Black20 News with Jessie Cantrell

Here's your weekly dose of Black20 News with Jessie Cantrell. This week's edition features a really creepy boy/robot, dorky rock star names and a college course taken completely on YouTube. Oy.

Evel Dick Wins Big Brother 8

An slightly surprising, but mostly uneventful end to a great season of the CBS show Big Brother 8. If you've been watching the show (or my vlogs) you know that it's been a very interesting season full of twists and turns, unexpected evictions and bunny suits.

The twist this season was that 3 of the house guests had their worst enemy brought into the house to play with them. I doubt anyone thought about it, but the father and daughter who hadn't spoken in 2 years would not only get over their feud, but become the strongest alliance in Big Brother history.

I've been following the show all season and was actually not that excited for the finale. Either way, Daniele and Evel Dick (yes, spelled Evel) were both going to walk away with a big chunk of change. The evicted house guests got to vote on which of the two should take home the $500,000 prize and they decided to give it to Dick. It seemed as if most made their decision on the fact that, while they didn't like it, Dick had a strategy and plan for how to play the game and it obviously worked. They didn't like the way Dick treated them, but they respected that he never strayed from his plan... no matter how "evel" it was.

Did you watch the finale? What do you think of the results?

Cab Fire at Rockefeller Center

I just returned to my desk after a brisk 17-flight journey down the stairs of 30 Rock after someone on my floor spotted billowing black smoke coming up from down below us. This being New York City, you can never really take a chance when you see black, ominous smoke, so everyone on my floor decided to peace out.

Nothing to worry about now. Apparently a car caught on fired outside of the NBC marquee on 50th street. Everything is fine! Check out WNBC.com for the full story and more details. Here are some photos courtesy of WNBC and my friend, Ken Donnelly

photos from WNBC.com

Photos from Ken Donnelly

Is "The Real World" Still Relevant?

I was watching TV the other day (shocking, I know) and was attempting to watch the latest season of MTV's The Real World, which is set in Sydney, Australia. I watched for probably the first 15 minutes or so, but then I just had to change the channel. I was just totally uninterested in what was going on with the people in the house. Why didn't I care about it? The show still had most of the elements that every season of the show has- a cool city, amazing house, slightly ignorant young people and a lot of sexual tension. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it. Something was missing.

To my understanding, the whole point of The Real World was to open the eyes of naive young people and force them to interact with people from other races and walks of life, and hopefully learn something. It seems as if the show (now in its 19th season- wow!) has gone away from the diversity edge and went towards the shock and sex that makes other reality shows popular. The very first season, appropriately set in NYC, was groundbreaking. It had people from all walks of life, and in the most stereotypical form possible. The rapper girl, the country bumpkin, the rocker, the gay man, the gym stud, the "angry black man" and that other girl. Even though I was really young, I still remember the screaming match between Julie and Kevin outside of their apartment. It seemed really relevant to the times and how the world was getting smaller. I was shocked at what I was watching on TV and learning about other people and cultures. Now, not so much.

The latest season offers no diversity whatsoever... at least in my opinion. The cast is composed of traditional "seven strangers picked to live in a house" but take a look at them. Do any of them look that unique to you? I mean, that one guy is wearing a cowboy hat! What a freak! Everyone else tends to look the same. The two blonde girls are almost indistinguishable on the show and everyone else is pretty boring, too. The girl is the blue dress, Parisa, is the most unique in the house because she is a Muslim, but she's probably the most assimilated girl MTV could have chosen. No offense, P.

So this is my question- Why don't I care about The Real World anymore? Is it because I am too old? I'm almost 25, which isn't old if you ask me, but maybe I'm just not shocked by this type of TV anymore. Or is it because the world is a more diverse place now having people of different races and lifestyles in a home isn't as controversial as it was 10 years ago?

Discuss.

What I'll Be Watching This Fall

Unless you are completely oblivious to the content that is on this blog, you should be well aware that I am a big fan of TV. Mildly obsessed, one might say. To quote Kenneth the Page from 30 Rock, "I just love television so much." Tomorrow marks the start of many new Fall programs on the big networks and I couldn't be more excited. I find it only fitting that I should reveal my picks for Fall TV shows during the Primetime Emmy Awards (at least, while I'm watching them.)

Picking this season's choices has been particularly challenging. My roommate, Carolyn, and I love to watch TV together, but don't always agree on which program to view at what time. Luckily for us, we have DVR, so we can plan which shows to watch live and which ones we will record and catch up with later. Unfortunately DVR can only record 2 shows at a time, so a few nights a week we might have to record 2 shows and watch a 3rd on another set. Yes, we are that amazing.

So anyway... without further ado... here's what I (and Carolyn) will be watching this Fall. (click for a better view)

Now, let me elaborate for you on a few pieces of information:

• We will only be watching Dancing with the Stars to follow former Spice Girl Melanie Brown's progress. Once she gets the boot we will then stop caring about the show.
  
• On select nights, Carolyn and I will separate to our own quarters to watch our choice program i.e. Mondays at 10pm and Tuesdays at 9pm
• Wednesday night we have MAJOR, as-of-yet unresolved issues about what to watch. We have ranked the shows in order of importance, but for the moment we don't know how to watch everything. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
• We will only be watching Survivor to kill time until 30 Rock.
  
• I don't watch TV on Fridays because I'm normally drinking doing charity work
• Sunday nights are a free-for-all because we're normally in a McDonald's-induced post-America's Funniest Videos

Do you agree with our picks? What should be really be watching?