Long, Hot Summer

So... this weekend's heat proved that summer is here, which normally means second-rate reality shows, or re-runs, re-runs and more re-runs. HOWEVER, this summer, it looks like we've got a good mix of programming running... here's what I've been watching so far...

Entourage
Its back and better than ever. We don't have to deal with annoying Mandy Moore. Ari is more Ari than ever, with Lloyd as the loyal sidekick. And the boys are... well the boys! This season (22 episodes!!!) we're dealing with Vince becoming a bigtime movie star, and how he and his buddies deal with it. He's over Mandy Moore, and apparently will have a different girl in every episode. Eric is still with Sloan, and they are going to have some bedroom adventures, apparently. Turtle will be dealing with his new role as Saigon's agent. And Drama will of course be dealing with his own career. Some other interesting things to keep an eye out for: another high school friend comes to Cali, but the established friends aren't too thrilled with the idea. Also, Ari will be facing off against a new *female* rival agent. This is going to be a great season... the only complaint so far, is that HBO has discretely cut air time, with the episodes only seeming to last about 22 minutes. But I'm not complaining, since this season is much longer than the previous 2.

Windfall
So the TV critics weren't too kind to this show, which basically follows the winner of a super mega jackpot. But I'm actually kind of having fun watching - its definitely soapy, and would never make it during the regular season, but its fun enough for summer. Like Reunion, great concept, but very mediocre acting. Some of the characters I just don't care about (i.e. the whole plot with the guy who asks the lawyer to cash in his ticket for him, because he's running from bad people/the law, and maybe he murdered somebody but maybe he was framed). But some plots are interesting, like the 17 year old who married the mail order bride in order to help her and help himself get the money. You don't need to watch all the episodes, so if you miss a few here and there, it could still be a guilty pleasure now and then!

Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Missed this one on FX last season, due to my obsession with Starved (who's cancellation I'm still angry about!) But they started playing a few episodes on Fox, to get ready for the new season (still on FX), and it actually is quite funny. The atmosphere is very "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (which never seems to be coming back). The plots are ridiculous, which makes it fun. If someone had told me this show was about "young twenty-somethings that own a bar together", I would definitely have said pass, but its funny, so I watch the upcoming new season.

So You Think You Can Dance
Aahhh.... the first show covered in our blog has come back for a second season. The first few "try-out" episodes were not much fun to watch, because they were too focused on the "judging" instead of the dancing. And the judges seemed extra mean this year. Then there were two semi-final Vegas episodes - I would say the same thing - we barely saw any actual dancing! Then finally, we had our first "real episode" and cut show last Wednesday and Thursday... I have the same sentiments as last year... I couldn't watch this show without TiVo... I tend to fast forward through everything except the actual dancing. I was upset at the couple who was cut, because this was the first time I actually thought a Paso Doble was executed well on the show, and I really think that Benji and his partner sucked - it was unbelieveable to me that their ridiculous 80's flashdance didn't make the bottom 3. Oh well - there's always this week.

Hell's Kitchen
I didn't watch this last year, but after watching Top Chef on Bravo, I thought that maybe I'd enjoy it, because I like cooking shows. Well - as T pointed out to me during one episodes - can any of these people even cook? It seems so far that they are cooking the same pre-prepared menu every night, and they are not really showing off their own cooking skills... its more like execution skills. I'll keep watching because its TiVoing, but its definitely not as good as other cooking competitions.


I think that's pretty much it... Project Runway will be returning in July I think, and I'm pretty excited about that. I've also been getting into Veronica Mars Season 1 on DVD... I've gotten through the first eight episodes, and its definitely a cute show. I'm not sure when they are releasing Season 2, but hopefully before the new season starts on the CW this fall... I'd like to add it to the regular rotation. Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 doesn't even have a release date yet, so I may have to order it on iTunes if it doesn't get put out before the Season 3 premier on Sci Fi in October.

Oh.. and just as I predicted, I've totally stopped playing or even caring about The Lost Experience game... I stopped playing about 2 weeks into it, but kept reading the web postings about what's going on... its seems complicated as hell, and I just don't have that kind of patience. I browse through the message boards every once in awhile to see if anything super-interesting has been revealed... and it hasn't really, so I figure no big loss.