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Five-link Friday
• The "Survivor 9" finale airs Sunday night on CBS (yours truly will be blogging it live in East Coast time right here). But will viewers be tuned in to the latest from Vanuatu to see , or will they be ? With all the buzz about reality TV, it's interesting to see ABC's "Desperate Housewives" powerhouse, a scripted show, threatening one of reality's big names. (I'll be watching "Survivor" of course, but TiVoing "Housewives.") And I'm glad my job doesn't depend on the "Survivor" ratings, as I wouldn't be surprised to see it beaten by the women of Wisteria.
• Speaking of scripted shows that have been huge hits, that on Monday's "Two and a Half Men," Charlie Sheen's character, Charlie Harper, will become the target of an angry Web site, CharlieHarperSucks.com. CBS was smart enough to snatch up that URL and . Reminds me of "The Simpsons" episode where Bart and Lisa discuss the Web site , and "Simpsons" writers had smartly already created that site as well.
• isn't even over yet, but a few months back, I was at a Seattle shopping center to discover long lines wending around the parking lot. Were those people in line for a deal at a certain store? No, they were in line to audition to be tormented on "Apprentice 3." And now NBC is looking for applicants/masochists for "Apprentice 4," announcing that semi-final interviews will take place in February. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the boardroom. The , but it says "Apprentice 2" in the URL still.
• After seeing the live musical version of John Waters' "Hairspray" this fall, my husband and I were talking about whether the musical version would be made into a movie. , in 2006. So "Hairspray" will have gone from movie to musical to musical movie. I've always thought that the lyrics Tracy sings in "Good Morning, Baltimore," one of the best songs from the musical, were about John Waters and his career, and now I think that's even more likely. "Good morning Baltimore / And some day when I take to the floor / The world’s gonna wake up and see / Baltimore and me..."
• I admit I was kind of concerned that Hollywood was remaking the classic "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." I like to hold on to my childhood classics, not rethink them — I didn't even like it when they for "Harriet the Spy" (). But after , I'm kind of looking forward to seeing Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. The film looks recognizable with that unique Tim Burton twist, and Depp looks to do Gene Wilder proud.
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Let Martha be Martha, Oprah be Oprah
I admit it: I'm a fan of Martha Stewart. Not a groupie, but I get a kick out of her show, magazine, and empire. I own her books, subscribe to her magazine (what? there's always a chance I'll need to know how to make a croquembouche.). I personally didn't feel any safer with Martha off the streets and in jail.
So I was proud that, even from behind bars, Martha was thinking and wheeler-dealing. It was announced yesterday that when she does get out of prison, she'll have a , complete with celebrity guests, a live audience, and the help of "Survivor" honcho Mark Burnett.
New TV show for Martha? Yay! Live audience, celebrity guests, and Mark Burnett? Oh, no, no, no, no. no!
I just want to yell: No! This is all wrong! Has anyone at NBC ever seen Martha's old show, when she would occasionally take calls from viewers or work with relatives or guests? Martha's a genius in many ways, but she's never been accused of being a people person. (Hold your angry e-mails, I really am a fan of the woman.)
When I've seen Stewart interacting with others on "Martha Stewart Living," she seems awkward, stiff and eager to move on to a segment that's just Martha and the turkey, or Martha and the gilded eggs, or Martha and ... whatever. And that's OK! Not everyone has to be Oprah. Oprah's great on her show, and her empathy with her audience is an integral part of her success, but Martha is an individualist.
Her strengths involve her own incomparable style, the way she often over-does something (and sometimes appears to go completely nuts). She doesn't just serve a holiday dinner, she raises her own herbs, gathers eggs from her own chickens, serves it all on gorgeous china set on a table with an elaborate centerpiece. There's a reason that when , so many people thought entries like "Get new eyeglasses. Grind lenses myself." were real.
I just don't think Martha's unique style depends on her taking questions and making small talk with celebrities and an audience. That's not why she's the homemaking legend. No woman is an island, except perhaps Martha.
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Cheesy movie lines
I just loved the story about a British poll picking the . I've seen 8 of these 10 films, which might say something about my personal movie tastes, but that's beyond the point.
Of course I have opinions about the actual lines chosen."I'm king of the world!" is cheesy indeed, but is it really even the cheesiest line from "Titanic," let alone from all films?
For the cheesiest line from this list, I'd go with "You had me at hello," which does make the list, or the even cheesier, but inexplicably omitted "You complete me" from "Jerry Maguire."
"Today we celebrate our Independence Day," from, duh, "Independence Day," is a wee bit cheesy, but actually was kinda sweet.
I have to admit to having actually seen both "The Postman" and "Waterworld," I have no argument with any Kevin Costner lines that might find their way onto this list, including the one that actually made it. And I'm not arguing with any lines spoken by Demi Moore, Andie McDowell, Val Kilmer or Julia Roberts, either.
But come on! "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" is number two? That legendary line is so useful in so many ways that I just can't defend its inclusion here, despite any original cheesedom.
What's interesting to me is that a really good actor can take almost the cheesiest line and deliver it in such a way as to save it. My husband's a huge fan of a certain line from "The Shawshank Redemption," the one about how you'd better "get busy living, or get busy dying." And yet, especially as delivered by the amazing , comes off as absolutely cheese-free.
Cheese, apparently, is all relative.