Hot In Cleveland Season 3 Review

Review: Hot in Cleveland Season 3

By Ashley Matthew

            Hot in Cleveland, a comedy series produced by TV Land has been making people laugh since its pilot episode on June 16, 2010. Now, currently on its fourth season, it continues to remain one of TV Land’s most popular sitcoms. The series recently released the DVD of the third season on November 27, 2012.

            Since the first two seasons, we have seen three women from California adapt to living in Cleveland, Ohio. These women, Joy Scroggs (Jane Leeves), a British beautician, Victoria Chase (Wendie Malick), a self-absorbed actress and news reporter and Melanie Moretti (Valerie Bertinelli), an author, have endured many trials since moving to Cleveland including multiple break-ups, dealing with Hollywood rivals and worrying about their friend and caretaker of their house, Elka Ostrovsky (Betty White) being in jail for possession of stolen goods.

In the third season, the hilarity continues as Elka is seen reuniting with her husband who she thought was deceased. Later on in the season, the girls crash a funeral to find Melanie’s favorite dress, Victoria designs shoes that are impossible to walk in and the story behind how Victoria, Joy and Melanie met is finally revealed. The ladies also try to become members of an exclusive country club and Victoria tries to win a prestigious news award. Towards the end of the season, Victoria tries to revive her old soap opera, Edge of Tomorrow. Victoria also bids on an abandoned storage unit where she discovers an unsent letter from U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

With each season, there is also an episode where the ladies celebrate their birthdays with blind dates. These dates always end up going horribly wrong when the girls are paired with very unusual dates. In this season, Elka is shown going on a date with Santa Clause while Victoria dates a man with a tail. Meanwhile, Joy dates a former priest and Melanie dates a man who sounds like Mickey Mouse.

Many guest stars also appear on the show including Susan Lucci who asks Victoria for guidance after her soap opera, All My Children is canceled. Jennifer Love Hewitt reprises her role as Victoria’s daughter, Emmy and Joe Jonas reprises his role as Melanie’s son, Will when they reveal to the ladies that they are engaged. Other guest stars include Kristin Chenoweth, Regis Philbin, Joan Rivers and more.

In the season finale, the girls develop tension as they get into a fight and consider moving out of the home they live in together. The argument is resolved but the drama doesn’t end as the episode ends with a cliffhanger when the ladies receive an unexpected surprise that makes you want to tune in to the new season just to see what happens next.

Emily Owens M.D. Review

Review: Emily Owens MD

By: Ashley Matthew

                Emily Owens MD, a medical drama that premiered in late Fall of 2012, tells the story of a socially awkward intern at Denver Memorial Hospital named Emily Owens (Mamie Gummer). Shortly after arriving, Emily soon comes to realize her med-school crush, Will Collins (Justin Hartley) and high school rival, Cassandra Koppelson (Aja Naomi King) are also interns at the hospital, leading Emily to feel extra pressure. Luckily, she befriends two other doctors at the hospital, Micah Barnes (Michael Rady) and Tyra Dupre (Kelly McCreary) who help Emily through her problems including struggling with her feelings towards Will, dealing with her arch-rival Cassandra and competing for the opportunity to be a research assistant for world-renowned surgeon, Gina Bandari (Necar Zedagan).

A positive factor of this series is the realistic environment they put into it. While the doctors must help others with their personal struggles, the medical team has struggles of their own. From Dr. Bandari’s marriage issues to Micah dealing with his mother’s cancer, this show is certainly not lacking any drama.

Another realistic trait about this show is that unlike other medical shows, they actually show what the surgeries are like that the doctors perform. This makes the series not only more realistic but educational as viewers see what doctors must endure when they perform surgeries on patients.

In this series, Emily grows as both a doctor and a person. As the series progresses, the shy, geeky girl begins to transform into a confident, young woman through actions such as finding the courage to tell Will her true feelings for him and  struggling to move on after he rejects her for another woman.  

Emily’s confidence begins to build as she connects with her patients through their many personal issues including broken relationships and unachieved goals. Towards the end of the series, Emily learns to become more comfortable with dating as she tries out blind dating to help her get over Will. This successful use of character development helps to make Emily relatable to many who watch the show.

Another character that will evolve is Cassandra. At first, she seems like the popular, confident girl that Emily remembers from high school that will stop at nothing to get forward in her career and personal life even if it means stealing what should rightfully be Emily’s time in the spotlight. However, Cassandra has her own insecurities not only in her relationships but also with her chosen profession as a doctor. Through seeing Cassandra’s flaws, it becomes evidently clear that she is not as perfect as she makes herself out to be. 

As for the romance factor of this show, Will and Emily have little moments throughout the series that make his girlfriend jealous, particularly when Will becomes concerned about Emily potentially dating another man. Meanwhile, Micah vies for Emily’s affections. Micah and Emily appear to have a closer bond than Emily and Will due to both their growing friendship and Emily trying to avoid Will after he rejects her. 

By the end of the series, Emily finally prevails as she finds success in romance and her career. But is this truly the end? Although the show was cancelled by the CW network after only 13 episodes, fans are still trying to support the show through petitions on change.org, ipetitions.com and resuscitateemilyowens.com in the hopes of bringing the show back on air with new episodes. Until then, all 13 episodes can also be purchased on itunes.com and amazon.com as instant videos.

Healthy Cooking & Eating Tips

Healthy Cooking & Eating Tips

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of American adults are obese. Obesity can cause many health problems including diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The good news is that obesity can be preventable through fitness and eating healthy. Here are some tips on how to make healthier food choices.

Healthy Grocery Shopping Tips:

 

                                         

Frozen Food:

According to Fitday.com, many frozen meals contain 700 to 1800 mg of sodium. With the daily-recommended maximum of sodium being 2300, it can become difficult to stay under the maximum. This is especially important to know for those with high blood pressure. Also, 3 frozen meals a day will not provide enough calories for most people which if not handled properly can cause under-eating issues. Many frozen meals also do not provide enough fruits and vegetables to meet your daily nutritional requirements which can lead to vitamin deficiency issues.

Unhealthy Frozen Food Products:

Swanson Hungry Man: Many of their food products are high in calories, some even going over 1,000 calories.

Healthy Frozen Food Products:

Lean Cuisine: This brand of products contain 380 calories at most.

Weight Watchers Smart Ones: This brand of products contain 410 calories at most.

Other foods lower in calorie intake include Lean Pockets and Healthy Choice.

Unhealthy Restaurant Choices:

Steak N Shake: 7X7 Steakburger- This item is served from Midnight to 6 A.M. which is already a bad time to be eating. In addition to that, the 7x7 Steakburger contains 1,570 calories.

Steak N Shake: Nacho Fries- This item is also served from Midnight to 6 A.M. In addition to that, the Nacho Fries contain 1,180 calories.

Carl’s Jr.: Double Memphis BBQ Burger- This item contains 1,090 calories.

Carl’s Jr.: The Guacamole Bacon Six Dollar Burger- This item contains 1,030 calories.

Burger King: Triple Whopper- This item contains 1,020 calories.

Bahama Breeze: Island Onion Rings- This item contains 1,910 calories.

Healthy Restaurant choices:

Mcdonalds Fruit and Walnut Salad: 210 calories

Arby’s Jr. Roast Beef: 210 calories

Arby’s Jr. Ham and Cheddar Melt: 210 calories

Chick-Fil-A Side Salad: 70 calories

Mcdonalds Fruit n’ Yogurt Parfait: 150 calories

Starbucks Seasonal Harvest Fruit Blend: 90 calories

Starbucks Smoothies (Flavors are Strawberry, Chocolate and Orange Mango: 300 calories (Contains 16 grams of protein on the Strawberry and Orange Mango. Chocolate contains 20 grams of protein.) Also contains Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron and Calcium.

Speaking of smoothies, here are some tasty and healthy smoothie ideas you can make with any blender. When making smoothies, I prefer using fresh fruit rather than processed fruit from packages and cans as it tends to tastes better, in my opinion.

Banana Clementine Creamsicle Smoothie:

Orange Strawberry Banana Smoothie:

Apple Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie:

Banana Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Smoothie:

Other Healthy Recipes:

Asian Chicken Salad:

Fried Rice:

Chinese Orange Chicken:

Asian Chicken & Broccoli:

Vegetable Stir-Fry:

Quick & Easy Steak Salad:

Vegan Macaroni & Cheese:

Spaghetti Bolognese:

Low Fat Frozen Strawberry Yogurt:

Banana Ice Cream:

Oatmeal With Applesauce:

Other health tips:

Drink lots of water. According to a recent article in USA Today, people drink 21 gallons of bottled water each year. 37 gallons of other water, which includes tap, sparkling, flavored and enhanced waters such as Coca-Cola's brand Vitamin Water are consumed every year, making water America’s most popular drink. There are many water brands available including Sobe Lifewater, Nestle Pure Life, Dasani, Aquafina, Glaceau Smartwater, Vita Coco, O.N.E. Coconut Water and Evian. My personal favorite is Ice Mountain.

Avoid sodas. 

Try juice as an alternative to sodas. Many juices include lots of vitamins. Orange juice is a great source for Vitamin C. Make sure to check labels on juices to be certain that they are 100% juice. Some juices are not 100% juice and have more sugar than actual juice in them, such as cocktail juices which are unhealthy because of the added sugar.

Avoid snacks like cookies, chips, donuts or candy. 

Try yogurt as an alternative to cookies, chips, donuts and candy. Some good yogurt choices are Yoplait, Dannon, Chobani and Stonyfield Organic.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are also a better snack alternative to cookies, chips, donuts and candy. Fruit is still sweet but it is much healthier and lower in fat than cookies, chips, donuts and candy. Fruits and vegetables also provide many different vitamins and offer many health benefits that can help with healing injuries, providing energy and fighting both acne and diseases. Some great options for fruits and vegetables include potatoes, broccoli, cabbages, cherries, grapes, watermelon and more.