Nielsen Rating's Top 20 for June 21 - June 27

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for June 21 - 27. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

Rank	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions	Season-to-date average (in millions)
1.	America's Got Talent (Wed.)	NBC	12.4	--
2.	America's Got Talent (Tues.)	NBC	11.7	12.4
3.	NCIS	CBS	9.7	18.0
4.	Wipeout (Tues.)	ABC	9.5	9.4
5.	The Mentalist (repeat)	CBS	8.9	15.9
6.	Two and a Half Men (repeat)	CBS	8.5	14.3
7.	The Bachelorette	ABC	8.3	8.8
*	Big Bang Theory (repeat)	CBS	8.3	14.0
9.	NCIS: Los Angeles (repeat)	CBS	8.2	15.1
10.	Wipeout (Thurs.)	ABC	7.9	7.9
11.	60 Minutes (repeat)	CBS	7.6	12.8
*	CSI: Miami (repeat)	CBS	7.6	12.4
13.	America's Got Talent (Wed.)	NBC	7.4	--
14.	Rookie Blue	ABC	7.2	--
15.	CSI: NY (repeat)	CBS	7.0	12.1
16.	CSI (repeat)	CBS	6.8	14.7
17.	Hell's Kitchen	Fox	6.4	7.4
*	So You Think You Can Dance (Wed.)	Fox	6.4	7.4
*	So You Think You Can Dance (Thurs.)	Fox	6.4	7.4
20.	Flashpoint	CBS	6.3	6.9

The Bachelorette: Ali's Istanbul Belly Dancing & Ominous Previews

On The Bachelorette it seems that Ali Fedotowsky does not go on a date without taking her bikini along. And if any sort of opportunity presents itself to get into her bikini, she does so.

On Monday night's Istanbul episode Ali's final date of the night was with Frank. They went shopping and had dinner in what looked like a catacomb.

During the shopping there was no bikini opportunity, so Ali did the next best thing and put on a Belly Dancer outfit. While Frank wore a Sultan's Turban and acted all impressed with Ali's Belly Dancing.

This morning came news that, pre-The Bachelorette, a former boyfriend of Ali's snapped some pictures of her without her bikini on. This rejected former boyfriend is supposedly trying to find a buyer for the photos.

Apparently several tabloids have shown an interest in Ali's naked pics, but the ex's asking price is too high.

Change of subject.

Monday night's previews. I did not watch them until this morning when I read that they pretty much revealed the rest of the show. We see Roberto, Frank and, I think Ty and another guy get the hometown dates. I have trouble remember these guy's names.

Then we go to Tahiti, where it's obvious Frank is one of the final 3. The other 2 are shown also, but again, I am terrible at remembering these guy's names. I'm fairly certain Ty was there. And that blond guy. Or was it Roberto?

Anyway, we see Frank confess to Ali, it seems, that he's just not all that in to her. Ali is shocked, because she really was in to Frank. We see a lot of crying in the preview, with Ali thinking there's something wrong with her and another of the guys saying he just didn't think he could propose under the circumstances. I assume the circumstances are he also isn't all that in to Ali.

I think maybe the The Bachelorette producers made a boo-boo showing way too much in the previews. Then again, it made me want to watch all of the Ali/Frank meltdown.

Project Runway Season 8 Starts July 29 with Heidi Klum & 90 Minute Episodes

That is one of my favorite Reality TV Show Hosts, Heidi Klum, sticking pins into the Project Runway cast.

The 8th season of Lifetime's Project Runway starts up Thursday, July 29 at an earlier time than previously, 9pm instead of 10pm.

And the show has been expanded to 90 minutes. This should allow for the showing of more diva drama among the designers.

I only got hooked on Project Runway a couple seasons ago. I've yet to figure out why I find it entertaining. But I do. Part of it I'm amazed at watching the designers come up with clothes so quickly. And how goofy so much of what they come up with is.

Project Runway will be in New York City again. I liked it when they were in Los Angeles. Why? I don't remember.

The Bachelorette: Ali Talks to Justin's Girlfriend, Chases Justin Out of Istanbul

We got a half hour, or so, of "unscripted" drama at the start of tonight's The Bachelorette, before we got to the dates.

Chris Harrison knocks on Ali's door. She's surprised to see him, apparently not wondering why there was a camera in the room with her prior to the knock.

Chris Harrison tells Ali he has some important info for her. But that a friend of Ali's, Jesse, one of the girls Jake rejected on The Bachelor, would tell Ali what she needed to hear. Jesse is in Toronto. The same town in Canada that Justin the professional wrestler who calls himself "Rated R" is from.

Harrison dials Jesse's number. The phone rings and rings. Finally Jesse answers. And somehow cameras are ready up in Canada to record this event.

Jesse tells Ali that Justin has a girl friend. Ali asks how does she know this? Jesse tells Ali that she knows this because Justin's girl friend, Jessica, is sitting right next to her.

So, Jesse hands the phone to Jessica who proceeds to tell Ali about Justin's plot to get to #3 on the show to advance his career. I'm not quite clear how this would advance a professional wrestling career.

Jessica had quite a lot to tell Ali. That Justin's been calling her. That she found out Justin has yet another girl friend. Near as I could tell, Jessica felt guilty about her part in this nefarious plot.

So, Ali gets off the phone, consults with Chris Harrison, and decides she wants to confront Justin in the boy's room.

And so she does. Ali tells Justin what she's learned. Justin didn't say anything, he just got up, left the room, got his stuff, and left. With Ali harping at him about not manning up.

Ali then ran after Justin, determined was she to hear what he had to say about these serious charges. Down flights of stairs Ali chased Justin. And then somehow was able to get in front of him for a confrontation attempt.

Ali tried to stop Justin, her hand to his chest. Justin then finally spoke, warning Ali not to touch him.

Justin takes off again, running like a trapped rat, struggling to get through some thick brush and then climbing over other stuff that was not meant to be climbed on.

Justin could not seem to find an escape route, couldn't open doors. And then somehow he shows up again and sits down to talk to Ali.

I forgot to mention, while this was going on, the other boys were watching the chase from their hotel room high above the action.

Justin's attempt at spin was pretty weak. And he denied making calls to his girl friend. And that she was his girl friend.

And then when Justin finally walked away, trying to find his way to an airplane back to Canada, voice messages he left on Jessica's phone were played, with Justin professing his love for Jessica, how much he missed her, all sorts of mushy stuff. And one of the calls was from Istanbul.

The rest of the show was sort of anticlimatic. Ali and Ty went to a bathhouse, took off their clothes, had dinner, he got a rose.

Then a group date had the boys wrestling with 4 Turkish olive oil wrestlers. And then with each other. With the winner getting a date with Ali, without the other boys. The lawyer, Craig, beat the other guys. But his date did not go well. Ali felt no love connection.

Then Ali had another alone date with Frank, who she seems to like. I find him odd. She gave him a rose after they spent a lot of time shopping.

In the end Ali was sure of who she wanted to send home, no need for a cocktail party where they could make fresh attempts to win her heart.

So, Ali sent the one with whom she felt no romantic connection, Craig, on his way back to America.

Drinking True Blood For Free On HBO

This past weekend AT & T's U-Verse, which is my TV/Internet provider, provided free HBO & Cinemax. I stopped subscribing to HBO & Cinemas years ago. Mostly because I never found all that much I wanted to watch.

Since then HBO has moved from movies to adding their own productions. Some of which I've seen and liked, like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under.

Alan Ball was behind Six Feet Under. When that show ended HBO signed him to a development deal. True Blood is the first result of that deal.

When I scanned through what was available on HBO, I saw True Blood and hit the record button on the DVR.

I somehow thought True Blood was a David Lynchian Twin Peaks type style of show. I guess I did see some element of that, but mainly I was to learn that True Blood is yet one more show about vampires.

I've really never had a great appreciation of the vampire, werewolf type genre. True Blood seems to have all the elements of that genre, including telepaths and humans called shapeshifters.

Just dropping in and watching an episode without knowing any of the plot still managed to be entertaining. Strange, but entertaining. With some humor.

Like in True Blood world vampires live openly with the humans. They no longer have to suck human blood because the Japanese invented a synthetic drink called Tru Blood to meet the vampire needs.

You can go in a bar in True Blood world and order a bottle of "V Juice." HBO.com sells Tru Blood, made to look like the synthetic blood on the show. It's a carbonated drink. I've no idea what it tastes like.

On the episode I watched, the Vampire King of Mississippi was plotting to marry the Vampire Queen of Louisiana. The episode started with one of the Queen's men killing a bunch of the Kings's werewolves. I think.

Then the King took the Queen's man back to his palace where a royal feast of a variety of blood products was had. Dessert had a citrusy note to it because the blood was taken from a young Thai man who was fed only oranges. Or something like that.

Apparently there is about to be a war, or it's already on, between the vampires and the werewolves.

The shapeshifters I really didn't understand. This guy finds his long lost mom and dad. Mom had given him up for adoption when dad was in jail. When she gave him up she did not know if he had the shapeshifting gene. I think I understood that mom did have the gene, but dad was not so blessed. Mom and dad had another son, who does have the gene.

Both brothers were outside bonding when the younger brother said he was ready for a run. The new brother agreed. Off came the clothes and they turned into dogs. Running along one dog got hit by a truck while the younger brother turned into a bird and flew safely away. The brother that got hit turned back into naked human form. I don't remember if we saw anymore of him on the episode I watched.

Did I already say I've never understood the attraction to the vampire type genre? Why is it so popular? Now, if I continued to get HBO for free would I watch True Blood? Probably, maybe, I don't know. I forgot to mention the part where we went back to WWII to Nazi werewolves. Intriguing.

Delivering a Message to Jill Zarin

If I remember right at some point during the recently completed Season 3 of The Real Housewives of New York City we heard Jill Zarin say she uses Google Alerts. I assume, ego-maniacal narcissist that she is, Jill Zarin has a Google Alert for her name.

So, I'm sure Jill will get a Google Alert about this particular blogging, what with it mentioning Jill Zarin repeatedly.

I got the picture of Jill Zarin from her Facebook profile. It appears to be a picture taken before Jill Zarin became one of Reality TV's most hated villains. The villainous version of Jill Zarin sports ridiculous hair extensions and racoon-like eye makeup. And the villain version of Jill Zarin somehow grew some extra chins that hang down in side views of her scary mug.

Jill Zarin has had all sorts of trouble with her Facebook and Twitter pages. As in a lot of people letting Jill know what a mean, toxic bad girl they think she is. Jill Zarin tries to counter the flood of critical comments with fake comments singing Jill Zarin's praises.

Jill Zarin has been caught writing fake positive reviews, on Amazon, in a scandal known as Amazon-gate, about the failed attempt by Jill Zarin, her sister Lisa and their bizarrely twisted mother, Gloria Kamen, to get readers to buy an advice book written by these women who are in dire need of advice, called Secrets of a Jewish Mother. Also known, by some, as Delusions of a Yenta Bitch.

Despite having claimed to have learned some sort of lesson from seeing her bad behavior on her TV screen, Jill Zarin is reported to be doing her mean girl stuff to Alex McCord and Bethenny Frankel.

Alex had the gall to point out to Jill Zarin that Jill Zarin's behavior was not acceptable. This became the incident that turned Jill Zarin vicious to Alex.

Jill Zarin has supposedly hired Kim Kardashian's PR people to try and rehabilitate Jill Zarin's ruined reputation.

It's not working.

Here's my free advice to Jill Zarin.

Alex McCord is not toxic. You are. You need to call Alex and apologize.

You need to drop your "we are not friends" shtick. When Ramona tried to talk to you after your rude intrusion in St. Johns, you said to Ramona, "I thought we were friends. I see now we aren't." This is very offputting and you need to stop with that particular verbiage.

When people speak to you, listen. Do not talk over them. Aren't you at all embarrassed when you see yourself doing that?

Tone down acting so overly entitled. Getting some expensive jewelry for your birthday, then whining that your birthday, Christmas and your anniversary are so close together that you get screwed in the gift department. Aren't you something close to 60? You are way too old to act this way.

On your Twitter bio it says, "Star of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City." Not one of the "Stars." The "Star." This is yet one more example of your extreme narcissim. You are not the "Star" of the show. You are more of a Black Hole than a "Star."

I'm sure if I felt like thinking about it some more I'd think of other things Jill Zarin could do that might make people despise her a bit less. But, right now, thinking about Jill Zarin is starting to make my head hurt.

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 for June 14 - June 20

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for June 14 - 20. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

Rank	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions	Season-to-date average (in millions)
1.	NBA Finals Game 7 (special)	ABC	28.2	--
2.	NBA Finals Game 6 (special)	ABC	18.0	--
3.	America's Got Talent (Wed.) (special)	NBC	11.6	--
4.	America's Got Talent (Tues.) (special)	NBC	10.6	12.6
5.	NCIS (repeat)	CBS	9.6	18.2
6.	Two and a Half Men (repeat)	CBS	9.2	14.5
7.	NCIS: Los Angeles	CBS	9.1	15.3
8.	Big Bang Theory (repeat)	CBS	8.9	14.1
9.	The Bachelorette	ABC	8.4	8.7
10.	CSI (repeat)	CBS	8.3	15.0
11.	The Mentalist (repeat)	CBS	8.2	16.1
12.	NBA Countdown Game 7 (special)	ABC	8.0	--
13.	60 Minutes (repeat)	CBS	7.7	12.9
14.	CSI: Miami (repeat)	CBS	7.5	12.5
15.	NBA Countdown Game 6 (special)	ABC	7.1	--
16.	Flashpoint	CBS	7.0	6.9
17.	The Mentalist (special repeat)	CBS	6.9	--
18.	America's Got Talent (special repeat)	NBC	6.7	--
19.	So You Think You Can Dance	Fox	6.6	12.5
*	The Good Wife	CBS	6.6	12.5
*	TV's Greatest Surprises (special)	CBS	6.6	--