realitytvwatcher

As a kid, I grew up in NH and constantly watched the Kennedys on television. I remember the constant news coverage when JFK Jr’s plane went down killing him, his wife, and his sister in law. This family was part of everyone’s lives for so many years. Ted Kennedy may have been rich but to all of us he was wealthy in his humanity, kindness, and compassion. He did a lot of great things for his state, family, and country. Hopefully, we can all put aside our political affiliations and salute Edward Moore Kennedy the man. He cared about our country so much and he and his family sacrificed so much for us all. Rest In Peace Edward M. Kennedy, you are with your other brothers and sisters now and are singing show tunes with the angels in Heaven.

I decided to veer a little of course from my typical reality tv spiel to discuss an HBO documentary that I watched called Boy Interrupted. This documentary was done by married filmmakers from NYC named Dana and Hart Perry. The movie documented their 15 year old son’s struggle with mental illness his entire life and his eventual suicide. In a weird twist, decades before Evan’s uncle, Scott Perry also committed suicide. The movie moved me. I could not believe how this family struggled, and that Evan even as a kindergartner discussed killing himself and even his family. I think that young people have suicidal thoughts and many people do not understand this and do something about it. Hopefully, this documentary will open more eyes to child hood mental illnesses.

American Idol starts soon. The producers have decided to add a fourth judge. Now, Paula Abdul might be out after this season. Simon is basically one of the reasons why people turn on the Fox channel and watch the show. However, many people tune in to see Paula Abdul. I think Paula Abdul is kooky. I have seen her reality show “Hey Paula”. Now, if you watched this show on Bravo you would have observed that Paula Abdul rarely sleeps because she is so busy. She can be very jumpy and is often looking for a Starbucks so she can get coffee. She often slurs her words when she speaks. Now, I have never seen her drink on television. I really think that maybe she has issues with sleeping that need to be rectified. I am a person who has trouble sleeping at night. I am tired all day long because of this. I can see that Paula has the same type of issue, only worse because she travels all the time and is busy with American Idol. I might watch “American Idol” this season. Will you?

I watched Kitchen Nightmares last night the first hour episode was about Trobiano’s an Italian restaurant in NY. The restaurant is owned by Anthony a twenty five year old chef and his girlfriend’s parents. This was a recipe for trouble because Anthony’s girlfriend and her parents all worked at the restaurant and it was causing a huge strain on their restaurant. The restaurant was $500,000 in debt. The kitchen was dirty and even had mouse droppings bear the meat cutting station. The menu needed to be revamped and the décor was very drab. The restaurant had started an early bird special to help keep the place afloat but the portions were too big so Gordon Ramsay canned the early bird dinner specials entirely. Gordon also made Anthony help him clean the restaurant and even took the owners to a farm to milk cows and learn how to make fresh mozzarella.

The evening of the re-launch which showed off the restaurant’s new décor and menu had some bumps along the way. The biggest success of the evening was when they impressed a food critic and her guests. In the end, Gordon Ramsay gave Anthony an engagement ring to give to his girlfriend and he proposed. This episode was a very good episode. It had drama and romance at the same time.

Uh-Oh! Former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn’s Washington, DC burger joint Good  Stuff Eatery has been hit with some health code violations. According to reports, The District’s Department of Health cited the restaurant for what they have deemed several “critical” missteps, including such culinary clangers as storing beef in an alley behind his Capitol Hill café. A Sept. 4 health inspection report cited the unsavory storage technique, along with three other Running a Restaurant 101 no-nos: not having hand-washing facilities available to employees, not properly sanitizing cutting boards and other surfaces and not separating and protecting food.

Spike admitted no wrongdoing in the matter. He also said that his establishment is very clean. Subsequent health department visits on Sept. 12 and 15 found a correction of the earlier violations and no new ones.

What do you think of this story?

Info provided by http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20080925/en_top_eo/30879

Last night’s Project Runway episode was an interesting episode.LL Cool J was the guest judge. The designers were asked to design a look for each other based on a genre of music. Kenley designed for Leanne a hip hope outfit. The outfit had high waisted jeans and did not have anything to do with hip hop. Tim Gunn pointed this out to Kenley as did the judges but as usual Kenley talked back to all of them.

Jerell designed for Kenley a pop outfit. It met the challenge and showed off a lot of skin. The judges loved it and that is why Jerell came in second place this week.

Korto designed a punk look for Suede. She did an incredibly well. She dyed his jeans, and put chains into the outfit. It was a great outfit and Korto won the challenge.

Leanne designed a country look for Korto. I loved the skirt but as the judges said, it was not a glamorous outfit. She is a great designer but she needs to remember that she is designing for a performer not just a regular person.

Suede designed a rock n’ roll outfit for Jerell. I thought it was much better than Kenley’s outfit. Suede made a leather vest and pants and a shirt. Kenley had copped an attitude to the judges, but in the end Suede was eliminated.

This week’s Project Runway as Michael Kors said was mixed, there was decent design but nothing really wowed them. We are now down to Kenley, Leanne, Korto and Jerell. Who will be the final 3 to go to Olympus Fashion Week? Stay tuned and find out next week!

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Tim Gunn is an incredible mentor on Project Runway. How he has such restraint I don’t really know. He is always a great sounding board for the designers. His classic line, make it work is a Project Runway staple. Tim is incredibly knowledgeable he uses words like caucus and other fifty cent words that make him look brilliant ad endearing at the same time.

He really tries to connect with the designers. Who can forget Santino Rice’s impersonation of Tim, going to Red lobster with Andre? My favorite lines from Tim this season are when Blayne was teaching him the line, Holla at your boy! It cracked me up as does the line this looks like something out of a gay Jurassic Park to Blayne during the drag queen challenge. What do you all love about Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn?

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the blog scene. I am a wife, mother, and full time student. My name is Trish. I am writing my blog about reality television. My debut post will highlight some of my favorite reality television shows and why I watch them.

My favorite reality television indulgence is Kathy Griffin My Life on the D-List. This is a great reality TV program following the day to day activities of comedienne Kathy Griffin. In season one; we met Kathy who was at the time married to husband Matt Moline. The two divorced a few seasons later. We also met Kathy’s assistants Tiffany, Jessica and tour manager Tom, and her parents Maggie and John. John sadly died of heart failure last season. Kathy Griffin has an aura about her she says what she wants and doesn’t apologize. As someone who was raised in a very serious household, I admire her spunk and uncensored words. She makes me laugh and can always brighten my day.

My next favorite reality TV program is Flipping Out. Jeff Lewis cracks me up. As we have watched over the past two seasons, Jeff and his employees are anything but boring. I love Jeff’s relationship with his executive assistant Jenni Pulos and his relationship with business partner and ex boyfriend Ryan Brown. Jeff Lewis is a designer that is so incredibly talented. His life is filled with drama. This season, Jeff fired Chris Elwood, Jenni’s husband and after the firing, Jenni and Chris decided to divorce. I love watching Jeff interact with Ryan and Dale’s daughter Chloe. You can see the softer side of Jeff, and it adds to why Jeff is so compelling for us to watch. I love watching Jeff flip out over the smallest things like onions. Hopefully Flipping Out will return soon, because I need Jeff Lewis back on my TV.

My third favorite show is Project Runway. This is an incredible show and this year the show is very diverse. There are three African American designers- Korto, Jerell, and Terri. There was an Asian designer named Jerry and a bisexual designer named Suede. The first challenge was a flashback to season one. This meant that the designers had to make clothes out of grocery items. Kelli won the first challenge and there were many stand-out designs. Daniel Feld made a great dress out of blue plastic cups. Wesley made a great yellow dress and Korto made an incredible yellow dress with produce on it. Then, Jerry was eliminated. In my opinion Stella should have gone because Jerry put more thought and work into his garment. Stella made her entire garment from trash bags and it was not innovative or pretty at all. Project Runway challenges this season have been incredibly well thought out. There was an Olympic challenge, a car part challenge, a NYC challenge, and even a vegan challenge with environmental free fabrics. I am very impressed with the quality of designers and the overall work that they have produced thus far.

The fourth favorite reality TV indulgence of mine is Jon and Kate plus 8. I have watched this show from the beginning. It is a reality TV show following Jon and Kate Gosselin and their seven year old twins and four year old sextuplets. I have enjoyed this show but recently it has become a little far fetched. The family is supposed to be cash strapped yet Jon the father doesn’t work and neither does his wife Kate. They both stay at home and according to news reports make $25,000 per speaking appearance. I am a stay at home mom with one small child and I cannot take expensive vacations, have my husband quit his job or spend money on many indulgences. I miss the days where Kate was like me cutting coupons and using her calculator at the grocery store. It has become less reality and more a product placement show. I will continue to watch, but this show needs to get back to its roots.

Another reality show that I watch is Top Chef. Top Chef is always full of drama. I think like Project Runway that Top Chef has incredibly talented artists that are creating beautiful dishes. Top Chef has incredibly talented Chefs. My favorite was Richard Blais; this chef is such a classy guy. He always gives other chefs credit and even at the last episode said he hadn’t cooked the best meal. He was always a team player and to me is one of the classiest reality TV contestants that I have ever seen. In the end, Stephanie won. I was pleased with the outcome even though I thought Dale should have gone to the finale instead of Lisa. I hope the new season starts soon because I miss this great show.

Another reality show that I have watched is The Real Housewives of NYC. This show is set in the Big Apple and features LuAnn, Alex, Ramona, Jill, and Bethenny. Four of the five women have husbands and Bethenny is dating a man named Jason. The show follows these women as they mingle with high society and go about their busy days. As always there is fighting like Jill and Ramona fighting about Ramona lying to LuAnn about where Jill was and not inviting Jill to a dinner party.  Their cat fighting was a major plotline this season. Another plotline was Alex and her husband Simon trying to climb the social ladder and get their pictures in the society section of the newspaper. This is an interesting show but I want the show to keep it real. I want drama but not a lot of cat fighting because it gives women a bad name.

I started this blog to express my views on reality TV shows. These shows fascinate me, because in general people fascinate me. I love to see people being people because we are all unique and every single person has a story to tell. My blog will recap reality shows and will show my point of views. We will have to watch and see what happens, stay tuned for more of my blog postings I am grateful to everyone who reads this posting. Have a great evening!