Song of the Southfork

I was worried about the new residents at Southfork. But, both new leads – especially Josh Henderson are great.

So last night was the big premiere of TNT’s new “Dallas” revival, and I shared yesterday that I was pretty excited about it. Well now I feel comfortable saying that I was right to be. While not as amazing as ABC’s “Revenge” or the pilot of “Desperate Housewives” the new “Dallas” shows a lot of promise. We were introduced to Christopher Ewing and his cousin John Ross played by Jesse Metcalfe and Josh Henderson. I was nervous about this angle because let’s be real they’re both played by “Desperate Housewives” eye candy who never had a real storyline. They were props with abs on “Housewives”, but I was glad to see they were able to hold their own on the ranch. Henderson really seemed to leap at the chance to be the bad boy and has made it very obvious that John Ross is JR’s son. He has all the underhandedness of his daddy and the charm and good looks to match. It’s also great to see Brenda Strong in the forefront for once, after 8 seasons of being heard but not seen as Mary Alice on “Housewives”.

“Blood may be thicker than water, but oil is thicker than everything.” JR is back, y’all!

However, the real fun in “Dallas” was seeing our old friends from Southfork. When the CW relaunched “90210″ and “Melrose Place” the actors who returned kind of seemed ashamed to be seen back in West Bev or the famous apartment complex. So I was anxious to see how Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Grey would be upon returning to their old stomping ground. All three of them seemed ecstatic to be back on television. Really genuinely happy to be back and continuing a project they were passionate about. And not in a thank God this came along, I was *this* close to doing “Dancing with the Stars” kind of way. The original “Dallas” was before my time but I obviously knew the basic facts and figures. But, even prior knowledge did not prepare me for what a bad ass JR is. When some of the other story lines dragged or didn’t pop all it took was a pan to JR to liven things up. But, by the end of the second hour all of the story lines seemed poised to be headed in good directions.

The new “Dallas” will probably not be the ratings juggernaut or cultural lightning rod it was in it’s hay day. But, it is a pretty wonderfully put together television series that is the perfect summer guilty pleasure. And, even in the public reception is not the same as it was back then. “Dallas” has not changed since we left it. The backstabbing, bed hopping, bitch slapping and double crossing is up to par even with the infusion of some new blood. So I would like to invite you all to spend your summer with BEST Blog in Dallas.

Best of the BEST: A Look Back at BEST Blog’s First 100

100 Posts on BEST Blog. Can you believe it?

I have been watching my WordPress dashboard closely the past few days because with every post that I published I moved closer to the triple digits. And, it just so happens this is my 100th Post. Since starting BEST Blog as the Blog of Brian Tuft in September of 2009 I have published 100 blog entries about all sorts of my favorite things. Fashion’s Night Out, One Direction and “Glee” have all gotten their own posts. I thought in honor of this milestone I would share what the top five posts are in terms of traffic, response and reaction.

Karine Vanase and I on the set of “Pan Am”.

The number four and five posts are the blogs detailing my visits to the “Pan Am” set. Last week, the news hit the web that the show had been cancelled by ABC. But, I don’t know how because the show has been a gold mine for me in terms of traffic. It seems that web surfers could not get enough of the stewardess centered drama, even visiting my blog to hear some behind the scene scoop and find out what the stars are like in real life. My third biggest post of all time is a much more recent one, where I detailed who I would cast in “the Hunger Games” sequel “Catching Fire”. I picked Colton Haynes and Mia Wasikowska as Finnick and Johanna. But, obviously my pull at Lionsgate is minimal, even if the official “Hunger Games” account follows me on twitter. The second most successful blog is my first post about “Pan Am” where I listed the reasons why I loved the series and why I thought my readers should give it a shot. Obviously it would seem like it fell on deaf ears since the series was cancelled. But, the entry drew and still draws steady traffic to my little site. It should also be noted that on the list of top search engine terms that bring people to my blog, Pan Am, Karine Vanasse and Colette all rank highly.

Trevor Donovan star of 90210, dreamboat, gay rights supporter and blog traffic magnet with me last year.

My top post of all time is one of my earliest posts but still one of the most popular ones I’ve ever published. In January of 2010 I posted about 90210′s newest cast member Trevor Donovan’s Teddy Montgomery. At this point Teddy was still a home wrecking ass wipe who was pretty much loathed by everyone until the end of the season where he was sweet to Silver as her mother died. In the time since that post went up the character came out of the closet as a gay man who hid behind womanizing ways to keep the truth a secret. This development made Donovan a real life gay hero. He has been honored by countless gay advocacy groups and has become arguably the most famous part of the show. A few months ago, I went to the Ripple of Hope Awards Dinner and got to meet Trevor. I told him how much I enjoyed and appreciated his work on 90210 and his work off screen with the gay community. He was just as handsome in real life, and as nice as he was dreamy. And, while I have posted about many other dreamy men I have loved like Darren Criss, Josh Hutcherson, Matt Bomer and Max Greenfield who is tomorrow’s subject. I think its fitting that my biggest post of all time is the one about Trevor,my original BEST Blog crush. I look forward to seeing who else and what else I will post about, here’s hoping the next 100 posts are as much fun and as successful as the first. Thank you s much for reading, and I hope you will continue to see what the future holds for BEST Blog.

9021-Oh my God he’s Hot…

I’ve seen in my life time a lot of Teen Dramas produce hunks that people have eaten up. There was the original 90210, who gave us Brandon and Dylan. A few years later there was the OC with Ryan and the nerdy Seth. More recently there has been Chuck, Dan and Nate from Gossip Girl. When the CW’s reboot of 90210 launched last season I was left feeling disappointed. Sure, Chace Crawford was cute on Gossip Girl, but he wasn’t my speed. He was like a perfectly nice sweater at a great price, I’d take it, and wear it but it wouldn’t be my favorite piece. I looked to 90210 to give me someone really sexy who I could eagerly look forward to seeing every week. I think originally Ethan on 90210 was supposed to be the sexy one, but he fell short of my expectations. Then this year, I tuned into the
90210 Season premiere and I found love.

The Season Two Cast of 90210

Teddy Montgomery played by Trevor Donovan is everything I expected from 90210 and so much more. He’s tall, blonde and has a set of biceps that could strangle a crocodile. When the season dawned he was a tennis star who was the son of an Oscar winning actor. From that point on, everyone I spoke to thought he was a total douche. He was elitist, which other people hated but I found endearing. He broke up a relationship between Navid and Adrianna, then didn’t want anything serious with Adrianna. Which I didn’t understand, she would be trading up and should take what she can get. I mean seriously the bitch is a teen mother with a drug problem she should not be so picky. Through this, whenever I mentioned his name everyone rolled their eyes and voiced the idea that Teddy was a tool. But, I stuck by him. There was one point where I almost gave up, but the episode after began with a dream sequence in which he said into the camera “I have a treat for you” and ripped open his shirt to reveal abs that look like a street lined with cobblestones.

The Most Amazing Scene on Television… Ever.

In the last few episodes my blind love paid off. A few episodes ago, Silver’s mother, who is also Kelly’s mother for the original fans, was diagnosed with breast cancer and was going to die. Teddy was not only there for Silver, he got together with her mom and threw her the dream birthday she had always wanted. Silver’s mother as you may remember from the original series was an alcoholic. When Mrs. Taylor met her fate and passed on, Teddy was there to comfort, distract and help Silver in anyway she needed. As you can imagine I was more than excited about the idea of a total Baldwin being there for someone who suddenly lost their mother. Envious as well, but excited mostly. From that point on Teddy, and the actor who plays him have become my full fledged obsession. I recently found a print from an old Abercrombie ad he did that will soon adorn my wall. Although I may have to pin some clothes on him.

Honestly… Is this poster too explicit for my bedroom? I may have to cover him up with some clothes.

There isn’t much information on Mr. Donovan on the web. I follow him on Twitter, you should too @TrevDon. I do know he is originally from California, recently turned 30 years old, which I admit is a little old to be playing a high school student and starred in the Bruce Willis movie “Surrogates“ as Bruce’s surrogate. I have no idea what that means, but now that I know he is in it I will be Netflixing it. While my main attraction to Trevor is on the surface I know through his twitter that he also does charity work for Omnipeace and Habitat for Humanity. While I’m not one for building houses, given the chance to spend the day with him, getting all sweaty and dirty from manual labor would get me to lift a hammer. If not for the chance of him taking his shirt off alone. If that’s not star power, I don’t know what is.

Oh and I don’t care if…

Makes you feel

Talk shit about him and I’ll…

Thanks.