411 Fact or Fiction Movies/TV 07.10.09: Week 185

Posted by Ben Piper on 07.10.2009

Will Bruno be funnier and more outrageous than Borat? Is Megan Fox overrated? Is Neil Patrick Harris a great choice to host this year's Emmys? Does the world really need a big screen TJ Hooker remake? 411's Leonard Hayhurst and Andy Critchell debate these and other topics in week 185 of 411 Fact or Fiction: Movies/TV!



Hey there! Welcome back yet again to the 411 column sure to cause uproar and outrage, Fact or Fiction. This week we've got Ask 411's master of answers Leonard Hayhurst. Standing across the aisle from him is Andy Critchell, who makes sure that George Sirios' UBS News Report is stacked (see what I did there) with beautiful women, as well as write ECW Extreme Extracts for the wrestling zone. So what do you say? Let's do this!

1. Neil Patrick Harris is a great choice to host this year's Emmys.

Andy Critchell: Fact - From what I'm told, he did a very good job hosting the Tony Awards so making the move to the Emmy's is a no brainer. Another plus is that he is known as a TV guy from his role as Doogie Howser up to his current gig. He's also been lauded for his work on How I Met Your Mother so he brings a lot of legitimacy as well. Add to all that the fact that he is well liked and respected in the gay community (which is the most vocal segment of the award show viewing audience) and you have yourself a very smart choice for host. Maybe not the most inspired or unexpected but still very smart.

Leonard Hayhurst: Fact - This is a fact for a lot of the reasons Andy noted and more. I think Hugh Jackman at this past Oscars (and another previous Tony host) proved that you don't need to be a comedian to be an awards host. Harris brings to the party a varied background as an actor with the right dabbling of comedy and musical elements. After How I Met Your Mother leaves the air I could really see Harris transitioning into being a talk show or game show host of some kind. Really, he could be the next Regis Philbin. Just gayer, if you can imagine that.

Score: 1 for 1

2. Bruno will be funnier and even more outrageous than Borat.

Andy Critchell: Fiction - I don't even know where to start with this. First of all, Borat was terrible and Bruno looks even worse. No one knows how to take a one note joke and wear it out like Sacha Baron Cohen. "Oh look, this character is a huge creep and doesn't understand that he's making people uncomfortable. Isn't it hilarious?" "Oh look, I'm going to try and perform gay acts on someone who isn't gay! Isn't it hilarious?" I mean come on, what kind of troglodyte do you have to be to enjoy that claptrap? And now we have to deal with ANOTHER one? Christ. And the promotion for this movie has been completely insufferable.

Leonard Hayhurst: Fiction - Bruno will be nothing more than a retread of Borat. Been there, done that. What was shocking, original and creative the first time out will just be tired and rehashed now. Think Jackass to Jackass Two. I liked Borat more than Andy did, but previews for Bruno just have me rolling my eyes. This will probably do really well in its opening week thanks to the legion of Borat fans, but watch it drop like a rock after that.

Score: 2 for 2

3. You're supportive of the idea for a TV reboot/remake of Alien Nation.

Andy Critchell: Fact - Most people in the target audience for this are too young to remember the underrated movie from the 80s or the underrated series from the 90s so no problem there. Tim Minear of Angel and Firefly fame is going to be writing it so no problem there. It is going to air on the SyFy (Sci-Fi) Channel where the Battlestar Galactica reboot flourished so no problem there. I feel that the movie and the series really only scraped the surface of the alien culture and mythology and if done well it could be a very interesting show so I see no reason not to give it a shot.

Leonard Hayhurst: Fiction - I say fiction because I was never really a big fan of Alien Nation as a TV series or film. However, I do agree with Andy that it could succeed for the many reasons he notes. From what I do remember of the show, more than the movie, there is a potential for some great character development and story exploration. As Sci-Fi has proved with Battlestar Galatica and Stargate is that it's willing to put some money and effort into a series and won't just rest on name value or what has come before. So, yes, this has potential, but the question as written I have to say no to because I'm not supportive of it.

Score: 2 for 3

Switch!!!

4. I Love You Beth Cooper will be lost in the box office shuffle.

Leonard Hayhurst: Fact - I don't think a film like this would be more than a moderate success even if opening at a dead time of year. The last thing that came out we can compare it to is Adventureland and that bombed. This type of dopey teen comedy usually finds more of an audience on DVD and the same will be here. Looking at last week's top ten and considering Bruno opening, I say Beth Cooper opens around number seven in the five to seven million dollar range.

Andy Critchell: Fact - Leonard made a lot of good points with his answer and I really have only two things to add. First, this movie won't be a big hit because Hayden Panettiere is not really a sex symbol. For a movie like this to succeed, the lead female should be an established sex symbol or at least someone known for being a stone cold fox. Think The Girl Next Door. Now Hayden Panettiere is very cute and I think she is quite sexy but a sex symbol she is not and I'm supposed to believe that she is the hottest girl at the school and that some guy would be obsessed with her for years? My other big reason is that this movie has not really been promoted very much. I have not seen a whole lot of commercials for it and there doesn't seem to be much of a buzz about it.

Score: 3 for 4

5. The world doesn't need a big-screen TJ Hooker remake.

Leonard Hayhurst: Fact - Again, the language of the question gets me. The world does not need a TJ Hooker remake. The world also does not need breast implants, Baconators and lava lamps, but all that shit is awesome. Let me just list the ways TJ Hooker was bitching.
*William Shatner in a hair piece and girdle.
*William Shatner running for long distances and jumping onto moving vehicles on a weekly basis.
*Heather Locklear at peak hotness.
*That shot where Locklear throws a billy club like a hundred feet and trips a guy up.
*Squad cars constantly blown up/and or on fire.
*The series that picked up The Dukes of Hazard slack for having cars ramp stuff that should not be rampable.
*Adrian Zemed getting smacked around like the dork he is.
*His name is Hooker.

Andy Critchell: Fact - To be honest I never saw the TV show so it would not matter to me if they were faithful to the original material or not but there is precedent as to why this will not be good; SWAT and Miami Vice. Both movies were based off of 80s cop shows and both movies were pretty bad. Besides, it sounds to me like the show was full of 80s cheese and if the movie tries to recreate that it will just be awkward and unfunny. What's ironic about this is that at the beginning of another TV remake, Charlie's Angels, the character played by LL Cool J is on a plane and complaining about the movie that's being shown as it's "just another TV rip-off." That movie? TJ Hooker.

Score: 4 for 5

6. Megan Fox is overrated.

Leonard Hayhurst: Fact - Considering that the party line is ‘Megan Fox is the hottest piece of ass ever in the history of mankind and is so hot new universes have to be created out of anti-matter so she can rock them with her hotness,' then yes, I have to say she is overrated. She has really nice eyes and I freely admit that she's way hotter than any chick I could ever score. However, for my personal tastes, she's a bit too thin and I'm not into tattoos. Who the hell gets tattoos on their ribcage anyway? At least if I would ever get lucky enough to have sex with her I could keep from coming by distracting myself with reading her.

Andy Critchell: Fiction - Leonard, everyone has their own opinion, it's just that yours is wrong. Let's break this down:

1. Fox has the great combo of dark hair and light eyes. That's pretty much universally hot.
2. Fox is slender but she still has curves in all the right places. That means she is naturally thin, not anorexic. That means she has good genes. Good genes mean that she is attractive on an evolutionary and biological level. That's just science and you can't fight science.
3. Fox has some ridiculous ink. That means that she is not afraid to make gigantic mistakes. A hot girl who is willing to make gigantic mistakes gives hopes to us poor schlubs that they are somewhat attainable.
4. Have you seen those lips? Oh doctor!
5. Chicks can freely admit that they would love to make out with her and no one bats an eye. Why? Because she is universally hot.

Final Score: 4 for 6

Bonus Non Fact or Fiction Question: What is your favorite "Guilty Pleasure" TV Show?

Leonard Hayhurst: Are we saying all time guilty pleasure? I used to write a Small Wonder review for the site. I stopped when my doctor advised against it. I can't say I ever really enjoyed it though. It's not so bad it's good, it's so bad it's easy for me to make fun of. After talking about TJ Hooker you've got me thinking about the all the kick ass eighties cop and detective shows like Simon and Simon, Hunter, Magnum, PI, Matt Houston, Riptide, The Fall Guy, Hardcastle and McCormick. Seriously, I should be the head of programming somewhere. Ok, so what was the original question? Favorite guilty pleasure TV show. I'll go with Manimal I watched that all the time when I was unemployed and Sci-Fi used to show it in blocks. A cop than can turn into animals with requisite hot chick and black sidekick. I'm sold right there.

Andy Critchell: I guess my answer would have to the the Pamela Anderson series VIP. You had Pam still at or near her peak and three other chicks who were hot in their own way. You had Molly Culver who was tough chick hot, Natalie Raitano who was feisty chick hot, and Leah Lail who was nerd chick hot. At least I thought so.

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And that's that. Leonard and Andy agree more often than not. Many thanks to them both for taking part. Check back next week for more chilling Fact or Fiction action!
-BP

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