Flower is DEAD. She was KILLED by a cobra. Not so funny now, is it, missy?

Though I suppose that makes Lauren the winner by default.

Some psychic crapfest is the cheesiest show since Drunk Asshole Hotel? Oh no. There's no question the real heir is "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila." Oh my god is it awesome. Sixteen straight guys and sixteen lesbians, most of whom look like they walked in off of a porn set, vie for the attentions of a talentless bisexual babe.

The UFO-shaped house features a stripper pole in the basement and a bed literally large enough for all the contestants to sleep in at once. But, naturally, no one is allowed to hook up unless it's with Tila. How long do you think it takes before that rule gets broken?

Please watch this show before deciding what most deserves Drunk Asshole's crown.

I cast my vote for Flower as the most skilled actor currently on television she has been dead for weeks.

She really did get killed by a cobra, Heather. Where have you been for the last several weeks? That story broke a long time ago.

A little decency--and a little fact checking--on your part would be really nice.

Pretending that an animal in an animal documentary was "acting." Animals can't act, and in documentaries they are not even doing something that they have been trained to do. Of course Heather knows that the cobra killed Flower. That's the point of the joke.

And no, it's not heartless or disrespectful. The entire point of studying animals in the wild is to learn about their lives in the wild. That includes getting killed by other animals. It's not a Disney cartoon - it's the real world.

(I think that those Disney cartoons may have played a significant role in the development of the incredible excess of anthropomorphism that plagues our society and does more harm than good to wild animals. But that's another discussion entirely.)

Take the word from someone who has tried to call Havrilesky on her decency and her fact-checking many times, that's a task as fruitless as getting George Bush to use makeup to hide the gin blossoms on his face.

Anyhow...the point of Phenomenon is its foolish mystification of magic. The show is flying in the face of magician James Randi, who's challenged and debunked the attempts of magicians to attribute their powers to mystical - or religious - forces. Instead of pulling off magic tricks and gaining admiration for their superb technical skill and acting ability, some magicians are trying to tap people's fears and worries - which Havrilesky alluded to in the intro to this column, however crudely.

Criss Angel and his buddies probably never saw the movie Nightmare Alley, showing how such deception brought about the sad fate of Stan Carlysle, a.k.a. Stanton the Great. And they probably missed the South Park episode "The Biggest Douche in the Universe," which pretty much explained John Edwards and his techniques.

Like it or not, we'll be in for more such geek acts as the writer's strike takes hold. The public is largely unaware of how much scripting is done for "reality" shows, and how little of their own humor Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel actually generate. They're about to find out, subject to how much starvation the writers can tolerate. (That they are making so little money that they can starve - or the LA equivalent of such - while the megacorps get fat on DVD releases, is the point of the strike.)

Instead, look for more of the garage-band head-bangers seen on that Fox show, or the no-name acts Jimmy Kimmel books at the end of his show. Heck, maybe some of them may not be doing swipes of Kiss or Britney Spears, and may have some music worth listening to. And it'll be better than hearing the hosts trying to ad-lib an entire monolog.

He's absolutely right.

These people who claim to have "paranormal powers" are lying and should be squashed. Watching a John Edward or Silvia Brown makes me feel sick to my very core. They are ghouls and con artists who make a living sell untruths to idiots.

Having sat through that that crap "Phenomenon", Heather could have at least rewarded herself with watching the best new show on TV, "Life".

But she didn't.

:shakes head sadly:

I had to give up watching Meerkat Manor in the first season. It was just too hard to watch. When Shakespeare got bitten by a snake and then disappeared for a couple of shows, the suspense was just more than I wanted to have in my life. That's right, I was wracked with worry over the fate of that brave little meerkat. Agggh!

Poor taste to make jokes about the dead, even if they happen to be animals.

Heather, if I made a joke about hoping you'd be killed so everyone could laugh, you wouldn't think it was funny at all.

ps that guy who's obsessively in love with Teila Tequila has to be real

... now THAT would be "America's Next Great Band."

First, you speak as though "mentalist" or mentalism is a new formulation. Mentalism is a field of magic, the term has been used over a century. As it sounds, it's magic focused on the mind/ psyche, seeks to create the illusions of paranormal supernatural phenomena... the term wasn't created for NBC. You just hadn't heard it before. Look up Joseph Dunninger, world famous mentalist of the 30's and 40's, or Kreskin, who never called himself a magician.

Second, "Illusionist" is by no means out of favor. The performers aren't illusionists wishing for a cooler title.

To the one who attacked Heather: "Oh, good for Cris Angel. He's absolutely right. These people who claim to have 'paranormal powers' are lying and should be squashed. Watching a John Edward or Silvia Brown makes me feel sick to my very core. They are ghouls and con artists who make a living sell untruths to idiots."

But... the NBC performers are entertainers. So-called psychics, those phonies you named, never call themselves mentalists, that is the whole point.

Jim C. said at the end, "I hope you enjoyed the entertainment." He didn't claim to be talking to audience dead relatives but his own mentor and friend, sci-fi author Raymond (who had agreed before he died to let Jim use his name in 'medium' performances). So... on Halloween night, Jim did a "seance" effect, of possession by a ghost. He didn't ask anyone to believe, did he? No, he just did a Halloween-themed supernatural performance piece on stage.

As Heather pointed out, why didn't Criss "debunk" the other paranormal demonstrations? If I were Jim, I would have said, "Sure thing, Criss, I'll have Raymond read it for us. Could you levitate over here with the envelope please? Oh, you can't?" Then re-do the possession routine and write on the board: "skcirt aremac dna seriw sesu eh"