The Couch Potato

If you work on any of the projects listed below (or any upcoming releases) and would like to see us review it, send us an e-mail. If you are interested in purchasing any of these items, simply click the box art to go to the product’s Amazon.com page where you can buy it for a very low price. Buying from the links provided in this column help support The Couch Potato.

Blu-ray:

• 10.5 Apocalypse: The Complete Miniseries
• Alvin and the Chipmunks
• Artie Lange’s Beer League
• Behind the Yellow Line
• Blackbeard
• Category 7: The End of the World
• Coyote Ugly
• The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb: The Complete Miniseries
• Hidalgo
• The Last Sentinel
• Unbreakable

DVD:

• Alvin and the Chipmunks
• Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Funny, We Shrunk the Adults
• Becker: The First Season
• Bette Davis Collection: Volume Three
• The Cook (Unrated)
• Country Matters
• The Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream
• Dino Squad: Volume 1
• Dino Squad: Volume 2
• Doctor Who: Story #070: The Time Warrior
• Doctor Who: Story #142: Timelash
• Father Knows Best: Season One
• The Good Night
• Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (Extreme Unrated Remastered)
• John From Cincinnati: The Complete First Season
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Sixth Year
• Martin: The Complete Fourth Season
• Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Eighth Season
• Resurrecting the Champ
• The Return of Swamp Thing
• Stingray: The Complete Series
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2-Disc Special Edition)
• That ’70s Show: Season Eight
• The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder: John, Paul, Tom, & Ringo
• What Love Is

Video Games:

• 3/31-Civil War Mysteries (PC)
• 3/31-Great War Nations: The Spartans (PC)
• 3/31-Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis (PS2)
• 3/31-Overclocked (PC)
• 3/31-Professor Brainium’s Games (DS)
• 3/31-Riddle of the Tomb (PC)
• 4/1-Toy Shop (DS)
• 4/3-Women’s Murder Club (PC)
• The Abbey (PC)
• Panzer Command: Kharkov (PC)

Movies on Theater:

• The Flight of the Red Balloon (limited)
• Jack and Jill vs. the World (LA)
• Jellyfish (Meduzot) (NY)
• Leatherheads
• Meet Bill (limited)
• My Blueberry Nights (limited)
• Nim’s Island
• The Ruins
• Sex and Death 101 (NY, LA)
• Shine a Light (also on IMAX theaters)
• Tuya’s Marriage (limited)
• Water Lilies (NY)

TV Show Premieres:

• 3/31-Bingo America (series premiere, GSN, 7/6 PM)
• 4/1-Hell’s Kitchen (4th season premiere, FOX, 9/8 PM)
• 4/1-The Secret Lives of Women (4th season premiere, WE, 10/9 PM)
• 4/2-UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon (three-hour special, Spike TV, 7/6 PM)
• 4/2-Criminal Minds (returns from hiatus, CBS, 9/8 PM)
• 4/2-CSI: NY (returns from hiatus, CBS, 10/9 PM)
• 4/2-The Real World Awards Bash (90-minute special, MTV, 10/9 PM)
• 4/2-The Ultimate Fighter (7th season premiere, Spike, 10/9 PM)
• 4/2-DEA (series premiere, Spike, 11/10 PM)
• 4/3-My Name Is Earl (returns from hiatus, NBC, 8/7 PM)
• 4/3-CSI (returns from hiatus, CBS, 9/8 PM)
• 4/3-Rock the Cradle (90-minute series premiere, MTV, 10/9 PM)
• 4/3-Without a Trace (returns from hiatus, CBS, 10/9 PM)
• 4/3-Step It Up & Dance (series premiere, Bravo, 11/10 PM)
• 4/4-Ghost Whisperer (returns from hiatus, CBS, 8/7 PM)
• 4/4-Duel (2nd season premiere, ABC, 9/8 PM)
• 4/4-Battlestar Galactica (4th season premiere, Sci Fi, 10/9 PM)
• 4/4-Numb3rs (returns from hiatus, CBS, 10/9 PM)
• 4/5-Date My House (series premiere, TLC, 8:30/7:30 PM)
• 4/5-VH1 Rock Doc: The Night James Brown Saved Boston (one-hour special, VH1, 9/8 PM)

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• 7/6 PM: 1) NCAA Tournament and 60 Minutes (9.9/17), 2) America’s Funniest Home Videos (4.7/7), 3) Countdown with Keith Olbermann, 4) King of the Hill and American Dad (2.2/4), 5) America’s Next Top Model (1.1/2)
• 8/7 PM: 1) Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (7.5/12), 2) 60 Minutes and Big Brother 9 (5.9/9), 3) Dateline (4.3/7), 4) The Simpsons (4.1/7) and King of the Hill (3.5/5), 5) Everybody Hates Chris and Aliens in America
• 9/8 PM: 1) Oprah’s Big Give (7.1/11), 2) Big Brother 9 and Cold Case (5.7/9), 3) Law & Order, 4) Family Guy (4.4/7) and Unhitched (2.6/4), 5) The Game and Girlfriends (1.1/2)
• 10/9 PM: 1) Cold Case and Dexter (5.4/9), 2) Here Come the Newlyweds (4.9/8), 3) Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (4.8/8)
• Overall: 1) CBS (6.7/11), 2) ABC (6.0/10), 3) NBC (3.9/6), 4) FOX (3.2/5), 5) The CW (1.0/2)
• 18-49 Demographic: 1) ABC-3.5, 2) CBS-3.0, 3) FOX-2.5, 4) NBC-1.4, 5) The CW-0.6

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Chris gets blamed for everything, even stuff he couldn’t possibly stop (Tonya’s flu) or things he didn’t know about (Drew getting hit by a baseball). Chris does get a few opportunties to help his siblings. Today he sees Drew skipping school. Drew wants to go see Wayne Gretzky even though he doesn’t really know how to get there. He goes anyway so Chris knows he has to go with him because the only thing worse then letting Drew skip school would be to let him go alone.

Tonya has to stay home because Julius wouldn’t pay the $100 for a field trip to Philadelphia. Julius has to entertain her because Rochelle needs to go to work. Chris knows his school won’t miss him but imagines that everybody would miss Drew. Julius tries to rest but Tonya won’t pick up the phone. He learns that Drew wasn’t at school.

Chris and Drew wind up in Coney Island instead of Long Island. The two start fighting until they find another black hockey fan (who actually was an ex-player). A friend of his points them in the right direction. Julius finds out that Chris didn’t show up at school either. He goes looking for the two with Rochelle. On the train to Long Island, two white hockey fans are upset that Chris and Drew are trying to “take” hockey from them like they took football and basketball. They demand Drew give them his jersey until they find out that it says “Gritzky” and isn’t even the right number.

Rochelle, Julius, and Tonya go around the neighborhood but nobody is able to help. Chris and Drew arrive at the hotel Gretzky is supposed to be staying at but he isn’t there. Drew is ready to give up but Chris tells him to keep looking. He remembers that Gretzky has a sandwich that is served at a restaurant in a hotel. The two head there and pose as pizza deliverymen to get in the hotel. They find Gretzky’s room but the security guard isn’t helpful until he finds out that they are from the same neighborhood he lived in. He even bought a fake jersey from Risky like Julius did. Gretzky isn’t there then but the two decide to wait.

Rochelle calls the cops about two missing “white” children so she can actually get a response. Gretzke doesn’t show up but the security guard gives him a game-worn jersey. He also takes them back home in a limo. While Rochelle organizes a search committee, Chris and Drew arrive. Chris had a great day and for the first time, he saw Drew as a friend. When the two approach, Rochelle gives them a very stern glance.

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Main Story: It’s late at night and Homer sneaks into Bart’s room in a snake costume. Bart stars hitting him with a bat. Lisa tells Bart that they are headed out in order to get in line to get the latest version of a popular fantasy book series (pretty much Harry Potter). They wait in line at the book store to get the book. Lisa gets in a fight with Comic Book guy because his costume is based off the movies while hers is based off the books. When the store opens people fight for the books. Nelson actually forces Martin into reading the book for him. The Simpsons drive home with their copy of the book. Lisa pages through the book to get the gist of what happens. They all then throw their copies out the window and say they have know finished their one book for the year.

They return home and start watching tv. A commercial for a ballet studio is shown and Marge relives old memories of when she wanted to be a ballerina. Lisa tells Marge that she should try and join the class. Marge tries out for the class and at first impresses the teacher. Marge’s age catches up to her and the teacher throws her out of the class. The teacher notices Lisa’s stance when she talks and realizes she has potential to be a great ballerina. He lets Lisa join his class.

While Lisa tries to be a ballerina Homer lets Bart into one of his secrets. It turns out Homer makes his own beef jerky. Homer gets Bart to help him make more beef jerky. They decide to try and sell their product and get Apu to come by and see their jerky. They are surprised when all their jerky is gone. Bart notices some paw prints but Homer immediately blames Flanders. It turns out that a family of raccoons have been stealing the jerky. Homer is about to declare war on the raccoons when he notices their family is just like his (even down to the father strangling his son).

Lisa has trouble in class at first. When the students get a break they head outside and start smoking. The students tell Lisa that the cigarettes keep them focussed and also help them stay thin. Lisa doesn’t want to smoke but accidentally inhales some second hand smoke. When she returns to class she is much better at dancing. That night Lisa has a dream about smoking. She doesn’t want to since she knows it is bad but in her dream she sees all her heroes that smoked. Lisa doesn’t know what she should do. Meanwhile Marge is so happy for Lisa and is imagining herself in Lisa’s position.

During a break the next day Lisa tries to inhale some second hand smoke from the other girls but can’t because of the wind. Lisa decides to just smoke one herself. Homer then shows up and takes the cigarette from her and throws it to the ground. He then goes on to shoot it with a gun. Homer drags Lisa home and starts yelling at her. He is about to tell Marge when he sees how proud she is of Lisa. He decides to not tell Marge the truth. He tells Lisa that she can’t smoke anymore and that he has forced Bart to watch her so she doesn’t. During the last practice for a recital Lisa has to smoke again and Bart sees her. Bart and Homer come up with a way to stop her from smoking. During the recital Homer uses one of the raccoons to steal all the girls cigarettes. During intermission of the recital all the girls return to the dressing room to see all their cigarettes missing. When they go back on stage they all go crazy from the nicotine withdrawal. They try to smoke anything they find. Lisa then addresses the crowd and tells them about the dangers of forcing ballet on children since it forces them to resort to things they never wanted to do in the first place. Back at the house Marge apologizes to Lisa for putting so much pressure on her to become a ballerina. Bart then asks Homer if he can stop training to be a Mexican wrestler. Homer refuses to let him stop and makes him practice his moves.

Chalkboard: There was no Chalkboard this week.

Couch Gag: Wiley Coyote paints the couch on the Simpson’s wall and they all run into it.

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Peggy and Bobby bet on how long the soccer announcer can say “goal.” Bobby wins bragging rights and becomes overly obnoxious. The General visits Minh and Kahn. He is very demanding (since Kahn is good with computers he wants him to put a radio in his watch even though it isn’t even digtal). He also says that Minh should have married a different guy. Kahn goes out for some hot sauce the General demanded and ends up in a karaoke bar. He sings “There’s Got to be a Morning After” and gets a lot of applause. The crowd even asks for an encore. Kahn returns home late without the general’s hot sauce. He was even put in the bar’s karaoke hall of fame. Minh is impressed but the general isn’t happy being upstaged.

Nothing bothers Kahn anymore, even the guys. He asks them to come down to the bar and they do. He’s very popular there. Peggy thinks Kahn will go back to being a loser soon. She makes a bet with Bobby, whoever loses has to shower the other with praise. Kahn headlines a fundraiser and won’t help the general anymore. At the fundraiser, the general goes up on stage and performs Kahn’s song. He gets applause so Kahn gets nervous and runs out of the building.

Kahn realizes he’s a failure but Hank tells him to walk it off. He goes back to doing chores for the general. The guys bring a karaoke machine to his house to try to get him out of his funk but he doesn’t care. Kahn is depressed so Minh tells the general to talk to him. He calls him a failure and a loser but if he can accept that, he’ll leave. Kahn agrees to the deal. Just before he heads home, the general does complement Kahn on his success in life. Kahn is back to normal so Bobby has to shower Peggy with praise.

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Event 1: The husbands’ moms are brought in. Working with their daughter-in-law, they must guess what grade their man gave themself in several categories. Each match is worth $5,000.

• Love life before marriage: Johnnie Moutras-A (matched), Cody Freis-A (match), Lance Holmes-A (match)
• Under pressure: Cody-A (match), Lance-A (match), Johnnie-No match
• Around the house: Lance-C (his ladies give him a B), Johnnie-F (match), Cody-A (his ladies give him a B)
• Style: Johnnie-A (match), Cody-A (match), Lance-A (match)

The teams match nine answers, adding $45,000 to the pot which is now up to $465,000.

Attack of the In-Laws: In addition to the three brought in earlier, Johnnie’s dad, Crystal’s dad, Heather’s mom and dad, and Dawn’s dad are also brought in. Johnnie meets his father-in-law for the first time. Dawn’s dad thinks the first thing his daughter ever told him about Cody was that they were engaged. This is only the second time Cody has met his father-in-law. There is a lot of awkward silence at the table.

Event 2: The husbands make a soap box derby car with their father-in-laws. Cody is interrogated while Johnnie’s father-in-law sucks at instructions. After the cars are built the couples are asked questions in order to win advantages for the race. The Freis win first choice and decide to start 40 feet closer. The Moutras get second pick and take a ramp while the Holmes are “stuck with” new tires. The race begins and Johnnie’s weight really helps him at the beginning. Cody tries to cut him off but Lance curves around and comes from nowhere to win the race by a mile. Cody finishes second while Johnnie takes third.

Vote: The Holmes have a tough decision because they love both couples. In the end they eliminate Cody and Dawn Freis.

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Reaction to Chelsia’s Outburst/Eviction/HOH Competition: Natalie claims that she’s playing dumb and obviously fooled Chelsia. Sheila thought her outburst was rude and immature. She’s also upset a person much younger than her would say those things to her. Sheila thinks nobody deserved HOH more than Natalie. James thinks it sucks while Joshuah can’t believe he lost to her.

Small Stories:

• Ryan names his “team” Team Christ.
• Natalie knew she was going to win the challenge because of all the sevens in it. Seven has showed up all over in her life. Joshuah calls her crazy and says that her theory changes every week (last week it was eight).
• Natalie plays hide and seek with some of the guys. She hides under a bunch of dirty clothes but her knee sticks out. The guys just laugh at her. She hides again and scares Joshuah by fitting in a very small cabinet.
• Joshuah told his parents he was gay when he was 18. Both were pretty understanding.
• Joshuah knows the alliance is in shambles, James going home could actually be good for them. James tries to make a deal with Natalie. If she doesn’t nominate him, he’ll keep her safe. They would have to pledge to make a secret alliance to the final two. Natalie doesn’t know if she should trust him after what he did to Matt.
• Ryan and Adam make a “whirlpool” in the pool by swimming around in a circle. They then get too dizzy to get out of it.
• Natalie stares at Matt’s picture. Joshuah thinks he should go into witness protection after the show is over. He wouldn’t be surprised to find lipstick on the picture one day.

Food Competition: Without seeing what the other players have done, one player at a time is brought out to the yard. They must pick food or slop and put the chosen token in their melon. If three or less people choose food, they will all eat for the week. If more than three people choose food, they will actually be on slop and the minority will eat for the week. Adam chooses food but everybody else picks slop. Adam is the only person eating real food this week.

Nominations: Natalie considers James’ offer but winds up nominating James and Joshuah.

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The design team heads to Delaware to help the Latif family. Ju-Juanna was a teen mother and high school dropout. When she gave birth to Antonio, he changed everything. She got her GED and college degree while living in a homeless shelter. She got married and had three more kids before getting divorced. One of her sons, James, has cerebral palsy. The family is living in a duplex. Miss Rose, who owns the other half of the building, is pretty much family. The duplex is in poor condition and not wheelchair accessible for James.

Other Tidbits:

• The family vacations in Disney World.
• Demolition was done late at night because two families needed to be packed up and scaffolding needed to be placed to protect the other houses.
• CVS Pharmacy donates a lot of supplies to the homeless shelter Ju-Juanna stayed at and two others.
• A local company pays off the family’s mortgage.

House Photos (Courtesy of ABC.com):

Master Bedroom:

Ju-Juanna Jr.’s Judge Room (Paul):

James’ Room:

Aaron’s Shark Room (Paige):

Antonio’s Rap Room (Paige):

A small part of Miss Rose’s House:

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This week Danica Patrick introduces the task. This week it is the Big Give Roadtrip. All the contestants are supposed to head to designated small towns in Georgia and perform random acts of kindness. They are given $5,000 and a map. The contestants are given a day to do what they want and on the second day Oprah gives the contestants a job that they need to perform.

Brandi:  Brandi heads to an office in her small town and she meets Gary. Gary tells her about a children’s shelter that is being built. Brandi decides to help shovel dirt in order to prepare the site for construction. she also gets Gary to help out. While digging Brandi finds out about a woman named Dorthy who is a couple months late on her rent. Brandi donates $1,000 and gets  Gary to match her offer. Brandi’s job from Oprah ends up to be working for a food shelter. The food bank is run by a family with their own money. They can’t afford to stock the shelves anymore though so the shelter has run out of food. Brandi gets a local grocery store to give some food to the shelter. Brandi pays for the rest of the needed groceries with her own money. Brandi holds a feast for all the people who regularly have to come to the food shelter for food.

Cameron: When Cameron arrives in town he meets Horrace who needs some help moving things out of his old business office. Cameron helps him carry the things out of his office. Oprah gives Cameron the task of work the toll booths. Cameron spends the day working the toll booths and while he is there he works with Beverly. While working Cameron finds out about Beverly’s two daughters who have both recently lost a child. Cameron spends the rest of the day with them and gives them and Beverly some spending money. Cameron ends the day by giving the rest of his money to a toll collector in order to pay off people’s future tolls.

Stephen: Stephen finds out about a local little league game going on in his city. He gets a local restaurant to help him hold a cookout for the game. After the cookout Stephen gives the town $1,000 to go towards a batting cage for the kids. Oprah gives Stephen the job of working at the zoo taking care of the elephants. After working with the elephants for the day Stephen heads to a local mission and donates $1,000 and his time for the rest of the night. Stephen helps give out food and does dishes. While he works he hears the story of one of the workers who used to come to the mission to get help. The man is appreciative that Stephen takes the time to listen to his story.

Rachel:  Rachel has a hard time finding people to help in her city. She decides to help sweep people’s sidewalks even though they never told her that they wanted them sweeped. Oprah gives Rachel the task of helping out at a Senior Citizen Center. Rachel helps out in everyway possible and brings a smile to the senior’s faces. Rachel finds out about the center’s quilt making fundraiser (they make quilts to sell to raise money to help ill children). Rachel helps work on one of the quilts and ends up buying one of the quilts and donating most of her money to help the sick boy they are currently raising money for. Rachel ends off the day by paying the water and electric bill of a woman that is taking care of several of her own grandchildren.

Sheg:  Sheg hears from the local paramedics about a woman that needs his help. When Sheg arrives at the house he finds out from the neighbor that the woman’s daughter just died a couple hours earlier. When the woman returns home she tells Sheg about her daughter who died from a stroke at the age of 22. Sheg offers to help her with the funeral costs. Oprah gives Sheg the task of going to the Murphy house. The Murphy’s currently have 28 children (4 of their own and 24 adopted downsyndrom children). Sheg never really asks the family what they need. Sheg decides to clean out their garage and have a party for all the kids. The Murphy’s appreciate what Sheg does but they think the money could have been used better.

The Elimination: The judges pretty much like what everyone did. They end up eliminating Sheg since he never really listened to what the Murphy’s needed.

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• ABC: 8/7-Dancing with the Stars (95-minute episode), 9:35/8:35-The Bachelor: London Calling (85-minute episode)
• CBS: 8/7-The Big Bang Theory, 8:30/7:30-How I Met Your Mother, 9/8-Two and a Half Men, 9:30/8:30-The New Adventures of Old Christine (season finale), 10/9-CSI: Miami
• NBC: 8/7-My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad, 9/8-Deal or No Deal, 10/9-Medium
• FOX: 8/7-House (encore), 9/8-New Amsterdam
• The CW: 8/7-Gossip Girl (encore), 9/8-Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious
• My Network TV: 8/7-Celebrity Expose, 9/8-Paradise Hotel 2
• HGTV: 7/6-My House Is Worth What?, 8/7-Designed to Sell, 8:30/7:30-Curb Appeal
• Comedy Central: 11/10-The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, 11:30/10:30-Colbert Report
• USA: 9/8-WWE Raw
• MTV: 10/9-The Hills
• TLC: 8/7-Little People, Big World (back-to-back new episodes), 9/8-Jon & Kate Plus 8
• Travel Channel: 11/10-America the Wright Way
• ABC Family: 8/7-Greek, 9/8-America’s Prom Queen
• TV Guide Channel: 8/7-TV Watercooler, 9/8-Hollywood 411
• VH1: 9/8-Flavor of Love, 10/9-VH1 Storytellers: Snoop Dogg
• BBC America: 8/7-Top Gear
• WE: 10/9-High School Confidential, 11:30/10:30-Cheerleader U
• truTV: 8:30/7:30-Party Heat: Lake Havasu
• Food Network: 8:30/7:30-Heavyweights, 10/9-Diners, Dive-Ins, and Dives
• E!: 10/9-The Soup Presents
• Discovery Health: 10/9-Mystery Diagnosis
• PBS: 8/7-Antiques Roadshow, 9/8-American Experience, 10/9-Retirement Revolution
• Biography: 9/8-I Survived…
• LMN: 8/7-The Capture of the Green River Killer (original mini-series, part 2 of 2)
• GSN: 7/6-Bingo America (series premiere), 9/8-World Poker Tour (two hours)
• Style: 9/8-How Do I Look?
• National Geographic: 9/8-Locked Up Abroad

All shows are new unless noted otherwise. First time listed is eastern, second is central.

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