He's so noble! But if nothing else, the show may have inspired fucking kids to think twice before getting fucking implants.

Last week I was introduced to the holy grail of TV shows: a sitcom created by and starring women that is actually hilarious — and to both sexes! After devouring every episode of the critically acclaimed but sadly canceled BBC 3 Britcom Pulling (the second series of which just became available in the states), I came away not only with an exciting thing to share with friends, but also a new hero (series co-creator and star Sharon Horgan - the real person, not her character) and a reinvigorated optimism about the future of comedy. I'm not even exaggerating!

The series begins with Donna (Catherine Keener-esque Horgan), giving her fiance a disinterested handjob. She then calls off their wedding at the last moment, causing him to beg, vomit, and attempt suicide. Donna moves in with her frenemies, the wildly alcoholic Karen (Tanya Franks) and the dim, childlike Louise (Rebecca Staton). What ensues as these three intensely self-absorbed and irreverent characters navigate their late 20s and early 30s makes up the rest of the series.

It's impossible to describe Pulling without mentioning Sex And The City (and its creators have openly said that the show was designed as an anti-SATC), so let's get that out of the way: Pulling is like Sex And The City, but funny. Pulling is like Sex And The City, but dark, pessimistic, nihilistic, totally not uplifting, and un-romantic, featuring characters you would never want to know or emulate in real life, but whose fantastically shocking behavior will often remind you of your own darker moments taken to extremes. It's actually not like SATC at all aside from the "women friends" skeleton — it's more like Curb Your Enthusiasm than anything else — any moment of sentimentality or even decency on this show is immediately revealed to be false. There are no role models here, so don't even look, but as one reviewer put it: "There is, I'd wager, a bit of Donna in all of us. (If there isn't, I don't want to know you.)" In life and in love, these characters just can't catch a break, and none of them deserve one. Here's a representative example: in one episode, facing an outrageous veterinary bill, Karen and Louise kill a cat. With a brick. They must have had a lot of fun with the inherent metaphor in that (smash those stereotypes!) Here are a few clips from the series:

Donna breaks up with Karl in a scene more awkward than the one in Forgetting Sarah Marshall:

Donna, desperate to impress the popular girl from her school days, takes her back to her apartment:

Karen, a kindergarten teacher, has a memorable meeting at a grocery store:

There's also a 1-hour finale special that aired in the UK in May but isn't yet available here. ABC is planning a U.S. version of Pulling which will probably suck (you just can't get away with that kind of humor here), but the good news is Sharon Horgan is currently writing a pilot for HBO, and will co-star with Will Arnett, David Cross and Spike Jonze in the upcoming UK series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. And she has now earned her place alongside Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Sarah Silverman, Carrie Fisher, and Mindy Kaling as an invitee to my own personal fantasy slumber party (everyone has one of those, right?). Welcome!

[Via The Awl]
[Series' 1 and 2 of Pulling on Netflix]
[The Times Of London's great interview with Sharon Horgan]

While we kind of like that Weaver refuses to be told how to conduct an interview, if this is actually a look into the average smart kid's mind, well, huh. (Although, we gotta say, we're kinda feeling for the kid: I mean, where do you go from interviewing the president? It's gotta be a letdown.)

A photograph of Phelps smoking a bong has made headlines everywhere, and the notion that Phelps has disappointed his fans, supporters, and children who look up to him seems to be connected with this image. But in all honesty, is anyone really surprised? Phelps is a 23-year-old guy with tons of money, fame, and who spent most of his early twenties in a pool, training and training and training, while his peers were out partying and being, you know, normal young adults. Phelps smoking a bong at a party isn't a huge deal, but the fact that he was caught on film, however, is.

Because of the picture, Phelps will most likely lose several endorsement contracts, and face scrutiny in future competitions, now that the public attaches him to using any type of drug. But even more devastating is the impact this picture will have on his public persona: Michael Phelps, superhuman Olympian, hero to the world's children, has screwed up. It's not the first time, either: Phelps, if you remember, was arrested for drunk driving in 2004. The 8 gold medals he won in the Beijing Olympics, however, seem to have wiped that story from the public's minds. This time, however, Phelps may not be as lucky.

But here's the thing: Phelps never asked to be a role model. Few athletes ever do. The best of them take on the responsibility, seizing an opportunity to provide younger people with a source of inspiration and a "hey, you can do it too" mentality. But being a remarkable athlete and being a role model for the world aren't mutually exclusive, and this is a major issue in the United States, where we prop up entertainers and athletes as models of how to live, when people who are really changing their communities and providing a positive example for young kids go under the radar each and every day. We assign role model status to those who do not necessarily want or deserve it, and then we act surprised and angry when those role models "let us down."

"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," Phelps said today. "I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again."

This kind of statement is standard: Phelps issued almost the exact same statement after his drunk driving arrest, right down to reminding the public that he's a young kid:

"Getting in a car with anything to drink is wrong, dangerous and unacceptable," Phelps said at the time, "I'm 19 but was taught no matter how old you are, you should always take responsibility for your actions, which I will do. I'm extremely sorry for this. ... That's all I can say right now."

Michael Phelps is an extraordinary athlete, but in many ways, he's a normal person who just wants to live the same kind of life that his peers are living. He may be flawless in the water, but on land, he's just like the rest of us, with flaws and problems and vices. He's not a fallen role model or a disgraced hero as much as he's a human being. This doesn't necessarily excuse Phelps' behavior, but it might, in some way, make a little sense of it. Yes, he's a model of extreme dedication to a sport, of focus, concentration, and skill, but perhaps more importantly, he's a model of the notion that just because someone excels at a sport, it doesn't necessarily mean they're worthy of super role model status, nor do they necessarily want to be seen as such. Even the greatest athletes in the world eventually slow down and retire. It's character, not athletic ability, that determines how they will be remembered in the long run, after the medals have been put away, the scandals have died down, and the world has moved on to the next great hero.

Bong Picture Puts Pressure On Michael Phelps [Times Online]
Michael Phelps DUI Bust: "I Made A Mistake" [People]
Swimmer Phelps Regrets Pot Pipe [BBC News]

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Nathalia Ramos, who plays Yasmin (and whom we suspect has been coached), sums it up: "Nothing scandalous. One of the things about the movie is to change the reputation of the dolls." Hear that, parents? The movie will not be skanky!

Over in the Inquirer, the stars emphasize the positivity and friendship of the movie. (The word "friend" or "friendship" appears six times in the article.) "Moms love it," says Ramos. "There's this one line where Cloe goes, 'My mom is my hero,' and all the moms in the audience just go, 'Awww.'" So. For those slow to pick up: Kids lured in by a glamorous, pseudo-sexy doll are getting the old bait-and-switch, because the movie is not like that at all. Skanky doll; clean movie. Any questions?

By the way, a few reviews are in over at Rotten Tomatoes. Some highlights:

"The storyline is almost too easy to rag on, what with its almost complete incoherence..."

"Wow, is this movie mind-numblingly vapid and shrill."

"'Bratz' is like being raped by MySpace."

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