Recap 7/13 - 7/18 2009

Here are the shows I will be writing about this week: Next Food Network Star, Kathy Griffin, Warehouse 13, Top Chef Masters, Top Gear, Big Brother, and Eureka. Also a few other odds and ends.

Those odds and ends will be a couple of comments about 2 specials that aired this week, one with Michael Jackson's father, and one with Harry Potter author, JK Rowling. I also will have some brief comments about shows that I don't watch, but have seen clips from or read about (AGT, Bachelorette.)

I also will be posting spoilers about Big Brother, along with some NUDEs of 2 of the HGs (1 male 1 female,) as well as some clips of 2 HGs being at the same event long before they were ever in the house together. Hmm.

Next Food Network Star:

This episode they sent the contestants from NY to Miami but first (sorry Chenbot!) they had to cook in the style of some restaurants in the new JetBlue terminal at JFK airport. Jeffrey got Italian, Debbie got a steak house, Michael had "French Cuisine," Melissa had Tapas, and Jameka had Sushi.

Melissa and Jeffrey both made great dishes and had great presentation, and Melissa AGAIN had a nice little "tidbit" cooking tip. Debbie made salad. For a steakhouse. Jameka mentioned intestinal issues while flying when she was making her food presentation. Nothing like equating your food with the toilet. Michael wanted to do oysters but couldn't get them shucked, and both his food and presentation seriously lacked and he was named "worst" of the group. Jeffrey won the challenge and that gave him a GREAT advantage for the "elimination challenge" in Miami.

In Miami, they were to cater a party and each had to make 2 dishes. Jeffrey got to assign people what jobs they were going to do and he gave himself host (smart,) Michael bartender (smart,) Debbie who is a caterer to run the kitchen (smart,) and Melissa and Jameka were kitchen help. Jeffrey kept trying to have the 2 ladies stop and see how they were supposed to cook and present everyone's food since they would ultimately be responsible for executing it and getting it out. Nobody ever seemed to find the time to stop working on their own dish, so Jeffrey had them run through everything very quickly.

Jeffrey then did a GREAT job greeting the guests, and Michael did his fun party guy shtick to entertain the crowd. But the ladies couldn't keep up and the diners were getting hungry and restless. Everything someone emerged from the he kitchen with food, they were mobbed by the hungry wolves. It got so bad that Bobby Flay actually sauntered into the kitchen to tell the women to pick up the pace.

At the judging panel, they asked Debbie why things went so poorly when she's a caterer and she should know how to make it all work even with limited help. She claimed that she did "everything she could" to get the food out. Jeffrey stated that he thought that the dishes that people came up with were too complicated given the circumstances. Melissa, though, called out Debbie. She noted that she made 3 dishes instead of the required 2, and was the one who prepared both of Jeffrey's dishes for a total of 5 dishes. Jameka did her 2 and Michael's 2 for a total of 4 dishes. That meant that Debbie who did "everything she could" actually only worked on her OWN 2 dishes. Bob was NOT happy with her BS.

As for the food, Jeffrey had to rely on store bought chips and the food was ok, but lacking. The drink that he made also lacked the "heat" that it should have. Melissa was the only one to make a vegetarian dish, but the judges felt that perhaps she should have only made 2 dishes and less complex. Jameka had one good dish and one not so much. Michael's dishes sucked ass, and he actually said that he likes cooking for people live and not in front of a camera. Umm...does he know what the title of this show is? Debbie made the best food, and ultimately that's what saved her from her BS kitchen performance. Michael got a well deserved boot. So, the Final Four are as I predicted. Jeffrey, the early leader who probably SHOULD win this all things considered. If not, he should get offered a show regardless. He has a great way with the camera and great food. Debbie who the judges seem to LOVE despite all of her drawbacks. Her saving grace has often been her food, but I think her on camera time has sucked. Melissa who is the judges favorite as she most fits their demographic, but she too has not shown me much on camera. She had one great moment, but the rest of the time she rushes thru. And Jameka who I think will be the next eliminated. She has sucked in food and on camera far too many times compared to the others, and doesn't seem to respond well to pressure.

Kathy Griffin:

Funny enough, this episode ALSO dealt with Miami. KG decided that if she wants to be an A-List Star, she needs a second home on Star Island in Miami. So she stayed in singer Gloria Estefan's guest house and along with Rosie O'Donnell, went house hunting. There was NO WAY she'd buy these $15 Million homes, so it was all BS from the he get go. There were some funny moments, but mostly it was a waster of time. Her real estate agent was former Major League Baseball player Billy Bean who came out as gay 4 years after retiring (way to stand up for yourself.) The selling agent for a $17 Million house went off on KG (which may have been faked or enhanced for the camera) about her being some dumbass Hollywood person who wasted her time by offering $1.75 Million for the house. Yep, that pretty much summed up the whole episode.

Warehouse 13:

I thought this episode was a VAST improvement over the bloated 2 hour pilot. It dealt with bank robbers using sound to incapacitate people at the bank, but not by knocking them out with loud sound or shockwaves, but by subduing them with music that sort of put them into a trance where they "felt loved" and couldn't remember what had happened. It turned out that some eccentric composer came up with the sound, and his daughter, caretaker, and his former sound engineer used the bank robberies to buy back all of the guy's archived recordings from a music label, and it reunited the guy with the long lost daughter. In the end, the agents were only assigned to retrieve the song that will have to be stored in the warehouse, so they didn't arrest the people for the bank robberies...nor did they report them to the FBI task force which was led by "Caprica Six" herself, Tricia Helfer. The other storyline dealt with someone trying to hack into the warehouses' main frame. Artie (the warehouse caretaker) tracked the hack back (say that 3 times fast outloud!) to the office of the agent's former boss at the Secret Service. Turns out, it was just routed to LOOK that way. While investigating it, Artie made a connection which he felt would expose the hacker, but instead it caused Artie to have some sort of out of body experience where he kept hearing someone shout "You've got to stop her!" Hmm. WTF is going on? No answers this week, so it will be something ongoing this season I suppose.

Top Chef Masters:

I only recognized one Chef this week, Michael Chiarello who in his opening profile was shown to have been working as a tv chef, but now was back to restaurant cooking. Michael won the Quickfire Challenge with 4.5 stars. One Chef became the first person to NOT finish, and got ZERO stars. Michael went on to win the Elimination Challenge, and will be in the Championship rounds! Good for him. I guess that's a big "F-U" to the Food Network for the way they always treated him as a "B" star on the network.

Top Gear:

This episode they had to drive across Botswana from Zimbabwe to Namibia in non-4 wheel drive cars. James drove a Mercedes which is VERY popular in Africa. Jeremy drove a big ass car that was much too heavy and in crappy condition for the trip. Hammond drove a dinky little car that, of the three, actually did the best. The only problem his car had was when Hammond tried to cross a flooded road by staying on the road and it filled the car with water. James and Jeremy drove across at a different point, and while James got stuck, Jeremy's car was able to push it out. James and Jeremy had to take their cars apart to lighten them, which sucked when they got to an extremely dry dessert and their open cars had no protection from all of the dust. Jeremy said that he and James had probably just shaved 5-10 years off their lives. One good thing about the dust, though, was that it caused the "moonrise" to be orange. It looked like a reverse sunset. The "Stig's African Cousin" took their cars for time laps, although Jeremy's car wouldn't start, so "African Stig" just walked away. It was funny because it was a skinny black guy in the Stig's silver Puma shoes, white Puma gloves, a white African "toga," and the Stig's white helmet. Pretty funny.

Eureka:

This episode started with Jo having just completed a bi-annual test lasting 48 hours, and Carter needing to start his test. One of the lab assistants described Jo as "perfect" and Carter noted that he doubted that he'd do as well. At the end, Carter did pass, but didn't score high enough to allow him to be tested in 2 years, so he'd have to retake it again next year. D'oh!

The lab assistant who said that Jo was "perfect" stole 3 devices and used them to change her DNA to match Jo, essentially created a "Second Jo." This "new Jo" sang Karaoke and hit on Fargo while the real Jo slept at Carter's (to watch over his daughter.) Eventually, "fake Jo" made the real Jo look like the lab assistant and had her locked up. It took Jo's boyfriend to figure out who she really was. The DNA altering was causing both Jo and the lab assistant to have their DNA unravel. Eventually, all was set right, and although the lab assistant did some "bad things," the company was impressed with her work, so she was allowed to continue to work while her case was examined. Fargo now realized that he hadn't been noticing her, and now they seem to be heading off to "date land."

ABC Primtime:

ABC had Chris Connelly interview Michael Jackson's dad. ABC is denying that they paid for the interview, but I bet that they did. Joe is an a-hole of the HIGHEST order. When Chris asked him about losing Michael, he didn't talk about losing his son, he talked about losing this star that he spent so much time and effort creating. What an ass. Also this week, the footage of Michael's hair catching on fire at the 1984 Pepsi commercial shoot was finally released. It was HORRIBLE. The guy's whole head engulfed in flames, and when it was finally put out, he had a HUGE bald spot on the top of his head, and a second smaller bald spot towards the side. Watching someone burn is one of the WORSE things to see, so I will not post the clip here, but it is all over the internet. Instead, here is a long lost clip of Michael singing "forever" and then sitting next to LaToya for an interview. This was taken around 1984 or 1985. I'm not sure if it ever aired, but it is really interesting to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtAXuzIVnto

JK Rowling, A Year in the Life:

This special aired in the UK 2 years ago, and it did a nice job of showing that she deserves all the money she gets from Harry Potter. It talked about how she was living in this tiny place when she wrote HP, and worked long and hard to get it published. It did seem to have some "phony moments" such as when they went back to that little place and she "cried," as well as a scene showing her "write the ending" to the final Harry Potter book. It's possible that they paid her to film her write that moment, but I bet it was "recreated."

America's Got Talent:

I don't watch this show, but I watched the clips of the 2 "stars" from this week. One was a middle aged woman (ala Susan Boyle) who was born with a cleft palate and was told to not even to bother auditioning for a cruise line. She sang, and like Susan Boyle, she was pretty good. I don't think she was as good as Susan, but she seems a LOT nicer, less bitter, and more mentally stable. The other was a 9 year old blues guitar player. He was OK, but a quick search of YouTube will show LOTS of kids from 6-16 who are waaay better. Of course, it's hard to compare him to older kids, but even some of the kids around his age seem to be "cleaner." This kid's guitar sounded a little out of tune, and at times it sounded like his fingers were hitting the other strings while he was playing. It caused this "sloppy" distortion kind of sound. Again, he's pretty darn good for 9, but not as good as people are hyping him to be. For comparison, here is this 9 year old kid from Japan who became a YouTube sensation and then got to appear on Ellen Degeneres recently. He doesn't speak much English, so you have to forgive his English singing, but just listen to his guitar playing. No "sloppiness" there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAB-SS-KCQE

The Bachelorette:

This is another show that I don't watch, but I have to comment on this week. So, apparently she's down to the final 3 guys. So what does she do? Has sex with all 3 of them! Well, actually she apparently had sex with 2 of them, but got upset when the third guy was unable to perform. Now, I am not a prude, but I don't think I'd be all that excited to have sex with some chick with cameras just outside, and after she had just done 2 other guys the day and 2 days prior. At the end of the episode, one of the guys she slept with got the boot. Hey, Richard Dawson, what's your take on this? Richard: "Survey Says...SLUT!" Yep, that pretty much sums it up. I've read that this chick seems to have poor self esteem and makes poor choices. It sounds like all of that was evident in this episode. And for the record, I'd feel this way if it was a bachelor who had sex with 3 gals too...or 2 and tried for # 3.

Big Brother:

In order to see the "hidden or inviso text" hold down the left mouse button and drag it to the end.
I'm not going to recap, instead, here is the spoiler as to who are the "Have Nots" this week and get slop and have to sleep on the mats in the metal room: the popular clique - laura and jordan, who cried and cried about it. The athletes bullied the house about the new bed assignments. A-holes. and who got nominated by Ronnie: ronnie nominated Jeff & laura, Jeff actually all but begged ronnie to put him up Also, last night, SPOILERS: Russell went off on lydia. He just wants to have time for everyone to eat and have drinks together with everyone and not talk game and he's getting sick of lydia and ronnie. he actually went and hung out with laura, jordan, casey and Jeff and seems to recognize that jessie, natalie, lydia and ronnie are the biggest threats to everyone while Jeff tried to warn Russell to watch his back and laura actually has predicted a lot of the things that's happened so far.

Braden, who got booted yesterday, once appeared on a show called Dante's Cove which was a gay/lesbian/bi horror themed soap opera. Here he is full frontal nude so obviously NSFW: http://heretv.com/dc205.html

Jordan has fake boobs and has let nearly everyone in the house feel them. She also seems to have set the record for most nudity in the house, as she just doesn't seem to care. She actually "accidentally" flashed Jeff, and said that she didn't even realize she was doing it. Anyway, here are a bunch of screen caps that some creepy guy took of the female HGs in various suggestive poses or outfits including many stills of Jordan topless and nude, so obviously NSFW: http://tinyurl.com/lvqr4c

At some point in the recent past, Casey in his DJ Mingle Mixx persona hosted a bikini contest in Florida and JESSIE was a judge! I wonder if some twist will be revealed that they're friends outside the house? The link has some booty shaking, so it may not be best to view at work: http://tinyurl.com/nznvfb

Recap 7/5 - 7/11 2009

Next Food Network Star:

Was there REALLY any surprise who got booted? I mean seriously.

The first challenge had the contestants take "grown up" ingredients and turn it into kid friendly food. There were 3 ingredient possibilities, and so that meant that 2 of the 6 would get the same one to use. The ingredients were calamari, brussel sprouts, and tofu.

Jeffrey got tofu and made them into chicken nuggets and his spot seemed to do well. Melissa was good. Michael was spinning in circles. Jameka talked too much and didn't finish cooking. I can't recall how Debbie did. Katie had calamari and while Bobby, Rachael Ray and the kids who were judging that round liked her presentation, Bob and Susie who watched it on camera said that it was horribly condescending and annoying...and her food wasn't that good.

The elimination challenge "randomly" paired up the contestants who had to present a cooking demo on Rachael Ray's Show (it never actually aired...probably taped at the end of one of her regular shows.) This time they had to take "kid's food" and make it into something grown ups would like. Melissa was paired with Michael who is usually good live (but not on camera) but he just froze and Melissa spokenonstoplikethisforthewholetimeduringthesegment. Debbie was paired with Katie and they worked well together, but Katie wouldn't look up while cooking and again the judges weren't fond of her food. Jeffrey was paired with Jameka and they had hot dogs & beans and just never got onto the same page. Jameka had 2 bad days in a row so she thought that she had to do well here or go home. So what did she do? She shut down and did nothing until near the end of the segment. Jeffrey took over and kept talking when he should have tried to get her to engage. At the end, Jameka, Michael and Katie were in the bottom and (shocker, I know) Katie FINALLY went home. She was cannon fodder from the start and they NEVER liked ANYTHING she did. The ONLY reason they included her as a contestant is because she's a nutritionist and FN gets criticized for too many of their stars not making things healthy. Although, they do have the series Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger.

Kathy Griffin:

The first part of the episode showed Kathy badger her agent to get her an endorsement deal, which oddly led to her getting a book deal. They showed her go to NY and meet with people at Random House and she seemed obnoxiously clueless.

The rest of the episode was very touching.
Kathy had her Mom make a "bucket list' of things she'd like to do before she dies (she's nearly 90.)
Maggie (Kathy's Mom,) said that she'd like to dine well, go to California Wine Country, and meet Stephanie Powers, Betty White, and Don Rickles.

Kathy took her Mom and staff, along with Michael McDonald and Nicole Sullivan of MadTV fame to a couple of CA wineries and Maggie and Tom both got a little drunk while the others got tipsy...except Kathy who doesn't drink. They were driven around in a rented "party van" complete with a stripper pole.

Stephanie Powers (who looked AMAZING) came to Maggie's apartment and taught her some pilates moves...that mostly consisted of squeezing the buttocks. Stephanie seemed to appreciate Maggie's adulation, but I wonder if she was just happy to be on tv for the first time in like 20 years.

Betty White joined Kathy and crew at a "fine dining" place...The Sizzler. Betty and Maggie are about the same age and Betty seemed to really enjoy her time with Maggie.

Don Rickles came to Kathy's house and was polite and made Maggie very very happy. Kathy always said that she got her humor from her Dad, and that Don was not only her idol but reminded her of her Dad. Maggie also said that Don reminded her of her late husband and that he'd have enjoyed time with Don too.

For me, the best thing about this episode is that it captured Betty and Don being pretty real and is a testament to their longevity due to their fantastic personalities. Both of them are in their 80s, so it's nice to have them shown being "real" as opposed to "acting" since there probably won't be many chances to do that anymore.

Warehouse 13:

First, I have to say that I HATE that SciFi changed to SyFy (which apparently is the abbreviation for Syphilis in Poland.) I mean, while it sounds the same, when one would type Sci Fi into a search engine, scifi.com would come up one of the top if not THE top options. Scifi.com becomes syfy.com when you try to go there, but still... Not all "rebrandings" work. Just ask Spike TV.

This show is about a HUUUUGE warehouse in the middle of nowhere, South Dakota which houses objects that have supernatural/paranormal qualities (although they use some term about some sort of energy, but wtfe.)

The government assigns 2 Secret Service agents to become the new "Mulder & Scully" who are tasked with finding such object, neutralizing them, and bringing them to the warehouse for safe keeping. The show is a cross between X-Files, Fringe, Friday the 13th: The Series, Eureka, National Treasure, and Indiana Jones. It's also just so-so at best. I mean, I suppose that it has promise and I'll keep watching (this was just the 1st episode after all,) but eventually the premise could get a little tiresome and monotonous. I do like the guy who is sort of the "librarian" of the warehouse, he's always fun.

Michael Jackson Memorial:

On the whole, it was very well done considering it seems that they put it together very quickly. It was pretty surreal to see the brothers carry in Michael's coffin while the Andre Crouch Choir sang the words, "Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King." Think about it. The song means sooner than later you'll die and go to Heaven to see the "King of Kings," yet as they're singing, in comes the body of the "King of Pop." Kind of eerie as I don't think anyone wanted a "real life" version of Thriller where out pops Michael to be "seen!"

Mariah Carey sounded a little off, but did an ok job. Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder both sang well, but Stevie again just seems a bit overblown. John Mayer was very good...but odd. I would have LOVED to have the same performance only from Prince. I'm STILL surprised that nobody has tracked him down for a comment...and still no words from longtime MJ friends Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker. Shouldn't they have been there instead of Magic and Kobe...especially Kobe? And WTF was that about MJ having KFC? He was a vegetarian. I guess he "strayed" now and then. I thought Usher's performance of "Gone Too Soon" while decent ended up as kinda phony. I mean, when he went to the casket to finish the song, it was touching, but then when he took off his glasses to show everyone that he was crying...I mean come on.

Brooke Shields gave an AMAZING speech. Very touching. Al Sharpton, who I do NOT like, also gave an INCREDIBLE speech. Probably the best speech I've ever heard him give...probably because it wasn't about HIM. Jermaine showed that he is still a very good singer and gave a moving performance of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" which was Michael's favorite song and Michael recorded for HIStory Vol. 1 But why does Jermaine keep telling us that he was Michael's "voice and backbone?" Dude, stop tooting your own horn. I felt for Marlon, but when he ended by asking Michael to hug Marlon's twin (who died at birth,) it just seemed a little...forced? Maybe I'm just too jaded. Which is odd because what happened next I take pretty much at face value.

When Janet was announced as the next speaker, but instead Michael's 11 year old daughter Paris took the mic...I gasped. Then when she was done, I was darn near a goner. I think had I been able to watch the memorial straight thru, or if it hadn't been so many days of non stop Michael coverage before, maybe I would have lost it. And rather than end this part on a sad note I will add this...was it me or was it quirky to see all of the black Jacksons...and 3 white MJ kids together?

Top Chef Masters:

You know, I should have just kept my big mouth shut. I stated before this began that John Besh is one of my favorite chefs and that I hoped he'd win since he got "screwed" by the Next Iron Chef. So, of course, he gets sabotaged by bad ovens and then has to go waaay outside his comfort zone to try to compete...which almost always causes a crash and burn.

For the first time, I'd heard of all 4 chefs...although I can't recall their names now. I was waaay off on my initial prediction though, as I thought it'd come down to John and the guy from LA.

The Quick Fire had the chefs make something with eggs, using only 1 hand. John tried to make a mini-casserole type dish, but the oven didn't work right and he had to finish cooking ONE of the 4 on a stove top. He got 1/2 a star. Oy. The Asian lady got FIVE STARS for her dish!

For the elimination challenge, they had to make a dish relating to a "magical" term: Surprise, Mystery, Illusion, and Spectacle. The LA guy got "mystery" so he presented his dish in a "bag." He got very good marks. Besh got "surprise" and went for it by using liquid nitrogen and really got into the theme...but he just did so so and with his 1/2 star from the first round, he was the first to go. The Latino chef from NY got "Spectacle" and tried to present his dish with flaming coconuts...but he really over did it with the fire and the food was just so so and he was the next to go. Finally, the Asian lady had Illusion and presented a steak tartare wrapped in Daikon, so it "looked" like a scallop. Here's what is funny. During the critique, Gail said that she thought the dish lacked flavor and salt. One of the other judges pointed out that had Gail poured the side sauce onto the dish, it would have added the missing salt and flavor. So what did Gail do, she gave her 4.5 stars! WTF?! She should be judging on what SHE FELT and tasted, NOT what she SHOULD have done. So, in the end, the Asian lady won and moves onto the next round.

Top Gear:

I watched a couple of episodes. In one, they got a $400,00 car and an $800,000 car and James aka Capt Slow drove the $400,000 car around the tracked and was very surprised at how well built it was. Well, it's all carbon fiber, so it SHOULD be sturdy. The Stig drove both cars for the timed lap, and surprisingly, the less expensive car was slightly faster. Probably has better handling, that usually makes up for any lack in HP.

Also in that episode, the 3 guys had to drive nearly 750 miles from Basel, Switzerland (at the French border) to Blackpool, England in order to turn on the Christmas lights at their annual ceremony. In case the guys didn't make it, The Stig was there to take their place should need arise.

The funny thing is, NONE of them SHOULD have been able to make it. The challenge was to get there on ONE TANK of gas. After filling their cars all the way, the gas doors were taped shut so they couldn't cheat.

James drove a Subaru Legacy Diesel which gets decent gas mileage (50 mpg,) but has a HUGE tank...although the range should work out to just over 700 miles...too short. Jeremy decided that since there was NO WAY to make it there in one tank, he'd lose in style by driving a Twin Turbo Jaguar XJS..driving it at top speeds, and running the AC...anything to try to get it to die somewhere near his home. His car gets about 35 mpg and should run out of gas around 650 miles...waay too short. Hammond actually tried to win by driving a VW Polo Bluemotion which gets 74 mpg! With only a 10 gallon tank, he'd probably fall JUST short unless he drove way too slow...in which case he'd arrive in Blackpool AFTER the lighting ceremony.

Amazingly, Richard's car made it all the way there, and in time. MIRACULOUSLY, Jeremy's car made it (I have NO IDEA HOW) and he too made it in time. James's car eventually made it (I think) but he missed the ceremony. In the end, while Hammond and Jeremy argued over who would turn the lights on, The Stig casually walked over and did it for them.

The next episode dealt with trying to figure out why so many people Finland were always among the best racers. They showed that in Finland, they're taught to drive as children, go thru a 3 year training period before given a license, and part of that training involved hazardous condition driving and almost "stunt" driving. Also, each weekend, all over Finland, folks got together and raced cheap (under $1,000) cars.

Mark Wahlberg was the guest, and he drove the "Star in a reasonably priced car" segment. Apparently, during his test runs, he "broke" a couple cars and nearly ran over a cameraman. In the end, he had a time of about 1:47, just beating Dr Who star David Tennent.

The final part was they were to take a car that only sold under 450 models before being removed from showrooms and to try to get it to run faster than a specific sports car. Initially, it ran the course 14 seconds slower. After tuning the engine, replacing the brakes, tires, and seats, and adding a few odds and ends (as they only had $9,000 to spend to tweak it) they ended up still running about 6 seconds slower than the sports car's time. The odd part was that in the history of the "new" Top Gear, there have only been 3 cars that all 3 hosts liked, and the car they had to use...that sold less than 450 in total...was one of those 3 cars.

The Superstars:

Down to the final 6 teams.

The first event required one member of a team to first run, then swim across a lagoon and then run up the beach to cross a finish line. Once the first teammate crossed, the second could go. All of the teams except Brandi Chastain and Julio Iglesias Jr sent the man first, woman second. So, poor Brandi was the only woman in her heat, and not surprisingly finished last. Julio, however, more than made up for it by swimming past ALL of the women except Kristi Leskinen whose partner, Maks from DWTS gave them a great lead. Julio and Brandi amazingly finished 2nd! TO and his model partner both SUCKED at swimming (they both admitted as much before and after) and they finished last.

In the second event, each team had to make as many baskets as possible within a certain time frame ( I think it was 30 seconds.) The twist was that each teammate had to shoot, but only after their partner made a basket. The other twist was that there were 5 stations where the shooter could get from 1 to 5 points depending on how close the "free throw" line was to the basket. The first team seemed to have the right idea where the non shooting partner would feed baskets to the shooting partner until they scored. Also, the guy was shooting for 3 points, while the gal went for 2. TO and his partner were dumb. TO chased his own rebounds and then the partner kept dribbling before shooting...all while the clock ticked down. For the first time, Kristi and Maks sucked at an event and finished last. WNBA star Lisa Leslie went for 4 points, and struggled. Then her partner ALSO went for 4, before finally switching to 3. I think if they both would have stuck with 3, they could have buried everyone. Leslie looked ridiculous and SHOULD be embarrassed. Another odd strategy was Julio and Brandi. He shot 3s, then she shot 2s, then they SWITCHED and he shot 2s, and she shot 3s, and then they changed back and forth each time. Huh? If they BOTH could make 3s, they should have just stayed there. WTFE, but it worked as they won the challenge.

For the "rubber match" they AGAIN screwed the higher ranked team. The 1st place team after 2 events was safe, while the bottom 3 had to go to the obstacle course. 2nd and 3rd place teams had to shoot again to see who'd go too the obstacle course. The 2nd place team again had 10 more points than 3rd, so 3rd SHOULD have been sent to the obstacle course...but they HAVE to have their "rubber match." And once again, the higher ranked team lost.

At the obstacle course, TO who got his foot caught in the first episode, nearly leaped over the cargo net. He jumped into it while turning his body into a roll so when he landed, he was on his back but rolling forward. Using his long arms, he hurled himself into the 2nd section and kept his momentum going. At the end, he grabbed the last support bar with his hand and using his long legs threw himself out of the net, and then sprinted easily across the finish line. Trying to describe it doesn't do it justice. I've NEVER seen anyone cross a cargo net (here, Survivor, wherever) like that before. At the end, Lisa and David beat Jeff and Ali so Jeff and Ali are gone. That sucks because Ali is "easy on the eyes."

Big Brother 11:

Some random thoughts...
Julie didn't look pregnant from the front, but when she turned sideways to talk to the HGs in the house, you could see her HUGE belly. When she gave a tour of the BB house last week, it was VERY prominent.

Laura, the girl with the Hooters has fake boobs and appears to have fake teeth. She also looks like she might have had some plastic surgery on her face. Her pontoons are too big, her teeth are chompers, and she isn't very pretty. Most would call her a "butter face," but I don't think her body is good enough for that as it is too phony. Apparently, she was talking on the live feeds about her BIG FAKE BOOBS, so yes, they ARE fake. She actually just had them done recently, and many of the HGs and live feed bloggers were impressed that they were done recently. I'm pretty sure her teeth are fake too, and I bet she had facial plastic surgery.

I read here and other places that Chima was raped 10 years ago by a serial rapist who also killed at least twice. Thankfully, he was caught and is serving life in jail in Texas. Her story was part of a History Channel episode about the attacks. This is why her face is kinda messed up, as she was brutalized and has had to have a couple of surgeries to correct the damage.

The Tae Kwan Do chick SHOULD have said she was 21 not 24, but WTFE. If it hasn't already been exposed, it will. She had an shouting match with her cliquemate Jeff and she didn't come across as an 18 year old. It'll end up biting her in the @$$. But, from the fight with Jeff, it sounds like she only talks with Jessie and hasn't talked with anyone else...at least as of then. Like Jessie last year, she sleeps a lot.

Jeff is a really good looking guy, and if someone told me that he was Adam Lambert's brother, I'd believe them. Too bad he's an @-hole.

The scientist gal looks a little like Lisa Loeb. I don't like liars, but I understand where she's coming from.

The tattoo gal seems to remind a LOT of people of P!nk. There's someone else that she reminds me of, but I can't place it. She seems to be nuzzling Jessie. Ugh!

The nerdy gamer guy reminds me of the "I'm a PC" guy. I've read that he's more than 2-faced...more like 4-faced.

Braden, the "surfer dude" also appeared in an episode of "Foursome" on the Playboy channel. Ozzy from Survivor also appeared on there...in all his nakedness, a couple years prior to his first time on Survivor. I'm not certain if the "surfer dude" also was nude like Ozzy, but most likely. Braden's episode of "Foursome" airs again this week. Here is a link to see Ozzy...warning there is swinging schlongage in these pics!
http://tinyurl.com/yg4t2s

The odd bedroom is supposed to look as though they are at the bottom of a swimming pool. The plastic floatation devices on top are actually the bed covers, not the mattresses. There is actually a real bed underneath.

I can't stand Jesse and I wish that Brian had made it in, but that first challenge clearly favored the Athletes and Popular folks. Think of it this way, Brains are 80-20 brains over brawn; Off Beats are 60-40 brains over brawn; Popular are 60-40 brawn over brains; and Athletes are 80-20 brawn over brains. Given that, it would make sense to me for the Athletes to nominate 2 people from Popular as they are the biggest physical threat, and if one takes themselves off, put up the third. If the un-nominated wins Veto and takes one down, then put up an Off Beat. That is how I would do it...but are the Athletes that smart?

In order to see the "hidden or inviso text" hold down the left mouse button and drag it to the end.

SPOILERS!!!

Apparently not. Jesse nominated tattoo girl and Chima. Russell with the muscles won veto, and since he's also in the athlete clique, you'd think that he wouldn't change the noms. However, there appears to be a movement to take down tattoo girl and put up surfer dude as he is seen as a major threat by the athletes. Jeff apparently is not getting along with his athlete clique and first had a blow up with Russell and later with the tae kwan do chick. Live feed bloggers do not like Jeff due to his usage of the words gay and f-g. muscle dude ended up using the veto and took tattoo gal off and now surfer dude is on the block and is the target, but it may end up either being Chima or a tie which means hoh decides who goes.

END SPOILERS!!!

HG Updates...

I'm pretty sure that I read that Jessica from BB8 (who was trying to get into other house in the "Popular clique" and Eric "America's Player" broke up sometime last year.

Catching up with the winner of last season, Dan:
http://tinyurl.com/lu58wy

Hardy Hill from BB2 is in a new "docu-reality" series (like The Hills or The Real Housewives of...) http://www.bravotv.com/miami-social/bio/hardy

Burn Notice:

I REALLY loved this episode! It was waaaaay out of the box for this series.
The main story was about a mathematician who works as an office plant cleaner at a defense contractor. He sees patterns, so I guess he's kinda like the guy from the tv series Numbers, except that this guy is crazy. He uses his pattern recognition ability to track down Michael to a gun range, and KNOWS that he must be an ex covert ops who is now working in Miami because of all the explosions and odd crime captures lately...the same things the cops were on him about.
He convinces Michael and Sam to talk about a job as his boss at the defense contractor is selling secrets and getting spies killed, including one of Sam's old pals.
At lunch, he reveals that the boss is an evil alien and the people getting killed are good aliens. He then freaks out and flips over the table. Mike & Sam call the cops (yes, they note the oddness) and the guy gets taken to a mental health facility. One of the people who picks the guy up tells Michael that he's a semi regular.

Later, the guy breaks out of the mental hospital, and tracks Michael down to his house. Mike, Sam & Fi go to the guy's house to see his evidence, and it's floor to ceiling with news clippings...the way the guy sees his patterns. A spy found dead that day fits a warning the crazy guy gave to Mike, so they now believe him.
Although the boss blows up the guy's house preventing them from catching her in the act of wiping evidence against her, Mike and the client are able to trick her into going into her building's secure room, where Michael cuffs her and calls the cops. She turns in the guy she's been using to kill people, but she's totally screwed. Sam gets the client a job with some people he knows, and gets the guy on meds to combat his mental issues. I would like to see them bring him back from time to time. Odd fact, the actor who played the nutty client is named Michael Rubinstein but because there already was a Michael Rubinstein in SAG, he changed his name to Michael Weston. The name of the lead character in Burn Notice is Michael Westen. How odd is that?

The other story was that Michael and Sam track private planes and figure out which hanger the CIA uses to sell stuff on the black market in order to fund ops so covert that they have to stay off the books. Michael shows up asking for the hanger manager, but the guy knows who Michael is and tells him that he's been warned about Michael and tells him that he can't risk rocking his boat to help him. Michael breaks in, steals some of the black market goods, and puts them on eBay under a name indicating that the guy has met with Michael. Michael returns and the guy is pissed, but is now Michael's official local CIA contact. He tells Michael that while the government wants to brush under the rug the actions of the defense contractor's boss who was selling secrets that Michael caught, it did get some people to say that they'd look into his file.

Eureka:

SciFi..err...SyFy really messed up. Last season was cut short due to the writer's strike, but they were originally going to air the remaining episodes in January and air a new season in July. For whatever reason, they instead decided to not air until now these new episodes that are actually part of last season. I read the Eureka was renewed for a 4th Season, so I'm guessing that won't be until next July? In the last episode of Season 3 that aired, Sheriff Carter got fired, not long after Dr Blake informed him that she was pregnant with her dead husband's baby. This new episode is the next episode, but she is now VERY pregnant. The odd thing is that in the prior episodes, Jack's sister arrives in town already pregnant, so she SHOULD be farther along than Dr Blake, but essentially is still in the same stage that she was before. When the season DVD for this comes out, it'll look VERY odd. Also, the daughter grew up quite a bit in the break and looks older than in the prior episodes.

At any rate, this was another good but not great episode. Carter is trying to get a job with Homeland Security, but can't talk about Eureka...only that he was Sheriff of a small town. Everyone thinks Jo will become the new Sheriff, even Jo, but instead Carter is replaced with a robot that arrives in a suitcase sized box. He looks like a metal boombox, but unfolds into a big metal man...which then breaks apart revealing a fleshy, human looking android. Jo promptly quits after being passed up...again...and this time for Robocop.

Some moron accidentally networks with Carter's artificial lifeform house, and accidentally creates gravity wells...something like a tornado sized black hole. This start causing random increases in gravity around town, crushing things. Carter's house is able to manipulate the gravity wells to crush the android, twice, in hopes that Carter will be rehired.

In the end, Carter and the android Sheriff destroy the device that was wrecking havoc before it goes critical and starts to create a true black hole. Henry is now the Mayor (I don't remember this happening) and since the new Sheriff has the entire town charter in its memory, he is able to find out that while the Department of Defense can request the firing of the Sheriff, only the Mayor can approve it. So, Carter never actually technically was fired. The android says that he'll go do something else...which is odd because it was designed to be the "perfect Sheriff." I think it would have been fun to keep him as a regular...use him as a Deputy. Of course, Jo also takes her job back, and all is well as the episode ends. Well, mostly. Apparently, "something is coming" and from the way they described it, it's from outer space and heading straight toward Eureka...following old interstellar communication signals that were sent into space. Duh duh duuuuuunnn!!!

Torchwood:

Preparing for the new 5 part mini-series that starts on 7/20, BBC America aired the second to last episode on Saturday, and next Saturday will be the last episode aired (from March 2008!)

In this episode, Jack, Ionto, Tosh and Owen arrive at 2 buildings where they got alien readings. They think they're lifeforms, but discover that they're bombs...just as they go off. Gwen arrives VERY late with her husband (Rhys) having had to drive her. They first free Jack, then Ionto. Jack, Ionto and Rhys then have to work together to free a nearly crushed Tosh, while Gwen has to free Owen before a window and frame fall cutting him in half. And since he's now sort of a walking dead, and can't heal, that wouldn't be a good thing to happen.

While each member was trapped, they flashback to the events that got them into Torchwood. Jack was living in London in the 1800s, waiting for Dr Who to reappear, when he is captured by the only 2 members of Torchwood, 2 women. They turn out to be lovers. What IS it with this series that EVERYONE who works for Torchwood goes both ways...at least once? Anyway, they believe he's a threat and realize that he knows The Doctor who they are charged with fighting. Jack reveals that The Doctor is a friend to humanity, although (at that time) Jack is PISSED with him for leaving him behind. They then show that Jack learns that The Doctor won't cross his path for 100 years, so he decides to work with Torchwood. They show documents going from pen and quill to manual typewriters to electric typewriters, to old computers to laptops...showing how things change while Jack is at Torchwood.

They then show that 5 years prior, Tosh worked for a defense contractor, but stole plans for a sonic weapon which she has to trade for her kidnapped mother. They badguys tell her that she is so good, that they won't release the mother and will harm her with the weapon Tosh made unless Tosh continues to help them. They then use the device on Tosh and her mother...until UNIT arrives and arrests everyone. They put Tosh into a solitary confinement cell and inform her (using an overhead speaker) that her rights are terminated and that she will be held without trial or help forever for what she's done without any counsel or appeal. Tosh asks if her mother is ok but they refuse to tell her. It looks like Tosh is only there a couple of days when Jack arrives. He tells her that the sonic device didn't work, but she was able to fix the problems intuitively while she made it. He could use someone like her. He tells her that in exchange for 5 years service, he's had her record fixed and her mother is ok...but Tosh can only have limited contact...like postcards.

They then show that Ionto worked for Torchwood London, which was taken over by militants against aliens, including The Doctor, so Jack's been working solo. Ionto wants to work with him in light of the destruction of Torchwood London and the "death" of his GF at the hands of the Cybermen. Of course, in the first season it was revealed that Ionto's GF had been partially turned into a Cyberman and he was trying to save her, but she ended up killing several people before having to be destroyed. After telling Ionto to go away several times, Ionto brings Jack to a Pterodactyl which they catch (it was seen flying around the caverns where Torchwood is located in the first ever episode of Torchwood.)

Owen is shown engaged to a pretty gal, who is then shown to have some severe memory issues. Owen tells the doctors to run more scans and tests as she seems to be getting worse, although at times she is perfectly fine. The new tests show a large tumor and they decide to operate. It turns out that the tumor is an alien which gestated in her brain, and when the surgeons tried to remove it, it killed them with a deadly gas. Owen is devastated when Jack arrives to tell him what has happened. Owen then finds himself in a hospital bed. While unconscious, Jack and Torchwood alter the security footage to only show Owen awaiting the results of surgery...no Jack showing up. They also have the story that the girl died in surgery as the mass was too big. The surgeon and the assistants were all made to have died in a car accident after work. Owen is thought to be having hysterical dementia due to the grief as nobody believes his story about Jack and the alien in the brain. Jack shows up at the gal's gravesite, and Owen kicks his @$$ for a bit. Jack then offers him a job with Torchwood, and after seeing Torchwood and what they do is for real, he agrees.

Once all the flash backs are over, and the group's members are all freed, Jack's hologram watch goes off showing Capt John Hart who claims responsibility for the bombs, and then show Jack that Jack's LONG missing brother, Gray, is with him...seemingly John's prisoner. John says that he's gonna destroy everything Jack loves...for not caring for John anymore. That will lead to the final episode this coming Saturday.

Recap 6/29 - 7/3 2009

Next Food Network Star:

Well, it's about time. Seriously.

Anyway, this week the first challenge was to make the "ultimate burger" that represented a region of the US, and then present it on camera in a 30 second spot. Most of the contestants did about the same on camera as they have in the past with Melissa setting the bar high when she went first, and Jeffrey and Debbie also doing well while Michael and Teddy weren't so hot. Katie was somewhere in the middle as usual, but Jameka was the surprise by crashing and burning when she's done well on camera before. While Michael wasn't that great on camera, Bobby loved his burger and will feature it on the menu at his new Bobby's Burger Palace in Connecticut. Katie made a Turkey burger and as it takes longer to cook than the time that they were given, she served it not completely cooked. This is the 2nd time that she's served undercooked food.

The second challenge also was about regional cuisine, and the contestants had to make a dish using all of the ingredients that they were given that represented a specific area. They then had to present their food to service people who had just returned from the Middle East, along with their families...and Guy Fieri who won NFNS in Season 2, and is one of FN's biggest stars.

I think the NFN PTB decided to make the show stop being a runaway by sabotaging Jeffrey. They NEVER showed how each contestant was assigned their region, and Jeffrey ended up with Lobster, Cheese and Blueberries to represent Maine. Now, WTF could you do with all three of those ingredients in one dish? So, not surprisingly, his dish sucked. He knew it sucked, and his presentation also suffered because of it. However, Jameka made glue. She at least went out and tried to sell herself, to try to cover her food with smoke and mirrors. It didn't work, but she survived. Michael clocked Debbie with a sheet pan and it threw her off. Both her food and her presentation were bland, but she also survived. Melissa won the challenge, easily, but I still didn't get her presentation. She mentioned that her Mom had been in the service, and then said that she had died when Melissa was 20. It seemed unnecessary to add that. She didn't say that she died while serving, so it just seemed kinda gratuitous. The bottom turned out to be Katie (shocker,) Teddy (shocker,) Jameka, and the only real shocker was that Jeffrey also was in the bottom. But, there was NFW that Jeffrey or Jameka were gonna go home ahead of Teddy and Katie who are ALWAYS in the bottom. And finally, after should have gotten booted last week, Teddy went bye bye. Please NEVER show up on my tv again.

BET Awards:

They did a pretty impressive job of turning the awards into a Michael Jackson tribute. Jamie Foxx did a pretty decent job as host, and did a decent job doing the Beat It dance and then Moonwalking. He came out and did one of his songs in Auto-Tune...which is funny because Jay-Z came out and performed his new song called Death of Auto-Tune.

New Edition started the show by performing as The Jacksons, complete with outfits, dance routines, and sang a medley of their songs. They weren't announced, but EVERYONE knew who they were.

Ciara sang "Heal the World," and Ne-Yo proved that he got his sound right from Michael with a very good version of "Lady In My Life."

But the biggest shock was right at the end, without any introduction, Jamie Foxx escorted Janet Jackson onto the stage. You could see her trying to get the words out before finally giving a very short speech. They cut to the crowd and there were LOTS of tears...but that was ONLY the start as Jamie Foxx (without auto-tune) and Ne-Yo performed a very good version of "I'll Be There" which pretty much got all the women crying...and looked to have choked up many of the men.

It really wasn't that great of a show on the whole. They chose not to announce the nominees (except in Best Female R&B) in order to allow for all of the MJ stuff, and it seemed to make much of the show out of context. Also, it was odd when performers sang non-MJ songs as you know that they ALL could have done SOMETHING. But the beginning and the ending made it worth watching.

Kathy Griffin:

In this episode, the first part dealt with KG trying to appeal to "Young Hollywood" and younger fans. She tried to get a part on "Gossip Girl," but failed. She did get a small part on "Privileged" as a wedding planner for a wedding between 2 gay characters. She had trouble with her lines and her acting as she hasn't done much acting over the last several years, but she ended up getting it together.

The second part dealt with her hanging out with Paris Hilton, going shopping, dealing with the Paps, and then hanging out at a pool. KG showed off her newly fabulous 48 year old body in a bikini. Earlier, she kept embarrassing Tom who was in her walk-in closet while she was trying on some of Paris' clothes, and she kept practicing showing her crotch (with panties) and Tom had to keep turning away.

The storyline that ran through the whole episode dealt with Kathy putting her Mom in charge of her Facebook and MySpace pages (created also to attract younger fans) and her Mom having a hard time posting what Kathy wanted (as Mom was supposed to post things as though SHE were Kathy) and not post things like "2 buck chuck on sale at Trader Joe's." Kathy fired her at the end of the episode.

Spectacular Spiderman:

This wasn't one of the better episodes as though not much "really" happened, although it did mark the return of the Sinister Six which replaced 2 members. Doc Oc has had a mental breakdown and is in an insane asylum, and was there along with Shocker. The Master Planner broke Shocker out of prison, but Doc Oc wouldn't go.

A very wiped out Spidey ended up defeating the revised SS, but the police were only able to hang onto Mysterio as the Master Planner was able to extract the other 5 from where Spidey had left them. This left an opening in the SS, so MP sent Doc Oc's robot tentacles to kidnap him from the insane asylum.

The other storyline dealt with Peter's girl Issues. Liz Allen still seems to be crushing on him, but drops him whenever the QB (now on crutches) shows up. So, Peter tried to talk with Gwen who said that it's obvious that she isn't his first choice...and WON'T be his 2nd. Peter then went to get Mary Jane a Hot Chocolate when the Sinister Six showed up. He explained his absence by saying that the vendor was out, so he went down the street to get the drinks. This lead to the gals thinking that Peter just can't stay focused.

Superstars:

Last week, TO and his model teammate were screwed over and got booted. Jennifer Capriati, who sucked in all of the challenges last week, ended up reaggravating an old injury and had to drop out. This meant that her teammate, David Charvet, also was gone. This allowed TO's team back into the competition.

So, what was the first task? A relay race in sand. And TO, a NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver was now going to be running in it. Hoo boy. There were to be 6 heats, with the slowest team cut after each heat. This meant that the winning pair had to run 6 times. They could only run either the 1st or 2nd leg 3 times each.

Bode Miller's team devised a strategy to false start each race, because the rules stated that once any team false started in a heat, if it happened again (even if the 2nd time wasn't the same team as the first time) the team that false started would be eliminated. This meant that each race had added pressure to not jump the gun.

TO's team won the event easily. Bode Miller's team wound up in the second to last race, and when the gun went off, they both sat down. They did this to pretend that whoever left first (TO) jumped the gun. The other racer, NBA player Robert Horry, got confused and at first didn't run, but then took off when he found out that TO didn't false start. Bode's team decided that they couldn't win anyway, so they wanted to rest up for the next event. Probably a good idea as Dan Cortese pulled his hamstring during on of the later heats. Dan had to leave the competition, so they brought David Charvet back to replace him on Lisa Leslie's team. They wrote DAN on their arms (but not Jen.)

The 2nd event was a running long jump over a styrofoam bar in the water. Each person got to practice jump once, and TO cleared 20' for the longest jump of the day. They had the "celebs" jump first, so by the time it was the athlete's turn to jump, the tide had come in which raised the bar 3' up, making it harder to clear. Sure enough, the athletes kept hitting the bar. TO tried 20' again, but should have gone with 17' or 18' as he would have made it. Instead, he hit the bar. Estella Warren and the NBA guy finished last in both the relay race and the long jump, as BOTH of them hit the bar.

Once again, they screwed a team in order to have the "rubber match." While not as bad as last week's, there were 4 bottom teams, and the team in third had 10 more points than the team in 4th. It didn't matter, so Bode Miller's team had to compete against Julio Iglesias's team. Julio stumbled at the end of the runway and faceplanted onto the styrofoam bar, sending his team into the obstacle course, which is how it should have been anyway. Estella Warren and Robert Horry sucked the entire day, finishing last in all three events and they got the boot. Estella had once been an Olympic level synchronized swimmer, but she had a belly and looked much more "doughy" and out of shape compared to the other contestants, and Robert wasn't much better. They deserved to go.

Top Gear:

I actually watched 2 episodes this week.
The first aired Monday or Tuesday and involved the guys driving American Muscle Cars from San Francisco to the Salt Flats in Utah.
They joked that their Visas allowed for them to make "factual" tv, not "entertainment" as that was a different type of Visa. They said that they didn't realize the difference and didn't have time to change their Visas. The last time they were here, Jeremy apparently put a cow on the roof of his car or somesuch, so that didn't qualify as "factual" and the State Department gave them some lip when they came over this time. They allegedly were told that they could film here as long as it "wasn't entertaining."

The guys started by saying that American Muscle cars just don't make sense as they use too much gas, and can't be driven in Europe because the roads there aren't designed for them, and they're just not practical.

Jeremy drove a Corvette ZR-1, and at first didn't think he'd like it but ended up LOVING it. He said that Ferrari should take a drive in it and learn something from it. He said that it had a LOT of power, making it fun, but it also road well, and when taking it though a road that had a lot of turns, it handled even better. One segment that cracked me up was while they were in Reno, James went to a casino while Jeremy and Richard dragged raced and then both pulled alongside several parked cars and revved their engines so loudly that they set off the car alarms on all the cars that had them. Fun!

James started out by hating his Cadillac CTS-V. He actually owns a Cadillac, but a luxury one, not a muscle car. He hated that it had all this "needless" power when a Cadillac "should" be all about luxury. Once they hit the curvy roadway, though, he fell in love with how it handled the road with agility, power, and surprising grace.

Richard was supposed to drive a Dodge Challenger, but Chrysler wouldn't lend them one to drive because they claimed that Top Gear has "trashed" their cars in the past. So, "The Hamster" (who LOVES muscle cars and actually owns a "Bullitt" Mustang) allegedly bought a Challenger. He said that they normally cost about $45K, but because they were rare and in demand that he had to pay about $55K for his. He loved driving it on the open road, and loved the sound of the engine. On the curvy road, though, it didn't handle as well as the others. In the end though, Jeremy showed footage of all 3 of them smiling while driving and said that "American failed to make a practical muscle car...it made 3."

The second episode was on Thursday, I believe, and was the sequel to an earlier episode where the guys were supposed to make "aquatic" cars and sail them across a river. In that episode, Jeremy took a pickup truck and slapped an outboard motor on it. He was doing well until it took in water due to not being water proof, and it rolled over in the water. Richard tried to make a "cabin cruiser" but his also failed. James actually made it across in one of those cars that were designed to be driven in the water, but Jeremy claimed that he didn't quite make it since he wasn't able to drive it out of the river.

So this time, they modified their earlier ideas. Jeremy used foam and other stuff to seal up the insides of the truck, the wheel wells, and the engine. Richard did much the same, but his vehicle this time was pretty much a boat placed on a truck frame. James used the same car, but added a mast. This time, however, they were told to cross the English Channel into France. 22 miles!

On the first attempt, James couldn't steer correctly and he nearly crashed into a breaker wall, but was saved by the Coast Guard. Jeremy did ok, but the rough waters caused his truck to sink. Richard also couldn't survive the rough waters and turned around. On the second attempt, the waters were calmer but James' car sank and he ended up with Richard. Jeremy tried to make it out in the calmer waters, but also failed. Finally, they all piled into Jeremy's truck and tried to break Richard Branson's record of driving a car across the Channel in 100 minutes. They failed. But, they actually did make it across the Channel and drove out onto the shore...to the applause of dumbfounded French folks.

Pitchmen:

I've never seen this before, but it followed Billy Mays and his partner Anthony "Sully" Sullivan and how people would pitch them ideas and then if Billy and "Sully" believed in the product, Billy would do an infomercial about it.

The episode I saw was the "season finale" (which may now be the series finale) and it gave a recap of some of the products that didn't pass muster, and gave an update on some that had. A fireman invented a "dual saw" that cuts through just about anything and has sold $5 million worth! WOW! Another guy invented a magnetic tool belt that you wear on your arm, and he's sold millions as well. They also showed the Awesome Auger which has sold over $9 Million worth! Holy schnikes!

The first part of the episode dealt with them upset over the Sham-wow and the Slap-chop as both are similar to products that Billy has supported in the past...the Zorbeez and the Quick-Chop. It didn't help that both products Billy pitched were several years ago, while the 2 new ones were within that last 2 years. It also didn't help that some writer for Popular Mechanics compared the Zorbeez to the Sham-wow and said that the Sham-wow won "by a mile." Billy spent his own money (the product makers weren't initially behind a new infomercial) and made new spots for both products. At the shoot, Billy's dad and his son were all there, and all are named Billy Mays (Sr, Jr, and III.) The product infomercials were successful and led to a lot of new sales of both products.

The next part dealt with a contest between Billy and Sully who each had an hour at the Philadelphia Trade Show to pitch old products to the people there and see who could make the most money. Sully doesn't do much pitching, so he decided to cheat. He gave money to people walking around the show to act as "marks" to come up and buy the product (a shammy type mop that Sully had pitched on tv 15 years ago) to draw a crowd. He also sent 2 friends (a man and a woman) both disguised as bearded vagrant types to try to throw Billy off his game. None of it mattered as Sully sold just over $600 worth (including the "Marks") while Billy sold over $900 worth of a salsa maker that he also hasn't pitched in over 15 years.

The end of the show offered a tribute to Billy. So that was impressive to have the episode re-edited added onto to deal with Billy's death earlier this week. They'll also have a special tribute episode about him next Thursday.

I really didn't even know the name Billy Mays until last year. I'd seen the guy, but didn't pay attention to his name. I wasn't a big fan of his "shouting" style either, but it was effective. I will say that I give both of these guys a LOT of credit. They weren't just shills out there pushing anything. They cared about their reputations, and wouldn't pitch anything if it didn't work as advertised and wouldn't have a market. For instance, the magnetic arm toolbelt is one of those, "Why didn't I think of that" type of products, but OxyClean is what put Billy on the map and that was one of those "does it really work" things. I've read reviews of it, and yep, I guess it does. Anyway, Billy came across as intense, passionate, but a decent guy. In a week where the iconic "side man," "beauty," and "superstar" all died, Billy was the iconic "salesman" and his death at 50 also was much too soon. I don't know if this series will return, unless maybe "Sully" steps out from behind the camera, or Billy's son takes over for him...or they hire "Vince" who pitched the Sham-wow and the Slap-chop. Although that recent run in with the law probably wouldn't put Vince high on the list to succeed Billy.

Recap 6/14 - 6/18 2009

Next Food Network Star:

I stand by my prediction that Jeffrey will win this season. He'll have to massive collapse to lose. Every time he walks into the room with the judges, their faces light up like they've seen the messiah.

Both challenges this week were for Food magazines. The first challenge they had to prepare a dish with a set of ingredients that were given to them under a cover so they didn't know what they had until they took the cover off. They then had to present it on camera as if it was a segment on a talk show where they only had 30 seconds to present.

Most of the contestants did acceptable when they presented, although Michael finished early and was stuck trying to stretch which is nearly impossible. I read on the FN website that Michael didn't originally make the cut, but when a contestant who had been cast dropped out, he was picked as the replacement. That says to me that he'll have to really step up his game. Melissa the "home cook" screwed up her dish. She was supposed to have a cherry sauce but ran out of time, so she put cherries on top...like a sundae. Eddie won the challenge and seemed to not only make a good dish, but did a nice job presenting.

For the second challenge, they had to make a dish to go along with a holiday. Since Eddie had won the first challenge, he was able to assign which holiday went to which contestant. I think that he also sees Jeffrey as the toughest competitor as he gave him Groundhog Day. WTF dish goes along with Groundhog day? Jeffrey made a nice Mexican style dish that he claimed he made because that kind of food reminds him of Spring which is what we get if the Groundhog doesn't see its shadow. Yep, a reeeeeeal streeeeetch. The committee called him on it that he just made whatever he wanted, but really, I didn't hear any suggestions from them as to what would be better. I mean, someone suggested Ground Pork in place of Groundhog...but come on, how stupid. Ultimately, they loved him and his dish so it didn't matter that they didn't feel like his dish had anything to do with GHD. Eddie crashed and burned by saying some really dumb things about women having different diets and then started telling how he had made the dish for his GF on their first date and that it was intimate because they had the place to themselves...so Bobby told him to stop talking. But THAT wasn't the biggest issue in this challenge.

Melissa was making a dish for Mother's Day, so she made a "breakfast in bed" meal. At some point, Brett asked her if she wanted some help to finish since he was already done. Then, Teddy also came over and helped her out. When they went to the judges after the challenge, the judges told her how much they liked her dish. The whole time, Teddy and especially Brett were making all these dramatic faces and movements, and when the judges were done with their comments, Brett "congratulated" Teddy. The judges asked what was going on, and Brett said that if it hadn't been for them that Melissa wouldn't have finished. The judges asked Teddy if he felt that way too, and he said that he wasn't going to throw anyone under the bus. Melissa was stunned. The judges asked her if she couldn't finish her dishes without help from others. If it had been me, I would have pointed out that they volunteered to help, and that I hadn't asked them for help. She didn't say that, but she did say that putting some food into ramekins does not constitute a significant contribution to her dish.

During the questioning of the contestants after the challenge, Brett had stated that he hadn't signed up for the job on his own, that people had suggested that he give it a go. So when it came time to boot someone the choices were Brett, Eddie and Katie the nutritionist. I felt that Katie would go because her food has been terrible and she can't seem to make or present food without talking about antioxidants and stuff like that. But I'm guessing that because Brett didn't seem to have his heart in it, while at least Katie did, Brett got the boot.

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List:

This episode was filmed in January. Kathy went to a party where the Grammy nominees are announced...via a list...and she got to schmooze with Taylor Swift, LL Cool J, Christina Aguilera, and others. She then found out that she was nominated when a Grammy staffer gave her a copy of the list. How odd.

Then she went to Richmond which is a stone's throw from Vancouver, and performed at a casino the night after Lily Tomlin. So of course she went to Lily's show and yelled from the seats asking Lily to be on her D-List program. Then she and Lily hung out together that night in Lily's room, and then seemed to have a brunch together the next day where they called Jane Fonda and Liza Minnelli. Jane didn't seem to especially like Kathy, but Liza claimed that she loved Kathy.

The funniest part was that the guy who ran the casino's entertainment program was all over Kathy. When Kathy arrived, he had the staff greet her in a line like they were waiting for royalty. He even had a cake for her, and whatever Kathy asked of him, he'd do. But then, he kept showing up at her room, and then in her private box while watching Lily's show. He even showed up when Kathy and Lily were having brunch. WTF dude, she isn't into you.

I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here:

This week so far we learned that Janice was backed up and she ended up being taken to the hospital due to various stomach issues. She ended up returning and seemed to be in very good spirits. John Salley was upset that he was in the "Bottom 2," and was saying that he was going to leave because he didn't want people to decide if he's worthy of winning. He then decided to stay which was good because they later had a challenge where the "celebs" were asked which person the public thought was the smartest, hardest working, laziest, etc...and John won most of the "good" awards.

John ended up winning the "camp leader" position as they wouldn't allow Lou Diamond Phillips to compete for a "third term." Janice said that she didn't want it, so she was taken out first. Heck, even Torrie tried to take herself out. It ended up between John and Patti and neither had any strikes against them, but John continued to get answers correct so he won.

They had a segment where people questioned Sanjaya's sexuality because he allowed Janice to have him act effeminate. He also told Holly that many gals consider him like their "gay best friend," even though he isn't gay. Holly told him that he should use a different term then. Sanjaya said that it was unfortunate, but that was the term that people tend to use. He then told Janice and Torrie that it was how he was seen, but he wasn't gay and would go for Torrie. Torrie told him, "Nice try."

The "celebs" were given a camcorder, and decided to make a slasher movie. So the producers gave them some props, and LDP directed the movie. They ended up showing some of it, and I'm sure that they all enjoyed it, but it seemed pretty lame.

John laid down some new rules as camp leader. He told them that nobody could touch the food without first cleaning their hands. He also said that they had to be sure to cover the rice as soon as they dished up their helping so that bugs wouldn't get into the pot. He also assigned tasks that each "celeb" had to perform (he was required to do so,) and he told them that they needed to clean up their "area" and try to keep the camp clean. The importance of that was shown when a snake slithered into camp one night. These 2 wranglers, who Patti called "ninjas" came in and got the snake.

LDP and Torrie competed in a food challenge where they had to retrieve stars from a habitat full of snakes. It was funny in that snakes kept getting out and had to be wrangled back in while they were still competing. LDP ended up beating Torrie by a second. The guys won Italian food.

LDP won the immunity challenge for the second time, and John was given the ability to grant immunity to one other person, including himself. Soo of course, he chose himself. Now, nobody can call him Marcellas.

Top Chef Masters:

As I predicted, Chef Falkner was STOMPED. She finished third in the Quickfire, and then fell all the way to last place with DISMAL scores in the Elimination Challenge. She really should just stick with baking.

The Quickfire Challenge was to make an "Amuse Bouche" out of things from a vending machine, along with stuff in the TC pantry (like aromatics.) An Amuse Bouche is 2 bites or less, although usually on TC they try to say it's a 1 bite dish. To me, most of the stuff the chefs presented looked like they'd take more than 2 bites to eat. TC had the same challenge back in Season 2, so the 3 judges for this round were contestants from that year, including the eventual winner.

Chef Wylie was concerned because he had been a judge in Season 2, but it appeared to me that the judges were judging the dishes "blind," in that it didn't seem that they were told who made each dish, nor who the chefs even were who were competing. Wylie usually makes food working with the chemical reactions, also known as "Molecular Gastronomy." As such, his stuff usually either blows one away, or leaves people scratching their heads. I didn't see him use any of those techniques, and he was unhappy with his dish. He was right, it finished last.

The guy who finished second apparently uses things like Pop Rocks in his menu food in his Chicago restaurant. Also, he and Wylie seem to be friends and this made for a bit of wanting to outdo each other pop up. The woman who won seemed to make a yummy dish, but she came across as very cold as a person.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to make a meal using ingredients that could be found on the LOST island, as the creators and writers of LOST would be the diners for the meal. This meant that they could use stuff found on a tropical island, such as Wild Boar, as well as canned food that the Dharma Initiative would have had lying around. This meant that they couldn't have access to the TC pantry, but what was stoopid was that they were allowed to use the stoves, ovens, and Chef Falkner actually used the immersion unit to make a dish "Sous Vide." I've watched every episode of LOST, and I'm pretty sure that I haven't seen working stove tops and ovens, let alone an immersion unit.

Falkner started in third but got terrible scores and finished 4th. Wylie started last and finished third. The guy from Chicago started in 2nd, got really good scores, but ended up in second as the other woman (I can't recall her name,) started in first and got amazing scores.

In the public phone poll asking who of the 4 chefs you'd want to be stranded on an island with, Wylie won. That made no sense to me. The guy from Chicago is a great chef and was pretty funny and easy going. He'd be my first pick. My second pick would have been the woman who won since obviously she's a great cook, and of the 2 women, she's the best looking...as well as the only one who is straight.

Gordon Ramsay's The F Word:

This is on BBC America Wednesdays at 9pm. For those unfamiliar with it, here's the description from Wikipedia;
Each episode is based around Ramsay preparing a three-course meal at the F Word restaurant for 50 guests. Diners in the restaurant include celebrities, who participate in conversations, challenges, and cook-offs with Ramsay. Other segments focus on food-related topics, such as alternative foods and healthy eating. Finally, there is a series-long feature on home-reared livestock or poultry that is ultimately served to F Word diners on the season finale.

This is the 5th season of the show, and the first episode was Wednesday. This season, he is having 4 members of a family as the guest cooks. They have an hour for each course, with the first course an appetizer, then a main course, then a dessert. He also had a celebrity from a popular UK show at the restaurant with his family, and also Spice Girl Geri Halliwell. The celebrity made the mistake of letting the show know that Chinese food is his favorite, so they had him blindfolded and try 2 Chinese delicacies. One was chicken feet, which he spit out, and the other was duck tongue which I think he ate. Then with the blindfold off, they had him try a third delicacy, fish eye. He barely got it into his mouth before spitting it out. That reminded me of the recent Man Vs. Wild special where the host went hiking in the Swedish Alps with actor Will Farrell and they had to eat Deer Eyeball for dinner. YUCK!

In a taped segment of the F Word, they showed Ramsay diving for Sea Urchin while riding a fast tide. He didn't find any then, but found some in calmer waters near some rocks. He then challenged a Japanese Brit to a duel with Sea Urchin. The Japanese guy made traditional Uni which is the Urchin done sushi style. I LOVE sushi, but can't stand Uni. My ex loved it though. It looks like baby poo, and that's what we called it. Gordo mixed his urchin into scrambled eggs, and then both fed some people on the streets of London. Most liked Ramsay's dish better.

One of the other unusual things about The F Word beside showing Ramsay getting fresh ingredients, is that he raises his own set of livestock, and then has them slaughtered and served in the season finale. One year, it was turkeys. Once it was pigs. Another it was sheep. This year it is 2 calves being raised for 12 weeks for veal. Usually, Ramsay raises them in 'his garden," but this year they are being raised on a farm by a famous UK journalist. Also, Ramsay usually names each animal after someone famous in the UK, usually that he doesn't like. I think the pigs were named after other UK chefs like Jamie Oliver and Nigella. Thus far, he hasn't named the 2 calves.

In another segment, Ramsay challenged Geri Halliwell to a cook off using her favorite dish, Swedish Meatballs. Each week, Gordo has a celeb make his or her "signature dish" and then Ramsay tries to top it. Each made their own version of Swedish Meatballs, and then fed them to a table of 5 diners. They didn't give the score but Ramsay won. There is a UK series called Top Gear (see review below) and they had a crossover special not too long ago. In the crossover, Ramsay took one of the hosts out to catch fresh lobster, and then showed him a recipe and cooked it for the guy's family. He then took on another of the hosts in a cook-off. The Top Gear guy was a mess, and Ramsay said that if he lost, he'd sell his restaurants and quit the business as he thought the guy's food looked terrible. The guy from Top Gear won 3-2, and Ramsay was incredulous.

Back to this episode, the family in this episode contained 2 sisters who are both actresses and were both in popular UK series, along with their mother and the husband of one of them. The guy was terrible. He apparently can't see things close,took forever to cook, kept messing up the dishes, and even set the stove top on fire! The way this works is prior to each course, there is a taped segment where Ramsay shows people how to make each dish, as the hallmark of The F Word Restaurant is that each dish can easily be made at home. The recipe is also posted on the show's website. Then the four people have an hour to make each course and serve it to the 50 diners. The diners are then asked if they would be willing to pay for each course. For the appetizers, 36 of the 50 said that they'd pay. 45 of the diners said that they'd pay for the Main Course, and 48 of the 50 said that they'd pay for the dessert. This gave the family 129 out of 150 "points."

This is a really odd series, with the family cooking 3 meals, the celeb in the restaurant, the celeb cook-off, showing Ramsay procuring fresh ingredients in odd ways, and the raising of livestock to be cooked in the finale. I'm not sure if I will watch every episode, but it is interesting in that Ramsay is always smiling and laughing throughout the show, and isn't yelling at anyone. I sometimes felt like he was forcing the laughter to prevent himself from yelling at someone, but it's fun to see Gordo in a different frame of mind.

Top Gear:

This is a really fun series that is all about cars. There are 3 hosts; a really big funny journalist, a very short but funny dude, and this old hippy who they call Captain Slow as he is ALWAYS slow in their various fun challenges. They also have a professional driver dressed in an all white racing jump suit, with white boots, white cloves, and a white helmet that he never takes off. They call him The Stig.

The main humor part of the episode was that they had to make their own limos, and then drive a celeb to The Brits, the UK version of the Grammys. The little guy took a MG convertible, and stretched it out, keep it a convertible. he also added an intercom to from the passenger seat to the front, and in between they actually had the other 2 guys bowl and shoot archery. The hippy dude took 2 cars, cut them in half, and then put both front ends together. This way, he said, you could drive off from either direction, or have the passenger help with the steering in tight turns. The Big guy took a tiny 2 liter car, the Fiat Panda, and stretched it to well past 50 feet long! Each car had to be inspected, and the little guy's car had to require that the full size phone be worn on his head with a headband, because they require hands free driving. Worse, the big guy had to make his car 36', so he shortened it and "taped" it together. Driving the celebs to The Brits, the little guy got there first, and in one piece. The hippy dude got lost, and his passenger left in a huff. The big guy's car broke in half, but he arrived at the show with his celeb...dragging the back end along the road. I love this show.

Also in this episode, they compared the 60s classic "Bullit" Mustang vs the 2008 Mustang Shelby GT 500. They determined that it only has 447 HP, not 500. But, to the little guy's chagrin, his own personal "Bullit" Mustang was supposed to have 330 HP, but only had 250. They noted that when Ford amp up the Mustang into the 500 GT, they didn't improve the suspension as it would have cost an additional $5,000. They thought that was really dumb, and when The Stig drove it on their course, it slid and slipped all over the place. They then had The Stig drive the Rousch racing team version of the Mustang GT which did have the suspension improved, so it actually cost $10,000 more than the Shelby version. It also only had 415 HP. But, when The Stig drove it on the course, despite being less powerful, the better handling made it finish the course 2 seconds faster.

Burn Notice:

This was the best episode of the new season so far. An arms dealer who had previously been on the show pretended to be an investor for Michael's brother, but actually was using him as leverage to get Michael to get a bunch of intel and components from various places to get him some valuable equipment. Eventually, they shot the brother in the arm to get Michael to stop trying to take charge. Meanwhile, Michael was able to get Sam, Fi and Barry the money launderer to make it look like Michael had emptied the guy's bank accounts, blow up his safe house, and make it appear that they had their sights on his daughter.

This was a great episode, with all sorts of spy tricks and showed Michael's team working very well together for family, not money. The only bad part was the new detective. I agree with the guy at EW.com that they keep having her confront Michael that she's his worst nightmare and will be all over him, yet she doesn't seem to ACTUALLY do anything other than bluster about. Michael was able to get her partner suspended by making it appear that Michael and an official aid had a joint bank account, and when the partner interrogated her, the Mayor found out it was all a scam and had the detective busted. Funny! I just wish that they give Moon Bloodgood who plays the lead detective more to do than just huff & puff.

Mythbusters:

The primary myth was to see if you were driving in a convertible and it started raining if it's better to stop and put the top up, or drive faster to out run the rain. They used a Porsche convertible as the test car. Using their Hollywood know-how they rigged a device to make it rain even when it wasn't. They had the car driven into the rain, stopped, and then the top raised. They then tested it by driving top down thru the rain at 25, 55 and 90 mph. When they stopped to raise the top, the inside got flooded. At 25 mph, they were much dryer, but still a lot of rain. At 55, only the "head" areas seemed to get wet. At 90 mph...not a drop was found inside. The speed shot the water over the windshield and over the car like a canopy or water. So, they called it "Plausible, but not recommended" as they didn't think it was "right" of them to say it had been "confirmed" as it could lead to people violating speed laws, and having accidents from hydroplaning.

The secondary myth was taken from the 80s movie, Real Genius, where a laser causes a massive amount of popcorn to pop inside a house, and then the popping corn expand so much that the windows blow out, and the house busts open. They found that a laser could pop a kernel of pop corn, but still to this day, no laser is has as many KWs as the one mentioned in the movie. They also found that popping corn didn't produce enough pressure to break windows or bust a house. Myth BUSTED.

I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!:

At this point, I'm a little fuzzy on what happened over Wednesday and Thursday. I know that the teams were eliminated, so it's everyone for themselves. They all had to dive into a mud pool full of plastic balls and toys...and baby crocodiles, to find 1 of 3 stars. People with stars would get pizza. Janice stayed in the mud pool for about 30 seconds and then ran all the way back to camp from fear of the baby crocs. It was funny that the hosts were calling after her to come back as she ran away. Someone must have brought her back as she was there at the end. LDP, Patti, and Sanjaya found the stars and had pizza that night. Torrie was bummed. She had been told it was gonna be "mud wrestling" and each "celeb" had to make their own "wrestling outfit" so when it ended up just hunting around in the mud...and she didn't win...she seemed bummed out.

John and Janice argued some more. She seemed to think that veggies were given to them to help her intestinal issues, but John told her that unless they put the food in a bagged marked "Janice" that everything in the food basket was for everyone.

The votes were revealed on Thursday, and Janice and Holly got the boot. They asked Holly about her and Sanjaya and she said that they were just friends. Janice said, "Ha!" Holly thinks Sanjaya will win, and I think Janice said Stephen. I just read today that apparently Stephen has left the jungle. I had read last week that a home of his had been foreclosed and was to be auctioned off. I don't know if that's why he left, but he seemed to be in it until the end if possible. I don't think he would have won, I still think it will be Sanjaya.

I had thought that John and LDP could make a run for it, but John was shown to be wanting to leave, and then kinda mean this past week so that may have hurt him. LDP who "loves his wife so much" actually had been arrested in 2006 on Domestic Violence against her, and sentenced to a TON of Community Service. I hope that it was a one of a time thing brought on by alcohol and that he's straightened out, but I wonder if the talk about it on the internet is hurting him. At this point, I don't know if it actually has had an impact, but it just makes me want Sajaya to win even more. Not that people can't make mistakes and change, but Sanjaya just seems to have shown me nothing but a great attitude throughout. Even when he "told Janice off," he did it in a very "mild" way.

Next week, I think 2 or 3 more "celebs" will get the boot and the Finals will be 3, maybe 4 on the last night. I'm not certain, but that's how it looks from here. Have a great weekend all, and be good to all the fathers in your family!