Mediaite » Judah Friedlander

30 Rock’s Judah Friedlander Shows Time Contributors How To Beat Each Other Up

Jon Bershad — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:46:57 +0000

Have you ever wanted to know how to beat someone up? Or, have you ever been flipping Time and wanted to see the reporter your reading beat up one of the other reporters with a roll of tape? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then I have just the video for you. In it, comedian and actor Judah Friedlander shows Time’s Josh Sanburn, Nate Jones, and Claire Suddath how they can take each other out in an office setting.

For those curious why a TV star was in the offices of Time showing reporters where they should kick each other, Friedlander was promoting his new book How to Beat Up Anybody, a book that he promises will teach you how to defeat any person, “even if the person you’re fighting has also read the book.” Impressive. Whatever the reason, thank God for this video. This is just the kind of hard hitting journalism we need.

Check out the video from Time.com below.

BriWi, Stop Apologizing (For Being Funny)

Rachel Sklar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:51:32 +0000

It’s been a big week for Brian Williams. Tonight, he guest-stars on 30 Rock. Last night, he emceed “Stand Up For Heroes,” the star-studded annual charity show benefiting wounded returning soldiers via the Bob Woodruff Foundation, sharing the stage with Elvis Costello and his idol Bruce Springsteen. Sunday, he returned from a week spent in Afghanistan, alive and intact (it is something you can’t underestimate in a paragraph that includes the name Bob Woodruff). His one big failing from the last week was not being able to do Leno, and many would regard that as a plus.

Okay so — we all know it by now, Brian Williams has a life outside of NBC from 6:30 – 7pm, Monday – Friday. Yes, people were skittish when he hosted SNL (yawn) but that was two years ago — he’s been on Leno, Conan, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Stewart, the Emmys, Ellen, Bonnie Hunt and who knows what else since then (inlcuding, btw, a quick cameo on 30 Rock). So — we get it. He’s funny.

That’s why I was surprised by this promo video for tonight’s ep of 30 Rock, in which BriWi seems to doth protest way more than necessary that no really, he’s not funny, he’s just a newsman. “I hope people understand that a couple of months from now I’ll be in Afghanistan being shot at,” he says, reminding me of his repeated assurances two years ago that the Nightly News was “Job One” and how “stewardship of journalism at NBC” was safe. Well, it’s an easy claim to make two years later from the top of the ratings (though Diane Sawyer awaits!) and having just returned from your second trip to Afghanistan since then to boot. The irony is that now he no longer needs to make that claim — two years ago, it really was novel to have Brian Williams on SNL; now, it’s part of the progression of an alterna-career that by now we’re pretty used to. So BriWi, stop apologizing — the news is safe, and so are you — at least until you join Lester Holt on the Today Show set in a dress.

BTW all that said, I particularly liked these two quotes from his 30 Rock cast mates: (1) Tina Fey: “He really knows his way around a joke, and he’s always available” (ha – according to the relative frequency of my Google alert for him vs. Charlie Gibson, he really is) and (2) Judah Friedlander “It’s always fun when you have guys that people are so used to seeing play very serious roles on TV – not that he’s playing a role but you know he’s usually very serious.” I’m sure BriWi loved that one.

Clip below of the 30 Rock pre/promo-interview and, just to remind you that Brian Williams is a serious journalist, a little something extra.

Related in BriWi Doing The Same Thing Before He Hosted SNL:
In Bloggo Gravitas: BriWi On SNL, In His Own Words [ETP]

Do-Gooder: iParticipate, You Participate, Celebs Participate

Rachel Sklar — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:31:21 +0000

Today we launch a new column: Do-Gooder, which will highlight all sorts of do-gooding initiatives by the kind of people who oughta be inscribed in The Book of Life on this Yom Kippur. I love this under-the-radar video from the Emmy red carpet, where director Jason Pollock asked Emmy-goers to step up and pledge their participation to public service in the name of iParticipate, a public-service initiative from the Entertainment Industry Foundation meant to encourage and promote service and volunteerism (that’s Michelle Obama kicking it off). The collection of people proclaiming “I participate” here is pretty awesome, and sets a terrific example — fan faves no doubt include Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but there’s also John Oliver and Rob Riggle, Tony Shalhoub, Sally Field, Padma Lakshmi,that Olivia Wilde that everyone’s so gaga for, Billy Bush, Ed Helms, Kate Walsh, Larry Wilmor, a towering and beefy Jimmy Smits, Dianne Wiest, Kevin Kline, Adrien Grenier, Phyllis and Angela from The Office, and Judah Friedlander as the French say, en chapeau.

Watch it here — there aren’t even secret coded message for people to get mad at! Maybe…

Here’s a bit more on the project from the YouTube page:

Starting October 19th, EIF, Hollywood’s leading charity, has enlisted the four major broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC — for an unprecedented, week-long television event. As the centerpiece of EIF’s iParticipate campaign, for the entire week of October 19th, these and other networks will use our favorite TV shows to shine a spotlight on the power of service. Over sixty prime-time shows have already agreed to participate and this number is growing…I participate, do you?

Also from the YouTube page, comments section:

your mom participates and i did her

Stay classy, YouTube.