At last year’s MTV Movie Awards, Brüno’s buttcheeks ended up in Eminem’s face and Kristen Stewart proved her endless clutziness by dropping her award on stage. We can bet that this year’s show will be even more ridiculous with the hilarious Aziz Ansari hosting (we’re praying for a Raaaaaaaandy-filled monologue).
Also, a slew of summer shows start this week, mostly of the self-improvement nature for fat families (“Losing It with Jillian”), crappy teenaged babydaddies (“Dad Camp”) and talentless chefs (“Hell’s Kitchen”).
“True Blood: The Complete Second Season”
Stars: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley
The second season of HBO’s vampire-human love story includes everything from a killer maenad to a vampire-hating church camp and—why not?—a couple of orgies. As Sookie (Anna Paquin) and her blood-sucking lover, Bill (Stephen Moyer), set out to protect Bon Temps from a mysterious murderer, this dark, sexy drama with a ridiculously attractive cast continues to satisfy with every bloody drop. (See Metromix’s review.)
Extras: Audio commentary; “The Vampire Report” featurette; “Fellowship of the Sun: Reflections of Light” featurette;
Price: DVD: $59.99; Blu-ray: $79.98
It’s been a tough month for TV lovers. “Lost” ended last week, and now “24” comes to an end after eight seasons. But that’s nothing compared to “Law & Order” and its 20 seasons on the air (it was almost old enough to drink!).
But it’s not all goodbyes. Ali, the career woman who chose her job over love with Jake on “The Bachelor,” will return to find her own Prince Charming on the new season of “The Bachelorette.”
Ali left alone and in tears on the last season of “The Bachelor,” choosing her job over love with pilot (and general snoozefest) Jake.
Now it’s Ali’s chance at televised true love with 25 eligible bachelors looking to win her heart. Before the season starts, get to know the men hoping to become the next Mr. Ali, and learn a bit about their favorite things, their ideas of a perfect date and—why not?—their tattoos.
MTV’s reality shows return with new faces and fights
Rebecca Ford
Metromix
September 24, 2009
(Credit: MTV)
This Tuesday, MTV’s duo of non-reality reality shows return to the tube, bringing with them new faces, new drama and, of course, new boy trouble. But, perhaps not so surprisingly, the biggest problems in the new seasons seem to be between the ladies, who bring the term “frenemies” to a whole new level…
Don’t know if I’ve actually mentioned this before, but I write about weekend TV for metromix every week. Here’s this week’s article:
By Rebecca Ford
Metromix September 24, 2009
We’re sending a thank you prayer up to the TV gods because weekends are back! “Dollhouse” returns to Fridays, and “SNL” swoops in to save Saturday nights. Not to mention that the two bad boys of Sunday nights on Showtime are also back with a vengence…
Friday, September 25
What: “Dollhouse”
When: 9 p.m. ET/PT on Fox
Why: Joss Whedon’s baby about “Dolls” who go on dangerous missions was off to a slow start last year, but looks much more promising this season now that Echo’s tapped into her multiple personalities. In the season premiere, Echo marries a wealthy British businessman connected to one of Ballard’s open cases.
Interview with the vampires (and their human friends, too)
The cast of HBO’s “True Blood” gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate the new season of the sexy vampire-loves-human saga.
Creator Alan Ball and stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer dropped clues about what the second season will bring, including a trip to Texas, new love interests, more dirty secrets and a whole lotta sex (even an orgy!). Check out what the stars had to say about the show, their characters and the new season. —By Rebecca Ford, Metromix
I’m covering the Produced By conference for this weekend at Sony Studios in Culver City. The first Produced By Conference features unprecedented access to 100 A-list producers for three days of learning, networking and inspiration.
The 411 on Justin Timberlake’s new adventure game show
By Rebecca Ford
MetromixApril 20, 2009
(Credit: MTV/Mark Mainz)
Most of the time, your phone rings and it’s your mom telling you to make something of yourself. But every once in a while, your phone rings and it’s a mysterious voice recruiting you into a high-stakes adventure game.
MTV and executive producer Justin Timberlake are taking viewers on a relentless ride with their new show, “The Phone.” The six episode series is a competition that simulates what it would be like for viewers to be dropped into the middle of a thrilling adventure movie. (Remember that Michael Douglas flick, “The Game”?)
“‘The Phone’ is a high-intensity game show where we take four real-life people, not actors… and we thrust them into physical and mental nightmare,” Timberlake said in a trailer for the series.
Each week, the lives of four strangers are interrupted by a phone call where a mysterious voice invites them to participate in the game. If they choose yes by pressing “1” on their cell phones, the new contestants begin to trigger dangerous events that propel them into their adventure and the chance to win up to $50,000.
The mysterious voice pairs the contestants up into two teams and instructs them to follow a movie-like drama that leads them through a series of challenges from hanging off the edge of Seattle’s Space Needle to racing into a burning building to save a man’s life.
You’re lucky the world is full of idiots. You’re lucky that most days you probably deal with people who would put up with your stupidity.
But today, today you were dealing with me. Sure, last week when you were supposed to install my cable TV and internet, you informed me that you couldn’t do the TV without the actual TV.
Fine. I can deal with that. So you installed the cable, and I rescheduled the TV installation for a week later. Of course, you wouldn’t have any earlier appointments because that’s how you operate.
So this morning, I wake up at 9 a.m., after rearranging my work schedule to fit YOUR schedule. I sit in my living room, and wait and wait and wait. An hour later, I hear my phone ring and run into the other room, a minute too late. There’s a message from you asking if I want to reschedule….what?
You never knocked on the door. You never got off your lazy ass and walked up to our (unlocked) apartment complex to knock on the door, as I sat waiting for over an hour in the living room. Instead, you told your supervisor that there was a “locked gate” and you couldn’t get in. There’s no locked gate–just a very lazy employee.
Oh, and your “customer service”? If that’s what you call that snide, rude lady who answered my phone call and told me the technician could come back–but it would have to be an all day appointment? Yeah, some customer service skills. How many pieces of flare does she have on?
So, what I’m saying Time Warner is that you are an idiot. You are the epitome of a lazy American who skims by on doing the minimum and getting away with as much laziness as you can. You have an attitude of a diva, which I guess you got because you know we need you. You know that all of Hollywood is dependant on you.
And you know what? I thought about cancelling my service with you, you jerk. But you’re like an abusive pimp. You get the job done, even if we get slapped around a little in the process.
So back to your customer service lady? She told me I had to reschedule for the “earliest appointment” which is…Saturday… my only day off… to sit around and wait for a phonecall….from an idiot.
Rebecca M Ford 