We’re not supposed to like it — it’s vulgar, crude, totally abrasive to decent sensibilities — but we can’t get enough of “The League,” FX’s comedy about a group of guys in a fantasy football league. Chances are good if you aren’t in a fantasy football league, you know someone who is, and just maybe you get to hear about it. And hear about it. And hear about it some more. If only those conversations were as hilarious as the ones on this show. “The League” airs Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. on FX.
Expatriate Iowans have been dancing for joy since the new Hy-Vee grocery store opened at 3801 E. Washington Ave. last month. It’s not necessarily a love of the grocery store but because Hy-Vee has stocked some Iowans’ favorite products on its shelves. Even in the Dairy State, Hy-Vee was brave enough to bring in products from Des Moines-based Anderson-Erickson Dairy, whose cottage cheese and chip dips are so in demand that the company’s Website offers tips on how to ship the products safely to out-of-state friends and family. That chip dip would come in handy with Sterzing’s potato chips from Burlington, Iowa, which is also delighting former residents of the Hawkeye state with its Madison availability.
Another sitcom about a dysfunctional family led by a clueless dad? It sounds like a pop culture snore, but ABC’s “Modern Family” on Wednesday nights is a hilarious hit on the fall schedule, due in no small part to the casting of Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy, the amiably dim patriarch of one of the families. Phil’s misguided attempts to be a cool friend to his teenage daughter (he misinterprets “WTF?” as “Why the Face?”) or his cluelessness about how much work his wife does (“You get up at six a.m.? I thought we had a raccoon.”) hit awfully close to home.
Up until now, Lady Gaga hasn’t impressed us much with generic club hits like “Love Game,” but her new video “Bad Romance” finally does the singer and fashionista justice. This icy-hot, perverted anthem of desire is where she belongs and what she’s meant to do. Plus, the costumes are cra-azy — a combination of reptilian slink, anime and Frederick’s of Hollywood — but would you expect any less from Lady Gaga?
ESPN is celebrating its 30-year anniversary in a way that should please sports, film, history and pop culture fans. The network’s “30 for 30” documentary film series has featured the work of notable filmmakers on topics that changed the sports landscape in the past three decades. There’s Albert Maysles (“Grey Gardens”) resurrecting footage of an already-damaged Muhammad Ali preparing for his next-to-last fight, and proud Baltimorean Barry Levinson (“Diner”) exploring the emotional devastation fans felt when the Colts sneaked out of the city in the middle of the night to move to Indianapolis. Upcoming topics: Michael Jordan’s stint in minor league baseball (from “Bull Durham” director Ron Shelton), the murder of a Colombian soccer player who cost his team a World Cup victory and the Chris Evert-Martina Navratilova rivalry.
Posted in Attractions on Thursday, November 26, 2009 4:50 am Updated: 10:12 am. The League, Hy-vee, Lady Gaga, Modern Family, 30 For 30
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