If you've ever seen the television network Video Hits 1 (a.k.a. VH1), you're probably familiar with flamboyant Barney's creative director Simon Doonan and his one-man crusade to reintroduce the cravat into mainstream fashion. He's known for his typically catty comments on the I Love the series, where what follows the word "the" in the title is any number from 1915 to 2020.

In his real life, Doonan is the Creative Director of the New York department store Barneys, and is responsible for, among other things, the store's street-level window displays. Earlier this week, the store revealed its displays for the season the theme of which, in the grandest of holiday traditions, is Saturday Night Live. If you find that to be an odd choice, I'd guess you're not alone.

The displays are heavy on allusion to various characters, scenes and personalities from the series' 35 years - but deciphering each of those references is hindered by the primary mode of presentation, papier-mâché. (Or, as Americans say: paper mache. Barney's generally prefers the fancy French spelling.) I can't help but suspect that this medium was chosen primarily to evoke sympathy - after all, it's possible, if not probable, that they were actually made by a class of  fourth graders. If their teacher saw fit to distribute gold stars for their hard work, who could possibly mock them?

Well, me. (more...)

It’s Friday, which means it’s time to separate the chumps from the champs in Mediaite’s new “Winners and Losers” — our scorecard of who rocked and who flopped in the week’s headlines.

This week's contenders include: Tracy Morgan, dropping F-bombs on former co-stars, Rush Limbaugh, dropped from his NFL bid, and Meghan McCain, threatening to drop Twitter. Our picks:

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Twitter is a place for many things: Breaking news, political movements, movie reviews, transparent flirting, sardonic cats. But for all the voices on Twitter bleating for attention, famous and un, one remains silent: Tracy Morgan. (more...)

VIDEO Last night Mad Men star Jon Hamm was on The Tonight Show, chit-chatting with Conan O'Brien about everything except Mad Men, which was frustrating for those of us wondering if Don Draper knows how to swim. (Yes yes, we all know creator Matt Weiner has put the kibosh on revealing the state secrets, but come on, have you guys not figured out that the rest of us just like talking about it?) In any case, we did learn that Jon Hamm's grandmother isn't a fan of the show. Her feedback: "I don't think you're making very good decisions." Well, frankly, that goes double for Conan. (more...)