Round 61 - TV shows that jumped the shark

This week the girls take aim at TV Shows that jumped the shark... 

Ever watched a TV show and thought "ok this is too far"? Well, there is a saying for it that comes from a classic TV show that did exactly that to boost ratings. This week we discuss TV shows we think jumped the shark. 

But first, what were we drinking?

Bianca was drinking The Mechanic Cabernet Sauvignon 

Available from Naked wines

Sarah was drinking Frozen Pepsi...again

Available from Places Like KFC

Amy was drinking The Mechanic Cabernet Sauvignon 

Available from Naked wines

Bianca opened with the background and history of "jumping the shark" then she introduced her cohosts to 2 new sayings "Nuke the Fridge" and "Growing the Beard". Amy was not a fan of the latter. 

Then Bianca got into her 3 shows; Battlestar Galactica, The Office, and True Blood.

Battlestar Galactica

This sci-fi series took things too far in the finale of the third season. In the episode, the identity of the “Final Five” Cylons is revealed and Bianca found it to be a less than satisfying experience. An eerie mystery was now, borderline cheesy —and it imploded prior plotlines in the process.

The Office

Some fans correlate the decline of this comedy classic to the marriage of Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) which occurs in the sixth season and Bianca wholeheartedly agrees with that. However, the shark wasn’t officially jumped until Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, departed in “Goodbye, Michael” from the following season. He made a brief return for the series finale.

True Blood

The glory of True Blood always lived in the lines of its most badass characters; Eric, Lafayette, and Pam. Then midway through series 4 suddenly Lala has PTSD, Pam is sad and her skin is terrible, and Eric is doing some kind of Tara-from-Series-4-Buffy impression. The dangerous and explosive sexual tension he and Sookie had built up over years fizzled out the moment their soft-focused, Bambi in Narnia sex began. But realistically for Bianca, it jumped the shark when Bill became Billith in the season 5 finale.

Sarah then goes into her choice of shows which were shows that did musical episodes. Now, Sarah loves a good musical but when it comes to tv shows she finds it a bit cringy to watch. Unless of course, they do it right.

Some of the shows that had a musical episode that she covered are:

• Passions
• Lucifer
• The Flash 
• Scrubs
• And Buff The Vampire Slayer 

Listen to the episode to find out what she thinks. 

Amy decided to discuss the TV show Weeds. Weeds is about a widower who lives in the suburbs with her two sons. The family is grieving the loss of their husband/father when uncle Andy decides to move in and help with the children. He actually seems to be more like a third child as opposed to the helpful brother-in-law to the show's main character Nancy. 

Viewers soon discover that Nancy is supporting her family by selling weed to local bored adults who are mostly her kid's friend's parents. In the first three seasons, the show is great. There are comical hijinx that come with Nancy's secret life as a drug dealer but also relatable parent drama in relation to her kids. 

However, in season 4, Amy thinks the show jumped the shark. After Nancy's neighbourhood burns down (it was a drug-related incident) the family moves and Nancy gets involved with a drug kingpin who is also the mayor of Tijuana, Mexico. 

After season 4 the show lost its charm and the plot lines were getting more and more ridiculous. Nancy became less and less relatable as the seasons rolled on and Amy admits she hasn't seen the last season for that reason. For her, Weeds jumped the shark at the end of season three. 

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Round 58 - Eccentric millionaires

This week the girls take aim at Eccentric Millionaires... 

This week we thought we would take aim at those with pastures a little greener than our own. In tonight's episode, we discuss the lives of some interesting folks who have more money than they would ever know what to do with.

But first, what were we drinking?

Bianca was drinking The Rocks Pinot Gris

Available from Naked wines 

Sarah was drinking Max By Pepsi

Available from Most Shops

Amy was drinking Lazy Sunday Rosè

Available from Naked wines

Bianca opened the episode with a list of the top 20 richest people right now (thank you, Forbes). We immediately sh*t all over the usual suspects.

Then Bianca spoke on the life and experiences of the very eccentric Jocelyn Wildenstein, who is one of the wealthiest divorcees in the world. What makes her legendary is the life she led and the plastic surgery journey she went through.

Amy decided to cover the 18th Duchess of Alba, Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva. The duchess was the most titled aristocrat until her death in 2014 holding over 50 hereditary titles. 

The duchess lived an incredibly privileged life as one of the most senior aristocrats in Spain. Cayetana had six children and was married three times. With each marriage came a new scandal. However, the duchess did not seem to be worried about the opinions of others marrying her toyboy lover in 2011 and hitting the beach in a bikini well into her eighties. 

The duchess was also well known for her indulgence in plastic surgery, her 70s era perm that she had until the day she died, and even sporting winged eyeliner which Amy is pretty sure she did herself. 

Cayetana was a friend to the rich and famous around the world and was loved by her adoring public. The duchess loved to dance the flamenco and even appeared in front of the waiting press on her final wedding day to show off her moves. 

Whilst Cayetana appears in many google searches for eccentric billionaires, Amy concluded that the duchess was not eccentric, she simply did not care what others thought and did as she pleased. Power to her!

Sarah finishes us off with a self-made millionaire by the name of Scott Alexander. This gentleman made his first million in the first year of opening his company that caters to the wealthy who desire to have what they want without any of the waiting time. He also got into the property market and bought himself a town in Bulgaria back in 2006.

Scott has quite the expensive taste in clothing and it's nothing to him to spend 15,000 pounds on a suit that has gold woven into the fabric or to throw away D&G underwear just because he has worn them twice. Don't even get Sarah started on his cars.

Scott's property business, unfortunately, went bankrupt in 2009 but his other ventures and personal training seem to still be working for him.

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Round 60 - Movie music

This week the girls take aim at Movie Music... 

This week we decided to combine two of our favourite topics being music and movies. In full disclosure, Bianca came up with this topic but didn't give us a lot in terms of parameters for the topic, however, we could all agree that music in movies has the power to take us back to the movie it's from and is essential for a good movie. 

But first, what were we drinking?

Amy was drinking Boy meets Girl Pinot Grigio

Available from Naked wines

Bianca was drinking The Victorian Shiraz

Available from Naked wines

Sarah was drinking 

Available from Anywhere that sells it

Amy kicked us off tonight explaining that despite combining our two favourite topics we all ran in different directions on this one. Amy then discussed the role music plays in setting the scene in a movie and can be used to intensify, dramatise or even bring a sense of relief to parts of a movie.

Amy then went on to discuss one of her favourite film franchises, James Bond and the role music has had since the first James Bond movie was released in 1962. 

The first James film, Dr No, opened with theme music which is now played all over the world. After the first film, a theme song sung by a well-known music artist of the time was also played in the opening credits of the film with the James Bond theme. 

Well-known music artists and bands who have taken a turn at singing a James bond theme song are:

Shirley Bassey (who sang three in total) 

Tom Jones

Nancy Sinatra

Louis Armstrong

Paul McCartney and the Wings

Lulu

Duran Duran

A-ha

Gladys Knight

Tina Turner

Sheryl Crow

Garbage

Madonna

Chris Cornell

Jack White and Alicia Keys

Adele

Sam Smith

Billie Eilish

After listening to James Bond songs whilst researching this topic she did discover some of her favourite James Bond songs came from films within the franchise that she didn't love.

Amy concluded her segment by saying that her favourite James Bond theme song is Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey, and she absolutely loved this movie. 

Bianca went with her concept which was songs that transport you to a movie when you hear them. This would have been super helpful for the other two bitches, if she had actually outlined the brief...

and here is her magical list of songs and the movies they correlate to:

Won't back down = Barnyard

My Sharona = reality Bites

Bad to the bone = terminator 2

Don't you forget about me = 2 movies; breakfast club and pitch-perfect 

I want you to want me = 10 things I hate about you

Tiny dancer = almost famous 

Party in the USA = pitch perfect

Betty and the jets = 27 dresses

Fortunate son = Forrest Gump

I will survive = 2 movies; Priscilla and the replacements 

Sarah went in a different way than Bianca had intended. She ended the night's topic with Disney songs that she finds get stuck in her head or she just wakes up singing for some reason. These songs are:

  

• Sleeping Beauty - once upon a dream 

• The little mermaid - part of your world

• Hercules - go the distance / zero to hero

• The lion king - all the songs

• Mulan - make a man out of you

• Darby O’Gill and the little people - Pretty Irish Girl

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Round 59 - Life Hacks

 This week the girls take aim at Life Hacks... 

Hacks, tips, tricks, or seemingly obvious solutions to daily problems have taken our world by storm! Tonight we take a look at some which we love and some we have discovered don't work as planned.

But first, what were we drinking?

Sarah was drinking Aqua By Jug

Available from All Good Taps

Amy was drinking Lazy Sunday Pinot Gris 

Available from Naked wines

Bianca was drinking Boy meets girl savvy B Semillon

Available from Naked wines

Sarah starts us off with what life hacks are and a couple of ways they can help us. However, she thought before we go into some helpful hacks, you should hear about some not so helpful ones such as a wooden spoon on top of a pot to stop it from boiling over, using old sauce bottles for pancake mix, and why you shouldn't use a toaster to make grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Bianca followed on with some life hacks that actually work!

Stop a pot from boiling over - when your pot of whatever is boiling over drop an ice cube into it and it will almost instantly calm its shit.

Self defense hack - have a baseball bat for defense, BUT not only is that useful, if you put a sock on it. If your assailant tries to grab the bat when you go to hit them, they will grab the sock, it will slide off the bat and you can swing back for a second go. BOOM life saved.

Masking the smell of a dead body, I mean dead animal… you don't have to bury the animal very deep all you need is some ashes like campfire ashes pour that over the body I mean animal carcass and the charcoal in the ashes neutralizes the smell.

BEST onion life hack… So according to science magic the vapor emitted from an onion when you chop it is attracted to moisture and will head to the closest moist area, it can find. This means your eyes. To combat this wet some paper towels place that on the chopping board next to the onion you are chopping and wallah! No more tears!

Amy loves a good hack. She has even been referred to as a walking hack (pun intended). However many hacks Amy has come up with herself are dangerous or stupid and most definitely should not be repeated by anyone. 

So Amy decided to share a cleaning hack which she discovered more recently. It turns out humble white chalky toothpaste has a number of uses. It can be used to keep your bathroom mirror defogged, clean stains off white shoes, polish anything metal, clean your hands after handling something particularly stinky, and even patch small holes in walls. 

Amy did discover that the power of cleaning with toothpaste can only go so far. It will not clean cracked porcelain or remove dishwasher marks from your plates or bowls. 

Amy then threw in a bonus hack about how she cleans her dishwasher. 

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