They were supposed to perform at the Roots Picnic a few years ago (potentially with the Roots backing them) but pulled out pretty late, supposedly because they felt it was disrespectful to Jam Master Jay's legacy. Not sure what changed between then and now, but I guess it's nice this is for charity.

I haven't watched this yet, but what strikes me as odd is that VH1 just did a "40 Greatest Yo! MTV Raps Moments" countdown show and based on the review this just sounds like a doc based around the same clips they used for that.

I haven't watched this yet, but what strikes me as odd is that VH1 just did a "40 Greatest Yo! MTV Raps Moments" countdown show and based on the review this just sounds like a doc based around the same clips they used for that.

I also like Alexa Chung but hosting a competition doesn't seem to suit her at all - her best asset is that she can be very easygoing and charming in front of a camera (I'm still a little bummed that MTV got rid of her show, especially since they had a lot of good bands on that usually wouldn't make it on MTV) but…

I believe Sisto's boyfriend was named Patrick - that only stood out because, hey, that's my name!

Yeah the constant wild hair is almost starting to seem out of place for his character, not to mention it just looking silly. I realize it's stupid to nitpick this much, but in a show that has so many finely observed details about its characters should the character who prides himself on obsessive control of his life…

To be fair, I can usually tell how good a Will Oldham project is on first listen - the truly great ones catch you immediately ("The Letting Go" and "Superwolf" come to mind), while the good-but-not-great ones usually linger in my collection for a year or two before I pull them out and get into them. I just got into…

That reminds me of the DVD commentary on "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" where they talk about Fox promoting it as "BART'S BIGGEST PRANK EVER!!!" just because it was the 100th episode.

I realize plenty of shows don't get real finales, but most of those shows aren't as iconic as The Simpsons - I might be overestimating the amount that the general population still cares about the show, but I would figure it would be a pretty big event for Fox. Of course, since there's really no plot to wrap up and the…

Does The Simpsons work on a backlog the way King Of The Hill used to and the McFarlane shows still do? I would imagine the biggest issues for Fox are not getting a big series finale event (although they could do this, just with a regular episode) and possibly scuppering any future movies/projects.

I agree that I would love to see this turned into something bigger, if not an outright "book" book. I've been wondering when all the 90s alt rock books are going to start pouring out - I would love something like "Our Band Could Be Your Life" for the 90s, although the "indie years only" guideline would probably have…

When you've got a successful show and are dependent on ad revenue your bosses are going to be pretty resistant to change - I can't think of a single recent US network show that's actually gone through with a complete overhaul. However, like most procedurals House could have swapped out the supporting cast constantly…

I think Klosterman is kind of a nonentity at this point, he can be an entertaining writer but he's not any sort of tastemaker (probably due to the fact he loves being contrary to the point where it's kind of hard to take him seriously.) Just look at that piece about Dee Dee Ramone and the dude from Ratt - there's a…

I've never been to Italy so maybe this is something everybody who's traveled there is familiar with, but what was up with the weird hole-in-the-wall pharmacies? The idea of being in a large city and not being able to just walk into a CVS (substitute the local equivalent here) is mindboggling.

Re: "Country Must Be Country Wide," I've noticed that people tend to romanticize country radio in a weird way - a year or so ago I had a coworker who grew up in roughly the same part of the south as I did who swore up and down that country radio in the north only plays "new" country whereas country radio in the south…

…although one factor I just realized is that Louie would actually need 8 or 9 seasons for syndication - 5 seasons is assuming a show has a full network run (around 20 episodes a season.) That said, even if there are only 50 or 60 episodes I'm sure some cable channel like IFC would be interested.

I doubt FX ever expects network syndication for "Louie," but I would bet some cable network will take a chance on it - heck, Comedy Central bought "Sunny" even though it's basically advertising for the competition. And at this point it's probably the closest FX has to a "prestige show," especially now that it's gotten…

Asbury is just as decrepit as Springsteen would have you think, but there's some cool shit there (like an amazing pinball museum.) The shore in general is the same as any stretch of beach that pulls visitors from large metro areas - there are trashy towns like Wildwood and smaller, quieter beaches that are pretty…

I was initially curious too, but considering how much trouble Gamefly seems to have getting it right and how Netflix had enough problems with Blu-Ray it's probably pointless to even bother.

Loved the 'Frisky Dingo' reference, and I also thought the booze joke was a perfect summation of how skillful Adam Reed has gotten - he telegraphed the initial joke while still making it perfectly timed but then threw a curveball with the followup.