Bitchy Review: GCB

As I'm sure you know by now, GCB debuted on ABC to moderately positive reviews. A commenter on a review post I read said "ABC needs to stop making Kristin Chenoweth 'happen'," referring to her frequent appearances on ABC programs and her former role on "Pushing Daisies," where she played the role of Olive Snook. I have to disagree with this person--Chenoweth did an amazing job of introducing us to Carlene Cockburn. <---Perhaps I am immature, but that last name, especially for such a 'pristine' person, just leaves me in stitches. Personally, I've always been a fan of Chenoweth's, probably at least in part because she's my height lol, and I've always held certain affection for fellow pint-size punchpackers such as myself. :P Other than that, I just think she's great. lol

Anywho, the debut was delightfully bitchy (to me, anyway). And as expected, both the Christian and womens' communities went up in arms immediately. "Oh, they're depicting all Christian communities badly!" "This isn't believable!" Maybe not in your neck of the woods (goodness I'm country lol) it isn't believable, but in mine it is, very much so. And I loved it.

Amanda's subtle 'welcome home' message 

The beginning of the show was really something and for you soap heads, I'm sure you recognized Amanda's husband Bill--it was no other than ex-Lucky himself, Greg Vaughan! In a Ponzi-scheme recreation, Bill takes all of the family's money and plans to ditch town with his mistress to flee the law, but thanks to an ill-timed fellatic (its a word now, alright?) 'relaxation tactic,' the car ends up going over a hill and crashing, killing them both. Because her life as she knows it is over, Amanda and her children have no choice to relocate, bringing her back to her roots and riot of a mother in Dallas, TX. It comes out that Amanda was quite the mean queen in school, but as I mentioned in the preview post, a complete reversal of riches has hit in which the girls Amanda used to terrorize are now the "in" crowd and let Amanda know in no uncertain terms, partially thanks to the oh-so-subtle marquee outside of the church that it is time she 'reaps what she sows.' Amanda grew up and changed her ways, but her former victims are having none of it and refuse to turn the other cheek. Quite predictably, the target Amanda harassed the most, Chenoweth's Carlene, is at the forefront of the clique, holds by far the most venom where Amanda is concerned and couldn't be less interested in making amends. She wastes no time ripping Amanda a new one--through a prayer, no less--all through a perfectly veneered smile and chirpy tone. The jealousy is still evident from all of them as the men, most of them husbands to the clique, flock yet again to Amanda, just as they did in school--however in a very Desperate Housewives manner, now there are secrets that Amanda begins to uncover about all of them and their marriages.

Through multiple machinations, she and her minions effectively blackball Amanda from most of the reputable employers in the town until finally she gets the greenlight at a local dive bar. Thanks to some retrospect, Amanda realizes the smutty work environment she is now involved in is owned by no other than Mrs. Carlene herself, and in an equally snarky prayer at the end of the episode, she gives a very effective clapback to Carlene and exposes this little tidbit, leaving the latter slackjawed and ready for war. The photo above (which I borrowed, just as all others in this post from sheknows.com, thank you!) is Carlene's expression for about the remaining 5 minutes in the episode. I can't wait for next week.

On a more critical note, one inconsistency I noticed was the coming and going of Leslie Bibb (Amanda)'s Texas accent during the debut. When she was shown in California, there was little to no hint of an accent. Within two minutes of being back home, however, the country was screaming to come out. Now you could use the reason that when you're hiding or have outgrown an accent it isn't noticeable until you're around others with the accent. For example, many foreign actors who have now set up shop in the States over time drop most of their accent, and others lose it entirely. Yet when they return home, bit by bit the accent returns, until they leave, and over time the accent diminishes again. Okay, I'll take that--I normally have a bit of a country lilt but when around others with accents similar to mine or watching something like GCB where the accents are front and center, my own comes out swinging. It's terrible. lol Did anyone else notice what I was talking about with Leslie Bibb, though?

Accent fluctuations aside, I think the casting for this show was great. Annie Potts does a damn good job of playing Gigi as the cougar-ish, snarky yet wise in her way mother/grandmother (although she does not appreciate the 'gma' term lol) to advise Amanda that times have changed, and she is no longer queen of the town. She plays well off of Leslie Bibb, and I hope that the pristine appearance Amanda has in comparison to her down-home mother is a part of the plot to display the differences between the two, Gigi remaining in Texas and Amanda becoming accustomed to the Cali way of doing things. And can I just say, I love Annie Potts. Always have, always will.

Carlene, before & after the doctor's work

Like I said before, casting Kristin Chenoweth in the Queen Bee role on this show was genius. She's a sweetheart in real life, but I think she's got bitchface too. lol I swear on my life that is a genuine compliment, because I love a good bitchface. And she really knows how to call it out. As the puppetmaster of her 3-ring circus of vengeful ladies, Carlene has to be obviously, the most ironically prude and judgmental, all the while not practicing what she preaches. I can't wait to see what she does next week to get Amanda back for blasting her in God's house. lol My only worry is the same as any character on a new show that I love instantly--that the show, or Carlene, doesn't get written into a corner. I want to see genuine evolution of these characters as the show continues, or I don't think it'll have much of a future for it because we've already watched 8 years of the ladies of Wisteria Lane battling each other in gradually increasing outlandish plots--replacement show or not, can we stomach any more? Can they think of something we didn't already watch Bree, Edie, Susan, Gabrielle or Lynette do years before?

Cricket, then and now

The supporting players bring their own level of bitchiness to this show--Miriam Shor (Cricket Caruth) surprisingly is not bad at throwing shade at others; indie heads=remember her from The Cake Eaters? I mistakenly thought she hadn't worked much since then but her Wiki shows she's actually worked steadily since then. I should watch more television. Oh, the irony. LOL Cricket is quite the ice queen in a cowboy hat, and I love it, and Shor in this role. Cricket has yet to forgive Amanda for stealing Bill from her back in school, and for spreading various hateful rumors about Cricket around school, the most notable rumor that the latter had herpes. She wastes no time in turning Amanda away, just as Carlene instructed her to.

Sharon, in high school & currently

Jennifer Aspen (Sharon Peacham) does a wonderful job of playing the former town beauty queen-turned-reluctant lackey to Carlene's plots; makes you wonder where your former beauty/prom queen ends up before the high school reunion, doesn't it? I'm not familiar with much of Peacham's work, but like I said, she does wonderfully displaying the insecurity that plagues her as a former beauty queen and current doormat, simultaneously wanting her figure back and not (entirely) wanting to destroy Amanda's life, unlike two of her cliquemates.


Rounding out the cast of backup singers to Carlene's Diana Ross, Marisol Nichols (Heather Cruz) plays the predictable soft-hearted of the bunch, her character Heather being the first to accept Amanda's apologies and open the door to establishing a friendship with her. Heather, or 'Selena Girl' as she was nicknamed, has grown into a very successful real-estate agent, no doubt without help from Carlene who blackmails her with this info for being nice to Amanda, and doesn't see anything wrong with allowing Amanda to make amends. I see a friendship developing between these two.

As long as the show doesn't begin to follow a predictable format as far as plotlines go, I think it has a great future ahead of it. It debuted strong and for DH fans, this has enough spice to keep you entertained and interested because while the ladies of Wisteria Lane all bonded initially over the death of their friend, they all had their own secrets individually, and so do the women of GCB. One of the ladies' husbands still has the hots for Amanda, one of them is gay and in something I know will become a future plotline, the other knows Amanda's deceased husband, but has yet to say anymore. Exploring backstories like these and what each of them were up to in the years Amanda was away should provide some very interesting upcoming episodes. The writers did good with the way they introduced us to this lifestyle and these characters. I'll be watching!

Bitchy Review: In short, if you've got a sense of humor, aren't closed-minded and you're able to poke fun at some of these over the top religious communities (snarkiness doesn't discriminate; this could be broadened to each religion-they've all got 'em-, each close-knit community, hell even genders, then this show might be something you can deal with. If you're very religion-sensitive or have a hard time watching shows that poke fun at this sort of content, I wouldn't suggest this show. It's funny, its bitchy and has a great cast to give this show the dialogue and personality it deserves. I don't feel this show is 'anti-Christian', as Newt Gingrich said earlier this week. I think it is a lid off the top of fakery, dishonesty, grudge-holding and jealousy in Christian communities, where this sort of behavior is supposed to be frowned upon. It exposes the true contradiction between the flesh and the Spirit--those of you who are religious know what I meant by that--that is present in these types of communities, and how these people hide behind their religion to conjure and wish, then plot and later expose the downfall of others. I am a testament to the entire last sentence, so I can watch this show without becoming offended or feeling as though all Christians have been pigeon-holed into this image--its very clear that not all Christian communities behave this way. And thank the Lord for that. lol Anyway, if thinly veiled bitchiness is right up your alley, then so is this show.

Bitchy Rating: 4 (out of 5) deliciously bitchy!!

Look at the header pic for airtimes; GCB airs every Sunday on ABC.

All pictures in this blog entry are from sheknows.com; I have no ownership nor rights to any of the photos included.

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Two New Reviews Tonight!

So we've got two new shows debuting tonight that I'll be reviewing later but I wanted to give a little preview first. At 8EST, ABC's replacement show GCB debuts (it's not showing until 9 my time), and I have to admit I'm looking forward to watching it. The show, which is an acronym for Good Christian Belles, is based off the book Good Christian Bitches by Kim Gatlin, but due to its move to television and potential backlash from both womens' groups and Christians, the show's title ending was changed to "Belles" instead and later shortened into the acronym. However, the show makes it very clear that the book's original title fit; the previews have been a hoot. This seems to be ABC's attempt at starting off early with a female replacement for the exiting Desperate Housewives, so let's see how this train rolls into town.

from the "Hollywood Moms Night" episode

The second show is on the TVGuide Channel every Sunday at 9EST called Hollywood Girls Night, in which Ali Landry & Alison Sweeney will throw a cocktail party each week featuring various ladies in Hollywood. Something tells me that this show had to have at least partially come about because of the Ali & Ali potential from the two hostesses. lol Call me crazy, but Hollywood loves alliteration. I'm almost 63% positive that the names were a factor. lol Anyway, tonight's episode features Kyle Richards (Paris Hilton's aunt, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), Tracey Gold & Sheryl Underwood. Future guests for this show include Kendra Wilkinson, Robin Givens, Denise Richards and Niecy Nash, to name a few. The premise for this reality show is hardly unique as there are many shows about women getting together for drinks and gossiping but unlike those, this one looks like the mean girls were left at home. The devil's advocate in me says to invite the ladies of Charmed and see how that goes. LOL I know, I know. Not nice. I'm sorry. I love Charmed though! I would pay good money to see it. Or a revival of the show. I don't care. lol I would like to see a show about women who aren't backstabbing each other or only pretending to get along because a camera is in their face. It annoys me and I refuse to give the majority of these women even more attention than they already get. Unlike the next show on this preview post, these women aren't acting. They're simply getting paid to be themselves for a paycheck they wrongly think they are entitled to receive just for being the way they are. Ugh.

Sorry, I got a little distracted there. lol

The cast of ABC's "GCB" in a promo shot

Anyway, GCB stars Leslie Bibb as a former 'Mean Girl' named Amanda Vaughn (I swear, why are so many mean girls named Amanda? smh) who returns to her hometown in Texas as a single mother looking for a fresh start after a divorce and financial troubles. As she moves back home with her mother Gigi (played by Annie Potts), she encounters one of her former targets (played by Kristin Chenoweth, which I think was an awesome casting decision), who has since become the town's Queen Bee, which makes for a definite reversal of riches. The twist? The crowd that the former Mean Girl will be returning to is a large Christian community, so the snark is cleverly disguised behind fake smiles and Bible verses. Now you know there probably won't be any outright cursing or vulgarity, but that's the interesting part, seeing the various ways these women hide their hatred of the newcomer, who at one time teased or targeted all of them, behind their religion and Southern manners.

Now before anyone like the wonderful commenter from last week tries to rip me a new one from what I just said, my spirituality is a very large part of my life. None of what I am saying or going to say is directed at God in any way, not my relationship with Him, none of that. It isn't even about all Christian-based communities or Christians as a whole. This is simply about some of the people in some of those types of environments. I used to be part of one of these communities, with women who said they held God at the forefront of their lives but disguised their snarkiness underneath the Bible verses they assumed fit my life and smart remarks when my back was turned. These same women, these supposed figures of virtue and inspiration to other women who were either just like them or had such aspirations, were usually the ones caught out at the club on the weekends or cheating on their husbands behind closed doors, at very least simply not practicing what they preached. It would be comedic if it wasn't so ridiculous to watch some of these women work, but it was almost too refreshing after awhile of having to be in that type of atmosphere to finally find a group of women with the same values who treated everyone properly and with respect, to be able to just get together, share our love of God and make our lives something better as a result of our friendships and relationships with God. Shows like GCB simply expose this type of environment to everyone else but they have a bigger basis in reality than some like to say, and from experience myself, I want to see how true to form the show chooses to portray this lifestyle.

GCB comes on every Sunday on ABC at 10EST; Hollywood Girls' Night is on the TVGuide Channel at 9EST. Check your subscriber for your local channel listings.

Join me in a couple of hours when I review and let me know what you thought of the shows! I've got homework to do, so I gotta run. Be back in a few!

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Bitchy Review: Who The (Bleep?) Did I Marry?

Who The [Bleep] Did I Marry? debuted on the ID Network last August and from the previews I saw, it looked rather interesting but I was never quite able to catch it. I saw the newest episode on Saturday and wasn't disappointed. The premise of the show is about a couple who (obviously) gets married and not long after, one of the pair suspects something in the sink isn't quite clean about their new husband or wife. The story then unfolds, with commentary from the innocent party, from the beginning to their current state.

The episode I caught was about the former governor of New Jersey, James Greevey, and his marriage to Dina Matos. We all know how that story ended, so there's no need to rehash. The show's premise is certainly intriguing and even though I watched this particular story come out in full, humiliating detail in the press along with everyone else, there wasn't this much insight into it then so I still walked away having learned something about it. The press was mainly focused on the sordid details surrounding the entire situation, and since that is their job I can say they succeeded on making the story as juicy as possible. But underneath that, someone was still hurt--very much so--by having this happen to them, and in the public eye no less. When this story broke in its entirety, it went national immediately and in the blink of an eye, Dina Matos was no longer just the First Lady of NJ, she was a target. She was a target for meaner-spirited people who asked how she could not have possibly seen the signs sooner, for being a golddigger for marrying an "obviously" gay man to get in the public eye, but mostly she was a target for people's pity.

Personally, my heart went out to her, but it was because she had to maintain such a level of professionalism almost to the level of detachment about the whole thing because it was in front of the entire nation the whole time. She had no choice but to take the high horse and be quiet and that, I would imagine, has to be unbearable. There really was no way for her to save face except to pray for the next big story to come out so she can quietly fade away, which is exactly what she did following his resignation and their subsequent divorce. And sure enough, when the next sordid story hit the press, most of the national outlets forgot about her. Jim Greevey was thrown to the lions, and he deserved it. But people wanted to know about the jilted wife and what happened to her; Who The (Bleep) Did I Marry? answered those questions.

Bitchy Review: The show, although the enjoyment comes at the expense of the jilted spouse, is quite interesting because it shows that you never know who you're marrying. In this day and age, its not too hard to do your work and find out. It's not being suspicious or anything like that, its simply reassuring yourself that you're making the right decision in that manner. Of course, not everyone's life history is able to be found online so I suppose no method of investigating yourself is fool-proof. If nothing else, this show serves as a huge PSA to be careful of who you allow into your life. I like that the show is only 30 minutes; it's not full of irrelevant details, and is a firsthand perspective from who the events happened to, not third party commentary with speculations and assumptions. I would imagine also that for these people, this show gives them the chance to tell their story as it happened to them and how they got through it. Some of the craziest things you hear end up happening to these men and women--yeah, there have been more than a couple of these stories in which the woman was in the wrong, not the man. The show helps to end gender-based stereotypes as to which gender does dealbreaking things in a marriage and I enjoy watching it.

Bitchy Rating: 3 (out of 5) just bitchy enough

If you're interested, Who The (Bleep?) Did I Marry? comes on every Saturday at 8pm EST on the ID channel, that's Channel 192 for Dish subscribers and 285 for DirecTV subscribers. Repeats of the episodes will begin airing on the OWN Network next month as well; Dish subscribers will find this on Channel 189 and DTV subscribers on 279.

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FN Cancellation

For all FN foodies, a cancellation has hit the already beginning to plummet network. Remember that show "Dessert First?" The news was recently leaked that despite several episodes of the second season have already been taped, the network decided not to renew the show and air a second season. Why, you might ask? Because it came out that many of Anne Thornton's recipes were merely rip-offs of other recipes made famous by Martha Stewart and The Barefoot Contessa's Ina Garten, just to name a couple.

The article I read this from specified a couple of Stewart & Garten's more recognized and signature recipes and Thornton's "twist" on them, which for some cases was only a bit of orange zest on top or a fruit topping of strawberries as opposed to just syrup. I am guessing that someone tipped the network off that the similarities between these recipes were too striking and in a surprise move, FN actually listened. After reviewing Anne's cookbook against the recipes she was said to have plagiarized, the producers and the network became concerned as the wording was also more similar than they originally noticed. Upon reviewing the first season, there were simply too many common factors between the others' recipes and Thornton's. At that point, the network made the decision to yank the show from the air.

When asked about the cancellation initially, Anne responded that the show was pulled from the network strictly for performance and ratings reasons. Later on, she was asked about the "real" reason for the show's cancellation and she gave a rather basic response along the lines of that everyone pretty much rips off of others. The example she used was her lemon squares recipe, one of the recipes speculated to be a rip off of Ina Garten's lemon squares. She said that Ina Garten is one of her idols but that there are only so many ways to remake the same item. On that note, I can agree with her, because for many recipes, especially ones that are baked, the skeleton is pretty much the same. Other than minor twists to provide certain flavors, you can't remake lemon squares. The same basic factors have to be there, otherwise you didn't make lemon squares. I'll give her that point.

However, don't try to pass it off as your own when really, minus an ingredient or two, it's someone else's hard work that you're baking on national television. Admit where the inspiration came from, admit whatever twist or variation you may have implemented. Otherwise Anne comes off looking exactly how she did--like she stole it. Maybe she didn't intend to and she was honestly trying to put her own twist on it. That's fine. But not originally giving credit where its due is where she messed up and lost credibility, and her show for that matter. Ina Garten is already a very popular celebrity chef and FN has no problem giving her more airtime for specials and whatever other cooking related show they want her to do. Martha Stewart is doing quite nicely for herself on Hallmark. Why would they feature a ripoff of popular recipes when both originators are still on the air and capable of doing such themselves? This idea is especially true because since BC got revamped, Ina's been going through her old recipes and putting a new spin on them anyway--it's very likely that at some point she could have revamped her lemon squares herself. There would be no reason to have another chef on the same network airing repeats of recipes Ina made from scratch.

So to save face, FN yanked the show and hasn't spoken another red word about it. I can't say I blame them, their already slipping credibility would have taken another hit if more people had come forward with these accusations and they continued to ignore them. Not to mention that legally, both Ina & Martha could sue the network if they found credible proof themselves that Thornton's recipes were in fact plagiarizations of their own creations and the creators kept her on the air anyway. The entire fiasco could have been avoided if they had looked first to ensure there would be no issues before airing the show. I understand how is someone to know that certain recipes are actually someone else's handiwork, but at the same time people's reputations are either being established or tarnished here. Do the work. From the report, even the wording between cookbooks was similar--it sounds to me that these similarities would have been rather easy to spot had someone actually taken the time to look, instead of airing an entire season and taping another one before looking into it. I can't say that this was an honest mistake rather than simply the lazy slipping between the cracks of a network greedy to get more shows on the network, quality or content irrelevant.

It has been said many times that FN as a whole is slipping, and I'm prone to agree. I used to be an avid FN watcher and when they first started bringing on a couple of new faces, giving familiar faces new shows (Giada at Home ring a bell? How about one of Bobby Flay's many shows?) or changing up sets a few years ago (hello 30 Minute Meals!) it was something to get used to, but I was open to it. When they scrapped two hours of programming for more reality crap, got rid of the Fine Living Network and made it the Cooking Channel (or the former FN chef graveyard, whichever way you want to look at it lol) then proceeded to add even more  new faces to the lineup, I began to grow a little weary. I remember wondering around 2007 sometime if FN would ever figure out how to enter the reality world. Other than a few cooking or baking competitions, at that time FN was dominated by how-to programming, and I loved it. I am guessing I spoke too soon, because next thing I knew the disaster better known as Private Chefs of Beverly Hills was premiering. That, to me, was the beginning of the end. And indeed it was. Before I knew it, instead of ending the programming on the weekends at noon like they always did, it was ending at eleven. And then ten. Hell, one Sunday it ended at nine. After a Semi-Homemade mini-thon. Are you serious? The rest of the day was dominated by reality bs of varying kinds and that is how its been ever since. The Cooking Channel has been a somewhat less than acceptable substitute, but if there's more actual food related programming and less reality trash on there, I'll take it.

Back to topic though. In short, Anne may have had the honest intention of putting 'a twist' on recipes she enjoyed. All home chefs do, so who would I be to judge? That's completely fine. However, I am not only not writing a cookbook about said recipes, I am not taking them to national television and airing them--while the recipe's originator is on the same network. That was plain stupid on her part, and even dumber on the network for risking a lawsuit and not checking first.

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Bitchy Review: Unfaithful: Stories of Betrayal

The new season of this show is debuting on OWN tonight and I have to say, I like the premise of this show. Usually with stories of betrayal, it ends in a Snapped or Scorned: Love Kills type of manner. This show, however, focuses on relationships that survive the betrayal when a spouse commits adultery. Each episode features two couples, one of whom cheated on the other, with commentary on what lead into these events from both parties leading up to, during, and after the duration of the affair. Most times the couple's therapist serves as the third commentary of the show to explain the couple's problem and how they learned and eventually overcame the shock of the betrayal. Most if not all of the couples I have seen featured on the show went to counseling at some point to help them gain closure and come back together, something that I feel is always an A+ for effort step in the right direction. And all of them have said at the end of their episode that their relationship made it through the rough period; rather than merely surviving the marriage is now thriving and in this day and age where a couple divorcing hardly warrants a raise of an eyebrow, it is kind of inspiring to see the power of forgiveness and love, and lots of hard work. Genuine forgiveness is hard to come by but these couples have done it--the cheater forgiving themselves, and the spouse forgiving the cheater.

I like this show--many times when a spouse cheats, its immediate grounds for divorce. I don't condone cheating in any way, especially in a marriage. That bond is sacred to me and one that shouldn't be spat on in such a way as taking another to bed and actually establishing a relationship with said person is even worse. I was very interested to see how the possibility or appeal of an affair came up in these various situations and I was forced to change my own opinion on cheating after coming into more understanding. After watching a few episodes, I realized that I have been in some of those same situations and experiencing some of those same emotions myself in relationships. The difference is cheating goes so far against my moral fiber that I'd rather be miserable with them or alone than have that on my conscience. I learned an important lesson watching this show--it is entirely possible for a man or woman to cheat only once and honestly and truly regret it. And in that same token, it is entirely possible that their spouse has the opportunity to forgive them for it, honestly and truly. I was also able to learn that there is a difference between a cheating person and a person that makes a mistake, which is where my changed opinion comes into play.

Before I watched this show, I figured all cheaters were the same and I was a large fan of the old adage, "Once a cheater, always a cheater." I watched a couple of episodes of the show, however, and I had to revise that opinion. These men and women genuinely loved their spouses and their children. They had no desire to hurt them or destroy their marriages when they made the decisions that they did. The stories were realistic and their reasons ranged widely--boredom, loneliness, struggles within the relationship, fear, grief over the loss of a parent, financial struggles, feeling trapped--I haven't one time heard the reason for cheating that I am used to, which was that the person either got greedy and wanted to have their cake and eat it too, or that they just didn't care enough about their spouse to want to be faithful to them. I didn't condone what they did or how they handled their individual situations after hearing their reasoning or the path that lead them to feel this decision was right, but I was allowed more insight and it helped me to not be so judgmental. And contrary to what many say, sometimes the spouse of the cheater is, at least sometimes, partially to blame for their spouse straying. No, they did not force their partner to cheat. However, some of their actions may have contributed to their partner cheating and it usually took the couple visiting therapy for them to see where both may have played a part in the other's actions. At some point, most if not all of the spouses who were guilty of having the affair broke down when they realized the toll and the pain they put on the person they loved the most, or at the prospect of losing their families and all they had built. These are people who made mistakes and it nearly (and in some cases did for awhile) cost them their marriages and families. They committed themselves to rebuilding what they destroyed and are now happy, still married (or remarried) and best of all, faithful. Now if the person's inclination is more towards that of "I can have my cake and eat it too," then that's probably a cheating person and the old saying rings true. However, not everyone who cheats has that mentality and some are genuinely sorry for it. I learned that there is a distinct difference.

Saturday's debut focused on two couples--Rosalyn & Cregg, and Scott & Sherry. Rosalyn & Cregg were a former military couple who had just become parents when Cregg made the decision not to re-enlist. Finding work became more difficult and before long, they were in dire financial straits. He found a repair job working for a recently widowed neighbor, and some time after that she begins exchanging money for Cregg's bills for sex with him. I won't blow the ending but it's a biggie. Scott & Sherry were newlyweds and first-time parents, when Sherry noticed a disconnect and started asking Scott to spend more time with her and the baby. Scott, feeling trapped, began to view his marriage as a burden and eventually gravitated towards a receptionist he worked with, leading to an affair between the two. Just as Cregg did, Scott tells the details of the affair and his honest thoughts during that time, with Sherry & Rosalyn responding in their individual confessionals how they were feeling and acting on during that time. All in all, it was a good season premiere. 

I applaud this show for being honest and unbiased, and not sugarcoating either half of the story or victimizing the spouse or villainizing the cheater. I also like that the story is told firsthand from the individual's point of view and the cheater takes ownership of his/her decisions and explains their reasoning. The show is very candid and I would imagine that especially for the ones who have remorse or shame for their actions, being candid on national tv is no easy feat. It takes a certain level of honesty to even admit to oneself that there was a mistake, takes even more to admit it to one's partner, but to admit it to the world is another thing entirely and even though it is their own fault, I still commend the spouse who committed the adultery for being able to discuss the issue and take ownership in such a public format. Just because I or my loved ones know I made a mistake doesn't mean I want to admit it to the world, so actually I have to commend everyone who participates in the show. I still don't condone cheating in any way, shape, matter or form but now I have some insight. I have been able to see what real forgiveness can do, and that is always amazing to me. Cheating has been lauded for so long as the unforgivable sin, and these spouses loved their marriages and partners so much that they put on their rainboots and braved the storm. These couples buck the statistics every day and I enjoy watching the show.

Bitchy Review: I suggest this show if you are having trouble believing that forgiveness and love really save the day, if you (like me) have a problem forgiving because it is inspiring to see these people really fight for their marriages, or if you would like to see something other than today's norm of people getting married and divorced in the blink of an eye without really doing any work to save it. This show proves that it really is possible to recover after a spouse commits adultery. Unfaithful: Stories of Betrayal is honest even at the worst parts, candid, but inspiring in a way and I suggest you watch it sometime. The show comes on every Saturday at 9pm EST on the OWN Network, that's 189 for Dish subscribers and 279 for DirecTV viewers.

Bitchy Rating: 4 (out of 5)

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Bitchy Review: Zane's Sex Chronicles

Alright, so I got a day off from homework and whatnot so I thought I'd put up a review or two of some stuff I watched this past week. Last weekend the hubz and I were looking for something to watch and stumbled upon the show. Zane and the content of her books have been the subject of a friendly debate between him and I for awhile now, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to see his opinion on the show and expand our debate. My mom and I actually caught an episode of this show about a month before hubz and I moved in together and we found it hilarious; I'll explain why in a minute. Now before any of you raise your brows that I was watching a softcore with my mom, let me explain something and get a little sentimental for a second.

My mom and I have probably the most open relationship of any parent-child that I know and she truly is my very best friend. I can tell her any and everything, can discuss so many things with her, and I trust her with all I have. She knows when to be my mom and when to be my friend and acts accordingly, which I have appreciated so much through the years. We can watch something completely dumb, like softcore lite, and dissolve into giggles. Now if its something more risque, then of course this toes the line and we won't watch that. But something more along the lines of a simulation, then we're all on it--to ogle the man, to critique (or laugh at) the "acting"....or the woman lol, to analyze the plotline--whatever. And I'm trying to teach her about Zane and the world of erotica, so I figured why not watch and see what she thinks? Was hilarious to say the least. But yeah...my mom is my best friend and closest confidante..because our relationship has always been open so that I did not feel as though I could not talk to her about what was going on in my life, we can watch silly things like that without batting an eyelash. And I love it. Some kids, even grown ones, cannot even mention porn around their parents. But my mom is a total boss and that's why I can. lol

Now anyway, hubz and I saw that the program was on last weekend so we figured, what the hell, let's watch it. Within 5 minutes, both of us were a little on the 'wtf?' side of the spectrum. I've always pumped Zane up to hubz, because I felt that he had a rather stereotypical view of Zane and her books. He, like many other people, most of who have never even read an entire Zane novel from start to finish, classify her work as straight porn or think the entire book revolves around sex. I disagree--I just feel that the way she describes the sexual content in the book is better than most others I read because instead of rawdoggish degrading sex, she finds a way to make it sensual or romantic or whatever the mood in the novel suggests. If the characters in the book are actually making love, then the description and content sets the scene. If they are going at it like animals, you definitely know it. There is actually a plot to ALL of her novels, they just happen to feature--gasp!--sex.

With that said, the show differs dramatically. Patience, the lead character of the show, is based on Zane's own experiences with people who email her for advice, to try & cuss her out (lol), who update her on things they have tried, etc. but she falls flat. Zane, even on her FB page (please add her--the page is great)appears to be calm, yet somehow larger than life. The show's portrayal makes her seem as though she is this know-it-all who feels as though she is on some sort of pedestal, above her friends, and takes more of a 'scolding parent' tone with them. I wish Chronicles would show more of Zane the way we see her on her FB page. No offense to the actress (lesser known fact, she used to play one of the Avatars on Charmed a few years back), but to play someone based off of Zane, I just feel it needs more personality. The biggest thing hubz and I noticed though was that the plotline of the show itself needed more continuity, and more...well, you know...sex. lol It is hard, especially for those who have not seen all of the episodes, to come in and get a good feel for what's going on. The segues between the main characters were rather choppy and seemed to jump around, not to mention the actual dialogue wasn't all that great. This differed extremely from the books, where the dialogue was my favorite part, second only to the sex. LOL What can I say, I'm an erotica fan. However, I was pleasantly surprised at first to see that Cinemax didn't take liberties and turn Zane's excerpts into all out sexfests, but it turned to disappointment when I realized there was not only barely any sex at all, but the scenes that were featured weren't risque by any means. I felt that the show in general was, to be blunt, a very poor imitation and portrayal of anything I've ever read by Zane or heard from Zane herself. I'll say that its typical of Cinemax softcore in both content and sex, but compared to the novels and excerpts that I have read from my favorite erotica author and one of my favorite authors period, this was a poor portrayal. It's okay to watch if you have no expectations. But if you expect this show to just bring it with some chips because it has Zane's name on it, you'll probably walk away a little disappointed. Just my opinion. You had permission from the Queen of Erotica herself, Cinemax! You should have used that shit and created gold, not fool's gold. Random fact--I believe Zane has said she wasn't too fond of the "Queen of Erotica" moniker, but even though she isn't I believe it fits. If it weren't for her, many other authors doing the same thing wouldn't have gotten many places. I truly believe Zane opened the door for erotica as a genre to become such a force and has made it a watercooler topic, a go-to guide for your man (or lady) in the bedroom, or a wonderful escape. I love and respect Zane fully but I feel Cinemax could have done better with this series.

Apparently though, Zane's The Jump-Off will be premiering soon, so let's see how this one goes.

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A Little Time...

Hey guys, I'm working on a few new reviews from shows I caught this past weekend and some upcoming premiere lists, so I haven't left. This past weekend I was busy trying to catch up on some very late homework (was only half successful in my efforts though -_-), Monday was my birthday and all of yesterday I spent laid up in bed with a terrible sinus migraine so I haven't gotten around to posting them all just yet, not to mention it is a new week so I do have homework to get to as well. But I've got some Daytime Suds updates in draft right now as well as a few show reviews so just be a little patient with me and I'll get on them. Hope you're having a wonderful week and Happy Hump Day!

--M

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Daytime Suds Update

Got some quick soap news to report to you today before I forget. As always, I get all my soap news from Soapcentral.com but in the very rare case you haven't been there, I report it back here and give you links. Aren't I nice? :P

---Well, the scheduled return date for Kirsten Storms (Maxie, GH) was supposed to be next month, however it was just announced a couple of days ago that she will not be returning just yet and Jen Lilley, Storms' replacement, will be continuing in the role 'for the foreseeable future.' I never like hearing that phrase--usually it means either the actor will not be returning at all and they have decided to continue on with the recast, or the actor will not be returning for months and there's no longer a return date in sight. Storms has been off tv since September battling endometriosis. Hope there wasn't a complication with her condition. Get better soon and come back, Kirsten!

---In more GH news, remember awhile ago when I said that in some locations, GH was being bumped off the air, signaling what some (myself included) felt might be the first death bell for the show? Perhaps there was some weight to it--last week Soapcentral announced that the soap could go primetime instead--who remembers a few years ago when GH did a primetime series during the summer for SoapNet? I loved it personally. According to the news report, whispers are going around that GH could be moved to a primetime slot and be continued as a short-term summer series instead of a daily daytime one. That's a loud enough death bell for me, I don't know about the rest of you. With Brian Frons out, the vision for ABC's daytime programming has shifted and if talks like this are already occurring then it doesn't look too good for the future of the soap. In essence, even if the show is moved to primetime, it is still the death bell--GH is a daytime soap. It seems like moving the show to primetime--where its against major shows--and turning it into a summer series is to pacify those who don't want the show off the air yet. Not diggin' the idea at all. So let's hope those are just whispers in the night that won't see the light of day. Somehow though, I don't truly believe they're just whispers in the night...I can see cancellation or other changes to the soap coming sooner than ABC is willing to say. With the upcoming cancellation of SoapNet, therefore ending all replays of the soaps still on the air and any chance for a 2nd season of the GH primetime summer series, this really doesn't look good.

---In DOOL news, the return of Tanya Boyd (Celeste) was announced, but due to scheduling conflicts, she has had to decline her return, prompting a last-minute hiring of Beverly Todd to take over Celeste's short-term return. She is due to air in April.

---Hillary B. Smith (ex-Nora, OLTL) has signed on the dotted line to play Dr. Stacy, the new sex therapist setting up shop on B&B; the announcement was made last weekend.

---Speaking of B&B, they have made the decision to bump both Brandon Beemer (Owen) and Zack Conroy (Oliver) off of contract status; it is still unknown whether or not they will be on recurring status or written off entirely.

---Finally some Pine Valley casting news--Susan Lucci (come on now, like she needs me to remind you all who she played lol) has been announced as the new host of a show debuting on the ID Channel this fall quite aptly named Deadly Affairs. Doesn't that sound like an Erica Kane talk show special? lol The reality series will delve into stories of real-life betrayal and love triangles. They couldn't have picked a better host and I will be reviewing the show for the RBR (Random Bitchy Reviews, duh!) when it premieres.

---These are probably a little older in news, but both Lisa Rinna (Billie, DOOL) & Bryan Dattilo (Lucas, DOOL) will be returning in the weeks to come. The returns were announced within a week of each other early last month; Rinna is slated to air in March; it is still unclear whether her stay is recurring or permanent. The last time we saw Billie, Julie Pinson was in the role; Lisa Rinna hasn't played Billie since 2003. Dattilo's first scenes are due to air sometime next month. Again, the duration of the stay was not specified. Welcome home!

---Genoa City will soon be adding a new resident--Catherine Bach, or Daisy Duke as most remember her by, will be joining the canvas as Anita, Chelsea's mother. She is due to begin airing on February 7th.

---And finally, to clarify last week's statements made by ABC when it was announced that Llanview's Manning family as well as John McBain would be setting up shop in Port Charles, Kassie dePaiva (Blair) informed her fans that the ads and announcement were a little misleading; instead of a permanent stay as we were told, the crossover is on a short-term basis.


Well, I guess that wraps up this week's Daytime Suds Update. Check back with me next week for more!

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Series or Season Premieres?

I'm still debating whether I should cover only season premieres, only series premieres, or a mix of both. Midseason and awards season are both in full swing, so there will be no shortage of television to cover; the list I'm compiling for this week's premieres alone is well in the double digits of shows premiering on various channels. By the way that is one of the upcoming changes. In the off-chance that someone besides me is actually reading this blog (lol) every week I will try to release a list of the shows premiering within that week as well as times and channels. I'm not familiar with the channel #s for Comcast, but Dish, DirectTV and Time Warner shouldn't be hard to find. That way, you can respond with your comments on the premiere or my assessment of it once I post my review. Besides that, for the most part tv shucks these days. Either we'll find something to make fun of or something that we actually like, and who can beat those odds? Unless the show is that terrible, in which case we wasted an hour we won't get back. However, let's hope that doesn't happen right away. lol

For the most part, the shows premiering are either shows I'm already not interested in or shows I haven't heard of, so either way this'll be a new experience for me. For season premieres of shows I haven't seen though, they may not all be as easy for me to write as the season premieres I saw of the BET shows. I may end up giving a show a bad review because I didn't understand when it could have been simply because I caught the show too late in to understand the backstory. That's why the idea of doing series premieres appealed to me more; I want to give fair reviews on all the shows I comment on. However, I do believe I gave a fair review to both BET shows because what I saw wasn't enough to get me interested enough in the characters or the storyline, and that had nothing to do with me coming into the show too late. It wasn't anything I couldn't figure out on my own and I still wasn't interested. I even did some research on the show to find out the backstory on the characters and still wasn't interested. lol I wasn't bashing the shows or anything, they just weren't for me and I made that clear.

I'm trying to access Wikipedia now to see if I can get a list of series premiering this year so I can start putting together the weekly lists. I think if any of the shows are ending this year I might start putting together series and season finale date lists as well.

In short, this site is a work in progress. Patience is definitely encouraged!

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Bitchy Review: Scorned: Love Kills

The series premiere of Scorned: Love Kills debuted on the ID (Investigation Discovery) channel tonight, right after Who The Bleep? Did I Marry and a few minutes into the show, I remember thinking that it it looked a bit like Oxygen's Snapped. I never did finish watching the debut episode because the story looked a little too familiar to me, and then it hit me--because I'd seen it already.....on Snapped. lol I'm going to try to pull up a link from the Shannons' episode, but yeah...this couple was profiled by the show years ago. So with that said, a debut featuring a story that was already profiled by another channel with a show based on a similar concept probably isn't the best way to go.

Since I didn't watch anymore of the premiere because I had already seen the episode, it made me wonder how many others were watching the show as well and had to do the same thing. I mean seriously--if you plan to do a show along the lines of scorned lovers, do your research first is all I'm saying. Snapped is by far the most popular of the 'scorned documentaries.' If some lover, more particularly a woman, has 'snapped' on a lover or a husband and it made the news for the salacious activities that took place or the level of the crime, its likely that Snapped has already gotten to it. So if you intend to create a show that will enter the arena of documentary or investigative report, make sure your episode isn't going to be a repeat to viewers and furthermore, don't make said repeat the debut episode of your show. If that's not the quickest way to kill viewership, I don't know what is other than simply being boring. I mean, its okay to get different perspectives on the matter since the Snapped episode, but at the end of the day the facts were out and televised for years before the debut of the show. The previews of this show made it seem like it was going to be something new, and then it premiered and I was very disappointed to find out the debut was a repeat. It makes no sense to me. Are you telling me, honestly and truly, that market research on similar programs or rival networks was not done? Nobody thought to make sure this profiled story had not already been covered? Hell, even if the story had been covered already and you choose to show it again in a new light, perhaps more insight on the woman's, in this case Joan Shannon's, perspective and mindset while these events were transpiring in her life then that's okay with me. However, it should not have been the debut episode. Definitely not a season opener but the fact that this was a SERIES opener was ridiculous. You can't pull in viewers with something they could probably catch on Oxygen during a Snapped marathon. Even with that being how it is, on the flip side, yes Snapped showed this episode years ago, but that's just it--it was years ago. Like I said, Scorned could have breathed new life into the story by providing deeper insight or any updates since it was first profiled and from what I saw, they hadn't. I believe if they had done that, something to show that this isn't another rewashed story, this wouldn't have been so bad. I don't mean to bitch and complain, but let's be real here---if you owned this network or were in charge of series or season premieres, wouldn't you make sure that they opened with something new and exciting, with some story that even if viewers have read about they haven't actually seen before? This was such a poor thought-out debut that I doubt I'll even be tuning in next week.

Now don't get me wrong, maybe some viewers tonight had not heard about the Shannons' or seen their episode on Snapped. For those viewers, the debut tonight was a good one. I thought about my review and it was rather scathing and only focused on the fact that it was  a rerun. Let me think impartially here--in theory, the story was quite a crazy and twisted one--one that would definitely make for a smash opening. You wouldn't be expecting to hear half the things you did during the episode, and the conclusion is an even bigger surprise than that, at least to me. So excluding the rerun portion of the review, I can say that they actually chose a decent story. The only thing that continues to eat at me is that many of us have seen it already and wanted to see something different and exciting. If ID and this new show would like to avoid being compared to Snapped, they probably shouldn't start their show off with a regularly featured episode from the latter's archives. Just a suggestion. There I go, judging again. lol I'm sorry you all, I just can't seem to get past this at all. I was really excited for this debut especially since I was going to be covering it in a review later, and I feel incredibly let down by what I thought was going to be an interesting documentary on scorned lovers, a new twist on what Snapped usually brings to the table. 

Bitchy Review: Scorned: Love Kills had much potential to bring some excitement to the ID channel. However, their debut episode was lazy, rehashed and from what I saw, included nothing that I did not see years ago. My thinking is that if they are this ill-prepared for their new show and could not muster up the energy to do more digging and give us at least more details on an old story; they instead stole this old news out of Oxygen's backyard for the debut, how much lazier will they be next week? Meh. I don't care to find out.

Bitchy Rating: 1 (out of 5)--was that too harsh?

But just in case if you'd like to tune back in next week, Scorned: Love Kills is on every Saturday night at 10est/9 on 192 for Dish viewers; 285 for DirecTV viewers. Comcast & Time Warner subscribers, contact your local listings to find the channel.

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