Bachelor Pad: Justin & Alli Kicked Out of the Pad on the 1st Episode

Well, I watched the first 3 hour long episode of the 2nd season of ABC's Bachelor Pad.

Three hours.

Not all the occupants of Bachelor Pad were introduced with a slick intro. But, the ones who had some history, issue, infamy or conflict were.

Like Gia Allemond, the 26 year old model who was on the first season of Bachelor Pad. Gia had a chart showing her lack of love at the love connections, such as hooking up with Wes on Bachelor Pad, with Wes then having a fling with Vienna, which thus sets up Vienna as Gia's villain.

I can't remember if Vienna was already in the house when Gia arrived, or the other way around. I do remember they were very cold to each other.

Then we have Vienna's current boyfriend, Casey Kahl, a 27 year old philanthropist. Huh? Who claims to have bulked up with 30 pounds of solid muscle, ready to take on the evil Jake Pavelka, should he arrive as expected.

Then when Jake does arrive, Casey turned out to be mostly bluster as Jake tried to make nice.

The first challenge of this iteration of Bachelor Pad was interesting. The Padmates were told to pair up. Jackie Gordon paired with Jake, even though she thought she was secretly paired with Ames Brown, the really smart robot we'd recently seen rejected by Ashley. Ames and Jackie were in the garden making out, thinking no prying eyes were watching. They were wrong.

For the challenge the male half of the couple was strapped into a harness. The female half then wrapped herself around the male while a winch lifted them about 10 feet in the air. The last couple to fall to the bed below got immunity roses plus an additional rose to give to the Padmate of their choice.

The coupling challenge went on for a long time. I have never seen so many variations of the basic missionary position. Eventually it was down to Jake & Jackie, coupling against Vienna & Casey.

Eventually Casey's pelvic region could take it no longer, giving Jake the win, much to the upset of Vienna, who took it out on Casey and his aching pelvis.

Jake and Jackie then went on a date toin Hollywood where they had food on the roof of an awning of a theater. It was strange. On this roof Jake told Jackie his mythical story of what ended his connection with Vienna. Jackie suggested Jake give Vienna the immunity rose.

And so he did. When Jake gave Vienna the rose he asked Vienna and Casey to follow him, so he could talk to them. Apparently Jake is on Bachelor Pad to try and re-spin the bizarre incident that caused viewers to realize he was a scary sociopath, with that bizarre incident being the break-up special with Chris Harrison where Jake displayed his temper in a very bad way.

Some think it is obvious Jake is a sociopath. I think he suffers from classic Little Man Syndrome. Jake's apology to Vienna for his temper tantrum and his spin on it all was not being bought by Vienna. Or Casey.

After Jake wound down, Vienna and Casey took off to find a bedroom, and while Jake was telling the camera how well that went and how he now had closure and how he hoped he could now be friends with Casey & Vienna, Vienna was taking off her clothes and climbing into bed with Casey for some robust adult exercize.

When Vienna took off her clothes, recorded by Nightvision, ABC did not pixelate any private parts. Instead of pixelating, big black boxes were used to preserve Vienna's modesty. Such as it is.

The last half hour, or so, was spent plotting who would go home. In the end it was Alli Travis and the Canadian dumbass, Justin Rego, who made a memorably bitter exit, grabbing Jake's rose and spewing some amusing nonsense.

Several of the Padmates seem quite driven to get the paltry, by Reality TV standards, $250,000 prize. Vienna, who's bio says she is unemployed, has big plans for the money. If I remember right, the plans include buying a house, taking her parents on a cruise, buying a business, investing in the stock market, paying off her debts and who knows what else.

If I remember right, the first season of Bachelor Pad the $250K turned into $125K, due to the couple in the end splitting the $250K.

The previews look entertaining. With Vienna determined to win the big money, she says she'll choose the money over her supposed boyfriend. I have trouble telling them apart, but either Kirk Dewindt or Blake Julian get into all sorts of heat from some female Padmates.

I'll likely keep watching. I'm hoping the subsequent episodes are not 3 hours long.

Happy 100th Birthday to Lucille Ball

Lucille Désirée Ball was born on August 6, 1911. Which would make today Lucy's 100th birthday.

Lucy died on April 26, 1989, over 22 years ago, if my bad math skills are correct. How can it already be that long since the shocking news that Lucille Ball had died?

Lucille Ball is my all-time favorite TV star. And one of my favorite all-time celebrities.

I remember when it hit the news that Lucy and Desi Arnaz were divorcing it was shocking to my young mind. I didn't understand. Why would Lucy and Ricky, who had so much fun on my TV, get divorced in real life?

And how strange is it that Lucy would marry a guy named Desi, with Lucy having the middle name of Désirée?

I Love Lucy is a television classic, obviously. I find if I'm channel chasing and come upon I Love Lucy, I'm sort of drawn right in, like a long lost friend has shown up again at my door.

It used to be said that I Love Lucy was airing somewhere on the Planet, at any given moment of any given day. I don't know if this is still true. I suspect it is.

I saw Lucy being interviewed years after the end of I Love Lucy. It may have been on the Tonight Show. Whoever the interviewer was, Johnny Carson, or someone else, the interviewer remarked at what a knockout Lucy was in her prime. Lucy scoffed at this, actually got sort of angry.

I always thought Lucy was beautiful. To me Lucy was perfect, beautiful inside and out. And incredibly funny.

I Love Lucy. We All Love Lucy. Happy Birthday Lucy.

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for July 19 - July 25

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for July 19 - July 25. 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 (Tue.)	NBC	11.5	14.7
2.	America's Got Talent (Wed.)	NBC	10.7	13.7
3.	60 Minutes	CBS	8.9	12.2
*	NCIS	CBS	8.9	17.4
5.	Big Brother (Sun.)	CBS	8.2	7.7
*	The Bachelorette	ABC	8.2	8.8
7.	Big Bang Theory	CBS	7.1	12.0
*	Big Brother (Thu.)	CBS	7.1	7.6
9.	Big Brother (Wed.)	CBS	6.8	7.4
*	Flashpoint	CBS	6.8	6.9
11.	Wipeout (Thu.)	ABC	6.6	7.2
12.	NCIS: Los Angeles	CBS	6.5	14.8
13.	CSI	CBS	6.3	12.2
14.	Blue Bloods	CBS	6.2	11.1
*	Ext. Makeover: Weight Loss	ABC	6.2	6.2
*	The Mentalist	CBS	6.2	13.8
17.	So You Think/Dance (Wed.)	Fox	6.1	7.7
18.	CSI: NY	CBS	6.0	9.7
*	Hell's Kitchen (Tue.)	Fox	6.0	5.9
*	Hell's Kitchen (Mon.)	Fox	6.0	5.9

On Flipping Out Jeff Finally Fired Sarah

I got around to watching last week's Flipping Out episode, last night, followed by last night's new episode.

The new episode ended with Jeff Lewis finally getting around to firing Sarah Berkman. Sarah took it well.

It the previews it appears that Trace is the next person on the staff to feel the heat from Jeff Lewis.

Trace did not endear himself to Jeff during the Las Vegas combo Bachelorette Party for Sarah/Speech Event for Jeff, when Trace, along with Sarah and Jett, did not manage to make it to Jeff's speech.

I don't know why Jeff would expect otherwise, what with leaving the trio drinking in Vegas, after taking them to a strip joint, much to the shocked horror of the increasingly amusing Gage.

Every season of Flipping Out Jeff seems to have at least one whacked out client. This season, so far, it seems to be this lady named Stacey. Stacey thinks Sarah is a ravishing beauty of great charm. While she thinks Jenni was not struck with the pretty stick. Among other things.

I found Stacey quite bizarre. She definitely was not struck with either the pretty or tactful stick.

For me the most amusing moments of the night came when Jeff went to do a consult in Venice in a house with a little girl. This was a cute, fun-loving little girl. The Sarah replacement intern was tasked with looking after the little girl while Jeff consulted. That went well.

Then when Jeff and the mother returned to the little girl, while the mother went to get the little girl milk, Jeff told her to quit talking, because she was having trouble swallowing her cereal. The little girl then started crying. When the sobbing stopped she told her mom she wanted Jeff to leave.

That was funny.

I must say, while I fast forwarded through most of anything to do with the massive rebuild job on Zoila, the results were quite amazing.

I am guessing next week Trace does not get fired.

Part 2 of The Real Housewives of New York City Reunion Made It Real Clear Kelly Bensimon Needs to be Removed

Three seasons of Kelly Bensimon on The Real Housewives of New York City is enough.

The 3 hours reunion shows, broke in to two 90 minute long parts, were the final Kelly straw for me.

Crazy can be entertaining. Stupid can be funny. Clueless can be amusing.

But, Kelly's combo of crazy, stupid and clueless is not entertaining, funny or amusing.

It is just sad.

It is also sad that the producers of RHONY have let this insanity go on as long as they have.

I would have thought that last season's St. John's Scary Island episodes where Kelly's mental illness was clear for all to see would have been the end of having her on our TV screens.

Instead it is as if that did not happen.

Watching Kelly go after the voice of reason (compared to Kelly), Alex McCord, over and over again, screaming at Alex things that are actually true about Kelly, like Kelly screaming over and over again that Alex is "creepy."

That is Kelly in one of her creepy reunion moments in the screencap above.

And how many times did Kelly scream at Alex asking "Are you on crack? Are you high?" in response to a perfectly rational statement from Alex?

Reading the Interwebs it appalls me that there are some who watch this madness and are not able to see how completely in the wrong the Brunettes are. Luann, Jill, Kelly and Cindy are like some strange little deluded cult feeding on each other's lies, misconceptions and manipulations, while the lies and truth are clear to the viewers who are able to accurately process incoming data.

All the bullying of Alex by the Brunettes was disgusting. Alex has done nothing to deserve this.

Of the Brunettes the only one I can remotely tolerate is Countess Luann. Luann elevates her bad behavior behind elevated language, for the most part. Luann does not seem ugly in her core like the other 3 Brunettes.

I loved it when Alex told Luann she'd was giving her 2 "Thug in a Cocktail" t-shirts. To which Ramona chortled, with Luann making one of her typically condescending degrading remarks.

I wish what Alex would have said to Luann was "I have 2 Thug In a Cocktail t-shirts for you, one Extra Extra Large for you and a Small for Jacques."

Methinks, if Bravo wants to save the New York City housewive franchise, Kelly Bensimon definitely needs to go. Along with Cindy Barshop. Keep Jill Zarin just so you do have one vile villain who can articulate her vileness without sounding like a Kelly type nutjob.

I hope the Beverly Hills housewives deliver some good amusement when they start up in a couple weeks.

Ashley Temporarily Breaks Ben's Heart by Picking JP on The Bachelorette

That is Ben on The Bachelorette, after Ashley rejected his on-his-knees proposal and then sent him out to sea, from Fiji, in a little dinghy.

Prior to being rejected Ben had declared his love for Ashley and asked her family members for permission to marry her.

Ben said, "Everything in life to me is clear -- this is it. I do believe Ashley is in love with me."

Ashley really gave Ben no reason to think otherwise. These Bachelorette/Bachelor type reality shows can be a bit cruel.

In real life leading a guy on would not be seen as a good character trait.

After rejecting Ben, JP arrived. Ashley quickly accepted JP's marriage proposal, even though it was not delivered by JP down on his knees.

Prior to the proposal rejections and acceptances, we saw the boys meet Ashley's mom, step-dad, brother and sister from hell.

The sister's name is Chrystie. She is an older sister. Covered head to toe with what looked to be tattoos of cartoon characters. Within 15 minutes of meeting JP, the sister, who Ashley later lashed out at saying "You're such a bitch!" because sister Chrystie had come to the conclusion, based on very limited data, that JP was not a suitable match for Ashley.

I think sister Chrystie's primary problem was the HUGE age difference and something to do with one or the other not making one or the other laugh. I think the real problem was Chrystie found herself with a quick case of the HOTS for JP, making divorced sister Chrystie in full jealous sister mode.

I thought sister Chrystie was quite articulate. But I can see why Ashley thought she was being a bitch. I'd have trouble accepting advice from anyone who's idea of a good idea was to cover their body with tattoos.

Prior to making her final selection the boys were taken on one more date. On Ben's date Ashley was in full seductress mode, covering Ben all over with mud. Later it appeared the two former lovebirds spent the night together, while it was made clear on the eventual winner's, I mean fiance's, date, Ashley left JP's bedroom and went to wherever her own bed was.

On the After the Final Rose Show, Ben was up first to get interviewed by a now puffy-haired Chris Harrison. Ben seemed like he's survived his heartbreak. The women in the audience seemed to swoon over him. But not nearly as much as the women swooned over Ames on the Men Tell All episode Sunday night. Ames got a rock star mania level of swooning.

I think perky ultra-green boy, Ryan, should be dropped from contention for being the next The Bachelor and consideration given to both Ames and Ben. Ames would be very amusing robotically navigating a couple dozen women. As would Ben. Ryan, not so much.

There are rumors on the Interwebs, rarely to be believed, that ABC has paid Ashley and JP $50K, each, to keep quiet, for at least a month, regarding the fact that they've already split up. This to avoid yet one more incident of one of these odd reality TV romances coming to a quick end.

I would think both JP and Ben could do a lot better for themselves than Ashley. I would not be able to get past the annoying voice, the constant playing with her hair, and her family, shallow boy that I be.