TVSquad

This is another one of those summer shows I didn't know was coming up until I started seeing ads a few days ago. The Great American Road Trip is NBC's new reality show that sends seven families cross-country, where they engage in various challenges against each other for fame and fortune. Or maybe just fortune.

This could actually be a fun show, sort of The Amazing Race meets Family Double Dare. You know there's going to be families to hate and families to love. Maybe they'll have a challenge where they tie a dog to the bumper and have to keep him alive on the drive to the next state. It starts July 7.

Yup, it's that time of year again, the week when we're supposed to shut off our TVs (and computers, I assume) and go outside and get some fresh air, maybe eat a salad.

I mention this every year, and it has gotten to the point where it would be ridiculous to give the opposing viewpoints yet again (but you can read them here and here). Suffice to say, we think you should leave your TV on this week (and in September - there's a TV Turn-Off Week then, too - when the new fall season starts!). If you don't, you're going to miss some cool stuff.

And no, before someone says it, she does not need to shut her yapper because of her love/hate relationship with food... although, that probably wouldn't hurt. Now before I say something else that may be construed as offensive, let me preface all of this with exactly what I said the last time I complained about someone on The Biggest Loser:

"Because what I'm about to write may come across as sounding harsh and insensitive, let me preface all of this by saying that I love The Biggest Loser and have nothing but the utmost respect for the contestants and what they go through on the show.

In a world saturated with reality shows, The Biggest Loser is one of the few that still comes across as "real." You can't script a 100lb. weight loss."

OK, the formalities are out of the way, so let's get to the point: why is Heba being such a bitch?!?

(S01E17) Brothers and Sisters continues to give good episode, and good story. I particularly enjoyed how they used Nora's writing class and the story she was writing to give structure to the episode. She wrote a narrative about all of the crazy threads of her family and all of the story lines.

(S01E16) Oh, Kevin, how can you be so stupid! Threatening to bury that little jerk in litigation was a total lack of denial about Chad being gay. Jeez! The way to approach it would have been to say you're going to sue him for ruining YOUR reputation. Then, it would have seemed more like neither of you are gay. And you call yourself a lawyer?

(S01E12) Fun episode. I was instant messaging with my friend Susan while we were both watching it, and she kept typing, "Rob Lowe is totally HOTTT!" This may tell you something about our ages.

Then at the end of the episode, she began typing frantically, "Where's the NOOKIE!" Because we were both misled by Kitty's saying in the previews, "Let's just pretend this night never happened," to believe that there was nookie. But I am sure there will be nookie soon. After all, why hire Rob Lowe otherwise?

(S01E11) While I was watching the scenes with Nora working at Ojai, I kind of hated this show, and hated myself for watching it. Even though I knew that I would be tuning in week after week regardless of whether or not I was reviewing it. But then it got better.

So, what do you think? Should Rob Lowe's character, Senator Dreamy McCallister, be excused for voting against gay marriage when the measure wasn't going to pass anyway? Was it okay for him not to make a stand, when he had an education measure he wanted to pass? I'm going to have to say no. He admits that he regrets the vote, but he also wanted Kitty to come and work for him. And he is good at getting what he wants. But low and behold, he has a cute gay brother. Oh please no. Oh please no.

In the 1980s, everyone was talking about the farm crisis. You heard about it on the news, celebrities came out to voice their support for farmers, and sometimes the topic would even make it into the scripts of some TV shows. It was the "Cause of the Week" so to speak.

Those of us who actually lived on a farm, however, had a perspective no one else had, no matter how many news specials they watched or magazine articles they read. It's one thing to know what's happening; it's another thing to experience it first hand.

(S01E10) As obligatory holiday episodes go, can I just say Thank God for a Jewish family? For crying out loud, it's such a relief not to have a Christmas miracle on this show. I have studied Judaism in depth and observe most Jewish holidays with friends. I have seriously considered converting. So, even though I am not Jewish, having studied and talked about it so intimately, it was a pleasure to watch this episode.

In 2000, did anyone imagine that CBS, of all networks, would have not one but two respected and critically-acclaiemd reality series that would have seasons totalling in the double-digits? Not at that time; back then CBS was the fuddy-duddy network, and reality was best left to cable networks like MTV.

Of course, with Survivor and The Amazing Race, CBS is now considered to have the gold standard of reality shows. So it's no big surprise to hear that the network has greenlighted an 11th season of Race. It's getting good ratings in its new family-friendly Sunday timeslot, and it's won just about every reality-show Emmy that could be given out. So this was a no-brainer. Wonder what gimmick they're going to come up with for season 11?