Let’s face it, viewers don’t tune into the Emmy Awards to see who takes home the Outstanding Sound Editing For Nonfiction Programming (Single Or Multi-Camera) award. We tend to want drama, surprises, and a few wardrobe mishaps or unexpected knock-it-out of the parks. 

A few random thoughts:

-Fashion. Next to the Oscars, is there a bigger fashion show that takes place during the year? Sofia Vergara. Julianna Margulies. Mariska Hargitay. Connie Britton. Dame Judi Dench. Christina Hendricks. I can’t wait to see them all. I love it all the more that most of these women are over 35 and a few of them wear something higher than a size 2.

-Jon Hamm is very very very pretty and I hope to see a LOT of him. Sigh…

-Everyone is wondering what sort of acceptance speech Conan O’Brien will give if he wins for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series.

-Will this be the Year of the Newbies, e.g., “Glee” and “Modern Family” or will the academy show respect to the veterans and also reward those that have gone to TV heaven such as “Lost”?

-How will Jimmy Fallon handle hosting duties? There have been news reports hyping that the show will go digital this year, incorporating Facebook and Twitter. Um. Not sure what to think about that.

-Two of my favorite people George Clooney and Betty White will be there. And guess, who else — Kate Gosselin! Go Kate. Can’t wait to see you!

So are you watching all or part of the show? Who are you rooting for and/or against? Share your thoughts.

The opening number to the Emmys:

ABC’s Lost is coming to an end this Sunday, May 23rd, with a two and a half (!) hour episode that will no doubt be the greatest! finale! ever! OR the Most Disappointing Finale in the History of Television. Or possibly both. Lost has always had a knack for combining the brilliant and sophisticated with the absurd and just plain bad. Witness the May 11 episode, detailing the mysterious origins of Jacob and MIB (that’s Man in Black to you Lost newbies, though I prefer to think of him as Esau, now). Set in some unspecified time frame hundreds of years ago, and featuring a miscast Alison Janney as a sort of precursor to Locke in the role of (wo)man of faith/protector of the Island/general nutball, the episode was widely panned by Lost fans, many of whom felt like too much time was spent on these tangential (if important to the overall story of Lost) characters when so little time is left in the series. Some also felt frustrated by the esoteric nature of the episode, and thought it raised more questions than it answered (a complaint about Lost episodes since around episode two, but one with particular weight when, again, you’re talking about the third-to-last episode of the series).

I actually liked the episode, at least in part. Sure, they got a little heavy-handed with the religious parallels (“take this cup and drink from it”), but I liked getting some insight into Jacob and MIB’s respective roles and natures. As suspected, it’s not as simple as Jacob=good, MIB=bad (or black and white, as the stones in the game they play indicate – another bit of symbolism that I suppose some may find heavy-handed).

This last season has had its ups and downs – I think the “sideways” storyline has been brilliant, overall; on the other hand, seeing some of the core characters altered beyond recognition (as Claire and Sayid have been) or killed (as I guess Sun and Jin have been) has been kind of disconcerting. Lost has always been about the mysteries to a great degree, but the audience has come to care about the characters, too, and I don’t like to see them jerked around to serve the plot, if they indeed have been. The final “truth” remains to be seen, of course; if the sideways storyline somehow ends up being the final reality, then I guess maybe everyone will be okay? (I’ve seen speculation that the two timelines will merge somehow, which would be interesting, though I wonder what it would mean for Jack if he is now “keeper” of the island?)

The realistic Lost fan knows that not all questions can or will be answered. Maybe that’s as it should be. After all of the many, many mysteries the show has thrown at us (polar bears! mysterious numbers! men who don’t age and who look like they’re wearing eyeliner when they aren’t!), it would feel too trite if the series were wrapped up in a perfectly neat and tidy way. I think what most fans want is a general understanding of what’s been happening for the last six seasons and why. An explanation that balances the mystical aspects of Lost that many of us have found so fascinating, without getting too deus ex machina or full of mumbo-jumbo, would be ideal in my eyes. I’d like a reasonably happy ending, too – I don’t care that much if Kate ends up with Jack or Sawyer, but for goodness sake, if Locke somehow turns up alive he should be given a break. I haven’t always liked his character – he could be maddening at times – but, jeez, he’s certainly been tortured enough. Same goes for Claire, actually.

What about you? Do you have an ideal ending in mind? Any theories on what could or should happen? Share your thoughts!

It’s hard to believe eight weeks have passed since DWTS premiered.  Doesn’t it seem like just last week that Kate was announced as a cast member? It doesn’t seem so long ago that we were texting “3410″ or voting for Kate with as many email accounts as we could muster. Time moves too quickly for us all. Who can believe it is almost Memorial Day?!  

Anyway, we are down to the semi-finals. One person will be eliminated this week and next week – Week 10 – will be the finals consisting of the three remaining stars.

This is what the stars are dancing this week:   

Evan/Anna – Paso Doble and Fox Trot.

Nicole/Derek – Argentine Tango and Cha Cha.

Erin/Maks – Paso Doble and Viennese Waltz. 

Chad/Cheryl – Samba and Viennese Waltz.

Conventional wisdom says it will be Chad’s turn to bow out. Conventional wisdom is great, but you know what is even better? When there is a surprise! I just don’t want the “surprise” to be Erin leaving, so let’s remember to vote for our other favorite blond – ok?

Personally, I would be quite happy with an Erin-Evan-Chad finale. What about you?

Last week was an eventful one for Dancing with the Stars: Team Gaga rocked the group dance, Elisabeth Hasselbeck opened her big mouth and we said goodbye to the other big star of the season (other than Kate) – Pamela Anderson.

Let’s take a look at that Team Gaga Cha Cha once again. I have watched the encore performance 5 or 6 times and I still love it!

Week 7 Encore Dance

That was a highlight in a week that also brought a low moment. Elisabeth Hasselbeck of the The View apparently forgot some essential words to live by. In fact – unrelated to this matter – the mother of a reality TV show star posted these words verbatim on Facebook support page today: IF YOU CAN’T SAY SOMETHING NICE, DON’T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL!! (Normally, I wouldn’t repost in all caps, but I think the statement is important enough to do so).

I am not going to repost Elisabeth’s words. They were directed to Erin Andrews. They were very thoughtless and unkind. Similar in tone to some remarks that Whoopi Goldberg made about Kate a few weeks ago. Elisabeth, at least, had the good grace to apologize for her remarks. What was nice to see was the way the DWTS stars and dancers rallied immediately to Erin’s defense. They are a tight knit group and it shows. I can’t wait to see them all back (yes, Kate too!) for the finale.

Pamela Anderson was voted off this week. Perhaps unfairly. Was she a better dancer than Niecy? Probably, IMO.  The bloggers at Puredwts.com continues to be my go to site for DWTS analysis. (They aren’t Kate fans, but they aren’t nasty about it. They are just very into DWTS as a dance competition. I can respect that). They have an interesting take on why Niecy might or might not go home this week.

One element that cannot be ignored is that all stars will have to perform two solo dances this week. My feet hurt just hearing about it! Again, courtesy of Puredwts, here is who is dancing what.

Nicole/Derek: Foxtrot and 50’s Era Paso Doble

Chad/Cheryl: Tango and 60’s Jive

Erin/Maks: Argentine Tango and 80’s Rumba

Evan/Anna: Waltz and Futuristic Cha Cha

Niecy/Louis: Viennese Waltz and 90’s Paso

It will be interesting to see how the pros choreograph the time period they were assigned.  And how the stars handle two dances! Please share your thoughts with us before, during and after the show.

DWTS heads into week 7 with only six stars remaining. Who will go home this week?

First, let’s say goodbye to Jake Pavelka. I think most would agree that Jake, with no real performing background, did better than expected. While many predicted ahead of time that it was “his week to go”, I don’t think Jake was really ready to leave. I think it is easy to get invested in one or two of our favorites and forget how much time, energy and emotional commitment is required for a non-pro to come out every week and perform a new dance in front of millions. I give all the stars, but especially people like Kate and Jake, huge kudos for doing the show. When it was over, Jake tweeted:  ”Well guys, I did everything I could. Layed it all out there on the dance floor. I’m pretty bumbed (sp)…”  He also got a little choked up on stage when his name was announced, as Kate had the previous week. As they had the week before with Kate, some bloggers took the opportunity to criticize Jake for being visibly upset. I guess it is all too easy to take potshots at others while sitting on your butt with your laptop plastered to your thighs. Nice.

Speaking of Kate’s exit, there is an excellent interview with charming DWTS host Tom Bergeron in this week’s Entertainment Weekly. You can read the entire article here. Tom has nice things to say about Kate and is empathetic about the tears we witnessed when she left.

Ok, depending on who you talk to, the ratings either basically stayed the same or took a little bit of a dip during the first Kate-free episode of the season last week. In other words, DWTS is still a hugely popular show and that means a big ’ol cash cow for ABC. Think they are going to cut the show down to an hour now that half the stars are gone? Think again! Instead the stars will be required to perform two dances.  Here is a quick guide as to which dance each star is expected to dance in the individual part of the show.

Individual Dances
-Nicole/Derek: Slow Waltz
-Evan/Anna: Argentine Tango
-Chad/Cheryl: Viennese Waltz
-Pam/Damien: Slow Waltz
-Erin/Maks: Quickstep
-Niecy/Louis: Quickstep

I made fun of ABC for milking this and stretching out the show, but the additional dance is, in fact, a staple of DWTS at this juncture of the competition. In what is being billed the “Cha Cha Challenge”, the stars have been separated into two teams to perform the Cha Cha – only one will win and take the extra judges points.

Team Madonna (dancing to “Holiday”)
Evan/Anna
Erin/Maks
Niecy/Louis

Team Gaga (dancing to “Telephone”)
Nicole/Derek
Pam/Damian
Chad/Cheryl

Conventional internet wisdom (ha, I didn’t even mean that as a joke) holds that Niecy, Chad and Pam should be most concerned about going home this week. But, it wouldn’t be reality television if there weren’t at least the possiblity of a shocking exit. The group dance just adds another layer to the puzzle.

Are your favorites still your favorites this week? Any predictions for Monday night? Please share your thoughts before, during and after Monday night’s broadcast.

And then there were seven. DWTS said goodbye to Kate Gosselin last week. She left with “grace and sweetness” according to her mom, and Kate’s many fans agree. Speaking just for myself, I have mixed emotions about a Kate-free DWTS, but a part of me is relieved. DWTS is my go to show when I want to relax on Monday nights.  Having Kate on the show produced some anxiety in me. I wanted her to do well, but I knew she had a lot going against her – lack of a performance background and lack of time to practice being two very big obstacles. It was also difficult being a regular DWTS viewer and witnessing lazy reporters and those with an ax to grind bloviate endlessly about 1) Kate leaving her kids to participate on the show; 2) Kate and Tony arguing during practice and 3) Kate staying longer than other (supposedly) better dancers.

News flash: all three happen every season. Many parents of young children have appeared on the shown. Nearly every episode features some sort of drama between partners. Lastly, the timing of Kate’s exit was not unusual at all. Let’s throw Shannen Doherty out of the mix. Based on what little we saw of her, she deserved to stay longer. However, she apparently did not have the fan support some of the other stars do. Those are the breaks. Now to the other two – Buzz and Aiden - these two averaged lower or about the same judges scores as Kate. What saved Kate? She has more fans. This is the whole point of the show, people! In hindsight, I think it was Kate’s week to go. The other two lowest scored dancers – Chad and Niecy – did put on a much better performance than Kate. So there is nothing to be upset about, DWTS/Kate Fans – things basically worked out as they should. God is in his/her heaven; all is right with the world.

Before we move forward with a quick look at Monday night’s show, allow me to share with you a few nice quotes from Kate’s fellow DWTS castmates.

Derek Hough: “Given the current circumstances she’s in and the press that surrounds her, she had a lot of fun…. She was fantastic.”

Evan Lysacek: “She’s so sweet. We’re like family, so it’s hard to see anyone go.”

Louis Van Amstel (via Twitter after having his words about Kate twisted): 

- ”I actually grew on Kate a lot.I did say i wished she would have let her guard down sooner 4 her own sake,but it’s hard in her position….”

-”She never seems to get a break….”.

-”lol….i’ll be clearer.The more i got to know Kate,the more i liked her as a person!!!! Better?”

-”Unfortunately the media is powerful,u have to watch what u say,how u say it,when u say it,what u do,how u do it.Live n let live.Get a life!”

Ok, now as I promised, here is a swift little look ahead to Monday night’s show. The seven remaining contenders will either do the Samba or the Argentine Tango. Note, I want to give a thanks to the blog Puredwts.com for helping me to figure out who is doing what! Also in the spirit of our most recent Gosselin Chatter post, I am going to include at least one nice quality that I appreciate about each of the remaining seven.

Dancing  The Samba:
-Nicole:  Hands down, the best dancer in the competition. Derek and Nicole work together flawlessly and make me appreciate what I love about seeing truly great dancing.
-Evan: Without a doubt, a sweetheart and most would agree the second best dancer in the competition. He has suffered a couple of injuries and seems to be keeping up a pretty punishing schedule aside from DWTS, but he is always upbeat.
-Erin: Spunky, funny and adorable. I don’t know why I love her as much as I do, but I do.
-Jake: The only other cast member, other than Kate, with no real performing background. He has done better than I would have expected. He seems to be working really hard both in rehearsal and reaching out to the fans to stay on the show. Good for him.

Dancing The Argentine Tango:
-Pam: Another mom, which I appreciate. She has natural dancing talent. I liked last week when she brought out a whole different persona with a little comedic edge thrown in.
-Niecy: A mom of three teenagers. How can I not commiserate? She brings humor to the show. It is too bad the comedians don’t often last long on DWTS because I like the energy they bring. I thought the judges were too hard on her last week. I hope she can rebound this week because I think she may be in some danger.
-Chad: The little I had heard of him before DWTS made me think he might be a male diva, but I have been pleasantly surprised. From what I have seen, he has been gentlemanly and relatively low-key. It is clear he likes to flirt, but I think that is cute. His performances have been somewhat uneven. I am rooting for a comeback this week.

So Happy Monday night viewing. Let’s check back during and after the show to discuss – ok?

Donny Osmond is speaking out against Lady Gaga’s explicit music video “Telephone”.

According to Eonline Osmond has this to say:

If you are like me, you have been eagerly waiting for Dancing with the Stars to launch again since Donny Osmond took home the mirrored disco ball last November. Monday night at 8 o’clock, we will finally get our first look at this season’s cast. For first time viewers, here is short primer on what to expect.

Stars + Partners

Soap star Aiden Turner and Edyta Sliwinkska
Legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Ashly Costa
NFL star Chad Ochocinco and Cheryl Burke, 800-868-3401
ESPN host Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Olympic skating champion Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya
Bachelor star Jake Pavelka and Chelsie Hightower
TLC star Kate Gosselin and Tony Dovolani, 800-868-3410
Pop star Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough
Comedienne and host Niecy Nash and Louis Van Amstel, 800-868-3405
Actress and model Pamela Anderson and Damian Whitewood
Actress Shannen Doherty and Mark Ballas

Note: ABC hasn’t updated their voting page yet, but traditionally voting has been done both online and phone. A few of the dancing pros have already tweeted their ”number” for the season. Where you see a telephone number following their name (above) that is their number for the season.

The Hosts

Brooke Burke – Season 7 winner and television personality Brook Burke joins DWTS this season and will be handling backstage interviews. Ms. Burke is a mom of four (!) and blogs at  www.ModernMom.com. She recently shared her admiration for Kate Gosselin announcing that anyone who can handle eight kids can “handle anything in the world.”

Tom Bergeron – Emmy Award-winning host Tom Bergeron returns for another season as host of DWTS. His unscripted banter helps to keep the show both entertaining and funny.

The Judges

Bruno Tonioli - passionate and hyper. Usually good for at least one inappropriate quip during the show.
Carrie Ann Inaba – tougher than Paul Abdul, but strives to give constructive feedback to the stars no matter how rhythm-challenged they are.
Len Goodman – definitely old school and can be cantankerous at times, but he is actually a teddy bear once you have watched him for a while. If you score a “9″ or “10″ from Len, you know you have really made it.

In a depature from previous seasons, no star will be voted out this week. Stars are kept safe or voted out based on a combination scoring system that uses both the judges scores and the audience votes.

Stars will perform either the Cha Cha or Viennese Waltz during their first night of competition.

So will you be watching???

Update on Kate

Kate’s partner, Tony Dovolani,  gave a very revealing interview with TV Guide about his partnership with Kate. It sounds like you can ignore the rumors that Tony has been bad-mouthing Kate. He has nothing but positive and kind things to say about the supposed diva.  A small sample:

TVGuide.com: How often do you rehearse?
Dovolani: Every day for six hours a day at her home in Pennsylvania. The rest of the time, she’s with her kids. People think she’s away from her kids and she’s not. She’s a single working mom. Instead of being supportive of her, they’re bashing her. I don’t understand that. My sister told me, “Tell Kate that all of us mothers understand and we’re standing behind her.” To hear that confirms that I’m thinking the right way. She has to provide for those kids. They’re so sweet! They came up with a routine they showed us one day! Once in a while we perform for them. She’s a great mother. They’re all over her.

TVGuide.com: She’s a very divisive figue. Are you concerned about how that will affect voting?
Dovolani: I’m new to this whole thing about hating somebody and I don’t understand why people hate her. Our show is so positive that it’s going to be difficult to hate someone. I love our show. It’s the only show you can watch with the whole family. For me, it’s mindboggling to think people think negatively in general, let alone at someone they don’t know. I guess if you’re a hater, don’t watch when we’re dancing. … Honestly, I think the side she has shown — not what the tabloids have shown — there’s nothing wrong with her. She’s a mom taking care of her kids. She doesn’t buy into the tabloids. She’s a great role model for her kids.

Read more at TVGuide.

Lastly, many fan pages are being created for the stars and their dancing partners on Facebook.  Tony and Kate’s page has more than 3,000 members. If you are interested in joining, check it out at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=338612104089

It’s a beautiful day in Salem. The sun is shining and Vivian is plotting Melanie’s murder while Sami looks for her baby who’s been kidnapped by EJ (the baby daddy).

Meanwhile in Genoa City, Chancellor Mansion was invaded and Patty the psych patient is stuffing meds in her mattress. In Port Charles Sonny’s jumping bail and Lucky’s slipping back into alcoholism and in Pine Valley Greenlee plans to take the city, marry David and bring Erica to her knees.

Yep, the stories are outrageous. The plots are unbelievable but every weekday millions spend their afternoons watching the drama unfold. I don’t care who you are or what you do for a living. I’m willing to bet that most women, no matter how prestigious their current position in life is (Admit it, Nancy Pelosi) have watched a Soap Opera at some point. I bet you have (yes, you!).

Soap Operas are criticized as being “stupid” and “predictable.” So what? People love the characters. They have memories associated with story lines. Who can forget the feeling you had when you watched your favorite Soap couple get married or the anger you felt when they broke up a few months later? Haven’t you ever wished a weekend away because the Friday cliffhanger left you on pins and needles?

So fess up! Who’s watching a Soap? Who has a Soap memory? Let the truth out, ladies!

Is it wrong to hate a TV show that one has never seen? If so, I’m wrong in my disdain for much of VH1’s “reality” line-up. And recently, a show premiered on MTV that annoys the heck out of me, simply based on the commercials I’ve seen for it (and speaking of bad reality TV, I wouldn’t have been subjected to those commercials if I hadn’t been bitten by the “Jersey Shore” bug (oh, the shame), as well as taken to watching the somewhat less objectionable “Teen Mom”).

The show is called “The Buried Life”, and it purports to follow four young friends in an RV traveling across the country and attempting to fulfill items from their “100 things to do before I die” lists. For each item that they cross off their lists, they do a good deed for a local. Now, this sounds like an unobjectionable, even a worthy, concept. And maybe the show is indeed uplifting and enlightening and in every way superior to “Jersey Shore” (now, that’s setting the bar high).

But the commercials I’ve seen do not convince me. First of all, I may be spending too much time on Jezebel lately, but my feminist ire is piqued by the fact that the group consists of four male friends. Of course. These sorts of aspirational lists seem to be seen as the purview of men – us ladies are no doubt back at home baking and painting our toenails. (Actually, one of the strengths of Ivy: the Story of a Friendship, by Gwen Morrison, which is our current read in Book Nook, is that one of the main (female) protagonists does have a “things to do before I die” list.)

My main problem with “The Buried Life” is the overwhelmingly banal (and at times, obnoxious) nature of the tasks on the list: “Be in a protest”? You should participate in a protest if you feel that you have, you know, something to protest. Otherwise it’s kind of pointless and silly. “Visit the Playboy Mansion”? Really? Is that still a goal for anyone with five brain cells to rub together? Granted, I’m a girl, and the Playboy Mansion has probably always been fairly low on my list of important destinations, but it just seems to me that any cachet it might once have had would have dissipated by now. I think there are plenty of places in LA and elsewhere that young men can hang out with pretty bleached blondes with fake boobs. If they want to see those fake boobs naked, there is always the internet. If they want to see the fake boobs naked AND in person, well, yes, that might require developing an actual relationship with, you know, a real woman. Maybe that should be a list item!

Another goal: to kiss the actress Rachel McAdams. Why? So you can tell your friends that you did? Isn’t that something boys get over in middle school? (Or at least by high school? Please, tell me boys get over this sort of thing eventually.) Without getting too censorious about it, Rachel McAdams is a real person, who may or may not want to kiss some strange guy (I’m guessing not). Treating her as an item to be crossed off a list strikes me as immature and a bit dehumanizing.

I guess my objection to many of the items on the list boil down to this: doing things just so you can say you did them seems superficial and empty, especially when we are talking about life goals. If playing basketball with President Obama and making a music video was the best you could come up with, you might want to reconsider what it means to have an aspiration. I always thought such lists were about doing things that were in some way meaningful. Not every goal has to be “deliver a baby” (which is on the list, and makes more sense to me, though I think I’d settle for seeing a child born – and I’ve crossed that one off myself!). Silly little ones like “grow a mustache” or “go skydiving” are fine, I guess. But goals that seem to be more about “hey, look at me!” or to be just plain pointless (“destroy a computer?”) make these guys look like asses, in my opinion.

It’s funny, but as I was writing this I happened to see a story on the front page of Yahoo, about a woman who had achieved her goal of earning a college degree at age 100, and then died the next day. This struck me as so much more worthy of celebrating than “get Megan Fox to go on a date with you.”

What about you? Do you like the concept of the show? Have you watched it? Do you have your own “things to do before you die” list?