Last night Fox debuted its newest reality show, Moment of Truth. In this show, contests, before they come on the actual show, are asked 50 questions while connected to a lie detector. A polygraph specialist analyzes their test report and determines which answers were true and which were false. Then on the actual show, they are asked 21 of the same 50 questions. If they answer all the questions truthfully, as determined by the results of their polygraph test, they win $500,000. There are 4 levels of questions. After each level completed, the contestant has the option of walking away with the amount of money for that level. Contestants also have to answer any question asked. They can chose to stop at anytime, but once a question is asked, they must answer it. And to add a little more drama, 3 of the contestant's friends/family are there to observe and hear all the answers.
This show has the potential to be awesome. However, the staging of it ruins the show completely. The contestant is asked a question. There is then a long pause before he answers it. Then there is an even longer pause before a computer generated voice says, "that answer is true" or "that answer is false." Some of the questions are very probing. One contestant last night was asked, "have you delayed having children because you are not sure if Catia (his wife) is your ideal partner?" He answered, "yes." The voice then announced, "that answer is true." Now mind you, his wife was right there are he answered the question. He eventually got knocked out when asked, "have you ever touched a female client more than necessary during a personal training session?" He answered, "no." However, the computer announced, "that answer is false."
There are such great opportunities for drama during the show, but the long pauses detract from it. I don't know why the producers thought these pauses would be good and add tension, but they only serve to drag things out. For a show like this, you need continued momentum to hold interest, 10 to 15 second pauses in the action make the show crawl. I was really hoping to be enthralled by this show. I wasn't. I will give it a second chance, but if it doesn't get better. It's over.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Oh Ricky You're So Fine
Any fan of Project Runway probably is aware that Ricky, was not in the bottom this week. Not only was he not in the bottom, but he won! Let's recap:
For the challenge, the designers were taken across the Brooklyn Bridge (gasp!) to a warehouse on the docks. Outside the warehouse they were met by Caroline Calvin of Levis. Inside the warehouse were hundreds of pairs of 501's in different washes and yards of plain white cotton. The designers have to create an iconic look using the jeans and cloth. They have a few minutes to gather all the material they can carry and stuff into laundry bags.
YAY! Another challenge where Chris is going to have to run. Did the producers not learn from the first episode of the season? Don't make Chris run. Then again, they probably did and that is why they made him run. I think being on PR is the most exercise that man has ever gotten. On the run to the jeans, Sweet P lost a shoe. Who the hell wears flip flops when you know there is always the possibility of some kind of field trip? Does she not know how this show works?
The designers all scramble to get as much denim as possible. Rami goes for dark colors while Jillian goes for lighter ones. They seem to be the only two who have a concept of what they are going to do, at least color-wise. When the designers return to the workshop, Sweet P laments how dirty her denim is. Chris and Christian get into a bitch fight about the best way to clean the denim. Christian is a talented designer, but he is too bitchy for color TV. Chris is just a bitter man. He might have been suffering from low blood sugar, after all, he did have to run 100 yards.
We get a side interview with Rami who talks about not being an American designer. He talks about growing up in Jerusalem and how sketching clothes was his was of feeling safe when he was 5 years old. What the hell did this have to do with anything? It was as if he was trying to explain ahead of time why his design won't be good. Apparently, unless he is doing something where he can drape the fabric, he can't make anything. He is starting to seem like a one hit wonder, much like Laura Bennett. He does one style. He does it well, but there is little, if any, variety. He drapes much like Laura only did the Empire waist thing.
Jillian is making a long coat. Unfortunately, this is the same thing she did last week. Fortunately for us, she has a complete melt down when she is making it. While her idea was good, it was way too much for her to complete in 10 hours. When it came down the runway, you could sort of see what she was going for, but there was too much going on. If she had more time to edit herself, I have no doubt it would have been much better. Not a winner, but still better.
Victorya decided to make a trench coat, almost copying Jillian. Victorya, the only reason you did well last week with the coat was because Jillian made the coat. Victorya talked about when she was a child she would sketch clothes and her mother would make them. OK Victorya, that only means you can sketch. And we have no idea how much your mother altered your designs. The only reason you have survived this long is that each week one of the other designers tells you how to fix your garment. The trench coat she designed looked like she tailed an already existing denim jacket and added a skirt to it.
Ricky was excited by this challenge. He decided to call on his lingerie experience (designing, not wearing...as far as we know). He makes a corset with a skirt. I actually liked it. It was much better than what he has previously done on the show. During the judging, Michael Kors, remarked that we are finally seeing Ricky's talent come out. Man, Ricky is lucky he wasn't cut before this.
For me, Sweet P had the best design. She used several different washes of denim to make a gorgeous dress. She initially started out making a wedding dress, but after Tim told her it looked like "Happy hands granny's sewing circle" she rethought the design. She cut off the bottom length and the amazing dress emerged. Nina and Michael had a great quip about it:
Nina: Any of us women, except you Michael, could wear that dress.
Michael: I don't know, with the right shoes...
Snaps to Michael!
Christian made a motocross outfit - skinny jeans and a denim jacket. The jacket was made from jeans and the jeans were made from jackets. Very clever. It had a very Pat Benetar look to it. I liked it, but I didn't find it right for this challenge. I give him a lot of credit though. Christian had immunity this week, so he could have designed drek and still been safe. However, he worked hard and made a great outfit.
Chris tried to reinvent the little black dress as a little blue dress. Tried being the operative word. The dress looked unfinished. When Nina asked about some of the unfinished edges Chris said he left them that way intentionally. Michael challenged him by saying that he could have frayed all the edges then to make it uniform and look like a design element, not unfinished. Chris, you got served.
Rami's final dress was cute. He highlighted some of the seems with zippers. However, this reminded me of Jeffrey's designs for the finale last season. Rami may not be a one note, but he is not always original. Yes, the design was nice, but when I am reminded of a design from someone else, that is a problem.
In the end Ricky won. I just wonder if he would have won had he not been in the bottom so much. Because he has been so consistently bad, doing something good looked that much better. Not only did he win, but Caroline Calvin announced that Levi's was going to sell his garment as a limited edition. I think Sweet P should have won this one. Her dress rocked and was totally wearable. I am sure that Ricky only won because his garment was so much better than anything else he had done before. I am all for rewarding improvement, but Sweet P was robbed on this one.
Victorya was aufed this week. Michael commented that he garment looked like she just reconnoitered a denim jacket. Normally when a designer is aufed, he or she thanks the judges for the opportunity. However, Victorya walked off in silence. She got her kiss from Heidi, and then left. There was something insincere about this. Victorya was given a huge opportunity, but she showed no gratitude for it. Moreover, when Tim told her it was time to go to the workroom to clean out her space, she said she didn't want a group hug. Every other designer, when aufed, gets a big heartfelt good-bye from the remaining contestants. Victorya didn't. This was truly the biggest sore loser moment I think I have ever seen on this show.
For the challenge, the designers were taken across the Brooklyn Bridge (gasp!) to a warehouse on the docks. Outside the warehouse they were met by Caroline Calvin of Levis. Inside the warehouse were hundreds of pairs of 501's in different washes and yards of plain white cotton. The designers have to create an iconic look using the jeans and cloth. They have a few minutes to gather all the material they can carry and stuff into laundry bags.
YAY! Another challenge where Chris is going to have to run. Did the producers not learn from the first episode of the season? Don't make Chris run. Then again, they probably did and that is why they made him run. I think being on PR is the most exercise that man has ever gotten. On the run to the jeans, Sweet P lost a shoe. Who the hell wears flip flops when you know there is always the possibility of some kind of field trip? Does she not know how this show works?
The designers all scramble to get as much denim as possible. Rami goes for dark colors while Jillian goes for lighter ones. They seem to be the only two who have a concept of what they are going to do, at least color-wise. When the designers return to the workshop, Sweet P laments how dirty her denim is. Chris and Christian get into a bitch fight about the best way to clean the denim. Christian is a talented designer, but he is too bitchy for color TV. Chris is just a bitter man. He might have been suffering from low blood sugar, after all, he did have to run 100 yards.
We get a side interview with Rami who talks about not being an American designer. He talks about growing up in Jerusalem and how sketching clothes was his was of feeling safe when he was 5 years old. What the hell did this have to do with anything? It was as if he was trying to explain ahead of time why his design won't be good. Apparently, unless he is doing something where he can drape the fabric, he can't make anything. He is starting to seem like a one hit wonder, much like Laura Bennett. He does one style. He does it well, but there is little, if any, variety. He drapes much like Laura only did the Empire waist thing.
Jillian is making a long coat. Unfortunately, this is the same thing she did last week. Fortunately for us, she has a complete melt down when she is making it. While her idea was good, it was way too much for her to complete in 10 hours. When it came down the runway, you could sort of see what she was going for, but there was too much going on. If she had more time to edit herself, I have no doubt it would have been much better. Not a winner, but still better.
Victorya decided to make a trench coat, almost copying Jillian. Victorya, the only reason you did well last week with the coat was because Jillian made the coat. Victorya talked about when she was a child she would sketch clothes and her mother would make them. OK Victorya, that only means you can sketch. And we have no idea how much your mother altered your designs. The only reason you have survived this long is that each week one of the other designers tells you how to fix your garment. The trench coat she designed looked like she tailed an already existing denim jacket and added a skirt to it.
Ricky was excited by this challenge. He decided to call on his lingerie experience (designing, not wearing...as far as we know). He makes a corset with a skirt. I actually liked it. It was much better than what he has previously done on the show. During the judging, Michael Kors, remarked that we are finally seeing Ricky's talent come out. Man, Ricky is lucky he wasn't cut before this.
For me, Sweet P had the best design. She used several different washes of denim to make a gorgeous dress. She initially started out making a wedding dress, but after Tim told her it looked like "Happy hands granny's sewing circle" she rethought the design. She cut off the bottom length and the amazing dress emerged. Nina and Michael had a great quip about it:
Nina: Any of us women, except you Michael, could wear that dress.
Michael: I don't know, with the right shoes...
Snaps to Michael!
Christian made a motocross outfit - skinny jeans and a denim jacket. The jacket was made from jeans and the jeans were made from jackets. Very clever. It had a very Pat Benetar look to it. I liked it, but I didn't find it right for this challenge. I give him a lot of credit though. Christian had immunity this week, so he could have designed drek and still been safe. However, he worked hard and made a great outfit.
Chris tried to reinvent the little black dress as a little blue dress. Tried being the operative word. The dress looked unfinished. When Nina asked about some of the unfinished edges Chris said he left them that way intentionally. Michael challenged him by saying that he could have frayed all the edges then to make it uniform and look like a design element, not unfinished. Chris, you got served.
Rami's final dress was cute. He highlighted some of the seems with zippers. However, this reminded me of Jeffrey's designs for the finale last season. Rami may not be a one note, but he is not always original. Yes, the design was nice, but when I am reminded of a design from someone else, that is a problem.
In the end Ricky won. I just wonder if he would have won had he not been in the bottom so much. Because he has been so consistently bad, doing something good looked that much better. Not only did he win, but Caroline Calvin announced that Levi's was going to sell his garment as a limited edition. I think Sweet P should have won this one. Her dress rocked and was totally wearable. I am sure that Ricky only won because his garment was so much better than anything else he had done before. I am all for rewarding improvement, but Sweet P was robbed on this one.
Victorya was aufed this week. Michael commented that he garment looked like she just reconnoitered a denim jacket. Normally when a designer is aufed, he or she thanks the judges for the opportunity. However, Victorya walked off in silence. She got her kiss from Heidi, and then left. There was something insincere about this. Victorya was given a huge opportunity, but she showed no gratitude for it. Moreover, when Tim told her it was time to go to the workroom to clean out her space, she said she didn't want a group hug. Every other designer, when aufed, gets a big heartfelt good-bye from the remaining contestants. Victorya didn't. This was truly the biggest sore loser moment I think I have ever seen on this show.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
He Writes the Songs...
This is one of the best American Idol auditions ever!
Even Simon was nice, for Simon.
Even Simon was nice, for Simon.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Golden Globes
I do not like awards shows. I will occasionally watch if forced to, but in general, I do not watch them. The musical numbers during the Tony's are my exception. Who doesn't love a big ass production number? The award shows used to have a sense of glamor, but not they are just self aggrandizing ego boosts. True, some celebs ( and I am talking mostly about men here) do dress quite well, but when they show up looking shaggy and like they are going to the laundromat it detracts from the event. These events are all about people who are already getting paid for a few weeks work more than most of us will make in a lifetime. And now they need to get an award for it? Come on!
The Golden Globes is different than the Oscar's or Emmy's. The Golden Globes always seems like a more fun event than the other award shows. Who will forget Christine Lahti missing her entrance because she was in the bathroom? At the Golden Globes, the actors really seem to he there to have fun and just enjoy the time.
This year, because of the writer's strike, the Golden Globes was transformed. Gone were the red carpet and acceptance speeches. No pre-show showing the celebs arriving for the event. Instead, this year's Golden Globes was just Nancy O'Dell and Billy Bush standing at a podium reading the winners' names. I actually liked this better. Sure the flash was missing, but it was fast, over in one hour. None of the bad jokes, no long speeches, no staying up late to see the whole show.
Even though the writer's strike is totally messing with my TV watching... I want new episodes, I do fully support the writers. And, if anything good has happened as a result of the strike, it looks like award shows will be shorter. YAY!
The Golden Globes is different than the Oscar's or Emmy's. The Golden Globes always seems like a more fun event than the other award shows. Who will forget Christine Lahti missing her entrance because she was in the bathroom? At the Golden Globes, the actors really seem to he there to have fun and just enjoy the time.
This year, because of the writer's strike, the Golden Globes was transformed. Gone were the red carpet and acceptance speeches. No pre-show showing the celebs arriving for the event. Instead, this year's Golden Globes was just Nancy O'Dell and Billy Bush standing at a podium reading the winners' names. I actually liked this better. Sure the flash was missing, but it was fast, over in one hour. None of the bad jokes, no long speeches, no staying up late to see the whole show.
Even though the writer's strike is totally messing with my TV watching... I want new episodes, I do fully support the writers. And, if anything good has happened as a result of the strike, it looks like award shows will be shorter. YAY!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Say Good-bye to Big Hair and Sequins
TLC has a new show, Miss America Reality Check. All 52 Miss America contestants are put in one house and undergo complete makeovers. Not because they are ugly (well except maybe for Miss Idaho), but rather the traditional look of Miss America is outdated. The goal is to bring Miss America into modern times.
The host is Michael Urie, Marc St. James of Ugly Betty. He is the perfect host for this show. Why? Because on Ugly Betty he is the right hand man to Wilhemenia Slater, played by Vanessa L. Williams. To me she will always be Miss America 1984, despite the fact that she gave up her crown. I wonder how she feels about him working with the Miss America people. I so want him to mention her.
At the start of the show, all 52 women arrive at the house. They are shown clips from on the street interviews of people regarding their impressions of Miss America. The overall thought was that all the contestants are plastic, and the pageant is outdated. It needs to be modernized and the glamor brought back to it. After the women see these clips, they are visibly shaken. All the hairspray must have gotten to them. They were all shocked to learn what people think of the pageant. What kind of bubble have they been living in? I can understand Miss Oklahoma or Miss Texas not knowing this, or any other contestant from a big pageant state, but you would think women from states where pageants are not a way of life would have some clue.
Next Michael brought on Stacy and Clinton from What Not to Wear to go through each woman's suitcases to dissect their outfits. The amount of sequins they saw was blinding. Pretty much each contestant had packed similarly, showing again the Miss America is not original anymore, that they all drank the Kool-Aid.
The women got split into 6 teams based on things they had in common:
Blue: States with the most wins
Green: States with recent winners (in the past decade)
Light Blue: "always a bridesmaid." These women are from states that have never had a winner, but many second place winners.
Red: Most winning combo - brown hair and brown eyes (who knew?)
Purple: Oldest contestants
Pink: Underdogs - no winners or runners up, ever.
From the get go, the women are told, "less is more" yet when they show up the next day to what they know will be an athletic challenge, some are in full make-up. For this challenge, each team has to run an obstacle course, put together a map of the U.S.A., find their state flag (all of the flags were lined up on poles so they were waving in the wind) and then run with the flag to the finish line. The first team to finish won first rights to the showers - there are only 7 showers for all of the women. The purple team is in the lead until the flag portion, when Miss Pennsylvania could not ID her state flag. I don't think I could pick out NY's flag, but then again, I am not representing my state in a national competition. When this is your job, you should know what your state flag looks like. The Light Blue team won.
Next the women attend a dinner party. Miss Rhode Island said, "I hope it has nothing to do with dinner etiquette, because I failed that class in college." OHMYGOD!!! First of all, this is a class offered in college? And secondly, she failed it?!? What the f_ _ _?!? The women are told there will be a special guest at the party. When they arrived for the party (again some are totally overly made-up and have total pageant hair - Miss Idaho) they learned the "guest" is controversy. There are envelopes containing controversial topics on each table and the women needed to talk about them. Miss D.C. said, "I was expecting Vanessa Williams..." Did she really think Vanessa would be asked to do something involving Miss America? The advisers for the show wanted to see how these women really spoke, not prepared pageant answers, but really who they thought and expressed themselves. The topics included pre-marital sex, gun control and same-sex marriage. Miss Colorado was in the gun control group and revealed that her brother was shot in the Columbine massacre. He survived, but is now handicapped. In the same-sex marriage discussion, Miss North Carolina said that she could not condone it. Miss Vermont however, knocked it out of the park. She said, "how would you feel if you were told because you are blond you can't do something, but you can do this, which is almost the same thing, but not quite?" Miss Vermont totally gets the separate but equal thing between Civil Unions and Marriage is crap. On of the advisers comments that Miss Vermont personifies what the pageant needs to become, more modern.
At the end, the 3 top and 3 bottom women are announced. It is not as if anyone gets booted from the house, but it shows the women how they are faring in the advisers eyes for getting what the point of the show is.
One final point, for the first time in Miss America history, the audience will get to vote for one of the women to be in the top 16 finalists. 15 will be judge selected as usual, but the 16th is audience chosen. To vote go to http://www.TLC.com/missamerica.
The host is Michael Urie, Marc St. James of Ugly Betty. He is the perfect host for this show. Why? Because on Ugly Betty he is the right hand man to Wilhemenia Slater, played by Vanessa L. Williams. To me she will always be Miss America 1984, despite the fact that she gave up her crown. I wonder how she feels about him working with the Miss America people. I so want him to mention her.
At the start of the show, all 52 women arrive at the house. They are shown clips from on the street interviews of people regarding their impressions of Miss America. The overall thought was that all the contestants are plastic, and the pageant is outdated. It needs to be modernized and the glamor brought back to it. After the women see these clips, they are visibly shaken. All the hairspray must have gotten to them. They were all shocked to learn what people think of the pageant. What kind of bubble have they been living in? I can understand Miss Oklahoma or Miss Texas not knowing this, or any other contestant from a big pageant state, but you would think women from states where pageants are not a way of life would have some clue.
Next Michael brought on Stacy and Clinton from What Not to Wear to go through each woman's suitcases to dissect their outfits. The amount of sequins they saw was blinding. Pretty much each contestant had packed similarly, showing again the Miss America is not original anymore, that they all drank the Kool-Aid.
The women got split into 6 teams based on things they had in common:
Blue: States with the most wins
Green: States with recent winners (in the past decade)
Light Blue: "always a bridesmaid." These women are from states that have never had a winner, but many second place winners.
Red: Most winning combo - brown hair and brown eyes (who knew?)
Purple: Oldest contestants
Pink: Underdogs - no winners or runners up, ever.
From the get go, the women are told, "less is more" yet when they show up the next day to what they know will be an athletic challenge, some are in full make-up. For this challenge, each team has to run an obstacle course, put together a map of the U.S.A., find their state flag (all of the flags were lined up on poles so they were waving in the wind) and then run with the flag to the finish line. The first team to finish won first rights to the showers - there are only 7 showers for all of the women. The purple team is in the lead until the flag portion, when Miss Pennsylvania could not ID her state flag. I don't think I could pick out NY's flag, but then again, I am not representing my state in a national competition. When this is your job, you should know what your state flag looks like. The Light Blue team won.
Next the women attend a dinner party. Miss Rhode Island said, "I hope it has nothing to do with dinner etiquette, because I failed that class in college." OHMYGOD!!! First of all, this is a class offered in college? And secondly, she failed it?!? What the f_ _ _?!? The women are told there will be a special guest at the party. When they arrived for the party (again some are totally overly made-up and have total pageant hair - Miss Idaho) they learned the "guest" is controversy. There are envelopes containing controversial topics on each table and the women needed to talk about them. Miss D.C. said, "I was expecting Vanessa Williams..." Did she really think Vanessa would be asked to do something involving Miss America? The advisers for the show wanted to see how these women really spoke, not prepared pageant answers, but really who they thought and expressed themselves. The topics included pre-marital sex, gun control and same-sex marriage. Miss Colorado was in the gun control group and revealed that her brother was shot in the Columbine massacre. He survived, but is now handicapped. In the same-sex marriage discussion, Miss North Carolina said that she could not condone it. Miss Vermont however, knocked it out of the park. She said, "how would you feel if you were told because you are blond you can't do something, but you can do this, which is almost the same thing, but not quite?" Miss Vermont totally gets the separate but equal thing between Civil Unions and Marriage is crap. On of the advisers comments that Miss Vermont personifies what the pageant needs to become, more modern.
At the end, the 3 top and 3 bottom women are announced. It is not as if anyone gets booted from the house, but it shows the women how they are faring in the advisers eyes for getting what the point of the show is.
One final point, for the first time in Miss America history, the audience will get to vote for one of the women to be in the top 16 finalists. 15 will be judge selected as usual, but the 16th is audience chosen. To vote go to http://www.TLC.com/missamerica.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Dear Suzy
Dear Suzy,
I missed the final episode of Biggest Loser because I was busy working out, not eating like you probably were. I found out that Bill won and his twin brother Jim who was kicked off early in the season won the second chance. So not only did Jillian's have the only contestants in the final 4, but she also won the second chance. Sure they look good now, but just wait. I mean look at your husband, Matt who won season 2, he was trained by Jillian and is getting big again. Then again, it is probably your fault he's fat again. It's bad enough that you messed up your own body, but do you really have to take him down too?
This season Kim is gone and it is back to Jillian and I as the trainers. I hope Kim comes back, Jillian scares the crap out of me and I know I can at least have a win against Kim. Instead of having 2 teams of 6, there are now 10 teams of 2. We each have 5 teams to train. Even though only 2 of my 5 teams teams picked me as their trainer (the others all wanted Jillian, but she was filled quickly and I got the left overs) I will show them I am a hard ass. Sure I may act like a sissy, but I'm in great shape and they're all fat. Maybe seeing how many people "got stuck with me" will force me to step up my game and give me the incentive to FINALLY beat Jillian. It's not like you did anything to help me beat her when you had the chance. With you it was all about you, you didn't do squat for me.
I hope I don't see you and Matt on here if they ever do another couples season. Face it, if you come back you really would be the biggest loser...and not in a good way.
Luvyameanit,
Bob
I missed the final episode of Biggest Loser because I was busy working out, not eating like you probably were. I found out that Bill won and his twin brother Jim who was kicked off early in the season won the second chance. So not only did Jillian's have the only contestants in the final 4, but she also won the second chance. Sure they look good now, but just wait. I mean look at your husband, Matt who won season 2, he was trained by Jillian and is getting big again. Then again, it is probably your fault he's fat again. It's bad enough that you messed up your own body, but do you really have to take him down too?
This season Kim is gone and it is back to Jillian and I as the trainers. I hope Kim comes back, Jillian scares the crap out of me and I know I can at least have a win against Kim. Instead of having 2 teams of 6, there are now 10 teams of 2. We each have 5 teams to train. Even though only 2 of my 5 teams teams picked me as their trainer (the others all wanted Jillian, but she was filled quickly and I got the left overs) I will show them I am a hard ass. Sure I may act like a sissy, but I'm in great shape and they're all fat. Maybe seeing how many people "got stuck with me" will force me to step up my game and give me the incentive to FINALLY beat Jillian. It's not like you did anything to help me beat her when you had the chance. With you it was all about you, you didn't do squat for me.
I hope I don't see you and Matt on here if they ever do another couples season. Face it, if you come back you really would be the biggest loser...and not in a good way.
Luvyameanit,
Bob
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