Here’s a funny sketch from Conan that pokes fun at the recently announced iPad Mini, as well as Apple’s dominance in the mobile space. I hate my third-gen iPad. I want an iPad Mini Mega Micro Max!!! Continue reading “Conan: iPad Mini Mega Micro Max”
Category: TV
Coffee Talk #529: Where Have All the Jobbers Gone?
One of the few things I hate about pro-wrestling’s rise to mainstream popularity is that it has killed the traditional jobber. I’m talking about guys that looked ordinary or out of shape or ugly. Fancifully referred to as “enhancement talent,” these guys had one purpose professionally: make the stars look superstars. These days, a typical jobber is someone like Heath Slater. He’s a handsome young man with a fantastic physique. In the ’80s, there’s no way this guy would have been a jobber. Sadly, modern television dictates that plain-looking or unattractive people can’t be on the air, even their sole purpose in life is to lose while making their opponent look like Hercules…more
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, how stunning Kiera Knightley looks without makeup, the Tigers’ impotent World Series performance, or LeBron-to-the-Lakers speculation, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
One of the few things I hate about pro-wrestling’s rise to mainstream popularity is that it has killed the traditional jobber. I’m talking about guys that looked ordinary or out of shape or ugly. Fancifully referred to as “enhancement talent,” these guys had one purpose professionally — make the stars look superstars. These days, a typical jobber is someone like Heath Slater. He’s a handsome young man with a fantastic physique. In the ’80s, there’s no way this guy would have been a jobber. Sadly, modern television dictates that plain-looking or unattractive people can’t be on the air, even if their sole purpose in life is to lose while making their opponent look like Hercules.
I didn’t realize how much I missed jobbers until WWE brought some in for Ryback’s push. While those guys were still more polished and better looking than the jobbers of yore, they seemed like a different class of people than WWE Superstars. I miss that. I miss guys like Mike Jackson (video below) that could go toe-to-toe with Ric Flair, but could also be mistaken for a disgruntled accountant. I miss guys like Bill and Randy Mulkey (pictured above) that fought against some of the best tag-teams in pro-wrestling history, but also looked liked brothers that offered landscaping services. While these guys had ring skills, their bodies were “normal” and their facial features were ordinary. Their plainness helped make guys like Flair, Magnum T.A., Lex Luger, and Nikita Koloff look larger than life.
Do you miss classic pro-wrestling jobbers? Who are some of the members of your personal Jobber Hall of Fame? Leave a comment and let me know (please!).
Saturday Night Live Mocks iPhone 5, Tech Journalists
I absolutely loved the “Tech Talk” sketch on last week’s Saturday Night Live. Check out the clip below to see Christina Applegate and the SNL crew poke fun at the iPhone 5’s “problems”, tech journalists, and Chinese factory workers. While I’m sure the show is going to get some heat for its portrayal of Chinese people, it deserves an Emmy for its incredibly accurate depiction of tech journalists when they’re on camera. Everything was spot on — the dorky looks, the nerdy mannerisms, and warbled voices. It totally killed me! Continue reading “Saturday Night Live Mocks iPhone 5, Tech Journalists”
Today’s Poll: Rachel Maddow, Matthew Perry, and Mark Teixeira
Apparently MSNBC host Rachel Maddow looks like a bunch of famous people. On a recent episode of Matthew Perry’s Go On, there was a bit where Perry’s character attended a lesbian wedding and was constantly mistaken for Maddow. My friend Justin has been telling me for years that New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira looks like Maddow. Personally, I don’t see it at all. In my head, Maddow is cool and cute in a way that has nothing to do with Matthew Perry or Mark Teixeira.
What do you think? Please vote in today’s Rachel Maddow poll and explain your choice in the comments section!
[poll id=”166″]
RIP Alex Karras
Some of you knew Alex Karras as a football player for the Detroit Lions. Others knew him from his pro-wrestling days. Lots of people knew him as the dad in Webster. As for me, he’ll always be Mongo, the excellent character from the excellent Blazing Saddles. Karras had a remarkable career, entertaining millions of people as an athlete, an actor, and a comedian. He was awesome.
Mariah Carey vs. Nicki Minaj on American Idol
I knew that putting two batsh*t-crazy women on the American Idol judging panel was a good idea! Here’s a video of Nicki Minaj cursing out Mariah Carey during the American Idol audtions in Charlotte, North Carolina (aka Ric Flair country). Minaj was pretty intense and her tirade featured an impressive curse-words-per-minute ratio. Carey tried to play it cool, dismissing Minaj’s behavior as childish. If these two are having problems during auditions, I can’t wait to see what they get up to during the big shows. They’re a live TV disaster waiting to happen! Love it!!!
McKayla Maroney is Impressed With Hart of Dixie
The adorable and not-easily-impressed McKayla Maroney is making her acting debut in Hart of Dixie. For those of you not familiar with the show, it’s a Rachel Bilson drama/comedy on The CW. McKayla will be playing Tanya, Rose Hattenbarger’s best friend on the show. While she has acting aspirations, Maroney noted that she’s not done with her gymnastics career. Check out the full Access Hollywood interview below for all the details, including why she and her Olympic teammates are cooler than Justin Bieber. Continue reading “McKayla Maroney is Impressed With Hart of Dixie”
Tom Hanks Sees Emmy in Olivia Munn’s Future?!?
My nightmare of Olivia Munn becoming the biggest star in America continues! This time around, the legendary Tom Hanks told the girl formerly known as Lisa that an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Emmy Award is in her future. Check out the Entertainment Tonight video below and please let me know if you think Hanks was being serious, being polite, or being patronizing. Whatever the case may be, the cameraman was totally on point trying to brush off Bolivia Bunn for the exponentially more interesting and talented Tom Hanks. Continue reading “Tom Hanks Sees Emmy in Olivia Munn’s Future?!?”
Aaron Sorkin Says The Newsroom is a Romantic Comedy
Some people think of HBO’s The Newsroom as a drama. Others feel that it’s a satire. I’ve always thought of the show as a romantic comedy with dramatic overtones that satirizes the sad state of news reporting in America today. Some of my friends made fun of my take on the show, but The Newsroom’s writer Aaron Sorkin backs me up on this. In a recent HBO GO chat he said:
The Newsroom may talk tough sometimes but at its heart it’s a romantic comedy and it can only succeed if you’re invested in the characters.
See. I told ya so.
Olivia Munn on New Girl Season 2
It appears there’s no stopping our (so not) beloved Bolivia Bunn. After several 2012 movies and a great run on HBO’s The Newsroom, Munn has landed a multi-episode arc on Fox’s New Girl. According to Deadline:
She will play Angie, Nick’s (Jake Johnson) new love interest who is sexy, earthy, charming and can hold her own with the group. Munn, repped by CAA and Mosaic, will film her episodes before production starts on Season 2 of HBO’s Newsroom, on which she co-stars.
The silver lining in all this is that New Girl stars the exponentially superior Zooey Deschanel. Their respective talents — and hotness generated by talent — are in different leagues. Munn is working with a shot glass, while Deschanel draws from a pint glass. Zooey will help reveal Bolivia for the fraud that she is, right? Right?!?
So yeah…my recurring nightmares of waking up to find that Olivia Munn is the biggest star in America will be making a comeback.