Get Real!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

There have been several different shows (across the world, too!) with the title, Get Real. The one I'm mentioning today was an American show that ran just one season, 1999-2000. It starred one of my favorite actresses (who was quite the up-and-commer at the time), Anne Hathaway. It was an hour in length, and not even all 22 episodes aired on FOX before the show was brought to an untimely demise.

It was a family drama, depicting mom and dad with three teenagers, and mom's recently-widowed mother. Dad was always working, and mom freaked out about way too many things. Grandma (Christina Pickles... aka Monica & Ross's mom on Friends) was pretty carefree, but had her share of serious moments. Anne Hathaway played Meghan, the valedictorian who can't decide if she wants to go straight to college. Cameron is the dangerous rebel in the family, who has a girl spending the night in the pilot episode. Kenny is a freshman dealing with crushes and the like.

Nothing was too crazy, but the lack of closeness between the parents was an ongoing problem. Then they become more intimate, and mom gets pregnant and miscarries (and dad has a brain tumor). Every Kenny storyline dealt with finding a niche at school or learning about girls (except when he wrecked a car or had bacterial meningitis). Cameron jumped back and forth between "bad boy" (fights, suspension, threat of expulsion, etc.) and trying to be a good kid. In the twenty episodes that aired, she gets a belly button ring, goes to a rave, dates a 23-year-old, has sex, considers going to Spain, gets tested for HIV, and deals with random friends' issues as well.

It had great potential, and although it was an hour, it didn't have a big problem filling that time with action. I know the nights it aired moved around a couple times, but I'm not sure if the time did. Either way, it didn't succeed, and although it's possible to argue that it was doomed from the start (15, 16, and 17-year old kids? it's hard enough to pull more than 3 years from that anyway...), I think it should have been given more of a chance. Seriously, there are still 2 unaired episodes in the US!

You can catch one of them, as well as most of the other episodes, here.

less than a month until real tv starts again!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Sunday:
The Simpsons: September 27th

Family Guy: September 27th

American Dad: September 27th

Monday:
How I Met Your Mother: September 21st.

Little People, Big World: October?

Lincoln Heights: September 14th. looking forward to this, and quite glad that it's running opposite dates of Secret Life, since my Mondays are so full as it is!

House, M.D.: September 21st.

Lie to Me: September 21st.

Jon and Kate Plus Eight: no new episode this week.

Table for 12: who knows.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Ricky and Adrian doubling with Amy and newboy Mark? AWKWARD. Grace is running and abstinence group? boring. Madison telling Grace to be fun? Out of character, but at least amusing. Madison's fake laugh? even worse. Lauren's parents allow her to wear that much cleavage to school?? I find that ridiculous. And Heather has a crappy attitude. that b!tch. How is Rumer Willis an offspring of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore?? Her face is fugly. Amy's outfits were a bit prudish as well. I don't like Bossy Adrian in bed. Amy's attitude also sucks, especially about her Dad... just because he doesn't live there doesn't mean he's not her father! George's lecture on family was pretty bad though... I definitely wasn't very open to hearing it, and I wasn't even the one being addressed. Griffin has TWO gay older brothers? c'mon now. Amy befriending Heather? A real sign of maturity, but out of character. We'll see more of the adoption process in the future, that's been confirmed... as had the fact that the setting is in California. I'd really like to know if the introduction of the dog was specifically to foreshadow Anne needing emergency help and the dog has to dial the phone. ::eye roll::

Cake Boss: off.

Tuesday:
18 Kids and Counting: so I was able to catch the new episode as well as one of the older episodes that I had missed during my July outings. The new episode was half about the Duggars trip to Amish country, and the other half was the beginning of their DC trip. The Amish part was interesting, and several of the less-outspoken kids got to explain what they learned (like the New Amish use electricity while Old Amish use batteries, etc). It was very brief, but still a nice representation of their trip. I can't believe they drove their bus around DC!! I was just there a month ago, and that place is nuts to drive anything in, let alone a gigantic bus! Good gracious. I can't wait to see the next one! Other thoughts... chronologically, we know that this episode is after the Bates' trip. I'm getting kinda tired of Anna's fake laugh...

I also saw the first episode of the Duggars-help-the-Bates-remodel series. I was astounded that there were 18 kids under 10 there when the Wilsons, Duggars, and Bates were staying at that house. Now I understand why there was so much talk about Tori Bates on the internet... she's really the most disrespectful of all the kids I've seen on this show! (except maybe Cousin Amy...) It's also weird that we see Anna's sister (Suzanna) in this episode, yet we don't hear about how she's staying for the summer until last week's episode (which I caught as a rerun over the weekend but I forgot to take notes so I can't comment on it). I'm still missing Duggers in Dixie, and another of the Bates episodes. Originally I thought I was missing Duggars on a Deadline, but now it might be Duggars and Bates Reloaded... I can't seem to find any defining features on either episode, so if you know of any, please inform me so I try to catch the correct ep!

Wednesday:
South Park: October 7th.

Glee: September 9th.

Wipeout: I loved the whirly big ball action in the first round. I don't understand why one of the contestants just "jumped off" the platform in the second round... unless she had a medical issue that couldn't be ignored for another three minutes, LoL! The pastor was kind of annoying in the third round, and it took a lot of faith in CursingGirl to let him go first on the triangles! There were some really interesting moves in the Wipeout Zone this time, especially since different parts of the course were the ones causing the contestants trouble. I was kinda weirded out when the one guy couldn't get the gauntlet to match up correctly... usually it's pretty straightforward. At least there were no quitters.

Thursday:
16 and Pregnant: off-season.

Friday:
Monk: Monk was more amusing last week, with UFOs and all sorts of people (including Stottlemeyer and Natalie) believing that Monk was from another planet. This week I'm out of town, so I may have to either change the dates of this entry (and run them Fri-Thurs instead of Sun-Sat), or just start planning on posting on Saturdays after I catch the new Monk.

The Goode Family: waiting to be picked up again.

I did catch the finale of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and it was amusing. The kid going for the million practically the entire hour was kinda annoying. But what was worse: the final question asked about LBJ's beverage favorites... aside from coffee, tea, and Coke, what would he get? apparently it was Fresca, not yoo-hoo or root beer or v8. When Meredith Viera came out as the celebrity contestant of the night, then sprung it on Regis that HE'D be the one playing, he was either truly surprised, or this was one of the very best acting jobs I've ever seen.

My husband and I are also watching Joey in the evenings. We are big Friends fans (he was long before I was), and we were curious as to how the spin-off didn't even last two seasons. We've seen nine episodes now, and they're kinda hit-or-miss. Joey lives in LA with his nephew, Michael. Michael's mother/Joey's sister is over often, and they have a friendly neighbor (Alex) who is also over often. The storylines are generally about Michael being an overprotected genius or Joey trying to get acting gigs. So far the best two episodes were the one where Joey is understudying three shows at once, and the one where they go to Vegas. Crappy episodes include the one with Joey in a book club, and the one where Alex's husband is not jealous of Joey. It's not magical, but it's not bad... I'll continue to report over the next several weeks as we watch all of the episodes.

Eerie, Indiana

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Not to be confused with Gerry, Indiana, from The Music Man. Instead, Eerie was a place very aptly named, since the inhabitants of the small town were constantly awkward and faced very bizarre situations.

And I mean BIZARRE!

Clever dogs plotting world domination, tupperware being used to store human remains, a camcorder that sucks in people and pops out mummies, and a girl who can change the world based on what she draws are just for starters. There's a town Corn club instead of the typical Eagles, Elk, Moose, or even Water Buffalo. But I think the cake is taken when the town has a party to appease a tornado. There was even a script that was never filmed where pirates were in search of treasure in the main character's house.

Now, speaking of characters... that is actually the probable cause as to why the show only ever fledged along. Marshall, originally from New Jersey, is intelligent (yet arrogant) and convinced that there's something wrong with every part of the town. [Marshall is kind of a punk, too. He doesn't want to conform to the Indiana tradition of not keeping daylight savings time, so he sets his watch differently anyway... no wonder he ended up running into a couple of killers!] Simon, apparently the only other "normal" kid around, is glad that Marshall has arrived... apparently he was too "weird" (read: normal) to have any other friends. (My jury is still out on the reality of a friendship between a ten-year-old and a thirteen-year-old.) Marshall's father (Edgar) is somewhat of a genius... interning at the Smithsonian straight out of high school, doing his undergrad in archaeology and his grad work in physics (at MIT on a NASA fellowship, no surprise). His mom is a party planner, and his sister (Syndi) is a teenager longing to become a reporter. Apparently, since the show wasn't doing the best, the addition of Jason Marsden as "Dash-X" was meant to re-organize the show into making him the protagonist. That obviously didn't work, since he only stuck around for seven episodes, then the show ended anyway.

Now, about the show ending... it did have a cult following to some extent, but the overall viewership wasn't the greatest. NBC ran the first ten episodes as a regular season. Then there was a hiatus (not uncommon for the Dec-Feb time of year) , and the next eight episodes were shown in strange intervals. The final episode to air (but not to be filmed, as it chronologically takes place before the Dash-X episodes) wasn't shown until December 1993 - a very long time since the previous episode (April 1992) and since the series began (September 1991). But let's be serious... NBC thought that the show was stuck without a target audience... too childish for adults and too beyond young children. We had yet to have similar kids' hits like Goosebumps. After adults came to shows like X-Files and the Saturday night teen-hit Are You Afraid of the Dark came to fruition, Eerie Indiana: The Other Dimension was created. It lasted just 15 episodes in the Spring of 1998. Now, "spin-off" isn't the best term... it's new characters of similar ages and names in another town called Eerie, in another Indiana... just in a different universe. A scene from an original episode was modified to make it look like Marshall and Simon were talking through the television to Mitchell and Stanley. No wonder it didn't last.

Click over here to watch quite a few episodes on YouTube!

Battleship + Slut + Fireworks

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Sunday:
The Simpsons: September 27th

Family Guy: September 27th

American Dad: September 27th

Monday:
How I Met Your Mother: September 21st.

Little People, Big World: October?

Lincoln Heights: September 14th

House, M.D.: September 21st.

Lie to Me: September 21st.

Jon and Kate Plus Eight: Kate and the boys went to see a battleship. Jon took Cara and Mady to a really neat family fun park with go-karts and the like. really, nothing to talk about.

Table for 12: who knows.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: what is up with Amy's attitude? Especially with the coach!! And school's been going on for quite some time now, why doesn't she know he's also the guidance guy this year? And I thought that part of this show was to portray reality... what in the hell is up with Anne? First she falls for Ashley's old tricks (which are mysterious...), then she wants to go to the mall when Amy gets suspended, noting that "who cares? it's only one day." And George's "wow, she stood up for herself! good for her!" I'm tired of the Sausage King making sure that Ben's treating Amy right... that's not his job. Why doesn't Adrian's dad give a damn that she's a slut? Anne & George dating eachother is ridiculous. Why put on such a show for Ashley & Amy? geez.

Cake Boss: the season finale was really pretty neat. I can't imagine how heavy the end result of the Fireworks cake must have been! So much stuff went on there, and the detail was just nuts! The only thing I didn't really like about this episode was that there wasn't a lot of "what I'm doing here" explanation, so I didn't learn any skills I could take away. Buddy making little cakes for the "bring your dad to school day" was neat... but I wonder why they did them all in fondant? That seems to be some unnecessary time when 6-year-olds would probably have been just as happy with a quick buttercream.

Tuesday:
18 Kids and Counting: we went out to eat and I tried to record the episode. But it didn't record, and instead gave me a bad message. So we're gonna re-scan for channels and make sure recording won't get messed up again. But I really hope to catch up! :(

Wednesday:
South Park: October 7th.

Glee: September 9th.

Wipeout: no new episode this week.

Thursday:
16 and Pregnant: off-season.

Friday:
Monk: the chances that I'll be home to see it live tonight are slim, so Hulu it will be. Last week's episode was crap. Monk felt like Trudy had died again when another man lost his wife in a hit-and-run. Monk solves that case, but still has no clues as to his own.

The Goode Family: waiting to be picked up again.

The Top 10 Unseen Television Characters

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

you know. the characters which never appear, but are often referenced. They might even speak, but no face is ever given to the name. Some shows use this convention more than others, but there are definitely some memorable characters which have no formal physical appearance.

10. Charlie Brown's Teacher (Peanuts), whose voice is created by a trombone (although someone once told me it was actually a muted trumpet, so that may also be the case). She's the one animated character to make the list, and I think it may be because the "voice" amused me from a young age.

9. The Gooch (Diff'rent Strokes), Arnold's foil. Bet you forgot about him, eh? Well, he was mentioned plenty of times... teasing Arnold, daring Arnold, fighting with Arnold, all sorts of childhood mischief.

8. Cousin Jeffrey (Seinfeld), the one that Uncle Leo is always bragging about. He was rumored to have kissed one of Jerry's girlfriends. He worked for the Park (Central Park, maybe? I'm not sure) and once got Jerry some concert tickets. Considering how often other members of Jerry's family were seen, I'm completely unsure as to why we didn't see Jeffrey even once.

7. Dr. Kahn (Salute Your Shorts), the camp director whom none of the characters seem to have seen, either. His voice was heard over the loudspeaker (almost) every episode, and Counselor Ug seems quite afraid of him.

6. Vera Peterson (Cheers), Norm's wife. You might argue that she shouldn't be on this list, since her legs are on camera, and I believe her torso is seen once as well. But Norm speaks of her semi-regularly, and the other characters seem to have a grasp of her as well, so she still counts as unseen.

5. Heather Sinclair (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Holly J's older sister, who is pretty much everyone's enemy. Paige specifically doesn't like her, but many of the characters talk about Heather in an unpleasant tone throughout the show.

4. George Steinbrenner (Seinfeld), George Costanza's boss while he worked for the Yankees. We see the back of his large office chair, and hear him speak almost constantly (his voice is not by the real George Steinbrenner). I wonder if that's why we don't see him... because he is an actual person and didn't want to be on the show.


3. Stanley Walker (Will & Grace), Karen's rich and obese husband. Technically you see his feet and hands at separate times, but he's talked about a crazy amount of time without actually ever being seen. His character ends up with quite the storyline, including jail, (faked) death, divorce, and financial difficulties.

2. Maris Crane (Frasier), Niles' first wife. She's spoken of throughout all eleven seasons, although she and Niles divorced several years into the show. She specifically was never seen because it became too difficult to properly portray her due to all of the crazy attributes which she gathers throughout the series.

1. Alma Borland (Home Improvement), Al's often-ridiculed mother. Since Al and his brother Cal look so much alike, and it's made clear that one takes after the mother and one takes after the father, mom & dad must also look quite similar. That, and Tim's frequent teasing of Al about his mother's size (among other things) really made me want to see how they'd cast her. Alas, it never happened, despite the fact that Al had two planned weddings.


The other major contenders: The Gibblers (Full House), Kimmy's family, that includes two parents, an older brother, and possibly three sisters. Dr. Claw (Inspector Gadget), the guy always plotting against Inspector Gadget. Nanny (Muppet Babies), although we do see her striped socks. Mr. & Mrs. Urkel (Family Matters), Steve's parents. Sparky (M*A*S*H), the radio operator. The Ditmeyer Family (Brady Bunch), the neighbors to Mike, Carol, and family.

Sitcom: yes. Animation: no.

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

But even the 'yes' on sitcom is iffy.

For Soleil Moon Frye, the 1980s were dominated by portraying the spunky orphan, Punky Brewster. Four seasons of live action were intertwined with two seasons of animation (and an unrealized spin-off). Punky Brewster was an NBC show, which tackled a long and unsettling story arc in the second season where Henry (Punky's foster father) suffers an ulcer after his photography studio burns down, forcing Punky to be cared for by neighbors, then whisked away to Fenster Hall (an orphanage), sneaking out, then getting stuck with some rich foster parents, before finally being reunited with Henry five episodes later. Well, shortly after that NBC gave up, but it was popular enough to warrant an additional two seasons in first-run syndication (aka a grand total of three months, watching a new episode every afternoon on weekdays).

This post is a snark on NBC throwing in the towel too early (obviously they could have continued the show), but more importantly, it's about the lack of focus put on the animated series, It's Punky Brewster. I caught this one long before I found Punky Brewster on the Family Channel in the afternoons (back when the lineup on that channel included brother-sister game shows back-to-back). It ran on Saturday mornings, in that typical 2 12-minute episodes per half hour format, and my parents taped several episodes for me that I'm sure are still floating around my mom's house somewhere. (I also had a pair of Punky Brewster velcro-fastened sneakers when I was in Kindergarten, and they were super colorful and AWESOME.)

The animated feature was very much like the original, except that Allen is still there (he eventually moves to Kansas on the sitcom), and they hang around with a magical little furry guy named Glomer, who lives at the end of the rainbow. Henry is still a photographer, but the majority of episodes take place either at school, or someplace trying to remedy one of Glomer's spells. I've only seen a handful of episodes, including one where Punky is turned into a mermaid, one where Punky tried to expose a breach in child labor laws in a candy factory, one where Punky and her friends have to spend $1 million in two days, a Valentine's Day episode, and one where Punky acts as a detective.

Regarding why the show didn't last longer, I can't really seem to find a definitive response. I'm thinking that since NBC gave up on the sitcom in March of 1986, they didn't want to continue the animated series either, so they ran that out in December 1986.

I found one episode online, where the kids get shrunk.

Millionaire has been on!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Sunday:
The Simpsons: September 27th

Family Guy: September 27th

American Dad: September 27th

Monday:
How I Met Your Mother: September 21st.

Little People, Big World: October?

Lincoln Heights: September 14th

House, M.D.: September 21st.

Lie to Me: September 21st.

Jon and Kate Plus Eight: Kate and Kids are at the beach, Jon is overseeing cabinets being put into the kitchen. They did the pudding painting again, and I had to explain to my husband why that would be a fun thing for kids, LoL. The cabinets look great, but I'm kinda bored of remodels on TLC shows (this, the Roloffs, and the Duggars specifically). This was kinda a pointless episode, but it's nice that the kids are enjoying the beach (I remember their first encounter and what a horribly windy day that was!!).

Table for 12: who knows.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: damn Grace and her lack of respect for personal space. I'm SICK of that. And then Amy thinks Ben had sex because he's acting "grown-up and responsible," LoL. That's ridiculously funny. Dammit I wanna hear about George and Ashley on the road... I wonder if we'll have to wait ten episodes to see flashbacks like we did when we finally got the Ricky-and-Amy backstory. I love the way Amy rolls her eyes all the time, haha. I loved how Amy's dad and Arian's dad talked about whether Ricky is sleeping around. I love that Anne got the car that was supposed to go to Amy, serves that brat right( let's just see how that pans out...)! I think the Adrian/Ricky thing is a little too Melrose Place at this point, so I hope they end it, or someone moves, or something.

Cake Boss: Leaning Tower of Pisa... sweet. Not gonna lie, almost every time I watch an episode, more and more I want a cake done by Buddy and family. I'm not gonna like, I mapped it out, it's an hour and a half from my apartment. If only I had another reason to go to Hoboken... LoL. I was angry at the lobster customer, what kind of best man messes up the engagement party date?? I almost think that he did it on purpose, just to see what he could get away with since Buddy is such a nice guy. I liked the cake, it was neat. I never even heard of isomelt before that!

Tuesday:
18 Kids and Counting: they're building the house with the Bates. Um... that's pretty much the whole episode. I did catch the one where they go to Dollyworld and meet Dolly Parton and do a parade, and that was cute. Anna still has issues with not staring at the cameras and smiling awkwardly, but I think it'll eventually come. I did find it strange that the Duggars are so incredibly sheltered that none of them really knew who Dolly Parton was (I suspect Jim Bob knew, and that's why they didn't ask him on camera, LoL), or even that she was a singer. Since she's not exactly a new celebrity, I'm surprised that Michelle at least didn't know, as she grew up in a secular world from what we understand... I'm still missing the 7/14 "Duggars in Dixie," and the 7/28 "Duggars and Bates Reloaded." Apparently upcoming episodes include Duggars and Sports and a DC episode... I really wonder if they were there when I was!!

Wednesday:
South Park: October 7th.

Glee: September 9th.Finally caught the pilot. The previous Glee coach seriously sells marijuana now? Geez. I love NewCoach's hair... adorable. He blackmails a football player with pot? This was almost enough for me to turn off this show forever. I don't do corruption, it really makes my blood boil. Do people really paint their dirt green? And if the football player was supposed to already learn that it's not cool to pick on the losers, realism's out the window. Nobody figures that out in a short period of time. It was a sucky experience for the wheelchair kid (timeout - they're doing a really bad job at teaching names in this episode!) to be in the portapotty, tho. And footballer taking the leadership role in the club was even worse. I have mixed feelings about Random OCD teacher... she's quirky and cute, but kinda stinkin' annoying. They need to kill the geekygirl-footballer pre-romance right now, or I'll cut this show out of my life in a snap. Lastly, it shows more like a short film than a pilot... the kids get their junk together and perform a decent number very shortly after the club is formed... I can't believe more than a month has gone by, otherwise there'd be a financial conversation between Teacher and his wife about the $60...

Wipeout: I missed the opening segment, and the second segment didn't offer anything too new. The third event, however, had sweet beam-maze-dodgeball, and I was envious. "Snakephobic" was a funny nickname, as was "Yams Man," really. The kayak component of the Wipeout Zone was a bit peculiar. A rock wall instead of a thin ledge after the 1,000 gallon-er was different, too! Brett was pretty impressive with his time, and I really thought he was rushing... but I guess it was a good thing that he did, otherwise Shannon may have had time to pull out a win! I think she got tired though, because it took her a long time to get out of the ball pit.

Thursday:
16 and Pregnant: off-season.

Friday:
Monk: missed it live (was out and about in PA, check out the other blog for details), will catch it online.

The Goode Family: well, ABC canceled it, but there's been hints on the internet that someone else will pick it up! Surviving Suburbia was also canceled, but I'm not really caring about it, since I didn't need a family comedy in my life at the moment. I hope that Courtney gets another role though, she was very entertaining (if you've never seen the show, perhaps you've seen her as the Girl Scout selling thin mints to the guy eating the blizzard... she goes by "Becky" in it).



Who Wants to Be a Millionaire has been coming on every night (for eleven nights). Caught the first night, and it was so-so. I don't like the fact that you get to know the categories ahead of time, and I'm also not a fan of the new lifelines (double-dip instead of remove 2, and the addition of the phone-the-expert).

Also caught some strange children's show called Sushi Pack this week, and it's dumb.

Top Ten Television Occupations

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

This does not include shows that revolve around professions (like ER or West Wing), or shows where the profession of a main character is a big deal (like Frasier, Murphy Brown, or Cheers). Instead, to make the list, the show needed to be about a character outside of work, but still make that character's profession known. I originally had many more professions, but as I thought of more and more characters, I had a hard time coming up with more than two people for many areas that I originally thought would be more prevalent (like I could only come up with Carl Winslow, Eddie Sutton, and Robert Barone for "law enforcement officers").

10. CEO (Phillip Drummond, George Jefferson, C. Montgomery Burns)
9. Writer (Ray Barone, Maggie Malone-Seaver, Carrie Bradshaw)
8. Advertising (Angela Bower, Chandler Bing, Darrin Stephens)
7. Finance (Jim Walsh, Derek Morris, Barney Stinson, Ward Cleaver)
6. TV Personality (Tim Taylor, Danny Tanner/Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis, Hilary Banks, Joey Tribbiani, Robin Scherbatsky)
5. Lawyer (Clair Huxtable, Greg Montgomery, Phil Banks, Miranda Hobbes, Will Truman, Marshall Erikson)
4. Construction (Mike Brady, Fred Flintstone, Dan Connor, Frank Lambert, Ted Mosby, Elyse Keaton)
3. Teacher/Professor (Ross Geller, George Feeny, The Professor, Dick Solomon, Zelda Spellman, Lily Aldrin, Mark Cooper)
2. Retail (Al Bundy, Howard Cunningham, Frank Costanza, Alan Matthews, Rachel Green, George Juergens)
1. Food Service/Restaurateur (Monica Geller-Bing, SpongeBob SquarePants, Chef, Roseanne Connor, Cleveland Brown, Betty DeVille/Chas Finster, Luke Danes, Sookie St. James, Jack Tripper)

Now, a few points of interest...
- when I started what later became the most popular career, I didn't think it would end up making the cut, since I only had Monica, Spongebob, and the Chef from South Park. But then they just started flying and it ended up having the most!
- there are not many doctors aside from those whose show centers around that (Cliff Huxtable was the only one I came up with! and Grace's dad but he's dead)
- All five of the major characters on How I Met Your Mother have jobs that made this list. All other shows that center around non-family twenty- or thirtysomethings seem to have at least one "rare job" (think Phoebe Buffay or Charlotte York)
- at first I was going to have "homemaker" as a profession, but once I began thinking of shows older than the 1990s, nearly every wife acts as one, so in the end I removed it. Not because I don't respect it as an occupation, but because it was overly shown in the 60s and 70s, and it would tip the scale.
- I was surprised at how many "tv personalities" were out there. At first I couldn't decide of Joey Tribbiani should count, but then it was mentioned to me that Dr. Drake Ramoray was famous in his own right within Friends, since several characters recognize Joey as such, so in the end I counted him.

So, I'm crazy curious. Can you think of main characters I'm missing that should fit into one of the above ten categories? Can you think of a fourth cop? Are there other professions where at least three characters share that career that I just overlooked?

Using "Busy" as a nickname for "Elizabeth"

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I've never heard of this shortening name before, although maybe it was common in a certain place in a certain time. But, that's what Amanda Zimm's best friend went by in the mid-nineties teen series Ready or Not. Amanda was a non-practicing Jew from a divorced household, and Busy Ramone was the only daughter in an Italian family (who ran a butcher shop).

Apparently it ran on Showtime originally, but anyone I know who has ever seen the show watched it on Disney in the late nineties. For not being a Disney show, it sure fit their normal standards... 65 episodes were made, but at least it was over a period of five years (although the girls don't age appropriately... they go from the start of 6th grade to the end of 9th grade).

The first season was very much a conglomeration of "special episodes," and spent one episode dealing with each: bras, periods, smoking, negative body image, drinking, shoplifting, homosexuality, miscarriage, racism, wet dreams, and severe parental arguments. The only episode even in the first season that covers a fairly-common topic is about a garage band. The later seasons are more typical, dealing with dating, school sports, teacher's pets, and parents dating.

What made it a good show? Well, for teens, it was neat to see a show that only feature two (pre)teen girls in the opening... it was definitely a show that dealt with teen issues without dealing with major family drama every episode (like Family Matters or Full House), yet it didn't make things out to be completely unrealistic or only apply to certain sects of youth (think Beverly Hills, 90210 and Saved by the Bell). Yeah, it was a little heavy at times (I can't think of a single other show for teens in the 90s that featured miscarriage!), the boy-crazed Amanda got annoying, and we all questioned whether Busy was gay (she had boys all over her all the time and didn't really have real interest in any of them), but it offered some fresh views on topics that certainly need more attention.

The show came to an end as Amanda has to move across the country (mom remarried), and I can't seem to find a definitive answer as to why the show was canceled. :-/ The entire first season is on YouTube, and there's also a few episodes from other seasons as well.

Well, Monk's back.

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Sunday:
The Simpsons: September 27th

Family Guy: September 27th

American Dad: September 27th

Monday:
How I Met Your Mother: September 21st.

Little People, Big World: October?

Lincoln Heights: September 14th

House, M.D.: September 21st.

Lie to Me: September 21st.

Jon and Kate Plus Eight: it came on this past week and I only caught the second half of the second episode. It caught me by surprise for some reason. Kate and the kids made s'mores, and it was fairly un-entertaining. I am excited about how much more "the six" talk now (and they should, they're FIVE), so it should make for some upcoming fun. Still, Berks County is only like 90 minutes from me, so perhaps I'll see them some random day at a store or a park.

Table for 12: who knows.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: First of all, I'm pissed that there were NO "summer episodes." They totally could have done at least one non-interacting episode, showing George and Ashley on the road, Anne working on her new engagement, Amy hating school and work, Ricky working on his apartment and working in the butcher shop, Ben in a hotel overseas, Grace and Jason at medical camp, Jack at football camp, etc. Not sure what Adrian would have done, but that's not really a problem... put her in a bikini and throw her by the pool and we're good to go. I think the Alice/Henry storyline has moved to annoying. I don't like the George/Anne situation. The Amy/car scenario is downright confusing. And I think America agrees with me in stating that the Grace/Jason/touching thing has already gotten out of control. What did Madison and Lauren do all summer, besides have no boyfriends??

Cake Boss: Toy cake & Beach cake: I really get concerned sometimes with the fast-paced consultations that Buddy does. I mean, I assume that there is more than what is taped, but still. I thought it was funny that the girls wanted a group trainer, LoL. I also am curious about how sometimes the human figures are much more lifelike than other times... like is it dependent upon how much time is put in? Who is doing it? What the figures have to be wearing/doing? And LMAO on the guys going for "lighter pastries" instead of a different snack entirely. I liked the side story of the weight loss contest... it always amazes me when people lose 7-10-15 pounds in a single week! Crazy.
Bridal Shower, Breathing Fire cakes: "I don't do cakes that spit fire" um, what? Remember that firefighter's cake? you do too. All of the romances that have come together through the bakery was cute, and amazing!! I thought the end result of the Jewelry cake was kinda boring. I thought it had too many extraneous items, but the bride-to-be liked it! HOWEVER, people at the shower not believing it was all edible was strange... many of them were family! They should know better!
Chinese Cake & Cannolis: I loved the "Are you the liar or are you the liar" comment. :) Rice Krispie dragon heads... ummm... I want to make those! The play-by-play of how to make a checkerboard cake was also awesome. Do cannolis in lard... um, ok. I agree that the dragon heads were much larger than originally planned, but they looked so good, Buddy could have been more excited..

Tuesday:
18 Kids and Counting: missed it. again. after convincing my sister it is worth watching. And I can't find the episodes anywhere on the internet. Anyone?

Wednesday:
South Park: October 7th.

Glee: September 16th.

Wipeout:"Fallstars" from other episodes. haha, great idea. Super Stu was funny, especially on the trapeze. Asian Seal was my favorite last season, and I'm sorry to see she didn't use the same technique on the Big Balls this time. I thought the pink bikini was funny, as was watching Big Balls wipeouts all in a row. The girl who just ran around the course was crazy. I was sad that Asian Seal couldn't make it up onto the final platform in time, she was SOclose!

Thursday:
16 and Pregnant: off-season.

Friday:
Monk: For a season opener, not the best. Not even very memorable, as I had to stop and ask myself what it was about less than 24 hours after watching it. I didn't really care for the "Cooper Clan" and the "shuckydarns" plus the crime wasn't super-duper creative. I was surprised that Monk was such a fan without ever seeing reruns.

The Goode Family: I thought it was funny that "the board" holds enough clout that as soon as Helen made it up there, she had more volunteers than ever needed. I never quite figured out what drug was being smuggled in the 2-liter bottles, but I guess it doesn't matter. I don't understand how they couldn't tell that it was heavier/full/etc. tho. I'm angry they didn't do the eco-cruise, yet shocked at how cheap it appeared to be.... Gerald spent "all" the money on adopting the highway, but the highway was only $1,000.... a 5- or 6-day cruise for 4 people has got to be more than that, even if it is only to yell at fishermen or whatever...

Let's not forget that Regis is back, so I may hit up some Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, the first show that my now-husband and I ever got into.

So I haven't really watched TV in two weeks...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

... hence why I haven't done any reviews. but I caught a few things, so at least there's something to read...

Sunday:
The Simpsons: September 27th

Family Guy: September 27th

The Cleveland Show: September 27th

American Dad: September 27th

Monday:
How I Met Your Mother: September 21st.

Little People, Big World: October?

House, M.D.: September 21st.

Lie to Me: September 21st.

Jon and Kate Plus Eight: Monday, I believe.

Table for 12: who knows.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: I caught up on the most recent two episodes and had a few comments. First of all, when has there ever been a show with four kids who've lost parents? This makes me think that Grace's dad was destined to die from the conception of the show. But why?? And what's up with Jack wanting to talk about death and mourning so much all of a sudden? Unless he had something to do with his parent's death... kinda like Valerie on 90210... now THAT would be entertaining... Next, I was heart-touched with Ricky's performance when Sausage King offers him the apartment over the shop. That was just fantastic. I laughed and laughed at Anne and the "green" house. For crying out loud, how long is this mess going to go on? Get over the "green," people. And while I've known that the creator of this show is the same as the one for 7th Heaven, I often don't equate the shows very directly. However, at this point, it just plain amuses me... like I wonder if they were meant to be carbon opposites... Okay, now let's gripe about the school. How did Amy not know that "incompletes" were coming? If she didn't make up the work, she knows it, and that's all there is to it. Duh. And WTF is pre-pre-med? And what do you do at a camp like that? Microbiology and organic chemistry? And since when are your parents allowed to fill out applications FOR YOU?? They can help you understand the questions, but writing essays or even short answer responses are out of the question. There's no way Grace should have been allowed to go into that program. I'm actually still quite angry about that. Speaking of which, why the hell is everyone going to the guidance office on the last day of school?? If they really wanted to write off Counselor's character, there must have been an easier and more logical way for him to say goodbye... like maybe an end-of-the-year assembly where he talks about drunk driving and summer reading and college planning? And about summer... why the hell would Grace's mom say "just do whatever you want this summer" to her daughter? I mean, I understand that she's arguably the "most innocent" female on the show, but c'mon now. Be smart. Speaking of dumb, what happened to the kid Jack was mentoring? Was his required time up so he quit? And why is Adrian so upset that Baby John is going to be staying the night with Ricky during the first overnight in the apartment? I think it's important for Ricky to realize exactly what he's planning to do and all. Final thoughts: although I never saw Sopranos, I can easily imagine Ben's dad as a mafia boss, LoL. AND, why was Adrian freaking out about eating a meal with her parents?? AND, when would George have gotten a chance to blab about Adrian's offer regarding the house?!?

Cake Boss: I think I've missed like three of these now. :( But I'm working on it. Next week, hopefully I'll be all caught up.

Tuesday:
18 Kids and Counting: I have missed 3 or 4 of these now, and I'm really sad about it.

Lincoln Heights: August 4th

Wednesday:
South Park: October 7th.

Glee: September 16th.

Wipeout: I actually went to watch it this week, but it was a repeat! They showed The Moose Episode again.

Thursday:
16 and Pregnant: finale for season 1... nothing interesting about Farrah. I don't like the way Maci was covering for Ryan's every response. Amber's really into condoms now, so that's good. Kinda funny, I thought. Ebony and Josh got married, and since they were my favorites, that was cute. Catelynn keeps getting praised for being able to give up her daughter for adoption against her family's wishes... whatever. I hate to break it to people, but it really isn't that hard to go against your parents, especially when you know you're making the right decisions. Whitney's baby is sick, which brings up an interesting issue for the show, since it really didn't shed light on premature babies or other medical issues which happen. Her baby won't be able to play sports when he gets older, and will quickly get emphysema if he starts to smoke. He also won't be able to drink (his issue is a deficiency that affects the liver). Weston needs to get a life, tho. No friends at all is sh!tty.
The timelines finally make sense (months where people were pregnant, etc.) since there are 8-month old babies and 5-week old babies which all had episodes airing over a 6-week period (so when the first episode aired, Carly wasn't even born yet!!!). I liked hearing that Farrah gave breastfeeding a shot (and another girl considered it but got frightened out of it), and that Ebony quit after just two weeks. As was mentioned on the show, I think breastfeeding gets glamorized when it really kinda sucks.

Friday:
Monk: August 7th!!

The Goode Family: worst episode of the series so far! it just looked at public radio and junk. I really have no positive comments, and the negative ones eat up pretty much every aspect of the episode. I hope this isn't a sign that they're running out of topics already!