Stop Feeding Yourself And Help Feed Others

Like many reality shows, The Biggest Loser is working with a charity. But I find it ironic that the one they have chosen is Feeding America - which donates money and food to local food banks.

American Idol - The Second Group Of 12

Jasmine Murray - I remember her as being one of the strongest singers during Hollywood week. She didn’t sound that great this week to me. I think the song was in too low a key for her to really give it her best.
Matt Giraud - very average. Not a particularly good performance, and I don’t remember him at all from Hollywood week, so he’s probably gone.
Jeanine Vailes - Oh good God - a sequined tuxedo jacket with rolled up Daisy Dukes? No, no - not a good choice. She looked like she was attending a formal backyard barbecue. And the singing was worse.
Nick Mitchell aka Norman Gentle - I really don’t know what to say about this guy. I will admit that his alter ego is amusing to a point, but when he is in character he doesn’t sing all that well, as opposed to the one moment in the initial audition when he showed he actually has a nice voice. Given that this is a one in a lifetime chance, I don’t see why he can’t just drop the persona a little bit and really show his talent.
Allison Iraheta - Finally, a good singer. She picked a good song for her voice (and look), and she gave an entertaining, honest performance.
Kris Allen - Bad first note, boring performance, never seen him before as far as I can remember - he’s gone.
Megan Joy Corkrey - One of the most beautiful contestants ever, and she has a nice voice too. Her little hip shimmy and wiggling was a bit odd, but in an endearing way. And she was dressed like an 8 year old on the first day of school - but it worked. I liked her. Also pretty much the only one who sang the right song.
Matt Breitzke - First guy to actually have a chance. He has a tough guy vibe, and despite the judge’s opinion I thought he sang a nice rockin’ song that fit him.
Jesse Langseth - Eh. I think she sang well, but I just wasn’t reall interested by this performance. I can’t put my finger on what it was missing, but it was something.
Kai Kalama - Nice singer, and a good looking guy, but he has got to get a grip on his hair. ‘Fro it out or cut it off dude, cause right now it is just unkempt and crazy and you kind of look like a mugger.
Mishavonna Henson - She started like she was in pain, and then spent the rest of the time looking vaguely angry at the camera. And it may be mean to say, but she had a piggy nose that was really distracting to me. Not that that should have any bearing on whether or not she advances. I’m just saying.
Adam Lambert - Great performer - and he should be since he has worked in shows like Wicked. This was a little overdone, and his voice paid the price - he can really sing but he didn’t sound so good last night - very affected and almost screechy at times.
So this is where the new voting starts to show how unfair it is - there were at least 4 people eliminated last week who deserved to be around longer than almost anyone in this group. Make the voting fair, or split the groups better.
By the way - this was a two hour show that I taped and watched in 38 minutes by skipping all the filler. Way to waste our time, Fox.

I'll Take A Donut, But I Pass On The Jeans

There is a SlimFast commercial currently airing that features a woman fighting off giant donuts to illustrate how SlimFast gives you the power to refuse treats by eliminating hunger for four hours. I have two problems with this ad: the first is that when she gives a big kick to a donut (and yes I know I'm spelling it wrong - it's the slang way and it's faster, deal) she aims it dead center and the donut flies apart. Now, I could be wrong, not being all that acquainted with donuts (haha), but don't they have a big hole in the middle? And if you really kicked at the middle would your leg just go into the hole? It may be a dumb issue but it bugs me. The other thing I don't like is that they have her in mid rise jeans (ie mom jeans) that are at least one size too small, with her shirt tucked in. I realize this is so that when she tightens her belt to accentuate losing weight we can see it - but the result is that a woman with a perfectly nice figure ends up looking dumpy. And maybe the point is to show she still has weight to lose, but it certainly doesn't flatter her figure. Personally I think weight loss tools are better served by showing people who are already at their best - which this woman would be if she had the correct size of pants.

Some SAG Members Must Already Be Striking

Last week, while watching my shows, I noticed no less than five of my shows had the same guest stars: Leverage shared actors with Dollhouse and Burn Notice (possibly two with Burn Notice*), and the patient on House helped Shawn and Gus catch a serial killer on Psych. There may even have been a crossover of Monk and Dollhouse on the same night, *but I couldn't find a full cast list (these were very small parts) to verify. Now, obviously this is not the first time I noticed guest stars I have seen previously - almost every killer on any version of Law and Order has been on at least one of the other shows - sometimes they have been on all three, and there are cross overs with CSI, Without A Trace, etc. One actor - Zeljko Ivanek- has been on House, The Mentalist, Heroes and Damages just this season. But never before have I seen so many of the same actors in episodes all airing at the same time - these guys must have been busy! It makes you wonder where all the other actors are.

addition - we have another one - Tuesday 2/24/9's Leverage and Wednesday 2/25/9's Life shared a costar.

Smarts - None, Fiber - Yes

FiberOne has some vaguely funny ads where people refuse to believe that the FiberOne product they are eating has any fiber in it. The best of these is about the yogurt - and a cranky old lady who says that you must have to eat the box to get the fiber. They also have a lame add where a guy is writing on theFiberOne cereal boxes to make it read Fiber None. Now, as a selling point on something that doesn't obviously contain fiber (ie the yogurt) this would be funny - on cereal, which is made of grains and pretty clearly is going to contain at least some fiber, it is just stupid. And annoying to me because it doesn't comply with logic, and we all know how I like my logic.

I Play With Dolls

Tonight is the second episode of Dollhouse, and I am greatly looking forward to it. The premiere episode was pretty good, and I'm thinking I'm going to like this show alot (not surprising since I've like all of Joss Whedon's previous efforts). If you've got nothing better to do than sit in front of the TV on a Friday night, then check it out. Tape it and watch it after Monk and Psych like I do.

American Idol - The Votes

Last night watching the results for the first twelve contestants I wasn't so sure about the new voting system - it seemed to have pros and cons. After thinking about it however, I think I have to say that I don't like it. Yes, it does eliminate the seemingly endless weeks of results shows where they ever so slowly kick of people two by two. And I suppose it will prevent such travesties (travestys? neither looks right) as the Sanjaya debacle, where an obviously sub par singer keeps getting advanced because of their popularity (although it didn't preven the judges from putting Bikini Girl through to Hollywood despite her sucking, so I guess that issue only applies to us stupid non-experts). But isn't this supposed to be about America's choice? If we want to pick someone because of personality over singing ability than we should be able to do that - Britney Spears made a pretty good career off of just that principle. Besides these factors, I feel that this new voting system offers a huge disadvantage to every contestant who wasn't extensively showcased during the audition process. One song is not enough to allow the voters to really know each contestant and vote for their favorite - it seems really unfair to expect each singer to adequately showcase not only their ability, but their potential and their charms with only one song. having several weeks of voting allows the audience to really see who is improving as well as get to know each hopeful better and determine who they like. I was certainly happy with the choices made last night for the three advancing to the top twelve, but there were at least four other people I was sad to see the last of - I would have liked to hear them sing a few more times to watch them develop as performers. And to be honest, I'm not sure that everyone voted into the top twelve would make it given a few more weeks. So all in all I'm pretty disappointed with the new voting system - I don't think that we sholud go back to the endless weeks of eliminating people in pairs, but one or two more chances would level the playing field a little better and give America a better chance to judge and decide who is truly the most deserving. But heck, Tatiana was eliminated so I guess I really can't be too picky.

American Idol - The First 12

Jackie Tohn - really great original performance - but what was she wearing? It was like the top half of a really cute dress paired with spandex aerobic pants and sneakers. Not a look most people can pull off. Or would even want to.
Rick Braddy - I guess he had a decent voice, but man was he boring. The song was blah, his performance was very ‘dim lit piano bar’, and his velvet blazer looked like a smoking jacket adding a weird smarmy aspect to it. But the judges liked it so what do I know.
Alexis Grace - Maybe not the best vocals ever (who can really do Aretha anyway?) but pretty damn good. And she had a really cool vibe going on - very slinky cabaret with a little bit of attitude thrown in by the pink streaks in her hair.
Brent Keith - Very karaoke-ish. That’s really all I have to say - I don’t expect to see him around for long.
Stevie Wright - Oh dear God, please don’t let her sing again! This was also like karaoke - bad karaoke. Almost painful to watch and definitely painful to listen to.
Anoop Desai - I don’t know if this was really a show stopping performance, but I like this guy. He reminds me of Kal Penn (Kutner on House).
Casey Carlson - Decent performance, but she doesn’t have the voice to win. However, she is really pretty, so she will probably be around for awhile.
Michael Sarver - I didn’t love his performance, but I don’t really like that song so I’m not really a good judge. But I like this guy so I agree with the judges when they say they hope he gets to stick around.
Ann Marie Boskovich - I feel like she sang well but there was no connection somehow. I can’t really explain what was missing, but it seemed like I should have really been moved by her performance and I wasn’t so there was a lack somewhere.
Stephen Fowler - Was this out of key the whole time? Seemed like it to me.
Tatiana Del Toro - She wore a mini dress with mismatched tulle attached to the bottom to the initial audition, which demonstrated her total lunacy from the beginning. She was almost unbearably obnoxious during Hollywood week which pretty much eliminated any chance I would ever like her (A+ to Simon for labeling her (accurately) a fame hungry drama queen). So I’m sorry to say she didn’t totally suck too badly, not that she was good. And man, did she pork up between Hollywood week and last night? Wow. Not that weight is an issue to the competition, but honestly, if you know you are going to be on national television in a few months, do you pack it on?
Danny Gokey - This guy’s wife died - how can you not want to vote for him? Oh, and he sings pretty great too.

PS: was Neil Patrick Harris was sitting next to Ted Danson in the audience? Are they friends? Do they hang out or was it all coincidence? Strange
PPS: How sweet does X-Men Origins: Wolverine look? I could have cared less when I heard they were making it - I figured I’d see it at some point because I saw the other X-Men movies, but the previews look really good, so now I am actually anticipating it.

That's Some Warm And Fuzzy Banking

I am enjoying 1st Bank's commerrcials - the one where two guys are in the coffee shop and they have the same shirt (which gets ripped off one of them) and same order (of which the same guy's gets knocked to the ground) all to illustrate how 1st bank protects your identity - very amusing. The other one features a guy frolicking (because what other word is there?) on the grass with lots of cute bunnies, and his friend in shining armor who wanders over. Apparently these are surreal examples of what these guys are doing online - the knight is "gaming" and the guy with the bunnies is... banking? It also apparently smells like cookies in the ether that is the realm of online banking with 1st bank. Totally random and weird, but I love it. The final commercial I have a little questoin about: in it the guy and his girlfriend are stranded in a very remote location and they call his bank's customer service. A guy in a shack 100 yards away answers because he is the customer service rep. This is a funny take on the whole outsourcing thing, btu what I don't get is that once the couple realizes they are talking to someone who is as far out of town as they are, the first guy hangs up. Doesn't he still need his problem solved?

American Idol: Pre Final 36

Here's hoping that shrew Tatiana gets voted off quickly. I would hope that she doesn't even make the final 36, but you know her histrionics/conceited self-absorption are good for ratings. And whie AI is most likely not hurting in the ratings arena, producers can never look past the potential drama. Nor can they seem to stop themselves from validating such an individual's deluded and inflated sense of self worth.

SuperAds Recap

The Best:
Pepsi Max - the diet cola for men. Perhaps not super creative in terms of being something we’ve never seen before, but it was impossible not to laugh at all the guys getting creamed, popping up and saying "I'm good.".
runners up:
Pepsi Forever Young - featuring various comparisons between the sixties and now, this spot had good music and just left a pleasant feeling behind
Bud Light - the first spot for Bud Light set in a budget meeting was vaguely amusing, until the guy suggested not buying beer for every meeting and was promptly flung out the window. Unexpected and funny.
Worst:
Pepsi MacGruber: Absolutely the worst ad the whole night. I get that this is an established character from SNL (which by the way, is not even close to funny anymore) so maybe I missed the tongue in cheek attitude or something, but this was so completely awful I can’t even bear to think about it anymore. What I normally would consider its only redeeming point - that they managed to get Richard Dean Anderson (the real MacGuyver) - instead just made me sad that he doesn’t have anything better to do.
runner up:
Sobe: transcended the absurdity of last year’s spot with football players dancing ballet, and the lizards joining in (with a character from the new movie Monsters vs. Aliens for some unknown reason). Really took surrealism to whole new, atrocious levels.
Mixed Feelings:
Audi: the commercial was a send up of the Transporter movies with Jason Statham, and showed him being chased in various cars through the decades. Managed to get the point across that there were different top vehicles in different decades and today it is Audi (at least I think that was the point), but other than that the time travel aspect was just confusing.
Doritos: Both spots were pretty funny, but one had an ending that was too predictable and one had a surprise ending that was inexplicable. The first “crystal ball” spot was funny when the guy suddenly turned and threw the snow globe through the vending machine in order to get chips, but the end when he threw it into his boss was obvious. The second spot where the guy got fantasies to come true when he took a bite was dumb, until he got hit by the bus. Then it was just weird.
ETrade: Not as good as their older spots, I did enjoy the new baby’s line about flexing the golden pipes.
Castrol Edge: Yes this ad was bizarre in concept. Yes it was for motor oil which is hardly a glamour product. But when the guy (sitting in his garage with an air filter on his head) said the chimps just showed up and made him their king, I laughed.
The Old Standard:
Budweiser really dropped the ball this year. Their long standing series featuring the Dalmatian dog and Clydesdale horses was extremely sub par. I usually look forward to these ads since they can be either sentimental or hysterical, but this year they were just lame.
Leno vs. Conan:
Both late night hosts had spots advertising their shows which were practically total opposites, but good in their own ways. Jay’s featured him driving a sweet car with only the most basic info (10, 9 central, fall) about his show painted on it. It was simple, subtle, and effective. Conan’s ad had different celebrities (Martha Stewart, Tina Fey, Adam Sandler and Megan Mullaly) singing his praises. I particularly like Sandler’s assertion that “Conan removes the smell.” Funny and absurd. Winner: tie (depends on your personal taste)
Get A Job!!
Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com both had commercials, one which was not quite as well executed as the other. Monster.com had a very short spot which used funny imagery (sitting under the rear end of a stuffed - we hope- moose) to illustrate the unpleasantness of needing a new job. CareerBuilder.com used different little scenes as examples of what might make it the right time to find a new job - when you hate your job, get no respect, dream of being somewhere else, etc. In general these were amusing, but they dragged on way too long, and threw in an inexplicable koala bear with glasses and coffee which took the spot from clever to boring and strange. Winner: monster.com
Thank You:
For the ad for the new movie Fast and Furious (not so much for the movie itself). I recently read a blurb about Vin Diesel that said he was working on this film, and because the name is practically the same as the original film (which came out in 2001) I was totally confused. I thought perhaps the writer was either on crack and unaware of the current year, or maybe even making a snide comment about Vin not working so much, but either way I was puzzled. So thanks for clearing that up for me. As for actually making another movie, well, I’ll just look past that decision.

Super Bowl Sunday Recap - In Progress

So, I know you are all waiting with baited mouse to scroll through my blog and see what I thought of all the ads this super Bowl. Well, you are just going to have to wait another day because between nighttime feedings every two hours and napping during the day I haven't gotten around to seeing them yet. But I promise I'll be working on it tonight and should have some opinions by tomorrow. Or I'll abandon the whole project and you will have to wait until next year for my scathing insights.