Watching VH1

Did you catch Acceptable TV this week? The offered shows this week include the new Gayliens about–obviously–gay aliens, Mr. Sprinkles about animated characters that look like a mix between a Dr. Seuss book and Ren and Stimpy, Federal Bureau of Abdullah–hilarity ensues when a former terrorist is sentenced to become the head of the FBI, The High Fiver about a guy who can read minds of people who high five him, and my favorite, Operation Kitten Calendar.

Operation Kitten Calendar is an unstoppable force that has yet to lose a vote. The hilarious send up of “The Apprentice” features contestants on a reality show trying to become the next Kitten Calendar photographer. How can you go wrong with adorable kittens and a crazy CEO who fires people by telling them to “KISS MY ASS”? Tonight’s episode was the finale for Operation Kitten Calendar and we get to see who wins the coveted position. I won’t ruin the ending, but it’s shocking!

Get over to the Acceptable TV website and watch the shows then vote for your favorites. The two winning videos will be back next week (although the show’s host said that Operation Kitten Calendar can only have a reunion show and that will be the end of its run if it is voted through–Aw, man!).

Tell me what your favorite episode is. I’ll be out buying myself a Kitten Calendar as I wait for your comments.

VH1, Acceptable TV, Operation Kitten Calendar, Gayliens, Mr. Sprinkles, Federal Bureau of Abdullah, The High Fiver, Acceptable TV vote, Acceptable TV Episode 5, Jack Black

Don’t forget that Celebrity Fit Club premieres this Sunday night! Also, did you know that the new episodes of your favorite CelebReality shows can be seen Sunday morning and afternoon before their promoted premiere times at night? Check out the schedule of your favorite VH1 reality shows for Saturday and Sunday/early Monday morning (all times are ET/PT—programming subject to change) to see when they air. All of the shows are color coded for a quick reference of which show is on at what times.

Color Guide:

Best Week Ever
Celebrity Fit Club
Charm School
Hogan Knows Best
I Love New York
The Springer Hustle

Saturday April 21st:

12:00 AM—No Mo’Nicknames
1:30 AM—Week Ending 4/21/07
2:00 AM—Reunion Show
11:00 AM—Week Ending 4/21/07
12:00 PM—Reunion Show
1:00 PM—No Mo’Nicknames
2:30 PM—Episode 1
5:00 PM—Week Ending 4/21/07
7:00 PM—Reunion Show
8:00 PM—No Mo’Nicknames
9:30 PM—Episode 1

Sunday April 22nd:

12:30 AM— No Mo’Nicknames
2:00 AM—Episode 1
2:30 AM—Week Ending 4/21/07
10:00 AM—Week Ending 4/21/07
10:30 AM— No Mo’Nicknames
12:00 PM—Dirty Drawers Done Dirt Cheap !!!!NEW!!!!
1:00 PM—Episode 2 !!!!NEW!!!!
1:30 PM—Reunion Show
2:30 PM—Week Ending 4/21/07
3:30 PM—Superfan
9:00 PM—Fireworks at the Series Premiere !!!!NEW!!!!
10:00 PM—Dirty Drawers Done Dirt Cheap
11:00 PM—Episode 2
11:30 PM—Fireworks at the Series Premiere

Monday April 9th:

12:30 AM— Dirty Drawers Done Dirt Cheap
1:30 AM—Episode 2
2:00 AM—Week Ending 4/21/07

Check the VH1 TV Schedule for more information and other programming.

VH1, VH1 schedule, Celebrity Fit Club, I Love New York, Charm School, Hogan Knows Best, Best Week Ever, Springer Hustle, VH1 TV schedule, weekend TV

Two more great acts, Alice in Chains and Queens of the Stone Age, will appear on stage at VH1’s Rock Honors award show to be broadcast on May 24th. These bands will join Keane, Gretchen Wilson, and Nickelback as they pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, Heart, ZZ Top, and Genesis. Keep checking back for more up to date information on the Rock Honors show as it becomes available.

VH1 Rock Honors, VH1 Awards, Alice in Chains, Queens of the Stone Age, Ozzy Osbourne, Heart, ZZ Top, Genesis, Keane, Gretchen Wilson, Nickelback

Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund

April 16, 2007, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of the Virginia Tech community and the world beyond.

To remember and honor the victims of those tragic events, the university has established the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to aid in the healing process and generate financial support.

The fund will be used to cover expenses including but not limited to:

• Grief counseling
• Memorials
• Communication expenses
• Comfort expenses
• Incidental needs

If you plan to give, please click the link below:

I ran across an article from Newsday by Diane Wertz claiming there are too many countdowns on television nowadays. Obviously, VH1 is a pioneer of this type of programming and relies on it heavily to fill in its programming schedule. Here is a part of Ms. Wertz’s thoughts on the subject (read the whole article by clicking here):

Countdown shows are the curse of cable today, lining up our shared experiences in handy numerical fashion and trivializing them all to the point of repugnance. The 20 best, the 50 worst, the 100 sexiest, the 101 most embarrassing. It isn’t just E! and VH1 anymore, those peppy repositories of pop-culture ephemera. They started the craze for counting down hits/duds, weddings/breakups and assorted faux pas, bridging the illustrating clips with faux-funny comments from irrelevant snarksters like furry comedy writer Bruce Vilanch and dread satirist Mo Rocca. Now everybody’s in the act. BET. CMT. MTV. Fox Sports and Golf Channel. Even Food Network and HGTV.

I, personally, love countdown shows and have seen almost all of them that have aired (although I admit I’ve missed some of the newer ones due to actually having to work–go figure!) and most of them more than once. Lately it does seem they are scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas, but until every single pop culture reference has been indexed and given an arbitrary number in a countdown, I’m more than happy with the shows and will debate with my friends what rankings were spot on and which were totally insane.

So, my friends, debate with me! Leave some comments about your feelings on the countdown shows and what shows you think should be made.

VH1, Countdown Shows

The ratings are in from this weekend’s big CelebReality premiere night on VH1. “Charm School”, the latest “Flavor of Love” spinoff, broke all VH1 records for a debut bringing in 5.1 million viewers. It was able to grow its audience from its lead-in the “I Love New York Reunion Show” which held steady at 5 million viewers. The other new offering of the night, “The Springer Hustle”, was also a nice surprise pulling in 2.3 million viewers at the 11:30 PM time slot. All three shows also were strong in the coveted 18-49 year old viewer demographic that advertisers love.

This week, “Celebrity Fit Club” will premiere on Sunday night at 8/7c before “Charm School”. The teams will be divided men vs. women this season and the overweight stars will compete for even bigger prizes. VH1 is hoping for big numbers again as the CelebReality genre finds its niche in primetime television.

VH1 ratings, CelebReality, I Love New York, Reunion Show, Charm School, Springer Hustle, Celebrity Fit Club, VH1 premieres

Here is what’s going on this week in music, video clips, concerts, contests, and more at VH1:

** NEW MUSIC ON VH1.COM
VH1.com has some cool music you can listen to before the discs come out.

Live @ VH1.com: Katharine McPhee
The American Idol star gives her kiss-off hit “Over It” a soulful, downbeat treatment in our studios. Watch the entire session.

VH1 Soul Player: Beyonce
Jay-Z helps her out in the hot new joint “Get Me Bodied.” Watch!

Mat Kearney
Watch the Top 20 premiere of “Undeniable” and more vids from artists on the rise!

New Video: Hinder
It’s really over this time. Watch “Better Than Me” and other cool clips in Hot Group Action.

Test Your Reflex
The California quintet has perfected power-pop. Listen to their debut in its entirety.

15 Most Slammin’ Bodies
Hot artists with exceptionally hot bods. Watch Pussycat Dolls & others work it!

New Video: R. Kelly
Don’t bring your girl around the player. Watch “I’m A Flirt (Remix)” feat. T.I. and T-Pain.

VH1 New Music, Music Videos, Behind the scenes VH1, R. Kelly, Pussycat Dolls, Katherine McPhee, Beyonce, Jay Z, Test Your Reflex, Hinder, Mat Kearney

Are you a bit hesitant of anything that comes out of Jack Black’s head? Well, me too, but “Acceptable TV” is a hilarious show with a unique concept that is worth checking out. The premise of the show is that the Acceptable TV team comes up with 5 mini-show spoofs much like a Saturday Night Live type of skit and they compete head to head for viewer votes. After the airing of the show, fans can vote for their favorite sketch up until Monday at 3 pm ET and the two with the most votes will return to the following week to take on 3 brand new mini-shows.

Here is a clip of the show, “Yo! Murder He Wrapped” to whet your appetite:

New episodes air at 10 pm ET on Fridays and rerun throughout the weekend. You can watch all of the previous clips and vote at the official Acceptable TV website. Let me know your favorite clips and I will add them to the video clip collection here at Watching VH1.

Acceptable TV, Jack Black, VH1, Yo! Murder He Wrapped, Acceptable TV Voting

We’ve seen Linda and Terry “Hulk” Hogan attend marriage counseling together on the VH1 CelebReality show “Hogan Knows Best”, but is it working or are the rumors of an impending divorce true? Hollyscoop.com is reporting the strain of TV cameras following them in their daily lives is taking its toll on their seemingly strong bond. Another common cause of fighting is their daugther Brooke’s new singing career. These squabbles have been aired for all to see on VH1 as they argue over everything from how the song should sound to her outfits for photo shoots.

I, for one, am hoping this is just a nasty rumor that won’t go away. I really admire Linda and Terry for their ability to seem so normal even though he wears tights and bangs around with sweaty men for a living. I am always impressed with how they handle their kids and their problems, too. They just seem like such a strong couple that it would be really sad to think that something as trivial as this reality show would be able to break them apart.

VH1, CelebReality, Hogan Knows Best, Hulk Hogan, Linda Hogan, Terry Hogan, Brooke Hogan, Hulk Hogan Divorce

VH1 has turned nostalgia into a profitable jaunt down memory lane. Shows like “I Love the 80s”, “I Love the 90s”, and “I Love the 70s” franchises have given VH1 the reputation of the source for reliving the past and all of the pop culture from those eras that you can imagine. I, for one, cannot get enough of listening to semi-celebrities make fun of trends from my youth.

They took that idea of nostalgia one step further and created a sort of “instant nostalgia” with its weekly recap show “Best Week Ever”. Highlights of the biggest stories of the week are retold from a humorous perspective by a team of comedians and guest stars who poke fun of the week in pop culture. Topics can range from politics to entertainment and even include online videos of popular interest. Relive the triumphs and defeats of the week to find out who had the “Best Week Ever”.

This idea has become so popular that the creative team behind the TV show does periodic podcasts that they post online at YouTube of daily happenings called “Best Night Ever”. Here is a clip from March 20th “Best Night Ever”:

Click here to check out more YouTube offerings from the “Best Week Ever” crew. Or visit the “Best Week Ever” blog for more fun and games.

VH1, Best Week Ever, Best Night Ever, VH1 Podcast, Best Week Ever Blog

Yes, VH1 reruns its CelebReality lineup into the ground as their respective season airs, and then again in marathon form when new seasons of the shows are premiering, but if you miss the “classic” seasons of these shows, then this deal is for you.

Early reports are saying that the TV Guide channel is paying out $6.7 million dollars for the exclusive three-year rights of old episodes of shows like “My Fair Brady”, “The Surreal Life”, “Flavor of Love”, and “Strange Love”. The channel will also get first dibs of “I Love New York” and “Charm School” after they’ve run their course on VH1. During those three years, VH1 will not be allowed to show any of those episodes.

What do you think about this deal? Are you excited to see some of your favorite CelebReality shows getting new life, or do you prefer a surprise marathon on VH1 every now and then? Leave me some comments and also check out the full article about this deal.

VH1, TV Guide Channel, My Fair Brady, Strange Love, Flavor of Love, Surreal Life, Charm School, I Love New York, CelebReality

Well, apparently even VH1 doesn’t want to recap the Springer Hustle, so for now, I will post the links to the always funny recaps of I Love New York and Charm School at RealityShack.com written by Christina. Enjoy and be sure to comment below on the good, the bad, and the ugly of CelebReality.

CelebReality Recaps, VH1 Recaps, I Love New York, Charm School, The Springer Hustle, Recaps

What VH1 Reality shows are airing Monday-Friday of this week? Follow this guide to find out when to catch reruns of your favorite shows. All times are ET/PT—programming subject to change. The shows are color coded for a quick reference of which show is on at what times. Happy viewing!

Color Guide:

Best Week Ever
Celebrity Fit Club
Charm School
Hogan Knows Best
I Love New York
The Springer Hustle
Other Shows of Interest to Reality TV Fans

Monday April 16th:

11:30 AM—Reunion Show
12:30 PM—No Mo’Nicknames
2:00 PM—Episode 1
6:30 PM—No Mo’Nicknames
8:00 PM—The Final Adios
9:00 PM—Reunion Show
10:00 PM—Episode 1
10:30 PM—Where are They Now?
11:30 PM—No Mo’Nicknames

Tuesday April 17th:

1:00 AM—Reunion Show
2:30 AM—Episode 1
11:00 AM—No Mo’Nicknames
12:30 PM—Episode 1
3:30 PM—Reunion Show
4:30 PM—No Mo’Nicknames
10:00 PM—No Mo’Nicknames
11:30 PM—Episode 1

Wednesday April 18th:

12:00 AM—Reunion Show
11:00 AM—Reunion Show
1:00 PM—No Mo’Nicknames
4:30 PM—Episode 1
7:00 PM—Reunion Show
8:00 PM—No Mo’Nicknames
9:30 PM—Episode 1
10:00 PM—Reality Secrets Revealed 2

Thursday April 19th:

1:00 AM—The Final Adios
2:00 AM—Reunion Show
12:00 PM—Where Are they Now?
1:00 PM—Reunion Show
2:00 PM—Episode 1
2:30 PM—No Mo’Nicknames
6:30 PM—Episode 1
7:00 PM—Gettin’ Hot in the Desert
8:00 PM—Momma’s Boys
9:00 PM—The Final Adios
10:00 PM—Reunion Show

Friday April 20th:

1:00 AM—Episode 1
1:30 AM—No Mo’Nicknames
11:00 AM—Episode 1
11:30 AM—No Mo’Nicknames
2:30 PM—Reunion Show
3:30 PM—Episode 1
6:00 PM—No Mo’Nicknames
7:30 PM—Brooke Bares All
8:00 PM—Nick in the Driver’s Seat
8:30 PM—Knobs Invades
9:00 PM—Hulkmania
9:30 PM—The Canine Mutiny
10:30 PM—Episode 1
11:00 PM—Week Ending 4/20/07

Check the VH1 TV Schedule for more information and other programming.

Welcome to a new feature of WatchingVH1.com! Every Monday after new CelebReality shows air on VH1, I will give you a glimpse into my thoughts and what you may have missed. As soon as recaps of the shows are available, I will link to those as well.

I Love New York–Reunion Show

Tiffany Ballard (New York) was back and so were all the men from I Love New York. Last time we saw New York, she had just accepted Tango’s marriage proposal…but will they live happily ever after? If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that Tango already has a girlfriend. Well, fireworks flew as he came on the reunion show and broke off the engagement with New York. He said he had proposed to “Tiffany” but after watching her as “New York”, he didn’t want to have anything to do with her since she dissed his mama. As he left the stage, New York let fly a lot of bleeped out words and used some hand gestures to the delight of the crowd. Meanwhile, Chance was just lounging on the couch nearby with a smirk on his face talking about how she should have chose him. Of course he didn’t mean that because rumor has it Chance and his brother Real will be getting their own spinoff on VH1.

Charm School–No Mo’Nicknames

What a delicious mess the Charm School girls are! They get to ride around in a short bus and the sound effects people on this show are just brilliant. Everytime Hottie blinks her eyes, a bicycle bell goes off that makes me think nothing is going on up under that giant weave of hers. After they all found out they were assigned rooms (oh, boo hoo, Pumkin, you’re stuck with angry girls who don’t like you), Mo’Nique made them burn their nametags with their nicknames on them and use their real names (yes, that means you too Krazy/Heather…not some made up ridiculous singing name of yours). Luckily, when they flash on screen for confessionals, their nicknames are still there under their real names because otherwise I’d have no clue who they were. The funniest part of the nickname burning ceremony was Mo’Nique making fun of Saaphyri’s nickname only to learn that is her real name (she was shown the door for fighting in Flavor of Love before he handed out nicknames, so she never got one). The girls are then forced to hike up a hill for two miles with a bunch of camping gear (it took them 4 hours! I think I could crawl 2 miles in 4 hours and I’m definitely not in shape). Between Schatar/Hottie and Thela/Rain complaining non-stop about things and thinking a spa was at the top of the hill, I was ready to turn off the show. However, they all made it through the night and then the next morning competed in a Marine obstacle course. Captains Saaphyri and Leilene/Smiley picked teams and Leilene didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings so she chose a crappy team for a physical challenge. Saaphyri’s team easily won the competition and all were immune from being expelled that night. When they got back to the mansion, the girls got their “good Catholic girl” uniforms and slutted it up as best as they could. In the end, crazy Thela/Rain was sent home after a one-on-one with Mo’Nique where she admitted to doing pot and how she couldn’t control her rage. Looks like it will be an interesting season…and New York will make a guest appearance sometime as well.

The Springer Hustle

This is probably the show I’m most disappointed in. Not enough Springer show action and too much behind the scenes stressed out boring stuff, in my opinion. It was interesting to see how they put the shows together and make the crazy guests even crazier, but I don’t know how they are going to keep this up for the rest of the season. The pace is so frenetic that I had to do breathing exercises to calm myself down just watching them. It’s high stakes, just like The Agency, but in fast forward and they deal with what they call “trailer trash” instead of high end women’s fashion models. There was so much yelling and coaxing of these people who want to be on the show it made my head spin. Salina, the producer we followed this week as she put a show together, was definitely driven, but she only left herself 48 hours to book an entire show, fly the guests in, prep them, and pull it all together for taping. I think my head would explode if that is the “daily grind” at my work. Next week, we follow a different producer named Toby as he puts his show together. It’s probably going to be the same thing with a different producer every week. Unless a producer comes along that actually makes me care about them, this is going to be one long season for me.

What did you think about the new shows? Comment below and give me the low down! If you haven’t seen the episodes yet, check out my handy TV Schedule to see when they are on next or see clips at the VSPOT.

VH1 Recaps, CelebReality Recaps, CelebReality, I Love New York, Reunion Show, Charm School, The Springer Hustle, Recap, Commentary, Mo’Nique

For this weekend’s music clip, I hope you enjoy this acoustic version of Kelly Clarkson performing “Since U Been Gone” performed live for VH1. Her powerful vocals are really shown off in this version…I love it!

Since U Been Gone acoustic, Kelly Clarkson, VH1 music