Tag Archive for Toni DiBuono

Entertainment, Mathnet, Social Media, YouTube

HBO Go: What’s SHE In?

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Holy cow, it’s been awhile since I last posted, as in last year, but I’ve been quite busy doing the whole artist thing (go check out my Etsy shop if you’re interested in a sampling of the many things I’ve been working on), but I have a fun(ish) post to share today.

Last week, some new ads for HBO Go were suddenly stirring up quite the buzz on social media, featuring an “Awkward Family” watching some rather saucy scenes together from shows like Girls, True Blood, and Game of Thrones. My first exposure (pun intended) to this ad campaign was on my Facebook timeline, via a Time Magazine link. I noticed right away in the preview images one of the actors looked very familiar…

Where have I seen her before...hmm...

Where have I seen her before…hmm…

After checking out the ads, I knew why; the mom is played by Toni DiBuono, best known as Pat Tuesday, Mathnet.

By far the most popular of the seven clips, already reaching over 1 million views on YouTube since they debuted on April 21st, is one in which Toni doesn’t even speak – her facial expressions say it all. She walks in as her commercial son is watching True Blood.

WARNING – potentially NSFW video clip follows – click play at your own peril!

HBO Go Awkward Family Viewing from SS+K on Vimeo.

Hilarious, and effective. The rest of the ads are equally funny, and awkward, and Toni appears in 5 of the 7 ads. Go check them all out, and let’s hope we’ll see Toni in more stuff in the near future – hey, maybe they’ll spin this family off into their own series, or do some more ads!

Given the success of these ads, I’m thinking it might be a good time to do a follow-up interview/Q &A with Toni, so if anyone out there has questions about what she’s doing now, or anything not covered in Maia Weinstock’s great 2012 conversation with Ms. DiBuono (aka, Mrs. Michael McGrath), comment here!

By the way, if you have anything you’d like to shout at me on Twitter – I tend to retweet and comment about things on Mathnet/Square One TV when I find them, I can be found @JillthePillNet, though I do occasionally share and talk about other random things as well, so fair warning. 😉

Entertainment, Mathnet, YouTube

Michael McGrath, We Salute You!

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Photo Credit: Broadway World

Congratulations to Michael McGrath on his Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical! This was his second Tony nomination; the first was in 2005 for his role of “Patsy” in Monty Python’s Spamalot; this was his first win!

In a  year where no horses would win the Triple Crown, Michael managed to pull off a “Triple Crown” awards sweep of his own for his role of Cookie McGee in Nice Work if You Can Get It by winning the Tony, as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards.

I’ve been following Michael’s work for years, along with that of his wife, Toni DiBuono, who Mathnet fans will remember as Pat Tuesday. Both of them are very talented actors who have been pretty under-appreciated, in my opinion. (I have fan sites set up for both of them, but they are in serious need of updating, so I won’t be linking to them here.) At last, Mr. McGrath gets his due props after years of successful performances on and off Broadway. Congratulations on the well-deserved accolades – here’s to many more to come! 🙂

Here’s his short but very sweet speech (on YouTube) upon accepting the Tony, with a little hint at the end about his next role (in the musical adaptation of The Honeymooners). Toni responded to the news via Facebook, saying: “It was pretty awesome and surreal.”

Fun Fact: Michael appeared in an episode of Mathnet, as bad guy “Barney Oldmeal,” in The Case of the Parking Meter Massacre (before Toni was cast on the show): Watch it On YouTube!

Fact #2: His last name is pronounced “McGrahhh.”

For other Q’s & A’s about Michael: Playbill.com’s Cue & A