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The Back-up Plan: Pregnant With Problems

Shannon Vestal — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 07:00:00 PDT

In Jennifer Lopez's new film, The Back-up Plan, she returns to romantic comedy mode as NYC single Zoe, who's ready to have a baby on her own. As luck would have it, the day she gets inseminated, she coincidentally meets a handsome stranger named Stan (Alex O'Loughlin), who - wouldn't ya know it - just may be the one for her.

Even though it's a comfort to see Lopez in the strappy sandals of a leading lady, pregnancy-centric The Back-up Plan takes her to new territory: namely, burping, stuffing her face with food, and peeing onscreen. These attempts to distance Lopez from her real-life glamorous image are the film's first reach for humor, but they flop like most of the film's other jokes. Some genuine romance could have made up for these blunders, but instead, the movie focuses on how hard relationships and pregnancy are - not how wonderful they are.

To hear why I didn't love J. Lo falling in love, just

read more. The biggest laughs come from the ingloriousness of being pregnant and giving birth, but their overworked bits - like home birth and a toddler breastfeeding - are all gags we've seen and heard before. The Back-up Plan wants to align itself with Knocked Up, but it's cast in a sad, dark shadow. When it's not being used as a punchline, pregnancy is viewed as the obstacle keeping these two characters apart. Right off the bat, Zoe and Stan's courtship is less than picture perfect, and I don't just mean wacky first date antics - they fight the moment Zoe reveals that she's expecting her miracle baby. Stan doesn't understand, and what's more, he's angry at her. Though her bump is treated as a typical bump in the road, Zoe and Stan continue to argue as they try to make things work. (And this is supposed to be her dream man?) They deal with the kind of fights a new couple shouldn't have. They're the tired, combative fights that I don't want to see in a romantic comedy. Romantic comedies are a form of escapism - and I didn't escape here.

SNL Lets Go of Two Female Cast Members - Are You Surprised?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:30:00 PDT

Last week I was excited to report that SNL was adding two funny ladies to the cast, but apparently they came with a price. Michaela Watkins and Casey Wilson, who both joined the show within the last two seasons, have been let go. I was looking forward to seeing a more female-intensive cast, but Watkins and Wilson didn't create the most memorable characters to appear on the show. What do you think - are you surprised they won't be back next season?

Getty and IMDB

MadTV Ends While SNL Gets Two New Ladies

BuzzSugar — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:30:22 PST

Good news and sorta sad news. I'll start with the sorta sad: Fox has canceled it's long-running sketch comedy program MadTV, which didn't exactly shock too many people. The folks at Best Week Ever even joked they thought it got canceled four years ago. Snark aside, I still think this holdover from the '90s deserves a (brief) moment of silence.

The good news is that sketch comedy is still thriving over at NBC after a particularly fruitful political season that had many viewers heading back to Saturday Night Live for some comic relief. Now SNL is looking to keep the show on everyone's radar with the addition of two new female cast members: Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins (pictured).

Elliott is the daughter of comedian Chris Elliott who is a former SNL cast member himself (apparently this is the first multigenerational casting in the show's history). And from the video clips I've seen of her, Elliott is very funny - particularly when doing impersonations. Michaela Watkins has appeared on TV shows including The New Adventures of Old Christine and both ladies have paid their dues on the live sketch comedy circuit. They'll both debut this week!

Are you sad about MadTV? Check out videos of the new SNL ladies and let me know if you think there is potential there to maybe fill the void left by Tina and Amy. To watch for yourself,