Sunday, September 30, 2007

OK, I lied!

"Desperate Housewives" was actually pretty decent tonight! They packed a LOT in and it looks as if it actually MIGHT be an interesting season!

I am in TV heaven

A lot of my TV shows have come back and I'm just overflowing with TV goodness!

My recommendations to add: "Chuck," "Journeyman" "Gossip Girl" and "Bionic Woman."

I'm dropping: "Desperate Housewives" and "Prison Break" (The thrill is gone Wenty).

I'm now on the fence about "Heroes" "The Biggest Loser" and "Deal or No Deal" (Tameka's bad weave, the bad music and the one contestant per episode is bothering me.)

Why I like "Chuck": The cast is amazing (Although they need to stop showing Special Agent "Buffy" wannabe in her underwear). The lead actor is believable in the part. Now, it'll take a lot to keep this degree of goodness going. It was the perfect mix of comedy, intrigue and action. Think "Alias" with a nerdy lead actor.

Why I like "Journeyman": There's nothing else like it on TV right now and the lead actor seems to have this presence about him that makes you want to watch. The premise of a guy leapfrogging through time is interesting and exciting. Plus there's a mystery in his life and a question: Does he save his "dead" finacee or focus on mission at hand. Plus we're wondering why him?

Why I like "Gossip Girl": Two words: Kristen Bell. The rest of the cast is waay too old to be playing teenagers. Although this episode was better than the pilot. There's a lot of ways it can go. Plus I'm beginning to feel sad for poor Serena.

Why I like the "Bionic Woman": I dunno yet. I just do. Maybe it's the excitement of this show or maybe I'm living in nostalgia.

What are YOU adding and why?

Monday, September 24, 2007

Heroes the recap

First things first: I am NEVER going to be a Nissan Rogue. GAWD those commercials back to back drove me NUTS! Can we get MORE product placement please?


The theme of this episode was: Lies, lies and more lies.

At the family formerly known as the Bennetts, Claire, Kyle, Noah, Claire's mom and Mr. Muggles are all settling down in their new life in California. Claire hates it because she can't show everyone how special she really is since she's the new girl in school. But she might make friends with her shiny new Nissan Rogue (AACK). On the first day she gains a boy's attention when she almost steps in front of his car and then plays with a burner in Chem class. Later, at P.E. she saves a chubby girl from being picked on by the cheerleaders (which are ALL cheerleaders mean or is this just a cliche?). We learn later in the episode that she knows Nathan survived the blast that "killed" Peter and when she reaches out to talk to him, we see Nathan is a big drunk who's wallowing in the bottle. We see that the boy who's been stalking Claire all day has a superpower: Flying. This brings up a bunch of questions such as : Didn't they establish last season that each Hero have a unique power? And was he drawn to Claire because he could sense she was different?

Noah Butler is totally unhappy with his job at Copy King. You'd be too if a snot-nosed brat was ordering you around. He finally opens up a can of whoop-ass on the punk and puts him in his place.

Across the country we see Matt Parkman trying out for NYPD. We learn that he's now divorced (A divorce in four months?? And what about his baby?) He makes the squad and we also learn that he's trying to forge a life with Mohinder and Molly (Two dads and a little lady) Molly apparently has bad dreams about the Boogyman who's not Syler and it's causing her teacher some worry.

Across town, Angela Petrelli isn't happy that Nate didn't follow her plans and she's busy packing up his belongings. Hiro's Dad and Ando meanwhile are holding a vigil hoping for his return. But it's been four months since the explosive finale. We then learn that Hiro's Dad and Angela both have a threat against their life (Uh-oh, someone's not going to make it.)

In Honduras, we meet the wonder twins: Alejando and Maya who spends most of the episode sweaty and running. It turns out they are wanted for murder and then later on when their separated Maya kills a whole truckload of people because she's separated from her brother.

In India, Mohinder is contacted by The Company who wants him to work for them to help them find the cure for the virus that may have killed his sister. But then we learn that he and Noah are working together to bring The Company down.

And we end with the discovery of Peter but he's lost his memory. OH, the DRAMA!

Episode grade: B

Sunday, September 23, 2007

I'm ready! Are you?

Tomorrow my show comes back!!! I NEVER thought the summer would end. Paired with "Chuck" and "Journeyman" it's become quite apparently that I am NBC's bitch on Mondays.

I've decided to let this Web site keep me abreast of what's going on with "Prison Break." That doesn't mean that I'm not going to stop DVRing the show though. And now that "The Biggest Loser" appears to be my main Tuesday night show, I might slide PB into Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. That'll lead me into "Law and Order SVU"

Wednesday is going to be a bit tough. 8 p.m. has "Deal or No Deal" going head to head against "America's Next Top Model" which leads to the 9 p.m. pileup. I'm all about the "Bionic Woman" and I'm willing to give "Gossip Girl" a few more weeks. But I'm really curious about "Private Practice."

Thursday has "Ugly Betty", "Survivor" and "Smallville" all against each other. While I haven't watched "S-ville" in forever, they are going to have this heroine on board so I can't wait to see that. I'm hoping that they'll repeat "S-ville" on Sundays so I can catch that then.

Friday is more "DOND" but it looks that "The Search for the Next Great American Band" might be the "American Idol" of the fall. Saturday sucks because it's nothing but repeats. And Sunday looks dry too. I'm dumping "Desperate Housewives" but then I remember they will have a gay couple on so I might watch for a few episodes.


And that's my week in TV viewing.

And now for some RECAPS! Yep. I'm going to attempt to recap a few of the shows I've been watching during the week. I won't do every show just the buzz worthy ones or the scandalous ones. =-)


The Biggest Loser
OK, confession time. I have a love/hate relationship with this show. I love it because I like watching people changing their lives. I hate the way it portrays fat people. I mean do the guys really have to weigh themselves shirtless? And are jog bras the best choice to be weighed?
That being said, the big reveal of the Black Team joining the Red and Blue Teams would have been cool if NBC didn't advertise it do death all LAST week!

If I had to be on a team, I'd like to be on the Blue Team with Bob. He's nice to look at, totally gay (not that there's anything wrong with that) but it appears he actually cares about the contestants. When he talked to a contestant from the other team after she walked out on her trainer, that showed real class. And then, there's Jillian. I could not train under her. There's wishing the best for your clients and then there's browbeating them into submission. I would not work well under that circumstance. This week, they booted poor Lezlye who appeared to have a really stinky attitude. But I guess I would too if Hurricane Katrina decimated my life.


"America's Next Top Model"
If you aren't watching this show, you should. I'm telling you it has drama, sexiness, craziness and most of all TYRA! This season, started with a bang as they narrowed 30 girls down to 20 on board a big cruiseship. With Miss Jay teaching the girls how to walk and Mr.Jayand Tyra (You must click on this link, trust me!). These new girls range from the cute Lisa to the OK Ambreal to the "what was your momma thinking when she named you this." I'm looking at you Saleisha.

It's too early to tell to see who'll win. But maybe next week, I'll have more of an idea.

"Survivor: China"
OH. There just are no words to describe the first episode but the only thing I could come up with is AWESOME.
When you have a contestant who's name is "Chicken" and you have a WWE diva onboard you KNOW it's going to be a great episode. Of course they have the "Survivor" standards: the bitchy gay guy, the woman who's unprepared to camp, the "I'm going to be the leader but I don't want folks to think of me as the leader, the hot young guys, the hot young girls and of course the clueless. I'm rooting for James because I have him in the company office pool.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Fall TV viewing starts early!

So my friend Jump The Snark tells me that his TiVo (GAWD, I love TiVo) has some of the NBC Fall Preview shows.

So for grins, I wanted to see if my old DVR would have the same and it did!!! (YAY!)

We saw the original pilot at Comic-Con and I wanted to see how this would differ. They recast the actress who originally played the sister. But for the most part, the pilot pretty much stays in tact.

If you've seen the commerical, you've pretty much seen the first episode. The special effects are better than what we saw at Comic-Con. It still has some flaws (no spoilers just in case you wanted to watch for yourself) but I think I'm adding it to my Wednesday night routine.

I have to say, I loved the nod to "Superman" when Jamie escapes to go back to her old life. And everyone please STOP using this song to convey emotion? Because every since we heard the song on this show, it's been freaking EVERYWHERE!

The "Bionic Woman" goes online Sept. 26th.

Chuck

The next show I watched was "Chuck." I couldn't get into the Comic-Con panel but I really, really liked this show. The premise: Chuck works at a Best Buy ripoff (I wonder if they are suing?) and he gets an e-mail from an old classmate which contains all of the government's secrets. It sounds pretty dumb but it's executed pretty smartly. This makes it tough for me because now I have to choose on Monday nights: Prison Break or Chuck?

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Scared straight (well not literally)..

Tonight I watched the season premiere of "The Biggest Loser" from my couch and felt so guilty. These people are seriously kicking butt! I felt so bad for them but I knew that they were taking steps towards improving their lives.

I think the thing that got me was the table they showed with all the food these people consumed. I guess, no I know I'm guilty of mindless eating. It's easy you grab food, eat on the couch and then start eating.

Then this year, they added a twist of adding another team with Jillian aka Scary Demon. It's going to be an interesting season and I know for me, I'm going to try to work out more so that I can lose along with these people.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Two weeks until fall TV and counting...

Tomorrow Tyra has her fall premiere and her talk show's gone through some big changes. First, she's moved the talk show to N.Y.C.

And not to be outdone, lady O also has her premiere tomorrow from NYC as well.

The "Biggest Loser" kicks off its season on Tuesday with a lady from San Diego among the contestants.

And then the week of Sept. 24, it when the rest of the shows roll back. I cannot wait!

Monday, September 03, 2007

The new TV season begins tomorrow (sorta)

Was scanning the old DVR tonight desperately looking for something to watch when I came across "The Biggest Loser" reunion special.

Believe it or not, this unofficially kicks off the TV season. That along with Whoopi Goldberg taking her seat at "The View" in the morning. And then over the course of the next few weeks a bunch of shows take a bow.

It looks like it's shaping up to be a good TV season, but since my time is going to be more limited than ever, I'm going to have to take a pass on some shows or be very careful about what shows I'm going to watch and what shows can wait until the weekends.

Here's my non-negotiable list for the fall


Mondays:
"Prison Break," "Heroes," "24" "Chuck"
Tuesdays
"The Biggest Loser," "Law & Order "SVU"
Wednesdays
"The Bionic Woman"
Thursdays
"Survivor", "Ugly Betty"


Unfortunately, there's nothing to watch on Fridays and Saturdays (Hello Netflix) and Sundays is looking iffy too. I heard they were thinking of holding "The Amazing Race" until January and "Desperate Housewives" has lost its hold on me but I might read the recaps or wander through every now and then.

So, what's on YOUR must-watch list?