July 2nd, 2009, 7:07 pm by The Watcher
 Folks who follow “The Bachelor/Bachelorette” know that it can be a small world.
Apparently that world is particularly small in Austin, Texas, and it seems to revolve around one Laurel Kagay.
Laurel spoke to People magazine this week and identified herself as the mysterious Laurel who may or may not be the girlfriend of Wes Hayden, one of the four remaining bachelors pursuing Jillian Harris on “The Bachelorette.” That issue came to a head in an uncomfortable and obviously staged confrontation between Wes and ousted suitor Jake Pavelka.
Jake alleges that Wes told him numerous times that he already had a girlfriend. Jake - whom the show would have us believe has cameras following him around constantly - anguished over whether to reveal that information before finally flying to Austin to present Jillian with Wes’s treachery.
For her part, Laurel sides with Wes: “I’m absolutely not with Wes, nor would I be with Wes if he were going on a show to be with another girl,” she says. “That’s absolutely crazy.”
But what’s really crazy to the Watcher is that Laurel used to date Brad Womack, star of season 11 of “The Bachelor,” and Collin Evans, a contestant on the Jen Schefft season of “The Bachelorette.” It looks like Laurel and ABC have the same taste in men.
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July 2nd, 2009, 6:05 pm by The Watcher
 Someday, the Watcher will compile a list of the 10 worst lists compiled by Entertainment Weekly, but it will be difficult to narrow down the candidates.
One that just came to the Watcher’s attention is the magazine’s 20 Best Reality Shows.
We can’t disagree with “Survivor” at No.1 or “The Amazing Race” at No. 2, but the list falls apart after that.
Somehow, “The Real Housewives of Orange County” (and all of its descendants) made it to No. 13. If that doesn’t destroy any credibility the list had, it also includes “The Hills” and “Flavor of Love.”
And let’s not mention that “American Idol” trails “The Osbournes” or that “Dancing With the Stars,” “The Mole” or “Trading Spaces” are nowhere to be found. Heck, we’ll take “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” over “Real Housewives.”
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July 1st, 2009, 7:22 am by The Watcher
UPDATED with new info on Braden and the “tribal” divisions.
 CBS introduced us to the Houseguests for the upcoming 11th season of “Big Brother” Wednesday morning, and one of them is a local guy.
Braden Bacha, 28, lives in Santa Monica, but his bio on the CBS website says he was born and raised in Dana Point. The bio also describes him this way: “He constantly boasts about his self-perceived intelligence, looks, charm and overall desirability. Braden calls himself a fashion icon and thinks anything creative is totally rad; he even designs his own jewelry.”
Sounds perfect for “Big Brother.”
Twelves guests were revealed on “The Early Show,” but a mysterious 13th guest - presumably a returnee from a previous season - still is unknown.
To start the season, the 12 will be divided into four “tribes” that mirror high school cliques: the popular kids, the athletes, the braniacs and the off-beats.
The fun starts July 9.
Posted in: Big Brother • TV: Reality shows • The Watcher | 2 Comments »
June 30th, 2009, 8:10 pm by The Watcher
 Wrapping up the June newbies:
“Hung” (HBO) - Ray Drecker’s life is absurd; he’s divorced, broke and living in a tent in front of his burned-out house. His plan to resurrect his pride and bank account is equally absurd: He’s going to become a straight male prostitute. Unfortunately, the level of comedy doesn’t quite match the goofy premise; it’s too laid-back and subtle. Maybe it will grow on us. B-
“The Philanthropist” (NBC) - This is a great-looking show, which earns valuable points from the Watcher. It is also pretentious and silly, which does not. It might be one of those series that works better with the sound off. And let’s not forget all that product placement! C-
“Make It or Break It” (ABC Family) - This teenage gymnastics drama calls on every hoary sports-movie cliche one can imagine. The target audience may be too young to realize these are cliches, but adults will roll their eyes every couple of minutes. D+
The Grades
A-Record it! B-Watchable C-Take it or leave it D-A waste of time F-Offensively bad
KEEPERS
“Nurse Jackie” (Showtime) - Already renewed for season two. Grade: A-
“Top Chef Masters” (Bravo) - The chefs’ skills will make your head spin A-
“Royal Pains” (USA) - Another solid series from USA - B+
“Expedition Africa” (History) - Needs less arguing, more adventure - B
“Obsession” (A&E) - Neurotics gets their due - B
TWEENERS
“I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant” (Discovery Health) - Interesting once - C+
“NYC Prep” (Bravo) - The kids are more interesting than any ‘Housewives’ - C+
“Wedded to Perfection” (TLC) - Her designs are nice - C+
“Science of the Movies” (Science) - Host is hard to take - C
“Cake Boss” (TLC) - “Ace of Cakes” is better - C-
“The Goode Family” (ABC) - It’s no “King of the Hill” - C-
“HawthoRNe” (TNT) - Tough to buy into - C-
“Is Your House Killing You?” (Sundance) - Semi-interesting import C-
“Jesse James Is a Dead Man” (Spike) - Over-the-top narration must go - C-
“The Listener” (NBC) - It’s tough to get past the absurd premise - C-
“Merlin” (NBC) - A “Flintstones” take on the Middle Ages - C-
“Tosh.0″ (Comedy Central) -Another “funny” video show with too little funny - C-
“Your Worst Animal Nightmares” (Animal Planet) - Tabloidy Australian import - C-
LOSERS
“Wedding Day” (TNT) - Gee, can we have more product placement? - D+
“Mental” (Fox) - “House” lite - D+
“Tattoo Highway” (A&E) - And the point of this is? - D
“The Little Couple” (TLC) - Like watching your next-door neighbors - D
“Superstars” (ABC) - Unbelievably boring - D-
NOT YET GRADED
“The Lazy Environmentalist” (Sundance)
Posted in: TV: Reality shows • TV: Reviews • TV: Scripted shows • The Watcher | 5 Comments »
June 30th, 2009, 9:46 am by The Watcher
Think the combination of Michael Jackson and “American Idol” would prove irresistible? Think again.
Monday’s rerun of last season’s Top 13 episode was resisted by just about everyone. According to TVbytheNumbers.com, “AI” was crushed by “The Bachelorette” on ABC and even lost to a “Law & Order” rerun on NBC.
No matter what Randy Jackson says, when it comes to America’s favorite singing competition, it’s the competition that really counts.
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June 29th, 2009, 9:25 am by The Watcher
Jumping on the “Let’s make money off of pay tribute to Michael Jackson” bandwagon, Fox will replay the Top 13 episode of last season’s “American Idol” tonight.
The two-hour extravaganza wasn’t the best episode of the season, but it was far from the worst. We got decent performances of Michael’s music from Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta and eventual winner Kris Allen, along with uncomfortably bad ones from Megan Corkrey and Anoop Desai - not to mention the only appearances of Jorge Nunez and Jasmine Murray.
Naturally, the best part of the repeat is that it provides an excuse to re-read the Watcher’s original Watchalong review.
In announcing the repeat on “So You Think You Can Dance” Thursday, Fox made much of this being its first-ever repeat of an episode of “AI.” Of course, entire seasons have been rebroadcast on Fox Reality and through the syndicated “American Idol Rewind,” but we won’t bring that up.
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June 28th, 2009, 9:44 am by The Watcher
 In one of the umpteen “tributes” to Michael Jackson, TVLand has unearthed the 1992 miniseries “The Jacksons: An American Dream” and will screen it today [Sunday].
The five-hour docudrama begins at 2 p.m. and repeats at 7 p.m. The miniseries, which originally aired on ABC, stars former Sweathog Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Angela Bassett as the parents of the musical clan, Holly Robinson Peete as Diana Ross and Jermaine Jackson II as Jermaine Jackson I.
The Watcher didn’t see the original, so I can’t speak to the quality, but it has a decent 6.2 average rating on IMDb.
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June 28th, 2009, 9:32 am by The Watcher
 Billy Mays wasn’t exactly a household name, but if you saw his image flash across the screen or heard that unmistakable voice, you knew who he was.
With the possible exception of Ron Popeil, Mays was the best known of TV’s cadre of infomercial pitchmen. He hawked dozens of products, although was best known for pushing OxiClean.
Mays died Sunday morning at his home in Tampa. He was 50. You can read the details here.
He also starred alongside fellow salesman Anthony Sullivan in the surprisingly good reality series “Pitchmen” on Discovery, which airs at 10 p.m. Wednesdays. Coincidentally, Discovery planned to host a “Pitchmen” marathon this Wednesday.
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June 26th, 2009, 1:35 pm by The Watcher
 Asuka Kondoh, the ballroom dancer from Irvine, left “So You Think You Can Dance” Thursday night in a bit of a surprise to the Watcher.
I don’t think Asuka was a contender for the title, but I did expect her to last a little longer. Also making an exit was Jonathan Platero, a more obvious choice to be shown the door.
Their exits mean that their erstwhile partners, Vitolio and Karla, will team up next week.
Orange County’s other entrants in the show, the pair of Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi, were safe once again. Both look strong, and Ade, in particular, must be considered a serious contender.
Posted in: TV: Reality shows • The Watcher | 3 Comments »
June 25th, 2009, 5:19 pm by The Watcher
Michael Jackson can’t really be considered a TV star, unless we count his role in the short, happy life of the music video as important television programming, or the “Jackson 5ive” Saturday morning cartoon show.
But one of his brightest moments, the one that catapulted him from big star to the biggest star, was his performance on the “Motown 25″ television special in 1983. Michael performed a medley of Jackson Five hits with his brothers, then electrified the viewing audience with a version of “Billie Jean.” “Motown 50″ has come and gone, yet still people talk about it.
Does it bother us that Michael was lip-synching? I think we can forgive him.
(Tonight, both ABC and NBC will air Michael Jackson specials at 9 p.m. under their “20/20″ and “Dateline” rubrics. CBS will offer a one-hour special at 10.)
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