Things I like this Week (Manly Edition)

-- Earlier this month, Tom Chiarella put together, for Esquire, a list of 75 things every man should know how to do before he dies. The list ranges from the practical (Tie a Bow Tie) to bold (Talk to a Woman out of his League) to bizarre (Understand Quantum Physics Well enough that he can accept that a quarter might, at some point, pass straight through the table when dropped). Take the unofficial test for yourself. My 40% would seem to explain why I can't get my beard to be anything but patchy. Maybe I can fill in some of those gaps if I can knock of some more of these.

-- While you're waiting for the DVD release of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, check out this mash-up of The Count from Sesame Street singing "Dracula's Lament," a ballad from the puppet musical with-in the film.



Not as funny or heart-warming as the original, but a fun diversion. For official Sarah Marshall viral marketing check out I Hate Sarah Marshall. It looks like Peter has let his blog languish a little bit, but the links are as funny as ever.

-- Ben Stiller takes on movie about making a war movie in Tropic Thunder. Featuring perfect casting with everyone playing into their type, Thunder looks like it could be the perfect antidote to the inevitable blockbuster hangover that sets in during August. How could any movie featuring Robert Downey, Jr. as a method actor so committed that he dyes his skin to play a black man go wrong? Tropic Thunder Theatrical Trailer

Neil Partick Harris and Jason Segal Make Daytime TV Legen...

...dary. Megan Mullally's daytime talk show may have not even gotten to tape 50 new episodes. Thankfully the show managed to squeeze in an hour with the cast of How I Met Your Mother. Harris and Segal launch into an impromptu version of "Confrontation" from Les Miserables.




Oh cast of HIMYM, how I've missed you. Hopefully, you'll be able to ride its recent, much-talked about guest-star into a fourth season.

Fergie Wishes She Could Be This Ironic

I'm not sure why "My Humps" is getting a new second of 15 minutes of fame. First, Will Ferrell does an a capella version of it in Blades of Glory. Now, Alanis "covers" it. As Chazz Michael Michael (Will Ferrell) points out - "No one knows what it means, but it's provocative." Now, it's awesome too.

[via Best Week Ever]

Good Idea ... Wrong Commercial

ABC recently announced that it is planning on making a television series based upon the GEICO cavemen. People have commented elsewhere about how stupid this idea would seem to be. I'll hold judgment on that till I hear the actual concept, but what is really distressing is why this set of commercials had to be used when there was a much better one two years ago.



Slate picked up on the brilliance of the commercial way back when it first aired in 2005.

Plus, the concept is already right there in the commercial - no thinking outside the box required. Okay, one year might be excessive, but in today's fame-obsessed culture there has to be somebody willing to live in a house too small for six months. GEICO even provided you with a potential challenge - having to make an omlette - if you want to do a contest based show. If the contestants can make it through, they could get some nominal prize - their own house redone, cash. Come on ABC.

All the news that's fit to mock (badly)

Explanation via Variety. I might chime in later with some thoughts on my own, but I mostly agree with Slate's assessment.

Feb 18 Edit: Having now seen the show, I feel like - probably ironically - the New York Times's review is the more accurate assessment. But, I'll add that the show probably would have been bearable 15 years ago back when Marion Berry, Suzanne Somers, electric cars, and prison rape were funny.

Feb 19 Edit: The 1/2 Hour News Hour airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on Fox News Channel.