Kendra: Season 1 Premiere
By: Katie Ryan | Category: Show Review | 06/24/09 | 12:34 AM
 |  | Grade: D | Genre: Drama Summary: Wow and you thought Kendra was stupid on the Girls Next Door.
Kendra Wilkinson, who stars as the least lovable of the girls on the reality series "The Girls Next Door," now has her own show called Kendra. The show follows Kendra, a 23 year old buxom blond, along her forays out into the real world on her own for the first time. She admits to never having cooked, cleaned or even bought her own groceries. To say she was spoiled would be an understatement to say the least. You may want to watch the show to either see how Kendra ends up succeeding on her own, or to watch all of Kendra's failures. After watching the hour premiere of the series, there is another reason to watch. That would be to see Hank Baskett. |
For the first half hour it is all Kendra. It's Kendra screeching, laugh, whining and being all around annoying. You would like to root for her, really. It truly is hard for anyone to leave home, or even the Playboy Mansion, to try and make it on her or his own. But it is a little hard to be supportive of a person who has a house with absolutely no furniture making the installation of a stripper pole her first priority. Before she gets around to buying a couch, bed, tv, or even puts food in her refrigerator, Kendra orders a stripper pole and plops it right in the middle of her living room. It's for the exercise, of course. Way to go, Kendra.
She doesn't exactly score points on her grocery shopping. She is completely clueless as to the contents of the aisles and acts like an ignorant jerk when she takes over a handicap shopping cart to amuse herself. No Kendra, the riding carts are not for just anyone. One wonders just how much of her ignorance is for effect. Discussing whether Rice-a-Roni is Asian or Mexican food (apparently, it's Mexican) and having no clue that two cart fulls of food was going to be- yes- expensive are either incredibly sad or exaggerations to make her show entertaining. Hopefully it is the latter.
Kendra throws a housewarming party where she makes it abundantly clear that her party-hard ways are still in full force. It seems more like a frat party than a house warming with all the keg stands and shots as well as people peeing outside in the yard. But then again, it's Kendra. It's the woman with a stripper pole in the middle of her living room. Time to drink up. Hugh Hefner makes a surprise visit, bringing a new girlfriend, Crystal, to the party. Later in the second half hour of the show, Kendra returns the favor, bringing finance Hank to the Playboy mansion.
The second part of the show focuses on Hank Baskett. This is important since Hank is really the only likable character in the series. There still may be some hope that Kendra will grow as things continue to evolve. Hank is cool, calm and very collected, no matter what the situation. When he sees Kendra's messy bedroom that he will be sharing with her, he sees it as an opportunity to help her clean up. Hank also plays it very cool when he meets up with Hefner, the ex boyfriend/father figure/sugar daddy at the Playboy Mansion. He even agrees to letting Kendra accept Hefner's invitation to their having the wedding at the Playboy Mansion.
So if you are looking for a reason to watch Kendra, then watch it to see Hank Baskett, wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. Watch as he never gets tired of Kendra's nasal and incessant laugh. Be amazed at how patiently he explains yet again just how a closet works. Watch and wonder while Hank thinks of ways to survive it all until its time for training camp.
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