Best Week Ever (BWE) is a weekly television program on the United States cable/satellite network VH1. It started airing in 2004. On the show, comedians analyze the past week's developments in pop culture, including recent happenings in entertainment and celebrity gossip.
Format
The show follows a similar format to that set by the popular miniseries I Love the 80s and its successors (which was based on a format put together by the BBC). Each new episode airs on Friday evening at 9:00 PM, and repeats are usually broadcast several times over the weekend. At the end of every episode, the panelists name which celebrity, group of people, or object has had the best week ever. (Some winners include: Shrek, Seinfeld fans, Bob Barker, Arugula won by default, smoke, Little Richard, the Nintendo Wii, Barack Obama, and "that blonde chick on The View".)
Every September, VH1 runs a special episode entitled Best Summer Ever, recapping major events in pop culture throughout the season. Likewise, VH1 runs a Best Year Ever episode at the end of each calendar year. The show's tagline is, "It's everything you love, everything you missed, and all the stuff you need to see again." Popular recent fare of the show include the Paris Hilton prison scandal, Aaron the Asian cowboy from the reality television show Hell's Kitchen, and the (by popular consensus on the show) disappointing finale episode of The Sopranos.
When the series started, VH1 ran a special once-a-month episode called Best Month Ever, but episodes have ceased production.
Formerly, the program's blog at bestweekever.tv was mainly used to preview the events in the news which would end up in the Friday episode, but it has since become more of a daily blog mostly separate from the program itself (beyond promotions and tie-ins for the show), detailing humorous stories in the news, odd television and YouTube videos, and features main contributors Alex Blagg, Michelle Collins, Dan Hopper, and Sara Schaefer's observations on pop culture and other items.
In addition, the show has podcast and IPTV elements, including Best Night Ever, where a host goes through the night or weekend in television in a four-minute segment, and extra footage and segments on VH1's VSPOT online channel.
The humor on Best Week Ever can best be described as irony, as comedians assess this week in pop culture. Sometimes actors and musicians also have guest spots on the program. Several panelists were members of the improvisational comedy troupe Respecto Montalban.
Criticism
In its recounting of the events of the past week, Best Week Ever has been seen as a sign of the short attention span of millions of Americans. In a 2005 interview on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams said: "We have such short attention spans. Heck, VH1 has a show about last week."[1] In an article on the Pipe Dream website about VH1's decade-retrospective shows, writer Jeanette Duffy notes that "VH1 has moved on from exploiting entire decades to making us reminisce over events that happened just days ago in the Best Week Ever", jokingly suggesting that cable networks might eventually produce the "Best Five Minutes Ever".[2]
Cast
Since its premiere, the show's announcer has been Larry Kenney, though in some weeks Leer Leary, a Kenney sound-alike (or a panelist doing an imitation of his voice) is used when he isn't available.
Current and former panelists include:
Segments
- "The Sizzler" (originally "Buzz Saw"), a brief discussion of "hot" celebrity gossip. Recent segments have been styled as a parody of celebrity tabloid shows (such as "The Insider").
- "The Express Lane", a quick review of the biggest pop culture stories.
- "Five Good Reasons", coming up with reasons to do one particular thing, such as vote in the 2004 elections or see the worst movie of the week.
- "Upgrade/Downgrade", giving a thumbs-up or -down on items in a certain category.
- "In Case You Missed It", the week's best moments in television.
- "What Your Purchases Say About You", decoding the hidden messages in your spending.
- "Doug Benson: Pop Culture Bachelor", comedian Doug Benson gives roses to events of the week he wants to see more of in a similar manner to the ABC show The Bachelor.
- "Paul F. Tompkins: Celebrity Defender."
- "Idol Worship", a recap of events on American Idol that week.
- "Ask Best Week Ever", a segment in which some guy will answer questions from fans.
- "Hot/Not Hot", a summary of three weekly stories; the third is always of an odd theme.
- Doug Benson TSI: trailer scene investigator. Doug Benson discusses recent movie trailers.
- "Blind Item": A panelist offers clues as to the identity of a mystery celebrity, only to give a false answer contradictory to the correct identity
References
External links
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