It's not your imagination: Everyone on reality shows says "I'm not here to make friends." (At some time or another, many also claim to "step up," and I predict the continued popularity of "throw [someone] under the bus.") Anywho:
Tell us: Do these images calm your nerves about Project Runway's August 20th move to Lifetime? From left to right, for me, that would be a no, ahellllll no, and an ah, okay, there's our Tim Gunn. The sight of him with that outstretched arm does wonders for my confidence level. Can you imagine if the show had made the move without him? Shudder. Don't.
Not sure if you guys know this about me but I'm a pretty big deal down in Chihuahua, Mexico. Wes is gone, Wes is gone. There are so many classic Wes moments and lines in this episode that I hardly know where to begin. Things obviously deteriorated pretty fast this week between Wes and Jillian and I know it was pretty obvious who was going home by the time we got to the rose ceremony, but it didn't matter because you knew Wes' ego wouldn't allow him to go quietly into that Spanish night. You just couldn't take your eyes off this Texas-sized dumpster fire.
The week started with Jillian meeting Kiptyn in Madrid. After watching Jill and Kiptyn do their own version of dancing with the stars we know this: Kiptyn can't really dance and he's circumcised. Geez, how tight were those pants? Everything is going smooth with Kip. One thing that seems to worry Jilli a little is that right now Kip doesn't seem all that enthused about proposing at the end of this and she is definitely looking for that. It's not a deal breaker by any means but as she said, it's an issue that will have to be addressed. After Kip, Jillian happened to run into Matthew Perry in Spain…wait. That's not Chandler, that's Reid. We learned on this date that Reid is large (Soy grande). I think Jillian and Reid's relationship has been fun to watch grow. They seem to complement and challenge each other well. Their relationship may have started slowly but over the last few weeks it has really picked up steam. Out of all the guys, Reid seems to be having the toughest time handling the fact that Jillian is dating other men at the same time. That's always tough for the guys and their egos. I did find it amusing when Jill asked Reid what he found hard about the fact that she's dating three other guys. What could he possibly have a problem with when he knows his girl friend will be making out with another man in about 12 hours? Bottom line though is Chandler…Reid is looming grande right now in Jillian's corazon (bet ya didn't think I knew French now, did ya).
Sometimes, kids, good does triumph over evil -- even if it does take eight long weeks for it to happen. I'm feeling pretty giddy after tonight's episode of The Bachelorette, what about you? No spoilers here, but this is a formidable final three, don't you think? (Now if only Michael the "straight-up" breakdancer would make a surprise return...) Click over for all the details in my complete Bachelorette recap, but first, share how you celebrated tonight's elimination in the comments section below. And be sure to check out Chris Harrison's exclusive Bachelorette blog, as well as the latest episode of The Doll Bachelorette below. This week: Zambonae enjoys a two-on-one date... in a hot air balloon!
When I think of C. Thomas Howell, I think of The Outsiders. I think of Red Dawn. And I think of Side Out, the Bull Durham of beach volleyball movies. I don't immediately think of Charles Kuralt.
But this August, Ponyboy goes "on the road" to host All Jacked Up, a CMT reality show chronicling extreme Americans. Once upon a time, Kuralt traveled in a motorhome for CBS News, shining a Steinbeckian light on the nooks and crannies of our country. For his part, Howell will highlight ostrich races, eating contests and chainsaw jugglers. I figure that's about right.
It's a modest upgrade for Howell, most recently known for starring in barebones straight-to-DVD versions of big-budget blockbusters like War of the Worlds. But will he even register with the audience craving segments on jet-powered outhouses? Is this what Ralph Macchio had in mind when he told Ponyboy to "Stay gold"? At the very least, I expect -- nay, demand -- that this exposure guarantees him a role in the upcoming Red Dawn remake. If his new show features sushi-eating wolverines, consider it a lock.
Where was the last place you saw Howell? Did you catch him on NBC's Southland? And should his wife be worried about his upcoming road trips?
Did you read Variety's news item Monday about VH1's new programs? I hope you read it carefully. If you just skimmed it, you might have missed the most exciting news -- for me -- buried in the piece: I Love New York 2's Frank "The Entertainer" Moresco will be getting his own show!
Okay, so I might be one of the few actually excited about this concept, a show in which The Entertainer tries to find love. (Can you blame me? This guy invades my dreams.) But can I get an "Amen, brother!" anyway? Not only does Frank boast a backstory that practically begs for its own program -- the deadbeat reality star is constantly struggling to move out of his parents' basement -- but the I Love Money contestant has been one of the main sources of, well, entertainment on these trash-tastic VH1 shows. I just can't believe it took so long, especially considering that VH1 has already gifted shows to ho-hum bores like Real and Chance and Daisy De La Hoya. After all, you can't tell me Frank doesn't deserve it: This is the same fellow who sucked on New York's toes for airtime.
Do you, like me, looooooooooooove The Entertainer?
You know a wise man once told me "love...don't come eeasssyy." Seriously, truer words have never been spoken. Every now and then I have those really odd "I'm the host of The Bachelor/Bachelorette" weeks. This week has been one of them. It started off trading texts and tweets with Trista (we're way too cool to just talk on the phone, that's so '08). Got a nice call from Jason Mesnick and caught up with him and Molly. They're doing great, by the way. Then I get a call from my old friend Byron. He and Mary are alive and well, still engaged, and doing great as well. I had my weekly talk with Jillian about life, love, and this week's episode. Then my wife and I were out to dinner and ran into Juan. He told me he's ready to dish at the Men Tell All special. Then we stopped by a party only to run into DeAnna and Holly. Oh...and to top it all off, the family and I were having dinner with the Firestones this week. Like I said, just one of those weeks, but it's also one of the things I truly love about hosting this show. I've formed some wonderful friendships that will endure long after the cameras are turned off. Hey, Guiney, give me a call, man! Before I jump into hometown visits and this week's episode, I want to clear up the schedule from here on out because more than a few of you seem to be confused. As you know we are now down to our final four. They are taking off for a week in Spain, but this is not the typical "exotic date" location. That will come the week after. The finale for this season will be Monday, July 27, followed by an After the Final Rose special on Tuesday night July 28. Hope that helps your party planning.
Now, let's get down to business because we have much to discuss. I would just skip to the dessert and Wes' hometown date but then I'd get grief for skipping over the other guys, so we'll give them their due...kind of. One thing you didn't see on Jill's date with Reid was at the condo when she dropped a full bottle of champagne and it smashed on the floor. She said she was a bit nervous. Before Jillian met Reid's grandmother he warned Jillian that she could be a little cranky and that she isn't that easy to talk to. They hit it off immediately and you couldn't separate the two of them. Reid's hometown was great. Jillian loved every minute of it and I think it's clear to see why he got a rose this week. Their relationship gets better and better each date.
Rejoice, Real Housewives fans! The ladies of Atlanta are coming back -- Bravo has announced that NeNe, Sheree, Kim, Lisa, and new addition Kandi Burruss will hit the airwaves Thursday, July 30, at 10 p.m. That's just 36 days away, thank goodness.
But let me break this down in terms that all of us Housewives lovers can easily understand: You will only have three Housewives-less weeks to endure in July, seeing as how the "lost footage" from the New Jersey series airs Thursday, July 9. Hopefully, you'll be on vacation during some of this time, and you won't even notice.
After the jump, a quick update on what's going on with the Atlanta ladies, according to Bravo.
Man vs. Wild host Bear Grylls is all about teaching you how to survive the worst-case scenario, which we almost found ourselves in when we met up for a chat last Friday in New York City, where he was spending the 24 hours he had between shoots in Texas and Alaska, and I proceeded to drop my tape recorder. Luckily, he hadn't partied too hard at the event he'd attended the night before celebrating the "Survival in the Modern Era" web series he filmed for Dos Equis' Most Interesting Academy (he made his entrance rappelling from the rafters and fighting off two fake attackers), and he was able to collect the batteries, put the device back together, check that it still worked, order a cup of peppermint tea (badass, but British!), and fill us in on the future of Discovery's Man vs. Wild and much more.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So the Dos Equis event sounds like it was fun.
BEAR GRYLLS: I don't spend nearly enough time hanging out at fun things like this. I tend to film, and then want to get home. I've got three little boys [Jesse, Marmaduke (aka Duke), and Huckleberry (Huck)]. And then a few times a year, I get wheeled out like a monkey [laughs], I get paraded around to promote the start of Man vs. Wild or some company like Dos Equis. But these ads are cool. I've wanted to do urban survival stuff for ages. There's other stuff I've learned through all the special forces kind of training, the combat stuff, the gymnastics stuff, and really, they're a great excuse to show some of those things.
So you did all your own stunts?
Yeah, yeah. That's the fun side of doing it for me. I hope to do a film next year for Disney that's gonna incorporate loads of different stuff. The idea is to kind of base it around Man vs. Wild, so we would be filming in a jungle and then everything starts going wrong. You see a plane crash, and there's a family on-board, and then a whole cat-and-mouse game in the jungle and me getting the family out of there, and then it ends up in London with fight scenes off the rooftops. Again, it would be fun for me. We'd still keep Man vs. Wild going. We're hoping to do an urban survival Man vs. Wild at the end of this year. We're trying to do some escape ones, like escape from Alcatraz. We're trying to do a Man vs. Wild boot camp, training up normal people and giving them some of these skills. So we've got a lot of cool ideas for the next few years at least.
Man vs. Wild returns with new episodes in August. What's in store for us?
Well, we've filmed in Alabama, Norway, Texas, we go to Alaska tomorrow. We did a war special in Vietnam that's gonna be great.
It's still numb, so it's not great. But it looks okay now, which is good. But you know, we're never gonna reach the end of our lives in perfectly preserved bodies doing this sort of job. Vietnam is the highlight of the season for me. It's a full-on place. It just makes you realize these young American kids out of college sent there with no idea, no jungle experience...Unbelievable. It's a real struggle just to survive let alone fight. So I think that will really resonate strongly with people.
And what will we be watching you eat this season?
What have I had recently... Rattlesnake a couple of days ago. Lots of lizards. [For the record, when Grylls tweeted, "just found a squashed rattlesnake tail from last week's texas desert episode in my pocket and woman in NYC elevator looked a bit surprised!" he was not referring to me.]
