Category: Reality TV (Page 94 of 118)

The Biggest Loser: Here We Go Again

October 1, 2008 /

We all knew that the name “Biggest Loser: Couples” was a facade, and that was proven last night. Look producers, we don’t care that you break up said couples, but if you start changing the teams every week like you did last season, you’re going to lose more than a few viewers. Mrs. Mike summed it up best last night, saying “I hate this show.” Harsh, but you can’t keep confusing your audience or they will get annoyed and stop watching. Me, I have to watch it to deliver this blog, but I want some continuity.

Anyway, so last night’s episode began with the contestants road-tripping to the Grand Canyon.
Host Alison Sweeney met up with them halfway there at a convenient store in the middle of the desert to offer up the first challenge. Ali pulled up in a beautiful RV, and announced that the winner of this challenge would stay in the RV and everyone else would be camping. The challenge involved convenience store food, and guessing how many calories were in each item Ali put on the counter. There were three rounds, and Ed and Heba (orange team) won all three, with their teammates conceding them the victory after two of those rounds.

When the group arrived at the campgrounds, which were pretty desolate Continue reading »

Reality TV, The Biggest Loser, TV

A Double Dose of Kitchen Nightmares

September 26, 2008 /

I’m guessing that FOX is doubling up on “Kitchen Nightmares” episodes because the baseball playoffs are coming up. Whatever the reason, we were treated to two separate episodes of Gordon Ramsay fixing restaurants on the verge of going out of business.

The first one was Trobiano’s Italian restaurant in Great Neck, NY, which is owned by Anthony Trobiano and his girlfriend Tiffany and her parents. Anthony is very cocky and won’t admit any fault with his own cooking, and basically that’s the biggest problem. So Ramsay shows up and samples the food–eggplant “tower,” chicken wrapped shrimp, and salmon with spaghetti bolognese. He comes to the conclusion that the food is “crap.”

Then, Ramsay finds out that the kitchen is disgusting, complete with rat droppings Continue reading »

Kitchen Nightmares, Reality TV, TV

The Biggest Loser: Gambling Doesn’t Pay

September 24, 2008 /

Last night’s episode of “The Biggest Loser” began with trainers Bob and Jillian talking about how Week 2 is historically a “plateau” week on the show, and that the average contestant loses just 2 % of their weight the second week as their bodies adjust to the sudden change in lifestyle.

With that, host Alison Sweeney brought the teams together and each had a colored ping pong paddle to match their team color. Alison offered $10,000 to anyone who gambled that they could lose a certain percentage of weight, but it was done auction-style….meaning one team bid 1 %, the next 1.2 % etc. It went all the way up to 2.4% for the yellow team of Colleen and Jerry. So, if they were able to lose that percentage, or 14 pounds between them, they would win 10 grand. If not, they would automatically be below the yellow line this week. They were fired up, but their trainer Jillian was pissed. She knows the plateau all too well, and she vowed to work Colleen extra hard (Jerry still has to limit his activity for health reasons).

Then came the challenge, which was a water slide game. Each team had to slide down a slip and slide Continue reading »

External TV, Reality TV, The Biggest Loser

Ten comments about the 2008 Emmy Awards

September 21, 2008 /

1. Call him a dick for saying it, but Jeremy Piven’s dismissal of the opening of this year’s ceremony during his acceptance speech was right on the money. After that brief montage of stars quoting classic TV catchphrases, Oprah killed the show stone dead with her opening remarks, and the never-ending sequence by the reality-show hosts was downright painful. It was the worst beginning to an Emmy broadcast that I can remember.

2. I liked “Recount” as much as the next guy, but Tom Hooper was robbed. He totally deserved to win the award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or a Dramatic Special for his work on “John Adams.” That said, Jay Roach defused my anger somewhat when he thanked “my rock ‘n’ roll sweetheart, Susanna Hoffs,” in his acceptance speech.

3. Don Rickles can be funnier with one motion of his eyebrow than Kathy Griffin is likely to be in her entire career…and, indeed, he proved this tonight.

4. Bryan Cranston, God love him, only won his Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series because of the split-vote phenomenon.

5. I’m not saying Josh Groban’s TV-themes medley was great, but hearing him screech Cartman’s lines in the “South Park” theme was worth the price of admission.

6. Ricky Gervais’s bit where he demanded that Steve Carrel return his Emmy was brilliant…but with that said, I went to see “Get Smart” at the local discount theater this weekend instead of paying full price to see “Ghost Town.” I’m just saying.

7. As happy as I was to see “Mad Men” win Outstanding Drama Series, I think I was just as psyched that “Damages” got the love it did in the acting categories. I might’ve picked Ted Danson to win over Zeljko Ivanek, I admit, but I’m sure as hell not complaining. Season 2 of that series can’t get here soon enough.

8. It was totally an industry joke, but when Tom Hanks thanked Chris Albrecht during his acceptance speech for “John Adams,” then cupped his ear to see if anyone would applaud, I laughed out loud.

9. Although way too much was made of the whole Outstanding Reality-Show Host award (and giving the Outstanding Reality-Show Competition award to “The Amazing Race” for the sixth consecutive year was abso-fricking-lutely ridiculous), Jimmy Kimmel’s waiting until after the commercial break to announce the winner was truly inspired.

10. Tommy Smothers is my hero.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, News, Reality TV, Reviews, TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

Kitchen Nightmares: Ramsay Rescues a Family Business

September 19, 2008 /

Last night’s episode of “Kitchen Nightmares” featured Gordon Ramsay visiting Giuseppi’s Restaurant in Michigan. A family owned restaurant for ten years, parents Kathy and Joe had planned on opening something that they could pass on to their son, Sam. But the restaurant was failing miserably, and much of the reason was the poor food quality and the fact that Joe, who has diabetes, is working more than he needs to.

Ramsay arrived and as he always does, sampled menu items–he ordered octopus salad, potato skins and the specialty, eggplant rollatini. He complained that the octopus was rubbery, the potato skins and eggplant were covered in disgusting cheese, which as it turns out was microwaved. He sits down with Sam, Joe and sous chef Brian, and tells them that their food is “crap.” And all along, Joe had no idea the food was that bad. But it’s revealed that he won’t let Joe cook fresh food as he wants to, and instead they use the microwave to push food orders out quickly, but not efficiently.

Ramsay’s biggest challenge here is getting Joe and Sam to communicate and for Sam to allow Joe to have his cooking talent shine through with fresh ingredients. So once that’s established, Ramsay also updates the decor, which is badly out of style, and he challenges both Joe and Sam to make one dish for the staff with fresh ingredients–Sam chooses salmon and Joe a double pork chop. The staff prefers the pork chop, but barely, and mostly they recognize that fresh is the way to go.

But still, customers wind up complaining at the dinner service, because not only are they still using the microwave too much, but Brian is joking around and not working. Also, Joe is still trying to bite off more than he can chew, and not letting Sam lead in the kitchen. Once Brian quits, though after confronting Ramsay, father and son work nicely together and finish getting the orders out. Afterward, Ramsay has Sam, Kathy and Joe each read a letter they had hand-written out loud to each other, to voice feelings they had all been holding back. This more than anything brings them together.

So this time there was no cockroach infested kitchen or moldy food or hot head owners. But just a family that needed to know they were all there for each other. And more than anything, a father who recognized his son had become a man and was ready to take over the kitchen.

See you all next week, when we are promised a two-hour episode with two different restaurants.

Kitchen Nightmares, Reality TV

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