Sunday, July 19, 2009

Summer Rant – Bad Choices

Children-of-Earth-ianto Things are humming along with this summer’s TV specials and series and although Torchwood - Children of Earth will be broadcast this week in North America, I followed the series night by night as it was broadcast in the UK a couple of weeks ago and started off hopeful and intrigued and ended up disappointed and pissed off. I know that the Brits are not known for the Disney formula “Happily ever after”, but the death of Ianto and the departure of Jack for space left a bad taste in my mouth that was flavoured with homophobia and failure. If the BBC didn’t want Torchwood around they would have been better to not produce any more instead of this tripe that completely deconstructed everything and just seemed wrong. I don’t think we will be seeing much more of Torchwood and it’s a shame as it was well written and had some fascinating characters. Another brilliant show that died a terrible death before it’s time.

So you think you can Dance? has already gone to Top Ten and now to the Final 8. Wade Robson is a mad genius and I was in awe at his incredible number that he put together for our Ten. Although I was disappointed that Kupono was nuked this week (but have to agree that he failed miserably at the Paso Doble) and it seems that America is not ready for a kind of androgynous dancer. I don’t see why they can’t have an openly gay competitor (it’s dance, not that it’s new to have a gay man doing it) and maybe soon they will be ready for it. It’s was a shame that Randi was eliminated, but one of the girls had to go and she wasn’t bringing anything different than what the other girls can bring, and she did the same cardinal sin from last year that if you wear a wig and the voting public can’t recognize you, you will be eliminated. I will say that I was pretty shocked that Ade and Melissa were near the bottom of the pack, they both seem to be incredible dancers and look great on camera. I have the feeling that Evan will be packing his bags soon, and even though Jason picked it up this week and did a great number, I am not feeling the love and am getting tired of him mugging for the camera and playing cute. The combination of Mary Murphy and Debbie Allan on the Judging panel is something damn fierce, and Mary’s comment that she is not allowed to touch the contestants must stem from that famous Paula Abdul affair with American Idol. Still, the Cougar level was on High Alert with the boys doing their African number and combined with the Bollywood number with all the girls, brought even more World Dance to the stage. The show is really exposing the public to all genres of dance and that is a very good thing. If we could just do something about Cat’s hit and miss stylist this show would be pretty close to perfection.

The Next Food Network Star just made a major boo boo with the past couple of episodes. Our plucky nutritionist was bumped even thought Jamika failed completely at both of the challenges. I don’t agree that one was kept just because she has a certain resemblance to a certain wife of an President…. I really thought the Judges would have been above that but it appears not. Poor Michael might be great with a crowd but can’t connect to the camera and was destined to be bumped.I still think Debbie is going to win, and has the biggest potential out of the remaining competitors.

The Fashion Show Final Collection Anna 8 The Fashion Show is winding up and the finale was a decent show. I was happy to see Reco bumped after that debacle with the Wedding dress, and it was either him or James-Paul that was destined to be bumped at the end. James-Paul is just too way out there, and I didn’t even get his concept of Aboriginal people wearing western clothing as most tribal clothing is more intricate than his geometric shapes. I liked the multi-purpose idea of his collection, but any piece of clothing that comes with an instruction manual sounds like too much work for me. Daniella’s collection was interesting but too masculine for my taste.I really loved the entire collection put together by Anna and think that she should take home the big prize, she had the most wearable and interesting collection and I really did see her underlying theme flow through the collection.

I have loved the first new episodes of Eureka and it’s nice to see all the gang together and Carter continuing to be the glue that holds all the chaos together. This show and Burn Notice are 2 great examples of well developed concepts and well written shows that stick to the essential elements that make them a success. Of course it doesn’t hurt that both shows have sexy leading men that know how to take charge, have some kick ass women that back them up and some surprises every week. I was in hysterics when Michael’s mom decided to help out with the interrogation and has started to help out in a more tangible way.The chemisty between the characters is as great as ever.

tiger woods pga 2 270808 The Superstars is turning into one of my biggest Guilty Pleasures and I keep tuning in to see more of Maksim Chmerkovskiy from Dancing with the Stars compete like a madman and look damn fine doing it. The rest of the teams seem to be on revolving doors with contestants coming and going, and I was applauding our bitchy supermodel Joanna as she had her meltdown when her partner Tyrell quit the competition to go to training camp. The games are fun and quite varied and it will be interesting to see how all of this plays out. It’s fun and light summer fare.

Wrapping things up, I survived a Japanese Game Show is as hilarious and even more fun than last year with all the wacky games and challenges. The whole concept is so foreign in many ways, and the look inside of the Japanese psyche is quite the show. The claws are coming out and the way the teams are dividing and fighting against each other is adding more steam to a high pressure situation and things are getting very hot. In this week’s Elimination round, love birds Jamie and Drew pitted against each other. When I saw the challenge involved deep-throating squid to dismember them, I was pretty sure that Jamie had it in the bag and true to form our girl performed like a champion and won.Unfortunately it meant the end of Drew who was the cutest competitor, but such is the competition. The walk of shame at the end of each episode is always so poignant and ironic as our contestant walk off into the sunset in their final Majide costume. Very funny stuff – in a mean kind of a way.

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Summer Rant – High Performance

Since things are in “Summer mode” here at Couch Potato Central, the scheduling has gone to ranting about the tube once per week (hey it’s Canada here and you try to enjoy those few weeks of hot weather per year) and has led to the birth of the Summer Rant. It’s a catchy name that pays homage to the heat and crazy summer programming and more sporadic postings.

When we get around to the Top Ten on So you think you can Dance? I will probably be inspired to throw my rant amongst all the others on who should stay and who should go but I will say that I am very impressed with the quality of dance this time around, and although it will be a short lived title, this round’s favourite dancer will have paid their dues to make it to the end. I was really happy to see that Brandon was finally getting some love from Mia Michaels on the judging panel. I was not shocked with this week’s dismissal of Vitolio and Karla as they were the weakest of the herd, and I was thrilled that Kupuno is starting to get more of the love that he deserves. It’s a tight race for the guys as they are all pretty strong but there is something about Ade that makes me think he is a strong contender for the crown. Jason and Phillip need to step up their game, they are next on the block and might be dancing for their lives more often than they like. I think they all learned the lesson this week that you if you need to bring it then you better really bring it, dancing for your life is not a snappy title it’s the reality of the situation.

sytycd-melissa-ade-14On the girl’s side, Cat was better dressed than the monstrosity she was wearing last week, and I am in absolute awe of the incredible lines that Melissa is pulling out, her Ballet piece was phenomenal and was another ground breaking performance for this show. I love how it is bring all sorts of styles of dance back to TV, and the quality of the new professionals that are getting involved in the show. The girls are all performing their hearts out and aside from a lacklustre solo, I really think that Caitlan and Janette are really going for it and have shown a ton of potential so far.The whole Dizzy Feet Foundation is a great idea (and I love how it highlights that incestuous relationship with Dancing with the Stars and includes that wacky Paula Abdul) and that upcoming guest appearance of Katie Holmes better deliver more than a brainwashed baby momma. Time will tell. Damn I love this show.

the-superstars6 I have been having a blast watching The Superstars and seeing one of my favourite Dancers from Dancing with the Stars, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, running around shirtless and doing damn well in a pretty tough athletic competition. There seem to be a ton of big egos with all those biceps and it’s fun to watch all the celebrities strut their stuff à la Battle of the Network Stars ( that series really, really needs to be redone properly) with a tad of American Gladiators thrown in and musical teams as participants keeping getting eliminated due to injury. They are all suffering these injustices at the scenic Paradise Island Resort in the Bahamas. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it.

WipeOut is even crueller than last year and we have been in hysterics watching (and rolling on the floor) with the scathing commentary by the 2 Johns. Hilarious. I love the new challenges and am kicking myself that I didn’t apply for the home grown version. Between this show and I survived a Japanese Game Show, there is a ton of ridiculous situations and hilarious costumes that always make me question the Japanese sense of humour and their need to humiliate the competitors in games that probably shouldn’t even be considered let alone attempted. Talk about extreme risks in some of these challenges, I am surprised that we haven’t seen someone take a nasty spill that they can’t get up from yet.

expedition-africa My Expedition Africa experience is not turning out how I really wanted, and the series is starting to get on my nerves. I don’t understand most of the drama on the show (and it seems like a waste of time),and for a gang of so called experienced explorers, they are starting to look more and more like knobs each episodes. I would love to know what their Porters are saying about them behind their backs and how ridiculous that they look most of the time. It’s a shame, I thought it would be more of a chance to see the country and it’s people and it is more about the drama – sigh…. I expected more…

On that note… The Fashion Show samantha-whois wrapping up (there are some miracles…) and it has been a major snore fest. I can’t wrap my head around their real fashion for unreal people concept and the end results. It was time for our magical little Honduran elf to say adios, and I have the feeling that our geeky Asian guy is not far behind. I thing the psychic was the best part of the episode and if they decide to do a second season, skip to her right away and decide the winner before putting me through another season of Not-Beyonce and Isaac. I am looking forward to new Project Runway and some real drama and fashion!

On the comedy side of the coin .. the last few episodes of Better of Ted have been hilarious and I love the satire of working for a big company (Veridian Dynamics) and the way the characters deal with the questionable ethics and the überboss Veronica has had me in hysterics every episode. Her deadpan presentation is hysterical and I love the way she dismisses people, it is one of the funniest scripted things that I have seen recently. It’s a shame that Samantha Who? is burning off the remaining episodes as Torchwood_ChildrenofEarthit is very funny and the characters well developed.I still hold out hope that it will be rescued but this year has been rough on losing well written shows.

This week will be a ton of fun with Torchwood – Children of Earth playing over 5 nights on BBC One (and will be shared online if the gods of the internet are feeling generous) and I am looking forward to getting back in touch with Captain Jack and gang. It’s a great week for Sci-Fi with  the beginning of Warehouse 13 and the return of EUReKA, one of my favourite shows. Vive l' été!