Hump Day Updates

So much to talk about. Let's get right to it.

• Kid Nation ended tonight. It was kind of a sad episode. I am ashamed to admit it, but I shed a few tears. Not only when the kids saw their parents for the first time in 40 days, but at the end when I realized the show may not come back for a second season. So upsetting. We'll always have Jared.
  

• Though I am sad to leave Bonanza City, I already have a reality show replacement: Crowned. So awesomely bad. The show is about mother/daughter pairs competing for a pageant title and $100,000. I could've written 1000 words on tonight's pilot episode alone. This episode, each pair had to make up a team name. One team called themselves the Blonde Bombshells, others the Diamond Dolls. But one team decided to go with Silent But Deadly. Supposedly they didn't know that is also a laugh-inducing euphemism. Carson Kressley of Queer Eye fame is one of the judges and he provides some comic relief. It's like watching Cirque De Soleil; I am mesmerized by how awful it is.
  

• TV shows have trailers now. I don't like this trend, but that's a whole 'nother story. The trailer for season 4 of Lost made its way around the blogosphere today. Since I have until February, I might try to catch up on the second half of season 3 and give the show another chance. With the writer's strike going strong, I won't have much else to watch anyway.
  

• Regis Philbin is set to host a re-make of the series Password. Because 25 versions of the show just aren't enough.

• Chris March is back on Project Runway. All is right with the world.
  

Hump Day Updates

• There is just no excuse not to be watching Kid Nation. If these out of context quotations don't do anything for you then I'm out of ideas. Read some other blog.
  
• " Pelvis has left the building."
• " Those aren't igloos dude those are teepees."
  

• TLC is taking Pageant Place to the next level. On Miss America: Reality Check, all 52 Ms. America contestants are going to live in one house to see if their " smarts, attitudes and looks hold up in contemporary society." The ladies will participate in challenges and events leading up to the finale event. Even with Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) hosting, I think it's for the best this show is only four weeks long.
  

• Over the past two nights I've discovered I want to eventually find a guy whose personality is the combination of Yukon Cornelius and Dell from Private Practice. Yukon is obvious. Who else will slay abominable snowmen who get in my way? Dell is a recent discovery though. Tonight, he finally confessed his love for Naomi and it was so adorable. Too bad he confessed it to her ex-husband.
  
• " You know how many women think like that, and look like that, and laugh like that and care? One. So far I've met one. And yeah, she's out of my league in every possible way. But I don't care. She dazzles me. And I'm not stupid enough to hope that one day I'll meet someone like her when the time is right because I won't. I love her. Okay? And I guarantee you-I wouldn't make her cry."

Cue the swooning.

• An anti-whaling group named their boat Steve Irwin. Bindi Irwin had this to say before she was dragged to her next appearance.
  

Kid Nation: Religion Royale!

I tried to avoid writing about Kid Nation again, but after another truly fascinating episode I have to lift that ridiculous moratorium.

If you're not watching KN get off of your tower of moral superiority and check out the last honest show on TV. Yes, it's edited and the yes the children are lead to act by a fake pioneer journal created by the shows producers, but the kids' thoughts are genuine and honest. They're children, so the lack of self-censorship provides some of the most insightful television available.

Tonight's episode was no exception. Religion was on the docket and who knew kids were so passionate about their faith. The subject came up at a meal and the children quickly divided between Christians and the self-appointed "Jew Crew." Later, when the topic of a Bonanza City-wide religious service came up, many were up at arms. They thought religion bred conflict, they wanted to worship in denominational groups. The town council tried to hold the service anyway but no one came. Instead, a few children from assorted religious groups held a prayer service before bed. Nothing made me laugh/smile more than one kid crying after the prayer when he learned non-Christians prayed too. It was adorable and sad that his parents and faith leaders back home had failed him so poorly.

Tonight's episode also highlighted just how pervasive alcohol conventions are in movies, other Tv shows and contemporary America. Tonight, Cody, a 9-year-old from Ohio was missing his girlfriend (a whole 'nother issue) so he went to the saloon to,"...drink some rootbeer and get it off [his] mind." Cody later decides to leave Bonanza City and his best friend on the show cries for awhile, then does a few shots of Root Beer. I know exactly where they're picking this stuff up, but I just don't remember knowing all of this stuff as a kid. I knew what shots were, and we would do chugging contests with milk or orange juice but nothing like these guys. I wonder what shift in society made some of these conventions so pervasive.

Just throwin' it out there. I love this show, because you can take it really seriously and think of things like that, or just take it at face value and laugh at Jared.

And for our fan or two out there, tonight's episode was so awesome, both of us will be discussing it. Stay tuned for the other half!

My Last Kid Nation Post...Maybe

Phish fan-in-training Michael, 14, had the quotation of the night yesterday. This mop-topped College Dems recruit was the winner of the Gold Star, a two-pound paper weight worth $20,000. The town-council selected him because he gets the water everyday, and fixed the pump when it froze, plus he's the dreamiest boy in all of Bonanza City. However, as down-to-earth as Michael is, his comments last night proved he's still just a short, hippy teenager with CNN.

When asked about morale at the camp and how life was in Kid Nation, Michael replied:

"At least I'm not in Ethiopia."

Right on Michael. You keep sticking it to the man. Check out the first signs of his political greatness.

Hump Day Updates

Not since they started selling popcorn for a quarter at my elementary school have I been this excited for a Wednesday. Blame it on lackluster summer shows or genuinely intriguing fall premieres, but I have an inkling fall hump days are going to be the ones to beat.

Here's what I'm watching tonight and more importantly, what I'm not:


Kid Nation (Left): I haven't been this amped to see children cry, sweat and put themselves in harms way since American Juniors. This show is living up to all of the hype and then some. However, it is kind of sad when you discover that children are just as calculating, if not more so than adults. Except this one. He's just plain cute.

Private Practice: I keep calling this show Private Parts, making for confusing conversations with my parents and colleagues. But seriously, Greys has sucked since season 2 and I'm ready to lend my loyalty to Addison and her band of wacky doctors. Plus Paul Adelstein (Prison Break) is in the cast and he has yet to let me down.

Dirty Sexy Money: The premise of this show reminds me of Arrested Development. We all saw how well that went. It's an hour long though, Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) stars, and knowing ABC, the show will have some sort of intrigue or dead narrator. I'm crossing my fingers for both.

Other things I plan to record or catch later:
Kitchen Nightmares
Top Chef
The War

Things I'm Avoiding Like The Plague:

Back To You: I like Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer, but it's time to give the shows to someone else. Especially you Fraiser! You've been playing the same pompous asshole for 25 years.

The Bionic Woman: First, I refuse to give Isaiah Washington another chance so soon. Second, the pop-up ads for that show slowed down my internet beyond belief and kept me from searching IMDB. And since the image was so big, I couldn't avoid clicking it. Plus, this looks like it could be a better movie anyway.

There is a lot to sift out before I make my final Wednesday line-up though and nothing is firm yet...except Kitchen Nightmares.