Sunday, September 30

Brothers & SIsters Season 2 Episode 1 Review

Where we last lef the Walkers of "Brothers & Sisters," Justin (Dave Annable) went to back into war; Kevin (Matthew Rhys) started a relationship with Kitty's Senator fiancee Robert's brother Jason (Eric Winter); Sarah (Rachael Griffiths) has separated with her husband; and Tommy (Balthazar Getty) and his wife Julia (Sarah Morris) suffered a loss of their son while their baby daughter is healthy and alive. It starts off with Nora (Sally Field) doing a webcam video for Justin and talking about what the family has been up to. She hasn't seen most of them through the summer. Kitty's birthday nears and so does the anniversary of their father's death. Kitty returns to her mother and gets the cold shoulder. They fight during trying to pick out her wedding dress and it gets on YouTube. Rebecca (Emily VanKamp) is in Kitty's old room and Kitty resents her. They come to a head with their rivalry. Julia is understandably disappeared after the death of her son, she hasn't come out of her house and only talks to her parents. Sarah has hot sex with her still sexy husband Joe (John Pyper-Ferguson) and she still has hopes of getting back together.

Through the whole episode we are made to worry about Justin as Nora and the rest of the family. Let me just say Justin Walker is a great character. Not only is he was a surfing recovering drug-abusing veteran, he cared a lot about his family. He moved beyond the hetero-stereotype, he has no problem taking care of his nephews, hanging out with his sisters and had the heart to pull Rebecca into the family. He is surely missed through the episode, it is not a bad thing because I think that is what they were going for. Rebecca even mentions it at the end, that he is the heart. Rebecca is getting to be an interesting character, I like Emily better with this character than the one in "Everwood." The episode gets a bit preachy too but with all the melodrama and comedy, you let them get away with it. The Walkers sure do drink a lot and it is understandable, with everything they have to put up with. I would be drinking too!

Jason drops the bomb on Kevin that he is off to Malaysia to perhaps for a year. Before he does that, we do get to see Eric Winter shirtless. Yay! For pictures from that episode of Eric Click Here at DreamCaps Forums Being that we only seen Kevin and Jason together for two episodes, it feels kind of rushed that they are talking about that Kevin even hasn't said "I love you" or they haven't 'defined' their relationship but Kevin did say Jason was his boyfriend. Maybe if they left it for a n episode more. Fans and viewers like it when you extend a relationship more than two episodes. It felt all too premature. It is all about a plot line that Kevin is learning how to keep the faith and even praying. Their kiss is covered by their heads. As for the other gay storyline, I stand by that Saul Holden (Ron Rifkin) is bisexual. His old friend drops by with a picture of them in the past. That is all. He later calls Kevin's bitching a bluff by saying he doesn't know how easy he has it.

I was going to say this next part is full of spoilers but ABC has pretty much done that. I actually am worried about Justin because he is a great character. By the near end of the episode, we get good news and then get bad news again. ABC has been showing clips of a funeral in the previews. I was relived not to see the funeral scene wasn't in this episode but it is yet again shown in next week's preview. What a spoiler. I don't like that ABC or whoever did that. In the scene in question, there is a coffin covered an American Flag and a gun shooting salute. There is Kitty, Nora, and Robert. If ABC is not doing this to spoil us but to fuck with our hearts (they even show Justin in black & white)--that is not called for. I am hoping it is just a friend of Justin's.

And here come the Popples

With everything that has returned from the 80's like the Transformers, Care Bears, Rainbow Brite, My Little Pony, He-Man, and Strawberry Shortcake, few things have remained. Surprisingly, lots have stayed. Only He-Man and Rainbow Brite did not survive, unfortunately. And there are movies of the Thundercats and Smurfs in the works but, just when everyone thought there was nothing else to revive...
Popples, Mattel's answer to the Care Bears in 1986. They convert into pocket balls and in the cartoon, bounced around. Popples were created by Those Characters From Cleveland, a subsidiary company of American Greetings.

I snap this out with my video camera at Toys "R" Us. This time released from Playmates, not Mattel.

This cartoon was on the back of the box, there are 4 regular Popples released and 4 other of the Pufflings. The illustrations look like the new Care Bears from the new CBS series. They just released plush figures that look like the cartoon ones.

The new four sort of look like the original, there is only 1 male one this time and he sort of looks like a dragon.

The Pufflings look exactly like their original predecessors except for colors, probably.

The original Pufflings.

I used to love the Popples, I am glad they are back.


Saturday, September 29

Love over Guatemalan Idol Carlos Peña

The Latin American Idol is over (September 26) and the winner is Carlos Peña and he has lots of fans. The whole country of Guatemala won't stop talking about. I know this because my parents are from Guatemala and they listen to radio stations online. His full name is Carlos Enrique Peña Aldana and he's 19 and from Guatemala. He beat out a Mexican participant. Picture from fan blog, carlosfans.net

Here is the official website of Latin American Idol.

The only popular singer to ever come from Guatemala is Ricardo Arjona, he wasn't that popular in his home country until he went to Mexico and other countries. Now people lvoe him. Well, all the luck to Carlos..

Unknown Hotties of the Week 10/1/07

Dylan Bruno

Marcus Collins
Actor and Model that has been in "As The World Turns," "The Guiding Light" and "One Life to Live"
Click here for more

Shaun Suisham
Football player for the Washington Redskins
Click here

Friday, September 28

Must Seen but Unseen TV

Wow, I can't believe it has been a year since I covered trends from sitcoms like children characters mysteriously disappearing, mothers that are re-cast and children that magically grow up quickly. Now I am covering those 'unseen characters.' There are a lot of shows where a character is mentioned but never seen and never cast. There are for example Maris Crane from "Fraiser" and Stan Walker from "Will & Grace." There are different characters: Partially Seen like the Nanny from "Muppet Babies" where you just see her legs and feet; Heard but Not Seen like Charlie from "Charlie's Angels;" and Never Seen Only Mentioned like the first two mentioned. Now in the new shows, I noticed in "Hot Shots," Christopher Titus' character's wife Janelle is "Partially Seen." We only saw her back in the first episode but not her face or face.

One of the most famous characters never to be seen is in the TV series Columbo, where the wife of the main character is often mentioned but never ever seen. One episode, "Troubled Waters", featured both Columbo and his wife going on a holiday on a cruise liner, with various conventions and jokes being made about them constantly missing each other in passing. Maris and Stan that are the most interesting by their uncastable quirks. How Maris is described, she is pale and has an abnormally rigid vertebrae, slightly webbed fingers and an underbite. Stan is always described as fat and sometimes in strange positions.

Related Topic: Sitcom Trends: Different moms, rapid-aging kids and disappearing kids

Moonlight First Episode Review

All vampire shows have their lore and each time they start, they got to explain the rules. "Moonlight" gets it over with it by the beginning. Mick is a 90-year old vampire detective who lives in L.A. who doesn't hurt innocents, he protects innocents... No it is not "Angel" and it has been mentioned before. Alex O' Laughlin ("The Shield") is all with the feathered hair and intriguing and charming. We do get to see him shirtless in the beginning as well. He narrates like flim-noir but the show is not shot in such a way. He can disappear out of nowhere like Angel but stakes, crosses and garlic don't effect him. The sun just makes him 'sick' but he doesn't instantly burst into flames. He does have the super smelling, super strength, incredible speed and rapid healing abilities. Cliches are abound like him falling in love with the hot blond reporter Beth (Sophia Myles). Any show that hires Kevin Wisman ("Alias" gadget man Marshall) is a good one. Also, Jason Dohring, fresh off from "Veronica Mars," plays the 400-year old Josef. He is coy and sexy, great to see. Nice to see him in dress clothes. Brian J. White, also fresh off "The Sheild" plays a lieutenant.

The vampires on this show have the teeth, the eyes, but not the monster faces from "Buffy." Mick, like Angel, feeds from medical blood packets. The vampires have connections, they actually have jobs, some big ones. Josef is scared the secret of the vampires will be revealed and doesn't want anyone to know and puts it on Mick to kill those responsible. The real connection between Mick and Beth is that Beth is the girl he was sent to save on his first case. She was kidnapped by his ex-wife Coraline, (40 Days 40 Nights, A Knight's Tale, and "Dirt" Shannyn Sossamon) the one who sired him. Mick is like Nicholas (Geraint Wyn Davies), the vampire from "Forever Knight" that had morals and was ethical, not a 'soul' concept like Angel had. The real conenciton with "Angel" is gone. Angel's former showrunner David Greenwalt was brought on as executive producer and showrunner for Moonlight after the original pilot presentation was shot. During that time he ditched most of the pilot and gave several prominent roles to some new actors. But he then left the show for personal reasons. It is not known how much of his influence is still left in the first episode shown but you can kind of feel it. The original pilot writers Ron Koslow and Trevor Munson remain as Executive Producers and Creator credit.

The show is definitely quotable. I see it being as a cult favorite, if it has breakaway success, let's see...


Big Shots First Episode Review

Four guys that are friends who are high up execs with lots of money and drama. Duncan (Dylan McDermott) is the bad boy play boy with ex-wives with a teenage daughter Cameron (Peyton List) who calls him 'Duncan' who drops out of school and gets a job at his makeup business. He still has sex with his ex-wife, her mother Lizbeth (the stoic Paige Turco from "Rescue Me"). James (Michael Vartan) is the well-meaning guy with he wife and kids. Karl ("West Wing" Joshua Malina) is the pharmaceutical nerd that is having a manipulative interior designer mistress Marla ("Tru Calling" Jessica Collins) and has a worryworth wife Wendy ("Gilmore Girls" Amy Sloan--she played Sheila). Brody (Christopher Titus) is the cool guy whipped by his wife Janelle (no one cast--we just see her back). He is like the Chandler of the group. Why are trannies so popular with ABC's new shows? First with 'Dirty Sexy Money," now here where Duncan was caught having sex with a transgender individual (Jazzman) in a public restroom. Poor James, first is fired by his boss, his boss dies and then he finds out his wife had an affair with his boss. Nia Long (Are We There Yet?) deliciously plays James' co-worker Katie. She is not above having sex with hot men and she seems to be a good friend to James. What is great is how Duncan can read James' metaphor or whatever without bringing it up.

The show is fun, not all of it gels and some of the dialogue is trite, especially Duncan's. As for the shirtless scenes, we see Joshua Molina twice in bed with his mistress (eh..), Dylan McDermott shirtless in a steamy pool room and Chris Titus with a towel over his chest. The poor guys, the women manipulate them or try to get the best of them. Karl's mistress Marla gets to know his wife Wendy and they become friends and she wrangles up that she is their new house designer. Duncan's daughter Cameron tries to stump him as she can. Are the women in the show treated the same on "Entourage"? So far, the men are chauvinist pigs but the women or gender-wise, are trifling. We don't even see Jeanelle's front side and doesn't speak one line. The only one that doesn't seem trifling is Katie, but she is promiscuous The argument can go to "Sex and the City" where they say that they treat men like crap and toys. But it would be refreshing if one show focused on one gender wouldn't tip the scales.

Grey's Anatomy Season Four Episode One Review

A lot has changed by season four. The whole dynamic in the hospital has flipped. Dr. Torres is now chief resident, while our favorite interns are residents, except for George, who going through the motions. The residents have their own little interns. Meredith hasn't talked to Derek since the non-wedding, to make matters worse is Lexie, Meredith's half-sister is 'the girl from the bar' and now an intern. She is basically Neo-Meredith, worry-wart and making pretty much the same strides as her sister. On top of that, she is friends with George. She freaks out when she meets Meredith, which Meredith also does. Izzie, is all foot in the mouth as usual, all worried about George and her interns don't respect her and tries to find a case. Miranda is upset about Callie being chosen and one still misses her and respects her. Derek tries to find a friend with the absence of his core people. Christina deals with an issue of loss. The five are pretty tight after all these years. More than ever, the characters have patients mirror how they feel. This time it resonates more than there is time to analyze. For example, George staring at babies, one he delivered, after Callie saying she might be pregnant.

Where I thought I would given up on the show, I felt detached from the show, now I think it can pull me back in. The premiere has a good pace and more interesting than the first episode of "Private Practice."

The News is Out

Well four months ago, I was vague about this, now I can be open about this. The Yes Institute I volunteer for strives to prevent teen suicide and stop bullying in schools. 80% of male students that are harassed for being gay, identify as heterosexual. Tim Hardaway has been going to the institute to learn more. "I was scared out of my ... mind,'' Hardaway said of his first visit. "I didn't know how they were going to act toward me. But you know what? They welcomed me with open arms. That eased a lot of my nervousness.'' Martha Fugate, director and founder wrote a letter for the media, "Thanks to his honest albeit misguided reaction, Tim did find his way to YES Institute and the education he got was not just about others, but about himself."

A blogger on ESPN wrote: I'm a big believer that if you have a problem with a whole big group of people, don't huddle in your basement thinking nasty thoughts about these theoretical people. Get out there and talk to real people. Put a face on it. Learn about each other. Be honest as appropriate and be a good listener.

What we strive for 'putting a face' on the issue or issues. So that's good he sees that.

Sports Illustrated.com article
After Elton.com
Local Miami News NBC 6

Tim Hardaway said, "I have taken steps and I'm happy that I did,'' Hardaway said. "If I didn't, I'd still be naive about it, ignorant about the whole thing. But I can talk about it now. I'm a polite person. That's how I am.'' Also: "I just wanted to go in and get educated, that's all. Get educated on what I said and why I said those things. I'm working on understanding it now. I'm not really trying to make amends. I've been there trying to get help."

I think if people find out more about the Yes Institute the better.

Related: Athletes Declines Communication Workshop

Wednesday, September 26

Dirty Sexy Money First Episode Review

"Dirty Sexy Money"
Wednesday 10pm

I did not expect to like this show. I thought it was going to obnoxious, the characters are a bit but its okay.

Peter Krause plays a other respectable honest guy, a bit better than his "Six Feet Under" character. You can actually like him this time. He plays Nick, whose father's life was all the rich family The Darling's whims. They are seriously screwed up rich people who need constant attention. He practically grew up along side them but some resented him, namely Brian (Glenn Fitzgerald), who is a priest who refuses to claim his son. William Baldwin, plays the oldest Patrick, who is the District Attorney and has a thing for trannies. Jeremy (The go-to screwed up guy Seth Gabel from "Nip/Tuck") is the young one and most misunderstood by his father. He has a coke dealer but is well meaning. He is extremely close to Juliet ("The O.C." Samaire Armstrong), who is basically a Paris-caricature but she plays her with honesty. Nick has a past with Karin (Natlaie Zea), who is still not over him and all over him.

Zoe McLellan plays Nick's wife Lisa, who like Nick, isn't fond of the Darlings but when Nick is offered the job by Tripp Darling (Donald Sutherland)---she is okay with it. Even though they know what it will entail, Nick as their lawyer/publicist is their babysitter--they still dive into it, like a deal with he devil. Donald offers Nick a boat load of money. Surprise, surprise, Donald is actually caring in this one, he doesn't come off as a prick. Jill Clayburgh ("Nip/Tuck", "Ally Mcbeal") is a great pick as the mother. Even though Nick and Lisa know things won't be great, they still dive into it. So do we, everything is a bit practicable but the show is hilarious and enthralling. The 'serious' stuff doesn't bog down the show, which is a good. Like all these screwed-up dysfunctional families, you can tell they actually care about each other. One of the exec producers is Greg Berlanti, also responsible for "Brothers & Sisters," but the show doesn't feel like it. It feels more like a The Royal Tenenbaums/"Nip/Tuck hybrid with a "Boston Legal" overlay.

Bionic Woman First Episode Review

I never saw a full episode of the "The Six Million Dollar Man" or the original "The Bionic Woman", but I did see the TV Movie of the Bionic Girl, Sandra Bullock. NBC is counting a lot on "Bionic Woman." It is pretty good, from the producers of the current 'Battlestar Galactica," it feels like it. Like all current shows, this one has its mysteries. Michelle Ryan, the English woman, as Jamie Sommers, may not seem like much as a character but her charisma takes control. Jamie takes care of his sister Becca (Lucy Hale), runs a bar and has a boyfriend Will (the enthralling Chris Bowers, who looks a bit like "Moonlight"'s Alex O'Laughlin) is working on the Bionic project. The last Bionic Woman come out from the dead and tries to kill Jamie and Will. Jamie suffers the most damage. Will decides to make Jamie Bionic. Jamie feels violated when she finds out what happened to her.

A great cast is assembled, Miguel Ferrer (as the boss guy), Will Yun Lee (as an operative or something), Mark Shepard (As Anthony, a escaped prisoner claiming to be betrayed) and Molly Price (the number 2 woman) rounding out the cast. By the end of the episode, she understands her powers more and takes her power back by putting down that the company must play by her rules. The breakout star is Katee Scakhoff ("Battlestar Galactica") is just wonderful, she is funny, sexy and cool. Perfect villain or antagonist. What can sum up the whole thing is when a little girl sees Jamie running fast and tells her mom, who doesn't believe her. "I just think it was cool that a girl could do that." The pilot isn't all that thrilling but has good potential.

Kid Nation Second Episode Review

When it is suggested to kill the chickens on the farm for food, other kids that didn't get their chance to stand up and get their limelight do. There is Emilie, who is opposed to killing the chickens and with two other kids try to protest and try to stop the chickens from being killed. When they decided two to be killed, she still went to see them but couldn't bear it after the first one was off. So there is big ethical questions and questions of whether or not if you would kill the chicken at that age. Emilie, does think about the others. On the other side, Greg, the oldest, tries to get the gold star by killing the chickens, boasting that he had killed animals before. Also cleaning dishes, which Mike was suspicious of. The Gold Star went to the well-deserving Michael, instead of Greg. Greg did give a good reason for why he wanted it, for college but that would be a lot of kid's reasons. Maybe the drive wasn't in the right place. Especially his reaction to Michael getting the star. I am glad Emilie stuck with it and didn't go home.

Care Bears as old as I am

Believe it or not, it has been 25 years since the cuddly rainbow-coated bears from Care-a-Lot has bounced into our lives. Say what you want but I have loved them since I was a kid. For the anniversary, there is a special white and silver Tenderheart Bear (the usual brown one) and Love-A-Lot bear with silver heart symbols. When I was a kid, I had Cheer Bear and two Care Bear cousins--Gentle Heart Lamb and the Elephant. My best friend has a lot lot of them, old and new. People in Care Bear costumes invaded New York for the anniversary.



And CBS just premiered their new Saturday morning cartoon show, which is in a an unique drawing style that is not like the animated series I grew to love in the 80's. I think it is good they did something different and creative. Have not seen it yet though.

Anniversary Website
CBS Cartoon Official Website

Tuesday, September 25

Cane TV First Episode Review

"Cane"
CBS Tuesday Nights 10pm

"Cane" is about a Cuban-American family that runs a sugar cane business and rum. They have different parts of the business. Jimmy Smitts plays Alex, the family's adoptive son from "Pedro Pan" thing. Children from Cuba where brought to America to meet up with their parents but Alex never did so the Duque family adopted him. Hector Elizondo plays Pancho, the head of the family. He plans tot retire because he is dying. Hector is a great actor. He gives the power to Alex, instead of his eldest son Frank ("Lost" Nestor Carbonell), which makes him angry. There is conflict between the new sons. Not as much with the third son (Eddie Matos) is more concerned with his club. Alex married Pancho's daughter Isbael. There is a rival company, a gringo asshole that is dying. Lee Tergesen makes a lovely appearance as his son. Frank sleeps with his sister. Alex and Isabell has three kids: a teenage girl, a little boy and a teenage boy Jaime--pronounced High-Meh (Michael Trevino) has a gringa girlfriend and blows off MIT to go to the army and plans to marry his girl.

There is a plot line I don't get about a young girl being kidnapped and Alex killing the assaulter and another one comes to bug them--Quinoes, who Alex has killed and his death comes to haunt him in later episodes. Alex suspects the competitor. Ironic is that the two head fathers are dying. The whole show shifts from completely Cuban to completely gringo American generic crime drama. It is a mix of "Brothers and Sisters" and "Sopranos." Alex has his reasons but he is not completely shady. The show is authentic Cuban. I feel some similarities to my family, the overlapping talking and huge family, I'm not Cuban. I felt a bit alienated, maybe Caucasian audiences will feel the same. The flashbacks were a bit hard to understand. I think it will be a jumbled mess with intense music. Jimmy Smitts does bring 100% to the show and so does the rest of the cast. The whole cast feels a bit pretentious while Elizondo feels welcoming. "Sugar is the new oil," is probably the newest catchphrase. Some dude says it to David Letterman on the late show.

When I watch a show that has a lot of Spanish, I try not to look at the subtitles because I get confused. What they say is not exactly what they write. It is translated culturally. For example, one instance Frank calls Alex an "Aprechado" which means Opportunist but the subtitle said 'Weasel.' So it's loose to say the least. Also the Subtitles are unusually huge in this show. Probably to get non-Spanish speakers into it.

Making too much of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments?

Everyone is making a fuss of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Colombia University. Tensions were high, with protesters outside and that was to be expected. I like Lee Bollinger's speech but I think he should have said it afterwards. I am not agreeing with the president but I think if they were hosts and he was their guest, they should have been a bit courteous. I am mean we are in war time. I think part of the reason everyone is so antagonizing is because we feel outraged by everything that is going around. I am angry too. And about Mahmoud's funny comment about no homosexuals in his country... he may not know about them. The translator said 'homosexuals like you have here,' maybe they have super homos? lol I digress. My dad says that maybe they are dead. That's the sad part. Clearly, he is not aware of them. There are either people in the closet that will take their secret to their grave or those that have been found out or people they think were gay, were killed. Well, it could have been worse, I'm glad nothing dangerous happened.

Herald Sun
JTA article
The Jerusalem Post


Monday, September 24

Journeyman Review

The story of a man who disappears from the current timeline for long periods of time and appears in different time periods, Dan Vassar ends up in 1987 or 1997, and sometimes runs into his family members and friends, even himself. He can be diriving and taken on one of his 'trips' and his car crashes into a post. He even bumps into his dead ex-wife Livia. In his current life, he is married and has a child with Katie, his brother Jack's ex or something. Entertainment Weekly called the show, the same old same old, good protagonist but kind of mundane. But the show really effects. Everything is devastating. I felt down through the first half. Everything was going down for Dan. Everyone thinks he's crazy, he has disappeared for two days ans everyone suspects drugs. He saves lives and tries to figure out who he really is there to save. The ending of the pilot is amazing and really pulled me together. But I don't know if I can go through this up and down sort emotional ride every week, people doubting the hero. I had my doubts about Kevin McKidd, some people have compared him to Anthony Michael Hall--he looks more like Daniel Craig to me. Entertainment Weekly calls him a star ready to pop but the show isn't his vehicle to propel him. After seeing this, I do agree he has charisma and has star potential.

Family Guy "Blue Harvest" Review

This was a great idea. They mimic most of the shots of the movie. Some, even better than the original. The new scenes from the 'Special Edition' are not included in this. The scenes that were parodied before, are skipped here, like the ending where the gang gets medals and where Luke makes the other guy like a fool--the womp rat scene. In fact, womp rats are mentioned quite a bit here. The scenes that were leaked through the internet in a convention, are the most funniest of the episode. I even miss the laughter from the convention goers. Tom Tucker, Diane Simmons, and Joe Swanson do not appear in the episode. They were reportedly to appear as Imperial news agents covering the escape of Princess Leia and Biggs Darklighter, but they probably cut. Maybe they might appear on the Cartoon Network airing or DVD.

To please fans and I knew they were going to do this, HAN SHOOTS FIRST. What is also great is little subtle things. There is a part where one guard touches another guard sexually. There are little things you just got to notice. But the episode does mimics the lines of the movie and seems to be stuck in 'Star Wars' mode--some call it a tribute to the movie. They go through the motions. One time, they snap out of this is when Herbert as Obi-Wan sings "I had the time of my life" to Luke/Chris. It is not like Spaceballs, that had its own plot.

Seth Vs. Seth
What is the best is that at the end of the episode, Chris (Seth Green) makes a reference to "Robot Chicken" making a Star Wars episode a few months ago. Their conversation was very funny, Peter putting down "Robot Chicken" and Chris leaving in a huff. Also, Robot Chicken dealt with all six movies, not only 1. It very much feels like a conversation Seth McFarlane may have had with Seth Green. Peter makes reference to the 15 minute run time of the show but the Star Wars special was 26 minutes. Like Wikipedia says, "Peter denies Cartoon Network as a significant network, even though syndication on that channel was, ironically, a major contributor to Family Guy's revival." That is so true.

Entertainment Weekly strangely connects Saved By The Bell with the Emmys

In this week's Entertainment Weekly, they make the bizarre idea to do a 'six degrees' connecting "Saved By The Bell" with the Emmy awards. They connect the winners, namely. They went from Sally Field to Rachel Griffiths to Peter Krause, who was in the sitcom "Sports Night" with Felicity Huffman. Kiersten Warren, who was in "Saved by the Bell: The College Years," guest starred in "Desperate Housewives" with Felicity. But they connect Kiersten to Lark Voorhies, who only guested once on the short-lived prime-time series. They also went from Ricky Garvais to fellow "The Office" Lucy Davis to Madelline Zima, who they star in "Californication.' Zima was in 'The Nanny' with Nicholle Tom. Nicholle Tom guested on '90210' with Tori Spelling, who played Screech's girlfriend.

The strangest connection is from Jaime Pressly to Dustin Diamond. It goes from Jaime Pressly to Giovanni Ribisi, who has guested on "My Name is Earl" and then to Katey Sagal, because Ribisi guest appeared in "Married With Children." Then the most far-fetched connection is from Katey to Ruben Studdard, because he appeared in her show '8 Simple Rules.' Then from Studdard to fellow 'Idol' Kimberly Locke, who appeared in "Celebrity Fit Club" with Diamond. Veyr interesting, but I wondered where all of this started.

Actorexia: Update to Manorexia

Four months ago, I wrote a post about manorexia, men being effected by Anorexia. Now Entertainment Weekly had an interesting article about 'Actorexia,' when male actors had to loose weight for a role.

Matt Damon most notably lost weight for "Courage Under Fire" in 1996. He lost 40 pounds and he admitted that 'it was too much.. I was a wreck."

Entertainment Weekly says that Quaid stripped down to 138 pounds to play consumptive Old West gunman Doc Holiday in Wyatt Earp in 1994. Last year, he confessed to suffering from 'manorexia' and over-exercising in the mid-'90s. I personally didn't notice.

Tom Hanks lost weight two times, 30 pounds for Philadelphia and 55 pounds for Cast Away. The director halted production so Hanks could whittle his frame.

Christian Bale most famously became a skeleton for not only 1 but 2 roles: The Machinist and Rescue Dawn.


Related Topic: Anorexia also extends to Male

Premieres for the week of September 24 2007

Premieres for this week include:

Sunday September 23 - FOX

The Simpsons - 8pm
King of the Hill - 8:30
Family Guy - 9pm


Monday September 24

How I Met your Mother - CBS - 8pm
Comedy New Season

Big Bang Theory - CBS - 8:30
New Comedy

Two and a Half Man - 9pm
Comedy New Season

Rules of Engagement - 9:30
Comedy New Season - How is this back?

CSI: Miami - CBS - 10pm
Drama New Season

Chuck - NBC - 8pm
New Show

Heroes - NBC - 9pm
Second Season
[Masi Oka above]

Journeyman - NBC -10pm
New Sci-Fi Drama


Tuesday September 25

Reaper - CW - 9pm
New Series

Bones - FOX - 8pm
Second Season

House - FOX - 9pm
New Season

Cane - CBS - 10pm
New series with a Latino cast, about a family running a suger cane company.
[Eddie Matos above]

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - NBC - 10pm
New Season

Boston Legal - ABC - 10pm
New Season

Wednesday September 26

Private Practice - ABC - 9pm
Grey's Anatomy Spin-off

CSI: NY - CBS - 10pm
New season

Life - NBC - 10pm
New Series

Dirty Sexy Money - ABC - 10pm
New Series
[Seth Gabel above]

Bionic Woman - NBC - 9pm
New Series


Thursday September 27

My Name is Earl - NBC - 8pm
Third Season

Smallville - CW - 8pm
New Season

Ugly Betty - ABC - 8pm
Second Season

Grey's Anatomy - ABC - 9pm
New Season

CSI - CBS - 9pm
New Season

Big Shots - ABC - 10pm
New Series with Dylan McDermott, Michael Vartan, Chris Titus and Joshua Malina


Friday September 28 - CBS

Ghost Whisperer - 8pm
Second Season

Moonlight - 9pm
New Detective Vampire Seires
[Alex O'Loughlin above]

Numb3rs - 10pm
New Season

Sunday, September 23

Resident Evil: Extinction Review

Spoilers are abound so only read if you have already seen it or don't mind getting spoiled
I only seen bits and pieces of the first movie Resident Evil. I always wanted to see a sequel movie, having never seen the previous ones, to see how the movie holds up on its own. I am a fan of horror monsters such as zombies and vampires and women kicking ass.

So the movies is set several years from the second one, in an apocalyptical wasteland. The T-virus has infected all the Earth, wiping out most of the oceans and plant life. For the human race being wiped out, there is still a pretty bunch of humans left. Alice is on her own, feeling like she endangers everyone around her and everyone keeps dying. Her pal Carlos (Oded Fehr) from the last movie is hanging with a convoy lead by Claire Redfield, a character picked up from the game titles Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil: Codename Veronica. She is wonderfully played by "Heroes" Ali Larter. The group sends radio signals asking for survivors but since Alice had been betrayed once in the movie--by freak punks, in a scene that I found a waste.

The rest of the movie is very solid, not bad. I expected a horrible movie, throwaway b-movie. I had not seen the second movie but I could follow this one just fine. I am not the ordinary movie watcher, but I think any horror or action fan can follow this one. As for horror, it is just a shock jumper. The deaths didn't impress me so much. It isn't anything I hadn't already seen before. I usually like the human deaths more in this sort of movies but this one, there is not much to see. The production values are good, it is noticeable how much was spent on it. Most of the character interactions don't feel forced. What does is the African-American characters, unfortunately the movie suits to cliches. The only two black people like each other. Well, I can't say they are the only ones that die, pretty much everyone dies. What cool thing is that pretty much most of the men die in this movie. Three of the main women survive and that's just fantastic. Where in horror movies, most women tend to die, even in the ones that are headed by women (Aliens and such).

Who is freaking annoying is Dr. Issacs (Iain Glen). Iain Glen is an actor that you can love to hate but the character, you just wanna kill him. There are cute scenes involving Alice's powers and K-Mart, the cute blonde the convey adopted and also a reference to the Red Queen, when Alice meets the White Queen and calls the red one her 'sister'. The White Queen is a computer system that looks like a little girl. If anyone is worried that Ashanti spoils the movie, don't fret, she is taken care of early on, you barely notice her. Overall a good movie, with homages to the original movie and one twist but most of it you can see coming a mile away. It is a crowd pleaser, there were young guys in the row in front of me that kept reacting like "Ohh!" to a death and stating the obvious "Her bike is broke." Not scary but fun.

Friday, September 21

More Proof Bush is off his kilter

"I heard somebody say, 'Where's Mandela?'," he said. "Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas."

Last time I checked, Mandela was alive.

Thursday, September 20

VMAs has never boaded well for Britney Spears

I think the track record speaks for itself:

In 2000, when her image was still squeaky clean, Britney shocked audiences by stripping off a dress suit to reveal a sparkly semi-nude outfit. About the controversy, here is a MTV article.

In 2001, for "I'm A Slave 4 U" was lackluster and forgettable. PETA organization criticized her for the snake and white tiger part of the performance.

In 2003, the infamous Madonna-Christina Aguilera-Spears three-way. It made front page news, my grandma was all disgusted because she said she didn't want to be seeing a two women kiss each other. I think it impacted so much because they were so well known and they kept freaking repeating it over and over again.
AfterEllen.com: Progress or Publicity stunt?
CNN.com: Would Britney kiss anyone else?
CBS.com: More on the kiss

Now in 2007, I don't think it was that bad but I think she was a bit out of it. Some people exaggerate and say she kicked or stepped on the other dancers. Now people believe she has ruined her chances of appearing on the MTV Video Music Awards again.