natalie portman

(S05E02) First of all, I thought last week lacked a fancy new intro because the episode was packed the rafters with new season goodness. However, since we got nothing again, I suppose this was just another instance of Bravo not caring enough to give the show the love it deserved.

Secondly, I have decided that I don't have a favorite this season, just some people that annoy me less than others. Everyone is so self-conscious this time around. I pray that Blayne leaves the show soon, just so this "-licious" craze he is attempting to jump-start will die a quick death. Plus, I'm tired of adjusting my display to make sense of his tan.

(S18E12)

Homer: Why would I go to Utah? I love booze, caffeine and monogamy.

This episode really felt like two episodes in one, with both Lisa's story about her made up Native American heritage and Bart becoming involved with an older girl (played by Natalie Portman). Overall, my first reaction --having only seen the episode once-- is that it felt like the quintessential Simpsons episode with plenty of smart dialogue and enough hidden gags I know I probably won't catch until the second or third round in syndication. Of course, that could just be because I'm really slow.

As Joel told you earlier, The Simpsons reaches 400 episodes this May. But who should be in the 400th ep, Keifer Sutherland or The FCC?

There are two episodes in the running: one is a spoof of 24 that will feature the voice of Sutherland, and the other will be a satire about the FCC (Kent Brockman gets in trouble for saying something on television). I vote for the FCC ep. A good satire of that organization would be a nice way to celebrate the milestone. Hopefully, like recent episodes of Studio 60, the episode gets in some really good jabs at the FCC.

Other Simpsons news: guest voices for the rest of this season will include Stephen Colbert, Andy Dick, Meg Ryan, and Natalie Portman. The big screen movie opens on July 27 and will be rated PG-13.

So what episode would you vote for? It doesn't say that this episode is the season-ender, even though it's in May. Maybe they can run the FCC ep as the 400th and the 24 episode as the season-ender, maybe have a nuclear bomb go off in Springfield and leave a cliffhanger for next season.

When Jon mentioned that the night's guest was going to be Natalie Portman, the audience seemed really excited. She was here to promote her new movie, V for Vendetta, which, as Jon noted, is rarely seen in children's books. "V is for Vendetta! Billy carried out a 'vendetta' against all those that he thought had wronged him!"...  "V is for Vagina" is also surprisingly rare.

Ehhh... I've seen worse. There was some really good stuff here. It was great to see Maya Rudolph back full-time, even if it was in two recurring roles that I don't really like. Although I think she officially rejoined the cast a few weeks ago, right?

I've said before that I don't mind if they reuse old commercials, as long as they're good ones. They repeated "Baby Toupees" and "The Totally Rad Smoke Detector 3000" in this episode. Except for Fred Armisen's stereotypical Irish fire-chief impersonation in the smoke detector one (I love that, great moustache), these two aren't good. Why can't they reuse good commercials though? Oh and did anyone scan the closing credits? I had heard rumors about this, but Seth Myers is officially a head writer now along with Tina and Andrew Steele. Perhaps this is more proof that Tina is on her way out to focus solely on her new sitcom next year?

 

After a three-week hiatus because of the Olympics, Saturday Night Live is back this weekend. The gorgeous (seriously, just look at the picture of her with a shaved head) Natalie Portman will host and the musical guest will be Fall Out Boy. It's the first appearance on the show for both Natalie and the band. Natalie will be sporting a short hairdo and will hopefully be making fun of the fact that everyone is freaking out over her shaved head in her upcoming movie, V is for Vendetta.

Then, on March 11, Matt Dillon will host while Arctic Monkeys, the band that everyone is talking about these days, will be the musical guest.