The Ups and Downs (Well, Mostly Downs) of Reruns.

Next week is Thanksgiving, and we all know what that means: Rerun time.

Every year, the networks try to feed us a slew of holiday specials we've all seen a bazillion times, reruns of episodes we've already seen, and reruns of episodes we've never seen and have no plans to watch. I'm thinking the idea is that we'll actually pick up a show that we heretofore had zero interest in/could not watch because it conflicted with something else. And believe it or not, this has actually worked on yours truly.

Here are the top three shows, in no particular order, that I've picked up due to reruns over winter/summer breaks:

1) CSI: Miami. Ah, Horatio. I first became interested in this show two or three years ago, during a CBS upfront. The upfronts are this annual event in late spring where the networks show off their new shows and remind us how great their returning shows are. That first year I went was the year of the Horatio one-liners. They played a YouTube video of him putting on his sunglasses mid-dramatic-sentence. I started watching the show that summer, looking for those one-liners. Now, he doesn't do them anymore. But I'm still happily hooked.

2) Law & Order: SVU. I don't quite remember how I got into this show. It might've been the summer my first boyfriend dumped me after freshman year in college and all I did was lie in bed watching TV and feeling miserable about myself. It might've even helped that watching a show about people getting raped and/or killed got me thinking, Hey, maybe I don't have it so bad.

3) Big Brother. Ah, what would a list like this be without Big Brother? It's the perfect summer alternative to (insert the latest Shaq reality show from ABC here) and old episodes of Grey's Anatomy (zzz) and America's Next Top Model. (Seriously, CW. You already run Top Model twice a week when episodes are new. Why would we want to see the episodes a third time?) But I digress. I watched part of the first season of Big Brother, because it was new. Then I dropped the next five seasons or so. I picked it up again when I started the job I have now, because some of my coworkers planned to watch it. I believe a friendly office pool was involved. Also, Big Brother is dangerously addictive. I mean that literally. The show grows more violent/verbally abusive each season. I'm looking at you, Evel Dick and Russell!

You'll notice something all three shows have in common: I picked them up three or more years ago. In other words, not a single show has enticed me with its reruns in the last three years. The Mentalist? No thanks. Bones? Bleh. Numb3rs? Why bother, you're on the brink of cancellation anyway.

So if recent history is any indicator, I'm in for a long, long December. But at the end of the tunnel lies American Idol and 24, not to mention Chuck (!). Is it mid-January yet?

A Gay Character on Law & Order: SVU. Good or Bad?

I haven't watched this episode yet (it aired last night against Glee), but psychiatrist George Huang, played by BD Wong, revealed in last night's Law & Order: SVU that he is, in fact, gay.

According to afterelton.com, fans have long suspected Huang is a gay man. Wow I must be dense! I have never even thought about his sexuality. SVU almost never deals with romantic relationships--and thank goodness, because they would just detract from the show. We have heard passing comments from Munch about the toils of marriage. And we know Stabler is married and we know Benson is straight and never been married. That's pretty much it.

I have mixed feelings about Huang coming out. On the one hand, it deepens him as a character, so that he is not just that Asian guy who shows up every so often to profile criminals. Also, having a gay main character on one of TV's biggest shows is a strong indicator that the powers that be at SVU are no longer delusional that all of America is straight (I'm looking at you, CBS!).

On the other hand, I'm wondering if making Huang gay will marginalize him even more. He's already a fringe main character--that is, he's not in every episode, and he doesn't have a lot of lines in most of the episodes he does appear in. He shows up, provides his expertise, occasionally interviews a victim/perp, and then it's see ya later, Huang.

So what's up with this trend of making men of color portray gay characters on TV shows? It's not just SVU--there's Entourage's Lloyd, played by Rex Lee. And there's The Office's Oscar, played by Oscar Nunez. Am I the only one who's noticed this?

Um, Can We Get Wentworth Miller on Law & Order: SVU Permanently?

So with the dirth of TV last night, I finally had time to watch the first and second episodes of this season's Law & Order: SVU. I won't go into the second episode, because I'm "eh" about Eric McCormack--never watched Will & Grace.

BUT I was beyond thrilled when I settled on my sofa to watch SVU and the first person who pops up is the glorious Wentworth Miller, whose face is so handsome it hurts my bones to think of it. Ouch. Ouch. OUCH.

Sidenote: When I first started dating my fiance, I told him that he sort of looks like Wentworth, if he turns his head at a 45 degree angle and it is semi-dark out. He had no idea who that was. Whatever.

Even better than Wentworth appearing on my favorite crime procedural (okay, tied with CSI: Miami) is Wentworth appearing as a bad-boy cop. This is what he did during the episode (and this is just what I REMEMBER):

1) Yell at a rape victim. Passive-aggressively blame her for what happened to her. At one point, the victim got up to leave, and Wentworth said, very coolly, "Park it." Aye aye, Officer.

2) Run over a suspect Benson and Stabler were chasing. Hey, when legs aren't fast enough, use a car. That was actually his excuse after B & S yelled at him.

3) Shove a rapist out the window and have him splatter all over the pavement. This occurred while the rapist, who was in custody at the police station, said, "I need to use the bathroom," and Officer Wentworth volunteered to escort him. You knew trouble was a-coming.

Man, what a good episode. I have not seen a more awesome cop since Horatio Caine. Wentworth broke more rules than there are rules to be broken (seriously, I don't think there is an actual rule in the police manual that says "When pursuing suspect in foot chase, do not get in your car and stomp on the gas").

Please, NBC, please with a thousand cherries on top, will you bring Wentworth back for more episodes? I promise to give Trauma a try if you do.*

*It'll be canceled soon anyway.