Review: Run's House

While writing these blog entries, an MTV show has been playing in the background. Run’s House, starring Rev Run and his family, is fairly entertaining. It’s another reality show, focusing on a family and their conflicts. In the show I watched, Run and his family experience a number of issues. One of his little boys, Russy, took to stealing stuff from his family and hiding it in his room. The family had a hard time finding where their stuff was, until they saw him take a few things. In order to get him to see that they knew he was lying, they set up a camera in his room. Then they all went into their movie theater in their house and watched the video as he hid things that he stole. He felt really bad, and gave everyone back their stuff. I think that was a proper way for the family to correct the issue. Although most reality shows are worthless, Run’s House may have a good point to it, if it continues to show good ways to parent children.

Review: CSI: Miami

CSI: Miami is a pretty good show. I was a little apprehensive at first, because I really enjoyed the Vegas show. I was really warming up to it, until I noticed a common theme. I noticed that every show has half-naked women traipsing around (well, it IS Miami) in little bikinis. As much as this sex appeal may be interesting to the male population, I am not ok with my boyfriend or any other male friend watching such trashiness. In addition to the bikini-clad women everywhere, the show almost always focuses on some sex crime. Rape, child pornography, sodomy, and sexual abuse are the most common. After a while, I just don’t feel good about watching the show. If they can tone the sex down a bit, I will consider watching it more often. Otherwise, I will turn to other shows.

Review: CSI:Vegas

CSI is a show that has held my attention since my forensics teacher first showed it to us in 11th grade. I fell in love with the characters and relationships. Warrick Brown, Gil Grissom, Sarah Sidle, Nick Stokes, and Catherine Willows all come together to form a truly solid cast. In recent months, I have heard much debate on whether or not CSI: Miami is better or worse than the original, Vegas. I fought very hard about Vegas being better, until I caught a show recently. I was appauled at what was being shown. A man shoots himself in the head, and the viewer sees everything, from a window behind him. It was so disgusting. Also, we see a man behead a woman, skin her, and mount her skin like a deer head. I was shocked at what was allowed to be on a regular television show. Maybe Miami is a better show after all. To be reviewed next…

Review: The Tyra Banks Show

Tyra Banks is amazing. A former Victoria's Secret model, she is now a busy woman. She is the host and creator of America's Next Top Model, and also hosts her own talk show. Many people think she tries to be Oprah Winfrey, but I'd tend to disagree. She is her own person, and doing her own thing. When Oprah used to be new and young, she did investigative journalism as Tyra does now. Now, Oprah has the opportunity to relax and chill out with celebrities, without worrying about ratings. Tyra is not a replacement for Oprah, and she doesn't try to be. Her shows hit such issues as eating disorders and abuse, and she always seems to have the right view on things. Tyra is AWESOME!

Review: "Next" (Part 2)

I wrote a bit about "Next" a while back, and I've decided to post the second part. Here's the last part of that review!

So the girls wait on the bus, and cattiness is high. The first girl to go leaves them with a smart-aleck remark, and stands in front of the bus and poses. As she’s posing, 3 statistics about her show up on the screen. They are normally the strangest things possible. For example, as one blonde hair, blue eyed girl posed in front of the bus, these statistics showed up:

-Loves to bite her toenails
-Can’t stand the name “Greg”
-Wants to strip on the moon

When the guy meets each girl, he can say “Next!” at any time, and the next girl will come out and replace the girl that he’s with currently. Almost every time, no matter what, the guy says “Next!” to the first girl. She normally says something like, “Yeah, I didn’t like you anyway!” The guy comes onscreen and says something like, “ I was looking for a girl that I could take out to eat, not someone I’d be worried would eat me!” This comment almost always goes along with the view that almost every girl is fat.

As the rejected girl walks away from the guy back to the bus, a woman voices over yet another corny line.

“Mark wanted someone fit, but Candi’s body just wasn’t a hit!”

“Mark was looking for a girl with long hair. Mandi’s noggin was just too bare!”

“Mark envisioned a gorgeous beauty. The only good thing was Andi’s booty!”

Oh, those lines make me sick.

The guy goes through the girls, one by one, until he finds one he doesn’t mind hanging out with. They hang out for a while, and at the end of the show, the girl has the chance to go on a second date with him or take one dollar for each minute she spent with him. The choice varies, but when the girl chooses the guy, the viewers are supposed to believe that they live happily ever after.

This show is the most ridiculous, most unrealistic show I’ve ever seen. The corny lines are abundant, and overused. If you ever are clicking through the channels and see this show, don’t waste precious minutes of your life watching it. It’s a waste of channel space.

Review: That 70's Show

That 70's Show is pretty much the greatest show to grace FX's lineup. Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher, and (my favorite) Danny Masterson. It follows a group of friends through their lives in the 70's. There's the self-absorbed girl (Jackie), the dumb foreigner (Fez), the smart girl (Donna), the dorky guy (Kelso), the semi-responsible guy (Eric), the laid back guy (Hyde), and Eric's family. Kelso usually creates enough issues that need to be dealt with in one episode, but sometimes they deal with Eric's family issues and Hyde's legal issues. Each show is full of laughs, and generally easy to relate with. I don't ever watch it and have a hard time believing anything depicted could actually happen in real life. Generally, it's an awesome show.

Review: My Super Sweet Sixteen

MTV has some interesting shows. Usually, they are incredibly shallow, and hard to relate to (such as Next! and The Hills). Such is the case with "My Super Sweet Sixteen." The show focuses on 15 year old girls who want to throw a huge party in honor of their sixteenth birthday. They pout if they don't get their way, they whine that they need a Lexus or Mercedes. Amazingly, for such an irritating show, it is very interesting to watch. It's easy to get caught up wondering what kind of dress the girl will get, what kind of car her parents will buy her, and how extravagant the party will be. Although it is a horrible waste of money, it really is a guilty pleasure, and almost hard not to watch.

Review: Miami Ink

TLC sure does have some great shows. What Not to Wear, Little People, Big World, and Take Home Chef are all some great shows that the channel offers. Miami Ink falls in line with the great lineup they have. It focuses on a tattoo parlor in Miami, and follows the lives of each person. It's very interesting to me, because it's a completely different life than I live. The artists do not do silly tattoos, they will only do ones with meaning behind them. On the particular show I watched, the female artist did a portrait of a young man's brother, who died in a car accident. Another tattoo artist did a dragon around two flowers, which symbolized his protective nature over his two children. The show is an intriguing one to watch, especially for the artistry. The way they draw on people's skin with ink seems almost like a pen and ink, rather than writing on people's skin. It's really amazing, and beautiful to watch.

Review: Take Home Chef

While watching TLC today, I came across a show, "Take Home Chef." Take Home Chef stars Curtis Stone, a handsome chef with an even handsomer accent. He goes to the supermarket and picks whoever he first sees to cook for. Surprisingly, it's normally a drop-dead gorgeous woman. When he walks up to them, they are incredibly surprised, and he asks them if they want him to cook for their family that night. Almost always, they agree, and Stone walks around the store with them, interviewing them and asking questions about their food preferences. They pick out some food, he pays, and they go back to the person's house to cook for them. Normally, they make some amazing recipes. It's a great concept, and a very fun show to watch. In the show I watched, a woman helped cook a stir fry for her boyfriend with Stone. It was an entertaining show, and very interesting. It was hard to miss the eyes and the giggles that the woman kept making towards Stone, but it's hard to blame her!

Review: I Love New York

While flipping through channels this evening, I happened to fall upon VH1. A show called "I Love New York" was on, and because I didn't have anything else to watch, I stayed on the channel.

"New York" is Tiffany Pollard, a reality tv star who first showed up on VH1's "Flavor of Love." The public liked/hated her so much, she ended up with her own show.

The show started out with 9 guys, all fighting for New York's attention. They are almost all African-American, except for a random white guy. He is called "Mr. Boston," and played out to be a huge dork. His nasal voice, mixed with his "geeky" clothes pinpoint him as a target.

The guys have to split up in 3 groups, and make New York's chihuahua a doghouse. The men who build the best one will go on dates with her later that night. She ends up picking 3 guys, and the leader of that group gets "something special." New York plays it up to be sexual, but as a viewer, I figured that it was just innuendo. Strangely, she and one of the winners is seen in her bedroom in sexual poses. I guess it wasn't innuendo after all.

All in all, the show pretty much stunk. It was yet another reality show that wastes channel space.

Review: "Next"

Reality television shows have consumed the entertainment business these days. Flip through the channels, and you’ll find personal makeovers, home makeovers, dating shows, wedding shows, baby shows, survival shows, singing shows, talent shows, and so much more. MTV is one of the channels that seems to have nothing but reality shows, and to be honest, the majority of them are horrendous.

In the midst of the crap, one truly horrible show stands out. MTV’s “hit” dating show, “Next,” is a real gem. The scene is set: one gorgeous, single guy (or girl) desperately needs a gorgeous, single girl (or guy!) The producers manage to find five gorgeous singles, all willing to do anything for a date. Sound fake? Don’t worry, both the people and the show itself look as fake as they sound.

The show starts off with the gorgeous single talking about themselves. For example, there was a guy on the show the other day, and he was a businessman. As he introduced himself, he said,“My name is Mark, I’m a businessman, and I’m looking for a hot woman to help take care of MY business!”This voice-over plays as he adjusts his tie, flexes his muscles, and struts his stuff.

This is just the beginning of the corniness that is “Next.”

The women come on after the guy’s introduction. Normally, they wear as little clothing as possible, and flaunt every asset they have. Their voice-overs are just as scripted and corny as the guy’s.

“Hi, I’m Nikki, I’m 21, and I’m a gymnast. I’d like to show this guy how flexible I can be!”

“Hi, I’m Candi, I’m 20, and I’m a lifeguard. I’d like to show this guy my best mouth-to-mouth procedure!”

“Hi, I’m Jenni, I’m 22, and I’m a sales clerk. I want to sell this guy MY goods!”

It gets so much worse. Check back later for the second part of this review!