Survivor Blood vs. Water With Redemption Island Not Off To A Good Start

My DVR remembers to auto-record a dozen or more shows that I have previously set  to record. Like when a new season of The Amazing Race, American Horror Story, Top Chef or Dancing with the Stars starts up, the show gets recorded.

Except for Survivor.

Is my DVR trying to tell me something? Like maybe it is time to quit watching Survivor?


On Wednesday when I saw a promo for Survivor I realized Survivor had started up again, so I checked to see if the DVR was scheduled to record it. It was not. So I set the DVR to record Survivor with me thinking the September 25 episode was the season premiere of Survivor: Blood vs. Water.

Last night when I fired up the TV for my nightly pre-sleep brain numbing I hit the play button on Survivor. I was sitting there thinking what an odd beginning, thinking Jeff Probst was telling me what had already happened, prior to starting up the new season. I was a couple minutes into this before I realized I was watching a re-cap and that the new season must have premiered the previous Wednesday and I was watching a re-cap of that episode.

I probably should not be admitting to these type confusions.

I do not like the Blood vs. Water premise. Once again half the people on the show have already been on Survivor. Did Rupert really need to be on again? Having asked that I will say it was sort of satisfying to see Rupert be the first one cast off the island.

I only remembered about half of the returnees, with most of those who I remembered not being anyone I really wanted to see again. Like the annoying gay bully boy, Colton.

And why Redemption Island again? Do the Survivor producers not check in on what the viewers think about their various twists?

Last night I made it through the Immunity Challenge and then went in to fast forward mode. I had not been hooked in to caring which of the returnee's wife, husband, mother, brother, uncle, niece, girlfriend, sister, cousin, father, aunt or grandma got the boot to Redemption Island.

Is Survivor never going to have a return to its original format of casting all new people? How many times has Rupert played the game now? Three? Four?

I think Survivor may be near the end of its long run. I suspect this season will see a big drop in the ratings. I may be one of those who contribute to the drop....

Why Was There No In Memoriam Larry Hagman Tribute During The 65th Emmy Awards Telecast?

I made it through a few minutes past the 90 minute mark of Sunday's 65th Annual Emmy Awards telecast.

I usually find Neil Patrick Harris to be amusing when he is in host mode. But, last night, not so much. The middle of the show, at the 90 minute mark dance production number's finish, is when I hit the TV off button.

I did not know til this morning that Larry Hagman did not get a featured "In Memoriam" tribute.  I saw the Jean Stapleton, Jonathon Winters and Cory Monteith tributes.

Even before learning of the Larry Hagman snub/flub I was sort of appalled that Cory Monteith was featured, what with him being on TV a very short time, as in his big break came in only 2009, in Glee. Cory Monteith did not have a long, storied career. He was an addict who died from an alcohol/heroin overdose.

Meanwhile, Larry Hagman was a TV giant. One of TV's all time most popular stars. Larry Hagman was already well known and well like after 5 seasons with his first hit, I Dream of Jeannie. Followed, about a decade later, with one of the most popular, worldwide, TV shows of all time.

Dallas.

Larry Hagman's character on Dallas, J.R. Ewing, may be the most well know fictional TV character of all time.

Dallas was the #1 show in America for years. Dallas was the #1 show worldwide for much of its run.

The "Who Shot J.R.?" Dallas episode got one of the highest ratings of all time.

And then, in this century, Larry Hagman came back to TV, on TNT, in a well-received re-boot of Dallas, where both Larry Hagman and J.R. Ewing died in the re-booted Dallas second season, which was in this year's Emmy season.

And yet no mention made of Larry Hagman at Sunday night's Emmy telecast.

Appalling.

Larry Hagman should have been nominated for an Emmy this year. In addition to an "In Memoriam" tribute.

Season 3 Premieres With A New Improved Version Of The X Factor

I did not realize the third season of The X Factor was premiering last night til I saw my DVR was recording it.

I thought I'd cancelled my DVR's recording of The X Factor, last season, after I tired of it.

I don't know if it is too soon to judge such a thing, but judging from the premiere episode it appears that The X Factor has fixed a lot of what made this show annoying to watch.

The show seemed fast paced, well edited, little filler. Little pointless chatter. Much less flash and noise.

The new judges, Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio, seem eons better, on first exposure, than Brittney Spears and L.A. Reid.

Particularly L.A. Reid. Mr. Reid was just not a good television presence.

Also dumped is Khloe Kardashian. Leaving Mario Lopez as the sole host, with Mario being very subdued and barely a presence.

The dynamic between Simon Cowell and three female fellow judges seems to have a pleasant feel to it. So far.

Is the 3rd attempt the charm? Will The X Factor finally become the hit that Simon Cowell was so sure it was going to be? Time will tell. But, just judging from episode number one of season three, it would seem that The X Factor may have fine tuned itself sufficiently to finally draw more viewers than it repels.

I did not adjust the settings on my DVR after viewing last night's The X Factor episode....

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo's Season Two Finale Tonight

Over the past year or two I have heard the name "Honey Boo Boo" mentioned many a time. I knew Honey Boo Boo was on a Reality TV Show on TLC, also known as The Learning Channel.

But, til last Wednesday, I had not watched an episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

Yikes!

Just the title of the episode I watched was enough cause for a Yikes!

Stress Poops was the title.

Apparently Honey Boo Boo's mother, known as Mama June, suffers from extreme gastro intestinal distress when under stress. The stress in this case was getting ready for her commitment ceremony with baby daddy Sugar Bear.

I consulted the Internet to learn that the episode of Honey Boo Boo that I watched was the next to last episode of season two of Honey Boo Boo. With the season finale of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo coming at you tonight, Wednesday, September 11, 2013 at 10/9c.

Honey Boo Boo's actual name is Alana Thompson. Alana and her interesting family came to fame via another TLC show called Toddlers & Tiaras.

Helping Honey Boo Boo show us the joys of American rural life we have her stay-at-home mother, June "Mama June" Shannon and her papa, Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson, who mines chalk. Then there are Honey Boo Boo's three sisters: Lauryn "Pumpkin" Shannon, 12, Jessica "Chubbs" Shannon, 15 and Anna "Chickadee" Shannon, 17.

Apparently Anna Chickadee birthed a daughter, Kaitlyn Shannon, during the first season Honey Boo Boo finale. I wondered whose baby the baby was that had to get rescued from the bathroom where Mama June was spending a lot of time doing her stress pooping. Now I realize it was the mother of the baby who did the rescue.

I may watch the season two Honey Boo Boo finale. I did find the one and only episode I viewed to be entertaining. I don't recollect ever listening to so much discussion about roadkill and how one makes sure one is buying an authentic coon rather than a cat being passed of as a coon.

I guess this is the type educational material one should expect to learn when one is watching The Learning Channel...

Dancing with the Stars Season 17 Premieres with Valerie Harper in a New One Night Two-Hour Format on Monday, September 16 at 8|7c

Above you are looking at the "Stars" who will be dancing on Season 17 of ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

Usually I only know who about half of the "Stars" are.

This time I am familiar with all but one of the dancing women. I have no idea who Christina Milian is.

Of the dancing men I only know of half of the six. I have no idea who Keyshawn Johnson, Brant Daugherty or Corbin Bleu are.

This season Dancing with the Stars has one of the biggest stars in TV history dancing. Valerie Harper of Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda fame.

The Rhoda and Joe wedding episode of Rhoda remains one of the most watched TV episodes in TV history, with something like 52 million viewers watching.

I suspect the ratings for Dancing with the Stars will be up this season due to Valerie Harper being one of those dancing.

Just a couple months ago Valerie Harper was in the news with the announcement that she had a very serious rare brain cancer with a very dire prognosis. Chemotherapy and radiation has reduced the cancer, with the result being that Valerie Harper is currently in good enough health to do some heavy duty dancing.

Below is the entire DWTS CAST & PARTNERS.......

Amber Riley & Derek Hough
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi & Sasha Farber
Leah Remini & Tony Dovolani
Christina Milian & Mark Ballas
Valerie Harper & Tristan MacManus
Elizabeth Berkley & Val Chmerkovskiy

Jack Osbourne & Cheryl Burke
Bill Engval & Emma Slater
Keyshawn Johnson & Sharna Burgess
Bill Nye & Tyne Stecklein
Brant Daugherty & Peta Murgatroyd
Corbin Bleu & Karina Smirnoff

Dancing with the Stars Premieres in a New One Night, Two-Hour Format on Monday, September 16 at 8|7c