Two Ladies & Their TVs

We love our shows so much we created a blog for it.

 

Arrested Development spoiler!

A little spoiler birdy told me that Justine Bateman is slated to guest star on Arrested Development as someone's, uh, "long-lost older sister."

For some reason I think it's the most adorable thing ever to have both Jason and Justine in one show. :>

Posted by: merserene at 10:59 | link | comments (2)

Fear Factor season premiere

It's hard to recap reality shows; there's so much going on.  But I will touch on a few things about the return of Fear Factor (new nights, too!).

There is something about Big Muscle Guys on this show.  Any faithful viewer will know by now that most muscle guys who come on the show are all bluff and bluster, but really, no substance.  Something always manages to bring them down.  Last night was no exception.  It was a Million Dollar Heist edition, where four teams of two worked through three stunts.  There were two eliminations, and one of the teams that made it to the final two were a brother and sister: both extremely buff, extremely cocky, and only, gratefully, sort of annoying.

Their last stunt was against a stringy guy and his girlfriend, whom he called, "Mangela".  Uh, yuck.  She wasn't ugly or manly looking; just taller than him and apparently stronger.  The stunt was to dive underwater and while the men retrieved as many gold bars as possible, the women would take keys, try to unlock a cage, and carry as many gold coins as they could back to the surface.  Whoever brought up the most kept all.

Guess who won?  Heh.

The buff woman couldn't stand the water pressure, and couldn't propel herself downward when she went under.  The guy, for all his strength, couldn't carry very many gold bars.  He also lost his flippers and didn't stop to put them back on, leaving him slower than the other guy.

Just goes to show you: workin' out ain't everything.

For the record, the less-buff couple won over $250,000.  The buff couple only managed to bring $50,000 to the surface.

***

I read in an article that this season's Fear Factor is going to be more about the stunts and less about the gross eating.  From the two-minute preview last night, it sure as hell looks that way.  Two things about it that stand out in my head:

On what might be a couple's edition, they will be trapped in the Bates Motel.  How cool/fun is that?  One shot featured the woman trapped in a shower that sprayed blood, and the guy had to hack through a door.  I'm not a horror movie fan, but I think it's a pretty good stunt idea.

The other is that they will have to get a Fear Factor haircut.  Oh. My. God.  The woman they showed had short hair, but they shaved her head in spots.  I would NEVER do that.  EVER. I'd be eliminated.  My hair is my baby.  If you get cut before the final winner gets $50,000, you leave the show with NOTHING.  NOTHING AT ALL.  So, eating bull testicles?  Fine.  Losing my hair?  Uh-uh.

Posted by: athenawj at 08:57 | link | comments (2)
reality check

L&O: SVU "Alien"

One reason I haven't been commenting on/reviewing this season's shows so much is because I can't do a linear review, and the "breakup of Stabler and Benson" just continues to bug me.

Last night's ep: a boy is found at a hospital stabbed.  We later found out he's been paralyzed; even later, we find out he was a shit who sounded like he tried to molest a little girl who had a set of lesbian parents.  The little girl stabbed him, and courtroom-conservative/liberal hijinks ensued.

See?  I just can't get past the snark, especially since the first half of this show was pretty good.  And then everyone pretty much disappeared except for Olivia, Casey, and the Special Guest Stars.

What is TPTB's friggin' deal???  Could they not have Stabler and Benson together for one whole hour?  Could they not have Benson say, just ONCE, "So that means that she deserved to be raped?" or "So that means that she deserved this?" It's always a variation, and it's so common that's it probably a macro in the writers' computers.  The bug that bugs me about this just grows bigger and bigger: any other cop says something and Olivia has a retort like that.  Now, I'm not against Olivia being a strong woman.  It's this: Stabler's been an SVU detective for years and years-- longer than she has.  Munch was in Baltimore Homicide and then SVU.  Tutuola was in Narc then SVU.  And Cragen was a Homicide Captain, then IAD, now SVU.  And yet with those lines, Olivia reduces them to guys who have no experience whatsoever in dealing with victims.  The other rotten thing is, I almost never see why she says it; those responses to what they say are irrelevant.  She's not pointing out anything that they don't already know.

Sheesh.  If I didn't get it out of my system now, I would have exploded.  But it leads to more disgust with the show: the showcasing of one detective at the expense of the others.  They've done it to an extent with Stabler this season, and Benson more, but neither works.  A show is allowed to grow, but this isn't growth, to me.

Not much more to comment on.  Some parents are asses, some folks are so insecure in their spirituality that any affront/disagreement with it equative to a threat, and in turn, because of their insecurities, threaten back.  I was a little surprised that the grandparents had been taken by their lawyer, and apologized later; I was also surprised at the kind of therapy the little girl's therapist was recommending.  Um, yeah.  I'm a liberal and I'm not going to take naked pix of me and my kids.

Anyway, we'll see if the new  year has anything better to offer.  I doubt it, though.

 

Posted by: athenawj at 08:47 | link | comments (3)
it s all drama

Arrested Development: The Ocean Walker

Ah Arrested Development, how I've missed you!  And I will miss you even more when you're no longer on the air.

Tonight's episode has Michael telling the Bluths that he's marrying Rita.  They've never had "sexual relations," as Rita says, so Michael arranges a night in a hotel where they can get some.  George Michael comes with a video that shows Rita as mentally handicapped (i.e. she eats wax fruits repeatedly), and it finally dawns on Michael that he can't marry her.  Meanwhile, the Bluths become enamoured with the idea of Michael marrying Rita upon finding out that Rita owns all of the Wee Britains and is super-rich, and decides to throw them a wedding.  In the end, nothing turns out and Rita leaves.

Moments that made me LOL -

Buster getting his hand/hook stuck in the dashboard while doing "Mr. Roboto."  (Hee.  I love the 80s!)

The picture of Rita "before" she had her plastic surgery, which has Charlize Theron in makeup for her role in "Monster."  (Clever!)

Tobias' handicap due to his hair transplant.  (Poor Tobias, something horrible always happens to him.)

Preview: Tobias' hair getting set on fire by Gob's illusion trick.  (Ditto.)

My query: Aren't Rita and her uncle supposed to be part of some conspiracy against the Bluths?  This episode doesn't resolve it at all, and I'm not sure if it will be resolved after Rita leaves.

Posted by: merserene at 20:37 | link | comments (5)
the world is a comedy