Whatever Will I Watch Tonight? - Thursday, June 14, 2007

Today is June 14. Do you know where your flag is?

Tonight's television is a mixed bag. In the 8 PM ET/PT hour on CBS, there's a new Pirate Master. Now, I've tried with the show, but pirates were never my thing and the show isn't doing anything to change my opinions, me mateys.

Oh, but ABC has the entire primetime block filled with basketball special shows and then a game. Hmmm.... NBA or pirates? FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. Yes, I am. And I won't watch that. NBC has repeats of My Name is Earl and 30 Rock. CW has a repeat Smallville.

Court TV has two new back-to-back episodes of Speeders in the 8 PM ET/PT hour. Laugh if you must, but I may watch that. The network sent me a sampler of the show and, if nothing else, it's fast-paced. You also must remember that Cops is a guilty pleasure show of mine. This is along the same lines with speeders and their excuses trying to get out of tickets.

At 9 PM ET/PT, my definite choice is the So You Think You Can Dance results show. I'll be posting an East Coast Spoiler entry about the boot for those who wish to peek in from another time zone or those who just want to talk about the show.

Also on in that hour -- C.S.I. is a repeat on CBS, The Office and Scrubs are repeats on NBC. The CW is airing a Supernatural repeat. USA has a new Starter Wife episode and TLC has a new American Chopper.

At 10 PM ET/PT, while ABC is still playing the NBA, NBC has a new Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. CBS has a Shark rerun scheduled. TLC has a new Wrecks to Riches. Animal Planet is airing a new Animal Precinct (about time!). But I know I won't watch any of those. I'm catching The Wire on BET. Since I don't have HBO, I've become addicted to BET's airing of the series. I know I'll eventually catch the Animal Precinct episode as they air them for years in between new episodes!

What's your television schedule look like this evening?

(And remember to stop back for the So You Think You Can Dance East Coast Update which I should be posting shortly before 10 PM ET!

TV Newsy Bits - Wednesday, June 13, 2007

It's June 13... do you know where your children are?

Tonight's a night which will be mostly filled with So You Think You Can Dance for me. Right now I'm not sure if I'll be writing an entry about the show or not. But keep in mind that there's a blog discussion post for the show right here. The season premiere of Last Comic Standing goes for two hours starting at 9 PM tonight, but I'm going to pass on that this year. I haven't enjoyed it so much since my local dude Rich Vos got booted. Um, yeah. We're talking the first season, I think.

In today's TV Newsy Bits:

• Oh, I know we have some Blake Lewis (American Idol) fans in attendance here. People.com has a nice video highlighting his "sensitive side."
• According to this AOL Television News article, Sopranos series creator David Chase says that a movie isn't a sure thing. Well, he didn't say "fuggedaboudit."
• The Futon Critic is posting that America's Got Talent won its Tuesday night slot. I recorded the first hour as I watched On the Lot, but watched the second. It is indeed entertaining!
• The Celebrity Spider has an article about the return of Jericho on CBS -- these are rebroadcasts of the first season and are scheduled to start the day after Big Brother 8 begins. (Does everyone know that date?)
• Speaking of BB8... if memory serves, the initial cast announcements are usually made around the 20th of June. Hey, we're talking next Wednesday!

Yipes... Hok is going to dance! I must watch!

Ah, The Memories of 'Big Brother'

What's in store for us this season? Three weeks (and a day) to go! Meanwhile, let's remember Will's Internet Love. ;-)

Live Blogging - 'On the Lot' - June 12, 2007

Tonight's guest judge is David Frankel who's accompanying Garry Marshall and Carrie Fisher. This entry will be updated throughout the airing of the show here on the East Coast. Comments welcome!

One of the five whose films aired last week will be sent packing. Adam is safe, Shaline is safe. Sam is safe. It's down to Trever and Hilary. (I didn't like Hilary's film.) The announcement will be made at the end of the show.

Andrew's film is up. He was the barfing aliens guy. His film is "Polished." Looks like we have a proud janitor. Uh-oh... a spill! Aw, poor janitor dude. He may as well be invisible to the office staff. The messy office staff, that is. Super wax! Buff, butt. Uh-oh. He seems delirious with power. He hangs a free burgers at noon sign up and everyone runs... and they're sliders! No, not White Castle... the staff is all sliding right on by. He's now a happy guy.

Carrie - Vengeance is for the people without patience for karma. Good. David doesn't think it's the best film he's ever done... a bit slow. Garry thinks revenge works. "Polished" was quite polished according to Garry.

The next film is coming from David. "Love at First Shot" is his film. It's about a guy who's uncomfortable with girls. Okay, a geeky guy talking about space and wormholes on a date. He's kind of cute, though! A cell phone call from a guy who claims love is war and thinks he's needed. Oh, it's Cupid! The arrow keeps missing. Taking a waiter's clothes, he tries to get close to the table. Cupid is getting frustrated - "Let her talk for a minute." "What do you love?" It works! Cupid is no longer needed. A very cute film.

Carrie thinks it's derivative. David thinks it didn't come out right... mixed genres, ambiguity is the enemy of comedy. Garry thinks it wasn't paced right. He thought it was beautiful to look at. Huh. I liked it better than they did!

The third film of the night is from Shira-Lee. Her son is in her cast. What a cutie! The film, "Beeline," is about a single mom getting back into the dating world. It seems she's been just a bit busy as she arranges cover stories with her beaus to shield her son from knowing about her sexual escapades. Heh... the kid seemed to have it all planned so he'd get a PlayStation 3.

Carrie thinks it can be called "Slut Mom." Good, not great. David said it made him laugh. He liked it. Best so far. Garry thought the kid shouldn't smile while acting. Good one for the girls! Excellent job.

Marty is up next - he's the one who made a trailer instead of a film before. His film is "Dance With the Devil." Marty exudes confidence and thinks he's heads above the rest. I'm not understanding it so far. Green tint, woman and man. Then she's ill. Then she's not. She trusts him. I'm very confused. And, did I mention it's all in a green tint? The guy gets money hidden in a cabinet while men hold his girl hostage. They shoot her. "Was it worth it? You don't dance with the devil if you can't stand the heat."

Carrie thinks it's a victory of style over substance. Very distracting. Marty's defensive. OHH... "You're a big fan of yourself so maybe you don't need me," from Carrie. David said the film played more like his trailer and he liked the previous trailer more. Garry said it worked for him. Go deeper into the characters. I tend to agree with Carrie.

Kenny of "Whack Alley Cab" fame is up next. He seemed reluctant when they earlier asked who wanted to go up against the filmakers already on tonight. His film is "Edge on the End" - a film about a kid whose father died of alcoholism. Okay, Dad is definitely dead. Suspense music to rock. The kid is stumbling, climbing in snow. Narrated oddly. Various effects. The kid drinks, then drives, This is reminding me of an acid trip back in the sixties or something. Lesson learned? He throws out the bottle, two roses and flashes betwixt Dad and Son.

Carrie thinks it was stylistically distracting. She thinks he's cute. David admired the ambition and powerful imagery. Both Carrie and David think it's more of a music video. Garry says he "has new eyes." Stay unique and stay crazy. Carrie thinks the host has a crush on Kenny. I think the host's dress couldn't be cut any lower.

Final vote on last week... right after the break.

Yikes... Hilary is safe and Trever is going home. I honestly thought Hiary would be the one to go.

The voting is on. I liked "Polished" and "Beeline" the best. Your favorite? Who do you think will go home next week? My thoughts would be either Marty or Kenny will go.

'Hell's Kitchen' - A Quick Take on Episode 2

What a difference a week makes, eh?

Last week it seemed that the women, the Red Team, were doomed. This week it was the men (Blue Team) who couldn't get their act together.

And, those men so not got their act together in such a fashion that Gordon Ramsay kicked them out of the kitchen and had the women finish their serving. Of course, the promos had us expecting something Ramsay had never done before and showed an ambulance. The promos indicated that someone would stand up to him.

Bah, never happened. On the Blue Team, Aaron the older out-of-condition Asian cowboy, was feeling ill, dizzy, and generally hindering the progress of his own team. Vinnie from Joisey talks a good game in his camera time with us, but doesn't speak up to Ramsay. Eddie is woefully out of his league and talks about talking up. Josh is just self-righteous. Rock seems to be the most professional on the team.

The Red Team, after bickering like my brother and me when we were young'uns, actually worked together. I think it was Jen giving the lead and doing it very well. Hmmm... maybe it was Melissa. It wasn't Bonnie, the one Ramsay referred to as a dumb blonde and a ****** Barbie. Even Joanna, the Evil Queen from last week, showed some emotion, worked better with others, and just worked.

The women won the challenge tonight in addition to winning the service. The teams had to prep Dover sole which included skinning and removing the roe. Although Josh shined at the task, that's the only good thing he did all night. While the women went off deep sea fishing with Gordon Ramsay, the men had to skin and de-roe all of the fish for the service.

The men couldn't seem to do anything, not one single bit, of the service right. As I mentioned above, Ramsay kicked them out of the kitchen. Aaron, odd man out, was de-boning the fish into filets at the tables and did that wrong. The one who did the least wrong, Rock, was chosen by Ramsay to choose two to leave.

Eddie, the Little Dude, approached him and said his choices were himself (Eddie), Josh, and Aaron. Since Aaron is definitely losing it, he approached Rock and gave him the choices of "me and me." But he said he'd like to remain. Josh thinks he did okay, would do better.

In the end, Rock chose Eddie and Josh. Now, I wonder what Ramsay would have done with a choice of Aaron and Eddie. With the choices as presented, he kicked Eddie out. But I think that if Aaron had been up on the plate (so to speak) with Eddie, it may have been Aaron gone. Either way, they were both doomed. It's just a matter of when. Neither of the two could ever handle the high stress and pressure work that would come with a win.

A few miscellaneous notes: This show always has more smokers than I've ever seen on any reality show. I've never worked in the restaurant business, but is there a higher percentage of smokers in that line? And, where do they find so many places not delegated to the outdoors to smoke anyway? It's slim indoor pickings for smokers in California. My other note: why do so many guys on television and the movies named Vinny or Vinnie hail from Jersey? I've lived here about 13 years and have met two guys named Vinnie (or Vinny) in all that time.

Your thoughts on the latest episode?