TV Review: Back to You

On Fox Wednesday night, the pilot episode of Back to You premiered at 8 p.m.

1. Starring Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) and Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond)--two wonderful actors

2. Take Frasier, self-centered and priggish, from his call-in psych radio show and put him on a Pittsburg TV news station and make him an arrogant womanizer whose career is in trouble and you've got Grammer's new character Chuck Darling.

3. Take Patricia Heaton from critical, uptight, controlling housewife Debra Barone to critical, uptight, controlling anchorwoman and you've got Heaton's new character Kelly Carr.

4. Put them together and you've got a potential great comedy. I laughed out loud several times but the supporting cast needs some work as they are somewhat undeveloped. There is definite potential for as much success as Murphy Brown.

5. Some similarities to Murphy Brown, it is a news show, there is an anxious producer, a ditsy woman (Montana Diez Herrera, weather girl, who likes to be called a meteorologist even though she isn't one), the politically incorrect sportscaster and the roving reporter who wants to be an anchor.

6. In the pilot, so much happens, we find out about Chuck and why he returned to a smaller market, we see the tension between Chuck and Kelly and find out that they had a fling right before Chuck left town 10 years ago for a better anchor position. We learn Kelly is a single mom of a 10-year old daughter which is exactly how long ago their fling was and the daughter, Gracie, shares his allergy to pistachios.

7. I will watch a few more episodes before I make a decision whether it is a must watch each week or if it is DVR worthy.

Fox channel, Wednesdays 8 p.m. EST

Book Review: If I Did It by OJ Simpson (Goldman Family)

I don't want to promote this book at all but since I work in a bookstore and people are buying it I want to be a well-informed employee. I read it in one day. Disturbing. Compelling. Awful.

1. Remember this was written (with a writer) by OJ and he tries to make Nicole the bad guy.

2.However, if you read it, you will believe (if you don't already) he did it.

3. He admits he was there, had a knife and gloves but doesn't remember killing Nicole and Ron.

4. He was covered in blood and he had a "supposed" friend (Charlie) with him who took his bloody clothes and OJ instructed him to get rid of the evidence.

5. Coincidence or karma that OJ was arrested and faces jail time the same week the book is released?

Book Review: Restless Virgins by Abigail Jones and Marissa Miley

I recently read "Restless Virgins" a book about a sex scandal at Milton Academy in 2005, a private school in Milton, Mass. By the way, my husband was from Milton and my in-laws still live there. When I was growing up in Boston, we thought the kids from Milton Academy were snobs but we never would have guessed this! I wonder if this was happening in the 1970s too??

This book is scary for those of us who are parents of teenagers. The book has probably less than 20 pages in it about the actual scandal, the inspiration for the book. So if you wanted to read only about that, then you may be disappointed. The authors, graduates of Milton Academy, Abigail Jones and Marissa Miley, actually interviewed many students and former students of the Academy and that is how they put together an entire book. These kids have more sexual experiences than many adults. As a parent it is scary to think about.

I think parents of teens should read this book. This stuff happens. It's real and let's hope our kids are not doing these things but we have to be aware that this does happen in practically every high school across the country. Warning: the book is very descriptive of sexual activities so if that's something you don't want to read about, then you have been forewarned. The authors did a very good job of interviewing and are very detailed in their descriptions of the town and the school. They managed to take one incident and awaken the public about teenagers, their sexuality and high school. Shocking and eye-opening! Not to be missed!

Book review: The Butterfly House by Marcia Preston

Review: The Butterfly House by Marcia Preston
Recently finished reading the Butterfly House by Marcia Preston. I picked up this book several times at the bookstore where I work and each time I put it back for reasons I'm not really sure of. This time I didn't put it down and when I started reading it I couldn't stop. Fabulous book! The writing is wonderful and so descriptive. I'm drawn to books about women, mothers and daughters, sisters and this book has the most amazing characters. They were multi-layered and 3 dimensional. They will stay with me for awhile.
It is a story about best friends and their relationship with the added element of the girls relationships with their mothers and their friend's mother. May sound confusing but it isn't. An exquisite story. It begins when the girls are young and continues through adulthood with many twists and turns along the way. There is a tragedy that divided the girls and you will be intrigued.

Book Review: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Review:
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Another great book I recently read is "Garden Spells." If you like magical fiction then you will love this book. Filled with beautiful imagery and great characters, you will be captivated. I compare it to Alice Hoffman's "Practical Magic" another magical book about sisters. My compliments to Sarah Addison Allen.
This is a sister story but so much more. It is a family story about a very unique, yet charming family. Two sisters are estranged; they appear to be very different but they are more alike than they think. One sister is a caterer and cook; she does a very special type of cooking using the magical herbs and vegetables from the family home's backyard. Her recipes can make someone fall out of love or in love, remember or forget and other mysterious reactions. The other sister moved away to avoid her family's legacy and had a rough life. She also has a young daughter who shows signs of her family's special gifts. She moves back and even though her relationship was strained with her sister, she agreed to let them move in.
They have a sweet, eccentric and loving aunt who has an interesting gift where she feels drawn to give people certain gifts and those gifts always seem to come in handy at some point. And then there's the added tension of a single attractive male neighbor and the abusive and crazed ex-boyfriend and father of the little girl.


Sarah Addison Allen weaves it all together magically as if she could have been one of the characters in the book. It is a book I couldn't put down and was sad to see it end. I would love a sequel or a series of books with these characters. Truly a treasure.

The Biggest Loser Premiere

Last night, The Biggest Loser had its season premiere and there were some surprises. They had 18 players and two teams of six were picked so the leftover six had to "Go home." But wait, after the bus takes the chosen 12 back to the Biggest Loser "campus" (no ranch this year-more dorm style--another surprise), a motorcycle shows up and who is it all donned in black?? None other than Jillian, the former trainer who left the show last year. She's going to be the trainer for the "black" team that the other teams don't know about yet. I wonder? Bob and Kim must know, right? Well we'll see next week, but the black team is training for two weeks before they show up and surprise the other two teams. Should make it interesting.

There are a lot of interesting people on this show and I think everyone on it is over 200 pounds. There are several 300+ as well. There is an okder gentleman who is 62 years old and the oldest ever Biggest Loser participant. He also won the first contest by running to the trainers and being the first one to get there. He lost the most weight at the first weigh-in too.As he ran on the treadmill, he repeated, "Age is only a number." Gotta love his attitude, unlike Amber, her attitude made it quite clear that she did not have the commitment or the desire to compete and do the challenges. She is about 300 pounds so I can't blame her completely. It is hard to keep up and if your heart isn't in it, makes it all the more difficult. Perhaps once in front of the camera, she decided she couldn't do it. So obviously, she got eliminated. She asked for it during several of he workouts so there was no surprise there.

Usually I pick a favorite or someone I can relate to because I have to lose alot of weight too. I like Kae and Isabeau. I found it interesting that all the women are under 40. I wish NBC chose some 40-something women. The twins, Jim and Bill are 40 and Jim is 62. I also like Neil because he's from my state of Massachusetts.

The amount of weight they lose each is week is phenomenal. Do they exercise/work-out 8 hours a day? What do they eat? Watching this show is great motivation and inspiration for anyone having to lose weight, but I think it is especially inspiring for those who have 100 or more to lose. The contestants show it is possible to lose weight with lots of exercise and good eating habits. If you're thinking of gastric bypass, watch this show and know that you can lose weight with those same habits and maybe it will take a little longer than a bypass but then you probably won't have all that excess skin either!!

Watch next week when the black team re-joins the red and blue teams!!

New TV Season: A good reason to BLOG

In another week or two, the new fall season will begin for many returning shows and new shows. What better reason to get my blog up and running again??



I'm looking forward to the return of Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, CSI (Las Vegas), Biggest Loser, Without a Trace, Brothers and Sisters, the Office and Boston Legal. Some new shows that look promising or, at least, interesting are Journeyman (reminiscent of Quantum Leap?), Pushing Daisies, Private Practice (Grey's spinoff-we'll see), Dirty Sexy Money, Moonlight (who doesn't like a good vampire?), Chuck and Life.



I will admit that I will miss (very much) the Gilmore Girls, Studio 60 and I still miss Men in Trees ( a new show last season that didn't last).



On cable I caught Tim Gunn's new show and even though I love him on Project Runway (can't wait for that to return) I found Tim Gunn's Guide to Style a little slow. I love makeover shows like What Not To Wear so I enthusiastically tuned into Tim's show. Maybe it will get better with time. The pace seemed slow and his co-host did not thrill me(Can't even remember her name--can you remember Stacy London's former co-host's name?? I can't so maybe there'll be some cast changes). She is nice enough but there is a slight attitude and she appeared a little stiff and standing next to Tim Gunn that's saying ALOT!!



And if you watch HGTV's Design Star, this week the last two contestants designed a hotel room. Who will you vote for: Kim? or Todd? I think Kim will win even though I like them both. Todd's designs are so original but Kim is so good on camera and her designs are more traditional. But I wish them both GOOD LUCK!



Off to watch Weeds and Californication. Watch for my reviews on those two shows......

American Idol, Oprah and Tom Cruise

It's been a year since my last posts, but I'm back and hear me roar. I'm writing articles for newspapers, working hard in a bookstore and going to school all while raising three kids alone. So, I'll start with some events from this week's TV shows like American Idol and Oprah. First things first. Congrats to Carrie Underwood. I wish her well. I didn't care who won because I liked both of them and each will have a career in music, however maybe not a lengthy one. When Carrie and bo were on stage together I had visions of Donny and Marie's Variety show and their theme song, "I'm a little but country, and he's a little bit rock and roll." They should've sung that together...would've been cute especially since I've seen Donny is the audience a couple of episodes ago. Hey Carrie...Good Luck and Bo..Keep Rocking! Now, Oprah, Oprah, Oprah....you knew Tom was losing it on your show the other day and was making a fool of himself, why? Why? Why? Didn't you tell him...I am happy that he is in Love with Katie Holmes, but for such a private guy, he got a little over enthusiastic. I honestly felt bad for him because when he sees himself in the show I think he is going to be big time embarrassed. And that's probably why Katie seemed like she didn't want to go on stage, she looked embarrassed too. They are a cute couple, but it's only been like a month and he's already pledging devoted love and she is 16 years younger than he is. I had doubts about their relationship. Is this a publicity stunt? There's been rumors that he's gay (I don't believe it Tom) so maybe this is all an act to screw those rumors..or maybe they want to be the newest version of Demi and Ashton. So Tom, I still think you're a great actor and very sweet, but calm down. And I hope you and Katie stay happy and in love for a long time. Do you think he'll read this? Nah, but it feels good to write to him anyway. Dream Big like Oprah says....

Sopranos (Warning; plot and ending revealed)

I love this show but it is so violent. I knew the murder of Christopher's girlfriend Adriana would be happening soon and it happened in traditional Soprano fashion. Out in the woods and shot to death.. Drea LaMatea is going to play Joey Tribbiani's sister on Matthew LaBlanc's new show "Joey."

There's gonna be trouble for Tony's cousin Tony B. He's got to go. Can't stand him. All this infighting is driving me crazy. I'm beginning to lose who is who. Too many bosses and boss wannabees.

The season finale is in two weeks. That means it's almost time for Six Feet Under. I love that show and can't wait to watch Nate, David, Brenda, et al deal with life, death and love.

off to see the Wizard,
Dot