Starting the New Season- More Hits & Misses

With the ton of shows coming back to the airwaves (and a few new ones that need to be checked out), there are already a few things falling off to the wayside and one of the first casualties of the season (after 90210) has been Fringe. The series just hasn't captured my attention and with all the other choices available I just haven't been interested in keeping up. It's time to clear up a bit of room on the PVR and if I hear some critical acclaim for the series it may be checked out later but I am not holding my breath.

Bravo is a hit or miss network for me, and for every show that I love there seems to be a few that just don't make the grade. The Rachel Zoe Project didn't live up to it's advertising, but if the Real Housewives of Atlanta is close to being as over the top as what I have seen so far it will be sneaking it's way on to the Watch List. I am slightly ashamed but I will admit that I will check out the first episode of Paris Hilton's BFF, but more for the shock and awe factor than interest in Parisite.

The Amazing Race kicked off it's 13th edition this week , and right after winning the Emmy for Best Reality Show (again), it blazed out of the gates with the teams leaving the US to Brazil .

The teams seem interesting and there is already some of that delicious tension between some of the teams and there are already a couple of them heading into meltdown mode after one leg. Watch out for Terence & Sarah, Terence is getting the award for most needy and best passive aggressive routine this episode, but Ken & Tina are close behind with the whole thing about his infidelity. Is this the right reality show to be airing this kind of dirty laundry? I was laughing my ass off at the Frat Boys (Andrew & Dan) who seemed to think that they had all the ins to airline travel and got proved otherwise. I think the big lesson in this episode is that you need to read the clues and follow the directions and look for the flag that indicates your particular choice. I am still always in awe when I see players that don't know the rules.

Unfortunately our hippy bee keepers were eliminated this week (too bad), once again proving that it is usually the old and the weak that are the first to go.... it's one of those basic laws of survival. It was another great start and I am hoping next season we can get an edition in HD. The locales and views are too stunning and this show really needs to be showcased in a better format.

Desperate Housewives returned, and after the small teaser at the end of last season that showed a 5 year jump in the storyline I was worried that we were getting into unfamiliar, or even worse, Jump the shark territory.

All I can say is wow... I loved the new developments, the return of Edie and all the different components of what is going on.The flashbacks that they are using to explain the 5 year gap are great, and I was in panic mode for the first part of the episode thinking that Mike was dead (and that would have been too cruel) only to learn that he is still alive and well and sharing custody with Susan and their son. The developments with Bree are heartbreaking (and it will be interesting to see how that develops) and I am so loving her ultra Martha Stewart mode that she is in. There are a lot of things that have not been touched on (such as where are some of the kids?) and I am looking forward to seeing some of the new reveals.

I love the new Gaby. It`s nice to see someone stretch their acting chops more and to see Eva be more than just a hot body and a pretty face. The new tension with Edie (the bitching that will be going on should be too fun and Edie got in some really bitchy comments this week) and her dealing with having a husky girl is funny and tragic at the same time, and it may show the true depth of Gaby, or more than likely her continual struggle with image and looks. It`s to be expected, she is a former model after all.

The jump forward was a gamble but it has garnered my attention... hopefully enough others have as well.

Weekend Rant - The Week in Review

Since this is the big start to the new TV season, there is a ton of ranting to do.. so start your engines and off we go...

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is continuing it's sophomore season with some interesting developments but some of the plot lines have me scratching my head and going hmmm a bit too much. This past episode has Cromartie kidnapping Charley's wife, Michelle (Penny from Lost) and setting up an elaborate Mousetrap to keep the gang busy while he goes after John. The stupid thing is that Michelle gets injured and Charley (the paramedic) can't do anything to save her. Bad paramedic.... I am not sure if it's to get him more involved with the team (and possible love interest once again for Sarah) or if it's another example of the sacrifices that she will have to make to protect John. I am not sure if I would want a semi competent paramedic on my team. Shirley Manson is still freaking me out as the ultra slick Catherine, who (apparently) is on a quest for Terminator bits and pieces (she says) and is recruiting poor Agent Ellison over to the dark side. All part of the bigger picture I imagine.

Cameron had a couple of great moments this week showing her robotic/naive side. Her assessment of the centre of the house was great, and her super strength manipulations at the computer store were so matter of fact to her but bad for her cover story/secret identity. I estimated that in the time she took chasing after John and finding him, her truck was probaby emptied out in no time and someone else got some nice shiny new computers. These are those moments that you wonder if stuff like that is intended or is it just more impressive characterisation by Summer. Stealing from a Terminator is probably not a smart thing to do and it will more than likely result in death. The chase scene with John at the Pier seemed strangely familiar, and I was glad to see the fact that these particular Terminators can't swim (or float) exploited. I wonder if future versions could be water adapted or specialised? That could be an interesting version to see. It was also a tad strange that Catherine was drinking water .... something about water and that one.

Bones continued it's season with a great episode and another one of those witty titles "The Perfect Pieces in the Purple Pond" that brought some of the old energy back. It was great seeing Zack again and having some follow up to his story. It's nice to see that he is recovering from those nasty hand injuries and hasn't really lost his touch when it comes to figuring things out. It turns out that he didn't actually kill anyone ... but I still have this nagging feeling that Sweets is more involved in the whole Gargamel story line than we know and I will not be overly surprised when that fact is revealed. I am so loving the "intern of the week" dynamic that is happening with the gang (it reminds me of Murphy Brown and the never ending cycle of secretaries that she went through) and I wonder if it's a temp thing until they get Zack back. I loved seeing the old chemistry back.... now if we can Hodges and Angela back together again the world will be alright.

I love how they have been humanizing Bones more and trying to show different facets of her very complex personality. Last week with her interest and obvious affection for the dogs and the very touching memorial that she gave, and this week and her tender moments with Zack. Yes, she is terribly logical and literal but she has a good heart. It's time to take things up a whole 'nother level with Booth, you can see how much they like each other and they have such a perverse pleasure in toying with Sweets.

Knight Rider crashed and burned coming out of the gate this week and I knew it was going to be a dud. The writing is as bad as the made for TV movie (I still don't understand why they thought it was such a success that it deserved a regular series, but then again this is the same network that gave us the Bionic Woman fiasco.) The transforming car is just too much and I didn't understand how someone could go from the back of a pick up to driving the car with a few simple transformer moves with out being crushed ... but not much of this show is that logical. Unfortunately part of me still likes the pretty tech( ooh! science!) and the pretty new Michael Knight, I just don't know if I will try to follow it and consider me officially on the fence about this one. There is a lot of choices on the tube and I have the feeling that this is falling to the wayside.

Smallville started the season off not bad last week with some of the Justice League looking for Clark after he some how ended up in a Russian Work Camp. While I don't try to understand some of the story lines, I love that Green Arrow (Justin) is a regular this season, they tried to fix some of the costume issues with the Black Canary by giving her a Birds of Prey inspired one (good move) but they are still relying on her throwing a lot of knives. That still sits funny with me and would prefer if they could go all ninja with her and make her the kick ass martial artist that she should be... but improvements none the less. Aquadude was great... the shower scene certainly showed off his assets... something has to be said about those swimmers bodies... wow...

It's a shame that Lex has vanished (I am hoping for a guest appearance at some point), but I am shedding no tears over the departure of Lana. Our new CEO of Luthor, Tess whatsherface, is a cookie cutter version of some of the great ladies that have worked for Lex, and I think she will be an interesting counterpoint to the good guys. She obviously can't be on the side of Angels and it looks like she is trying to get her own Injustice League (or Suicide Squad?) together to battle the Justice League. Bette (aka Plastique) is an interesting addition to the others (I have to see more) and the show seems to be going into a different adventurous direction.

The developments with Chloe have me scratching my head a bit, all the sudden changes (and now she is no longer interested in being a reporter? what?), only reinforces that I think that part of Brainiac is inside Chloe's head. She can't heal, is smarter in weird ways, and there are a few things that just aren't adding up. I don't really want to get into the angst thing and new love triangle that seems to be developing with the ambulance guy and Jimmy. I could do with out all of that but it wouldn't be the CW if there wasn't some sort of teen like angst happening, they do realize that the kids are no longer in school right?

It looks like this year Lois and Clark will be getting closer and working together, and I really do like Erica as Lois. She does a great, strong take on the character and you can start to see more of the spark between them. Lois is certainly more street smart and damnm does she know how to dress a man. I won't be surprised if Clark starts flying soon. I think that rule can be tossed aside now that we are getting more out of Smallville and in to Metropolis... with all the changes you might as well change the name of this show to Metropolis, it looks like Smallville is just a nickname for our farm boy now. I am appreciating this show more this year and if it doesn't fall into severe emo/teen angst territory it should be a fun watch.

Supernatural found a way of bring Dean back from Hell (Plucked by an Angel it appears, and that almost sounds dirty), but I am having a problem believing that the Hunter culture can know so much about demons and the other ilk and know nothing about the good guys. You would think that you would know a bit more about Angels since Demons piss their pants if they see one... it's a skewed view of the universe that seems unbalanced... and for me is less a question of faith than one of logic, obviously if all this evil exists then there should be a counterpoint.

The whole Apocalypse storyline seems interesting (and face it, shows like this end up saving the world at least once per year) and I am glad that Lilith is still involved on some level. The humor has been lacking a tad this season, but we are only 2 episodes in and there had to be some explaining about Dean's miraculous return. The writing is good, the boys look great and I am looking forward to this season.

This week I am really excited by the return of The Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives, Dexter, Chuck and Pushing Daisies. I am so happy to be getting full seasons of some of my favorites and I can hardly wait to jump in to that delicious Pie Heaven that is Pushing Daisies. It's the most original thing on the tube.

On Canadian TV, we finally get around to some new This Hour has 22 Minutes, The Rick Mercer Report and Air Farce Live and So you think you can Dance? Canada starts back up with stage 2 and the selection of the Top 20. It's going to be another busy week....

Reality Round Up - Whole lotta shakin' going on

Dancing with the Stars dominated last week with a huge 3 night event. Thankfully that's not the regular schedule 'cause it's a tad daunting. It's great to see Maks again (and once again he is teamed up with a big powerful woman) and I expect to see him and Misty go pretty far.

I was very surprised with Warren Sapp -- the guy has great rhythm and flow and he was great in his first couple of dances. Lance Bass is doing great, and I am already such a huge fan of his partner Lacey from So you think you can Dance and expect them to go far. They may have to tone down the Contemporary vibe a bit (for Len) but they are hot to watch.

Brooke Burke is great and better than expected. Maurice Green is pretty smooth on the floor and I was pretty sure that Susan Lucci was going to be eliminated this week but she bounced back. Susan looks pretty thin and might have been pushing herself a bit too far. I have never heard a Judge tell a contestant to eat before, so that was kind of weird.

Cody Linley is in that grey zone for me, sure he is young and cute (with huge,huge eyebrows) and all the girls are screaming but I find him a bit green. We'll have to see if Julianne will whip him into shape. Rocco DiSpirito is a sexy chef but not much of a dancer. I was expecting to see him go this week as well and was surprised when it was Ted McGinley that hit the road. Tim has been around forever and he always looks the same, and I think he fell victim to the voting public. I wasn't surprised that Jeff Ross was one of the first eliminated, he looked so out of his element.

Toni Braxton is a bit too drama queen for my taste and I don't understand all the health issues but she looks great. Once she relaxes she has a good shot of going far. Kim Kardashian may have the bod but she doesn't know how to use it . I think that Hedda Lettuce said it best with her big hit " She can't sing., she can't dance. Why's she famous?" and it just reinforces the fact that Kim may have a huge ass and a sex tape but that doesn't make her a performer. Poor Mark, I don't think he will make it to the big Finale this year. His dad Corky (Seriously?) has his hands full with Cloris Leachman. First of all, the apple doesn't fall from the tree when it comes to Mark and Corky. The similarities are astounding and it's kind strange to see Mark and how he will look in a couple of decades. All that aside, Cloris is pure entertainment but she isn't a great dancer. She has had me in tears watching her cosy up to the Judges and trying to bribe them.

She's probably the best reminder of why I love this show, it's just fun and entertaining and light. That is definitely a good thing.

Of course for everything fun going on there has to be that bastard cousin that irks the hell out of you and you still can't get enough. Yes I am talking about you Project Runway, and I am glad this season is wrapping up. Once again this week, there wasn't anything that I really liked being produced this episode. Sure it was a cute challenger, create an outfit for another designer inspired by a musical style, but the final result and guest Judge LL Cool J had me doing another WTF moment. I didn't really see the rapport with having our guest Judge except to mention his upcoming collection, and Kenley was such an irritating shrill that I was almost wishing that she had gone home instead of Suede.I have been wanting Suede gone for weeks (enough with the 3rd person crap) and when it was him aufed this week I felt that it should have been Kenley with the crap she produced. Any designer who has no respect for Tim Gunn doing his rounds needs a good reality check as well, you do not bite the hand that feeds you or you will regret it.

Top Design couldn't live with Shazia's design this week and I was glad she got booted. Bad attitude and poor work ethic don't make a good designer.

I am still finding that too many of the Challenges are a group effort and I want to see more of the individual challenges to see the designers do their own thing and not a compromise. I did love the little meltdown moment with Eddie at the store (how very Martha Stewart, well done grasshopper) and Jeff Lewis was the perfect bitchy guest Judge. His "I thought this show was Top Design and not over the top Design" comment was perfect Jeff. I love how the contestants are starting to fear Margaret Russell and I hope that Kelly Wearstler being back next week will add that extra touch that it seems to be missing when she is not there.

Survivor Gabon started it's first season in HD this week and I am in awe. The show is even better than before and I love the cast this year. I was initially worried that there wasn't going to be a gay contestant, but those fears were quickly cast aside with the introduction of Charlie from NY. Yup, pretty gay and I think his crush on fellow contestant Marcus is very cute. Their team, Kota is going well so far and kicking the collective butt of their opponents Fang. Their location is stunning, it must be a huge trip having the elephants and hippos around (not to mention all the other wildlife) and I was in for more surprise when Ace got most of his Kota team to do some yoga. The contrast of having a centered and happy tribe and the leaderless and losing Fang tribe is astounding, and when they shake things up in a few rounds it will make for some interesting viewing. In the season opener there were 2 Tribal Councils and the first one Eliminated is Michelle from Kota (bad move, she may have been quiet but she was one of the strongest women on that team and physical strength is important at the beginning), and then later Gillian from Kota is the second. Gillian may have been great at moral, but she wasn't physically that strong and seemed to irritate some of her tribe mates.

I am loving it so far and can hardly wait until the next episode.

Tabatha's Salon Takeover impresses me each week as she is given the impossible task of trying to bring order to chaos. Her methods may be too blunt and direct for most of us, but if you can take that part of her with a grain of salt ( I am just full of these old metaphors today, look em up on wikipedia if you don't understand them) and get past all of that she is very brilliant, talented and witty.

Each episode there is the part where she teaches and shows how she works with her clients, and I can see why there is a 3 month waiting list and I can't imagine having a bad hair cut experience with her. Very talented and caring for her clients, and very demanding as a boss and teacher. Just look professional or she will call you some red neck hillbilly.

Speaking of such things.. Outsider's Inn is still one of my Friday night Guilty Pleasures and it is just so ridiculous and fun. The story line this week with Bobby going off to Detroit and taking good old boy Leroy with him was culture shock all over again. The whole thing about our other good old boys and the girls getting into trouble was so badly scripted that you could almost think it's a reality show.

Almost.

I am still so convinced that none of these stars know each other and the small conversation between Maureen and Carnie about going shopping was pretty much the big confirmation of all that. The girls really don't know each other but I like the ridiculous circumstances and county sensibilities.

I don't think Maureen will ever get over the Marsha Brady thing and her biker chick blow out this week was too ridiculous. It was almost like Marsha all over again and I could only roll my eyes with Carnie on that one. I don't know where they are exactly .. but those prison uniforms are pretty scary and cartoon like all at the same time.

I get a pretty heaping helping of CMT just by tuning in for this one show and if this keeps up I will not be able to resist the occasional peek at Redneck Weddings. It just looks too hokey and hillbilly to be true.

The Cho Show finished off it's first season (and hopefully not it's last) and Margaret and crew had me in hysterics.First we get to learn the horrible truth about her haunted vagina in an all too funny episode and then they tied the season up with Margaret getting her very own Day in San Francisco.

Things were so fabulous in this debut season (and I have quite the crush on John the make up artist) that it has moved on to the Top Ten List of this year (more on that later). Margaret has managed to find a great balance between her comedy and life, her family and entourage are great (her assistant Selena is to die for) and she has such a great outlook on life. Besides, have you seen those tattoos of hers? Great stuff all around.

Heroes - The Butterfly Effect

Heroes started up the new season with a big 2 hour event the other night ... and I can`t say that I was all that thrilled with all that happened. Sure there were a few good things (and I am really digging some of the new stuff and have a better appreciated for Suresh and his hot abs), but a whole bunch of the stuff happening left me more with a WTF kind of feeling.

First of all, the whole time travelling "Bad" Peter ... seriously? This seems a bit of a rehash of year one and the whole storyline of Hiro trying to save the world. I love the fact that we finally learned what Momma Petrelli's super power is (precognitive dreaming) which doesn't really explain all of her actions but it was a good step in the right direction. The whole attempted assassination of Nathan by Bad Peter was predictable. I expected them to use the excuse of Claire's blood in Nathan's system (from healing from those nasty burns last season) as the reason for his survival and to not have some ghostly apparition (or is it just in Nate's mind?) of Linderman suddenly appearing and chatting him up.

The whole Buttefly effect thing is that the events set in motion by Bad Peter have changed the future, and things are getting crazy because of the ripple effect by the attempted assassination of Nate. Instead of Nate revealing to the world that people with super powers exist (and making a crappy future for our Heroes) he has now been shot, died and come back to life with a new found faith. Death seems to be quite fickle in this show... and why is Nathan suddenly chatting about God? I am not quite catching how Future Bad Peter trapped Present Peter in another body (what?) to keep him safe... it's a strange plot device that I don't really understand.

Sylar is back but his presence seemed to be missing something. The big scene with Claire and absorbing her healing ability was pretty freaky (I was happy to see Mr.Muggles is still around this season) and the revelation that Claire is more than she seems and different than the other Heroes was intriguing. The Bennett's are having a rough time and things should be even more interesting now that Claire's biological mom and resident firestarter is there to help keep an eye on things.

Hiro and the Speedster is interesting (I loved the special effects) and the whole thing with the Formula seems kind of predictable.Hiro is great as the comic relief (sometimes) but I like him more as the unbridled enthusiasm about being a Hero and having a destiny.I am not sure if I like the future Ando playing nasty and having powers but it seems like a direction that the show is going in for this storyline.

Suresh "discovering" the enzyme that causes powers and his self experiment (after all those warnings from Maya) seems to be the catalyst for change in this season. Suresh thinks that every one's chemistry is different and that the abilities will manifest in different ways. By the end of the episode, our scientist was physically changing (in a freaky The Fly kind of way) and maybe some more tests were needed before trying it on a human. Mind you, having some lab rat or test bunny that can shoot fireballs might be just as dangerous and time will tell if he made the right decision. Hopefully he won't be mutating into some hideous creature, he was just starting to get even more interesting. The chemistry between him and Maya is pretty hot stuff....

The Villains part of the story is interesting, we didn't get to see much of the bad guys that were locked away but I was happy to see Elle survive this round (and zap the hell out of Sylar) and with Daddy out of the picture we'll have to see where this takes her. She was only listed as a guest star (crap) so it may mean that we have limited quantities of Kristen.... which is a shame as she was one of the few interesting things from last year's abbreviated season.

No sign of Michah or any of the rest of the gang down south... and this whole new thing with Niki (dead right?) and Tracy (triplets???) is just confusing. I was in shock that it was none other than the Greatest American Hero, William Katt, playing the reporter who got flash frozen and smashed into tiny bits by Tracy. The powers may not be the same as Jessica or Niki, but the look is completely the same and she seems to have the same affinity for Nathan.

There seemed to be a lot jammed in to the 2 hour opener but it left me more with a confused look on my face than anything else.

I hope the rest of the season develops better... there is still great potential with this show and I am not giving up hope yet.

Weekend Rant - Start your engines...

This week heralds the main part of the Fall TV launch, and I can hardly wait to see a few of my favorite shows starting up this week. The Watch List will be filling up more and more each evening and this year things are well prepared at Couch Potato Central. Recent system upgrades mean that there is now a PVR for each satellite (yup, both of them) and with several different time zones there is less of a chance of missing something. This also means that a bad show will not last for long on the Watch List. There are just too many shows and simply not enough hours to watch everything, and only those shows that are truly well written and entertaining enough (an easy way to slip in those Guilty Pleasures that may be less cerebral but have their endearing qualities none the less) will be regular viewing.

The Big Bang Theory will be back on Monday, and it's the first new comedy in the past few years that I have really grabbed on to. It must be all the nerd references but I find the characters funny and charming in the oddest way, and love the smart side of their comedy. The best news is that Sarah Gilbert will be a regular character and I have loved her chemistry with Johnny Galecki since they were together on Roseanne. It's always a trip to see some actors work together again, especially when they have great chemistry together.

Heroes will also be returning this Monday for a big 2 hour event and it should be some fun viewing. I am hoping for some more Elle this season, she was truly one of the best things about last year. I am eager to see how some of the characters will survive their apparent demises. .. time will tell ( or will that be travelling in time?) the fate of some of our characters but I am pretty stoked about the whole Villains storyline coming up.

Dancing with the Stars will be back in a 3 night event, which should be lots of fun and games. ABC is really going full force with this show and staggering the opening over 3 nights is a pretty big thing... it will make for a lot of late nights this week as each night is getting pretty full and not all the shows are back yet. I am stunned that Cloris Leachman is one of the contestants, and am eager to see how some of these "Stars" will do in the first couple of rounds. The best news is that Maks is back after being off last season and he is one of my favorite dancers to watch.

So you think you can dance? Canada will be back (it appears that the big premieres of all the shows are delaying the competition part until after the rush) a the beginning of October and almost all of my regular shows will be back on. The auditions were great, and I may be jaded but the Montréal dancers were definitely the hottest ones there. The Judges were in awe with all the circus influenced movement and now I can hardly wait to see who will make it out of the second part of the auditions. The talent pool is quite bit different here than in the US.

I will check out Knight Rider, but if it is anywhere near as crappy as the TV movie then I am officially calling it this year's Bionic Woman... which most of you know is not a compliment. NBC doesn't have a great track record with remakes and I have the feeling this will be another one of them. Let's see if they can prove me wrong.

Survivor is back and this season it's in HD. I love that they are back in Africa again, and am hoping this will be better than the Kenya edition. The HD might be a mixed blessing... sure the countryside will be gorgeous but you know how skinny some of those contestants get as the game progresses not to forget about how dirty it is... this could be interesting but I could be setting myself up for a good fright ... or if I luck out some kind of delight... with this show you never know but just the thought of a gross food challenge in HD is just so wrong ... they will have to do it for sure now. It's a great study in human interaction and I love seeing how it plays out and trying to figure out the winner and who is playing the best social game.

Fringe is hanging on by a thread at this point... I will give it one more episode but there are other fish in the sea and unless I start getting more interested (the last episode just bored me to death) I don't think it will last long. Our Mad Scientist is a big yawn-fest, Boy Wonder is just as boring and our lead character Olivia just doesn't catch my interest. Our trio is referred to as the unlikely team and I think it is unlikely they will last a complete season at this point and time. The unbalanced story line in the last episode and the mention of something called The Pattern has me worried about another Rambaldi mess and I am not sure I want to add another complex story to my schedule. This means it sorry JJ Abrams, but not everything you touch is gold and this one misses the mark with me ... it may have been that there was way too much hype and it didn't live up to all those expectations, or maybe I am just not willing to invest in to something that will be long in developing when I have other well written shows that I would rather see developing further like Lost and Battlestar Galactica.

Reality Round Up - Endurance Training

This season of Project Runway is just leaving a bad taste in my mouth, and I am not sure if that is because Suede (please someone, just shoot him) is still on the show or if it is the non stop babbling and drama going on. I honestly lost interest this week and thought that pretty much everyone was bleh about the whole thing. More nattering like this and I will be pulling the plug. I knew things would get worse once Stella left and there is next to no one interesting left to watch.

Maybe my mood will improve next week.

Top Design was okay... but I think I was still in a bad mood from the hour preceding this episode and once I saw that it was a Window Display Challenge with an article of clothing designed by a former contestant on Project Runway I knew I was going to be for a crappy evening.

Aside from Sweet P and Andre (more on that later), the rest of the designers were none of my favorites. Santino is an ass, Jeffrey is just too unkempt (hello? that facial hair is real bad) and I have no fricking idea why the other one keeps showing but, but perennial contestant and reality show whore Daniel (sad excuse for a designer) was there. I honestly don't see why some of these designers are still around except for their ability to augment the drama quotient in the show.

I had forgotten what such a drama queen Andre is ( I still have the fond memories of the 'Where's Andre?" thing with Tim Gunn) and when he has his meltdown over the wicker accessories I was just so disappointed with the entire episode. It was all bad drama left and right and I was hoping it was another double elimination. Finally after it all hit the fan and the dust settled, Big Daddy (his choice of words and not mine) Kerry is sent home ( See you later, decorator!), His partner, Wisit, was quite lucky but it was more Kerry's lack of leadership and decision making that sunk his ship than anything else.

Mrs.Shroder is the one to watch out for, she is pure evil and as usual she came out smelling like roses again. She was most upset about being teamed up with cutie Preston and once again tagged along and did well. I hope she gets Shazia next time around and we can see a complete meltdown that will have to be bleeped to death.

Overall, I didn't really see anything that interesting that was produced... but the Judges were in fine form. I am just worried after seeing the preview for next week with Jeff and the gang from Flipping Out that this will turn into some terrible incestuous relationship with the other Bravo based reality shows. Sure I like a good cross over story, but constantly having guest stars from your other reality shows shows a bit of desperation does it not? It's not necessary to add some more volatile personalities to the mix... keep mixing up the Challenges and make the designers show their skills. That's the reason I watch the show (well maybe for the eye candy as well) and if I don't see relevant challenges then I lose interest pretty quick.

Seeing the casting ad for Make Me a SuperModel Season 2 made my heart jump -- I loved the first season (and Ronny) and hope that this one is as fun and interesting as the first round. Unfortunately my hope is running out for a second season of America's Most smartest Model. There has not been an official announcement from VH1 and it may be gone for good.

The Rachel Zoe Project hasn't been catching enough of my attention (and there is so much to watch) that it has fallen to the wayside and I could really care less. It was an interesting experiment but I would rather have some whacked out show with Paula Abdul instead.Off the Watch List for you Rachel... that's not very trend setting is it?

The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency had an extremely awkward episode this past week, and as usual I have to blame the editing. After all these months (years?) of whining about the editing, it looks like the voice over guy was off and the episode was worse than usual. Not only did it seem like it was forever before there was a commercial, but the dead air time was horrendous. Janice is still trying to play Den Mother and you know this is not going to work out well. I will still be following but I am not finding this season very interesting, it's just too much manufactured drama and it looks like they are having a problem deciding on who to focus on. Isn't some underwear company looking for new models? That usually gets things going.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Automatic for the People

After a pretty good start last week, things got a bit muddled this week and I was very disappointed that John was getting all emo again (I really hoped that that butch hair cut would help with that) and I hate all the rebellious teenager crap.

I know the series is more about mom Sarah than John... but her life is all about John and the man that he is supposed to become. Her tough soldier formula is becoming a big challenge for him ( and yes, I can understand about wanting a life and having some normal time) but it will hopefully be time for him to man up and stop being so emo about the whole thing. No one likes a so called hero that whines continually.

I am not sure what they are trying to do with his new friend/girlfriend Riley. She seems a bit off... and the whole thing with him bringing her home and her avoiding some questions (like about family) and then creating the robot out of Lego "to watch over him while he sleeps" was pretty disturbing. I am thinking that this is another Terminator or some other connection from the future, there is just something that doesn't quite add up with this new girl. She also seems to be a hell of lot more developed and mature than John and the physical differences are a bit humorous. I am not sure is this some kind of a red herring or just a bunch of coincidences? If new girl is a Terminator why did she not kill John the first chance she had or is there more that than to this story? It does have some of my attention.

Cameron seems to be off still, and her fight with the bad Terminator was just silly. Lots of head banging and bouncing the bad guy off of walls doesn't make things that interesting, especially when there is some major nuclear meltdown happening and time is of the essence. Not only are her verbal and social skills impaired and seem worse than ever and I wonder if it's a sign of current or future malfunctions. None of the gang seems to trust her anymore and hopefully that will be turned around soon. The time paradoxes are building steam and something has to blow soon.

I didn't quite understand our new friend from the Resistance that arrived in a time bubble all hot, naked (was that the guy that played Titus's brother??) and injured. He seemed to be in a big hurry to give out some information about the Nuclear reactor before dying and his messages written in blood discovered at the end of the episode will probably give some impetus to upcoming events. I wasn't surprised to see new T1000 Marilyn Manson show up at the end and make the big announcement about the new tech that is there to save the day and prevent further mishaps. It looks like some things are changing in the future. Things might get very interesting over the next while if the storyline doesn't fall into teen angst territory. There will be no hope for the future unless John starts showing that he has a pair.... and gets his act together.

Weekend Rant - Some things are better in Canada

So you think you can dance? continued it's global domination with the latest version starting this week in Canada. Now before you get in a tizzy thinking about how hokey it could be, or that we are all dancing with snowshoes (or hockey skates or some other fricking Canadian stereotype) change your mind and if you have the chance to check it out I highly suggest it, the level of competition is pretty fierce.

Keeping true to it's formula, we started off with auditions in Toronto. Judging this round were Tre Armstrong, Luther Brown and keeping it real (and familiar) was none other than Mary Murphy. Mary is one of my favorite parts of the US version (and she knows her stuff) and I am as surprised as she is at the quality of the dancers during the first part of the auditions.

It's always heartwarming to hear some one you admire oohing and awwing at the great talent we have here in the Great White North (and not just the GTA for you Torontians). Rounding out the Judges are host Leah Miller and our Audition Tour Choreographer is none other than SYTYCD (US version) season one participant Blake McGrath. It's kind of nice to see how things come around full circle and he is still involved in the process.

I don't know the Canadian Judges, but there is this delicious tension between Tre and Mary. Tre is trying to mark her territory and that is such a non issue with Mary (Mary is just Mary and does what she wants) and you can feel the tension when they butt heads. The auditions were great and I have noticed a couple of distinct differences between the Canadian and American versions.

The first big difference is that the Canadian version is so much more "kinder and gentler" and it is so damn polite that it seems tame to the US version.I think it`s very interesting that there is a hell of lot of hugging going on, something that I never saw in the US version. There isn't the overall exploitation of those who can't dance and make idiots of themselves. Our way seems to be oriented more to seeing the good dancers and not the disasters and to me it 's more of what the show is about.

The other big difference is that the dance community here seems more seasoned (older if you need a more distinctive term) and that maturity is interesting to see in the auditions.I am not sure if that is the dynamic they will work with, but quite a few of the dancers chosen to go the the next round were more experienced. It will be something to follow.

I can hardly wait until we get to the auditions from Montréal, there is an amazing dance community here. I love having another edition of this show!

Test the Nation was back last week and it was the Canadian edition. It's always fun to do something interactive and I am always interested in trivia challenges ( I am a complete Jeopardy junkie and can't miss a week) and had fun. I got a good score also, and was surprised to see that the American Canadians did as well as they did until I realized how smart they were for moving to Canada. It's all good fun and games.

There hasn't been that many new show debuting so far on Canadian television, but I did catch the first episode of Les Parent, a sitcom playing on Radio-Canada. Take your nuclear Québécois family and spin it in a Malcolm in the Middle style and you get a pretty funny (and damn quick) show. It was a good laugh and the kids are so hilarious that it will probably be on the Watch List for this season.

InfoMan returned (finally) this week and got into Election mode right away. Luckily we had some a few fixes of Jean-René Dufort during the Olympics to tide us over this summer as his sense of humor and presentation style truly make him the french counterpart to Canadian Rick Mercer or American John Stewart. The guy is smart and so is the show and always a joy to watch.

Paquet Voleur returned for a second season with a slightly revamped game and a whole bunch of local talent playing for charity to start things off. It's pretty decent as far as local game shows go and hopefully the new rule changes will make it possible for players to leave with a bit of cash. Our game shows have pitiful pay outs compared to the big US ones, but isn't supposed to be more about playing than winning? That's very Canadian of me.

Reality Round Up - Things go better in Twos

I finally got my wish the other night and the baked one (Blayne) FINALLY got aufed ... it was an interesting and long awaited episode of Project Runway that had me worried that some of the flakes would be back (no such worries, Heidi dismissed that rumor right away); Suede got a good smack down from the Judges ( you have to love that Michael Kors) and Terri learned a hard life lesson about team dynamics.

Although it wasn't that surprising as far as episodes go, any kind of Avant-garde Challenge is almost always interesting to see for the over the top designs. It was interesting to see all of the other designers come back and how they were to use the Zodiac sign of one of the designers as inspiration. It was a treat to see Stella and then I felt damn sorry for her being paired up with Blayne as it was quite the challenge for those two to work together. I think if anyone has different design aesthetics it had to be those two and I don't honestly think that Stella was that impressed with being paired up with the twit. Some of the teams did okay, a couple of them were down right terrible and Terri was just too much of a bitch with Keith. Keith was being quite the douche him self and being all fragile. sigh... there has to be at least one cry baby per year. The team dynamics were all over the place, depending on the prevailing mood of some of the designers. It seems to be more about the drama than the design this season and that should only be part of it.

I know that Kenley was getting on several designer's nerves in the challenge, but I thought she did a great job and was really one of the ones that stood out. I thought it was très Minnie Mouse and it was just missing the ears. Jerrel was great but I didn't think he was that outstanding but he ended being the winner (the Judges are damn hard to read sometimes), Leanne was very interesting (again) and is turning in to a real competitor. I think she is surprising everyone. I was concerned by some of the choices that didn't seem to be really over the top enough to be considered Avant-garde by some of the designers and that meant Korto was disappointing and so was Joe. I honestly don't think that some of the designers understand what the hell Avant-garde means.

I've being ranting for weeks that they need to cull the herd a bit quicker, and we finally got around to Blayne, Terri and Suede being the bottom 3 and we know that 2 are to be eliminated. I honestly did not expect Terri to be given the boot (her ensemble wasn' t that terrible, I think she really pissed of the Judges with her treatment of Keith) and Suede lived to sew for another day. I wonder if he will continue speaking of himself in such the 3rd tense and with such vigor after getting eviscerated by the Judges this week... only time will tell but I think that he is on his last legs.

Top Design continued it's new and improved format with a makeover of a Bunker, those Fallout Shelters that have been around since the 1950's. All of the designers were paired up and had to work their magic on a 12 by 14 foot concrete box that had to be shared by the 2 of them. I loved the little video they played at the beginning showing the old TV ads for Bunkers and wonder if they are making a comeback. It feels almost slight exploitative having this kind of challenge right around September 11th .. but I may be reading more into the challenge than was intended.

It was a very interesting challenge, and it was fascinating to see the different dynamics amongst the teams. The set up is pretty basic in these shelters, and while I don't see amenities like sinks and bathrooms or kitchen areas (how the hell are you supposed to last for months or years in one of these Bunkers is beyond me), it's a great way of testing the designer's talent. Wisit & Nathan are paired up and you know that those 2 are going to get into too much trouble. They are having too much fun which was even more hilarious as you saw other teams in complete meltdown mode. Robert & Jennifer can't seem to find common ground and I dislike Robert more than last week. Kerry is teamed up with Shazia and I am just waiting for a disaster to happen. Natalie & Teresa do a lovely Zen inspired den that need just a bit of editing but was great for the space, and I liked the ceiling effect done by Preston & Odine, although the Judges didn't appreciate their space as much. Wisit & Nathan were the only team to go down to one bed (too funny -- they were very gay about all of it and had the Judges eating out of their hands) and showed some nice creativity.

Our winning team of Eddie (little Mr.Martha Stewart) & Andrea (don't call me Mrs.Shroder) did a nice job (I do have to see that it was pretty obvious that Eddie was the brains behind it all and Mrs.Shroder was hanging on for the ride). I liked the creativity of most of the teams and how they tried to work the space in different ways to create their own spaces. I will say that I was surprised when India eliminated Jennifer (We can't live with your design) and then turned around and eliminated her not supportive partner Robert.

Wow - second episode and a double elimination. You hear that Project Runway? It's better to cull earlier than later... just making a point.

Robert didn't see that one coming and I think that it is just great .. the guy was a complete knob about the whole challenge and that's 2 weeks in a row of being nasty. Good bye and no regrets.

Wipeout has almost finished it's first season, and we were in absolute hysterics this week watching the double episode treat that we got to see this week. Hole in the Wall was checked out, but it's just not as much fun or even half as interesting hearing the guys do their play by play on Wipeout. I have to say that they even did better than Hole in the Wall with their Cookie Cutter part of the Sweeper. The 2 Johns (Henson & Anderson) with supporting co host Jill Wagner make the show as funny as it is by their snarky comments and bad humor. It's a joy to watch and I am happy to know that it will be coming back for a second season. Can we get a Canadian version of this? I would love to play.

Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency - Crowded House

The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency continued it's ­­­"Model House" edition with more fun and games with the models. I am still in awe and shock each time the models open their mouths and they say that they are so happy that they are living with Janice and living and breathing modeling ... it looks like it is a tough industry and any chance is better than no chance. I think I would have to be severely medicated to handle Janice for that much time. At least the woman is clean.

Oh the drama ... Kehoe is becoming a huge pain in the ass for all the other models and it looks like Janice's over botoxed patience is wearing thin .. it's about fricking time is all I can say ... I know the guy has brought in some cash but it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch and Kehoe is rotten to the core. Something has to change.

The photo shoot for Kentucky Jeans was great, and the whole issue about Martin being deaf (yes- we know-- give it a rest) and the fact that he is still able to model even with his huge disadvantage was too much. The guy is deaf, get over it. It certainly didn't seem to affect him and he did some nice work. My favorite part had to be when Dominic slammed Kehoe on to the ground. I miss seeing Danny and Dominic around more, but at least there is Chandler. I think the change around this year to the house is making it more difficult to see some of my favorite guys and this season is still one of the worst editing jobs ever.

Like that will stop me from watching ... sigh ... the drama is still sucking me in and luckily there is enough beefcake to keep things interesting to watch ( not that the show would be interesting with no dialogue, the stuff that comes out of Janice's mouth is unbelievable most of the time and I keep hanging on wondering what nutty thing will be blurted out next). Traci is getting another load of abuse dumped on her by Janice (it must be an annual event because she seems to do this every year with Traci, who seems to be getting some decent work) and I am pretty sure that the girls who do have an eating disorder are probably doing it because of Janice. It doesn't seem like the happiest of places.

The models are treated to a house call from Janice's Dentist buddy and it looks like there will be a whole bunch of work going on for some of the models. Our Russian beauty, Polina gets a nice makeover but the biggest drama had to be when Janice decided to cut Hazuki's hair. Crystal got all weepy eyed watching it happen and it brought back all those memories of her going through a similar experience on her road to being a supermodel. The only thing that makes me happy is the fact that Crystal is not dangerously thin this year and has some meat on her bones.

I think it's time for more gym time with the boys... maybe after they take the trash out?