Thursday, February 24, 2011

SET PHASERS TO LOVE ME: If Adam is going to claim ALOTT5MA Fave status by fiat for Cameron Diaz, I think we need to take a cue from the good folks of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya and ask: Isn't there a better way? So let's convene a convention, put the parliament to parlaying, and duma this up for Mister Donald Glover. His resume:
  • Took his miscast role as stunted jock Troy Barnes and steered it right into absurd enthusiastically nerdy man-child-man Troy Barnes
  • Wrote for 30 Rock's great first season, where Wiki tells us he came up with most of Tracy Jordan's lines ("That's racist. I'm not on crack. I'm straight up mentally ill"). (Caveat: Wiki also used to say repeatedly that Glover's dad was Danny Glover, so it may be lying to us.)
  • Mounted a campaign to be the new Spider-Man that was both funny and intriguing without ever being annoying
  • Raps under the name Childish Gambino, which is funny no matter how good or bad the rapping is
  • Last night held an impromptu open bar for his Twitter followers while trying to get one of them a date
  • Is the first auto-complete option Google gives you when you type "Donald," meaning that the Internets love him more than they love Trump, Sutherland, Sterling, and Driver
Look, I think we use the word "fave" far too often, and perhaps the bar is set too low. I don't really need your validation to love Donald Glover. I'm just curious, though -- isn't he among that small group of people (NPH, Heather Morris, James Franco) who lack detractors in these parts?

26 comments:

  1. Dan Suitor11:55 AM

    He was a part of the incredible Derrick Comedy sketch troupe, which I'd been following for years before he made it big, and he filmed a movie in the city my town in an exurb of, so I'm in the bag for him already.

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  2. Agreed.  Also, if you aren't following him on Twitter, there really is a giant Donald Glover Twitter Feed shaped hole in your life.

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  3. I wasn't formally anointing Diaz to Fave status; I should have lowercased it.  

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  4. christy in nyc12:06 PM

    Yea. (Yay?)

    Heading to Twitter now.

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  5. Also, as Alan has pointed out, Donald Glover crying (or at least pretending to cry) is on the "never not funny" list.  Great as he is on Community, I feel he needs a second major credit beyond 30 Rock writing to be annointed as a fave, and falls behind Joel McHale in the ALOTT5MA Fave list for his own show.  (Alison Brie is also a contender, because of her work both there and on Mad Men.)

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  6. christy in nyc12:18 PM

    Also, now I'm fantasizing about which New York-based mid-level celebrities I wish would host spontaneous open bars for their fans.

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  7. Matt B12:26 PM

    cosigned!

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  8. Joseph J. Finn1:57 PM

    Almost there, but not quite yet for me.

    I mean, has he ever butt dialed?


    http://www.youtube.com/v/ZZ2ScWMi1dA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140

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  9. isaac_spaceman2:26 PM

    Don't get me wrong -- I think Joel McHale is great, both as Winger and as "Joel McHale" on the Soup, and you have to multiply all of that by five or ten because he played football for the (GO!) University of Washington (HUSKIES!); and I also think that Alison Brie is great and has built Annie into a role of occasionally remarkable nuance and occasionally ridiculous sexiness (and by that, I mean not just plain sexiness, but sexiness used as a comedy tool in a very smart and stealthy way).  However: Donald Glover crying, eating a giant cookie, being surprised by something he just figured out, making a great case that he is about as Peter Parkerish as a guy gets, or whatever -- that just makes me happy. 

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  10. Definite yes.  This was my first experience with Donald Glover many moons ago, and it remains fantastic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMrdAr7fNjo

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  11. Jordan2:56 PM

    The reason I watched Community in the first place was "Hey, the guy from Derrick Comedy is on a show."

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  12. spacewoman3:41 PM

    I forgot how funny the giant cookie thing was.  Genius.

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  13. Adlai5:46 PM

    Remedied.

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  14. Adlai5:48 PM

    His Comedy Death Ray appearance is also hilarious. Love.

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  15. Adlai5:49 PM

    He also rowed for them.

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  16. Andrew6:32 PM

    Is there any way to make this a thing? Because that would be awesometastic.

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  17. Adlai7:03 PM

    Danny Pudi was also on the Yale Daily News under Rory Gilmore.

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  18. D'Arcy8:09 PM

    I must confess to not being familiar (I guess I think it's okay to split infinitives) with Donald Glover, but I'm definitely with whoever said Cameron Diaz should not be an ALLOT5MA fave. I have never been a fan. In fact, she is one of those actors (for me) whose appearance in a movie makes me less likely to watch it.

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  19. Paul Tabachneck8:26 PM

    I vote "yes" on Donald Glover.  Have you ever listened to the commentary for S1 of Community?  Apparently he improvised half-to-most of his part, and was coaxed into doing so.  SO awesome.

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  20. There are apparently a bunch of ad libbers in the cast based on the commentary, and basically, the ad libs helped create the character for Troy.  And Dan Harmon on Twitter said that "you're the AT&T of people!," which is possibly the best insult of the year, was another Glover ad lib.

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  21. isaac_spaceman9:42 PM

    Man, I LOVED "you're the AT&T of people."  I wake up saying it to myself every morning, not to psych myself up or anything; just because it's stuck there. 

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  22. Hannah Lee10:22 PM

    Plus he had the good sense to remedy his original, unfortunate Twitter name, and openly contends that this dad his funnier on Twitter than he is.

    Not to mention his participation in the Conan O'Brien / Robert Reich crimefighters video (One I believe was linked to here a couple of weeks ago?)

    100% on board the site fave train for him  (not on board for Cameron Diaz though)

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  23. Anonymous10:30 PM

    I vote "yes" on Dong Lover and I'm sure my vote counts three times.  I saw him open for Joel and he is funnier than Joel.  I anticipate great things- people, we need to get onto this one early so we can have a record that we knew he was going places back in the day.

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  24. kevbo nobo7:15 AM

    I second the motion.

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  25. Christy in Philly10:49 AM

    I agree. I find her to be a terrible actress but I'm willing to honor the In Her Shoes connection.

    Speaking of, I notice that JW is one of the judges in the Morning News' Tournament of Books. I'd  love a thread over here to discuss those selections. I always love learning what people here are reading and enjoying.

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  26. Paul Tabachneck11:08 AM

    On a side note, did anyone notice that LeVar Burton cameo'd on Big Bang Theory last night, one week after Community -- not long after George Takei cameo'd as himself in the same order?  Weird season...

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