Reality shows—muscle cars

I wonder who writes the scripts for "reality shows?" This morning at the gym I started watching a show about muscle cars and the guys who love and restore them. It might have been Counting Cars, a spin off of Pawn Stars, but not sure, since this was the first time I saw it and I didn't see the opening. I was sort of tired of politics, and wanted to go 10 miles. Fox was showing clips from the last debate, usually Biden bloopers about fossil fuel or Covid.

I didn't watch a whole program but it took in a car show (some restored cars $150,000), the 2 characters stopping a guy on the freeway and eventually buying his Dodge Charger to restore it (it deserved better, they said), and later we'd see it restored and the guy who was going to buy it. But the cutest human interest story was when the muscle bound, bandana head, full of tats guy brings in his two tiny dogs to the shop, sweet talking them, and hands them over to the Hungarian immigrant wash and detail guy to give them a bath. That was laugh out loud funny, and I'm not sure all of it was in the script. You know it wasn't real because no one I know would hand over their 3 lb mixed breed Chihuahua to a novice to bathe in a yellow floor bucket with a wringer. But it was good theater. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_Cars And I got my 10 miles + in.

What not to Wear—what a fun show

I used to enjoy watching “What not to Wear” and came across it today trying to NOT watch all the impeachment coverage on Fox. Adam Schiff is such a joke; it’s DNC—Democratic National Circus. So I watched the story about Angie, a 38 year old New York City wife, mommy and business woman who had changed her life style.  She went from party girl to schlump—stopped drinking, smoking, staying out late, and lost 35 pounds.  She had no style sense, hated to shop. She loved her new physical, healthy life, but looked like she hated it.  So her husband, friends and co-workers, nominated her for a make-over, and boy did she look sharp!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIrhdXzgFpI

The show ran on cable for 10 years, 2003-2013, and the theme of this reality show was two fashion stylists with a team of hair and make-up stylists ambush (since it’s a reality show,  who knows if they are actually surprised).  A person (usually a woman) is nominated to get a do over which includes ridiculing her old look and throwing most of her outlandish wardrobe in a trash barrel. At the end, the ambushee always looks fabulous. Stacy London https://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/what-not-to-wear/bios/stacy-london and Clinton Kelley are the hosts. 

It is perhaps being remade. https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/tlc-is-rebooting-what-not-to-wear-will-stacy-london-and-clinton-kelly-be-back-for-the-new-show.html/

Robertson vs. Podesta

So Duck Dynasty’s Robertson is fired for stating what's in the Bible, but Podesta, an advisor to the President, gets to slander and vilify gay Republicans, senior citizen Republicans, Latino Republicans, Jewish Republicans, Black Republicans, and over half of all Americans? He called us a Jonestown cult. Why doesn't he get fired? He actually is part of the government from whom we are protected by our Constitution. A&E is just an "evil capitalist" who doesn't like the Bible. http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2013/12/18/podesta-gop-jonestown-cult/4109385/

Can't have anything tainted or smutty or outrageous on pure as the driven snow A&E cable TV. . . "the network that airs “Bates Motel,” the series “The Killer Speaks,” which interviews convicted felons, and “Psychic Tia,” and that has in the past aired “Growing Up Gotti,” “Criss Angel Mindfreak,” and “The Sopranos,” has deemed “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson unsuitable for its broadcast because of an interview answer where he paraphrased Corinthians 6:9–11. That’s where they draw the line! (Jim Geraghty, National Review Online) http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/366724/ae-finds-something-it-absolutely-cannot-tolerate-jim-geraghty

This morning, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal issued a statement in response to the news of Robertson’s suspension: “Phil Robertson and his family are great citizens of the State of Louisiana,” Jindal said. “The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with. I don’t agree with quite a bit of stuff I read in magazine interviews or see on TV. In fact, come to think of it, I find a good bit of it offensive. But I also acknowledge that this is a free country and everyone is entitled to express their views. In fact, I remember when TV networks believed in the First Amendment. It is a messed up situation when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh, and Phil Robertson gets suspended.”

Jindal will be in deep doo-doo now with liberals for a reference to a cultural icon like Miley Cyrus.

Jake and Vienna

It's a good thing we have non-news and non-stories for non-reporters to talk about. Jake and Vienna. The break-up of a reality show shack-up? Oh please! Living together is never a good preparation for marriage, and I haven't seen a single "reporter" mention that, even when Vienna complains that she wasn't getting enough sex. Well, doh! And he says she had no ambition and complained a lot. Well, double-doh! The milk cow and the sugar daddy--all the two of them have are good looks, and even that is questionable without makeup, agents and handlers. Or, this is another way to laugh all the way to the bank as they get paid for interviews.

"Another 'Bachelor' Falls Short of Alter"

That was a headline in my RoadRunner news page.  Altar is where people get married; alter is what you do in castration.

The hit ABC series continues its long-running tradition of bringing couples together only to see them break up shortly after 'the final rose.' Pilot Jake Pavelka's choice was a surprising one on this spring's season finale, and his relationship with tabloid regular Vienna Girardi has ended after just a few months.

TLC's One Big Happy Family

Today I clicked into One Big Happy Family, the story of the Coles, who are indeed happy, live in a beautiful home in a nice neighborhood, but are all overweight.

"Each half-hour One Big Happy Family episode will follow the Cole family, which resides in Charlotte, NC and weighs a collective 1,400 ponds between the four of them. Norris, the 41-year-old father who weighs 340 lbs., is a stay-at-home dad while his wife Tameka, a 36-year-old who weighs 380 lbs., is responsible for financially supporting the family while also serving as the disciplinarian for their two children -- 16-year-old Amber, who weighs 348 lbs., and her 14-year-old brother Shayne, who weighs 308 lbs."

Since diet and exercise are usually the #1 New Year's Resolution, it's a good program to watch while surfing for bowl games.

June 1, 2010 update: "The day the doctor said Coles would die, he weighed in at 345 pounds. He's now down to 263. His wife was 380 pounds, and she's at 259 now. His two kids were each in the 330-pound range, and they're down to the 290s.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2010/06/01/2010-06-01_change_your_diet_or_youll_die_so_tlc_family_steers_away_from_fatty_food.html#ixzz0pi4ozho3

The appeal of celebrity

Because of reality shows on TV, the ordinary people with little talent can now be a star--if they are fat, have a beat up truck, a house falling down, have multiple births, are little people, are former cheerleaders, want to swap wives, or have a terrible wardrobe.

The balloon fiasco is just the latest example of what can go wrong. Millions of people watched and prayed and soon became very dissolutioned when first they thought the 6 year old had died, then he was hiding, then the family had pulled a hoax.

"A celebrity is a person who is know for his well-knowness." (Daniel Boorstin) It isn't even about money anymore. It's a craving for the public's attention.

Here's People Magazine's rules for a successful cover.

Young is better than old.
Pretty is better than ugly.
Rich is better than poor.
TV is better than music.
Music is better than movies.
Movies are better than sports.
Anything is better than politics.
And nothing is better than a celebrity who just died. (Richard Stolley, quoted in Neal Gabler, Life; The Movie, 2000. See also The Magazinist

I want to look like a high school cheerleader again

This reality show on CMT started up yesterday and I watched a bit. I was never a cheerleader, wasn't athletic, nor did I envy them, but I think they contributed a lot to the fun of the football and basketball games. Watch this. One woman said, "No one but my husband has said I'm pretty in a long time." Well, who else matters?

One of my cousins I met this year through an internet genealogy site used to be a Denver Broncos cheerleader, if I remember correctly. Is that football? I saw four or five former cheerleaders this summer at our reunion (2 from our class and 2 from the class after us and maybe one from my husband's class), and they still have the nice personalities and perky spirits that supported the teams and worked up the crowds.

4008

Comments on the News

Gonzales--would you be able to reconstruct without any errors anything you said or did a year ago, last week, this morning? The only good thing about the Democrats' witch hunt into executive privilege territory is that it keeps them from doing what their party faithfuls elected them to do.

Michael Vick--before his fighting dog problems, I'd never heard of him. If he's done even a fraction of what he's accused of, he should be ashamed (although people who do this have no shame). However, thousands of dogs are killed each year because their owners abandoned them or didn't train them and they became problems. Professional athletes are frequently in the news for beating up women, and you don't hear nearly the outcry as you do about this. T-shirt manufacturers don't pull the product. I won't link to any dog fight photos, but it's a terribly cruel sport for which millions cheer and gamble. Hmmm. Sounds a bit like football, doesn't it?

Nifong--He's apparently apologized, now let's see if the Duke faculty can display a bit of class and do the same--both the 88 and the others who just stood by. I'd fire the bunch, but I'm sure they are hiding behind some sort of legal protection, something they weren't willing to offer the lacrosse athletes of their school. I sure wouldn't send my kid to Duke if these clowns are any example of their faculty.

BET--I read about BET's new reality show displaying outrageous, ill mannered behavior by blacks. Now that's a help, isn't it? If people are idiots, what makes the producers think they'll shame them into some manners? I'm betting some of the investors in this travesty are after the green, regardless of their color, and they won't all be black. It's the only color that matters in the entertainment world.

Ward Churchill--Three investigative panels of the University of Colorado found phony baloney Ward Churchill rewrote history to fit his personal and political views and refused to take responsibility for his academic misconduct. So of course, he is suing. Between Duke's 88 and Colorado's Churchill, it's not a good year for academic administrations. Colorado should have booted him much earlier just on the strength of his smarmy lies that he was a native American. Time for some cage cleaning.

Thursday Thirteen--New Cable Shows

Cable is increasing original series. We started watching "The Closer" which premiered in summer 2005 because there wasn't much else on. I've really enjoyed Monk, too. Yesterday in a special advertising section I noticed a list of those that will start this summer or early next year. Unfortunately, we'll miss most of the premieres because our summer home doesn't have cable. But here goes.

USA--"The Starter Wife," mini-series with Debra Messing

TNT--"The Company"--about the Cold War era.

FX--"Damages" Glenn Close as a ruthless attorney

TNT--"Heartland" about an organ transplant specialist

TNT--"Saving Grace" has Holly Hunter as an Oklahoma City cop

USA--"Burn Notice" is a spy thriller

TBS--"The Bill Engvall Show" blue collar comedy

TBS--"House of Payne"--family sit-com

Comedy Central--satirical comedy "Lil' Bush"

Bravo--"Hey Paula" reality show about Paula Abdul

A&E--(to start Jan.1, 2008)"Confessions of a matchmaker" reality show about Patti Novak of Buffalo

USA--"The Coreys" reality show about former kid stars Corey Hains and Corey Feldman (I'm not familiar with either one of them)

Discovery Channel--special even series "Ten ways to save the Planet"