Franklin & Bash - 2011's Boston Legal?

Finally found the time over the weekend to watch the brand new lawyer show on TNT, Franklin & Bash starring Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar (MPG). The first season is only 10 episodes, so it wasn't all that hard to catch up.

The gist of the show is that two young crazy lawyers, Jared Franklin (Meyer) and Peter Bash (Gosselaar) who got hired by the eccentric name partner of a famous law firm (Infeld Daniels), Stanton Infeld (played by Malcolm McDowell) to shake things up after watching their court theatrics to win a case. Does the description sound vaguely familiar to anyone? Anyone? 

If you guessed Boston Legal, points to you...! Sadly, no prizes. 

I've not seen MPG in a show since Saved by the Bell. And I've only ever seen Breckin Meyer in the live action Garfield movies and perhaps heard his voice on Robot Chicken. That's about it for me. You would think that MPG would be the obvious choice for the crazier, worse womaniser than Meyer, but no. It's hard shifting that gear to see Breckin Meyer as the crazy one.

Things I like about Franklin & Bash

• Because it's on cable, the language that they get away with is... woah. Okay, I haven't heard anyone being called "scrotum face" or "dickwad" on TV for awhile. 
• Flash of bare ass in the pilot episode - not that I care, it's just something worth mentioning.
• It is a little funny and kind of filled the hole that Boston Legal left.
• The tee shirts that Kumail Nanjiani's agoraphobe character wears are hilarious.
• "Bro bono"

It is a legal dramedy for the dude set.

All Star Cycle of America's Next Top Model

Until The CW announced it recently, I had been wondering when they were going to do an all-star season of America's Next Top Model after 16 cycles. It was just a matter of time... and they had enough crazy contestants to pick from.

I can't help but wonder: aren't some of these women just too old for the modelling industry? You'll see what I mean when you see who's coming back for another shot at Top Model glory: 

Name: Shannon Stewart
Age: 27
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 18 (Cycle 1)

(Ah, the one who didn't want to pose nude. Let's see about that)

Name: Camille McDonald
Age: 33
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 26 (Cycle 2)
(Another one that did not want to pose nude. Right)

Name: Brittany Brower
Age: 29
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 22 (Cycle 4)
(Who?)

Name: Lisa D’Amato
Age: 30
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 24 (Cycle 5)
(Ah, the crazy drunk one) 

Name: Bre Scullark
Age: 26
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 19 (Cycle 5)
(Granola bar chick)

Name: Bianca Golden
Age: 22
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 18 (Cycle 9)

Name: Dominique Reighard
Age: 27
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 23 (Cycle 10)

Name: Isis King
Age: 25
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 22 (Cycle 11)
(The trans model. Should be interesting)

Name: Sheena Sakai
Age: 24
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 21 (cycle 11)

Name: Allison Harvard
Age: 23
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 20 (cycle 12)
(The one with the HUGE EYES; wouldn't mind if she made it further than she did on her cycle)

Name: Laura Kirkpatrick
Age: 22
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 19 (Cycle 13)
(Who?)

Name: Angelea Preston
Age: 25
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 22 (Cycle 14)
(Her? Interesting...)

Name: Kayla Ferrel
Age: 20
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 19 (Cycle 15)
(Ah, the lesbian. This is going to be interesting, the interaction with the uber religious ones)

Name: Alexandria Everett
Age: 22
Age you were the first time you were on ANTM: 21 (Cycle 16)
(Just when we thought we have seen the last of her, she's back?! WHY??!!)

Hmm... there are a couple of "I refuse to pose nude" contestants, which is going to be interesting since a nude photoshoot of some sort has been a show staple for a while now. Will they suck it up and do it or not? There's also several crazy ones (or edited to look as such on the show), which is also interesting. They seem to be going for most "memorable" (using the term mildly and loosely) contestants of their cycle. I remember most of them, but the rest I had to look up.

They also don't have space for everyone from each cycle as there's no one from Cycles 3 and 6 to 8. At least there's no winners season, that would make some interesting television - the best of the best cycle.

Project Runway's All Star Season

There comes a time in a reality competition show's lifespan where it needs a quick jumpstart, which comes in the form of an "all-star" season, which brings back the show's lovable losers...err, contestants from the past for another shot at the main prize which they didn't get the first time for some reason or another.

It has been announced that there'll be an all-star season of Project Runway, minus Heidi, Michael, Nina and Tim.... which is refreshing, I guess. I don't know. We'll have to see how that plays out. Instead, those roles will be taken up by Angela Lindvall as the All-Star host, Isaac Mizrahi, Georgina Chapman as judges with Marie Claire editor Joanna Coles taking on the mentor role. But at least it's a proper full season and not like some of the other ones where they played for charity or whatever.

That said, who's actually coming back? Well...

• Austin Scarlett: (New York, NY) Season 1, Fourth Place
• Kara Janx: (New York, NY) Season 2, Fourth Place
• Elisa Jimenez: (New York, NY) Season 4, Tenth Place
• Rami Kashou: (Los Angeles, CA) Season 4, Runner-up
• Sweet P/Kathleen Vaughn: (Pasadena, CA) Season 4, Fifth Place
• Jerell Scott: (New York, NY) Season 5, Fourth Place
• Kenley Collins: (Brooklyn, NY) Season 5, Second Runner-up
• Gordana Gehlhausen: (San Diego, CA) Season 6, Fourth Place
• Anthony Williams: Season 7, Fifth Place
• Mila Hermanovski: (Los Angeles, CA) Season 7, Second Runner-up
• April Johnston: (Savannah, GA) Season 8, Fifth Place
• Michael Costello: (Palm Springs, CA) Season 8, Fourth Place
• Mondo Guerra: (Denver, CO) Season 8, Runner-up

There's some crazy ones (if you've been following the show all these years, you know who I'm referring to), and I'm not just talking about design sense and personal taste. I'm glad that it's not the more obvious ones, like Daniel Vosovic or Santino. I'm also glad the winners are not on the list. But they could easily save that for another time, I think?

We all know that they'll be running this ad nauseum once it airs, but what are they competing for? 

"Prizes include an exclusive designer’s boutique in select Neiman Marcus stores and on NeimanMarcus.com, $100,000 dollars in technology and office space to help grow their business from HP and Intel, $100,000 cash from L’Oreal Paris, a feature spread in Marie Claire, for which he or she will serve as a guest editor for one year, and a sewing and embroidery studio provided by Brother International." 

Whether it is enough reason to come back for another shot, I don't know - but it must be for them to come back, no?

Related articles

• Here Are The Folks You'll See On Project Runway All Stars [Project Runway] (jezebel.com)

What I Think Will Happen in the New Season of The Good Wife

Here's a list of things I think will happen on the third season of The Good Wife, coming back in the fall. All the items sound pretty obvious, so I hope I'm wrong, or else I would be a little disappointed. That, or I seriously watch way too much TV.

• The Florricks will finally divorce. As much as they would like to do it quietly, but word will get out.
• Will-licia (dibs on the shipper name for Will and Alicia!) did actually hook up and their time in the expensive hotel room in the season two finale will be found out and be used against her by Peter at some point in the season.
• The Florrick kids will resent Will.
• Cary and Mr Big... errr, Peter will make life really hard for Alicia; Cary in the professional sense and Peter both professionally and personally.
• Alicia and Kalinda will eventually make up.

Major Crimes, The Closer spinoff

I don't know what took me so long to find out that TNT did order a spinoff of The Closer, with Mary McDonnell reprising her role as Capt Raydor, called Major Crimes, next year after the series finale of The Closer.

Frankly, I'm not sure if anyone would actually watch it as Mary McDonnell's character is seen as a villain of sorts on The Closer. Out of all the characters on the show to create a spinoff for, she's on the bottom of my list. I don't think I can see her in this, either.

So if Major Crimes is also set in the LAPD, how is it going to be any different from The Closer again, exactly? Wouldn't it be basically the same show minus Brenda Leigh Johnson? Are the other guys in the Major Crimes division staying? 

I might give Major Crimes a go if Flovenza was still in. It is still a-ways to go.

Related articles

• Mary McDonnell on 'The Closer' spin-off: 'It would be foolish ... to try to recreate such an iconic character' - EXCLUSIVE (insidetv.ew.com)

Napoleon Dynamite - The Animated Series

If you've seen a little movie called Napoleon Dynamite and have worn a Vote for Pedro shirt at some point, you might be glad to know that there will be an ANIMATED series on FOX in 2012. 

I have no idea what took so long for this to happen, but I think it just might work. Another bonus is that the original movie cast are also voicing their respective characters. Yay!

Here's a teaser trailer...

Creators/Executive Producers: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess, Mike Scully

Voice Cast: Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite, Aaron Ruell as Kip, Efren Ramirez as Pedro, Tina Majorino as Deb, Sandy Martin as Grandma, Jon Gries as Uncle Rico, Diedrich Bader as Rex


Based on the hit film, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is an animated series that follows the continuing adventures of America's most awesome awkward teenager and his quirky family and friends as they struggle to navigate small-town life in rural Idaho.

The original cast from the film -- Jon Heder, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Tina Majorino, Sandy Martin, Jon Gries and Diedrich Bader -- will voice their characters in the series, and many new characters will be added along the way.

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Heder) is a 16-year-old boy convinced -- for no apparent reason -- that he is destined for greatness and blessed with unlimited "sweet abilities." He spends his days practicing ninja moves, drawing ligers, soul dancing and bragging about his "girlfriend in Oklahoma" whom nobody has ever seen. Napoleon's brother, KIP (Ruell), is an unemployed 32-year-old who lives at home and believes he would be an amazing catch for any girl who would respond to his online come-ons. The Dynamite brothers live with GRANDMA (Martin), a crusty woman who can often be found four-wheeling with her lady friends at the local sand dunes.

Napoleon's allies include PEDRO (Ramirez), his unflappable best friend who has recently been elected class president; and DEB (Majorino), an incredibly sweet girl who sees the good in Napoleon and dreams of someday being his wife. Napoleon's UNCLE RICO (Gries) lives out of an orange custom van, where he obsesses over his botched high school football career and dreams up ways to become rich and famous. Then there's REX KWON DO (Bader), a self-proclaimed martial-arts master who runs the local dojo.

Guest voices in the debut season include Jennifer Coolidge ("American Pie," "Legally Blonde"), Sam Rockwell ("Choke") and Jemaine Clement ("Flight of the Conchords").

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is a 20th Century Fox Television production. The series is created and executive-produced by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite," "Nacho Libre"), along with Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Mike Scully (THE SIMPSONS, "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Parks & Recreation"). The animation house is Rough Draft Studios ("Futurama," "The Simpsons Movie").

Watch Rocco's Dinner Party to Meet Rocco

If you're a fan of Rocco DiSpirito and have been following his TV career, you would know that he's got a new show on Bravo called Rocco's Dinner Party.

To celebrate Rocco's Dinner Party, there is a "Watch and Win" competition on Facebook where one winner and their guest will get to meet Rocco himself and also to assist him during the NYC Food & Wine Festival in October. Prizes include a round trip airfare for two, two nights hotel stay in New York, and not forgetting tickets to the festival itself.

To participate, just tune in to Rocco's Dinner Party on Wednesday nights 10PM ET/9C, and answer three weekly questions about the episode in question. The more questions you answer, the higher the chances of winning! The contest goes live July 20th.

To find out more about the contest, click here.

Sadly, for legal reasons, the Watch and Win contest is for US residents only.

Ted Danson on CSI?

REALLY?

Okay, that is one bit of casting news I did not expect. That might have more to do with me not having seen him in a more dramatic role like, EVER. I haven't really seen him on TV since Cheers and Becker, and yes I know he was on Damages.

Other news sources are saying that he'll be replacing Laurence Fishburne, but his character will be as the new grave yard shift supervisor, which most fans will know is what Marg Helgenberger's character Catharine Willows been doing since Grissom left, who is also on her way out.

Man, I really thought George Eads would be the new supervisor after Catharine - seriously. Huh. That sucks.

Related articles

• Fishburne not going back to CSI (mytv-rants.blogspot.com)
• 'CSI' Season 12 Casts Ted Danson To Replace Laurence Fishburne (screenrant.com)

The Mentalist and ANZ

Okay, I know full well that Simon Baker is an Australian actor who happens to make a living (at the moment) playing an American on an American TV show (The Mentalist), which he does reasonably well. (Even you have to admit, no actual American man would actually ACT like Patrick Jane in real life). 

But Patrick Jane, spokesperson for an Australian bank? Seriously? At least Simon Baker had some of his actual Aussie accent in the Samsung TV ads (debatable), but he's in full Mentalist get up in these ads - American acent and all - Does he know something we don't? Is The Mentalist coming to an end? Is that why he's doing this? Wouldn't ANZ need permission from the show's big wigs to use the Patrick Jane character in this manner?

Here's a few of those TV spots.

 From using the Samsung phone in the Samsung ad to an iPhone in this ad? Ouch.

 Does anyone else think the use of different accents in this spot a little weird? Where are they supposed to be - America, or Australia? It's so non-specific.

 Am I the only one who thinks the whole thing is a little odd? The video below thinks so too, haha.

Adios, Good Eats

I don't know how it took me so long to find out that my favourite long-running Food Network show, Good Eats, has come to an end 249 episodes and (about) 12 years later. Never mind that I only discovered the show myself only five years ago, but I believe I caught up since then. 

This does explain why they can confidently only put out 3 Good Eats books (Early Years, Middle Years and Later Years), the last instalment due out in a few months. 

But to be fair to Alton Brown - he has been doing the show for over 10 years and with him so busy with other stuff like Iron Chef America and what not, he might need to move on. Besides, Good Eats reruns will be on the Food Network forever. 

Goodbye, Good Eats - it's been great knowing ya. 

*off to buy the books now*

Hugh Laurie for L'Oreal

I know this is not exactly TV related, but as Hugh Laurie is still a TV star, so it counts.

I was floored when it was announced that he was going to be a L'Oreal spokesperson; I don't think I can watch any of his TV spots with a straight face, based on this video... 

I hope he was worth it, L'Oreal.

America's Next Great Restaurant no more

After the colossal waste of time that was America's Next Great Restaurant (which I'm glad will not be coming back for a second season), the winning concept restaurant Soul Daddy closed after a couple of months in the Mall of America outlet.

While I'm glad Saucy Balls didn't win, but I thought the Indian concept was the one to beat until he Chipotl-ise his idea... oh well.

(Source)

Related articles

• 'America's Next Great Restaurant' ... CLOSED!!!! (tmz.com)

The Good Wife's Great Coup - Lisa Edelstein, woo hoo!

I have no idea how The Good Wife managed to snag Lisa Edelstein so soon after her departure from House, but good on them, on her (Edelstein) and also on us, the viewers. I think it's a great catch.

In a multiple-episode arc in the upcoming third season, she "will play a lawyer and born poker player whose sexiness is enhanced by her obvious intelligence" and someone from Will's past. Hmm... look out, Alicia :P

As usual, I'm excited to see how this plays out in the fall :)

(Source: TVLine)

Hotch is back - yay!

It took a long while, but Thomas Gibson is back for another two years on Criminal Minds.

Phew.

I guess for "mid-to-high seven figures, plus a signing bonus, ...doubling his previous salary", I would rather keep fans in suspense too as to whether I was going to go back again on a show fraught with casting issues.

Kuchi-paku Dancing Lion Speaker Giveaway

Well, I'm not giving one away PERSONALLY - but the site 100milligrams.com is giving one away to celebrate their 1,000 Facebook fan milestone on Facebook.

If you don't know what it is, it's that animal speaker that was last seen on The Good Wife. You can find videos on YouTube.

Like the poster says: Become a fan to find out how to win.

I believe it's a global contest, so there's no harm in trying out for it where ever on the planet you may be.

Related articles

• Kuchi-paku Dancing Animal Speakers (lifeasacynic.blogspot.com)

Fishburne not going back to CSI

Laurence Fishburne is not renewing his CSI contract, according to the TVLine.com piece here.

Frankly, I didn't really think he'd last very long on the small screen anyway, being a movies guy and all. 

Plus, not a lot of people took to his character like we all did with penguin-shuffle Grissom. I personally don't care one way or the other as it's still just a TV show after all. Almost every character on the show has had it rough in some way or another throughout the years, but losing a kidney to a psychopath is pretty tough too.

I just can't wait to see how Dr Ray Langston gets written out once the Nate Haskell arc is done with and Dr Ray leaves the Vegas crime lab one kidney less than when he came in. Will they promote one of the other characters, or will they bring back a recurring character to fill out the cast? I can't wait.

2011 MTV Movie Awards

I watch the MTV Movie Awards out of habit and because it's the award show to watch for people with short attention spans, and also for awards like Best Kiss and Best Line in a Movie.

The opening Hangover parody went a little over my head as I'm not stupid enough to ever want to watch The Hangover on purpose. But the point of these things are to remind us what the year's nominated movies are. Sudeikis and Lautner watching the girl-on-girl action scene from Black Swan? Heh.

I have no idea why they got Jason Sudeikis to host the MTV Movie Awards - I personally never thought of him as MTV hip, but what do I know? I think the guy was still in SNL mode as he spent half his monologue on making fun of Schwarzenegger to a crowd of mostly under 40. But the crack he made about Ashton Kutcher replacing older celebs personally and professionally? HILARIOUS... but that's because I also can't stand Ashton Kutcher.

I won't go in too much about the highlights because that's not hard to find on the interwebs.

While I'm sad that neither Inception or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 didn't win more popcorn trophies, but I also have to remind myself that I'm not exactly their target audience, and it's still a popularity contest in the end.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think the Twilight movies should just take themselves out of the running next year. If Oprah can do it, so should they. Or perhaps I should just stop watching the MTV Movie Awards until 2014 because I'm just going to get myself all tweaked and annoyed for the next couple of years.

Jamie's 30 Minute Meals - Realistic, or no?

Been watching episodes of Jamie's 30 Minute Meals, and all I could think of was Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals (I know). I just can't believe it took him this long to get on the 30 minute meal bandwagon. It's also jarring to hear him suggest store-bought, prepacked alternatives after years of him going on about using fresh and natural ingredients.

What I like about the series

• Some of the tips, techniques and shortcuts that seriously didn't occur to me *D'OH!*
• His salad and dessert recipes

But seriously...

• The ingredients - NOT CHEAP and not just because I'm on the other side of the planet.
• Who has the time and money to equip their kitchen in a similar fashion? Seriously?
• The cleanup will take more than 30 minutes, I reckon :P
• Serving a dish on the same chopping board that you've chopped everything else on it? Really?

I read an article somewhere where several home cooks tried to pull off different 30 minute meal from Jamie's companion book to the series, only to fail miserably and take longer than 30 minutes.

I've come to several conclusions about Jamie Oliver's version of 30 Minute Meals - possible only if...

1. You're Jamie Oliver and/or have the crazy chef-y knife skills 
2. You really have the prep work done, which can't be fast :P
3. You got someone else to do the extra washing up - and the food processor and the other appliances he uses on the show need extra cleaning and care, like the garlic press :P

So I won't be crazy enough to buy the book, but goodness knows I already have several Jamie cookbooks that I may never cook out of.

Paget Brewster also back on board the Criminal Minds ship

Who's happy that BOTH Paget Brewster and AJ Cook are going to be back for the seventh season of Criminal Minds? I'm just curious as to how they'll be written back into the show as AJ Cook made a guest appearance in (literally) the last minute of the recent season finale, telling Rossi that she's coming back to the BAU. But as Prentiss is still presumably on the run (and also presumably dead) from the crazy Irishman... how is that going to work out?

If that's the case, it really means that Rachel Nichol's character Seaver is definitely not coming back for the new season. I hope that Seaver gets a nice exit and isn't just killed off willy nilly because her character happens to be a serial killer's daughter and also a rookie. Even a casual mention of her working in a different department is fine by me.

Good news aside, there's still no sign of Thomas Gibson coming back as his contract's not been ironed out yet. Here's hoping.

Related articles

• Paget Brewster Returning to 'Criminal Minds': Report (aoltv.com)

Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza

After Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, there's now Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on the Game Show Network (GSN).

It's mostly pretty much the same crew (Stiles, Mochrie, Esten, Sherwood, Proops, et al), save for a few faces that I don't recognise personally like Heather Anne Campbell and Jonathan Mangum (but I kind of remembered him from his brief stint on NCIS ).

At least in this one, everyone else gets a turn to host a game and even Drew gets to participate in more games than usual. 

Games I don't care for: Greatest Hits, Sound Effects, Moving People, Forward/Reverse - anything that involves actual audience members on stage or pointless singing.

Games I do like: Whose Line, Freeze Tag, Improv Jeopardy, First Date and Mousetrap

After watching about 20 episodes of Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on the interwebs, I only have THIS to say: Drew Carey might be addicted to improv, but it's a little painful watching him do it on TV - he's not the fastest mind on the stage. 

But that alone shouldn't deter you from watching the show if you can or remember to.

CSI: NY renewed, yay!

It's old news, but bears repeating - CSI: NY is renewed another season.

It would be sad that it didn't get renewed just as Sela Ward was settling into her role as Jo Danville.

I still stand by that it's still a better CSI spinoff than CSI: Miami.

Related articles

• CSI: NY Renewed; Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior Canceled By CBS (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)

No more Cuddy

I give Lisa Edelstein props for leaving instead of taking the pay cut for the next season of House.

Which begs the question: why is the show's budget getting cut after so many years anyway?

It also shouldn't be hard for the writers to write Cuddy out of the show - I'm hoping it won't be as drastic as how they wrote Kal Penn out.

Related articles

• Lisa Edelstein leaves 'House' (insidetv.ew.com)

First Look: ABC's Charlie's Angels and Once Upon a Time (VIDEO)

Here's a first look at ABC's new offerings for the fall: Charlie's Angels and Once Upon a Time.

The gist: 

Get ready for the knockout hit of the year.  Charlie's Angels is back and hotter than ever.  Meet three ex-bad girls who are earning their wings by busting the really bad guys.  Together with legendary producer Leonard Goldberg and Drew Barrymore, Smallville's Alfred Gough and Miles Millar re-imagine the popular 1970's series with more action, more eye candy and more heart than ever before. 

The premise:

Everyone deserves a second chance.  Even a thief, a street racer and a cop who got in a little too deep.  After all, the three women who solve cases for their elusive boss Charlie Townsend are no saints - they're angels... Charlie's Angels.

This big, loud, fun take on the 1970's smash hit series introduces us to three new angels, all fearless operatives, head-turning beauties and close friends.  There's Abby (Rachael Taylor) a Park Avenue Princess who became a world-class thief.  Then there's Kate (Annie Ilonzeh), a Miami cop who fell from grace, losing both her career and her fiance.  Finally there's Gloria, a disgraced army lieutenant who has a way with explosives.  When one of the angels' missions ends in Gloria's tragic death, Charlie persuades them to partner with Gloria's childhood friend, Eve (Minka Kelly), a street racer with a mysterious past.  They may not know each other yet, but one thing's for sure--Abby, Kate and Eve will always have each other's backs.

Leonard Goldberg (the original Charlie's Angels) and Drew Barrymore (the Charlie's Angels movies) join forces with Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville) to deliver the adrenaline rush of the season.  Set in scorching-hot Miami, Charlie's Angelsdelivers nonstop big screen action.  With the help of Bosley 2.0 (Ramon Rodriguez), their hot, young technical expert, and the guidance of their enigmatic boss Charlie (Robert Wagner), these angels are an unstoppable crime fighting force.

CAST

Annie Ilonzeh - Kate Prince
Minka Kelly - Eve
Rachel Taylor - Abby Sampson
Ramon Rodriguez - Bosley
Robert Wagner - Voice of Charlie

CREDITS
Production Company - ABC Studios
Executive Producer - Edward Kitsis
Executive Producer - Adam Horowitz
Executive Producer - Steve Pearlman
Executive Producer/Director - Mark Mylod

I'm not sure if I'll have time for this - I know the fresh young blood is to attract the young people (who were most likely not even alive when the original TV series was around), but I really don't know who these girls are prior to this and have no name recognition with me personally. Even the younger, hotter Bosley doesn't help much. But with Drew Barrymore producing, who knows?

Connect with the show before it airs:
http://abc.go.com/shows/charlies-angels
http://www.Facebook.com/CharliesAngelsABC
http://www.twitter.com/AngelsABC

CBS Cancellations

CBS has cancelled Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, as well as Mad Love, The Defenders (another Jerry O' Connell show canned - D'OH), $#*! My Dad Says and CHAOS.

I couldn't get into $#*! My Dad Says cos it hits a little too close to (I don't think) just me, but also other unemployed young people who have to move back into their parents' house. Who wants to watch that?

I gave Suspect Behavior a shot, even though I didn't think it had a ghost of a chance in getting renewed because of the other procedural spinoffs. Now it just means that everyone has to move on to the next gig; Forest Whitaker included.

And I didn't bother with the rest because there's only so much TV one can watch.

Related articles

• CBS Cancels 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior'; Renews 'CSI: NY' (tvsquad.com)
• CBS Cancels '$#*! My Dad Says,' 'Mad Love,' 'The Defenders' (tvsquad.com)

Hugh Laurie: One More Season of House?

Image via Wikipedia

There's reports in the media that Hugh Laurie thinks that he has got one more season of House in him before calling it quits.

Related articles

• Hugh Laurie: House's Eighth Season May Be My Last (omg.yahoo.com)

Quite frankly, I wouldn't be too upset if it's true: the show jumped its shark several seasons ago. The writing is not as great as it was in its first few seasons and there are many TV characters since that also bear the surly genius archetype. 

Maybe the quote is taken out of context. Who knows.

I watch the show merely out of habit now.

Of course one can also say that it's just a ploy for a long-overdue Emmy.

I don't think I'll miss it as much as I might Lie to Me. Just saying.

Is CSI:NY over?

Just when I was getting used to watching Sela Ward on CSI: NY, now you hear that it might not even be renewed for next year. WTF.

CSI: NY is still a step above CSI: Miami even though the latter came before. But screw Caruso and his sunglasses.

FOX Cancellations :(

FOX cancelled a whole load of shows to make room for news ones (and sodding American Idol). So far they've cancelled The Chicago Code, Traffic Light, Human Target, Breaking In... and sadly, Lie to Me didn't survive the cut, either. 

Those sons of bitches.

Related articles

• Fox Cancels 'Breaking In' and 'Human Target' (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)
• Fox Cancels 'Lie to Me' Amid Flurry of Pickups and Cancellations (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)

Why I don't give a crap about GLEE

I get that people like it and find the show entertaining, but it's also literally not my cup of tea. Besides, I already have a buttload of shows I would rather catch up on if I am not already following diligently on a weekly basis. I don't have the time and the energy. I also notice that people who watch and like GLEE don't really have much else to watch. 'Nuff said. :P

While I like my TV, but I have my limits - one of them being that I refuse to watch young 20 to 30-something adults play teenagers on the screen. That's just not realistic, even though most white people look older than they actually are. That's why I don't watch shows set in schools. I don't need watch other people's fake on-screen high school experience for the sake of entertainment.

I get Ryan Murphy wanting to do a light, cheery show after nip/tuck, which was the polar opposite of GLEE, but STILL..

And I don't do well with anything where people spontaneously burst into song, either. It just annoys the shit out of me after awhile.

I swear, if I have to hear that damn Journey cover just ONE MORE TIME... *shake fist*

I also have to give Dave Grohl props for hating on the show as well as not giving them permission to do their songs on the show.

Related articles

• Dave Grohl Burns Ryan Murphy: Not Everyone Loves 'Glee' (tvsquad.com)

Kuchipaku Animal Speakers on The Good Wife

Anyone who saw a recent episode of The Good Wife would recall this scene with Cary and his investigator Andrew Wiley at the latter's home about some missing interview pages.

I don't know about anyone else, but hearing the voice of Glenn Childs coming out of a dancing lion speaker gives me the giggles. So I give everyone in the scene props for keeping their faces straight.

Now I kind of want one of these. Anyone know where to get a reasonably-priced one? Never mind that it uses 3 AA batteries to move like that, but they're pretty cute.

Reaction: America's Next Great Restaurant

I was personally a little disappointed that Spice Coast didn't win America's Next Great Restaurant, but he turned it into the Indian Chipotle, which must give Steve Ells a boner thinking about it. So disappointing. The guy shouldn't have become Steve Ells's bitch. Curtis was so disappointed that Sudhir basically sold out his Indian culture. I think he would've won if he didn't.

Did anyone noticed that there wasn't even a dramatic pause for when Bobby Flay announced the winner? I think I watch way too many of these shows to notice these things. 

I probably should've seen it coming as the Soul Daddy dude's been under the radar as well as not being in the hot seat as much as some of the other contestants on the show. At the same time, I'm also glad that Brooklyn Meatball Company didn't win as well just because.

I have no idea whether there will be another season of America's Next Great Restaurant, but I kind of hope there won't be - it was a pretty rough season to watch.

Random thoughts while watching the royal wedding on TV

I was one of millions of suckers around the planet who saw Friday's royal wedding on TV... well, on the cable news channels anyway. I'm just glad that I don't have to wake up early to watch (like in the US), or stay up too late to watch it - it was on sometime in the evening in my time zone, which wasn't too bad really.

I had my pick of channels to watch the pre-wedding banter/coverage from but I stuck with CNN's coverage, where Anderson Cooper was the odd American on the panel besides Piers Morgan (CNN's token Brit) and Cat Deeley (why? so that Piers wouldn't be the only Brit there?) and also the occasional special guest. CNN also had Vera Wang on standby in New York as someone known for her wedding gowns. I mostly stuck with CNN because of Piers Morgan's snark: he was making fun of Anderson Cooper's choice of suit, etc - it was like having Simon Cowell cover the wedding. It was funny.

• Philip Treacy must be making a killing on the hats that a lot of the women were wearing to Westminster Abbey, including Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.
• Some of the women's hats are really ridiculous.
• David Beckham and his hair slicked back like that reminded me of Ricky Gervais. Shit you not - same smile, even. Are there pictures of Beckham wearing his top hat before he got there? It'd be a shame if he brought the top hat for nuts.
• Give the British PM's wife props for not being in a stupid hat.
• You can't help but feel bad for the people whose view was blocked by the damn trees in the Abbey.
• I did like the bride's dress - remind me to get lace sleeves like that for hiding the sausage arms :P
• Saw E!'s coverage (with Giuliana Rancic as the lone American on THAT panel) - pretty meh, even though they got Facebook in on the game with them.
•  So's everyone else's royal wedding coverage, really - like TLC and the lot.

Iron Chef America

Started catching up on Iron Chef America (ICA) this week after a couple of missed seasons. I didn't know there were TWO new Iron Chefs now - Iron Chefs Garges and Forgione, who won their respective seasons of The Next Iron Chef (which I've also not seen since its first season). 

What can I say - after missing a few seasons of ICA, I still think it's pretty damn entertaining and hilarious, like the sound effects used, particularly during the challenger's entrance and whenever the Chairman moves his head. You know the ones. Hearing those sounds always cracks me up.

I've gotten over the common-ness of the "secret" ingredient and the behind the scenes stuff - it's still a fun show to watch and still one of my favourite Food Network shows after Good Eats.

AJ Cook back on Criminal Minds

Read it here that AJ Cook is coming back to Criminal Minds for two years as series regular, which apparently first came out via Twitter here. All thanks to the fans, apparently. After all the hoopla about her being fired from the show not too long ago, I guess this would count as a hurrah if you're a fan of her character, JJ. As I'm not (really), all I can say is good on her.

It should be interesting to see how they'll squeeze her back into the show after all that; the most ridiculous thing I could think of is that she comes back to the BAU as liaison between them and the Pentagon (as her character was ordered to take the Pentagon job), or she pulled some string high up in the Pentagon hierarchy to come back to the BAU. If I'm right, it either means that I watch way too much TV (which I can't deny), or the writers ran out of ideas, too.

While we're on the subject of the show, I don't understand the hate on Rachel Nichols (as Seaver), with the show's history of cast comings and goings: In case no one remembered, Mantegna was brought in to replace Mandy Patinkin and Paget Brewster replaced Lola Glaudini (who only lasted ONE season). Did anyone complained about that then? Sometimes you need to change things up. People should just deal with it.

Am I the only person that wondered how Seaver got into the FBI academy with her serial killer dad? We all knew that she changed her last name to her mother's maiden name, but still - you would think that the FBI has the resources to do a deep enough background check on candidates. Or perhaps there was an interview component that she passed with flying colours? 

Anyway, it can't be that hard to work her back into the opening credits and into the huge group shot in the end, no? It's just one of the things I like to watch out for whenever there's news about the cast.

Related articles

• A.J. Cook Officially Returning to 'Criminal Minds' As Series Regular (tvsquad.com)

Comments about this week's Top Chef Masters

"Everything Old Is New Again"

1. Did anyone else knew Kelis was a "trained chef"? Neither did I.
2. I should be glad that it wasn't a MILKSHAKE quickfire challenge - that would be groan- and cringe-worthy.
3. Having never seen Body of Proof or Mad Men.... holy shit, he's married to her?! REALLY? The lucky schmuck. Okay, okay - I know I'm not the first person to say or think it, but it bears repeating.

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• Top Chef Masters: Christina Hendricks, Kelis and Not Enough Duck à l'Orange (eonline.com)

No more Hetty? *GASP*

The NCIS: LA fandom was abuzz when the news broke that Claire Forlani will be joining the show in the near future as their new operations manager, where some fans have speculated (perhaps), to possibly replace Linda Hunt. 

I don't how they'll write this one - is Linda Hunt's contract up, or wants out, or getting written out? Will Claire Forlani be keeping her English accent, or be American? So many questions.


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• Claire Forlani cast as 'NCIS: LA' operations manager: Is Hetty heading out? - EXCLUSIVE (insidetv.ew.com)

Top Chef Masters, Revamped

Image via Wikipedia

Caught the latest season of Top Chef Masters (TCM), with the format revamped from previous seasons. It's now more like Top Chef and Top Chef: Just Desserts, where one chef is eliminated on a weekly basis with the usual Top Chef-esque challenges. 

Frankly, I didn't really find anything wrong with the old TCM format; I just thought that it was differently refreshing from the rest of the Top Chef franchise. But if they want to standardise the format, then fine.

As part of the revamp, Curtis Stone took over hosting duties from Kelly Choi (who? heh heh). I guess this is NBC Universal (who owns the Bravo)'s way of addressing the issue :P But also in line with Bravo's thing of having non-American (born) minor celebrities host their reality-competition shows. When I first heard that Curtis Stone is hosting this season of TCM, my only question was "Why?" Never mind that I liked the guy from before he was on American TV screens, but now with his judgvestor gig on America's Next Great Restaurant (also an NBC Universal thing) and between his previous shows like Surfing the Menu, My Restaurant Rules and the occasional episode of Take Home Chef, it's Curtis Stone overload for me.

Not being an American foodie, I didn't recognise most of the contestants this season - if I'm not wrong, Traci Des Jardins was a contestant back in the first season, but got the boot pretty early, so it was nice that they brought her back for a another shot at this. I'm gonna take a guess and say that these are the chefs that don't have to the time to appear as judges on Top Chef? Am I the only one that's glad Wylie Dusfrene is not back a THIRD time? Oy.

One of the things I like about the first Quickfire is to see who didn't finish in time. Crappy ingredients like marshmallow, licorice, canned corn beef were the mystery box ingredients. Three unfortunate cheftestants got disqualified for not done plating on time, which was a bit anticlimatic as they were competing in pairs and it means that the other person won by default.

Since it is TCM after all, it's only fitting that they get Restaurant Wars as their first elimination challenge - which I don't think it's that big a deal since most of them have opened restaurants before, so it wasn't terribly chaotic until service started. I think the only reason why diners preferred Leela over Mosaic was because they didn't have to wait too long to be seated. To wait too long for food is one thing, to be standing there waiting to be seated is another.

Critic-wise, the only constant since the first season is James Oseland, the guy from Saveur.

Related articles

• Who Is Curtis Stone Anyway? (huffingtonpost.com)

Prentiss's Departure (Spoiler)

If you've not seen this week's episode of Criminal Minds where Paget Brewster's character Emily Prentiss got written out of the show for this season, go watch it someplace and then come back. Really.

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Just thought I'd put this up - spread the word!

America's Next Great Restaurant

Saw the pilot of America's Next Great Restaurant. Twenty semifinalists fly to LA to pitch their concepts to the judgvestors (I'm calling dibs on this portmanteau - it's faster than typing judges/investors) and also to cook samples from their menus for a place in the Top 10. 

The top prize is not too shabby - financial backing from the judgvestors to open restaurants in LA, New York and Minneapolis in several weeks, which is two more restaurants than usual. If the show feels familiar, it's produced by the same people behind Top Chef, except this show is on NBC and primarily hosted by Bobby Flay.

• Didn't know the founder of Chipotle is a skinny white dude. You learn something new each day.
• Some of the finalists' ideas are admittedly pretty stupid, so much so I totally forgot what they were even though I just saw it. Were those seriously the best ideas the producers found in the auditions?
• They had the racist wing dude in for the drama - he wasn't going to go that far.
• Minneapolis for the Midwestern market? Chicago would've been TOO obvious, I suppose.
• Having the judgvestors use their own money is a great incentive for them to pick the right winner. I'm sure they won't give a damn if it wasn't their money. 
• I didn't know Curtis Stone had money to invest in someone's restaurant :P
• I have no idea why Curtis Stone is a judgvestor on this show. Apparently, neither does he. HAHA.
• The Soupz lady was hilarious, and the cartoon voice helped that along its way.

I'd keep watching just because I'm such a reality show junkie.

Bieber dies... on CSI (VIDEO)

I know it happened awhile ago and the moment's over, but I cannot be the only one that was happy to watch Justin Bieber gunned down on CSI a couple of weeks back, even if it didn't happen for real (oh, the rest of us can only dream). The good news is that there are more likes than dislikes on the videos posted on YouTube, haha. 

To be fair, he was playing a baddie on the show, so he got what he deserved (on the small screen).

Two and a Half Men spoof on House (VIDEO)

It wasn't the first time I saw this before I saw this week's episode of House - I don't know if it's bad timing on their part with the Charlie Sheen meltdown, or they really intended to poke fun at that whole situation.

While I'm not a huge fan of Two and a Half Men, but a spoof starring Hilson (House + Wilson) is hilarious - the straight man (Wilson), the not-so straight man (House) and kid (in this case, Cuddy's kid Rachel), even down to House in the bowling shirt (haha). It's hard to miss.

Oscars and STAR Movies - Really?!

Watching the STAR MOVIES pre-show with Lisa S and Jason Godfrey was annoying; mostly because it's a huge time suck. The Academy Awards are already long enough without the hour-long preshow where both hosts and special guests go on about their predictions and what not. Huge waste of time.

I've been wondering why James Franco and Anne Hathaway were picked as hosts for the Oscars, cos if they wanted to "appeal to a younger audience" they might as well had Miley and Bieber host the show :P But I'm a fan of Anne Hathaway, so no real complaints from me.

• The mandatory "host(s)-digitally-inserted-into-nominated-movies" opening is a little stale, but you didn't expect them to include Back to the Future and also Grease.
• A lot of the winners also happened to be first-time nominees. I'd hate to be the ones that have been snubbed time and again.*coughScorsesecough*
• Justin Timberlake announcing that he was Banksy fell flat BIG time. Wrong show to "announce" that, perhaps?
• James Franco just seems stoned the entire show.
• I want what Anne Hathaway was on - she was totally the total opposite of Franco.
• I never want to see James Franco in drag ever again - who's with me?
• When Inception was winning the technical awards like sound mixing, etc, that is when I know that they won't be winning the big one (Best Picture). But good on the people that worked on the movie that won.
• Some hilarious and amusing acceptance speeches, F-bomb excluded.
• Has Oprah ever presented at the Oscars?
• Nothing against Firth and Portman for winning Best Actor and Actress, respectively.
• The closing with the singing kids was endearing, but having the night's winners all come out carrying their statues seem a tad obnoxious and the cute moment died right there. 
• I thought Inception might win Best Motion Picture, but I'm okay with The King's Speech too. Just as long as it's not The Social-freaking-Network.
• What happened to the ushers that would help the ladies up the stairs in their gowns? I only noticed because Natalie Portman's baby daddy had to help her up when she won the best actress award.

I thought the Oscars wasn't too bad, it's the STARWORLD preamble that I really don't care for.

Two and a Half Men Cancelled... no shit, Sherlock :P

Image via WikipediaAfter all that shit Charlie Sheen has done lately; all he had to do to shut down production of Two and a Half Men was to threaten Chuck Lorre. It really was a matter of time before something like this happened; hope Jon Cryer and the kid had other stuff lined up.

Carrying on with the show without Charlie would be nearly impossible; not to mention changing the title of the show to One and a Half Men or Two Men and Surly Housekeeper wouldn't be as hilarious.

I'm not the only one that feels bad about the cast and crew who are now unemployed because of one jack ass.

I'll be surprised if the show came back for another season. If they did, maybe they could write Charlie off...

But really - meh. Never got terribly attached to the show.