Sasha Alexander, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the Gayness of "Rizzoli & Isles"

Sasha Alexander was on Jimmy Kimmel this past week. Watch the clips below to hear her opinion of the lesbian view of 'Rizzoli & Isles' ("everyone's a little gay!") and her hilarious story about her mother's opinion of her acting career ("then she gets up to vacuum or cut meat"). Plus, a story about how Sophia Loren is not only her mother-in-law, but the reason she came to America in the first place.

wednesdays are for reality tv

Reality Television Night

I'm really not a big fan of reality television. I think most of it is incredibly junky, and I have an especially hard time watching other people suffer on screen. It's bad enough when it's scripted.

Regardless, summer is a time when I do tend to watch more reality television, more out of necessity then anything else. Unfortunately, almost all of my favorites air at the exact same time on Wednesday nights.

Here are my top 4 favorites (in no particular order):

1. Toddlers & Tiaras
TLC, Wednesdays, 10 pm
Each week's episode follows 3 different girls and their mothers as they prepare for a beauty pageant, and then compete. Pretty shocking stuff (fake tans on two-year-olds, false teeth on three-year-olds, acrylic nails on toddlers) combined with ridiculously inappropriate on stage antics pairs for a train wreck worth watching.

2. Love in the Wild
NBC, Wednesdays, 10 pm

Can't stand kids? Well, 'Love in the Wild' doesn't have any. Instead it's a show that focuses on a group of twenty-somethings thrown into a jungle in Costa Rica. Oh, and they all work (and sleep!) in pairs with a member of the opposite sex. At the end of each episode they can choose to stay with that week's partner or switch to someone "better" (aka hotter). I like this show because the contestants' quirks and flaws shine far more realistically when they're completing a realistic nature challenge (i.e. building a raft to get across a river infested with crocodiles, or climbing down rope ladders into caves filled with bats) than it ever will on 'The Bachelor'.

3. Dance Moms
Lifetime, Wednesdays, 10 pm
This show is clearly mimicking the successful model of 'Toddlers & Tiaras', but that doesn't make it any less compelling. It follows a group of pre-teen competitive dancers and their controlling mothers. Actually, the only one who's less intense than these moms is their dance teacher. Each episode begins with the children preparing for the weekend's dance competition, and ends with their competitive dance number. Well worth watching for the drama alone, plus the dancing actually is pretty impressive.

4. The Glee Project
Oxygn, Sunday, 9 pm
This show isn't exactly inspired. It's a competition show much like many that have come before it. Teenagers, lured by the chance to have a 7 episode arc on 'Glee', live together in dorms and compete daily in different singing/dancing/acting challenges. At the end of each episode the 3 weakest competitors are asked to sing for 'Glee's' creator (Ryan Murphy), who choose one to eliminate. There's just something about watching talented, but slightly whiny, teenagers compete that I find oddly compelling (probably because I'm not in high school anymore).

Quips & Quotes, Rizzoli & Isles -- "Sailor Man"

'Rizzoli & Isles' Season 2, Episode 3---"Sailor Man"

Top Islesism
"You and Frost are site specific friends."-Isles
"Wait, would we be friends if we didn't work together?"-Rizzoli
"Well we'd never see each other. It's a false syllogism."-Isles
"Huh?"-Rizzoli
"You know, all rabbits have whiskers. These animals have whiskers ergo they're rabbits."-Isles

Top Gay Moment
"Well, you don't want to sleep with me..."-Rizzoli
looks at Isles, long pause
"...do you?!"-Rizzoli
"No!!"-Isles

----
Rizzoli stands behind Isles and slips her arms around her waist. They pose, facing Giovanni (Maura's 'boyfriend'):
"I really really enjoyed your company, but Jane and I we're..."-Isles
"BFFs"-Rizzoli
"More than BFFs"-Isles
"Yeah, we're LLBFFs"-Rizzoli
"Yeah, like life long BFFs"-Isles
"Get it?"-Rizzoli

Top "Wait a minute, is this 'Bones'?"
"Look at his shoulder to hip ratio...lengthy metatarsals...you know what that means!!"-Isles

Top Straight Moment
"I wanted to ask you out."-Giovanni
"It would be faster if we went to my apartment."-Isles
"Faster?"-Giovanni
"Um. Faster....(Isles pause to think of an excuse) Faster for me. Because I work long hours." -Isles

Top "You're like my girlfriend!"
Maura and Jane take Mama Rizzoli out for brunch. Together. On a Sunday.

Top "Huh, this show's basically 'Bones'...lets have a cute convo between our two lead actors"
"Is he gone?"-Isles
"Not really."-Rizzoli
sighs-Isles
"He's kind of like a bedbug."-Rizzoli
(nods) "Hard to eradicate."-Isles

'Rizzoli & Isles', Sasha Alexander's twitter, & Boston Fleet Week episode

'Rizzoli & Isles': Episode 3 ("Sailor Man")

So, this has basically become the 'Rizzoli & Isles' blog and I apologize for that. It's just that with the lack of new television airing this summer (for those of us who don't have Showtime, HBO, etc. anyway) it's one of the best things on the air.

So, if you're as obsessed with the show as I am, you should check out Sasha Alexander's twitter tonight as you watch the episode. She's going to be chatting live (aka tweeting) about the show and answering viewers' questions. She'll do it during both the PT and ET showings, so regardless of what coast you live on you won't miss the 'live' aspect.

Angie Harmon was supposed to do this last week, but that failed miserably (either she forgot, her Twitter wasn't working, so some sort of family issue came up). But Alexander did it two weeks ago, so at least we know she's somewhat reliable!

Here's her twitter: SashaAlexander1

'Rizzoli & Isles' airs tonight on TNT at 10 pm. It's all about Fleet Week, which evidently happened in Boston last month (I certainly missed it, but I guess I don't live in the right part of town).

Here's the promo:

Seriously, you should watch this.

Fox always cancels the good shows. Here's a clip from 'Greg the Bunny', a super short-lived show on Fox (what else is new, right 'Arrested Development', 'Better Off Ted', etc.?). Sasha Alexander guest stars.

'Dance Moms' vs. 'Toddlers & Tiaras'

I just happened to stumble across 'Dance Moms' on Hulu. The show focuses on a group of young competitive dancers (ages 6-9), their mothers, and their coach. Really it's little more than 'Toddlers & Tiaras' for the dancing set. In fact, the shows are both on Wednesday nights at 10! This choice surprises me a little, since I have a sneaking suspicion that the folks who watch 'Toddlers & Tiaras' will want to watch 'Dance Moms' too. It doesn't seem like a smart marketing move to put the novel show ('Dance Moms') on at the exact same time as the other already successful show.

Regardless, 'Dance Moms' is a horrific reality show that's worth watching. The show focuses on the girls as they train with their coach for a week, and ends with them competing at a dance competition. It's all gearing up for the season finale, which will focus on the girls' performance at Nationals. And these girls have won before, so they expect to do it again.

For the most part the mothers seem a little saner than those on 'Toddlers & Tiaras'. However, I suspect the only reason for that is because they have someone else coaching their child (and telling her what to do/yelling at her, etc.). The moms on 'Toddlers & Tiaras' don't have this, so their crazy is immediately evident. And the moms on 'Dance Moms' must be (at least a little) crazy, because they see the rehearsals, and they choose to leave their daughters in a toxic environment that includes constant belittling, an open ranking of which dancer is the best, and provocative dance moves and costumes that would barely be appropriate for a 16 year old. Plus, each time the children are interviewed (even in their own homes) they are dressed like little barbie dolls, complete with full make-up and fake nails.

Watch the show and make up your own mind...what's worse? 'Dance Moms' or 'Toddlers & Tiaras'?

A new episode of 'Dance Moms' airs tonight (Wednesday) at 10 on Lifetime.

Sasha Alexander Interview, USA Today.

Sasha Alexander talks to USA Today about 'Rizzoli & Isles', being a mom, and her husband (Edoardo Ponti):

Read the article HERE.

Watch the interview below:

Quotes & Quips 'Rizzoli & Isles' Season 2 Episode 2

'Rizzoli & Isles', Season 2 Episode 2, "Living Proof" Top Quotes and Quips

Top Islesism
"The stomach is like someone's grocery bag, so revealing, it's my favorite part" grins--Isles

Top Gay Moment
"I wanted a bunk bed, but you gave me a pink canopy bed instead...I wanted a bunk bed to build forts...Ma, I don't like pink!"-Rizzoli

Top "Wait a minute, is this 'Bones'?"
"No, no, she had quite robust reproductive organs."-Isles
"Do you find that sexy in a woman...robust reproductive organs?"-Rizzoli to Detective Barry

Top Straight Moment
"Look at his shoulder to hip ratio...lengthy metatarsals...you know what that means!!"-Isles

Top "You're like my girlfriend!"
"What's this?!" sounds slightly disgusted
Isles then picks up a small painting at the Rizzoli family yard sale. Rizzoli stands beside her mother frantically signaling to Isles. Isles gets the hint.
"...Because, it's beautiful. What are you asking?"-Isles
"I was going to ask for 5."-Mama Rizzoli
"Hundred? It's priceless."-Isles
Isles then opens her wallet to get $500!

Top "Huh, this show's basically 'Bones'...lets have a cute convo between our two lead actors"
"You're not very good at sales."-Isles
"What? That's a $300 stroller."-Rizzoli
"...$1,499"-Isles
"And how do you know that? Maura, been looking for baby stuff?"-Rizzoli
"No, I was online stopping and the baby store was just a click away..."-Isles
"Well stop it, you don't have a baby."-Rizzoli
"Yet."-Isles

"I've always seen you as the maternal type"-Isles
"Are you lying?" looks shocked-Rizzoli
Pause
"Yes" grinning-Isles
"I hope you get hives."-Rizzoli
...
"Be quiet, I'm trying to enjoy my dirt bath...shhhh"-Rizzoli
"Did you just shhh me?!"-Isles
Isles throws dirt at Rizzoli
"Maura stop it"-Rizzoli
She keeps throwing
"Stop it!

...Maura!"-Rizzoli

End of episode

'Rizzoli & Isles' Season 2 Episode 2 New Tonight!

'Rizzoli & Isles' Season 2 Episode 2-- "Living Proof"

see the promo video below

There's a new episode of 'Rizzoli & Isles' starting in about 30 minutes!

In this week's episode we get to see Rizzoli and Isles spending some quality time together at the spa. I wish quality time was code for something else, but it's not. They're just having some friend bonding time.

Which is only slightly ruined by the discovery of a dead body. Although perhaps ruined is the wrong word, since without dead bodies Rizzoli and Isles wouldn't have jobs...ponder that for a moment.

Regardless, a dead woman features in this episode. She's a pregnant surrogate mother. Something tells me this is going to be a complicated one.

Are you watching 'Rizzoli & Isles' tonight? What do you think of the episode?