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!