My Olympics Hangover

Hey Everybody!

Just wanted to apologize for the lack of posts this week.

Let’s face it. I am enduring an Olympic-size Olympics hangover…

Too many late nights have done me in. I even slept through “Project Runway” last night, which I have never EVER done.

So tonight, I am going to do my best to get back on track. I’ve got lots to say about “Gone Country 2,” “Outsider’s Inn,” and, of course, “The Two Coreys.”

I’ve also got more on “Raising the Bar” including Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s thoughts on “Saved By the Bell” and his thoughts on me calling him Steven Bochco’s “go-to-guy.”

So, as always, stay tuned…

Pick of the Week: Hooray for Bollywood!

Before there was “Hannah Montana” or “High School Musical,” there was “The Cheetah Girls.”

And now they’re back on another exotic adventure in search of ratings gold…

My Pick of the Week is “The Cheetah Girls: One World.”

However, this time the girls are down a Cheetah as Galleria (Raven-Symone) is not in the movie (Raven was shooting “College Road Trip.”). But Dorinda (Sabrina Bryan), Aqua (Kiely Williams) and Chanel (Adrienne Bailon) are still around and they’re taking us to India where they’re starring in a Bollywood movie.

That means lots of dazzling, colorful dance numbers with bouncy pop songs. And how can you top that?

“Cheetah Girls: One World” premieres Friday, August 22nd at 8 p.m. on Disney Channel with encores Saturday, August 23rd and Sunday, August 24th at 8 p.m…

A BIG Disney DVD Day!

In case you’ve forgotten, today is a BIG DVD day for tweens—and adults who haven’t grown up yet…

“Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert” hits stores today. The DVD has both a 2-D and 3-D version and it comes with four pairs of 3-D glasses. However, you may need to act fast as Disney is promising the release is for a limited time only.
Today is also the day to pick up “Camp Rock” on DVD. “Rock” is, of course, the Disney Channel movie starring the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato. You can read my review of it here.

Most stores are offering $10 off if you buy both “Worlds” and “Rock” in the same purchase.

And you thought back-to-school shopping was already expensive…

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

Goodbye, Mike Logan

“Entertainment Weekly” recently rated Mike Logan’s exit from “Law & Order” as one of TV’s all-time best character exits, but I couldn’t disagree more…

Yes, Logan slugging a dirty councilman was totally in character, but then having him suddenly transferred to Staten Island? Like others hadn’t done worse things? It just didn’t work for me.

Now, “L&O” gets another chance to get it right as Logan exits “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

In the episode, Logan goes up against an ambitious DA (Leslie Hope) to exonerate a man doing hard time for a crime he didn’t commit.

I still don’t have the story on why Chris Noth is leaving, but I hope it’s because he wants to pursue a film career (after the success of “Sex and the City”) and not because he got in another tussle with “L&O” guru Dick Wolf (In today’s “USA Today,” Wolf said Noth had been getting frustrated as an actor on the show. “I don’t think that I ever took that stuff seriously. It’s just part of his persona.”). I’d love to see him become the movie star he deserves to be.

“Law & Order: Criminal Intent” airs Sunday, August 17th at 9 p.m. on USA…

For even more Logan action, catch USA’s four-episode marathon of “CI” Saturday, August 16th beginning at 7 p.m…

Photo provided by USA

The End of An Era

Sunday, it’s the end of an era as we see the final act of the two Coreys—both on-screen and off.

In last week’s episode, Haim’s assistant Nelle tried to get through to Haim and get him to admit he needed help for his pill addiction. It didn’t work as Haim told Nelle he had a permanent slur that he was trying to repair and that the pills were prescribed by doctors trying to help him. Then, Haim’s mom got in on the act and even talked to Dr. Nicki about Haim’s problems.

Although Haim was in complete denial, it was pretty clear from the episode that Haim had a real problem.

This Sunday, it’s the season finale and Dr. Nicki is trying again to help Haim; and she’s trying to get the Coreys back in the same room again.

Will she succeed in getting them together? Sadly, we know the answer to that one.

But I promise you it will still be worth watching…

“The Two Coreys” airs Sunday, August 17th at 10 p.m. on A&E…

Photo Credit: Andrew Eccles

Provided by A&E

John Stamos Gets Down and Dirty

If you’ve ever watched a Comedy Central Roast, you know they are as filthy as can be.

So at first glance, Bob Saget seems like an odd person to be the guest of honor since he is best known for his work on “Full House.” But fans of Saget know that he is a pretty filthy comedian himself.

Who does seem out of place is Saget’s former co-star, John Stamos, who will serve as the roastmaster for “The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget.” But reports have him jumping right in with some inappropriate humor about the Olsen twins.

And apparently he wasn’t the only one to go there. Which reportedly didn’t make Saget all that happy…

“The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget” airs Sunday, August 17th at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central…

Saget Photo Credit: Ian White
Photos provided by Comedy Central

Am I Over "Project Runway"?

You guys know I have had nothing but the utmost love for “Project Runway” since I fell for it midway through season two.

But Wednesday night, I actually heard myself say the words, “I am so over this show.”

I know. I can’t believe it either.

My disgust began last week with the Olympic challenge. The designers were challenged to design an outfit for the U.S. Olympic team for the Opening Ceremonies. I thought it was a good challenge, but unfortunately, the designers didn’t have a clue. And a trip through the track and field museum didn’t help as it only made the designers want to emulate the older designs they saw.

As last year’s winner, Christian, might say, it was a hot tranny mess.

In other words, the designs stunk…

In fact, there were only three out of the thirteen designs that were worth considering. I think Heidi should have totally dressed the designers down for missing the challenge so badly. But instead, she sent some of the worst designs to safety because their scores were good enough to move on. And for the second week in a row, the judges made a questionable choice for the winner.

The episode also tried very hard to create some villains, but it just didn’t work—unless you count Kenley’s laugh as a villain. I certainly hate it.

This week the designers teamed up, which usually always creates drama. Usually. But these designers are so blah that you can’t even get into their squabbles.

The designers were challenged with making an outfit for Brooke Shields’ character on “Lipstick Jungle.” And, of course, Shields will wear the winning outfit on the show (on NBC, naturally).

The designs were better this time, though I think the judges should have kept everyone on the runway instead of letting Joe and Korto’s poorly sewn dress slide.

But in all honesty, I have no idea what the judges are looking at anymore…

Now you might think my frustration with the judges in this episode stems from the elimination of Kelli from Columbus. But she actually deserved to go home (And reading her diss of the judges, the show and Brooke Shields on the Bravo website only confirmed that). My frustration was once again with the choice of winner.

Heidi said Jerrell and Stella’s (?!) dress was her favorite and it was clearly Shield’s favorite (Or so I thought. Tim Gunn said in his blog that she “hated” the belt.). Nina said nothing bad about it and Michael loved it as well (as did I). So why didn’t it win? I actually said, “What?!” when Keith and Kenley were announced as the winning team.

Last week, a blogger wrote what I had been thinking but didn’t dare write myself—Is Bravo trying to sabotage the show before it moves to Lifetime?

I honestly don’t think that they are (although releasing all of the challenges and guest judges before the season started is a little suspect), but there has to be some explanation for the bland contestants and bad judging decisions.

And I can’t be the only disillusioned fan out there. So if enough of us are over the show, it could be a problem for Lifetime.

So maybe there is a conspiracy after all…

Don’t worry. I’m not going to stop watching. I just won’t watch it with the same love.

And yes, that hurts…

“Project Runway” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo…

Photo provided by Bravo

Flip Out This Weekend

It’s been a while since I’ve laughed as much in an hour as I did watching the “Flipping Out” reunion show.

Jeff, Jenni, Ryan and Zoila have such fantastic chemistry. And throwing Andy Cohen (the show’s host and Bravo’s programming VP) into the mix just escalated it.

Even if you’ve never seen an episode of “Flipping Out,” you’ll get a kick out of Jeff Lewis and his slightly warped, dry sense of humor.

And when Jeff said he’d love to renovate Kathy Griffin’s house, I think I could see the wheels in Andy’s head spinning out of control.

Jeff and Kathy in the same show? How awesome would that be?

Let’s make that happen, Andy…

In the meantime, you can see the “Flipping Out” reunion for yourself with an encore presentation Saturday, August 16th at 1 p.m. on Bravo…

Photo provided by Bravo

Time to Check Into "Outsider's Inn"

Clearly CMT knew they had something special on their hands when they saw the friendship that developed on last season’s “Gone Country” between Maureen McCormick and Bobby Brown. They also recognized that Carnie Wilson was the breakout star from the show.

So now they’ve taken their three new stars and put them together in a brand new show, “Outsider’s Inn.”

In the series, McCormick decides to open a bed and breakfast in rural Tennessee and enlists Brown and Wilson to help her.

I have no idea where this show will go, I just know I’m going to go with it. These three were the heart and soul of “Gone Country” (not to mention they were all completely robbed of the title) and it’s nice to have them back—even with such a silly premise.

“Outsider’s Inn” premieres Friday, August 17th at 9 p.m. on CMT…

Now, if Dee Snider would just show up as a guest…

Photo Credit: Krista Lee

Provided by CMT

“Gone Country 2”: A Train Wreck’s A Comin’

You guys know that I fell in love with “Gone Country” last season.

But then, John Rich had to go all high and mighty about “American Idol” and now it’s hard for me to even look at him. However, I have to say I will watch Friday’s premiere because there is such a train wreck factor to this season, I don’t know how I can’t watch…

This season’s contestants are Sebastian Bach, Mikalah Gordon, Lorenzo Lamas, Jermaine Jackson, Chris Kirkpatrick (*N Sync), Irene Cara and Sean Young. Yes, the actress Sean Young.

See what I mean?

And since I understand now that Rich is just going for the person he thinks will generate the most fans/money and not actually the best singer/songwriter, I won’t have any expectations going in.

“Gone Country 2” premieres Friday, August 15th at 8 p.m.

Photo Credit: Ron Jaffe

Provided by CMT

NBC's Latest Olympics Pickle

Yesterday, I said that the Olympics created quite a pickle for NBC since their live events are running way outside of primetime.

Last night, they got themselves into another jam—two live events happening simultaneously. And tonight, that jam will get even worse as Michael Phelps will go for two golds at the same time the USA Women’s Gymnastics Team goes for the gold.

I’m glad I’m not the producer for tonight…

Last night, NBC cut away from the Men’s Gymnastics Team Final to show the three gold medal swimming events, including Michael Phelps. But when the U.S. gymnastics team began making a medal run, they wisely did not go back to the pool for a semifinal race. Bob Costas explained that when they had to choose, they would focus on the medal events. But that does not help them tonight, and something will probably get missed.

But NBC ran into one more problem last night—the gymnastics judges. Because of the scoring controversy in 2004, they are taking FOREVER to post their scores, which is wreaking havoc on NBC’s coverage.

How so? The USA men did not claim the bronze medal until 12:45 a.m.

Which is great for the night owls. But for those of us who have to go to work the next morning? Not so much…

A Bonus Flip

Last week, I said that we were getting one last flip. But God bless Bravo, they’re giving us one more…

Tuesday, we’ll get all the dirt with the “Flipping Out Reunion.”

Bravo is showing very little footage in the promos for the reunion, which was taped last week. But from what they do show us it looks like Jeff, Jenni, Zoila and Ryan all return. I feel quite certain we won’t see Chris E., and I’d say it’s a good guess we won’t see Chris K.—especially after the way Jeff badmouthed him on his blog. And besides, I think if either of them returned, we’d see it all over the promos.

You know how Bravo loves to sell drama…

But Jeff is going to be there, so that’s good enough for me.

“Flipping Out Reunion” airs Tuesday, August 12th at 9 p.m. on Bravo…

"Flipping Out" Cast Photo (with Chris E. on the far right) provided by Bravo

What's a Little Lost Sleep?

If some of your co-workers are a little bleary-eyed today, cut them a little slack. They were up late watching history being made…

People are already calling it an instant classic—the best swimming relay race ever. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the airwaves until after 11:30 p.m.

So much for primetime…

You have to admit that the Olympics do create quite a pickle for NBC. Normally, NBC shows the major events on tape in primetime, which means you have to spend your whole day avoiding the Internet and all other spoilers. But the time delay from Beijing is allowing NBC to show some major events live, which is great. Except that the time delay means the live events must be shown at odd hours outside of actual primetime.

And for anyone who doubts that some of the events are actually live only needed to witness last night’s Men’s 4 x 100 Free Relay. Because there is no way NBC would have kept that event out of primetime if they could have helped it.

Throughout all of the swimming events last night, commentator Rowdy Gaines kept hyping the relay by saying he just didn’t know how the Americans could pull it off. The French, who had been doing a little trash talking, were just too tough according to Gaines. And midway through the relay it appeared that he was right.

As the last leg began, Gaines said again, “I just don’t see how they can do it.”

But it’s not over until it’s over…

In a dramatic, world record shattering finish, the United States did do it with NBC’s phenomenal swimming play-by-play man Dan Hicks screaming all the way. It was one of those great moments that remind us of why we watch the Olympics—no matter how late at night it is.

Of course, this means that Michael Phelps’ dream of winning a record eight gold medals is still alive. Although it’s probably going to take a lot of late nights for us to see it.

But hey. The Olympics only happen every four years. What’s a little lost sleep?

If you missed it, you can watch the relay race in its entirety here.

Pick of the Week: A Huge Heart

I know that some of you just don’t understand why I’m such a fan of Kathy Griffin…

After all, she’s foul-mouthed, she tells filthy jokes, and her publicity schemes can sometimes get a little out of hand (cruising with Adnan Ghalib?).

So why is it that I can’t stop watching her? Because I know that under all of that is a huge heart. And there’s no bigger evidence of that than this week’s season finale…

Thus, my Pick of the Week is “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.”

I first got hooked on “D-List” when I saw Kathy in Iraq entertaining the troops. I was so impressed that she was willing to risk her life just to give our soldiers a good laugh. Now, she’s not risking her life, but she is risking her heart as she goes to Walter Reed Hospital to entertain the injured soldiers there.

In a recent interview with “TV Guide,” Kathy said she had to fight with Bravo to make the hospital the focus of the entire hour.
“[T]hey didn’t want to make it a whole episode. But I found that those guys at the hospital—the majority were amputees—just have the sickest sense of humor and were so wanting to laugh and use humor to get through their situation, because that’s how they deal.” She told the magazine she told Bravo that she would still be “making a fool of myself and saying inappropriate things,” but she wanted to show what happens to “these people that you’re not gonna see on ‘The [bleeping] Kardashians.’”

I’m honestly surprised that she had to fight with Bravo on this one at all. I mean, what did they want to see?

Yes, there will be a lot of bleeping and some pretty filthy jokes, but I encourage you to watch because I know in the end you will be inspired and touched. But be sure to have your tissues handy, because you’re going to need them.

“Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List” airs Thursday, August 14th at 10 p.m. on Bravo…

Photo provided by Bravo

MTV Goes to the "Mall"

This week, MTV takes a shot at finding the next “High School Musical,”—albeit a more grown-up version…

“American Mall” centers around the drama in a shopping mall (in Ohio, no less). Ally (Nina Dobrev) works in her mom’s music store, and after hours she tries in vain to write a song. One night, she hears a male voice singing exactly the right words for her song.

The voice belongs to Joey (Rob Mayes), the mall’s janitor. But, of course, a team-up between the two of them is not that simple. There’s the rich girl, Madison, whose dad owns the mall, who is trying to hook up with Joey herself. Madison is played by Autumn Reeser, and I’m looking forward to seeing her make up for that atrocity known as “Lost Boys 2.”

In an article in this week’s “TV Guide,” the choreographer, Bonnie Story, promises that the musical numbers will use all the elements of the mall including the food court, escalators and mannequins.

“American Mall” premieres Monday, August 11th at 9 p.m. on MTV. You can also pick it up on DVD beginning Tuesday, August 12th…

Photo provided by MTV