TV with MeeVee

"New Amsterdam" Star Talks To Bloggers

John Amsterdam is a New York detective unlike any you'll find on "Law & Order."

Way back in 1642, as a Dutch soldier serving in what was then called New Amsterdam, he saved the life of a Native American girl, who picked up her peace pipe and gave him the magic toke of immortality, or something like that. (The flashback is a little dark.) Now he's the "living embodiment of New York City," says Fox, which sounds like a wild party, except that everyone he knows gets old and dies, and he doesn't. Bummer. He won't be released from predicament until he meets his soulmate. But then, while he's fighting crime in the Big Apple in the present day, a foot pursuit hands him a near-death experience, and he knows his one true (and final) love must be near...

Fox's "New Amsterdam" is a cop show under a Native American spell. Lasse Hallstrom directed the pilot:  Not bad. Its first two episodes bow on Tuesday and Thursday after "American Idol," before settling in on Monday nights next week.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Amsterdam, got on the phone with a small group of TV writers, mostly bloggers and other online types, to talk about it. Edited highlights...

Question: I was wondering if you could actually live to be 400 years old, when do you think boredom would start to kick in?
Coster-Waldau: That’s a good question. I think anxiety would kick in a little sooner, and fear. I guess John Amsterdam is a little lucky. He’s lucky the way he happens to be blessed or cursed in New York. Doing this show, of course, I’ve been reading a lot on the history of New York, and its breathtaking the amount of events that have unfolded in this city. So, I’m not sure he’s been bored. Here, where I am right now, yes, I think 400 years is maybe pushing it a little bit, yes. I would say 124 years.

Weekend Picks: March 1-2

The Simpsons
A parody of The Departed, in which Bart gains an accomplice in pranking. Also, Marge damages the car, and while it's in the shop, they get a much nicer car on loan.

Big Brother
When George Orwell's nightmare vision comes true, it will be because everyone in the world has volunteered to be on this show full time.

The Wire
We're coming down to the end of the Best Cop Show Ever. Tonight: Freamon's got a good lead, but McNulty can't be happy for him. Meanwhile, Daniels and Pearlman make some unsettling discoveries.

Obama Loves "The Wire"

In These Times alerted me to the fact that Barack Obama watches "The Wire," which strikes me as a good reason both to vote for Obama even if you don't like the show, and to watch the show even if you don't like Obama.

If you like both, of course, it's a cavalcade of "Obama: He's just like me!" But it's also important to understand what a political leader's perspective is on unwholesome organizational incentives is, and to understand that a political leader appreciates the cyclical, endemic nature of societal damage as represented in "The Wire."

Also, it's a freaking awesome show. Just watch it, OK?

"Deadliest Catch" Video Game?

I found out from, of all places, the Penny Arcade video-game comic, that there is now a browser-based game centered on the Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" TV show. Yes, a crab-fishing game.

Why not? There's risk and planning. It's as dangerous and fascinating as, say, Oregon Trail, and that's a franchise that's survived more than thirty years to become a t-shirt and a Facebook application. So, sure. A crab-fishing video game.

"Heroes" Releases Album, Courts Hipsters

The excessively multi-media scifi show "Heroes" is all set to release a CD of your favorite music from the show. Like... that eerie sound effect, and Sylar laughing maniacally. I like "Heroes," but I have never once remarked, "ooo, great music" while watching an episode. Apparently it's not bad though, the soundtrack will include Wilco, Bob Dylan, Imogen Heap, and for people who like the pointlessly over-rated, there's even a Panic! At The Disco song. The album will also include The Jesus And Mary Chain's first new studio recording in more than a decade, "All Things Must Pass."

The CD releases March 18th, and is available for pre-order at Best Buy. The tracks will also be available on the Zune Marketplace if you were dumb enough to buy a Zune, but NBC assures us they will also be on "other digital service providers." I'm holding out for the "Pushing Daisies" soundtrack myself.

Spinoff City: "Prison Break" And "Family Guy" To Get Relatives

According to the Hollywood Reporter, both "Family Guy" and "Prison Break" are set to have spinoffs on Fox. The "Family Guy" one will be based on the character of Cleveland Brown. The one with the deli. You know... the, uh, token black character on the show. Yeah, that guy.

It could be pretty funny, but since Cleveland's the only character on "Family Guy" with any common sense, I don't quite see it moving in the same wacky-hijinks vein as "Family Guy." It would be brilliant if they made Cleveland's interactions with his unfaithful and domineering wife, Loretta, into a heartbreaking drama worthy of HBO. That could work pretty well.

Meanwhile, the Prison Break spinoff will be set at a women's prison. I imagine it will be something like this:

"Beauty And The Geek" Makeunders

On the season premiere of the CW's "Beauty And The Geek" (March 11, kids, set your TiVos), the beauties and the geeks are assigned to go to a bar and collect phone numbers from people. The beauties assume they've got the challenge in the bag until they find out they get makeovers beforehand. Makeunders, really, designed to make them look worse than the geeks.

Yes, it's funny, but it also teaches them an important lesson about how they've been able to rely on their looks for a long time, and how to feel a little more sympathy for the geeks. But more importantly, it's hilarious. It might also win them a Creative Emmy for makeup, because I have no idea how they managed to add twenty pounds to this woman with just some fake acne and an ugly sweater. Maybe it's just buttoning the shirt up to the neck, de-emphasizing the chin? I don't know. However they did it, very clever.

"Make Me A Supermodel" Goes To The Mountains

As I predicted last week, Jacki got the boot this week. That leaves just two women, Holly and Shannon, still in the running. I'm not surprised that Shannon is still there, but Holly (left) was someone I hadn't expected. From her early, uncomfortable shoots and embarrassment about S-E-X, she's grown into a very confident model. Ben, (with holly) meanwhile, is still adorable and not very good at what he does. He keeps getting dumped into the bottom 3, and he keeps getting saved because he's fantastic television.

I was sort of surprised to see him get so worked up and start trash-talking during the workout competition, though. I guess he's used to that kind of trash talk during physical competitions back home, but it sure doesn't fly with his friends up North. Once they're all back in the city, Ronnie had a hear-to-heart with Ben about his words, and Ben apologized.

Huh? Honesty and explanations? Apologies? SINCERE apologies?  This is totally not the way reality TV is supposed to work! I wanted them to get into a huge fight! But Ronnie acted all understanding and Ben realized the error of his ways. Way to act like decent human beings and ruin the fun for the rest of us. Jerks.

For further spoilers & commentary, read Ducky's liveblog.

"Moment Of Truth" Admissions Less Shocking Than Believed

A couple days ago I posted a video of a woman admitting to adultery to win money, while her horrified husband looked on, crushed. Turns out, he wasn't really surprised. He knew she'd been cheating, and their marriage was a shipwreck. They'd gone on the show mostly to give her modeling career a boost and to see if they could win a silver lining from publicizing their troubles. So far, they've gotten some interviews and insults, but they came away from the game show empty-handed. And the marriage? Still together, despite all that.

"quarterlife" Punted By NBC After A Fraction Of That

NBC is dumping its repurposed version of the Internet program "quarterlife" over to its cable sister network, Bravo. Dismal ratings for this week's NBC premiere doomed the show. Co-creator and TV veteran Marshall Herskovitz was in Boston this week and told the Globe that he knew what was coming after seeing just a few minutes of the show on the air. So, on behalf of Aaron, just let me repeat: "Told you so."

"Lost" Scorecard: Desmond Hume Is Unstuck In Time

If anyone gets kicked around by fate, metaphysics and whatever else on this island, it's Desmond Hume. The guy spent ages pushing the stupid button only to have it blown up by Locke, nearly drove himself crazy trying to save Charlie only to have the hobbit kick the bucket, and fought like hell to get off the island only to be driven totally bitchcakes on the way to the boat.

On this week's "Lost," along with more kicks in the teeth for Desmond we're treated to a fat dose of sweet, sweet answers. Well, sort of. Well actually not really at all, but we did learn something really interesting and that seems as good as answers. Okay, it was something we had kind of suspected for a while but... look, it was cool. Maybe, like a mistreated dog, "Lost" fans are just excited to be thrown a scrap or two, but it's hard not to get excited when big things are happening, even if the big things aren't answering any questions or solving any riddles. But enough about that, what was the score?

"American Idol" Outies

Elimination night on "American Idol," and time to see how we did.

For the girls, we said: Who's going home? Well, anyone whose name begins with an A: Asia'h, Alexandrea, Alaina and, alas, Amanda.

Who went? Alexandrea and Alaina. We're 2 for 2!

For the guys...well, turns out we forgot to make picks for the guys.

Who went? Jason and Robbie (right). Um, we're 4 for 4! Woohoo!

Tonight's Picks: Friday, February 29

Today is leap-day, an extra day thrown into the month to make up for the imprecision of our calendars. Obviously nobody in TV land remembered it, because there's nothing good on TV. It's almost all reruns, except for "Friday Night Smackdown" and a primetime edition of "The Price Is Right."  Talk about a vast wasteland. Have you considered just watching video online?

In Treatment
If you get HBO, now's the time to laugh at your basic cable friends. This is the only show worth watching tonight.

What's Next For "Sarah Connor Chronicles"

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" is the latest piece of the massive and well-loved Terminator franchise. Plenty is familiar in the new show - there are guns and monotone bad guys and the Connors themselves - but plenty is new as well. One of the new additions to the storyline is Derek Reese, brother of Kyle Reese (that's John's father from the future, if you're not up on your Terminator mythology), played by Brian Austin Green - yeah, that guy from "Beverly Hills 90210." (Left, Green with Thomas Dekker as John.)

"The Sarah Connor Chronicles" will wrap up its first season with a bang this coming Monday. The season will conclude with a two-hour finale airing on Fox at 8pm. This week, Brian Austin Green and head writer Josh Friedman sat down with journalists to discuss the show and what's coming next.

The big question on everyone's mind is whether the show will be renewed. Friedman couldn't give any answers on that, but did say that the show wasn't as expensive to produce as people might think, and that it was currently in the top 5 most Tivo-ed shows. They'll be sitting down with the networks to pitch season 2 and find out what's next, but right now it's anyone's guess.

Amanda Overmyer, Rock Nurse, Ex-Con

You know how we know Amanda Overmyer, the rock-n-roll nurse on "American Idol," is really hardcore? It's not the helmetless motorcycle riding, and it's definitely not the way she butchered "Carry On My Wayward Son."

It's the mugshot.

Hell to the yes, she's been arrested! She picked up a DUI back in aught-six, in addition having a string of minor offenses like doing 100 miles per hour on a road limited to 45 (daaaamn). She hasn't become a magically better driver since then, either, as we know from hearing about that cracked rib she brought to Hollywood week.

Yeah, she's a real rocker all right: Crazy hair, motorcycle, drinks too much, and a criminal record. That's enough to get her endorsements from both D-Listed and mega-voters Vote For The Worst. It might even be enough to help her recover from last night's disaster, shown here:

"ANTM" Episode 2: Welcome To The House Of Bitches

Last night's "ANTM" saw the aspiring models move into their New York loft, and saw the producers pit Marvita against Fatima in a contest of "Who's had the worse childhood?" In addition to degrees from the school of hard knocks, both women have outsized egos and strong personalities, and a fantastic ability to antagonize the other residents. With whom they are sharing bedrooms.

Challenge one: Times Suqare runway walk for Badgley Mischka. With no guidance, no coaching, and little preparation, they're thrust out in public. Marvita screws it up from nervousness. Dominique (right), although she has a forehead so tall people are probably calling it a fivehead all over LiveJournal, does a great job. Kim is shocked by the cost of the clothes and says she doesn't "believe in paying that much for an outfit." Remind me why you're here again? Lauren doesn't know how to walk a runway. She doesn't know how to walk in heels. She doesn't know why she's there. I don't know why I'm here.

Aaand, we have a fight between Fatima and Marvita. Neither one has any trust for other human beings and refuses to forgive any slight. This will make great TV for as long as the two stay in the running. Especially with only two bedrooms, the ANTM house is going to turn into a house of bitches pretty damn quick. Oh yeah, that's why I'm here: I love watching crazy bitches fight.

"Secret Life Of..." Visits The Land Of Breakfast

George Duran, host of "The Secret Life Of..." on the Food Network, will be visiting one of my favorite traditional artisan food producers, Father's Country Hams. On March 3, you can find out about the small town in Kentucky, and what a real country ham is all about.

My grandfather grew up in Smithfield, VA, where country ham was once something of a religion (it's now a commercialized, watered-down shadow of its former self.) But in the backwoods of Kentucky, they still make ham the old fashioned way, raw and heavily salted, and cured for months. The result is closer to proscuitto or serrano ham than to lunchmeat or the spiral-cut honey-baked hams you see at parties.

Thinly sliced and served with eggs and gravy and biscuits, it's one of the best hangover cures ever.

We Told You "Quarterlife" Would Bomb

I'm not even going to pretend that I hate to say "I told you so." Saying "I told you so" is one of the greatest pleasures in my life, right after looking out the window and watching people's cars get stuck in the snow while I'm inside drinking hot chocolate.

Anyway, I thought "Quarterlife" would suck, and it sucks. And I thought it would be poorly rated, and it's poorly rated. Reuters says it's the "network's worst time-period performance in at least 17 years." Honest to blog, dude, you've got a dud on your hands.

An Evening With "Two And A Half Men"

Last night, the Academy of Television Arts And Sciences held a gala party titled "An Evening With 'Two And A Half Men.'" I can't imagine a worse way to spend an evening in Los Angeles, and believe me, I've spent some pretty horrible evenings in Los Angeles.  Angus T. Jones, below left, and Charlie Sheen, below right, represent one and a half of the men on the sitcom. Brooke Mueller, on Charlie's arm, apparently represents the sort of person who wants to make time with Charlie Sheen. Ew.

"30 Rock" Nerd In A Rock Video... As A Nerd

Jack McBrayer, known to comedy fans everywhere as Kenneth, the goofy page on "30 Rock," has a similar role as a goofy IT guy Mariah Carey seduces in her new video, "Touch My Body." I think it's funny, sure, but BuzzSugar thinks the combination of Jack McBrayer and Mariah Carey is the greatest thing since peanut butter and chocolate.

Tonight's Picks: Thursday, February 28

Lost
Sayid and Desmond head to the freighter but encounter turbulence... and weird results.

American Idol
Over the course of an hour, the names of four losers will be read from a list. Has Ryan Seacrest considered hosting the Oscars next year?

Celebrity Rehab
In the second-to-last episode, the rehabbers participate in an Outward-Bound program to learn about trust and independence. Then, they head home. Will they stay clean? We already know the answer to that one, I'm afraid.

Win A Free TiVo
We're giving away a free TiVo every week to people who sign up for the full MeeVee experience. We're also doing a music giveaway sponsored by MusicPass, featuring $500 worth of free music.

The Penultimate "Project Runway"

Tonight, we had the annual "Project Runway" penultimate episode, the one where Tim visits all the designers at home. It was also the one where Rami had to face off against Chris for the chance to be the third designer in the Fashion Week show. What struck me about this episode, though was just how friendly everyone was. I have to admit that while I never really liked Christian Siriano, he's a lot nicer than any of the "bad guys" on the previous seasons. It's remarkable just how much the other designers like and respect him.

Spoilers after the jump...

"American Idol" Liveblog: The Women

They told us this is the most talented group ever. Yeah, right. Tonight, more songs of the '70s...

Carly Smithson, all in black with big boots and tats, "Crazy On You," yeah baby! A little bit outta tune at moments - some big notes there that are hard to get - but not bad. The ringer done good.

Syesha, "Me and Mrs. Jones"? Uh, no. Too bad because she still has one of the best voices in the group, but as Randy pointed out she looks disconnected when she sings the soft parts. This girl gotta belt.

Brooke White, "You're So Vain," strumming her guitar. It's excellent! And the big joke is whether it's about Simon or not. Seacrest: "When you are so vain, and then you hear 'You're So Vain'..." Simon says he loved it - and admits he thinks this song was about him. Oh, we all just love each other now, don't we. A pointed contrast to some of the confrontational behavior from the guys last night.

Danny Noriega Reminds Me Of Someone

Vote For The Worst's favorite "American Idol" boy, Danny Noriega, does this cute little hairflip thing. Sure, he's twee and fey and all the other adorable adjectives, but you know, when I saw the animated GIF at ONTD, it reminded me of someone else.

Someone fiercer.

Someone... bankable.

"Hills" Season 3? Why?

Do we really need another season of "The Hills?" Why bother? Maybe if I were the BBC's reporter investigating the effects of smoking pot I'd watch it. Seriously, the only reason to ever watch that show is if you're too stoned to reach the remote and change the channel.

Help me out here, blog readers. Do you watch that show? While sober? Because far as I'm concerned, "May cause enjoyment of shows like 'The Hills'" needs to be be added to this comic video about the side-effects of weed:

Oprah Rules, But So Does Heather

I honestly loathe reading snark by other writers that's so good I envy them for having written it. This often happens with Salon.com TV critic Heather Havrilesky. But some of the prose in her piece about "Oprah's Big Give" is just too good not to share:

Hell, most people would eat a plate of live maggots just for a chance to see Oprah face to face and tell her, as most mortals do when they meet Oprah, that they love her with the blinding heat of a thousand suns.
Yes, this is a reality show, but instead of casting deluded, drunken youngsters who want their 15 minutes of fame, Oprah cast likable, sensitive, caring individuals who honestly hope to change the world. They're also, not surprisingly, the kinds of people who weep openly or scream at the top of their lungs when they find out that it's Oprah on the phone, telling them that they've been chosen. (And by the way, I love the look on Oprah's face when yet another mortal confesses his or her undying love. Yes, yes, you love me, of course, can we get on with this? That's Oprah: Omnipotent, yet so human.)

Damn I wish I'd written that.

Beer Makes Me Feel This Way Too

This Australian beer ad has convinced me that with enough hope and a good soundtrack, I could dance my way into a good job.

Also clever: A Very Big Ad For Beer.

"My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad"

To be honest, my dad has more dignity than any of fathers on "My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad." And what about the ones who lose? Are they proven to suck? Most importantly, do you really want to see your father in a spandex singlet, diving into a bowl of slime? Well, if you're ten, maybe that would be pretty hilarious. I don't know.

I do know that no kid of mine would goad me into this kind of desperate clawing for their approval. I hope. OH GOD SON I LOVE YOU PLEASE FORGIVE ME. I KNOW I IGNORED YOU FOR THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF YOUR LIFE BUT PLEASE LET ME MAKE IT UP TO YOU WITH ONE TELEVISED GESTURE!

Morning Reading And Random Vicious Mockery.

• The writers strike is officially over. (United Hollywood)
• By a wide margin, too. (United Hollywood)
• The strike was good for cable ratings. (Mediaweek)
• Fucking Ben Affleck is now worthy of a New York Times story. Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
• hahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha.
• Fans of NBC's "Las Vegas" want a resolution to the cliffhanger. To quote Elvis Costello, I say, "Let 'em dangle." These get-a-lifers want to send baby booties to NBC to make it happen. Lordy. (Buddy TV)
• ABC is getting with the on-demand program. Welcome to the real world, you wacky dinosaurs. (GMMR)
• Not mockery: "Raisin in the Sun" did really well for ABC Monday night. (TV Decoder)
• The Jay Leno's post-"Tonight Show" plot thickens. (NY Times)
• Still hurt feelings over the Oscar videos. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)
• Signs of the apocalypse: "According to Jim" may be renewed for another season. (Hollywood Reporter)

And finally, do you think Michael Bay knows what an asshat he looks like in those FIOS commercials where he calls everything awesome, just like the idiot brother-in-law on "Chuck?" I'm just askin'.

"Top Model" Judges Get Harsh

Tonight on "America's Next Top Model," the models are going to New York City. They're also going to get some harsh words from another model, Paulina Porizkova, which should just about crush their self-esteem. For example, this poor girl gets alerted to the fact that she looks like a transvestite tribute to Robin Wright Penn, and that she really needs to scrape off about 90 percent of the makeup she's wearing. It sounds harsh, but it's totally true. Besides, Tyra Banks will help them rebuild their confidence, right?

"Jericho": Beware Of Captain Trips

Jericho
Title: Jennings & Rall
First Aired: 2/26/08

It's business as usual for the folks in Jericho, everything is going to hell but at least they've got this nice handbasket. Since it's not such a big deal having to contend with J&R, Ravenwood, hiding a nuclear bomb and the creepy propaganda coming out of Cheyenne, it's time to up the ante with a nice biblical plague. And that's not the half of it. I bet Canada is looking pretty nice right about now.

Tonight's Picks: Wednesday, February 27

American Idol
The top 10 female singers perform.

America's Next Top Model
First a harsh critique from top model Paulina Porizkova, then a runway competition in Times Square, and a photoshoot about homelessness.

In Treatment
Sophie's mom joins her for a session, and bicker the whole time. Paul makes a deal with Sophie about continuing sessions.

"American Idol" Top Ten Men

Tonight on "American Idol," the top ten male singers will show us if they've gotten over their early-round nerves and settled into a groove. A groove from the 70s. If this means next week is 80s new wave hits, I'm so there. Who's going to sing "Love Will Tear Us Apart?"

Michael Johns, the Australian, is up first. He sings "You Can Go Your Own Way," which is a pretty good choice, because it's a great arena anthem. But he totally fails to rock it in any significant way.

Jason Castro, the white boy with dreads: Plays guitar. Acoustic version of a Bee Gees hit I had to Google and could swear I haven't heard before.  I think it's horrible, and Simon Cowell agrees with me. I feel guilty for agreeing so much with Simon. It's as though he knows just how much his show sucks.

Luke Menard (right): The first good performance. He does Queen's "Killer Queen," their '75 breakthrough hit. Randy's a yes Paula's a yes, and Simon thinks he overreached. Freddy Mercury, he says, "had charisma and personality, and you didn't."

Robbie Carrico: Did you know the ex-boybander has a drag-racing hobby? He does. He also does an adequate version of Foreigner's arena-rock anthem "Hot Blooded." If I were a baseball-cap wearing, Bud-Light swilling, collar-popping douchebag at a bar serving underaged college kids, I'd totally pump my fist as Robbie Carrico's cover band played this song. But I don't see why anyone would pay $0.99 to listen to it on iTunes.

Danny Noriega (below): Oh, he's so cute. His performance of "Don't You Remember You Told Me You Love Me Baby," on the other hand, is not cute. I'm cutting him from my list of favorites based on this performance alone. Dullsville. I am so bored by it I don't even want to hear what Simon has to say.

"Dexter" Gets Extra Publicity From Concerned Conservatives

Ned Flanders and his friends at the Parents Television Council sure are doing a bang-up job of telling teenagers about this awesomely violent new show that's just been moved from Showtime to CBS, barely cut down at all!

"Dude, did you hear about 'Dexter?'"
"Not until my parents told me I shouldn't watch it: That's when I downloaded all the episodes I'd missed."
"Me too! I feel like I've spent the whole weekend in a fine mist of blood and viscera!"

The Next Reality Show: Sea Cowboys

This Wired article, called "Sea Cowboys" is about ocean salvage experts. Their job is to board damaged ships, keep them afloat, and save the cargo. Many of the people who do this work die, but the others make a lot of money. I think that makes it a great partner to "Ice Road Truckers" on the Discovery Channel.

Or maybe an action-packed summer blockbuster sort of like "Ocean's 11" meets "Armageddon" at sea.

Actually it could be both. And you can call them both "Sea Cowboys." In the fictional one, hard-as-nails wreck diver Colin Trepte (left) would be played by Daniel Craig. It could totally work.

Now, tell me this: Why am I not a prize-winning screenwriter or reality-TV producer?

Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana-mania at CMT

Country music star turned sitcom dad Billy Ray Cyrus and his meal ticket daughter Miley Cyrus, aka "Hannah Montana," will host and perform at the CMT Awards live from Nashville on April 14. No word on whether Miley will be performing as herself and/or her blond-tressed sitcom alter ego, but if you were betting on a solo Hannah performance and a sweet, twangy Miley duet with dad, our money would be with yours. Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood and Toby Keith are among other scheduled performers. Both Cyruses are set to start shooting "The Hannah Montana Movie" in Nashville this spring.

"Quarterlife:" A Quarter Of The Way To The Grave Already

It's kind of disappointing, but I have to agree with Matthew Gilbert, who writes that "Quarterlife" just isn't very good. His column at one of the less-prestigious New York Times subsidiaries begins, "Oh big, breathy sigh. Just watched a TV series about people in their mid-20s. Life is hard for the new generation..."

Yeah, I know. Look, if I wanted to hear about whiny self-absorbed net denizens who haven't quite come to grips with the fact that they're not as great as they'd always thought and that they can't grow up to be whatever they want, I'd read my own blog, or watch old LonelyGirl15 videos (left). I watch TV to escape from that crap, not to identify with it!

PS: The Hater hates it too, so I'm in good company.

"Moment Of Truth:" How Much Worse Can It Get?

Proponents of radical honesty might change their minds after watching this clip from "Moment Of Truth," which I found over at I'm Not Obsessed. After a few rounds of increasingly shameful admissions, our contestant has won $100,000 and told her husband she's still in love with her ex-boyfriend. Three more questions will double her money. Her mom says she should stop. Her husband says "How much worse could it get? Keep going!"

It gets worse.

On the plus side, at least he's not going to spend his entire life married to a horrible person.

Morning Reading

• Actors aren't always the same age as their characters? My word is turned upside down. (TV Squad)
• The inside poop on the end of "Las Vegas." (TV Guide)
• Interview with Richard T. Jones of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." (TV Addict)
• Dennis Miller is a d.b. Not exactly news, but we never tire of saying it. (TV Barn)
• ABC goes VOD with ADS. (TV Squad)
• "Prison Break" is looking good for a fourth season. (BuddyTV)
• TV station honchos in Alabama swear it was technical difficulties that blocked their transmission of a controversial "60 Minutes" report about some local pols. Then when they got caught, they broadcast the segment on their local news. (NY Times)
• Keeping the books fair and square in Hollywood? That. Will. Never. Happen. (United Hollywood)
• The sad song choices may not be "American Idol" contestants' fault. (ET Online)
• Those poor performances have made Simon Cowell a mint, though: The "Idol" judge just paid about $80,000,000 for a house in London. That's equal to the amount of foreign aid that the UK sends to Zambia each year. (Heatworld) (Real Estalker says it ain't so, though.)

Oscar Controversies

Yes, the ratings for Sunday's Academy Awards were mega-crappy. Ask tvbythenumbers.com. And why the f--- did they leave Whoopi out of the Oscar-hosts reel? Now she's all sad. At least we know it's not racism, because they also skipped the whitest man in America, Steve Martin. Also kind of bogus to see Oscar poobahs tap-dancing around the question of why Brad Renfro got left out of the dead-Hollywood montage, while Heath Ledger was included...here's the montage:

Is That Tre From "Top Chef" On "Iron Chef America?"

On the most recent "Iron Chef America," featuring chef brothers Kent and Kevin Rathburn facing off against Bobby Flay, the surprise ingredient was elk. The show also had another surprise in store for astute food-TV watchers: The challengers' sous-chef was Tre Wilcox, one of the top condenders on "Top Chef" last season. Tre worked for Kent at the hot Dallas restaurant Abacus, although word is that he's since struck out on his own. A third surprise: The challengers won.

The next season of "Top Chef" begins March 12 and is set in Chicago.