In Defense Of Whitney Cummings

Whitney Cummings isn't my thing. I've watched clips of her stand-up on YouTube, and almost always closed the browser before she was done talking. Jokes about "women are [crazy] like THIS, and men are like THAT!" aren't my cup of tea, but I still tuned into the first two episodes of Whitney, in the same way I'll watch the first two episodes of any other TV show I have no personal interest in but whose existence is made into a cultural touchstone. I went in ready to hate it, but it was fine. The show and I could make a détente work -- I stopped watching, and Whitney Cummings (presumably) agreed not to care that I did.

Because of the fervor whipped up over her first two shows, it isn't surprising that Cummings' new-new show, a late-night talk show on E! titled Love You, Mean It, is inducing similar fits of rage. To some extent, this is a reasonable reaction: nobody enjoys seeing someone they perceive as untalented (or unlikeable) being rewarded for it. Nobody likes seeing a few familiar, disliked faces getting TV shows or film roles over and over again. The presumption, I suppose, is that you and I are flawless judges of humor and talent, and what WE want to see should rule the airwaves. I have no qualms with you on that. I've got a pen; let's write down a list of the actors we DO like and send it off to Hollywood post-haste. I can see this really making waves.

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'Dancing With The Stars' Results: Jaleel White's
Classic Goodbye

The show kicked off with an explosive encore performance, by classical week favorite, Maria and Derek. And during the evening we welcomed back season 14 favorite, Gavin Degraw, for a couple perform...

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Demi Lovato In Negotiations To Join 'X Factor'

After last season's underwhelming ratings for "The X Factor," Simon Cowell cleaned house by removing Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger from the judging panel. He also kicked off host Steve Jones....

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Video: Sneak peak of Stepboy performance on
ABDC's Drake Challenge

[...]

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Channel Surfing: GAME OF THRONES, GOSSIP GIRL,
THE BIG BANG THEORY & More!

I’m not gonna lie: I had no interest in GAME OF THRONES, and didn’t watch it during the[...]

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'Giuliana & Bill': Baby's First Ultrasound,
Giuliana Returns To Work

On "Giuliana & Bill" (Tue., 8 p.m. ET on Style) the happy couple experienced one of the most profound moments in an expecting parent's life: they got a glimpse their baby for the first time.

Attending an ultrasound scan with their gestational carrier the pair saw a healthy-looking embryo, thus confirming the much longed-for pregnancy.

Later, Giuliana experienced another big first. She returned to work after her double mastectomy and faced up to working the red carpet with scars.

Catch "Giuliana and Bill" every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on Style.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

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Morning Static: DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, GAME OF
THRONES, THE WEST WING & More!

? Showrunner Shuffle: TWO AND A HALF MEN Co-Showrunner Lee Aronsohn Steps Down, Don Reo & Jim[...]

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Amy Poehler On The Future Of 'Parks & Rec',
Directing, 'Wet Hot' Reunion & More

Nothing could capsize the unsinkable Leslie Knope -- except, maybe, losing an election.

The race between Leslie and goofy rich guy Bobby Newport (Paul Rudd) ends in the May 10 "Parks and Recreation" season finale (9:30 p.m. ET on NBC). But in this week's episode, in order to make sure they leave no voter unconvinced, Leslie and her campaign team, in the exclusive clip below, embark on a final campaign swing through Pawnee.

Before you get to that clip, Amy Poehler, who wrote and directed last week's hilarious debate episode, talks about Leslie's election chances, the show's approach to politics (which Poehler and executive producer Michael Schur also discussed in here), and whether ascending the Pawnee ladder could change the town's most ambitious parks bureaucrat.

We started out by talking about the stirring speech that Leslie gave at the end of "The Debate," which serves as something of a mission statement for both the candidate and the show.

That final speech that Leslie gave, was that one of the hardest things you've ever had to write, or was it made easier by the fact that you know her so well?
When Schur and I were talking about the script, and he said kind off-handedly, "OK, I think we probably have Leslie give a speech here during the debate and shows everybody how she really feels." And we were both kind of laughing about it, because we were like, ?Oh yeah, sure, just one of those.?

But it was a really satisfying writing challenge, because the thing I love so much about our show -- second to the people that are on it and that I get to work with -- is the fact that the show allows us to go big with our feelings and emotions. You get to play things real and have real feelings, and talk about themes like small towns, family, loyalty, commitment -- all that stuff.

So it was kind of a dream to write it, because it felt like I've never written anything particularly dramatic, and it felt like I was getting to write on a drama and that was really satisfying. I wrote it separately from the episode because I just wanted to kind of try to figure out how she would approach it. I wrote it and then cut most of it, and then went back and tried to kind of underwrite it. It was a fun challenge to go back and [go], "Okay, now take out all of this stuff that seems too writerly."

When I was visiting the set, I mean, the whole cast is talented, but Chris Pratt's improvisations were just so funny. It just seemed as though he had an endless variety of things to offer on the spot.
He's the most natural. Pratt is such a natural actor. There's really never a false moment from him. Everything that happens to him, to his character Andy, it just happens in the moment. He never does anything the same twice. He's so fluid. I'm always frankly in awe of how natural he is.

How did you even choose from the footage of him reenacting different movies?
All credit goes to the editor, Dean Holland. I was writing a couple [of the movies that Andy was to re-enact], and then I just asked Pratt on set one day, "What would be a movie Andy would like?" And he started reenacting scenes from ?Roadhouse? with Patrick Swayze, so that's what ended up in the script, and two other films too. [Note: A longer Director's Cut of "The Debate" is available here, and longer versions of "Bus Tour" and the season finale will be posted on NBC.com the day after those episodes air.]

Andy's enthusiasm for life is what's so funny, and when he cares about something, there's no judgment. Andy doesn't understand the idea of a guilty pleasure. ?Roadhouse? is awesome, and he's seen it many, many times. That day [we shot those scenes] was really fun because I was directing and I wasn't acting, which is a dream, because you get to wear your own clothes. We just rolled on Pratt describing different movie scenes forever. Dean Holland and the other editors did amazing work cutting it down, because I think at one point, it probably went on for 15 minutes.

I'm interested in this idea that "Parks" has been able to pretty thoroughly explore politics, which is often a toxic and cynical subject in our culture. When I spoke to Mike, he talked a lot about how, by bringing it down to the local level, you make it less partisan and more human and relatable. Do you feel there are lines that you won't cross with Leslie? What are the warning signs for you of what not to do or what do you think the show does best in the political arena?
We talk about it all the time, Mike and I, because we always kind of struggle with how corrupted Leslie will become, or would become. Or how cynical she will or would become.

This year there was an episode, a bowling episode, where Leslie finds out that [a voter doesn't like her]. She watches a focus group. I don't know if you've ever gotten a chance to do that...

I haven't, actually.
I'm sure you could go online and read about people commenting about your writing.

Definitely.
As an actor, you can certainly, at any moment and at any time, discover 400 people who think you're stupid, fat and ugly. But focus groups -- they can be poisonous as well as informative, I guess. In that episode, Leslie finds out that one guy just doesn't like her, and it just drives her crazy. And it's just a lesson that there [are some] people that don't like you.

[Her opponent, ditzy heir Bobby Newport, played by Paul Rudd] just has charisma, personality to give away. What's been so fun to play is -- and Paul's been so great at this -- Bobby Newport is like a rich kid who has kind of had all these things handed to him, but he is not really sure what he wants to do. And that can be a deadly combination in local politics. Why Kathryn Hahn is so fun as a character is, she's just kind of a Washington insider who comes in and says, ?Oh. You do A to B and then B to C, and this is how you win.? Pawnee is, in Leslie's mind, one of the best cities in America. And then when someone comes in from the outside world, you get to kind of see how removed the Parks Department is from the big ol' political [world].

Does getting more power change the core of who she is? Is her ultimate goal a bigger political stage?
Leslie's very ambitious. She wants to be the first female president of the United States. But the reality is she works in the Parks Department. It's a scrappy struggle. The show doesn't jump. It's not like next season, we're going to see Leslie in the White House or something.

When we first meet Leslie she's in kind of a [bad] relationship. And she's trying to get this park built. Now she's in a real relationship and the park's not built. When we met with people that work in the Parks Department, it takes 15 years to build a park and to get someone's name on it, and to actually get people in there.

So the show is a fun combination of the slow and the fast. Fast choices, and fast comedy, combined with the slog of getting the smallest things changed. And how people work really hard to make small changes, and how those small changes affect people in a big way. So it's a fast and slow combination that, I think, is what helps make the tone of the show.

Because you know, it's not a show where there's a ticking clock. We're not all working together on something that has to get done today. But that's what Leslie is constantly doing -- she's forcing deadlines and creating these time constraints because she just wants to get things done. And she says that in her speech in the debate -- she says, "If I push too hard, it's because I feel strongly. If I come on too strong, it's because I feel strongly. So sue me if I care too much kind of thing." That's her.

Mike was explaining that there are plausible ways the show can move forward whether Leslie wins or loses, but she wants it so much, it'll be hard to see her lose. Is it really plausible? How do you do that? Because if she loses, I'm going to be sad.
Well, it's so exciting to hear you say that, because it means that you care about what's going to happen. And I am with you. It's hard to answer it without spoiling anything, but the show -- it keeps moving forward. Good comedy moments come out of her winning and her losing, that's the best way to say it.

This season had the really strong through-line of the election -- is that something that you hope to do again, or was that a one-off?
It's hard to talk too much about what's coming without it being spoilery, but I will say that this season, we were out on the road a lot because we were campaigning. What was really fun about those episodes is that a lot of us were all together. But I think -- and again, we haven't written next season yet -- but Mike and I were talking about trying to kind of settle back in to, or just to enjoy, the Parks Department more [next] season, because we were out on the road.

There's just been so much change that's happened to every character since the beginning of the show, and it's really satisfying to see that. Some things are teased at the end of the finale, what's going to happen to some people [regarding] change. As per usual, the show kind of leaves these big changes to the end and Mike has to kind of figure out how to fix them over the summer.

There are some really good, juicy, cliffhanger-y moments. And I have to say, that finale episode is so good. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. They did an awesome job, and Mike did an amazing job. I'm just really, really proud of it, so I think you're going to love it.

What was directing an episode like? Did you find that the things you feared or were nervous about ended up being problems? What did you learn from it?
Oh my gosh, so much. I mean, I'm still learning even just thinking about it, even talking about it. It's something I want to do more of, and I've always had a desire to do more. And I hope to do more.

I just love the idea of keeping the whole piece in your head -- having the whole idea in your head as well as your part in it. There's a sometimes really great feeling when you're an actor and you get to come in, deliver your part, and you hand over the control of the whole to someone else. I love the feeling of maintaining that whole piece as well -- I like the control of it. So to get to do both was really fun. And I got to work with such great actors and my friends. Just the delight of getting to just sit behind monitors and watch people perform -- which I do anyway when I'm acting -- but my favorite days were certainly the ones where I wasn't acting.

I wanted to just ask you quickly about ?You Are Here? and if there's any news on a possible ?Wet Hot American Summer? sequel?
I know we're starting ?You Are Here? in a couple weeks in North Carolina. I'm really excited to work with Zach [Galifianakis], and Owen [Wilson], and ["Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner, who wrote and will direct the film], of course, who I'm thrilled to be working with.

I think the ?Wet Hot? reunion -- whenever they can do it, I'm sure we will all be there. That was an amazing experience to be a part of. I think everybody would do anything they could to make sure they could be involved in the second one. [Poehler doesn't have any specific information about when it might happens, but if it happens,] I'm there.

Below, check out an exclusive clip from this week's episode of "Parks and Rec" (Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on NBC).

Click through our guide of what to watch this week.

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John Hoffman: Eat More, Move Less: What's Driving
the Obesity Epidemic

Like many Americans, I used to think that overweight people simply needed to eat less and move more. I thought that would solve their problem and our national obesity epidemic. However, I've come to understand that we have less control over our waistlines than we think. In fact, many of the choices we make are influenced by forces we have not fully understood until now.

For anyone who's trying their best to eat less and move more, we now have scientific proof that enemy #1 is their own biology. Our bodies have been shaped by society, evolutionary biology, technology, economics and the invisible forces all around us that compel us to eat more and move less.

Big decisions that have been made in this country by industry, agriculture and government are having an oversized impact on the little decisions and actions we take in our daily lives. They are dictating what we eat when we're hungry and how long we sit at our desks, in our cars, or on our couches.

More often than not, we get these signals from corporate marketing and advertising. (Have you ever noticed how the volume on your TV goes up when the commercials come on?)

Starting May 14 and 15th, HBO is airing a four-part documentary series called The Weight of the Nation, part of a comprehensive public health campaign. The effort also includes a book and regional screenings, and there will be new research from our partners about the risks, consequences, and solutions surrounding obesity, and more. It offers an unflinching look at the severity of the obesity crisis and exposes the driving forces behind it.

The Weight of the Nation is one of the most far-reaching campaigns to date to tackle this issue. It is an unprecedented joint effort of HBO and the Institute of Medicine, in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and Kaiser Permanente. Our partners are all stakeholders with a vested interest in solving this crisis.

And for good reason:

• More than two-thirds of adults age 20 and over in America are overweight or obese, and nearly one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese.
• Obesity-related health care costs nearly $150 billion annually. Someone who is obese costs an average of $1,400 more a year to care for.
• Obesity contributes to 5 of the 10 leading causes of death in America, including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancers, stroke, and kidney disease.
• 94 percent of American schools fail to meet federal standards for fat and saturated fat in school lunches.
• If current trends continue, this could become the first generation in U.S. history whose children have a shorter life span than their parents.

When it comes to obesity in America, there are things we think you should know. At HBO, we answer to subscribers, not advertisers. And that gives us a certain freedom to speak the truth, even when the truth is disturbing.

We know that humans evolved over millennia to be able to survive in lean times -- to consume and conserve as much energy as possible. But here in 21st century America, we are living in an age of plenty, of high-yielding crops, supersized meals, and caloric "water" marketed as energy and sports drinks. When you factor in this inescapable context, it becomes clear that we are asking people to go against our very nature every time we implore them to "eat less and move more."

The Weight of the Nation also reveals that much more than our personal choices, how and what we produce -- and how it is marketed -- can have severe consequences for our health and future. For example, government subsidy programs primarily support large commodities like wheat, corn and dairy products, which can be easily processed into shelf-stable foods. Meanwhile, the sale of local fruits and vegetables comprises just two percent of all U.S. agricultural sales, and fruit and vegetable farmers get no subsidies.

The films take a hard look at what Kelly Brownell, PhD, director of Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, calls the "pernicious and powerful" practices of food and beverage marketers. Marketing foods and drinks that are the worst for us makes it harder for parents and others committed to keeping our families healthy. Yet, when profit margins for these high-calorie, high-sugar, high-fat products are vastly wider than those of healthier foods, they consume the most advertising space on TV, radio, print or online.

As complex as the obesity crisis may be, we need to face the reality that it is becoming a devastating "new normal" in America, posing one of the most serious and urgent threats to our health, economy, and way of life. To reverse the prevalence of obesity and bring the nation to a healthier weight, we need to change more than ourselves. We need to transform our entire society.

John Hoffman is vice president of HBO Documentary Films and an executive producer of The Weight of the Nation series. The films will premiere on HBO on May 14 and May 15 and will also air on HBO on Demand and HBO GO. All films will be available in English and Spanish, and will stream free of charge on HBO.com. Follow The Weight of the Nation on Twitter @WeightoftheNtn.

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CBS To Give 'Two And A Half Men' Star Ashton
Kutcher A Raise

CBS executives are rumored to be offering Ashton Kutcher $725,000 for each episode of "Two And A Half Men" next season, according to OK! magazine. That's $25,000 more than he currently makes per ep...

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