So Caitlin Cooper is back with The O.C.. Eh. So far, not too impressed.

HOWEVER.

I don't know if anyone else besides me bothered to stay for the next week preview, but man oh man was it a fucking riot. After predicting more Caitlin shenanigans, the announcer dude turned to Seth and forebodingly forecasted:

SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN COLLEGE ANXIETY
MAKES A GOOD KID
DO BAD THINGS

At this point, I'm not sure what to think. Is he gonna cheat on his SATs? Blackball Summer to increase his chances of getting into Providence? Blackmail someone on the administration board? Dress up in blackface to get a minority scholarship a la Soul Man? The truth was far scarier.

Cut to Caitlin and Seth on the beach.

"Is that...pot you're smoking?" Seth asks her.

Caitlin nods.

"It really takes the edge off," she promises. "Do you want some?"

Seth looks tempted but torturedly hesitant, as if unsure whether or not temporary alleviation of his problems is worth the price of his soul.

I can't wait to see the development of this sub-plot.

Just the one episode of 24 tonight is it?

REEFER MADNESS!

Don't watch the O.C. but I would think they would at least make it coke or something.

Survivor won out for me over The OC, and now that it's moved, My Name Is Earl/The Office wins out.

I honestly don't see The OC lasting more than one more season anyways, and then I'll just watch them all on DVD.

American Idol is in the best stages of its season with the tryouts (that dude dressed up as the milk-maid, the "orange-penuer" and the guy that looked and acted like a girl are the best thus far).

24 is damn good so far. I've been burned too often to not still be cautious, however.

i'm glad i'm not the only one who is brave enough to admit they watch american idol on here. uhh, becuas ei do and i enjoy it. and the chicago auditions were kind of awesome. my friend found the myspace page of the horrible paris hilton-esque tan girl from palatine with the slutty mom. it's super entertaining.

http://myspace.com/xokissmex369

I only saw parts of one of the AI eps, and the funniest part was the dude named Zach who dressed like a girl, talked like a girl and sang a song clearly meant for a girl, then acted all incredulous when the judges asked him about it (not to mention the accusations of prejudice when they called him on his awful voice).

I'll post in this thread from time to time - I too watch AI and House.

When a contestant is stupid compared to Paris Hilton...well, that says it all, doesn't it?

Yup one.. 24 is good enough that it make me violate my no TV rule. Good start to the season thus far.

That girl and her trailer-trash mother were, to quote Simon, "Ghastly."

24 is good enough to break the law.

o You can lead a horse to water. Jack Bauer can make him drink.
o Jack Bauer let the dogs out.
o If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.
o If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.
o The reason why terrorists attacked New York City was because Jack Bauer was in LA.
o Every time you maturbate Jack Bauer kills a terrorist. Not beacuase you masurbated, but because that is how often he kills terrorists.
o Osama bin Laden's recent proposal for truce is a direct result of him finding out that Jack Bauer is, in fact, still alive.
o Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days. Wait, that is a real fact.
o Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
o 1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.
o Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
o When Google can't find something, it asks Jack Bauer for help.
o Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
o If Jack and MacGyver were locked in a room together, Jack would make a bomb out of MacGyver and get out.
o There are no names in Jack Bauer's cell apart from SONOFABITCH.
o The quickest way to a man's heart is through Jack Bauer's gun.
o Jack Bauer got Hellen Keller to talk.
o Jack Bauer cannot stick his elbow in his ear, but he can stick your elbow in your ear.
o Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
o Jack Bauer delivered himself by Cesarean section.
o When the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Jack Bauer.
o When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.
o When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer fucking hates lemonade.
o Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.

some lame ones, but mostly gems in that. Where'd you find it?

These ones made me bust out laughing.

For all of it's faults, I still think 24 is the best show on television. Just finished re-watching Season 2, which was easily the worst season (Kim vs. the Abusive wife beater, Kim vs. the Cougar, Kim vs. the Cops, Kim vs. the wacked out paranoid survivalist, Kim vs. scared post nuclear attack father in the convenient store, and Kim vs. the abusive wife beater again)...and it was still alot of fun. Season 4 and Season 5 seem to indicate that the writers have gotten a better hold of the pacing that made season 1 so great. Can't wait for tonight.

kim vs godzilla... kim vs mothra.. perfect nobodies

24 Seasons ranking (from best to worst):

1
2
5 (so far)
4
3 (I hated this one...the constant zig zagging, the fact that Tony gets shot in the neck and is back at work three hours later, the fact that Nina was brought back in AGAIN, Kim and Chase...Chase being the worst bag of crap Jack's ever been saddled with, the heroin withdrawals, etc, etc, etc).

can't possibly rank 5 yet, but for the other four,

1

(slight distance)

4
2

(considerable fucking distance)

3

These are mine, the rest are from http://www.notrly.com/jackbauer/



I think that in light of the political climate of the times season 2 almost reads as an alternate history. Obviously the Kim bits aren't good but the rest is Dr. David Kelly fantastic.

I have yet to see 6 hours of consectutive non-comedy TV as good as Day1:Midnight-0800

I liked the second half of the season more (or the last quarter, anyway). There was this cool sense of dread hanging over the whole thing.

even then, season 3 was still some of the best television on at the time. Even at it's B game, 24 is still damn good.

I checked out of it halfway through. I don't agree with that statement at all, then. I think that, had it only lasted one season, 24 would have ranked as one of the best TV series of all time. It has squandered that legacy.

Once they got out of Mexico and tried to stop the virus outbreak, it really picked up. Lot of key moments in the second half. Tony deploying agents to another location to save Michelle. Jack breaking down at the end of the day. Sherry gets capped.

I may go back and give it a chance on DVD, but I bailed before Nina was offed.

Yep...even when it was bad, it was still very good. And you're definitely right about the political climate. Very interesting to go back and watch those episodes where President Palmer is fighting to hold off starting a war with middle eastern countries based on potentially faulty intelligence. I can't recall if, at the time these episodes aired, it had beenconclusively determined that Iraq did not possess wmds, but my guess is that we hadn't reached that conclusion yet (seeing as the episodes aired in the 6 or 7 months following 9/11)...which makes the forethought of these episodes even more insightful.

The first season of 24 went on not a month and a half after the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

I got season two of 24 the day Dr David Kelly was found in the woods. FREAKY SHIT

From the Los Angeles Times
TELEVISION

Interest in 'Arrested' strictly conditional
Showtime executive says the network would take the show only if creator Mitch Hurwitz stays on board.
By Lynn Smith
Times Staff Writer

January 21, 2006

Showtime wants the acclaimed comedy "Arrested Development" should Fox decide to cancel it, but only on one condition: creator Mitch Hurwitz must come with it.

"If only a small fraction of the loyal audience that [watches it] on Fox came to Showtime, it would be one of our highest-rated shows," Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's president of entertainment, told the Television Critics Assn. Thursday evening.

A deal breaker in the talks with 20th Century Fox Television would be if Hurwitz chooses not to remain at the helm, Greenblatt said. "I think he's the genius behind it," he said. "And he hasn't yet come to that decision to continue the show." A decision will be reached in about two weeks, he said. Hurwitz was unavailable for comment.

Fox President of Entertainment Peter Liguori told the critics no final decision had been made to cancel "Arrested Development" but it was "highly unlikely" the low-rated show would continue past Feb. 10, when it concludes its third season.

ABC also expressed interest in acquiring the show in December, but no action has been taken, a spokesman said.

Greenblatt said the show's bold originality makes it a better fit for cable, where writers have more freedom. But observing that the show has found much of its humor in bleeping out bad language, Matthew Blank, Showtime's chairman and chief executive joked, "Maybe we'd make an exception and let him bleep."

Showtime also announced six new documentary shows and four new original series for 2006-07 including: "The Tudors," a 10-episode series starring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as a young Henry VII, which has yet to start filming in Ireland; "Dexter," a 12-episode series starring Michael C. Hall as a likable but twisted Miami forensics expert-serial killer; six episodes of "This American Life," adapted for television by NPR host Ira Glass; and "Three Days in September," a documentary narrated by Julia Roberts about 330 Chechen hostages killed by terrorists in 2004.

Greenblatt said "Huff," the ensemble series that stars Hank Azaria, Blythe Danner and Oliver Platt, and is about to begin its second season, would "probably" be renewed for a third.

Totally the Mexico thing dragged on forever, the Salazars were cool but there was just too much
of a mess down there. Honestly best part of S.3 was the ending with Chase chopping his hand off. Chase was a terrible addition, he did nothing new to add to the show. Heck even Agent Baker, aka Jin, was more of a notable character.

In S.5 I'm worried about the Sean Astin character sucking. He still sounds like he's a hobbit from the shire.

Jack at the end of S5E5 was a total badass;

"I'M NOT CTU!"

i'll bet twenty bucks that the 17yr old girl named paris is in the AI finals this year.

Yeah, she was really good.

I'll pony up twenty saying that Kelly Pickler (the girl from NC whose mom left, dad is in prison) makes the top 12 as well.

Chase=Meh...I could do with a bit of Kim though that has been done and over done in a season past...Kinda like the new young brainiac bossing around the CTU director like a dottering old man.. wait...I am a dottering old man..

she has an amazing voice

right now I say she is the front runner to win the whole damn thing

I must have missed her. What did she look like/sing?




She seems a lock.


Anyone else feel that the outrageous black girl with no panties wasn't quite as outrageous as the promos were laying claim to?

I also feel its disingenuous when they have people that are supposedly ranting and raving at the judges after their tryout and then come back and sing another song badly? Or is this editing where they make the really bad ones attempt to sing something (in this case "Fame") before they leave the room? A lot of the show is coming off as forced, either people that are planted for good TV, or those that are just so lame that they come on, act stupid/outrageous just to make sure they get on TV.

Oh, you mean "Not So Lil Kim"?



All true. We don't see all of the auditions, just clips, but they certainly have a mix of those who KNOW who have no earthly shot, and others who are sadly deluded into thinking they do, just so they can made to be fools.

If anyone is looking for spoilers/scoops/inside dirt on AI, this is a fantastic blog:

http://mjsbigblog.com/categories/americanIdol/

It details who it appears has made the top 44/24 cuts based on interviews and domain name registrations by AI's production company, has comments by people who write in who know certain competitors, and debunks some of the editing issues bhickman commented about.

For instance, the Paris Hilton look-alike apparently never even got in front of the 3 judges - her expletive-filled rant was a result of her audition in front of Nigel Lithgow. They edited it to make it look like she auditioned in front of the 3, but she apparently did not. Some people also claim they were told to "ham it up." I find it fascinating, which is truly bizarre and scary to me.

no, the paris hilton look alike WAS in front of the judges but was the one told to "Ham it up". and i'm sure she didn't even know what that meant. it was some white trash girl who was never in front of the judges. nonetheless.

paris bennett was shown directly at the halfway point in the show, her grandmother is some famous singer, apparently. but i never realyl caught her name. she was wearing a turquoise hoodie and a white skirt with flowers on it. they had her sing two songs, which is kind of a big hint that she's going far in the show.

Her grandmother's name was Annie ___, and she was in Sounds of Blackness.

Ann Nesby



It was the Lady Marmalade part that was in front of Nigel. This was a quote from her in some mag article:

"...they told me to "look better in Simon’s eyes" I should put more makeup on, and they came into the WOMANS bathroom to FILM IT! When I told them I was scared and I felt NAUSEOUS and just to make a mockery of me and my mother they told us to "strut" down the street, while filming. Also they edited out most of the AUDITION which you can notice by my song being "cut" in half! I came back when they "followed" me out the doors all the way to the street corner, and I asked them.. "was the whole bathroom skit to make a mockery of me?" Apparently it was. But they failed to air that on their 'show.'"

I don't like the fact that if you post consecutive fast replies, they aren't in separate posts. I had to type this in a new reply box.

EDIT: I take that back. Apparently all consecutive posts are grouped together?!

just got into this thread, AI auditions is the only thing i watch on Fox. anyway -- just posted this in 5 things -- what was up with the over-the-top celebrating by this girl and her mother(grandmother?). she's obviously insanely talented and her mother is likely connected to the biz -- why was this her "big break"? they acted like they won the lottery. i hope she wins, but it seems like maybe the producers *found* her and had her come on the show knowing she'd make it.

I found that strange, too. If that lady was someone in the business, why would a relative that talented need to audition for AI? Doesn't make any sense.

as cynical as i can be and am, i really don't think their reaction was in any way shape or form fake. honestly, i'd never heard of her grandmother before, or the band that she sang for, and i don't think i'm the only person. the fact of the matter is, getting a meeting with a record exec because your grandmother was/ is a singer is a whole lot different than being the break out star on the most popular television show on american tv. so. maybe it had something to do with that....

some situations on "reality" tv are contrived by the producers?!?!?!?

next thing you are going to tell me is, WWE wrestling is fake

I remember Sounds Of Blackness, they were like a gospel choir that were produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. They had a hit on the R&B charts back in the 90's called Optimistic.

OK I just saw Paris' audition online and damn she was good. That Billie Holiday song was great. I'd buy a record by her any day.

I miss Kim... she was really good at the dumb blonde thing. 24 is still going strong but how
about some eye candy damn.. what ever happened to Kate Warner and her evil sister anyway.

Anybody here watching "Bones"? It's up against "Lost," so I doubt I ever will watch it, but I like the look of Emily Deschanel (related to Zooey Deschanel?) and the interplay between her and David "Angel" Boreanez looks to be quite playful and enjoyable.

I see it on occasion...it's OK, not great. Shows where you usually know the ending have to rely on dialogue and tension between characters to work, and the writers are definitely hit and miss in this regard. Fox's version of "CSI" without the strength of the actors.

I thought last night's AI auditions were OK. The "tension" between Simon and Randy/Paula was so obviously faked for the sake of the show that I got a little annoyed and almost turned it off toward the end. It's pretty obvious that they had Simon play the bad guy and disagree with the other 2 on people who could sing, knowing that even with his No vote the other 2 would still send the person to Hollywood anyway. So, they got their fake "drama" and it didn't really affect the show.

This on the heels of a CNN article I read yesterday about how the show is getting meaner to avoid losing viewers, and that the contestants are going to be a bit more cut-throat toward each other, as well. The show is contrived enough as it is, we don't need even more fake crap to make it unwatchable.

I saw Bones once. I laughed out loud a few times at their unintentional comedy.
god awful show