Close but no cigar

Jennifer (right) was a sweet girl but a horrible designer. Photo by BravoTV.com

While this season doesn't have it's personalities it's been very entertaining. Tonight, the gang had to design a uniform to be worn during the Olympic opening ceremonies. (Hmm, the Olympics start Friday on NBC and Bravo is owned by NBC Universal.. coincidence? I think not).

While some people nailed it such as Karto and Terri others missed the mark. I felt bad for Joe because while his skort set was cute, he was outclassed.

Jerelle, Daniel and Jennifer were all horrible. And Jennifer was Auf'd after her sweater set didn't make the cut.

Anderson Cooper hates "Living Lohan"

If you didn't like Anderson Cooper before, you'll love him after this clip.

She's back.... almost

I saw this in Entertainment Weekly and knew I had to post this. Photo from EW.com

I am counting down the days until we see Cycle 11 of "America's Next Top Model!"

You're going to be disappointed in me...

but I love New York!

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Holla at your boy Tim Gunn

What ever happened to the sitcom?

George and Weezy, thankfully, TV Land allows me to catch up to you whenever I want. Photo by Amazon.com

Today I was talking on the phone to my sister and she was distracted. When I asked why, she told me that she was watching "The Jeffersons" on TV Land and it was an episode she hadn't seen before where Weezy is taken to a male strip-club and George and Tom decided to jump on the stage and take off their clothes.

I asked her how is that possible she hadn't seen it because "The Jeffersons" was MUST see TV at our house on Sunday nights. She replied it must have been when she moved to New Jersey and was working nights.

We started remembering how our father when he was alive (He died three years ago this month) would laugh hysterically at George Jefferson and his antics.

I asked her did she remember the Sunday night line up and she rattled it off like it was nothing "60 Minutes." "All in the Family," "One Day at a Time," "Alice," "The Jeffersons." and we'd turn the TV off when "Trapper John M.D." would come on.

This got me to thinking about how many sitcoms I watch and the answer is 0. Nada. El Zippo. Nothing.

The last time I remember watching sitcoms with regularity was in the '80s with "The Cosby Show" and "A Different World" (That show is special because the kids on that show were at a HBC (Historically Black College) the same time I was and so it was like we all went to college at the same time.

I also remember watching "Will & Grace" frequently during the first couple of seasons and then it got stupid and boring. Although, I did come back during the final season and even attended a taping of the show.

Now they have Monday night comedies on CBS and I have to say NONE appeal to me. ABC has a few but they do nothing for me either.

I'm a bit sad about this because I like to laugh and nothing strikes me as funny. I tried a few episodes of "The Office" that didn't do it for me after a few episodes. It's like you've seen one, you've seen them all.

Some would argue that "Desperate Housewives" is a comedy but to me it's a drama with comedic elements which isn't the same thing.

Are there any really "good" comedies that I'm missing?

I normally don't do this....

Oh Arthel, you are the best thing on Fox 5 in San Diego. I hope they are paying you for the trainwreck that was the first day. Photo from IMDB.com.

I normally don't blog about our local broadcasts in case I might someday find a national audience, but yesterday was the first day of our new Fox 5 here in San Diego. I taped all three news broadcasts because they were promo-ing them for weeks.

To say it was bad would be an understatement. It was horrible from beginning to end. I don't pretend to understand the goings-on in broadcasting but one would assume they would have the kinks in their newsbroadcast worked out before going on air.

The 6 a.m. broadcast was worse as they kept showing the wrong tape and the tapes kept freezing. The reporting staff is horrible. It looks as if they raided and got the worst talent from all the other TV stations with the exception of Perette Godwin who looked polished.

There was this one reporter who screams gay, gay, gay and looks as if he just wandered away from Flicks/Rich's/Numbers to report the news. I was howling when he kept saying "anyways, don't this make me look tough" as he was standing by a dune buggy.

He looked as if he came straight out of J-school last week and was probably one of those kids who thought he'd look good on TV and that's why he's in it.

And whomever is dressing Chrissy Russo needs do layoff the nightclub wear. I want the weather, not to be distracted by her shinny go-go boots.

The 10 p.m. broadcast was worse. Kathleen Bade, who's a pro, was awful and Kendis Gibson (formerly of CNN and now I understand why) had NO chemistry whatsoever.

I'm disappointed because I thought Kendis was better than this. After 40 minutes of this, I couldn't stand it.
The first 40 minutes of the 5 a.m. broadcast had NO sound. And the broadcast looked squished. Arthel looked professional and appeared to be trying to save the show but it was too late.

I'm going to give it a few more tries but I might drop it like a hot potato soon.

It's a month until the NEW TV season begins!

"Heroes" is one of the shows where I can't wait until it returns. Video by Hulu.com

Remember when summer used to be a time where you could catch up on those shows you missed? It hasn't been that way in years. Now it's just one bad reality show after another.

It's 8 p.m. on Thursday and let's look at the offerings: The CW has a repeat of "Smallville", Fox has "Don't Forget the Lyrics," NBC has "Last Comic Standing," CBS has "Big Brother 10" and ABC has "Ugly Betty." (However, it's a GOOD episode) and it features one of my favorite young actress: I've loved this girl since she appeared on "Veronica Mars" two years ago.

This episode was based on "Mean Girls" and had Betty getting fat models to do runway. Here's a sneak peek:

Catching up with "Project Runway"

Some dresses just have winner all over them. For me this is not it but the judges from "Project Runway' disagree. Photo by BravoTV.com


I've been way too busy the last two weeks so unfortunately, I've haven't had time to blog about "Project Runway" but now I'm all caught up.

Tonight's challenge was to be inspired by New York City and the winning designer turned in the dress above. It just screams old lady and Florida to me but I guess it's just me.

Some dresses have been stronger like this one from Episode 1.



Or this one from episode two.



The talent is pretty strong this season. Some stand outs are Kenley who dresses as if she's straight out of the '50s. Suede who refers to himself in third person and says he's bisexual. (In my house, we both agree, it's totally gay. Blayne is trying to be Christian last season but doesn't have the fierceness. I'm keeping my eye out on Daniel because he's got the talent and the class to win this thing.

NBC rocks

The day job has kept me pretty busy the last few days. But luckily not too busy to discover these little nuggets from Comic-Con.
Mrs. Wong, this is for you.



And if you like "Chuck"



NBC is wise for doing this. I hope other TV stations will follow suit. The only drag is that you didn't get to see the one hour season premier of "Heroes" like I did but trust me when I say it's good!

Some sad news...

This is a bad photo but the cast of the "Golden Girls" will always be beautiful in my eyes. Photo by LifetimeTV.com.

Estelle Getty died today. If you don't know her, she was wise-cracking Sophia Petrillo on NBC's "The Golden Girls."

I own all the seasons and today I'm going to be watching a few episodes as tribute. I game to the GG party late though. My friend Leon is a HUGE fan. In fact, whenever I would visit him in Atlanta he and I would at some point during the visit find ourselves watching an episode or two. Some people don't get why folks were crazy about four old biddies living in a house in Florida but they had a lot of laughs and a lot of tears and some episodes were just so hysterical I still crack up just thinking about them. If YouTube lets this clip stay up, here's one of my favorites.

She shall be missed. Thank you for being a friend.

"Heroes" webisode

I gotta say, the folks from "Heroes" are raising their game.

Can I just say, I'm on a "Heroes" high? I've been re-watching the first season and it was so amazing, so wonderful that there are no words. Last season in a word: sucked. There were some good episodes but over all it just kinda fell flat.

Now with the upcoming season called "Villians" I can't wait for it to start. I'm going to dub it "Heroes: Legion of Doom."

I'm kinda digging these Webisodes to keep us watching until the main event. I hope the postal guy makes it onto the show because he's cool and I love his power.

It's Comic-Con week

If you know who or what this is, then you'll know why I'm a wee bit excited for the panel at Comic-Con. Photo by Wikipedia

Before I start the long overdue blog. A shout out goes to JumptheSnark who's like the best friend ever. Seriously. When my birthday rolled around last week, he gave me this gift that made it extra special.

I've been enjoying it ever since. And I'm going to really get my geek on Saturday when the entire cast will appear at Comic-Con.

There's a TON of stuff there this year. I'm excited about the "Heroes", "Lost" and "Chuck" panels.

And then there are some blasts from the past such as "The Greatest American Hero". Supposedly there's going to be a BIG announcement made at the Con. My guess, new show, different actors. Or heck, maybe a movie if we're lucky!

I'm going to be stuck in a big room called Hall H. If anyone sees this woman please, please, please take a photo!

At last: Birds of Prey

The music changed but the show is as hokey as I remember. Photo from Amazon.com

Today, I got my hands on a DVD set that I have been coveting for a long time. "Birds of Prey" was a TV show that was appointment TV for me. Every Wednesday at 9 p.m. in 2002 I would watch this show. At first, the show was all over the place but it had finally found its footing and then POOF it was gone.

The premise of the show is that Batman and Catwoman hooked up and had a daughter. (Although Batman didn't know it). After a fight with the Joker, Catwoman was killed and Batgirl was shot and paralyzed.

Add to the mix, Dinah, a metahuman with mind abilities and you've got a show that to me was worth watching. Some viewers disagreed the show was cancelled after 13 episodes.

I still love it. The only thing I HATE is that the music to the show changed. I loved this song but they changed in on the DVD.

New miniepisode of "Heroes"

First watch the video.

Are you you back? Was that amazing or what? It looks like The Company is back and badder than ever. The mailman looks as if he's channeling the powers of Black Canary. This Constrictor guy looks as if he's just plain evil.

So far, I'm liking what I'm seeing except for the obvious product placement by Sprint.

Mini-episode grade: A+

" I Love the New Millennium"

Britney has been busy since she stormed on the charts. Her boys now are just as popular as her wacky antics according to the folks on VH1's "I Love the New Millennium" Photo by VH1.com

Last week, VH1 rolled out another one of the decade recaps called "I Love the New Millennium." while it wasn't as good as some of the others : "I Love the 80s", "I Love the 90s", I Love the 70s" it was entertaining. My main problem was that it was too soon to do another one of these and it's clear VH1 is milking the nostalgia train. And some of the blatant omissions such as this the arrest and release and arrest of Paris Hilton screamed to me that another one is on the way. I mean they hit some of the high/low points depending on how you viewed it. Razor scooters, Martha Stewart's arrest, "Brokeback Mountain," MySpace etc were all there. Somethings I forgot about and some things I never heard of. Overall, it's worth watching an episode or two but not the whole thing.

Now something worth watching is this show: "30 Days". Last week they had an episode where a woman who is against same-sex parenting stayed with a same-sex couple for 30 days and trust me when I tell you this woman had problems! See for yourself.

The new classics

This is why this show is the No. 1 New Classic in" Entertainment Weekly's" list. May Bart and crew live on forever. Video by Hulu.com

Normally, I hate lists. Sometimes they are fun, but usually someone doesn't agree with something and arguments ensue. But on this list, "Entertainment Weekly" got it right.

A sampling of their picks on the Top 100 New Classics.

No. 10 "Buffy The Vampire Slayer." It should have been higher IMHO.


No. 17 "The Office,"


No. 25. "Miami Vice" (yes, this is the full pilot)


No. 34 "24"


But the BIGGEST error was this show ranking sooo, sooo low.

She's goofy and she's kooky, but I love her.

Oh Kathy, you've saved my Thursday nights from complete boredom. Photo by BravoTV.com.

Kathy Griffin will do anything for a laugh. After watching tonight's episode of "My Life on the D-List" it became more apparent. I stumbled on this show a few years ago and it's time for me to come out of the closet. I LOOOOVE Kathy . Her jokes are raw and not for the faint at heart but the thing I like about her, is that she's this kooky best friend who says the things you want to say.

She's hysterical.

See a sample for yourself right here.

Do you remember "Mannix"?

Why didn't he ever give Peggy a ride? Photo from Amazon.com.

When I was a little kid, I used to be really into the detective shows. My favorite hands down was this show. But another was "Mannix." He was a good guy. He was a smoking, drinking, man's man.

I loved that he was no nonsense and that he did whatever was necessary to solve a case. You can see for yourself because the DVD is out now. I got my hands on a copy and am sitting here enjoying this blast from the past.

Smoking on TV! Rotary phones! Pool halls! Skinny ties! A strong dollar! I'm telling you, there's worse ways you can spend an evening.

The worst sitcoms ever?

If you know who these folks are, then you probably remember the show.

The folks over at Pop Crunch have listed the worst sitcoms of all time and topping the list is "Small Wonder." Sadly, I used to LOVE this show. The premise: A scientist creates a real-life like robot and tries to pass her off as his real-life daughter. Of course hijinks and shenanigans were the center of the show which lasted four seasons.

Some of the choices I disagree with. "All American Girl?" Seriously? It wasn't that bad!

The Falling Man

Normally, I'd put a photo here, but after viewing the documentary, "The Falling Man", I'll link to it and let you decide if it's something you want to see. Photo by Richard Drew The Associated Press

Tonight, I was flipping through the channels and found this documentary "The Falling Man," on Investigation Discovery. The documentary was a recounting of the events of and surrounding 9/11. Earlier in the evening, the station aired "The Secret History of 9/11."

For some reason, I was compelled to watch and it re-opened the wounds of that day. I remember that my mother called me to wake me up to tell me about the attacks and I stumbled to the TV just in time to see the second plane hit. I remember going to work and feeling numb for the next few days.

Sitting here tonight, I reconnected to those feelings and hearing the stories of people who jumped to their deaths was just heartbreaking. It also reminded me of a promise I made to myself that day: Never, ever waste your life because you don't know what's going to happen.

I'm puzzled why the station decided to air this in June instead of in September but either way, I'm glad they did.

"Lost" the "almost" live blog

Some of these people make it off the island, some: peramently. Photo by ABC.com

So I had planned on giving a minute-by-minute account of what was going on with "Lost" but this is a show that needs constant attention so here's what's happened so far"

We're 30 minutes in:

* Ben is rescued.
* Big, bad dude who killed Alex is killed by Ageless Wonder
* Walt goes to see Hurley in the insane
* Michael is trying to stop the boom
* Jack and Kate clash over lying.
* Someone named Jeremy is in the coffin
* Hurley is rescued
* Miles, Charlotte and Miles all on the reunite
* Charlotte apparently has been to the island before and Miles knows it
* Jack and Locke have a talk about "miracles"
* Locke watches an informative video
* The Orchid's purpose is revealed: It's a transport tube in time.
* Ben and Locke have a visitor.
* Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayeid and Hurley reunite at the helicopter.
* It's 9:43 and the helicopter takes off. (this gets to be the second time Sayied leaves the island)
* Meanwhile at the Orchid, things don't look too good. Apparently the Big Bad dude survived and he's after Ben. He tells Ben that if he's killed, then the boat explodes. He taunts Ben with Alex, so and painful death. Ben kills big bad dude with his own knife and Locke tells Ben he killed everyone on the boat by killing big bad dude. Ben's reply" "So?"
Its 9:52.
Charlotte tells Scientist dude that she's staying on the Island and she gives him a quick kiss.
Juliet stays on the island and says she's going to wait until everyone else gets off.
On the freighter, Michael, Desmond and Jin work to stop the explosion. Meanwhile the helicopter heads toward the boat and the helicopter pilot sees that they are losing fuel. . Apparently the gunfight pierced the fuel tank. Hurley feels guilty for not jumping and wanted to get a few hundred pounds lighter and then he jumps. Sawyer's OK and starts swimming back to the island. And Kate sheds a single tear. And this concludes the FIRST hour!
* The second hour begins with a bang when Sayeid kills someone outside Hurley's hospital.
* Sayeid wants Hurley to come with him because "Jeremy" is dead.
* Hurley doesn't want to go back and says eh's going to go somewhere safe and Hurley was playing chess with Mr. Eko!
* Jack promises to go back for Sawyer.
* At the Orchid, Ben watches Big Bad dude die and his last words was Whitmore will find him.
* The light goes red and Jin and Michael works to slow down the bomb.
* Desmond tries to get people of the boat.
* The helicopter arrives and Desmond tells them to go back
* Jack works to get gas on the boad. Kate offers to get Jin and the Sun has the baby.
*Michael tells Hin to run. Jack grabs Kate and they head for the helicopter.
* Sun begs them to go back.
* Michael sees Jack's dad, who tells him he can go now, and the the freighter explodes in bad CGI.
* Sun insists that Jin is still alive.
* Jack tells Sun that Jin is gone and that they have to leave.
* In a flashforward, Sun sees Charles Whitmore. She tells him that she's in charge of the company now.
* Sun comes clean and makes a deal with him. (My guess vengance on Ben for killing Jin by accident)
* Sawyer makes it back to the island and sees Juliet nursing a bottle of rum. Sawyer sees the boat in flames and assumes that Kate and the rest are dead. (At this point, I'm guessing that the folks on the island think the helicopter folks died on the freighter and when Ben and Locke move the island, the helicopter can't get back. (Will we see a Sawyer/Juliet hook-up in the future? And where are the people on the small boat, did they make it?)
* Ben passes the torch to Locke and says he's getting redy to move the island and he apologized for making his life so misearable. Ben also tells Locke that whoever moves the island can never return.
* John then prepares to lead the others as they are in a rag tag camp. Agelessman tells Locke welcome home.
* Ben goes into an ice pit (!) and prepares to move the island and this shows us the flashforward where he's wearing a parka in the middle of a desert. "He says that he hopes Jacob is happy now.
* A strange noise comes from the island and Ben strains to move a wheel frozen in ice. And he cries as he has to do it.
* And then poof! The island is gone!
* And the helicopter crashes.
* Bubbles, lots of bubbles. Jack swims to the surface. Aaron and Hurley make it to the boad and they can swim.
* Desmond is hurt but he makes it.
* And now they are stranded on a boat in the middle of nowhere.
* In a flashforward, Kate gets a phone call and panics. She pulls out a big ass gun and then heads to Aaron's room where she sees Claire.Claire tells her not to bring Aaron back to the island. EVER!
* Kate weeps over Aaron and tells him she's sorry.
* Hurley points out that Lock moved the island and Jack is speechless.
* The pilot sees a boat and Jack tells everyone to lie about what happened and remembers what Locke said. Kate says they can't lie.
* Jack asks to do the talking and everyone stays silent.
* I'm confused because I thought they were discovered in the daylight?
* A boat called Searcher pulls up and it's PENNY!!!!!!!
* Desmond suddenly has strength of 19,000 men despite having almost drowned. They give a kiss to hot that my TV is threatening to melt!
* Penny has a tracking station and that's how she found him.
* Jack asks to speak to Penny and it doesn't sound good.
* It just occurs to me during the umpteenth "The Mole" commerical: How many people are left on the island?
* Sayied and Huley talk and they talk about why they had to lie.
* Yay, Frank and Desmond stays on the boat after they sailed 3,000 miles to another island. Jack tells Desmond not to let Whitmore find him.
* Everyone seems happy with the exception of Sun who's ticked about Jin.
* The group is then "rescued" and the rest we know.
* I have to say, this is the most unconvincing rescue ever....
* In a flashfoward, Jack is playing bad music and looking tore up. He heads to a funeral parlor called Hoffs/Drawlar which I suspect is an anagram. Jack breaks the lock and heads inside. Of course there's no alarm system whatsoever.
* Jack stands over the body of Jeremy Betham and we don't immediately see who it is.
* Ben arrives at the parlor and Jack looks startled.
* Jack reveals that he spoked to Jeremy about a "month" ago.
* Jack says that after he left the island that bad things happened and it was his fault for leaving and said that Jack had to "come back."
* Ben says the island won't let him come alone. All of them have to go back. (Who's all?)
* Jack says that Sun blames him for Jin's death.
* Ben says he can help him with Kate and that they have to go back together. ALL of them.
* Ben says the body of "Jeremy" has to go too and the body is: LOCKE!!!

OMG: January '09 can't get here fast enough!!!

Live blogging Lost the finale

Dear Emmy people. Ben's eyes alone deserve one because I've never seen someone so expressive before. EVER. Photo by ABC.com

Dear reader(s). Thanks for sticking with me. I've been a bad TV blogger because of job commitments getting in the way, but I promise I'll do better in the future. Meanwhile, this TV season officially ends with the "Lost" finale tomorrow night and what a season it was!

The writers' strike took a LOT of wind out of a lot of shows. In my gone too soon list: "Journeyman" and "Women's Murder Club" and, um, "Bionic Woman." (Jump, don't roll your eyes)

In the delightful discoveries department: "Chuck" and "Torchwood".

I've also developed a couple of guilty pleasures but the main one is "Flip that House" (I guess it's a homeowner's thing....

The hurry back award goes to "Ugly Betty" who had a stellar sophomore season. I heart Justin in a non icky sort of way.

The most improved show: It's a tie between "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" who both raised their games this year. The five year jump for DH was brilliant and the flash forwards off the island is working for "Lost".

And speaking of "Lost" I'll be live blogging so wish me luck!

"Idol" worship

It was David vs David on tonight's "American Idol." Thankfully, the RIGHT David, that would be David Cook on the right won. To his left is David Archuleta. Photo by Reuters

So after weeks of bad auditions and bad singing, it came down to the battle of the Davids. Tonight's overstuffed show dragged on way too long. It was full of washed up singers (apologies to any fans of the following people). ZZ Top, Donna Summer, Graham Nash, Seal and Bryan Adams all trotted on stage to sing with the fallen "Idol" contestants. And if you didn't get your celeb fix on stage then you could look in the audience and see old "Idols" such as Fantasia and Ruben in the audience along with Teri Hatcher, Janice Dickinson and a few others.

As my friend Karla says, "It's like 15 minutes worth of show stretched out to two hours." I wanted to bypass but my partner squealed like a girl and demanded we watch.

That being said, it was less than enjoyable and all the product placement was unbearable. Mike Myers came on to sell his new movie, "The Love Guru" which looks positively awful.

That being said, thanks America for getting it right and choosing the RIGHT David to win.

Oh "Oprah"

Folks went NUTS when Oprah unveiled her favorite things of the summer. Photo by Oprah.com

Watch this first. All done?

Can you believe this? Folks lose their minds if they get free stuff. I was floored by the reaction and I've seen this show and this topic a bunch of times but this audience takes the cake.

When the show was over: They got a new grille, some bathing suits, a pair of flip flops, makeup, a book, a gift card to the Mariott, a GPS device and a CD. That's pretty much it. No cars, no FANCY trips just those things listed.

While I applaud Oprah for sharing with her audience this was crazy the way these people acted.

And America's Next Top Model is

Go Whitney! Us big girls everywhere appreciate you! Photo by CWTV.com

I wanted Anya to win. But I'm OK with Whitney winning.

She worked hard for it and it's nice that Tyra recognizes that women and models to come in all shape and sizes but I think there have been BETTER plus sized women on this show.

That being said, this season was kinda ho-hum for me. All sparkle but very little flash and substantance.

Maybe next season, the ANTM magic will be back.

OH MY GAWD

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the dumbest. SURVIVOR. EVER!!!. Photo by CBS.com

I know I haven't blogged in a few days but I HAD to blog about this one. This will go down as the best season of "Survivor" in a Loooong time.

Tonight, poor Erik won individual immunity and then GAVE the necklace to another Survivor. It's never been done and now we see why. The women had planned on getting him out and darned if they didn't work it Erik was so dumb I was screaming. And yet at the end, he still remained a good sport. BUT he's still stupid.

My TV loves me....

Renee (played by Gabrielle Union) is adding is adding even more sass to "Ugly Betty."

I can't do it. I've tried to stay away but with all of this TV goodness, I can't stop blogging. Spread the word: TheRemote is back!

Let's recap the week in review:
Monday:
Yes. I admit "Gossip Girl" is still a guilty pleasure. All the drinking, booze, catfighting, high-fashion and snippness (the folks on my job have NOTHING on this crew) makes for an enjoyable evening of viewing. When last we left, Blair was unseated in the popular crowd when it was discovered that she lost her virginity to evil Chuck Bass in the back of a moving limo. And then slept with her boyfriend, Nate) (so not a misprint here) a day later and claimed he was her first.

Young Jenny looked on this as her chance to enter the elite society (even though she is p-o-o-r).

When we pick up, Blair is still an outcast and Serena (who was an outcast all due to Blair's conniving) is her only friend. Blair is tormented by the other girls and then decides to take revenge on Jenny and regain her place on the throne.

Jenny is scrambling to keep up with the lifestyles of the rich and famous and is pawning everything in site just to have money. She even resorts to stealing a Valentino dress . When it's discovered by the other girls (at Jenny's birthday party no less) Jenny is out.

Jenny, however, isn't ready to give up so she brings Nate to where the girls went to hang out with Blair and she regains her post. Blair once again, is auf'd.

Tuesday
"American Idol" is my crack. I can't get enough. Everytime I go to rehab for it, I keep hearing no, no, no.

This week was showtunes! by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was a disaster. And a shocker because poor Carly was given the boot. She clearly was better than Brooke and Jason but I suspect the Grandma vote saved Brooke and the young girls saved Jason. This week: Neil Diamond! Oh joy!


"Law & Order: SVU"
Out of all the shows on TV this one is in my Top 10. I don't think I've ever missed an episode of this show because it just keeps getting better and better. This episode: The lover of a gay football player is found murdered.

Benson and Stabler have a rough go with this case because of secrets. Benson accidentally outs the football player and it causes them to be investigated by internal affairs. We then learn that she's had a secret boyfriend for MONTHS and Stabler, while cordial seems a little peeved that she didn't tell him.

The secret of this show: the chemistry between the two leads. Sometimes, they're like brother and sister, sometimes they seem to have a sexual chemisty. One of the most intense scenes ever had Lou Diamond Phillips in it a few seasons ago and you have to track down that episode.

Thursday:
"Survivor" is having one of its best seasons ever. This season, the fans vs. favorites have more twists and turns than a maze. This week, another blindside. The victim: Poor clueless Jason. After surviving a vote off last week, Jason had the opportunity to save himself once he found an immunity idol at Exile Island but instead he let Natalie bamboozle him into not playing it.

If you listen carefully, you can hear America's screams of "idiot" as he got voted off.

"Ugly Betty" came back and it was terrific. This episode celebrated Betty's 24th birthday which turned out to be the worst birthday EVER!

Soo, soo bad. Henry's babymama came back into town and foiled Betty's plan to spend with Henry.

Daniel was trying to find out Renee's secrets and Willy and Marc were busy trying to keep their secret a secret. At Casa de Suarez, Papa Suarez was feeling neglected since Betty wanted to spend time with Henry.

The break is over...

Ben is the bomb. ABC.com

I'm watching "Lost." There are no words. No words. Alex dead. Smoke monster. Jack. Ben. Sawyer. Penny. Vengence

World hopping. Indiana Ben. Wow.

Episode grade: A+++++++++++++++++

Taking a short break

Hi there,
I'm on the homestretch of job No. 2 so I'll be back on May 24th with new insights on TV and more.

Thanks for your understanding.

LORD! What has happened to "ANTM'????

After the stunning elimination of Claire two weeks ago, I was going to stop blogging about this show. Tonight, my dear Stacy Ann got the boot second from left. Lauren, let, Whitney, third from left, Anya,DomMANique and Katarzyna are all headed to Rome next episode and so's Fatima who MISSED the photo shoot. Photo by CWTV.com


This show has jumped the shark this season. What the heck is going on? Two weeks ago, Tyrant and her crew let one of their strongest models, Claire, go. If you remember, I picked Claire to win the whole thing so I guess I know nothing about modeling.

This week, Stacy Ann was kicked out. Fatima, who missed the photo shoot because of refugee issues, got to stay.

How unfair was this? In the real world, if a model missed a shoot, she'd be fired. I guess that doesn't matter in Tyrant world.

Episode grade: A big fat WTF???!

Are you watching "The Paper"?

Meet the cast of "The Paper." They are young'uns who are waaaay to excited the newspaper biz. Poor fools. Photo by MTV.com.

A few weeks ago I happened to be watching MTV and saw the commericial for this show. At first, I thought it was more MTV drivel but it actually was a really good show.

We meet Amanda who's vying to become Editor-in-Chief of her high school newspaper. She's served as copy editor (YAY!!!) and now she's aiming for the big time.

We also meet some other people but because they are soooo busy spouting hate for Amanda that I blocked them out. I know there's the couple who are soooo much in love they don't care about anything else. There's the Sports Editor who seems OK but is surrounding himself with losers. And then there's the shrill queen who's the business editor. He's like he needs more Xanax than Rite Aid could possibly provide. He's going to melt down before the end of the series.

Luckily, Amanda gets the coveted title and immediately the others start to plot against her. It's sooo high school!

The Paper airs Monday nights at 10:30 p.m. on MTV

Episode grade A+

The girls are back!

Oh Susan, Bree, Gaby and Lynette, I've missed you. Thankfully, you were worth the wait!. Photo by ABC.com

After what seemed like the longest writers' strike ever, new shows came back. The TV season isn't a total loss but you could tell that things are rushed and different.

"Desperate Housewives" came back on Sunday and it was in prime form. Kudos to Dana Delany for giving another stellar performance. (If there's any justice, she'll get an Emmy come fall).

This episode picked up the Mystery of Katherine's past and we learned that Katherine slept with Susan's underaged cousin back in the day. He's back on the scene because Susan apparently is too dingy to figure out TurboTax. She spends most of the episode deflecting Tim's attention to underaged girls only to find out that he slept with Katherine and we learned that he saw Katherine hit a man.

Lynette and Bree struggled over church. Lynette had questions about how she survived cancer and a tornado and wanted to get closer to God. Bree was embarrassed when Lynette kept interrupting the service to ask questions. When Lynette finally confided to Bree her motivation, it provided the "awwww" moment of the episode.

Gaby was so in love with Carlos that she believed him that when he said that he would only be blind for a few months. After Edie did some snooping, Gaby learned the truth.

The girls are back in town (at least for another five episodes.)

Episode grade: A+

Oprah totally faked us out...

Brandi is my pick to win "The Big Give." Photo by ABC.com

I've been casually following "The Big Give" and tonight they faked us out by not sending anyone home. BOO!

The horrors of puppy mills

I'll never look at a pet store the same way again after finally watching Friday's "Oprah". Photo from Oprah.com

Animal lovers, you need to skip this blog. Seriously. Just move on to the next entry.

I'm not an animal lover. I respect animals and their place in the world but I've never really owned a pet except for a stray cat that my family called Ralph. We would feed Ralph and would make sure that Ralph was OK but we never took him to a vet or let him in the house.

Friday, Oprah aired a show about puppy mills. I had never heard of a puppy mill before and had no idea that dogs and other animals were treated so poorly. They showed the inhumane conditions these animals lived in and it just broke my heart.

I always thought that the dogs from the pet store were strays or came from breeders but I didn't know about the horrors of puppy mills.

Oprah was a mess throughout the whole show. Her beloved dog Sophie just died and they aired a tribute to Sophie. As I watch, I knew a lot of folks in America were rolling their eyes at this, but you could see the love she had for that dog and it was sad to watch the tears stream down her face. If you even lost anyone or any animal you loved, you could feel her pain.

Lisa Ling who seems to be working solely for Oprah now, did an undercover investigation on the PMs and it was terrible what we saw. The saddest thing was one dog had been chained for so long, that the chain had embedded itself to its neck and hair was growing through it!

Another sad thing was watching dogs and cats being put down at the Fort Worth Texas Humane Society. They kept a list of why animals were put to sleep and it included things such as feral behavior and anti-social behavior. The guy who was explaining why was clearly sad about this but realized it needed to be done because they don't have the room.

Oprah begged folks to have their animals spayed and neutering. I'm surprised that she didn't have Bob Barker on because he's been saying that for years.

While sad, I know that this ranks up there as one of "O"s best shows.

Am I still cool?

My friend Jump the Snark, Ani, David B, Rose W and a few others have been on my case again.

These folks are in my circle of coolness along with Leslie, Liz, Karla and Pat.

Practically ALL of them have been on my butt to jump on the "Battlestar" train. I don't know why, but I guess I'm NOT a true die hard Sci-fi person or something.

I mean I haven't even seen "Star Wars" and fell into "Star Trek" sheerly by accident. As I'm writing this, I'm wearing this cool T-shirt that my friends Rose and Jeff bought me when they went up to Long Beach to check out an exhibit.
So for those of you who missed BSG on Friday, here's a little gift for you above!

Is this show STILL on???

Another bunch of hamsters are put through the MTV gawkfest. Photo by MTV.com

First watch this. You back? OK.

Was that a trainwreck or WHAT? I remember when this show started in the summer of 1992 (yes, 16 years ago) and it was so interesting. I was around the age of the people living in the house and it was fascinating to see how they tried to make their way through NYC in the early '90s. I loved smart Kevin, wide-eyed innocent Julie, around-the-way girl Heather, boy-toy Eric, way-too mature Becky and gay Norman and grunge rocker Andre.

The second season wasn't so bad when they had the L.A cast and the San Francisco season hands down was the best season ever. But the show jumped the shark when it went to London and hasn't been the same since. I've checked in over the years but I found that I've gotten older and these kids have gotten, in a word or two : annoying as crap!

Now we have the new season: Hollywood! I can only imagine what kind of dramas these kids will be going through. Let's pray people don't start doing porn or Internet shows to earn extra cash!

We know at the heart this show isn't a documentary but more of a soap opera designed to draw ratings, but could it at least be thought provoking as well?

The show I always meant to watch

About six years ago, there was this great show on Fox that I meant to watch but never got around to. It's on my Wish List on Amazon but I really don't expect anyone to buy it for me. And now, they won't have to. My new favorite Web site is showing it for free.

After watching the pilot episode, I'm going to give it a shot during my "free" time on weekends.

And speaking of giving shows a shot: For those of you who never watched "Buffy" here's a clip just for you to show WHY this show was one of the best shows on TV. After watching this, ask yourself this question: How many times have YOU felt invisible.

Work Out is back!

I was tooling around the Internet and saw that my favorite trainer and her friends are back!

Last season, I was addicted to this show about this lesbian trainer and her crazy staff. At first, I thought they'd provide really good workout tips but then I realized that these folks are full on drama queens! Even the straight people brought their own sets of drama. If you click on the video above, you can sample the new season and judge for yourself if it's worth watching.

Two un-expected boots!

Chikezie, I knew you were going to go but just not this soon.(Top) Aimee, I thought you really had a chance but once I saw the "I'm going home edit" I knew you were a goner. Photos by CWTV and American Idol.com

I have to admit something: I stopped watching the results show of "American Idol." As my friend Karla says, it's like 5 minutes of show stretched out over an hour. The whole "let's all sing as a group" is so dumb. It also is a preview for America as to what the concert is like.

If I'm not watching it for free, I sure as heck ain't gonna pay for it.

That being said, I couldn't wait to see who got booted so I just hit the Net and viola! Instant answer. I wish I could say I was surprised but I'm not.

But I WAS surprised about who got booted off "Top Model!" Aimee was in my top three but I guess she just didn't bring it enough.

My friend Dana and I joke about the editing of this show. You can pretty much tell pretty quickly who might be in trouble based on the amount of face time they get in the diary section of the show. I call it the "I'm going home" edit. And Aimee, Lauren, Dominque and Claire were all in danger. If you noticed, Stacy-Ann and Fatima were barely in the episode so I knew they were safe. I guess they give the models, their last hurrah!

I was so sad to see Claire in the bottom two. Let's hope she can keep her butt away from there in the future!

Some words about "Lost"

Michael's back story (left) was good but it wasn't the best so far this season. That belongs to Desmond (Center.) Photo by ABC.com

You'll notice that I haven't been blogging about "Lost" for a few weeks. That's because the show is so freaking good that I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it is.

Last night's was the last episode until the end of April and BOY do we need a break to process all that's going on here.

Penny's dad wants the island to himself. Ben trying to protect the island. New outsiders who have murky motives. Kate's neverending supply of lingerie. The Oceanic Six. And so, so much more. The return of Michael and WAAAALLLT!!!!

So, here's a list of questions I have. Feel free to add your own:
1) Under what circumstance did Jack, Hurley, Kate, Sayeid, Sun and Aaron find themselves together and getting off the island?
2) Is Claire and Jin dead?
3) Why does Jack and Hurley want to go back?
4) "The island won't let you die???"
5) How did Kate get a hold of Aaron?
6) How can some folks come and go and others are trapped?
7) Where are Locke, Sawyer, Rose and Bernard (yes, I do care about them)
8) Is there really a good answer for all of this or is the being made up as we go along?

Today's theme: Let's quit

Both Marvita and Kathy gave on their reality shows. Marvita is out of the running to be "Americas Next Top Model," and Kathy went nuts on "Survivor." Photos from CWTV and CBS.com

On "ANTM" drama was the house guest that didn't want to leave as Fatima, Whitney and Dominique all got into it about racism and who's more PC.

This week the girls had to learn different poses. For some reason, fashion seems to think this is posing. I on the other hand, do not.

It all came down to close up photos with the girls having ink on their faces. The bottom two: Whitney and Marvita and you knew it was Marvita who was out. The judges felt that she had given up.

Over on "Survivor" on its special night and time, Ozzy showed that he was king and Erik was his loyal subject. Meanwhile, he was ticking off the female members of the tribe.

For some reason, this seemed to be puzzle night because both the reward and immunity challenges ended up with who can solve the puzzle the fastest.

Over on Kathy's tribe, it wound up that SHE! HAD! HAD! ENOUGH! and it was time for her to leave. I mean she went batsh*t crazy y'all. It was bad.

Ozzy's tribe went to Tribal Council again and of course it was Tracy who was on her way out.

All Oprah, all the time

Oprah, I love you girl but even you need to rest SOMETIME. Photo from Time.com

I wasn't feeling well today so I took the day off.

Time for a comfy blanket and some daytime TV. Can I just tell you that daytime TV is craptastic. I love trash but some of the stuff they were airing were horrible. I took a minute to watch Tyra and she had Janet Jackson on. But really she had Tyra's ego on and Janet Jackson. EVERY thing was about HER and so I flipped the channel.

Then there were 10,000 court TV shows and so I watched TLC and they had a bunch of cooking shows such as "Take Home Chef." He was making this tuna dish and I realized that I don't like fancy food. Give me meat and potatoes please!

And then I realized that my favorite new show "Flip That House," would be on in an hour so I decided to surf the net and then I came upon this: The Chicago Sun Times Oprah blog.

The top item was the death of Sophie. and can you believe that it actually made me cry?

Do you know Hulu

Ah, "Fame" now with Hulu.com, I can see you anytime I want. Photo by Amazon.com

Besides JumptheSnark, I have a new best friend. It's www.hulu.com.. I freaking love it. The site came online Wednesday but I heard about it a few months ago at a party where we were saying goodbye to some co-workers.

I didn't quite get how it worked but now i do. The site is a joint-venture between Fox and NBCUniversal. It has old shows and TV movies and I guess it was set up to combat YouTube. It's got a fan here.

Now here's the drag: It is advertiser supported. Meaning that you'll have to sit through 30 second commericials but that's OK with me because I understand the need.

It's fun to see their catalog of old shows such as "Mary Tyler Moore," which I watched the pilot and hadn't seen in years. The theme song cracks me up and the thing that sets me over the edge is the woman in the kerchief who watches Mary throw her beret up.

Tonight I watched the pilot of "Fame" and was shocked to see the number of people who were seen in the pilot as extras. Like this lady. And this guy. But THIS was the most shocking.

I can see more hours of my life being wasted in the future, and I'm OK with that.

A tale of two men

Poor Jonathan. You were so close. Poor Chet. You tried. CBS.com

This one of the most interesting "Survivors" so far. It was crazy. First Johnathan had to leave because of his nasty and infected knee. Then the had two of the most complex challenges but in the end, the person who needed to go, left. Chet was tired. Worthless and sad. And LORD I couldn't stand to see him in those droopy drawers anymore!

Johnathan fought like hell to remain in the game. He argued with the doctor but when girlfriend said he could lose his leg, that was pretty much it.

However, I need to "talk" to three people. Cirie, Tracy and Amie. You guys need to band together quickly. I don't think you know it, but you three NOW have the power to control your tribe. Amanda and Ozzy think they are running things but if the three of you get together then you'll have a shot. I hope you realize that.

Hot stuff here

Oh Tyra, you and this show is truly larger than life. Photo by CWTV.com
This is like the BEST. SEASON EVER!

We see Dominique is thrilled and overconfident from being spared from elimination last week while Lauren is a little shocked why she's still there. Fatima is just Fatima. Ick.

This week's early challenge: Taking quick change lessons from Miss Jay. Of course they run and scream and run and scream some more.

Fatima ticks Miss Jay off by not changing competely. The girls then have to do runway walks in front of Miss Jay and the firemen who look pleased as punch. It made me feel sort icky because they were oogling these girls. Don't they like have WORK to do?

Claire does fantastic and so does Whitney. Dominque thinks she's the stuff and Whitney gives the classic line "I know drag queens that walk better than Dominque."

Miss Jay hates Fatima's walk and is fearful of Lauren who looks like she's running away from the mall. Miss Jay helps her and then Amis does HER walk and it's more skipping than walking.

Claire and Aimee get into a who needs to pee and who needs to shower. Finally they gang up on Aimee and Marvita leads the charge of "Let's attack Aimee." But she winds up looking stupid.

Later, it's another Tyra mail (I hate that they all gather and read aloud. It's so second-grade).

Bryan Bradley stops by and the girls have to walk in a Tuleh fashion show. It seems so very runway this week.

And then Miss Jay introduces the girls to Jaslene and Ann Shoket of Seventeen magazine. Jasline actually looks great!

The winner of this challenge will be with Jaslene in a Lot 29 advertorial. Dominique weighs in and I'm betting she's goign to fall on her face.

I then notice that Dominique has a new more golden hair color and it looks better. Miss Jay kicks off the show and then the modeling begins after some Italian chatting. Stacy Ann was first and she looks GREAT! Whitney was good and then her boob pops out. Lauren comes out and she looks bad and scared.

Kat looks great and Fatima looks as if she's ready to catch the bus. Dominque and Marvita are awful. Claire is great and Amis is put in this Jackie O esque coat and it looks bad.

Aimee was great. Kat looks great. Jaslene ask Lauren if she wants to be there and says she's very disappointed. Of course she starts crying in the confessional but she holds it together while with the other.

Kat wins the challenge (Claire was ROBBED!) Kat picks Aimis and Marvita to be in the photo shoot. Why? I don't know.

At the photo shoot the girls look half-way decent. Marvita looks extra girlly. Jaslene shows the girls how it's done and it looks wonderful.

Lauren's self esteem takes a hit and keeps talking about what Jaslene said. She needs to get over it.

Wow, it's ANOTHER Tyra mail? This time the girls are off to a Meat Packing District. Mr Jay shows up in a ugly old coat. And he tells them that they are going to be wearing meat. Whitney tells the audience that she eats steaks so it won't bother her to actually put it on. My question: What happens to the meat when they are done?

Fatima poses and it looks not too bad but not great. Kat brings her A game and then Stacie Ann struggles.
Whitney is OK. Marvita comes out ready to kick some _ meat.

Lauren looks more ticked than model-y. Dominque takes some risqus and then its on the meat and it doesn't look too bad. Aimee feels uncomfortable and it shows. Aimis is grossed out and then looks like a hot mess.

Aimee feels like she might be a target. Dominique is sure she's staying. Lauren is a little nervous because of the runway thing. Amis is still sleepy and is dragging. She looks awful. Like homeless, begging for quarters awful.

After the break, Tyra sings and it's awful. But we knew that already!
And then it's time to see the photos. They stank. It was really bad, bad. Whoever came up with this challenge needs to be fired.

I didn't like a single one. Claire looks awful.When Lauren comes for judging Miss Jay busts her for bad walking. She's this season's Heather.

And so, then Tyrant (yes) unveils the top 8: Anya, Whitney, Kat, (and she gets a directive of putting in a bun), Claire, Dominique, Stacie Ann, Lauren and she gets the directive of work on her runway walk, Marvita, Aimee. And then we have the bottom two: Fatima and Aimis. Amis gets dinged for her craziness and Fatima gets dinged for modeling from the waist down (WTH?).

Amis gets the boot and Fatima cries. Amis looks like "yeah, whatev."

Episode grade: B

It's a different world....

No, this isn't the cast of the CW's latest Pussycat Doll clone. Instead, they are the cast of "High School Confidential." Photo by WE Network


I don't have the WE Network on my Cox Cable. But I wish I did. Why?

Because based on a documentary I managed to get my hands on, they air some pretty good shows. I used to joke around that WE and its cousins "Lifetime" and "Oxygen" only aired those "She was in peril" movies. You know the ones: C-list/washed up actress plays/wife/sister/mistress/slut/ has a stalking/drugs/alcohol/ problem and is being stalked/abused/lives past life and then finds help/redemption/a gun and moves on with her life.

"High School Confidential" changes all that. It's a documentary and sometimes real reality show about these group of girls who attended school in Kansas from 2002 to 2006. It's quite fascinating. I've never been a girl but I had NO idea what some of these girls go through nowadays.

If you can get your hands on it, I suggest you watch. If you work with me (you know who you are) ask me for it.

Why I didn't watch "The Wire"

He's fiiiiine. I should have watched. But I just couldn't - yet. Photo by HBO.com
At work today, my co-workers went on and on about how wonderful last night's episode of "The Wire" was. I was on the phone with a friend back east and "The Wire" came up.

I had heard it was going to be about the newspaper business and although I really wanted to watch, psychologically I wasn't ready.

Every day I see reports of newspapers downsizing and talented journalists leaving the business. For me, it was hitting too close to home. Where I work, we've been under severe stress for weeks now.

Only recently I've begun to feel normal again. I've hidden it well but it's kept me up at night. It's made me worry for my friends. It's made me sick inside. It's made me have scarydarkhorriblemeannastytooeviltotalkabout thoughts.

I turn to TV to get away from my troubles and not remind me of them. And while it's important to watch good drama no matter what, I'm not ready yet.

But don't let this blog fool ya.

I'll be Netflixing it. For real.

He's fierce! Betta believe it

Christian. We love you. You are FIERCE! Photo by People.com

First. Watch this clip.

You back? Good.

Hy-STER-CAL.

Loved this season of "Project Runway" although Christian was entertaining, Jillian should have won. Her clothes were just way better! In fact, I'm a little disappointed with the reality tv of most of the TV shows ("Survivor" excluded) on network TV.

So in an effort to expand my horizons, I've added some new shows to my roster.

Don't be shocked at what you read below.

My new secret addiction: "Flip That House." I stumbled on this show en route to "Torchwood" and haven't watched since.

I am just fascinated by how well people upgrade these houses, but it also saddens me that they sink a ton of money into these houses and they just sit on the markets. Give it a try Saturday nights on TLC

My other new secret addiction:

"Unwrapped". Maybe it's because I'm getting older but for some reason, I'm just extra curious about how stuff works and how things are made these days.

Or I could be just a budding foodie. I dunno, but I plan to check out this show in a few weeks. Look for updates soon.