Rebel Wilson Sings Queen in the Year’s Most Quirky Sitcom Promo

Actress and comedian Rebel Wilson is a quirky rule breaker, so why should she adhere to some old-school network-TV model for promoting a sitcom? She shouldn't, ya hear? Regular 30-second promo spots? Pshaw.

Wilson, who stars in, writes and co-executive produces ABC's upcoming series Super Fun Night, conceived the idea of a full-length music video to hype the show. The Aussie, who broke out to U.S. audiences in Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids, wanted to show her vocal chops and give a snapshot of the lovable nerdiness of the fall comedy, which isn't, in fact, a musical. It is, however, self-deprecating in the extreme, with Wilson coining the term "eye broccoli" to describe herself and her pals in the pilot.

The music vid, from Stun Creative, a Los Angeles marketing and promo shop that's now producing its own original content, uses Queen's anthemic "Don't Stop Me Now" to let Wilson and co-stars strut, sing, pose and perhaps stand out from the pack of new TV series debuting in the coming weeks.

Super Fun Night revolves around Wilson, a Manhattan office worker sporting an American accent, and her longstanding weekly date nights with her two geeky besties. Catch the awkward hilarity starting Oct. 2.


    

The Band Gets Back Together in NBC’s Brilliantly Cheesy Promo for The Voice

We've all been there. Heartbroken, bearded and alone. This is place that some might call "the dumps," an unbearable place full of darkness, loneliness and misery. It's all because you've been without "the one" for far too long. (It reminds me very much of the time my dog ran away when I was 5. I still wonder where Kujo is. Or that time my 7th grade girlfriend left me because I got braces.) And even though Blake Shelton takes you fishing to cheer you up, it's not working. You still miss 'em. I guess the only thing left to do is belt out arguably the most passionate lyrics ever laid to vinyl: "Reunited," by Peaches and Herb. 

Before you know it, the sun will shine again, the animals will begin to chirp again, and Christina Aguilera's angelic voice will rise behind you—seconds before she pulls a Jesus and walks on water to join you and Blake. If that's not magical enough for you, there's more. Moments later, Poseidon, ah hem, the great Cee Lo Green, emerges with three lovely mermaids to round out the hook. "Reunited and it feels so good!"

At this point, you may have a hard time believing what you've just witnessed, but what the hell. The band is finally back together! Or is it? This all can't be real, right? Guess, we'll have to tune into NBC's The Voice on Sept. 23 to see if dreams really do come true.


    

Why the Ad Agency in the New Robin Williams Sitcom Looks a Lot Like Leo Burnett

If CBS' The Crazy Ones seems like a day at Leo Burnett in Chicago, there's a good reason for that. The agency's executive creative director, John Montgomery, works as a consultant and executive producer on the fall comedy—and, in fact, inspired the show, which marks the network series return of former Mork from Ork Robin Williams.

It's no accident, then, that the pilot has the fictional ad folks working on a campaign for McDonald's, one of Burnett's biggest clients. (They want pop star Kelly Clarkson to shill burgers. "I don't do jingles," she sniffs, but eventually belts out a meat-loving ditty.) The brand didn't pay for the prodigious placement, though Williams told 200-plus reporters at a Television Critics Association panel on Monday in Beverly Hills to "look under your chairs—there's a Happy Meal!"

Expect to see other real brands on the show, likely from Burnett's stable, that were willing to let the creative team poke some irreverent fun at them. Montgomery has been spending several days a week with the sitcom's writers, said executive producer David E. Kelley, giving them agency scoop that's "sometimes crazier than we could imagine." Kelley and Williams also visited Burnett's offices to soak up the agency flavor. Even the show's title comes from advertising—"Here's to the Crazy Ones" was the anthem spot from TBWA's "Think Different" campaign for Apple.

There's another ad connection with The Crazy Ones. James Wolk, who plays the shadowy Bob Benson on AMC's Mad Men, stars as the new show's office lothario and creative whiz. "I only do advertising and marketing shows," he joked during the panel. The workplace comedy, premiering Sept. 26, also features Sarah Michelle Gellar as Williams's pragmatic daughter who's trying to keep her screwball dad in line.

    

How I Met Your Mother Airs the Mother of All Promos for the Show’s Final Season

This hilarious promo for the final season of CBS's How I Met Your Mother takes the show's weird framing device to its logical and deeply unsavory conclusion. The premise of the show is that our narrator, Ted, years from now, is actually telling his kids the extremely long-winded story of how he met their mother. Thing is, the show's been on for eight years. So, if you think about it, Ted has spent all that time recounting an endless series of women he slept with while his kids were trapped on the living-room couch. In this bleep-laden promo, Ted's adorable children, now surly teenagers, point out that in the past eight years they've gone through puberty, survived by crapping in a bucket, drinking rainwater and eating spiders, and are starting to have disturbing feelings of sibling lust—and he still hasn't gotten to how he met Mom. As the series finally ends, all of us, but especially Ted's kids, are excited to hear the motherf**king ending. The final season premieres Sept. 23.

    

NYC’s PBS Station Dreams Up More Horrible, Fake Reality Shows You’d Probably Still Watch

Thirteen, a PBS station in New York City, continues to insist that its programming is better than the dreck you find elsewhere on cable—by inventing more bogus ads for reality shows that don't exist. Back in May, the NYC office of CHI & Partners rolled out posters for three such shows. And now, it's got three more for your guilty pleasure—Clam Kings, Long Island Landscapers and Meet the Tanners. I'd probably watch all of them, or at least pause, intrigued, on my way up the dial. "The fact you thought this was a real TV show says a lot about the state of TV," the promo say abruptly, just as you're getting drawn in. The tagline is, "Support quality programming," and the campaign is using the hashtag #TVgonewrong.

    

Converse Has More Springfield in Its Step With New Simpsons Sneakers

Let's say it like Comic Book Guy: Best. Collaboration. Ever. Fox's dysfunctional yet loving animated family, The Simpsons, have joined with Converse for a line of screen-printed Chuck Taylor sneakers. Through Converse retailers and Journeys.com, you can get your paws on these colorful high-tops festooned with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, catch phrases, chalk scrawls and more. The Simpsons, in production now on its 25th season, is the longest-running scripted show in TV history and one of the biggest licensing hits of the past few decades. It's a multibillion-dollar franchise in swag alone, with plenty of footwear over the years. You didn't have puffy, oversized Bart-head slippers? What a sad childhood that must've been. The Chuck Taylor All Star collection comes in adult and kid sizes. All together now: Woo-hoo! More images below.

    

Family Guy Pleads for an Emmy With Racy Spoof of HBO’s Girls

Fox's Family Guy has a new "For Your Consideration" ad for this year's Emmy Awards, because Seth MacFarlane's unfunny Rat Pack schtick hasn't ruined enough award shows yet. The latest ad references an episode of HBO's Girls in which someone received a pearl necklace. Hence the Family Guy headline: "Here's a load of comedy to shoot on your chest." Groan. It's better than the lazy Jew-baiting that MacFarlane and company have been relying on lately, but that Girls episode was beaten to death long before they got to it. But that's to be expected from a show that hasn't been funny since I was in college.

    

Ads for PBS Station Invent Ludicrous, Fake Reality Shows You’d Still Probably Watch

Excited about the reality show Knitting Wars? If sew, too bad—it's fake. It's one of five bogus lowbrow programs dreamed up by CHI & Partners in New York for a poster campaign advertising New York PBS station Thirteen. The other shows: Bad Bad Bag Boys ("Cleanup on every aisle"), Bayou Eskimos ("Their life is headed south"), The Dillionarie ("Life's a pickle") and Married to a Mime ("She's got plenty to say"). They're all ludicrous, but you wouldn't bat an eye if they were on TLC. "The fact that you thought this was a real show says a lot about the state of TV," says each ad, before asking you to support more "quality" programming on PBS. It is sort of sad that quality programming is so scarce today. It's like each new show is trying to out-stupid the last. So PBS makes a great point and delivers it with its trademark dry wit. That's just like them. They're such killjoys. More posters below.