Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Monday, April 29, 2024

DVD/TV Series Review: Devious Maids: Season 1

 


Devious Maids was a dramedy that ran for four seasons from 2013 to 2016. The first season consisted of 13 episodes that aired during the summer and fall of 2013. The show starred Ana Ortiz, Dania Ramirez, Roselyn Sanchez, and Zoila Diaz, who all worked as maids for various families in Beverly Hills, as well as Rebecca Wisocky, Tom Irwin, Brianna Brown, Brett Cullen, Marina Klaveno, Grant Show, and Susan Lucci as the various rich booses of the maids.  

The show has a very similar feel to Desperate Housewives, which is not unexpected given that it has the same showrunners. Like that show, the women are the main characters. There are many twists and turns, and the show revolves around a main storyline (here, the murder of a maid who was much more than she seemed) with a bunch of ancillary stories around it. The other stories keep the main plot from dominating so much that its resolution results in the end of the series.

For those who get the DVDs, each disc has deleted scenes for the episodes on that particular disc. The final disc has a short making-of feature based on filming in Atlanta and a blooper reel. So, there are not a ton of extras, but what was included is good. It should be noted that while the show ran for four seasons, only season 1 was released on DVD, so if you are one who likes to keep a complete collection of physical media, this is the only season you can get on DVD (and none of the seasons or the complete series was released on Blu-Ray).

The show is a blend of comedy and drama. It plays up and makes fun of a lot of different stereotypes from the crazy and/or corrupt and/or lazy rich society, everyone wanting hot maids (and some pretty funny jokes about having to settle for unattractive ones). The show does a good job of developing the characters and making you care about what is going on with them. Susan Lucci steals every scene she is in, basically playing an exaggerated version (almost a caricature) of the soap opera character she played for years. If you are into evening soap operas, this is definitely worth taking a look at.



 

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