SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

There’s nothing like a good wallow in big fat vat of rich to make you forget that you can’t pay the rent.

At least, that’s the thinking behind the most recent batch of rich folk shows tumbling out of Hollywood. Actually, it was last year when we all noticed there were a whole lot of shows about the wealthy making the fall line-up. But while some last-season series such as Big Shots and Cashmere Mafia won’t be returning, most have found a spot on the new fall line-up. Dirty, Sexy Money, Lipstick Jungle and Gossip Girl are coming back for a second run after being waylaid by the writer’s strike and even more new shows about rotten rich have rushed in.

“Gossip Girl” on the CW is just packed with the way-too-rich. Pictured: (l-r) Yin Chang as Nelly Yuki, Amanda Setton as Penelope PHOTO CREDIT: GIOVANNI RUFINO/THE CW

The CW’s Privileged has a hard-working would-be journalist playing sista-momma to two spoiled, manipulative Florida teens. The network also has the remake of Beverly Hills 90210 titled simply 90210 for those with short attention spans.

The CW seems to think that the way to a viewer’s heart is through watching people richer than you who just can’t buy happiness. Both freshman series 90210 and the addictive sophomore series Gossip Girl brought in impressive numbers.

When the financial going get tough, there’s nothing better than feeling superior to those with the green – and we’re not talking ecology.

Here’s look at some rich people we love, or at least love to hate.

10. Simple Life – Ah, the series that brought Paris Hilton into our living rooms. Well, maybe it was the sex tape for some of you, but for most of us it was seeing Paris and former best pal Nicole Richie going from the lap of luxury to the pits of small town America.

9. The Hills – Can you do any top-10 list these days without mentioning the Hills? Think lifestyles of the rich and vapid. Spencer alone could rate a rung on this ratings ladder.

8. Super Sweet 16 – My god, what was that mother thinking when she gave her princess a Lexus convertible the day BEFORE her 15th birthday party, which, you know, totally ruined her birthday. Or how about the rich witch who didn’t want her sister in a cute dress because it would upstage the birthday girl? Watching this show makes every wage earner happy that they don’t have to deal with these people.

7. The Real Housewives of Orange County – Here’s a quote I’ve never quite forgotten, no matter how much alcohol I’ve had. When Kara, the daughter of former Playboy Playmate and OC housewife Jeana Keogh says, “We show our love by buying each other things.” Actually, I think that says, I didn’t care enough to spend any time with you, so I bought you off.

6. Dallas – Nothing said excess like those oil-rich Ewings. J.R. wheeled and dealed his way through life. Sure, he got shot for being such a bastard, but he popped right up again and kept on spreading misery to anyone in his path.

5. Dynasty – Here’s what we loved about this series: You could always count on a good old fashioned cat fight that had these perfectly coiffed ladies splashing around in the water like a spring break wet T-shirt contest. But we really loved the mud wrestling.

4. Beverly Hills 90210 – Sweet Brenda and Brandon Walsh got quite a culture shock when they moved with their family from the Midwest to the 90210. We all jumped into the crazy world of spoiled but neglected Hollywood high schoolers. Poor tortured Dylan, come let us make you feel better.

3. Entourage – Vincent Chase might have a healthy dose of self love, but at least he brings his buddies along to share the indulgent, perk-filled lifestyle being an up-and-coming movie star affords him.

2. Arrested Development – Love the Bluths, especially boozy mom Lucille (“Your father says he wants me to go all the way to Fallujah. I thought he meant that sex act that’s so popular with your generation.”). Although Michael’s trying to be better than this bananas bunch, the rest feed just play out the worst in the stereotype of the wealthy as stupid and self-obsessed.

1. Brothers & Sisters – Don’t we all wish we could have lively political discussions around the pool while sipping grand California wines? This little slice of rich life lets us all wallow in the excesses of the Walker family filled with beautiful smart people who always seems to come up with some vast amount of money out of thin air whenever those financial storm clouds gather.

Here’s a quick rundown of when you all can expect to see your fav CW shows on this spring. Note for the five of you watching “Life is Wild” – it’s gone:

SERIES ANTICIPATED RETURN EXPECTED # OF NEW EPISODES
THE GAME March 23 9

ONE TREE HILL April 14 6

SMALLVILLE April 17 5

GOSSIP GIRL April 21 5

REAPER April 22 5

SUPERNATURAL April 24 4

*EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS completed 22 episodes. The 12 remaining originals will begin airing March 3.

* ALIENS IN AMERICA completed 18 episodes. The 8 remaining originals will air March 2-March 23 and April 27-May 18.

With ratings like these, if the CW was a TV show, it would have been cancelled long ago.

The barely breathing network trotted out its new game plan today, with the family-in-Africa drama “Life is Wild” missing. If you don’t know what show I’m talking about, don’t worry. Very few viewers ever tuned it. In fact, if you gathered all the regular viewers together they probably wouldn’t even make a noticible line in Starbucks.

Penn Badgley as Dan and Blake Lively as Serena star in Gossip Girl on The CW. Photo Eric Liebowitz /The CW

Not that they don’t have some great shows. “Gossip Girl” is a great guilty pleasure, and although “Reaper”never again rose to the level of its fantastic pilot, it’s still not a bad show.

Enough pitching. Here’s the line-up:

Monday

8 p.m. “GOSSIP GIRL” (Beginning January 28)

9 p.m. “PUSSYCAT DOLLS PRESENT: GIRLICIOUS” (Beginning February 18)

Tuesday

8 p.m. “REAPER” (Beginning January 15)

8 p.m. “BEAUTY AND THE GEEK” (Beginning March 11)

9 p.m. “ONE TREE HILL” Wednesday (Beginning February 20)

8 p.m. “AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL”

9 p.m. “PUSSYCAT DOLLS PRESENT: GIRLICIOUS”

Encore

Thursday

8 p.m. “SMALLVILLE”

9 p.m. “REAPER” (Beginning February 28)

Sunday (Beginning February 10)

7 p.m. “CW NOW”

7:30 p.m. “EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS” Encores

8 p.m. “EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS”

8:30 p.m. “ALIENS IN AMERICA”

9 p.m. “GIRLFRIENDS”

9:30 p.m. “THE GAME”

Here’s some buzz for you: the CW just gave “Gossip Girl” a full season order.

The drama about high society teens in a tony New York City prep school became the first new series picked up for a full season of episodes. You can check out my review

Gossip Girl– Pictured: (l-r) Nicole Fiscella, Leighton Meester, Taylor Momsen, Nan Zhang, Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Ed Westwick stars in GOSSIP GIRL on THE CW. Photo Credit: The CW / Andrew Eccles (C) 2007 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

While the ratings haven’t been stellar, the online buzz, the show’s success on iTunes and DVR use all factored into “Gossip Girl” being deemed renewal worthy by the network.

The two most recent episodes continue to rank among the top 5 iTunes downloaded shows on the site.

For more on Blake Lively, check out my earlier blog item from the July Television Critics Press Tour. Scroll down. It’s the second one.

Only four vodcasts under our belt and I think we’re getting better.

I’ve been using writers at the paper for the first three, then a guinea pig, er, friend, agreed to be the beta for our first civilian interview.

Thanks Angie, who is a sophomore at Monte Vista High School in Danville, for helping out. You did a great job. Chick Chat video

Comments? Offers to volunteer to be on the show? C’mon down.

You can read the review of “Gossip Girl” on the TV page

Blake’s promoting her new CW series “Gossip Girl” about the social lives of Upper East Side teens filled with entitlement issues based on the best-selling series of young adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar executive-produced by “The O.C.”‘s Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.

Pictured ( back l -r) Executive Producer Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage Executive Producer, Blake Lively and Leighton Meester session at the TCA Summer Press Tour 2007 held on July 20, 2007 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. Photo: Carol Kaelson/THE CW

She’s still tight with her “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” co-stars America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”), Amber Tamblyn (“Joan of Arcadia”) and Alexis Bledel (“Gilmore Girls”).

“My first instinct was I’m going to call the girls, because I knew they had all been through it. But then I was — they’re so dog-gone opinionated
and they’re all so different,’’ Blake says. “When they get together, I’m like their baby sister. And they sit me down. I was going to get another dog recently, and they’re like, “No. You’re not going to do that.” They, like, wrote a whole list of pros and cons for me. So I thought I’m just going to make this decision on my
own, and then I’m going to talk to them about it, which, I think, was the right decision. I’m very happy.’’

The Sisterhood

Blake and the girls will be filming the sequel soon, she says. By the way, her current maltese/poodle mix Penny, 2, looks like an adorable brown mini-ewok with curls.

As for the gorgeous Vivienne Westwood yummy yellow dress that cinched tightly around her waist with a large belt, Blake says she can hardly wait to get it off.

“It looks great, but just try eating something while you are wearing it,’’ Blake says, rubbing her tummy. “Just trying to eat a couple of bites really hurts.’’