Who Went Home on AMERICAN IDOL?

UPDATE: Looking to find who went home on IDOL? Click here for tonight’s shocking results: Who Went Home on AMERICAN IDOL? (March 17, 2010)

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In what was a rather shocking episode, another contestant went home on AMERICAN IDOL tonight. Shocking because it was Jason Castro and not Kristy Lee Cook joining Syesha Mercado and Chikeze in the bottom three tonight. Seriously, Jason Cook? I think last night’s critique was the fire that Jason needed to put himself back in this competition. But really, Kristy Lee Cook got more votes? Color me shocked.

So with Jason, Syesha and Chikeze on the block someone had to go. And that person was….

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John Krasinski in Boston Magazine (Update)

It’s about damn time! Finally…FINALLY I get my dream pics of my #1 TV boyfriend, John Krasinski. No my dream pics are not from some fancy photo shoot where John is wearing designer garbs or in an exotic location. In these shots the hometown boy is wearing the hometown team. Yes, John Krasinski is showing his Boston pride in Red Sox red…and Celtics green and Patriots blue, and even a little Bruins yellow and black for good measure. Fantastic! How the photographer wrangled John’s signature black baseball cap off his head is beyond me, but thank you!

John is featured on the cover of this month’s Boston Magazine (“John Krasinski and 60 Other New Reasons Boston Rules”), and the cover pic (above) and inside pics (below) are to die for.

Sorry to be going all fangirl on you, but it’s warranted here. I feel like I’ve been keeping my Krasinski love in check these days. Our little JKras is all grown up. Gone are the days when I would post about him and field the emails saying “who is this guy you’re always talking about?” He’s hit the big time now…there’s a million sites showing the love. He doesn’t need my blog love. But I don’t adore him any less, of course – hence the gushing over this photo spread (and the $10 I will spend to see Leatherheads on opening night on April 4th)

I’ll have the actual full scans of the inside shots coming tomorrow (I can’t seem to get my scanner working right now…argh), but for now I just grabbed these from the Boston Magazine website. UPDATE: Click on the small thumbnail below for the large scans from the magazine.

Oh and for your reading pleasure, here’s the article that accompanies the delish pics.

John Krasinski

We cogs in the machine—and here in Boston, that’s more than half a million of us—know that you rarely get to pick your coworkers or, for that matter, your cubicle neighbors. There’s always going to be the loud talker, the weird eater, the social butterfly who spends her days flitting from one desk to the next. Barely 8 inches separate me, for instance, from a guy who frequently chuckles to himself, and can spend hours tossing a baseball up and down. Once I thought I heard him fart. (Maybe he’s heard me, too.)

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David Cook Singing “Billie Jean” (Watch)

David Cook pulled out the big ones tonight when he took on Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”. A risky performance to say the least given that most of the audience has never heard this particular arrangement made somewhat famous by Chris Cornell. David was my personal fave going into tonight, but now I’m betting on him to win the whole thing (or place third which would be better for this guy in the long run).

Are we loving it or hating it?

Michael Johns Singing “We Are The Champions” (Watch)

This is the first time Michael Johns has been a featured post-performance contestant on GMMR. I thought he was fantastic tonight with his rendition of Queen’s “We Are The Champions”. If I’m not mistaken, Michael sang this song during Hollywood Week and it was great then too. This boy certainly loves his Queen (um, what?)

Were you YAY or NAY for Michael this week?

AMERICAN IDOL Top 10 Perform

The top ten AMERICAN IDOL contestants are on a mission to make some of us feel very old tonight. How’s that? Well, they’re each going to be singing a song from the year they were born. And as one of the contestants was a newborn while I was a Freshman in High School, well, yeah that doesn’t bring a smile to my face.

So let’s get right to it, shall we?

Ramiele Maluby was born in 1987, and yup, already I feel sickly old. She’s taking a big chance with a big song – “Alone” by Heart. It was a risk that Ramiele had to take, but one I don’t think paid off for her. She has a big voice, but she sounded shallow on the big notes. Carrie Underwood rocked this song during her year in a memorable performance. Ramiele is no Carrie Underwood. Randy and Paula didn’t really like it, but Simon was more forgiving than his counterparts.

Jason Castro celebrates his 21st birthday today with his take on “Fragile” by Sting. I’m watching with my friend Steph who is mesmerized by The Castro. Once again Jason picks a song that is guaranteed to make the ladies swoon. I think it’s a little safe, but it suits his voice very well. J-Cas is going to have no problem making it through to next week. Randy was waiting for a big break out and he didn’t get it, but he still liked his performance. Paula liked the performance but thought it was safe. Simon thought Jason had another bad week and told him he needs to start taking this seriously. Fair enough.

Syesha Mercado is another 21 year old Idol contestant – seems like 1987 was the year for good singers. Taking on “If I Were Your Woman”, Syesha once again brought it. What am I missing people? Why do I feel like I’m the only one on Team Syesha? I think she’s fantastic and consistently so. Randy was a big fan of my girl tonight and the compliments were flowing. YAY!! Paula thought it was her most brilliant performance yet. Simon thinks there is a limit on her vocal and she reached it tonight boy. Shut it ‘shida Simon!

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TOP CHEF Recap: Episode #2

From the brilliant mind that brought us “Jennifer’s Runway” now comes” Top Chef with Jennifer”. One of the funniest ladies I have ever met, Jennifer Eolin, is recapping this season of TOP CHEF over at her MySpace blog (although I think we should just all beg her to start recapping for GMMR, no?). Anyway, each week I’ll be posting an excerpt from her hilarious take of TOP CHEF as a service to all your cooking folks out there.

Personally, I’m not watching as I just feel inadequate watching the contestants succeed where I can’t (also my reason for skipping out on ‘The Biggest Loser’, ‘America’s Next Top Model’, etc). But Jennifer seems to dig this show, or at least making fun of it…either way, it works for us.

Top Chef Round-up: Episode 2
by Jennifer Eolin
Hello Top Chefers! Before we dive into last week’s episode, we must address the most important part of this week’s show. No, not how many do-rags and fedoras Spike owns. No, not discussing why Nikki wears blue lenses in her glasses and how it looks like she’s trying too hard to be cool. No, not trying to figure out which producer hates Erik and basically cut him out of this show. And NO, not wondering why Jennifer and Zoi wear identical shoes (CLOGS! UGLY BLACK CLOGS!!) but have no idea which shoe goes with which foot. (Last I checked, the SIZE is printed INSIDE the shoe! LOOK INSIDE THE SHOE! Seriously. You’re a chef, if you can’t understand your shoes, I don’t want to eat your food. BAH!)

Ahem… I present… THE TOP CHEF CUSS COUNT:

• “Fudge!” “Fudging” and “Mother Fudger’s!”: 9
• “Sugar”: 7
• “Gosh darn!”: 1

The chefs seemed to really curb their potty mouths this week. Maybe their mothers all called and told them they were embarrassing their respective families. Or maybe they all found religion. Or maybe Bravo called and said, “Son of a B, people. Clean it the fudge up, gosh darn it! I don’t want that kind of sugar polluting my network! Jeffrey H. Cripes. Fudge me. Do we have to do all the fudging thinking around this fudging place?!”

Top Chef opened this week with Stephanie and some girl (I didn’t bother to note it – oops!) recapping last weeks episode in what’s supposed to look like “causal workout conversation.” But they were working out the same way I watch FOX News: with very little enthusiasm, no commitment, and yet in a complete flop sweat. They were just going through the motions of this fake and staged scene created by the producers to remind the audience what happened last week. So gross. Just have your talk over a box of Dingdongs and some cheap pinot noir. I’ll believe that before I’ll believe this so-called “exercising.”

So during “ball exercises with weights” Stephanie reminds us that she won last week but she knows that she could be out at any time. (REALLY!? I had no idea that could happen in a competition! You could be eliminated? WOW! You are SO smart, Stephanie! No wonder you won.) So now that the audience is up to speed on Stephanie and her calves, it’s time to move onto the Quickfire Challenge. But before we get to that, I’d like to say, the Quickfire Challenges bugs me. I don’t learn anything about food or recipes nor do I get to know the chefs better. It just seems like a way to stretch this show out into an hour instead of making it a half hour… which by the way, I’d be fine with. (Continue reading at Jennifer’s MySpace page)

Chuck Lorre Productions Vanity Cards: #198 & #198 Censored

Blink and you’ll miss it, but if you have the pause button ready to go then you’ll get an extra treat at the end of every show produced by Chuck Lorre Productions.

We’re all familiar with vanity cards (even if we didn’t know it). They’re the credits at the end of the show that tell you who produced the show. Some are memorable such as Gary David Golberg’s “Sit, Ubu, Sit! Good dog”, J.J. Abrams’ “Bad Robot” or Joss Whedon’s “Grr! Argh!”.  But then there is Lorre’s. Chuck Lorre personalizes his vanity cards for each show he works on, and they are very often funny and many times poignant.

I look forward to Lorre’s vanity cards at the end of every episode of ‘The Big Bang Theory’, but last night’s really caught my attention because the card spoke of how the first card he submitted was rejected by CBS. Well this had me intrigued, so I went hunting for the original and was happy to find that all former vanity cards had been posted.

Here’s the vanity card that aired at the end of last night’s “The Big Bang Theory:

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #198

Censored!

Well, wouldn’t ya’ know it. Just two episodes back from the strike and I’ve already managed to write a vanity card that is completely unacceptable to the good folks at CBS. I wasn’t trying to offend. Honest. I just saw an opportunity to poke some proverbial fun, to knosh on the hand that feeds, if you will. They were not amused. If you would like to read my latest exercise in poor judgement, I’m sure you can find it somewhere on that thing we writers were striking to claim dominion over. Just to be on the safe side, I apologize in advance. Please know that my aim was only to provoke a bit of gaiety through the judicious use of a little thing I like to call “the truth.” Unfortunately, in the television business, the truth rarely sets anyone free. More often than not, it just pisses them off.

After the jump is the original #198 that was censored by CBS…

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BIG BANG is Unravelable and Britney is Unwatchable

CBS is the place to be on Monday night if you just want to kick back and laugh. Yeah, I said it – CBS! The one-two punch of THE BIG BANG THEORY and HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER is an unstoppable block of comedy creeping in on the funny territory owned by another network on another night (hint – the night begins with ‘Thur’ and ends in ‘day’).

The Big Bang Theory

Hopefully I’ve pestered you enough that you’re finally giving THE BIG BANG THEORY a shot. If not, I might just have to take Sheldon’s approach of knocking incessantly on your bedroom door at 4am (now if you saw last night’s episode that didn’t sound nearly as creepy). Not only is THE BIG BANG THEORY a hysterical half hour of comedy, but there are lessons to be learned as well. For instance, last night we learned not to lie…or if you are going to lie make sure it’s unravelable. Even if you tell a little lie to spare a friend’s feelings it might lead to finding a former MIT drama major, who may or may not have been abused in the Philippines by a chaplain with a club foot, in your kitchen pretending to be a drug addict who is also a middle child with a genetic predisposition to inadequate serotonin production. So really, just don’t lie.

My love for all things Sheldon continues. Give the show a shot. Watch it during lunch on CBS.com

How I Met Your Mother

Is the ‘Oops she did it again’ joke played out? How about ‘oops she sucketh again’? Yeah, I’m sure a few have used that in the past too. The long awaited (and by long awaited I mean the whole two week wait) for Britney Spears’ appearance on HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER left me cringing. I think my expectations were set a wee bit high. I kind of thought she would be a natural, but clearly I was wrong. Talk about overacting! I thought Britney was near unwatchable in what was otherwise a fantastic, sweet and charming episode. I guess whatever actings chops Ms. Spears had from her Mickey Mouse Club days were washed away by the booze and the Lufti. And not even ONE Britney Spears is a train wreck joke? Not even from Barney?

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Happy Anniversary to THE OFFICE!!

If IMDB is correct (and really, when are they not), then a Happy Anniversary goes out to my very favorite show, THE OFFICE, which premiered three years ago tonight.

I remember March 24, 2005 very clearly. I was flipping through the channels and I saw the opening credits to THE OFFICE. I scoffed out loud at the idea that someone was ballsy enough (i.e., stupid enough) to remake the brilliant UK version of the show. I had zero interest in watching it, but I was such a fan of Steve Carell from his DAILY SHOW days that I thought I should at least check it out. Besides, those two guys from Newton were in it, and we Boston peeps always standby our hometown boys.

I watched. I hardly laughed. I thought “I was right…a complete mess of a show” and I think I vowed not to watch it again. But I did. The very next week I was again flipping through the channels when THE OFFICE came on. Busy doing something else, I kept it on in the background, and about two minutes into it I found myself laughing. By the end I was laughing so hard I had to keep rewinding to see the parts that were drowned out by my laughter. The next morning I went into work and told everyone I could about the brilliance of this show. To this day, “Diversity Day” the second episode of THE OFFICE remains my all time favorite.

I’ve been watching ever since and haven’t missed an episode yet. In honor of the anniversary I dug up my very first GMMR post about THE OFFICE. GMMR was only 5 days old when I first started extolling my love for the show, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

So thanks to Greg Daniels and Co for making THE OFFICE so brilliant. I actually owe the show a lot as it has directly and indirectly led to some of the most amazing experiences of my life. So thanks!! We owe ya!!

(Here’s a clip from “Women’s Appreciation” – a very special episode to me as I was lucky enough to be on the set while they filmed it…oh and it’s damn funny!)

What was the very first episode of THE OFFICE you watched? When did you become hooked?

Thanks to Joy for letting me know about this very special anniversary

‘Dan in Real Life’ DVD Giveaway

There’s just something about Steve Carell that makes me happy. Over the years I’ve come to admire his comedic genius on THE DAILY SHOW and then a little show called THE OFFICE, and who could forget his brilliant performance in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?  But I fell head over heels for Steve in his role as Dan Burns in DAN IN REAL LIFE. This charming and very funny movie proves that Steve Carell is more than just the bumbling Michael Scott – he’s a Hollywood star well deserving of all the good things that have come his way.
Carell stars as a well respected advice columnist, Dan Burns, who despite being able to eloquently give advice isn’t the best as making the right decisions in his own life. Raising three teen daughters on his own, Dan does what he can to always put his family first. But when he meets the woman of his dreams (Juliette Binoche), Dan may be ready to do something to make himself happy. That is of course until he realizes that his new love is the girlfriend of his brother (Dane Cook)…it’s always something.

If you haven’t seen DAN IN REAL LIFE in the theaters then it’s time to catch it on DVD (released on DVD on March 11th). And luck for you, I have two (2) copies of DAN IN REAL LIFE to giveaway just to GMMR readers.

SPECIAL FEATURES 

• Deleted Scene with commentary by writer/director Peter Hedges
• Real-life outtakes
• Just like the Family: The Making of DAN IN REAL LIFE
• Handmade Music: Creating the score
• Audio commentary with writer/director Peter Hedges

HOW TO ENTER
Entering is easy. Just leave a comment sharing the best piece of advice you’ve ever received.

Two winners will be randomly chosen from all entries.  Contest ends April 1, 2009 

What to Watch…Monday, March 24, 2008

I’m baaaaack!! Whoa, talk about a crazy week. Not sure when the last time I went a week without watching TV. Despite my sporadic updates to GMMR while I was in Los Angeles, I hope you enjoyed the coverage of the Paley Festival panels I attended. Later today I’m going to be posting the rest of my pics as well as a few short videos I snagged.

Lots of TV to catch up on (I haven’t even seen LOST yet), and lost of TV news to chat about. Just give me a few hours to get back on track and I promise things will get back to normal around here by end of day.

For now, check out what’s happening in the the TV world tonight. Although, is there anything more important than…“It’s Britney, Bitch”

The Big Bang Theory | 8pm on CBS
“The Loobenfeld Decay”
Leonard lies to Penny to avoid hearing her sing a second time, but Sheldon extends the lie, which makes things worse, leading Leonard to produce a nonexistent cousin (D.J. Qualls).

Check out a clip from tonight’s episode…

How I Met Your Mother | 8:30pm on CBS | NEW!!
“Ten Sessions”
Ted is repeatedly snubbed in his attempts to get a date with Stella (Sarah Chalke), his dermatologist, but her receptionist, Abby (Britney Spears), becomes infatuated with him.

Annnnnnd scene…

New Amsterdam |9pm on Fox
“Keep the Change”
While investigating a homeless man’s death and a possible connection with one of the deceased’s prized possessions, which he kept at a shelter, John recalls how his addiction problems in the 1960s landed him in a psychiatric ward.

Dancing with the Stars | 8pm on ABC
All 12 couples perform another routine. Priscilla Presley gets Botox injections during her routine, Adam Corolla keeps chanting ‘what am I doing here’, and Steve Guttenberg keeps summoning the will of Johnny 5. Yes, another installment of Dancing with the Stars tonight. Oh joy.

The Bachelor | 9:30pm on ABC
Matt takes eight of the 15 survivors of the season opener to a fashion show, where they turn out to be the models (one gets the first kiss, and a rose). He takes the other seven to Las Vegas. I missed the premiere episode but I gather from the emails I received that I should be watching.
Also playing…

• Kyle XY | 8pm on ABC Family
• Two and a Half Men | 9pm on CBS
• Paradise Hotel 2 | 9pm on MyNetworkTV
• The New Adventures of Old Christine | 9:30pm on CBS

Are you going to be watching Britney? Dancing in your living room? Reciting quantum physics equations just for fun? Yeah, I thought so. What will YOU be watching tonight?

Going Back to Boston…

Not sure if I could properly sum up this week in one word, but I’ll try – superfantasticamazingbeyondmywildestexpectations.  How’s that?

I’m heading off to the airport and will be back in Boston tonight.  Paley might be over but there’s still so much to talk about, and lots of pics (and videos) to share.  Sorry I’ve been a bit behind in posting this week, but things have been crazy (in a good way). I promise to catch up and share more of the Paley goodness next week.

I still have my pics from CHUCK and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS to share, and of course the low down of last night’s BUFFY reunion which kicked all kinds of ass (and I even got meet Andrew…I love me some Andrew!)

Thanks for all your kinds comments about the podcasts we’ve done this week.  If you’re a fan of PUSHING DAISIES, CHUCK, or FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS and haven’t yet listened to our podcast recaps of the night, check ’em out and let us know what you think.

Farwell for now.  Goodbye L.A. – you treated me right.  Hope to be back soon!

XOXO,

GMMR

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Paley Panel Podcast

I wish you could all know just how much it saddens me to not have more time to properly write a review of last night’s amazing FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Paley Fest panel.  Sitting in the very front row, just inches away from the cast of my favorite drama was spectacular, and something I wish every TV fan could experience.

Today has been a whirlwind of travel issues, changing hotels, L.A. traffic, etc all before tonight’s BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Reunion (for which Dan is already in line).  So I hope you don’t mind that I am just going to post a quick link to our FNL panel and promise that I’ll post some pictures and even video as soon as I possibly can (hopefully before we board the plane to head back to Boston tomorrow).

The podcast is brief but hopefully we covered enough to give you a glimpse into last night’s incredible panel.  Enjoy!!

Listen: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Paley Fest Podcast 

CHUCK Paley Festival Podcast

In the words of Devon, last night’s CHUCK panel at the Paley Festival was “AWESOME”. The whole cast, with the exception of the ill Sarah Lancaster, was in attendance along with co-creators Josh Schwartz & Chris Fedak and Executive Producer McG.The panel, moderated by LOST Executive Producer Damon Lindelof, was high energy (to say the least). Lindelof really had his work cut out for him in trying to keep these guys on track. It was clear that the cast all get along really well as the night was packed with jibs and jabs at each other and a bunch of inside jokes.

Ducky and I shared some of our favorite moment on a very special CHUCK podcast, so definitely take a listen when you get a chance. And make sure you head over to Ducky’s site as he wrote up some of the best moments of the night and posted the few pics he was able to snag. I wasn’t able to snag many pics, but I did manage one with me and Captain Awesome so maybe I’ll throw that up on my MySpace page later. Oh and if anyone was there and has the full text from Alan Sepinwall’s question about the origin of Sarah’s uniform at the Weinerlicious and how it was somehow related to both Seth Cohen and Hilter, could you pass it along?

Listen to GMMR & Ducky’s CHUCK Paley Festival Podcast HERE!!

Damon Lindelof ended the moderated portion of the evening by asking the panel questions from the Proust Questionnaire made famous by Pivot…or as we all know it – the questions James Lipton asks at the end of every “Inside the Actors Studio”. Here’s how some of the CHUCK peeps answered. (Oh and I don’t think Lipton asks about Voltron vs. Godzilla. Maybe he does).

• What is your favorite word? “Douche Bag” (Chris Fedak, Co-Creator)
• What is your least favorite word? “Intolerance (Adam Baldwin, ‘Casey’)
• What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? “Football” (Ryan McPartlin, ‘Devon aka Captain Awesome’)
• What sound or noise do you love? “The waves of the ocean” (Vic Sahay, ‘Lester’)
• What sounds do you hate? “Squishy, wet boots” (Julia Ling, ‘Anna’)
• What is your favorite curse word? “Fuck” (McG, Executive Producer)
• What profession would you not like to do? “Janitor” (Mark Christopher Lawrence, ‘Big Mike’)
• If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? “CHUCK has been picked up for Season 3″ (Josh Schwartz, Co-Creator) – Personally, if I were Josh, I’d want God to say “Welcome to The O.C., bitch“
• Voltron vs. Godzilla? “Godzilla” (Josh Gomez, ‘Morgan Grimes’)
• You open up the script to see that the episode is titled “Chuck vs. Chuck”. How do you approach both roles? “I go deep. I find the darkest part of me, which I’m already doing. Actually I’d just fight Lester because Lester is the dark Chuck.” (Zachary Levi, ‘Chuck Bartowski’)…I hope I got that quote right.
• Are you having any fun? “No” (Yvonne Strahovski)

Syesha Mercado Sings “Yesterday”

A little behind on the AMERICAN IDOL front today, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t post Syesha Mercado’s performance of “Yesterday” from last night’s American Idol. If you’re a regular GMMR reader then you know that Syesha is my girl and I’m glad she had a big week.

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