10 Things I Hate About Cancellations.

I am still recovering from the end of Ugly Betty. So it was not a good time to learn that another one of my favorite shows, 10 Things I Hate About You, has just been axed by ABC Family.

I've only blogged about this show once before, so maybe it's my own dang fault for not promoting the heck out of this little gem. 10 Things, I am truly sorry.

Why can't good shows last forever? I know there are people out there who say shows should never outstay their welcome. I agree--if the show's been on for 57 seasons (I'm looking at you, Bones...can anybody vouch that they actually watch this show?), but 10 Things is only in its sophomore season. The kids aren't even out of high school!

Lost. 24. Ugly Betty. 10 Things. I don't know why so many good shows are going to the great flat screen in the sky this year. Look for my "In Memoriam" post on all these shows in a couple of weeks, once we find out for sure which shows are coming back and which aren't.

Ugly Betty: The End of an Era.

I just watched the last episode of Ugly Betty.

It was everything an Ugly Betty fan could want. We got to say goodbye to all our favorite characters--Marc, Amanda, Betty's family, Claire Meade, and Wilhelmina. We got to see Suzuki one last time. And in the episodes prior, we got to say goodbye to Henry and Gio and Christina.

We didn't say goodbye to Daniel. We didn't have to. He ended up moving across the Atlantic to spend time with Betty in London. I don't know who came up with the idea to end the show this way (Silvio Horta?), but it really, really, REALLY irked me. I mean, why??? After four years of being Betty's boss/friend, he now has FEELINGS for her? What??? I love this show, but this, this I just don't get.

That's my only complaint about how the show ended. Really.

Ugly Betty has special significance for me. I remember when I first started my job in television research, back in the summer of '06, and it was maybe a month in that I was given the chance to check out the new TV pilots from ABC. I honestly don't remember what else was in those pilot DVDs, but Ugly Betty was one of them. I remember sitting on my parents' bed with my sister and going through the pilots one by one. They were mostly eh. Then we got to Ugly Betty. Right away, my sister liked it. She knew it'd be a hit. I also enjoyed it. We were both excited to see more of it that fall.

Oh, and sidenote: Back then, the show was called Betty the Ugly. I liked that name. Then ABC changed it to Ugly Betty, and I thought, No! It was good the way it was! Now, I can't imagine what the show would've been like with the original name. I know a title's just a title, but still. It wouldn't have been quite the same.

Anywho, another personal relationship I have with the show is with Betty herself. Back when the show started, I too was a recent college graduate starting her first real job in New York City. My company wasn't full of mean assistants, and I didn't wear a poncho and walk into a glass wall on my first day, but I related to Betty nonetheless. And over the past four years, as Betty has matured and found her place at Mode, so too have I at my company. Now, after four years at Mode, Betty is moving on to a new life across the ocean. Now, four years after I started working at my company, I am moving on to a new life across the river. The East River, to be exact. I will be starting law school in the fall.

As I've blogged about previously, there are only three shows out there that just make you feel good watching it, and Ugly Betty is one of them. Betty, I salute you for entertaining your fans for four years. ABC, I salute you for giving us Betty as long as you did (though not long enough). I know I'll be thinking about this show for years to come, wondering what Betty and the gang are up to. I'm getting sad just thinking about it.

It's been a hilarious, heartwarming, colorful ride with Betty and her braces. Television will not be the same.

Ugly Betty, Stop Dating My Man!

This weekend, the fiance and I caught up on the last 8 episodes of Ugly Betty. We are now just two away from the series...gulp...finale.

I'm going to write a whole 'nother post about the show, give it its due. But I wanted to write a quickie post today, to tell you something interesting and disturbing:

My fiance looks like Betty's latest squeeze.

His name is Aaron Tveit, and he recently appeared on Gossip Girl playing a congressman and Serena's married boyfriend. He's not an EXACT match to the fiance, but it's close enough to give me the willies. Imagine Ugly Betty grabbing your fiance and planting a big one on him.

I love you, Betty, but seriously, get your hands off my man!

(Pictured: Aaron Tveit. I mean my fiance. I mean Aaron Tveit.)

Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains: Blindsides, Blunders, and Banana Drama.

Survivor is seriously crazy this season.

Week after week, something big happens. Take last night, for example.

Parvati had TWO hidden immunity idols. One she got last week, and only told one person (Danielle) about. The other one Russell gave to her, because he has fallen under her spell. (He is such a dude.) So at tribal council, Parvati does something unheard of in 20 seasons of Survivor.

She whips out one idol...and gives it to Sandra. She whips out the other idol...and gives it to Jerri. The votes are read, and most of them are for Jerri. The only other votes are for JT. So long, JT!

I cannot remember a season as riveting as this one, and that's including the season they segregated--sorry, separated the teams by race.

Parvati might be the smartest player in the game. Smarter even than Russell. She deserves to win. Go Parvati!

One last thing: Bananas are the best fruit ever. They are tasty. They are easy to eat--no washing necessary, and no peeler necessary. You can eat them any time of the day. Nothing spritzes into your eye when you try to open one. So yeah, I am 100% with Rupert and Amanda and the rest of the Heroes when it comes to banana etiquette. If you want a banana, get it yourself, and while you're at it, get some for everyone else. Don't be a banana Nazi!

American Idol And Glee: This Picture Says It All.

A commenter who goes by Atheas recently shared a link to this picture, and I thought I'd give it its own entry because of what I (and untold thousands of Americans) experienced last night. Thanks, Atheas!

A Most Madgical Glee.

***UPDATE***

There will be another Madonna episode this fall! Rejoice!

Last night's Glee was the episode we had all looked forward to since, well, since they first announced they were doing it.

Madonna.

I can't think of any way to organize my thoughts (as evident in my previous Glee post), so let's just start by running through the musical numbers.

1) "Ray of Light," featuring cheerleaders dancing on stilts. Whaaa? It started off cool, then became totally awkward with the stilt action. Not the best way to start off such a highly anticipated episode.

2) "Express Yourself" was better, and I think we actually got to hear Santana sing solo for a whole lyric! Tina C. didn't get any solos though. Quinn looked like a young Madonna.

3) "Borderline/Open Your Heart." Playful and sweet. Loved it. I generally like the Rachel/Finn numbers, and this was no exception.

4) The "Vogue" video. Still terrific the 26th time around (I'm kind of obsessed). And now, with context! I'd wondered why only Kurt and Mercedes were in it. And why there were those knowing looks between them.

5) "Like A Virgin." My favorite of the night! The song played along to a video montage of Finn, Rachel and Emma about to do the deed for the very first time with Santana, Jessie and Will, respectively. The singing? Peppy and innocent. The video montage? Part sexy and part chaste. Not easy to do, but Glee pulled it off. This one was a winner from start to finish.

6) Kurt and Mercedes' "4 Minutes," with accompaniment from a marching band and featuring about a thousand McKinley High cheerleaders. Great number. Not my favorite Madonna song, but the Glee kids gave it an urgency and energy not found in the original (sorry, Madge).

...and here is where I turned off the TV. It was 10PM, a commercial came on, and I thought the show was over.

Lesson for life (or for as long as Glee's on TV, anyway): NEVER TURN OFF THE TV UNTIL THE CREDITS ROLL. Actually, for the purposes of this blog, this lesson can be shortened to NEVER TURN OFF THE TV.

So what did I miss? ONLY THE BIGGEST NUMBER OF THE WHOLE SHOW:

7) "Like A Prayer." Upon checking the song list online to write this post, I could not remember this song from last night, so I went and found it on YouTube. The number started off the way most Glee numbers start off, with Lea Michele standing alone under a spotlight. Then the rest of the cast joins her, and the curtains rise, and (goosebumps here) a whole friggin' choir appears and everyone is raising their arms to the heavens and Mercedes is belting it out and I think I have seen God.

Dear American Idol: Kill off two judges. Right now. I don't care which two. Four judges = four (let's face it) extraneous opinions = Glee gets pushed back = I miss the ending = I want to hurt somebody. But I just spent the last hour watching/listening to/writing about Glee, so I'm feeling giddy and smiley and I will not be able to hurt a fly for the next six hours and 47 minutes. After that, I'm coming for you, Randy Dawg.

Other random notes: I loved the reappearance of Lauren Potter, who has Down syndrome and plays Becky the cheerleader. Big ups to Becky! Also, I am tired of all the Will hair jokes. Every other line uttered by Sue in Will's presence was about his coif. Enough already.

Best quotes of the episode:

"Madonna. Simply saying the word aloud makes me feel powerful...even in voiceover." -Sue

"Mercedes is black and I'm gay. We make culture." -Kurt

"When I pulled my hamstring, I went to a misogynist." -Brittany

An Earworm, Courtesy Of Last Night's Celebrity Apprentice.

Thanks to The Celebrity Apprentice, I now have this song in my head:

Rain makes corn
Corn makes whiskey
Whiskey makes my baby
Feel a little frisky.

It's the most ridiculous chorus ever, even for a country song (and I love me some country music). Seriously. And yet, I can't get this out of my head!

Other things worth noting about last night's episode:

-Welcome back, Sharon Osbourne (halfway through, anyway)!
-Donald Trump has a weird fixation with bandanas.
-Goldberg likes percentages. A lot.
-I really like Bret Michaels. Man has a heart of gold, works his butt off, and is humble as they come.
-Luke Bryan is impossible to work with. Emily West is a sweetheart.
-Rain makes corn.
-Corn makes whiskey.
-Whiskey makes my baby--
-ARGH!
-Feel a little frisky.
-Cyndi Lauper gets progressively meaner with each episode. And she doesn't give a sh*t. "I'll send you my picture with a dartboard and you can throw it." Can you send me one, too?

This show gets crazier by the week, and it is 100% awesome. Well, maybe more like 90%. No, 87%. What do you think, Goldberg?

(Pictured: Summer, Sharon, Maria and Bret. I love Maria and Bret.)

Melrose Place: Noah, I Am Your Father. And Your Brother.

This weekend, I caught up on two shows. One of them was Life Unexpected. Sidenote: After my post on Life Unexpected, the show's casting director Tweeted the post, and I got 59 hits in one day! I know, that's small potatoes compared to what other blogs get. But 59 is a record for Linda's TV, and I'll take it. Thank you, Jeff Meshel!

Anywho. After watching the Life Unexpected finale, I moved on to another show that also just had its season finale: Melrose Place. Unlike Life, Melrose is pretty much dead in the water. Nobody talks about it, nobody blogs about it ('cept me), and nobody watches it. Melrose had its finale on April 13, and only 1 million people saw it. Ouch.

Still, I love this show. I love the characters, I love the fashion, (Riley wears a LOT of purple--one episode, she went from a purple party dress to a purple T-shirt to a purple jogging outfit--consecutively!), and I love the snappy, overdramatic dialogue. Like Riley calling Ella "the vulture in Versace." How can you not love that??

And then there's this plotline. Let's backtrack: David (the Brad Pitt lookalike) has a little half-bro named Noah, who's the son of his dad and his stepmom, played by Brooke Burns. David and Noah have a really close bond, and David's very protective of Noah, at one point kidnapping him so he could take him to the carnival (the stepmom hates David and wouldn't let him see Noah).

Then we find out why David and Noah have such a close bond: DAVID IS NOAH'S FATHER!

I almost fell over on my couch, not unlike the way David almost fell over on the stairwell after reading his stepmom's letter.

Apparently, David and his stepmom once slept together, and Noah was the result. So let me get this straight. David is Noah's father and his half-brother. Vanessa (the stepmom) is David's stepmom and his baby mama and Noah's mom and Noah's stepgrandmother. David's dad, Michael, is Noah's grandpa and stepfather. Did your head explode?

Man, I love this stuff.

(Pictured: David, being lurk-y.)

Life Unexpected: Series Unrenewed (For Now).

I just watched three episodes in a row of Life Unexpected (I'm up to the season finale), and let me just say: LOVE. Some blogger likened it to Everwood, and he/she is right. I laughed. I cried. I felt my heart get bigger.

I still can't spell his name without Googling it, but Kristoffer Polaha is terrific. And so is Shiri Appleby. And so is that little Britt Robertson. They have all grown into their roles, and now I'm totally addicted to this show. I no longer see Shiri Appleby and think Roswell. I no longer see Kristoffer Polaha and think of that failed ABC comedy starring Judy Greer as a high school guidance counselor. Oh wait, yes I do. But not really. I mainly see him as a man-child/awesome dad now.

Life Unexpected had its season finale earlier this week. It has not yet been renewed by the CW. Everyone seems to think it's a sure bet that this show will come back, and I'm inclined to agree. Still, CW, what are you waiting for? Put us out of our misery and just make it official already.

Just one small thing. Can you nix the theme song? I kind of hate it.

Hello, Hello, Glee!

I had a meta experience last night while watching Glee.

It was during the last musical number (not "Vogue"--more on that stupendously awesome video later), "Hello Goodbye." Rachel and Finn were dancing around onstage. Artie was spinning around in his wheelchair.

I started to get a tear in my eye. A tear of sheer joy.

This is what television should be about. Joy. Not hoping someone gets eliminated or hoping a bad guy gets killed. Pure, simple joy. It is a rare show on television that gives its fans this feeling every week, and off the top of my head, I can think of just two other shows that does this as well as Glee: Chuck and Ugly Betty.

I don't even know where to start. Last night's Glee wasn't a gamechanger. Nothing major happened. It was just the simple return of a beloved show that left us for four months, making the winter feel colder and longer than it has ever been. Glee, your absence made my heart grow fonder.

Last night, we were introduced to a few new cast members: Idina Menzel and Jonathan Groff, who are both Broadway vets and already have ties to Glee. Idina costarred with Kristin Chenoweth in Wicked, and Jonathan is Lea Michele's BFF and former Spring Awakening costar. I didn't care much for their characters--Idina made out with Will, who is supposed to be dating Emma, and Jonathan looked like an '80s rock star. He looked about 30 years old. And speaking of looks, Idina is basically Rachel Berry in about 30 years. Holy future self, Batman!

Glee didn't change too much during its absence: Sue was still evil and funny, Terri was still just evil, Finn was still cluelessly cute, and Rachel was still...well, Rachel. Actually, Will changed a little--he is now a player, or at least, he fancies himself one. Whatever. I am still rooting for him and Emma to work things out. Also, Brittany the blonde cheerleader is hilarious. "Sometimes I forget my middle name."

Another choice line from the show: Rachel's "Who's there? I carry a rape whistle."

My favorite number of the evening was "Gives You Hell." I am listening to it right now as I type this (thank you, GummyBearGleeks for uploading it onto YouTube). Lea Michele's voice is pure magic. She can sing anything and make it ten times better than the original. Sorry, All-American Rejects. I like your version, but Lea killed it.

Oh and how foxy is Harry Shum, Jr. (aka Mike Chang)? CHEESUS. I don't know what I would do if he and John Cho ever appeared on a show together.

Fox did something very smart with the scheduling of Glee right out of American Idol. I don't know what ABC was smoking, putting V right after Dancing with the Stars. Or putting Shaq Vs...., well, putting that show anywhere on the schedule. But Fox, oh, Fox. You're a genius. Also, you're REALLY showing appreciation for your viewers. Glee right out of Idol. In fact, Glee DURING Idol. Did anyone else see Simon, Randy, Kara, or Ellen last night? Me neither. I was busy checking out Will and Sue and Finn and Tina C. and Artie sitting behind them.

Here's what was arguably the best part of the evening: The "Vogue" video. The original Madonna song was a little before my time, and I've only ever seen snippets of the video here and there. Didn't matter at all. Sue Sylvester was a genius, and so were Kurt and Mercedes and everyone else in the video. And so was the person who shot the video. And so was the person who changed the lyrics to "Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire. Sue Sylvester, dance on air" and "Lauren, Katherine, Lana too. Will Schuester, I hate you."

Isn't life better now that Glee's back?

(Pictured: Sue Sylvester vogueing. I spent about 20 minutes making that using screenshots from the video. The tilting is completely by accident. But it still came out pretty great, huh?)

Jersey Shore + Make It Or Break It = Last Night's CSI: Miami.

I am one of those people who forever remembers actors from one show, and when they move on to other shows, I still call them by their old characters' names. For example, Dexter's dad is now on FlashForward. Michael (from Sunset Beach) is now on Grey's Anatomy. Lorelai Gilmore is on Parenthood.

And last night, Emily Kmetko and Lauren Tanner from Make It Or Break It were both on CSI: Miami. Whoa! MIOBI is one of my favorite shows--it airs on ABC Family, and it follows a group of young gymnasts as they try to make it to the Olympics. Emily is the awkward girl who's new to the group. Lauren is the rich mean girl whose dad is dating Emily's mom. On CSI: Miami, Emily was the fat girl who got skinny and got revenge on three people who tortured her back in college. Lauren was one of the girls involved in an almost-three-way with one of the jerks who tortured Emily. It's a long story. In the end, Emily ended up sitting in a jail cell. It was very sad. Wait, no it's not. She still has a chance to go for Olympic gold!

I love, love, seeing actors pop up unexpectedly on other shows. This sounds crazy, but I see them as their old characters. A couple of episodes of FlashForward ago, MIOBI's gymnastics coach showed up and began threatening Lloyd Simcoe and that Simon guy. Coach Belov, what are you doing?? You're supposed to be training the girls to beat the Chinese!

The other great thing about last night's CSI: Miami was that it was JERSEY SHORE THEMED. Holy awesomeness! The jerky guy who got killed by Emily Kmetko liked to pull his shirt up and refer to himself as "The Program." And all the kids attended Jersey University.

CSI: Miami, I love you.

(Pictured: Emily Kmetko and Lauren Tanner on Make It Or Break It. One "Program" short of a threesome.)

Hey, V! Lighten Up!

This weekend, the fiancé and I watched the two new episodes of V that aired recently. V, like FlashForward, had the misfortune of getting its season sliced in half and going on forced hiatus for four months.

Seriously, what gives, ABC? Can you stop doing this? Why do you hate your viewers so? And don't even get me started on Ugly Betty.

Where was I? Oh, yes, V. Now don't get me wrong--I don't like this show. I didn't like Juliet on Lost, and I don't like her here, either. (She plays basically the same character in both.) But watching these two episodes made me think of another reason V falls far short of the quality of say, Lost.

V takes itself WAY too seriously.

For example, in one episode, Anna the head alien decides to mate with one of the nameless males on her ship. After she does her thing (it takes about four and a half seconds total), she goes, "It's done. My eggs are now in need of nourishment," and whips her head around and eats her mate alive. This would've been a funny, campy scene, except...it wasn't. It was done in a way that you felt obligated to think, "Wow, that's some hardcore alien-lizard- mating! This Anna means business! Don't mess with her!"

I can't get into a drama that tells me I should feel serious about something. If I can't laugh at it, I don't want to watch. I often laugh at 24 and CSI: Miami, because they practically invite you to have a good chuckle. Look, Jack Bauer just killed six men after being shot in the stomach! Look, Horatio just paused in the middle of his sentence! For no reason!

V, on the other hand, is just one thing after another. Oh no, the black dude's wife is pregnant with a lizard baby. Yikes, they're torturing another 5th Column traitor. Oh, and those aliens just killed themselves. This is an remake of a corny old '80s alien show, for crying out loud. Make me laugh! Or at the very least, make me crack a smile and go, "That is ridiculous...ridiculously awesome."

There is nothing ridiculously awesome about V.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe I shouldn't compare it to Lost (even though ABC wants it to be the next Lost). Maybe I shouldn't compare it to other ridiculous dramas (even though V is a drama with lots of ridiculousness potential). Maybe I should just shaddup and watch the dang show.

But, as I like to say, life's too short to watch bad TV. Life's also too short to watch TV you can't poke fun at...especially if the show can't even poke fun at itself.

What's On This Summer, ABC?

ABC announced its summer schedule a few days ago. What should you watch? I mean, besides Big Brother? Here are my three picks:

1) Dating in the Dark. I essentially wrote a love letter to this show back in February. Too bad I have to wait until August 9 for new episodes.

2) Anything Primetime. There are several series, including Family Secrets, Crime, The Outsiders, and What Would You Do?. WWYD is the best one--it sets up psychological experiments with innocent bystanders. One episode, they had a white couple fighting on a park bench, and the guy was getting physical, and people stepped in to help the girl. Then they had a black couple fighting, and people just looked on warily. Good stuff. Unfortunately, ABC hasn't booked WWYD for this summer (yet). But they did schedule this new one, Mind Games. It's all about the "darkest corners of the human mind and how it can be twisted." One of the episodes will focus on children who kill. Color me intrigued. Mind Games premieres July 20.

3) Wipeout. People face-planting on giant red balls. 'Nuff said. Wipeout premieres June 1.

ABC also scheduled 3 new dramas/dramedies: Rookie Blue, about a bunch of rookie cops, The Gates, about a family moving to a mysterious town, and Scoundrels, about a crime family attempting to go straight when the dad goes to jail. Five letters: ZZZZZ.

And there's a new game show, Downfall, played on top of a skyscraper, with contestants' winnings get thrown over the side of a building if they miss a question. Interesting premise, but I can see the novelty wearing off after oh, one episode. Sort of like Deal Or No Deal.

The best thing about summer is that, unlike December/early January, the networks don't all phone it in. Sure, 90% of the new offerings are crap. But at least they're trying.

FlashForward: Why Isn't Anyone Watching? Let Me Count The Ways.

FlashForward returned with new episodes a couple of weeks ago, and I've watched two of them. So far, it's a mixed bag.

The good, the bad, and the ugly of the new episodes of FlashForward:

The good:
-Every scene with John Cho. I'm sweating just typing his name. Geez. Whether he's arguing with his fiancée, or having a heartwarming chat with Janis, or running after a bad guy, I can't take my eyes off him.
-I love that Janis is fighting to have her future baby girl. I think she'd be a good mom. By the way, what happened to her girlfriend? Did they break up or something? I can barely remember what I had for dinner last night, let alone what happened in an episode that aired last December. Remember that, ABC, and all other networks, the next time you make your shows go on a four-month hiatus in the middle of a season.

The bad/ugly:
-Joseph Fiennes and Lloyd Simcoe (I don't know the actor's name, nor do I care). Their scenes bore me to tears. Approximately 75% of the 2nd episode consisted of Joseph and Lloyd rehashing their flash forwards: who called whom, who texted whom, who slept with whose wife when such calling/texting occurred, and what it all means, blah blah. MAN.
-You know how each episode of Lost focuses on one character, but they also show the broader plotlines going on with the other characters? FlashForward is doing that in reverse. Instead of focusing on one character, they focus on ALL BUT ONE character. In the first episode, there is no mention or appearance of AA dude and his soldier daughter. None whatsoever. Then, in episode 2, AA dude and his daughter are all over the place. But Olivia is gone. This is so bizarre and distracting, it takes away from my enjoyment of the show. Or maybe I'm just really, really neurotic.
-Can someone explain to me what happened to the Japanese girl? They spent a whole episode on the orderly dude going to Japan and knocking on doors and going to restaurants to try to find the girl from his flash forward. Now all of a sudden he's BFFs with the nanny? Visiting her and her crazy mom and gluing pennies on the wall? What?

FlashForward is currently on "bubble" status, which means it's on the verge of cancellation. Oh, FlashForward, you were so promising back in September. And now look where you are. I'm truly disappointed.

(Pictured: Janis and Demetri, my two favorite characters. Even covered in wounds, John Cho is dang hot.)

Glee Is Coming Back Soon. Preach.

We are now less than one week away from the return of Glee. It's been four months since the last episode.

The funny thing is, Glee has been in my life this whole time anyway. I follow most of the stars on Twitter. I became a fan of Glee on Facebook. I bought both Glee soundtracks for my sister for Christmas, in the hopes that she would burn them both and give me copies (she did). I've been lapping up the promos that air during American Idol. I even checked out the pictures from when they went to the White House. I tried (and failed) to buy tickets for their NYC concerts in May. (One of the concerts was the day before my wedding. Yes, I would've gone.)

Stalk much, you say?

Glee returns next Tuesday at 9:28PM. Right after American Idol. My toes are twitching just thinking about it.

Lost Progress Report: Season 5.

I don't even know what to say at this point. I haven't a clue what's going on with this show. I didn't even watch most of the episodes. It was all so confusing.

Too many friggin characters. Too many times. Too many plot points. I have no idea what John Locke is doing, or if he's the real John Locke (I read somewhere that he's the smoke monster or something). I don't know what's the deal with the submarine.

I wonder what happened to Penny and Desmond. I kind of miss them. I started watching FlashForward's new episodes last night, and I was like, Oh, Penny. So that's where you are.

So Juliet finally died. I think. Well, fine by me. I never liked her. I was also sick of the Juliet-Sawyer-Kate-Jack love quadrangle. Blahhhh who cares? Also, this must be how Juliet ended up on V. Leading a boring resistance against aliens.

Widmore and Jack's dad keep popping up in random places. I get those two confused a lot, because they're both rich, elderly, evil dads.

Michael has disappeared (read: forgotten by the writers) again. Walt has undergone puberty and now attends private school in NYC. I wonder if he knows Jenny Humphrey.

Vincent the dog (pictured) is hanging out with Rose and Bernard. He probably has a better idea of what's going on with this show than I do.

24: The Silent Clock.

Wow. Let's just say I am so glad that last night's 24 was a two-parter. There was no way the first episode by itself would've sufficed for a whole week. What a fantastic two episodes!

Some highlights:

-The shocking ending. Who saw that one coming? Let's rewind by about ten minutes: As Jack & Co. were going up the stairs, searching for President Hassan and the terrorists, I kept thinking how long-winded the masked hostage-taker was, the one who was reading the list of Hassan's so-called crimes. For crying out loud, he just kept going on and on and on. And on. It was getting ridiculous. And then we all found out THE VIDEO WAS PRERECORDED. Hassan was already dead. Holy moly. It was so sad. And there it was, that silent clock.

-Renee has the reflexes of a cat. Before I could shout at the TV, "SHE'S GOT A GUN!" Renee had already whipped out her gun and shot the blonde-wigged terrorist. Whew.

-Dana got hers. I was only sorry Jack didn't torture her for very long. Also, is anyone else wondering where the wimpy, meek Dana of episodes 1-12 went? It was like they swapped out that Dana for cool-cucumber Dana. I'm not buying this. Hey, writers! Next time you have someone suddenly be the mole, can you at least...wait. This is the last season of 24. Never mind.

-I. Love. Cherry. Jones. She laid the smack-down on Rob Weiss! I want her to be my real president. Can we co-elect her and Dennis Haysbert in 2016? I know they're not real presidents, and Dennis was assassinated on the show, but how great are they? And speaking of presidents, who else is excited for President Logan's return next week?

I had to miss Chuck to catch this two-hour 24, but it was totally worth it. TOTALLY WORTH IT. I only wish every week could be two hours of 24. But if wishes were fishes, we'd all be living underwater.

The Best/Worst Idea Ever.

Allow me to gank from myself. That sounds dirty, but it's really not.

I am a regular blogger at www.8asians.com, and today I wrote a post about a casting call for an Asian-American version of Jersey Shore. Here is the post, in full. Enjoy!

And for those of you reading this blog who don't know what I look like, well, there ya go. A teeny thumbnail from three years ago.

Miami Medical: Why Bother?

Apologies for the dearth of blogposts lately. I've been insanely busy of late. Trying to plan a wedding, trying to apply for scholarships for law school, trying to clear up an identity theft thing (another reason to hate Jersey--some scumbag there tried to use my name to open a line of credit), trying to get work done at the office.

Also, I'm sick of blogging about the same old shows--Lost, 24, American Idol. I'm pretty sure you're sick of reading about them, too. Or maybe you're not. I hope you're not.

Anywhosers, this morning, I saw a commercial for the new CBS drama, Miami Medical. It premieres tonight at 10PM. The show looks like Grey's Anatomy set in Miami. I'm torn on this. On the one hand, I love shows set in Miami. And by shows I really mean just two shows: Dexter and CSI: Miami. On the other hand, I'm sick of these same old dramas. Why do all these shows on TV focus on the same three subjects over and over and OVER: crime, law, and/or medicine?

I'm also hesitant to start watching a Friday night show. I don't know why networks bother scheduling new shows there. Nobody watches TV on Friday. Even Friday Night Lights didn't originally air on Fridays. Since CBS put Miami Medical there, it's all but guaranteed to get low ratings, which means it'll get canceled pretty quickly, which means there's no point in watching, which means it'll get low ratings. It's a vicious cycle.

Miami Medical (originally named Miami Trauma, and both names could not be more boring) stars a guy named Mike Vogel. He's that dude who's had roles here and there and you'd know his face but not really. He's no McDreamy, and he's no Delko. Rounding out the cast are Lana Parrilla, Jeremy Northam, Elisabeth Harnois, and Omar Gooding. Their names are vaguely familiar. Vaaaaaguely.

So why start watching this show at all? I can't think of a single reason. Overused concept, unknown cast. Sorry, Miami Medical. Looks like you'll be joining that great hospital drama in the sky. Say hi to Three Rivers for me.