Don't kill anyone if you don't have to. We're here to make a deal.

Mal ,'Serenity'


Non-Fiction TV: I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own

This thread is for non-fiction TV, including but not limited to reality television (So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef: Masters, Project Runway), documentaries (The History Channel, The Discovery Channel), and sundry (Expedition Africa, Mythbusters), et al. [NAFDA]


meara - Mar 28, 2012 9:30:56 pm PDT #19016 of 23273

I may be the only one still watching ANTM but I love the accents. It's slightly less ridiculous challenged than in the past, too (though next week is make a music video?!?)

But tonight I was very sad to see my fave accent go home! Boo. Pointy face girl should've gone home instead. Even if she did have better photos, she's not nearly as much fun to hear talk!!


megan walker - Mar 29, 2012 7:43:56 am PDT #19017 of 23273
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

Oh, I'm watching.

The only part I really like about this show is the photo shoots (and resulting photos) and these women are taking some killer photos.

However, I did like that they did the go-sees early on this time when there were still a bunch of people.


lisah - Mar 29, 2012 8:29:00 am PDT #19018 of 23273
Punishingly Intricate

I started taping ANTM again but won't have a chance to watch until Bob goes out of town next week. I can't subject him to its crazy badness!


meara - Mar 29, 2012 8:32:03 am PDT #19019 of 23273

Yeah, roomie and I were watching last night and the photoshoot involved pouring maple syrup on them--but we were both commenting that it was so much better than photoshoots in days gone by, because they were actually MODELLING, even though the syrup was ridiculous, and they weren't like, dangling off a building or swimming in a tank or being blown upward by a fake skydiving thing....Sure, OK Tyra, a real model can model through anything. Whatever. But 90% of the time any of those crazy shoot photos were only good if the girl was lucky, not because she's an amazing skydiving model or underwater model!!

The first shoot of the season was ridiculous, and I don't remember the other ones, but last week was fine (with the cars) and this week too. A little ridiculousness is fine...but don't overdo it.


Toddson - Mar 29, 2012 1:04:55 pm PDT #19020 of 23273
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"

I also liked that they didn't have the poor girls trying to navigate a strange city to find their go-tos. I always feel bad for the girl (and there's always at least one) who either gets lost or has a driver that abandons her or some such.

The maple syrup ... kind of dumb, but they did turn in some good photos. And I'm sorry to see the Scottish girl go - I enjoyed her accent too. With Louise gone, it seems the Americans are the ones behaving badly.


Liese S. - Mar 30, 2012 5:47:25 am PDT #19021 of 23273
"Faded like the lilac, he thought."

Okay, so I just caught up on the Voice last night. I'm always behind because the SO claims he doesn't watch, but he always sits for the whole two hours with me. So I try to do it when he's in the mood for it.

Anyway. The coaches and judges really are fabulous. They give specific, realistic critique. The things they point out are accurate and if the singers take them to heart will serve them well the rest of their careers.

Like, did you hear the difference between Robin Thicke's "e" vs. Orlando's "e"? Open, clear, delightful to listen to, and therefore powerful. Robin really knows what he's doing. And the range was a serious issue. Even after changing the entire song, they had to modulate keys to accommodate both singers' ranges, which made for a weird duet.

So based on wardrobe, all the pairing took place on one day, all the breakdowns on another, all the coaching. From Blake's comment today, "Well, at least we have several days to work on it." it seems like the whole thing took place over, what, a week?

Because Adam made a "Go buy it on itunes" comment at the song choice announcement this ep, but a few contestants over the course of the battle rounds still showed up at the breakdown without ever having heard their song, why? I thought maybe there was a rule against going out and looking for it, or that their media was limited. But if you could go hear it, why not listen to it about a thousand times before you even get to the breakdown?

By the way, that pianist is a badass. I liked that it was him who made the final song choice on the one.

I thought this episode's battles were weaker in general. Symptom of it being the last pairings for each judge?

I am so glad Moses won over the country duo. I thought their attitude was stank, and they had no idea what was going on in the stage performance stuff, which is weird. As a duo, you'd think they'd have experience interacting with another person on stage, but they barely connected with each other, let alone with their opponent. I dunno if it was racism or just general awkwardness, but they were painful to watch. And Moses was as much if not more out of his genre as they were, so they needed to quit their bitching. Especially the stankface loser's shot refusing to talk to the camera. It's part of it, sweetie. If you're not willing to show a little emotion on the stage, you might be needing to show a little emotion in front of the loser camera.

I may have been biased because his name was Moses, like my late student. But I thought he rocked it out. He won't last in the next set of rounds, but still.

Agree about the last round being tough. Was sad to see the matchup because I like them both. And my friend worked with the eventual winner, so I can't be sad about that. But I really liked Justin. Agree about the beard! Any other matchup he probably would have taken it. And this matchup brought out the best in him, but someone had to lose. I'm sorry it was him, but I would have been sorry if it had been Tony, too.

Whoo. Too long! So how do the live rounds work? Individual competitions but within each team?


Jesse - Mar 30, 2012 6:59:51 am PDT #19022 of 23273
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

I had a hilarious conversation about beardy v. baldy the other day....

That woman in the duo was a hot mess. I couldn't figure out if she thinks being a wedding band is a great way to make a living, or she knew she fucked it up, or what. It was definitely his idea to be on the show. And Moses was great!

So how do the live rounds work? Individual competitions but within each team?

I believe so -- so you get down to one from each team at the end. Which I think is lame! Is there no way to reward a coach for having picked a better team overall?


megan walker - Mar 30, 2012 8:14:33 am PDT #19023 of 23273
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

Is there no way to reward a coach for having picked a better team overall?

Yeah, that was one thing I really liked about X-Factor.


Dana - Mar 30, 2012 9:09:14 am PDT #19024 of 23273
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

I have stumbled on a rerun of Project Runway where they all had to design an outfit based on a dog. I had forgotten how hilarious and yet insane it is.


Toddson - Mar 30, 2012 11:11:55 am PDT #19025 of 23273
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"

Based on a dog? as in FOR a dog? or inspired by a dog? (crumpled velvet for a Shar-Pei, dotted Swiss for a Dalmation, etc.)