Big Brother 11 is Under Way - H.S Clique Theme.

And so it begins! The 11th Season of Big Brother has begun.

The first episode is always weird to watch because you really don't know any of the house guests and you haven't figured out who you like or don't like. You can't really tell too much from that episode. Honestly, watching it without the feeds and Showtime After Dark you really do miss a lot. Fortunately for me, my mom subscribes to the feed and we both have Showtime After Dark. As I type this I am watching last nights first installment. It is going to be hard to keep up with that on the DVR since it's 3 hours long and on every night. But what is great is that it's one of those things where you can work and half pay attention to (like right now). You also miss the dirty stuff, like people running around in their underwear and PJ's.. and guys... at least two of the girls are wearing lingerie around the house. Then there is always that weird toned Big Brother voice reprimanding the house guests with "please do not cover up your mike" or "house guests, you are not allowed to talk about production". It's funny and weird.

I was rooting for the Popular Clique last night because I would like to have seen Jessica come back. I liked her and since her game was kind of messed up by the America's Player (LOVED that concept, btw) I thought she should get another chance. Yeah..Jesse is nice eye candy for sure, but I remember him being so cocky and full of himself. I knew so many guys like that in my single days and no matter how "hot" they are, when they open their mouth they are so ugly!.

What about this years theme, High School cliques? That should prove interesting . The season where they paired off singles in the house (with one secret couple) I was not really so thrilled with (that was the bonus season put because of the writers strike. It felt thrown together). The best was the America's Player theme. We'll have to see how this one plays out.

Beyond the H.S cliques (Popular, Jocks, Geeks and Off Beats) I have so far identified the "tokens"; the gay guy, the muscle good looking guys, the quiet less attractive but nice guy, token black person, the older mom or dad type. I have yet to identify the bible thumper, if there is even one in the house. I also wonder who might end up pairing off.

By the way, I totally would have been in the in the offbeat clique. I was a drama club member, in the chorus and had a very eclectic mix of friends (both upper and lower classmen). I wouldn't have traded my clique for popular at all. Ah.. and that atomic wedgie.. hell my underwear creeps up on me already so I totally could have held on forever!

FYI.. the episode opened at 6.68M viewers up by 290,000 viewers from last years premiere.

My MJ Memorial Blog 31M People Watched.. WOW.. Robin Williams Self Destructs, Great American Road Trip Apparently Not So Great

Oh have I have neglected my blog as of late. I've been a little busy. Let's face it anyways, there isn't too much to write about. Summer TV has been kind of lagging a bit.

This is unbelievable, but according to Nielsen 31 M people watched the MJ Memorial. It was kind of hard to miss as it dominated just about all the major channels. What kind of amazes me more is that it was on in the middle of the day. Don't these people have jobs? Yeah, I know.. pot meet kettle. But I WAS working while I was watching. I'm lucky like that. I had commented on my Facebook that I don't ever remember, in my lifetime, such a memorial for a "celebrity" in either music or movies that had such an elaborate and public memorial with the acception of Presidents and of course Princess Diana and the Pope. In total 19 networks carried the memorial vs between 7 and 8 that carried the Presidents' , Princess Di and Pope funerals. However, that 31M number does fall short of Reagan (35M) and Princess Di (33M) viewers. But those are just the U.S numbers. BBC estimated that 1B people worldwide watched (they estimated 2.5B for Princess Di). In Germany , according to THR's live Feed, 20M or a 1/4 of the population watched it (obviously it was on during their evening viewing hours).

I did watch most of it. I honestly forgot it was on as I had the movie 'The Beach' with Leonardo DiCaprio playing as I was working and forgot the time. I missed the first 45 minutes, I believe. From what I watched, my favorite eulogy came from Brooke Shields. Watching her was like watching just a regular person talking about another regular person, if you know what I mean. It kind of gave you a glimpse of MJ as just a regular guy. Of course the most heart wrenching portion came at the end when his daughter spoke.

The MJ memorial also sparked a lot of debate amongst my Facebook friends about why we were paying so much attention on MJ. I can see their point. I mean there was never such a memorial for the likes of Elvis. I wonder if it is because we are just in a media obsessed era, or if MJ just had a much further reach than Elvis. I will say, however, that it is now getting ridiculous. While cooking and doing some other chores I happened to have the TV on ET and Inside Edition. Since the day he died that is ALL they have talked about on their shows. Every day they analyze and disect every minor detail of everything. It's actually bordering on obsessive and is kind of getting nauseating.

Well.. okay so enough already about MJ. I've said my little piece. It is really sad, however, but life goes on.. and so does TV.

I DVR'd Great American Road Trip but haven't watched it yet. Didn't do so well in the ratings. Big surprise. It seems not much is this summer season. That will all change, however, when the ultimate summer favorite 'Big Brother' returns. Very excited about that! 'Dating in the Dark' is coming soon and I will watch that to see just how ridiculous it gets and to laugh at it, of course.

This is pretty cool. One of my favorite comedians, Robin Williams, will be doing a solo stand up show for HBO this December called 'Weapons of Self Destruction'. Yeah! The man is hysterical! Can't wait!

Well all, I must go. I have a lot of DVR to watch including Saving Grace, Hawthorne, SYTYCD, America's Got Talent, The Cleaner ( I started watching and like it, so I've added it to my DVR season pass). I have to watch all of it before I leave on my trip Sunday , otherwise my DVR will fill up too fast and won't record.EEK! Fortunately for me my mom and I like most of the same shows and so we'll watch them together while I'm visiting. She too has two DVR's! Could our love for TV be genetic (and our obsession with the DVR for that matter)? Maybe. I should ask my brother ( a geneticist) to look for such a gene. Maybe he can get published with that study! I know that finding a cure for cancer and other genetic type disease is more important, but it would be interesting don't you think?