TVSquad

Bravo's new show NYC Prep premieres on July 23. It follows a bunch of rich kids and the schools they go to (yes, lots of sex, drinking, and talk about money). There's one kid named "PC," and I really think they should have gotten another kid nicknamed "Mac." That would have been good. There must be at least one person with that nickname in the private schools of NYC. Here's the first episode. (You can also watch it on iTunes.)

When All My Children snared veteran head writer Chuck Pratt Jr. to take the reins and "write" the S.S. Pine Valley, the scribe promised swift action. With a look toward kicking up the soap's ratings more than a notch or two. Pratt, whose credits include Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Melrose Place, Life Goes On and Santa Barbara, among others is certainly capable.

I liked ABC drafting Chuck for All My Children, but I'm thinking that the announcement yesterday, an open casting call for an Iraq war veteran to play an Iraq war veteran, is a publicity stunt. The executive producer, Julie Hanan Carruthers, said in a press release that casting a real life soldier will heighten the experience for viewers. Excuse me, but I think that's utter hogwash. All My Children doesn't need an actual veteran of the war in Iraq to create a great soap opera storyline. That's why they brought in Chuck Pratt, Jr.

(S01E11) I feel manipulated. I feel used. I feel a pawn to a lesson session. I feel all I learned in childhood about doing the right thing is so much better than doing the fun thing was snatched from behind my wall of memories and plopped down in tonight's episode of Kid Nation.

Why must fun always have consequences? Or, at least choosing fun over a more serious option? It doesn't always play that way in adulthood. Sometimes you can have fun without regret. Yeah, seriously.

But I'll never be a Dance Master, no matter how much fun it might be. There is something called reality which comes to mind.

(S01E10) The days in Bonanza City are dwindling down for the 37 children still working out their 40 days on Kid Nation. By the time tonight's episode ended, the kids have about ten days left. That, to us, will translate to at least three weeks, I believe.

Ah, but did it stay at 37 children this week? Or did we lose another due to homesickness? Was there a brouhaha? More killed chickens? Hmmm ... now that I mentioned the killed chickens, I wonder why it was so important to kill the two and then none since. Maybe because of the power of suggestion in the journal, eh? Uh-oh. I should have put the spoiler after the jump. Too late -- no chickens died tonight. Oops.

(S01E09) Have children grown more apologetic since my days as a child? The kids of Kid Nation are often as cruel to each other as I recall but then they go and apologize. What's up with that?

Well, they don't always apologize. Feelings get hurt; tears get shed. Maybe it's cruel, but the kids will eventually find out being an adult isn't all it's cracked up to be at all times, either. I think I've seen adults apologize a lot less often than the kids on the show. Perhaps they have some sort of super-strain of kids there -- intelligent and mature beyond their years.

Some of them, anyway. And some of the solid ones are starting to crack a bit.

(S01E06) No, no, no ... not Bonanza with the Ponderosa! Hop Sing could always cook up a fine feast and the Cartwrights never fussed about hard labor. The episode title refers to Bonanza City, New Mexico. You know -- 40 days, 40 kids (well, 38 kids now and almost three weeks less), and no adults. Well, they say no adults, but believe me, it's the adults putting everything in motion.

But it is indeed the kids of Kid Nation who make this show worth watching. It's the kids who, by being themselves, bring me entertainment each week.

Oh, but Bonanza City is indeed disgusting. Or, it was before the adult push of the week.

(S01E05) Is it me or was there really not much to get up in arms about this week on Kid Nation? No killed animals, no steer taunting, no religious rivalry, no bullying. What's this show coming to, eh?

Well, there was a smattering of bad behavior, but we're talking kids here. Some of these kids could be teensy adults, y'know. A lot of them certainly are more worldly than I was at their ages. And, the show reminded me that I should really study up on the chronological order of US Presidents. I definitely know the ones in my own lifetime, but I surely would put Taft in the wrong place.

(S01E03) Let's see ... no animals were killed in the filming of tonight's episode of Kid Nation. A few outhouses might have received considerable damage, a lot of pizzas were wasted, and they made ten-year-old Taylor cry. Oh, I think she deserved some sort of comeuppance, but I still felt sorry for her when it came. I suppose she's going to have to deal with it, eh?

With slow record sales, many critics are predicting that Taylor Hicks will be the first American Idol to fall short of selling one million albums. And that would make him the least successful Idol winner yet.

Meanwhile, last year's fourth place Idol finisher, Chris Daughtry, has already sold 1.7 million copies of his debut album.

Tom Corson, executive vice president of J Records, is optimistic Taylor will turn things around, telling the Associated Press, "It's a work in progress, and, would we have liked to sell a little bit more? Yeah. But (the album is) still gold and on its way to platinum."

(S04E15) It's starting to feel very final isn't it? I'm really impressed with the way the series is wrapping itself up. Some of the cheese factor still exists (Seth getting help from the homeless folks again), but for the most part the characters and their paths are falling into place.

I think this may have been the first episode of The OC that took place entirely at night. As a result, the whole episode was lit in shades of dark and light blues. It reminded me a lot of a season one episode of CSI: NY.

Overall though, what the episode really emphasized for me is how far Ryan has come. This is probably the biggest tragedy that could have possibly occurred in Newport Beach and despite that, the group remained intact with Ryan right in the middle of it. Not bad for someone who came into their lives as an outsider.

Some things get better with age. Try telling that to the producers of American Idol. They believe that singers over the age of 28 are over-the-hill.

But they may be changing their youth-obsessed tunes. At least a tiny bit. There is some talk of increasing the Idol age limit from 28 to 30 next year. In Season Four, the age limit was raised from 26 to 28 paving the way for a dancing silver-haired "old-timer" called Taylor Hicks.

American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe believes that raising the original age limit, "brought us some more maturity and a little more professionalism in certain areas. We're happy about that. I wouldn't mind extending it even further next year, to be honest."

(S04E14) It's the end of the world as we know it. Well... not really, but it might be the end of Newport Beach. I have to say, I kind of like the idea that the finale Josh Schwartz "always planned to do" for The OC involves an earthquake. It's the ultimate closure for a show that takes place in California and depending on how bad you want to make it (it looked pretty bad), it can immediately force everyone into a situation where they're forced to start over.

Closure is key though. With only two episodes to go now, a lot of the broad ideas that have been lingering since the beginning of the season were brought back into play. Seth's indecisiveness, Ryan's emotional awkwardness, and Sandy's dislike for Newport all manifested themselves in some pretty creative ways. It was a satisfying episode.

(S04E12) Was anyone else slightly disappointed with this episode? It just felt kind of so-so to me. Plus, everything that was meant to be a big shock wasn't all that shocking. I know it's selfish to expect a masterpiece week in and week out, but this was the fifth to last episode. In this instance, I think we're justified in hoping for more.

All that being said, it was still a decent episode. Plenty of funny moments involving groundhogs, mail trucks, and the return of Bullit. Bang!

(S04E11) Lots going on here, a pretty jam packed episode. As usual, I loved it but there were a few things that irked me. I gripe because I love. Like all fans of The OC, I'm savoring every second of it though. Only five more episodes and it's over.

Just look at how much the show has evolved though. Stuff that happened in this episode would have never occurred in the first season. It's changed a lot and I'm all for it. The show is done. Might as well go out with a bang.

(S04E07) This was an interesting episode. It's not that I didn't like it, but I just found it a little disappointing. I say that because this episode didn't really do anything to advance the plot of our season. A season, I should remind you, that will only have 16 episodes and may very well be The OC's last. With that in mind, I guess I just expected Josh Schwartz and Co. to give us 16 jam-packed episodes. Up until now they had. This one was fun, it was gimmicky. But it didn't do it for me.

Centering around Ryan and Taylor, the two of them had been fighting about Taylor's "girlfriend status" and whether or not Ryan would be inviting her to Chrismukkah dinner. They were decorating the Cohen's house and in the heat their argument, Taylor tumbled off the ladder and Ryan fell off the roof trying to stop her. Now they're both in comas and when they wake up, nothing is as it seems.