Tag Archives: tv

sytycd s5

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I know one of the girls in the Top 20 of So You Think You Can Dance — Melissa Sandvig (well, when I knew her she was Melissa Watson). We used to dance together at Long Beach Ballet and were in the same class from when we were about 5 or 6 all the way until high school when I stopped serious training. I must have seen her at least 3 times a week for years — even more during times when we were touring and performing. It’s really such a small world. CRAZY.

SO. It’s finally Top 20 time!!! WOOT. Tonight was the first performance show and it was probably the best of all 5 seasons so far. I don’t think I’ve loved this many routines ever.

LOVED
Jeanine and Phillip – I have to admit that I really enjoy Tabitha and Napoleon’s (lyrical) hip hop routines. And Jeanine and Phillip danced the heck out of this one.
Randi and Evan – I’m not a huge fan of Tyce’s choreography (plus he has serious bitchface all the time) but GUH. This jazz routine was smoking. I didn’t realize how technically gifted Evan is until this performance.
Karla and Jonathan – Solid cha cha routine. Plus, Karla’s pinay!
Melissa and Ade – I adored this. The LIFTS! Their LINES! GORGEOUS.
Kayla and Max – Fun fun fun samba routine. I can’t believe Kayla has never danced ballroom before. WOW.

OK
Janette and Brandon – Their foxtrot was good but there was no “oomph.”
Caitlin and Jason – Damn, that Bollywood routine was HARD… all those plies and intricate hand movements. But I’m not sure why the judges were gushing. They weren’t quite in sync in a few parts and as cute as they are, I just didn’t think it was that spectacular.
Ashley and Kupono – I didn’t like the whole crash test dummies storyline (sorry Wade) and honestly, I just couldn’t get past that to care about their dancing.

YAWN
Asuka and Vitolio – Disappointing. This was sooo boring. Tyce’s choreography wasn’t particularly memorable but they made it worse by phoning it in. No spark, nothing.
Paris and Tony – UGH. This hip hop was the worst of the night for me. The routine itself was ok but they failed to BRING IT. Not to mention I kind of have irrational dislike for Paris. I can’t help it.

I can never predict the couples in the bottom but I’m going to guess Asuka/Vitolio (really, the routine was terrible), Karla/Jonathan, or Melissa/Ade (the last two couples because they haven’t been “featured” enough so far and that’s going to hurt them). I definitely think Paris/Tony should be in the bottom but his teen girl fanbase will totally save him. GRRR.

final tv upfronts

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I love 3-day weekends! Plus, I had a half day today so now I’m sitting here watching Bride Wars and surfing the net. Yay for multi-tasking.

So my last few comments on the upfronts…

CBS
I just realized that I don’t watch anything on CBS but CSI and CSI: Miami. They don’t have any interesting new shows either. Hmm… one day I’ll check out How I Met Your Mother. I always hear such good things about the show.

The CW
I am definitely more in the CW’s target demographic, which I guess is the reason why so many of their shows appeal to me. Ok, not really. I’m just a sucker for cheesy teen dramas.

Most of my shows made it to next season…
- Gossip Girl. I need to catch up. I’m behind by 5 episodes. Yikes.
- One Tree Hill. I haven’t watched since January but caught the final 2 episodes and thought that would have been a great series finale. I love Lucas and Peyton and the show just won’t be the same without them next season. Mia/Chase and Milly/Mouth can’t even come close.
- Supernatural. Yay for the Brothers Winchester!
- Smallville. But WHOA to it getting a new Friday time slot. It’ll probably do well, though. It made it 8 seasons already, which is FAR longer than I ever thought it would last.

The only show that I wish would have made the cut is Privileged. :( Such a cute show! JoAnna Garcia was amazing (even though I didn’t love Megan that much) and was really looking forward to seeing how her relationship with Will and the twins progressed. Plus, Rina Mimoun! I’m such a fan of her work. She penned many of my very favorite episodes of Everwood and I wanted this show to do well for her.

As far as new shows, I’ll probably check out…
- Melrose Place. I’m not sure I like this “trend” of reviving old shows so we’ll see. I was really looking forward to the new 90210 and I managed to keep up for awhile but really, I realized that I just don’t care about any of the characters.
- Vampire Diaries. I bet this show only got picked up because the CW wants to capitalize on the Twilight craze. I, however, will watch it for IAN SOMERHALDER. Mmm. I’m still sad he got killed off on Lost. Too bad the sneak peeks I found on YouTube look terrible. Hopefully it’ll get better?
- The Beautiful Life. The sneak peeks for this show aren’t so great either but it’s about models. Like a fictionalized America’s Next Top Model!

I really wish they had picked up Body Politic with Jason Dohring (I miss him on TV!), Minka Kelly, and Gabrielle Union. It’s about young congressional staffers! Set on Capitol Hill! I’m hoping they’ll pick it up as a midseason replacement cause I’m almost positive one of the above shows will get axed.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

tv upfronts again

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It’s TV upfronts time again!

I’m a dork and love the anticipation of show renewals and cancellations and the excitement for new series to come. So far, FOX, ABC, and NBC have announced their fall schedules. Nothing terribly exciting…

FOX
I don’t like So You Think You Can Dance moving to the fall. It’s my summer show! Humph. For the past few seasons, I’ve been looking forward to it as a “break” from the rest of my shows. Oh well.

Glad to see Fringe is back (which reminds me, I need to watch the season finale). But they moved it to Thursday at 9. THANKS A LOT. I watch 3 other shows in the same time slot.

Dollhouse was renewed. I don’t watch the show but maybe I will now. I read that the show got off to a slow start but built up to a solid season ending episode. Plus, I’ve always loved Joss Whedon’s shows. Hmmm.

The only new show I’m going to check out is Glee. I haven’t watched the pilot yet (it aired tonight after American Idol) but based on opinions from friends who saw it early, I think I’m going to like it. I mean, come on. It’s a show about a high school musical choir. Tell me that’s not TOTALLY UP MY ALLEY.

ABC
I don’t really watch much on ABC anymore besides Lost and Grey’s Anatomy and of course, those were easy renewals. I’ve long since given up on Private Practice, Ugly Betty, and Brothers and Sisters but I’m not surprised to see them on the fall schedule again.

As for their new shows, I’ve never been a huge sitcom fan so their Wednesday night comedy block doesn’t interest me at all. Eastwick looks promising though (based on the movie Witches of Eastwick) and it stars Rebecca Romijn and Lindsay Price. Love both of them.

NBC
PHEW. SO happy Chuck is back on NBC’s midseason schedule. Even if it’s only for 13 episodes. It’s such a good show! I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Heroes for the past few seasons but the finale definitely picked up so I have to admit I’m (cautiously) looking forward to season 4. I watched the premiere of Southland a few weeks ago but I guess Ben McKenzie isn’t as big of a draw as I thought because I never remember to watch this show. Too much going on Thursdays. Maybe Friday will be a better night for it? Although Friday seems to be the day where networks put shows TO DIE a slow death (recent example: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles).

Are new medical dramas like Trauma and Mercy really necessary?

Also, it is VERY WEIRD to see The Jay Leno Show on the schedule EVERY NIGHT at 10pm. I like Jay Leno but he is taking away too many precious PRIMETIME slots. Couldn’t he have just conceded the Tonight Show to Conan and left it at that? Grrr.

april update

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Wrote this last night…

Yup, I’ve been neglecting the blog again. Sooo lazy. I went to Santa Barbara over the weekend to visit my cousin and I brought back a cold and sore throat (no, it is not the swine flu). We had a good weekend eating tons of food (yummy gumbo at Cajun Kitchen and amazing Crab Cakes Benedict at Sambo’s), walking up and down State Street, and running around the Santa Barbara Fair (no rides for me but I had funnel cake!!!). I took Amtrak, which was so easy! It’s been over 10 years since I’ve taken the train anywhere and I was seriously surprised at how CROWDED they are. On the way back to Orange County, there were no more seats so people were standing. Crazy! The trip was roughly 4 hours each way and the time passed really quickly. I brought my trusty MacBook and a few books and the ride was over before I knew it. I’ll definitely make the trip again.

Tonight is the Chuck season finale (haven’t watched it yet because I’m waiting for the Lakers to win the game against the Jazz). I am really, really hoping it’s not the series finale. So much so that Rob went to Subway today to buy a footlong sandwich in support of the Finale and Footlong campaign to SAVE Chuck. NBC, you better not cancel this show!!!

I finally downloaded some pics from the past few weeks — hopefully you don’t mind if I share? :) Click for bigger…

Let’s start with some pics of Diesel…



We bought Diesel this cute little “house” and put it in our “office” so that he could sleep in there during the day. What a cutie.



Rob was bored and thought it would be funny to put my Mickey ears on Diesel’s head. Diesel was obviously not pleased.



Back on Easter, we went to a barbecue at my cousin’s house and were in charge of making dessert. We decided on cupcakes! We used regular Betty Crocker cupcake mix (both chocolate and yellow cake) and then made this strawberry frosting (mostly because it gave us an opportunity to use the awesome Kitchenaid mixer we received as a wedding gift). The frosting was A-MA-ZING. I changed the frosting ingredients to only include 1 stick of butter (2 sticks seemed waaayyy too much) and I used 4.5 tbsps of strawberry puree. The recipe says it’s enough for a dozen cupcakes but I used it for 2. Yummy.

And of course, a few weekends ago we went to Disneyland. Again. :)

We got to the park just shortly after the 8am opening and headed straight to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters!



I beat Rob!



Rob went to Fantasia Gardens (the smoking area) and I wandered around the castle to find Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Awww.



Then we headed over to the Plaza Inn to have (all you can eat) breakfast with Minnie and her friends. I had a traditional breakfast of eggs, bacon/sausage, and potatoes along with some Mickey waffles and a variety of fruit. Also available were biscuits and gravy, tons of pastries, a huge assortment of cereal, and other items I’m sure I’m forgetting. SO GOOD. Plus, we got to meet…



Captain Hook just walked right up to our table, grabbed our camera and started taking random pictures… like this self-portrait of himself. What a character.



Minnie dropped by…



… and Tigger too! We also met/saw Eeyore, Max, White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Alice and Rafiki. Definitely lots of fun.

When we finished up with breakfast, it was HOT HOT HOT. The weather had been pretty chilly the days prior and then the day we go to DL, it got up to 96 degrees. CRAZY. Anyway, CA Adventure opened at 10am so we made a beeline over there to ride Toy Story Mania. We arrived shortly after opening and the line was already at a 30 min wait. We figured this was the best it would get so we wait in line… only for the ride to BREAK DOWN about 10 mins before we got to the front. We decided to wait it out but after awhile, we were all instructed to get out of line. ARGH. It wasn’t meant to be on this trip again.

We decided to get out of the heat and hang out at the Animation Academy. This ended up being an AWESOME decision because…



… I met Sorceror Mickey! I’m upset the picture quality is crap, though. I will meet him again! And take a better picture.

It was almost time for the Laker game so we went over to the ESPN Zone at Downtown Disney to watch the first game of the series and also to wait for my best friend Robyn to join us. YAYAYAY.



The Lakers were up by 20 points at half time so when Robyn arrived, we headed over to Animation Academy again since she’s never been there before (!!!). We drew Minnie and mine was terrible as usual (Rob’s holding mine on top).



We headed over to Toy Story Mania to see if it was open again and found that the wait was 60+ mins. INSANE. Instead, we went back over to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot to ride Tower of Terror. The three of us are at the bottom right of the picture. I’m in the middle scared out of my mind (the constant drops feel never-ending), Robyn has her hands at her face to hold on to her glasses, and Rob’s egging on my screaming.



Back at Disneyland, we go on Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters twice in a row. The second time I think we found a Hidden Mickey on one of the maps visible in line.



Robyn beat Rob! And Rob was not pleased. Hehehe.



And finally, for our last ride of the day, we hit It’s a Small World. I haven’t been on this ride in YEARS. They recently made some changes and sprinkled Disney characters throughout the ride. I saw Alice, Aladdin, Jasmine, Pinocchio, Nemo, Ariel, Flounder, Woody, Jesse, Lilo, and Stitch. SO CUTE.

That’s it! We’ll have to schedule another trip before the summer heat sets in for good… YAY.

april tv update

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I am so happy I have a 3-day weekend. Yesterday was exhausting. I had to go up to LA for work stuff… since I still don’t drive (I can hear your sighing, Jason :P ), I convinced my best friend Carmen to let me stay with her the night before. She dropped me off in Westwood Thursday morning (armed with a yummers chocolate croissant from Breadbar) where I had to visit my local IT support to have my work laptop updated. I love working from home but not having on-site support is the biggest pain. A few hours later, I took a cab over to Hollywood for lunch with a vendor at Katsuya. YUMMY. I’ve only heard of it from The Hills (hehehe) so I didn’t quite know what to expect but I really, really enjoyed it. Big thumbs up to the spicy tuna over crispy rice, the rock shrimp tempura, and some yellowtail dish I can’t remember the name of. After lunch, they showed me the new W Hotel & Residences construction at Hollywood and Vine — I even got to see a model floor plan! It had the most amazing kitchen with granite countertops and rich chocolate brown cabinetry. And the walk-in closet? TO DIE FOR. Too bad I don’t have a few million dollars laying around. HEH. Finally I hopped on a Metrolink train and headed back to good old Orange County. And so ended my adventure in the city. :D

So I realized that I haven’t been blogging about TV much lately. HORROR. Mostly because nothing’s happened that’s been overwhelmingly awesome or shocking… in other words, I kinda feel like TV this season has been… well, boring. But since we’re heading into the last month or so of TV, I figured it’s time for a quick TV RUNDOWN (possible spoilers, maybe)! GO!

Monday
Chuck
LOVE this show. The ONLY thing I would change is to have LESS of the Nerd Herd crew. I get so annoyed with them and their antics. Grr. Argh. Monday night’s episode was so awesome because there was very little Nerd Herd and lots of storyline payoff! Chuck’s dad. Orion. Intersect 2.0. This show better get renewed. OR ELSE.

Gossip Girl
Too much partner swapping (Blair/Nate and Dan/Serena again?!) and lame storylines that only last 2 episodes (Elle, Rachel, etc). But for whatever reason, I still adore B & S and the rest of the GG crew.

One Tree Hill
Stopped watching. Will catch up on DVD. Too many Monday shows.

Heroes
Ehhh… still watching but only because Rob does. I don’t really know what’s going on with the storyline because there is waaaayyyy too much Claire (ALL THE TIME) and she gets exponentially more annoying each episode. She was my favorite character in season 1 and she is seriously killing the show for me. F.

24
This season is awesome. There’s a good amount of action/suspense (where are the canisters? air strike or no?!?) and kerrrazy happenings (anything that Hodges does, Olivia’s whole storyline). I’m even coming around on Renee. I like her more and more each episode. They better leave Tony alone, though. I have reached my death quota with Buchanan (I’m still in mourning). Oh, and I guess we’ve discovered how Kim is going to return this season. We’ll see how that goes.

CSI Miami
I’m not really invested in this show (mostly watch when I remember it’s on) but I gotta say YAY to Delko and Calleigh. Awww. I’m a total shipper at heart.

Tuesday
Fringe
Tuned in for Josh Jackson but stayed because the storylines are building and getting very, very interesting. There’s just a tad too much squickiness but I can deal. Anxiously waiting to watch the new episode this week!

90210
Honestly, there’s not much else on Tuesdays so I continue to watch. Annie still bugs (ok ok, the character’s not so bad, it’s all Shenae Grimes and her acting), Naomi is ehhh (much preferred Ozzy to Liam), and Emily Valentine (oh I’m sorry, SILVER) scares me. Adrianna and Navid are totally saving the show for me though. More of them, please!

Reaper
Stopped watching. I think the strike last season really did a disservice to this show. Rob and I tuned in until it went on its loooooong hiatus. I think it came back for a few episodes to finish off its first season but by that time we had forgotten all about it. On top of that, the CW doesn’t really market it very well. I would never have known it was returning midseason if I didn’t read about on ew.com.

Wednesday
Lost
I’m not sure if I really understand what the heck is going on or what year each of the characters are in at the moment but who cares?! This show keeps me engaged and always guessing.

Can you believe Lost is the only show I watch on Wednesdays? Wowzers.

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eclipse + breaking dawn

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First things first — have to congratulate my friends Leah and Ricardo! They welcomed their baby girl to the world on Sunday. It’s like baby season! Aww.

Second. I’m finally caught up with Gossip Girl. WTF is up with all the partner-swapping?!? GRRR.

Third. Another WTF to tonight’s episode of 90210. Silver is a whole new brand of kerrrazy.

Fourth. I just LOVE the tagline for the new Fast and Furious movie. NEW MODEL. ORIGINAL PARTS. Hehe, that is awesome.

Now. I started this part of the entry waaaaayyyyy back in November and never finished it. Oopsie. I had already written half of it so I figure better late than never.

So I finally finished the last 2 books in the Twilight series. Some thoughts (possible spoilers)…
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watchmen

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WHAT DID YOU DO 24?!? Tonight’s episode made me so sad. :(

I’m a huge fan of Dwayne Johnson (formerly known as The Rock) and I found this clip of his recent Saturday Night Live opening monologue. Gotta love a cute guy who can sing and dance. :D



Anyway, I went to see Watchmen on Saturday and enjoyed it!



I haven’t read the graphic novel (though now I want to) so the movie seemed unnecessarily violent at times (a certain jail scene comes to mind) and there were one too many shots of Dr. Manhattan (I know you know what I mean *wink wink*) but the plot and themes worked and resonated with me.

By far, my favorite part was the credits. I loved that in just a few short minutes (and complete with Bob Dylan), the credits told the story about 2 sets of “watchmen” with such amazing detail and visual interest. Relive the credits here (hopefully Warner Bros won’t have this video taken down)!



I thought all the lead actors were great, particularly Patrick Wilson (I fell in love with Nite Owl), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian), and Jackie Earle Haley (Rorshach). I wanted to love her but unfortunately, Malin Ackerman as Silk Spectre II was definitely the weakest of the leads.

I just read that the movie only grossed $55 million this weekend. Is it just me or isn’t that a really low figure? Maybe cause it’s rated R? I would have guess-timated it to make at least $75 million. Huh. Warner Bros must be really disappointed right now.

my own personal meme

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So it’s a good thing I got a new computer when I did because I tried to boot up my old laptop this past Monday and I got the Windows blue screen of DEATH. Rob tried to resuscitate the poor thing but it was too late. :( Luckily I had already saved all my music and important files to my external hard drive so I only lost a few miscellaneous things. Phew. That was a close one.

OMG OMG OMG! Everwood: Season 2 is finally coming out on DVD. I’m so pre-ordering it right now.

Now a meme…
Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given.

Sarah gave me the following:

1. Gossip Girl



My favorite show of the moment (though sadly I’m a few episodes behind). I’m addicted to teen dramas and GG fits the bill perfectly. What’s not to love about gorgeous Upper East Siders, their relationship dramas and overly extravagant lifestyles? Nothing, I tell you. Blair is my favorite character by far. Her insecurities (about Serena, her mom, boys, etc) make her self-obsessed, stubborn and sometimes cruel but I find her to be a fiercely loyal and incredibly compelling and flawed character. Not to mention that she’s got great style! I became (and still am) obsessed with headbands and colored tights because of her. No, I’m not kidding.

As far as my shipping preferences on this show, I’m pretty traditional. I ADORE Blair and Chuck (they are smoking together). And I also like Dan and Serena. I don’t know why either. I like Serena well enough as an individual character but I have to admit that Dan kinda sucks. But for some reason, I find them really sweet together.

Anyway, I’m so happy this show was renewed for next season — I just need to get cracking and get caught up.

2. Teen Dramas



Ah, yes. Sarah knows me well. Teen dramas are my favorite kind of TV show. I love them. I’m drawn to them. I can’t help it. It all started back when 90210 premiered. I was only 11 so I wasn’t supposed to watch it since it wasn’t exactly age-appropriate but I did anyway. I loved the West Beverly crew and I had a huge crush on Brandon. I remember buying BOP magazine each month because they used to have so many “posters” of Jason Priestley. Hee.

Then in high school when the WB launched, it was like they created a network for ME! The WB gave me Buffy, Dawson’s Creek (my most favorite show ever, if you don’t know), Felicity, Roswell, One Tree Hill and Gilmore Girls to name a few. Sure, I watch and enjoy procedurals and dramas like CSI, 24, and Prison Break but I’m not as invested in (and as obsessed with) the storylines and characters as I am with my teen dramas. There’s just something about them.

3. Diesel



My little baby puppy. Ok, I have to admit that when Rob originally wanted to get a dog, I didn’t want to get one. I didn’t want the responsibility. But Rob had his heart set on it so I agreed. He found Diesel through a registered AKC breeder and we went to visit him one weekend in May 07 and my heart just melted. I love him so much.

4. Pacey/Joey



My OTP forever and ever. (One True Pairing :D ) I don’t know if I’ll ever love another TV couple as much as I love Pacey and Joey. Their journey took me by surprise and I loved watching every minute of it — their sarcastic banter (all of season 1), their genuine friendship (dance lessons, driving lessons, the B&B), and finally their romance (“I remember everything” dance, Pacey buying Joey a wall, sailing away on True Love). Even now, 6 years after Dawson’s Creek has gone off the air, I still pop in my DVDs to watch my favorite moments or visit Pages of True Love to get my fanfic fix. I don’t think I’ll ever change.

5. California



I’ve lived in beautiful California my entire life. I was born and raised in sunny Southern CA (in a sleepy town called Cerritos, to be exact). I moved up to the Bay Area for college where I ended up staying for 11+ years. And now I’m back in Orange County (no, my life is nothing like The OC). I feel very lucky to have experienced different parts of the state and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

That was fun!