Vice-Presidential debate

This thing is DRIVING me crazy! Can either candidate answer the question put before them without going off on some ridiculous, canned tangent on some topic they intended to discuss? Just answer the question, whether you like it or not. I did like the antagonism, though. Kerry and Bush were too fake-polite.

That link is to the transcript, in case someone wants to read it.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Here is my latest Inside Pulse column. Sorry that I haven't been around much this last week. I probably won't be around much this coming week, either. I have SO much homework. Hate it. A week from now, I should have a small bit of a reprieve. Kind of. It is midterms time.

Absentee Ballot

As some of you know, I've been a little curious/worried about the whole absentee voting process and when I can expect my ballot, whether they got my application, etc... Well, considering the postcard I got in the mail this weekend asking me to re-elect my Congressman, I'm guessing that they do indeed have my request and that I can expect to receive the ballot in the next month. Phew!

And, Dennis, you don't have to worry.

Double dose of The Apprentice

This is an interesting idea from the New York Daily News (via TV Tattle) about the airing of The Apprentice twice a week. It talks about how the added boardroom scenes on the Saturday shows really paint a different picture and suggests that instead of airing two similar episodes each week, the network should air two different episodes, American Idol-style, with one show depicting the task and the second show depicting the boardroom and the outcome. I think it's a really good idea, actually. And I'm surprised Trump didn't think of it...

Destiny

If anyone doubts that Jeff Probst and I are destined to be a couple (and yes, I'm sure that's pretty much everyone!), think again after reading this article from the Deseret Morning News (via TV Tattle). Jeff talks about basically the same thing I just wrote my IP column about - the sixteenth minute of fame for reality stars. It's really too eerie.

It's that time again...

Another column is up on Inside Pulse.

More on Conan

This is an excellent article from the San Francisco Gate (via TV Tattle) that spells out exactly why Conan O'Brien is an odd choice to replace Leno on The Tonight Show. One thing it doesn't mention that I've been thinking about is how a lot of Conan's act (and charm) is about how he is a nobody, a loser, how no one watches his show - that kind of thing. He certainly can't go on like that once he's hosting the institution that is The Tonight Show, can he? Well, we'll see. Who even knows what kind of things will happen by the time 2009 rolls around. I know, I, for one, will watch The Tonight Show more often with Conan as host - at least at first.

Oh, and this article confirms that Conan will indeed be leaving New York for L.A.

Conan's back live tonight if anyone wants to hear what he has to say on the subject.

One last thing - I hope this bumping up time slots things ends there and Carson Daly isn't going to get the Late Night gig.

Conan replacing Leno

In kind of a surprise announcement today, NBC says that Conan O'Brien will replace Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show in 2009. Here is the offical news release but it still seems curious. Will Conan move to L.A.? How does this affect CBS's search for a new person to fill the 12:35 slot?

Osama Bin Lotto

On this site, you can wager on what this election year's "October surprise" will be. You pick the event and the date and you could potentially win $500,000. The site is sponsored by Ben Cohen, of Ben & Jerry's fame. Of course, a lot of speculation expects that surprise to be the capture (or revealing of the capture) of Osama bin Laden, but there are other options, too.

DVDs I want...

How cool is this! Afterschool Specials are coming out on DVD. I used to love to watch these things after school - I would be thrilled when it was time for one to air. I don't really remember any of the ones mentioned, though... (Thanks to Fresh Hell for the link!)

Survivor episode 2

Dolly got voted out of Survivor. This week was definitely more enjoyable than last week, but I don't know. I feel like it's missing something. Maybe it's just too early in the season. I was impressed with my fellow SU student Eliza, however, and think she made the right decision. Dolly was way too wishy-washy to be reliable and judging by her relief at being voted out, would have been a major detriment to any alliance. Now, though, Eliza has to either try to make amends with Julie, Mia and Lisa or she has to stick with the so-called older group - who don't really like her. Although they liked her enough to go along with her plan to get rid of Dolly (of course, they might have just wanted to save Leann). I really think Mia will be next to go, based on her outburst in the previews and her facial expressions at Tribal Council. She seems to have a real superiority complex, when she isn't even calling the shots! And, clearly, Rory is not long for this game on the men's side. I can't imagine what could possibly happen to save him. His so-called alliance can get rid of him and still keep a numbers advantage over the young, burly-men and he seems to have done nothing to try and fit in with the others.

Anyway, my episode recap will be up on Inside Pulse tomorrow morning, I guess. It's written - just needs to get posted. But that's not up to me.

"Free" car

This article in the Chicago Sun-Times (via TV Tattle) is kind of funny in that it talks about how all those cars Oprah gave away are going to end up costing each of the new owners about $7000. You know, because of taxes. Interesting was that the whole big scene of converting her parking lot into a Pontiac warehouse with Oprah walking the audience to their new cars was a big hoax because no one actually gets their car until Oct. 1st at the earliest.

Bachelor premiere

I'm not that interested in the new season of The Bachelor, but I was interested to see how this two bachelors thing was going to play out. The women chose Byron, which I find kind of surprising, just because he offered such gems as "It should be against the law for anyone to get married before the age of 30" and something like "I think it's good that I've been married once before. Someone who is 40 and hasn't been married... I mean, you can't just have a girlfriend your whole life." I know, it doesn't make sense!! But some of the girls swooned over how deep he was. Huh? Overall, he acted like it was important that he tried marriage (the other guy has never been married) - but it was only for two years! Wow, what a show of commitment that was.

September Book Club

Tonight was my old book club's monthly meeting (I think, although they haven't kept me updated like I asked). The book they read was The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love by Jill Conner Browne. I was going to try and read it even though I knew I couldn't be there, but hey, I have a lot of schoolwork these days! I'm still trying to adjust. Anyway, if you have some free time, you should check out that whole Sweet Potatos Queen Web site. It's like its own society. Kinda scary.

Late Late Show guest hosts

Drew Carey filled in so far this week and although I haven't watched it yet, I plan to because I want to watch everyone and judge them on who I think is the best. These are supposed to be try-outs. I did this with The View, too, and I was right about two of the three finalists. Here is a list of future guest hosts for awhile, which includes the previously released names of Michael Ian Black, DL Hughley and Jim Rome, but seems to be missing Amy Sedaris, interestingly enough. What is most exciting to me, though, is that my personal choice for the hosting gig is included!! Yay! I am so going to be rooting for him. Why am I not employed by a network?

Hooray!

How AWESOME was that last episode of The Amazing Race? I am so thrilled that Chip & Kim won. I almost had a heart attack with all that drama, though. I'm not kidding. I was sad in the first hour when Colin came out of nowhere and whipped Linda's butt climbing that mountain, but the luging and Nicole's whinefest on the biking course in hour two was just classic. In Calgary, when Chip & Kim found out that early flight to Dallas had been delayed - priceless. It's pretty funny that Colin & Christie spent so much time preparing (calling ahead for a town car and pulling stuff out of their backpack to check), yet they didn't bother to check up on whether their flight had been delayed. Chip was totally right about the Colin on top of his game would have caught that. Overall, I think that is something that helped Chip & Kim win - their accurate awareness of their competitors and those competitors' downfalls. Other teams just wanted to beat the other teams; they didn't stop and consider HOW to beat them.

Another great moment was the problem of checking the bags. Both Colin & Christie and Brandon & Nicole felt they were going to get a leg up by checking their bags, yet it ended up screwing them in the end when they couldn't get on the United flight. They might not have been able to get on that flight anyway, but duh, everyone should know that their luggage cannot travel without them. It's like the number one rule of air travel since 9/11.

Oh yeah, and Drew did win Big Brother 5. Kind of a ho-hum finale. At least Drew is from Ohio. Go Ohio! Oh, and Jase really isn't that likeable even outside of the house, is he?

Can't Miss Finales

The finales of two of summer's big reality shows are tonight - Big Brother and two-time Emmy-winner The Amazing Race. While I'm guessing the Big Brother finale is going to be a bit predictable (I'm thinking Drew is going to win and it probably won't even be close), it's always fun to see the question and answer part with the jury. Jury members tend to be bitter. I suppose it is possible that Cowboy will win but I'm seeing it go down as Drew getting the votes of: Diane, Karen, Nakomis, Marvin, Will and Adria. I kind of see Natalie as maybe the only vote for Cowboy. It's always tough to call final votes, but on The Amazing Race you don't have to. It's pure action and four teams are left. I REALLY am rooting for Chip & Kim, but I think I'll be okay as long as Colin & Christie don't win. Don't forget, Colin & Christie will start off tonight without any money! That hasn't deterred any of the other groups so far, but with their winning personalities, it might not be as easy to get money from strangers.

Emmys

My column on Inside Pulse is all about the Emmys this week. I enjoyed E!'s Fashion Police because Janice Dickinson was ruthless. Ruthless! She called William Shatner a "stuffed pig!" Wow. Speaking of fashion, another thing to check out is the Clothes Off Our Back clothing auction, featuring some of the clothing of the Emmys up for auction for charity. Seriously, it's so interesting to see clothing sizes!

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Oh yeah - the Browns lost to Dallas yesterday. Like that is a surprise. Even more surprising, what seems like half of the team got hurt. Mr. #1 Pick Kellen Winslow might have a broken leg. Great. Jeff Garcia SUCKED so bad they had to put in the rookie quarterback. Great. Hey, where was Kelly Holcomb?

Oops, she did it Again

Like everyone isn't using that headline. But, anyway, Britney Spears got married over the weekend to that skanky dancer boyfriend of hers who left his pregnant wife for her. Lovely! Here is a link to some pictures (beware an obscene amount of pop-ups). It's so cute to see the matching warm-up suits worn by everyone. The men's say 'Pimp.' Britney's "dress" is just beautiful, too. I just saw the interview with her ex-husband, Jason Alexander, on The Larry Elder Show last week, and he said that Britney's mom had a major freak-out after they got married, saying he ruined her life. Interesting that she seems to think Kevin Federline is fine for her daughter.

Emmys

I'm not sure that I need to remind anyone that the Emmys are on tonight! Yay! I made my picks for who wins via an article on Inside Pulse. Like I know anything.

Two Horsemen

I don't know what Drew was thinking tonight on Big Brother 5 by keeping Cowboy and getting rid of Diane, but I hope he's right about thinking he can beat Cowboy. If it didn't mean that Cowboy would win, I almost would want Drew to lose for getting rid of his girlfriend for COWBOY. How I hate Cowboy. Maybe it was a smart move. I mean, people might have appreciated Diane's strategy possibly and given her the money. But, then again, they might still give it to Michael (although I doubt it). Michael seems pretty sure that he is going to win, for some reason, but it was quite the eye-opener when Julie read those questions, I bet. Who does Adria want to keep in touch with? Drew, not Michael. Who would Marvin not want to be related to? Michael. Whose actions surprised Nakomis the most? Michael. Hee hee. You could almost see Michael want to cry as each question came.

Survivor premiere

My first recap of the season is up. Eh, it was a so-so opener. I think there was too much of the tribal stuff in the beginning but I know Mark Burnett loves that stuff. If he really felt that all needed to be included, then the episode should have been longer. It would have been nice to see more of what happened at camp, considering there really was no explanation for why Brook was voted out. I understand the targeting of the young buff men, but why Brook specifically? It's interesting that as badly as Chris messed up, he was able to save himself. In fact, it never seemed like most of the men ever considered getting rid of him. It makes me wonder if there were some work ethic issues between the older guys and the younger guys, just as there were in the women's camp, that we just didn't see. Other than that: Brady is HOT! Eliza is annoying (sorry - I hope I don't see her around campus). And I think I'm going to like Scout.

Tonight's the Night

Survivor: Vanuatu debuts tonight! I wasn't that excited about it until I watched the live internet talk show today with Richard Hatch and Chris Booker (read about it in the upper-right-hand corner of that link). The guest today was Jeff Probst. It was cool and I'm seriously excited to have a way to hear commentary from Hatch all season long. I'll love to hear an hour of him telling players how stupid they were. The booted players will be the guests on the Friday shows. He's going to ask good questions, I just know it. The only thing that seems to be a bummer is that it doesn't seem like the shows are archived so if you can't watch them right at 2pm (EST) then you don't get to see them at all. It may be too early to tell that, though. Housecalls (the Big Brother internet talk show) is archived.

More Star News

Star Jones is going to be the replacement for Joan and Melissa Rivers on the E! Emmy Red Carpet coverage this Sunday. She claims in the New York Post (via TV Tattle) that she won't be snarky. Umm, what's the point then? I hate when they kiss the celebrities' asses all the time. Joan Rivers mocking Kevin Costner's choice in engagement ring was the best red carpet moment ever.

November 13th

You all might want to 'save the date' for the wedding of Star Jones! She announced her wedding date today on The View. Apparently, the wedding is 'white tie,' which means that it is as formal as possible. Fun. Of interest, two of her co-workers announced that their husbands cannot attend and Star would not let them substitute someone else! What a be-yotch! If you are in the mood to gag, you can check out the official Star and Al Web site here.

Yowza!

I read this online about Tracey Gold's DUI earlier today but here is The Smoking Gun link (via TV Tattle) complete with horrible mug shot. Think her eyes are all teary because she broke her son's clavicle? Ow! Poor kid. One question, though. If the husband was in the car, why wasn't he driving?

Another Column

My second column for Inside Pulse went up today.

Larry Who?

I have no idea who this Larry Elder guy is but I've seen the commercials and he has a new talk show debuting tomorrow. He's obviously smart, too, because his first guest is Jason Alexander! Not Jason Alexander the actor from Seinfeld but the Jason Alexander who was married to Britney Spears for like four hours. The topic of the show is 'Was This Marriage a Mistake?' Uh, I think we know the answer to that one. But, seriously, I have to tune in to hear this!

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Yay! The Cleveland Browns won their season opener - home opener, even - today! It's like the first time in years that they won their first game. And it wasn't even close. Take that, Deion. Bet you didn't come back to lose to the Browns.

Highly Recommended

It occurred to me that I saw a movie like over a month or six weeks ago that I really wanted to praise on here but then with my moving and everything, I never got around to it. Anyway, it's The Station Agent. It was really, really good. Quirky characters, but touching and funny, too. I even developed a bit of a crush on Bobby Cannavale after watching it. Bobby's supposedly going to be back on Will & Grace this year as Will's boyfriend. Hope so!

Denial Ain't Just a River in Egypt

Ken Jennings denies that he loses in the 75th game. (link via TV Tattle) Whatever. We'll see. Like we expected him to be on the show for the rest of his life. Of course he is going to lose sometime! He's not going to admit when it happens but I don't know why the poor guy is out doing interviews where he has to lie. He'll be on The Ellen Degeneres Show on Monday, too.

Actually, now that I think of it, if he was still taping shows, he would be there, at the Sony lot, taping shows, wouldn't he? He wouldn't be able to appear on The Early Show and The Ellen Degeneres Show and who knows where else...

Joey Love

I watched Joey last night and enjoyed it! I'm pretty hard to please with new shows, too. I'm not so sure if I would have enjoyed it if I wasn't already invested in the Joey character but I am, so what can I do? I laughed out loud more than once (even at the jokes I've seen over and over and over and over during the summer commercials... ie "I'm name"), which is saying a LOT, and I really liked his dorky nephew. The two guys living together will have a nice dynamic and it's good to see that Joey won't have to live alone. I'm glad they didn't go with the obvious and made the good-looking neighbor married. And Joey's job-hunting and failed auditions really never gets old. Newspaper columnists have mixed reviews: the good and the bad. (links via TV Tattle, of course)

Bye-Bye Karen!

I was not sorry to see Karen leave on Big Brother 5 tonight. I don't like the way she played the game and I found her pretty annoying. However, I REALLY hope Michael goes next. I think the final three should be Drew, Diane and Nakomis, with either Nakomis or Diane winning. I like Drew but I don't think he deserves to win. You shouldn't win just because you are a nice guy - he hasn't shown a whole lot of strategic mind, has he? I am glad that Drew is HOH this week and will not be voting. I hope he puts up Nakomis and Michael and Diane gets rid of Michael OR he puts up Diane and Nakomis and Diane is able to save herself. We'll see.

Jeopardy! Spoilers

Blog Kottke.org has been fanatical in finding out information about uber-winner Ken Jennings and his long stay on Jeopardy! Reported yesterday was the number of episodes that Ken lasts (yes, he does eventually lose) and today is the final Jeopardy! question that was apparently Ken's downfall. Too funny.

Celebrity Poker Showdown Season....4?

I'm not sure what the latest season number should be, but there are three champs so I guess it's up to four. Anyway, Bravo has released info about the next season, including debut date (Oct. 10 - I guess it will air on Sundays now) and contestants (including a number of returnees). There is only one person I don't know - who is Neil Flynn?

Craig's Perfect Replacement

Last night, I came up with the perfect replacement for Craig Kilborn on The Late Late Show: David Alan Grier. He's funny but not in a stand-up way. (I know he does do stand-up, but he is more conversational.) He's very smart and quick. He seems to not be able to get a television show that sticks and he never seems to play the lead in any movies (therefore, he's probably available.) He seems up for anything. Plus, he's African-American, which would probably be a great choice ratings-wise. I don't know - I really think he would be perfect. I know I'd tune in.

On The Late Show with David Letterman last night, Regis Philbin offered himself up for the job, too, but Letterman seemed to not like that idea. He also insisted the show needs to stay in Los Angeles. Regis wouldn't be too bad, actually, but the poor man really needs to stop working so much as it is, instead of adding new projects.

Tivo + Netflix = Wow

So, this article from Newsweek (via TV Tattle) talks about an impending partnership between Tivo and NetFlix that will eventually see subscribers to both services able to download the rented movies directly into their TVs. That would be cool. Already with NetFlix, you don't have to leave your home to rent movies but with these plans, you won't have to even make the walk to your mailbox. Wow.

Inside Pulse

Yes, Survivor-Central is officially no more and I now write for Inside Pulse. TV is the light green section, I guess. My first column was posted today. I'm going to be writing a general television column (or, in Inside Pulse lingo, a flagship) every Tuesday along with my Survivor recaps that will post every Thursday night/Friday morning just like before.

Ohio, Ohio, Ohio

When he was on The Late Show with David Letterman last week, Tim Russert predicted the Presidential election this year will come down to the state of Ohio, much like he correctly predicted that the 2000 election would come down to the state of Florida. And it did. That worries me, but that is exactly why I'm voting absentee. It is SO important to vote.

Big Brother To Evict Two This Week

Apparently, since there are too many contestants left in the game and too few weeks, the latest twist on the show involves someone getting voted out today and another getting voted out Saturday. Here is the full story. So, hopefully Adria AND Michael will leave this week.

You know, I thought there seemed like too many people left in the house for it to be September, but I didn't really do the math.

Soapbox - OLTL

It's been awhile since I commented on any soaps but I just wanted to mention that David Fumero is coming back to One Life to Live!!! He plays Christian Vega and he is darn cute. I knew he would be back sooner or later and I was so happy to read in the latest issue of ABC Soaps in Depth (delivered to my new home!) that he'll be back soon. I hope he figures into the Santi storyline - like Tico has had him held hostage all this time. Anything to make Antonio even crazier.

In other OLTL news from my rag mag, it mentioned that John McBain would be traveling to Pine Valley and AMC for a murder investigation of a Llanview resident. Hmm... a Llanview resident who knows people in Pine Valley... YAY! Paul is going to be murdered! That has to be it, doesn't it? And there will be all sorts of suspects, especially once the truth about the baby switch comes out. I was expecting a Paul murder months ago but in the meantime, they sort of tried to redeem him a little. Maybe with Christian coming back, they decided it was finally time to get rid of Paul.

I got CABLE!!

I finally got cable in my new apartment and it makes me so very happy!! No more monkeying around with the rabbit ears antenna, praying that CBS comes in. I even checked out some of my new channels, like YES and Trio and Lifetime Real Women. Plus, I get something called iControl, which lets me watch certain saved programs whenever I want to watch them. I watched some calls from Crank Yankers, part of some Lenny Kravitz concert and Rudy Guliani's RNC speech. It's kind of cool.

Late Late Show Hosts Named

According to this article (via TV Tattle), four guest hosts have been named to replace Craig Kilborn for the time being, although no details are given as to how long they will be there or if there will be others, too. Interesting choices and I'm really not going to complain about any of them. Amy Sedaris is no surprise at all, and I like that a woman is in the running. I've never hidden my love of Jim Rome, so I have no complaints there. He is a good interviewer and he's got a great fan base to draw from, but I'm not so convinced he can deviate from sports. Michael Ian Black - I'm torn about him. He seriously cracks me up on things like "I Love the 80s," but a whole hour of him? I'm not sure about that. And D.L. Hughley - hey, he's funny. He is. So far, so good.

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.

Big Brother Justice

Phew! How great was it to see Diane win Head of Household after 9 1/2 hours of pushing down that button? And, better than that, she did the right thing by putting up the two idiots, Jase and Scott. Hopefully one of them will be eliminated this week, even though the Power of Veto is still out there for the taking. They can't both win it! I think we are soon going to see the Four Horsemen turn on each other.

I never posted after Thursday's episode to cheer the dismissal of Holly. Thank God she is gone! She was so annoying. And, now Scott and Jase are free to be together because I really think that is what is going on there. Although, when you think about it, that was the stupidest decision ever - to get rid of someone on their side like that. Really stupid. How classic was it when Holly saw the Adria/Natalie twist? I don't think she even understood it. I almost wish that Natalie wouldn't come into the house for a few more weeks, to see more reactions like that.

Interesting Campaign Strategy

The Cleveland Browns training camp received a surprise visit from President Bush today. In town to help kickoff the International Children's Games, President Bush sure is making some smart campaign moves targeting those undecided voters in our key state of Ohio. First, he targets children from all the nations of the world (high voter turnout from among that group, I think) and then he hits up a professional football team's training camp, where the average salary is something like $800,000. So, I'm guessing most of them were already big fans of Bush anyway. I'll tell you one thing - that picture of Bush and Butch is enough to make me wish I had a dartboard.

Mirna and Schmirna Survive Another Week

Well, I'm not sure what to say about this week's The Amazing Race. I could care less about Bob and Joyce leaving. Bye! I was glad to see Chip inhale that caviar and grab first place with his wife, just as he was starting to get on my nerves. Good for them! Back on my good side. Those beauty queens were certainly annoying about the caviar, but they and their scary boyfriends are annoying pretty much the whole time. Is it that hard to eat caviar, by the way? At least it wasn't like cow testicles or pig intestines or some other disgusting food that gets eaten on other reality shows. The self-described fat pizza brothers aren't doing too well on the eating challenges, surprisingly. One would think that would be something they are good at. I really enjoyed how miserable the person who ate all that caviar looked at the pit stop. Phil could obviously tell which person had done all the eating. And what to say about Charla and Mirna. I know lots of people hate them, like my mother and the people in this article, but I am constantly changing my mind about them. One minute I'm annoyed that Charla is lying about needing to see a doctor to get on the waiting list for a flight and the next minute I'm laughing and cheering that they arrive in Frankfurt first. One minute I'm annoyed that Mirna is interrupting Colin's conversation with the bus station guy and the next minute I'm rooting for them to hurry up and block five goals. Very, very weird this love-hate relationship for them.

Rocco's on 22nd Closes

According to this article from the New York Post (via TV Tattle), The Restaurant is closing at the end of August. Poor, poor Rocco. Obviously, he'll have more time to make television appearances and to write more cookbooks this way so I'm not sure he should be too upset. Plus, I'm assuming Union Square or whatever his other restaurant is called is still open.

Convention, Day 2

I found Teresa's speech a little long and hard to pay attention to, but she made some good points: primarily, that it's okay for women to have opinions and instead of being called 'opinionated' should just be called 'smart' and 'well-informed'. Amen sista! I found it annoying that many of the male pundits afterward claim she won't attract the "Middle America" women - that the average US woman will be put off by her. Also interesting is that all of the female pundits seemed to disagree strongly with the know-it-all men. Hmm, I wonder who has a better idea on what women might think.

And, I'm sorry, but I think I found my future husband last night. Is it wrong that as Chris Heinz was introducing his mother, I was looking for a wedding ring? What a cutie. Add him to my crush list.

Heh - I Knew Big Brother Would Think of Something

I'm fairly positive that Adria is going to be eliminated this week, now that she is on the block, but I was wondering what CBS was going to do about their big twin twist, since she wouldn't be lasting long enough to bring both of them in the house. Well, I just saw the commercial that says that if Adria is evicted, her twin moves in! I kind of figured that would happen because there must be enough time alotted in the season to take into account both twin evictions were they both to come in the house. If they were both eliminated, the show would be left with an extra week in their season. ANYTHING they have to do to get rid of those Four Horsemen A-Holes is fine by me, fair or not. That Jase has REALLY got to go and I HOPE that one of the "good" people gets Head of Household this week or I will really stop watching.

Democratic National Convention

I posted about this yesterday but for some reason, it never hit the server. Republican interference perhaps?! Anyway, I didn't feel like re-typing it all. I was interested to see President Clinton's speech and wow, I liked it. I think it was a very good speech and most of the pundits seemed to agree. You can see or read it via this link on the official Democratic National Convention site. Tonight, I'm interested to hear Ron Reagan's speech. When even his eulogy to his father had some biting comments directed at President Bush, you have to wonder what his speech at the Democratic Convention is going to be like. Teresa Heinz Kerry speaks tonight, too. Unfortunately, for those of you without cable, your only option for watching is PBS.

Seacrest Out for Good

Apparently, On Air with Ryan Seacrest has been cancelled (according to this via TV Barn) - another talk show down the drain. As far as the other recently cancelled talk shows go (Living it Up! With Ali & Jack, The Wayne Brady Show), I would say Ryan's was one of the better. He had a nice mix of celebrities, gossip and music and didn't try to entertain us with stupid comedy and monologues. Or his own singing. Plus, he got lots of fans involved. But, oh well. It's not like he's hurting for a job. New daytime talk shows seem to rarely last more than a year nowadays anyway, at least on the major networks. It will be interesting to see how Tony Danza and Jane Pauley do this fall.

Speaking of my book club...

The choice for our next book club, which meets August 11th, is The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I know I read this book way back in 1996 around the time it came out but I don't remember the slightest thing about it. So, whatever that tells you about the book. At least it's an easy read as I prepare to make my big move out-of-state... Oh, and there is the movie that is in theaters, too.

Jesus, Mary & Da Vinci

According to this ABC press release (via TV Barn), the network plans to re-air its special investigating the controversy surrounding The Da Vinci Code next week. I may actually tune in because I missed it the first time and have since read the book for my book club. Of course, I did read about it here at the time of our book club. I also have seen a similar special on The National Geographic Channel. Interesting.

Lance Makes it Six

Lance Armstrong won his sixth Tour de France today - an amazing accomplishment! No one has ever won six before. Apparently, Lance hasn't decided yet whether or not he will come back to try for a seventh win in 2005. It was an especially impressive run during that last time trial, in my opinion. But, one question: Is he even divorced yet?

Maybe This Time Holly Will Go

On Big Brother 5, the annoying Holly is once again up for eviction. Let's hope this time that her game boyfriend Jase doesn't save her again, should he win the Power of Veto. I find it incredibly amusing that they all seem to think she is this clever mastermind manipulating them all. I mean, they DO live with her right? I wouldn't doubt that she has actress ambitions but come on, all that stupid ditziness is not fake. Also of note, idiot Scott seems to think it is a smart move to lie to everyone and make them all think he is loaded and drives an Escalade and doesn't need the money. Well, did it occur to him that all those stories gives everyone else more ammunition to vote him out? Duh! No one wants to award $500,000 to someone who is already rich!

I might have to switch soaps...

Survivor hunk and Schick Quattro spokesperson Colby is coming to the soaps! TV Barn printed this press release from CBS Daytime that tells of Colby Donaldson hitting The Young & The Restless on Aug. 25th. I guess it's only a one-day thing. Too bad.

No Joan & Melissa!

According to this article (via TV Tattle), Joan and Melissa Rivers won't be able to do their thing at the Emmy red carpet this year, thanks to an exclusive contract between E! (the network they left) and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. At first I was a little perturbed because I enjoy Joan and Melissa, but, honestly, I just love red carpet coverage and I know E! is still going to have it, with or without Joan and Melissa.

Reality Roundup

For starters, I haven't had a chance to watch The Amazing Race yet. I planned on watching it this morning but our new Adelphia DVR/cable box was broken or something so there goes all the things saved on the hard drive...

I did watch Last Comic Standing and Big Brother, however. All I have to say about Big Brother is that I cannot stand that Scott and I cannot believe that Holly got saved. Ick ick ick. As far as Last Comic Standing goes, those people in the focus group were too funny and boy, did they take their job seriously. They must have been really well-paid for that because I remember once I got picked for one of those surveys at the mall where I had to watch a movie screener over and over and over and over and over again and it was all I could do to make it through. I just said the stupidest things about the movie promo so they would LET ME LEAVE!! But they wouldn't let me leave! And I think I got a measly $5 for it. It was seriously a hellacious experience. I'm glad Corey was the one to leave, not that I don't like him, but out of the three I think he was the least funniest. I guess he will be my pick for the wildcard next week, though, if someone has to come back. I'm sure they are just doing that to drag out the successful season. As far as I'm concerned, just move forward. What they should do is continue the face-to-face competitions until there are only three (instead of five) left and then let America vote on the top three.

25 Best Sports Movies

I started to get into these ESPN shows that are a part of the network's 25th anniversary. I saw some of the episode that ranked the 25 Most Outrageous Characters. Mike Tyson was tops - no surprise there. This one counts down the 25 best sports movies over the last 25 years. And, again, they got it right with the top spot - Hoosiers. No contest. That movie is awesome. I disagree with some of the other rankings, though. Seabiscuit should be higher - that was a fantastic movie. Jerry Maguire should be much lower (although I must admit that I have never seen most of the movie) - because I don't even consider that a real sports movie. And, although I admit to being biased, Major League deserves higher than #14. At least the fans put it higher. Speaking of the fans vs. the "experts" - it's interesting what a discrepancy there is between "Rudy." I'd definitely put it higher than #24.

The Homework Never Ends

I finally got my project finished for my big summer class on Friday - phew! - but now I have to get moving on reading the next book club book - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. Book Club meets on Wednesday night. I started the book yesterday and honestly, am not really enjoying it. However, I am about halfway done already. I also found a cool site that is basically on online version of Cliffs Notes. For now, it is helping me understand what I have read so far but, if need be, it might help me finish the book much quickly!!

Another Anniversary

Today is my parents' wedding anniversary!  They have been together for 34 years. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

I'm Still Too Old - And I Still Can't Sing

American Idol has decided to raise the age limit for Season 4. Now contestants can be up to 28 years old, which apparently is 2 yrs more than before, although I thought the age limit was 25 before. They did not raise it on the lower end, however, despite all of Simon's grumblings about people (like Diana) being too young. That article also mentions that tryouts start here in Cleveland on August 4. Yay! Ryan, Paula, Randy and Simon are coming to Cleveland!!

See ya Mike!

So I was bad and watched Big Brother tonight instead of working on my big final project for school, but I wanted to see this whole twin thing play out finally, so I procrastinated. And, wow, how lame. So, Adria and her twin, Natalie, are sneaking in and out of the house. What's the point? If they make it five weeks, they will both get to stay in the house as individuals at that point. Sure, and then, in the sixth week, one of them will be targeted to go and in the seventh week, the other one will be targeted to go. Big deal. I don't see how in the world someone would let two twins stay in the house. Heck, most of them are questioning letting Michael and Jennifer stay as brother and sister and they've only known each other for a few days! Also, what happens if they ARE found out? It simply stops and one of them (presumably Adria) gets to stay? Honestly, I kind of am surprised that Diane hasn't figured it out since she seems to be so buddy-buddy with Adria. AND, she's a twin herself so you would think she would notice subtle differences between people. Those chicks must be good. Then again, why would you be looking for trouble from your ally?

That being said, with Marvin as HOH, I'm guessing he will probably stick with the plan of the "Four Horsemen" and will put up Adriatalie and/or Diane. Maybe not, though, because I imagine he wouldn't mind being alpha male and keeping some of those nice-looking ladies around. He's a bit of a wildcard. And, by the way, in my opinion, I would have saved Mike's ass, made him totally indebted to me and put up one of those gals this week. Then, I'd add someone else to my stable and have one less opponent. But that's just me - I'm not a cocky jerk thinking I've got the game in the bag after week one. Certainly those four idiots can count (maybe not...) and can realize that just because they are a solid four doesn't give them an advantage. There are 8 others out there, after all.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Today is my big brother's birthday! Happy Birthday to him. He is turning one year older than me.

Brian shares a birthday with such famous people as 90210'er Brian Austin Green (another Brian!), comedian Eddie Griffin (who I've seen in person!! He's way shorter than my brother, by the way.), former Felicity actors Scott Foley (cute!) and Amanda Foreman, One Life to Live old fogey Phil Carey, and three big-time politicians: Barry Goldwater, Jesse Ventura and Ohio's own favorite senator George Voinovich. Yay!

Emmy Nominations

The Emmy nominations were announced this morning and here is a complete list. It's a lot of the same as always, I think, with a few notable surprises, if you can call it that. For instance, I can't believe Will & Grace is up for Best Comedy this year. I thought it was horrible this year. And all those critics must be so thrilled that Arrested Development got some nominations. I'm 'eh' about it - take it or leave it. I think I'm most surprised about John Ritter's nomination - not so much that he wasn't a funny guy, but he was only in like three episodes before his unfortunate passing. But you kind of know he's going to be a shoo-in, don't you think? Maybe not. I'm glad that Kristin Davis was finally nominated for supporting actress for Sex & the City, although I find it a little annoying that three of the slots in that category are from that show. I'm sure that will be a place to sit when all those bickering ladies have to sit together. I hope she or Cynthia wins and not Kim. I'm glad Sean Hayes was nominated, as usual. He's the only thing I still love about Will & Grace. Well, and Eric. But too bad the storylines are so lame. Yay for Victor Garber. And Matt LeBlanc. (And Drea De Matteo, too - suddenly Joey has some credibility!) And I'm really thrilled with Amber Tamblyn's nomination. Go Amber! Also, good call on the Reality-Competition nominees. Those probably are the five best reality shows on the air: American Idol, The Amazing Race, Last Comic Standing, The Apprentice and Survivor. Oh well, can't wait. Sept. 19th.

Go All-Stars

Today is Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Surprisingly, my hometown team, the Cleveland Indians, have FIVE players in the game. That is the second-most of any team. You would think that we were in first place or something. Anyway, go AL! They had six runs in the first inning off of Roger Clemens so it looks good!

Last Comic Standing Spoiler??

In this week's TV Guide (the one that starts with the listings for July 18), there is an article about Last Comic Standing where they have six contestants tell us why we should vote for them. Well, currently, there are 7 people. So, I'm wondering if the person not in the article is the person who goes home tonight! I hope because it's this person. And I don't think that person is funny.

I Love the 90s

VH-1 is debuting some new programs this week, not the least of which is I Love the 90s, their latest attempt to capitalize off the success of the I Love the 80s (which was followed by I Love the 70s and I Love the 80s Strikes Back - neither of which was as great as the original). I can't wait to catch them all but, unfortunately, I'm a little busy this week with my final project for the class I'm taking, so I'll have to watch them later. I'm not sure if the 90s will be as fun to watch as the 80s because it sort of lacks that "Oh yeah! I remember that!!" excitement. After all, 1999 was only 5 years ago.

Another new show is A2Z, which sounds like an interesting, mindless thing to tune into when you might be looking for something to watch. The only bad thing about this show is that Ant is involved in this, since I saw him promoting it on Dennis Miller last week. However, checking out its site, it seems you can get all the interesting tidbits about the chosen celebrity without having to even watch the program!

One Year and Still Together!

Happy Anniversary to my brother and his wife as they celebrate one year as husband and wife today! Congratulations Brian & Melissa!

Welcome to the World, Jake!

Congratulations to my friends Melanie and Nathan, who became proud parents of Jacob Harrison today. I'm very happy for them!!!

Out of Town

Just a short note to let everyone know I'm going out of town for a few days and will probably not be checking in... I will be taking a laptop but whether or not the Internet access will be working is always questionable. Not to mention that I might not have any spare time. I have 2 1/2 days to check out about 60 apartments!

Reality Roundup

Normally, I would give a much more detailed discussion of the big night in reality programming that was last night, but I'm so crazy busy right now that I am only going to touch on them all...

First up, Last Comic Standing. Yay! Ant got squashed! I was happy to see him go. I think Gary is funnier, not to mention that Ant was kind of annoying with the whole alliance thing. I think he was lying at the end when he said he wasn't the one pulling the strings. Who else would it be?


Next, Big Brother. Or, should I say, Big "Half" Brother? I have to say they have sucked me in, so far. It was interesting to see Michael realize that Jennifer (or Nicademus or whatever she calls herself - and I think it's funny that CBS isn't backing her and has her on their site as 'Jennifer') was his half-sister. I expected there to be more drama around it than there was. I mean, she has a unique last name and how many people have fathers with half a foot that they lost in Vietnam? Those are some pretty unique characteristics. It took him all of three seconds to realize they shared a father. It really is fascinating to me, though, especially to hear them both talk so differently about this man who is their father. I still hope Jennifer is eliminated first, because I want to see what kind of stuff CBS will pull to keep her in the game to keep up the drama.

Finally, The Amazing Race. It was exciting, as always, and there are some early leaders for Most Disliked Team. I can't stand Marshall & Lance and both of the Christie/Brandon/Colin/Nicole groups. Those two girls are seriously indistinguishable without their boyfriends. I am not a big fan of Bob & Joyce so far. I don't mind the twins, although they should open their eyes a bit. And Chip & Kim seem cool. I was happy to see them get way ahead (although their stupid mistake hurt them). And, surprise of all surprises, Alison didn't bother me too much. Yet. Finally, I found Mirna pretty irritating. I mean, why does she have to hold Charla's hand everywhere they go and then tell us, in the next breath, that this woman is so strong and amazing and can do anything? I think Charla should have found a different partner! Oh, and last but not least. How gross was that injury of Jim's? I laughed at first when I saw the people hit the deck at the start but 25 stitches is no laughing matter! Everytime I see that pair, I can't stop thinking that Marsha is a dead-ringer for Debra Messing.

CBS Reality Shows

Tonight are the premieres of the two big CBS reality shows: Big Brother and The Amazing Race. Every year I say I'm not going to watch Big Brother because it's annoying, but every year I get sucked in to those idiots and end up watching it pretty religiously. This year, there is a big "twist" where two of the people are related but do not know it. I'm not sure how CBS plans for this to work out, but I hope one of the two gets eliminated early before a big reveal. The Amazing Race is a completely different story because I LOVE that show. I cannot WAIT!!

Product Review: Crest Whitestrips

I'd been pondering the usage of one of those tooth whitening products for some time but only decided to go ahead and purchase one after it was marked down and put on the clearance rack at my local Target. With a coupon and the marked down price, it came to like $4, which is a really good deal. Not only that, but it came packaged with a tube of toothpaste, which is why it was on clearance, I assume. Big packaging, limited space. So, I bought and tried Crest Night Effects.

Verdict: Waste of money. I don't think my teeth were particularly yellow or brown or discolored at all before using the product, but after using the product, they certainly weren't noticeably whiter either. On top of that, there was barely enough of the product to cover my teeth. The package comes with 14 individual packets and 14 little applicator brushes. Obviously, you are supposed to use one package a night for 14 straight nights. You put it on after you brush your teeth before bed and keep it on all night. Fine. Well, some of the packets had enough cream to cover most of my teeth, but some of the packets only had enough to cover like 4 teeth. Not one packet covered all my teeth. Oh, it might be useful to know that I only have 24 teeth, too, unlike the average adult who has 32 teeth. So, if the product can't cover my 24 teeth, those of you with the normal number of teeth will really struggle. I always started with the same teeth so my top front teeth did get the full 14-day allotment without the result. The brush is kind of difficult to use, too, because the cream stuff tends to stick to it and not come off on my teeth. Once you put it on, it makes your teeth feel pretty grimy, which didn't bother me but I know might bother some. It didn't have a bad taste or anything, at least, and seemed to brush off very easily in the morning. Anyway, bottom line, like I said: waste of money.

Holiday or Not?

Hope everyone had a Happy Independence Day! We spent most of today wondering if it was a holiday or not. For instance: No Mail = Holiday. Day Off of Work = Holiday. Banks closed = Holiday. Mall open regular hours = Not holiday. Grocery Store closed = Holiday. Garbage pickup = Not holiday. But, see, we just assumed that the mall would be closing early and that the garbage would not be picked up. We were wrong. While it doesn't really hurt us to have a few extra hours to shop, it does kind of suck to have garbage stinking up the house for an extra week. Oops.

Celebrity Poker Showdown Finale

Another enjoyable episode. Did anyone else notice that the players were eliminated in the same order that their episodes aired?

40 Greatest Reality TV Moments

Has anyone caught this show that's been playing on VH-1? I've seen bits and pieces, but really, it's better to just check out the list on the Web if you, like me, are curious at the ranking but don't have the patience to sit through two hours of programming. I agree with some of them, especially the top two. I mean, seriously, Justin Timberlake's Punk'd episode is a high that the show has not reached again, in my opinion. (Too bad it aired in like the very first episode.) And Sue Hawk's speech was seriously awesome. But, number three is stupid. And I don't even want to talk about number four or number five. As memorable as William Hung is, does he deserve the number four spot? Ditto Omarosa. I have only seen one episode of Cheaters, but boy, if the host got STABBED during an episode, I should think it should get a higher ranking. And ditto Stephen's slap of Irene from Real World: Seattle. That deserves to be higher than the Joe Millionaire and Average Joe: Hawaii finale reveals just on sheer reality importance alone. Honestly, there should be a lot more Real World moments on the list anyway.