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.)