TV

In the seventh installment of Talking TV, Tom and I discuss celebrity voiceovers in recent commercials, what makes a TV show worth watching (or skipping) and the new HBO miniseries, The Pacific.

Come for the camaraderie. Stay for our impressions of Antonio Banderas as a bee who loves nasal spray.

Listen to Talking TV right here or download the podcast on iTunes.

One of the highlights of each Office season is the Halloween episode where we see each character in their costume. So imagine my delight when Thursday's episode was a St. Patrick's Day themed episode in which everyone was sporting green!

Meredith had a green dress with white flowers in her hair and treated the day like her own Irish Christmas. Kevin had a horrible, horrible green blazer and newsboy cap. Dwight and Jim didn't participate, but it was Angela who was actively protesting the holiday that has come to be associated with drunken revelry.

Who will stop the bad boys and girls of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains?

The hapless Heroes couldn't win the chocolate reward challenge, had a scary moment with James Clement's knee injury and faltered again in the immunity challenge.

Read on for more and the evictee details.

This week's guest judge is Roland Mouret, French designer. Time for the big show!

Both Ben and Mila did an interesting job of making their garments fluid without being floaty. Overall, everyone's outfit is kind of a mess. There are a lot of people who could be eliminated.

Anthony, Emilio and Jay make it on to the next round. Mila's outfit is unanimously disliked by the judges. They say it's boring and completely unlike her usual aesthetic. (Nina wonders if she's a one-trick pony.) However, the judges are impressed with Seth Aaron's consistency, even if he doesn't exactly adhere to the challenge restrictions. Maya's dress is well-liked, if not entirely original.

The judges have nothing but quips for Amy's hairy mess: "It looks like a cat in a baby sling." "She looks like she's a bar maid serving her hair." "It's like she's growing hair out of her chest." They have Amy remove the fake hair from the outfit, which improves it a bit.

Ben's first attempt at a suit looks like, well, a first attempt at a suit and the judges bust him on it. Jonathan, however, is rewarded for making his own textile and for taking his model's skin tone into consideration.

Seth Aaron is in and Jonathan is the winner of the challenge, which is great after he had lamented about always being in the middle earlier in the episode. His reponse? "I wooooonnnnn!"

Maya and Mila are in. Amy is in, which means Ben is out. I'm extremely surprised they gave Amy yet another chance after her crazy pants from the Mommy and Me challenge a few weeks ago. Ah well, auf Wiedersehen Ben!

Next week: Teams of two! A complete disaster! "The most horrifying experience of my life." "That's what makes her look like an umbrella." All this and more next time on Project Runway!

The contestants meet with a guy from Garnier before the fittings in order to fill the show's product placement quota.

Tim says Jonathan's laughter garment seems exquisite while Amy's bowl inspired outfit seems to concern him a little more. Tim has plenty of confidence in the Bangs Sisters, Maya and Mila. (However, I'm already weirded out by at least two contestants I see using leather. Did we not learn from Stella a few seasons ago?) Mila and Jonathan notice that several designers have taken liberties with the challenge itself - such as Anthony, whose black and grey dress is supposed to represent the ashes aspect of fire.

The next day, Jay violates every reality show standard of decency and actually helps Ben once Jay's finished with his own garment. That never happens, am I right? Everyone's always like, "I didn't come here to make friends. I came here to win!" They're usually foaming at the mouth. I'm so happy that Jay was actually a cool guy to his fellow designer.

Emilio starts out with a not-so-heavy-heart, sounding relieved that he beat out Jesse last week. Mila reflects on her friendship with Maya.

Heidi announces that challenge winners will no longer earn immunity and sends them off to meet Tim, who tells the designers this week's challenge: create a look inspired by the four elements (earth, wind, fire or water). It'll be another one day challenge, which I'm kind of sick of... I'd like to see what these designers could do with a bit more time.

Jay chooses air. Maya gets water, Jonathan gets air, Ben gets water, Mila gets earth, Anthony gets fire, Amy gets fire, Emilio gets earth and Seth Aaron gets air.

If we get a "floaty" blue or white dress meant to symbolize water or air, I'm just going to barf. Apparently, Ben feels the same way and goes with a shark motif, reflected in his suit design. Jonathan wants his model to look like she's surrounded by "uncontrollable laughter." That's probably not the best goal. But, really, everyone's at least trying to think outside the box, which I appreciate.

Wow. This was unexpected.
As the show narrowed the singers down to the all-important top 12, it got rid of four of the most interesting people on the stage. First was Katelyn Epperly. Sure, the curly-haired fashionista picked a weird song this week ("I Feel the Earth Move"), but she can definitely sing and she's not boring. Gone.
Next to leave: Todrick Hall of Arlington. Yes, he's had a few questionable weeks, but he came back in a big way (I thought) with a spirited version of Queen's "Somebody To Love." And say what you will about him, but he was never boring. Gone.
Also departing: Alex Lambert of North Richland Hills. (That was the biggest shock of the night to me, mainly because the judges were all fully in his corner.) Wait a minute, America! He was going to vastly improve every week! We were going to fall in love with the kid! He has a great voice, adorable dimples, a sweet personality, a fun mullet and is NOT BORING. Gone.
Last but not least: Lilly Scott, the quirky crooner from Colorado. (Also: non-boring.) "It's surprising; a lot of incredible talent is going home tonight," she said. "I don't know what America wants to hear. I don't."
Me neither. Because from my calculations, seven of the remaining 12 could just be cut right now because there's no way they're winning. And many of them, no offense, are a bit dull.

I don't even watch Mad Men and I think this is awesome. The 1960s look of Mattel's classic doll line and the aesthetic of Mad Men? Well, that's a match made in heaven.

Mattel is releasing four collectible dolls made to look like characters from the hit AMC series, which airs its fourth season this July. (The third season will be on DVD March 23.) Available for purchase at $74.95 will be doll versions of Betty Draper, Don Draper, Roger Sterling, and Joan Holloway. The line will be in specialty stores and online at amctv.com and barbiecollector.com. Limited runs (7,000-10,000) are planned.

My question to you, dear readers: what TV series do you think Barbie should emulate next? I know, Mad Men is just about as perfect as it gets, beauty wise. But seriously - what else? I'm thinking I could use some Michael, Dwight, Jim and Pam dolls from The Office.

This is already shaping up to be an epic cycle of America's Next Top Model and we're only 90 minutes in. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about last night's premiere seemed more electric than the two or three cycles that preceded it.

Maybe it was Tyra who, with the exception of pretending to be an Amazon at one point and straddling Mr. Jay, seemed relatively more sane than usual. Or perhaps it was the MyFiercePage.com conceit, which allowed contestants to be themselves during the premiere instead of having to pretend to be goddesses or robots or whatever they've had to do in premieres past. But it was most likely the contestants, who have the most disparate looks and attitudes of maybe any cycle thus far.

Le sigh.

OK, had to get that out of the way. You've very likely heard since the last time I've blogged about Ugly Betty that the show's been canceled. This season - its fourth - is its last, and after Wednesday's "Fire and Nice," there are just five episodes left.

Five. Cinco. Ay.

Pero thankfully, at least creator/producer Silvio Horta and the Betty team are able to wrap the show up and give us a real sendoff. And whether or not this episode was put together before or after they got the news, it was perfect in giving us plenty of witty quips and - what's that? - several pivotal movements in the plot.

OK, I have a confession. If a singer chooses a song I've never heard of, my mind tends to wander. I don't believe I'm alone in this bad habit, right?
I myself was not familiar with "This Woman's Heart," so when Michael started to sing, I kinda shrugged my shoulders. (I was also recalling an online comment I recently read about him: "Personal trainer my [bleep]." You know you're thinking the same thing. We all are.)
But as he got going with the performance, I was spellbound. It was quite beautiful -- which I suppose is why Kara started crying. (And we thought we got rid of the teary-eyed judge.)
"This was so needed tonight," Simon said. "You 100 percent nailed it. This was not only the best performance of the night, but the best performance we've had in all the live shows so far."
After tonight, one thing is crystal clear: The girls are going to need to step it up.

After two weeks of rather baffling performances, Todrick needed to impress the judges tonight. And he did with a rousing, entertaining version of Queen's "Somebody to Love." Heck, I just enjoyed the fact that he moved around on the stage and even KNEELED at one point. Is that what's missing this season? Greater mobility? Perhaps. (Among other things.)
Despite the fact that the backup singers were distracting on that giant screen behind him, Todrick pulled it off. Randy said it was "one of the best vocals I've heard all night." Simon, labeled him a "Broadway singer" (which is accurate) -- but also noted that at least he wasn't boring.
America: PLEASE keep the not-boring singers in. The show needs every one of 'em they can get right now.

Have we seen Casey in anything other than a blue shirt? (Besides the time he went shirtless, I mean?) Just wonderin'.
The Fort Worth cutie went with Keith Urban's "You'll Think of Me," which is a semi-angry breakup song. I thought he was very convincing; perhaps there were even some tears in his eyes by the end.
The judges all liked it. (None were jumping up and down.) But if anyone cares, Kara proclaimed herself to be "kinda back on the Casey train."

Who could have predicted this? Two weeks ago, Simon basically told him to pack up and leave (again, as he wasn't originally supposed to be in the top 24), as he was horrific. Now, with a version of "Hallelujah" that was at least as haunting as Jason Castro's rendition a couple of seasons ago, Tim won the judges' hearts. (For this week, anyway.) Ellen ran over and gave him a hug, Kara called the performance "honest and interpretive" and Simon said he was "very, very smart with this song. It was by far the strongest performance you've given in the competition."
So hooray for our local boys. So far!

Still rockin' the mullet. Maybe he'll start a fashion trend!
Our North Richland Hills teen is basically doing everything right. Singing "Trouble" by Ray Lamontagne, his voice and charisma were in fine form.
"You're being a mushy banana is what's happening to you," Ellen said, rephrasing her earlier analogy that he was like unripe version of the fruit. "You can see how sweet and vulnerable and honest and real you are -- and don't ever lose that. You need more confidence, but don't get cocky. Don't become a cocky banana."
I think Ellen nailed it with that take on Alex. (Although at this point we can probably lose the banana references.)
Kara then told him, "The only thing standing in the way of you winning is you right now."
So it seems one of our local underdogs is quickly trotting toward the front of the pack.

At the halfway point in the show, I have to say that I'm heartened that tonight's episode is actually entertaining. (As opposed to last night, which featured the girls. No offense.)
First up was Lee Dewyze, who sang that love-it-or-hate-it "Fireflies." While the original is floaty and sweet, Lee put a rocker's edge on it, and it worked. (I thought.)
The judges all agreed, although Simon said he didn't "have a moment" with the song. Still, the fact that he's cute, likable, talented and eager to learn from the judges' criticism should score him points. And votes.

Miles tells on Linus.
Sideways: Ben teaches Alex.
Widmore sub alert!

SPOILER ALERT: You know the drill.

Come back here Wednesday morning for the latest in Samantha Urban's increasingly fabulous series of Lost haikus.

You know that saying about something being all "smoke and mirrors"? That's exactly what the final season of ABC's Lost is turning into. And I mean that as a compliment. I'm starting to think that the creators, in all their warped wisdom, at some point just turned to each other and said, "Let's make something that really is all about smoke and mirrors." Hence we have this season's emphasis on Smokey the monster, a.k.a. Evil Locke (Terry O'Quinn), who wasn't seen this episode -- but we did hear that trademark ominous clicking right before E.L. appeared, so we know it was there. And mirrors -- they're everywhere, both literal and metaphoric, starting with that mirror in Jacob's lighthouse, to the endless shots of characters gazing at themselves in mirrors, to the mirrored realities of Island World and Sideways World.

PHOTO by Richard Drew/The Associated Press: Michael Emerson, who plays Ben Linus on 'Lost'

Was anybody else wishing for something a bit more caffeinated in terms of song choice? It was one slow, somber tune after the other. But there was one bright moment: Crystal Bowersox, who showed off her star power once again with "Give Me One Reason." I don't think she really has much competition on the ladies' side of the stage. Lilly Scott? Maybe, but I agreed with Simon that her take on "I Fall To Pieces" failed to wow.
Easy bets for going home this week: Paige Miles and Katie Stevens. But others are vulnerable; the way I see it, all are vulnerable except Ms. Bowersox.
(I do worry that she sat down on the amp after her performance. Just taking a load off, or is she still a bit sick this week? If so, Idol needs to get that woman well. Stat.)

As the girls take the stage tonight, some of them don't seem to be trying all that hard. Katie Stevens took Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" and made it sound like a funeral dirge, while Kateylyn Epperly (as Randy said) put nothing special into "I Feel the Earth Move." In other words, the earth stayed still.
"It kind of felt like request night on a Friday night at a restaurant where you work," Simon told her. Not really want you want to hear just before America makes its final picks for the Top 12.