BuzzSugar

ABC: All Dancing, All the Time?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:35:11 -0800

ABC is rocking the fall ratings thanks to Dancing with the Stars and has a spinoff, Dance War, slated for a January debut. But apparently that's not enough, as the network has just announced another dancing reality series, this one focusing on ordinary people.

The network has ordered five episodes of Dance Machine, which pits average joes against each other in various dance competitions. It's described as "ordinary people, extraordinary circumstances and a whole lot of money on the line," which I think also applies to 95 percent of the reality and game shows out there.

Still, I am curious about this sudden obsession with dance-themed shows. Fox has its So You Think You Can Dance, of course, and Bravo has a dance show of its own in the works. What's going on? And will even the biggest dance fan want to watch some random dude try to tango?

Photo courtesy of ABC

What to TiVo: Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:50:05 -0700

ABC has It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and is new with Dancing With the Stars and The Forgotten
CBS has repeats of NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and The Good Wife
FOX is new with So You Think You Can Dance
NBC is new with The Biggest Loser
The CW has repeats of 90210 and Melrose Place
Bravo is new with Flipping Out
Comedy Central is new with The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report
FX is new with Sons of Anarchy
Spike TV is new with The 2009 Scream Awards
BET has The Hip Hop Awards '09
MTV is new with Michael Jackson This is It Movie Special and The Hills and The City
Late-night highlights include Courteney Cox and Florence and the Machine on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; Ewan McGregor and Tina Fey on The Jay Leno Show on NBC; Garry Shandling and Paula Deen on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; Dr. Oz on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC; and Alicia Silverstone and Salman Rushdie on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS

What to Download: New Music Today

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:30:14 -0700

It's one of my favorite days of the week: Tuesday! Which means I get to add DVDs to my Netflix queue, along with some brand new tunes for my iPod. So check out today's music releases for what you should download. (And if you like to review albums, don't forget to take a peek at the Music Review Group in the community.)

A smooth ride: Sufjan Stevens takes a breather from his states project with BQE, an ode to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. He originally performed the work to accompany a film about the road, but the music stands on its own as a beautiful orchestral arrangement. Warning if you like Stevens's mellow voice: BQE is all instrumental. Still, it proves that he has what it takes as a composer, and I'd like to see him lend his talents to more of this sort of work. My picks: Movement II: Sleeping Invader, which sounds like a ballet dream sequence, and Traffic Shock, which mixes in clashing electronic sounds like a busy gridlock.

Pretty packs a punch: If you haven't heard of Florence and the Machine, get ready. Florence Welch is the latest spunky Brit singer on the scene, and her debut Lungs already went platinum in the UK. Today, it's available to buy stateside. She's the singer I'd want to be if I had my own band - a woman who wails while banging the tambourine - and her album veers between tough-chick anthems and haunting ballads a la Sarah McLachlan. Make sure you try the hand-clapping, feel-good Dog Days Are Over or the romantic Cosmic Love.

See two more releases when you read more.

Freaky fun: If you're a Flight of the Conchords fan - or even if you're not - you'll want to check out I Told You I Was Freaky, a compilation of music from season two (including three previously unreleased tracks). Sure, half the fun is watching the boys act out each song on the show (and Jemaine's wicked dance moves), but when you listen to the music on its own, you realize just how talented they really are. Each selection could qualify for radio-play - or just a ridiculously fun karaoke night. The album includes favorites like Sugarlumps, Hurt Feelings, and the Emmy-nominated Carol Brown.

Lyrical wanderlust: Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie team up on One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Music From Kerouac's Big Sur, an ode to the famous author's work. The two musicians met while working on a documentary about Kerouac and decided to collaborate on this album using words from his novel. It's fitting then that the result feels like a cross-country trip - lazy and laid-back with some twangy country, Americana sound. I'll be adding the title track and California Zephyr to my car playlist.