Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Starveillance Pilot

I watched the pilot, and Starveillance is now on my list of must-see shows. If you didn't catch it, it's an animated spoof (claymation) of video papparazzi catching unguarded moments of celebrities. The papparazzi (also claymation) host the show and introduce the clips. They are interesting in themselves - 1 straight, 1 with a thing for David Hasselhoff - they're young and hip, reminiscent of MTV VJs.

Some of the celebs were captured perfectly (Jennifer Anniston looked exactly like the real thing) while with others, you didn't know who they were supposed to be until you heard their name. Brad Pitt looked more like Mark Valley from Boston Legal, and other than hair color and 6-pack abs, bore no resemblance to the actual Pitt.

But the sketches were clever, and the show kept me laughing, so this goes into the tivo season pass list for sure.

Calorie Counter at MyFoodDiary.com

Friday, January 5, 2007

The Envelope Please...

If you like awards shows and generally all things Hollywood, check out a website called The Envelope at http://theenvelope.latimes.com/. The site includes blogs, pod casts, polls, red carpet photo galleries, and more. You can even post your own opinion about your favorite tv shows on their forum.

Calorie Counter at MyFoodDiary.com

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Dirt Pilot Overview

I was going to give you a detailed, play-by-play recap of FX's new television show, Dirt. But due to my husband hitting the delete button AND the button that says "OKAY TO DELETE?" in rapid succession, immediately after I told him to save it AND he responded by saying "Okay," I will instead give you an overview of the show.

If you missed it and still want to catch it, don't despair. Dirt replays on Friday night and again on Sunday night on FX. Warning: I do give away a few details about the plot in the following paragraphs, so read at your own discretion.

According to one actor on the series, "The viewers are going to get a full taste of the dark and the ugly and the dirty and really what Hollywood can be." The premise of the show is the behind-the-scenes dirt of celebrity life told through the lens of a tabloid magazine.

Dirt is brimming with terrific actors and celebs you've seen before. Courteney Cox Arquette plays the ruthless editor, Lucy Spiller. Watch this once, and you'll never think of her as "Monica" again. Shannyn Sossamon (Josie in Undiscovered and Lady Jocelyn in A Knight's Tale) makes an appearance as a pregnant, coke-sniffing actress named Kira.

Laura Allen (Lily from 4400) plays Julia, the rising-star actress girlfriend of Holt, played by Josh Stewart. Holt is an actor who finds himself no longer on the "hot" list and who subsequently becomes trapped in a web of guilt and betrayal when Lucy alternately tricks, cajoles, and blackmails him into giving her "dirt" on his celebrity friends.

David Fincher, the real-life director of Fight Club, appears as himself. Rick Fox, former basketball player for The Lakers, plays--you guessed it--a basketball player. His acting is good, and you never look at the screen and think "jock wannabe actor" like in so many other instances where the crossover from sports to acting has been less than successful. He's also very easy on the eyes.

Speaking of easy on the eyes, Lucy Spiller picks up a Jim-Morrisonesque man who is standing on the sidewalk reading a book when she comes out of a club. Your not quite sure if it's really a chance meeting or if he's playing her in order to promote his band. If only I still had the episode on tivo, I could tell you his name.

Coolest of all for Harry Potter fans is that Professor Quirrell, a.k.a. Ian Hart, has a role as the schizophrenic papparazzo, Don Konkey. Dirt departs from the normal mode of story telling as you sometimes see the world through Konkey's (schizophrenic) eyes. There is a scene where one of the words he speaks floats out of his mouth, forms a worm, and crawls away. Also, his cat talks and sometimes it rains blood (at least when Konkey isn't taking his medication). I loved the entire show, but even if I didn't, I would probably still tune in to see what was going on with this character.

Dirt promises to deliver a steady stream of strange twists, dark drama, and raunchy sex. There was already a sex scene where I went, "What are they doing!?" Haha. This isn't a show you want to sit down and watch with the kids, but it is a show you'll want to watch.

Calorie Counter at MyFoodDiary.com

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

David Letterman Interviews: The Apprentice and 24

Fans of The Apprentice and/or 24 will want to mark their calendars for January 5th, 2007. Both Donald Trump and Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe on 24) will be making guest appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman on Friday night.

Monday, January 1, 2007

Heroes Preview - The Tonight Show

Don't forget to schedule the January 3rd taping of The Tonight Show into your digital recording devices. Masi Oka (who plays the Japanese guy who can manipulate time and space) will be making a guest appearance, and he'll have an exclusive preview of the show with him.

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Cell Phone Graphics from Your Favorite TV Shows

I came across this site today where you can get graphics (or as they call them, grafix) for your cell phone. You have to pay, but it looks pretty reasonable. You can buy them individually or you can buy a subscription and have access to everything. Some of the shows they offer are:

My Name is Earl
Prison Break
24

Saturday, December 30, 2006

American Idol: Rules to Live By

Here are some rules to live by if you're producing a season of American Idol.

1. Pick two people who can sing on tune (you'll need them for the Final 2). Surround them with people who cannot sing on tune to save their lives. This will give the judges and online community people to bash, thus creating controversy and an all-around good time for all (except the people being bashed).

2. Make sure the people who cannot sing on tune are a) characters with quirky personalities, b) exceptionally good looking, or c) exceptionally strange looking.

3. The more pills Paula pops, the more likely she is to a) slur her words, b) kiss Simon, and/or c) say something even more idiotic than the idiotic things she says when she's sober. All of which are great for publicity, which in turn is great for ratings. Therefore, Rule #3 of producing an American Idol show is to keep Paula well supplied.

4. If one of your pill-popping sleazebag judges personally mentors a contestant (in exchange for sex), picks out their clothes, picks out their songs, and generally gives them an enormously unfair advantage at gaining fame and/or a contract (in exchange for sex), both of which could potentially make them large amounts of cash, ignore and/or deny it. The important thing is not that the contest is fair (See Rule #1). The important thing is the ratings, and pill-popping sleazebag judges make for great ratings. (See Rule #3.)

Season 6 of American Idol starts up on January 16th, 2007.

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The O.C. is Such a Nice Place Now That Marissa is Dead

I've been reading blogs about The O.C. today that say things like "I miss Marissa (sigh)" and "I actually cried when Marissa died" and "If you're watching the O.C. 'AM' (After Marissa)..."

Seriously? I was so happy when that loser wench died, I nearly jumped for joy. She was an emotional vampire who sucked the life out of everyone around her. The only time I was upset during the episode where Marissa died was when it looked for a moment like she might make it.

Don't get me wrong, I love Mischa Barton, the actress who played Marissa, and I thought she did a good job. It's just that the character was such an annoying bimbo. Goodbye, good riddance, and stay dead Marissa. You will not be missed, at least by me.

Watch for a new episode of the O.C. on January 4, 2007.

Forced to Watch Lost

So...Lost. Do you love it or do you hate it? For me, the answer to both of those questions is "Yes!"

At first, I watched it out of pure love for the show. It was new, it was different, and I wanted to know more. What crime did Kate commit? What's in the hatch? Why is Sawyer such a phenomenally callous jerk? But every time 1 question got answered, 10 more questions took its place.

I have come to the conclusion that I'll never know what's going on and I'll always be, well, lost.

Nowadays, I watch Lost out of fear. Let's face it, if you miss one episode, you might as well stop watching altogether because so much happens in an episode. I don't want to be the one loser who doesn't know what's going on. I don't want to be the one who can't take part in the conversation because I don't know about the other island or I don't know whether the leader of "the others" lives or dies at Jack's hands.

So, come February 7th, I'll be watching the fourth season of Lost. Not because I want to, but because I have to. And possibly because of old high school fears of inadequacy and not fitting in (perhaps that can be my back story for this blog).

Skip It

Here are some tv shows I won't be watching this season:

Ego Trip's White Rapper Show - I like rap and I like white rappers. I really do. But people who talk, walk, and act like they're black when they're not black - well, I just want to smack some sense into them. I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of that on this show. There's nothing wrong with being white, people. Trying to act black just makes you look like Casper the Friendly Dork. Pass.

High Maintenance 90210 - looks to be a show where you get to watch employees being generally used and abused by their rich "high maintenance" employers. Do we really need another show featuring immature buttheads who have everything and appreciate nothing? And if so, doesn't Paris Hilton already more than fulfill that need for us?

The Surreal Life: Fame Game - Do we really need another show featuring immature buttheads who have everything and appreciate nothing?

Armed & Famous - Five D-list celebs are given badges and guns (guns!!!) and allowed to roam the streets of a town in Indiana as reserve police officers. Do we really need a show featuring innocent bystanders being shot to death by immature butthead celebrities? If it was the celebrities in danger of being shot, I might change my mind and watch this one. As it stands, I think I'll skip it.

Friday, December 29, 2006

TV Shows Coming in January 2007

Here are some tv shows coming in January that I'm excited about:

Starveillance premieres on E on January 5th. This claymation comes from the same people who created Celebrity Deathmatch, but looks to be funnier (Celebrity Deathmatch was funny the first couple of times, but then it got old). You can see short clips from the show at http://www.eonline.com/search/index.jsp but you'll have to sit through a short commercial first (which is pretty lame considering the clips themselves are ads for the show).

The Apprentice (NBC) starts up again on January 7th. Oh, Donald, how I've missed hearing you say "uge" (instead of "Huge").

The Sopranos - starts January 10th on A&E. I don't have HBO, so I never got a chance to see this show before now.

Heroes (NBC) is coming back to living rooms everywhere on January 22. (I love you, Hiro Nakamura.)

This is Going to Rock

Whether you're a couch zombie with a big screen tv and surround sound who never strays farther than 20 feet from your beloved television or an on-the-go type who rarely has time to keep up with your favorite shows, The Coolest TV Blog Ever has just the thing for you. If you've seen all the episodes, come here for news, reviews, and discussions. If you've missed all the episodes, come here for show recaps.

In January, new tv shows will be starting up and old favorites returning. I'll be blogging about the ones I like best - hope you can join me.

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