DUMP THAT GINORMOUS box of chocolates on Valentine's Day, urges Bob Harper. As a trainer on NBC's "The Biggest Loser," he's seen that when people show their loved ones that they care with food, the result is all too often obesity.
The current season of the show, which features the heaviest cast ever, is the third time the show has chosen to focus on couples -- husbands and wives, parents and children, and siblings. The idea isn't just to add an emotional gimmick, but to dig deeper into what caused the behaviors that have driven the contestants to such dangerously high weights. "You always hear about people who've gotten overweight because they got into a relationship," Harper says. "You pick up what is going on around you, whether it's what your mother taught you or what you do with your best friend."
But salads and Spinning classes can be just as contagious as weekends on the couch with a six-pack and bags of chips. "Following the same path, you can encourage each other in a good way," Harper says. Having someone close keep you accountable means you can find the motivation to head out the front door and go for a jog even when it's pouring rain. There's someone else in the kitchen to keep you company while you cook healthier meals. And, of course, you always have a workout buddy.
Continue Reading "Lovers Can Be 'Losers': The Power of Exercising in Pairs" »
"ARMY WIVES" HAS performed such ratings wonders for the often ignoredLifetime channel that the network made the unprecedented move to renew the series for a fourth season before its third season had even aired.
And yet, the third-season debut for "Wives" last June drew 22 percent fewer viewers than the season two premiere a year earlier.
So, what gives?
The show is still touted as Lifetime's most successful series, and one drop in ratings doesn't necessarily signal a decline in the drama's overall popularity. But the unfortunate side effect of having five main families to follow in the series is that once you get past the character-development of the first season, each character is knee-deep in his or her own drama, leading to lots and lots of plot lines to follow.
The show's third season (out today on DVD) starts out with all the unfinished situations from the previous season: a runaway daughter, a family moving to Belgium, a marriage falling apart due to extramarital affairs, a business in jeopardy and a new mother facing deployment.
Whew.
That's a lot to follow for one show — especially one that made an impact early on by not being full of the soap opera dramarama that one would expect from a female-centric show.
Continue Reading "Commanding Drama: 'Army Wives,' Season 3 on DVD" »
SILVER-MANED SINGER Taylor Hicks made his name by winning the fifth season of "American Idol" in 2006, fueled by the support of his fans, dubbed the Soul Patrol. Since then, the 33-year-old has released two albums and parlayed his "Idol" success into a stint on stages across the country as the Teen Angel in the national tour of "Grease." Hicks and company land at the National Theatre Feb. 9-21.
» EXPRESS: Had you thought of doing professional musical theater before "Idol"?
» HICKS: Never in a million years would I dream that I would actually grace a Broadway stage in New York City. That's what "Idol" allows — the platform to be an entertainer and to experience all facets of the business.
» EXPRESS: What was it about "Grease" that lured you to sign on?
» HICKS: You always want to start small and get bigger, and from just a learning perspective — not having ever had any acting training — I think taking a small role like Teen Angel was the best move for me because it allowed me to get my feet wet.
SINCE I WRITE this column on a pretty tight deadline, I usually have to come up with an idea before I even know what I'll be writing about. So it was with the Oscars race. The nominations were announced Tuesday; the column is due Monday. I was going to argue that, thanks to the relatively recent addition of the Best Animated Picture category, Pixar's "Up" was going to be out of the running for Best Picture — where it rightfully belongs. And what happened? The Academy nominated it in both categories.
So here's the new column: It should win. Both.
Of all the nominees, "Up" does the best job combining the technical aspects of film with its storytelling potential. "Avatar" may be a visual stunner, but it's basically a modern version of "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat," the 1896 film that shows ... a train pulling into a station. Because people had never seen, you know, moving pictures before, that was the Pandora of the 19th century.
IF THE "REAL WORLD: D.C." house is a giant mixing bowl, then Ashley and Andrew are like oil and water: There's no way in hell those kids are going to emulsify. Or, you know, be friends.
Instead, the girl who was introduced simply as an Obama supporter and devout Christian also has a history of parental abuse — "My stepdad tried to hit me and then smother me," she says in the show's first few moments — and the goofy Andrew couldn't give less of a shit. So when she tries to force a friendship between the two and attempts to get him to open up to her about his life, he refuses in a typically silly way (pushing her away from him, and later, thrusting pizza boxes in her face after she puts pizza in his bed) that drives Ashley to hysterics and the house into an awkward divide when Andrew denies that he did anything wrong, or even pushed her at all.
It's not clear, though, whether it was Andrew's actual prank, or what he said about Ashley afterward — "I don't want her to throw all that stuff on my bed, so I threw it in her face, which was awesome. She's trying to get sympathy, like she's done all her life" — that hurt her the most.
So who are you going to believe, the girl who cries wolf or the guy in the panda — and later, a skunk — hat? It's a tough, meaningless decision, I know, but you have to make it. It's like being on Team Lauren or Team Heidi — MTV draws these lines, and if you don't pick a side, well ... you're smarter and investing your time in better things than I am, friend.
Anyway, I'm on Team Andrew (obviously), but we'll get back to that.
THIS "AMERICAN IDOL" season will be unlike any past or future cycle. Paula's out, Ellen arrives Tuesday, Simon is in his last round as Insult Master.
Dawgs and dawgettes, we clearly must learn to judge for ourselves.
For guidance, I spoke to Berklee College of Music prof Didi Stewart, who teaches "Pop and Rock Vocals." She has faith in the TV viewer's ears. "The average listener is quite attuned to what makes a singer good," she says. That includes staying on key (Stewart tells her students to "sing into the center of a note"), enunciating consonants clearly (for a clear, crisp tone, a la Celine Dion), projection ("Imagine the tone two inches forward from the mouth") and breath control (no audible "huh").
LAUREN CONRAD MAY have left "The Hills" when she departed the MTV reality show in May, but that doesn't mean glittery, glitzy Los Angeles is totally behind her. In fact, it isn't — that world is splashed all over the pages of her latest novel, "Sweet Little Lies," which hit bookstores Tuesday. In June, Conrad stumped all her haters with her best-seller, "L.A. Candy," which introduced readers to a group of pretty young women who became reality stars thanks to a show on the infamous network PopTV. So, you know — her rise to fame, but on paper. "Sweet Little Lies" is the follow-up to "L.A. Candy," yet another thinly veiled account of Conrad's life, as her main character, Jane Roberts, deals with the hardship of being young, rich and famous. Conrad is stumping for her book like any mortal, but its 309 pages basically tell us everything there is to know about her life, no interview required.
» EXPRESS: What's the most blatant example of you injecting yourself into the novel?
» LAUREN CONRAD BOOK EXCERPT: "Sweet, natural and vulnerable, [Jane] was a person everyone could relate to. She was pretty, but not too pretty. She liked to go out, but she didn't like to get wasted or do drugs. She worked hard. She was loyal to her friends. She came from a close-knit family."
» EXPRESS: Does anyone else from "The Hills" make an appearance as a fictional character in this new novel? Say, just to pull a name out of the air, Heidi Montag-Pratt?
» LAUREN CONRAD BOOK EXCERPT: "Madison was the perfect cliché, with her dyed-to-the-max platinum hair and penchant for shopping, partying, and guys. But she was constantly bugging Trevor for more airtime; so far, he'd managed to keep her at bay with carefully worded compliments on the theme of 'quality over quantity.'"
» EXPRESS: What will people learn most about your rise to fame from reading the book?
» LAUREN CONRAD BOOK EXCERPT: "Jane remembered then that the cameras were still rolling. ... This was what Trevor had told her to do when they spoke on the phone last night, wasn't it? ... Trevor's suggestions ... were simply meant to help shape the girls' conversations while they were on-camera. To make things more interesting for TV. After all, they couldn't just sit there and talk about nothing, right? Right?"
» Borders, 11054 Lee Highway, Fairfax; 22030; Sun. Feb. 7, 2 p.m.; free; 703-359-8420.
Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photo courtesy Andrew Macpherson
AISHA TYLER MAY be more recognized for her roles on shows like "24" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" than for her stand-up. But that doesn't deter the sometimes-actress from continuing to crack jokes. Instead, it encourages her to keep creating comedy that pushes both her own — and others' — boundaries.
"I've been doing it for 17 years now," Tyler says of her stand-up, which spurred a career that now includes acting, writing and directing.
"Stand-up and acting and writing, it's all married to each other — they're all fingers on a very malformed hand and they're all related. ... If you think you can do something, you might as well go for it."
And for Tyler, who will perform at the DC Improv this weekend, that balancing act has continued to pay off.
Continue Reading "She's Pretty Funny: Aisha Tyler, DC Improv" »
"THE LONGEST OF JOURNEYS," says Seacrest in a bombastic introduction to the evening's episode, "starts with the smallest of steps."
For most of us, that step was hitting the "Power" button on our TV. And the journey was slogging through four weeks of atonal warbling by nameless ne'er-do-wells on "Idol," with the occasional sob story thrown in.
Oh, and a good singer or two. Occasionally.
Now, we're treated to that most time-honored of TV traditions: a clip show. In this case, one that will introduce us to the final people this season to step into what Seacrest calls "the most famous arena in the history of television."
Unless you count "The Ed Sullivan Show." Or "American Bandstand." Or "Soul Train." Then "Idol" is definitely the most famous. In America, at least. So it's the most famous recent arena on American television. In the 2010s. That airs at night.
Anyway.
This is the broadcast that provides "Idol" with its first real opportunity to comment on its single watershed moment so far this season: The emergence of General Larry Platt's zeitgeist-harnessing hit "Pants on the Ground." And the producers dive in with aplomb, showcasing as many different performances of "Pants" as they can. As if we hadn't been forced to see them all by now.
But can they do us one better by giving us something new to talk about during this episode? Not really. But we at least wind up hearing from more good singers than bad ones, and that's certainly an improvement.
On to the evening's superlatives.
HOLLYWOOD INSISTS ON portraying the fashion industry as Disneyland with designer clothes, where any fledgling designer can nab a meeting with a top Bergdorf buyer ("The City") and it rains free Chanel on assistants ("The Devil Wears Prada").
Which is what makes Bravo's "Kell on Earth" (Mon., 10 p.m.), the new reality show following grizzled fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone, left, so refreshing. It depicts the high stakes, no-time-for-makeup/food/sleep, fashionista-eat-fashionista side of the industry. On "Kell," people don't roll out of bed with flawless makeup, perfect curls and coffee dates lined up with top execs and editors. An oft-haggard Cutrone gets her eyebrows waxed in her office while juggling phone calls; exhausted underlings are scolded with expletives; at any given moment, at least three staffers seem on the verge of a breakdown. It ought to be required viewing for any kid who lists "stylist" or "designer" as a career goal.
In real life, fashion is a high-stress world where a thick skin is infinitely more important than a fancy wardrobe. It's also way more fascinating than the typical contrived fakery. Hollywood, take note.
Photo courtesy Bravo
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