Pony pop icons

Pony pop icons

Hey Lady Gaga, why so long in the face? Maybe it's because of a My Little Pony makeover. Finnish artist Mari Kasurinen transforms the iconic '80s toys into famous celebrities and fictional characters — from Marilyn Monroe to Batman. The fun creations sell for up to $250.

Best & Worst Reality Shows

Reality television has given us some of the greatest moments in TV history, yet some of it sticks with us for all the wrong reasons ("The Littlest Groom," anyone?). These are our picks for the best and worst of the bunch

'The Real World'

"This is the true story of seven strangers picked to live in a house ..." Some say those words -- from "The Real World: New York" -- spawned reality TV as we know it today. It launched the career of this MTV host, and one of its cast members recently ran for Congress. A cast member from this season just won his Republican primary.

'The Amazing Race'

Sure, it lost this year's Emmy to this show after a seven-year winning streak, but the around-the-world competition (videos) is as popular as ever. A painful-to-watch scene from this season is an Internet sensation.

'American Idol'

The groundbreaking singing competition (videos) that gave us this breakaway star and this reality show diva also unleashed William Hung and this catchy tune on the world. A major shakeup means new faces in the judges' seats this season.

'Survivor'

The naked one. The not-so-dead grandma. The beard. The campfire incident. "Survivor" viewers have seen their share of memorable moments over the show's 21 seasons. What famous coach was a contestant this season?

'Cops'

The simple premise of following officers on their beats has resulted in one of the longest-running reality series in TV history.

'Dancing With the Stars'

The show boogied into its 11th season (videos) with an all-new celebrity cast. Previous season favorites have included an NFL legend, a moon-walking astronaut and a '90s sitcom star.

'Top Chef'

The Bravo network's culinary competition show took home this award this year, ending this show's seven-year win streak. This former model has hosted the show since Season 2.

'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'

This manic host, who got his start on this show, has been building homes and shouting this phrase since 2003 with the help of volunteers and a rotating cast of designers.

'Temptation Island'

Now that we've looked at the best, it's time to look at the worst reality TV shows. First up is this train wreck. Supposedly devoted couples travel to a tropical island to test their relationships with dozens of hot singles. One couple ends up getting kicked off the island.

'The Swan'

The extreme makeover show pitted two "ugly ducklings" against each other, gave them both a trainer, cosmetic surgery and dental work, and the "winner" moved on to compete in the beauty pageant. One contestant later spoke out against the show.

'Armed & Famous'

Train a former '70s TV star, the sister of a musical legend (and three other "celebs") as police officers with real guns and uniforms? What could possibly go wrong? How long was it on the air?

'Britney and Kevin: Chaotic'

The series -- consisting mainly of home videos -- introduced the world to the then-new couple and Spears' views on time travel. Unfortunately, the relationship only went downhill from there.

'Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?'

These people became household names for getting married on live TV despite having never met. Needless to say, the marriage didn't last, but the wife used her 15 minutes to pose for Playboy. The non-millionaire hubby went on to write a book about his experience.

'Flavor of Love'

Dozens of "ladies" vied for the affection of this clock-wearing rapper during three seasons of this train wreck. The show's star dissed all contestants on the series finale. How many seasons did the show last? One jilted contestant went on to have her own show.

'My Super Sweet 16'

Several celebrity kids were among the spoiled teens filmed by MTV while celebrating their milestone birthdays with outrageous parties. Some got a taste of the not-so-good life on this spin-off.

'Mr. Personality'

A woman had to choose a husband from 20 mask-wearing suitors based solely on his personality. A scandal-plagued former White House intern hosted. Yes, it was as creepy as it sounds.

Nobel Prize Winners

The Nobel Foundation has given out this many prizes since 1901. A record number of names were submitted for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Each winner receives a diploma, a medal (pictures) and a pretty big cash award. The last prize was added in 1968. In honor of the prizes that will be handed out this week, (which one will be awarded at a later date?) we take a look at the award's namesake and some memorable winners.

Alfred Nobel

The pacifist inventor - sometimes known by this nickname - established the Nobel Prizes in his will in 1895. (What did he invent?) He died a year later.

Curie family

Marie Curie who holds this esteemed distinction, her husband, their daughter and even their son-in-law each won a Nobel Prize in physics and/or chemistry.

Lawrence Bragg

The Australian scientist became the youngest winner in 1915 when he won this Nobel Prize along with this relative for their work in this field.

Albert Einstein

The German-born physicist finally won the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics for this research, not his most popular work.

Sir Winston Churchill

Many think the British prime minister won the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize (who won it?), but he actually was awarded this prize.

Martin Luther King. Jr.

The civil rights leader had given his most powerful speech the year before he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Henry A. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho

The U.S. Secretary of State and the North Vietnamese politician were awarded the 1973 Peace Prize for their roles in this agreement. Le Duc Tho declined his prize.

Mother Teresa

The Catholic nun won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work with impoverished people in the slums of this city.

Toni Morrison

The "Beloved" author became the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993.

President Jimmy Carter

The former president - who was recently hospitalized - won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts since leaving the White House.

Leonid Hurwicz

The then 90-year-old Russian-born economist earned this distinction when he was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in economic sciences for his work in this field

President Barack Obama

The first African-American president - who had been in office less than a year - won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize and it caused some controversy.

Top 10 World’s Young Richest Royals

Here is a list of the world’s Young Richest Royals.

1.Prince William, U.K.

Age: 28
Queen Elizabeth’s grandson, Currently training to become a Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force helicopter pilot. 

2.Prince Harry, U.K.

Age: 25
Third in line to British throne after brother Prince William. Begins training to become Apache helicopter pilot in July; has stated he would return again to frontline in Afghanistan. 
3.Princess Victoria,

Sweden
Age: 32
First in line to succeed father, Sweden’s King Carl XVI. In June married former gym owner and personal trainer, Daniel Westling in lavish ceremony 
4.Charlene Wittstock, Monaco  

Age: 32
One-time South African Olympic swimmer got engaged to Monaco’s former playboy Prince Albert in June. Received a pear-shaped diamond created by Parisian jewelry house Maison Repossi estimated to be worth over $100,000. Though no wedding date has been set, Wittstock has reportedly been preparing to become the first lady for several years; rumored to have taken intensive French lessons. She will become the principality’s first Crown Princess since the death of Albert’s legendary mother, Princess Grace, in 1982.
5.Queen Rania, Jordan  

Age: 39
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah is a mother, a wife, a boss, an advocate, and a humanitarian. 
6.Princess Beatrice, U.K.  

Age: 21
Granddaughter of England’s Queen Elizabeth is fifth in line to the throne. In April completed London Marathon, first royal to do so, while also setting a new Guinness World Record by participating in a ”human caterpillar,” a chain of 30-plus runners led by billionaire Sir Richard Branson’s kids. 
7.Zara Phillips, U.K.  

Age: 29
Granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth is an accomplished equestrian like her mother, Princess Anne. Reigning world champion in eventing, the triathlon of equestrian sports, which combines dressage, cross-country and show jumping; has a stable of 15 horses. Plans to represent her homeland in the 2012 London Olympics.
8.Princess Haya, Dubai  

Age: 36
Half-sister of Jordan’s King Abdullah became second wife of Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in 2004.
9.Andrea Casiraghi,  

Age: 26
country :Monaco
Family: Prince Albert
Nephew of Monaco’s Prince Albert became first in line to inherit throne in 2002, when the principality changed its constitution to allow him to inherit when it appeared doubtful his uncle, dubbed the playboy prince, would ever marry and have children. May lose his chance to become prince if Prince Albert and soon-to-be bride, Charlene Wittstock, produce an heir. Said to be dating Tatiana Santo Domingo, the granddaughter of billionaire Julio Mario Santo Domingo. 
10.Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan  

Age: 40
country :Abu Dhabi
Family: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Member of tiny emirate Abu Dhabi’s royal family; half brother of the current president of United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Chairs the state’s oil-oriented sovereign wealth fund and serves as UAE deputy prime minister. In 2008 bought British soccer team Manchester City for $300 million. Avid horse rider.

16 Of The Worst Television Spin Offs

It’s a pretty standard ploy from television execs: once a show is even vaguely popular, take some of the characters, and give them their own series. Hopefully, the money train keeps arriving at the station, and you can keep up your habits of snorting ground mummies off transvestite midget’s asses, or whatever it is that television execs actually do. Unfortunately, for every good spin off (Frasier) there are dozens of horrible ones, ranging from the boring to the downright unwatchable. Here are some of the worst.

1. Joanie Loves Chachi

There’s only one show that could top this list, and it’s this mewling stillborn abomination, that starred two people who obviously hated each other. Chachi was a bad character, even on Happy Days. C’mon, putting in The Fonz’s cousin? Yeah, we’re not digging it. And then having him fall in love with Joanie, and the two go off and try to start a band. The horrible, horrible show was interspersed with musical numbers, which just served to emphasize that Scott Baio cannot sing. It had two seasons, the first of which was incredibly short, before both characters were absorbed back into Happy Days, and the show only gets remembered as a colossal blunder.

2. Galactica 1980

 

Long before Battlestar Galactica was brought back from the dead into its most recent — and really fucking cool — incarnation, there was an attempt at a spin off from the original series. Almost none of the original cast remained, instead a new crop of even worse actors were brought in. Adama now has one of the worst fake beards in existence, and the plot focuses mostly around two officers of the fleet dressing up as CHiPs, and attempting to protect some of the fleet’s children on modern day Earth. The budget was severely reduced for the ten episode show, so it manages to look significantly more dated than its predecessor. And the plot? Oh man, it makes almost no sense. The producers were saddled with weird restrictions about content, due to it being shown in a timeslot that had to be “child friendly”, so almost no violence, lots of educational material, and all the characters had to be paragons of virtue. There’s also the whole Dr. Zee thing. Turns out he’s the magic spirit baby of Starbuck and an angel, who was conceived when Starbuck was stranded on a planet with a Cylon. Wat?

3. Ally

When Fox decided to create a spin off of Ally McBeal, they couldn’t even be bothered to create new characters, or film new footage. Instead, they just took the cutting floor scrapings of the original show, and repackaged them for additional broadcast. So, it was still the original, with the same stories, just edited with some different footage. They cut out most of the courtroom stuff, and instead focused almost solely on relationships. Unsurprisingly, even though people were willing to watch a skeleton lawyer once a week, they weren’t willing to watch exactly the same thing shot from a slightly different angle. Only 10 of the 13 episodes were ever shown.

4. Doctor Phil

Oprah deserves a special place in hell for unleashing Doctor Phil and his brand of quackery onto the general public. His advice is often so bad, it makes anyone even vaguely sensible wince. You know he’s a PhD, not an MD, right? His PhD thesis was called “Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Psychological Intervention” and he got it at the University of North Texas, where he had major issues with the faculty. He’s been brought before the Board for inappropriately hiring a patient as an employee, as well as accused of “inappropriate contact”. He made false statements about his weight loss products. He cares far more about self-promotion than he does about anyone he claims to try and help. Why anyone would look to him for advice bewilders me intensely, and I blame his fame entirely on Oprah.

5. Saved By The Bell: The New Class & The College Years

Oh, Saved by the Bell. Growing up, I was sure High School would be just like that, with Hammer pants, protests, preppies, and insanely hot girls — I was so disappointed by real life. The clip art opening is so firmly entrenched in my mind, that I can probably recite from memory each object that flies by. After the incredibly successful original run, the producers tried to extend the story in two years, first by following the kids to college (which flopped after a single season), and then by having a new cast of kids at Bayside. This new series underwent constant casting changes, and generally lost 2 or 3 students every season. Somehow, this utterly bland and boring show lasted an astonishing seven seasons, and propped up the careers of Principal Belding and Screech far, far longer than they should have.

6. Team Knight Rider

 

Every attempt to capture the cheesy magic of the original Knight Rider has failed miserably, mostly due to the fact that the first one wasn’t actually that good. Sure, Hasselhoff had some charm, and KITT was a cool concept, but it was campy and cheesy, even by the standards of the time. Of all the attempts to resurrect it, the worst was the late 90’s Team Knight Rider. Instead of “one man making a difference”, it was five people, and five vehicles. An SUV, a convertible, a truck, and two motorcycles. It was one of those utterly horrible medium-budget, action drama shows that polluted the airwaves during that time, usually with some minor bit of futuristic technology to make it seem interesting. One season of this large casted behemoth was enough for it to be forgotten for good.

7. Models Inc

Models Inc. was the second descendant of Beverly Hills, 90210. First came 90210, then Melrose Place, then Models Inc. The show was pure 90s distilled. Look at the hair! The makeup! The intro that looks like it should be shown on Cinemax at 2AM (do they even do that anymore, or has internet porn killed it?). Seriously, watch the clip, and tell me that it doesn’t scream soft porn. This failed drama show was about a modeling agency in LA, because, well, models are catty bitches, so drama should flow freely. Chock full of hair pulling, drugs, scandal, and sex, it still performed so utterly terribly that it got canned after the first season, even though it ended on a cliffhanger. Check it out for a pre-Matrix Carrie-Anne Moss

8. The Tortellis

The Tortellis was the first attempt at a spin off from Cheers, and it’s not that surprising it didn’t take. Unlike the later, and much more successful, Frasier, The Tortellis started with a much less interesting and smaller character: Carla’s ex-husband. The sitcom was standard fare about Nick Tortelli and his impossibly attractive wife. Not only did the show tank in its ratings, but it also drew heavy fire due to the extremely stereotypical depiction of Italian-Americans. It was like a bad Family Guy skit, but prime time, and not self-mocking. It was cancelled after a lucky 13 episodes, due to consistently low viewership, 50th out of 79 shows.

9. The Bradys/Brady Cartoon/Brady Brides

 

The Brady Bunch had a ton of spin offs, all of which were universally deplored. They were just awful. There was the cartoon, which focused on the kids having adventures with speaking animals (Scooby Doo much?). Then the Brady Bunch Variety hour, which only lasted nine episodes. In the 80s there were a bunch of reunions, culminating in the really, really weird “The Bradys”. It had almost all of the original actors, barring Marcia and Carol, but they were all adults. It was an attempt to shift the show into a serious vein, and dealt with death, alcoholism, and romance. Given how the Bradys were originally the epitome of white-bread fun, you can understand why it only went for a half-dozen episodes.

10. Enos

 

You know what I wish Dukes of Hazzard had less of? Thrilling car chases, and scantily clad young ladies. Oh, and maybe more of that bumbling deputy, Enos. I know, we’ll send him to join the LAPD, where he’ll be partnered with a sassy black cop, who’s “jive” and whatnot! It’s brilliant! There’s no way that stripping all the good features from the show and completely changing the location will make it worse. Way to take all the charm and joy of the original, and instead turn it into a bumbling buddycop show that lasted only a single crappy season. Needs more girls in tiny shorts.

11. The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.

 

Oh awesome! A TV show about a hot mod spy, kicking ass in a miniskirt. She travels the world, under-cover, using sexy accents, and being generally awesome. Like Cate Archer meets Alias, right? Unfortunately, not quite. Unlike its predecessor — The Man from U.N.C.L.E. — the girly version wasn’t actually allowed to fight. She didn’t have kung-fu skills, or carry a gun. She had a couple of vaguely explosive gadgets, but otherwise had to rely on her feminine wiles. In other words, every episode was her getting kidnapped, being a damsel in distress, and getting rescued by her partner with the large penis, er, I mean, gun. Not quite the women’s lib sexpot spy that everyone was hoping for.

12. Baywatch Nights

I hate to break it to you, Hasselhoff, but there’s only one reason people watched Baywatch, and it wasn’t your acting. So, instead of having a show at a beach, where lots of ladies wandered around in skimpy outfits, the spin off was about a detective agency. See how it’s called “Baywatch Nights”? Not many people wear bikinis at night. The first season attempting to do a standard detective drama show, but that bombed, and so the producers radically shifted the series. Into a paranormal investigation show. That’s right, they made it into an absolutely terrible riff on the X-Files. Look at the video above. If that’s the shitty budget that was put into the opening credits, can you imagine how little they had to use on the episodes? I’ve seen more convincing werewolves from community theater productions of Twilight.

13. The Golden Palace

 

No, not the crappy online casino, which will pay exorbitant sums for Virgin Mary toast. The Golden Palace was a spin off of Golden Girls, and by all accounts, it should have been hilarious. It had Betty White, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, Don Cheadle, and Cheech Marin in it! Cheech! And they tried to run a hotel! Sure, it was missing Bea Arthur, and was shown on the Friday evening death slot, but come on! That cast is amazing. It lasted but a single season, due to revamped characters, the aforementioned bad time slot, and the fact that it was playing against the immensely popular Family Matters. Personally, I blame the writers. This could have been absolutely hilarious, given the talent they were working with. Just imagine a hotel run by the Golden Girls, War Machine and Cheech & Chong. Yeah, you know that would be fantastic.

14. Joey

Friends was insanely popular, right? And it was funny! So how do you capture the wit and charm of an ensemble show like that? I know, let’s take its least funny actor, change the setting, surround him with other useless actors, and hope it takes. Yeah, we get it, Joey’s dumb, good looking, and trying to make it as an actor. The whole “good looking” schtick starts to fade when you realise in the decade since Friends started, Leblanc was now 40 years old, and more than a bit pudgy. Even with the insanely rabid fanbase that Friends somehow managed to acquire, this stillborn show only lasted two seasons. Most likely due to it completely lacking in the funny, from having different writers and producers.

15. AfterMASH

When MASH ended, it was on a brutally nihilistic and depressing note, and remains one of the strongest series endings of all time. Three of the actors from the show didn’t want it to end (correctly guessing they’d have no career afterwards) and so they elected to make a spin off. After the incredibly downbeat ending of the original, what better spin off than a hilarious sitcom set in a veteran’s hospital after the war, starring Klinger, Colonel Potter, and Father Mulcahy! Lasting a season and a half, it had none of the charm nor wit of the original, and it’s a bit harder to make social commentary about the horrors of war, when you’re half a world away, working at a hospital in Missouri.

16. Highlander: The Raven

Calling the original Highlander TV show ‘good’ is a bit of a stretch. It had a certain charm to it, and anything with a theme by Queen instantly wins a few cool points. But messy timelines, stilted acting, and weird accents made the original series into something only a fanboy could love. So, why the hell would they do a spin off? And why remove most of the violence and action at the same time? Instead, replacing it with two leads who obviously have no chemistry, and trying to turn the whole serious into a moralistic romance. This is Highlander! We want decapitations!