Random Acts

Random Acts of Ali Larter: Maternity cover by Ryan Reynolds

So as you know, Ali’s a bit busy being pregnant – and trying to sell vodka at bus stops:

Ali Larter advertising Absolut vodka as Lemon Drop at a bus stop

So being random is hard to fit in (although the above seems quite random). Last week, maternity cover was provided by Scarlett Johansson. However, this week, she’s too busy lolling over strange objects, and being airbrushed as GQ‘s “Babe of the Year” to be doing anything too random:

Scarlett Johansson in GQ

But fortunately, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, has stepped in this week to breach the gap by taking his top off.

Ryan Reynolds without his top on

Reynolds, who normally spends most of his time being charming, intelligent, funny (basically, Canadian), was also voted sexiest man alive this week by People magazine (George Clooney nicely sent his congratulations), which is quite random. Think what his and Scarlett’s kids are going to be like.

The actor does expect a few new perks at home with his wife of two years, Scarlett Johansson. “Now it’s going to be, ‘Sexiest man, take out the garbage.’ That does sound better,” Reynolds says. “The most difficult part is going to be organically working this title into a conversation with random strangers.”

See? How are men around the world supposed to be content with their lives, knowing that Ryan Reynolds is out there being so much better than they are? It’s just not fair.

But most randomly, he’s decided to be Green Lantern and become an interplanetary crime fighter this week by wearing a ring. There’s a trailer, too, in which Gossip Girl‘s Blake Lively co-stars. Cruelly, she’s dyed her hair brown. That should be a crime.

Thursday’s “magical legal system” news

Doctor Who

Film

US TV

US TV

Question of the week: are people stupid?

Mike and Molly

Ratings are a bit of a blunt tool but normally they can be quite useful. I find that in a large majority of cases, the shows I do like other people like, too, and they go on to survive for a few seasons, while the shows I spot as turkeys from the outset generally last a season at most thanks to other people agreeing with me.

But there are exceptions, usually on US network CBS, but also elsewhere. I thought Rubicon got really good towards the end, but it has just been cancelled (although I don’t blame AMC or the audience since you had to have a hell of a lot of viewing stamina to reach the end, after a really slow start by the show) and there are shows that mysteriously do well, such as Rules of Engagement , for reasons I can’t fathom.

Case in point: Mike and Molly and Community. Now, Mike and Molly is a heinously bad show, a cornucopia of fat-jokes, bad acting and general nastiness from the producers of Two and a Half Men. Ugh. Community is, of course, a brilliantly funny comedy, filled with pop culture references, sight gags, interesting characters, entertaining situations and actual hilarity. Yet what are the two shows’ ratings? On Monday, Mike and Molly got 12.3 million viewers, a growth of 9% on the previous week; on Thursday, Community gets about 4.8 million viewers.

Now obviously, days of the week get different ratings, they’re in different time slots, with different lead-in shows, Community is on NBC, the virtual home of low ratings, while Mike and Molly is on number one network CBS. But all the same, this isn’t an isolated problem. We all know low-rated but good shows and high-rated but rubbish shows from both sides of the Atlantic (and elsewhere). So I have to ask:

Are people stupid? Is the ratio of stupid people to non-stupid people in this world 12.3:4.8 or 2.6:1? And is there any way to fix this, given that low ratings will lead to death for the smarter shows, while high ratings will ensure dumb shows survive?

As always, leave a comment with your answer or a link to your answer on your own blog

Wednesday’s “Dead Blue” news

Doctor Who

  • Karen Gillan to star with Misfits‘ Robert Sheehan in Romeo and Brittney
  • A Doctor Who/Torchwood crossover will happen

Film

  • Steven Soderbergh to direct The Man from UNCLE
  • Trailer for period werewolf love triangle Red Riding Hood
  • Trailer for The Mechanic with Jason Statham
  • Jane Wright quits BBC Films
  • Trailer for medieval buddy movie Your Highness with James Franco, Zooey Deschanel, Danny McBride and Natalie Portman
  • A remake of The Swarm?
  • Trailer for The Green Lantern

British TV

US TV