Looks like TLC is getting super-freaky. The network recently announced plans to launch Toddlers and Tiaras, a new series that goes behind the scenes of the child beauty pageant circuit. Says Howard Lee, Vice President of Production for TLC, "The appeal and success of Little Miss Sunshine illustrates that this competitive world really exists. These children and their parents pour so much energy into wanting to win -- and it's fascinating to watch.”
It's also disgusting to watch. A while back, I caught Vh1's similarly themed doc Little Beauties, in which a group of moms jumpstarted their young daughters' body-image issues by making them wear "flippers"—fake teeth to hide the gaps that normal girls have from losing their baby teeth—and encouraging them to go on stage and bat their eyelashes at adult male judges. Toddlers and Tiaras should offer similar horrors; according to a TLC press release, the show will be "jam-packed with stage moms and dads, hair extensions, spray tanning, makeup and glitter."
But who deserves more scrutiny here? The parents of these tiny pageant contestants, or a network that agrees to give them the national spotlight? Perhaps the main reason I felt nauseous watching Little Beauties was because the doc never seemed acknowledge that these pageants are so...wrong. Plus, how can Lee point to Little Miss Sunshine as an inspiration for the new TLC program when the movie implies that such beauty pageants are, you know, essentially T&A shows starring unknowing, innocent five-year-olds?
Am I missing something here, PopWatchers? Will any of you be watching Toddlers and Tiaras when it premieres in late January? And if so, why?
I had to pick up the new Mad magazine when I saw it at a newsstand the other night, even though I knew in my heart that the once-fine comedy publication jumped the shark pretty brutally years ago. (Or maybe that was just me maturing past the age of 12.) So why'd I do it? Because of the cover image you see to your left. It's a Lil Wayne parody, of course, and there's just something so arresting about that Wayne-ified Alfred E. Neuman. Check out the level of detail they put into Alfie-Weezy's many tattoos! That, folks, is a work of comedic art. And this feels like a real watershed moment of some kind for Wayne as pop icon. Like Eskay says, "This is how you know you've arrived." Also, whoa, is Mad implying that Wayne's star has already risen and fallen? Controversy!
Of course, the actual cover story inside was inevitably disappointing. It alternates between semi-amusing jokes about easy targets like Ja Rule and Bill O'Reilly and totally lame, generic bling-bling nonsense. None of it has anything much to do with Lil Wayne. Bait and switch!
Fans of High School Musical, South Park, uncontrollable giggle fits, or all of the above will want to immediately watch last night's "Elementary School Musical" episode of South Park. Resistance is futile if even Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny reluctantly conform to a lifestyle of spontaneous song and dance. Press play below for the opening number, "Everyone Is Special" -- and you can watch the entire episode for free at South Park Studios.
Was anyone else's favorite part the perfectly timed "Here he comes!" at 1:49? And am I just starving right now or does Cartman's triple cheeseburger/fried chicken lunch look PERFECT?
According to Variety, Jaden Smith, Will's son, is set to star in a remake of The Karate Kid. Now usually, I laugh at people when they get upset over a planned redux. (Here's an idea: Don't watch it! Problem solved!) But this one got to me.
I understand why you'd want a new generation to see The Karate Kid: They've got Cobra Kai problems that they need to learn how to deal with, too. But the thing is, they are seeing it. I remember chatting with Ralph Macchio when The Karate Kid Collection DVD was released in 2005 and him telling me how often he hears that parents, who were fans of the film 20+ years ago, are now showing it to their children. The movie still holds up, and, more importantly, it has the late Pat Morita, who earned an Oscar nomination as Mr. Miyagi (and who tears up while talking about the role on that aforementioned DVD). Why would you want to show a child a Karate Kid that doesn't have Morita?!
It's true y'all: Today, Alvin and the Chipmunks released a new album, Undeniable, featuring their renditions of Daughtry's "Home," Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds," and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" (below). Check out this listening party to hear how Alvin, Simon, and Theodore made each of the tracks their own.
Next month, Alvin and the Chipmunks will celebrate their 50th Anniversary. ("The Chipmunk Song" was released in 1958.) In their honor, we present the poll below.
Like we'd pick anyone besides the High School Musical 3: Senior Year cast as Winners of the Week? As if! Their film's $42 million take last weekend set a new record, unlikely to be beaten anytime soon, for the biggest box office opening for a movie musical, like, ever. They're just as likely to rule the multiplex again this weekend. Their soundtrack album sold 297,000 copies; granted, that's only half as many as last year's HSM2 soundtrack, but still enough to debut at No. 2 on this week's Billboard album chart. As for the six stars themselves, all but one of them has another movie lined up outside the franchise (Monique Coleman, call your agent), as Adam Markovitz reports in the News & Notes section of this week's EW. Zac Efron has several upcoming films, including, of course, the Footloose remake. Vanessa Hudgens will appear in the comedy Bandslam opposite Lisa Kudrow. Ashley Tisdale has a couple movies, including a musical remake of Teen Witch. Lucas Grabeel has two films, including a small role in next months Oscar contender Milk. And Corbin Bleu co-produced and is starring in the motocross drama Freestyle, due in January. Most important, they've launched a vogue in Hollywood for clean-cut, teen-oriented musicals, including those Footloose and Teen Witch remakes and an update of Fame. Can a fourth HSM installment be far behind? ("High School Musical 4: Held Back"!)
So, congrats, Wildcats! We're sure all PopWatchers salute you... or do they? If you can think of someone who had a better pop culture week than the East High seniors, let us know below. And it's not to early to nominate a Winner of the Week for next week. (See past winners here.)
Oh, do you, Elle editor-in-chief Anne Slowey? Should they be chillier than your heart but not as frosted as your hair? Excellent. Last night's series premiere of The CW's Stylista introduced us to an already-trying-too-hard-just-by-showing-up crew of young wannabe journalists whose "lifelong dream" is to become a Junior Editor. Um, some free advice: THAT IS THE WORST LIFELONG DREAM I'VE EVER HEARD. The underlings spent most of the hour fetching breakfast for Slowey (pictured), shopping at H&M so that she wouldn't find them as heinous as she did when they wore their own, non-TV-sponsored clothes, and lolling around the fake Elle office/blatant TV set mocking each other's appearances moments after barely being introduced. We've got some real winners here, like Megan, who was "given a chunk of money" to open her own boutique at 22, and Kate, who spent most of the episode in tears because no one wanted to look at her giant boobs. No, literally that's all that happened until Sideshow Bob got eliminated for wearing a big-ass scarf but otherwise looking "boring."
Perhaps Stylista should be called High School Yearbook instead -- did anyone else start gagging at Group 2's puke-yellow mockup of a "contributors page defining your personal style"? My colleague, Tanner Stransky, and I were so inspired by its heinoustry, we created our own page that's even more lame and immature. Tell us which magazine you'd rather read, after the jump. WARNING: There will be jazz hands...
Pick up your pencils, young Potter-philes. Scholastic announced today that they are sponsoring a national essay contest for kids in conjunction with the Dec. 4 release of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter companion book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The grand prize? An all-expense paid trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, where five winners, each accompanied by an adult, will have tea with Rowling as she conducts a reading of Tales at the National Library of Scotland. (Apparently, 250 other lucky kids will be in attendance as well.)
According to Scholastic, "Fans are asked to write an essay of 200 words or less describing how they have helped others. Because so many kids today are taking interest in helping others in their schools, communities and around the world, the Scholastic contest gives them the opportunity to write about causes they care about and what they've done to make a difference."
As my colleague Michael Slezak just emailed to me, the whole thing sounds rather Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-esque, sans chocolate and that whole scary boat tour thing (we only hope). But the message behind the contest is very un-Veruca Salt—since Tales' proceeds are going to charity, Scholastic is trying to spread the word of goodwill with the contest. Some of you hardcore Potter fans might not be eligible—you can only submit an essay if you're between the ages of 8 and 17—but does a party with Rowling sound like your cup of tea?
On last night's Greek, Cappie (Scott Michael Foster, pictured) lamented that he'd placed The Goonies in his Top 10 Movies Ever list, only to re-screen it as an adult and realize "MAN, did those kids chew the scenery!" That's always a low blow to one's self-esteem -- you suddenly wonder whether you had any taste growing up. Then you immediately get to work on rationalizing all your questionable decisions to your ego. (Uh, Annie, that "Cold-Hearted Snake" dance routine featuring your sister, you, and a number of log rolls across your basement's dingy carpet didn't choreograph itself. You committed to that thing.)
As for movies, I was particularly horrified after a recent viewing of the 1987 Madonna vehicle Who's That Girl? And 1990's The Wizard, starring "TV's Fred Savage" (and music's Jenny Lewis!) is just embarrassing, especially when the DVD (that I am still 100% glad I bought, mind you) stares at me from the bottom shelf whenever I watch TV, which is always.
What about you -- what childhood staple has left you somewhat disillusioned after a more recent look?
It's a sad week, PopWatchers. And that's not just because I Love Money ended its inaugural run (yes, I'm maintaining hope that there will be two seasons). Yesterday, American Girl announced that it would discontinue all its products related to Samantha Parkington, the company's poor little rich orphaned girl who was introduced as one of the original characters way back in 1986 (her books will still be sold in book stores, though). And to that, I say, hell to the no! As an early American Girl enthusiast who also happened to own a Samantha doll, this announcement made me feel like a birthday girl who just realized Eddie Ryland salted her ice cream. (In other words, super-pissed). But seeing as I don't have the power to change major corporate decisions (yet!), it's time to say my official farewell:
Goodbye, Samantha. Though I can no longer vicariously live through the children who meander the American Girl store demanding their long-suffering parents buy them your overpriced accessories, we'll always have our memories: tasty petit fours, beautiful Nutcracker dolls and tenacious canoe trips, to name a few. And I'll never forget how your early 20th-century winter cloak and furry hat provided a great costume for my childhood cat, Mooshie, for our family Christmas card. As sad as I am to see you go, however, I am happy that my first generation doll in your visage will now only appreciate in value. So thank you, Samantha Parkington. Not only did you entertain me during my childhood with your stories of bravery and kindness, but you will also be paying my rent.
PopWatchers, leave your Samantha Parkington tributesâand conspiracy theoriesâbelow (I bet Molly McIntire is laughing maniacally in her tap shoes right about now...)!
Ever heard of SlamBall? We hadn't either, until we found out about the crazy sport's appearance on One Tree Hill starting tonight (The CW, 9 p.m ET). It's a full-contact basketball-hockey-football hybrid, with TRAMPOLINES. Seriously, trampolines. As SlamBall website user djdchamp93 so eloquently puts it, "this is wat nba shud look lyk."
In terms of made-up sports, we were feeling like SlamBall ranked up there with Quidditch, so we asked James Lafferty -- who plays Nathan, the promising NBA prospect/high school hoops star-turned-paralyzed alcoholic-turned-less-promising NBA prospect/high school hoops coach -- to kindly explain what, exactly, it entails. "[Slamball] is like the closest thing to flying you can do without jumping out of an airplane or being strapped to a harness and swung around," he says. "It's set on a spring-loaded wood floor with a basketball hoop on each end. It's the size of a normal basketball court. Each basket is at ten feet, and under each hoop there is an area that goes from courtside to courtside that has four trampolines. The entire court is surrounded by Plexiglass."
If you want to play (or watch), you need to learn the lingo: "'Juice the tramps' is basically manipulating the trampoline to get the highest jump that you possibly can," Lafferty says, and "'Popcorn' is when a defensive player jumps [on the trampoline] at the same time or right before you're trying to shoot and takes your jump away."
Reasons I went to an 11 a.m. showing of Beverly Hills Chihuahua today:
1. It's the No. 1 movie in the country. 2. It's a slow news day, and I have a blog shift. 3. I'm fascinated by bad ideas, and I was certain this film was one. (Read EW's official review.) 4. I hadn't thought about how I'd feel handing my ticket to an usher.
That is the story of how I ended up being one of eight adults, each sitting alone, in a theater in Times Square, watching a film starring live-action talking dogs and Coyote Ugly's Piper Perabo. But here's what's really unfortunate: THE MOVIE DIDN'T TOTALLY SUCK.
Two of my favorite ABC series have gone the "add a child!" route, but in the battle betweenDesperate Housewives Juanita (Madison Lovato) and Ugly Betty's Daniel Jr. (Julian De La Celle), it's no contest (obvs)! Let's compare, shall we?
Juanita Fun: Overindulges in cake
Active: Hops on a city bus (alone!) to thwart Gaby's unsubtle exercise scheme
Playful: Engages in game of 'tag' with mom's convertible
Stylish: Rocks pink princess dresses
Bonus points: Likes her veggies covered in processed cheese
Daniel Jr.
Dreary: Refuses to eat meals
Passive: Locks self in room to thwart dad
Hostile: Sprays Betty with silly string, causing motorcycle crash
Frumpy: Long, floppy locks decidedly age-inappropriate
Automatic penalty: Whines in French
The winner: Juanita, by a landslide! (Even better, the kid has brought out a completely new yet totally hilarious aspect of Gaby's [Eva Longoria Parker] personality.) Of course, you can add to Juanita's tally, or place a vote for little Daniel, in the comments section below!
Remember the mini-controversy Ms. Cyrus caused this summer when she told a reporter that the upcoming third season of her hit Disney Channel sitcom might be her last? Disney and the Cyrus camp both quickly moved to shush all such speculation at the time, but the story came roaring back this week with help from assortedrumormongers. Oh, heavens no! How shocking to think that a teenager might
be ready to move on from the things that defined her at age 11! She moved to deflect the gossip yet again yesterday, insisting to People that she's "fully committed to Hannah Montana." But look: It's obvious that Miley will have to move on from Hannah at some point, whether or not it's at the end of season 3. Her latest album ditches her on-screen persona altogether, and it seems to be doing fine — so why would she want to stay stuck in that one role for the rest of her life?
And of course, as Miley's own music career continues to take off, there are plenty of other kids who'd be happy to take her place of honor in the Disney empire. In the issue of EW that hits stands on Friday, EW scribe Leah Greenblatt takes a closer look at leading next-Miley contender Demi Lovato (Camp Rock). Along with everything Lovato herself says in the profile, there's some interesting input from Disney Channel entertainment president Gary Marsh, who calls all the speculation about Miley's potential departure sheer "silliness." Says Marsh: "Miley and Hannah are huge parts of our present and our future. We have a substantial investment in her both financially and personally. We've got a feature film coming out next April, we're in season 3 production and have an option for season 4, she's got a book with the company — we couldn't have a closer relationship with her." Okay, sure. And where does Marsh think Lovato and her BFF, Wizards of Waverly Place star Selena Gomez, figure into all this? "Demi and Selena are fantastic up-and-coming stars in our universe, and we hope they have as much success and opportunity as Miley. But these are not competitive properties. We love them all!"
Hmm. What do you say? Doth Disney protest too much about the latest round of rumors? And when do you think Miley should let Demi or Selena — or someone else! — take her place at Disney while she moves on to bigger and better things? Or do you think she should stay at the Disney Channel until we're all watching Hannah Montana: The AARP Years?
You'd think it would take something big to steal our attention from the highly anticipated reunion of Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty on the new 90210. Actually, it was something small--too small. Almost without exception, the young actresses on The CW's spin-off are alarmingly thin, with arms that seem thickest at the wrists, and legs that look, well, like arms. As we watched Kansas transplant Annie Wilson (Shenae Grimes, pictured, left) graze on a side salad as her lunch entrée, one question lingered: Are we the only ones overreacting to these skinny minnies? The answer, as it turns out, is no.
"Everyone says television adds five or ten pounds, so
if you're watching and someone looks like they haven't eaten in
forever, what must they look like in person?" asks a Hollywood insider
who works with young actresses on popular series (nearly everyone asked
about this subject preferred to remain anonymous). "Why doesn't someone
on set or a producer or a studio head say, 'This is not okay'?"
According to a source close to the show, the network has. Calls went
out to representatives of the show's stars (Grimes, Jessica Stroup, pictured right, and
AnnaLynne McCord) suggesting they address the weight issue with the
ladies. McCord's publicist Gary Mantoosh denies receiving such notice,
and insists that his client chows down on "whatever she wants,"
including hamburgers. But one report estimates that none of the stars
weighs more than 110 pounds, and 90210 insiders quietly admit that they
know there's a problem.
Of course, no one is pointing accusatory fingers at
three actresses barely out of their teens. One casting agent who works
frequently with The CW turns a critical eye on the network itself. "I
know in discussions at ABC and CBS that 'too skinny' is no good. They
talk about it as a minus point," says the agent. "But at The CW it's a
different story. They're trying to pull in the Gossip Girl audience and
that's the image: hyper-skinny models." (The network declined to
comment for this article.) Still, The CW hardly stands alone in holding
Hollywood actresses to an impossible standard when it comes to weight:
Be thin, really really thin--but not too thin! Which leaves actresses
with, oh, roughly eight ounces of wiggle room.
It might've been when I realized the entire second episode of 90210 would revolve around (snore) family bowling night. Or when my colleague Tanner Stransky and I successfully made a (very easy) game out of predicting the next line/plot beat. (As in: Let me guess—Naomi's mother already knows her father's cheating, and she's totally okay with it.) Or when Jessica Walter wasn't on the screen for the whole hour. All I know is that by the end of the week two of the supposedly edgy teen drama remake, I was more interested in Tanner's and my conversation about Dorota, the maid on Gossip Girl, than I was in 90210's future.
Being a teen-show connoisseur, I wanted to love the new 90210, or at least like it, but it's officially giving me too little to work with. The only time my attention perks up at all is when Jennie Garth is onscreen; and even at that, she's been saddled with lame storylines like that flat, chemistry-free relationship with a teacher. (I love me some scruffy boys, but unshaven does not automatically equal interesting.) Everybody's noticing the extreme skinniness of the young female cast members, but I'm even more famished for some fresh plotlines and/or remotely clever dialogue. (Please see Greek for whip-smart banter lesson.) Or maybe the show could just show a smidgen of post-millennial self-awareness? Anything to indicate there's a brain to go with this show's excessively svelte body?
I can't be alone in my disappointment with 90210 2.0; ratings dropped a whopping 30 percent from the series premiere to last week's followup episode. Which leads me to a question for those of you who've been watching: If you ran The CW, what would you do to breathe new life (and new viewers) into this high-profile gamble? Brainstorm like a champ, and your comments could appear in an upcoming issue of EW. And when you're done sounding off on our message board below, click through after the jump and take our official "How to fix 90210" poll.
If you've been perusing any of the usual photo-heavy, news-light celeb blogs -- and really, why would you, when EW.com is so very fabulous? But we digress! -- you may have caught the photos of Disney star Demi Lovato (most famous as the co-lead and onscreen Jonas-brother paramour in this past June's Camp Rock) outside a candy store in New York City yesterday. What those Web sites don't have, however, are the awesome photos we took inside the store, and the excellent interview Lovato gave us afterward, full of juicy bits of Jonas news, info on her upcoming album, and thoughts on BFF Selena Gomez, frenemy Miley Cyrus, and more.
Check the magazine two weeks from now, and get it all!
Am I the only one who was aghast at seeing, just four minutes into last night's premiere of 90210, two teens having oral sex in the school parking lot? Okay, we didn't actually see a sex act, but we saw newly arrived Kansan emigré Annie spotting her old beau Ethan (Dustin Milligan, pictured) through the windshield of his parked car as he sat in the driver's seat, and then we witnessed Annie's horror as she saw his partner's head popping up from below the dashboard. (This was the pilot episode's "We're Not in Kansas Anymore" moment — which, not coincidentally, was the episode's title.)
Now, I realize the new 90210 has to make a splash on the CW, a network that also airs Gossip Girl (and in this regard, it seems to have succeeded, according to early ratings estimates, drawing better numbers than the GG season 2 premiere the night before and holding most of its audience for all two hours of the pilot). And I realize that the show's creators must have wanted a "This is not your parents' 90210" moment in there in order to seem cutting edge. (Even returning 90210 alumnae Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty told EW they found the moment shocking enough to make original 90210 producer Aaron Spelling spin in his grave.) Still, this scene was kinda gratuitous, no? For plot purposes, Annie needed to see Ethan cheating on his girlfriend Naomi, but spotting the illicit pair making out would have worked just as well, as illustrated later in the episode where Naomi seeks revenge merely by kissing Ethan's lacrosse teammate. Besides, the offending incident aired just minutes after 8 p.m. (Or, for many viewers, 7 p.m.) Here's a show clearly designed to attract both kids and their parents who watched the original show back in the Mesozoic Era 1990s, and here was a situation that would surely make both kids and their parents wince and squirm if they were watching together.
Am I being a Parents Television Council prude here? Is this really no big deal, just a matter-of-fact depiction of the way many teens start off their school day? Or were you taken aback as well? And do you think the shock tactics will continue past the pilot, or have the writers made their point, leaving only relatively tame content, in the vein of the pilot's second hour, from now on?
Fans, Hollywood welcomes your support, but it's not worried about your wrath. Even if you get massive numbers of people to join the cause (and you won't, because everyone wants to see Harry Potter and Watchmen and Wolverine, and most people will go on opening weekend or watch soon after when the movies are released on DVD), all you'd be doing is taking a bite out of the ever-shrinking slice of profit pie that is the domestic box office. In the case of Potter and Wolverine, you're talking about billion-dollar franchises, with worldwide revenue streams from cinemas, TV, DVD, publishing, and merchandise, of which the next Hogwarts and X-Men movies' domestic ticket sales are just a drop in the bucket. You're spitting in the wind.
If it's any consolation, I believe that Fox, no matter what the studio says now about preferring to suppress Watchmen and receive no profits, will ultimately decide that a percentage of something is better than a percentage of nothing, and I believe (as my colleague Jeff Jensen does), that the movie will come out even if Warners has to pay Fox a settlement. I also believe that, by the time Half-Blood Prince comes out next summer, much of the current grumbling will be forgotten. With any luck, the movie will be great (as will Watchmen and Wolverine), and we'll all have moved on to some other controversy.
The gaming blog Kotaku has pointed to a ridiculous, TRUE story about a high school kid (pictured -- not!) whose parents were so sick of his ragging about not having ample free time to focus on Guitar Hero that they're letting him not attend high school anymore. The dude thinks he can make a career of playing the highly addictive game "professionally." From now on, he'll be home-schooled, presumably in hard-hitting academic subjects such as Faster Fingers, Long-Term Ocular Degeneration, and Becoming A Bigger Moron.
Fine, that's a little harsh. I'm just jealous! I wish I'd thought of this in my day. I could've won tons of cash at the hypothetical How Many Apples Can Your Yoshi Eat? competitions in my head. What about you: What's the mindless pop-culture career of your dreams? The pixelated sky's the limit. Apparently.
How does one go about shutting down an Apple Store in Manhattan without a computer virus? Duh: Just import the Jonas Brothers.
Tuesday night—the day the band’s third album, A Little Bit Longer, went on sale—the trio drew the masses to NYC's SoHo Apple Store for a "secret" performance. And as EW's go-to reporter for all things Jonas, I was sent downtown to take a listen. Okay, not to listen to the Jonas Brothers, per se, but rather, to listen to hundreds of girls screaming at the top of their lungs (while listening to the siblings Jonas).
Interestingly enough, the hour-long set wasn’t announced publicly until Tuesday morning, yet insatiable fans had been lined up since Monday night. The gals put their dedication on display: While the Brothers sang "When You Look Me in the Eyes," one group of rabid fans held a sign that proudly screamed, "Here since 4 a.m.!" The crazy thing about all this, too, is that most of the attending fans had already seen the JoBros somewhere else during the week: The Apple Store show merely topped off a week of Jonasmania in NYC, highlighted by the band's guest-hosting stint on TRL, a Good Morning America concert that drew 15,000 eardrum-busting fans into the city's Bryant Park, and three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden.
The Apple Store event, however, was intimate—and a fitting celebration at the end of a day that saw the new Jonas album strike No. 1 on both Amazon and iTunes by early morning. (Their first, out-of-print album, meanwhile, now fetches up to $350 on sites like eBay. We’re guessing that’s approximately three months’ worth of the average tween’s allowance.) Just 450 fans—including a Croc-wearing Harry Connick Jr. and his smitten daughter—were allowed inside (free of charge) for the 12-song Apple Store set, set-off by "That's Just the Way We Roll." Hands down, though, the screaming throngs—most of them wearing puff-paint covered t-shirts, while nearby adults inserted ear plugs—most enjoyed "A Little Bit Longer," the ballad Nick wrote about his battle with diabetes. Several diabetic girls were in the crowd, as evidenced by shirts that proclaimed things like, "I'm Not Diabetic! I'm Sugar Challenged!"
The night’s final tune couldn’t have been more fitting: Summer anthem “Burnin’ Up” (yup, Big Rob was there and got his rap on, wearing a "Big Rob's For Real" t-shirt) brought up the rear as two ambulances outside treated a slew of fainting gals, who had, predictably, overheated. Perhaps the Brothers need to remind their fans they’re just lyrics—not words to live by.
But PopWatchers, weigh in: Have you ever seen the Jonas Brothers live? What'd you think? Are the Jonas Brothers are ambulance-worthy? I mean, I'm talking about actual humans in need of medical attention here.
Revisiting last week's show for a minute, I think it's really precious the way Amy asks her mother for permission to marry Ben. The whole barter approach: like, if I do this thing (let's say, my laundry) will you let me do this thing I want (get a dog)? Except in this case, Amy's chore is having a baby and her reward -- eek! ah! no! -- is marrying Ben. For as many eye rolls this episode garnered, it got some serious laughs, and even had a few believably "American teen" moments. My roommate, who was watching for the first time, noted how selfish all of the characters are (and therefore how obviously "high school") -- Adrian wants Amy to not have the baby so she can stay together with Ricky, Ben wants her to keep it so they can live happily ever after, Grace wants her to keep it in the name of the Lord. And Amy? The first "A" word (abortion) was so last episode, and in its place is the new "A" word, adoption.
Ugh, so, Mr. Juergens is back and even his warm embraces and squinty-eyed cries can't win over this gal. Surprisingly, it's charming his youngest daughter, Ashley, who again delivered the best line(s) of the night. My favorite, when her mother told her she was going to be late for school: "At least I'm not late for my period." Indeed, little one! Our favorite Juergens is experiencing some raging growing pains and starting to resent Amy and all of the attention she's been getting. I also wondered, with her mentions of condoms and the mystery of who drove her home, that Ashley might be finding that attention elsewhere -- say, an older man?
Okay, this is just hilarious. It turns out there are 16 different tots -- only three of them boys! -- who have played baby Aaron on Lost. This past weekend, all of them (and their parents, who were probably a total buzzkill) got together for a picnic in Hawaii. From the Honolulu Advertiser's report, the gathering seems to have been a three-way hybrid of casting call, bragging session, and straight-up picnic. One mom boasted that her daughter had made the cover of TV Guide and also appeared in Entertainment Weekly (that rag?) and "had tiny pictures in People and Us Magazine." Burn! The other babies -- all of whom wore black tees emblazoned with BABY AARON, by the way, must have been so pissed off. In fact, let's imagine their internal dialogue right now.
AARON 1: Aaron 8 has gained way too much weight for this role. AARON 2: Choose me! Pick me. Love ME. AARON 5: It's gonna be me! It's Aaron, bitch. AERRIN: I spell my name in a unique way. Can I get a profile in the National Enquirer or what? AARON 8: Ba ba! NOW! AARON 16: All y'all infants need to shut up, 'cause Aaron 16* got to nuzzle against Evangeline Lilly's rack.
*If Aaron 16 continues to refer to himself in the third person, he should have a long and successful career in crappy reality television.
By all means, feel free to jump to the comments section and put words in the other Baby Aarons' mouths!
They can FLY. I had no idea! During last night's Teen Choice Awards, the dark 'n' stormy second coming of Hanson "hung out" above the crowd in a stunt almost as pointless as their steady stream of candid YouTube videos. I love how the one on the right (just looked it up: It's Kevin!!!) seems to be carefully mapping out a route through the watermelon-gum-infused ether of teens and their choices. The trio's flying was apparently "powered by the screams of teenage girls," but if that were true, they would have been up there the entire time, hoisted higher and higher every time Miley Cyrus barked out something bossy and petulant. Older man Rainn Wilson only had to mention the word "brothers" for the entire audience to start SCREECHING in anticipation. Alas, the Jonas Brothers (agggggggghhhhhhhhh!) have floated up to heaven, where they'll fit right in, because the sodas there really do cost $50.
Other Teen Choice highlights included repeated cuts to Jerry O'Connell (O'Connell Cam was to Teen Choice as Nicholson Cam is to the Oscars), Mariah Carey hitting the high notes just one shade lower than the tonal range only dogs can hear, and an award called -- seriously -- Choice MySpacer. (Something called a "Ryan Sheckler" won.) The winners are listed here, and this concludes the mini-est TV Watch in history. Leave your reactions to the show -- and creatively spelled shrieks because I used the word "brothers" three times -- in the comments. (Cranky complaints beginning with "When I was a kid..." will also suffice.)
Howdy, kids! Back with you after going MIA last week (sorry!) due to the exhausting commitment that was Comic-Con, but I have a confession to make: I'm still not loving High School Musical: Get in the Picture as much as I thought I would be. Maybe it's because after five episodes, it seems like the show hasn't really started. The first four installments gathered our wannabe-star contestants; last night's outing brought them to the brightly colored, cartoon-come-to-life High School Musical "campus," where they got the HSM equivalent of new student orientation, full of getting-to-know-you games and on-the-town events. It was exactly as dull as my prose sounds.
The first half of the show saw acting coach Ron Adler conduct an exercise in which the contestants all offered "first impressions" of each other. My favorite was this observation of Stan the Football Stud by Shayna the Hippie Chick: "You're the jock who has lots of girls who want you, but you actually don't want them--you want a 'secret girl' that nobody knows about." How specific! And from the way Shayna flashed her eyes at him, I'm guessing she was campaigning to become his down-low showmance. Beyond re-establishing our characters for those just joining, the exercise sought to make some one-to-grow-on after-school-special statement about the shallowness of judging by appearances, how we tend to sort others and ourselves according to types (the jock, the nerd, the funny fat guy), blah blah blah. Never mind the fact that the show probably cast each of these kids because they easily (and willingly) conform to Breakfast Club clichés. There's a guy on this show named Ether. He wears a nerdy sweater and a nerdy haircut and nerdy disposition, and so everyone deems him "the nerd," although the show seems to want to make you feel vaguely guilty for basically agreeing with that assessment, even though it provides Ether with no other opportunity to be anything else except "the nerd." All right, HSM: GITP! Stop trying to be American Teen already! You’re not a documentary--a faux-reality reality show! Pull the Disney stick out of your ass and be the ridiculously cheesy guilty pleasure you're supposed to be!
Hypothetical case: You are an alien just landed on Earth, and you want to find out what this thing called "popular music" is. You could illegally download buy 1,000,000,000 songs on the Internet, or you could beam over Feed the Animals by Girl Talk, AKA Gregg Gillis, a mash-up artist famous for pairing music by Queen, Procol Harum, Deee-Lite, Lil' John, Soul II Soul, Yo La Tengo, Air, and Roy Orbison -- in addition to some 300 + other songs -- and instantly have a sampling of some of the best pop music from the past four decades at your slimy green fingertips. (Though if you're an alien capable of interstellar travel, we're assuming you can pull one over on the RIAA too.)
Better yet, a rabid fan named Bunny Greenhouse has painstakingly stitched together mash-up video clips of the artists that neatly hook up with Gillis's samples. It's like little warm A/V spikes of nostalgia for your pop-culture cocktail. Best of all, it's pay-what-you-wish -- so it's cool if you do pay something, because Gillis is probably not making a lot of $ off this album, 'cuz the whole thing is illegal anyway, but you don't have to -- so check it out, and Bunny's creations, already!
Your turn: Which three current trends/movie/TV/music/books/games/Web items belong on your Must List this week? Please include your e-mail address so that we can get in touch with you in case we decide to use your submission in the magazine. Deadline is 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, July 31. Let's have it.
For the last four weeks, I've been waiting for Secret Life to deliver a water-cooler-worthy episode, something that validates my guilty-pleasure viewing of a teen-targeted show (even though I'm a little older than the desired demographic group). And based on your week-to-week comments, I don't think I've been alone in my desire to see ABC Family's summer hit kick things up a notch. Well, at last, last night's episode left me audibly gasping -- on three separate occasions, no less.
Amy's not-so-secret is pretty much out at this point: Mean girls are gabbing behind her back, parents are using the news to sugarcoat their own kids' slip-ups, and even the school counselor has figured out what's growing under Amy's flowing tops. We're just waiting for Mama Ringwald to catch on (next week, my friends!).
After watching Amy gobble down a pile of chicken wings, boyfriend/wounded puppy Ben got down on bended knee and proposed to his pregnant sweetheart. (A word of warning to impressionable young girls in the audience, such Prince Charmings are an extreme rarity in the under-18 set.) Problem is, while Ben is determined to do right by Amy, that's not necessarily the same thing as doing what's right for her. And that's just one of the tough questions hidden under all that ooey gooey ABC Family cheese: What is right for Amy? Should she have an abortion? Should she tell Ricky? Should she tell her mother? Should she pretend Ben's the baby daddy and get hitched? Should she have the baby but give it up for adoption Juno-style?
I like to think I’m a good mom. I know that my eight-year-old son, Dylan, takes ballroom dancing and piano lessons in large part because it makes me happy. (OK, if he really hated them, I would let him do something else). So when a friend of mine heard about a wrestling extravaganza called The Great American Bash, I figured it was time to do something that would make Dylan really happy — and I knew I would score some major cool mom points by taking him, his seven-year-old buddy Edward, and Edward's mom, to the show.
The Bash, held at the Nassau Coliseum on Sunday, was definitely a hot ticket, selling out 14,000 seats in just 45 minutes back in May. Never mind that all I know about wrestling could fit on the head of a pin. And never mind that I’m pretty much on the prim side of, say, Charlotte from Sex and the City. I could do this, I told myself. I could totally hang with the boys and not seem like the Church Lady from SNL.
As we were waiting on the security line, I noticed there were some clearly defined groups. About five or six young men had caps and T-shirts with the words “Cena Sucks” on it. After a few minutes, an older man came up to them smiling, holding the sign “JBL Sucks.” They eyeballed each other for a few seconds, nodding and smiling warily, but no verbal smackdowns ensued. That was quite a civil exchange, I thought. I was encouraged.
The show, which featured stars from RAW, ECW, and Smackdown (and aired on Pay-Per-View), started off with the standard wackiness I expected from wrestling: really loud heavy metal music; lots of posing and sinister-looking soap-opera faces; and a politically incorrect use of midgets (this would be the Irish wrestler Finlay’s tag team partner, who was mainly there for comic relief, and yes, everybody laughed).
I struggled all night trying to find the right words to articulate how I felt about Monday’s episode of High School Musical: Get In The Picture. So many things defied my admittedly modest skill as a wordsmith, including:
--My eye-rolling reaction to Brooke, aka “Miss Positive,” who humbly revealed to the judges that should she win this competition (prize: a role in a music video that will play over the credits of the upcoming movie High School Musical 3), she just might save the planet!!!! “I am just genuinely a nice girl. I just love everyone, I love inspiring everyone. Singing, dancing and acting is my way of conveying happiness in the world.” (Even the impossibly upbeat judges were left speechless by that one.)
--My head-shakery at host Nick Lachey, who drew upon his voluminous experience as a pop star to impart wisdom concerning the management of jittery nerves (serious entertainers should ALWAYS have them--just convert them into energizing adrenaline) and masking bad dance moves (just keep smiling; that way, the audience keeps looking at your face instead of looking “down there”) (Must... resist... tasteless... sarcastic.... comment); and who claimed that Isaiah and Sierra’s performance of “I Want It That Way” finally made him a fan of the song, because “as a member of 98 Degrees, I wasn’t allowed to like Backstreet Boys.” And the deprogramming of an ex-boybander continues…
--My joy that lovable lug Anthony, possibly the closest thing to a genuine human being on this show, was tapped to be among the 12 finalists—and my utter disgust that total Tracy Flick wannabe Bailey Purvis joined him. ‘I’m an overachiever!’ ‘I bring 1000% to everything!’ ‘I have a 4.4. GPA!’ OH SHUT UP!
Perhaps the best way to sum up my complicated reactions to these developments and more (please, fill in my blanks below) is to take a cue from my favorite “faculty member,” Montre (loved the green striped polo and purple tie), who extolled the virtues of humming, “because when you start humming, it releases the pressure of words, and you really get into it!” In that spirit, I offer these concluding thoughts:
It's only been four days, but I am still jonesing for more information on DeAnna and Jesse. My need to know more -- Where will they live? How long till ABC announces their wedding will be aired live? What does his hair look like now? -- pretty much started when I got a press release about the AMAZING (seriously) 2.5 karat Tacori bling now flanking DeAnna's left hand (in case any of you are wondering, it's a "princess cut center stone and princess-cut channel set diamonds arching along the Platinum profile." And, "pave-set diamonds accent the reverse crescent silhouette details." Er, not sure what any of this actually means, but hey, it's pretty, so who cares?)
So it's sort of a lackluster site (D and J, we want to see more pics, dammit!), but it is pretty interesting to see how many appearances the duo are making together already. (Apparently they're going to be on America's Best Dance Crew tonight — yeah, we don't get it either, but still: set those DVRs!)
Perusing their site and looking back at other past Bachelor couples left me wondering: Do fans of TheBachelor/Bachelorette — and other reality TV shows for that matter — actually care about these people once the show is over? Or, will we all get over it around this time next week?
OMG, there's a Nat'l Txting Chmpship! Itz sorta ridic, ryt? But w'r fst txters n cnt bleev we cn win $$ 4 it! Wd u guyz enta? Or r u ashmd dis cntst evn exists? W'r 1drin: wen wil it b on tv? MayB on Fuse or Spike ntwrk?
Forbes has put out its annual celebrity power list, and as usual, it's a puzzlement. The big shift this year is the addition of many tween stars, including some names you might expect (Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron) and some you might not (Ashley Tisdale, Lauren Conrad). Other shifts, closer to the top of the pecking order, are similar headscratchers. Radar does a good job of deconstructing the list, but other questions remain, such as: Why is Beyoncé (pictured) ranked No. 4, just below Angelina Jolie? She out-earned Angelina last year by a factor of six, and besides, if La Jolie is so powerful, how come she couldn't sell tickets to A Mighty Heart? Oprah ranks at No. 1 (natch), yet J.K. Rowling out-earned her this year (the Harry Potter author took in a staggering $300 million) and has to settle for ninth place. Anyway, read through the list, then come back and see if you can explain it to the rest of us.
An astute reader (thanks "Elipsos B"!) has pointed out that during his pre-taped rehearsal and interview, Gev wore a shirt with the unmistakable image of one of the hooded Abu Ghraib prisoners with electrodes on either hand and draped in an American flag. Watching it again, it is literally all I can look at, but somehow I missed it the first time through:
I don't feel too bad about that though, since apparently no one at Fox (Fox!) caught it either -- and I really cannot believe this network in particular would let something so baldly political come anywhere near their summer cash cow. (Heck, last year Nigel felt it necessary to apologize for Wade Robson's "Waiting on the World to Change" routine, and all the dancers wore then were t-shirts with the words "peace" and "compassion" written on them.)
Did you catch Gev's shirt? Do you think rehearsals for a disco routine (or for that matter, any form of reality TV programming) are an appropriate place for such a statement? And do you think it affects Gev's chances of making it through to the next week? -- Adam B. Vary
If you are an avid Joss Whedonite, you've probably already heard this news, so
either bear with me or skip to the third graph. If not: Given the cautionary example of the
cancellation of Whedon's cult-fave Firefly series, among other ill-fated genre shows past,
fans have united to save the sci-fi/fantasy guru's Dollhouse (starring Eliza Dushku, pictured). According to Wired.com,
DollhouseForums.com is leading a campaign to "urge followers to
organize viewing parties, watch the trailers online, buy Dollhouse-endorsed merch and create more fan sites."
One poster, ultamatt, even suggests making "little cardboard dollhouses
and set them up all around towns.... A viral marketing campaign that gets people
thinking "WTF are all the dollhouses for?" All well and good, save one small detail: The show hasn't failed yet. Dollhouse isn't set to air for another
eight months.
Is this a case of super-fandom gone a tad super-crazy? Or in a
world where presidential candidates battle it out for the nomination for more than a year,
is there no such thing as revving up a campaign too soon? Personally, I think
it's a little silly, especially in light of the fact that Dollhouse seems built
to last — Wired claims the show was greenlit even before the pilot was shot, and
several other sites are reporting that the seven-show season was upped to 13. And as filmjunk.com points out, why not wait to see if
Dollhouse is actually a show worth fighting for?
Assuming Dollhouse is sturdy, what fall network shows are you
hoping get nixed? Which ones are you fighting for? And how far would you go (short
of physical harm to network execs) to save a show that you love?
Have you ever stumbled across a letter or email that you wrote when you were younger -- or worse, had the person you sent it to stumble across it -- and laughed your ass off? My friend Sheila just found a letter that our friend Tamara wrote her in the summer of 1994, when we were in college. My three favorite excerpts:
- "I got my old internship but for no money. The experience however is important.... I talked to Robb last week, and he is working three jobs. Listening to him, I feel guilty for having time at night to watch television. Did you watch The Joan and Melissa RiversStory? Oh what talent!! Why do the good movies come on when we are not at school."
- "[An older gentleman who worked at the student newspaper] is dead. Unbelievable. Speaking of dead — Did you hear of the rumor circulating through Hollywood? Supposedly, Mark-Paul Gosselaar [pictured] is dead. Who is he? Zack on Saved by the Bell. Never fear, he is not really dead.* So we can all breathe a little easier."
- "We must paint Philadelphia red sometime. I want a real cheesesteak!! I really like this pen. Well, I will write soon. I am on my way to San Francisco. Maybe I will run into the Real Word III cast. Who knows?"
Judging by the CW's new 90210 promo (below), which introduces the cast and characters of this fall's reboot, I'm guessing the show will please fans of the original more than the younger viewers who are its ostensible audience, since the whole thing has a squeaky-clean, sunny, turn-of-the-'90s vibe that recalls the old show's earliest years more than it does the mercenary, jaded, up-to-the-minute sensibility of Gossip Girl. Yeah, I know, the actors tell us that every character has a secret; I think the secret is that they're all clones of characters from old 90210 episodes and John Hughes movies. There's the fish-out-of-water nice girl dipping her toes into the supposed shark pool of West Beverly, her even fishier brother, the Heather, the goofy jock, the boho chick, the media-savvy ethnic striver, the cool mom, and the cooler grandma — thank heavens for Jessica Walter. (Alas, no sign of Melrose Place alum Rob Estes, whose casting as the cool dad apparently occurred after this promo was shot, or returning West Beverly grad Jennie Garth.) So the show could be really dated or really fun, especially if we raise a glass in honor of the former Lucille Bluth and start thinking up 90210 drinking games now.
Check out the new cast of 90210. Look, there's Aunt Becky from Full House in the yellow dress and Lucille Bluth of Arrested Development in the hot pink blazer — but where' s David Silver in his fugly, long-sleeve silk paisley shirts from the early '90s? Where's Brandon 'n' Brenda Walsh? Yeah, Andrea Zuckerman was a 32-year-old teenager when the first series aired, but she can always come back and be one of the new teens' grandmothers, right? Jennie Garth's character Kelly Taylor will return to West Beverly as a high school guidance counselor, and now Tori Spelling is in talks to reprise her role as Donna Martin. Even Screech hung around at Bayside High as Mr. Belding's sdekick for Saved By the Bell: The New Class — so how about everyone else? Does the new cast compare with the old?
Looks like TLC is getting super-freaky. The network recently announced plans to launch Toddlers and Tiaras, a new series that goes behind the scenes of the child beauty pageant circuit. Says Howard Lee, Vice President of Production for TLC, "The appeal and success of Little Miss Sunshine illustrates that this competitive world really exists. These children and their parents pour so much energy into wanting to win -- and it's fascinating to watch.”
I had to pick up the new Mad magazine when I saw it at a newsstand the other night, even though I knew in my heart that the once-fine comedy publication jumped the shark pretty brutally years ago. (Or maybe that was just me maturing past the age of 12.) So why'd I do it? Because of the cover image you see to your left. It's a Lil Wayne parody, of course, and there's just something so arresting about that Wayne-ified Alfred E. Neuman. Check out the level of detail they put into Alfie-Weezy's many tattoos! That, folks, is a work of comedic art. And this feels like a real watershed moment of some kind for Wayne as pop icon. Like Eskay 
According to 
Like we'd pick anyone besides the High School Musical 3: Senior Year cast as 
Oh, do you, Elle editor-in-chief Anne Slowey? Should they be chillier than your heart but not as frosted as your hair? Excellent. Last night's series premiere of The CW's Stylista introduced us to an already-trying-too-hard-just-by-showing-up crew of young wannabe journalists whose "lifelong dream" is to become a Junior Editor. Um, some free advice: THAT IS THE WORST LIFELONG DREAM I'VE EVER HEARD. The underlings spent most of the hour fetching breakfast for Slowey (pictured), shopping at H&M so that she wouldn't find them as heinous as she did when they wore their own, non-TV-sponsored clothes, and lolling around the fake Elle office/blatant TV set mocking each other's appearances moments after barely being introduced. We've got some real winners here, like Megan, who was "given a chunk of money" to open her own boutique at 22, and Kate, who spent most of the episode in tears because no one wanted to look at her giant boobs. No, literally that's all that happened until Sideshow Bob got eliminated for wearing a big-ass scarf but otherwise looking "boring." 
Pick up your pencils, young Potter-philes. Scholastic announced today that they are sponsoring a 
On last night's Greek, Cappie (Scott Michael Foster, pictured) lamented that he'd placed The Goonies in his Top 10 Movies Ever list, only to re-screen it as an adult and realize "MAN, did those kids chew the scenery!" That's always a low blow to one's self-esteem -- you suddenly wonder whether you had any taste growing up. Then you immediately get to work on rationalizing all your questionable decisions to your ego. (Uh, Annie, that "Cold-Hearted Snake" dance routine featuring your sister, you, and a number of log rolls across your basement's dingy carpet didn't choreograph itself. You committed to that thing.) 
It's a sad week, PopWatchers. And that's not just because I Love Money ended its inaugural run (yes, I'm maintaining hope that there will be two seasons). Yesterday, 
Ever heard of SlamBall? We hadn't either, until we found out about the crazy sport's appearance on One Tree Hill starting tonight (The CW, 9 p.m ET). It's a full-contact basketball-hockey-football hybrid, with TRAMPOLINES. Seriously, trampolines. As 
Reasons I went to an 11 a.m. showing of Beverly Hills Chihuahua today:
Two of my favorite ABC series have gone the "add a child!" route, but in the battle between
"I want a feast...I want a 
Remember the mini-controversy Ms. Cyrus caused this summer when she 
You'd think it would take something big to steal our attention from the highly anticipated reunion of Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty on the new 90210. Actually, it was something small--too small. Almost without exception, the young actresses on The CW's spin-off are alarmingly thin, with arms that seem thickest at the wrists, and legs that look, well, like arms. As we watched Kansas transplant Annie Wilson (Shenae Grimes, pictured, left) graze on a side salad as her lunch entrée, one question lingered: Are we the only ones overreacting to these skinny minnies? The answer, as it turns out, is no.
It might've been when I realized the entire second episode of 90210 would revolve around (snore) family bowling night. Or when my colleague Tanner Stransky and I successfully made a (very easy) game out of predicting the next line/plot beat. (As in: Let me guess—Naomi's mother already knows her father's cheating, and she's totally okay with it.) Or when Jessica Walter wasn't on the screen for the whole hour. All I know is that by the end of the week two of the supposedly edgy teen drama remake, I was more interested in Tanner's and my conversation about Dorota, the maid on Gossip Girl, than I was in 90210's future. 
If you've been perusing any of the usual photo-heavy, news-light 
Am I the only one who was aghast at seeing, just four minutes into 
The gaming blog 
How does one go about shutting down an Apple Store in Manhattan without a computer virus? Duh: Just import the Jonas Brothers. 
Revisiting 
Okay, this is just hilarious. It turns out there are 16 different tots -- only three of them boys! -- who have played baby Aaron on Lost. This past weekend, all of them (and their parents, who were probably a total buzzkill) got together for a picnic in Hawaii. From 
*If Aaron 16 continues to refer to himself in the third person, he should have a long and successful career in crappy reality television.
They can FLY. I had no idea! During last night's Teen Choice Awards, the dark 'n' stormy second coming of Hanson "hung out" above the crowd in a stunt almost as pointless as their 
Howdy, kids! Back with you after going MIA last week (sorry!) due to the exhausting commitment that was Comic-Con, but I have a confession to make: I'm still not loving High School Musical: Get in the Picture as much as I thought I would be. Maybe it's because after five episodes, it seems like the show hasn't really started. The first four installments gathered our wannabe-star contestants; last night's outing brought them to the brightly colored, cartoon-come-to-life High School Musical "campus," where they got the HSM equivalent of new student orientation, full of getting-to-know-you games and on-the-town events. It was exactly as dull as my prose sounds.
For the last four weeks, I've been waiting for Secret Life to deliver a water-cooler-worthy episode, something that validates my guilty-pleasure viewing of a teen-targeted show (even though I'm a little older than the desired demographic group). And based on your 
I like to think I’m a good mom. I know that my eight-year-old son, Dylan, takes ballroom dancing and piano lessons in large part because it makes me happy. (OK, if he really hated them, I would let him do something else). So when a friend of mine heard about a wrestling extravaganza called 
I struggled all night trying to find the right words to articulate how I felt about Monday’s episode of High School Musical: Get In The Picture. So many things defied my admittedly modest skill as a wordsmith, including: 
It's only been four days, but I am still jonesing for more information on DeAnna and Jesse. My need to know more -- Where will they live? How long till ABC announces their wedding will be aired live? What does his hair look like now? -- pretty much started when I got a press release about the AMAZING (seriously) 2.5 karat Tacori bling now flanking DeAnna's left hand (in case any of you are wondering, it's a "princess cut center stone and princess-cut channel set diamonds arching along the Platinum profile." And, "pave-set diamonds accent the reverse crescent silhouette details." Er, not sure what any of this actually means, but hey, it's pretty, so who cares?)
OMG, there's a 
Forbes has put out its 
If you are an avid Joss Whedonite, you've probably already heard this news, so
either bear with me or skip to the third graph. If not: Given the cautionary example of the
cancellation of Whedon's 
Have you ever stumbled across a letter or email that you wrote when you were younger -- or worse, had the person you sent it to stumble across it -- and laughed your ass off? My friend Sheila just found a letter that our friend Tamara wrote her in the summer of 1994, when we were in college. My three favorite excerpts:
Check out the