I'm Back...

That’s right, I’m back. After a short break, I’m ready to settle into the summer shows.

I’m not really sure when tv execs decided that summer should be the time for new series, instead of the re-runs that were on every night in the summers growing up. But, for the most part, I like the trend. I wish I could say the same thing for the shows.

I’ve already given up on a couple of this summer’s big shows. On the Lot was good for the first episode (when they highlighted the creative process of the directors). Then it wasn’t. I quickly decided to cut my losses on that one. Same with Pirate Master. I SO wanted to like the show. But after about 15 minutes, the show was so unwatchable I had to turn it off. What a shame. And I didn’t even try with America’s Got Talent this season. It was so horrible last summer – I don’t see how Sharon Osbourne could make it better.

So what’s left? So You Think You Can Dance? is back, and I love it again. And Big Brother starts again in a few weeks. I also have Age of Love ready to watch on my tivo – I just wish the tv people wouldn’t put these things on opposite Red Sox games. :)

National Bingo Night

Yes, I watched. No, I'm not proud.

Best Reality Show of the Weekend

That's right, back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs to cap off a sweep of the Yankees. Between that (that's right, four home runs in a row) and Mariano Rivera blowing the save on Friday night I'm very very happy.

back from break with a few things on my mind

So, I'm back from Spring Break, and I really hadn't planned on blogging about the episodes I missed (I know, you're all crushed). I really just watched lots and lots of baseball (go Red Sox!), and caught most of my reality shows on tivo the next day. But I have a few things that I just have to get out of my brain and on to the internet.

First, there's Survivor. I have never hated a contestant before. I've hated how some play the game, or the character they choose to be on the show. But they all seem like nice enough, decent people in real life (see Jerri Manthey...hated her on the show, seems nice enough in the real world). But I think I actually hate Lisi. Did she not understand that the things she was saying in her confessionals would be aired on national television? I have a real problem with how mean she was. And I think I could have even forgiven her as it being in the "heat of the moment" if i hadn't seen her on "Survivor Live" the day after she was eliminated. The hosts asked a few times about things she said in the confessionals, clearly giving her the opportunity to use the "I hadn't eaten and I really didn't mean it" line. And each time, Lisi affirmed what she had said on the island. She affirmed that she was on a team of losers (hello! You SUCKED at challenges!), and that she didn't like Dreamz. She also still doesn't understand that Ed's name is Edgardo, NOT Eduardo, and said that Boo is the reason that Moto keeps winning. I can't stand her.

Speaking of people I can't stand, there's Sanjaya. Sure, it was funny at first. But now it seems like he's decided he's going to win, and it's just not so funny. I understand that the judges have realized that by slamming him they're only giving him more votes (hence the "I'll take a different approach" approach last week), but they need to accept that Sanjaya's in it for the long haul, and go back to being honest. Either that, or come up with some sort of reason that he needs to drop out. Whatever works.

Still watching Dancing With the Stars, and excited that The Bachelor is back. And last night's episodes of Apprentice and Amazing Race deserve their own blogs. More to come later tonight.

Armed and Famous

Have I watched the show? NO. I hadn't even planned on it - you know the premise of a show is bad when I don't tivo it. I didn't even feel bad about it. That is, until today. I love love love the Don and Mike show. It's a syndicated radio show that I've listened to since middle school. Seriously. They rock. So on today's show, Mike was talking about how great Armed and Famous was. To the point that I'm thinking about giving it a try. The episodes are online...I'll let you know...

Dancing With the Stars

I’ll tell you, I just don’t know what to say about Dancing With the Stars. The thing is, that I really enjoy watching it. I’m a big fan of dance, and ballroom dancing is actually a lot of fun to watch. But for whatever reason, I find that I have nothing to say. (I know, it’s shocking). I think that it has a lot to do with the fact that the dancers are B-list celebs and professional ballroom dancers that I’ve never heard from. I mean, as much as I loved Blossom and Saved by the Bell, I just can’t get behind rooting for Joey Lawrence or Mario Lopez. I think that that’s the biggest difference between this and So You Think You Can Dance? – the connection factor.

So, no, I have no predictions on who I think will go home tomorrow night. But I did enjoy the dancing a lot. So while I probably will give the results show a miss (especially since The Biggest Loser premier is on tomorrow night too), but I’ll tune in next week to watch the dancing again.

Celb Duets

You know how sometimes shows are really good? Then there are the shows that are bad? Then there are the shows that are so bad they’re good? I’m not sure where Celebrity Duets falls. I take that back. I am sure that it wasn’t really good. So it’s somewhere between bad and so bad it’s good. Really hard to say so far.

Some of it was ok. Jai Rodriguez (from Queer Eye) is actually a pretty good singer. And…well…ok, so we’ve got Jai Rodriguez. Hal Sparks was on (you may know Hal Sparks from “I Love the 80s”). And there was the spectacle of the judges, since Little Richard was the “Paula Abdul judge” for the show.

More than anything else, I just wish that Simon Cowell would stop making shows. Stick to Idol and be done with it. Please.

Master of Champions...not really...

I can’t believe that I sat through another night of Master of Champions, albeit a few days later on tivo. Is this what television has come to?

The first competitors on the dining room motorcycle course made no sense to me – I know they kept saying how much harder it was than it looked, but it didn’t look very hard at all. I say this with the admission that in my house we never miss the X-Games. For whatever reason, my husband LOVES the X-Games, and this was nothing compared to what those guys can do.

But somewhere in the middle of the karate act, I realized that this show is really horrible. That’s right, there has just GOT to be something better on tv. Anything. So no idea who ended up tonight on the wall of champions, and that’s really an ok thing.

Master of Champions

The latest entry into the summer reality replacement show contest is Master of Champions. Each week “champions” in obscure fields (unicycle riding, drift racing, “unique talents”…) compete head to head, then the audience votes which one should be the medalist. A panel of “champions” ties the whole thing together by giving their opinions, then awarding the title of “master of champions” to one of the medalists at the end of the show.

I’ll tell you, this show definitely falls into the category of “so bad it’s good” television. The whole thing is ridiculous. Really ridiculous. But, honestly, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. There’s something captivating about watching drift racers grate cheese with their cars, or extreme unicyclists on an obstacle course. That, and everyone on the show takes it really really seriously. There’s play-by-play, bio videos, scoring…it’s as if someone thinks that these are real skills. And who knew that there was such a thing as the world unicycle champion?

Tonight’s master of champions? Princess Elayne, a 14-year old contortionist who shot a bow and arrow. With her feet. Blindfolded. I’ll admit, it was pretty impressive. So she’s now on the “Wall of Masters,” whatever that means. Nothing like being silly just to be silly.

Treasure Hunters Searching in Vain for Watchable Television

I was warned. Really. In The Washington Post on Saturday, a review ran of the new show Treasure Hunters. In fact, Tom Shales’ exact words were: “Fortunately, typical viewers are armed with a necessity of their own: the marvelous, wonderful channel-changer, with which they can effortlessly transport themselves to a location preferable to "Treasure Hunters" -- specifically, any channel not airing it.” Yikes.

Within a few minutes, I could see why. Aside from the fact that the beginning of the show played like an infomercial (really, do we need to know which website they will be using on their laptops?), the quality of the show was terrible. I could have done a better job hosting. Heck, you could have done a better job.

I so wanted to like the show – the whole idea of solving clues and hunting for treasure sounds interesting. But it turns out to just be a low-rate version of The Amazing Race. So 25 minutes in (that’s right, I gave it 25 minutes), I gave up. Now, to put this into perspective, I watched the entire season of Unan1mous earlier this year, and watched Paradise Hotel with a passion. Twice (they re-ran it on Fox Reality…go figure…). I guess Tom Shales was right.

Celeb-Reality Jumps the Shark

Celebrity shows have officially jumped the shark. If you tuned in tonight to Celebrity Cooking Showdown tonight (and really, why would you have?), you know exactly what I mean. Somehow, someone at NBC decided that Americans would like to watch pseudo-celebs cook dinner. Even this reality show addict couldn’t make it through the entire episode.

Now, I love Iron Chef. If you haven’t seen the original Japanese show on the Food Network, you should really check it out. It’s totally over the top, and it’s actually interesting to see the crazy dishes that the chefs think up. And from the set of this show, that’s the type of thing they are going for. But they miss the mark so horrifically I don’t even think they knew what they were aiming at.

First, the word “celebrity” is used VERY loosely. But that’s really not even the point. This is just a horrible idea. In the first few minutes, they showed us exactly what each “celeb” was going to be cooking, and even showed them practicing their dishes with their chef coach. Ok, so if we know what they’re going to make, and we know that they’ve made it successfully before, what is the point of us watching the show? The whole thing just felt like I was sitting and watching someone make dinner. And if I really wanted to do that, I could just watch my husband (and then there’s no commercials or Alan Thicke…two big pluses in my book).

It also seems as if there is some sort of audience voting component. Riddle me that one batman. How can I, sitting at home on my couch, judge how the food tastes? Maybe that whole tv thing from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is finally a reality! Or not…

So, I bailed before the end. And hopefully NBC will as well.

American Inventor, or "Can You Guess What Comes Next?"

Another episode of American Inventor, another episode of not really understanding what is going on with the competition. I can’t believe I’m the only one who is annoyed with this…what is the next round that they keep passing people through to? Even in the previews for next week it’s unclear. It just looks like they’re giving their same presentations again – what’s the point in that? They’re trying to have the same format as American Idol, but it just doesn’t translate to this type of competition.

Even though the next round is a complete mystery, some of the inventions on tonight’s show were intriguing. I really liked the character bear; in fact, I hope that it goes to market so I can buy one. As a teacher, I know that there really isn’t anything like it out there, and there is certainly the need. I like that it combines the very popular Build-a-Bear concept with something that actually makes a difference. Love it.

I also liked the dial-a-cup. Of course, it might have had something to do with the whole bada-bing guy. But I think it really is a good idea. Trust me – I’m a coffee addict!

Of course, there were plenty of not-so-great ideas as well. Like the woman dressed as a centerpiece – she was so focused on starting her speech over and over that I could never really tell what her product was. And the remote leash? It’s the equivalent of someone inventing a cord for cordless phones so you won’t lose them.

One other question – so many people talk about the hundreds of thousands of dollars that they spend on their inventions…what does that money go towards? Like the woman who spent $300,000 on her torn t-shirt invention (the thing that goes under your bra…I couldn’t even tell what it was…). What are you spending that much money on? And where does that money come from? It doesn’t make much sense.

So next week we’ll get to find out what that mystical second round is all about. And if they have to form groups to sing a song that they write, well…

American Inventor

Tonight is time for American Inventor, the second of the shows that I have just gotten around to watching now that March Madness is down to the Final Four (GO GMU!!!).

The concept of the show itself is interesting. But it is extraordinarily clear that it is from the same producers as American Idol. It is set up exactly the same. From the Ryan Secrest-like host, to the judging panel, to the shots of convention centers full of people shouting “I’m the American Inventor,” it’s almost the same show. I think they may even be using the same city shots from Idol. It’s distracting to watch it’s so similar. Just because it works on Idol, doesn’t mean you should reproduce it frame by frame.

There are a couple of places where the shows differ, and they don’t differ in a good way. For some reason, American Inventor feels the need to switch between cities. It’s hard to follow when they hype the fact that they’re in New York, then they’re in Chicago, then all of a sudden they’re in San Francisco. The other thing that is confusing is the structure of the show itself. On Idol, when you make it through to the next round, you know exactly what is happening – you’re going to Hollywood. Getting through to the next round on this show is significantly fuzzier. We know that in the end 12 inventors are going to get money to produce their products. But what happens in between then and now? They keep passing people through to the next round, without ever telling us what that next round is. Strange.

Just like on Idol, American Inventor has its share of contestants that are great, and contestants that really shouldn’t be on the show. Most of them are silly – like the stripper wrap and the bladder buddy. But I guess there are a few that are actually interesting.

So on to tonight’s episode. Tonight was the first time that I saw a product that I would actually buy. Alas, it didn’t make it through to the fabled next round. That’s right, I would buy the bra. No, I don’t have breast implants. But the woman who invented the bra missed a huge market – her bra looked like it would be a lifesaver for anyone with larger breasts. I would buy it. I would buy 10 of them. I hope she really does make it – she could make a mint.

The other thing I found interesting is that for every invention, Doug seems to be an expert in the field. Clearly, I’m not the only one who is amused by that – the producers did a great “Mr. Know It All” bit. And maybe he really does speak from experience – the producers never tell us what he’s invented, just that there are tons of his inventions in everyone’s house. Even so, it’s annoying. Really annoying. I’ll take Simon over Doug any day.

So one more week of this round...I guess that gives them a little more time to figure out what the next round is.