Two Tivos To Paradise 08.25.11: The Funniest Women on TV, Dwayne Johnson, Jimmy Fallon, Louie

Posted by Al Norton on 08.26.2011

From 30 Rock's Tina Fey and Jane Lynch on Glee to Betty White on Hot in Cleveland and more, 411's Al Norton ranks the funniest women on TV! Plus news on The Rock's new wrestling show, Jimmy Fallon returning to SNL and more!



Hello friends. Today is August 26th, which means Harry and Genevieve Norton are now a year older. This weekend's celebration of their third birthday includes a Dora and Diego themed party (and by "themed" I mean a cake with them on it and a big wall poster), many presents, and lots of visits from friends and family. If I was rich enough to get The Fresh Beat Band to come play in our backyard for them I would, but for now they'll have to settle for the Glee Encores DVD, which is most of the musical performance from season with all the dialogue and plot edited out.

Last weekend's switch to RCN went pretty smooth, and now we've got even more hours available in our Tivo! Not sure that's actually a good thing but I did spend quite a bit of time reprogramming all the season passes.

You'll read below that I may be bumping Community from its "Best Comedy on TV" perch so I thought the least I could do was give you a great clip video featuring the Best of Troy…





It's time for our biggest giveaway ever – we've got Brothers & Sisters, The Complete Series on DVD for you!!! All five seasons are a part of this prize package (and all five seasons are currently available for purchase at Amazon.com, too!!). We were BIG fans of the Walker Clan here at TTTP but in case you were less familiar with the show…

Brothers & Sisters is like that awkward family reunion, where everyone is airing their dirty secrets at the dinner table. The thing is, with the Walkers, they're dropping these bombshells at every meal. The Walkers appear to be the perfect all-American family, but it's up to matriarch Nora Walker (Sally Field) to hold everyone together as they cross paths with divorce, infidelity, addiction, war, politics, prejudice and death.

Here's how you win…follow this LINK , take the Brothers & Sisters quiz, and then post your results on our FB page ("I scored x out of 5 on the Brothers & Sisters quiz"). As always, you must have a US mailing address and not have won anything from us in the past six months. Good luck!

Survivor fans – here's a look at the cast of the upcoming South Pacific edition, premiering on Wednesday, 9/14….




I know I teased you last week with mention of the winner of The Glee Project stopping by today but, alas, scheduling did not work out.

It's Friday, I'm in news

(Seriously, how have I never used that one before?!?!?)

And I Come Back Even Stronger, Not A Novice Any Longer, ‘Cause You've Deepened The Conviction In My Soul
An exchange on the TTTP Facebook page (shameless plug – if you're reading this article and you have a FB account, you need to be a part of our community!!!) last week led me to put together this list of the funniest women on TV right now. How did I qualify funny? Simple, whose work made me laugh the most? Some of these women's skills are in delivering lines written for them but funny is funny and if you're performance of what someone else wrote makes me laugh, that means you're funny. So, without further delay, here they are…

The Two Tivos To Paradise 10 Funniest Women on TV, 2011 Edition
(who knows, maybe it will be an annual thing).

Honorable Mention: Callie Thorne, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Kristen Bell (for her visits to The Late Late Show alone), Alison Anders, Aisha Tyler, and Rachel Harris. When one of the networks gets their head out of their ass and casts Natalie Morales in a lead role, she'll immediately jump into the top 10.

10) Danielle Fishel
I know that The Dish isn't on the air anymore but if I look at all of 2011 as a whole, there is no doubt Fishel is one of the funniest women on TV; while Joel McHale gets his laughs mocking both the clips and the people watching these shows, she carved her niche by making fun of the clips with a "I can't believe I actually watch these shows but I do" attitude, which served her well. If Style hadn't cancelled The Dish she would rank MUCH higher on this list.

9) Chelsea Handler
Ok, I'll be honest and say she's not really my cup of tea but her success is the definition of undeniable and there are few comedians/talk show hosts with a more dedicated fan base. She's taken her stand up and turned it into books, a talk show, scripted series, and acting jobs, and that's impressive.

8) Betty White
Perhaps the funniest women in TV history, Miss Betty White has comedic timing that is rarely seen. Hot in Cleveland is not a particularly good show and yet she finds ways to make her scenes work much better than they have any right to. Her talk show appearances continue to be Tivo worthy, especially when she's on The Late Late Show (on a side note, her visit to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon earlier this summer gave me the interesting tidbit that she had been close friends with John Steinbeck). She may not be at her peak – anyone who has not seen her on The Mary Tyler Moore Show really needs to go back and watch – but she's still good enough to rank on this list.

7) The Women of Happy Endings
I suppose I am cheating a bit by including three casts of shows on the list but I think it actually says a lot about the strength of comedic female actresses on TV today that were I do break them down individually I'd need to do a top 20 or so to be fair. While Elisha Cuthbert is funny enough, the two real standouts on Endings are Casey Wilson and Eliza Coupe, both of whom get crazy mileage out of somewhat stock characters. Coupe is one of the top women on TV that most people don't know, her standout work on this show was preceded by a great two season stint on Scrubs.

6) The Women of Cougar Town
Courteney Cox and Busy Philips get most of the love from the media, and both are quite good, but I'd like to spend a minute or two talking about the wonderful talents of Christa Miller, perhaps the funniest sarcastic bitch on network TV right now. Sure, she cares about her friends and at times does nice things for them, but it always seems organic and never like they are trying to soften her oh-so-sharp exterior. Her skills are not new to television viewers as she excelled on Scrubs and then The Drew Carey Show before that.

5) The Women of Community
Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, and Yvette Nicole Brown make up the single most talented group of women working together on TV right now, each with their own skill set that allows them to score laughs - never at the expense of a castmate – while doing just about every style of comedy known to the world over the course of the show's two seasons.

4) Kristin Wiig
The most polarizing choice for the list, hand down; there seem to be a lot of Wiig haters out there, including one person who told me she was the least funny cast member in SNL history. Obviously I beg to differ as I think Wiig is incredibly funny, with a host of characters she finds ways to get laughs from even though Lorne Michaels has beat them into the ground. I think of her at times as a female Adam Sandler (what?!?!) in that she seems much more comfortable playing an over-the-top character than a regular person but has enough of those over-the-top folks in her repertoire to be the star of the show. Also because there were/are a lot of Sandler haters, too, and because her successful cross-over to the big screen has already begun.

3 Jane Lynch
Sue Sylvester is already a TV Hall of Fame Character and Glee only has two seasons under its belt, a testament to just how good Lynch is. She's as laugh out loud funny as anyone on this list and she makes Sue's every action seem in character, pulling us in for the rare emotional moment and then pushing us back out with a razor sharp barb. Lynch is no newcomer to the world of comedy but it's Glee that has made her a star, and in many ways vice-versa.

2) Amy Poehler
Poehler has always been a gifted sketch comedy performer, usually playing characters who are an extreme, as was Leslie when Parks and Recreation began, but this past season in particular her work jumped to the next level as we saw her show a flair for romantic comedy, however awkward it might have been. Leslie was always entertaining but in 2011 we got to see a much fuller picture of her, giving Poehler even more of a chance to shine.

1) Tina Fey
I mean, come on, you had to see this coming, right? Of course I am grouping her writing and her acting skills together as they are hard to separate when evaluating the brilliant job she does on 30 Rock. Fey is a rare talent, one who can write smart or dumb, who can get a laugh from wordplay, a throwaway visual, or a pop culture reference that is a risk because only a small percentage of the audience actually gets it. She tops this list and belong in the conversation for funniest people on TV.

And there you have it. Is it a perfect list? Of course not, if only because I came up with it in a few days. Use the comments section below to tell me who you think the funniest women on TV are.

Well You Hurt My Friends And You Hurt My Pride, I Gotta Be A Man, I Can't Let It Slide
Dwayne Johnson and Jerry Bruckheimer are teaming up to produce a drama set in the world of 1980's professional wrestling for NBC. Brent Fletcher (Spartacus: Blood and Sand) and Seamus Kevin Fahey are writing the pilot.

The Johnson – Bruckheimer combination certainly makes this much more likely to see the airwaves than some of the other pro wrestling dramas we've heard about over the last few years, and Fletcher has episodes of Lost, Friday Night Lights, and Angels on his writing resume, which is a pretty fantastic trio or credits, and not to be outdone, Fahey has written for Battlestar Galactica and Kings, so the potential for this project is high.

The story is apparently set in the early 80's, when wrestling was going from being a territorial business to one where Ted Turner and Vince McMahon did battle over a multi-million dollar industry. No word yet on how fictionalized the show will be or if actors will be playing real people; if the latter is the case I can see lots of current pros lining up to play the greats from the previous era.

It's got to be better than this, right?






When You Feel Lost And About To Give Up ‘Cause Your Life Just Ain't Good Enough
There were return and premiere dates announced by multiple networks this week so we thought we'd separate them from the notes to make your lives easier.

SYFY
*New series Paranormal Witness premieres September 7th.
*Returning with new seasons are Sanctuary (10/7), Scare Tactics (10/10), and Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files (10/17).
*Season finales include Eureka (9/19), Alphas (9/26), Haven (9/30) and a two hour Warehouse 13 (10/3).

TNT
*Final eight episodes of the current (4th) season of Leverage air beginning 11/27
*Five more episodes of The Closer air beginning 11/28 (season/series finale is in summer of 2012)
*The final five episodes of Rizzoli & Isles second season air beginning 11/28
*The 10 episode 4th season of Southland premieres January 17th.

The network also revealed the schedule for their new TNT Mystery Movie Night series

*Scot Turow's Innocent (11/29) – adaptation of Turow's sequel to Presumed Innocent, starring Bill Pullman, Alfred Molina, and Richard Schiff,

*Ricochet (11/30) – adaptation of NY Times Best Seller by Sandra Brown, starring John Corbett, Gary Cole, and Julie Benz.

*Hide (12/6) – adaptation of Lisa Gardner novel, starring Carla Gugino, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, and Kevin Alejandro.

*Silent Witness (12/7) – adaptation of Richard North Patterson best seller, starring Dermot Mulroney.

*Good Morning, Killer (12/13) – adaptation of April Smith novel, starring Catherine Bell and Cole Hauser.

*Deck the Halls (12/20) – adaptation of Mary Higgins-Clark and Carol Clark's best seller, starring Kathy Najimy, Scottie Thompson, and Jane Alexander.

USA
*Returning to finish up their current seasons will be Covert Affairs (11/1), Burn Notice (11/8) and White Collar (January, 2012).

Lifetime
The network's original movie premieres for October are as follows…

*The Hunt for the I-5 Killer (10/2) – adaptation of Ann Rule's book about the real life search for a serial killer, starring John Corbett and Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries).

*Girl Fight (10/3) – based on real life story of a high school student dealing with being bullied, starring Anne Heche and James Tupper (Grey's Anatomy).

*Five (10/10) – anthology of short films about people dealing with cancer, with segments directed by Jennifer Anniston, Demi Moore, Alicia Keys, and Penelope Spheris, and starring Patricia Clarkson, Josh Holloway, Jennifer Morrison, Gennifer Goodwin, Tony Shalhoub, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Jeffery Tambour, Annie Potts, Bob Newhart, and Rosario Dawson.

*We Have Your Husband (10/17) - based on the true story of a kidnapping in Mexico, starring Teri Polo and Esai Morales.

*Possessing Piper Rose (10/24) – about a couple trying to adopt a child, starring Rebecca Romijn and David Cubitt (Medium).

*Iris Johnson's The Killing Game (10/31) – adaptation of Johnson's novel, starring Laura Prepon and Naomi Judd.

Sunny Day, Sweepin' The Clouds Away, On My Way To Where The Air Is Sweet
The Sesame Street video of the week…





But You Were Up To Your Old Tricks In Chapters Four Five And Six
All you need to know about the Nielsen's for the past 7 days…

THURSDAY
Fox's pre-season NFL coverage won the night in totals and demos…Jersey Shore was up from last week in total viewers, with its 7.4 million strong audience being far and away the most watched cable program of the night and it finished behind only Big Brother in terms of non-sports programs. It dominated in MTV's target 12 -34 demos (AGAIN), also up from last week…Project Runway was up 11% from last week to hit a season high in total viewers and in demos…

SUNDAY
NBC's Sunday Night Football won the night in totals and demos…Big Brother tied season highs in totals and demos...The ABC News special The Sixth Sense: Letters from the Grave was a huge success for the network, their most watched non-sports broadcast of the summer…

MONDAY
A two hour Hell's Kitchen won the night (and both timeslots) in demos…The Bears-Giants Monday Night Football matchup was the third most watched pre-season game on ESPN in the last five years. Overall MNF's pre-season is up from last year…

TUESDAY
AGT was up 11% in the demos and 12% in total viewers to be the night's top show in both categories…It's Worth What ran even with last week, as did Take the Money and Run and Combat Hospital…

WEDNESDAY
The premiere of Fox's Buried Treasure finished last at 8pm...Big Brother dropped 10% and tied AGT for the demo win for the night...NBC was up across the board, with Minute to Win It (+15%), AGT (+12%) and an SVU rerun (+14%) showing double digit timeslot gains...

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Jimmy Fallon will host Saturday Night Live on December 17th, with Michael Buble as the musical guest…Fox has picked up a 13 episode second season of Breaking In to air in early 2012. It was a surprise when the show was not on the network's fall lineup but Fox did renew their option on the cast and have pulled the trigger on a renewal…Ryan Reynolds' production company landed a pilot at Fox; Guidance stars Tyler Labine as a high school guidance counselor and was written by Tim Dowling (Just Go With It, Role Models)…Fox was actually quite busy, ordering pilots for Stranger Planet (from Chuck executive producer Matthew Miller, it's a procedural with aliens and some comedy mixed in), Untitled Gina Prince-Bythewood Project (drama about two female cops who work in LA and are the focus of a reality show), and El Jefe (from the creators of the TTTP fave Aliens in America, about a 30 year old guy who gets kicked out of his parents house and moves in with the cleaning lady and her family)…Andrea Parker and Miguel Ferrer will do multiple episodes on the upcoming final season of Desperate Housewives, the former as a love interest for Tom Scavo…TLC announced the current season of LA Ink would be the show's last…Steve Harvey is the latest to throw his hat into the daytime talk show ring, with a syndicated show being discussed for the fall of 2012 where the comedian talks with couples about their relationships…Katie Couric's new ABC daytime talk show will be called Katie…Sheldon Turner, nominated for an Oscar for co-writing Up in the Air, is developing a pilot for ABC; Hyde is a spin on Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde, set in modern times and focusing on a Doctor who uses experimental treatments on himself only to discover the side effects…Shawn Ryan (The Shield, Lie to Me, Terriers) is quite busy; he sold a procedural pilot to CBS last week and now he's got a new project with ABC; The Last Resort is set in the not-so-distant future where wars have caused the country to splinter off into various groups and a submarine with nuclear weapons that refused to fire them sets up camp on an island and declares itself a new nation…Versus is taking advantage of becoming the NBC Sports Network by launching a weekly show featuring footage from NFL Films; NFL Turning Point will air on Thursdays and be a behind the scenes look at two different games that took place the previous week…Ross Matthews has signed a big deal with E! that includes the development of a talk show…The Day the Laughter Stopped is an HBO film in development about the life of silent comedian Fatty Arbuckle. Barry Levinson is set to direct, with Emmy winner Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) playing the lead…Eric Close and Lily Rabe are the latest to join the cast of FX's upcoming American Horror Story…Actors cast in recurring roles this week include Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica) on TNT's upcoming Perception, Jay Mohr on Prime Suspect, Kristin Lehman (The Killing) on Castle, Tricia Helfer on The Firm, and Isaiah Mustafa on Charlie's Angels…The Glam Fairy is a Jerseylicious spinoff with a 10 episode first season that debuts in October…Debbie Allen will play Jackson's Mom on an episode of Grey's Anatomy and will also handle directing duties on another episode…YouTube star Stevie Ryan got a 10 episode order of Stevie TV from VH-1, a pop culture week in review series. This is the network's first since they royally screwed the pooch by fixing what was so clearly not broken with Best Week Ever and killing the show…NCIS & NCIS: LA showrunner Shane Brennan has two new pilots with CBS: King & Maxwell is an adaptation of the David Baldacci novel about two former secret service agents who work as private eyes and Cure, about a team of Doctors who travel the globe working on strange cases. The team is funded by a billionaire trying to find a cure for his son's rare and terminal illness…Fox passed on Little in Common for their fall lineup but is reshooting the pilot with the potential of the comedy making it on the air in the spring. Rob Corddry stars along with the newly cast Heather Graham as parents who move into a new neighborhood in the suburbs and find out how different their neighbors are when it comes to raising their kids…While I come up with a Bones Meets World joke I thought I'd tell you that Ben Savage will guest on Bones this fall…

Turns Out Not Where But Who You're With That Really Matters
(The Best Thing I've Watched in the last 14 days aka The Best of What's Around)…
I can't believe I'm saying this, and with the new season coming in September I might change my mind, but right now I really feel that Louie is the best comedy series of 2011. The first season was good but there was no indication that there was leap like this coming, going from funny with some quality dark moments to something approaching – and at time reaching – brilliance.

The Subway/Pamela episode was the best thing the show has ever done and is, to me, the best half hour of comedy that 2011 has produced. The first, wordless segment seemed more like jazz than television and approached the level of art; yes, art is a noun, not an adjective, but most people use it as the latter and there are times when it is appropriate that way, as is the case here. The homeless man's bath played up against the violin player was a wonderful visual, and Louie's subway hero fantasy was as great as it was small in scale.

The highlight of the episode came in Louie's declaration of love to Pamela, as well written – and realistically written – as any I can think of in recent memory. It rang so true on so many levels that you so wanted her to say something other than what you knew rationally she would, which is that she did not feel the same way. In real life there is no prom video to put on to make someone realize she's your lobster, and while the fantasy is good sometimes, it's real life that hits you harder. Him missing the ever-so-slight opening at the end was a wonderful comedic punch line to the segment

Louis C.K. has always been funny but this season his acting skills have got through the atmosphere, displaying a knack for emotion I was unaware he had, and showing he could get laughs in ways other than simply saying something funny, which is a skill. There is no one performing at his level in the world of television comedy right now, and since he is the main creative force behind the show, Louie is as good as it gets.

People Say I'm Crazy Doing What I'm Doing. Well, They Give Me All Kinds Of Warnings To Save Me From Ruin
What's flashed before my eyes the last seven days…Another week, another hour that deepens my love for Suits. Eric Close is one of my favorite TV actors and he was great in his guest role, one I hope that reoccurs down the line. I do think that Harvey should lose a case during this first season, or at least have a case of the week that in some way does not end in his favor. I know he's good but everyone loses sometime…I know I said I wanted The Great Food Truck Race to mix it up a bit from their first season but the whole wheel of doom thing is a bit gimmicky to me (Ole Anderson, call your lawyer!). I am enjoying the first two episodes but don't need this level of bells and whistles…Torn over which was the best line on Breaking Bad this week; "I am the danger…I am the one knocking" or "someone needs to protect this family from the man protecting this family." I know I raved about Anna Gunn last week but there is no doubt she is one of the most consistent dramatic performers working in series television right now…I have been a Flipping Out fan since the first episode but this season might be the best one yet, with a solid focus on the work making the personality stuff seem less forced and much more entertaining…Monday's episode of The Closer was the best of the season, with some great work from Raymond Cruz plus a final scene that told us what the focus of the show would be for the next few weeks (at least)…I greatly enjoyed the end of The Glee Project, happy that Damian was a winner and thrilled that all four finalists got something out of it. There's no reason why there can't be a no-losers reality competition show finale, especially since Glee is going to have new characters come and go over the course of the season so why not use some of the non-first place finishers to fill those roles, especially since it gives you the chance to find out if you made a mistake by not naming them the winner…

TV Pick Of The Week
The MTV Video Awards are always a great 3+ hour crash course in pop culture, a fantastic way to find out what the kids are listening to as well as to finally understand some of the references being made by the cool crowd at work. The festivities kick off with an official pre-show, hosted by Selena Gomez, and then at 9:00 the show begins with a performance from Lady Gaga.

Others scheduled to perform include Bruno Mars, Adele, Chris Brown Lil Wayne, and Young the Giant.

Stay tuned after for a sneak preview of the new comedy series I Just Want My Pants Back. The romantic comedy from Doug Liman won't be on the air for real until later in the fall but this airing of the pilot is a good way to generate buzz.

Don't miss the MTV Movie Awards, Sunday at 9pm.

Hope You Need My Love, Babe, Just Like I Need You
Other viewing options from the next seven days…

*Coverage of the PGA Tour Golf Playoffs airs today at 3 on Golf Channel before shifting to CBS for Saturday (3pm) and Sunday (2pm).

*Lots of pre-season NFL games in primetime this weekend, with Packers – Colts on CBS tonight at 8pm, followed by Patriots – Lions on the same network in the same timeslot on Saturday. Sunday NBC has Saints – Raiders at 8pm.

*Toy Story airs on ABC Family this Saturday at 8pm. Never a bad excuse to watch Toy Story. Never.

*With all the publicity about the release of the Memphis 3 HBO has decided to re-air the first two installments of the Paradise Lost trilogy, with Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills set for Monday at 5pm and Paradise Lost 2 running Tuesday at 5:45pm. The first of these two won an Emmy and a Peabody and the second was Emmy nominated as well.

*I don't know much about the new Food series Crave (premiering Monday at 8:30pm) but the ads look pretty interesting and I do like food.

*Death Valley (Monday, 10:30pm, MTV) is a new comedy about LA cops who do battle with zombies.

*Chopped Champions (Tuesday, 10pm, Food) brings back 16 Chopped winners in a tournament to determine the best of the best.

*USA's Royal Pains signs off for the summer this Wednesday at 9pm, while TV Land's Hot in Cleveland brings it's current season to a close 10pm.

Two Tivos To Paradise
24 Restaurant Battle, 30 Rock, After the Catch, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Archer, Auction Hunters, Awkward, The Big C, Boardwalk Empire, Being Human, Bones, Bored To Death, Breaking Bad, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, Chopped, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Cougar Town, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, Entourage, Eureka, Fact or Faked, Falling Skies, Fairly Legal, Flipping Out, Food Feuds, Food Network Challenge, Food Network Star, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Glee, Gossip Girl, Great Food Truck Race, Grey's Anatomy, Happy Endings, Haunted Treasure, Hawaii 5-0, Hollywood Treasure, House, How I Met Your Mother, How To Make It In America, Hung, If You Really Knew Me, Iron Chef America, Justified, Kate Plus 8, The Killing, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Louie, Mad Men, Man v. Food Nation, The Middle, Mike and Molly, Modern Family, Necessary Roughness, Next Great American Restaurant, Next Iron Chef, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, The Office, One Tree Hill, Parks & Recreation, Private Practice, Project Runway, Psych, Raising Hope, Real Time With Bill Maher, Rescue Me, Restaurant Impossible, Rocco's Dinner Party, Royal Pains, Rules Of Engagement, Sanctuary, Saturday Night Live, Shear Genius, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, Suits, Supernatural, Table For 12, Top Chef, Top Chef Just Desserts, Top Chef: Masters, Top Design, Torchwood, Tosh.0, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, The Voice, The Walking Dead, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Wilfred, Worst Cooks In America,

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another Two Tivos To Paradise.





We'll be back next week with all the latest TV headlines plus a guide to the Labor Day Weekend marathons. Fingers crossed for those of you living in areas possible effected by Irene this weekend; be safe, my friends.


Sources for this week's column include Daily Variety, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and Hollywood Reporter (plus the web sites for those publications) as well as Aintit.cool.com, TVline.com & Deadline.com.