Tag Archives: Stars on Mars

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television — 8/27/23 — 9/2/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother 25 (24/7, Paramount+ and CBS)

I wrote about Big Brother here!

CHiPs (Weekday Mornings, GET TV)

I watched two episodes of this very 70s cop show on Friday morning.  Both episodes featured car crashes and California living.  I liked the opening, bass-heavy theme music.

Claim to Fame (Monday Night, ABC)

Nick Cannon’s brother, Gabriel, ended up winning the show.  (It’s kind of weird how everyone just shrugged off Nick Cannon making all of those anti-Semitic comments on that podcast.)  This was an amusing reality show, even if all of my favorites were eliminated early on.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched a two-part episode in which Dr. Phil talked to a mother who had a YouTube channel dedicated to exploiting her autistic child.  The mother was convinced her child was schizophrenic as well as autistic and kept talking over both Dr. Phil and all other medical experts on the show.  She had a very annoying habit of nodding and saying, “Yes, I agree,” whenever anyone would disagree with her.  Seriously, she was the most annoying person that I’ve ever seen on a talk show.  I then watched another episode featuring a middle-aged woman who was into S&M and who had recently invited sex offender to come live with her and her 9 year-old daughter.  Yikes!

On Wednesday morning, I watched an episode in which Dr. Phil talked to a handsome young drug addict who claimed that he had written all of Taylor Swift’s songs.  Then, later that night, I watched an episode about fighting sisters.  To be honest, I’m not sure that Phil really helped any of them.

Geraldo (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched an episode of this 90s talk show in which Geraldo Rivera talked to New York club kids.  Michael Alig looked like he couldn’t wait to murder someone.

Jane Pratt (YouTube)

This was a talk show from the 90s.  On Tuesday, I watched an episode called “Raves and Ecstasy.”  I immediately recognize the host as one of the victims from The Boogeyman.

Jenny Jones (YouTube)

Jenny Jones talked to people who called off their weddings due to stuff that happened at Bachelor and Bachelorette parties.  Jenny got extremely flustered while talking about the strippers.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Sally Jessy Raphael (YouTube)

On Thursday morning, I watched an episode featuring “out of control teens” who were sent to boot camp.  The audience loved watching the teens suffers at boot camp but I suspect it probably didn’t do much good as far as the teens were concerned.  Later, during the afternoon, I watched an episode featuring out-of-control teens.  Two terrifying people from the Tough Love Organization, showed up and ordered all of the parents to divorce their children.

South Central (YouTube)

I wrote about South Central here!

Stars on Mars (Monday Night, Fox)

On the finale of Stars on Mars, Adam Rippon emerged as the winner so I guess he is the new Warlord of Mars now.

Steve Wilkos Show (YouTube)

I watched two episodes on Thursday night.  Steve kicked abusers off of his stage.  GO, STEVE!

T. and T.  (Tubi)

I wrote about T. and T. here!

Welcome Back Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/20/23 — 8/26/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I spent most of this week watching horror movies and Big Brother.  Sometimes, I couldn’t tell which was which.  Here’s some thoughts on what I did watch this week!

Big Brother 25 (24/7, CBS and Paramount Plus)

I wrote about Big Brother here!

The Challenge USA (Sunday and Thursday Night, CBS)

I watched it on Sunday, I didn’t watch it on Thursday.  I don’t remember a thing that happened on Sunday, beyond the fact that I was annoyed by the fact that I was being asked to pay attention to someone named Bananas.  To be honest, I’m getting kind of bored with reality TV.  For instance, once this season of Big Brother is over, I never want to see any of the houseguests again.  The idea of following them from show to show is just so cringey to me.

City Guys (YouTube)

Yay!  I’m finally done with City Guys!

Dirty Pair Flash (YouTube)

I watched another episode of this old anime series on Saturday morning.  I have absolutely no idea what’s going on.  A lot of stuff exploded so that was kind of fun.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

Sunday morning, I watched an episode featuring a mother who was convinced that her daughter was lying about having stomach cancer and stealing money from people online.  It turns out the mom was right!

Saturday afternoon, I watched an episode about a 17 year-old girl who was planning on moving out of her home so that she could live with an 18 year-old that she had never personally met.  Dr. Phil did not think this was a good idea.

Fantasy Island (YouTube)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Republican Party Presidential Primary Debate (Fox News)

I watched it but I’m going to keep my opinions to myself.  I will say that there were some candidates who seemed to be considerably more impressive than others.

Sally Jessy Raphael (YouTube)

I watched two episodes of this 90s talk show on Saturday.  One episode was about teenagers being pressured by their friends and family to lose their virginities.  The other was about husband, wives, and secrets.  The audience booed everyone.

Saved By The Bell (Sunday Morning, MeTV)

It was student/teacher week!  Zack became principal.  Kelly taught history!  Mr. Belding roamed the hallways!  Lisa and Screech took over the athletic department and Slater and the jocks passed their history test just in time to lead Bayside to a 28-21 victory over Valley.  This particular episode never made any sense to me.

Stars on Mars (Monday Night, FOX)

To be honest, Marshawn Lynch probably should have been sent back to Earth much sooner than he was.  But, then again, everyone else kept leaving voluntarily so it’s not like there were really many opportunities to do so.  This is one of those shows that, in the future, I will probably claim to have never heard of.

T and T (Tubi)

I wrote about T and T here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back, Kotter here!

 

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/13/23 — 8/19/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother 25 (24/7, CBS and Paramount Plus)

I wrote about Big Brother here!

The Challenge: USA (Sunday and Thursday Night, CBS)

I did have this show on in the background on Thurdsay night but, if you want to know how little I paid attention to this episode, just consider that I somehow missed Paulie coming out until I read about it on twitter afterwards.

City Guys (YouTube)

I wrote about City Guys here!  I’m nearly done with this show!

Claim to Fame (Monday Night, ABC)

J.R. was eliminated this week.  It’s still a cute show but I don’t really care that much about any of the relatives left.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

Sunday morning, as I waited for the Big Brother live feeds to come back, I watched an old episode of Dr. Phil on YouTube.  A mother was upset that her teenage daughter was dating a registered sex offender.  Her daughter insisted that it was no big deal and that her boyfriend had changed.  It turned out the daughter was naïve but the mother was overbearing and a bit hypocritical herself.

On Thursday and on Saturday, I watched a few episodes about trashy in-laws because I needed some background noise.  They all kind of blended together, to the extent that I’m not even sure how many episodes I ended up watching.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday night, I joined Jeff and our friend Pat in watching an episode about British pop stars.  It was a fun episode!

The PGA Tour on CBS (Sunday, CBS)

I refuse to apologize for liking golf.  I didn’t even care that the tour totally preempted Big Brother on Sunday.  I enjoy looking at the courses.

Radio 1990 (Night Flight Plus)

On Saturday morning, Jeff and I joined our friend Pat in watching an episode of this old music program.  The episode featured a profile of Van Halen.

60 Minutes (Sunday Night, CBS)

Because golf ran late on Sunday, I sat through an episode of 60 Minutes as I waited for Big Brother to start.  I can’t remember anything about any of the stories that they showed.  60 Minutes has always seemed like such a strange show to me.  It feels like a show that’s permanently frozen in the past century.  That said, I appreciate the way the stopwatch always tells me how many more minutes are left in each episode.

Stars on Mars (Monday Night, Fox)

Ariel, who was the person on Mars to whom I related to, volunteered to be sent back to Earth.  If I was a producer of this reality show, I would be concerned by the fact that all of the participants keep volunteering to be kicked off the show.

Superfan (Wednesday Night, CBS)

People competed for the title of being Shania Twain’s biggest fan.  It was dumb and it’s tempting to blame the show on the dearth of new scripted content during the writer’s strike but, to be honest, the networks were airing game shows just this stupid on television before everyone went on strike.

T. and T. (Tubi)

I wrote about T. and T. here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back, Kotter here!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 8/6/23 — 8/12/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother (24/7, CBS and Paramount Plus)

I wrote about Big Brother here!

The Challenge USA (Thursday Night, CBS)

The latest season of this reality show premiered this week.  I kind of watched it but, to be honest, I got bored and tuned out after 20 minutes or so.  As far as I can tell, The Challenge mostly seems to exist to give work to former reality show contestants who don’t want to return to their former lives.

City Guys (YouTube)

I wrote about City Guys here!

Claim to Fame (Monday Night, ABC)

The remaining contestants finally figured out that Hugo was Jimmy Carter’s grandson and they sent him packing.  I’m enjoying this show, though I’m still annoyed all of my favorites have been eliminated.  That said, Hugo wasn’t one of my favorites so this week was a good one.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

Despite being opposed to Dr. Phil on general principle, I did have the show on for background noise while I was getting some work done on Tuesday.  The first episode featured an out-of-control teen who got sent to rehab.  Phil said that the parents were ultimately to blame and, for once, I agreed because her parents really were the worst!  The 2nd episode featured a man who somehow thought it would be okay to live with both his wife and his mistress in the same house.  Dr. Phil explained why this arrangement probably would not work.  The 3rd episode featured a woman who hired a nanny off of Craig’s List and who was shocked when the Nanny turned out to be a bit shady.  The fourth episode featured a former beauty pageant contestant who was now an out-of-control teen.  Dr. Phil sent her to a mental health facility, which led to a lot of tears.  It was awkward.  I’m not sure I agree with Dr. Phil’s solution.  I think it was more about making the audience happy than helping the child.  Finally, for the fifth episode, I watched an episode about two sisters who claimed they would never accept their new stepmother.  The family was a complete mess.  I felt bad for the stepmother.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here.

Saved By The Bell (MeTV)

On Sunday morning, I watched three full hours of Saved By The Bell.  Zack started dating Kristy, the new wrestler.  But then, in the next episode, he was suddenly trying to date Slater’s ex-girlfriend from Germany, showing that Zack definitely had commitment issues.  Zack then had an operation on his knee and returned to school in time to convince everyone to not allow oil drilling on Bayside’s property.  (Poor Becky!)  Then, it was time to rig a chess tournament and head to the mall so that he and his friends could buy tickets to (snicker) the U2 concert.  The common factor in all of these episodes was everyone putting way too much faith in Screech.

Solid Gold (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this old 80s music show on Sunday night.  The episode I watched was from 1982 and it featured some good music and a lot of dancing so I enjoyed it.

Stars on Mars (Monday Night, Fox)

The Lance Armstrong redemption has come to an end as Armstrong left “Mars” this week.

T. and T. (Tubi)

I wrote about T. and T. here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!

Yes, Minister (Monday Morning, PBS)

In the special one-hour Christmas special, Jim Hacker became Prime Minister!  While it’s true that he became PM because everyone was impressed by the fact that he had no strongly held beliefs, it was still hard not to be happy for him.  I love this show.

Lisa Marie’s Week in Television: 7/30/23 — 8/5/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother finally started this week so say goodbye to my free time!

Big Brother 25 (CBS and Paramount Plus, All The Time)

I wrote about the 25th season of Big Brother here!

Claim to Fame (ABC, Monday Night)

Nooooooo!  Not Olivia!  Sadly, Olivia was eliminated this week when she failed to guess to whom Karsyn was related.  Olivia was my favorite so …. well, I’ll still watch the show but now I’m just watching because I want to see people eliminated.  This show is so addictive.

Geraldo (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched an episode of this old talk show from the 80s in which a brawl between Nazis and civil rights leader Roy Innis led to Gerald Rivera getting his nose broken.

The Moment Of Truth (YouTube)

I had totally forgotten about this incredibly mean-spirted game show that aired on Fox back in 2008.  Basically, people took a lie detector exam and they received money for each question they answered truthfully.  If they were caught in a lie, they lost all of their money.  Needless to say, the questions got progressively more and more personal.  The episode that I watched on Tuesday featured a woman who won money by admitting that she had been fired from stealing, that she kept secrets about her father from her mother, and that she would leave her husband for her ex-boyfriend.  Then the woman was asked if she felt she was a good person and her reply of “Yes,” was found to be deceptive so she lost everything.  It was one of the most awkward things that I’ve ever seen.

Naturally, I had to watch another episode on Wednesday.  Paul won $100,000 but he also disgusted his girlfriend and family by confession that he felt he could never be loyal to one woman and that was paid for sex while in college.  Again, it was awkward but compulsively watchable.

Sally Jessy Raphael (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched an episode called “He’s Not Good Enough For My Daughter.”  Everyone on the show was pretty trashy and it was kind of hilarious watching Sally try to act like she was hosting a serious discussion.

Stars on Mars (Fox, Monday Night)

Andy Richter has been eliminated and to be honest, I’m surprised.  Andy’s funny but I think he’d be a little bit annoying to travel to another planet with.

The Steve Wilkos Show (YouTube)

On the episode that I watched on Sunday night, a woman was upset because a “crazy psycho” was stalking her boyfriend.  It turned out that the boyfriend wasn’t quite as innocent as he claimed, which I saw coming from a mile away.  I enjoyed this episode.  It was like an incredibly over-the-top Lifetime movie.

On Monday, I was so depressed, after watching a film called The Honeymoon Killers, that I tried to cheer myself up by watching two episodes.  The first one featured Steve kicking an abuser off his stage and that was fun to watch.  The second featured a woman who thought her boyfriend was gay and who demanded that he take a lie detector test to prove that he was straight.

On Tuesday, I watched an episode in which a man pretended to have a heart attack to avoid stepping out on stage and seeing the son who he had abandoned years ago.  The audience was not impressed.  The audience was even less impressed with the woman at the center of the next episode that I watched.  Her six children had been taken away from her by the Department of Child Welfare and she was determined to have a seventh child with a teenager who appeared to be suffering from some sort of brain damage.  It was disturbing to watch, to say the least.

You Don’t Know Jack (YouTube)

This was a game show, based on the computer game, that aired on ABC in 2001.  It was hosted by Paul Reubens.  I watched an episode on Saturday morning.  The questions were pretty easy.  The main attraction of the show was to watch Reubens play the role of the hilariously shallow game show host.  It was amusing, though the humor seemed like it would work best in small doses as opposed to on a weekly basis.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 7/23/23 — 7/29/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Big Brother starts next week and I’m going to have a lot less free time.  (I probably should have made better use of my free time this week!)  That said, I skipped the Big Brother special that CBS aired this week because I knew there wouldn’t be anything interesting revealed.  Big Brother is a show that I both love and hate in equal measures.  I never find myself looking forward to it but I always watch once it starts.

Anyways, here some thoughts on what I did watch this week!

City Guys (YouTube)

I wrote about City Guys here!

Claim To Fame (Monday Night, ABC)

I have to admit that Cole was one of the players who I thought had a really good chance of winning the game so I was a little surprised to see him leave the show this week.  For the record, he was Alicia Keys’s brother.  At this point, I’m just rooting for Olivia.

Degrassi High (YouTube)

I watched an episode on Sunday.  Everyone was smoking weed.

Degrassi: The Next Generation (Tubi)

I watched a few random episodes on Sunday.  Most of them were from the superlong tenth season, which isn’t really Degrassi’s best season but it is one that I occasionally like to revisit just because it’s not one of those seasons that really demands that you put a lot of effort into concentrating on what was happening on-screen.  The tenth season of Degrassi is perfect for background noise.

Fantasy Island (YouTube)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Jenny Jones (YouTube)

The episode that I watched on Thursday was entitled “I Want My Child To Stop Listening To Marilyn Manson.”  The kids loved Marilyn and the parents were panicking.  Jenny Jones told her audience, “Now, you know, Marilyn Manson is a guy, right?  He’s a male.”  One of Jenny’s guests was a cutter.  The audience booed her, which I doubt helped.  “He is far from being one of the beautiful people!” one parent said, “He is a sadistic pig!”  I think this episode was from 1996.

On Friday, I watched an episode in which Jenny revealed the results of DNA tests.  As a host, Jenny Jones was so flustered and spent so much time stumbling over her words that I actually got a headache while watching her.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

The Master (Tubi)

I wrote about The Master here!

Sally Jessy Raphael (YouTube)

On Thursday, I watched an episode about young people with lovers who were old enough to be their grandparents.  Many of them had angry family members who wanted to yell at them on national television.  The audience did a lot of booing.

I followed this up with an episode in which women were encouraged to dump their “cheating boyfriends.”  One of the boyfriends had cheated on his girlfriend with a 13 year-old!  Hopefully, they broke up after the show.

I then watched a third episode, in which bratty teenagers talk about how much they disliked the men that their mother dated.  I cringed as I was flooded by memories of my own bratty behavior whenever my mom started to date someone new.

On Friday, for reasons that even I can’t quite fathom, I watched another episode in which Sally gave updates on out-of-control teens, the majority of whom were still out-of-control.  The boot camps did not work.

Stars on Mars (Monday Night, Fox)

The silliest reality show on television right now continued this week, with Rhonda Rousey asking to be sent back to Earth.  Fortunately, since no one on the show had actually left Earth to begin with, it was a quick journey home.  As for who I hope wins Stars on Mars …. eh, whatever the prize is, give it to William Shatner.  I know he’s the host and he probably only had to spend a day or two pre-taping all of his scenes but he’s still the most entertaining part of the show.

The Steve Wilkos Show (YouTube)

I watched an episode on Thursday.  Two brothers with really deep acne scars were on the show, trying to figure out which one was the father of a baby.  Their annoying mother came out and screamed at everyone.  It was so incredibly trashy that it become oddly fascinating.

I followed this with a second episode, in which Steve tossed an abusive boyfriend off of his stage.  That was satisfying to see.  Believe it or not, I do think that Steve was perhaps a bit more sincere than his fellow daily talk show hosts.  The dislike that he felt towards abusers and cheaters always seemed real in a way that Maury Povich’s similar outrage did not.

On Friday morning, I watched two episodes while doing some work in my office.  The first episode featured a woman with a scummy, abusive boyfriend.  She dumped him at the end of the episode and the entire audience chanted her name.  This was followed by an episode featuring a woman who claimed that her ex-boyfriend had stolen the ashes of her deceased and cremated child.  That was weird and depressing.

Welcome Back Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 7/16/23 — 7/22/23

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

City Guys (YouTube)

I wrote about City Guys here.

Claim To Fame (Monday Night, ABC)

Claim to Fame is a show where 12 relatives of celebrities compete to be the last relative standing.  If someone guesses who you are related to, then you’re out of the show.  If someone incorrectly guesses who you are related to, they are out of the show.  It’s all really, really silly but it’s also a lot more fun than it probably has any right to be.  It helps that the show is hosted by the totally charming duo of Kevin and Frankie Jonas.

I watched the first three episodes of the second season on Sunday morning.  The highlight, of course, was the epic meltdown of Tom Hanks’s niece, who really only had herself to blame for being eliminated because she literally had a panic attack whenever anyone mentioned that someone on the show might be related to Tom Hanks.  As I finished the third episode, I decided that Olivia and Chris were my two favorite players and that Hugo was least favorite, largely due to the fact that Hugo just seemed awfully impressed with himself.

I watched the latest episode on Monday night.  Eddie Murphy’s daughter was finally sent out of the house.  I say finally because everyone pretty much figured out who she was during the second episode.  That said, she seemed to be a nice person.

Degrassi High (YouTube)

Old school Degrassi!  As much as I hate to admit, I haven’t seen much of either Degrassi Junior High or Degrassi High but I intend to remedy that soon.  On the two episodes I watched, the school bully discovered that he was HIV+ and Joey’s attempt to raise money for a new car failed.  It was interesting seeing Joey when he was younger and still had hair.

Fantasy Island (YouTube)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Happy Hour (YouTube)

I watched the 2nd episode of this old 90s game show on Saturday morning.  Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa hosted.  Ahemt had a bit too much energy for his own good but at least Mario Lopez was one of the contestants.  There was an extremely creepy moment when a woman was brought out of the audience and talked about how obsessed she was with Mario.  Also interesting was to note that this episode was nearly 30 years old but Mario Lopez looked exactly the same as he does today.  The man seriously does not age.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

The Master (Tubi)

I wrote about The Master here!

Night Music (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this 90s late night music show on Friday night. Bootsy Collins performed and it was very entertaining.

The Simpsons (Weekdays, FXX)

I watched two episodes of this long-running show on Thursday afternoon.  In the first episode, Bart was expelled from Springfield Elementary but, fortunately, he was allowed to re-enroll after he exposed the truth about whacking day and saved the lives of a bunch of snakes.  This was followed by an episode in which Marge forgot to pay for a bottle of whiskey and was sent to jail for 30 days.  Needless to say, the entire town fell apart without her and was forced to settle for a Jimmy Carter statue when they couldn’t afford one of Lincoln.  This led to riots, as one would naturally expect.

Stars on Mars (Monday Night, Fox)

I binged and got up-to-date with this stupid, stupid show throughout the week.  As dumb as it is, it’s compulsively watchable.  On the one hand, it was great to see William Shatner hamming it up as the host.  On the other hand, is it really time for Lance Armstrong redemption tour?

Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about “The Sit-In” here!