The Paul Reiser Show premieres tonight on NBC — but we surely don’t have to tell any of you, what with all those “watch party” invites we’ve been getting on Facebook. Reiser’s back, what what? Party like it’s 1993. At any rate, the premise of the show is such: Reiser is playing a fictionalized version of himself, a rudderless former sitcommer tooling around Hollywood getting himself into trouble. Sound familiar? The New York Times notes: “Mr. Reiser’s new series mostly proves what everybody already knows: Curb Your Enthusiasm really is inimitable.”
While the reviews for Mr. Reiser’s attempt at a meta-sitcom aren’t exactly glowing, one can’t blame him for the effort: in our celebrity-obsessed culture, several stars of stage and screen have taken the opportunity to send up their own image by playing themselves (or a comically exaggerated version thereof) on television and in film. We’ll rank a dozen notable examples, from worst to best, after the jump.
1. After hearing about a potential suicide jumper on an Atlanta radio station, T.I. drove over to the building and talked the man down with this video phone message: “Nothing is that bad. Believe me, I know.” [via E!]
2. Neil Patrick Harris will direct Emma Roberts in a romantic comedy called Aaron and Sarah. [via THR]
3. Exciting news for children of the ’80s: There’s definitely a Top Gun sequel in the works, and Tom Cruise has agreed to reprise the role of Maverick. Seriously, we’ll forgive him for the past decade of crazy if he does this right. [via Vulture]
4. Spike TV is planning to air a new mining reality TV series from the producers of Deadliest Catch. And they promise that Coal was in the works long before the Chilean miner rescue. [via LF]
5. Prince is holding a press conference at the Apollo Theater today. Our fingers are crossed that he’s announcing a new tour! [via Gatecrasher]
Still undecided about whether you’re watching the Emmys on Sunday night? Our friends at Vulture are predicting an epic showdown between the Goliaths (such as 30 Rock, Mad Men, and Lost) and the Davids (like Glee, Modern Family, The Good Wife, and Nurse Jackie), and we totally agree. We’d also like to suggest that like any other major sporting event, enjoyment of this awards show showdown will only be increased by your inebriation.
In that spirit, we present Flavorpill’s Official 2010 Emmy Awards Drinking Game. Join in, but be warned: We are not responsible for how you feel come Monday morning.
1. Sylvester Stallone‘s action flick The Expendables topped the weekend box office, raking in $35 million. Meanwhile, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World only took in $10.5 million. [via MTV]
2. What Arcade Fire‘s mainstream success on indie label Merge means for record labels [via New Yorker]
3. Neil Patrick Harris and and his longtime partner, David Burtka, are expecting twins via a surrogate this October. [via E!]
4. George Clooney and Angelina Jolie will star as Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe in an adaptation of Andrew O’Hagan‘s novel, The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe. [via The Playlist]
5. According to sources, director David Fincher was “very impressed” by Scarlett Johansson‘s audition for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Are we the only ones who just wish he’d go ahead and cast the part of Lisbeth Salander already? [via Gatecrasher]
1. Neil Patrick Harris is starring in the new Smurfs movie, which will be a mix of live action and animation. [via Deadline]
2. Would you watch a Sarah Palin-produced “Alaskan docudrama”? Mark Burnett is banking on it. [via EW]
3. This is what it’s like to work for 25-year-old Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. [via WSJ]
4. Is this short from 1903 the original film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland? (video) [via Techland]
5. It’s the final year for Barbara Walters’ pre-Oscar interview special because she’s over it; on hand will be nominees Sandra Bullock and Mo’Nique. [via NYT]
Coachella giveaway: We use Yahoo! Search to help find the top culture stories of the day. Now we’re giving you the chance to play editor, and you just might win a trip to Coachella.
Use Yahoo! Search to find an interesting link about Neil Patrick Harris, and drop it below in the comments. Our favorite entry will receive How I Met Your Mother: Season One and more importantly, be entered to win a VIP trip for two to Coachella. Topics will be changing throughout the week, so get your search on and keep playing to increase your chances of winning!
1. So this is fun: A bunch of shorts from the 2010 Sundance Film Festival are streaming on YouTube. [via @ebertchicago]
2. What happens when Jay Leno sits down with Oprah? You get a lot of odd metaphors. [via A.V. Club]
3. Neil Patrick Harris will host the US version of UK game show The Cube; people win money by completing simple tasks while inside a chamber that’s designed to induce stress. [via The Wrap]
4. Is “Seymour: An Introduction” — J.D. Salinger‘s last anthologized work — the best story he ever wrote? [via Slate]
5. LA’s Amoeba Music will launch a digital download store later this year that will focus on rare, out-of-print and deep catalog material. [via LAT]
As Whedon fanatics already stumbling through the five stages of grief already know well, Fox has officially pulled the plug on Dollhouse. We could place the blame on everything from overcomplicated plotting to the limited acting talents of star Eliza Dushku… or we could simply lament TV audiences’ contempt for intelligent programming. But we prefer to heal by looking to the future. As PopWatch put it, the cancellation will “free Whedon from a show that, let’s be frank, was never going to climb out of the hole it was in. Dollhouse had too much viewer attrition and too little network support.”
So, what should Joss Whedon’s next project be? We have a few ideas.
While last night’s Emmy Awards might have been short on big surprises (unless you count Toni Collette’s win for lead actress in a comedy — did you see fellow nominee Sarah Silverman’s expression?), there was one moment of the night that excited us to no end: The return of Neil Patrick Harris’ Dr. Horrible character in a new skit about the future of home entertainment: the Internet.
For the uninitiated,Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was a three-part online musical created by Joss Whedon during the writer’s strike; he won an Emmy for the project in the untelevised part of the broadcast. Check it out after the jump. Read More »
and more importantly, be entered to win a VIP trip for two to Coachella. Topics will be changing throughout the week, so get your search on and keep playing to increase your chances of winning!
