Cougar Town Interview

COUGAR TOWN INTERVIEW

AKA

Bill Lawrence and Friends (Brian Van Holt, Ian Gomez, Kevin Biegel, and special appearance by Neil Flynn)

Whatchamacallit Reviews: What would you rename Cougartown?

Bill Lawrence: “Cougar City”? “Cougarville”?

Kevin Biegel: “Nothing But Cougars”?

BL: Town isn’t the problem? It’s not town? Honestly, I liked “The Drinking Age”. I liked “Grown-Ups”. I liked “Stay Tuned for More Modern Family”.

KB: That was the best one. [contintuing on with the list] “Still Cougartown”

BL: I liked “Friends Part Two”, “Mid-Life”.

WR: Penny-Can…who is the best at it?

BL: Everbody is going to say they’re the best.

Ian Gomez: I’m not good.

BL: I’m not that good. I scare the other writers into losing to me.

KB: Bill is very intimidating.

BL: Maybe Josh Hopkins?

KB: Yeah, Josh Hopkins.

Brian Van Holt: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why am I being overlooked here? It’s my game. I need to promote myself. Christa is good, Bill is good, I’m average.

IG: Dan is not very good.

BL: Dan is not very good at anything.

WR: What was your favorite of the title bit?

KB: Cougarton Abbey was a good one.

BL: I liked “sorry no joke this week”. I also liked “This is not The Simpson’s chalkboard bit.”

KB: I liked “This is not scrubs with wine.”

WR: The characters drink a lot on the show, what is your drink of choice?

KB: I have a keggerator in my office at work. Gin and tonic if I’m feeling fancy.

BL: Tequila and red wine.

BVH: A really nice tequila. Fine, fine tequila.

IG: I like that too. As long as you don’t mix it with anything sweet, it’s a nice, clean, drink.

KB: You’re trying to make drinking straight tequila sound fancy…you’re like swigging from a bottle.

IG: It’s got a handle! It’s a jug! I’m also a bourbon drinker.

WR: Are you anxious about switching to TBS?

IG: They’re very excited about the show, the head of TBS and his wife are fans of the show and I think it’s going to be a wonderful show. The head of the whole network actually came down to hang out with us and watch one of the panels. It’s a great sign.

BVH: I think it’s a great fit. I’m excited about it. I think it’s the place to be. I think TBS is where we belong.

BL: I think we’re going to be on for a long time because of the switch. I think it had always been a show that was looked over on ABC, and I think this is a fix. I think we’re going to be on for a long time.

IG: And then the Andy Torres spin off, of course.

[Neil Flynn joins table]

WR: How did you guys decide to put it in Florida?

KB: I grew up in Sarasota. When it zooms in [in the title sequence], we pass right over it. Bill spent his youth in Florida. We just liked the idea of setting a show somewhere other than New York or Los Angeles. It’s a story generator to write to that area of the country. My uncle sent a lot of pictures of people on their land boats, boats in their yards.

BL: It’s funny because our ratings are worse in Florida than any other area of the country.

WR: Funniest story from the set. Go.

IG: I don’t know.

BL: We generally torture people when they’re late—especially, Dan Byrd, we clap for him as a giant group for finally showing up. He tends to be asleep.

IG: We do bits where we try to convince Josh Hopkins that he’s being written out of the show and he goes “What? No!” I do a bit with his [Bill Lawrence’s] wife, where, if we have to kiss, I say we have to rehearse in my dressing room over and over again. We run these improv, twenty-minute bits for nobody’s benefit except our own.

BVH: We expose everybody’s weaknesses.

IG: We stomp on the weak, that’s always fun.

WR: Do you improv on the show?

BVH: Ian is a better improv person for sure. I’m not so much [an improv person], I tend to stick to the writing.

IG: Well, you’re inspired by the writing, you’re inspired by the situations created. 99.9 percent of the time, what is written is funnier than what we come up with. In the spur of the moment, we might find a different tag for something or an alternate line. Most of the time, the alternate line comes from a writer on set.

BL: It’s usually expanding on a joke. Taking a line one step further.

IG: It’s always based on the scene.

Neil Flynn: It’s usually helpful getting out of a scene. A button.

IG: Exactly, a button.

BL: It’s like the slap bit with you [Ian Gomez] and Josh. You were supposed to slap Josh and every time he did it, you did it a little bit harder than you would slap an actual human being.

IG: I was directed to actually slap him.

BVH: And have you seen these mitts?

BL: Then we got to a bar scene later, and Josh Hopkins was very professional and he came up to me and said “I’m going to ruin a take. Is that okay?” I said, “what are you going to do?” He said, “When Ian says his line, I’m going to slap him as hard as I can.” So, Josh did and Ian stayed in character for a second. Then Ian just said, “WOW” and he broke a little bit.

NF: That’s a nice take. Have you seen it?

IG: It was in the show!

BL: Yeah, I used it but I didn’t use the “Wow” because he broke a little bit.

IG: It was shock. My brain kind of started swelling immediately. My mouth just started saying words that were not connected to my ideas.

NF: Yeah, it happens.

WR: Do you have a favorite moment from the show?

BL: My most recent favorite line was—I giggled out loud at Ian Gomez saying, “These girls may not be real.” At first he says to the girls, “are you even real?” Then, when his wife comes in and is mad and he says, “Before you get mad, these girls may not be real.” Because in his head, there’s still the possibility that they aren’t real.

KB: My favorite moment is still Ian doing Shawshank in the first season. It was one of those moments that we thought, “oh, this is what the show can be.”

IG: I’m very lucky that we’ve done a few parodies and that I get to be a part of them. In Courteney’s first episode that she directed, there was a Braveheart moment and that was so much fun. I loved doing that.

BVH: One of my favorite moments of many, is that Braveheart moment.

IG: Which hopefully is up for Emmy consideration.

BVH: That and how Courteney said the Alice Cooper thing out loud. Coopering. “Who is Alice Cooper? Is she pretty?” It’s hilarious. She killed it.

Neil? Do you have a favorite from Scrubs?

BL: My favorite moment was watching you and Zach trying to get through that scene when you gave him shorts to wear at work.

NF: Oh yeah, that’s a great one. I gave him shorts to wear and I said, “My wife worked very hard on those shorts. She wasn’t gifted with all ten fingers. She only has pointer and thumb-pinky.”

IG: Was that written?

NF: I don’t remember. It was so preposterous. Zach goes, “I’m a doctor, I really can’t wear short-shorts to work.” I was lying anyway.

WR: Thoughts on comedy? TV?

IG: Comedy is funny.

BL: I think there is more, even though people think TV sucks, it’s just because there are more channels. I think there is more good TV now than ever before.

NF: I agree. Television now is what independent film was fifteen years ago, where a lot of the coolest stuff is happening.

KB: On Sunday night, you can look at a show and say, “this is the best season of this show ever,” and there are about four shows you can say that about. Game of Thrones. Mad Men. Sherlock…is amazing. The Killing. That’s ONE night of TV right now.

BL: Don’t tell me, I have it Tevo’d. I still don’t know who killed her. The Killing is going to be one of the best shows on DVD to sit down and just zip through it because it’s making me crazy that I don’t know who killed her right now.

KB: It’s amazing to watch the Game of Thrones battle scene and it happens and it’s bigger than any TV thing you’ve seen ever. It’s crazy, it’s really great.

Make sure to tune into Cougar Town,  Season 4, which premieres Tuesday, Jan 8 at 10 p.m. EST on TBS.

Cold Days: By Jim Butcher

COLD DAYS

SUMMARY

After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard.

He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasn’t about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill.

Guess which Mab wants first?
 
Of course, it won’t be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.

Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own…His soul.

REVIEW

The worst thing about Cold Days is that finishing it means you will have to wait another year or so before you can read another new Harry Dresden book.

Besides that very sad fact, this book was amazing.

Cold Days starts out by introducing readers to Harry’s new life situation as the Winter Knight. Harry’s rehabilitation plan with Mab consists of everything from deadly fae trying to kill him, poisonous spiders, and pretty much every other dangerous and terrible fate thrown at him in a “if it doesn’t kill you it’ll make you stronger” sense. Of course once rehabilitated, the fun really starts, as Harry’s asked to do the impossible, kill an immortal.

The story moves on from there in a fashion somewhat similar to Butcher’s other books in the series. That said, while Cold Days does follow a similar pacing and formula for revealed points of information, there are some attributes that make this holy different. First, the entire book is seen through a dark and grave lens, making everything much more perilous and fewer moment of humor. This is reminiscent of the situations our heroes are facing, everyone has been damaged emotionally and physically by Harry’s passing and in the time afterwards. Further, readers will be shocked by the new secrets and alliances that are revealed in this installment of the series. The puppet master’s themselves are revealed for the first time, giving a brief glimpse into the Black Council, the cause of the infighting between summer and winter courts and the red and white courts, and the rise in power of the Fomor. Of course, with every question answered even more are raised.

That said, this in my opinion is one of the best things about the series. How Butcher builds these relationships and subplots over time, that even dedicated readers will be shocked by. Characters that barely had a mention five books prior are suddenly at the forefront. Everything can come back to haunt you. This constantly keeps readers on their toes, making the series utterly fantastic.

Each book in the series now, become a bestseller, and there’s good reason for it. It’s an amazing series, with fantastic characters that grow and change throughout the books, they are filled with action and adventure sure to keep readers guessing until the end. All in all, go buy Cold Days, but make sure to read the previous books in the series first, but don’t worry, it’ll be worth it.

INFO

Publisher: Roc

Published: November 27, 2012

Price: $27.95

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Days-Novel-Dresden-Files/dp/0451464400/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353347668&sr=8-1&keywords=cold+days

Elemental: By Antony John

ELEMENTAL

SUMMARY

A mysterious and powerful fantasy adventure from a Schneider Award winner

In the near future, most of the population of the United States has been destroyed by the plague. The few remaining survivors live in colonies on the barrier islands off the East Coast. In one colony near Cape Hatteras, almost all the members have elemental powers and can control wind, water, earth, and fire. All but sixteen-year-old Thomas. When the Guardians, the powerful adult leaders, are kidnapped by pirates seeking to take over their colony, it is up to Thomas and a small group of teens to save them and preserve the mysteries of the island.

REVIEW

Who doesn’t love powers? Add pirates, secrets, and a hidden dystopian society, and sounds like you’ve got a grad slam.

Elemental has all that and more. Making it a fantastic lower YA book.

I heard of Antony John back when I read Five Flavors of Dumb, which was absolutely amazing. The characters were well crafted and realistic, the pacing at a good clip, and the story interesting and worth the read.

So when I saw that he was writing a book that sounded like The Last Airbender, I couldn’t wait to see what he pulled out.

The first thing to note is, Elemental is not Five Flavors of Dumb. John spends much less time developing characters and much more time creating webs of secrets and mysteries that middle grade boys and slightly older will love.

Of course, since there is so much time spent creating the many mysteries that drive the story, and very little time solving them, readers may feel as if the pacing is somewhat uneven. But with the cliffhanger of a revelation at the end of the book, which promises a sequel, it makes sense that John uses much of this book to set up the solutions that I feel confident will be revealed in later installments in the series.

The other thing that makes this book great for younger YA readers is the level of action in the book. Elemental includes kids spying on pirates, discovering powers, battling with weapons and powers, and telling the future. All of these things will keep hesitant readers continuing on in the book long after they normally would have lost interest.

All in all a fun book for upper-middle grade/lower YA readers that is chalk full of excitement and adventure. 

INFO

Publisher: Dial

Published: November 21, 2012

Price: $17.99

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Elemental-Antony-John/dp/0803736827/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1352920250&sr=8-11&keywords=elemental

Days of Blood and Starlight: By Laini Taylor

DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT

SUMMARY


Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Ar student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is--and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?




REVIEW

Sometimes I’ll read a book and will absolutely love it. But over time I’ll remember I liked it, but have trouble recalling exactly how much I liked it. I’ll try to tell myself that it was good but not fantastic, and that it just happened to come along at the right time in a reading spell. If I’m unlucky this feeling is right, but every once in a while a book will prove to me again why it really is fantastic. Days of Blood and Starlight proved to me just how amazing Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and Days of Blood and Starlight really are.

Days of Blood and Starlight is absolutely amazing. I was hooked from page one and was utterly unable to put it down. School work had to wait, TV had to wait, friends had to wait, all until I reached the last page, leaving me gasping for more.

So to help you realize why I liked Days of Blood and Starlight so much here are a few of the reasons why.

First off, the characters are absolutely fantastic. They are full, realistic, and yet still maintain a sense of magic about them that makes them absolutely enchanting. Not only that but since many of the characters were introduced in Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the author, Laini Taylor is able to delver further into many of the characters psyche’s. Personally I think my favorite characters in this book were Ziri, Amzallag, and Zuzana. All of them just bring such richness to the story, no matter the size of their part, and really just take this book to the next level.

Of course, besides the characters Days of Blood and Starlight is full of action, death, and jaw dropping surprises. I’m usually pretty good at predicting what will happen, but this book had me on the edge of my seat with excitement, eagerly awaiting what was going to happen next. Truly fantastic.

Finally, this entire series is just incredibly original. It is a breath of fresh air, cleansing the pallet of previous stale and unoriginal books that have accumulated in the recesses of the brain, reinvigorating the desire, nay, the need, to read again. Now when I say it’s original, I don’t mean every part of the book has never been seen by the light of day. There is a struggle in love, political deceit/backstabbing, and a war. But the characters/creations are vivid and imaginative, the situations pulse-pounding, and the solutions and decisions each characters make are will leave readers absolutely stunned.

And it is the combination of all of these aspects that makes this book unique and absolutely fantastic, truly one of the best books I’ve read this year. 




INFO


Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers


Published: November 6, 2012


Price: $18.99


Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Days-Blood-Starlight-Daughter-Smoke/dp/0316133973/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352917639&sr=1-1&keywords=days+of+blood+and+starlight