iVillage - TV Cocktail

Get Ready to Dance Your Ass Off!

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:20:41 -0500

-Photo Courtesy of Oxygen-
Oxygen has come out with a totally new take on the reality dance competition genre, with the launch of Dance Your Ass Off, premiering Monday, June 29 at 10 pm.

Twelve finalists -- weighing in at a combined total of nearly 3,000 pounds -- compete to lose the most weight as they, put nicely, dance their tushes off.

Each contestant is paired with a professional dancer who will teach them weekly routines, ranging from ballroom to hip hop to pole dancing! Their final score will be a combination of the points they received from their dance and their weight loss for that week.

Dance Your Ass Off is hosted by Tony Award-winning actress, Marissa Jaret Winokur. Check out the rest of the cast, and see if you can determine who will win!

I think it'll be fascinating to watch the contestants' bodies change as the weeks go on. How much weight do you think they'll lose from start to finish?

-- Jacki Garfinkel

The Real Housewives of New Jersey: Director's Cut

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:42:16 -0500

If you watched the director's cut of The Real Housewives of New Jersey's finale episode last night, you're probably thinking the same thing I am... "How the heck did I just re-watch an episode of a show that I just watched Tuesday night, and still love it oh so much?"

At first I didn't know what to think about this "lost footage" episode, since I hadn't seen Bravo do anything like it before. After a few minutes of watching though, I decided that what Bravo had done was genius -- they broke down that dinner footage like it was a crime scene, showing each person's (originally unseen) reactions to all sorts of moments.

My favorite was seeing each person's facial expressions when housewife Danielle Staub first brought out "the book." Caroline Manzo's son kicked his aunt Dina Manzo under the table, Teresa Giudice looked at it in total disbelief and Danielle's crazy eyes penetrated Jacqueline Laurita (Seriously, if you didn't notice it, fast forward to 00:49 in the video above. You won't miss it.).

So, what did you think of last night's extended version of the finale? And, more importantly, after seeing all the bits and pieces now, are you on Team Danielle, Team Teresa, Dina and
Caroline or Team Jacqueline (aka Team Staying Neutral)?

-- Jacki Garfinkel

Army Wives Returns This Sunday

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:21:25 -0500

If you like getting sucked into good soapy dramas, then you're in luck -- the critically acclaimed Army Wives returns to Lifetime for its third season Sunday night at 10 pm.

For all you hardcore fans out there, we've heard that this third season is going to echo much of what viewers loved about season one -- secrets, lies, affairs, friendships and all of the other melodrama that makes this show such a success.

If you're checking out Army Wives for the first time, here's the scoop: The show follows a group of friends -- Claudia Joy, Roxy, Pamela, Roland and Denise -- who are all living with spouses and family members on an active army post in South Carolina.

Season three will start off with the group supporting Claudia Joy (Kim Delaney) after her daughter disappears the night before the family is supposed to transfer overseas. Roland (Sterling K. Brown), who's a new dad, is trying to deal with the news of finding out that his wife Joan (Wendy Davis) is being deployed to Iraq. Denise (Catherine Bell) is devastated as she becomes the talk of the army post when her affair is exposed. Roxy (Sally Pressman) struggles with her business and Pamela (Brigid Brannagh) does her best to be both a good mom and dad to her kids, while her husband's away on deployment.

Plus: Check out the rest of the Top 10 TV Shows of Summer.

--Jacki Garfinkel

Relationship Problems? Let Them Get You on TV!

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:36:45 -0500

This might be the best news I've heard all day - typical relationship issues (like your man leaving the toilet seat up) could now get you on TV!

Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen Rakieten (The Oprah Winfrey Show) and the producers of Supernanny have partnered to create a new show called Marriage Ref. Celebrities, comedians and sports stars will play referee to couples' relationship problems and decide who's right and who's wrong.

Think you need these judges in your life? Here's what the casting team is looking for:

- Are you part of a long-term couple who has a longstanding relationship problem that needs to be resolved?
- Is there an object, a person, or a habit (e.g. computer, pet, a friend, the remote control) that is a third wheel in your relationship and causes a problem?
- Does your partner have an annoying obnoxious habit or item that causes fights?
- Does your partner do things like withhold sex after a fight?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, check out the NBC Casting page for upcoming details on all of the open casting calls for Marriage Ref.

The next open casting call is June 4 from 4pm-8pm in Irvine, CA. Get all the details here.

And if you want to dish on your relationship problems, head to our message boards to chat about your stories.

--Jacki Garfinkel

The Real Gossip Girl: Bravo's NYC Prep

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:57:44 -0500

Last night I went to see a screening of Bravo's new reality show, NYC Prep, and let me just tell you -- my jaw is still on the ground.

The show centers on six kids who are pretty much carbon copies of the characters on Gossip Girl, except that there's one big difference -- these kids are real.

And that's the scary part. These "key players in Manhattan's elite high school scene" have endless supplies of money, go clubbing (even though they're under 21), take car services everywhere, go out for $500 dinners, shop.... the list goes on. Oh, and you know that economic recession we're all feeling? It hasn't even touched them.

If you think Chuck and Blair are bad on Gossip Girl, then you'll be shocked by NYC Prep. Kelli, who's only 16, lives on the Upper East side of New York City in a gorgeous apartment with her brother. Her parents live in the Hamptons. They try to ground her, but it doesn't exactly work considering they don't even live in the same house. Sebastian likes to hook up with between 2 and 16 girls a month. P.C. isn't worried about getting rejected from college, because if it happens, phone calls will be made to make sure he's accepted. Taylor goes to public school but does whatever she can to keep her popular status with her prep school friends. Jessie has her group of friends and doesn't feel the need to make new ones -- especially if they're other girls. And then there's Camille who tags along on other people's dates and wants to get a perfect score on the SATs.

The castmembers don't watch Gossip Girl -- they think it's way too big of an exaggeration of their lives. They're wrong -- it's a perfect depiction of their lives (again, scary). Watch the show and you'll agree. And that's the thing, as sad/scary/shocking as NYC Prep is, I'll watch it for the same reason I watch all of the Real Housewives shows -- it's entertaining.

NYC Prep premieres on Bravo on June 23 at 10 pm.

--Jacki Garfinkel

The Hills - Nice Day for a Trite Wedding

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:30:19 -0500

Previously: After five seasons, the girls finally lived out their latent Sex and the City fantasy. Audrina was totally Samantha. That whore. Heidi was Susan Sharon, with her abusive Svengali husband Spencer being a demon hybrid of Stanford and Anthony. Somehow Lauren got over the sex tape rumors and "beef curtains" chants to forgive Heidi...ish. Along the way, there were single black eyeliner tears, "jobs," and lots of house parties, with one last féte to come...

Double L Ranch. Lauren is packing up-slash-procrastinating. Lo suggests one last house party, and they reminisce about their first-ever house party. Here's what Audrina's friends brought to the mix: nudie men, mohawks and lucite heels. In short, a classy bunch. Lo barrels over those evocative images like someone who has disconnected her emotions from the scars once connected to them, then continues with this ploy to gather all the gang together for one last drama festival. Suck it out of them, producers, suck it out of them! Lo asks Lauren what's next. Lauren claims she doesn't know. Her Twitter begs to differ. Credits.

The music folks continue to curry my favor by including nearly every possible song from the Kelly Clarkson album. We join the action at the Speidi Web as Heidi tells Steph she wants "the most extravagant wedding ever!" Oh, Jesus, she wants swans. Steph is down with the ornate notions until Heidi says she wants a white chocolate mousse truffle cake with vanilla and berries. This is too much information, and I think I actually see smoke rising from StephBot's weave. It only worsens when she asks the leading question: "Who's your Maid of Honor?" Newsflash, ShePratt: If she hasn't asked, it ain't you. ShePratt actually starts semi-crying when Heidi picks her own sister(!) to be her Maid of Honor. Are you kidding me?

Continue reading this entry on Television Without Pity.

October Road: Find Out Who Sam's Father Is

Thu, 28 May 2009 14:46:18 -0500

Calling all October Road fans (I know you're out there!) -- the show's biggest mystery will be revealed... if you buy the DVD.

Here's the deal - as most Road lovers know, the show was canceled way before its due, which meant that the producers didn't have time to answer all our questions before its untimely demise.

The main thing we wanted to know -- who is Sam's father? Is it Eddie? Nick? Or even Gavin Goddard?

Well, before releasing the second -- and final -- season of October Road, the cast and crew got together to film "Road's End: The Final Chapter," which wraps up the story lines of the major characters and finally reveals who Sam's father is. While I won't tell you which character it is, I'll say this - I feel like I can finally breathe again now that I know!

In addition to answering that $10 million question, the DVD also features some really funny bloopers, a behind-the-scenes tour of the show, and of course, all the season two episodes.

So, if you love October Road as much as I do, be sure to pick up the DVD - it's on sale now!

The Oprah Effect

Wed, 27 May 2009 10:13:57 -0500

-Photo by Getty Images-

We all know that everything Oprah Winfrey touches turns to gold. Whether Oprah adds a book to her book club, likes a new product or talks about a company, the results are consistently huge. Personally, nine times out of ten when Oprah mentions something, I check it out. The woman just has that, well, effect.

Now, CNBC is taking a closer look at this so-called "Oprah Effect" in a special documentary airing on May 28 at 9 pm. It'll not only put Oprah under the microscope, but the business that have been effected since appearing on Oprah as well. Check out what happened to Lisa Price, author of "Success Never Smelled So Sweet," after she promoted her book on Oprah:

Don't you just wish that could happen to all of us? Well, if it is a goal of yours to appear on Oprah one day with something to pitch, you should definitely watch CNBC's The Oprah Effect for tips like these:

Plus: Has Oprah ever affected your purchasing decisions?

—Jacki Garfinkel

American Idol - Me You & The Flossy Flossy We Both Already Knew

Thu, 21 May 2009 10:12:34 -0500

I'm coming to you a few hours late because I was just at the most awesome show, Yellowfever opening up for Ponytail. I can't believe I didn't know about the first band before tonight, they are crazy good. Check them out. Anyway, let's do this bitch. It's the finale. I won't see you again, won't see Ryan again or Simon, for a very long time. That makes me almost unbelievably sad. It's like you, then Ryan, then Simon, then Kara by a hair, then people. That song, that stage, the whole predictable thing. Famous people in the audience for no reason. Those people looking at Janice Dickinson and wondering why she's there.

What the eff are we going to do with each other for two hours? I am talking 100 million votes, 624 mill total, but like that matters. I can't imagine what the hell is going to happen in this episode. Randy's wearing a bowtie, that should take approx ten. And it does! I could be writing the Gossip Girl finale recap, which was actually awesome, in between the parts of this where Randy tries not at all to make me love him. Kara's montage is her telling people honestly and realistically that we live in the real world: remember when she was Simon, but a hot chick? And we respected her so much? I still do. But I get it.

Continue reading this entry on Television Without Pity.

American Idol - Whoa! Boundaries!

Wed, 20 May 2009 10:17:20 -0500

They have these cool things of Adam and Kris that they filmed at their auditions last summer, standing in the blue boxes and saying meaningless things -- "I'm one of a billion or whatever," "I have these dreams and whatever" -- and it's cool because forethought is always cool, but how crazy is it to think of the thousands of those hopeful little clips in a box somewhere, down to just these two? Which I guess is the point, but man.

I'm really curious about how they're going to position this. Last year was easy, because they were both Davids and they actually were very different, but this week they just seem like a couple of affable, talented dudes. In the opening Adam's all lit with devilish red light and Kris with heavenly blue, but I don't think it's going to go that way. I think the election and the last horrible eight years are still too much with us, so it's natural to think it's going to be about normal vs. not normal anymore. That whole Red State/Blue State thing seems really obsolete at this point. The only people still yelling about it are the stupider conservatives who think you can actually describe a person in those terms, but I don't mind them, because they've been buying that one for so long it would be impossible to explain at this point.

Continue reading this entry on Television Without Pity.

90210 - This Is Your Brain on Prom

Wed, 20 May 2009 09:29:22 -0500

OMG, y'all. Post-prom shenanigans! It's like the writers suddenly realized they had 46 minutes left and thought, "Oh yeah, we have jobs. Work now?" Everything you could ever imagine happening? It happens -- and a windfall of other insane plot developments to boot. Making out? Boot camp? Hit and run? Now this is what I signed up for...

The primary action takes place at Naomi's after-prom party -- the one that she's barely attends because she's labor coaching AAdrianna. Sister Grifter amps up the bitch factor by about 300%, using information Liam told Naomi privately (and, thus, Naomi told her most trusted SG) to stick it to Naomi for... what again? Paying for their entire house? And all the stuff in it? And her couture prom dress? And eventually her Parisian divorce? Or perhaps just having a backbone for five seconds and deciding to use the aforementioned house she paid for to have a party. Naomi arrives in the third act, just in time to find Liam zipping up his pants post-coitus with SG, who's conveniently not in the random. While Naomi is assuming like there's no tomorrow, SG unravels her entire plan to "take [Naomi] down a peg." By fucking her boyfriend? What did Naomi do when she was with Ethan? Three strikes and this hag is out. And I have a feeling there are many secrets still buried in that there festering cooter. Yes, the same one that Naomi ends her episode crying into. Ew.

Continue reading this entry on Television Without Pity.

The Hills - Daddy Whore Schmucks

Tue, 19 May 2009 10:42:11 -0500

Previously: ShePratt sucks at life, but, more specifically, at work. And Lauren is going to have to fall on the sword because of it. The producers perpetuated the farce of Audrina-Justin Bobby. Two. Years. Later. Speidi carried on their shenanigans as usual, with visits from various characters in the parade of insanity that is their "life." Oh! And here comes a new one...

Speidi Web. Heidi warns Spencer that her real dad is coming to town. And he's bringing his guns. Hope they're loaded! She further warns him that biodad is less than pleased about that whole Mexican wedding fiasco. As a tried-and-true Colorado cowboy, he insists that all Heidi's suitors mosey around the spittoon with him and demonstrate their bison-killin' skills before he can rightly approve. Spencer asks for some pointers, and Heidi tells him to be nice. Oh dear, if that's the first and only thing you think of, you've already got problems. She adds that Spencer has never met a dad like hers, then quickly flees the scene, saying, "Just... think about that." Spencer snarks that he can't wait to meet Heidi's dad. Credits.

Continue reading this entry on Television Without Pity.

Dancing With The Stars - Down to the Wire

Tue, 19 May 2009 10:32:11 -0500

Does it make any sense to anyone else that tonight, when there are six dances to perform, the show is an hour long, and tomorrow night, when there are only three plus the announcement, the show is two hours long? I get the whole Bachelor premiere and stuff, but just philosophically, does that bug anyone else? Then again, I hear that all of this season's contestants are actually going to dance tomorrow night. It's sort of like the stupid Dance-Off idea -- hey, you know those people that I voted off the show? I'd really love to see them all dance again. Boo.

Tom explains that the couples have been dancing for ten weeks, but most of them were eliminated one-by-one, including Ty last week. And now, the three best dancers are left. Well. That's a matter of opinion. I happen to think it's true, but I think a case could be made for Lil Kim over one of the others. I'll leave it to you to decide which one. Tonight, the three remaining couples will dance side-by-side in a paso doble faceoff. Perhaps it will involve John Travolta and Nicholas Cage? That would be pretty awesome, actually. And then, Tom says that the most anticipated dance of the season is the freestyle. I tend to be pretty underwhelmed by the freestyle. I can't remember the last one I really loved, or loved more than any other dance the couple did that season. I don't think I ever have. Even the Cheryl/Drew cowboy one -- not my favorite. But whatever happens, it will be LIIIIIIIIIIIVE!

Continue reading this entry on Television Without Pity.

24 - Day 7: 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM

Tue, 19 May 2009 10:06:42 -0500

Despite nearly getting away from Tony -- and then almost immolating himself to destroy the pathogen inside him -- Kiefer gets recaptured. Finally, Tony explains to Kiefer what he's been up to all this time: he's just been trying to get at Alan Wilson, the guy behind the guy behind the guy, going all the way back to Season Five. Tony's next move is to wire Kiefer with explosives so he can blow Wilson up when he arrives. Except that thanks to the laptop Spawn rescued, the FBI swoops in on the meeting, and Walker frees and diffuses Kiefer. Wilson and the Faux-yer run to ground, but Tony catches up with them, kills the former, and confronts Wilson -- breaking the news that Michelle was pregnant at the time of her death. Unfortunately, he takes too long savoring the moment, and Walker and Kiefer catch up to them and stop Tony. In custody, Wilson denies everything, and Walker asks Kiefer for advice about making him talk, but all that happens is that after all these years of torturing people into talking, Kiefer tortures us by talking. While Kiefer's waiting out his last moments in the hospital, Imam Gohar comes to pray with him. Which seems to make him feel better.

Continue reading this entry on Television Without Pity.

24- Day 7: 6:00 AM - 7:00 AM

Tue, 19 May 2009 10:00:48 -0500

While Olivia's being questioned by the Deputy Attorney General via teleconference and the Faux-yer's operatives hang with Spawn at the airport, Kiefer hijacks the van carrying Tony to break him out. Tony's so grateful to Kiefer for this that he proposes to reconstitute the bioweapon from his corpse for The Group. Once Kiefer's been taken hostage, Spawn's friends at the airport keep hanging out with her for some reason, and when Walker calls down security on them, the husband starts shooting the place up to get away. Luckily, Spawn goes after him. He wrecks his car, but Spawn's able to rescue his laptop in hopes that the FBI can use it to trace Tony. Ethan Kanin shows back up at the White House and agrees to help Aaron access the digital recording system in the White House Chief of Staff's office, but ends up getting busted when Olivia figures out what's happening. Ethan is relieved of a data card, but since he pulled a switcheroo, the one Olivia takes and destroys is blank, and Ethan gets to hear Olivia talking murder with Martin.

Continue reading this entry on Television Without Pity.