Eli Stone (Season 1)

“Eli Stone” is a fantastic show and I’m sad that I waited until this time to watch it, two years after its cancellation.

Eli Stone is a lawyer looking to make the big bucks and work his way up the corporate ladder. He’s engaged to his bosses daughter, lives a good life, and, other than his deceased alcoholic father, seems to have no burdens. This all comes to a halt when George Michael appears in his living room. This visions helps Eli discover that he has a brain aneurysm but also helps him take on an interesting court case. So are Eli’s new visions a result of his illness or of divine intervention?

I adore this show and I breezed through the first season (13 episodes) in a matter of a couple days. The dialogue is witty, there are random dance numbers, and it is interesting to see the path that Eli’s life takes. The show seems to pose the question, “How can you make a difference?” while asking, “How would God speak to a prophet?”

Despite the serious topics, the show has a very light feel to it and I’m constantly cheering Eli on while debating which woman I would like him involved with.

I give this show 8 stars!

Happy Endings

I’ve read some rave reviews claiming that “Happy Endings” will be the next “Friends” and honestly I don’t agree. I don’t think the show will define a generation or be watched on repeat in DVD box sets for years to come. That being said, however, I think the show is hilarious and a fun comedy.

This NBC show revolves around a fun cast of 6 friends: (1) Alex who leaves (2) Dave at the alter, (3) Jane, Alex’s sister who is married to (4) Brad, (5) Max, Dave’s close and nonflamboyent gay friend, and (6) Penny, a hilarious nutcase and my personal favorite.

With random stars, guest stars, and star producers, I think the show has a great ensemble and fantastic writing. I’m not sure that it can last the long haul but I think the comedy is strong enough to attract some attention and certainly will keep me watching.

“Do you know how hard it is to get slut off egyptian cotton?” -Jane

I recommend this show for anyone who likes “Mr. Sunshine.”

I give it 8 stars!

Lovespring International

This hilarious and quirky comedy aired in 2006 and has a myriad of guest stars. The show itself is about 6 employees (including Wendi McLendon-Covey from Reno 911!) at a dating service, owned by Victoria (Jane Lynch). The comedy is dirty and super duper strange and the company is, of course, very unsuccessful. The receptionist reminds me of Brittany from “Glee” while the rest of the cast is perfect in their oddball roles. Each of the employees is very unsuccessful in love themselves, from Lydia who has been dating a married man for 20 years; to Burke who is married to a woman but clearly prefers men; to the therapist who has some very, very strange fetishes.

Check out stars like Tim Meadows, Sean Hayes, Michael McDonald and Eric McCormack as they add to the silly and improbable LoveSpring scenarios. Each episode ends with brief improv and bloopers and it shows just how much fun the cast really has.

I recommend this show to anyone who enjoys quirky, off-color comedies and who knows how to laugh at the absurd. Check out all 13 episodes on Hulu.

I give it 7 stars!

Better With You

Though it is a rather typical sitcom, “Better With You” certainly tickles my funny bone. The show focuses on one family– three couples: Maddie and Ben (dating 9 years but not married), Maddie’s sister Mia and her husband Casey (after only 7.5 weeks of dating), and Maddy and Mia’s parents who have been married for 35 years. Each character is quirky and funny, and watching the juxtaposition of such different couples leads to a lot of laughs. The show may not be very deep, but it is surprisingly delightful and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys sitcoms about relationships!

Check it out on hulu!

I give it 8 stars!

Monday Monday

This British comedy seems more like parts of a movie than a television show. The focus is the head office of Butterworth’s Supermarket, which due to hard times has moved from London to Leeds. The main character is Sally, who’s fiance left her for her sister and who works as a personal assistant to scatterbrained alcoholic Christine. I adore every character in the show and all of the dramatic twists. While I never felt that the show hit any extreme high or lows, I appreciated the plot greatly and could not be more delighted by the ending. I recommend the show for those who especially enjoy British humor or the character of Erica in “Being Erica.”

I give it 7 stars!

Mr. Sunshine

When I first saw previews for “Mr. Sunshine” months ago, I was very excited to see that Matthew Perry would be starring in a comedy again. Having watched the first episode, I was thrilled that it seems like a hilarious and great show!

The show is about Ben (Matthew Perry) who is the operations manager for a stadium. He has a crazy boss and his friend with benefits is leaving him for another co-worker. I can’t even count that amount of times I cracked up during the episode and I sincerely wished I was watching it with friends so that I would have others to swap comments with. The show has a very promising future and I am very interested to see where the story line will lead.

Check it out now on ABC.com or hulu and tell me if you agree!

I give it 8 stars!

Strange Love

How do I describe this show? Well, imagine that your somewhat fit grandmother got drunk and only had the clothes of a 20-year old and then started hooking up with a rapping b-boy time traveler who doesn’t realize he is now 30 years too old for his actions. Now give them a show.

“Strange Love” baffles me. Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav found each other on the “Surreal Life” and had some sort of fling. Brigitte goes home to Milan where she has a 20-something year old fiance who TIES HER SHOES FOR HER. And not because she’s not capable. Flav flys to Europe in order to spend more time with Brigitte. The whole thing is an absolute mess; the man is not cultured enough for Europe (or being in public, really), Brigitte gets on stage at a Public Enemy concert (SOOO uncomfortable), and the two of them call each other gorgeous with no irony.

Meanwhile, the show’s producers are constantly trying to play up the fact that VH1 in no way take either of the pair seriously- anytime Flav says something ridiculous, we suddenly receive a soundtrack of that phrase being sung in an uptempo melody. Watching the show makes me nauseous but I admit there were several times when I laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

You can certainly find all 11 episodes on Hulu, or you can just get a velociraptor drunk at a strip club. I promise it will be far more sexy.

I give it 2 stars!

 

Genuine Ken: The Search for the Great American Boyfriend (Ep. 1)

Clearly someone watched “Tool Academy” and thought, “If only I could make a reality show that is equally entertaining. I know, I’ll have a subpar host find NICE men!” But what happens when you have men compete against each other? They turn into tools.

The group of 8 men chosen out of hundreds of thousands (umm.. hard to believe..) who are competing for the title of “Genuine Ken” or “The Great American Boyfriend” look and act like rejects from the “I Love New York” show. While I don’t doubt that a couple of them may be nice, they all clearly spend too much time on their hair, eyebrows, and smiling very awkwardly. All I could think the entire time was that none of the smiles were genuine.

During the first episode, host Whitney Port (The Hills) challenges the men to perform a talent. Unfortunately, it appears that about half the group is delusional and less than entertaining. And calling the show “Genuine Ken” isn’t just a random reference- the show is laden with Barbie symbols and allusions, featured a judge from Barbie corporate, and strange product placement (is the target audience filled with Barbie consumers?).

So, do these men have girlfriends? Are they actually great boyfriends or does passing a series of contests count as being a great boyfriend? Are these men DATING AMERICA? What is the prize?

It’s an awful, cheesy, silly show. But yeah, I’m going to watch. (And I promise to mock it!)
I advise watching this show with girlfriends and wine. It’s worth the laughs.
Check it out now on Hulu.

I give it 3 stars!

Keys to the VIP (A Professional League for Players) (Season 1)

A hilarious and great reality show, “Keys to the VIP” is everything that “The Pick-up Artist” wanted to be and never was. Containing a panel of 4 judges, the show pins 2 pick-up artists against each other in a set of 3 challenges. The show is all real, filmed with undercover cameras to capture the smooth lines and terrible fumbles as the guys try their best to attain phone numbers. Meanwhile, in a separate location, the judges watch the footage and critique how much game each guy has. At times the guys are amazing and skilled, at others they are just shameful. It is always fun to see the many things that might happen, including pick-up lines and reactions! The winner of the show gets a VIP party which is always showed as a montage in the last 2 minutes of the show. For some reason this always includes the winner shirtless. The best moment was when the two contestants were so awful that the judges awarded the win to a random guy and then the montage is of the random guy!

I absolutely love every moment of this show. The commentary is excellent, the guys are hilarious, and the women are unpredictable. The show has appeal for both men and women. I was also glad to read from participants that none of the show is faked.

For a great episode of the best skill, check out season 1 episode 5! Then watch all of season 1 and 2 on Hulu.

I give it 9 stars!

ALF

I remember watching “ALF” when I was very young and not being able to decide if the show was funny or creepy. Watching it again 20 years later, I’ve decided that I still don’t know.

The show ran from 1986 to 1990 and featured Gordon, an alien life form (ALF) that crashed his spaceship into a garage in the US suburbs. The Tanner family who owns the garage decides to take ALF in. Soon enough, ALF becomes one of the family though he is always getting into trouble.

While the show is amusing, each episode seems pretty much the same. In addition, whenever I see ALF’s entire body, I get very creeped out! I attempted to watch all 103 episodes but only made it through season 1 with 26 episodes.

I give it 3 stars!