Tag Archives: Tyler Perry

November 25, 2015 –Loving & Thanksgiving Pizza

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What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

 

If Loving You Is Wrong

Stalker Randal won’t leave Alex’s hospital room. He goes on and on with declarations of love, and is totally freaking her out. He makes these pleading faces that I can’t stand. Alex rings for the nurse. Randal is borderline hysterical. How he even got in here is beyond me.

The nurse tells Randal he has to leave. Randal says he’s not leaving without holding his son. The nurse threatens to get security. Brad walks in and tells Alex to let him hold the baby. This is all so sickening, I’m feeling the pit of Alex’s stomach.

The nurse threatens Randal with security again, and Brad insists Alex let Randal hold his son. The nurse asks Alex if she should get help, but Alex says no. Randal tells Brad he should leave, and they start going back and forth about Brad having sex with Marcie. Brad says Randal sounds crazy, and Randal says Brad has no idea how crazy he is. I think I have a pretty good idea. I’ve thought he was weird from the first episode. Brad wants to take it outside, but Randal says he wants to spend quality time with his son. We should have a drinking game where we take a shot whenever they say “son.” We’ll be three sheets to the wind in no time.

Brad accesses the video of him and Marcie on his cell phone. We don’t see it, but there are a lot of noises. Brad is like, I’m going to do it again when I’m not so drunk. Randal tries punching him and misses. Brad locks the door and proceeds to kick the bejesus out of Randal. I don’t think you’re allowed to do this in the hospital. Well, maybe General Hospital.

Eddie introduces himself to Claudia. Eddie is seriously getting on my nerves. He asks her if she saw the video of the shooting. She says something about the poor cop who got shot and Eddie says he thought the dude shot himself. She says she’s unclear about what she saw. She needs some creamer and Eddie gives her some from his desk. She introduces herself to Lushion. This business with the creamer seemed unnecessary. Maybe I’ll think differently later.

Faun brings Joey to her house when her father is out of town. I don’t think these two have any idea of how much trouble they’re probably going to get in eventually. Joey is impressed with all the cool stuff, but her room looks like it was furnished from PBTeen. Faun brings out a joint.

Faun wants Joey to do a striptease and takes the bank bag out of her purse. She starts throwing the money around, and thinks this is a real hoot. I’m guessing her father thought she was more responsible than this. They start making out on top of the money, which looks like Monopoly money, but maybe it’s the lighting.

Ramsey asks Kelly, who is sitting in her car, how she’s doing and she says fine. He says she’s been sitting there a while, but she’s like everything is cool, go away. He insists on knowing what’s wrong, and she says she had a bad blowup with a friend and is trying to get herself together before her son comes home. Ramsey asks if she’d like to come in. She suggests they go to her house.

Ramsey says he can’t wait to sell the house and get out. It’s depressing living at his mother’s house now that she’s gone. He starts singing some song his mother sang, and Kelly knows it and sings. He says she has a beautiful voice, and she says he doesn’t. Ha-ha! She gets them some wine and he says he hasn’t been able to track Marcie down. Kelly says Marcie has a lot going on right now, which is an understatement, but to not give up.

He says he doesn’t want to be the guy who cries every time he thinks about his mother and wants to leave. Kelly says it’s cool and don’t go. He says he’s a military man and is used to being the strong one. Kelly says she’s pretty stressed and Ramsey asks if it has to do with Alex. Kelly is like, how the blip did you know about that? And he says his mother had heard them in the shed. Ramsey says Kelly has no idea how much he misses his mom.

He tells Kelly she’s beautiful and now he’s got to go. He says a friend once told him in moments like this, you should only be around people you trust. She’s like, what? and he says he doesn’t trust himself. They have some pre-romantic banter and Ramsey leaves.

They start to kiss on the porch and that idiot Travis shows up. He’s all what is this? like he owns Kelly. He follows Kelly into the house and asks if she’s seeing someone behind his back. What is wrong with this guy? He’s the one who just wanted to be friends and was engaged to someone else. I’m totally not getting this. She tells him to get out, which seems to be a regular thing now.

Esperanza interrupts Eddie trying to chat up Claudia. She says Eddie is the father of her son and tells Claudia to get back to work. Eddie thinks she’s jealous, but I think she’s just running interference because of what Natalie told her.

Faun asks Joey if they’re dating. Since they’re naked in bed among bills of various denominations, is that what they call this kind of thing now? Too late for an answer. Faun’s father walks in with a shotgun. He tells Joey to get dressed and wait in his car. I’m guessing it’s not to give his blessing to this union.

Marcie is ready for work and Louise says she’d like to stay a little longer. She says she wants to make sure Marcie and Randal are okay. Marcie says she’ll be staying a long time then. Louise apologizes for Randal’s actions and says he knows better. She says she’s talked to him and thinks he feels sorry.

Randal walks in. Louise asks what happened and he says he kicked Brad’s ass. Marcie says it looks like Brad kicked Randal’s ass. Louise tells them to knock it off. Randal sits down and lights up a cigar, and sings some song as he goes upstairs. Louise and Marcie are as puzzled as I am.

Lushion asks Ben why he does everything Eddie tells him to. Eddie tells him to mind his own business. Lushion finds Pete in the locker room. Pete isn’t thrilled with patrolling a good neighborhood on a bicycle. He says he’s working on something that’s going to shake up the whole department. Lushion tells him whatever he’s doing, he should drop it. Lushion says he has no idea what’s going on there and you can’t trust anybody. Pete thinks he’s special and Lushion tells him his ego is going to get him in trouble. Yep.

Mr. Kym takes Joey home and tells Natalie what he found. He tells her to keep an eye on her child and fires them both. He tells them not to come back to the burger place.

Natalie is like thanks a lot to Joey and what is she supposed to do for money now? She says he can’t listen and that she told him to leave Faun alone. Natalie throws his stuff at him and tells him to get out. It’s not a good day in whatever the name of this town is.

Ben asks Pete why he doesn’t want to talk to him anymore. Pete says he has stuff with his girlfriend going on. He really says that. Ben continues to be pushy and wants to hang out. Ben says riding together all day was enough and Ben finally leaves.

Pete the rookie jerk goes in to see the captain. He’s going to spill the beans about the video, I just know it. He says he has some information about Eddie. The captain says he has a meeting, but to talk to his immediate boss and leaves. Pete says he’ll wait for the captain. His boss isn’t happy about him jumping the chain of command.

Ramsey goes to see Marcie. Ramsey says she looks great for having just had a baby. She’s like what the what? She goes outside and there’s a giant stork that says It’s a Boy for Randal & Alex!

Next week, Alex comes home and Brad acts like a normal person.

General Hospital

As always, I’m wondering how pizza will end up being the Quartermaines’ Thanksgiving dinner.

Paul is going to prepare the dinner, with Dillon as sous chef. That might explain how it’s going to happen.  I just can’t imagine Paul cooks that often.

Ava goes out to eat with Avery. I’m sure it’s at The Floating Rib. The waitress asks if she can take the order without Ava looking at a menu. Although everyone eats there so often, maybe they have it memorized.

Julian, Olivia and Leo join Molly and Christina (who?) at Alexis’s house.

Michael and Sabrrrina arrive at the Quartermaines. Jason was invited, but has yet to arrive.

Sam and Patrick are getting the table ready. Anna is there and Dr. Andre shows up. Patrick invited him. Dr. Andre is from Chicago (chicken in the car and the car won’t go – sorry, but that always pops into my head when I hear Chicago) and can’t get home for Thanksgiving. I’m wondering if he and Anna are going to end up together. He’s pretty fine looking.

Lulu and Rocco (I still laugh over a baby being named “Rocco”) get together with Laura at the restaurant.

Dante is watching football at home, which is probably what everyone else wishes they were doing. He’s about to sign the separation papers (I almost typed “commitment papers” – ha-ha!) and what a surprise, Valerie is at the door. Does that woman have no shame?

I’m hoping they’re not going to make me cry. Monica mentioned Ed, Lila and Alan, and I already feel on the edge. I miss them terribly. And while we’re on the subject, I miss the reading of the Christmas story. Once Alan died, they changed everything. Bah, humbug.

Ava shows up at Alexis’s and gets the door slammed in her face by Olivia. Nice, since she has the baby with her.

Paul goes to tend to the turkey. Dillon asks Tracy how she’d feel if Paul was seeing someone else. She says they’re just friends and he says he wishes he could feel the same about Lulu.

Valerie brings Dante a plate from the PCPD. Oh Lord, she notices the football game and is apparently a fan. Of course Dante asks her to stay.

Jason arrives at the Quartermaine mansion.

Commercial break. It’s that one for Clorox where the woman in the designer dress pours the bleach. I want to know if that’s an Oscar de la Renta dress, because it sure looks like one.

Julian lets Ava in. Olivia has a lot to say, but she’s overridden. Christina (who?) starts off by introducing herself and insulting Ava. So far, I’m not impressed with her.

Emma tells the story of A Christmas Carol, and how ghosts made Scrooge into a better person. Anna mulls this over, except Carrrlos ain’t no ghost.

Monica is the only one without an agenda in regard to Jason. She says she realizes his joining them doesn’t mean that he’s accepted them as his family, but she’s glad he’s there. Michael tells him about the baby, like no one has noticed Sabrrrina is pregnant. Jason talks about his visit to Helena (who is suddenly being called He-lain-a) and Elizabeth (who invited her?) says she’s dead and not coming back (I still don’t believe it). Young Jake drops a glass when he hears this. Did anyone ever bother deprogramming that kid?

Commercial break. A news blurb says that Frank Gifford’s brain is being donated to science research and I refrain from the many sarcastic comments in my head.

After dinner, Dr. Andre says he’s feeling like a turkey himself, and tells Anna he had no idea he was going to be having dinner with a patient.

Julian makes nice with Molly, who’s feeling generous because of the baby. Ava brings in some baked goods.

Valerie and Dante continue to watch the game. These are two of the stupidest people ever, since if history is any indication, Lulu will be coming by.

Lulu tells Laura she dropped off the separation papers, but hoped Dante would tear them up. She says she doesn’t feel like she can trust him, but she still loves him. Uh-huh. She’s going over there after dinner and you know it.

Elizabeth, who should have her children taken away from her by CPS, asks Jake if he’s okay. She asks if there’s anything he wants to talk about, and Michael interrupts, asking if Jake wants to go to the kitchen for cookies. I see what kind of father he’s going to be. The ignore it and it will go away kind.

Jason answers the door at the Quartermaines’ (because he lives there and they have no butler) and it’s Sam. From the look on his face, I don’t care what he’s saying, he still loves her. I actually like this actor a whole lot more than I ever did the original Jason (which I’m sure is an unpopular opinion).

Sam has brought Patrick and Danny with her. She says she didn’t know Jason would be there. (No inkling? Really? He’s Monica’s son, for Pete’s sake.) Sam goes with Danny to give Monica some flowers. Jason says to Patrick, “I take it you’re not a member of the Jason Morgan fan club?” And Patrick says, “Far from it.” We’re off to a great start. Although it’s probably not much different from many family gatherings at Thanksgiving.

Carrrlos texts Sabrrrina and I faint dead away because he is so smooth. Dr. Andre and Anna are having coffee. Anna says, “You know I killed someone and I know you’re single and from the Midwest.” Ha-ha! Dr. Andre says they’ll have to rely on each other’s discretion.  He asks if she’s free from the ghost of Carrrlos now. Anna just happens to have the pendant with her in a plastic bag and gives it to him, saying that ghosts don’t drop keepsakes. Oh, okay, so she’s not so jazzed she didn’t come to that conclusion. Hide, Carrrlos! Hide!

Laura asks Lulu what she’d do in an ideal world. She says she would fix it. Laura says maybe she can’t trust Dante, but she can trust in their love for one another. And she ought to know, since she’s certainly put in her time with Luke.

Valerie asks Dante if the papers came about because of her email thanking him. He says he can’t continue to be questioned about his every move. I’d agree with this if more time had passed, but it was five minutes ago and he continues to work with Valerie.

Lulu says she’s hurt and angry, but she doesn’t want to lose everything she loves. Laura says she should go and tell Dante how she really feels. Lulu says she’s going right now. Can I call them or what? Back at the apartment, Valerie’s team has a last minute win. They hug. And then they kiss. 3…2…1…

Ha-ha! Alexis says she cooked everything herself and Ava produces a receipt. Alexis says she didn’t lie; it was home cooked, just not by her.

Patrick says it’s unlikely Jason will regain his memory after all this time, which I know is true and he’s not saying it maliciously. Jason says he just hates disappointing the people who love him. Patrick says, “Like Sam?” because he can’t act like a grown-up at this moment, and Jason replies, “Like Sam,” because he is a grown-up.

Elizabeth has corralled Sam. She says they should find a way to get along for the boys’ sake. Sam’s like, sure, since you got what you wanted. Elizabeth takes that as a no and takes her marbles and goes to the other side of the room

Suddenly, the lights go out. So I guess it won’t be Paul’s fault.

HA! HA! HA! The rest of the neighborhood has power. It is Paul’s fault. They blew a fuse with the deep fryer. The side dishes hadn’t been heated up either. The oven is electric and the deep fryer is fried, so a generator is out. And the electrician is at his own Thanksgiving meal. Pizza is officially suggested. By Jason. A hush falls over the room.

Anna says either someone is messing with her or Carrrlos is alive. She says if he is, it gives her leverage with her blackmailer. Dr. Andre says she needs to be careful, but since they’ve already blurred the lines, to call him any time. And it doesn’t have to be for a session. Hmm…

Paul gets a text that a shipment is coming in and he calls Ava to be ready. I expect to never know what’s in that shipment, since I still don’t know what Sonny imports after all these years.

The pizza arrives. Monica asks Jason if he remembers the yearly pizza incidents, but he says no, he just thought it would be fast and easy. Monica is like okay…. Michael gives a toast that’s as boring as he is, and gives thanks for Jason’s return. He quotes Jason as having said, “The secret to living well is not to stay down.” Whether he remembers or not, Michael says, Jason is surrounded by people who love him and welcome home.

They sing We Gather Together and I tear up, getting serious nostalgia feels. Thanks for keeping the Thanksgiving traditions alive, GH!

Laura suggests Lulu wait. Dante pushes Valerie away, but she dives right back in. Witch! They start getting naked. Double witch! I hate them both.

Everyone in Port Charles says what they’re grateful for. Mostly jobs in a world where most soap operas are but a distant memory and they’re still going after 50 years.

Next week – tomorrow is a rerun and it’s college football on Friday (pfft!)  — things come to a head between Dante and Lulu.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! See you after Z-Nation on Friday.

 

November 18, 2015 — Loving, PC & LA

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What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

 

If Loving You Is Wrong

Randal tries to choke out Marcie. He’s gone absolutely crazy. He says he never threw his affair in her face and always protected her from knowing about it. This isn’t a very good argument. He says it just happened; he didn’t do it on purpose. Ugh! Even worse. Louise tries to intervene, but Marcie says she’ll sleep with Brad again. She’s going to find Alex’s calendar and she’s doing to do it for every time they did. Both of them refuse to leave. Randal says they’ll see who leaves first. Marcie says if he touches her again, his mother is going to be in a black dress watching Marcie piss on his grave. Holy! Tyler Perry can write them. I don’t think Louise should leave these two alone.

Marcie flounces out, saying come watch, and I assume she’s hunting down Brad, since no one has jobs anymore. I can’t believe Randal is supposed to be a psychologist when he’s the weirdest guy on the show. I’d take one look at him and say, no thanks, another doctor please.

Marcie traipses over to Brad’s and lays a big kiss on him. She goes into the house and Brad tells her to go upstairs, that he’s been waiting for her. Louise protests, but it’s useless. Randal drives off. Marcie tells Brad about how Randal tried to choke her. Marcie asks him for the calendar. Brad says she doesn’t want to see it, but she insists. This is all pretty sad.

Brad brings her the calendar. Oooh, she put grades on them too. Marcie says she wants to screw on every date in the book. Brad says there’s something she should know when there’s a knock at the door. It’s Louise, and she takes Marcie out the door. Oops! Here come Kelly and Ramsey. Marcie says it’s not a good time for her to think about real estate and she’ll call him.

Kelly follows her in, asking what happened. Marcie tells her about Randal. Kelly is like, you have to knock it off, and Louise introduces herself. Kelly says Marcie doesn’t even want Brad; she just wants to hurt Randal. Louise says that’s because she’s hurting. Kelly says Marcie needs to brace herself for what might be coming. Marcie says Randal started it and Louise asks if she’s mature enough to finish it.

Eddie is back at work. Pete and Ben are on bike patrol. Pete says something isn’t right about it to Lushion. Eddie tells Pete to be careful in a veiled threat kind of way. Eddie – who has a job, but never does any work – asks Lushion how it’s going and makes small talk. Lushion asks what’s up with Eddie and Ben. Eddie makes a disgusting remark. Lushion tells him he’d better have straightened up. This was kind of a veiled threat too.

Ben points out Claudia to Eddie, and tells him she’s the one who saw the video. Eddie calls over a female detective and asks about Claudia, but the detective runs interference and won’t let him hassle her. A body has been found and Lushion and Eddie have to leave. Natalie blocks Lushion’s way out and says they need to talk. Obviously, now is not a good time. Lushion says he’ll call her.

Natalie pulls Esperenza to the side. She asks what’s up with her and Eddie. Esperanza says blah-blah-blah about how Eddie says he’s changed. Natalie asks if Lushion is in trouble. She tells Esperanza that Eddie robbed a drug dealer. Oh, she thinks Lushion is in on it because his bank account shows a lot of money. Esperanza says Eddie does have a lot of cash. Natalie says so does Lushion. Esperanza wants to confront Eddie. Natalie thinks Esperanza should just shake loose from Eddie and thinks if Lushion got away from Eddie, he’d be better off. Natalie makes her promise not to tell where she got the information from.

We’re at the cartel guy’s compound. I always think it looks weird when people have what looks exactly like living room furniture outside. Where’s the aluminum and webbed chaise lounges? Julius’s father tells him he has vengeance on the brain, and he needs to stop because he’ll end up in jail or worse and that will kill his father. He says it will be the end of their cartel.

His father says the reason he employs small time dealers is that they have street cred and can get information. He says don’t make enemies of people who can be your friends, or something like that. His father is afraid that when the cartel gets passed down, Julius will make a mess of things.

Eddie lets himself in to Esperanza’s house. She tells him give her the key and get out. He says he just wants to talk and she says they have nothing to talk about. She says go talk to the whore he had there last week. Eddie says she didn’t mean anything, which just makes it worse. She says the whore used her perfume and stole Eddie’s daughter’s earrings from the bathroom. He says said whore is dead. Which makes it worse again. She lets it slip about him robbing the drug dealer. He asks if Lushion told her. Esperanza says too bad, it doesn’t matter, and get out. He refuses.

Juan and Julius are casing the burger place and Faun again. Juan says she picks up the money every day. I’m surprised her father didn’t tell her to do it at different times. Julius says his dad likes Juan but he doesn’t. Julius wanted him to shoot a cop, but he shot up the whole place to make it look random. Julius says now his money is gone and the cop is still alive. Julius wants Eddie to kill Joey to send a message that he’s tough.

Natalie and Esperanza are visiting Alex in the hospital. She says she’s being sprung tomorrow. Kelly joins the crowd, but Alex is kind of cold. Kelly tells Natalie has been approved for the loan. Alex isn’t excited at all about going home and she says Kelly knows why. Kelly is like, huh? and Alex says she knew Brad and Marcie had sex in the shed. She saw the video. Then she brings up how Kelly told Marcie to look closer for Peppa (her code name in the affair with Randal). Kelly is like, oh, I see, you’re mad at me for what you did. She says she can’t even look at Marcie right now. Alex says Kelly should have told her and tells Kelly to get out. The other girls protest, but Alex says Marcie is not her friend.  Alex wants everyone to leave.

Lushion calls Natalie and she says she needs to talk in person. He says he needs to talk too, but he’ll wait until he gets home. She says he means “her place.” Ouch!

Brad drives to whatever backwater place Alex is from. Her father asks if Brad is lost. He says he’s there to announce the new baby’s arrival. Brad says he tried to call, but I don’t think they have phones there. Brad asks if Alex’s mother is there and her father says she’s lying down. Brad asks if they don’t want to see the baby. Alex’s mother comes to the door. I hate to say this, but her haircut alone tells me she doesn’t live there. Brad asks if she wants to see the baby. Obviously, he’s trying to get these racist a-holes to come and see that the baby is Black. Brad doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere, so he finally leaves.

The nurse brings the baby to Alex to nurse. Ha-ha! She says Alex’s blood pressure is good. I’ll bet not for long. The nurse says if it stays that way, she’ll be able to go home tomorrow. When Alex barely responds, she asks if Alex is okay. Alex says yes, and the nurse leaves.

Stalker Randal arrives.

General Hospital

Anna is a mess, dropping things everywhere. NuShrink helps her pick stuff up and asks her if the St. John’s Wort is working. He suggests melatonin as well, but says only honesty will get to the root of her problem. He says whatever’s bothering her will continue until she gets to the root cause.

Maxie is getting things going. She’s at (where else?) The Floating Rib, working with her laptop and phone. Lulu comes in and says she’d left a message that Valerie and Dante were together last night.

Michael and Sabrrrina have scheduled an appointment for a sonogram. Elizabeth comes in looking for Jason and mistakenly calls him Jake. I’ve done that too. Michael leaves and Sabrrrina says that Elizabeth is afraid Jason won’t come back to her when he’s done with his mission.

Jason shows up at Spinelli’s house in Portland. Georgie and Ellie aren’t there. Spinelli says it’s gratifying to see his old friend and he missed him. Jason says he’s sorry he doesn’t remember, but Spinelli says he’s just grateful that Jason is alive. Jason says it’s all due to Spinelli and Spinelli says that fate brought him back together with the people who love him. Jason says Helena is the one who brought him back and he’s out to get answers.

Sam tells Patrick that Jason is going after the Cassadines and that he’ll need back up. Patrick asks when she’s leaving. At least he knows her pretty well. Sam says he hasn’t answered her messages. She says what he’s doing is dangerous and she’ll need him. Patrick says she’s doing it for herself, not Jason.

The two stooges, Valerie and Dante, pat themselves on the back because they caught the perp or whatever. Valerie says it was exciting, but she made a rookie move by falling asleep.

Lulu tells Maxie about how she called Dante, but he couldn’t talk. She thought nothing of it, but then saw Dante in the car with Valerie’s head on his shoulder. Maxie says she shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Good point. That seems to be what’s gotten everyone into trouble lately. Maxie suggests they check Dante’s email. They see one from Valerie, but it’s like that joke where it turns out to be a dentist. It sounds like she’s talking about sleeping with him, but she’s really talking about the stakeout.

Michael comes by the police station and says Jason has given him proxy to use his ELQ shares against Nicholas. He wants to press charge against Nicholas for corporate espionage.

Sabrrrina says she knows what it’s like when an old love comes back. Elizabeth continues with her pipedream of how Jason is going to come back and be crazy about her.

Sam says Patrick loves her because of what Jason changed in her. She’d come to town as a con artist (I’d forgotten that!) and after she met him, things changed. She says he needs her and Patrick gets pissed.

Spinelli accesses the Cassadines mainframe. Jason apologizes for laying all this on him. Spinelli says Jason befriended him when he was anti-social and ostracized. He says that Jason helped him get offline and live life for real, and he can never repay him. Jason says he wishes he could be the guy so many people love but he doesn’t know how. Spinelli says he doesn’t have to do anything, just be himself.

Maxie is working her phone and laptop again. Valerie comes in and orders a lot of food, saying she needs it after the night she had. Maxie stomps over to her table to confront her.

Patrick talks to Anna about what happened with Emma. The description of the strange woman fits no one they recognize. He tells her that Jason took off and Sam wants to help. Anna says that’s what she should do, startling me.

Sam is daydreaming about early times with Jason. Elizabeth shows up and Sam says she hasn’t heard from him. Elizabeth says she’s glad Sam’s not chasing after him. Too bad, so sad, says Sam, because she’s planning on it. Ah-ha! in Nelson voice.

Jason tells Spinelli that no matter what he does, a good woman who loves him will get hurt. Spinelli should know all about that, since he went through it with Maxie and Ellie, but the difference is that Elizabeth is not a good woman. She’s a scheming shrew.

Commercial break. It’s the candy kisses that play “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” For the love of all that’s holy, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. I once heard Christmas music being played in Macy’s at the end of September. I asked the cashier if it started to bug her by December. She said, “It’s bugging me now.”

Jason says that in all his struggles with memory loss, it never once crossed his mind that he was Jason. Spinelli says that he still came back anyway, and that his instincts seem to be intact and he should trust them.

Elizabeth says Sam needs to have some respect and get out of the way when Jason comes back to her. Sam tells her that her using the word respect is a joke and that Jason needs her. She’s going after him and Elizabeth needs to get out of her house. Bye, Felicia!

Anna says Sam is taking a risk, but Patrick can’t save her by being controlling. He has to trust that she loves him.

Sabrrrina cancels the sono. Question mark over my head. Is she afraid the baby looks like Carrrlos already and Michael will notice?

Lulu shows up at the police station. She tells Dante she saw him with her slut cousin. She saw them cuddled up and he’s a liar. She says he’s been sleeping with Valerie all along and mentions the email.

Valerie changes her order to a sandwich to go. Maxie confronts her about being in the car with Dante. She says if she’s so concerned, she should stop sending Dante love emails. Valerie is like what the what, how did you see it? Maxie says it wasn’t that hard.

Sabrrrina asks Anna If there’s been any progress in finding Carrrlos’s killer. Anna says it’s a cold case. Sabrrina says she realizes she’s not family, but that she was close to him and despite what he’d done, he deserves justice. Anna gets all weird and has to go.

Sam calls Patrick and says she has to find Jason, but it has nothing to do with the two of them, meaning her and Patrick.

Spinelli locates Helena on a private island. Jason asks him to find a vantage point with a cover and an access point. Jason rattles off a few things he needs. Spinelli says they’re finding their old rhythm.

Maxie says instead of pulling Valerie and Lulu’s sorry excuse for a husband out of the car, Lulu came to her. Valerie says it’s against the law to hack into an email account. Maxie says Lulu had the password, and Valerie must have known that she would see the email that thanked him for “last night.”

A-hole Dante makes noises about it being a federal offense to hack in email. Nice try and good way to get Lulu even more pissed. Dante tells her Valerie was talking about the stakeout. What’s wrong with those two morons (Dante and Valerie) that they think they can get on their high horses and point fingers at Lulu and Maxie? Arggh! I can’t stand either one of them.

Anna goes to see nuShrink. What the blip is his name and why won’t someone say it? Anna says he’s right. She has serious issues and needs help. She wants to schedule an appointment.

Valerie says she’s not after Dante, but if she was, Lulu is giving her all the help she needs. She says if Maxie wants to be Lulu’s friend, she should not encourage her anger and tell her to take Dante back before she loses him. Maxie tries to text Lulu not to confront Dante. A little late.

Lulu and Dante talk in private. He says if she can no longer trust him, maybe they are done. What a twonk.

Michael asks where Sabrrrina is at the hospital desk. The nurse tells him she cancelled the sono. Patrick tells Sabrrrina that he’s sorry for what he put her through because he’s now in the same position. Another idiot with a too late apology.

Spinelli has fixed up Jason’s phone for cyber support, and has gotten a private jet to take him to Greece and then Cassadine Island. Jason asks who’s paying. Sam says him. Surprise! He has a lot of money in offshore accounts. Maybe it’s not so bad being Jason.

Oh for Pete’s sake. Elizabeth wants to come with Sam. Sam gets a call from Spinelli telling her what’s going on. He says Jason will need back up and who better than her.

Ha-ha! Tomorrow Sam is going to throw a drink in Elizabeth’s face on the plane.

Million Dollar Listing: LA

Heather tells JoshA they have a mother/daughter developer team looking for agents to sell a 12-unit property. Heather says that they called her and she thinks they want a female agent, but she would like his back-up. Josh wants to split it three ways (his brother being the third). Heather is hesitant, but says okay.

JoshF is still looking for a property for his hard-to-please client, Julie. I thought they’d found something, and so did he, but the deal fell apart. I am so loving Josh’s denim jacket. I’m betting it’s crazy expensive, since I don’t think these guys shop at Old Navy. He contacts Madison about the possibility of doing a deal together.

Is that a Rottweiler Madison has? Whatever it is, it’s cute. Madison, who seems to have slipped back into this show even though he’s not on the credits (what do the Wives call it? A friend of the show?), is having an open house. Whenever I see these open houses, I always wish I could go to one on a lark and scarf down free food, drinks and views. The property has been on the market for a while, which is somewhat of a drawback. I got my house for less because of that.

James is having a birthday party for one of his daughters, and of course it’s fabulous, filled with fairies (the winged kind), bubbles and face painting. I think I just saw a unicorn. It must be nice to have mega bucks. Or have a father that does. Forget the open house, I want to go to this party.

James has a developer guest that has a property he wants James and David to handle. They toast with tacos to the future deal.

Heather’s excited because she and Josh haven’t done a listing together in a while. JoshA say’s it’s like date night with commission. Heather tells him he’s just there for eye candy and to remember that the clients are looking for the female facet.

The house Madison is showing is gorgeous. It has parking on the property, which is unusual for the area. It’s a beachfront property and one broker is concerned about high tide. Madison says to get a “dry beach” property costs a huge amount of money, but the house is 60 years old and still standing.

Heather and JoshA check out the 12-unit property. The penthouse is amazing and you can see the Hollywood sign from the balcony. They talk price and Josh has a hard time not taking the lead. There are no comps for the building, so Heather suggests they go to pre-sale with the higher price the developer wants and see what happens. Josh interjects that they’ll need to stage the penthouse and another unit, but the developer balks at footing the bill, so Heather says they’ll do it.

James and David have an old Hollywood property that I love. James says that unless it’s some kind of historical property, it’s all about location and most likely a tear down.  I want to cry because no one cares about old, cool homes anymore. James suggests they call both Joshes to help get as many potential buyers in as they can.

Madison is showing the beachfront house again. Oooh, it has built in cupboards I didn’t notice before. While he’s dealing with one client, another shows up with an offer that’s $312K over asking price. The broker’s client doesn’t want a bidding war and wants to wrap it up in 24 hours. The broker he’d been working with wants to give him an offer as well, and he tells her she’d better move fast.

Heather and JoshA are setting up the open house. Heather is worried about no shows because it’s raining and apparently no one leaves their house in L.A. when it rains. The staging looks fantastic and so does the food. Rain or not, a lot of brokers show up. Josh says today is about testing the prices the developers want. They get two full price offers right off the bat. The developer is pretty excited. They have 6 other interested people as well.

Whenever I see a brand name like Bulgari, I think of those two used-to-be porn star girls on Saturday Night Live.

James and David have generated interest in the old Hollywood property. JoshF shows up with a client. Waaah! I love this house and can’t believe someone is probably going to flatten it. Okay, this guy is speaking my language and is more interested in it as a family home. James and David want to present all offers to their client at the same time on Friday.

Madison can’t get ahold of his client, and is concerned that the phenomenal offer they’ve gotten is going to disappear.

JoshA shows up at James and David’s showing. James says he’s been looking for a project to include JoshA in. Josh says he wants to make some calls. When Josh calls his client, the client has already seen the property with JoshF. It’s the same guy who just made an offer.

JoshF pulls up with the offer. JoshA asks JoshF what his problem is. JoshF says that JoshA tells lies to steal his clients. JoshA says he doesn’t steal JoshF’s listings; the clients come to him after they’ve fired JoshF. JoshF says it’s time to settle things. And if you could follow that, God bless you.

Next week, Heather says she’s “late” while in the ladies room. Either she’s pregnant or they want us to think she is.

November 4, 2015 — Wrong Loving, GH & Twice the LA

Standard

What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

If Loving You Is Wrong — Tuesday

Brad visits Alex in the hospital. The nurse says what a fine, strapping boy the baby is, which helps nothing. Brad brought the baby name box so they can name the baby. God only knows what kind of names he put in there. I’m not even going there.

Brad went there, but he didn’t hit quite as low as I thought he would. He makes her pick one and read it. It says “bastard.” No offense, but that’s a wee bit archaic. Although Brad is kind of archaic. Brad picks one. It’s “son of a bitch,” which he says is even better. He wants to continue to play this game and I don’t know why she doesn’t ring for the nurse. The next one is Randal, and Brad says he’s coming every day until they name the baby, even though he seemed pretty happy with that last one.

He asks if she got his text. She says she saw the pic of the shed. He says it was a video, and he pulls it up on his phone faster than I’ve ever seen anyone get a video going.

Lushion says Pete isn’t ready to be his partner. Pete asks if he needs to prove himself and Lushion says, no, just put some more time in. Pete brings up the tape, and Lushion says that he needs to make the boss think it’s his idea and to quit talking about it. Ben is listening in.

Natalie shames Faun and Joey some more. When she asks if they’re in love, Faun says yes and Joey says no. Ouch! Faun tries to backtrack, but Natalie is too wise for that. She says she got pregnant the same way. Not on a burger place counter, but as a teenager who thought she was in love. Faun is like, can I please go? and Natalie suggests she get the morning after pill. Joey says it was only one time like once isn’t enough.

Randal (the real Randal) gets home from work, and Mama Louise asks if he’s been avoiding her. Um, no, he had to go to work. He tries to make excuses for his own stupid behavior, and to her credit, Louise is having none of it and says she’ll slap him silly if he tries that again. She wants him to admit how wrong he was, and he’s having a really tough time with that. Marcie is listening on the steps, and she looks great for someone who’s been drinking and crying for days. Louise tells Randal that she’s never been that crazy about Marcie, but Marcie’s got an ally now. Randal tries to blame Marcie. Oooh, he says Brad and Marcie “slept with” each other and Louise says “they weren’t sleepin’.” She says he reaped what he sowed by Brad and Marcie doing it in the shed. Whoa. Now she says she wishes she’d had the guts to do the same thing to Randal’s father and make him watch. She says he’s disgusting and she taught him better. She tells him to get it together and goes back to plumping the pillows. Wow. Hang on to this mother…in-law. Now it’s Randal who asks how long she’ll be staying. Hahahahaha! Great scene! Tyler Perry is the best at this stuff.

Travis calls Kelly and she tells him to get lost. There’s a knock at the door and she’s ready to tell him off, but it’s Ramsey. Who’s better looking and seems to have a normal IQ. He says he’s not doing well dealing with his mother’s death. He tells Kelly what a great person she was and that he wishes Kelly had known her. He asks if Travis is her baby daddy and she says no. He says he’s going to sell the house and she suggests Marcie as a realtor, but adds to call first before he goes over there. <snort!>

Ramsey says he never knew his father. He says there’s nothing like that mother/son thing. I’ll take his word for it. He gives her his number to give to Marcie and a hug good-by

Eddie is lurking outside of the minimart where he’s sent Ben to find out about the tape. They figure Pete took it and Eddie tells Ben to toss Pete’s desk. Yeah, that’s where I’d be keeping it. In my desk right where these guys can get it.

Esperanza calls Kelly, and after a lot of girl, oh girl, stuff, Marcie tells her she has the hots for Ramsey. Thought so. And it’s about time she shook that weirdo Travis. Although I do want to find out what’s up with him and his mother.

Oh come on. Pete is dubbing the tape onto a DVD at work. Maybe he is stupid. Esperanza asks what’s up and Pete says he’s working on a case. Esperanza says don’t let the boss catch him, because if it was really a case, they wouldn’t have given it to him. Ben pops up and Esperanza says Pete is working on something top secret. She’s joking around, but I’m sure that made Ben sweat a little. Ben asks Pete out for a beer, and Pete is like, no way, you’re not bullying me into a beer this time.

The doctor doesn’t think Eddie should go back to work. Eddie says that every day he’s not on the street, the doctor leaves his wife and daughter open to being raped. I’m sure this is a veiled threat and the doctor is more than happy to let him go. As he’s leaving, Eddie sees Alex. An old lady in a wheelchair is nearby, and Eddie takes some flowers right out of her hands to give Alex. This is pretty funny, especially the look on the lady’s face. Alex is nursing the baby and Eddie comes in with the flowers. She does not want him there. He says they’re cousins and she says they’re nothing and to get out. He sees the baby’s toes and gets loud and freaky. I guess he didn’t know the baby is Randal’s.

Next week, Eddie confronts Brad about the baby’s parentage, and throws Pete up against a locker. And Randal throws a fit. Nothing new there.

General Hospital

Elizabeth, who I hate with a passion, wakes up to a red rose and sweet letter from Jason, who wants her to make chocolate chip pancakes and marry him today. Because it’s November 6, the day after Halloween. I know I keep harping on this, but where is the consistency here?

Lulu is cleaning up The Haunted Star, when Olivia comes in and says it looks like a bomb went off. Lulu says the only thing that exploded was her marriage.

Kiki wakes up from her drunken, destructive night and Morgan Is there. I guess she doesn’t even realize she caused an accident, because we see Carly unconscious in her car. A friend of mine said she’d better hobble to that wedding and tell everyone about Jason, and I agree.

Jake has a surprise for Elizabeth. Ha! So does someone else – eventually. Jake says he’s going to cook the breakfast. (So what was up with that note?) He slept on the couch last night to bring them good luck. He says everything is going to be perfect today and I LOL.

Michael, in Sonny’s social center hospital room, has been trying to get ahold of Carly, but he’s getting voice mail. Sabrrrina is there, but says she has to jet to help out the bride. Michael tells Sonny that he asked her to marry him, but she turned him down.

Morgan is being uncharacteristically gallant and nursing Kiki’s hangover. He asks if she remembers anything and she says no. Franco comes in and asks Morgan what he did to Kiki.

The ever-present, unwanted Valerie, comes to Dante and Lulu’s apartment looking for Lulu. That will be just great if Lulu decides to come back and finds her there. She tells Dante that Dillon played the DVD on purpose, but it’s really her fault because she should have kept her mouth shut. That’s right, you homewrecker.

Lulu tells Olivia that she should talk to Dante to get the story, but then tells her that Dante cheated on her with Valerie. Olivia is aghast and asks what happens now. My vote is for her to divorce that cretin. Lulu says she doesn’t know. Olivia says she knows Dante loves Lulu with all his heart. Lulu is like, I don’t think so. This probably isn’t what she needs to hear right now. Olivia says it’s probably a bad time to act on her feelings. Lulu says that Dante’s plan was to have her, Rocco and the new baby, and Valerie on the side. Okay, I don’t know about that, and we’ve seen what jumping to conclusions does.

Epiphany shows up at Elizabeth’s house with the bridesmaids, while Carly is screwing with her seatbelt. She can’t get it undone and yells for help.

Sonny can’t figure out how on earth Sabrrrina wouldn’t want to marry such a perfect male specimen as Michael and says it must be because of him.

Franco goes off on Morgan, who for once is only doing the right thing. He says Morgan better be gone by the time he gets back. Kiki obviously doesn’t remember a thing, but says she will eventually. Morgan says it can’t wait. I guess he must know she had an accident, but neglected to check around to see if there was another car involved.  Honestly, I’m too old for this; my heart can’t take it. My mind wanders during the commercial break and I wonder if Spinelli has a warranty on that laptop.

Morgan asks Kiki what the last thing is that she remembers. She tells him that she was at The Haunted Star and throws shade at Darby. Morgan tells her they argued, she left, he went looking for her and found her passed out in her car. He says there’s more and Franco comes back saying some idiot sideswiped his car.

Carly, still stuck in her seatbelt, is trying to reach her phone which is thismuch out of reach.

Jake gets the message from Carly. It’s obvious it’s important he call her back. The girls are all about the wedding, and Elizabeth says how lucky they are. Oh, Epiphany is talking about her gorgeous boyfriend, Milo, so could we have some storyline for her please? Blah-blah-blah about what a great guy Jake/Jason is for marrying someone with three kids.

Michael tells Sonny it has nothing to do with him, and that if anyone put a wrench in things, it might have been Carly. Sonny says he’ll work on Carly, and Michael should work on Sabrrrina. Olivia comes busting in with the news about Dante.

Valerie says she should withdraw from the police academy because she broke the rules. You’re right. And please move to Outer Mongolia where you’re at it. Dante says it’s his fault and puts his hand on Valerie’s shoulder. Of course Lulu picks that moment to come in. What did I say? I make several loud noises and once again startle my dogs who have no concept of soap operas and the angst they can create. Lulu made a great face though. I swear, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, this is so good, and I love this show so much right now. It’s like everything good in a soap coming together at once. I will say, although I was getting impatient, they knew what they were doing. Except for that November 6 thing.

Michael wants to know what Dante had to say for himself. Olivia says she only talked to Lulu, but it was a very public revelation. Sonny says Dante was supposed to talk to Lulu, and Olivia is like what?!

Lulu says if she wants to talk about her husband, it won’t be with his whore. HA! Oh Lord, Valerie says something about Lulu’s responsibility and that it’s her fault it was all set in motion, and that she needs to recognize her culpability. She needs to leave now. Dante even tells her she needs to leave now. Valerie says what’s more important, her pride or her family? When she leaves, Dante says they were both waiting for Lulu, and that he hates himself for what he did. He says he doesn’t know what’s going to happen with them, and Lulu says neither does she. He wants to sit around and talk about it, but she says it doesn’t seem like her home anymore, it seems like a crime scene.

Franco is going on about his car and I can’t believe he doesn’t have a clue that Kiki might have been driving it. He’s off to call someone, and Kiki asks if she’s the one who wrecked the car. Morgan tells her yes, and she needs to fess up. He says she’s lucky he found her since she had an open bottle of liquor with her, and adds it’s lucky she didn’t hit somebody. She remembers the moment just before the accident.

Carly’s phone is ringing and I make more noises. Oh, now she remembers there are scissors in the glove box. Jake leaves a message and hangs up. She finally gets the phone. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CALL HIM BACK NOW!

Commercial break. These kids are eating baked beans and say mom forgot to give them vegetables. Please don’t tell me, that in the age of Google and Bing, that kids don’t know a bean is a vegetable. Please. Toddlers know what a freakin’ bean is.

Olivia says Sonny gave Dante bad advice by telling him he should tell Lulu. What? She says everyone would have been better off if no one had known.  Well yeah, but too many people knew already, so that suggestion is no help whatsoever.

Dante offers to leave, but Lulu says she doesn’t want to stay there. She shoves the wedding invitation at him and says he should go because she doesn’t believe in marriage anymore.

Epiphany is having a game smack down with the kids while everyone gets ready. Felix says she’s doing God’s work, and she tells him don’t forget it when he ties the knot. She doesn’t want to be passed over again for maid of honor, adding, and by Patrick no less. I love her and wish she was on the show more.

Michael and Jake/Jason wonder where Carly is, and come to the stupid conclusion she’s off getting her hair done.

Morgan tells Kiki that crawling into a bottle isn’t the answer. He tells her to get some rest. Is no one going to check the accident site??? Kiki again remembers yelling something at the other driver, but says it’s fuzzy. It’s not that fuzzy. Say something, dammit! Franco goes off on Morgan again and says he doesn’t need to be easing his conscience there. Man, normally I’d agree, but not today.

They’re going to string this out until Friday, aren’t they? Heaving huge sigh. This is just stressful.

Valerie goes back to The Haunted Star looking for Dillon and has a reverie about her and Dante. She starts crying and I couldn’t care less.

There’s a song part (bleh) and montage where Sonny is texting Dante, Lulu is packing her and Rocco’s stuff, Dante is looking pitiful, Kiki is having donuts with Franco, and Carly is trying to call Jake/Jason back.

We end with Jake/Jason picking up the phone and saying, “Carly?”

From tomorrow’s preview, it looks like they’ll be focusing on other characters and slam this thing home on Friday. November 6. The day after Halloween.

Little Women LA – Reunnion Part 2

When we left the women, Michaela has entered the fray. The moderator asks what’s up with the nude pics that Matt sent to her. We flash back to when Terra outed him last season for sexting another women, and Briana insisted that she knew already. Michaela is a married woman and says she was separated at the time. She claims her conscience was bothering her and that’s why she sent the pics to Briana and the other ladies. I believe it if you believe it.

Michaela says she thinks Matt has a fetish issue. Terra says he hit on her first and Matt gets a little nasty. Terra says that Briana had a lot of complaints about Matt’s treatment of her, but Briana now insists that’s not so, she was only mad after a fight.

The moderator asks Matt to set at rest what he does for a living, if anything. He says he saved kids for 9 years, but I don’t know what that means, and he was also a bouncer for what sounds like a pretty dicey place.

Michaela says Briana deserves better. She goes on about Matt having Black and little people fetishes. Matt goes off that his ex-wife and children, and Briana are not fetishes. Exit Michaela.

We flash back to Terra having her baby, Penny, and also clips that show she “hasn’t lost her spunk.” Britney says she’s two different people and not in a good way. She says that Terra feels that she’s the star of the show and wants to be one everywhere. Britney says that Terra likes to start stuff and acts like she’s never wrong. Terra says she has admitted she was wrong and had apologized to Briana for something I can’t remember.

The moderator asks Briana if it’s been a challenge (translation: pita) having a relationship with Matt when her family hasn’t been supportive. She had some kind of get together where her parents didn’t show because she’d only known him a short time, and what was the point. Wow. Briana’s sister joins the group.

Briana’s sister feels like Matt has encouraged Briana to distance herself from the family and that she’s lowered her standards. She says at this point, her parents are willing to meet Matt. Matt says he’s never asked her to not be with her family. The moderator asks if everyone is ready to accept Matt and Tonya said she did when Briana said she was married.

Terra asks if they’re thinking of having children. Since they’re only using the withdrawal method for birth control, I’d say they’re not preventing it. When the moderator asks Briana’s sister if she thinks they should have children, you can hear a pin drop. Jasmine says who cares, Matt gives her a high five and bye-bye Briana’s sister.

The focus goes next to Terra and Christy’s tumultuous friendship. Christy and Terra talk about each other’s lifestyle changes. The moderator asks for Briana’s opinion and she says that she and Christy drifted away from each other. Christy says something about Briana not liking that she and Terra are friends again, but Briana says that’s not the case. We go back to Briana lying about being married. Tonya says that when you hide something, it means you’re unsure of it yourself. Elena, who’s been pretty quiet, says that it was obvious no one liked Matt, so that’s why Briana chose to keep her marriage to herself. I tend to think she didn’t want to get flack from everyone, or it’s possible she thought they’d talk her out of it. Christy says she was hurt that Briana even discussed what kind of wedding she wanted when she was already married.

Now the men join in. We go down Elena’s Memory Lane about her vow renewal ceremony, which was more like the wedding she never had, and how Briana spoiled It a little with her marriage announcement at the bachelorette weekend, taking the attention away from Elena. Elena says that when she watched the episode, she could see that Briana was upset about the vow renewal. Elena asks why she didn’t wait if she wanted all the pomp and circumstance. Briana says she didn’t mean to steal any thunder and Terra’s husband Joe makes blah-blah-blah hand gestures.

On to reliving the couple’s retreat, although why we want to, I don’t know. The moderator asks how the guys feel about Matt calling their ladies “bitches.” Since they’ve shown this clip before every commercial break, I feel like this question has been asked 10 times already. Christy says it’s a misogynist word and I don’t totally get that, since it’s thrown around everywhere these days. I also don’t see why if someone is being called names, they’re not allowed to retaliate, male or female.

The moderator asks for a final opinion from the guys, and everyone is vague except Joe who says he doesn’t know and doesn’t care.

Elena says she learned that her family and friends are more important than circumstances being perfect; Tonya says she learned to be open to new friendships; Jasmine says she needs to be careful who she gets close to, since they’re all so nosey; Briana says she learned not to lie and that the most important thing is sticking by each other in the end; Terra says it’s her first time on the show as a mother, and maybe she shouldn’t be so blunt.

They have a sneak peek of Little Women Atlanta and I wonder what happened to the NYC girls. Atlanta seems like the same show, except feistier with fewer blondes.

Million Dollar Listing: LA

JoshA is checking out a property that, besides the required amazing view, has all kinds of cool built-in lighting. As usual, there’s the argument about the price. The builder/owner wants to go higher than Josh thinks will work. The owner sees the wisdom in what Josh has to say. He’s leaving for Moscow and wants Josh to be his eyes and ears, and be able to call him 24/7, to which Josh agrees.

David is showing James a place that he originally was having built as an investment property, but he and his girlfriend, Adrienne, now want to call it home. It has 23 foot ceilings and is pretty incredible overall. James thinks he should stick to the original plan and sell it. Zoning laws have changed, and this kind of house can no longer be built and is at a premium. I say why not wait. The resale should still be good 10 years from now because there will never be any others built. David says he and Adrienne are emotionally attached to it.

JoshF has a client who wants to downsize. Amazingly, they agree on a price. But she’s not ready to sell it yet. She wants to find a new house first, which I can understand. She gives Josh a laundry list of what she wants in a house, as well as her price range. She says if he finds her the right house, he’s got a sale. It’s both or nothing.

James is meeting with a New York based client. He’s renovating his house and it looks like a movie star house from the 60s. Did James just say $60 million? Yes, he did. The client isn’t interested in selling though, he’s looking to buy commercial space on Sunset. Apparently, this is nearly impossible. He’s looking to spend a load of money too and these brokers will do anything for a sale.

JoshA says the client has been calling him non-stop and the house isn’t even on the market yet. For the brokers’ open house, Josh has brought in models to create living art, scenarios that show how the house can be lived in. There’s everything from a couple in bed (hush and get your mind out of the gutter) to a group doing yoga poses in the backyard. One guy isn’t crazy about the kitchen appliances, but I am.

Madison, from another season, and his client walk in. He and JoshA don’t exactly get along. Both Josh and his fiancé once worked for him. When Josh left to go on his own, Heather stayed behind and Josh says Madison didn’t give her the commissions he was supposed to. Josh thanks Madison because he says if Madison hadn’t ripped Heather off, he wouldn’t have gotten the girl.

Madison said they’re a couple of liars, so they’re perfect for each other. Madison explains something about her contract that I fail to understand. They move on to discussing the house. The client makes an offer to Josh that’s about half a million too low.

JoshF says what his client is looking for is difficult because her list is so long, but he’s riding his unicorn around trying to find it. He’s sending her a bunch of listings so she can get a feel for what’s out there.

James and David are having a double-date. James’s wife asks how the house plans are going and James asks if they’d sell if the price was right. David’s girlfriend says they’re moving in six weeks. James is looking toward the future for them, but Adrienne is like no way, I’m in love with that house. Meh. I’d take the money.

Oooh! David has 2 basset hounds, but also a teeny weeny Chihuahua. I don’t remember him having a Chi. Maybe it belongs to the girlfriend.

JoshA shows his client a house with floor to ceiling windows and a gourmet kitchen and a lot of other things I could only dream about. It’s another house that’s right on the water. The tide comes right up to the patio. She says the neighbors are a little close (they are), and she wants a “dry beach.” Josh says she’ll have to pay for a dry beach. In his individual interview, Josh says he wishes he’d known she wanted a dry beach it would have been nice to know that in the beginning (I agree).

JoshA and Heather are hanging out with their two cute, little, but not Chi, dogs, eating crackers and hummus. Josh tells Heather about Madison and his client. Heather says she’s moved on. Josh seems like he hasn’t, but says a bunch of mature stuff. I’m guessing that Josh and Madison will be arguing soon.

James says he has called every owner on Sunset and he can’t find a property. He decides to take the client to an up and coming area and force him to look. James tells him he’s called 30 owners and no one will sell. The client does not care about any of this. It’s Sunset or no. So James takes him to another place. The client won’t even get out of the car. So James takes him to a third location. The client says it’s great for something else, but not what his specific project is. He says he has a month and if James can’t show him something appropriate, not to show him anything. He also makes noises about bringing in another broker.

JoshA decides there are people in LA that he’d rather have as friends than enemies. He asks James to meet him for dinner. In an earlier episode, Josh created quite a stink at an open house James was having, so James balks. Josh apologizes for his behavior. James practically falls out of his chair.

Next week, Larry Flynt. And it looks like JoshA’s client is going to bring James in as a broker.

October 6, 2015 — GH, Wrong Loving, a Couch & a Squall

Standard

What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

General Hospital

Is it Friday yet? Sleeping Beauty Sonny wakes up, while Ava and Julian take baby Avery out to dinner to celebrate her homecoming. I have the feeling Avery is probably ready for surf ‘n’ turf or at least lo mien.

“Jake” picked up Elizabeth’s phone while she was in the bathroom and knows she got a call from Hayden. Well, it probably has Nicholas’s number, so who knows what he must be thinking.

Kiki whines to Franco that she has nothing to do and no one to do it with. He suggests she move into Silas’s apartment with him and Nina, but Nina’s not too keen on that idea and I don’t blame her. Who wants this millennial whiner around them? Let’s see, she’s gorgeous, has money (I’m sure Silas left her some and she has the apartment) and is halfway intelligent (although not much evidence of that lately). Can’t she find somewhere to go? I’ve found her annoying for a while, but it could just be that I miss Kristen Alderson. A lot. Nina also doesn’t want to live in the “death apartment.” Again, good luck finding one that isn’t in Port Charles.

“Jake” says he wasn’t snooping, but he wanted to know what call upset Elizabeth so much. Patrick and Sam show up announcing their engagement, and Elizabeth is happier than they are. Patrick and Elizabeth get called to the hospital to deal with Sonny. Sam complains a little about significant others who are doctors and nurses, and have to go to work at a moment’s notice. Sounds good to me. Maybe not so much with nurses, but marrying a doctor must be great. They’re never home and they make a lot of money. Whoa. “Jake” has an amazing memory for things other than his identity. He remembered the phone number he saw on Elizabeth’s phone and has Sam look it up on her tablet.

Laura shows up at Windermere, and is wondering what’s up with Hayden being there. Nicholas has given Hayden some baloney about how Helena told her who Jake is, but not him. Okay. Like anyone is stupid enough to believe that. Elizabeth calls Nicholas and he seems to think that Hayden doesn’t remember anything. Does this mean he’s believing Hayden or falling for her? Hayden is hip to the fact that she’s making Laura nervous, and says she’ll find somewhere else to live. Seriously? Doesn’t this house have like 110 rooms? They never even have to see each other. Laura says it’s okay and that Hayden should stay.

Kiki gives a lot of exposition for new viewers as to what’s happened up until now with Nina, under the guise of telling Nina how sorry she is. No one talks like this IRL and it always makes me laugh. I’m not crazy about Nina’s dress. I love the style, but it’s some kind of cherry blossom pattern or something that looks like streaks of blood.

Paul says the same thing that every politician says when they get in office – he got left with a mess. He and Tracy discuss how reliable information from Michael might be. It’s probably about as reliable as information from anyone on this show. Paul says he’s going to talk to Michael. Fat lot of good this will do him.

I got confused for a second when Carly tells Sonny he had a seizure when they were about to get married. I’d totally forgotten they decided to do it in the hospital. Patrick tells Sonny that anxiety is a common side effect of anesthesia. Really? I’ve only had it once and it was the best sleep I ever had. He tests Sonny’s reflexes and I wonder if those are fake feet, because Sonny doesn’t react and I don’t know if anyone is that good of an actor. It’s making me move my feet. I’m still wondering why Sonny thought “Jake” was Jason, since they really look nothing like each other. (I’d also swear “Jake” was shorter, but I’ll let that pass.) Was it something in “Jake’s” eyes, or did Sonny wake up psychic? That would be a fun plotline. He could get together with Olivia and they could start a business.

Nina is like, no way am I moving in with Kiki, but Franco wants to do the right thing, with a side benefit of bugging Ava. I love these two together because they’re more fun than corny. Roger Howarth is aging well and looking handsome. He doesn’t seem to be the type who’d get Botox or something, so good. Kiki shows up at (I guess) The Floating Rib where Julian and Ava are. Ava wants to make peace, but Kiki just wants to drink. I hear you, Kiki. How many earrings is Kiki wearing? It looks like 4 or 5. Kiki throws back the rest of her drink and storms off.

How is it that “Jake” is so damn smart, but can’t figure out even one clue as to who he really is?

Back at the ranch Silas’s apartment, Kiki is back and Nina says they’re all going to be one big happy family there, making Kiki, the audience, and probably Franco, wondering when her change of mind happened.

Nicholas tells Laura he “has feelings for” Hayden. I hate that phrase. It makes me cringe inside. Laura wonders how well it’s going to go, since he tried to have Hayden killed a few months ago. Nicholas says that a guy has the right to change his mind. Not really, but that sounded good.

Geez, Sonny isn’t awake 10 seconds before Carly is pushing for another marriage ceremony. Patrick has told him it’s too early to tell if he’ll be able to walk again, and he doesn’t want to marry her until he finds out. Way to stall.

If Loving You Is Wrong

Major flashback episode from when Alex and Brad moved into the neighborhood. Marcie and Randall welcome them and the couples get together for an evening of drinking.  They do some dancing in Alex and Brad’s living room. I always find this kind of thing a little weird, since nobody does this IRL unless it’s a party. Afterwards, after Marcie & Randall leave, Alex wants to get all lovey dovey, and ditto the other two at their house. They keep showing us the clock and I’m not sure why. Uh-oh, something went wrong at Alex and Brad’s. They’ve finished before they started and she does not look happy. OMG – Alex is looking out the window and sees the other couple. Quick like a bunny, Randall closes the curtains, but not before he sees Alex catching a glimpse. This is another thing I don’t think people do in real life, unless they’re voyeurs. Speaking for myself, I can’t think of one neighbor I’ve ever had that I’d want to catch in flagrante. Nope. Not one. And I’ve had quite a few neighbors.

Randall sees Alex outside the next morning and says, sorry, they’re used to the house being empty. I can actually relate to this. I once lived on the top floor of an apartment building in Queens. When they decided to go co-op, as renters left, they stopped renting out apartments. For over a year, it was just me and a single gay man on my floor, and I got used to doing things like taking the garbage out in my underwear. I had to be really careful to check myself when new people finally started moving in.

We jump to a few years later. Both Marcie and Brad are at work and Randall goes over to see Alex. He says he’s been hugging her a little too long at the end of the night when they double-date, adding that it seems to be reciprocal. I’m actually feeling a little sick to my stomach, since I know what the outcome is going to be. Randall says he’s seen her peeping at them when they’re going at it. Hmm…why are they still leaving the curtains open? When people moved into my apartment building, I stopped taking out the garbage half-naked. Alex wisely tells him to get lost. Obviously, we know this doesn’t last. Then he goes to kiss her good-by. Alex rebuffs him, but he’s still going on about their chemistry. One of the reasons I’ve never liked Randall is that he can’t take a hint.

For whatever reason, Randall is helping Alex paint a room. They’re getting a little too close while opening a stuck window, and her parents show up! They’re from Deliverance, which is a surprise to me. Her father isn’t happy that Brad isn’t American, and then Randall, who is African American, comes bounding down the stairs without his shirt on. OMG, he calls Randall “a darkie.” So her father is a racist from the backwoods and her mother is a doormat. They leave and good riddance. Alex goes to find Randall and I see where this is headed. They had lots of sex in the shed and that’s where Alex finds him.

Alex is mortified. They hug and, Oh my Tyler Perry!

Alex is dreaming all this and wakes up saying Randall’s name. And Brad is sitting there. Brad says he’s going to make her life hell from now on. I swear, Tyler Perry produces the best soaps ever. The episode endings are nothing short of soapticiously fabulous.

The People’s Couch

I am so glad this show is back. And for an hour this time. I honestly think it’s one of the funniest things on TV. Maybe ever. The simple, and cheap for Bravo, premise is several groups of people watching TV in their respective homes, everything from Empire (a show I would love to indulge in, but I can’t watch everything) to The Real Housewive,  and making comments to each other while they watch. That’s pretty much what I do here. Which is why I need to be on this show, even if I talk to myself.

There are a pair of sisters who are also roommates; three gay guys who are best friends; a pair of sisters who aren’t roommates; a couple and their two teenage sons; female best friends and writing partners, one is gay and one is straight (my personal favorites – and they have 3 little dogs); a dad and his three adult daughters; three older retired ladies; and another couple and their teenage son.

Each group is very funny, and are people you’d love to hang out with. I literally laugh out loud every other minute.

Oooh, we get a sneak peek Teresa’s phone call home from The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Below Deck

Back at the schoolyard…I mean, yacht, Rocky has given Emile a note saying she just wants to be friends. Because they are both huge babies. I would hate to work with these two.

The primary guests are a brother and sister (Tracy and Mark) and their spouses. There’s another girl who I assume is someone’s daughter. Right away, in her individual interview, Connie says something snarky about the girl’s appearance. I don’t like that. Yeah, I know I do it sometimes, but I’m not getting a ten thousand dollar tip. If you’re giving me ten grand, I won’t knock your sweater.

The weather is pretty breezy and a storm is coming. A lobster fishing expedition is cut short and they head back to shore. Chef Leon is a real drag, but the gusts are happy with his dishes. The centerpiece is gorgeous too. I’m sure that’s the fun part of the job for the stews, getting to do the creative stuff. New deckhand, Dane, is on anchor watch. It’s been stressed a few times that falling asleep is a huge no-no, which makes me wonder if that’s what’s going to happen, but it doesn’t.

The next day is nicer, so the jet skis are put in the water. Immediately, the first guest out runs over a line and sucks it into the propeller, thus taking more precious time away from outdoor activities. Squalls are coming through. Dane is supposed to get the line un-entangled and is just making more of a mess. Captain Lee is losing patience with this guy quickly. At first, he seemed like a hard worker, but he’s acting more and more like Spicoli from Fast Times At Ridgemont High.

Mark has brought his own wine and wants a tasting menu to go with it. Chef Leon has ordered food from the mainland – groceries, not McDonald’s – and more time is wasted going to pick up his order. The meat is frozen solid. I guess Leon should have been more specific or planned better. Because Kate didn’t have the menu info, everything else got hung up. I understand her frustration with this. I hate when I have to wait for someone to finish their part before I can do my part and they lollygag. Even worse, as Kate has explained earlier, it’s the domino effect – if one person flounders, it goes on down the line and affects everyone.

Captain Lee is dining with the guests. He’s not impressed with Leon’s food, but hopefully, the guests are. Mark seems to have a pretty sophisticated palette. Amy and Kate are super pissed off about Leon taking his sweet time with the whole thing and not caring about them or the guests. Chef Leon makes an appearance and the guests seem happy with his work. Apparently, he should be wearing a jacket to do this and says he doesn’t give a flying. Kate finally calls him out for being the jerk that he is. He says he’ll try to let her know sooner next time, but not to hold her breath. Then he just goes on and on and on about how he doesn’t like Kate and making veiled threats. This guy is the worst. I wouldn’t want to work with him either. Rocky thinks it’s all very funny and I want to slap her.

16 large this week! And because the yacht owners have gotten good feedback about the crew, they’ve been given a freebie night at a resort. Captain Lee gives Dane a mini lecture on responsibility, but he knows it’s going in one ear and out the other. Good job whoever used the words “tax free” in regard to the tip. Shut up.

Dane gets seriously hammered while on the boat on their night off. Ugh! He’s a messy drunk too. I hate that.

Next week looks pretty good. Dane makes more of an idiot of himself and the guests aren’t happy with Chef Leon. And Eddie and Rocky hook up? I’m hoping that one is a dream.

September 29, 2015 — GH, Some Soap, Renewing Vows & Sorority Sisters

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What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

 

General Hospital

No matter how many years these people live, they’re never going to understand that when doctors are working on an emergency, you really shouldn’t get in their way.

Poor Carrrlos. He lives on in scapegoat spirit anyway. Ha-ha! Anna is walking around like a zombie, because she knows the truth, and Sloane just used her pic on his phone as a coaster. Nicholas continues to amaze me in that I kind of like him now, after years of thinking of him as wallpaper. Hayden has brought a lot out in him, like sleaziness and cunning, but also his fun side. I really hope they stay together and wreak havoc on Port Charles.

Paul makes a “Hmmm…” face when Michael tells him that Ava said Carrrlos was the shooter. I don’t know if it’s “Hmmm…why didn’t I think of that?” or “Hmmm…I’m going to kill her for not doing what I said.” And why did Paul act surprised when the charges against Julian for conspiracy were brought up? As DA and the new crime boss, he should be up-to-date on that, especially since he wants to blame Julian for everything.

I start getting anxious whenever I see the words, “breaking news” now.

Is Ava going to change her clothes today? When was the last time she had a shower? Julian isn’t buying that Ava is replacing him at the mob table out of the goodness of her heart.  Now Sloane is drunkenly harassing Hayden and Nicholas while they’re eating dinner at The Floating Rib. He’s looking a little better now that they fixed his hair.

Back at the Asian restaurant (Noodle Buddha?), “Jake” and Sam have renewed their vows. Sam says she’s ready to leave Jason behind. Oh boy, does she have a surprise coming. Although I wouldn’t want to hang as long as it’s taking to come.  Sam does a whole riff on the figurines and decides to leave them at the restaurant.

The blood clot traveled to Sonny’s brain. Maurice Benard’s contract is up and he hasn’t signed a new one yet, so we’ll see how the next surgery goes.

Paul is going blah-blah-blah at Anna when Sloane calls and insists on speaking with him. Looks like he’s going to spill Anna’s beans about Carrrlos. I was almost liking him, but unless he’s going to say he did it, that’s pretty low. Nope, he’s not. Now Paul is staring at Anna with laser beam eyes. I’ll bet he’s not going to have her arrested though. He’s probably going to use this info to his advantage. And didn’t Sloane’s name/number pop up on the precinct’s caller ID? Although it does look like they have a phone from the 70s. Times is tough everywhere.

Ava tells Julian she’s always dreamed about running the organization, which is news to me and probably everyone else. “Every little girl’s dream,” Julian says. Hey, it beats pushing a baby carriage. Julian says he should probably find a new place to live. He should have found a new place ages ago. Aren’t these two in their 40s? Why are they living together anyway?

Paul meets with Sloan who gives him a key to the safe deposit box where Carrrlos’s ID and wallet are, along with the gun that shot him. I could have sworn they just pushed him into the river, but okay. Paul then shoots Sloane. That was quick. I don’t know what a great mob boss he’s going to make. He probably should have verified that first. What if the only thing in the box is Sloane’s dirty underwear?

As Sonny is prepped for surgery, the burning question in all of our minds is, how much of a raise did he ask for?

If Loving You Is Wrong

If you love old school soap opera, this one’s for you. While The Haves & The Have Nots is more reminiscent of Dallas or Dynasty, If Loving You Is Wrong is more the Ryan’s Hope of the Tyler Perry dramas. The opening credits hearken back to the soaps of the 70s, with romantic shots of the main characters. They all live on the same street, which makes it easy for them to get into each other’s business. The street set is wonderful. The houses look almost cartoonish, all painted in bright colors with gingerbread trim. It also reminds me of the old lonely hearts comic books that I used to sneak into the house when I was a kid.

The new season just started, so it’s easy to catch up. It’s not like this is rocket science.

Alex is married to Brad, but had an affair with Randal. Randal is married to Marcie. There was a big whoop-de-do when the affair was revealed by Marcie at Brad’s surprise birthday party. It was a surprise all right. At the end of last season Brad was furious, Alex just had a baby, Marcie became a drunk and Randal was still trying to get into Alex’s pants. Not in the delivery room, but I wouldn’t have been surprised. I’m not sure what she sees in him, since he’s annoying and a bit intimidating, but he does have a rockin’ bod. In today’s episode, we finally saw the baby, and yep, it’s Randal’s. I forgot to mention that Randal is African American; Alex and Brad are both Caucasian.

Kelly lives next door to Alex and Brad. She’s a single mother, but bought the house in anticipation of getting married to Travis. He was on some mission in a foreign country, but when he came back, he was engaged to someone else. He says he still loves Kelly and wants to be with her, so obviously there’s a piece missing to this puzzle. His mother appears to wield some power over him as well. He also seems a little off, but I don’t know if there’s something to that or it’s just me. Kelly is playing with him, trying to hurt him, but I think she really still loves him.

Edward is a dirty cop who used to be with Esperanza, but he’s also a bully and needs to know what she’s doing every waking moment, which is why they broke up. They can’t seem to leave each other alone though.

Lushion is a good cop who was partners with Edward. Edward had also been in Afghanastan, and Lushion suggested PTSD is Edward’s problem, but Edward shrugged it off, acted like an a-hole, and is now being investigated by the department. Lushion is also in love with Natalie, and the two of them are the voices of reason on the show. Joey is Natalie’s son, who works at a burger place (Natalie is the manager), but has dabbled with gangs who are now after him. The burger place was totally shot up last season.

That should bring you up to speed.

My Fab 40th

The party planner is making 15 grand? I missed my calling. This show is all about rich people’s problems. I guess a lot of them are, but it would be nice to see some people who can’t afford to drop 100k on a birthday party. Where’s the Loud family when you need them?

The couple in this episode (it’s her birthday) are New Yorkers, but if I didn’t know that, I’d swear they were from Los Angeles. They don’t act like any New Yorkers I know. Maybe they got gentrified along with the neighborhood they live in. This party is basically a re-do of their wedding because the original happened when they weren’t so flush. Both of them are lawyers, but threw their degrees in the air to start an urban celebrity gossip website. Obviously it did well.

Al Sharpton officiates at the vow renewal ceremony. Every time I see him, I worry about his health. He really looks like he lost too much weight and now his head is too huge for his body.

Below Deck

Eww! Emile “has feelings for” Rocky. Because he’s 12. Eddie wonders what’s wrong with Emile. For one thing, he can’t hold his liquor. (It’s the crew’s night off.)

Eddie’s having problems with his long distance relationship, and his girlfriend keeps contacting her ex. Connie and Rocky get weird with some whipped cream and leave a mess. Eddie leaves a note that the yacht isn’t a frat house. Oddly enough, the next charter’s two primary guests, Bryn and Stacy, are sorority sisters. It’s some kind of reunion.

The guests decide on finger food for lunch, and like Kate says, “We all know how Leon likes change.” Leon has already made a load of hot food, and despite Kate’s really good suggestions on how to turn it into hors d’oeuvres, he starts grumbling and won’t shut up.

The deck hands are making stupid mistakes, and Captain Lee says he has a low tolerance for stupid. Me too. He calls them all to the wheelhouse and pretty much tells them to shape up or ship out.

Chef Leon is “taking a breather” (where? he’s on a boat), and Rocky is going to cook dinner for the crew. This might turn out to be one of those too many cooks situations. The kitchen isn’t that big. Ha-ha! Kate says gazpacho is another word for laziness. Maybe I should try making some, since I’m admittedly a lazy cook. Holy! Rocky just served the crew raw chicken. She must have taken cooking lessons from my maternal grandmother.

The guests want mini cheeseburger sliders and cream cheese brownies for late night snacking. No surprise, this pisses Leon off. Because he has to cook. I have finally found someone lazier than I am in the kitchen. When I’m being paid, I can be quite industrious. Man, I’m even more creative than this guy.

My second eww! of the show – primary guest Stacy is washing down a brownie with a beer. No. Just no.

My second no surprise too. She’s severely hungover the next morning.

It’s time to dock. This is probably the most difficult thing to accomplish, worse than parallel parking in NYC. The crew manages to do it without anyone getting fired. Even though Stacy is still nursing her hangover, she manages to give the captain the tip. BTW, the tip is always split evenly, which seems kind of unfair, but it is what it is. Twelve large this week.

Emile continues to embarrass himself with Rocky. Because he’s 12. Rocky passes him a note. Because she’s 14.

Wow. It looks like it’s going to be a real sh*tstorm next week.

September 22, 2015 — GH, Queens, Tyler Perry & Tequila

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What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

General Hospital

You’d think after all she’s been though, on top of being a Cassadine, Alexis could control her freak out when hearing a gunshot better. Too bad it was Julian who got shot instead of Morgan, although both of them could disappear and I’d be okay with that. Julian is down, but not out yet.

I need some kind of chart or graph to keep what kids are whose straight. Hey, you watch the same show for literally 50 years and let’s see how well you do.

Is Sonny hallucinating or does he know something about Jake being Jason? That would be a real twist, giving Sonny the reveal. Oh, why not? I’d actually hoped for Laura to return and get that job, but since it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, they can draw straws at this point for all I care. Just, please, let’s get to it already.

Commercial break. Oh crap. Once Upon a Time is premiering this weekend. While right now it won’t throw a wrench into Sundays, it will eventually. There always seems to be one day in the week where I have to stay up half the night to catch everything. I still have the finale from last season’s Once in the black hole that is my DVR. Pope Francis is also headed this way, which should make for some stellar traffic jams in the city.

Ha-ha! Elizabeth looks like she’s about to pass out. Good. And seriously, “Jake” doesn’t seem like an idiot. Has it never once crossed his mind that he might be Jason? Or even anyone else from Port Charles?

What the blip is Michael doing, showing up there with no weapon? Even wounded, Julian could probably get away, since Michael and Morgan are so busy blabbing. Michael thinks logic is going to work here. Really? He tells Morgan that Sonny sent him to stop Morgan throwing his life away. We’ll see if Morgan buys it.

Ric (whose name I’ve been spelling wrong) is trying to talk his way back into the good graces of the PC court system. (That would be Port Charles. These days, I realize that might need clarification.) While I don’t like his character all that much, I love the acting skills of Rick Lansing. (Rick playing Ric!) He does a great annoyed and flustered. Paul has replaced Ric as District Attorney. That was quick! My favorite soap character job switch was when Bo from One Life to Live went from being a radio DJ to being Police Commissioner overnight. At least Paul was a lawyer already.

Dillon…Maxie…Dillon’s movie… These are the kinds of storylines I used to fast forward through in the old days, when we taped things on the VCR.

This is pretty good, with Carly playing along with Sonny that “Jake” is Jason. I’m rooting for Elizabeth to have a heart attack. At least she’s already at the hospital.

Holy! Michael’s blathering worked! I want Alexis to stop making those cartoonish soap faces though. Her hair always reminds me of Cruella de Vil as it is. Even though Morgan has packed up his pistol, Michael tells Julian it’s not over because he agrees that Julian had Sonny shot. Boy, would he be surprised to know the truth.

Paul should have been a salesman. I’m ready to throw in with him. “Jake” wants to help out in stopping Morgan (a day late and a dollar short), and Elizabeth is trying to boss him around. Go away already.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKIN’ KIDDING ME. They just broke in to the last 2 minutes of the show to report on the Pope’s plane landing in Washington DC. I mean we’re looking at the plane sitting there and that’s it. He’s probably still sitting in his seat, iPad in hand, not believing that they just cut in to the end of General Hospital. This is almost, but not quite, as bad as when they broke in the day we were finally seeing what happened in Luke’s past. ABC had to make all kinds of apologies that time. Did they learn nothing?

Scream Queens

I’m taking a chance on DVR’ing this, but it’s the finale of The Haves & the Have Nots, so I’m only watching the first hour.

It revolves around a sorority, Kappa something (KKT), and a stalker/killer in a devil outfit. One that looks hot and uncomfortable. Jamie Lee Curtis (always worth watching) is Dean Munch, which leads to jokes that I’m sure shouldn’t be aired before 10 pm. Jamie Lee reminds me of Dean Wormer in Animal House. She hates sororities. Somebody has to put their foot down, and that foot is her. She makes some rule that the sorority has to open its membership to everyone, and brings in a bunch of “misfits,” again reminding me of Animal House.

I’d kill for main (evil) character Chanel #1’s closet. The main (good) character, Liz, wants to join KKT because it’s her dead mother’s legacy. Her dad tells her sororities are like Game of Thrones. Since I had the brilliant idea to go to acting school instead of college, I have no clue about them, but my sister and her peers decided to rebel by ignoring pledge week and sororities. This was in the hippie days when being a non-conformist meant something.

Commercial break. The 5th Wave looks like an incredible movie, but if it’s not even rated yet, this means I could be watching this commercial for the next year. I like Good Day New York, but there’s really nothing they can do to make my mornings “fun.” Just give me coffee.

At the end of the first hour, Chanel #1 has killed Miss Bean, the house maid whom she calls “White Mammy.” The first of Chanel’s “minons” (all named “Chanel” and called by number) is killed by the devil stalker. The dialogue is done by texts between the murderer and the victim, culminating with the victim calling for help via Facebook, rather than calling 911. I’m not sure if this is a comment on the stupidity of people today or their dependence on social media or something else.

This looks like a fun show, although a little risqué to be on at 8. I’m not a prude by any stretch of the imagination, but I am appropriate. And nobody wants to answer kids’ questions before their time.

Tyler Perry’s Temptation Tuesday

This is comprised of his nighttime dramas, The Haves & the Have Nots, and If Loving You is Wrong. Both shows are over-the-top old school style of soap. The main difference being that the latter is totally focused on middle-class families. Most of the characters are doing all right, but there are no real “haves.”

Obviously, I’m not alone in feeling that Tyler Perry has fulfilled a need left by the departure of shows such as Dallas and Dynasty, and given them a fresh spin. They might not be up for any Emmys, but people are tuning in and enjoying these updates on the classics.

Tonight was unusual in that both shows were on back to back. While The Haves & the Have Nots was having its finale, If Loving You is Wrong was starting its new season. Even the beginning credits are reminiscent of the daytime soaps in the 80s and I love it!  It starts the way it ended last season, with a scene that was the height of pure soapiness.

Alex has just had her baby. It’s hanging in the balance whether the father is her Caucasian husband, Brad, or her married African American neighbor, Randall, with whom she was having an affair. (This was all exposed prior to her going into labor.) All of her girlfriends are at the window where you stare at the newborns. They gasp and stare in silence. One of them says the baby is black. Another says, “How are we going to tell Brad”?

“Tell me what?” Brad says, having just walked in behind them.

DUN-DUN-DUNNN!

Below Deck

Leon turns out to be kind of a lazy cook, which I can totally identify with, but I don’t work on a yacht.

It’s not starting off well. Some kind of tequila, that most of the guests have put on their preference sheets, isn’t in stock. Kate explains that a lot of the time, guests list things they never ask for and when something is particularly hard to get, it’s not a priority. She realizes now that it is a priority.

On top of it, the weather is not cooperating, so the guests’ requested water activities won’t be happening. I think I would be just fine, lazing around the yacht, top-of-the-line alcohol, food and service at my beck and call, but apparently some people get bored with that. This makes me take note that I’ve never once seen anyone reading while on these charters. I’ve always taken reading material on vacation.

Does it bother anyone else when, while watching an episode of a show, they air a commercial for next week’s episode of the same show? And add that it’s an “all new episode” when it’s only the third one of the season?

A new deckhand is coming to replace dickweed Don. (Ha-ha! Spell check tried to change that to duckweed. Fie on you, spell check, and I trump your correction.) Rocky is still insane, crying one minute and making up Broadway tunes about laundry the next. I don’t think this girl belongs at this job. Or maybe any job. Hope she can find a rich guy to marry. New guy Dane is too young, surfer dude looking for me, but the girls all think he’s hot.

Kate says it’s not a good sign when the guests go to bed early and would rather sleep than hang out on the boat. A couple of the lady guests try to entice Dane and Emile into the hot tub. Emile plays by the rules of no fraternization, but Dane almost gets in the tub and needs a mini-lecture on how to draw the line between having fun with the guests and having too much fun with the guests.

The weather still sucks, and Kate creates a party for the guests where they play a slightly rude, seafaring version of Twister. Lo and behold, here comes a boat bearing the liquor the guests could so desperately not live without. (The bottle cost $350, but there’s no mention of what the delivery must have cost.) I think these guests are bored because they’re boring. All is well once the booze gets on board. I hate tequila, so I’m failing to see how this was a make or break factor on the charter. I can’t wait to see what the tip is.

Whoa — 25 large! Having to entertain bored, boring people is totally worth it. Captain Lee gives Eddie some advice while they lounge in the hot tub. Eddie needs to get it together with his girlfriend because his mind isn’t totally on his work. The main thing I hear is that Captain Lee is married. Yep. All the good ones are married or gay.

September 4, 2015 — GH & Catching Up

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General Hospital

Now that I finally got nuKiki and TJ down, I wonder who nuSloane is every time I see him.

It’s one of those rare times I agree with Sonny – Charlie is stupid. Does he really think Sonny was born yesterday? He might have come unarmed, but I’m sure arms are right around the corner. TJ’s eyes look like they’re going to pop out of his head. I’d probably look the same if a gun was that close to my face. I’m guessing this episode is going to end with a cliffhanger bang. Who is this guy, Charlie, anyway? A mob renegade? It usually doesn’t end too well for those types, and it’s highly doubtful they’re going to kill off Sonny.

Oooh! Nice cut and color on Olivia! I see there have been new cuts and colors all around. I guess in Port Charles they have hairdresser day where everyone gets it done at once.

I’d like to know how Nicholas got to be a “pillar of the community” when he rarely even leaves Windermere? And when did Anna get this big revelation about Sloane? A lot seems to happen offstage. Is this a police station or a matchmaking operation? Jordon gets involved in a lot of people’s romantic affairs.

“Dressing – Primping – Leaving.”  The Survivor bride motto. Hey, can I buy extravagant gifts and put them on Sonny’s tab? How does Michael think Morgan got a hangover? How quickly we forget.

If aliens were watching daytime TV and saw the commercials, they’d think we’re all a sickly bunch who take a lot of medication. Ironic how difficult it is to get any of the characters to take one pill, even when they’re going off the rails.

Whoa. Wait. What happened? WTF, Sloane? Did something else happen when I blinked? Was Nicholas throwing signs? Stop toying with me & Anna! Not liking nuSloane.

Geez, Charlie turned into a big baby really fast.

Yep, my prediction was right. Not so much psychic as having watched this for 50 years.

The Haves & The Have Nots

Apparently in missing the first half hour on Tuesday, I missed a lot. All the upheaval during Jim’s live interview, after the bombshell dropped that he had 2 sons by one of his maids. Finding out that Veronica was behind his son Ryan’s near-rape in prison after Jim had put him in there to teach him a lesson. (What happened to grounding?) And the piêce de rèsistance, Jim trying to strangle Veronica in a room full of people. Whew!

But wait a second. Didn’t Candace save anything from the millions she got out of Jim? Why does she need a bankroll to prove that she can take car of her son? I love Candace and Oscar (really?) together. I hope he continues to be the nice guy he seems to be. Is that even possible on a show like this?

Now that I’ve seen the beginning, it makes a lot more sense now why Jim wants a “bloodbath.”  I thought he was just being exceptionally crabby.

September 2, 2015 — GH, the Rich, the Small & the Final Four

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The Haves and the Have Nots

This show is just so over-the-top cool! I love these Tyler Perry nighttime soaps because they evoke a revamped 70s/80s style. It’s like he refashioned old-fashioned. The actors must be having a great time with this stuff too.

Last night, I missed the beginning, because I just had to find out what the tip was on rerun of  Below Deck ($12,000), but apparently, the cat is out of the bag that Jim has two illegitimate children by one of his maids, and his popularity just took a nosedive. Jim says he’s “not having a good day,” and this is an understatement. He wants everyone dead.

His business partner friend knows that his wife, Veronica, is on Jim’s death wish list, and he’s having none of that. He tells Jim that if Veronica is harmed, he’ll show him “the like of an enemy [Jim] has never seen.” Them’s fightin’ words. Although I don’t get why David cares so much about her, since a couple of episodes ago, she tried to burn down the house with him in it.

Ah, love.

General Hospital

Aw, Jake. I like him. I just wish they’d get to telling him who he really is. So he can dump Elizabeth like yesterday’s trash. I don’t like her. I never quite understood why all the ladies loved Jason, but nuJason is very lovable.

Anna is back! At one I’d point hoped for a “love triangle” between her, Duke and Sloane, but Duke’s dead and Sloane is MIA, so there goes that. Oh, wait, they’re talking about Sloane, so he must still be around. He’s one good-looking guy, but please, GH, stay away from those buzzcuts. Maybe that’s where Sloane has been, busy growing out his hair.

Nice scene between Morgan and Sonny about the bi-polar issue, although you’d think Morgan would know all this already. BTW, I’m not too crazy about Michael either. “You’re not hung over cuz you’re still drunk.” HAHAHA, Sonny! Been there myself.

I kind of like Nicholas and Hayden, but I’d feel more comfortable with it if I didn’t think he was planning on killing her.

Molly and kid-whose-name-I-can-never-remember should go into the bakery business.  Carly & Sonny’s wedding cake looks fabulous. Whoops! Maybe not. It looks like there’s a group of masked men who just don’t like cake.

MasterChef

Everyone has to make magic from a single ingredient and their “staple pantry box.” Nick says the simplest things are the hardest to execute. I agree. I can’t make a sunnyside up egg for anything. I love Stephen’s goal to have a farm to table business.

Katrina is wearing a bow on her head again, albeit a lot smaller. I’m betting it grows by the end of the season.

Claudia says she had a dream about Gordon and she has a crush on him. Me too. He might act like a screaming mimi a lot of the time, but that’s not because he’s a nasty guy; he’s just passionate about what he does. And granted, maybe some of it is for the camera. He’s actually quite a kind and caring man, and possibly the hardest working man in the food industry. He has at least 4 TV shows, my favorite being BBCAmerica’s The F Word. It’s very different from the other programs like MasterChef, Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares. It’s more of a food variety show, where you get to see where the food comes from, along with some cooking segments and a whole bunch of other stuff. There’s also a contest segment where a celebrity (not a chef) and Gordon compete in making the same dish. And Gordon is not always the winner.

I’m not a bleu cheese lover, but Derrick’s pretzels with bleu cheese look hella good. Claudia wins the first round, but I don’t think her crush has anything to do with it. Oh man, I desperately want their pantry. It has absolutely everything you’d ever need. I love when the winner gets to screw around with the other contestants. This time, Claudia gets to pick her favorite ingredients and one of the others will have to cook with them. A few old timers (winners from previous seasons) have also been invited back to make up baskets for the others. Christine is one of them and one of my favorites. She’s blind and I find her amazing. Nick, who got Claudia’s basket, is totally freaking out.

Katrina seriously screwed up. Undercooked veal. I don’t think that bow is going to save her either. Nick is safe though. For all his freaking out, he had the top dish. Yep, Katrina is going home. The top 4 are Claudia, Stephen, Derrick and Nick. Katrina gets a great consolation prize though. Gordon offers her a culinary trip to France when she’s ready. The bow lives on!

I’m still feeling that Stephen will be the winner. Although seriously, anyone who can hold their own on this show for any amount of episodes – hell, anyone who even made it onto the show – is a winner in my book.

Little Women: Los Angeles

Since MasterChef ran overtime, I missed the first 2 minutes, and tune in to see Tonya and Jasmine hugging it out. Dammit! What were the magic words that made that happen?

It’s a shame that the women aren’t accepting of Briana’s fiancé, Matt. He’s tired of getting the cold shoulder from Briana’s friends and I don’t blame him. While no doubt he has flaws, like Jasmine we’ve only seen Matt treat Briana with respect and love. Jasmine is the only one being cool about it – or not “being all, like uncool” as the Countess would say. If he’s only a fetishest, he’s hiding it pretty well. And he did put a ring on it.

Elena is working with a makeup company and the whatever-they-are seem to be skeptical of her idea of having a mini double-sided brush included in a palette. I’m a palette junkie and I think it’s a fine idea. Their argument is based on the fact that they’ve never manufactured something like that before. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s a good idea to manufacture never-before-done makeup products. Who doesn’t want something new in their makeup wardrobe? This makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Barry Gordy’s son, Kerry, wants to create a hit single for Briana, Christy is going to be in a music video, and Terra’s getting married. These girls are busy! What’s so remarkable about all of them is that, watching them, you would never know the physical struggles they go through. Their challenges go way beyond being small in stature. It seems like every one of them have other physical problems as well. Briana goes to get her hair done and has to put cotton in her ears because getting any water in them can cause 5 days of pain. My admiration grows. Also my awareness of how we all complain about such insignificant things.

Brittney is a dancer, just off of Miley Cyrus’s tour (um….) and is getting an agent. Is everyone’s life more exciting than mine? Those who can’t do, write about it.

Terra’s Little Family

It’s the season finale and time for the wedding. I am so looking forward to this!  Everything is gorgeous, especially the bride. Terra’s father is deceased and I can totally understand the hole that must be in her heart, because I had no father to walk me down the aisle either. Her brother is pinch-hitting though, as my sister did for me, and everything is just beautiful, including tiny flower girl, baby Penny in her wagon, surrounded by flowers. Terra’s dress is perfect, and her pillbox hat with a short veil works well. So does the beige dress/cobalt blue shoe combo for the bridesmaids. Terra’s heel breaks on her way down the aisle, but every wedding needs at least one hitch. For their first dance, Terra has written and recorded her own song. Is there no end to the talents these little women have?

I really love these two and wish them as much happiness as they can handle. In a sea of reality nonsense, they’re a breath of fresh air, and they show us how to handle life’s complications and hardships with grace and maturity, as well as how to do it as a couple. And they literally make me laugh out loud at least twice every episode. They’re the couple you’d love to hang out with IRL. While I totally admit to enjoying the ridiculous arguments and rich people’s problems of The Real Housewives, Terra and Joe are pearls among pebbles.

Million Dollar Listing

It tends to rotate, but now Wednesday is the problematic day of the week for me. The day of the week I have to stay up all night to catch the shows I want to see. So let it suffice to say that I’m glad to see the Los Angeles guys back. My favorite is the New York bunch, but that’s because I know the city so well. But for some reason, I just could not get into the San Francisco group as much. I did get into some of the houses, which were incredible; the brokers, not so much.

Oh, this is good though. The son of the seller of a to-die-for house wants to help out by taking potential buyers on a trip down his own Memory Lane. This guy’s jaw is wired because somebody punched him in the mouth and I understand completely.

Off the watch the finale.

August 26, 2015 — GH, LA & Too Many Cooks Spoiling the Pasta

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What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

The Haves & the Have Nots

For some reason, I thought yesterday was Monday and forgot to watch it. Once again, those reruns came in handy.

I love me some Tyler Perry drama! I’ve always been a fan of him as a person, but sitcoms and Medea just aren’t my thing. When he created this show, I could tell by the previews it was up my alley. If you like the old nighttime dramas like Dallas and Dynasty, and you’re not watching this (and its counterpart, If Loving You is Wrong) you’re missing out. It’s basically about a rich guy named Jim Cryer (John Schneider, a long way from Dukes of Hazzard) who is running for governor, and trying to run away from his problems. The show hit the ground running, with married Jim being blackmailed by escort Candace, who is also the daughter of one of his maids, Hanna, and friends with his own daughter. Hilarity intense drama ensues.

My favorite character is Veronica, the wife of Jim’s business partner, David, who’s also involved in Jim’s campaign. And she ain’t like Archie’s Veronica. She’s probably about the most evil character in a soap ever. And Angela Robinson plays the hell out of the part. Veronica is under the misconceived impression that she can force her gay son to be straight, but since ruining his life isn’t enough, she ends up burning down the house with David in it. I told you this was a fun show!

This week, while Jim is being interviewed live on television, he’s hit with the bombshell that one of the other maids, Celine, has had two sons by him. DUN-DUN-DUUUN!!!

General Hospital

Oooh, first commercial is for Oreo Thins. I seriously want to try those.

Morgan needs to confess to something soon before he gives himself a heart attack. Besides, going to jail isn’t too bad in Port Charles. Pretty soon, the guards will be taking McDonald’s orders from the prisoners. And here comes Sonny – known mob boss – allowed to visit whoever he pleases, unattended. While I’ve never been in jail, I don’t think it works that way. I am so glad that it’s finally dawning on Nina that she only hears that baby crying when Rick the weasel or Madelyn are around. That’s been bugging me for a while. Where’s that cry coming from? Oh, your phone. Case closed.

I understand that it’s just a show, but they could try just a little bit to make it believable. I can’t wait for them to drag Rick and Madelyn off to the country club jail.

I’m not sure what Kiki (or Ava) see in that cranky Morgan anyway, especially since he got that haircut. That’s when I remember who Kiki is. Why they had to make her so blond after Kristen Alderson left is beyond me. Like that whole character switcheroo thing wasn’t difficult enough. I’d just finally stopped thinking Kiki was Starr. I did love her final scene with Roger Howarth though. She pretty much grew up with him as her second father, so it must have been heart-wrenching for both of them. It was sweet how the dialogue wasn’t just about Franco and Kiki, but about the real actors.

Nathan, I don’t think Dante is the best guy to be helping you solve anything. His decision making skills have been pretty poor lately.

Oh, that’s a good one Sonny. You always put your children first? When did that happen?

MasterChef

Let me confess now. I hate to cook, but I love watching cooking shows. It’s not that I’m a bad cook – ask anyone who’s had my lasagna – and it’s not that I can’t be creative in the kitchen – ditto – but I’m an impatient cook (when I want to eat, I want to eat now, not 2 hours from now) who’s always had a kitchen the size of a postage stamp. Other than a one semester home ec class in 8th grade, I’m fairly uneducated in this department as well. When Gordon Ramsey says, “You tell me,” I have no clue. As we always say, my husband didn’t marry me for my cooking in the kitchen. For some reason though, I like to watch other people cook. And of course there’s the food porn aspect.

I’m not sure what’s up with risotto, but it seems to be very telling as far as cooking goes. I can’t count the times I’ve heard Gordon go insane about it.

I stink with names, so I’m glad the contestants have theirs on their aprons. I wish Survivor would do the same. As a matter-of-fact, I wish everyone would go around wearing name tags. It would make life far less embarrassing for me.

If tuna tartar is involved, I’m in. I never said my palate was uneducated.

It’s a blue team (Derrick)/red team (Stephen) thing tonight. The red team wins, so Derrick, Katrina and Hetel have to face tonight’s pressure test – 3 pasta dishes in one hour. “Impossible,” says Nick. The dishes are manicotti, scallops and clams with pasta, and egg yolk ravioli, which I’ve never heard of, but sounds really good.

OMG – one of the clams just moved! I’ve cooked them several times, but thank God they’ve stayed still. I admit to being squeamish about certain food items. One time, I bought what I thought was a nice square of frozen fish. The instructions said to soak it in water before cooking. When I did, the tail that had been heretofore stuck hidden to the underside, unfurled. I had to throw it out.

Katrina is “sweating biscuits?” Did I hear that right? At least she lost the hair bow this week. Today she has some sparkly thing on her head.

Why is the guy on the Bud Lite commercial trying to channel Will Ferrell? Was Will not available?

I love how Graham Elliot holds the scallop up like it’s a diamond.  Ooh, Gordon just said Derrick’s garnish was like eating an air freshener. Not exactly a compliment. Katrina put ricotta in the ravioli and apparently this is a really bad thing. Hetel’s ravioli looks good to me, and ground pepper always gets my vote, but Gordon said it was “heresy.” No one is looking good here. Hetel’s out. She kind of flew under the radar anyway. Being a vegetarian, it was rough for her. I don’t know how you can cook something without tasting it at some point either. Although it’s to her credit that she’s gotten this far.

Geez, could they spare the vegetables in the spring onion rice noodle soup bowl I’m having for dinner?

Little Women LA

Brittney has a new boyfriend and Tonya’s talking about moving in with her boyfriend, John, and is also wearing some amazing earrings. Too bad John doesn’t exactly feel the same way. He’s obviously not the husband material you want, Tonya. Move on. Ha-ha! Terra is talking about how nice it would be if everyone got along. This is reality TV, so not bloody likely. Lots of goings on in the romance department tonight. Briana’s boyfriend, Matt, is moving in with her. This dude has been a bone of contention since he came on the scene – with both her family and her friends. My jury is out about him. I’m hearing the same stories they are, but so far he’s been on good behavior.

Ugh! What a shame that Christy allowed her mother to influence her decision about the IVF. I’m not saying she should or shouldn’t do it, but it’s obvious that mean old woman was huge factor here. The ending is happy though. Christy and Todd make the decision to go for artificial insemination while picking strawberries next to a field of sunflowers. Nice!

Beach party! Elena is so gorgeous, I can never take my eyes off of her when she’s on screen. She’s also insecure about her appearance, so what hope is there for the rest of us? The last time they had a bonfire on the beach, the outcome was not positive. Already there’s tension between Elena and Brittney, and Tonya and Jasmine, and Matt and everyone. Same sh*t, different day. Time to roast marshmallows.

“Short arms, short sticks, someone’s weave is definitely going up in flames tonight. I’m glad I’m no longer packing.” Terra cracks me up!

Brittney’s sparkly purple eye shadow is really distracting!

Ha! For a moment there, I thought we were ending on a good note. Brittney confessed to being an idiot and Elena was okay with it. But Jasmine brings up the “other elephant in the room,” Tonya. Wait, that didn’t sound right. She wants to know what the blip Tonya’s annoyed about (and so do I), but instead it ends up being a rehash of the last argument about the same vague thing. That didn’t even make sense to me and I wrote it.

Terra’s Little Family

Someone please explain why, instead of an hour long episode, Lifetime decided to show two back-to-back half hour episodes? Anybody? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

I would laugh uncontrollably at Terra’s hair the morning after her bachelorette party, but I’m sure mine looks no better the morning after the night before.  Terra is going to check out the bridesmaids’ dresses for the first time, their only instructions having been to get beige dresses and cobalt blue shoes, which looks better than it sounds. Not an easy task to critique their choices with a hangover though. Elena says it will be like “50 shades of beige.”

Joe had to jet the day before for a gig (he’s a drummer) and missed the rehearsal, but swore he’d be back in time for the pre-wedding dinner. No surprise his plane is late. If this was Bravo, I’d say Andy Cohen probably threw his body in front of the plane.  Her mom still hasn’t gotten there either.

Whew! They both make it and the yacht sets sail for the dinner. Interesting note: Terra’s mom is one of those crazy cat ladies that you always hear about. She’s like an old hippie and really cool. Unlike Christy’s mom.

The earrings on this show are just fabulous!

Terra says Joe is like her missing puzzle piece. So much better than “you complete me” or “my soulmate.” These two are just precious!  We’re on shaky ground by the end of the episode, with Terra being a bit of a Bridezilla to Joe, but I have no doubt they’ll make up since they’re both at the wedding in the previews.