Pop culture from Southern California and beyond.
Grammys pay tribute to Whitney Houston, Chris Brown's back and LA Dodgers go photobombing
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- LL Cool J paid tribute to Whitney Houston at last night's Grammys in prayer:
- Jennifer Hudson delivered "I Will Always Love You":
- Other than last night's Whitney tributes, the other big story of the Grammys was Adele winning everything ever. Could the skeezy guy in this story be the ex that inspired Adele's album "21"? Do I have to like Adele slightly less knowing she dated this dude? Decide for yourself!
- Oh yeah, and the third biggest story: Chris Brown was back at the Grammys after selling a whole lot of records, and a few years after beating up his then-girlfriend Rihanna the night before the 2009 Grammys. But Brown did have some fans... like these women on Twitter who said they'd love to have Brown beat them. Yikes.
- Oh, and the Beach Boys reunited, and Scott Rudin got an EGOT.
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One of my first five thoughts after Whitney Houston died: How is "Saturday Night Live" going to address it? They put in a still of Whitney appearing in a Mary Catherine Gallagher sketch late in the show this past week, which seemed appropriate on the day that she died. However, a week later, will enough time have passed for something more to be done? Can comedy be made from this or is the tragedy of the death just too much? The host this week also coincidentally happens to be Maya Rudolph, who impersonated Whitney for years — usually centering the content around her contentious relationship with Bobby Brown. They previously pulled a sketch from Hulu making fun of Brittany Murphy when she died shortly afterward; will any of the Whitney sketches from SNL's history suffer the same fate? For now at least, here's one of those sketches:
- Members of the Los Angeles Dodgers James Loney and Javy Guerra decided to photobomb anyone they could at the premiere party for this season of HBO's "Eastbound & Down."
- The L.A. Times analyzed a recent appearance by celebrity chef/traveler/gadabout Anthony Bourdain at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center and offer the top 5 secrets to being Anthony Bourdain. I'm not sure if I'm sold on this (better or worse than being John Malkovich?) but some intriguing advice in any case.
- Roseanne's got a new sitcom. You probably don't care yet. Did you know that the cast is going to include comedy great and Roseanne's former TV husband John Goodman? Excuse me, I need to go set my DVR now.
- Author Michael Chabon, known for novels like "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" and "Wonder Boys" (also a film), has a new piece of short fiction in "The New Yorker." It's not available to read online for non-subscribers, but it's well worth checking out. It's a return to a topic he's written about, most notably in "Kavalier & Clay": Comic books. It focuses on the tale of comic creators torn apart over the rights to their creation, a tale common in the comic industry due to the multiple creators by nature involved due to the usually split duties of writer and artist.
- One last Whitney Houston tribute: The ridiculous decadence of the Dubai fountains, choreographed to Whitney's "I Will Always Love You." (Hat tip: Vulture)
Vin Scully on why he wants to work forever and touring Santa Monica and Venice Beach with comedian Bill Burr
Tom Lewis/KPCC
Comedian Bill Burr gives a tour of Santa Monica
- You should watch this epic tour of Santa Monica and Venice Beach by comedian Bill Burr, the latest in a series of Burr tours shot by Without A Net's very own TV junkie Tom Lewis. I agree with Laughspin; Bill Burr should have his own show on the Travel Channel. (Warning: The language is not safe for work, young ears, or, well, most places.)
- Well this is the most depressing reason ever to keep working forever: Dodgers announcer Vin Scully says he doesn't want to retire because "I don't want to lose my friends," as he says he knows he'll never see his friends at the office again once he retires. "Some people die twice: once when they retire, and again when they actually pass away."
- Zooey Deschanel: Awesome or awful? I'm personally a fan, but I also liked Natalie Portman in "Garden State," so, I'm clearly a sucker for "manic-pixie dream girls," as they're known.
- Ms. Deschanel is also hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend. Check out the awesome promos for her appearance, featuring jazz hands.
- Speaking of Saturday Night Live, you should read about the spectacle of polarizing hipster musician Lana Del Rey's L.A. appearance at Amoeba Records following her album release and recent SNL crashing and burning.
- Great interview with the showrunner from one of my favorite cable series, AMC's "The Walking Dead," including how he first got his start by calling people he knew in New York and asking "Do you have a cousin in Los Angeles?"
- We're hosting an Un-Grammys event here at KPCC tonight (which you guys should all RSVP for free and go to); we'll have more coverage of the Grammys here and on our Twitter account @WithoutABlog this Sunday, but the L.A. Times has a great piece on how the category most important to a comedy nerd like myself has changed! (Comedy. That category is comedy. In case you haven't figured it out yet.)






















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