2008: The Year that Was

And only a week after everyone else has done it, here is my best of list for 2008. What a crazy year. On the international stage, the United States finally has a president who can complete a sentence without a non sequitur and dodged the Alaskan bullet, while at home, it was a difficult year for many of my friends. Just the other day I was thinking about how last Christmas was a certain way for many people I love, and this year it was entirely different, marked by absences. I hope they made it through OK.

On the television front, it was a year of strikes, disappointments, endings, beginnings, and more endings.

Saddest Cancellation of a Television Show: Pushing Daisies. I don't know if I'll ever get over that one, to be honest. It was colourful, funny, kitchy, and awesome. The Writers' Strike cut its first season short, and ABC attempted to roll it out a second time this past fall, but new viewers were nowhere to be seen. I guarantee you this show will go down as a massive cult classic like Freaks and Geeks, with people like me whining 10 years from now into our chips and dip that it ended too soon.

Funniest Jack Donaghy Line on 30 Rock: In the Christmas episode, Liz asks Jack if he knows the Postmaster-General. He says yes, but they haven't spoken for a while because they had a fallout over the Jerry Garcia stamp. "If I wanted to lick a hippie," he says, "I'd return Joan Baez's phone calls." My husband and I were screaming with laughter.

Funniest Moment, Period: I already blogged on this, but when Jan shows up for a baby shower on The Office, she describes having a tub birth, and Creed's response is still something that makes me laugh just thinking about it (especially because a friend of mine had a tub birth in her home, and her husband once explained rather graphically to us what it was like for him cleaning it up afterward):
Kelly: Uh, so you're in the tub with everything?
Jan: Oh yeah, the afterbirth floats.
Creed: Must be like the tide at Omaha Beach.

Biggest Reality TV Disappointment: After a gabillion seasons, America's Next Top Model finally went off the rails when Tyra Banks lost her mind. In the opening episode she emerged from some futuristic time machine thing like that vessel Jeff Goldblum stepped into in The Fly, appearing completely whacked-out and robot-like, while her cohorts stood nearby, all silver-haired and insane. I quit watching at that very moment, only to be pulled back in by a friend who assured me the next episode wasn't nearly as crazy. So back I came, only to see the makeovers with Fairy Godmother Tyra in a little box in the corner talking in a weird high-pitched voice about what magical things she was going to do with their hair and makeup. I hit Stop on the PVR, deleted the episode, and never watched again. You used to be a funny kind of crazy, Tyra, and now you're just CRAZY.

Best New Reality TV Obsession: So You Think You Can Dance. This show is freakin' fantastic, and I've never had a dance class in my life. This series doesn't spend the first 2 months highlighting the "hilarious" Clydesdales who show up for the auditions like another reality talent show that shall remain nameless, but instead celebrates dance and its many forms. From Bollywood numbers to some contemporary routines that brought me to the edge of tears, I can't get enough of this show. Next installment doesn't start until the spring (curses!) but I cannot WAIT. The Canadian version was in the fall and I'll admit I only caught the last half. It was good, and by the end it was excellent, but I need my screechy Mary week after week.

Series that Returned to its Former Glory: Friday Night Lights. Most people haven't seen it and are waiting for the January start on NBC after season 3 aired on DirecTV in the US, but it is SO worth the wait. Season 3 is glorious: I realized I care about these people like family, and when they're hurting, I'm hurting. Two major characters make their exits from the show, both wrapping up their storylines beautifully, but able to return if the show makes it to a fourth season, which it probably won't. A new character showed up with his family and started off as a bit of a disaster, but by the end I cared about him, too. God, I love this show.

Top 8 Lost Moments of Season 4 (check out THAT use of the numbers!):
8. The Oceanic 6 reuniting with their families as they get off the cargo plane.
7. Ben referring to Alex as his daughter in the first episode and Rousseau cracking him in the face with her elbow.
6. The return of Old Smokey as he flies into New Otherton and takes out the freighter folk.
5. Sawyer racing through the compound amidst a hail of gunfire to save Claire. :::swoon:::
4. Hurley and Ben sharing the chocolate bar while Locke went into the cabin to talk to Jacob's cohort. It was funny for its silence, and seemed like such a banal thing to do while the world was being changed inside that cabin, while at the same time suggesting that Hurley accepts Ben now.
3. The look on Ben's face when Keamy shoots Alex in the back of the head.
2. Desmond calling Penny and her picking up on the 15th ring, and the lovely way they begin to finish each other's sentences in delight.
1. Sayid blinking his eyes hard when he sees Nadia at the airport hangar, as if he can't believe his own eyes and is trying to convince himself he's not dreaming. It's wonderfully done. Yeah, I'm a sucker for reunited love.

Favourite New Show: Mad Men. Okay, I know it's in its second season, but I just caught on this year because it was not easily available in Canada. I started watching the show from the beginning as the second season and was piling up on my PVR, and I ADORE it. Jon Hamm is magnificent, and Betty Draper is one of the most complex characters on television, hidden inside a very uncomplex package.

Most Shocking Series Finale: The Shield. Without giving any spoilers, something happens in the finale that made my hand fly to my face, I gasped aloud, and immediately started weeping. I don't think I've ever had such a sudden and visceral reaction to something like that before.

Most Expected Series Finale: The Shield. Because Globe and Mail reviewer John Doyle, in his year-end column, GAVE AWAY the very ending that made me weep, despite the fact the season hasn't yet aired in Canada (yeah, I'm downloading it, but I've bought every season on DVD and will buy this one, too, so they'll get their money out of me). AGAIN making me wonder, why the HELL does anyone want to KNOW spoilers in advance?! I think my immediate reaction was because I knew what was about to happen in the next scene (though, because he didn't give specifics, I didn't know the nature of it), and my heart leapt into my mouth a moment earlier than it normally would have (this was only, of course, after watching about six episodes leading up to it where I thought, "Will it happen now? Now?"). After 7 years of watching that show, I really wish the guy had kept his mouth shut and allowed this loyal fan to watch it spoiler-free. Sigh.

Most Amazing Series Finale: Ok, it's a tie between my two favourite cop shows, now done: The Shield and The Wire. The Wire, which killed off a very important character a couple of episodes from the end in a completely unexpected way (thank you, John Doyle, for not mentioning THAT in your column), ended beautifully, showing that the world will go on, the sun will continue to rise and set, and things will get better, then worse. It didn't pretend to have the answers or wrap up everything in a lovely little bow, but instead showed us the world as it really is: dark, angry, depressing, hopeful, funny, loving, confusing, and difficult. WATCH. THIS. SHOW. The Shield wrapped up years of Vic Mackey in a way that was more satisfying than the way Tony Soprano's storyline ended up. Mackey's always told himself that everything he did was for his family, but it wasn't. It was for himself. And at the end of the series, what happens to him runs counter to everything he'd been working (and stealing and killing and silencing) for. Amazing.

Favourite SNL digital short: This one:



I actually watched it the next morning on my PVR before it became a viral phenom and was howling with laughter. I've seen it a million times since then. This is the first single of The Lonely Island's new CD, and the faces that Samberg and Akiva Schaffer make in the video (the DJ, Jorma Taccone, is the third member of the group) are worth the entire thing.

Easiest (and Most Fun) Target: Sarah Palin. It used to be Rebecca Eckler, but Ecky isn't nearly as interesting as Palin. I just wish the woman wouldn't make it SO freakin' easy. Her campaigning — which actually made George Bush look like a Rhodes Scholar — was legendary. The only thing that outshone her was Tina Fey's inspired impression of her. She refuses to believe it had anything to do with the campaign's outcome. I respectfully (and happily) disagree.

Favourite Fan Experience: The Buffy conference in Arkansas. I loved the people I met there, made new friendships that continue through blogging and emails (and postcards with Buffy stick figures -- thank you, Cedar!) and now 2010 seems SO far away. We need to find an excuse to all get together again and hang out. How about a weekend conference in my living room? It will involve Buffy viewings and we could even write papers if we want. I'll put up a sign-up sheet soon. :) Ian posted on his blog that Parade Magazine also included the Buffy conference in its year-end wrap-up, calling it one of the quirkiest events of the year. Ha!

Biggest Anticipation for 2009: Lost season 5 and Dollhouse. Joss Whedon back on my telly... I don't have words for what this means to me. And Lost's season 4 was just too fabulous, so season 5 is HUGE for me.

My New Boyfriend: I am sorry to tell you this, Desmond, but I have found another. It's been a lot of fun, and I thank you for keeping that blue shirt slightly open for most of season 4, but... I've met someone else. His name is Chuck Bass. Oh Chuck. You join a long list of fantasies that begin with Luke Skywalker and include Bo Duke and Spike, but you are the first one who is younger than I am. Sigh... but that is OK. I'm willing to let that one go if you are. You are so wrong for me, but when you gave in to your mourning over your father and curled up in bed with Blair, that was it: I was yours.

Worst Boyfriend: Henry on Ugly Betty. I mean, come ON, Betty, Gio is RIGHT THERE and he is SO superior. Henry, on the other hand, got a girl pregnant and decided to stay with her during the pregnancy with her understanding that he will dump her like a ton of bricks the moment that baby rears its head. Yeah, that's some prime manhood, there, Bets. Sigh. Thank god he hasn't shown up yet this season. Gio's only made a cameo. And super-cute dude across the hall turned out to be a dud. I want Gio back.

Best Comedy that No One Watched Until It Was Too Late: Aliens in America. This show killed me week after week, but NO ONE seemed to watch it. I blogged on it, no one commented. None of my friends turned on to it. It was risky and had its hugely politically incorrect moments, and I loved every minute of it.

Most Graphic Thing I Saw on Television: On Dexter, the other serial killer on the loose this season was "The Skinner," who would gouge out large sections of people's skin until they died. Near the end of the season, we saw the skinner at work. I wasn't watching the screen after about 5 seconds of the scene. Gnarl on Buffy was bad enough. :::shudder::: Dexter, by the way, continued to be fantastic, and somebody PLEASE give Michael C. Hall that Emmy!

Most Inspiring Thing I Saw on Television: CTV's W-Five aired a documentary called Peace Warrior, about soldier Trevor Greene, a Canadian who was stationed in Afghanistan when he was hit in the back of the head with an axe. I've talked about him on this blog before (here and here) because I worked with Trevor on his amazing book about the missing women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. When I heard the news, I was shattered. I was interviewed early on for the documentary and offered them some background, but I was unprepared for what I would see in the show. I hadn't seen him since the "accident" and the images of him being taken onto the aircraft with his head bandaged and half his skull gone were very difficult for me to handle (I think I started sobbing at the beginning of the episode and didn't stop until the end... though it was for a very different reason I was crying at the end). He has recovered his speech, some of his upper body motor skills, and is determined to walk despite so many experts telling him he won't (they don't know Trevor). At one point the interviewer asks Trevor what he would say to his attacker if he could see him again, and he says he'd say sorry, because he walked into his village with a gun, and his colleague shot and killed him, but Trevor is still alive. Wow. Keep an eye out for this show to re-air.

Favourite Jon Stewart Moment: Describing Dick Cheney's completely unsurprising support of John McCain, Stewart shows a clip of Cheney announcing his backing, and Cheney coughs at the end of it. Stewart then imitates him, doing his own version of the announcement where he's coughing and hacking so hard and so loudly he can't get a word out. I was laughing so hard I stopped breathing. I kept that on my PVR and watched it about a half million times before finally erasing it.

Favourite Thing About My Blog: The commenters, good and bad. I was at first surprised, then baffled, then amused by the people who came onto my blog during the election campaign and used it as their personal sounding board for Why the Republican Party Is Awesome, and while some of them made me want to pluck my eyes out with a fork so I wouldn't have to read the drivel anymore, I miss them and almost wish there was some Republican stuff happening in the media so I could spark the debates again. But I'm not the sort of person to goad just to bring them back. I actually had a lot of respect for the ones who used a name or reasonable facsimile to argue, knowing this was a blog written by a non-conservative and read by a lot of non-conservatives, but sadly, the anonymouses ruled the roost. But then again, if you were a member of the Republican Party, wouldn't YOU remain anonymous, too? (KIDDING... I'm not goading. Really.) But I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who come and read my posts and comment on them (or not), whether it's because you like what I say or hate it. Some of the comments on here throughout the year have been some of the most insightful writing I've read, and after going to other boards and seeing some of the dumbass things people write, I'm constantly grateful that I have such an intelligent readership. Keep the comments coming... you guys make my day.

Black Friday

The Pie Hole has been boarded up, Darling Enterprises has collapsed, and George Michael needs to find another law firm to sing in.

Yes, folks, it's happened: ABC has cancelled Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, and Eli Stone in one fell swoop.

Goodbye, my dear Pieman. May you and Chuck find a way to touch and love again. Goodbye, Jeremy Darling. You're a complete disaster, but really hot to watch anyway. Goodbye, Eli Stone -- I only watched one episode, but I know a lot of other fans adore this show. Goodbye, Aunt Vivian and Aunt Lily. I will miss you most of all.

:::sniffle::: I need to go and be depressed now. :(

Good News... and Possibly Terrible News

The facts are these: Rumour has it that Bryan Fuller, who was on the writing team on Heroes during the first season (a.k.a. its heyday), will be returning to the series in January to revive it and bring it back to its first-season glory. The problem? He's the creator of Pushing Daisies. Fuller has stated he is exclusive to Pushing Daisies until its 13th episode, but if by then it still hasn't been picked up for a full season, he'll be heading over to Hero-land.

This is such a conundrum. Like Ned, Fuller could use his magic touch to bring Heroes back to life. But Pushing Daisies must be the fatality that will suffer the consequences. I loved Heroes in season 1, and the thought that it could return is definitely squee-worthy. But at the expense of Pushing Daisies? Sigh... I'm afraid my loyalties have shifted from the time/space-bender to the piemaker. Getting Heroes back will be a bittersweet thing, if this all comes to pass.

NOOOOOOO!!

Okay, I've tried to be calm, I've tried to be nice. I've expressed my unbridled exuberance over Pushing Daisies and insisted everyone watch it.

But then I read this. Oh yes, it's currently on the bubble for cancellation.

I am not above begging. No, I am not. So here goes: PLEEEEEEAAAAASE, please please please watch this show. PLEASE. I beg you. When you watch it, it will send you into ecstacies. Never before does a show make me feel like this while I'm watching it:



And then Ned will say something adorable to Chuck, and I feel like this:



Oh god, you're thinking. She's brought out the babies and dogs. She MUST be serious.

Oh yes. I am serious. I'm bringing out the big guns on this one.

And by the end of the episode, I'm like this:



Are you going to let this show be cancelled? Can you go to sleep at night knowing you contributed to me no longer feeling like a joyful bijon frise while I watch my beloved Piemaker and his beloved beekeeper as they work alongside my very beloved Olive?

This show is remarkable. Please don't let it go. Watch it. Tell everyone you know to watch it. Watch it again. Buy the DVDs. Buy the DVDs as Christmas presents. Send out your Christmas cards with giant post-its inside telling people to watch Pushing Daisies.

Or I will look like this:



You just don't want that on your conscience. Losing Pushing Daisies will be worse than losing so many Fox shows in their first five episodes. Worse than losing Journeyman. Worse than the McCain/Palin ticket winning... (Wait... okay, I'd have to think about that one seriously. Very, very few things would be worse than that.) But this would be ALMOST AS BAD as the McCain/Palin ticket winning.

Watch Pushing Daisies. You'll thank me for it. And then we can all feel like happy little fluffy dogs racing through the fields.

Pushing Daisies: GLORIOUS!

I don't know what it is about Pushing Daisies, but it fills me with a feeling of pure, unadulterated joy that no other program has ever given me. Not Buffy (sorry), not Lost (really sorry), not anything. Both those shows were ones where I was on the edge of my seat week after week, barely unable to contain my excitement at what the week would bring. I would watch them, then immediately watch again for anything in the background that I might have missed the first time. (And in the case of Lost, again... and again... and again... frak, I missed that? Again... and again...)

But Pushing Daisies is a show where I immediately start it over just to be filled with the warm fuzzies again. I'm never looking in the background, I simply want to enjoy the beauty of this unique and amazing show all over again.

The first season was only 9 episodes, but they were 9 sublime, perfect episodes. (I was talking to my friend Crissy today and said I've decided I'm going to buy the DVDs after all, just to watch them over and over again... I buy EVERY show on DVD, but I watch it one more time and that's it. Unless I'm writing on it.) I worried they might have changed the formula or switched things up for season 2.

Luckily, they didn't change A THING.

The episode opened with probably a 7-minute rundown of season 1, summed up so perfectly you wouldn't even have to watch season 1 in order to watch season 2 (but oh, you must, because it's just THAT good). Those colours... those clothes... that music-box music... that wonderful, WONDERFUL voice of the narrator. When he brought us up to date on the life of Ned and Chuck and then said Ned went on to become (camera moving down a street, zeroing in on the Pie Hole, flying through the doors and moving in on a close-up of Ned standing with arms crossed in front of him) "The Pie-Makah" I squeeeeeeed. Right out loud, just SQUEEEED. I was SO happy. And then when we found out a woman died, and it suddenly zipped into her life story and the narrator said, "The facts were these," I did it again. I LOVE THAT VOICE. I want him to sit by my bed and tell me bedtime stories to put me to sleep every night.

I watch this show with a stupid grin on my face the whole time. I swear my heart beats faster. That silly grin on Chuck's face most of the time? That's me watching the show. When Olive was spinning on the mountaintop like Maria in The Sound of Music, I was bellowing with laughter. When Emerson was playing with his "Li'l Gumshoe" pop-up book, my hands were clasped before me in pure joy. When the two aunts showed up at the Pie Hole, I gasped in horror. My reactions to what happen on the show are as over-the-top and melodramatic as the show itself. I swear one of these days I'm going to slap the back of my hand to my forehead and fall to the ground.

And when French Stewart guest-starred, I wondered if this may be the greatest program of all time. (Did anyone else watch Third Rock from the Sun JUST for him? I LOVE HIM.) Sure, the crime didn't make a lot of sense and they never really explained how he encased himself in bees or did the whole queen bee thing, but that didn't matter... the crime rarely matters in this show, it's just a quirky, weird thing that's added. It's the magnificent set design, the bright colours, the adorable little dresses Chuck wears (how awesome was her old-fashioned lingerie??), the music...

I think it might actually be the fact it all looks like a storybook from childhood, told by a grandfatherly voice with the children's music playing in the background. Maybe there's some subconcious return to the innocence of our youth that we fall into, completely unknowingly, and for one hour, all the troubles and stresses of our lives just fall away. I don't know what it is, but I feel like Chuck's aunts after they eat her herbally-enhanced pie: I'm so incredibly happy, and I have no idea why, and I don't care.

Pushing Daisies is magical. Please check it out if you haven't already. Don't make me gush to no avail.

The Return of AWESOME TV

Ah, the week I've been waiting for! No, it has nothing to do with 2008-2009 shows premiering... none have particularly grabbed me, though Fringe is definitely showing a lot of potential. No, it's the week of the return of the 2008 shows, the ones that were mercilessly cut short due to the writer's strike, but lived to appear another day.

Tonight at 8 is the return of Chuck, a show I cannot recommend enough. It's a sweet, funny show with a spy element to it, and the relationship between Chuck and his part-time nemesis, part-time lover Sarah is bittersweet and always complicated. His nest of nerddom at the techie store where he works rounds out the storyline (well, them and Captain Awesome). See, the show hasn't been on in an eternity, and I remember every part of it by heart. And I only watched every episode once. Take THAT, Heroes.

Wednesday is even more exciting. Pushing Daisies begins at 8 on ABC (oh wonderful, amazing, sublime Pushing Daisies), the story of the Piemaker who cannot touch the woman he loves, or he'll kill her. I cannot WAIT for Olive to pine for Ned, for Emerson to say something completely hilarious, and for the aunts to break into song. I hope they haven't changed a THING, from the narrator to the music to the look of it. I'm DYING for the premiere of this show. Tune in... even if you haven't seen season 1, I know they're putting a big push on the show to get people to watch, and will probably do an extended "previously on..." segment (unlike Heroes).

At 10 it's Dirty Sexy Money, the adult version of Gossip Girl, with its convoluted politics, family dysfunctions, and money, money, money. It's SO freakin' good.

But also on at 8 on Wednesday is the brilliant, genius, and totally underrated Friday Night Lights. Fan support of this show has been SO loud that NBC, who just weren't making enough money off sponsorships because the ratings were so inexplicably low, actually struck a groundbreaking deal with DirecTV to help fund the show. Now DirectTV will air it this fall beginning on Wednesday, and NBC will air it in January. (Uh... I'll be downloading. Sorry, NBC, but I just can't wait. I'll make it back to you by buying the DVDs, like I always do.)

Here's hoping people tune in to see these shows and give them all the second (or in FNL's case, third) chance they all deserve. You won't be disappointed.

IT'S OFFICIAL:
Season 4 of Lost will Have 13 Episodes!
Carlton Cuse has officially announced that he and Damon Lindelof will be busting their asses to get 5 more episodes done, which will bring the number of episodes this season of Lost to 13. He says what this will do is allow them to end the season the way they'd originally planned, but just in a more condensed version. As he put it, "It's a little bit like driving cross country to Boston. If the goal is to get there two days earlier, we will have to take more interstates and fewer rural byways."

Jon Lachonis at BuddyTV is worried this means we'll lose the remaining three episodes. "With Cuse proclaiming that the season 4 story will end as originally prescribed, I think we have to then assume that they have no intention of making up the lost (pun intended) episodes in the future," he writes. "Selfishly, I don't want to be shorted three episodes of my favorite TV show."

However, USA Today is reporting that the remaining 3 episodes will be rolled into future seasons. Whether Cuse actually said that to them, or whether they're simply assuming it is unclear, since they don't have him quoted as saying it. Since Variety is also reporting that if season 4 is shortened the remaining eps will move to future seasons, I'm leaning to believing both of them.

In other news: Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money have both received 13 episode pick-ups for the fall, which is awesome news. ABC was the first network out of the gate to announce all of their shows that will be continuing. I'm hoping NBC is next...

Pushing Daisies: Smell of Success
Death by scratch 'n' sniff. Only on Pushing Daisies.

This week's episode... what can I say? Every post I just say it's better than the one before it, and this one was no different. I loved the premise, the opening at the boarding school reached a new low of pure sadness (how did Ned grow up to be so sweet?), LOVED Paul Reubens (his performance didn't quite reach the perfection of his inbred prince on 30 Rock last year -- with his little porcelain hand... hahahaha! -- but it was pretty awesome. I didn't even recognize him at first!), and the ending was such that he just might be making a recurring role, since he seems to be on to Chuck.

There was so much to love in this episode, but as with every ep of this show, there was once again one moment that was truly sublime: the ending, where we finally see the Darling Mermaid Darlings take to the water. The animation was stunning, Lily singing "Morning Has Broken" actually brought tears to my eyes (!) and it was a moment we'd all been waiting for.

No Pushing Daisies this week coming up, but there will be one the following week, thank goodness. :) LOVE LOVE LOVE. When will they be coming out with the action figures?!

What was your favourite moment?

Pushing Daisies: Bitches
It's been two weeks since the last episode, and two weeks is TOO LONG! Oh, what will I do with the writers on strike and missing my Pushing Daisies?! But the return was SO brilliant. This show has not given me a dull moment yet.

Highlights:
-the title of the episode
-That wonderful claymation moment at the beginning when we flash back to Ned's childhood
-Little Ned and Little Chuck wearing her crazy hats and looking at the moon
-EMERSON!! "That girl dropped a bomb in your subconscious with her saliva."
"Some women love like ganstas. They all like, 'Ooh, baby, you're bleedin', how did that happen?' while they're hiding a razor in their weave."
-The scene of how the polygamist died, and how he was stabbed multiple times because of his "tenacity" and slipping on the coffee, stabbing himself over and over. I was doubled over with laughter.
-the four of them going undercover to interrogate the wives, and none of them actually being very undercover
-Emerson being controlled by the dog trainer's snapper
-The Collador-Russell-a-poo
-the Snuppy's Puppies corporate headquarters, with the giant puppy rotating head
-the trio waiting in the Snuppy's breeding room, and you see a bunch of covered crates rocking back and forth with the dogs inside, breeding (ha!)

But the absolute gem of the episode was the Vertigo dream that Emerson has. I've seen that film half a million times, and to see it parodied with Emerson's head instead of James Stewart was a new level of genius for this show. I especially loved the closeup of his head, and the confused look on his face, followed by the silhouette of his body free-falling into the pies.

Wow... can this show GET any better??!! I hope so! :)

Random Things for a Tuesday
For anyone who doesn't watch Heroes, scroll down for pictures of supercute kids instead. :)

Ok, so last week I said Heroes was a little better than the week before, and got beat up on the comments board, but I'm going to say it again. It was better this week, and actually ended with a very intriguing cliffhanger! Could Takezo's entire story have been set up by Adam just to change history?? Hiro was more charming in the one-minute scene with Ando than he's been all season.


However, it's still not anywhere NEAR what it was the first season, and every week is exposing the inadequacies of the show more and more. In the past week I've been thinking about the show a lot (and have decided, for now, I'm not sure if it's worth devoting an entire blog post to it anymore). We're supposed to assume that the action we see week to week is happening simultaneously, right? So how is it that Peter meets his Oirish Garl in Cork, gets to know her, falls in lust, sees her brother get killed, travels to Montreal, and time travels.... and in that same time the Dunder Twins travel 50 feet to the Mexican border? Maybe we're not supposed to see it as simultaneous.... hm.


Anyway, this week had too much Niki, and the momentary return of DL (no, GOD NO, not MORE of that family, we're supposed to be killing them off one by one) but happily, no Monica or Micah. Whew. But no Sylar, either, and he's been awesome this season, unlike everyone else.


Hiro's back, so FINALLY no more Japan, which is a blessing. Moronder looks like more of an idiot than usual, and now spills his master plan to Bob. (Sigh.) The Flying Doofus finds out his girl is the daughter of his nemesiseses when HRG shows up, and HRG blows his top when he discovers Claire's been dating a guy and using her powers for stupidity.


I was a little disappointed with the Matt storyline. It seems like in one week Kring's decided to suddenly jump the story forward, despite plodding it along for weeks, and Matt takes down Daddy and saves Molly a wee bit too easily for me.


And where the hell is Elle? Was Kristen Bell (whoa... check out my ell rhymes there) just dangled in front of our faces to make us think Veronica was coming back? I want more Elle.


So I know it's a week past Halloween, but I want to post pics of my little kiddies in their costumes anyway. I rarely post pics of my kids on here, but they're just too cute for words, so here they are:
























That's my daughter Sydney as the cutest chicken ever, and Liam as a superhero. I'm not sure what his powers are, but they've got to be more interesting than any of the ones this season on Heroes.



I didn't get a chance to post on Pushing Daisies last week, but it SO rocked. Emerson and Olivia are the greatest characters on TV right now. LOVE THEM. There were so many moments where I was howling. I wish I had time to list them all.




My brother showed me this last week and I thought it was hilarious. It's funny the first time you watch it, funnier the second, and hysterical the third time. This is a British comedy duo called Mitchell and Webb, and I could watch this all day. Dundundundundundundun-Dundundundundundun-Dundada-da-da!!

I think my pal CK will like that one. Speaking of her, another thing that's made me howl recently was posted on her site. She and I are big fans of finding crazy Bollywood musical clips on YouTube, and she's found the mother of all of them. Go to her site and check it out there. It's priceless (even if you don't like Bollywood musicals, you'll find this funny). Enjoy!

UPDATE: I realized that link no longer works, so try this one.

A Few of My Favourite Things
(plucking daisy petals): I love the show... I adore the show... I love the show... I adore the show... I love the show... I adore the show!! Yes, Pushing Daisies continues to be my big love of the fall 2007 TV season. This week's highlights all involved a pigeon that Ned accidentally brings back to life. From Olive and Vivian singing They Might Be Giants' "Birdhouse in your Soul" in the backseat of the old car Lily was driving to Lily putting a new wing on the bird using a bejeweller, to the crazy fake bird that was flying in the sky, the whole bird storyline reached the sublime this week. Chuck and Ned dancing at the end in their beekeeper suits... who knew that a lack of touching could be so darned romantic??


This week's The Office was also hilarious. Fave moments:

• Michael using the word "urban" as a synonym for African-American (Phyllis is a less-urban Aunt Jemima)
• Jim saying people think Dunder-Mifflin sells mufflers, muffins, or mittens
• Jim's Second Life avatar: "Philly Jim" as Pam called him, and the fact he's not the Jim we know, which led a friend of mine to comment that we really don't know Jim at all, come to think of it...
• Kevin doing his Kool-Aid Man face
• Andy unable to figure out the ad for "Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar." (Best line is when he comes up with applesauce, and the look on Jim's face.)
• Meredith saying she's not used to so many people being around when making videos
• Dwight's happiness at hearing that Angela said, "Oh, D," when making out with Andy (and Andy thought it was Dee for An-Dee).
• Pam clearing Michael's phone lines: "Beep beep beep beep! Okay, clear."
• Darryl's jingle, and how good it was: "Dunder-Mifflin, the people person paper people!"

Of course, all of that led up to the brilliant commercial that Michael had done. The writers on the show could have gone for the low comedy on this one, and just made it the worst commercial ever. But instead they let him make something that on the surface appeared to be a pretty effective commercial, with paper being used everywhere, until the entire thing is undercut by the final words: "Dunder Mifflin: Limitless paper, in a paperless world." And then you realize the futility of it all -- all of the things you saw paper being used for in the ad have been replaced by the Internet, or in the case of the Dwight/Phyllis scene, SPEECH. ;) I LOVED that he cast Stanley as the criminal by the side of the road, and then it cuts to the guy having a job at Dunder-Mifflin, causing viewers to wonder just what kind of person is being hired at DM. Or that the one artist in the company actually uses computers to make her art, and not paper. It was genius. (Did anyone else think the actual Dunder-Mifflin ad sucked?)

The last two weeks have turned Dwight into a seriously sad character. Last week when Jim found him moaning in his room I almost cried myself, it was so sad. This week watching him watching his second life self flying through the streets was heartbreaking. (Though the fact he's the same person in both lives is hilarious.) I was so happy to see him smile again.

Just a quick note that the Lost contest has been extended to November 5. I've only received a few entries, and a lot of emails from people saying they already bought it. So I'll extend it, and if I don't get more entries I'll postpone it until Lost is actually coming back. :) Thanks to those who have entered so far!

My First PVR Casualties
Well, it was too good to last. I've finally deleted two "events" from my PVR. The first... Bionic Woman. I can't believe this is the same show I was SO excited about all summer long. But after 5 weeks (feels like 15) it is so dull dull dull and dead boring. Every episode is exactly the same and goes absolutely nowhere. You know what, David Eick? Forget hiring writers. I'll give you the skeleton script you've been working with, and you just need to fill in the "bad guy of the week."

Intro:
Jaime sits alone in a room while emo music plays, rain falling against the window, sad about her lot in life.

Cut to Sarah, threatening someone. Probably has the shakes, or not, depending on if she's had her fix.

Back to Jaime and her sister, and Jaime lies to her sister, sister looks suspicious.

Jaime at the agency, and the bald guy (I haven't bothered to learn names) mentions she's worth $50 million.

Jaime figures out some new part of herself, but in the heat of battle, takes something like 10 minutes to actually use it.

Cut to Jaime doing martial arts with Asian guy, while Asian guy thinks about Sarah.

Sarah meets up with Jaime, threatens her sister.

Jaime goes back agency, yells that she's her own person and they don't own her. They talk her into doing the mission anyway. INSERT MISSION OF THE WEEK.

Sister finds out Jaime's lying about something. Sarah is caught. Then gets away. Threatens someone. Vows to get Jaime.

Jaime goes home to her sister, they argue, emo music plays, she tells her sister how much she means to her.

END.

Blah.

The second show is Cane. It started out great, but now it just feels week after week like King Lear meets The Godfather. Brothers all stabbing each other in the back, no one is loyal to the family, dad's going to die, Mom is all pretty and dominant. I just cannot get past the incestuous relationship between Smits and his wife, and the terrible casting. They cast some woman in her mid-30s to be married to Smits, in his mid-50s. Every time she walks on screen I think it's his daughter, until he kisses her in the way you don't kiss a daughter. I find it boring, and just don't have time for it with other good things on TV.

And one of those good things is Pushing Daisies, which I'm THRILLED to report has been picked up for a whole season!!!!! YAY ABC!!! I'm so happy. (Thanks for the link, Sarah!)

Pushing Daisies, Ep 3: The Fun in Funeral
Oh my god, this show just gets better and better.... there were so many moments where I laughed out loud in this ep, and just loved every minute of it. I've already watched it twice, it was THAT good. I hope this show lasts forever.

And when I said last week that I feel like this show was written just for me, it REALLY seemed like that this week. When Emerson got stuck in the window, all I could think was that he was like Winnie the Pooh stuck in Rabbit's doorway, mostly because I had JUST read that story to my daughter last night. And then... Chuck says, "you're just like Pooh!!" and by the time she yelled, "Kick, Pooh, KICK!" and he spontaneously kicked his leg, knocking out Woodruff, I was howling (my son had just dozed off in my arms and he startled awake, I was laughing so hard).

Other fave moments:
-Emerson being so annoyed that Chuck is at his "private meeting" that he shuffles out of the booth, practically knocking her on the floor.
-Olive asking the herbal remedy salesman if he'd ever felt like the oxygen going out of the room, and the storyteller explaining that the man had a pathological fear of just that, and that he'd be sucked out of the earth's atmosphere... hahaha!!
-Olive treating him like a drug dealer: "This is a pie house, not some herbal craft den!"
-the flashback to Ned as a little kid discovering the one-minute rule
-The 1950s feel to everything -- the costumes, the cars, the decor, the travelling salesman...
-Louis wearing the Darling Mermaid Darlings T-shirt
-Aunt Lily lifting her eye patch so the pool of tears can fall out, HA!
-Olive dramatically ducking in fear as the bird flies over her during the pie delivery, and then holding her chest as she runs down the stairs... I love this actress!
-the discussion of the name of the Pie Hole
-Emerson telling Louis that The Rapture killed them all
-"Gimme your paws, Pooh!"
-the story of the Chinese slave who became a Civil War hero, and the accent Wilfred has, making him sound like he's from the deep south. I laughed out loud at the bit about his great great great great grandfather running southeast when everyone else ran north. "Some say it was the hand of destiny, while others thought it was heatstroke."
-Ned channeling his inner Jedi
-Ned listing off the choices we make in our lives and including, "Kiss her or keep her." Awww...
-"Kick, Pooh, Kick!" hahahaha... it never gets old!
-Chuck and Ned gift-wrapping all of the stolen stuff.
-The line, "I'm gonna see if I've got some plastic wrap" actually being the most romantic line I heard on TV all week.

WATCH PUSHING DAISIES...
And that's an order.

I just watched the second episode, and I am absolutely head over heels in love with this show. I feel like it was written just for me, with an Edward Gorey/Tim Burton feel to it that I adore. The second episode was fantastic: Olive broke into Olivia Newton John's "Hopelessly Devoted" in the middle of The Pie Hole (how much do I love the name of the restaurant, seriously...), but kept getting interrupted, which was hilarious; Ned and Chuck shared a kiss through body bags that was more romantic than any other kiss I've seen this season; Ned installed a protective guard in his car between the passenger seat and driver seat so Chuck could ride shotgun without dying... and he included a little glove so they could hold hands (squee!); Emerson is a knitter, and it actually gets them out of a tight fix... he was the highlight of the ep for me, knitting his little gun cozies, almost making a comment about Ned and Chuck being the real dummies but keeping it to himself, using his knitting needles to get them out of a tight fix, and giving the single most hilarious face in the episode when the car in front of them explodes and a fiery box of laxatives lands on their hood...

If you haven't watched the ep, this will all sound seriously insane, but this is my fave show that's on right now (and yes, I'm officially putting it ahead of a lacklustre Heroes this season...). I can't wait for next week.

News: Fisher Stevens -- i.e. that guy who was once engaged to Michelle Pfeiffer back in the 80s, and then... I dunno, did he do something since then? -- has been cast on Lost as the guy you heard talking on the sat phone at the end of the finale last year.

Bionic Woman, Cane, Journeyman, and Life have all gotten requests for more scripts. It doesn't meant they'll get full-season orders, but this is a good sign! Gossip Girl has been picked up for the full season, and is the first show to have gotten the order. Yay!

Other shows I'm watching:

Heroes: Did I mention lacklustre? I still love it, and enjoy it every week, but I need some new heroes, quick (Kristen Bell doesn't show up until week 5 so I have 2 more weeks to wait).

Cane: Is still great. I've seen the first two episodes, and Jimmy Smits' character has that same moral ambiguity of Angel or Spike, but without the camp. You do NOT mess with him, yet as the protagonist he gets us to cheer him on, even as he's doing terrible things to people. Please don't cancel this show...

Reaper: Still hilarious, but it might be one I drop, only because it's SO much like Chuck, as I've mentioned, that I'm starting to mix the two up in my head, and Chuck is far superior.

Chuck: In this week's episode, Chuck goes to a fancy ball with an art auction, and as he's drawn to the one painting, a woman comes up to him and asks what he thinks, to which he replies, in a fluster, "It has a certain... Bob Ross-ian quality to it." I nearly fell off the couch laughing. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's been on the couch on a Saturday afternoon channel-surfing, and stopping when I see a white guy with a giant afro standing on an entirely black stage with a single spotlight on him, painting and talking about inserting "a happy little tree." At least, now I know Chuck has also sat and watched this guy transform a white canvas into a painting of an outdoor landscape that I would see hanging in my grandparents' home. Best line of the week.

Gossip Girl: Still awesome, and I'm enjoying the ongoing tension between Serena and Blair. Does anyone else get the feeling that Dan is Gossip Girl? I know that's probably not the case, but I swear he's standing right there whenever you hear Gossip Girl's voiceover.

America's Next Top Model: Not awesome. Boring, in fact. I think I'm watching it out of habit at this point. This week was makeover week, traditionally a great ep, but they showed us the digital image of what each girl would look like, taking away the final result so it's not a surprise. Wah.

Dirty Sexy Money: In last week's ep, there's a quiet scene at the end of the episode where Nate Nick tells Tripp that he can't get his dad's briefcase open. Tripp, gazing out of the window, suggests he try 712, which is his wife's birthday. As Nick sets up the numbers and pushes the button, the loud click of the briefcase causes Tripp to close his eyes in pain. The moment he's dreaded for 40 years -- proof that his wife had been having an affair with his best friend -- has finally come. Sutherland is terrific in this scene, and this is coming from someone who's not a big fan of his. This week he's just as good, when he explains to Nick that he probably knew deep down about the affair, but didn't actually know know. Jeremy and Juliet continue to intrigue me (Jeremy's hot in a going-nowhere kind of way), though the scene at the end where Juliet finds out Jeremy bought expensive jewellery for her nemesis featured the worst acting I've seen on the show yet. I really like the scenes between Patrick and Carmelita (played by Candis Cayne, possibly the most beautiful and believable female impersonators I've ever seen). They could have gone the route of the outlandish with this plotline of Patrick -- the guy running for senator -- sleeping with a transsexual, but instead he's really in love with her, and she's pretty amazing.

Ugly Betty: Continues to make me laugh. Too bad Papi's back (I don't like him very much), but the scene this week of Henry telling off Marc and Amanda and Marc saying he can't remember ever being so turned on was a riot.

30 Rock: Last night's ep was as brilliant as the week before: Jenna deciding to "keep" her belly roll as if it's a baby; Liz eating the steak WAY too fast and saying with a straight face that a dog came into the room and took it from her; Jack taking a little too long to save Will Arnett from choking to death; Tracy sending Kenneth as a gift to his wife; Kenneth telling Angie that he's really good at the "sex stuff." I love this show.

The Office: Finally back to its original form. The scene where Meredith walks up to Jim and has him sign her pelvis cast had my husband laughing so hard we had to pause it (by the way, I'm positive he signs "John Krasinski" and not "Jim Halpert" in that scene... did anyone keep the episode so they could pause and look?). Dwight's computer becoming "self-aware" was pure prank classic (and it was sweet that Pam felt sorry for Dwight and was nice to him, but she said he "mercy-killed" Angela's cat, and there was really nothing merciful about what he did...); Kevin saying Alfredo's pizza is like eating a "hot circle of garbage" had me howling (now... why didn't Michael just send the kid away with his pizza and not pay for it, since he was going to order pizza from the other place anyway?); Phyllis trying to use psychology on Angela's bitchiness; Stanley grooving to the Infinity Web site music; Michael giving a speech and everyone in the office just watching the TV screensaver hoping it'll go straight into the corner slot (ok, I've TOTALLY done that with the computer windows screensavers); Andy getting his Barbershop quartet on the phone and doing ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" (HA!)... how could Angela not fall for that, even when the guy is Andy?; . This was a great episode.

Journeyman: I liked this week's ep more than the previous, but like I said last week, I want a little more tension in the present. Luckily, Katie discovered at the end that one thing Dan is doing in the past is seeing Livia, and if that doesn't cause serious tension, nothing will. I was talking to someone who knows the writer on this coming week's ep, and said it was going to be a high-concept episode. I'm intrigued.

Moonlight: Week 2 was a vast improvement over week 1. However, the writer was David Greenwalt (i.e. the guy who created the Angel character on Buffy, and helmed the show Angel in the first season it was a spinoff). What is he doing writing for this show? A) doesn't he recogize it's ripping off his baby? B) doesn't it kill him that all of the vampire tendencies/myths/belief systems have been thrown out the window to make the writing easier? What is he thinking?
Anyway, all that aside, I liked it a lot more, but by 3/4 of the way through, thought this was it, and I'm not tuning in beyond this. And then in the final 5 minutes, I changed my mind: when Beth walks into Mick's apartment and finds him greedily sucking back blood from blood bags and his eyes all white and the teeth showing, she discovers that he's a vampire. That's going to put things in a new direction. I'll give it one more week...

Aliens in America: HILARIOUS. If you're not watching this show, please do. There's a scene where Justin turns to his bitchy sister to find out how to distance himself from Raja (after Raja has stood up in class and announced that if he were trapped on a deserted island, the only thing he would want is Justin, prompting people to say they were a gay couple), and she says, "Just do what I do: I told everyone you were my brother, and we adopted you from a retarded family." He stares at her and says with a dead voice, "You had to make my WHOLE family retarded." I was in stitches. I love this show.

Everybody Hates Chris: Something's been lost with this show. The scenes at home are still funny, and there are still moments in Chris Rock's voiceover that make me laugh, but it just doesn't compete with The Office or Aliens in America. But I've been watching it for 2 years now, so...

Torchwood: I checked out this series last Friday when it premiered on CBC. It was intriguing, and had some interesting twists, but I don't think I'll stick with it. A little too Doctor Who, without the Daleks. Not that that's a bad thing, but it just didn't feel original.

The Tudors: Holy Henry Hotness! I've just watched the first ep of this show, and it was great. And Henry is one fine-looking dude. This is the pre-50-inch-waist years. Thank god.

Dexter: Still creepy as hell... this week's was hilarious and tragic, as Dexter tries to get his killin' mojo back. His voiceovers are still SO great, as they're usually ironic or sarcastic commentary on what is happening on the screen. He had to put his brother to rest, finally, though I felt it was done a little quickly (I was hoping his bro would dog him for the season, and maybe he will reappear, but the final scene seemed pretty... final). The scene of Dexter being pulled away from his brother when they're in that carton was heartbreaking... what kind of cop would take only one child and leave the other one in that horrid place?? It made me cry.

Friday Night Lights: Yay, it's back!! I was talking to a friend who was pretty disturbed by what happens with Landry and Tyra (she's not alone), but I actually found it pretty believable, and in keeping with how they might react to the situation. If you didn't like it, and thought it was contrived, Jason Katims has said in an interview that this week's episode will change that, and offer more explanation. I love love this show. And I'm still in love with Coach Carter...

Bionic Woman: Hmm... I wanted this show to be better... here's still hoping.

Kitchen Nightmares: Haven't seen this week's ep yet. See above.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: OK, this show was supposed to have been finished after last season, and that's what Larry David said, and then, like the Who, the show came back. But I'm so glad... it's the same horrid discomfort that the show's always done best, and I love it. Larry meets the "Black family," who happens to be black, and blurts out that it would be like his last name being "Jew." Larry is late getting home, and drives past the site of his best friend's mother's recent death, which is covered in flowers, and actually steals some flowers from it to take to his wife as an apology. Yeowch. Only Larry...

OK, I think that's it. Well, I'm also watching EastEnders (where Michelle Ryan is NOT bionic) and loving it, but it's too far behind (I think they're in November 2005 at this point) to comment on it.

I think I need to cut down on my TV. Thank goodness for long periods of feeding my newborn son on the couch. :)

What’s on my PVR – Part 2

Returning Shows:

Dexter: Ah, how I love that this show is back. Opening episode was seriously awesome, and made me even angrier that Michael C. Hall was completely overlooked for the Emmy. I wasn’t sure how they were going to possibly follow the first season up with a further season, considering what happened, but now I see that while the first season was about him chasing another serial killer, in this season he will become the hunted. By his own sister, no less, while “helping” the force find him. Awesome.

Gossip Girl: Still love.

Bionic Woman: Halfway through ep 2, and I’m enjoying it still, but it’s not knocking my socks off.

Journeyman: After week 2, I’m a little worried this show is going to be a “who will Dan save this week?” show and won’t have enough of the present circumstance in there. What I liked the most is the conundrum between sticking with his wife and child in the present and wanting to go to Livia in the past. I hope they delve more into that.
**Peter Bjorn and John Watch: “Young Folks,” which I previously spotted in Gossip Girl and Dirty Sexy Money, ALSO played in the end moments of Journeyman. Come on, people… sure, it’s a great song, but there are other small indie bands that have a huge song that could be inspiring you.

America’s Next Top Model: Same old.

Kitchen Nightmares: This week’s was more like the first ep, unfortunately. Now that someone posted in my comments that last week’s was, indeed, the contentious episode the show is being sued over, I wonder if Fox just toned it way down, making it far more subtle and not so over-the-top. THEY SHOULD KEEP DOING THAT. It was the subtlety that makes the show work on the BBC. This week, they pretended to return 2 months later, but they didn’t really (I was so excited, and then…) All of the scenes they showed were from the final night, not 2 weeks later. To make it worse, they made it look like Mike the manager had a blowup during service, when in fact it was long after the restaurant had closed. Not sure if Fox thinks were stupid (correction: they do) but the owners tell him to leave, he goes outside, cut to edit of a full restaurant of people looking outside. Cut to Mike, standing outside waiting for them to make a decision, and he’s standing near the window, which is DARK with the curtains drawn and it’s long after closing. Duh. I think Martin from ep 2 just might have a case.

New shows:

Chuck:
Premise: Guy who works as a Nerds on Site person for a Staples-type store gets an email from a former roommate, now working as a spy, sending him all of the government secrets encoded in a series of weird images. The spy is killed, and the NSA and CIA are in a race to see who can find Chuck and put him to good use.
What I Liked: The show is hilarious. It has a wry humour about it that made me laugh out loud at parts (in one scene he goes to “LargeMart,” which is clearly a Costco, and when a spy begins chasing him throughout the store he runs up to an employee and asks her if she can find someone from security “or that guy who checks the receipts.” HA!!)
What I Didn’t Like: I can’t really think of anything I didn’t like about this. It’s bizarre and over-the-top, and in just the right parts.
People from my other shows: Jayne from Firefly; General Beckman made appearances on Buffy, Alias, and Angel.
Verdict: Chuck’s a keeper.

Moonlight:
Premise: If you’ve seen Angel and Forever Knight, you know the premise.
What I Didn’t Like: Geez… where to start? First of all, in the opening five minutes they drop every myth about vampires you can imagine. This guy can walk around during the day, it just gives him a headache (??) Holy water has no effect on him, nor does garlic, a cross or any religious symbol, and if you drive a wooden stake through his heart, he “gets better.” COME ON. The writers just tossed everything about vampires out the window because it makes their job easier. Unlike the writers on Angel, these ones don't have to worry about actually setting everything at night and making sure they're consistent, etc. And as if the premise of the show wasn’t Angel enough, between every scene they do an overhead shot of L.A. shot very quickly with the traffic sped up below… EXACTLY the same segues they used on Angel all the time. There’s a blond woman in the show who finally catches on that Mick’s a vampire… think Elizabeth Rohm in season 1 of Angel, without the attitude problem.
What I Liked: Jason Dohring was great; he was NOTHING like Logan, showing the guy’s actually got a lot of range. And the second half of the show was a lot better than the first.
People from my other shows: Logan from Veronica Mars; Hiatt from The Shield; I know there were some others but now they escape me.
Verdict: One more week, and then I’m dropping it. The fight between the two vampires at the end was pretty cool, and enough to bring me back, but I was SO ticked about them dropping the vampire myths it’ll take a lot to keep me.

Reaper:
Premise: A guy’s parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born, and now on his 21st birthday the devil’s come to collect, making him a bounty hunter, collecting people who’ve escaped from Hell.
What I Liked: Another really funny show, Sock has a very Kevin Smith sense of humour (Smith exec produces and directed first ep), and the cast is great. Also had moments that made me laugh out loud. In the second ep they chase a guy who can make lightning, and they dress from head to toe in rubber, causing Sock to worry aloud that they’re going to die “dressed like a bunch of condoms.”
What I Didn’t Like: Odd that Chuck and Reaper are two similar shows in the same season – two geeks who both work in big box stores and have things happen to them by people on the outside that sentence them to a life of doom. I honestly keep mixing up the two shows in my head.
People from my other shows: Chuck’s crush, Ali, is the illusionista from Heroes.
Verdict: Another keeper. Man… my poor PVR. Why so many good shows this year?!

Pushing Daisies:
Premise: A piemaker has discovered since he was a kid that if he touches a dead thing he can bring it back to life, but with a second touch he kills them again, permanently. A second catch: If he brings them back to life for longer than a minute, someone else drops dead to balance out the universe. He makes money on the side of pie business by finding out where reward money is offered, and going in to the dead people, touching them, asking who killed them, getting the info, and killing them again.
What I Liked: I LOVED this show. The night before I watched it, I was saying to my husband that despite this season having a bunch of great shows that I really don’t want to stop watching, there was no standout like Heroes or Friday Night Lights that I became completely emotionally invested in. And then I saw this one. Okay, I won't become "emotionally invested" in it, not like Friday Night Lights, but it's a keeper for sure. The colours are a little too bright, the sets too unrealistic, the music very Tim Burton/Bernard Herrmann, and it features a voiceover that sounds like a man reading a bedtime story. It’s perfect. In fact, the thing I could compare it to over anything else is a Tim Burton film, which I was saying to a friend of mine the other day. It’s like an outlandish fairy tale… about killing people for money. Lee Pace is great as Ned; actually the cast is fantastic overall. The humour is very funny (the waitress at the Pie Hole, the hilarious name of the restaurant, keeps mixing up words and says for years she thought masturbation was when you chewed your food slowly, hahahaha!), and yet it has a twinge of sadness about everything.
What I Didn’t Like: Only one nitpick: When he’s a little boy, his dog is hit by a car, and he touches the dog, who jumps back up and starts running. Unphased, the kid runs after him. Some time later, after touching flies and bugs, etc. his mother drops dead of an aneurysm. He touches her, and she’s fine. Then that night she kisses him goodnight and drops dead, and that’s when he realizes if he touches something twice, it dies again. My question is… we’re to believe he NEVER touched that dog again? I find that hard to believe. Just a small nitpick. And I’m not sure how it’ll continue; I just hope it doesn’t become a “dead person of the week” show.
People from my other shows: Locke’s mom from Lost.
Verdict: The best of the new shows. I’m praying it doesn’t get cancelled after 3 episodes. Then again, it’s reminiscent of Wonderfalls, so…

Aliens in America:
Premise: A guy who is a complete loser in school gets an exchange student, thinking he’ll get some swim team captain from Sweden who will make him totally cool, but when an equally nerdy kid from Pakistan shows up, he knows his loserdom just plummeted even further.
What I Liked: Three new comedies that are really funny! STOP. I can’t take another show… how am I going to decide what to drop? The mother in this one is especially great; she’s uber-aware of the giant L on her son’s forehead, and does everything to make him “cool,” but nothing works. When he ends up on the jock’s list of top 10 “bangable chicks,” I was howling. (But felt bad about it.)
What I didn’t Like: The scene at the airport where the boy shows up from Pakistan would have been funnier with that crazy music, if I hadn’t seen the movie Election 4,000 times and completely associated it with Reese Witherspoon. Again, stop with the music that is so readily identifiable with something else.
Verdict: I’m going to keep watching. Dammit. I need to get a bigger PVR.

Still on the PVR: The Tudors, Five Days, The War