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#Bond_age_TV: The Best Thing I Watched This Week

Is this self-promotion? Kinda. Is it legit? Absolutely. So pipe down from the cheap seats — people down front pay good money for this kind of shit and they don’t want to have their experiences marred by assholes in the back.

This is Episode III of The Best Thing.

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Some of you may know that I’ve been running a little James Bond project over at #Bond_age_ The James Bond Social Media Project. And by little, I mean it’s been going on for two years now and I’ve written 80,000 words about James Bond. I just ran the numbers today as I prepare the full-length blog-to-book manuscript and submission materials. One of the spin-off series that we’ve begun at #Bond_age_ is the #Bond_age_TV series. Two of our regular contributors (@GregMcCambley and @Krissy_Myers) have been selecting episodes from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Prisoner. They host a live tweets on Wednesdays and write up ingenious little notes about the series and its place in TV history.

This last Wednesday, Krissy began her series for The Prisoner. I’d watched a couple of episodes in the past to get an idea what it was all about, but I’d never focused on the series.

Patrick McGoohan - The Prisoner

Despite the permanent “Patrick McGoohan is not amused” face, the series oozes humor and whimsy and is just deadpan hilarious. The Prisoner makes a perfect counterpoint to the less than deadpan spying done in Greg’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. series — which is equally fun and brilliant live tweet material.

It was this live tweet on Wednesday and the great fun had by all that forced me to name #Bond_age_TV The Best Thing I Watched This Week. I’m grateful for Krissy and Greg for putting their own blood, sweat and tears into the project. And I’m grateful for everyone that contributed to #Bond_age_ over the last two years. I’ve put a lot of work into this shindig and it’s immensely rewarding when others respond with enthusiasm and support.

The #Bond_age_ Live Tweet schedule can be found on the front page of www.thejamesbondsocialmediaproject.com. Stop by and see us and join the live twatter. It just might be the best thing you watch that week.The next #Bond_age_TV live tweet takes place on February 11th at 9pm EDT as Greg hosts another session of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Here’s the embed for the first episode of The Prisoner, if you’d like to start catching up on what you’ve missed.

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Nicole Kidman on Jimmy Fallon: The Best Thing I Watched This Week

Episode #2 of The Best Thing I Watched This Week. Shocking news. The series didn’t get canceled after one week. Phew. Since I figure you’re still catching up on last week’s assignment of the entire 24 episodes of The IT Crowd, I’ll make this one brief. Not that I planned such benevolence. It just worked out that way.

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How often do conversations on late night talk sound rehearsed? Like the parties involved had scripted the entire thing just before coming out on set. Despite the “live” nature of late night talk shows, the chatter remains stilted and guarded, managed by PR reps and risk-averse network hooligans. Unless we’re talking about Craig Ferguson. I honestly believe he planned nothing during his entire brilliant run of wee-hour madness. But that’s part of what made his show so thrilling and earnest and wildly entertaining.

Last week on Jimmy Fallon, there occurred a moment between Nicole Kidman and Jimmy Fallon that appeared – at face value – to be entirely spontaneous. I suggest this because both Ms. Kidman and Mr. Fallon go flush with embarrassment. If you’ve seen this clip already (it’s been a viral sensation, or so I’ve read) you’re an overachiever and can take this “Best Thing” off. But this conversation that documents Jimmy’s inability to comprehend that Nicole might have wanted to get in his pants back when they were both free agents stood out to me as one of those honest, unscripted moments that we rarely witness anymore. Also, it’s nice to see that Nicole’s face can smile again. For some time there I was concerned about it’s apparent rigidity.

 

 

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The IT Crowd: The Best Thing I Watched This Week

This is the debut of a new series of posts here on the Rumble. I’ll pick the best thing I watched this week — be it from the television, Netflix, a movie, squirrel death match in the backyard with me doing a Mortal Kombat style voice-over — and tell you about it. It could be new. It could be old. I can’t make it any more simple than that. The trick is that you’ll have to watch it too… so you can then berate me for wasting precious time that could have been spent watching more House Hunters International. This is the unspoken deal you’ve made by continuing to read this post. Really, though, you have to watch it. No joke. This is like a blood pact.

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Over the holidays, I traveled to my in-laws’ home in Santa Fe, NM. And before anyone says anything about “oh that must have been a nice escape from the chilly Pittsburgh…” let me stop you right there. Yes. Santa Fe would otherwise be in the desert IF IT WASN’T SITUATED AT ALMOST 8,000 FEET. Santa Fe is cold. And it is snowy. And the first rule about being in Santa Fe is that you do very little while staring distantly at snow-capped mountaintops. When it is night, and the snow-capped mountaintops are obscured by darkness, you then adjust your vision slightly lower and watch some stuff on the tele or read a book. Mostly you do very little.

Some time ago I sampled a Channel 4 British sitcom called The IT Crowd created by Graham Linehan. Linehan being the brains behind one of my all-time most favoritest things ever, Father Ted.

The IT Crowd

The gist of the show is that the CEO of the fictional Reynholm Industries hires Jen (Katherine Parkinson) because she’s hot, her resume says “she has a ton of experience with computers.” The CEO places her in charge of the IT department… even though she can’t actually turn on a computer. She adapts her job description into “Relationship Manager” and attempts to bridge the communication gap between IT and the rest of the company. The IT department, comprised only of Chris O’Dowd and Richard Ayoade, resides in a dank and dingy basement cut off from the rest of the shiny, happy, glass and chrome company by design.

The show’s brand of humor often reminds me of a cross between Red Dwarf and Father Ted. Which may be why it’s my new favorite thing. I encourage you to watch the whole series (it is available on Netflix Streaming after all… just a few button pushes away), but if you absolutely positively cannot be bothered the full 24-episode slate (4 series of 6 episodes each) watch the episode embedded below (Season 2, Episode 1), because this was easily the best thing I watched this week.

Also, rumor has it, that NBC has been trying to remake The IT Crowd for years. Once upon a time it was a potential vehicle for Joel McHale before he did Community. Watch it now before NBC finds a way to ruin it for everyone.

This particular episode concerns an impromptu “date” for Jen that may or may not be with a gay guy that turns into an office outing to the theatre to see a play called Gay!