Lost Progress Report: Season 4.

This weekend, I finished watching the 4th season of Lost. And by "finished" I mean "slept through" because I was dead tired. It made no difference, anyway, because I probably would've understood it just as much (read: not at all) if I had actually watched it.

This was the most confusing season for me. I know what I wrote earlier about the five stages of Lost, and how I'm in the Acceptance stage, meaning I've come to accept that I do not understand anything that's going on and that's OK. But somehow, Lost managed to reach further into the depths of obscurity this season, unearthing even MORE plotlines and MORE characters and MORE times.

What do I mean by times? Well, we used to have the present with flashbacks. Now we have flash forwards--which I knew were coming, but I didn't realize they'd be executed so confusingly. The Oceanic 6 are off the island, but they want to go back. But what happened to everybody still on the island? What've they been doing for three years? How come we aren't privy to seeing any of it?

Also, what's going on with Widmore? The fiancé tried to explain it to me, how Widmore is interested in the island and wants to keep it to himself or whatever. Yeah, I don't get it either.

The Penny-Desmond reunion was really sweet. I'm liking Sonya Walger 1,000 times more in this role than as Olivia in FlashForward.

I also like the new character Miles. He's quite the snarkster. My people are all over Lost this season--Miles, Sun, Jin. Okay that's only 3 people, but I'll take it. I also started watching season 5, and it features Dr. Chang, the Dharma Initiative guy. And, though I haven't seen him yet, there is another Asian guy with a goatee who is somehow involved with the Temple (no clue what that is, or who the Asian guy is, but I read about it in EW). Yes they killed off all the black people (Michael's still around, but just barely), but Lost is at least replacing them with other people of color. High-five for diversity!

Greek Love.

It's not often I do this, because I'm more prone to being sarcastic and cynical about TV shows, about the lack of diversity, the annoying characters, the boring plotlines, blah blah. Because what fun is a blog if all I do is say nice things?

But I want to take a moment here to say how much I love Greek. It's campy, it's fun, it's funny. I want to live in the world of Cappie and Casey & Co. A world where it never rains (as Cappie pointed out in a recent episode: "The weather [here] never seems to change"), where college professors are quirky, where grades never seem to matter, where sorority houses worship stuffed pink cats named Mr. Purrs-a-lot.

The characters feel like family. I want Casey to be my sister. I want Ashley to be my friend. Cappie and Calvin as my brothers. Rusty, of course, would be the creepy uncle to stay away from.

You guys know that song by Mr. Big, "To Be With You"? It's really popular at karaoke bars. Anyway, the song will forever be tied to Greek for me, not only because it was featured in an episode last year, but also because of its nostalgic flavor, the sense of longing I feel when I listen to it. It's like your high school graduation song. You'll remember it forever.

Greek's next season will be its last. But I'm not ready for the Greek gang to graduate. I'm not ready to say goodbye.

Is it me, or did this blogpost suddenly take a turn for the depressing? Anywho. I don't want to say goodbye to Greek. So for right now, I'll just enjoy the show while it lasts.

Katherine Heigl Leaving Grey's Anatomy.

Good riddance.

American Idol: A Sad Revelation.

I realized something this week: American Idol no longer excites me.

I don't know if it's the contestants, or the lack of talent, or what. But these days, AI is no longer appointment TV for me.

The front runners. I am so bored by them. I have NO PLANS to buy CDs from Lilly Scott or Siobhan Magnus or Crystal Bowersox. Sure, they were entertaining in the beginning, bringing something new and funky to the table. Now I'm over it. I want my freaking ballads back!

These three girls are so far out of the mainstream, they'll appeal only to niche fans. As for the guys, the current favorite seems to be Michael Lynche, who consistently gets positive feedback from the judges. I just see him going the way of Ruben Studdard. Big, lovable black man who sings really well, but has zero appeal beyond the show.

And now, thanks to myself, I have "Sorry for 2004" stuck in my head.

Don't get me wrong. I like all these people. I just wouldn't buy any of their music. And I don't think America will, either.

And is it just me, or are the judges totally biased against mainstreamers this season? Katie Stevens and Katelyn Epperly get so much flak every week. And yet, if Katie made an album, people would probably buy it. Creedence Clearwater Revival? This is not 1968!

Oh and speaking of things I don't want to hear again: Genie in a Bottle, sung at a slightly frantic pace with guitar accompaniment. WTF, Andrew Garcia, WTF???

Big Love: Incest, Schmincest.

"How can there be incest when there's no intercourse?"

How, indeed. This is the question raised by JJ in the season finale of Big Love. Allow me to explain.

One of the show's many plotpoints this season was this: Nicki is having trouble getting pregnant, so she's been seeing this Mormon doctor for special treatments. The doctor finally tells Nicki her eggs are no good, she's infertile. Nicki gets depressed. Then Nicki's ex JJ finds out, and starts scheming. By the way, there's a subplot about how there's been a spike in deformed babies coming out of Juniper Creek and people are accusing the Mormons of inbreeding.

Anywho. JJ somehow gets Nicki's doctor to try to implant an embryo in Nicki. What kind of embryo, you ask? One that comes from the union of his sperm and Cara Lynn's egg. Who's Cara Lynn, you ask? His and Nicki's DAUGHTER.

Ahhhhhhhhh!

Thankfully, Nicki's mom storms into the doctor's office just in time to stop him from implanting the embryo in a drugged-up, semi-concious Nicki. What is Nicki's mom's involvement, you ask? Well, she happens to be pregnant. With a JJ/Wanda embryo. But who's Wanda? JJ's SISTER.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Turns out JJ has been running a no-sex incest clinic, which explains all the deformed babies. Why is JJ running a no-sex incest clinic? I don't know, and I didn't feel inclined to rewatch the episode to find out. Anyway, the WHY here is not so important as the WHAT. And that WHAT is something I'd like to forget about as soon as I finish writing this post.

Oh, and the other thing that happened in the finale was Bill finally came out as a polygamist. He had just won a seat in the state senate, and during his speech, decided to introduce himself and his three wives. I love that after he introduced his second wife, some random lady in the crowd yelled out, "How many ya got???"

All in all, it was a bizarre, sickening, yet satisfying way to end the season. What will happen to the Henricksons now that they're public? Will Bill keep his seat? Will Nicki get pregnant? Will Adaleen (Nicki's mom) give birth to her daughter/granddaughter? We'll find out next season!

Undercover Boss Renewed For Second Season. You're Welcome, CBS.

About three months ago, I wrote about a certain little-known reality show that was debuting after the Super Bowl. It was called Undercover Boss, and many people scoffed at not only the concept of the show, but the fact that of all shows, THAT was the one getting the cushy post-Super Bowl spot.

Well, CBS was right. The show is averaging 18.7 million viewers on Sunday nights, even up against heavyweights like the Winter Olympics and Desperate Housewives. And now it's been picked up for a second season.

Woop woop!

As I have blogged previously, in the months leading up to the Super Bowl, plus on the night of the big game, people were finding my blog by Googling "What show airs after the Super Bowl?" So I like to think I sent a few readers CBS's way. CBS, I accept cash, credit, and Snickers bars.

Lie To Me Returns June 7. I'd Care, If I Still Watched.

Around this time last year, I was still watching Lie to Me. For those not in the know, and judging by the ratings, that would be the overwhelming majority of the American population, the show is about a guy (Tim Roth) who solves crimes by reading people's expressions to see if they're lying. He leads a team of fellow expression-readers, none of whom are remotely interesting in their own right.

Lie to Me's premise is one that sound cool at first, and then you start to wonder if they can pull off more than a handful of episodes before the show becomes boring and irrelevant. Sadly, this was exactly the case with Lie to Me. I'd forget to download an episode, and then I'd realize...I didn't care! And before I knew it, it was 2010 and I was read the headline that the show is returning in June.

My first thought: When was it ever OFF the air?

Airing out of Lie to Me on Monday nights is the new dramedy, Good Guys (originally titled Code 58). It's about two cops who...eh, no one cares. Fox, please stop shoving new action shows down our throats and spin off Glee!