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!!!