The housemates may not like the new eviction structure, especially Stacy Francis, who broke down in tears when she discovered that five housemates were up for the elimination by the public vote, but we do — it certainly makes things more interesting and unpredictable.
2. The conflict between Speidi and Austin Armacost
You don't want to take on Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, but unfortunately for Austin Armacost, he has already had bitter rows with the reality TV duo, and it has resulted in him even threatening to quit.
Let's just say that these rows are definitely spicing up the show!
There's not much we can say about Loose Woman co-host Coleen Nolan's decision to give Calum Best a lap dance (because he's the guy she finds most attractive in the house) except, wow!
Loathe
1. Jedward being booed
Look, we weren't really looking forward to Jedward's return to the Celebrity Big Brother house, but the fact that the brothers (John and Edward Grimes) were booed by an angry audience as they made their way into the house was just uncalled for and downright ugly!
2. Nicola McLean and Jamie O'Hara's flirting
Glamour model Nicola McLean made her return to the Big Brother house after an appearance in 2012, and so far it has proven to be no less dramatic than her first stint, which we certainly aren't complaining about. What we aren't so keen on, though, is her flirting with Jamie O'Hara — she is married to former footballer Tom Williams and the couple share two children.
Coleen Nolan broke down in the Celebrity Big Brother house after she offended Calum Best with her comments about his playboy reputation, and she seriously felt so bad. During her time in the Diary Room, Nolan tearfully admitted that she upset Calum, but added that it wasn't her intention "because he’s seriously just the loveliest guy."
We hate to see her cry!
Are you enjoying this season of Celebrity Big Brother? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
In case you were wondering: yes, you need to start watching Victoria. Immediately. It's doing something for television that we desperately need in the television landscape which is to say that it's a pure revelation. It's not only putting a spotlight on a female character (hello, that's a given from the title), but it's focusing on her challenging political and personal relationships with men. Victoria (Jenna Coleman), it would appear, is not about to deal with mansplaining and I am here for it. All of it.
Even if you're familiar with one of England's most prominent monarchs, Victoria aims to compound your knowledge of her by highlighting the true political and personal struggles that come with both being a fledgling monarch and a woman surround by men who believe they know better. It becomes evident very early on that the men in Victoria's orbit — her mouth-breather of an advisor, John Conroy (Paul Rhys), the liberal charmer Lord Melbourne (Rufus Sewell), her uncle Lord Cumberland (Peter Firth), and various politicians — see her as nothing but a pushover when it comes to getting approval for their political gain. The delightful reveal that Victoria is not only stubborn in her ways, but knowledgeable enough to see that she is being attempted to be used as a puppet makes for refreshing character development.
Image: Courtesy of ITV Pictures
This push-and-pull between male dominance and female intelligence becomes the key narrative of Victoria's premiere episode, "Doll 123." From the very beginning, Victoria is a step or two behind. The show opens with the death of William IV, Victoria's uncle. She is awoken by her governess, Lehzen (Daniela Holtz), who informs her of the death as well as her new position. A realization solidifies. Victoria is now the queen. But from that moment (we're barely five minutes in, mind you) onwards, it becomes evident that Victoria is yearning to break free from the ties that bind and establish herself as a living, breathing, independent entity capable of ruling of her own accord.
This means breaking free of her toxic mother, the Duchess of Kent (Catherine Flemming) and Conroy. Both seem intent on keeping her in a doll-like state, unable to govern without their own deeply self-serving suggestions. But Victoria's first act of resistance and, crucially, her own establishment of agency, is distancing herself from them as much as possibly. Sometimes, that is quite literal: she gives her mother and Conroy the North Wing of Buckingham Palace while she goes to the South Wing. Take that, Mom.
Interestingly, Victoria chooses to keep a distance from its eponymous character for a majority of the premiere. This makes the contrast in vulnerability versus toughness standout more: when we see Victoria take a stand for something, we are in close-up and she is breathing quickly, ferociously intent on making herself known. When we, the viewers, are left to play outsiders and wonder what is going on inside her head, we're literally kept at a distance. This kind of hot-and-cold only services the episode's theme on indepence; Victoria is tough to pin down if only because she is still trying to decide what kind of monarch she wants to be. She was only 18 when she became queen, so it's understandable she's on a bit of shaky ground.
Image: Courtesy of ITV Pictures
But the most fascinating moments of Victoria are when she does flex her young monarchy muscles. She is mostly unaware of the men in Parliament conspiring against her, including Cumberland — truly, her own family can't handle her potential for greatness — but she does occasionally strike back at those conniving to control her.
Whether it's subverting Prime Minister-hopeful Robert Peele who cannot form a government unless Victoria adds in some conservative-leaning ladies-in-waiting (she absolutely will not), or shoots down Conroy's demands for a new title or certain secretarial privileges (is this guy off his rocker?), or simply stands up and demands that her confidant, Melbourne, actually govern with her, we see Victoria in all her fierce glory. Even when she is moderating her tone and approach to ruling with her ladies-in-waiting or her dressers, there is a truth in her (slightly shaky) resoluteness. It makes her more relatable, more accessible, more exciting.
So it becomes the key focus of Victoria that we watch as she navigates a world dominated by men. Quite literally, dominated. Watching her navigate the choppy waters of voicing personal desire with political aims to men older and more politically entrenched is, for working women of any era, a deeply relatable quandry. The sexist overtones are more stark in Victoria (not that the show has any misandrist leanings as a means to glorify Victoria's choices) because it is a period drama. This conflict between woman and man, young and old, liberal and conservative all makes for truly intriguing watching.
Image: Courtesy of ITV Pictures
Sure, I can sit here and sing the aesthetic praises of Victoria. It's a sumptuous piece of television for the eyes and for fans of Brit hits like The Crown and Downton Abbey, you'll find this is right up your alley. But what Victoria does best is something The Crown touched on, too (perhaps this is a running theme with the British monarchy?): watching a woman, who is in charge, overcome the sexist ways of thinking which govern the society of her time insofar as she tries to lead successfully makes for truly compelling television.
A common question people were asking after they watched the premiere of The Young Pope tonight: Just how many drugs are the creators of this show on, exactly?
Now, don't take this question as a bad thing. The Young Pope is definitely out there but in this beautiful, elegant, fascinating way that deserves applause.
It's weird and eccentric and wildly amusing to watch.
Oh, and it provided us some memes and GIF-ables and memes that will go down in Internet history. Move over, Kim Kardashian, because it was Law's butt that broke the Internet tonight.
Just when we were all starting to fret the end of the show after Season 8, our hopes have been renewed.
At the Television Critics Association press tour on Saturday, HBO original programming president Casey Bloys said nothing firm has been decided about a spinoff show for the Game of Thrones franchise, but it is something the network is in serious talks about.
"All I can say is that we’re exploring it. We don’t have any scripts, we’re not even close to saying, ‘Oh, let’s do this,’” Bloys said, according to Variety. "But it’s a big enough property that we would be foolish not to explore it. It’s a really rich world. We’d be foolish not to look at it."
Author George R.R. Martin himself has written several prequel novellas for the franchise, and the flashbacks viewers saw in Season 6 of the show proves that the Targaryen backstory provides more than enough material for another show in the making.
HBO does have a few years still to develop the series before the panic over the loss of Game of Thrones really settles into fans' minds. But it will be upon us sooner than I'd like to admit. In other words, bring on the prequel!
Bloys also addressed the idea of another show in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, explaining, "We’ll take some shots at it. I’m not going to do it just to do it. It has to feel very special. I would rather have no sequel and leave it as-is then have something we rushed out."
"A prequel feels like it has less pressure on it [than a spinoff]," he added. "[Martin’s history of Westeros] gives you areas in which to say to a writer, 'If you were going to do this, then go flesh it out,' and we’ll see what comes back. But I don’t feel any pressure that we have to have something."
We loved Brooke Burke-Charvet on Dancing with the Stars, but aren't convinced that she's pulling her weight on Celebrity Apprentice. It doesn't help, however, that her husband is willing to let her fail so long as it means he can hang on to his self-perceived masculinity.
During the first half of tonight's episode, the big challenge involved a photo shoot highlighting the versatility of Kawasaki motorcycles. The guys' team (led by Carson Kressley) took some big risks, while the ladies (led by Kyle Richards) aimed to show just how empowering Kawasaki can be for female riders. Sadly, despite offering some truly stunning images, the gals fell short — and we think David Charvet was largely to blame.
Kawasaki really wanted both teams to push the envelope, and at first, it seemed like the female team might succeed in that regard. Burke-Charvet was supposed to present an image of female empowerment by posing on the front of a motorcycle while her husband grasped her waist. Unfortunately, her husband was incredibly opposed to that idea. He didn't think it was authentic for Burke-Charvet to sit in front and him behind because they would never do that in their real-life relationship.
Image: NBC
We sort of get Charvet's reasoning, but he came across as very insecure in his masculinity. After all, it really doesn't matter how he and his wife ride a motorcycle in the real world — they just need to tell a story in a photo shoot. Then again, we doubt Charvet was truly concerned about the authenticity of the image. Ultimately, he just didn't want to be seen on the back of a motorcycle.
We were especially annoyed when Charvet whined about Arnold Schwarzenegger thinking of him as a wimp. Seriously? Even if Schwarzenegger thought that, he probably has no idea who Charvet is, nor does he care one iota if the husband of a Celebrity Apprentice contestant looks slightly feminine in a random photo.
In the boardroom, Schwarzenegger highlighted the ridiculousness of Charvet's refusal. Schwarzenegger said that he would happily pose for a photo behind a female on a motorcycle, especially if it led to a significant check to the charity of his choice.
Ultimately, the blame for the gals' loss still rests with Richards. She could have chosen a different picture to use in the campaign, but she decided to stick with the least groundbreaking photos. If there's a real loser, though, it's David Charvet.
Did Kyle Richards deserve to be sent home? Or should Brooke Burke-Charvet have been held accountable for her team's loss? Comment and share your opinion below.
On tonight's episode, she skipped the rose ceremony to sleep. Then she took a nap during her group date. Then she spent some time grinding on Nick Viall in a bouncy castle and then slept some more while the rest of the girls continued with the pool party.
Here's the thing, though: I don't think she's a stupid girl. I think she's an immature girl. She's only 24, after all. And she still has a nanny. Clearly, she's still got some growing up to do. Or maybe it's just time for her nanny to pay a visit to the Bachelor mansion to help Corinne with adulting.
And, yeah, Nick might find her fun in the wake of all the drama, but she isn't yet to the point in her life where anyone should be considering her as a wife. Maybe as a Real Housewife... but we all know how those marriages tend to end...
Happy birthday to Betty White, who turns 95 today! So, how about we take a look at some of her best moments... in GIFs?
One would think that after Betty White's hugely successful run on the sitcom Golden Girls, about four elderly women in living together in their golden years, she would drift off into obscurity. But that show was simply the launching pad for part two of White's acting career.
Wow, just look at those legs! Who knew tap dancing is one of the secrets to longevity? We might just have to dust off those old tap shoes in our closet.
But another part of aging gracefully is staying relevant. It takes more than performing a time step to do that. Betty White is the queen of wit, and in the next GIF, she says exactly what we've been dying to say to all those douchebags out there.
Another thing we love about White is that she still crushes on hot boys. How many 93-year-old women get to openly express their sexuality? Clearly, that is helping to keep her young.
We love that Madame Tussauds honored White with a wax figure and think it's just adorable how she wipes her lipstick off her doppelgänger after kissing her. If we only knew what she whispered to her wax self!
This one's from Hot In Cleveland. When the metal detector goes off, it's revealed that Betty White's character has a "garter flask. Ketel One." We wonder if we can buy one of those garter flasks on Amazon.
Despite this being the last season of NBC's Grimm, there are so many amazing elements coming out of it. For example, Season 6 is basically Harry Potter. Yes, that's correct. Grimm = Harry Potter.
If you consider yourself a huge fan of both Grimm and HP, then you have most certainly noticed just how much the drama is like the famed book and movie franchise. We're only two episodes into the new season, and there have already been so many similarities.
Who knows if Grimm will continue on the Harry Potter route, but we certainly hope it does. There's no doubt the show stands out in its own way, but it's hard to ignore the commonalities shared. With that said, take a look for yourself.
1. The stick
Image: NBC, Warner Bros.
The mysterious healing stick Nick has his hands on absolutely resembles the Elder Wand. Both are beyond powerful and here's hoping the stick is once again hidden far away from Nick and anyone else who knows about it. Its power is all-consuming, which isn't a good thing. Maybe the stick should just be broken in half like the Elder Wand?
2. The stick's effect
Image: NBC, Warner Bros.
As stated above, the stick has a ton of power. In Season 6, Episode 2, Nick started showcasing a dangerous connection to the stick. He can't seem to stay away from it. That sure sounds like when the horcrux began taking its toll on Ron and Harry. Fans know how that all played out, so let's hope Nick can keep his distance and use the stick responsibly.
3. Evil Renard
Image: NBC, Warner Bros.
Renard is now pretty evil and also the villain of Grimm. He definitely resembles You Know Who. His end goal is to take down Nick, which is like Voldemort going after Harry. So far, Renard doesn't seem to be as dark and terrifying as Voldemort, but he could easily go down that road.
4. The cloth
Image: NBC, Warner Bros.
The cloth wrapped around the stick is giving us vibes of the Marauder's Map. They're both magical, have interesting symbols and are even sometimes invisible to certain individuals. To learn more about the cloth, maybe they need to say, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," and they'll figure out its true purpose.
Grimm characters turning into other people isn't something new, but in Season 6, it sure looks like Nick is going to turn into Renard (above). That sure is an awful lot like whenever any Harry Potter character drank polyjuice potion and turned into someone else. The only major difference here is that the process on Grimm seems to be more painful.
6. Trust me knot
Image: NBC, Warner Bros.
In the second episode of the final season, Adalind performed a trust me knot spell, aka a blood oath, binding Renard and Nick to one another. If one or the other didn't follow through with the terms, then they would die. In Harry Potter, there is the unbreakable vow, which involves two individuals making an oath to one another. Like the trust me knot, if either of them breaks the vow, then they will die.
7. The tunnels
Image: NBC, Warner Bros.
Every time Nick and his friend enter the tunnels underneath his loft, does anyone else think of the Chamber of Secrets? They're both dark, filled with the unknown and a map is needed to help people get around.
8. Diana
Image: NBC, Warner Bros.
There is still a lot unknown about Diana, but one thing remains certain. She's like Harry Potter in many ways. They are both powerful, not to be messed with, magical and hold the key to many unsolved mysteries. Who knows if Diana will end up saving the day like Harry, but there's a chance.
We told you Grimm is just like Harry Potter, so you should probably most definitely check it out when it airs Fridays at 8/7c on NBC.
In the Game of Thrones, you win or die. The Game of Presidents is a bit less harsh, but distressing nonetheless. In this game, Kellyanne Conway is the equivalent of Cersei Lannister before she went all badass. She is heavily underestimated by her opponents, who do not understand the lengths to which she'll go to climb the career ladder — or in Cersei's case, to ascend the Iron Throne.
According to Samantha Bee, Conway is a master of deception. She knows how to appear demure and nonthreatening, but those who underestimate her do so at their own peril. After all, she's capable of accomplishing quite a bit while people look the other way.
As Bee noted during tonight's episode of Full Frontal, Conway's rise through the political ranks was nearly as unexpected as Donald Trump's. Just a few months before she was appointed campaign manager, Conway was perfectly happy to trash Trump's platform and behavior. Remember: She was originally a strong Ted Cruz advocate. She changed her tune quickly, however, and now, she is all too happy to dodge questions left and right, all in the name of making the guy responsible for her big promotion look good.
Near the end of tonight's segment on Conway, Bee made a comparison that was just too good to pass up: Kellyanne Conway as the real-world version of Cersei Lannister. No, Conway's nowhere near as horrible as the Lannister lady we so love to hate, but she is clearly willing to say one thing and do another if it means she'll move into a more powerful role. She's also blond, beautiful and very cunning — you have to be in order to get someone as controversial as Trump elected!
Sometimes, real-world political drama is just as crazy, if not crazier, than that portrayed on our favorite high-budget television shows. No, we don't have White Walkers or dragons to contend with, but there are plenty of other legitimate reasons to be anxious going forward. Here's hoping that the Trump presidency ends on a different note than King's Landing did in Season 6.
What do you think of Samantha Bee's Kellyanne Conway comparison? Humorous or unfair? Comment and share your opinion below.
You're a loyal fan, right? You've been watching Grey's Anatomy since the beginning, so you feel confident you can rattle off trivia left and right about all 12 seasons. Well, prepare to show off your skills, 'cause we've got the mother of all Grey's quizzes comin' at ya.
So, how does Lynch feel about what went down? Let's dive right into our Q&A with the chef.
SheKnows: Were you surprised by your elimination?
Jamie Lynch: Yes. I figured they would accept my immunity, but didn’t expect I would be the one to go considering the mistakes on other chefs’ dishes.
SK: What was it like working with all the judges on the show? Who's the most intimidating?
JL: Tom [Colicchio] is the most intimidating because he is a badass chef. His palate is more refined and he can decipher your technique through tasting which is nerve-wracking.
SK: Which contestant do you think deserves to win? Or who are you rooting for?
JL: Me. I’m still on Last Chance Kitchen and in it to win it.
SK: Who did you consider your biggest competition?
JL: I think everyone there is talented and capable, but the veterans were the ones to look out for the most. I look forward to cooking with all of them again.
SK: Was there anyone on the show you really clashed with? Who was it and why?
JL: No. I got along and have respect for everyone. As long you don’t let Katsuji [Tanabe] rattle you or get to you.
SK: Who do you think deserved to go home on last night’s episode?
JL: There were a couple of other options that were better options than me. But the judges made their decision and I respect it.
SK: What was the best experience you had on the show?
JL: The quick-fire wins felt the best. Being on top is the best feeling, especially in that field with some really excellent chefs.
SK: What was the biggest challenge for you on the show?
JL: Being removed from everything during filming and having no idea what was going on outside in the world. We had 5Church opening in Atlanta and it was tough to be in the dark through that process.
SK: Who's your favorite Top Chef contestant of all time and why?
JL: Kevin Gillespie. He’s an awesome chef and in general seems like a good dude with solid values and cooks from his heart. I have mad respect for him.
The coolest thing about House Hunters is that you get to follow a family on their journey to buying a new home, whether it’s a snug studio apartment in Chicago or a rambling ranch in Wyoming. The second coolest thing about House Hunters is getting a very weird window into a couple’s relationship, all through the extremely stressful lens of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on place where you will permanently live.
Sometimes, you get a warm, fuzzy feeling while watching the couple interact, during which you can just imagine their new house filling with children and then grandchildren or else with lovely dogs or perhaps even wily ferrets, the happiness of their love spilling over from years into decades. But other times, all you can do is hope that the housing market in their area improves over the next five years so that both people can afford to get a pretty nice two-room apartment when they sell the house as part of their divorce settlement.
What are the five biggest red flags that a House Hunters couple might be moving to Splitsville?
They have starkly different visions for the bonus room
Oh, the bonus room. So much potential! So many possibilities! So awkward when one person wants it to be a nursery and the other person wants it to be a home office! From the moment the realtor opens the door and makes a comment about the south-facing windows, you can see Mike placing a crib in the corner with his eyes and Carey taking mental measurements for her solid oak desk. “Wouldn’t this be a wonderful room for the baby,” Mike will ask. “Whose baby,” Carey will respond curtly. “Maybe a guest room,” the realtor will quickly posit while physically pushing everyone back out into the hallway. The realtor surely knows the truth, but she also knows it isn’t her truth to tell.
Someone has a collection
Sometimes I think an episode is going really well for a couple until I hear, “I love everything about this house, except that I don’t see a super-great place for my grand pianos,” or “Wouldn’t this wall be perfect for my hutch of offensive salt and pepper shakers?” No, you won’t be spending the rest of your life with someone who has a collection. They are obviously already partnered, and it isn’t with you. It’s with gramophones or baseball cards or antique door hinges. It might be difficult for you to hear, but they are more concerned with finding a display shelf for their creepy dolls than with your solitary request for a house with a little porch. The only advice I have is to try to get half of their collection in the break up and sell it on eBay.
They choose the haunted house
Whoops, big mistake, House Hunter couple. Sure, you might save a few thousand dollars by getting that turnkey bungalow built atop an ancient burial ground, but you are going to pay for it later when your relationship is terrorized by ghouls. I recognize that living in a haunted house brings a small number of couples closer together, but most are torn apart, sometimes literally. You should have settled for that unhaunted end-unit condo where all of the lawn maintenance was included in your HOA. But you just had to have that bungalow.
Someone keeps insisting that a fixer-upper will be easy
Someone, usually a guy named Craig, will insist from the opening credits onward that fixing up a dilapidated heap of rotting garbage will be a breeze. “I watch house-flipping shows on HGTV, and it is really easy,” he’ll say, dismissing the fact that the house they are touring has a teeming ant hill where the kitchen should be. “We’ll just eat off paper plates for a few weeks and hold umbrellas over our heads when it rains.” You will be able to see that Craig’s wife, Annabelle, knows he is wrong, but also that she wants him to find out for himself, painfully, over a series of months. She also knows a cute general contractor. Don’t look for this couple on House Hunters: Where Are They Now? because they are busy deleting their honeymoon pictures from Facebook.
If anyone ever does a study on it, I am convinced we will find that tray ceiling disagreement is the second-leading cause of divorce after irreconcilable differences. Or perhaps having contrasting views about tray ceilingsis the leading irreconcilable difference. “Aren’t these tray ceilings absolutely elegant,” Jason will ask as they enter the master suite. “I don’t get it,” Miguel will answer. “It’s just like the ceiling goes up a little and then over, and then up and over again. Like, why?” Later, after each time Jason and Miguel argue in bed, Miguel will gaze up at the tray ceiling in the darkness and think to himself, “I don’t get it. I just don’t get any of it.”
The phrase “man cave” is uttered by anyone on the show, even once, in any context
Doomed.
They don’t pick a house with double sinks in the master bath
When the Bates' girls turn 16, it is a family tradition for parents Gil and Kelly Jo to present them with a purity ring, and their reasoning was so beautiful it made me want to give my children rings too. (When I have them someday, down the line, that is.)
Of course, the idea behind it is to encourage their girls to stay pure until marriage. The boys are expected to do the same, they just don't get the fancy bling.
While I don't consider myself as conservative as the Bates family, I still think it's a beautiful way to encourage your children to be true to themselves when the time comes. Whether you advocate for waiting until marriage or waiting until your children are in love or find the right person, a purity ring is a sentimental way to have the sex talk discussion.
"This is valuable," Gil said as he presented Katie with her ring. "But your purity and your life is way more valuable than any ring or trinket or anything in the whole world."
Every girl in the Bates family agreed that time with their parents, in which they were presented with their ring, was really special because it meant that they got to have that deeper discussion with their parents.
"It's a commitment," Kelly Jo said of the ring.
Katie, for her part, brought the jokes for the evening, "Hey, no worries," she assured her parents. "I'm only 16. No worries. 25's a great age."
In the Game of Thrones, you win or die. The Game of Presidents is a bit less harsh, but distressing nonetheless. In this game, Kellyanne Conway is the equivalent of Cersei Lannister before she went all badass. She is heavily underestimated by her opponents, who do not understand the lengths to which she'll go to climb the career ladder — or in Cersei's case, to ascend the Iron Throne.
According to Samantha Bee, Conway is a master of deception. She knows how to appear demure and nonthreatening, but those who underestimate her do so at their own peril. After all, she's capable of accomplishing quite a bit while people look the other way.
As Bee noted during tonight's episode of Full Frontal, Conway's rise through the political ranks was nearly as unexpected as Donald Trump's. Just a few months before she was appointed campaign manager, Conway was perfectly happy to trash Trump's platform and behavior. Remember: She was originally a strong Ted Cruz advocate. She changed her tune quickly, however, and now, she is all too happy to dodge questions left and right, all in the name of making the guy responsible for her big promotion look good.
Near the end of tonight's segment on Conway, Bee made a comparison that was just too good to pass up: Kellyanne Conway as the real-world version of Cersei Lannister. No, Conway's nowhere near as horrible as the Lannister lady we so love to hate, but she is clearly willing to say one thing and do another if it means she'll move into a more powerful role. She's also blond, beautiful and very cunning — you have to be in order to get someone as controversial as Trump elected!
Sometimes, real-world political drama is just as crazy, if not crazier, than that portrayed on our favorite high-budget television shows. No, we don't have White Walkers or dragons to contend with, but there are plenty of other legitimate reasons to be anxious going forward. Here's hoping that the Trump presidency ends on a different note than King's Landing did in Season 6.
What do you think of Samantha Bee's Kellyanne Conway comparison? Humorous or unfair? Comment and share your opinion below.
There’s a sliver of hope for Days of Our Lives fans about seeing another season of the long-running show. NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt spoke to Deadline.com at the Television Critics Association Winter Tour this week and the news is good, but not great.
“We haven’t made decisions, but we like that show,” Greenblatt said. “I think we will know more in a couple of months. As they age, these shows diminish, there is a lot of delayed viewing and very little linear viewing anymore, you have to keep looking at that.”
While it’s true that TV viewers watch their favorite shows in a multitude of ways from online to later viewing on the DVR, this idea is not foreign to network executives. However, the old-school ratings system is still used to measure the audience who watches live in addition to DVR viewers up to three days past the original broadcast.
The bad news is that the site is speculating that even though NBC is about “60-40 in favor of renewal,” the network is looking at the 52nd season being the last one for DOOL.
NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke told the entertainment site, “We hope that the show comes back.”
A renewal for one final season would allow the writers to bring back fan favorites, tie up loose ends and finish up with a proper ending that the show deserves. This would be devastating news to loyal viewers, though, who are already vocalizing their disappointment over the shift in daytime.
The #SaveDays hashtag is in full force as fans are tweeting to NBC their displeasure that their favorite show might be canceled.
#days You know @nbc , DOOL fans/viewers deserve to have our voices heard. I've been with Days since it started.51 yrs of viewing. #savedays
DOOL has a lot to prove right now with slipping ratings and diminished storylines, there is a lot of pressure on writers and the cast even though they are a legacy show. What viewers need to remember is that DOOL was in this situation with or without Kelly in the mix, so they need to let NBC know that daytime won’t be the same without a daily dose of Salem on their screens.
Dillon King has been working through his condescending tone on Marriage Boot Camp, but I don't really think that's his problem. Rather, I think Dillon has an issue with speaking before he thinks through the consequences of his words.
In a SheKnows exclusive sneak peek of the upcoming episode, Dillon discovers his dancing feet when the couples take a ballroom class, but he isn't finding them with his wife, Amy Duggar King.
That isn't his fatal error, though. That comes later when he and Amy are talking to the cameras.
"Renee is amazing," Dillon said, of his dancing partner, Mob Wives star Renee Graziano. The two did indeed have a blast learning the routine together, laughing the whole time as Amy looked on dismayed. "It was nice to just dance with somebody who wasn't critical about anything and followed along."
The 30 cringiest seconds in Top Chef history happened last night. Hell, I can still hear Katsuji Tanabe's 10-second-long slow clap echoing through the otherwise deafeningly silent stew room.
Tesar rants to a very clearly checked out, DGAF-ed Casey Thompson for what feels like 20 minutes, starting with introducing the word "ratfuck" into my life.
Image: Bravo
*Promptly Googles "what is ratfucking?"*
Image: Wikipedia
Tesar continues: "If you want to win that bad," he says, "then I give you my spot."
Tanabe's over it.
Image: Bravo
He fuels up.
Image: Bravo
And then, it starts... the clapping.
Image: Bravo
Tesar is absolutely livid at this point. "See what a condescending motherfucker you are?"
Eight more seconds pass as Tanabe's clapping slows down to a cringy 55 beats per minute.
I could not be happier with the Top Chef editors. You let that clap linger, and I am here for it.
Here it is again, for your viewing pleasure:
Katsuji vs Tesar Top Chef
Katsuji vs Tesar Top Chef
In the end, Tanabe #TookARisk and was eliminated from the competition. But just because he's off the show doesn't mean he's done talking smack about Tesar. Now, I'm not typically one to tell people what to do, but you have to read our Q&A with him.
SK: What's one thing that happened behind the scenes viewers didn't get to see on the show?
KT: I dressed up as Santa Claus and gave presents to everyone.
SK: Who do you think deserved to go home on last night’s episode?
KT: I took the biggest risk of all my team members, and I knew there might be a chance of going home; but it's Top Chef, and I wanted to take all the risks and be the best.
SK: What was the best experience you had on the show?
KT: I think everyone would answer the same... tasting food from other chefs, seeing how they use different techniques, the learning experience and most importantly, the new friends that I have acquired.
SK: What was the biggest challenge for you on the show?
KT: Definitely missing my family. My daughters and wife are the most important part of my life and the main reason I competed on Top Chef.
SK: Who's your favorite Top Chef contestant of all time and why?
KT: Can I say myself? I thought I was hilarious — on both previous seasons in Boston and Mexico. If not me, I would say, Fabio [Viviani] he was funny and had an accent.
I have an incredibly important announcement to make, guys, so you should probably drop whatever you're doing and bring it in real quick. Khal Drogo is back from the dead. Well, sort of. He's back in the form of Declan Harp in Netflix's Frontier. Declan is played by Jason Momoa, the same man who gloriously brought Khal Drogo to life. But make no mistake: Declan and Drogo may be two separate men, but they share very similar personality traits.
Can you really blame Momoa for returning to what he knows? I mean, the man is the embodiment of raw, pure, masculine coolness. Is it any surprise that he is, yet again, playing a rebellious type with a (sometimes literal) axe to grind? If I'm perfectly honestly, Frontier will be a hit mostly because of Momoa and the Drogo-esque energy that he's bringing to Declan.
Here's proof that Declan and Drogo are basically the same guy (and we're more the blessed for it):
You know that when Momoa throws on the signature scowl, it's about to go down. Drogo's scowl always meant he was about to go in on his enemies and teach them a thing or two; Declan's scowl signals precisely the same thing in the Frontier trailer.
At various points in the Frontier trailer, you see Declan wasting no time getting down to the business of bashing skulls. Declan is not afraid to get his hands dirty, as Canadian frontiersman go, and Drogo has displayed to us time and again that he isn't bothered by spilling a little blood. He's a man on a mission and the time that Frontier is set in almost guarantees that things are going to get very messy when there is conflict at hand. But honestly, what could be better than watching Momoa take down his enemies in such a ferocious manner? It's one of the reasons we loved him as Drogo.
Declan and Drogo are outliers (sometimes literally)
Declan appears to be wandering the Canadian wilderness at one point in the Frontier trailer, possibly relating back to the big loss he suffered that was mentioned by another character. No doubt, his ability to live in the wild and thrive there will play into his ability to outwit those Hudson's Bay Company goons out to capture him.
We've seen this wilderness living-and-thriving bit before: Drogo and the Dothraki lived out in desert-like terrain and thrived there. Those kinds of living conditions have a way of making tough men even tougher (so don't mess with 'em).
Let's be real. Both men are natural-born leaders, but they're also not about to take orders from "the man." Drogo was often bent on leading his people his own way, rarely bending to the wills of others. That kind of defiance of traditional leadership was passed onto his wife, Daenerys Targaryen.
For Declan, he's a wanted man who has no intention of getting captured. After breaking off from the Hudson's Bay Company, he's been raising hell for them and making sure that business doesn't go smoothly. There's definitely a deeper reason for his defiance against the bigger authority here and his rebellion against that recalls the days of Drogo's defiance too.
These men know pain. They feel it. They wallow in it. They know what's up. It's hinted in the Frontier trailer that Declan suffered a great loss, possibly causing him to break faith with his former employer, the Hudson's Bay Company. There will no doubt be an exploration of his internal brokenness and suffering in Frontier, arguably only serving to make his character even more complex.
Drogo, as we all know, was on the other side of the suffering coin. Rather than experience the loss of someone he loved, he was the loved one who was lost. His tragic and untimely death from arguably the most treatable wound on Game of Thrones (not that I'm still bitter about it or anything) was a total gut-wrencher. Drogo's death was the impetus for a lot of Daenerys' actions, but his suffering only illustrated what an important character he really was.
Who doesn't love a good tragic hero? Both Declan and Drogo manage to channel their feelings of loss, alienation, idealism and pure desire for domination over their oppressors into tangible ferocity. Declan, through Momoa's portrayal of him, revives the essence of Khal Drogo to the point that it feels like we may actually have Drogo back once again. Declan, too, is poised to be another great tragic hero if the tone of the Frontier trailer is maintained in the actual show.
Let's just keep our fingers crossed that Declan actually makes it through one whole season without getting killed off.
The Big Bag Theory co-creator Chuck Lorre is sending all kinds of critical messages to President Donald Trump with a little help from his friend, former Beatle George Harrison (see what I did there?!).
Lorre is known for sending messages to his viewers on vanity cards at the ends of episodes of his shows, and after Thursday's episode of The Big Bang Theory, he used a vanity card to send a less-than-subtle message about the incoming leader of the country: lyrics from the George Harrison song "Beware of Darkness" that sum up how so many of us are feeling right now.
The lyrics read, "Watch out now, take care / Beware of greedy leaders / They'll take you where you should not go / While Weeping Atlas Cedars / They just want to grow, grow and grow / Beware of darkness."
The warning Lorre was sending to his viewers was especially poignant after a little scandal involving Trump's campaign and the Harrison estate: Trump was ripped apart by the estate for using the Beatles song "Here Comes the Sun" on the campaign trail, and it actually suggested he use "Beware of Darkness" instead, since it seemed to be a little more fitting for his views.
This isn't the first time Lorre has used a vanity card to attack Trump, though he's never mentioned the new president by name. Just before the election, Lorre wrote a long, profanity-laden message to viewers and Trump: "Don't be fooled. Big Daddy can't save us. Our salvation lies within ourselves. Within our own ingenuity and determined effort. 'Make America great again' is a bumper sticker for victimhood. But we are not victims. We are the creators of opportunity. Sure the system's rigged. It always has been. So what?! We are a nation of immigrants who have consistently ignored the rigging. You won't let us join your club? %#&@ you, we'll start our own club. You won't let us go to your school? %#&@ you, we'll start our own school. You won't let us earn money your way? %#&@ you, we'll earn it our way. You won't give us a chance here? %#&@ you, we will go elsewhere. You want to know what makes America great? I got two words for you."
Remakes are a dime a dozen these days and viewers are absolutely sick of them — and for good reason. Some things are just better left in the past. But while remakes have received a bad rap these last few years, Beaches is more than just another poor attempt to recapture the charm of a classic film. The Lifetime remake actually had a lot going for it. Nobody can truly replace Bette Midler in the role of C.C. Bloom, but Idina Menzel tried her darndest — and she almost succeeded.
Not familiar with the Beaches craze? Here's the CliffsNotes version: C.C. Bloom and Hillary Whitney meet by chance as young girls. They are separated soon after meeting, but they become pen pals and best friends, sharing all of the dirty details of their lives with one another. Their friendship experiences many ups and downs, but no matter how far apart they are physically and even emotionally, they always manage to find one another again. Ultimately, their beautiful friendship transcends generations, with Hillary's daughter and C.C. finding solace in one another in the aftermath of a tragedy.
Image: Lifetime
The Lifetime remake stayed true to the original in some ways but also frequently departed from it. For example, the gals' first meeting definitely did not involve C.C. taking a drag of a cigarette.
The differences were necessary in part because, as amazing as she is, Menzel just wouldn't be believable as a direct imitation of Midler. She had to adapt the part a bit to fit her personality. Unfortunately, those small changes took something special from the story. We lost those seemingly inconsequential moments that made the original version more than just another sappy film. While the original packed an emotional punch, it was hard to think of the remake as anything other than nice.
Nice isn't necessarily bad, though, and the remake of Beaches was certainly enjoyable. It just didn't live up to its full potential, and that's disappointing, given Menzel and Nia Long's undeniable talent.
The response on Twitter was decidedly mixed, with a few die-hard Beaches fans just happy to have the film back and others trashing the film before they even gave it a chance. Most people were somewhere in between, with several claiming that they came away feeling just a bit disappointed.
C - at best. Nothing against Indina or Nia, but...it just felt rushed and lacked something. #Beaches
Lifetime's remake of Beaches was far from awful, but it could have been so much better. Still, there's no denying that this story of friendship is touching and that Idina Menzel's voice is amazing. The remake is still worth watching — you just can't go in expecting Bette Midler.
What did you think of Lifetime's Beaches remake? Did Idina Menzel and Nia Long deliver? Comment and share your opinion below.
