Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga starred in the season finale of Saturday Night Live this past weekend with JT performing hosting duties while Gaga signed on as musical guest. A stellar line up that’s for sure. Rarely do I watch SNL but I made a point of staying up so I could catch the show knowing that’s what everyone would be talking about the next day.
JT opened the show making sure we all knew that this was in fact the first time he had hosted the show and not also been the musical guest. Yes, he made sure we all knew that in addition to his fine comedic skills he was also an amazing singer and dancer and sadly for all of us he would not be blessing us with his fine vocal skills, instead allowing Lady Gaga to fill that role. Of course he felt the need to tell us all of this while singing his opening monologue. Just so we all remembered that he can in fact sing. Got it.
And while I might be in the minority here, I do think that JT always does a good job when hosting SNL, but I would also say that every sketch that was really good this past weekend was one that involved Lady Gaga. Who knew she was so funny?! From the ‘Liquorville’ sketch to the digital short featuring Andy Samberg, Justin and Lady Gaga to even the ‘What’s My Name’ game show sketch, it was Gaga who really brought the funny.
I have a feeling JT will be trying to take credit for the high ratings that the season finale brought, but I don’t remember the last time that the studio audience were lined up around the street at 6 am for a chance at a seat when it was just Justin Timberlake hosting and singing. Just saying. JT might want to jump on the Gaga train stat.
Then there were the Billboard Music Awards that aired last night on ABC. I suffered through the incredibly terrible hosting job done by Ken Jeong. Seriously, is his 15 minutes not up yet? I suffered through the ridiculous ‘Elvis’ bit with the Modern Family guy, I suffered through Zack Galifinakis, Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper (ok that was not suffering) appearance that was obviously coordinated by their studio hoping to bump up the opening weekend numbers for The Hangover Part II, I suffered a lot. Because it was mostly all bad. All for the promise of not one, but two Britney Spears performances. What I got was a terrible Rihanna performance of S&M. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why she wasn’t dancing and only writhing around on stage until Britney came out to join her. Oh yes, then it all made sense. Brit can’t move on stage anymore so therefore no one on stage can move either. Unless there’s a pillow fight. Wait, what?! For some reason after their 30 seconds of dueting on S&M, Britney and Rihanna engaged in the lamest pillow fight ever seen. I was embarrassed for them both. For reals.
But Britney looked amazing! She really did, so I held out hope that her next performance with Nicki Minaj would totally make up for the cringe inducing opening number. Wishful thinking. Britney joined Nicki on stage to ‘sing’ another 30 seconds of her hit song ‘Til The World Ends’ and could barely walk down the stage. Let’s make this clear – Brit is about to embark on a world tour to support her upcoming album Femme Fatale, where prime tickets will probably be in the ballpark of $300 per – and she can’t lip synch for more than 30 seconds at an awards show? This does not bode well for good concert reviews.
Dear Britney,
I love you, but you’re making it really really hard to defend you. But you look really good, so there’s that.
Love, Me.
Beyonce was one ray of light during the show, only because of the awesome stage show she put on. Sad that she had to do it to the stupidest song ever. And PS Beyonce – pretty sure that the girls who run the world aren’t going to do it in their bra. Or hot pants.
I also really enjoyed The Far East Movement and Neil Diamond, but that terrible hosting job by Ken Jeong pretty much cancelled that out. I did appreciate Selena Gomez making sure to kiss boyfriend Justin Bieber on the lips for all to see when he won an award though. Take that all you crazy Beliebers! Honestly, the drama that is teen love is so fun. Can’t wait for the twitter threats to start! So, all in all, very few high moments in an otherwise bad, if not embarrassing awards show. All that was missing was Usher performing another version of OMG and the craptasticness of the Billboard Music Awards would have been complete.
Scene and Heard
Confessions of a Pop Culture Mummy
The other day I was online and came across these pictures of Julianne Hough working out with her trainer. If you don’t know who she is, she started out as one of the dance partners on Dancing With The Stars but since has left the show and is now a singer/actress and also happens to be dating Ryan Seacrest. Oh, and she has a sick body.
I write for another celebrity gossip site where I have access to lots of celebrity photo agencies and if I have to see one more picture of Kim Kardashian or Nicole Richie leaving the gym with perfect hair and makeup I might throw up. I mean, I would love to go to the gym and sit around and drink smoothies at the juice bar while pretending to work out, but that wouldn’t make my ass any smaller, would it? So seeing a celebrity like Julianne obviously working hard was kind of a wakeup call.
Why a wakeup call, you ask? Because, did you see her body? Her body is sick. But did you see what she was doing? She was working out, with a trainer, by the beach, with boxing gloves and then she ran home! Sweet Jesus does this mean I’m going to need a trainer to get my ass in shape? Because honestly, I kinda prefer the sitting around the juice bar method. Of course if you’ve seen me lately you know that method obviously isn’t working for me. But it was a wakeup call because those bodies don’t come easy – even the gorgeous young starlets have to work out like crazy to get there. This does not bode well for the semi-attractive not so young blogger-wife-mother types. Ahem.
Because here’s the thing – I'd like to think that if I didn’t have four kids with crazy ass extracurricular activities to manage I just might be able to find myself a beach to work out at. And then I think ‘but if it didn’t cost an arm and a leg and if I didn’t still have a three and four-year old at home all day, I could look like that'. And if only Dara lived closer to me she would take me on as a pet project and whip my ass into shape, right?! Don’t we all say that?! Because even if I had all the time in the world, there’s the added cost of a trainer. Sure Julianne can afford a trainer who will meet her at the beach – Julianne is dating Ryan Seacrest! Ryan Seacrest must be loaded! And sure Julianne doesn’t have one kid let alone four, and the whole famous thing certainly frees up her time a bit. But again, did I mention ‘I have four kids with crazy ass extracurricular activities?!’ The cost of a trainer is something I’m not sure I can justify.
I have a friend who recently employed the services of a trainer, and it’s definitely working. She looks amazing, and she feels amazing. But get ready for this – it cost $1600 for 24 sessions!!! Seriously. So in addition to your gym membership that’s an addition $1600 on someone you’re paying to be mean to you. I’m not sure I can justify that. But then I look at Julianne’s ass, and her legs, and her arms, and I want that. I don’t just want to be thin, I want to be fit. Of course I do, who doesn’t?! But now I’m thinking to even get healthy I need a trainer, and trainers are expensive. But – isn’t it worth it? Looking at Julianne’s body it sure seems to be, but then again I just got my property tax bill, so right now it’s hard to justify. This would all be much easier if I were a celebrity. But I’m not, so let me know your thoughts on whether a trainer is worth it or not. And in case any of you are keeping track - the running mojo is still MIA.
Scene and Heard
Confessions of a Pop Culture Mummy
It’s no secret that I am a Scooby-Doo fan and so are my kids. We religiously watch Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo – well you get the picture. When I heard they were making a live action version of the animated series I was a bit sceptical. Normally when live action movies are made of beloved cartoons the results are less than stellar. Fortunately for me I thought the Scooby-Doo movies were an exception to this rule.
The first live action remake titled simply Scooby-Doo was released in 2002. It certainly wasn’t an Oscar winner but it was a fun movie that stayed pretty true to the original cartoon. Meaning that the members of Mystery Inc were all pretty much the same and the traits that made us love them were all still present. Then, in 2004 a sequel to Scooby-Doo was released called Scooby-Doo, Monsters Unleashed.
Now first of all I don’t typically love sequels – mostly because I find them hard to live up to the original film (or in this case the original series) but I actually preferred the sequel. Part of the reason for this is the cast. I am a diehard Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, so with Sarah Michelle Gellar starring as Daphne and Seth Green co-starring in the movie, I get a reunion of sorts from one of my favorite television shows.
Another reason is because the writers were smart to incorporate a lot of the original ‘monsters’ from the animated show into the movie. Cool, right?! And if you weren’t a Scooby-Doo fan you wouldn’t have known that simply by watching the movie, but if you are a Scooby-Doo fan half the fun of watching is trying to pinpoint where you remember the monsters from.
These are the sorts of things that make a movie not just mildly entertaining, but actually fun to watch. For most of us Scooby-Doo brings back fond memories from our childhood and getting to watch the movie with our kids all while seeing things on the screen that triggers images of you at the same age is priceless. So when you sit down to watch TELETOON Retro’s Big Ticket Movie showing of Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed with your family on Friday (at 7pm ET/PT), keep your eyes open for these ‘monsters’ in the movie that made their original debut in the animated series.
The Pterodactyl Ghost - this was first seen in The Scooby-Doo Show episode "Hang In There, Scooby-Doo
The Black Knight Ghost - this was first seen in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? episode "What A Night For A Knight"
Captain Cutler's Ghost – this was first seen in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? episode "A Clue For Scooby-Doo
The Miner Forty-Niner – this was first seen in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? episode "Mine Your Own Business
The Tar Monster - this was first seen in The Scooby-Doo Show episode "The Tar Monster"
Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed is a favorite in my house, so much so that we actually own the movie. If you’re worried about it being too scary for your kids I wouldn’t worry about it – all of mine loved it! Make sure you watch and let me know if you spot any retro monsters that I might have missed.
Scene and Heard
Confessions of a Pop Culture Mummy
*Source - Wikipedia
More upcoming TELETOON Retro Big Ticket Movies on
Fridays at 7pm ET:
- May 27: Dennis the Menace Strikes Again
- June 3: Gremlins
- June 10: Gremlins II
You can check out www.teletoon.com for more details.
This blog proudly sponsored by TELETOON Network
Printer-friendly version