by Cam Arruda
Next Friday, an era will have successfully come to a close as Kevin Pereira will have finished his final episode of G4’s Attack of the Show as co-host. Pereira has been the face of the series for its entire run, and has even shuffled through a number of female co-hosts throughout his reign. Now, there will be a large gap left to fill at the side of Candace Bailey, and the biggest question is just who will step in.
The co-hosts could be really anyone, even another female should the series choose to take that bold new direction. But, to properly balance out perspectives, it’s likely that the show will choose another male to fill Kevin’s place. While this doesn’t sound exactly like a big deal, it is when you consider the male on-screen talent. While a rotating number of women have been at the side of Kevin over the years filling in for when Olivia Munn or even Sarah Lane were sick, the same really can’t be said for when Kevin has been on vacation. Who can replace the man responsible for spearheading the conversations and keeping the hour at a grounded and focused pace, all while making us laugh and completely entertained in the process?
What’s likely to follow after Kevin’s departure will be another long and arduous process just like the same that occurred before Candace was initially offered the co-host gig. This means we’ll likely be subject to numerous talent alongside Bailey as the months go on until an official announcement is made. But…what if G4 is willing to promote from within? While Sarah Underwood would be a good replacement, again I stress the importance of balancing out male and female perspective. But, which man could step up? Diane and I have discussed the topic in length before, and really we’ve come to only one conclusion: Blair Herter.
Now, the biggest problem lies in the fact that Herter is currently set with X-Play duties. Ever since Adam Sessler’s quick and unexplained leave in April, it seems that Herter is the new male lead of X-Play. In a lot of ways, if Herter were to leave a similar situation would likely develop over there as well. However, X-Play is filmed in advance and only airs three days out of the week for a 22 minute series. Could Herter balance out two jobs? Quite possibly. So, let’s just go on the notion that Herter would take the co-hosting job at AOTS.
This past Wednesday’s episode really gave us a different tone to Blair’s filling in as host due to the fact that it was his first time doing so since Kevin’s announcement. So granted, the thought of exactly who would be replacing Kevin definitely coincided when Blair was in the spotlight. And honestly? He’s good. The reason why Herter makes the perfect replacement is for various reasons. For starters, he has both the same comedic timing and yet completely serperate brand of comedy from Kevin. What Kevin does best is hit the best moments to make jokes and facial expressions that can even make Candace laugh. Blair can do the same exact thing, which can’t exactly be said for the other male co-hosts who have paired up with Bailey. But, Blair’s humor feels like something else entirely compared to Kevin’s. While we’ve become very used to Kevin’s style of comedy, Blair’s feels like a mix not only of Kevin’s own laughs,but something original as well.
The only problem in that department is that Blair takes a foot when you give him an inch. One of the greatest things Kevin can do in any situation is tell a joke, and yet still keep the show on schedule and on task. Though he’ll crack jokes, he’ll always be sure to keep the hour in line when going into different sections of the episode, and he knows when to be serious. Blair, on the other hand, didn’t really do that on Wednesday. One of the most noticeable aspects of this also ties into another problem: his interviewing skills. While Herter can do great pre-taped one-on-one interviews, he didn’t exactly shine when Danielle Panabaker came on to talk about Piranha 3DD. While we do all agree that it’s guaranteed to be a crappy movie, you shouldn’t exactly point it out. You should make each guest plug their product to the best of your ability, and convince the audience that what said guest is plugging should be interesting enough to go see. What Herter did the other night was essentially call Piranha 3DD shit (which I’ll be honest, we all want to anyways), and focused rather on Panabaker’s personal life rather than the movie she was there to promote. The show, and even the network, survives on plugs from various companies and studios and no matter how big or small the brand, each deserves the same amount of respect. The interview certainly took a very weird turn when Herter moved on from the film after only 2 minutes or so and never went back. While it may not be interesting to you, you should at least pretend that it’s interesting and not insult your guest at least.
As Diane pointed out to me, however, interview skills are something that can be learned over time.
Another large component that Herter succeeds at happens to be his chemistry with Candace. We’ve seen that when putting someone next to the energetic and often bubbly female, there has to be some great appeal in your on-screen partnership. DVDuesday is nearly painful to watch nowadays as Chris Gore and Candace on-screen together certainly feels like an odd combo that even Chris himself has described on-air as “awkward”. In order for an audience to enjoy themselves, the hosts must be doing the same as well. With Candace and Kevin you get that feeling of enjoyment, and that’s even carried over when Sara is entered into the mix of multiple instances. It’s clear that Candace easily laughs with Blair, and his similar humor styles make that easy to do so. With a relationship akin to the one we regularly see, it would certainly make the transition nearly seamless.
Let’s face it, though: there will never be another Kevin. When he departs next Friday, a large history of AOTS that has stood tall for over seven years will go along with it. The series will enter an all-new era which will be in the hands of hosts that have only been around in a regular capacity as early as last January. Still, it’s with the final days of Kevin’s run, and even this recent absence of the host for a day, it feels as if we’ve come to accept his soon to be departure. While the full effect has yet to be reached, Pereira’s farewell is a well deserved one. For years now, the man has been able to entertain an excited audience who come home from work or school and tune in to escape for an hour. While whether or not Blair Herter, Matt Mira, Sara Underwood, Kristin Adams, or even an all-new talent from outside the company steps into his shoes, they will certainly be some massive shows to fill.
Who do you think should replace Kevin? Is Blair Herter the right man for the job, or is tearing him away from X-Play too much of a chore? Let us know!
This is going to be part of a series that I would like to call “HEY NOW, THAT’S DAMN GOOD FOOD.”
I am quite the foodie and when I am not sewing, playing video games, or in Lala Land, I am munching - think of me as Usagi. I eat a ton but I don’t even gain a pound. Anyway, I’m going to take you to some of the best places to get your food on in New York City and you can check them all out after a long day at the Javits.
My first stop on my list was GO!GO!CURRY! (http://www.gogocurryusa-ny.com/). By the way, “go” means “five” in Japanese. You may be wondering what this has to do with pop culture - it has PLENTY to do with pop culture. Nerds get hungry, too. GO!GO! is the place to be after a night at New York Comic Con. Do you know why? Because Japanese style curry is pure Otaku food. Go!Go! even knows this because they will host New York Anime Fest/ Comic Con events at their Times Square location. Last year I was very surprised that my boyfriend and I were able to secure a table after the show floor closed because we expected every ‘Anime Head’ (is that what they call themselves?) to fill themselves with curry. Fortunately, for us, they were all lured off by the $1 pizza joints that line the blocks between Jacob Javits and Go!Go!.
Alright, I just realised I didn’t really tell you about the food. Now that you know the importance of Japanese curry, let me tell you about the dishes. Go!Go! is baseball themed(even more pop culture!). There are pictures of players of the Yankees lining the walls - Matsui being the most dominant amongst the portraits. There are also reviews (from Japan) discussing how fantastic the curry is. Did you know that Go!Go! was rated in Japan as the #1 fast food, with the best rice and the best katsu? Well now you know.
The curry sauce is like crack. It is quite rich - not too thick and not too thin and it is loaded with little bits of pork. It is served over a bed of steaming hot rice with a side of shredded cabbage. You can add toppings to your rice such as Natto, Rakkyo, Egg, Cheese, Katsu, etc. I usually just order a Katsu Curry(fried pork over rice). Their sizes are baseball themed. Walk(S), Single(M), Double(L), and Triple(XL). They also offer a platter called the Grand Slam and a 5.5lb dish called the World Champion. Once a year they whole eating contests to see who can down the most curry.
By the way, they really overuse GO or 5. Every 5th, 15th, and 25th is GO!GO! Day so if you stop by and buy some food on any of those days, you get a free topping coupon for your next purchase. Right now I have been racing to use up FIVE free topping coupons I received earlier in the month during the Go!Go! NYC 5th year anniversary.
Pictured above: I ordered a Walk Katsu Curry with cheese as my topping and my boyfriend ordered extra curry sauce. Doesn’t that sauce look great!?
If you have not heard of this place, check it out. If you’re not from New York City, put this on your TO-DO list when you come down for New York Comic Con - just save a seat for me.
Earlier this week, we lost someone very dear to the television world- Eugene J. Polley, inventor of the wireless remote control. He worked as an engineer for the Zenith Company for 47 years. Zenith had created a device similar that was not portable (which was called “Lazy Bones”, very punny), but Polley perfected it as the remote we all have today.
Here at The Daily Hey Now we just wanted to remember someone who has definitely made a difference in the technology world. Right now, Saved By the Bell: The College Years is on my TV, and won’t change it because the remote is on the other side of the room. Thank you for that, Mr. Polley.
After I finished City of Lost Souls I knew I wanted to take a plunge into something YA again so I scoured Barnes and Noble to find something similar, maybe a little less supernatural and found this series. It’s the first of a trilogy (the second book Pandemonium was released earlier this year) and is about a dystopian version of the United States where love is considered to be a disease that must be cured. Bestselling Author Lauren Oliver throws us into a world similar to the one we know now, but without having the basic ability to love it’s not the same.
It’s very clear from the beginning that we are entering a world where the Government is in full control and the people are so far gone that they believe everything they say. When one is out of control they are taken and cured once more. It’s not just romantic love that is considered a disease, its the love of a mother, the love of a friend. If a mother cares that her child falls and kisses the tears away she is considered a, “sympathizer” or “invalid” as Oliver calls it in the series. I fully enjoy the little pieces she puts on top of her chapters which you have to read closely to see are skewed versions of what we know, for example a piece from the bible is sourced to be part of a history of the world. It’s clear that the forces that be have turned theology into fact and they use that and fear to control their subjects. There are others though, people that live on the outside of the boarder that live free from government sponsored raids, curfews, and lobotomies.
Our main character is Lena and through her we see the world, and what’s great about having someone like her as protagonist is that she is under the spell and she wants to be cured. Most characters are outright rebellious from the start but Lena is not. She is an emotionally scarred girl with a lot to learn, but there is something different about her. She wants to be cured because of her past, she uses it as an excuse to forget not because she actually feels love is the root of all evil. It’s very clear from the beginning Lena’s destiny is meant for something more than being a mindless drone.
The book does start off a little slow but it’s seems to be so because Oliver wants to introduce us to the world, she wants us to understand it before we get to the gritty stuff. Yes the book is very much character driven, but we are also meant to know the world around us before we see the impact that the people on the outside will make. There are clear political implications conveyed in this book, but it is a dystopian series so obvious some allusions to politics will be involved. However, once the action gets started it doesn’t stop from there and you are instantly hooked to the point where you can’t stop reading.
Despite the slow start Delirium is still haunting, Oliver creates a world where we almost get nervous for the people in it, we sympathize for those that are no longer able to feel and worry for Lena and her fate where love is cut out of you like your tonsils. I hope the next book Pandemonium keeps up with Delirium’s momentum.
**Mild Spoilers for previous books in the series but nothing earth shattering. Read at your own risk.**
Confession: I found The Mortal Instruments series last year through Tumblr. Thats the double edged sword of social media, it can break something and tear it apart, or it can peak your interest and allow you to venture into a world which you’ll never regret. After a few rounds of fan art and videos I embarked on a journey with the series that I will never regret. I read the first four books in a span of two weeks and was dismayed when I found out I’d have to wait until May to read the book. I desperately longed and waited for City of Lost Souls with people who are at least a decade younger than I am and I have no qualms about it at all.
In City of Lost Souls Cassandra Clare once again puts all of her characters through obstacles that we hope will one day lead them all to a happy ending, for happiness is not a pleasure it’s a victory, right? I’m starting to think so judging by all the madness that happens to these characters, and yet they still seek the glory of happiness. I have learned from my adventures with authors such as George R.R. Martin and JK Rowling that your favorite characters are expendable in both life and their feelings, Clare is no different. Although she is not too prone on killing off everyone we love (yet) she still breaks our hearts with circumstances and terrible decisions that our characters fall in to and make.
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I don’t think it’s a coincidence PBS aired the Sherlock series 2 finale a day before Fox aired the House series finale. Both shows used the same source material for their plots.
WARNING FOR BOTH SHERLOCK AND HOUSE SPOILERS! DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN EITHER EPISODE YET!
Dr. House faces a tough choice in the series finale. He is trapped in a burning building. If he lives, he faces a jail sentence for violating his parole terms. If he dies, he escapes years of pain, loneliness, and addiction. In both situations, the chances of not being there to comfort Wilson as he dies of cancer are very high. He debates for a long time whether to escape or to succumb to the smoke. Hallucinations of Amber, Kutner, Cameron, and Stacy argue with him over the choices he made and reflect on the past.
Sherlock Holmes in The Reichenbach Fall faces a tough choice too. Confronting his archenemy Jim Moriarty has led him to the brink of diaster. Moriarty is pointing a gun at him while both are standing on a rooftop. Either he dies and Moriarty is free to commit more crimes or he lives and Moriarty succeeds in convincing the world that Holmes is a fraud.
Both House and Holmes choose a third way out. House escapes through the back door but leaves a body behind for the police to declare him dead. He contacts Wilson so they can travel the country together. Holmes falls to his death by jumping off the roof, but the audience sees him alive a short time later.
House M.D. from the beginning of the series had obvious as well as subtle Sir Arthur Conan Doyle references. House and Wilson were clearly approaching medical mysteries in the same fashion Holmes and Watson solved crimes. It is very fitting that the end of House was based off of “The Final Problem”, where Holmes faked his death to escape Moriarty.
Even though both episodes were filled with sad moments for fans, take comfort that best friends House and Wilson as well as Holmes and Watson are off having great adventures together.
Everyone keeps using that stupid fake punch image, so I prefer to go with non-violent sunbathing roadkill
We just assume you’re in on it because a few days have went by and even I’m up to speed, which is out of character for me. But in case you’ve been camping or having a life, click for the scoop.
In situations like this, it’s easy to choose sides for kickball or divorce and turn against the other side with a sense of betrayal. I mean, really. It would be a little too simple and decisive for us to all take Dan Harmon’s side, tweet our denouncement of the show and sit in our poorly made Target couches pouting. Instead let’s look at the players in the game.
First off, the whole voicemail show-and-tell was definitely a horrible thing to do. It wasn’t right when it happened to Alec Baldwin and it certainly wasn’t right when it happened to Chevy Chase. Granted he apologized and I personally accept it, but the whole “don’t ask permission, ask for forgiveness” thing doesn’t mean he can Hugh Grant circumvent the situation.
Such an action even goes past Chevy Chase’s reputation and jeopardizes the network and their future trust contracts with signing actors in the future who don’t want to get media sodomized for whatever private things they do or say. It’s not negative publicity that yields positive results in terms of corporations. Also as a producer, creator, etc. you have a higher responsibility to keep your private stuff from your mainstream stuff; you’re an adult and that needs to become a priority.
Then again, It’s not like I’d want to hang out with Chevy Chase, unless I wanted to end up crying in the Dunkin Donuts parking lot eating crullers and denouncing God. Although I’m an atheist so that last part doesn’t work out so hot. But it’d be heavily traumatic, you get the cliché montage. They mellowed him out for that interview but the attempt to casually brush off his interaction with Alison Brie is unnerving.
But he is right in some respects. Meta is about as relevant and groundbreaking as the mockmentary film format. Though I enjoy the occasional surrealist episode laden with self-aware dialogue, after a few episodes it just becomes breaking the box inside a bigger box. Characters need to have larger plotlines matter and their characters be at least vaguely established or they become too difficult to follow or believe in.
Chevy Chase is a legend and he knows he’s a legend. But wake up, you’re getting paid, this isn’t SNL and “the pictures” don’t make much money anymore; sitcoms do. As much as he’s part of a looser era that had more input from the actors improving in order to create a natural dynamic, it’s not really the norm anymore and not relevant to the show who’s contract he’s signed. He’s not the producer or the creator: It’s his job to do justice to the lines given to him. Coddling his whims will inevitably hurt the show or put off his possibly necessary departure.
As for the new producers, I’m torn. Dan Harmon created the show and I want him to continue his vision until the end. But I understand consequences and that Happy Endings is by far one of my top favorite shows of all time, so if any magic dust from their show rubs off on Community it could possibly be good. The referential humor and occasional confrontation about repetitive format are very complimentary to Community’s bare essence. I’m cautiously hopeful, to sum that up.
So in my opinion, everyone loses; which is very Korean of me. (That’s right, I watch The B—in Apt. 23 and I still don’t know how to write a proper conclusion for articles, so suck it.)
***Warning: There are spoilers here so read at your own risk.****
I missed this one in theaters because I still reeled from the let down that was Cloverfield, I felt a certain stigma from shaky cam found footage films and Chronicle just wasn’t on my list of movies to watch. Honestly there was a point where I wanted to physically go to the theater just to see it because of all of the great reviews I saw it was receiving but I was still skittish. Cloverfield left me a nervous wreck about these types of films and I admit I should have known better, but alas I didn’t. Off from work today I decided to see what was available on demand, and there it was starring me in the face. I decided it was time to suck it up and give it a go. I did love writer, Max Landis’s humor in his Death and Return of Superman video that went viral a while back, and I had a feeling that if anyone could do a regular joe turned superhero movie it might just be him. I am so glad that I was right.
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Sunday’s Sherlock Series 2 premiere on PBS was packed with everything fans love about the show. Afterwards, I decided to read the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story to figure out what was the same and what was different.
Most of the changes from canon to television concern Irene Adler. It is interesting to note that in the story, Watson is married. So far, the miniseries shows Watson as single with occasional attempts at dating.
The first difference is right in the title of the episode. The original story is called “A Scandal In Bohemia”. Bohemia no longer exists as an independent political entity and it is now known as the Czech Republic. Although Belgrade (the capital of Serbia) is to the east of historical Bohemia, it is more in the public consciousness than Bohemia. Belgrade has connections to the Kosovo War, immigration to Western Europe and the UK, and global terrorism/counter terrorism. The latter is the most important, especially given the criminal activity in the episode.
Irene Adler in both versions is “The Woman” who bested Sherlock Holmes. She lives and works outside society’s boundaries of decency and respectability. She is beautiful as well as cunning. Although Adler in both versions had romantic and sexual encounters with wealthy men, her occupation was radically different. Irene in canon was a singer and adventuress. Television Irene is a dominatrix to the rich and powerful. Sex workers today are scandalous in the way singers and performers would have been in Doyle’s day.
Another major difference between the story and the show is that Moriarty and his agents were never mentioned in connection with Irene Adler. She was a antagonist with motives and actions independent of other established villains. Having Irene under Moriarty’s influence was a necessary change given the more global scope of the crime
Sherlock Holmes in the original story was hired by the King of Bohemia in disguise as a nobleman. He assisted various European royal houses in the past and was considered trustworthy enough to handle this case. Mycroft and his associates do not appear in the stories.
Although technology changes, Irene’s secret keeping remains the same. In the story, she dated the King of Bohemia. She kept the love letters and photographs even though they broke up and the King was set to marry another woman. The smartphone files in the television show were just as likely to have personal and political consequences if leaked.
Only minor changes were made to Sherlock’s attempt at entering Irene’s house in A Scandal In Begravia. Both versions of the story featured Sherlock in a clergyman’s uniform and a staged mugging. However, actors were hired by Sherlock to fight in front of Irene’s house in the original story. Watson alone beat him up on television. In both versions, Watson created a fire inside of Irene’s house. Since the story was written before the invention of indoor smoke alarms, Watson had to throw a flammable object inside of the house. Once the fire started, Irene rushed to safeguard her secrets.
Irene in both instances was able to escape Sherlock and manipulate events in her favor. In the story, Irene sends Sherlock news that she is happily married and the secrets are safe. In contrast, on television Sherlock continues to crack the code of Irene’s smart phone as well as her personality. At the end of the episode, Irene manipulates Sherlock into helping her escape.
Overall, the first 35 minutes of A Scandal of Belgravia stick fairly closely to the original story. The rest of the episode’s plot moves towards the foiling of Moriarty’s latest plot. Most of the changes are related to either changes in technology, society, or changes made to accommodate the new plot points of the episode.
Check back next week when I pit The Hounds of Baskerville against The Hound Of The Baskervilles!
There’s always that show that suffers backlash because of it’s name, Cougar Town isn’t about older ladies looking for love with some young fellas nor is it about a bunch of cougars who live in a town. People often say the stigma that it faces has to do with the fact the title doesn’t do the show justice, so much so that the creators of the series often make fun of it in it’s title card during the cold open. Teen Wolf suffers from a similar type of reputation except it takes on the opposite effect. The title fits the story to a tee. It’s not a show about a group of friends who drink wine, and one of the friends happens to be a Lycan. Just like the movie it’s based off of, the show is about a teenage boy who happens to become a wolf, thus making him a Teen Wolf or as Kristina calls him “The Teen Wolf.” When I try to explain to people that the series is entertaining, intelligent, and titillating a lot of people raise their eye brows at me. How could a show whose title contains the word Teen be a show I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys mythos, supernatural elements and good story telling? Here’s five reasons why.
- The Mythology Drives The Characters Not Vice Versa:
One thing that supernatural shows geared toward the teen crowd love to do is completely ignore the mythology or grow it just to gear it toward whatever love story they are developing. Mythology that only works for character development rarely ever works. We need to see the characters develop around the mythos and through it, not bend the mythos to where the characters are going.
- It’s Gripping and Surprising
Teen Wolf does a really good job sharing enough information with the audience where we can formulate our own theories on whats to come, but even avid TV viewers who claim to have seen it all are thrown in for a loop every episode. The entire time I watched season 1 I’m pretty certain I changed my theory on Alpha at least eight times. The point is, the writers still know how to twist the tropes enough to surprise us time and time again.
- The Cast Is Really Pretty
So here is the story of how Kris and I went to the San Diego Comic Con panel for the series and I started shouting “Take your shirt off!” really loudly into a crowd full of tweens and their parents. The next thing I know I’m reading recap articles and interviews with the cast about someone shouting take your shirt off. That was me guys! I wasn’t just yelling this at the guys you see, it was toward everyone because this cast is just really pretty. No one in this town is ugly apparently. The nerdiest kid in school looks like he just walked out of an Abercrombie ad and we approve of this. This isn’t a terrible thing actually, it’s what makes Teen Wolf a campy good time. Everyone of the series is fun and you can see it through the way the chemistry works on the show. Watching this cast is a pleasure for the eyes and for entertainment purposes. (Editors Note: I had to make just one reason that was completely shallow. You can sue me or blast me for it, but hey now! We’re allowed!)
- The Supporting Cast is Awesome
As much as I love Scott it’s the rest of the gang that really pushes the story through some times. The quality of a show is as good as it’s ensemble, I know the show isn’t called Teen Wolves but whether it be Derek brooding, or Stiles making a funny quip, or even Jackson talking about which car he drives, the other characters will reel you in and wont let you go.
- There’s a Romance and There’s Bromance Enough Ance For Everyone!
There’s so much to ship on this show you’ll probably explode. The show goes straight for the Romeo and Juliet arc with werewolf Scott and hunter Allison. Or you can be a fan of the shenanigans of Scott and his quirky best friend Stiles. Whether it be a bromance or a romance Teen Wolf gives you something to root for.
Fact is the show is GOOD. It’s just really hard to explain to naysayers who try to entertain and elitest attitude as to why you’re really interested in the show. Perhaps if the show were called Adolescent Lycan people would think it was smarter, but alas it’s not, and yes it’s on MTV, and yes it’s geared toward tweens but it doesn’t mean it’s not intelligent enough for everyone. Out of every panel I went to in San Diego the Teen Wolf panel probably had the inteligible comments from fans. They weren’t questions like “WHATS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?” They were relevant to the storyline and well thought out. The Teens who watch this show are smart, so why underestimate their taste? It’s not just a show for young adult audiences, it’s far too intelligent and violent for that. Teen Wolf wants to strike a chord with everyone and if the season 2 trailer says anything about this up and coming season, it definitely looks like it’s going to do it. So let’s stop judging a book by it’s cover and give this show a try. You won’t regret it.
BTW: Here’s a link to the season 2 trailer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdgltcCbbmU&feature=youtu.be
