Lost Season 3

Per Spoilerfix, on Lost's third season:

Next season, we will understand the real ramifications of Desmond activating the failsafe and what that did. The central issue of season three
will be what did happen. It sounds like Desmond's coming back. They said they want him back, we want to know why he was in prison, we want to know what happened when he turned that key that affected the entire island. That will become very important. The island was visible but only for an instant. It was also visible for an instant on 9/22/04 when the plane crashed. The foot statue
represents the history and archeology of the island. Season three will explore what happened on the island before Dharma arrived in the late 70's and who was there. The smoke monster will definitely be back in Season three. There is a good chance we saw the monster this year and didn't realize we were looking at it. By the end of next year we will realize what it was and when we saw it. Why
did the Others take Jack, Kate and Sawyer? Where is their home? That will be the story told over the first six episodes. Season 3 will also be about the main characters and their relationships. They want to service the relationships next year more than the mythology. How Locke got in the wheelchair, how Jack got his tattoos will be revealed in Season three.

Non-TVGuide Post Lost Interview

Mike Ausiello, of Ask Ausiello fame (one of the tv columns I read religiously!) gave a post-Lost finale interview, which didn't appear on tvguide's website. Click HERE to check it out - interesting take on a few things.

Some Alias Answers

I still think that the producers should have a post-series online web chat to answer the fans' questions - we have put a lot of thought into this show, and we deserve answers to EVERYTHING!! But for now, here are some answers:

From Kristen's online column:

After Monday night's fantastic series ender, many of you fellow fans posted on our message boards the unanswered questions still weighing heavily on your minds. Truth be told, I really wanted answers to some of them, too, so I emailed executive producer Jeff Pinkner, who graciously emailed right back the following answers.

Q: In the finale, did Irina say, "Rambaldi is alive," "Rambaldi is love" or Rambaldi "is life"?
A: "Rambaldi is life...Through him we can live forever."

Q: What was the horizon?
A: The horizon was the Rambaldi-designed glass sphere that activated the pedestal in his tomb and then received the liquid from the hovering red
ball.

Q: Did Irina fall on the sphere? In the final shot, one hand was bent behind her back after she fell. Could she have squished the ball but then have
been resurrected by it? It did take a while to work on Sloane.
A: No, the ball rolled away, presumably recovered by Syd, who would have had it destroyed.

Q: Given the actions of Nadia at the end of the show, was she truly just a figment of Sloane's imagination/conscience?
A: She was his conscience. I think killing Nadia--whom he deeply loved--caused some sort of emotional/psychotic rift for Sloane.

Q: Is Sloane going to live forever under a rock, or is he eventually going to die?
A: Sloane is immortal, living forever buried 200 feet beneath the earth.

There you have it. The classified intel. (I'm gonna miss saying that.) Unfortunately, Jeff wouldn't tackle whether the highlighted letters in the city
names or the number 47 meant anything, so I'll have to harass JJ Abrams next time I see him.

Some Quick Thoughts

1. Note to the creators of Big Love: I am tired of seeing Bill Paxton's ass. You've made your point. It's HBO and you can show nudity. But please for the love of God, keep Bill Paxton and Chloe's clothes on from now on

2. 24: Boy President Logan sure can't last very long in the sack. Also, the Chinese must have had some sort of warp device to get Jack to that boat.

3. Lost: M's post made me tired just looking at it. That show seems like work.

4. Top Chef: Watching the finale tonight probably. . . Will be rooting for Harold.

4 Toes

The Lost Season Finale.... wow. Did they really give us any of the answers we were looking for? Or will Lost mimic Alias, paralleling the Dharma Initiative with Rambaldi, where the build up is so that we can never get a satisfying answer? Anyway, let's get to it:

Charlie
Although he wasn't really featured in this episode, I just have to ask - what was up with him? He was really creepy in the jungle when talking to Locke about Desmond. He was really creepy in the aftermath of the non-pushing of the button. Is he on something again? Is the weird vaccine affecting him somehow? Something was just not *right*. But looks like he got his Claire back....

Eko vs. Locke
I think this can be summed with with Locke's line from last night: "I was wrong." Although we don't know if either of them survived, I think this battle of faith is over. I think Locke's faith is restored in himself, the island, and his friendship with Eko... if either of them survive.

Michael
Okay... we know he's not returning as a series regular next season, but something tells me that we have not seen the last of him... and its not going to be so easy to get off the island. We still are unresolved on *why* Walt was kidnapped ("we had a real find" in Walt, said "Henry")... but off they go. What an evil guy. With the looks Jack, Kate & Sawyer were giving him as he sailed off, he'd better hope there's something else besides the island!

The Others
Zeke is now Tom. Mrs. Klugh is now B. "Henry" is appparently in charge. They know that the survivors know that their beards/costumes are fake. They didn't seem too affected by the non-button pushing explosion. They now have Jack, Kate & Sawyer. They think that they "are the good guys". So again, we know more, but still know nothing. I love that "Henry" turned out to be the guy in charge. Remember in the hatch he said: they'll never give you Walt. Somehow, I believe that he'll follow through on that! He's going to be a season regular next for S3, so that's pretty exciting. He should definitely win some kind of award for his performance this season. (Apparently, he was only slated for a couple shows, but then he was so mind-blowingly awesome, that they converted him to a regular!!!)

Hurley and the Parrot
I definitely heard it say Hurley (after several Tivo rewinds...) How does this relate to the Polar Bear, the Shark and other animals? It makes me think that the Pilot in Season 1 was not eaten by the defense system, but by some genetically-crazed animal experiment.

Jack, Kate, Sawyer
"Wait... you guys were talking about me?" Don't play innocent, Kate... you've been playing these guys against one another since the first day on this island! I find it interesting that the others requested the love triangle, and only wanted Hurley as a messenger back to the camp. I wonder what kind of freaky experiments they might be subject to? Originally, I thought they were "cutting of the head of the beast" so to speak - by removing the "leaders", they would make the surivors of 815 weaker. But then, I think Sayid ("the only one who's been in a war"), Locke & Eko are very capable of leading, so I changed my mind.

The Hatches
The one in the "village" was a fake, as Sayid discovered, complete with a fake hatch. The Pearl tubes deposited the careful work of its inhabitants into an empty field. And the Swan is for real. I wonder what the other hatches hold? Interesting that Jack discovered Locke's drawing of the hatch map in all that mess....

Desmond
So the infamous hatch resident returns! Turns out the survivors are trapped in some kind of weird snow-globe like area (bermuda triangle-ish?). So Desmond was running with a purpose as he escaped from the hatch - back to his fixed up boat (courtesy of now-dead Kelvin Inman). But little good that did him! (BTW - where did all the Dharma booze come from? I didn't see anyone else enjoying it on the beach, with the latest drop?) What else did we find out about Des? He was dishonorably discharged from the royal army, he's read every Charles Dickens book except "the Mutual Friend" (which's he's going to read right before he dies), he was dating Penny Widmore (WIDMORE!), but Daddy Widmore did not approve and broke them up, he was racing around the world for "love" in Libby's boat (was this pre-institution or post-institution Libby? And I wonder if her dead husband David will have a connection to any of our survivors... ie like Hurley's Dave?), he was in the US for awhile (so unlike the other survivors, he may not have started out in Sydney,) and he shaved every day for the first two years in the hatch, and he took his vaccine every 9 days while he was down there (btw, do we know if Claire ended up using the vaccine on herself or Aaron?) And let's not forget, his chase of Inman lead to the delay of button pushing, which ultimately caused flight 815 to crash! Although that seems like a lot of facts, that's really not a lot of information.... and of course, many more questions are raised. Good flashback!

The Washer & Dryer
The producers said on a local radio show that there was a specific purpose of the washer & dryer, and how they were a lot more modern than a lot of the other appliances in the hatch... and last night, we distinctly saw them fly towards the magnet. Was that the purpose? I hope not, and I think there still may be some kind of story to be told there!

Inman & Razinksi
What did one snowman say to the other? I smell carrots. Interesting that Kelvin repeated the same lines to Desmond - starting with "Are You Him?". (And we still don't know who the mysterious "him" is... Henry perhaps?) Kelvin Inman, if you remember, was the one that converted Sayid to become a torturer in the first Iraqi war. I wonder who else's life he's been a part of. Looks like after the war, he was *a part* of the Dharma Initiative. I wonder if all the partipants of the hatches/experiments were drafted as a part of the DI, not just a external test subjects. And it was him and Razinski who were painting the glow-in-the-dark hatch map that Locke saw in "Lockedown". But he wasn't painting it in UV lights... so did they know that the UV lights were there? Looks like it... and if they did, why didn't they just trigger the lights while they painted? And WHO THE HELL IS RAZINSKI???

Penny Widmore
The daughter of powerful gabillionaire Charles Widmore, and inlove with our Desmond... her note caused him to not kill himself (combined with Locke's questions to the island and banging on the hatch skylight), but she is engaged to someone else? Also, could be the savior of our survivors... she has a team in Siberia or someplace looking for electromagnetic anomolies... how does she know to look for that? Did she spy on her Dad? Was she initially a part of Dharma? Is she still engaged to that guy?? Ack!

And finally....
The Big Foot
"I do not know which is more disquieting, where the rest of the statue is or the fact that it only has four toes." This was the biggest mystery of them all... what the hell was that????

GREAT episode... they say that this story could be told over 8 seasons... hopefully they can keep the momentum going, and keep the ABC execs off their backs (to gain new viewership)... Good Luck for Season 3 Lost, I hope your fate is better than Alias.

What Now?

The reason we watched Alias is because of the amazing character development, the intelligent writing, the intricate plot, the good acting, and of course, a continual mystery. We like three-dimensional people on the small screen - with understated humor and stories that make us *think*. That being said, here are my picks for the Alias "replacement":

Existing Shows:

1. Lost
Lost is obviously that natural choice, because it has all of the above, and unlike Alias, JJ handed the reigns over to very capable writer/producers. With Alias, you can tell when JJ himself left the show for dead.

2. Battlestar Galactica
This show is not as obvious - and its hard for non-Trekkies to make the decision to watch a show on the Sci-Fi network. I did it out of sheer curiousity (I am normally against killer robots in outerspace), but I implore you to give this one a chance. Rent Season 1 and I guarantee you will not be disappointed. For the girls out there - Starbuck is the next Sydney Bristow - a girl who can kick ass, and look good doing it. This show is about humanity - real people trying to survive. If you liked Alias because you loved thinking about what "good vs. evil" really means, you'll love BSG. Seasons 3 starts this fall with a primetime spot.

Upcoming Shows (a list of show that I think look good for the fall, but obviously no committment yet!):

1. Heroes (NBC)*** (My choice for best new show next season!!!)
This one looks like X-Men (which I LOVE), without the superhero costumes. Its looks to be about self-discovery and acceptance. And our beloved Weiss will be starring!

2. Traveler (ABC)
This is the one about the college friends who get set up for an terrorist attack - and the only one who can save them looks like he never existed. I think this one isn't being shown until the mis-season change-up, but looks interesting for the mystery.

3. The Nine (ABC)
About the lives of nine hostages of a bank robbery, and what happened to them afterwards... looks like this could have great character development and flashbacks a la Lost.

4. 6 Degrees (ABC)
JJ's new show about 6 people who's lives intertwine, but they don't know it. Looks like character, character, character... I'm a little skeptical after JJ's fantastically crappy What About Brian.

5. Jericho (CBS)
About a small town isolated after a nuclear disaster. Has hints of Lost about it, but could be great like Invasion.

6. Vanished (Fox)
After a lot of research, I found out that this one is not just about a kidnapping, but really about a mystery that stretches back hundreds of years.... Rambaldi anyone??

Stay tuned as I use the summer months to dissect the new shows as new information becomes available.

Alias is Over

Nothing I could write would do justice to my favorite show. I'll tell you, until Season 4, it was all I could think about. Then, after recovering through a rocky first half, Season 4 recovered and Season 5 delivered. But with the cancellation of the series, as much as the writers/producers/cast of the show say that they got to end it "their way", it left all the questions unanswered. Sadly, I am disappointed. This show came back with a vengence, but did not give us the finale we deserved. Here are some of my thoughts:

So, Rambaldi's end game was really *not* revealed, in my opinion.... was it just living forever? And if you can't die, how did the clock fixer from Season 1 die from being shot? The only thing I liked about it was that Sloan will now forever be in a living tomb, trapped under some rocks.

Also, something that made me angry was the whole Cardinal subplot, mixed in with some Tom/Rachel lovin'. Any other season, I would have been game, but all I was thinking was WHO THE HELL CARES? Go back to the characters we actually care about!!

And does anyone know if Thomas was involved in the kidnapping of Rachel? It all seemed so suspicious, but nothing was confirmed! I'm leaning towards yes, because it made his noble death in the subway an easier choice. (He stayed behind to keep spraying the bomb with nitrogen to slow down the timer, but didn't have time to escape himself.)

And how anticlimatic was the revelation of the Horizon (if you can even call it a revelation.) So, that, too, would give Irena unending life? What did the Mueller device have to do with it? And although the opening scene was awesome, with all the photographs, highlighted with the last one taken as Sydney zooms down the side of a building (in Sydney, Australia no less!), it really seemed that the writers couldn't think of a good explaination for Prophet 5, so they just killed them off. So was it all a ploy for power? (Thus the London/Washington attack plan?) For money? For eternal life? For all three? I JUST DON'T KNOW!

What I did like was how evil Sloan & Irena turned out to be - at least we know they are definitely *bad*. I liked how Sark *kinda/sorta* had a problem with mass killings - and how they left room for him to have a spin off (I would definitely watch it over a Tom/Rachel/Peyton spin off!)

I also enjoyed the backstory of how Sydney came into the agencey - however, it wasn't necessary, because we already kind of knew how she was recruited.

I guess that's it for now - I may ramble more later. Tonight is Lost's season finale, which sadly promises to be a lot better than Alias'.

Oh - one more thing - I found it cheesy that they ended with the little "thank you note" to the audience, instead of the final "Alias" on the black screen.

Since I Haven't Watched Anything Lately

I can at least post links to the official fall line ups:

ABC's Fall Schedule
CBS's Fall Schedule
CW's Fall Schedule
FOX's Fall Schedule
NBC's Fall Schedule

ENJOY!

ACK - I'm so behind!

Because of a *certain* sister's graduation, I missed the Alias finale last night (its sitting unwatched on the TiVo!) Adding that to the list, I'm 5 season finales behind:

1. The Unit (last Tuesday)
2. The OC (last Thursday)
3. Desperate Housewives (last Sunday)
4. 24 (last night)
5. ALIAS!! (last night)

Of course, the first thing I'm going to do when I go home tonight is watch Alias. Then Wednesday will be dedicated to the Lost season finale. Thursday is T's birthday, so I will have to suspend TV watching again. But Friday is officially the start of our Summer Hours - which means half day Fridays throughout summer for me! So I'll dedicate my first Friday afternoon to OC/DH/24. Then the long weekend will consist of a Unit marathon (of which I am 5 episodes behind!) and the first disc of Veronica Mars, Season 1... and don't forget the highlight of the weekend: X3: The Last Stand!

Sometimes I feel like television is my second job....

What Happened?

Invasion's season/series finale was right up there with Alias and Lost this week. Although we got none of our big questions answered - what exactly is invading? where else have they invaded? who is zsura? what the hell is going on? - I will say, that the show tried its best to tie itself up. At least we know, (with the exception of Larkin,) that everyone is alive and well. But what I enjoyed the most was the dramatic ending, with the Russell-Marial-Tom love triangle left staring at eachother, in the rain, in the dark, on the beach, with Russell screaming "What Happened?!?!"

Will Russell ever find out about Larkin? Will Kira and the deputy live a long, happy life together? Will Rose need decades of psychotherapy to get over this? Will the American audience ever accept a great drama? Looks like we'll never get our answers.

While We're At It

Throw in those fuckers at Alston & Bird.

You're Next J

I hope everyone at Davis Polk and Haynes & Boone gets incinerated in a raging inferno.

What Are You Doing With YOUR Weekend?

Although I will be spending the majority of mine trying to sneak into bars with college kids (oh wait, I don't have to sneak in, and they don't even ask for ID anymore...), many people will be going to see The Da Vinci Code, predicted to be the blockbuster to beat this summer.

Reviews are starting to roll in... and they do NOT look good. I am thinking of boycotting the movie - not because of any religious beliefs, or my sympathy towards the angered albino groups, but because I am really angry I didn't make it to the semi-finals of Google's Da Vinci Code Quest. I did those stupid puzzles every day, and I just couldn't believe there were 20,000 other idiots out there doing that. But it turns out there were. As those idiots were faster and better than this one. Oh well. I hate Tom Hanks anyway. He is just so..... Tom Hanks.

Alias = Best Show EVER

Who else almost died last night when Sydney met "the Rose", thinking that we were *finally* meeting Rambaldi?? Like the clock repairman from Season 1, he ended up being another one of Rambaldi's cronies that was given an amazingly long life. Who is he? We'll never know. What's in that amulet? The thing that will destroy life itself? The final two hours of the show are going to be bittersweet - looks like they left all the answers for the last show, which I can't wait to watch, but I never want to end. REMEMBER THAT THE SERIES FINALE IS THIS MONDAY, at 9pm, leaving room for the 2 hour season finale of Lost.

Speaking of Lost, another great episode - looks like we finally got some hints about the cryptic interviews the producers have been giving about the "new" regulars we'll be seeing next season. So Season 3 will probably give a lot of attention to the Others' camp. Interesting that Walt knew that "they're not who they seem". But it looks like Michael never discovered that they are in costume (will Kate tell?) Also, looks like since the Hurly/Libby romance is officially over, the writers will be going back to Claire & Charlie (I forgot all about Claire, to be honest.) But isn't it interesting that the baby they care so much about, wasn't on "the list"?

PS - I would leave T in a moment to run away with Sark and lead a giddily evil life.

Shower Scene

Alright J - this is for you and all the Grey's Anatomy fans out there. Just skip to time 2:30 for a good laugh. Click HERE for the infamous shower scene - recreated.

Fox Fall Schedule Announced

All I can see is that they renewed that dog-poop of a show The War At Home and an awesome comedy with a ton of potential Kitchen Confidential got cancelled after three episodes. All their new shows looks recycled (lawyers, crime investigators, etc.) and the only interesting looking (Vanished) one has almost the exact same plotline as NBC's Kidnapped. Anyway, Fox has certainly proved itself to be a terrible judge of shows (by getting rid of the aforementioned KC as well as one of T's and my favorites - Arrested Development). For the full press release, click HERE.

FOX PRIMETIME SCHEDULE: FALL 2006
(Italics indicate January 2007 schedule)

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM PRISON BREAK
9:00-10:00 PM VANISHED

8:00-9:00 PM STANDOFF
9:00-10:00 PM 24

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM STANDOFF
9:00-10:00 PM HOUSE

8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL Performance Show
9:00-10:00 PM HOUSE

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM BONES
9:00-10:00 PM JUSTICE

8:00-9:00 PM JUSTICE
9:00-9:30 PM AMERICAN IDOL Results Show
9:30-10:00 PM THE LOOP

THURSDAY
8:00-8:30 PM ‘TIL DEATH
8:30-9:00 PM HAPPY HOUR
9:00-10:00 PM THE O.C.

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM NANNY 911
9:00-10:00 PM TRADING SPOUSES: MEET YOUR NEW MOMMY

8:00-9:00 PM BONES
9:00-10:00 PM THE WEDDING ALBUM

SUNDAY
7:30-8:00 PM KING OF THE HILL
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM AMERICAN DAD
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY
9:30-10:00 PM THE WAR AT HOME

CW Fall Schedule Announced

The only thing I care about here is Smallville... interesting that they have an actual Saturday Night line up, with all the ethnic shows on it. To answer T's question from an earlier post - looks like the CW can NOT find racial harmony, as the lineup seems pretty segregated to me.

Monday: 7th Heaven, Runaway
Tuesday: Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars
Wednesday: Top Model/Beauty and Geek, One Tree Hill
Thursday: Smallville, Supernatural
Friday: Wrestling
Saturday: Everybody Hates Chris, All of Us, Girlfriends, The Game

CBS Fall Schedule Announced

Have a meeting, but will post comments later... the most intriguing new show looks to be Jericho, about a small town isolated after a nuclear holocaust. Could be an interesting way to get psyched for Lost. Glad they're bringing back How I Met Your Mother and The Unit, but it looks like they're keeping with their (admittedly successful) strategy of littering CSIs all over the place. I would say this schedule is the most uninspired of the lot. Full press release can be found HERE.

2006-2007 CBS Television Network primetime schedule:
(N=New, NT=New Time, all times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-8:30 PM HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (NT)
8:30-9:00 PM THE CLASS (N)
9:00-9:30 PM TWO AND A HALF MEN
9:30-10:00 PM THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: MIAMI

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM NCIS
9:00-10:00 PM THE UNIT
10:00-11:00 PM SMITH (N)

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM JERICHO (N)
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: NY

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SURVIVOR
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
10:00-11:00 PM SHARK (N)

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM GHOST WHISPERER
9:00-10:00 PM CLOSE TO HOME
10:00-11:00 PM NUMB3RS

SUNDAY
7:00-8:00 PM 60 MINUTES
8:00-9:00 PM THE AMAZING RACE (NT)
9:00-10:00 PM COLD CASE (NT)
10:00-11:00 PM WITHOUT A TRACE (NT)

It's (As Good As) Official!!

Veronica Mars has been renewed for a third season, for a FULL 22 EPISODES!!! I'm choosing to ignore the part that the order can be cut to 13 episodes depending on the ratings. You can read all about it here:

http://community.tvguide.com/forum.jspa?forumID=700000049

The offical announcement most likely won't be made until Thursday at the CW Fall Schedule announcements, but if Ausiello says he got an email from Rob Thomas, he got the email and it's true!

Grey's Finale

I can't decide if it was a good idea to air a 2-hour season finale last night. Basically the 2 hours focused around 2 surgeries - Burke's and Denny's. While both were compelling and utilized all of the main characters, at times it felt dragged out - especially during the one-on-one sit down with Richard. That part in particular felt forced, like the writers were trying to fill time. Anyway, a couple of notes from last night's episode:

1. I still hate Izzie. She definitely got better in the last half of the episode, but I still can't get the image from Sunday night out of my head when she completely lost it. This is mean, but I kinda wish Christina laid into her more - someone needed to get through to Izzie, and I would have loved if Christina was the one to finally get through all the crazy.

2. Alex completely redeemed himself for any wrongdoing he has ever done in the past. He broke my heart first with the look he gave Izzie on the way into the prom, and then when he carried Izzie away from Denny and held her crying. (An aside - did anyone else notice the strange sexual vibes b/w Alex & Addison a few weeks back at the height of their fighting? It'd be interesting if something were to happen between these two next season, when McDreamy inevitably goes back to Meredith...)

3. Meredith and Derek. And Meredith and Finn. It's no secret that I'm a Finn fan - I just wish there was more chemistry between him & Mer. I am surprised that Mer/Der had sex in the hospital, and I'm SO glad that Callie, and not Addison, was the one to walk in on them (and Callie scored some much needed points with the look she gave Derek, and with helping Mer tie her dress). I was such a Mer/Der fan in the beginning, and totally hated Addison - the writers did an amazing job making Addison such a sympathetic character, and now I've totally switched sides and don't think it's time for Mer/Der to get back together yet!! But, this being TV and all, you know Mer is going to pick Finn, stay with him for 5-6 episodes, then realize she should be with McDreamy after all and dump poor hot Finn. What I'm not getting, and I could have missed what Addison said, but how is it that Meredith is picking who to go home with? If she were to pick Derek, where exactly will Addison be? In the backseat on the way home to the trailer? I don't believe that Derek is just all of a sudden ready to walk away from his marriage. I'm just saying.

4. I was totally digging the Veronica Mars lovefest. Not only did we get Vinnie Van Lowe on Sunday night's episode, but we got Jackie playing Richard's sick niece last night!! And, I forgot to mention, on Sunday the woman who dumped her fiance was Veronica's journalism teacher from season 1. And this was just in the last 2 episodes - there were other overlaps throughout the season, like Duncan as the high school jock who disregarded Callie's advice to play in the hockey game, and I believe the principal had a small part in GA season 1... well I could go on but I'll stop. I promise I'll try to keep my VM obsession a little more under control from now on.

5. Adele is awesome. She may have had the best lines of the night. It was a total shock that she knew about Richard's affair with Ellis, and totally awesome of her to use it to get her niece what she wanted. Way to guilt Richard!!

6. Callie is a freak. Girl, SLOW DOWN. You've been dating George for like 2 minutes and you're throwing around "I love you" and acting all crazy when he doesn't recipropcate? And what self-respecting girl asks if he's going to say it back? She needs to calm down. I totally agreed with her when she said that she wished she wasn't so into George. Me too. You're scary when you care so much.

I think that's it. I can't think anymore. It was such an emotionally draining 2 nights, and I'm getting tired thinking about it again.

I'm Having Gender Reassignment Surgery Tomorrow

Unfortuante I know, but I think that because I watched the How I Met Your Mother finale last night with M, I can no longer technically be classified as a man. So hopefully the surgery will tomorrow will reverse that.

What a horrible horriblw show.

How I Met Your Mother Finale

2 Things:

1. What happened to the kids that Bob Saget was narrating to in the beginning of the season?

2. In one of the first episodes, during narration, Ted referred to Robin as "Aunt Robin". Last night, he just reffered to her as just plain "Robin"... I hope that the writers aren't going to change things on us! I like the fact that although they seem perfect for eachother, we know that they won't work out. Plus, I'm definitely in the Barney-Robin hooking up camp.

3. (I know I said 2 things, but I had one more thought). I think the Lily running away to be an artist plot line is dumb.

ABC 06 Schedule - Thoughts

My first reaction was - they're putting what before Lost? And then I realized, before they paired Alias with Lost, I had no clue what was on before it. So I guess who cares.

Then I realized, that Invasion was nowhere on the schedule. Although I was expecting this, I'm still very sad about it - Invasion is good TV. I can't believe they brought back crappy What About Brian and canned Invasion. Ridiculous.

None of the ABC new dramas have gotten me as excited as NBC's upcoming Heros (see below for synopsis), although a few caught my eye. One of them will be JJ Abrams' Six Degrees - although, I feel like he may have peaked creatively with Lost. It's an interesting premise - how 6 people in NYC are all affecting eachother's lives without knowing it - but on the other hand, I feel like it may be *too* JJ Abrams. I mean, obviously I'll watch it, but I'm not going to get my hopes up and be totally excited for it.

Actually - the two new drama series that look the most intriguing are not even listed on the schedule - although their synopses are given. One is called Daybreak, starring Taye Diggs. It seems very Groundhog's Day, with Diggs living the same day over and over again until he can solve a mystery. The other one is called Traveler, which sounds like 24 meets Vanilla Sky. Now - I know Vanilla Sky sucked - but the premise is that 3 grad students are implicated in a terror plot, and the only one who can prove them innocent disappears - and it looks like he never existed. Now - why is Supernanny and Wifeswap on the sked, but these two new shows aren't? ABC Sucks.

Finally - the last one that looks semi-watchable is The Nine, which is about 9 people who bonded while stuck in a bank robbery. This is interesting, becauase they will only show the bankrobbery in 10 minute flashbacks each episodes (and they left enough room for plenty of seasons - apparently the bank robbery lasts 52 hours!)

Anyway, ABC looks okay - I'm still angry at them for ending Alias and cancelling Invasion.

ABC Releases Fall 06 Schedule

Alright - today is ABC's turn.... for ABC's full press release, click HERE.

ABC UNVEILS 2006-07 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE

MONDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Wife Swap”
9:00 p.m. “The Bachelor”/”Supernanny”
10:00 p.m. “What About Brian”

TUESDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars” (new night)/”Set for the Rest of Your Life” (new alternative series)
9:00 p.m. “Let’s Rob…” (new comedy series)
9:30 p.m. “Help Me Help You” (new comedy series)
10:00 p.m. “Boston Legal”

WEDNESDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars” (new night)/”George Lopez”/“According to Jim” (new night)
9:00 p.m. “Lost”
10:00 p.m. “The Nine” (new drama series)

THURSDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Big Day” (new comedy series)
8:30 p.m. “Notes from the Underbelly” (new comedy series)9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy” (new night and time)
10:00 p.m. “Six Degrees” (new drama series)

FRIDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Betty the Ugly” (new comedy series)
9:00 p.m. “Men in Trees” (new drama series)
10:00 p.m. “20/20”

SUNDAY:
7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
9:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”
10:00 p.m. “Brothers & Sisters” (new drama series)

I'll let you know my initial thoughts on posts throughout the day.

VM Renewed?

The Ausiello Report is saying that Veronica Mars is going to be renewed for 13 episodes... and like others are saying, this is better than nothing. BUT, with Rob Thomas's new formula for the show (3 mysteries instead of 1 season-long mystery, to be broken up in 6-7 episodes each), 13 episodes just doesn't cut it!! I'm hoping that it'll get more viewers on the CW, especially if paired with Gilmore Girls....

This is strange- I think VM is the first show that I truly love (like, in my top 3 now), that is really on the bubble. Even in the beginning of Alias when it was never a sure thing whether it would be renewed, I don't think it was such a big question mark. I don't know if I can handle this pressure. Please, people start watching!!! (On a related note, the second season of VM isn't being released until the end of August, I think 8/22 - but go out and rent the first season - I promise you won't be disappointed!)

I'm Calling It

I just know that Heros on NBC is going to be awesome (at least I hope so)... in any case, for those of you who don't read the full NBC press release in the link below, at least read the synopsis for this show:

"HEROES" — The epic drama "Heroes" chronicles the lives of ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities. As a total eclipse casts it shadow across the globe, viewers follow a genetics professor (Sendhil Ramamurthy, "Blind Guy Driving") in India whose father's disappearance leads him to uncover a secret theory -- there are people with super powers living among us. A young dreamer (Milo Ventimiglia, "The Bedford Diaries") tries to convince his politician brother (Adrian Pasdar, "Judging Amy") that he can fly. A high school cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere, "Ice Princess") learns that she is totally indestructible. A Las Vegas stripper (Ali Larter, "Final Destination"), struggling to make ends meet to support her young son (Noah Gray-Cabey, "My Wife & Kids"), uncovers that her mirror image has a secret. A prison inmate (Leonard Roberts, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") mysteriously finds himself waking up outside of his cell. A gifted artist (Santiago Cabrera, "Empire"), whose drug addiction is destroying his life and the relationship with his girlfriend (Tawny Cypress, "Third Watch"), can paint the future. A down-on-his-luck beat cop (Greg Grunberg, "Alias") can hear people's thoughts, including the secrets of a captured terrorist. In Japan, a young man (Masi Oka, "Scrubs") develops a way to stop time through sheer will power. Their ultimate destiny is nothing less than saving the world. "Heroes" is executive produced by creator/writer Tim Kring ("Crossing Jordan), Dennis Hammer ("Crossing Jordan") and David Semel ("House"), who also directed the pilot.

How awesome does that sound? And it even stars our beloved Weiss! That might help with the post-Alias depression...

NBC Releases Fall 06 Schedule

Upfronts are this week, where the networks reveal the shows they are planning for the fall - as usual, this comes with a disclaimer that everything is subject to change. NBC went first today, below is a recap - click HERE for full coverage, including new show synopses.

NBC PRIMETIME SCHEDULE FOR FALL 2006-07*
New programs in CAPS (with the exception of "ER")

MONDAY
8-9 p.m. "Deal or No Deal"
9-10 p.m. "HEROES"
10-11 p.m. "Medium"

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. "FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS"
9-10 p.m. "KIDNAPPED"
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. "The Biggest Loser"
9-9:30 p.m. "20 GOOD YEARS"
9:30-10 p.m. "30 ROCK"
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order"

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. "My Name Is Earl" (new time)
8:30-9 p.m. "The Office" (new time)
9-10 p.m. "STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP"
10-11 p.m. "ER"/("THE BLACK DONNELLYS" in January 2007)

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. "Deal or No Deal"
9-10 p.m. "Las Vegas"
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (new day and time)

Quick Notes: I'm already betting my favorite will be "Heros" - a show about "normal people" with superpowers - seems very X-men to me. Also, "30 Rock" and "Sunset Strip" sound like the same show - I'm surprised that NBC picked up both - backstage at SNL type shows. Both are well cast, but I think only one will survive, but they could both get cancelled by Thanksgiving. Also note - Scrubs is missing! WHAT?!

Stay tuned for more network upfront news... looks like ABC may be picking up another JJ Abrams show, Six Degrees... hopefully it will be better the than lackluster What About Brian, which also got renewed.

Izzie Sucks

After a very long trip home, involving numerous delays at the airport due to rain, all I wanted to do was watch Grey's and relax in front of the tv. Little did I know that I would spend the majority of the hour screaming at the tv!!!! IZZIE, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING??? I'm sorry, but no one is that stupid. Cutting the cord on a machine that's keeping Denny's heart going, all to show your love for him and move him to the top of the donor list, is absolutely ridiculous. And when she was completely losing it, going into that hysterical rant screaming "What about ME?," well I wanted to wring her neck. I was literally screaming "I hate you" at the tv. I cannot stand when otherwise strong women break down and become hysterical. What happened to the Izzie who stood up to Alex all of those times, or who helped the teenaged pregnant patient who was struggling to give up her baby, when we learned that Izzie herself gave up a baby when she was a teenager? I really hated the Izzie I saw last night, but, I gotta admit, I can't wait to see what she does tonight when she finds out that Burke isn't coming to her rescue.

Speaking of Burke, that was an amazing last 2 minutes. If you're wondering where that arrogant boss who was killed outside the hospital is from, he's Vinnie Van Lowe on Veronica Mars! I love that Shonda Rhimes, the genius behind this show, is so anti-spoiler. I think that's one of the best things about this show - you never know what's going to happen, and I'm truly shocked when things like Burke getting shot outside the hospital happen.

Thank god we don't have to wait a week for the 2 hour second-parter to the season finale - it airs TONIGHT, probably starting at 9:20 - 9:3o because of the presidential address (ABC will announce the adjusted start times later today - note that FOX already announced that Prison Break is starting at 8:20, and 24 is starting at 9:20).

I realize that I didn't write anything about Meredith/McDreamy/the Addison outburst, but I promise I'll tackle all of that tomorrow, after we see how things play out tonight (though I will say that THANK GOD Derek didn't say anything to Meredith in the elevator, and I'm quite disappointed with Meredith's breakdown to Finn, crying "I love him so much," seemingly in reference to Doc but clearly talking about Derek).

The Best 2 Weeks of the Season

Alright... looks like the finales are starting, look forward to plot twists and deaths galore!

Monday
NOTE: There is a 20 minute presidential address tonight that will affect all networks - set your TiVos and VCRs accordingly!!!
Finales kick off tonight with How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 8:30) and a 2 hour Grey's Anatomy finale marathon (ABC, 9). Also, for anyone interested, Prison Break also is ending the season tonight on Fox at 8. All 3 have been renewed for next season.

Tuesday
Scrubs ends its hilarious 5th season at 9 with a two-episode, 1 hour season finale (NBC, 9.) Also, The Unit will conclude its first season with a 2 hour, 2 episode ending (CBS, 9). Scrubs has definitely been picked up for another season... the Unit is looking likely for Season 2, but not certain.

Wednesday
Alias and Lost are new, but their 2 hour season finales won't be until next week (Monday and Wednesday, respectively.) However, the season finale of Invasion will probably be the last hour of the show you'll ever see, as it is unlikely that it will be picked up next season... ABC, 10pm.

Thursday
The OC ends its season on Thursday with the fab four's graduation... keep an eye out, because this could be Marissa's last episode... rumors are that she will NOT return next season as a cast regular. We also have the series finale of Will & Grace... if you're like me and stopped watching this show years ago, but want to tune in for the finale, the story is basically this: Grace is pregnant with ex-husband Leo's baby, and planned to raise it with Will. But Will's on-again boyfriend Vince wants a full commitment that does not include 24/7 Grace and while Will is leaving Vince for Grace, Grace is off to Europe to try and reconnect with the ex-hubby, for a chance to be a happy family... will the last episode leave us with separate paths for Will & Grace? Probably not, but tune in anyway... there is a clip show at 8 and the finale starts at 9 (NBC.) Also, if you're looking for the Smallville finale, you missed it, it was last week - but don't worry - the renewal for the new CW network is at about 99%.

Sunday
We have the Simpsons season finale (Fox, 8, but who cares) followed by an hour and a half Stewie-centric season finale for Family Guy (Fox, 8:30). Both are renewed for next season. And then heading over to Wisteria Lane, we get a one hour season finale of Desperate Housewives (ABC, 9), including flashbacks of how all the housewives moved into the neighborhood. Plus we have the mid-season finale of The Sopranos (not to be confused with the actual season finale, which will occur later this year) and the season finale of Big Love (HBO, 9 and 10, respectively.) As is always the case with HBO, I have no clue of the fates of either of these shows.

Happy Viewing!

Alias, Lost & Invasion: Only One Will Survive

These shows are all so good, but only one is surviving to Season 3 (Lost)... finally saw last week's episodes, all three of them were amazing!!!

Alias
Only 3 hours of Alias left in the world... it's funny how much that changes my perspective on how I watch the show. Before, when *anything* was a possibility, every little clue would make me wonder about a million different twists and turns the show could take. Now I have only one focus: Rambaldi's End Game. I'm going to ignore the fact that if Sloan had page 47 in his possession for an extended period of time, and the means to decipher it, why he didn't do it until now. I'm going to put aside my list of 50 million unanswered questions, from who the hell is Olivia Reed, to why Irena's name was etched on a Rambaldi artifact, and just hope that the writers answer the one big looming question about Rambaldi. Don't get me wrong - I really enjoyed Wednesday's episode - but with the writers trying to go out on an all time high, they really are making loathe the fact that there isn't about 2 more seasons to answer all our questions. It looks like they are writing to reveal the P5 end game - which involved Rambaldi. Anyway... enough ranting... some quick points on the episode:

1. I loved that Mia Maestro was able to return for one more episode - she has been a great addition to the show (unlike this season's unnecessary Rachel & Thomas.) It was good that she was able to get her revenge on Sloan *somehow* - even if it was only posthumous mind games!

2. Did anyone else catch the look Peyton made when she said that "we all [have made sacrifices]"? Who has she sacrificed? Anyone we know? Does this feed into the rumors that she is somehow a Derevko and has lost/was taken away from/left her family?

3. Wasn't Dixon supposed to be evil this season? It seems like Alias is trying too hard to show us how sneaky Thomas is being - which only means one thing: he's innocent. That means there is possibly another mole inside APO - our beloved Dixon? Who knows?!?!?

4. Speaking of Thomas not being a baddie... I still think that the reason Thomas was hired was to be able to communicate with "The Cardinal" and I still believe that Jack is in the know of everything he is up to!

5. VAUGHN IS BACK IN ACTION! I'm glad the last few episodes will have the Syd/Vaughn team back together in the field.... that is classic Alias and it makes me happy.

Lost
Won't spend too much time on this one, because this is the only one I'll be able to write about next season. The big question here is to press or not to press... are they in a giant skinner box? Signs *point* to yes, but I don't think the answer was given to us 100% in the episode. Dr. Marvin (last name was different in this orientation tape!) said that the participants in the various experients believe that their job is of vital importance - but he never says that they believe that incorrectly! Interesting... And how did Locke dream of Yemi, who he doesn't even know... it reminded me of the time that Locke dreamed about Boone and his "incident" with his nanny and the stairs... there is definitely something weird about the island, giving some kind of psychic powers to our survivors. (On the same note, note that Eko foresaw the bleeding Ana in his dream before *anyone* knew she had been killed.) Speaking of psychics... anyone notice Claire's psychic admitting he's a fraud? But in the Clair episode in Season 1 he was SO adament about her keeping her baby. It seems that Yemi visited the drowned girl in a dream too - is psychic ability hereditary? Or was it the girl who knew that Claire would visit her father, and then told her father not to let Claire's baby be "raised by another"? Lots of questions... and as is always with Lost... few answers.

Invasion
Wow - this show has jumped from genre-alien to evolution to genocide in a span of 21 episodes. This morning's Daily Variety announced that its certain that Invasion won't be returning next season, so this Wednesday's episode will be the last. One hour is definitely not enough to wrap up the whole mystery, but since there's been talk of cancellation for months, hopefully the writers have written to a satisfying conclusion. Will the hybrids win? The humans? What will the hybrid babies look like? (We have been promised at least a glimpse of them!) Why did the hybrids survive in the Everglades, but nowhere else in the world? Why won't ABC keep good shows on the air? The world may never know. In any case, I'm really looking forward to the season finale - even if it isn't given the customary 2 hours to conclude, as ABC loves to normally do.

Some Signs You Might Be Married

1. You have a blog with your wife, where you write about TV shows, because normal conversation and interaction with each other has become too difficult after 9 months of marraige.

2. Your wife calls you on Friday. She is leaving work early. She exclaims: "I HAVE to go home. . .I have to watch Alias, I am literally dying!!!!!!"

Then she hangs up on you.

Episodes Online!

You can now watch full episodes of Alias and Lost at http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing .... there are other shows available too, like Desparate Housewives, but really, watching that train wreck once is more than enough.

You're Killing Me!

M, you didn't watch Alias or Lost???? You're KILLING ME!! I was all set to rant about Alias, and rave about Lost. You will love them both though, I'm sure. Especially the part where.... just kidding.

SHHHHHH!!!

I didn't get to watch Alias, Lost or Invasion last night... so I'm going crazy right now! I can't check any of my favorite message boards, or even talk to anybody in the office. I keep hearing "It was SOOOOO good last night, especially the part...." (and that's when I cover my ears and chant like a crazy person so I don't hear anything about last night's episodes.) I'm hiding in my cube right now in isolation for the rest of the day...

At Least She's a Joy to Live With

Those of us who watched Reunion

All 6 of you?

knew about the Sam's daughter plotline about 3 months ago.

Really? I apologize. Next time I'll peruse my archives of the inane message boards and comically untalented TV columns so I can be more up to date on things that don't exist anymore.

I haven't read your "new" article

That makes you uniquely unqualified to comment on it

but it probably also says how they were planning on changing the killer from the daughter to somebody else, but then it was cancelled

Actually it doesn't say that at all, but you wouldn't know that because you didn't read it. It says exactly what I posted it says. Usually before you comment on something, you need to have some knowledge about it beforehand. Otherwise you fall into that netherzone known as "being a woman"

We also knew that Craig was in the wheelchair temporarily, but then stayed there for political sympathy votes.

uhhhhhhhh. . . does anyone else not know what this means?

thanks for the old news.

You're welcome.

Reminder

Like last week, Ausiello will be posting a special post-episode blog tonight on The Ausiello Report.

For all you Lost fans out there... you may want to check it out. Last week's interview with Damon and Carlton was pretty great.

Way To Be Up On News, T

Those of us who watched Reunion knew about the Sam's daughter plotline about 3 months ago.... I haven't read your "new" article, but it probably also says how they were planning on changing the killer from the daughter to somebody else, but then it was cancelled.

We also knew that Craig was in the wheelchair temporarily, but then stayed there for political sympathy votes.

thanks for the old news.

M is a Germaphobe

so I probably shouldn't even post this, but I can't for the life of me figure out how one would take this picture

Enjoy your subway rides home everyone!

Well I'm Glad I Didn't Waste My Time Waiting for That

The guys at this probably isn't worth your time seem to have the scoop on what would have happened on Reunion.

As the show was terrible, I was not upset it was going to be canceled at all, but now that I know the ending, I'm really glad I didn't wait for it.

Apparently the killer was going to be Sam's daughter that she gave up, which is incredibly stupid because the whole time they promised us that one of the killers would be one of the main characters! I don't even understand how they were going to make that happen. What about those stupid interrogation scenes that were excrutiating to sit through???

However, that little nugget made me even happier the show was canceled. Good job by Fox to ruin a perfectly good idea.

You can read the whole story here.

So Wait. . . You're Sleeping With WHO?

So maybe I'm the last one to figure this out, but apparently the host of Top Chef is Billy Joel's wife.

That's apparently her qualification to host a show about food.

She sleeps with Billy Joel.

Let me repeat that.

SHE HAS SEX WITH BILLY JOEL SO THEY MADE HER THE HOST OF A FOOD SHOW.

Now, she is attractive, so that makes the choice alot more palatable, but still, if you were Tom Colicchio, wouldn't you just feel disgusted that you had to share the show with someone so comically untalented.

Also, if you read Tom's blog, you'll find out that he was extremely unhappy that Dave was going to the finals. I was actually quite impressed with how honest that particular entry was, and if you are a fan of the show, it's well worth a read here

New Love

Finally watched Sunday's episode of Big Love last night... its funny, all through the season, I wonder why Barbara allowed Bill to have multiple wives (and I know they hinted at it with her cancer, and Bill's need to borrow money from Roman). But with the last episode, I started wondering why Margene would agree to such a "marriage". She seems fun, outgoing and cute. We know from the episode with her yearbook that she was popular. And she definitely seems more like one of the kids than one of the wives, especially the way that Barb and Nikki treat her. (Although don't get me started about her weird and definitely inappropriate relationship with Barb's son.) During her set up last night, I was actually kind of rooting for the new guy. When he came by to visit her spur of the moment - sopping wet from a rain storm with roses in hand - I thought it was so romantic! And when he said "I'm going to kiss you now", I was excited, and wanted it to happen - for Margene's sake. Now, this guy's character certainly isn't my cup of tea (clearly I like the bitter, computer-game playing guys like T), but for Margene, he just seemed so... right. And it all just brings me back to my question - why did she choose to be a part of this? It just seems like Bill's mid-life crisis gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Huh?

Unless we're in M's imaginary land, I don't see what the hell you're talking about.

CNN.com Stole MY Material

So, after all the ranting T has done in the past 24 hours about how I stole his material, I noticed the CNN.com stole my material on the opening of MI:3. Check out this article (dated AFTER my blog!)

What's Wrong With You?

No really, I mean it, what's wrong with you T?

M Steals My Material Because Her Material Makes No Sense

Seriously. The more I read her MI:3 review, the angrier I get, so let's go through her review line by line so I can flesh out the specific problems I have with it. My comments are in bold

I finally saw MI3 this weekend... I won't give away anything as many people have yet to see it, but it was pretty awesome.

What could you possibly give away? There was no plot, no development of characters, and no surprises at all. Other than that, it was "pretty radical"

JJ's Alias-y storytelling really shined through,

You mean that it had a story that didn't make sense, didn't go anywhere, and then just ended without explanation?

which of course I loved!

I guess that is what you meant then

Like many Alias episodes, the movie starts out with an adrenaline-causing torture scene; we the audience have no clue what's going on, but are immediately involved.

So we don't know what's going on, are not involved with any of the characters, so we are immediately involved? I was confused and wanted to take a nap.

Then, JJ goes back and tells the story that leads up to the scene, giving us the "oooohhhh" moment.

Or he just plays the same scene 2 hours later without explaining anything.

Of course, this only gets us through 4/5 of the movie, with a few great action scenes left.

You mean the scene where Tom Cruise calls the guy from Shaun of the Dead and runs alot? That scene? I guess it was better than the scene where Felicty wonders if she should sleep with Ben or Noel.

Another parallel to Alias was how during the missions, Ethan & co. talked about their private lives over their earpieces. It took me right back to the Season 1 Syd/Vaughn flirting.

You stole this observation from me. It's also stupid. Why does JJ Abrams do this

Finally - Keri Russell was amazing!

*chokes*

As one reporter put it - she really channeled her inside Sydney Bristow!

You mean she channeled a chronically untalented actress playing an unrealistic and vapid character??

She wasn't in a whole lot of the movie (as I'd hoped and expected)

Because she sucked?

but the parts she was in really showed that she is capable of way more than Felicity - can't wait to see her in more action flicks!

I hope you don't plan to bring your husband to these action flicks, because there's a strong liklihood he will slash his wrists with razor blades

Definitely get out to see this one... it's a great way to kick-off the summer blockbusters.

I guess I don't have anything wrong with this

Wow. I feel much better now.

M Steals My Material

I just noticed this, but it was me who mentioned to M that MI:3 was exactly like Alias in that the male characters talk about their relationships during tense CIA style missions. I noticed she gave me NO CREDIT in her entry.

It's always one of the things that really annoyed me about Alias because:

a. Men never discuss their relationships with other men.
b. Even if they did, I think it would probably wait until after saving the world was done

I was very dissapointed to see this dynamic work itself into MI:3.

Because. It's. Stupid.

Felicity is Not a Secret Agent

Saw MI:3 with M with weekend as she documents below. It was okay. It was good in a summer-popcorn sense, however, it bothers me that they didn't even pretend to have a plot to it. The first Mission: Impossible was completely confusing and actually interesting, I rewatched it a ton of times to figure out what was going now. . .they don't even pretend to do that anymore. All they do is have Tom Cruise attach wires to himself and make the Tom Cruise face. (seeing this movie really exposes how poor an actor he is, especially compared with Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the bad guy, who is really much better, but given far too much screen time.

Also, don't believe a word M tells you. Felicity as an action hero is laughable. She's a horrible actress, and that only works if the actress is hot enough so that you forgive her horrible acting skills (The Big Bounce is an excellent illustration of where this works well. The actress is more wooden than a table, but her hotness causes me to ignore that completely). Thankfully, Felicity is not in the movie for that long, however there's a scene where Tom Cruise throws her a gun so she can shoot someone, and her face and the unintentional comedy that result is pretty funny.

Overall Movie Grade: B-/C+

Meredith's shining moment

For all of you who love Grey's but find Meredith's character whiny, slutty and unlikeable, even you had to love last night's scene with McDreamy where she finally stood up for herself and told him off for judging her. I have always loved Meredith, despite her flaws, because, well, she has flaws. I don't always agree with her decisions, but I have never full out hated her either. For McDreamy, last night was the first time I was really hating him. We all knew he was jealous at the end of last week's episode when he saw Meredith post-shower at Finn's, and his explosion was a bit overdue. I loved that Meredith didn't let him get away with his "You have to finally start taking responsibility for your actions" speech and followed him into the stairwell. It's about time McDreamy faced up to what he did to Meredith - my only regret is that Meredith wasn't the one to say "This thing between us is done."

In other Grey's news, I'm sick of the whole Izzy-Denny storyline. They've been dragging their feet for several weeks now, with no real progress. I thought it was cute in the beginning, but now it's just getting old. Same for Callie and George - I don't really like her, and her whining about being an outsider and how the other girls don't like her is just plain annoying. Get over yourself. There's a reason why Meredith and Izzy don't like you - you barge into bathrooms naked and pee in front of others and don't wash your hands, and you live in the hospital!!

MI3: Alias Storytelling At Its Best

I finally saw MI3 this weekend... I won't give away anything as many people have yet to see it, but it was pretty awesome. JJ's Alias-y storytelling really shined through, which of course I loved!

Like many Alias episodes, the movie starts out with an adrenaline-causing torture scene; we the audience have no clue what's going on, but are immediately involved. Then, JJ goes back and tells the story that leads up to the scene, giving us the "oooohhhh" moment. Of course, this only gets us through 4/5 of the movie, with a few great action scenes left.

Another parallel to Alias was how during the missions, Ethan & co. talked about their private lives over their earpieces. It took me right back to the Season 1 Syd/Vaughn flirting.

Finally - Keri Russell was amazing! As one reporter put it - she really channeled her inside Sydney Bristow! She wasn't in a whole lot of the movie (as I'd hoped and expected), but the parts she was in really showed that she is capable of way more than Felicity - can't wait to see her in more action flicks!

Definitely get out to see this one... it's a great way to kick-off the summer blockbusters.

Housewives We Love and Hate

Last night's episode of Desperate Housewives reinforced several thoughts I've had on the characters of Wisteria Lane:

1. Bree is awesome. I'm glad that she has finally reached her breaking point. What her son did to her was so heinous (slept with her sex addict boyfriend to get back at her for being angry he was gay.) And the way she acknowledged that he "won" was amazing acting. I'd love to see her on the silver screen.

2. Susan sucks. She is such a whiny, terrible person. I hated the scene where she told Mike that he still had feelings for her. I hope she ends up alone.

3. Tom (Lynnette's Husband) is a good-for-nothing idiot. I felt bad for him for all of two seconds when Lynette's boss announced his plan to fire Tom... but then when the shady expense reports came out, it made me so angry! He's never been able to cope with Lynnette's success and intelligence - and now it looks like he's been looking elsewhere to get an ego boost. What a freakin' sad excuse of a man.

Last night had a good (for this season at least) episode... I'm interested to see the finale where we learn how all the housewives came to Wisteria Lane. Yes, I watch this show out of habit, rather than enjoyment. However, I think the show has a chance to get back on track next season... if there is one.

No Way

I could run 2 miles in 20 minutes. I believe watching Alias and Lost would take 2 hours. . . so when you look at it, running 2 miles is really 1/6 of the misery that is watching those 2 horrible shows.

You Caught Me

No, I have never run 2 miles in a row. Why would anyone do that? It sounds like a stupid way to spend your time, especially when you get the same working by watching back-to-back episodes of Alias & Lost.

LIke you ran 2 miles????

You should replace that sentence with "my heart was beating so fast I felt like I walked 3 blocks!"

I don't think you've run 2 miles since. . .

I don't think you've ever run 2 miles.

I didn't watch any TV last night, however, I did do my part to CLOSE SHUT THE GATES OF OBLIVION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Michael

I completely agree with M's posts re: Alias and Lost below. They were SO good!! And Nadia dying right after she's reunited with Sydney and Isabel - completely heartbreaking. I wasn't so upset about Rene's death - she wasn't as connected to all of the characters, and she was used so intermittently this season that I never really developed any sense of attachment with her. And, you kind of knew she was a goner once she appeared to be considering Syd's offer to go legit and work for APO.

As for Lost... OMG. I really didn't see Michael turning into an Other. There was definitely something fishy when he and Ana Lucia were talking in the hatch and he asked for the gun and the combo to the armory, but I didn't think he full out turned evil while he was away! Though I still stand by the theory that Libby was an Other - the look on Michael's face after he shot her pretty much confirmed my suspicions. Especially coupled with the look of worry she had after Hurley joked that they would get drunk and he'd remember where he knew her from. I can't wait to see how they end this season, and finally find out why the plane went down!!

PS - I will stop ranting about Veronica Mars being preempted, as I got my hands on a copy of Tuesday's episode -- and it was so good. There's so much to wrap up in the last episode (on next Tuesday) that I really wish they'd run it without commercials. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself - I hope they run it period, and the Nets lose and they're taken out of the playoffs!

The Hanso Foundation

Okay - first steps in the Lost Game:

1. Call 800-HansOrg
2. Visit: http://thehansofoundation.org

I tried to sign up for the newsletter on the website, but after I entered a screen name, password (breaking strain) and said "yes" i can read this, a hatch-computer-like message from "Persephone" came up saying to "check back later for updates" and then a crazy orangatan came on the screen. Check it out for yourselves!

Delivered As Promised

1 Night. 2 Shows. 4 Deaths. And I couldn't be any happier!

Last night Alias got itself back on track - and how! It killed off both Nadia and Rene... but remember, that's only two out of three promised deaths before the end of the series. I must say, I was sad to see both of them go. I was really beginning to like Rene, and I always loved Nadia. One question remaining in my mind was how Weiss never got to see her or say goodbye... I guess we are supposed to write off the relationship as more casual that we wanted, and when he left for DC, it wa just the end of the relationship (it just seems so un-Weiss-like to think that though!) We also saw the return of the infamous page 47 (aka "The Prophecy") - and the mysterious eye of Rambaldi when it burned in the fire. It kind of makes you wonder which one was the original and which one was the fake? As you may remember, the crooked art historian declared his copy a fake because of the titanium dots... BUT, how did the eye of Rambaldi come up in the "original"? And what was the pattern of the titanium in the "fake"? Also, when I saw those glowing dots in the "fake", I really thought that THEY were the ciphered message... who knows! Also, THANK GOD, Sloan is full out evil again. Did he "murder" Nadia, or was it a circumstance of fate? God, I never thought I'd count myself looking forward to the end of this series, but I can't wait to find out "all the answers"! BTW, did anybody else catch that the location of the art-restorer guy was 47 North (as in 47 Norte, the location of Horizon?)

Lost was incredible last night. Obviously the minute Ana Lucia made up with her mom, and made inner peace with herself by not killing "Henry", we knew that she was going to be killed in this episode. The writers are consistent about killing off characters once they have resolved their inner demons. (I did enjoy the lusty moves AL used on Sawyer to get the gun though!) The surprise was Libby's death though! I feel like there's a lot more to figure out about her: why was she in the mental hospital? Why didn't she want Hurley to know how he knew her? Was she really a clinical psychologist, or was she a pathalogical liar? Also, Michael Emerson as "Henry Gale" continues his streak of the creepiest guy on t.v. ever. Did he really come to get Locke, or was it another mind game? Finally, the return of Michael was phenomenal. We got a clue that he had "turned" somehow when he said that the Others were barefoot and dirty (Kate gave him the same funny look that I was making, both of us remembering the dirty-islander costumes she found in Claire's medical hatch!) Check out this great post-episode interview at the Ausiello Report.

BTW - anyone see the commercial for the Hanso Foundation, the first clue for The Lost Experience? I plan on calling the number today!

My heart was beating so fast during these 2 hours, that I felt like I had just run 2 miles! I couldn't pull the full tri-fecta and watch Invasion too - instead I'm going to pair that with Smallville tonight.

Who's J

My Super Sweet 16 happens to be fantastically entertaining, AND it just got reviewed in the New York Times.

Also, I already explained why Commander in Chief sucked. See Here

Surprise, Surprise

I'm sorry Commander In Chief doesn't run along the ranks of your favorite shows (i.e. the previously mentioned Sweet Sixteen, or anything showing on the NFL channel)... but it makes me angry when shows like CSI:South Dakota or whatever get a 10 season run, when quality shows get bumped after a few rocky episodes.

BTW - I see that you're scared of a little competition from J... I haven't seen you have this many entries since late 2005.

ABC F's up????

I'm confused. How does cancelling a show that absolutely blows constitute a lapse in judgement?

Stupid Basketball

UPN, or Channel 9, or whatever they're calling themselves before the CW, once again preempted a new episode of Veronica Mars last night because of playoff basketball. Ok, I get it's the playoffs, but this is the end of the season!! And last night marked the THIRD week in a row, of new episodes, that Channel 9 did this. Now I have to wait for Sunday night again to watch the episode. If they do this next week for the season finale I'm calling someone at the station.

ABC F's Up Again

ABC is pulling Commander In Chief from its new Thursday night spot. Again, by their own interference, they messed up a critically acclaimed and popular show, by removing Rod Lurie and inserting Steve Bocho as producer. CIC did well in the beginning because it was NOT a West Wing imitator - but Bocho made it one. (Similarly, ABC made the Alias team move away from the Rambaldi plotline in Season 4, therefore alienating fans and destroying any chances for the show to continue beyond that.) ABC may play the three unaired episodes this summer, but we may have to wait until it's released on DVD.

Tonight Could Be Magic

Finally! Tonight on ABC, three of my favorite shows, together at last, all with brand spankin' new episodes:

8:00 - Alias: 30 Seconds
9:00 - Lost: Two For The Road
10:00 - Invasion: Run and Gun

Alias is counting down to the finale - everything means something on this show, so pay close attention. I know that I was a little negative about last week's episode, but I hope that when I watch this season in a 17 hour DVD marathon this fall, I'll be slapping myself and going OH - that's why they wasted our time on that scene! That's definitely how I felt about Seasons 1 - 3. (Sadly, Season 4 is still in cellophane, because I still can't get over how badly ABC mucked up my favorite show of all time... eventually leading to its cancellation. DAMN YOU ABC!)

The Lost Experience (the interactive media/online game) starts tonight - and ABC/the producers/the greedy pigs are warning us NOT to TiVo through commercials, otherwise we will miss the first clue. I think I'll be able to spot it in fast forward (otherwise, I know the boards will be polluted with it tomorrow.) Check out this week's Ask Ausiello for great spoiler-ish info if you can't wait until tonight - also, Ausiello hinted that will be posting a whopper of a spoiler directly after tonight's episode, if you're interested.

Deciding to watch Invasion this season was like buying Google stock at $1. (No - I have no clue how stocks or "the market" work, so I don't even know if that analogy makes sense, but just go with me here...) Although the season started notably slow, the current episodes are so amazing (uh.. Google stock is now $100?) that I am pulling my hairs out at every minute. There is a lot of speculation as to whether this show is getting picked up for a second season, (we'll find out in a few weeks when the networks release their fall schedules.) But this show really is the Michelle Wie of "genre television" - the format is a perfect blend of mystery/sci-fi/conspiracy and the plot actually MOVES. Although it's too late for anyone to start watching now - do yourself a favor and watch episodes back-to-back when it gets released on DVD.

Finally - a note to T. Don't spite the blog by posting all that sports nonsense. Also - it was a Felicity marathon, not Mad About You, so there.

ESPN's Draft Coverage

I watched 17 straight hours of the NFL draft on Saturday and Sunday. It was punctuated at various intervals by M coming into the room and yelling at me for having a good time. Apparently, if M doesn't get her weekly dose of Neil Patrick Harris, she gets very grouchy. Luckily, I was able to trick her into watching TV in the bedroom because I ordered her a pizza and it distracted her for the next 5 hours (food is M's kryptonite). . .I think there was a Mad about You rerun on lifetime or something or other.

ESPN's coverage of the draft was to quote a friend of mine, "an unmitigated disaster". I don't understand how ESPN could turn something so fun. . . the one day of football we get to watch into spring, into an orgy of suckiness. By the end of the first day, I wanted to crawl into the screen and rip Michael Irvin's eyes out with a melon baller.

Some reasons for the aforementioned Orgy of Suckiness:

1. Chris Berman
This has already been covered on numerous blogs and websites, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't bear repeating. Chris Berman needs to stop ruining the picks before they are announced. For the love of God, this is the most suspenseful moment of the draft. Stop. Ruining. It. Now. (for the record, I am one of nine people still left in the US who still finds Chris Berman's nicknames and shtick entertaining, lest you think this is some sort of anti-Berman diatribe

2. Michael Irvin
I'm sorry, but I can't stand him. I must of heard his diatribe "Defense doesn't win championships, Offense does because it scores points" 50 times during the weekend. It didn't get any more enlightening (which is pretty amazing, considering how monumentally stupid it was in the first place) after the first time. Some producer needs to shut him up. He adds absolutely nothing of value. What does he know about evaluation talent? Absolutely nothing.

3. The Houston Texans
Everyone should be fired. Why didn't ESPN follow up on this more aggressively (besides for Michael Irvin screaming incoherent ramblings)?

4. Sean Salisbury's Roundtable
I don't give a crap how Torry Holt feels about rookies getting into camp on time or how Trent Green feels about the character issue. Their opinions are in fact no more valid than mine on these issues BECAUSE THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE TEAMS DRAFTING DECISIONS.

5. Not enough Mel.
Let's stop with the pretention. The draft is Mel's day. He only gets 2 days a year in which he's the most important person in the sporting world. You can't give that to him? Why does he have to play second banana to practically everyone? Feels like that was the case this year.

6. No Trade Information
This is perhaps the most egregious failure of ESPN's coverage. The Giants traded out of the 25th pick? For what? I don't think the answer ever came. The Vikings traded their 4th round pick for the Eagles starting OG? How would we know? You would have to go on ESPN's website to find out those little nugget. Of course, ESPN did tell me 500 times that Ryan Cook was the 1st player from New Mexico taken since Brian Urlacher. This is really inexcusable. The first 5 elements might have been taste related, but this actually speaks to the information ESPN was providing. Just a piss-poor job.

This broadcast should be a no-brainer. Show the picks, show as many highlights of them as you can (Yahoo Sports has highlights on every player drafted as far as I can tell), and show the trades. Throw in some analysis by Jaws and Mel Kiper, and I'm a happy camper.

Thanks for ruining my weekend ESPN.

M is a Poopy Head

Unfortunately M has no power to demote me. Nice try though.

My Rundown

Hi everyone! I'm excited to join the blog, since I am one of the two loyal readers. As I've spent the last 48 hours catching up on my DVR (yes, I am so devoted to TV I took a personal day from work yesterday and spent the majority of the day on my couch), I thought I'd give a brief rundown on certain shows:

Grey's Anatomy
I'm going to say something I never thought I'd say - Chris O'Donnell is hot! I'm loving the scruffy look, and the way he handles Meredith (the whole, you should really pick Door No. 2.... priceless). I must confess that I love this show and rarely criticize it, but several episodes after the amazing Super Bowl 2-parter were definitely... slower and a bit boring. But I think Finn the vet is just what the show needs, and I for one hope Meredith sticks with him (though I do love McDreamy).

Veronica Mars
I know M doesn't watch this show (yet!), but it's my new obsession. Last week's episode (and for that matter the week before that too) was preempted for stupid basketball. I had to wait until Sunday night to see the new ep, but it was SO worth it! It's getting so good, and the Logan-Veronica pairing is the best on any show since Sydney-Vaughn. I am so excited for the last 2 episodes and to finally get some answers to this season's big mystery!

The Office
What's there to say? Last week's episode was brilliant. First of all, anything with Dwight in costume is genius. And the weird smile he shared with Angela after asking whether she was on any prespcription medicine? Creepy, though funny.

Big Love
I'm still watching this show, but I still feel lukewarm about it. I still hate Nikki, and Margene is still like a cartoon character to me. If anything, I just feel sad after watching an episode, especially one like last Sunday's when Barb so clearly regrets doing the whole polygamy thing.

Desperate Housewives
I really don't care about this show. But I keep watching. Let's see, what happened this week... we're supposed to feel bad for Gabrielle because they took her baby away. I'm not gonna lie, while I like how bitchy and selfish her character is, her whiny, squealy crying made my want to hit her.

The OC
Anothor show that I watch out of loyalty to the first season. Well, Anna's back with weird extensions, and Ryan once again beat someone up. That's about it. I'm actually kinda hoping this show gets cancelled so I can finally stop watching it.

I think that may be all the TV I watched yesterday. I know, admirable, since this isn't even counting the new shows on last night that I saw!

As for T... though M can't demote you, she can add me!!

Forget T

Since T has decided that he is just too good for this blog, he is being demoted from "partner in judging" to "nagging & annoying husband".

Instead, I'd like to introduce my new partner in crime.... J! She is as judgmental as me, and (if its possible) watches as much TV as me, (which is both a good thing and bad thing!) Stay tuned for her first blog.

JJ Live in NYC TODAY!

For those of you in the NYC area - JJ will be doing a live talk/interview in the Apple Store in SoHo at Noon today. Be there early to get in. I'm so jealous!