Category Archives: Reality TV
‘Double Divas’ Look For the Perfect Fit
As a woman, I have mixed feelings about Lifetime’s Double Divas. On one hand, I think it’s great that the women at LiviRae Lingerie, which is in Kennesaw, Georgia, help women of all sizes find the perfect bra and panties. On the other, it’s awkward watching women on television going through the intimate experience of trying on intimate apparel, especially when you realize that the show will appeal to the demographic that makes do with the Victoria Secret catalog because their older brother refuses to buy them Playboy.
Setting all of that aside, Double Divas is definitely worth a look. The show is in the same vein as TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress and I Found the Gown. Because the show deals with lingerie, it will not be for everyone, but it doesn’t have to be. LiviRae owners Molly Hopkins and Cynthia Richards understand that most women want bras that are functional and pretty. They get that pretty does not equal sexy and that not everyone is comfortable showing off their breasts.
CNBC Knows How To Make ‘The Profit’
CNBC is not the first place most people would turn to at all, especially for primetime programming. Other Mad Money with screaming lunatic Jim Cramer and maybe Squawk Box, few people can name a show on CNBC. While most people will ignore The Profit simply because its on a channel more concerned with the Dow Jones Industrial Average than providing mainstream entertainment, they will be missing out a show that is in the same mold as Tabatha’s Salon Takeover and the extremely popular Restaurant Impossible.
Good Food Trumps Good Marketing On ‘Food Court Wars’
Food Court Wars spiced up the Burnsville Mall’s food court with Slum Dogz and Pimento Jamaican Kitchen. Siblings Aaron Skoglund, who was adopted from India, and Kirsten Shabaz decided to create Slum Dogz as a tribute to Aaron’s Indian heritage. There concept centered around adding Indian flavors to hot dogs. Yoni Reinharz and Jamaican-born Tomme Beevas from Pimento Jamaican Kitchen were also bringing the heat with jerk chicken and other Jamaican specialties.
As usual, Day 1’s challenge involved trying to please an important group of mall goers. Tyler Florence announced that the two teams had to impress kids and their parents. Kids don’t like heat, so both teams attempted to tone down the spiciness in their signature dishes. Slum Dogz was a little more successful, but barely.
‘Food Court Wars’: Chip N Wich vs Oasis
If Food Court Wars taught viewers one thing, it’s that previous experience owning a restaurant does not guarantee an easy win. Like Taco Spot, Oasis’s Melania Paser and Diana Hadad, who owns World Cafe, faced stiff competition from newcomers Craig Jones and Jonathan Neely, who both have experience as line chefs and would like to get Chip-n-Wich off the ground.
Chip-n-Wich is the “sandwich with a crunch.” In layman’s terms, Craig and Jonathan place homemade potato chips on their sandwiches. It’s a good idea, but Team Chip-n-Wich need to stop passing it off as original because Bobby Flay and probably a million other people have done it first.
Oasis started off as food from every Mediterranean country, which was way too broad. With the help of Tyler Florence, Melania and Diana were able to narrow their menu down to solely Lebanese food.
Who’s the Problem on ‘Wedding Island?’
In last week’s review of Wedding Island, I called Sandy Malone, head of Weddings in Vieques, not a very nice person. This post will attempt to be fairer to her.
Wedding Island subscribes to the philosophy that anything that can go wrong will. Sandy always has to deal with other people’s major mistakes, such as a restaurant called Lazy Jack’s booking two wedding parties on the same night. She claims that the owner decided to book the another group over her’s because they were paying more money. The owner made it sound like it was a genuine mistake and someone misplaced their reservation, but Sandy’s attitude made him not want to make the situation right. Instead, he told her to get lost and that he doesn’t need her business. On the show, scenarios like this happen all the time. This time it worked out because anther restaurant down the street was able to accommodate the 20 guests, but Sandy stressed everyone out and made a scene by arguing with Lazy Jack’s owner in the middle of the street. Do people on Vieques not respect her because she doesn’t respect them?
‘Perfect Score’ Doesn’t Deserve One
After the new Whose Line Is It Anyway?, The CW airs Perfect Score. It is an extremely odd pairing. While Whose Line? appeals equally to both men and women, Perfect Score goes directly for The CW’s female demographic.
Perfect Score, hosted by Arielle Kebbel, is a slightly classier version of GSN’s Baggage, which is appropriately hosted by Jerry Springer. Baggage has people reveal unsettling secrets, such as collecting an ex-lovers toenail clippings in an urn, whereas Perfect Score settles for using cheesy pickup lines and other gimmicks, such as having men dress up as superheroes and sharing their superpower. Unlike Baggage, contestants can win money on Perfect Score, but they have to compete for a date against their best friend.
A ‘Food Court Wars’ Upset
The Wausau Center Mall in Wausau, Wisconsin was home to the Food Court War between Casual Joe‘s and The Wrap Trap, which is now Carlie and Company. Tyler Sailsbery and Sarah Smith from Casual Joe’s want to give mall goers “A real taste of Wisconsin” with fried cheese curds and brats. The Wrap Trap’s Carlie Peterson & Brianna Shidell want to give shoppers a healthier alternative to standard food court fare.
Food Court Wars no longer features stories that pull at the heartstrings. This week there was one finding yourself story and one partner took everything after the split, so it looks like Food Network realized that normal life stories are good and make people relatable. Sob stories just make viewers feel bad for the contestants.
Welcome To ‘Wedding Island’
Wedding Island: where Mr. Rourke and Tattoo make your fantasies come true. Oops, that’s Fantasy Island. On Wedding Island, wedding planner Sandy Malone and employees do their best to make sure brides have their perfect wedding. The title is self-explanatory, the show is about planning island weddings.
Wedding Island takes place on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. Unlike the main island, which has over 3.5 million people, Vieques has less than 10,000 residents and is only 21 miles long and 4 miles wide. The island only has one baker and one rental company, which means there is a very real possibility that something may not arrive on time or even at all. On top of that, there are no flowers on the island, so flowers have to be flown in from elsewhere. As Sandy points out, anywhere else, she could get in her car and drive to the florist. In Vieques, the flowers she ordered may die on the runway from neglect and the only thing she can do is yell, which is not a problem for Sandy.
Not Everyone Can ‘Deal With It’
Howie Mandel is a prankster. He also likes to produce Candid Camera inspired shows, which is why Howie Do It, Mobbed, and now Deal With It exist. The former two shows both lasted less than 20 episodes. If TBS is smart, Deal With It will meet the same fate. In other words, the show isn’t good. To make matters worse, it is an exact copy of a short-lived Food Network show that even the Internet doesn’t remember.
Deal With It ambushes a random restaurant patron, who is then asked to participate in a game where they can win up to $5,000. Of course, all the people agree to go along with whatever crazy thing host Theo Von and his celebrity guest tell them to do. There are five rounds, which are worth $250, $500, $1,000, $2,500, respectively. If a contestant does not feel comfortable continuing the game, he or she can end the game by saying “I can’t deal with it.” Unlike many shows in this genre, the contestant then gets to keep the money won up to that point.



