Posted on October 31st, 2008 by Princess Kitty in Television
So, after “Ghost Whisperer” ended tonight, CBS ran a rerun of “NCIS” instead of “The Ex List”. “Ex” is now the first new drama of the season pulled from a network’s schedule. It came as no shock to me. Who in their right mind thought that those of us who are home watching TV on a Friday night would want to watch a pretty, skinny, little twit whine about her love life? Besides, I still haven’t forgiven CBS for taking away my super hot and sexy vampire. “Moonlight” may not have been the greatest or most successful show on television, but it had a devoted group of fans. So I think I’ll use the end of “The Ex List” to post some pretty pictures of Alex O’Loughlin as Private Eye and Vampire Extraordinaire, Mick St. John:
Posted on October 31st, 2008 by Princess Kitty in Talk Shows
I’m not particularly a fan of either Jimmy Kimmel or Sarah Silverman (except for when they make R-rated music videos with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) but Sarah’s appearance on Jimmy’s show last night was pretty cute.
“The Beast” will debut on A&E in January and they are about halfway through shooting the 12 episode season. Patrick gave an interview to The New York Times recently that was hopeful and optimistic without sugar-coating anything. Here’s the interview quote that really struck me:
“There is probably that little bird that flies through your insides and says, ‘I sure would like to make a mark in life,’ ” Mr. Swayze said. “I’ve made a pretty decent mark so far — nothing to scoff at. But it does make you think: Wait a minute. There’s more I want to do. Lots more. Get on with it.”
The article also includes statements from the Sony executives who gave the show the greenlight and acknowledge, “There was a lot of disbelief. I genuinely think people thought we were crazy.”
Looking at these stills, they don’t seem so crazy anymore.
Check out the whole NYT article below. It’s a great one.
Posted on October 30th, 2008 by Princess Kitty in Movies
Estelle Reiner passed away at the age of 94 last Saturday. She may have been best known as the wife of Carl and the mother of Rob, but Estelle Reiner was a woman who led a fabulous life in her own right. At the age of 65 she decided she wanted to be a jazz singer and had a successful 28 year career doing exactly that.
She also, of course, uttered one of the greatest movie lines EVER. “When Harry Met Sally” is my all-time favorite movie and I just wanted to say thank you, Estelle. You make me laugh every single time I watch it.
To my absolute horror, Dina Lohan has hinted to New York Magazine that she might be taking part in the next season of “Dancing with the Stars”. Allow me to say: No, No! Dear God, please NO!!
To exorcise that picture from my mind, I set about to find a nice “Dancing” story. Below is a brief segment from ”Access Hollywood” including sweet statements from Cloris Leachman and her partner Corky Ballas.
Posted on October 29th, 2008 by Princess Kitty in Television
We’re getting “Law & Order” earlier than expected but “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” is now being delayed by USA until early 2009. According to TV Guide and a spokesperson for the show:
“Based on the overall TV landscape and in this economy, it made sense to maximize the value of the show by airing all 16 episodes in an uninterrupted run during the first quarter of 2009.”
The show’s eighth season was originally set to air beginning Nov. 7th. Jeff Goldblum will be joining the show as Det. Zach Nichols and will be paired with Julianne Nicholson’s Det. Wheeler. Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe will also be returning and the show will continue to rotate between the two detective teams.
Posted on October 29th, 2008 by Princess Kitty in Biggest Loser
Aired 10-28-08
Phil was feeling lonely and isolated without his wife Amy on campus. She was eliminated the previous week and Phil knew it was done, at least in part, because of him.
The Blue Team was in the kitchen using……
Product Placement Alert One: The Brita water filter
when trainer Bob Harper came in the room and discovered that they had eliminated Amy P. (Red Amy) the night before. He described himself as “heartbroken” over it. Bob called Brady’s three pound weight loss “unheard of” and asked to speak to Brady and his wife, Vicky, alone. Bob knows that Vicky is the mastermind behind the Blue Team and he flat out told the couple that he didn’t believe Brady’s weight loss. They both denied any gameplaying but the show is still making a point of giving Vicky the “evil” edit. Finally Vicky looked at Brady and said that he needs to eat every four hours. Brady rather petulantly replied that he’s not going to eat if he’s not hungry. This upset Bob even more. He told Brady that he has to eat because another small weight loss would put both he and Vicky at risk. In his interview segment, Bob said that he believes that Brady’s intentions are good but added, “That wife. That wife. She’s Shakespearian.” It was one of the biggest laughs I’ve ever had from this show and I’ve never loved Bob more!
Temptation
Host Alison Sweeney introduced the teams to David Zinczenko who, as anyone who watches talk shows or entertainment shows can tell you, is the editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine and the author of the “Eat This, Not That” books. This week’s temptation involved guessing the healthiest option between two different meals. The first team that got 5 correct answers would win a 40 pound advantage at the challenge.
Round One: Heba (Blue) and Michelle (Black) had to choose between a hot dog with mustard and relish OR nachos with cheese. Both guessed the hot dog and were right.
Round Two: Vicky (Blue) and Renee (Black) had to choose between a small plate of spaghetti with marinara sauce and spicy Italian sausage plus a side Caesar salad OR a small plate of penne with marinara and garlic shrimp plus a side house salad with fat free Italian dressing. They both guessed the penne and were right.
Round Three: Amy (Blue) and Coleen (Black) had to choose between chicken and shrimp fajitas with the works OR 24 chicken nuggets with barbeque dipping sauce. Amy guessed the nuggets while Coleen went for the fajitas. The correct answer was the nuggets.
Round Four: Brady (Blue) and Phil (Black) had to choose between a multi-grain bagel with light cream cheese OR a ham, egg and cheese english muffin sandwich. Brady tried to trick Phil into picking the bagel but the both went for the english muffin sandwich and were right.
Round Five: Heba (Blue) and Michelle (Black) had to choose between a grilled chicken burrito with the works OR 18 bottles of light beer. Heba went with the burrito while Michelle picked the beer. The correct answer was the burrito - but just barely based on calories. Of course, it’s hard to imagine what 18 beers would have to be up against to really be the healthier option!
The Blue Team won the 40 pound advantage at the challenge which will be explained a little later.
Trainer Tip: Bob said that, when stressed, we should chose to eat walnuts, asparagus dipped in yogurt or, if only chocolate will do, go for the dark stuff.
It was DRAMA time in the house. Heba was doing some more ranting about Phil supposedly trying to arrange her ouster from the ranch and she and the Blue Team ended up charging into the kitchen while the Black Team was eating dinner. Heba carried on like a self-righteous 13 year old about how hateful and mean Phil was to her while we saw interview clips that showed that: 1) The Blue Team was hoping they were causing tension between Phil and his Black teammates. 2) Phil and the other Black Team members knew that was exactly what Blue was trying to do. 3) Phil saying that all he did was try and do a little gameplay and the “hateful” stuff must have been Brady embellishing. Phil slunk off to his room embarrassed. The rest of the Black Team followed him to say that they didn’t care what the Blue Team says, they are fully supporting him. Look, I have no particular love for Phil but this Blue Team is shaping up to be the most unlikeable group ever. Poor Bob.
Challenge
The teams had to get into harnesses suspended 50 feet in the air by cranes (pictured above). Each person had to hold on to a rope (while struggling against their own body weight) and the team that held on the longest would win. A team would be eliminated once all the members had let go of their rope. The Blue Team’s 40 pound advantage meant that the Black Team had to hold up an additional 40 pounds. The winning team got to pick any player from the opposing team and eliminate their weight from this week’s weigh in.
They began with the Blue Team carrying 932 pounds (their combined weight) and the Black Team carrying 918 (with the extra 40). At the 25 minute mark, Alison warned the teams that they would have to have someone let go of their rope when the clock got to 30 minutes. Vicky (Blue) and Michelle (Black) were the ones chosen by their teams to let go. After a bit, Phil’s hands slipped off the rope and this was quickly followed by Coleen letting go. That left just Renee holding on for the Black team but she could only support 918 pounds for a brief time and let go giving the Blue Team the victory.
Blue had a meeting to decide who to cancel out on the Black Team. They knew Black expected them to pick Phil but, since the person’s weight would come off of both the numerator and the denominator of the equation, the choice was more complicated than that.
Black Team trainer Jillian Michaels handled the news of the loss well because she knew her team had tried and also had the 40 pound disadvantage. She assumed Blue would remove either Phil or Renee and said they just needed to do their best and sort it all out after.
Product Placement Alert Two: Bob gave Heba and Amy a coaching session about snacking and suggested they chew Extra Polar Ice gum to quell their craving for sweets.
Weigh In
Blue opted to remove Michelle from the weigh in which came as a shock to her. Heba explained that they made their decision based on math. Michelle still weighed in and lost only 2 pounds for the week. She absolutely beamed about being at the 200 pound mark. If her weight had counted, she would have had a much different reaction to the 2 pounds, but this way we got to see her look very happy.
Black:
Renee lost 3 pounds. Coleen lost 2 and Phil lost 3 pounds for a total loss of 1.18%. Phil said that he was disappointed and probably had let all the stuff going on that week influence him in a way it shouldn’t have.
Blue:
They only needed to lose more than 11 pounds to win and Brady, the first to weigh in, lost 13 on his own. He was the person the episode promo has been touting as the one “who lost more than an entire team”. In her interview, Michelle speculated that Brady had done some weight loss gameplaying and I still tend to agree. I just do not trust him and Vicky. Speaking of Vicky, she lost 2 pounds. Heba lost 6 and Amy lost 6 for a total loss of 2.90%. Alison announced that Amy was now the biggest loser on campus which Amy said she hoped everyone would immediately forget. Way to put a giant target on her back, Alison! She’s the only person on the Blue Team I still like!
Renee was the biggest loser for the Black Team so she was immune from elimination. Since they knew that Renee would never vote off her daughter Michelle, Coleen and Phil made their cases to stay to the mother/daughter duo. Coleen’s was a bit more convincing than Phil’s. He said that he was pretty sure he’d have big numbers the following week but also continued to talk about how much he missed his wife. They were all very kind to each other during this discussion which makes their losing to the obnoxious Blue Team even worse.
When the team gathered for the vote, Phil acknowledged that he let his wife’s ouster, that came within a few days of their 20th anniversary, get to him and he played into the Blue Team’s hands. The vote was:
Renee – eliminate Phil
Michelle – eliminate Phil
Phil – eliminate Michelle
Coleen – eliminate Phil
Phil gave the group a lovely little speech about how much his wife Amy means to him, how much he wants to be a good role model for his kids and how much he wants the Black Team to not let the Blue Team win. He added, “America, the next time you see me I’ll be so hot that you won’t even care that I don’t have any hair.”
Back home, we followed Phil as he bought a ring for Amy and surprised her with it in the same spot he originally proposed. They then renewed their vows and Amy gave Phil back his wedding ring that hadn’t fit him for the past 15 years. They were adorable. So far Phil has lost 106 pounds and is looking pretty good!
Everyone remember that Bob & Jillian are going to be on Oprah tomorrow (10/30)!!!
The show opened with the encore dance – the Group Hip Hop number. Bless her heart; Susan still didn’t have a clue. And, I can’t believe I forgot to mention Lance’s fine, fine mullet in my original recap! I’m sure Billy Ray was proud.
First Two Couples Safe (in no particular order): Lance Bass & Lacey Schwimmer and Cody Linley - all by his lonesome. Cody’s partner, Julianne Hough, had surgery that day and will be out for at least a week. In his post-saving interview with Samantha Harris, Cody appeared with Edyta Sliwinska who will be subbing for Julianne. Cody reported that Julianne’s surgery went as expected and she was already home resting.
Ballroom Kids Competition: This week we had Craig (13 years old) & Samantha (11) from Martha Stewart’s hometown of Nutley, NJ performing the Cha Cha Cha. They are a brother/sister pair and their younger sister actually was part of the kids’ competition last year. Their rivals were Lucy (13) & Simon (13) from San Jose, CA dancing the Samba. Guest judge Michael Flatley pretty much telegraphed in his comments that Lucy & Simon weren’t going to win and, indeed, they didn’t. All three judges voted for Craig & Samantha. I don’t ever remember a kid’s vote that was 3 to 0. They have always been 2 to 1. I felt pretty bad for Lucy & Simon.
The musical guests were The Pussycat Dolls and Missy Elliott - an interesting pairing – doing their song “Whatcha Think About That”. It was what you would expect from the Dolls.
Next Couple Safe: Warren Sapp & Kym Johnson
Michael Flatley performed a number called “Capone” from his “Celtic Tiger” show. It was pretty cool. It started with him tap dancing as a shadow behind a scrim. He then moved to a box in the middle of the floor where he tapped with no musical accompaniment. At the end, he leapt off the box as it burst into flames. It was a nice change of pace from the usual results show dance numbers.
Obligatory Montage: The show had a Marine Sergeant, a sports psychologist and Troy Tanner (Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor’s coach) discussing what the celebs needed to excel at in order to win the competition. In short they needed focus, confidence and the ability to handle pressure.
With only a few minutes to go, hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris gave the news to the last four couples standing.
Safe: Brooke Burke & Derek Hough and Maurice Greene & Cheryl Burke.
“Still in Peril”: Susan Lucci & Tony Dovolani and Cloris Leachman & Corky Ballas. Tom made the point that these weren’t necessarily the “bottom two”.
Prior to the final announcement, Cloris said, “I’m not leaving.” To which Tom replied, “I’m afraid you are.” True to form, Cloris then took complete control of the show. She ignored Samantha and headed straight over to the judges saying, “I couldn’t have been voted off by any nicer people than you.” She told Carrie Ann Inaba, “I know you didn’t mean what you said” and told Michael Flatley to give his father a kiss from her. She then plopped herself down on the floor and declared that she really wasn’t going to leave. Next week she’s going to get a pretty costume and sit in the front row of the audience.
She had a good run but it was time for Cloris to exit the Ballroom. Right now, I’m thinking Susan and Maurice will be the next two to go and the big battle will be between Lance, Cody, Warren and Brooke.
Actually what happened is last week was more than just a tummy ache. Obviously. It turned out I ruptured a cyst that was on my ovary. I didn’t know but I have endometriosis. I’ve apparently had it for a long time because I’ve had this pain for about the last five years. It hasn’t been as bad. Up till last week, I let it go and I was always too busy to get it checked out. But because it happened when I was on set, they made me go to the doctor.
They want to clean out the cysts and take out my appendix, too, because later on it can be affected by the cysts. Endometriosis is a common thing for women. I was like “thanks mom for giving me my great life – and endometriosis.” I said that jokingly. My sister who has five children is going in for the same surgery in a couple weeks.
Edyta will be great. She’s a great girl and a terrific dancer. I want people to still vote for Cody and know I’ll be back.
Here’s my favorite part:
I didn’t get Bruno at all last night. I was pissed at him. Think about it. That song was a strong sexy song, not the kind of song Bruno said it was. I think Carrie Ann was right. I think Cody has improved so much. I was really proud of him. But in the confessional, I had to watch what I said about the judges, well, what I said about Bruno.
The show opened with hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris introducing us to guest judge Michael Flatley who was sitting in for Len Goodman. When Samantha mentioned that the evening would include an “old skool hip hop number”, Tom replied, “Now we know the real reason why Len’s not here.” I have to say that Michael was a nice change of pace. The Salty Old Dog commented that he thought Michael was like an intelligent, knowledgeable version of Paula Abdul. Michael did give criticism, but he also made sure to say something nice to everyone. Len is my favorite of the three judges, but I wouldn’t mind having Michael come back to sub for either Bruno or Carrie Ann.
Maurice Greene & Cheryl Burke: They had the Viennese Waltz and were concerned because it was the first time since week one that Maurice has had to do a Ballroom style. He said that it felt like he was back to square one in the competition. I thought he looked a lot more comfortable than he did in his Foxtrot. Michael said it was unbelievable to see the fastest man on earth do something so slow and elegant. It could have been a bit smoother but, all in all, a great dance. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba saw an improvement in Maurice’s posture but felt he and Cheryl needed to work on their chemistry to push them over the top. Bruno Tonioli thought all the moves were there but it lacked fluidity. Scores: Carrie Ann – 7, Michael – 7, Bruno – 7 for a total of 21.
Lance Bass & Lacey Schwimmer: Lance was feeling pretty down after last week’s bashing by the judges. Lacey pointed out that, if she gives him moves designed to make him shine, he has to pull them off or the judges will go back to watching her. He got a visit from fellow *NSYNCers Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick. Lance said that seeing Joey was a reminder that his days of being in the back row of *NSYNC are over and he has to be front and center now. I will say this about their Jive – Lacey certainly choreographed the dance to feature Lance. He had the whole opening to himself. I think this number showed the Lance we have been expecting to see. Bruno said, “The Lance is back on target!” and thought he was gleaming with confidence. Michael said Lance had everything going for him so he didn’t want to hear another word about lack of confidence. Carrie Ann thanked Lacey and said that she knew the judges had been hard on her the previous week but, wherever Len was, she knew he was proud of them. To which Tom replied, “He’s not dead!” Scores: Carrie Ann – 9, Michael – 9, Bruno – 9 for a total of 27.
Susan Lucci & Tony Dovolani: Susan knew she had to “break out of the box” after her turn last week in the bottom two but she admitted that she’s struggling with finding the freedom to do that. Tony took her out to a Mambo club with her “All My Children” co-stars including DWTS Alum Cameron Matheson. Tony wanted her to really “let her hair down”. Susan knows that time is running out to prove herself. I was going to say that Susan is still suffering from the same problem Jane Seymour had with the Latin dances – neither could stop being elegant – but there is a big difference. Jane always seemed sure of her steps whereas I feel like Susan dances hesitantly because she isn’t always sure of what is coming next. Carrie Ann saw things differently and said that Susan did break the box. Bruno said that we were finally seeing the devil lurking under the Susan Lucci skin but the timing of the dance was way off. The audience and Carrie Ann gave him a hard time about this but I think Bruno was right. Michael called her the epitome of grace and beauty and, while she might have been a little off on the timing, he didn’t think they needed to dwell on it. He said he didn’t want her to change who she is. Scores: Carrie Ann – 8, Michael – 8, Bruno – 7 for a total of 23. I hate to say it, but I think the 8’s were too high.
Brooke Burke & Derek Hough: Brooke hurt her foot during last week’s Jitterbug and missed a day of rehearsal for therapy on her tendon strain. All in all, it looked like a tense and stressful week for them. They had the Rumba which is my least favorite of the dances on this show. To me it frequently looks boring compared to the other dances but Brooke & Derek’s version was definitely not boring. It was genuinely hot. It’s ironic that the “TV host” and “Spokesmodel” is proving to be the best actor in the group! Michael said Brooke took his breath away and he thought the dance was “sensational”. She never took her eyes off Derek and actually became the dance. He concluded by saying that he hoped he had a card big enough for her score. Carrie Ann went in the opposite direction and said it wasn’t Brooke’s best dance and thought the injury held her back. Bruno said that Brooke could smolder just standing there but this dance was under par. Her execution wasn’t as precise as she’s capable of. Scores: Carrie Ann – 8, Michael – 10, Bruno – 8 for a total of 26. I’m with Michael on this one. I didn’t see the problems Carrie Ann and Bruno saw.
Cloris Leachman & Corky Ballas: Their segment opened with Corky expressing shock that they weren’t in the bottom two last week. Cloris described Corky as very patient and said they were like an old married couple. To help him get control over Cloris, Corky called in her “once upon a time husband” George Englund to keep her in line. I thought things were going pretty well in their Cha Cha Cha until they got to the buildup for their lift Even so, Corky still somehow managed to pull it off and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who gasped watching Cloris get spun around like that. Bruno declared that Cloris was the only person in the world who could sell such nonsense as a Cha Cha Cha and have the audience buy it. Michael said that his father told him he better not say anything bad about Cloris but he did want to point out how lucky she is to have Corky. Carrie Ann was the bluntest. She said that they lost Toni Braxton for this dance and that made her sad. Scores: Carrie Ann – 5, Michael – 5, Bruno – 5 for a total of 15.
Audience Alert! The camera showed us Anna Faris a lot so I’m thinking she was the only famous person in the audience last night. She seemed to be having a great time.
Cody Linley & Julianne Hough: Julianne had a rough time this past week because she wasn’t feeling well. To cheer her up, the show decided to torture Cody! Really, they developed a character for his Samba that required giving him a spray tan and temporarily darkening his hair. I’ll say this. The kid has really come alive the past few weeks. As Salty put it, he’s getting more confident and focused as he comes to the realization that he could actually win. Carrie Ann called it the most intense Samba she’d ever seen. Cody is growing each week and she loves that. Bruno thought it was way too intense and seemed more like a Paso Doble. Michael said that Cody showed great strength and determination but it was probably not the best he could do. In the Samantha interview, Julianne confirmed that she has Endometriosis and will have her appendix removed on Tuesday. Edyta Sliwinska will be taking over for her until she can come back – which will be next week. Tom added, “Only Julianne would say ‘I’m having my appendix out tomorrow. I’ll be back in a week.” Scores: Carrie Ann – 8, Michael – 8, Bruno – 7 for a total of 23. Frankly I thought these scores were a bit low.
Warren Sapp & Kym Johnson: They knew they were up against Brooke & Derek with the Rumba and that Brooke would have no problem bringing the sexy. Kym decided they needed to counter with a real storyline to their dance. I admit it - I love Warren. He does everything with a smoothness and ease that is just a pleasure to watch. And, like Brooke, he’s also a surprisingly good actor. Michael called the dance very entertaining and added that, while he would have liked to have seen a bit more dancing, it was great to see a big, powerful man be sensitive. Carrie Ann was a little flustered and said it was pretty sexy. Tom told her to stop flirting which earned him a playful head slap from Warren. Carrie Ann added that she likes that he brought real emotion to the dance but she did notice a mistake in the middle. Warren quickly (and adorably) acknowledged that. Bruno commented that Warren always gets the character right but did make some footwork mistakes this time. Scores: Carrie Ann – 8, Michael – 9, Bruno – 8 for a total of 25.
Group Hip Hop: The number was choreographed by Shotyme and the rehearsal footage included plenty of good-natured trash talking – especially between Maurice and Warren. This was definitely a number that worked better for some than for others. Poor Susan was just lost through the whole thing. Cloris didn’t do much dancing (she was mainly up on the back platform with Corky away from the action) but she certainly got way more into character than Susan. We also discovered that hip hop may be the one dance style that Brooke doesn’t excel at. Don’t get me wrong, she still looked good, but she was out of her element. Maurice, Warren and Lance looked to be having a great time and Cody got to show off some of his beatbox skills. Of the pros, the one who stood out was Lacey. She pretty much rocked the whole thing. I also have to applaud 48 year old Corky Ballas on his breakdancing. The judges didn’t score the number but they did give their comments. Bruno said that some of them looked hip and some looked like hip replacement. Michael felt the number showed off the power of the professional dancers and Carrie Ann said she recognized some “Flygirl” moves from the beginning of her career. She added that she had never seen a Flavor Flav impersonation quite like Cloris’.
The evening ended with a new couple in the top spot – Lance & Lacey with 27. Brooke & Derek were close behind with 26. Cloris & Corky were at the bottom with 15 and Maurice & Cheryl were second from the last with 21. Personally, I think Susan & Tony should have been in the basement with Cloris & Corky and these two couples would be my pick for the bottom two. I’ll be pretty upset if anyone else goes before them.
The full episode can be viewed at ABC’s website here:
