It has been a red carpet heavy week (Golden Globes and Elle’s Women in Television) and we’ve got more fancy frocks on display at the Golden Globes after parties and the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. Plus the TCA winter press tour continues and we’ve got some fun shots featuring the casts of Mad Men and Community.
Diane Kruger switched out of her silver slinky gown at the InStyle and Warner Bros. Golden Globes post-party; the shorter floral Giamba black and white dress is all the better to dance in. Joshua Jackson still looks just as handsome in the same tux he was wearing at the awards show.
Judith Light! Also at the same post Globes party and fabulous as ever in a color that joins the ranks of the many stunning bold hues on display that night.
Moving onto the TCA press tour as the Mad Men cast talk about the final half of the final season (*sob*) and this photo of Elisabeth Moss and Vincent Kartheiser has me shipping Pete and Peggy. That should not be a thing. Kartheiser’s beard is looking mighty fine as are Moss’ red pumps.
More from the Mad Men panel and because a super smiley Betty Draper is a rarity here is a delightful shot of January Jones. She also happens to be adding to my current leather jacket obsession. Mad Men returns for the last time on April 5 with the appropriately titled “The End of an Era.”
More TCA and Gillian Jacobs in a patterned Tanya Taylor delight from the SS15 collection. I would also not say no to Joel McHale’s super cute dragon sweatshirt.
Red dresses have dominated the awards circuit this week and Emily Blunt’s scarlet Pucci frock is a beautiful addition to the trend. At the Critic’s Choice awards Blunt won for Edge of Tomorrow which was my favorite big blockbuster of 2014 and her speech – at the bottom of the page – with bonus John Krasinski cameo encapsulates why.
Another lady and performance I am in awe of is Jenny Slate in Obvious Child so I am so happy to see her get recognized for this role while looking fantastic in Miu Miu. Slate gives an empowering speech to watch and feel good about.
Welcome once again to Behind the Insta-Scenes! Bringing you a roundup of the best behind the scenes photos posted on Instagram from a variety of TV show and personal accounts from the people who are on them. This includes anything from future episode sneak peeks, what’s airing this week, flashing back to the past and general on set (and sometimes off) antics.
We’ve got an array of onset photos this week including a look at a future episode, which also happens to be flashing back to the past, award nomination celebrations, the final days shooting one show and creepy Santa.
Oh hey Michiel Huisman and your beardy goodness! Hanging out with Orphan Black creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson in what looks to be Felix’s apartment.
Lee Pace is guest starring on The Mindy Project this season as an important person from her past and having watched the Christmas episode it now makes sense why they were shooting in San Francisco a few weeks ago.
Mindy Kaling also posted a few photos of what Mindy looked like in 2004 – bangs and blue contact lenses – when she first knew Alex. The caption explains it all.
New Girl went for a different kind of Santa this year for their super fun festive episode and I’m not sure I will ever be able to look at Saved by the Bell’s Mr Belding in the same way again.
It was SAG nomination day yesterday and the cast of Veep have a lot of SAG years between them. This also works as a reminder that I still need to catch up on this show.
Welcome to this week’s edition of “Out of the Box” and it’s been a rather quiet week for big events, but fear not as there are still plenty of magazine editorials, red carpet events and talk show appearances with stylish moments to enjoy.
Natalie Dormer’s doing the whole Mockingjay promotional tour which is fine by us as she gives great face and quotes. This is for Nylonand I especially love the Preen by Thornton Bregazzi frock with the Sandro jacket. On her natural facial expression Dormer comments “I must have a variation on resting bitch face, like, maybe I have resting manipulative face, through no fault of my own” and she is aware of the perils of typecasting “Don’t overestimate the occasional laziness and lack of imagination that can be found in this industry that continuously recasts you in roles you’ve already played.”
Showing remnants of the Cressida Mockingjay haircut with this side sweep, which was fine for Dormer except for weather related coldness “There were one too many polar vortexes in New York for this kind of haircut, but I enjoyed doing it. That’s a fun part of this job. You get taken out of your comfort zone physically, geographically, whatever.” And I am very into the Louis Vuitton vest/top ensemble and Azlee earrings (even if my ears are not pierced) in this second picture.
Covering the new issue of Bustis Gillian Jacobs and she is definitely pulling off the Jean Shrimpton/Brigitte Bardot ’60s styling. Jacobs briefly describes her character on the next season of Girls as an artist who “challenges” Hannah (these spoilery pap shots will give you an idea of where these challenges lie) and she talks at length about Community. This includes Britta’s progressive attitude towards sex and how refreshing it is that “nothing terrible has happened to her because of it.” The whole interview is great and you can get this issue of Bust from both digital and physical newsstands now.
Doing the whole super cool coat draped over her shoulders thing is Emily Blunt on her way into David Letterman this week. The coat is Tory Burch, the dress David Koma and she hits every chic note. Even though this outfit doesn’t necessarily need it, my current red lipstick obsession has me hankering for a splash of crimson to really set it off.
The same could be said for Sally Hawkins at the Paddington premiere, however her vermillion heels and super colorful floral skirt are both bold and fun making up for the lack of showstopping lipstick. The black turtleneck could be considered too casual, but as this is a daytime premiere for a family film it really works for me.
Welcome once again to Behind the Insta-Scenes! Bringing you a roundup of the best behind the scenes photos posted on Instagram from a variety of TV show and personal accounts from the people who are on them. This includes anything from future episode sneak peeks, what’s airing this week, flashing back to the past and general on set (and sometimes off) antics.
This week we have the Broad City ladies still on tour, a teen movie queen on The Mindy Project, final table reads, prison superheroes and other set observations.
Julia Stiles is guest starring on The Mindy Project as an old friend of Danny’s and a Morgan love interest. I hope she drops some Kat Stratford dance moves.
Ilana and her big clear bag of thrown out bagels is one of many amazing visual Broad City first year moments and a fan made a bagel plushie, which is also all kinds of awesome. The new season is just two months away and I cannot wait.
Final table read time for season 2 of Lookingand January is going to be an excellent TV month as this returns at the start of 2015. Look at how adorable these dudes are.
Ryan Hansen’s TBT is going back to season 3 of Burning Love and if you ignore Ken Marino’s drool then it becomes a rather lovely cast shot. June Diane Raphael to be cast in everything please.
Lucy Liu revealed the view from the Elementary greenroom when they were on a night shoot this week and that’s a whole lot of New York office blockage with the Chrysler Building making an appearance. It’s a very hypnotic shot.
Kroll Show is another January returnee (Wednesday 14 – the same night as Broad City!) and this brief glimpse is enough to send me down a PubLIZity YouTube rabbit hole.
It’s week two of Paleyfest and this has delivered more fantastic outfits from the stars of shows like Mad Men, Masters of Sex, Agents of SHIELD, The Mindy Project, Community and Veep. Here are the ones that stood out.
The women of Mad Men work a variety of styles both on and off the show; however they don’t look like they are attending different events which can sometimes be an issue at these panels. Kiernan Shipka is once again showing that being a teenager doesn’t take away any fashion credibility and her Dolce & Gabbana floral dress is once again age appropriate and on point. Christina Hendricks does a nice job of honoring L’Wren Scott in an amazing green dress by the designer that flatters and accentuates those famous curves.
Jessica Paré is the most high fashion of the group (the absent January Jones also vies for this spot) and this Roksanda Ilincic frock looks pretty standard from this angle. What this shot is missing out is how extreme the half-wrap orange fold is and this is a dress that looks amazing in a lot of photos and a mess in others. Paré pulls it off even if I’m not in love with her shoes. Elisabeth Moss is showing off her fun side, which we have been seeing on the red carpet and in the recent New York magazine profile in a black mini Emilio Pucci number. The white lace panel and bow detail adds a hint of vintage and combining bold red lips and shoes adds that extra something to the outfit.
I really shouldn’t like this Mason by Michelle Mason jumpsuit that Agent of SHIELD’s Chloe Bennet is wearing as I’ve made my feelings on jumpsuit’s clear last week and black tends to be the only kind of jumpsuit that I could even consider. For some reason I think this looks really great and I’m just going to go with it. The slightly different blue pumps make sure it’s not too matchy matchy and I am forever a sucker for pockets.
Now this is more my usual speed (pockets again) and Annaleigh Ashford from Masters of Sex looks incredibly charming in this Novis dress. I was worried the red pumps might be a step too far, but the more I look at them, the more they work. The variety of textures, pattern and color make this a frock to covet and I’m excited that Ashford’s Betty is returning for season 2.
The Mindy Project is back next week after they left us on a kissing cliffhanger in January and here is a sneak peek of how adorable Chris Messina and Mindy Kaling look together. Kaling is wearing a beautiful emerald green jacquard Topshop high-waisted skirt and crop top; she explains in this month’s Vogue that “It’s really tempting to not take chances. But I don’t want to be fearful.” This sentiment sums up Kaling’s outfit decisions well and I love how she embraces fashion in this way even if it doesn’t always work. On this occasion it definitely does and this is great color on her.
As Britta Perry, Gillian Jacobs doesn’t get to wear a whole array of party frocks – don’t get me wrong I love her endless supply of striped sweaters, plaid shirts and jeans – so at the Community panel it is good to see her bring it in House of Holland. The coral and navy starburst disco dress is a bold, fun choice.
Veep returns in a couple of weeks and it’s yet another show I need to catch up on (Game of Thrones is giving me so much side eye right about now). Julia Louis-Dreyfus looks super sophisticated in this charcoal grey getup; the black pattern and belting are both flattering and stops it from becoming just a dress for the office.
Paul F. Tompkins Speakeasy series where the drinks are flowing as much as the conversation is a TV Ate My Wardrobe favorite, as is this week’s guest Gillian Jacobs. The Community star talks about why she got into acting (it’s kinda heartbreaking, but she seems over it), the rigorous training at Julliard and why she was on probation there and her foray into independent film making. She also discusses the pop culture references on Community and which ones she didn’t get when they first shot a now iconic episode. They also cover the return of Dan Harmon and Jacobs reveals what she wouldn’t do again. It’s a really fun conversation and there’s a good rapport between Jacobs and Tompkins.
It’s day 3 of New York Fashion Week and there’s already been runway shows galore. We thought we’d share some of our favorite looks so far from the fall 2014 collections and as the weather is still pretty terrible there’s a lot of knitwear and coats that look pretty enticing. What we’re going to do is some quick fire fantasy costuming from 10 different runway shows.
Jess wears a lot of Kate Spade on New Girl and the bow detail on this plaid coat is perfect for Ms. Day. As is the sparkly dress that is peaking out below it.
Mindy doesn’t wear a lot of pants on The Mindy Project, but she does have an extensive collection of coats and this beautiful one from Kate Spade is very much in her bold color wheelhouse.
It’s not 1950s vintage, but Kate Spade’s three-quarter length sleeve coat is very Virginia Johnson from Masters of Sex. The purse and gloves are heaven as are the brogues. The hat is super cute but maybe not for the Johnson look.
For Elizabeth Jennings when she is on some spy recon that might require a slight flash of leg on The Americans or this Charlotte Ronson skirt and sweater would probably be Britta’sidea of what a psychologist should wear on Community.
April from Parks and Recreation is all about the plaid and while I’m not sure if she’d be all that into the neckerchief, this Creatures of Comfort outfit is pretty April to me.
Scandal’s Abby has the best hair on TV (ok joint with Connie Britton) and her raven locks would look great with this dress from Nonoo and it is Scandal office appropriate.
While I’m not loving the shiny Nonoo pants, this layered looking sweater is fantastic and is very Annie Edison on Community.
This dress by Tanya Taylor screams Marnie from Girls – PS I hope she hooks up with Ray again on this week’s episode. I don’t know why I ship this couple but I do.
Kate from Trophy Wife would look fantastic in this Rebecca Minkoff leather mini. The coat and blouse add a hint of office wear sophistication while still looking pretty cool. Alternatively this could be another Abby from Scandal outfit.
Rag & Bone are taking their cues from the ’90s and while this is very My So-Called Life I’m going to give this hooded sweater to Ilana on Broad City. I would switch the skirt for some short shorts.
Another April Ludgate outfit, this time from Coach.
Flashback fantasy costuming with Coach and this would be ideal for Felicity Porter for her sophomore fall semester and we can pretend she doesn’t chop all her hair off on Felicity.
Olivia Pope loves a belted coat and this patterned Peter Som piece represents the chaos that surrounds her life on Scandal at the moment.
Alana Bloom tends to wear a lot of pattern on Hannibal and this visually arresting Peter Som dress would look fantastic on her. The blurred floral imagery could mirror how uncertain things are going to get for this season as she works to prove that Will is innocent.
Moving onto beautiful dresses with Tadashi Shoji and Mellie on Scandal always looks stunning in primary colors; it’s a strong contrast to the Olivia Pope neutral palette and this royal blue gown would look killer at a White House function.
Red is one of Alicia Florrick’s power play costume colors and as we saw at the fancy soiree in season 4, Julianna Margulies looks as stunning in scarlet formal wear as she does in the courtroom on The Good Wife. This Tadashi Shoji dress would be a great addition to her closet.
One show that loves grand parties no matter what the theme or body count is The Vampire Diaries and the final of the three Tadashi Shoji beautiful gowns is so Elena (or Katherine). Basically Nina Dobrev should wear this.
Look out for more coverage of New York Fashion Week from TV Ate My Wardrobe.
It’s TV Ate My Wardrobe’s first festive season and to mark this occasion we are hosting a very special rewind series. What this means is that we will be featuring a whole host of guest posts and in the spirit of the holidays we have asked a variety of writers to discuss a festive episode of their choice. These will be appear on the site over the next couple of weeks and there’s an eclectic mix including teen dramas, science fiction, animation, comedy, drama and more to get you in the celebratory mood. Or to at least give you plenty of suggestions of TV to watch over the break.
Today we have Les Chappell talking about the ambitious Community festive outing “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas.”
In 2011, Community established itself as something unlike anything else on television. What started out as a show about a group of dysfunctional individuals coming together in a third-rate community college turned into an omnibus of pop culture references, homages and stylistic variations, held together by a sharp understanding of just how much these people had come to depend on and mean to each other. This remarkable year was capped off with “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas,” an episode that’s the show’s most ambitious undertaking from an emotional and aesthetic standpoint. And, fittingly enough, it’s also one of the show’s very best efforts.
From the first minute of the episode, it’s clear that Dan Harmon and the rest of the show’s creative team are prepared to do something special even by their standards. The familiar environments of Greendale Community College have been converted into stop-motion animation, emulating such classic Rankin-Bass Christmas specials as Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Year Without A Santa Claus. There’s a remarkable attention to detail, the puppet versions of the actors pairing seamlessly with the voice-overs, and all the little details of the study room and campus—right down to the Luis Guzman statue—are captured perfectly by the artists at 23D Films. It’s fantastical while at the same time being familiar, a sign of the holiday spirit permeating this world.
But while the episode could have gotten away with simply being a standard episode of Community done in a unique visual style, Community (at least at its best) never creates these homages without a reason. It turns out this new perspective of the world is one only shared by Abed, the show’s walking pop culture lexicon, who’s convinced that seeing the world as a Christmas special means it’s going to be the best Christmas ever. Unfortunately for him, his friends view it as Abed finally breaking his tenuous grip on reality, his insistence on breaking into song and trying to spur everyone else to follow suit the last straw that may well get him kicked out of school. Professor Duncan, smelling an academic goldmine, offers to guide Abed through a group therapy session to get to the bottom of this issue.
And once Duncan—or rather, the “Christmas Wizard”—gives Abed free reign in his alternate reality, things enter a true world of Christmas spirit, going through time and space to a winter wonderland with such locations as Gumdrop Road and Carol Canyon. Abed’s mind recreates his friends as their own selection of misfit toys—Jeff-in-a-Box, Britta-Bot, Troy Soldier, Teddy Pierce, Baller-Annie and Baby Doll Shirley—and invites them on his journey. If the renditions of Greendale were remarkable for their accuracy, these are terrific for what they say about how the characters see each other and how Abed perceives them. (And some of them are forced out of the fantasy by those character traits: Shirley’s frozen out by being too possessive of her Christian interpretation of the holiday, while Jeff’s devoured by a pack of hum-bugs for his incurable cynicism.)
However, “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” isn’t about only showing off the joviality of Christmas, as Abed points out right before the saga begins: “A journey through winter wonderland tends to test your commitment to Christmas. So when I say test, I mean Wonka-style. I’m talking dark.” This episode understands that for a lot of people, Christmas cheer can be overwhelming—especially for those who don’t have much reason to have any—and the longer Abed’s fantasy world carries out the more cracks start to show. Abed once again practices his skill of destroying people without even realizing it, first manipulating Duncan into memories of his own miserable childhood Christmases and then ousting Britta for lying to him about group therapy. And the closer he gets to finding the meaning of Christmas, the more cracks seem to show in his holiday enthusiasm, repeating to himself that the date can’t be right since his mother hasn’t shown up for their annual screening of Rudolph.
His quest for the meaning of Christmas leads him to Santa’s workshop—accompanied only by Pierce at the end, the best moment the character’s had all year—where the meaning of Christmas turns out to be the first season of Lost. (“It’s a metaphor. It represents lack of payoff.”) Disappointment turns to devastation as Duncan crashes back into the fantasy with his revelation that Abed received a Christmas card from his mother that she wouldn’t be there this year, and had in fact started a new family. While this part strains credulity a bit—it’s almost too cold of a way to tell their son they’d remarried and had a second child—it’s certainly the most devastating news anyone could get around this time of year. It’s not so much a devotion to Christmas that’s caused Abed to create this world around him; it’s the gaping absence of what was the most important part of the holiday.
However, while Community doesn’t shy away from representing the darker side of Christmas—any more than it does the way its characters are damaged people—it turns around and recaptures the holiday spirit. In this case, the absence of something important in Abed’s life means there’s room for something new to come into it. That replacement comes in the form of the rest of the study group, willingly returning to the fantasy to save their friend from his loneliness as they’ve come to their own realization about the importance of the holiday:
Jeff: The delusion you’re trying to cure is called Christmas, Duncan.
Annie: It’s the crazy notion that the longest, coldest, darkest nights can be the warmest and brightest.
Britta: Yeah! And when we all agree to support each other in that insanity, something even crazier happens…
Annie: It becomes true.
Troy: It happens every year. Like clockwork.
It’s a feeling that they’re willing to fight for—literally—and join in the singing Abed was trying to get them to do all day.
Once the Christmas warlock is dispatched by means of remote-controlled pterodactyl (as you do), Abed’s mind is finally shaken from its catatonic state, the sense of togetherness and completion finally restored to his life: “I get it. The meaning of Christmas… is the idea that Christmas has meaning. And it can mean whatever we want.” The group leaves its holiday world, but stops just short of returning to the real world as Britta—of all people—suggests that they share this stop-motion perspective for the rest of the holidays, convening back in Abed’s dorm room to watch Rudolph together.
It leads to a terrifically beautiful ending to the episode, everyone united around an old holiday ritual turned into something new, this makeshift family brought together around the glow of the television, the tree and the menorah. (A menorah brought by Shirley, in the sweetest subtle moment of the episode.) In its own unique way, Community takes the tropes of the Christmas special and creates its own entry in the genre, something that reminds us there’s no limit to how we can interpret this time of the year. Thanks, Lost.
Les Chappell is a contributor to The A.V. Club’s TV Club and one of the founders of the classic TV website This Was Television. You can follow him on Twitter at @lesismore9o9 where he spends most of his time talking about whiskey, hats and obscure media.
Diane Kruger switched out of her silver slinky gown at the InStyle and Warner Bros. Golden Globes post-party; the shorter floral Giamba black and white dress is all the better to dance in. Joshua Jackson still looks just as handsome in the same tux he was wearing at the awards show.
Judith Light! Also at the same post Globes party and fabulous as ever in a color that joins the ranks of the many stunning bold hues on display that night.
Moving onto the TCA press tour as the Mad Men cast talk about the final half of the final season (*sob*) and this photo of Elisabeth Moss and Vincent Kartheiser has me shipping Pete and Peggy. That should not be a thing. Kartheiser’s beard is looking mighty fine as are Moss’ red pumps.
More from the Mad Men panel and because a super smiley Betty Draper is a rarity here is a delightful shot of January Jones. She also happens to be adding to my current leather jacket obsession. Mad Men returns for the last time on April 5 with the appropriately titled “The End of an Era.”
More TCA and Gillian Jacobs in a patterned Tanya Taylor delight from the SS15 collection. I would also not say no to Joel McHale’s super cute dragon sweatshirt.
Red dresses have dominated the awards circuit this week and Emily Blunt’s scarlet Pucci frock is a beautiful addition to the trend. At the Critic’s Choice awards Blunt won for Edge of Tomorrow which was my favorite big blockbuster of 2014 and her speech – at the bottom of the page – with bonus John Krasinski cameo encapsulates why.
Another lady and performance I am in awe of is Jenny Slate in Obvious Child so I am so happy to see her get recognized for this role while looking fantastic in Miu Miu. Slate gives an empowering speech to watch and feel good about.
TV Ate My Wardrobe 