Monday, October 26, 2009

TV Show Breakup

It's been a long time coming Heroes. I've stood by you longer than any of my friends or family has. Through 4 seasons I've stood by you; I've made excuses for your bad writing and bad casting decisions that continued to happen over and over since the second season began. I was forced to defend you on a regular basis, and had to deal with people's loss of respect when they found out that I still watched and somewhat enjoyed you.
I struggled through the abyssmal third season, embarrassed to admit to friends that I was still watching you, like someone whose boyfriend gets too loud and obnoxious when they drink and they can't admit to their friends that they're still seeing the lout.
And after that struggle, I was so gun-shy to even give you another chance with this new season. But I gamely carried on; kept your Tivo season pass set to not delete any episodes until I decided, kept your season pass priority in my top 10. But I was hesitant to watch any of the new season; so afraid of disappointment. Again.
I finally bit the bullet and watched all of season 4's aired episodes this weekend. And I'm through. I'm outta here boy! You've let me down for the last time. I deleted your season pass last night at 10:58 PM. I won't get fooled again; I don't care how hot Milo Ventimiglia or Zachary Quinto are, or how much I love Greg Grunberg and want him to have a successful show.
Peace out!
For another perspective on what might have been, read this article from Television Without Pity.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

SYTYCD - Season 6 Top 20

I think we've got a really great mix this season. In fact I'll go out on a limb and say that I haven't been this excited about a top 20 since season 3.
Almost all of the of my early favorites made it, including Russell, Nathan, Phillip, and Ellenore. And while there are a handful of folks that annoy me to no end (Mollee Gray I'm looking at you and wanting to slap you and cover your mouth with duct tape), and one BIG surprise in my fave Paula turning her spot down for a part in a movie (the hell?), for the most part I feel that this might be one of the most talented groups we've had on this show.

Next week instead of the regular performance competition episode they'll have an episode that profiles each of the top twenty dancers as a sort of "get to know them" dance exhibition. I'm very excited about this as it will give the audience a chance to experience everyone equally and not just bond to those handful that they focused on during the audition rounds. These are the folks I'm excited to get know a little better: Karen, Ariana, Kevin, Victor, and Peter
But really it'll just be awesome getting to see all of these guys dance without pressure and show the world their personalities.
On a side note -
What was up with Mia Michaels shaved head? Does she have an illness we don't know about? Is this why she's leaving SYTYCD? I'm still super bummed that we won't get any of Mia's cool choreography this season. Was she that mad about Adam Shankman getting the permanent judge seat?

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Reality TV Round-up for the week

Rachel Zoe Project finale - First, I don't think that Rachel or her husband Rodger know the difference between literally and figuratively. They both drive me CRAZY with their misuse and overuse of the word literally. So the season finale was a little disappointing and anti-climatic what with Rachel's "vertigo" still annoying, and her decision to make Rodger the head of her company just feeling like a stunt for the cameras. And her branding stuff seems far-fetched. Seriously those fake furs of hers are totally FUGLY. All in all a much better season than the first however.


Guilty Pleasure of the Week!
Million Dollar Listing - I hate to admit how much I missed Chad, Josh, and Madison and all of their ridiculousness. Looks like this season will be focusing on the collapse of the market, and how that affects the boys and their bottom lines. And their egos - can't forget those. The guys are still basically the same - Josh is still a blow-hard asshole but at least he shaved his head and looks much better; Chad still has his annoying voice and his STUPID hair and his misguided girlfriend but he's added a tiny little dog in the mix that he carries around in a leather satchel to client meetings; Madison still seems stoned but he's looking a lot more manorexic than I remember, and his weird accent still fascinates me, especially after meeting his older brother in the season opener who looks and sounds NOTHING like him. Tivo season pass has been set!

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team - Oh geez, I love this damn show so much. I'm sad to say that I've been waiting for this season to begin for a few months. The first episode is of course the initial auditions and they were fascinating as usual. I wish the show was one hour each week, not just for the premier and finale. Where do these girls come from? I swear, this show represents one of the reasons the Taliban hates us. But seeing bitch-in-heels Kelli McGonagill-Finglass again just warms my heart; I'm looking forward to Kelli making a lot of these girls cry. And yay! we got a to see and know a little bit more about security guard Phil. Will returnee Sunni Cranfill make the team this time? Will both Menchew sisters go all the way? Is Katie's ass still too big? Will all of the veterans make it through when they have to go through all of training camp with the newbies? These are the questions that keep me on the edge of my seat. Kind of sad to see Texas Stadium closed; and holy hell just how many people does the new Cowboys stadium fucking hold?! It's humongous!


SYTYCD - I totally thought they were announcing the top 20 this week. Lame! Fox is really milking these episodes and spreading them out aren't they? I guess I shouldn't complain that much. Although many of my faves have been cut, several are still in (e.g. cute boy who was too young to compete last season, tapper Philip, krumper dude, sassy Eleanor) and I hope they make the final group. Don't know why Adam Shankman was hyperventilating over that Billy kid, but whatever.

RW/RR Challenge - Evan and Veronica?! Ugh! **SHUDDER**
I was seriously too grossed out by the two of them to care about all of the other bullshit. Although, shut up Wes!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Dear Journal...

"Feeling listless again today..."

Oh Sue, don't let the "bi-curious machinations of a cabal of doughy misshapened teens" get you down.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Weekend TV catchup

Seattle had one of the nicest fall weekends I can remember; with sunny but crisp cool temperatures, and I got to spend a lot of quality time with friends laughing, eating and singing. Consequently I didn't watch a lot of tv but that's not stopping me from talking about the couple of shows I did see.

10/2 Saturday Night Live hosted by Ryan Reynolds with musical guest Lady Gaga - if these two weren't exciting enough they were joined by surprise guest stars Madonna, Scarlet Johansson, Elijah Wood, and former SNL cast member Darrell Hammond. With all that talent it should have been a home run right? Yet not. Aside from Gaga's inspired and ridiculously over-the-top performance art pieces, the show was a surprising dud. My babe Ryan has such good comedic timing that I thought for sure he'd hit it out of the park. Maybe I'm being too harsh on Ryan when I really should be blaming the writers. Most of the jokes and skits fell flat. Aside from the "porCEElane fountain" sketch, and a send-up of So You Think You Can Dance featuring K-Fed, almost nothing else worked. Ryan was still real nice to look at though - that Scarlet is one lucky bitch.

The Amazing Race 15 -
Ok seriously, how annoying are Lance and Keri?! Yes, he's an arrogant know-it-all meathead, but she bugs me just as much what with her continued mispronunciation of Ho Chi Minh City ("Ho Chi MON city") and insisting they were in said city for some reason even though the clue said to take a taxi into the city and her fawking witless squawking - "...it's just a bullet. Where's the clue? Tell 'em to give us our clue!". Sigh...I did enjoy the poignant moment with Marcy (BTW I love her whistle) reflecting on the beauty of Vietnam and thinking about her dad who was a U.S. general POW who was shot down, too bad they were eliminated. And the Globetrotters are still a delight.