Yesterday was a busy day for me. I worked, I went to the dentist (and discovered I have 2 cavities….awesome), I worked out, and then I came home to settle in and watch a little Bachelor Pad (though, my friends all thought I was working more; I don’t need to hear their judgments about how I spend my evenings).

Besides feeling a whole lot dumber after 2 hours of those shenanigans (not sure if it’s Tenley’s shrieks or Wes’s confusion between math and science that did it…), I felt horribly uncomfortable for the entire episode. Like watching Michael Scott try to make a sale uncomfortable. Or watching an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Or watching my brother try to scam on chicks.

There were so many awkward moments, I broke out in a sweat. It was so bad that while I normally fast forward through commercials, I welcomed the breaks from sloppy kisses and boob flashing with open arms.

Allow me to take you on a trip down Cringe-worthy Lane: Read More »

[This post is courtesy of our gal pal, Marie Claire.]

With Amy Poehler’s new sitcom, Parks and Recreation,MC premiering this month, and Tina Fey ruling Hollywood from atop a pile of Emmys, funny women are having a moment.  rounds up the pioneers, the visionaries, and the chemically imbalanced to talk about how we got here.

Can a pretty girl be funny?
MARGARET CHO (Lifetime’s upcoming Drop Dead Diva): I remember seeing beautiful girls do stand-up, and it was a disaster every time. Not only were people not gonna listen to you because you’re a woman, if you’re good-looking, people really don’t want to listen to you.

SUSIE ESSMAN (Curb Your Enthusiasm): I’ve had to give some young female comics advice about what they’re wearing. Like, you can’t wear something too provocative — it’s too confusing to the men in the audience. They don’t know if they wanna f**k you or laugh at you.

JOAN RIVERS (comedian): Phyllis Diller used to dress like a fool. Totie Fields was a big fat woman. In the beginning, women comedians were all grotesque in one way or another. Read More »

Over the course of the summer, I’ll be writing about several TV shows, and my blogs will include discussions about the Office(s). Having been a huge fan of the original Office as well as an enthusiastic watcher of the “Carrell version,” I have decided to run two separate entries, retracing the British version, while recapping the American one.

The similarities are clear – both shows are hinged upon making their viewer simultaneously cringe and laugh. This comedic form is not for the faint of heart, and that applies to the creators and their viewers. Incidentally, this type of laugh-out-loud-cringe-inducing tenor is remarkably similar to the HBO hit series, Curb your Enthusiasm, by none other than the Seinfeld master, Larry David (set in L.A., David plays himself, and the show is a much dirtier version of the sorts of shenanigans and meaningless of everyday life moments that was so artfully and humorously portrayed in Seinfeld).

Such parodic artistry takes a special, if not mentally twisted, type of creator. Ricky Gervais and David are equal contenders when it comes to shocking their viewers’ sensibilities. Steve Carrell has also proven that he’s is in that same elite comedic ring. But long before Carrell was able to shine as the idiotic Michael Scott in Scranton, PA’s office, there was Gervais’s David Brent in Slough, England. Read More »