disclaimer. I wish I didn't have to include this but some of you will undoubtedly not get that this is just a joke and that Candice is Alyson's alter-ego. If you got that all by yourself, pat yourself on the back because you're my kind of people.

Top 3: Movies to Watch on Netflix Right Now

2013-04-23T15:47:00.000-05:00

I wanted to make this list Five because that's a solid number for lists but I don't have the time today (I'm swamped). I have so much to do before Friday that I may just end up in the fetal position on the floor while my dog looks on, slightly worried but more interested in the pizza I abandoned on the table. I'm going to try to get quality posts out in that time but it may just not be possible. I'm only human. Maybe I'll have someone guest blog. WHO KNOWS. Anyway, let's get started with this post, I didn't have time to ramble on in this intro.

Netflix has been putting up a lot of quality shows and movies lately, it seems. Usually it lacks in movies and the only thing worth streaming are television shows. But this month I've actually been devouring their selection of movies, specifically independent movies. So here's a list of three movies you should watch on Netflix right now that you may not have known were available.

3. Fat Kid Rules The World- this one's actually adapted by the book of the same title by KL Going. The movie was directed by Matthew Lilliard and stars Jacob Wysocki and Matt O'Leary. Wysocki is fun to watch in the film but I think it's O'Leary who really blows the character of Marcus out of the water. I was first introduced to O'Leary late last year when he starred in a movie that I was working on, and I think he's a great actor who can be crazy weird and serious but really funny at the same time.

If you like movies that incorporate a lot of music and deal with the outcast kid, then you'll enjoy this one.

2. Safety Not Guaranteed- This one has more mainstream stars in it with Aubrey Plaza, Jake Johnson and Mark Duplass (and a cameo by Kristen Bell). This one is fun to watch because Plaza and Duplass work well off each other and it's kind of weird but interesting at the same time. Duplass plays Kenneth who's looking for someone to travel back in time with. With intentions of writing an article about Kenneth, Darius (played by Plaza) becomes his partner and starts preparing to go back in time. It's a really cool concept for a film and that makes this movie worth watching.

1. Dirty Girl- I remembered seeing trailers for this movie but then it never got a wide release and it went under my radar and I forgot all about it. Until one night I was looking for something to fall asleep to on Netflix. Needless to say, I stayed up far too late watching this one.

Juno Temple and Jeremy Dozier play unlikely friends, Danielle and Clarke. The two of them set off on a road trip to find Danielle's birth father. These two characters are extremely fun to watch, Danielle being notably hilarious.

Okay, this write-up wasn't the best thing in the world but it took more time than I intended so I really need to move on to some work. If you watch any of these movies (or if you've already seen them) make sure to let me know what you think of them.

Until next time...

Inside Amy Schumer

2013-04-22T14:38:00.001-05:00

A lot of my/your favorite comedians are getting shows thanks to channels like MTV, IFC and Comedy Central. It's a real good time to be a fan of comedy and cable channels, and at the end of this month we'll have a show from Amy Schumer to add to the on-going list with her new show, Inside Amy Schumer.

Amy Schumer's been a quickly growing comedian from New York and recently had a special on Comedy Central. Now she's back with her very own show. It looks as though it's a mix of sketches, stand-up, and other funny segments. Writing for the show are comedians like Tig Notaro, Gave Liedman, Jessi Klein and more so it's worth getting excited about.

Inside Amy Schumer
Get More: Comedy Central,Funny Videos,Funny TV Shows

I've always enjoyed Schumer and I think she's super funny in her stand-up and she's got a certain way of delivering a line that I freaking love. I'm excited to see her on my TV with this new type of show that's becoming pretty popular with comedians. I love the mix of stand-up with sketches, so I get to see a comedian do both and I get to see more of their stand-up which is convenient when comedians don't have a lot available with comedy albums or plenty of specials.

Inside Amy Schumer premieres April 30th but you can watch the first episode now on Comedy Central.

Until next time...

Weekly Wrap-Up: April 13 - 20

2013-04-21T13:27:00.002-05:00

I didn't have time for the Weekly Wrap-Up yesterday so we're getting to it now mmmkay?

Honestly, there wasn't a lot from this week that I feel the need to get to because most of us were watching the news and focusing on Boston. But there were some things to distract us from that nightmare and these are the things that made me feel better this past week:

I'm sure all of you read the sorority email that was on Gawker, it spread like wildfire and everyone was getting a kick out of this sorority girl's way with words. But I'll do you one better by bringing this dramatic reading to your attention. Alison Haislip knocks this email out of the park and makes it even better.

Vulture spent 85 minutes with Cecily Strong, who is one of my favorites on SNL at the moment.

Conan spent just as much time with some Simpsons writers and it's fascinating if you have 80 minutes to kill.

This video of Patton Oswalt improvising a Star Wars fillibuster on Parks and Recreation was one of the highlights of my week. Oswalt did other great things this week too so hopefully he came up on your guys' radar.

And that's all I have for you this week. Amazon put up their pilots online but I'm not going to talk about that here, it's big enough for it's own post. So look out for that.

Until next time...

What Al's Watching: The Booth At The End

2013-04-20T13:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry for taking yesterday off. I was in a weird place and with the news going on I thought it was best to just stay silent.

And now I'm about to have an insanely busy week and I have a friend in town and we're about to go out into Hollywood to do things so today's post will be quick.

This segment may eventually move over to Box Office Buz, but for today it's here so that I can have something to talk about that's quick but still entertaining. A long time ago I binge-watched the first season of The Booth At The End with with Xander Berkeley. Then it was done, I had watched it all, and as often happens with web series, I kind of forgot about it because it seemed to have disappeared. Then during this years Streamy's it won an award (I believe, without going to fact check this first) that it was Berkeley who won the award for his awesome work on the show). It brought the show back in my mind and made me realize they've probably put out new content since the last time I checked.

I was right, because there's a second season. This time, the city is different, the booth is different and the people are different. But it's still the same game and Berkeley is, of course, so good. If you're unfamiliar with The Booth At The End, it's a series about The Man who can pretty much grant people anything, but with a price. Then slowly through each episode you realize that the prices these people are paying are linked to each other.

That description doesn't do the show any justice at all because it's so vague, but that's just how it is right now. You should just watch it for yourself. The show is on Hulu and both seasons only have five episodes so it's a quick watch.

Until next time...

My Thoughts On Funny or Die's iSteve

2013-04-18T18:02:00.001-05:00

Today, I just kind of want to know what everyone's thoughts are on Funny or Die's Steve Jobs biopic parody, iSteve.

On Splitsider, they say it's funny only when you're in on the fact that the film isn't supposed to be good. It was written in five days and shot in six, with the only research being Jobs' wikipedia page. It being Funny or Die, I think people get that this isn't supposed to be a good biopic or anything to take seriously. But I think comedy runs into trouble when the audience needs to be aware of background information first. I don't know that knowing behind-the-scenes stuff should ever be a requirement to finding something funny. Then it's just one of those inside jokes, "had to be there" moments that the people on the outside don't find funny because why should they?

Though at the same time, I don't think it's quite fair to review this movie as if it's an actual feature film, like Wired did. This parody might be the length of a feature film, but it's not something that should be compared to other movies, least of all the two Steve Jobs biopics that are currently in the works. It's merely a sketch that goes on for quite some time.

iSteve isn't perfect and it's not always the funniest thing in the world but it's enjoyable for fans of weird comedy and sketches. If you're someone who likes to witness comedy experiments then you'll get a kick out of iSteve. If you're wanting traditional comedy or you can't wrap your head around an 80+ minute sketch, then you're going to find yourself on the side of Matt Honan at Wired.

I liked it for what it was, though I was in on the joke from the beginning because I knew how short of a time this movie was made in. I don't like Jorge Garcia and I'll never quite understand why people keep putting him in things, but it was fun to watch this comedy experiment and see Funny or Die's take at a biopic parody.

Until next time...

In Defense of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter

2013-04-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've been a fan of Veronica Mars ever since that first episode aired on UPN back in 2004. I had no idea what I was watching, nor did I even know what UPN was, but I was captivated by the show's lead and titular character, played by Kristen Bell.

The first season is one of the best stories ever told in a first season of television. The mystery is compelling, the setting is fun, and the characters are mostly messed up but so interesting to watch. What makes this show one of my favorites of all time is because of the main character, Veronica. Here was a main character being the funny and sarcastic and dominating character. Sometimes shows and movies fall into this trap where their lead is the straight, boring character while they are surrounded by quirky and funny friends. But Veronica was strong and broken, sarcastic yet deeply sweet, and hilarious but willing to rock a heart breaking, tear-inducing moment.

Sure, the third season wasn't anything compared to the first two (and almost not even the same show when compared to the first season), but that's because the show had changed from being a UPN program, to now existing on the brand new CW. Things were different and people stopped watching. To me though it never really mattered because I just wanted this character to stay on TV. But she didn't, and the series was cancelled after wrapping its third season.

Since then I've marathoned the show several times whenever I feel myself missing Veronica and Neptune. Veronica remains my favorite character of TV of all time and I've followed Kristen Bell to all of her other ventures.

I'm not sure there's ever been an actress that loved the character she played more. In interviews, Bell mentions Veronica Mars often, and she's lobbied for a Mars movie for years. Then, one day, fans woke up to news of a Veronica Mars kickstarter.

I heard about the kickstarter before they had earned their first million. I believe the total was somewhere at $90,000 when I got to it and I was immediately excited. I don't think it took me more than five minutes to officially pledge a good amount of money to the movie that would bring Veronica Mars back into my life.

Almost as soon as the kickstarter reached it's lofty 2 Million dollar goal (only a few hours after the kickstarter launched), the backlash started. Jokes were being made and angry blog posts were being written about the type of people who would spend money to make a movie that Warner Brothers could have easily made themselves and how this money could and should be spent on charities.

This argument seems insane to me. There are movies like Battleship being made with a budget of $200 million dollars. I didn't see anyone complaining about how that money was spent. Production companies are spending thousands of millions of dollars each year on movies. By the argument being used against the Veronica Mars kickstarter, we should probably just complain about all money spent on movies and television and comedy. Because all that money could be spent on bettering the world through charities.

You didn't see comedians and bloggers and critics complaining about Kurt Braunohler's kickstarter to raise money so that he could tell jokes in the sky. His $6,820 raised could've been way better spent on a charity but was instead used to write jokes in the sky with an airplane. And Braunohler was praised for this ingenuity.

Fans coming together to personally see that something they love gets a new life is not something to hate on. This isn't a think piece about what the Veronica Mars movie success means for other short-lived TV shows. But I am saying it's pretty freaking cool that the people who love Veronica Mars the most are the ones responsible for making this movie happen. They feel apart of the process now, and get perks and insider knowledge as a reward for donating their hard earned money.

You can complain people are funding Veronica Mars & not medical research, or you can live in the real world where people are doing both.
— Matt Debenham (@debenham) March 14, 2013

And guess what, guys. No body has stopped donating money to charity.

I could write so much more on the topic but I think the point of my argument has been made. Who freaking cares what people do with their own money? I want to see a Veronica Mars movie get made, so I donated money to make that happen. I'll still donate some money to my local humane society and donate money to the annual Project For Awesome but I'm also going to have a movie to look forward to next year because I was one of the 91,585 backers to make it happen.

Until next time...

Alyson and Darius Present: March Tweets

2013-04-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

First off: sorry I took yesterday off. When I went to write a post for yesterday it just didn't feel appropriate or important in light of the events in Boston. I know quite a few people that either live in Boston or were there yesterday and I'm so glad that they're all okay. My heart goes out to everyone affected.

Okay, so let's get down to why we're here. Darius and I know it's been awhile but we stand by the ol' saying, "better late than never." Also, it's just so much less fun to do this when we're not in the same room writing this together. It's still a complete blast and my favorite part of every month, but it's tough to get to in a timely manner. But we did it and it's ready for you. Let's get started. (Also, sorry they're not centered but sometimes I just have no patience for html, and tonight is one of those times).

Now, hang on a second. This is United States Foreign Policy we're talking about. Let's give Dennis Rodman a chance to make his case.
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) March 3, 2013

Darius: If there was one person who could reason with Kim Jong Un I would think it would be either Dennis Rodman or Mike Tyson. So the question then becomes, who can America most afford to have blown up? Obviously Rodman.

Alyson: I mean, Dennis Rodman's gotta make sure he stays relevant somehow.

When you're in a hotel, every show on TV seems infinitely more interesting.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) March 4, 2013

Alyson: This is no joke. It's not every day I watch three hours of Too Cute! on Animal Planet.

Darius: I once watched a Disney Channel Original movie about a Dog that started a hotel...in a hotel. Twice. Back to back. Including commercials. I don't want to talk about it.

i replaced all of joseph gordon-levitt's flashlights with chinese lanterns because he knows why
— julia davidovich (@juliadavidovich) March 4, 2013

Alyson: Julia Davidovich's on-going joke about how JGL is chinese is one of my favorite things about the internet. It just never gets old.

Darius: I just pictured this and yes, JGL being chinese is something I'm obsessed with. If you could see the picture in my head you'd know that I'M HORRIBLE.

i heard something about horse meat at taco bell and i guess that means i like horse meat now
— Amber Eeeeeee (@rare_basement) March 5, 2013

Darius: I'm not really sure what that delicious brown paste they put in the tacos is made of, but I'm glad we can finally put the is it "meat™" or meat debate to bed.

Alyson: I mostly like this because it doesn't even matter to me why Taco Bell might be in the news, constantly hearing about Taco Bell makes me want Taco Bell.

thank god they completely sexualized the wicked witch in the new oz movie i was so afraid they weren't going to do that
— lauren ashley bishop (@sbellelauren) March 6, 2013

Darius: Studio Exec: "I really like what you've done to stay true to the original Wicked Witch, but what if she was...and I'm just spit-balling here...less wicked...and kind of slutty."

Alyson: "I like the way you spit-ball. You don't just put Mila Kunis in your movie for nothing, boys!"

This guy with a Romney bumper sticker next to a confederate flag is on a pretty solid losing streak.
— OhNoSheTwitnt (@OhNoSheTwitnt) March 6, 2013

Darius: I feel like that losing streak needs an equally disappointing song for it's montage. Got it, "Hey Porsche" by Nelly.

Alyson: There's nothing I can say to make Darius' comment better. Though I've never been trashy enough to put a bumper sticker on my car so I don't really know how they work- can you, like, not take them off ever? Is that why I still see Romney bumper stickers?

I don't eat crouched over my sink like some sort of monster. I eat hovered over my laptop like a freakin' lady.
— Nina Bargiel (@slackmistress) March 7, 2013

Alyson: What, you're telling me there's a BETTER place to eat this whole sleeve of saltines?

Darius: Is eating over the sink something that needs to be made clear you're not doing? I'm like 39% alarmed by this. p.s. I don't eat Bugles outside while staring through my neighbor's window. I don't.

In "Whistle," when Flo Rida says "Girl, I'm gonna show you how to do it," does that mean he's actually gonna demonstrate a blowjob?
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) March 10, 2013

Darius: Florida is ~~arguably~~ the worst rapper alive. I would love for him to answer this question in another song, but I'd probably ignore everything he said until "HEY I HEARD YOU WERE A WILD ONE oooOOOOoooOOOOhhh"

Alyson: Never quite realized how gay that song is. Feel like the followup to "Whistle" should maybe be "No Homo." That one's for free, Flo Rida!

Some of you have been asking what I thought of JT's performance on SNL. Apologies for the silence - I like to keep my dating life private.
— Sara Schaefer (@saraschaefer1) March 10, 2013

Darius: I completely Identify with this tweet because I am struggling to make my private relationship, with an academy award winning hunger game starring actress, work / be a thing that she is aware of.

Alyson: Keep keepin' on, my friend. One day all your hard work will pay off!

A judge has struck down NYC's ban on large beverages. But I'm still sitting in a bathtub of Mountain Dew clutching a rifle, just in case.
— Chase Mitchell (@ChaseMit) March 11, 2013

Darius: You laugh, but one day the last of the Earth's supply of Mountain Dew will be in that tub, and it'll be heavily guarded and semi-polluted by Chase Mitchell.

Alyson: Chase will say "if you want it that bad, come and get it" and one sole man will step out of the crowd, crying, as he reluctantly drinks from the Mountain Dew bathtub. Chase and the man keep eye contact. The shame the man feels is heavy but tough times call for tough measures. Also, hey America, maybe we're banning/concentrating on the wrong things? Just a thought.

My suicide note will just say "Online Comments".
— Mark Leggett (@markleggett) March 14, 2013

Darius: I love this tweet because the most horrible thing you've ever said to anyone, is about 1 billionth as awful as everything you'll find under a State of the Union or Justin Bieber video.

Alyson: Remind me never to let my children internet.

I remember when I read the back of shampoo bottles when I was going to the bathroom. Now I google "back of shampoo bottles" on my iPhone.
— Nick Thune (@nickthune) March 19, 2013

Alyson: Related- googling "back of cereal boxes" while you eat cereal in front of your laptop, from bed, possibly at midnight.

Darius: No no no Nicholas, I can't let this shampoo comment slide. You have to make a concerted effort to get to the shampoo bottles. Why you all up in the shower before you do your business? Is that your thing? If I let you use my bathroom am I also consenting to let you explore my shower? Are you going in shoes on bein' all disrespectful and whatnot? There are too many questions Nick. Consider yourself banned from my bathroom.

I just tried to put an emoticon in parentheses and then everything got so confusing. I hate doing my taxes.
— Adam Juskewitch (@juskewitch) March 21, 2013

Alyson: Classic twist ending, I'll say. I think Adam may expect an auditor in his future and that auditor's name is grumpy cat, probs. I don't know, I think the internet works that way.

Darius: I'm loving the twist. It makes sense though, do you subtract the winky face from line 13a or 13c, and can you claim that cool banana in sunglasses emoji as a dependent?

The only joy I get from March Madness is occasionally Tweeting "Bracket. Still. Perfect" to screw with people.
— Papa's Basement (@papasbasement) March 22, 2013

Alyson: Nobody remember this tweet next year because I am so doing it, and I want you all to think I am either hilarious or the biggest dick ever.

Darius: Do it! I'll wait until after the first round and then pick all the teams that lose + share it on every social media platform. Then it'll go viral and I'll get invited to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as bad bracket guy, and we'll be best friends. + Don't let my degree of specificity throw you, I haven't even thought about this at all really.

my boyfriend doesn't think we're watching labyrinth tonight. well guess what we are, because prank city! i'm the fun enforcer
— julia davidovich (@juliadavidovich) March 24, 2013

Alyson: Everything about this tweet gets at my heart. Prank city! Fun enforcer! Also, how fun is it to add city to the end of words? This is one of those things that I freaking love to do but I should also probably just keep it to myself. Anyways. Now I want to date Julia.

Darius: Thinking of nicknaming myself D-City! Already having the time of my life!

Or, instead of going to the bathroom because I have to go to the bathroom, I could just sit here 10 feet away from the bathroom & internet.
— katey healywu (@khealywu) March 25, 2013

Alyson: This is me all day every day. This is me right now. This was me thirty minutes ago.

Darius: *This* is the human experience summed up in one tweet. Bravo, Katey.

Considering getting super obsessed with fancy water.
— Kendra Alvey (@Kendragarden) March 25, 2013

Alyson: I really love Kendra's commitment to the things she's into. She's gotta mull over an obsession, see how it feels. And guys, there's no one more fun than the guy who has a preference on the water he drinks.

Darius: I wanna set up guy who has a preference on the water he drinks with girl who wears makeup to the gym. They deserve each other.

"Gay marriage threatens the institution of marriage. Oh, don't forget to DVR The Bachelor." - 51% of America
— Damien Fahey (@DamienFahey) March 27, 2013

Darius: What a wonderful observation. Uuugghhh Damien's *BRILLIANCE* UPSETS ME!

Alyson: This is so good and terrifyingly accurate.

i've never been ambushed in the mojave desert or anything but one time somebody facebook chatted me
— Cara (@C_Devs) March 26, 2013

Alyson: Seems about right to me.

Darius: Couldn't agree more. I imagine there's no greater high for an Ambusher than when "Seen" pops up under his message. "Seen" messages are the new spoils of victory. So keep up the good work Zuck!

I thought I knew true sadness until my friend just showed up at my house carrying an unpopped single-serving bag of microwave popcorn.
— Jen Statsky (@jenstatsky) March 28, 2013

Darius: I keep trying to think of what could make this sadder, but I've got nothing. Actually, what if she showed up with a bootleg VHS copy of "He's Just Not That Into You," and a VCR to play it on?

Alyson: And here I was thinking I knew true sadness last night after the pizza delivery guy recognized me from a few nights before. But I'm going to go with my gut on this one and say the single-serving popcorn is worse. At least I'm not THAT guy.

I really feel like this was Darius' month, you guys. I hope you enjoyed him as much as I did because I was rolling when reading his comments.

Follow Alyson on twitter.

Follow Darius on twitter.

Until next time...

BEDA, Day 14: Taking A Break

2013-04-14T15:10:00.005-05:00

Okay, guys. So far this weekend I've been busy and I'm about twenty minutes away from leaving my house at the moment that will keep me busy the rest of the day.

And I have nothing to blog about.

So I'm taking the day off. You should too. Take a break, go outside if it's nice where you live, listen to some live music, watch a movie, read a book, go to brunch, go to a bar, make a bloody mary at home, whatever it is you do on a day off.

Or read Darius' blog because it's funny as hell.

Until next time...

Weekly Wrap-Up: April 7-12

2013-04-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a few of my favorite things from the past week:

On Monday, I started writing for Box Office Buz. I'm starting out slow by just doing a daily headlines post, giving readers the days biggest pop culture news. For anyone that read even one of my posts this week I have to say THANK YOU. It's incredibly exciting for me to be writing on a pop culture site that isn't my own and I appreciate any of you guys that have followed me along for the ride.

This was my favorite song to listen to this week:

On Thursday, Glee aired an episode that dealt with school shootings. I don't watch Glee anymore unless I'm bored and my roommates happen to be watching it. But this one I was interested to see play out. And of course, it was handled incredibly poorly. A bunch of sites wrote think pieces about it, but Louis Peitzman's was my favorite.

The Veronica Mars Kickstarter came to a close with over five million dollars raised. I pledged to this movie, though I won't say how much, and I'm sososo excited to have my favorite television character back.

Louis C.K. did a reddit AMA and there were some highlights.

Anna Kendrick looked super hot in this video:

This video frightens me a little because the whole cup part is done in one take and I can't even imagine how long it took to get that right since there were a lot of people doing tricks with cups.

This Simpson's couch gag was super cool:

And here's a new clip from The To Do List which stars Aubrey Plaza:

Get More:

2013 MTV Movie Awards, Latest Movie News

I'm off to get out of LA for a little while so I hope you guys have as good of a day as me.

Until next time...

Burning Love: Burning Down The House

2013-04-12T15:38:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, another quick one today because I'm sick, but I did want to talk about something today. So let's just get to it.

Burning Love, Yahoo's amazing web series created by Ken Marino, rolled out the first three episodes of season three today and they're worth your time. The series is a parody of The Bachelor and it's extremely funny. If you're a fan of the past two seasons, you'll notice familiar faces have come back to compete for the $900 prize (so good).

If you haven't checked out Burning Love, whether online or on E!, now is the time. I promise there will be at least two people on this series that you're into. A lot of guest stars pop up and bring the funny to this parody web series.

I love Ken Marino and generally just hop on board to whatever he's doing. Burning Love is one of my favorite web series going today, and it should probably be yours too.

Alright, I have to go write you all tomorrow's BEDA post now because I work all night and then I'm going out of town early in the morning tomorrow. I do have a post going up at Box Office Buz later today if you haven't had enough of me yet.

Until next time...

[Comedian] of the Week: Emily Heller

2013-04-11T17:54:00.001-05:00

Today's post is way late because I didn't have anything written, and I didn't want to wake up any earlier than I had to this morning before I had to go to class. But if you're a fan of comedy then you're going to dig today's Person of the Week (and if you're not into comedy then uhhhh... how'd you get here?). Let's get started.

If you follow me on tumblr then you're aware that I'm currently obsessed with Emily Heller and her stand-up. She's been a favorite of mine on twitter for some time, but it wasn't until she was recently on Conan that I found out how damn funny she really is.

Here she is talking about feminism. And listen closely, because the part that really kills me is she identifies non-feminists as "mortal people." This bit is so great because it points out some of the bullshit that comes along with some extreme feminists and makes it extremely funny:

John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show
Get More: Comedy Central,Funny Videos,Funny TV Shows

Her most recent bit of stand-up was on Conan and it's fantastic. The way Heller delivers a line is my favorite thing about her and what makes this next clip worth watching over and over and over again (which I have totally not done, nope, not at all, definitely not).

A few days ago I talked a little about Above Average Network which is convenient since Heller has a pretty new web series with AAN called The Past, and it's completely worth watching. Heller shows off a bit of dry humor and sarcasm that I particularly enjoy, and this clip she plays perfectly opposite John Mulaney (also extremely funny).

Alright, I think that gives you guys enough to go off today. I'm sick so I'm taking a day off from Box Office Buz so I can get some rest because I have a busy weekend coming up.

Until next time...

Zach Stone is Gonna be Famous

2013-04-10T16:08:00.000-05:00

Because of things, today's post is going to be short, but it's better than what I originally intended on doing, which was saying "I'm taking the day off" and then writing NOTHING. I decided against that, and we're at least going to talk about MTV's upcoming show, Zach Stone is Gonna be Famous.

The show stars Bo Burnham (also written, and possibly produced) as a recent high school graduate who is determined to be famous. To achieve his lofty goal, he spends his life savings to hire a camera crew to follow him around. I've been looking forward to this show for some time because I've been a fan of Burnham since his youtube days, and now that there's a trailer it's making me even more excited.

Get More:

Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous, Full Episodes

Burnham got noticed for his incredibly intelligent and musical-style of comedy back in 2007 and by 2008 had an EP in stores with Comedy Central Records. Since then he's had to prove he's worth the attention, since comedians generally spend years crafting their work and performing at any open-mic night that'll have them. So this is an interesting show coming from the 22-year old (also, a 22-year old has a show that he has written).

Anyways, that's all I have for today. How do you guys feel about a show making a statement on reality shows/stars being on MTV? Looking forward to it as much as I am?

Until next time...

Key and Peele

2013-04-09T14:01:00.001-05:00

I'm racing the clock today because I feel a migraine coming on and I still have a sketch to write, a screenplay to edit, and at least one post for Box Office Buz to write, so this is going to be quick.

It took me awhile to finally sit down and watch Key and Peele even though I knew they were crazy funny from their Mad TV days. But now there's no easier way to get me distracted on youtube by watching "one" sketch from their comedy central show.

In case you're holding out on the show even longer than I am, I'm about to fix that. Because here are my favorite Key and Peele sketches that will probably make you laugh (but really who knows, some people aren't the "laugh out loud" type while sitting in front of their computer, like me, it's almost impossible and I'm not pretending to know the kind of person you are but if you don't laugh out loud then you'll at least laugh on the inside). In no order, here are some of the sketches I'll pull up when I'm looking to entertain people at my apartment BECAUSE MY APARTMENT IS A FUNZONE:

Substitute Teacher:

Auction Block:

There are a ton of sketches online so if you liked the two above then you can easily waste a lot of time watching more. And be sure to watch the show on comedy central on Wednesdays. Okay, I literally can't see what I'm typing anymore so I really should get off the internet before this migraine makes me want to kill myself.

Until next time...