Going into last night's premiere of the new "90210" I was pretty ambivalent. I was never a huge fan of the original, although a former roommate was, so I had a decent handle on at least the first four seasons. Remakes of popular TV shows are historically problematic (see: last year's "Bionic Woman," the WB's Tim Curry-as-Mr. French "Family Affair," and the revamped "Fantasy Island" from almost 10 years ago). And to be honest, the casting for this show - especially the new teens -- left a lot to be desired. But surprise, surprise: I

Oh, Tyra. You make it so hard to defend you sometimes... While it was amazing to have a two-hour "Top Model" premiere last night, the first hour - the casting special - was ROUGH. A few years ago I thought nothing could be tackier than Top Model Boot Camp. Then came the Top Model Cruise. But I really don't think cheese comes any thicker than the Top Model Technical Institute of Fashion (or whatever it was called) and its sci-fi shtick and special effects straight out of "Who Wants to Be a Super Hero?" Mr. Jay with

Oh, it was a hot time in the old town last night on "Project Runway." There was plenty of hissing and spitting and backbiting, but according to Tim's blog we missed A LOT more. First evictee Jerry behaving like a diva (ha!), Daniel totally coopting Joe's design, and a lot more Terri/Keith drama. I wish they had made this a two-hour episode. All the sniping and bitching -- have we ever had a batch of designers this unpleasant? I don't think so.I didn't like much of the fashion that was presented, to be frank. I liked LeAnne's interesting carapace-like Scorpio

Sweet, transsexual Isis. Once you're eliminated in a couple weeks (and you know it's coming; she's been hovering near the bottom two weeks in a row now), please take solace in two facts. 1. You really did help America become more aware of the plight of transgendered people. And 2. You added yet another delicious "Top Model" phrase to my group's already-overflowing quote book. Last night Tyra taunted the contestants with their bleak post-reality TV careers by sending the models to Wal-Mart (fashion capital of the Midwest, donchaknow). There, make-up artists Sutan and...Nigel Barker's wife

Oh, my god. After last night, is there any doubt that Kenley is hands down the most insufferable contestant ever to appear on this show? And when you consider the likes of Vincent, Jeffrey, and Keith, that's a LOT of asshole to choose from. But I still think she totally takes the title.So the challenge was to design makeover outfits for recent college grads, and their moms would be there to supervise. Kind of. After the first fittings the moms were totally out of the picture, which led to only a little drama -- stereotypical overbearing mother hemming and hawing

Last night's "Top Model" featured not one, but two eliminations. Sad times. Or, at least, one sad time, as the first bootee was allegedly racist Alaska native Hannah, and she will not be missed in the slightest. (Although her hilarious runway walk will be. Those windmill arms were worth their weight in Wetslicks.) The other cut hurt. Isis, the first-ever actual transsexual to compete in "Top Model" history (there have been a bunch of ladies teased for hiding a shenis or two), was sent packing. Isis was a sweet, reserved, likable girl, and I honestly think she was a

A few weeks ago I thought this show had hit its all-time low in terms of interesting, sensible challenges with the "create an outfit out of these leftover product-placed car parts" episode. And then, last night, it got worse. First, the producers ripped off an old challenge, Season 2's "create a look for your fellow designer" bit. And then they added a completely mind-boggling twist, by forcing the designers to style their chosen competitor/model in a randomly selected musical genre. I'm sorry...what? What the hell does that have to do with anything? It bears mentioning that the musical-genre thing

Once again I find myself liking Hiro but hating his storyline. This would be the second season in a row.