“Big Day” on ABC ended too soon...

I knew almost immediately this show would never come back next season. Some shows you can just tell right from the first episode.

But I watched anyways and really enjoyed the series. Until the end - which wasn’t shown. Thanks, ABC.

Granted, it was a miracle the show wasn’t cancelled after three or four episodes. The ratings were anemic - it would have made sense.

But to stick by a show to the end, then at the last minute pull the final episode is just crazy.

The one-hour finale (episodes 12 & 13) was scheduled for last night. Earlier this week, ABC decided to ditch episode 13 and instead run an episode of “Knights Of Prosperity” - a show that’s also doing disastrous in the ratings and has already been asked to stop production.

Maybe the producers of “Big Day” are planning a DVD release of the series and the major selling point will be that one unaired episode. Or maybe ABC gets a tax write-off if they cancel a series and don’t air all the episodes. Or maybe ABC wants people to visit their website to see the final episode (if they end up streaming it there).

Whatever the reason, it’s annoying. If you were the other person watching this show and want to know what happens in that final episode, click here for a brief description from tv.com...

Return Of The 70's & 80's...

While on vacation a few months back, I heard a new version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way”. It was by a group I’d never heard of called South Side Crew. That song easily became the greatest song of 2006 (in my world at least).

Now they’ve remade another 70’s classic - this time Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice”. And I actually prefer the new versions to the originals - probably because the 70’s really wasn’t my favorite decade for music.

The 80’s was. And now a 90’s artist has just released a couple remakes from that decade. Remember Collage's "I'll Be Loving You"?

He (Adam Marano) is back with two 80's remakes. Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” is given the dance treatment and sounds great. Bad English’s “When I See You Smile” is just bad - stick with the original version for that one.

Click on the artist links to go to the song clips. If you like the previews, you can also purchase them at that site. They’re mostly dance songs, so if you don’t like that type of music, you probably won’t like these.

If you’d prefer to stick with the originals from my favorite decade of music, listen to the 80’s At 8 every weeknight on Star 102.5!

Reality turns ugly...

I never bothered watching Top Chef on Bravo. If I was randomly flipping through the channels, I’d stop on it but I wouldn’t actively search it out.

Until last week.

Reports on Reality Blurred and Television Without Pity were saying something crazy had happened on the show. Producers, cover-ups, and scandal were involved. I now needed to see this show.

I previously thought it was more a serious chef competition and less reality show. As I’m not into cooking (about all I can “cook” is toast and macaroni), I wasn’t interested. But the episode that aired last week changed my mind.

One of the contestants (Marcel) was sleeping on the couch. Another contestant (Cliff) woke Marcel up by dragging him off the couch, putting him into a half-nelson hold and pulling him around the room while other contestants contemplated shaving his head. All while on national TV. People are so stupid.

Cliff was punished in as best a way the producers could. And hopefully, his reputation will be destroyed by this incident.

The head judge (Tom Colicchio) wanted to send all the contestants involved in the attack home, leaving Marcel to win the competition by default. The producers stepped in and said no. Read Tom’s blog for more details.

This entire idiotic incident has suddenly made the show interesting. True reality TV (watching a standard & routine life or event) is too boring to watch. Add drama and suddenly it's watchable. I'll be watching to hopefully see the outcast win and the others go down in flames.

Top Chef 2 concludes its run Wednesday nights 1/24 & 1/31 at 10:00pm EST on Bravo.

Reality Show Mania...

The Mole - the greatest reality show ever.

Based on the TV ratings last week, I'm not in the majority on this. I read an article the other day that said last week’s American Idol premiere was watched by about 15% of the US population.

I didn't want to devote four hours a week to watching American Idol this year. But after those first two episodes, I can’t resist.

Being at work when it’s on, I tape it and watch later. Skipping through all the boring previews and set-ups, the show is half as long. Plus, who wants to miss the all request 80’s At 8 and 9-O’Clock Night Nights on Star 102.5 (naturally, I gotta plug my shift that has the unfortunate luck of being opposite this ratings beast).

Anyways, seems to me Randy is trying to be like Simon this year, but it’s just coming off as mean. And as much as I like Paula Abdul, something is very wrong with her lately.

As for Simon - I've got to respect him. Yeah, he’s rude sometimes, but he’s the only one telling the brutal, honest truth about the contestants. And I believe about 75% of those people auditioning know they have no singing talent and are just out for a few seconds of TV time.

Speaking of the contestants - it seems nobody cares about them this time around. This year, it's all about the judges. Simon’s “bush baby” comment last week proves that. And if you’re wondering exactly what a bush baby is...

Looks like Simon was right.

If you actually do want to know more about the people trying out for American Idol, check out http://deathbycamera.com

And once the season gets going, get ready to have some fun with this website: http://votefortheworst.com

Who I am...

This will help you better understand me...



The Top Scan by Mondial Rides. Technological brilliance from the Netherlands. If you ever see this, stop whatever you're doing immediately and head for one of the outside seats. (Please get one of these, Fantasy Island - it would be the perfect neighbor for Chaos!)

The Flying Saucer Drive-In Restaurant on Lundy's Lane in Niagara Falls, Canada. The greatest restaurant ever. Yes, it's a flying saucer. If you like burgers, this is the place to go.

The greatest song ever recorded. One of the greatest bands ever. Don't even try to disagree - you know I'm right.

Television at its best. The fact that it only lasted 21 episodes could lead you to believe it was a failure. But consider this: there's been over 3000 episodes of The Jerry Springer Show. I rest my case.

The Enterprise. Back when Darien Lake only had three thrill rides, this was the greatest ride at the park. Now called Silver Bullet, this is still my favorite spin ride.

Cheese ravioli. A beautiful sight.