Weekly Web Series Review: Sex House

Few things are more ripe for satire than reality television, especially of the competitive variety seen on shows like “Survivor” and “The Bachelor,” and The Onion has boiled the format down to its essence with the web series “Sex House.” Combining the strangers living together format of MTV’s “The Real World,” on which all subsequent reality TV shows can be blamed, with the competitive dating games of so many other trash TV staples, “Sex House” skewers the artificiality and coercion involved in creating so-called “reality” programming.

The series focuses on six strangers brought together in the seemingly posh house for the sole purpose of having sex with one another. Each of them is a conveniently pegged type: Jay (Boyd Harris) is described as a “bro,” a “trim-seeker” and a “sex lover,” and his personality would not be out of place on “Jersey Shore”; Jay’s obvious female counterpart, Tara (Ashley Lobo), is a “sorority princess,” “proud skank” and “maneater”; Erin (Fiona Robert), an 18-year-old virgin, is “naive,” “clueless” “jailbait,” while Alex (Lea Pascal) is an “alt-punk” “polysexual princess”; Derek (Chris Boykin) is the show’s only gay guy, so he is described as a “sexually promiscuous” “flamboyant fireball,” but the show’s real wild card is Frank (Jesse Dabson), a 45-year-old “big daddy” who won a Tombstone pizza contest to get on the show.

The first few episodes progress as might be expected, with the desperate Alex trying to have sex with anyone and everyone, while Jay admits that “Tara’s pretty slutty, I get it,” though he is more interested in deflowering Erin, who is “totally smokin’. I’m like, ‘I’m tryin’ to have sex with that!’” The gang plays a disastrous game of “Sexy Truth or Sexy Dare” and receives pole dancing instructions in the third episode, “Get on That Pole!” Meanwhile, the males are given some “bro lessons” by Danny Vullmer (Chris Meister), a hacky comedian who makes dated references to Urkel, En Vogue and Roseanne Barr. Things get more and more disturbing after that, as “Erin Bares It All” in the fourth episode with a shocking announcement that changes everything, and the show’s participants begin to revolt against its creators, including the “asexual” and very creepy host (Chris Agos).

In its most recent episodes, “Sex House” has gradually become more like a horror film, which only makes it funnier, beginning with the disgusting “Banana Sex Olympics” in episode 5 and continuing with “Dr. Sex” in episode 6. By the most recent episode, “Sex in a Bottle,” things are looking decidedly grim for the malnourished prisoners of Sex House, and the preview for episode 8 (which goes live today) makes it clear that it’s only going to get worse. New episodes go live every Thursday on The Onion’s YouTube channel.

  

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Weekly Web Series Review: Smart Girls at the Party

Described by host Amy Poehler as “a celebration of real friendship, real fellowship, and a kind of community with other girls,” the web series “Smart Girls at the Party” is a kind-hearted, fun and educational program for kids and their parents alike, but especially for young girls. Often specifically focusing on girls who enjoy activities traditionally thought of as being more for boys, the series enjoyed a significant viewership boost in its first season when it introduced its youngest interviewee, seven-year-old Ruby, who speaks precociously about feminism. Its most-viewed episode to date features a 14-year-old boxer named Precela, and another highlight features a young robotics engineer named Rachel.

These are the “girls who are changing the world by being themselves,” in the words of Poehler, who hosts the show with the tongue-in-cheek seriousness of a news anchor before ending each episode with a dance party. Along with producer Meredith Walker and musical director Amy Miles, Poehler explores the special talents and interests of each girl – or in a few episodes, groups of girls – and interviews them, always ending on a “very serious question,” such as “pizza or cotton candy?” or “which is cuter, a baby panda or a baby monkey?” However, despite poking fun at self-serious interview questions, the series never makes fun of the girls or treats them or their interests with cynicism or irony. Instead, it clearly aims to imbue its young audience with a sense of self-worth and individuality, without being boring or preachy.

Now in its second season, the series has markedly improved from its first few episodes, adding a “World Famous 20 Second Song” segment for Miles and boasting higher production values. There are also some familiar faces in the dance parties that parents will enjoy spotting, including Poehler’s husband Will Arnett (who returns from the first season), as well as her “Parks and Recreation” co-stars Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Rashida Jones and Aubrey Plaza. Look closely and you’ll also spot folks like Jon Hamm, David Cross and Jack McBrayer in later episodes. With its own new channel on YouTube, “Smart Girls at the Party” is slicker and more fun than ever, and is highly recommended for viewing with children, especially daughters, between the ages of five and fifteen.

  

Domino’s new wings and boneless chicken. Mmmm Good.

Bullz-Eye tested the new Domino’s boneless chicken wings and regular chicken wings to see what all the hype was about. Our friend Phil over at Domino’s sent over a variety of different samples and we filled up on some good fair! Ever since the new Domino’s pizza hit the market last year we have been interested in the transformation at Domino’s and even took a trip to visit Domino’s headquarters in Michigan to get a behind the scenes look at what Domino’s did to change course with a vastly improved pizza.

Ok, This post is about the new Domino’s chicken wings so let’s get back on track. Domino’s sent over both boneless chicken and regular chicken wings in Hot, BBQ and Sweet Mango Habanero. The Domino’s chicken is billed as the next chapter in the Domino’s story of reinvention and we are happy to report this chicken is very good. My fellow chicken wing fanatics and I first noticed how tender the chicken was on the wings. Lean and tender was the best way to describe the new Domino’s wings and the flavors are vibrant and accurate. The favorite was the Sweet Mango Habanero and when dipped in the provided Ranch or blue cheese containers forget about it!

The new boneless wings are made with 100 percent whole white breast meat lightly breaded with savory herbs and they are simply delicious! The boneless chicken are not covered in sauce but rather they come with dipping sauces consisting of hot, BBQ and new Sweet Mango Habanero and of course ranch or blue cheese for dipping. All of the flavors were very good but again the new Sweet Mango Habanero ranked # 1 with our group.

Domino’s appears to have more winners on their hands (including alot of flavored sauce – ok just reached for a napkin and I’m good) and we look forward to getting our grub on with the new Domino’s all white breast meat boneless and regular wings while watching a good sporting event on the big screen. Hey, It’s the American Way!

Don’t forget to check out the Domino’s Pizza Bracket on Facebook. The company is down to the Final Four pizzas, competing to become the fan favorite pizza champion.

  

Domino’s Pizza has a new recipe . . . and we like it!

We’ve been hearing and seeing a lot lately about the all new pizza at Domino’s. Well since we love pizza it was time to check it out for ourselves and give you our feedback.

I ordered a pepperoni, onion and roasted red pepper. When I opened the box it already looked better than the old Domino’s before I even took a bite!

For me the sauce and crust are equally important so I was curious as to all of the hype around both. First the sauce: Domino’s billed the new sauce as bolder and I have to say it is clearly better. There’s much more flavor and a it’s a bit spicy and sweet, so they made a big improvement here. As for the crust, it has a garlic seasoning and there is no doubt the flavor went up a few notches, but if you’re not crazy about garlic you could get turned off on this pie pretty quick. On the other hand a lot of folks love the garlic flavoring and combined with the new sauce it garnered my attention in a good way. I thought the crust was very good.

Finally, regarding the cheese, it was very tasty and the hint of provolone is right on the mark!

Overall I feel that Domino’s improved on a pizza that was middle of the road at best and now has a pizza that can compete with the more expensive chains and the local joints. The improvement is huge with the sauce, crust and cheese all scoring high, so for that I say “all new” means “much better” for Domino’s!