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BuzzSugar's Must Haves for May

BuzzSugar — Fri, 01 May 2009 05:30:23 -0700

May is one of the entertainment year's blockbuster months: Big movies swoop into theaters again, TV shows have their season finales, record labels start delivering albums that will be our Summer soundtrack, and networks start getting us excited for the shows that will fill the TV schedule come Fall. So with that in mind, I tried to pick some gems for this month's Must Haves list that could easily get lost in the shuffle without a little extra attention.

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Lipstick Jungle Could Get the "Friday Night Lights Treatment"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:30:21 -0800

Last year, NBC saved one beloved but low-rated show - Friday Night Lights - by striking an innovative deal with DirecTV. Now, they're interested in doing it with another show: Lipstick Jungle.

The series doesn't have the critical love that FNL gets, but it does have a passionate fan base, and NBC said it's looking into a similar arrangement to keep the show going. At a conference on Tuesday, NBC's Ben Silverman said:

We have some incredible channels in our portfolio and we have sister networks that love the show as well. We are analyzing what we need to do to keep that show on the air.

In terms of those "sister networks," Oxygen, Bravo, and USA are all part of the NBC family, and I could imagine the show being a good fit on one of them. I also wonder if Lifetime would be interested if none of the NBC channels want the show. What do you think? Would you follow Lipstick to another channel? And which do you think would be the best home for the show?

Photo courtesy of NBC

Lipstick Jungle Rundown: Episode 13, "La Vie en Pose"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:30:06 -0800

Aw, you guys! I was doing OK with the (probably) final episode of Lipstick Jungle - until they went and hit me with a montage! Seeing the ladies in all their stages of friendship (happily toasting and tearfully consoling each other) made me realize just how much I'll miss this show.

But if it's gone, it went out with an episode that answered many of the questions I've had: Will Joe and Victory actually get married? Is Shane gone for good? To talk about it, just read more.

First of all, Victory's parents are adorable. And very Midwestern. And not used to Joe at all. At the same time, Joe isn't used to people being put off by his grand gestures. So he just keeps trying to wine and dine them with private visits to museums ("they're burning all these lights just for us?") and fancy dinners (but Victory's mom would rather eat her leftovers from the plane).
So it's all pretty much a disaster, to the point that Victory's dad won't give a toast at the engagement party and Joe suggests maybe just not getting married at all.
Nico, meanwhile, apparently spent New Year's Eve with Griffin - and, in typical Griffin fashion, he immediately wants her to sign a letter saying they have a relationship outside the office. I know he's a by-the-books guy, but that still seems a little sudden.
Shane's gone, and it seems to have made things better between him and Wendy. Maddie isn't seeing that, however, and so she acts out big time - even sneaking out to see that college guy she met at Victory's urging. Hee! Love Maddie.

This week's silly work plotline (Wendy wants the rights to a story, but Parador wants them too, and Griffin assumes Nico tipped Wendy off) mostly just serves as a way to get Nico over to Wendy's for one of the most honest conversations I've heard in the whole series: She admits she's been in free fall since Charles died.
It cracks me up that Dahlia and Sal are still together. I imagine the two just going around and stirring up trouble all over town.
The trouble she stirs up for Nico is that appearance on the Today show where the hosts just want to talk about her cougar tendencies. But Nico handles it with grace and says some sweet things about Kirby, including that the age gap that was supposed to divide them "gave us room to breathe." I loved the reaction shots of Griffin and Kirby both watching.
I did not, however, love Griffin's actual reaction. I mean, of course Nico could talk openly about Kirby - she'd had months to process the rise and fall of that relationship! She's been with Griffin what, a week?
Nothing like a toast to make me teary even before the montage.
Drunk Maddie's back! And she's mad because Wendy isn't being honest with her about splitting up with Shane. Except Wendy's totally not splitting up with Shane, a fact Maddie can only realize after puking into a trash can and then talking to her dad.
The second Victory told Wendy that Joe was in financial trouble, I knew that would come back to haunt her, and sure enough, Joe's silently livid and tells Victory some things have to be just between them.
But then! He tells Victory's mom to see if their hometown church can host their wedding!
Then Kirby shows up at Nico's, and he wants her, and they're maybe going to kiss, until Nico's cell phone rings - and it's Griffin. But she doesn't answer, either; we're just left with that moment.
And then: montage!

So, that's (most likely) it. Are you happy with the way things wrapped up? Which guy do you think Nico chooses? And which of the series' greatest moments did you wish had been in the montage?

Photos courtesy of NBC

TV Tonight: Lipstick Jungle's Finale (Forever?)

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:00:29 -0800

NBC is still billing tonight's episode of Lipstick Jungle as a season - not series - finale, but it's hard to tell how much hope there actually is for the show to return. The buzz has been that the show could return if ratings picked up - but with just 4.2 million viewers watching the most recent episode, will that be enough?

So while I'm trying to maintain hope going into tonight's finale, I'm going to approach it like it's the last chance I might have to hang out with Wendy, Victory, and Nico. I'd love to get some resolution, some kind of closure, but from NBC's episode description, it sounds like, well, just another Lipstick episode: Wendy has trouble controlling Maddie with Shane away, Victory tries to broker peace between Joe and his parents, and Nico goes on the Today Show. Still, "just another Lipstick episode" is more than I might have soon - so I'm hoping it's a good one.

Meanwhile, if you missed last week's episode (being that it aired on the second day of the new year, it wouldn't be surprising if you did!), you can watch Victory and Joe's big moment if you read more.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Lipstick Jungle Rundown: Episode 12, "Lovers' Leaps"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:30:23 -0800

On this week's ~~ad for Natasha Bedingfield's music~~ next-to-last episode of Lipstick Jungle, many of our characters go out on a limb for love - and none more so than Victory, who spends most of her time cooking up the perfect proposal for Joe. Wendy, meanwhile, drags Shane into counseling to talk about his desire to go on tour-slash-flee from his family, and Nico gets smooched in an elevator! Lots of stuff here with only one episode to go, so to talk about it, just read more.

First of all: Joe owns Victory's heart! Aw! While there's a part of me who just thinks he treats her like crap all the time and doesn't deserve to own her heart (case in point: stranding her alone with a bottle of champagne and the special proposal suit on a Friday night), I've started to find their love affair kind of sweet.
And proposing with a "Will You Marry Me" suit is totally adorable - and so much better than the Times Square jumbotron and whatever else she considered.
It's also interesting to see Joe so down on his luck and down on himself as a result. His whole identity is wrapped up in being Joe Bennett, Super Billionaire. But Victory just cares about the cupcake, and I think Joe finally realizes that.
Also, does anyone else think Victory's assistant would be best friends with Kenneth from 30 Rock? I cracked up at his handkerchief comment: "That's vulgar. I always keep it in my outside pocket, especially during flu season."

Meanwhile, Shane's still sneaking around and kind-of-maybe making plans to go on tour with Natasha Bedingfield. So of course Wendy finds out, flips because he kept it a secret, and drags him into an extremely ineffective marriage counseling session. Man, I've never seen two people who needed more to just sit down and talk to each other like adults.
Which they finally do! Hallelujah! After some false starts (including Wendy suggesting the whole family go out on tour, which Shane is almost stupidly resistant to), she realizes she should let him go. While I still think Shane was being a jerk for a few weeks and I really didn't want him to win this one, it's pretty clear their marriage will be better for it - as evidenced by that scene with the two of them in bed setting "ground rules."
Nico's whole plotline with the young firecracker of a web producer feels kind of silly, but it gets us to the real point: Griffin gets what he wants, and what he wants is to make out with Nico in an elevator!
He also wants to protect her, though, and that's an interesting position for Nico, who - if nothing else - does not believe she needs to be taken care of.
Which makes it all the more interesting when Kirby shows up and asks Nico to go to Aspen with him. As friends. Yeah, I bet they'll be "just friends" once they lay eyes on their romantic cabin in the snow.

So: One week to go! Will Nico choose Griffin or Kirby? Will Joe Bennett still find some way to ruin Victory's proposal? Will we ever get to see Shane in that ridiculous rockstar jacket? I guess it won't be long now till we know. NBC is billing the next episode as a "season finale" but in the event that Lipstick does go off the air for good, how do you hope it ends?

Photos courtesy of NBC

TV Tonight: Lipstick Jungle

BuzzSugar — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:30:35 -0800

Hey, Lipstick Jungle fans, I hope your New Year's celebrations are all over - or that you've got ample TiVo space - because the show returns tonight with the first of what could be its final two episodes.

When we last saw our ladies, things were all kind of tense in Wendy's marriage, with Shane about to take off on tour with Natasha Bedingfield. Meanwhile, Victory was going to propose to Joe, and Nico and Griffin were getting flirty. They were the kind of stories that made me wish we would still have a whole season to watch what happened, so I'm curious to see what the writers can pull off in just two hours.

This episode is called "Lover's Leaps," and according to NBC, Victory will be trying to use her artistic skills to whip up the perfect proposal, while Nico and Griffin are drawn even closer at work. Oh, and from the looks of this preview, there's some kissing in an elevator. To check out a quick preview, just read more.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Lipstick Jungle Rundown: Episode 11, "Indecent Exposure"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:32:27 -0800

This week's episode of Lipstick Jungle really made me sad that things aren't looking good for the show's future. It wasn't that the episode was so good on its own, necessarily - it just set into motion a lot of interesting stories, like Nico's maternal impulses and Wendy's faltering marriage, that I'm not sure we'll get to see through to the end. Ready to talk about it? Just read more.

First of all - this started bugging me last week, but when did Shane become so evil? Did I, like Wendy, just like him better when he was the slightly subservient househusband? He's being such a jerk these days! I get that he thinks it's time to focus on his career for a change, and I understand why he'd be a little surprised at not getting support from Wendy considering she's the one who pushed him to work. But still, read your son a bedtime story, OK?
Also, even though the writers don't seem to know what to do with characters in stable relationships, I think I liked it better when at least one marriage on the show was relatively happy.
And really - going on tour for months on end with Natasha Bedingfield and your teenage-ish manager who's kind of in love with you, without asking your wife? Who does that? Though Maddie's reaction is pretty fantastic: "Oh my gosh, she opened for Justin Timberlake. Do I get to meet him?"
Anyway, Nico's forging ahead with her motherhood plan, enlisting Wendy to help teach her how to give herself injections ("if you'd feel more comfortable, there's a cat hospital down the block") and feeling kind of miserable as the hormones make her hot and shaky. I was initially surprised Nico was going the baby route so quickly, but this story makes sense to me. She doesn't know what she wants, so she's just trying to keep her options open.

Despite the fact that we've hardly seen her design clothing, Victory is apparently branching out into home furnishings and pitches an ad with a naked woman lounging in some sheets. Great - except the woman is supposed to be Victory. She freaks out a little, first taking the moral stance ("why would I objectify myself just to sell bed linens?") and then the "I just . . . don't like nudity" stance. I love her friends pointing out all her nudity hangups, including that she never showers at the gym and wears a bathing suit in the sauna.
Maybe my favorite scene is Roy walking in on Victory as she's tentatively disrobing in the store and immediately babbling "I didn't see anything! Honestly!" He's adorable.
But this whole experience makes Victory think she needs to be bolder, so she hires Kirby for the photo shoot, has a drink, fumbles around with a cigarette, and eventually discovers that nudity is liberating.
So liberating that she shows up at Joe's place dressed like Audrey Hepburn! And makes martinis! And tells him she would have married him! And totally sleeps with him on his sheets made of clouds!
Meanwhile, Nico passes out in the office and Griffin takes her home, where he's surprisingly, adorably sweet. For all his cutthroat nonsense, he can be a pretty understanding person, and he tells Nico not to make the mistakes he did and commit only to work.
And Wendy tells Shane she'd like to see a marriage counselor, and he's all "yeah, sure" and then tells Josie he'll do the tour. Whatever, jerkface.

Do you think Victory will really propose to Joe? Can anyone help me see Shane's side of all this? And are Nico and Griffin getting all flirty? What did you think?

Photos courtesy of NBC

Lipstick Jungle Rundown: Episode 10, "Bye, Bye Baby"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:44:28 -0800

On this week's Lipstick Jungle, Nico is loving her taste of motherhood, but Kirby is less convinced that he wants to be in a permanent state of child-rearing. Meanwhile, Victory has some tender moments with Maddie, and Shane keeps pressuring Wendy to consider having another kid. To chat about it, just read more.

So Nico is really loving her taste of motherhood ("I've never felt so necessary") and starts looking into what it would take to adopt Charlie permanently. But there are a couple of road blocks in the way: first, Kirby's less-than-thrilled response to being a temporary daddy, and second, the fact that Megan or her parents are way above Nico on the list of people with rights to Charlie, even though he was - as Nico points out - conceived during her marriage.
Also: Nico had a miscarriage, around the same time Wendy was pregnant with Taylor. So sad - and maybe sadder that she convinced herself to feel relieved afterwards because she knew Charles didn't want a baby with her. I'm surprised that she never told Wendy or Victory, but she's right: They probably would have made a big deal out of it, and (as we saw earlier this season with her secret family drama), Nico's probably the most private of the three.
So did I totally miss the part where Maddie goes to work for Victory? Cause I swear, the first I heard of it is when Maddie's suddenly assisting in the shop and flirting with the delivery boy.
But about that: I do think it's very sweet that Victory wants to help Maddie with her self-esteem, especially because a) she's adorable, and b) she does have quite an intense and gorgeous mother to contend with. But I'm kind of on Wendy's side here: Does helping a 15-year-old to make out with a college student (even if he is a freshman) have to be the way to do it? Man, I feel so old right now!

What was going on with Nico's boobs in this outfit?
Wendy's non-Maddie-related subplot seems like kind of an odd tangent (why do they keep introducing new characters for Wendy to clash with at work?), but I did crack up at the Pepper Gleason/"Hannah Banana" references - and at the shoplifting setup.
Also, I don't remember the copy shop girl looking so much like Claire Danes before.
It's also a good chance for Shane to nudge Wendy more about having more children, pointing out that she could just take Steven's money, not work on the movie, and maybe raise another kid in the process. Wendy's not buying it so far, though, saying she doesn't want to be "a stay-at-home anything."
Actually, I thought Shane was kind of a jerk all through this episode. Anyone else?
I physically cringed when Kirby referred to Charlie as "a favor" - even though, you know, he is. I think that's when I knew Nico and Kirby were done.
So sad to watch Megan's parents take Charlie away, while he's screaming and crying the whole time.
I really liked the "secret room" reveal of Kirby's message to Nico: He's not happy anymore. They have a big talk right after, and that's when they decide to split. It's sad, but they're just at such different places in their lives. I'm not convinced they won't be back together before the series ends, though.
And finally, I love Wendy's advice to Maddie: "Sweetheart, I promise you - you don't want to be the kind of person who peaks in the ninth grade."

Do you think Kirby and Nico are really through? And are you more annoyed with Shane or with Wendy? What will happen now with just three episodes to go?

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Buzz Gift Guide: Best of 2008 For Gals

BuzzSugar — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:30:45 -0800

Welcome back to my Buzz Gift Guide series for all the entertainment lovers in your life. Yesterday I sifted through the stacks (er, Web pages) of music, DVDs, and books to find some of the best 2008 has to offer dudes. Today I will share with you some 2008 entertainment gift ideas for the ladies.

It's no secret how much I love Jenny Lewis and I will be spreading the gospel this year by handing out her newest album Acid Tongue to my girlfriends (or at least including her songs on the mix CDs I'll make this holiday season). I'll also be giving out Aimee Mann's newest album, as I think it's pretty awesome.

It was a good year for books: I read both The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum and Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner and would definitely recommend them. In the movies department, might I suggest the hilarious Baby Mama or Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day on DVD?

Since I watch more TV than most people I know, I use the holidays to not-so-subtly suggest to friends what I know they would love, like 30 Rock or Greek. And many of my friends have grown to love Lipstick Jungle, so it would be a treat for them to receive the show's first season on DVD.

A couple more ideas below, so have fun scrolling on through.

Check out HolidaySugar for all of our holiday coverage and gift guides.

Lipstick Jungle Rundown: Episode Nine, "Thanksgiving"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:30:53 -0800

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, the ladies of Lipstick Jungle whipped up their own feast on Friday night. Of course, like all family gatherings on TV, it was something of a disaster, with dead dogs, sobbing babies, and a wedding dress interfering with the calm Thanksgiving Wendy had planned. Want to chat about it? Just read more.

Ha, of course Wendy would be the one hosting the big Thanksgiving dinner. And, in an effort to be "greener," it's a locavore meal, where all ingredients must come from within 100 miles of NYC. Nice nod to NBC's green efforts there, but it was mostly funny as an avenue for the other characters to make disparaging jokes about it.
The first person making things harder for Wendy is her mom, who's back to make nasty comments about everything. I know a lot of you weren't thrilled with Mary Tyler Moore's first appearance on the show, but I could definitely see how someone like Wendy could be formed from her parenting style.
Meanwhile, Nico's holiday takes an unexpected turn when Megan shows up asking her to take Charlie for the day, which leads to one of my very favorite moments of the entire episode: Kirby's baby-calming dance:
Victory's planning to boycott Thanksgiving, so she's actually pretty excited when a man comes to her door (via Dahlia) looking for Victory to design a wedding dress for his wife-to-be. The story goes a little off the rails when the woman isn't a size two. There's a little dancing around the fact that the woman is plus-size and a lot of weird self-esteem-y comments. The whole thing just made me feel uncomfortable.
I actually think I would have been happier had it been evil Dahlia setting Victory up to fail - but apparently evil Dahlia is no more, thanks to some anger management classes at City College.
Also: The plus-size wedding dress Victory ends up designing? Ug-ly. I don't care how hard they worked to get that woman to believe in her inner beauty; the dress was fug.

In another strange plotline, Josie calls Shane in tears because her dog is dying. I thought this was a setup to lure him over to her apartment - and that works, I guess - but there also really is a dead dog. So Shane's stuck calling animal control while Josie watches football and takes off her clothing.
Then Shane misses most of Wendy's Thanksgiving because they get caught burying the dog in the park. Yeeah.
But back to storylines that make sense: Megan doesn't come back for Charlie and tells Nico she can't possibly raise this child. It's a little late for that kind of decision, really, but Nico starts to see the bright side: She's starting to feel a real connection with the baby. Kirby, on the other hand, thinks it was fun playing mommy and daddy - but only because they were playing.
Also, Maddie dreamily throwing herself at Kirby throughout Thanksgiving is just awesome.
Eventually, the life-changing duo of Dahlia and Victory show up at Wendy's, where they pour out Dahlia's coquitos and Dahlia flirts with Sal.
And! In the final minutes, Shane tells Wendy he wants to have another kid, which leaves her shell-shocked.

So! Nico might have a baby. Wendy also might have a baby. We've got two weeks now to contemplate what's going to happen to the ladies, so tell me: Where do you want the story to go next?

Photos courtesy of NBC

The Opposite of Love: Julie Buxbaum ($16.50)	Break Up the Concrete: The Pretenders ($11.99)
Acid Tongue: Jenny Lewis ($12.49)	Certain Girls: A Novel: Jennifer Weiner ($17.79)
@#%&*! Smilers: Aimee Mann ($13.99)	Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day ($12.99)
Baby Mama ($17.99)	Greek - Chapter One ($19.99)
30 Rock: Season 2 ($25.99)	Lipstick Jungle - Season One ($24.99)