TV Round Up (July 09 Edition)

I remember there was a time when Summer means TV sucks, when TV network didn't bother to make new contents and even produce bullshit slogans to boast "If you haven't seen it before, it's new to you." But now that they realize there are viewers in the Summer as well which can be translated into more revenue, we are rewarded with fresh contents. Even though these new shows can be all bullshit reality TV like Big Brother, So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent, it's still better than reruns.

I'm a TV fanatic. In the past months or two, I've been hooked on these few shows:

The Fashion Show

Bravo is really the gayest channel on TV, even more so than Logo at least production value wise, it's the better of the two. In an effort to replace Project Runwway, Bravo had came up with The Fashion Show. Pretty much a straight out copy of its predecessor. However, Kelly Rowland and Isaac Mizrahi are no Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn. While Isaac tries too eagerly to get all the spotlight, Kelly is pretty much just a wire-hanging trying to display as much fierceness as she can but not enough expertise in fashion. The designs are a bit blah, the show lacks innovation and both hosts are not as likable. I wouldn't miss it if it doesn't come back for seconds. I guess I'll be turning to Lifetime for Project Runway when it comes back.

The Next Food Network Stars (Season 5)

Despite the fact that I dislike Bobby Flay, I still find it quite fascinating to see how a TV personality is selected for his/her own TV show. I didn't even know that this show already had 4 seasons and after reading up on wiki, turns out the only success coming out of this show was Guy Fieri. I guess it upholds the rule of reality competition show, that the viewers enjoy more about the process than the results. No Top Models ever amount to much either and only a handful of Idols got commercial success. Since they eliminated the Korean girl, I don't think I care about the rest of the show now.

Top Chef Masters

Food porn again. Top Chef Masters is like Top Chef but the participants this time are all established chef competing for charity/tax break purposes. These famous chefs are put through ridiculous games but then it always look fun and you can see a distinct caliber difference between them and normal contestants. The front runner right now is Asian chef Anita Lo, I'm sure I'd be rooting for her but she'd probably lose to someone else.

Dexter (Season 3)

I'm a little late on this gem, though I downloaded all of them and watched the whole season (12 one-hour episodes) in two seatings. There's something extremely wonderful and exciting about serial killer shows, there must be something wrong with me. This season, Dexter had knocked up his girlfriend Rita and he soon proposed to Rita in an effort to normalize himself. Also, he gained a new friend who accept him for who he is and wants to learn from him. It's intriguing stuff and Season 4 will soon come out in September and John Lithgow will be on it. I simply can't wait. It makes me want to read all the novels, but I must resist the temptation, I already have tons of unread books as it is.

Harper's Island

Another bloody show. Harper's Island is the first show that promise its viewer a few killings in every episode. It's also the first show to not strive for a second season. Almost every actor in the show is a fresh face and the experimental nature of the show is very refreshing. A whodunit that draws the viewer into the horror and shows extraordinary amount of violence considering that it is shown on a major network. One of my pet peeves about TV show is the change of schedule in the middle of a season, I guess it is because its ratings were not so well. So the logic is a bit skewed and the killer a bit obvious, it's still a good show. But since everyone pretty much died and the weaker rating, I don't think it'll come back for another season even under a different premise.

True Blood (Season 2)

Mesmerizing as ever. What can I say? I'm a vampire man, but not for those crappy teenage shit. I've read all the Charlaine Harris books on the series but I'm so glad that the story has been changed to keep me guessing. The gay character Lafayette was kept alive, Bill the vampire came back less flabby and more muscular (and I thought the physics of vampires couldn't change. lol), and they can always find some excuses to get beefcake Ryan Kwanten half-naked. (Yum!) Anna Paquin is getting naked a lot, which is quite shocking and her having a real-life relationship with her co-star Stephen Moyer 13 years her senior is not really desirable either. Mostly because if the relationship go south, they might not want to continue starring in the same series. That would be devastating to me. And even though I've longed for a blood orange beverage, don't you find capitalizing on Tru Blood just a little tacky?

Weeds (Season 5)

Weeds kinda lost its footing during season 4, the story got too out of whack and the gated community drug lord had changed and turn into a whole other beast. In season 5, our baroness had got herself impregnated by the Mayor of Tijuana who's also the underground boss. The selling of weeds became a side story and now Nancy is just trying to stay alive. The story is focusing on the unraveling of her family and still developing but it seems it has lost its direction. Of course, I could be wrong. Mary-Louise Parker is still deserving of an award, I just wish the show can be more focus. It was bad when we lost Conrad and Heylia, the reintroduction of the rest of the cast after the move didn't make much sense, but I'm willing to hang in. The production of season 6 had been announced, so there's at least another season to go.

Nurse Jackie

Another person who would give Mary-Louise Parker a run for her money would be Edie Falco who plays Nurse Jackie Peyton. I once thought Nurse Jackie would be another serial killer who brings justice in a hospital setting, I wasn't entirely wrong. Nurse Jackie duel out cosmic balance in her hospital by helping patients in different ways, almost saint-like. At the same time, she's deeply flawed by her increasing addiction on prescription drugs and her extramarital affairs with a pharmacist. It's a great new series even it tends to take a darker direction. Dominic Fumusa who plays her husband is quite a hottie and I doubt that I would ever cheat on him. Hurray Showtime.

Other than the upcoming Season 4 of Dexter (09/27), Project Runway will also come back soon (08/20) on Lifetime. That, and something called Project Runway All-Stars (08/20), the Season 2 of Skins (08/06), The third season of Mad Men (08/16), they and the boyfriend should probably keep me pretty occupied.