Recaps of NBC’s Thursday night comedies, updated weekly at BitchMagazine.com.
“Jaden Hair’s blog is like dropping in on your favorite foodie friend. You hope she’ll share a recipe that you can use to wow guests at your next dinner party—and you know deep inside that she’ll always come through. This conversational, at-home feel is what makes the blog simmer…”
Kiran Chetry: A Ray of Light in Morning News
“There’s something so exciting about being the first newscast on the air every day…What is special about mornings is that it’s such an honor to have people decide to wake up with you. If the first thing they do when their alarm clocks go off is they turn on the TV to see you, it’s your obligation to keep them informed.”
Miss Universe Riyo Mori: Taking on the World
“Over the past few months, the former dance student has attended star-studded events, auditioned for a hit primetime series and is set to star in a reality show. Yet, she still has an air of wonder about the myriad of ways in which her life has been transformed since winning the Miss Universe 2007 crown.”
Amara Karan: Express Train to Stardom
“While her role as a gorgeous foreign stewardess who enchants American men could have been a one-note character, in a few short scenes Amara Karan infuses the enigmatic Rita with a compelling intelligence and vulnerability that a whole film could be built around.”
Book Review: Mortified: Love is a Battlefield
“In an age of MySpace, Twitter and Facebook, what makes a collection of diary entries from the pre-Internet era so engrossing? For many, the book will no doubt evoke a sense of nostalgia for anyone who took to their own Trapper Keeper notebooks or unicorn-emblazoned diaries to hash out their angst and confusion.”
“Just to be clear: there are no happy endings awaiting the characters in A Week of This. Even though the novel chronicles seven days in the lives of a dysfunctional family, no epiphanies are reached, true love confessed or dilemmas solved. Yet the small-scale tragedy is weirdly enjoyable…”
Theater Review: I Google Myself
“The words “I Google myself” elicit a sheepish kind of embarrassment, that out of boredom, curiosity, ego, or a combination of all three, we all at one time or another have wanted to see what a collection of URLs on the Internet says about our place in the world.”
Entertainment Weekly TV Watch: Lost, “Homecomings”
“The series is best when it goes beyond the Jack and Kate Show and focuses on the other survivors…Take Locke’s episode: Sure it was memorable because of the wheelchair shocker, but that wouldn’t have made such an impact if we hadn’t seen that Locke the All-Knowing Island Guru was once a pathetic, Risk-playing box-company employee.
“Here are five costume ideas based on Snooki’s biggest Season 4 moments from Jersey Shore. First thing’s first: Lose the pouf!”
“There are a variety of reasons why actors return to shows they had departed, including wrapping up storylines and honoring the series that launched them into stardom. Here is a look back on other actors who came back for the swan songs of their respective series.”
“Some of the book world’s most celebrated talents first burst onto the scene thanks to the guidance of establishedauthors. In honor of the 10th anniversary of 
“Have the past few weeks of shopping, caroling, and ‘Happy Holidays’-ing made you feel grinchy? These precious, spiteful lumps of cinematic coal will set your inner misanthrope aglow.”
Entertainment Weekly’s list of criminally fun caper flicks, including some of the “usual suspects.”
“The adventures of red-headed Archie, frenemies Betty and Veronica, best pal Jughead and the rest of the gang are quite popular in India. So it makes sense then that the editorial brain trust behind the long-running comic book series have finally responded by introducing the first Indian (and Asian) character to Riverdale, U.S.A: Raj Patel.”
“There have been many bands I loved, and many more songs that defined me. But it was a YouTube clip that renewed my very connection to music.”
“It’s not quite Cheers, but Jake’s Dilemma has plenty of its own charms.”
‘The biggest news story coming out of ‘Idol’ is not the contestants or the judges, it’s Ryan Seacrest being completely strange and outrageous while hosting the show,” Ramisetti said. “I think that’s a real problem for this show’s health.”
“For the media, celebrities become much more interesting once they start having kids, and they get 10 times more attention. So I think when reality TV started having people aspire to be on TV, they see the attention celebrities get just by the virtue of having kids. So they home in on that and unfortunately are using kids to do that.”
“These days it’s impossible to get an exclusive with Brangelina, unless you’re Ann Curry,” Ramisetti points out. “But people like Jon and Kate keep generating news themselves. Same with Miley Cyrus, by her Twittering and then leaving Twitter, she was feeding the news cycle.”
These days teenagers are experts at texting, including sending racy messages. Advice for parents worried about the consequences of sexting.
“Her naysayers hope she’ll fade into obscurity because they don’t feel she’s done anything to deserve her fame. Yet, those same people will watch her on Dancing with the Stars with the hopes she’ll make a fool of herself. By tuning in week after week, they’re ensuring Kate’s continued success and time in the spotlight.”
“It’s nice to see more and more (female) artists gaining the spotlight – and not because of what they are wearing or who they are dating, but because they are putting out some really good music.”
“Katy Perry came on the pop scene with a song that was really catchy, and the lyrics are risque without actually being subversive. Once you go from there, the songs can be good but they don’t have to be great.”
“No one wants to be painted with the brush [of outing a celebrity]. I think the press, more than ever, realizes this is a private matter. No one gets hurt over Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. If speculating about Anderson Cooper, the press wants to shy away.”
“If Kate wants to be on Dancing with the Stars, that’s fine; many celebrities looking for a PR boost are on the show for the same reason,” says Ramisetti. “But for her to pretend that learning the tango will promote good values to her kids is eye-rolling.”
