It's been a while, and we've missed an awful lot of publications going into stoppage time, but we were waiting for something really, truly worthwhile to post about. While Arnold Diaz has the distinction of being New York's weirdest newscaster, thanks mostly to his "Shame Shame Shame!" intro, Ernie Anastos has made a bid to take the throne. Mere hours ago, he advised a coworker—meteorologist Nick Gregory—to, and we're quoting here, "Keep ****ing that chicken." It's become so popular in the intervening time, and Wikipedia's introductory paragraph already says that he's "best known for his off-color remark 'Keep ****that chicken,'" and the incident already has its own section on the page. Also, a Google search for Ernie Anastos will yield that page and, in second place, a story about this little gem of a slip.
It's this reporter's considered opinion, however, that the gaffe itself isn't the troubling thing, it's that, with full knowledge of what Gregory has apparently been doing, Anastos not only sanctioned but insisted he keep doing it. Hopefully, Anastos will escape Michael Vick's fate and not be... ahem, dogged by this for the rest of his life.
Tags:
arnold diaz, beastiality, chicken, ernie anastos, fox news, gaffe, gawker, intercourse, keep, michael vick, nick gregory, poultry, sex, shame shame shame, that, wikipedia
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Posted on 9/17/2009
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It was fun when magazines were folding two every week or so, but when they started dropping like English peasants with the sweating sickness, it stopped being any fun to report. This, however, is too wonderful to ignore: Blender Magazine—the low-brow, musical Maxim—will publish its last issue in April. While Rolling Stone can simply reduce the size of its print issues and continue to cash in on a once-brilliant publication's reputation, it's 'roided up step-cousin has no such laurels. No word on whether Blender's twelve subscribed readers will receive refunds.
Tags:
blender, death of print, goodbye media, maxim, rolling stone
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Posted on 3/26/2009
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Conan O'Brien's last show as host of Late Night aired tonight, marking his last commute to work in Manhattan, as well as the loss of one of New York's tallest skyscrapers. The always well-coifed redhead is, as we said below, off to Los Angeles to take over the Tonight Show, putting him into direct competition with New York's reigning king of late night, David Letterman. In the final week, Mayor Bloomberg presented O'Brien with a key, only to reveal that it was, in fact, not a key to the city, but a key to the mens' bathroom at Port Authority. Honestly, we think he got the better deal. We'll miss you, Conan.
Tags:
30 rock, conan, david letterman, jay leno, jimmy fallon, last show, late night, live television, mayor bloomberg, mr t, nbc, rockefeller plaza, taping, tonight show
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Posted on 2/21/2009
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Tomorrow's episode of Late Night With Conan O'Brien will mark the lanky Irishman's last show before he takes over hosting duties for The Tonight Show. The end of Late Night's sixteen-year run with O'Brien will also mark his departure from New York City; the Harvard alum and former Simpsons writer is expatriating to Los Angeles where NBC has built him a brand-new studio. On Monday, Conan took an axe to the familiar archway in studio 6A at Rockefeller Plaza, giving—literally—an audience member a piece of the show itself. Less haphazardly mementos are being auctioned off for charity on eBay, with all proceeds benefiting the House To Home Project.
O'Brien, of course, leaves a vacancy in the chair he inherited from David Letterman nearly two decades ago, which will be filled by Saturday Night Live alum Jimmy Fallon beginning in March. Not much is known about the format or style of Fallon's iteration of Late Night, save for the rather big news that hiphop legends The Roots have signed on as his house band. Max Weinberg And The Weinberg Seven, it's assumed, will follow Conan out to California, although one has to wonder whether The Boss is okay with his drummer moving that far away from his New Jersey base.
Information on tickets for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon can be found here.
Tags:
30 rock, conan, jay leno, jimmy fallon, late night, nbc, obrien, rockefeller plaza, studio 6a, television, tonight show
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Posted on 2/19/2009
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No stop on any promotional circuit is complete without visiting The Late Show With David Letterman, and the flight of US Airways flight 1549—which landed rather uneventfully in the calm, cold waters of the Hudson River last month—or at least the PR department of the airline, knew as much. Appearing on tonight's episode of The Late Show, Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles talked almost dismissively of the incident, which was heartening; although the two owned up to being shaken after the initial shock of the crash wore off, they maintained a high level of equanimity about the whole affair, writing it off as a massive confluence of preparation and good fortune. That same even tone fliers are accustomed to hearing over their plane's intercom pervaded the interviews with both airmen, as well as the three flight attendants who comprised the second half of the show's interview section, in which—usually, at least—two celebrities will hawk their latest film, book, or public event. And while the reassuringly even-tempered "Sully" might have made for bad television, his first officer, Skiles, brought much-needed levity to the show. Captain Sullenberger said of Skiles that he had remarked soon after the crash and initial media blitz that "I just want my old life back," which spoke to the two pilots' overall sense that they were just doing their jobs, albeit in spectacular and inimitable fashion. Skiles came out as the star of the interview, throwing out razor-sharp responses to questions that had even Letterman laughing. When asked if he was tired of the attention and the story, he claimed he was "beyond tired" of telling the story. And despite Sullenberger's calm demeanor, Skiles not only had him laughing along with Letterman but also served as a catalyst for a more relaxed and comedic interview from the captain. Skiles also talked about his job during the emergency, trying to restart the failed engines of the Airbus 320 and was the only one of the two pilots who had ever experienced a failed engine before, although he admitted that he was used to experiencing them failing one at a time. Halfway through the segment, Letterman asked Sully if he thought he could do it again, jokingly offering to pay for the fuel if Sullenberger wanted to give it another shot. The second segment included Sullenberger and Skiles but featured, prominently, the three flight attendants that were on hand during the troubled light. The Late Show's team showed immense foresight in the seating arrangements of the three, since the funniest of them was seating in prime position next to Dave for the segment. All of the flight attendants have over 25 years of experience flying professionally, and the two seated furthest away had little to tell of the eventful ten-minute flight, except for the appearance of a passenger in his underwear shortly after the water landing, who had prepped himself to swim to shore unneccessarily. The other stewardess, however, had to contend with the passengers in the rear of the plane, among whom was the passenger who initially opened the rear door of the plane, which had to be shut again against the rush of water from the river. She started off talking about the days when passengers in the smoking section of the plane—always at the rear—could be relied upon to be the most boisterous and amiable people on the entire plane, saying that it was no different on flight 1549 that day, and that her passengers, while nervous, conducted themselves beautifully along with the rest of the passengers. Both segments with the pilots and the flight attendants were greeted with standing ovations from the crowd—as NYC.com witnessed first-hand from the balcony of the historic Ed Sullivan Theater—and rightly so; in a time of great financial turmoil and upheaval, these airborne ferrymen have proven that miracles can happen and that pilots are, without exception, the true, reliable stewards of the sky, and that there's nothing at all to worry about.
Tags:
flight 1549, late show, letterman, skiles, sullenberger
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Posted on 2/10/2009
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