Musical Musings: Trashy TV

Showing posts with label Trashy TV. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Tell Me Why - Wednesday

New segment here on Musical Musings. While I will still focus on wonderful people/organizations some Wednesdays, I will also be asking you guys some deep, life-altering questions. So, without delay, the VERY FIRST...

Today, dear readers,

TELL ME WHY...........

...........I WATCH THIS CRAP?!?!

To which crap am I referring? That would be this crap:

We all know that, when it comes to TV, I have serious issues. And I mean SERIOUS. This might be the biggest piece of crap I watch, and that is saying a helluva lot. I've already featured "Secret Life" in a post before (see this Trash Talk), but I didn't really delve into what makes the show so gosh-darn stupid. Instead of creating a drawn out diatribe explaining my theories, as is my usual way, I will instead list all of the stupid, unbelievable story lines in the show, and explain the flaws in the characters and the actors who portray them.

1. Ben's Devotion to Amy: Ben. Cute kid, albeit it gawky and annoying. He decides he needs a girlfriend. His two friends point out Amy. That is, Amy BEFORE the baby bump started to show. He goes on a date with Amy. He then, IMMEDIATELY, falls in love with Amy. In real life, that kid would've run like hell when he found out the girl he'd been out with ONCE was pregnant with the Big Playboy On Campus's kid. But NOOOOO. Ben confesses his undying love for Amy, and frickin' proposes. They're FIFTEEN! The first season culminated with the two running off to get married. Of course, that wasn't remotely legal, so it didn't last. They break up. He sleeps with her Baby-Daddy's ex, gets her pregnant, doesn't know it, and is now back together with Amy. Of course, the shit will hit the fan next week when Amy finds out about Adrienne's poppin' fresh bun in the oven...

Ø Characters:

o  Amy: Irritating, self-centered, whiny, band-geek narcissist. And I hate her hair. (Actress Shailene Woodley isn't THAT bad, but she still gets on my nerves.)
o  Ben: As aforementioned, gawky and annoying. (Actor Ken Baumann - definitely not great. Probably would throw him in the "minoring in drama, majoring in accounting" talent category.)

2.     Jack Does Grace: Ah, Grace. President of the Chastity Club (though it doesn’t have the charming irony of the same storyline in Glee). To save her pathetic high school relationship from the class tramp Adrienne, Grace decides to bare all for Jackie-Boy and do the nasty. And, she ABSOLUTELY loves it. Becomes almost obsessed with it. In fact, her obsession with it prompts a whole episode on masturbation. (DON’T ask.) What 15 year old GIRL loves sex that much after the first time? And yet somehow manages to never do it again? (Nope, never again.) Really? I don’t think so. Actually, the only realistic part of this dramatic travesty – sex makes the two kids realize they don’t like each other all that much after all…

Ø Characters:

o   Jack: Typical bumbling idiot teenage guy. Decent looking. Particularly moronic when it comes to girls. (Actor Greg Finley…SUCKS.)
o   Grace: Not that cute, but is supposed to be the pure, sweet, chaste, and innocent high-school hottie. Doesn’t really pull it off all that well. Kind of bugs me. Definitely borders on hypocritical. (Actress Megan Park – not bad. But not that good, either.)

3.     Madison and Lauren: Amy’s two cronies. They are so craptastic in every possible way. Characters and actresses alike. SUCK. So bad. So bad in fact, that’s all the explanation they get.

4.     George and Anne Jeurgens: Oh Molly, Molly. What happened to you? When did you become the world’s worst actress? When did you decide you would accept the stupidest storylines of all time? Yes, that’s Molly Ringwald I’m talking about. Beloved…

Andie:

And Sammy Davis Baker Jr:

Now, she’s a divorced/on again-off again pseudo-reconciled ex-wife mother who got pregnant by her ex husband. They have a very bizarre and incredibly lame relationship. She tries to convince some random guy that she dated for five minutes that the baby was his. He cheats on her with slut Adrienne’s mom and gets hair plugs. They are God. Awful.

Ø Characters:

o   Anne: I think I’ve adequately explained her.
o   George: And him. (Actor Mark Derwin is pretty funny though, and adds some much needed comic relief to the show.)

Ironically, the slut Adrienne/Playboy Ricky storyline is actually pretty realistic and well done. Both actors (Francia Raisa and Daren Kasagoff) are actually decent. Adrienne is very pretty in an exotic way. Daren isn’t hot enough to pull off his role, but I guess he has that mysterious, troubled boy thing going. My favorite character is Ashley, with her incredibly dry sense of humor and monotone line delivery. Certainly not winning an Emmy any time soon, but still pretty good.

OH! BEST OF ALL!!! The new guidance counselor?? MAYIM BIALICK! YEP! BLOSSOM!!!

OMG. She could almost warrant an entire post herself. But I'll save that for another day.

So, with all of that said, WHY IN THE HELL do I tune into ABC Family EVERY Monday night at 8:00 pm EST??? What is wrong with me, dear readers??? WHY??

A dollar to whoever can give me the answer.

Bon Jeudi!

(Oh - sorry for the jacked up font. Not sure what's up with that tonight...)

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Random's Manifest - Thursday Thoughts

Back home from Disney, and in the office. Figured, what better time for some RANDOM THOUGHTS??

Moving Day

No, not from my house. From the office. We're moving from our holding space in the 'hood to our new, beautiful building Uptown. As glad as I will be to say goodbye to the rif-raff around here, I am not looking forward to the longer commute and expensive parking. Nor am I terribly thrilled about the "Workplace of the Future", in which my cubicle will be out in the middle of everything, and all of my doings will be everyone's business. I'll have to figure out a way to hide my blogging breaks from the masses...

We're in the midst of packing right now, and this place looks like World War III at the moment. Awesome. I kinda like it for some reason. First, it's an opportunity to purge and get reorganized which, contrary to popular belief (based on the chaotic state of my house), is actually one of my favorite things. As disastrous as my home might be, my workspace is psychotically organized, albeit cluttered. Now, I can reorganize my organization, and de-clutter at the same time! What could be better?? Yay! Second, it's a little invigorating to have everyone working together to get stuff done. We're normally kind of on our own, and we don't interact much. But, when we're all having to clean and pack and organize, we have to all just get along. It's a complete wreck at the moment though. I am going to try to take a picture of this nightmare to post for you guys. I know you'd positively LOVE to see our mess. :)

Strange That Glee Makes Me Cry. And ALMOST like Lady GaGa...

I've cried the last three episodes. A good cry though, I suppose. Tuesday's season finale was awesome, but I am absolutely devastated to see it go for the summer. I will miss it so! I'm listening to the soundtrack from the episode as I type. Outstanding stuff. If you haven't already, download it NOW.

Here's a sampling:

I was also shockingly pleased with the Lady GaGa episode. As aforementioned, I am not a GaGa fan, but I gotta say, I LOVE Bad Romance now. But, not her version still. This version:

Rachel and her surprise mom also do a pretty great version of Poker Face. When you check out the soundtrack from the season finale, look into that, too. You won't be sorry.

eShakti, have a sale already!

The online clothier bombards me with daily emails showcasing their beautiful summer dresses, but not since I made my first purchase (see this edition of Random Thoughts: http://stolensentiments.blogspot.com/2010/02/randoms-manifest.html) have they offered any deals! There are so many cute things I want from this store, including these:

Don't they know that if they just lowered the prices a smidgen, I'd order again? Sigh...

Ok, so I'm not the best at keeping my resolutions...
Remember when May was going to be a great month for new beginnings? (see: Brand New May) Yeah, so, not so much...

Haven't done Weight Watchers at all and, in fact, have gained quite a bit. That is the direct result of the work project from hell, though. Things are quieting down a little, so I need to get back in the groove. I can't cross back over into the bad place. I just can't.

Along that same vein, I haven't worked out in literally MONTHS. Unless you count walking around the theme parks, which, I don't. That has to change. I feel like hell right now, so I need to get off my once again fat ass and MOVE. Doc said I'm at risk for blood clots if I don't. That should seriously scare me straight, but as of yet, it hasn't. Maybe I'll get on the elliptical when I get out of here today. Maybe...

Some other resolutions I made in the past:

Watch all 7 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (again)
Read at least 3 books/month
Pass the CPA exam and the Bar
Join a book club
Get in shape
Meet my future husband

Hmm... Well, I did do the first one. Yep. ALL SEVEN. And, I remember why it's my favorite show of all time. As for the second item, although I've still been reading a lot, I haven't kept to my 3 book/month rule. Just too busy. For number three - I did in fact fail the CPA exam yet again. Scheduled to retake it on July 3. I really need to not make the same mistake for the bar. I am starting that study plan TONIGHT. Fourth, no book club. Haven't found one, and don't have enough hours in the day. Maybe that'll change soon, though. Fifth, YEAH RIGHT! We just had that conversation. Last - not yet. Still waiting for him, it seems...

Another Bloggy Award!!!
In the midst of my utter madness (aka getting that application done), I received a lovely blogger award from Donda at: http://www.dailylifewithbipolar.blogspot.com/?zx=adaafc79cc2a3242.

(Don't get discouraged if a Blogger warning pops up - there's no dangerous content in her great blog - just real life tales of living with Bi-Polar disorder. Accept the warning and enter. That's an order.)

Thank you Donda, for the award! I appreciate it! I promise I will pay it forward and fulfill my award requirements soon.

That kid's got some problems.

My name is Kristen, and I'm addicted to some REALLY bad TV. Including some shows geared towards tween-age girls. There. I admit it. I am ashamed. I will not go into greater detail than that, but I will share with you a video made for one of the horrible, horrible half hours of crap I ingest with my eyes. It's a great song and a pretty cool concept, if you ask me. Enjoy!

And with that, I bid you adieu. Off to finish packing my junk and then I'm getting out of here early. Gonna work from home and maybe exercise. I'll keep you posted on my progress (or lack thereof).

Have a fabu day!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Trash Talk Tuesday

OPINIONS AHEAD.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

So, it's 11:24 and I have to get up at 5:45 to leave Destination A, and haul ass to Destination B for all-day meetings. And, I have roughly 3 hours of work left tonight. Hmm...

Needless to say -- keeping it brief.

Today's Topic: Look Alikes on Y&R

My soap is lame. It's the least lame of soaps, though, to be perfectly honest. And yes, I know that isn't saying much. While I am totally addicted to this garbage, and will probably watch it to the grave, it does piss me off from time to time. What has really chapped my hide as of late is the need that the producers/writers/directors have to run the same, stupid storyline/plot twist OVER AND OVER again. The particular storyline to which I'm referring - people with the EXACT same face as someone else.

Off the top of my head, I remember it starting with Sheila Carter. Shelia originally looked like this:

Meanwhile, this is Phyllis Newman:

Phyllis is best friends with Lauren Fenmore Baldwin:

Who just so happens to be Sheila's arch-nemesis.

Sheila does a bunch of terrible things to Lauren, blah, blah, blah, and disappears for what everyone assumes will be forever. Never assume people. You just make an ass out of u and me.

Of course, Sheila comes back to Genoa City after her presumed death, only she looks like this:

Which makes it real easy to get to Lauren, since Lauren of course thinks she's Phyllis - her BFF. (Incidentally, it also saves the show's creators a pretty chunk of change, as now only one actor - Michelle Stafford - needs to be paid for two roles.) Lauren eventually realizes Phyllis has a dopelganger though, and shoots the fake Phyllis/real Sheila. In the conservatory. With the revolver. Sheila dies. Maybe...

A couple of years later, we meet Mary Jane Benson:

A lovely PR rep who goes after Y&R flagship Jack Abbott with the jaws of life. Is it just me, or is there something off about MJ? Nope - it isn't just me. She's actually Patty Williams!:

tammybarr.jpg image by daytimeconfidential

Patty was Jack's wife a million years ago, but she went crazy and tried to kill him. But now she's back from the psych ward to snag her man! If she kills a few people in the process, no big! Until her psychiatrist Emily Peterson shows up to save the day...

Hmm... She looks familiar...

Turns out, Patty admired the good Doc so much, she stole her face. And when Jackie-poo falls in love with Emily and marries her, Patty busts out of the joint (or padded cell, in this case), pulls a switcharoo with dear Emily, and once again becomes Mrs. Jack Abbott. Funny how the men on this show never seem to realize that, although the face might look the same, they're screwing an entirely different person. I mean, does a facial reconstruction come with a full-body makeover and reshaping? Not to mention the voices... Even their birthmarks would have to be the same!

Tired of this game yet? Yeah - me too. But, apparently the writers aren't!

Patty's still on the rampage and nobody knows it. And, I think she may have it out for Phyllis (who, incidentally is Jack's ex)...

Regardless, somebody is terrorizing Lauren now. Remember Lauren?:

She and Jana (love Jana!) have been kidnapped and are being held hostage by none other than Shelia's sister, Sarah Smythe:

Confused? Join the club. Sick of this? YOU BETCHA.

Y&R - if you can't afford two actresses for two roles, then JUST KEEP IT AT ONE ROLE! Do NOT keep duplicating faces! Seriously. If it were that easy, we'd all look like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Wouldn't that be nice??

Well - now that I've visually scrambled your brains, I shall take my leave. Have a wonderful rest of your Trashy Tuesday.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Monday, Monday

So, here I am, chillin' at the desk in my hotel room, dining on salmon and rissotto, and watching Pretty Wild on E!. Sounds pretty awesome, huh? Well, sort of. This is the good part about working all the time and travelling for work. When the salmon - and this post - are done, it's back to work. Gotta love dining on the road, though!

Feeling random today so, even though it isn't Thursday, thought I'd share some random thoughts. Or, random updates, if you will.

First: The Stinky Dog

Sadly, he has cancer. :( But, he's doing okay for now, and that's all that we can ask for. Please keep the prayers coming, and fingers crossed that he keeps feeling okay and is with us for as long as comfortably possible. We love him so.

Second: Adventures at the Amusement Park

Deac gets some serious props for actually riding the monstrosity I pictured in my prior post. Holy crap, that thing was scary. And FRICKIN' HUGE!!!! You couldn't pay me enough to get on that tower of twisted metal.

Here's another shot:

HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLL to the nah!!!

BUT, I do want some recognition for riding anything at all. I bravely got on the following:

Thank you very much. Even though it was me, Deac, and a bunch of 7year olds, I still feel pretty damn good about the whole thing. Yay me. Oh - and the only crap I ingested was half a bag of cotton candy, a chili-cheese dog, and some fries. Not that bad, all things considered...

Oh yeah - Deac did NOT win me a prize (lame-o!), but he DID pay for me to have my age guessed by some pimple-faced 17 year old. I knew that was a sure-fire winner, seeing as most people guess that I'm about 25. Can't complain about that! And, I got a super cute stuffed turtle out of the deal. :)

Third: gLee!!!!!!

It's back tomorrow! I will likely miss it because of work, but that's why God invented DVR. :) CAN'T. WAIT.

Fourth: Sex & The City - Arabian Nights

No good can come of this: http://jezebel.com/5513261/new-sex--the-city-trailer-arabian-nights-redux

Final: Man, Kendra got FAT

As I am wrapping up, an episode of Kendra is on (Pretty Wild having ended at the top of the hour). It's the episode where she goes to the Super Bowl, and incidentally does this photo shoot:

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuullllllllllllllll Shit. There is an astronomical amount of airbrushing in that pic. Actually, i think there's just a flat-out body-double (at least from just below the boobs down). She was a CHUNK in this photo shoot. Did NOT look like this. Not even close.

This is more like it (and incidentally was taken on March 28):

And there is NOTHING wrong with that. She had a HUGE baby in December. But, there is something wrong with that OK! shoot. I mean, they're presenting her as a diet guru - getting her body back at warp speed. That's just a lie. Let her be fat and happy - who cares? She still looks great. And her kid is CUTE. That's all that matters!

Alright, I'm working now. I hope you've enjoyed this Monday installment of Random Thoughts Thursday!

Randomly yours,

Kristen

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Trash Talk Tuesday

OPINIONS AHEAD.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

I'm totally taking the cop-out approach on Trash Talk today. I was going to join in on Taboo Tuesday, but I don't have anything prepared, nor am I able to research today. The same is true for Trash Talk. Instead of a new and exciting topic this week, you get comments on prior topics. Two recent Trash Talks have prompted comments containing opposing viewpoints. Since I love a good debate, I shall post them here:

Baby Beauty Queens (See this installment: Trash Talk Tuesday)

If you remember, I rather harshly criticized child beauty pageants - based solely on my extensive viewing of Toddlers & Tiaras and Little Miss Perfect (as well as a couple of documentaries). I was, to quote Cher Horowitz, "Brutally Rebuffed". Check out what S Garner had to say:

Wow.. you write well.. witty even but I would say this is quite one sided wouldn't you? Even you yourself admit that your relative enjoys them, it has raised her self esteem, confidence and even earned some scholarship cash. Sure there are whackos in every sport, hobby and family but come on. You are leaning 98% towards exploitation and bad parenting when, if you've been in it at all, (which my guess is you have not) you'd see that its the crazy ones that really are the rarity. There is no excuse for Miss "this one is prettier than that one", granted that's a horrifying thing to do to kids. Same as the parents you see pitting one sibling against the other in football, baseball, lacrosse and so on. Crazy pageant moms make good tv and give people like you a way to really dig in and bash the whole idea of pageantry. But.. truth have it, its great Mommy and me time, it should be done only when the child wants to do it.. which is sometimes not evident until they are a little older and can express their wants and needs. I see nothing wrong with a Mom putting a dress on her baby and walking her across a stage. Who really cares? This is far from exploitation even at this age. They meet other kids, make new friends, feel good about themselves and so on. I was a pageant coach for 7 years. I did not coach the Moms with a wad of cash but preferred to coach the ones who were short on it, or were friends of mine. The main reason I started doing it was to help the kids who were new or couldn't afford the insane $100 per hour coaches so that they too could have exactly the same advantages at least in modeling and talent. I did ask Moms to leave my group of girls if it was evident the child wasn't into it and it appeared the Mom was doing it more for herself and the A #1 thing I promoted was inner beauty, self respect and good sportsmanship. There's way more to pageants than you can imagine and to see someone as intelligent as you appear to be make such broad insinuations is rather disheartening to me. It seems like you did your research.. or did you? What exactly did you research on the good side of pageants? There certainly is a lot of good in pageantry.

And for Miss Satan.. come on.. be real. Are the "trashy football Dads" all taken over by Satan too? Do you believe everything you read?

I admit, S Garner does bring up some good points, and I concede that I am one-sided. Here is my response:

Ah yes, S Garner - one sided perhaps. But that's why I include the caveat that these posts contain MY opinions. I appreciate your perspective, and absolutely respect it. And, I really enjoy sparking debate and good conversation, so bring it! I have not claimed to know anything more about pageantry than what is captured in documentaries, but they are pretty damn scary. Again - as I said though - I know the good pageants have done for my cousin. I think it might be inappropriate to push the very young girls into it, though. At least to the extremes that are profiled in shows like LMP and T&T. They are not old enough to truly know if they want to do it, and you have to admit that some of the routines and costumes definitely border on (or blatantly cross into the realm of) exploitative. That being said, some of these girls, and their families, take a refreshing approach to the pageants, and showcase the child's natural beauty and talent. In those cases, it's truly enjoyable to watch. It sounds like you supported the latter approach, and I think that's awesome. Good for you for helping the girls who couldn't otherwise afford good coaching, and for protecting their interests. You need to get on TV and show the world that side of pageantry.

I checked out S Garner's linked website: Shelbie Anne. True to her word, she is a coach to kids who might not otherwise afford to have one. She's clearly proud of her girls, and they seem to really enjoy what they're doing. I love that she posts stories about other activities in which the girls are involved, and not just about pageants (like her post about Becca's dance team win). That's a great way to promote well-roundedness. So, props to Shelbie! (I also appreciate the compliment on my writing and wit - even if it was tempered with a "but"...)

What do you guys think, readers? Pageants: Good? Bad? Ugly? Indifferent?

I stand by my original point (in the response to Shelbie's comment) that pushing the little ones into it might not be appropriate. But, for the older girls, I think it's generally fine. As long as they don't lose sight of the healthy reasons for doing pageants (e.g. self-confidence, poise, public speaking, scholarship money), in order to become obsessed with winning and exhibitionism, or pleasing their parents.

Moving on...

Disney Divas (See this installment: Trash Talk Tuesday)

J-nonymous is BACK! I'm so excited! (She's been MIA for a while, travelling and such. I've missed her loyal readership and good comments.) She had this to say about last week's post on Miley Cyrus, Hilary Duff, and other Disney Divas:

You know, K, I've had these exact same thoughts *about* some of Shia LeB's comments... so though I agree that he has some talent, he definitely falls into your warning category. I've actually thought about this a lot. I mean, he's better than Megan Fox about press, but not much. (Been gone so long, and this is the point I have to tune in to make? I promise I'm catching up!)

My response:

J-nonymous - Don't tell me that! I've never heard of him trashing Disney! I want to believe he's a good guy! I love him!

Again I quote the honorable Cher when I say: "Do you recall the dates of these alleged [remarks]??" I want to see some articles supporting these hateful allegations, before I will accept that Shia is also a tool. J - please reply to this post with some links.

Pregnant Teens (See this installment: Trash Talk Tuesday)

No thought provoking responses to this post, but I thought I'd follow up, nonetheless.

Sixteen & Pregnant: Season Two is SOOOOOOOOOO inferior to Season One. The girls are more naive, more annoying, and more selfish than ever, and their boyfriends are way bigger douches. While one might think this would make for better viewing, it's actually detracting from my enjoyment. Part of what made this show such an anomaly was the fact that you really could relate to the girls, and your heart went out to them. Their struggles were real and realistic, and they each had some endearing quality that made you want to root for a happy ending to their sordid tales. This season - not so much. I find myself losing focus and wandering out of the room to fold laundry (and that says a lot, considering I loathe laundry with all the fire of hell) or do other meaningless chores, because I'm no longer connecting with the characters. MTV needs to not worry so much about creating shock factor (like the notorious text to episode 4's Chelsea), and should refocus on finding girls that viewers want to follow. Like Maci, Amber, Catelynn, and Farrah...

...which leads us to Teen Mom: Not a whole lot to report, since this show is over for a while, but I will say HOORAY! All four girls will be back for a second season of Teen Mom, so we'll get to see year two of parenthood. Woo hoo!

Secret Life: The Secret Life of the American Teenager had its finale last week. Luh-AAAAAMMMMMMMEEEE. We're left with the cliffhanger of whether Adrian (the slut and ex-girl friend to baby-daddy Ricky) is pregnant, too. But not with Ricky's baby! Oh no! With BEN'S!! (Baby-mama Amy's "nice guy" ex-boyfriend) It would seem that the condom broke during their little revenge-induced indiscretion, and now there will be two teen moms in this epic love quadrangle. Meanwhile, every other girl on the show is planning to have sex with some random guy or another. Will they EVER learn??? (Ridiculously stupid or not, you can bet your ass I'll be tuning in when this trash fest returns this summer!)

Alrighty - that's enough mindless dribble/filler for one day. Off to research net assets for NMTC allocatee banks. (Be glad you have no idea what that means.)

Latuh!