Surprisingly, North Shore Doesn’t Take Place in Chicago

-Summer is the worst time for TV shows. The shows you enjoy are all in reruns. Then, networks trot out new shows that they never would show otherwise. FOX is trying to buck the trend by starting a summer season of new shows, including the sequel to their hit The Simple Life. I happened to watch the premieres of two of their new summer shows on Monday, North Shore and The Casino.

North Shore revolves around a hotel in Hawaii. The show basically feels like The O.C. but is basically a ripoff of Las Vegas. For example, the main character has a female childhood friend who also works at the hotel...just like Las Vegas. A bartender is a semi-important character, which is very similar to the valet character on Las Vegas who is pretty important at times. The only “twist” is that the main character’s ex-girlfriend now works with him and he didn’t quite get over her. It’s not really a bad show, but it’s not great either. In other words...it’s a typical summertime show.

The Casino is the new reality series from Mark Burnett of Survivor and The Apprentice. I hate Survivor but The Apprentice was sort of a guilty pleasure for me, as I watched and enjoyed a few episodes. The Casino is an interesting but not really good reality show. It has two Internet millionaires who decide to buy the Golden Nugget casino and bring it back to its former glory. However, their quest isn’t the only thing in the show. The experiences of guests (and employees, I’ll bet) are also shown. In the opening episode, a bunch of frat guys have a big party for their romantically challenged buddy. Also, a professional card counter gets his just desserts when he hits on (and takes to his bedroom) a “woman” who is later revealed to be a man. All in all, the show is so-so at best and not as fun to watch as The Apprentice has been.

-It looks like Yahoo is trying to compete with GMail Now, I’ll have another 100 MB I’ll have trouble filling.

-Paul found an apartment. I told ya he’d do it.

-In an update on the job hunt, I have applied for work at the local Hollywood Video via an online application. I am really sick of those damn assessment questions, though.

-Gotta love the Clintons. They would make sure that their White House portraits are the first to be painted by an African-American artist. Also, the second stop on Bill Clinton’s tour for his upcoming memoir is at a small bookstore in Harlem. As my sister joked, his memoir should have been named Hell Up in Harlem.

-My sister has her orientation at Northern Illinois University on Wednesday and has to go back up to take a placement test on Saturday. I remember those days...

-Sometimes, timing is a bitch. The date of the picketing of my mom’s job (in protest of the school closing) is Thursday...which is my sister’s birthday. Her 18th birthday. But the good news is that after she turns 18, she’ll have basically no boundaries in getting her license.