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THE NEW MEXICAN Wednesday, May 29, 2013
British import Jo Frost returns to television in new reality series called Family S.O.S. With Jo Frost, which airs on Tuesdays on TLC. COURTESY PHOTO
TLC’S ‘FAMILY S.O.S.’
The Supernanny returns to help unhappiest homes By Hank Stuever
The Washington Post
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n her last TV incarnation for seven seasons as Supernanny, British import Jo Frost arrived at American homes in a black, London-style hackney cab and set about helping the fried parents of manic, misbehaving toddlers establish some order and discipline. Frost dressed in a stern uniform — children were clearly intimidated — and dispensed the toughest sort of love; mostly she taught parents how to say no. People with and without children — especially people without children — drew a certain smug satisfaction from the show, dovetailing nicely with the Internet’s troubling talent for gang-lecturing people right where it hurts most, in matters of family lifestyle, entitlement and parental shortcomings. After a short absence, Frost has retired the supernanny shtick and returns on Tuesday nights in an admirably resolute but occasionally difficult new TLC reality series called Family S.O.S. With Jo Frost. Here, the emphasis is on addressing a more prolonged set of child-rearing dysfunctions that have produced yard apes and terror teens. In addition to a whole lot of bratty “[bleep] yous” and slammed bedroom doors, Frost is drawn to root causes: marital spats, addiction issues and verbal and physical abuse. The whole gift basket. Her first assignment takes her to Huntington Beach, Calif., where 55-year-old Don and 49-year-old Julie have made a disastrous attempt to blend families. Spiteful teenagers seem to be slumped in every corner here, hissing four-letter words at one another and their parents, like a small army of Linda Blairs. “I’ve been told [that] if I can’t help this family in one week, they will divorce,” Frost tells her viewers,. For all its noise and uncomfy moments, Family S.O.S. is relatively genuine
Newsmakers Rob Lowe cast as JFK in National Geographic film
Rob Lowe
NEW YORK — Rob Lowe will portray President John F. Kennedy in a National Geographic film about the former president’s 1963 assassination. The National Geographic Channel said Tuesday that filming for Killing Kennedy would begin next month in Richmond, Va. The film is based on the book by Bill O’Reilly.
Jolie aunt dies of breast cancer days after op-ed
Angelina Jolie
ESCONDIDO, Calif. — Less than two weeks after Angelina Jolie revealed she’d had a double mastectomy to avoid breast cancer, her aunt died from the disease Sunday. Debbie Martin died at age 61 at a hospital in Escondido, Calif., near San Diego. Martin was the younger sister of Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, whose own death from ovarian cancer in 2007 inspired the surgery that Jolie described in a May 14 op-ed in The New York Times. Martin had the same defective BRCA1 gene. The 37-year-old Jolie had her breasts removed, reducing her likelihood of getting breast cancer to 5 percent. The Associated Press
TV
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Today’s talk shows
top picks
6:30 p.m. FAM Baby Daddy The likable comedy about a 20-something man whose carefree life gets turned on its head with the arrival of an infant daughter he never knew he had returns for Season 2. Jean-Luc Bilodeau stars as Ben, who needs the help of his friends and his mom (Melissa Peterman) to make sure he can handle impromptu fatherhood. Guest stars this season include Greg Grunberg, Wayne Brady, Caroline Rhea and Lacey Chabert. 7 p.m. on CBS The American Baking Competition Hosted by Jeff Foxworthy with help from judges Marcela Valladolid and Paul Hollywood, this new series features skilled American amateurs competing in baking challenges with one ultimately being crowned the winner. The show is based on the hit U.K. series The Great British Bake Off. 7 p.m. FAM Dancing Fools All those crazy dance videos you find online finally have a place to go with this new clip/ competition show that features everything from rehearsed routines to Grandpa getting down after a wedding. Some dancers featured in the clips will get a chance to strut their stuff live for a shot at a $10,000
stuff, especially for the current incarnation of TLC. Viewers who know Frost’s previous work will have no trouble believing that she cares about the outcome and sincerely wants to help these families patch thing up. When they cry, she cries — and if it’s all an act, well, it’s a good act. A different episode takes Frost to another Los Angeles suburb, where a husband and father is confronted with the fact that he avoids parenting duties and has been borderline abusive to his brood, especially the mentally disabled son who struggles with toilet training. When I say “This is hard to watch,” you are absolutely correct to thunder back, “Well, then why do you watch it?” Because it’s life. Some of us are just endlessly interested in other people — more than we are drawn to nature documentaries or singing competitions. We’re not snoops so much as amateur sociologists. When Frost walks into the house, she asks to look around, so she can see where the bedrooms are and see where various family members spend most of their time. She’s interested in kitchen tables and photos on the wall. The difference between Jo Frost and Gladys Kravitz — the nosy neighbor from Bewitched reruns, who remains fixed as a cultural symbol of disrespected privacy — has something to do with empathy; a curious and often heartbreaking empathy. The scowling teenager with his arms folded is absolutely correct: Much of what’s happening here is affected and determined by the presence of Frost and her TV crew. And yet, for those of us who want to know more about the family dynamic — in its entire spectrum, from comfort to estrangement — Family S.O.S. is a worthy endeavor. Is it top-quality television? Compared with An American Family, no; but compared with shows about spoiled-rotten gypsy brides (a recent TLC fixation), you bet.
prize. Actress Melissa Peterman (Reba, Bet on Your Baby) hosts. 8 p.m. on USA Psych Anthony Michael Hall guest stars in the season finale as an eccentric police consultant who’s brought into the police department to interview Shawn, Gus, Juliet and Lassiter (James Roday, Dule Hill, Maggie Lawson, Timothy Omundson). And by “interview” we mean “bother,” as they’re working on a very difficult case, and he’s getting in the way. The fact that he doesn’t believe in psychics doesn’t help matters in “No Trout About It.” 9 p.m. on ABC Two Truths and a Lie Cynthia McFadden, pictured, and Bill Weir are the anchors of this new Nightline spinoff that focuses on consumer issues. Correspondents including Dan Abrams, Gio Benitez, Juju Chang and Amy Robach use their investigative skills — sometimes going under cover — to advise viewers on how to get the most for their money and avoid making expensive mistakes.
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3:00 p.m. KASA Steve Harvey KOAT The Ellen DeGeneres Show Howie Mandel (America’s Got Talent). KRQE Dr. Phil KTFQ Laura KWBQ The Bill Cunningham Show People dating someone older are confronted by their family. KLUZ El Gordo y la Flaca KASY Jerry Springer CNN The Situation Room FNC The Five 4:00 p.m. KOAT The Dr. Oz Show KTEL Al Rojo Vivo con María Celeste KASY The Steve Wilkos Show Parents trade accusations over burn marks found on a baby. FNC Special Report With Bret Baier 5:00 p.m. KCHF The 700 Club KASY Maury Guests learn the results of paternity tests.
FNC The FOX Report With Shepard Smith 6:00 p.m. CNN Anderson Cooper 360 FNC The O’Reilly Factor 7:00 p.m. CNN Piers Morgan Live Interviews newsmakers and celebrities. FNC Hannity MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show 8:00 p.m. CNN Anderson Cooper 360 E! E! News FNC On the Record With Greta Van Susteren 9:00 p.m. FNC The O’Reilly Factor TBS Conan Halle Berry; Ben Hoffman; Aimee Mann. 10:00 p.m. KTEL Al Rojo Vivo CNN Piers Morgan Live FNC Hannity MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show 10:30 p.m. TBS Conan Halle Berry; Ben Hoffman; Aimee Mann.
10:34 p.m. KOB The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 10:35 p.m. KRQE Late Show With David Letterman Kate Hudson; A.J. Clemente; Selena Gomez performs. 11:00 p.m. KNME Charlie Rose KOAT Jimmy Kimmel Live 11:37 p.m. KRQE The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson TV personality Howie Mandel; actress Brit Marling. 12:00 a.m. KASA Dish Nation FNC The Five HBO Real Time With Bill Maher Author S.E. Cupp; filmmaker Michael Moore; journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin. 12:02 a.m. KOAT Nightline 12:06 a.m. KOB Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 12:30 a.m. E! E! News 1:00 a.m. FNC Red Eye 1:06 a.m. KOB Last Call With Carson Daly