After a long legal battle, the NYC Education Department released individual performance rankings of 18,000 public school teachers yesterday. The data came with a particular caveat to media: “The purpose of these reports is not to look at any individual score in isolation ever,” said the DOE's chief academic officer, Shael Polakow-Suransky. “No principal would ever make a decision on this score alone and we would never invite anyone—parents, reporters, principals, teachers—to draw a conclusion based on this score alone.” And of course, that's exactly what the local dailies have been doing. But at least one fun piece of pop culture trivia was revisited because of it: one of those teachers was the inspiration for a character on The Simpsons! And based on the data, he's a terrible teacher. more ›

What good is money if it can’t inspire terror in your fellow man? It seems that a cast money dispute might halt production of new episodes of the The Simpsons, the longest-running primetime TV series, after the current 23rd season wraps up next spring. And you'll either think this is a merciful development, or the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. more ›

So, how 'bout those commercials? USA Today has a ranking of all the Super Bowl ads, which places the Snickers commercial featuring Betty White in the #1 slot. A bit further down, that car commercial that's narrated by Michael C. Hall, has Noah Kalina staring into a camera again and lets women across America know their husbands f*cking HATE THEM and just want to drive their Dodges, baby... placed #23; the Simpsons shilling for Coca-Cola comes in at #30; and the Christian group's (actually not all that controversial) anti-abortion commercial placed #54. You can watch all 63 commercials there, or at CBS. more ›

As a child of Hollywood, Harry Shearer portrayed the original Eddie Haskell on Leave It To Beaver, appeared in Abbott & Costello Go To Mars, and after a stint at Harvard, eventually wound up on Saturday Night Live, where you can spot him in that legendary synchronized swimming sketch with Martin Short. Many know him as the bassist in Spinal Tap; others recognize his voice from The Simpsons, where he portrays characters such as Montgomery Burns, Ned Flanders, Kent Brockman and Otto. Since the '60s, Shearer has also hosted a popular music/comedy program called Le Show on Santa Monica's NPR-affiliated radio station. more ›

At the 1968 Democratic Convention, anti-war activists were denied permits to demonstrate by the city and spent most of the week getting their skulls cracked courtesy of the Chicago Police Department, witnessed by a television audience of over 50 million. A year later, eight of the most high profile radicals – guys like Abbie Hoffman and the Black Panthers' Bobby Seale – were tried on charges of conspiracy and inciting riots. The courtroom was a circus, with Seale gagged to silence his outbursts and ultimately sentenced to four years for contempt, while testimony from counterculture icons such as Phil Ochs, Arlo Guthrie, Norman Mailer and Timothy Leary drew massive crowds for the National Guard to disperse. more ›

At this point, it's hard to tell whether Ed Begley, Jr. is more famous for his decades of acting or his decades of environmentalism. Sure, he's logged over 200 appearances on stage, film and television, including his Emmy-winning breakout role on St. Elsewhere and his priceless turn on Arrested Development. But his funniest performance is arguably his self-effacing cameo as a hardcore green activist in the classic 1999 Simpsons episode "Homer to the Max", in which he's shown driving a nonpolluting go-cart powered by his "own sense of self-satisfaction." Off screen, he's embraced this role of ardent environmentalist with an infectious positivity and seemingly tireless commitment to reducing his own impact on an increasingly injured ecosystem. The many green improvements to his largely solar powered, energy efficient home have been documented in the amusing and informative reality show Living With Ed, and now a newly published book offers a wide range of changes readers can implement to make their lifestyles more sustainable. Called Living Like Ed, it's as inspiring as it is handy, and Begley will be at the Strand bookstore at 7pm tonight for a reading and book signing organized by Environmental Defense. more ›

Don't have a Valentine's Day card yet? Print out this page, cut out the cards and give it to yourself! You can also download EPS versions of these Valentine's Day cards immortalized on the Simpsons' episode, I Love Lisa, at deconcept. more ›

After the Humane Society revealed a tape of mistreatment of cows at the nation's "No. 2 supplier of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program," burgers and other beef products were temporarily yanked off NYC schools' menus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had put an "administrative hold" on all products from Hallmark Meat Packing Packing in Chino, CA and asked all schools to stop using products from Westland/Hallmark Meat. more ›

FOOD: Trestle on Tenth, the “homey joins hearty” Swiss-inflected restaurant that takes its name from its proximity to the High Line and the avenue where it’s found, kicks off a special five-night series called “metzgete.” The Swiss tradition loosely translates to “butchers affair” and arises from the practice of salvaging every scrap of pig after the winter slaughter – “especially those parts that would or could not be dried, smoked or pickled for later consumption.” The $24 Trestle plate will include everything from braised belly to homemade bratwurst to liver and blood sausages. – John Del Signore more ›

If you are as big a fan of reality shows as we are, Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WNYW 5) is very welcome. Thanks to the WGA strike, there will be only eight episodes, but still this looks like an action packed romp based on the popular film series. more ›

In 2006 Brooklyn photographer Noah Kalina had a lot of eyes on him. After posting a video online containing a photograph of himself taken each day for six years, he went down in viral video history. That video, called "everyday," was scored to original music by his ex-girlfriend Carly Comando, and both have the world's attention again after The Simpsons parodied it a couple of weeks ago. If you are one of the few who haven't seen the original, you can do so here. This Friday marks the 8th year he'll be taking a photograph of himself every day! And today Jen Bekman is offering one of Kalina's prints for sale through her 20x200 website. more ›

MOVIE: MoMA is currently running a retrospective on Joan Blondell, titled The Bombshell from Ninety-first Street. Trace the metamorphosis of the Manhattan-born actress from a young blonde bombshell to...a blonde bombshell in more mature roles! Tonight you can catch her in Blondie Johnson (1933) and Nightmare Alley (1947). more ›

There's something to be said for pausing in the fast-paced environment of New York to truly capture the essence of our city. On the other hand, speeding things up can really give one some perspective on the dynamics of New York. Below is a time-lapse video taken between September 1, 2006 and August 31, 2007. It's of Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan looking east to west, and the video features 4,385 individual photographs taken from a stationary elevated position once every two hours for 365 days. more ›

Did your commute feel more like Springfield than New York today? If you're out and about than you'll likely run into the Simpson-izing of Manhattan! Too bad we don't have a monorail here. more ›

Last night television created a new internet superstar (though we're sure they won't make any money off this whole internet thing), when Homer Simpson paid homage to Brooklyn's own Noah Kalina. You can watch the original video here, and Homer's below. more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

The season really gets underway this week so a lot of old favorites like The Simpsons, Heroes, and Boston Legal (along with some that shouldn’t be like The Batchelor) are back so you do know what to expect with them. more ›

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So you've gone to the Kwik-E-Mart and gotten into a Springfield state of mind, now we're going to keep you there with some free Simpsons Movie stuff! more ›

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Last week everyone nerded out by creating their Simpsons characters. This week have some Springfield-style 3-dimensional fun by visiting the Kwik-E-Mart! more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

Sonic Youth are performing their 1988 album "Daydream Nation" in its entirety this summer at McCarren Park Pool. Don't want to spend $34 + fees for a ticket? Don't worry, we have you covered. more ›

Alex Borstein is a familiar face, and voice, to fans of comedy. Known for her five year run as a cast member on Mad TV and her portrayal of Lois on Family Guy, Borstein is also an accomplished comedian who will be making a stop at Comix on May 11th through 12th. more ›

Last Thursday, all of the stations covered the tragic fire in the Bronx quite well and took the opportunity for some refreshers on basic fire safety. As expected, WCBS went way overboard creating a whole special set of graphics for the station’s coverage, complete with new lower thirds that used a different font which were ready by Thursday’s 5 p.m. newscast. For 6 p.m., CBS 2 needlessly sent anchor Jim Rosenfeld to the scene, as they tend to do with most big stories. more ›

The city's Department of Investigation revealed that 14 current city firefighters have used fake college diplomas bought online to get ahead in the FDNY. And for three of them, it worked, making their way to positions like Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief! In the FDNY, you need at least 15 college credits to be hired and more to be promoted (ten of the other eleven fake-diploma-holders eventually got enough credit later on to be legitimately hired or promoted). more ›