I have a terrible love for reality television… but for some reason, Bravo’s is the best. Naturally Project Runway would be the initial draw, but after wasting many a weekend and weeknight hour in front of my TV, I’ve compiled a list of other reasons to tune in. Plus the fact that Heidi Klum is too much pretty contained in one person tends to depress me. In no particular order, here are some favorites:

Shear Genius–Former Charlie’s Angel Jaclyn Smith is the host of this competition among hairstylists. Would’ve been much more fitting with Farrah, you know, the one with the memorable hair, but apparently she’s booked or something. Anyway, the show’s ADDICTIVE. Thing marathon-worthy. The stylists are all fabulous in their own way, and their cattiness is delicious to watch. Some of the endearing ones are great though as well, you have to have an underdog to root for. They do haircuts in random locations, have awesome guests like ohhh I don’t know, Oscar Blandi? Who maybe I would kill to have ever touch my hair? Yeah. Him. Anyway, it’s fabulous and will inspire greatness.

Million Dollar Listing–Real estate actually got interesting. This season we’ve got three of the younger, most successful young men in the biz out in LA, which I ordinarily hate on principle as a New Yorker in training. But damn. The upcoming season preview got me all sorts of excited… one of these agents is 21 and sold $80 million in real estate last year. Even if his commision is only 5%, which you KNOW it’s a hell of a lot more than that…. Damn. Makes me want to change career paths… and buy a house. On the ocean. Read More »

So another Miss America pageant has come and gone without anyone really noticing.

Maybe it’s because we have other fantastic outlets to judge people, such as, say, Rock of Love, I Love New York, and the classic and oh-so-classy Flavor of Love (I’m detecting a “love” theme here, VH1).

Unpredictability is what sells, any idiot can see that. So in order to boost ratings, TLC made its own reality show about this year’s Miss America contestents, Miss America: Reality Check, which shows us that shockingly, some of these girls aren’t so bright.

I mean, that’s surprising, right? A not smart hot girl. Wow. And isn’t it just a little humorous that they can’t even bother to be creative with a title to try and pull viewers?

Reality Check is a little too formulaic for the typical American audience. We get it already. 50 Barbies prance around in eveningwear and bikinis, trying to show us that their baton-twirling or vocal stylings can change the world. They get narrowed down, the 4 prettiest, blondest Southern girls stay on and Texas always wins. Those of us who live in the North ponder what our lives could have been had we been born to drawl and drink sweet tea, and then quickly remember that it’s kind of like a foreign country and snap out of it.

This year’s winner was Miss Michigan, Kristen Haglund. That’s really the only thing I heard and remotely cared about. Finally, some good representation from the mitten… or is it? Read More »

A recent New York Times article discussed research that has become quite the topic of conversation among psychologists in recent years: narcissism among young adults.

Apparently, our generation is all about the “I Love Me.”

According to the people behind the research, today’s 18-25 year olds are more narcissistic than any previous generation: “Today’s young people — schooled in the church of self-esteem, vying for spots on reality television, promoting themselves on YouTube — are more narcissistic than their predecessors.”

I find this completely unfair. Just because I can’t walk by a mirror without looking at my reflection does not make me a narcissist. Just because I look at myself first…and last…every time I look at a picture does not make me a narcissist. And just because I think I am hilarious and talented and write a blog that I expect everyone to adore doesn’t make me a narcissist.

Ok. Maybe I do think about myself quite a bit.

But it’s not my fault that I was raised in a generation in which parents told children they could do anything, be anything, and they should never doubt themselves. We have been told our whole lives that anything is attainable and, more recently, that nothing is sexier on a woman than confidence. How, then, can I now be blamed for being confident? Read More »

The tensions are as high as their heels this week, with four models left competing for the title of America’s Next Top Model.

The girls arrive home to find a note from Tyra telling them that she is sending them to “the great mall of China.” C’mon, that’s pretty clever!

The girls head to the mall in the morning in search of an outfit to recreate the look of one of the four beauties they heard stories about—and this is where some eyebrow-raising model sabotage begins. After wasting time wandering off on the other side of the mall, Bianca runs into Jenah—and gleefully tells her that she just has to check out that area, knowing full well she won’t find much.

Jenah gets back in time to show off her outfit in a casual runway show and gets her sweet revenge by winning the challenge. In addition to getting a dress made especially for her and a friend (Chantal), she also gets one-on-one runway lessons from Miss Jay. We’ll see how those help her if she makes it to the final two!

The next morning, the models head to the Great Wall to be made over into warriors. And their photographer is, drumroll please—Tyra! Is there anything she can’t do? (Oh right: sing, act, make music videos…) Both Chantal and Jenah do well, though Tyra takes issue with Jenah not knowing who she is. “She’s a good model, but who is she?” asks Tyra.

Right, let’s pretend this is a soul searching competition. It’s barely even a modeling competition! Read More »

Guess what? You are still in the running to become America’s Next Top Model!

Ok, well maybe you’re not, but 33 tall and thin girls were last night on Cycle 9’s first episode of America’s Next Top Model.

Every Thursday, I’ll be recapping the latest episode for you guys, so we can all laugh, cry, and feel fat together. Read More »