The Dog Days Of TV.

If you're a sports fan, like my dad (Happy Father's Day!), you had a lot to watch on TV these last few weeks.

If you're me, you're praying Big Brother moves up its premiere date. Wherefore art thou, Chen-bot?

In the meantime, here is what I've been up to:

-Watching the Life nature series from BBC. I hate watching animals get torn apart and eaten alive, but I really liked the episodes on insects, birds and fishes. (Yes, I say fishes.) I could watch insects forever. Also, chinstrap penguins. I love penguins.

-Watching Doctor Who. I am slowly getting used to the new Doctor's rubbery face, and Amy is getting slightly less annoying with each episode. The Rory/Amy scenes are very sad. I didn't understand Saturday's episode, though. Something about Pandorica's Box and the Doctor being responsible for the world's destruction. Huh???

-Watching Degrassi: The Next Generation. I am an out and proud Degrassi fan. Last Friday, I finally watched Degrassi Goes Hollywood. All my favorites were back--Emma, Manny, Marco, Paige, Ellie, and even Craig! I miss those kids. Oh, and when did Jay of Jay & Silent Bob get so hot? After that, I watched the first two episodes of season 9. I'm still learning the names of all the current kids. This is cool--Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries is still on this show. I am not used to seeing her in bright light, wearing something other than a leather jacket. It's very unsettling. I kind of wish I attended Degrassi High. I had a dream about Sav a few nights ago. Shut up! I am not a pedophile!

-Watching One Tree Hill. I'm one episode from the finale. Haley tried to drown herself. Some crazy lady is impersonating Clay's ex-wife. There's also this subplot with a bearded piano player and a British record producer that I just don't get. And Jamie has a friggin huge rabbit named Chester that I only just realized this weekend is FRIGGIN HUGE. If you watch this show, rewatch the scene where Jamie asks Quinn if Chester can watch The Goonies with them. You'll see.

-Reading. Maybe you thought that since I'm a TVholic, I don't read. Actually, I probably read more than you. And faster. I go through 1-2 books a week. The one I'm on right now is Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver. It's a YA book about a girl who dies...but then she gets to relive her last day on earth seven times. It's like Groundhog Day, the movie. Except it's a book. And it's sad. And I can't put it down. The book I read last week was a HUGE disappointment: Husband and Wife, by Leah Stewart. I read her 2nd novel, The Myth of You & Me, two weeks ago, and absolutely loved it. Another book I couldn't put down. Well, Husband and Wife is the complete opposite. The protagonist is whiny and selfish and really annoying. And she talks about her thoughts and her feelings WAY too much. I can't believe these books were written by the same person. After this, I'm going to reread all the Harry Potters. I figure I could go on this magical journey and clear my mind before starting law school (in two months, ahh!). I still haven't read #7. Has anybody out there reread the Harry Potters, and if so, are they just as good a second time?

-Cooking. I made scallion pancakes and banana bread this weekend, both from scratch. I can make them with my eyes closed now, I've done it so often.

-Running. I'm doing a 5k next weekend, July 3, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to pass out somewhere on the course. I'm running with my husband and his sisters. And by "with," I mean "behind." So far, I can go about 3k, but with some walking in between. And on a mostly straight course. The 5k course is supposedly very hilly. If you don't hear from me after July 3, I didn't make it out alive. Send my regards to Chen-bot.

(Pictured: Some of the cast from the current Degrassi. From left to right: Claire, Alli, some dude, the new girl, some dude, Claire's boyfriend. Wow. Clearly, I need to get going on Season 9!)

One Tree Hill: Season 7 Observations.

This weekend, I watched a boatload of One Tree Hills. I am now only two episodes behind.

Here are some things that struck me about the season:

1. There are a lot of women with the same hair color. Haley, Millie, Alex, Rachel and Quinn all have the same reddish brown hair. It's getting hard to tell them all apart.

2. Robert Buckley needs to be on every show, if only so we can stare at his beautiful face all the time. He looks like a skinner version of Scott Speedman. Hot diggity dog.

3. What do you mean, "Zero is not a size"?! A few episodes back, Millie appeared in Brooke's fashion show wearing a wife-beater with the words ZERO IS NOT A SIZE scrawled across the front. Sigh. Don't make us skinny girls feel bad about ourselves, One Tree Hill. That just ain't right.

4. Haley and Nathan should have more kids. Is anyone else wondering why they don't? Jamie is like 7 years old. He could use a little brother or sister to be clever around. And it's not like Naley couldn't afford a few more little'uns. They live in a giant mansion with a pool. You know what? I predict that by season's end, Haley is pregnant. With twins.

5. How does this show get to me every time? One Tree Hill is not supposed to make you cry. It's supposed to be this over-the-top, schmaltzy melodrama set to the soundtrack of some very angsty recording artists. You're supposed to roll your eyes at how ridiculous the plots are. And yet, one of the recent episodes managed to pull up a tear in the back of my eye. It was the one with Robert Buckley's ex-wife Sarah appearing as a ghost that Robert Buckley can't let go of. They fell in love jumping off a pier. Yes, that is corny, and yes, I love it. The day she died, they were dancing in their kitchen, and then she went to get some grape Kool-Aid, and then she collapsed on the floor and died.

Fiancé: See? That's why we should never dance.

It's pretty amazing how One Tree Hill has undergone so many changes and taken so many risks and is still going strong. How many shows have gone 7 seasons without jumping the shark? How many shows have overhauled its cast (including writing off two of its leads) and still hold on to its audience? How many shows have done the fast-forward-a-couple-of-years thing and carried it off beautifully? I'll tell you. Not many.

One Tree Hill, may you live long and continue to entertain us for years to come.

One Tree Hill: Out With the Blonds, In With Robert Buckley

I just got caught up with the current season of One Tree Hill, a show I've been watching since its inception. Initially, I thought it was too "Southern" for me. I couldn't relate to it at all. But as shows are wont to do, OTH grew on me, and now I can't imagine a TV season without it.

There were many changes this season, most notably that Peyton and Lucas are gone. I didn't think the producers could pull off a show without them. Almost every storyline revolved around Peyton and Lucas, Lucas and Peyton. But now I know the show can be done sans the blonds. Yes, I will miss Peyton and her big emotional heart. I will even miss Lucas's squinty eyes and his voiceovers. But eh, life moves on.

I'm really liking the two new additions to this revamped OTH: Robert Buckley, and the redhead who plays Haley's sister Quinn. Quinn is like the outspoken version of Haley, with 10x the baggage. Robert Buckley plays Nathan's sports agent, who defies his profession's stereotypes--I thought he'd be a smarmy liar...but instead, I really like him. Mostly because he looks like Scott Speedman, but I like him for being a nice guy too.

The second episode of OTH broke my heart. Fans of Naley (that's Nathan + Haley to non-watchers) have known from practically the first episode that those two belong together, and Nathan will always be faithful to Haley. Because he's just a good, decent person. Well, knock me over with a feather because some trashy girl has come forward and said that Nathan slept with her after winning a big basketball game. And she has the sonogram to prove it. Agggggghhhhh. I really really want to believe that she's lying and it'll turn out the sonogram is fake or it's really someone else's kid. Or some other crazy sh*t because OTH has been know to pull quite a few things out of its you-know-where. But there is that one teeeeeny part of me that is brokenhearted to think that it might be true. That Nathan really did cheat on Haley. In which case, my world has been turned inside-out. Up is down. Down is up. The boogeyman exists. Brothers will not be canceled.

Say it ain't so, Nathan. Don't you break my (and Haley's) heart like that!