Watching Sitcoms

So now, we get to eliminate nine more of these random people from American Idol and we get one step closer to finally having out Top 12. Ryan looks better tonight. Since we’re watching live tonight, we aren’t going to be able to fast forward through all the random stuff.

It has just occurred to me that they didn’t do the weird family thing on the last show. Maybe someone at AI really does read the reviews people write and then actually pay attention.

Once again, they are singing a group song I don’t know. I miss the days of old fashioned music I know. If Idol is gonna get into this decade of music, I’m not really going to want to watch anymore. One of the things I love the most is all the old cheesy 70s and 80’s music.

Next we have to re-live last night, which I just saw a moment ago. I hate this part. Then Ryan has to ask the contestants some questions as they sit on the benches awaiting their doom.

First up on (more…)

This week’s ep of The Secret Life of the American Teenage had a little too much of Anne being perky, George being weepy and Amy being whiny.

I’m not doing my traditional recap this week, cause I was very tired and I was laying down while I watched. Now I’m just gonna give you the basics as I recall them. Anne is determined to find a job for both her and Amy. Amy is not interested in working at all.

George is realizing that he still loves Anne.

Donovan and Leon decide that they are not going to adopt the baby, but that they want to go after their foster kids.

Ben gives Ricky a word beat down, basically telling him that he will never be able to support the baby for the next 18 years.

Ashley’s new friend, Thomas, comes to visit. He tells her he is 15, then tells her he is 13. I thought he looked older, but what do I know.

Adrian, with Grace’s help, decides to become a virgin again. (Can this be done? Is this something people do?) So they consult with the Rev. Stone. I thought the scene with the three of them was really compelling. The Reverand comes across as a very nice guy who sees more than he lets on and who really wants to help people. He isn’t pushy at all, which I like, cause too often Christians are shown in a bad light. Like they are always trying to convert people to their way of thinking. Rev. Stone seems like he’s very tolerant. I like that, too.

Adrian then shares with news with Ricky, who doesn’t seem like he believes her, but they are interrupted by Adrian’s brother, whose name I still haven’t caught. Adrian tells her brother about her determination to become new and not have sex until she’s married. Of course, he seems like he’s now ready to move the relationship along. But he also seems like having sex or not is not a deal breaker. Good on him.

A man flirts with Anne at the Hot Dog Hut, where she is now working, much to George’s dismay.

Leo tells Ben off for telling Amy that she doesn’t have to work if she doesn’t want to cause he can take care of her. Leo’s response, “No you can’t, you don’t have a dime. I have dimes.” I love that man so much.

Jack sells (with Grace’s help) some candy bars to help Duncan raise money for disadvantaged kids. On his way to Duncan’s house, the money is robbed, then his keys and his phone, and then his car. He is running around trying to get it all back, when he comes up a couple of guys who look tough. They take his shoes, his money and his wallet. Then they admit they were just playing with him. They tell him that Duncan is the thief and that he was scamming Jack. They also tell Jack that Duncan won’t let him anywhere near Shawna just because he won’t let anyone near her.

Honestly, other stuff may have happened, but try as I might, I don’t remember. If you do, please help me out.

As the first elimination show of the semi-finals for this year’s American Idol gets under way, we are treated to some unnecessary banter by the judges. Then we see a reel of highlights on the journey of these 12 Idol hopefuls. The group then sings and dances around awkwardly to some song I don’t know and don’t care enough about to look up. The audience likes it, but then, as we all know, Idol audiences are ridiculously easy to please.

Next we are treated to highlights of last night’s show, which I am thankfully able to fast forward through since I’m watching on DVR. I already lived through it once, I couldn’t stand to have do it all again.

Ryan has a chat with (more…)

The Secret Life of the American Teenager starts out this week with Ricky back in therapy and telling Dr. Fields all about his dad’s visit. Ricky also tells him that he will go along with the adoption for a while, but in the end, he will fight it to keep his baby.

Amy is still upset over Ben and doesn’t want to go to school. She seems to be trying to talk herself into settling for Ricky. George offers to talk to Ben for her, but she says he shouldn’t. Meanwhile, Ashley disappears and Anne tells George to go find her. George convinces Amy to go with him to find her. Instead, some guy finds her at the bus stop and he offers her a cigarette, which she accepts, then George and Amy drive by Ashley, George asks if she’s taking the bus and she says yes so he leaves her there. The guy asks Ashley to skip school with him, but she says she’s meeting someone else.

George then has it out (more…)

This week on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Amy is all mopey about being pregnant and Ben’s being angry. She and Ashley have a disagreement about Donovan and Leon adopting the baby. Ashley thinks that Amy is just giving the baby away so she can be with Ben.

Ben and his dad are having a heart to heart about what happened with Amy. His dad says he did the right thing standing up for himself the way he did. He also tells him that just because he loves Amy, that doesn’t mean that everything is going to turn out the way he wants it to. They are only fifteen years old, and that’s why people their age shouldn’t get married.

Duncan’s sister Shauna calls Jack and confesses that she doesn’t have a boyfriend, she just said that because he is too young for him. She is 20 and he is only 16. Shauna tells him that she likes him, but she doesn’t like clingy. Then Jack runs off to fix the mess he made by telling Grace about Ricky and Adrian.

Madison and Lauren are discussing that its a good thing that Ben and Amy are over. They also have a short discussion about how Lauren’s brother is only dating Madison because he is a lazy dater. She’s like the only girl he knows besides his sister. We also get to see Ben’s friends, Henry and Alice telling Ben how much they hate Amy for what she did to him.

Ben goes to see Mr. Molina about his personal problems, and Mr. Molina kicks Ben out because he says from now on he will only talk about school related stuff. Then Jack shows up to talk about Shauna and he throws him out, too. Then Adrian shows up and says, “I’m thinking about having sex with my brother.” Mr. Molina gets up and walks out.

Ben and Amy see each other in the hall, but (more…)

This week on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, stuff happened. What I mean is, I was really busy getting ready to go to NY Comic Con while I was watching and I may not have been paying as much attention as I should have been. But here’s what I believe was going on.

Ricky slept with Adrian a few times. Adrian also fooled around with her step-brother, who is a total hottie.

Amy and Ben and Ricky obsessed over what Amy should do with the baby. Amy wants to put him up for adoption, Ben and Ricky don’t want her to. Ricky doesn’t want any responsibility, though. Ben does want it, but its not his to take.

Grace finds out that Ricky is still sleeping with Adrian and she’s mad, but she sounds like she is going to forgive him.

Jack fools around with Duncan’s sister, and then finds out that she’s just playing him along.

Anne meets with the Rev. Stone to discuss potential adoptive parents. He proposes lots of people who don’t sound too good, and Anne realizes that he’s trying to discourage her. He finally admits that he promised Ashley he’d try to get Anne and George back together again and if that happened, maybe they would want to keep the baby.

George is invited to have dinner at Donovan’s house, with him and his partner, Leon. It turns out that they make a great meal, which includes a luscious looking chocolate cake, and then they tell George that they would like to have a child, in hopes that they might be able to adopt Amy’s baby. George tells Amy about the plan, warning her to keep quiet so that Anne will think the idea is hers and agree with it. That way, he will still be able to see his grandson.

Finally, Anne tells Ashley that she has to stop treating her so badly and speaking to her in such a nasty way, and Ashley admits that she’s just hurt and scared.

Maybe a couple other things happened, but nothing that important. *giggle*

The Bachelor actually surprised me Monday night. Although I am glad that Jason finally came to his senses and let Stephanie go home. Not that I didn’t like her, she seems like a lovely woman. She was very gracious when she left, too, not crying and whining and swearing and threatening like some of them do. Maybe she can be the next Bachelorette. She already has that great sob story. (Her husband died in a plane crash when her baby was just a few weeks old. In case you somehow managed to miss that.)

But, face it, there was just no chemistry between Stephanie and Jason. Even I could tell that and I’m not known for being perceptive about things that don’t smack me upside the head with a two by four.

I can’t say I’m happy about the people he did keep, though, if it comes to that. My mom likes Melissa. I don’t hate her, but she’s just a little too perky and cheerleader-like for me. Molly has kinda scary buggy eyes. Of course, that’s just being personal and critical, cause she’s probably very nice. But I just think her eyes say she’s pushy and used to getting her own way.

As for the other two, I agree with everyone else that Naomi is too young. She is not ready to be the mom of a little boy. Especially a little boy who comes across as a bit spoiled. (Granted, maybe he was just over tired and missed his dad, but shouldn’t a 4 year old have been fast asleep by 8 pm and, therefore, unable to upset his father’s date plans?) I thought Naomi proved that when she talked about being all alone with Jason and said that’s how it would be forever. No, sorry, it won’t be that way, cause there’s a little boy involved. And I have news for you, when Jason has to make a decision between Ty and you, guess who’s going to win?

The last one . . . wait, who is it again. No, really, I can’t even remember who the other person is. Oh, right, Jillian. I like her. But I think her Canadian accent would get on my nerves after a while. Eh? She’s cute but not that cute and I just don’t know if she’s really all that into him. Maybe that’s just what they want us to see.

Oh, the highlight of the entire episode for me was seeing the Sleepless in Seattle house, which I actually recognized and yelled out, look, its the Sleepless in Seattle house, just moments before Molly mentioned it. Anyway, I hear there is a big surprise in store for the dramatic ending, so stay tuned.

I think one of the things I like about The Secret Life of the American Teenager is that it does have a message and it’s not just a teen drama, it also includes adults. On many another show, a young girl can get pregnant and there’s little if any parental involvement. It’s like the parents don’t exist or don’t matter. I guess when you’re a teenager, it seems like they don’t. But in reality parents are very much part of life, like it or not. Secret Life acknowledges and embraces that.

This week, Ricky opens up and lets Adrian know about what his dad did to him when he was younger. There was a moment during Ricky’s tirade when he reminded me briefly of Christian Slater in Pump Up the Volume. Don’t ask me exactly how, it was just something about the way he was speaking. He also goes to speak to Grace’s parents, tells them his story, and asks them to keep Grace away from him so she will be safe from Bob. At one point, Grace’s dad opens up to Ricky and tells him that his own brother was abused by their neighbor and that his brother committed suicide.

Ashley decides to go speak to Rev. Stone, but then runs into a cocktail waitress who offers her a job. Apparently, she looks way older than 13 to this woman.

Amy is going for her sonogram and there is lots of discussion about whether or not Amy will find out the baby’s sex, since she may want to give the baby up for adoption. Ben is somewhat disappointed to find out that Amy doesn’t want him to come along especially after his dad tells him that she won’t want him.
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This week on The Secret Life of the American Teenager we get to see a little bit about Jack’s step dad, the good Reverand something or other. He shows up at Amy’s house to see if he can help. Crazy! Doesn’t he know that this family can’t be helped? Well, he does try, as Ashley follows him out and asks him to help her parents stay together. Later, Anne even calls him and he presents her with some home truths of what her life will be like once she is single, working to support herself and going to school.

Meanwhile, Ricky’s dad, Bob Underwood, shows up at Amy’s house, terrifying her and Ashley who are sitting in the garage when he arrives. He then goes and speaks with George, who he wins over when he starts talking about helping out with money for the baby. He does come across as fairly normal, telling George that Ricky is a liar and won’t help them. Later, he calls Grace’s house looking for Ricky and Tom tells him that Ricky and Grace are at the batting cages. Tom then has a change of heart because the unidentified man on the phone laughs at him and he realizes that this is a “bad man.” So Tom calls Jack and convinces him to go tell Grace and Ricky. Jack is reluctant, because he thinks he is aiming for stalker status with Grace at this point. Of course, Ricky doesn’t believe them and Grace is just angry they are there, once again ruining her date with Ricky.
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I got such a kick out of this week’s episode of How I Met Your Mother. There were a couple of story lines, one is about Ted and Robin, who are constantly arguing about stuff like not taking out the garbage or drinking all the milk. They can’t figure out why, since they practically lived together when they were dating and they never fought. They decide that the only difference is they were having sex then, so they decide that they need to have sex now. They plan on never telling anyone, but then Marshall walks in on them.

That brings us to another story line. Marshall’s need to find a bathroom where he can “read a magazine” in peace. That really hit home for me, since we’ve all just gotten over the stomach flu here and this was a bad week for magazine reading. Marshall is ashamed (more…)

Well, it’s actually just the wedding that’s over. On The Secret Life of the American Teenager this week, the wedding is over but the fall out is about to begin.

It starts out OK, with a party in a hotel room, dancing and food. Except for Grace, who is arguing with Tom and his date, Tammy, who are still insisting on getting married. Ricky watches from the sidelines, enjoying himself, while poor Grace gets more and more frustrated. Finally, she calls her mom, who is forced to intervene, but she doesn’t have much luck either. She does, however, get Tom home where his dad, miraculously back from whereever he’s been, sends Tom to his room. He’s just in time for Grace to share how she is in love, too, with Ricky. Then he takes away her fake ID.

The party however, is ended when both Amy and Ben’s dads show up, having heard through the grapevine about the wedding. Now Ben has some ’splaining to do to his very angry dad. Amy’s dad, however, is less angry and more worried that this is going to cause more trouble between him and Anne, so he tells the girls they will keep it a secret. Poor Anne is mostly upset when they all get home, because no one will talk to her about how Ashley’s first date went. She allows her frustration to get the best of her as the ep goes on, though, and ends up sleeping with George. She then confesses that she did have an affair, too, when she went away, just as George thought, and she’s not sorry. Now all she wants is a divorce.

When Adrian gets home she finds her dad there waiting for her. She’s a little unhappy that her mom is not there with him, though, but she had to go to work. Adrian’s dad wants to have a talk with her about stuff she doesn’t care about at all. Then he wants her fake ID. But Adrian’s night gets better when, after her dad leaves, Ricky shows up. Even the next day, when Ricky is back with Grace, Adrian is still happy because, as she tell’s Ricky, I’d tather be the one you cheat with than the one you cheat on.

Ben and Amy have some rocky moments, when he wants her to tell her mom and she won’t, and then Amy overhears Ben telling Mr. Molina (who’s back from getting married himself) that he knows it was a mistake for them to get married.

Meanwhile, Jack has decided to swear off girls, and is looking for another outlet for his energies. When he finds out that Adrian’s father is at the school handling a shakedown on the fake ID ring, he quickly gathers up all the fake IDs and turns himself in as the person who made them. Even though Mr. Molina doesn’t believe him - he’s got the real culprit already sitting in his office - Adrian’s dad takes Jack at his word and takes him away to deal with his crimes. Luckily, Jack only gets community service, which he is happy to serve.

Amy hasn’t worked up the courage to tell her mom yet, but she doesn’t get the chance, when she runs into Marshall at a law office. She is going to talk to someone about a divorce, he is there trying to find away to keep Tom from marrying Tammy. Unfortunately, he spills the beans about the wedding, so Anne heads right over to deal with Amy and Ben. She tells them to face the truth, that getting married doesn’t fix anything. A real, live baby is coming, and they can’t pass that responsibility off on a maid or someone else. They have to raise the baby. And no matter how much they may want to, they can’t put Ricky out of their lives, because he is and always will be the baby’s father.

Just then, the baby kicks.

So I watched the premiere of The Bachelor last week on Monday. I don’t know why I put myself through this stuff. I guess it’s just about seeing how stupid people can really be. Although I do find it all a bit embarrassing. And not in a good way, either.

In any case, this season’s bachelor is Jason Mesnick, the reject from the top two of last season’s The Bachelorette. He seems like a nice enough guy. He’s not bad looking, although I don’t think he’s gorgeous or anything. (That’s a thing I’ve noticed with all these guys, that they are just a little off looking, just a bit shy of being really cute. They give the appearance of being handsome, without really being handsome. If you know what I mean.) But, all that aside, Jason seems like he’s OK. Which makes you wonder why he feels that it’s necessary to continually search for his “soul mate” (or is it his “one true love”) on reality TV shows.

As for the chicks, they were all pretty, some of them in the same way as the guys, above. That is, they look good, until you look too closely. But they have great bodies, which is, I am sure, a pre-requisite so they will look good in the hot tub. So far no one of them has stood out especially for me. There were a couple that seems a little scary, but he only picked one of those girls to stay. I think her name was Erica.

I’m definitely going to wait a couple of weeks before trying to keep these girls all straight.  If I can last that long.

The second season of The Secret Life of the American Teenager premiered last Monday night. This new time slot is going to be a real problem for me. It’s just competing against so many other shows that I love and want to watch, too. (Including the only two sitcoms I watch - and this is watchingsitcoms.com, after all.) I’ll have to work something out. Maybe I can watch online . . . ??

So anyway, the ep starts out with Amy putting in her breakfast order to her mother. Anne then points out that Amy has to stop expecting to be served. Soon, she’ll have a baby to take care of and she will probably have to get a job so she can afford child care while she’s in school. Amy is completely surprised, because she thought her mother would be taking care of the baby while she went to school and band and (as her sister Ashley put it) “lives her life.” But Anne tells Amy that she is getting a job herself. Anne also tells George to move out, but he only goes as far as the garage, which makes Anne really mad.

Amy is (more…)

In this week’s episode of How I Met Your Mother, “Not A Father’s Day” we find Barney worried that some girl he slept is now pregnant and he is a father. Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily are contemplating starting a family.

When Barney founds out that he is not going to be a father, he starts a new holiday, Not a Father’s Day, which be promotes by handing out t-shirts and cigars and initiating men into a type of fraternal order.

On the night they plan to start trying to conceive, Marshall gets tied up at work and Lily sits home fretting about whether or not they are ready to have children. She invites Ted and Robin over to help her decide. They aren’t much help. Ted, who they call already a dad, is all for having a baby, but Robin, who is afraid of babies, is very much against it. There is a fun scene where Lily tells them that she and Marshall had made this big decision to have “dinner” and now she’s not sure if they are ready for “dinner.” And then she tells them that “dinner” is a “baby” and Robin says, oh, that’s terrible. It’s almost like a dumb blond joke.

It gets a little crazier, when Lily gets drunk and winds up at Marshall’s office, just before his big presentation. She starts acting all crazy and tells Marshall she wants him to get her pregnant right then. While he is trying to give his presentation, she is racing up and down the hallway outside of the conference room in a desk chair, shooting off the fire extinguisher and taking off her clothes.

In the end, they decide they probably aren’t ready just yet. Good idea.

Well, I’m like three episodes behind in talking about How I Met Your Mother.

Let’s see, there was “Shelter Island” when Stella’s sister calls off her wedding, just days away, with everything already planned and paid for, and so Stella convinces Ted to go ahead and get married themselves. As can be imagined, it didn’t go well. Ted invites Robin, who quits her job and comes back from Japan, but then Stella wants him to tell to leave. Stella’s ex, Tony, won’t allow their daughter to come, so Ted has to drive back and get her, and then he makes the mistake of inviting Tony. Unfortunately, Stella realizes that she still wants to be with Tony and runs off with him, leaving Ted at the altar, so to speak. It was sad, but I was kinda glad since I didn’t care for Stella that much.

The next ep, “Happily Ever After” has Ted hiding under a table in a restaurant in order to avoid running into Stella. The gang then chats (mostly still under the table) about all the different people they would not want to run into again. Ted finally gets angry, when he realizes that even though Stella was going to make him move to New Jersey, she and her daughter must have moved to New York and are living in Tony’s apartment. So Ted gets up his courage to confront her and show her what a mistake she made by dumping him, and he follows Stella home, only to see her meet up as a happy family with Tony and Lucy. His anger gone, Ted slips away quietly.