Look Out, Michael... Here Comes Stringer

One of my favourite things these days is spotting actors who starred in The Wire now popping up on other shows. I'm about 6 episodes into Heroes (and so far... meh) and two of the best things about it have been Marlo Stanfield as a badass bank robber, and Bubbles creating a vortex with his hand and sending people and things into it when he's upset. Bubs (okay, Andre Royo) gave one of the best performances I've seen on that show all season. I tried to watch 90210 because of Tristan Wilds, but couldn't handle it. The suckage was sadly far too great for my head to take. I loved Amy Ryan on The Office when she played Holly, who was a VERY different character than the one she played on The Wire. But despite enjoying all of these performances, all these characters were secondary to my Wire faves: Omar, Stringer, and Snoop.

And now... Stringer Bell is following in Amy Ryan's footsteps and is coming to Dunder-Mifflin. If I were Michael, I'd run. Far, far away. Idris Elba is a fantastic actor. He's British, but tends to play American. His biggest role outside The Wire was American Gangster, and he was amazing in that, too. His character on The Office will be coming to Scranton for a six-episode arc, and will apparently be making Michael's life very difficult (who doesn't?) I can't wait!

Now, if we can just get Omar and Snoop on Lost, I think I would be the happiest TV viewer on the planet.

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.

Thursday Night Funnies

Last night's episodes of The Office and 30 Rock weren't laugh-out-loud hilarious for me, but both of them had their moments, and the more I think about both of them, the more I like them.

In The Office, Michael goes on a trip to Winnipeg. I'd read an article a few months back that Carell, Helms, and Nunez were going to be travelling to Winnipeg to film the episode in Canada, but after seeing the episode, I doubt that happened. All scenes were shot inside buildings, and we didn't get to see the wide snowy city streets. I've only been to Winnipeg once, and the people were absolutely lovely, but flying in, the city looks like Las Vegas without the lights -- a town stuck in the middle of nowhere. The Simpsons parodied Winnipeg (and Canada) to great hilarity a few years back, so I was looking forward to lots of in-jokes about Canada. They didn't happen.

That said, Andy travelling as Michael's translator was priceless (I particularly loved him ordering the drinks at the bar: "Beer me dos Long Island Iced Teas, s'il vous plait") and Michael referring to "Ca-Nah-dah" as a foreign country was awesome, but the jokes sort of ended there (not to mention -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- I think Scranton would actually be slightly further than 2 hours from Winnipeg: it's a 2-hour flight from Toronto, and Scranton is further away than that). But I nitpick.

Oscar and Andy made a very funny team, especially Andy declaring himself Oscar's WMFL. AWESOME.

The best part of the episode for me was Michael trying to come to terms with his break-up with Amy. He sadly fumbles with Concierge Marie and discovers she can't make up for what he's lost. The end of the episode, where he's on the phone telling the guy how mean he is and hanging up on him, was sad and amazingly handled by Steve Carell.

Of course, there were other great things in the episode. Ryan and Kelly making out and Ryan forcing her to break up with Darryl. When he realized Darryl didn't give a crap about Kelly, Kelly suddenly didn't look quite so hot in his eyes. His line, "I've realized that I can't do better than Kelly," is HILARIOUS, especially with the "aw" look she gives him in return. Ha! I read something a couple of days ago that said B.J. Novak will be taking leave from the show because he's been cast in Quentin Tarantino's new flick, "Inglourious Basterds," (and yes, I know that spelling is wonky but apparently that's how it's spelled). The article wasn't sure if Novak was leaving permanently, but he did sound like he was putting the character of Ryan to bed permanently, and would only return as a writer. I guess we'll see what happens.

And, of course, that ending: Pam and Jim reunited. What will her life be like knowing that her dream of becoming a graphic designer will never amount to anything and she'll only ever be a receptionist? Here's hoping that her return is a good thing for her, and not just a temporary happiness.

By the way, to all the viewers of Mad Men, did you notice the guy last week who was telling Pam to stay in NY was Harry? My husband called it, and then wasn't sure, and we both stared at him and realized if you slicked his hair back and put the glasses on him, it's totally him (I googled it and he was right).

30 Rock didn't have any laughs like last week's scene of Jenna dancing and singing "Ease on Down the Road" in blackface, which was shocking and hilarious all at once, though Jack wearing that hat that made him look like Tom Petty as the Mad Hatter in that "Don't Come Around Here No More" video was HYSTERICAL and had me in stitches for a long time. And as a kid, I too loved Night Court, though Harry hasn't aged as well as Markie Post. My favourite moment of all of that was how Ken punched the air with his fist and then held it like that, exactly how episodes of Night Court would end (only it was because the image had been stilled, not because the character held it). That was priceless.

What did you think? I haven't been talking much about other episodes of past weeks, but they've been great too. Have you all been enjoying this season of The Office and 30 Rock so far?

How NOT to Have a Baby Shower

I haven't blogged much on The Office this season, mostly because I simply don't have time. But the first two episodes, while having their funny moments, just seemed to be missing something. You could look back and think, "Oh yeah, and when they did that, it was funny, or when they said this, it was funny," but on the whole, it didn't leave me with that feeling of hilarity that I like to have after watching The Office.

This week's episode, on the other hand, was classic Office BRILLIANCE. The opening was WAY over-the-top, more OTT than usual, with Dwight carrying a watermelon around in an apron and pretending to be Jan going into labour to help Michael practice. It would be one thing if they were doing this in Michael's home, but it's happening in the office, complete with Dwight lying back on Michael's desk with his feet in the air, screaming. The great thing about The Office is that every weird moment has a kernel of truth, and I just didn't buy this. However, this scene is worth it for Jim's flow chart: "Jan is having a baby with a sperm donor. And Michael is preparing for the birth of a watermelon with Dwight. Now, this baby will be related to Michael through... delusion." Also, watch Phyllis's face when Dwight is about to "give birth." She drops her head and you can see her killing herself laughing. Also, the watermelon flying out and Michael dropping it, with it smashing all over the floor. AWESOME.

One other lowlight: Dwight testing the destructibility of the stroller: that seems a bit too insane even for Dwight.

The episode gets much better from there. Highlights:

Dwight: "Babies are one of my many areas of expertise. Growing up I performed my own circumcision."

The M&Ms bowls filled with M&Ms emblazoned with the baby names, with the boy baby bowl being Chevy, and the girl baby bowl being Astird (pronounced Ass-turd). Phyllis: "That can't be right."

Michael: "If I'm not mistaken, we gave you your wedding shower here. We came into this room and gave you a golden shower. Where is my golden shower?"

Andy screwing up which baby photo is Angela's photo.

Stanley: "I do not like pregnant women in my workspace. They're always complaining. I have varicose veins, too. I have swollen ankles, I'm constantly hungry. Do you think my nipples don't get sore, too? Do you think I don't need to know the fastest way to the hospital?"

Dwight insisting Michael mark the baby with a Sharpie, and freaking when he discovers Jan already had it. "Now the baby could be anybody's... except Michael's."

Michael holding the baby aloft like the Lion King.

Greatest moment of the episode: Jan describing having a tub birth.
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.

(My husband and I immediately paused it and were both laughing so hard we couldn't breathe... then backed it up three times. Best Creed line EVER.)

Michael going to get advice from Darryl, and constantly referring to him as a "babydaddy." (Again, you can see the actor playing Darryl trying not to laugh through the scene, especially when Michael calls the baby a "babybaby.")

Jan realizing that Holly has the same sense of humour as Michael.

Angela trying to get an Anne Geddes picture of the baby by putting it in the fruit. HAHA!!

Michael hugging Holly and asking her out. I love that he didn't kiss her, and instead gave her a long and sort of awkward hug.

The similar phone messages that Jim and Pam leave for each other... aww....

Reminder: Set Those PVRs!

Just a quick note to make sure y'all remember tonight is the big season premiere of The Office! I am SO excited... this show is what makes my summers long these days. Also premiering tonight is Ugly Betty. Last season was pretty excellent, so as long as she's dropped that dead weight of Henry for good, I'm happy. Go Gio!!

The Office Finale: Goodbye, Toby

Last night's season finale of The Office came far too soon. Since the Writer's Strike, the episodes have actually been a little hit and miss (and definitely far more awkward-feeling than ever before) but there's always a great moment or two in every one. This week's hour-long episode had a lot of the usual -- Michael making an ass of himself, Meredith playing Solitaire in the background of every scene she's in, Pam and Jim flirting. Amy Ryan (of one of my all-time favourite shows, The Wire) guest-starred as the woman replacing Toby. Yes, Michael's long-time nemesis is leaving, simply because he embarrassed himself by touching Pam's knee for a little too long before suddenly announcing he was moving to Costa Rica and running out of the room. Now he's too humiliated to say he'd just been humiliated, so he's actually going along with it. Michael is overjoyed, but he can't take the extreme pleasure in this departure that he'd like to, simply because he has the hots for the HR replacement, and doesn't want her to know he loathed Toby.

The best part of the episode was when Dwight told the new HR gal that Kevin was actually a special hire, and that he was mentally challenged. Kevin never acted differently throughout the episode, yet you could see why someone would think he WAS slow, and my husband and I were shrieking with laughter. At times, it felt very wrong, but then Kevin would have a button in with his change for the chips and I was in stitches all over again.

The only thing that I didn't like about the episode was Pam's reaction to Jim not proposing. It seemed a little strange... she couldn't have possibly wanted him to propose to her moments after Andy's over-the-top insano proposal to Angela, and it should have been pretty clear to her why he wouldn't do that. But that's OK... here's hoping that wasn't a little signal that things will go haywire in the Jam camp, now that their love will be long-distance.

What were your favourite moments?

The Week in Review
Lots of stuff I didn't get to this week... Gossip Girl saw the debut of Michelle Trachtenberg as Serena's evil nemesis, Georgina. As I mentioned last week, she'll always be Dawnie to me, but apparently Dawnie's all grown up... and she's a total bitch. Trachtenberg was awesome in the role, and I believed every manipulative moment. What do you think the big secret is between her and Serena? Did they kill someone? Is it possible that someone tried to rape one of them, and the other one clunked him over the head and they both buried the body? I know... I'm going all EastEnders on this one, but hey, it's a storyline on the current episodes of EE that I'm watching, so it's on the brain. I can't figure out any other scenario that would have Serena lying to Dan. Otherwise, just tell the guy that the bitch is back, and that you're in trouble. There must be a reason that Chuck knows about all of this and is the only guy she'll turn to, when usually she despises him. I'm looking forward to the SAT score announcements. I felt bad for the Asian girl Blair targeted this week. Here's hoping the girl ends up with a wicked score despite everything the Queen B attempted.

This week on Hell's Kitchen, no one was ousted, but the girls targeted Christina. Am I missing something here? I think I'm with Gordon when he says the only reason they want her off is they're threatened by her. She certainly wasn't messing things up the way Roxann was. That girl hasn't a clue what to do in a kitchen. To fix her mess, Jen was taken off desserts and stuck with her, and the next thing you know, Christina's shouting for some help because the souffles are all deflating and burning in her corner. Cut to Corey staring at her blankly, the other girls looking in the other direction like this ain't their problem, and Jen saying to the camera that she won't be her mother. Jen, she's not asking you to be her mother... just her teammate. These girls are sliding through this competition on pure dumb luck... the dumb part being the guys, who couldn't find the work teamwork in a dictionary if their lives depended on it. Both sides want to win, but they can't help trying to stab every other teammate in the back. Why haven't they figured out that you keep the strong ones in the beginning to win the challenges, and oust them by the end? Also, I still can't figure out why Gordon targeted Ben in the previous week. I think Fox is reaching for stuff to make the big man angry this season.

Speaking of which, a new reader on my blog posted last week that she was in one of the restaurants for the upcoming Fox season of Kitchen Nightmares while they were filming that first night where everything goes wrong. Ramsay approached her table and asked her what she thought of the waterfall in the entrance to the restaurant. She said she liked it, and he replied, "It's hideous!" and told her to tell the manager that. Haha! I love it.

This week Katarzyna was booted from ANTM (pronounced Kattar-JIN-na, even though the judges insisted on Kat-AR-shin-a). I really liked her, and that kind of leaves us with the curdle of the crop. Dominique is too full of herself, and frankly doesn't come off as a model at all. Fatima... well, the girl gets her travel documents to leave the country a mere 2 hours before leaving the country, even though every season of Top Model goes to another country. Tyra insists that the other models got booted because they didn't have the personality to be a top model. Apparently, BRAINS aren't a pre-requisite. Whitney... I like her because she's a plus-sized model, but at this point I'm willing to wait for the next plus-sized model and like her more. Whitney comes off as someone who was popular all through high school and is now a total, attitude-filled snob. Did you see her body language when she was in the bottom two this week? It was all, "I cannot beLIEVE you are putting me in the bottom two, you beeyotch." And Anya... the girl is sweet, and she seems to follow all the directions they give her, but she's just so weird-looking. I think she'd look better in a darker colour; that blonde washes her out completely. So I really don't have anyone to root for at this point, and the final weeks won't be very exciting for me.

The Office this week was pretty funny, though I actually disliked the idea of Stanley going off the rails in a meeting. I like my Stanley snarky and annoyed, but not completely enraged and cruel. Yes, he's had to suffer the stupidity of Michael, but part of what makes the show so funny is that they ALL suffer it, they're all smarter than he is, and they all just roll their eyes and make themselves look busy, knowing that they're smarter than Michael is. That said, it gave us the absolutely brilliant scene of Michael seeking help from The Other Black Guy, Darryl, and Darryl bemusedly filling Michael's head with completely garbage (when he started listing off all the gangs he's belonged to, I was in heaven). I loved the ceremony of Michael putting his face in the cement, and Pam trying not to laugh as Jim made the solemn speech. The onrunning gag of Pam's glasses was pretty hilarious, too.

30 Rock was GREAT. How much did I love that Geiss's dull daughter was sort of stuck in her adolescence, with pictures of Marky Mark all over the place? I used to work with a girl who was also totally into Marky Mark, despite being WAY too old to be into him, and at the time she was following him around the country and trying to get backstage at every show (and what made if funnier: she looked like Geiss's daughter). Her mother was my boss, and honestly, the most evil woman I've ever encountered (this was when I was in high school, working my after-school job). Stupidity ran so deep in that woman, I think she'd give Michael Scott a run for her money. I won't go into too much detail, but I know a couple of my readers know who I'm talking about. Since then, I've heard certain hypothetical questions several times: "Is there anyone in your life you truly hate?" "If you could kill someone and get away with it, would you?" And if I hadn't met that woman, I would answer no. But... I met that woman.

Anyway, I didn't blog on last week's episode, but that Mozart/Salieri stuff was inspired (especially Dr. Spaceman rushing through the halls in his black cape, like the image of Mozart's father as he's racing to finish the Requiem), and so brilliant. I loved the staging of beautiful Liz on the set meeting with Floyd this week, but the drinking scene was the best. Especially Kenneth realizing this was "Mountain Juice." Will Geiss ever wake up? Or will Donaghy be stuck on the Twelfth Floor (I LOVED that scene!) forever??

NBC Thursday Night Funnies Are Back!!

The Office has always been the most awkward show on television. Awkward silences, awkward looks at the camera, and they always succeed in making us squirm. But last night's episode raised awkwardness to an art form, when Michael and Jan held a dinner party that no one in the viewing audience would ever want to attend.

You might not have noticed this, but the actress who plays Angela is 8 months pregnant (if it weren't for the writer's strike, they were going to work the pregnancy into the show, but they couldn't suddenly have her pregnant-out-to-here) so she was strategically placed in every scene: pillows all over her on the couch; standing behind the counter with a blender in the way in the kitchen; holding her coat in front of her in the hallway. It was nicely done.


The episode was packed with great moments:


The tour of the condo, which included a video camera installed on a tripod facing their bed (HA!); Jan's workspace, which Michael added, "is never used"; Jan's candle room, which elicited a look of disgust from Jim that I thought he was going to throw up; and Michael's plasma television, which is the size of a laptop computer screen, "mounted" on the wall so it'll have more space. (When Jan throws something at it later in the ep, he yells at her that that was a $200 television... )


Playing Celebrity:
Michael: OK, my name is Tom, and I'm on a cruise...
Jim: Uh... Katie Holmes!
Michael: No. Oh wait, but I MARRIED her!
Jim: Oh! Dawson's Creek!
Michael: NO... ok, another one. OK, my name rhymes with Parnold Sportzenegger!
Jim: Ooh, Tom Cruise!


Pam thinking she's been poisoned by Jan, and refusing to eat despite being REALLY hungry.


Michael and Jan's argument at the door: "You have no idea the physical toll that three vasectomies have on a person!!" (My husband almost fell off the couch he was laughing so hard at this point)


Jim's constant faces throughout.


However, as awesome as The Office was, nothing matched the hilarity of Jack Donaghy's prank on 30 Rock. Trying to draw out a confession from Liz, he creates a false childhood stutter that labelled him a Class A Moron on his report card, and tells a sad tale of the after-effects of such categorization, including being stuck in the boiler room with a kid named Gilly ("He fell through the ice as a child and was clinically dead for 57 minutes") where they were forced to sweep up piles of sawdust to train them to work in a mill. By the time he was explaining to Liz what it was like making small piles of sawdust "while Gilly sat in the corner, playing with himself" I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Only Alec Baldwin could have pulled off that monologue. It was brilliant.

So how happy are you that Thursdays are back? What were your favourite moments?

NBC Announces: The Office Spinoff!!

In a bit of a surprise press release this week, NBC announced their fall lineup, some new series they'll be picking up (including one with Christian Slater, who will always be Hard Harry to me), and what shows will be relaunched.

Heroes will be smaller than I anticipated. I know a lot of my readers think I've given up on the show because I didn't blog on the last three episodes of season 2, but that actually had nothing to do with giving up, and everything to do with an infant who wasn't sleeping at the time if I had the TV on, so by the time I saw those episodes, they were three weeks old and I didn't think anyone would be interested in what I had to say. :) I'm still very excited about what is upcoming, and can't wait for season 3. Season 2 had its disappointments, for sure (ok, the majority of the season was a disappointment) but Tim Kring admitted his problems, and said he would do better, and how many executives have the nerve to issue a mea culpa like that? If the guy can admit he was wrong, rather than say, "Look, the show was good, and you people suck if you didn't like it" (which is more along the lines of what he said in season 1 when people didn't like the finale) then I have high hopes for a new direction. I thought season 2 ended on a high note.

So, my love of Heroes re-established, on to the news: season 3 has been reduced to 20 episodes, with 10 running in the fall (kicked off by a 2-hour beginning) and 10 running straight in the spring, beginning in February. Heroes: Origins has been scrapped, sadly. There was SO much hype surrounding this spinoff idea, and I thought it was awesome, and now, because of the writer's strike, it's gone.

Of course, many of you may have heard there's a possible actor's strike pending, and if that happens, I think we can probably say goodbye to a lot of shows, including Heroes. But let's just hope it doesn't come to that.

The Office was the big announcement: Starting in spring 2009, there will be a new spinoff. Which character, you might ask? Will we see the adventures of Dwight and Mose on their beet farm in a Newhart-like setting? Will Jim and Pam leave Dunder-Mifflin and engage in wacky adventures as they travel around Europe? Will Phyllis and Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration become the Lucy and Ricky of Scranton? Will Stanley become the 21st century Archie Bunker?

Sadly... I have no idea. And neither does NBC. For, they have this grand idea that there will be a spinoff, but haven't yet decided WHO will be spinning off. Time for your vote: who do you think will be spinning off, and what will the show be about? On the one hand, this is a good thing, but on the other, a spinoff always means that character will no longer be on The Office. And I can't imagine losing ANY of these people. So I'm still not sure I'm happy about this news.

As mentioned, Friday Night Lights will be appearing on NBC in spring 2009, but will air in fall 2008 on DirectTV (I see major fall downloads of this show in the future). Chuck will be back, and will actually be paired up with Heroes on the schedule. Journeyman is definitely gone (WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH) as is Bionic Woman (.....). However, Life, which many thought would be cancelled, has been renewed.

There will be a new version of Knight Rider. Val Kilmer will be KITT. The Hoff will not be on it. 30 Rock has been picked up for another full season (YES!)

One of the new shows is Crusoe, based on Robinson Crusoe. Hmm... apparently Lost hasn't pushed enough boundaries with a group of people on a possessed and mysterious island, so NBC is going back to the idea of one guy on an island. With no smoke monster, Ben Linus, or polar bears.

TV Roundup: The Week So Far
I still have a lot sitting on my PVR, but here are my thoughts for the week so far:

Heroes:
I finally got around to watching it last night, and I must say it was the best episode of the season. Of course, I still had nitpicks (for example, Elle says she caused a blackout in 4 states when she was 8, then was put into a room attached to a lithium drip when she was 9 while psychiatrists tried to figure out what to do with her, and then The Company stepped in, and she's spent the last 16 years of her life with them. Then she says she's 24... she'd be 26 if the writers could actually add). But going back 4 months just felt right. Unfortunately, there should have been 2, maybe 3 episodes before it, rather than making us wait almost 2 months for some answers. And apparently it's not important what happened to Parkman, Mohinder, Molly, Claire, Noah, Hiro, and Ando, although... when you think about it, their stories are pretty much self-explanatory. Regardless, I thought it was really well done. I hope next week's is more of the same. I might just be persuaded to go back to doing full posts on it. :)

Dexter:
ROCKED. Dexter stepped up his game this week, and actually brought his life as a serial killer into the office to help him get rid of his arch-nemesis. The scene with him and Doakes alone in the room, with Dexter whispering, "I own you" and what followed, is possibly my favourite of the series. Everyone on staff thinks Dex is this quiet meek little man. They have no idea who they're in the company of, and that's what's so much fun about this show.

Ugly Betty:
I forgot to mention last week that playing the show out to Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" -- despite it being one of my all-time favourite songs ever (especially as covered by him) -- was SO 2002. And so overdone. Every other show on television used that song years ago, and now Ugly Betty has to get on that train late. That said, this week's was great. The final reunion of Claire and Bradford; Betty and Mark saying, "The Secret Sex Room" and then pointing at each other in shock; Wil telling Mark that she's worried Bradford will leave his money to charity, and Mark saying, "Then we need to hunt this Charity down and kill her" (HA!); and the final scene with Alexis and Daniel sitting by an empty space. Loved it. I think it's even better this season than last. Oh, and Mo'nique was BRILLIANT.

The Office:
This week's, like last, was kind of meh. It had its moments, but it was actually far more interesting to watch it as a drama than a comedy. Steve Carell is amazing in the scenes with the lawyers, as he goes from goofily compliant to stupid to upset to hurt to furious to vengeful. He's put his loyalties in the wrong place, as usual. It was actually a little disappointing to have it end with him and Jan casually talking about what to eat for dinner. The drama was so important, and then deflated in the end. I think the scene of Dwight and Mose playing ping-pong was the highlight of the episode (though I did LOVE Kelly's distinction between trash talk and smack).

America's Next Top Model:
You know, I've kinda been with Bianca on Heather for a long time... she's beautiful, yes, and she seems to take a great picture and handles Jay's suggestions perfectly. But critique her and she falls apart like a house of cards. She just does not have the tough skin required for the business, and if she wins, it could destroy her.

Kitchen Nightmares:
Boring. I actually have the second half of it still running in the other room as I type this, and stopped watching. Yawn. That said, if you want to see Gordon Ramsay in a HILARIOUS scene with Ricky Gervais, check it out:



Pushing Daisies:
LOVE LOVE LOVE. See post from yesterday.

Gossip Girl:
I still like this show, and its soapy goodness. I'm glad Nate didn't go through with what his parents wanted, because he's right: I saw Blair all excited on the bed thinking they're going to get back together, and all I could see her was as a socialite years from now, alone while her husband is off with another woman. So I'm glad he saw the error of his ways early. Why am I talking about this show so seriously? It's campy awesome. :)

Dirty Sexy Money:
Haven't seen this week's yet, but last week was just too tied up in the whole quest for Nick's father's killer. I hate that storyline, and just want to focus on the Darlings.

The Next Great American Band:
OK, I've been wanting to post on this show FOREVER now. No one is talking about this show, for some reason, like it's the poor man's American Idol, but I am SO completely hooked. This show is where bands perform for the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls, Sheila E. (!) and some judge from Australian Idol named Dicko. (Seriously.) Unlike Simon Cowell, who just says stuff to be funny, this guy is good. Every time a band performs my husband and I are critiquing them for one thing or another, and 80% of the time Dicko says exactly what we'd just said. He's always got good advice, even when the stupid audience is booing. Speaking of which, whenever they boo dude from the Goo Goo Dolls he gets SERIOUSLY pissed and upset and begins complaining about it like a big whiner. It's worth it just for that. :) My favourite band in the competition right now is Sixwire, a country band. Yeah, I said it. A COUNTRY band. I HATE HATE HATE country music. HATE IT. (The other day I'm in a store and over the sound system comes this line: "I want to kiss you out in the sticks/ I want to check you for ticks." I stopped what I was doing, thought, I couldn't have possibly just heard what I think I heard. And then I did. Came home, googled it, and it's apparently some huge hit for Brad Paisley. What the hell is WRONG with country music fans???? Anyway.) But Sixwire has a lead singer that looks like a slightly heftier version of Josh Holloway (if you don't believe me, tune in) and they are brilliant. There's a retro 60s band called Tres Bien, who were fun in the beginning and now are kind of boring. Last week this screechy grrl band called Rocket got booted (thankfully) but we are still subjected to the horrors of this tiny hardcore metal band called Light of Doom, where all of the members are between the ages of 9 and 11. Seriously. They were awesome in the beginning, now creepy and weird (especially since all of their moms are in the audience screaming for them and drooling... ew...) My other fave is The Clark Brothers, a sort of gospel band (yeah, I said it... oh forget it) who are unbelievable. The thing about this show is, typically the band I'd be listening to would be more along the lines of one called Dot Dot Dot, a guy who wants to be the lead singer of The Killers but appears to be too coked out to even focus on the judge's critiques, but when you're watching this show, you don't care about the STYLE of music being played, it's how good they are. And the country band is stellar, as is The Clark Brothers (and the lead singer of the Clark Brothers is seriously hot.) Franklin Bridge is another wicked band, and they play sort of a funk/rock thing, kinda Jimi Hendrix. It's on tonight: TUNE IN. I love this show... it's seriously addictive. Unlike the trumped-up karaoke night that is American Idol. The best part? You don't have to suffer through an annoying results show. Instead, they make everyone prepare a song for the following week, and then one by one they announce the bands who made it, and they come out and perform. At the end there are 2 bands left in the green room (which is, literally, green), and they're booted. Bwaaaahahahahaha. Awesome. I have a feeling this week we'll be saying goodbye to Denver and his Mile-High Orchestra. Awesome name, but not very good.

Friday Night Lights:
The show I will miss the most (equally with Pushing Daisies) during the writer's strike. Last week Landry's dad found out what was going on, and what he decided to do as a result was nothing short of shocking. Would any of us do it for our children? Probably. That's why I love this show. Good parents teach their children it's wrong to murder. Special parents help their children cover up that murder. Awesome. Did anyone else think that Jason was going to be killed off the show two weeks ago, by the way? Whoa...

Aliens in America:
This show just cracks me up to no end. It exposes the subtle racisms that we seem to all accept, and makes them look ridiculous. This week the mom -- who talks like Margie in Fargo -- runs into the breakfast room and says, "This is my running partner I told ya about... ya know, the one with the black husband?" Last week Raja got a job working for an Indian boss in a convenience store (causing the sister to say, "What are you, a total stereotype?") and the boss kept muttering under his breath that he was a dirty dog eater. I always thought the actor who plays Raja was over the top and not particularly good, just funny for sitcom's sake, but this week when they showed him screaming in nicotine withdrawal, I thought it was some of the funniest stuff this show's ever had.

Reaper:
I think I'm behind on this one, too, but last week with Leon trapped in the snow globe was particularly hilarious. I loved the actor who played Leon, especially when you just heard his voice calling them douchebags.

Chuck:
Still one of the best new shows on TV. If you're not watching this show and they rerun it during the strike, tune in. It's SO hilarious. I love Casey, who's so hardcore and wanting to kill everyone in sight... Chuck is great, his friend Morgan is funny, Tang is awful (as bad as he is on Dexter), and the premise just doesn't get old. I love this show.

30 Rock:
Haven't watched last night's yet, but last week's was brilliant as usual. I'm so glad Alec Baldwin stuck with the show. A couple of weeks ago he was pretending to be Tracy's father and I was doubled over. Baldwin is a comic genius.

Journeyman:
A couple of weeks behind on this one too (man, all the shows I watch with my husband I'm behind on!) but while it started out strong and then faded a bit, it's definitely back on track and I think it's great. Another one to check out if you haven't yet. Now that his son also knows what is going on, it's definitely stepped up things. It's only a matter of time before they have to let the brother know what's up.

I think that's everything. I'm sure I've missed something. :) Oh, I've dropped Everybody Hates Chris. It was just getting too samey. And, you know, that extra half hour was TOTALLY eating into my week. Har.

The Finer Things, Indeed
It just keeps getting better. Last night's episode of The Office was Joss Whedon's second directorial foray on The Office, and it was almost as funny as his previous one (though topping Michael's awkward speech at Ryan's business school and Dwight chasing a bat through the office would be a feat unto itself). Stanley says he's going to take a job at the Utica branch, and Michael and Dwight carry out a cockamamie scheme to sabatoge the Utica branch to show them just how supercool they are. Karen returned as the regional manager of that branch, and by the end of the episode it was clear that the main criterion for becoming a regional manager is being slightly unstable.

Meanwhile, back at the office, we find out that Pam, Toby, and Oscar are all participants in the VERY EXCLUSIVE Finer Things club, where they read books, discuss paintings, and eat cucumber sandwiches in an attempt to escape the drudgery of life at Dunder-Mifflin. Michael and Dwight kidnap Jim and pull him into their scheme to go to Utica, and we see Jim angrier than ever (seriously, he was so angry I thought someone had done something to Krasinski to make him act like that). He's so ticked that Michael and Dwight have pulled him into their stupid prank, and clearly thinks he's above them, yet by the very end, when Pam allows him to join her club, we see that he's actually just a rung or two above them, and in the end is a bit of a doofus himself. (But a less terrorist-looking one.)

Fave moments:
Stanley's deadpan questioning of Michael's stupid Ferris Bueller dummy: "I don't understand why sleeping at your desk is better than you not being here."

Michael: "You cannot take the hilarious black guy from the office!"

Stanley saying "Money" over and over while Michael tries to talk to him.

Oscar: "Besides having sex with men, I would say the Finer Things club is the gayest thing about me." (I loved how soon they flash to Toby after he makes this comment... Toby is clearly only in the club because Pam is.)

Michael trying to get Karen to take Toby, and then acting like there's something disgusting in his mouth and blurting out: "I can't do it. Toby is the worst... that was a bluff."

Michael asking Karen to put her through to her best salesperson. Ha!

Michael's awkward discussion with Ben Nugent, the top salesman in Utica. "Aren't you the guy that hit the woman with the car?... Didn't everyone from Stamford quit immediately??"
Michael: "No, I fired them, and you're next." [pause] "So what do you say?"
Ben: "Seriously?!"

Toby standing in the doorway with his china mugs and bowtie, and Michael's response: "Oh... my... god. That's why people are leaving. I have no words."

"Utica! Utica! Utica!"

Jim's serious anger when they throw his cell out the window. Krasinski is really believable in this scene; I thought he was going to quit the show at one point. (I do love that they go back for his phone when he says it has pics of his brother's kid on it.)

The look on Jim's face when they have materials to build a bomb in the back of their car. "Are you kidding me? We've been driving around with this in the trunk the entire time?"

The mustaches.

The name tag on Jim's outfit that says "Madge."

The freakout in the car when they catch Dwight peeing in a can. "OH MY GOD!" Michael veering the car.
Jim: "Michael! Watch the road!"
Dwight: "Hey! You're making me spray!"
Michael: "How could you? That's disgusting, man!"
Dwight: "Ah! I think I cut my penis on the lid!"

Andy trying to get into the Finer Things club.
Andy: "The Finer Things club is the most exclusive club in this office. Naturally it's where I need to be. The party planning committee is my backup, and Kevin's band is my safety."

The fact that Dwight, Michael, and Jim sitting in the car in grey outfits with thick mustaches makes them look like a bunch of terrorists.

Dwight insisting he needs to put the chalk in the guy's eyes, and Jim saying "Nothing in the eyes!"

Jim putting his seat all the way back in the car.

Andy referring to Stanley as his Uncle Remus.

Dwight updating Jim way too much on the walkie. "We are climbing some stairs. I am breathing heavily."

Dwight: "I can see the security guard's eyes. I have to do something to his eyes!!"

"The eyes are the groin of the head."

The look on Jim's face as they dump the photocopier down the stairwell.

Jim trying to hide when Karen returns, and Michael urging him to make love to her. "Just climb on top of her and think about Stanley." HAHAHA!!!

Dwight keeping his mustache on after Michael and Jim take theirs off while Karen is interrogating them.

Michael and Dwight threatening to "burn Utica to the ground."

Michael giving Stanley the plastic USPS box that's not his property. "Fly away, sweet little bird. Fly away."

Michael's want ad: "Wanted. Middle aged black man with sass. Big butt. Bigger heart." HA!

Stanley: "How on earth did Michael call my bluff? Is he some kind of crazy genius?" Starts laughing. "I'm sorry, sometimes I say crazy things."

The outfits everyone is wearing during the Angela's Ashes discussion.

Jim: "I really liked it. It was a fun read."
Toby: "Fun? Really? What was fun about it, the death of the twins?"
Jim: "No... that wasn't fun."
Oscar: "Who's the main character?"
Jim: "Angela. Nope. The ashes."

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!

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. :)

YAY, TERRY O'QUINN!!
Okay, I hate the Emmys, y'all know that, but I get sucked in like every other TV viewer, still hoping against hope that someone I like from a show I watch might actually win an award. I didn't actually watch the Emmys until the very very end, so I missed most of them, and only found out about the highlights in the paper this morning (or while googling last night while my husband watched The Usual Suspects on MPIX for the tenth time... actually the much better viewing choice). So imagine my surprise to find out that Locke had actually won the Emmy! (And is it just me, or does it look like a price tag is stuck to the bottom of his award in this pic?) And of course, I'm still going to complain -- I wish Michael Emerson had won, because this was his year -- but that said, just think of O'Quinn's performance at the end of "The Man from Tallahassee," where in the flashback we see him get plopped into that wheelchair for the first time and he sees the rest of his life in those four wheels and breaks down, and you know this man deserves an award.

I love Entourage, I love Jeremy Piven, I adore Ari, but I wish Rainn Wilson had taken it.

James Spader over James Gandolfini? Does ANYONE watch Boston Legal? Anyone?? (How sucky that they both have the same first name; I said to my husband, I bet Gandolfini was almost getting out of his chair until the person said, "Spader.") And what happened to James Spader?? He used to be SO hot. Now he's puffy and looks like he's been having donut-eating competitions with Shatner. Yikes.

30 Rock winning best comedy! I was rooting for The Office, but considering they were rock bottom in the ratings last year, I hope this helps. Then again, it didn't help Arrested Development, but we can still dream. I love 30 Rock.

The Sopranos won best drama over Heroes, and it comes as no surprise. But I think it was actually the right choice, too. Over all those other shows, The Sopranos changed the face of television and what we watch, how we watch it, etc. It's caused shows like 24 and Lost to experiment with January to May uninterrupted runs. It's allowed more profanity, violence, and nudity into prime-time shows (and I don't mean that as a bad thing). It's improved the soundtracks of most dramas. But most of all, it's shown us that television writing can be as compelling, daring, and groundbreaking as film writing. It deserved that award more than any show in the past year (with the exception of The Wire, but I'm not going to go there again... let me repeat: best season of ANY series, EVER).

By most accounts, the highlight was the lyric faceoff between Kanye and Rainn, and I watched it on YouTube and it was hilarious. Kanye West is an immensely talented performer, but a WHINER. He whines that he was robbed at the Grammys. He bitches when he doesn't get an AMA. He declares racism when he's beat out at the VMAs (by Rihanna, no less... uh... what?) But at the end of the day, he can still laugh at himself. So here's a competition that he should absolutely win... and he doesn't. I love it.