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I watch a lot of reality television and I tend to get my hackles raised by a number of reprehensible people on those shows every week. For too long, many of them have just fallen through the cracks here because they don't really warrant their own posts for one reason or another, so I've decided to start picking the five worst offenders every week in a little round-up of stone-throwing. Below, I state the cases for this week's five nominees and then crown a winner.
Against my better judgment, I watched two episodes of Extreme Couponing last night and found that the new TLC series oddly fascinated and infuriated me on so many different levels. Like the patrons at the stores where these women shop, I couldn't stop look away as four full carts of groceries shrunk down from several hundreds of dollars (in one case nearly two thousand) to next to nothing. On one hand, it was kind of impressive. But on the other hand, that's only if you discount (no pun intended) all of the stuff they already have at home, the fact that they don't need most of these items and the amount of time it takes them to get this stuff.
I'm so glad this Mobbed show exists just so all of the things that horrify and upset me can live in one place where I can just ignore them collectively. It's very convenient. And after watching this one episode, I don't ever need to see another because I think I'm kind of scarred for life.
During the boardroom on last night's Celebrity Apprentice, Nene Leakes (after she stopped crying for no reason) called Dionne Warwick out for being plain old lazy during the task. And with all the eye rolling that immediately ensued, I was hoping for some big blowout that would devolve into name-calling and nitpicking and the rest of the craziness that this show was once known for. Unfortunately, Dionne gave up without much of a fight and basically told Donald Trump that she should be fired. Wait, what? One of the biggest personalities (not necessarily in a good way) that this show had this season basically just walked off after calling Nene a coward on her way to the elevator? What happened to the drama? Are these folks afraid to come across as the new Annie Duke or Joan Rivers? Are celebrities (aside from Star Jones) worried that they'll get a bad rep if they defend their actions in the boardroom?
After hearing how bad The Situation was when they taped this roast, I was dreading it, and, well, for his part he totally bombed. Completely. There was deafening silence as he delivered his clunkers which turned to extremely vocal boos during the course of his few minute stint. Jeff Ross tried in vain to assist him, but it was too late, Sitch's comedy career was dead on arrival. However, I'd love it if he was at future roasts, not to deliver any of his own "zingers," but because he was the butt of more jokes than Trump himself. Fair warning, the content below is not for the faint of heart, or really anyone who doesn't have a sense of humor.
The first ladies of Bravo returned last night (well, one of them is still left, at least), and in typical Real Housewives of Orange County fashion, the premiere episode was a big, loud, drunken, sloppy mess. Welcome back, girls. I always think I won't, but oh, how I've missed you all.
Before Charlie Sheen introduced the concept to us via a series of confusing and ill-advised interviews, we had no way to rate the quality of "winning." But now we know that Sheen apparently is "winning," thanks to his tiger blood (i.e. ferocity), Adonis DNA (i.e. attractiveness), ability to defeat earthworms with words (i.e. articulateness), ability to convert tin cans into gold (i.e. improve shows/films by his mere presence) and "bitchin' life" (i.e. substance abuse, promiscuity, violence or other illegal activity, none of which we condone or endorse). Rating each category on a scale of 1 to 10, we thought we'd determine the "winning" level of some of the biggest, most outrageous celebrities out there. If you, too, can come close to Sheen's winningness (he scores 10s across the board), he may want to party with you. Or follow you on Twitter.
Survivor: Redemption Island started last night with the promise of new twists, such as Russell and Boston Rob returning as mentors and the much buzzed about Redemption Island, where eliminated contestants can earn their way back. In advance, these sounded like they might add some fresh energy to the show, but the premiere, at least, wasn't innovative in the slightest.
If you saw the commercials for this new ABC sitcom featuring a bunch of people you've liked in other shows, as well as random circus clowns and Smurfs, and thought that this might be a new Arrested Development or something, you were wrong. While Mr. Sunshine strives for absurdity, it falls well short of greatness, especially considering that we're treated to the bizarreness of a show like Community on a regular basis. Even Cougar Town, the show that normally sits in this timeslot, does randomness better. And while part of me wants to say that Cougar Town took a while to get into its current groove and so maybe the world should give Sunshine some time to find its legs, I find myself far less forgiving of its goofy tone and waste of a talented cast.
Lately, the news has been filled with reports of pilot episodes for new series getting ordered by all of the major networks, not to mention basic and premium cable channels. And while it's presumptuous to form opinions about them based on little more than a one-sentence description, once you factor in casting news and who the writer and director are, you start to get a pretty good idea of what to expect. Not counting shows still in the scripting stage, or shows that already have a series commitment, here are some of the best- and worst-sounding pilots being developed -- although since they get added and dropped frequently, this may not be fully accurate for long. (Generic-sounding romantic comedies and family dramas get a bye this round, because it's hard to muster strong feelings about them, but we'll revisit them if and when they make it to series.)
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