RIP Old Man

[VIDEO] The death of the "Old Man" from Pawn Stars is actually old news since he died in June. Did a brief tribute to him on my twitter. I'm a fan of that History channel program it's very entertaining with negotiations over historic and culturally relevant pieces.

And the cranky Old Man is as much part of the show as his son Rick Harrison's vanity - which isn't about his good looks BTW. I find the Old Man quite earthy and old school and most of the time even if I'm not in his orbit get where he's coming from on some things. I enjoy his quips and knows how to keep the two generations under him in line.

I saw the program put together in light of his death Rick and Big Hoss speaks of him. Then we also have Chumlee who was another foil to the Old Man. I got a sense of who the man was and now we won't see him again. I might be scared to be in business with him, but he's a business partner I wish I had. Though with that recent episode I got more of a sense of who he was outside of the cameras of the TV program.

And yes we got to see representatives comment on Mr. Harrison particularly executives from the owner of History - which is owned by A & E networks. I thought it was corny but hey Pawn Stars has proven to be a successful show that TV viewers want to see. We'd better see the network pay tribute.

RIP to the "Old Man" Richard Benjamin Harrison!

I've become a fan of "Bar Rescue"

In general, I'm not a fan of "reality TV" however as of late I've become a fan of Spike's Bar Rescue. The host of the show Jon Taffer visits many failing bars around the nation and then attempts to turn them around. Sometimes the changes take and sometimes the changes don't.

Only in one case did Taffer walk away before rescuing the bar. Often when introducing the bar in trouble the narrator often note that a respective bar pull back the doors, and bust open the books and made a call to Bar Rescue. But since this is about TV no one made a call probably they had to get the attention of producers to say "Hey come check out our bar, we're in trouble".

I often laugh when Taffer and his experts - who are usually other bartenders & cooks - get livid because the workers at these bars prove themselves to be not very good with sanitizing their work areas. I realize that a clean establishment helps make customers welcome but Taffer's performances in those instances seem over the top and hilarious.

Most of what you see in these episodes makes for good TV. Besides if everyone just agreed with each other - bar staff and consultants alike - it wouldn't make for good TV. It's takes drama and conflict and sometimes creative editing. I write in editing because I recognize there are also two sides to every story, what you see on TV may not be what really happened.

Even then however, the business aspects of Bar Rescue is fascinating. Food keeps customers in the bar, if you pour too much alcohol that's pouring money down the drain, you can create a narrow enough passageway where people must interact socially, and on & on. In talking about Taffer's experience rescuing a bar is often noted on the series as not just a business but a science.

As stated earlier some of the changes Taffer has made to these many bars have taken and some haven't. In some instances the owners and management were too stuck on a concept that wasn't working. And perhaps in some instances Taffer missed his mark anyway. Besides you can't get it right all the time!

Still I hope aspiring bar-owners are taking notes on what it takes to run a successful bar. Perhaps Taffer can inspire future "bar scientists". :P

Not sure why this is news

It was on the news last night that Blagojevich (often known here as Ousted governor) was finally fired from Celebrity Apprentice.

Obviously Blago has been in the news semi-frenquently since he was booted from office. A lot of people in the press is likening his firing from that show akin to his removal from office early in 2009. But his removal from office wasn't as spectacular as his firing from Donald Trump's reality show.

A lot of us saw what he couldn't do. At that we might compare that to what he couldn't do as Governor of Illinois. He couldn't type or use a computer and he couldn't even use text messaging. The first episode instead of serving people hot foods he couldn't even get out of the mode of professing his innocence. It appears his only purpose on this show is entertainment value. Perhaps we wanted to see how he'd screw up this week.

Well we won't see anymore. LOL!

Rich Miller had a round-up of quotes this morning with regards to Blago's tenure on Apprentice. If you read some of the links perhaps his bizarre performance on the show expresses his strategy to taint a jury pool to his favor. It was said in one article that he never scapegoated either Bill Goldberg or Michael Johnson because Blacks and Jews may be on his jury back in federal court here in Chicago.

You do know he is to face trial for his activities as Governor, right?

I just got to say however in relation to the title of this post, I'm not entirely sure why this is news. Blago is merely extending his 15 minutes of fame. It's been like this since he was removed as Governor. He eats it up, but only to maintain publicity and to continue to profess how innocent he is.

I already knew that I wasn't going to watch the apprentice, only because I knew that he was going to be on it. Why would I want to watch a train wreck of a man continue with his train wreck until his eventual trial. While it's not a foregone conclusion for certain, it's easy to predict that when his trial concludes Blago may well find himself in jail.

If going on the Apprentice means that he'll influence potential jurors I almost wonder if he'll only influence them to vote him guilty. At the same time I'm sure there are many who see the entertainment value and like him because he gave a politician's answer to a simple question or feel asleep on the plane after his team went down in flames.

Either way it didn't interest me to watch this. But if you did watch, it's no problem if you leave your comments here.

Hell's Kitchen

I usually enjoy this series and I've been lucky enough to see every episode this season, but as the series wraps up its season next week I feel like it's lackluster. Not sure why exactly perhaps none of the aspiring chefs seems to have been able to prove they have some talent. Chef Ramsey seems to be complaining more than he complimented this season.

Either way I'm glad I was able to predict who might make it to the finally two and I'm halfway confident I know who's going to win. I knew that Petrozza the way things were shaping up would find himself in the final two. So the other member of the final pair was either Corey or Christina. It would be Christina at least though it was hard for me to gauge who should be in the final two.

Now the next step is to know is it Petrozza who wins or Christina. I'm not sure it's going to be Petrozza he is not MY favorite to win and I would blame that on his past performances and his inability it seems to stay clean in the kitchen. He seems to be a bit absent minded as well. Of course this only depends on the performance that us as a TV audience will see next week.

What usually happens on Hell's Kitchen is that when the playing field is dwindled to two contestants they get to essentially run their own kitchens or their own restaurants. They can truly pursue their own visions for their own eating establishments and I think that's awesome. Let's see who might be able to run a restaurant and perhaps even be able to attract customers. It would certainly be interesting to see who's idea of a restaurant might be more attractive.

Let me add also that I'm really not sure why I prefer Hell's Kitchen to any other reality show. Perhaps I have more of an interest in food than I do in who'll be an apprentice, who'll be the next top model, or even who might be standing alone in a desolate piece of real estate. I've enjoyed this series and I hope that I still will. Honestly there are some things I can live without in this series. For on this I can live without the cliffhanger endings and the over commentary by Ramsey and the contestants.

Of course at the same time I still like Ramsey's passion. That comes through and his kitchen is not the place to play. Surely many who has graced his kitchen has learned that the hard way and perhaps shaped up fast. Let's remember his passion to cook has enabled him to have the fortune he has found as a chef.

Oh and let's not forget FOX has allowed him another reality series, Kitchen Nightmares. It premiered last year and Ramsey is traveling across America to consult with aspiring restaurateurs and help them run their establishments. The same intensity although Ramsey isn't going to run another person's business like a boot camp as he does Hell's Kitchen. It would be interesting what he runs into in the next season.

Both Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares are British imports and I would like to show you the most interesting episode of the British version of Kitchen Nightmares I have seen. Ramsey finds himself at an English soul food restaurant. Well think of a Soul Queen in Chicago, but implanted in Britain without the buffet style meals. I was blown away when I saw it.