Summer Binge-Watching “The TV Junkie” by Penny Landau

Real Housewives go below at 54…

I have a passing acquaintance with those “RHONY” gals, but when they start invading my cabaret world, I have to get with the program. On tonight’s episode (9pm on Bravo) Luann de Lesseps and her partner in crime, Sonja Morgan, set out to rehearse for Luann’s show at Feinstein’s/54 Below this coming September 10^th at 7pm. Her musical director is none other than Grammy, MAC and every other award-winner, our own Billy Stritch. The show, directed by Ben Rimalower, is bound to be as successful as was her last show, where Sonja had a kinda, well, costume malfunction. Actually, I only watch the show when my friend, psychic medium Roberta Tavassoli is on, guiding Sonja along the way. She’s been with Sonja since 1995 and is the one who virtually dragged her off the ill-fated flight 800, where everyone aboard perished. Roberta, who had her own radio show and is well-known in the psychic medium world, is featured in the documentary They Are Here: The Real World of the Poltergeists, author Hans Holzer’s film about spirits and the after-life. FYI – she’s really on the money and told me things that NOBODY else would know. If you want to have a reading, let me know.

Two shows for your summer binge watching…

Catching up with old friends…

If you’ve followed The TV Junkie over the past ten years, then you know that “Jersey Shore” was one of the shows I wrote about in almost every column. Well, it’s been six years since the show concluded and now Vinny, Paulie, Ronnie, JWoww, Deena, Snookie and The Situation are back in this interesting reunion series, “Jersey Shore Family Vacation.” The duck phone is back, but Sammi is MIA and that’s ok, because someone brought a life-size dummy in her place. Don’t ask.

The show has now reunited Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Jennifer Lynn “Jenni” Farley (best known as “JWoww”), Deena Nicole Cortese, Paul DelVecchio, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino , but this is a vastly different group than the first iteration, which ran from December 3, 2009 to December 20, 2012. Deena is married, Jenni and Nicole each have two kids, Vinny has his own line of clothing (Name Brand NYC), Mike is clean and sober, Paulie is a celebrity DJ and Ronnie is, well, still Ronnie.

Season two, which started filming in Las Vegas, hit a snag when Ronnie and his baby mama, Jen Harley, started fighting in public, ending with her arrest. Wow, there’s a shock! It’s resumed, but we’ll have to wait until next season to see how they all weathered the storm of Ronny being a daddy.

I’m Dying Up Here…

One of my favorite shows for the past two seasons is Showtime’s “I’m Dying Up Here,” a look at the early days of the stand-up boom of the 1970’s, complete with club owners, comics, agents and groupies. Full disclosure: I was the PR rep for the Duplex and saw the career launches of Ray Romano, Joy Behar, Mario Cantone, Larry Amoros, Larry David, Gilbert Gottfried, Susie Essman, Carol Liefer…the list goes on. Basically, I was part of that whole scene, so this show is right up my alley.

One of my favorite actresses, Melissa Leo, plays Goldie Herschlag, owner of the premiere LA comedy club with Ari Graynor as her protégé and up-and-coming comic, Cassie Feder. Many think Goldie’s character is based on the late Mitzi Shore, owner of the famous Comedy Store, by I think I’d go with Silver Friedman who, along with ex-husband Budd, created the Improv, one of New York City’s top comedy clubs back in the day. Get it? Goldie? Silver?

In its second season, the show added the wonderfully droll Brad Garrett to the cast as Roy Martin, an aging comic who takes Eddie Zeidel (Michael Angarano) under his wing as a writer, while Eddie’s best friend, Ron Shack (Clark Duke, Ashton Kutcher’s nerdy IT guy on “Two & A Half Men”) is about to star in his own sitcom. Add in a cast which includes Erik Griffin (Ralph), Al Madrigal (Edgar), Andrew Santino (Bill), my pal Stephen Guarino (Sully) and RJ Cyler (Adam), in addition to some of today’s well-known comics, Judy Gold, Dom Irrera, Rick Overton, Cathy Ladman, Dana Gould, Andy Kindler and Paul Provenza and you have a show that is worthy of an “On Demand” binge. Try it, it couldn’t hurt! Then you’ll be all ready for season three.

Until next time…

Until next time… When we go back to the shore…the shore of Miami!

“The TV Junkie” was preceded in her family by a large mahogany cabinet that housed a small screen with a large speaker below. Thus began her love affair with the older sibling in the living room. Theirs was a tenuous relationship, prone to mishaps (forgetting to use the special “screen” for “Winky Dink”), joyous events (“Julie & Carol at Carnegie Hall”), sad moments (Clarabelle saying goodbye to the Peanut Gallery) and a wide range of emotions (the funeral of John F. Kennedy and the Inauguration of Barack Obama). From “Captain Video” to “Star Trek” to “Lost;” from “A Brighter Day” to “The Edge of Night” to “General Hoapital;” from “Peyton Place” to “ “Dynasty” to “Desperate Housewives;” there has never been a greater love, than that of “The TVJ” and the best friend a girl could ever have.