Finding Marebabe

And here's another one of my faves, the lovely and amazing Marebabe! She's holding up what are undoubtedly her favourite books in the universe. Right, Marebabe? (Just say yes for now... your cheque is in the mail...) Notice she's also wearing her JOpinionated fan button!

Another One!

And here is our beloved humanebean with his copy of Finding Lost Season 5 (check out that sexy Dharma Initiative jumpsuit!!!) He says he's hiding from Widmore and that's why we can't see his entire face. Oh humanebean... even Benjamin Linus couldn't stay hidden forever!!

More Happy Readers!

This is Erin, one of the regular posters throughout season 5 (and whose name was accidentally left out of the acknowledgements of the book, for which I feel terrible... for now, if you just want to write her name in the margin of your book, that would be great!)



Seriously, how lovely is she? Who'd have known I have this group of super-cute people posting on here?! More pictures! I want more! Show me what you look like. :) Email your pictures to me here.

The Greatest Christmas Gift of All...

[INT. Family room in a house, Christmas morning. Family is ripping open the gifts, and one person sits on her own.]

Person (internalized voiceover): "What is Christmas all about, anyway? Are we forgetting the true meaning of Christmas? I'm tired of all this materialism and wrapping and commercials and besides, no one really bought me what I wanted so who cares and... wait! What could this be? This neatly wrapped 7" x 10" package? Why... it's a volume of Nikki Stafford's Finding Lost!!! And what could be even better than that gift? Why... the entire SERIES of Nikki Stafford's Finding Lost!! Ah, NOW I know the true meaning of Christmas!"

Yes, folks, true happiness CAN be bought. And was. Here is a picture of the wife of one of my readers, JW, who sent me this to show me how happy this gift has made her. (Thanks for sharing the pics, JW!) Check out the adorableness:



And here's her (equally adorable) dad with HIS new book and the season 4 box set! Don't they look like they were MADE to be together? As in, they should have been packaged together?! (Are you reading this, Buena Vista? You should be...) ;)



Have you ever seen such happy, glowing faces?

Have you ever read such shameless self-promotion? (Teehee...)

And hey, if you want to send me a pic of you or your lucky loved one holding a copy of the book, I'll post it!

Twelve Days of Island Christmas

On the first day of Christmas the island gave to me:
A single tennis shoe in a tree.

On the second day of Christmas the island gave to me:
Two Dharma beers,
and a single tennis shoe in a tree.

On the third day of Christmas the island gave to me:
Three French chicks,
two Dharma beers,
and a single tennis shoe in a tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas the island gave to me:
Four statue toes,
three French chicks,
two Dharma beers,
and a single tennis shoe in a tree.

On the fifth of Christmas the island gave to me:
FIVE EXPOSÉS!!
She said “Power lines!”
“No, Paulo lies!”
Nope, she’s paralyzed.
Haha-hoho-heehee-heehee-heeeee-heeee.

On the sixth day of Christmas the island gave to me:
Six Daniel journals,
FIVE EXPOSÉS!!
Did I mention Nikki dies?
YEP, Nikki’s dead.
She’s buried alive.
Haha-hoho-heehee-heehee-heeee-heee.

On the seventh day of Christmas the island gave to me:
Seven donkey wheels, six... bloop!

[Whoa... where am I now? Am I still on day eight?]

On the eighth day of Christmas the island gave to me:
Eight numbered bunnies,
seven donkey wheels,
six Daniel journals,
FIVE EXPOSÉS!!
Four statue toes,
three French chicks,
two Dharma beers,
and a single tennis shoe in a tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas the island gave to me:
Nine painful nosebleeds,
eight numbered bunnies,
seven donkey wheels,
six... oh, not again!!! BLOOP!

[Oh man, this is getting worse. I need a constant.]

On the tenth day of Christmas the island gave to me:
Ten Desmond Humes,
nine... something-somethings,
who really cares,
I’ve got Desmond Humes,
six... oh, whatever,
I’VE GOT MY CONSTANT!!!!
Ten Desmond Humes,
ten Desmond Humes,
ten Desmond Humes,
and a single tennis shoe in a tree!

On the eleventh day of Christmas the island gave to me
Eleven thrown hot pockets
Ten cannonballs
Nine Apollo bars
Eight “Awesome, dudes”
Seven ranch dressings
Six cursed numbers
FIVE GOLDEN CHRISTS!
Four red Camaros
Three awesome Carmens
Two red fruit loops
And a promise not to hurt Hurley!

On the twelfth day of Christmas the island gave to me
Twelve Finding Losts,
Eleven shameless plugs
At ten stores near you,
With nine (thousand) clues explained
And eight... hey, that’s Hurley’s number
And seven book reports
For six Lost rewatches
FIVE NIK AT NITES!!
It’ll help with Jacob
And John Locke
And help explain the show
You can find your constant i-in Nikki!

[Stafford, not Fernandez. She’s dead. HAHAHA!]

Happy holidays, everyone!!

Wednesday Announcement

And here's the last of my three announcements. This one is especially for those of you who visit The Fuselage: they're planning their Lost Weekend party once again, to be held at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel from May 14-16. This is not a convention, but a party where the fans all get together, and hopefully some of the cast, crew, and writers show up to mingle and chat with the fans. Because this is after the finale, there's a chance it could be a big one.

If there are any Buffy fans out there who were regular posters to the posting boards and you remember the posting board parties, this is similar to that. It's mainly a place where the fans of the Fuselage who post and chat year-round get to meet up and talk to each other. If you've read the book "Lost Ate My Life," there's a section in there where they talk about it. So it's definitely something to check out. I'll be considering it, because I've gotten to know a few of the fans on there, even if I'm not a regular poster to that fabulous board (it's one of those places where I wish I had more time to visit). You can find out more information here.

Tune in tomorrow, where I'll be posting my own little Christmas carol that I made for y'all. :)

Tuesday Announcement

Ugh... I've been taken down by a stomach bug today. Here's hoping tomorrow is better.

But never fear, Announcement #2 is here! Some of you might recall me going to Slayage 3 in 2008 in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and blogging about my adventures there (you can go here if you missed it). I was the banquet keynote speaker. I had to follow the opening keynote speaker, Matthew Pateman (pictured here), and his speech was excellent. We became friends while staying at the same guest house and chatting about TV every night with the other keynote speakers, and recently we were chatting about Slayage 4, which will be from June 3-6, 2010, in St. Augustine, Florida. He was trying to come up with an idea for his paper, and I was relieved to not have to be giving one this time. We got joking back and forth about a possible paper we could give that would probably be filled with as many insults at each other as it is words of wisdom, and then when the joke wore off, we realized we might have actually hit on an idea. We fleshed it out, and then submitted it to the committee. A couple of weeks later, our paper was not only selected, but we were selected to be the joint keynote speakers for the banquet! They'll just have to name that slot after me soon. ;)

Yesterday I was suggesting Polaris as a possible place to meet up for the Nik@Niters, and here's another suggestion. If you live in the Florida area and are a Buffy fan, it's a great weekend of academics talking about the Whedonverse, and I had a blast the last time. And hey, you can watch me as I totally take down Matthew in our talk. He doesn't stand a chance.

You can find more information here.

And in other news, I'm going to be on the radio tomorrow at approximately 4:40 pm EST. It streams live, so you can listen to it online wherever you are. If you're in the London, Ontario, area, it'll be 1290 CJBK; elsewhere you can tune in here and listen online. We'll be chatting about season 5 of Lost and the upcoming season 6. Yay!

Monday Announcement

Happy Monday! I'm going to be giving some announcements for the next three days, and so I'm hoping y'all come over to check them out! There's been more chatter on the boards on here talking about possible Nik at Nite meet-ups, and how the closest one might be January 2011 in Hawaii. I will be there, and I'm hoping some of you might make it, too. But if that is an extraordinary distance and you're not into academic talk, here's another option:

Polaris is a sci-fi convention in Toronto (in 2010 it runs from July 16-18) that is celebrating its 24th year. It started as Toronto Trek, and was called that until probably 2003 or so? (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.) I attended it a few times, and always had a blast. I remember one year being an author guest with Finding Lost upcoming (sadly, I couldn't sign copies because they weren't out for another two months) and ended up at the Friday night blast-off party talking with one of the actor guests, Mira Furlan (we all know her better as Rousseau!) where she didn't quite understand what I meant by "Lost book." "You mean it's on the show?" "Yes, it's about the show." "No, I mean, someone was holding it on the show?" "Er... no, it's about the show itself, analyzing the scenes and the episodes and the references." "So... wait. It's... what?" Haha! She was very sweet, and didn't realize people were actually analyzing the show in an academic way at all, and once I finally explained it to her thoroughly, she was quite fascinated. Then we talked about other work she was doing at the time and thankfully moved away from the confusing book talk.

I will be appearing as an author guest this year. It's held in Toronto, up near the airport (so you never actually have to leave the vicinity if coming in from out of town!) which means I'll be doing panels and book signings and a reading (don't worry; whenever I do these I never officially "read" from the book... how boring would THAT be?). And I've been told by the programming department that they're going to be attempting to book Lost actors and people affiliated with the show, so we might get to meet stars, too!

This could be a lot of fun. Imagine a panel talking about the finale of Lost, and all of us discussing it IN PERSON! Fun!! We could hang out, do dinner, set up rooms where we can all meet and chat. I'm all for it: who else is in?!

I wanted to mention that my blog placed second in the Canadian Blog Awards (I'd entirely forgotten about it until this morning, d'oh!) and I just wanted to thank everyone for voting for me!! I was so thrilled to make the shortlist, and to place so well. This little blog doesn't just deserve kudos because of me; it is what it is because of the high quality of comments from all of you, here and over on the Lost Rewatch. Thanks to all of you!

Tune in tomorrow for Announcement #2!! :)

Jack Bauer Interrogates Santa

This made me laugh so hard. Mashups just might be my favourite thing ever.

Lost: The Countdown Begins!

OK, I know, I should have waited until we had exactly 42 days left before Lost began, but I'm getting itchy and just want to start some fun speculating. There’s just a month and a half left before the final season of Lost begins. Forty-six days, to be exact. And a couple of weeks ago, I thought maybe we could come up with some fun tasks to bide our time until the new season begins. Yesterday over on the rewatch, one of my readers touched on one of the ideas I had, so I figured without any further ado, let’s go ahead and start the first one. I hope to post a new one of these every week until the new season begins. (And by the way, I'm hoping to keep this light and fun, so you can post some genuine speculation if you'd like, or you can just be goofy. Knowing us, the goofy quotient will already be high, so it's just redundant for me to say it.)

Oh, and before I begin, I just want to mention that today and tomorrow are the last days of voting for the Canadian Blog Awards. I'm in the top 5 shortlist for Best Popular Culture blog, so if you have a minute, please go over and throw a vote my way. It's here, and you scroll down to "Popular Culture" in the top section. Thank you!

OK, enough of that, let’s begin!

Season 2 opened with a strange man in a strange place that appeared to be off the island, playing an older song from the 60s, Mama Cass’s “Make Your Own Kind of Music.” The guy turned out to be Desmond, and despite appearances, he really was on the island.

Season 3 began with a strange women in a strange place that appeared to be off the island, playing an older song from the 60s, Petula Clark’s “Downtown.” The woman turned out to be Juliet, and despite appearances, she really was on the island.

Season 5 began with a strange man in a strange place that appeared to be off the island, playing an older song from the 70s, Willie Nelson’s “Shotgun Willie.” The man turned out to be Pierre Chang, and despite appearances, he really was on the island.

Seasons 1 and 4 didn’t follow this format, but let’s just speculate that season 6 might. So, if season 6 opens with a character who appears to be off the island, but really is on the island, who do you think the character will turn out to be, and what song do you envision them putting on? I’ll start: How about a blond man walks into a room that looks like it was decorated in the 80s, and puts on Culture Club’s “Time (Clock of the Heart).” In the room you can see a backgammon game laid out, maybe a painting of a polar bear on the wall. You hear the lyrics:

Because time won't give me time
And time makes lovers feel
Like they've got something real
But you and me we know
They've got nothing but time
And time won't give me time
Won't give me time
Don't make me feel any colder
Time is like a clock in my heart
Touch we touch was the heat too much
I felt I lost you from the start

He walks outside, and he’s on the island, and he turns to talk to Jacob, who looks exactly the same as he did before. Jacob refers to the man as “Aaron,” and we realize that this is the adult version of the baby, back on the island in the 2020s, and listening to the “retro” music of the 80s.

Actually, here’s another twist. What if the inside of the house looks exactly like one of the Dharmaville bunkers, but when Aaron walks outside he’s actually NOT on the island, simply because we’ve come to expect that will be the case. Instead he’s in the middle of some metropolis of the future or something. Hm...

I’m sure I’ll have many other scenarios in the days to come. And you?

Oh, and for some real speculation, head on over to Jeremiah Dollins' blog (he posts here as "Ambivalentman" and check out some of his speculation for season 6. Great stuff!!

Lost in 108 Words

I just stumbled across a great contest, and because of my brilliant writers over here, I wanted to let all of you know about it and send you in the direction of it. The question: What has Lost Taught You? You have to answer it in 108 words or less. The contest is outlined here, and wait'll you see the prize: swag like you've never seen, including the Jacob's Cabin print from the Lost ARG. Wicked. I've already sent in my entry, but I know you guys will probably come up with something way funnier. And when the contest is over, I hope you post some of them below so we could see what some of the entries look like (I'll post mine then, too). I've wanted one of those ARG prints SO badly, but I just never get my act in gear fast enough to get over there to buy one in the 23 seconds you have before time runs out on each one. This contest is for charity, which is amazing. What an awesome contest for someone to run!! (And it's a fantastic blog, too!)

The contest only runs until tomorrow, December 15 (!!) so hurry on over there and get your entries in now!

Dexter S4 Finale: Whoa.

Last night was the season finale of Dexter and... wow. What a finale it was. Suspense, intrigue, murder, Dexter almost getting caught (many, many times) and... an ending that sets up season 5 as the season that might finally be Dexter's undoing. (The following contains spoilers for all of season 4, including the finale.)

I posted on the beginning of season 4 of Dexter, and with so much else on I wasn't able to keep up with it weekly, but this season is probably my favourite one so far, and for one very big reason: John Lithgow. WHAT an inspired choice in casting. The hilarious Dick Solomon from Third Rock from the Sun. The sympathetic Roberta from The World According to Garp. The tiny yet evil Lord Farquaad from Shrek. Maybe we saw a touch of his wrath as the reverend in Footloose (ha) but nothing could have prepared any of us for the sheer horror of Arthur Mitchell. On the surface, a church-going family man who has it all. Behind closed doors he systematically locks his daughter in a room, beats his wife, and breaks his son's fingers one by one. Of course, that's only when he's at home in between travelling the countryside in the guise of someone doing a Habitat for Humanity project while serial killing along the way. His M.O. was terrifying: first, kidnap a 10-year-old boy, force him to wear the exact same pyjamas that he'd worn when he was a 10-year-old, moments before he looked into the bathroom one day, saw his older sister showering, she saw him watching her, tripped, cracked her head open and died right in front of him. No... he can't have that happen to THIS little boy. So he'll put him in those PJs, tell him to stay innocent forever, and to insure that happens he'll drug him, throw him in a body bag, and bury him (alive) in cement in one of the homes he's building. Five days later, he'll kill a woman in her bathtub, re-enacting what happened to his sister. A couple of days after that, he'll find a woman with a boy and a girl, roughly the age his mother would have been when everything went to hell in his house, trap her, take her to a tall building, and force her to jump. How does he do that? Simple... just threaten her children. He refuses to push her, because he needs her to commit suicide the way his own mother did. And then, he hunts down a man in his 40s, with a boy and a girl. Doesn't matter if they're actually beating their children the way Arthur's father was beating him... but he DOES need to prove to himself that the guy COULD do that if provoked. So he provokes him. Forces him to punch him just once. And that's it: he bludgeons him to death with a framing hammer. Then he packs up, heads home, and continues playing happy families while terrorizing his own.

Oh, and I didn't mention that at each crime scene he leaves a tiny smudge of his sister's ashes that he keeps in an antique urn. All together now: SHUDDER.

I have been a John Lithgow fan for a long time now. He also, in case you don't know, writes children's books. He wrote one of my daughter's favourites: Micawber, about the squirrel who lives in Central Park and becomes a painter. Last week I was cleaning up her room and came upon the book, upside-down on the floor with John Lithgow's happy face smiling up at me. I flipped it over quickly, a cold chill going down my spine. I'm actually typing this in HTML so I don't have to look at the photo above. THAT is how much Arthur Mitchell has affected me.

So last week, Dexter's mistakes he's been making all season (not focusing on his work, getting caught by Rita for having an apartment, killing innocent people because he's not taking the time to do his homework) finally really start to build and Arthur finds the crack and figures out he's not actually Kyle Butler. Arthur follows him to work, without Dex even noticing (a season ago, Dex would have known in half a second if someone was behind him in a car). Arthur strides into the office, all 7 feet tall of him (seriously, that guy looks SO massive) and Dexter nearly passes out as he sees this guy encroaching on his own territory. Dex stumbles out of his office and stands before Mitchell, who grabs a hold of Dex's name tag and says, "Hello... DEXTER MORGAN." I practically passed out myself. It was one of the most frightening endings ever.

This week I figured he'd find the guy, he'd kill him, he'd realize he's making too many mistakes and maybe he'd decide to quit the life, and next season would be about his vain attempts to try NOT being a serial killer. And yes, the episode had all those elements. In fact, when he finally DID have Arthur on the table, it almost seemed anticlimatic, and even stranger when he let him leave this world listening to a favourite piece of music, with the calming sound of his train set chugging around the room. Dexter carried the body to his boat, dropped the parts into the water, and breathed a sigh of relief that it was all over.

But how was it over? Arthur's family knows Dexter, has seen him many times and even saw him try to kill Arthur once. Just because they know him as Kyle Butler doesn't mean they can't finger him when it comes down to it. How will he explain how he had been on the trail of Trinity all along and never bothered to mention it to the REST of the homicide department? And what about Debra? She just figured out that Dexter's brother was the serial killer who died mysteriously at the end of season 1: will she put it together that Dexter was the one who did it? And what is the possibility that Dexter is actually her father's biological son and therefore her real half-brother? She seemed pretty suspicious about Dexter being at Mitchell's house immediately after the call went out -- the same suspicions she had when she wondered how that reporter who turned out to be Mitchell's daughter got to the crime scene so quickly.

Dexter figured out that Arthur was going to pick up his convertible. Arthur picks it up, and we see him riding happily around Miami. Late that night, his car breaks down and Dexter shows up in his killing outfit, having pulled off the oil cap. But what's not completely clear is what exactly Arthur did that day... did he leave from the car lot and go straight on the road? Did he make a pitstop right after or right before picking up that car? And could that pitstop have been... the airport?

For just when Dexter vows to walk away from his life and abandon his dark passenger, he arrives home and gives Rita a quick phone call. Her phone rings nearby. She's not away on vacation like she should have been, even though she just left him a message saying she was at the airport. He hears a baby crying, and follows the sound.

And what he finds in the bathroom is the culmination of his life's work, and the result of his personal vendetta against Arthur Mitchell. Just as his own mother had been bludgeoned in front of him as he sat in the rivers of blood that flowed from her body when he was a mere toddler, now his own baby sits in Rita's blood as she lies, lifeless, in the bathtub, where Arthur Mitchell made his final mark. Just as Harry had picked up Dexter and rushed him out of the scene, only to realize it was too late to save him, so too does Dexter grab his son, Harrison, and rush out of the room. Is it too late to save this child? Or does he have both nature AND nurture working against him here? Will his sociopathic genetics cross with what he witnessed in that room and doom him to a life of crime like his father?

And what will Dexter do next? When he calls 911 and Debra comes over, she'll be horrified at what's happened to him. But then she'll wonder why Arthur targeted Dexter in particular, especially so soon after Dexter was at the Mitchell house. Maybe she'll start to question every strange thing Dexter's done, including the extra apartment. Quinn's been noticing Dex leaving work a lot and running around. He assumes Dex is having an affair, but if he begins putting the pieces together, he'll find something much worse. Masuka told Dexter about Rita's transgression: what if he thinks Dex killed her in the bathtub out of revenge? What if several people believe that, since Dexter would know the details of the Trinity killer's M.O. intimately and would know exactly how to position the blood?

Dexter's been sloppy, and now his family has paid the price. It's probably only a matter of time before he gets caught, but the question is... who will be the one to finally catch him? Will it be Debra? Imagine THAT catch-22: finding the greatest serial killer Miami has ever known and wrapping up several dozen cases all at once (including the demise and damnation of Doakes)... it'll make her career. She'll be the #1 detective on the force, and probably find herself on the FBI for pulling off something like that. But Dexter means everything to her, and while her professional life will be at its peak, her personal life will be in a shambles. She wouldn't be able to live with herself having done that.

Season 5 promises to cause most of the characters' lives to unravel. But none will fall apart quite like Dexter's. Season 4 was a brilliant continuation of this man's story, and knowing that the show has only been planned for 5 seasons, will season 5 finally see the death of Dexter Morgan?

What did YOU think of the fourth season?

Blog Awards: On to Round 2!

I just found out that I've made it to round 2 of the Canadian Blog Awards, thanks largely to all of you. I thought blogs with larger readerships would trounce me, but I guess it's not how large your readership is, but how loyal they are. So thank you. I'll try not to let it go to my head and ask you to start peeling grapes for me. :) (Batcabbage has been dutifully sending me packages of peeled grapes, so I don't need to recruit the rest of you yet.)

Round 2 has just begun and will go until December 19. Go here and scroll down to Popular Culture, and then you rank the candidates. I think you can vote once a day, if you so like. And if you're not sure if this Nikki Stafford person is worth voting for, allow me to post something from humanebean, who was allowed on a computer as part of his day pass from The Steve Jobs Hospital for the Mac-Induced Insane and posted this last week:

BEFORE I read Nikki's books, I was a 143 lb. nerd who lived in his mother's basement. The girls at the beach all laughed at me in my plaid swim trunks. I had sand kicked in my face by a 7-year-old with a Mohawk. My only friend was my hamster, Ben.

THEN a friend told me about Nikki Stafford's Finding LOST series and I borrowed some money from my mother so that I could go to the bookstore at the mall and buy myself a copy.

NOW I am a strapping 195 lbs. and the girls at the beach all comment on my buns of steel when I walk by in my Speedo. I buried the kid with a Mohawk in a sand pit and his mother not only thanked me, but asked me to come over and clean her gutters while she admires my washboard abs. Ben and I moved to a houseboat at the Marina and the guys at the boatyard invited me to join their weekly poker game.

THANKS, Nikki! I owe it all to you and your life-saving Finding LOST series. They are fun and affordable and I think everybody should own a complete set. They're SWELL!

*Actual mileage may vary. Offer void where prohibited by law. Please consult a physician before reading these books if you have a heart condition, are pregnant or think you may become pregnant or are easily spooked by jungle whispers, polar bears, smoke monsters or visions of deceased persons. Please do not operate the Frozen Donkey Wheel without the appropriate headgear. If your enjoyment of the series lasts longer than six seasons, please consult your doctor immediately.*

(By the way, for anyone wondering where my synopsis of Season 4 is on the other blog, I'm at my parents' for Christmas and I don't have access to my own computer, so I will post it tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.) ;)

Dollhouse Tonight!

Last Friday I was in NY for a sales conference, staying in a shoebox-sized hotel room, and I met up with my friend Ian, whom I’d first met at Slayage. The original idea had been to meet up for dinner, but then he remembered that last Friday was the return of Dollhouse, in special back-to-back episodes. So he said we should grab dinner early and then get back to the hotel room to watch them, starting at 8. Brilliant, I thought, since my husband gave up on Dollhouse ages ago, and NO ONE I know seems to be up to date with it, so I can never talk about it with anyone.

And WHAT a return it was. The two-part arc featured Summer Glau as a one-handed, female, more sinister version of Topher with some major issues with Caroline in her past (interestingly, not Echo, but Caroline); Ray Wise as the Adelle of the other Dollhouse (his presence made me miss Reaper even more); a surprise discovery about Alexis Denisof’s senator and his wife; and a laugh-out-loud hilarious performance from Enver Gjokaj, who plays Victor. See, Topher never leaves the Dollhouse, so when he has to, the only person he trusts enough to hold down the fort is... himself. So he imprints Victor with his personality (and loud shirts) and puts him there, and then calls "himself" to check up on how things are going. Gjokaj must have studied hours of footage of Fran Kranz, who plays Topher, and he gets every jittery movement and weird saying down pat. Ian and I were in stitches every time he was on screen. Gjokaj moves seamlessly into any character he’s been asked to play, from Russians to Italians to New Jersey bad guys, and he always nails the accents and quirks without issue. Here, playing a character that is very familiar to all of us, he absolutely pulled it off. I think Gjokaj is underrated on this show because of how secondary his role typically is, but watching him pull off these scenes made me even sadder that these were two of the last episodes of Dollhouse... ever.

I won’t give away any spoilers in case you haven’t yet watched these episodes, but tonight there are two more (don’t forget – set those PVRs to start at 8, not 9!) and I cannot wait to watch them. Sadly, I can’t get Ian to travel to Toronto from NY, so it’ll be back to watching them alone, but I don’t mind. With entertainment like this, it’s fine to watch alone sometimes. While I've run out of time to write up last week's episode, I'm hoping I'll be able to write up something for tonight's. Enjoy!

Finding Lost Earlier Seasons

This is me hawking my books again. :) Many of you have picked up the latest guides to Finding Lost because you've happened upon my site more recently, or you bought them directly from me. My Season 5 guide is currently at #1300 on Amazon (yay!) largely due to the S5 box set being released yesterday.

But for anyone who still wants (no... NEEDS) those earlier guides, Amazon is offering a deal where you can get all three of the early books (which cover seasons 1 to 4) for $32.15! Can you beat that? NO!

Do you have the guides already? No problem... you can buy them as Festivus gifts for everyone. Just go here to see the season 4 guide, and scroll down to see the deal below.

Last week all of my Finding Lost guides were in the top 10 of the top Guide books on Amazon, which was awesome! I printed it off and it's on my wall right now. Since I'm already working on Season 6 ("what do you mean? how could you be doing that if the season hasn't yet begun?" you might ask... "hmm... what DO I mean?" she replied in a Miles-like manner.) it's been great incentive to get going on it.

Lost Trailer!

This trailer was made by one of my readers, Patrick, who spent the weekend putting this together with his brother and then sent it to me to ask what I thought. My response after watching?

My mind = BLOWN.

Watch it. You'll feel goosebumps, and you'll get a sense that you're actually watching Lost in chronological order. AND he creates a seamless link with the Man in Black and Locke. All in three minutes. Freakin' brilliant. Please make more, Patrick!!! Beautiful, beautiful job.

Lost Season 5 Out Today!

So today is the big day for people looking to buy the Lost Season 5 DVD or blu-ray. Why buy the DVD? Because, like me, you probably only have a DVD player. Why buy the blu-ray? Because, as people are telling me, the quality is leagues above the DVD's, and they put a special Lost University add-on with the blu-ray that's not available on DVD. Is that fair? Well, the blu-ray is a lot more expensive, so it's nice they're giving something to those who are shelling out for the more expensive set. But if, like me, you've been buying the DVDs from the beginning, before blu-ray even existed, then it's a little annoying that they're telling me this expensive collection I now own is next to worthless and I need to trade up. Sigh. It's like that feeling I got going into Costco last week and seeing the entire Angel SERIES on DVD for $60. Ugh. That's probably what I paid per season...

Anyway, for those are are planning on getting it on DVD (comme moi), if you ALSO want a fantabulous guide to the 5th season, go here to check out my guide to season 5 in print form. Don't attempt to watch season 5 without it!! And, if you scroll down, you'll see they're doing the joint offer where you can buy the DVD and the book for a discount (the book is about $10 when you buy it with the DVD!)

In Finding Lost Season 5 I tie together the threads that we've seen from the beginning to this point, and I provide detailed analyses of several books, including Y: The Last Man, A Separate Reality, The Little Prince, Everything That Rises Must Converge, and Ulysses. Yes, Ulysses. In a 20-page epic analysis. And my analysis of the season finale? Over 10,000 words long. You can't miss this!!

And if you already have the book, wouldn't it make a GREAT Christmas gift for someone else?! Yes. Yes it would. Go now! Buy!

Oh, and while you're at it, please remember to vote for me for the Canadian Blog Awards. Apparently you can vote every few hours, according to some of my readers. The ballot is here, and thanks to everyone who voted so far!

More Lost Exclusive Photos!

And here are some more pics, for the Egyptologists among you... (Photos Courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. ©ABC Studios.)

Season 5 Exclusive Photos!

Get your hieroglyphic-translating hats on, people... it's time for some closeups of season 5 of Lost, available TODAY on DVD and blu-ray! These are high-res closeups of the columns with the hieroglyphics that we saw in the underground tunnels, and also some of Jacob's tapestry (you can see a close-up of the big tapestry in my Finding Lost Season 5 book). These photos come courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. ©ABC Studios. So... who among us can translate them first?! (I'll put a block in this post and more in the next.)

Aww....

I found out a couple of days ago that I've been nominated for a Canadian Blog Award! I have no idea who nominated me or how that even works, but I'm very touched. I don't have too many details, but from what I've gathered, round 1 runs until December 12, and I think you can vote once a day or something. The link is here, and to vote for me you go to Popular Culture, and then you'll find Nik at Nite listed there. There's a drop-down where you'd vote for me in first place (because, who else would you vote for in first place?!)

While you're there, feel free to throw a vote in my friend Jeremy's direction: he runs the amazing Popped Culture blog, and he's the one who let me know about the nomination in the first place! I doubt I'll last until round 2; apparently the other bloggers have been announcing this on their site and getting people to vote since December 1, but hey, it's worth a shot. And the northern bragging rights that accompany it. :) Thanks in advance to anyone who wants to go over and show me the love.

Lost University Sneak Peek

Sorry to take so long to post this; it was emailed to me yesterday but I was away in NY for a day. (And I've told this to just about everyone in my family and it's always met with a blank stare, but maybe I'll get some understanding here: I stood next to Stephen Fry in the customs lineup!! Exciting! The guy is like 7 feet tall.)

Anyway, here's a sample of Lost University, Physics 101. And interestingly, he explains the wormhole concept the way I imagine the "wrinkle in time" from that old season 1 book. In that book there's an explanation that an ant could spend a long time walking across your skirt. Or you could wrinkle the skirt and now the ant could get from Point A to Point B in no time, and that would be the same as making a wrinkle in time... or, in this case, a wormhole.

Flashforward: A561984

Hello everyone!

I am typing this on a public computer in an airport terminal, so I don't have access to checking IMDB or anything else, so it won't be nearly as accurate as my other posts (accuracy?! what's THAT?!) Even my title is going by memory; I'm sure I've got a number off or a letter missing, but you get the picture.

But I HAD to post something on last night's Flashforward. I think the show has consistently been getting better week after week since about 3 or 4 weeks ago, and last night's was the best one since the second episode, as far as I was concerned. The story was pushed forward with great speed, there were several new revelations, the acting was terrific, and I actually laughed at parts. What? Flashforward found a sense of humour? Thank you, writers!!

Interestingly, when Dominic Monaghan was first announced as being cast on this show, we were told he was a math genius who would be working closely with the FBI. Who'd have thunk it would have taken HALF the season to actually get him into that position? He's far more compelling already as a rat in their midst, yet a rat that is necessary to move things forward. His reaction to discovering that photo was taken in 1991 was classic. 

Simcoe's international confession was a daring one, and rather stupid, to be honest (I have to admit I sided with Simon on that one, especially since both of them will be the most despised people on the planet... does he honestly think he and his son will ever be safe again?) And honestly, who among us didn't immediately figure out that those paramedics were NOT paramedics the moment they showed up? I'm thinking this pushes Olivia's storyline closer to the flashforward she saw: she's going to bring Dylan to her house to keep him safe, he'll become friends with Charlie, and Lloyd will eventually be brought into the fold. 

The revelation that Mark will be the one to kill Demetri was one I didn't see coming. What do you think will be the circumstances? Will Mark become an alcoholic because of the guilt he now holds over this murder he can't even fathom he would commit? Is it an accident, and he'll become an alcoholic AFTER? Why not melt down the gun? (I know, I know... we should stop asking these questions, but they're too easy not to ask.) 

The throaty-voiced woman (I can't remember her name) is intriguing, mostly because of her wall of clues that resembles the one Mark is keeping in his office. She's in some alliance with D. Gibbons (who Charlie's told us is a bad man) and somehow Mark is going to know who he is if his children will also know. 

And what about Demetri's fiancee figuring out that she's actually attending his memorial? That even got me choked up. But then I wondered, aren't there any emotions attached to the flashforwards? Wouldn't she have remembered an overriding feeling of sadness rather than happiness? What if the flower she drops is out of shock, because despite thinking his coffin is bring carried to her, she suddenly realizes it's him? Is there any chance that Demetri can escape his own death somehow?

The new revelations last night made me more intrigued about what the future of this show holds more than almost every episode beyond the very beginning, and I'm so thrilled. What did you think?

Don't forget that Dollhouse has 2 episodes tonight, starting at 8 on Fox! I'm meeting a friend in NYC and we're watching it in my hotel room. I'm so excited to actually watch it with someone else again!! 

My Christmas Wish List...

Dear Santa,
Please get me one of these bobbleheads for Christmas. I just found them on a site and laughed harder with each one. First, the beat-up Ben one:



He might be sporting a broken arm, but that doesn't mean he'll be missing his plane! Or how about Richard Alpert:



His eye makeup is perfect, he's got his tiny torch, and hey, if you want to know the answer to the question, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" he's already got it written on his little stand. And then there's Daniel Faraday:



Complete with his trademark pencil tie, he's holding his journal that he got from Eloise in one hand, while Eloise the rat (named after the woman who so warmly led him right to the spot where he'd be gunned down by her... while also being a fetus in her womb -- maybe you had to be there) sits perched on his shoulder.

Brilliant! Don't worry, Santa, they won't take up too much space in your bag, and you can easily order them here (for Alpert), here (for Faraday) or here (for Ben). I promise I've been a good girl all year... well, except for the time when I... um... never mind.

Lost S5 DVD Sneak Peek!

Hey everyone! Here's another sneak peek of one of the extras on the upcoming S5 DVD box set (available on DVD and blu-ray on December 8) sent to us courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. ©ABC Studios. This is a really good one, showing us the writer's room and the final production meeting as they finish working on the script for the 100th hour of Lost, "The Variable." Enjoy!

Spanish Lost Promo

This new promo from Spain has been circulating since yesterday, and this is my first chance I've had to post it. While there's no new footage from S6, someone who understands Lost completely has put it together, placing each of the characters on a chessboard and moving them through the game. It's brilliant. Now why can't we get promos like these here?!

Lost S5 Deleted Scene?

I was just sent this clip from Buena Vista Home Entertainment ©ABC Studios saying this is one of the deleted scenes featured on the season 5 Lost DVD box set... but it's one I remember watching. Is it possible this aired only in Canada? Does this clip look familiar to anyone else? I think it's just a different take, because I remember Juliet nonchalantly sipping her coffee throughout the scene, and this take is a little more frantic.

DVD Contest Winners!

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest this week! To win one of two copies of the Lost Season 5 Limited Edition Orientation Kit DVD (or, if you live outside of North America, a copy of my book, "Finding Lost: Season 5"), you had to answer up to five trivia questions, and the answers to them were:

1. Tunisia
2. Besixdouze (some people answered "Ajira," but I specified it had to be from Rousseau's boat. Also, others mentioned they couldn't get the accent to work, but I don't think the accent actually appeared on the canister, despite being correct. I accepted answers with or without the accent. However, I didn't accept "B612")
3. Agostini & Norton
4. "Shotgun Willie"
5. "Ille qui nos omnes servabit" (Unfortunately, I couldn't accept the entries that simply wrote the English translation, "He who will save us all," because I specifically said I needed the Latin that Richard spoke)

So those are the answers! And now... the winners. I've decided to draw them live (in a prerecorded segment... how's THAT for time travel) and here is my first and last attempt at a video podcast. If you're looking for a mystery that will be drawn out longer than the answers on Lost, check out me and my "assistant" drawing the names... and re-enacting a famous scene from Lost. Terribly. Prepare for rambling me. (If it's any consolation, I promise to never do this again. I mean, check out the still that was randomly chosen for it! Ugh.) I apologize for the TERRIBLE microphone on my computer and the weird random buzzing. It was built by the Dharma Initiative in 1980. Be sure to crank up your volume.



Congratulations to my three winners!

The Contest Is Now Closed

Wow, what a flurry of last-minute entries! Thank you so much to everyone who entered... watch this space for the announcement of the winners, coming this weekend!

Lost S5 DVD Contest: QUESTION FIVE

The contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered!

And it all comes down to this. After a week of answering my trivia questions, we're down to the fifth and final one, giving all of you a total of five chances to enter the contest to win one of two copies of the Lost Season 5 Limited Edition Orientation Kit DVD Box Set (if you live in the U.S. or Canada) or a copy of my Finding Lost — Season 5 book (if you live outside of those countries).

Since Monday, I've been posing a question a day, and you can answer once for each question (when you get a correct answer, I'm writing your name down onto a slip of paper and throwing it into the pot). To review, here are the first four questions (if you haven't yet entered, you can still do so):

Question #1: When Locke turned the Frozen Donkey Wheel, what country did he end up in?

Question #2: In one of the island’s many time jumps, the survivors find a canister on the beach that belonged to Rousseau’s crew. What was written on the side of it?

Question #3: What is the name of the law firm Ben hires to attempt to extract blood samples from Kate and Aaron? (I'm not looking for the name of the lawyer, but the firm.)

Question #4: As season 5 opens, we see a man who turns out to be Pierre Chang get out of bed and put on a record. What's the name of the song that plays?

If you haven't yet entered your answers for these, simply send me an email with the name of the question in the subject line (i.e. "Question 2") and your answer, and full name and country you live in. Please send a separate email for each entry.

And now, without any further ado, the fifth, final, and toughest question of the bunch. Drumroll...

In the season 5 finale, "The Incident," Ilana and the Shadow Seekers emerge from the jungle with a crate carrying their "cargo." Ilana approaches Richard Alpert and asks him, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" What is the exact phrase — in Latin — that he gives as his response?

If you know the answer (hint: if you have my book, it's in there), send an email to me with "Question 5" in the subject line, and your full name and country you live in. Please send me your FULL name. I'm getting the occasional "John S." type of response, and if there's more than one "John S.", then it will create confusion. So please send real names, and not pseudonyms.

The contest closes tonight (Friday) at 10pm EST. Please get all entries in before then, and then I'll be drawing the names and announcing them here on the blog on Saturday. Good luck to everyone, and thank you so much for playing along all week. Man, I wish we could do this all the time! We need to come up with trivia games more often on here.

And after you've entered the contest, check out this awesome new sneak peek of a season 5 DVD extra, featuring the making of the Shoot-out at the Dharmaville Corral scene from "The Variable." This clip comes courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. ©ABC Studios.

Lost S5 DVD Contest: QUESTION FOUR

The contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers!

Welcome to Day Four of our contest to win a copy of the Lost Season 5 Limited Edition Orientation Kit DVD. I've been asking questions all week long, and with each question readers have had a chance to enter the contest. If this is the first time you're checking in, you can still go back and answer the first three questions:

Question One
Question Two
Question Three

For each question, please put the number of the question in your subject line (i.e. "Question 2") and then your answer, your full name, and what country you live in. If you live in North America, you'll qualify to win one of two copies of the DVD set. If you live outside the U.S. and Canada, you will qualify to win a FABULOUS copy of my Finding Lost — Season 5 book... an awesome prize if ever there was one. Like you really want a DVD set. Pfft.

But I think I've been letting you guys off a little easy. Let's go for a slightly harder one, and we'll return to the very beginning of the season for it. Here we go!

As season 5 opens, we see a man who turns out to be Pierre Chang get out of bed and put on a record. What's the name of the song that plays?

Think you know the answer? Send me an email with "Question 4" in the subject line, and include your full name and country. Please enter only once per question; you have a chance to get five entries into the pot (which is literally a pot of little slips of paper with your names on them).

I will be posting Question 5 early on Friday, which will give you more time to enter. The contest will close at 10pm EST on Friday night, and any entries after that will be discarded. I will choose the winners and post them on Saturday... and I'm thinking of actually doing this in a unique way I haven't tried yet on Nik at Nite, so be sure to tune in on Saturday to see what I've got in store for you! Good luck!

Darlton and Jorge Talk About Season 5

Here's another new clip from the Season 5 DVD box set of Lost, Courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. ©ABC Studios.

Lost S5 DVD Contest: QUESTION THREE

The contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered!

Day three already? Where is this week going? For anyone just coming onto the site now, I've been running a contest all week to win one of two copies of the new Season 5 Lost DVD Limited Edition Orientation Kit version, courtesy of Buena Vista Television. Every day I've been asking one trivia question, and you can enter the contest once with EACH question (so if you answer all five of them, you'll get five entries into the contest). I'm literally writing your names on slips of paper and dropping them into a hat, and there are already many people with two entries in there! Let's go for three.

If you live outside of the U.S. or Canada, you have a chance to instead win a copy of my Finding Lost Season 5 guide. And I mean, given the choice between this fantastic book and some lousy DVD box set, which one would you honestly rather have? (Don't answer that.)

If you haven't answered the first two questions yet, go here to find them:
Question One
Question Two

If you know the answers to the questions, send me an email with the question number in the subject line (i.e. "Question 1") and your answer, and your full name and the country you live in.

So without any further ado, it's time for Question #3!!

What is the name of the law firm Ben hires to attempt to extract blood samples from Kate and Aaron? (I'm not looking for the name of the lawyer, but the firm.)

Think you know it? Put "Question 3" in your subject line and email me along with your full name and country. And then tune in again tomorrow for chance #4!! (Friday will be the last day for entries; contest closes at 10pm Friday night, and the winner will be chosen after.) Good luck!

Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody

I've had SO many people forward this to me today it's crazy. Which warms my heart, because it shows me you guys really, really understand me. :) This is truly awesome, made for any Muppets fan. And what is it about Animal these days that makes me laugh hysterically? He's brilliant in this. Enjoy! (And don't forget to scroll down for the Lost contest!)

Lost S5 DVD Contest: QUESTION TWO

The contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered!

Welcome to Day Two of the contest to win a copy of the Lost Season 5 DVD box set from Buena Vista television (the deluxe, limited edition Orientation Kit version) which will be available on December 8. Yesterday I asked the first of five questions (you can still go back and email me with the answer to that question if you haven't entered on that one yet) and today I'm going to ask the second. As before, please email me your response and include your full name and what country you live in. If you live in North America you will be eligible to win one of two of the box sets; if you live outside of Canada or the U.S. you will be eligible to win a copy of my Finding Lost Season 5 book. You can enter once per question, which means you'll have a chance to get five entries into the hat by the end of the week, giving you more chances to win.

So without any further ado, here is the question:

In one of the island’s many time jumps, the survivors
find a canister on the beach that belonged to Rousseau’s crew.
What was written on the side of it?

If you know the answer, email it to me along with your name and country, with "QUESTION 2" in the subject line . Tune in tomorrow for Question 3! The winners will be announced on the weekend.

Yes, Joss, You DO Deserve It

Thanks to fb for the heads-up on this story. The Producers Guild of America will be honouring Joss Whedon with the Vanguard Award at the PGA Awards in January 2010, saying “Joss Whedon has mastered the art of melding the newest technology with inspired storytelling, truly exemplifying the spirit of the Vanguard Award.”

In a typically hilarious response, Joss said, “This is an honor I didn’t expect and probably don’t deserve. The truth is, I’ve never actually guarded a van. But I am a super-total visionary, so that fits. I’m ready to take my place next to the guys who made ‘THX 1138’ and ‘Tin Toy’ (Did they ever do anything else, btw? They showed such promise.). This is a time of radical change in media delivery and content, and I’m honestly proud the PGA has singled me out as someone who sort of knows what’s going on.”

Goodnight Keith Moon

For all the parents out there who have read "Goodnight Moon" so many times they find it lulls THEM to sleep, you MUST check out this hilariously in-bad-taste-but-I-LOVE-it version, where instead of a little bunny on the bed in the great green room, there's a dead Keith Moon surrounded by empty cans and sick.

Go here to read the entire book.

Thanks to Popped Culture for this link. It was just too good not to repost here.

Lost S5 Deleted Scene!

Here's a deleted scene that will be appearing on the Lost S5 DVD (this comes courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. ©ABC Studios). It's taken from "Namaste," when Christian takes Sun into the rec room to show her the Dharma photo. Watch when the axe first hits the wood... could that be smoke coming out of the room? ;)



Go here to win a copy of the S5 DVD!

Lost S5 DVD Trivia Contest: QUESTION ONE

The contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered!

UPDATE: I changed my mind: I'll allow entries to begin immediately, and you can answer each question once, which means each person gets a maximum of five entries.

As I mentioned on my blog the other day, I have two copies of the limited edition Lost S5 deluxe edition DVDs with the Orientation kit, and one copy of my new Finding Lost book, to give away. To win one of them, you have to answer a S5 Lost trivia question, and I'll be unveiling them once a day until Friday. I was hoping to do this every morning, but unfortunately this is the first chance I've had to be on here today. Here's hoping I'll be able to get them out earlier in the days to come.

As I said before, once I've asked each question (the answers to which, by the way, can all be found in my new Finding Lost Season Five book), you can email me off the blog here, and I'll collect the answers and choose a winner on the weekend (if that link doesn't work for you for some reason, my email address is listed to the left of this under my contact info). So, here goes. Drumroll, please (I'll start you off with an easy one):

When Locke turned the Frozen Donkey Wheel,
what country did he end up in?

Think you know the answer? Email me here with "QUESTION 1" in the subject line, and let the games begin!!

UPDATE: I completely forgot to ask this last night, but when sending in your entry, could you include your full name and what country you're in? (Please don't resend entries... if you enter again later in the week I'll note it for earlier entries.)

OH!

This is my new favourite thing. Christopher Walken, appearing on Jonathan Ross's show on the BBC, was asked to read the lyrics of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face," not knowing the song at all. This is the result:



Then, one brilliant fan put together this mash-up of the Walken bit over the actual song, and it's genius:

It's the Nik at Nite Lost S5 Contest!!

As we've already discussed on here, Lost Season 5 will be released this December on Blu-ray and DVD, and Buena Vista is offering a limited edition Dharma Initiative Orientation box set. Season 5, in my mind, was the best of the series so far (here's hoping Season 6 tops it!) and I can't wait for the box set, just as many of you can't wait for it either.

Well, I have some good news for two of you. Starting on Monday I'll be posting special preview material from the extras that will be available on the season 5 box set, and I'll be putting up a new clip every three days or so, depending on how often I'll be getting them from Buena Vista. Next week, however, along with Monday's clip I'm going to post a question. Another one will be posted on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. When all of the questions are there, you have to email me your answers to all five questions by midnight EST on Friday. I'll go through all of the entries and choose two winners on Saturday who will be the proud recipients of a copy of the limited edition Season 5 Orientation Kit DVD set!! I need to get the names and addresses of the winners to Buena Vista by December 1 (so keep an eye on your email on the weekend) and they will ship the winners' copies out December 7 to arrive at your house the next day, with any luck.

The only catch, sadly, is that these are region 1 DVDs, and therefore the DVD portion of the contest is open only to entrants from Canada and the U.S. I apologize to my other readers, but what we'll do to level that playing field is, if you'd like to enter from outside the U.S., I'll open the contest to you and your prize will be a signed edition of my book. Not exactly the glamour of a DVD box set, but at least this way we all get to play!!

So come back tomorrow and every day after that until the DVD's release, for a chance to win one of two copies of the season 5 DVDs and preview clips from the extras on the DVDs, which I'll post until the DVD's release on December 8! (And just in time for our S5 rewatch, which begins the following week!) Good luck to all of you! Spread the word and send people over here throughout the following week.

Lost Premiere Date Announced!

Season 6 will officially begin on February 2, 2010 with the two-hour premiere, in the 9pm time slot (thank goodness, since last week 10pm was being touted as the possible time), following a recap episode that will kick off the season an hour earlier at 8. This means Lost has officially moved to Tuesday nights, meaning our discussions will be held on Wednesday mornings here (does that seem wrong to anyone else? I always enjoyed our Thursday morning, and it'll just seem weird to be discussing it a day early... oh well, I'm not complaining!) You can read the full press release here.

Now this comes a week later than we'd originally thought it was going to air, and if Lost is also going to be taking off two weeks in February for the Olympics, as Carlton Cuse announced recently, how will that work? The Olympics begin on February 12. Does that mean they're airing the premiere plus one extra episode and then taking two weeks off? Or has ABC scrapped that earlier idea?

What we know is that season 6 will be 18 hours long. If the premiere is 2 hours, then that puts us at May 25 for the finale, but that's ONLY if there's no recap episodes in between, no weeks being taken off, and no break for the Olympics. However, I'm thinking the finale will be 2 hours long, which will give ABC one free week to run a recap episode. OR... if they take two weeks off for the Olympics, then they might double up episodes on another night. But considering the timing of the premiere, I don't think they'd run two episodes and then stop there, and maybe they've changed their mind about the Olympics (here's hoping the ratings for Lost will be able to hold up against them) and it'll end nicely on May 25. Fingers crossed.

Getting Ready for Season 6: Second Chances

I don't know if anyone's seen the new lame commercial for Lost, where we see Jack about to drop the bomb, and then he does, and then it says, "Lost... coming in 2010." Wow. Thanks for telling me WHAT I ALREADY KNOW. Ugh. Anyway, I think THIS should be the commercial. Yes, it's got stuff we've all seen, but it's still wicked, and suggests things could be rewound and tried again. The clock ticking at the end sent chills down my spine.

The Lost Conference

A few months ago I mentioned a pending international Lost academic conference, organized by David Lavery and Lynnette Porter, the authors of Lost's Buried Treasures, 2E: The Unofficial Guide to Everything Lost Fans Need to Know. Now the date and location have been announced: it will be held from January 12-15, 2011 in... Oahu!!

Just think: academic papers, tours of the Lost locations on the island... this was a gathering made for nuts like us. I'm planning to be there, and here's hoping some of you might make it as well! I'll keep y'all posted. The basic information can be found here.

Glee: Wheels

Two weeks without Glee is TOO LONG. I've missed this show so much, I was thrilled to have it back again. From giving us a new perspective of Sue Sylvester to solving one of the big nitpicks I've had with the show, it was a triumphant return. I was glad there was finally an episode devoted to Artie, who used to actually be part of a boy band (NLT). Here's a pic of him in those younger days.

Highlights:
• Artie telling Tina that his penis still works. Hahaha!
• Sue's comment to the newest Cheerio: "You think this is hard? Try auditioning for Baywatch and being told they're going in another direction, THAT'S hard."
• The revelation that Sue's not actually up to anything, but has a sister with Down's Syndrome. Sue has a heart?! I love it.
• Tina admitting she doesn't actually have a stutter. Thank goodness!! I thought that actress put on the worst stutter in the universe, so I'm glad that's resolved.
• Kurt and his dad. Sweet. So sweet. I knew he was going to blow that high note. (Though for as much as I adore Kurt, I thought Rachel actually was the better singer... you could actually hear the autotuner on his voice.)

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before...

As you've probably heard already, Variety has reported that Dollhouse has been officially cancelled. As if to offer us a lollipop at the funeral, Fox has added that they will be incredibly generous and air all 13 episodes. Aw. How generous of them.

I know that back when Dollhouse was first announced, I blogged right here that I thought Joss should be riding a short bus to school for agreeing to go back to Fox, and said there's no way the show would last through a second season. But this is the one time I wanted to be SO wrong. Sigh.

The show got off to a bit of a shaky start, and had its ups and downs, but by the end of the season it was showing off some pretty stellar stuff. This season has been amazing, and the last episode -- where we got "Sierra's" backstory, was incredible.

There was no love lost between Joss and the WB by Buffy's fifth season, but that network at least gave his little show a chance. They gave both Buffy and Angel five seasons and a total of over 100 episodes each, which is about seven times the number of episodes Firefly got, and five times the number of Dollhouse eps.

Joss has already commented on the cancellation, in his weary yet comic style. I don't care how many times you get cancelled, Joss... I will always love you for things like this:

Hmm. Apparently my news is not news.

I don't have a lot to say. I'm extremely proud of the people I've worked with: my star, my staff, my cast, my crew. I feel the show is getting better pretty much every week, and I think you'll agree in the coming months. I'm grateful that we got to put it on, and then come back and put it on again.

I'm off to pursue internet ventures/binge drinking. Possibly that relaxation thing I've read so much about. By the time the last episode airs, you'll know what my next project is. But for now there's a lot of work still to be done, and disappointment to bear.

Thank you all for your support, your patience, your excellent adverts. See you again. -j.

This will probably just give people one more reason to say they're going to stop watching TV and will only watch TV series on DVD from now on. I'm starting to be with them on that.