Cake Boss is Back; Bridalplasty is Over!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

special note: After this week, I am no longer doing any commentary on Kitchen Boss. It's a good show, but it's not really something to talk about, aside from naming recipes, learning some Italian words, talking about tips, and who the guest of the day is. With that said, I'm not deleting the schedule from my DVR, since I still want to make some of his recipes, LoL!

Sunday:
Bridalplasty (S01E10): [season finale] haha on Allyson's "nothing personal," LoL. I forgot that Allyson was still in recovery. She still wants a breast life, backside liposuction (love handle area), and permanent veneers. I'm kinda surprised that's it, really. Jenessa wants liposuction of the outer thighs, scar removal, and re-do teeth bonding... also a boring list. The two of them will up in front of "The Bridal Panel," and they'll decide who will win. They will each give a speech, containing all of the reasons that they deserve to win. Allyson freaks out because she knows that Jenessa is excellent at public speaking, and it's apparently Allyson's worst nightmare... then CLEARLY she should have realized that she wouldn't be superior to Jenessa in every respect. They have at least part of the day, if not the entire day, to work on their speeches. Jenessa thinks she hit a home run. "The Bridal Panel" consists of Bridalplasty experts... Dominique, Cheyenne, Kristen, Lisa Marie, Netty, Alexandra, and Melissa. I wonder why the others aren't there... Jessica and Ashley and Jamie... I guess because they were the first three to go home? Jenessa starts crying... she knows that she made most of those girls go home. Allyson gives her speech first, and she talks about her low self-esteem before the show. And her overall thought process was pretty quick. Jenessa tells the camera that she has to change her speech now that she knows the "experts" aren't true experts but rather "people I've already beaten off the show." She talks about how thankful she is to those who helped her get to the end (and she calls out how Cheyenne hates her). Jenessa says that Allyson needs to work on taking care of herself. She makes no real point in why she should win the game. Now, the Panel gets to ask questions. Cheyenne flat-out asks Jenessa why she did her wrong. Jenessa claims that it was something that made her feel really bad and that she would have most likely stayed in touch with Cheyenne after it all more than anyone (so... what about Dominique?? and the res of her alliance??). Netty asks Allyson how winning would change her life... Allyson talks about how she'd have money and she'd have a wedding. She mentions that "if we had two grand, our electric would be on right now," and this makes Jenessa interrupt by talking about how Allyson plays the victim card too much. She also mentions that Allyson didn't take her liposuction seriously since she still eats hot/lean pockets. Allyson brings up Jenessa's diuretics. Allyson says that she's lost 11 pounds, Jenessa says that she's lost 10. Dominique asks Allyson if she thinks that she made the "right decision last night" and Allyson says "no, not at all" and Dominique asks why. Jenessa interrupts Allyson's response, and Allyson says it's not even worth her time to explain. Now each person on the panel announces who they think should win. Cheyenne is first, she says that Allyson is a good person and that Jenessa says that Jenessa will walk out with no dignity, no respect, and no class. She votes Allyson. Melissa is next, tells everyone that Jenessa is a "f*cking genius," and sits with Jenessa. Kristen goes next, talks about how she is jealous of Allyson and surprised that Allyson made it to the "top two." Then she tells Jenessa that she couldn't play the game like Jenessa did... she couldn't be bitter, mean, and rude like Jenessa. Jenessa interrupts AGAIN, and as Kristen cuts her off to say, "go home, b!tch," Jenessa says "like you already did?" and Kristen sits with Allyson. Then, Netty goes... she mentions that she didn't know people as sneaky, manipulative, and b!tchy as Jenessa really existed until she met her. She also says that she doesn't know anyone can be friends with, or form any type of relationship with, someone like Jenessa. She sits with Allyson. Dominique goes next... Jenessa thinks she's gonna get her vote. Dominique says that Allyson hurt her the night before, and wishes that Allyson could have seen, just a little bit, why Dominique might deserve to be in the Top Two. She knows it would be easy to sit with Allyson. She then talks about how Jenessa was always there for her, and she sits with Jenessa. Alexandra goes next, and I was shocked at her shoes! Allyson's speech made Alex cry on the inside. Alex appreciates Jenessa's plays in the competition, but says that she was too fake and grimy to her, hurting people and turning people against her, and says "karma is a b!tch and so are you, I'm glad you ain't winning this f*cking wedding" as she goes to sit with Allyson. This makes Allyson win, and we don't hear from Lisa Marie. Allyson gets congratulated by most everyone, and Jenessa looks bitter. And we're only at the half-way mark! Allyson spends three more months in LA to get ready for her wedding. She meets with the planner to talk about non-traditional, rockstar, and bling for the wedding. She has a personal trainer. 2 months before the big day she gets the rest of her procedures. She lost 35 pounds total. Liposuction went fast, breast lift and teeth get done at the same time (kinda creepy!). She feels that everything has been "totally worth it." It's been about 4 months since her fiance saw her. He's lost 33 pounds. Cheynne and Jenessa are friends now??!?!? I liked Dominique's hair at the wedding. Allyson's mom gives her an heirloom ruby and diamond ring from the 40s. Allyson seemed really nervous going down the aisle. She walks down the aisle veiled, and lifts it before the start of the ceremony. She repeats really quickly when they do the vows and such. They do a really raunchy kiss, haha. Allyson says some weird things during the recession. Their first slow dance was at their wedding?? Gross cake-eating, too. During the interview, her husband didn't seem all that excited. okay... this is what we know for her overall wedding...
$1,500 on bouquets.
$3,500 on a cake.
$3,000 on rings.
$2,159 on the dress.
price not given on the venue.
$18,500 for surgeries (she ended up not getting a few that were on her original list, which I found interesting).

I don't know if I'd want another season of this show or not. What do you think?

The Simpsons (S22Exx): episode 13 is coming.

Family Guy (S09Exx): episode 10 is coming.

Monday:
Cake Boss (S04E01): Buddy and Lisa are 9-10 weeks pregnant. They looked really happy and excited with the ultrasound and heartbeat. hehe, I liked how Buddy is having the group make a baby cake and didn't tell them it was for him, hehe. Ringling Bros?? really?? That's SO cool! high wire looked neat, too. Layers of vanilla and red velvet - very circus! Lots of modeling chocolate animals! cool - making a cake for Rachael Ray's fifth anniversary! I liked how excited Grace was about it all... like thoroughly impressed. And, everyone takes a look at the new property. Buddy tells the girls that they're still working at the original location, and they're kinda iffy. Everyone is trying to figure out who the secret client is. Buddy tells him so he'll shut up, haha. Buddy teaches Anthony how to do rum cake - Jamaican rum is baked into the cake. Italian rum gets painted onto the Italian sponge cake. Ralf is the best sculptor now! 50/50 modeling chocolate and fondant makes the dough. who is this Juan decorator guy? They're trying to figure out how to do rings of fire... marshmallows weren't working. Ralf tells them to cut up a t-shirt, wind it around a wire, then dip it in grain alcohol. It works, but they can't get it out! Ralf talking to the stork was hilarious. The elephants on the circus cake looked really lifelike! Grace and Mary fighting about the schedule went on and on. haha, and Grace wants to go on the delivery to Rachael Ray. It was clear that Rachael Ray was just barely putting up with Grace, haha. Lisa came up where the stork cake was, but didn't notice anything. Buddy and Mauro exchange glances, and I think Ralf figured it out. I thought the stork cake turned out really cool! Buddy and Lisa told the group about the pregnancy, and Buddy confessed that Mauro knew, which causes everyone to talk, LoL.

House, M.D. (S07Exx): episode 11 to come.

How I Met Your Mother (S06Exx): episode 15 coming up.

19 Kids and Counting (S06E02 & S06E03): John-David is running for city council. It's nice that Michelle spent the day with just six of the kids, and that other kids are now allowed to hold Josie. haha, Jackson trying to handle things on his own. Josh and Anna vote for all of the same people? hahaha, my husband and I sure don't! Anna talks about supplementing because she can't breastfeed now that she's pregnant again (still in the first trimester). Josh and Anna don't live in John-David's district. Josh and Anna picked up 11 meals from McDonald's for those who were out campaigning all day, LoL. I would've liked to hear about how John-David campaigned elsewhere and how he raised funds for signs and stuff. Also, the difference between city councilman and alderman would have been interesting. John-David ended up losing by 59 votes. I'm not sure why JimBob mentioned that he thinks many of the Duggars will run for office in the future. Joseph is quiet like John-David, and at 16, he's getting braces. Jana, Jill, and Jessa had braces, but Joseph is the first boy. Wow, cool palette of color choices! He went with orange (which is apparently his favorite color - and Jinger's too) and blue. He only has them on the top for now. I had never seen what it looks like to have braces put into place, so that was interesting to me... but probably not to most people, who have probably seen braces put on before, haha. Josh and Anna have a second lot, now. I wonder how they manage both. All of the Duggars are night owls... I guess we could've guessed that, since none of them are early birds!

I wasn't sure who Charles Stanley was. But Michelle has been listening to him for like 30 years, so that's cool for her. They use 1,000 tater tots every time they make it for the family! The Duggars have pastors sign their Bibles? how strange. Justin is very sweet. He likes to help out Jordyn, and that's really cute. Jill and Jana have been volunteering with the fire department for 5 months now, and they have gear and pagers and everything. I love watching Jackson correct Johannah, LoL! "I think it's only about 700 degrees," ...WOW! heh... they have an exercise machine. "The Voice of the Martyrs" in Oklahoma... the caption said 7 Duggar kids went... but we saw Jessa, Jinger, Joy, Jeremiah, Jedidiah, Jason, Jana, Jill, Joseph, and Josiah. So, how are we counting?? They worked on a Columbia parachute project. They can give out Christian materials and radios from planes this way. haha, I like how competitive the kids got! The Duggars made 10 parachutes and did several other projects as well.

Tuesday:
Kitchen Boss (S01E05): Pasta e lenticchie - pasta with lentils, broccoli rabe with sausage, and bananas foster. Mauro is the guest today, and these are his favorite dishes. Use thick bacon with lots of fat for more flavor, LoL. Broccoli rabe is also known as cima di rapa and rapini. AND, it's more like a turnip than broccoli, LoL. Blanche it to take away some of the bitterness. Buddy used dry brown lentils - high in protein. He also used frozen parmesan rinds... interesting. In Italy, lentils are good luck on New Year's Eve. ditalini means "small thimbles" in Italian, and they're little mini-tubes. Mauro grew up in Italy until he was 13. He's Madeleine's husband, for those who might not watch Cake Boss. He has two kids - a son and daughter. "Aspetta" means "wait" in Italian. "Salsiccia" means "sausage" in Italian... I did figure that one out before they put it on the screen, LoL. Bananas Foster originated in New Orleans in 1951. Buddy cuts the bananas on a diagonal. Throw them in a pan with 2 tbsp melted butter, add a little cinnamon and some brown sugar... shake it up. Then add 2 tbsp banana liqueur (like 99 bananas), a splash of dark rum, and it'll flambe up. Once the alcohol burns off and it's looking like caramel, add a little heavy cream, then serve with ice cream! I was intrigued that Mauro added olive oil at the end of the pasta dish.

again, all of the recipes are here.

Teen Mom 2 (S01E04): It's late July I believe.
Jenelle: Figures. Jenelle WOULD stay out all night and lose her privilege of watching Jace on Saturdays. I'm tired of Jenelle and her mom yelling at each other, tho. So... Kieffer doesn't have a driver's license... wonder what he did that's keeping him from getting that... She wants to do film editing... interesting. Her tuition is $664.50. Kieffer cooks? um, ok.
Kailyn: $176 or $56 is a lot of money to spend on a semester of school supplies! Why didn't she go online to learn about her tuition and stuff? She owes $1526 on tuition, and the smallest payment option is 5 monthly payments of $305.20. She doesn't want to take less credits. Her mom can't give her any money (she needs $600 within two weeks). She asks Jo, and after a little bit of talking, he agrees to lend it to her.
Chelsea: Seeing the dad (Adam) back in the picture was cute. Her dad is right tho, it's not good. And while I agree that Leah and Corey are good to live together, I don't think the same about Chelsea and Adam. Her friend, Megan, has such WHITE teeth!!
Leah: Leah looks good for having carried twins! I'm happy that they're back together again, but I agree it's really fast to live together again. .

Wednesday:
Kitchen Boss (S01E06): Pasta Party day. Baked Ziti with Creamy Mortadella Sauce, Gnocchi with Mushroom Sauce, and Rigatoni alla Vodka Buddy-Style. His sister, Lisa, is today's guest.
again, all of the recipes are here. He loved the mortadella dish as a kid... and he had mortadella sandwiches instead of bologna, LoL. Nice gnocchi tips! It amuses me that a family as Italian as Buddy's would go out to an Italian restaurant, LoL. He talked about the pasta alla vodka he had at a restaurant when he was 13...

Minute to Win It (S02E22 & S02E23): so, most unfortunately, I was having a bad internet connection when I was watching this and didn't realize it, so it wasn't saving every few minutes. And then I got the BlueScreenofDeath. And I can't re-watch these since I immediately deleted them, so this is what I've got from memory (because, in all honesty, it was reallllly boring and I don't want to find the episode online, LoL)... this time there was a family playing - 5 kids from San Jose. Aimee (19), Drew (18), Holly (13), Cullen (11), and Brad (10). They played through both episodes! On Game 8, Drew became the first person to successfully balance a chain of 7 hangers. On Game 9, he became the first person to complete the one where you have to keep the marbles on the slanted table using only the back of a spoon. They lost a life early on (in that game where you shoot rubber bands at the soda can pyramid), but got both an extra life and a 10-second bonus at some point with the blueprint bonuses. On the 10th game, where they try to bounce a quarter 15 feet into the 1.75" mouth of a 5-gallon jug, they let all the boys try. Brad goes first (and is actually the first person to ever go for level 10), then Cullen, then Drew, who uses the extra 10 seconds. They went home with $500,000.

Better With You (S01Exx): I'm still not sure if "Better without a Couch" will keep its status of #12 or if it'll be later, since chronologically it'll air this month. This is partially based on whether "Better with a Cat" is technically #12 or #13. So.... episode #12 or #13 or #14 is coming up... If you know what the true story is gonna be on this one, let me know! :)

Hot in Cleveland (S02E03): haha, have your nails done before you get them done by a professional... "like cleaning up before the housekeeper comes," LoL. When Victoria started the analogy, I thought she was going to say something more like "like brushing your teeth before you go to the dentist." "If he's a Mormon, he can have all of us," haha. "I hope you're my lawyer, because I'm defenseless" was great. Melanie's deep voice was kinda gross, not "sensual." All of the girl trying to act natural was funny. I loved Victoria's necklace AND bracelet!! Not that I think I could pull off either, LoL! Joy & Victoria's banter was funny. Melanie's additions over the phone really made me laugh. haha, ad for Nice 'n' Easy, LoL. I thought that the bathrobe was over the top. The woman who played Daphne's mom on Frasier is playing Elka's ex's fiance... funny! Even the judge likes the lawyer!! haha, awesome! I loves the top that Victoria wore in the courtroom, too... that one I might be able to pull off, LoL. Victoria jumping up and saying that Joy's committing perjury by saying that people confuse her with Kate Beckinsale was hilarious. hehe, "test-i-lying." The mini 3-Musketeers ads were weird. March 23rd trial... hahaha, "all crazy in a bathrobe, looking like Joy." "yeah, but if I get an all-female jury, I've got it made" hahaha. The three girls pointing out each other's pluses was cute.

Retired at 35 (S01E03): The mom dating was awkward, the guy she chose was awkward, bring her son to meet him after two dates was awkward... "Wither way, I'm going to be disappointing one of my parents." "only one? that's a winner in my book." LoL! A Santa suit? What? haha on the nitrous oxide after all, LoL. And... yeah. I'm done with this show.

Thursday:
Kitchen Boss (S01E07): Caponata (appetizer), Mama's Ravioli, and Roasted Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon. Eh... I'm not super-excited about any of these. Learning how ravioli is made was cool. "enhancify," LoL. Caponata has eggplant, celery, onions, capers, pine nuts, tomatoes... doesn't sound that great to me, LoL. No guest today.

Wipeout (S04E05): "witch's knitting needle," ...um, ok amendment. Gingerbread House (like Nana's House, LoL), then balls, then snowman sweeper, then yule log jammer. CableGuy was funny on Gingerbread House, LoL. The tromboning of Jill's voice to interview Charlie Brown was hilarious. someone lied and said that they were a horse trainer to get on the show? um, why?? Then the ski lift, love watching this one every time! I love that they found a striped hat to put on Charlie Brown! Spinning dummy, then slapshot, then crankshaft, then knee sweeper, and a spin-jump thing to finish. This is something different for the Winter Wipeout episodes. haha on everyone missing the slapshot! The moving floor on the crankshaft makes it harder! The WipeoutZone stayed the same it has been for the Winter episodes... bobsled, stairs, frostbite, snowflakes. Postman is first... 15:53. CableGuy got wedged into the second snowflake for a couple of revolutions, but ultimately fell off. He missed the jump from 1 to 2 on his second try. Then, he finished with 15:28. SurprisinglySingle fell off the stairs from almost the highest point... twice. And he quits after that, since he hit his face in the water, LoL. Poor guy.

Friday:
Kitchen Boss (S01E08): Glazed chicken wings, fried calamari with mayonnaise sauce, Joey's special nachos. We're doing a sports day, and the guests are his brother-in-law Joey and cousin Anthony. Rosemary in the wing sauce? what? Buddy likes to marinate the wings for a day or two! Buddy saying that calamari is available everywhere was weird. But I did find it interesting that cooking calamari is either really fast or really slow, otherwise it's rubbery. Two kinds of flour PLUS cornstarch is interesting. Anthony is a cousin of Lisa, Buddy's wife... hahaha, now I get it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Off season/Coming Up:

Mr. Sunshine (premieres Wednesday, February 9th at 9:30pm on ABC)
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (season 3 continues March 28th at 8pm)
South Park (season 15 starts April 27th)
Melissa & Joey (some point in the Spring)
Futurama (Season 6 continues with episode 14 in the Spring)
Kate Plus Eight (not sure when season 2 episode 2 is)
Teen Mom (no idea)
16 and Pregnant (no idea)
Terra Nova (previewing in May; premiering in September)

Say Hello to the Kitchen Boss!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Sunday:
Bridalplasty (S01E09): Jenessa is already talking about getting Cheyenne knocked off, LoL. And she wants Allyson to think that she and Dominique care about her opinion, when they clearly don't. Jenessa was a nanny??!?!? Allyson can't stand Jenessa. The nose will take another three months to be 30-40% better?? Many brides and grooms go about 20% over budget, and the average wedding in America is $25,000. Jenessa doesn't talk about her budget, but she mentions that she knows that she can get twice as much in Indiana than she could in New Jersey, so she'd have it there. Allyson had a $25,000 budget, then a $20,000 budget, and now not much of a budget at all. It pisses Jenessa off to hear about it. An office building?? for a wedding?? Dominique would take out a loan for her wedding? of $7,000? A destination wedding? in this situation? Cheyenne already has a venue and date, but says nothing else. Jenessa comment about fearing that Allyson would take the money and run was odd. I'm sick of Jenessa at this point. Each bride will draw a question (mostly things that they learned throughout the past weeks), choose someone to answer it, and if she gets it wrong, she loses a rose. The first person to lose three roses goes home. Cheyenne wants it to be fair, Jenessa says something about taking turns, Cheyenne wants to study together. Jenessa gets out of the room and tells Dominique to use hand gestures to indicate whether or not she knows an answer ahead of time. Dominique and Jenessa tell Cheyenne that they plotted against her. But Cheyenne isn't sure she believes them!! DUMMY. Jenessa goes first - what does 'something blue' represent? Dominique gestures "no" so she gives it to Cheyenne. Cheyenne says "no idea" which was dumb. Answer: fidelity. Dominique goes next - which French monarch started the white wedding dress? Jenessa give the "no" signal so she gives it to Cheyenne. She guesses "Queen Elizabeth" who isn't even French. It was Queen Victoria. Dominique feels guilty. Cheyenne goes next - what sewing technique hides a belly? She chooses Jenessa, who says "ruching" which was right. Jenessa goes - What does a mermaid silhouette hide? Dominique gestures "yes" but she picks Cheyenne. Allyson knows there's hand signals going on. Cheyenne says "hips" which was right. Dominique goes - how do you slow things down on your honeymoon? Jenessa gestures "no" so she picks Cheyenne. Cheyenne says "foreplay" which is accepted. Cheyenne goes - what ancient Indian Hindu gives sextips? She picks Dominique, who says Kama Sutra, which is right. Jenessa gives "what is your mother-in-law's middle name?" and Dominique gives the "yes" gesture. She gives it to Cheyenne, who knows it's the woman's maiden name, but she can't remember what it is, so she just guesses "Ruth," which is wrong. It's "Lee." Cheyenne is very disappointed that the other girls played her like that. Allyson will select who she will compete against in the finale. She likes Dominique better, but feels she's a greater competitor. Dominique tells Jenessa that she hopes Jenessa wins. Dominique asks Jenessa if she can talk to Allyson, and they both go in there. Jenessa walks into the Recovery Room saying, "Hello, God," which makes everyone laugh. Jenessa leaves so the girls can talk alone, then she'll have her chance. Jenessa hears Dominique crying so she butts in to get her turn. Jenessa asks Allyson how she'll make her decision. Dominique wishes that she would have talked to Allyson second, and just keeps harping on the fact that this is really her only hope at a wedding in general. Allyson tells Jenessa that the way she treated Lisa Marie in the end wasn't fair (telling her that others were calling her a "cockroach"). Jenessa cries, brings up how she gave a surgery to Allyson, but Allyson still thinks about how she still means nothing to her. Jenessa thinks she'll go home so she tries to convince Dominique that she HAS to win overall. I don't think calling Allyson the "top bride" at the moment really fits... she didn't compete this week, LoL. But, at the same time, we know that she's in the finale, so I guess technically she IS a "top bride," LoL. Allyson chose to send Dominique home specifically so she could beat Jenessa at the last moment. She didn't want to "take the easy way out." I couldn't believe she did that!! Jenessa tries to play the "thanks so much" card," but Allyson doesn't want to look at her. Jenessa thinks Allyson is stupid for thinking she can beat her. Next week is the finale (which takes place the next day). We see some of the other girls in the preview... I had completely forgotten about Jessica! I think there were too many commercial breaks this time, but I guess there's not much substance left, LoL.

The Simpsons (S22E12): Archer introduction was odd. ski-jumping in the opening was, too. "Prince is not the son of Martin Luther King" also wasn't that great. The newspaper/couch skit was just okay. Was that dentist show parodying something real? If so, I didn't get it. Bart's eyes popping out scared me. Marge irons garbage bags?? ::eyes wide open in shock:: I don't know what was funnier - Homer going to buy something from the catalog, or the fact that he was writing to the World Trade Center, LoL. The CIA, FBI, and ATF groups were funny... but I was still trying to get over what exactly Bart would have fairly traded while he wrote to those entities. How did they get a car in a bumper-car ring?? Vodka in a vaporizer?? The laser shooting Homer was frightening. How did Bart get the bike over the gates at the zoo? Homer going to China wasn't that amusing, but the subtitles were. The Actor's Studio thing at the end was dumb. "whammy bar," haha.

Family Guy (S09Exx): episode 10 to come.

Monday:
Cake Boss: Next Great Baker (S01E08): [season finale] Megan is ready to compete, Dana is ready, and Corina will go down fighting. The final challenge is to do Buddy's average day - all 24 hours and free-run of the bakery. It looks like this is the first time they saw Carlo's Bakery, since they get a tour. First, the Baker's Challenge: cleaning the grease trap. 1 minute to fill up a bucket as fast as possible - whoever gets the most in a minute gets an advantage for later. I was grossed out. It looks like Dana got the most. When they weigh them, Megan's is 41.1 pounds, Corina's is 38.8 pounds, and Dana's is 46.6 pounds. Man that's a big grease trap! Elimination Challenge: fill display cases with their own pastries and sell the most in two hours (whoever sells the most gets an advantage, too). 400 cookies, 20 cakes, 20 pies, 2 pastries -100 each, and do a big theme cake. They each get to pick a salesperson, a baker, a decorator, and a sculptor from the Carlo's staff. Dana picks first - that was his advantage. Megan will pick second. But, what do they really know about these people to make an educated decision? Dana chooses Grace for sales, Mauro for baking, Frankie for decorator, and Ralph for sculpting. Megan goes with Mary, Joey (tho Mary pushes her to pick him, LoL), Liz, and Tai. This leaves Corina with Madeline (which is an advantage since she has baking experience that the other sales girls don't), Danny, and two others (non-family, I guess). It's 6pm, 13 hours before opening. First, everyone talks about what they're going to make. Corina tells Danny to alter her recipes as he thinks would be better... I thought that was interesting. Frankie tells Dana that he has to go to Back-to-School night right then. Megan is doing Italian cream cake with cream cheese frosting and devil's food cake with fudge filling and chocolate buttercream. Praline cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream and fruit tarts for her pastries. Lemon chess pie and pecan pie. Dana is doing 5 kinds of pie (only two were required): sweet potato, nutella, apple, blueberry, and cherry. For cakes, he's doing vanilla and southern lemon. For pastries, he's doing death by chocolate, eclairs, and creme puffs. Cookies - chocolate chip and pumpkin raisin oatmeal. Corina is doing chocolate-chocolate chip cookies with white chocolate chips and white-chocolate-blueberry-pistachio biscotti (um, that's odd!!). Cannolis and cream puffs. Red velvet cake and pina colada cake with a toasted coconut buttercream. Apple pie and Coconut cashew caramel tart pie. Mauro isn't thrilled with the recipes being done in cups instead of pounds and gallons, LoL. "lead with respect and encouragement and try to use others' strengths" was Megan's leadership style. Joey measures vanilla by how many seconds he has to pour it, LoL!! Megan thinks she has an advantage over Corina since Corina has never done high-production before. Red velvet gets its color from beetroot... cool. Grace doesn't know much about baking, but she wants to help so Dana is letting her. The mayor of Hoboken shows up, and Dana wants to meet with her first. She asks for a cake to celebrate the city, wants landmarks, baseball, public transit. Chocolate cake. Needs it by 1pm. Dana doesn't make the mayor's cake a big priority, but Corina sure does! Grace put too much pumpkin in the cookie batter so they have to scrap it. When Megan's Italian cream cake is done, it's supposed to sit in the pan a little longer, but Mary pops them out right away, and they're not done. The coconut stopped them from baking quickly or something. Joey thinks they'll be fine. Corina's Hoboken cake is vintage and layered and diverse in people on the cake. The look on Buddy's face when he sees that Grace is in the kitchen was priceless. I was surprised that Dana didn't tell Buddy that Frankie is still missing. Frankie shows up at like 11pm. Dana's cake has a lot of characters. Megan's cake is a map of sorts. Frankie announced he's going to sleep for two hours. Mauro goes, too. Mary and Madeleine peace out at like 2am. Joey, Grace, and Danny stay. 6-6:30am Frankie and Mauro get back and get right to work. At 6:30am, Corina panics, Joey says Madeleine will be there by 7am. At 6:52, Madeleine shows up. Megan has some extra items in case some things sell well. Dana has too much stuff for the cases. Mary asks Megan to make cut up some samples. Corina panics that the others have more variety than she does. Buddy gives the people coming in 10 tickets to buy what they want. Cakes and pies are 5, anything else is 1 ticket. Megan is happy with Mary and Dana is happy with Grace. Half an hour into selling, Corina goes to bake more stuff. Buddy questions her about not selling, then tells her to go out there, with 30 minutes to go. Megan is sold out of cakes with 20 minutes to go. That was a very long last 30 or 40 seconds, LoL. They tally up the tickets, and the lowest seller is going home right now. 432 tickets goes to Dana. 388 tickets goes to Megan. This leaves Corina with 244 tickets, and she gets sent home before ever finishing her Hoboken cake. Dana and Megan go back to work. Their cakes are very different, and the quality is very clear that the real bakers are doing it... not people hoping to work with them, LoL. I thought both cakes looked nice. Buddy tricked them... it's not a party for Hoboken, it's a party for their families and cake fans! Main judges are Buddy, his mom, and the Hoboken mayor. Taste-wise, Dana had a vanilla cake with buttercream icing and chocolate ganache - good, moist, sweet, it's not wonderful, and it's not chocolate. Megan had a devil's food cake with a fudge filling and chocolate buttercream. Heavy, sweet, delicious, moist, good texture and consistency. Dana's cake - captures a lot of Hoboken, great colors, nice water, looks grand, nice details. Megan's cake - captures things Hoboken stands for, very detailed, baseball-centered, prominent name, river is strange. Buddy's mom identifies more with Dana's. Mayor chooses Megan's. Buddy asks them each why they deserve to win over the other. Megan says that she demonstrated her ability under pressure, she can manage a team well, sell, and do what the client wants. Dana says that he's a fighter, is a team player, goes above and beyond, and is a go-to guy. Buddy goes with Dana in the end, and Megan truly looked thrilled for him. Megan is happy with how much she learned from competing. They celebrate with champagne. Buddy had a Dana bust cake that looked cool. Overall, I liked how close it was. And I was okay with either Megan or Dana winning (I didn't want Corina to win).

House, M.D. (S07E10): one of the many reasons I hate the military... all that meanness and doing this crap in the rain and mud. so sad. um, and when your head is bleeding, you may indeed be in immediate danger. haha, one of the girls from Chase's triple-girl-night put up a profile of him featuring someone else's genitals. oh, it wasn't real military. it was for bad kids... I don't really care about them. Chase's password was "password" ???!? "I want you to know how much your humiliation has eased my burden," hahaha. After House gets Wilson to inadvertently give advice about Rachel's situation, he really should have popped his head around the corner and said "thanks for playing," like in Dead Poets Society, which Wilson starred in. And no, I can't take credit for thinking of this, my husband gets the points for this one! "prison now or later doesn't make that big of a difference to me" ...interesting. I am in love with the fact that House is trying so hard to make Rachel "pass" her admissions interview, LoL. wow, that's a lot of pink at that girl's place!! A dog-training clicker? oh my goodness... high school??? "maybe you don't care if children shew on your caterpillar, but I do," was funny after I got the reference. hahaha, the drill instructor is the cut-up's father! I also love that House is proud of Rachel's lying. haha, the girl who WOULDN'T sleep with Chase.

How I Met Your Mother (S06Exx): episode 15 coming up.

19 Kids and Counting (S06E01): Slightly updated opening. It's Jessa's 18th birthday. It's fall. They got a new bus. It's November, since Josie is 11 months and 15 pounds. Nice montage of Josie. She's really cute now. Michelle said she'd go through it all again, because she got Josie out of it. "I would be happy to receive another gift." haha on JimBob saying that it won't be long until Jessa has a family of her own... she's #5 and only #1 is married, LoL. Shooting range, gun safety... everyone went but Josie, who stayed with Grandma, so they took 3 cars. Josiah driving was cool. No Duggars have a February birthday. Johannah was scared of the sound. I didn't realize they let younger kids shoot! Joy did better than JimBob. Michelle taking 50+ pregnancy tests was amusing... on one hand, you'd think that's pretty low, less than three per conception. On the other hand, I guess she's never not trying and she doesn't really do much that a pregnancy would affect, so it doesn't much matter, LoL. Josie gets to go to the airport to see the family skydive. JimBob was worried about the wind, but he calmed down when he saw the jumper was the same one who went with him. Michelle jumped first. Michelle and Jessa fist-bumping at the end was strange.

Tuesday:
Kitchen Boss (S01E01): The premiere features chicken sorrentino with fusilli, asparagus with breadcrumbs, chocolate-covered strawberries with tuxedo design. This was filmed at some point before "the holidays," LoL. always peel eggplant. he keeps breadcrumbs in a jar on the counter, LoL. Dip eggplant in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. add 1 tbsp salt per 2 qt water when boiling. crushed tomatoes with olive oil and garlic, salt, pepper, and a packet (tsp) of sugar, some torn basil. Chicken only cooks 7 minutes per side, and it's not quite done - finished in the oven. Eggplant went 5 minutes per side. Buddy repeating everything that Lisa does was funny.

so... I'm not sure how interesting reviews of this are gonna be. you can see all of the recipes here.

Teen Mom 2 (S01E03): It's summer 2010.
Jenelle: she applies for some jobs. She signs over temporary custody to her mom. She can't go with Jace to the grocery store without her mom? Now she's a waitress at a pub. Her mom got upset that she spent $3 on a skirt, LoL. She wanted to take Jace to see the fireworks, but her mom said no, not alone.
Kailyn: Jo's parents tell her not to forget about her priorities: career, school, kid. not dating. Sucks that she has to get Jo's brother to drive her to orientation. Her mom feels bad that she didn't go with her to the orientation, so she gives her an old car for free. She breaks up with Jordan, blaming it on the fact she can't date while under Jo's parents' roof. She walks around the neighborhood with one of Jo's cousins to see fireworks.
Chelsea: Dad's giving her money for groceries, too?? haha, she's trying to get Aubree to say "mama." She has to go to Orientation for beauty school, and she leaves the baby with Adam. She has 1 month to finish high school or she can't enter beauty school in September.
Leah: 2 months until they can do the MRI. She's blaming herself since Ali was squished in utero. She's struggling to act strong. bowling was awkward. Now she's back with the babydaddy. They go see fireworks on their own. They get on a boat to watch the fireworks.

Wednesday:
Kitchen Boss (S01E02): Today we have Street Fair Food. Buddy's cousin Frankie, who is a year or so younger than he is, is today's guest. We have sausage/peppers/onions sandwiches, calzones, and zeppoles. Boil sausages before cooking them on the grill, so the insides cook fine. Buddy pulls the middle out of the bread! :( Wow, he takes quite a few steps in allowing his calzone dough to rise, LoL.

Minute to Win It (S02E21): we're letting a guy named Mark come back, since he walked away empty-handed last time. I search my blog three different ways before I found his first attempt. Turns out, he was from the very beginning, and I didn't include contestants' names yet. Here he is if you want to read about his first attempt, it was carried into a second episode, and he never got past the fourth round.
Game 1: Hanky Panky: Using a single hand pull out 160 tissues from a standard tissue box in 60 seconds. Mark is excited about this one, LoL. He finishes with 27 seconds to go.
Game 2: Noodling Around: hold an uncooked piece of spaghetti in your mouth, and load up six pieces of uncooked penne on it, they're around a table. Don't break the spaghetti. He's only okay with this one. He struggles at the end, but wins with 7 seconds left.
Game 3: (Blueprint Bonus: this is new... if you get this one, you get an extra 10 seconds to use later) Bottoms Up: use a yo-yo to knock over soda cans... the yo-yo is tied around your waist, and the cans are spread out across various pedestals. He;s not great at this game but he's not bad. He finished with 22 seconds to go.
Game 4: Johnny Applestack: Red Delicious apples... stack 5 of them, one on top of another, to make a tower that stands for at least three seconds. He takes his time on strategy and rebuilds his 3 bottom apples several times. He ends up losing a life on this one. He tries again and gets it with just 10 seconds to spare!
Game 5: (Blueprint Bonus again - this time he'd win an extra life) Spoon Tune: Arrange 10 water-filled glasses in a row so that they play "Row, row, row your boat / Gently down the stream" when you clink a spoon against them. I think he's kinda off-balance on this one, but when he starts, he's sounding the tune, LoL. He gets it with 18 seconds to go, and was really sure of his memory or something with the middle glasses!
Game 6: Sticker Picker Upper: balance a round (only one hand) tray so that an egg rolls around on it and picks up four stickers... don't let it fall off for at least three seconds after they're all picked up. He's excited about this one. He gets the first two without a problem. At 30 seconds he's starting to get shaky, and has them all with 14 seconds to go!
Game 7: What a Racquet: hold a racquet with your thighs (just under your crotch) and guide a marble into a specific hole (no hands allowed). Once it's there, hold it for three seconds. You have a ton of marbles to work with. Mark says it's tough. His wife looks a little skeptical. He gets close, drops a bunch, was almost there, drops some more, ends up running out of time. I wouldn't think that this is a big one for using extra time, and Mark agrees. He goes again. He gets super-close but can't get it in the right place... the wife is looking worried... ends up running out of time. He adds the 10 seconds this time (it is his last life) and tries again... Now his wife looks like she is about to cry. This time he gets it in like 5 seconds, so a real waste of the 10, haha.
Game 8: they actually let the idiot look at the game before he decides to go for it! HATE THIS IDEA! it's Mag-Nutstacker: with a chopstick, create a hanging chain of nuts and move it to a pedestal. The wife gives him really, REALLY bad advice. I'm glad that he goes against her!
Overall - the little present rounds were cute with the Christmas episodes, but I'm NOT a fan of the "Blueprint Bonus" junk. The game was fine the way it was before!

Better With You (S01E12?): okay, so we're still having issues with determining whether "Better without a Couch" will keep its status of #12 or if it'll be #14, since chronologically it'll air then. And, no episode this week. But, I did catch the rest of "Better with a Cat" which is either #12 or #13. Here's the full review below, part of it carried over from last week:
"pajamas at a restaurant" being the dream was funny. Ben and Maddie trying to get the baby to stop crying was funny. Taking THREE entrees off the bill was ridiculous. "We don't take classes well together" and the fact that they almost DROWNED at a SCUBA class was amusing. haha, giving the baby a cocktail. Leaving Mia IN A STROLLER at a restaurant was nuts! haha, challenging Ben to make fake boobs out of anything. I'm confused as to why Joel and Vicki would want to be the guardians after they proved how bad they were with raising baby Mia, LoL.
I like how the parents are trying to win godparent status by taking the cat, while Maddie and Ben take an infant CPR class. Maddie asking questions and getting kicked out was funny. I'm actually surprised that Joel has an interest in being a guardian. I like how careless they're being with the cat, tho. Mia getting kicked out because she's Maddie's sister was funny. Mr. Meowgi was a cute name for a cat. I love that the parents can't even remember what color the cat was. I adored the "telling of grievances" between Maddie and her parents... very Friends. 4 guardians??!?!? hahaha, stealing a cat! haha, they're not the actual guardians, and Mia and Casey aren't worried about it because by the time the others find out, they'll be dead. "we saved nine" was funny.

Hot in Cleveland (S02E02): odd Victoria opening. Elka drunk was weird. "she had to, she's under indictment and his son's running for office," LoL. "8 or 20" hours, haha. I'm not in love with this Joy-greencard-marriage storyline. haha at the "'too skinny' - I like her" comment. haha on the "hand-me-downs from Hank" thing even pertaining to Melanie! haha, Elka spills the beans! "benderover" was funny.

Retired at 35 (S01E02): Scotch at breakfast? haha, dumping the OJ into the plants. I love that the mom tried to act like she was still away while sitting in the SAME restaurant, haha. blah blah blah, this is boring. Onr more and I think it's getting the boot.

Thursday:
Kitchen Boss (S01E03): Aunt Anna and cousin Grace come by. Breaded chicken and vinegar peppers, spinach and mandarin salad, and manicotti (made with crepes instead of pasta). Grated potato to take out acid from sauce is interesting. Crepe batter can sit for up to a day before use.

Wipeout (S04E04): chimney sweep? today we have a blob, then the big balls, then a sweeper with snowmen heads, and the log jam. HumanGarbageCan wore a LOT of makeup. and she had some BIG lips. She panicked when she got to the end of the snotivator and bounded off the back of the first ball and into the platform, LoL. She actually did well on the log jam until the end, LoL. SuperstitiousGirl was funny. Blob caused some great wipeouts! That one girl flew 40 feet in the air! Round 2 today has the ski lift, which is the one where everyone stands on individual platforms that rotate. You have a handle above your ahead to pull yourself up on to avoid the sweepers, which keep going higher. SuperstitiousGirl fell off. Mikachu is the only girl left. DaddyLonglegs wins, which makes sense, given the obstacle and his strengths. Next we have the W-I-P-E-O-U-T, each with its own obstacle. There's now a costumed polar bear on the P, which is new. Mikachu was close, but DaddyLonglegs made it first. I don't remember the "I" swaying as much before. haha on the ad for According to Jim. I was happy that Mikachu made it over those giant hurdles on the U! Perfect10 had a really funny face-smack into one of the poles on the "O," LoL. HandTalker takes the third slot. Wipeout Zone tonight features the bobsled blastoff, the icy stairwell from hell, the frostbite sweeper, and the sinister snowflakes. HandTalker goes first. He makes the stairs on the first try - he's the first contestant to ever do that! He falls on the frostbite... twice. He falls off the first snowflake immediately, and I laughed pretty hard. Then he falls off the second one. Then he makes it, time of 12:10. Mikachu is next. She falls off from the top set of steps. She makes it on the second try. She gets knocked off the frostbite on her first attempt, but makes it on the second try. She jumps onto the first snowflake and promptly fell off. She makes it through with a time of 8:13. DaddyLonglegs He makes it across the stairs with no problems. He gets knocked off the frostbite, then doesn't quite make the platform as he fell the next time. He makes it the third time, and falls off the first snowflake. Next time, he falls off the second snowflake. Less than 30 seconds to go, and he catches himself from a fall on the second snowflake. He finishes with a 7:54, winning.

Friday:
Kitchen Boss (S01E04): Today we have Pasta Alla Norma (two kinds of eggplant, tomato sauce), Steak Pizzaiola (steak with onions, mushrooms, peppers), Granita Lemon (Italian ice, Buddy's personal favorite). They're all Sicilian dishes. Peel the eggplant, cut it in strips, then dice into large chunks, strain it with some sliced eggplant. Add a bunch of salt, let it sit for an hour so the eggplant isn't moist and bitter. to cook steak evenly, bring it to room temperature before grilling... interesting. 3 minutes per side for medium rare. Don't cut a steak right away - let it rest for a couple minutes so the juices don't run out. Granita has larger ice crystals than sorbet.
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Off season/Coming Up:

Cake Boss (Season 4 back January 31st)
Mr. Sunshine (premieres Wednesday, February 9th at 9:30pm on ABC)
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (season 3 continues March 28th at 8pm)
South Park (season 15 starts April 27th)
Melissa & Joey (some point in the Spring)
Futurama (Season 6 continues with episode 14 in the Spring)
Kate Plus Eight (not sure when season 2 episode 2 is)
Teen Mom (no idea)
16 and Pregnant (no idea)
Terra Nova (previewing in May; premiering in September)

Hot in Cleveland is Back!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Sunday:
Bridalplasty (S01E08): [This one actually aired on Monday this week because of the Golden Globes] Jenessa looks like she's in a lot of pain right now. Cheyenne is homesick. She cries to Dominique. Cheyenne saying (to her fiance on the phone) that she doesn't care anymore about how far she's made it gives Kristen a new perspective of her. Christopher Knight and wife show up. Allyson had the playboy issues of Adrian Curry... odd. The blindfolded fiances show up. Kristen's fiance notes that her boobs are squishier when they hugged, LoL. Jenessa's fiance says it's been a month... so, like I suspected, they're probably doing two episodes per week. Money, chores, sex are important conversations. The challenge is lie-detector tests - ten questions each. The couple with the lowest number of lies wins. The two with the most lies are bottom brides. Dominique doesn't have to participate, but her fiance said they would have won anyway, LoL. Everyone watched on a monitor, so it's not secret. Cheyenne goes first. Cheyenne's first answer is a lie, regarding whether she's had doubts about getting married. Her second question is a lie, too. And her third. And her fourth. Cheyenne doesn't think she'll have to do her own laundry, LoL! They have 5 lies. Allyson is next. Allyson gets 2 lies, and both are her fiance's. Kristen got 4, and they belonged to both of them... but Kristen thinks that they did really well. Jenessa lies right off the bat, and they get 3 total. Allyson is top bride so she'll go to the finale and she gets a surgery. Kristen and Cheyenne are the bottom brides. And they're superclose so it kinda sucks that they have to be against each other on this one. Those are some nice Movado watches! Kristen decides to angle for Dominique's vote, and Cheyenne doesn't want to talk herself up. Allyson wants new teeth... she has missing teeth and missing crowns and stuff. She has a lot of decay and infection, so they're taking out the abscesses and stuff and putting on temporaries. The quality of her teeth is so poor! Wow, the new ones look SO GOOD on her! Jenessa talks to Dominique about getting rid of Kristen. Dominique would hate if Cheyenne actually won, since she thinks she's spoiled. Jenessa gives her standard line about hating not being in complete control. Jenessa asks Cheyenne why she should stay, and she says that they deserve it the same, and that's about it. Allyson gets back and Jenessa is pissed that Allyson has ever gotten top bride, let alone twice. Allyson asks Kristen about what's going on, but she knows nothing. She does say that she's hoping Allyson will break the tie and give it to her. She also points out that it's Cheyenne's very first time in the bottom, so she's more of a threat. Kristen tells Cheyenne about her line to Dominique about the homesick thing, and Cheyenne takes it personally and offensively. Jenessa has to reveal her vote first... she calls Cheyenne selfless, and quickly sits with her. Jenessa says to the camera that she and Dominique agreed to vote for Cheyenne, but that almost doesn't make sense with all of the comments about how she had no control. Dominique says that she loves Kristen and that she shines and has great energy and spirit. She then tells Cheyenne that she's beautiful and that it's incredible that she wants the wedding for Scott. Dominique then gets tongue-tied about her thought process and just goes to sit with Cheyenne, leaving Kristen out in the cold. Cheyenne cries. Kristen hugs everyone and leaves, blaming herself for faltering along her way. At this point I'm between Cheyenne and Dominique... I don't want Allyson or Jenessa to win at all, and although I don't like Cheyenne or Dominique all that much either, I'm kinda even with them.

The Simpsons (S22E11): the ice cream couch gag wasn't that good. "Persia & Mesopotamia" was funny. drinking for fun vs. drinking because of an addiction was amusing. I like how Comic Book Guy has a cousin named Comic Book Gay haha. a dog named Neil Patrick Hairless was funny. Nice trompe l'oeil jokes. 3 weeks of Spring Break and 4 weeks of Christmas Break just to take a girl to the arcade?? hahaha, Skinner! Willie as principal when Skinner takes off is funny. The 1 day vs. 3 months thing was strange.

Family Guy (S09E09): Stewie dressed like a sailor to be seen at church, LoL. Lois vomiting on Stewie severely grossed me out. BILF?!?!?! Julie Andrews and a gun? what? The housekeeper thing was strange. The high school bullying was horrific. "Random background people" was funny. Pariah and Piranha was funny, too. "the burning bush" was inappropriate. ?

Kate Plus Eight (S02Exx): not sure when episode #2 is.

Monday:
Cake Boss: Next Great Baker (S01E07): No Baker's Challenge tonight, we jump straight into the Elimination Challenge. Mauro is a guest judge. They're doing a cake inspired by the new Chevy Cruze. Everyone goes out to look at one. They take turns riding in it a little bit. The person who wins the end will get the car! Everyone is working for themselves and they have 8 hours in one day. Cakes, cereal treats, and ingredients were supplied this time. Megan brought a remote control car, haha. Brian wants a very accurate replica. Dana has modeled 4 cars, Brian has done more than 500. Dana goes with a tire base and a layer of red, white, and blue, and a trophy for champions. Corina wants to go with the driving experience. Jay was confused about that decision. Megan goes BIG. Jay spends 3 and a half hours just sculpting the car! Brian's base is getting out of control. Corina realizes that everyone is having problems. Jay had a time management issue with fondant sticking. Nice ad for Glad ForceFlex bags, LoL. Megan has a car, but I don't know if it's a Chevy Cruze! Brian decides to scrap his base with 90 minutes to go. He goes with styrofoam covered in fondant. Jay hated what he did with the color (silver) and calls himself "cake-whipped." Jay cut and covered his car in 28 minutes, not 4 hours, LoL. He went with more elements. Buddy walks around and talks to people about their process, and he doesn't really have anything positive to say about anything. Jay is still on his car with just 1 hour to go... he has nothing else yet. Everyone sucks and Buddy tells them to bake him something... anything. LoL. He also adds 30 minutes and says they'll be judged on the cakes and the desserts. Jay chooses to make "Lord Have Mercy Bars," which is a graham cracker crust with layers of different chocolates and nuts. Corina goes with pumpkin bread. Dana doesn't think his cake sucks... he goes with a Southern Lemon Cake with fresh strawberries and a cream cheese icing. Megan goes with chocolate chip cookies. Brian is struggling with his fondant tearing, and he realizes that he covered the wrong side! :( Brian covered his base like eight times. He went with snickerdoodle cookies. Jay's cake was a mess. At least it had lights, LoL. Brian burnt his cookies, but with only 5 minutes to go, there's no chance to re-do them. Dana's dessert got great remarks. His cake gets good marks from the Chevy person. Brian's dessert wasn't too good. His cake... doesn't contain any cake at all. Jay's dessert is sweet (a little too sweet), but good. His cake had little comment. Megan's dessert was slightly overbaked, which would make it hard in the long run. Megan's car does move, which was good. Corina's dessert was very good. Her cake got smiles from the Chevy woman, wasn't that clean, and had a good concept. Final Elimination time... Dana got first in cake with his concept and a great dessert as well. Brian's cake being cakeless was problematic. He had the best car, but that was it. Jay's cake didn't make sense, it was crappy and small. Buddy has no positives at all. Megan's dessert was all well and good, but the car didn't have enough likeness, but it did move. Corina's cake was too broad of a concept, leading to poor execution. Buddy announces that Megan will go on to the finale. Buddy talks about Jay's great victories in the past and how today was the choke of the century... he gets sent home. Corina gets to go on, which sends Brian home. Buddy thinks that Corina is a baker first and an artist second, and Brian is the other way around.

House, M.D. (S07E09): House scheming Cuddy once again. Taub on a billboard, haha. House defacing the bus stop was typically awful. Awesome move, Cuddy! Either way she was gonna get House to the dinner, hehe. Racism rears its ugly head once again. I hate how Cuddy's daughter and Taub's wife share the same first name! Banging on a person's back and their ears hurt... that's a new one. hahaha, House has been nice to Jewish women in case they were Cuddy's mom and then she turns out to be a shiksa (a gentile woman who is attracted to a Jewish man). The just looks like an awkward dinner, LoL. "I didn't read any studies, I just raised children." The "will you convert to Judaism" question was amusing. "I just don't want Rachel growing up thinking you're a slut," hahahahaha. He sedated her! awesome! And Wilson, too!! haha, Cuddy's mom thought that she was drunk and went to bed, hahaha. I wasn't thrilled with Cuddy's mom's remark about children being horrible and always getting her sick. Does anyone believe that there's something that Wilson would never forgive House for?? Interesting ending with the paint balloons. Even more interesting was House's attempt to spend some time alone at any cost.

How I Met Your Mother (S06E14): Wow, the whole gang went to Minnesota for Marshall's dad's funeral. Wow that's a lot of ways to get injured in the cajones, LoL. WOW Robin's prepared! I was getting goosebumps from the nice things that everyone said about their last words with Marshall's dad, and then the stupid little punk said mean things. The Koreans thing was amusing. How does Marshall keep mis-remembering his dad's last words to him? That's a quick-charging phone! who calls it "juice" LoL? Why did Lily take the blame for Robin? cheese, mayonnaise, and jellybeans??? "nothing beats the immediacy of live theatre." Marshall's dad's last words after the pocket dial made me cry. "that dress makes you look like a Kansas City whore." Robin pulling out Crocodile Dundee III was great. Why is Marshall's parents' house so formal-looking? I liked Barney calling his mom at the end and telling her that he was ready to meet his dad.

Tuesday:
Teen Mom 2 (S01E02):
Jenelle: she's been away from her baby for a week. Her mom was kinda a b!tch about telling Jenelle she's not going to have money for a lawyer. "The only drug I use is marijuana... and I don't use it that much." $200/hour, 15-100 hours, plus $5,000 retainer. She then calls her mom and says she wants to go home. She was hoping that her mom would drop the custody battle too, but it doesn't look that way.
Kailyn: horrible cursing in front of the baby. She goes out on a date. One of her friends suggests she go public by saying on facebook that she's "in a relationship." Jo's parents find out fast and give her the third degree about it. Jo's mom accuses her of not caring about her kid, and the dad suggests that she just can't be alone. The dad says she's starting new problems. Jo says that it's disrespectful for her to bring the baby around other guys, and she better not do that. She does not admit that she already has.
Chelsea: ewww... who drinks out of a 2-liter bottle??!? She misses Adam. Her dad reminds her that if she doesn't take school seriously, she'll lose his support. Adam comes to see Aubree.
Leah: she decides to take Ali to the doctor because her legs aren't the same at Aleeah. She wanted to start nursing classes (her mom's a nurse, too), but with Ali's heath issues, she put it off. Corey's parents go with her to take the girls to the doctor. Her arms are disproportionate and there's a nerve problem... she needs an MRI. She has no bone issues, but perhaps a spinal issue. I didn't like Leah's nails. Leah is crying a lot and Corey and she agree that they need to stop arguing... there's too much going on. Corey reminds her that she has to be strong.

Wednesday:
Minute to Win It (S02E20): Random Pairing. Michelle and Derald. Overall, I thought it was a little early in the show's lifetime to show "favorite moments." The joke about trips was good.
Game 1: Sticky Balls: roll marbles across a flat surface to get them to stick on a strip of tape. Michelle goes for it (her sister in the audience tells her to, LoL). Her first five or so miss, then she gets one, then a bunch more miss, then 2, 3, 4, and 5 all come in a row.
Game 2: Spin Doctor: Team Game. One spins a dollar coin, it has to spin across a line, then the other person has to stop it upright. Derald gives a quick direction or two, then Michelle starts spinning. Derald knocks down the first few, but gets it with 23 spare seconds.
Game 3: Tweeze Me: There's an upright tennis racket and there's a tennis ball balanced on top. Get a mint (like a tic-tac) through a marked hole in the racket so it lands on a cup on the other side, but don't knock off the tennis ball. You have 5 attempts and you only have to do it once.haha, Derald wanted to show how shaky they were, but she thought he wanted her to go, but he covers. Michelle gets one through but it misses the cup, so does the second. The third stays in, 18 seconds to go.
Game 4: Office Dominoes: Team Game, as they're both doing it, but in separate instances. Balance 10 reams of paper so that when you knock them over, they ring a bell. Both look pretty good in setup, but I trust Michelle's a little more. Both get it, 6 seconds to go.
Game 5: Triple Pong Plop: Team Game here since they're both trying to get to the 4 total. Bounce ping-pong balls across 3 11" dinner plates and into a fishbowl of water. Get four in. Derald gets close, then they both get it, next thing you know, it's over and there's still 44 seconds remaining!
Game 6: Pop Top: Flick bottlecaps off the ends of a round table into a glass that's in the middle. There are 48 around the table. Derald says he grew up playing this "as a guy" so he goes for it. He gets it on the first try, so 57 seconds to go, haha!! This is the "FASTEST WIN EVER" and everyone is ecstatic.
Game 7: Breakfast Scramble: Team Game. 16 squares are on a table... they make a puzzle. You don't even know what it looks like ahead of time, but you know it's a cereal. They talk strategy. It's the Frosted Flakes box and they're going strong at halfway. I got frustrated when they had a piece from the bottom row rotated 180 degrees for the longest time! They get it with one second to go.
Game 8: Oh-Nuts: 8 nut-and-bolt pairings on a ruler, you have to stack a tower. Don't let it fall. Derald goes for it. Michelle tells him to have a steady hand. He's kinda slow... he was out of time and tried to rush and fell. He tried to get her to do it the next time, and she flat-out refused, claiming that he knows what he's doing now. He goes again and has a much better start. A little sloppier but not too bad. It falls at 32 seconds. She looks upset. They have one life left, but he can't play because of the 3-plays rule. So Michelle has to go. She goes WAY too slowly and ends up knocking it over with 3 or 4 more to stack and only a second anyway.

Better With You (S01E13): [Episode 12 got overrode last week because of President Obama's speech. Not sure how they'll work on when this will air...]
Episode 13: MISSED THE FIRST NINE MINUTES OR SO. I like how the parents are trying to win godparent status by taking the cat, while Maddie and Ben take an infant CPR class. Maddie asking questions and getting kicked out was funny. I'm actually surprised that Joel has an interest in being a guardian. I like how careless they're being with the cat, tho. Mia getting kicked out because she's Maddie's sister was funny. Mr. Meowgi was a cute name for a cat. I love that the parents can't even remember what color the cat was. I adored the "telling of grievances" between Maddie and her parents... very Friends. 4 guardians??!?!? hahaha, stealing a cat! haha, they're not the actual guardians, and Mia and Casey aren't worried about it because by the time the others find out, they'll be dead. "we saved nine" was funny.

Hot in Cleveland (S02E01): I loved Elka with the harmonica in jail. Mary Tyler Moore was her cellmate, haha! Elka insulting the judge was funny. "talking more" punishes a man, haha. "people are plucking their own brows? Are we living in a third world country now?" LoL! "you're not even that famous," LoL. "in Cleveland they're called 'garage sales,'" haha. Joy needs a greencard so Rick automatically proposes. Rick's "balls" comment was odd. "call us 'miss' to the day we die." hahaha, Joy gets locked up for announcing that she sold drugs to the mailman in front of cops. So she totally may get deported now. Apparently she got arrested for shoplifting earlier in life. Victoria wanting to choose her Botox over getting Joy out of jail was strange. Rick is also the name of Victoria's agent?? Why do we recycle names like this?? Rick (the Wayne Knight one) sells some balls to donate the money to the girls. Turns out, Elka gave him his first ball so he felt like he owed her. There's also the possibility that Rick meant sex... Joy tries to accept Rick's proposal, but Rick makes her get down on one knee and ask him this time. The tornado was still just the night before?? A final thought: I feel like this episode ran fast.. like extra commercials or something.

Retired at 35 (S01E01): I wasn't really planning on watching this show. But, for some reason, a day or two before the premiere, I just up and decided to add it to my DVR. I think I had seen a commercial that pushed me off the fence, LoL. "they still think that cell phones have harmful rays," LoL. "it's like college in slow motion," haha. "all food-related wood," haha. "I should have thumb-wrestled him, my thumbs are huge from texting." I like all of the "wrong words" for technology, like "tittering" and "facialbook." The dad not caring that the mom went to Portugal was odd. Sleeping with an old woman was weird. The woman's daughter being the waitress at the bar was problematic. I gotta say, I'm not thrilled with this show, and the scenes-from-the-next were only worse. I'll try it again, but I don't see it lasting.

Thursday:
Wipeout (S04E03): The qualifier course looks a little more difficult than last week, but otherwise it's pretty much the same. The "blind librarian" had a funny course. CreepyRobert (who does a Golem voice) had a nice wipeout on that first obstacle. "safety third" was weird. Man, Ballsy has great aim with those snowballs!! Art History girl had a great wipeout, too! It also looks like they're cleaning off the big balls more often, since they don't have as much mud on them with each new person going at them. Oatmeal Girl got beat-up on the log jammer! Next is the ski lift, the one where everyone stands on rotating platforms and hangs onto an overhead handlebar to pull themselves up as necessary to avoid sweeper arms. The hats over the helmets didn't look as cool or fitted this week. Oatmeal Girl was getting flown around! Some Dancer Boy gets the $1,000. Third Round is the W-I-P-E-O-U-T level, with different obstacles on each letter. Riding the sweeper arm all the way around was funny. CreepyRobert snuck past DangerDan to get into the finale. The Wipeout Zone features the stairs, the icicle sweeper thing, and the sinister snowflakes. You start with the bobsled launcher. CreepyRobert goes first. It's snowing kinda hard to start off. He falls off the second set of stairs. Then he falls off the middle stairs. There's also pink goo out tonight. He falls off the icicle sweepers, then falls again when he tries to get off this obstacle. He slips off the first sinister snowflake. He makes it on the second try, finishing at 10:28. He must be a pretty fast swimmer, really. RocketScientist is next. He falls on one of the last stairs... it looked like he was just going too fast. On his second attempt he falls backward on one of the last sets of stairs. He falls off the icicle sweepers pretty quickly. He almost made it across the sinister snowflakes but falls getting to the platform. He then falls face-first on his second try, again on the second snowflake. He then makes it, finishing at 9:38. Jacob the Dancer is last. He falls off the top/middle stair, which is a two-story drop. He struggled HARD to stay on the final stair on his second attempt, but he makes it. He had too much speed coming off the sweeper, but luckily he got both feet on the platform before he went careening into the water. He makes the snowflakes in his first attempt, finishing with a miraculous time of just 3:46!!!! You know, I thought about it... it would be cool if they picked 3 or 5 wipeouts from each episode and we could vote on our favorites the day after each episode airs or something.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Off season/Coming Up:

Kitchen Boss (Season 1 premieres January 24th and runs in the afternoons)
19 Kids and Counting (Season 6 starts January 24th - we're moving to Mondays! as if those aren't already my busiest day!)
Cake Boss (Season 4 back January 31st)
Mr. Sunshine (premieres Wednesday, February 9th at 9:30pm on ABC)
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (season 3 continues March 28th at 8pm)
South Park (season 15 starts April 27th)
Melissa & Joey (some point in the Spring)
Futurama (Season 6 continues with episode 14 in the Spring)
Teen Mom (no idea)
16 and Pregnant (no idea)
Terra Nova (previewing in May; premiering in September)
Table for 12 (I found out this week that this show was canceled last October. too bad. I guess it was just "too real," LoL. I'm missing 5 episodes from the series, which I may never see. missing "summer," "busy day," "jumping in," "brace yourself," "back to school." I'll remove this from Friday posts starting next week. Should I ever finish this series, I'll do a "favorites" from each of its two seasons.)

2011 is Ready to Go!!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Sunday:
Bridalplasty (S01E07): Jenessa doesn't have a lot of pain. Allyson is liking her arms, and she is released from the recover room. I think that Jenessa wanted to be released too, simply so she wouldn't be apart from the group and if she was with everyone else it would be easier to continue to manipulate. I think it's weird that they're doing a lot of the before-and-after photos now when the girls are talking. The mothers-in-law get brought in. Jenessa's mother-in-law couldn't make it (she's older), so she got a sister-in-law instead. Cheyenne is thrilled her MIL came, since apparently this is only like the second time she's ever flown. Everyone had to talk about the challenges they need to overcome in order to improve their relationships. Cheyenne is a shopper. Dominique's job is a bartender. Kristen mentions that she doesn't like being compared to former exes. Jenessa feels that her fiance trusts his mother more than he trusts her. They all get photoshoots with their MILs. Everyone goes to the Venice Beach boardwalk for the challenge. You have to take 10 photos of 10 things to get points (items are 1-5). There are more than 10 options, so use your photos wisely. Jenessa is on medical leave so she's not competing. Lisa Marie wants to win because she's the only girl left who hasn't had a procedure. On the way there they all talk to their MILs about strategy. Cheyenne lost her mom right off the bat. She cries about it not being fair. Lisa Marie was waaaay intense, LoL. Allyson is way excited and thinks she can win, especially since her MIL is outspoken like she is, and game for everything on the list. She even says that this is something that they'd do on a weekend at home! Cheyenne finally finds her MIL. Cheyenne tried to make up the time by taking photos quickly, but they didn't got for the higher point values. Kristen says it was the hardest thing she's ever done.
Scavenger Hunt that we heard (although we know there were probably like 50 options, haha):
One of you buried in the sand (?)
pointing at a belly ring that's not yours (?)
someone fully clothed and soaking wet (5)
someone that was alive but is now dead (?) (and not even sure if anyone did this one)
A dog on someone's head (3)
standing in a trash can (3)
An old man dancing with the bride (1)
six-person human pyramid (5)
tattoo on lower back (?)
tattoo below the waist (3)
both touching a palm tree (3)
a kiss on both cheeks (1)
a bald guy's head with a smiley face drawn on it
skateboard spanking circle (3)
Playing instrument with two people clapping (5)
a little bit of butt crack (3)
baby wearing sunglasses (1)
rubbing lotion on abs (1)

Jenessa wants Kristen or Cheyenne in the bottom. Jenessa is angry that Lisa Marie did so many one-pointers. Cheyenne gets 32. Allyson gets 34. Lisa Marie gets just 24. Dominique gets 38. Kristen gets 28. This puts Lisa Marie and Kristen in the bottom. Kristen is upset that she might go home against Lisa Marie!! (who, by the way, is in the bottom for the FOURTH time!) Dominique gets to pick another surgery (her MIL has a funny look on her face at that), and she goes with getting veneers on her teeth. Dominique gets doctored up by a different person, since Dr. Dubow doesn't do teeth or something, LoL. Kristen confides in Cheyenne and calls LM a cockroach that just won't die, hahaha. LM, meanwhile, is just crying. I like how Allyson wazs thinking that Lisa Marie needed to "pick herself up" since that's the realization that Allyson came to in the beginning. LM talks about how she poured her life into that challenge... which I don't get. I mean, you knew how many points each thing was worth ahead of time, so you knew how many points you were going to get! 24 is less than half... how did she think that was going to be acceptable and a competitive score?? Allyson has a feeling that she's going to be the deciding vote, and Jenessa reminds her that it's a competition and Kristen is a stronger competitor, so you have to get rid of her. Kristen repeats her cockroach comment in front of Allyson and Allyson is shocked. Jenessa tells LM not to leave Kristen and Allyson alone. Lisa Marie follows Allyson around room-to-room and it annoys Allyson. There's a lot of shaping and stuff that goes into those veneers before they're cemented! I gotta say, tho... the difference wasn't all that great to me. Allyson tells Jenessa that she is angry that LM is so down and following her around. Allyson also tells Jenessa that she was going to vote for Kristen until the cockroach comment. Lisa Marie, Kristen, and Cheyenne greet Dominique and Dominique comments on LM's mopeyness. Jenessa and Dominique talk about how it's like a full-time job to keep Lisa Marie in the house. Allyson confronts Kristen. Kristen knows she let her mouth get the best of her. LM is trying to play the "I haven't even had a surgery yet" card. I did NOT like Cheyenne's dress. Jenessa claims that Allyson said she was voting for Lisa Marie, so when Allyson mentions that she isn't sure what she's doing, Jenessa flips out. I don't understand why Jenessa keeps changing how heavy-duty her bandages are, LoL. Allyson says that the two girls that she is closest to are Kristen and Lisa Marie, so that's why this makes her decision so much more difficult. Cheyenne brings up the cockroach thing without being specific. Then she sits with Kristen. Allyson talks about LM's negativity and Kristen's mouth. Allyson sat with Kristen because "she doesn't want to be down in the dumps." LM feels betrayed and looks stunned. Jenessa can't affect the outcome, but she gets a chance to speak. She brings up the exact comment and LM GLARES. Jenessa is shocked that Allyson would sit at Kristen's table after that, and she even does some sort of weird hiss/tongue-click thing. Allyson gets pissed at Jenessa. AND Jenessa voted for Kristen since she wants to "be neutral" and "start over." Jenessa doesn't even make eye contact with LM. Kristen apologizes to LM, but LM still glares. Allyson is pissed that Jenessa is throwing people under the bus. Lisa Marie doesn't say much, and leaves without tears, which was impressive. Next week we'll see the fiances and there will be a lie-detector test with the boys.

The Simpsons (S22E10): "January is not National Bart month" haha. I thought the opening couch gig was funny, especially the "Ottoman Empire" part, hahaha. Nelson pouring the cooler on Mrs. Krebappel (sp?) was funny. "winning team doesn't have to play dodgeball until next year" was funny. Another instance of "challenge accepted" and a funny imagination of Jets vs. Sharks. Voting to wait for "shine" was funny. Nelson "excusing" Martin to go home was funny. That's a weird scar that Bart has that we've never seen before... Peanuts in the shower are gross. Bart asks Marge about the scar, and she brings up a Mommy and Me group from way back... Taxes on toilet paper was weird. very weird. Turns out all four boys from the group have that scar, and nobody knows how they got it. "skype with the guys at Moe's" was funny. The brain map was rather disturbing. Bart's frustration with the guys was interesting. The doctor tells Bart that the story can be heard from the Comic Book Guy. The Comic Book Guy makes a funny reference to Na'vi and Klingon being about the same, haha. I love how Bart used an inky finger to torture the Comic Book Guy. Middle Earth?? How do the hobbits fit into this, LoL? The 4th of July 7 years ago... so like age 3. Everyone is crowded in the park on blankets getting ready to watch fireworks. The redneck family gives their kids embers for dinner... gross. The four kids go and press all of the buttons on the fireworks launcher, leading to horror, and flaming swords (the kind used as sandwich picks) land on each of their hands. Everyone thinks Bart is the "bad apple," so Marge leaves the group... which turns into a lesbian party after she leaves, LoL. Maggie spitting out her pacifier at Bart made me laugh. It amuses me that Marge thought that Homer enjoyed the other dads, and it amuses me even more that all of those couples were still together! The Flanders joke at the end was okay, too.

Family Guy (S09E08): Peter had never even heard of redbull before? seriously? that's way old. omg the cow's udders caught fire because of how fast Peter was milking, LoL. The wheel from The Price is Right killing people was scary. Plagiarism, haha. I wonder where the flower went, LoL. Why would Brian eat Peter? I never would have noticed the doctor's tan if it wasn't pointed out to me, LoL. "I know, I saw the caption," hahaha. But the afterbirth silly putty HORRIFIED me. Who didn't see Brian offering up his kidneys coming? Stewie's snot was out of control. Chris and Meg reading together was just awkward. "Mike Obama" ???

Bob's Burgers (S01E01): Now, I'm not planning on making this a regular show, but my husband wanted to watch it so I gave the premiere a chance. Ouch on the re-re-re-openings. Daughter Tina is the grill cook. Daughter Louise is on the cash register. Gene gives samples outside. Dad tells him not to give samples to those coming out of the funeral home, LoL. "Tina, don't put your hand in" ...since she has an itchy crotch. Bob is bad with dates... they totally drove home that point! EWWWWWW the samples were on the ground. "Child Molester... comes with candy" is MUCH FUNNIER than "Bacon-ings." September 3rd is their anniversary... got it. The molesting conversation was weird. Tina may or may not be autistic. Allegedly the FDA allows 4& human in burgers hahahahaha. Nice shout-out to UF and "don't taste me, bro." "I don't tell you how to grill your corpses." What exactly did Bob moving the car for the guy do? [it's about this point that my husband admits the show isn't that good. I agree by saying "I didn't expect it to be] and now it's over.

Kate Plus Eight (S02Exx): not sure when episode #2 is.

Monday:
Cake Boss: Next Great Baker (S01E06): I'm having a difficult time now, since most of the contestants left, I like. Baker's Challenge: decorate a 3-tier wedding cake with old school techniques. Buddy demonstrates drop lines, lattices, borders, all kinds of fancy stuff. Brian is nervous because he doesn't have a lot of piping experience and he avoids it at all costs. Jay is thrilled because this is "his thing." Buddy talks about how you have to get "in the zone" because there are other bakers making all kinds of noise while you work. They can pipe whatever design they want, but they have 45 minutes and it better be good! Corina mentions that she doesn't do string work or piping, but she's getting into it! Jay starts with swagging with a large tip and some lattice work. Then he wants to do drop strings and points. He said he wants to die piping, LoL! Megan finds dropline design to be therapeutic. But her bag bursts on her bottom layer with five minutes to go so she has to wipe it completely... but she's not that upset. I liked that everyone's cake was a different color. Brian said he found it enjoyable. Megan's lattice is loose. No bottom two because they're all pretty good. Jay wins, Dana comes in second. Jay's was a little more difficult and a little higher quality. Jay gets to pick his team, and he chooses Corina (because he hasn't worked with her yet!) and Megan. That leaves Dana and Brian... but Buddy moves Jay over there. And Buddy doesn't want the teams uneven.... so, surprise, Joe is back! Buddy says he sees potential, plus Joe has issues working on teams. Joe says that he doesn't want to quit and that he wants to make great cakes. Corina is going crazy and wants to cry. The judges will be Joey and Julie, a wedding planner. She talks about the bride... traditional, clean, lots of tiers, spider mums and calla lilies are her thing, she wants apple green and purple, and they can go from there. It's six layers and they only get six hours. Two bakers go to the box truck this time!! Jay leads his team, of course. Corina has a great idea so she sketches, but Megan is ultimately the leader, so she can act as a buffer. Joe has to cut the base, do the flange, etc. White Chocolate Champagne cake with sweet almond frosting is Brian's specialty for wedding cakes. Cream cheese icing and vanilla cake for Megan's team. Joe's flange isn't centered. Joe says an eighth of an inch won't matter, the girls say it will. Joe does it again. They also have to build a tasting cake for the bride to taste before the reception starts. They switch to a square board. Ribbons, flowers, everything is looking great for Jay's team. Less than 2.5 hours to go and Megan's team can finally start to stack. Corina asks Megan to delegate something to Joe. She asks him to make the lilies, but they're turning out badly. The girls make more. I'm LOVING Jay's cake! They have to bring the cakes to a photoshoot on the roof of the building. I was surprised with how much taller Megan's cake was than Jay's. Joe admits that Jay's cake was nicer. Buddy has the cakes tumble off the roof. Most everyone is noticeably upset, except maybe Corina, who is kinda giggling. Buddy says that sometimes, things happen. The new challenge is to remake the cake, in just 4 hours. If you have to downsize or go to Plan B, do so. You have to make the bride happy (who is choosing the winning cake, by the way!). I thought this was a smart challenge. Jay's team is cranking it. Megan has Joe do another board. Jay is nervous about letting Brian cover two of the layers of the cake. Joe is nervous about the stability this time. He feels that he's not being heard. Megan's cake is leaning a little bit since the dowel is bowed. Joe is aggravated. Corina and Megan ask Jay what to do instead of Joe. Joe keeps pointing out that he's a plumber and he knows structure, hahaha. The lean is noticeable, but the girls are trying to ignore that, LoL. Brian says that their cake is better than it was the first time. The cakes traveled in the truck without people in there with them! Megan's cake was "very good" from the bride and "terrific" from the groom and "moist" from Buddy. Megan's design - crooked, great flowers, beautiful. Jay's cake was "very good" from the bride, "liked the sponge" from Buddy. Aesthetically, the cake was beautiful. Groom agreed with bride on both looks and taste. The bride chose Jay's cake. Joe feels like the girls will use him as a scapegoat. Final Elimination comes, and they compare the original with the re-do. Wedding planner likes the second one better. She likes the layers being different sizes. Joey doesn't like the almond flavor, neither did Buddy. Jay was a great leader, and they all get released. Corina and Megan think they're a "man down" in skill for cakes. Corina says it was completely unfair, and Megan thinks all of the contestants will agree. Joe made calla lilies and says that since it was his only job, he did a great job and the bride liked them... but Megan admits that she and Corina made the lilies that actually went on the cake. Joe did do the leaves, the coloring of leaves. Wedding planner loves the colors of the flowers. It looked too sloppy and not as professional as the other. Joey says they nailed the taste, and Megan was responsible for the cake and icing. Corina claims she and Megan worked like crazy. Joe says the same about himself, but the girls don't agree. Joe gets sent back to the box truck. Corina says she should stay because the design was hers and she wants this, she "has to have this." Megan says she belongs there, she has things she wants to show him, and that she won't let him down. Corina brings up the design being hers, and Megan tries to throw in some defense, but Buddy cuts her off and says that he made the biggest mistake by saddling them with Joe... they both get to stay after all. He tells them that he doesn't want to see them in the bottom two again. Joey tells Buddy he's getting soft, but Joey agrees that they both deserved to stay. The first time he left, he was a quitter... this time he accepts it.

House, M.D. (S07Exx): no episode this week. #9 on the 17th.

How I Met Your Mother (S06Exx): not this week. Episode 14 to come.

Tuesday:
Teen Mom 2 (S01E01):
Jenelle: broke up with Andrew. Jace is 9 months old, and Jenelle graduated high school. Her mom thinks she should care for her child more, not going out at night all the time. Andrew is sending child support. Jenelle puts the baby to bed and then goes out... she doesn't think it's a big deal at all. Jenelle's mom makes the bottles. Her mom tells her that she isn't "stepping up." Her mom is constantly telling her what to do - what to dress him in, when to powder him, etc. Her mom unplugs the internet and Jenelle takes the router. Her mom follows her, Jenelle throws the router on the floor, tells her mom to leave, then shoves her. Jenelle is staying with friends. Her mom is suing her for custody of Jace. Jenelle said she's going to kill her mom. She walks in and screams at her mom. Jenelle crowds her mom and screams at her and yells at her to get in the house. Her mom looks forward to seeing her in court.
Kailyn: she lived with Jo and his family. Isaac is 7 months old, Kailyn graduated high school and has a part-time job at Sports Authority, and is planning to start community college. Kailyn shares a car with Jo and he's really controlling over every mile she puts on it. Jo doesn't want to deal with the fighting, so he tries to break up. He says that he feels taken advantage of. Kailyn isn't sure if she can live with her mom (who's a flake). Kailyn tells her mom about school expenses and her breakup, and she asks about where Kailyn will live. Her mom didn't offer, so Kailyn asks Jo's mom what she thinks. She offers up the basement, and Kailyn thanks her. She has to borrow her mom's car since Jo won't let him use his anymore. She's thinking of dating someone else.
Chelsea: Adam, the babydaddy, and Chelsea broke up. He comes to see baby Aubree once a month. She's making up her schoolwork at home, but did miss her original graduation date. She just turned 18 and wants to move in with her friend in another house. Her dad will pay her rent if she gets back on-track with school. On move-in day, Chelsea didn't pack clothes for the baby so when she has diarrhea, she has to call her mom to help. Her roommate, Megan, helps with the baby. They have friends over since it's hard for them to go out. Leopard-print keyboard, WHAT??!? She starts dating, but her first one goes weird.
Leah: Leah had cheated on he babydaddy (Corey) with her ex, Robbie. Corey dumped her, but she wants him back. The girls are 7 months old (Aleeah and Ali). Leah cares for them on her own during the week. She finished high school from home. Corey is seeing other people. Leah is disappointed that Corey doesn't go to her graduation. Leah makes him dinner on what would have been their one-year anniversary if they were still together.

Wednesday:
Minute to Win It (S02E19): Mother & Daughter: Lynn & Bethany. Daughter is a model. She wants laser hair removal, mom is a little surprised she said that. Bethany says she's self-absorbed, LoL.
Game 1: Baby Rattle: the 2-Liter soda bottles are connected at the mouths, filled with gumballs in one container. Shake the gumballs into the other side in one minute. And you're doing one of these in each hand. Bethany goes for it... this one reminds me of the shake-weight, LoL. Both are done with 27 seconds to go.
Game 2: Glass Road Trucker: Build a road out of 8 upside-down glass bottles, then blow a ping-pong ball from the first bottle across the tops of them to land in a shot glass that's sitting on top of an upside-down pint glass on the other side. Lynn goes for it. She spends half of her time on the set-up, then blows the balls but they keep falling off. One comes close but she ultimately loses. She goes again. She is about the same pace, and all her daughter keeps saying is, "remember your technique!" Her mom came close once, but lost again. Mom is visibly upset, and she doesn't want to try again, but daughter says she can't, so mom must. She goes again... set-up complete with 36 seconds to go, so the "road" was built a little faster this time. And mom gets the ball across with 24 seconds to go.
Game 3: Ready Spaghetti: Team Game: pass a dry linguine noodle through the middle of a soda can tab so both people can pick up the can without touching it (they have to hold the noodle in their mouths. Do this three times to stack the cans into a mini-pyramid. They talk strategy for a while, LoL. The first one was kinda slow, and they drop the third while stacking, and the fourth falls too, and then they're out of time. Wow, they lost early. sucks.

Lisa and Travon, a random match. Lisa is a dance teacher and wants to win the money to help out a family member with brain cancer. Travon is a father of three and a fire captain who wants to buy a house. They get Lisa's sick sister-in-law on the phone.
Game 1: Chocolate Unicorn: stack 7 chocolate snackcakes (one by one) on your own forehead. Hold it for three seconds. Travon tries. He messes up, has time to try again, and messes up again. He doesn't even try again since there's like 10 seconds left. You can hear his kid calling out from the audience that "it's okay." Travon goes again, and gets it on the first go-round.
Game 2: Noodling Around: Use a piece of uncooked spaghetti in your mouth to pick up six pieces of penne, arranged around a table. If the spaghetti breaks, you can't try again. Lisa goes for it, and Travon is kinda flirty in his cheering, calling her "baby" and stuff. She's done with 15 seconds to go.
Game 3: A Bit Dicey: balance 6 dice on top of a popsicle stick held in your mouth. They have to be stacked for three seconds total. Travon goes for it. He claims he needs to redeem himself from the snackcakes, LoL. I didn't like his stacking... it wasn't perfect, LoL. He made me nervous with his speed, too. His stack of 6 falls at 29 seconds, so he starts again. He's speedy again, and has to start another time. He ends up losing. Lisa goes for it because Travon is shaking and not focused. Lisa is slower at stacking and watches her stack closely. She gets the sixth on at 22 seconds to go, and she makes it by a hair of a second before it topples.
Game 4: Brush with Danger: Team Game: 13 feet apart, the team must get a toothbrush balanced on a large loop of dental floss into a cup on a pedestal in the center. They had neat strategy ideas, and Travon led the team, and they made it with 18 seconds to go!
Game 5: Gettin' Juggy with It: Stack four empty 5-gallon bottles on top of one another to form a tower. Lisa goes for it. Lisa gets it fairly easily, with 22 seconds to go.
Game 6: Iron Board Man: Team Game where you roll a marble onto one of three designated holes on an ironing board covered in holes. They both have to pick up the ironing board to maneuver the marble. They looked like the knew what they were doing and came close many times before ultimately running out of time. Lisa told Travon a few times that he was moving too fast, but at least they got to share $50,000.

Better With You (S01Exx): Episode 12 got moved because of President Obama's speech. Not sure how they'll work on when this will air...

Thursday:
Wipeout (S04E01 & S04E02): This is technically "Winter Wipeout" so there's a new course. On the qualifier, there's a house to cross in front of, with obstacles. The big balls are still there, and now you take a conveyor belt to get to them so you can't delay yourself AT ALL, there's a sweeper with a ton of pedestals to jump to/from, and really inclined logs that move to get past, complete with a central spinning part, LoL. You also start going down on a sled, haha. I laughed when the top part of the door at "Nana's House" swung out and knocked over the first girl, LoL... and then she gets hit by the second one, too! The number of times that they needed to censor her pants was ridiculous. "Human Bagpipe" was freaky. haha, a girl who can actually lick her own elbow. The "easiest route" sign was funny, since there were no other choices, LoL! BandGeek did really badly on the big balls, haha. The log jammer also messed with him, LoL. "I'm on television and America's about to watch me get hurt" hahaha. Nobody made it across the final obstacle, LoL. Wow, a real Olympian! The second round is the ski lift... you're standing on a platform that spins. There are sweeper arms around it, and as you pass one, you use an overhead handle to pull yourself up so you don't get knocked off. As you go, the sweeper arms get higher, LoL. It was entertaining to watch, since everyone did different things and part of the strategy was simply holding on! The handles are also on ropes, so you swing a lot, hehe. It came down to the twilight-loving mother of two and the Olympian... the Olympian won, LoL. Round 3: get across the seven letters of "wipeout" first.. each with its own tricks. "O" gives most of the competitors quite the challenge. After the first person gets all the way across, everyone has to swim back and start again. We're also only taking the top 3 instead of the normal 4 to go into the final round. There were some good jokes about the guy nicknamed "Fruitcake." I wasn't a big gan of how the "U" worked... you couldn't really pass someone if they were in front of you unless you fell, LoL. First, get launched into the air, then climb moving stairs up and down, get past vertical sweepers, and finally the "sinister snowflakes" which is kinda like riding through gears that have pegs sticking out, if that makes any sense, LoL. Fruitcake made a bad "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer" joke. The bobsled launcher seemed scary. Fruitcake maneuvered the stairs nicely but ended up falling at one point. He falls off the first plank in the sweeper right off the bat, but makes it all the way on the second try. 11:33 sounds like a good time, LoL. Wow, from the top of the steps to the water is quite a fall, LoL. I was wowwed when the Twilight-girl finished in 6:50!! Tour guide girl also falls quickly from the first plank. She got stuck on the second "snowflake" for a few revolutions, but ultimately doesn't fall and finished in just 3:46!! I was super-surprised to see almost half-lifes in time between contestants, LoL!

Second Winter Wipeout: Qualifier starts with mogul madness, then the balls, the snowball sweeper, and the log jam. I like Mogul Madness better than last week's Nana's House. Mogul Madness is grabbing onto a zipline (wearing some fake skis that usually fall off early on) and trying to make it past two sweeping arms and a U-shaped revolving ...um... "U." The logs have actually gotten more difficult, as there's a mousetrap-like bar on the first log plank. Haha, I liked the "Christmas Card" pose they made with the one girl. "I kinda want to know what it's like to be punched in the face" was one girl's reasoning for why she's on the show... um, yeah. and hahaha on the "we don't have money to buy the rights... but it's something from Footloose" LOLOL. Wow, a girl made it through the moguls! and later a boy with six toes, LoL. The log jammer got some awesome wipeouts! Six-toes also made it through the snowball sweeper! Dang, 2:17 total!?! Next: Hold onto handlebars while on small rotating platforms 10 feet about the water. Life yourself over the sweeping arms that keep getting higher (aka no change from last week). The fact that the announcers weren't talking about who was falling down was funny. I was surprised with how long the final four or so contestants lasted! Ondo lasts the longest. The third round is the same as last week as well: make it past seven "letters" of obstacles. Every time one person finishes, everyone has to go back to start. There's way more of that blue-green gel on this course this week... gross. Again, the hurdles on the "U" got crowded. Broadway Babe, Six-Toes, and Erick are in the final round. The final round is the same as last week, except I think there's more water streaming by the "sinister snowflakes" (aka the final obstacle). Broadway Baby goes first. She gets the stairs pretty well, but falls on her way down so she has to start over. The second time, she fell before just before she got to the top. The third time she falls near the end. The fourth time she makes it. She makes the next part just fine, but the snowflakes trip her up and she falls. She makes it the second time for a 19:13 final finish. Erick goes next. He falls from the stairs on his first attempt. Fake snow starts coming down pretty hard. He belly-flops onto the final set of stairs and falls. He makes it all the way across on his second try, still going belly-flop style, LoL. He makes the next part just fine, too. He falls off the first snowflake, then falls off the second snowflake. He falls on the second snowflake again. And again, as he goes over time at the same point. Last, Six-Toes goes... he falls off the stairs, then falls off the stairs again. He struggles on the next obstacle, but makes it on his first try. He falls off the first snowflake. He makes it the second time, finishing with a time of 7:48.

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Off season/Coming Up:

Hot in Cleveland (back January 19th at 10pm for 20 episodes of season 2)
Kitchen Boss (Season 1 premieres January 24th)
19 Kids and Counting (Season 6 starts January 25th)
Cake Boss (Season 4 back January 31st)
Mr. Sunshine (premieres Wednesday, February 9th at 9:30pm on ABC)
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (March 28th at 8pm)
South Park (season 15 starts April 27th)
Melissa & Joey (some point in the Spring)
Table for 12 (missing "summer," "busy day," "jumping in," "brace yourself," "back to school")
Futurama (Season 6 continues with episode 14 in the Spring)
Teen Mom (no idea)
16 and Pregnant (no idea)
Terra Nova (previewing in May; premiering in September)