six down… six to go…

top6.jpgOk so it’s really five to go since there are six left but that didn’t sound as good. So we’ve gotten rid of some of the riff raff, and Michael Johns. So who might win? Let’s do a little ranking.

  1. David Cook has really stepped it up consistently, or at least the most consistently, doing an interesting take on the song of the week and actually seeming like rock star, or at least a pop star, instead of a karaoke/cruise ship singer (to steal a phrase or two from Simon). But do I want him to win? I’m not sure… there is something negative about the perception of being most loved by America as well as being tied down with the winning contract instead of taking your notoriety and running.
  2. David Archuleta is the young kid with the good, but slightly raspy voice, who sings a lovely inspirational ballad, and who I couldn’t be more bored by. There is something a little too young about him and he has failed to shine in a good upbeat song and his romance appeal so far seems limited even for a teeny bopper audience.
  3. Carly Smithson has a great voice but to date has dipped into the bottom three because folks haven’t been won over by her song choice, lack of connection, and angry singing. But when she called Simon out on being hard on her it sounded like he actually appreciated her more than initially thought, he just expected even more.
  4. Brooke White has dipped into the bottom three a couple of times but she’s got that folk singer thing down and when she’s not trembling with fear, or whatever, she’s actually quite likable. She’s been slipping but I’m thinking she has another good one or two in her.
  5. Jason Castro doesn’t have the strongest voice but he has started doing some good song picking to make the most of what he’s got and his laid back thing is just making him so darned not hateable. I should put him above Carly and Brooke but I feel like he’s due for a weak one.
  6. Syesha Mercado also has a lovely voice and has had some good performances but she has been picking songs of great singers or at least singers who make the song their own and she’s been unable to do that. She started out not at the top of people’s lists and has consistently hit the bottom three.

But leave it to America and a bunch of inconsistent singers to prove me wrong, that’s one of the things we like about reality, right? So stay tuned tonight as the gang performs song from Andrew Lloyd Weber, really? And of course see who will be the latest castoff — it may surprise us all — on Thursday!

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next week 4/21

Monday

  • Gossip Girl (CW, 8pm) – We’re back from the strike and get to find out how Blair adjusts to being dethroned as queen bee and how Serena adjusts to getting ready to being Chuck’s new step sis.

Tuesday

  • Most Outrageous Moments (NBC, 8pm) Season Premiere – A shows will clips of moments that are outrageous.
  • Reaper (CW, 9pm) – Post strike premiere as Sam decides if turning against the devil is a good idea.

Wednesday

  • Pussycat Dolls: Girlicious (CW, 9pm) Season Finale – The latest girl group that I will never listen to will be chosen.
  • Men in Trees (ABC, 10pm) – Last episode before a hiatus as that annoying Anne Heche is girly or something.
  • Law & Order (NBC, 10pm) – The cops and lawyers return from strike but Jesse Martin is bowing out as Anthony Anderson takes his place in the latest cast change.

Thursday

  • Ugly Betty/Grey’s Anatomy/Lost (ABC, 8/9/10pm) – Post strike returns to Mode Magazine and two shows that I have been greatly anticipating!
  • Supernatural (CW, 9pm) – And the brothers fight or find or whatever they do to the supernatural.

Friday

  • Moonlight (CBS, 9pm) – The vampire show I don’t watch returns from strike.

Saturday

  • The Mighty B! (Nick, 10:30am) Series Premiere – Amy Poehler is the voice of this animated overzealous girl scout equivalent.

Sunday

  • Big Brother (CBS, 8pm) Season Finale – And they… elect a king?
  • Aliens in America (CW, 8:30pm) – This is new and I don’t remember if this is the first back from strike… but Raj gets a girl, or tries to get rid of a girl.

* ‘next week’s are posts of new or noteworthy shows for the week to come and do not imply endorsement by the procrastinator

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live… it’s saturday night…

snl_hil_obama.jpgSo I’ve actually added Saturday Night Live to tivo, though historically I’ve tended to scan through and maybe watch the Weekend Update news piece and seek out that maybe one funny bit. My biggest problem is the obvious, the skits aren’t funny, what’s mildly funny is dragged into a long ongoing series of no longer funny skits, most of the guest hosts are painful to watch as they read from their cue cards, and I don’t even listen to most of the bands they have on.

There was a decent amount of buzz around its return after the strike and its ability to excel in a pre-election climate. They can poke fun at politics by playing the politicians in a way that Stewart or Colbert for example can’t. They are in fact planning some special weekly Thursday updates just prior to the election. I will have to say that although I found the first pass amusing, I just don’t know that its keeping my regular attention.

Amy Poehler does a fantastic Clinton. Fred Armisen is alright as Obama, though he captures the stiff, he misses that x-factor that’s what Obama seems all about. And McCain, well McCain hasn’t had a lot going on yet so he’s about as boring on the show as in real life.

There has been some talk about whether SNL has a bias, it’s seemingly pro Hillary skits paired with Tina Fey’s quite funny Bitch is the new Black opinion piece in the news were pretty good. They’ve certainly taken stabs at others and had Tracy Morgan do a little Obama opinion rebuttal piece that unfortunately just wasn’t as spot on.

My problem is more the problem that I have overall, the repetitive nature of the jokes. For example the whole ‘folks take it easy on Obama’… Funny at first, and then they need to bring something fresh to it. Will they keep being able to fill Saturday night’s as well as four Thursday night episodes? We’ll see. Maybe in tonight’s debate Obama will call people bitter again and Hillary will talk more about sniper fire.

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next week 4/14

Monday

  • Bones (Fox, 8pm) – Post strike return for our favorite squints and fbi agents, this week Bones and Booth go on a double date with Dr Sweets!
  • The Paper (MTV, 10:30) Series Premiere – I almost always ignore MTV reality but this show about a high school paper got at least one good review.
  • New Amsterdam (Fox, 9pm) Season Finale – If there’s only one more left maybe I’ll watch this guy and his past.
  • One Tree Hill (CW, 9pm) – Post strike return as the gang deals with some drama undoubtedly.
  • Rules of Engagement (CBS, 9:30pm) – Post strike premiere as the gang vacations at a time share.

Tuesday

  • According to Jim (ABC, 8/8:30pm) – Post strike return as Jim probably does something dumb.
  • Biggest Loser (NBC, 8pm) Season Finale – The losers have lost, and one has lost the most.
  • L&O: SVU (NBC, 10pm) – Post strike return as Olivia goes under cover.

Wednesday

  • Democratic Debate (ABC, 8pm/pst) – Gearing up for the Penn primary on the 22nd.
  • Til Death/Back to You (Fox, 8/8:30pm) – Post strike premiere for these ‘laughers’.
  • The Real World: Hollywood (MTV, 10pm) – If you can believe it this is the 20th season, I think I only caught NY and then what LA?

Thursday

  • Smallville (CW, 8pm) – Post strike premiere as Lex and Clark are at odds.
  • Eli Stone (ABC, 10pm) Season Finale – Will Eli live? I would assume they didn’t kill him off, but then again I don’t know for sure.

Friday

  • Doctor Who (Sci Fi, 8:30pm) Season Premiere – I wanna say there’s time travel involved.
  • Canterbury’s Law (Fox, 9pm) Season Finale – Does she defend the right people?

Saturday

  • Torchwood (BBC, 9pm) Season Finale – Crime fighters and aliens and whatnot.

Sunday

  • John Adams (HBO, 9pm) Series Finale – And Paul Giamatti moves on…
  • Brothers and Sisters (ABC, 10pm) – Post strike return as the Walkers keep up with making a mess of perfectly good messy relationships.
  • Sweet Nothing in My Ear (CBS, 9pm) – It’s a Hallmark Hall of Fame with Marly and Jeff Daniels dealing with their child’s ability to hear.
  • Rock of Love (VH1, 9pm) – It’s the reunion show!
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potpourri

Not much to report on tv shows themselves this week so I thought I’d just check in on a few things of note.

NBC released its year round upfront to the upfronts. Although I actually try not to pay much attention to these since everything changes or disappears before it goes live but, worth noting are a ‘The Office’ spin-off, the surprising return of not great ‘Knightrider‘ and ‘Lipstick Jungle‘ but also another shot for ‘Life‘ which I just told someone wasn’t coming back.

As for the other networks we’re not official yet but I might be a tiny bit excited about Joss Whedon’s (Buffy!) expected ‘Dollhouse‘ show starring Eliza Dushku (Faith!) and trepidatious about Rob Thomas’s (VMars) ‘90210‘ the next generation (Donna has expressed interesting in playing a milf though it sounds like they’re courting Kelly to round out the older generation on the show).

Project Runway‘ is slated to move from Bravo to Lifetime, not this next season but the one after, though NBC has something to say about that. People with Tivos will follow but will this impact the show or the networks? Wait do I get Lifetime? And if I hear correctly ‘Scrubs‘ is moving to ABC. So what one more season?

ANTM‘ is getting busted for showing some full frontal – albino Anya’s nudie shoot with Nigel was deemed by some to be inappropriate for evening eyes. I actually watched this and thought she was wearing little coveries but I guess they just blurred her out, really it was all fine, but conservative parental organizations are still arguing about Dennis Franz’ butt on ‘NYPD Blue‘ so perspective is not something these organizations have.

Oh and Kathie Lee Gifford took up residence in the last hour of ‘The Today Show‘, I haven’t watched this in ages but maybe she can put some life in what I recall was nearly dead air.

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next week 4/7

Monday

  • NCAA Men’s Championship (CBS, 9pm) – Didn’t we already talk about this, I think this is really it, if not I won’t talk about it again anyhow.
  • Samantha Who? (ABC, 9:30pm) – Post strike premiere as Samantha has to move back in with her ex, and his new gal, to keep her apartment.

Tuesday

  • NCIS (CBS, 8pm) – Post season strike premiere as they show, secrets, and stakeouts, and murder.
  • Just for Laugh (ABC, 8/8:30pm) Season Finale – I don’t think I’ve ever watched this real world prank/gag show.
  • The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo (HBO, 10pm) – Rape survivor makes a documentary on victims and rapists.
  • Secret Talents of the Stars (CBS, 10pm) – Sixteen ‘celebrities’ compete with secret talents.
  • Boston Legal (ABC, 10pm) – Post strike premiere as they continue to mix crazies and the law.

Wednesday

  • Idol Gives Back (Fox, 7:30pm) – The celebrities and the idol gang gives back by making you want to give money.

Thursday

  • American Idol (Fox, 8pm) – Special Night as another one of the gang gets the boot, Kristy Lee Cook anyone?
  • 30 Rock/The Office/Scrubs/ER (NBC, 8:30-11pm) Post strike premieres, what are you looking forward to most, I’d say 30 Rock.

Friday

  • The Sarah Jane Adventures (SciFi, 7:30pm) – This is a Dr Who spin-off reportedly for kids as our title character is a social worker for aliens.
  • Miss USA (NBC, 9pm) – Donny and Marie host so it’s gotta be good.

Saturday

  • The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (Life, 9pm) – This adaptation of the bestseller is fleshed out with Dermot Mulroney, Gretchen Mol, and Emily Watson.

Sunday

  • Desperate Housewives (ABC, 9pm) – Post strike premiere as the women of Wisteria Lane continue being desperate.
  • Rock of Love (VH1, 9pm) Season Finale – Brett chooses his lady from the latest stripperesque bunch.
  • Dirt (FX, 10pm) Season Finale – Courtney continues to deal with tabloids and personal drama.
  • Eli Stone (ABC, 10pm) – Special night as Eli continues with visions of the earthquake.
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down to 7

The ANTM ladies are getting less, which means we actually have an opportunity to tell who’s who. Oh and seriously please tell me when they come back next season they won’t keep up the everyone reads the ticker Tyra Mail, it’s painful, but maybe less painful as the girls are fewer, I hope. So what’s been going on?

antm-amis.jpgFirst Miss Jay took the girls on a firehouse quick change runway tutorial. This was of course just a warm up for the real challenge a Tulah fashion show. Not only did the gals have to walk but they had to change to perfection in three minutes or the show would go on, without them. Lauren continued to be our least modely walking candidate this year, while Whitney flashed a boob, and Fatima misbuttoned her top. Katarzyna won the runway challenge and invited Marvita and Amis to join her on her Seventeen advertorial with Jaslene.

Then the girls hit the meat packing district for a meat shoot. Literally wearing pieces of meat, along with other items. And some girls were able to redeem themselves a bit, a little too perky pretty Stacy Ann was judged as having the best shot. Fatima was only able to come up with a single expression. Pretty isn’t always model pretty. But it was our random gal Amis who was so distracted and unengaged that she was let go.

antm-aimee.jpgThen our next challenge was with Tyra, she taught the ladies to focus on a little walk and then the three second pose at the end of the runway. Then after passing along a secret trick, pose as if you are in pain, they did a pose off. Albino Anya won, and won a one-on-one shoot with Nigel. This week’s shoot the girls were to embody a genre of music and some of the girls nailed it, Whitney had the best shot. Claire was unable to break the couture poses to match her country persona, but Aimee, the slightly prudish former Mormon, couldn’t bring forth the R&B vibe and was sent home.

The next challenge was a round of go-sees, which I always love because it’s so real. This time they did this early so they broke the group into two teams. And none of the gals were 100%, Lauren’s walk is still laughable and poor Whitney had issues with the fact that not everyone would book a plus size model (she’s a 10 and runway is mostly 2s, Fatima was too small for one gal as a 0). The team with Dominique, Whitney, Claire and Stacy Ann won with Stacy Ann booking the most.

antm-claire.jpgThen on to a crazy no makeup, no hair product shoot where the girls were basically shot from underneath dropping onto a clear mylar sheet swishing with water. Katarzyna had an additional hair cut and after a few tears she said she embraced it. Fatima was called first for photos and Lauren and Claire were left in the bottom two. Though Lauren is still frankenstein-like in person it was Claire’s one note poses that sent her packing.

And who’s annoying me the most: Fatima is so holier than though, and I still can’t get past the Hawaiian albino girl’s weird accent. And yeah Whitney’s got attitude, but seriously Dominique calling a white girl racist because she doesn’t like you… I have to say that these people who think that people argue with them because they’re strong in the contest and not because they’re annoying, yes I mean you Dominique. So far I think she’s fought with everyone but she was happy to see Claire booted from the Claire, Lauren, Whitney hate club.

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next week 3/31

Monday

  • The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS, 9:30pm) Season Finale – Could it be peramenopause and could her gynecologist be Jason Alexander.
  • CSI: Miami (CBS, 10pm m/t) – A special two parter brings Elizabeth Berkley back into David Caruso’s life.

Tuesday

  • Hell’s Kitchen (Fox, 9pm) Season Premiere – He yells at people again.
  • Live to be 150… Can You Do It? (ABC, 10pm) – Barbara (76) talks to ‘old’ folks including Paul Newman (83).

Wednesday

  • Criminal Minds/CSI: NY (CBS, 9, 10pm) – Post strike returns.

Thursday

  • My Name is Earl (NBC, 8/8:30pm) – Post strike return and Paris wouldn’t let Britney be the only useless guest star on a series.
  • Miss/Guided (ABC, 8:30pm) Season Finale – Apparently though I noted this as a finale last week, there is one more.
  • CSI/Without a Trace (CBS, 9/10pm) – Post strike returns.
  • Make Me a Supermodel (Bravo, 10pm) Season Finale – And a model is chosen.

Friday

  • Ghost Whisperer/Numb3rs (CBS, 8/10pm) – Post strike premieres.
  • Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi, 10pm) Season Premiere – The fourth season begins, and a friend is going to loan me the started dvd.

Saturday

  • NCAA Championship (CBS, 6pm) – In this one the ball goes through a hoop…

Sunday

  • Sony Ericsson Open (FSN, Sat noon/est, Sun 1pmest) – This one’s tennis… Women’s finals on Saturday and Men’s on Sunday, with coverage starting Sunday 3/30.
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lost without lost

lost_michael.jpgWell we’re only on a brief break until the approximately five additional post strike episodes start to air in late April, but I have to say I can’t wait. Since we’ve come back this season the introduction of a post island life for some and how we all get there is quite a nice shakeup. And of course keeping the focus on fan favorite original Losties doesn’t hurt. It also makes us more willing to be interested by a bit of the new. But seriously the way they keep introducing new mysteries while almost resolving the old is as infuriating as it is interesting.

So where are we at since last we spoke? We learned that there is a definite difference between time on and off the island, the repercussions of which we have yet to fully see. We watched Desmond’s consciousness get hijacked on the transition off the island via chopper to his life in a different time, or vice versa. Desmond is a little more susceptible to things since he got all blown up in the radioactive hatch, resulting in his future flashes among other things. So past Desmond met past Science guy from “not Penelope’s boat’ and through contacting his beloved Penelope via a macgyvered ship phone, grounded himself again. And we were a little choked up at their loving call, she’ll find him! And maybe she will, because we also learned that it is Penelope’s dad’s boat.

We also got a little more info on Juliet. She’s apparently quite the hussy and was having an affair with unhappily married Other Goodwin (who went and joined the tailies, and was of course eventually killed). This all came out as we met the scorned wife who tried to warn her, for Ben, that the boat people were off to hit the lethal gas (that Ben had previously used to kill the dharma folks for the Others). Though the boat people don’t have the best diplomatic skills they did in fact deactivate the gas. And of course Juliet wasn’t the most forthcoming about all the info since she was all preoccupied as we learned that Ben had a big thing for her (because she looked just like “her”?) and was responsible for her Goodwin’s death. So now she’s worried about Jack since she has feelings for him, though how long has Goodwin been dead for? Hussy. (Does the island heal inner wounds as well, Hurley lost Libby, Claire lost Charlie, Sayid lost Shannon… hmm if this is love I fear for the next island couple…)

So no one trusts Juliet including Sun who not long ago found out she was pregnant and if she doesn’t get off the island she should be scheduled to die in her second trimester. But does she believe her? When asking if the boat people were going to rescue them Science guy had to admit it wasn’t his call. So Sun decides to get away from them and go visit Locke’s group, but Juliet feels so strongly that she shouldn’t leave and risk not getting off the island that she outed Sun’s pre island affair. But Jin forgave her and said he’d always be with her, which as we learned through flash forwards is the kiss of death. Sun joins the Oceanic 6 off island and has a successful birth, which we are delighted about until we find her visiting Jin at the cemetery.

And while the island whatnot is going down, Desmond and Sayid met some boat people, apparently hired by Penelope’s dad to track down Ben. Boat people have the black box to the wreckage of the supposed Oceanic 815 with all the passenger’s corpses accounted for. And they at least implied that Ben was behind it. And if you recall Ben has someone on the boat. Michael’s back! Turns out he and Walt got off the island, and were living under assumed names of course. He fessed up to Walt about his shenanigans to get them off the island and he wasn’t forgiven (killing Ana Lucia and Libby and of course generally turning on his friends). When given the opportunity to save the island folks and try to redeem himself a little, by none other than the Others. So after a couple of failed suicide attempts he boarded the freighter and is responsible for its sabotage (being told that these folks staged crashed Oceanic 815 and will kill everyone left on the island after getting Ben). Sayid couldn’t let Michael the traitor be and turned him in to the boat people.

Oh and Ben is of course manipulating Locke and he’s hanging with that bunch of folks out of confinement by sharing all he knows… which so far isn’t much. And he sent his ‘daughter’ off to theoretically join the Others in safety but her boyfriend and her mother both seem to be gunned down in the middle of the jungle leaving her alone with the unknown shooters.

The list of questions brought about are endless but here are a few of my top new ones:

  • Who are the bad guys?
  • Who is behind the big cover up and staging the fake plan,  Ben, Penny’s dad, soemone else?
  • How did the Oceanic 6 (Jack, Kate, Aaron, Sayid, Hurley, Sun) get chosen, forced, allowed or whatever to leave?
  • Who are the two unsurviving survivors?
  • Who was the guy in the coffin?
  • Is anyone besides Ben of the non Oceanic 6 islanders hanging around off island in the future?
  • Was that Walt back on the island or was Locke hallucinating?
  • What’s up with Jin’s death? Is he really dead?
  • What happened to Claire? And why is Kate pretending to be Aaron’s mom?
  • Are people still on the island and if so who and why?
  • What the hell is Ben doing off the island controlling things? And why is Sayid working with him?
  • What’s up with the passing of time and how much time has passed? (did Walt’s grandma say they had been gone for two months? before he got on the freighter in fiji…?)
  • What turns Jack from “Not Going Back” guy to “We Have to Go Back” guy.
  • How and why is the frickin’ island controlling their lives?
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situation whatever

return-jezebel-james.jpgThey are called sitcoms after all, for situation comedy, but the more that I see half hour comedies succeed and fail, the more the situation seems less important. I don’t think ‘Friends’, or ‘Seinfeld’, or ‘The Cosby Show’ really were great because of how they were set up. It came down to the writers, the actors, and the relationships. Which brings us to two new sitcoms that premiered over the past couple weeks, and a few that returned after a little strike break. New shows added to the roster are ‘The Return of Jezebel James’ by fan favorite Amy Sherman Palladino and ‘Miss/Guided.’

In Jezebel we meet two sisters in a sort of Odd Couple premise. Parker Posey, mostly known for indie Christopher Guest films like ‘Waiting for Guffman’, and who I generally dig, plays the type A sister who works in children’s publishing, recently broken up, and unable to have kids. Lauren Ambrose, who I also dig due to Six Feet Under excellence, plays the ‘loser’ sister who has been out of touch until now, agreeing to carry Posey’s baby. They move in together and hijinks ensue.

So what’s the problem? This is basically the same premise as a show that I find pretty funny ‘Two and a Half Men’. Type A brother moves in with bachelor stud brother with crass, lazy kid visiting on weekends. They manage to push the humor in a just beyond stereotypical way. In Jezebel, aside from the zero to sixty start of the carry-my-child relationship, the writing and the characters just weren’t quite beyond the stiff archetype. And Posey somehow found a way to feel more stilted as each line came out of her mouth. Part of the problem is that I expect more out of these gals, and maybe Palladino isn’t quite as comfy in the half hour laugher (and please cut the laugh track), so I will give them time to mature into something worthwhile.
miss-guided.jpg
And what of Miss/Guided? Well typically amusing Judy Greer returns to her high school as guidance counselor, where she hopes to have outgrown her geeky ways and is faced with many of the same challenges. This show comes off as a sort of ‘New Adventures of Old Christine’ with an awkward lead with a dash of ‘The Office’ as far as one-on-ones with the camera, in a documentary sort of way.

Again, the show has potential but, as unlikable high school rival Brooke Burke points out to cute-guy, if Greer didn’t reek of desperation… and though I could almost agree with him that the optimism was likable I too found Greer too desperate. Whereas there is something about the way that Dreyfuss on Old Christine is both awkward and not optimistic at all, that lets her comedic timing shine and we’re happy to laugh at, as well as with her. Again I think the Miss’s character and the balance of talk to the camera shots could be finessed to keep folks amused but with the quick burn through of episodes and strike issues not sure they’ll have the chance.

how-i-met-your-mother.jpgThe other returning show that I wanted to give a shout out to is the pretty continually funny ‘How I Met Your Mother’. Now this has a premise of a dad telling kids… well you know… And while I find the premise on this sometimes annoying, it has often enough used the premise successfully. What’s generally a show about five friends plays up the retrospect angle of stories about their relationships in a fresh way and does some funny things with flash forwards (still in the past of telling the story but far ahead of where we’re at in the show).

But again, as much as the premise allows some structure that they’ve actually done a decent job with, it’s really the writing and the ‘supporting’ characters that make this show. Neil Patrick Harris as Barney has been written a role that is priceless with his delivery of one liners and more. And surprisingly the ‘old married couple’ on the show has found a way to make even the dullest moments about tea amusing.

I’ll be tuning into CBS for a chuckle or two during their comedy lineup tonight.

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