Wednesday, October 29, 2008

So long Sheena!



Sheena, the hoochie in you ended your run on "ANTM." Photo by CWTV.com

When Cycle 11 started, I had some early favorites such as Isis and Brittany but now they are long gone. My last favorite, Sheena, was booted tonight.

We pick up with the girls in Amsterdam and they have to run around the city trying to find their apartment. It's kind like this show.

Then the models had to go to skank row to model. McKey and Sam won the challenge and 50 extra frames although they didn't need it.

Then the women had to go on a ship and model and it came down to Elina and Sheen as the bottom two and poof! Sheena was booted. Poor Sheena. I wanted YOU to win.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Do you want to pull your hair out over "Heroes"?


Claire (Hayden Panettiere) grabs Elle (Kristen Bell) by the hair. Meanwhile, I was at home ripping mine out. Photo by NBC.com

Warning: This blog contains spoilers for the latest episode of "Heroes" read at your own risk.

This week the entertainment bible declared "Heroes" needs fixing.

After watching tonight's episode, I'm inclined to agree. This "Villains" storyline is a great big yawn. It started out with such promise but now, it's just getting long and boring. I'm ready for it to be over.

I'm not going to abandon the show but seriously, it needs to get its act together quickly. A quick recap: Daddy Petrelli's back and he wants power. After stealing stuPeter's power last episode he chains him and and asks him to join his quest. How stuPeter is going to do this powerless is beyond me.

Daphne Quick is assigned to go recruit Boring Man the mind reader and refuses. Boring Man's dad tells Daddy Petrelli that he should leave Boring Man alone and he gets his neck snapped. I guess we wouldn't like Daddy Petrelli when he's angry.

This spooks Daphne Quick and she and she agrees to kill Boring Man. After Mr. Fear arrives on the scene and appears to kill them both, it's revealed that Boring Man used his mind mojo to create realistic illusions.

Meanwhile, at Mohinder-man's lair, the Ice Queen and the Mr. America try to reason with him.

Mohinder-man grabs Maya and heads straight to Papa Petrelli who then takes Maya's ability and leaves her powerless. She's then sent away to live a normal life. But more imporantly she is off the show!!!!! YAY! HRG and Fire arrives and Fire warns Ice to watch Mr. America.

Mama Petrelli reaches out of her coma and gets Sylar to go rescue stuPeter. He does but along the way gets a beating from Mohinder-man and switches sides (or does he?)

At Wolverette's house, Spark arrives and she's lost control of her powers. Wolverette's family takes Spark down and she and Wolverette agrees to go to see if they can get their abilities fixed. Along the way, the two almost brings down a plane full of people when Spark's powers go haywire.

At Papa Petrelli's, Sylar sends stuPeter flying out of a window and Spark and Wolverette sees him. Wolverette grabs stuPeter and makes a break for it, while Spark heads straight in to get her powers removed.

Wolverette calls Mr. America and he and the Ice Queen arrive. They agree that Papa Petrelli needs to be stopped. In African, Dream Man, Hiro and Ando try to figure out a way to stop the shenanigans. The episode ends with Hiro going on a spirit quest and that's it.

I found myself very bored most of the time and looking at my watch, which is sad because I normally like this show.

My suggestions on how to fix this show?

1) Kill Peter. Yes, I said it. KILL PETER. He's pretty but dumb and while that may work with one-night stands, it's kinda dumb with superheroes.

2) More personal stories. I've been enjoying Claire's arc this season but she needs another power. Healing is cool and now feeling no pain adds to that. She's a vulnerable invulnerable person. I'd like to see her have superstrength or something to add to the mix.

3) Keep Mohinder doing the voice-overs but keep him out of the action. He's useless and worthless.

4) Pick one story and stick to it. NO more time jumping. I'd rather see how these people struggle to fit into society with these powers.

5) If you don't kill Peter, then keep Sylar as the bad guy and have them go at it every few episodes. If Peter is Superman, then let Sylar be Bizarro.

We get a two-week reprieve and hopefully the next arc: "Fugitives" will take the show in a different direction.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Real Housewives of Atlanta



Meet from left, DeShawn, NeNe, Lisa, Kim and Sheree, the fierce new housewives of Atlanta. Photo by BravoTV.com


A few weeks ago while at at dinner, my two divas, Dana and Donyale, turned me on to a show that was set to debut on Bravo. It was part of the "Real Housewives..." series and at first I wasn't interested. I didn't watch the Orange Co. crew and could care less about the N.Y.C. women.

But, my friends countered, this is different. These women are crazy. After much hemming and hawing, I relented and agreed to watch. Now, all I've got to say is "THANK YOU." If you're into trainwrecks, then this is the trainwrecky-est as they come.

If you haven't watched, let's meet the housewives.

My favorite is NeNe. She's loud. She wears age-inappropriate tops (the girls look like they are going to escape at any second) and she's a hoot. One minute she's "axing you a question.." and the next she's your best friend. Out of them all, she's the most real and isn't afraid to tell it like it T-I-S...

Then there's Sheree who's NeNe's archnemisis. She's a bit more classy but also very conniving and very underhanded. She's also in the middle of a bitter divorce and thinks very highly of herself and looks down on people.

Lisa seems to be the most grounded of all of them. She's married to an Atlanta Falcon, Ed Hartwell, and has like 10 jobs ranging from a Realtor to a jewelry designer.

DeShawn is the country girl. This woman is the one who needed a nanny and a governess and a ton of staff to help her manage two kids (!) She's also butchers the English language and says words like "jewry" and "axes a lot of questions."

Kim is raising a lot of ire on message boards because of her horrible parenting and her lifestyle. She's got a celeb boyfriend "Big Poppa" who pays for everything. Many think he's married others think she's setting a bad example for her kids by spending her money on material things. In the premiere episode, she asked Big Poppa for an Escalade and she got to ride off in a fully-loaded one that day. She decided that she wanted to be a country singer and poof here's Dallas Austin .

We're three episodes in, but you can still jump on. TRHOA airs Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. on Bravo.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Heroes: Papa Petrelli is bad to the bone



Papa Petrelli is one bad, you know what. Photo by NBC.com

"Heroes" is frustrating me this year. One week: AWESOME. The next week: DUD. This week: MEH...

I have to see where this chapter is going to lead but it seems very disorganized and it also makes me wonder if the writers are making all of this up as they go along.

This week, we met Papa Petrelli and it looks as if his power is to steal other powers by touch. Kinda like the Parasite. His first victim was Adam Kensi. Poor Adam, brought back for a few episodes and then POOF dust!

The one good thing is we FINALLY got a good fight between Sylar and Peter. (Peter won) and Peter finally got a clue and remembered how powerful he is. Now, Papa Petrelli has those powers because he absorbed them all from Peter. I don't know if Peter is powerless but lord let's hope so. I have a feeling he's been stripped of many of his powers but not his empathy power.

Nathan and Tracy went to see Mohinder only to be double crossed by them. Tracy almost takes Mohinder down for the count, but it looks as if they are recaptured. Let's hope Maya wakes up and uses her scary black eyes of death to weaken Mohinder so they can escape.

The best news of all: Ando is ALIVE!!! Last week, Hiro stabbed him but it was all a ruse. They not so dynamic duo then go to Africa to try to get the precog but he's one step ahead of them, even knocking Hiro out not once but twice.

Super Barbie (Claire) goes to try to rescue Meredith and they meet the puppet master. He nearly kills them all but Claire out smarts him and they subdue him.

Parkman tries to hook up with Daphne and she rebuffs him. It also helps that there is ZERO chemistry between them. And hello! What about Parkman's wife and his child out there?

More questions, less answers. Episode grade: B

The not so Amazing Race



Marisa and Brooke, I'm so glad you're gone because you were NOT representing South Carolina well. Photo by CBS.com

I'm still hurt by the stunning Philimination of my geeks last week and almost gave up, but I'm glad I stuck around.

I have to say, this is the worst season so far. I want Terance and Sarah, the dumb divorcees and Starr and Nick gone. I have a feeling though that one of these teams will be in the final three.

Terance and Sarah seem to have found their groove and are working well together. The divorcees should have been booted last week but the geeks read the clue wrong and got hit with a penality. At least they had fun at the Elimination Station. (watch the video)

Starr and NIck are playing dirty and this week, karma paid them a visit. (more on that in a second)

Ken and Tina and the frat pack both tried to get to the fast forward but Ken and Tina beat them so the frat boys headed off to the road block. (Anyone thing these two will NOT be friends by the end of this?) At the road block the group had to pick a warrior who had a pattern on his face and match it to the one they chose out the box. Most teams breezed through this, and then they had to do another challenge where they had a choice of stomping kiwis to make enough juice to drink or sailing around a track in a wind fueled car. Nick and Starr were breezing through and then Starr took a nasty spill. She kept claiming she broke her arm and then GOT IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT AND DROVE AWAY! It was shocking. In the end, the blondes got booted because in a word, they were dumb.

Episode grade: B+

This week, the teams jetted off to New Zealand and were all on the same flight. Ken and Tina were lucky enough to get the fast forward

Sunday, October 12, 2008

No, you aren't reading the blog backward



Who pushed Christina down the stairs? The answer to the mystery is in the photo above. Photo by ABC.com

It's been a busy week, so pardon the late blogging.

Monday.
My mind is still reeling from the best "Heroes" episode in quite a while. So much happened such as four years in the future, Claire is a bad ass with dark hair. Parkman settles in with Daphne the speedster. Nathan and Tracy are the first power couple. But most of all Syler changed a LOT. He's a dad to a little boy named Noah and still is powerful.

After being confronted by Claire and crew he goes nuclear and destroys a whole town.

Wednesday
Was ticked that the BEST MODEL was kicked of "America's Next Top Model." Seriously, I was shocked, shocked, shocked and angry. The reason she got kicked off: lack of personality. Who the heck cares, just stand and look pretty. That's all it takes.

Just when I was recovering, "Project Runway aired. Freaking KENLEY made it to Bryant Park. She designs very pretty clothes but has a bad attitude. I pray that Leann wins.

Thursday
"Survivor" was a shocker. The Fang tribe finally did something right by voting off the right person. The episode was the one where "the game changes" Dun-Dun. Actually, they shook up the tribes and made the viewing much, much more interesting. Poor Sugar was sent back to Exile Island but who cares, she has the immunity idol from last week and poor Jacqui was sent home because the others didn't quite trust her.

"Ugly Betty" was funny as ever and we learned that Alexis pushed pregnant Christina down the stairs. In real life, the actress who plays her is pregnant but on the show, trannies can't get pregnant. We also learned that Daniel isn't little Daniel's daddy and that Hilda is still seeing the coach.

Not the nerds!!!!!



Poor Mark and Bill. Wrestling in Bolivia and not reading the clue seemed to be your kryptonite tonight. Photo by CBS.com

Is it me, or is this the most cutthroat season of "The Amazing Race" so far?

Seriously, Nick and Starr need to be taken down a peg. Terance and Sarah have serious issues and even Ty and Aja are getting into the action.

The only team that seems to be above all the pettiness is Toni and Dallas and they are my new favorite team. Mom Toni struggled but managed to make it to the end. Dallas is the bomb and whizzed through the challenge

Tonight the teams rode dangerous bikes through the Bolivia and wrestled in Bolivia but poor Mark and Bill misread a clue and that cost them the race.

Ken and Tina again won first place and that might be the team to beat. But Tina's scary eyebrows need to leave my TV quickly!

The divorcees have blood in their eyes after "The Sports Bra" incident where Starr tossed it over a ledge or something. I was laughing too hard to actually care to hear the details but seriously, can't someone go to Sears and get another one or is it that big of a deal?

Next week: There's trouble in paradise for Aja and Ty and Starr might have broken her arm! (Hooray,, um. boo....)

Sunday, October 05, 2008

They didn't even say Hi!



Terence and Sarah are a piece of work. CBS.com

This season of "The Amazing Race" is shaping up to be fun. Ken and Tina won this leg of the race but Mark and Bill helped them and that might come back to haunt them.

My homegirls Marisa and Brooke need to get their act together seriously because they just kept doing stupid thing. Kelly and Christie are still there by sheer luck. They made two really BIG mistakes and yet they managed to pull it out but don't expect this to last.
Unfortunately, Anthony and Stephanie never got their groove and were Philiminated.

And now. let's talk about Terence and Sarah. These two need to break up like now. He's a jerk with a capital J and she's a doofus with a capital D and a dunce cap on top.

These two should not be a part of this game and instead should be on a therapy couch.

"Survivor," "Ugly Betty" and more...



Vanessa Williams once again stole the show on "Ugly Betty" on Thursday. Photo by ABC.com

Thursday nights at 8 p.m. is a battleground on my DVR. Two of my favorite shows "Ugly Betty" and "Survivor" go head to head. What normally happens is that I watch "Survivor" and then my partner gets home and then we watch "Betty" together. He likes "Betty" and is meh on "Survivor." So, it works out.

But, I might have to sneak and watch "Betty" without him because, it's just that good. We're on episode to on "UB" and the show feels so very Season One, but in a great way.

Betty has gotten her spunk back and she's not mired down in some romantic drama (unlike big sister Hilda who's sleeping with a married man). Daniel has gotten the boot from Mode and he's working for another magazine called Player which is a misnomer because it should be called Hoochies on Parade because that's what it is.

Betty wants back into Mode and away from Player but Daniel's pride won't let him do it. Meanwhile, the ever fabulous Wilhemina Slayer is the belle of the ball and is planning her launch party to celebrate her first issue of Mode.

Betty shows Alexis (Daniel's sister who's the Head Byotch In Charge of the Meade Empire) notes Daniel made on Willi's first issue. As you can guess, high jinks ensue and Daniel's back at Mode before the end of the episode.

Along the way, Christina (Betty's BFF who's the surrogate for Willi's baby. Daniel and Alexis's dad is the baby daddy) is injured.
Marc gets jealous when Betty becomes the No. 1 assistant and engineers Willi's takedown.
Marc gets a lullaby from his BFF Amanda. (The actress is great and they sooo need to use her character more)
HIlda Betty's sister gets stood up by the coach. Betty finds out about the affair and tells Hilda to walk away.
Justin (Hilda's obviously gay son gets confused about sports terminology) and we all have a great episode.

Here are some gems spouted along the way:

"No burrito for you" Marc to Betty informing her of her lunch date with Willi.
"Look at us, two women of color having a fancy lunch on the town. Isn't this fun, girlfriend?" Willi to Betty.
"And that blouse, it's heaven. Where did you get it? I love it" Willi to Betty followed by "No, you don't." Betty to Willi and finally "You're right, I don't. It's hideous, like driving through Ohio." Willi to Betty.
"I would never do anything wrong, ugly for morally suspect. That's what I have Marc for dear." Willi to Betty.

"Aunt Betty. You have to go back to Mode. Player gets me nothing. It's like I'm stuck at the bottom of the sandtrap at the bottom of the ninth quarter. Listen to me, I'm already changing!" Justin trying to reason with Betty to go back to Mode.
"Don't you think a doctor should do this or at least a nurse practioner?" Betty to Willi. "I'm so numb up there, I wouldn't know if you hit bone." Willi's reply to Betty.

"Betty, do you know why I hired you? I always suspected you're the brains behind Daniel Meade." Willi to Betty. "That's not true, Daniel's very smart" Betty's reply. "Yes, yes, yes, smart as a whip..." Willi's response.

"Get me some carrot shavings, I'm feeling very snackish." Betty in Betty's fantasy about being the next Wilhemina Slayer.

Survivor

Meanwhile over on CBS, the drama known as "Survivor" was unfolding. The Fang tribe was reeling after two losses in a role and I was thinking they were slowly going to be wiped out. Instead, they pulled it together and WON not once but twice!

One challenge had them fighting to stay on a pole and prevent being drug through mud, the other had them going down a Slip and Slide and assembling puzzle pieces. Fang sent Sugar to Exile Island where she looked for a hidden immunity idol. She found it and then told Ace that she had it (BIG mistake, it'll come back to bite her on the butt.) Ace was telling her that the Idol was "ours" to do what "we" want with it. Meanwhile, his enemy Paloma didn't stand a chance and she was voted out.

VH1's 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs
I love hip-hop. While I'm not a die-hard as some of my friends, I like to think that I know enough about it that I could get by. And while VH1 and MTV have totally stopped showing videos these days, they are filling their airwaves with countdown shows and for some reason, I'm a sucker for them. I guess I love living in the past or something but anyway, this week they counted down the 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs and for the most part, I agreed with the countdown.

It was great to see some old-school artists such as JJ Fad, Big Daddy Kane and UTFO. What amazed me was that I STILL knew the words to some of these songs.

Since it's VH1 you know it'll run umpteen times so make sure you check it out. Word up!

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

What. the. hell!



Does this deserve to go to Bryant Park? Heck no. Photo by Bravotv.com

Tonight's challenge for the final four: design an evening gown inspired by flowers at the Botannical Garden. Let's just say everyine wilted on the vine because the dresses were horrible.

Jerell, Leanne and Korto all stuck together to show "She who has an attitude" who's the boss. At one of the most emotional runways ever, all the designers cried to let the judges know how bad they wanted it. Kenley threw Korto under the bus and in the waiting room, Korto called her out. In the end, all four get to make collections to show at Bryant Park but only three will compete. My money is on Korto, Kenley and Leann to make it to the end.

America's Next Top Model



Poor Clark. You had the best photo last week and the worst this week. One week you're in, the next week, you're out. Photo by CWTV.com

Did anyone else feel like this was the lamest challenge ever?

The girls had to make ill-fitting clothes work and McKey won the challenge.

Majorie while pretty has some serious self-esteem issues and she's a negative Nancy. She worked a lot of the girls nerves especially Samantha.

Then Tyra had the girls do a challenge where they had to pose as natural disasters of L.A. the problem was one of two of the disasters kinda sucked. Tidal waves? Snowstorms? In L.A.???

Clark and Joslyn found themselves in the bottom two and because of Joslyn's sunny personality, she managed to survive another week.

I'm kinda blah on this week's show but maybe it'll pick up next week.

Shuffling my viewing schedule



"Chuck" has sucked me back in! Dang it! Photo by NBC.com

I made a big deal about how I was going to cut down on some TV viewing and give up some shows. "Chuck" was at the top of the list. Unfortunately, I got around to watching the season premiere and LOVED it.

Yesterday a colleague of mine at the day job were talking about how Monday night is jam-packed with good stuff. Is Monday the new night of "Must See TV"? I dunno.

Since I'm one person, working three jobs I can only do so much. That being said, "Chuck" is going to be moved to my Saturday afternoon or Saturday night show. That way I can watch and enjoy without the conflict.

My friends Jump the Snark and Lekili and I discuss TV but neither of them seem to be thrilled about "Chuck" so I'm safe there.

I'm going to have to move "The Biggest Loser" to a weekend show and just avoid spoilers like crazy. Last night, poor Jerry got the boot and it made me very sad.

I'm on the fence about "Law & Order: SVU" I LOVE the show but it's too intense at that hour. Last night, the case was about a teenager who was beginning to have thoughts about young boys. It was twisty and turn-y and ended up very sad.

I know the cases will give some people the heebiejeebies but let's face it folks, these pervs are out there and you could actually learn a LOT from watching.

So it looks as if my MUST WATCH shows will be: "Gossip Girl", "Heroes" on Mondays. Tuesdays, "Law & Order; SVU" (hmm, it just occurred to me, where's the first "Law and Order?"!

Wednesday: "America's Next Top Model" and "Project Runway" (until it goes off then "Stylista"0

Thursday: "Survivor" and then "Ugly Betty" (although I'll be watching it at 9 p.m.)

Friday, open. Saturday, open Sunday : "The Amazing Race," and "Desperate Housewives."

And speaking of "DH" Sunday's premiere was awesome. The quick recap: We've jumped five years in the future. Lynette's twins are out of control (surprise!). The other two seem to have fallen off the face of the earth. Gaby is fat with two fat kids and a blind husband. Bree is Martha Stewart 2.0. Katherine is jealous of Bree and Susan seems in "flingville".

Edie has moved back with a new husband who's the central character in this season's mystery. He wants revenge on someone, but who? My guess: Susan and Mike. It seems they had a bad car accident and a woman and her child were killed. They broke up because Susan felt too guilty while Mike didn't feel guilty enough. I think Edie's husband is the husband/father of the dead woman and her child.

But we'll see what happens.