Hope you all had a healthy, happy, fun New Year’s Eve! The world of entertainment certainly did. Here are some of the highlights for our last 2012 pop culture week in review. Enjoy, and we hope to see a lot more of you in 2013!

 

 

-The West Wing proves that TV (and Aaron Sorkin’s TV) used to be magical

Why am I writing about a show that has been off the air for the better part of a decade? Because The West Wing just came to Netflix Instant. See for yourself – log in using that password your old roommate let you use that one time – and prepare to lose hours of your free time reliving the Jed Bartlet presidency. Remember how much you hated Josh’s arrogance but loved his wit, how you identified with Charlie’s quiet smugness, and how Toby Zeigler was the original Saul Berenson. Watch The West Wing. Even years later, it’s still better than The Newsroom.

-A few shows are wrapping. Say it ain’t so.

Read Aaron Paul’s lamentations on the end of Breaking Bad. Fight off tears as you look at photos from the last day on the set of 30 Rock. And… yeah… The Office is over too, I guess? Does this mean Rainn Wilson is allowed to get a different haircut?

 

-The Golden Globes are coming up, y’all!

Maybe better suited for next week’s Week In Review, I admit. But all the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler promos have me too excited to not say anything. They’re wearing sneakers under those dresses! They’re making jokes about Avatar! They’re so lovely and funny and awesome!

 

-Spike Lee doesn’t like Tarantino’s movie because it uses a word that lots of his own movies use

Okay, admittedly, it’s a bit much that Django Unchained uses the N-word 110 times. As a white dude I’d be uncomfortable saying it even once (fun story, my black literature professor once commanded me to say it in front of a lecture of 50 students; when I refused, she said she’d proven her point, but I have no idea what that point was). Director Spike Lee went one step further, saying Tarantino’s movie is a disgrace to African-Americans. It’s divisive among black AND white Hollywood stars (if you care about their opinions, I mean). In all of the talk about the N-word, people seem to have forgotten to decide whether the movie is any good or not. This critic’s assessment: it’s meh! Maybe pretty-good-meh!

 

-MTV battles Honey Boo Boo with Buckwild

I did not watch Buckwild’s premiere on MTV this week. And not just because I don’t have cable. Synopsis: move the Jersey Shore (stupid young kids saying stupid things that young people say) to West Virginia, and laugh at a culture different than your own. From everything I have seen, though, the main guy – Shain – reminds me of Chris Pratt’s character on Parks and Rec (Andy) if he lived in the Appalachian Mountains instead of Pawnee. Make your own choice on whether to watch. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

-New Year’s Eve TV coverage is lame

Rest in peace, Dick Clark. To talk about Jenny McCarthy or Carson Daly or Anderson Cooper’s attempts at coverage would do a disservice to the dearly departed master of January 1, Dick Clark. With that said, here’s wishing all of you a very blessed and happy 2013!