Category Archives: TV

Mirza vs. Sharapova, 3:15 pm

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The Sania Mirza – Maria Sharapova match will be broadcast on CBS today after 3:15 pm (U.S. Eastern). Mirza’s last matchup of this caliber was against Serena Williams at the Australian Open. With Sharapova the #1 U.S. Open seed and #2 worldwide, Mirza is a classic underdog:

Sharapova didn’t seem too concerned about the occasion. She’s never seen Mirza play and doesn’t know anything about her. Though her father, Yuri, and hitting partner, Michael Joyce, have done some scouting, Sharapova said she’s unlikely to heed their advice. [Link]

Sharapova said she doesn’t know much about her opponent’s feisty personality or her game. (Note to Maria: Keep it away from Sania’s forehand.) Sharapova also can hit a pretty good forehand. When she strikes the ball with her racket, she puts an exclamation point on her velocity by making a screeching noise that resonates throughout Arthur Ashe Stadium. [Link]

The broadcasters have even gotten the memo on how to say Mirza’s name, though I heard ‘Mrrr-zuh’ a few times on Friday. The U.S. Open’s resident Eeyore mopes:

This first-time match up between two personality-laden and fiery youngsters could be a prelude to many great matches to come. Mirza owns one of the biggest forehands on the women’s tour… But Sania had bigger holes than Maria does: a mediocre first serve, questionable conditioning and movement and a general lack of decision-making. Sharapova has a much better serve, a more solid backhand and more experience in big matches.

The only way that Sania can win this match is if Maria has a very down day on her serve, because Mirza returns with incredible ferocity. Essentially, if Mirza zones early and often, she has a minor chance at an upset, but Sharapova will make mincemeat of Sania’s serves, own her from the backhand side and not give her a chance to breathe. [Link]
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Bhutanese Gothic

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Grinchness continues to cut its green swath across the subcontinent. First Pakistan and Afghanistan banned Indian films. Then, just a couple of months ago, the idyllic Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan banned Indian entertainment channels (via Desi Flavor):

Telecast of some Indian news and entertainment channels has been barred by cable operators in Bhutan, after local media labelled them as a threat to their cultural values, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday. “… the above decision was taken by the cable operators themselves, following a series of articles, which appeared in the media in Bhutan,” Reddy said. He said it was alleged in most of the articles that some of these channels were “culturally degrading and were undermining Bhutanese cultural values, besides distracting students from their studies…” [Link]

“Bhutanese kids… suddenly saw these big men [pro wrestlers] beating each other up on television,” he added. “They couldn’t understand it. There were several pained letters from kids saying ‘why are they doing this?’… “[Young people] want and need what they see on television – the fashion, the clothes, the whole changing lifestyle, going to bars, drinking,” Kinley Dorji said. “A lot of these ideas have come from television. And they want more now.”

Others, though, see the whole debate as largely irrelevant. They point out that the vast majority of Bhutan’s population – 70% – do not even have electricity, let alone television. [Link]

You’d think if Bhutan really cared about moral degeneracy, they’d ban public drunkenness and penis art. ‘Culturally degrading’ and ‘distracts from studies’ is kind of the whole point of watching TV. I’ll grant the argument if the Powers That Be take crappy reality shows off air. Leave Beauty and the Geek — that isn’t a reality show, it’s fantasy

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Pancholy and Talai make ‘Comebacks’

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Actors Maulik Pancholy (Raoul in Hitch) and Amir Talai (Legally Blonde 2) appear Wednesday night at 10:30pm ET on an episode of the HBO series The Comeback. This photo is on the front page of the show’s Web site right now.

The Comeback is a Lisa Kudrow show-within-a-show about a washed-up sitcom actor trying to land a role on something very much like Friends. I love these high-funda, Russian doll plots in theater, but on TV it’s usually an excuse for refried writing.

Some comments from Hollywood Masala (thanks, Kiran):

Amir and Maulik are on this weeks episode #9 on the HBO series. They will also be on episode #11 a couple of weeks later…

… Maulik appeared in the Sunday New York Times for a full page ad for ESPN…

[Pancholy] will also be seen in the off-off-Broadway play India Awaiting…

Pancholy’s been around the TV circuit with parts on Charmed, Felicity, Jack & Jill, Law & Order: CI and Weeds. Talai is Iranian-American (thanks, thalassamikra) and plays desi characters on both The Comeback and Gilmore Girls. Check out his photos on set — doesn’t his high forehead remind you of Bronson Pinchot?

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Back that spazz up (updated)

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The Daily Show nicks a joke from Sepia Mutiny! Check out their hilarious takedown of the ‘moral controversy’ around Jay Chandrasekhar’s The Dukes of Hazzard.

The clip pokes fun at a stuffy NAACP official, University of Tennessee frat boys and Ben Jones (Cooter), who’s calling for a movie boycott. Bonus: ‘Hava Nagila‘ played in a format you’ve probably never seen before

Watch the clip. Related posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Update: The #1 movie in America right now is by a desi director.

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Aalok all Coked

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The hirsute Aalok Mehta from American Chai and Bombay Dreams is in a new Coke ad. Gently tossing his windblown musician locks, he makes the ad look authentic. It says, ‘Yo dawg, I see brown people. This colored sugar water’s down.’

The ad has alt rocker G. Love and a group of demographically correct city people jamming with a guitar on a Philly rooftop (thanks, brimful). They’re singing a mutant version of the ’70s song, ‘I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.’ Actually, that’s backward. The song by the New Seekers started as a ’70s Coke pusher jingle (‘I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke’), and the clean version later became a bona fide hit.

Watch the ad, which runs before a Daily Show clip. Previous post here.

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Fareed-peat

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After the London bombings, Jon Stewart summoned Fareed Zakaria back to The Daily Show to explain ‘his people.’

In this clip, Zakaria edges away from the neocon thesis that democracy alone can end terrorism, since the British bombers were born in a democracy. He claims the fundies have very low support throughout the Muslim world, pointing out the fundamentalist parties got under 5% in Indonesian and Malaysian elections (but he ignores the provincial elections in Pakistan).

Zakaria says the disaffected youth in Europe don’t feel socially integrated and are latching on to the ideology of the moment; today’s Islamic fundies would have been Marxists or Maoists 30 years ago. But he thinks the core of fundie support is gone in the Muslim world, and the virus will take some time to die out in Europe. In contrast, in the U.S. he says Muslims have done well economically and are much better assimilated.

Zakaria is right that the fundies have little public support, but only if you exclude some mighty key regions, such as Pakistan. And lack of support for fundamentalist political parties is not the same as lack of support for bin Laden or terrorist tactics.

Watch the clip.

Previous posts: 1, 2, 3

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NBC goes Deep

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SM tipster Chaina alerts us to the fact that we may have an heir apparent to Raj Bhakta. NBC will soon debut its new reality show, cleverly titled The Law Firm:

Real lawyers. Real cases. Real consequences. Executive producer David E. Kelley (The Practice, Ally McBeal) brings a real legal drama to television. Trial attorney and legal analyst Roy Black will manage 12 actual lawyers competing against each other while trying real court cases with judges and juries, resulting in outcomes that will be final, legal and binding. Each week, one legal eagle is eliminated and the top attorney will receive a prize of $250,000. With plenty of drama inside and outside of the courtroom, the result is riveting entertainment.

The compelling cases range from First Amendment issues to neighbor disputes to wrongful death. Distinguished judges will decide some of the cases, while a jury determines the others. In the end, the top attorney will win a prize of $250,000.

DeepLawfirm.jpg

Meet Deep Goswami. This UT graduate will look to fix his horns on the competition.

Why do you think you are a better lawyer than the other associates?
I would consider myself a better lawyer than the other associates because I have more passion, drive, and sincerity in the courtroom, which allows me to better connect with juries. IÂ’m willing to do whatever it takes, within the ethical boundaries, to win the case, and I genuinely care about my clients and their cases. More importantly, IÂ’m much more entertaining in the courtroom than the other associates – I donÂ’t put people to sleep when I argue a case, which some of the others are guilty of doing.

What’s your verdict on reality TV?
Reality shows are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of turning average Joes (no pun intended) into quasi-celebrities who will do anything to ride out their 15 minutes of fame. I hope to be able to count myself among such an esteemed group of individuals.

What, in your opinion, is the biggest misconception people have about lawyers and why is it a misconception?
The biggest misconception about lawyers is that they are lazy and donÂ’t care about their clients. Unfortunately, for the most part, itÂ’s true, which is why IÂ’ve dedicated myself to challenging these stereotypes when IÂ’m in the courtroom, which you can see for yourself when you see me in action on the show.

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Anchors away

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MTV Desi chief Nusrat Durrani picked Brit TV personality Tim Kash for male anchor. As a fellow well-known Sri Lankan Brit, Kash is like the male M.I.A. — if she were as lame as Carson Daly. (That’s a slam on Daly, not Kash, whom I’ve never watched.)

Since Kash isn’t an American, I’m guessing Durrani didn’t find a male anchor he liked by launch time and had to go to the UK bench. I’m also guessing that he’s champing at the bit to get an American. But maybe he just wanted one of the anchors to be an old hand at MTV.

On the right is Niharika Desai, their female face. Here are the anchors’ official bios:

Of Sri Lankan heritage but born and raised in the UK, Tim Kash hosts the daily MTV UK News show… Tim began his career at MTV at age 19, becoming the youngest MTV VJ in history. Most recently, Tim co-hosted the MTV US/International coverage of the recent Live 8 concert in London’s Hyde Park that was beamed across the world.

Niharika is a film editor with a background in photography… [from] Poughkeepsie, Mumbai and Brooklyn… Niharika is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a double major in Psychology and South Asia Regional Studies. She is conversant in Marathi, can read and write the Devanagari script.

MTV Desi apparently didn’t get the ‘must refer to self as Indian’ memo. Damn you, South Asian Studies! Anil Dash says Desai may beat Apu as the most famous desi American within the next 12 months. That would be a relief, but Miss MTV Desai only beams for satellite at the moment.

… I can’t wait for the day when there’s enough Indians in the mainstream media that we can complain about the offensive way in which we’re depicted. Somewhere between Temple of Doom and Apu’s appearance on the Simpsons…

Lilia asked me the other day who the most famous U.S.-born Indian American is, and I had to think a bit. It’s not Deepak Chopra, because I don’t think he was born in the U.S., and I was told [Ed.: by the friend who asked the question] Norah Jones doesn’t entirely count, since she’s half Indian. My guess was that maybe it’s Tony Kanal from No Doubt, but apparently he was born in the U.K. Maybe by this time next year it’ll be Niharika Desai.

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“Lost” finds TWELVE nominations

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congrats naveen.jpg The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences revealed the nominees for the 57th Annual Emmy Awards today…and would you look at who got props:

Supporting Actor, Drama Series : William Shatner, “Boston Legal,” ABC; Oliver Platt, “Huff,” Showtime; Naveen Andrews, “Lost ,” ABC; Terry O’Quinn, “Lost ,” ABC; Alan Alda, ” The West Wing,” NBC.

Can our boy beat Captain James Tiberius Kirk? Does the latter pronounce “I’m Denny Crane” a lot on Boston Legal? 😉

Eeeek, how exciting– “Lost” is also up for “Best Dramatic Series…and before you ask, no, I don’t know what the other nine noms are for. 😀

The only even remotely un-fun part about this is the fact that there are dueling-“Lost” nominees in the same category. I hate it when that happens, though I’m not exactly torn about whom I prefer in this instance. Now if it were the “Lead Actress” contest… Continue reading →

Desi finally corrupts Hollywood

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The guy who played Cooter on The Dukes of Hazzard complains that the new Dukes movie has too much humpin’ ‘n cussin’:

“… to take a classic family show and do that is like taking ‘I Love Lucy’ and making her a crackhead or something…” [Link]

“… the “Dukes” movie is a sleazy insult to all of us who have cared about the “Dukes of Hazzard” for so long… I think the whole project shows an arrogant disrespect for our show, for our cast, for America’s families, and for the sensibilities of the heartland of our country… Sure it bothers me that they wanted nothing to do with the cast of our show, but what bothers me much more is the profanity laced script with blatant sexual situations that mocks the good clean family values of our series.” [Link]

Cooter then took a big bite of apple pie, saluted the flag, and then rolled himself back underneath a replica of the General Lee. [Link]

Good clean family values? These good clean family values? 🙂

Cooter says the song ‘Dazzy Dukes’ is a church hymn, cameltoe is what you find on a dromedary, and Bo and Luke’s ass-tight jeans are heartland values. So director Jay Chandrasekhar, stoner flick impresario, is now officially the first desi to corrupt Hollywood. And he’s Tamil, no less.

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