Blog Posts by Dave Nemetz

We know what you’re looking forward to this Sunday: for a break in the football action so you can get back to watching the annual parade of big-budget Super Bowl commercials, right?

But before a new wave of ads takes over the Internet, we thought we’d step into the time machine and take a look back at our ten favorite Super Bowl commercials from years past. Remember these golden oldies?

Terry Tate, Office Linebacker for Reebok (2003)

We can’t remember a laugh-out-loud funnier Super Bowl ad than this decade-old offering from Reebok, which had trash-talking linebacker Terry Tate (actor Lester Speight) bring his hard-nosed style to the corporate environment. Sure, the joke was kind of one-note, with Terry repeatedly smashing into co-workers to remind them about office protocol. (“Break was over fifteen minutes ago, Mitch!”) But it never stopped being hilarious.

Cindy Crawford for Pepsi (1992)

How many boys came of age when this commercial first aired? We may never know an exact

Read More »from Top Super Bowl Ads: Watch the ten best commercials of all time [Video]

You know you've arrived when "Sesame Street" decides to poke fun at you. So PBS's red-hot import "Downton Abbey" should consider itself honored when this cute Muppet parody of "Downton" airs during "Sesame's" upcoming Season 43. The sketch won't officially air until new episodes resume Monday, February 4 -- but we've got an exclusive first look at it right here.

[Related: TV on DVD: Watch the entire third season of 'Downton Abbey,' on Blu-ray, right now]

Titled "Upside Downton Abbey" (and preceded by a clever take on "Downton's" iconic theme song), the sketch opens with a Muppet version of Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess (in a smashing purple hat) requesting a spot of tea from her felt-covered Mr. Carson. Problem is, as the name suggests, the estate and everything in it is upside down, so the tea pours right out of the teapot and onto the ceiling.

Same with the crumpets and the steak-and-kidney pie she

Read More »from 'Sesame Street' takes on 'Downton Abbey' with 'Upside Downton Abbey' [Exclusive video]

[SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses key plot developments from last night’s episode of “Downton Abbey.” If you don’t want to know what happened, stop reading now.]

Last night was truly bittersweet for fans of “Downton Abbey”: Just as the cast of PBS’s acclaimed period drama was celebrating a surprise win at the SAG Awards, the Crawleys were suffering a terrible loss within the family. This week’s episode saw the youngest Crawley daughter, Lady Sybil, die suddenly after giving birth to Lord Grantham’s first grandchild… and sent fans into a state of mourning online.

The episode originally aired months ago in the U.K., but even if you knew what was coming, you couldn’t help but be affected by last night’s sad events. As Sybil prepared to give birth, two doctors bickered over how to treat her, with family physician Dr. Clarkson saying she needed to go to the hospital to avoid life-threatening eclampsia, and new doc Sir Phillip (with the backing of patriarch Robert) insisting she was

Read More »from Major 'Downton Abbey' shocker devastates the Crawleys -- and fans

Conrad Bain, known best as TV dad Phillip Drummond on "Diff'rent Strokes," has died, family sources tell TMZ. He was 89 years old.

Bain passed away Monday night in Livermore, California; the cause of death has not yet been released. Bain's daughter Jennifer tells TMZ, "He was a lot like Mr. Drummond, but much more interesting in real life. He was an amazing father.”

Born in Alberta, Canada (yes, Mr. Drummond was Canadian), Bain served in the Canadian army during World War II and studied acting in New York City alongside Charles Durning and Don Rickles. He found success as a stage actor and played innkeeper Mr. Wells on the '60s vampire soap "Dark Shadows" before finding his niche in TV sitcoms.

Bain played Bea Arthur's sparring partner Dr. Arthur Harmon on "Maude" for six seasons, which led to his best-remembered role: kindly millionaire Phillip Drummond, who took two orphaned African-American boys from Harlem into his Park

Read More »from 'Diff'rent Strokes' star Conrad Bain dead at 89

When we got the chance to talk with the hard-partying man-boys of Comedy Central’s “Workaholics,” we figured: What better place to meet them than a bar?

After all, getting wasted is a way of life for office drones Adam (Adam DeVine), Blake (Blake Anderson), and Anders (Anders Holm), who are fighting to keep the college dream of round-the-clock raging alive despite being stuck in dead-end telemarketing jobs. Apparently, some of you can relate: Now in its third season, “Workaholics” has amassed a serious cult following, dominating the young male demo in the ratings. And Comedy Central has noticed, renewing the show for two more seasons earlier this month.

So we headed to a swanky hotel bar in L.A. to meet Adam, Blake, Anders, and co-star/director Kyle Newacheck for a round of drinks -- draft beers for Adam and Kyle, a bottle of Bud Light for Blake, and a hot toddy for Anders -- and an extensive chat about the show, which rolls out new episodes this week. The guys seemed impressed that

Read More »from Yahoo! TV Q&A: We share a round of drinks with the 'Workaholics' guys

When she won Best Actress in a TV Drama at last night's Golden Globes, "Homeland" star Claire Danes said she was on the very same stage accepting a Globe when she was 15 years old. And she's right: Way back in ye olden times of 1995, Danes won the same award for her turn as angsty teen Angela Chase on the short-lived (but fondly-remembered) ABC drama "My So-Called Life." We managed to dig up her adorable acceptance speech from that year, her very first Golden Globe win, which you can watch right here (click to the 6:07 mark):

Now, as great as Danes was as Angela Chase, you might think it's kind of ridiculous that a 15-year-old won such a prestigious award... until you see who the other nominees were that year. Heather Locklear for "Melrose Place"? Angela Lansbury for Season 11 of "Murder, She Wrote"? "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman"??? Say what you want about the current state of TV, but based on these nominees, TV dramas have come a loooong way since the mid-'90s. So in hindsight, Danes Read More »from Watch Claire Danes' first Golden Globe win from 1995 [Video]

Good news, “Arrested Development” fans: Your favorite oddball comedy, which ended its three-season run on Fox in 2006, is back this May with 14 all-new episodes, to be streamed exclusively on Netflix. But before you dig into a celebratory frozen banana, know this: The new-look “Arrested Development” won’t exactly be the same show you know and love.

“This is not Season 4; we should probably make that clear,” series star Jason Bateman, who plays the level-headed Michael Bluth, said today at a Television Critics Association panel, which featured much of the “AD” cast -- Will Arnett (Gob), Portia de Rossi (Lindsay), Michael Cera (George-Michael), Ali Shawkat (Maeby), Jeffrey Tambor (George), and Jessica Walter (Lucille) -- along with show creator Mitchell Hurwitz.

To start with, rather than making us wait a week, all 14 of the new “AD” episodes will be released at the same time. (So plan on burning a sick day sometime in May.) And instead of the freewheeling family chaos of the original

Read More »from 'Arrested Development' returns in May... but will look much different on Netflix

New “American Idol” judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj both insist that the much-publicized feud between them is over… but their body language tells a whole other story.

Carey and Minaj joined fellow newcomer Keith Urban and lone holdover Randy Jackson at a Television Critics Association panel this morning to promote the upcoming Season 12 of “Idol” (debuting January 18). And the dueling divas both brushed off questions about any lingering bad blood between them… though they didn’t exactly deny it ever existed, either.

As Carey diplomatically put it, “this is a very passionate panel” with “a lot of strong personalities,” alluding to the alleged fight that took place between her and Minaj that ended with Minaj threatening to “shoot that b----“ (and Carey hiring extra security). But Carey insisted that the “Idol” franchise is “bigger than all that… bigger than some stupid, trumped-up thing.” And Minaj joked that she came up with a unique way to settle the feud: "I put on my sex tape."

Read More »from Is the feud over for new 'American Idol' judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj? Maybe not