Remember back when everyone thought Scrubs was finished because Zach Braff had just made Garden State and was now a “filmmaker”? So much for that, eh? New season, new network, two new episodes.
Blazing Saddles
8:00 (AMC)
You know, the whole movie is just one big allegory about the 2008 election. Obama’s the sheriff, Howard Dean’s the governor, uh… Biden’s Gene Wilder… err… Iowa is the horse. Hmm. Let me get back to you.
Rock of Love Charm School With Sharon Osbourne Reunion
8:00 (VH1)
I have no idea what any of those words above this sentence mean.
Late Night
Kevin James is confused for a real live mall cop on Letterman, Queen Latifah finally reveals what exactly she is royalty of on Leno, Kate Hudson is awfully pretty on Conan, Michael Wolff writes books about Rupert Murdoch on The Daily Show, and Matt Miller writes books about somethin else entirely on Colbert.
And we are back! Let me tell you, ANYONE can do year-end wrap up in the year they actually occurred, but only this blog can bring you on a nostalgic tour of 2008 with the distance and perspective that comes from the first week of 2009. So this week, now that the trees and “menorahs” have been taken down and the New Years hangover is over (replaced with a regular Monday hangover) we will be looking at some of the highs and lows of last year. But first! The news.
If you have really checked out over vacation and are only just coming back to the world, you may have missed that news that Israel has invaded the Gaza strip. Responding to the endless, if sporadic, rocket attacks coming from within Gaza, the Israeli army retaliated through massive air strikes and now with a ground offensive that has cut the strip in half. Fighting has left over 500 Palestinians dead (100 civilians) and a rapidly developing humanitarian crisis is putting millions in danger of starvation. Many experts are saying that Israel chose now to strike because they knew the Bush administration would support them pretty much no matter what they did. That has proven to be the case as the US has blocked moves in the UN to condemn Israel. This will be a major challenge for President-elect Obama when he takes office.
Your favorite, formerly bearded, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration for Secretary of Commerce. Apparently, he is the subject of an ongoing investigation into political donations made to him by a company with massive business interests in front of the state. This might not be the last we hear of him; President-elect Obama has signaled that he is interested in reviving the special envoys to deal with global crisis areas. I am not sure but I don’t think that requires legislative approval.
Because Republicans can’t stand building roads or feeding the hungry, President-elect Obama’s massive stimulus bill *titter* will contain almost $300 billion in tax cuts designed to attract Republican support for the parts that will actually help. Cha-CHING.
Al Franken is going to be the likely winner of the Minnesota senate seat by a margin of about 200 votes. That is awesome in so many ways.
First up, news we are pretty sure is important but can only loosely explain why: The Federal Reserve cut its target interest rate to historic lows between zero and a quarter percentage points. I am pretty sure that this means that banks can borrow money from the Federal Reserve and pay essentially no interest on it. That, hypothetically, means that banks will lower the rate at which they lend money to households and businesses. However, since no one is investing anyway, it doesn’t appear that this is going to work.
Dana Milibank, a Washington Post columnist, is complaining that we are trading a “sports-obsessed president who doesn’t like tough questions,” for “another sports-obsessed president who doesn’t like tough questions.” His evidence for this is that at Obama’s press conference naming his new Secretary of Education, he avoided the media’s questions about Gov. Blagojevich. Is this the beginning of a trend of stories saying that Obama isn’t open enough with the media? Almost certainly, but keep in mind that he is already having a press conference every few days and demonstrating a refreshing amount of openness in going around the media to talk to the public directly.
Tom Friedman has a great column asking the question, “What is really the difference between Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and the totally legal subprime deals?”
Finally, Timehas named Barack Obama person of the year. This reminds me of Jeff and I debating who would be person of the year last year (I thought Obama until Jeff said that would be next year after he had won the election, kudos ). Man, can you believe that “You” was two years ago? How lame was that!
Because all of you are dedicated followers of Presidential fashion, I am sure you already know that President Obama has already picked a tux for the inaugural balls he will be attending Jan. 20th (Your editors won’t be at a “ball” so much as we will be face down in a gutter outside the cheapest DC bar we can find, still feebly trying to cheer). However, fashionistas will note that Obama’s tuxedo choice is much like Obama himself: solid, dependable and not really very flashy. In stepped the good people at WWD, who solicited submissions from dozens of today’s biggest designers to see what they think Obama should wear.
My favorites are included above and listed from left to right. A Tim Hamilton double-breasted tux with the collar undone says “I’m the new president and I’m here to party.” My absolute favorite is the midnight blue tux from Nautica which is cooler and slightly more contemporary; Obama is a President for the new millenium after all. The entry from Brioni takes a classic approach that is pretty much unimpeachable. And finally, I think we all secretly wish that people still dressed in suits like the one from Rag and Bone for political functions (or is that just me?). Check out the complete 52-page look book of Presidential style below thatalso includes ties and suits for the day.
Find out what’s new and innovative in the world of magic tri– err, illusions, with your special host Neil Patrick Harris. I’d like to pop a rabbit out of his hat! Right guys? Good luck trying to figure out what the hell My Network TV is.
8:00 – True Life: I’m Getting Married (MTV)
Two hours of youngsters talking about getting married. Use their broken, horrible lives as ammunition against prying parents and grandparents demanding to know when you’ll settle down at the Thankgiving table tomorrow night.
10:00 – Barbara Walters Interview with Barack Obama (ABC)
What’s left to know? Wonder who his early Oscar picks are.
Late Night
Teri Hatcher demonstrates how Botox can go so wrong on Letterman, Heidi Klum demonstrates how it can go so right on Leno, and Ethan Hawke is probably going to look pretty scruffy on Conan.
8:00 – World Magic Awards (My Network TV)