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Last night’s dramatic twist on ABC’s The Bachelor was hard to watch.  The twist had been leaked weeks ago, so it wasn’t all that shocking, but to see it play out was difficult.

In case you missed it, beloved Bachelor Jason Mesnick proposed to the perky Melissa Rycroft. They looked very happy and it seemed real.

Then, minutes later on the After the Final Rose special (actually it was filmed 6 weeks later) Mesnick dumped Melissa and instead chose Molly, the other girl. Jason says the chemistry with him and Melissa was off and he couldn’t stop thinking about Molly.

Jason insists he and Rycroft were already broken up before the After the Final Rose show, but she seemed stunned by the news—and she was still wearing her engagement ring. And why did he choose to break up with her publicly, with the cameras rolling? That’s the fishy part, and it just doesn’t jibe with Mesnick’s nice-guy image. Smells  like a ratings ploy to me.

All in all, a sad ending for a promising bachelor. I hope Jason’s pay-day was worth it.

I  was excited to watch Brothers & Sisters last night. After a one-week hiatus due to The Oscars, the previews looked exceptionally good, touting it as a 2 hour movie event. And the previews promised that during the 2 hour episode there would be “a birth…and a death”.

Well we all knew the birth would be the birth of Robert (Rob Lowe) and Kitty’s (Calsita Flockhart) baby. And with all the Balthazar Getty gossip (he’s leaving the show) and rumors of Rob Lowe’s character being killed off, I wasn’t sure who it would be.

Suffice it to say there was no death. Okay, not really. Lowe’s character, Senator McCallister had a heart attack. He flatlined for a minute, but was revived. That was the death.

Oh, and the death reference may also have been a metaphor. Because Robert and Kitty’s marriage is pretty much dead.

With all the hype on ABC’s The Bachelor, all the times host Chris Harrison promises “The most shocking…dramatic… final rose ceremony ever” it’s usually just that: a lot of hype. With the exception of Bachelor 11 Brad Womack, who DID shock by picking NEITHER of the women.  Okay, yes, I admit my jaw dropped at that one.

This time there’s reportedly a shocker too. But you’ll have to wait for the After the Final Rose special to see the real drama. I wrote an AC article with some of my spoiler speculations:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1485056/the_bachelor_13_spoiler_jason_mesnick.html?cat=39

But, mine is just that: speculation. And a lot of spoilers have come out since then. I won’t try and piggyback on a story that fellow blogger Reality Steve broke last week. If you’re interested, Google it.  He researched hard, posted Youtube videos and he claims to have some inside information, so I’m believing what he is saying. Still, no one knows for sure until Monday night. It’ll definitely be must-see TV.

I’m no Mr. Blackwell, but I love looking at the celebrity gowns at the Oscars. This year there were some beauts!

I loved Jennifer Aniston’s look, and I will go against the critics to say she looked absolutely beautiful  compared to the gloomy Angelina Jolie. Sorry, but Angie always wears black and I didn’t like her gawdy green jewels either- the earrings looked like they were from the dollar store. Jen wore a silver Valentino gown and I thought she looked stunning.

Another A+ in my book, but not in the critics’, was Alicia Keys. She wore a gorgeous, lilac colored gown that was a breath of fresh air amongst all the black and the neutral dresses. I loved it!

Mickey Rourke looked like a clown, but he would have looked worse stuffed into a regular tuxedo so I’ll let him slide. I was bummed he didn’t win for Best Actor, mostly because it meant I had to sit through one of Sean Penn’s political speeches again.

And finally, Sarah Jessica Parker.  I love her, I think she has eclectic fashion sense, but her gown was too much this time. She looked like Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz. And I wish she’d cut that hair.

Photo Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Strange. Even with the pending Izzie “cancer” storyline which began last week, Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes is denouncing claims made by start James Pickens Jr. that co-stars Katherine Heigl andT.R. Knight are both leaving the show. Rhimes, who is notorious for demanding secret-keeping on the set, may be angry that Pickens slipped up at a recent NAACP luncheon, when he blabbed that the two actors are leaving. Rhimes says his comments were taken out of context, but I’m not convinced.

Things have been awry on that show for a long time, and T.R. Knight/George’s storylines have been noticeably non-existent. In fact, I see more air time with some of the nameless interns than I do of George.  So we’ll see, but it wouldn’t surprise me if both Izzie and George are both gone before long.

Nancy Kovack, the stunning actress who guested on almost every popular television show in the 1960’s, seemed to have ended her career abruptly. I knew her best as a recurring character on Bewitched– she appeared in 5 episodes of the series, from 1964-1969, including the pilot episode, playing Darren’s former girlfriend, Sheila.

But Kovack also appeared on popular shows like Star Trek, Mannix, Hawaii Five-O, It takes a Thief and The F.B.I. In fact, throughout the 1960’s, Kovack worked steadily.

In 1969, Kovack married world renowned conductor Zubin Mehta. At that time she pretty much gave up her acting career, although she did a handful of bit parts in the early 1970’s.

Later, Nancy started a luxury real estate business and employed Whitewater felon Susan McDougal as her assistant and bookkeeper (this was before the Whitewater scandal). The Mehta’s filed a lawsuit against McDougal in 1998, for allegedly embezzling $150,000 from them. McDougal was later acquitted of all charges.

I love reality TV. I know, I know. But it’s mindless and at least there’s always a steady stream of new episodes airing, even through the summer. You gotta love that.

Right now, my DVR is bogged down with shows to watch, most of them reality. So here’s a quick scoop on what happened this week on the shows, in case you didn’t have time to watch ALL of them. Or in case you never watch them and just want the Cliff Notes version:

The Bachelor- Jason dumped Jillian, so the final two are Melissa and Molly. No surprise there. But the promos show a big shocker coming up in 2 weeks. See my previous blog for more info on that.

American Idol- The contestants are being whittled down to the final 12. I was surprised by a few of the eliminations. I was not sad to see Tatiana the laughing hyena go home.

Survivor-  Can we call this Cut Throat Island? Already, the “granny” of the group was targeted to go home, just based on her age,  but she’s proved herself since then so she may be around for a couple weeks. Instead, a troublemaker, Candace, was sent packing this week.

The City- Not sure if you consider this show reality, but here. New Years Eve in New York and Whitney and Jay were actually spotted kissing! Also, Erin is sad over breaking up with Duncan. Well what did she expect when she tells him she’ll always love her old beau J.R.?

Until next week, people!

I’m not sure why I’m not feeling this season of American Idol. Maybe it’s because the audition process is too long. Maybe it’s because it feels bogged down with the 4^th judge, Kara. Maybe it’s because there’s annoying contestants like Tatiana, the laughing hyena. Maybe I’m just bored with hearing the same old critiques  every week, like singers being “pitchy”. Maybe I’m just tired of looking at Simon’s  flattop haircut.

I don’t know what it is.

What I do know is, I’ll be more into the show once they pare things down. They start out with WAY too many singers. I personally don’t enjoy the audition weeks or even Hollywood week.  I like when they have it down to 12 good singers. Which is where I think they’re at after last night’s episode. I’ll have to check my DVR and forward it to the end to see where it left off. I’ll keep you posted.

ABC’s The Bachelor always has a lot of filler, always promises “shocking” and “dramatic” developments. It’s usually just a lot of fluff. The exception was Brad Womack’s (season 11) final rose ceremony, when he picked neither of the girls. Yes, that was a shocker.

But this season’s previews promise even more drama than Womack’s failure to commit. There are a few possible scenarios I can come up with (for more on that, check out my Associated Content article,” The Bachelor 13 Spoiler: Jason Mesnick Picks His Final 2—or Does He?” which will be published by next week).

So last night, Jason sent Jillian home. Now he’s left with Melissa and Molly. The preview scenes for the finale show Deanna Pappas paying Jason a visit, making it look like the show is headed in another direction, as in reconciliation between the two of them. But keep in mind, everything is carefully edited, so this show rarely pans out the way they make it appear.

In any event, expect a twist on the finale. Or at least something that will make Jason do some thinking.

Next week the rejected women tell all. Then, The Bachelor 13 season finale will air on March 2, followed by part 1 of the After the Final Rose update show.

Over Valentine’s weekend I watched one of my favorite romantic comedies—the 1998 movie, You’ve Got Mail.

You’ve Got Mail stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The film, which is a remake of 1940’s The Shop Around the Corner was updated with a modern storyline: 2 business rivals begin an anonymous relationship over the Internet.

It’s all completely innocent flirting, until the man–  a cutthroat book store mogul played by Hanks—realizes his online muse is the pretty blonde who owns the children’s book store that his company put out of business. At that point, Hanks’ character takes stock of his life and sets out to woo his online love in person.

This is one of two Hanks/Ryan romantic comedies (the other two are the minor flop Joe Versus the Volcano and the megahit Sleepless in Seattle).  But You’ve Got Mail is by far my favorite pairing of this duo. It’s a cute, romantic movie that makes you believe in love.