Lego Arrested Development

I came across these photos the other day. The first is the stair car. This one's the Banana Stand. The flame is supposed to represent "Yeah, but where'd the lighter fluid come from?"

Poll Question

The Favorite Kelso poll is now closed. If the results tell us anything, it is that I have more friends who watch Scrubs than friends who are teen-age girls. The new poll question (on the right) concerns Bruce Willis. It asks which big-budget action movie is more unbelievably over the top, Armageddon or Live Free or Die Hard.

Entertainer of the Month: Alan Arkin

We here at Entertainment News would like to wish a happy 75th birthday to the great Alan Arkin. To celebrate we are naming him March's Entertainer of the Month. You probably know him best from... well, that depends on how old you are. He got in to the entertainment industry back in the 1950's as part of the musical group The Tarriers. With them he co-wrote a Jamaican calypso folk song called "The Banana Boat Song" which later became better known as Harry Belefonte's hit "Day-O." In the 1960's Arkin turned to acting. He starred in the 1967 thriller Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn. Later he played Captain Yossarian in the movie adaptation of Catch-22. In more recent years he has shown up mostly in comedies like Grosse Pointe Blank, Little Miss Sunshine (which won him an Oscar) and most recently Get Smart. One of my favorite roles of his is as the police chief in So I Married an Axe Murderer. His scenes opposite Anthony LaPaglia (below, 3:29) are my favorites in that movie.

Entertainer of the Month: Adam Baldwin

February's Entertainer of the Month is Adam Baldwin. Best known for playing a tough guy, Baldwin can seen on NBC's Chuck as super agent John Casey. Prior to that, he was gun-loving muscle head Jayne Cobb in the short-lived series Firefly and its subsequent movie followup Serenity. However, one of my favorite Adam Baldwin moments comes from the movie Independence Day when his character, Major Mitchell, is asked if the glass separating them from the killer alien is bullet proof. He responds by pulling out his gun and saying "No, Sir!" For your viewing (and listening) pleasure, below is a video (2:36) of Baldwin singing his version of "Hero of Canton," a song from an episode of Firefly. And in case you were wondering, he's not related to the Baldwin brothers.

Tears of a Rapper

If you hadn't noticed, Bret & Jemaine are back for Season 2. Get me a small man's wet suit, please.

Entertainer of the Month: Doug E. Doug

The polls are closed and pulling away late in what turned out to be a land slide, January's Entertainer of the Month is Doug E. Doug. Early on in the voting, four entertainers, LL Cool J, David Bowie, Neil Diamond, and Doug, emerged in a tight race that seemed like it would go down the wire. But as the race went on Mr. Doug seemed to gather momentum and finished 10 percentage points ahead of the competition. Some are pointing to voter irregularities and I myself do suspect ballot box stuffing (Worthington?). Nevertheless, I am certifying the vote and declaring Doug E. Doug the winner. As for the other 19 candidates, they all presented themselves well, except of course for Kirstie Alley, who failed to garner even a single vote. Better luck next January. As for Mr. Doug (real name: Douglas Bourne), he hasn't been up to much lately. He was pretty big stuff for a brief run in the 1990's with starring roles in some Disney hits including Cool Runnings with John Candy, Operation Dumbo Drop with Danny Glover and Ray Liotta, and That Darn Cat with Christina Ricci. He plaid wacky neighbor Griffin Vesey in Cosby, Bill's not-quite-as-successful followup to The Cosby Show. Other notable roles include Eight Legged Freaks (pictured below) with David Arquette and a not-yet famous Scarlett Johansson, and Shark Tale. His most recent acting credit is voice work in the Cartoon Network show My Gym Partner's a Monkey. He was in an episode that also featured Ziggy Marley. Apparently now he's a high school teacher in New York or something. For those that miss him, one of his earliest films Hangin' with the Homeboys will be on Comedy Central a few times this week. Trivia: In That Darn Cat, Doug E. Doug plays Agent Zeke Kelso, a role that was filled by Disney super star Dean Jones in the original 1965 version of the film. Jones also appears in the 1997 version, this time as Mr. Flint. In honor of characters named Kelso, the new poll question (right) asks who is your favorite Kelso: Ashton Kutcher as Michael Kelso from That 70's Show or Ken Jenkins as Dr. Bob Kelso from Scrubs.

Heir(s) Apparent

The physical comedy of the comedic fat man has been around as long the the joke. Still, I consider John Belushi the first modern king of the funny fat guys. His crown was surrendered upon his death and later claimed by Chris Farley, who too died on the thrown. I've been waiting and wondering who is the rightful heir. After seeing Orange County, I was certain it was Jack Black. But then Cedric the Entertainer emerged on the scene. However, with his new movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop opening today, Kevin James is staking his claim. But there can be only one king. Who will it be?

Entertainer of the Month: Tom Jane

The Punisher: War Zone opened this weekend to a disappointing $4 million. It stars Ray Stevenson as the title character. This is the third Punisher movie, and from what I've read, none have been satisfactory to die hard fans of the comic book upon which the movies are based. I wouldn't know. I did see the second version with Tom Jane and John Travolta as the bad guy. It's not great, but the plot does center around some good old fashioned righteous vengeance. Jane is probably best known for his roll in Deep Blue Sea, an awful film about really smart sharks that go about killing the workers of an underwater marine lab one by one. Rest assured it is not for that movie that Jane is being awarded John's Entertainment News Entertainer of the Month of December. Rather, it is for his appearance on Arrested Development where he played himself, seen below (2:45). And don't forget to vote early and often for January's Entertainer of the Month. All the entertainers in the running were born in the month of January.

Entertainer of the Month: Rich Eisen

November's Entertainer of the Month is former ESPN anchor and current NFL Network talking head Rich Eisen. Before I explain the selection, allow me to give some relevant background information. First, I am a sports fan, but a selective one. I follow a lot of different sports, but for many of them I only sit down and watch during the playoffs. Professional football falls into this category. I'm really big into college football and after wasting large portions of my Saturdays watching it, there isn't much time left over for the NFL on Sundays. So instead I watch the 90-minute NFL GameDay Final on NFL Network. It's hosted by Rich Eisen, Deion Sanders and Steve Mariucci. Eisen is capable; Sanders, surprisingly, is not as annoying as you might expect; and Mariucci is professional. So if Eisen is only "capable," why is he being honored here today? Simply put: he is not Chris Berman. Before I got access to the NFL Network, I was forced to get my NFL highlights from SportsCenter which unveils its weekly game recaps by way of countless bad puns from legendary buffoon Chris Berman. He's been at ESPN since the beginning and let me tell you, his shtick has worn tired. So congratulations Rich Eisen for being a palatable alternative to Chris Berman. You are John's Entertainment News Web Log's Entertainer of Month.

I Knew It!

I always suspected there was something fishy about certain Olympic events. Here's a clip (2:18) from last night's 30 Rock: