How did the Fab Five do in London? Discuss here.

Wonderful episode! I really enjoyed this one. I had a bunch of comments in my head yesterday, but now that the thread is posted, I'm drawing a blank, so I'll have to wing it!

Simon reminded me of Richard Miller. HE was the one who contacted the guys, and HE was the one who wanted the change, but then he was really nervous about it when the time came. But, I'll tell ya, that was a great haircut!! I was wondering if, since he was so uptight about it, they'd keep it on the longer side (like Tom K.), but there aren't too many styling options with long curly hair like that without it turning into an afro, so short was the way to go. And, it was long enough on top that it still had a fun look. Glad he kept the beard too. Looked good on him.

Watching their reactions to the low flying planes cracked me up! Years ago, a friend of mine lived along the flight path like that and we'd sit out on her deck and watch the planes pratically land on her roof as they made their landing approach. However, I'll admit that since 9/11 I get a little twinge seeing low flying planes. (Wonder if the Fab5 had that feeling. If I recall the bios, 4 of the 5 were living in NY at the time.)

Those prawns looked delicious! I love shrimp! I'm going to have to copy that recipe when they post it on the site. ("...they are no more". Heeee.)

Other than that wallpaper, I liked what Thom did with the place. I like seeing what he can do with very small living spaces.

Not sure why they did it, but I loved the trapeze flying! Was that to help Simon regain his confidence to get back on stage? Or to give the couple something to do together? Whatever, it was cool & I'd love to try something like that.

I liked the clothes Carson got for him. Not sure about that tattered jacket look. I like the look of a sweater under a suit jacket, but not a sweater with a hood. That didn't look right.

Overall a great episode. One of the better. Reminded me of some of the earlier shows!

Okay, I normally would not have waited so long to post my opinion of the show, but at first I was so shocked by Simon that I could barely get past the planes...I practically spent the entire show with my hands over my mouth staring at the TV. Anyway, here it is.

Jai was dressed as another school teacher. Last week it was math, this week history. Or maybe nutrition with his intro sequence with the little orange thing. He did wonderfully with the trapeze! Jai, sweetie, next time you go, bring me with you! I used to do that in my backyard two ropes and a broom handle. Jai also did very well in the digitalizing the CDs...now if only I could get one of those...
Carson, honey, what was with the plaid?! I thought you were against plaid! He did very well with the first look, with the soft, warm purples. I really liked that one, but I wasn't too crazy about the second look. What was with all the jackets with the British flag on the back? I didn't really like the 'creative person business suit,' it was just too weird for me. THOSE PANTS!!! Did anyone else see the army green pants with the bright orange dragon on them? I love those pants!
Graham Norton...who is he? The guy was rude and I don't like the jacket he was wearing. I just didn't think that it was very stylish at all. Thank you KCee for answering this!
Ted, I liked his look for the invasion, but not at the makeshift loft, he looked too much like a grandfather. Take off the sweater and just wear the green shirt. The giant prawns...OMG!! I haven't eaten seafood in two years (other than calamari) and I could have touched those things. Touching raw squid is worse than prawns! I didn't think it was that bad, it certainly wasn't worse than the chocolate mole` sauce from some other episode where the SG had to stir it for an hour.
I don't have much to say about Kyan, but I really like the hair salon he took Simon to. I love it that they serve wine there!! Plus, Aaron, the hair stylist, was HOT!! I wasn't too sure about the hair style at first, but after seeing this ep three times, it has grown on me. I kind of like it, but it took a while for me to like it.
Thom was just wonderful. He's a genius. Pure and simple, Thom is a genius.
Simon, Simon, Simon...he's just scary. He was scary in the beginning from when he opened the door to when he tried to touch the prawns. After he touched the prawns, he became...normal. Never would have thought that touching prawns would make a person normal...you think if I touched them I'd be a little more crazy? Or a little more normal?

QUOTE TIME! YAY!

Simon: "Look after my dust mites."
Thom: "This is...really lovely."
Ted: "Is that better? Is Kenny G better?" No, sweetie, its not better.
Carson: "Don't sleep over. You'll have a couple drinks and wake up in the burn unit."
Thom: "Everything is so cute and little, even him!"
Carson: "In that vat of sea monkeys?"
Carson: "Man of a thousand nipples."
Thom: "Mirror, mirror, on the wall. You're the ugliest mirror of them all."
Cliff (referring to hair): "I'm glad its his, and not mine."
Carson, Thom, Simon: "People, people, little child."
Thom: "See? I'm bringing people together through decorating." I bet Tomasulo and TTB were like "You can bring us together any day honey."
Simon: "Is anyone there? Yes, its the house of bad taste."
Ted (with prawns): "Be afraid, be very afraid." Umm, Ted, darling, he is afraid!
Thom: "Its a reflective surface! Kyan!"
Kyan: "Okay he's over-tszujing now." I never thought he would say that!

Okay there ya go, there's my review!

JG

This was such a good episode, definitely one of the best.

We got a lot of Thom, which is always a good thing. And his expression when the plane flew over, from "hey, this is sorta nice" to "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT????", was hilarious -- I rewound the tape like eight times, cracking up at his reaction.

And we got to see the boys dancing, or three of them, anyway, which is always good (mm-hm, Thommy -- shake it, don't break it, it took yo mamma nine months ta make it).

I love London. I love the Fab Five. Together, you just can't go wrong. The only thing that makes me sad is that we only get two episodes -- it would've been better if they'd done three or four, I think.

The only thing that wasn't fabulous about this episode was the end -- what, no Hip Tips?

Great Show! I will enjoy watching this one over and over for the details, as I was dead tired and only remember the aspects that really stood out for me..

First of all.. what is it about these English guys that makes CarsonTedThomKyan and even little Jai look macho by comparison? The English need a bigger gene pool and I think Simon has a winner in his robust and totally engaging girlfriend, Mary. Now she would be fun for a makeover with the Real Queer Eye. Just so Carson keeps the plaid away from her . He looks so fine in it. Very few others can wear it, nevermind in two different fabrics. He sure flaunts IT, whatever IT is.
Speaking of IT, Thoms hair was incredible! Very perfect.. maybe too perfect.. his hair was for a statue or a painting. No! I am not into Thomism! I just noticed..
But his livingroom was not attractive. He did have a good point about scale. The SG's old couch was too big for the room. But it was my favorite shade of blue and very close to the color, but not the style of my couch. Snooky from CARSONKRESSLEY.com mentioned that Thoms choice of black chrome and leather reminded her of the comment he made to Zimmerman about "a dentists office in Boca". I think he meant Boca Raton, FLA. Yuck! I think the Brit 'Mod' style is very dated and Austin Powers (which is stupid and dated). The wallpaper looked dirty and it was new.. This was not exactly a homey environment for a couple. It seemed more an insecure bachelor pad.. Boom Boom tune room.
The patio was incredibly romantic but the bedroom was functional and classy but uninspiring for romance. A palm?! How literal! And office tacky like the livingroom.

Ted did a great job choosing the meal, and I enjoyed to see the girlfriend not shy to dig in. Some women do this pick pick thing on dates, and who are they kidding? If a guy spends his pay or his time to cook, that is not the time to pretend you are full on three bites and a half glass of wine. Some people look funny when they eat.. (like that guy Sean.. I could understand why the guys yelled at him on the screen to "stop chewing!"). But Mary had an attractive way about chewing. Natural but polite. It's too bad Simon had a shrimp phobia. I won't make any jokes about his size as I'm hardly a behemoth myself.
Jai was spot on in his choice of a fun Circus acrobatic date for the lighthearted couple and the choice of the space saving electronics. Jai is a behind the scenes mover and emotional shaker, and the straight guys have consistently credited him for helping them to make the big attitudinal changes in their lives.
Of course, poor Simon had the looks and style for the circus until Carson spruced him up. And what a makeover! Carson turned a has-been joke into a contender. Well, a contender for their pub scene anyway. but Simon has one solid voice and stage presence. He won't be waiting long for gigs I'm sure!
I do have an American bias against the kind of style that Carson chose only because Simon is a small man. A larger or taller man can wear the custom peices, but a very small man looks ridiculous over-styled. (I was at work one day and the customer comes in to have a look and he was maybe 5'7" and wearing very expensive and styled western clothing and a cowboy hat and tooled leather vest and boots. He looked all of 10 years old. Or gay. And by the way he was strutting around you could tell he was going for macho.) But Carson had the point that Simon was an artist and needed a distinctive image to sell himself at business lunches. And Mary will help him tone it for the stage so that he doesn't get razzed too much.

About the hair.. It was an improvement but it still seemed chopped and haphazard. Kyan was cute/funny the way he played with Simon's reticence. And Kyan has a sexiness when relaxed and in his element (salon) that I just don't see in other situations. I used to say that I would watch a cooking show with just Ted, a fashion show with just Carson, but that the other three needed an ensemble. I think that Kyan is starting to come into his own and could carry a salon based show. I see an emerging ability to share himself in front of the camera.
Well, I am sure that I missed many details, and it will be fun reading everyone's opinions of the show. I am probably spitting into the wind when I suggest that we go back to mainly posting about the shows on the show threads the first week, and talk about our angst, our hobbies or bad hair days on the General Comments thread meanwhile. Just a thought.
notevayas

I can't believe I'm only the third poster.
I agree with a lot of what you said, JG, although I liked the wall paper--surprisingly. I would have thought in such a small room it would have made it smaller but somehow with the scaled down furniture it really toned up the place. (Of course ANYTHING would have toned up the place!) But you get the idea.
It was interesting how attached Simon was to his hair. I was so pleased when he finally realized what a difference it made. And Mary was wonderful!! So affirming and in a specific way. Not just OMG you look great. But reiterating some of the things Kyan had said about Simon's bone structure, etc.
I really thought Ted tried to be more sensitive to a non-cooker this week. He was really specific in the kitchen and very affirming also. Then it was almost a disaster again. I don't think Ted is too demanding for the most part but somehow the SG's just don't often have the confidence they need. LOVED the new tea brewer!
Jai was his wonderful sensitive self but I didn't feel he was getting alot of feedback. Maybe that is why the trapeze. Still, that was a good idea tying in Simon's interest in flying although both Simon and Mary need to do it a few more times to really get the fun out of it.
I loved the model plane! Now that was an inspired gift.
I'm getting a little tired of the flat screen t.v.s, although at least this one was scaled for the apartment. And the digital sound equipment was masterful!
I've never ever thought anything on QE was contrived or scripted. Even the product placement hasn't really bothered me. But Graham Norton just 'showing up' in front of the palace. Oh puhleeze! I don't know who he is really, didn't see the video of his visit with Carson but read about it. So it seemed very contrived! David, don't do that to us again, pleeeeeze!
You will laugh at this next comment, especially those of you who have gotten to know my musical tastes. I actually liked the song Simon and his mates sang at the opening. First, he uses a mike correctly. And the hip-hop rhythm wasn't overbearing.
I was afraid Simon was going to sucumb to the wine but he managed to hold his own.
The garden was delightful!
I didn't mind the clothing too much either for Simon or the bois. I actually liked the jackets on Jai and Simon with the Union Jack on the back. But really, again, almost anything was an improvement for dressing Simon. In the end he looked like a rock star!
I thought Kyan's comment about mothers was quite telling. You could see he was disgusted that Simon's Mum (as Richard's was when he removed his hairpiece) couldn't be more supportive and affirming. Especially after all she said about Simon in the brief interviews.
That's about all. Will watch again and have more later.
Cheers,
SLB _,,/

Wait, the board is live and I'm only the second one to post a reply here?? Come on, the rest of you get away with surfing the net from work, right? Did everyone think it sucked that bad?
Oh well, at least KCee and I didn't, so here's my take:

I thought it was unecessary for our boys to go to the UK after we've had the UK version of the show, and especially since US SGs in many states are in dire need of a make-better.
But, I went to London and Bath about the time the first Austin Powers movie came out, so it gave me some memories. I didn't mind the blatant sponsorship this time, because I love travelling. I took Virgin Atlantic on my England trip. On the way out of England, I got frisked quite nicely at Heathrow, then feeling a bit randy, I walked past the stern male agents with a silly grin on my face. (Does that make me gay? That as a woman quickly patted me down, then lingered at my crotch, and I found it to feel better than the touch of any man?) Like in the show, I noticed that they take quite a fancy to Indian food over there. Part of it is demographic and part of it is that many don't find English cuisine anything to write home about. Just saying. I usually drank Schweppe's tonic water when I was there. I was impressed at how well the boys knew the best salons, shops, restaurants etc. and were able to show the SG around in his own country.
Jolly good - this episode seemed to me to have some of that edgy, cosmopolitan flavor of season one. Just one big complaint: There were NO end of show Hip Tips! Come on people, sometimes my favorite part of any given episode is the Hip Tips, usually Kyan's.
Personally, I'm glad they did another redhead. I look like Steve S. because of my streaks and I act like him, but when I wake up, (especially w/o streaks), my hair looks just like Simon's did before it got cut. Come to think of it, my eyes look like his. Brow pencil is a Ghodsend. I use the auburn and light brown together. I look like I have no lashes. Mascara only does so much because they're just so short and sparse. Fakes make a difference, but you have to find a natural size and shape and cut them in half. If only I had the time to apply them before work everyday, but alas. So in order not to look washed-out, I apply a brownish black liquid liner to the top lids. Carson told him what colors redheads should and shouldn't wear, but I didn't catch all of it. I remember that green was a yes, but forgot the other yesses. I forgot the other no's, except he said to avoid red. Oops. I wore a red tee when I met Ky. I didn't think it looked that bad. Come to think of it, not all greens look good on me. I look sickly in forrest green, but radiant in emerald and spring green, and not bad in mint.
The SG was deserving of this make-better, IMO. I wouldn't usually say that about someone famous, but I'm not familiar with his band from the 80's anyway. I kvetch to anyone who'll listen about my loud downstairs neighbors, but it would suck even more to live under a flight path like he did. His home was gross to begin with and Thom worked his magic and made it into a groovy mid-century modern pad. The wallpaper made a big difference. The GF had a nice smile. It looked too cold for the couple to be eating dinner outside that night. Jai really shone in this episode. He looked smashing in his fedora. He was so agile in the acrobat scene. Giving the SG that digital Sonos device deserves major *snaps*
I loved the Keenan Duffy couture! The boys wore that brand in one of the earlier episodes.
One of my favorite things about this episode is that it didn't focus on the SG and his peeps at the expense of our boys. The camera focused more on Ky's eyes! Hey Kyan, wanna shag?

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Wait, the board is live and I'm only the second one to post a reply here??

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Wierd. As I started writing this, it was only KCee's post. I guess the rest of you before me were writing at the same time, but finished before I did. Damn 30 wpm typing speed.