Something Borrowed, Something New

One of the newest, and probably most anticipated, shows on the TLC network is Something Borrowed, Something New. The show just began its first season a few weeks ago and I am already hooked. No surprise here really because I am obsessed with all the TLC wedding shows, especially ones that focus mainly on the dress. In Something Borrowed, Something New brides must choose between wearing a family heirloom dress (usually the mother’s wedding dress,) that dressmaker, Kelly Nishimoto, redesigns for them, or wearing a new dress that stylist Sam Saboura chooses. Needless to say, tears are shed and hugs are shared as the brides struggle to make a decision. 

The dresses that the brides bring in their original condition are always quite outdated and usually not in line with the style of the bride. This is only to be expected though, because they are decades old. Kelly has the girls try on the old dress and then she makes a sketch and begins tailoring the new masterpiece.

While the brides are in Kelly’s workshop, Sam sets out to find them the perfect dress. He always manages to please the brides,while taking into account the opinions of friends and family.

In the end, the brides are always presented with quite the difficult decision. How do you choose between your mother’s dress: a family heirloom, an item that has so many memories and so much love attached to it. Or, a brand new dress picked just for you: stylish, modern and perfectly fitted.  Tune in on Friday nights at 10 p.m. to see if they pick Something Borrowed or Something New.

P**n Stars

If your mom ever sucked you into watching Antiques Roadshow with her, and you secretly kind of enjoyed it, you will probably also enjoy Pawn Stars. I really didn’t think I could become hooked on a show that takes place in a pawn shop, but the mystery of the story and value behind each item is enough to keep me watching. Featured on the History Channel, the show focuses on the Harrison family’s Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, located just outside of Las Vegas. Three generations of men run the pawn shop together: grandfather Richard, son Rick and grandson Corey. Together they amusingly appraise, and make offers on, some very interesting and historical items presented to them by all kinds of individuals.

Almost everyone that comes into the shop is looking to sell their items for a very desirable profit. The stories behind some of the things that come into the shop are quite incredible and a little hard to believe. This usually leads to the shop owners calling upon an expert to examine and appraise the item at its highest value. If the item turns out to be authentic, one of the Harrison men are usually willing to make an offer on it. However, this offer is usually much lower than the amount desired by the seller. With their stubborn attitudes and years of experience, they usually manage to get an amazing deal on whatever they buy.

"I have to choose between my fiance and this doll's head"

Easily one of the most ridiculous, yet captivating shows currently on TV is My Strange Addiction. Featured on TLC, this show is just so far out there I don’t know where to begin. It’s sort of like Intervention for the craziest addictions you have ever heard of. If you have a hard time believing that drugs or alcohol could completely control someone’s life, wait until you hear what these people are addicted to.

Some of the episodes I’ve seen include addictions to a doll head, eating Comet, drinking gasoline, bathing in and drinking one’s own urine, sniffing baby powder, sleeping with a blow dryer and eating cat hair. The list only gets more weird, believe me. The craziest part is that these people really NEED these things. They have formed such strong addictions in their mind, they don’t believe they can function without these items.

The first half of the show usually focuses on the person with the strange addiction, as they explain why and how it came to be. Later in the show family and friends try to reason with them, and they almost perform a mini intervention. A health professional is also usually consulted, whether it be a physician or mental health professional, in order to try and communicate the seriousness of the addiction.

From my experience watching the show, most of the addicts are reluctant to give up their vices, even after speaking with friends, family and professionals. It doesn’t matter if the addiction is causing bodily harm or is just an inconvenience, these individuals have completely convinced themselves that they need them to live. I guess it’s all really a question of mind over matter for these individuals. Tune in on Wednesday nights, this show might just become your strange addiction.

Duck Dynasty

Whether you love nature and the outdoors or prefer sidewalks and skyscrapers,  you are pretty much guaranteed to love Duck Dynasty. If you are anything like me, and just the thought of being in the woods or a marsh makes your skin crawl, then Duck Dynasty will give you a taste of what it would be like to be a true outdoorsman. The show focuses on the Robertson family, who became wealthy through their family-operated business, Duck Commander, which makes products for duck hunters. Since airing on A&E, Duck Dynasty has become extremely popular among even the least-experienced hunters.

The cast of the show includes the Robertson men, Phil and Si, and Phil’s sons Jase, Willie and Jep. All have long flowing beards and wild untamed hair, which has become part of their image. The show follows them as they make duck calls, go hunting and usually get themselves into a sticky situation.

My favourite character is arguably Uncle Si. He always has something hilarious to add to the conversation, and his comments usually come out of nowhere. Besides his crazy hair and beard, he’s know for drinking hot tea from a plastic cup and telling outlandish war stories. My favourite Uncle Si moment has to be when he went to the kid’s school dressed as an elf at Christmas, and explained to the kindergarten kids that Santa and the elves had to eat a reindeer to survive after the sleigh crashed one year.

Duck Dynasty earns a solid 8.5/10 on the entertainment scale. If you haven’t seen it yet, you are bound to come across a Duck Dynasty Marathon one day soon.

Welcome to the Bad Girls Club

Possibly my number one reality TV obsession, Bad Girls Club has just started its 10th season. I would just like to start off by saying, this show is NOT for everyone… if you didn’t enjoy Jersey Shore, I can almost guarantee you won’t like BGC either. Picture a beautiful mansion full of 7 or 8 way more violent versions of Snooki: that is basically the Bad Girls Club. The show consists of partying, drama, girl time and so many different (questionable) outfits, I don’t know where to look first.

This season the Bad Girls are in Atlanta, and they wasted no time poppin’ bottles and poppin’ off. The drama started on the first night with a whiny girl named Janae, and she kept it coming for the few first episodes. It didn’t take long for Alicia and Valentina (self-proclaimed bosses of the house) to send her home. It’s only the fourth episode and two girls have gone home already. Nicki left after she couldn’t bond with the girls, as her drinking and their stubborn attitudes tore them apart. She didn’t waste any time getting into it with Valentina before she left though.

 

All in all, this season looks pretty promising. If you have never seen the show, I would recommend starting off with the early seasons because you will be hooked. Season four with Natalie Nunn is by far the best. She is the most famous Bad Girl of all... and in her very own words, “I run L.A.” And possibly all of BGC if you ask me.

Bad Girls Club Atlanta

I took all my own pictures though, and they good pictures!

Tuesday night means a brand new episode of Catfish. If you haven’t seen this show yet, it is a MUST WATCH! It’s based on the documentary... also called Catfish... about a guy named Nev who fell in love online with a girl named Megan. When Megan’s stories didn’t quite seem to add up, Nev and his movie-making friends attempted to untangle the mystery, traveling across the country and following the clues. *SPOILER ALERT* In the end, Megan turned out to be Angela, and Angela was nothing like she described. Although my quick explanation doesn’t do it justice, this was probably one of the most intriguing documentaries I have ever seen (judge me as you will.)

The idea for the show came up when hundreds of viewers started contacting Nev. They shared their stories of online love with him and hoped that he could help them find out if their loves would turn out to be Angelas too. I was instantly attracted to the show because the outcome of the documentary was just too good to be true, from my perspective anyway, maybe not from Nev’s. Each week Nev helps a different person track down their online love and, as I’m sure you can guess, hilarity ensues.

Tonight was the first episode with two gay males. Rico and Ja’Mari met online while Rico was in the military. After talking for quite a while they developed a relationship, even though they had never met or even video chatted. Rico emailed Nev asking for help, as he longed to meet this international male model he fell in love with online. Not surprisingly, Ja'Mari wasn't quite who he said he was. I will give him props for actually using his own pictures because that is usually the first place they go wrong. His name turned out to be James, and instead of a male model he turned out to be a bus driver. Not as bad as some I've seen, but a lie is a lie I guess, even online. In the end, Rico forgave James for lying and they decided to continue their relationship, both online and in real life. Overall, I'd give this episode 8/10 for effort and happy endings, but only 5/10 for comedy factor.

Rico, Nev and Max creeping Ja'Mari online.

 

If you fall again, I'm going to replace you!

So last night was a new episode of Cheer Perfection. The show is only in its first season, so it’s still fairly new to the TLC network. It’s based on the cheer gym Cheer Time Revolution in Sherwood, Arkansas: an elite cheerleading gym that only accepts and produces the best and most talented cheerleaders. The show focuses on five or six of the girls that belong to Cheer Time Revolution, their competitive moms and their head coach, Alisha Dunlap. Even though the name of the show would lead you to believe that it’s mainly a cheerleading show, the focus tends to lean more toward the moms and their drama with one another. I wasn’t too sure if Cheer Perfection has what it takes to make the cut, but this season has been surprisingly intriguing.

Maybe it’s because this show has the perfect mixture of everything I love in a good reality TV show: cute outfits, extreme talent, parents living and competing through their children, some completely unrelatable morals and beliefs, and a female in the power seat. What’s not to like? I have never had a special interest in cheerleading, so that’s probably why I don’t mind the fact that it only accounts for about 35-40% of the actual show. The drama is hilarious and it had me picking sides from the very beginning. All I can say is that I didn’t like Ann from the moment I heard she named her daughter by combining her name with her husband’s name. Torry + Ann = Torrann? I have no words.

On last night’s episode, Alisha was only choosing five of the girls for a duo and trio competition in Chicago, so you can only imagine how extra crazy the moms were. As the team mom, I know Ann thought her daughter was going to go. But Torrann didn’t make it, so obviously Ann was furious and this caused even more drama with the moms. That, combined with the fact that the girls chosen couldn’t get their routines down, caused tons of drama and ridiculous mom-fights. In the end, the girls nailed their routines though, (as if we ever doubted them?!) Both groups won their divisions and Cheer Time Revolution got to live up to its team cheer one more time. 

 

“CTR, the number one team! We’re the orange and the black, the best you’ve ever seen!”

 

 

Just the beginning...

When reality television first became a popular phenomenon, it took me a while to jump on the bandwagon. Survivor was the first show I remember watching with “real” people competing for a challenge. I sometimes argue with others that sports are actually the first form of reality TV, but my passion all began with Survivor. Although it didn’t suck me in with the first season, around season two or three I became hooked. There was something about watching people on TV who hadn’t been scripted, (even though many will say they are.) As time has passed, my love has only blossomed to encompass an ever-growing number of shows.

I have come to adore shows like The Real World, Toddlers and Tiaras, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Duck Dynasty, Intervention, Say Yes to the Dress, Pawn Stars, Catfish and so many others. I set aside time each week to make sure I catch my favourites and I am always up for a heated debate about any of the characters or the situations they find themselves in. Even though I receive "advice" from others, as they tell me that these shows are garbage and will rot my brain, I just can’t turn my back on the characters and shows I’ve come to love. So whenever you feel like ranting, raving or reading about any of your favourite reality TV shows or stars, you know where to turn.