Last week Forever Young made its debut on TV Land and tonight at 10p, the best reality show on television in a really long time, is back with its second episode. On tonight’s show the 10 roommates are broken up into two teams of five to see how they work together as team while they run a business. One team runs a Taco Truck, and the other one is making hot dogs. The winning team is determined by who made more money and mistake will be make things interesting. Then you must must must watch the ending to see how they divvy up the prize money. The rationale for how they do it will really change your perspective on how both generations see the value of money. It is a true eye opener.
I recently spoke with Christian Taboada, who is the heart of the show, and he told me what it was like to be on Forever Young. Christian was out of work at the time when he saw a posting that read “Do you want to represent your generation?” So he responded to the ad and had several meetings with the show’s producers. As soon as he met with them, he feel in love with the idea. He just didn’t know what to expect when they told him he was selected to be on it.
The first thing he saw was the place where he was going to live for the next few weeks. He said, “I have never been in a house that big in my life. So walking up, I was like I’m staying here? OK! That’s a big window. That’s a big tree. Then you walk in and there is a swimming pool, pillows and a big old dining room table that is the size of my house now. It was beautiful.” Then he added, “I didn’t care about anything else, I don’t know who you people are, but I am going to stay right here. I don’t care.”
Eventually he left the luxury of the inside of the house and ventured out. That is when he saw his roommates were not the same age as him. When he saw the old timers he was like, ‘Oh snap! OK, roomies. What’s up?'” He knew he was representing his generation, but he was not expecting such a huge gap in their ages. But then as he thought about it, it all made sense.
He then explained that when they had their first meeting together it was a little tough for the younger generation to be listened to. But he was able to get their side heard. He explained to me “Accepting is a big thing in my life. So hey, you know, don’t judge. Come on in. I’ll see what you can do. If you can dance, then we will dance together sometime.”
And dancing is what an 85 year old Shirley will do in an upcoming episode. She will work a pole like a stripper a 1/4th of her age can. Was it shocking for him to see that. He said, “Shocking isn’t the right word. Just exclamation point, is all I can say.”
So was that his most memorable moment from the show? He shared with me that he loved their chats at the fire pit. After a few of their get togethers there, it really started to feel like a family to him. And even though the show ended a while ago, he finds himself thinking of some of his roommates that way. He still talks with the over 70s all these months after they moved out of the house. He speaks with Shirley at least twice a week, Emileen and him email all the time and AA sends a postcard whenever he goes away. After the show ended he went to NY on a trip and he saw AA and Emileen while he was there. How many other reality shows can you say the people have a bonded like that?
So now that experiment is over, what did he learn from it. He said, “I feel like I learned that I have a lot more in common with the older generation than I ever knew.” He appreciates that they didn’t care that he was gay from the get go. In fact he tell his friends, who are struggling to come out, to tell their grandparents first. This is something he learned after the experience he had by being on Forever Young.
So what would he say to get you to watch? Here’s his pitch, “If you are tired of watching the same thing, tune into watch Forever Young and we will show you why it is so good to be forever young. The surprises, the family, the love that you wouldn’t expect. If you actually sit and listen to the genuineness and the honesty of it all. It is so, like holy sh!t am I crying. It’s real.” It’s real and it is real important for everyone of every generation to watch.
So tune into the show tonight and every Wednesday at 10p on TV Land with your grandparents. And when it is done you should discuss what you have just learned with them and see what they took away from it. Forever Young might be the first show to bridge the generation gap!
Cult was moved from Tuesdays to Friday in hopes of saving it, but today The CW has pulled the show from its lineup for the foreseeable future. The show within in a show will be replaced by repeats for the at least the next three weeks. The Carrie Diaries (which they better pick up for season 2) season finale will air in its Friday night slot at 9p this week and then Oh Sit will fill in for the two weeks after that.
So what is the future for Cult? At this point the network has not made a decision. I guess we will have to try and brainwash them to get it back on the air or on their App at least to conclude its season. I wanted to see where they were going to go next with the show.
UPDATE: The show’s Cult leader Robert Knepper had this to say about Cult being pulled from the schedule, “It was a loss we were expecting, but I’m still saddened by the news. A great bunch of artists to work with. Onward and parallel. #cult” I will miss having him on our TVs every week, but I am sure he will be back before we know it.
While most women get Tramp Stamps, Nicole Richie went the opposite way when she was a teen. Yesterday on Jimmy Kimmel Live she told the ABC host that when she was 15 years old she got the word “virgin” tattooed on wrist. Why that word? Was she trying to make her dad Lionel Richie proud of her? Nope she is a Virgo and that is her sign’s symbol. So from now until she gets it removed, she will forever be stamped as a virgin.
BTW in a weird way she did honor her dad a year after she got the virgin tattoo. Lionel wrote Ballerina Girl for her, so when she was 16 she got a pair of ballet slippers inked above her vagina because of that. He must be so verklempt over that!
Mario Lopez and his wife Courtney Mazza have a 2 year old daughter named Gia and another one on the way. Well today he told Ellen DeGeneres that he want to have four kids but his wife only wants 3. So how does he plan on getting her to his magic number? He is treating really well while she is pregnant, so that she will want to get pregnant again and again. Will his plan work? We will have to see as the years go on to find out.
I know a few diamonds, some shoes, a lot of nice dresses, several days at the spa and a nanny for each kid would totally work on me.
If 40 minutes of American Idol‘s results show is not enough for you, then you are going to get a full 60 minutes of it tomorrow.
When AMERICAN IDOL cuts to commercial break later in the show, the behind-the-scenes excitement will continue LIVE during the ad break, giving viewers an exclusive peek from backstage, the IDOL stage and the audience. The LIVE show content will appear on-screen simultaneously alongside each official sponsor’s commercial airing during the results show. Also, the official series sponsors will gain added exposure with on-screen graphics and wraps in these double-boxed commercial pods.
The “double box†keeps viewers connected to the storytelling of the program by giving the feeling of being at a live show, in turn keeping them attentive throughout the commercial pod and continually engaged with the larger window that features the advertising message. Combined with the branding of the on-screen wrap, ad engagement is heightened over full-screen format, a significant benefit to key sponsors.
I am hoping that we get to see a smackdown between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, but I don’t think we will get anything close to that because they will know the camera is on them.
I guess this is American Idol’s way of getting people to actually watch the commercials and not fast forward through them. It will be interesting to see if it will work.
Would you tune in just for this? Do you think other shows like Dancing with the Stars and The Voice should do it too?
