72 Days of Publicity

  Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from her husband of 72 days Kris Humphries this morning..... this was less shocking to me on my Twitter feed than who I tried to flirt with on Friday night.

  If anyone is surprised by this news you should watch the E! special on their "Fairytale Wedding" The whole wedding, marriage, and "true love" they saw in each other was a scam and total publicity stunt in my eyes. The immature ogar-esque Humphries was easily manipulated into making a few bucks off of the Kardashian Royal Wedding event. Most people didn't even know who this guy, Kris Humphries, was before he made an appearance on Season 6 of Keeping Up as we tilted our heads and asked he is in the NBA why haven't I heard of him?

  The wedding event brought in 10 million viewers, the highest watched show or special for E! As a person who was involved with ratings and scheduling the on a daily basis this summer for E! this was a fantastic accomplishment, but what is an accomplishment if it is unjust or immoral and just for publicity. Ratings = ad sales = $$$ into the Kardashians Hermes handbags.

   I used to love the Kardashians, some may say I am Kardashobsessed. After experience with E! this summer and their lives getting more and more in the public eye and new business ventures that are going more off of their brand and brand equity I have to say I am no longer a fan. I miss the days of watching them work at the Dash store, go out to eat, talk about their relationships. I don't care that you have to go to another photo shoot or that your Bentley is in the shop yet again.

  What used to be a fun show to watch on E! has turned into a momager who will do anything for 10% and her kids just looking to make as much money and get publicity until their relevance diminishes.

   With Kourtney and Kim Take New York premiering in less than a month we will have a chance to see Kim and Kris fighting and their quick marriage quickly go down the tubes. No word yet on if her filing for divorce and his reaction will be on film... Kris released a statement this morning in which he stated he is "bummed"

                 
                       They'll be back together before we know it....

                                              

Outward with the Housewives

    This week was part two of the Real Housewives Reunion and boy did I wish there wasn't even a part one. The combination of the drama, the fake tans, nails, and high pitch voices made me cringe. These women, specifically Teresa Giudice are middle aged and yell and fight like 16 yr. olds.

    As an avid Real Housewives viewer I must say that New Jersey along with New York and Atlanta are going down hill. Bravo built their brand around the franchises but since 2005 when the first season of Orange Country premiered the network has moved upward and onward.
No longer are we seeing the housewives and what they normally
would do on their daily lives or how these women are living the fantasy lifestyle 99% of Americans do not live, instead we are seeing fights at a babies christening, high heels races, and enough leopard and animal print for the Central Park Zoo. New Jersey along with OC, New York, and Atlanta has had many cast changes due to lack of interest in some of the housewives as well as housewives leaving for various reasons. The network brings on new, younger, more hip housewives for different viewers to connect with but, sometimes that fails to bring in viewers ie: Cindy Barshop from New York season 4.

    Beverly Hills Housewives, in the the middle of its second season has a very much different vibe and feel compared to the other franchises. Yes they live in one of the richest areas in the United States and still have drama on the show, but the story lines and fabulous outlandish lives of the housewives draw the viewers in. The two new "friends" of the housewives Brandi and Dana will add quite the one two punch to the season as Brandi calls herself a slut and Dana flaunts around her $25,000 sunglasses. With housewife Taylor Armstrong's estranged husband's suicide days before the premiere they have edited him out from the season although the looming story line of their terrible and rumored abusive marriage is strong through every episode adding some personal ethos for the viewers. 

    With Miami and D.C. canceled, a revamp of the New York Cast, and lack of a strong audience ratings for the New Jersey season one has to wonder are the Housewives headed for cancellation land?

Playing No More

It's the middle of October... a month after network shows premiered for the first time. There have been many hits but many shows have already been cut from the lineup for their poor viewership and lack of followers. Some are surprised and some you have to wonder what was the network thinking in the first place?

   The Playboy Club... when I saw that this show was canceled I did not even flinch. The idea and concept was good, unique, interesting but the show lacks in audience. Being on the Peacock network with a strong Thursday night comedy lineup male viewers do not tune into NBC as often as they may tune into CBS to watch How I met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men.

 The Playboy brand may have ultimately prevented audiences from even sampling what was ultimately a rather tepid period crime drama. It's a soap, which inherently appeals to women. But it's a brand so tied to men. It was doomed from the start. Early on, the idea of building a primetime series around the Playboy brand seemed like a novel plan. After all, E! Entertainment's The Girls Next Door had helped push Playboy and founder Hugh Hefner into the mainstream — and 60 years after the magazine first launched, Playboy now seemed almost quaint and tame.

    The Playboy Club was doomed from the premiere.

The CW premiered a new reality show H8R which was promoted as a "celebrity confrontation show" The host, Mario Lopez creates situation where celebrities surprise, confront and hope to win over their biggest detractors. Or h8rs, in text-message speak. From my perspective this whole concept is just dumb. Whoever was the producer and made the programming decision to put this on air should reevaluate their priorities.... haters are going to hate especially if the biggest celebrity you can get is Scott Disick, Kourtney Kardashian's boyfriend/baby daddy. 

Pregnant in the City of Angels

Something must be in the water of the Hollywood Hills this year, everyone and anyone who is a A list star is pregnant, wanting a baby or just had a baby. From the power couple of Hip Hop Beyonce and Jay Z to Jessica Alba and her husband Cash Warren to our favorite Disney star Hilary Duff, babies are in the air! I have to admit that I am a sucker for a good celebrity pregnancy... I anticipated the Beckham's baby girl being born almost as much as the royal wedding. I love seeing that a celebs baby was born and the name that seems to top the last celeb baby. Are celebrity babies outshining their celeb parents? 

Recently I had a conversation with a friend who bought into the whole Beyonce's baby bump is fake theory and does not believe that she is actually pregnant. They think it is a publicity stunt for her to gain album sales or that she doesn't have to diet post delivery. You have to wonder why in the world would B want to do this? She is a 30 year woman who is happily married and it is a natural step for her and her husbands life to have a baby. She has said in many interviews that she can't wait to have children not just for increased album sales.... even if her recent album plummeted on the charts.
Celebrities want to grow their families with their significant other... or their "fling" of the moment, they are just like any other woman who has a growing belly we just see that growing belly on a daily basis on Perezhilton.

One of the many pregnant stars that I admire for trying to live a normal family life and raise their children as normal as they can be are Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck. Garner pregnant with her third child seems to be a hands on mom as possible compared to many of her peers. She kept her pregnancy quiet amongst rumors over the summer as it is a family decision and matter to share with the world that they are in fact pregnant. Jennifer and Ben know that even though they are some of the biggest stars but they are also normal people trying not to drink too much of Hollywood's water.

Why is is that when two or three or ten celebrities are pregnant at the same time we get all abuzz and wonder what the gender will be, will they get divorced right after the baby is born, what will be it's name? As a culture we love to obsess over popular culture, especially over celebirites and when they are pregnant and have kids we can't keep from reading and obsessing how adorable they are taking their kids to ballet, to karate, or going to the farmers market. We memorize their names, how many kids they have in their family, and find fashion inspiration in one certain 5 year old.
The new celebrity obsession..... celebrity babies.

long lost blog

After a 6 month hiatus I have decided to get back to blogging!