Episode #8 Review:
(Original Airdate: January 26, 2012)
SPOILERS

It’s hard enough to play favorite Jokers, let alone choose favorite episodes, but something tells me this last episode of Impractical Jokers could be one of the best thus far. Whether you’re a member of Team Joe, Team Murray, Team Q or Team Sal, there was something unforgettable for us all. (Confession: I’m pretty sure I’m a member of every team.)

If you’ve watched the show, you’ll understand that a written review can only go so far with this show. You really just have to watch the episode. But, still, we shall try to provide some highlights for those who missed it and have yet to catch it On Demand.

The first challenge involved a bakery – so right there, we knew it’d be a good one. Behind the counter, the Jokers had to do as they were told which meant everything from Q covering his face in powdered sugar to Sal become the resident tart whisperer.

But the next challenge seemed to showcase what we love best about each Joker when they each had to facilitate a focus group and ask every question written for them. There was Murray who was trying so hard not to laugh at the situation and the questions that he ended up speed reading them, Joe proving himself the master of keeping a straight face – something only he could manage while discussing “Ray-Ray’s needs,” Q who began to finally show cracks in his seemingly undefeatable armor when we actual failed the challenge (in a suit and all!) and Sal who was just being Sal… which, of course, means he lost, too, due to his tendency to be embarrassed.

In the third challenge, Murray displayed his own talent for whispering… in a man’s ear, Q once again showed off his massage skills, Sal had an incident in the back that brought his germaphobia to the forefront and Joe kept on the perpetual hunt for Larry! We’ll find you one day, Larry!

The fourth challenge seemed the most difficult in that these four funny-men would have to lead a work-out class and not have anyone walk out on them. Some of them did teach us a few new moves like this thing called blinking (thanks, Sal!) and Joe’s knee twisting Frankenbeans, but for Q, he ended up watching his students and mimicking them. But poor James got the worst of it with his class full of broadway dancers.

Going into this episode, I thought it would go one of two ways: either Q would finally get his come-uppance and lose the whole thing or the show would break where it started – with Sal losing big. Let’s just say it was a close call on which prediction would win out!

But it was Q that was the ultimate loser – failing every single challenge! We have to admit, though, it was nice to see him sweat and laugh at what he had gotten himself into. We love Q, but we’ve been waiting for this losing moment.

With Joe, Murray and Sal being no stranger to the loser’s challenge, it’s no surprise they come up with something as inventive and embarrassing as they did for Q, who had to present his collection of photographs to a crowd at an upscale art gallery. As Sal would say, “Yikers!”

Q’s collection, “Me, Myself and I (My Journey to Self-Discovery),” included pictures he had never seen before, like photoshopped pictures of him stepping on Chinese children and more. He laughed at every picture reveal… and so did we. In fact, the other Jokers were laughing so hard they weren’t making any noise! Clearly they were excited at the fact that Q lost, too.

Overall, this episode was filled with the non-stop laughter we have grown to love and expect from this fantastic new series over the past month. What did you think? Who’s team are you on? Did you have a favorite moment?

This episode was, unfortunately, the last one before a mini-break of Thursday night repeats, but with new episodes returning February 16, we can’t help but love the Jokers even more for going on the shortest TV break possible.

With the help of reruns of the first 8 episodes and next week’s “Best Of” episode, where the Jokers will pick their favorite moments and provide priceless commentary, the time will fly almost as quickly as that baked good flew out of Sal’s hands tonight in the bakery.

(And if you haven’t gotten the chance to watch all the episodes, this short break is the perfect time for you to catch up! It’s worth going back for, we promise!)

New Episodes of Impractical Jokers Return
Thursday, February 16 at 10 PM on truTV.

American Idol auditions #5 took place in Galveston, TX. We were reminded that this was Idol’s 9th visit to Texas in 11 seasons, and where Kelly Clarkson was discovered.

Things are bigger and better in Texas, and the viewers were treated to more fails than we’ve seen thus far.

Leading off the night was Phong Vu, 25, who became quite verklempt at the idea of even auditioning. He said he likes to sing female vocalists’ music. I suspect that somewhere dogs were howling at his performance. Steven kindly told him that he had passion, but no voice. Next!

Cameron Dobbins, 22 and Lamounte Hall, 18 were trotted out, followed by 2 unnamed contestants. This is what we’ve been missing!

Skylar Laine, 17, will be one to watch! The deer-huntin’ teenager had a nice country twang, and her 19-yr old friend got a hug from Steven. Nice back story on the family business, too.

Baylie Brown, 21, auditioned in San Antonio 5 years ago, and made it to Hollywood, but was sent home after she forgot the lyrics during group week. She has obviously developed her talent since then, displaying a beautiful, clear voice.

Kristin Osolio, 28, won over the judges with her natural voice. This soon-to-be single mother of 3 used her divorce lawyer money to buy her plane ticket to the audition.

Then: DRAMA! Jennifer vs The Boys! Rack ‘em up, knock ‘em down. J-Lo said yes to Rachael Turner, 20, and Reagan Wilson, 21, and Cheyenne James, 17…and the guys nixed all 3 of them. Linda Williams, 24, got a resounding “no” from Ms. Lopez, but Randy and Steven put her through, maybe because she was ” ’bout to pee [her]self.”  Says Lopez, “They are sending the good singers home and letting the bad singers through.” That’s OK, Hollywood week sorts these things out!

The judges were unified once more when they saw and heard the audition of Alejandro Cazares, 26. He stated that the Revolution is here, and he is the Revolution! He also shared that his supposed girlfriend wouldn’t support him in his desire to audition. Smart woman! He was TERRIBLE! We got to see the classic Idol begging to stay, complete with Randy saying “Never”, and security escorting him out. Ahhhh. Finally, an end to the “too nice” auditions!

Cortez Shaw, 20, performed an Adele song that was recognizable to the judges (apparently a first!). His mom is a single parent and they were homeless at times, but he believes in hard work, determination and passion to achieve your dream. Nice voice, too!

Julie Schuman, 28, wore leather pants that were as loud as her screechy voice, and her gyrations inspired Steven to comment that “I’ll bet you are crazy in – on the dance floor.” Vanessa Hernandez, 18, lost the melody to her song, and Erin “Nire” Kettl, 19, inspired tears from the judges. Tears of laughter, that is.

Ramiro Garcia, 28, said he “wasn’t born normal.” He was born without ears, and only after surgery to create ear canals was it discovered that he had an ear drum. Doctors predicted that he would never speak or hear, but Tyler said that he was a “powerful example and you can sing.” Lopez said they were taking a leap of faith with him that day.

54 golden tickets were awarded, and Ryan was punched in the eye by an overly-enthusiastic supporter of one of the ticket holders. Ah, Texas!

by Paulette Cohn

What makes The Pregnancy Project such compelling TV is the fact that it is based on the real-life story of a 17-year-old high school student who took a stand on something she felt was important: Life doesn’t have to end for teen girls who become pregnant.

“What we want to get out there with this film is that being a teen mom is a really difficult path to be on but if it is something you have gotten yourself into, it is not the end of the road for you,” says Alexa Vega, who is pictured here with the real-life Gaby Rodriguez. “You can still accomplish your goals. You are just going to have to work harder than everybody else.”

The story begins when Gaby decides that her senior project will be on stereotyping, which she decides to experience firsthand by pretending to be pregnant. Only her mother Juana (Judy Reyes), her boyfriend Jorge (Walter Perez), her principal and a few close friends and teachers knew the truth.

While her fake baby bump continues to grow over the next six-and-a-half months, Gaby carefully records how she is treated and what is being said about her — for better and for worse — both in and out of school.

When the school holds an assembly for Gaby to reveal her pregnancy was fake, she not only got the message out to her fellow high school students, but the story was picked up by the media. And now, it has become a Lifetime Television movie, as well as a book.

In this interview, the “Spy Kids” star addresses the reasons why the film was made, why it is an important message and how it made her think about when she wants to have kids.

Did you know the story before getting the script?

I didn’t realize this was a true story. My mom had heard it all over the news when it happened, so I started researching who Gaby Rodriguez was and what her story was. I got a little bit of an idea from watching her in interviews. It is truly amazing what she has gone through. She is such a bright, smart, articulate young woman and for her to come up with this well-thought-out plan at just 17 years old — and to convince her mother and go through something as stressful and emotional as this [is remarkable]. And to convince your principal and your teachers, you have to have a really strong message that you want to send and I think she sent it.

How did you prepare for the role? Did you go to any parenting classes?

I am the oldest of six kids. My mom was a young mother, so I spent a lot of time with mommy duties. I also spent a lot of time talking really directly with our director and producers to make sure I portrayed this exactly as they wanted it because we are telling somebody else’s story here.

I was able to talk to Gaby and during the filming of the actual assembly when she tells them she is not pregnant to me that was the biggest day and Gaby was there with me all day long. I asked her, “Right before you went in exactly what were you thinking,” and “Was your heart racing?” I was able to get all these inside tips that helped me dive into it a little bit further and was so helpful.

During the process of this, you had to wear the baby bump. Did that make it feel real to you? How did it change your outlook on becoming a mother?

I feel that no matter how much you try to prepare yourself, you are entering a world you can’t really know until you experience it. Just wearing that belly and walking around, I started wobbling and touching it a lot. Strange kind of mommy instincts kicked in. It was so weird, but it really put me into the reality of the situation. Even though I am happily married, we want to wait a little longer and still do growing of our own before we have children.

Everything we do changes us. How did this experience change you?

Coming into it — and we all do it — even if we say we don’t — we all have a tendency to judge people. Even with all the teen mom shows out there, nothing is really showing the reality of the situation. They are kind of glorifying it and cheapening what being a teen mom really is. The reason that Gaby did this experiment is she wanted to prove that not everybody has to be a statistic. Just because you are in this situation doesn’t mean you have to drop out of high school or you won’t be able to get a good job. You just have to work harder. Also, it just doesn’t affect you. It affects your family and your friends. You have to know that there is going to be a lot of responsibility that comes with being a mother at such a young age.

Having met Gaby, can you give us an update on how her life is now?

Gaby is doing great. She is going to college, studying like crazy. It has been a whirlwind experience for both her and Jorge because they have been promoting her book and flying all over the place while lugging her heavy psychology books. She has been studying in between interviews. She is a young, very determined girl. When you speak to her, you are really flabbergasted that she is only 18 years old.

What do you admire most about her?

She wasn’t afraid to go for something that she believed in. I can’t imagine living that kind of life day in and day out for six and a half months and being able to keep that secret when things got really frustrating, or when that emotional roller coaster really started to take its toll on her. That would have been the time she could have said, “Why am I doing this? It is fake. I don’t need to put myself through this.” But she saw that it was a bigger issue than just her. She put her self-interest aside and said, “I am doing this to show young girls that this is possible. I am doing this to show my family that life wouldn’t be over.” She really jumped into that world. She went to pregnancy classes with Jorge. She did all of the things that a young pregnant girl would do. She handled herself very well. In order to convince her principal and others, she came up with this very large essay of why she wanted to do this and why she felt it was important in this day and age. When that was presented, the principal and the few teachers who knew about the situation felt as though, “It doesn’t make sense to not let her do this social experiment because it was so well thought out.”

The Pregnancy Project premieres on Lifetime Television on Saturday, January 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Want to explore more? Check out Paulette’s blog, The Hollywood Know!

We hope you’ve started to collect a couple boxes of tissues already in preparation for tomorrow night’s series finale of Chuck.

It’s been an incredible five seasons for the show and it will be hard to let go, that’s for sure. But to help you come to terms with saying goodbye, we have some special clips to share with you of Zachary Levi, Josh Gomez and Yvonne Stahovski looking back on their time spent on the series.

You may want to grab a few tissues to watch these, too, but we promise the sweetness and sincerity of these memories they recount and goodbyes they give will make you smile and think of all that you love about Chuck, too.

The 2-hour series finale of Chuck airs Friday, January 27 at 8 PM on NBC.

American Idol auditions headed to Aspen, CO, and the viewers were treated to spectacular scenery shots. If you’re tuning in to see some spectacular fails, however, this episode only provided a very few. Could this be a reason that ratings are down this season?

First up was Jenni Shick, 24, who described herself as being “overly energetic.” She also caught Steven Tyler’s eye, which was a good thing, since he’s on her short list of people she’d like to kiss . (Two others are Adam Levine and Lady Gaga). Randy described her as “kinda wild, crazy, anything could happen,” while Steven laid one on her and admitted that he was “gonna get in trouble for that.”

Curtis Gray, 28, impressed Jennifer Lopez, who said that he was “good looking and sings great”, while Tyler proclaimed him to be a “major talent.” Richie Law, 19, with his deep, country voice and Devan Jones, 26, with his nice falsetto also won golden tickets to Hollywood. Mathanee Trego, 25 showed a nice vocal range.

Yawn. America wants to see someone crash and burn!

Enter Tealana Hedgespeth, 19. She is a twin, and thinks her sister is more talented. She is also tired of living in her sister’s shadow. Her singing inspired J-Lo to say to Steven, “If you ask her for another song, I’m gonna kill you,” and for Steven to ask Tealana “Have you ever recorded your voice and listened back?” I hope her sister (who did NOT audition) is more talented.

Haley Smith, 18, brought her 60′s-70′s vibe. This vegetarian meat packer lives in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere, and put her own spin on a Chaka Khan/Rufus song. Tyler said he was “honored to be here listening to [her] voice,” while Randy called her “a real flower child, doing her own thing.”

Alanna Snare, 22, will be remembered more for working at a bar that is famous for selling Rocky Mountain Oysters (look it up if you’re unfamiliar), rather than her singing. Back to the bar, Alanna.

Aspen brought us our hard-luck story in the form of Shelby Tweten, 17. She has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and has suffered depression since the 4th grade. Auditioning for Idol has given her focus and a reason to stay on her meds. Her audition brought tears to J-Lo’s eyes, and Randy said she was “fearless as a singer”. This young woman from “Minnesnowda” has huge potential according to the judges.

Enter snippets of unidentified hopefuls and their not-so-epic fails.

Jairon Jackson, 19,  charmed Lopez with his original piece. “He’s a lover”, you know.

Angie Zeiderman, 25, brought in the crazy…in a good way. Her ambition is to open for and be best friends with Lady Gaga. She did a show tune, much to Randy’s chagrin…he apparently vehemently dislikes the genre. J-Lo just wanted to shut up his rant, so Angie sang Blue Bayou, which completely turned Randy around.

The evening ended with weird, in the form of Magic Cyclops, age unknown, the faux British-accented “contestant” from Davenport , Iowa. Maybe he can live off of his 11,000 air guitars. His performance inspired Randy to excuse himself to use the restroom.

In all, Aspen generated 31 golden tickets. Something tells me Hollywood week is going to be brutal. Please. Something has to break up all this “nice”!

It’s no secret that Hot in Cleveland has an incredible cast of talented women including Wendie Malick, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and the legendary Betty White! But they also happen to snag some pretty fantastic guest stars, too.

Tonight, we’ll be getting one of the best line-ups an episode of Hot in Cleveland has ever offered us when Joe Jonas and Jennifer Love Hewitt reprise their roles… on the same episode!

But how will they come back? Together, of course! While Joy is dating a blind man who thinks she’s 26 and Elka is prank-calling a certain Yankee third basemen, Hewitt stars as Emmy, Victoria’s daughter, who is back for a visit with some very surprising news – she’s engaged to Melanie’s son Will, played by Jonas. That’d be quite a power couple, wouldn’t it?

We have no doubt that tonight’s return of Jonas and Hewitt’s characters will provide even more laughter and quality moments we love to find in Cleveland with those fabulous ladies. So don’t miss a minute of it! In fact, we even have an opportunity to watch a sneak peek of the moment when the two lovebirds announce their engagement. Check it out below:

The episode airs tonight, January 25 at 10 PM ET/PT on TV Land.

American Idol had another first in San Diego, CA: auditions were held on an aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Midway. Of course, this may also be the last time, since the judges and contestants alike were distracted by, and occasionally drowned out by the sounds of horns blasting and jets soaring overhead.

We were treated to more of what we’ve come to anticipate from Steven Tyler…compliments for the female contestants (legally appropriate ages this time), witticisms, limericks…the censors were kept busy!

The first hopeful, Jennifer Diley, 19, was this season’s first “Bikini Girl.” Her “patriotic” attire may have caught the attention of Ryan and the judges, but her voice got her promptly dismissed.  I guess she’ll be working with animals or kids when she isn’t working on her tan.

Ashley Robles, 26, DJ and single mom, displayed a powerful voice. Steven predicted “that you’re going to be big.” Jayrah Gibson, 26, has a plan. Only ONE plan. His #1 goal is to be an artist. His confident demeanor and R&B style won him a golden ticket to Hollywood. Oh, he also wrote a song for J-Lo that was about shaking her moneymaker.

Aubree Dieckmeyer, 20, described herself in the pre-audition video as a singer and America’s Next Top Model. Oops! Her sweet voice, natural talent and cutesy interchange with Steven turned out to be in her favor.

Ali Shields, 19, has a flair for getting noticed. She got on the Ellen show by writing Ellen DeGeneres a song simply because she wanted to meet her. Ellen invited her on the show, and then sent her to the American Music Awards, where she got her very first kiss(es) from Mike Posner and Usher. The giggly contestant performed a rap number, demonstrated her version of “ghetto dancing”, and then also sang. The judges said she could “sing a little”, and was “crazy enough to make it.” Time will tell.

Day 2 was off to a start with Steven Tyler grousing that he “can’t wait to hear 40 people singing the same Adele song for 6 (bleeping) hours”.

Luckily, 19-yr old frat boy Kyle Crews was declared “the best male voice we’ve heard yet” by Tyler. He was advised to work on his look, though.

After a brief (very brief) clip of an apparently horrendous audition, we were treated to a clip of Tyler stating “I went through 4 hours of hair and makeup to listen to this (bleep)”. This is the American Idol we know and love!

Jane Carrey, 24, got pointers from the judges to use when she moved on in the competition. By the way, she’s the daughter of Jim Carrey, and J-Lo remembers her as a toddler when Lopez was a Fly Girl.

The auditions wrapped up with Jason “Wolf” Hamlin. The 24-yr old golf course mechanic brought along his “git-fiddle” (guitar) built by his late father. He did a decent CCR rendition, but blew the judges away when he accompanied himself on a Johnny Cash song. I predict he’ll be one to watch.

53 lucky contestants out of 10,000 will be moving on to Hollywood. Steven Tyler predicted 7 sets of triple-threats..that’s 21 to regular folks… from the San Diego auditions. We should be in for a treat come Hollywood Week!

American Idol had never held auditions in Pittsburgh, PA…until now. Called  the “City of Champions” and the “City of Steel,” Pittsburgh certainly drew a lot of talent.  In all, 38 golden tickets were given out.

No, Steven Tyler wasn’t inappropriate towards any contestants this time, at least not on camera. His new toy was a red-boxed comedy sound machine, though the viewers saw little of it. What the viewers did see were a lot of contestants sent through to Hollywood.

This was an odd assortment of personalities. Leading off, was the arm-shaking, seemingly lacking-in-confidence Heejun Han, 22. He questioned whether he was even good enough to be at the auditions, and his family confessed to never having heard him sing. Disaster? Blooper reel? No! This young man has a great voice, to the shock and amazement of the judges. His golden ticket seemed to shock him too.

Reed Grimm, 26, performed the theme song to Family Matters. That’s right. A sit-com. He has been performing since the age of 2, and scatting seemed to come as naturally to him as breathing.

Samantha Novacek, 19, was accompanied by her sister Patricia Bell, 21. She belted out her song while her sister planked. Apparently, she sings better when her sister planks.

Creighton Fraker, 28, performed an original song that he wrote on the bus from New York.  He was invited to sing another song as well, and was complimented on having the…nerve…to perform an original. 15-yr old Eben Franckewitz impressed not only with his natural, clear voice, but with his incredible politeness.

The first hard-luck story of the evening was provided by Travis Orlando, 17, who was unsuccessful in his audition last year. Since then, his mother abandoned the family, and he is living in a shelter with his dad (who is on dialysis) and his brother. It’s a good thing for him that the judges felt that he’d improved enough to be sent on to Hollywood.

Steven and Randy entertained the crowd with an acoustic version of Aerosmith’s  Pink to lead off the second day of auditions. Were we going to see any blooper reels? Not yet.

Erika Van Pelt, 25, a mobile DJ/Wedding Singer used her rich alto voice to her benefit. Something tells me the catchphrase “Pelt Can Belt” will be heard for a long time to come.

Shane Bruce, 19, performed a song from Shrek (his words, not mine), Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Unfortunately, the coal miner flubbed the song, and was told to come back next year. He took this quite graciously. The kicker was, there was video of him singing in the mines. So much for Spoiler Alerts, at least for this installment.

And what’s an audition without another hard-luck story? Count em…we’re up to 3 now, and we’re only on the second city. Hallie Day, 24, had a rough start, leaving home at 15, becoming an addict, attempting suicide, and then finding the love of her life. J-Lo likened her appearance to that of Blondie (singer, not comics character).

Talent: yes. Drama: no. Crash and burns: definitely not. It will be interesting to see what comes next.

The days are winding down until the series premiere of highly anticipated sketch show “Key & Peele” on Comedy Central. There’s a good chance you’ve seen one of their promo skits already, but here’s another chance for you to see what all the buzz is about!

Check out the video below and be prepared for the laughter that will ensue as these two funny men, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele begin to make their mark on Comedy Central.

The series premiere of Key & Peele airs
Tuesday, January 31 at 10:30/9:30c on Comedy Central.