March, 1
TV's Back!
Wow, it's been a while. I wish I could say I'd been watching the Olympics but (don't shoot me here) I don't really get into sports. In fact, I'm kind of resentful about the whole Olympics-hijacking-everything situation because it has left me without my beloved "Community." Thank God it's back this week!
And OK, there were some funny moments in the Olympics. Such as when speedskater Ryan Bedford was tricked into sporting the hairstyle shown above, thinking his whole team was doing it. And between Johnny Weir, Even Lysacek, and Evgeni Plushenko, Blades of Glory was coming to life, even before the whole "aboriginal" ice dancing fiasco.
Still, the loss of TV has been particularly brutal given my unwilling foray into being a grownup. I'm selling my house, which means my realtor keeps swinging by, prognosticating with "comps" (whatever they are) like a Sybilline prophet, and suggesting an ever-longer list of things that need to be fixed. Sigh.
Meanwhile, the Aristophanes translation is in full swing, and a staged reading will happen Wednesday. We got our first "that joke goes too far" already, regarding a joke we made on the poster. It didn't, but I'd read all about producers and their poor senses of humor, so changing it felt like a rite of passage, really. Otherwise, it's going well, and we'll see how it all turns out.
Despite being preoccupied, I've still noticed some unintentionally funny events, courtesy of people with no sense of humor. Such as some wack-jobs in California promoting a "no-swear" policy. You know what, pretty boys? If it was good enough for Richard Pryor, it's good enough for you. And puppet cleavage was officially banned in bus-shelter ads in Colorado Springs. I can't say I blame them on this one -- it's just creepy and it certainly doesn't make me want to see "Avenue Q".
Meanwhile, ad execs have been taking notice of Isaiah Mustafa's sexy, funny appearances on the Old Spice ads running since the Super Bowl. In my opinion, Old Spice does the best job of mocking masculine stereotypes anyway. Most ads just repeat them, but Old Spice has gone meta. Not only does it show an appropriatly ironic distance from the stereotypes, it parodies the form of ads more successfully than other ads. Which is why they're so damn funny.
And finally, Betty White is almost there: there's talk that she will indeed host "SNL", sharing the spotlight with Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, and Amy Poehler in a show highlighting the women of comedy. I would definitely tune in for that. JLo did OK this week, but Betty White is a star. At least in my book.
