Life is Wild - When I first heard about this show I wondered how it could possibly have the budget to set up filming on location in South Africa with actual animals and how they managed to get all these American actors to ship over there. It seemed a whole huge production for something that didn't even sound that great. But apparently it's based on a popular British TV show called Wild at Heart that pretty much had everything set up so both shows film at the same site, which really is a game preserve. So if it gets cancelled...it'll still suck but hey, at least the British version is doing well.
Anyway, the show's not really too bad. I think it's supposed to be the CW's replacement for 7th Heaven: a nice clean family show, this time with beautiful scenery and wild animals. The writing and acting is kind of terrible, but I mean, it's not really aiming to be groundbreaking or anything. 7th Heaven lasted for 11 freaking seasons without doing anything the least bit interesting and I think they're hoping this show could possibly do the same. Except for the fact that the family is only supposed to be in South Africa for one year, and the two older kids are nearly done with high school. Um...yeah. They'll have to do something about that.
After watching the pilot I thought I would probably just drop it but there's really nothing else to watch in its timeslot (Sundays at 8PM) so I found myself checking it out again this week, and I don't know, it's just kind of mindlessly entertaining. And that lion cub is so cute!
Samantha Who? - Amnesia's a pretty tried and true TV/film plot device but for some reason watching this show made me really wonder about it for the first time. I mean, retrograde amnesia? How weird is that? Having "general knowledge" but no memories or sense of yourself? At first I thought that Sam was being way too casual about it all but then I realized that I mean, obviously I don't know how I'd behave in that situation anyway. It's so WEIRD! Haha, anyway, I thought this was pretty cute and fun. It reminded me a lot of 13 Going on 30, which I love. I was surprised to see Barry Watson here, and even more surprised to kind of like him. I've found it difficult to block out his 7th Heaven days but I think he kind of looks different now. Has he lost weight or something? Christina Applegate is likable, Jean Smart is hilarious as her mom, and Melissa McCarthy (Sookie from Gilmore Girls!) and Jennifer Esposito (from Related...am I the only one who watched that show?) play her "angel and devil" friends. It's fun stuff. The Next Iron Chef - Alton Brown did some interviews kind of slamming Top Chef saying that the chefs on that show didn't have any skill or talent as compared to this new show that he's hosting. I've always liked Alton Brown, but that was really extremely harsh, considering that a lot of the Top Chef contestants lately own restaurants or work at places like Guy Savoy. And really, Top Chef is a serious show. The drama might be kind of overblown at times, but the Next Iron Chef is...kind of hokey. I mean, if you've watched Iron Chef America, you know what I mean with the Chairman and all the faux dramatics with the "secret ingredient" and all. It's all part of the fun, which I enjoy, but really Alton, no need to be so nasty.
Anyway, I love my cooking reality shows and this is no different. It's a short series, having only started with 8 chefs, and the challenges are really good. This week was a mystery-box-type challenge, but the fun was that they got to choose ingredients for eachother. And they had to cook outdoors on grills, so a double whammy. I can't really say I have a favorite...being an Iron Chef doesn't necessarily mean you need to have personality, and honestly, I think all these people would do just fine. I remember seeing Aaron Sanchez as a challenger on ICA, and he did extremely well. I guess they're just looking for something who'll have a winning record and be interesting to watch?
On a related note, during the show last night I saw a commercial for Amy's new show, the Gourmet Next Door. It has some random weekend daytime slot, but I'll definitely be checking it out. I did vote for her and all...
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