Oy. As the debate about Michael Richards, aka Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld, and his racist rant at comedy club hecklers continues, it now turns out that he may have had a run-in with comedy club patrons - and went off in an anti-Semitic rant at that time! TMZ.com spoke to a couple who says Richards went berserk while, yes,being heckled at LA's The Improv. Carol Oschin said, "Michael Richards said, 'You're a f---ing Jew.' Your people are the cause of Jesus dying."
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Results tagged “virginiaheffernan”
Kramer Kraziness Kontinues
Upfront and Personal
Even though the network media upfronts don't mean anything - except to advertisers - because schedules can be shuffled and shows killed between now and fall, Gothamist is still excited, because it's about hope (Tina Fey's new show to be good, Veronica Mars to be picked up) and new seasons of shows we love (The Office, My Name is Earl...and, heck, we can't help but watch Grey's Anatomy). Anyway, there are a lot of NYC-set shows coming in the fall season; NBC has Kidnapped and The Black Donnellys. Things we're wondering about:
Project Jay Tonight!
No one needed any more reasons to watch Project Jay, the one hour special about the season one winner of Project Runway, Jay McCarroll, but after reading Virginia Heffernan's assessment in the Times, we Can. Not. Wait. Saying that if he were better-looking, he'd be stupid and die of AIDS? His disdainful family and Heidi Klum's pregnancy-induced indecisiveness? Just living in Park Slope? And that hat is so great. Oh, Jay, we miss you from this season. The best two hours of TV tonight is from 10PM-midnight on Bravo - Project Runway reunion followed by Project Jay.
Law & Order Takes on the Food World
Plus, it had Wendie Malick as the defense attorney. The debate about celebrity chefs makes Gothamist think about the talk at the Museum of Radio & Television with cookbook authors and TV personalities Jeff Steingarten, Mario Batali, Alton Brown and Giada DeLaurentiis. Dan Dickinson reports that the talk got ugly, with Steingarten complaining that the TV personalities had an unfair advantage because they had TV shows. We wish we had seen it.
Ritalin Reading Tonight
We don't often talk about readings on this site because, well, readings are generally kind of boring. Seriously, you can comment all you want about how they're not but we probably won't even read your comments because comments about readings are even more boring. Enter super fast reading series. We're pretty sure the last Ritalin Reading was last June, so we'll give you a refresher. 6 readers, 4 minute readings, 24 minutes of your time and invaluable love advice to last you forevermore (love advice given to you by bloggers and comedians, hmmm.)
Second Season of Da Ali G Show
The Post's Linda Stasi says, the show is "Brilliant, original, horrifying, cringe-making, hilarious." You can see Da Ali G show on Sunday at 10:30PM on HBO, after the Marky-Mark produced Entourage (which has been getting great reviews) at 10PM. [Of course, there's Six Feet Under at 9PM; if you're been missing out, read Gothamist Arts & Events' recaps.] To catch up, watch some video from the first season and check out Da Ali G glossary.
Everyday People on HBO
Everyday People was written and directed by Jim McKay, who also made the fantastic Girls Town about three young female juvenile delinquents.
NYPD 24/7 Premieres Tonight
In limbo that is summer television programming (yes, there are new shows, but what are the chances of another The O.C.?), Gothamist is excited about the documentary series, NYPD 24/7, which tracks Manhattan detectives and police officers through murder investigations, undercover stings, and terror scares - the real work that inspires shows like Law & Order and NYPD Blue. The show took 16 months to shoot, and is distilled into 7 episodes, Tuesday at 10PM. Virginia Heffernan's review in the Times today mentions that tonight's episode revolves around an East Village murder and a subway suicide attempt. Gothamist thought we remembered our good friend Jayson Haedrich working on this show from last year (we'd ask for cop stories), and we were right - Jayson shot most of tonight's episode, which features Detective Stephen Di Schiavi, whose profile says, "I may be 40. But I feel 50, 60 years old sometimes."
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American Idol: Yes, We Had To Watch
The Times' Virginia Heffernan called it "a supremely satisfying night." Gothamist has to agree: Seeing Simon Cowell laugh at John Stevens' awkward body and singing during the medley (that just went on and on) was worth it.
Times Critics Pick the Best
It's Gothamist's second favorite Times Arts & Leisure feature of the year (after the Fall Preview, which, even though "Fall" is less of an event in film and TV, just seems to be an exciting way to ring in the best season), when all the critics give their favorites and hateds of the year. The film critics list their best, with Elvis Mitchell calling Pirates of the Caribbean his top movie (Merry Christmas, Jerry Bruckheimer), A.O. Scott naming Master and Commander his, and Stephen Holden picking Angels in America (technically a film made for cable, but considering its ten month shoot, $60 million price tag, and ultimate 6 hour running time, it's certainly an event, so why quibble?). Then the critics have a discussion about the worst things in movies this past year (roles for women, children's movies); Scott reveals that when critics tell their children some movies are bad, the consequences are dire: [Also Scott on the year in general and Dave Kehr on the Year of the Documetary.]
Behind the Comedy: SNL
The best thing about Virginia Heffernan's New Yorker profile of Tina Fey, besides feeding our Tina-Fey-starved minds, is the breakdown of the different comedy styles of SNL performers and writers:
Newlyweds: Like Taking Candy From a Baby
Newlyweds, the MTV reality show about Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey's new marriage, did not strike Gothamist as what we should be watching, but Virginia Heffernan's review in Slate tells us we are clearly missing out. Apparently Jessica Simpson doesn't know if tuna is chicken or fish (damn the marketing of "Chicken of the Sea") and Nick Lachey bitches about her to his stylist (a celebrity's best friend, it seems). Oh, and Simpson's idea of dealing with her laundry is throwing them from her balcony onto her foyer floor. Haha, Gothamist would imagine that even the laziest of celebrities would just stuff dirty clothes into a closet or something. Foyer - that means people coming into the house see it. Not that we're surprised, but Jessica Simpson is stupid.
Not the Dating Advice We Were Looking For But...
The title on Slate's main page for Virginia Heffernan's article was "How to date a has-been." Hoping for some tactical advice about relationships, Gothamist eagerly clicked through - only to see the piece was about E!'s plebe-gets-to-date-celebrity-of-yesterday show, Star Dates. Damn. But the article is pretty funny: Heffernan seems very protective of Fred Berry ("Hey hey hey!" Rerun from What's Happening! AND What's Happening Now!) and Jimmie Walker.
Actually, not a bad year for the Grammys
The Grammys are over and the winners now get to calling themselves "Grammy-winning." Remember, so is Christopher Cross (sorry, Christopher Cross, you're just too tempting a punchline). So is a deserving Lauryn Hill, but where are you these days Lauryn? We need you. Norah Jones was the big winner of the night, winning the most prestigious categories, Record, Song, and Album of the Year. Bruce Springsteen represented, winning three, and the Dixie Chicks, Eminem, and Coldplay all won two. Dixie Chicks co-producer Lloyd Maines looks exactly like daughter and lead singer Natalie Maines. Eminem gave a respectful acceptance speech, thanking the MCs who came before him. Coldplay gave an awesome rendition of "Politik" with the New York Philharmonic. But the best performance was "London Calling," the tribute to the late Joe Strummer, with Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, and Tony Kanal. There was a lot of making up: Mayor Bloomberg welcoming the Grammys back to New York after Giuliani's squabble with then NARAS head, Michael Greene. The Dixie Chicks pointedly thanked Sony after their contentious earlier fight. Of other interest: Jon Pareles on the many categories of the Grammys; more information about writer of Song of the Year, "Come Away with Me," Jesse Harris; and get thoughts of The Onion A.V. Club, one of the best arts sections around, on the best albums of 2001 and 2002, many of them ones that Grammys voters have never heard of. Virginia Heffernan called the night repressed, Ken Tucker mourns that the Boss didn't win more.
Awards Anticlimax
Tania and I had been discussing Dick Clark earlier today and I felt he was a consummate professional, infinitely smarter and classier than Nancy O'Dell and Lisa Ling during the pre-show...Virginia Heffernan agrees
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