Weekend Rant - Reality Round Up

So you think you can Dance continued with eliminations this week and the Top 10 was reduced to the Final 8.

Unfortunately that meant the end of Gev, who in my humble opinion, went way beyond his B Boy roots to be a great competitor on the show. I had Mark pegged for leaving and was quite surprised that Gev had gotten less votes ... I thought the guy was cute and charismatic and had the chance to go far.... anyways buddy, you were a pleasure to watch and it will be fun to see you bust a move later in the season when they bring back the Top 10.

My money is still on Mark to be the next guy to go ... he moves okay but is lacking some of the technique the other dancers have. The way things are developing you might be seeing Debbie Allen's protege, Will , taking home the title this year. The guy is drop dead gorgeous, has incredible technique and is willing to run around mostly naked. I think he will be getting quite a few votes from the boys and girls out there in TV land.
On the girl's side of things, I was happy to see Comfort hang around for another week. Her look in the opening Bollywood number was astounding -- wow -- and I loved the number. At this rate we should start seeing a whole plethora of dance styles by the end of the season and I think it will add some interesting challenges to the competitors. I do find it interesting that if the Judges do not mention the choreographer during their summation of the performance, they didn't really like the work they created. Luckily, there hasn't been that many "bad numbers" so far (a few questionable ones maybe...) and it looks like the dancers are being kept on their toes. Unfortunately for Kherington it's the end of the line, but I was kind of getting bored with her. Courtney & Joshua, Comfort & Twitch and Katee & Will were all outstanding and I expect to see them around for the next while.

Project Runway returned this week with a whole new pack of designers. Not only was it a fun episode, but they brought back one of my favorite challenges from the very first season, the infamous grocery store challenge. Putting a bit of fabulous icing on that cake was the introduction of guest Judge Austin Scarlett and our merry band of designers are sent off with not much money or time to get their supplies.

Now maybe I am getting a tad jaded after several seasons of this show.. but I was getting a frustrated as Tim was with the number of participants who chose tablecloths as their main fabric. I was hoping for some creativity in base materials and only a few of the designers rose to the challenge.Thank god Tim Gunn was around to state the obvious and tell them to more than "make it work", but that they had to step it up also and show their creativity.

There is no way that I can do the show enough justice, and if you want to read the best dirt about all the competitors, you have to read Project Rungay for the absolutely best commentary about all the contestants. If I have a blog idol it is definitely my sisters over there -- they are beyond fierce.

I have thank them up front for their perfect name for one of my favorite competitors of this season, our kind-of-reminds-me-of Cher designer herself, the rock chick Stella. Project Rungay calls her Cheroin and it works for me -- ( I hope you don't mind if I borrow... my first impression of her was that she was Cher on acid ). I love Stella! Cheroin and can hardly wait to see what she will create next. She seemed quite off with her choice of garbage bags, and I just wish that she had gotten her rock ass in gear earlier instead of being all distracted by the whole situation. Cheroin was this close to leaving and I hope she gets it together for the next Challenge.

Do I really need to talk about our (and not half baked but more than over baked) baked one? Seriously -- I have no idea what the Judges were thinking (I do have to say that I do appreciate the level of fear the contestants view Nina with) but did Blayne really survive this week with that disaster he threw together to go down the Runway? Puhleese.... if baked boy is kept around just for the shock factor can he at least do something half interesting?

It goes with out saying that Keith is this year's hunky designer but I was a little disappointed with his choice of tablecloth ... I hope things improve or we might not get to see much of him, or his nipple rings and that would be a shame. That look in his hoodie was hot stuff ....

As for my faves of this week, our winner, Kelli, went out of the box completely and dyed and tinted vacuum bags and burnt coffee filters to make her dress. She did tons of accessorizing and did the most creative job (and most artistic) and clearly deserved the win. She did ... but for me the "eye popper" was the simple, yet impeccable, paper dress made by Korto. She put on this great kale/tomato/pepper trim that was beautiful. She was the only contestant to use living produce and that won lots of admiration. I really like her and her design aesthetic, and she is one of my choices for the finales -- and gets her very fine design up on the blog.

Daniel did a great job with his plastic cup cocktail dress, which was a very creative use of materials. Jennifer did a nice job with her dress made of lipstick and paper towels, and Terri blew me away with her use of macrame and mop heads to braid together her top. Leanne and Joe put some effort into using stuff like candy and pasta for materials but the majority of designers played it too safe for my taste. I think they will be pushed harder next week and am really looking forward to seeing how they will be tested.

Heidi looks as fabulous as ever!

Celebrity Circus finished up the season with all of the Celebrities returning for an encore performance and we got treated to an incredible performance by Judge Aurelia Cats.

Blu Cantrell started the show off by singing one of her hits, and proving once again that she is some bad ass Diva by doing some completely passive spinning on the Cerceau. Yawn, I was happy when that was over with but she does have a lovely voice. Too bad it's such a bad attitude that comes with that package ... you just know that the only way in hell she was going to go back on that stage was if she could do her thing and she played all bitchy walking by Aurelia a;; "in your face". No worries, our Catty Judge got very sweet revenge on all the celebrities by doing the most amazing trapeze act. O M G. That woman knows what she is talking about (and the flexibility -- ouch!) and I think she gained a ton of new found respect from the viewing public and the participants.

It was quite enjoyable to see all the professionals perform again -- there are some very talented people behind the scenes or in supporting roles and it's nice to see them get the credit that they deserve. Those circus folk are sure easy on the eyes ... I look at this as a bit of a warm up for the Olympics next month and we get to see all the gymnasts perform and sit in complete awe.

Janet Evans did another fearless number (that girl has got guts), we caught up with Christopher Knight (who is still recovering from that twice broken arm) and got some nice, behind the scenes of the cable guys. Rachel Hunter came back to do a nice number (cerceau again, but more flattering than the hammock act). After way too many recaps and road to the finale montages we finally get a final performance from the Final 3. Wee Man does his Partner Balance thing, Stacey is flying around in the air as well as Antonio. All of them do nice jobs and it's a highly electric carnival atmosphere. What I don't understand is the pace of the show and the continual Top 3 montages, and before you know it Wee Man is eliminated and it's down to Antonio and Stacey for the trophy. For some reason we don't see any more of the Judges (huh?) and it ends up with Antonio taking home the Wheel of Death Trophy (it's bedazzled to death so it's not that scary). I am not sure if am more impressed with the trophy or that bulge in Antonio's tights ... it's all pretty distracting. After all of the glitter,drama and tights, here's hoping they do another season !

Weekend Rant -- Last Chances & Desperate Measures

I am getting to complete desperation at this point ..... I have begged and pleaded and still no word from Team Griffin (and I have even posted on the Bulletin Boards on Kathy's site with the hopes of drawing some attention)... all I can say is that I would love to have a "Meet & Greet" with Kathy and am hoping for the chance....

This week's episode of My Life on the D List was another stellar one. Kathy "surprising" Team Griffin with a teaching gig at the local learning annex and the whole fiasco that we can call their appearance and presentation. Tim (Tom) was harassed to death in the description of their Workshop, not only did they get his name wrong, but it went on and on about his love of porn and masturbation. Too funny ... as much as Kathy seemed amused by some of the glitches, I still wonder if it was her who wrote the information out for the brochure. It all seemed too conveniently mean towards Tom... at least the Team was saved by Woz and his "Anal Retentive Assistant" Julie. I was in hysterics watching her react to how Team Griffin works -- and their apparent lack of work ethic.

Kathy's mom is still that ray of sanity in Kathy's manic life, and the side story of dear old mom stealing one of Kathy's favorite gays (Patrick) was ahem a -- convenient -- segue into the whole appearance at the Bear Convention. While not as hilarious as Kathy hosting the Gay Porn Awards, watching Kathy pimp out Woz as " her bear" was hilarious -- learning some specifics of the sub-culture was interesting and yes, Jessica is a perfect Goldilocks to hang around with the bears. It was all warm and fuzzy (like a teddy bear) and I was laughing at Woz giving away merch (it looks like Jessica was happy having his credit card on hand) in his way of helping out Kathy. He is so adorable I really hope they are happy together -- he looks like a good guy for her.

The whole Dog Whisperer thing was too much. I think I may have to agree that more of the apparent problems with the beasts is more in Kathy's head than in reality. The dogs actually look a lot better than last year ... and so what is happening with that Emmy? Cesar was a great sport and I think he needs to work more with dear Kathy than the pooches.

Next week's episode might be seen later than usual due to the show -- it will be wild to see Kathy live in only a few days!

Celebrity Circus had me with my finger on the button this week. If Antonio went home, I didn't care who won or lost the competition and they made me suffer through another Wee Man act (yawn -- it just doesn't do it for me and I was disappointed with the skateboard stunt) and another great performance by Stacey Dash before letting us find out that Rachel Hunter was eliminated and Antonio was in the final 3. I did enjoy the performance done by the trainers and professionals before getting treated to Antonio's fantastic Flying Silk routine. The guy is gorgeous .. and not only did he get the only perfect score of the evening, he got Louis jumping around all over the place. Too funny. I am hoping to see Antonio come out on top of this competition next week, and assume that the finale will be performances by some of the competitors and maybe even something with the the judges. It has been a fun enough ride for a short summer series and I am still impressed by the complexity and difficulty of the acts the celebrities were doing. Impressive stuff.

Burn Notice came back to the air waves this week, and it was nice to see one of my favorites from last summer come back this season. The chemistry is still there with all the characters, and Michael (Jeffry Donovan) has the best deadpan presentation out of the spy guys we see on TV. His matter of fact explanations and presence are as hot as ever -- seriously -- he has this smoking hot presence that is matched by few actors on TV. Michael Westen is turning into one of the best dressed and innovative spy guys around -- I love his creativity. It's kind of like a very sexy undercover MacGyver.

The regular gang are all there and this is another series where the ensemble complements each other so well that it is just pleasure to watch them.Michael's trigger happy ex-girlfriend is just too much and way hot; Fiona kills me every time she is on screen. Bruce Campbell as his old buddy Sam is still one of the greatest castings in history (I love Bruce Campbell and this part is great for him) and Sharon Gless as his Mother is just fantastic. Her little rant to Michael about almost getting killed and finally understanding (in a sense) why he kept his distance for so long was compounded by that typical mother response of " You could have at least written to me". Yup that is a typical mom response and you could see Michael's head imploding with all of that.

The storyline this year with the new mysterious handler (Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica) and Michael playing errand boy is interesting. I loved his mission this week and the poor schmuck that got tossed around in the trunk of the car before being almost killed several times was hilarious. Michael playing South African and being all dangerous was hot stuff -- I am looking forward to this season and seeing how things will develop.

I don't think that Shear Genius can get any bitchier than it is, and I am pleading with the producers. Please get rid of that Dye Job Disaster (Meredith) next -- things were just too ferocious with everyone in a real tizzy and, mock surprise, Charlie wins again, do you really think anyone else has a chance against this juggernaut? Mathew re-affirmed his heterosexuality a million times before committing the cardinal sin, and not listening to his client. Mathew went from winning the short cut challenge to hitting the road in no time at all, so I guess there is hope for Meredith also... I will literally explode when they have the Charlie's Angels reunion on the show. I think Cheryl Ladd needs to get on Bravo... maybe a guest spot?

Weekend Rant - Armageddon with a touch of Orange

I don't think that I have been this excited about a reality show in ages ... well maybe not since the glory days of last summer's Most Smartest Model ... but Shear Genius has been nothing but Sheer Pleasure in it's first 2 weeks, After last week's carton icon challenge, we get around to a short cut shortcut challenge (say that fast 1o times) judged by no other than the Queen B(itch) of last season, Tabatha. Our merry team of stylists try to keep their bitchiness up to to Tabatha's level (talk about a losing battle -- you can't beat her) and I was slightly in awe of her ability to bring out the worst in the stylists in so short a time. It was the biggest bitchfest that I have seen in ages and of course, set the stage for the now to be infamous run in with those ' Real Housewives of Orange County '. Charlie rasps " Oh my God -- Armageddon" and I am in hysterics. Charlie has one of those great Harvey Fierstein/Brenda Vaccaro voices that leaves an impression. I have to say how impressed I am with the way Bravo seamlessly advertises 2 of it's other series in just one episode as our Queen B Tabatha will soon be hosting her very own Bravo show (and that is something not to be missed).

After much drama (and that Daniel is such a drama queen), it's Charlie who wins (again) and horror of horrors! It's that cutie Parker sent home. He who can't color can't play this game it appears. Now if they could only do something with Meredith -- that hair color is just too much, and I can't imagine anyone going to her and even thinking of getting their hair done. Yikes!
My money is still on Charlie to go all the way and win the tiara.

Kathy continued with another great episode of her Life on the D List this week --I was loving the whole rant about being banned again from the View (it appears the Barbara Walters doesn't have a great sense of humor) and it was great to see her mom pulling for her and saying that she would no longer watch the View. Kathy meets up with her friend Rosie O Donnell for some crafting and in an interesting turn of events Kathy gets ordained on line and performs a Wedding ceremony.

Team Griffin has still not responded to my pleas and we are praying that Kathy has time for her gays in less than 2 weeks! The sucky thing is that we might miss the D List (we will catch it later) as our show is the same night... I wonder if this will be mentioned at some time in the show?

Celebrity Circus had a rough week with Christopher Knight dropping out due to his broken arm (Peter Brady did great on the show) and it looked like it saved Wee Man's ass for that week. I was not happy with the scoring system last week (Wee Man got a perfect score and Antonio and Stacy didn't?) and will be looking forward to the finale after next week. My final 3 are Antonio,Stacy and Rachel ( I thought her dog act was cute) but I expect to see Wee Man there instead of Rachel (popular vote). If Antonio isn't in the finale I will skip it -- the show is fun to watch but no eye candy makes it slightly less appealing, and besides, the guy has been doing some of the toughest acts, it's just too bad he couldn't get his Trapeze act together.

Weekend Rant - Just one of those Best Weeks Ever

This week turned into one of the best ever on the tube. Not only was there brilliant and funny all week long, but playing catch up this weekend I saw some pretty fun stuff, the first being the final and deciding episode of Farmer wants a wife, and Matt decided to take Brooke to be his girl. After seeing his house more closely (and that weird hallway of dead deer looking at you) I changed my mind and although I was originally hoping for Christa, I thought Brooke was a better match. Matt sure made it seem like he as more interested in Christa, but I think he wants more of a puppy dog to follow him around so he made a good choice (and I think Krista dodged one here). If they do another round I could be sucked in to watch if the Farmer is really hot.

Celebrity Circus is a demanding as ever, and I am really impressed by the difficulty of the various routines the celebrities are performing. I was almost surprised that Wee Man was still around this week after his challenges last week but not that surprised that our Olympic athlete Janet got the boot.Yes she is physically capable but is not graceful enough. I did think it was a little ridiculous to have the elimination between her and Antonio Sabato Jr ( seriously, the guy is the hottest thing on the show and always gets high scores) and to keep it hanging until the end. It's a weird formula and this show has a strange pace sometimes. Stacey Dash won some respect and applause from me this week once I realized that the woman is over 40 (I honestly thought she was much younger) but it's pretty much a no-brainer that it will go down to her and Antonio for the win. Rachel did a good job on the tightrope (and kudos to the guys that carried her in that dangerous pyramid stunt), Christopher Knight was okay with his challenge but Wee Man just pointed out to me that penguins are not meant to fly with his routine and he must be the next to go... sorry Wee Man.

Flipping Out is as manic as ever -- and I am in awe of Jeff. This man is the poster child of OCD

and I can not get over his ability to centre his existence on one detail. The sandwich dilemma was funny enough (meatball or pepperoni?) but I hit the roof with the whole drapes drama. When Jeff started obsessing about " The drapes ... The drapes ... The drapes" I almost completely lost it. You better start treating Zola better though man because she deserves it and the whole portrait thing was just poor taste. Give the woman a break -- she has to deal with you Jeff and I can not imagine that she is getting adequately compensated for that. At least Jeff has gotten a taste of his own medicine with his psycho client and might learn the error of his ways eventually.

Doctor Who- The Stolen Earth is way up there on the list of Best Episodes EVER. Not only did we get the appearance of all of the more recent companions but it's a fantastically great story that ties together all of the clues that they have been leaving all season (and probably from earlier as well). I just love the way all of the spin off shows and their characters were tied in to this storyline so seamlessly, and better yet, managed to keep the same continuity that is/was happening in those shows. Torchwood is only the 3 remaining characters (Jack,Gwen and Ianto) who were there at the end of the season. Martha is still with the Unit as we last saw her, as Sarah Jane is doing her thing. The interaction between Jack and Sarah Jane is interesting and I am hoping to see more crossover stuff between the series, even though they are intended for different audiences. I am really loving Catherine Tate as Donna and she makes a great companion to the Doctor and complements well the others while being new and different.

The episode was so jam packed full of fun stuff that I'll list a few of my faves:

- alien bees -- I just knew it....

- Exterminate! (love those Daleks)

- The Shadow Proclamation

- Harriet Jones: Former Prime Minister and the subwave network

- the whole conference call thing with the gang calling the Doctor

- Paintball guns

- Project Indigo

- Rose and her big ass gun

- Captain Jack (and I love how Ianto gets jealous and how everyone finds Jack hot)

I was feeling so sorry for Rose being left out of the call to the Doctor (she was only an observer) but you could feel her heart calling out to him, the level of emoting in this series is astounding. You could feel the terror from the characters dealing with the Daleks, it was all very palpable.

I am still completely freaked out by the ending of the episode and all the cliffhangers .... you knew that it was too good to be true to see Rose and the Doctor reunite, and it was very bittersweet with the Doctor getting zapped by a Dalek and in a sense, dying in her arms.

Is the Doctor really regenerating in to another version? Will there be a faithful companion that will make the ultimate sacrifice (my money is on Rose for that one) ... I am seeing a possible exit and I think it may have to do with Donna and that weird Time Beetle thing from the previous episode Left Turn. When they were at the Shadow Proclamation, one of the attendants commented to Donna about something being on her back, and I wonder if Time Beetles have anything to do with Time Lords or the fact that the Earth is out of synch in the Medusa Cascade. I can hardly wait until next Saturday... like I said, BEST EPISODE EVER.

And on a final note, I checked out the GLAAD Media Awards on Bravo and was impressed with the entire presentation. Great work, and it's nice to see people like Kathy Griffin, Janet Jackson and Herb Ritts celebrated for their positive work with the gay community. I was in awe of some of the celebrities that participated and the subject matter was very serious for the televised portion. We go to see some of the other events as there were awards in several cities. I do have to say that Barbara Walters was humble and articulate in her acceptance of her award, and it was even more humbling to see Judy Shepard accept the Excellence in Media Award. She made it very clear that she was not celebrating her award and would trade it in a second to have her son back. We have made some steps but there is still a long way to go for equality and general acceptance in society, and as long as there is hatred, intolerance and violence towards the LGBT community there is still work to be done.

Weekend Rant - Summer Series Bonanza

Summer is one of my favorite times of the year for Guilty Pleasures, there is no other time of the year that you will find tons of "filler" fluff that wouldn't make it to the airwaves in regular competitive market time.

It may not be a ratings bonanza, but Celebrity Circus is quickly becoming the show that I can hardly wait to see each week.... yes it is probably heavily influenced by the fact that the drop dead gorgeous Antonia Sabato Jr. is part of the equation, but I find the challenges astounding and really like how the "celebrities" are pushing themselves. As for the Judges ... it makes my evening with the whole " Night of a thousand accents" thing going on ( being from Montréal you have a certain ear and appreciation for franglais) -- our French Judge Aurelia makes the best comments about our performers that always seem to not make much sense and I love how Mitch is their "neutral -neutered Judge" and how Louis just gushes about the gutsy performances. That is some pretty dangerous stuff some of them are trying -- and my choice for the next elimination is the athletic but completely "non-graceful" Janet Evans ... I still don't see all the hype with Stacey Dash (who?), and Christopher Knight is still charming them after all these years. Rachel Hunter may have been a supermodel at some point in her life - but those legs and ass are looking pretty huge now and her last performance caught her in a few very unflattering positions that I would rather have sucked out of my consciousness. Thunder thighs may be on her way out soon as well.

Flipping Out started season 2 and Jeff is as much a whack job as last season, but has been hit on hard times with the real estate market crash and actually has to work for someone that is as fracked up as he is. He is so obsessive compulsive that he makes the most simple task a matter of life or death .. but is trying to control himself better. The situations and his supporting cast (love that Jenni) make it a hoot to watch and I always feel that I am not quite as fracked up after seeing how fracked up things are in his neck of the woods.

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List continued the latest season with a hilarious episode that talks all about "merch", her Grammy Award Winning CD and trips to visit Tom's hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, and then Tiffany's hometown of Tracy, California where they will record the Grammy Award Winning CD with a very gay record label. Another great episode with the team hawking t shirts to get new Blackberries and a bizarre visit to a shooting range. Kathy is the new Rodney Dangerfield getting no respect during her employee exploitation tour.

Her team still have not responded to my request to meet when Kathy drops by Montréal to host a gala at the Just For Laughs Festival. Hello Team Griffin ??? A couple of Kathy's gays would love to meet her and heck, I get 10's of viewers daily at my site too! We promise to buy T Shirts and will purchase the Grammy Award Winning CD. Please???? Pretty please??

Maybe I'll luck out -- in the mean time I can hardly wait to see next week when Kathy goes to Mardi Gras in Australia. If it is as much fun as her hosting the Gay Porn Awards it will be another classic evening.

This week: I can hardly wait until the new season of Shear Genius starts up on Wednesday. From the ads I have seen it will be a bloodbath and I can hardly wait. Doctor Who just had a killer episode that featured Donna & Rose and next week it looks like a huge event with guest stars of Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures popping up. It doesn't get much better than that.

Weekend Rant - Sometimes these re-makes actually work

I do have to give NBC credit for having the balls (and one might also think, lack of new ideas) in their recent wave of "re-imagining" 1970s TV shows. Since this has been (so far) very hit and miss as far as success goes, I had a lot of trepidation when I saw the first ads for Celebrity Circus. Would this be like the glorious " Circus with the Stars" that I fondly remember from my youth? Or will this fall in to the complete debacle territory that is populated by shows like Bionic Woman (RIP Jaime Sommers) and that really crappy Knight Rider movie that rumour has it is being green lit for a regular series.

I am happy to say that it is celebrities doing circus acts (and none of the easy fluff that they did when we were kids), and that the celebs are great (and who can go wrong with that Antonio Sabato Jr?), the routines and competition is fierce ... and the Judges are something else all together. I don't know where the hell they found them, but the combination of having a bitchy French trapeze artist/contortionist, an Olympic athlete and this way out there choreographer (Louie) that screams " gay gay gay gay gay gay gay". Literally. I mean he was coming on to hunky Antonio pretty heavy there...

I was pretty impressed and will be back for more -- now if someone could try to re -imagine Battle of the Network Stars (and not that crappy reality version) I would be a very happy camper indeed.

It was so thrilling to see Betty White being one of the guest celebrities on the last episode of Million Dollar Password. Talk about striking a great balance, not only did it thrill the fans of the original series but it showed the new viewers how it was done old style. Betty is still as phenomenal after all these years and and inspiration to us all.

Battlestar Galactica finished out this part of the season and have the gall to call it their " Mid- Season Finale" -- this is turning into the longest running final season ever and has me mildly peeved.... the storyline is so fascinating, the acting outstanding and we end up on Earth (? really?) that strangely reminds me of Planet of the Apes.... I was just waiting for that shot of the arm of the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the sand and was getting revved up to scream. I am pretty sure that things are not quite what they seem ... I am still stuck on the point that D'Anna said that only 4 of the final 5 are with the fleet ( I wonder if the other is already on Earth?) it will be interesting to find out next year what the hell happens ... damn this show is good.