February 15, 2010
Betty White, Stephen Colbert, and Kevin Smith
Titans of Comedy
A picture is worth 1000 words.
Quite an exciting weekend! First, comic film legend Kevin Smith got himself thrown off a plane -- not for any bad behavior, mind you, but because his weight was considered a "flight risk." The writer/director retaliated with Twitter campaign against Southwest and a Smodcast explaining his side of the story. Though the Smith admits he is "way fat" he feels that Southwest went overboard, and wasn't acting according to its own rules.
I do feel a little sorry for the guy. But mostly, I find myself wondering what kind of plane this was. It was a flight from Oakland to Burbank, and if we're talking one of those small planes I guess weight can be a real issue. If it's a 747, not so much. But no one's talking. And, as Smith pointed out, why wait until he'd already sat down and stowed his luggage to kick him off, right in front of all the other passengers, some of whom had already recognized him? That was just dumb, Southwest. Although it did provide some free publicity for Smith's new movie, Cop Out -- a Kevin Smith action/cop/buddy film? This I gotta see.
TV-wise, "Family Guy" broke yet another comic boundary (they're going to run out soon): jokes involving developmental disorders. First it was Alex Borstein making fun of deaf people, now it's writing romantic songs about people with Down's Syndrome. It was actually pretty tasteful, all things considered, because Stewie was trying to get Chris ready for a date with Ellen, the character who had Down's Syndrome. So most of the lyrics focused on Chris's lack of hygiene, and no one was making fun of the disability or the character. My favorite part, though, was when Ellen turned out to be a jerk, and Chris said "I thought you people were supposed to be different. You're just like everybody else!" Well, that's comic equality for you.
Funnily, enough, I had a friend who always said he wanted to see a show that portrayed mentally challenged people as something less than perpetually cheerful and poignant characters. I think he got his wish with this one.
I also loved that "American Dad" combined The Terminator with Valentine's Day, mostly because I don't like Valentine's Day.
In other news, Colbert revealed his official Olympic poster (above), designed by Shepard Fairey, the same guy who designed Barack Obama's "Hope" image. Pretty cool! Finally, the "Let Betty White host 'SNL'"Facebook campaign is heating up. After the site reached 5000 fans, its creator sent a message to Lorne Michaels. White has acknowledged being aware of it, but says the ultimate decision is up to Michaels. Myself, I'd much rather see Betty White host for the first time than JLo host for a second time. C'mon, Lorne, give the lady a break.
