Jasmine D's Blog

No, I haven't watched this week's episode of "The Hills" yet, so no spoilers! I'll watch/recap tonight. In the meantime, you can amuse yourself with:

• Heidi released an 80's-tastic video for her latest single, "Overdosin'". Why is this video 10 minutes long when the song itself is only about three minutes long? Was it supposed to look this low budget? [Socialite Life]
• Apparently, last night's ep featured a working dinner for People's Revolution at Sofitel LA. You know that means Whitney! Woot! I bet Kelly was super bitchy to somebody at the meal. Was it Whitney, or another hapless lackey? [HotelChatter]
• We found out how much cast members of "The Hills" make. Lauren leads the list at $75k per episode, while Heidi and Spencer each bring in $65k (I guess that Hermess Kelly bag we saw last week wasn't a fake).
  

Yes, she actually said this:

There were rumors about a sex tape, but I had nothing to do with that. God knows the truth in all of this, and at the end of the day, that is the only thing that matters. Jesus was persecuted, and I'm going to get persecuted, ya know?

Sigh. Season 4 of The Hills premieres tonight. My recap will be up some time Tuesday evening. Until it goes up, catch up here. Sheesh.

What a friend we have in Heidi [Chicago Sun-Times]

While we wait with bated breath for the series start of "The Cho Show" on Thursday night, I though I'd share some links to videos, interviews, and other press. Of course, all of this is about Margaret, though I personally would love to find interviews with her parents.

Note: I'll be updating this post during the week up to the Thursday premiere. Happy reading.

Interviews:

• "Margaret Cho: Reality strikes" [Punchline]
• "Know Your Cho" [Radar]
• Q&A: Margaret Cho [Metromix]

Reviews:

• 'The Cho Show': Don't go there [Trib]
• Television Review - The Cho Show - "A Comic Seeks Herself and Finds A New Audience" [NYT]
• TV review: "The Cho Show" [LA Times]
•  'Cho Show' has more yuck than yuks [Boston Herald]
• Critic's TV pick: "The Cho Show" [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Videos:

Just watched the first two episodes of 'Skins', 'Tony' and 'Cassie' on BBC America. Utterly fantastic. It's like if 'Degrassi' and 'Hex' (without the magical demony stuff) had a baby and that baby took pills, smoked incessantly, and had sex. Eek. Imagery-wise, I'm going to a bad place so I'm gonna stop

In a nutshell, 'Skins' is about a group of young British people who do things we all do but don't often see depicted on American tv without horrific consequences. People drink, drug, and f*ck without nobody driving a car into a tree, overdosing, or contracting an STD. Which is not to say that doesn't happen in real life, obvs, but on tv we usually see people punished for that kind of indulgences. Okay, maybe Michelle is going to get her ass kicked by her mom and Malcolm, and Tony did really drive a car into the harbor. But hey -- that shit will make for some awesome stories.

I'll resist making comparisons to 'Gossip Girl', though that would be the obvious thing to do. I think it's missing the schmaltz of 'Gossip Girl', substituting real emotional depth. I mean, Cassie had me getting a little teary-eyed. And I think she made the right choice calling Alan, who may be the bestest taxi driver ever. Him, and the guy who drove the mambo taxi in "Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown."

Okay, so I kinda bailed on recapping "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" but to make up for it I'll be recapping VH1's "The Cho Show" starting Thursday August 21. If you've been paying attention, you're no doubt aware that the first ep will actually preview on Monday night. Check your local listings for the exact time in your time zone, and be sure to watch watch watch!