Little Britain USA S1 E1

I have a confession to make. I let my 10 year old (11 in two weeks!) watch Little Britain USA with me. It's this highly inappropriate, enormously offensive sketch comedy series that HBO has adopted from an original British show. It still stars the same British leads, only they added new materials to fit their audience.

For all its inappropriateness, I did find myself occasionally bursting in laughter. The show's materials are without a doubt very, very funny. And I think I like this better than the British original. Which is why I let my 10 year old boy watch. I've always been proud of how sharp his humor is. And he loves the absurdity of Spongebob Squarepants, probably the closest show I can compare this with (except this isn't cartoons, obviously!)... so I figured, why not?

It's not real. It's a fat suit.

Well, my son didn't like it all that much. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest, my son rated this a four. The fact that David Schwimmer directed some of the scenes, did not impress him. (My son is very familiar with his work both as an actor and a director, since he's a big Friends fan.) Test done. He isn't watching this anymore. Maybe when he's older.

I, on the other hand, quite enjoyed it. It's not for the easily offended though because I'm sure if you're that kind of person, you'd really be wondering what's the point of this show.

Worst Week S1 E2 - The Bird

Okay I think I found my preferred new comedy series. I am hooked. I have blogged about it here and said I'd see where this goes. It didn't take too long, did it?

Yes, I am having so much fun with Worst Week. The second episode just got better.

After meeting the parents, it was time for Sam to meet the siblings and of course, it didn't turn well for the unluckiest man in the world.

It still feels a lot like Meet The Parents though...which is fine, I guess. I had no problem with that movie.

Favorite quote:

Sam: I had a (live) bird in my pocket...there was an erection misunderstanding, so I punched it in the face and killed it.

The bird was for Sam's girlfriend's dad. He secretly wanted to replace the one he killed (thus keeping it where no one will find it --- his pocket!

The "erection" happened when he walked by his girlfriend's sister breast-feeding and the bird was moving near his crotch!

Fun. Fun. Funny!!!

How I Met Your Mother S4 E2 - World's Greatest Burger

Haaack! If you're going to watch the second episode of How I Met Your Mother's fourth season, then please watch it on a full stomach. I made that mistake and called the nearest and fastest burger delivery as soon as I was done watching. There goes my diet!

What I'm watching on Manic Mondays

Monday, it seems, is going to be my busiest TV night. I started with the new seasons of Heroes, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Worst Week last week.

I'm adding Chuck and Life today, as these two shows begin their new seasons this week.

The last of Monday's show premieres will be Samantha Who? and My Own Worst Enemy (which will both start in early to mid-October). I enjoyed SW last season, so there's no reason for me not to come back to it this season. And I'm not sure I will like MOWE, but I'm curious how the Christian Slater starrer will fare.

Gotta have some heavy rescheduling to do!

How long will it be before I go brain dead?

TV Ratings [09.28.08]

It's football season! Any other show comes second to a football season on American TV. I'm happy where TAR and Brothers and Sisters are. Their places are comfortable. The Simpsons, in its 20th Season, is still doing well. On the other hand, they've been on that long? I'm still on my fourth season DVD collection...I've got 16 more to purchase? :(

8.00 Block
Pregame/Sunday Night Football NBC 14.86 M
Extreme Makeover ABC 11.91 M
The Amazing Race CBS 10.29 M
The Simpsons Fox 9.30 M
Privileged (Repeat) The CW 1.22 M
King Of The Hill Fox 7.04 M

9.00 Block
Desperate Housewives ABC 18.44 M
Sunday Night Football NBC 16.44 M
Cold Case CBS 11.24 M
Family Guy Fox 9.20 M
American Dad Fox 6.86 M
America’s Next Top Model (Repeat) The CW 1.44 M

10.00 Block
Sunday Night Football NBC 15.02 M
Brothers & Sisters ABC 12.35 M
The Unit CBS 9.75 M

Brothers and Sisters S3 E1 Glass Houses

Welcome back my favorite TV Family!

Your love and fondness for each other ... it makes me wish I was a Walker ( the luxuries and perks to being one are a bonus, too!); but those family gatherings can drive me really crazy! And that's what happened this week. I think the Walker siblings had their biggest fight ever. I mean, calls ignored and all.

Sarah had a lot of things to deal with, aside from obsessing about the brother they have yet to meet (Ryan). Kitty is resentful of her for letting their mom do the adoption agency recommendation letter Sarah was supposed to personally write. And Sarah is also mad at Tommy since he's about to fire the family lawyer, Kevin.

Kevin just had good vibes from the boss, he's almost going to be made partner at the law firm and was given the keys to the company beach house. Except that he had to go and invite everyone for the weekend. Thus, it became the weekend that ruined everything. To top it all off, he learned his brother is letting him go as the company lawyer. The company account is what gave him a career boost at his law firm in the first place.

Justin and Rebecca had first kept their relationship a secret from everyone. But that day, that crazy weekend? Justin told them they were dating, much to Rebecca's disappointment who wasn't ready to tell them.

This is the part where I'd pack my bags and leave the Walker party. In fact, Tommy, Rebecca and Kitty did.

But they are siblings and they have Nora as the glue (and that's straight out of the cheesy recommendation letter for Kitty!); they will patch things up!

Speaking of Nora, well... well... well... she's getting her due vengeance. Nora marches down Holly's office to tell her William had been cheating on the both of them and bore a son from this union.

Booyah!

Survivor Philippines Week 2

What a player Emerson was. He stirred the pot early on. He claimed he doesn't know the game of Survivor and haven't seen one episode of it. But he was the first to ruffle the feathers of his tribe and pitted castaways to distrust each other. For someone who played deviously the first week, Emerson wasn't smart enough to cover his tracks. And so, his tribe mates saw through him. Karma made a huge payback and Emerson was voted off the island this week.

Meanwhile, during the Immunity Challenge, Jace of the Jarakay tribe probably gave Survivor one of its best TV moments...by duping Kiko of the Naak tribe. Playing with a "gentleman's agreement" where the two even shook hands, Jace made a run for the Thai pillow the two were wrestling over, and left Kiko on the ground. Kiko got pwned.

Jace didn't play fair and square. But is there such a thing in Survivor?

TV Ratings [09.25.08]

Because CSI hasn't premiered yet, Grey's Anatomy was Thursday's leader in the ratings. The Office gained a greater audience than last year's season premiere, although this wasn't their best night (they sometimes had 12M viewers). ER's final season premiere loses to a CSI repeat. Yeah, maybe it is really time to go.


8.00 Block
Survivor CBS 13.05 M
Ugly Betty ABC 9.78 M
My Name Is Earl NBC 6.40 M
Kitchen Nightmares Fox 4.18 M
Smallville The CW 4.10 M

9.00 Block
Grey’s Anatomy ABC 18.30 M
Survivor CBS 12.78 M
The Office NBC 9.20 M
Kitchen Nightmares Fox 4.49 M
Supernatural The CW 3.25 M

10.00 Block
Grey’s Anatomy ABC 18.32 M
CSI (Repeat) CBS 9.40 M
E.R. NBC 7.92 M

The Office S5 E1 Weight Loss

Click for photos and recaps here.

Grey's Anatomy S5 E1 and E2 Dream a Little Dream of Me

I am starting to get a lot confused. Why am I still watching this show? I always ask myself that. I don't know why it's hard for me to let go of Grey's Anatomy.

Last night's two hour season premiere felt really longer than two hours. I couldn't wait for it to finish. The episode had award-winning actresses like Bernadette Peters and Kathy Baker but... (channeling Meredith Grey) seriously? They bored me to death.

There were plenty of fake-outs and dream sequences, including this one:

...an old Christina and an old Meredith.

Much as this was a hoot, I couldn't get why it suddenly had to be part of Christina's dream sequence. Actually, no...scratch that. I get it. This episode's entitled Dream A Little Dream of Me, isn't it? So I get why it's there. Except that these dream sequences felt really out of place. Like it was put there, not for the story, but as an attempt to do something different. Like it just... popped... without rhyme nor reason.

And why do I get the feeling that this episode is what Shonda and her team of writers used to "speak" to their audience? Speak, as in, explain why the show lost track and is now trying to find its way back. Seattle Grace dropping to #12? They were really talking about the show, weren't they? And the Chief's speech? Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but it sounded like the Chief wasn't just talking about Seattle Grace. It sounded like Shonda talking about Grey's Anatomy.

Writing for this show has gone waaaaay downhill.

But it had one good thing last night. And his name is Owen McGIJoe. As always, Kevin McKidd has such commanding presence on screen. How can I phase this show off my system now when they've got him?

TV Ratings [09.25.2008]

I watched some bad TV last night. Knight Rider and Gary Unmarried? Meh. Knight Rider especially, since I enjoyed the two-hour preview last February. Last night though was terrible. I don't even know where to start enumerating how laughable it is. And yet, I watched it from beginning to end. Heh. Gary Unmarried, meanwhile, was bearable.

With the exception of CSI NY and Bones (a show I should be watching really...one of these days!!!), does this mean Pushing Daisies will dominate Wednesday's ratings when it comes back in October? Wheee!

8.00 Block
Dancing With The Stars ABC 15.57 M
Bones Fox 9.61 M
Knight Rider NBC 7.30 M
Gary Unmarried CBS 6.84 M
New Adventures Of Old Christine CBS 6.70 M
America’s Next Top Model The CW 4.07 M

9.00 Block
Criminal Minds CBS 15.12 M
America’s Got Talent NBC 10.24 M
David Blaine: Dive Of Death ABC 8.89 M
Til Death Fox 4.63 M
Do Not Disturb Fox 3.53 M
90210 (Repeat) The CW 2.34 M

10.00 Block
CSI: New-York CBS 15.55 M
David Blaine: Dive of Death ABC 6.63 M
Lipstick Jungle NBC 6.08 M

TV Round Up Friday: Orders and Cancellations, Karate Kid and the President of the Universe

Crazy week of TV. It appears I'm watching, like, four shows a night. I'm loving it! Anyway, this week?

Duchovny's sex addiction? When I said it felt too much like publicity for Californication, I think I was right.

Have you met Grey's Anatomy's Dr. McSwimmy?

90210 gets a full season order.

But ouch. Our first cancellation of the season: Do Not Disturb. And they didn't even air that episode I got to watch.

Eli Stone's Jonny Lee Miller is going to be a daddy.

Clooney isn't keen on coming back to ER for its final season. No siree. He's a big screen actor now. He's so busy making movies.

We suspected just as much. I think he's the last person to know he is gay.

Listen to David Cook's first single, post-Idol.

The President of the Universe (in Battlestar Galactica, that is) is joining Grey's Anatomy for a multi-episode arc.

The Karate Kid will be on Ugly Betty.

Why are they still talking about this? Who cares? It's really, really old news, TV Guide.

Next year's Emmy host? Oh, yeah.

Lipstick Jungle S2 E1 - Pandora's Box

Lipstick Jungle had been one of those shows I wasn't exactly sure I'd like but I kept watching it anyway, you know? With only seven episodes last season, I wasn't sure if I was watching it because there was nothing else to catch on TV; or if I was watching it because it had the right appeal for me.

Whatever it was, Lipstick Jungle stood out well enough to make me wanna look forward to it. The show returned this week for its second season run. And so far? I think I'm going with the second reason --- I am watching this because it had the right appeal for me!

I can't go over the details and recaps of what happened before this week's episode. It had been months since the first season aired. So, if you really want to, you can catch up with the short first season on DVD: Lipstick Jungle - Season One

What I can tell you however is my favorite scene for this week...

Nico (in photo, left) had collagen injections on her G spot. Why she got that is because she wants to make her marriage work and apparently, getting this done escalates the sensation when you're having sex. Anyway, the day she got her injections is the day Wendy (in photo, middle...yes Brooke Shields) had wanted her and Victory (in photo, right) to be present at a dinner she is hosting. Nico begged off because...she couldn't sit down for a two hour dinner. The injection made her super sensitive down there!

It was a funny scene, yet underneath it, there was also sadness. I mean, Nico had to endure all that to fix her marriage! If a woman goes at great lengths like that, something is seriously wrong with the union.

Brooke Shields and Kim Raver both had splendid delivery. One minute they were really funny, the next minute --- I felt really sorry for Nico but I was glad she had Wendy.

Wendy: What's going on with you? Sit down.
Nico: Oh, can't
Wendy: C'mon. You can't sit for a minute.
Nico: No, I can't...sit.
(She tries to sit but the sensation was probably just too much, she gets up. Wendy realizes what it is)
Wendy: Oh, no...you didn't.
Nico: What?
Wendy: Victory told me about...please tell me you did not go for that miracle shot!
Nico: So what if I did? You've done some outrageous things. I mean you greenlit a movie about a crime-solving chicken (Wendy is movie executive).

Wendy: Are you in pain?
Nico: I don't know what I'm in. All I know is that I can't sit through a two-hour dinner.
Wendy: Nico....why would you do this?
Nico: What?
....
Wendy: Why would you do this?
Nico: Because I can't be lying next to my husband and thinking about someone else anymore...I'm trying to get back to what Charles and I had when we first met. This may not be the whole answer, Wendy, but it's a start.
Wendy: Wouldn't it be easier to tell him the truth?

Australian Idol Top 11 - Brooke Addamo

It is a big mystery to me as to why Brooke Addamo was eliminated from Australian Idol this week. Of the 12, she's the one with the pitch perfect voice. You'll see her last performance in the video below... but let me get to what this week was about first.

This week was 80's night and so far, I think of it as this season's highlight. About half of them did decently better than expected. I loved most of the songs they sang. And Wes, dear Wes, with his 15 years of experience as a performer, sang Springsteen!!! Cyndi Lauper was guest judge/mentor. My respect for her as an artist tripled. She's a great teacher!

Here's Australian Idol's Top 11 --- Brooke Addamo with Bette Davis' Eyes. Now, you tell me how the hell she got voted out too soon:



And here's Wes Carr with Dancing in the Dark. I got up on my feet and danced to this! He was ah-ma-zing!

TV Ratings [09.23.08]

How things have changed real fast. House used to be a really top-rating series but, even as its numbers are still good, for the standards this show has set, it is slowly slumping. I have already warmed up to the new ducklings. But there are still a lot of you out there who'd like the Chase, Cam and Foreman Team back and you've been tuning out of this program.

Did the change in schedule have something to do with the slump, too?

The Mentalist's season premiere did really, really well. I think it's highest rated new TV show to premiere this season, so far, right?

8.00 Block
NCIS CBS 17.72 M
House Fox 12.13 M
The Biggest Loser NBC 6.64 M
Opportunity Knocks ABC 6.63 M
90210 The CW 2.96 M

9.00 Block
Dancing With The Stars ABC 17.87 M
The Mentalist CBS 15.55 M
Fringe Fox 9.65 M
The Biggest Loser NBC 7.73 M
Privileged The CW 1.86 M

10.00 Block
Dancing With The Stars ABC 18.52 M
Without A Trace CBS 11.39 M
Law & Order: SVU NBC 9.52 M

Cable TV Ratings [Sept 15-21 '08]

Whoohoo! Can you see where Burn Notice is at? It pulled enough viewers to land on 6th!

And I read Raising the Bar is losing viewers so I'm sticking with my initial assessment --- this is something I can pass up.



Source: Nielsen Blog

Only a matter of time: Melrose Place Spinoff!

I really wasn't into this show when it was on. I think I stuck with it for...two seasons? I don't remember much of it to care about this news.

But Lissa Rinna, who I likewise don't remember being there in the first two seasons I've watched, said this at the Emmy red carpet ---

"I've heard a rumor of them bringing back the show like they did 90210. I heard that it's somewhere at the CW. I would do it in a heartbeat, Let's bring it on. Melrose, 10 years later!"

Can they not come up with anything new anymore? Notice that they've already spun-off shows from the 70's (Bionic Woman) and the 80's (Knight Rider)...we're way into the 90's now (90210).
So what's next?

A Dawson's Creek spinoff?

TV Ratings [09.22.08]

This is it. This is where new episodes officially fill up the TV Grid. This is where we can finally make a good comparison of which show is rating better. I'm quite pleased with how HIMYM did. The numbers aren't good for Heroes but I don't question it. Three hours of it in one sitting may have been just too much.

See, with Heroes, it is like food and digestion --- when you've been starving yourself for sometime (when you've not seen a new episode for, like, 10 months), you can't wolf down the first full meal served to you (watching three hours of it straight?), your body is going to reject it (it can muddle your brain).

Monday's standing:

8.00 Block
Dancing With The Stars ABC 21.1 M
How I Met Your Mother CBS 9.7 M
The Big Bang Theory CBS 9.4 M
Heroes NBC 6.0 M
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Fox 5.8 M
Gossip Girl The CW 3.4 M

9.00 Block
Dancing With The Stars ABC 21.2 M
Two And A Half Men CBS 14.9 M
Worst Week CBS 11.0 M
Heroes NBC 10.2 M
Prison Break Fox 6.0 M
One Tree Hill The CW 3.1 M

10.00 Block
CSI: Miami CBS 16.9 M
Heroes NBC 9.6 M
Boston Legal ABC 9.4 M

Heroes S3 E1-E2 The Second Coming/Butterfly Effect

Who else can Tim Kring blame this disaster now? Last season, Heroes was criticized for its apparent lack of direction. The series was too slow. Because of the strike, Heroes was indeed in a slump.

To make up for this, the third season opened with everything. And I mean EVERYTHING.... that it was dizzying.

Characters were introduced really fast --- some of them have new powers or similar powers as another character; some of them we've seen before, but only different. Huh??

There were new stories to follow. Half of it seemed pointless (Nathan and religion, really? That's what they can come up with?) The creepiest of which was Mohinder turning into the Fly. Totally grossed out by this ----


Pacing seems to be a big problem with Heroes. If it's not too slow, it's waaaay to fast.

What else? Ah, Future Peter --- he makes everything so complicated. He has every kind of power imaginable, the most basic of which is that he can transport through time. So tell me this --- why did he have to go and shoot his brother to "stop" him from telling the world about them? Why did he not just transport to that time before the "speech" and convince his brother of what could happen should he out them all? Wasn't Peter taught violence doesn't solve anything? Because there isn't any limitation to what he can do, the things Future Peter does to advance the story seems stupid. There's the other problem.

And finally....I think we know where this chapter is heading --- to a bigger disaster, to a bigger destruction, probably with a lot of kick-ass effects, with every hero converging to save the world.

If that sounds familiar, it's because we've already seen it.

In Season 1.

How I Met Your Mother S4 E1 - Do I Know You?

With its return, How I Met Your Mother wasted no time revealing Stella's answer to Ted's marriage proposal. We know it's coming. In fact, there is a wedding set for October. What we don't know is --- Ted actually doesn't know his bride to be all that well.

When Marshall asked him what kind of present he and Lily should get them, Ted didn't have any idea what possible future Mother likes.

Marshall: Does she like to cook...
Ted: Actually, I don't know
Marshall: What's her favorite color?
Ted: Don't know that either
Marshall: Does she have any hobbies?
Ted: Yes. She's exactly that kind of person who would have hobbies...and interests too...
Marshall: You don't know anything about the woman you are marrying.
Ted: What?! You're crazy! I know plenty!
Marshall: What color are her eyes?
Ted: The color of the ocean after a storm...
Marshall: Which is?
Ted: ....Beautiful?

So Ted wastes no time "getting to know" Stella. And they ended up watching Star Wars one night, because Stella confessed she never saw this yet. Star Wars is Ted's all time favorite movie. Marshall thinks if Stella doesn't like this one, then their relationship is doomed.

Guess what Stella thought of the movie? (And I thought the same as Stella, if must know!)

Marshall to Stella ---

He watches it when he is home sick with the flu. He watches it on rainy Sunday afternoons in the fall. He watches it on Christmas Eve. Ted watches Star Wars in sicknes and in health, in good times and in bad...Do you really think you can pretend to actually like a movie you really hate?

Meanwhile....the legendary Barney is freaking out and is acting like that dork he was on Doogie Howser. He tells Lily he thinks he is in love with Robin.

"I wanna be with her all the time. I wanna hear about her day, I wanna tell her about mine. I wanna hold her hand, smell her hair. "

Unlike Ted's proposal, I get the feeling this one is something we'll have to wait awhile for. Robin doesn't even know why Barney is acting all funny around her. And by the end of the episode, it looks like we have the old Barney back. Maybe the writers are just dipping their foot in the water for this storyline... and find the water too cold just yet?

Big Bang Theory S2 E1 - The Bad Fish Paradigm

Somehow, the idea of Penny and Leonard becoming more than friends didn't seem right. Because by doing that, it would make Big Bang Theory as common as every other story about a Chick falling in love with the Geek.

But I found myself rooting for them.

I may be off the tracks here, but this really felt like a Ross and Rachel thing.

And rather than keeping focus on the geek's insecurities (as these kinds of stories usually do), the episode was cleverly built on the beautiful girl second-guessing herself!

Penny: Has Leonard ever dated a girl that wasn't a brainiac?
Sheldon: Let's see. There was a girl a few years ago who was a PhD in French Literature.
Penny: How is that not a brainiac?
Sheldon: Well, for one thing, she was French. For another, it was literature.
Penny: Sheldon, do you think if Leonard and I keep on dating, will he get bored with me?
Sheldon: That depends.
Penny: On what?
Sheldon: Do you have a working knowledge of quantum physics?
Penny: No.
Sheldon: Do you speak Klingon?
Penny: No.
Sheldon: Do you know any card tricks?
Penny: Okay.... I get it. Leonard has no business with being involved with a waitress slash actress who felt so insecure that she lied to him about finishing community college.

This show is growing on me!

Worst Week S1 E1 - Pilot

I have no familiarity with the two lead actors on Worst Week (except... the girl looks awfully familiar! Where have I seen her?). This sometimes works out for the better because I can set no expectations whatsover from actors I know little about.

However, I've seen the British version of this recently. The reason I checked that out was precisely because I wanted a comparison. But from the onset, the two sitcoms are very much different.

The closest I can describe this show so that you'd have an idea of what it is about? This is Meet the Parents, for Television.

Yes, the lead guy (Sam, played by Kyle Bornheimer) gets into trouble a whoooooole lot just to make the parents of his future bride love him. Which means --- you see everything that can potentially go wrong coming a mile away.

To its credit, Sam is a bit likeable and this pilot episode is tons funny, even as it resorted to slapstick comedy and toilet humor --- Sam pees on the goose his future mother-in-law prepared for dinner...future dad-in-law slips on his pee and gets a concussion --- those kinds of things.

I just wonder how long before this pattern gets repetitive and how will the show be able to maintain the premise.

I mean, Sam isn't the unluckiest person on earth, is he? He's not having the worst week, every week?

Watching or ditching?? I'm going to see how it goes in a few more episodes...

Emmy Aftermath: Best and Worst Emmy Moment

BEST

5. Kristin Chenoweth, presenter. What can I say? She is such a doll and a trooper. (She's Barbie's Skipper!) Kristin Chenoweth is love.

4. Glen Close winning Best Actress. I should say she was due an Emmy trophy some three years ago for her guest role on The Shield. She won it now, that's what matters. I didn't pick for her though, I went for Sally Field.

3. Speaking of Sally Field --- Tom Hanks and her briefly reuniting on stage? Awww...

2. Tina Fey, yay!

1. Ricky Gervais. What a brilliant comedian, isn't he?

WORST

5. Josh Groban. Like I lost respect for him as a singer. Who made him sing himself silly?

4. Mad Men. It had me doubting my taste in TV programs for awhile. But I found out I'm not the only one who doesn't get this show. Even if it won Best Drama.

3. The Laugh-in bit? Or whatever that was with Lily Tomlin. She was great... but I felt sorry for the rest of them. They didn't have timing, for one. They shouldn't be subjected to such ridiculous antics. They've got nothing to prove anymore. Can you imagine the cast of Friends or maybe even Seinfeld doing their bits 30 years from now? Would you want that to be your last memory of your TV favorites together?

2. The idea of putting five reality hosts together. It was lousy. Lamest Emmy evaaaar.

1. Howie Mendel. Shut the eff up!

I wasn't able to watch the opening so I missed that video about Catchphrases. Guess I'll have to find that online. Also, who the heck is Lauren Hill and why did she become a presenter?

Emmy Awards 2008

Well, it is here finally. We'll know the results of the Emmy's in less than 24 hours (Phil viewers: 8 AM Velvet Channel, 9/22). I had a poll that ran for two weeks on this site and the results are that you think it's a 30 Rock and a House victory.

The partial list of nominees. My bets are in italics, winners are in red:

COMEDY

Outstanding Comedy Series

• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Entourage
• The Office
• 30 Rock
• Two And A Half Men

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series

• Monk: Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk
• The Office: Steve Carell as Michael Scott
• Pushing Daisies: Lee Pace as Ned
• 30 Rock: Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy
• Two And A Half Men: Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series

• The New Adventures Of Old Christine: Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine Campbell
• Samantha Who?: Christina Applegate as Samantha Newly
• 30 Rock: Tina Fey as Liz Lemon
• Ugly Betty: America Ferrera as Betty Suarez
• Weeds: Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series

• Entourage: Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold
• Entourage: Kevin Dillon as Johnny Drama
• How I Met Your Mother: Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson
• The Office: Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute
• Two And A Half Men: Jon Cryer as Alan Harper

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series

• Pushing Daisies: Kristin Chenoweth as Olive Snook
• Samantha Who?: Jean Smart as Regina Newly
• Saturday Night Live: Amy Poehler as Performer
• Two And A Half Men: Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper
• Ugly Betty: Vanessa Williams as Wilhelmina Slater

DRAMA

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series

• Boston Legal: James Spader as Alan Shore
• Breaking Bad: Bryan Cranston as Walt White
• Dexter: Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan
• House: Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House
• In Treatment: Gabriel Byrne as Paul
• Mad Men: Jon Hamm as Don Draper

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series

• Brothers & Sisters: Sally Field as Nora Holden-Walker
• The Closer: Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson
• Damages: Glenn Close as Patty Hewes
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson
• Saving Grace: Holly Hunter as Grace Hanadarko

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series

• Boston Legal: William Shatner as Denny Crane
• Damages: Ted Danson as Arthur Frobisher
• Damages: Zeljko Ivanek as Ray Fiske
• Lost: Michael Emerson as Ben
• Mad Men: John Slattery as Roger Sterling
  

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series

• Boston Legal: Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt
• Brothers & Sisters: Rachel Griffiths as Sarah Walker-Whedon
• Grey’s Anatomy: Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
• Grey’s Anatomy: Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang
• In Treatment: Dianne Wiest as Dr. Gina Toll

Outstanding Drama Series

• Boston Legal
• Damages
• Dexter
• House
• Lost
• Mad Men
  

Survivor Philippines Week 1

I have a bunch of "Who Knew's"

Who knew Emerson, who virtually didn't have any exposure the first three days, had such deceptive intentions? He's going to be interesting to watch.

Who knew Chev was going to be voted off? (Speaking of Chev, who is she planning to paddle in this photo?) I thought they were gunning for JC, who had to stop mid-game during the immunity challenge; or Kaye, who failed to solve the final puzzle.

And along this line, as I believed JC was more reponsible for the team losing, who knew he could avoid getting the boot by managing to convince a tribe member to vote for Chev?

So many surprises this week.

Including ---- who knew I'd be addicted to Survivor again? A local franchise at that? Who knows how long my newly-revived addiction for Survivor Philippines will last?

Burn Notice S2 E9 - Good Soldier

After a short 9 episode run, Burn Notice ends its explosive summer season aptly so...with a bang.

As in, Ka-BOOM.

Yeah, that kind of "bang".

The people who've burned ex-spy Michael Westen has rigged the door of his home, nearly killing him. And it won't be until few more months before we find out if Michael has escaped unscratched. On second thought, of course he will escape without a scratch. He's the star of the show, isn't he?

The thing I love about this season? Michael's cover IDs! Every week, he pretended to be a different guy, it was fun to watch. The funnest character he played would probably have to be the asthmatic geek who was the complete opposite of his James-Bond-spy persona. Playing different people showed actor Jeffrey Donovan's versatility, which, to be honest, I wasn't even sure was in him...but I really don't care. He could just stand there and pretend he's a log and I'd still say he's cool and sexy!

I am also liking the (sexual) tension between Michael and Fiona. Does he still love her? Does she want him to still love her? I want him to love ME! :D

The thing I hate about this season? The question as to whoever burned Michael is still not answered. It is this thing, this running story, which the writers will, no doubt, be dragging all the way till the end.

Is Carla, his "handler, as much a patsy as Michael was made to be this season? Did Carla and her people really intend to kill him at his house? Or is that something Carla doesn't know herself?

Could January be any earlier? Season 2 Part 2 begins until then.

Australian Idol Top 12 - Jonny Taylor

Jonny, with his cool aura, is the first person out of Australian Idol's Top 12.

He's the guy who sounds like the lead singers for Pearl Jam, Creed and Hootie. He actually performed a Pearl Jam song for this round (Idol's Idol). He sounded okay but wasn't able to connect to the song and appeared a bit nervous.

Watch and listen:

TV Round Up Friday: Fey, Fi, Fo...Fun!

And how was this week on TV?

Jared Padalecki (Supernatural) talks about his Friday the 13th movie

Weekend ratings: Phelps and Fey score golden 'SNL' ratings; 'Fringe' builds its base. Also, Tina Fey was awesome as Sarah Palin. She really was. I am growing to respect her more everyday! And Tina's my age, I feel like a 12 year old compared to her!

Watch this MadTV spoof of So You Think You Can Dance. They do better at spoofing than SNL, me thinks.

Free downloadable TV series on IMDb! Whoohoo!

A Duran Duran member guest stars on Samantha Who?

Jeffrey Donovan is someone I wanna bite coz he's sexy, like so yummy as a cookie sexy! Really! He's heading to a Chicago theater after Burn Notice.

Fox is bringing Snowhite and the Seven Dwarfs to TV. And it's not that cartoon. It's derived from it though --- Georgia and the Seven Associates . The little girl in me is HAPPY! It's described as "The Devil Wears Prada" meets "Taxi". Hey wait a minute! Is this going to bump Eli Stone off the spot as the kookiest lawyer TV show today?

What the... True Blood gets a Season 2 right away. It's only been running for two weeks.

Chinese Ugly Betty? Not ugly. If anyone's interested, this is the girl playing our version of Ugly Betty

Candice Bushnell is working on another Carrie Bradshaw story ---- As a TEENAGER. Whooooa. Riding on the Gossip Girl trend are we?

Dylan McKay is the dad of Kelly's baby. She and Brenda are still fighting over him?

I am shock to read Jennifer Garner isn't a nice person. I have been reading a lot of that lately. She seemed sweet. So, really, she isn't?

Here's the full list of Emmy Creative Awards Winners.

Forget the Emmy's, check out these awards.

TV Ratings [09.17.08]

It looks like one of the shows I was keen on last summer is getting axed soon. Do Not Disturb, on its second episode continues to churn out badly executed comedy. But look at Bones. It's Wednesday's 2nd most watched show, next to America's Got Talent.

8.00 Block
America’s Got Talent NBC 11.1 M
Bones Fox 9.7 M
New Adventures Of Old Christine (Repeat) CBS 4.6 M
America’s Next Top Model The CW 4.2 M
Wife Swap (R) ABC 3.9 M

9.00 Block
America’s Got Talent NBC 12.9 M
Criminal Minds (Repeat) CBS 8.6 M
Til Death Fox 5.1 M
20/20: The Royal Family ABC 4.4 M
Do Not Disturb Fox 4.1 M
90210 (Repeat) The CW 2.0 M

10.00 Block
CSI: New-York (Repeat) CBS 8.0 M
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (Repeat) NBC 7.1 M
20/20: The Royal Family ABC 4.4 M

TV Ratings [09.16.2008]

Darn it. Where did my time go? I couldn't keep up last night. I had five shows to watch and only saw 2. Whiner alert. Sorry. I was complaining about the lack of TV entertainment last summer and now that everything I love is slowly coming back and filling my schedule, I complain I don't have enough time. Heh.

Anyway, last night's rating... Expectedly Fringe benefited from House because it jumped and gained 4Million more viewers than last week. Yay!

8.00 Block
House Fox 14.4 M
NCIS (Repeat) CBS 9.6 M
Biggest Loser NBC 7.4 M
Wipeout ABC 6.2 M
90210 The CW 3.3 M

9.00 Block
Fringe Fox 13.4 M
Biggest Loser NBC 8.2 M
Big Brother CBS 7.6 M
Wipeout ABC 5.5 M
Privileged The CW 2.4 M
UFOs: Seeing Is Believing ABC 5.0 M

10.00 Block
Without A Trace (Repeat) CBS 6.3 M
UFOs: Seeing Is Believing ABC 6.0 M
Law & Order: SVU (Repeat) NBC 5.7 M

Source: Nielsen

House S5 EP1 - Dying Changes Everything

Oh dear lordy. Wilson broke up with House!!! What can I say? I am too sad for words. The bromance is over! Cuddy was nearly gonna pull her hair out trying to help these two patch up. Going into "counselling" was an amusing scene. And I chuckled every time someone said the word, "idiot".

For a season opener though? This whole episode was brilliant. House is still that bloody ass who is never going to change. Nearly everyone had screen time (yay!) and Thirteen had her side story....which means we'll get to see more of this a lot this season.

Anyway, the bromance? This was how tonight ended:

Wilson to House ---

We're not okay...Amber was never the reason I was leaving. I didn't wanna tell you because....because I was trying, like I always do, to protect you.

Which is the problem.

You spread misery cause you can't feel anything else. You manipulate people because you can't handle any real relationship and I've enabled it. For years, the games, the binges, the middle of the night phone calls. I should've been the one on the bus, not Amber...You should've been alone on the bus.

If I learned anything from Amber is that I have to take care of myself.

We're not friends anymore, House. I'm not sure we ever were.

Catch up on How I Met Your Mother

The Writers Strike made us forget a lot of stuff on TV. But thank god for Youtube and those video uploaders who painstakingly do these videos. These season recaps are just what I need!

Here's How I Met Your Mother, rewind:

TV Ratings [09.15.08]

Wow. Things are really picking up for CW. Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill's ratings are steady. Someone's gonna get a pay raise! Someone or some show is going to be renewed for a third season! And I can't believe how well an old Batman movie is doing, still! (Not a big fan) Even with DVDs of it are out! Terminator lost viewers in big numbers. Uh-oh.

8.00 Block
Deal Or No Deal NBC 8.8 M
The Big Bang Theory (Repeat) CBS 6.0 M
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Fox 5.5 M
How I Met Your Mother (Repeat) CBS 5.4 M
Batman Begins (Movie) ABC 4.9 M
Gossip Girl The CW 3.7 M

9.00 Block
Two And A Half Men (Repeat) CBS 9.9 M
New Adventures Of Old Christine (Repeat) CBS 7.3 M
Batman Begins (Movie) ABC 6.1 M
Prison Break Fox 5.9 M
America’s Toughest Jobs NBC 4.9 M
One Tree Hill The CW 3.4 M

10.00 Block
CSI: Miami (Repeat) CBS 7.6 M
Batman Begins ABC 6.1 M
Dateline NBC 4.4 M

Source: Nielsen

Cable TV Ratings [Sept 8-14 '08]

Raising The Bar on TNT is still doing well in the ratings that I'm having second thoughts about choosing to not watch it. Maybe I should start watching it again?

Burn Notice, on the other hand, is on Top 10, alright! Sadly though, it is ending its season run this week.



Source: Nielsen Blog

17-year old Filipina Wows Them on Australian Idol 2008

I did not know she was Filipina. Or half-Filipina. I thought she had Australian aborigines blood in her, plus a mix of Caucasian genes. I loved her the first time I saw her audition. I even gave her 5 out of 5. She was the first one in the Top 12.

Last night was the first time all 12 showed what they can do. The theme was Idol's Idol. Chrislyn chose to sing an Aretha Franklin song which suited her voice and performance perfectly. In the VTR, she introduced her mom who she loves so much and says Mommy comes from the Philippines. Mommy's a bit camera shy, but yup, she is unmistakably Pinay. She must be really proud of her young daughter.

Chrislyn's performance last night? She came out on fire and earned the elusive "touchdown", sealing her number as the best one this week.

Watch her:

Survivor Philippines finds a star in Patani

Yep, they found an unlikely TV star. They found someone many Filipino households will be taking about for the next few weeks. Her name is Patani, a name I'm guessing the network asked her to use since her real name is Jervy (Patani is her middle name). Right there people is what you call branding. That's one thing GMA did right for this franchise. [I won't start about what they did wrong because there were plenty of flaws. It wasn't as good as I was hoping it would knowing that there's too much hype about it being handled by a prestigious News and Public Affairs department, rather than an Entertainment department. I'll chalk it up to.... first day (week) jitters?]

Anyway, "Patani" has more character. She's a person named after a vegetable, after all.

Her VTR intro says she got on the show because she wants to be famous, that she wants to have fans. Amusingly honest. Not like when one of the castaways said they got to the show to prove what Filipinos can do. Note to future reality contestants --- Puh-leeaase, enough of that crap! If you're on a "reality TV program" to "prove something", get off TV and join a non-profit organization or get involved in your community and prove something there. Plant a tree, promote recycling, build a free school for street kids, do medical missions. Don't do TV, unless what you really intend is to whore your way to publicity and prestige.

Like Patani. Who makes no qualms about saying that's what she wants. That's why, of the 18 castaways introduced last night, she stood out to me. Well, she also stood out because she was in this silly get up (on the VTR, not as pictured). Heh. But you see, Patani already knows what works for Reality TV. This nanny is born to be in it. Think of all the sound bites she will provide to this otherwise boring, repetitive format.

Photo from SurvivorPhilippines TV

I envy her smooth brown skin, by the way. Were those photos airbrushed? :D

Survivor Philippines airs every night at 9 PM on GMA.

Sneak Peek: Kevin McKidd on Grey's Anatomy

Uh oh. Christina sees Owen Hunt for the first time and she is drawn to him. Tough girl is smitten! Highly charged attraction, at first sight.

Owen Hunt is of course the newest character the writers are adding to the series. He's the military doctor they thought of pairing Christina up with. The character is played by Kevin McKidd (Rome & Journeyman). Is he going to bring something different? Is he and Christina going to click? We'll know in two weeks.

But here's a short clip from when Owen Hunt first steps into Seattle Grace:

The whore is back!

And no, I'm not talking about a woman I'm having a spat with or something like that. I'm really talking about a whore --- Belle/Hannah from Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Yep, she is back for a second season. Couldn't be more thrilled! I did notice that she's a bit pudgier, see:



My first thoughts were that she looked very pregnant.

And well, I didn't know that at the time this was filming, Billie Piper is actually pregnant here (She's due next month). In some scenes where her character is required to strip, they used a body double for her.

Anyway, the first two episodes back are still just as amusing as ever. I wasn't expecting this on my watch list, what with USA's fall season already starting to pile up my viewing list. But this is something I really can't pass up.

You can read my post about the first season here.

TV Round Up Fridays: Quite a mix bag of everything TV

Round-up time! What's been going on in TV world this week? Lotsa fighting! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

Alec Baldwin is pissed at NBC for something 30 Rock related, and takes his anger out on Scrubs and My Name is Earl. Greg Garcia, My Name is Earl creator, answers back. Baldwin apologizes to both shows, but not before ending his statement with yet another biting comment. Garcia answers back again. This ping pong is dizzying. Grown men engaging in word war? Not amusing unless... it's a story in TV show.

Did you hear about how NBC stars are banned from appearing on Scrubs, which has now moved to ABC? Network Wars on American TV? Aww, shit! It's why I don't watch local TV.

OMG! Seal will be on Eli Stone! Wheee!

Every week is National Stay At Home Week in our household, ABC.

Tina Fey will do Sarah Palin on SNL? Oh, please...please...please let it happen!

Ellen and Portia's wedding videos. Awwww. Ellen, by the way, is the new Cover Girl! Cool!

Gossip Girls' Leighton Meister is recording an album.

What shows should you be watching this September? Reuters rounds it up.

True Blood's pilot episode earned 1.44M viewers. Told you it made me fall asleep.

Paley visits Joey! Cute that they can stay friends after all these years.

Which show is crazier? Lost or Fringe? And how are they similar?

Sex and The City Sequel, next summer?

JLo is Project Runway's finale judge.

Jason Priestly directed the episode of Secret Life of American Teenager this week. It went up against 90210 and did better.

Josh Groban is singing TV Theme Songs at the Emmy's on the 21st. --- "More than two dozen classic openings, including The Brady Bunch anthem, are in the four-minute-plus medley, with many choices being kept under wraps until Emmy night. The Simpsons' and Friends' themes made the cut, but many choices are from an earlier era, before business and ratings strategies shortened or eliminated themes."

TV Ratings [09.10.08]

I feel sorry for Do Not Disturb. I loved what I saw back in June. But they changed the episode for its season premiere and that one was lame. So now, it's getting panned by critics.

Here's last Wednesday's ratings. It's a weak night, isn't it? Can't wait for Pushing Daisies to return on this night!

8.00 Block
America’s Got Talent NBC 10.5 M
Bones Fox 8.9 M
Greatest American Dog CBS 5.5 M
Wife Swap (Repeat) ABC 4.0 M
America’s Next Top Model The CW 3.8 M

9.00 Block
America’s Got Talent NBC 12.5 M
Criminal Minds (Repeat) CBS 8.3 M
Til Death Fox 6.4 M
Do Not Disturb Fox 4.9 M
Supernanny (Repeat) ABC 3.3 M
90210 (Repeat) The CW 2.3 M

10.00 Block
CSI: New-York (Repeat) CBS 7.5 M
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (Repeat) NBC 7.2 M
20/20 ABC 6.0 M

Source: Nielsen

Not forgetting...

Survivor Philippines' 18 Castaways

• Kristina "Kaye" Alipio, lingerie model 
  
• Leona Rica "Nikki" Dacullo, call center agent 
  
• Jervy "Patani" Daño, 20, babysitter 
  
• Veronica "Vern" Domingo, 29, taekwondo coach 
  
• Vevherly Gador, 20, student 
  
• Chevyline "Chev" Macias, 26 years old, former GRO 
  
• Zita Ortiga, 46, laundrywoman 
  
• Maria Nona "Niña" Ortiz, designer/wellness coach 
  
• Anna Charisse Yacapin, 26, product officer 
  
• Marlon Carmen, 30, waiter 
• Crisanto "Cris" Cartagenas, company driver 
  
• Emerson Dino, 31, technician 
  
• John Anthony Lopez, 27, auto mechanic/model 
  
• Raymund Francis "Kiko" Rustia, model 
  
• Cesar "Gigit" Sulit, 48, web designer/mountaineer 
  
• Robert Vincent "Rob" Sy, sales officer 
• John Carlo "JC" Tiuseco, 23, basketball player 

Thanks to the guys and gals at Girltalk for this update. I may not get to follow the show when Survivor Philippines begins airing nightly come Sept 15. But the Girltalkers will keep me in the loop just fine.

Sam Who Thinks She Can Dance

Missing Samantha Who? She's going to be back in a couple of weeks. And she's going to come back dancing! The first episode for Season 2 features Sam and her mom in a dancing competition. There's a minor problem to this though... Old Sam had nimble feet, New Sam forgot she can groove.

But based on these photos, I think she eventually got into it just fine and was on her toes...ready to beat her mom's nemesis on the dancing floor, a character played by guest star Cybil Shepard.

TV Ratings [09.09.08]

How did Fringe and Privileged do last night? Did 90210 manage to keep its 5Million viewers last week?

Fringe managed to get a decent 9M, which really isn't great for a show that's much anticipated. It should have been in double digits. It was however, the highest rated show in its key demo, and that's good. Next week, when House premieres its new episode and stands as its lead-in, expect to see more positive changes to its ratings.

Privileged did alright with 2M+ viewers for the pilot...for a show on CW. And yep, 90210 was dropped by 2M viewers from last week.

Here's the rundown:

8.00 Block
America’s Got Talent NBC 11.6 M
Fringe Fox 9.0 M
Wipeout ABC 7.1 M
Big Brother CBS 7.0 M
90210 The CW 3.3 M

9.00 Block
America’s Got Talent NBC 11.6 M
Fringe Fox 9.0 M
Wipeout ABC 7.1 M
Hole In The Wall Fox 5.1 M
Fashion Rocks CBS 5.1 M
Privileged The CW 2.9 M

10.00 Block
Law & Order: SVU (Repeat) NBC 7.7 M
Primetime: Medical Mysteries ABC 6.8 M
Fashion Rocks CBS 5.1 M

Source: Nielsen

Privileged S1 E1 Pilot

I finally have something I can watch on CW!! 

I knew I'd enjoy Privileged.  I did say it was my Samantha Who? this year... and you know what? It did not disappoint. I loved every minute of the pilot!

Save for the fact that everything about this show isn't a fresh concept; or the fact that Privileged may be considered a poor imitation of yet another series about wealthy brats... over-all though, I know I'm sticking around for more.

The heart of the show is really JoAnna Garcia, who plays Megan Smith, a writer who dreams of meeting rich and famous people so she can have materials for a really good book she's planning to author. Instead, she ends up tutoring two rich Palm Beach teenage girls, who predictably aren't interested with school work. 

Megan is smart, perky, goofy and really, really cute. You cannot not love her. The girls, Rose and Sage, are known as the Evil Baker Twins. But they aren't that evil. Well, one is...but there's always a reason. You can't really hate them. 

Now this cuteness seems to be the prerequisite to this show, you know? We've got too many dramas of the rich and famous to go around, so I'm telling you now --- Privileged is the lite, stress-free version.

Also in the cast is Anne Archer, as the girl's very classy grandmother, who Megan initially thought she was working for.

The show's got the token gay guy, as well --- the family chef, Marco. I'm seeing that he will be Megan's confidante in the household and will walk her through the kids' fancy lifestyle. Let's just say that if this was a fairy tale, Marco would be the fairy godmother to Megan. 

Outside of work, Megan has her working class best friend, Charlie, who'll probably be her sounding board when she starts complaining about how unfocused and superficial the kids are.

Are you now getting a picture of what this show is like?

There are shades of Gilmore Girls in this one. Despite it's really unoriginal plot, Privileged has witty dialogues and is a smartly written, well-paced show. It's oddly formulaic and predictable. And yet I can't help but enjoy it.

Watching it or ditching it? My answer to this is crystal clear. I'm giddy about it.

So did you like FRINGE?

See review: Fringe

Cable TV Ratings [Sept 1-7 '08]

Raising The Bar is this newest show on cable that's...raising the bar. It's a story about young lawyers and it's created by Steven Bochco who was behind LA Law and Hill Street Blues. Critics loved it. I must be missing something here. Or I'm too distracted by Mark-Paul Gosselaar's hair-do (see photo). Seriously, lawyers? They let them keep their hair like that? For...lawyering?

Not even making it to Top 10 last week was The Shield's final season premiere (which I still haven't seen...). It barely scraped by. Maybe its fans don't know it's on? The Shield usually comes around March and it's the first time it's running during the fall season.

Also debuting last week on cable was Sons of Anarchy. I hear good feedback for this one and I was able to peek a little. But my husband wants us to watch together. It looks like the testosterone level for this show is way up, judging from the opening scene. Problem is, he's always not at home so I can't even begin watching. Bleech.

Anyway, last week's top 10:

Source: Nielsen Blog

TV Ratings [09.08.08]

Terminator opens its second season with non-encouraging results. It lost some 2M viewers who were watching its Season Finale the last time. Gossip Girl gets an impressive second week despite being in last place on their time-slot. 3.2M? That's still another million or so viewers they didn't have before.

8:00 Block
Deal Or No Deal NBC 9.6 M
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Fox 6.3 M
How I Met Your Mother (Repeat) CBS 5.8 M
The Big Bang Theory (Repeat) CBS 5.6 M
High School Musical ABC 4.1 M
Gossip Girl The CW 3.2 M

9:00 Block
Two And A Half Men (Repeat) CBS 9.2 M
New Adventures Of Old Christine (Repeat)CBS 7.4 M
Prison Break Fox 6.5 M
America’s Toughest Jobs NBC 6.5 M

CMA Music Festival ABC 6.4 M
One Tree Hill The CW 3.2 M

Source: Nielsen

Australian Idol's Top 12 2008

After two weeks, Australia has decided who their Top 12 are gonna be. I've got a few potential favorites on the list, but none stood out just yet. This batch is talented but, sadly utterly boring. I hope they pick it up a notch on the 14th.

FIRST EIGHT PICKS

Tom Williams - It's a wonder to me how he got in. His voice is average. Must be his bedimpled baby face. *Like Meter: 1 out of 5*

Wes Carr - Cool, cool guy. He sang Come Together (Beatles) during the Sydney Rounds and he was grrrreat. But it looks like that was his peak. I hope I'm wrong. *Like Meter: 5 out of 5*

Thanh Bui - The former Boy Band member. Good voice, yes but he has this tendency to oversing. He reminds me too much of local singer, Randy Santiago. *Like Meter: 3 out of 5*

Teale Jakubenko - I remember the dramatic events of his audition but I can't remember the performance that got him in. *Like Meter: 2 out of 5*

Mark Spano - Not quite sure how he got here, too. He sang okay but it was boring. *Like Meter: 2 out of 5*

Chrislyn Hamilton - Only 17 years old, she performs like Aretha Franklin. Big voice, big energy, big personality, big girl. *Like Meter: 5 out of 5*

Madam Parker - Alicia Keys wanna-be. She has 'ttude which I like. *Like Meter: 3 out of 5*

Brooke Addammo - she sings from the heart. She renders heartfelt songs. Her voice is crisp and clean.The only problem is, it seems ballads and slow songs are all she can do. *Like Meter: 5 out of 5*

WILDCARD PICKS

Roshani Priddis - Pretty impressive voice but picking the wrong song the first time nearly cost her. *Like Meter: 4 out of 5*

Sophie Patterson - I see her as Brooke Smith 2.0 *Like Meter: 4 out of 5*

Jonny Taylor - Sounds like Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), looks like Jesus Christ. *Like Meter: 4 out of 5*

Luke Dickens - Can't remember what he did! *Like Meter: 1 out of 5*

You can YouTube their names and see their performances to judge for yourself.

What's going to happen to our Heroes in Season 3?

The answer to that question will contain huge SPOILERS ahead...

And we start with...

Claire

She discovers a new ability, as well as new secrets. Claire's world will be very different from here on. In the season premiere, she and Sylar will go head to head.

Peter Petrelli

He won't be himself...and nope, that's not a season 2 flashback when Peter didn't quite know who he is. This time, he really isn't quite himself.

Nathan Petrelli

Seems he's either a walking dead or sees dead people, the first one being Mr. Linderman who died in Season 1. The Petrelli brothers will discover not one, but two Heroes are related to them. Mama Petrelli is going to be a very significant figure this season.

Niki/Jessica

We last saw her in that bomb blast. Did she die? Or did she resurrect with a third personality? Tracy, Nathan Petrelli's political adviser? Does Tracy have super powers? The answers are in the season premiere.Tracy supposedly had a twin.

Hiro

He'll go after his nemesis, Speedster/Daphne, who takes something that belongs to Hiro's family.

Parkman

What is up with Parkman? He's lost somewhere...and that is all we know.

Mohinder

He will acquire super powers by injecting himself with the serum he created to cure Maya. Unfortunately for Dr. Suresh, he doesn't know how to control his powers. His character will be ala Jekyll/Hyde. Also Jekyll/Hyde? This new show from NBC.

Sylar

He and Claire Bear's daddy are going to be buddies. Whether that's a strategic move by Mr. Bennet, is what we're going to find out in the season premiere. In the future, Sylar is living in a suburban house with his son Noah, who is also gifted. Noah's mother is "silver-tongued". Oh, in the season opener Sylar slices off someone's head, big time. If you wanna know who, follow this.

Sources: E!, TV Guide, Spoilerfix

Brothers and Sisters Season 3: A first look in pictures...

Something about the make believe world of television makes the Justin and Becca situation a lot less icky. Now that it has been established that they're no longer blood relatives, this picture makes me swooooon.


Here's more from the first episode of Brothers and Sisters Season 3. Episode 1 is entitled Glass Houses: SPOILERS from E! --- The Walkers will hit the beach for a little family vacay, and it's going to get ugly. In fact, we're in store for one of the worst Walker fights ever, and it's going to leave a lasting impression. Also, a certain Walker is having trouble consummating a relationship.

One big crazy happy family...When there's a Walker dinner, a fight is almost always going to happen!

The single mom and her angels...


The sister-in-law with Tommy's cute daughter...

And if you've read the spoilers from E! Online today, something's going to happen between Kitty and Robert. Their relationship is going to be tested by his infidelity. :(

Brothers and Sisters premieres Sept. 28.

Photos from Celebutopia

Sign up for NuffnangPH

I have always been curious about Nuffnang. It's another service that allows blogger to earn coffee money, or beer money, or maybe even more. But back then, it didn't have any other means to support other Asian countries like where I'm from.

I was blog hopping yesterday and chanced upon a link to Nuffnang Philippines, and I immediately signed up to check its services out and set up the ad unit I have chosen for my blog. The next day, I was surprised to find I've become eligible for Glitterati membership, which means better opportunities for this blog. (I read that it takes 48 hours for Nuffnang to crawl your site for eligibility).


I have been wondering when will online advertising move the Philippine blogging landscape when there are so many Pinoy bloggers everywhere. At the moment, there's one dominant choice. But maybe that will change with Nuffnang. It's about time, isn't it? Local companies should be able to get a clue by now, huh?

* Nuffnang pays in local currency. A minimum of P2,000 cashout is required.

Programus Interruptus

I am having a tiff with Monica, my PC. I need to replace some parts and those parts won't be here until tomorrow, I think. Bummer. I've got so much stuff to do, Monica!

I could work on Eve, my son's beautiful Mac-powered computer. I have to say beautiful because she really, really is. That alone should push me to use her.

But I am a PC gal through and through. And have had old reliable Monica all configured to work so very efficiently for me. She wasn't named Monica for the heck of it. (See under Personality - Monica Geller)

Unfortunately, she's not reliable right now. When I really, really need her. (It's fall premiere season, dammit!)

You know how that is, right? You probably know your own computer so well that if you try and work on a different one, it will slow you down. What normally takes an hour for you to finish, takes three hours.

Long story short, that's how it is for me. And I so hate it when I can't work well. I am actually on Eve, trying to get work done. But so far? Not being productive!

I'm not enjoying this short interruption but I have no choice. I need Monica to behave better first.

Until then...

Now, do you know who this guy is? And have you seen his sex tape?

First, the story about him...

He's got a sex tape going around the internet. Shocked? Hardly, yeah? Every celebrity and their grandmothers have internet porn going around the web. Whether they are the actual stars or not remains to be seen and proven. But for every Tom, Dick and Harry --- there's a sex tape each. So, big deal, yeah?

Now, this guy...there's a little slant to his story.

See, he's a familiar face on TV. That is, if you've been watching TV in the 90's. More so, if you've been watching Baywatch in the 90's.

This guy is Jeremy Jackson, now 27 years old and otherwise known as Hobie, the kid from Baywatch. Maybe this will help you remember:

He is trying to make a TV comeback and it's all supposedly fine and dandy. Except that, according to this story, his "image" may be tarnished by this sex tape he apparently headlined with a porn star and is now being sold online.

His statement goes:

"Around four years ago I filmed a sex tape in Las Vegas with Sky Lopez, this was a private tape and I have never given my permission for it to be made public. I had the only copy, but a long time ago I was threatened by someone claiming to be acting for Sky and told that I must hand over the tape for her to destroy it. All this time later I am told that someone is trying to sell it. I am upset by this as my career is really starting to pick up, I have a new US reality show and a studio film on the way and the sex tape route is most definitely one that I don't want to go down and I am taking legal advice on the matter."

I want to say --- he's a guy.... and this was four years ago which makes him 23 and not 16... what's the big deal? But when I think about it, had Jeremy been a former child actress making a TV comeback, this would be a big story. A scandal.

So my questions ---

Is Jeremy a victim? Does he have as much a case as a woman who has been exploited?

Or is this a stupid gimmick for his upcoming reality show?

And more importantly...why does he look nothing close to 27 years old? What has Hobie been doing, getting all wrinkled up? Did he forget to put on sunscreen the whole time he was doing Baywatch?

Samurai Girl

Let's start with what this show doesn't have...

It doesn't have action and violence. For a show with the words "Samurai" in it, there is surprisingly very little of that.

It doesn't have particularly effective and captivating actors. Their presence on screen? Pretty much blah. I don't need to be moved or inspired, I just need them to hold me in and convince me why it's interesting to watch them. Felt none of that.

It doesn't have great dialogues. In fact many of the lines the characters deliver are downright cheeeeeseball! Was this show created in the early 90's??

What Samurai Girl does have? A different story line. Think...Kill Bill meets 90210 (the OLD 90210). Sounds interesting?

It also has a slew of Asian actors --- good for the Asian acting community. I'm guessing they will ALL be gracing the Asian Awards next year.

Samurai Girl is based on a Japanese young-adult book, which was made into a Japanese animated cartoon and is now made into a live action American TV series. It will run for six episodes (a mini-series) on ABC Family. The series premiered last Friday.

Am I watching it or ditching it? Ditching.

Or.... maybe I'll catch it on cable. If it does turn up there. Whatever.

Poll Results: Anticipated New Show and Returning Shows

The results of the polls are in...

It seems a lot of you are awaiting Fringe. I am, too.

And it looks like you can't wait for Heroes' return. I'm gonna have to round up a few things/spoilers about Heroes before the premiere then.






New poll up for Best TV Series at the Emmys. Check on the right sidebar --->

The poll will run for 15 days.

Hee.

Today I turn 35.

TV Round Up: Casting Gossip among other things...

I've been doing a marathon of Australian Idol the last two days. It's sooooo much what I've expected it to be. I wish the whole world could see the talent they have down under.

Anyway, let's round up this week's TV news, yeah?

Check out Dollhouse's blog.

Speaking of blogs, are you a fan of Reaper? I didn't know Brett Harrison was also into blogging. The show is still coming back as mid-season replacement. If you want to catch up, Star World will begin airing Season 1 by end of September if I'm not mistaken.

Rich and famous on TV: The good and the bad side.

Miss Piggy is coming back to TV!!! I'm so excited.

Don LaFontaine Dies at 68. You may not know him but his voice is very familiar to you. He's the one doing all those movie trailers and TV teasers.

Blake Lively and Leighton Meister will be on 30 Rock. Oprah will be on 30 Rock. And you probably know about Jennifer Aniston's guest appearance (video preview). Seems 30 Rock is the show to be in if you're moonlighting as a guest TV star.

Jodie Foster is the voice of big girl Maggie on The Simpson's.

Brothers and Sisters scoopage --- Ryan will seek Becca's advice. Justin will not be all brotherly towards him. The green eyed monster lurks.

The Top 10 best Pilot episodes ever. Watched most of it, except #6 and #8. No Battlestar Galactica pilot? It was the shittest (mean that in the most positive way!) from the soundtrack alone.

Sarah Palin is Karen Walker (Will and Grace). Haha!

And oh...did you know there's a new cable channel on Destiny? It's called C/S Origins, a spin off of Crime Suspense. It's exclusive to Destiny only and since I'm on Sky Cable, it sucks that we're not getting it. :P

I haven't seen The Sheild's first episode this week yet. Maybe this weekend.

Have a good one!

Wonder Years, the 80's version, is in development

Not so sure how I'm taking this news. But NBC is planning to do a show similarly formatted to The Wonder Years. It will be set in the 80's (TWY was set in the 60's).

The show will be tentatively titled "Lost in the '80s."

Am an 80's kid...so right there, this one has ME for an audience. But to pattern after Wonder Years, a show near and dear to me....and to a lot of people? I'm taking a Let's-Wait-and-See stance.

NBC is getting "Lost in the '80s."

The network has handed a director-contingent pilot order to an hourlong project from "The Wonder Years" writer-producer Bob Brush.

The project, produced by Sony Pictures TV and studio-based Tantamount, is described as "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" meets "The Ice Storm."

It is considered an '80s version of "Wonder Years," the half-hour dramedy set 20 years prior that tackled the social issues and historic events of the late '60s through the eyes of teen Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage).

Brush won an Emmy and a Humanitas Prize for his writing duties on "Wonder Years," which aired on ABC for six seasons.

Brush is executive producing "Lost in the '80s" with Tantamount's Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum and Mitch Hurwitz.

His series credits include ABC's "Karen Sisco" and CBS' "Early Edition."

NBC already is riding the '80s wave with its sequel to "Knight Rider" and its revival of "American Gladiators." | THR

David Schwimmer, pre-Friends, was a part of The Wonder Years.And now, I wish there was a way I could watch this all over again. Is there? The DVDs aren't out but I haven't checked online...I probably should. But can some cable channel get this classic favorite on syndication please?

Do you know this guy?

He says he isn't going to come back to 90210.

Not ever.

Maybe he's starring in the TV series Cavemen? Oh wait, that show's been axed.

I cannot explain the beard.

TV Ratings [09.02.08]

To borrow Gossip Girl's promo tagline, this really is OMFG. The 2-hour premiere of 90210 is CW's highest rated debut. Ever. It has outperformed pilot debuts of past CW shows like The O.C., Dawson's Creek, Gilmore Girls and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

My gosh, buzzing about it as early as February actually worked!

Here's the complete rundown:

8:00 Block
America’s Got Talent NBC 10.1 M
NCIS (Repeat) CBS 8.0 M
House (Repeat) Fox 6.4 M
Wipeout (Repeat) ABC 5.9 M
90210 The CW 4.7 M

9:00 Block
America’s Got Talent NBC 11.1 M
Big Brother CBS 6.5 M
House (Repeat) Fox 6.4 M
90210 The CW 5.1 M
Wanna Bet ABC 3.9 M

CW is on a roll, it really is trying to outlast itself. Gossip Girl had its record breaking ratings yesterday. Now this. Is this network finally saved? I'm curious about the following week's ratings.

Source: Nielsen

Fast tracking Australian Idol Season 6 is making me dizzy!

The new season of Australian Idol (6) is making me very exhausted. They changed the format. It's both good and bad. Good for the show, bad for this viewer (who wasn't able to follow the episodes as soon as it aired).

Let's see if I got this right ---

• The audition rounds were shown for one hour every night the other week. This equalled to 6 episodes on the first week.
• The Sydney rounds (equivalent to the Hollywood round) aired immediately a day after the audition round, making this the 7th episode. They also revealed the Top 24 during this episode.
  
• The heats (or the group rounds) are coming up this week, which technically is just the second week of AusIdol's sixth season run.
  

In fact, they've already chosen their first two finalists today. Or four...I've lost count because everything is happening so fast. And guess how many episodes I've seen so far? FOUR! Out of 9 (and counting) I have to follow! In two weeks of AusIdol!!!

It bothers me I have so many backlogs for this show!

On the other hand, speeding this up means we're getting down to the actual talent competition really fast. The Top 12 heats is going to start Sept. 14 already...AusIdol is wasting no time. And it's not making viewers sit through all those bad auditions that takes a month and a half for American Idol to do. And AusIdol will go back to the weekly format by this time. Whew. At least I can take a break.

The one other thing they've changed this year is the manner in which viewers get to vote off a contestant:

... once announced the bottom 3 of the week, the voting line will be opened again for voting for the people who are in the bottom 3, in order to save the best 2 out of the 3 and keep the best singer in the competition.

It is what New Zealand and Bulgarian Idol are supposedly doing, per Wiki. It does make sense, doesn't it? Something to think about, Pinoy Idol....

Anyway...

I don't know if it's because I've marathoned four episodes at once tonight...but it seems I don't have an early pick for favorite yet. I've heard good singers and seen bad ones yet I've forgotten who they are now!

So...am torn.

I don't like having to catch up and seeing the episodes pile up. This is the kind of show I wanna watch as soon as it happens.

But evidently, it's all going to mellow out in two weeks time and really, that's when the fun starts.

Is the change good or bad?

Does it matter? I'm gonna keep watching anyway.

I just answered my own stupid question.

9021-nu-uh!

So I did say I was going to watch the pilot episode of 90210 just to see how Brenda and Kelly are doing. Saw it. Now over it.

There's so many things I feel sorry for about this show. But I'm just going to mention one --- Jessica Walters. Find this woman a better show! I'm checking out Privileged when it premieres next week and here I am thinking --- can she also play Grandma on that one instead? She would be so much fun playing Grandma to the lead character there.

Anyway, to be fair.... 90210 of the 90's wasn't exactly the best thing on television the year it came out. The pilot episode then was just as uneven, maybe even worse. And that one lasted 10 friggin years!

Maybe this new version has hope.

Maybe not.

The only thing I know for sure --- I'm not sticking around to find out if it will last even 10 months.

Jennifer Aniston plays a crazy woman on 30 Rock

Last week, the buzz was Jennifer Aniston is returning to NBC via a guest stint on 30 Rock but it still wasn't clear what her role is.

Well, here's the scoop --- She's not playing herself, thankfully. She is playing a woman who will "rock Jack Donaghy's world".

My well-informed sources say Aniston plays Liz and Jenna's old roommate from Chicago, who pays them a visit in the Big Apple. She's a free spirit who loves to party and isn't opposed to sleeping around. In fact, a certain slick, Republican 30 Rocker will catch her eye.

Word is, their "relationship" won't be the healthiest, as Donaghy gets addicted to Aniston's character, and she becomes a total psycho... much to poor Liz Lemon's disapproving chagrin. | Korbi

Crazy Jen? That I want to see!

30 Rock premieres its third season on October 30th.

Grey's Anatomy: Who is the liar?

Not Shonda Rhimes. Hopefully...

This video rocked the world of Grey's Anatomy and its fans the other day. It had Rose telling Derek she was pregnant with his baby.



Fans of the series have been breaking down and analyzing this video all the while taking note that Shonda Rhimes, Grey's Anatomy's showrunner, may have been lying about Meredith and Derek finally getting their happy ending when she mentioned this at interviews.

But according to E! It's actually Rose who is lying through her teeth.

My sources tell me that the promo posted above is just plain old pointless torture, because Rose is lying through her pretty white teeth when she tells Derek that she's having his baby.

Now, why is she lying, and could she get away with it? That remains to be seen, but I can tell you that "Thorn" is just about done causing trouble for Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek, because the two-hour season premiere (airing Sept. 25 on ABC at 9 p.m.) is apparently Lauren Stamile's final appearance with the show.| E!

Rose is going to have quite an exit, doesn't she? If this is the case, then her character will leave the show with lots of MerDer fans booing behind her. Poor Lauren Stamile.

What this whole thing doesn't answer though is ---- was that Derek on the stretcher? Was he in an accident? Is that why Meredith was screaming and crying? Was that really Mer?

TV Ratings [09.01.08]

Did Gossip Girl finally manage to find an audience during its TV broadcast? In spite of its popularity among the younger demographic, the show is having ratings problems. No one is watching it during the actual broadcast. Instead, people are catching it online or via DVR.

Here's how the shows ranked during September 1st's airing:

8:00 Block
Deal Or No Deal NBC 10.9 M
Prison Break Fox 6.2 M
The Big Bang Theory (Repeat) CBS 4.7 M
How I Met Your Mother (Repeat) CBS 4.7 M
Gossip Girl The CW 3.4 M
High School Musical ABC 2.2 M

9:00 Block
Two And A Half Men (Repeat) CBS 7.9 M
America’s Toughest Jobs NBC 7.3 M
Prison Break Fox 6.6 M
New Adventures Of Old Christine (Repeat) CBS 6.0 M
One Tree Hill The CW 3.1 M
Samantha Who? (Repeat) ABC 2.2 M

Shows from CW did better than expected. Gossip Girl ends up having its best ratings since it premiered last year. But since it's still the first week, the numbers don't mean anything yet.

Source: Nielsen

Can you spot Waldo in this photo?

This year's Emmy is going to be celebrated in a BIIG way. After all, the awards organization is now on its 60th year. We're supposed to expect TV stars of yesterday making their appearance.

Among the segments I shall be looking forward to this year is the compilation of TV's Best Lines for the last 60 years. I cannot think of one particular line I'd like to hear but I'd be really overjoyed if something from Friends makes it to the list. I'm thinking, "We were on a break!" is now a classic and easily identifiable to that show.

What favorite lines from Television are you expecting to hear/watch at the Emmy's culmination program?

I think I'll enjoy watching Privileged...

I have forgotten to let you know about this new show Privileged. It was originally called Surviving The Filthy Rich and it bore no interest to me then.

But after watching the trailer, I think it's going to be my Samantha Who? this season, in that I expect little from the show but I could end up liking it very much.

Privileged also has a bit of that Cinderella-story element I love. If you watch the trailer, you'll know what I mean:



Youtube it up and you'll see tons of 5 minute previews. I'll wait to watch the whole episode when the series premieres next week, Sept.9th.