'My entire life had been waiting for this moment'

January 31, 2012 7:14 PM

Kristen Bell's Sloth Meltdown (SLYT)
posted by the man of twists and turns (137 comments total)

So, is Veronica Mars any good or what?
posted by Fister Roboto at 7:17 PM on January 31, 2012

This is all over my Facebook. Probably because it is the best thing ever.
posted by verbyournouns at 7:17 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

*Best thing ever aside from Veronica Mars, that is.
posted by verbyournouns at 7:17 PM on January 31, 2012 [7 favorites]

That would explain why she loves this thing so much.
posted by codacorolla at 7:21 PM on January 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

Fister Roboto, Joss Whedon is a big fan. That may or may not color your opinion.

great name by the way
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:23 PM on January 31, 2012

Whatever.
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 7:28 PM on January 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

I was JUST looking at this on Facebook! So awesome.
posted by sweetkid at 7:29 PM on January 31, 2012

It's true! Sloths are adorable.
posted by darkstar at 7:30 PM on January 31, 2012

I've been watching this all day as it's made the rounds. My reaction is one of laughter (of course), but also the same "I wish something made me that happy" tinge you get from watching the N64 kid.

Good times.
posted by sparkletone at 7:31 PM on January 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

All you have to do to impress Kirsten Bell is to move very slowly and be a bit greasy? WHERE WAS SHE WHEN I WAS IN UNIVERSITY?
posted by jimmythefish at 7:31 PM on January 31, 2012 [74 favorites]

i LOVE this.
posted by nadawi at 7:31 PM on January 31, 2012

"It all happened so fast!"
posted by mhoye at 7:32 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

HER LOVE OF SLOTHS IS SO, SO JUSTIFIED. THAT IS ALL
posted by naju at 7:35 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sloth crossing.
posted by odinsdream at 7:37 PM on January 31, 2012 [7 favorites]

“My absolute favourite piece of information is the fact that young sloths are so inept that they frequently grab their own arms and legs instead of tree limbs, and fall out of trees.”
— Douglas Adams
posted by sweetkid at 7:37 PM on January 31, 2012 [95 favorites]

Yes, this is awesome. She is pretty adorable.
posted by onlyconnect at 7:40 PM on January 31, 2012

Ellen sounds so sincere saying "sorry" - while laughing her damn head off - after saying they had a sloth on the show. That was nearly cruel!
posted by peacay at 7:41 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I love sloths so much, I think I'd have a similar reaction in a similar situation. Cute Youtube animal videos make me cry, so I don't know what I'd do if I were in the same room as a sloth. FYI, the last videos to make me cry was this one and this one.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 7:41 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I have it on good authority that a sloth singing Dolly Parton songs sounds pretty awesome, too.
posted by darkstar at 7:41 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

I totally understand her reaction. If my partner surprised me with, say, a couple dozen freshly-groomed-and-fluffy golden retrievers on my birthday, I'd be a sobbing mess, too.

and very immediately after that, a slobbery mess
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 7:43 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

There's something about Ellen's mean streak that really makes me like her. I never watch her show, but sometimes my girlfriend shares videos of her terrifying her guests.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 7:44 PM on January 31, 2012 [37 favorites]

Man. Posted on FB with Veronica Mars reference. Check. Thank you for the meme, Metafilter you are the man that twists and turns. The MAN.
posted by Chuffy at 7:52 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

I saw this first thing this morning and I have had the least homicidal day in ages. HOORAY SLOTHS.

also i want to run away to the costa rican sloth sanctuary with kristen bell and make out with her a lot
posted by elizardbits at 7:53 PM on January 31, 2012 [16 favorites]

also i want to run away to the costa rican sloth sanctuary with kristen bell and make out with her a lot

I'm a straight woman, but this sounds like a really good time.
posted by sweetkid at 7:55 PM on January 31, 2012 [23 favorites]

"So, is Veronica Mars any good or what?"

Yes.

Now, to give you some context: I'm not a big Joss Whedon fan. I avoided Veronica Mars for a long time because the same people who were telling me to watch it were huge into Buffy. I think individual episodes of Buffy can be really good, but that it's one of the most overrated TV shows ever. (That, and the stupid themesong, kept me away from Firefly for too long too, as Firefly's actually really good.)

Veronica Mars has really sharp writing, genuinely interesting characters, often a lack of easy resolution, and a good sense of the episodic versus the overarching plot of a season. Or at least has for the first two seasons. The second season wasn't as good as the first, and now we're waiting until the library gets the third season back, so I'm not going to pretend that I'm an expert.

Still, it's not nearly as reliant on glib pop culture references as Whedon is, and Veronica Mars is a lot more believable as far as how high schoolers imagine their lives than pretty much any other high school show I've seen.

It also follows a lot of the solid noir tropes of the detective literature that I love — this is a show written by people who love James Cain, Dashiell Hammett and David Lynch. It actually shares a fair amount with Twin Peaks.

Add to that a pretty snappy soundtrack (outside of the main theme, which I'm not really in love with but isn't the worst thing ever), and it's a great little show that I've gotten really into.
posted by klangklangston at 7:55 PM on January 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Anyone who craigyferg likes so much was bound to be A-OK.

(Also, yes, enjoy the first two seasons of Veronica Mars, not much reason to watch the third.)
posted by maryr at 7:56 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Most importantly where can one go to borrow a PARTY SLOTH?!? Because I feel like this is incredibly relevant to my interests.
posted by jetlagaddict at 7:57 PM on January 31, 2012 [15 favorites]

I don't ever watch Ellen; I was taken aback by her apparent lack of empathetic sloth-breakdown weeping. My personal rule is that nobody cries alone if I'm around, which I exercised extravagantly watching this video.

But what really got me was Dax's reaction. When I have a full-on meltdown over sloths or spackle or molecules or whatever, my husband pats me awkwardly on the shoulder and then wanders off to spend some time getting me a glass of water until the danger has passed. With cuddles and smooches, my husband now faces the Dax Shepherd Bar of Partnerly Indulgence.

Also, my 40th birthday is next week. We've rented a funky house in the desert to write and drink wine and hang out with some friends. I had to plan it all myself, which, *sigh*, but now? YOU DIDN'T EVEN RENT ME A SLOTH YOU DON'T LOVE ME LIKE DAX LOVES KRISTEN.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:00 PM on January 31, 2012 [20 favorites]

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

that last little wibbly tone of voice where she says "he's coming to the party?"

I think I have to go fling myself dramatically to the ground and shriek with delight
posted by elizardbits at 8:01 PM on January 31, 2012 [23 favorites]

re: Ellen scaring people: Actually, the best part of that clip is Jimmy Kimmel's reaction. You know, I don't watch his show and he seems like he's got a mean streak, but I like that guy.
posted by maryr at 8:02 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

She's like that girl who cries because she can't hug every cat, except it's real and she's a damn good actor even when she's in crappy shows *cough*House of Lies*cough*.
posted by zombieflanders at 8:03 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

Cute Youtube animal videos make me cry

Oh, then you absolutely should not watch this one.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:06 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

It should be illegal to be as adorable as Kristen Bell is.
posted by kmz at 8:07 PM on January 31, 2012 [13 favorites]

that better be the fat bulldog puppy what can't roll over because of his fat little puppy tummy and his fat stumpy little puppy legs.
posted by elizardbits at 8:08 PM on January 31, 2012

ellen and portia play aw snap
posted by nadawi at 8:09 PM on January 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Ellen is so, so mean for teasing her with the promise of another sloth. Watching Bath Time for Baby Sloths made me feel better though. Also, I love that Kristen Bell loves The Hunger Games and is unabashedly campaigning for a role.
posted by gladly at 8:10 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Ellen is definitely an SM top. You go Ellen!
posted by Splunge at 8:17 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I saw a news headline the other day that said "Lindsay Ditches Ellen" and I so conflate Portia de Rossi with Arrested Development that I thought they had broken up. I was shocked I hadn't heard about this earlier and really sad that they couldn't make it work, they seemed so happy! I grabbed the paper from my surprised coworker to read the article. "Why isn't that on the front page?!"

Then I realized the paper was referring to Lindsay Lohan missing her flight and not taping Ellen's show and was instead surprised that I was quite that emotionally invested in their relationship.
posted by maryr at 8:19 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

The second season wasn't as good as the first, and now we're waiting until the library gets the third season back, so I'm not going to pretend that I'm an expert.

It's another step down in quality, and as is so often the case it's partially the result of network meddling and impending cancellation. Still, more Kristen is always better.
posted by schoolgirl report at 8:20 PM on January 31, 2012

Everybody bashes on the third season but after the second turned out to have imported a Bond villain it was nice to see the show go back to arc mysteries that didn't turn out completely stupid.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:22 PM on January 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

This is a wee bit scary. Because this kind of mania can go the other way.
Sloth induced madness? I shudder to think.
posted by hot_monster at 8:25 PM on January 31, 2012

You should have seen the tears when it was time to kill, butcher, cook, and eat that sloth later at her party. Bushmeat!
posted by Burhanistan at 8:26 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

Sigh. I mean, I'm like a five on a good day, but if KB and I were a couple, we'd probably never stop crying. I don't know what it is, but I can't watch a film with an animal protagonist without making a fool of myself. My wife doesn't rent animal films any longer.
posted by maxwelton at 8:31 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

This is absolutely adorable. Not as adorable as baby sloths getting bathed, but still pretty adorable.

Also: where can I rent a sloth? My fiancee would totally be all over this and would probably have a similar reaction (freaky, happy panic attack, but probably without the tears).
posted by asnider at 8:31 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is a wee bit scary. Because this kind of mania can go the other way. Sloth induced madness?

Yeah, I'm feeling the same way. It was cute and all but I only know Kristen Bell as the Evil Girl from Deadwood and the thought of her having a meltdown every fifteen minutes over pretty much nothing and anything really takes some of the shine of.
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:31 PM on January 31, 2012

This is one of the cutest things i've seen, and endears me to her for some reason. Partly her reaction, and then not being too proud to show the video. I'm also crushing on Ellen too, that scare video is really adorable for some reason. I love when people have things like these that make them seem so human.

Every so often i get struck by the fact that i have rabbits running around my house, and i squee a little bit. We all need cute in our lives.
posted by usagizero at 8:31 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I don't know much about Kristen Bell other than this and her trip to Paris with Craigyferg, but she seems like such a good sport, in a slightly-but-charmingly-insane sort of way.
posted by Capt. Renault at 8:35 PM on January 31, 2012

"It's another step down in quality, and as is so often the case it's partially the result of network meddling and impending cancellation. Still, more Kristen is always better."

One of the best parts of the second season is that there were far fewer blandly attractive blond dudes that Veronica may or may not have been involved with. I found myself saying, "All white people look the same!" far too often.
posted by klangklangston at 8:35 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

...but I can't watch a film with an animal protagonist without making a fool of myself.

I cried myself stupid at the end of King Kong and refuse to ever watch anything with an animal in it, even a David Attenborough doco. My girlfriend loves them but I'm always like "Run little gazelle dude, run!" and if it gets caught I'm like "OMG lions are teh worst" but if the gazelle escapes I'm like "Hell yes!" but then David Attenborough comes in with something like "Laika and her cubs must go without food...for another day." and I'm all "OMG Laika :("
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:35 PM on January 31, 2012 [36 favorites]

*searches pockets for spare meat to send to hungry lions*
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:37 PM on January 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

gladly: " Also, I love that Kristen Bell loves The Hunger Games and is unabashedly campaigning for a role."

All my friends dressed as the characters and I dressed as Katniss. I was head-to-toe in spandex with a fire cape and carried a bow and arrow.

I demand pictures of this. Even though it might just make the internet explode.
posted by Gordafarin at 8:37 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

It should be illegal to be as adorable as Kristen Bell is.

It actually is illegal, but she's so adorable, the cops just keep tearing up the tickets.

Smart + funny + cute + not afraid to be dorky = Celsius1414 meltdown
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:38 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

it is now a genuine fear of mine that should she ever have the grave misfortune to encounter me out there IRL, I will probably chase her down the street with a cuddly baby sloth in my arms bellowing LET ME LOVE YOUUUU.

at least until the men in the white coats and with the big nets arrive.
posted by elizardbits at 8:46 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Oh, then you absolutely should not watch this one.

I've had a few beers and it's that time of the month, so yes, that teared me up. HE JUST WANTS A HUGE PEOPLE! GIVE HIM A HUG!!!!
posted by MaryDellamorte at 8:47 PM on January 31, 2012

I don't think sloths are that cute, but i think i would cry like that if someone told me Kristen Bell was coming to my house.
posted by empath at 8:49 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

by this point in the evening I am actually alternating reading updates on the #komenPPdeathmatch and watching bathing sloths. awhhh their little faces!!


ps: elizardbits I feel like "cuddly baby sloths" and bellows would make an awesome speed dating event even if Kristen Bell never showed
posted by jetlagaddict at 8:51 PM on January 31, 2012

I don't think sloths are that cute

just LOOK at about 00:55 when they feed the sleepy slothbaby with a tiny syringe and i dare you to tell me you didn't make some kind of extremely undignified noise of delight. I DARE YOU.
posted by elizardbits at 8:57 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Haven't there been posts to Metafilter about how the capture of sloths as pets has all kinds of negative effects ecologically and for the sloths? I mean this is cute and all but it's kind of like supporting a puppy mill because the puppy is cute.
posted by Justinian at 8:57 PM on January 31, 2012

stop ruining sloths, you sloth ruiner
posted by elizardbits at 9:00 PM on January 31, 2012 [19 favorites]

One: Veronica Mars is wonderful if only cause they made they slipped in a wonderful Rocky Horror reference once and did it perfectly.

Two: I wish I could be as excited about anything as much as she is excited about sloths.
posted by The Whelk at 9:03 PM on January 31, 2012

It's sweet, sort of like AstroZombie's girlfriend crying over Wall-E, but with salvia.
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:03 PM on January 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Awww. :)
posted by zarq at 9:04 PM on January 31, 2012

I want to know how she acquired her sloth sense. Does Kristen Bell have any other sloth-related powers? Wait. I'm not sure what those would be, other than a really slow metabolism.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:11 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

She spent several years upside down at a sloth sympathy retreat
posted by The Whelk at 9:12 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Veronica Mars has the best father and daughter relationship to ever exist on television. Keith Mars is a wonder. First season was ace. Second was very good indeed. There was no third season.

Sloths are adorable, and so is Kristen Bell.
posted by tzikeh at 9:18 PM on January 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

I can't help but hope that Kristen Bell's sloth thing leads to Craig Ferguson hilariously trolling her about it on his show some day. I would pay good money to see Craig Ferguson and Kristen Bell having adventures at a sloth sanctuary. Or, y'know, see Kristen Bell crying and freaking out while Craig Ferguson laughs and laughs when they visit a sloth sanctuary.
posted by yasaman at 9:19 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

Haven't there been posts to Metafilter about how the capture of sloths as pets has all kinds of negative effects ecologically and for the sloths? I mean this is cute and all but it's kind of like supporting a puppy mill because the puppy is cute.

I get where you're coming from (I'm a pretty big animal rights person), but no one is advocating sloths as pets. The people who go out and get animals as pets because it's trendy, will do so no matter what the current pet trend is. If anything, this video raises awareness and nurtures empathy for animals people wouldn't normally find cute. Now if only we could get a possums are cute trend, then I'd be happy. And I totally think possums are super cute and they have an unnecessarily bad reputation. They are docile and harmless, yet people tend to think they're vicious and mean and feel justified doing all sorts of abusive things towards them.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 9:26 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Craig Ferguson brings her a sloth live on air and she explodes and dies.

The sloth is charged with murder.
posted by The Whelk at 9:26 PM on January 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

If anything, this video raises awareness and nurtures empathy for animals people wouldn't normally find cute.

Do you commonly deal with replicants?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:38 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I...wonder why it's so appealing to watch a grown woman baby-talk and cry like a three year old past her stimulation limit. I totally don't mean to kill the buzz -- I know that most people who love this video are Kristen Bell fans who first fell in love with her for her kick-ass, super-intelligent, sharp-witted performance as Veronica Mars. And I am also absolutely enamored of adults who can get as excited as kids about life's ordinary (or not so ordinary) pleasures. But there's something unnerving to me about her behavior in this clip, and a little creepy about all the delight that the clip elicits. Not judging, just voicing an uneasy feeling I got while watching the clip proliferate across Facebook.
posted by artemisia at 9:38 PM on January 31, 2012 [8 favorites]

Haven't there been posts to Metafilter about how the capture of sloths as pets has all kinds of negative effects ecologically and for the sloths? I mean this is cute and all but it's kind of like supporting a puppy mill because the puppy is cute.

I think you're thinking about lorises? Those are the cute little guys who get smuggled.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:38 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

For three minutes of television, that was adorable - but if she's really like that, Jesus, it's not.
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 9:40 PM on January 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

artemisia: "But there's something unnerving to me about her behavior in this clip, and a little creepy about all the delight that the clip elicits. Not judging, just voicing an uneasy feeling I got while watching the clip proliferate across Facebook."

Personally I found the clip hard to watch. Even though she's crying from happiness and excitement, it still set off a 'SOMETHING IS WRONG' light in my brain. So while I love the story about Kristen's awesome birthday surprise and get a bit of a vicarious thrill thinking about it, I can't watch the video again.
posted by Gordafarin at 9:57 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

I cry at the least provocation, so I love finding other people like me. (I'm not so inclined to curl up in the foetal position, nor will I share my crying face with the world.) Plus I love Veronica Mars, and quite liked her character on Heroes (the real Heroes, not the crappy post-writers strike Heroes).
posted by tracicle at 9:59 PM on January 31, 2012

Veronica Mars is wonderful if only cause they slipped in a wonderful Rocky Horror reference once and did it perfectly.

(I just had to look that up; it's great)
posted by ceribus peribus at 10:01 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]

IIRC, I believe that Kristen Bell is a vegetarian and has done ads for PETA, so I'm guessing this was a well-loved, well-cared for sloth. I mean, obviously I don't know where Dax Shepard obtains his sloths in general, but given his caring response to her crying, I'm guessing he didn't call up Ringling Brothers' Half-Starved House Smuggled Sloths And Lorii.
posted by maryr at 10:07 PM on January 31, 2012 [13 favorites]

It's OK, for me, because she absolutely *owns* it. "I was so excited by this experience that I had kind of a meltdown. I brought footage." She is letting her overly-labile-flag fly. And as someone who cries at ridiculous things, including the closing ceremonies to the Olympics and a McDonald's commercial in Spanish, I appreciate it.
posted by KathrynT at 10:07 PM on January 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

For three minutes of television, that was adorable - but if she's really like that, Jesus, it's not.

I used to work with a woman who was like that in real life. It got to the point that I'd just get up and walk out of the room when she acted like that, because the only alternative was going to get me fired.
posted by winna at 10:09 PM on January 31, 2012

I don't find it creepy because she brought them the video to be displayed, and I think a lot of the "adorableness" factor is that of someone just losing it being so happy about something, which is an emotion we'd all like to have from time to time, I think.

Also, the fact that the sloth was just there for the party, and they set up a habitat for it there for that, makes me believe that sloth-lover Kristen Bell understood the issues of keeping them as pets. She wasn't doing that here, but rather setting up a temporary zoo-type enclosure.

Anyway, Veronica Mars...

Yes, it's very, very good. The first season is a crackerjack mystery which places its red herrings and set-ups to the actual reveal so skillfully that it's almost unbelievable, and uses both to deepen compelling characters. The second season reshuffles the deck about as well as could possibly be imagined, and the individual episodes (from writing to production values) are probably even better than the first, though the whole, while still solid, doesn't measure up quite as well as the enormously successful first season. The third season is kind of a lark, but in a comfortable way. The characters have moved on to college, mysteries happen in mini-arcs, but it's cool, because letting the characters breathe in relative safety and security feels natural and nice, and the finale is still one of the great bittersweet endings of television history.

NOW: SPOILERS! DON'T READ FURTHER UNTIL YOU WATCH THE DAMN SHOW ALREADY!

While I agree that blowing up the plane came out of some other television universe, and made Beaver something of a Bond Villain, but it still kind-of worked in the moment. The weird and great thing about the show is that, for one thing, his motives came from such a natural and vulnerable place, which then added layers upon layers to the scene with Mac in the season two finale, where it's creepy, sweet, tense, and a thousand other things at once. Also, shortly after the plane blows up, that moment (a fucking plane blowing up) gets totally overshadowed by the Greatest Logan Echolls Moment Ever™, by which of course I mean him trying to talk Beaver off the ledge, and then failing to come up with a reason for him to continue living.

It's just so Logan in a nutshell: trying to be good and not having the capability to reach his ideals, able to handle the pressure but easily thrown, just so human in both his virtues and failings. It must have been tempting to give that moment to Veronica, and as great as she is, I'm glad they didn't. That was the perfect Logan moment.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:17 PM on January 31, 2012 [6 favorites]

Reminds me of this.
posted by Lucinda at 10:36 PM on January 31, 2012 [3 favorites]

Now, to give you some context: I'm not a big Joss Whedon fan.

I'd go further and say it's my opinion that Joss Whedon is an annoying sack of crap. I wasn't aware of his endorsement (though now I think it might have even been on the DVD case). I forget how it was introduced to me, but the first season was just brilliant. Navelgazer covered that well. I don't know precisely what it was by the third season that made it all go wrong. I'm going to choose to blame poor response to excessive executive meddling, because concerned parties went on to produce Party Down, which was excellent again.

Keith Mars is one of the best TV dads ever, and he and Veronica one of the best TV families ever. I'll agree again with Navelgazer, though I thought the third season was a letdown, they hit the ending just right. Appropriately bittersweet, in a way that other shows (Hey there, Chuck!) have missed.

As far as this clip, it was weird to watch. As others have said, people who really act like that are something I try to avoid. Not because I want to yell at them, but I can't help but roll my eyes at that sort of overreaction, and even I know that's rude and unnecessary. But it's Kristen Bell, she was Veronica Mars, she can do whatever the hell she wants for a while.
posted by dumbland at 10:40 PM on January 31, 2012

Loved Veronica Mars, love Kristen Bell (just please stop it with the stupid movies already! Someone should offer her a great dramatic role) and loved this clip when I saw it on Ellen today.

Where can we sign to request a VM movie?

Also, does anyone else think she might have been good as Lisbeth Salander?
posted by CrazyLemonade at 10:48 PM on January 31, 2012

Craig Ferguson brings her a sloth live on air and she explodes and dies.

Better: Craig Ferguson reaches around to the back of his neck and undoes the zipper on his Craig-Suit. It falls in a puddle around him to reveal that HE HAS BEEN A SLOTH ALL ALONG!!! He slowly looks up at her and stares with big soft slothy eyes and says, still in a Scottish accent, "I love you, you know. We all love you."

THEN she explodes and dies.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:01 PM on January 31, 2012 [31 favorites]

Agreed about Keith and Veronica being maybe the greatest father/daughter relationship ever on TV. The only thing I can think of that come close to matching it (in terms of showing a genuinely good but imperfect dad dealing lovingly with a daughter doing her own thing with a better understanding of her world and circumstances) is Harold and Lindsay Weir in Freaks and Geeks and that relationship wasn't nearly as central to the show as it is in Veronica Mars.
posted by Navelgazer at 11:20 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

" Greatest Logan Echolls Moment Ever™"

He's seriously one of my favorite TV villains. Once they got past his kinda bullshit intro and developed him, man, he fucking killed it.
posted by klangklangston at 11:32 PM on January 31, 2012

Where can we sign to request a VM movie?

Here's one place. (Kristin says they're all "dying" to do it.)
posted by argonauta at 11:39 PM on January 31, 2012

When people have emotional reactions which are outside my personal comfort range, I automatically assume there's something wrong with them. Also, when other observers don't share my discomfort, I automatically assume there's something wrong with them, too.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 11:41 PM on January 31, 2012 [5 favorites]

Ivan Fyodorovich, if someone presented me with penguins of pigmymarmosets for my birthday, it's possible that I'd respond in a similar manner. People are weird, fascinating creatures.
posted by Navelgazer at 11:44 PM on January 31, 2012

Oh, and I'd be almost guaranteed to lose my shit over a fennec.
posted by Navelgazer at 11:46 PM on January 31, 2012

Is anyone else having alt.fan.lemurs flashbacks?
posted by dhartung at 11:49 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]

This is delightful. And it makes me feel better for unexpectedly turning into a sobbing mess in the movie theater during a preview for that new Drew-Barrymore-saves-the-whales movie.
posted by vytae at 11:53 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]

Whilst we're derailing this thread slightly with other top TV father-daughter relationships, I need to pump fire my current favourite, which is Richard and Alexis Castle.

Also, now Kristen has been outed as having been Michelle Trachtenberg along (or has she?), I'm glad Veronica Mars has something sloth-related to get (over-) excited by. So cute!
posted by benzo8 at 12:40 AM on February 1, 2012

That's it. I am starting rentasloth.com and this is how I am going to make my fortune. Except I will not be able to actually rent out any of the sloths because then I cannot play with them. Hm, I'd better think this out some more.
posted by luminarias at 12:46 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Incidentally, I was a big fan of Veronica Mars for months (during the first season) before I discovered to my great surprise that she was the teen prostitute "Flora" on possibly the single most memorable and disturbing episode of Deadwood. (Who tumid dahlia referred to as the "Evil Girl" in a previous comment.)

I'm enjoying House of Lies and I've been hoping to see her demonstrate the range of acting ability that the Deadwood episode proves she possesses. Not so much, so far, though.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:47 AM on February 1, 2012

He's seriously one of my favorite TV villains. Once they got past his kinda bullshit intro and developed him, man, he fucking killed it.

I think "villain" is harsh and inaccurate. Anti-villain? Anti-hero? No, nothing quite explains Logan's role. But SPOILERS! I think one of the most brilliant moments of Season 1 was when we saw Logan's dad beat the shit out of him with a belt for embarrassing and disobeying him. What played on the screen was, "this is a damaged kid who is figuring out ways to become himself despite his dad," and also,"yeah, this kid is an asshole who needs some kind of discipline, even if I don't like where this is going."

What it doesn't do is telegraph the way that scene plays in your mind once you've seen the season finale.
posted by Navelgazer at 12:58 AM on February 1, 2012

"Let's bring out... the cutest sloth.."

OH WOW ELLEN IS SUCH A DICK

don't say that shit unless you for real have the cutest sloth THAT IS NOT COOL.
posted by louche mustachio at 1:13 AM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

And the Academy award for best histrionics goes to...
posted by AndrewKemendo at 3:37 AM on February 1, 2012

I...wonder why it's so appealing to watch a grown woman baby-talk and cry like a three year old past her stimulation limit. I totally don't mean to kill the buzz -- I know that most people who love this video are Kristen Bell fans who first fell in love with her for her kick-ass, super-intelligent, sharp-witted performance as Veronica Mars. And I am also absolutely enamored of adults who can get as excited as kids about life's ordinary (or not so ordinary) pleasures. But there's something unnerving to me about her behavior in this clip, and a little creepy about all the delight that the clip elicits. Not judging, just voicing an uneasy feeling I got while watching the clip proliferate across Facebook.

I think the reason it feels creepy is that it comes a little too close to reminding people of when they were around people who would USE crying as an emotional weapon.

And why people (like me) like it is because it seems like the opposite of that.

(Sort of like the time I, cynical old me, was at a parade and the White Sox World Series trophy went past, and I waved at it. I wasn't waving at the people in the parade float, I was waving at the trophy. Just a reaction of pure joy.)
posted by gjc at 3:59 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Wow, Veronica Mars is 31? Already? *sigh* Where does the time go?
Also, I bet that her boyfriend is always yelling at her to go away 'cause he's 'batin'.
posted by NoMich at 4:40 AM on February 1, 2012

“My absolute favourite piece of information is the fact that young sloths are so inept that they frequently grab their own arms and legs instead of tree limbs, and fall out of trees.”
— Douglas Adams

Right now, this quote has 42 favorites. That is all.
posted by Optamystic at 4:48 AM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

now it has 45. those last three people are also sloth ruiners.
posted by elizardbits at 5:21 AM on February 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

Sloths are really cute and what a cool birthday present, but as a stoic New England Yankee from a long line of stoic New England Yankees, this is really kind of uncomfortable to watch. I'm sure Kristen Bell is a lovely & cool person, but whoa. All I can think of is what the meltdowns must be like when they're sad/angry instead of happy.
posted by usonian at 5:33 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I really must be from another generation or another planet...I don't know who Kristen Bell is and after watching this clip my impression was that she acts like a 3-year old. But here, reddit and elsewhere, her behavior is considered absolutely adorable. Frankly this is not the sort of person I would eagerly venture with on an LSD trip.
posted by rmmcclay at 5:45 AM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

I was confused about whether she received the sloth as a pet, or if it was just for the party. It appears that it was just for the party, according to hints in this tread. Which is a relief, because one of the main things I have learned is that you can't trust a starlet with her own sloth.
posted by Danf at 5:58 AM on February 1, 2012

Craig Ferguson...
better yet - she's on his show, being adorable and Craig suddenly yells "WHO'S THAT AT THE DOOR", rings the doorbell, and Secretariat comes out (which never fails to make me laugh out loud), in slow motion (which never fails to make me laugh out loud hysterically), with a sloth on its back.
Now THAT would be an awesome sight to see.
posted by annekenstein at 5:59 AM on February 1, 2012

I find it interesting that she initially explains her emotional ranges to explain what she knew would happen when she recounted the story.

To see someone revel in their own happiness is rare and delightful if a little alarming . I say alarming because nearly everyone I now has been socialised to NOT show such public extremes of emotion except in certain sanctioned ways (watching horror movies, at sports events, on a rollercoaster etc).

If Bell reacts like this only occasionally or only to certain triggers then that is fine, but if she bounces from happy crying to sad crying jags *consistently* then in my non-medical opinion that is a sign of manic behaviour.

I liked the video though. That is pure joy .
posted by Faintdreams at 6:03 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Kristen Bell is my favourite person in the entire world (apart from people I actually know personally) and it breaks my heart that 1. her Twitter isn't very interesting, and 2. that her latest choices of roles have been pretty awful. Sarah Marshall? House of Lies? Come on, KBell, you can do better.

But she's got such a fantastic dynamic with Craig Ferguson, and is just so sincerely and genuinely a happy and optimistic person, and is adorable as fuck, that I can't help but love her.

(If you have not watched Veronica Mars, go watch it. I have shown that show to many many people, from reality TV show fans to guys who avoid any show that doesn't have a military in it, and I have yet to meet someone who gave it a sporting chance and didn't like it.)
posted by Phire at 6:09 AM on February 1, 2012

(Oh, but yeah, the third season doesn't exist. Even though it's sitting in a DVD box on my shelf. It didn't happen.)

Incidentally, Veronica Mars box sets are the only DVDs I've bought in the last, oh, eight years or so.
posted by Phire at 6:10 AM on February 1, 2012

" Greatest Logan Echolls Moment Ever™"

Ugh, Logan. Everybody else in VM fandom went gaga for him, but I couldn't stand him. "LoVe" made me barf even more than Spuffy.

VM was definitely best in the first season, but I think the second is underrated. The third though, as everybody says, was just pretty bad.

And of course everybody knows about Party Down, but Rob Thomas fans should check out "Cupid" if they can get their hands on it. (The original, not the remake. I heard the remake was actually decent, but I never saw it.) Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall are absolutely great in it. Fucking ABC.
posted by kmz at 6:14 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I agree that the ending to the third season was brilliant, but I got SO tired of Veronica being all mopey about the fact that Logan couldn't get his shit together. Even though I cried my eyes out at Logan's epic speech, it still sucked to see my heroine break down over yet another dumb boy.

Also, Piz had no personality.

Just for bragging rights, I once asked a question on AskMe about how to be more like Veronica Mars.
posted by Phire at 6:18 AM on February 1, 2012

Y'all are sloth ruiners.
posted by The Whelk at 6:18 AM on February 1, 2012

If Bell reacts like this only occasionally or only to certain triggers then that is fine, but if she bounces from happy crying to sad crying jags *consistently* then in my non-medical opinion that is a sign of manic behaviour.

I like how we're diagnosing someone based on a 3 minute video.

Oh, wait. No, I don't.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 6:52 AM on February 1, 2012 [13 favorites]

You know who else likes sloths? Harpy eagles.

That's a sloth ruiner.
posted by dglynn at 6:53 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Every single clip of the Ellen show makes me think I should watch the Ellen show.
posted by graventy at 7:08 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Things or people that would make me have a freakout crying breakdown and say: "He's coming to the party?" in that exact tone of voice:

* Nick Cave
* Doc Hammer
* A clouded leopard
* David Tennant

And possibly KBell (as we call her in our house for humor's sake), because that was just AWESOME. Also: Ellen is kind of a dick, but I like that about her.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 7:11 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I really love how self-aware she is: "Basically, if I'm below a 3 or above a 7, I'm crying." Because that's pretty much how I am, except that for me it's more about biting back the tears and pretending they don't exist. I like that she owns it.
posted by lunasol at 7:22 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

She really would have loved getting this phone message.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:45 AM on February 1, 2012

Just for bragging rights, I once asked a question on AskMe about how to be more like Veronica Mars.

"How to learn to suppress my wildly emotional side. Or, how to be more like Veronica Mars?"

Irony! I think! But even if it's not ironic it's funny.
posted by en forme de poire at 8:05 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Danf: "I was confused about whether she received the sloth as a pet, or if it was just for the party. It appears that it was just for the party, according to hints in this tread. Which is a relief, because one of the main things I have learned is that you can't trust a starlet with her own sloth."

I had assumed it was just for the party too from the video, but as I've seen this circulating around in other circles other people have thought it was a new pet. So, I dunno.
posted by Gordafarin at 8:16 AM on February 1, 2012

I figure that if she actually owned a sloth full-time, and hadn't just gotten it for the afternoon, that would have explicitly come up in the conversation.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:23 AM on February 1, 2012

Wow, I think I Kristen Bell more than Veronica Mars, which even though one is a fictional character, is still saying a lot.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:44 AM on February 1, 2012

Wow, I think I Kristen Bell more than Veronica Mars, which even though one is a fictional character, is still saying a lot.

This is missing a key word -- what is it?
posted by sweetkid at 9:15 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I accidentally a whole Kristen Bell.
posted by en forme de poire at 9:28 AM on February 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

also, my mind can't stop chanting:
KRISTEN BELL HAS A SLOTH
KRISTEN BELL HAS A SLOTH
WELL LOOK AT HER CRY WELL LOOK AT HER SOB
WELL LOOK AT HER CRY AT THE SLOTH, HEY!
posted by en forme de poire at 9:34 AM on February 1, 2012 [6 favorites]

"I really must be from another generation or another planet...I don't know who Kristen Bell is and after watching this clip my impression was that she acts like a 3-year old. But here, reddit and elsewhere, her behavior is considered absolutely adorable."

I hear you. I had to look up who she was, then realized I’d seen her in things. Things like this is why I assume all actors to be crazy people until proven otherwise. An adult woman acts like a child on national television, and films an even more ridiculous part of her act and brings it with her, because that’s how she makes her money. Weird.
posted by bongo_x at 11:02 AM on February 1, 2012

The video was cute except for the fact that Kristen Bell was freaking out over a SLOTH! If my husband brought me a sloth I would be crying but for an entirely different reason altogether. I have a sloth phobia and have to scrunch my eyes up every time they show up on tv. A cell phone company was using a sloth in their ads for a while, or at least I think it was a cell phone company--I couldn't watch the commercials! Anyway, whatever positive energy that Kristen Bell contributes to the well-being of sloths is hopefully enough to counteract the complete and utter disgust I feel when I see them because I feel bad about hating an entire species for no reason at all, but hey--you can't pick your phobias.
posted by wallaby at 11:06 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I love her cackling.... Ha-ha-I'm-so-sorry-a-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh damn.
posted by PercussivePaul at 12:18 PM on February 1, 2012

thisisnthappiness, a tumblr site that mixes seriously cool art with some artsy-fartsy nudes (SO IT'S NSFW) has posted a sloth-related picture.

guys say 'yeah!', gals say 'that's gotta be uncomfortable'
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 1:40 PM on February 1, 2012

Reminds me of this.
posted by Lucinda at 12:36 AM on February 1

See, now that's a video worthy of tears. Kristen Bell? Cute, but no comparison.
posted by mysterpigg at 2:15 PM on February 1, 2012

I had assumed it was just for the party too from the video, but as I've seen this circulating around in other circles other people have thought it was a new pet. So, I dunno.

She clearly says in the video it stayed for three hours for the party. Unless Bell or boyfriend of Bell are the ones making the comments that say otherwise, your just reading comments by confused people who didn't really pay attention to the video. Don't let the confused comments by confused people make you disbelieve a first hand account by the person in question.

Many Repetitions of a False Statements is not greater than a Single True Statement
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:34 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Sadly, the party got busted when the other six Deadly sins showed up.
posted by Optamystic at 6:01 PM on February 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

I should have understood the 'meltdown' bit, because I thought it was going to be cute baby sloths, and instead it was a woman hysterically crying, which always makes me feel uncomfortable.


On a sidetrack,
MaryDellamorte: "Now if only we could get a possums are cute trend, then I'd be happy."

This lady is one of the best things on the internet: Proper Opossum Pedicure


(Assuming you meant Opossum though, as I'm in NZ, and our 60 million Australian ecological-disaster Possums need to either be magically exported back to Australia where they came from, or die)
posted by Elysum at 6:21 PM on February 1, 2012

Y'all, Party Down has been mentioned a couple of times and no love for Kristen's Uda character? She's awesome.
posted by gaspode at 8:17 PM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

I laughed so hard at the sloth practical joke. Ellen is so evil, but so awesome.

(Yes it's mean I am sorry)
posted by Xany at 2:42 AM on February 2, 2012

This is friggin adorable, and the bit at the end is probably my favourite thing EVER. Her reaction is PRICELESS. Also, that porcupine video that TheWhiteSkull linked is awesome too. I want to dub that with an audio clip of somebody saying "Huuuuug me! I just want a huuuuug! Why won't you huuuuug me?" :)
posted by antifuse at 8:39 AM on February 2, 2012

I think you're thinking about lorises?

【癒され度１００％】スローロリスの愛が生まれた日♪
posted by homunculus at 9:17 AM on February 2, 2012

Oh, and I'd be almost guaranteed to lose my shit over a fennec.

Three Fennec Foxes in Action
posted by homunculus at 11:15 AM on February 3, 2012