The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

TLC cancels 'Kate Plus 8'; last show airs Sept. 12

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 05:28 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) - TLC says it is canceling "Kate Plus 8." The reality specials focusing on Kate Gosselin, her twin daughters and set of sextuplets morphed into a weekly series in its second season. But TLC announced Monday that its final episode will air Sept. 12.

The show was spun off from the wildly popular "Jon & Kate Plus 8," which co-starred the youngsters' father, Jon Gosselin, at their home in Wernersville, Pa. Their marriage dissolved, and the couple divorced in 2009.

By the end of its run, including "Jon & Kate Plus 8," the series will reach the 150-episode mark. TLC says it hopes to check in with Kate Gosselin and the family periodically with future specials.

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What’s not to love?

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 04:13 PM PDT

Our resident couch potatoes indulge in guilt trips ... on tellyland.

I AM going to lay my cards on the table, reputation be damned, and reveal my guilty television pleasures. I have several which I watch with varying levels of guilt. There is Grey's Anatomy which I watch simply because I find Eric Dane so beautiful; Brothers And Sisters because I enjoy the over-the-top family drama (and the humour is pretty good, too) and America's (or Australia's) Next Top Model because … well, I don't really know why.

And then there is the mother-of-all-guilty pleasures – the programme I watch in secret (curtains drawn, doors locked) because it's just too uncool to be caught watching. My biggest guilty pleasure is ... (shrinking in shame as the drumroll sounds) daytime soap ... The Bold And The Beautiful.

For those of you who don't follow the show, here's a brief synopsis – the daytime soap centres around the Forrester family, the first family in fashion in Beverly Hills. Head of the clan is Eric (John McCook) and his wife Stephanie (Susan Flannery) and the central characters are their sons Ridge (Ron Moss) and Thorne (currently played by Winsor Harmon; there have been at least three actors in this role since the series premiered in 1987).

As with all soap operas, the storylines go through insane twists and turns every episode and there are also endless family feuds, scandals, murders, meltdowns and misunderstandings.

I started watching the show back in 1990. At the time, it was aired close to midnight and since I was the only night owl in my house, I would watch the show in peace, all alone. Eventually though, everyone in my family learnt my secret. Then the TV station moved the show to mid-morning on weekends. Still, it was OK because my secret stayed at home.

But not for long. My sister had just delivered her first child and we had visitors streaming in, unannounced, on weekends.

One day, I was cradling my nephew while watching a particularly riveting episode of The Bold And The Beautiful when I saw a head pop through the door. Acck! A visitor. The door was unlocked and a whole family of five just walked right in. Blast. They glanced at the TV and looked curiously at me and that was it. My secret was out. I managed to feebly explain (read: lie) that I was just channel-surfing and happened to rest at the soap for a second but seeing that I wasn't holding the remote, I think they saw through my fib.

The curtains finally came down on my secret in 2006. An opportunity came to do a telephone interview with Moss, the star of the soap. Before I could stop myself, I volunteered for the job.

The interview was surreal. Ron Moss sounded exactly like Ridge Forrester and we spoke for about 30 minutes about the show and his romantic dalliances with Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lange) primarily and Taylor Hayes Forrester (Hunter Tylo) – the two women his character was linked throughout the show's 20-plus years. It was most definitely surreal.

So why is this a guilty pleasure?

Guilt: It's cheesy. The stories are ridiculous (Ridge was married to Brooke; they got divorced. Brooke married Eric (Ridge's father); they got divorced. Ridge and Brooke kind of hooked up again but it didn't work because he was with someone else and had a conscience. Brooke married his brother Thorne; they divorced. Brooke and Ridge hooked up again and got married, again … the saga goes on and on and on). It's mindless. It's corny. It's not cool. It's ridiculous. It makes no sense. It defies logic. It is shallow.

Pleasure: It's so cheesy it's addictive; kinda like Nachos. The stories are so ridiculous, I just have to know what's going to happen next. It's so mindless that it's relaxing. It's so corny that it's delicious – again, like Nachos. The acting is over the top and overly dramatic – the15-second withering stares, the often-accompanied-by-dramatic-music smouldering glances, the incessant sobbing while clutching a lace hanky ... classic! - By S. INDRAMALAR

Hmmm, guilty pleasures, eh? Something that I shouldn't like but I actually do, right? And related to TV. Now that's a tough thing. I used to yell at my niece for watching MTV 24/7 in the late 1990s. MTV was definitely a guilty pleasure for her. Same goes for my 17-year-old daughter who loves watching the Kardashians, doing whatever it is they do so fecklessly well on TV. But me? I had to think really hard about what would constitute a guilty pleasure for me because quite honestly, if a programme doesn't inspire or educate in some way, chances are I will flip channels in less than three minutes.

That is, until last week, when I stumbled upon The Bachelor: Season 14. Yes, you read right. Believe it or not, folks – and these facts may astound you – The Bachelor and its spin-off series, The Bachelorette, have a combined 21 seasons in total! Obviously, a huge fraction of the television viewing public finds watching idiots looking for love in all the wrong places a pleasurable pastime, and without any guilt to boot!

The first 12 seasons of The Bachelor had an average audience of nearly 10 million viewers (in the United States alone). That's more than the population of New Zealand and Finland put together.

The Bachelor is an American (haha, who else would like to take credit for it) reality television dating game show which made its debut in 2002, hosted by game show host/news anchor Chris Harrison.

Incredibly, 25 women avail themselves for one man and he gets to eliminate them as the show progresses on whatever basis he so chooses. At first, the bachelor goes on large group dates with the women. As the season progresses, they are eliminated either after one-on-one dates and two-on-one dates, until he's left with just a final two "great gals" to choose from.

Anyway, I accidentally stumbled upon Season 14 featuring Jake Pavelka as the dashing suitor (I say that tongue in cheek, I assure you). I mean, he's cute and all but I had to watch just a teensy weensy bit longer to find out what was so special about this guy – what made him so desirable that these seemingy normal women would willingly flaunt themselves (and I mean that with a capital bikini-clad 'F') at him.

Pavelka is a 33-year-old commercial pilot and ... get this, former suitor from The Bachelorette! (How desperate can people get?) In fact, he seems to be a bit of a serial reality show participant, with a total of four shows now under his belt. And in a one-two guilty-pleasure punch, guess what? He's even starred in ... wait for it ... The Bold And The Beautiful! I wonder if they'll ever get Ron Moss to play The Bachelor (at least, the producers can be sure that Indra will watch it)! [Stop slandering me, Ann Marie! I like Ridge, not Moss.]

Before I knew it, I had actually watched the whole freakin' episode which was packed with drama – Ali got to go on a date with Jake (he flew her to their own private concert featuring the now-geriatric band Chicago) and contestant Rozlyn cheated on Pavelka with one of the producers! (Good God, I sure picked the right night to tune in).

Thanks to YouTube, I was then able accelerate my guilty pleasure to new levels in no time at all by fastforward/rewind/slow-mo-ing whichever episode I wanted.

Now, would you believe it? They even have a post show called The Bachelor Tell All! And did you know that former cast members have "Bachelor Cast Reunion Parties" (there's about 500 alumni now, after all)? And then there's The Bachelor Pad where rejects from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette get a second chance at love.

So anyway, I'm not quite sure if I should give you, unsuspecting viewers, any spoilers as to who actually wins Pavelka's hand, or what transpires two months later ... but I will tell you to look out for the episode when Jake and one of his bimbos go for a mud bath!

While you shake your head and roll your eyes, I'm off to watch more episodes of the post Season 14 drama. Who needs day time soaps when you can get reality TV like this with just as much drama (unscripted and completely natural ... yeah, right) and plots that twist like those monster contructions as Six Flags?

Guilt: It's almost tragic and yet I find myself watching episode after episode. How can I explain it? In the words of Lisa Simpson, "I'm sure there's a German word for it."

Pleasure: There are 21 seasons. That should keep me busy for some time. - By ANN MARIE CHANDY

Ann Marie is anxiously anticipating the production of Bachelor: Bold & Beautiful while Indra is still wailing about how her favourite show isn't being screened on Astro anymore. What are your guilty pleasures?

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Isnin, 15 Ogos 2011