Primetime shines on Thursdays with Survivor Samoa

Primetime Network TV shines on CBS Thursdays with Survivor Samoa!!!

OK, so that’s not a big suprise, is it?

Survivor’s latest season in Samoa is a big time winner and great fun to watch! I love this show!

While it is mainly power playing dudes left in the game – we still have a few ladies who are surviving!

I’m still disappointed some of the lovliest lady contestants have already been voted off, but at least we still have a few beauties competing for the million dollar prize! (more…)

The Problem With Big Brother

WHAT is the Problem With Big Brother?

OK, so that’s a snotty way to start a piece – by ragging on the almighty Big Brother…

I know… But hey – it happens every time the Big Brother show winds down to the end of the season. The trouble with Big Brother is that it gets boring towards the end and I almost lose interest.

Actually it happens to almost all reality tv shows that GET RID of the ‘contestants” or in Big Brother’s case – the houseguests.

It never fails to happen in Reality TV. Survival of the fittest is not always applicable.

As the better players, and often most attractive ones, and even the more highly “spirited” ones get knocked off the shows, the drama goes with them and things get a little lame at times.

Take the current installment of Big Brother 11. While it is still a good tv show and each episode has it’s moments, it has been getting more and more weak the past few episodes.

We’re near the end and it’s down to Jordan, Natalie, Michelle and the gay guy and it’s boring!

OH yes, his name is Kevin…Sorry!

Sure, they opened Pandora’s box and Natalie was hooked up with her boyfriend who proposed to her but soooo what! And then she lied – poorly… mild drama at best.

So – what is goin on now in the BB11 house??? (more…)

I’m a Celebrity – you jerk – get me out of here!

NBC was criticized for bringing back a loser of a show when they set up a new version of “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here” a few weeks ago.

I admit I was going to pass on it but somehow ran across it as it was being shown and I must admit I was sucked in right away.

Mainly because Heidi and Spencer were such primadonna idiots! It was fun! And then they left and came back and by then I was actually enjoying the show.

Hey – I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here – is FUN!

Now, I am not going to analyze it or go on much further, but I will say that the cast is really good – better than you would imagine. They almost all have flaws and show their weaknesses.

Sanjaya has really stood out as likeable. Same with Torrie.

In any event – there is another week to go I believe – check out I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here on NBC!

Erik – The Most Stupidest Survivor Idiot Ever

Wow! I must admit I enjoyed the episode of Survivor 16 in Micronesia last night in which Erik fell prey to the ladies who suckered him into giving up his immunity.

Erik was blindsighted and voted off last night.   Is anyone other than Erik suprised???

As the last remaining Survivor girls were scheming last night, I kept thinking to myself how no one could be so stupid as to give up immunity. They were guilting Erik into making a gesture to show the jury he was redeeming himself for his lying and manipulating by giving his immunity necklace to Natalie.

Even Natalie didn’t believe Erik would fall for it – but Cirie helped push him over the edge saying she needed to see a gesture in order for her tochange her vote to get rid of Amber.

Erik fell for it.

The odd thing is he had immunity – what purpose could changing the vote to Amber make in his quest to be in the final 4???

And to makie matters worse – Erik has been had in the past when he was convinced to do something in return for not getting votes. They were ready to slam him before.

(more…)

Paradise Hotel is back? Holy Molee!

Fox Reality Channel and MyNetworkTV are upping the ante and bringing back one of the all time greatest reality tv shows – Paradise Hotel!

Get ready because Paradise Hotel will premiere on Monday, February 4 at 9PM ET on MyNetworkTV with a steamy creamy version showing on Fox Reality later the same night. (more…)

No Big Brother & TV Show Spoliers Allowed!

The TV Robot web site is a SPOILER FREE ZONE!  No spoilers are allowed! (more…)

Sorry but Pirate Master Sucks

Sorry but Pirate Master Sucks by Mike Liebner     The show blows and has got to go… bye bye says Tivo!

OK, so it seemed like it might be a good Summer replacement for Survivor seeing that it comes from the same people associated with reality tv giant Mark Burnett.

I tried to give it a fair shot, but the last episode put me over the edge and I have now officially removed Pirate Master form both of my Tivos. It simply is not even worth watching in fast forward mode. Now that sucks!

Go ahead and blame it on the awful casting if you want, but I think the concept is what is really flawed big time, as setting the show on a creaky old pirate boat and having the contestants play, er, pretend, er contend as if they were real pirates is a concept with less merit than Jackass (any version). Not even the best actors would be fun to watch pretending they were pirates in a reality tv show, much less the motley crew of dorks they have on the show.

Like I said before, I do respect Mark Burnett, but sorry my man – you have let me and the peoples down big time – again.

Pirate Master is not just lame – it sucks!

I am so tired of the lame foot races where they’re racing to find a puzzle piece and bag of fake coins. It’s not clever. It’s not even a competition. It’s a freakin’ foot race with make believe pirates… how lame is that? 

They run… they fall… they complain… duh… to base a show around a weekly foot race for a fake pirates chest is an insult to reality tv watchers.

Zanzibar and mutiny and cutting them adrift may be clever bullet points for a 6th grade art class or drama project, but prime time tv demands much more than make believe reality tv. Is that what tv execs really want to fill the airwaves? Is that what people really want to watch? (more…)

Hey – On the Lot – Are you kidding me???

Hey – On the Lot – Are you kidding me??? Rant by Mike Liebner

On The Lot is NOT HOT!     I mean come on! This amateurish variety/reality tv show is about filmmakers producing material and being judged and criticized. It really should not suck – but it DOES! BIG TIME!

From the first episode to the most recent, ON THE LOT looks like it was produced by the rejected “directors” who did not make the cut! The ejected amateur directors certainly could have done better than this train wreck of a primetime tv show.

Come on – Steven Spielberg – Mark Burnett – were either of you anywhere near the show to give a nod of approval??? Have your “assistants” or “PA’s” even previewed the episodes before they aired to make sure your levels of quality had been attained? I do not think so!

Let me get this out of the way – I went to Cal State to study film and tv and was a Radio TV Major and got my B.A. degree. I made films and learned from some of the best people in entertainment. I may not be producing tv shows as a professional, but I still know enough about the industry to say this show has been neglected in so many many ways production and writing wise.

On the Lot is a GREAT CONCEPT with so much promise! It could be the KING of REALITY TV SHOWS – not the boring poorly paced dud of a show it has been.

On The Lot has been a major disappointment for me from day 1 and I tell ya I really wanted to like this show. I still want to like it, but whoever is producing the show and calling the shots has no clue about what compelling tv is all about. As the episodes drag on I urgently want to tell TIVO to delete… but I can’t… when the episode ends I get angry I wasted my precious time when so much GREAT TV is on my hard drive waiting for me.

Just because the names Spielberg and Burnett are attached does not make a good show. I’m a big fan of Survivor, the Apprentice and even like Pirates but On The Lot is an amateur production.

So – why do I keep watching? I really want to like it and have been curious if anyone important was watching and if the feedback might cure some of the ills.

So – what exactly is pissing me off so much about this show??? (more…)

CBS Season Premiere of Survivor Fiji Islands on Feb. 8

CBS Season Premiere of Survivor 14 Fiji Islands on Feb. 8 by Mike Liebner

Are you ready for the season premiere of Survivor: Fiji on February 8, 2007?

I am ready for Survivor 14 Fiji! In fact, I have been craving Survivor more than ever!

Over the Christmas holiday while visiting family I finally removed the plastic off the DVD and watched every single episode of the first Survivor!

Which one was that… oh yeah… Survivor Borneo Season One.

I must admit I tried like crazy to NOT watch Survivor the first 4 or 5 seasons when it came out. I was one of those “no time for Reality tv” type peoples. That all changed with Survivor Thailand when I gave in and watched. I was immediately hooked.

So now, here I am in between Survivor Cook Islands and Survivor Fiji and I am having cravings for Survivor! So I did rapid fire burn through that season one DVD and I was very happy to see it. I must say that it was PALE by comparison to the current day Survivor shows as Jeff Probst and the gang have come a long way. But it was fun to see the rough and  tumble creation of what would become a TV dynasty for Mark Burnett. (more…)

Living With Ed on HGTV

Living with Ed premieres on HGTV.

Well, I must admit it – I never expected to be tuning in to HGTV, much less to watch a reality tv show starring Ed Begley Jr. But I did and I must say it was more enjoyable than expected.

As you may or may not know, Ed’s claim to fame was as Victor Ehrlich in the old hit tv show St.Elsewhere, of which I was a big fan.

Since then Ed has made a lot of appearances on other shows most notably Arrested Development and Six Feet Under. He has also appeared in a few high profile movies including Best In Show.

Current day, Ed Begley Jr. has become known for his quirky adoption and promotion of green type living practices, with his home as a role model with solar powered everything.

First off I must say that Ed and his wife Rachelle Carson live in Studio City, California and that just a few years ago I too lived in “the Valley” in neighboring Sherman Oaks. I had seen Ed and his family in the hood on more than a few occasions. In fact I saw him at Fashion Square Mall a few times in the food court. So when I saw there was a reality tv show with Ed I took up an interest and decided to watch.

Tivo snagged the first episode of Living With Ed for me and I must admit I have since added a season pass for it. It’s pretty good, although not as exciting as Survivor, but hey, it’s a quick fun show to watch. So far at least. (more…)

America’s Got Talent Finale and Props to Regis

 America’s Got Talent Finale and Props to Regis by Roxanne McDonald

I know I was pretty hard on the show in general, given its tacky middle America pandering and not so successful panning of The Gong Show and other mock games, and I am sorry to say I have to be equally harsh about America’s Got Talent grand finale.

  But if to show respect at least is to write about it, to give it air, okay, then the very writing here should suffice. 

(After all, bad publicity is still publicity and all that….)I like Regis Philbin.  I give him props for being angry and bitter and hateful and getting away with it, expressing it, giving vent, by way of cheesy and acceptable humor.   (more…)

BB7 All-Stars – Gamut of Emotions

BB7 All-Stars – Gamut of Emotions by Roxanne McDonald

Big Brother 7 All Stars, August 17th, 2006

Big Brother 7 All-Stars puts BB devotees through the gamut of emotions—or emotional responses.

First, we are getting fed up with the Janelle thing, especially once she “scumbagged” (as Marcellas would say) her supposed “friend”. 

Yep, she put Marcellas up for eviction, pretentiously confiding in him that she had to do it but that she would ensure he was only a pawn and going nowhere.  (more…)

Big Brother All Stars – Will is Gaining Power

Big Brother All Stars – Will is Gaining Power by Roxanne McDonald 

By the time one gets through the Big Brother 7, Tuesday, August 1st episode, one is struck hard by the frightful possibility:      what if Will wins again?

   It is a strong possibility, considering he has gone balls to wall with his intentional insulting, manipulating, and self-alienating, all of which appear to merely galvanize, or reinforce, his strength of presence in the BB house. 

He has told them all during a veto meeting that he hates them all.  He has cajoled and coerced Janelle—or attempted to convince her—to put a floater and a Chill Town member up, then work it so the floater goes home.  (more…)

Is the Last Comic Standing Really Funny?

Last Comic Standing is Josh Blue! 

It’s not that you need a PhD in the psychology of humor to write about such television programs, but it is tough to capture or encapsulate the appeal of really good comedic shows.

I mean, if I could translate with any accuracy and effectiveness the likes of, say, Seinfeld, with its hallmark repetition of lines for comic effect or its relatedness of events, instances, and issues the characters share, for example, then I would be ON the show…or WRITING it.

So it goes with a blockbuster entertainment show like Last Comic Standing. 

Still, I feel impelled to sing the praises of the efforts to bring back some damned levity (if not outright raucous laughter) to our pitifully stressful, overworked, overburdened, overwhelmed lives. (more…)

Big Brother 7 All-Stars Gets More Vicious

Big Brother 7 Gets More Vicious By Roxanne McDonald

The Big Brother 7 All-Stars July 23 episode, if possible, gets more vicious, more heated, more cutthroat… and at the same time ushers in another bizarre dimension to the personalities of two players, Jase and Will.

  The Sunday episode has creepy cute moments: Boogie speaks to the diary room cam, excitedly anticipating HOH James’ nominations, saying, “Call the Hardy Boys… get somebody in here to figure out who James is going to nominate.” 

(Boogie is a trip; reminds me of the frat boys back east, and with good reason: he is from Concord, NH, right up the road a piece from where I first went to college.  So, yes, frat boys in NH are like this—and often WORSE.) (more…)

Racially Divided Survivor: Cook Islands premiers on Sept. 14

Are you ready for a Racially Divided Survivor: Cook Islands???

Sure, why not???    Survivor Cook Islands is just a reality TV show!      And Survivor is a damned good one at that!

Commentator Tucker Carlson was trying to make a case last night on his show Tucker (why did they change it?) on MSNBC,

that he was terribly offended by the new season of Survivor dividing it’s contestants into tribes, er groups by race. No one else on the panel seemed as offended and Tucker just beat it to a pulp whining about how he will not watch it. (more…)

Big Brother All-Stars is an Exercise in Arrogance!

BB7 Article by Roxanne McDonald

I was speaking with an associate (or emailing back and forth with him) today, and as usual we were discussing one of our favorite pastimes, reality TV. 

We agree on many points and about most characteristics when it comes to the granddaddy of reality TV shows, Big Brother, or as it is this season, Big Brother All-Stars (BB7).

We two, like many viewers, imagine Will and Jase are gonna tear up the game,

tear apart weaker (but seemingly stealthy) alliances, and will likely, if they stay in “character”, tear new ones for those competitors they see as the greatest threat. (more…)

America’s Got Talent and the Gong Show!

I couldn’t stand The Gong Show when I was growing up and it was on in syndication, and I’m having an equally hard time staying as faithful to America’s Got Talent as I am to umpteen million other reality TV shows I am utterly hooked on. 

America’s Got Talent, though, is apparently another much-needed show by middle America (get the name similarity, which is dubbed for a reason).       The Gong Show and Star Search hybrid is not as silly, nor is it as savvy (up on and aware of its nature as panning other talent shows) as I would assume.

In fact, yesterday on Reality Remix, they posted the top six episodes of the week (July, 2006) and

America’s Got Talent was Number One, with so many more million viewers than So Think You Can Dance (which took two places) and Rock Star Supernova (which of course took last as there are fewer rockers than bible thumpers in the nation—ugh). (more…)