Reality TV Induced Coma

"I feel like a penis with ears." - Kathy, America's Next Top Model 6


Oh that pretty much sums up last night's onslaught of reality TV. A bit ridiculous but somewhat enjoyable. Between America's Next Top Model, American Idol, Project Runway, Black/White, and Top Chef my remote control got a workout.

First, the new season of ANTM. Tyra, Miss J. Alexander and Jay Manuel are all back. Jay Manuel looked like an Oompaloompa who got stranded in a Sephora store. Girlfriend was wearing lipliner and gloss!

Anyway, the finalists selected are all unique looking which I like. Thank god the immature, young, and ignorant Dani did not make the final cut. The fact that she said she didn't like gay people was completely ignorant and HELLO you want to work in the fashion industry. But let's talk about people I like. Nnenna seems to be the front runner. She is FLAWLESS. I also like Jade. I want her cheekbones.

One of the challenges in the episode was a mock press conference - and Janice Dickinson was there! Yay! I'm glad we didn't have to wait until the middle of the season for Janice time. Also on the mock panel was Trey Smith. I'm pretty sure he's Will Smith's oldest son but they did not mention that. I guess he's trying to "make his own name." I think this will be an interesting season.

On to Project Runway. **SPOILER ALERT**I got it wrong. I predicted Santino would win because I had seen picture stills of his collection before last night's episode. I found his clothes to be pretty and akin to something Lindsay HoHan or another starlet might wear. I found Daniel V.'s line to be a bit boring and there was no real cohesive theme. Although the bags he made were kick-ass. Chloe's line was pretty as well and I liked the color scheme, but I thought it looked very ready-to-wear-Tarjay like. Nothing wrong with that of course but I would expect something more from America's next big designer. But she does cut a mean dress that fits a woman's curves - thus Chloe was picked as the winner of PR2.

Now that PR is over, Bravo is unrolling 2 new reality shows, one of which came last night. Top Chef is a competition for chefs and culinary mavens and looks to be intense. I haven't decided if I'm going to invest time in this one, but something one of the chef's did last night bothered me A LOT. While working the line in the kitchen he was instructed by the hardcore French chef to taste a sauce before drizzling it over a dish. The chef then proceeds to dip his bare finger into the pan, lick his finger to taste the sauce, and continue cooking. EWW EWWW EWWWWWW. The French chef gave him hell about that and later he was eliminated from the competition. Now, I've worked in restaurants as a waitress and I know things like this happen, but you just don't want to see it. And especially because these contestants are supposed to be top chefs one would think they would follow the strictest rules of sanitary and professional guidelines. It made me not want to go out to eat!

Last show I want to discuss is FX's Black/White. The show's premise is to take one black and one white family, use professional Hollywood makeup to make them into another race and then see how their views on race relations change. I didn't watch much of the show but what stuck out the most is how the make up did not really do a good job of changing the person's race. The white dad who was made into a black man looked just like C. Thomas Howell in Soul Man.

(Horrible movie and totally unrealistic make up job to turn C. Thomas Howell into a black man so he can get a college scholarship.) I think if I saw the Black/White families out in public I would do a double take and comment on how peculiar they look. Maybe I'm just extra observant... did anyone else watch this show?