Revs-"In the Motherhood";"Samantha Who";"Celebrity Apprentice"

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Couple of reviews here. Beginning with a "Celebrity Apprentice" update and it's about time Dennis Rodman is gone.

Reviews of comedies "In the Motherhood" and "Samantha Who?" I'll do my best to be kind.

With pics and video you'll find nowhere else on the Internet.
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Pic of the Day

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”Celebrity Apprentice” 2009 Update

On the episode aired on 3/22/09-the challenge was for the two teams to create a rousing and inspiring presentation for the sales personnel of ANC. I don’t know what ANC stands for but the product was a video phone. A concept whose time has come, I shrug, and hey, I didn’t even know they had such things.

Of course one can easily make a video and send it over the Internet in many forms and fashions. The phone featured on this episode allowed the two talkers to see each other WHILE they talked, something that I think is possible on the Internet but I have no idea how.

Also, cell phones often have a video recorder type of thing and it seems to me that via this method a caller can see another caller.

As for two callers seeing each other as they talk, I see this ANC phone as the pioneer in what will someday be a very ordinary and common thing.

The ladies’ team lost this challenge and their team leader, Claudia Jordan, was sent home.

The guys’ team, those Kings of the Universe, won this, their first victory.

The ladies’ team put on some sort of disjointed, hard to follow, type of thing. Joan Rivers served as a mistress of ceremonies of a sort and while Rivers was well-received, it was the fellows’ presentation that got the most votes from the attendees the presentations were meant to impress and inspire.

Brian McKnight performed as part of the KOTU’s presentation and hey, McKnight is a singer after all. The ANC attendees quite enjoyed McKnight’s performance and hurray for the guys for finally pulling in a victory.



The following week, 3/29/09, Dennis Rodman finally got the boot and yes, Rodman’s intrigue has run its course.

The task this week was really weird. In a Loew’s hotel, each team was put in charge of
Five rooms each.

I’ve never stayed in a Loew’s hotel but damn the patrons of the hotel serviced by the two Celebrity Apprentice teams sure had fancy accommodations. Members of each team served as a concierge and this was interesting.



Rodman provided the angst, intrigue and conflict for this task. Indeed Denis was the Project Manager for the men’s team while Tionne was the leader for the women.

Various vignettes showed Dennis doing odd things, for example in one case he got into a car with some customers and went to the hotel with them!

Dennis’ teammates commented on Dennis’ oddness and his penchant for the drink.

What’s interesting is that it was a no-brainer that Rodman had to go. He got drunk after all and didn’t lead his team.

I wonder how humiliating it’s got to be for a famous person like Rodman to go through such a public slap. I also wonder if Rodman won’t now enter a rehab clinic and come back as a reborn star, full of sober life and laughter and ready to make money hosting shows, making movies or working on whatever offers will come his way as a result of all the attention.

It’s how they script these things folk.

Below, a short vid of Brian McKnight’s beloved performance that won the task for KOTU.

-3/22/09 remix

-Jesse James-founder of West Coast Choppers
-Dennis Rodman-5 time NBA champion-sent home 3/29/09
-Andrew "Dice" Clay-once dirty mouthed comedian-sent home 3/1/09
-Joan Rivers-talk show host
-Herschel Walker-Retired NFL player
-Khloe Kardashian-the Kardashian without the nice ass
-Tionne "T-Box" Watkins-R&B singer
-Natalie Gulbis-Professional golfer
-Tom Green-Actor, comedian-sent home 3/15/09
-Claudia Jordan-Actress, model-sent home 3/22/09
-Clint black-country music star
-Brande Roderick-Actress and Playboy model
-Brian McKnight mutli platinum R&B singer
-Melissa Rivers-daughter of Joan Rivers
-Scott Hamilton-gold medal olympic figure skater-sent home 3/8/09
-Annie Duke-professional poker player, motivational speaker

”In the Motherhood”

According to this show’s ABC site this show is written by the viewers.

As of this writing, the show airs at the family hour, 8 pm, on Thursdays nights. The stars are:

Cheryl Hines as Jane-Emily’s sister
Megan Mullally-as Rosemary
Jessica St. Clair-Emily-Jane’s sister
Ron ReacoLee-Jason
Horatio Sanchez-Manny

Megan Mullally is a fine actress, best known for her role as a gum-chewing, wise-cracking woman of the world on “Will and Grace”. So while I didn’t much like that series, I could see Megan’s acting was top notch.

In fact it was Rosemary’s story that was the main theme of the show on the premiere night, 3/26/09. Rosemary, who is 50 years old as she stated repeatedly on the show, pretended to be pregnant because she liked the attention pregnant women got. I won’t go into the storylines a pretend pregnancy would bring. Use your imagination, including up until the fake pregnancy is discovered.



The premiere episode also featured Jane, the recently divorced Mom, dealing with sexual harassment in the work place as well as a workplace romance. It had its chuckles.

Emily has two little black children and at first sight I’d argue the viewer is startled. Emily is very Caucasian. Being such a woman of the world that I am, I assumed Emily had to be married to a black man, which she is.

Beyond that I don’t see a single reason to have a mixed-marriage in the storyline but then again I don’t see any reason not to have one. I suppose the fact could someday give bored script writers a story line.

Finally we have the “Manny”, a male “nanny”. Of course this “manny” is blessed with child-rearing wisdom way beyond that of any mere mortal female. I think that concept is a real yawn.

At any rate, this series is alleged to be based on true stories submitted by real mothers. Which is a fine idea as there almost as many motherhood stories as there are dollars in Obama’s budget.

Check out the web site to see how to submit a story. Whether or not there’s financial remuneration in same I do not know.

Would I watch it again? No. The show, as premiered, did not have any kind of hook to pull me back. Then again I am intrigued by the story lines coming from real mothers. For that I’d recommend the show to see how this concept pans out.

Samantha, Who?

ABC’s web site for this series HERE.

It’s not as if ABC hasn’t done everything possible to shove this alleged comedy down our throats, including having it follow last year’s “Dancing With the Stars”, with promo from that same popular ABC show included.

This year they’ve got this series, featuring the following characters/stars, coming on right after “In the Motherhood”, on Thursday nights at 8:30:

Jennifer Esposito-Andrea Belladonna
Melissa McCarthy-Dena
Christina Applegate-Samantha Newly
Barry Watson-Todd
Jean Smart-Regina Newly

Below is ABC’s synopsis of the premise of “Samantha Who?”

After a hit-and-run accident left Samantha Newly (Christina Applegate) in an eight-day coma, she awoke with retrograde amnesia, which allowed her to fully function in the world but leaves her with no personal memories of her past. As she began her quest to rediscover herself, she learned that she had been a horrible person. Vain, selfish and potentially surrounded by far more enemies than friends, she made a conscious decision to improve herself moving forward with the help of her eclectic friends and family.

I don’t know what makes a successful comedy series. “Cheers” was a successful comedy series. “Friends” was another. “I Love Lucy” is a winner from the past.

I’d suggest that most successful comedy series have charming, lovable, but flawed characters and story lines that add a human dimension that we can identify with and maybe chuckle to as well. The scripts are generally believable, not too complicated, and filled with the humor of human frailty.

Unlikable characters don’t do well on a comedy series save for their contribution to the storyline as unlikable, this understood by the viewer right along.

The characters on Samantha Who? Are, in most cases, not likeable. The lead character, of course, is Christina Applegate, who is very pretty, but of course. And, in fact, Christina’s character is very likeable. Indeed when a vignette comes on featuring Christina as her “old” self, it startles. The viewer does not see Christina as the nasty person she once was, as the premise suggests.

Christina’s character spends much of the show making amends for folks around her who behave very disgracefully. Should her character inadvertently be the cause of confusion or grief, Applegate’s character will go to great lengths to apologize and make things right.

I find it difficult to believe that her character was once so nasty.

Christina’s parents are portrayed as vapid and shallow, offering an obvious reason why Christina became such a despicable human being. So while Christina changed as a result of her coma, the nasty folks around her keep right on being nasty.

On the night of 3/26/09, we have Samantha’s former boyfriend, Todd, who is still totally in love with Samantha, hell Todd was in love with the nasty Samantha. He’s really in over his head with the new and improved Samantha. Unbelievably, Todd and Samantha live together, but only as “roommates” while Samantha searches for her true self.

Samantha’s friend, Andrea, was once Samantha’s nasty friend in arms. Now Samantha constantly has to duel with Andrea, who is still a nasty somebody while Samantha is now new and improved. Another friend of Samantha’s, Dena, was once scorned and mistreated by the nasty Samantha. One would think that Dena’s character would be likeable but I find her characterization to be totally unbelievable. In fact, I think Samantha’s boyfriend, Todd, should be leaving Samantha to have the apartment they once shared all to herself so any likeability Todd has is over-ridden by his new castrati manner of handling Samantha, improved or not.

Andrea found herself smitten with a famous athlete who turns out to be a homosexual. The story line evolved around Samantha and Todd’s efforts to inform Andrea about the gayness of the man she so adored.

Lookit, a woman of this Andrea’s worldliness doesn’t know that a guy is a homosexual? I don’t believe it for a minute. Sure it was thrown in the story line for yuk-yuk’s but I was merely insulted that the writers thought I was so dumb as to believe it.

Meanwhile, Dena and Samantha’s parents get all involved with some soldier overseas that Dena has somehow caused to fall in love with her. When Dena fails to properly deliver that Dear John letter, Samantha’s mother, and most improbably then Samantha’s father, try to do the deed and still this love-struck soldier sends expensive gifts and eventually his own fine self to Dena’s doorstep.

Like I said, almost insulting to the viewer that we should believe such storylines.

Samantha Who? Didn’t fare well even when it was aided by all the power of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars”.

Left on its own it won’t go far either.
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In thoughts this week we've got info on the upcoming tea parties…time for us to take to the streets folks.

The shamwow guy, what a shame.

We've got an actual cardinal singing of spring to us, the quip of the week, and a rant about Obama hiring and firing folks. Will you be next?

Finally, the WORST inventions...ever. A cat wig?

HERE
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It was not planned that a 1989 old-fashioned film about parenting and the travails of same would air the seem weekend that I dutifully taped the very hip and modern "Sex in the City" but so it was.

So The Wise I gives a review of both movies, the similarities (few), the differences (many...how times change) and attempts to draw a moral from it all.

With pics and video you'll find nowhere else on the Internet.

HERE
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Her bouncy boobs didn't save her and his cadre of geeks with their robo-phones didn't save him.

Two contenders booted off of "Dancing With the Stars" 09 and we're almost, not quite but almost, down to a legion of serious dancers.

With pics and video you'll find nowhere else on the Internet.

HERE
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It was seriously time for Megan Joy to go although she was sure a fresh-faced beauty and, eh, a bit different.

Another top eight contender is also very different and we've got lots on this plus the top three performances of Itune night and the very worst of the lot.

With pics and video you'll find nowhere else on the Internet.

HERE
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