Faulkner

Ratings for first outing were meh, shedding a large portion of its "Girls" lead-in and on par with the premiere of "Enlightened." http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/hbo-looking-true-detective-girls-tv-ratings/

Granted, as on Jersey, it's the men who act a fool and escalate things to ridiculous violence. The men on these shows should be seen and not heard. I remember when Christopher Williams was a hot piece. The years have not been kind.

I thought it was generally engrossing and not as "white" as I'd expected. (And the diversity wasn't forced.) And yes, Augustin is a hipster hottie.

I can't tell you how many times I rewound and watched Stassi slap the HUSS out of Kristin in the preview for next Monday's Vanderpump Rules. Next week is the week of bitchslaps on Bravo, apparently.

I thought this RHOA episode was EPIC. Can they just expand the show to 10-11 housewives? Loved Kenya and Kandi and the "table-read" on Cynthia's friend Natalie. And this preview for next week!!!!

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Not sure where to post, but Michael Park and Tom Casiello have both tweeted asking for prayers for former head writer Hogan Sheffer. Not sure what's going on.

Carole is amusing in her talking heads, but she can't think on her feet as well as Bethenny. She came across as very flat in the S5 reunion. I actually think Heather is the quicker wit.

Watching Taylor on VH1's Couples Therapy and she's a much more entertaining drunk than Brandi.

In spite of my Luann nostalgia, I will say she was easily the nastiest one at that "toxic" S4 reunion, and if Kelly, Alex, Jill, and Cindy had to go, she should have gone too.

Bethenny on Kelly: "Next thing she's going to tell me that she's an African-American Asian woman." "Even Louis Vuitton makes mistakes" - there's never been such a devastating one-liner in the history of Housewives. And "Money Can't Buy You Class" is the best novelty song (and video) to come out of any franchise. For those things, LuAnn will always have a place in my heart.

As much as I love "Fix that body! Fix that face," I still think nothing beats the RHONY S3 reunion, with Kelly's meltdown, Bethenny's zingers, and the comeuppance of Jill Zarin. That had real drama. I felt that, in the RHOA S4 reunion, Cynthia knew she had to show out or she was getting dropped for being boring. And Marlo seemed a bit desperate and thirsty going after Kandi. A lot of bad acting in the RHONY supertrailer. Didn't they say that the season was being pushed back because no one was bringing the drama? It felt like people were reading cue cards off screen. I dunno, since S4, RHONY has felt like the phoniest franchise to me.

Watching that scene. It is spectacular. "You wouldn't even give me the satisfaction of leaving the room?" Angela Robinson is fantastic. She inflicts such brutality in that scene, yet you oddly feel for her.

What was alarming about Nene's behavior is that she saw that her comments were making Cynthia visibly upset, and she went in HARDER, in a way that seemed sadistic. I've been a Nene fan, but she can be mean-spirited and narcissistic in a way that makes me root for her downfall. And it's clear that the ladies are less intimidated by her "Queen Bee" status.

I loved River in "Let's Kill Hitler" when she discovers her sexy, voluptuous, post-regeneration body, looks down at her chest, and says, "I'm going to wear LOTS of jumpers!" That was just a fun episode, even though it made almost no sense.

This show is far too white, sure. The Latino guys ticks the diversity box, and let's face it - the reality is that gay communities across the country are very racially segregated, even when we share the same social spaces. I like that it's in SF and not NYC or LA. I've never been to SF, but it is our nation's most proudly gay city. The facial hair IS the look right now and has been for a while. (And in the behind-the-scenes, the creatives all have beardage.) But that pornstache on a beautiful man like Murray Bartlett is a TRAGEDY and needs to be shaved off or he should go all in on a goatee or beard. Hopefully there's a character reason for his look. I'll be watching in spite of myself. And looking forward to Russell Tovey (which autocorrected to "stovetop" on my phone) in a gay role.

Billie Piper has a lot more acting chops now, since she's done a lot of apparently good stage work. (She was nominated for an Olivier.) But yeah she was great. She was ok as Rose, and the show would never have re-launched successfully without her, but she got by on sweetness and charisma. Loved loved loved Smith and Tennant together. And saying that as someone who was lukewarm on Ten. They have amazing chemistry as actors. I still think Clara needs work. No one's talking about her today. Maybe that'll change with Capaldi.

Well, they quite bluntly addressed the Kordell gay rumors in the RHOA premiere... Kenya got played. Doesn't she know Nene always gets the last word? Kandi looked a hot mess with that Kool-Aid-colored hair. I thought she'd learned from her previous hair disasters. This does appear to be a much more dramatic season than the snooze-worthy and contrived Season 5, and I'm looking forward to the massive Nene/Kenya screamfest/blow-up later this season. And whatever that huge melee we saw with the whole cast.

I Googled Gregg Marx to see what he was up to and found this great interview. He talks a bit about why he left ATWT, Bill Bell offering him a role on Y&R, his friendship with HBS, coming out as a gay man, and his career in cabaret. (The site is flagged as NSFW, but I didn't notice anything racy on the mobile site.) He still looks amazing. http://marcharshbarger.blogspot.com/2013/02/deeper-dish-with-gregg-marx.html?m=1&zx=e2640becc189fcf1

The writing for that first post-reboot season was incredibly uneven and was just finding its footing right before the regeneration. Would have loved to have seen Eccleston continue, but can't imagine how he might have played some of the Season 2 stuff.

Yeah, can't imagine Eccleston suffering fools.

And the fact that two of those thirteen featured the horrifying Slitheen. Loved Captain Jack in "The Empty Child" when Barrowman was still hot and had a lot of natural charisma, but he got tired really quickly. He was always the weak acting link on Torchwood. Barrowman is clearly a great ambassador for the franchise, but I'm sick of him hating on Eccleston and slobbering over Tennant.

Word. Tennant's was so maudlin and "look at me" with his "I DON'T WANT TO GO!" wailing. But Eccleston's had me crying buckets. "Except... it means I'm going to change. And I'm not going to see you again... Not like this."

I don't know if anyone has posted this, but it's interesting. Critic Camille Paglia in praise of the "Real Housewives" franchise as the only thing worth watching on TV. I know she's pretty divisive, but some of her comments echo a lot of what you all have been saying: http://www.salon.com/2013/08/21/camille_paglia_it_remains_baffling_how_anyone_would_think_that_hillary_clinton_is_our_party%E2%80%99s_best_chance/

This show is embarrassing. So much WTFery.