New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day are the Hallmark of Hollywood productions—rom coms centered around holidays in which ensemble casts play out their microscopic plotlines which somehow generate lots and lots of manufactured feelings. They're totally manipulative! And lucrative. And now they've got some competition from the folks at 30 Rock, where on the show Jenna Maroney is starring in Martin Luther King Day. Check out the trailer, where you'll also spot: Nick Cannon, Emma Stone, Andy Samberg, Liam Neeson, Kristen Bell, R2D2, John Krasinski, Hugh Grant, and so many more. What, no Ashton Kutcher? more ›

If you watch Portlandia, you've probably seen some parallels between the Oregon-centric show and our very own, precious Brooklyn. And now Brokelyn has started their own series, called Brokelandia, which brings us a Brooklyn-based version of the IFC show. The first one, below, is all about the food, with the characters discussing the borough's finer dining experiences—from Do or Dine's fois gras doughnut, to Dun-Well Doughnuts vegan faux gras doughnut ("I thought it needed more meat"), to that pumpkin off of Steve Buscemi's stoop. more ›

In a world where the Ghostbusters have apparently branched out to other cities and towns, hiring more and more 'Busters to fight the good fight, things get competitive. And young Wendy here, who was continuously crossing her streams, eventually got fired. What's her next move? We won't spoil anything, but nothing good ever happens when Gary Jules's "Mad World" is in the soundtrack... more ›

Are you not finding what you're looking for on OK Cupid? Enter: Craigslist. You already use it to find a new roommate, or even a new couch. But how about that special someone to share the upcoming hibernation season with? Maybe it's time to double down and just admit that you're "already dead inside." more ›

Off-Broadway, what will they think of next? First there was an Evil Dead musical spoof, and now, fava-bean-and-human-flesh-loving Hannibal Lector is getting thrown into the spotlight in a new show called Silence! The Musical. more ›

First the NY Times had to publish a correction about misstated references to The Hobbit, and now it's getting pilloried in parody form at The Final Edition, whose lead story is the demise of The Grey Lady ("THE NEW YORK TIMES, WORLD'S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD, CLOSES ITS DOORS FOREVER" and how the Times building is on fire "Owners May Have 'Torched' Building for Insurance Money"). There are also stories about canine date rape, NJ Governor Christie exploding, and even the Second Avenue Subway Bike Lane : more ›

Do you miss Mad Men already? Well, the folks over at The Poke have merged the television show's characters with the Roger Hargreaves-designed "Mr. Men" (remember them?). Who knows why, but it's amazing, and there's even an entire Mr. Sterling Gets Angry story. [via Arts Beat] more ›

Last night we got this press release about a proposed alternative to the "Ground Zero" mosque. It seems an "international architectural firm is proposing a Terrorist Motel" to replace the controversial mosque, and the release goes on to say that the design team of "Mohammed Borges, Ali Lewis and Abdul Clark" (eh?) want to build "a labyrinth of man-made caves, a state-of-the-art training facility, a library of clandestine training manuals, designated storage areas for ammunition, and dirt cheap accommodations for international terrorists and drug smugglers." As far as modest proposals go, it's actually not very funny at all, and we can't tell if it's meant to be offensive or just an ironic parody of Islamophobia. But the rendering is pretty slick. more ›

Want to know what it's like on an average day at Hook & Ladder 8? Here's a cute parody, complete with "Who You Gonna Call?" mugs, tourists asking to slide down the poll, and a cameo by the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! more ›

Are you ready for the longest 4 minutes and 27 seconds of your life? These Staten Island girls decided to take on Katy Perry's summer hit "California Gurls" with, yes, "Staten Island Girls." It's almost exactly the same amount of annoying as the original song, but with an extra piercing dose of that accent. The bronzed brain behind the video is 19-year-old Tara Mooney, who SI Live says "sings about the disreputable and comically- exaggerated lifestyles of some youths on the borough... like cosmetics, fashion, prescription drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, brawls at the Staten Island Mall and fist-pumping." more ›

The same group that brought you these signs has been stocking stores with parody products this weekend. TrustoCorp has been installing around 100 of their uniquely branded products throughout the city... from bodegas to Kmart. If you spot one, see what happens if you try to purchase it! [via Super Punch] more ›

Yes Men co-founder Andy Bichlbaum was arrested this morning while demonstrating one of the group's post-apocalyptic SurvivaBalls, described as "a self-contained living system—truly, a gated community for one. If you have a SurvivaBall, even if everyone else is dying, at least you can weather all storms." A spokesperson tells us that Bichlbaum was at Stuy Cove Park, just north of East 20th Street on the East River, wearing a SurvivaBall along with twenty others similarly ensconced. There were about 40 spectators, and so the NYPD, acting on NYC's unconstitutional parade permit law, arrived to break up the citizens' peaceful assembly. more ›

Oh no, man! According to witnesses, this morning the NYPD detained several volunteers working with the Yes Men to distribute the hoax edition of the New York Post. Photographer Jason Nicholas was at the scene outside News Corp., the Post headquarters, when he observed cops detaining three volunteers who had been handing out copies. more ›

After last November's fake New York Times treatment, lefty political pranksters The Yes Men are back with a fake "Special Climate Edition" of the New York Post. The front page story, "WE'RE SCREWED," covers, in Bizarro-world Post fashion, the catastrophic events which the scientific community expects humanity to endure due to climate change. You can read it all online here, but the culture jammers have also distributed 1 million copies of the print edition city-wide. more ›

This generation's obsession with instant nostalgia and visually documenting every part of their daily lives serves as the punchline in this Onion News Network piece. In the story, an NYU dorm is set ablaze during a party, and "after examining the evidence from the 25 iPhones, 15 Blackberries, 10 video cameras and 40 digital cameras obtained from the students who attended the party" the entire event was reconstructed, placing blame on chain smoking 22-year-old Danny Gordon. more ›

Okay, so this isn't the real Dov Charney, but we're going to assume it's pretty close. The parody was written and directed by UCB's Todd Bieber—be sure to watch the whole video for whispered lexical gems like, "I want you to know that you can trust me, okay?" more ›

A reader sent along these photos from the E train, saying, "I am sure that they are fakes and that they are making fun of the current Keep it Going NYC campaign." We asked an NYC Transit spokesman if they were fakes, to which he replied, "I have no idea." Smells like a renegade campaign to us! And unlike the KeepNewYorkMoving ad campaign, it's not asking Albany for funding, but criticizing both Governor Paterson for his budget cuts and the MTA for its proposed fare hikes and service cuts. more ›

Watchmen hasn't been getting the best reviews, but Slate thinks it could be worse. What if Woody Allen directed it! Allen's would be set on the UWS, of course, and the site imagines a romantic comedy "where wealthy dermatologist Dr. Herbert Manhattan (Allen) suffers a freak accident with his dermabrasion machine. How will his blue skin and omnipotence affect his relationship with beautiful but scatterbrained silk importer Laurie Juspeczyk (Scarlett Johansson)?" Other what-if scenarios include the bromance-obsessed Judd Apatow, Quentin Tarantino, Tyler Perry, Sofia Coppola and Pedro Almodóvar—but who else would(n't) you like to see reinterpret it? How about a Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan directed Bollywood take on the comic? A Dr. Mumbai dance number may be just what this movie needs. more ›

Remember how last month we all had fun hating that "support group" Dating a Banker Anonymous [DABA], created by and for materialistic ladies freaking out about their suddenly penurious boyfriends? And then, after a NY Times article about the women led to an immediate book deal for the DABA co-founders—swiftly followed by talk of a movie and TV deal—we all gagged on our own bile? Well, as previously suspected, the whole thing was just a satirical put-on—there never was any support group, just a blog—and the Paper of Record has just issued a mea culpa, almost four weeks after the article was originally published:

An article on Jan. 28 about women who commiserated over dating Wall Street bankers caught in the financial crisis described a group they had formed, Dating a Banker Anonymous, as a support group. That is the name of their blog. Its creators originally told The Times that about 30 women had participated, but since publication, they have said that all involved were friends. Laney Crowell, one of the women who started the blog, said in the article that it was “very tongue in cheek;” she has since described it as a satire that embellishes true experiences for effect. Had the nature of the blog been made clear at the outset, the article would have described it accordingly, not as a support group.

Finally someone has parodied the New York Times Weekender ad. You know the one ("It's like you get the Friday paper, and boom you're right into the weekend!"). Behold the all-star ensemble cast starring in Michael Showalter's version, created for the 92YTribeca. Spoiler: Mike Birbiglia's illiterate! more ›

The NY Sun reports on a 4-page parody ad for "Sucker City" that runs in the latest issue of MAD Magazine. Circuit City was displeased to find the spread, which "pokes fun at high prices, the breaking of promises found in advertisements, and the employees who save sold-out merchandise for friends." Reportedly a "humor-impaired" employee ordered that all magazines be removed from Circuit City newsstands...yeah, don't worry, MAD's editor-in-chief was equally confused, saying, "We at MAD were shocked and confused by this entire incident — mainly because we had no idea Circuit City even sells magazines." After their removal, the issues were then ordered to be destroyed. That order has now been reversed, and the company has apologized to the magazine. more ›

Grand Theft Auto gets an '80s redux (heroin for 20 bucks back then seems a little unrealistic, however). If you ever wondered what the game would have looked like on the original NES, this one's for you: more ›

The specialty beverage industry – particularly Smart Water – is now the recipient of a clever parody from Brooklyn designer/photographer Till Krautkramer, who’s rolled out an elaborate marketing campaign for a line of beverages called MeatWater. The website proudly declares that the drink uses “only the finest protein” for such “High Efficiency Survival Beverages” as Dirty Hot Dog, “an authentic taste of the Big Apple you can sip through a straw!” and Italian Sausage:

Mangia! You’ll feel like youse is at da famous San Gennaro festival in New Yawk’s Little Italy after drinkin’ dis. But widdout the annoying bridge-and-tunnel crowds askin’ “How much is doze zeppoles? Tree fuh a dollah? I’ll take tree.”