Ricki Lake

In an interview about the talk show, Ricki Lake stated, “I want to spark ideas and conversations and inspire people to take active roles in their communities, relationships and their well-being. I have definitely grown as a person since I put down the mic in 2005, and I couldn’t be happier to share and continue the journey with both my existing fans and an entirely new generation of women.” This time around, rather than following the model of Jerry Springer and his consistently trashy talk show, Lake is hoping to follow in the footsteps of talk show greats such as Oprah Winfrey and Rosie O’Donnell. Lake signed on as both the host and producer of the new show, and is working with the FOX network for a September 2012 debut.

The point that both Lake and FOX are emphasizing the most is that the new talk show will be very different from her old show, which focused on topics of a younger, less mature crowd. The new talk show will reflect the topics and issues that face someone like Lake, including children, marriage, divorce, and weight loss. Lake’s recent life experiences, including her messy divorce and her weight and body issues, are meant to speak to her original fans, who have grown up alongside Lake. Even critics are welcoming Lake’s return to daytime television, with some even proclaiming her the successor to Oprah Winfrey, one of Lake’s personal role models. Critics are forecasting the new talk show will be just as successful, if not even more successful than the first. Critics do take time to acknowledge that the daytime talk show market is quite saturated by personalities such as Anderson Cooper, Ellen DeGeneres, and even cable news shows, but believe that Lake’s original fan base will start to expand. Critics even assert that Lake may fill some of the massive void left by Oprah’s departure from daytime television.

The official announcement from FOX proclaims, “Ricki is not an expert. She’s not a doctor, therapist or a super homemaker – she’s a working mom trying to figure life out, and inviting her audience along for the ride.” This being said, The Ricki Lake Show is destined to have a broad audience, and entertaining story lines that people of all ages and genders can relate to. Look for The Ricki Lake Show in your local listings around September of 2012.

New Girl is cute, I’ll give you that — both the show and the person. We’re just starting to get to know the characters, so they’re still a little blurry around the edges. We get a little more each week, and I’m hoping for some continued development, especially for Jess. Her awkwardness is a little much sometimes, but there has to be a story there. Despite putting herself “out there” so much, she still has some moments of insecurity — I loved the “CeCe/Si, si” flashback for its comedic sense, but also because it showed us how Jess has always let her friend take the spotlight. It’s interesting for someone who seems so comfortable being different. Also, just as I was starting to get annoyed with Schmidt, the wannabe womanizer, he showed a nicer, less-douchey side. This small redemption has me ready for more.

My fear for New Girl is that it will cross the line between goofy awkward and uncomfortable awkward. I have a friend who literally covers their eyes when they watch The Office, because of the embarrassing situations the characters find themselves in and how closely it mirrors real life. While laughing at other people’s extremes has always been a pastime — just look at YouTube — there is a line, and it can be crossed.

Zooey Deschanel plays her part well (it is her standard typecast, after all), and the comedy has been pretty spot-on so far. For me, the appeal is more subtle jokes that make me silently giggle after the fact than the one-liners that get a quick chuckle. I’m still trying to determine how much of a storyline they’re going to try to carry through the show, but so far I like it and I’m definitely going to stay tuned for more.

Her Majesty, Nancy Grace. Viewers voted on the worst news anchor of the year, and Nancy Grace came in first. Nancy Grace is the living, breathing example of everything that is wrong with the 24-hour news networks. Although she is a self-proclaimed advocate for the victims, she repeats the same negative story every night, and is downright rude when interviewing anyone involved in the stories. She is the opposite of genuine and honest, and is simply unbearable to watch.

Bill O’Reilly. Bill O’Reilly is a self-proclaimed “traditionalist”, which for my purposes translates as ignorant and hateful. Yes, O’Reilly did stick up for America after the September 11 attacks, but in a brash and frankly uninformed manner. For a television news host to cause controversy is not unheard of, but to cause controversy through their own stupidity is simply unacceptable to viewers like me, who want the news without all of the fluff and blatant egocentrism. If you want the actual, unbiased news, change the channel to someone like Anderson Cooper.

Keith Olbermann. Although he appears to be a saint next to Nancy Grace, Olbermann has his faults as well. He has a very strict adherence to his beliefs, which is perfectly acceptable for a host, but he takes his beliefs to the point of extremism. If you cannot be “fair and balanced”, why are you in charge of telling innocent Americans how to think?

I am curious to know the readers’ opinions as to the worst news show host of the year. All comments welcome!

Together with Laila Ali, they go on the road to seek out the inspiring stories of people affected by health crises who are now paying it forward. In the first episode, they travel to Southern California and meet Jesse Billauer, a surfer with hopes of turning pro. But a freak accident at 17 left him paralyzed. The doctors told him he’d never walk again, but Jesse didn’t believe them. He became determined to prove them wrong. And not only did he walk and surf again eventually, he set up an organization to inspire other people with spinal cord injuries to overcome the same issues he had to overcome. Through Life Rolls On, Jesse shows them they can surf, skate, ski, or do whatever they want again.

Watch Everyday Health, Saturdays on ABC. Check your local listings for schedule.

About The Hosts

Ethan Zohn is the winner of Survivor: Amazon, a philanthropist, a former professional soccer player for the US and Zimbabwe, and he’s also a cancer survivor. In 2003, he used his Survivor prize money to co-found Grassroot Soccer (GRS), a nonprofit organization that uses soccer to educate, inspire and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV. The GRS has now partnered with Nike, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and other organizations to educate one million African youths on HIV/AIDS prevention education by the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In 2009, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphona, which is now in remission. He was asked to serve as National Ambassador for Stand Up 2 Cancer and Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG Foundation.

Jenna Morasca has been a model, actress and television correspondent. She’s also known as the youngest winner of Survivor on Survivor: Amazon. Off-screen, she’s also been a caregiver, not just to Ethan (her real-life partner), but to her mother, who died in 2004 after a 12-year battle with breast cancer. She is actively involved in different cancer organizations and caregiver groups, including Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and is also an ambassador for Survivor Stands Up 2 Cancer.

Laila Ali is a world-class athlete, an author, president of the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF), founder of the Laila Ali lifestyle brand and a working mother. She was the former Health, Fitness and Lifestyle correspondent for The Early Show on CBS and has done a lot of fundraising work for Feed America and WSF. She is also the author of Reach!, a motivational book for young women who needs inspiration in their life.

The show revolves around the premise of satirizing conservative personality-driven political pundit programs, such as Fox News’  The O’Reilly Factor. In order to not get at least mildly offended while watching the show, one must remember that Stephen Colbert, the anchor for the show, is merely playing a character with his real life name. Colbert himself has described the character as “well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot.” The fact that Colbert never breaks character makes for a very smart and engaging style of humor. Rather than being obviously funny, it requires  the audience to  have at least some knowledge of current events and issues around the world.

Perhaps one of the main reasons I am so enthralled by The Colbert Report is because it has a liberal bias, but I think it is also due to the fact that Colbert really does attempt to take a stand against many of the injustices that plague our country today. He covers many hot-button issues like gay marriage, the separation of church and state, the many wars around the world, and specifically presidential actions and candidacies. On top of this, the show includes many special segments like “Better Know a District,” in which each congressional district in the country is visited, and “The Word,” in which Colbert focuses on a single word, and talks about an issue that surrounds it. Colbert has invented many of the words he uses, including “truthiness,” which was named Merriam-Webster’s word of the year.

I cannot speak too highly of The Colbert Report. Especially for a college student, it is nice to be able to listen to the actual news of the day, but as presented in a more uplifting way. Too many news sources only portray the worst of the worst for the most shock value possible, but The Colbert Report definitely keeps up a level of class. The Colbert Report and Stephen Colbert are currently being noted for their massive and growing sphere of influence. Media articles note that whenever something appears on, or is endorsed by, The Colbert Report, its popularity grows by leaps and bounds. This was the case when Stephen asked his audience members to donate to the U.S. speedskating team. Within a week, hundreds of thousands of dollars had been raised. This has been attributed to the show’s large audience in the 18-34 year old age range. Colbert has utilized this demographic to raise over $3.5 million dollars for charity since 2005.

Tune into Comedy Central every Monday-Thursday evening.

(Photo courtesy of U.S. Army)

My first impression of her was probably similar to most others. She makes a point of nearly bursting out of her chair in anger while screaming at her guests and the audience. Put simply, I was caught very off guard.  Nancy Grace (the show) airs on weekdays on CNN’s HLN network at 8:00 Eastern. Although originally supposed to be a current affairs news program, since June of 2008, Nancy Grace has focused almost solely on the Caylee Anthony case. Nancy Grace averages about 1.4 million viewers per week but received a series high of 2.9 million viewers on July 5, 2011, the day of the Casey Anthony verdict.

Nancy Grace really has me split down the middle. Part of me wants to believe that she has some sort of bizarre spiritual connection to the case, leading her to be so outspoken and active. The other part of me, the more rational side, believes it is a genius scheme to attract and maintain viewers of her show. I have to admit, once I watched a segment of the show, I wanted to return the next day to hear updates and rants from Nancy Grace. Either way, she makes it very apparent and believable that this case is almost a life and death matter for her.

On the day the verdict was read, many skeptics such as myself made jokes and wondered if Nancy Grace’s head was going to explode, or if she were going to take it upon herself to seek out Casey Anthony and strangle the truth out of her. However, in all seriousness, the events surrounding the Casey Anthony case are deeply saddening. Maybe Nancy Grace really is just using her show to help the case along. And after a moment of thought, it is easy to think that Nancy Grace is not that crazy after all. And then you turn on her show, and it all comes rushing back to you.

If you are looking for news about current affairs, change the channel. But if you would like either serious updates on the Casey Anthony case, or would just like to see Nancy Grace get within reach of the point of spontaneous combustion, turn to CNN every night at 8:00 Eastern.

Mob Wives follows the lives of four women whose husbands or fathers have been incarcerated for crimes connected to the mob in Staten Island, New York. The show portrays Renee Graziano, daughter of Anthony Graziano and ex-wife of Hector Pagan, Jr.; Drita D’Avanzo, wife of the infamous drug dealer and bank robber Lee D’Avanzo;  Carla Facciolo, daughter of mob boss Louis Daidone; and Karen Gravano, daughter of Sammy “The Bull” Gavano, a former boss of the Gambino crime family. As clearly seen here, all four women have strong, and very active, ties to the mafia, giving the viewers a never before seen look inside the lives of mob families. But come to find out, we weren’t missing out on very much.

I view the show as a mix between The Real Housewives of New Jersey, The Sopranos, and The Nanny. All of the women portrayed in the show have almost comically stereotypical Staten Island accents, with hair extensions and insufferably gaudy acrylic nails and trashy behavior to match. As someone who is already skeptical of the credibility of reality television, Mob Wives pushes me over the edge and really digs under my skin. The mundane and repetitive lives of the four women make the tired concept of a show about American-Italian culture even harder to deal with. Aside from the fact that they have relatives in prison, their lives really are not that different from that of the everyday viewer, leading to a dull and almost pointless show.

Mob Wives has even led to an outpouring of disgust not only among Italian-American advocacy groups and by the relatives of murder victims killed by cast member’s relatives, but even by James Molinaro, the Staten Island Borough President. Molinaro said, “I’ve seen it. It’s disgraceful…People will think this is what Staten Island is made of.” Family members of victims believe that the four women need to be ashamed of the crimes their families committed. I also believe that the show glorifies mob members, almost painting the incarcerated family members as heroes and the women as victims of the American legal system.

Overall, Mob Wives is an hour-long disgrace to Italian-Americans, New Yorkers, and television in general. Why not make a show about the real victims of the mob crimes-the children, spouses, and friends of those murdered by the mob? From one lover of good television to another, save your time and keep your class, avoid watching Mob Wives.

Charlie Sheen gets another chance?
How many second chances can one guy get? After being deservedly fired by CBS from the hit show Two and a Half Men – which had been paying him $2 Million per episode, by the way – Charlie Sheen ventured out on a live tour. At the time, I wondered who in the world would pay good money to see Sheen rant onstage for an hour. It turned out that many people did, but almost all were disappointed to discover that he was neither funny nor insightful.

It was obvious then that an out-of-control, addicted, washed up Sheen’s career was over… except that it isn’t. Sheen has signed a deal with Lionsgate to star in a new sitcom, being billed as “a raunchier Two and a Half Men.” Whether or not there is a market for an even raunchier version of CBS’s boundary-pushing show isn’t in question. The general viewing public seems to crave baser and baser entertainment each year. And while Two and a Half Men was risqué for network TV, Sheen’s new show is being marketed to basic cable, meaning it can go a whole lot lower.

The question isn’t even about whether or not the public will accept Sheen back. Millions will tune in out of a dark curiosity born of Sheen’s Tiger Blood- fueled antics. If the show is any good (and that’s a huge ‘if’ qualified by a definition of ‘good’ broad enough to cover the tastes of the American TV audience), viewers will stay. If it isn’t, they’ll leave in droves early on. The backlash against Sheen won’t be enough to doom the show, but the curiosity-factor won’t be enough to keep it on the air for very long. After the initial spectacle wears off, the show will have to stand or fall on its own merit.

No, the real question is whether or not Sheen, emboldened and enabled in his reprehensible behavior by Lionsgate and the truckloads of money they’re paying him, will be able to keep his act together long enough to churn out 22 minutes on film each week. That’s not asking much, really, but it may be more than Sheen is capable of at this point in his life.

Ellen’s talk show combines a wide variety of talented guests and musical acts, with a large splash of color and comedy. She is known for including guests who are not famous until their appearance on her show. Some of these range from very intelligent children, to child music prodigies, to comedic individuals from around the world. Following in Oprah’s footsteps of a very lively and down-to-earth show, Ellen has hit talk show gold. The show averages about 2.7 million viewers per episode, according to ratings, which makes it by far one of the highest-viewed daytime shows.

One of the main attributes that set this show apart is the level of audience participation. Following the lead of “Oprah’s Favorite Things,” Ellen debuted her “Twelve Days of Giveaways” episodes to great critical reception. She has been known to give away luxury vacations, electronics, and more to audience members and viewers at home. As of 2011, the show has won 32 Daytime Emmys.

For an example of Ellen’s unique brand of humor, it would be beneficial to watch her speech at the 2009 commencement at Tulane University in her native New Orleans, Louisiana. Any graduate who was in that audience can agree that that was one of the most inspirational and relevant commencement speeches ever heard. Ellen is not only personable; she keeps the mood light with her bleached blonde hair and positive attitude. Watching her show is like taking a little vacation from everyday stresses and entering a world where everyone can “dance like no one is looking,” and feel free to be who they are. A word to the wise, if you’re home during the afternoon, turn to The Ellen DeGeneres Show on NBC. She will be sure to bring a smile to even the toughest of crowds.

In the auditions, we meet different characters who want to be THE master chef. There’s a trucker named Albert, who will cook anything including rattlesnakes and bobcats but draws the line at possums, and impressed the judges with his alligator and sausage jambalaya. There’s also a classical pianist, who cooked a traditional Korean dish of vegetables, rice and fried eggs, and got three yesses. There’s also the former beauty queen who presented a coconut curry lentil soup with spicy shrimp, who almost did not make it through but was saved by Gordon Ramsay’s tie-breaking vote. And then there’s the lawyer who quit her job to focus on her passion for cooking. Her lawyering skills came in handy, too, as she convinced the judges to give her an apron. But the best standout was the travel writer who cooked everything from scratch, wore a hat and apron patterned after his signature ingredient and forgot to put in his dish. But he’s lucky because everything else stood on its own and the three judges gave him an apron.

This continued until they handed out 38 aprons to the lucky contestants. They rush back to their loved ones with smiles on their faces. But not for long. The next round is up and they’ve got to slice apples, the way Gordon Ramsay taught them, the right way. And they can’t stop until told to do so. The first person to make it was lucky. He worked fast and was able to get through soon. The last ones were still slicing apples two hours after. And at the end, only 24 are left.

But, as we’ve already seen, there’s no time to rest, not when Gordon Ramsay’s breathing down your neck. The next challenge: cook a worthy dish using the main ingredient, chicken, in only an hour. They can grab anything from the pantry, which is full of fruits, vegetables, spices, and other ingredients but the main bulk of the dish has to be chicken.

The hour did not go without problems. One contestant had to forgo the chicken skin in her dish because she burnt it to a crisp. There was one contestant who baked biscuits without baking power. And there was one contestant attempting to cook a three-hour dish in just one hour.

After the hour was up, the judges called them row by row to present their dishes. Some were unimpressive, with dishes consisting seemingly of “last night’s leftovers” or tasting like “baby vomit” –  one way or another, not “MasterChef quality”. But there were 18 contestants who made it through, despite setbacks. Their dishes were still MasterChef quality.

This week, the 18 will become 16. And the judges, for sure, will not go easy on them.