25 Magazine recaps VH1’s “Behind the Music: Bobby Brown”

Words by Letese` Clark

The last season of VH1’s series “Behind the Music” featured the first boy band, New Edition, but it was missing the story of an original member, Bobby Brown. The self-proclaimed “Bad Boy” revealed his truth about his leave from New Edition, publicly destroyed marriage, and destructive drug addiction. At the age of 14, Brown acquired fame along with New Edition for the hit single “Candy Girl,” but his fame with them was short lived. Unable to share the spotlight and follow demands, Brown walked off stage during a concert in 1985, and soon the group voted him out. In 1989, the urban rock-star introduced the world to his sex appeal when he released Don’t Be Cruel and was arrested several times for performing sexual acts on stage. “I don’t believe the word no, and once you tell me no I’m going to do it harder,” Brown says.

Contrary to popular belief that the downfall of the once peaceful marriage between Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown was due to him bringing her down, the two split because of their destructive personalities. His loneliness and lack of music being produced led to his abusive drug usage. After Karrine Stephens exposed a clip of him lying passed out on her couch, a humiliated Brown decided it was time to reconstruct his life and get sober.

With music and love back into his life, Bobby Brown is finally content and back on track. He leaves viewers with this final piece of mind: “I will never stop being Bobby Brown.”

25 Magazine recaps VH1′s “Behind the Music: Lil Wayne”

VH1 series “Behind the Music,” has finally returned with a new emphasis on rap artists. The series kicked off with the “reigning king” of hip-hop, Dwayne Carter, better known as Lil Wayne. The narcotic driven artist gives the VH1 staff insight on his childhood in New Orleans, family, career, and reckless behavior. Wayne found music to be his inspiration and began with Cash Money at the age of 9, then heightened his fame with the renowned Hot Boys, and eventually went solo with his debut album The Block is Hot in 1999. Once he stopped writing all his lyrics down, Wayne took his music more seriously. “When I stopped writing, I’ve noticed that everything was real now, I can’t speak about nothing than what was real because I can’t write nothing,” Carter says.

From then on, he pulled everything out of his head and was on the path to becoming a true icon. Few have known Mr. Carter to ever be over the influence. He attributes his  initiation to drugs at the age of 11 for his addiction. Wayne’s life is interesting, though not nearly as hardcore as he portrays it to be in his music. However, he did face some trials, from accidently shooting himself roughly a centimeter away from his heart and losing his childhood to the devastating Hurricane Katrina tearing apart his hometown.

“In 27 short years, Lil Wayne has already lived a lifetime of tragedy and triumph, and while his future remains uncertain, one thing is clear: He has no intentions of slowing down.”

This episode, Isaac started the show off  pulling a prank on the contestants. They were to remember a dress that Issac had showed them so that they could sketch it, using only memory. But, Issac tricked the contestants and told the designers that they were to sketch Kelly’s dress, not the dress on the manikin.

Lidia, Daniella, and Johnny were the closest at sketching the dress. Daniella’s eye for detail won her the challenge, which allowed her to be a deciding factor during the next elimination.

In the elimination challenge the designers were to design an outfit for a woman of any body type. Kelly and Issac picked out the models for the designers. Daniella and James-Paul struggled during the challenge with their model. They were obviously not used to working with women their size. Yet again Daniella prevailed and won the elimination change. The judges loved how she used black and navy blue in the design for her plus sized model.

Angel happens to always second guess her designs but they always come out better than she expected. This was not the case during this challenge. Angel had to re-do her design due to its abnormal look on her model. She was unable to finish the full design. Daniella saw the poorly designed dress and put Angel in the bottom three.

I don’t know what Merlin was thinking when he chose to design his dress. The dress did not fit his model at all. The judges were not pleased in his work. Issac and Kelly saw Merlin’s drive and desire for fashion and decided to keep him.

Keith also was put in the bottom. His oversized dressed and his disastrous craftsmanship eliminated him from the competition.

Next week Reco and Haven get into it. Let’s see what erupts from their beef.

-Alycia Witherspoon

The designers rolled solo in their challenges this week. Reco especially was ecstatic about working individually because he was tired of being on the losing team.

The designers had to pick a shoe that would compliment their runway outfits. All of the designers were able to pick shoes, with the exception of Angel who was given shoes by Isaac and Kelly.

The designers underestimated Andrew’s creativity since he is an underwear designer and is not used to creating full garments. Daniella constantly whispered behind Andrew’s back about his ‘stealing’ tendencies. At the mini challenge Reco saw that Andrew had stole his design. Andrew used fringes on his shoe like Reco.

During the challenge Andrew again decided to take another designer’s creativity and use it as his own. In his outfit design, Andrew used the pleated stomach detail that Anna used two weeks ago. Both Daniella and Anna laughed at his lack of unoriginality. All of this backfired on Andrew who was at the top last week but ended up in the bottom this week. The golden black dress was unimpressive and boring to the judges. The judges felt that he was uninspired, causing Andrew to be eliminated. The copy cat was finally cut!

The designers were all sick of Reco’s cocky antics. They did not think that Reco was as good as he thought, but they were definitely wrong. Reco blew all the competitors away with his multi stitched tube black dress. KILLER, might I say. The shoes were not my favorite, but they went extremely well with his dress. Reco was granted challenge winner.

Daniella yet again pulled off a stellar outfit that was electric with the platinum sliver shoes. The pencil leather bottom of the dress accented the sheer purple top phenomenally.

Lidia flopped to make an incredible outfit giving her a spot in the bottom two. Yet the judges saw some potential in her work, and decided to keep her.

Let’s see what will happen next week guys!!!!

-Alycia Witherspoon

This week on The Fashion Show, the drama gets deeper amongst the contestants.

After winning last week’s challenge, Daniella was appointed a team captain. She had a bit of trouble with teammate Andrew’s designs and gave him guidance in designing his rain coat. Little did she know that Andrew would completely jack her original piece, a short coat that transformed into a full length trench coat.

Andrew’s trench coat won the challenge, making Daniella bitter. At judging, Daniella called Andrew out on his theft, but Daniella was shunned by the judges who told her, “there are secrets in this industry, that me and Isaac have kept for years.” Daniella felt embarrassed and quickly told the judges she wished she had never mentioned the incident.

Apparently Markus didn’t get the memo. His attempt to make a coat that held accessories in the collar, flopped. Cleary Markus needed the most help in the group.  The sewing was horrible and the lengths of the coat were not the same, leading him to elimination. So I guess there will be no fling between Markus and Johnny after all.

Haven also had trouble grasping the challenge. She tried to make a coat that had oversized pockets. The coat was average but the shape of the coat was questionable to the judges.

The last team was led by Lidia who designed a mermaid like raincoat. The coat was unfashionable and failed to be one of the judge’s favorite, but since her team won the mini challenge, they gained immunity from elimination.

The next episode looks interesting since the designers are no longer working in teams. Let’s see how this goes.

-Alycia Witherspoon

(Photo Source: BravoTV.com)

This week on “The Fashion Show,” contestants show their determination to win that 125,000 dollar prize. Anna’s team executed their challenge with only forty dollars to spend on each outfit. Anna and Daniella had the best looks bringing their team the win. Hands down, Anna’s outfit was FIERCE. But, it was Daniella’s black jumpsuit and sheer jacket that won the challenge. I really wished Anna won so that I can buy her outfit online.

James-Paul’s team shined in the challenge as well. Their designs were cohesive, all being hot pink and black. They also resembled Tinsley’s style the best. I was glad that Daniella was not on James-Paul’s team again because two people with such strong personalities don’t mix.

Haven’s team didn’t have the same touch as the other teams, and failed to deliver three fashionable outfits for Tinsley Mortimer. Johnny’s dress was the worst. The floral bottom of the dress was in style, but the unevenness of the top of the dress was ridiculous. It was well understood that Johnny was not the best at sewing, but the extra lip he gave Isaac Mizrahi was not necessary. “I didn’t know this was America’s Next Top Seamstress,” Johnny said. That comment was just a little over the top.

Laura’s dress for the rock concert was horrible and her teammates knew the dress would throw off their theme. The front of the dress had potential, minus the sheer pink ruffles at the bottom. It was definitely not typical for New York City socialites like Tinsley Mortimer. The design failed to reach the expectations of the judges causing Laura to be sent home.

On a juicier note, there is an obvious crush between Johnny and Markus. Johnny admires Markus’s savvy clean cute style and says it’s very similar to his boyfriend’s. Hmmm…let’s see what happens.

-Alycia Witherspoon

(Source: BravoTv.com)

To all you “Project Runway” fans please do not fear; “The Fashion Show” is here! The new designer reality show hosted by Isaac Mizrazi and singer Kelly Rowland premiered May 7, 2009 on Bravo. This season started off with a bang, as the contestants had little time to get acquainted before they were given their 1^st challenge: to take a plain black tee shirt and turn it into a fashionable dress in only one hour. Harper’s Bazaar Magazine Special Projects Editor Laura Brown, guest judged the dresses and contestants Johnny R., Merlin, and Keith came out on top. As a reward, the three were granted immunity, appointed team leader, and chose the team members up for elimination.

The three teams were given the challenge to choose a woman’s must-have item and create 5 cohesive outfits with the item. Team 1 chose the harem pants as their must-have look. Team 2 decided on an interchangeable pencil skirt/mini dress, while Team 3 agreed on the bolero jacket.

Merlin’s team (Team 3) struggled with the look of their Bolero jacket and couldn’t agree at first on the dark navy blue color, which Merlin often complained looked too much like “a granny.” Johnny’s team’s (Team 1) harem pants were too bulky to be worn anywhere but the gym. Keith’s team (Team 2) made their interchangeable skirt/dress too tight for the already slim models, which turned out to be a disaster on the runway.

The who’s who of the fashion industry attended a fashion show featuring each of the teams’ lines and voted on the winners of the challenge. However, none of the designs were a hit. Kelly Rowland told them straight up that there was “not one must-have piece that I care to have.” Isaac Mizrahi added, “If any of you were working for me you would be fired.” In the end, Johnny R’s Team, designers of the Harem pants, was safe. Merlin’s team won the challenge and contestant James-Paul’s outfit was voted as the best look and selected for sale online. This left Keith’s team on the chopping block, with Kristen and Johnny having the lowest scoring outfits. Kristin’s outfit was called “bargain basic” and Johnny’s outfit “trashy.” A judgment was finally made and Kristin was allowed another chance, while Jonny got the boot.

Damn, it’s only the first show and I’m hooked. Check out the first show here.

Meet the Contestants:

(Photo Source: BravoTv.com)

Angel: Works with color-changing material and light up fabrics in her line Angel Chang, and previously worked with Donna Karan Collection, Viktor and Rolf, and Marc Jacobs. (Green tunic and black leggings)

Lidia: Graduate of FIT, and originally worked with Diane Von Furstenberg, until starting her own line. (Burgandy/brown Outfit)

Daniella: Has worked with such talented designers as Alexander McQueen, Luca Luca, and Les Chiffoniers and aims to start her own line soon. (Black Blazer, lavender shirt)

Kristin: Graduate of the Illinois Institute of Art in 2003, and created Organik Revolution, a women’s line that is sustainable to the environment. (Blue Dress, gray Jacket, brown Boots)

James-Paul: This designer uses geometric shapes to design his pieces. He also designs garments for Vivienne Westwood studios. (Black Jacket, white socks, and flip flops)

Laura: A graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design and aims to use sustainable products in her clothing. (Gray cardigan, khaki skirt, orange tights)

Merlin: An eccentric designer from Honduras who picked up a knack for fashion by accident. Since then, he has designed for many artists and brings his theatrical taste to the world of fashion through his line Merlin Castell. (Really loud red jacket and red pants)

Reco: A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee and a graduate of Tennessee State University, Reco now owns the 423 Clothing boutique in Chattanooga. He also started a line called The House of Chapple. (Back: Denim jacket, red Sneakers)

Markus: Markus is the Fashion Director, at the fashion magazine Nolcha and is looking to launch his own label MARKUS KETTY.  (Black jacket, purple scarf)

Keith: Formerly designed with Perry Ellis and Ralph Lauren before starting his own line of women’s evening wear called Keith Lissner. (Brown blazer, black pants)

Johnny R.: The creative director of Welcome Hunter’s, a new store featuring edgy designers. He also aims to start his own line of adventurous and risky clothing under the Welcome Hunter’s label. (Black Jacket, gray Shirt)

Andrew: Has created a successful line of women’s underwear that has been featured in stores such as Kitson, Fred Segal, and Patricia Fields. (Blue shirt, Black vest)

Anna: A native of Atlanta, Georgia. Her personal designs have been worn by Rachel Bilson, Shannon Doherty, as well as a few MTV VJS. (Peach sweater, black shirt)

Haven: Recently launched the EliaH Joel clothing in January 2009 with friends and is also working on a children’s line called Lalu. (Yellow Blazer)

Jonny: Designs men’s suits with a rock and roll edge. He also began designing Afroman Skateboards in 2002. (Black suit jacket, Black jeans)

- Natelegé Whaley

]]> http://www.25mag.com/blogs/previously-on/previously-onthe-fashion-show-season-premiere/feed/ 1 http://www.25mag.com/blogs/previously-on/previously-onthe-game-s3e3/ http://www.25mag.com/blogs/previously-on/previously-onthe-game-s3e3/#comments Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:32:22 +0000 Kendra Desrosiers http://www.25mag.com/?p=307 By Danielle Brissett

So who would have thought that Malik and Robin’s marriage…was fake?! I definitely didn’t. Robin comes home to what looks like a dream: rose petals on the floor, people in white suits holding jewelry boxes and a beautiful dress, Tee-Tee on the piano playing “Fur Elise” and a handsome man waiting for his ::does the infamous Robin air quotes:: wife to come home. To his surprise, she just wants to talk about business, what appearances they should make, what magazine covers they should appear on, and how to get her face out there in the public eye. Malik knew the deal when he got into this, but he didn’t know how much his feelings would get in the way. After he announces he wants an annulment, Robin lets him know that the sole reason for this marriage was just so she can act. It didn’t seem as selfish when she went into further detail

Speaking of feelings, it seems like Rick Fox is, without doubt, feeling Ms. Tasha Mack. She feels for him too, but she wants to take things slow, which means, there can be no way of letting people at work know that they are together. Being co-workers mean that there will be interaction, so when Rick invites Tasha to lunch, she blows up at him. He plays along with her game by calling her a bitch and commenting on her weave, but Tasha Mack ain’t having that. Rick drops by the house and Tasha gives him the business, but the tables have turned when Rick assures Ms. Mack that he’s running the show and she either get with it or get lost.

Derwin has been going through so much: finding out that he’s a father, getting back with the love of his life and figuring out how to balance it all out. Of course it would take a toll on some things, including his sex life. Melanie is trying everything she can to get him back on track, even if that means doing some freaky thangs. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work out and Mel finds out that he’s just really stressed about what’s been happening lately; plus, he doesn’t want the risk of having two children on the way. Being his “die or ride”, she accepts it and sticks by her man. Damn, you know that’s true love right there!

For some reason, I feel something real juicy is coming up soon and I will be there to view it!

I would have choked her too.

Okay, it may seem a little extreme, but if you have been keeping up with the new season of Ugly Betty like I have you would agree that it was justifiable for Daniel to leap across a jail room table to physically give it to his bro/sis Alexis after she revealed that she is Danny Jr. ’s real father.

Betty wasn’t there for the Mead family showdown and Lex’s hurtful revelation, because she was used as a diversion to the leeching paparazzi with their money makers flashing away relentlessly trying to get a shot of a miserable Mead man.

After misleading the media and paparazzi hounds B. Suarez arrives to work to find Geo on the floors of MODE and back from Rome. Betty expected a warm hug, or at least a smile, but instead, B. Suar was greeted with posters with her face and the word BANNED in large red letters across the bottom of the page. Geo revealed to Betty that he had the worst time in the ancient romantic city of Rome by himself (okay, we know the trip had to suck if the highlight was this unique cheese that he crazily raved about and even called “heaven from a cow”), and that he hates her (she’s not even allowed in the Deli!).

Since our homegirl/boy Lexis got off with a misdemeanor and was sentenced to picking up trash on the side of someone’s freeway. She was on her was back to her lavish home and life, until Willie got the news of the light punishment and decided to put her Chanel gloved hand in the mix. Wilhelmina got the district attorney to inflate the charges all the way up to attempted murder and offered them to be dropped only for the handsome price of Alexis’s share in the Mead family business, sex can make the already powerful, unstoppable.

While Lex was denying Willie of her share in Mead Publications, Daniel continued to fight a war for the custody (which Lex signed away) of Daniel Jr. and drafted Betty for help. In order to hide Danny Jr. form his grandparents who had flown from France to retrieve him, and also try to win Geo back as a friend with cheese, Betty took the kid to her apartment downtown. Betty thought that the grandparents where at the door (it was really Coach Tony’swife Jill looking for her cheating husband’s girlfriend, our very own Hilda) so they escaped and took DJ to Coney Island. Daniel, desperate and unsure, met the crew at Coney Island where he let Danny Jr. know that he was not his real father and that he should back to France to live with his grandparents (my, how much he has grown).

Shark-like magazines mavericks, strong family bonds, adulterous sex, and the ability to solve any problem (even shaking attempted murder charges) in a miraculous 48 hour period is some entertainment. Yeah, we love Ugly Betty too.

Ladies, I know you can relate to this: it’s a Friday evening and you get together with your girls at your house, eat and drink, and just talk about all your troubles, mainly your man troubles. That’s definitely the case for these ladies. As Tasha and Kelly wait for Melanie to arrive, they catch up on what’s been going on with their lives. Kelly confesses and tells Tasha that she’s divorcing Jason and Tasha lets Kelly know that she’s been involved with someone new. It seems like news is just flying all over the place because as Melanie makes her way to the pool, the girls find out that Derwin has a baby mama, as if he hasn’t done enough in the past.

Melanie believes Janay is trying to trap Derwin into being her baby’s father, since he’s the new football star of the San Diego Sabers. She will clearly do anything to have her relationship back to the way things were, even if that means confronting Janay. After a hard day of interrogation, she comes back to Derwin’s place as he lets her know that she’s the only one for him (with a song by Robin Thicke, of course). After a (very) brief intimate moment, the couple finds out that Janay releases Derwin of any responsibility of “their” child. Girl Melanie (and I) thought it would be the end of big bad Janay, but Derwin changes our minds and voices how responsible he wants to be. Mel can’t handle all these changes, so she leaves and goes to Dionne’s house to seek refuge. Ha! Yeah right, she goes to Dionne’s house to find her with Jerome, straight up scandalous. Dionne confesses to Mel that she slept with “superman” and you damn right Melanie got a bit angry. Even though she calls Dionne on her “stank ass-ness,” Mel did some pretty stank things too while she was with Jerome. But in the end, Jerome prevails as he got both the girls…and his chips.

To both get out of the funk they both have been in, Tasha and Jason (and Malik and Tasha) hit the club, unbeknownst that the person they were trying to avoid is there. As “mama” is getting her party on (did yall peep homie she was dancing with? lol), Jason sees her and walks away in disappointment. “Papa” and Mama Mack run into each other and she finally finds out that her son is married and why she wasn’t told this information.

Changes is coming and very quickly for these characters. Each episode has been leaving me wanting more and I will fulfill that want for you next week in “Previously On.”

By Amirah Bey

It seems Lily didn’t take too seriously the age old adage; home is where the heart is, when S and Eric were growing up. And lately S feels like Lily is catering too much to Bart’s demands. So S freaks out on Lily for being Bart’s puppet. Yet after a stunt in the presence of InStyle, S realizes it’s not Bart she’s angry with it’s her crappy mother.

Lily talks to Eric, the only member of the upper-east-side clique with any sense, who tells Lily, “Yeah you’ve pretty much sucked as mom – no need to get all parental now.” But the VanDerWoodsen-Bass clan commiserate and make-up over sushi.

Dan enjoys his new bros-over-hoes relationship with Nate. Yet little does Dan know, Nate’s only befriended him because he’s poor now; Archibald just wants to be around other po’ folk. He undoubtedly wants to learn “shopping on a budget” tips, and which generic brands taste almost like the real thing.

Dan finds out Nate is poor after breaking in to his house and seeing that he’s sleeping on a pallet in the shell of his former home. Dan offers Nate a place to stay at his crib, but Archibald’s all like, “I’m not some charity case, leave me alone you psycho Brooklynite.” Yet Rufus tells Dan, “If you don’t succeed, badger them until they finally relent, that’s what real friends do.” But the Brooklyn Humprey logic holds water as Nate decides to stay with the family until who knows when.

Vanessa gets all “fight the power,” and is protesting about a speakeasy in Brooklyn that is due to be shutdown and sold. Consequently, she picks up some of the scheming, manipulative lessons that the Uppies have been putting down. V black mails Blair into getting signatures for the wannabe-landmark, with photos of the Duchess and the Lord in a passionate embrace.

Blair, disgusted with being under Vanessa’s thumb, sends chuck on a seduce-and-destroy mission to get Vanessa, and consequently Chuck’s arch-rival, Danny boy. The prize – Chuck gets some of Blair’s “Good, Good.”

Things go a little too far for Blair, who really only wants Chuck’s sinful, wickedness all over her body, who can blame her, when Chuck seems a tad too interested in Vanessa. So Blair ends the wager and tells Chuck to meet her in her boudoir.

Just when things are getting all hot and heavy, in slow mo nonetheless, Chuck pulls the “tell me you love me” stunt Blair pulled on him. Blair, whose pride is indeed overpowering her lust says, “Chuck Bass I will never say those three words to you.” Chuck then decides to turn the tables and tells Blair it is high-time she chase after him. He should have asked me, I’d have told him. “Oh Chuck Bass, Chuck Bass how I love thy deviously, manipulative ways, GG would be lost without you.”

But that’s all . . . XOXO.

By Amirah A. Bey

Jenny from Brooklyn and Vanessa unite to convince Rufus to reconsider Jen’s foolish plan to dropout. I mean who does Jenny think she is, Kanye West? Daddy is against the plan until Eleanor and Lily, no not over breakfast after a night of wild hot adulterous sex, tell him how much talent Jen has.

So Rufus reconsiders and decides to let Jen become a worthless dropout who will undoubtedly be a teenage star, addicted to booze or crack, hopping from one rehab clinic to the other. I guess parents of kid-talent haven’t learned anything from Lindsey Lohan or Gary Coleman.

Speaking of little boys, S’s little brother, Eric, finds himself a cute boy-toy of his own. A little too Harry Potter-ish if you ask me, but I don’t think any one did. If someone had, I would have definitely pointed little Eric in Dan’s direction; the man goes through more mood swings than my menopausal grandmother. (Sorry Nana)

Interestingly, a sordid threesome envelops between Chuck, Archibald, and Dan the asshole. Nate goes all witness protection program at Yale pretending to be Dan, of all people, in an attempt to avoid “catching a beat down,” because the Captain basically drained everyone’s trust funds.

Yet the plot thickens as Dan, searching for a recommendation for his Yale application, walks in on a TA and Nate having a hot groping session. Dan totally blocks Nate, who is pretending to be Dan, who is pretending to be an interesting human being.

Next Chuck is kidnapped by the Skull & Bones, who he black males into being his puppets for the rest of their lives. Chuck is so conniving – that’s why I love you Bass Jr. Chuck also tells the S&B that Dan is Nate, carrying out his promise to destroy Dan from the whole prison rape scene incident. But Nate gets all desperate housewives mad at Chuck for setting up Dan. How ungrateful! Maybe if he’d let Nate get tied butt-naked-jewels-hanging to a tree, he wouldn’t have been all, I have morals blah, blah, blah.

S gets a handwritten invitation to Yale, but S won’t go because Yale belongs to B. Then Blaire’s all like yeah have fun at Brown with all the dummies and tree huggers. And S is like, Oh, no she didn’t! And she decides to crash the Yale party after all. Several catty events ensue that all lead to a magnificent upper-east-side brawl, with Blaire throwing a purse at S’s head and S ripping off one of Blaire’s many unsightly hair bands.

Then the next day they make up and are all like, we’re probably fighting because we’re afraid to be apart, yeah that’s it. Whatever the reason, thank Buddha the duo is back together, because apart, I don’t’ think they’d be as much fun.

But that’s all – XOXO!

Oh Bree. When will she learn? She has once again upset someone close to her because she cannot let things be any other way but her own. Danielle finally brought Benjamin over for a visit after Bree and Orson begged and pleaded for three years. One would assume that being able to see her grandson after such a hiatus would be enough, but Bree is never satisfied and criticizes everything about the way Danielle raises her own child, especially the absence of meat from his diet. The final straw comes for Danielle after Bree feeds the now vegetarian Benjamin two hotdogs. I guess she’ll never learn.

Two residents that did learn something, though, are Susan and Gabby; they don’t know everything about parenting yet… but I mean, I could have told them that. The lesson begins when Susan’s son MJ comes home with a ripped shirt and scratch on his chin. The kid is being bullied, no big deal. Well it shouldn’t be seeing as the bully is Gabby’s “little” girl Juanita. Granted, she can “take down a small deer,” according to Susan, but MJ’s father Mike won’t teach him to fight because Juanita is a girl. Well Susan isn’t having it and decides to teach little Juanita a lesson by pushing her down after she saw her bullying MJ through the kitchen window. Of course, Gabby sees this and the two adults proceed to scrap but after all of the commotion, Susan and Gabby, best friends forever, talk it out over a bottle of liqs. and 40 proof solves it all.

Gabby teaches Bree’s son, Andrew a lesson in crazy when she threatens to ram his new sports car with the old one she bought from him. A bit off center, yes, but she has her reasons. The car he sold her wasn’t in the best shape of its life and he warned her ahead of time. She clearly couldn’t care less about warnings because when Andrew refuses to pay for the cracked radiator, she revved her engines. I said she had her reasons, I didn’t say they were good. But I can’t blame her, she did have to sell the Maserati for much less than its Blue Book worth to a couple purchasing it for their nanny. Ouch! I would have some pent up aggression too.

Speaking of aggression, Dave, Edie’s crazy man, is still plotting and scheming around town. He and Tom have decided to start a garage band (yes mid-life crisis), much to the dismay of Lynette. See, Tom was supposed to be getting rid of his junk that kept the two car garage empty of any actual cars. Snooping Dave sees what’s happening and tells Lynette that Tom’s junk is really a mid-life crisis treasure chest for him. So of course Lynette feels bad for destroying Tom’s prized guitar (and blaming it on her daughter) and gives him the replacement guitar Dave bought to save the day.
I told you he’s scheming, like why is he doing all of this!? Anyway, Dave is also trying to ruin lives and reputations down at Ms. McCluskey’s house after he finds out that she is the culprit behind Edie asking so many questions about his past. He says that he hopes she isn’t suffering dementia like his grandmother did… yeah right. He’s full of lies and it’s making me ill. He should go to jail or something.
Until next week, God Bless!

LL is back! No, not Ladies Love Cool J, but our girl Lindsey Lohan has made a hot come back on this week’s episode of Ugly Betty. Drawing from her Mean Girls plastics days Kimmy (Lohan) shook the floors of MODE when she stomped onto the scene as the new associate editor. While working with Daniel to prepare for a Sundance Kimmy used her newfound powers and cattiness to swiftly stir evil into the office. Danny pressurized Betty to be cordial and fetch breakfast for Kimmy who decided to be wicked and remind Betty of her stagnant state (well she has been Daniel’s assistant for two years).

The mag biz as we know it is dying and the people MODE were made well aware. In a meeting with mommy Mead, Daniel and Willie, the head gamers of MODE and Meade Publications, it was made known that if they did not make some drastic changes soon MODE could see numbers in the red and there will be a great possibility of a collapse. Willie decided to bring in an old Harvard enemy of Daniel’s, Connor, to the team to aid in freshening company financials.

This year’s edition for the HOT issue of MODE was a chance for the mag to pull in some extra ad sales dollars and for Betty to prove she was ready for a promotion. After some serenading and inspiration from Jesse, the cute boy next door, and his guitar, Betty threw down her best elevator speech (take note young professionals, this is a speech is a must have!) to Daniel so she can write a spot for the HOT issue. Danny gave her the opportunity to write a seemingly impossibly spot about this winters hot sizzling fruit. B. Suar used her unbelievable assistant skills and discovered the Brazilian tico berry which has special healing power and is a favorite of sexy supermodel Adriana Lima, who Betty got do the HOT issue cover for MODE. LL decided to take this as an opportunity for sabatoge so when Betty interviewed with the gossip guy himself Suzuki she turned the camera lights up to the max and the extreme heat caused B. Suar to lose her fake eyelashes on live television and LL to save the day. The interview fiasco prompted Danny to make the two work on the cover shoot together.

The shoot became chaos when Mark and Amanda, both who had been scarred by Kimmy’s MODE take over, along with Betty decided to tell Kimmy to disagree with Willie about the recreated Marie Antoine necklace for the shoot. Kim was defiant of Willie (never argue with the editor, especially if her name is Wilhelmina) and was fired and escorted out by the police.

With a mix of serious “Vote or Die” like pleas, high fashion, econ updates and sexy guitar players this episode was a bonified banger for Ugly Betty players.

Best Lines: “There is an evil around here that effects us all, like global warning” – Amanda

Ok, so why did I think Mike was dead for like half of the episode? He wasn’t, he and Susan are divorced though. And all the commotion had me forget that they have a child together! Knowing how things go down on Wisteria Lane, that kid is going to have a complex. Especially when he finds out that his mommy is sleeping with the painter.

Speaking of little people, Gabby has two of her own now, but her four-year-old isn’t that “little,” as she has a bit of a weight problem. And true to Gabby being Gabby, she tries her own offbeat but always sincere attempts at helping her daughter exercise, one of which forcing Juanita to run after the car on the way home from a friend’s birthday party.

But it’s not all bad news on the Desperate Housewives’ season premier, Bree and Katherine’s friendship has never been stronger now that they have their own catering business together. Plus, Bree has just published her first cookbook and dedicated it to Katherine! Aww, right? No. Bree has gotten her head all swollen and thinks that she is just the cat’s pajamas. In that new cookbook, she forgot to give Katherine the credit on the recipes she came up with. Especially one which involves a spun-sugar veil that Bree has not been able to successfully make. But don’t worry, Katherine gets her revenge. We also find out that Danielle, Bree’s daughter, came to take her son Benjamin back. Now that she’s married and everything…

The drama continues into the home of the Scavos. And the culprits are of course the twins, Porter and Preston. I have been saying that they need to get their butts whipped with a belt, shoe, switch, extension cord… whatever, since the first season! But Lynette and her pansy husband Tom wouldn’t listen. So what happened now? The twins are running a casino out of the family restaurant. Lynette “grounds” them, but Tom un-grounds them because, having been a band nerd in high school, thinks they’re just the coolest kids on the block. That family is just too complicated for me…

Moving on. Edie returns back to Wisteria Lane after being gone five years, and she brought a husband with her. You know he’s suspect at the beginning because he forces the man living in Edie’s old house to move out by giving him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Everyone loves him because he has taught Edie tact and grace. But all is not well, as I suspected, when he tells Edie that she needs to be nice to the people on her old street, so “it’ll be easier.” What will be easier?! I don’t know, and neither does Edie, or why they even moved back there in the first place…

Oh yes, and Lynette decides to throw a party for her return, and Edie thinks it’s because the women wanted to apologize. She’s of course crushed when she finds out it is really a “we forgive you” party. Haha! Always good times with these crazy ladies.

Until next week, stay Blessed.