"Homies" For The Offense?

I dunno, maybe I'm just too P.C. But doesn't anyone find the whole "Homiès South Central" line of clothing (and its $150 price tags), while an obvious parody of the luxury Hermès line, even a little bit offensive? Come on. "Homies"? South Central? It's not even subtle. I can guarantee you none of the Kitson shoppers sporting these sweatshirts would ever set foot in the real South Central... it's just... mind boggling.

PaleyFest: "Community" Table Read and Full Panel, Plus: Puppets! (VIDEO)

I've had the pleasure of moderating several "Community" panels now, both at Comic-Con and at the Paley Center, and it's always a blast. Always a challenge -- as this cast is wild -- but always fun. Tuesday night was no exception, as I moderated "Community's" fourth consecutive year at Paley.

The highlight this time: In lieu of screening an episode, most of the cast performed a table read of the season opener. With Chevy Chase off the show, Fred Willard (who guested in the season opener anyway) joined the cast for the read.

The panel's other big news was the reveal of an upcoming all-puppet episode. Read TVGuide.com's coverage of the event here, or you can watch the whole panel -- including the table read -- below.



Meanwhile, check out some pics from the event below. Pics courtesy of Samsung Galaxy, taken during the Paley Center for Media's PaleyFest, honoring Community, at the Saban Theatre, Tuesday March 5, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. © Kevin Parry for Paley Center for Media.

Los Angeles Conservancy's Last Remaining Seats 2013 Announced

As you well know by now, the Los Angeles Conservancy's Last Remaining Seats is one of our favorite events of the entire year. Enjoying a classic movie in one of Los Angeles' glorious old movie palaces is quite a magical way to spend an evening. I never tire of seeing a film at the Los Angeles Theatre (above) in particular, but others, like Orpheum and the Palace, are just as fantastic to visit. This year, the Conservancy is expanding its scope to also include the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills (where the PaleyFest is currently taking place).

Here's this year's schedule:

Saturday, June 1: To Catch a Thief (1955) at the Orpheum Theatre (1926).

Wednesday, June 5: La Bamba (1987) at the Palace Theatre (1911)

Wednesday, June 12: My Fair Lady (1964) at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (1964)

Wednesday, June 19: All About Eve (1950) at the Los Angeles Theatre (1931)

Wednesday, June 26: Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) at the Orpheum Theatre (1926)

Saturday, June 29: Casablanca (1942) at the Saban Theatre (1930)

Tickets go on sale to Conservancy members on Wednesday, March 27 and to the general public on Wednesday, April 10. Last year, we enjoyed "Paper Moon" at the Los Angeles; read about it here. In 2011, we watched "Robin Hood" there, and in 2010, we caught "The Graduate" there.

Tonight: Watch the PaleyFest "Community" Panel Live

As PaleyFest continues this week, I'm excited to be moderating the Community panel on Tuesday night. Just like this weekend's Revolution panel, it will be live streamed -- click here to start watching around 7:30 p.m. PT. There will be some fun surprises in store.

Among the panelists set to appear:

Russ Krasnoff, Executive Producer
David Guarascio, Executive Producer
Moses Port, Executive Producer
Tristram Shapeero, Executive Producer
Joel McHale, “Jeff Winger”
Gillian Jacobs, “Britta Perry”
Yvette Nicole Brown, “Shirley Bennett”
Danny Pudi, “Abed Nadir”
Alison Brie, “Annie Edison”
Jim Rash, “Dean Pelton”
Plus additional guests to be announced.

Got any questions you'd like me to ask the stars and producers? Let me know!

Happy Birthday To Us: Franklin Avenue Turns 10

Remember when blogs were the hot new thing? Before Facebook, before Twitter... hell, even before MySpace was oh-so-briefly the craze, people were blogging. We got into the game rather late, on March 4, 2003, way after many folks had started doing it. But soon after, the whole blogging thing really took off. Remember the 2005 L.A. Times Calendar section cover story The New Faces of The City? Franklin Avenue was included in a small roundup of L.A. blogs worth checking out, several of which now no longer exist.

I still remember the thrill I got in the early days of the blog, checking our stats constantly to see if people were showing up -- and where they were coming from. And when we'd get linked to by another, bigger blog? Amazing. It was the late, lamented LA Examiner that first inspired me to blog, and when the guys over there (Matt Welch and Ken Layne) gave us one of our first big links, driving tons of traffic to Franklin Avenue, I was hooked.

Now the web is so loud and noisy -- and lousy with millions of blogs and websites -- I must admit, some of that thrill is gone. And I probably spend more time updating and caring for my Twitter feed than the blog a lot of the time. But social media has at least given bloggers a platform to drive traffic back to their sites. And I still do get giddy when one of my posts picks up steam and gets linked on megasites. Recently, my post about the LA Times dropping TV listings did that. So did my YouTube video of the prank caller to KCBS.

Ten years later, we've reviewed nearly 300 restaurants, have held seven editions of The Great Los Angeles Walk, helped throw a wake for the Ambassador Hotel and spawned two Blogger Kids, among many other things. It's hard to believe it's been ten years. Thanks for joining us on this journey.

Here's how we marked our 5th anniversary, and here's the underwhelming post that started it all.