The X-Factor

The X-Factor is an american reality television singing competition created by Simon Cowell. The show aired on September 21, 2011 and went on until December 2013. The show went on for three seasons before Fox canceled it after its third season. The winner of the season gets a recording contract with Sony Music. The show is split into four categories and 5 stages.

Categories:

• Teens (14-17)
• Young Adults (18-24)
• Over 25's (25-50)
• Groups.

The 5 stages:

• Stage 1: Producers audition, the contestant auditions for the producers and they decide if they shall go on.
• Stage 2: Juges audition, the contestant auditions for the judges and they decide if they go on to next stage of the competiton.
• Stage 3: Boot Camp, the contestants chosen go on to boot camp where they perform duets and solos for the judges, the judges then decide the who goes on to the judges homes (24 out of the 90 contestants, 6 from each category)
• Stage 4: Judge's homes: the contestants perform for the judges, the judges then choose 4 out of the 6 to compete in the live shows.
• Stage 5: The remaining 16 contestants perform in the live shows, which the audience votes off a conestant every week, until the finale where their are 3 contestants left. 
• Stage 6: The live finale, the winner is crowned. 

In my opinion, The X-Factor is a really entertaining show to watch with your family or friends, because it`s something that you can all bond over, whether its on a song, or a contestant. I also really enjoy how the judge`s give very brutal feed back to the contestants. They dont sugar coat anything to make the conestant feel better about themselves. If they are bad at what they do, they will tell them. 

Switched at Birth

Switched at Birth is an america teen drama series which premiered, June 6 2011 on ABC Family. The one hour drama tells the story of two teen girls who discover that they were accidentally switched at birth. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother, while Daphne Vasquez, who lost her hearing as a child due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a poor neighborhood. Things come to a dramatic head when both families meet and struggle to learn how to live together for the sake of the girls. As the series moves forward, the girls start to learn more about eachother and they become the best of friends. The mothers Kathryn (Who is Daphne's biological mother and Bay's legal mother) and Regina (Bay's biological mother and Daphne's legal mother) learn to bond with their biological daughters, which sometimes angers their legal daughters. Throughout the series, Bay and Daphne leanr to deal with eachother's differences and similarities, and learn to deal with issues such as, heartnreaks, drugs, alcohol and many more. 

Switched at Birth was not even close to what i expected it to be. The ways these two girls grew up in two very different environnemts, it shows how they act as a person. Also, I really liked how they have more then one deaf, mute annd hard of hearing characters as series regulars. I was not expecting Switched at Birth to be a long running series (Season 4 will premiere on January 6, 2015). I expected it to end after atleast a second season. It is one of my favourite chose because of the intensity of the plotline and storyline. The way the show pans out us also very interesting to watch. 

The Fosters

The Fosters is an american teen drama series that premiered on June 3rd 2013 on ABC Family inthe United States and ABC Spark in Canada.

The series stars Maia Mitchell as Callie Quinn Jacobs who is a 16 year old foster child, after her and younger brother Jude Jacobs get out of an abusive foster home, they are then put into the foster home of Stef and Lena Foster, a lesbian couple with adopted and biological children,  fraternal  twins Mariana and Jesus, are the first kids they adopted, afther their drug addictive mother abandonned them. The second child is 16 year old Brandon Foster who is the biological son of Stef from a previous marriage. After Callie and Jude arrive to the home, Callie and Brandon fall for eachother, but it is forbidden because of the foster rule that is you are not aloud to fall for a foster brother or sister as they are considered family. Throughout the series the Fosters family will have to learn to deal with many different issues, such as: heart breaks, hook ups, romances and important life lessons.

In my opinion, The Fosters is a really great show, at first I thought that it wasnt gonna be interesting enough for my liking, After watching the pilot episode, I knew that I made the right choice of starting to watch it, I cant say much about the show because it will give away alot of the mind blowing twists and revelations. Many of the storylines are really exciting to watch and see how they play out at the end. I feel like the Fosters is also a very passionate show because of the introduction of a lesbian couple, and the very likely introduction of the first gay male character, especially because most of the audience are guys and girls in their pre-teenage and teenage years, they're still trying to find themselves, their true identity, their sexual oreientation and its pretty great that exploring that.

The cast of The Fosters on set from left to right: Brandon Foster (David Lamber), Stef Foster (Teri Polo), Lena Adams Foster ( Sherri Saum), Jesus Foster (Jake T. Austin), Mariana Foster (Cierra Ramirez) and Callie Jacobs (Maia Mitchell)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fosters_%282013_TV_series%29

Finding Carter

Finding Carter is an american teen drama television series which premiered on July 8 2014 on MTV.

The series follows the life of Carter Stevens, a teenage girl who has a great life with her single mother Lori. One night, when Carter was out with her friends, they broke into a closed carnival and were busted by the cops, they were all taken to the station where they're picked up by their parents. Lori, however does not come pick up Carter and Carter learns that Lori is not her biological mother but her kidnapper, who kidnapped her when she was only three years old. Carter also learns that her real name is Lyndon, but Lori changed her name after the kidnapping, she is then reunited with her biological family consisting of her detective mother Elizabeth, who is having an affair with her partner, her father David, an author who wrote a book about Carter's kidnapping called "Losing Lyndon" and is working on a sequel that talks about Carter's return, much to her dismay, her twin sister Taylor who is the goody goody in the family and tries to be the best she can to impress their mother and finally her younger brother Grant who feels like he is invisible in the family and believes himself to be the replacement child.

In the first few episodes, Carter's relationship the members of her family is explored as she gets along well with her siblings and father, but has a hard time getting along with Elizabeth as Elizabeth is alot more strict then Lori. Also, She tries running away from home and reuniting with Lori as she is convinced that Lori is her real mother, but Elizabeth is always once step ahead. Carter also starts school with her sister and she meets her friend Gabe who she develops a crush on, only to find out that Taylor also likes him, she also learns to deal with betrayal, heartbreak and lies.

In my opinion, Finding Carter is one of the most intriguing, mysterious and twistful shows created. Their are many reasons to watch the show such as the twists that you dont see coming, they happen and I always stop and think for a second "Wow, what just hapenned." Also their are the shocking revelations that you dont expect, there's really not one time when I think about the season finale and dont get goosebumps or excited for what's to come in season two.

I recommend Finding Carter for anyone who likes mysteries and dramas. The romance in the show is very low and is sometimes never a story in an episode. The show focuses more on the mystery aspect then romance so its really for anyone between the ages of 14-16.  I give the show itself a 5 star rating if it was up to me.

The cast of Finding Carter from left to right: Kathryn Prescott (Carter Stevens) Cynthia Watros (Elizabeth Wilson) Anna Jacoby-Heron (Taylor Wilson), Zac Pullam (Grant Wilson) and Alexis Denisof (David Wilson)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_Carter

Suits

Suits is American drama series that takes place in New York City, at to the fictional Law Firm, Pearson Hardman. 

While running from a drug deal gone bad, Mike Ross, a very smart college-dropout, finds himself in a interview with one of New York City's best legal closers, Harvey Specter. Harvey, who was annoyed with all the goody-goody guys who were hoping to get the job, takes a huge risk by hiring Mike as his assistant after he notices Mike's talent in law and his photographic memory. Mike and Harvey are the perfect duo. Even though Mike is a genius and thinks he knows everything about the law, he still has a lot to learn about it, and while Harvey may be seem as an emotionless, cold-blooded man, Mike's sympathy and concern for their cases and their clients  helps remind Harvey why he went into law in to begin with. Mike's other co-workers in the office include the law firm's best paralegal Rachel Zane and Harvey's sassy assistant Donna Paulson to help him with his problems and his cases. After proving to be an impressive duo, Mike and Harvey decide to keep Mike's secret a secret from everyone in the firm. Including, the head partner Jessica Pearson and Harvey's enemy in the firm Louis Litt who's goal is take down Harvey and make Mike's life at work a living hell. How long can they keep Mike's secret before it gets exposed? 

In my opinion, Suits is one of those shows that I couldn't see myself enjoy watching until I've actually watched an episode. Suits is one of my favourite shows just because of how much twists and shockers they manage to add. The show makes me wanna become and a lawyer and work in a law firm and take over the world! Okay I'm just kidding about that part but it's just the excitement that the show gives me is great. 

Suits's main cast from left to right: Rick Hoffman (Louis Litt), Gina Torres (Jessica Pearson), Gabriel Macht (Harvey Specter), Patrick J. Adams (Micheal "Mike" Ross), Meghan Markle (Rachel Zane) and Sarah Rafferty (Donna Paulson) 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suits_(TV_series)

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Is television good for you?

Hey guys, so today I wont be posting #4 on the television show list. Instead, I will talking about something a bit more serious. Is television good for you? In my opinion, no. It isnt, for three reasons; it is to distracting, it has an influence on us, sometimes negative and finally because there are better things to do. 

Nowadays, television is wherever you go, wether you watch at home, on your tablet or even your phone! I find that television is to distracting. It has all of our attention, to the point where we forget to do more important things, such as; doing or finishing our homework, doing the chores we were supposed to do and spending time with our families. What we dont notice is that televison is slowly taking over our society. I find that television is stoppinf us from being social, we barely go outside anymore and see our friends outside of school. 

Secondly, television has an influence on us, sometimes a negative influence. Some of us get so obsessed with a certain television show or movie, that we start behaving and thinking like our favourite character. Sometimes we get influenced by the wrong character, like the antogonist of the show, the mean girl or guy of the series. They get into our heads and we think that it's a good thing to act like them when in reality, its not. 

Third of all, television prevents us from being social. We get so into our television series and we binge watch them all day. We barely see our friends outside of school, and if we do it's usually to watch the newest episode together of a series together. We forget what it was like to actually be social. 

In conclusion, television is not good for us because it stops us from conversing with our families, it has a negative effects on our minds and finally, it stops is from being social. 

Gossip Girl

#5. Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl is an american teen drama series based on the book series written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series was created by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz. The series premiered on the CW from September 19 2007 to December 17 2012, it is narrated by the voice actress of Gossip Girl (Kristen Bell). The series centers around the lives of priviliged young adults on the Upper East Side of  New York Cirty. It begins with the return of Serena Van Der Woodsen to the Upper East Side, after a year away at boarding school in Connecticut. Blair Waldorf, Serena`s best friend and occasional rival, is considered "queen" on the Upper East Side. The series also follows the lives of Chuck Bass and Nate Archibald, who are bestfriends as well. Nate and Blair have been in a relationship since kindergarden, but their relationship takes aturn when Serena returns. Other characters on the Upper East Side are brought into the main cast such as Dan Humphrey, who is not rich like Blair, Serena, Nate and Chuck, he is from Brooklyn but goes to with the four. When he has a run-in with Serena, their lives change, and you see that relationship evolving throughout the series. All in all, the show is called Gossip Girl for a reason, all while these five teenagers try to maintain a private life, a mysterious and anon blogger known as Gossip Girl (hence the name), is always one step ahead of them and finds out everything from, rumours, to cheatings, and last but not least their secrets and she posts them on her blog and exposes them. Gossip is not the kind of show to have an actual plotline, other then the whole "Who is gossip girl?" idea presented in season 5. Instead, each character have a different storyline that somehow get connected with all the other stories.

In my opinion, Gossip Girl is probably one of the best television shows created, for teens atleast. The show can mess with your emotions but you will not get enough of it. Gossip Girl has been one of the most succesful tv seires in all of america and mostly because of the cast and the relationships they have off-screen. I cant say much about my opinion of the show, mostly because I would be giving away some very big spoilers. But it is still one of my favourite shows, considering I have rewatched it a good 4 four times. 

Gossip Girl`s main cast in season one, from left to right: Jenny Humphrey, Chuck Bass, Serena Van Der Woodsen
Dan Humphrey, Blair Waldorf, Nate Archibald.

Main Cast: 

Entire Series:

Leighton Meester: Blair Waldorf

Blake Lively: Serena Van Der Woodsen

Chuck Bass: Ed Westick

Penn Badgley: Daniel Humphrey

Chace Crawford: Nate Archibald

Taylor Momsen:  Jenny Humphrey (Main cast, seasons 1-3)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossip_Girl