pop cultured

Talk about a man-eater! What is it about Kate Hudson and men? She is quite the little heartbreaker, apparently. Since her divorce from The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson a few years ago, Hudson has dated—and dumped—a flurry of men. The latest casualty is professional bicycle racer, Lance Armstrong.  No that it was a match made in heaven, but this breakup is fresh off the heels of Hudson’s second breakup with Owen Wilson. Hudson has also been linked with Friends star Matt LeBlanc,  Elijah Blue Allman (son of Cher and Greg Allman) and Punk’d star Dax Shephard.

Her pairing with Armstrong was especially Brady Bunch-ish, as the pair were often seen out with their kids (from other marriages) together.

So Hudson is on the market yet again, but rest assured it won’t be long before the pretty, young actress finds herself another man.

Last week I pointed out how useless the Power of Veto episode is on Big Brother. The whole episode is really just one big teaser, culminating in the Veto holder rarely using the Veto to save someone (unless the veto holder is on the block, in which they always use the veto to save themself).

Last night was no exception, as Keesha won the POV and chose not to use it to save Jessie or Angie. While most of last night’s episode focused on how much the houseguests despise Libra, in the end Keesha kept her word to Libra and didn’t put her on the block.

Keesha’s allegiance to Libra will likely cost her the game. It’s clear that Libra would stab her in the back in a minute, and now the entire house knows that Keesha will never vote against Libra. This is why houseguests should never make promises or alliances too early in the game (Keesha gave Libra her word on Day 4, much too early to know how much she would regret it later).

Tomorrow night is the live eviction. Either Jessie or Angie will be going home.

Last year, a reality show starring former teen idols Corey Feldman and Corey Haim hit the airwaves. The show pegged the two as a modern day Odd Couple, and it was a somewhat entertaining comedy. Boy, have times changed.

This year’s installment of “The Two Corey’s” shows a darker look at the friendship of the two 1980’s teen idols. Their friendship is crippled, due mostly to Haim’s drug abuse, and the duo is in couple’s therapy. Yes, you heard me right. It makes for a gloomy and depressing look into their lives.

Early in the second season, Haim let’s on that the two were molested as young boys, something that he seems to blame Feldman for. Feldman is shocked that this extremely personal information has been let out and it changes the course of the entire show.

It’s hard to watch a struggling Haim and his angry attitude. The man seems angry at the world and just can’t seem to let go of his past. It’s very sad.

It’s been 6 months since filming wrapped for season 2 of “The Two Corey’s”, and the childhood friends no longer speak to each other. That probably means there won’t be a season 3. Or who knows? Didn’t Paris and Nicole film an entire season of “the Simple Life” when they were estranged?

Photo Credit: Dream a LIttle Dream Promo photo (Vestron Pictures) 

Last night was one of the more entertaining episodes of “Big Brother 10”. Head of Household Keesha proved that she does indeed have a brain. And after seeing her struggle with her HOH decision last night, she has become my new house favorite.

Instead of doing what the rest of the bullies in the house wanted her to do, Keesha used her power and went and put up who she wanted to. It was refreshing to see a Head of Household actually do what they wanted instead of letting the group decide.

Muscle head Jessie downright bullied her, telling her to put up her buddy Dan and 75 year old Jerry. His final words to her, in a somewhat threatening tone, were “Got it? Got it?”

Well, Jessie’s arrogance may have cost him the game. Keesha put up Angie and Jessie. And while Angie is her target, Jessie may have dug his own grave. Winning the Power of Veto may be the only thing that will save him. Best part is, Keehsa put up 2 members of a very strong alliance—and I don’t think she even realizes that part!

This weekend marked the end of two snooze fest reality shows.  Thank goodness, “Denise Richards: It’s Complicated” is finally done!  While Richards herself can be, er…….entertaining, her cast of cronies did nothing to make her show interesting. The final show showed her press tour to promote her realty show, where most of the interviewers grilled her about ex, Charlie Sheen.  If this show gets renewed for another season I’ll be very surprised.

Then we had “Living Lohan”, which chronicled the life of Dina Lohan, mother of Lindsay, and the rest of her brood. Sorry, but young Ali Lohan just isn’t as interesting or as cute as her famous sister. We’re talking the Marcia Brady syndrome here (“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia”). At least this show has somewhat of  a family dynamic (even Grandma Lohan stars in it) but it doesn’t have much else, and it certainly doesn’t have Lindsay, although she is mentioned a lot.

The best part of these two E Reality shows last night was the promos for Pam Anderson’s reality show,  “Pam: Girl on the Loose”, which debuts next Sunday.

Another one bites the dust.

What is it about the show “the Bachelor” that it can’t produce lasting relationships? Hmmm… maybe it’s the fact that the Bachelor has to date a bunch of attractive women, pick one out of these 25 women within a very short span of time, go engagement ring shopping, and then he has to be separated from her for months until the final show airs. The couple almost always breaks up.

Count most recent bachelor, Matt Grant as another casualty. He and fiancé Shayne Lamas (daughter of actor Lorenzo Lamas) have broken up. Not that this was ever a match made in heaven. Who didn’t see it coming after seeing these two on the recent “Bachelorette” reunion show? This makes 11 out of 12 “Bachelor” romances that have ended in a break up. There haven’t been any “Bachelor” weddings—just “Bachelorette” Trista Rehn and her pick, Ryan Sutter—and ABC milks the heck out of that one lone success story.

Clearly “The Bachelor” needs a major overhaul. It should be more honest, less glossy, and it should be filmed much more in real time. The final rose ceremony should be live. Here’s hoping that the producers of this show will learn from this, as it’s really starting to become anticlimactic.

If you’re looking for some fun summertime reads, here are some cool pop culture books to check out.

“C’mon Get Happy : Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus” by David Cassidy (1994). Partridge Family star David Cassidy recounts his days of singing bubblegum music and being a teen idol. And how his image was not-so-squeaky clean off the set.

“Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg” by Barry Williams (1993). The oldest child star on “The Brady Bunch”, Williams dishes about the antics on the set (especially an ongoing feud between star Robert Reed and producer Sherwood Schwartz) as well as his own scandalous “date” with his TV mom!

“Bewitched Forever: the Immortal Companion to Television’s Most Magical Supernatural Situation Comedy”  by Herbie Pilato (2001). PIlato did a phenomenal job researching every tidbit you’d ever want to know about the sitcom “Bewitched”. Absolutely a great read!

Photo Credit: Bewitched Forever book cover/Tapestry Press

In the early 1970’s, no boy was dreamier than David Cassidy. The “Partridge family” star sang songs that we thought were only about us. Plus he had a cute shag haircut and he was really funny.

Sadly, David Cassidy went through some rough times after “The Partridge Family” went off the air in the mid-1970’s. Most notably, a young fan died during one of his concerts. Though it was found that she had a preexisting heart condition, Cassidy blamed himself for throwing her into a frenzy.

Cassidy penned a memoir in 1994 where he denounced the “bubblegum music” that he was forced to sing and sway to on “The Partridge Family”. This was long after he had spent the money it had earned him, after he had lived kinda sorta homeless for a while. I felt he was a tad ungrateful.

Thank goodness Cassidy has come to terms with his demons. He now seems to embrace his past, see the “bubblegum” for what it was, and has even re-recorded some of it to a poppy tune on the CD “David Cassidy Dance Party Remix”.

Cassidy has been married  to Sue Shifrin since 1991, has 2 kids and still tours and performs all over the world.

Photo Credit: ABC Partridge Family Promo Photo

Last night’s live elimination vote on Big Brother 10 went as expected. Steven, the rodeo cowboy, was unanimously voted out of the house, 9 to 0. Not even Keesha, his best friend in the house, gave him a sympathy vote.

While earlier in the week it seemed as though Dan would go home, his strategy of looking like a weak player is paying off. The house quickly forgave him for last week’s slip up (he was the lone voter to vote to keep Brian in the house). Steven, on the other hand, came off as strong and opinioned.  That was his downfall.

It’s a shame that the houseguests fall into these “house alliances” so quickly. No one dares to vote the way they really want to. Loyalty means nothing. They need to add a twist to this game to make the voting more interesting. Rarely is there a surprise with the votes. That’s why last year’s America’s Player twist was actually interesting, because America cast the votes for houseguest Eric and it caused all sorts of hoopla.

Now, with Keesha as the Head of Household, it should be interesting to see if she sticks with her original “girl” alliance or if she decides to put up Libra, whom she clearly can’t stand. May the cat fighting begin!

Big Brother 10 is panning out to be no different than the last 9 seasons.  I have really started to wonder- what is the point of the Power of Veto ceremony, anyway? It’s so predictable and quite frankly, it’s getting old.

If one of the nominees wins the Power of Veto, he or she will surely use it to take themselves off of the nomination block. This is a no brainer, with the exception of Marcellas Reynolds’ slipup in season 3, when he chose NOT to use the Veto on himself and was thus unceremoniously voted out of the house. Hands down the dumbest move on Big Brother ever, but people have learned from his mistake.

Ever since then, it’s a given that if a nominee wins the veto, he or she will definitely use it to save their self.  And if someone else wins the Veto, they rarely use it- even to save a friend—for fear of angering the other houseguests. It’s getting to be a little boring sitting through the entire episode only to find that nothing will change.

This week Michelle did as predicted when she won the Veto, although the teasers made it look like she may use the veto to save Dan or Steven, so Jessie could put Libra up on the block. So the nominees stay the same. Either Dan or Steven will be golng home tonight.