Summer Lovin'

Well, the 2006-07 TV season is officially a wrap! Now, it's time to move into the doldrums of TV in the summer - a whole bunch of useless, nonsense reality shows, excluding a few (we'll get to that later). There are a couple of gems to look forward to this summer, however, so without further procrastination, here are my top 5 reasons to watch TV this summer:

1. The Starter Wife

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am for this mini-series. I just finished reading the book, by Gigi Levangie Grazer, over the weekend, so I am doubly curious to see how it translates to the big (little) screen.


Debra Messing stars as Molly Kagen, the wife of a Hollywood studio boss who suddenly finds herself having to start her life over when her husband out of the blue announces he wants a divorce. One minute Molly is a popular woman in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, and the next she is shunned by almost everyone. Since no one wants to be associated with her and she agrees to spend the summer at a friend's house in Malibu, where she can contemplate her situation and figure out what to do with the rest of her life.


Anika Noni Rose of Dreamgirls fame co-stars as Lavender, the security guard and gatekeeper, of the exclusive Malibu community where Molly takes up residence. The Starter Wife premieres with a special two-hour episode Thursday, May 31 at 9pm on USA and continues every Thursday at 9pm through June 28.







2. Tyler Perry's House of Payne

I know, I know. I’m not a fan of Mr. Perry, nor Ms. Madea, but without Girlfriends and The Game to fulfill my Black TV quota, House of Payne it is. I remember when this show debuted last year with a short run on UPN. Honestly, I thought it looked low budget and was poorly acted and written. I don’t think you can rely on stage play actors (yeah, I’m talking about you Cassi and LaVan Davis) to carry movies and TV shows. It just doesn’t work. But, given the previews for this new season on TBS, the show seems somewhat improved and I’m willing to give it a shot. An unexpected crisis forces CJ, played by Allen Payne, to move in with his Uncle Pops and Aunt Ella. In addition to CJ's two kids Jazmin and Mailk, there’s Pops and Ella's son, Calvin, a wise-cracking college kid with no money. House of Payne premieres Wednesday, June 6 on TBS at 9pm with back-to-back episodes.

3. Traveler

I am so reluctant to become invested in any serial drama on ABC given the demise of The Nine and Six Degrees, but Traveler is good stuff. I really enjoyed the sneak preview episode a few weeks ago.


Three grad-school students, Jay Burchell, Tyler Fog and Will Traveler, take on a cross-country road trip to celebrate their success. But when an innocent prank at one of New York's oldest art museums coincides with the bombing of the iconic building, Jay and Tyler are blamed for the terrorist attack and realize that their "friend" Will may have been the one who framed them. Unable to find Will or any evidence that the Will Traveler they knew even existed, Jay and Tyler are forced to flee the city and go on the run. Hunted by the FBI the friends must rely on each other to elude capture, while trying desperately to prove their innocence by answering two questions - who is Will Traveler and why did he set them up? Good stuff, right? Let's keep our fingers crossed that ABC gives this show a chance. Check out Traveler on tonight at 10pm on ABC.

4. Hidden Palms

For those closet Dawson's Creek and The O.C. fans out there, like myself, this one is for us. From Kevin Williamson, who brought us Dawson's Creek, is this campy, soapy drama set in Palm Springs, CA. After witnessing his dad's suicide, Johnny (you'll remember him as the scary Oliver from The O.C.) relocates to Palm Springs with his mom and her new hubby. Trying to stay sober after a rehab stint, Johnny soon falls in with a troublesome crowd, including his invasive next-door neighbor Cliff and, of course, the hot girl, Greta. Soon after his arrival, Johnny starts receiving ominous instant messages from someone who claims to be Eddie, the dead teen who used to live in Johnny's room. So did Eddie kill himself? Was he murdered? Or is he still alive? And what do Greta and Cliff know? Hidden Palms premieres tonight at 8pm on CW.

5. Reunited: Real World Las Vegas

Saving the best for last, our favorite seven strangers - Irulan, Alton, Arissa, Frank, Bree, Steven, and Trischelle - are back for seconds this summer in their former home at the Palms Casino Resort to see what has happened in the five years since they lived together. I peeped the casting special over the weekend and it looks like these folks haven't missed a step and will likely pick up right where they left off - drinkin', sexin', and fightin'. Irulan and Alton are no longer together; Bree is now a mom with two kids and is engaged; Frank and Steven seem pretty much same ol' same; and Trischelle looks cracked out with that platinum blond hair. All in all, it should be good ol' fashioned good times. Reunited starts tonight at 10pm on MTV.

Lola Ogunnaike ditches Times for CNN

Lola Ogunnaike, New York Times styles and entertainment reporter, is leaving the paper to become an entertainment reporter for CNN's American Morning, alongisde anchors John Roberts and Kiran Chetry.

Lola was briefly suspended by the Times when she guest-hosted The View in October. But now she's free!

Congrats Lola!

Upfronts Recap

Now that we can breathe a sigh of relief that TVnista's beloved Girlfriends and The Game are in fact coming back next season, let's take a look at some of the scheduling changes and new shows debuting next season that have peaked my interest:

First of all, I'm really glad that CBS decided to run Cold Case and Shark back-to-back on Sunday nights at 9pm. Brilliant.

Another smart move on NBC's part was to also run Las Vegas (now with new cast member Tom Selleck) and Friday Night Lights on, you guessed it, Friday night.

Also airing on Friday nights at 9pm will be ABC's new drama, The Women's Murder Club,

based on the best-selling crime novels by one of TVnista's favorite authors James Patterson, starring Angie Harmon and Paula Newsome. Click here for a video preview.

After the Fall run of Dancing with the Stars, ABC will unveil a new drama from Sex & the City creator Darren Star, called Cashmere Mafia, starring Lucy Liu.

Basically, it's SATC redux. Click here for a video preview.

On Wednesday at 8pm, before Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, airs a cute and funny take on being dead called Pushing Daisies.

Basically, this guy can touch people and bring them back to life to tell him who killed them. He resurrects his first crush but the awkward twist is that if he ever touches her again, she'll go back to being dead, this time for good. Chi McBride stars. Click here for a video preview.

But enough about ABC, I'm most excited about NBC's version of SATC called Lipstick Jungle, based on the novel of the same name, written by SATC scribe, Candace Bushnell.

It stars three great actresses: Brooke Shields, Kim Raver and Lindsay Price. But we'll have to wait until Sunday nights in January, after the NFL season wraps. Click here for a video preview.

And there's only one new show on FOX called The Rules for Starting Over that sounds remotely interesting, with Rashida Jones

(yes, Quincy's daughter) as a divorce attorney looking for love. Again, look for it in early-2008.

This Just In...

Girlfriends and The Game have been renewed for next season!! The first round of margaritas are on me! More details to come tomorrow after the Upfronts.

THE GAME: SEASON FINALE

WOW! Last night's season finale of The Game was D-R-A-M-A! And I loved every second of it.

I decided to organize my thoughts by character. Here goes:

Jason: Pure comedy. He definitely kept things light last night. And the icing on the cake was his Dave Chappelle-as-Rick James-wig he was forced to wear in retribution for calling out a fellow athlete about his own Jurassic Park 'do. If the CW really gives this show a chance to grow and progress, I'd love for Mara Brock Akil to explore Jason's post-football career as a commentator, because once he got over his initial stage fright, Jason was on point, asking the questions we'd all love the know the answers to, like how you can afford to put $20,000 spinning rims on your car and yet can't pay your child support? Inquiring minds...

Kelly: More comedy. And I'm so happy to see how she's moved from Jason's shadow and grown into a smart business woman. She and Tasha make a great team. Kelly had me rolling when she told Melanie: "Black women always complain about not finding a good black man. Now since you've got him, you need to lock him down before one of us [White women] get to him!" True that!

Tasha: She did the right thing by taking the lead to clue Melanie in to Derwin's wandering eyes...and hands...and lips...and well, you get the picture. And I see that she hasn't lost a step since she and Kenny broke up. Go 'head girl!

Malik: He is sooo superficial, and it's not like he's all that hot to begin with. Did you see his "man breasts" when he was laid up in the bed? Renee (guest star Kendra C. Johnson of Phat Girlz) is gorgeous and she could do a lot better than Malik and he acted real shady toward her. But, she got him good by keeping the camera rolling while he poured out his heart and confessed his true feelings. I definitely want to see more of this couple next season. Renee is a worthy adversary for Malik - she's not going to roll over and take no stuff like those other silly skinny models he's dated.

Derwin: I knew he was going to sleep with Drew. It's a shame because some could argue that Melanie pushed him to it. True, she wasn't lavishing him with praise and attention, but still, he had a commitment with her that he was obligated to keep. So he crossed the line big time. And I found it clever that Dionne was the one to unintentionally break the news to Melanie. I think that they should put aside their differences and team up next season to make his life absolutely miserable. And I was purely disgusted when he told Jason that he realized just how much he loved Melanie right after having sex with Drew. Are you kidding me? Pure nastiness. And he needs to wash more than his mouth out with soap, if you catch my drift.

Melanie: I totally understand her not wanting to "loose herself" in a relationship with Derwin, but sometimes you have to play the game so you won't get played. She could have made a little more effort to be there for Derwin. Yes, I know that med school ain't no joke, but still. I remember from the very first episode how concerned she was about the groupie situation, but by the end of the season, it seems like she just threw him to the wolves herself, as if his proposal would keep the groupies at bay. Still, that's no excuse for Derwin to have cheated. One pet peeve is that Melanie apologizes too much. And I've known other women to do the same. She's having a fight with her man and knows he's doing wrong, yet why is she the one saying "I'm sorry." The same thing happened in the previous episode when she flipped out after seeing Derwin kiss Drew in the video. She apologized to Derwin for flipping out. As my girl Whitney Houston would say, "Oh, hell to the no!"

So that's it my friends and blogging buddies - an official wrap for Girlfriends and now The Game. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good news on Thursday at the CW Upfronts. Stay tuned...

Meet the new Survivor

Cut to commercial - I didn't even know Survivor still came on, but lo and behold the winner (by a unanimous vote) crowned last night - a Black dude! Meet Earl Cole — "the thoughtful, soft-spoken advertising executive from Kansas City, Missouri." Good for him. And he's kinda cute, too.... Here's his bio.

Grey's Update

Addison heads to Santa Monica next season on Private Practice

I know I have been remiss in blogging about Grey's Anatomy lately, but there really hasn't been much to talk about. This has not been the best season of Grey's. Between Meredith's trip to purgatory, the yucky Gizzie hook-up, and the lack of screen time for Dr. Bailey, I've really been disappointed by this show. And don't even get me started on Addison's proposed spin-off, Private Practice. It was horrendous, a view shared by countless others I polled. ABC has already given it the green light for next season, but unless that show undergoes some serious retooling it's going to be a flop. I realize that Shonda Rhimes wants to attract a more mature audience with Private Practice, but that doesn't mean it has to be dull and uninteresting. But I do give her major props for pairing known Black women phobe Taye Diggs with a Black ex-wife on the show. I wonder how she convinced him? That makes her a miracle worker in my eyes. Oh well...the season finale of Grey's is airing Thursday night. Hopefully it'll go out with a bang and get us excited about the new season. I see splitsville for McDreamy and Meredith (finally!) and a broken heart for Callie (Team Callie!).

Tootie Has A Baby!

Kim Fields recently gave birth to her first child, a son named Sebastian Alexander Morgan (or Sam for short). Above is a pic of Kim, baby, and her baby daddy aka fiance Christopher Morgan, from the new issue of PEOPLE. Aww...little Tootie is all grown up. Yes, she will always be Tootie to me, but others may remember her best as the divalicious Regine on one of my all-time faves, Living Single.

Girlfriends: Season Finale

Joan is getting married! Finally. It was fitting that after seven seasons and countless boyfriends, Etta James' At Last closed out the show.

When I heard that her ex Brock would step in just and she and Aaron hit a rough patch in their relationship, I was worried that Joan would make a colossal mistake. But luckily, Brock came and disappeared quickly. Too little, too late ashy lips!

Aaron is the perfect man for Joan. There's no question about it. He loves her for who she is. At first, I couldn't understand why he didn't just accept her proposal since he knew he was planning to ask her anyway, but that setup led to Joan getting the proposal of her dreams. Aaron wanted to secure her dad's approval first, and then drop on one knee in front of all her family (Hey Melanie and Derwin!) and friends (including her Japanese dry cleaners!). [But who else thought Toni would be coming out of that door, too?]

What kind of man does that? And where can I find my own?

I'm convinced more than ever that last night was the series finale. I know, I know. We won't really know until next Thursday. But it was a sweet finish: Monica and William reconciled; Lynn has finally figured out what she wants to do - singing - and even has a paying gig; Maya is having another baby and got her (second) dream house; Darnell bought his garage back; and Joan is getting married. At last.

I wouldn't be surprised if Girlfriends didn't make it back next season. But it's OK. I've made peace with it. We had 7 wonderful years together and while it would be nice to have these beautiful and dynamic Black women on TV every week, the show can't go on forever. As they say, all good things must come to an end. And I think Mara Brock Akil gave the show and it's fans a fantastic send-off last night.

Girlfriends & The Game 4.30.07

I had an ominous feeling watching Girlfriends last night - that perhaps this really is the end. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

• Did you notice how uppity Maya was acting about her baby? It reminded me of how Toni was when she was pregnant with Morgan.

• I'm happy for Lynn that she's finally got a paid gig doing what she loves - singing. And I admire her for letting Pastor Eldon go because she knew that it would be the best for them both. I'm sure they'll remain friends, but it was clear that their love relationship was going nowhere fast, and not just because those ole' church biddies were jealous.

• I've seen so much growth in Joan over the past 7 years. It was cute how she tried to play it off like she wasn't that upset over her fight with Aaron. I think she handled herself well and didn't go spastic like the old Joan would have. Thus, it pains me to think that she and Aaron may not end up together after all. Richard T. Jones is just too fine...but I digress!

• Perhaps the funniest moment in Girlfriends history happened last night when Darnell and William pretended to be a gay couple living next door to make the neighborhood seem "hot and up-and-coming" to entice prospective buyers. I literally rolled off the bed when Darnell said: "You should see how my boo do!" DEAD.

Next Monday is the one-hour season finale. In the previews, we saw Joan and Aaron fixing up his new home, but also the reappearance of Joan's ex, Brock. Stay tuned...

Over on The Game it was drama, drama, drama!

• Tasha's plan to be a friend to everyone in order to get clients is certainly going to backfire - but perhaps that's how sports agents get down. I had hoped that she would have had more integrity.

• It's a shame that Jason can't take of his own child. See, that's what happens when Mommy does it all. For a minute there I thought he was just playing with Kelly about not being able to find the onions (when they were clearly right under his nose) but when Brit-Brit had an allergic reaction to the sesame seeds on the hamburger roll, I was too through. I can't wait to see Kelly's reaction - and it better not be to let Jason pressure her to quit so she can go back to being a full-time mom. She put in her years and now it's time for Jason to step up.

• Melanie finding out about Derwin's indiscretion was somewhat anti-climatic. But then again, she only knows about the on-screen kiss for now. Derwin did something so dumb last night - he revealed his doubts to Drew about his relationship with Melanie. Any women in her right mind would know she could easily prey on that weakness, as Drew wisely said: "Don't worry. He'll be back." And I don't think even Melanie believed that kiss at the end - it seemed more like a "business" kiss than a "real" one.

The Game is on break next week, but returns on May 14 for the one-hour season finale!