Okay..I know what you are all thinking…“Why another column from this guy named Josh Clinton?! I get enough of him every week with his multiple recaps of TV shows and DVD reviews. Not to mention he already has one column that covers everything! Why another one? WHY?!
First off..I say chill out. It’s not THAT bad. And besides this column will be fun and exciting. Okay..so now you’re saying..“so what’s the difference between this column and “The Weekly Pulse” column then? Both are fun and exciting!” and I would agree with you. But this column will cover only one channel on your television set. It’s a cable channel that used to have music on it. It brought you the first “real” reality show. It caters to all the young people out there. The same people the advertisers want to go after.
That channel would be MTV, if you couldn’t guess already. I was asked by Murtz to do a weekly wrap of all the shows on MTV. Why? Celebrities baby! MTV has “stars” on its network. Kids know and love them or love to hate them. Parents may not understand, but if you are between the ages of 14 to 34 then you do. Oh..also another reason, and probably the main one, MTV is one of the only networks with new shows debuting and new episodes airing.
So here is how this will work. You may or may not know, but MTV has about 2-3 shows it airs on Mondays – Thursdays. They usually air in what MTV calls the “10 Spot”. That would be the 10 p.m./9 p.m. (Eastern/Central Time) hour. I’m already covering one of those shows each week when I recap the ‘Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat’. That will still continue, but I will also be talking about the other MTV “primetime” shows…’Fast Inc.’, ‘The Real World’, ‘Jamie Kennedy’s Blowin’ Up’, ‘The Hills’, ‘Cheyenne’, ‘Making the Band 3’, ‘Run’s House’, and ‘Pimp My Ride’. However, I won’t be fully recapping these other shows like I do with ‘The Challenge’. That would take too much time to do and, believe it or not, I do have a life outside of the computer! However, I will briefly sum up each episode and give my thoughts on each episode as well.
Now that you know the drill..how about we try this thing out. I will break down all the MTV shows by days to make it a little easier and more organized. So here we go! It’s time to mix things up a bit!
MONDAY
‘Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat’
Not much to say here since I already fully recapped it here. But I want to say something about my “partner”, while I’m doing this show. That would be Katie, originally from ‘Road Rules’. She is on this show and she teamed up with Eric, the big guy. I like his personality and I think they mix well together. They are not one of the top teams so far. Why? I couldn’t tell you. Eric is a big guy and most challenges have a “speed” element in them since they race against the clock. But the object of this challenge is to work well with your partner. I thought it was funny that Eric said he enjoyed Katie yelling at him during the challenges to motivate him. That’s a good attitude and why they make a good team. They don’t fight and argue like Tonya and Johnnie. I say it would be a little tough to be “fresh meat” and be teamed with some of the most vocal “alumni” ladies like Katie, Tonya, Coral, and Tina. But when you look at that list, Eric definitely got lucky. It could have been worse.
I still say that this was the nastiest challenge I have seen. But my memory is shot on these challenges and I can’t remember specific challenges anymore from past years. So I could be wrong. Anyone help me remember another challenge that was just as gross or worse? I know there are probably some out there, but I can’t think of them!
And that’s about all I got. Wait..Tina annoys me to death! It started when she was with Veronica and Rachel and they were a part of the “MILF” group from like two challenges ago. They were annoying as a group, but I could handle Veronica and Rachel. Tina is just annoying, though. She talks and talks, but rarely backs up her talk. She and Kenny should be gone soon enough. Right after they get rid of Wes and Johanna! Because I don’t know if you have heard or not, but the plan is that the “Austin” cast has to be eliminated first as part of their initiation! I know..you are SHOCKED! But it’s true! Now that this secret has been revealed, Earth can continue to spin around the sun.
‘Fast Inc.’
If you haven’t seen this show yet, here is the basic premise to it. There is a guy named Todd. He has a business partner named Christian. They have a company called “Fast Ashley’s”. They are in the business of finding rare and expensive cars for celebrities and other rich people. To help them find these cars, they have a guy named Tommy a.k.a. “Tater”. If you need to find a car, these are the guys to call. It’s really an unique idea. Not sure if there are other shows like it on cable or anything, but I haven’t seen any.
The first episode was last week and they had to find a car for Jennifer Love Hewitt. They found it. Meanwhile, Tater had to go to Compton, CA where he had to get a lowrider car for a video shoot. He was told to not stay there after dark. That was really funny. In the end, everything worked out.
Anyways..this week it’s all about finding “drifting” cars. What is drifting? Couldn’t really tell you. It’s a plug for the Fast and the Furious 3, which is all about drifting. It’s a new form of racing and I believe it has to deal with driving cars at high speeds while going sideways. Something like that. Bow Wow is the “star” of that movie. He comes to Todd and he wants to drive a drifting car again for a little bit. Meanwhile, Christian gets a call from a lady from Maxim magazine. They have a story about drifting and they want a car for their photo shoot. A little trouble at first and Tater is threatened to be fired. It doesn’t happen, though, as everything works out fine.
This show is more about the cars than anything else. There is this “MTV style” of drama, where they try to build it up during the episode..eventhough you know everything will work out just fine. So look for more cars and more celebrities in the future. Oh..on a side note..these guys are lucky. They get paid and get to be at a Maxim photo shoot with a half-naked lady! Sign me up!
TUESDAY
‘The Real World’
This episode saw the gang preparing for “Fantasy Fest” in Key West. It’s one of the biggest parties of the year, second only to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. So John and Tyler decide to build a float for the parade. It will be a mini-Mystic Tan booth and stuff. It should be a lot of fun. Except that another hurricane is about to hit Key West. Hurricane Wilma is coming and everyone has to leave. When I previewed this season awhile back, I said this would be very interesting and different since the roommates had to deal with mother nature. This will be their third hurricane that they have been through and we finally may be getting some action. The roommates fighting against a hurricane. Looks like we will see that soon.
In this episode, Janelle and John get into a fight that builds up throughout the episode. Janelle says John acts like an ass sometimes, but is fun to be around. John is rude and everything to him is about sex. Then, John and Tyler jump into the ocean. They are naked. Janelle jumps in with them, but she is not naked. That is until John takes her top off, which Janelle doesn’t like at all. John thought Janelle wasn’t serious when Janelle told him to “not take off her top”. He was just playing around. Janelle talks to John and tells him to not do anything like that again. If he does, then someone has to leave. Yeah..I don’t think this is over. Something will happen later in the season. Some way..somehow.
Svetlana also returns from Philadelphia in this episode. Her boyfriend’s father has passed away. She said it was harder than she thought. It was her first open casket and all of that and it’s her boyfriend’s father. It may make their relationship stronger that they were together through that tough time, but it doesn’t mean they will always be together. In the end, it’s about the two people involved in the relationship.
And that’s about all I got this week. Next week, we get more psycho Paula and hurricane action! Yay!
‘Jamie Kennedy’s Blowin’ Up’
Jamie and Stu rapping at a bar mitzvah to start was extremely funny, especially when Jamie compared losing his yamacah to 50 Cent losing his doo rag. Stu is mad at Jamie again for doing another movie instead of focusing on rapping. I see his point, but he has to make money somehow and movies still make Jamie Kennedy money. This movie has Jamie in “black” makeup like the show ‘Black/White’ on the FX awhile back. He looks like a black guy.
Tracy Morgan and his friend were funny as well in this episode. They gave Jamie advice on how to get ahead in the rap game. Jamie needs some street credibility. He needs to overcome something. However, since Jamie has not gotten a girl pregnant, doesn’t have a “grill” now, nor has never been shot, then he has nothing interesting to talk about. So they decide that he should rap as a black man. Keep the makeup on and rap and then come back later and rap as himself. Of course, he will probably get beat up as a result. But Tracy says he has to go through some pain to get to the top.
So Jamie and Stu wear “black” makeup and go to rap with Three 6 Mafia. But first they bump into Jason Biggs from American Pie. They stare him down and harrass him until he runs away. “Pie Molester!” They meet up with Three 6 Mafia and they are freaked out at first, but tell them to go ahead and go out there. But they laugh at them behind their backs. And of course, they go out and rap before Three 6 Mafia and get booed off the stage! HA! HA!
Stu was right, though. He said they got booed, because they were doing their songs when they weren’t themselves. So they went back out after Three 6 Mafia and went out as themselves. And what happened? The same people loved it! It’s “Hip Hop Comedy”!
WEDNESDAY
‘The Hills’
Okay..Lauren was definitely my favorite girl from ‘Laguna Beach’. I liked her better than Kristin. I thought she and Stephen made a better couple. But if there is one thing I know..it’s that even if everyone in the WORLD thinks that two people make a great couple and can’t believe they aren’t one, doesn’t mean that they WILL make a great couple. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Most of the time it’s because one of the them is scared. If something feels so right and it makes sense, they feel that they need to run away from this. Run to something that doesn’t make sense at all, just so they can be different or better yet..safe. If they are doing their own thing, then they don’t care what others think. They are doing what they think is best and that makes them comfortable, since they can ignore everyone else. If they do what other people think they should do, then there is more pressure. Everyone is watching them and looking at their “perfect” relationship. Does that make any sense at all?
Now I think I kinda got into my own life a little bit there, but it is a little true for Lauren and Stephen. They make a great couple, but it just makes too much sense. Maybe that’s why Lauren “ran” to Jason in the second season of ‘Laguna Beach’. And oh..how about that..look who calls Lauren tonight on ‘The Hills’! It’s Jason. He wants to catch up with Lauren and Lauren has to think about what he may want. If a girl calls a guy that she used to date, but now doesn’t talk to, after a long time..the guy automatically believes that the girl wants to get back with him. Now if a guy does the same thing, it could mean the same thing. But most likely it is that he has ran out of options and is now going back around on the “list”. Sad but true..especially with a guy like Jason. Now the question is..will Lauren get back with him? I hope not. As they don’t make any sense as a couple. Jason is not that bad of a guy. He has made some mistakes..yes, but he is not a bad guy. Still..Lauren deserves better. And again..this is just like my life, which I love!
Lauren’s roommate, Heidi, is the anti-Lauren. She doesn’t want to work or go to school. She just wants to party. Lauren wants to go to school and be great at her job. Heidi is just there to get Lauren in trouble it seems. Heidi is cute, but her personality takes her down a notch on the “hottness” scale. Now her friend, Audrina, is hott! I’m a sucker for dark-haired women and Brian is smart to go after her. Don’t know much about her personality, but she seems okay. Better than Heidi at least. She has a job, where she actually works at.
Let me say this about the show as well. When ‘Laguna Beach’ first aired it was a little weird to me. I mean the cameras were following thess “real” people around all the time. But it wasn’t like ‘The Real World’. On ‘The Real World’ or ‘Road Rules’ or any of the “challenges”, the people on camera talked back to you. They knew you were watching and they talked back to you in little segments shot away from the house or whatever. That didn’t happen on ‘Laguna Beach’ and it doesn’t happen on ‘The Hills’. It’s a different style of show and it takes a little bit to get used to, since it is presented as a “scripted” show but these people are real people and this is their real lives. It’s an interesting concept and it seems to work.
‘Cheyenne’
I gotta be honest here. I never watched the previous episodes of this show. Why? It’s about a 15-year old girl who sings. I’m a 24-year old male who doesn’t like girl singers anyways, but especially not if they are under 18. Wait..is Hilary Duff 17 or 18? Okay..lets say under 16 then. Fifteen is young no matter how you look at it. This show seems to be for the “Radio Disney” crowd. That is for girls between the ages of 8 and 18. If you are a girl in that age range, you will probably love this show. Mostly this is for fans of Cheyenne Kimball, though.
Now that you know that I don’t care to watch this show, let me talk about this episode. She has her first song out and it’s on the soundtrack to the movie Aquamarine! I’m sure my fellow movie staff members will LOVE that! But that is a perfect fit. If you liked that movie, then you will love Cheyenne and her music and this show.
Back to the episode, though. Her playing in a country bar was a little odd, but they seemed to like it. Must have been the cameras there. She also wants to date a guy that is 18. Her parents don’t think it’s a good idea. And they are right. But not because he’s 18. A boy at 18 has the same hormones as a boy at 14 or 15 or 16 or 17. Yeah..you have the ability to do more things at 18, but a boy is a boy. The parents’ real concern should be with the fact that the boy is probably out of high school or will be soon and that can cause future problems for their daughter. Those types of relationships don’t seem to work outside of high school, especially when they are more than 1 year apart.
I also found it a little funny with the mom freaking out at the Grand Canyon. I’m not that good with heights either, so I can see where she was coming from. That is a little scary as there is a lot of open space out behind them and sometimes the “openness” of it all is worse than the heights. That’s why some people don’t like the ocean, because of the “openness”. I’m not one of them as I love the beach, but you add the heights thing like the Grand Canyon and it becomes a little freaky. Oh..and when Cheyenne told her mom that the picture of her with her back to the Grand Canyon was “hot”..oh man..it just told me why I don’t like this show that much. I can’t even say that I can watch the show, because Cheyenne is cute or anything. She’s fifteen, but looks thirteen. That’s illegal for me..my friends. So yeah..there you go. I will continue to watch this show..just for YOU! And maybe a teenage girl reads this and maybe that girl has an older sister or something that I can talk to.
THURSDAY
‘Making the Band 3’
The first episode of ‘Making the Band 3’. That is not really true. It’s the first episode of this season of ‘Making the Band 3’. For those who don’t know, ‘Making the Band’ is a show about making a band from aspiring musicians. ‘Making the Band 1’ was on ABC or some network and it featured the group of O-Town! A classic boy band that paved the way for one member of the band, Ashley Parker Angel, to have his own show on MTV now called ‘There and Back’. But that show is not on the air right now in the United States, so it doesn’t matter. Sean “Puff Daddy, Puffy, P.Diddy, Diddy” Combs took over the show with ‘Making the Band 2’. This was no boy band. This was MTV and it was a combination of guys and girls. This group ended up being 4 guys and 2 girls and they were called Da Band! They weren’t that bad on the microphone. However, they couldn’t get along. So Diddy eventually busted up the group and got rid of all the ones that caused the most friction and trouble or ones that just didn’t fit the band. It ended up being just a guy and a girl. They were Ness and Babs, the new “Bonnie and Clyde of hip hop. Haven’t heard of them in awhile? Yeah..that’s probably tells you why there was a ‘Making the Band 3’!
‘Making the Band 3’ was ran by Diddy again. But this was going to be an all-girl group. An excellent idea, because there was some great eye-candy. I don’t really like girl singers, but I can tolerate them. However, since this is all girls..there will be drama! A group of girls together is trouble..one way or another! Anyways Diddy brought in a bunch of girls for Season 1 of this show. He basically said at the end of this that there was not enough talent here. He didn’t have enough girls to blow away everyone! This is Diddy and he needed the best! So he demanded that more girls be brought in to audition for the band. He did decide to keep 3 girls, though. They were Aubrey, Aundrea, and Malika. In Season 2 of the show, those three girls had to fight all over again to be in the band with a new group of girls. At the end of this, Diddy finally announced the official band.
And here we are..Season 3 of ‘Making the Band 3’! We follow the girls around as a band now. Aubrey, Aundrea, Dawn, Shannon, and Wanita make up Diddy’s girl band. Aubrey and Aundrea grew close as the initial survivors of the first round of the competition for ‘Making the Band 3’. Malika couldn’t make the cut into the final band as you can see. She got eliminated in the middle of Season 2, but she wasn’t that great anyways. Let me just say this right now and get it out of the way. Aubrey has been my favorite from the beginning. She is beautiful and hott and everything else! WOW!
Now on with the show. They all go back home before they begin working with Diddy. Aubrey lives in Palm Springs, CA. She has a boyfriend. That one hurts me a little! But it won’t last. She also teaches dance classes there. Aundrea lives in Upland, CA with her mom. Wanita lives in Atlanta, GA with her mom. Hmm… Shannon lives in Costa Mesa, CA. She is married! Shocking..I know. She was also a Portland Trail Blazer dancer! Finally, Dawn lives in Baltimore, MD, but she is from New Orleans, LA. She moved after the hurricanes hit! They brought Mardi Gras to Maryland!
This season is all about the group. No more about the individual people. It’s all for one and one for all! The girls basically get used to being celebrities and people running up to them and wanting autographs and pictures. That’s about all that happens except for the fact that the gang all goes back to New Orleans for a Mardi Gras parade. Now this was a little emotional, because Dawn is from New Orleans and this is her first time coming back to her hometown after Hurricane Katrina. It must had been tough to see the damage to her home, but the girls were there for her and it was great to seem them as one unit. More hottness to come!
‘Run’s House’
This is the second season of ‘Run’s House’. Run is actually Joseph Simmons. He is called Rev Run now, but most people know him as a member of Run-DMC. One of the first hip-hop acts out there! Run is now a legitimate reverend, hence why is called Rev Run. He has a wife named Justine and they have 5 children! He has two daughters, Vanessa (age 21 or 22) and Angela (age 18 or 19), and three sons, JoJo (age 16 or 17), Diggy (age 11), and Russy (age 9). They all live together in ‘Run’s House’.
Now that you know the idea behind the show..lets get to this episode. It looks like Run and Justine want to have another kid or are having another one. Oh..I should mention that Justine and Run only had Diggy and Russy together. Run and his first wife had the other three kids. So Vanessa, Angela, and JoJo go visit their real mom and her family as their younger half-sister turns three years old.
Meanwhile, Russy and Diggy have a sleepover with their friends. They want like 50 people, but it ends up being just 3 or so. The funniest part of this was Run teaching all the kids how to “catch some air” or “swim for air” or whatever he called it. Basically, walking a way that is cool. And the whole interaction with them was funny. But what is up with Russy and his hyper self? He didn’t want pizza or eggs. Okay, but he freaks out about it. Little odd to me. But that’s a typical 9-year old..I guess.
I also liked Run talking to his brother, Russell Simmons, in this episode as well. Small part, but still funny. And something else before I finish. At the end of each episode, Run sits in the bathtub and writes on his PDA or phone or something. It’s like a daily diary for him. That’s cool since it basically wraps up the main thought for each episode. This one was about kids and loving them..I believe. That’s about all I got for this show this week.
‘Pimp My Ride’
This is actually Season 5 of ‘Pimp My Ride’. For the first four seasons, rapper, Xzibit, and West Coast Customs made people’s cars go from dirt and broke cars worth around $100 to cars that are pimped, which means they are worth around $30,000 or more! A basic idea that I have seen other shows do, but this was one of the first and this is MTV..so it’s one of the most popular. This season is different though. There is a new garage with a new crew. Xzibit did bring along one member of West Coast Customs with him this season, though. That is Mad Mike, the electronic specialist! I love electronics, so his stuff was always my favorite. And he is an important part in any pimp car, so I can see why they kept him.
This episode they pimped a car for a boy named Calvin. He has a 1977 Chevy Malibu. It is all rusted and stuff. He calls it “Jewels”, since it is hard as a rock, but cost him a lot of money to keep it running. The paint is falling off and everything is screwed up inside. Calvin lives in the desert and he has seen UFOs. But at least his car motivates him to finish college.
This new garage is Galphin Auto Sports a.k.a. GAS. The owner is Beau. The electronics are done still by Mad Mike. The paint & body is done by Luis. The interiors are done by Rick. Gyasi handles the wheels and tires. Dave has accessories. And that’s the new crew.
So what did they do to pimp this car? They made the doors where they would open by themselves with a touch of a button. They made the paint a silver base coat and then they go with the whole UFO theme for this car. They put crop circle designs onto the paint, which glow in the dark! Not as bad as you might think. They put in captain’s chairs inside the car. More crop circles with purple interior and neon green involved as well. Mad Mike puts in some hologram projection TVs, which are neat. It also has a GPS system and a traffic watch system. Crazyness! And how about this..there is a sensor to start the car! No need for a key, just wave your hand! Xzibit gives Calvin a gift, which is his own robot to go with the whole alien theme. Thanks Xzibit for pimping my ride!
And that ends the first volume of the “MTV Mix”! I would love to get comments on this column. If you have any questions or suggestions, then send them as well! If you liked it, then tell me. If you hated it, then tell me. I don’t care, I just want feedback so that I can improve on things if I need to or continue doing what I’m doing.
I’ll see you next week when we mix things up a bit!
