[via Pop Candy]
Previously on Top Chef: Lost
This should be fun. Damon Lindelof and Carton Cuse are big fans of Bravo's Top Chef, and this week they're actually going to make an appearance on the Top Chef Masters. The contestants (some have seen Lost and some haven't) have to make a meal for them. Here's a sneak peek.
The Next Food Network Star: Episode 2 - open thread
I'm really enjoying this season so far. It has a good mix of drama, guest stars, good challenges, and actual food being made. What did you think of this episode? Were Brett and Teddy right in what they said about Melissa, or did they only help a little and she probably could have done it on her own? I think she accepted their help not out of panic but just because they offered and anyone would in that situation, though it would have been nice if she had mentioned that to the judges.Rod Blagojevich appears on I'm A Celebrity after all
Well, you knew NBC would try to find a way to get Rod Blagojevich onto I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here,and they did. Instead of appearing in the flesh (which he legally couldn't), he appeared via Skype to talk to his wife Patti, who is on the show. She also talks to her kids, which makes it clear that the young ones are actually watching this mess. Oh well, at least they don't have to watch Heidi and Spencer anymore.
So You Think You Can Dance: 2 of 20 Voted Off
(S05E06) The show opened, as usual, with the group number. And because The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" isn't getting enough airplay, So You Think You Can Dance threw the band a bone and used it for this Shane Sparks piece. Unfortunately, with 20 dancers on stage it's hard to make the piece not look like a bit of a mess. Sparks' choreography was pretty good, but I don't think the dancers were all equally up to the task.When the majority of your dancers are not familiar with the style you're using, it must be even harder to put these things together. This isn't to challenge them, nor is it for votes, it's just supposed to be for entertainment. Unfortunately these numbers aren't as impressive until later in the season. At least they're superior to those awful group numbers they force on the American Idol contestants.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: 2 of 20 Voted Off
EW declares the all-time best and worst of reality television
Considering how prevalent reality television is these days, it's got to be a pretty daunting task to try and put together a comprehensive list of the best and worst of all time. But Entertainment Weekly thinks they've done just that. They've compiled the top 20 reality shows of all time, but also the ten worst reality shows of all time. All in all, they did a pretty damned good job. I completely agree with the top six, but they lose me with Jackass at number seven. I have never understood the appeal of filming morons doing stupid things on purpose just to be stupid. But there were some shows missing from the list completely, like Little People Big World, So You Think You Can Dance and Beauty and the Geek. Surely those shows are better than The Hills and The Real Housewives of Sesame Street, or whatever franchise they're spinning now.
Continue reading EW declares the all-time best and worst of reality television
Between seasons of Dancing with the Stars, ABC says Let's Dance
Because you can never get enough of celebrities dancing, ABC has picked up Let's Dance, which they're calling a comedic reality show. It's based on a format that found success as part of the UK's Comic Relief programming. Rather than having celebrities commit to a full season to learn a variety of ballroom styles, a la Dancing with the Stars, this new show only requires a one-week commitment with the possibility of a "finale" return. And all they have to master is an already well-known dance.I guess this is where the "comedy" comes in?
Continue reading Between seasons of Dancing with the Stars, ABC says Let's Dance
Top Chef Masters: Episode One (series premiere) - open thread
So last night we had the premiere of Top Chef Masters, which is supposed to keep us satisfied until the regular Top Chef returns. But it's a different show. The judges are different, and the contestants are actually well-known, successful chefs already, so the food is going to be better and the arguing is going to be less. It's not bad. I was hoping for all of the contestants to compete at the same time and not be split up into groups like this, but it's actually refreshing to see the pros do it. What did you think?
So You Think You Can Dance: Top 20 Perform
(S05E06) Not to be a hater, but my favorite thing about this first performance episode was the complete and total lack of Mia Michaels anywhere on the show. Now I actually enjoy some of her work as a choreographer, but her horrendous judging and her personality, in general, are becoming very off-putting to me. But we don't have to even think about her tonight because we got the delightful Adam Shankman on the panel instead.I like Adam because he's got such an upbeat personality, but he's not afraid to criticize when necessary. And when he does, he gives constructive criticism to generally improve the dancers. Tonight he revealed that Katee, Joshua, Ivan and Twitch all have roles in the new movie he's working on: Step Up 3-D.
Continue reading So You Think You Can Dance: Top 20 Perform
Five shows to watch at the gym (if you know what's good for you)
If you're like me, then you're probably a mom. Although, I don't have children. In fact, I'm a quarter-century old dude built like an extra from a 1960's beach movie (that's not necessarily a compliment, especially if you think "compact" is a terrible description of body type, as I often do). However, when I'm at the gym, I seem to get along like gangbusters with all the mothers who take to the Stepper for a mindless lower-body workout in which one essentially climbs to nowhere.In fact, every now and then, you'll catch me on the machine upwards of an hour, which is by no means an easy task when you have the attention span I do. But luckily, I've got plenty of friends to keep me going, and I don't even have to talk to them. Because they're inside the TV! (Sorry, moms!)
Continue reading Five shows to watch at the gym (if you know what's good for you)
Kathy Griffin has dinner with Lily Tomlin
This is a clip from an upcoming episode of My Life on the D-List. Kathy Griffin goes to see one her idols, Lily Tomlin, and then the two go out to dinner. But the interesting part of the clip is when Griffin talks about having a ten year ban on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and how it was just lifted (I assume this was filmed before Conan took over The Tonight Show). Griffin appears tonight on Letterman's show for the first time in twelve years so that ban was lifted too.
Here's a sneak peek at tonight's Top Chef Masters premiere
I'm not a big reality show fan, but if it involves food I might just watch it. Tonight Bravo debuts Top Chef Masters, which is Top Chef only with some of the best chefs in the country, including Wylie Dufresne, Rick Bayless, Cindy Pawlcyn, Anita Lo, and Art Smith. Here's a clip from the show. I wonder if this is going to be more foodie-oriented than trash talk/arguing-oriented?
We've got ABC's new fall schedule right here
ABC will kick off its upcoming fall season in earnest Sept. 21 with three nights of Dancing With the Stars. The hit show – that continues to gain viewers no matter how much I wish it would die and stay dead -- will lead off the network's prime time schedule on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays before being reduced to two nights a week to make room for a pair new comedies. There's still no word on exactly when Lost will return, but the new mystery drama Flash Forward will bow Sept. 24 at 8 p.m., right before the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy.
The new seasons of Ugly Betty and Supernanny will debut in October with several new and renewed shows – like Scrubs, Brothers & Sisters, Eastwick and Private Practice – expected to show up on the network schedule later.
Click through for the sked:
Continue reading We've got ABC's new fall schedule right here
MSNBC's Ed Schultz joins ranks of politcal screamers
This reporter was thinking just a little while back, that what this country needs is another intolerant political loud mouth on the airwaves. It doesn't matter what political party they call home -- R or D, liberal conservative. No TV viewer seems able to go more than a few minutes without having some self-important gas bag named Matthews or O'Reilly, sporting one ideology or another, raging at a camera.Fortunately, MSNBC brings us another fix -- the emerging show from Air America personality Ed Schultz. Resembling a sort of square-headed Rush Limbaugh, Schultz's politics run more toward Keith Olbermann. But, let's face it: None of these guys are on TV to discuss sensible politics on either side of the aisle. They're on the air to pontificate, yell, scream and (in Schultz's case) have a borderline Network-ish nervous breakdown on camera every night.
Continue reading MSNBC's Ed Schultz joins ranks of politcal screamers
Kendra's the biggest thing since Anna Nicole for E!
Everybody knows Kendra as one of Hugh Hefner's former girlfriends. The one-time stars of E!'s The Girls Next Door have left the mansion and moved on to their own projects. Bridget Marquardt has moved on to her own Travel Channel show, Bridget's Sexiest Beaches, while Holly Madison was just on Dancing with the Stars. It looks like E! went the right route by choosing to follow the youngest and wackiest of the bunch, Kendra Wilkinson.Her self-titled new show premiered Sunday on E!, and Kendra set a ratings high not seen since the premiere of The Anna Nicole Show in 2002 with 2.6 million viewers. People love their former Playmates, apparently. As an admitted follower of The Girls Next Door; my wife has a thing for all things Playboy and I got sucked in despite myself; Kendra was always the girl that I found the most annoying. She was so childish and superficial... and that laugh! Oh my god, that laugh made me want to reach through the screen and strangle her! So no one was more surprised than me to find that I actually enjoyed this premiere.
Continue reading Kendra's the biggest thing since Anna Nicole for E!
It's Hammer Pants Dance time!
I think this, a promotion for A&E's MC Hammer reality show, is one of the scariest things I've seen in a long time. I can't imagine calmly shopping in a clothing store and then being swamped by dozens of dancers in Hammer pants running and dancing while "U Can't Touch This" is cranked up on the sound system. I'd rather be RickRolled.
Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
