FILTER

My Morning Jacket Play For American Dad

FILTER favorites My Morning Jacket and Zach Galifianakis are teaming up to appear in a new episode of American Dad. Co-creator Mike Barker tells the story of how it all came together below:

How'd this collaboration come about? Who seduced who?
“Who seduced who?” That makes it sound like this game is already over.  Look, this isn’t over until halfway through a live performance of Steam Engine, Jim reaches into the audience and pulls me up on stage like I’m a pre-cougar Courtney Cox. But if I might be professional for a moment, the word “seduction” implies that there has been some sort of manipulation on either my part or the band’s, when in fact, it’s the two art forms themselves – Writing and Music, that sought each other out.  In the end, we are all just instruments of the Goddess of Art.  I’m not sure who that is, but in my head she looks exactly like Scarlett Johanssen.  

What makes My Morning Jacket a good fit for American Dad?
The best band in the world appearing on the 59th top-rated show on television?  It’s a no-brainer.

If Kiss is the semi-official Family Guy band, does that mean My Morning Jacket is the semi-official American Dad band?
Hell, let’s just make them the official band.  

Tune in to American Dad November 22nd on FOX!

Gaga For Glee (and others...)

I'm a bit of a TV nerd, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Though time doesn't always permit regular watching of many of my favorite programs, here are my highlights on the fall schedule. Take a look, and feel free to offer any suggestions on any notables you feel we at FILTER might be missing out on.

Glee
Several of us here at FILTER have taken a liking to this twee musical dramedy. Set in Ohio, the show follows the trials and tribulations of the misfits of a small town high school's glee club. Think of it as Freaks and Geeks meets High School Musical. In a good way. A highlight- Jane Lynch's portrayal of Sue Sylvester, coach of the glee's cheerleading rivals, the Cheerios.



It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Not a new show by any means, but a highlight nonetheless. Entering it's fifth season, this crass comedy about a group of friends and family in Philadelphia is laugh out loud funny. Like, milk up your nose funny. The situations these characters get themselves into constistantly make them seem like the worst group of people on the planet- yet sometimes they appear likeable. I had a highlight to attend the recent live performance of last season's "The Nightman Cometh" episode, and my love for the show has been re-inspired. A highlight- Charlie Day's loveable, illiterate Charlie.



Modern Family
I'm not usually a fan of the 30 minute sitcom/laugh track combination, but thanks to a friend, I was able to catch the pilot of this show before it aired. While some of the jokes and storylines are a bit tired (the "My Two Dads" bit is a tad over the top,) I actually caught myself laughing out loud a few times, something that ABC rarely inspires me to do. Though I'm still mildly on the fence on this one, I'll check it out a second time. A highlight- the bee-bee gun scene.

Inside "The Cleveland Show" Premiere

Last night, thanks to the lovely folks at the New York Television Festival, I had the privilege of attending the premiere of The Cleveland Show including a hilarious Q & A panel with its creative team. In case you've been in a coma for the past several months, The Cleveland Show is the Family Guy spin-off that follows Peter's friend, Cleveland Brown, after he leaves Quahog for his hometown Stoolbend, Virginia, and starts a new Brady Bunch-esque family with his high school love interest. Hi-jinks ensue.

The show itself featured fairly predictable humor that we've come to expect from Seth MacFarlane's crew, but it was largely a set-up for the season to come, so it will be interesting to see how the tone is set in completely stand-alone episodes without the Family Guy character crossovers. Come Sunday night, I'll let you be the judge of it because my favorite part of the evening was what I discovered during the panel with executive producers Richard Appel, Mike Henry (also the voice of Cleveland) and cast members Kevin Michael Richardson & Reagan Gomez-Preston. And no, I have no idea why MacFarlane was not present for the event.

WHAT I LEARNED...

• THE David Lynch will voice the bartender!
• Upcoming guest appearances include Kanye West, Ed Asner, Earth, Wind & Fire, AND Hall & Oates (!!).
• It takes approximately 9 1/2 months to make just one episode, so they've already finished the entire first season and started production on the second. Talk about keeping your fingers crossed.
• Seth MacFarlane will restrict his penchant for showtunes to Family Guy, but The Cleveland Show will incorporate (questionable) R&B musical numbers.
• Kevin Michael Richardson does a MEAN James Gandolfini impersonation.
• Before working on shows such as The Simpsons & King of the Hill, executive producer Richard Appel was a prosecuting attorney for the state of New York. He is also distractingly handsome & charming.  Sorry kids, no pictures allowed.
• And finally, New York Fashion Week may have ended, but the Cleveland 'stache is THE hot trend to watch, as demonstrated at the post-premiere reception...

ANYWAYS....FOCUS, YOU GUYS....

The Cleveland Show premieres this Sunday, September 27, at 8:30/7:30c on Fox.  Tune in, and let us know your thoughts.

Another Icon Passes

Very sad news yesterday came in the form of Patrick Swayze’s passing from pancreatic cancer. No matter what the image you have of him, be it from Dirty Dancing, Point Break, Road House, Ghost, or even Donnie Darko, you have to agree Swayze was an iconic figure in Hollywood, and will be much missed. RIP Patrick Swayze, thoughts are with his family and friends.

Here’s to hoping these two are doing this in heaven:

“If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love.” – Bodhi  - Point Break

End of an Era

So, King of the Hill, the amazing show about a mother fluent in “es-pa-nole,” a father dealing in “propane, and propane accessories,” and son who “ain’t right,” ended on Sunday . Unlike so many shows, especially the animated ones, King of the Hill never went over the top, and really had no formula to it’s comedy. It was just an American family trying to make it by. It was never the coolest show, and never strove to be, it was just hilarious, consistently. In fact, I think the show would have hated being cool, or, at least it’s main character, Hank, would have despised it.

Below is one of my favorite clips from the series finale, so hard to chose just one. To me, this kinda sums up the show as a whole.

Creator Mike Judge really knocked it out of the park with this show, as he seems to do with everything he touches, Beavis and Butthead, Office Space, and Idiocracy. I haven’t had the chance to see his latest, Extract, but let’s hope that it lives up to the tremendous canon he has already achieved.

The trailer for Extract:

2009 VMA's: Scenes of Fun & Douchebaggery

Let's be straight here. MTV isn't exactly what it used to be, but I'm still a sucker for events like last night's VMA's, especially when I'm promised an MJ tribute featuring Janet and performances from the likes of my favorite power couple (next to Ben & Zooey), Jay-Z & Beyonce.  Below you'll find just a few of my thoughts from the night - feel free to leave yours in the comments.

1. Lady Gaga - Can someone PLEASE explain to me her appeal?  And no, the "omg you guyZ, she's so edgy, didn't you see the fake blood??!!!!" reason will not fly.  Her nightmare-inducing face needs to not exist ASAP.

2. Michael Jackson Tribute - Very poignant, but did anyone else notice the "Smooth Criminal" invisible wire fail? One of these things is not like the other...

3. Oh, Kanye...The douchiness knows no bounds IN CAPITAL LETTERS Y'ALL. At least we got a sweet mash-up vid out of it already.

4. I'm calling it now. Buzz Aldrin should totally host next year. Sorry, Russell, his list-reading skills brought more lolz than your entire presence on stage this year.

5. And finally, you guys! "New Moon" is going to be AWESOME. I already have my midnight screening tickets for November. WHAT.

What'd you guys think of the night?  Leave your thoughts in the comments and check out some of the performances from the night after the jump.

Dress Like Don Draper

I love Don Draper, I won't deny. The lead character in AMC's period drama, Mad Men, is not a generally likeable guy. He’s a philandering, drinking, smoking semi-misogynist. The thing is, he looks so wonderful doing it. Season 3 of Mad Men is on its way, and I can’t wait. I love the Sterling Cooper gang- from mousy career-woman Peggy Olsen, to voluptuous office minx Joan Holloway, to self-destructive newlywed Pete Campbell. I can't get enough. So you can imagine my delight when a friend sent me an article about the upcoming season.

To promote the new season, AMC and Banana Republic are teaming up, for a line of Mad Men inspired clothes. That’s right, with the right amount of money; you too can look like Don, Betty, or any one of the well-dressed gang.

Is anyone else excited? If you're not watching this show, you must. It’s the sort of character-driven drama that's been missing from HBO lately (R.I.P, Six Feet Under). Season 2 arrives on DVD July 14th, and AMC will run a marathon August 10th. Here's a preview of Season 3.

Things I've Missed

I haven't been watching too much television lately (for a change), but obviously, I need to remedy that situation, in a HURRY. I totally missed this on Fallon last night. It’s one of the best bits of television greatness I have seen in a while.
I would totally watch the Saved By the Bell reunion, were it to happen. And the Zack Attack performance? Pure perfection.

And while I am at it, I just have to put this up. I have only been to a handful of Broadway plays since moving to NYC, so, I missed the Tony Awards, natch. Boy am I sorry that I did, because I would have seen this, LIVE! I've easily watched the Bret Michaels clip AT LEAST 200 times in the past two days. I just received the one with Keyboard Cat today, and it made the whole experience that much more special. Enjoy.


Special thanks to Samantha for bringing these to my attention.

3D at the Theatre: novelty, or the way of the future?

I’m not sure at what point in time the 3D movie went out of fashion, because I honestly don’t remember going to see any as a child (with the exception of the incredible Captain Eo at Disneyworld when I was 8). Weren’t these things all the rage in the 50’s & 60’s? It just seems that along the way, 3D films at the theatre went the way of Smell-o-vision and the drive in cinema.

Well, it seems that they are coming back, and I, for one, am pretty grateful for this. This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to finally catch Up, one of the many 3D movies that theatres have been showing with increased frequency the past couple years. Not only was it my first 3D movie in forever, but it also served as my first trip to the famed Ziegfield since moving to New York nearly four years ago, and I’m not too sure why I waited so long to either one.

As for the movie, it was truly amazing; nothing at all like I was expecting after viewing the teaser some months back. I never caught the full on trailer, and it seems that that may have been a good thing. GOGOGO see this movie, in 3D if possible. It never seemed like a gimmick in this case, something that you didn’t notice too much, but let you feel more a part of the entire experience. The 3D wayfarers also were a far cry from what I was expecting, the red/blue paper glasses you used to get with your favorite cereal. This is totally a trend that I would like to see continue, if they can all be executed as they were in Up.

What do you think, you into this whole 3D thing? (Just remembered, wasn’t Gremlins 2 in 3D? I can’t recall.)

Up trailer

New Must Watch: Sit Down, Shut Up

Ever since it debuted, there have been plenty of things written about how good Arrested Development is. Well, luckily enough for us, it exists in it’s entirety on Hulu (greatest thing ever), and there is a film in the works. If reruns and waiting don’t do it for you though, then make sure you check out Sit Down, Shut up, which premiered last night on FOX, with voice help from Will Arnett, Henry Winkler, and Jason Bateman.

Now, I was a little bit skeptical, mainly because Sit Down, Shut Up was taking the place of one of my favorite shows of ALL TIME, in King of the Hill. I know a lot of people don’t really appreciate that show too much, maybe it’s just because I grew up in Texas, and know every character on that show, personally. I still have to say that Sit Down, Shut up was spot on. The gag set-ups took time to develop, making watching the whole episode entertaining and smart, not just cheap chuckles (ahem, Family Guy.) Hopefully the whole series draws out like the episode, because then we are really gonna be in for a treat. You can watch the whole thing here.