Austonian Shirtlessness, Part 2

Since Jonny Lee Miller was pulled off the blog over the week, I thought I should probably give you all a dose of the original Austen hunk, Mr. Colin Firth. Although he was not shirtless in "Pride & Prejudice" (and it would have been very anachronistic for him to be), he did oblige us with a shirtless scene in Bridget Jones 2. That movie made me very uncomfortable with the storyline which took place in a Thai prison and had Bridget showing her benevolence by giving all the inmates bras, but at least I had a momentary glimpse of something I'd been imagining ever since Mr. Firth emerged from the lake dripping wet back in 1995. Sigh. Granted Mr. Firth had not seen the sun prior to shooting this scene, but I'll give him points for being there. It's not very sunny in England.

It's not very sunny in New York these days either. Between the freezing weather and the lack of any new shirtlessness on television, I feel I may be suffering from seasonal affectation disorder or SAD. Luckily I have another disc of the Tudors and research on a sun lamp to keep me going. There are new episodes coming on Sunday, and the last B&S trailer made it look like Luc might come back. If even for one shirtless minute, it would totally be worth it. Sigh.

I'm working on my Jane Austen play again, getting it ready for a round table at a rather reputable New York play development center. I'm still grappling with how to get one of my love interests to take off his shirt, but alas, there are no easy solutions. Sometimes, the mantle of shirtlessness is difficult to carry. I will carry on, however. And as I do, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Austonian Shirtlessness

Since there were no new episodes of DH or B&S on last night, I decided to indulge in my other passion, Jane Austen, by watching the first part of the four-part miniseries of "Emma" airing on PBS. While I am a huge fan of Miss Austen and have been known to watch all six hours of the BBC "Pride and Prejudice" when I have a bad day, I must say that I do not think any adaptation of "Emma" needs to be eight hours long. I enjoyed the first two, but doubt I'll make it through the rest. That said, I did enjoy the above pictured Jonny Lee Miller in his turn as Mr. Knightley. Apparently he was shirtless on Broadway this fall in "After Miss Julie," and I think I am a little bit sad for missing it.

The weather is absolutely dreary in New York today, and I can already tell that it will be a bad week for good shirtlessness. One needs the sun for good shirtlessness, and I don't think there is any to be found here. Thank goodness for vitamin D tablets and the internet. I'll continue to troll the shows for something to report, but the outlook is bleak. Sometimes the work of IMS President can seem impossible. But I will carry on, and I hope you will too. Until the next time, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Soccer Shirtlessness

Since it has been a pretty dull week in television for shirtlessness, I thought I would take a recommendation from the Vice President of IMS and feature Cristiano Ronaldo in today's post, a Portuguese soccer player for Real Madrid who apparently rips off his shirt whenever his team is victorious. That is the proper way to celebrate a win, I think. Given his good shirtlessness, I know I would want his team to win always.

I also received a late night report that ABC's "Deep End" just before GA on Thursday nights has no shirtlessness which is too bad since it does feature the ever-sexy Mehcad Brooks, who in my opinion should always be shirtless. I was so sad when he didn't take his shirt off on Desperate Housewives, and it seems that I will be destined for more sadness on the "Deep End." I guess I'll just end my pain by not watching the show.

GA went back to its non-shirtless ways which was also a disappointment. Just when I thought McSteamy had returned to his former shirtless glory, he came back to do some "serious" scenes and express his moral outrage which frankly seems ridiculous for his character. Less outrage, more shirtlessness is what I say. There are no new shows scheduled this week, and so I'll have to find my shirtlessness somewhere other than network tv. Thank goodness "The Tudors" will be arriving this weekend. Now there is a reliable source of good shirtlessness! Don't forget to tune into George Clooney's telethon for Haiti tonight - no shirtlessness but an exceptional cause. Between that and the Tudors, I should have a pretty good weekend. Until Monday, I am...

Yours in shirtessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Golden Shirtlessness

Congratulations to Robert Downey Jr. for his Golden Globe, awarded for a film in which he was shirtless quite a bit. His irreverent speech last night made me appreciate him even more I have always loved Robert Downey Jr. since I first saw him in "Less than Zero" along time ago. He broke my heart in the 90s with his stint on "Ally McBeal" when he breathed fresh life into a dying show only to be fired for drug use. I'm so glad that he is in on the upswing, doing great work, and offering some good shirtlessness for the Oscar season. Hurrah!

So last night I laid on the couch to watch my shows and flip to the Golden Globes during the commercials. I saw MoNique's speech which had me crying within the first 3 seconds and RDJ's speech. It seems that all the networks run commercials at the same times, however, and so I didn't quite get as much of the Globes as I thought I would. But after watching the harrowing story on "60 Minutes" about Haiti, I really needed the escape afforded by Wisteria Lane. On that note, please do consider giving to Haitian relief. It is such a desperate situation, and there are many ways to give including through a telethon that George Clooney has organized this Friday. I was happy to read that several stars, including my hero, Meryl Streep, did mention the disaster even as they received their awards, and I hope that everyone at IMS will continue to support this cause as well.

Last night did not provide me with any therapeutic shirtlessness. When Nora tells Sarah that her new crush seems to be everything that Luc wasn't, I moaned "Bring back, Luc" from my supine position on the couch. I couldn't be sure from the preview of 2 weeks from now, but it seems like they might. Oh, please, B&S, give me some reason to justify watching the show. I like that Gilles Marini is now the voice of Stella Artois beer and I can hear him at least once an hour, but I'd really like him to come back to Sunday nights and take his shirt off. Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

As He Should Be!

I did not watch the shows last night because I decided to re-write the last scene of my play last night after my writers' lab, but I know that Eric Dane was shirtless as he should be. Thank you, GA, for getting rid of the turtle necks and bringing it on. I don't why it had to be so difficult, but I am glad that someone has seen the light.

I did watch Ugly Betty on Wednesday night and am happy that it has been rescued from it's Friday night time slot. Connor started the show off strongly with some excellent male shirtlessness, but alas, is that too, going away? I have hope that his story line will continue. And I will say that even though IMS does not focus on the lower half of the body, I did this his tush looked very cute in his prison jump suit at the end of the episode. UB, please don't take Connor away!

On a completely different note, I would like to offer my hopes that help gets to Haiti soon. If you care to donate, click here to donate to Avaaz.org which will give 100% of donations to earthquake relief.

Yours in shirtlessness and hope,
Nandita
President
IMS

Goodbye Carl!

Last night there was no new shirtlessness due to the death of Carl Meyer on DH and general drippy writing on B&S, but I will say that I was pacified because both shows dealt with unexpected topics in funny ways. And even more than looking at good shirtlessness on Sunday nights, I like to laugh.

DH finally addressed the topic of race in their fifth season with the Solis family in a storyline about getting Juanita Solis into private school. I laughed out loud when Carlos and Gabby asked each other "Why does our daughter think she's white?" and then looked around and noticed for the first time their lily white neighborhood. Having been a brown girl in an all white neighborhood growing up, it took me a little while to figure out that having a different skin color made a difference too, although I'm sure I knew before I was seven. That may be because someone kept blowing up our mailbox when we moved in, but that was a long time ago. Anyway, kudos to DH for taking note and making us take note. Now to see if they can integrate any other non-white people into Wisteria Lane. They haven't had any Asian people on yet!

B&S while still fairly drippy had a hilarious exchange between Paige and Kevin about Kevin's adolescence. The look on Paige's face when Kevin said he didn't think anyone knew he was gay in middle school was priceless. It was a sweet and sassy moment, and it made me forget that they cured Kitty of cancer in 6 weeks. Also, I enjoyed Sally Field having her day at the end, although I do feel bad that she can never have a relationship that stays good for more than a week.

I'm greatful that Mike Delfino made a comeback on DH last night and have now pinned all my shirtless Sunday wishes on him. Maybe he'll do a strip tease at a ladies' club next week? Here's to hoping! Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

One for the VP

As requested by the Vice President of IMS, I am posting a picture of the current Bachelor. For the record, I am not happy about it. I watched two minutes of the show on Monday night when I was searching for "Castle" and wrapping a birthday present, and what I saw deeply offended me. I watched the entire first season of "The Bachelor" and was scarred for life by the realization that men are really just looking for the girl with the biggest boobs, even hyper-educated men. While some could accuse me of doing the same thing by posting beef-cake pictures of men without their shirts on, I respond by saying that I do not plan to marry any of them, other than George Clooney. Also, I feel that I constantly post about the proper accessories to good shirtlessness being intelligence, kindness, and a thought in his mind.

Anyway, the spectacle of 25 women in evening gowns (well, one was wearing a stewardess outfit) throwing themselves at one man was really too much for me, especially when his voice-over declared that it was a man's dream come true. I had to go back to my calendar and Mr. December to make it all better.

Sad to say, Jake's was the only shirtlessness of the week. Lt's hope for something better on Sunday. Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

New Year's Shirtlessness

Happy 2010! I'd like to start out the new year and the new decade with shirtlessness from the number 1 on my list of leading men: George Clooney. I love his new movie, Up in the Air, and thought he displayed some tasteful male shirtlessness in it. Although his co-star, Vera Farmiga, did bare her back (and one conversation at a holiday party focused on whether Ms. Farmiga used a body double for the scene), I am pleased to report that Mr. Clooney was the only person in the film to show frontal shirtlessness, and I for one am grateful.

The first Sunday of the year featured new episodes of DH and B&S which got the year off to a rather nostalgic and somewhat melancholy start. Neither episode had any male shirtlessness at all. Killing off Carl Meyer suggests that there won't be any new shirtlessness on DH any time soon, either. I'm a bit saddened by his demise. Also, did anyone else think that the fat suit that they used for Teri Hatcher looked strangely like the one they used for Courtney Cox in Friends? I can only hope that the fat suit will be properly retired now.

In the meantime, I have to protest against B&S continuing to disparage all things sacred. First they did not make Gilles Marini take off his shirt in every episode of his time on the show. Now they allow Kitty to say "Manolas" instead of "Manolos." I am quite sure that Calista Flockhart is familiar with the fabulousness that is a Manolo Blahnik shoe, and this errant pronunciation was deeply disturbing to me, especially after Sarah coos over some Laboutins that are clearly not in the shot. Fine B&S if you cannot understand the finer points of male shirtlessness, but please get it right with the shoes. Shame, shame.

In spite of all of these affronts to shirtlessness and good taste, I am hopeful that 2010 will usher in a new era of fitness, seeing the sun, and bi-partisan cooperation. Carry on the good work, IMS! I am proud of all of you!

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS