Eight TV Shows That Hung On Too Long
Yesterday, our esteemed colleague Josh Jackson listed the 15 Best TV Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon. (He left off Kings, but anyway.) Today we flip over the coin to comment on a few shows that maybe went on just a tiny bit too long. Or a lot too long. And in case anyone’s wondering how to end a show right, how to strike exactly the right note before the final credits roll—this is how.... read more
The 15 Best TV Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon
Despite a heap of critical acclaim, Southland got the axe earlier this week. Here are 15 more TV shows that died too young. read more
Ten Television Commercials Featuring Voiceovers by Famous Actors
For those of us who still don’t have TiVo or a DVR (And there are dozens of us!), our television-watching habits naturally include some commercial viewing. And occasionally, a disembodied voice emanates from the screen that is so familiar, it drives you crazy until you are able to place it. Here, we identify 10 commercials featuring voiceovers by famous actors, to ease your no-doubt frustrated mind.... read more
Step Out Into The Light: Fourteen Covers Of Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You In The End"
What is it about this song? Like almost all the music of Daniel Johnston (whose first album in six years, Is And Always Was, came out last week), it's so much more massive than the sum of its parts—just this man and his springy guitar and wavery, unsteady voice. But the words are so reassuring, so deeply comforting, promising us something that we all really want to be true, that it's really hard not to love it. And that, paired with its astounding simplicity (it ain't no "Stairway to Heaven," that's for sure), makes it ripe for the covering. Here... read more
Walking in a Garage-Rock Wonderland: 10 Examples of 2009's Excellence in Terms of Scrappy, Catchy Song
“In the garage I feel safe No one cares about my ways In the garage Where I belong No one hears me sing this song In the garage” -Weezer: “In the Garage” For as long as dudes have been banging on six-strings, the garage has served as a safe haven of sorts, a place where, as Rivers Cuomo so melodically put it in the song above, said dudes could write “stupid words” and “stupid songs,” loving every one. And seemingly every few years since “garage rock” as a genre was coined way back in the middle ’60s, someone announces, breathlessly,... read more
I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little Weirder, Baby: The 10 Most Bizarre Barry White-Referencing Articles on the Interwebs
Soul icon Barry White's sultry voice has been responsible for getting millions in the mood over the years. But all it got these folks was in the mood for posting some really weird shit on the Internet... **1. "Walrus of Love Ignites Shark's Mojo"** Excerpt: "An aquarium which piped the music of Barry White into a tank to encourage two sharks to breed says the tactic has paid off. Bosses at the Sea Life London Aquarium say the legendary 'walrus of love' has transformed love shy shark Zorro into a marine love machine. ... 'We are absolutely delighted that Zorro... read more
The Ten Best Celebrity Alcohol Endorsements
Celebrities endorse alcohol for a variety of reasons: to cash in (see Diddy), because they really, really like to drink it (see Orson Welles), to promote a movie (see Will Ferrell), and because they're under the impression that a particular type of alcohol has mystical properties that enlighten our senses and help us summon UFOs (see Dan Aykroyd). If you haven't seen the first video, do yourself a favor and watch it.... read more
Ten Killer Rock 'n' Roll Photographs
On Oct. 22, you can purchase the new book Who Shot Rock & Roll, which compiles iconic music photographs from 1955 to the present. On Oct. 30, if you're in the New York area, you can see some of these images in an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum that runs through Jan. 31, 2010. And right this very moment, you can see 10 of our favorites from the collection, complete with notes from the book's editor Gail Buckland, written exclusively for Paste.... read more
Four Sci-Fi Shows (And One Film) That Stargate Universe Is Borrowing From
Obviously, SyFy's latest series Stargate:Universe owes its existence to a the success of the original Stargate film, a pair of TV spin-offs (SG-1 and Atlantis) and a couple of direct-to-DVD films (The Ark of Truth and Continuum). Maybe not so much the animated series (Stargate Infinity). But after watching the double-episode Universe pilot, it quickly became apparent that those weren't all the shows the creators were consciously or subconsciously riffing. Here's a quick rundown of some other obvious and not-so-obvious sci-fi touchstones found in the series premiere:... read more
Oh Comely: Five Neutral Milk Hotel Covers Worth Hearing
Hearing Neutral Milk Hotel via audiophile-quality vinyl for the first time will be a triumphant yet defeating moment. Why? Because the band's sad notes will strike louder than ever before, and every wailing horn will remind us that Elephant 6 offspring is gone, perhaps never to return.... read more
Thirteen Raggedy Old Avett Brothers Songs To Make You Love (Or Hate) I and Love and You Even More
If you've flipped through the pages of Paste in recent years—whether physical or virtual—you're likely familiar with the Avett Brothers, if not just flat-out smitten with them. We first told their story back in 2006 and caught back up with them this summer as they prepared for the release of their major-label debut. I and Love and You came on out Columbia's American Records imprint last week, and it's a glorious feat—you can read our own Bart Blasengame's thoughts on the record right here. (For the record, yes, that is the first time Paste—or anyone else, we estimate—has ever committed... read more
10 Blatant B-Movie Knock-Offs
Blockbuster recently announced that it will be closing over 800 stores worldwide by 2010. It seems there is no competition for the rise of convenient and affordable movie renting alternatives like Netflix, automated kiosks and online movie download sites. But just like any service that is streamlined into a more efficient and faceless exchange, there is always a give and take.... read more
Mad for Maddow: The Very Best of Rachel Maddow
About a year and a month ago, Air America radio host Rachel Maddow decided to dabble in television commentary. After several months already spent as an MSNBC political analyst, and with a little help from her BFF Keith Olbermann, Maddow was ready to hit the big time: her very own TV show! In the year since her debut, she's already become one of the biggest names in the cable news biz. What's the secret behind her popularity? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that her show is, you know, good. Mixing a fiery brand of politics with... read more
Why Kevin Is Top Chef
I was wrong last time, but here I go again, trying to predict the winner of Top Chef: Las Vegas. I’m rooting for our hometown boy Kevin Gillespie all the way. Here’s why:... read more
The Ultimate Swedish-Pop Playlist
As you may have heard, Abba is nominated for a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here, in their honor, we present a playlist of beloved songs from 16 other, more recent Swedes—the songs are ranked roughly in descending order of how much we adore them. For further listening, we recommend clicking on Hello Surprise, which has a massive alphabetical directory of every Swedish band you’ve ever heard of, plus a few—like Andypandy, Pineforest Crunch and Ninja Massacre—that you probably haven’t.... read more
The 10 Worst Movie Accents of All Time
Casting a famous actor in a role can be a crapshoot. Just because a director can snag a big name for their film doesn't always mean that they belong there. Case in point, generally talented and experienced actors, when asked to do foreign accents, may stumble somewhat...or they may stumble a lot. Here, we've listed 10 of the worst examples of famous actors doing infamously bad accents:... read more
Fourteen Catchiest Apple Ads (Plus, Who's That Singing In The New Nano Commercial?)
With their clean lines, bright hues, tech-forward features and cultural cache, it often seems like Apple products simply sell themselves. But what, then, of the hundreds of equally stylish—and so often mesmerizing—television ads the company's shelled out for over the years? Are they just for our amusement? Well, no, but sometimes they might as well be. There are few other ad campaigns with the capacity to stop TV viewers in their commercial-break tracks from the sofa to the fridge, and few others worth seeking out on YouTube even after you've gone to great TiVo-related lengths to avoid them the first... read more
Seven Outrageous and Iconic David Cross Moments
They say the pen is mightier than the sword. If that's the case, David Cross's pen is mightier than a lightsaber or a railgun. The veteran stand-up comic has been using his sardonic wit to poke at society's sacred cows ever since he burst onto the L.A. comedy scene in the early '90s. Sacred or profane, it's all fair game to him. So, in honor of Cross's new book (and tour): here are but a few of his finest moments to date:... read more
Poultry Emotion: A 20-Piece Bucket o' Classic Chicken Songs
In honor of golden-throated Kentucky chicken farmer Kevin Skinner, who won the million-dollar grand prize on America's Got Talent last week, we offer this squawkingly great list of songs about the animal this new pop-cultural phenomenon used to spend so much time looking after... read more
Top Ten Reality TV Shows
A true event of this decade, reality TV can be toxic (Wife Swap), and it can be inspiring (The Amazing Race). The shows on this list don't necessarily represent the best, most intelligent programming that television has to offer, but they’re entertaining—and isn’t that the point?... read more
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
The 17 Best Romantic Comedies This Decade
The 20 Best Live Acts of the…
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
B.O.B. - Put Me On
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Kim Taylor - Days Like this
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
David Bazan - Hard To Be
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
