You like ships. You don't seem to be looking at the destinations. What you care about is the ships, and mine's the nicest.

Kaylee ,'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]


sumi - Jun 09, 2008 5:30:45 am PDT #5377 of 23273
Art Crawl!!!

Yes, that Beautiful Basics is a much better concept.

From that TC interview:

Which of the winners of your show would you hire for your kitchen?

Any of them. I have purposefully stayed away from hiring anybody that's been a contestant. But I think Tiffany, a woman from Season 1, was fabulous. She wasn't a fan favorite, but I thought her cooking was brilliant. Harold I would have hired. Forget about the show for a second -- if Harold walked into my restaurant and said he wanted a job, I would have hired him. Same thing with Sam. [Season 3 winner] Hung, definitely. I think a better question would be, "If you were going to open a restaurant with one of them, who would it be?" That's a little different. Probably Harold or Hung. I think [Season 2 winner] Ilan -- he's a good cook, just a little immature, and he has a little way to go. If I were going to raise money and put someone in charge of the kitchen, I'd want someone with a little gravity or weight to them.


Matt the Bruins fan - Jun 09, 2008 6:37:48 am PDT #5378 of 23273
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand

I am vaguely disgruntled about educational TV this weekend. Normally if I don't have travel plans or movies to go see I like to veg out and watch assorted science type programs on a lazy Sunday. But the History Channel has apparently become the Ice Road Truckers Channel, Discovery had a Dirty Jobs marathon that proved Mike Rowe is one of those good things you can get too much of, and the Travel Channel was one long endlessly looping Disney infomercial.

It's pretty bad when you find yourself yearning for Patrick Stewart to narrate how dragons co-existed with the dinosaurs.


Kathy A - Jun 09, 2008 7:12:13 am PDT #5379 of 23273
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil

My usual fallback when nothing else is on is to go to OnDemand and pull out whatever ep of The Universe looks good. I like those space documentary shows, because they usually do a good job of making something that is literally cosmic understandable to me.

Also, now that I've got a DVR, I've kept a few eps of Top Gear on tap for watching when I can't stand what on the tube.


SailAweigh - Jun 09, 2008 7:46:02 am PDT #5380 of 23273
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb

But the History Channel has apparently become the Ice Road Truckers Channel

That and the "Tougher in Alaska" and "Ax Men", both of which I am less than enthused about. History used to be about history that appealed to everybody, not just hairy men with beer going "ugh, me tough" from their sofa. The "Ice Road" stuff was a marathon to preface the new episodes starting whenever (this week, next week?)

I'll take day long Mike Rowe over what-his-face in Man vs. Wild. Saturday was even more suck for educational TV than Sunday was.


Matt the Bruins fan - Jun 09, 2008 8:00:51 am PDT #5381 of 23273
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand

With you on that—I find I'm skeptical about the first thing one should do in any wilderness survival situation being to strip off one's clothes and perform calesthenics.

I normally like Rowe, but after a couple of episodes he moves from "entertainingly snarky" to "smug smart-ass" with the constant flip remarks to people who put up with literal crap on the job every day. I think I can watch Mythbusters marathons a lot more happily because there are 5 different personalities interacting.


Sophia Brooks - Jun 09, 2008 8:11:54 am PDT #5382 of 23273
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here

What the hell is Ax men? This is the second time I have seen it referenced today! (The first was in Pete Wentz's blog, and the way he writes, he could have meant "X-Men" for all I know!)


Kathy A - Jun 09, 2008 8:13:48 am PDT #5383 of 23273
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil

It's a candid reality show about loggers.


Sophia Brooks - Jun 09, 2008 8:17:30 am PDT #5384 of 23273
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here

Weird? Do they eat oatmeal? He said it made him want to eat oatmeal.


Sean K - Jun 09, 2008 8:24:23 am PDT #5385 of 23273
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

I haven't seen any of the episodes of Ax Men, but the previews make it clear that pretty much every one of the guys featured on the show has, at some point in their career, cut off some part of their body.


kat perez - Jun 09, 2008 9:51:52 am PDT #5386 of 23273
"We have trust issues." Mylar

America's Best Dance Crew: I enjoyed the audition special, but none of the crews really stood out to me the way that Jabbawookeez or Kaba Modern did from the very beginning. Cannot believe that they put the hair flinging, Rutgers dance team through although really I thought that the East Coast teams just kinda didn't bring it in general. I don't know that the Latinas would've been a ton better. I thought that the pop collar southern kids were actually really, really good. The judges were right about the cheerleader faces, though. They have got to go. I thought the "theatrical" group that did all the footwork was better than the other crew, but once the whole deaf dancer storyline kicked in, they were clearly going to get through. Thought the West Coast crews were by far the strongest of the bunch. I probably would've taken the Filipino crew over Fanny Pack. Not that they were not good dancers, they were. Very clean, very technical. Their style just did not seem to match the show at all. I loved the Las Vegas b-boys, thought they were so cute and Soul Supreme were amazing (although perhaps a little too much like Jabba without the masks).

And I really think Shane, JC and Lil Mama are the best reality show judges of all. Knowledgable, honest, give real critiques and suggestions for what they would like to see next time so that the crews can improve. I hope Randy is taking notes.