Out of the Ordinary

I normally post something TV related, but I need to switch to movies for a moment. And, not even a movie based on a TV show. Last night I saw I Am Legend. Until then I had never walked out of a movie saying, "I hated that!" Now I have. I have left movies feeling upset or disturbed, but not hating the movie. I have even not liked some movies. I Am Legend is the first movie I officially hate. The premise of the film is good, but the execution is lacking. Will Smith does an admirable job portraying the last uninfected person in New York City. The mechanisms he creates t maintain his sanity are great. And 99% of the dialog in the film is actually a monologue by Will. He is great. Nevertheless, as a whole, this movie sucks. There is a glaring hole in the plot that comes out towards the end of the movie.

After about an hour, I was sure the movie had to be almost over. I was pissed to see that I still had about 45 more minutes to sit through. The movie felt interminable. Perhaps that was the film maker's goal. This way we could feel the struggle Will Smith's character is facing. Then again, maybe I am just trying to justify how awful this movie was.

Do not see this film. It is 100 minutes of your life you will never get back.

Finally, The Ultimate in Holiday Music Videos

I have been saving this one just for today. This is proof that pretty people should just be pretty and not try to sing, act or dance. Just enjoy being pretty and shut up!

Happy Holidays!

Walt, this is for you

Speaking of Chinese Food on Christmas

see prior post to get the reference.

Sad, so so sad.

Yesterday I caught a mistake on Food Network. What saddens me so is who made it. Yes, it was she. My goddess messed up. It was not a huge glaring mistake, but a mistake none the less. Giada was preparing a meal for a dinner party - Braciola, broccoli rabe, bread sticks and an endive salad. I am actually making this meal (save the endive salad) for dinner on Christmas Eve (can't have Chinese until the next day). At the end of the episode they showed everyone at the table eating ( I love when they show the event for which Giada was cooking. Watching people rave about her food is fun). Anyway, so there they are, Giada, Todd and 2 other couples, sitting around the table. Giada is telling everyone what each dish is. However, the broccoli rabe is not served. She made it. I saw her do it. Yet, when it came time to eat - no broccoli rabe. It wasn't even mentioned. It was as if she never made it.

I would have preferred her saying something like, "I made broccoli rabe, but it didn't come out well, so I decided not to serve it." At least acknowledge that you made it. I don't care if it was bad. In fact I would welcome seeing that not everything Giada makes comes out well. She's a human being and allowed to make mistakes. But pretending it never existed bothers me.

A Reality That Scares Me

There are 3 kinds of reality shows. High end like Project Runway, middle like Survivor and low end like Being Bobby Brown. Well, I was recently turned onto one of the lowest of the low, VH1's I Love New York 2. Not only is this show pure trash, IT IS THE SECOND time they've done it.

This show is a take off of shows like The Bachelor. New York, whose real name is Tiffy Pollard, is trying to find her ideal man. New York was a Flavor of Love girl to give you some idea of the quality of his show. I caught onto this show when there were only 2 episodes left, but that was enough. New York is totally ghetto. Huge fake boobies that are spilling out of her dress, extensions, nails and no command of the English language. She is the black version of trailer trash.

New York gets advice from her mother, Sister Patterson. I have no clue where that name came from, because she is definitely not a nun. If someone had told me she was was born a man (before I knew she was New York's mother), I would have believed it. Better still, a man who used to be a Cher impersonator.

By the time I learned of this show, New York had narrowed down her field of suitors to 3. At the end of the episode, she got rid one of the only two decent men she had left, a Harvard educated lawyer. Instead, she chose to keep Buddha, a man who she had eliminated once but then brought back. This guy is a total player and is playing her like a violin. The two of them could reenact Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff. She throws him out and then as soon as he leaves, chases after him. He is totally doing the "act like a self involved dick who doesn't like her" routine. And she is falling for it. Only thing is, for him it is no act. She will scream, "I hate you!" and then run after him not to leave her. They are like Ike and Tina. Even her mother tells her not to keep him around.

Her other remaining suitor is Tailor Made (as in tailor made for her). He is a total spineless dork. He buys her dresses and jewelery to stay in her favor. He is the exact opposite of Buddha. He would do anything New York tells him to. And he has insanely shiny skin.

On one of her dates with the men, she goes to Parrot Jungle. In her confessional speech she say, "We arrived at the Parrot Jungle and I immediately get nervous. I'm like, 'oh my goodness!'. I knew there was gonna be parrots there." No shit, the place is called Parrot Jungle. What was your first clue that there would be parrots there? And just when you think it can't get worse, she speaks again, "I'm afraid of parrots cuz they don't know how to speak english diction." Oh New York, Queen of Irony. Using that "logic" everyone should be truly terrified of her.

However frightening that was, my favorite moment of the series (OK, I am only going on 2 episodes here) was when Sister Patterson and has a little heart-to-heart chat with Tailor Made. She is trying to help him win, not necessarily because she thinks he is great, but because Buddha is pure trouble. She tells him to close his eyes and then she slaps him across the face!!! HARD! And not just one slap, but the forehand and the backhand. It was one of those moments like on L.A. Law (if you have never heard of this show, you are too young) when Rosalyn Shays proposed to Leland McKenzie and then fell down the elevator shaft. You're stunned and thinking, "did I just see that?" And then when the reality of what just happened sinks in a second later you burst out with a hearty laugh while thinking, "holy crap!" Here, watch it for yourself.




This takes reality TV to a such a low level that even I am shocked. I won't reveal who she picked at the end. But it really doesn't matter because they won't stay together. This is a reality dating show after all. Other than Ryan and Trista, I don't know of any other reality couples that have lasted.

What a Feeling

This week on PR we saw the untimely departure of Jack. But good for him for putting his health first. I do hope he gets his MRSA infection taken care of. Maybe they will bring him back next season.

Poor Steven, he got hosed on the challenge. For anyone who didn't watch it, the models this week were replaced by women who had each lost a significant amount of weight. Each designer was assigned one woman and had to makeover her favorite outfit from her heavier days into something she could wear everyday. Steven got stuck with one of the most god awful wedding dresses I have ever seen. That satiny material was covered in beads and based on all the reading on it I have done (thank you BPR) the material is amazingly hard to work with. Also, how sad it i that someone's favorite outfit is her wedding dress? Moreover, would you ever want someone to take your wedding dress apart? Who knows, maybe there was a nasty divorce. Steven's design was awful, he made the woman look like a pilgrim. He was aufed.

The best line of the night came from Tim. After Jack's departure, they brought back Chris who was aufed last week. As he was starting later than the other designers, he was allowed to work all night reather than ending at midnight like everyone else. When talking to Chris, Tim advised him to make all his decisions now, because, "I've made more bad decisions at three o'clock in the morning than I can list." Of course he didn't mean it the way everyone in the work room and watching at home took it. When he caught on to why everyone was laughing he started cracking up too. Yay for you Tim.

The designers this season are definitely talented. Snaps to Christian for winning the challenge this week. Even though I find you grating, your outfit was great. But now that Jack is gone, who are you going to get piggy-back rides from?

As a tribute to Jack, I am now going to share with you a video he made for Youtube. Enjoy! Hint: the title of today's post is a big clue.

Another Hoiday Ditty

This is a real commercial running this season on TV. It is a commercial for Victoria's Secret in which Heidi Klum "sings." This is also just a teaser for an up coming holiday music posting.

So Close!

Well, on Wednesday night, the winner of this cycle of ANTM was chosen. If you recall, after the season premier, I called Chantal as the winner. She was the runner up. Yes, that means she lost, but I was so close. Runner up is not a bad thing. The winner was Saleisha. At the final runway show, Saleisha nailed it and definitely did better than Chantal. Chantal was just too stiff and broke character when one of the performers alongside the runway fell down.

So, congratulations Saleisha. You are America's Next Top Model.

She Didn't Mean Phat!

Janice Dickinson, former ANTM judge and self proclaimed world's first supermodel, called Tyra Banks fat on the Today Show. Janice was discussing Jennifer Love Hewitt's recently released bikini photos. They are not flattering shots. However, Janice said JLH is not fat, and that if you want to see someone fat, look at Tyra Banks. She then tried to back peddle, but to no avail. She put it out there for the entire world to hear. Tyra may not be as thin as she was during her modeling days, but she is not fat. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Janice is the last person who has any right to comment on someone else's looks. She herself looks like a plastic surgery nightmare. She is so stretched, pulled, botoxed and inflated that she actually looks like a living caricature of herself.

Here is the video clip. The actually comments are at one minute 15 seconds in.

It's A Miracle

In honor of Chanukah...

Show Combination!!!

You, my loyal readers, know how much I love it when there is a cross over between two shows. Well, next week it will happen again. The shows, Real Housewives of Orange County (yeah, I know I said I was going to stop watching) and Project Runway. Austin Scarlett of PR season 1 will be on RHOC helping Lauri pick out her wedding gown. It will be like a bonus scene of PR!

Back to the Start

Kudos to all the competitors on Biggest Loser. They have all lost amazing amounts of weight. Last night I could really see the difference. They are all starting to look great. During the show, after each commercial break they would show photos of competitors from seasons past, where each started and where he or she was at the finale of their season. It was interesting to see that many of the prior seasons competitors started out weighing less than this season's remaining competitors after 11 weeks at the Biggest Loser Campus. And, as I said, the remaining 5 have each lost considerable amounts of weight. Just goes to show how big they were to begin with.

Last week the last member of the Red Team was eliminated. This is the first time an entire team has been eliminated prior to the finale. Then again, they used to only have 2 teams, not 3. This means that trainer Kim is no longer on the show for the rest of the season. But, there are only 2 episodes left, so not a big deal. I just wonder if she will be back next season. After last night's show, of the remaining 5 competitors. 4 are from the Black Team and 1 is from the Blue Team. Part of me wants Neil, the final Blue Team member eliminated next week, so that the final four are all from Jillian's Black Team. However, she would gloat so much that I don't know if I could actually watch it. Neil will likely not be eliminated next week though.

As this season wore on and teams were reformed, Jillian's strategy with the Black Team was to have them steadily eliminate member of the other teams. While this may have helped with team unity, in the long run it hurt them. Rather than competing as individuals, they operated as a group. This had the result of each member of the Black Team now being pitted against one another and seriously damaging each of their chances of winning. When all is said and done, this is still a competition. Some of the remaining members of the Black Team are big threats to their teammates. They should have been eliminated early on. Yes, initially you want big losers on your team to avoid elimination, but at some point, you need to start eliminating them to help your own chances of winning. Even though Jillian wanted her team to lose weight and get healthy, I think her personal goal was to have the Black Team be the only ones in the final four. She knew what she was doing by telling them who to eliminate. As long as the winner is one of her trainees, she will be happy. She does not have the same motivation as the competitors who want to be The Biggest Loser. She didn't let them compete for themselves and in the end, that is going to hurt them.

Let's Talk About It

One of the shows I watch weekly, but have yet to talk about it is Talk Sex with Sue Johanson. The show is on Oxygen, Sunday at 11PM. If you have never watched before, you need to see it. You don't have to watch the full hour to get it, just 10 minutes is enough.

Talk Sex is a call in show. Viewers call in and ask sex related questions to Sue. Sue is not a doctor, nor does she hold herself out as one. When a caller refers to her as Dr. Johanson, she corrects the caller most of the time. The times she doesn't, I think she missed the "Dr." part. The calls on this show range from the retarded to the weird. One caller last night wanted to know if she could get pregnant from "having anal sex in the butt." There are so many problems with that question. First of all, who would think you could get pregnant from anal sex? These are people who vote!!! And secondly, anal sex means in the butt!!!

In addition to the questions, during every show Sue reviews a sex toy from what she calls her "hot stuff" bag. The toys are given charcoal briquettes on the hibachi of love. Seeing a 78 year old woman showing sex toys is a little scary.

Sue often uses dildos and dolls to show viewers what she is talking about. Sometimes she gets very animated and borders on being scary. Unlike Dr. Ruth, she does not have an accent to make her amusing.

More About My Meeting

Last night I was still high on meeting Giada so I was not able to give a detailed recounting of the experience. So, let me share that with you now.

The Event, Sweet, was Food Network's kick off to the New York Food and Wine Festival set to happen in 2008. Upon entering the loft space you were greeted with trays of champagne, Evian and Ferrero Rocher chocolates. The atmosphere was festive, the music great (lots of 80's pop) however it was VERY crowded, uncomfortably so. On both sides of the event space were tables with dessert samples from some of New York City's finest restaurants and various wines to go with the desserts. Some of the desserts were very good, but overall, I was less than impressed. When it comes to dessert I am all about simple. I don't understand the need for roquefort mousse or goat cheese cheesecake. But I digress.

As we walked through the space, I was scanning the crowd for a glimpse of Giada. We eventually made it 3/4 of the way through the space and came to the photo-op area. When we got there Michael Chiarella was there taking photos with fans and the Ferrero Rocher girls. I asked a woman with a clipboard if Giada had been by yet. I figured that she would know because she has a clipboard and was wearing a headset. She told me Giada was there earlier but was likely now in the VIP area. Needless to say, I was crushed. I was ready to leave at that point. But we finished our walk through the space. We reached the end and turned around to head out.

We were about 2/3 of the way back through the event when the heavens parted and a ray of light shone done. Right there in front of me was Giada. My heart started pounding and my legs turned to jelly. I turned to my hubby and said, "she is right there, get the camera!!!" Giada was talking with someone so I patiently waited, edging my way right up to her. As soon as she was done I tapped her arm and asked if I could take a photo with her. I told her I am a huge fan, I have all her books, watch all her shows and have made many of her recipes and they are all fantastic. Yes, I was gushing, but I had just regained the power of speech (for a moment I lost it). She was very gracious and said yes to the photo and thanked me for watching. My hubby snapped a few shots, I thanked her and she moved on.

For the rest of the night I was grinning like an idiot. I was in heaven. This was truly one of the best moments of my life. Giada was just like you would want someone you were dying to meet to be like. Not at all snotty or curt. She seemed genuinely grateful to me for watching and being a fan.

This is a moment I won't soon forget.

Oh what the hell, here is the photo again.









Now I just need to get her to sign it.

And She is a Judge?

Fact: Heidi Klum is beautiful.

Fact: Heidi Klum is a judge on and host of Project Runway.

Query: What the hell was she thinking wearing this?













Yes, from the front it is fine. She wore this to a Victoria's Secret party, so it is totally appropriate that it is short, sexy and sparkly. However, the rear view is a little disturbing.












Butt cleavage is NEVER ok. Sure she has the figure to work an outfit like this. And after 3 kids nonetheless. But still... Before she critiques the designers on PR, perhaps she should rethink her own choices.

One Step Closer

Yes, I met Giada tonight!!!! As we were leaving the event tonight she was right in front of us. She is even prettier in person. She was very gracious when I asked to take a photo with her and thanked me for watching her shows. I was totally star struck...and still am. Remember when Marcia Brady met Davy Jones? That is exactly how I feel. I talked to her and touched her. It was beyond amazing. My legs were shaking when I saw her, I almost lost all power of speech.

I am now one step closer to cooking with her. It will happen.

Thanksgiving

I love the Food Network, you all know that. I love Thanksgiving. However the combination of the two is a little too much. Every show now is focusing on Thanksgiving dinner. Here's a little advice for anyone cooking Thanksgiving dinner - if you are not a cook or have never cooked before, Thanksgiving dinner is NOT the time to start. That said, pretty much every family has their traditional family dishes. You learn how to make them over the years, that is what makes them traditional. I am all for trying new things, but Thanksgiving is not a meal to mess around with. Occasionally a change is good, like when my brother took over turkey duty and started deep frying it. This was a great change. But all these recipes for new twists on the meal is over kill and in my opinion not a good idea. Maybe change one or two things, but for the most part, leave it as is. This of course assumes your traditional meal is good. If it isn't, then go crazy and change things.

Many of the cooking shows are giving new ideas for seasoning the turkey. I say there is no need. People like the good old fashioned roasted turkey. Keep the southwest seasoning away from it.

Cranberry sauce, either open the can or make it, but when recipes start calling for things like mustard, RUN the other way.

Try one or two new side dishes, but just let the rest be.

Tomorrow

I am hopeful that tomorrow I will be posting a photo of my goddess and me. Tonight is the kick off to Food Network's New York City Wine & Food Festival. Giada is slated to be one of the guests in attendance. I will keep my eyes peeled and camera at the ready. The event tonight is titled, "Sweet." It is a 4 hour dessert fest with lots of wines and champagnes to go with the munchies. I will post about it tomorrow...with a photo of me and you know who. And as I head off to meet Giada and eats lots of foods that I will have to spend extra time at the gym working off think about this: Stressed spelled backwards is desserts...coincidence? I think not.

We Wish You a Hairy Christmas

As stores are already putting up holiday displays, I figured I would join the club and start putting up holiday videos. As we just met Bear Force 1, I thought I would start with their Christmas single.



I promise more holiday videos just as good as this one.

Brace Yourself

I just saw a clip on Logo for an item to be discussed on their news program on Monday. It is about a new boyband. However this is not just any boy band, it is a boy band made of bears. The group is called Bear Force 1. I googled them and their site lead me to Youtube. I found two videos of theirs that I just had to share.



I don't know if they are actually singing or if they are Milli Vanilli-ing it.

It's Sew Time

That is the tag line for this season's Project Runway. Season 4 of the show premiered last night. As Tim said, this group is the most talented one so far. Unlike the 3 prior seasons, this everyone competing this season is a fashion designer. It necessarily follows that the people will have more talent in this area.

I love this show. Watching the designers start with nothing, but an assignment and creating a dress in less than 24 hours is amazing. I don't always like the creations, but I can respect the talent and creativity. As long as there is some creativity. I'd rather see something hideous but truly creative than something pretty and safe. These 15 people have the chance of a lifetime. They should take advantage of it. The first challenge of the season was for each designer to create a outfit that represented his or her point of view. They had no restrictions and all the fabric they could grab. Sophie had the honor of being the first designer aufed. Why? She played it much too safe, the dress was boring and poorly constructed. The judges are often will to overlook poor construction as long as the garment rocks. Unfortunately, hers didn't.

In the "this season on Project Runway" we saw clips of what we can look forward to this season. In one clip, Tim announce that Jack, one of the designers has something to tell everyone. I am guessing that he is going to say he is HIV+. Contrary to what some think, this is not something I read as a spoiler on a blog. It is simply a guess.

Fans of the show need to check out the quintessential blog about Project Runway http://www.bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/

of course is there is also Project Rungay http://projectrungay.blogspot.com/

and Project Yawnur http://projectyawnur.blogspot.com/

This season there are a lot of tattoos on the show. I can somewhat understand one, subtle one, but some of these people are covered in them. Not pretty. And what is with this season's Uber-Bitch Christian (that is his name, not a religious comment). He has this just rolled out of bed hair thing going on that you know he spends hours working on to get it "just so". His coif makes his entire head look lopsided. I didn't think his design was all that good either - it looked very 1980's to me. Retro, but not innovative. He seems to have nothing good to say about anyone but himself. Do people on reality shows not watch them? Do they have any idea how they are going to be perceived? Why on Earth anyone would want to come off as a piissy queen is beyond me.

Our same judges are back this season. It must be noted that Michael Kors is much less orange this season. It is nice to see Heidi not pregnant again. After two seasons of baby bumps, it is good to see her back to model shape. I cannot look at Nina Garcia now and not think of the Big Gay Sketch Show's parody of PR.. Check it out here, it is the second clip on the list http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/big_gay_sketch_show/videos.jhtml

Of course Tim is back. Here is some advice designers, when Tim questions something about your garment, LISTEN!!! He cannot directly tell the designers what to do, but when he strongly questions something, that is his way of saying, "get rid of it." Had crunchy girl Elisa listened to him and cut the monstrous train off her dress, she would not have been in the bottom 3.

Carmen, the token black designer this season, looks like a woman, but when you hear her speak you would swear she's a man. It like like listening to Bea Arthur or Suzanne Pleschette. I would not be shocked to find out she was born a man.

The winner of last night's episode was Rami. While his dress was beautiful, it didn't seem (no pun intended) to require much in the way of sewing. He draped the fabric beautifully and understood how it worked, but it was like calling making a tossed salad cooking.

I am truly looking forward to this season. I am so happy the show is back on.

Drastic Plastic

Today, Dr. Jan Adams, host of Discovery Health's Plastic Surgery Before & After, came forward as the surgeon who worked on Kanye West's mother Donda right before she passed away. If you are familiar with this show you know that Dr. Adams narrates and provides basic information on the procedures patients are getting. Only one time on the show did we actually see him operate and the results were awful. If those who can't do, teach, I guess those who can't teach, narrate. Obviously on a show displaying before and after images of plastic surgery patients, one would think the doctors would select their best outcomes. If the patient of Dr. Adams' that we saw was his best work I would hate to see his worst. Oh wait, we did, Donda West.

On today's Huffington Post information about Dr. Adams' past came to light. This is why you should thoroughly investigate your doctor. The following comes from The Huffington Post:

* According to TMZ, the medical board wanted to suspend Dr. Adams' license this past April following multiple DUI convictions. Moreover, Donda West was on the operating table for eight hours last Friday, twice as long as planned. She then went home, instead of staying in a medical facility, and died the next night. Dr. Adams is not Board Certified with the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

* Dr. Jan Adams lost two malpractice suits in 2001, according to Entertainment Tonight. He was ordered to pay judgments of $250,000 and $217,337.

* Dr. Jan Adams was sued again in June 2007 for malpractice, according to TMZ

* In December 2005, a lawsuit against Dr. Jan Adams alleged poor post operative care, false credentials and a botched tummy tuck, according to TMZ.

* Yet another lawsuit claims a botched boob job in August of 2005.

* A sixth lawsuit has been uncovered by TMZ. The plaintiff alleges that after a botched tummy tuck and arm lift, Dr. Jan Adams paid house calls. While she was medicated from the surgery and intoxicated, he told her he loved her, had sex with her and got her pregnant. That suit settled out of court.

* In another lawsuit, in October of this year, a patient who got breast implants claims Dr. Adams and Euclid Outpatient Surgery Center were responsible for "mental, physical and nervous pain and suffering" according to TMZ.

* Another lawsuit has emerged. Dr. Adams had to pay $100,000 to a woman over a botched breast augmentation, during which he left a sponge inside, reports TMZ.

I know over the course of a doctor's career he or she can be expected to be sued at least once. However, this many suits is very disturbing. This man should not be allowed to carve a turkey much less hold a scalpel. How DHC put him on the air as an expert is beyond me. What happened to background checks? All of this information should have been detected before they allowed him on the air. I hope they pull the show off the air, including reruns.

I'll Say It Again

Any recipe of Giada's, if followed as written will work.

The other day I saw a rerun of Everyday Italian in which Giada makes her version of an Oreo. When I first saw the episode I thought I would try it. However, when I looked at the reviews of the recipe, they were not good. Not good at all. Lots of problems with the recipe, many people did not like the texture, and some said the cookies were too buttery. So, I passed on making them. Upon seeing the episode again, I decided, to try it anyway. But, against my better judgment, I followed the changes the reviewers suggested.

I have no clue who these people are, but their suggested changes resulted in a shortbread like cookie, not at all what it was supposed to be. These were dry and crumbly. Not horrible, but not at all what it was supposed to be. I scraped that batch and started over, following Giada's recipe. And of course, it worked fine. I experienced none of the issues these reviewers encountered. The cookies did not all spread together, they were not hard to get off the cookie sheet, they are not too buttery. I don't know who these people are, but I would be terrified to try their cooking if they think their changes helped this recipe.

Moral of the story: Giada is right. If you want to make one of her recipes, she has laid it out for you. Just do what she says and it will work. You want to tweek the seasoning to your palate, go ahead, but don't totally change the recipe if you want to make what she makes.

More on (Moron) the Boobies

In my prior post about RHOC I neglected to discuss an important item. Homophobia. One would not expect such a thing to occur on a network like Bravo, but it was there on RHOC both last season and this season. It came in the form of Jeana's sons Shane and Colton. The two of them call each other gay as a way of putting the other one down.

I am all in favor of the First Amendment and I will steadfastly defend a person's right to speak freely. HOWEVER, when the speech is hate speech I draw the line. While many people would not find this offensive, imagine the uproar if these kids used the "N" word. All hell would break loose. For whatever reason, derogatory comments towards the LGBT community is still tolerated.

Making comments like these kids do is bad enough, but for Bravo to not edit them out or at least bleep them is even more offensive. Bravo is generally the most gay positive network around. So for them to air such comments is puzzling. I contacted GLAAD about this and they told me they spoke to Bravo about this same issue last season and Bravo refused to censor the comments.

I will still watch some shows on Bravo (PR starts next week!!!) but RHOC is out. Not in a gay way, but just out.

They Lie

The people at Maytag lie. We all know what the Maytag Repairman is supposed to look like. However, today when I had him come to repair my microwave, he was not a 6'2" white guy in a blue uniform and cap. Instead, he was a 5'10" black guy in a black jacket and ball cap. He did a great job repairing my microwave and did it in about 3 minutes. But I was a little disappointed that he didn't look like he was supposed to. It would be like going to meet the Jolly Green Giant and finding a purple midget. At least make them wear the uniform. This is a pop culture icon. You gotta give the people what they expect.

The Fake Boobies are Back

Last night was the season premier of The Real Housewives of Orange County. For those of you not familiar with this show, RHOC is a reality show following the lives of 5 housewives in Orange County, CA. This is not a good show by any stretch of the imagination, which is of course why I watch it. However, last night's premier was really bad. It is not like I cared about these women before and now I don't; I never did care about them. There was a certain train wreck aspect of the show that was addicting. Unfortunately, it was just more of the same crap last night, but worse in someways.

I am all in favor of having money and being able to buy anything you want, as long as you can afford it. These women can afford anything they want. The most tragic of the women to me is Vicki. She uses money as a way of controlling her children and then gets upset when they aren't thrilled to see her. She is not a parent by any means. Last night she bought her 20 year old daughter a new Mercedes as a present. She then was upset that her daughter wasn't as excited as she was about it. Lady, you can't buy love, no matter what the salesmen tell you. Vicki tries to control every aspect of her children's lives to the point where she told her daughter, who doesn't live at home, that she couldn't go to a concert in Washington. Hello, she is an adult. Get your own life. You wonder why your son wasn't happy to see you when you decided to surprise him at college last year and why your daughter isn't your best friend. I'll give you a little hint - YOU ARE NOT THEIR FRIEND. YOU ARE THEIR MOTHER!

All the women on this show are about as deep as a puddle. Perhaps if they were not surrounded by the opulence of the OC things would be different. However, for all of them it appears that their biggest concern is where to shop. A few of them do actually work, but it seems to be a way of filling their days. Unfortunately they are passing these "values" along to their children. Almost none of these kids show any kind of responsibility. Aside from Vicki's daughter who is in nursing school, none of these kids seem to have any plans for their future. OK, Jeana's sons are pursuing careers in professional baseball, but should that fail, they have nothing to fall back on.

While I am slightly envious of them having the ability to not worry about money, the effects of this lifestyle are truly upsetting. There is no sense of responsibility in anyone on this show. No feelings of gratitude for what they have. No recognition that they are not the norm.

I doubt I will continue to watch this season. I just am so bored with them.

No Dancing Around It

Last night on Dancing with the Stars the snooty judge in the middle said to one of the dancers, "Just because you are from Brazil doesn't mean you will be good at the Samba, just like being from Texas doesn't make you a good President." I love that shows today are not pulling punches. I expect comments like this from Nora on Brothers and Sisters, but when a judge on a live show makes a comment like this, I am stunned. Thrilled, but stunned.

Television is no longer a place to escape from one's problems. When non-scripted shows start making political statements, it is time for the politicians to pay attention. Admittedly, they should have been paying attention much sooner.

The judge's comments have drawn criticism from some saying that as a visitor to the US he shouldn't be making rude comments about the President. But that is the point of living in this country, anyone is free to express their opinions. And equally as important, the man is correct.

As said on Brothers and Sisters, it is these differences of opinions that make the USA the USA. Anyone who thinks everyone should think and feel the same doesn't belong in this country.

HUGE Giada News!!!

The goddess is going to have her own little sous-chef soon. Check out the article from People

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20158225,00.html

That is going to be one well fed kid.

Congrats Giada!!! Oh, and you too Todd.

Enough with the patterns

So this week on ANTM the pattern I mentioned last week holds true. Two girls were spotlighted at the start of the episode - Janet and Ambreal. At the end, the final two were Janet and Ambreal. Also for those of you keeping score it was yet another ebony & ivory situation. I know that all the girls this season are either black or white, but each episode it always one black girl and one white girl. Never two white girls or two black girls. Not that it matters at all. I am merely pointing out yet another pattern that is going on this cycle.

At first I thought Heather would be one of the bottom two, but then realized she didn't have a "confessional" type chat with the camera. So I knew it couldn't it be her. However, I was a little off put by some of her comments this week. Most episodes she is shown as being very quiet and keeping to herself. This week they showed her being just as catty as all the other girls. She was very vocal about telling each girl what their "problem" was as far as modeling goes.

I would be remiss if I did not comment on Miss J's hair. Last season his schtick was adding ruffles to his clothes each week, so that by the end he looked almost like a chrysanthemum. This cycle it is apparently the size of his fro. Each week at panel all I can hear when I look at him is "ch-ch-ch-chia!" Seriously, he looks like a chia head the way it keeps growing. If we were truly as fabulous as he thinks he is, he wouldn't have to resort to gimmicks. But alas, he isn't and he does. He looks like he should be running around Tara talking about birthin' babies. I don't get it.

I have also been noticing lately that the photo of Tyra shown before each panel looks like the shoot she had the girls do that week. Where is the creativity? I know it must be hard to come up with new ideas for each episode, but Tyra is just copying shoots someone else designed. I would love to see some originality in the shoots.

We'll see if the patterns continue again next week.

Some Photos of Giada

Did a little web surfing and found some awesome photos of Giada. There are no words, so enjoy.

It just Keeps Going and Going and Going

What is up with Weeds this season? It started slow, but then got really good. The last two episodes have been almost painful to watch. Is it just me, or does each episode get shorter and shorter? I thought the great thing able cable series' was that if it is a 30 minute show, you get almost a full 30 minutes as opposed to broadcast stations where a 30 minute show is only 25 minutes. Last night's Weeds, including "Previously on weeds" and "next time on Weeds" was only 25 minutes.

Weeds is not the only show that does this. However on Weeds it feels more annoying because nothing is happening on the show. After 25 minutes, I feel completely unsatisfied. The show is just dragging. I have no clue why they are doing this to us. I don't need lots of action every show, but the stories have got to move a little more quickly. For the past 2 episodes, I have been stunned at the end. At the end I keep thinking, "that can't be it, nothing happened." i am really losing interest in the trials and tribulations of Nancy and the rest of the Agrestic community. If they are trying to show how Nancy is feeling or something, that is a nice gimmick, but this isn't a foreign art film. This is a sitcom. Get things moving.

What is with all these shows now doing the recap and the previews? I don't need that crap. Just show me what is happening this week. If I want to see what happens next week, I will watch it next week. Besides, I am sure I will see promos for the show all week anyway showing me the same trailers, so don't take away my actual viewing time.

Why is She Paid to Speak?

Here is the latest round of hate speech from Ann Coulter. In short, she thinks the world would be better if everyone were Christian and that Jews needs to be perfected. It is truly astounding that she is allowed to speak. How she can say her remarks are not anti-semetic is startling. According to her all Christians believe themselves to be perfected Jews. I can only hope that finally she will be banned from public speaking. I am not in favor of censorship, but when it comes to hate speech, it has no place in a civilized world. Her comments a few months ago regarding gays was brushed off and political punditing. Perhaps now people will really see her for the hate monger she is.

Late Night Chat

One night I was enjoying some really bad late night TV when I saw a commercial for a chat line. It was the standard, "hey meet local guys and gals" type thing, nothing extraordinary. However, one thing caught my eye. Nothing to do with the line being advertised, but rather a scene in the commercial.

Look at the handsets these two are "talking" into. Do you notice anything strange? Look at the bottom of them. Each one has a plug for the cord that would connect it to the base of the phone. They are pretending to be talking on cordless phones. I had to back this up to make sure what I saw was really there, or not there. I thought it was hysterical. I realize it is a low budget commercial, but they could have gotten cheap cordless phones somewhere. They only needed one as each person was filmed separately.

Here is a close up of the phone on the right.






Ah, the wonders of modern technology.

Have To Believe We Are Magic

Private Practice last night was all about magic. Not prestidigitation, but the magical spark between two people.

All the women commiserate over the lack of magic in their lives. Naomi admits she had it with Sam. Unfortunately she is now using cake as a replacement. Cakes provided by Dell whose advice regarding women is, "find out what they want and give it to them." Apparently he has a thing for Naomi. What is truly bothersome is that Addison could have it with Pete as we all know, but she is still stuck in, "I'm a double boarded surgeon" mode and cannot see beyond that. She will sometime, but not yet. Violet could have it with Cooper as well, but she is still stuck on her ex and he needs to grow up.

I do love this show, however, I get tired of the "patient drama mirroring the doctor drama, but the doctors while helping their patients cannot do the same for themselves" situations. It is a good vehicle when subtle and not occurring all the time. Enough already. All the doctors are damaged and it is a case of physician heal thyself. But do we need to be beaten over the head with it? I think not.

A few key moments in last night's show deserve mention. First of all, Addison getting caught in the rain and complaining about how she thought she left that in Seattle. Guess what Addison, you can relocate, but all your "stuff" comes with you. I get tired of seeing her revert back to the same Addison who first came to Seattle Grace. The Addison who left was much more likeable. Super Addison is a bitch and not as interesting.

Next Pete talking to his deceased wife. The power of his statement, "You were a lousy wife and I hated you!" was astounding. We learned that he stayed in a loveless marriage and resents his wife for his choice. Pete is finally ready to let go and face his inner demons. Perhaps Addison's arrival has something to do with this.

Finally, the best line of the show comes from Addison's patient who is not able to have sex with her husband, wants to, but seriously cannot. She comes in saying, "My hoo-hah is broken!" I loved that. Of course at the end, Addison and Pete working together get her working so she and her husband can consummate their marriage and have the full magic.

I am afraid that the Addison-Pete thing may go the way of David Addison and Maddie Hayes. Once they finally get together, the magic of the show will be lost. Hopefully by having other characters around, that won't happen if and when they finally get together. Until then, there will be the constant tension between them that while over used is still fun to watch.

Model Patterns

Once again last night's America's Next Top Model came down to ebony and ivory. This time it was Victoria, the Ivy Leaguer and Saleisha, the model. In the end it was Victoria who was given the boot. Seasoned viewers of the show would have been able to pick out who the final two were going to be within the first few minutes of the show.

I admit that I did not see this pattern, but my genius husband did and pointed it out after the show ended. Each episode begins with one girl making some kind of statement. This week it was Victoria talking about how up until 3 weeks ago, she never considered being a model. That set up the theme for the week - who really wants this. The next scene will be another girl saying how awesome she is and will never be at the bottom. This time it was Saleisha boasting that she will never be in the bottom two. Lo and behold at the end of the show, the bottom two were Victoria and Saleisha. Watch next week, you will see. It is like the beginning of each episode of the original Star Trek. Every show starts with a team beaming down to some planet. The team will be some composition of Kirk, Spock, Bones, Sulu, Chekov and one random crew member. Gee, who is going to get killed? This formulaic approach doesn't detract from the show as a whole, but it would be nice to not have any clue who will be the bottom two each week.

This week was also arguably the best episode of each season - the makeovers. Unfortunately unlike past seasons, no one had a melt down this time. Bianca sort of did, but that was because she had such over processed hair to begin with that they couldn't do anything but shave it off. And you know what? She looked great. She is not totally bald, but her hair is very short. Moreover, they gave her a wig styled like Tyra had initially planned for her. That is totally unfair. Bianca now gets two looks to work with. She should have to have the wig on for every shoot. By allowing her to sometimes wear it and sometimes not, she has an advantage over the other girls. Overall the makeovers were good. I think Chantal looks too much like Mina Suvari though. There was not much variety in the makeovers. Several of the girls now have long blond hair, several have short Liza or Mia hair. Saleisha ended up with a do that makes her look like a throw back to the 70's, almost china dollish. Of course at panel time the judges complained that they couldn't see her eyes in the photo. Hello, her bangs practically cover them. My girl Heather had almost nothing done to her hair. Tyra said it already was model hair. She just got some highlights and a trim.

Going back to the judges comment about Saleisha's eyes, I hate when the criticize something the model had little control over. If they don't like the pose, blame either Jay for setting the pose or Tyra for choosing that particular photo. It's not like the model had any say is what photo was used. If they want to talk about how bad a particular photo or pose is, then leave it up to the model to select the photo for panel. If Tyra picks the photo, then she has no right to say how bad it is. I think Tyra occasionally picks poor photos for some of the girls so they either learn something or get booted. Also, I am tired of them telling the models the photos were uninteresting or something to that effect. Jay directs the shoots. He tells the girls what to do. Sure the girls are supposed to take his direction and then work with it, he is still the one who sets it all up. It is almost like he and Tyra have no contact regarding shoots. Sometimes I feel like what Jay did was great, but it ends up not being what Tyra wants, and then it comes down on the model.

Nevertheless, I still love the show. Despite the formula and the sometimes contradictory actions of the "experts," I am not going to stop watching.

Oh, before I close, guess who I saw on the the street the other day? TYRA!!!! I told you all her talk show is filmed across the street from my apartment. Well the other day I am walking down 7th Ave. and she was walking along 26th St. heading back to her studio. She is stick thin, but my god is she pretty.

Forgive Me

It was pointed out that for someone who wants to meet Giada, there has been very little mention of her lately on my blog. I offer my most sincere apologies to you my loyal readers and even more importantly to Giada. In an effort to rectify that situation, I have a few words on my Goddess.

If you're like me, and I know I am, I am a huge fan of the Food Network. Of course I know when my girl is on. However, the other day while looking at my channel guide I noticed Food Network changed its afternoon lineup. It used to be 4:00PM Paul Deen, 4:30 Giada, 5:00 Ina and 5:30 Sandra Lee (or fat, cleavage, fat, cleavage). However, the new schedule is 4:00 Sandra Lee, 4:30 Giada (they wouldn't dare move her), 5:00 Ina and 5:30 Paula (or a solid hour of cleavage and an hour of fat women). So now rather than her lead in being fat, unhealthy food it is marginally appealing food, tacky tablescapes and of course cocktails. The contrast in going from Sandra to Giada is actually more striking than going from Paula to Giada. Sandra is OK, but she would be much better if tied to either Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller or 30 Minute Meals.

Personally I think there should be an all Giada, all the time channel. Today on the early broadcast of her show she was cooking with her niece. They were making gnocchi (potato pasta dumplings for those of you needing an explanation.) Giada is there cooking away while her niece, bless her heart, was totally lost. You could tell Giada wanted to banish her from the kitchen, but gritted her teeth and worked with it. I gotta say I am not a big fan of when she is cooking with someone else, except maybe her mother or Aunt Raffy. After all, the inspiration for many of dishes came from them. Well more from Raffy as her mother seems rather lost in the kitchen. Anyway, when I tune in to watch Giada, I want to see Giada doing what she does so well. I don't want to watch some bumbling person in the kitchen cooking with her when I should be the one in the kitchen with her. Yes, I admit there is a schmekin of jealousy there. I know I am neither family nor a friend...yet.

But Giada, if you are reading this please let me cook with you. Just one time.

Talk About Wide Bodies

So this week on The Biggest Loser they all went to Jamaica for a week. Can you imagine being on that flight? What if you had to sit between two of the contestants? The plane wasn't the only wide body in the air.

At the resort in Jamaica we got to see Jillian and Jez get into it about drinking. I am stunned that any of the contestants would actually think of this trip as a vacation. It was a test to show them what being back in the real world will be like. In the real world they will be constantly faced with temptations and have to make smart food choices. I would have preferred it if the contestants were not supervised and then confronted with the results of their choices at the weigh in. That Jez was getting into it about wanting to drink says much about who he is. Here is this morbidly obese man on a show to lose weight, but challenging his trainer on drinking alcohol. He is so not learning a damn thing. He does not deserve to be on this show. And, I really want them to stop showing him without a shirt on. It looks like someone let the air out of his body. He will likely be on Dr. 90210 for a full body lift someday.

The Black team won the challenge this week, but at weigh in time, they lost. FINALLY. During the entire weigh in Jillian looked so damn smug. There was palpable tension in the air during the weigh in between Kim and Jillian. So when Kim's Red Team won the weigh in I wanted her to get in Jillian's face about it. Those two are going to have it out soon. I would pay to watch them fight. Unfortunately I think Jillian would probably kill Kim. She is crazy, and crazy always wins.

At elimination, the Black Team ended up sending one of the twins, Jim, home. Huge mistake! Huge! They don't get how to play this game. In the early elimination, you don't want to get rid of the people losing the most weight. You want to keep them around. If you get rid of your bigger losers, you have a better chance of ending up back in the elimination room again. Until you get rid of 2 or 3 people, you keep the bigger losers and get rid of the people losing less weight. Jez should have been the one to go. He has a bad attitude toward the whole process and is not losing much weight. I so want the Black Team to be back in the elimination room again next week.

They Ain't the Waltons

How much do I love the Walkers? They are amazing!

Last night's Brothers & Sisters was great. This show just keeps getting better and better. First I'll cut right to the resolution of the cliff hanger. Justin did not get killed in Iraq. Although that would have been a great way for them to launch into more anti-war moments, he returned home with a serious injury to his knee. Justin needs major physical therapy and was given a nerve block to stem the pain. He refused any pain medication because of his problems with drugs and alcohol. Brave, but insanely stupid. When the block wore off, Justin was in excruciating pain. This is going to make for some big dramatic moments as the season progresses.

To prepare for Justin's return home, Nora studied a book that gave advice on how to welcome home wounded soldiers. Unfortunately, most of what she did only served to upset Justin. There is going to be some serious readjustment for the Walker household with Justin's return.

Rebecca kept a promise she made to Justin before he left for Iraq. She promised that before Justin returned from Iraq, she would tell Sarah that she encouraged Joe to kiss her. Unfortunately she told Sarah too late. Joe had already told Sarah he wanted a divorce and he was back with his ex-wife. Sarah told Rebecca that her news might have helped a few months sooner, but now it was too late. She added that the only reason Rebecca said anything now was to assuage her own guilt, and as Sarah put it, "that is the most selfish reason of all." Rebecca went home to talk to Holly who told her that Joe & Sarah were doomed long before Rebecca entered the picture. Holly also said she was the last person to pass any judgment on Rebecca being tempted to get involved with a married man. After all, had she not been involved with a married man, she would not had Rebecca who would then not have been able to kiss her half-sister's husband.

One of the outstanding moments of the show was Kitty's call into the Rush Limbaugh type radio show host who attacked her family. He called Nora treasonous and passed judgment on Senator McAllister's brother and Kevin dating. The typical conservative diatribe. Unfortunately Kitty was listening to the show with Nora and Kevin. Kitty got off a great speech about how he spun everything to serve his purpose and distorted the truth beyond all recognition. It was a great moment for Kitty and amazing acting for Calista Flockhart. To remedy the damage Kitty & Co. did to his campaign, Kitty booked the Senator on the show. During his time, he said that while he may not always agree with the Walker's it is that disagreement that reminds him that there are more people and positions in this country than his own. That anyone who had problems with differing views should seriously consider whether they actually belong in this country.

This show is awesome!!!! In that one moment, McAlliser, played by conservative Rob Lowe, completely exposed the vocal conservative moment for what it is. Nothing more than people who have problems with anyone not like them. This country is made up of many different opinions and views, so for any one group to chastise anyone who has different opinions is really the one who is truly anti-American.

It is going to be a long wait to see the Walkers again next week.

Secrets, Lies & Key Lime Pies

What a night on Wisteria Lane.

Edie is blackmailing Carlos into marrying her. Hey Edie, if you have to coerce someone into marrying you, you are beyond desperate. You are just sad. Carlos should have just let her hang. The question now is, who was that guy Carlos paid and what did he pay him to do? Is he plotting to have Edie killed? For someone with a prison record, that would be very bad if it backfired on him. Maybe he was paying an accountant to move the money from the Cayman's to a new location where Edie won't find it. I am getting tired of Edie. Enough already. You're a self serving bitch, with no feelings for anyone but yourself. You are a borderline sociopath. They need to get her off the show already.

Gabby was great last night. The scene between her and Lynette in the hospital was fantastic. We saw a side of Gabby never seen before as well as some amazing acting from Eva Longoria. At first I was worried that the Gabby not volunteering to sit with Lynette during chemo would be like when Charlotte didn't offer to loan Carrie money on Sex and the City. However, rather than stemming from fear of losing a friendship, Gabby was simply scared. She didn't want to have to be brave in front of Lynette like she had to be when her father was dying when she was 5. At first we are lead to believe that Gabby doesn't truly consider Lynette a friend. However, the reality is that she probably loves Lynette more than she does Susan or Bree. I think in many ways, Gabby views Lynette as a mother figure as well as a close friend. She is so scared of losing Lynette, that Gabby didn't want to see her in the hospital.

The mystery of Karen's departure and return to Wisteria Lane grows more intriguing. Bree overheard enough last night to learn that Karen is hiding something really big. And not just from the ladies of the lane, but from her own daughter as well (if that really is her daughter). We saw in Susan's flashback (featuring Mary Alice) that Karen's departure was unannounced and seemingly suspect. Karen says she got a last minute job offer in Chicago and the family had to leave immediately. As she is shutting the door, we hear something break inside the house. In the present, Susan asked Karen how the job went and Karen doesn't know what job she is talking about. Susan explains that she meant the one Karen left for and then a light bulb went on for Karen and she gave a lame answer.

The civil fight between Karen and Bree for best homemaker on Wisteria Lane is awesome. Bree has never been challenged on her baking skills before, but now Karen is determined to destroy that. I am hoping for an Alexis-Crystal style fight between these two soon. You can tell Bree wants to beat the crap out of Karen and Karen wants nothing more than to be seen as the new Queen of Wisteria Lane. Where Bree is polite to a fault, Karen gives the impression of being polite, but in realty, she is a cunning bitch - even more than Bree has been in the past.

This season holds a great deal of promise. I hope it continues.

Less Than Model Behavior

The third episode of America's Next Top Model and things continue to get worse. The episode started out with some of the girls practicing their runway walk for one another. Bianca in her little confessional moment admits that she is giving the other girls bad advice so that she can win. If she is so confident that she will win this cycle, as she claims, then there is no need for her to sabotage the other girls. After all, Tyra will see what a great model Bianca is regardless of how well any of the other girls do. Right? Remember Bianca, what comes around goes around. You have to pay your dues before you get to be a Janice Dickinson or Naomi Campbell type diva. Right now you are just an 18 year old girl in a competition. Bianca and Saleisha got into it once again and Bianca quipped, "check your thighs in the mirror." Again, if she is so sure she will win, Bianca has no need to fight with anyone.

When it came for the judges deliberations at the end of the show, they all agreed that Bianca looked angry in her photo. When in front of the panel to discuss her photo, Bianca even said that she was told to focus on one emotion so she chose anger because that is easy for her. Ring! Ring! Clue phone! You need to be able to tap into more than just your anger to be a model.

One of the best lines of the night came from Kimberly from Ocala, Florida. The girls are talking about the photo shoots and how to pose. Kimberly says that she has no experience in front of a camera, but, "basically my dad's been taking pictures of me my whole life." Now, I am sure she didn't mean this in a creepy way, but still it sounds very creepy.

The lesson of the week was how to walk. The girls met up with Miss J in an old mental hospital. He was dressed as a nurse. The girls put on straight jackets and then had to walk for Miss J. He critiqued each of them. Bianca of course thought she rocked it, but she didn't.

The challenge for the week carried over from the lesson. The girls were in a fashion show for designer Colleen Quen. The winner, the girl who Colleen thought did the best job, would be invited to model in Colleen's Paris debut fashion show. Some of the dresses were quite tight so that walking in them was very difficult. Once again, Bianca thought she did great, but the winner was Saleisha. She kicked ass on this one. However, I will say that Heather did an amazing job as well. Bianca was pissed that Saleisha won and in her confessional said that she did a better job than Saleisha. Um, no you didn't. If you had, you would have won. A little humility might help you pumpkin.

For the photo shoot, the girls had to pose while climbing a rock wall. The best moment of this was Saleisha saying, "I gave it my all. I bent over and put my leg up." Damn!

At the judging Miss J looked like Shirley from What's Happening? He was sporting a 70's short fro. I am really over him this season. Enough already. He is a caricature of himself at this point. I don't like that he has a bigger role this season.

The winner this week was Jenah. She took an incredible photo. She had the advantage of having been a rock climbing instructor for 2 years so she was totally at ease during the shoot and she worked it. Second place went to Heather. I think she will go very far in this competition. At the end it was once again Ebony & Ivory. Only this time it wasn't actually Ebony. The bottom two were Bianca and Kimberly. Kimberly was sent home. I am sure that Bianca making for better viewing did not impact the decision at all.

Overall, I think the models this season are the best ones yet. The girls must be paying attention to the prior cycles and learning from them.

Next week is the make over show. YAY!!! Lots of drama will happen.

Sibling Drama

Why Brothers & Sisters didn't win the Emmy for Best Dramatic Series is beyond me. Well, the pity vote for Sopranos explains it. Brothers & Sisters rocks!!! The season premier was incredible. It is hard to believe this is only the second season of the show.

I love that this show has an openly gay man in a committed relationship. Kevin is not the sexless gay man like the Queer Eye guys or even Will Truman. They are not afraid to show two men kiss on this show. Snaps to the writers and producers for doing that. And snaps to Matthew Rhys for his awesome portrayal of Kevin. A straight Welsh actor playing a gay American man. I had no clue he was straight and Welsh. He is amazing. As for his character of Kevin, he is dating his conservative sister's fiance's brother. The best part of that scenario is that it shows conservatives who are willing to go against their party's view of gays. Unlike so many of the conservatives in the real world who are against equal rights despite having gay or lesbian children. Are you paying attention Mr. Cheney?

On the other side of the closet door from Kevin is Uncle Saul Holden, Nora's brother. He is so closeted that he can't even admit to himself that he is gay. A friend from his past appeared last season and again in this season's premier. It is clear that Saul is a big mo, but so terrified to admit it. We don't know if he and this friend had a romantic or physical relationship yet. Hopefully Saul will be more explored this season (no pun intended)

This show pulls no punches when it comes to politics. The anti Iraq war sentiment is very clear. Not an episode goes by with out Nora railing against the war. In the season premier we find her afraid to leave the house in case Justin should call. When we later find out his platoon was attacked by an I.E.D. and we don't know if he is alive Nora, like any mother, collapses. It is no wonder Sally Field won the Emmy. Her portrayal of a soldier's mother is engulfing. You really believe she has a child in the war. So now the big question is whether Justin is alive. The scenes for next week make it look like he died. That would suck. Not only for the Walker family, but also for Dave Annable who plays Justin. To be on the first season of a hit show and then get killed off on the premier of the second season, tough break. But if he is dead, maybe he'll be like the mom on Providence and show up for private talks with his family members.

So far this season is off to a great start. I hope they keep it up. Sunday night is the night for TV.

Not So Deperate Yet

The season premier of Desperate Housewives renewed my love of this show. Last season it was getting boring. I hope they will continue the momentum that started this week.

Will Gabby and Carlos get together, or is Edie's blackmailing going to bind Carlos to her? Knowing the goings on on Wisteria Lane, I am sure something will happen to end Edie's hold on him. If I were Carlos, I would immediately transfer all my cash out of the Cayman account and into a Swiss bank account or something. Just move the damn money and then get away from Edie.

The big mystery this season is Kim Delaney. What is the deal with her daughter. Is that really her daughter? Did her real daughter die and she kidnapped this one and that is why she has no recollection of life on Wisteria Lane? This new neighbor is the best new one so far. I love that she is acting like the queen of the neighborhood even though she was gone for 12 years. I'm sorry, but a 12 year absence makes you the new one when you return. You have lost your right to call Bree, Lynette and Gabby new. She and Bree are sure to butt heads, the tree issue will likely be the least of the conflicts there.

Speaking of Bree, I loved it when she threated the old lady in the department store who wanted to touch her "belly." Why do people feel they have a right to touch a woman's belly when she is pregnant. If you did it any other time, it would be unbelievably inappropriate. Pregnancy should not affect that. You ask permission and if the expectant mom says no, you walk away. Bree should have decked the old bat who wouldn't take "no" for an answer. No means no people.

And speaking of pregnant..SUSAN!!! Holy crap! Didn't see that one coming. What is it with this show and women in their 40's getting pregnant? Admittedly Bree isn't really pregnant, but still... The question now is who is the father, Mike or Ian? Will she even tell Ian she is preggers?

Best scene of the night in my opinion was Lynette throwing up in a strangers purse. Brilliant!

Time to Cut The Fat

Dear Suzy,

Why did they feel the need to make The Biggest Loser a plus size episode this week? If they would stop replaying the 30 seconds before the break after the break, it would be a shorter show. Also, stop recapping the entire series, let alone this season. I'm watching. I am not suffering from short term memory loss. I can remember what happened 2 minutes ago as well as what happened a week ago. This show needs some serious help in the editing department.

Luvyameanit,

Bob

This week the reward challenge had each person go into a room alone for 4 minutes. In the room were tables heaped with high calorie food. Everything from chicken wings to m&m's. It was a pig out feast! Whoever ate the most calories would win an additional 3 pounds added to their weight lost that week. Isabeau didn't eat anything, but played a trick on everyone by putting a dab a frosting on the corner of her mouth so they would think she ate. The real drama involved the Blue team. They had all agreed that Neil, the largest person on the team, would eat a lot and no one else on the team was to eat. We saw him scarfing down mass quantities of food, including swallowing an entire bowl of m&m's. In 4 minutes he ate 1500 calories. Unfortunately, Patty, one of his team mates didn't think he actually ate, so when it was her turn, she ate 1700 calories. INSANE!!! Although they won the challenge there was a lot of fighting going on. Even Bob got in on it and told Patty how stupid she was for doing that. However, when the final weigh-in occurred, Patty was the biggest loser for the Blue team this week, even without the additional 3 pound loss. So even if her team wanted to vote her off, they couldn't.

As you can tell from that last sentence, the Blue team lost the weigh-in. In a turn of events, Kim's Red team, who has lost the 2 prior weigh-in won this week. Jillian was not happy at not winning, but she was not as pissed as Bob who lost to both Kim and Jillian. There is definitely some non-friendly competition going on between Bob and Jillian. Maybe because the winners of the first two seasons were from her team? I get the feeling that she hasn't yet let Bob forget this.

The second challenge this week was a race. One member from each team had to run 100 yards. The team with the most winners would be allowed to call home. However, they were not only racing one another, but also a surprise guest. They brought in a 5th grade girl, a 4th grade boy and a kindergarten boy to race them. In all there were 3 races, one against each kid. The girl and the little boy both won their heats, no problem. In fact they totally smoked the adults. In the 4th grade heat, Phil won, but barely. So the Red team won this week again.

As I said, the Blue team lost the final weigh in this week. In the end, they sent Jerry home. Big mistake. He was the biggest loser on their team for 2 weeks in a row. They kept Ryan who has the most to lose and yet only lost 3 pounds this week. Bob is going to be pissed when he finds out what happened.

As for the Black team. Jillian is training them using the skills challenged in the competition on prior seasons. Very smart. She is the toughest trainer there, but interestingly on the follow-up shows, there are always more Blues than Reds. Jillian's program, while good in a vacuum does not work in the real world. It is not sustainable. Bob's is more adaptable to a real world situation. So, even if Jillian's team loses more on the show, Bob's team will keep more of it off.

I like having the 3 teams, but if this horrible editing continues, I may stop watching. Either make it a half hour show, or put in more material. Don't replay what I just saw. It isn't building suspense. It is pissing me off.

Grey's Anatomy Gets the Blues

What a disappointment the season premier of Grey's turned out to be. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Our interns are now residents with interns of their own. All except George that is who failed the intern exam and has to repeat the year.

Meredith learns that her half-sister Lexie is one of the new interns. She also finds out that she is the girl Derek met in the bar a few weeks prior. Upon learning this, Meredith says, "I'm the girl in the bar!" Deep Meredith, very deep. Derek and Meredith finally break-up but not with out break-up sex.

Christina learns that Burke has resigned from the hospital. She keeps saying she is fine, but we know she is about to crack.

The George, Izzy, Callie triangle continues. Izzy is mopey because she told George she loves him and he then disappeared for over 2 weeks. Callie is trying to get close to George, but he keeps pushing her away. In the end of the episode, George tells Izzy he loves her too. (A little note here: T.R. Knight looks awesome this season. He has lost some of the baby fat and is much more handsome than he was last season).

Bailey is pissed at Chief for not making her Chief Resident and keeps reminding Callie that she is not doing a good job as Chief Resident. The Chief confronts Bailey and explains that he didn't give her the job because she is a surgeon and should be operating, not dealing with paperwork and scheduling issues. He did it as a favor to her. Eventually she will accept this, but right now, she is pissed.

Until the last few scenes of the episode, I was completely bored. There was nothing to hold my attention. The last scenes in which Derek and Meredith break up and do it and when George tells Izzy he loves her definitely had me paying attention. Whether the show can keep me for a season remains to be seen.

Interestingly, no one mentioned that Addison was gone.

Private Practice

Dr. Addison Montgomery Sheppard has left Seattle Grace for Oceanside Wellness Center in sunny Santa Monica. I love this show!!! It is infinitely more interesting than Grey's Anatomy.

This week was the official premier of Private Practice. Last season there was a special 2 hour Gray's in which Addison runs away from Seattle to Santa Monica and gets offered a job by her friend Naomi. This episode was all about the practice Addison joined. The doctors are Naomi, a fertility doctor, her ex-husband Sam, an internist, Pete, the holistic healer, Violet the shrink, Cooper, the pediatrician and Dell, the receptionist who is studying to be a midwife (eventhough he is a man). Naomi failed to tell anyone in the practice that she hired Addison to be their new Ob-Gyn. Of course the staff is pissed and Addison is embarrassed. In the end of course it works out.

The characters on this show rock. Violet is stalking her now married ex-boyfriend, Cooper hooks up with women on the internet who end up robbing him, Pete is the hottie of the show and the subject of much sexual tension with Addison and Dell is the eye candy with a brain. Not only are the characters awesome, but the actors who portray them are great too. We already know how amazing Kate Walsh is. In addition to her there is 3-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, Taye Diggs, Tim Daly and Amy Brenneman.

In the premier episode, Addison does an emergency c-section saving both the mother and baby's lives, with Pete perform acupuncture to block any pain, Violet helping a patient who is having a complete breakdown in a department store on her knees counting floor tiles. Violet is assisted by Cooper. And Naomi and Sam convince a hospital to allow them to withdraw sperm from a man who had a stroke (no pun intended) while making a deposit to inseminate his girlfriend.

That each thing the doctors face mirrors some form of problem in his or her own life is a little hokey, but it works. Sort of the physician heal thyself thing. This is likely to be a huge hit if they can keep up the good writing. Watch this show. Wednesday on ABC.

ANTM 2nd Show and the Gloves Are Off

What a week for the stupid girls. They had their first real photo shoot and first real challenge. For the challenge, they were given 15 minutes to run wild in Old Navy to pick an outfit that would be appropriate for panel. The judges would pick the winner at panel. For the photo shoot, Tyra has decided to use this season as a pubic forum. In addition to the girls living in a "green" house, this first shoot was to show the dangers of smoking. Each girl was shot twice (not in the Cheney kind of way). The first shot was of the girl looking elegant while smoking. The second was a "reflection" highlighting one of the dangers of smoking. The make up for the second shots was amazing. They had rotting teeth, trach tubes, cancer, etc. I suspect Tyra was tired of this show being a joke in some ways, so she is trying to make it more serious.

During the photo shoot, Bianca got all up in Lisa's grill. She said there was no way a stripper would ever become America's next top model. The verbal sparring was nasty. There was no reason for it to have happened, but for Bianca being a bee-yoch. Is there anyone named Bianca who isn't one? The girls made up later in the episode, but still, for them to be at each other by the second week is scary. I am sure there will be many more sparks flying this season.

Also during the shoot, Mila's reflection was supposed to be someone with cancer, going through chemo and her hair was falling out. Mila couldn't stop laughing. She thought it was funny. She was completely unable to take it seriously or imagine what it would be like to go through this. Jay was not pleased at all.

After the shoot, we see some of the girls in the hot tub at the house. And what is that beside them? Lo and behold! A pack of cigarettes. How someone could smoke is already beyond me. But to do it right after being confronted with such ghastly images of the dangers of smoking?!?

One girl I love this season is Heather. She has Asperger's Syndrome. She is struggling against the social anxiety disorders that come with the condition. Here she is forced to live in a house with 12 strangers while living with a condition that makes social interactions incredibly hard for her. All the other girls talk about her behind her back saying how weird she is. No one is shown to even try to get to know her or understand what is going on for her. My hat is off to Heather. As hard as this competition may be for the others, it is infinitely harder for her.

At panel, Saleisha won the challenge. When it came time to assessing the girls' photos, Heather was selected as the winner!!! Yay Heather!!!!!! The final two were Ebony and Ivory. Seriously, it was Ebony and Mila. But Ebony and Ivory sounded better. Anyway, at the end, Mila was sent packing. And then there were 12.

Bionic Rejection

Anyone who watched the original Bionic Woman will remember when THE Jamie Summers' body was rejecting the bionics and how much pain she was in. I was so worried that she was going to die. This week saw the premier of a new Bionic Woman series. I reject it.

Let's compare the two shows:

Original: Jaime (yes, it was spelled this was in the show because in one episode Linsday Wagner carves Steve + Jaime into a tree and rather than reshoot the scene with her spelling it correctly they, they change the spelling for the rest of the series)




New: Jamie

Original: Jaime is blond.

New: Jamie is brunette.

Original: Jaime is dating Steve Austin (The Six Million Dollar Man). She is in a sky diving accident and Steve has Rudy Wells and Oscar Goldman save her life by making her bionic like him. She gets 2 legs, an arm and a bionic ear.


New: Jamie is dating a scientist named Will. They are in a car accident (which was no accident but rather the first bionic woman created by this new team who went bad) and Will makes Jamie bionic to save her life. Will himself does the neurosurgery. She gets 2 legs, an arm and ear and an eye.

Original: Jaime has to go through physical therapy to learn to use her new parts.

New: No real adjustment period. She is up and running in a few days.




Original: Jaime was a tennis pro (but retires after becoming bionic an moves to Ojai, CA. Moves in with Steve Austin's parents and becomes a teacher when not working for the OSI)

New: Jamie is a bartender.

Original: Jaime has no problem working for the OSI

New: Jamie is not sure if she will work for the team that created the bionic technology.

Original: Show is light and campy. OSI are the good guys.

New: Show is very dark. The group with the bionic technology is clandestine and it seems they want to use bionics to create soldiers.

Original: Fembots

New: Another bionic woman, Sarah Corvus

It is bad enough that Hollywood writers are not creative enough to come up with new ideas for shows and recreate old ones. It is even worse that they took a perfectly amazing show and ruined it in this resurrection. This is not The Bionic Woman.

Raw Video: San Diego Mayor Sanders Supports Gay Marriage

Although this is not a political blog by any means and this video is not about TV, I think it is important that everyone see it. Mayor Sanders may have committed polical suicide, but he will be remembered as a hero. Unfortunately people will point out that he broke campaign promises. However, name one politician in recent history who hasn't. At this was a promise that needed to be broken as was for all the right reasons.

New Episodes?!?

Dear Network Executives,

Every Fall viewers tune in to watch the new season of their favorite shows. When you advertise the season premier date, we expect to see a NEW episode. An episode of clips from the past seasons of a show is not new. It is a recap. Recap as in review. You cannot be both a review and a new show at the same time. If you want to argue semantics, technically this particular arrangement of clips is new, but come on. I know you are trying to get new viewers and this is a good way to do it. I mean, it's not like you weren't showing reruns all summer, or viewers could watch on the internet.

A new episode should be 100% all new stuff. Do not call a show a season premier and then show us the things we have already seen. That is a quick way to lose viewers, not keep them. Tonight was the "season premier" of both Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. However, they were recap shows. Do that over the summer or during the holidays. Do not do it as a season premier. What is wrong with you people? I mean seriously. Do you think we wouldn't notice they weren't actually new episodes?

Please, on behalf of all TV fans everywhere, I beg you, stop with the recap and reviews. Make more new episodes rather than filling the time with stuff we've already seen.

Thank you.

Food for Thought

I haven't said much about the food network lately. So I thought I would share yet another observation of my favorite channel. Often times, the recipe and methods we see on a show, do not match the written recipe on the website. If you ever see a recipe on a show that looks interesting to you, I strongly advise you read the reviews of the recipe of the food network website. People who have tried the recipe will likely have posted about any difference between the show and the website and offered their suggestions on what to do. Moreover, sometimes you will find out that a recipe just doesn't work as it did on the show. That has happened to me a few times with Paula Deen's recipes. She has a "whoopie pie" recipe that looked good, so I tried it. Total disaster. The devil's food cakes were gray and never spread. The filling tasted awful. Unfortunately I didn't know to check the reviews first. After my failed effort, I looked the at the reviews. Everyone had the same issues I did. Be advised, compare the website recipe to the one on the show and read the reviews before you do any cooking.

Torchwood

BBC has launched a new show this season, Torchwood. It is part Dr. Who, part X-Files, and part Angel. Torchwood is a team of 30-somethings led by the enigmatic, ever-watchful Captain Jack Harkness. They use scavenged alien technology to solve present day crime - both alien and human. They’re separate from the government, working outside the police and beyond the United Nations. From an underground base built on a rift in time and space, Torchwood sets its own rules, delving into the unknown and fighting the impossible whether it is responding to an alien threat, sightings of extra-terrestrial technology, an unusual autopsy report, or the spread of a deadly alien virus.

Captain Jack is played by openly gay actor John Barrowman. I love that an openly gay man is cast as the lead in a series. Captain Jack's sexuality is rather ambiguous. He's neither gay, straight or bi. He's more pan-sexual. He is very private about his private life and ambivalent to sexual boundaries. I think Captain Jack is more of a mystery than anything else we will see on the this show. As for actor John Barrowman, he is HOT!!! There is a certain Tom Cruise look to him, but where I don't think Tom is cute at all, John is a cutie for sure.

The rest of the Torchwood team consists of Gwen, a new recruit fresh from the police force; Suzi, the second in charge; Owen, the team's scientist and medic; Toshiko the technical genius; and Ianto, the "Alfred" of the team.

Torchwood promises to be an action packed thrill ride filled with personal drama as well as danger. I am looking forward to seeing how the show shapes up. So far in the first episode Owen used an alien spray to attract a straight couple into bed with him and Gwen had a make out session with a woman whose body was being taken over by an alien life force that fed off orgasmic energy (she would hook up with a guy and just as he orgasmed the alien would absorb the man's life force and he would be reduced to a pile of ash.)

With all that goes on, the mystery of Jack's life will be the biggest challenge of all.