Wicked Attitude

So I’m reading this article about how the Senate unanimously decided to delay the digital transition by four months to give more people time to prepare for it.  Just waiting for it to become official.  Now unless you’ve been living under a rock for 2 years, the normal person has been bombarded with messages from their local news stations and the little old people in commercials who tell you about the “government’s coo-pon progrrm” (read: government’s coupon program for those who don’t speak geriatric).  Let me spell this out for the Senate…(excuse the caps)

IF PEOPLE DON’T GET IT WITH 2 YEARS PREP TIME, 4 MONTHS ISN’T GOING TO MAKE A FRIGGIN’ BIT OF DIFFERENCE!!!

I couldn’t get away with not hearing about the discount government program and yes we got ours and have had our basement tv hooked up for almost a year.  We even gave the other card we got to my mom and told her to check around for anyone without cable and give it to them.  Of course now what’s happened?  The coupon program has run out of money to help supplement the cost the last I heard.  Sorry procrastinators!  I mean why do we always end up doing this for people who have had ample time to do this or that and then those people complain and everyone else who had their end cinched up on time has to suffer?  I thought I was finally done seeing “XX days until we have to switch to digital” on my local news like it was the end of days or something!  Sigh. 

Old people…please…get the HD converter box (Zenith is the one rated the best by consumer magazines) and go back to your nap.

(Excuse any typos, I’m in a hurry but not enough of one to not bitch for a moment)

We’ve been watching Food Network since its inception and always loved these charismatic chefs they chose.  We were die hard Emeril fans and I admit the last 2 years of his show on FN, we slacked off being as regular viewers as we once were.  When they had Bobby Flay on neither of us cared for him because he just came off as an arrogant tool.  I think he’s softened a bit but the man thinks he’s still full on tool.  I, like many people, just loved Paula Deen when she came to the network.  It was like watching your down home grandma make your favorite comfort foods.  After her ballooning in success, it seemed ol’ Paula was everywhere and her accent seemed more and more grating to the point, I can’t even watch her anymore without changing it halfway through.  This accent has ruined us for Down Home with the Neeleys between their accent and their constant dry humping, I’ve yet to make it through a whole episode without muting or saying “that’s enough.”  Then you have Giada DeLaurentis.  Petite, all teeth and forehead, Giada.  We loved her show more for the beautiful way it was shot and the man liked watching her boobies the whole time.  As time has gone on, her head has gotten bigger and her bitchiness has come through quite a few times.  Well a perfect example was Oprah yesterday.  She was on with Oprah and that Nate dude and made some disgusting brie, basil and chocolate panini.  Nate was very polite and even took a 2nd piece which you knew he’d probably “accidentally” drop, Oprah called it “interesting” and then upped it to good when Giada was getting visibly pissed they weren’t fawning over her childhood nosh.  Then they gave it to the audience and she asked them what they though and you didn’t get an overwhelming “Mmm” or clapping or anything, you could just hear a few “interesting’s” or random noises.  (I’m sure they edited out the sounds of people horking it back up)  She was not a pleased little diva.  Two of the few “old standbys” that I still like is Alton Brown’s Good Eats and Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa.  Now yes, Alton can get a tad annoying at times but overall his show is so entertaining, we overlook it.  Ina, I really should loathe given she’s showing off her Hampton snoot which should make her completely unrelatable to 90% of her viewers but somehow she still reels me in with the good recipes.

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E! News Daily and The Daily 10 are the exact same show.  Are you appealing to those with ADHD who couldn’t pay full attention the first half hour with a “new” show with new scrawny whores spouting off the exact same stories?  I don’t purposely watch these shows.  I typically tune into them when I need background noise (or an apparent excuse to wear down the number of hours my new TV will function).  I just wanted to bring this to your attention in case you weren’t aware you’re airing the same show with two different names and thinking people don’t notice. 

We were all for this experiment of having these teenage couples who wanted to have kids “borrow” children of different ages of other people.  We could see these people at their worst and sometimes their best. 

Tonight’s finale showed the couples taking care of elderly people and I swear it made us want to volunteer at an old folks home.  Or at the very least, have my grandparents over for dinner.  It was very sweet and uplifting to see the wisdom these people had to pass on to these young people.

The problem was the way it all ended.  One of the elderly men’s wives ended up dying and all of those couples?  Yeah…they broke up…ALL OF THEM!!!  So it ended with the man teary eyed and me bawling.   Luckily next week we get to see all of the couples who hate each other reunited to find out what they’ve learned.  Can hardly wait.

Aaron McCargo Jr or possibly “Big Daddy” as he will be known from now on.  Lisa Garza and Adam Gertler were impressive in their show auditions which really made the hubby and I think Adam’s original idea of interacting with a viewer via webcam may have secured him the spot.  But in the end, Aaron won the judges over. 

Aaron’s new show Big Daddy’s House will air Sundays at 1:30pm/12:30c on Food Network.

I loved the I Love the 70’s/80’s series from VH1 because it brought back so many memories of toys, games and overall a good nostalgia factor.  They could continue to produce I love the 80’s, the Strikes Back sequel and the trilogy 3D because there was just so much that couldn’t be covered from fads to songs to tv shows and so on.  When the 90’s version came along, you could see a shift.  It wasn’t quite as happy in nature and this is the decade I graduated high school so yes, I remember things weren’t as shiny and gawdy as they were in the 80’s but it was a little unsettling to see it in a time capsule like that.

Enter the “I Love the New Millenium” series which still has 2 years they couldn’t cover because they jumped the gun.  I don’t remember seeing toys or anything having to do with things that make children happy as the 70’s/80’s editions did for me and the hubby.  Some of it was inaccurate as well.  The one that springs to mind is that the Geico Caveman commericals started in 2004, not 2007.  HELLO!?!  Not that hard to check people.  The TV SHOW that they butchered was in 2007 but they didn’t even mention it.  WTF?  It was also friggin DEPRESSING to watch the downfall of society.  I’m sure the biggest reason there wasn’t a big nostalgia factor was because the people who produced this show are in their late 20’s and 30’s so they have no clue what a kid of say 15 would look back on with nostalgia when they were 7.  This would also have their whole panel (many of whom I like, a few that are grating) in a cynical pissing match because they couldn’t relate to those things.  Instead the 00’s were looked back upon from the perspective of an adult and was just a recap of stories we were thankful to finally stop hearing about and there was little to gleefully shout “I remember that!” with fondness of a time long passed.  Because it’s 7 years to 6 months old!!!!  Why the hell would you jump the gun on producing these?  All it made us want to do is turn off the tv and play with our Barbie’s or GI Joes.  I can’t wait to see 2008’s version…

“I Love the New Millenium”  2008…the year that foreclosures were the highest ever, gas was so expensive people were choosing whether to pay utilities or gas in the tank to get to their jobs that are now barely worth it because the cost of groceries has gone up 20-40% while salaries are staying the same and when we blamed the government, oil companies and not the speculators for driving the price of oil through the roof.  Yay.

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the debut of this new series and not for the reasons you think.  The perfect prelude to watching this show is having watched the Sex: The Revolution series on VH1.  I was born in the mid 70’s and before watching that a month ago, I had no idea just how stifled sexuality really was and the fights for your rights to do as you please behind closed doors even when I was born.  I took things like birth control, having whatever kind of sex you wanted and porn for granted.  Because let’s face it, if you were a kid in the early 80’s, you kept hearing so much about this “Skinemax” (Cinemax) and you knew you wanted to sneak a peek.

Swingtown follows Susan and Bruce Miller and their 2 children who move a few blocks away.  Bruce seems eager to leave behind his old neighbors especially his wife’s best friend and uber uptight Janet and her husband Roger who has seemingly given up on happiness due to his wife’s frigid nature.   The Millers are greeted by sexy swingers Tom and Trina Decker who invite them to a party their first night in town.  When Janet and Roger stop by unexpectedly with Tupperware in hand, Susan invites them to come with them to the party.  Trina and Tom separately talked to Bruce and Susan casually bringing up that most people there were in open marriages and then Trina introduces Susan to Quaaludes.  Feelin’ no pain, Susan finds Bruce and they discuss what was just said to them and seem intrigued.  When straight laced Janet is sent to the “playroom” in the basement by a conniving Trina, she freaks and insists everyone leaves.  Bruce and Susan decline and say they’re staying.  Janet grabs Roger and storms out.  Cue the music…bow chicka bow bow and off the swingers go to welcome their new neighbors in a rather intimate way. 

Now the show is not exclusively about the sex.  There are subplots involving the children like their teen daughter who has a stoner boyfriend with limited brain cells in reserve but she has a crush on her summer school teacher.  Their son who has come in contact with a mysterious neighbor girl who was living in their house before they moved in and is eager to run away…from what has yet to be revealed.  He is also friends with Janet and Roger’s son who has lied saying he has made out with a girl at school who later finds him and gives him the beating of his life in public.  Right on sister!   So there is a balance between family life and life after dark.

This was a real trip for us because I saw shoes I used to have, some of the outfits look very similar to what my parents wore when they were in school, the soundtrack is wonderful and the overall attention to detail is spot on.  This is no surprise given Alan Poul of HBO’s Six Feet Under is involved which is a big plus because he is amazing!  We were surprised that Swingtown was not put on a premium channel because it seems you could have the kind of freedom that would be needed for a show with this kind of subject matter.  We’ll see if that ends up hurting them in the end.  We think it could be very possible if this show is too “risque” for the white bread audiences that CBS’s sister channel Showtime could pick it up.  This is definitely a show we’ll be watching for as long as it lasts.  I say that because I’m just waiting for people who 1) are all uptight writing in saying its inappropriate 2) don’t get that the show isn’t promoting swinging but rather looking back at a point in time when this was not unusual  3) people who don’t get the 70’s and spend their time criticizing the styles, music, lingo, etc.

For us, it’s a refreshing departure from yet another cop/crime show that seems to be saturating the prime time market. 

When Conan O’Brien vacates his space to take over for the “retiring” Jay Leno, former SNL star Jimmy Fallon will step into the high haired redhead’s place.  This should be interesting to say the least. 

I fear that Conan will have to reign in his comedy to suit the masses instead of being able to have the freedom to do some of the things his 12:37am time slot allows him.  With Jimmy he is SO hyper in interviews and skits that he can barely sit still or keep a straight face.  Not sure how well that translates to sitting in a chair and interviewing others.  Regardless, I’ll give it a watch and hope for the best for both of them.

…is Parvarti Shallow, a “boxer/waitress” from LA.  What an appropriate last name.

While I think Crosby Loggins is talented, I was rooting for Jesse Snider to win.  I’ll definitely give a listen to anything he puts out as I’m all for rock and roll making a comeback. 

But this was the best part of the show…

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1586653&vid=231884

Dogs all over the world will be happy to not have to hear that screech anymore.