There was going to be an HBO series from the creator of Designing Women about Dallas real estate starring Lily Tomlin. There are six complete episodes that never aired. I MUST SEE THIS. (Via this excellent Vulture article about HBO’s many stillborn shows.)
(The presence of that guy, Ryan Tedder, and Rick Rubin on that record doesn’t do a whole lot of favors for the “Adele is so authentic / sui generis” argument you still hear occasionally, but whatever, not the kind of thing I get worked up about anymore.)
(And of course I had to look at the Wikipedia page for 21 when “Rumor Has It” came on at Crate & Barrel, because of course it would, and I got the idea in my head that Cathy Dennis wrote it. IF ONLY. Also, yes, I’ve been at Crate & Barrel a lot lately, I am kind of being a total yuppie the last couple months, I don’t want to talk about it.)
OK, so you are thinking “Hahaha obviously the answer is NONE” in regards to this headline, and I was too, but then I made the mistake of clicking on the YouTube embed of “I Think I’m In Love With You” at the end of the article and then some really embarassing dancing-in-my-computer-chair happened, and then I realized I had devoted five entire minutes to thinking about the concept of new music from Jessica Simpson, so I guess you win, Popdust.
It was also very smart writing to couch her musical options in the terms of “Which of her peers should she directly rip off,” because man, did she EVER rip off Mariah Carey with “I Think I’m In Love With You” (prominent 80s sample, frolic at an amusement park, gaspy harmonies) and hot damn if it didn’t work like a charm. Fire up the photocopiers, Jessica!
OK, so this show was barely on my radar, but it sounds like such a potential high-speed trainwreck that I will DEFINITELY be watching the first few episodes. As long as I don’t get stuck in the Glee trap, where I love the premise and hate virtually every detail of the execution, but I just keep watching anyway in the vain hope that, just once, they will do something I will enjoy without a “Yeah, but…” attached.
“ This week’s guest judge: Christina Ricci. She will be starring in ABC’s fall series Pan-Am, Heidi notes. I remember a day when young actresses with a TV project to promote would go on The $25,000 Pyramid and try to outwit Poet Laureate of TV Nipsey Russell. Now they judge fashion shows alongside an ersatz Anna Wintour and a braying tangerine. Times change. ”
(1) These RUNWAY recaps are going to be a national treasure, I can tell. (2) Calling Michael Kors “a braying tangerine” is a snap 100% on par with his epic “Flintstones disco pouch” burn this week. WELL PLAYED.
“ Jim Rash, who plays Dean Pelton, is going to be a regular now in terms of the deal he has with the show. His name will be in the title sequence now. I imagine us using him just as much, because we’ve always used him as much as we’ve wanted to; he’s always been there for us. But he’s a regular now on the show, and that’s something we’re really excited about for him. ”
Guys, the good news is, they really are making Jurassic Park 4 now. The bad news is, they didn’t buy my script treatment. I know. I’m sorry, too. We all know how much the world needed to see my version of this movie.
Red-band trailer for Drive. Shit, this looks like a blast. Ryan Gosling pulpy-ass LA crime thriller with insane car chases? Sign me up. Utterly ridiculous cast, too: Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Albert Brooks…
Typically hyperbolic PJ review, but the headline is, Richard X has finally produced an entire pop album for someone, rather than just a track here or a track there, and it’s Will Young (the gay male Kelly Clarkson of Britain). The first single, “Jealousy,” is a stomper-grower, if that makes any sense. It doesn’t blow me away but I kinda want to listen to it over and over anyway? This is gonna bear looking into when it comes out / leaks.
EDITED TO ADD: Tom is correct in pointing out that this, of course, would be Richard X’s first entire album for someone who is not himself (RICHARD X PRESENTS HIS X-FACTOR VOLUME 1 is a seminal album for me in my love affair with pop and if you’ve never heard it then you really, really need to do something about that aspect of your life). A single-artist album is still different from a compilation, so I stand by my previous description.
