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Is It Worth It?

May 10

Posted by Kevin Murphy in TV | No Comments

So Amber won Survivor All-Stars last night. The biggest surprise is that she was even an All-Star since she was just Jerry’s shadow on Survivor Australia and had no detectable personality. I have to say that the last seven weeks or so the Murphy Family tuned into the show, and then sat in stunned un-silence as once again neither Rob nor Amber were voted off. These were All-Stars? They were more like the zombies in the first season who didn’t seem to realize they were playing a game.

Usually I enjoy the interview show after the winner was announced, but this year it wasn’t as good. First, the audience was a pain in the neck – this is live TV people and we only have an hour, so shut-up! Second, the whole “my feelings were hurt” story line – gosh, somebody lied to my face, can you believe it? And that makes me agree with Shi Ann, something I don’t want to do. What I disliked about Rob is (1) that he was a lousy player and should have been bounced a long time ago and (2) he was such a smug, arrogant SOB on TV. Third, Richard Hatch loves the limelight too much, and generally the less of Richard the better.

I hate to say it, but Susan didn’t seem that much different, if only because everybody (the women especially) looks so much different than when starving on a beach in the middle of nowhere (heck, Jenna the single mom was unrecognizable with make up on). What is it with Ethan not wanting anyone to know he’s dating Jenna the swimsuit/Playboy model? 

I hope they don’t do another Survivor All-Stars again. I’d rather see a show of those voted out at the first few tribal councils – Survivor Second Chance or Survivor We Hardly Knew You.

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Get On You Feet

Apr 28

Posted by Kevin Murphy in Culture, TV | No Comments

I admit it – I thought to myself what Elton John said aloud. My wife and I happened to catch the end of American Idol last week and we were shocked not just that Jennifer Hudson was voted off, but that La Toya London and Fantasia Barrino were in the bottom three with her. IMHO those three plus George Huff are the the best in the bunch – and they all happen to be black.

But I think a more likely explanation than racism is that the three women are similar enough they canabalize each others votes. This whitebread couple in the ‘burbs has voted consistently for La Toya and are hoping she wins; but we stopped watching the show a couple of weeks ago so we didn’t vote for anyone last week (or this week).

UPDATE: The kid who impersonates Frank Sinatra was voted off last night, and neither Fantasia or La Toya were in the bottom 3. (I didn’t watch – a little birdie told me after my son and I got back from his baseball game, which his team won BTW). So maybe the contest is back on track, although lets face it — the five who are left are all very good. And John Stevens would have been the winner 50 years ago when his music was still in style.

TV Nation

Apr 16

Posted by Kevin Murphy in TV | No Comments

I don’t know if our habits are normal, but we don’t watch much network TV in the Murphy Family. The Fruit of the Murphy Loins tend to stick with the kid channels – Nickelodeon, Disney, and Cartoon Network being their Big Three. The Fearless Leaders watch a lot of Style, TLC, and HGTV. Over time our shows have varied – we watch a lot less Room by Room or Design on a Dime and a lot more House Hunters and Devine Design. We’d watch more Dreamhouse if it could keep to a regular schedule. The only normal show we watch on any station is Monk, and it isn’t that normal — including the shortest season ever. (I don’t consider what, four shows, a real season, but what choice do I have?)

The only network shows we make it a point to see are Survivor and American Idol. Yeah, I know, how trendy of us. But other than that you have a slew of unfunny comedies (outside of King of Queens) and the dramas seem to be part of either the Law and Order franchise or the CSI franchise, and quite frankly, I’m sick and tired of doctor and lawyer shows. And neither my wife or I are all that happy with Survivor All Stars or American Idol 3.

The competition in American Idol 3 is between Fantasia and LaToya. I don’t think anyone else is in the running, but it will be months of too long shows before we find out. And I’m still miffed that Scooter Girl didn’t make the cut, that the blonde cheerleader didn’t make the cut, and that Amy Adams got voted out so early. I’m having trouble with the cruelty as well – no not Simon – but the whole finding out you lost live on national TV – I thought it was especially bad on the wild card show when so many had to leave. Speaking of Simon, he’s trying too hard with those analogies and too often they just don’t make sense. I can’t abide most of the celebrity judges: Quentin Tarrantino was just annoying. I don’t know how much longer we’ll be watching.

Survivor is an odd show, and All Stars is even odder. What I enjoy about Survivor is the study of human nature it provides. What the players don’t seem to appreciate is that it is the triumph of the mediocre (and lucky). The first half, the teams vote out the weak sisters (like Sonja) or the too annoying (like hole man Peter). The second half, the stronger are voted out by the weaker, and then the winner is the one who pissed off the fewest of the jury. How else do you account for winners like Tina, Vecepia, or Sondra? The classiest winner was Ethan, and the strongest winner was Brian, whose people manipulation skills are unrivaled on the show. Compare him to Rob C or Johny Fairplay – not only was he far better at challenges, he ran the game so smoothly that people trusted him even after they were voted off — and he still barely beat Clay, one of the more annoying Survivor players. I think he is a sociopath, but he was a great player.

That brings us to Survivor All Stars – where a lot of the players know each other already. So the prior winners were dispatched first. Players were quitting left and right. And then Lex was too smart by half and started playing the end game before the opening game was over – eliminating stronger rivals during the team play which just killed his team. When his team didn’t vote out Amber when it had the chance I made my displeasure known quite forcefully (and the rest of the family let me know about their displeasure). So I wasn’t too surprised when he got the ax. The thing is, even when Lex played like an idiot, I still liked the guy. But I can’t stand Boston Rob. And by the looks of things, the next few weeks of Survivor will be featuring his smirk quite prominently. We may miss a few weeks.

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American Commercial With Extra Padding

Mar 25

Posted by Kevin Murphy in TV | 1 Comment

I’m sure we’re not the only ones to figure this out, but the only way to watch the monstrous bloat that is American Idol is to tape it (or Tivo it (or to Tivo-like-service it)) and watch the parts you like, i.e. the singing and judges remarks, while fast forwarding through the rest. I’d be happy to see quite a few of the contestants win this time, although Red is my sentimental favorite. Not that I watch the show or anything.

A Simple Life

Nov 19

Posted by Kevin Murphy in TV | 2 Comments

Reality TV started with people trying to get rich – at least on Network TV. Now the trend is portraying rich people – as long as they’re young and beautiful (and stupid). Hey, that standard isn’t much different than the rest of TV. Paris Hilton (in video that can be shown on network TV) and Nicole Richie get to spend some time down on the farm in Arkansas while we get to yuk it up at their expense (and if we stay tuned to ogle, Fox won’t mind a bit). MTV will showcase their poor little (yet somehow gorgeous) rich girls on the creatively titled “Rich Girls”, while HBO will add boys to the mix in their “documentary”, Born Rich. So if you’re rich, beautiful, and stupid you can get your own TV show. If you’re just stupid, you’ll have to settle for a brief “Jaywalking” bit with Leno.

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Trading Spaces Omnibus

Oct 9

Posted by Kevin Murphy in TV | 6 Comments

Trading Spaces is so successful, it has spawned not only countless imitators but its own spin off, Trading Spaces Family, a bunch of books (yes, I’ve read Trading Spaces Behind the Scenes and enjoyed it), and various special versions (like last years live reveal and this years $100,000 episode).

So first up, let me say I do like Trading Spaces Family. I don’t know if it’s just chance, but it seems to be the only place you can see Vern anymore. My wife and I are very tempted to apply, as the whole Murphy Family likes the show, but fear of Hildi and Rick keep us back. Having the kids on and involved gives the show a nice touch, and it tends to be more laid back than the regular version. I think Carter Oosterhouse’s breezy affability works well on the show, especially with the kids (let’s face it, Ty would scare them), and while he’s a hunk, he’s an approachable one – the klutziness helps. I’m not wild about Joe Farrell, but he too brings the right level of laid back to the show. I did enjoy the episode where Paige dropped in because the young girl idolized her. I also enjoyed the show where Paige showed up in workout attire – she’s got better abs than Ty!

I’ve come to like Christi Proctor – great personality, generally good designs. I wasn’t wild about putting butcher paper on the wall on an early episode, but I loved putting the cowboy silhouettes with it (even though the HO hated it).

I’ve come to hate (along with most fans) Rick Rifle – and I’ll note that he isn’t listed in the crew section with the other designers on the TLC site. Despite Hildi’s awful designs, she has a certain elegance and style, wheras Rick is just as unpleasant personally as his designs are aesthetically.

OK, I know that Doug and Hildi aren’t secretely married – she’s hitched to some French count or something. Perhaps Dougs hesitant kissing (as I discussed earlier) wasn’t due to his orientation but due to his fear of ending up stuffed and mounted over some mantle in the Loire Valley. He did flirt shamelessly with a couple of gals in the first episode of season 4, and once again got an onscreen kiss but this time without looking like he was kissing a dead fish.

I, along with America, was disappointed in the “they hated it” specials as I thought I going to see mostly new stuff with some flashback, and instead got the old episode with a trifle tacked on to the end. The only good part was that I was in Las Vegas at the time and so I only had to watch the tape. Still, I have to admit I enjoy watching the crying lady reveal – perhaps because she and her husband were so honest about it – sometimes I swear the people are being polite when they say they like it.

The 100 grand episode was pretty cool – much more of the behind the scenes stuff, and it only felt slightly padded at 2 hours. Heck, the ads alone were worth it – no matter how many times I saw it, I still loved Ty’s expression at the end. I thought Doug did a great job on his, although I’m still not clear why the countertop had to be glacier white and still remain under budget; Laurie did her usual job (I think I’d have a heart attack if she did a purple or blue room without any green, yellow or orange anywhere) but you had to wonder where the 50 grand went. The room was crammed full of stuff, mostly ultra expensive furnature and draperies that don’t look any better than the cheap stuff on TV. It’s hard to spend 50 grand on a living room, especially when the electronics are thrown in for free by Sony. And they did spend money on hiring crews to do the work – when you gut a kitchen and put in a new floor, new cabinets etc. two people can’t do it in two days. I think Home Depot got their money’s worth in advertising, too. The premise of the 100 grand episode lacks appeal on a regular basis, so let’s hope they don’t do it more than once.

OK, one last thing. Is that Paige Davis’ real husband in the Enterprise Leasing ads? Enquiring minds want to know!

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High King Of Geekdom

Jun 27

Posted by Kevin Murphy in TV | No Comments

How’s this for embarrassing geekiness. Doug and Hildi from Trading Spaces were on an episode of Pyramid (hosted by Donny Osmond) the other day. My wife taped it, and I watched it. In its entirety. And I enjoyed it. And it made me wonder – why Doug and Hildi – are they really secretly married???

Oh Yeah, Trading Spaces has added a new carpenter, Carter Oosterhouse– even better looking than Ty (although we haven’t seen him without his shirt on), but he isn’t as comfortable on camera, nor does he have his own website yet. And they’re doing a new version: Trading Spaces Family. Just what I need – another way to waste time.

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Clay or Reuben?

May 21

Posted by Kevin Murphy in TV | No Comments

While I spent most of the evening playing ball with The Fruit Of The Murphy LoinsTM last night, we did come in to watch part of American Idol. So now its come down to Clay and Reuben. Neither of them is my cup of tea (my favorite, Vanessa, is long gone), but they both are great singers. My wife tried to vote for Clay — she thinks Reuben just sings the same song all the time — but couldn’t get through for three hours. Welcome to American, the land of instant celebrity. It isn’t about being the best singer in America, just the best known.

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A Shameful Moment Of Weakness

Feb 19

Posted by Kevin Murphy in TV | No Comments

I have a terrible confession to make. Last night not only did I watch part of American Idol, I actually dialed the phone and voted for Vanessa. Why did I do such a terrible thing? Well, she actually sang the notes of her song, and didn’t warble all over the place, and when Simon told her that, as a compliment, she should lose a few pounds, her reaction was priceless. While she waggled her butt in the faces of America (and the judges) she told us how she had a booty like J Lo. I’ve seen J Lo’s booty, and Vanessa, yours is nothing like it. But you got style, and that’s better than J Lo’s booty, or J Lo’s body. When you sat on the couch with Ryan and recounted the experience by flashing two thumbs up, giving a big smile, and saying “you’re fat!” I knew I had to vote for you.

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American Idol

Jan 29

Posted by Kevin Murphy in TV | No Comments

I didn’t watch the show the first time, and I doubt I’ll watch it much this time. Since I happen to live in America, I heard plenty about it the first time. And I have managed to catch a few of the open audition episodes this time around. Frankly, I don’t see the attraction. You have people with a wide range of talent, from good to really, really awful (people who’s singing is worse than mine, and that’s saying a lot) and then three judges react. I don’t know what the big deal is about Simon Cowell, he’s not just being honest, he’s trying to do these people a favor. Some of the contestants honestly don’t seem to realize just what terrible singers they are – a candy coated rejection will keep them hanging on to their misperception. Much better to give them an honest appraisal, and be brutal to those who think they can sing when they can’t. I wouldn’t have thought that until I saw people who, after demonstrating their clear inability to carry a tune in a bucket, want to argue that they are talented singers. You need a two by four to get the attention of a mule; you need brutality to get the attention of the self-delusional.

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