Month: September 2007

America’s Next Top Model 9 Episode 2

Episode 1 saw a bunch of people running around like madwomen and ultimately being narrowed down to the final 13. This episode should have a bit more direction and control to it.

Top Model goes green, with a 100% biodiesel vehicle made of recycled materials. I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to be impressed with their ethical treatment of the environment.

While the rest of the girls have fun going into the pool with their clothes on, Heather holds back and is writing on her own.

The photo shot is a public service announcement for why smoking is bad. They are first shot with a cigarette in their mouths, followed by an overexaggerated shot of the bad side effects. Mila thinks the whole situation is hilarious, which it is because it’s so over the top and in your face. Heather actually looks really good with makeup but has trouble doing the shoot with another girl, Saleisha.

When it’s all done, Lisa says Bianca is insecure and conceited (uh, aren’t those two opposite things?), which is followed by a catfight. Bianca later only apologizes for what she said about Lisa being an exotic dancer because she thinks Tyra will look poorly upon her if she doesn’t apologize (as if then admitting that to the camera somehow helps her position).

Ms. J. comes out and gives them a lecture about style and tells them they’re going to go to Old Navy. The judges will determine at panel who did the best job of shopping. They have 10 minutes to rip apart the store and choose an outfit for the next day at panel.

Heather becomes the center of conversation multiple times throughout the night because she’s shy and awkward. She calls her mom and tells her she doesn’t feel like she can trust them, which she’s absolutely right about for the most part. Only a couple girls have a positive attitude about giving her a chance.

Chantal is told her accessories are distracting. They’re overall pleased with her but are concerned with her bedroom eyes. The judges are pleased with Jenah’s emotion in her picture. Victoria says she’s not insecure, even if she is soft spoken. Mila is told her outfit looks like a sack and that they have trouble with how she looks in the picture (because it was a ridiculous picture with a stupid concept). Bianca is told she needs to study and look in the mirror, and getting rid of the purple hair couldn’t hurt. The judges love Ebony’s outfit but don’t like her photo shoot as much. They tell Heather she needs to be more confident. Saleisha wins the best outfit prize, a shopping spree and ad for Old Navy.

Tyra announces that this is a no smoking cycle. As of the next day, smoking has been banned from the show. Then it’s time to reveal who moves on.

Heather
Lisa
Chantal
Sarah
Jenah
Saleisha
Ambreal
Victoria
Janet
Kimberly
Bianca

So it’s between Mila and an already emotional Ebony. Tyra tells them it takes more than just being a pretty girl to be a model. Ebony is safe. Mila is the first one to go home. Mila ultimately got screwed by a ridiculous PSA that, while it was a good message, was just overdone, to the point where it became comedic, which is why she couldn’t stop laughing. They seemed to be more interested in making a (bad) horror movie than giving a message that smoking is bad.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for a recap of America’s Next Top Model 9 episode 3, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on The CW, with Encore presentations at 9/8c on Sundays.

30 Second Commercial Costs

What’s it cost to buy an ad on the top shows? MediaWeek revealed the top 10. Unsurprisingly, American Idol takes home the big prize by a large margin as usual.

1. American Idol Tuesday (Fox) – $700,000
2. American Idol Wednesday (Fox) – $700,000
3. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – $465,000
4. Desperate Housewives (ABC) – $378,000
5. Sunday Night Football (NBC) – $350,000
6. Heroes (NBC) – $330,000
7. The Simpsons (Fox) – $300,000
8. 24 (Fox) – $300,000
9. CSI (CBS) – $290,000
10. House (Fox) – $290,000

Moonlight Is No Angel

I’d read the early criticisms about this show but tried to go into it with an open mind, since I had been a big fan of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and later Angel. For those who are unfamiliar with it, it’s about a vampire PI with a soul dressed in a long black coat driving his convertible around town saving innocent people but unable to get close to anybody because of what he is. Sounds familiar.

Sounded familiar to David Greenwalt, co-creator and writer of Angel, too, and somehow they managed to get him onboard. Unfortunately, that lasted all of two months before he left and the show began falling apart again.

What the producers of this show apparently failed to realize is that Buffy and Angel weren’t cult favorites because they were vampire stories. Like the rest of The WB’s dramas, it was the comedic aspects, the witty banter and quick quips, that made the shows so enjoyable. Sadly, Moonlight has none of that. The handful of good lines are overshadowed by dragging excessive seriousness, and most attempts at humor fall flat.

I started getting into it about 50 minutes in, but for the most part, I found my mind wandering. I’m okay with the stolen story. I just wish it were told better. If you want a good vampire story, you’re better off just picking up Buffy and Angel DVD’s.

So with that said, I ask The CW, which sucked last year but appears to be finding its way back down the path where The WB was a couple years back: can we get a Spike spinoff already?

CSI: Season 8, Episode 1 – Dead Doll

Season 7 ended when the CSI team caught the miniature killer, Natalie. As her last miniature, she planned an attack on Sara, as a way for her to get back at Grissom for leading the only man (her adopted father) she ever trusted to suicide. Sara’s disappearance forced Grissom to admit their relationship out in the open.

As a clue, Natalie made another miniature that displayed a car wreck in the desert, with a miniature of Sara under it. The season opens as the team searches for Sara and Grissom, while studying the miniature, discovers that she only has a few hours left before she drowns when the rain floods up under the wrecked car.

As the rain continues to poor, water under the wreck car fills up, while Sara tries to get out from under the car without any success. The CSI team discovers Natalie’s car and tracked down its GPS system to determine which locations she went recently.

Down at the station, Sophia Curtis and Jim Brass led Hodges to swab Natalie for DNA and trace because she has wounds on her scalp. Natalie is experiencing all the signs of a psychotic breakdown – delusions, hallucinations, which could last days or months.

Upon receiving the surveillance tapes from where Sara was abducted, Grissom learned that Natalie used a stun gun to bring Sara down.

(In a flashback scene) Natalie drives the car, while Sara is locked in the compartment.

Brown investigates the car and discovers that Sara climbed her way up to the backseat of the car from the compartment. The scene suggests a fight between Sara and Natalie.

Sara attacks Natalie while driving and jumps out of the car. She was left on the dessert without any energy to fight back. Natalie tied her up again as they drove to another location. Sara was drugged and slowly loses consciousness. She woke up to find out that Natalie was placing down a car on her, pushing her arms to the ground.

While checking out Natalie’s apartment, Stokes found a clue written on the wall – a contact number of Desert Diamond Auto Yard. Jim Brass immediately went to interrogate the crew of the auto yard to find out that Natalie asked them to tow a red convertible. The man from the auto yard gave directions to the desert site and rescue teams along with Grissom’s CSI located the red car.

Upon reaching the car, Stokes and Grissom dug up the dried sand where Sara was supposed to be. They discovered that Sara was able to climb out of the car when the rain got high enough for her arms loosen from the car’s weight and swim her way out.

Now without the rain, Sara is trying to search for help while walking through the deep and wide desert of Las Vegas. She is dehydrated, disoriented and tries to leave clues behind for the team to follow. She eventually collapses on the ground.

As Stokes and Sophia roamed through the roads of the desert, Stokes’ attention was caught by a glare in the middle of nowhere. As a survivor that Sara is, she brought along a side mirror of the red convertible to signal for help. Without a pulse, Sara is treated by paramedics and brought to the nearest hospital in a helicopter, with Grissom by her side. Sara eventually regains consciousness to the sight of Grissom’s name on his vest.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of CSI: Las Vegas Season 8 episode 2, which airs Thursday at 9pm on CBS.

Watch CSI Online!

CSI: NY Season 4, Episode 1 – Can You Hear Me Now?

There’s no better way to start a CSI: New York season than to place a crime scene at the city’s # 1 icon – the Statue of Liberty. Mac was on his way home from his London vacation when he was greeted with an extraordinary sight – blood dripping down the Statue of Liberty’s face and a murder of security officer Georgia Morse (who died with a slashed throat). Another security guard named Charles Price was supposed to be on shift ended up missing. Is he the killer?

The CSI team investigates the entire scene as Danny gets blood samples hanging hundreds of feet from the Statue itself. The blood from the statue was not from one victim alone – whether or not the blood came from a person or animal, the team has yet to figure out. Mac discovers two inconsistent blood drops from victim’s arterial splatter, while Hawkes recovers a sticky substance from the vic’s body, which Lindsay later determines as condom spray.

In between their investigation, Stella asks Mac about his trip and he tells her about the mysterious calls he received in London at exactly 3:33 every night, which all ended up without answers.

The team discovers a viewing station with blood on it and wire tied to keep it from moving. As Mac looked through the viewer, he discovered a man sitting across the water, which Mac and Stella first thought to be the killer staring at them. They were shocked to find out that the man, named Damion Brock, was dead with words “two more will die” written under his shirt and wounds on both the sides of his neck. Dr. Hammerback discovers that the 2nd victim was embalmed with a cleaning liquid, which explained his abnormal orangy color, and finds another piece of the puzzle — a small metal object stuffed in his mouth.

A new character appears. Kendall, a lab tech tries to one-up Adam (and vice versa) by discovering new evidences and leads. Kendall discovers that the wire from the viewing station was from a piano (for an “A” key), while Adam explained the tiny metal object was from a music box, customized to play a Mozart tune. It was made specifically for a musician named Nova Kent.

Danny and Stella interviews Kent, but she insists that she lost the music box while moving four times in a year.Danny was not convinced of Kent’s statement.

Mac eliminated Charles Price as a suspect when he studied the blood splatter and learned that Georgia’s blood only bounced off of his security badge. Dr. Hammerback found the missing security guard, but only his severed arm reached the lab when a group of boaters reported the sight.

Flack and Stella checked out Damion’s apartment to look for clues. Stella experiences dejavu as she enters the apartment. Morton Brite, the landlord, lets them into Damion’s room and Stella recognized him as the prime suspect of an unsolved murder of Marie Cousmira that she investigated a year ago. Flack finds that Damion was embalmed in the bathroom while still alive. Stella and Flack listened to a chilling call that has just came in – it was Damion’s terrified voice recorded before he died talking about a license plate.

Stella found a viewfinder toy in Damion’s apartment, which led to another victim – Lee Nakashima with his tongue cut out, who Mac and Danny found stuck in a drum at a popular music hall. The team found a video with Nakashima (before he had his tongue cut out) describing a man’s eyes, height, built. Since both Nakashima and Damion both lived in the same apartment a year ago, Mac put the pieces of the puzzle together and Stella says that the two may have been witnesses of Marie Cousmira’s murder.

The piece of paper found in Nakashima’s mouth revealed a ticket concert of Nova Kent. The team rushed to discover a man holding flowers for her, which they immediately arrested. Anthony Colton confessed on murdering Marie and threatening Kent, but strongly denies killing the security guards at the Statue of Liberty.

Stella visited Morton Brite to tell him about the good news that the CSI eventually solved Marie’s case. Inside Brite’s apartment, Stella discovers that his piano is missing an A string. Stella puts it together that Morton was angered that his girlfriend died and three witnesses shut their mouth and chose not to report the murder to the police. Morton pours Damion’s blood over the Statue’s face to get the police’s attention and lead them to Marie’s killer. After Stella shot Morton before he could escape, he shouts: Can you hear me now?

Back at the CSI lab, Mac is still working when he recieves a phone call exactly at 3:33 am. Who can be calling Mac? A killer he didn’t catch? An innocent person put in jail? What can be the significance of that time? Let’s find out in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of CSI: NY Season 4 episode 2, which airs Wednesday at 11/10c on CBS.

Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne Save Contestant’s Life

Normally after being insulted by Simon, most contestants run off the stage and cry, or they lash back at him. The Mirror reports that one contestant took a different approach.

46-year-old Jacqui Gray’s performance on X Factor was greeted by Simon’s comments of:

“You have a very odd-sounding voice.

“Something happens to your throat when you sing. It is quite raspy.

“It sounds as if you have someone else in there, like you were choking on something.”

To which Sharon added she should “get it checked out.”

“I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis and told if I had not got it seen to, it could have killed me,” Gray said. “I want to thank them both. I may not have got through X Factor but they gave me something much more important than that… they really did save my life.”

The Race 2 Episode 2

The Race 2 is a production of ICTV that’s structured similarly to The Amazing Race. Watch The Race 2 online.

In episode 1, we were introduced to the teams. Dave & Matt are one of the better racing duos I’ve seen, and their ability to be funny in the process helps make them likeable even when they’re being cutthroat, though that won’t buy them many friends on the race. Kristiyan & Nick decided they hated Dave & Matt’s guts and other internal organs. Behind them, there were a few middle of the road teams, followed by two horrible teams, one of which was the first boot: Nick & Chris.

That sets up episode 2 with 7 teams left. Teams leave for their next destination, Gary’s U-Pull It in Kirkwood, in the order in which they arrived at the pitstop:

First: Dave & Matt
Second: Kristiyan & Nick
Third: Jon & Jenna
Fourth: Sadie & Ginalola
Fifth: Hal & Matilda
Sixth: Daniel & Jeff
Seventh: Drew & Vanessa

Dave & Matt pick up where they left off and are apparently the kind of drivers who consider the sidewalk to be a passing lane. Kristiyan and Nick also pick up where they left off, as Nick calls the police and inquires about the process of reporting a littering violation. Are these guys for real? The cops refuse to help because it’s a frivolous complaint.

When Dave & Matt get to the challenge, they grab some paint and hair and proceed to stick it to the other people’s clues, a move that will surely draw more animosity from the others. Teams must find three car parts in a junkyard. Sadie & Ginalola show up about 1 part behind, followed by Jon & Jenna an additional part behind. Hal & Matilda show up in fourth as Dave & Matt are leaving, followed by Daniel & Jeff. Kristiyan & Nick got a bit lost and show up as Dave & Matt are driving away, and Drew & Vanessa are right behind. So it’s a pretty tight race at this point. About half the teams are able to get assistance from a young kid eager to help, which may put the teams that got there after at a disadvantage. Hal & Matilda lose the most time on this task and leave in last place.

From there, teams must return to Binghamton. The challenge there is to go to shops on Antiques Row and identify the most valuable items in display cases at each store, then visit a historian to verify their selections. They must keep going until they pick the correct items. On the way to the store, Kristiyan realizes that worrying about the other team is silly and hindering them. When they get to one of the shops, they block someone in intentionally, a smart move, but exactly the type of move they’ve been complaining about.

Jon & Jenna are correct on their second visit to the historian and take the lead. Dave & Matt are immediately behind on their third visit. Sadie & Ginalola finally get it on their fourth try. Daniel & Jeff are correct on their second try, as are Drew & Vanessa and Hal & Matilda. Kristiyan & Nick are bringing up the rear and get it on their third visit.

Teams must then go to the Court St bridge, where they’re given the task of convincing three strangers on the street to trade shoelaces with them. Dave & Matt come up with the idea of paying people a couple bucks to get them to cooperate. Probably not necessary, but it will save them a bit of time. Though they then realize they don’t actually have the money to pay, so they take off. Once the first two teams are done, it starts raining. The rain doesn’t last long but does have the potential to make it more difficult since everything’s wet.

The pitstop is Park Diner in Binghamton.

First: Jon & Jenna
Second: Dave & Matt
Third: Ginalola & Sadie
Fourth: Drew & Vanessa
Fifth: Daniel & Jeff
Sixth: Hal & Matilda
Seventh: Kristiyan & Nick (eliminated)

Kristiyan & Nick went from second to last. I do think they expended way too much energy worrying about Dave & Matt that necessary. Drew & Vanessa pulled it together and performed a lot better than I’d expected. It still looks like a three horse race between the frontrunners, though.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Race 2 episode 3, which airs Wednesday at 9:30/8:30c on ICTV and via live webstream, with the video on demand version available on Thursday.