"Hell's Kitchen," that is. Debut episode of Season 4 airs on Fox tonight at 9 p.m. The season starts a bit earlier this year, no doubt due to the writer's strike. A cynic would say the show is painful to watch, and exhaustingly formulaic. In this regard, I am not a cynic. And I will be tuned in.
And a footnote to my previous posting. For Earth Hour, I decided to turn on every light in my house for 60 minutes. It was fun. And no, I have no guilt, considering that most evenings we keep one miserable freakin' light on in our entire house...a 23 watt CFL bulb...PLUS a 13 watt CFL bulb on our front porch. So take that, you tie-dyed, pot smokin', Neil Young tootin' hippie freak. Not to stereotype, of course.
Even though the NY Times employs a disproportionate number of whining, annoying, liberal dunderheads (sorry to be so redundant) like Maureen Dowd, I have to hand it to them for having the "TV Decoder," one of the freshest blogs about TV to be found anywhere. And I don't even watch much TV beyond "Mad Money," Larry King, and reruns of "Cops." Well done. P.S. I, too, thought I was a bit harsh with the use of the expression "liberal dunderhead." But I'm so not alone in using that term.
Go ahead. Give him your money. Or at the very least a bottle full of bub...Not!
Message to Ellen DeGeneres, and more importantly the media that have so prominently covered this non-story: we care about the millions of Iraquis that have been displaced, we care about thousands of U.S. soldiers having unnecesssarily died in Iraq, we care about the genocide in Darfur. But we don't give a rat's ass about your stupid adopted puppy dog or your hairdresser or whatever yadda yadda you were blubbering about on your TV show.
On another note....I just love alpacas. Ellen, you really should buy an alpaca farm. Sniff sniff boo hoo hoo!!!!!!
"Hell's Kitchen" on Fox TV, that is....No, I don't subscribe to Chef Gordon Ramsay's executive school of verbal abuse per se, but I have to believe the rules must be different in a restaurant kitchen given extraordinary time pressures and constraints, razor thin profit margins, the fickle tastes of consumers like me, etc. So perhaps in certain circumstances I do believe strongly in the command and control methodology he practices.
This weekly summertime reality series can be painful to watch. Case in point: exactly what gene pools are the producers drawing upon to determine the group of contestants each year? But heck, a) it makes for great theatre, b) if nothing else I always learn more about the critical concept of mise en place, c) it's fun to see how Ramsay breaks these folks down and builds (a few of) them into chefs. Plus the opening theme song, "Fire" from the "Ohio Players," is just about old school enough for me. Tune in Mondays at 9 p.m.
...You start liking the Sunday morning talk news programs. I mean...come on. I used to consider this stuff eye-glazing material, and the content, with a bunch of babbling politicians (ahem...that's YOU, Feinstein) can be grating, annoying, boring, yadda yadda yadda.
Well, it's not like I tune these programs in with rapt attention, but while on the old Precor at the gym early on Sundays, I do wander. Hmmm...informercials, The Weather Channel, Religious programs, E!, the VH1 Top 20 countdown.....yeah, I'm getting older alright.
And I'm here to officially declare that the best of the bunch of Sunday morning talk programs is "This Week With George Stephanopoulos." Maybe it's his catchy TV name, or his short White House stint that may have given him some perspective and experience, but the dude asks great questions and typically establishes a very strong rapport with his guests. He calls BS when he sees it...and the show overall is a lot less self-praising than "Meet The Press," which is so self-important I'm simply not worthy of it.
Incidentally, the tribute at the end of the show to fallen soldiers in Iraq and other notable people who have passed on during the week is worth the price of admission, as is the informative banter between Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson, George Will, and Martha Raddatz. So, get some Geritol, your comfy slippers, and a glass of prune juice, and join me every Sunday.
Liberal buffoon anchor-reporter "Dan Rather" states in a comment on my most recent American Idol blog posting that it looks like Jordin is out. My wife says, "No way!" I say that Blake would make a better producer than a singer, so it's time for him to go.
But what do I really say, since I was at the Oakland A's game last night and missed it all? Almost time to cut that hair, Swish!
Buh--p-p-p-p-ssshhh-pppchhhh-stickem--ha-ha-ha-stick 'em......Buh--p-p-p-p-ssshhh-pppchhhh-yeah yeah yeah. That's "beat box" for: Buy-bye now, Blake.
