GOP Convention

I was able to catch some of the convention tonight - including Governor Arnold, the Bush Twins and First Lady Laura. Was it just me or were the Bush Twins really annoying and borderline inappropriate? I don't get why they had to put down their grandmother and make stupid joke after stupid joke. Plus, like the joke about not having anything to do now that they have graduated from college seems like a jab at their Dad - I mean, if he was creating all the jobs he was supposed to be creating, that wouldn't be a problem for the girls, would it? Not that those children of privilege will ever have to worry about getting a job when they want one.

I chose to watch ABC and Peter Jennings cracked me up. First, he referred to the Bush Twins as "doing stand-up" which was seriously hysterical, not to mention accurate. Then, at the end of the coverage, he talked about how Rudy Guliani compared the Republicans to the Yankees on Monday. Peter couldn't help but point out that the Yankees lost 22-0 tonight! 22-0!! To my Cleveland Indians, no less. The Yankees' worst loss ever, thank you. Too funny. Go Tribe!

Last Comic Standing Season 3

Ehh... I'm not sure I like this. It's basically all stand-up, all the time. Which I realize some people expected from the beginning from a show with this title, but I'm sick to death of hearing the same routines over and over and over. Get some NEW material gang! I voted for Alonzo tonight for bringing some timely Olympic humor. Season 2 did some pretty brilliant strategizing, also. They literally picked the five funniest comics from Season 1 so one is assured of going home. I don't know what the Season 1 comics were thinking, picking Todd Glass and that annoying Jessica Kirson woman. When I saw her in the running to replace Bonnie Macfarlane, I groaned. And then they PICKED her for their team. Ugh, ugh. She seems to be a sure goner, in my view. Or Todd, at least. And the Season 2 team is none the worse with either of those two gone.

Oh, and what's up with Bonnie anyway? I hope she had some contractual obligations to prevent her from doing this new season, because if she thinks she is somehow better than the show, she has some serious delusions. Did you notice that no one from Season 1 was doing anything at all to prevent them from coming back to TV? Yep. And most of them got more screen time than she did.

Olympic Basketball

So, the men's team finished with the bronze. Too bad - they expected to be handed the gold. The talk around here is how maybe if local hero Carmelo Anthony had played more, the results would have been different. It makes me laugh, because I just know back home in Cleveland, the talk is likely the same, but with "local hero LeBron James" inserted into the sentence. Regardless, I think both sides have a point - Larry Brown really didn't do that great a job of coaching, in my opinion.

Olympic Gold Medalist

Little did I realize as I was rooting for Tim Mack to win gold during the pole vault competition last night that he is actually from my hometown and is my age as well. Here I thought I was just rooting against Toby "Crash" Stevenson. Anyway, I don't think I went to high school with Tim, but I could just not remember. I'm thinking he probably attended Catholic high school (like St. Ignatius) since his Dad went to Notre Dame. Anyway, how cool and congratulations to him!

I'm Back!

Did you miss me? I missed you! Well, let's just say that I missed being online. I have to give major thanks to Todd M. who works at my ISP and was finally able to figure out the problem of why I couldn't connect here in my new home. That was only after waiting on hold for about 4 hours over about 4 days and yes, talking to 4 different people who did not help. Phew!

Talk Show Replacement

Surprised, yes, but disappointed, no. That is my take on the sudden quitting of Craig Kilborn. He seriously is never going to find a better gig than The Late Late Show, and he said as much on his show last night, but I guess he doesn't care. I was never a big Craig fan (not from Sportscenter or The Daily Show even) but I do love me my talk shows so if they can find a fantastic replacement, I will be thrilled. Here are five replacement suggestions from the New York Daily News: Sarah Silverman, Vince Vaughn, Chris Rock, Bonnie Hunt and Jimmy Fallon. And two more from the New York Post: Amy Sedaris and Jeffrey Ross. I doubt Sarah Silverman would ever accept the job so I won't start worrying about her yet and I find Jeffrey Ross grating, but actually, the other five are excellent choices. But let's be realistic. If Chris Rock wanted out of his HBO talk show, why would he want a network one? I know that Letterman really loved Vince Vaughn when he filled in for him (as did I) but I doubt Vince would want to take a job like that and limit his partying and movie-making. Bonnie is an excellent choice, though, as is Jimmy and Amy. Dave and Bonnie are really good friends, as are Dave and Amy, so they both have an 'in'. I kind of hope they do go for a woman and try something different.

New Survivor Cast

The cast of Survivor: Vanuatu was revealed today on the Web and The Early Show. They will have 18 contestants again (just like All-Stars), although it seems like there are only two tribes this time. Early impressions: There seem to be a lot of men with a military-type background. My early favorite is the very cute Brady. His bio says he is an FBI agent. Plus, his mom is currently attending a Jesuit college in Ohio for her master's degree in theology. That could be my alma mater! Chad is impressive - he's a cancer survivor and amputee. There is another Ohioan in the mix too - Chris. None of the women particularly stand out to me but, somehow, I had a feeling that when I was planning my move to Syracuse there would be a contestant from that area and I was right! Eliza attends Syracuse University. Go gal! Maybe I'll see you on campus!

More Competition for NetFlix

According to this TV Barn link, Blockbuster has started its own DVD online rental service apparently, to compete against similar programs from NetFlix and Wal-Mart. For $19.99 a month, you can have up to three DVDs out at a time. Everything is done by mail and there are no late fees. When you return one movie, they send you the next one on your list. I definitely love the idea and convenience of these services, but $19.99 is still a bit hefty for the amount of video rentals I make. I got my brother and sister-in-law a gift certificate for a lesser-known service called GreenCine. It claims it offers more independent and rare titles than its competitors.

Praise for Probst

As a HUGE Jeff Probst fan and one of the few people who actually knew who he was prior to his Survivor hosting gig, I was happy to see an article that praises him. Well, actually, this article (via TV Barn) praises Bryant Gumbel's appearance on Live! With Regis and Kelly more than it praises Jeff Probst's appearance but it does give Jeff some kudos as well (even before today's guest-hosting appearance) and I agree! Jeff is really good when he guest hosts with Kelly Ripa and today was no different. Kelly got him to try to break a world record for push-ups in a minute. The record was something like 132 and Jeff managed around 85, which is quite impressive. All the subsequent guests were quite amazed as well. I'm not so sure that Jeff would be great for his own talk show, like the article suggests, but should Regis ever retire, I think Jeff would be an excellent replacement. Well, now that I think about it, Jeff would be better than Tony Danza and he got his own show.

Oh, and surprise surprise but Jeff got injured during the latest Survivor filming in Vanuatu. He pretty much injures himself every season. This time, he foolishly tried to open a coconut with a machete. Go figure - he cut his hand.

Bye Bye Pizza Guys

Finally, the so-called 'pizza brothers' were eliminated from The Amazing Race this week. It makes me glad because I hated them, but they were so miserable in the end with Marshall's bad knees that I almost started to feel sorry for them. Regardless, Phil called them out as the first team to ever quit by not making it to the pit stop.

In other news: I'm really loving Chip and Kim now. They seemed to have such joy when they were crossing the Nile and, next week, they apparently really bond with the natives, which I think is great. They are definitely the team I'm rooting for... I'm glad the Bowling Moms were able to get some money and stay in the game for the time being. They are likeable. I DESPISE Christie and Colin even more than ever. They are just such jerks, I think. What was their big deal with Charla and Mirna "stealing" the cab? Colin came running over screaming and swearing at them like a lunatic. Then, he told the camera that he wasn't really worried since their bags were still in the cab and they hadn't paid the driver - but if that was the case, why all the yelling? Actions speak louder than words, Colin. Also, Christie saying they had some "audacity" and were "rude" is a little extreme. I'm not quite clear on what is so wrong about jumping into an empty cab. Heck, if they were smart and less hotheaded, they would have let the cousins take off in the cab to waste some time and money. Who knows where they might have ended up? I think Mirna made some astute observations about the Colin & Christie relationship. Anyway, it's a really hateful team that makes Charla and Mirna seem like heroines.

Comment on This...

Thanks to HaloScan, I have updated and improved my comments section so I hope that people will actually leave comments now! No need to register or anything and they will be easier to read because a separate window pops up. Slowly but surely I'm working on this site.

Last Comic

Well, I did what I said I would do and watched Last Comic Standing and voted for the person who I thought was funniest tonight. That person was... John Heffron again. I'm sorry - I like him. I like the other two guys, too, and won't be bummed if either wins. Interesting fact: John's new wife is named Sherry! Although, apparently, she goes by 'Rie' so either that is her middle name or a weird nickname adapted from the second-half of her first name. Maybe people should start calling me "Rie." Anyway, nosy ole me looked them up on The Knot and they really did get married recently. Here is their registry from Bed Bath & Beyond. My question is: did anyone go to the wedding? Practically nothing was bought off of that registry.

And, did anyone catch the commercials for Last Comic Standing 3, where the casts from the first two seasons face off? Brilliant! Really brilliant. No contest, though, in my opinion. The second season cast, as a whole, was much funnier than the first season cast.

Quite a Parlay

Mark Mercer, the total Howard Stern fanatic who has run MarksFriggin.com for years, with complete recaps from each day's Howard Stern radio show, has parlayed his gift of reporting on Playboy evaluations and porn star visits (not to mention very thorough celebrity interviews) into a gig on the official Howard Stern Web site. He just does the same thing he always did, only in an official capacity. Anyway, I think that totally rocks. If I could similarly parlay my Survivor recaps into a gig at CBS.com, I would be very very excited!

Warning

Just wanted to let all you readers (har har...) know that I am moving this week and therefore my posting will be sporadic at best. Once I am settled in my new locale, I promise to be a better poster than ever - unless, of course, I get bogged down with homework!

Thursday TV Round-up

Big Brother: Bye Bye Scott! I was glad to see him go, but I sort of even felt sorry for him at the end there, as he talked to Julie. He was a little shell-shocked, wasn't he? It's amazing how one's ego evaporates after eviction! The Adria-Natalie twist reveal was great. I loved how shocked everyone was and even Adria played along like she had no idea what was coming. I'm glad everyone in their alliance was thrilled and excited and not angry and bitter. Although I'm guessing once they have time to think about it, they will realize it isn't good to have twins playing the game like that. Bur, first, there are bigger fish to fry (like Jase). I totally guessed Nakomis would win the HOH competition, since she's sort of a quiet watcher. I guess that means that Michael will get to see what his father looks like, too, assuming she gets a picture of her family. The best part was after Marvin, Michael, Jase and Drew all got eliminated from HOH on the same question and the others knew they won regardless.

Last Comic Standing: I think the right three comics were chosen and I really am not sure who I am going to vote for next week. Now that I found out John is married, I've lost interest in him. (Ha ha) Gary and Alonzo have both made me laugh quite a bit, so I think I may alter my voting strategy for next week and actually judge them based on their routine next week. We'll see - but 2 hours? Are they joking?

Celebrity Poker Showdown: I can't believe another tournament is almost over. Seth Meyers really impressed me and I kind of hope he wins next week. I'm glad they didn't spoil it this time, like they did last time - showing Maura Tierney playing in the championship game before her other game was decided.

She'll Be an Apprentice After All

From TV Tattle comes this story about Tony Danza hiring the former Apprentice contestant Ereka as his sidekick for his upcoming talk show. I've pretty much moaned about Tony Danza getting his own talk show to anyone who will listen, but I'm not sure if this makes me more or even less interested. At least Ereka got a talk show before the heinous Omarosa. She was the one Omarosa claimed was racist, if you remember...

Amazing Egypt

I got a chance to watch The Amazing Race this evening and I thought the scenery in Egypt was so beautiful. Beyond that, I HATE that Colin & Christie are so far ahead, but I'm thinking there is still plenty of time left for everyone to get bunched up together again. I was glad to see that the Fast Forward is still in existence, although I'm not sure that I like there only being two during the whole game. At least it is no longer something that can be counted on to pull yourself ahead. I really didn't get why Colin & Christie used it to increase their lead - I feel like it was a waste. But what I found more amazing was that no one else tried to use it. All those teams were bunched up, so it would have made sense for one of the teams to consider using it - like the gimpy Marshall and Lance, maybe. I was fully expecting one of those scenes where some team does the activity and then finds out that another team has already been given the Fast Forward. I also really liked the new twist that the 'Bowling Moms' got stuck with: although they finished in last place, they were not eliminated but instead had all their money taken away. It's sort of deserving, considering they are basically getting a second chance at survival. There should be some sort of punishment. It's too bad it happened to the 'Bowling Moms,' though, because I find them one of the few likeable teams. I'm really starting to like Chip and Kim, too. Last week, I started to warm up to Chip after he downed that caviar with no problems and this week, it was so nice of him to help out both Brandon and the twins.

Reality Roundup

Again, I did not yet watch The Amazing Race and therefore cannot comment on it, but I watched most of the other two.

Big Brother: Like it was any surprise that Jase won the power of veto and saved himself. He truly is the devil. Of course, stupid DIANE could have eliminated him from the competition if she wasn't so STUPID! Whatever - I just hope Scott goes then. It would have been classic to see Scott win the power of veto and save Jase, though, like he talked about, and THEN see Scott go. Why is Jase such an ass, though? He attacked Diane verbally last week for showing some excitement and hugging Nakomis after her win last week but when he wins, he screams and shouts and points and gets in everyone's face. Hypocrite.

Last Comic Standing: This is who I want to win. I voted for him 9 times online last night, which is a lot of effort for me! I want the person to win who made me laugh the most times throughout the season, so I actually didn't even watch most of the routines last night. One routine should not a comic make. I'm still annoyed Jay London was picked as the wildcard - someone please tell me what is funny about him (other than the way he looks).

Tons of William Hung Wannabes

The American Idol 4 auditions started, well, today actually. People could start lining up yesterday, though, so madness ensued in downtown Cleveland. Approximately 15,000 to 20,000 people showed up, which is a record for any audition city ever. Our city likes to brag about any record it breaks, even if it involves the number of crazies wanting to be on TV. I'll be interested to see if the people interviewed in this article actually make it. I like the girl who is 26 and says she could finally try out because they raised the age limit. Umm, wasn't she 25 last year and therefore eligible? (LaToya was 25.) And 24 the year before and therefore eligible? And 23 the first year and therefore eligible?

Good Interview

I really enjoyed Bill Clinton's interview on The Late Show last night. Here is a pretty good recap of it. The man is clearly intelligent, well-spoken and has a bit of a sense of humor, too. I don't understand why people hate him just because of his extracurricular activities. Most people have no idea what others are doing extracurricularly. Anyway, I really think Letterman shines in interviews like that, too. He asks good, well-informed questions and seems genuinely interested in the answers - unlike during some of his celebrity interviews.

More Chances for Reality Shows

This article from the LA Times (via TV Barn) is kind of interesting in that it dissects how reality shows are given a much bigger chance of survival than scripted shows are given. For instance, shows like Karen Sisco and Wonderfalls lasted only a few episodes, yet Big Brother is back for its 5th season. It's all true and the reasons are pretty obvious: reality shows are cheaper to produce; reality shows usually run for a lot fewer episodes. It is kind of a wonder that Big Brother is back for a fifth season - I say that to myself almost every time I watch it. The thing with that show is that it was smart enough to get started and build a bit of an audience before all the other networks started debuting new shows in the summer. I'm sure it wouldn't do as well in the fall or spring if it was on a network schedule.

Corbin Bernsen?

I got my issue of ABC Soaps in Depth today and I cannot believe that Corbin Bernsen is coming on to General Hospital to play Carly's father. See for yourself about half-way down this page. Corbin Bernsen? Is that supposed to be some sort of coup? I mean, Corbin Bernsen pretty much will do anything for money, won't he? Did anyone see Celebrity Mole Yucatan? Or Celebrity Mole Hawaii? Why does that make me feel like my soap has really gone down hill? In brighter news, the new issue of TV Guide says that General Hospital is going to have a mystery where major characters will actually die - in contrast to the Days of Our Lives serial killer storyline where the "dead" characters were all found on some island somewhere. The options are so exciting to me! I love when soaps might unexpectedly kill off some characters! I'm guessing the "major" characters getting the axe on General Hospital will include Mac Scorpio, Mary Bishop, maybe Sage Alcazar, maybe Mike Corbin and probably newly returned Heather Webber. In other words, characters we can do without. Don't expect Sonny to go anywhere.