Saturday, May 19, 2012

Weekend TV Gossip, Astro-sprinkled.

Several TV shows we've been watching through the winter and spring have been finale-ing this week. I guess we'll soon be relying on our store of used VCR tapes and old DVDs for entertainment.


The Voice has completed its second season. I struggle to remember the winner, even now. Google refreshed an overloaded memorybank: winner was Jermaine Paul, a former background vocalist with Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Joss Stone.

What I remember most about the show is being seriously irritated by the female judge/coach, Christina Aguilera - always trying to claim the audience's attention, either by wearing ridiculously revealing or silly outfits, or by her sometimes antagonistic exchanges with one of the other judges. Christina A's astrology: born 18 December 1980 Sun and 3 planets in Sagittarius, Moon in Taurus, late-Aquarius rising.
Quadruple Sagittarius may be just too much of a good thing! Astrodatabank chart.

The show's confusing format doesn't help. Audience focus is too much on the judge/coaches, too little on the contestants. The band has been far, far too loud (aka bandzilla), drowning out voices - ironic considering the show's title.



Fringe~ The intriguing sci-fi drama series with a premise that an alternative universe exists. Its inhabitants are "doubles" of us all. Our doubles have slightly different life patterns and personalities. Fringe's current season finished on a good note after some really muddled episodes mid-stream.
John Noble deserves an award of some kind for his consistently excellent performances as Walter Bishop, the scientist responsible for much of the 2-universe mayhem, and playing two completely different versions of his character.

John Noble's astrology: born 20 August 1948 in South Australia: Sun conjunct Saturn in Leo with Pluto also in Leo. Mercury in perfectionist Virgo. If born before 10:00 AM his natal Moon would have been in Aquarius (which I suspect), otherwise in Pisces, also appropriate given his talent for roles not only in sci-fi but also fantasy (Pisces stock-in-trade). In the Lord of the Rings trilogy he was Denethor.
Astrotheme chart.



Smash finished its first season on a high note (pun intended). The underdog won, and took the lead in the fictional musical show around which the series is written, Bombshell, about Marilyn Monroe. Bombshell is supposedly heading for Broadway in its planned second season.
Soapy storylines, some good singing and dancing, with plenty of hate between opposing fan brigades for the two potential Marilyns played by Megan Hilty (right) and American Idol alumna Katharine McPhee. I thought the young women were equally good.

Interesting performance from Angelica Houston as the show's producer - shame about her hairstyle though - Cleopatra she ain't! The only vaguely fanciable male was her beau, a bar-owner with mob (ish) connections.

Note of astro interest: Megan Hilty born 29 March 1981 Katharine McPhee born 25 March 1984, two Sun in Aries in a head-to-head to play the part of a Sun Gemini.


The Mentalist reached its season finale Thursday evening. Simon Baker, the show's leading man is easiest on the eye of all current TV leading men, and seems to me to be a really nice guy too. Must be his Aquarius Moon doing it for me! Scriptwriters had him down and a wee bit dirty for the finale - nice to see another side of his abilities. I lurve his always rumpled look in those 3-piece suits. A post about Simon Baker and his natal chart from the archives at this link.




Mad Men plods on through season 5, which is proving to be nowhere near as engaging as seasons 1 to 4 which we watched on DVD. The scriptwriters seem to have misplaced their mojo. Scene is now 1966, perhaps it was a boring year in the USA. 1968, when they get there, should liven things up, but not in a good way!
Previous post on Mad Men with a bit of astrology HERE.


America's Got Talent began its new season, as other shows reached the end of their runs. AGT now takes over The Voice's slot. New judge Howard Stern made it worthwhile tuning in. My husband, who knows more about him than I do, feared Stern would be a dreadful mistake and bad addition to the show, but I suspect he'll change his mind on that score.

Stern is already proving to be preferable to Piers Morgan who sat in the same "bad-cop" seat during previous seasons. I've never heard Stern's radio shows, said to be filled with vulgarity and nastiness, but he's been reined in tight for AGT. He displayed quick wit, humour and an admirable ability to sum things up on the fly, coming up with useful insights, and even showing a rather sappy side - which I'm not sure is entirely genuine, but it's good business!

Stern astrology: Sun + 3 planets in Capricorn, Moon in Taurus, Gemini rising.
Earthy base with his talent for communication coming from a Gemini ascendant and Jupiter in Gemini. Mars and Saturn in Scorpio - source of his darker side?
Astrodatabank chart.

5 comments:

Wisewebwoman said...

Thanks for filling me in on the Teevee Tides and Times which validates yet again why I threw mine out over 20 years ago.
I just buy the DVDs of the best shows (as you know!)and I am regretting somewhat my purchase of Season 4 or 5 of House which is proving to be a yawn. Damn.
I DO love his jazz, though - does Himself?
Xo
WWW

Juno said...

Thanks for your reviews :) I am out of the TV loop for the most part. I agree about this season of MadMen -- very disappointing, indeed, and I LOVED the show before. I just really dislike some of the characters now, and the way they are acting goes against their personality types. Also, there are so many new characters, some of my favorites like Lane and Joan hardly get a mention.

Juno said...

Oh and Fringe looks promising - I will check it out on DVD. Thanks for the tip :)

I agree with you, Wisebewoman -- I don't have cable and just watch what I want on DVD or thru internet streaming. Cable costs too much.

Twilight said...

Wisewebwoman ~~ We need our TV for weather warnings - they keep close track of tornadoes via radar etc, and that alone is worth the expense. So we make what use of the box we can.

I do enjoy TV though - have to admit - always have, but am selective about what I'll watch - especially here in the US.

We didn't watch House after the first few shows of its first season - found it formulaic and neither of us liked the leading character. I dislike any medical/hospital based shows anyway......so the jazz went by us I'm afraid. :-)

Twilight said...

Juno ~~ Yes, Mad Men does seem to have passed its best and become stale, due to the writing rather than the acting though.

Fringe is worth a look - but you'd really need to start from the very first episode to get the background. We watched first season on rented DVDs then continued on TV later.