(RNN) – The government shutdown may not be funny to the 800,000 people who are out of work, but when you ask random people on the street, that's when the laughs come in.
Enter late night jokester Jimmy Kimmel (who I called the late night talk show version of Ted Cruz earlier this week. No offense to Kimmel.)
He sent his Q&A team to question the citizenry about which they preferred more – the ACA or Obamacare – and the answers proved the recent CNBC polls were correct - some people didn't know Obamacare and the ACA are the same thing. They just hear the word "Obama" and run.
Government on TV: Showtime's Homeland debuted for its third season on Sunday, picking up with the aftermath of the terrorist attack that destroyed the CIA building and killed the vice president and CIA director. Carrie (Claire Danes) is being grilled in Senate hearings; Saul (Mandy Patinkin) is plotting the agency's revenge as the new director of the CIA and Brody (Damian Lewis) is nowhere to be found.
Arcade Fire's post-'SNL' concert was as magically weird as falling down the rabbit hole
The best thing about the 39th season premier of Saturday Night Live was not the Girls spoof or Aaron Paul as Drunk Uncle's relative Meth Nephew (that was second best).
The best part was musical guest Arcade Fire's 22 minute post show entitled Here Comes the Night Time. The mini-concert featured three new songs from their forthcoming Oct. 29 album Reflektor. The hipster-fest included cameos from James Franco, Ben Stiller, Bono, Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis, Bill Hader, Aziz Ansari and others.
Jam of the Week: Arcade Fire, Reflektor – It's not that I am being lazy by making this the jam of the week, but the song is pretty groovy.
‘Meatballs 2' won't hang with ‘Gravity' this weekend
No matter what, an animation movie that the whole family can enjoy will beat out anything good in theaters.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 knocked the Hugh Jackman thriller Prisoners out of the top spot this weekend. The Ron Howard-directed biopic Rush debuted at No. 4. Not a bad showing for a guy who's been getting paid since he was old enough to tie his own shoes.
Here's last weekend's top five, according to Box Office Mojo (listed next to previous week's ranking and weekend gross):
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (NR) $34,017,930
- Prisoners (1) $10,865,262
- Rush (NR) $10,014,920
- Baggage Claim (NR) $9,031,102
- Don Jon (NR) $8,677,009
Gravity – In what is the first big 3-D movie experience of the year, the film that was all the rage at the Toronto International Film Festival at summer's end takes the viewer into space where loneliness and fear are only the beginning. The film stars Sandra Bullock, George Clooney and Ed Harris. The trailer is intense.
Runner Runner – A broke college grad (Justin Timberlake) is duped by a guy who hacks into an online poker game. When the broke student meets face-to-face with the crook, a slick offshore businessman played by Ben Affleck, he is entrapped in the world of a lavish lifestyle and international crime.
Linsanity – SPORTS DOCUMENTARY OF THE WEEK – The swift rise of the Harvard graduate/bench warmer for the New York Knicks Jeremy Lin. Because of three months of hysteria, Lin got a huge contract from the Houston Rockets in 2012.
Also in theaters this weekend: Pulling Strings, Bersharam, Grace Unplugged, A.C.O.D., Concussion, Parkland, All Is Bright, Let the Fire Burn, The Summit, Bad Milo.
Random movie thought: With the government shutdown still happening, is it strange that the summer comedy This Is the End is being released on Blu-Ray and DVD this week? Is it foreshadowing the end of the tea party? Obama? Partisan bickering when there's work to be done? Who knows?
Buckeyes sports announcer grieves, gets love from OSU players
Dom Tiberi, a Columbus, OH, sports journalist, suffered the ultimate pain for a parent last week – he buried his 21-year-old daughter Maria, who died in a car accident.
Tiberi somehow put his grief to the side and covered the Ohio State Buckeyes' win over the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night. As he waited to go back on the air, the team showed him the love many athletes will never give the media.
The No. 4 Buckeyes have never looked so good.
Government shutdown in sports: One thing that may slip many people's minds is that the military academies field sports teams. There is no game bigger for the academies this weekend than the Air Force-Navy game, which will be played as scheduled Saturday after getting approval from the Department of Defense. You can do whatever you want, government, but people will be really peeved if one of the sports world's most magical events were canceled.
A little something from YouTube: Young writer/comedienne quits job via YouTube, employer responds
Being fed up with your job is one thing. Airing those grievances and using your employer's equipment to make a YouTube video is quite different.
Marina Shifrin managed to do all those things, crossing the proverbial bridge you don't burn, setting it ablaze and dancing off the river bank to Kanye West's Gone. In a viral video, Shifrin displayed her talents as a young journalist (her views on journalism can be seen on her blog) by resigning from a job she was unhappy with in the most millennial way possible.
She said her (previous) employer, Next Media Animation in Taiwan, was "an awesome company that makes news videos" but since her boss only cares about clicks and views, she was fed up.
"I believe it's more important to focus on the quality of the content. When you learn to improve this, the views will come. Here is a little video I made explaining my feelings," Shifrin wrote on the YouTube post.
Her feelings required interpretive dance. At least she picked a solid song from a good Kanye album.
Her former employer responded on Tuesday, wishing her the best and going all out to explain what she will be missing out on. They also used interpretive dance. Theirs was not as good.
I don't know if I want my boss to use interpretive dance to accept my resignation, but I have a feeling my boss could break dance, so I would lose that battle in a heartbeat.
UPDATED: Shifrin may or may not been offered a job by Queen Latifah as an internet content producer for her new talk show The Queen Latifah Show on Thursday. The AP reports that Latifah was serious and a brief interview took place after taping. No word on if she took the job or not.
Government Shutdown/Obamacare honorable mentions
Sign at national park: 'Congress, you suck'
Shutdown-inspired pick-up lines take over Twitter
Shutdown song, revisited – YouTube
Obamacare takes 'adorable' approach in internet memes
ACA is a ‘Scandal,' starring Jennifer Hudson – Funny of Die
Ferris Bueller explains the government shutdown - BuzzFeed
Honorable mention
Spot-on 80s video parody for brother's wedding goes viral
Author Tom Clancy dead at 66
Teacher loses job after complaints about 'Blurred Lines' halftime routine
‘SNL's Jay Pharoah says cast needs black female cast member – and he's right – The Grio
Millennials: We suck and we're sorry - YouTube
(Dis)honorable mention
Ramen noodles take a while to digest – YouTube
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The government shutdown has left 800,000 people jobless for now and this chick quits her job in a different country on YouTube. Some people. (Source: mvsdzb/YouTube)
