Humor District

The Walking Dead on AMC has been wildly successful through its first five episodes, and it looks like its popularity is only growing as the sixth episode and season finale draw closer. Obviously people have enjoyed the episodes which have been written so far, as The Walking Dead was approved for a second season around the same time the second episode came out. That fact makes the announcement that Executive Producer Frank Darabont has released the entire writing staff for season 2 quite interesting. The obvious question here is why Darabont feels he needs to make such a drastic change on a show that has been so well received? On the surface it seems like a drastic and unnecessary move, but I have a feeling that Darabont knows exactly what he is doing.

The first thing to realize here is how involved Frank Darabont is in the creation of the scripts. Darabont has either written or rewritten almost all of the scripts for season 1, with the exception of an episode written by the creator of The Walking Dead comic book, Robert Kirkman. This lets us know that Darabont knows his way around a zombie script, but he won’t be the only writing even with the entire writing crew gone. Darabont’s plan is to have freelancers write the scripts that he doesn’t, so we could see some more Robert Kirkman episodes. It doesn’t seem like the loss of the writing staff will have too much of an impact on future episodes of The Walking Dead, and as of right now Frank Darabont can do no wrong with this series.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Conan O’Brien is best known for being tall, having goofy red hair, and having a hilarious late night talk show. The only thing is, he stopped having a late night talk show for a while. There was a big tiff between Jay Leno wanting Conan’s airtime so Conan’s hair didn’t overshadow Jay Leno’s chin. Conan doesn’t take any disrespect like that and refused to give up his time. The network then decided the best way to deal with this dispute was to fire the red headed comedian. Was his hair color a factor in the decision? Yes. Conan took a hiatus from the late night talk show scene, but it didn’t last. He was quickly picked up by TBS and now Conan has a new show aptly named Conan, and this show is ridiculously popular. There were around six million viewers for one episode alone. Why does Conan’s hair have so much more appeal than Leno’s chin? Let’s take a look at the facts:

Conan is the Underdog

During the whole Conan O’Brien vs. Jay Leno fiasco, Jay Leno came off looking like the big bad bully and NBC came off looking even worse. They were the kids on the playground who tried to take little Conan’s Pokemon cards, and when Conan said no they pushed him over and took those cards anyway. Conan just wanted to keep what was his and tried to make a stand against the studio and Jay Leno, effectively becoming the underdog in the public’s eye. Everyone loves an underdog, and thus came about the birth of Team Coco, a group of fans passionately dedicated to supporting Conan O’Brien and everything he does.

Conan Connected with Fans

Conan embraced Team Coco, and during his time away from television he did a lot to connect with his fans. He did skits for the internet where he would directly answer questions from fans, and even do their homework for them. That is a dedicated man right there. Conan is also very careful to cultivate an everyman type of image, never flaunting his wealth even though he could afford a fleet of cars to rival Jay Leno’s. He works hard to make himself seem accessible to the Average Joe’s of the country, and that is where a lot of his success comes from. His fans can relate to him and his comedy.

Conan is Actually Funny

Do you know what Conan did when NBC announced they were letting him go? He created a character for a skit called the Bugatti Veyron Mouse. The Bugatti Veyron Mouse was actually a Bugatti Veyron, a $1.5 million car, with little mouse ears put on it. Conan admitted the only purpose of the skit was to spend his boss’s money. That is hilarious. His normal skits are pretty entertaining as well, and he has created such gems as the masturbating bear, hornymanatee.com, and Quackers, the shit eating duck. Conan O’Brien knows how to make us laugh, and as long as he keeps doing that we will continue to boost the ratings for his show.

Conan Captured the Young Audience

Conan O’Brien’s jokes are mostly aimed towards a younger audience. By that I mean people under 50. Therefore he is aimed towards the majority of people who are going to be up late watching television, rather than the old folks Jay Leno panders to. Conan is energetic with his skits and uses some off color humor that makes stoned college kids spit out their easy mac with laughter. Obviously a running joke about a masturbating bear is going to appear to a more juvenile audience, but being juvenile is fun. As many are starting to realize, the younger generation has quite a bit of power when it comes to ratings, so Conan has picked a very good group to aim his comedy at.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Halloween is a great time of year. Girls dress up in revealing outfits, we eat lots of candy without feeling bad about it, articles use terrible Halloween puns, and tv shows put out awesome Halloween specials. I personally find the Halloween episodes of many shows to be some of the best episodes. There is something inherently entertaining about seeing our favorite fictional characters dress up as other fictional characters. Some shows know how to create a better Halloween special than others, perfectly encapsulating the essence of the holiday. These episodes have scares, costumes, and are just an all around good time. Here are some of the best Halloween specials to ever be shown on television.

The Simpsons – Treehouse of Horror V

The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror has become a staple in Halloween programming. Every year The Simpsons parodies famous scary movies and books with the residents of Springfield, and these episodes are consistently hilarious. Perhaps the best Treehouse of Horror installment was the fifth, which featured parodies of Ray Bradbury’s story A Sound of Thunder and Stephen King’s The Shining. Homer’s line of “No tv and no beer mak Homer go crazy” captured his insanity in a way Jack Nicholson wishes he could have. Well maybe that is a bit of an overstatement, but it is very rare that watching a man try to murder his family is as entertaining as this.

It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is one of the best Halloween specials ever made. While it wasn’t part of an ongoing series, it has become an annual television tradition to show this episode on Halloween. Charles Schulz had great success with his Charlie Brown comic strip, Peanuts, and it made the transition to television beautifully. The show had all the innocence of the comic strip, along with the bittersweet feelings of childhood. Watching Linus wait for the Great Pumpkin to appear is one of the sweetest things to ever be shown on tv. If that’s a little too sappy for you, you also get to see people call Charlie Brown a blockhead and give him rocks instead of candy. I still think he should have thrown those rocks at some windows.

South Park – Spookyfish

South Park has had some great Halloween episodes. My personal favorite was the episode entitled Spookyfish. Stan gets a pet fish who somehow manages to go on a killing spree. Perhaps more terrifying than that is Stan’s mom’s reaction, who buries all the bodies she believes her little boy has killed. The highlight of this episode though is Cartman’s evil twin, complete with a goatee. Of course Cartman’s evil twin is one heck of a nice guy, which leads to some great misunderstandings.

Scooby-Doo – Headless Horseman of Halloween

Scooby-Doo was essentially an entire series of Halloween specials, but one actual Halloween episode stands head and shoulders above the others. The episode Headless Horseman of Halloween was great for several reasons. First off, the mystery part of the show was pretty good. Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, and the rest of the gang go to a regular 70′s Halloween party, where Fred is definitely planning on putting a move on Daphne. Unfortunately he is interrupted when the Headless Horseman crashes the party. Scooby-Doo and Shaggy get scared, and most likely high, eat some Scooby Snacks. What separates this episode from the standard ones was the inclusion of Scooby-Dum, who is apparently Scooby-Doo’s mentally handicapped cousin. That’s great television.

The League – Ghost Monkey

The League is surprisingly hilarious for a show about friends who play fantasy football. The second season Halloween special is one of the funniest Halloween specials ever made. First, Taco steals a monkey, who subsequently gets accidentally thrown for a moving car. Strange things begin to happen and Taco suspects the vengeful spirit of the monkey. Ruxin goes absolutely insane when Pete gives him access to his fantasy football line-up, and Jenny tries to be sexy in the “fat old frog” costume her six year old daughter makes her wear. Oh yeah, Pete also starts to date a girl in a witch costume, who turns out to be an actual Wiccan. The episode culminates in a seance for the ghost monkey. As you have probably guessed by now, hilarity ensues.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Banksy is a world famous artist who is best known for his controversial graffiti work. Pretty much all of his work sends a strong message, mostly one that speaks out against the corporate machine. Speaking of the corporate machine, The Simpsons have often poked fun at the Fox corporation, despite the fact that Fox broadcasts The Simpsons. Fox puts up with this mostly good natured ribbing, but it just got a lot more intense.

The thing is, Banksy usually sends a darker message than The Simpsons. It is no surprise that having Banksy create the opening sequence for the episode MoneyBART resulted in a somewhat controversial product. The tone of the famous couch gag wasn’t as lighthearted as most of us are used to, devolving into images of a sweatshop producing Simpsons DVDs and merchandise. Some think that this isn’t the proper message for a show run by a large corporation like Fox to be sending, especially not when kids often view the program. Others say to chill out because it is just a cartoon. Watch Banksy’s controversial Simpson’s opening and decide where you stand on this hot issue.

Popularity: 2% [?]

We all know the Old Spice commercials that propelled Isaiah Mustafa into the spotlight are awesome. We have seen all of these commercials many times, enough times so that we have his entire speech memorized. It seems that we weren’t the only ones watching as he turned the two paper entries to that thing you like into an allotrope of carbon and rode astride an equine beast. Sesame Street was also taken by this commercial and decided to make their own version, starring the blue furry monster known as Grover. Apparently this Grover version is supposed to teach small children the definition of the word “on” or something. I maintain that Isaiah Mustafa’s lesson in being a man is more valuable to the youth. Watch the video and decide for yourself.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Now that we are moving out of the summer months, we are being greeted with a barrage of new shows. As usual, some of these shows are pretty good, some are decent, and some were atrocious. This is pretty much par for the course when it comes to new shows. These pilot episodes are very important to the overall success of the shows. If they start off with interesting episodes, then we are more likely to come back and watch that show. A show that starts off with a bad first episode could be the death of a show, as we don’t want to come back and watch crap again. Here is a look at 5 new shows the recently premiered.

Outsourced

Outsourced is another show in the vein of The Office and Parks and Recreation. It is essentially a comedy about an American who has been put in charge of a call station in India. The comedy is based off of cultural misunderstandings and one-liners, and for the most part it is actually pretty entertaining. The jokes were actually funny, the cast was likeable, and the show can go in some interesting directions. Outsourced wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough to bring me back for more.

The Defenders

Jerry O’Connell and Jim Belushi make their returns to television in the legal drama The Defenders. They are surprisingly believable as Las Vegas lawyers who actually care about their clients. The Defenders did a great job of grabbing my attention with the case, a man accused of murder who was just trying to defend his brother from being beaten by four guys. The unorthodox way that Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell handled the case was interesting, and, as a whole, The Defenders shows a lot of promise for the future.

$#*! My Dad Says

$#*! My Dad Says is one of the worst shows I have seen in a long time. First off, it should be Shit My Dad Says, like the Twitter account the show is based off of. The harsh language is part of the entertainment, losing that in the show is not good. William Shatner is not very good as a gruff old man, and the cast just kind of seems to be there, periodically whipping out half-assed one-liners. This show was not good, and doesn’t appear to have much potential to get better.

Mike & Molly

Do you like fat jokes? Do you love fat jokes? Do you go absolutely bat shit insane with joy over fat jokes? If you answered yes to that last question, you will love Mike & Molly, as it really is all fat jokes. And about fat people being in love, as fat people are only fit for other fat people, while making self deprecating remarks. The first fat jokes make you giggle, but after 5 minutes it gets old. Mike & Molly is definitely not a keeper.

Running Wilde

Will Arnett plays dumb guys very well, and Running Wilde plays off of that strength. Arnett plays a rich and stupid man who is selfish, but overall a good guy. He is just out of touch with the world. He is also in love with Kerri Russell, who is all about humanitarian works, so he has his goofy antics to try and impress her. Arnett is definitely the heart of the show, but his household servants were surprisingly entertaining on their own as well. I hate the name of the show, Running Wilde just sounds stupid, but I will be watching this one.

Popularity: 2% [?]

The collection of Panda Cheese commercials are a treat. The premise of each ad is the same, if people say no to using or buying Panda Cheese they’re dealt with silent rage from a cuddly violent Panda. Dark and absolutely hilarious, lets hope these aren’t the last we’ll see.

Panda Cheese is a popular product out of Egypt and the Middle East if you may have missed it, probably the greatest thing to come out of the Middle East since Bar Refaeli, who’s also rather cute and cuddly.

Panda Cheese – Office

Panda Cheese – Hospital

Panda Cheese – Kitchen

Panda Cheese – Supermarket 1

Panda Cheese – Supermarket 2

If it’s easier you can watch all 5 videos in one video over at our YouTube page.

Popularity: 10% [?]

A while back we showed you the original DJ Steve Porter Community remix. It was pretty awesome.To kick off the second season of Community, DJ Steve Porter has created a new Community remix! This video was first shown at the San Diego Comic Con, but its greatness now graces the internet on YouTube. And here. Check it out below.

I’ll pause here and let you watch that a few more times. This is a great way to prep fans for a new season of Community, and the inevitable showdown between Annie and Britta. Look for new episodes starting Thursday, September 23rd!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Quick News:

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have written a script, music and lyrics for a Broadway musical which opens in March 2011. The musical called “Book of Mormon” will be directed by Tony nominee Casey Nicholaw (director for The Drowsy Chaperone) and collaborated with Broadway vet Robert Lopez (composer and lyricist for Avenue Q). So it’s got some hard hitting right off the bat, but I doubt we ever expected less from the South Park creators.

Synopsis:

The new musical tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries who are sent off to spread the word in a dangerous part of Uganda. Their tale is told in parallel with the story of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I can only assume this will be hilarious. A wet-dream for any comedy nerd. [via]

Popularity: 3% [?]

We previously showed the debut of Taco Bell’s Super Delicious Ingredient Force. This Super Friends parody was hilarious, way better than the crap Taco Bell usually comes out with. Check out this commercial where a girl carries around some sort of bacon taco in her purse to attract guys.

Somebody who smells like bacon isn’t going to turn me on, it’s going to make me wonder why they jumped into a kiddie pool full of bacon grease, presumably old bacon grease if they aren’t all burned and disfigured. The quality, or lack thereof, of this and other Taco Bell commercials make it that much more surprising that Taco Bell would have as hilarious an idea as the Super Delicious Ingredient Force. This week the SDIF tackles the problem of stoned college students fighting the late night munchies while playing some disc on the quad. Will these chill bros be saved in time?! Tune in and find out! Or just watch the video below, whatever works.

Popularity: 1% [?]