Jude's Thursday Dish

I just got Christmas decorations out to dress up my house for our December cover photo shoot. I'm totally ANTI anything Christmas before Thanksgiving, so I'm feeling a little nauseous. I'm going to dive into pop culture to help this pass.

1. Not so long ago while America sat anxiously watching the Olympics, we had to deal with countless lame commercials and NBC promoting their new Fall line-up. Think of the advertising dollars spent. But lo and behold, the same thing happens every November. Shows that got tons of ad time get cancelled. It just happened to Christian Slater's "My Own Worst Enemy." I got SO sick of seeing those commericals during the Olympics which was one of the reasons I refused to watch it. Not to mention there was a HUGE billboard for that in Times Square. "Lipstick Jungle" is also going off the air. I couldn't get into that show and really, Brooke Shields tries to hard. I guess the upside is next August I probably won't be watching a ton of TV, so I'll miss the crop of shameless promotion for shows that won't last long anyway.


2. So, I'm revolting against my daughter. The last movie in the theater I saw was "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" and she's begging me to take her to "Madagascar 2" and "High School Musical 3." Not to mention all the kids movies I sit through like those dumb Disney Aladdin sequels. This last weekend, we did introduce her to "Ghostbusters" which we Clear Played for language. Unfortunately, we didn't filter for anything sexual and a couple of risque parts slipped in. We just pretended Bailey did something amazing and diverted her attention. She is only 7 after all. Anyway, it's John's fault. I've never seen "Ghostbusters" so he should have known what to filter for! So, it was good to see something that appealed to all of us, but I thought the movie was kind of lame. John was not happy. That's one of his favorites. I'm thinking if I saw it back in the 80's, I would've gotten into it, but now it's just hokey and dated. Katie LOVED it and we showed it to my nephews the next day, this time Clear Played for language AND sex. Then, they ran all around the backyard reinacting it. Anyway, I TOTALLY digress. Back to Katie's movies. I'm putting my foot down! I'm officially taking a hiatus from kid movies and for the rest of 2008, it's ALL ABOUT ME (well, and John too, I guess). I'm going to see "Twilight", maybe "Quantum of Solace" (as long as there's not another nekkid torture scene in it and the violence isn't too bad -- John better feel it out for me better than he did on "The Dark Knight"), "Four Christmases" (which let's face it, not original! That's most Mormon's lives!) and "Australia" (which I FINALLY heard is PG-13). And there are more movies coming out. So sorry, Katie! I'll take you to those movies in January when the movies in the theater suck. I'm sure you'll be fine watching "Enchanted" for the 1,000 time.

3. It's sad about that girl who committed suicide near Paula Abdul's home. She had auditioned for the show back in 2005. She was found in a car and the police are ruling it as a drug overdose. Of course, the media is linking her death to the show and blaming the harsh treatment from the judges as a possibility. She was obviously mentally ill. Who knows whether or not the show had a direct effect on her death? I just wish the producers would be more careful what they choose to air. Those trainwrecks are not always people who "get it" or as Simon has said, are just arrogant thinking they are God's gift to music. I'm sure some are dilusional, but if mental health could be an issue, the show needs to refrain from putting their auditions out there for people to ridicule them. There, I'm off my soapbox.


4. Okay "Office" lovahs, here's some scoop. It's not about plotlines, but if you want casting bits and my speculations kept secret then SPOILER ALERT!!!!

Still reading? Okay, you may have heard but Ryan (B.J. Novak) is taking a leave from the show to appear in a Quentin Tarantino movie (really, B.J.? Tarantino? That man makes me need to shower). He may be back next Spring, but there's also rumors that he might not appear in front of the screen anymore. He's a writer and producer, so maybe he'll just do that. But, it's looking like Toby is coming back since my Tivo says the upcoming 11/20 episode is called "Frame Toby" and that Michael has to come to terms with some changes in his personnel. Does that mean Toby will be back to replace Holly? Or does Michael just have to cope with Ryan being fired/let go?



5. I promised in last week's column I would go into remakes I'm pissed about, but after doing more research, there's really only two. Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" --seriously, should you EVER remake a Hitchock? Hell no! And a "Footloose" remake is just wrong. That movie just fits in the 80's. It's hard to imagine a contemporary film based on a town so clueless that the preacher can control whether the kids listen to music or dance. And sorry, Zac Efron, you are no Kevin Bacon. I heart me some Ren McCormack in his tight, high waisted 80's jeans! And I heart you, Kevin Bacon, even though you have a foul mouth, appear in a lot of smarmy movies and have appeared Full Monty in film.

That's it for this week!