basketball

Last year, I mentioned a site called RejectedJokes in which comedy writer Ben Schwartz performed all the jokes he wrote that were rejected by the likes of Letterman and SNL's Weekend Update (he's a freelancer for both).

Ben's latest gig is creating videos for the Web site Super Deluxe. Below is a video he made featuring Rob Riggle (The Daily Show) as the coach for the Washington Colonels, a basketball team that has lost 125 matches in a row. Could it be that Riggle's team is that bad, or is it because their rival, the Bronx World Travelers, always bring things like stools and mini trampolines onto the court?

If you've been searching the Web today trying to find video of a pregnant woman playing basketball, I'd like to say, "welcome."

At the bottom of this post, courtesy of Funny or Die, is a short clip featuring actress Jenna Elfman taking part in a game of B-ball, complete with trash talk and everything. That might be kinda humorous, but add in the fact that she's also pregnant and I'd say that's pretty damn funny. Elfman has a lot of great lines, but my favorite comes toward the end as she's walking off the court and tosses the ball away.

I'd love to see a whole series done this way, with Elfman playing a different sport in every video. I've always been a fan of Elfman's, though I never really liked Dharma and Greg. Funny, that.

Anyway, check out the video below. It does contain some bad language, so be warned.

(S02E19) You can watch the episode here if you missed it.

I've never really gambled, as that whole concept is a little too complex for me. My brain just isn't wired to keep track of money, statistics, and all those other things needed to gamble successfully.

In Chris' neighborhood, everyone gambles, whether it be on sports or on which kid happens to be your real son. Chris also gets sucked into helping his boss, Doc, bet on sports when it's discovered that Chris knows a lot about the sports teams, even if he himself is a terrible athlete.

Ballers, a new sports show for BET that debuts Friday, April 20 at 10:00 p.m., hopes to draw in both sports fans and non-sports fans with a mixture of humor and lively discussion about what's happening in the world of sports.

The show will feature former NBA player John Salley, former professional football player Hugh Douglas, comedian Guy Torry (most of you would probably recognize Torry from American History X), and Claudia Jordan of Deal or No Deal.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and October Road.
• CBS has March Madness all night.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? at 8.
• The CW has a new Smallville at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• At 9, NBC has a new Scrubs, followed by new episodes of Andy Barker, P.I. and Raines.
• HGTV has a new Divine Design at 9.
• Also at 9: Mario Batali is the subject of a new Chefography on Food Network.
• At 10, Spike has a new Pros vs. Joes.
• TCM has Island in the Sky at 10.
• Showtime has a new Penn & Teller: Bullshit at 10, followed by a new This American Life.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Showbiz Show With David Spade.

Check your local TV listings for more.

If you happen to be an insomniac or someone who just wakes up really early, and you really enjoyed the animated series Mister T and The Super Globetrotters, then November is your month, Maynerd. The original Mister T cartoon, which I only vaguely remember and had something to do with T and his gang of gymnasts fighting bad guys, will follow the late seventies Super Globetrotters cartoon, a series in which the basketball wunderkinds would occasional develop super powers to battle the forces of evil. The shows will air on Cartoon Network at 5:00 a.m. starting November 5. I never did watch the Globetrotters, and any memories of Mister T has been replaced by Robert Smigel's "TV Funhouse" version. I guess that's not entirely a bad thing.

(S05E03) I think I may have made this comparison before, but Monk reminds me a lot of Scooby-Doo. It's not so much because both shows are about solving crimes, but because both follow essentially the same basic formula for every episode. Despite this, however, I still love the show.

In this episode, Julie's basketball coach is killed when a towel is left on the floor drain of the girl's locker room and a hairdryer is also left on the floor, causing the coach to become electrocuted when she steps into the water. This is yet another of those rather convoluted James Bond-style murders that always open an episode of Monk. Seriously, had she looked down at the floor before stepping out of the shower she would have seen the hair dryer, but lucky enough for the killer, she just happens to not be paying attention. Also, how many high school coaches actually use the showers in the locker room? Wouldn't they just go home for that sort of thing?