WEDNESDAY, 25th

THE BIGGEST LOSER: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The irony that this special is airing the day before Thanksgiving is to much for me to handle. (8pm/NBC)

THURSDAY, 26th

MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE: Even though the Glee cast has been shunned from these festivities (how rude!), it’s still worth tuning it to check out the impressive floats. (9am/NBC)

FRIDAY, 27th

MONK: Part 1 of the series finale. Words fail to describe how heartbroken I will be when this show ends. Why Mr. Monk, why?! (9pm/USA)

SATURDAY, 28th

ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME LIVE: This induction ceremony includes performances from the legends of rock. Rock on! (10:30pm/PBS)

Real Housewives of Orange County: Adios Jeana

“All good things must come to an end eventually,” but in the case of Jeana Keough, the housewife with arguably the most marbles, it’s more like “All time spent with a gaggle of crazy b*tches,” must come to an end, too. Amen.

This was the farewell episode for Real Housewife Jeana, one of the original housewives and probably the most gangsta of them all. Jeana wanted to spend more time with her kids, she needed to focus on her struggling finances, and frankly she was just “over it,” in her words, which means she’d hit her drama boiling point and decided to tap out. Good for you, Jeana, if I had to spend all of my time with Tamra and Vicki I’d probably jump ship too – get out while you’ve still got your dignity…er, most of it at least. Jeana spent this episode blowing off housewife activities to hang out with her children, who all finally came home for a nice family dinner…well, minus her crazy soon to be ex-husband who is still living in her house, yikes. She obviously has an active social life, she spends less time with Vicki now (who calls her “toxic” anyway), and her kids all seem to be doing well for themselves. Now if only her real estate business would bounce, she’d be all set. Jeana, in the immortal words of Tupac,“Keep your head up,” we’re rooting for you.

And because television is a fickle medium, it’s out with the old and in with the new as the show swiftly changes gears to include the new housewife, Alexis Bellino. But first, a question – is it called “Orange County” because all of the women look like skinny oompa loompas with their overly tanned complexions? Easy on the bronzer (and tanning beds) ladies, orange is only a good color for traffic cones. But I digress…This week the ladies attended a private party at La Perla, an upscale lingerie store. At the party, we learn a few things: 1 – Lynne’s daughter is brought to yet another inappropriate function, 2 – Simon only likes Tamra when she’s half naked, 3 – Alexis’ husband Jim is a creepy control freak and 4 – Vicki and Alexis finally meet, amidst all of the speculation and gossip. Alexis says she’s not so bad – OK, we’ll just wait a few episodes and see if she’s still singing the same tune. I found it totally uncomfortable that Simon and Jim were dictating how their wives tried on the lingerie, but as we saw earlier in a scene with Alexis and Jim out to lunch, Jim is one step away from making Alexis wear a burka and walk 5 steps behind him. Take the shackles off, Jim, she’ll be fine…

In another equally revealing scene about the dynamic between Jim and Alexis, they were invited over for a barbecue at Tamra and Simon’s house where we learned even more about them. First of all, it’s fine to be religious and place your faith high up in your life, but if we have to listen to a whole season of Alexis and Jim saying how much God factors into everything they do, I’m going to kill myself. When Alexis said that God comes first, their marriage comes second and their children come third, um…did anyone else find that weird? Shouldn’t your children come before you and your creepy husband and your creepy sex life? Just asking. Plus, they have 3 kids and 2 nannies, and she says how hard it is to manage – really? You have 2 nannies, I’m sure you’ll cope… One thing the producers neglect to mention is that this is Alexis’ second marriage. Hmm, wonder what the bible says about divorce Alexis… Anyway, he orders her around, she’s not allowed to raise her voice, and she isn’t allowed to go anywhere without him (and she cuts his food). Someone sign Jim up for husband of the year – he’s quite a catch. Actually, Tamra would probably beg to differ, as she literally drooled and seethed envy over the size of Alexis’ wedding ring. Then she joked about Alexis’ amazing boobs and her inhuman physique, making it perfectly clear to everyone how blindingly jealous she is of Alexis. It’s only a matter of time before the claws come out.

Lastly, Lynne and her family were in the midst of downsizing to another house, as the “lease” ran up on their current home. It’s alright Lynne, you can say “rental’, it’s not a dirty word. Gretchen and Slade were also discussing their waning finances as they attended the swanky party of her friend Kelly – who clearly has money to burn on things like burlesque dancers and fancy cocktails. The party ended with Gretchen getting wasted and dancing on a stripper pole, so I’d say she was able to forget about her money woes, at least for the night.

There you have it, the end of the Jeana era and the beginning of the Alexis era. Alexis certainly has the Orange County look down pat, now she just has to deal with all the drama – good luck with that. And happy trails to you, Jeana, until we meet again on the reunion show…

For another take on this episode, check out Still biatchy! by Liz Cooper.

Season 5, Episode 3: It Ends in Coto de Caza (originally aired November 19, 2009)

For more on The Real Housewives of Orange County, click here.

Thursdays at 10/9c on Bravo

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal, Kelsey McNeal, and Mitchell Haaseth

The Real Housewives of Orange County: Still biatchy!

This week on The Real Housewives of Orange County, Gretchen started her new frugal life, and Jeana ended her relationship with the housewives…or so they say.

We begin with Gretchen, who is in Scottsdale for a friend’s birthday, and is relishing this weekend before her new financial constraints affect her lifestyle. She brings boyfriend Slade, whose MO, according to Tamra is “bangin’ housewives”. That he does, Tamra, that he does, as Gretchen reminds us several times during her visit that she is in no shortage of lovin’. Gretchen and Slade discuss being frugal in their private cabana, and she notes that in days before she knew Jeff she would get the cutest outfits for, like, twenty bucks. So she just needs to trade out her hundred dollar bills for twenties. See guys, being frugal is still fun! She brings up how she finally feels like herself again since Jeff’s death last year and uses her friend Kelly’s pink and white birthday party as her pseudo coming out party. And by “coming out” she means getting trashed and doing a semi strip tease for Slade. Nothing says I’m over death like a good hangover!

Meanwhile, Jeana is eagerly awaiting for her soon-to-be-ex-husband to move out so he stops cramping her social life. She chats with Tamra about how excited she is to start a new life that is drama-free and is looking forward to spending more time with her kids. Tamra smells some bull when antidrama Jeana suggests that she apologize to Gretchen for how she treated her last season (who thinks in years anymore?) and Tamra says that Jeana is totally the girl who would fart in the room and say “who did that?!”. Exactly, Tamra, exactly.

Then there is Alexis, the new girl that the housewives are eager to get to know and be bitchy to since she is way hotter than the rest of them. At a cookout at Tamra’s, Alexis arrives in a teeny tiny bikini carting kids all over the place, and Tamra’s laser beam eyes are on. She is green with envy, no she’s worse; she’s chartreuse. She wants Alexis’ body, her knockers, her doorknocker-sized ring, her marriage and probably her plastic surgeon’s number (I was shocked to find out Princess Alexis is only 32…eech).

Next up is the lingerie party at La Pearla. The housewives bring their husbands/boyfriends/daughters/credit cards to this private party where there are models to make the housewives not want to eat and personal shoppers to get them drunk enough to buy things like a $1700 gold bra. Jeana is MIA since she is having a family dinner with her three kids. It’s nice actually. Gretchen is first to arrive and Tamra soon shows up, which is the first time they have been together since “the incident”. Luckily, Tamra the biatch (Slade’s words, not mine) and Gretchen don’t kill one another and all is well in the OC. Vicki vows to be less judgmental and bitchy and I can’t wait for her to experience amnesia and be horrible to someone next week.

The episode ends with Jeana cleaning up her kitchen and her life (how artsy, Bravo!) and decides that she is done with the housewives. Is there any more point in filming her? I can’t wait for next week when Alexis will inevitably be thrown under the bus for being the new girl and I’m hoping someone flips a table by the end of this season. Oh how I miss the charms of New Jersey.

For another take on this episode, check out Adios Jeana by Renata Sellitti.

Season 5, Episode 3: It Ends in Coto de Caza (originally aired November 19, 2009)

For more on The Real Housewives of Orange County, click here.

Thursdays at 10/9c on Bravo

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal, Kelsey McNeal

Grey’s Anatomy: ‘Tis the Season

Three holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, are all wrapped up in this episode. We follow the doctors as they balance their holiday celebrations and work at the hospital. Get ready, there’s a lot to cover!

Thanksgiving Eve

Meredith and the Chief meet; he defends the drinking we witnessed last episode. He believes he suffered from “situational depression,” not alcoholism. His diagnosis–he can now drink. Also, since he is not performing surgeries, he offers to mentor her, which she accepts.

We then see Cristina join Teddy in surgery, who removes a transplanted heart from a woman because it failed.

Thanksgiving Day

Teddy’s patient, Kelsey, will live with the help of a machine until another donor heart is available. Her boyfriend, of only four dates, stays at the hospital to support her.

Arizona and Derek examine a young boy with an unstoppable nosebleed and determine he needs surgery to fix the blood vessels. However, they cannot reach the area in question because the available instruments are too large. They decide, with Sloan’s help, to build smaller tools.

A teenage girl comes to the hospital looking for Mark. She tells him that her name is Sloan Riley and that “I’m pretty sure you’re my dad.” Everyone is shocked, including Mark who is speechless; he tells Derek he is too young to have an 18-year-old.

At Thanksgiving dinner, Mark announces that the paternity test confirms that she is his daughter. Lexie is so dumbfounded she cuts off the top of her finger instead of a vegetable. Ouch!!

Christmas Eve

The Chief and Meredith have a “mentoring” session where she tells him that “he should make up with Derek. It’s Christmas. It’s time.”

Sloan is still struggling to connect with or even talk to his daughter. He admits to Derek that he knew her mother was pregnant but assumed she had an abortion.

Kelsey, the cardiac patient, is growing weaker. Cristina encourages her (as only she can) to hold on until New Year’s Eve because lots of accidents happen that night. Kelsey asks to be taken outside to see the snow. Teddy makes this happen but Kelsey collapses outside.

Bailey’s father shows up and has only recently learned about her divorce. He tells her that she made a mistake and is ashamed that she chose her job over her marriage.

Christmas Day

Derek, Arizona and Sloan discover that the Chief cut the funding for the smaller surgical tool. They offer to donate their bonuses, which they learn they are not receiving this year, and then offer to pay for it themselves. The Chief apologizes to McDreamy.

A weakened Kelsey needs bowel surgery but can only handle a local anesthetic. To distract her from the discomfort during the surgery, Bailey makes the doctors sing “Let It Snow.”

Meredith and Derek host Christmas dinner. Arizona and the Chief sing a pretty good rendition of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” accompanied by Owen on the guitar, who stares at Teddy throughout the song. Meredith defends the Chief’s drinking to her father, who believes Richard is an alcoholic.

Bailey and her father also join the group. A rather tense moment occurs when he admonishes her for disucssing the bowel surgery during dinner. An emphatic Bailey stands up for herself and exclaims that “she had outgrown her marriage” and “I’m happy, my child is healthy and that is enough for me today.” Also, since it saved a life, the surgery is appropriate Christmas conversation.

New Year’s Eve

A frustrated Lexie forces Sloan to talk to his daughter. It turns out she is pregnant, has dropped out of school and was kicked out by her mom. She breaks down in tears and says she has nowhere to go. A very fatherly Sloan hugs her and reassures her it will be okay.

The tools are finished for the boy’s surgery, which is successful, just as the clock is about to strike midnight!

Teddy and Owen finally talk about their feelings. She asserts she has loved him forever. Owen admits that he had feelings for her but he now loves Cristina. They almost kiss…mixed messages Owen!

Meanwhile, an ecstatic Cristina finds a heart for her cardiac patient.

New Year’s Day

Bailey’s father returns to Seattle after visiting her son and they reconcile.

By New Year’s Day, Kelsey’s had surgery and is improving. Her boyfriend, who has stayed by her side, proposes and she accepts. After watching this, Cristina finds Owen to talk about their relationship, which she seems to be questioning. He tells her that he wants to be with her because he loves her.

The episode ends with Joe, the bartender, paging Meredith because the Chief is sloppy drunk at the bar. The Chief is falling apart! So much for his theory of being able to drink.

This episode was a bit of a whirlwind (but sometimes the holidays are) and covered a lot, perhaps too much. However, I liked seeing the episode through each holiday and thought it illustrated what a close-knit, family-like, however sometimes dysfunctional, group the doctors are. I enjoyed the large number of characters that were used (although hardly any Alex or the Mercy Westers) and how nicely the holiday songs were woven throughout.

For more on this episode, check out Tanya Lane’s review here.

Season 6, Episodes 10: Holidaze (originally aired November 19, 2009)

For more Grey’s Anatomy, click here.

Thursdays 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC, Randy Holmes, and Danny Feld

FlashForward: Believe (You’re Making it Awfully Difficult)

FlashForward producers have decided to take a break from the break from the break from the investigation into the mystery of what caused the blackouts.  Who could have guessed?  Instead, this week’s episode delves into the background story of Bryce and his plan to find the girl of his future.  (I guess this is somewhat important?  Now we can fully realize how unimportant the first scene of the series with Bryce on the pier actually was) Anyway, we eventually find out that Bryce was diagnosed before the blackout with a stage four form of cancer and did not have much time to live.  Although he still shows signs of sickness and is undergoing chemotherapy, he is convinced that his future remains bright.  If only we could all be so optimistic with such unfortunate circumstances…

More (Or less, whichever you deem to be more appropriate) importantly, we are introduced to the Asian woman, Keiko, who Bryce meets in his flash forward.  The story seems to go that she is a woman trying to push social boundaries in Tokyo by being hired to work at a major robotics firm and be treated with the respect that anyone else is treated with. (She ends up serving tea to a board meeting because she is the only woman in the office … That’s about as much respect as a Rodney Dangerfield joke) She is also being pushed by her mother to marry specific suitors, but she knows that Bryce is out there.  When Bryce shows up to find her, after spending a flight from LA to Tokyo, he is turned away by her mother.

It’s tough to grasp the essence of Bryce’s ambitions.  He seems to be a little obsessive in searching for a hypothetical love and is risking his health for an indefinite glimpse into his future.  However, we also find out towards the end of the episode that Keiko makes her way to LA driven by a passion separate from that of her mother, which implies that the meeting occurs in LA rather than Tokyo.

The other major plotline for the episode is the ongoing self-destruction of Aaron’s daughter Tracy.  He finds that she is constantly drinking herself to sleep.  What makes the situation even more awkward is that Aaron, a recovering alcoholic, feels uncomfortable around all the booze. (Talk about will power – sounds like rehab and AA meetings have had the same effect on his will power as they have had on Amy Winehouse‘s)

To make matters worse for Aaron, Mark finds the text that tipped off Olivia about his drinking.  He decides to confront his AA sponsor and friend, Aaron, who, in his vulnerable state, finds such an accusation offensive, which causes a tear in their relationship.  The only other person that Mark told about his drinking was Agent Wedeck.  When Mark confronts him, a less concrete answer is given, perhaps adding more reasoning behind suspecting him as an FBI mole.

To end things for this startlingly off-story episode, the call that Demetri received a couple weeks back that informed him of his impending murder was able to be traced.  Looks like both he and Mark are headed to Hong Kong (Without Wedeck’s permission).  I guess it’s like NWA said…

Season 1, Episode 9: Believe (originally aired November 19, 2009)

For more on FlashForward, click here.

Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC, Ron Tom, and Randy Holmes

Good Hair

The same thing that makes you laugh makes you cry.  This old saying best describes my thoughts about Chris Rock’s documentary Good Hair.  As a Black woman I was very curious to see just what this film was all about.  Notions of “good” and “bad” hair have existed within the Black community since time immemorial, or so it seems.  One might think that such concepts would have fallen away with Jim Crow, but these antiquated viewpoints persist.  Through various conversations I’ve had with friends of other races I’ve learned that our issues aren’t known by many outside of the Black community.  Light-skinned vs. dark-skinned. Good hair vs. Bad hair.  This scene here from Spike Lee’s School Daze will give you a good idea of the self-loathing that exists within the Black community.

Rock attempts to answer the question “What is good hair?”  Well, any Black woman (especially one from the South) can answer that question.  Good hair is silky and straight, completely opposite from most of our natural hair, which is coarse and kinky.  During slavery, those slaves who were the offspring of the slave master received preferential treatment.  If your skin was fairer or your hair straighter (a consequence of race-mixing), then you were treated better.  It’s as simple as that.  Unfortunately these vestiges of America’s Great Atrocity are still prevalent today.  Rock examines the Black woman’s dependence, or addiction even – to chemical relaxers and/or hair weaves.  This is a sensitive topic because it pulls the scab off the nasty wound of insecurity and inferiority, not for me personally, but of our people, historically.  Many sisters perm their hair for convenience, not because they wish they were White, but I’m not sure Chris Rock fleshed this out adequately.  The impetus for the movie was his daughter, who asked him sadly why she didn’t have good hair.  The concept itself is so outdated that it’s troubling we’re still even having this discussion.

I was hoping Rock would do more to purport the belief that black is indeed beautiful, but he played it for laughs for the most part.  I’m not sure what his goals were.  He closed by saying he wanted his daughter to know that what’s on top of her head isn’t as important as what is inside it.   That’s admirable and true, but he should also want his child to believe that she and her hair are beautiful just as God made them.  He showed how Black women collectively spend millions of dollars every year…just to look like someone else.  The human hair that comprises most weaves comes from Indian women, who cut it as part of a religious ceremony.  It is then sold in America.  This is just wrong to me, on so many levels.  The hair is initially cut for a noble purpose but winds up as a representation of superficiality and self-dissatisfaction.  Black women break their bank to attain the hair that Indian women have naturally.  That bothers me.  As a person who was told in my youth that I had “good hair,” I’m sure lots of sisters would tell me to shove it, but my opinion is just as valid as anyone else.

I don’t think Good Hair did enough to counteract the belief of many Black women that their natural hair is unacceptable, something to be reviled and tamed.  He poked fun, but he didn’t reassure.  I will credit him for tackling a provocative and controversial topic and for making a film that sparks discourse, but I wish he would’ve aimed for more than laughs.

Every Young Girl’s Dream – A Date (Interview) with the “Me and Orson Welles” Cast

With the impending release of the latest Twilight flick and the widespread conflict between ‘Team Edward’ and ‘Team Jacob’, Zac Efron has managed a brief respite from the asphyxiation caused by an innumerable amount of teenage girls and their imaginative dreams.  As the premiere of the new Me and Orson Welles movie, starring Efron, Claire Danes, and Christian McKay, looms closer, that luxury will prove short-lived for Efron.  Trust me when I say, Zac Efron will soon enough be stealing back the hearts of every young girl and most likely the hearts of many others.

Now, as fellow member of the male gender, it is only natural that I question the natural order of things as they are with young actors being able to consume the minds and hearts of so many girls with such little concern.  You can call it jealousy or you can call it ignorance, but I have convinced myself that it’s completely warranted to be worried about this, what we may call, ‘Pretty Boy’ phenomenon.  The bar is clearly being set way to high for us normal guys without access to stylists and personal beauticians (or without access to the funds to employ such people).  It’s kind of like that kid in Organic Chemistry who doesn’t socialize with anyone, stays in all weekend, and then gets the only A on the midterm amongst an ocean of C’s and continually ruins the curve for the rest of the students – except now that kid has perfect bone structure, gelled hair, natural muscle tone that a month straight of McDonald’s couldn’t damage, and a wardrobe full of designers that half of the fashion world has yet to hear about because they’re that important.

With my virgin-in-a-strip club-like curiosity, I jumped at the opportunity to interview the talent behind Me and Orson Welles.  Efron, Danes and director, Richard Linklater, were going to be in Washington DC to do some public relations work for the upcoming movie, attend an advanced screening, and visit the White House, amongst other agenda exploding activities, and Poptimal was invited for a roundtable interview session with the group.  This was my chance to be able to tell everyone how I could totally match up with Zac Efron; to challenge the overpowering existence of and influence of pretty boy movie stars within the minds of the opposite sex.  I was going to take on giant step forward for all of humanity (excluding celebrities).

The interview session was held at The Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown – class, class, class.  I had taken up about half of a notepad (Mind you, not a page of a notepad, half of an entire notepad) with some of, what I believed to be, the most intellectually stimulating questions I could think up.  I wanted to make sure that the talent remembered the face of Matt Turnier because of his well thought out observations and inquiries.  I also might have come up with this idea in my head to try my best in devising a question so profound that it would leave the interviewees speechless (Whether it was out of awe or because such a question could simply not have an answer did not matter), however, that notion cannot be confirmed.

I arrived at the hotel and waited in the lobby with about five women who were also interviewing the group.  They all ogled at the thought of being in the same room as Zac Efron, citing his looks and his inviting personality as some of his more warming qualities.  At one point I tried to call another male over to balance out the estrogen fueled Efron ranting.  It turned out that he may have been a bigger fan of Efron than any of the women.  As more time passed waiting to be called into the restricted access suite that was set up and more discussion about the actual interview went on, I actually started to feel a little apprehensive and nervous.  Here I was, setting out to disprove the effect that these celebrity heartthrobs have on people and I was already feeling that same lump in the throat and weakness in the knees that my little sister would have at High School Musical live show.

We finally made out way up to the room stocked with soda cans and those rectangular water bottles that only celebrities drink.  Everyone sat down at a little coffee table after shaking hands with the talent and making some introductions.  After all the Zac Efron excitement that went on downstairs, every single woman chose to sit down in every seat but the one directly next to Efron.  I took that opportunity with a ‘no big deal’ look on my face and a lean in my chair that would put gangster rappers riding in their candy-painted caddy’s to shame.  We shook hands and gave each other a nod – for a second I forgot about my intention to bring pride back to the average joe and felt star struck, but I managed not to stare.

I was last on the line to ask a question.  The group asked a pretty diverse range of questions.  Linklater talked about doing a period piece in the 1930’s and how important it was to create a certain atmosphere while adding a screwball comedy mood, something not generally connected with that era, in order to capture each individual character and their ambitions.  Linklater admitted himself that his movie “was something Orson Welles wouldn’t have wanted to be in himself”.  Claire Danes didn’t speak as much as I would have anticipated besides her pledged allegiance and fondness of President Obama, when asked if she had any favorite politicians (although they all admitted that none of them were “any kind of news or politics junkies”), and a small remark about her character in the movie.  Linklater, Efron, and Danes all spoke very highly for some time on the performance of Christian McKay as Orson Welles.  They praised his abilities and professionalism while also talking about being taken aback when he, as a lead character, would repeatedly ask questions and remain somewhat reserved in voicing his opinions – unlike the real life Orson Welles, ironically.  Finally came my turn to ask a question.  I wanted to start out with an easy one to get warmed up.  I asked how they would like their upcoming movie, Me and Orson Welles to be reviewed and how they would like it to be remembered (Since the whole movie centers around opening night of the Orson Welles play Julius Caesar and making sure it received positive acclaim).  I followed it up with how they would like their careers when all is said and done to be reviewed and remembered.  I thought that it would be a great look into the celebrity psyche and how important their selection of movie projects was to each of them.

Surprisingly, Linklater showed a distinct indifference towards a review of his life and work.  It seemed to be a bit more personal for him, clearly making movies that appealed to his senses and not those of others.  To a degree it’s an understandable thought, but to forget about the audience’s connection to one’s work doesn’t seem like the most fulfilling path.  Efron talked for a while about being someone who wanted to make a difference through his performances.  More importantly, he expressed his desire to be someone who pushed boundaries and took risks, even if that meant being ahead of the times (Did not mention wooing women with his classic looks, charm, singing and dances moves thankfully).  I found that idea that being involved in something before your time was just as important and stimulating as being involved in a blockbuster to be a very Wellesian concept, something I was impressed by.  The interview ended as quickly as it began and I managed to go thank the group for attending and, although hesitantly, asked for a picture with Efron, who gladly though exhaustively agreed, to document the event (Plus I feared that my little sister would denounce me as her brother if I didn’t).

We all shuffled out and I suddenly realized I had forgotten to collect material for my plan to curtail the growing popularity of these young actors and restore satisfaction in your everyday guy in the eyes of women.  And then I realized that many of these actors are pretty average, they just don’t live average lives.  Maybe it’s not about looks or charm as much as we may think, but the lives we live.  Something I think Orson Welles, and Efron to some extent, realized themselves.

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