Watching The CW

I’m really sorry that I’m so behind the time in posting lately. Not having access to the CW is lots of no fun. I have to wait until someone uploads the shows and that doesn’t necessarily happen as fast as I’d like, and then I have to find a time to watch them other than when they are on and when I’d normally be watching. Its very sad. But anyway, I enjoyed this week’s ep of America’s Next Top Model, even if I did have to watch it in like 6 minute increments on youtube.

It started out showing everyone a little unhappy about different things. Sheena because she was in the bottom two last week and is worried about this week; Elina and Marjorie because they are both European and have trouble adapting; Samantha because of all their whining and blaming their difficulties on being immigrants. When Samantha innocently pointed out that they had lived in the US for more than half their lives now, they were quite offended at how no one understood them. Honestly, I have to say that I’m so over Elina and Marjorie and their attitudes. Enough is enough already.

The girls then met up with Ron and Richard Harris, the aswhirl twins, who showed them how to work a garment and accessories. So for the challenge, they were in an invisible model fashion show, where they wear a green body suit that covered them completely, hands and head included. The winner gets (more…)

Last week’s episode of America’s Next Top Model was a recap. Since I still don’t have the CW on my TV, I had to hunt it down on surfthechannel, which I eventually did. Then, I watched it and took notes by hand, like the week before. But honestly, I don’t care about the recap eps. I actually stopped taking notes, probably about half way through, and didn’t even realize it until later. Like when I went to write this blog.

So here’s what I remember. They took us back to a place I had tried to hard to forget, the Model Institute of Technology. They reintroduced us to Alpha J and Beta J. I wish they hadn’t. That was all pretty stupid and now they’ve gone and reminded us just how stupid it was.

Um, let’s see. They also showed (more…)

I had to watch America’s Next Top Model on little youtube videos in 8 minute increments, taking all my notes by hand, instead of how I normally do, right onto the computer. All because my TV lacks the CW. Sooooo sad. My review may not be as extensive as usual. But who knows, maybe I’ll ramble even more than normal.

The show starts with Elina and Samantha complaining about super strict parents. Yes, Elina’s parents do sound like they were on the very strict side, but I think its nice to have parents who are more on the strict side. Kids don’t need more friends growing up, they need parents. Lauren Brie is packing some of her stuff, fully prepared to go home this week. The other girls are busy discussing Analeigh, in front of her, trying to determine if she’s really model material. Poor little thing.

The girls meet up with Tyra, who wants to teach them about having a signature style. Tyra coaches them through a photo shoot, helping them choose their own style. Analeigh is a rebel skater, McKey is a boxer, Samantha thinks her style is in her hands, Lauren Brie is uncertain and says her style is “just me” but Tyra calls her a surfer chick, Sheena says its her butt while Tyra says her style is cultural dance, Josyln says its posing wide but Tyra says its her profile, Elina wants to be the top model of the world, and Marjorie says she’s the Hunchback of Notre Dame. So basically, they either didn’t know their style or picked something stupid. After the shoot, Tyra tells them it was a challenge, and weirdly enough, Marjorie won. Her photos as a hunchback were really pretty good.
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The next time you think television is all about entertainment, think again. It’s not. Hardly at all, actually, cause it’s all about money. Yes, money is the driving force behind television and broadcasting.

How do I know this?  Well, gather round, my children, and I’ll tell you a little story. As I believe I may have mentioned a few days ago, LIN Broadcasting, the parent company of the CW (and CBS) has decided to pull their stations from my cable provider, Time Warner.  LIN Broadcasting would like everyone to believe that this is all Time Warner’sfault.  But it most empathetically is not.  When the contract expired, LIN had the ability to allow their stations to keep playing on Time Warner during the negotiating process, but they instead chose to pull the stations.  This is evil. 
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This week on America’s Next Top Model, Clark’s pic is the one up in the house, and she’s described as “fiery,” “strong” and “blew me away.” I still don’t like her.

Samantha is upset that she was bottom two last week, and Marjorie is unhappy that she seems like she’s the only one who’s seems to be intimidated. Joslyn calls her sister cause she’s kinda frustrated with herself.

So the girls go to a warehouse and meet up with Paulina who is wearing an ill fitting suit. Their challenge is to dress in the outfits they were assigned and then fix them so they fit well and look good. Then Paulina evaluates them. None of them looked that great, honestly. Marjorie got herself all worked up over it and cried when Paulina tried to talk to her. Paulina explained that Marjorie’s response is not low self-esteem, but more how people are in Europe. The challenge winner, who gets 50 extra frames in the photo shoot, is McKey. And Paulina said that the one who botched it the most was Samantha, who actually changed the look of the outfit.

The girls then all once again attack Marjorie for her lack of confidence. I feel bad for her, but it makes me wonder if she’s going to be able to take it in the long run.

The chicks go to the photo shoot, which is about natural disasters. The set looks like a mini city and Mr. Jay comes in dressed like a movie monster. The fashion is all 60’s, which looks cute. Elina gets to be an earthquake, Sheena is a sandstorm, Clark is a blackout, Lauren Brie is a snowstorm, Joslyn is a rock slide, Analeigh is the Santa Ana winds, McKey is a heat wave, Samantha is a tidal wave, and Marjorie is a traffic jam. (Um, how is that a natural disaster?)

Clark and Samantha go into panel thinking positively, and Marjorie and Joslyn go in a little worried.

As for the pics, I thought Marjorie did well, Lauren Brie looked OK, Samantha looked really good (although the outfit did get a little lost), Clark was not too good, Elina looked OK (also lost the outfit), Sheena was good, Analeigh was OK, Joslyn was OK, and McKey looked really good.

I’m not sure who I would lose this week. If I based it on who I like, I’d probably get rid of Clark or Lauren Brie. I don’t dislike Lauren Brie, but she’s just kinda dull.

For eliminations, the girls are called in this order: Samantha, Analeigh, McKey, Elina, Marjorie, Lauren Brie, Sheena. The bottom two are Clark and Joslyn. Tyra tells them: Joslyn - you were so strong at the beginning, but its drizzled away; Clark - you started off OK and got stronger, but overall you work is just good, not fantastic. They are both neck and neck in their photo shoots. But Joslyn’s personality saves her and Clark goes home. I’m pretty happy with that outcome.

This week on America’s Next Top Model, they started out showing us Elina’s photo from last week up on the screen. I’m wondering of the phrase “racially ambiguous” is really a compliment. Clearly, “unique” and “stunningly beautiful” are.

The girls then head to Lucky Strike bowling alley (which, coincidentally, is the same bowling alley they went to on 90210 a couple of weeks ago) and they have to walk down the lanes in high heel bowling shoes for Miss Jay. Yikes!! The only one I noticed slipping was Isis. I would have been falling all over the place, cause I’m so klutzy.

They then go on to their runway challenge and model the designs of Jeremy Scott. They are in an art deco looking bank and he told them they would be cat burglars. Then Miss Jay tells them they will be blindfolded! Then Mr. J tells them that one of them will be leaving after the challenge, not even going into the panel. Has that ever happened before?
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This is my favorite week of America’s Next Top Model. I love the makeovers, cause its so much fun to watch and see how they end up. Plus, I love trying to figure out who’s gonna have the major meltdown. Someone always does.

So the girls start out this week having a princess pizza party with Tyra and she tells them all about how her career started out high fashion and then changed as she changed. Then Miss Jay comes in as the witch and poisons Tyra with an apple, and then Mr. Jay revives her with a kiss and carries her out. Very fun.

Marjorie - hair is darkened, but other than that, her cut is about the same.
Josyln - hair is made longer and wavy.
Samantha - edgier with short hair - she cries - but its very cute.
Hannah - hair shortened with bangs - a little darker.
Clark - hair darkened, full and wavy.
Lauren Bri - made blonder.
Sheena - highlights added.
AnaLeigh - layers and blonder.
Elina - long, red and curly. Really kinda weird looking on her. She was the chick with the breakdown. Although it wasn’t as bad as it could be.
McKey - darker, just a touch shorter.
Isis - longer and straighter.
Brittany - a wavy weave.

The chicks end up that night at WalMart to do a CoverGirl makeup challenge. They have to find their right makeup match and then record a short commercial. Several of them were really good, but some were sooooo bad. Marjorie called it Walgreens! Hannah was very good and she was the winner. She gets her video up at the ANTM site and her pic at Walmart, plus $1,000 gift certificate for … um… something or other. Probably WalMart or CoverGirl, right?

The girls are now going to model swimsuits on the beach in Malibu and the photographer is the same one who shot Tyra when she was the first ever black model on the cover the the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, Russell James.

Most of the pics were pretty good, but a couple were not so great. None really stood out for me specifically either way though. It was just a so-so kinda shoot.

If I was picking someone, it would Clark, Brittany or AnaLeigh. None of them is really impressing me at all.

On to eliminations, the girls were called in this order: Elina, Lauren Brie, Samantha, McKey, Sheena, Joslyn, Marjorie, Clark, Isis, Hannah. The bottom two were Brittany and AnaLeigh.

Tyra tells them - Brittany is such a pretty girl, but for some reason there is no connection in the photos, AnaLeigh should be ahead of the pack, but she has the ice skating, and the judges expect more from her.

AnaLeigh stays and Brittany is sent home. No surprise there.

In my last post about America’s Next Top Model, I mentioned the incident between Hannah and Isis. This rant is a chance for me to get up on my soapbox a little, cause it bothered me how the other girls reacted to what happened.

This is how I see it. Hannah is from a small town with a very traditional background and she doesn’t deal well with different kinds of people, meaning she’s not used to dealing with lesbians or transgenders or even people of various nationalities. Probably loud Italian people (like me) would be a problem for her, as well, and it has nothing to do with prejudice or racism.

That being said, when Hannah became uncomfortable because Elina and Clark were kissing and she felt that Isis was crowding into her space, she reacted negatively and pushed out at Isis. Clearly, this was rude behavior, but I believe it was more a reaction based on Hannah’s ignorance in dealing with certain situations, more than her just being nasty or prejudice. In short, I think she was overwhelmed.

I do think Hannah has every right to protect her personal space. Also, I think that she has every right to disapprove of what the other girls are doing, if it doesn’t fit in with what she considers proper behavior. And if she does disapprove, I don’t think the other girls get to call her prejudiced.

Hannah may have been just as uncomfortable if it was a man and woman kissing, two strangers in a hot tub in front of a crowd of other strangers. It’s more the fact, for me at least, that such behavior is inappropriate. As a society, we seem to forget that. Some things are private and shouldn’t be carried on in public.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that people have every right to live their lives however they choose, as long as they don’t get all in your face with it. But, if people make nontraditional choices or behave inappropriately in public, I don’t think their right to behave as they chose, supersedes someone else’s right to disagree with those choices. No one has the right to tell someone how or what they should believe.

I’m very anti-political correctness cause I think it creates an atmosphere where people are afraid to stand up for what they believe is right because, somehow, the world is becoming a place where anyone feels like they can do anything they want, where ever they want to do it and all the rest of us just have to deal. I disagree.

You can do whatever you want, just keep it to yourself, cause if you don’t, and I disagree, I’m gonna tell you.

*hops off soapbox - for now*

This week on America’s Next Top Model, the girls start out with Benny Ninja teaching them extreme poses in fabric tubes hanging from the ceiling. Sheena does the best, cause she’s really flexible. Then the girls hang out in the pool and hot tub. Clark is dared to kiss Elina. Hannah pushed Isis away from her when she got too close. It was all a little weird.

Next the girls’ challenge is to pose for Tarina Tarantino handbags and jewelry accessories and the winner gets a handbag full of jewelry and accessories. Very interesting looking, colorful stuff, too! Nikeysha seemed to have a lot of problems, plus she told them she needed to pee. Now that’s professional. The winner was Elina. She really did a great job. Even though her attitude is a little off-putting.
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Cycle 11 of America’s Next Top Model started this week. I was really looking forward to it, especially since I didn’t get a chance to see it when it aired, but had to wait until I got home today.

Maybe I was expecting too much, but I got a little worried when I saw the beginning and it was all about Model Institute of Technology and Alpha Jay, Beta Jay and Tyra Bot. That part really worried me cause it was pretty hokey and I kept thinking that they were scraping the bottom if this was the best they could come up with. Fortunately, the show did get better.
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Yes, I’m still on vacation (although we haven’t played any Beach Blanket Bingo yet), but I did manage to catch a bit of a couple of shows this week. I saw about 5 minutes of Gossip Girl, and I just put together that Blake Lively, Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl, is Monica from Accepted. I’m not sure why that never clicked before, cause I love that movie and I’ve seen it like ten times. We just happened to watch Accepted earlier that night, and then I saw that little bit of Gossip Girl and suddenly I realized it was her.
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In my web searches to find fun and interesting things to share in this blog, I came across some stuff.

First off, here’s a fun little widget I made up with some shows from the CW available at Amazon.com:

I was kinda surprised that not every show I looked up had DVDs available there. I’ll keep looking for other shows and stuff relating to the shows and make up other widgets for you. I especially like the carosel, cause it’s just fun to spin around and around, isn’t it?

Oh, and while I’m thinking about TV shows, I also wanted to mention something else I found out. My husband works some strange hours, so we don’t see each other too much during the week. When he does see me, he complains that I’m either watching TV or on the computer. Of course, that’s pretty true. I suaully am either watching TV, on the computer, watching TV while on the computer, or even watching TV on the computer. I think it’s really a lifestyle choice.

So, to add to the other sites I’ve mentioned where you can watch TV shows online, hulu.com and surfthechannel.com, I want to add a couple more. There’s veoh.com and fancast.com. I’ve checked them both out, and although they don’t have huge selections, yet, they did have some shows that I didn’t see on the other sites. One was Beauty and the Beast, and as much as I know it was silly and sappy, I loved that show. I had every ep on video, but then a friend borrowed them, like 20 years ago, and I haven’t seen them since.

This could keep me busy for the next several years. Maybe longer.

We’ve already had a peek at the and chatted about some of the new and returning shows, so the question now is what are the exact dates and times when the shows I care about are coming back. Well, The Futon Critic has an amazing list that you should check out here. It’s an incredible list, which includes every show, new and returning (and even cancelled), when it airs, what network its on, and how many eps there are. Awesome!

As for the CW, returning this Fall are America’s Next Top Model, Everybody Hates Chris, The Game, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Smallville and Supernatural, with Reaper coming back as a mid-season show in 2009.

Cancelled shows from last season include Aliens in America, Beauty and the Geek, Crowned: The Mother of all Pageants, CW Now, Girlfriends, Life is Wild, Online Nation and Pussycat Dolls: Girlicious. Farmer Wants a Wife is listed as on hiatus or fate to be determined.

As mentioned, there is a full slate of new shows for Fall, which are 90210, Easy Money, In Harm’s Way, Privileged, Stylista, Surviving Suburbia and Valentine, Inc., plus one new show, 13: Fear is Real, scheduled for 2009.
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The CW has posted their 2008-2009 season primtime schedule:

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM GOSSIP GIRL
9:00-10:00 PM ONE TREE HILL

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM 90210 (New Series)
9:00-10:00 PM SURVIVING THE FILTHY RICH (New Series)

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL
9:00-10:00 PM STYLISTA (New Series)

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SMALLVILLE
9:00-10:00 PM SUPERNATURAL

FRIDAY
8:00-8:30 PM EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS
8:30-9:00 PM THE GAME
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL (Encore Presentation)

Notably missing from this schedule are Aliens in America, Beauty and the Geek (just when I started watching it!), Farmer Wants a Wife, Girlfriends, Pussycat Dolls, Life is Wild and WWE Friday Night Smackdown.

It may appear that Reaper is also missing, but don’t worry, it’s coming back mid-season. So we are losing seven shows, and only gaining three, but I think these are good decisions. Maybe annoying reality TV is on the way out, which is a good thing. And apparently, at least on the CW, it’s being replaced with young adult soaps, which can also be a good thing. I guess we’ll find out.

Here’s a link back to the CW blog, where they have lots more info on the shows and what’s happening, as well.

I was surprised to see that they are reviving everyone’s favorite zip code in 90210. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original series, but I was certainly aware of it and I think it will be interesting to see how they have updated and modernized the show. I’m also interested cause I heard Rob Estes is in it and I’m in love with him. And I mean, really.

In any case, it looks like the CW has a great season set up for us and I’m looking forward to checking out the new shows. As for this summer, I plan to also try to catch up on some of the shows from this season that I just didn’t get a chance to watch the first time around. When I do, I’ll let you know all about. You count on that!

If you’ve been reading my America’s Next Top Model reviews, you’ll know that Fatima was no favorite of mine. As a matter of fact, I pretty much regularly trashed her every time I wrote about the show. But I am, above all things, fair and will admit when I’m wrong. Well, not always, but it sounds good to say it. In any case, I read this great Q and A article at TVGuide.com all about Fatima Siad and I thought you, my faithful yet silent, readers might find it interesting. I know I did.

As it turns out, the person writing the article, Ben Katner, was not a Fatima fan either. But he found out that maybe she’s not as self-centered and egotistical as she came across on the show. He also found out that she’s not too fond of Whitney. But that’s not exactly news, is it? Apparently, at least from Fatima’s point of view, she is much nicer than she seemed on the show. And she says that Whitney is a lot less nice than she seemed. Being honest, I wouldn’t be able to say that I always thought Whitney was that nice. She was just really, really pretty and looked like a model should look. Also, I think I was really rooting for the plus sized model to win.

Anyway, enjoy the article and I’ll keep my eyes open for anything else good from TVGuide.com, since we’re gonna have to wait until Fall for the next cycle of America’s Next Top Model.