Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Great Summer Shows

I'm so glad to see The Closer and Psych back for the summer. The Closer is different. They've cut out a lot of that private life stuff about Brenda and Fritz and have more of the case and the sqaud. I like that because the guys who make up Brenda's squad are really great. Seeing the same guys back kind of makes you feel safe and cozy but it's not very realistic. They seem to have more actions scenes and that's more fun for everybody. I'm just sorry we don't get to see Joel since they made us fall in love with that kitten last year. I'm wondering when they'll bring Brenda's parents back.

Psych is also different. The writers forgot these guys are supposed to be immature, wild and crazy. You also had the sense that no matter how dumb and goofy Shawn and Gus were to each other, they would always be best friends. This season has lost some of that. Are they trying to mature Shawn? What fun is that? I have a feeling contract talks resulted in more of Shawn's Dad and the Captain having more scenes but truth be told, they're kind of boring when they aren't with Shawn. I always thought Shawn's Dad was just grumpy with Shawn because he drove him a little nuts; hence the baldness. But now we see, he's just a grumpy old man. Too bad because Corbin Bernsen is so much better than that. Let's hope the show lightens up again and to all those people who say the show is unrealistic? Well, yeah. All of TV is unrealistic. You want realistic? Visit your own police station for a day.

True Beauty was down to the final four. The contestants had to be blackjack dealers. Nobody expected them to be great at it but they did expect them to suck up their mistakes, own them and get over it. Amy was nice enough to people during the teaching but did not hold it together during the actual playing and dealing. I thought I was the only oriental who couldn't do math. She sucks more than I do but at the same time, is very self conscious about it and wouldn't let it go that she sucked at dealing blackjack. She and Craig were put up for elimination. I couldn't believe she didn't pass the final hidden challenge which was to help a lady struggling with her luggage. I realized, Amy's not heartless, just kind of clueless. She didn't ignore the lady struggling with the luggage, she was just oblivious to it. In the end, Amy was given the boot. I guess witless isn't beautiful. I still have yet to see any of the contestants recognize Vanessa Minillo. Get over yourself girl. Nobody noticed you on Nick Lachey's arm.

I used to call America's Got Talent, America's Got Bad Taste. I have to rescind that. 12 acts showed their stuff in L.A. and I think America really did make the right choices. That black light defying gravity act is incredible and mindblowing, Future Funk is cute and fun, the singing sisters are really good and the 4th act...well I can't remember but I they were deserving as well. All I know is, the airband and hand whistler are out and that shows America's not accepting dreck and stupid. I can't wait to see what's next.

So You Think You Can Dance had yet another injured dancer. What's going on? In the first place, the competition is really tight since half of the dancers are the fan favorites from past seasons chosen to stay on the show. People can't afford to be hurt for even one week. Billy Bell landed on the bottom again. One think I've noticed, people like to see women dance with grace and the men dance with strength. Bell needs to pump some iron or something. In the end, the injured dancer, Ashley, was eliminated which is only fair.

Top Chef had the chefs cook with Maryland blue crabs. That was interesting. People had a lot of complaints of animal cruelty on the blog comments. I wanna say, "Get over it." Crabs are big water spiders. I don't see people killing spiders in a humane way. I kind of enjoyed seeing the different ways the chefs dispatched the creepy critters. In the end, the top 3 dishes had an Asian flavor. Ed won and got immunity. For the elimination challenge, the chefs had to go to a farm and use fresh ingredients and serve dishes family style. There was a lot of arguing over how to split the teams and dishes. The men shouted and postured while the women sat and rolled their eyes. For a show trying to emphasize politics, there was absolutely no democracy there. In the end, they decided to pair up the same way they had in the previous elimination challenge. I thought that was kind of dumb but okay. So 6 teams of 2 doing one dish each? The dishes should've been spectacular. In the end, Kenny finally won for his sweet and sour curried eggplant. Really? I thought it kind of looked like something in a baby's diaper. Tim was sent home for not having a clear vision in his dish. He started out to make a puree of vegetable and somehow backed out of it fearing the dish would get cold. It's easier to keep a puree warm than chopped up roasted vegetables. Whatever. His palate was always questionable anyway. Hopcraft better pull his finger out if he wants to stay in the competition. I love Eric Ripert as a judge. He's authoritative without sounding snooty and he's really sexy too.

Hell's Kitchen wasn't shown this week in order for some sports thing. Don't we have enough sports channels for that stuff? Whatever.

Finally, on The Next Food Network Star, the contestants had to first do an on camera presentation of an appetizer for a party. They each were given a certain theme and 3 mandatory ingredients. The guy with the cap finally pulled his finger out and showed a little personality. Others showed they had a bad day. It seems Aria has used up all her material. I'm wondering if the people are suffering from lack of sleep. I find in most reality shows, this is the case. For the elimination challenge, the chefs had to do an upscale version of an old dish. Aria somehow thought deepfried battered shrimp were like pigs in a blanket. Okay. Artie is my favorite but she completely lost part of her brain and had a bad week. I have never thought Brianna was very strong and she was sent home. I think Herb may be next. We'll see. Fogelsong is driving me crazy as a judge. She gives dumb critiques and for some odd reason, I don't think she has any credibility. Maybe she should straighten her hair and wear less makeup once. She seems floozyish. Tuschman is just too nice and he comes across as a nerdy wimp. I think they should utilize Giada DeLaurentis more. She's likeable and smart and makes everyone around her seem that way too.

It seems Project Runway is returning next week. Can't wait! See you next week.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Really, People? Really?

On Hell's Kitchen, it was time for the chefs to prove they have a palate and can cook fine dining stuff. This was hardly a surprise. First Chef Ramsay did his thing by cooking something packaged and disguised. It gives the ass-kissers a chance to stick out. So most everyone oohed and ahed over the microwaved frozen dinner. I loved the backpedaling after the truth of the food was revealed. Isn't it nice that Chef Ramsay calls their palates donkeys' backsides instead of asses? I still don't understand why we can't say ass on tv. God we live in an uptight society. Anyway, I digress. Fran bragged about having a good palate and proved otherwise. Personally, I've never tasted fresh coconut that tasted like potato. The blue haired guy won the challenge for his team. I'm not sure what the prize was but whatever. The teams then had to come up with their own menu for dinner service, but first let Chef Ramsay taste them. He's no dummy. The red team's dishes didn't taste good except for the desserts that Holly made alone and the blue teams dishes were deemed pedestrian. Dinner service was impressive because Susan Fenniger and Mary Sue Millikin showed up. The blue team must've beefed up their dishes because they had more customers than the other team. Even so, the red team still couldn't keep up due to Fran and her ineptness. In the end, it was evident. Fran was put up for elimination and Ramsay finally gave her the much deserved boot. Autumn was switched back to the red team. In the 2nd half, the teams were given a 10 pound lobster to make gourmet dishes for the luxury challenge. I have to say, a 10 pound lobster doesn't have as much meat as you'd think. Most of the weight is the shell and the front half of the lobster that only the orientals seem to eat. Poor Nilka was totally out her element and it showed. I was surprised to see nobody made a thermidor but they did poach it in butter. This time, Holly won the challenge for the red team and they won a huge shopping spree which is great for the women. Poor Ben probably got stuck holding the purses. I think Chef Ramsay does this reward just to watch the ladies change clothes. Whatever. Meanwhile the 3 remaining men of the blue team had to clean the dorm and then prep both kitchens. They started to panic when time was nearly up and they hadn't even begun to prep their own kitchen. I thought it was admirable that they prepped the red kitchen so well. I probably would've said, "Oops, I forgot." about a lot of things, slap dashed the first kitchen and made sure mine was in order. Luckily, Ramsay combined both teams into one. I'm convinced the meat station is probably the hardest thing to work because if the chefs are off at all, they really suck at that one and it's sunk many a chef. This time Nilka was so frustratingly bad, Chef Ramsay threw her out of the kitchen and the show. She really fought the ousting and Ramsay took the time to say goodbye in person before she got into the car. For a little more drama, the teams still had to put up 2 people for elimination but nobody else was eliminated. It did, however, reveal who had the least respect of the chefs.

America's Got Talent was in Vegas this week. Okay, we're at the point that the judges need to consider, would people pay money to see these acts? Poor Piers. He seems to be the only one with the good taste. I'm not sure what Howie and Sharon have been drinking but some of the acts put through were surprising. The people were split into 3 groups. Group A were the acts who had to do their thing again and prove their greatness probably because there were so many of their kind e.g. male singers, magic acts, dancers. Group B were the runner-ups. After Group A acts were weeded out, any open spots could be taken by Group B acts. Group C was small and were the acts that didn't have to audition again. I was disappointed because I would've loved to see that human light show thing again. It was so totally cool. I was really disappointed that Prince Poppycock wasn't in Group C. He was the best entertaining show singer I've ever seen since Nathan Lane. I want to ask, how the hell did Sally the scary looking singer make it into Group A? In the first place, she can't sing. In the 2nd place, she's freaky scary looking. She looks like one of those puppets that ventriloquists used to use in the old days. The only thing that made them not too scary was the fact that we knew they were being held onto by the human. Sally's just scary and she they let her go on wayyyyyy too long. Who were the hicks in the audience square dancing to her music? Poor Piers looked tortured the whole time and Nick Cannon finally had to pull her off stage 9 minutes too late. Later in the show, they told a person they could've been disqualified for going over his time by 15 seconds. Good Lord! Why wasn't Sally DQ'd? Other acts who I didn't like at all were Roland the terrible impressionist, the hand whistler and the air guitar band but were also put through to L.A. Really? I'm thinking, they've picked acts that America will vote off first to give the mediocre acts time to warm up to America. Okay. To those who messed up that this stage, get your shit together before you go on national tv you idiots.

Top Chef finally didn't mention politics. The quickfire challenge was to make babyfood. I was afraid Chef Colicchio and Padma were going to drag out their bambinos but, whew, we were spared that. The chefs also had to make an adult version of the dish too. It was suprising to see, chefs aren't nutritionists. Don't they take a class like that in culinary school? I expected dishes with ginger and mint since they're very good for baby digestion but nope and the dishes seemed a little rich with heavy meats, fats and spices. Why are people afraid to put eggs and honey in food for babies? In the old days, that's all a lot of people had and people lived. Jeez. No wonder all our kids are a bunch of pansies. No wonder we also have a ton of girly boys running around. I think Kenny won. Then they had an interesting elimination challenge cooking for an international hotel chain. All the teams of 2 cooked a breakfast dish, then 2 teams were chosen to be the best and didn't have to cook anymore. The remaining teams had to cook lunch. 2 teams were chosen best and didn't have to cook dinner. From the last 3 teams came the winner team and the team eliminated. In the end, braised short ribs were the winners and the undercooked squid ink pasta chefs packed their knives. The gay Filipino guy and the old Home Ec teacher were booted. I find it very interesting that people who are the bosses of their own kitchens or classes can not cook. I guess it's true. Those who can, do and those who can't, teach. Bye!

Work of Art people had to do a schill piece this week. First they drove or rode in a certain brand car to the show room. The stupid car is so unimpressive, I can't even remember it. I think it was Audi becaused one artist used that word a lot in her art piece. I'm sure Audi execs were hoping she'd win. Whatever. I was glad to see the other artists weren't that commercial and didn't use the logo or name. I was wrong last week. The Christian illustrator artists wasn't booted and the weird lady was. This week, the Christian illustrator lady was booted. Jackie is so narcissistic. Her art piece was pictures of men looking at her. She won and I didn't understand it. I really like Abdi's work and hope he wins since he never seems to whine about anything like the other artists. As long as Sarah Jessica doesn't show up, it's a good show.

So You Think You Can Dance was disappointing. Alex tore his achilles tendon and couldn't dance and it was his kiss of death. It's only fair. In a show about dancing; you have to dance. Sorry to see you go Alex. They still had to have a show so they went through the stupid motions and just panicked the other 2 who landed in the bottom. I'm wondering why they always dress Billy Bell in a skirt in the group dances. Does he volunteer for that? I notice, America likes to see strength in male dancers and grace in female dancers. Bell may have amazing dance skills but dances like a girl. I don't see him going too far in this small group.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent had it's season finale and it was brilliant. The perp was a multiple personality and an unknown actor. He must've killed the audition because not only was it a brilliantly written show, but it was also a chance to act with F. Murray Abraham and Jeff Goldblum. OMG and Wow! I'll miss the show and I hope it doesn't stay away too long.

I have to mention Danielle Fishel and her show The Dish. This tongue in cheek clip show just cracks me up all of the time. Yes, it's a clone of The Soup, but something about Danielle's sarcastic delivery of her critiques is just too funny and they also throw in a few more mini skits that make fun of the shows. Keep it up girl. It's too much fun.

Well that's all for now. See you next week people.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Oh Those Summer Shows

Hells Kitchen is having a good season. It seems most of the chefs can actually cook and the ones who can't really stick out like sore thumbs. This week Benjamin's working with the women and seems to be leading them well. That's because he can actually do what he asks people to do. It was a double episode again. The first one the chefs were going to cook for an old couple's anniversary celebration so they had to make dishes for them first, for the reward challenge. I'm thinking, throw everything into the blender so the old couple won't think anything's tough. The teams had to do versions of the couple's dishes from their wedding. OMG, talk about the most white bread dishes: chicken kiev, steak diane, trout almondine. In the end, the women won. What did they win? Lunch at a 50's diner. Oh boy! That was pretty freakin' lame. I would've probably opted to get more sleep. At dinner service, it didn't go too bad. The red team were determined to be the losers but the real loser was the little Italian chef because even though his team won, he was booted anyway. I think Chef Ramsay really lost respect for him when he found out he didn't go to school. It's free in the USA, why wouldn't you go to school? For the 2nd episode's reward challenge, the chefs had to make signature sandwiches. Siobhan proved she's not only homely as a cement wall, but she's pretty stupid too. Benjamin had no respect for her and when they had to have someone sit out the judging, he voted her sandwich out after just looking at it and of course the whole team went with it. Fran had a soggy sandwich and the women lost. What did the men win? They took a private jet to a winery and had a bit too much vino during the tasting, while the women prepped both kitchens. There must be someone watching over everything because wouldn't that be a good time to sabotage the blue team's ingredients? The blue team came home half drunk and then finished themselves off by drinking more. Ed bared all in the hot tub. Darn that fuzzing out censoring. Anyway, the dinner service was so bad, Ramsay threw everybody out of the kitchen. One dumbass diner brought his undercooked steak up to the pass himself to complain and said, "I could've been poisoned." Ramsay pointed out that some people actually eat steak raw. Way to show your stupidity on national tv you ignorant putz. The blue team sunk themselves by being hungover. It's interesting to watch hungover chefs cook. It explains a lot of things that happen in restaurants. Ed, Fran and Siobhan were put up for the boot. Finally, Siobhan was booted. It's about time cuz she's been the albatross of the team since the beginning.

America's Got Talent has had an interesting season. I don't agree with the judges letting old people go on to Vegas just because they have spunk. I don't care to watch the gimpy old lady whistling through her hands again even though she did it pretty well. I also think that singing old lady was truly horrible and her story was just pathetic. So people are able to make it through with a pathetic story? Whatever. I don't give a rat's ass about their pathetic lives and Piers should never back down just because he feels sorry for them. So this week, we should be in Vegas and maybe the judges will face reality and boot some of the dumb stuff they let go through. What are they going to say? We let you get this far but you truly don't have talent. We just felt sorry for you and thought you should see Vegas before you die; so bye now. Uh huh.

So You Think You Can Dance is going to have a very short season. The dancers all did really well but the people who haven't trained in everything really stick out. That tap dancer girl did her ballroom dance so flatfooted and wooden, it looked like Pasha was carrying a mannequin around the stage. She was terribly out of rhythm too which is very strange since tap dancing is all about being on the count precisely. I'm thinking, she's not had official tap dancing classes and just learned from watching Shirley Temple movies. In any case, America was right in not giving her the votes and she was booted. The problem is, these dancers are quite uninteresting and we don't really care who goes.

Top Chef had it's chefs make pies for the quickfire. First we had to listen to almost all of them declare they weren't pastry chefs. Does this mean they don't make any pot pies or anything in a crust? When they're in culinary school, they learn a little of everything. So...whatever. I loved the judge telling them, "My grandmother isn't a pastry chef either but she can make a pie." That shut them up. The thing about pie dough is, you can really make it from how it feels and it doesn't require complicated ingredients. It was surprising how ugly some of the pies turned out. Kenny won this one. I was surprised nobody made any deep fried pies since the ovens were really being over worked. Usually, I don't like fruit pies but the deep fried ones they make in the South are really good. For the elimination challenge, the chefs had to grill outside for interns. These chefs are really quite lame and can't seem to work with common cooking things like grinders and grills. This season should be called Excuses, Excuses. What a bunch of freakin' whiners. Hello chefs. Your job is to make it work, so shut up and do it. You can see deep disappointment on Chef Colicchio's face during the show. I'm getting tired of the government angle on this season. How about the fact that they're in Maryland? Why don't they make them make signature crabcakes? Whatever.

Work of Art had a really creepy episode. The artists first toured an art gallery showing an artist's work. His thing? His art is shocking and thought provoking. When I found out the crucifix was photographed in a tank of urine, I was grossed out. So the artists had to do shocking and thought provoking art. Most of them thought this meant something sexual. I'm thinking there was a lot of molestation in their childhoods, cuz...eeek. From the crazy guy with dirty hair who did an self crossdressed S&M picture to the guy who painted a guy blowing himself to the girl who photographed herself naked again to Myles ejaculating on his drawing. Double ick! I was glad to see Abdi won cuz his art had nothing to do with sex but was really good and thought provoking indeed. She wasn't an artist; she was just weird. It was a double elimination and the sweet Christian mid-western looking lady was booted. I thought her rendition of a messed up bunch of people grouped to look like the Last Supper was quite good. I guess that proves I don't know art. The guy who won last week and did the painting of the guy blowing himself was booted too. Maybe I do know a little art. I wish that fat lady who put herself in her art would've been booted. Her thing was gross and stupid. She had a homeless cardboard box shelter, sat in front of it wrapped in plastic and looked like she was spreading her poo on her belly. Triple ick!!! She's not an artist. She's just icky weird.

I watched a little Design Star and it seems to be a run of the mill elimination competition show. I don't understand good design so I think it's very subjective. It seems the kiss of death is not finishing your project.

Okay, so that's about it for now. I see The Closer is returning and I can't wait. I just hope they do more than 4 shows for the season.

Bye for now!