Thursday Thoughts- The League Drafts Keyshawn

30 Rock
It's getting harder and harder for me to think of 22 minute showings as full episodes. It's like little excerpts of 30 Rock, they go by so fast. Not long enough to get into it. Then again maybe it's just because the main storyline of 30 Rock is never about Tracy. Sure he got his moments of hilarity in, but I'm less and less impressed with Liz Lemon as time goes by. The Liz/Jack stories usually don't do it for me, and it again was the low point this week.

On the flip side, I loved Liz's quote mid-ep of "All anyone wants is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich." As believable as that sounds, I'm assuming JJ was screaming at the television when she said it. You see JJ hates sandwiches. One of the many arguments during our Florida trip this summer had to do with this fact. I argued the point that JJ merely hated cold cuts, because technically hamburgers are sandwiches. And he agreed that he didn't have a problem with other meats on certain rolls. These are all sandwiches, just because they don't have cold cuts doesn't mean they aren't still sandwiches.

Great cameo by my man Jimmy Fallon this week. I used to hate this guy on Saturday Night Live, but ever since he started his late night show, I've started to love him. I enjoyed him here tonight, even though he wasn't funny at all.

The League
Ok so maybe I was expecting a little too much. The comedy here was extremely brutal at times. Why do some writers/creators think that just plain dirty is funny. There's a certain way to make dirty jokes funny, and The League didn't do it well here.

So I take back a lot of the stuff I said about The Hangover. Don't get me wrong, it still is very overrated and not really that funny, but I understand why a lot of people thought it was now. Seeing something that is extremely similar to your life DOES improve it immensely. Although many of the jokes didn't really land in this pilot, the fact that they dealt with fantasy football made them much more enjoyable for me.

Many of the little fantasy draft jokes were great, notably the dude mispronouncing Darren Sproleeeese, and the other dude picking Keyshawn Johnson (Keyshawn on the board!). But there were two moments that were actually very funny.

The first was when the commissioner made it so a potato sack race by some kids would determine the draft order. As the one guy's little kid crossed the finish line, he picked her up and started screaming to the heavens "Adrian Peterson! First pick of the draft!! I love this kid!" The next moment was when that same guy and the one who's wife is in charge of his team settle on a draft pick swap. Both being lawyers, they're with the criminal in holding. The prosecutor goes, "Your client is going to be spending the next ten years behind bars, unless we swap picks." The defense attorney proclaims to his concerned defendant, "You're going to jail for five years, and I just lost Adrian Peterson."

Community
A couple quick notes...Abed's Batman was incredible, especially with the way they ended the ep. Also I bet T-time was loving the Beastmaster shout out.

Survivor Samoa- Week 7

From the looks of the previews for next week, Foa Foa will be heading into the merge with an extreme lack of numbers. Is this something Russell can overcome? I hope so for entertainment value, but hope not because I have my final three team-members on the Galu side of things.

I am really starting to hate Jeff Probey Probst in all aspects. Now it is his ridiculous commentary during the challenges that I can not stand.

Oh it's Galu with a point...now Foa Foa comes back with a score! This is a really tight match! It's much tougher than it looks!

Give me a break. I can see the scoreboard on the screen Probst. And we know that it is a difficult task. You don't have to remind us every five seconds.

Fantasy Results

The Technotronics

W. Russell (Foa Foa)-W7 (22)= 22
B. Russell (Galu)-
Monica (Galu)- W7 (22), Reward (4)= 26
Liz (Foa Foa)- Votes (-16)= -16
Natalie (Foa Foa)- W7 (22)= 22
Week 7= 54
Total=340





Sweet Niblets


Erik (Galu)- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Ben (Foa Foa)-
Ashley (Foa Foa)-
Kelly (Galu)- W7 (22), Im (8)= 30
Shambo (Galu)- W7 (22), Im (8), Leader (10)= 40
Week 7= 104
Total= 282





Canon Controversy

John (Galu)- W7 (22), Reward (4)= 26
Jaison (Foa Foa)- W7 (22), Votes (-4)= 18
Mike (Foa Foa)-
Dave (Galu)- W7 (22), Im (8)= 30
Betsy (Foa Foa)-
Week 7= 74
Total= 247






Freecell Makes Me Wanna

Mick (Foa Foa)- W7 (22)= 22
Brett (Galu)- W7 (22), Reward (4), Im (8)= 34
Marissa (Foa Foa)-
Laura (Galu)- W7 (22), Reward (4)= 26
Yasmin (Galu)-
Week 7= 82
Total= 244

Wednesday Wisdom- East Dillon Hoosiers

Friday Night Lights
There was no way that I was going to wait until the summer before watching the fourth season of FNL, so I'll be doing my best to keep up with the DirecTV showings this fall and winter.

The whole East Dillon/West Dillon aspect that ended the third season and is now a major focal point of the fourth season is just such a great way to go. There are so many new avenues that the story writers can go. The best is that they can go through all of the tales you get from an underdog story. Whether it's Hoosiers, Mighty Ducks, or Little Giants, so many great sports movies start with a down on his luck coach and a God awful team. That is exactly what we have at East Dillon high. You could never have the Dillon Panthers go through what the Lions are about to endure, because Dillon High was the premier high school football team in Texas.

Right before Coach Taylor and the Lions had their first game, they had a truly great Hoosiers moment. He booted a player from the locker room and then asked if anyone else wanted out? And what happened? Same as in Hoosiers. A few more walked out the door. East Dillon was now down to 18 players and eventually forfeited their first week's game because of it. So much drama. So much excitement.

The last thing I'll touch on is the ridiculous evolution of JD McCoy from the beginning of last season to this season's premier. He was so unassuming to start. Didn't drink. Didn't date. Worked his butt off and never said boo. Tim Riggins got a hold of him for one evening last year and now he's a RAGING PSYCHO. He's getting hammered and picking fights with Saracen! I don't mind this transformation at all. It's actually seems really realistic. He earned a bit of the spotlight and is really trying to take advantage of it. Great start to the season.

Just Around the Corner- V and The League

A couple of new shows that I will be tuning in for are about to start up. Tonight, Thursday, The League premiers on FX at 10:30 p.m. On Tuesday V will premier on ABC at 8:00 p.m.

The League
The League is a new sitcom about fantasy football. Yes an idea that T-time came up with a long time ago, a tv show about guys in a fantasy football league is actually going to happen. Jonathan Toomey of TV Squad had this to say after watching tonight's first episode...

The pilot focuses largely on the tight-knit group of friends who comprise the league and how their everyday lives create complications when trying to figure out who to start at quarterback this week.

Sounds fantastic to me. Add to it that Jeff Schaffer, formerly of Curb Your Enthusiasm is one of the co-creators, and I am more excited than maybe I should be. If they don't come through with this, it will be a shame. There will be no room for a second fantasy football tv show in the future.

V
V is the new action/drama on ABC about aliens that come to Earth and hence are called The Visitors. From the previews it seems that they will look like humans, which makes it easier to watch/make. V stars Lost's Elizabeth Mitchell, Like Mike's Morris Chestnut and Double Dragon's Scott Wolf. Yeah that's right, I used Like Mike and Double Dragon!

Are they trying to take over the planet? Are they just trying to co-exist? It intrigues me...how bout you?

Monday Musings- Scott Free Redemption

One Tree Hill
Maybe it was because I was in the middle of a fantasy basketball draft at the time, but the first half of this episode might have been the worst and most boring thing of all time. It's positive effect might have been that it made the second half of the ep seem unbelievable to me. Starting with the beginning of Dan's show and the climax of the Clay story with his girlfriend, it still turned out to be the best episode of the season. Kudos to James Lafferty, who directed this gem.

As they began to show the audience more and more this time on Dan's show, Scott Free Redemption, I realized that it looks like the set of Who Wants to be a Millionaire (or at least the old Millionaire attraction at MGM). This really is the new Dan Scott we're seeing in action. His present wife, Rachel, might still be a scumbag, but I truly believe he is taking his redemption completely serious. Most of the viewers were probably thinking that he was just out to get Nathan again, and this lie detector test was a real jerk move. Little did we know that Dan was out to save the day once again, as he turned this slew into a liar on national television. Everyone is happy, yet Dan still murdered Keith. It will never be ok for him.

Again it was probably because of my fantasy draft, but I did not pick up on Clay's ex-girlfriend being a figment of his imagination until the paramedics put the white sheet over her. I may be an idiot, but I'm just saying that I was surprised and completely moved by it. Not only is this more of the background that I've been looking for from the new characters, but I liked this ex-gf so much that it is no wonder Clay acts like a jerk all the time. Here's the thing though...did they have to have her drink Cool-Aid and die? That was a coincidence right? They weren't saying that she was actually drinking the Cool-Aid, as in she was in a cult and killed herself right? She did collapse almost instantly after all. Either way, Clay's emotions through the entire ep were fantastic.

Sunday Speculations- Larry Doesn't Slide In

Mad Men
It's taken almost three full seasons (if you want to call the silly cable 12 episode stints full), but I'm finally into Mad Men. The past two episodes have gotten me completely involved with the two important characters of the show. Maybe that is it. Maybe it's that many of the plot lines in the first two seasons dealt with the garbage that was Peggy Olsen and Pete Campbell. For the past two episodes I can't remember seeing those two lamos for more than a combined five minutes.

Donald and Betty Draper are fantastic characters. And after Betty found Dick's secret at the end of last week's ep, I was thoroughly intrigued about what would happen next. They did not disappoint me this week. As Betty gets more and more confident in herself, I like her more and more. Instead of hiding what she knows, and burying it, like she would have done in season one, she confronted Don and dug for some answers. Don, as vulnerable have we have yet to see him, showed true sadness. Was he sad that the jig was up? Or was he upset about all that he put Betty through. When he called Suzanne and told her he won't be around any time soon, was that him turning a corner and trying to be a more honest man? Or was it just another break from his impurities because he recently got caught in a much bigger lie?

Now that Betsy knows most of what Don went through in his childhood and early life, it seemed as if she had a warmer mood towards him. Although she was angry with him, she wasn't the cold, shoulder-turner she was any other time she found out about something he did wrong. Where do they go from here? I'm excited to find out.

Curb Your Enthusiasm
A small let down from last week's fantastic Denise Handicap, but I still laughed throughout. Biggest downfall...Richard Lewis. This guy hasn't done anything funny since Prince John in Robin Hood: Men In Tights (You changed your name to Latrine? It's a good change, it's a good change!). The Jerry/Larry dynamic was fantastic, especially because it's nice to finally have someone that thinks similarly to LD. The two of them just agreeing about the stupid little stuff that Larry is usually on his own about was fantastic. When they both wouldn't move in to let Richard sit down in the booth at lunch, it was great. Of course they both want the luxury suite of sitting in the booth by himself, but each tries to come up with a dumb reason that it is beneficial that Richard sits with the other.

Ok. I know it has to be absurd, but no one in their right mind would ever think about dressing like that at work. With a gigantic pouch or not, you don't have a bare midriff in the workplace.

Poolies Watch- Corey Matthews Award

For last year's Corey Matthews Award there was a solid five pack of nominees that were in the running. Jack and Tracy from 30 Rock, Michael and Dwight from Office and of course LD. So far this year, I have two guys that are in the upper echelon of the category. Every time Larry David or Tracy Jordan are on screen, I'm laughing hysterically. This fact gives Curb the edge since LD is on screen the entire show.

Leading the Pack
Larry David- Curb Your Enthusiasm
Tracy Jordan- 30 Rock

Next we have a sturdy group of dudes that performed well a season ago, but aren't knocking me out of the park so far this season. I like Dwight the best of the three, but with the increase of love in the Modern Family guys, some spots could begin to fall with these three.

Steady Locks
Dwight Schrute- The Office
Jack Donaghy- 30 Rock
Michael Scott- The Office

The next five guys are currently holding my final nomination spots. Some are in more concrete a spot than others. Gary Brooks is the most likely to fall to the wayside if he doesn't step his game up. All five of these guys are in their first or second season. The Modern Family boys are extremely impressive in their first season. Kenny Powers may be at the top of the heap, if and when Eastbound comes on the air this year.

In For Now
Chad Dylan Cooper- Sonny With a Chance
Gary Brooks- Gary Unmarried
Jay Pritchett- Modern Family
Kenny Powers- Eastbound & Down
Phil Dunphy- Modern Family

Here are the five dudes that have a shot of breaking into the nomination pool. Well except for Jim, he's not gonna get a spot. He hasn't been funny in a while. Puddy v. -2.0 is solid but never great. I think I like Haverford's blatantly obvious comedy the best of the group. Although I love Joel McHale on The Soup, he's not all that hilarious in Community. Don't get me wrong, I love his character, just not that funny so far. And then there is the problem I have with comparing cartoon characters to actual people. Peter Griffin gets the short end of the stick on that one. He deserves better.

Outside Looking In
Jeff Bingham- Rules of Engagement
Jeff Winger- Community
Jim Halpert- The Office
Peter Griffin- Family Guy
Tom Haverford- Parks & Recreation

Who else deserves some love?

Thursday Thoughts- Mean Pam Beesly

Flash Forward
First things first...Is it me or is it completely unnecessary to have this chick, Janis Hawk, be gay. Well if it is the only way that they could find to bring Theresa from The O.C. onto the show then I guess the gratuitous kissing scenes can stay. What a fantastic couple they are.

One of the major questions plaguing the realism of Flash was "why are they the only ones dealing with the investigation of the flashes?" I know that The Dude is the one who had the flash about the investigation but you would think that every section of every agency would be looking into it. Well this week's episode answered that question thoroughly. A lot of places were doing their own investigation and therefore a hearing was held in Washington to see who got funding to continue their investigation. That makes sense. Obviously, in the end, their LA branch of the FBI received the funding, but not for the reasons you would have assumed.

All in all, with all of the court room drama, it was a pretty lackluster episode. What made it all worth while was the fire fight scene with the 'Like a Rolling Stone' cover playing. The song and the action were so inconsistent that it gave the scene a great feeling. It was very similar to the opening scene of last week's episode when the bus was crashing into the lake. Great stuff.


The Office
Angry and mean Pam is much better than nice and lame Pam. When she is truly angry and gets hurtful towards others, it's truly gold. We need people to absolutely destroy her more often. Normal Pam is usually in the running for character I love to hate, but if this is the Pam we get more often, she could be up there for best female characters.

Pam- "I could give a f*ck about your happiness, stop dating my mother!"

Survivor Samoa- Week 6

How are all of these people so freezing?!? Isn't this a tropical island? Suck it up and get over it. If it is that cold, why aren't any of them wearing shirts? I don't care if my shirt is soaked, I'm wearing it if I'm cold.

During the one and only competition of this week's episode Foa Foa was on the verge of winning and Russell S. passes out from rolling a ball down a path. What a joke. Next season it is an automatic -10 points if Jeff stops a challenge because of you. -20 for leaving due to health reasons. These dudes are a bunch of pansy boys.

When Russell passed out, I was waiting for Jeff Probey Probst to exclaim, "A Survivor FIRST! A CONTESTANT HAS DIED MID COMPETITION!!!" I swear to God Probst enjoys when the contestants pass out and need medical attention. He seems to get high off it.

Fantasy Results

The Technotronics

W. Russell (Foa Foa)-W6 (16)= 16
B. Russell (Galu)-
Monica (Galu)- W6 (16)= 16
Liz (Foa Foa)- W6 (16)= 16
Natalie (Foa Foa)- W6 (16)= 16
Week 6= 64
Total=286





Sweet Niblets


Erik (Galu)- W6 (16)= 16
Ben (Foa Foa)-
Ashley (Foa Foa)-
Kelly (Galu)- W6 (16)= 16
Shambo (Galu)- W6 (16)= 16
Week 6= 48
Total= 178





Canon Controversy

John (Galu)- W6 (16)= 16
Jaison (Foa Foa)- W6 (16)= 16
Mike (Foa Foa)-
Dave (Galu)- W6 (16)= 16
Betsy (Foa Foa)-
Week 6= 48
Total= 173






Freecell Makes Me Wanna

Mick (Foa Foa)- W6 (16)= 16
Brett (Galu)- W6 (16)= 16
Marissa (Foa Foa)-
Laura (Galu)- W6 (16)= 16
Yasmin (Galu)-
Week 6= 48
Total= 162

Wednesday Wisdom- Gauging The Middle

Glee
As Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club wrote last week, and continued in this week's review, Glee has been creating episodes behind three different viewpoints. In last week's review he had this to say about the three creators...

but all three of those creators also seem to have wildly different ideas of what the show is. Murphy, responsible for “Acafellas” and last week’s “Vitamin D,” is most interested in making the show a funhouse mirror version of an afterschool special. Brennan, responsible for “The Rhodes Not Taken,” is most interested in the sadness buried down at the core of the show’s concept. And Falchuk, responsible for tonight’s episode and “Preggers,” still probably the best post-pilot episode, is most interested in pulling the two approaches together in a hybridized fashion while deepening the teenage characters on the show.

I definitely prefer Brennan, who wrote this week's episode of gloomy high school life, to the workings of Murphy, but Falchuk's combination special may be the best way to go. The major thing I don't like about the different episodes is that in some they use the glee buzzing as ambient sound and in others they don't. I'm not too sure if I like when it's there or not, but I don't like the changing.

The Middle
Unlike the one episode tour of Cougar Town that I took last week, The Middle sparked my interest enough to warrant some more watching down the road. Patricia Heaton is nothing to write home about, but the Janitor from Scrubs was good, as were the two sons of the family. The daughter was bad enough to almost turn me away from the show entirely. The overall feel of the show and the writing and comedy style were surprisingly good. I never laughed out loud, but I certainly thought there were a few comedic moments in there. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks.

Tuesday Tidings- Surfing in 90210

90210
This was my main thought halfway through this week's ep...Well they brought in a terrible and annoying character (the surfer girl), but at least they got rid of a different one (Dixon's girlfriend) in return. That was when it looked like Dixon had broken up with her and she'd be gone. Little did I know that they were just tricking me, because she told Dixon that she was knocked up by the end of the ep. Gotta be kidding me! Get rid of these horrid females!

California University, maroon and black. They're really doing it right. All we need now is a Condor shout out.

The second gripe I have today is with the surfing emphasis in the new 90210. On the original, Dylan surfed and it was cool. There were a few times when some minor characters would be around to join in on the surfing, but it wasn't completely overdone like they are doing with it now. We get it, you're in California, but just because you're surfing it doesn't mean that you use language from the 90s. Everything seems way over the top to me, especially the Coach saying gnarly all the time.

Monday Musings- Serena Bets the Bluff

Gossip Girl
The three-girl dynamic that was the main focus of this week's episode was just fantastic. Blair, Vanessa and Olivia are all completely different and the way way they battled each other had a great chemistry about it. First you have good old Blair, who is as brutally conniving as they come. Then there is the new girl, Olivia, who seems to be as genuinely nice as we've seen on this show. And finally Vanessa, who back in season one seemed much like Olivia, but has taken on parts of Blairs deceitfulness as the year's have progressed. This week she was a very bad girl in the way that she treated both her roommate, Olivia, and her best friend, Dan.

It's sad to see the awfulness that is Serena is dragging Nate into these awful story lines with her. This week Nate and Serena went to a poker game in which Serena had to play because the opponents wouldn't allow Nate in the game. Here's my question, do the writers for these shows not have anyone consulting them in specific areas. Whoever wrote this ep has never played poker. They might have seen poker on tv or in the movies, but they don't know how bluffing or tells work. Even if this PJ character had changed his tells, it wasn't going to help Serena's cause. NOBODY BLUFFS ON A CALL. I know I've seen this before on tv. If you want to beat someone who is bluffing, you wait until they make their move (it might be pushing the stacks) and then YOU CALL HIM. The nerve of these writers to think they can get one past the kid.

Sunday Speculations- Betty Finds Dick Whitman

Mad Men
This was the first time I've finished an episode of Mad Men asking myself questions and really looking forward to the next ep. Betty finding Don's Dick Whitman stuff truly brings up a lot of questions. What did she really find out from looking through it all? How much stuff was in there, and how good was Betty at figuring out what it all meant? If she does know that Don was Dick and switched his identity, what will she think of all of it? Does she now give him a break for the way he behaves? Or does she detest him even more like they foreshadowed by her getting snippy with him on the phone near the end of this week's ep. Will she say anything to him, or keep this bottled like she has in the past? Betty has always been the most interesting character on the show for me, and this may make her that much more of an intriguing person.

Brothers and Sisters
A couple of great moments from a couple of my favorite characters on this show. First of all, Rebecca, who I have loved since day one, is on the hunt for a venue to have her upcoming wedding. After realizing that every place they look at is stupid, which I agreed with, she remembers what she loved to do as a kid and decided that was what she wanted for her wedding day. As a kid she would imagine that her and her stuffed dolphin were alone on a tropical island, highlighted by palm trees and tiki torches. I think it was meant to be between me and this fictional character.

Now Sarah, who has been out in France for the last couple of episodes, returns to Cali to help out Kitty with her cancer treatment. While being there for her sister, Sarah retells the story of how she met some French dude through flashback dream sequences. The way they went about showing this made it seem like she was making the whole thing up, starting with her looking for something to talk about at the very beginning of the story. Sure enough when they got near the end, Kitty realized that the story was made up because it was the same plot to a movie they used to watch as kids. The clever, but illogical, move they did next was to switch it back to a true story that Sarah changed the ending to so that Kitty wouldn't know Sarah left her French dude just to come back to the States for her sister. That's all well and good, but she was obviously making the whole thing up from the beginning. How do you explain that?

Poolies Watch- Dr. Doug Ross Award

It's always tricky figuring out which dudes to put in as a lead character and which to call supporting characters. I definitely give more people the lead moniker than normal awards shows do. With Greg House leaving the category, Tim Riggins, last year's winner, will see much more breathing room. That is if he ends up in the category after this season. Friday Night Lights hasn't started yet and I don't know how much of Riggins we will see. That being said, he currently leads the pack of nominees heading into this season's Dr. Doug Ross Award.

In For Now
Cappie- Greek
Chuck Bass- Gossip Girl
Dan Humphrey- Gossip Girl
Don Draper- Mad Men
Eric Taylor- Friday Night Lights
Hank Moody- Californication
Johnny Chase- Entourage
Julian Baker- One Tree Hill
Liam Court- 90210
Tim Riggins- Friday Night Lights

Moving Johnny Drama up this year, from supporting character may give Riggins a new challenge. Personally, I like Cappie as one of the top two in the group, but not many people have jumped on the Greek bandwagon (except for Ty).

Outside Looking In
Derek Shephard- Grey's Anatomy
Justin Walker- Brothers and Sisters
Nathan Scott- One Tree Hill
Walter White- Breaking Bad
David Breck- Melrose Place

I really only seeing Nathan Scott challenging for a spot out of this group, but the wild card will be Friday Night Lights characters that step up. Whether it is Saracen staying on as a lead character or JD McCoy stepping up to the plate, I feel someone from Dillon, Texas will be in the mix.

Who else deserves a nod?

Catching Up- Californication Season One

So I clearly don't watch enough television that is currently airing. Because of this, I have to find shows that I have never seen and try to catch up to their current status. Californication is currently in its third season on Showtime and over the past 3-5 weeks I have viewed the 12 episodes that comprised season one.

The Good
--For whatever reason, I'm starting to enjoy the underproduction of cable television. Shows like Sopranos, Entourage and now Californication are pretty washed out in terms of production value and that makes them seem more realistic to me. Californication makes me feel like I'm actually watching a dude living in LA. A shows like The OC and Chuck, on the other hand, are too made up to feel like I'm really looking at Southern California.
--David Duchovny as Hank Moody. I don't know why I came into this thinking I wasn't going to like Duchovny. The only thing I know him from is Zoolander and I thought he was fantastic in that. As Hank Moody he is fantastic at playing a too cool for school jerk of a father that is down on his luck in LA. He's witty. He's charming. He's an a hole. But he loves his daughter. Makes the show.
--The first season just came to a terrific end. The season finale was a fantastically culminating 25 minutes. If they had to, or wanted to, they could've ended with one season and this guy would've been completely satisfied. How Hank controls himself at his ex-gf's wedding, and controls Mia at the same time, and then ends up getting the girl, is just so satisfying to see.

The Bad
--Charlie Runkel, Hank's best friend and agent, is just a terrible character. Not terrible to have on the show, just a terrible and lame human being. It doesn't get much worse than him. I can't stand watching him on screen, but I can't turn away because I am trying to slap him through the screen for being such a loser.
--Unbelievability. So I get that Mia looks older than 16, because the actress was 22 at the time, but in real life a 16 year old girl wouldn't look like her. There is no way that Hank would see a 16 year old sophomore in high school and think that she was in college or even older.

The Future
--I'm looking forward to getting into season two to see what happens after Karen, Hank and Becca rode off into the sunset to end the first season. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up to this, the third season by the time it finishes.

Friday Fancies- Wizards Doin' Teen Wolf

Wizards of Waverly Place
After what I thought was a poor season premier (the stupid Frankengirl was a bad idea), this week's ep showed me that Wizards is stepping back up to the plate. At first, I didn't really give this show a shot and thought some of the characters were stupid and some were useless. I have quickly found neither to be true. The parents, especially Jerry, definitely have their moments. Justin, who I thought was awful at first, has turned himself around and into a character that I find very funny almost every episode. Harper, although still painful to watch at times, continues to surprise me with moments of likability.

My highlight of this week's episode was when Alex explained to the family that she used air quotes to say "out of this world." Max was confused because he thought she was doing the Teen Wolf Dance!!! First off, it's awesome that a character that was born in the mid 90s is even aware of Teen Wolf. That being said, when he started doing the dance itself to show everyone what he though Alex was doing, he did a ridiculously terrible job at it. I think he needs some lessons from The Bonz and JJ on how to correctly do the Teen Wolf Dance.

Thursday Thoughts- Tracy Jordan Wants To Guess Your Name

Flash Forward
Let's begin with a note on the great dynamic we observed between The Dude and Noh early on in the ep. When the two of them went to the burger joint we got action as they chased down the pot dealer, then they had a heated argument stemming mostly from Noh being scared of his future murder, they then get into a bit of a fist fight, and finally the guys discuss the situation like men and put it behind them. Great sequence.

How about Olivia. What is her deal? Be a little more realistic honey. You cannot continue to just completely dismiss the flashes, thinking that it will make yours cease to exist. Stop commenting on the flashes like they are just like dreams. They are obviously much more and you're an idiot if you think they don't mean anything. If you're suicidal doctor friend discovered something based on a patient's flash, it makes sense to look into it. Don't disregard it and end up almost killing some dude because the flashes are like dreams.

And we finally get what all us Lost fans have been waiting for. This week's ep ended with (Lord) Simcoe receiving a phone call from who else, but Charlie Pace. And little did we know that this wouldn't be the best part about the call. Charlie mentions to Lord Simcoe that the two of them were responsible for this entire event! The fact that Simcoe may be involved in this whole thing actually makes Olivia's flash forward very interesting. Does his involvement in the black out have to do with why he is with Olivia six months from now? Does he know her husband is on the case and wants to screw him up by stealing his wife? The fact of the matter is that Charlie and Simcoe are probably a small cog in a much greater scheme involved in the event, but we'll see.

30 Rock
What a valiant return by Tracy Jordan. He lost no ground as the funniest character on television during the first episode of the season. Here are the ridiculously funny moments from Tracy this week.

--People in St. Bart's be eatin' lobster like this...mmm, mmm, yumm, yumm, mmm
--(Rolly walks in) Eeeek, who's that?
--Hello fellow human being. Would you like to ask me what time it is?
--You look regular, could i guess your name? Is it Pedro? Is it Craigford? Is it Swimming?
--Are you a pre-op trans-centaur?
--Do you wanna hold hands with a black millionaire?
--New what?!? If it's a blonde woman i'ma kill myself!!!

Survivor Samoa- Week 5

My girl Ashley was ousted and the Foa Foa tribe is almost dead. Can we get a merge or tribe mix up already? Getting a little stale here.

Fantasy Results

The Technotronics

W. Russell (Foa Foa)-W5 (11)= 11
B. Russell (Galu)- W5 (11), Reward (4), Im (8)= 23
Monica (Galu)- W5 (11), Reward (4), Im (8)= 23
Liz (Foa Foa)- W5 (11), Votes (-4)= 7
Natalie (Foa Foa)- W5 (11)= 11
Week 5= 64
Total=222





Sweet Niblets


Erik (Galu)- W5 (11), Reward (4), Im (8)= 23
Ben (Foa Foa)-
Ashley (Foa Foa)- Votes (-20)= -20
Kelly (Galu)- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Shambo (Galu)- W5 (11), Reward (4)= 15
Week 5= 37
Total= 130





Canon Controversy

John (Galu)- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Jaison (Foa Foa)- W5 (11)= 11
Mike (Foa Foa)-
Dave (Galu)- W5 (11), Reward (4)= 15
Betsy (Foa Foa)-
Week 5= 45
Total= 125






Freecell Makes Me Wanna

Mick (Foa Foa)- W5 (11)= 11
Brett (Galu)- W5 (11), Reward (4)= 15
Marissa (Foa Foa)-
Laura (Galu)- W5 (11), Im (8)= 19
Yasmin (Galu)-
Week 5= 45
Total= 114

Wednesday Wisdom- Cougar Town's a Comedy?

Modern Family
I've always been interested in how having a certain expectation into an episode or a movie can change your appreciation for the experience. Whether it is reading a positive review, hearing a negative comment or making sure you don't listen to anything about the show, how you head into an ep may affect if you like it or not.

So far this television season I've been making a conscious effort to steer clear of reviews and recaps before watching. Before I watched this week's Modern Fam, JJ gave me a call and said "Don't get your hopes up for tonight's tv." Knowing that he was talking about the ABC comedy, I asked him if it was no good. All he came back with was, "not as good as last week."

Now with what you may call low expectations, I was ready for Modern Fam to disappoint after a fantastic ep last week. It surely did not. Don't get me wrong, I don't think any comedy episode this year has come close to last week's Modern Fam, but this Wednesday was definitely another hit. They brought in their first guest star, putting Mrs. Brady from the Brady Bunch movies as Jay's ex-wife. She had her moments, but what I thought was the key ingredient was the fact that she didn't overshadow the genius that is the main cast. Sure Manny was more in the background this week, but he still spit out a few great lines. Jay, Phil and the rest of the crew still had enough screen time to prove why this is the best new comedy on television.

Cougar Town
So I completely passed on this show before it started because it looked really stupid. Then it started getting decent to good reviews and I figured I'd give it a shot. I mean it had to be better than the awfulness that was Hank. And it was. By no means a show I will continue to watch, but it had a small amount of watchablity. I enjoyed Cox as Monica on Friends and I liked her in this to some extent. Busy Phillips' character is the only one that I can say I truly enjoyed. The main thing for me is that there weren't any funny moments. That is something I usually look for in a comedy. And then we have what put it over the edge. The chick from the Drew Carey Show was just brutal.

Tuesday Tidings- Adrianna Gets Bored

90210
The way Adrianna dealt with her dating situation was so realistic I can't believe it was actually television. I can remember many occasions when I dealt with a relationship the exact same way that she did this week. She was bored with dating Navid, and Teddy intrigued her, therefore she dumped Navid and gave him no real reason and went straight to Teddy. That's how it's done in high school people (at least back in 2002).

The whole Annie/Jasper story line is so very interesting to me. There are a ton of angles to think about. First off, they obviously like each other, but Annie knows that she killed Jasper's uncle and Japser doesn't...or does he? He's known as a freak to everyone in the school, but is truly a nice guy around Annie. He saves her from the creepy rapist type dude, but then gets all knifey on the dude's car like a psycho. When will Jasper find out what Annie did? Or does he already know (or just has a good feeling) and is waiting for the right time to let her know he knows?

Principal Harry brought a good amount of comic relief to this week's episode with his love for being Ryan's wingman. Old guys trying to act cool is always funny.

Melrose Place
Violet may or may not be one level higher than Valerie Malone on the conniving scale, but she definitely doesn't pull it off well for me. Maybe it's because Ashlee Simpson is a terrible actress or she doesn't have Valerie's charm, but it is definitely not working for me thus far. This week she went through a lot of trouble to get back at Michael (he's so smug) for what he did to who she thinks was her mother. Sneaking into his office, buying him drinks at the bar she works at, and then applying to be his kid's nanny. If Valerie, Gina Kincaid or even early Claire Arnold had done something so deceiving, it would have been exciting, but with Violet it was rather boring.

Monday Musings- Rusty Cartwright's Awkard Comic-Con

Heroes
I think this week was the first episode in a while that I can actually say was GOOD. Here's the thing though...What is the deal with the deaf girl? It's all well and good that she has this new type of power, but who cares? She can see sounds! That may help her in every day life, because she's deaf, but how will she help the world as a hero? (Fast forward to later on in the episode) Oh now I see...Sound can destroy things, that makes sense.

How come when the girls came to accept Claire into the sorority they didn't pour green slime on her? (Saved by the Bell- College Years)

At the end of the ep we finally got to a great story line! Samuel had a mole at Claire's college! Some girl has been doing all of the horrible things around Claire this whole time. Because her power is invisibility (we've seen this before) she could kill her first roommate and get Claire to hate Gretchen by throwing the flag at her and dropping the book in the dorm room so she could see Gretchen's computer. The question that arises for me is 'what is Samuel's end game with this?' Where do Claire and/or Hiro fit into his master plan? And then there is Sylar/Nathan who stumbles onto Samuel's invisible carnival. Is this thing just a figment of some people's imagination or is the whole thing, and all the people, invisible? Interesting prospect.

Greek
Who would have thought that a major Cappie/Evan friendship would be the main thing holding Greek together at this point? Choking down every Rusty Cartwright scene, while shielding my eyes from the awkwardness, continues to be the most difficult thing to watch on television. I can't tell if I hate his story lines because of how much I can't stand this kid, or if I actually love them because of how much I can't stand the Spitter of a boy. This week it was him trying to talk to girls at Comic-Con and then professing his love to his ex-girlfriend via video chat that was on display for everyone at the convention. The epitome of 'tough to watch.' Luckily Dale was there from time to time for comic relief. By the way when Rusty found a computer at Comic-Con it took him all but 2.7 seconds to pop open a screen with video chat that required no login and his ex, Jordan, appeared on screen 3.2 second later. I gotta find a program/computer that works like that!

One Tree Hill
To start from where I left off last time, I'm beginning to build the relationships with the new characters that I need to sympathize with all of their TRAGIC situations. Of the three major, new characters, Quinn is the only one that I am truly indifferent toward. Clay and Alex are similar in that they have gotten bad reputations based on their prior behaviors. In this week's episode they are both beginning to turn the corner and become very likable. There are not many character archetypes that are more profitable than the bad boy that turns sensitive (see: Dylan McKay and even Nathan Scott of season two). Clay has always been a jerk but he is now reaching out to a wounded Quinn. Alex is a major slew with a drug problem. In this ep we see our first glimmer of hope in her as she decides to try and take her writing career seriously. Her encounters with Julian were obviously hilarious so we'll see if this idea of her pans out or she returns to the wreck that she was. Either way, Clay and Alex are definitely two of my favorites on the horribleness that has been the start to season seven.

Sunday Speculations- Disrespect by Don Draper

Curb Your Enthusiasm
I'm not going to lie, it was a little disappointing that there was no Seinfeld action in this week's ep. That being said, I think this episode, The Hot Towel, was much better than The Reunion ep. I know that everything that happens early on in a Curb ep is meant to set up something later, but when Larry interrupted Jeff's daughter's horrible singing, I had no idea it wasn't going to be the funniest song stopping of the ep. When LD stopped the fantastic opera singer at the restaurant, I lost it.

More hilarity related to the singing...Larry complaining about how bad a singer Jeff's daughter was to everyone at the party, while she was attempting to sing Frankie Valli's Can't Take My Eyes Off of You. The next morning after LD spent the night at Jeff's, the girl wakes him up with her awful rendition of the same song and Larry yells at her to SHUT THE F*CK UP!! Unbelievably genius, but no one would ever do that.

Finally, I have a bit of a beef with the bit about Larry not being able to go righty with his move on the couch. Didn't they do this same thing on Seinfeld, or am I imagining that? Maybe it's time to wrap it up if you're going to start repeating jokes.

Mad Men
Are we, the viewers, supposed to like Don Draper? They continue to make it difficult for me to respect this dude. It would be one thing if he were a playboy and was proud of it. If he was honest with himself and everyone else, cheated again and again, I might be like this dude is just a stud. He does whatever he feels like. But there's something in the way he acts that is just so cowardly. He never learns his lesson. He just continues to cheat and cheat again, even after Betty confronted him on it. It seemed at one point that he had had an epiphany, but nope he's back at it this week with the new flavor of the week. This time it's a school teacher. Ho hum, another day, another affair.

I continue to enjoy Betty week in and week out, because although she may be going through with an affair of her own at this point, at least I can see that it is taking a real toll on her state of mind. It's like Don cares about nobody on Earth. He proved it two-fold in this episode after he fired Sal for being gay. I know it's the 60s, but many of the characters in the show and people of the time, were respectful of others, but Don just isn't. Oh you're gay and didn't let that Lucky Strike dude take advantage of you? Uhh, you're fired (in the voice of Michael Scott impersonating Donald Trump). That makes it really hard to sympathize with his problems.

Poolies Watch- Sopranos Award

For this week's Poolies Watch we have the action series' that will attempt to win this year's Sopranos Award. Last year it was a three show race and in a surprise to me, Chuck took home the inaugural trophy. This year I have the same three series' at the top of the heap; Lost, Chuck and 24 (in that order), but have added True Blood following a terrific sophomore season. None of the first three have started their seasons yet and True Blood has already finished so there is currently anything going on at the top of the category.

Top of the Heap
24
Chuck
Lost
True Blood

Now in the middle of the current nominees we have a transfer, a sophomore procedural and a new budding star. Last year House was the runner-up for the Dynasty Award and now in what is a tougher category should struggle to remain at the top. The Mentalist is the only procedural cop show that I can watch every week and there is a good reason for that...the characters are fantastic. Early on in its second season, Jane, Cho and the rest have yet to disappoint and The Mentalist looks like a lock for a nomination. Flash Forward is only three eps in, but the fact that it has grabbed me and many others so quickly is a good sign. I've been reading plenty reviews with complaints about the show, but those complaints are buzz and I think any show that can create as much buzz as Flash has been, it's a good sign.

Middle of the Pack
Flash Forward
House
The Mentalist

The final three shows currently holding nominations are pretty funny. First we have the Michael Clayton (Bucs wide receiver) of television barely sticking around in Heroes. Like Heroes, Clayton wowed audiences with a fantastic first season in Tampa Bay. He got everyone's hopes up, including mine which led to me drafting him in round five of my 2005 fantasy draft, and then let everyone down with a disappointing sophomore season. Oh he's still a starter for the Bucs, but there's nothing you can do with him now, just like the super hero series that is Heroes. It's still there, and it gets the job done, but more often then not it disappoints the audience. I have high hopes for ABC's new series V and Starz's Spartacus, but if something else deserves the spot, one of these three will probably get cut.

Hanging On
Heroes
Spartacus
V

Next I'll give a nod to a few shows that may or may not be knocking on the door. Criminal Minds and CSI: Miami are the only other procedural cop shows that I can watch every once in a while. Fringe I liked somewhat, but had to give up half way through last year's first season. I know Mags and Rizzo enjoy it so it gets some love here. Dexter and The Tudors are two Showtime shows that I feel I would enjoy if I ever got a chance to watch, but sadly I haven't.

Knocking on the Door
Criminal Minds
CSI: Miami
Dexter
Fringe
The Tudors

Thursday Thoughts- Jim and Pam's Big Day

Flash Forward
My first thought after watching this week's ep was that there wasn't much action. It was pretty slow moving, but it kept my attention the entire time. I feel that because it's so early on in the season I am much more likely to be curious about every single word that is spoken. If this ep took place maybe 12 weeks in, I probably would have been bored through it. Take for example the middle of Lost season two.

A few questions regarding the situation with Demetri Noh and his fiancé, Gabrielle Union. In her flash she is at her wedding day. When Noh asks her if she saw him, she said yes. Is this some kind of mystery that we/they need to figure out, or was she just assuming it was him and never actually saw him. Why wouldn't Noh just tell her that he saw nothing and he might be dead? Why do people run away from the truth so often? Speaking of him seeing nothing, that would mean that he is dead and she was getting married to someone else less than a month after her ex-fiancé gets murdered? What a slue. Here's an idea Demetri, get married tomorrow! This may change the future and you might not die. Or better yet, wear a bullet proof vest on March 15th!

Is it bad that every time Stan Wedeck speaks I expect him to spit out references from Huck Finn? During his eulogy this week, how could he not ask, "Is a cat a cow? Is a cow a cat? Is a French man a man? Than why don't he talk like a man?"

The end of this week's ep started to heat up again as The Dude began to question the crows dying. Through a little research he found that something like this has happened before?!? You would think that if something like this happened only 18 years ago, they would've remembered it!

The Office
I've said it before and I'll say it again, The Office is much better as an hour long show. This week's ep was more proof of that. The best episode so far this season. I feel it just has more room to breathe with the 42 minute run time. They don't have to cram a bunch of jokes in at once.

Dwight was fantastic this week:
"A three ounce fetus is calling the shots...that's bad ass."

Then once in the great Niagra Falls, Dwight is unbelievable at the kids' table.

As he begins to find out stuff about Pam's relatives, his internet information was unbelievable...the chick's sophomore year volleyball record? Classic.

Michael, thinking that Dwight is trying to find girls for the two of them, is disappointed when Mr. Schrute's remark, "I found twins" is merely that. Twins. Twin fat dudes!

I'll admit that I was as hyped about Jill and Kevin's Big Day wedding video as anyone when it first came out. Of course I immediately thought about the different productions I would be able to come up with for my, or someone else's as the case may be, wedding. What makes Michael so lame, and me not, is that his idea was to do that exact recreation of what Jill and Kevin's friends already did. And that is what made it so funny. To this day, no matter what the situation, that wedding aisle dance is awesome every single time. This erratic performance by the Dunder-Miffliners was no exception. Just great stuff. As a bonus, watch Creed's face while he is dancing. Hilarious.

Community
I feel like this week was a bit of a step backwards. As I, and Seth Cohen before me, have said, big is not funny. Professor Chang, to some extent Phil Knight and now this British Psychologist have all been playing big, outlandish teachers that aren't doing it for me. Why do they have to use these guest characters in such a big role? What is this SNL? Focus on your funny characters, which are Joel McHale's Jeff, Chevy's Pierce and Abed. I'm not getting nearly enough Chevy and Abed in these episodes. Abed's love of movies and tv is a great characteristic for me, personally. Him comparing his and Annie's relationship to that of Phoebe and Chandler because they didn't have many story lines together was classic.