Last week, the world was treated to the very first presidential letter to have ever been Instagram’d, courtesy of Zooey Deschanel. The New Girl darling tweeted, “I am SO EXCITED!” upon opening a special envelope from President Obama, who took to some White House stationery to send his warmest wishes on her 32nd birthday. Jealous? Yeah, we are too. Zooey’s not the first celebrity to receive a letter from an admiring president — check out some fan letters, get-well-soon cards, thank-you notes, and party invitations after the jump.
1. Ladies and gentlemen, this just might be the funniest My Little Pony-related correction that The New York Times has ever issued. [via The Daily What]
2. Hot British actor of the moment Benedict Cumberbatch (who you might recognize from recent roles in War Horse or the BBC’s Sherlock) has come aboard JJ Abrams’ highly-anticipated Star Trek sequel as the film’s villain. [via Variety]
3. Due to issues with the script, Vulture is exclusively reporting that Matt Damon will no longer be making his directorial debut with a film about a smalltown salesman written by Dave Eggers; he is still up for starring in the movie though.
4. Following their recent separation, Zooey Deschanel has officially filed for divorce from Ben Gibbard citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their break up. [via NME]
5. Now that issues regarding rights have finally been hammered out, there’s a Jerry Garcia doc in the works from filmmaker Malcolm Leo that will prominently feature material from a conversation that the director had with The Grateful Dead frontman back in 1987, as well as never-before-seen performances and rare home movies. [via Deadline]
1. Paul McCartney has announced that he will release a new album in February that will feature guest appearances by Stevie Wonder and Eric Clapton and a mix of covers of “songs he was inspired by during his childhood,” as well as two original compositions. [via NME]
2. In case you’re curious, here are the results of a yearly demographic survey of Broadway audiences. The stat that we find the most interesting: The average age of the Broadway theatergoer was 44 years. [via Pop Culture Brain]
3. Regardless of what yesterday’s Twitter rumors might have led you to believe, Bon Jovi was not found dead from cardiac arrest in a New Jersey hotel. He’s actually alive, and making sort of funny signs about it. [via The Daily What]
4. If you could use some help waking up this morning, you can now listen to “Stupid Hoe,” the second single off of Nicki Minaj’s forthcoming Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded album, here.
5. Ryan Gosling has joined the growing list of celebrities, which also includes Zooey Deschanel and Alicia Silverstone, who have publicly asked McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner to step in and prevent his company from using battery hens to source its eggs and other animal products. [via Jezebel]
Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard and New Girl star Zooey Deschanel have split up after a two-year marriage. (We’re still trying to ignore news about that other breakup.) The separation comes not long after Deschanel’s cover story in New York Magazine where hubby repeatedly gushed over the She and Him singer and how amazing she was. “I’d seen her movies and obviously I thought she was very beautiful,” he expressed. The couple were introduced by their mutual music manager, and the experience floored the indie bandman. “I was just awestruck that she was even talking to me,” he shared. According to Deschanel, it was hard being apart from Gibbard on tour, but he was ” … really good at calling.” As one astute commenter on Rolling Stone’s website points out, there’s a silver lining in all this: “This means only one thing: the next DCfC album is going to be amazing.” Do you agree?
‘Tis the season to be a woman on TV comedies. If you’ve spent the last few months living in a television-less cave, you might be surprised to discover that we’ve reached a bit of a renaissance of female-driven network sitcoms. (Also, you might be surprised to be back in society! In that case, hello! Hope your time in the cave was okay!) The latest primetime trend is usually a pretty boring and inconsequential thing to discuss, but we’re now at a moment in which a significant portion of the surviving and debatably thriving fall sitcoms have women as their comedic leads (See: New Girl,2 Broke Girls, Whitney, etc.). If you ask us, that’s a pretty neat thing!
Still, while we love that these funny ladies are dismantling the boys club of primetime TV while simultaneously getting a shot to spice up the comedy scene, we can’t help but wonder if these shows themselves are doing all that we proclaim they are. If you ask us, it’s not even about feminism, per se; it’s more about pushing the envelope by including female-specific perspectives in humor. (A little less banal period jokes, a little more Bridesmaids, you know?) After the jump, we’re taking a look at some of the great females of sitcom history. Consider it our attempt to remind Zooey that fabulous bangs does not an instant comedic legend make.
Last week we had one of our periodic Flavorwire editorial meetings, and the conversation turned to Zooey Deschanel. Contrary to whatever direction you might presume we’d lean on her, there were a wide variety of opinions in the room, from indifferent to stubbornly affectionate (yours truly) to exhausted (“I’m about up to here with her”). While everyone basically agrees that her new show New Girl is nothing to write home about, there is a divergence as to why — some say it’s ill-conceived and mediocre, while others place the blame squarely on Ms. Deschanel. When I heard the phrase “She always just plays herself,” my ears perked up. Here’s a favorite topic that I’d not had the chance to engage in for a while: the question of persona vs. versatility in acting.
The reviews are in on Fox’s New Girl, which premiered last night after Glee (to even better ratings) and which we found disappointing after watching an online sneak preview of the show earlier this month. While critics are split on the show — some find it charming and funny, while others call it irritating and trite — what’s most intriguing about their reviews is that most serve as a referendum on its lead, Zooey Deschanel. Famous for her hipster style and quirky, girlie personality, Deschanel is the kind of actress who some adore and others despise. As New Girl‘s Jess, she is everything her fans love and her detractors hate, turned up to 11. This distillation of Zooey-ness to its rawest and most potent essence has many critics wondering whether she’s jumped the shark, and if she’s liable to turn off even those who like her with a character who’s so unbelievably — as the show’s marketing campaign puts it “adorkable.” We’ve rounded up a few of the most interesting critiques after the jump.
We have high hopes for Ringer, Pan Am, and Person of Interest. We’ve pretty much decided against watching The Playboy Club. But, as of this morning, we were still on the fence about investing any time in New Girl, the Fox sitcom that stars Zooey Deschanel as a woman who moves into an apartment full of guys after breaking up with her cheating boyfriend. So we’re thankful that iTunes has given us the opportunity to download the pilot at no charge. Check it out yourself here, then follow along with our first impressions after the jump and add your own in the comments.
Yesterday we told you about the launch of Rookie, a new website for teenage girls from fashion blogger/child prodigy Tavi Gevinson. While we liked the sound of what she was promising to give her audience, we were curious as to whether she would be able to deliver the goods. Consider us pleasantly surprised. In “Higher Learning,” Rookie has collected advice from some of their “favorite grownups” on how to navigate the murky waters of high school. Plenty of it, like the snippet below from Joss Whedon, the man behind cult-hit TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, easily applies to those of us who are more than twice the age of Tavi’s target demographic.
1. The pilot for Zooey Deschanel’s new single girl comedy The New Girl is currently available for download on iTunes, and will be streaming on Hulu and Fox’s website beginning September 13 — a week before its official premiere date. [via THR]
2. George Lucas’ crazy new offices for LucasFilm in Singapore look like something out of Star Wars movies, don’t you think? [via Slashfilm]
3. Michael Pedicone, the drummer for My Chemical Romance, has been fired just one year after joining the group for allegedly stealing from the band. His explanation via Twitter: “What happened is more complicated than it sounds but I did make a mistake. It was never my intention to hurt this band or all of you.”
4. Hilarious Daily Show “Senior Black Correspondent” Larry Wilmore has just been cast in what may be a recurring role as Damon Wayans Jr.’s boss on the ABC show Happy Endings. [via Vulture]
5. Newsflash: Madonna absolutely loathes hydrangeas. She also plans to release a new album early next year, her first since signing that deal with Live Nation. [via Billboard]
