Furonda Marches to the Beat of Her Own Drum! Plus 'CSI,' 'Trace' and CBS' Summer Offerings

If America's Next Top Model were a personality contest, Furonda (left - photo courtesy UPN) would have won for having the most. The 24 - year old from Stuttgart, Arkansas, who the judges said "beat to the tune of her own drum," was always bringing her own special dose of fun to the challenges and photo shoots. When one of those challenges relied on personality, Furonda was the easy winner. It garnered her a speaking guest role on UPN's Veronica Mars, an experience that she calls a "great time." "Everybody was extremely nice to me," she recalled during a teleconference with bloggers last night. "They helped me through it. Gave me tips." She says that she was especially impressed with Steve Guttenberg, who plays Neptune's mayor who may or may not have been involved in this season's central bus crash mystery, because she has grown up watching his comedy. All of that personality also led to an interesting moment during Top Model's early episodes. Furonda passed out a memo of her rules to the other girls in the house, but she says there was more to the list than what the audience heard on the show, but it was basically about showing respect toward each other. She says that she had experienced the situation before when she lived in the dorms at college, so she came prepared. "I thought that was necessary because I was moving into a house with thirteen other girls and I have a unique personality," she explains.


Furonda says that she has been a fan of America's Next Top Model since season one. She tried out for season two, but didn't get called back until this season. She says that she had the most fun with the living doll shoot because she got to be a rag doll. "It was kind of sweet revenge because the week before, Jay gave me a bad critique and said I was like a rag doll," she says laughing. Her least favorite shoot was the falling fairy tale one because she says it was dangerous. "A lot of girls got injured. Sara had to go to the chiropractor," she recalls. Since her experience on Top Model, Furonda has been working on her modeling career, but she says she would also like to act, especially in comedies like Saturday Night Live. She is also working on launching a singing career, and she'll soon have some singles uploaded on her official web site. But the work that is nearest and dearest to her is with the campaign Know HIV/AIDS, which she got involved with after winning a challenge on Top Model. She feels that speaking to young people with AIDS is very important. "Just let AIDS survivors know that they are beautiful just for fighting the horrible disease they have," she says sincerely. She'll soon be moving to New York, and it's very possible that she'll room with fellow Top Model contestant Nnenna. "Nnenna is kind of like my support system right now," she explains. With her work with Know HIV/AIDS and her future goals in modeling and acting, it seems that Furonda will be busy, but that's all right with her. "I want it all," she says with a laugh. "Next is everything." You can learn more about Furonda from her official site. You can get more information on Know HIV/AIDS here. America's Next Top Model airs Wednesday nights on UPN.


Was CSI living in a fantasy world last night or what? Literally! So, one thing that never fails to intrigue me on this show is the alternative lifestyles and such that it loves to portray. This show feeds on the absurd. Can you imagine the amount of money that the victim's fantasy must have cost? Two banged up vehicles, lots of spare gambling money, a number of participants and what I can only imagine is a huge service fee levied by the fantasy creating company. It's amazing what a lot of money will buy you! In other CSI news, did you guys notice the many bones that the show was throwing all of those who want Sara and Grissom to hook up? For the record, I'm not one of them. I find the whole thing tremendously out of character for Grissom. I see him more as a father figure to Sara, much in the same way that I see Lilly and Stillman's relationship on Cold Case. Thus, the mere thought of them hooking up sends several waves of uncomfortable down my spine. From the looks they shot each other in this episode, it seems that the worst is yet to come on that front. Anyway, who's up for free episodes of CSI?? Everyone? Well, then CBS is your new best friend. The net's official site is now showing the producers' two favorite episodes (including the incredible "Gum Drops"). You can click on over there to watch them anytime. Don't forget to study this picture for clues to next week's 2-part finale. Where's Brass? Might that be a clue...


Thank you for giving us an excellent, compelling and well written episode last night Without a Trace! You have been living in mediocre land for way too long, but when you're good, you're one of TV's best. I was so sure that the brother and sister had banded together, killed their father and gone on the run, but I was SO happy when that wasn't the case. It just goes to show that you can't just rely on how things seemed to be. Of course, the family had problems. They lost their wife/mother, dad lost his job, the little boy was having trouble in school and the daughter was in with the wrong boyfriend, but when it came down to it, they were still a family. The fact that they were on the run together and back to being a family again kind of warmed my heart a bit. I know that sleazy boyfriend was in fear for his life, but I still hate him for calling the daughter just so he could give the family's location to the Albanians. Why not lie and say that she never called back when he paged her? That would have made sense because the family was in hiding. See, this why I hated sleazy boyfriend. I admire the family for agreeing to testify against the Albanians in return for witness protection because they're going to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders. Of course, Jack has their back and the gun that will put a hole in the leader's head if he touches the family. I love when Jack gets tough!

About Last Night...CBS won the first hour of the night with Survivor, followed by 2 episodes (one new and one rerun) of NBC's Will & Grace and the first hour of ABC's American Inventor. At 9, CBS stayed in front with CSI, followed by NBC comedies My Name is Earl and The Office and the second hour of ABC's American Inventor. The final hour of the night went to CBS' Without a Trace, followed by NBC's ER and ABC's Primetime. For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - NBC airs another episode of Deal or No Deal.

@9 p.m. - Things heat up at the Montecito when Olympic athlete Sasha Cohen stops by on NBC's Las Vegas. Over on CBS, Annabeth brings a high school basketball player to trial for the murder of his teammate on Close to Home.

@10 p.m. - A respected female attorney kills her husband, and goes head-to-head against Jim Steele on NBC's Conviction. Over on CBS, Don and his family are in danger when they become the targets of the suspects Don and the team are investigating on Numb3rs.

FINALES TONIGHT!!!
Ghost Whisperer (8 p.m. CBS) - Second part of the 1st season finale
Survival of the Richest (8 p.m. The WB) - 1st season finale
Reba (9 p.m. The WB) - 5th season finale


SUNDAY EDITION
@8 p.m. - Lilly reopens the 1984 case involving the shooting of a successful ER doctor when a new witness steps forward. (SPOILER ALERT) This is also the episode where something happens to Scotty that will carry over into the finale in the way of an injury, but not serious (END SPOILER). Over on NBC, CJ is faced with what to do with her future as the Santos administration begins to transition into the White House on The West Wing.

@9 p.m. - Edie's private detective gets to the bottom of Karl's indiscretion, Tom gets some bad news and Bree and Andrew reach another impasse on ABC's Desperate Housewives. Over on NBC, Whoopi Goldberg guest stars on Law & Order: CI.

@10 p.m. - The interns deal with a family involved in a car accident, Derek lets his emotions get the best of him, and Burke and Izzie make a new suggestion to Denny on ABC's Grey's Anatomy.

FINALES SUNDAY NIGHT!!!
Crossing Jordan (10 p.m. NBC) - 5th season finale and 100th episode

To see what else you can catch on television tonight and this weekend with customized listings for your area (via Zap2it), visit the TV Listings area of PassTheRemote.net.


QUICK CUTS

*CBS is planning a busy summer schedule according to its latest press release. Look for the return of Rock Star and an all-star edition of Big Brother in July. Also, look for newcomers Game Show Marathon and Tuesday Night Book Club. Marathon, an adaptation of a popular show in the U.K, finds celebrities facing off in different classic game shows (such as The Price is Right and Match Game). Ricki Lake will host the series that begins May 31st. It will run twice a week until the middle of June when it will move to its Thursday night slot. Book Club, an unscripted series that follows the interesting conversations that take place when a group of women meet for a book club, will premiere June 13th and air Tuesday nights at 10 p.m.

*And finally, Matthew Perry is returning to NBC's primetime line-up this fall. The Peacock announced Thursday that it is picking up Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, in which Perry stars along side his Whole Nine Yards co-star Amanda Peet as well as Bradley Whitford (The West Wing), D. L Hughley and Steven Webber. West Wing creators Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme created the hour-long drama that follows the backstage happenings on a sketch comedy show. We'll find out what else makes NBC's fall line-up during the network's schedule announcement on May 15th.

To get more of today's biggest TV news and headlines, visit the TV News section at PassTheRemote.Net.


That's all for today. Be sure to tune in Monday for thoughts on Cold Case (Yay! The 80s!) and Desperate Housewives (Susan's goose is so cooked!). Plus, all the latest television news. And be sure to check back here later today for another exciting edition of Friday Fun where you'll get a preview of one of this season's biggest finales! Stay Tuned...

To get more television coverage, including a complete archive of the best of Pass the Remote and a photo gallery featuring pictures from the set of Veronica Mars, click on over to PassTheRemote.net.



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