Posts Tagged ‘television’
Down and Out
Written by Suzanne on November 7, 2011 – 9:40 am -I think everyone indulges in some form of “junk food TV”. Mine is Sister Wives and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I don’t think these two shows are junky, but they appeal to the drama queen in me with all the chaos, gossip, and personal viewpoints. I like watching stories that appear to be behind closed doors, even though most reality shows have less authenticity than WWE matches.
For some reason, I always snack while I watch these two shows. Reminds me of Home Alone when Kevin McAllister says “Guys, I’m eating junk and watching rubbish! You better come out and stop me!”
Funny, both of these shows have the word “wives” in them. I am a housewife, but I don’t have a sister, or a sister wife and thank goodness I’m not living in Beverly Hills. This leads me to the Down and Out title of my post.
The 80’s movie, Down and Out in Beverly Hills popped into my pop culture drenched brain the last time I watched The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Bette Midler plays a wealthy Beverly Hills housewife, bored and depressed. Richard Dreyfuss plays her disgruntled, work-obsessed husband. Enter Nick Nolte, as a down and out homeless man trying to drown himself in their sparkling pool. That cool Talking Heads song “Once in a Lifetime” plays, chaos ensues, the husband fools around with the housekeeper, the wife falls for the homeless dude, they fire walk in the backyard, Little Richard makes a scene on the front lawn, the rich couple rekindles their marriage, and they all live happily ever after. I think. Maybe it’s time to watch this retro flick again.
Watch Bette Midler videos and read her “Words of Wisdom”: http://www.bettemidler.com
Check out articles, photos and a 3D representation of Nick Nolte’s heart? Um…sure… why not? http://nicknolte.com
Watch a bunch of cool Talking Heads videos, click here.
Breaking Bad Season 4
Written by Suzanne on July 15, 2011 – 8:54 am -I am a happy TV watching fool this month. All settled in with True Blood and now it’s time for one of my other fave’s, Breaking Bad. I’ve got my DVR set up for this Sunday night. How about you?
The new season of Breaking Bad premieres Sunday at 10PM, July 17th on AMC. http://www.amctv.com/breaking-bad
5 Favorite TV Moms
Written by Suzanne on May 7, 2010 – 12:00 am -Rochelle
Chris Rock had a show loosely based on his real life family and the character named Rochelle is his mother in Everybody Hates Chris. You can watch the show via Nick at Nite, click here for more info.
Rochelle knows how to keep her family going. She also knows how to take time for herself by sneaking Turtles, her favorite chocolate confection, or gossiping it up at the salon. She fixes every ailment with Robitussin and has some great sayings like:
“Why you acting so suspicious?”
“I do not need this. My man has two jobs!”
“I ain’t raisin’ no babies!”
Roseanne Conner
I was on a Roseanne kick for quite some time. Roseanne was great whipping up Stove Top while her kiddos argued in the kitchen. She was a domestic goddess with a smart remark for every dumb thing her family did.
Click here for Mother’s Day Roseanne style.
Find out what comedian Roseanne Barr is up to these days, visit her official blog http://www.roseanneworld.com
Samantha Stevens
Oh if only I could wriggle my nose and get the whole house clean while I sat in the backyard with a good book. Samantha Stevens had everything going for her, except her annoying mother, wild cousin and pesky neighbors.
“What is it now Gladys?”
“Oh Abner come see!”
Click here to watch the first episode of Bewitched via Crackle.
Mother Bear
Back when my kiddo was just a little thing she loved watching Little Bear. When I was young, I loved the books by Maurice Sendak. So many fun characters in the Little Bear series but I’ve always liked Mother Bear. She could get things done, have Little Bear finish his chores and let him pretend to his heart’s content without ever raising her voice.
Watch Little Bear clips at Nick Jr., click here.
Mrs. Cunningham, a.k.a. Mrs. C
Even The Fonz couldn’t backtalk Mrs. Cunningham from Happy Days. She was a fun loving yet concerned mother that made sure everyone, including Fonzie, washed their hands before having dinner.
Did you know the very first Happy Days was piloted on one of my favorite shows when I was a kiddo? That’s right for whatever reason I loved Love American Style.
Here’s Marion Ross, the actress that played Mrs. C promoting Vicks products a couple years ago.
Posted in The 5 on Friday
Big Fat Life
Written by Suzanne on April 11, 2010 – 8:48 pm -So I’m a sucker for unreality reality television. I love the way they can edit a story out of completely boring footage. Enter Kirstie Alley’s Big Life on A&E. I’m already checking in to watch Intervention, Hoarders and even Steven Segal as a police officer in Louisiana but now I’m tuning in to see how much Kirstie Alley will lose each week compared to her buddy Jim. Lemurs, rats, sleeping assistants, and of course Kirstie weighing in to see how much she’s lost.
This show is probably the most unreal of all reality shows I’ve watched so far. The camera angles, the voice over, and the close-ups exceed even the best edited Sober House with Dr. Drew. Hey I’m a big fan of that one too!
My fascination with Reality TV has made a lot of sense out of Mr. HIH’s interest in retro wrestling. There was a time back in the day when I would harass him over watching WWF or WWE whatever it’s called. He tried to explain that even though the storylines were outrageous and the matches choreographed he couldn’t stop himself from watching.
Exactly!
It doesn’t matter if a show is unreal reality because either way we can be a voyeur for a moment. We can hope that Kirstie isn’t telling a big fat lie about her Big Life.
What do you think of her new show? Have you checked out her new diet tonics yet?
Visit http://www.kirstiealley.com to find out more.
For show times and to watch episodes online click here.
Breaking Bad
Written by Suzanne on April 5, 2010 – 8:57 am -One of my favorite shows on television is Breaking Bad. It’s a series best watched from the beginning. Have you seen Seasons 1 & 2?
Schedule your recorder or get in front of the boob tube Sundays at 10pm on AMC. Visit AMC online for more info about Breaking Bad: Season 3.
5 Pop Culture Cups of Joe
Written by Suzanne on March 20, 2009 – 12:17 am -
Call it a Cup of Joe, java, or plain ol’ coffee there are many ways to ask for a cuppa caffeinated bliss. I fell in love with the taste of coffee when I was just a kid. I believe it started at the Thrifty ice cream counter. My favorite flavor was Java and I’d always get a scoop of Bubble Gum with it. The saying, you are what you eat, is true. Bubble gum and coffee is a combo that describes my personality deliciously.
When other kids wanted hot cocoa after dinner I wanted coffee with milk and sugar. I’ve tried many substitutes from chicory root to Soyfee but they never quite measure up.
So I did some research about coffee in pop culture. Two things I just can’t get enough of.
1. Coffee in Commercials
Just this morning I made the coffee a bit too strong again. Strong is great when you have a primo brand of coffee to start with but if you try to make diner style coffee strong you get “bad taste”. Here’s a retro commercial of a housewife dealing with this very same scenario. Let’s see how she solved her morning coffee catastrophe.
2. Coffee in Music
Emmett Miller’s “You’re the Cream in My Coffee”, The Ink Spots “Java Jive”, Bob Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee”, Wendy & Lisa’s ”Waiting for Coffee”, and The Squeeze’s “Black Coffee in Bed”. We’d need a few pots of coffee to keep us going with the long list of java in music. Let’s take a coffee break. Click here and have a listen to Frank Sinatra sing The Coffee Song.
3. Coffee in Television
Friends gathered at the Central Perk. Alice filled coffee cups at Mel’s Diner. Dr. Frasier Crane met with Daphne and Niles for a caffeinated beverage at Café Nervosa. Even soap operas like the Young & the Restless used a coffee shop to set the scene.
Caffeine in excess is proven to increase irritability. Watch what happens after these guys had too many mochas at the Y&R coffee shop.
4. Coffee in Film
Just like television, movies have used coffee shops as backdrops, coffee cups as props, and even coffee as a central theme. Have you seen Coffee and Cigarettes by Jim Jarmusch? This film is a series of vignettes starring Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, and Bill Murray just to name a few. You can see a few clips in this creative Cinema & Coffee videoart on YouTube:
In 1961 a short film called This is Coffee was made. It’s full to the brim with coffee information.
5. Coffee Table Books
This housewife isn’t fond of dusting her coffee table but she sure loves coffee table books. I have two favorites on display. One is Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and the other is Studio 54. A little Depp and a little disco is all I need to make dusting more fun.
On my quest to quench my coffee thirst, I found this great site devoted to coffee table books. Click here to do some book browsing. I think I need a few more coffee tables.
Any other pop culture Cups of Joe out there you’d like to share?