5 points for anyone who can name what movie the title quote is from.
So it's Sunday, Sunday, Sundaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
Pretty busy eventful weekend this weekend, finally got out a little bit which was much needed after a week that threatened to drive me permanently insane after five straight days fielding phone calls and processing mail as ticket office head at NBC.
But this past friday, I will give credit where credit is due - I got "punk'd" by my coworker Anisha with one of the absolute best prank phone calls in the history of prank phone calls, one which had me totally thinking it was real for the whole, nearly 10 minute call. Here's a short version in dialogue format, noting that the woman's voice is that of a very angry, very ghetto African-American woman (not sure how else to describe it in more politically correct terms).
ME: Hello?
WOMAN: A'ight, I'm comin' down the freeway and I gonna be at the show at 4:30. Deys gonna let me in, right?
ME: Well, the show starts at 4, so I'm sorry but they won't let you in after the show has started.
WOMAN: What in the hell you talkin' about? Rick told me be there at 4:30!
ME: Rick?
WOMAN: Uh-huh. RICK! He works at the show!
ME: Well I'm sorry but it sounds like Rick gave you the wrong information.
WOMAN: YOU CALLIN' ME A LIAR, SON? WHO ARE YOU? WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
ME: Umm ...
WOMAN: I am comin' to the show and I am goin' in whether they like it or not. But first I'm comin' to you to whup yo' ass.
ME: I'm sorry, look, it's not my decision ...
WOMAN: Don't play with me, boy. I know where you at. And I am comin' there to find you! I am comin' there right now!
Okay well that's the gist of it but I can't convey in writing how scary and convincing she sounded over the phone, and this went on for a good ten minutes. Finally I hung up the phone in frustration, and as I did Anisha ran in and screamed that it had been her on the phone, knowing that she had got me and got me good. Wow, that was a DAMN good prank phone call, and set the bar to a new level for all inter-office prank calls. The few witnesses who were privy to this call were in stunned disbelief, and I was running around the office screaming in disbelief. I'm telling you, Crankyankers had nothing on this one.
Oh, Friday was also sweet due to a big-ass bbq to celebrate one year of corporate consolidation at NBC-Universal. The burgers were excellent and the ice-cream hit the spot. Mmm ... free food.
See, work can be fun sometimes.
TOMMOROW: I head to Universal Studios to work at a pilot presentation to a bunch of advertisers. Will I get a sneak peak at NBC's new lineup of potential hits, or just be standing outside in 90 degree heat smiling and nodding for eight hours? Don't know, but this could be interesting. If I do get a glimspe, excpect impressions to follow.
FOX SUNDAY NIGHT SEASON FINALES:
Well FOX's long-running Sunday night shows bowed out for the year tonight, but did they go out with a bang or a whimper? Overall, I'd have to say that tonight's episodes were nothing special. None of them felt like a true season finale. Malcolm in the Middle, especially, is a show that I've come to expect something special from in it's season-enders, as they have often ended on some kind of special note or even a cliffhanger. Tonight's episode was pretty good, but was so focused on Lois and Hal that Malcolm himself was barely there. The Reese subplot was very funny, and Hal as always was hilarious with his overexaggerated expressions and tendency to become obsessed with one crazy project after another. But the best episodes of this series put a crazy spin on topics like school, family, and growing up - not on something like a beauty pageant and Lois' self-esteem, which is only tangentially related to the main premise of the show. Oh well, still one of the absolute best and funniest comedies on TV, and I couldn't be happier that this show is coming back for another season next year. This year they found a good focus by refocusing on Dewey and less on Macolm's love-life, but I hope next year they get back to Malcolm a bit more and also bring back Francis to a more prominent role on the series. King of the Hill was very good tonight. Sure, it treaded on familiar thematic territory, but hey, it works. I think this show is really a comfort-food, it is really old-school in some ways in that there's usually a lesson to be learned at the end of each episode, and yet few other shows feel as grounded in modern reality as this one. Okay, Simpsons, this is gonna be a tough one. Both of tonight's episodes had something in common - in what is a rarity for the show these days, each had a pretty strong premise. Flanders moves out, and Bart goes to Catholic School - not bad, not bad - good potential right from the get-go. Overall though, the jokes fell flat more often than they worked. The first ep did have a few hilarious jokes, notably when the Simpsons go wit Lisa to an independent movie theater. And the second ep had some interesting stuff going on but just not enough laughs to go with it, aside from a random glimpse at the year 3000 at the show's end. Unless I get hired on as a staff writer, I can't say I expect much from the Simpsons next season, but you never quite know with this show. Family Guy was alright but not one of the show's better episodes. The cutaways seemed more frequent than usual, notably trying to hide a scattered plot that seemed all over the place and random. Sure, some of them - the totally random Bruckheimer-esque fight between Peter and a big chicken, and the Star Wars parody closing medal ceremony - were pretty funny. But this isn't a sketch comedy show so you have to be able to tie it all together, which this episode struggled to do. I hope FOX wises up, brings back Arrested Development, and axes American Dad. I would go with the following Sunday nigh lineup:
7:00 pm - classic Simpsons rerun (so as not to get new eps preempted during football season)
7:30 pm - King of the Hill
8:00 pm - The Simpsons
8:30 pm - Family Guy
9:00 pm - Malcolm in the Middle
9:30 pm - Arrested Development
Having all of those comedies in one night is a bit of overkill though. One alternative would be to move 24 to Sundays at 9pm, mirroring the lineup when The X-Files was still on Sundays. I don't know what they could move out, but maybe move Malcolm and Arrested Development to a different night? Hey, if I get the primetime programming assignment at NBC I could actually be helping to make these kinds of decisions. Scary, huh?
MY GRADES: King of the Hill: B+, Malcolm in the Middle: B, Simpsons 1: B, Simpsons 2: C+, Family Guy: B-
Alright, I gots to go. To where? Well, as one legendary neurosurgeon/particle physicist/rockstar once said: "No matter where you go, there you are."
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