BuzzSugar

Movie Preview: Despicable Me, Starring Lots of Famous Voices

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:30:56 -0800

The same guys who brought us the Ice Age franchise are back to create another potential hit with the 3-D CGI Despicable Me. Seems like every animated movie nowadays wrangles A-list names, but the Despicable roster is even starrier than most. Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, Mindy Kaling, Jack McBrayer - it's like a laundry list of my favorite comedy people. And while I sort of wish we could see them all acting together in the flesh instead of just lending their voices, their involvement really has me hyped.

The story follows the world's No. 2 villain Gru (Carell) on his plot to steal the moon - a plan that gets thwarted by three little orphan girls who challenge his evil ways when they want him to be their dad. The trailer doesn't reveal much, but I'm sure we'll get more footage as we near the June release date. In the meantime, check out the cute preview when you read more.

Sunday Funnies: 30 Rock's Kenneth Raps "Top That"

BuzzSugar — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:30:06 -0800

If you could draw a Venn diagram with cheesy '80s movie lovers in one circle and 30 Rock fans in the other, I'm pretty sure the intersection would be this week's "Senor Macho Solo" episode, which featured the endearingly dweeby Kenneth Parcells (Jack McBrayer) rapping the "Top That" song from Teen Witch. Only this time, I'm pretty sure nobody was exclaiming, "I'm so embarrassed. Look how funky he is!" Here's the clip:

Want to see the original? Just read more.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Weekend Reading: Representing the Peacock as a Page

BuzzSugar — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:30:00 -0700

Kenneth on 30 Rock might lack common sense, but he must be quite extraordinary if he's nabbed a page job at NBC. The New York Times recently profiled the page program for a story that includes interviews with current pages, famous pages (Regis Philbin, Ted Koppel), and Jack McBrayer, whose 30 Rock character is probably the best-known fictional page of all time.

Among the things I learned from the story:

The page program is 10 times as competitive as admission to Harvard.
Pages get a 75-page handbook full of NBC trivia, most of which they're supposed to memorize, and they have to pass a test at the end of orientation.
About 70 percent of pages end up with jobs at NBC by the end of the program.
Ted Koppel claims that when he was a page, he dated his way through the Rockettes.
The real NBC pages recently got snazzy gray uniforms, which means Kenneth's look might be getting an update as well.

It's a fun story and definitely worth the read. Have you ever dreamed of being an NBC page?

Photo courtesy of NBC

Jack McBrayer Touches Mariah Carey's Body

BuzzSugar — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:31:43 -0800

You know how sometimes folks who are famous for very different reasons end up doing some project together, and you can't quite imagine how they even ended up knowing each other's names, much less collaborating? That's how I'm feeling about the video for Mariah Carey's new single, "Touch My Body," featuring 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer as the object of Miss Mariah's lust.

You know how I feel about Jack, and it's hilarious to watch his Kenneth the Page-like nerdy character become Mariah's fantasy boy toy - whether he's being spanked, having a pillow fight, or even catching a frisbee in his mouth like a puppy. Only a 40-second snippet has leaked so far, but here's hoping we'll see the whole Brett Ratner-directed video soon. What's that? Yup, Ratner's involved, too. I don't know whose idea this was, but it's strangely brilliant.

To check out McBrayer as Mariah's hunka hunka burning love, just read more.

Source

TV Tonight: "My Boys" Returns

BuzzSugar — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:30:00 -0700

Okay, I know that last year I kinda hated on the TBS original comedy "My Boys." A lot. And I maintain that it's obnoxious to say that being a laid-back, funny, down-to-earth girl with a few guy friends necessarily means that you can't get a boyfriend because guys are, according to this show, thoroughly turned off by confident girls who like sports. Plus, the show, all about a woman named PJ who writes for the sports section of the Chicago Sun-Times was deeply fond of using sports puns to reflect the action, which is rarely interesting and especially grating after the zillionth time ("Sometimes you just strike out!").

However, I have to admit that having seen the first few episodes of this next season, which starts tonight on TBS at 10:00 PM, the show has improved. For starters, they've given the character of Stephanie (played by Kellee Stewart), PJ's one girly friend more screen time, more dimension and far more funny lines than she ever had before, which is a pleasant surprise. I shocked myself by actually laughing out loud at some of Stephanie's lines. For another thing, they did well to bring in some new comedians, such as Nicole Sullivan who you probably know mostly from "Mad TV" and Sierra Mist commercials, and there's even a funny cameo by "30 Rock"'s Jack McBrayer in the second episode. And they did reduce the number of sports puns to a just mildly annoying degree.

I don't know that this will become one of my regular shows to catch, but I will begrudgingly cease to ridicule it quite so much. You can watch all 13 episodes of the first season on the "My Boys" website before the new season begins tonight.

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Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 10:13:20 -0700

Jack McBrayer plays Kenneth on "30 Rock," and I got to interview him!
Admittedly, the new Harry Potter trailer looks amazing.
If you're creative and into Bjork, you can make a music video for her.
Have you read about my sudden love for "Shear Genius"? Or my thoughts on this week's episode?
If you think up new actors for "The Brady Bunch", I might just send you a BuzzSugar t-shirt.
Will Alec Baldwin's recent antics turn you away from enjoying his work on screen? Talk to me.
Did you grow up with the Babysitters Club books like I did? Well, "Say hello to your friends! (Babysitters Club!) Say hello to the people who care!" over at the BSC Headquarters blog.
Even if you're not planning a wedding, this wedding reception playlist is a whole lotta fun.

Photo courtesy of NBC

TV Tonight: The "30 Rock" Finale

BuzzSugar — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 03:58:33 -0700

"30 Rock" had a rough start this season, with uneven episodes, low ratings and the unfortunate fate of being one of two NBC series going behind the scenes at late-night shows. And yet, it's become one of the shows I most look forward to watching every Thursday night. The show got better the second it ditched the weak Rachel Dratch cameos and gave its other actors room to work. Say what you will about Alec Baldwin these days, but his Jack Donaghy is one of the most consistently funny characters on TV (so, uh, he better not be going anywhere). Tina Fey figured out how to write Liz Lemon as a modern-day Mary Tyler Moore, Tracy Morgan got less annoying, and the supporting cast - most of all the wonderful Jack McBrayer (don't forget to read my interview with him!) - gave the show dimension. I'm thrilled that it will be back in the fall.

But first, we must say goodbye with the final "30 Rock" of the season, guest-starring Sean Hayes as Kenneth's cousin. Jack's mom shows up, and Liz tries to make things work with Floyd, who's apparently off to Cleveland. Plus, Tracy is still missing, and Kenneth is tasked with finding him. To watch that hilarious fake trailer of Tracy's Jefferson movie one more time, read more

Source

Buzz Interview: Jack McBrayer from "30 Rock"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:06:13 -0700

I may not have loved "30 Rock" in the beginning, but I have always enjoyed watching Jack McBrayer, who plays hapless NBC page Kenneth on the show. Having had the good fortune to work with him at New York improv comedy hub the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, I know for a fact that Jack is one of the most endearing people you could ever hope to meet. My recent interview with him only further confirmed what I've known about Jack for a while:

He has the admirable ability to be both hilariously funny and extremely sweet.
He actually says things like, "Well, bless your heart" - and means them.
He truly is like his character on "30 Rock": friendly, upbeat and very grateful for the opportunities afforded him at NBC.

Having grown up in Georgia, McBrayer retains his Southern accent and considerate manner. He's lived in Chicago, New York and now Los Angeles, performing comedy all the while. All of this has led to his current role on "30 Rock," where Kenneth's (mostly) innocent personality offers a hilarious contrast to the cynicism of everyone else. If you already like Kenneth on the show, you'll love the man behind the page uniform.

You're an awful lot like Kenneth.
He's basically Jack McBrayer with a peacock tie.

So it makes sense that I've heard Tina Fey wrote Kenneth with you in mind. How flattering is that?
Oh, my gosh, so flattering. So flattering. You know, it's just so indescribable when you have friends that you admire so much and then they want to work with you and give you a leg up... it's really wonderful.

More wonderful things if you read more

I've heard that Tina Fey also writes in little details from your real lives.
She does put stuff from all of our real lives into the scripts. Like [the episode] with Will Arnett, I walk into the hotel room to seduce him and I’m putting on chapstick - I’m addicted to chapstick, so that part was written for me. One time I was eating chick peas out of the can [on the show], and when I was living in New York I was sustaining myself on chick peas.

How do you know Tina Fey?
I met Tina and her husband, Jeff Richmond, at Second City [in Chicago]. Jeff was my director there... Jeff is kind of the reason I have the jobs I that I have. I have such a huge debt of gratitude for him.

I find it really cool how it seems like a lot of comedic actors and writers working today seem to stick together and support each other with projects.
That's absolutely right. This might be getting - I want to say 'esoteric' but I'm not sure that's right - but it’s like the basics of improv: work together, support each other... you have these people with generous sensibilities, and they help each other... I mean, if you work with good people, you want to work with them again, you trust them.

I can never refer to Alec Baldwin without saying his full name. Have you graduated to calling him just Alec... or even Al?
I would never call him Al. [Laughs] For the longest time it was "Mr. Baldwin," until he asked me to stop calling him that. Now it's Alec if I'm addressing him to his face... I do still say "Alec Baldwin" when referring to him to, like, Tina or something.

What is the most surprising thing about working on "30 Rock"?
I'm not scared of Alec Baldwin anymore! I’m not scared to look him in the eye. And I was! You know, he’s such a phenomenal actor but I mean, he also just likes to talk, he wants to share... he’s such a generous actor, he really gives you time, anything you need. I was also surprised that the scenes are filmed out of order, so if you're doing a big, emotional scene - which, for me in "30 Rock" means not smiling - you have to look and see what came before. You have to keep up on your research.

Do you feel famous yet?
People rarely come up to me, and when they do they're always very nice. My fear was that people would come up to me to say how much they hated the show, you know, to just trash it, but that just hasn’t happened. Everyone has been very nice. The NBC pages do come up to me when I'm in New York... I think they have more at stake when watching the show, seeing what’s accurate and what’s wrong, but they are always very nice when they come up to me. More I'm wondering if we're getting it right... I hope this is official name taggery!

Maybe NBC will see a spike in page applications because of you.
Or a sharp decline. [laughs]

Do you ever Google yourself?
I don’t. I did it once, and all you have to do is find one person who’s mean and saying hateful things... all it takes is one person, you know? All I care about, if my friends and family are enjoying the show, that’s all I need.

Was there a big "30 Rock" versus "Studio 60" sentiment?
No, no, no. I had no worries, no concerns. I mean, my friend Nate Corddry was on that show, so I’m not going to wish ill on them. I’m sure Tina had some feelings about it... but once the show got going, the work became the important thing, not the competition. You can’t get caught up in the comparisons, that’s just crazy. Crazy, I say!

You used to be in the skits on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" pretty regularly. Did you get to talk with him when he was a guest on "30 Rock"?
I did talk to him... Conan was on the show right around when we were premiering, so he was really doing us a really nice thing, and he had nothing but nice things to say about it. I think it was fun for him to be on my show. I love that guy.

Do you still do improv?
I do. I do stuff with I.O. [Improv Olympic] and the UCB here in L.A. It’s as much of a social thing as a creative thing... it’s like goofing around with your buddies.

And now I hear you're off to film a movie in Hawaii!
I’m playing a newlywed with a wife, and we don't know what we’re doing. I'm going to be in Hawaii for a whole month, can you believe it?!

Source and source

What to TiVo: Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:50:00 -0800

NBC is new with Biggest Loser
ABC is new with V and Dancing With the Stars
CBS is new with NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and The Good Wife
Fox is new with So You Think You Can Dance
The CW has repeats of 90210 and Melrose Place
A&E has repeats of Criminal Minds and Hoarders
Bravo is new with Tabatha's Salon Makeover
Comedy Central is new with The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report
FX is new with Sons of Anarchy
MTV is new with The Hills and The City
Late-night highlights include Zac Efron, Carrie Fisher, and Rihanna on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; Jack McBrayer, Marisa Miller, and Weezer on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; Claire Danes and The Pixies on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC, and Charlize Theron on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC

What Do You Think About the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:35:16 -0700

Jon Cryer is the winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Two and a Half Men. He beat out Kevin Dillon, Neil Patrick Harris, Rainn Wilson, Tracy Morgan, and Jack McBrayer.

I was really pulling for NPH, but at least Cryer kept his speech short, sweet, and admittedly funny. What do you think about this win?

Vote on all my Emmy Awards polls here!