ElectricBoogaloo

Serenity now, insanity later!

S1.E1: Bienvenidas Reinas Original air date: 5/30/21

S1.E2: The Rice Kingdom

Meet the queens: Party trailer: Queens revealed: For some reason, WOW deleted the original version of the first look video I posted above last month so reposting the same video:

Elektra's runway look wasn't my favorite but I will concede that it was different and it definitely had some visual impact. I thought the costume itself was a bit simplistic but she really committed to the goth raven lady look. She had the whole informercial vibe down. Compared to everyone else, hers was great. I know butterflies have been done before on RPDR but I loved Kita's look. When Maxi first hit the runway, I thought she was dressed as Mary Poppins. It was the combination of the white dress, the hair, and the umbrella. I liked the message behind Karen's firefighter look, but I didn't love the actual look. Art Simone's Kath look was fun. I remember learning about corks being hung on hats to keep away the bugs when I read The Thorn Birds. Adding the Billy Porter opening made me laugh. My issue with her informercial was that there was too much talking and not enough focus. Etcetera's tree coat looked like a big old mess. Her story about how the black dress underneath was a burnt tree seemed like a bit of a stretch. It felt like she wanted to wear this black outfit so she made the coat to sort of fit the challenge. Her infomercial definitely stuck with the piss theme but it wasn't very clear what the point of her product was. Scarlet's Priscilla Queen of the Desert look was great. I was surprised that her blackface came up. I thought the show was just going to pretend it never happened. I agreed with Michelle's assessment: filthy is not always funny. I actually don't mind filthy at all. I just wanted the skit to be funny and it wasn't. Maxi definitely won that LSFYL, even without the microphone.

I wasn't familiar with Stephen Satterfield before this show, but I like that he really gives his guests and experts the opportunity to shine. It drives me crazy when hosts bring in other people but reduce them to sound bites or barely let them talk. It was really nice to see him give the spotlight to the people he brought on the show. I always hear the yam vs. sweet potato debate at Thanksgiving so I'm glad that we cleared that up!

S1.E1: Our Roots

Promo: Available on Netflix 5/26/21

S4.E2: Cooley High Promo: Clip 1: Clip 2: Original air date: 5/30/21

I felt like all of the celebrity appearances were a case of HBO really trying to gild the lily. I think they were trying to appeal to the younger fans who discovered the show when it was on Netflix, but I wish they had realized that none of these guest appearances would be enough to convince non-fans to watch the reunion. The fashion show was a complete waste of time. I found myself wishing that they had allocated those two minutes to letting some of the other cast members talk (although let's be real - they could have just let the other cast members talk more and just made the reunion run a few minutes longer and no one would have complained). I was like Tom Selleck cleared his schedule to get to the set and we saw him for like 30 seconds? What a waste! At least James Michael Tyler just Zoomed in for his 10 seconds. Most of the celebs who got to talk about how much they loved the show could have been eliminated too. I found the non-celeb fans talking about the show a lot more interesting. Although there are definitely aspects of the show that have not aged well, it's still comforting to watch it because it's familiar. I know I definitely rewatched episodes over the last year for that reason. Hearing some of the normies talk about how much the show meant to them and helped them through tough times in their real lives was way more interesting than celebs saying, "I loved this show!" My favorite thing about this reunion was just watching the cast sit and talk with each other. It's clear that they still love each other and have fond memories of the show (as much as we love hearing people spill all kinds of gossip after the fact, a reunion where cast members are obviously bitter and resentful is not fun to watch). I loved watching them walk onto the set one by one and start to get nostalgic/emotional. And who can blame them? It would be like going back to your childhood home after a 20 year absence. I can only imagine how overwhelming it must have been to see the set where they spent ten years together after so long. Even though I have no personal stake in any of their private lives or their friendships, I hope that this reunion reminded them all how much they love each other and that they don't have to wait until they run into each other at a party to spend all night talking. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's that zoom exists and all you have to do is schedule a convenient time to talk to someone. I loved the updated game show. Eighteen pages - FRONT AND BACK! Yes, she did an interview where she said she was excited when they asked her to guest star but once she was actually on set, she was so anxious because of the live audience that she never wanted to do it again. When they asked her to come back, she declined, which is why Christina Applegate appeared in that Thanksgiving episode. ETA: for anyone who watched So You Think You Can Dance, Alex Wong did a recreation of Ross and Rachel’s routine: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CPYgZVOnrYi/

They said that at the end of the competition, each of the contestants will present a portfolio of 15 photos and that's how the winner will be chosen.

Obligatory music reference:

I had to laugh when Winston and Maggie said that their upcoming wedding will be small with "just family" because remember when Meredith collapsed and someone told Richard to get out because he was family and he said that they were all Meredith's family? In theory, I get what they're saying about keeping the wedding small and then having a big reception later when the pandemic is over but these are people who consider half the people in the hospital to be their family. If they can keep it to just their parents and whoever has been living in Meredith's house, they can avoid having a potential superspreader wedding.

SEASON FINALE! Promo: Original air date: 6/3/21

Promo: Original air date: 6/2/21

Grey's Anatomy did an episode a few years ago about how women are often dismissed by doctors and sent home without being tested or treated for pain/other symptoms. Coincidentally, this week's episode of Hacks briefly touched on the same issue. If you truly believe something is wrong and the doctor doesn't want to run any tests, you have to advocate for yourself. I'm glad that more people now know to tell the doctor that they want it noted in their file that they requested a specific test and the doctor refused. Even though Regina's CT showed nothing and she was frustrated by that, at least that ruled out some major problems. I was really glad that Shelley kept encouraging Gina to tell Rome what was going on. I get that Gina doesn't want to stress him out unnecessarily but he is your husband. He will want to know so he can help you through this. The thing that really annoyed me about Eddie this week was that he was willing to do all the stuff that Gary suggested (find a one story place to rent, get a car equipped so that he could drive) but as soon as Katherine told him that she didn't trust him with Theo because of his addiction, he told Gary to forget about doing any of that stuff. I know he was wallowing but regardless of what Katherine wants in terms of Theo's custody situation, Eddie should still be doing all of those things anyway. His worst case scenario is that Katherine gets full custody. What if Theo has a school recital or a science fair or whatever - how is he going to get there? Does he expect Katherine to come pick him up and chauffeur him around everywhere? How will he get groceries or go on a producer mandated trip to Target? He should be looking into getting the hand controls for his car no matter what Katherine says she wants regarding custody of Theo. They're getting a divorce so I assume that means Eddie will be moving out of the house (and the only reason I expect that is because, as his divorce attorney pointed out, living in a two story house when he's in a wheelchair isn't very practical) so he should be looking for a one story place to live. But apparently once Katherine revealed the real reason she didn't trust Eddie with Theo, just was ready to just give up and never leave the house again. BUCK UP FFS. While I agree that Maggie and Gary have been doing a way better job parenting Sophie and Danny, part of me feels bad that Maggie has turned into a free therapist for everyone. I love that the adults are playing musical chairs with who lives where, but as long as that means Delilah still isn't coming back I'm all for it!

Gary: Don't take this the wrong way, but I saw you less when we lived together. Maggie: And charming comments like that are why neither of these coffees are for you. Gary: Next time you don't get me a coffee, can you also not get me a bagel? Shelley: You know what would make a great documentary? Tyrell: The one we just told you about? Lawyer: I gotta admit, Eddie, I've been expecting this call. Is that French lady giving you and Katherine custody trouble again? Gary: Oh, wow. You two haven't spoken in a while, huh? Eddie: Yeah, sorry. I didn't send out my Christmas letter explaining my year. Katherine and I are getting divorced - for real this time. Lawyer: Well, I've still got that folder here. Shelley: I was just looking up your symptoms on WebMD. Gina: I don't know if you noticed, but we have a real MD right here. Eddie: I have a lawyer, Katherine. I'm going to fight you on this. Katherine: Fantastic! So I get to pay for that, too? Gary: He is going to retrofit your minivan for 10% over cost. Throw in an extra 75 bucks, he'll airbrush a narwhal on the side. You give me 80 bucks, I'll make sure he doesn't do that. Shelley: I'll be right here, trying to figure out your passcode. I'm kidding. I'm sure it's my birthday. Maggie: I think it's raining too hard for us to take a walk, so I'm just going to heat up a couple of Pop-Tarts instead and if you don't want one, I'm going to eat both of them. Should I just make three? Eddie: I love you, pal. Theo: I know. Gary: Whoa, you just Han Solo-ed your old man. Well done.

I'm glad Ava finally realized that being an asshole was a bigger problem than the tweet she had been blaming. Very few people in Hollywood actually get permanently cancelled so I think she could make a comeback eventually. And as I said before, there are a lot of other writers besides those three girls so if she plays her cards right, she should be able to network with some new people and get hired. That's assuming that she doesn't decide to stay in Vegas (because who can resist all those 24 hour CVS locations?).

I don't understand these people. Nico asked Glasses to move in with him in a previous episode and Glasses ran away. And then it wasn't until the fourth week of the vaccine trial that they discussed it? WTF? What were they doing in the mean time? Just waving at each other in the hallways at the hospital? How could you go a whole month without having a conversation about that? I don't care if they're in the middle of a pandemic. That's the kind of relationship issue that you make the time to discuss. Even though it was inappropriate for the vaccine trial to ask him out while he was still participating, at least he paid attention to him. One of my issues with Nico is that he always seemed so disinterested in Levi as a person. Vaccine doc, on the other hand, listened to all the word vomit and remembered what he said from week to week. I can't believe they're still dragging out this Jo/Luna story. If she is serious about adopting, she needs to get her shit together. She needs to kick at least one person out of the loft (if it were me, I'd keep Helm because as messy as she is, at least she can cook). She also needs to think about how she, an intern with a very busy schedule, will make the time to provide a baby with health issues with the amount of attention she needs. I'm not saying she can't or shouldn't adopt, but she really needs to think about the logistics of how an intern with no family and no support system will squeeze in spending any amount of time with a baby in her spare time while living with two roommates in a room without any walls or doors to provide privacy. She can't even cry in private right now but she wants to bring a baby home? Amelia needs to just be honest with Linc and tell him that she doesn't want any more kids. Sure, one of them might change their minds in the future, but he deserves to know how she feels about it now.

Jo: This place wasn't built for three people. Guests don't bring other guests. Meredith: If history has shown us anything, one person's normal is another's complete chaos. Winston: Do you care if we get two cakes? Because Nana Auntie has this thing about a groom's cake. Maggie: Do you mind if we have threecakes? Owen: I am so relieved that you're on call instead of Koracick. Amelia: Koracick no longer works here. Owen: Wait, really? Who got to fire him? Bailey: If I don't want to talk about that and you don't want to talk about you, then we better get another kid out here or something.

Woo, Marcus! I felt bad when he found his mom and aunt clearly ready to have a party at his place, but I loved that he got drunk, danced in the sprinklers, and then called the water meter guy. I liked that Ava went from selfishly just trying to save her job to encouraging Deborah to be more honest and really listening to her. I don't think Ava even halfway believed Deborah in an earlier episode when she mentioned how much she'd had to claw and fight for every bit of success she'd had. But after hearing just part of her story, she finally realizes just how hard Deborah worked to get where she is. This episode made me realize how long it's been since I've had french fries (from anywhere). I haven't been to any restaurants since the pandemic began but man, this episode made me really crave some hot salty fries. Kiki continues to be awesome in the moments that we get to see her! I liked that the show briefly addressed how women are often not taken seriously by doctors, especially in the ER. When they complain of pain, they're frequently told to go home without having tests run. Deborah ordering the doctor to run more tests and telling him that she's very litigious was great. It's sad that sometimes it takes being threatened to get results like that.

I was suspicious of that guy, partly because I don't know how much you can fully trust a rando that you meet in Vegas, especially one who's generously offering you cocaine and Molly. I was taking everything he said with a grain of salt because you just never know. But after he told her how much money he'd blown in one night, I was waiting for him to do something shady. I guess I should feel a little bit bad because the only person he ended up hurting was himself (well, besides all the old people he stole that money from) but at that point, I kept thinking of Heather #2 calling Hot Probs and saying, "The last guy I had sex with killed himself the next day." Ha, drunk Deborah might be my favorite Deborah! I get that Ava thinks she's completely burnt in LA due to her tweet, but it made no sense to me that she was acting like those three girls were her only way back in. If she really wants to get back into the scene there, LA is full of writers and comedians. There's no need to think that those girls were her only lifeline back. She might have to start networking lower down than the level she'd been at before, but it's not completely undoable. But poor Hallie. She didn't even do anything but I still laughed when George told her to fuck off too. I also felt bad for Marcus. He is out there hustling, trying to get Deborah every possible alternate revenue stream possible and she just blew off that meeting with the cincher sisters. I mean, honestly, if that's not something you want to do, JUST SAY SO instead of showing up super late.

What kind of holiday parties are these people going to that they think these dresses are what women want to wear to a winter party? First of all, I disagreed with each person who said a winter dress had to have long sleeves. You're going to a party which is inside which means you will be wearing a coat over this dress. If you're going to be dancing (as several people mentioned), you don't need a long sleeved dress because you'll just hot and sweaty. Farie's purple velvet dress was good. She was smart to make it a wrap style which helps with the fit. Although stretch velvet can be a pain to work with, it's great for a holiday party because, as my mom loved to tell me, that means you can eat and your dress won't be too tight after dinner! I had one of those suit dresses which I wore to one of my very first jobs but I never would have wanted to wear it to a holiday party. Serena's major mistake (aside from thinking someone would want to wear that style of dress to a festive party) was choosing satin. It shows every wrinkle, every pucker, and every hole made when you pull out a thread. If you wore that to a holiday party, the middle would be creased and wrinkled after you sat down once. I also didn't like the pointy shoulders or the asymmetric flap of the skirt in the front. I did like the color though. Rebecca's green skater dress was perfect for a holiday party. It was really cute and appropriate for a variety of different kinds of parties. Raph's gold dress was pretty with a lot of technical sewing and details. And pockets! I liked that he used the bow as the belt. Andrew's purple dress was far too simple for my taste. It looked like a straight tank dress. I also didn't like the big bows on the sleeves (silver or purple). The uneven back darts, the crooked zipper, and the bow falling right off did not help. Damien's grey dress fit his model well. Despite the sexy zipper, to me this looked more like a sporty work dress rather than a holiday party dress. I agreed with Patrick that this was by far the best thing Damien has sewn all season. If I were choosing a dress to wear, I would have picked Rebecca's. But I understand why the judges chose Raph's as garment of the week. There were a lot more technical aspects to his. Andrew has been pretty consistent but he had a bad week.

When they said the pattern challenge was flannel shirts, the first thing I wondered was if they're anywhere near as popular in Europe as they are here in North America. They've been pretty inescapable here for my entire life. Serena has consistently done well at the pattern challenges so I was not surprised that she pattern matched everything perfectly and that the collar was symmetric. She definitely deserved first. Andrew's shirt had visible problems even from a distance. Aside from the pattern matching issue, I could see in the long shot that something about the button placket was wonky. It looked like they weren't spaced properly which cased some gapping. Rebecca's pink gingham was a fun color choice but the collar wasn't done properly. Raph's flannel looked very 90s to me. Heh, putting the yoke on the bias eliminated the need to pattern match, but that's not what the directions said to do! Missing buttons, raw edges, not enough button holes - oh, Raph. Damien's red and black fabric was classic. His shirt looked pretty good, but when he said he was not going to follow the directions for the collar, I was like AGAIN, DAMIEN? I was cringing as I watched Farie fall farther and farther behind. What she finished did have the pattern matched nicely, but she was nowhere near being finished - no collar, no cuffs, no buttons. No surprise that she came in last place. The transformation challenge seemed like a gimme since scarves are just big pieces of fabric. And this time they were allowed five pieces so they had a lot of freedom. Damien's dress was not transformed enough. He just folded one scarf in half, sewed the edges together, cut out a neck hole, and then inexplicably started adding fake flowers. His insistence on adding trim during all of the transformation challenges makes me really question his taste level. I really liked the striped scarves that Raph chose so I was disappointed with what he ultimately created. Like Damien's it was just too simple. Serena's turquoise creation was kind of a mess. It looked like a little kid wrapped and pinned her mom's scarves to a dress form. Rebecca's was even worse. That pastel plaid skirt did not go with the scrunched up grey top. And that huge purple bow was atrocious. I don't know how that ended up in third. I liked Andrew's rust and chartreuse dress from the waist up, but I wish he had cut the scarf used for the lapels at the waist and just done a skirt. Not cutting that top skirt resulted in a lumpy silhouette. Farie's was by far my favorite. What really wins the transformation challenge in my book is when I can look at the garment and it doesn't look like an upcycled garment. Her dress looked like a regular dress. She made some smart decisions to give it some shape.

Marie and Ed definitely deserved to be in the bottom two because their finished pieces looked like big lumps. If I had seen either of them at the entrance of a museum, I wouldn't have known what the hell they were supposed to be. Ed's volcano was much too boxy, and I thought that he used too much yellow. I could have lived with it more if he'd used a darker or more orangish/golden shade of yellow but the lighter shade he used did not say fire or lava to me. I had to laugh about him using so many flowers because I still remember that he was the one who told Marie she was using too many flowers for a topiary competition in the first episode. Marie's whale needed larger flippers. She also needed to define the whale more. Instead if was just a big blob with two little flippers, which is why it was unrecognizable as a whale. In contrast, Ryan and Meghan definitely deserved to be in the top two because it was obvious what their creations were at a glance. When Ryan first said that he was going to do a funny/whimsical t-rex, I thought are you sure about that? It ended up being a fun creation, but I noticed he covered up the plants that made his dinosaur look like it had udders. Meghan's woolly mammoth wasn't my all time favorite thing, but I appreciated that (1) it looked like what it was supposed to be and (2) she used sisal to create a woolly look so that it didn't just look like an elephant. Gibb was in the middle for me. His sarcophagus was not great. He kept talking about hieroglyphics so I was waiting to see how he would create that effect but I saw nothing of that even when he was telling the judges that he had. Congrats to Meghan for winning! Bon voyage, Ed. I noticed that he didn't shake hands or hug anyone after he was eliminated which made me think he didn't really like anyone and just wanted to get the hell out of there.