DB's TV Blog (Spoilers!)

Monday... The Big Bang Theory... Ep. 2-18 "The Work Song Nanocluster"

2009-03-16T21:08:00.005-05:00

The Sheldon-Penny stories seem to be getting more and more common. Last week we had Penny ruin Sheldon's "spot" by accidentally firing a paintball at the couch. He still wasn't happy when Penny had it cleaned, but this week has no problem being around her when he takes over her business. The gang starts their morning with a rousing game of Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Chess, which Sheldon excuses himself from so that he can deliver a package to Penny. He waits until exactly 11:00 and performs his usual three knocks and a name call until Penny opens the door. Penny is grateful for the delivery, but refuses to sign for it. Sheldon notes that she must sign for it so that he is no longer liable. Ultimately, she signs to shut him up.

After explaining why she is ordering rhinestones, Sheldon offers some advice on what Penny can do to improve her home business of making her Penny Blossoms. Penny is surprised and asks Sheldon if he knows about this stuff. Sheldon responds by claiming he is a physicist and has working knowledge of the universe and everything in it. "Who's Radiohead?" Penny asks. Sheldon twitches and says he retains only the important information. They strike a business deal in which Penny can not make snide remarks or be sarcastic, showing in the past couple of episodes that Sheldon has perhaps finally learned what sarcasm it and how it is used, something he had previously struggled with.

The rest of the gang hear singing as they are about to leave for a movie, and walk in on Penny and Sheldon singing sea-shanty work songs to self-motivate. They all end up helping, and by helping they of course turn to science and try to find ways to expedite the process. Sheldon forces a move to his apartment, and to the question of why her apartment is not good enough, Sheldon answers "Because it's not my apartment."

Leonard creates a youthful-looking website for the product, and gets an immediate return - an order of 1,000 flowers. Reasoning that Amazon offers a one-day rush order, Leonard offers the same. With Penny only able to make about 20 per day, the gang starts to work selflessly into the night.

We find out that Raj lived in a home with 4 servants (two of them children), and he says that if he wanted to stay up all night working, he could have stayed in India. Sheldon tries to take preemptive managerial steps to stamp out the negativity before he falls asleep. Refusing coffee because he promised his mother he would not start using drugs, he heads off to bed before Leonard sarcastically notes that without his help, they will surely fail. Sheldon agrees to a sip of coffee and before long he is unable to work, focused on his own musings of the universe. The gang completes the project before Leonard realizes that another order of 1,000 flowers has been placed. Exhausted, the gang decides not to continue and heads off to bed. With the exception of Sheldon who, in the full costume of the Flash, goes out for more coffee.

Penny Blossom Website - http://pennyblossoms.com/

OMG NEW POST

2009-03-15T22:00:00.000-05:00

Wow. I neglect this like all my other writing endeavors. Let's see what I can come up with on a bunch of shows I like starting..... now!

MONDAY

8:00 - The Big Bang Theory - I love this show. It is constantly funny, the chemistry is great, Penny is adorable, and Sheldon is Rowan Atkinson Jr (just google Sheldon's Smile - "We're here to see Koothrappali, not kill Batman!") . He is obviously become the star of the show, but everyone is great. They do some story arcs here and there, but most episodes are pretty self-contained for all viewers. And as good friendships go, nobody is safe from the ridicule of others, as good-natured insults are thrown around many, many times.

8:00 - House - This is a show I watch for the character, not the show. I'm not a fan of medical shows of any kind, with Scrubs being a possible exception. In Scrubs, it's really just the location of the show that leads itsel fto be anything medical. In House, each and every show is "make the wrong calls until we get it right 5 minutes before the end." Patient comes in, House says it's no big deal, something makes him get interested, they do a differential diagnosis where they have 2 or 3 conversations at once, someone eventually finds the right answer. They made a cast change after three seasons to try and keep it fresh, but it's ratings are probably keeping it alive.

8:30 - How I Met Your Mother - Honestly, disappointing season. It's almost as if the writers are trying to keep characters exactly the same while still having them evolve at the same time, and I don't know, it just doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I almost think I like it less the more I like Big Bang Theory, as the comedic level seems to dip. Still, the show has a great cast (even though it seems as if Jason Segal's movie career is maybe taking over his time. Alyson Hannigan is pregnant, which means story changes, or "hiding it." Apparently, Cobie Smulders is pregnant, too. The show announced Hannigan's maternity leave and said they had a fun way of getting rid of her for a few episodes.

9:00 - Heroes - This show has the ability (see what I did there?) to piss me off and still having me come back to see what happens next. It's like a soap opera, except all the different stories are linked together more. There's people coming back from the dead, lots of amnesia (at least with the Haitian in Season 1)... hopefully they have a plan and can make a good story. Ashley Crow's eyes freak me out, though! It is easier to follow, with one main storyline in this volume, and a side story with Sylar. However with Sylar off on his own mission, it does leave something to be desired with Big Brother being the main villain.

9:00 - Chuck - I like pretty much everyone on the show. Some more than others (More Anna, less Jeff would be nice). I wasn't thrilled with the Jill storyline, but I get it. They do a pretty good job of telling backstory through new "missions." The Sarah/Chuck romance possibility is wearing thin, especially with the god-awful "uh-oh" moments when Cole tries to woo Sarah with the most groan-inducing lines on TV this year.

9:00 - 24 - A new season is here with new problems and old solutions. I haven't heard many opinions on the season so far compared to the hate for last season. Suspending disbelief has always been a prerequisite for watching and even enjoying 24, and the new terrorists swimming up to and breaking into the White House (and killing the only 4 guards apparently on duty) was a stretch. Still, you can expect more of someone calling on Jack Bauer for every three someones who don't agree with his methods, and you can count on those methods usually working.

TUESDAY, aka American Idol Day

8:00 - American Idol - As I write this, they are down to the Top 11. Very little jumps out this season. There wasn't much made out of a contestant getting booted and replaced, and the replacement still didn't make the Top 13. The show announced a slight rule change, as judges will now have one opportunity to overturn the votes and save a contestant from being eliminated until the show's Top 5. Right now, I can't see them using this save to protect anyone but Adam Lambert, who still doesn't impress me that much.

WEDNESDAY

?:?? - [scrubs] - A new season a new network, and yet another move after yet another hiatus. It is still a question if this season will be the show's last, but after this move, it may seal it. The hiatus might be explained by five weeks of back to back episodes, but when you have 19 episodes and you begin mid-season, the only way to last until May sweeps is to not show a new episode for 38 days. However, the show is actually very good this season. The interns are keeping it funny while the main cast members take episodes off for budget reasons. Ted is busy trying to convince everyone he has a girlfriend, and Janitor is still with his Lady. Bill Lawrence has all but said that JD and Eliot will end up together, but that won't be the focus. Neither will Turk and Carla's second baby, apparently, as it was revealed in a not so shocking way.

9:00 - LOST - I would have lied to know if the writers had planned on using time travel from the beginning, because it does open up the show to different possibilities. Part of it seems like it was done just so they wouldn't have to spend more time on getting off the island. What could be further away from that then trying to get back on the island? The twists are still pretty major (albeit a little unbelieavable). It will be interesting to see how much time they spend in the 1970s.

THURSDAY

8:00 - Smallville - I'm pretty sure I once read an article that Smallville was going to last five seasons, and at the end of that, he would become Superman. Well, the show was just picked up for a ninth season, and pretty soon Clark will be middle aged and still in Smallville. The departure of Lex Luthor was explained away as him being still alive but incapacitated, yet still pulling strings and trying to keep an eye on everyone. What was supposed to be thr final season brought Doomsday, assumingly to give Clark one final battle that made him realize his power and take off, possibly in flight. With very little focus on the character so far, the upcoming final seven episodes should take a turn. Davis Bloom killed while trying to avoid becoming Doomsday, which of course usually marks the point of no return for a villain.

8:00 - My Name Is Earl - This show needs to stop fixing what isn't broken. The list was put on the backburner when Earl went to jail, and this season the arc in question was Joy and Darnell going into witness protection after Joy outed Darnell on TV. Though they obviously have to do something with the other cast members while Earl and Randy try to cross items off the list, this one gave Earl too much obligation to try and help them.

9:00 - The Office - I think the show has fallen off a little bit, probably due to the upcoming Parks & Recreation semi-spinoff. Still, it's pretty consistent. Jim and Dwight still remain the best of the show, with Jim always outwitting a Dwight who always thinks he can be the outwitter. The show has also done a good job in not overdoing the Jim and Pam relationship and focusing a little more on the day to day work related follies of the office.

9:30 - 30 Rock - Tina Fey created a winner. With the exception of Big Bang Theory, this is probably the most consistently funny show that I watch. It may sound bad, but the funniest Liz Lemon is when she is unhappy, and I hope that doesn't change. Her getting excited over little things like a microwaved donut and the slight hint of a possible romance gone horribly wrong works so well with her co-workers bombarding her with their issues. Little used characters like Cerie and Dr. Spaceman seem to only be used when the time is right, and it usually works out.

FRIDAY

9:00 - Dollhouse - Joss Whedon's new show is so far a little more action than comedy, with the humor coming mostly from Topher and a few lines from Victor, who is mysteriously the only Active who has outside contacts. He could be used by the Dollhouse to deceive the FBI, I guess. It was not going to be a surprise when Echo started retaining memories about her missions and her real life, but now we also see Victor showing some.. fondness for Sierra. Sierra herself doesn't seem to be showing that, although she was waved away by Echo once when it looked like she was going to greet her after a mission. The March 20 episode is billed as game-changing... so we'll see.

Monday... Gossip Girl... Season 2 Episode 1

2008-09-02T12:18:00.003-05:00

Since I watched Gossip Girl on DVD and since the Season 2 premiere came on like, 20-some days earlier than all the others, I watched it. If they stick with the same characters, I don't know that they can create that much more drama. Nate is sleeping with a milf, but everything else seems to be the same, with Serena/Dan issues and Chuck/B. I can't remember her name.

Since there's like 19 Monday shows on, I think I may skip this when Earl, Chuck and Big Bang/Met Your Mother return.

Last Comic Standing Finale

2008-09-02T12:16:00.003-05:00

Finally watched a 2-minute replay of Last Comic Standing. Iliza deserved to win, and it's the first time on that show that the winner turned out to be the one I was rooting for. It's too bad Jeff Dye came in third and not second. I liked his "3 things to a deserted island" answer.

Bottled salt water
Coconuts
Sand

Thursday... Last Comic Standing... Final 5 Revealed

2008-08-01T00:00:00.003-05:00

These guys confused me from the start.

Tonight was the "Final Performance show" where all 8 comedians would perform "for your vote," though only five of them would advance to the finals, where they would... compete for our vote?

I'm so lost. Ok, so last week, America voted and eliminated three out of the eight. I get that. Tonight, all eight performed and five were left. And, numbers were given. We were told we'd be voting for the Last Comic Standing.

After voting for Iliza, I get this message:

Thank you for voting! Remember that you can vote up to TEN times for your favorite! Make sure to tune into Last Comic Standing next Thursday to see if your favorite comics advance.

Advance? I thought tonight's performance was the last performance and that I'd be voting for the winner. From eight to five to one seems a little drastic. So, I don't know what the hell is going on. Anyway, on to the show.

The problem with elimination results shows is predictability. They announced that Marcus won the challenge last week and would be one of the top five. The first performer was Ron G, who was eliminated. The second performer is not going to be, obviously. That performer was Jim Tavare. I was a bit surprised, because I don't think he's funny. Especially tonight. I mean, he's better than Ron G, but that isn't saying much. Next up was Louis Ramey. This is basically the only spot that could have gone either way. I'm not even talking performances, just the order. Louis was "safe."

Now, what have we got? Three in the top five. Three to go, and two spots left. Now, there is zero percent chance that the next performer will be eliminated, because two comedians left with two open spots would not be dramatic at all. So, Jeff Dye performed, probably without any feelings of pressure whatsoever. Which left two: Iliza, who dominated both of her showdowns, and Sean, who I don't believe even got many votes to be sent to a showdown.

This stunk for me, because I wanted one of the two to win, and obviously there was only one spot left. I pretty much knew Iliza would get in, which is fine. I honestly liked Sean's aggresive insulting humor more as a personality trait than a written comedy set. Didn't work as well on stage.

So, next week, there will be five. Will they perform? I still don't know. Next week IS the season finale, but like American Idol, they have to fill at least a half hour with something. all the other shows have been two hours, at least. Clip show, perhaps?

I'm predicting Iliza, simply because we've seen more of her. I didn't love her set tonight, but I think familiarity is going to help her out. Jeff Dye is my runner up, with Louis being the long shot dark horse. Jim has no chance. Marcus is good, and I guess he could win, but I just think you need more than doing impressions to be considered a real comic.

Bill Bellamy needs to join the Shawn Wayans School of Not Being Funny Anymore.

Cheers! ... is not on this list.

2008-07-31T22:22:00.003-05:00

First of all, I'd like to thank everybody involved in making this blog. This is my 58th post: and you know what that means! A list of 58 of my favorite television shows! In no particular order, I give you my totally random list!

30 Rock

Alias

Ally McBeal

American Idol

Angel

Big Bang Theory, The

Boomtown

Boston Legal

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Clerks.

Coupling (UK)

Cupid

Dead Like Me

Entourage

Everybody Hates Chris

Family Fued

Firefly

Friday Night Lights

Friends

Gilligan's Island

Gilmore Girls

Grounded For Life

Heroes

House

How I Met Your Mother

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Just Shoot Me

Lost

Monk

Mr. Bean (UK)

My Name Is Earl

Mystery Science Theatre 3000

News Radio

Office, The (UK)

Office, The (US)

Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

Perfect Strangers

Popular

Psych

Saved By The Bell

Scrubs

Simpsons, The

Smallville

Spin City

Standoff

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)

The Drew Carey Show

The Joe Schmo Show

Titus

Tru Calling

Two Guys and a Girl ... Pizza Place

Undeclared

Veronica Mars

What I Like About You

Wonderfalls

Friday... Psych

2008-07-26T00:04:00.001-05:00

Rachael Leigh Cook is guest starring on Psych.

This is a most pleasant surprise!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

2008-07-19T22:42:00.005-05:00

While not really a TV show, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (heretoforthwence known as Horrible) is approximately an hour long musical film from the mind of Joss Whedon. Whedon already had a bit of a musical hit with "Once More With Feeling," a sixth season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Wikipedia notes that Feeling was ranked the 13th best musical all-time by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.

Horrible was produced during the writer's strike for "a low six figures" and Act I appeared online on July 15, with Act II going "live" on the 16th, and Act III the 18th with the intention of all the videos going offline at the end of the night on July 20. All three acts were available for purchase on iTunes.

Horrible stars Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. Fillion and Day both worked with Whedon on Buffy, and Fillion also starred in the TV series Firefly and the film spin-off Serenity. Harris stars in How I Met Your Mother, which also stars former Buffy cast member Allyson Hannigan and has seen guest appearances by Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker (Angel).

Dr. Horrible (Harris) is attempting to get into the Evil League of Evil, but he must prove his worth to the League and it's leader, Bad Horse. While the first phase of his plan is mildly successful, he accidentally introduces his love interest Penny (Day) to the "hero," Captain Hammer (Fillion). The two connect, and Dr. Horrible must keep going. He lets his plan be known publicly through his video blog, and gets caught and beaten (literally) by the LAPD and Captain Hammer. All the while, his alter-ego Billy continues to try and talk to Penny while doing laundry. The two finally do connect, but not until after she starts to date Captain Hammer.

Thursday... Last Comic Standing

2008-07-18T19:01:00.006-05:00

So, Iliza Shlesinger won again. Handily. I was shocked that Papa CJ started with jokes I hadn't heard, but he pulled out the "sucking your wife's tits" for the 3rd or 4th straight week... I'm glad he's gone. Paul Foot was just awkward, and it took him about 90 seconds to deliver one average joke to begin his set. He sucked during the prop comedy challenge, too.

I don't remember how much I liked Sean Cullen during the auditions, but he's pretty funny. I like Jeff Dye too, I remember liking him from the beginning. I think once Ron G goes home, it'll be more fun to watch. The guy just pisses me off.

It's too bad Esther Ku went out last week, she wasn't funny but at least she was cute. And it would have been interesting to see two girls last a long time since there were only two to begin with in the top 10. I'm a little surprised there isn't a gay finalist - or at least ... colorful. Maybe one of them is gay, I don't know. Iliza could be for all I know. But TV has become so gay-friendly. Aaanyway, rant aside. Iliza shouldn't be challenged again next week, and I think the home viewers get to vote, so she should be safe.

Chips Ahoy!

2008-07-12T23:06:00.002-05:00

I watched a game show called Duel tonight. I've played something similar online before, but I'm not sure what the name of the game I played was.

It's an interesting spin on a trivia game. You have 10 chips. For each multiple choice question, you can cover as many answers as you have chips to play it safe. If you use four chips, you'll get it right and lose three of them. Once your chips are gone, you lose. Or something like that.

So if you know the answer, you can use one chip while your opponent might not know it and play four, losing three of them. After beating a person and given an opportunity to double your money with only one chip and one choice for a question, you can quit or take on another opponent.

I don't think it's going to take off like some of these prime time game shows have been lately (I really wish they'd get Jeff Foxworthy off the air), but it's another one that's funt o play along with at home.

I was going to play a game at ABC.com but I don't want to register.

Tuesday... Celebrity Family Feud

2008-07-08T22:32:00.005-05:00

So, the first thing that bugs me a little bit about this is that these "families" aren't always families. Kathy Lee Gifford brought her family, as did that Dog guy. That's what I thought it was going to be all the time. But tonight's episode featured The Office, American Gladiators, and My Name Is Earl cast members. I get the idea, both playing for charity and promoting NBC shows at the same time.

The cast of Earl, on both sides, stayed in character. Randy (Ethan Suplee) played dumb, saying licorice sticks make more noise as they get older. Catalina said her "go-go boots" did the same thing (????) Camden's group seemed to play characters, but still give relatively smart answers. That is, until the final round when Tim Stack (who supposedly plays himself on the show, although I'm sure he isn't really a drunk) ignored his teammates to give ridiculous answers to the question that would have stolen the point bank.

The Office cast members did not play their characters, and even used their real names. Which of course made The Office win easily over The Camdens (though who knows if they would have won if Tim actually played the game).

I had to think it was planned. But I bet the charities of the "Earl" gang were pissed.

Fighter of the Night Man

2008-07-03T00:54:00.001-05:00

So, I finished both Gossip Girl and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia tonight. One has become a new favorite - the other is okay, but missable for next season.

"Day Man" is stuck in my head.

Miscellaneous Musings, Summertime

2008-06-30T15:37:00.013-05:00

After the last season finale (I believe it was Lost, I'm not positive), I of course watched my Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup.

After hockey, TV kind of ends. There's Tigers baseball, but I don't really watch the road games that much. I'm at the ballpark watching the games at Comerica Park, but I kinda have to. When they are on the road, (why is Firefox telling me "are" is spelled wrong?) I turn the TV on sometimes but don't really pay much attention.

Monk and Psych return on July 18 on USA, so that's good. Those are pretty much the only Friday shows I've watched since TGIF, but I did get into Friday Night Lights on DVD, so there will be that too. (Season debut still not listed on TV.com...) Still, during the summer it's a good time to catch up on missed shows or find new ones.

SHOWS I'VE BEEN WATCHING LATELY:

Gossip Girl. I'm a bit of a completist, if I start watching a show and it doesn't kill me, I gotta keep going. And since there's usually a way to find episodes online now (thank you TV.com, hulu.com and surfthechannel), I do keep going. So, this is one of them. I love Kristen Bell, if even only for her voice, and Leighton Meester reminds me of someone, which always kind of attracts one to another person. (Ed: Rose McGowan and/or Friday Night Lights' Minka Kelly) I'll finish up the first season and see if I want to bother. If it remains on Monday, I'll have to wait until it's online because Monday seems to be the new Thursday with all the good shows.

Boston Legal. I used to watch this when it aired, but I missed a few episodes and decided to just wait for reruns. I've found it on Surfthechannel so I've been trying to catch up before Season 5 starts. No airdate for that either, but I hear they are changing the cast once again. It has an early nod for a Drama Emmy, so I doubt they'd can the fifth season. And I hear it's moving to Monday, which again confirms my theory about it being the best TV night.

(SERIOUSLY. SHOWS ON MONDAY NIGHT INCLUDE: The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Bones, House, Gossip Girl, Boston Legal, Heroes and Chuck. Plus shows I don't watch including Two and a Half Men, Prison Break, Terminator... did I forget any? Oh yeah, 24 -- whenever it comes back.)

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
Another show like How I Met Your Mother that I found way too late. The good thing about that is plenty of episodes to watch at my leisure. Philadelphia has short seasons, so there were only 17 episodes to watch on the DVD set. I'm currently catching up with Season 3 on TV.com so I'll be all set. I knew after an episode and a half that this would be one that I'd make sure to catch up with.

Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Penn's just funny. It's like MythBusters on crack, with total bias.

Daybreak. This one only last a season. I caught it on DVD through Netflix.

Speaking of Netflix, I've also begun watching Bones and Criminal Minds. They're not high on my priority list, but probably ones that I'll eventually look for more of.

I did watch the sneak preview of Life on Mars. I didn't care for it. This whole Quantum Leap > Early Edition > Journeyman time travel/crime fighting idea is wearing a bit thin. And with the loss of David E. Kelley, it may get worse!

Monday... News

2008-03-25T01:24:00.003-05:00

According to Tv.com and TVGuide.com, Jezebel James has been canceled.

Looks like everyone else did what I did, downloaded the first one or two, decided not to bother with the third.

It's interesting to see how ratings are viewed when everything can be downloaded, and tested that way. I think a majority of the new shows now are probably going to get less ratings, especially early.

Monday... How I Met Your Mother... Ep. 3-13... "Ten Sessions"

2008-03-24T23:46:00.002-05:00

So, unfortunately, I wasn't thrilled with Britney Spears or Sarah Chalke in their roles. So the whole episode for me kind of... not bombed, but wasn't up to HIMYM standards.

Stella (Chalke) mentioned a St. Patrick's Day party, so the writers seem to be dropping a lot more clues and/or red herrings about the mother's identity. I really don't think she is the mother because the character already has a daughter and I think the writers would have cast an actress not committed to another network series to play a larger role.

Britney was hyped up, and decent, but really didn't add anything or make much of an impact. I'm not really sure why Alicia Silverstone's reps didn't want her doing the episode. It's not like Alicia gets publicity these days, so she wouldn't have really been overshadowed by comparison.

So, the show is called How I Met Your Mother, not While I Dated Your Mother. So, once Ted meets her, and it has to be a big deal because "Future Ted" is telling such a long story, that's kinda it. Obviously they could go on and discover the relationship, but I don't know. I'm thinking we may meet the mother in the season finale in case it doesn't get renewed. It looks like there are seven episodes left in the season, Wikipedia has 5 "TBA"s from April 21 though May 19.

Friday... Amnesia

2008-03-22T16:15:00.003-05:00

So, I watched Amnesia. Not a bad show. Dennis Miller is a lot funnier and more likable when he isn't trying to show off his intelligence. "What, like I've had so much experience feeding men?" is a lot funnier to me than all his analogies that I don't get. He still gets to do his thing at the beginning of the show a little bit, so everybody wins. It was a fun watch, and nothing much else is on Fridays, so I may watch again. I sure as hell would rather watch that than Jezebel James (See below...).

Monday... How I Met Your Mother... Ep. 3-12... "No Tomorrow"

2008-03-17T22:31:00.005-05:00

I was worried after three months, I would find How I Met Your Mother less funny. I did not. Tonight's episode, unplanned or not, was a St. Patrick's Day episode.

I honestly think with lesser actors, the show would not be as funny. I think some of the jokes are kind of bad, but not that bad. It's like, they're bad enough to be original. When Barney comes into the apartment with a green suit, he gets called Gumby, Riddler and Robin Hood. But Ted walks in and, without hesitation:

"Hey, NBA player sidelined by a knee injury."

To me, Josh Radnor is one the best at delivery on network television right now. Had it been another actor, or had the line been "You look like an NBA player sidelined with a knee injury," I don't think it would have worked as well. One of the most used words on the show is "awesome," and his delivery works every time.

But the big news - we may be very close to meeting Mother. We've seen the yellow umbrella before, and we see it again in this episode, especially at the end, when Ted himself picks it up. This obviously leads to a story where his future wife looks for it.

I have a small feeling we might have seen her. At the bar, Ted bumps into a girl and says sorry, she replies that it's ok, then they both away. I feel like this would normally be something that would be cut out of the episode, but it might come back in future episodes. That would be too easy, right?

Speaking of the bar, this episode uses a format previously seen in "Ted Mosby, Architect," where we see Ted acting one way, then later we find out it wasn't exactly how it went down. In that episode, Robin thinks Ted is going around town using his job to get women, when in fact Barney is using Ted's name. In this episode, we see a very drunk Ted who has unknowingly been leaving Marshal voicemail. We're left at the end worrying a little about his well-being, as he is extremely bothered by how he acted.

Coincidentally, "Ted Mosby, Architect" and this episode both feature another running joke. In tonight's ep, Ted asks Barney if they have to build a baseball field. The gang often makes references to Field of Dreams, a movie Robin fell asleep halfway through. There is another joke about ghosts in "Architect" as well... maybe the writers saw that episode before writing this one.

Lily and Marshall's new apartment is crooked, and this leads to more could-be-bad jokes about finding the "right angle" and it being an "uphill battle," but again, Cobie Smulders has the charm that prevents me from rolling my eyes. It also works when she goes along with Marshal's ghost story, saying very dryly "It passed through me and suddenly I felt cold, very cold."

And of course there is Barney, whose elaborate jokes would never come from anyone else. "End of the world - Nostradamus - Notre Dame - Fighting Irish - Irish - St. Patrick's Day!" And the extremely long-winded joke about girls living in different area codes, ending wit him calling himself Wyoming.

Friday... The Return of Jezebel James... Episodes 1, 2

2008-03-15T00:37:00.000-05:00

I was going to quote a line from this show, but I can't remember it. The mother, played by Dianne Wiest, mentions something about a friend having cancer, not being able to talk about it, and THEY PLAY A LAUGH TRACK.

Oh, this laugh track was as overused as text messaging by teenagers. (Hahaha!) Many have looked forward to this show only because of Amy Sherman-Palladino, who had success with Gilmore Girls. They thought another show with quick, witty banter between two female characters would obviously be just as good. To put a laugh track into that banter is insane. (Hahaha!) Even The Big Bang Theory does a better job of smart writing in a sitcom. This show does not have it. The second episode was worse than the pilot, which did an okay job of establishing the story. However, the lead up to this show and the delay from the strike led to many commercials giving away most of the jokes.

The main character (Sarah, not Jezebel. Jezebel is fake) is in a sex-only relationship with a guy, and I would not be surprised if this show falls into yet another sitcom trap and has her fall for this guy, who doesn't know of her plan to have a baby.

I'm saying ten episodes. I'm not sure how many have been produced, but I don't like it's chances. It can't even be as good as Cavemen. (Hahaha!)

Thursday... Smallville... Ep. 7-13

2008-03-14T23:18:00.002-05:00

Pete Ross! Hey, you're back, that's cool. How long's it been, three years? Well, we're just gonna act like it's three weeks and just say hey. No big deal. What's that, you have powers now? Oh, look at that. Good thing we live in a fantasy world where nobody but DC characters exist, because your "powers" look amazingly like Mr. Fantastic's. Oddly enough, we will however make a reference to Inspector Gadget, since he's imaginary. So, you wanna tell everyone about your powers and be a hero? But Pete, you're in Smallville again. You know what that means - danger. More specifically, you're going to be in danger by episode's end.

They usually reserve guest appearances by old cast members for very special episodes, where at least something big happens. The B story here was Kara deciding who she trusts more, "Clana" or Lex. She chooses Lex, because she's a moron. But he might not be back as a series regular next season, anyway. The C story: Jimmy Olsen decides to stop taking advantage of Kara's memory loss, and go after Chloe again.

Return to Blogdom

2008-03-12T16:14:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile. It's almost as if I was a writer... on strike!

Some shows have returned or will be returning soon. There's drama surrounding dramas, too. The plans for Lost to have three final 16-episode seasons (or 117 total episodes) were hit a bit by the strike, but just to put it on hiatus for about the ninth time in it's run. This headline comes from TV.com:

Island drama moving time slots after minihiatus, previous cliffhanger will now serve as semipremiere.

That's too many prefixes! But the good news is that episode eight won't be a season finale. Since the strike was resolved in time, episode eight will instead be the first second-half episode.

Man, every show now seems to be forced into following USA's Monk and Psych, which are split into fall and summer half-seasons.

This week sees the return of Smallville, which is one show that seemingly interrupts hiatuses (hiatii?) with episodes once a month. However, three episodes will air in the next three weeks before a brief catch-up period, and new episodes will begin airing on April 17.

New shows premiering this month include Unhitched (March 2), The Return of Jezebel James (March 14), Canterbury's Law (March 17) and Miss Guided (March 18) .

American Idol is down to it's final 12, and I have no predictions for you this year. Sorry.

We've heard of shows like Family Guy and Jericho coming back after cancellation, but now The WB may come back too, as a web site dedicated to news and full episodes of shows that were produced on the network like Gilmore Girls and Everwood.

Friday... Psych... Ep. 2-01

2007-07-13T22:44:00.000-05:00

A new season!

I wasn't thrilled that they did yet another American Idol parody. A first for them, sure. But you'd think after six years, people would get tired of the original so much so that they wouldn't feel the need to parody it. Especially with the nasty "Simon" and the drugged up "Paula."

At least they kind of made fun of themselves doing it, too. "See that guy? He's not black, he's Latino. THAT'S different!"

The best line actually came from Lassiter. I don't even remember the entire line, but "rabbit-punched me in the sternum" was in the middle of it, and I didn't hear the rest over my own laughter.

Someone once commented that Dule Hill reminded her of the Tigers' Curtis Granderson. I so see it!

2007-06-14T18:41:00.000-05:00

Before I get to the Sopranos, let me just say this: Canada's version of "Candid Camera," "Just For Laughs," is so weird. There is no audio other than music and a laugh track. So the people in on it seem to make a lot more movements with their arms and facial expressions, and it almost seems like the targets do, too.

I'm waiting for the NHL Awards to come on. According to Versus website and my cable guide, it started at 7. But no. According to NHL.com, it's scheduled at 7:30 on CBC and Versus. But no. If they had a red carpet special at 7:30, it's obviously not being aired. Instead we get this weird gag show with no audio and a bunch of guys with tattoos doing I don't know what.

Tonight, on a Very Special 24

2007-05-21T21:08:00.000-05:00

Josh is reunited with his mother. Jack says goodbye to his true love, after watching his own father die. The third or fourth one he's had after his wife was killed - by a former lover. Bill and Karen are pardoned. Tom's going to miss Karen. Cheng is taken into custody, but remains loyal to his people. VP Daniels gets out of a bases loaded jam unscathed after making bad decision after bad decision. Chloe and Morris are pregnant. Nadia is relieved to know that Doyle will be ok. Everyone is happy. Except for that other President, who we never heard from after he was stabbed by his wife.

And we fade to black, with Jack watching the sunrise. Yes, that's... exciting TV right there.

Finales and such

2007-05-17T23:44:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe I won't have to decide if I'm going to be watching American Idol on Tuesdays next season. Gilmore Girls AND Veronica Mars will not be returning, opening up 8-10 on Tuesday nights. Beauty and the Geek will be on Tuesday at 8 sometime, though they only have about 8 episodes per season and I doubt it would coincide with Idol's season. Actually, it did this past season, but during auditions. But with no GG/VM, maybe they will move it around so they won't have to compete.

Smallville's season finale was strange. The rumors said someone might die. Well, it appears as though Lana, Lois and Chloe all died. Chloe's tears healed Lois, but now Chloe looks unconscious or dead. Lois's car blew up, but we didn't actually SEE her get in it. Nor do we know who planted the bomb, as Lex seemed surprised to hear the news. And I think they introduced Bizarro. I'm not big on the history of the comics so I don't know what the story might be there.

Monday will be 24 and Heroes. I'll probably watch the first hour of 24, then Heroes. I'll catch the last hour of 24 online somewhere. VM will end Tuesday. Also, I need to catch up on the Scrubs hour finale I missed tonight.

I need to catch up with about 5 episodes of Boston Legal. I never remember those shows that start at 10PM.

Miscellaneous Musings, Friends Edition

2007-05-15T00:03:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the city library and their insane practice of lending out DVDs (good thing I don't have a burner), I've been watching a lot of Friends lately. In early Season 10, I've noticed a lot of guest stars that have gone on to play pretty prominent supporting roles on other shows. Obviously the show had many guest stars, some of whom were already pretty well known. But these caught my eye.

Aisha Tyler - 24
Ellen Pompeo - Grey's Anatomy
Gregory Itzin - 24
Cristine Rose - Heroes

Ok, so there aren't THAT many so far. But when I saw the last two sitting side by side, knowing they are now on opposing shows on Mondays at 9:00 (Although I don't know if Itzin will be back on 24), it made me chuckle.

Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to say that How I Met Your Mother better come back next season, because I'm "waiting for it."

Miscellaneous Musings, Pt. III

2007-05-07T17:51:00.000-05:00

Hey there fans, it's been awhile. Nice of you to stop by.

Gilmore Girls is seeing a late cancellation, and the seventh season finale on May 15 will in fact be a series finale. I got hooked on this show about 4 or 5 years into it, when I finally rented the first disc of the first season. I think I've seen them all, and as good as I think it was, I'm not devastated that it's ending. I feel a little bad for them though, because they didn't get to have their celebration as they finished filming the last episode. Even though it came down to the actors not wanting to commit, and not the network shutting it down. it'll be interesting to see what takes it's place on Tuesday. CW needs to find a gem because they lost the OC recently, too.

Speaking of shows ending, Lost knows where it's headed. They are going to have three more 16-episode seasons, and they are picking up the hot trend of waiting until January to start the seasons non-stop. I stopped watching back when it went on hiatus in February, and I wonder how many more people did the same. Seems strange for a show that popular to announce "shortened" seasons, although the 48 episodes would have made for two normal TV seasons had they not stretched it to three.

Scrubs is again on bubble, apparently. This is another show I really like, but it's starting to have that Friends feel, where every few months another question pops up if the show will end. I read that a promo for Scrubs said "only four episodes left," but they said the same thing for Heroes. Zach Braff already signed or at least agreed to an extension, but I guess they're still not sure if the show will stay on, or if it will move to another network, or what. You know, in today's TV world, where lasting one whole season is a positive thing, you'd think a network like NBC would want to keep a show that has lasted six. Maybe if they stopped moving it, it would find an audience to keep.

I stopped watching American Idol. A lot of it has to do with Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesdays. But also, The Worst Top 12 Ever turned into An Even Worse Top 6, and so on. While it wasn't as predictable as I made it seem (heh), I do have the final 4 correct.

My picks revisited (and who really left):

March 14 - Haley Scarnato (Brandon)
March 21 - Sanjaya Malakar (Stephanie)
March 28 - Phil Stacey (Sligh)
April 4 - Brandon Rogers (Gina)
April 11 - Stephanie Edwards (Haley)
April 18 - Chris Richardson (Sanjaya)
April 25 - Gina Glocksen (none)
May 2 - Chris Sligh (Richardson and Phil)

FINAL FOUR

May 9 - Jordin Sparks
May 16 - Melinda Doolittle
May 22 Finale - Blake Lewis vs. Lakisha

I think I'm out for now. Tune in next.... oh, whenever I feel like updating.

Nothing Special

2007-03-20T10:02:00.000-05:00

toothpastefordinner.com

I know, I know. I'm just not feelin' it right now. 24 doesn't even seem to be worth blogging about.

I downloaded the series premieres of Raines and Andy Barker, PI. so, maybe I'll write about those sometime.

Wednesday... American Idol.... Top 12 Results Show

2007-03-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

Diana Ross sounds weird, and I think she took a few sips out of Paula's glass.

I tuned in late. I think I saw Phil in the bottom 3, and the last spot in the bottom 3 will be either Sanjaya, who should leave, or Haley, who I picked to leave last week in my ultimate week-by-week predictions.

Won't be surprised if Phil goes home though. Ooh, Brandon is the other one in the bottom 3. Heck, I'm not gonna be shocked or sad if any of these people leave.

Sanjaya is in the bottom 3! I love being wrong.

Phil is safe. It's GOTTA be Sanjaya that leaves. Come on.

Sanjaya is safe. Brandon is gone. What the heck is going on?

I had Brandon leaving on April 4 - after Haley, Sanjaya and Phil. So, the bottom 3 are in my top 4 to leave. So maybe I'll get them all out of order, but the top 8 should be about right.

Monday... 24... Ep. 6-13... "6:00 PM-7:00 PM"

2007-03-13T03:30:00.000-05:00

CTU is watching as Logan is being brought in. Milo makes a brief half-second appearance for the first time since he got shot. Logan asks Chloe who she is, then what's going on with Bauer. She can't talk now. She says he has the security camera to keep him company, and to stay put in holding.

Buchanan calls a meeting and introduces everyone to Mike Doyle and tells all of them Bauer is being held captive. Milo plays dumb so the new guy can puff out his chest and tell everyone that their primary goal is to capture Markov, then get Jack out. Milo continues to argue, not being able to do much else with his right arm in a sling. Ooh, apparenty Milo has issues with Doyle and says he is a jerk, just like John Denver. Wait, that was IN Denver.

Chloe comes back in after missing the whole meeting and asks Morris for the summary. He tells her that the goal is to get Markov, not Jack. This does not make Chloe very happy.

Speaking of Jack, he sees his friend who tried to help him a week ago (five minutes ago?) and he's lying on the floor. A guard kicks Jack and tosses him down the stairs. He then calls Markov asking if he should kill the American. Jack plays unconscious, and somehow knows just exactly when the guard is raising his gun. He lassos his belt around the gun (!) and tosses the guard to the ground! Jack worms his way to the gun while the guard grabs a small cuticle knife. No contest. Markov watches as the guard gets shot. He tells his men to find him in the basement, as if he would just stick around. No one can find him behind that one suitcase! Markov instructs everyone to turn off everything everywhere. Jack gets to the phone and calls CTU but can't finish his call! "Damn it!" So, he moves some fuse wires around and turns out the lights.

Milo tells Buchanan that Jack just called and Bill tells Milo to continue messanger duties, and to tell Doyle that Jack is not dispensable.

Buchanan tells Logan his plan to attack, and Logan doesn't agree. Logan tells Bill that he knows a way to convince President Subaru-ov to act against Markov. His insane ex-wife, Martha.

Doyle walks from computer to computer pointing out things that are wrong. Nobody likes him. He grabs Morris by the neck because Morris takes 2 extra seconds! Then he makes a big speech about him being in charge, and he don't want no lip. Milo tells Doyle not to manhandle the nice bald guy, and to come to him with any problems.

Lennox meets with VP and says he will look the other way, for now. But the truth will prevail! But VP wants Lennox to flat out lie and say he SAW Assad plant the bomb. Lennox doesn't like it, and VP spits on him. VP convinces Lennox to go along with it, because we're mad as hell!

Gredenko, still way out in plain sight where nobody is looking, is getting the bombs ready. Hey CTU, why not hover around and look for people surrounded by airplanes and drones?

Buchanan tells VP his thoughts about Martha and attacking the consulate and VP tells CTU to plan as if they're going to attack the consulate.

Aaron is taking care of Martha Logan, giving her fruit and magazines. Logan calls. Aaron answers "Martha Logan's Bungalow!" Logan gives him the skinny while Martha gets angry. Aaron continues to argue that she does not want to speak with him, but Logan mentions the Suvarovs. Martha jumps and gets on the phone. Luckily they're only minutes away from CTU so Logan is going to come see them.

Bill tells Logan they are going to attack, and if he doesn't like it, he has to get Martha's cooperation, Suvarov's wife's attention and Suvarov's demand to make Markov surrender before it's too late. It's a long shot.

Jack finds two Russians loving it up in a back room and asks them how they contact the outside world. Jack threatens them and asks for a phone, or he will kill them. The guy leaves and he tells the girl she'll be fine. Unless of course CTU attacks the consulate, which is very possible.

Logan arrives at the bungalow and Aaron refuses to shake hands. Aaron says Martha changed her mind, and she doesn't want to see him. Don't remember her ever agreeing to see him. But she pops out of her room when she notices how thin he is. He tells her the season's recap but doesn't want to go into any more detail. Martha will not dance like a monkey, and doesn't think Logan's "prison" is all that bad. Martha asks Aaron what to do, and he tells her to do it. She dances for him now.

VP and Lennox sits down with the Ambassador. VP threatens that he will attack his country unless they help him find the rest of the bombs.

Mrs. Suvarov is giving a speech and cannot be bothered yet. Logan apologizes for upsetting Martha and she starts getting frisky with Aaron in front of him. She starts getting very angry and takes it out on some kiwi. Logan says a few nice words to Aaron and Martha loses it again. She gets up with her fruit and stops short. She takes a knife and stabs Logan! She hits an artery! Good aim Martha! Logan is bleeding bad.

Bill wants to know if Martha can still talk to Suvarov. Aaron doesn't know. She says of course, she's not crazy! Anya doesn't know much. She tells Anya that details are very important, except apparently for Logan. Anya asks for more information...

...Seconds later, Suvarov commands Markov to surrender and to give up Jack unharmed. Markov disobeys and hangs up. Suvarov tells Bill that Markov won't give up, and agrees to the attack on the consulate.

Jack finally gets the phone from the lovebirds. (Chloe could've gotten it in seconds.) A couple of guards come in and start shooting. Man lovebird is hit!

CTU attacks the consulate. Guards down! Jack and the woman are ok.

Markov calls Gredenko and tells him they are under attack and to launch the drones immediately.

Doyle introduces himself to Jack.

The drone is ready to launch.

Bill tells CTU to focus on Shadow Valley.

Logan wakes up, says "Martha" and flatlines.

Miscellaneous Musings, Buffy Edition

2007-03-12T07:04:00.000-05:00

Not much to muse about today, but a very special Happy Anniversary to Joss Whedon and his Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which aired it's first episode on March 10, 1997.

July 31 will be the 15th year anniversary of the movie release, but the TV show definitely had better reviews and probably more viewers. Some people are still surprised when they found out there was a movie.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, lasted seven seasons on the WB and UPN. It also led to the spin-off series Angel, which started after season three of Buffy and lasted five seasons, going on one year after Buffy ended. Angel (David Boreanaz) made apperances on Buffy's final episodes, but Gellar only appeared on a handful of Angel episodes, and none after Buffy ended. Whedon had originally planned for only five seasons of Buffy, according to a Q&A with TVGuide.com in December.

Buffy has been sort of a measuring stick for some of the newer TV shows, with studios knowing that a strong cast and storytelling is needed to make shows, especially genre-strong ones, work.

Egged on to have the series make a comeback or at least have some TV-movies with some of the favorite characters (Spike comes to mind), Whedon will be writing some comic books now. Rather than comics and novels that stood by themselves, Buffy: Season 8 will be a graphic continuation of the television show. The series should be 20-30 issues and will be written by Whedon along with some comic book pro writers and some former Buffy writers.

Whedon also had a comic series called Fray, which was about another Slayer in the future, but I can't seem to find anything that leads me to believe there were more than eight of those, but sold over 200,000 copies combined. "One issue of Fray was a year late," says Whedon.

Obviously due to his success with strong female characters, Joss was writing and re-writing the anticipated and probably required if-it's-a-comic-it-has-to-be-a-movie Wonder Woman film, but is no longer attached. Rumor has it the front-runner to play the lead was How I Met Your Mother's Cobie Smulders, who I think would have been awesome.

A little where are they now for ya:

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) starred in both The Grudge movies (2004, 2006). She voiced April O'Neil in the new animated TMNT movie, due out in March. She also has three movies coming out: Alice, Addicted and Suburban Girl.

Nicholas Brendon (Xander) starred in a couple of TV shows, Kitchen Confidential and a voice in the Disney Channel's American Dragon: Jake Long. He has a horror movie coming out in 2008 called Unholy.

Alyson Hannigan (Willow) currently stars in How I Met Your Mother, which has been a show for a few Buffy alums to guest-star on. She has regular roles in parody movies, including Date Movie and Farce of the Penguins. She also had a recurring role on the TV cult-hit Veronica Mars, another show centered by a strong female character.

Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) will be appearing in the 2007 film Sweeney Todd, based on the Broadway musical. It stars Johnny Depp as the lead character. He also played Duncan in a modern retelling of Macbeth, which is in post-production.

James Marsters (Spike) had a recurring role on Smallville for eight episodes. He had a role in the 2006 horror film Shadow Puppets, which according to some seems to be a blatant rip-off of a Buffy episode where the gang lose their memories.

Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) also had a story arc on Veronica Mars. She has also been in a few TV movies and posed for Playboy magazine in June 2004.

David Boreanaz (Angel) stars in the Fox drama Bones, which was recently renewed for a third season.

Eliza Dushku (Faith) starred as Tru Davies on the Fox drama Tru Calling, a low-rated show which also saw good DVD sales, like Whedon's Firefly. According to IMDb.com, she's in production on numerous projects.

and D.B. Woodside (Principal Wood) is the President of the Unites States on 24!

Miscellaneous Musings, Idol Edition

2007-03-09T07:01:00.000-05:00

Not only is this shaping up to be the worst crop of talent in American Idol history, but it seems to be the most talked about season to date.

Thursday morning I was driving to work when the WDVD Morning Show began by talking about Wednesday night's performances. Apparently "Blaine" loves to tease the girls about how much he loves Antonella. Well, I got out of work just a couple hours later, and as soon as I got in the car, they were still or again talking about the show!

This morning I went to Denny's, and all of a sudden, as if it were the first season of Survivor, I overheard "Did you hear who got kicked off?!?!" They talked about it for about ten minutes. Now, since I do watch it and blog about it, obviously I'm kinda guilty. And I do talk about it with people. It's just insane that I don't remember people talking about the better artists more.

The Morning Show is now playing an interview from Lakisha. They did pause for a few minutes earlier to talk about Tom Brady and Britney, but thank goodness they're back to Idol!! Right? I now get back to hypocrisy by continuing to post my thoughts on Idol.

Hahaha, did Frenchie really use a coke bottle?! Ew.

Anyway, I promised my predictions. I reserve the right to make predictions based on performances on the spot, but I wanted to take a stab at the order in which they will leave now.

March 14 - Haley Scarnato
March 21 - Sanjaya Malakar
March 28 - Phil Stacey
April 4 - Brandon Rogers
April 11 - Stephanie Edwards
April 18 - Chris Richardson
April 25 - Gina Glocksen
May 2 - Chris Sligh
May 9 - Jordin Sparks
May 16 - Melinda Doolittle
May 22 Finale - Blake Lewis vs. Lakisha

Lakisha wins.

This is tough. I really don't even see Blake lasting that long, but... I don't know who else can. Like I said, it's a strange season. That would be an interesting finale though, with two really different singers. Blake could possibly make one of those horrible exclusive Idol songs entertaining. I'm not thrilled over anyone really. Everyone is saying Melinda is going to win right now. Well, I should say that Simon said that and everyone wants to agree with him to make it sound like they know what's going on. I actually wouldn't be surprised if she left much earlier, the way this season has gone.

We'll see.

Thursday... American Idol... The Top 12 Revealed

2007-03-08T20:00:00.000-05:00

This.... is American Idol.

To recap, my picks to leave were Sundance, Phil, Antonella and Haley. Even though I hope I'm wrong and Sanjaya leaves.

Group song. Man, this season is so boring! Hopefully Carrie Underwood can save it tonight.

I wonder how comfortable those upside down salon hair bowl seats are.

With as many viewers as they have, do they really need these recaps? I know they have to stretch the show to fill an hour, but come on.

Girls and guys together? Hmm. Let's go.

Lakisha and Blake are first, and they're obviously going to be in the top 12.
Chris Sligh is not.... going to find out until after the break. Oh geez.

I think Ryan feels like Howie stole his thunder with the whole commercial cliffhanger thing, he's bringing it back.

Bones is new next week? American Idol moves to 9:00. Woah!

And now, Chris Sligh can finally sit down.
Jordin "Zap" Sparks is young and safe. The youngest ones always seem to last.
Phil needs to go. Damn, he's safe. But maybe there's hope for Sanajaya leaving now.
Jared could be gone though. I didn't think to pick him, but he hasn't been that great.

I know one girl who is happy to see him go! I don't think he sounds as bad as some of them, though. His song is kind of ironic.

Slippin! 0 for 1 tonight, 5 for 9 so far, I think. I'll have to go back and check. After tonight I'll be making a post and picking the Top 12 and how they will go home in order. Idol's website had a game like that last year. I'll try to find and post my picks.

Melinda and Brandon are both safe.
Gina Glocksen! and Chris Richardson should both be safe. Yup.

Aw, here comes Carrie. I can't describe in words how upset I would have been if Bob Ice beat her. Yeah, I call him Bob Ice. I want to find that picture of her with the Grammys. It was adorable. It's gotta be a little surreal for her, and the others that come back. She was just one of however many people trying to win that year, and she comes back being one of the biggest names in her genre. That's a pretty big leap.

Antonella, Haley and Sundance are all still vulnerable. Sanjaya is over there too, as is Stephanie and Sabrina Sloan. Wow, that's a lot of S.

Antonella and Stephanie. I can't see them both going home. Antonella is out, about three weeks too late for some. I don't think she is surprised. Maybe she'll compare herself to Jennifer Hudson again!

Haley and Sabrina up. I don't think they'd send two home back to back, so they should both be safe. Or, maybe not. Haley is safe! I'm about to throw something. Gina better win this whole damn thing now. I've never had a favorite leave this early.

So, two I picked to leave are already safe. One left, and the other is Sundance. And just to mess with my picks more, I bet Sanjaya will finally leave. Those are the only two left. I'd rather have Sundance stay one more week, but I want my percentage to go up!

Let's see what this announcement is. Oh, 200 episodes. And they're going to end poverty? Hey, that kid is better than Sanjaya! So, they're going to donate money for every vote cast on a certain Tuesday (I missed the date) and then people can donate themselves on Wednesday. BORAT is going to be on! That's funny. I assume he'll be in character then. Which seems a little weird when they're trying to make people aware of how bad things really are. If you've seen Borat, you weren't treated to a history lesson.

'Til Death is still on the air? Wow.

Sanjaya is still on this show? Wow.

VTFW even told people to vote for Sundance. Ok, I didn't like his performance, but Sanjaya hasn't even been average yet! This is an INSANE top 12. I can't believe one of these people is going to sell millions of records (because people WILL buy whoever the heck wins, regardless.)

2 for 4 tonight. 3 for 4 in Week 1, 2 for 4 in Week 2. Which makes me 7 for 12.

Wednesday... American Idol.... Top 8 Girls

2007-03-07T20:00:00.000-05:00

Top 8 Girls. I wish the top 12 could include 7 of them (minus Antonella), because the guys were suckin'.

Here we go.

"Our most groundbreaking Idol project"? Ten bucks says it's the Idol Camp they already advertise on their website.

I missed what Randy just said. It's a live show.

Jordin starts it out. She sounds better without the backup singers. She kinda blends in when they're going so you can't really tell how she is doing. Randy thinks it's hot and dope. Paula likes her zzzzzzzzz, and Simon is once again not thrilled, but she will 100% be here next week. I think the judges now pick comments out of a hat from the past five seasons.

Sabrina is better than Christina, haha. Oooh, except for that note. Wait, this isn't a Christina song. Oops. En Vogue. I think she's kinda losing it and trying to do too much. Still better than the guys. Randy isn't thrilled, Paula thinks she can sing (wow, great insight) and Simon thinks it lacks emotion and it sounds like a hotel performance. But without hesitation she deserves a Top 12 spot.

Here comes Antonella. I actually hope she does great and everyone has to re-think their position on her. Haha, position. Oh no, Corrine? Gonna be tough to compare. It's weird when people try to do songs that are currently on the charts. She actually sounds pretty good though. Randy thinks it's ok, Paula is tripping over her politeness, and Simon says goodbye to her in so many words. She always looks confused when Simon says something bad. Randy thinks she can sing better than she shows; it seems like she thinks she IS better than anyone. I like her singing better than her attitude.

Haha, American Idol lottery tickets. Man, they can sell anything.

I've never heard this song Haley is doing. For some reason, it has the sound of a Christmas song. Eh, not much better or much worse than what we've heard so far. It ended a bit abruptly. Randy wants more "Wow" and "Yo!". Paula regurgitates Randy's comments. Simon thinks it's horrible. Woah, he hasn't used such a big insult like that since the auditions. Ryan is trying to make her feel better and give her some pity. Simon backs off a tad, but thinks it may be her last performance.

Stephanie is wearing an American Idol t-shirt in her interview. Haha. She should make the Top 3 girls easily. But if she has a bad night, people will remember it more. She did seem "pitchy" as Randy might say. And there it is. "Chaka done sung it. It not gon' be sung like that no'mo'." It's amazing that Randy can say all these neutral-to-negative comments and Paula says nearly flawless. Simon thinks she is one of the best but is copycat.

Lakisha (or LaKisha?) wants a hug from Ryan. Hmmm, who should he choose between her and Chris Sligh?

Oh boy. Randy goes on and on about these popular artists and now Lakisha is doing a Whitney song. He's either gonna say it's hot, or start another rant about how anyone he's worked with shouldn't be copied on the show. Or, "another great performance." I wasn't thrilled. Simon says she brought passion and believability. Didn't mentioned "charismar," though.

I think Fox really wants me to watch Wedding Bells. Ok, they talked me into it.

Gina Glocksen! Still my favorite name. She's only wanted this for the past four years? Hmm. Another chart topper here. I think this is her kind of song though, even though I'm not a big fan of it. It's hard to like it now when I don't even like it that much with Amy Lee singing it. She'll make it to the top 12, though. Randy agrees with me, and so does Paula, and so does Simon, but they all think she might have oversang it a tad.

First shoutout to the band in weeks!

Why does Melinda bore me so much? She just looks stiff and plain. I don't know. Except now she's all over the place. I think it's the first time someone has walked off the main stage while singing. She's closing the show and it was definitely memorable, so she'll make it. Randy thinks she could make a record right now. Paula pours on the compliments. Simon calls her a tiger.

They better hurry with the recaps so they can show Wedding Bells on time! They've only shown commercials every three minutes.

I'm going to vote for the first time this year. Once for Gina and once for Sabrina.

Top 3 girls could easily be Lakisha, Stephanie and maybe Sabrina. Jordin and Gina could be the dark horses.

Should be an easy pick this week, with Antonella and Haley leaving. Vote For The Worst wants people to vote for Antonella and Sundance, two of my picks to leave. So, we'll see if they screw me over.

Tuesday... American Idol... Top 8 Guys

2007-03-07T04:59:00.000-05:00

Quick thoughts this time:

Blake is fun, but dude, stop with the beatbox stuff.

Sanjaya needs to go. NOW. The only way he can possibly make it is if that vote for the worst website bombarded the phone lines for the full two hours. That song is boring enough and he made it worse.

Sundance made the Pearl Jam sound kind of boring too. I don't agree that he screamed it.

Chris Richardson usually does the hip-hop stuff, but his country sounded pretty good, although awkward at times.

Jared was boring too. If he makes the top 12, I don't think it'll take long for him to go.

Brandon - again, boring. The song was upbeat, he should've been all over that stage. He looked stiff.

Phil's song was one of the worst I've ever heard, even on the bad audition episodes. I can't believe how nice the judges were. Wow.

And I'm surprised the judges didn't like Chirs Sligh more. He entertained more than the others and sounded better than most.

Apparently 4 of 10 deserve to make it in. I can't believe Paul didn't say "aww, all of them!" I don't even remember the judges telling 4 people good things. I know Randy liked Sundance though.

Right now, after tonight, I'd get rid of Sanjaya and Phil.

BUT, I have a bad feeling. My predictions are actually going to be Sundance and Phil. Sanjaya will be this year's dirty penny.

Monday... 24... Ep. 6-12... "5:00 PM-6:00 PM"

2007-03-05T21:00:00.000-05:00

So, President Palmer is on a stretcher headeed to surgery. Considering that due to the time-delay of this show, and it's about 30 seconds after the bomb went off, that's really fast.

Speaking of fast, I remember Jack being in his suit, but was Logan? He's dressed to the nines now and they're getting in a motorcade already. Logan is going on about hearing voices in the silence, reminiscing of how he was locked behind the cold bars of the gate to his nice house for a year. Buchanan tells jack about the assassination attempt on Palmer, and he acts surprised. Come on, Jack. Every President you know is in danger with you around.

Palmer is in surgery? THAT was fast.

"Lennox is occupied." Why is everyone so concered with him? Oh, right, because he's literally tied up at the moment. And it's fun to watch Reid Lowe squirm.

Sec. of Defense says that they don't know if and when Palmer will recover. This being 24, it'll take at least 3 hours! VP asks for who else but Tom Lennox! Reid must be peeing his pants trying to cover his tracks. The Sec. of Defense asks about Tom Lennox! Reid says he saw him somewhere, but SoD says he already checked there. Boy, that hasn't happened before. They go back and Reid puts his foot down, once again telling Bomb-Maker that they are not murderers! He unties Tom with a stern "You know the situation, right?" and "I know you'll do the right thing." They exit the room to a quick "Tom!" We've all been looking for you for hours! For he's a jolly good fellow! Then, Tom tells them to arrest Reid and Bomb-maker!

VP arrives to the White House calls Buchanan and asks about why Logan was released. Duh, because they all do what Jack Bauer wants. VP says ok, but he wants him back under House arrest immediately!

Logan tells Jack he needs to talk to Markov alone. Huhthewha? Jack doesn't like that idea. But Logan uses the power of "quick, this is 24" persuasion to convince him. Jack tells him not to go beyond 20 feet of him, he's under Jack arrest now. Jack walks the opposite way and somehow stays less than 20 feet away. Logan doesn't smoke anymore, but he looks high. Logan interrogates Markov very calmly. Markov claims over and over again that he doesn't know where Gredenko is. Logan backs down, says he is sorry, and that he believes him. Of course he first threatens to ruin him by calling Russia and telling them about his involvement in the gas scare two years ago, even though he promised not to. But his promise is null and void in Los Angeles. Markov will make calls. Logan leaves with no info. He tells Jack he is an expert in lying, so he knows that Markov knows more.

Markov immediately calls Gredenko, who isn't happy. "We want Arabs blamed, now we exposed, Russia exposed!"

Jack calls Chloe with an idea! Chloe always looks at her phone with such a questionable stare. She is to turn off all the power, distract the stupid guards who would immediately leave Markov exposed, and go after Markov himself. She has to work under the radar. Hopefully she doesn't have to take her eyes off Morris.

Karen Hayes-Buchanan watches a pretty damn clear video of live news coverage on her Sprint phone, then gets a call from Buchanan. She is more shocked than Jack was hearing about the assassination attempt, and decides she has to go back and help out, probably knowing that Tom's ideas will go through as the VP takes over.

VP talks to blonde girl in the elevator about putting Tom's plans into motion. Sec of defense tells VP that Tom has remanded himself into custody, and says nothing about Reid and Carson. VP goes in to talk to Lennox, who says he was just pretending to go along with Reid. He tries to explain but VP wants to put all the blame on Assad. Lennox claims it doesn't make any sense. They get heated. "That's what they want you to think, dummy!" Tom keeps calling him Noah. I guess he doesn't respect the title. VP quickly switches gears and tells Tom to just be quiet and go with the plans.

Jack sneaks up to the consulate and is spotted! But he quickly learns Russian and tells the guard he is going to the back door. The guard accepts this without any question whatoever. Fine job those guys do. Jack has 60 seconds until the power goes back on. His plan works, and all the guards run away. Jack gets into Markov's office and the 60 seconds quickly turns into about 15. He is spotted again! He decides to be very frank with the guards and tells them not to enter or he will kill Markov. Jack calls CTU and tells Buchanan what's going on. Bill tells Jack to get out, but this is Jack's show. He hangs up.

Bill calls VP and tells him Markov is a hostage, just FYI. Blonde from the elevator tells VP that the office rumor was that Karen quit because of Tom. Russia is on the phone and in addition to being pissed off that Palmer is unavailable, they want Jack stopped. Or else. Russia tells VP they must go through the appropriate diplomatic channels!

Jack stars getting violent. Markov slips up and mentions that he knows Gredenko is in the US. Jack wants to know why Gredenko is working with Fayed. Jack cuts off his pinky! Antony reacts as if he stubbed his toe, but he gives up some information, laughing and smiling like a little schoolboy. Jack walks away and they blow the door, taking Jack down. Antony punches him in the gut and they take him away!

VP gets on the tele and poorly reads a very poor statement. He tells people he will be pushing forward with new plans that will cost people some of their freedoms. Such is the price of war.

Morris talks about how difficult it is to bypass diplomatic traffic, but does it in about 15 seconds when it's convenient for him. Apparently he can read Russian as well as Jack can speak it. He finds out they have Jack in custody. Buchanan plans to wait a little while, then give VP the option to take the consulate by force.

Jack is tied to a chair. Some guard with a bluetooth is not allowed to talk. Jack tells him what's happened in the last 12 episodes. Bluetooth guard tells Jack to use the appropriate channels againb to try and take down Markov. Jack once again easily convinces someone to believe his word, and Guy leaves to call CTU.

Bluetooth guard tries to call CTU, but gets shot! That's what happens when you try to help Bauer.

Miscellaneous Musings, Pt. II

2007-03-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to think that Deal or No Deal is planned out. Or at least edited a lot. It used to be like Millionaire, where they would just have the contestant go until he lost, then pick another one until the show ended. Now it seems like they pick a new contestant at the beginning, and they play until about 8:56, then take the deal. The show ends promptly in time for Heroes to begin. These people are crazy. I'd like to think I'd take a guaranteed $175,000 but this game is insane. This woman can not stop crying. $264,000? TAKE THE MONEY, GEEZ. Ok, now I hope she ends up with $400.

...
Jeff Goldblum has a show coming up on NBC called Raines. I guess he sees hallucinations of the victims and it helps him solve cases. People are calling it a rip-off of shows like Medium, Psych, Monk, etc., where a detective/cop solves cases in an unusual manner. But TV does this all the time. I'm sure House is like some other doctor shows from the past, but people still watch it. And he wins Emmys and whatnot. I think Jeff Goldblum is funny. And that's what separates it from Medium - that show isn't a comedy.

...
It's hiatus time in TV-land. I miss the days when shows would just run episodes. Now they have to switch it all around and take breaks that can last up to a month. Actually, Psych is still on Season 1. The pilot aired on July 7, 2006. Episode 8 aired August 25, and Episode 9 didn't air until January 19 of this year. Well, I guess all this off-time will give me plenty of chances to update my blog!

...
$402,000? TAKE THE MONEY YOU SELFISH HO! The crowd is chanting "Deal! Deal! Deal!"
Three minutes until 9:00. She better take it. Sheesh, about time. Haha, her case had $400.

...
Speaking of possible rip-off ideas, Kevin Smith is going to direct the CW pilot Reapers. What makes this different from Dead Like Me, I guess, is that Sam has to capture the souls have escaped from hell, while George had to take souls from people who were about to die so that they didn't suffer. They say Reapers is a comedic drama. I haven't heard much else about it. Plus, this is on CW so it'll have less vulgarity than Showtime's Dead Like Me. Which will be weird for something directed by Smith.

...
Tuesday will be the premiere of The Search for the Next (Pussycat) Doll. This is like American Idol/Dancing with the Stars for 15 year old boys. And maybe 50 year old men. The first episode's summary says something about a mysterious stomach flu, which I thought was called bulimia. And what is Li'l Kim doing being a judge? And Mark McGrath hosting? Wow, this will totally beat Idol in the ratings. *chuckle*

...
Apparently there is going to be a show about the (fictional) wives of (fictional) NFL players. The only good thing I can think about this show is that they are likely to cast some pretty ~~good~~ actresses.

...

Thursday... American Idol... Results Show II

2007-03-01T22:23:00.000-05:00

Birthdays, dedications, puppies and porn. Interesting week of Idol. Let's get to it.

(Unfortunately, while taping the show I did see one of the girls who gets eliminated. I'll just pretend I didn't and act surprised.)

Group song! I think they did this same song during Season 1. And it's down to business. Guys are first.

Phil is first, which means he will be safe, and he is.
Chris Sligh is Slafe.
Sundance Head is Sundance Safe.
Blake Lewis is safe.
Jarrod has to come down to the podium! Doesn't look good. But he's safe. Tricky Ryan.
Nick (who I almost picked to go home) is going home. NUTS. 0 for 1 tonight. and 3 for 5 this season.

Wow, Sundance is crying. I guess those guys were tight. Girls' turn.

Stephanie is first. She'll be safe. They need to figure out a better way to do this so it's not so obvious.
Gina Glocksen! Safe!
Sabrina. Come on, Gonzo. Safe. Whew.
Okay, Doolittle. Let's do it. She is comin' back.
Alaina is going home? Wow. First mini-shocker of the season. 0 for 2, 3 for 6
And no, she wasn't the one I saw. I'm not pretending to be surprised here.

What's this playing in the background? It must be a recording... would the backup singers even be there for a results show? aw, Sundance is still crying. He's not going to have a fun year if he makes it far.

Whoops, something fell down and the sound went out. Darn, we missed Paula talking.

Pickler coming up, and trivia. I wonder if it'll be as easy as last weeks. Yep, I think it's pretty obvious. I doubt Taylor won any Grammys and does anyone remember Ruben?

Woah, Kellie has some curls. And some BOOBS. They made her up to look older, I think. She's still very stiff on the stage though. Zzzzzzzzzzz... I wish they would have made her follow the 90 second rule.

More results? Ok. AJ and Sanjaya are both in the front row one of them has to go!

Chris is safe.
Brandon is safe. Jordin is all nervous.
Yup, it comes down to Sanjaya and AJ. It better be Sanjaya. And WTF? I mean, I'm 1 for 2 on the guys but I would have picked Sanjaya to leave over AJ. 1 for 3 on the show, 4 for 7 on the season.

They're gonna show Sundance after every elimination, aren't they?

Well, I already know the last girl going home. (Hint: Sarah Paulson.) but let's go through the motions.

Lakisha and Antonella are quickly safe. the other three stand.

Jordin will be safe, and Antonella is surprisingly also safe. Gina is bawling. Jordin starts crying too as Leslie is gone. So.

I guarantee though, if they gave people a chance to vote for only Antonella or Alaina, Antonella would be gone. But the voting is weird sometimes.

Show Sundance!! Gina's still crying, Sabrina looks like she is holding back. D'oh. The tape stopped before Sundance. Jordin couldn't even look up. Aw.

Tonight: 2 for 4.
Season: 5 for 8.

Wednesday... American Idol... Top 10 Girls

2007-03-01T17:55:00.000-05:00

First off, is Antonella a porn star? No. Did she pose for those pictures? It's hard to say. Some look like her, some don't. Let's not dwell on it and instead remember The O'Donahues. Ahhh, incestuous lesbianism. It's gonna be huge!

On with the show. The judges seem hyper tonight.

"Ten superlative performers." That's funny.

More dedications! Woo, this should be fun. Let's make this a little more organized tonight, shall we? First up is:

Gina "Say it with me!" Glockson : Dedication - to her boyfriend. She's singing "Alone." NO ONE will ever match Carrie Underwood singing that song. It sounds like she is singing a different verse though, and she does sound pretty good. I'd like her to stick around. Simon doesn't think she is edgy enough, but they all seem to like the song. I like that she asked her boyfriend to vote for her. Haha. Vote 1 for Gina.

Dixie Chicks and Gladys Knight from Alaina and Lakisha! I wonder which is which....

Ryan is looking at Lakisha's legs. Or maybe he really wants some Coke. I like how she talks - not a lot. Ryan is asking her these questions and she's like "No. Yes. Good!" Some people just talk too much.

Alaina "AAA" Alexander: Dedication - to her mom. Let's see if Paula mentions her range, because she seems to be showing that off. It's supposed to be a well-known song but I don't know it. I like it, but she sounds like she is rushing it a little bit. She's got some legs going on, too. She looks like Mariah Carey meets Jennifer Aniston meets Lori Loughlin. Not well-liked by the judges, Simon thinks she ran out of steam which is kinda what I was getting at. Vote 2 for Alaina.

Lakisha "Flint, MI" Jones: Dedication - to her gramma. Not much to say. She's a really good singer. I just don't think the votes are going to swing her way to the end. Yep, everyone likes her, but Simon nicely told her she looks like a big orange (or salmon?) with legs and to tone it down some. No fingers from Lakisha, good girl.

Melinda "Dr." Doolittle: - Dedication - to her "Gails." Or maybe it's "Gales." Man, I hate when people sing this song. I know it's a supposed classic, but I'm not a fan. She does sound good though and the judges agree. Simon says "incredible." Eh, it wasn't leaving me with chills or anything. I think I still like the previous three girls better. No four finger salute from Melinda, but Antonella is showing hers ahead of time.

Antonella "That's Not Me!" Barba: Dedication - to her brother. Eew, she is totally off beat, and I don't know anything about beats and rhythms. Ouch, the whole thing was "rough for me," to pull out a Randy-ism. Well, perhaps she can go back to not doing amateur porn. I don't think she'll be back. Randy mentions pitch again. Antonella rolls her eyes! That's ballsy. She then in so many words compares herself to Jennifer Hudson! Oh boy.

After the break, Jordin Sparks takes on Christina Aguilera? Hey, I thought Antonella was the porn star!

Jordin "Zap" Sparks: Dedication - to her brother. Apparently the guys were more appreciate of their parents! Woah, Jordin's dentist probably has the easiest job in the world. I always thought this song should be in a Disney movie. Ok, she sounds good. I predict a "big voice" comment coming from one of the judges. Ending is a little rough, though. Aw, she's crying. At least she got through the song first. I don't know if she's as good as some of the past 16-17 year olds, but she seems older. Vote 6! She puts 7 fingers up. Ryan gives a pretty funny "That would really suck!" I wonder if Stephanie is insulted.

Speaking of... I wonder if Ryan will say anything about her cleavage. Which is the only good nickname I can come up with right now.

Stephanie "Cleavage" Edwards: Dedication - to her parents. She's really trying hard, she lost her pitch a little I think and she's out of breath. Ends it with a big WOO! She sang her face off according to Randy. Odd metaphor. She is pretty but I can't get over that Fantasia-like hair. She could use a better 'do. Vote seven.

Leslie "Sarah Paulson" Hunt looks a lot like Sarah Paulson!. Dedication - Late Grampa Bob. Who looks like Mr Rogers. NO WAY! She's doing the same stripper song that AJ's-A-Baldo did! I gotta say, it sounds better coming from a girl. Still not a good song though and doing a duplicate song could hurt her. And so could that doopedeedodowp stuff she just attempted to do. Simon just compared that to Paula talking and that might surpass the puppy comment from last night. 8 for Awkward!

Haley "Holy" Scarnato!: Dedication - to her fiance. Now here's an upbeat song! I haven't heard this song in years. She's rockin the cleavage too. "I don't really care?" Geez, damn censors. Doesn't even make the lyrics rhyme! Ouch, she didn't take Simon's comments well. She's crying! Not good... and she's too busy crying to hold up nine fingers. She's gonna blot later.

Saving my fave for last, Sabrina "Gonzo" Sloan: Dedication - to her granny. She's "like 86 years old." "He's all the man that I need." Not quite the song for granny, but oh well. I wanted her to blow me away tonight but I think she was just good. Little shaky on the ending. Vote ten! I would have if I would have watched the show when it actually aired.

Long recap videos. They must have gotten through the show quicker than they had anticipated.
Like the guys last night, there's three girls I want to pick from to go home. those would be Antonella, Leslie and Haley. But, I think Haley will be safe. So, it's Leslie and Antonella for the girls, and Sanjaya and A.J. for the guys. If Nick and Haley both go home, I'm going to scream for not picking them.

Tuesday... American Idol... Top 10 Guys

2007-03-01T04:34:00.000-05:00

As average as the top guys seem to be so far, at least we don't have a Scott Savol in the mix.

Ok here we go. Count how many times they dedicate a performance to their parents.

First up is Phil Stacey. First impression: Tight pants. Did he steal Amy's when she went home? Will that give him bad luck? He sounds better than he looks though. I could probably hear him on the radio already. And I swear to you, Paula just stole my line. She must be reading my blog from the future, live as I type it.

Why do the contestants keep putting up as many fingers as their vote number? If we're deaf and blind or illiterate, I doubt we're watching American Idol.

Jarrod is dedicating his performance to his parents. That's one!

$15,000 says Randy will make some comment about the song being too big for him or not being able to do something with a song from a guy like Marvin Gaye.

Ok, I lose. I'll be paying myself that money slowly, in small increments.

Paula makes a joke at Randy, a sexual joke, and she's drinking her vodka through a pink straw.

Fingers!

AJ's A Baldo makes us 2 for 3 on parent dedications. And he's whispering. why do I think someone should be stripping to this song?

Randy seems easily pleased tonight. I'm not impressed. Don't forget, he's #3.

Please tell me that is NOT Sanjaya as a kid. He was in the top 4 last week. Wow, I wonder if he can fall that far because he looks and sounds ridiculous. He looks like he is reading the lyrics off a teleprompter. BRING HIS SISTER BACK, NO ONE WILL EVEN KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!

Simon: Did you like him or not?
Paula: I don't like you.

Chris said "crapshoot". I think he meant "sometimes Sanjaya sounds like crap, shoot!"

25:55 I'm surprised I haven't heard a Justin Guarini reference yet...

I'm not really digging the song, digging the song, digging the song. It's repetitive. But I still like Chris.

Haha, Simon said he was too saved by a woman. I can't believe Ryan hasn't gotten a gay joke in there. "You sure it was a woman, Simon? Hyuk Huk!"

Chris kept his hands behind his back! Good job, buddy. Don't wave that hand around showing me what five looks like!

Nick has been with his girlfriend for "quite awhile now." I can just hear her saying "HOW LONG?" This song could put me to sleep, and not in the good way. Simon is snapping his fingers? Hmm. He never does anything! But apparently, Nick lacks charismar.

Charismar this!. And he said Vote for Pedro. Ugh. I knew that wouldn't take long.

Blake dedicates the performance to his parents. That's 4 if you count Sanjaya's grandfather. I'm not really liking it. But hey, he brought the beatbox back. Maybe he knew his singing was rough. Randy likes everyone but Simon feels me. Lucky Number Slevin.

It's a little funny to me that Chris is going to sing "geek in the pink" and Brandon is sitting there wearing a pink shirt. Brandon looks EXACTLY like his grandmother. Weird. Man, he looks like he is reading the words, too. And it's like they took the original song and slowed it down to 1/3 speed.

Simon is going off into a rant about his mom's birthday and puppies. Funniest part of the season so far.

Brandon showed the fingers, but it was covered up by the phone number graphic. Oh no wait. he did it again.

Another grandmother from Chris R! What's that, 6 of 9 I think? I lost count. Hmm, I'm actually liking this one. I'm surprised. I have a feeling Simon is going to ask "what the heck was that song?" Nope, but he thinks his grandmother was thinking that! I feel so psychic today. He thinks Chris was the best by a mile. Not sure about that one, but i haven't been thrilled with many of them tonight.

Hey, there's a switch from Sundance Head. A dedication to a kid! I know this is mean, but remember Scott Savol? The kid kinda looks like him!

Oh no. Not one of the most popular karaoke songs in the world! At least he isn't bombing it. And the backup singers are waxing on and off pretty nicely. Holy crap, that was a high note!

Ok, I'm not as confident in my picks as I was last week, but here goes...

Sanjaya and A.J. will be going home. I was really tempted to pick Nick instead of AJ, but we'll see.

I wish Jeff Foxworthy would go home. Who are all these young girls around him? If ya have five wives under the age of 30, you might be a redneck. Did you know he has his own line of beef jerky? Me neither, but it's on Wikipedia.

Monday... Heroes... Ep. 1-17... "Company Man"

2007-02-28T20:43:00.000-05:00

Wow. Brilliant episode.

They were able to focus on only a few characters, but tie them in with a few others during really well-done flashbacks. We find out that Mr. Bennett was indeed trying to protect Claire, and sacrificies himself (or at least the memory of her) to try and continue to do so. It was a little hard to follow for awhile, why he was "thinking" to Matt and why Matt was so quick to trust and go along with him.

I'll try to jot down more later. As good as the episode was, I'm having trouble remembering parts I want to write about.

Monday... 24... Ep. 6-11... "4:00 PM-5:00 PM"

2007-02-27T04:57:00.000-05:00

Gredenko and Fayed are talking in length about how long it will take to do all this bomb stuff. Which is funny because when they say two hours, it's almost like they're saying "in two episodes, this will happen."

Buchanan is shocked to hear that Jack has a lead, and it's Logan. Jack is shocked to hear that Logan is under house arrest, pleading guilty to "obstruction of justice" instead of being involved in the whole plot to kill David Palmer. So, I guess he got off light. I bet he has a nice house to be held up in.

Jack is making lovey eyes at Marilyn again, and stroking her face with his mutant hands. I guess all these years, Terry was his second choice, eh? He was pretty sad when she got killed, though. He says Josh reminds him or her, which is weird because I bet he reminds her of Jack. Or maybe Jack's father. Probably not Graem, though.

Morris can't trace any use of the phone line to the address Gredenko was supposed to be using. He tries and tries, so he deserves some props. Nadia thinks they did a spic-n-span on the place if they indeed were there, but things look grim.

Rob Lowe's brother, which I spell Reid, meets up with the guy who is going to assemble the bomb to kill President Principal Robin Wood Palmer. Reid's friend wants to kill Tom Lennox, but Rob Lowe's brother says they'll think about it. Bomb guy starts his work and Reid takes off. When some lady (Melinda, we learn) asks where Tom is, he hurries to make an excuse about a conference room - but she just came from the room he said Tom was in! Oh snap.

Chloe notices Morris made an obvious mistake which only Chloe would notice after a 2-second comb-through, and starts drilling him (ooh, bad choice of words) about him calling his sponsor. Which makes a lot of sense because he's only working with the Counter Terrorist Unit to stop the detonation of nuclear bombs, so he obviously has some free time to call someone and chat about wanting a drink. He leaves, Chloe peeps onto his electro-notepad and jots down the number of his sponsor. Nadia tells Chloe she doesn't think Morris is ok, and she's keeping an eye on him. That's now three eyes, including Nadia, Milo and Chloe. Thankfully, Milo is apparently still getting bandaged up and can't use his eyes on Morris quite yet.

Buchanan updates Nadia on Jack's arrival at Logan's Roadhouse. He hopes Jack can get something, but looks pretty pessimistic for a Director of CTU on a crucial, crucial day like today.

Jack jogs gingerly up to the house. Logan claims he's changed; he isn't the same man he was two years ago, just like Jack isn't the same man who was dragged and thrown into a Chinese prison (I bet there, they just call it "prison.") He gives up some information about a man (Markov) working with Gredenko, asking nothing in return. Jack doesn't trust him, but "maybe he should start!"

He must have taken Logan's advice because, minutes later, Jack tells President Palmer that he thinks they can trust him! Palmer doesn't like the dirty rat that killed his brother. Palmer and Logan speak on the phone, Logan calls Palmer needy, and Palmer decides they have to take the chance. But, no forgivenesss!

Buchanan decides to give Morris's workload to Chloe. Apparently all the eyes on him were distracting, and Bill finally had enough. Morris stands as if he were in an AA meeting, apologizes for giving the programming device to Fayed and for not having a time machine, and says he can do his job. With no fight whatsoever, Buchanan draws back. Nadia objects, but his decision is final. Smackdown.

Reid's bomb-maker friend starts taunting Lennox with "you're wasting your energy" and "the President is going to die." At least he doesn't use silly metaphors and wordplay like "I have the ball now, Johnny." The bomb will be ready in 30 minutes, with only about 26 left in the show. Reid has second thoughts as it finally hits him, and he reminds all of us that they are going to kill the President... of the United States! Bomb-maker assures him that they're only trying to save their country, and he should run along like a good little terrorist.

Chloe once again confronts Morris, who has more eyes on him than a potato. She asks if he was drinking, he says "a couple of beers," she accuses him of being sarcastic. This coming from Chloe O'Brien. Morris seems pretty stable and has a good excuse for not completing the missing sectors, which sounds more logical than the lie Chloe told Nadia. Morris hurries out of frame, and Chloe gets a call from the lady in Morris's phone and - wait for it - she hasn't been a sponsor in three years! Chloe can't find Morris in the two rooms she looks in, or the man on the phone, so she deduces that he probably had to pee out all the liquor he "hasn't metabolized". But when she gets there, he's trying to find out who Number Two works for. Ever the confronter, Chloe accuses Morris of lying to her. Morris claims that he's not lying and that Ted (with the hair!) is his new sponsor. Chloe leaves a little speechless, has no objection to Morris having saved a woman's phone number for three years, and he pours about 2 ounces of alcohol down the sink.

Reid attends to Lennox, finally working on a cut he gave him about an hour and a half ago. He wants to know if Tom was "playing them from the beginning." Lennox tells Reid that he was "against him from the start," which was really only about three hours ago. Reid puts the tape back on Tom's mouth and takes a call from a pesky Melinda, and tells her that he will notify Tom that Palmer wants to see him. Bomberman finishes his work and tells Reid how to detonate it. He says he is the only one that can get close enough and not attract attention. Everyone looks at him as he walks down the hall.

Tom makes a latch ditch effort to sweat Bomb-maker to death, and bomb-maker has to go turn it off. At this point, Tom lacks the Jack Bauer-like knowhow to kick him behind the knee to take him down. I suppose with the duct tape, he can't do the Bauer Bite.

Assad begins "rehearsing" his speech after Reid plants the bomb under the podium. Reid leaves and begrudgingly sets the timer, with Assad standing right there and Palmer way off to the side. Nice assassination there. The bomb goes off, Assad appears to be dead or really hurt, and the Palmer is lying unconscious. But is he dead?!@?!!?

Miscellaneous Musings, Pt. I

2007-02-26T08:39:00.000-05:00

The Sarah Silverman Program is actually pretty funny. Part of that has to do with most of the cast being comedians. I almost think it'll get enough complaints to get canceled, but as far as South Park and shows on Comedy Central go these days, probably not. And for the umpteenth straight week, Missi Pyle shows up. I swear that woman is everywhere now. She'll be on that new David E. Kelley show Wedding Bells, plus she's been on Heroes the last two weeks. She was on Boston Legal back in November, too.

***
When I can afford to go back to Bluckbuster Online, I think I might start watching House from the beginning. I saw a few episodes during a marathon. I know it's probably on USA all the time but I'm not sure when they would be starting over with the first episode.

***
Going back to South Park, I saw this advertisement on TV.com. I'm not sure if it's a joke, if they're going to be doing some kind of anime parody, or if someone just completely messed up and chose the wrong picture to go with the link. I never did click on the link, but it's gone now. So, as a wise man once said, "I guess you'll have to tune in to find out what that weird looking guy is doing on a South Park ad."

***
Big TV night tonight, with 24, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, and to a lesser extent, Everybody Hates Chris and Deal or No Deal. I haven't watched Chris in over a month. I work tonight so I'll have to tape something and watch the rest later.
The Black Donnellys also starts tonight, which may mean the end for one of my shows, Studio 60. Not a huge letdown though, as that show has kind of been going downhill. Let's have less plotlines on TV about pining for a lost love, shall we? Thanks. I can't decide if I want to watch Donnellys, but since it's on at 10 and everything else is 8 or 9, maybe I'll tape Heroes and just leave it on NBC to tape that too.

***
There's apparently a new comedy "coming out," untitled as of yet, from the writers of Will & Grace. "The untitled CBS project, from David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, is about two friends and writing partners, one straight and one gay (Green), and the women working with them (Jessica Capshaw, Vanessa Lengies). The project is loosely based on Kohan and Mutchnick's friendship."

Vanessa Lengies - good. Jessica Capshaw - good. This idea? Hey Kohan/Mutchnick, I know your old gay show lasted like 15 years, but do you not remember Joey? This may not be a spin-off, but why do they think it's going to work? Let's have less sitcoms with similar setups loosely based on old shows, shall we? Thanks.

***
I only watched about an hour or so of the 79th Annual Academy Awards, heretoforewenth known as The Oscars. The Departed won Best Picture. This movie was released in October,
getting us back to the pattern of Best Picture winners that were released in the last quarter of a calendar year. Crash ruined that by being released in May, since it beat out September's Brokeback Mountain and Capote. While Million Dollar Baby was released most places in January of 2005, it won for 2004 and had a limited release in December 2004. Return of the King came out in December, as the entire LOTR trilogy did. Chicago and A Beautiful Mind came out in December... and you get my point. Just seems like a strange pattern to me. At any rate, this isn't The DB-Movie Blog, so I'll stop now.

***
Not sure how often I'll make these kind of posts. I'd like to refrain from making short posts just to remember when I think of something, but then I might forget to jot them down, or I might forget to compile them if I do make a bunch of short posts. Perhaps I'll try to make some short hidden posts and make this a Monday thing. Kind of my weekly reminder. In any case, I'm sure you'll all support my decision (all two of you).

Monday... How I Met Your Mother... Ep. 2-16... "Stuff"

2007-02-24T23:00:00.000-05:00

From TV.com: Lily gets asked to be in a play. Robin discovers the source of a lot of Ted's stuff and Ted discovers the source of Robin's dogs. They have a fight and ask the rest of the gang to rule on the matter.

Ted: Oh my god, Van Helsing is on. Remember when we went to see it? We sat in the back row...
Robin: I've never seen Van Helsing.
Ted: Oh that's right, I saw it with my sister.

Robin: My boss just got back from Maui, he said it was really romantic.
Ted: Oh, it's so romantic.
Robin: When were you in Maui?
Ted: I went... with... Robin (joining in): my sister!
Robin: Why do you always say that?

Lily: Hot off the presses!
Barney: I don't take flyers.
Marshall: You took one two seconds before you walked in here!
Barney: That's different, it was for a strip club. Two bucks off wings! How much is your flyer gonna save me on wings?

Ted: Really? You can't look at a pillow without seeing my ex girlfriend? A pillow!?
Robin: Yes, Ted, the fact that you still have that pillow is creepy and gross!
Ted: You're creepy and gross!
Robin: Your mom is creepy and gross!
Lily: Order! Order!

Barney: I side with Robin. Ted, your place is too cluttered. It's like you're living in a Bennigan's.

Ted, 2023 (Narration): New York is famous for its theatre. But there's many different levels. There's Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off Broadway, homeless people screaming in the park, and below that, the play Aunt Lily was in.

Actor 1: I am rage!
Actor 2: I am greed!
Lily: I am rage - ENVY!

Lily: If you were in a play, I'd sit through the whole thing and I'd compliment you on it afterward.
Barney: Oh really, you would?
Lily: Yes!
Barney: Bad move, Aldrin. Bad move.

Robin: Oh my God, you've been robbed!
Ted: Nope.
Robin (pauses): All that stuff was from old girlfriends? Don't you buy anything for yourself?
Ted: What can I say? Papa gets swag.

Lily: He's really having trouble dealing with this, huh?
Robin: Yeah, he really is. It's got me thinking maybe I should get rid of my dogs. Might be time to send them to the farm.
Lily: You're going to kill your dogs?!
Robin: No! there really is a farm! My aunt has a farm upstate.

Robin: My aunt is awfully lonely up there, it's just her and her lover Betty.
Lily: Oh that's perfect, they love dogs!
Robin: "They," what do you mean by "they?"
Lily: Uh... people upstate - Oh look it's starting! Shh!

Barney: Moist. Moist. Moist. Moist.
Ted 2023 (Narration): That was the first 40 minutes of Barney's show. Then we endured about 20 minutes of this.
[Barney shoots Lily with a water gun]
Barney: I have to go refill. I'll be back in a moment - play's not over!
Marshall: I never get picked for audience participation.

Sunday... The Simpsons... Ep. 18-13... "Springfield Up"

2007-02-24T18:01:00.000-05:00

Quotes.

Young Homer: I will be rich! I'll own a football team and a basketball team and I'll make them play baseball!

Wiggum: And here we are in now-times! As you can see, I've gotten everything i've ever wanted.
Lou (quietly): Except pants that fit.
Wiggum: I told you that if I let you in this movie, you couldn't make fun of me.
Lou: I'm not makin fun of you, I'm makin fun of your pants!
Wiggum: How'd you like if it I made fun of your pants?
Lou: Go ahead.
Wiggum: they're a little uh, th-they..Oh, they're perfect.

Desmond: Don't look at me, look at the camera.
Young Homer: Got it.
Desmond: I said look at the camera.
Young Homer: No problem. (looks down)
Desmond: Now you're looking at a mud puddle. That's your hand. That's the production accountant, that's your other hand! Do you even know what a camera is?
Young Homer: Gah, of cour-No.

Desmond: Are you two considering children?
20s Homer: Puh, kids? No way. You'll never see a couple of rugrats tying me down!
Homer (8 years later): You better not put this shot after the one where I said I won't have kids. That would be a devastating edit.

Desmond: You win, Homer. I guess there's no way I can embarrass you any further.
Caption: Barely literate, Smells like feet.

Young Moe: Oh crap, my first kiss.
Young Comic Book Guy: You could do a lot worse, my friend.

Desmond: Homer Jay Simpson, your fabulous millionaire lifestyle is all a lie!
Lisa (coming in the room): Oh, Father. My pony Buttercup can jump ever so high! -- Ooh boy, it's Mr. Burns!

Burns: I've heard enough. Release the hounds.
Smithers: Uh sir, your hounds are still at the winter house.
Burns: Well, bring them over in that Du-rango.

Homer: All these years I was dreaming of other things, I was actually doing what I really wanted! Hanging out with my family, drinking with my friends, making friends with my family and hanging with my drinking.

Thursday... American Idol... Season 6, Results Show I

2007-02-22T19:50:00.000-05:00

Before it begins, I'd like to re-visit my predictions. I actually don't think that Phil Stacey will be voted out. He did finish well and closed out the show, so I think he may get more votes because of that. I'm allowing myself to change my elimination vote from Phil to Rudy Cardenas.

More to come... LIVE!

Randy - "It's a girl's race to lose."
Paula looks "not drunk" again.
Simon agrees, the guys didn't stand out.
Bunch of guest judges or performers this year, including J-Lo, G-Stef and T-Ben.

Aaaand here comes another way-too-long recap. Haley wasn't great either. I won't be shocked if she goes tonight.

Why would Simon accuse Seacrest of trying to date Alaina if he is so gay?

Group song! Tears For Fears - The Seeds of Love

Fix your hat, Phil. Doolittle looks like she just threw some clothes on after rolling out of bed.
Not bad overall. I'd download that version.

More to come...

The votes are in! But we have another 45 minutes or so to sit through.

Chris loves Simon. Paula almost vomits in disgust.

And here we go...

Brandon (one of my top guys) is safe.
Sundance is safe.
Chris Richardson is safe (ugh).
Vote for (Nick) Pedro is safe.
Blake (my #1 guy) is safe.
Paul Kim is out. I am 1 for 1.

Oh yeah, I forgot the eliminated get to sing again. What if all reality shows did this? "Mike, you've been voted off Survivor Island. Before you go, please complete all your challenges again. We'll wait."

Here come the girls in the back row...

Jordin Sparks is safe.
Stephanie (my #2) is safe.
Sabrina (my #1) is "the one to beat" and safe.
Leslie Hunt is safe.
Doolittle is safe.
Antonella (who I picked to leave) is safe. I'm 1 for 2.

Ooh, Amy comes up alone and goes home. I am possibly now 2 for 2. But I doubt they'd call Antonella back out there, so I'm probably 2 for 3.

Did she just ask the band if she should start now, or am I hearing things?

More to come...

Paul and Amy are gone, so I'm calling myself 2 for 2 right now, since there is the slight possibility Antonella was only safe from the first elimination.

Wow, the easiest trivia in history. I'll go enter for free online. BRB.

Fantasia is performing. Jebus her mouth is HUGE. Don't swallow the microphone, Fanny! My eyes and ears hurt. I think I'll go do something else.

More to come...

More girls...

Someone was safe and I didn't hear who. Haley, I think. Yeah, her.
Lakisha is safe. (duh)
Gina Glocksen is safe. Simon almost looked nervous with his face in his hands. Or maybe he's bored.
Alaina and Nicole are left, neither of whom got good feedback.
Alaina is.... safe. Nicole is out, and I'm officially at best 2 for 3.

You know, I almost picked her, but I think she is very similar looks-wise to Amy and I didn't expect them both to go home. Plus, I thought she was better than at least four girls. So I went with Antonella. Hey, if you consider Leslie a redhead, we're now out of blonde girls! That was quick. Wow, I wrote that whole paragraph mistakingly thinking Alaina left.

Aw, who is going to watch the series finale of the OC? Me neither.

Time is tight, Ryan Let's go!

Chris Sligh is funny, and safe.
Phil is second, so he won't leave. Good thing I changed my vote. He's safe.
Jared is safe, and not the Subway guy.
Simon still looks bored, or sick.
AJ is safe.
Sanjaya or Rudy will be leaving. One is in the top 4. Wow. I bet the girls like Sanjaya.
Rudy is going home! What a good trade-up I did. This makes me 3 for 4 overall on the week.

I love when Paula gets all lovey, saying Rudy has one of the best vocals and Simon is just like "No." Obviously he's right lady, he is leaving. She wants to go give rudy some huggles and kissies.

Is this a Daughtry song in the background? Let's all cheer for no more "Bad Day"!

In summary -
My picks: Paul, Amy, Rudy, Antonella
Who left?: Paul, Amy, Rudy, Nicole.

Monday... Heroes... Ep. 1-16... "Unexpected"

2007-02-22T03:28:00.000-05:00

You know what was "Unexpected?" Stan Lee only getting about 3 seconds of TV-time.

Anyway, it's begun: Just as I thought, Sylar is going to just follow Suresh around and kill all these people, then act like "oh man, that sucks, let's go." Suresh is a smart guy, doesn't it come off the least bit strange to him that all of a sudden Sylar (Zane) is getting these bad headaches when they find the woman dead? And when he mentiones Sylar, he's really curious to learn more.

Well, I thought Ando was going to be the one to die, as I figured it would be one of the "Heroes." Plus, I thought I read something about Hiro losing someone he cares for. But I guess they just meant since Ando was kidnapped by Missi Pyle, or when Hiro tells Ando to go home. Turns out it's just Simone who dies. Interesting way to do it though, having Isaac do it while trying to shoot Peter. I read that Simone does in fact die, so Peter must not have contracted any kind of healing power. She never really brought anything to the table for me anyway, so I'm not crying over it.

I had to look up why people keep referring to Claire's dad as "HRG." I guess it means Horn-Rimmed Glasses. Boy, that's really lame. I don't think it's one of those fan-made names though because I've seen it mentioned in more official recaps and episode previews. They are doing a good job with him, though. I actually am on the fence on if I believe he is trying to protect his family. I think he might be, but he's just so obsessed with learning about the people with powers that he's making a lot of mistakes. But considering they knew Sylar was the bad guy, I guess I can believe HRG (I can't believe I'm typing that...) is probably more good than evil. But he may have his own motives.

We might find out, since now Matt and the two newest Heroes are in his house and have guns pointed at him and his family. I thought Matt tried to read his mind before and failed, so I'm not sure how they're going to figure anything out...

Tuesday/Wednesday... American Idol... Top 24 Perform

2007-02-22T02:44:00.000-05:00

I think we Idol watchers were spoiled in the first season with the runaway favorites. Kelly and Tamyra were just that good. I think if this were the first season and this was the same 24, the viewing audience might be closer to that of Dancing with the Stars. The guys weren't good and the girls were only better by comparison. As I was watching Stephanie start out the show on Wednesday, I made a comment to my girlfriend predicting Randy would say something like "The girls are ON TONIGHT!" As the show went on, it was clear they really weren't. Although at the end, in comparison to the guys, I believe Randy might have said they did have it "going on," or "brought it down" or something like that.

Ryan accused Simon of being more negative Tuesday night, but was he? Randy called a lot of the performances rough, and Paula was more often making comments about picking the right song or taking/not taking risks. Simon just happens to be more blunt about it, and makes more references to weddings/theme parks/ etc.

Speaking of Ryan and Simon, their bickering used to be fun. Now, it's just painful. It's as if Ryan wants to have more of it and Simon, rightfully so, is bored with it. And Ryan is becoming RUDE. "Thanks to Randy and Paula, the band, and you, America." Wow, we get it. I actually hope that GLAAD finally makes a formal complaint because of all the gay-bashing they joke around with.

If I gotta pick my top three favorite girls and guys right now, I guess I will.

1. Sabrina Sloan
2. Stephanie Edwards
3. No clue. Lakisha was good, but we've kind of already seen a variation of her a few times, and she never seems to win. She is from Michigan though. So, represent.

I wish I thought Leslie Hunt was a better singer. Gina Glocksen, the funnest name to say this year, might become my #3 if she does well next week.

1. Blake Lewis
2. Chris Sligh (he looked a little awkward on stage though)
3. Brandon Rogers

Sabrina was right, there are too many ballads and hopefully some of the guys will do something different next week, and maybe I'll update my list.

I don't think I'll make my season-long predictions until they narrow it down to the Final 12. But this is probably going to be one of the worst final 12 they've had. I fear it may come down to "who I can stand" between the final 2, kind of like how I was rooting for Diana DeGarmo in Season 3 (Fantasia went on to make such hits as .... her life story in a TV movie). Wow... looking back, I don't see a lot back then either. I was a Jasmine fan.

My picks for the elimination... Simon warned me that the performances wouldn't be memorable, so I'm having a hard time remembering who was bad enough to go. So I guess I'll have to make my picks more on the random side.

Guys to be eliminated: Paul Kim, Phil Stacey. Although, Rudy and Sundance may have been worse than those two. Chris Richardson might have been my least favorite performance, though.

Girls to be eliminated: Antonella Barba, Amy Krebs. I guess. I don't have the highlights to wath back right now. So, there you have it.

Monday... 24... Ep. 6-10... "3:00 PM-4:00 PM"

2007-02-19T22:21:00.000-05:00

Family members are just so easy.

Jack's dad, "Dad" has who is possibly Jack's son "Josh", but is also Marilyn's son and maybe Graem's son, who is Jack's brother and of course, Jack's father's son. Jack's mom is nowhere to be found. I wonder what Jack's father's mother thinks of all this; She didn't raise no fool.

Usually kids act really calm or really scared. Josh is somewhere in between. It's as if his notes were "act as if you don't know what's going on, but you just want to go play video games."

Meanwhile, Morris goes from wanting to do his job to freaking out about being the cause of more bombs to binge "drinking" (I didn't metabolize!). Then all of a sudden. he's completely fine. Let him go back to work, it's the best medicine. I wonder where his Red Bull went. Combine those with Altoids? Oh boy. Good thing Chloe will keep her eye on him. As will Milo. You can count on some interesting banter from those two!

Milo (CTU is full of cat-like names) got shot and looks almost worse than Morris, and he got a drill through the arm plus a bit of water torture. Plus, Morris has that cool bald head and you can see the big bruise. I think it's obvious who the bigger man is. Damn right, it's Chloe.

President Principal Robin Wood is about to be kiiiilllled! Where's Buffy when you need her?

John Cage (I mean Tom Lennox!) took a nasty gun to the head and doesn't look any worse for wear, besides being passed out cold, of course. Should have seen it coming, Rob Lowe's brother should never be trusted. But if that area was so safe for those two to talk in, how come he was able to hear Lennox make that phone call? It's not like he was across an open room like Josh was when he heard Daddy threaten Marilyn. Which is rule number one in holding a hostage, always go at least two rooms away! I guess he could have kept the door open, although I thought I saw Tom open it.

I like how they give Jack a nice long speech and zoom the camera in rreeeeaaallly close, and we're NOT supposed to expect Daddy to run away. I'm surprised that phone Jack found wasn't accompanied by a "I love you, son" note.

Ok, so who left the phone? Was it Logan himself? No, couldn't be. I don't know if Daddy would have left it, he could have just told him. At least Marilyn got away with Josh, but not before a nice moment with Jack that could have used some harp music. Aw, she touches his face, and he touches her hand with HIS MUTANT HAND! It's nice she is so quick to forgive him throwing her against the wall and choking her. He's got the balls (and the smarts) Graem never had. Love is in the air.

Thursday... My Name Is Earl... Ep. 2-16... "The Birthday Party"

2007-02-17T00:58:00.000-05:00

I think for half-hour sitcoms, I may just write down quotes instead of trying to blog, since a lot of times there isn't a linear story to follow.

Randy: It's an ice cream cake. That's your favorite kind of cake because it's got ice cream in the middle. Just like your favorite kind of truck does. You know, an ice cream truck.

Earl (Narration): A few years ago I was into some show where guys acted like jackasses. I think it was called "Dumbass."

Earl: Hey, Nescobar A-loplop, how's the English comin'?
Nescobar: I speak better than you, bitch!

Earl (interrupting Crabman): Yeah, yeah. I know, I've done some bad things, I'm aware of that. I've written them down. But I've done some good things too - I raised your son for five years, let's not forget about that!

Donny Jones: I listened to a whole Phish album! And it sucked!

Neighbor: He saw Jill doin' it with Doug, He saw Karen doin' it with clamps on her nubbies.
Karen: Hey!
Neighbor: It's ok, he saw me doin' it with clamps on my nubbies too! Thanks for lettin me borrow your nubbie clamps.

Joy (yelling out the window): We're gonna do stuff from the Kama Sutra, where i sit cross-legged and wiggle while you hold it for two hours like Sting does!

Joy (yelling out the window): It's time for spankings! But not for our kids, we're good parents. We use timeouts. It's time for momma spanking, cause I've been a bad girl!

Earl: How many G's in pregnant?
Joy: What do I look like, a professor of spellin'? Just put it on there, and do it soon.

Earl: You got great boobs, Peggy.
Deedee: My name's Deedee.
Earl: You got great boobs, Deedee.
Deedee (sincerely): Your momma sure raised a sweet talker.

[Earl finds Deedee's wooden leg in the bed]
Earl (jumping up frantically): Oh my God, oh my god!
Deedee (offscreen): You want me to whip up some eggs?
Earl (shouting): Shut up, I'm thinking! I mean, sure.

Deedee (offscreen): Earl, can you come in here and give me a hand?
Earl (to himself): A hand? there's a hand?

Randy: We thought tricking you would be funny. Like when you tied that rope to my foot? But instead of rope, it was mean words about things you've done that made you wanna hate yourself!

Crabman: Hey Earl, can I give you your cake now? The wind from the bullet hole in the wall keeps blowing out the candle.

Thursday... Smallville... Ep. 6-16... "Freak"

2007-02-16T00:07:00.000-05:00

Bare with me, I'm blogging this as I watch it, instead of trying to remember details.

How big is Smallville exactly? I thought it was just farm land, but now they even have a bowling alley. I'm actually surprised it's not in the Luthor mansion. I guess it can't be though, as some new dude with the ability to see meteor affected people shows up. He spots one and gets picked up by some thugs. Which of course will lead Chloe to call for Clark.

Hmm, he doesn't remember anything. And Lex is behind the mission to seek out the meteor "freaks." Some guy, whose wife was murdered, seems to care about this blind meteor-seer.

Clark and Chloe visit him, his sunglasses fall off and it doesn't show what he sees, but he looks shocked. And by the trailer we know that Chloe gets abducted. He uses superhearing to find out that he "found another one." Clark and Chloe were so close to him that he may have only saw one blur, and assumed it was Chloe. I guess I'll find out soon.

Lana seems very interested to find out more about Tobias (the blind kid). I wonder if she knows something about the blind kid that Lex is trying "to help," but obviously Chloe would be filling her in on details Lex would not. She's also hinting that she knows some meteor infectees could be helping people. Maybe she's finally zoned in on Clark.

Hahaha Clark took the good doctor's computer from right under his nose using super speed and stands there like "what? me?" Excellent.

So, I was right and Chloe was mistakenly identified. I was kinda hoping that she was infected in some way. But wouldn't the Dr. have assumed it was Clark? I mean, Clark acted dumb about the computer being taken, but Dr. Bethany (?) knows people have abilities and could easily assume that Clark used his to take the computer. So, maybe he IS just trying to lure Clark in, while Tobias thinks she is infected.

Woohoo, naked Chloe! Damn, I'm surprised they got the giant needle into her belly before Clark found her. DNA extraction, sounds fun.

I'm shocked at how direct Lana is being with Lex. Of course he plays smug and dumb, but I thought Lana would have tip-toes around it a little. I guess she's getting to the point where if something is going on, she needs to know now before the wedding/baby.

Chloe is back, safe and somewhat sound. She experienced the same type of memory loss that the Asian kid did, but she has to remember something because she said "Why would they take me?" Perhaps she was infected, they took it from her, and we'll never know... (Man, this is unraveling like Heroes. Let's take all the powers! Lex = 33.1 = Sylar!)

Oooh. Dr. Bethany tells Lex his laptop was stolen and there might be a mention of Luthercorp in there. This makes Lex very angry! He wants Tobias brought to him unharmed, but Lana gets to him first.

WOAH! So Lana DOES suspect, nay, KNOW Clark is infected. Or heavily assumes it, thinking Tobias will just crack and tell her everything if she pretends to already know. But he says Clark is "the most normal guy" he's ever met. Lana seems shocked. "Wrong? Me? Never!" I'm starting to think Lana isn't planning to even marry Lex, and is trying to find out everything she can from him. But she seemed pretty happy at the bowling alley "bachelorette party," so I can't be sure.

Maybe Chloe was infected by something that helps her crack all this computer stuff, because they're in. It's a map of Smallville! (thanks Clark.) and they're tracking and killing meteor freaks. I wish Chloe would stop using that word. She knows better than anyone that some of them are nice. DAYUMN! Chloe tells Clark to X-ray her, then BURN her! I don't get why he doesn't like, numb her with the cold breath first. Although I guess that could cause frostbite or something. And actually, he may not have figured that one out yet. I can't recall. Jimmy Olsen gets rather upset that Clark used a "pocketknife" to get the tracker out. Heh Heh.

Lana appears to have talked Tobias into going with her somewhere safe. The Dr. comes in and is all like, we're gonna get you your eyes! So Toby turns off the power and grabs a gun. Chaos ensues, Toby shoots Dr once, Dr. tackles Toby, Clark shows up just as Lana is shooting Dr. and Dr. is shooting Toby. Clark deflects both shots, then Lana finds the bullet hole, and the bullet with a big imprint in it.

Wow. Insane ending. Toby tells Clark Lana thinks he is infected. Lana confronts Clark and he says he's not infected. (Lana is very ballsy tonight!) And she's still skeptical. Lana says that if Clark WAS infected, it wouldn't matter. Don't know why Clark wouldn't just tell come clean then. Probably to protect her. She's also very hesitant to believe anything Lex says. He swears on the soul of his unborn child that he wasn't involved with Dr. in any plot to kill anyone. So, maybe this mystery baby has no soul? Oooh, vampire?!

So, Chloe IS infected. It makes sense now. Clark isn't infected by Kryptonite, it hurts him. He's the only one from Krypton itself, so Tobias really didn't suspect him at all. She's scared poopless. She probably has to die eventually. Lex tells someone off-screen to keep an eye on Chloe. Then he looks into the camera. Oooooh.

Monday... Studio 60... Ep. 1-15... "The Friday Night Slaughter"

2007-02-15T23:15:00.000-05:00

I'm very iffy on flashback episodes on TV shows. Sometimes it works (Buffy/Angel, How I Met Your Mother) and sometimes it doesn't (this). Apparently Matt is on some kind of drugs now while Danny is a recovering cocaine addict. Or maybe he just got caught the one time, I can't remember. (This is why I started this thing. I can never remember anything!) While this might create some tension, I like Matt as just the stressed out sarcastic Chandler-like character. Especially with his new assistant, who plays dry comedy brilliantly. See a couple episodes ago, and the whole "$501? and $502 to the sex people?" banter.

Still, I wasn't thrilled with the flashbacks, even if it did explain his drug problem and introduce whats his name - the guy Harriet's doing (a movie with). I wanna say Scott but I don't think that's right. Maybe that's his last name. Luke Scott? And the writer who may or may not have really been Matt, or his subconscious, or whatever. I read a lot about Matthew Perry doing a good job, and I always think he does. But the episode, it was too drama for me. I realize it IS a drama, but they've been able to put some good humor in.

i miss Cal and the snake/ferret/coyote.

The flashbacks were just too dumbed down. And by that, I mean they did not want to take the risk of making anyone possibly think that this could be happening in the present. So they give Matt a backwards baseball cap (because no one does that anymore - remember when Chandler flashbacks used to have him in a baseball cap too? Weird.) and they play every single song that was popular in 1999 like "All-Star" by Smashmouth. Add to that numerous mentions of "Y2K," just in case anyone nodded off. It was a little insulting, honestly. The shaky handheld camera is good enough to tell me we're not in Kansas anymore, ok? I get it. Harriet has straight hair and there's 55 people in the writers room. Those're all the visual clues I need.

Danny and Jordan seem cozy now, except for the fact that she won't let him kiss her in public. I wasn't a big Amanda Peet fan, but she's getting some good lines. She suggests the only place to hide is under the desk, but she doesn't think they'll both fit. Danny had a good response that of course, I forgot.

Tom and Dylan were ok, my initial thought was that it was a filler C-plot, but since the episode surrounded the cutting of sketches, and T&D were wanting their sketch to make it just like Matt when he was writing, I guess it worked. Especially the subtle overacting of "BIG SKETCH!"

I guess none of this will matter if the show gets canceled, and I've read that more than once. Maybe Cal can get a spin off. Anyway, let's all cheer the lack of Steven Weber in this episode!

Monday... Heroes... Ep. 1-15... "Run!"

2007-02-15T22:17:00.000-05:00

First of all, if you're going to Google "Heroes," watch your typos.

I like Matt episodes, but they spent too much time on Claire. I'm all about Hayden Pattycakeiere getting screen time. She's not a bad lil actress. But now that I know who her father is, I don't really care. I mean, what exactly has Nathan done yet? Not much. We know he can fly but he's only done it once to get out of trouble. We know he's Peter's brother, which right now is the most exciting thing that can be said about him. And he slept with Nikki/Jessica. Way to hit that! Even if it was blackmail. Meanwhile Claire visits her mom, finds out her father is going to show up, and sneaks around to listen in on them. She has a little bit of hope when she overhears him talking about her, but gets sad again when Nathan tells her mother that she did the right thing, sending her away. Wow, I jumped far far away from Matt. More on him in a bit.

Speaking of Matt, does anyone else think his wife looks like she could be Jennifer Garner's chunky sister? (Which is also weird because the guy who plays Matt [Greg Grunberg] was on Alias with the actual Jennifer Garner.)

It's about time Suresh actually did something besides walk around his apartment talking to himself and going on and on about his father and looking at maps. It should be very interesting to see what happens with him and Sylar. I don't understand this new power of melting things and why Sylar seemed so interested in showing Suresh after he stole it. And sure, I can go along with him following Suresh to find all these other people, but how is he going to kill them/acquire their ability without seeming suspicious? "Oh look another one died, aw. On to the next one!" Although, I guess if he just finds the list of people and where they are, he could kill Suresh, but I doubt it will come to that.

I'm trying to remember who Linderman is and what role he plays, besides linking a few of the characters. (I bet I forgot a lot of important details while the show was on hiatus.) But apparently Jessica knows him, because he hires her to kill the guy Matt is supposed to protect. Matt could hear Nikki and Jessica since they share one mind, so Jessica is able to kill the guy while Matt looks for Nikki. Luckily Matt heard the guy think about where he hid the diamonds, and he keeps them to himself. I wonder if he'll really keep them. Chunky Garner might object. I kid, she's a sweet gal.

Missi Pyle is still weird looking, and it's a shame that Ando is so horny that he'll go after anyone with boobs. Hiro is stuck in a closet until it's opened by Dauber, who is Missy Pyle's gigantic and sometimes half-naked boyfriend.

I may be wrong here, but I think something else is going on with Meredith (Claire's real mother). Nathan offered her 100,000. Then I thought I heard Meredith say that he was going to give them $25,000, which Claire was going to get half of. Or maybe it was half of $50,000 and thats why I'm thinking 25. Anyway, she gets mad at the end after Nathan tells Meredith she did the right thing. and throws a rock at his limo. I thought for a second she was going to at least get a license plate, but it doesn't appear she did. she just hid and ran away. But Jessica now has instructions to kill Nathan (go Jessie!), so we'll see what happens there.

I heard there were going to be deaths in the show, and I just read this about next week: After someone Hiro knows dies, he makes a tough choice about his mission. I guess it could be Ando. He's kinda boring anyway. But come on now, don't let it be at the hands of Missi Pyle!

(For the record, NBC.com's player sucks. Watch the latest episode my ass. It took 5 minutes to play a :30 movie trailer. Then it froze my computer. Why can't we just download a good copy of the episode if they're going to offer it for free anyway?)

Tuesday/Wednesday... American Idol... Season 6 Hollywood Week

2007-02-15T19:11:00.001-05:00

I didn't get to see Tuesday's performances. So, I can't pick a favorite yet. But I need to do it early because every time I claim to like one of the finalists, people think I'm going with the flavor of the week or something. I was rooting for Kelly Clarkson and Christina Christian (despite her scary midget belly ) early on in season 1.

I don't see anyone that jumps out at me as someone I want to root for. Right now there's 12 girls, 11 guys, and Sanjaya. I think he was lumped in with the boys.

I'm noticing funny names more than the talent so far. Aside from Sanjaya, we have Lakisha, Doolittle, Tranquillo, Glocksen, Krebs, Sundance Head, and of course, well-known porn star Jordin Sparks. Ok, she's not really a porn star, she's only 17. But isn't it the perfect name?

It says on the website that Melinda Doolittle and Phil Stacey are 29. I'm assuming they were 28 when they auditioned, kinda like Taylor Hicks last season. Even though he looked 50.

So far, three out of the first five girls I've looked at picked Mariah Carey as one of their favorite female artists (Final count: 5/12). Jordin Sparks? She likes Christina Timberlake. I really want to know if she said that, or the author of her profile. She also would like to "play piano by ear," which is a funny image if you take it literally. Stephanie Edwards apparently likes the duo of "Beyonce, Knowles." Boy, they need some editing done on these bios.

Back to favorites, here are the leaders:

The Girls like Justin Timberlake (4 votes), Stevie Wonder (4), Michael Jackson (3), Mariah (5), Christina Aguilera (3). Some got 2 votes and 1 which I'm too lazy to list.

The boys like Stevie Wonder (8!!), J-T (3), M-J (4), Beyonce (3), Mariah (3), Sade (3). There was one vote for Lauryn Hill as a favorite, but Nicholas Pedro just enjoys her music. The guys even more 1-votes because of indecisive Blake Lewis, who has a short list of:

Robbin Thicke, Jamaroqui, Maroon 5, Jason Mraz, U2, Gnarls Barkley, Half Past Forever, Michael Jackson, Prince, Sting, Eric Benet, Martin Sexton, Duncan Sheik, M-Pact, Bjork, Fiona Apple, Imogen Heap, Estmerd, Jill Scott, Tori Amos, Ella Fitzgerald and Sade.

Phil Stacey has quite the list too, which includes judge Paul Abdul. Way to hit that, Phil! And I know one of them (Paul Kim?) was going to sing barefoot all the time, but I hope Phil doesn't wear that stupid beanie anymore. We already had a guy who couldn't let go of a hat. Ace Young, I'm talkin to you.

I'm liking Chris Sligh. He put Blake Lewis and Gina Glocksen on his list. Talk about buttering up the competition! (Bad mental image of Chris eating lots of butter...) He's also a self-proclaimed great kisser and he pees before going on stage. Don't we all?

Ok, this is long enough. Maybe next week I'll have a favorite. I'll probably just add my predictions in with my blogs in weeks to come.

Monday... 24... Eps. 6-8 "1:00 PM-2:00 PM", 6-9 "2:00 PM-3:00 PM"

2007-02-13T23:29:00.000-05:00

For two hours, not a lot happened. Well, yeah it did. But it didn't leave me feeling like the story was moving along all that quickly.

I think it's hard for them to come up with new material. Once again we had the good guy being tortured. Personally I was surprised Morris held out that long. I know he's not a traitor or anything, but his character seems like a wuss. I actually thought the chick was going to uncuff Morris and help him, but sometimes the twists are so obvious, you don't see them coming. So she kills Darren McCarthy (who I like to believe is named after Darren McCarty) so she can get the $7 million all to herself. Until she whines like a ten year old and gets killed.

Jack has to disarm one of the bombs. I wish just once he would know how to do it, and quickly. Maybe not as quickly as Chloe seemed to get those schematics though. (Come on, it took them longer to get the schematics for the hotel to find Fayed.) It's 24, the "Jack Bauer Hour of Power". It's not like we're on the edge of our seats wondering if Jack will mess up and die in an explosion. And to have him disarm it with the trigger almost touching, they might as well had put a timer on it and have it say 00:00:01. Of course, without the shaky hands, he could have made it a lot less dramatic.

John Cage - oh sorry. Tom Lennox! He wants to resign but Rob Lowe's brother talks him out of it with an idea to kill Palmer. Really? I wonder if there are this many moles and death plots surrounding real Presidents. It's too obvious. In the world of 24, we're up to like 55 Presidents already. Why not a few more? I'm surprised Sherry Palmer didn't have her shot at it. Well, I don't think it was ever 100% clear that she was really dead, so maybe one day!

In the second hour, the big thing is Jack's father telling Marilyn that he killed Graem and to lead Jack to a different location. Marilyn wants to tell Jack SO BADLY about his father, but thinks better of it so we can have more dramatic pauses. Jack and his men surround and enter the house. A bomb goes off in the house, ONCE AGAIN TRYING TO MAKE US BELIEVE JACK DIED IN AN EXPLOSION. Ok, well it's probably more to make Marilyn think that. But sheesh. Remember when Jack could barely speak? And couldn;t keep his hand steady? Now he's jumping out of exploding houses. Whatever. Milo escapes with Marilyn, hopefully to shave that goatee he's worn as every single character he's ever played.

But now we know the Russians are behind the bombs and not the Arabs. So, if Fayed is just a pawn, why is he even working with the Russians? Oh well. I probably missed something.

Jack: Are you sure this time?
Chloe: About as sure as I'm going to be before this bomb goes off.

Sunday... The Simpsons... Ep. 18-12 "Little Big Girl"

2007-02-13T23:12:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if the episode was referring to Lisa trying to make up an Indian heritage or Bart's girlfriend being pregnant. Maybe it was both.

Anyway, not a great episode. Although I like when they re-do the opening title with some kind of twist from the plot. Bart driving a car over the residents of Springfield and finally jumping the gate to crush Homer with his car was pretty funny. The episode would have probably worked better if there was more of Homer and Bart, and less of the girlfriend. How someone, even in cartoon land, could mistake a boy of 10 years old to be old enough to marry and be a father is reaching a little too far. Natalie Portman's a smart girl, why did they make her character so dense?

Lisa's plotline was weird. I guess it's interesting to see her lie her way through a report, but I'm not sure... I knew from the beginning she would eventually feel guilty and confess. On one hand I wish I would have been wrong. But this is the Simpsons, and the characters don't really change all that much. So it wouldn't have been Lisa-like to get away with it before confessing.

So, TV.com says that in this episode, we learn that Lenny and Karl share a mother and could be half brothers. I'm not sure why that's important, but it gives all those gay couple references/assumptions in years past a confusing and possibly gross twist. Speaking of gay, I'm not sure if I liked the Burns/Smithers moment. Smithers is on fire and yells out "I'm flaming!" to which Burns puts a hand on his chin and looks into the camera. It just seemed too National Lampoonish, and I liked the idea of Mr. Burns being oblivious to Smithers and even the gay lifestlyle. I mean, you've seen the cars they have him driving. His mindset shouldn't be anywhere near the 20th century.

Friday... Psych... Ep. 1-12 "Cloudy...Chance of Murder"

2007-02-11T16:38:00.000-05:00

Ok, how weird is it that Season 1 started in July 2006, and it's still going on? Granted it was on a 5-month hiatus, but sheesh. Another reason why USA is a weird, weird network. How does it survive on three new shows a year and 500 movies? They can't be getting good ratings. I digress.

I've never heard of James Roday before this show, and I don't think I've seen him on anything else. But he's brilliant on this show. He reminds me of Jim Carrey, but with a quicker wit.

I also love courtroom plots. I don't watch Law & Order because they spend too much time on the streets questioning people who say "I don't know. But here's someone who might." So anyway, this guy in a courtroom is gold. I was glad he actually was able to get up and play lawyer rather than just helping the actual lawyer the whole time. But that guy was pretty good, too. He reminded me of Tom Lenk. I'd love to see an entire show with this kind of character as a lawyer. I think they did make one, actually. But I don't think it was a comedy. I'll have to look into it.

I watched this on Saturday night and I'm posting this on Sunday evening. so sadly, some of my favorite lines I wanted to jot down here have escaped my memory. Although, this one is good:

Hornstock: My firm doesn't really believe in...
Shawn: Winning?
Hornstock: No.
Shawn: Mermaids?
Hornstock: No.
Shawn: The Minotaur?
Hornstock: Me.

I realize I spent more time talking about the show itself than the episode. Basically, Shawn thinks that a teacher is wrongly accused of murdering a television weatherman. And as usual, his instincts are correct. He sees her pick up a piece of trash while walking out of the courtroom, and since she didn't have to do that, something doesn't seem right about her being a killer.

Friday... Monk... Ep. 5-14 "Mr. Monk Visits A Farm"

2007-02-11T16:19:00.000-05:00

I like Monk, i really do. But as they make more and more episodes it just seems all the same. I liked when he made a little progress toward something, like his wife's murder case. But now he just goes somewhere where he is uncomfortable and solves a lame case. This one was especially bad since they didn't even have many suspects. We all know who it was from the get-go. Well, that's not fair. A lot of times they will show the murder in the teaser before the credits, and it's a matter of watching Monk solve it rather than a whodunit. And sometimes I like that. Anyway, about the episode.

When I say it was bad, it wasn't so much the episode. It was fairly funny, and there was the added sympathetic Randy Disher story. Randy messes up a lot though so until he mentioned it was his uncle who died, I didn't really get why he was taking it so hard. He asks Monk to come and see if he can find out anything in case his uncle was murdered. Which of course he was. And Monk has to take "a bus? a bus? to a farm?" It's funny when Monk almost turns down cases because of his fears. Although lately they seem to be focusing more on that, rather than the subtlety of his affliction and how it affects his work. Although he was counting the chicken feed instead of just throwing handfuls in, which was funny. I always hate the part of the episode that they've shown in the commercials. especially with USA, because they over-advertise their own shows and they show the same 20 second clip about 8 times an hour. And hell, I don't even know who the hell Brooke Adams is. Why should I care she is guest starring? (Oh. Now that I look her up, she is Tony Shaloub's wife. I guess that explains it!) Which also explains the joke about him being married, and his wife being dead. to which she has mixed feelings about.

So anyway, Monk solves the case and uses Randy's sleep-hypnosis self-help tape to tell him what happened to he can solve the case and become a cop again. which gives him faux confidence that he can solve cases in his sleep. So at least we know we won't be seeing a Super-Randy case solving machine. But my question is, when messes up again, what's stopping him from quitting again? Oh well.

Monk thought he got high. I usually get really annoyed at any marijuana related jokes, since I have a strong opinion on it not being this fun thing everyone sees it as. But him handcuffing himself to a tractor and going insane about how he's getting the munchies was kind of funny. Only because of his character.

On a side note, I hate TV.com's cast list. They still list Bitty Schram, but don't list Emmy Clarke, the girl who plays Natalie's daughter. They don't seem to like updating.

Thursday... Scrubs... Ep. 6-8 "My Road to Nowhere"

2007-02-09T18:47:00.000-05:00

After watching the episode, I guess I should have predicted the twist involving JD's baby. When Kim told him she had a miscarriage, it seemed really nonchalant. Plus, it wasn't even an act break. It was more like "oh by the way JD isn't having a baby anymore." I don't know why JD's reaction wasn't bigger either, considering he didn't know she was lying. It just seems like something that should affect him more, but I doubt it's going to be brought up a lot in the future. I've heard people say that JD having a kid would ruin the show, but Turk has one. They've done everything else together, why not have them both be new fathers?

I wonder what Kim's reason for breaking up with JD was. Maybe she did in fact get the permanent position but felt like they couldn't make a long-distance relationship work, let alone with a baby.

I almost expected something to go wrong with Jordan and Cox's baby too. They've done episodes like that, like the one where the three patients all died. Turk saying she is strong gave me the impression that they wouldn't do that though.

I like when Dr. Cox shows heart. I guess because it happens so sporadically, it makes it more real? I don't know. Aside from the whole "Wrong/Dorian" thing, a lot of this episode was him showing love and trust to other people. And then he got punched in the nuts. By his own kid! Nice. "Man Check!" I should use that one. I like the subtitles they use for the kid. My favorite was "I pooped in my bed so I put it on the TV!"

I'm not sure I understood the Janitor thing. Part of me is hoping his little amnesia spell is real and he befriends JD for awhile. He said hello to Elliot but didn't call her "Blonde doctor" or anything. But I doubt that'll come up again.

I don't know if there has ever been a bad Kelso/Ted scene. Those two are so good with each other.

Turk: (To Dr. Cox) ...and you just gave my baby to Rochelle, the only nurse to get kicked out of the nursery for using a baby as a ventriloquist's dummy.

Thursday... My Name Is Earl... Ep. 2-16... "Blow"

2007-02-09T15:17:00.000-05:00

MNIE went a little more good-feely than comedic in this one, although it's always funny so it's okay. Joy has a half-sister from her dad's infidelity and it turns out to be her "sworn nemesis." Which is kind of funny because we've never seen her on the show before. The casting was great; Joy as a kid and Joy as a pre-teen (?) were played perfectly. I think Jaime herself played younger versions of Joy usually. I'd have to check.

So by the end of this one, Joy makes up with her half-sister and is pregnant with her and Ray-Ray's kid. Ray-Ray-Ray. She thinks being impregnated will help her not be incarcerated, and not being pregnant allows Liberty to continue wrestling. Earl never does cross the item off his list visually (stole a girl's identity), although he says he will.

I love how consistent everything is on this show. Joy says "my deaf lawyer" every single time, as if people forget she's deaf or that she has multiple lawyers, and the deaf part is used to differentiate. This type or writing is usually annoying because it's so repetitive, but they make it work. The episode works in Joy's fighting ability again, even though she gets her butt kicked. Also, Randy asks what half of a sister Liberty is, top or bottom. While I didn't like this joke at first, I remember when he asked Earl what half of Catalina would be naked, the front or back. I pictured Earl explaining to him about top and bottom, and this is where he tries to use that knowledge.

There was also another reference to Joy's prom date stabbing her.

Liberty's kinda hot, eh? DJ Qualls was pretty good as her boyfriend, and I know it was supposed to mirror Joy and Darnell. But I dunno, I wasn't thrilled with that part.

I was surprised at how little reaction Joy got when she flashed Randy. But "at the bottom of that fuzzy lightning bolt" was great, both for how Randy described it and the idea that Joy "decorates" herself. And the smile Randy gets on his face after being hit in the head with a chair is funny.

Randy: (yelling at Liberty) You, go to the back of the bus.
(crowd boos)
Earl: (voiceover) Randy, may have had the perfect head for wrestling, but his heart was a little too soft, and he just couldn't take the booing.
Randy: I'm not really the man. I'm Randy and I'm nice. I like black people, I love Oprah especially when she acts black.

Thursday... Smallville... Ep. 6-15... "Trespass"

2007-02-09T14:51:00.001-05:00

So, we got a little bit further in the whole "Clark and Lana, AGAIN?" plotline. She's a little sneak, that one. Martha thinks she feels safe there. Clark and Chloe think she's doing some digging into his secret. Lex thinks she prefers Clark's protection over his (even though Lex was MIA). Lana now seems to know Clark would still be there for her, she obviously has some trust issues with Lex (and vice-versa), so the upcoming wedding may be interesting.

I don't know who does the score, but they went a little B Horror Movie for this episode. I guess the plot was deserving of it, what with the "gift" and the note left for her. The whole stalking, snap-shooting paparazzi thing was more funny than scary, but at least that turned out to be a ruse for the .... well, the stalking, snap-shooting security guard. (/spoiler) Much better!

Chloe and Jimmy are back together for now. Which either means he becomes a third wheel or a third teammate. Depends on how much "Jimmy! um, nothing!" Clark and Chloe give him when they spend so much time together. Unless Chloe dies of course. And if she does, it better be real this time. I don't want her dead but you can only fake-kill someone on a TV show a few times before it becomes "we got nothin' else to do!"

Speaking of Jimmy, he referred to Clark as "impossibly gigantic," which was probably the best line of the episode.

I really want to know what the deal is with this baby. I've read spoilers that she has a miscarriage, or at least she tells Clark she did. Wouldn't it be interesting if she lies about it like Kim did on Scrubs!?

Lex: Looks like you’re working out some issues there.
Clark: Just doing a little honest work, Lex. You should try it some time.
Lex: Why start now? My life’s perfect.