Survivor Week 3- Kickin' or Stickin'?

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the third episode of Survivor: Nicaragua. So watch the ep, get hood for a clue, then read what I had to say.

Marty- "I need to remove him, so that people will lose their daddy. And they'll either shake and crumble, or they'll have to come to me."

Although I was sad to see the great Jimmy Johnson leave us this week, but I was both fascinated and impressed with Marty last night. He wanted to make it so the other old geezers didn't have daddy Jim to hold onto anymore, but he didn't necessarily want to take his place as leader. So what if Jimmy T or Tyrone step into that role? Will they be his next target? I think it's an interesting strategy.

Getting rid of Jimmy was a bold move, but after all, he was wasting Jimmy T's talents. Seriously guy? You're going to chirp in Jimmy Johnson's ear like you're a fifth string wide receiver trying to get on the field? "You're wasting my talents here Coach." This was classic.

Who else was speaking out of turn this week? Who do you think? Probst! Hey Jeff, it's not your place to coax the contestants into a certain way of thinking. During the competition he yells out "Dan, you need to do something!" As a Dan owner in our fantasy league, this bothered me to no end. If the other contestants aren't smart enough to figure out Dan's not pulling his weight, who are you to point it out? That's not fair to my man Dan.

Then at tribal council he went on his normal spree of leading questions. "Who are the weak players?" Just let them talk it out. Don't put your own spin on everything that is going on. If Probst doesn't ask that question, Jimmy J doesn't get outed as the only admitting he's weak, and maybe he doesn't go home.

I'm not even going to go into detail on what NaOnka was all about this week. She is just the worst.

Fantasy Scores

Brigade Grenades

Sash- W3 (4), Im (8)= 12
Chase- W3 (4), Im (8)= 12
Dan- W3 (4), Votes (-4)= 0
Jill- W3 (4)= 4
Jane- W3 (4)= 4
Week 3= 32 Total= 63

Studio Flow CEO

Shannon
Fabio- W3 (4), Im (8)= 12
Kelly S- W3 (4), Im (8)= 12
Jimmy T- W3 (4)= 4
NaOnka- W3 (4), Im (8)= 12
Week 3= 40 Total= 33

Power Bottoms

Brenda- W3 (4), Im (8)= 12
Marty- W3 (4)= 4
Tyrone- W3 (4)= 4
Yve- W3 (4)= 4
Wendy
Week 3= 24 Total= 28

The Full Schilling

Jimmy J- Votes (-32)= -32
Benry- W3 (4), Im (8)= 12
Kelly B- W3 (4), Im (8)= 12
Alina- W3 (4), Im (8)= 12
Holly- W3 (4)= 4
Week 3= -8 Total= 23

Sons of Anarchy 304 Review- Home Cooked

So my final week of having a screener has come and went. Back to the normal way of reviewing tv, actually watching the show while it airs! How weird. My review of last night's Sons of Anarchy, "Home", is up over at TV Fanatic.

It was another quality episode, but another one in which SAMCRO remained in California. If they never make it to Ireland I'm going to be very upset. I'm as big a fan of the Man In Black as anybody, but this Jimmy O needs a smack down like no other. He just looks like he's up to no good. He may be as nice as can be, after all, I can't understand a word that comes out of his or Father Ashby's mouth.

Here's the question though: How long ago was Maureen Ashby involved with John Teller? Because for at least a couple years she was tied to Jack Bauer, back when she was going under the alias of Kate Warner.

Sons of Anarchy 304 - "Home"
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One Tree Hill 803 Review- Podcasting a Shadow

Seriously, I thought that the two or three podcasts I posted her at the Pool a few months back would be boring to anyone other than my few readers, but Mouth McFadden's terrible podcast in this week's episode of One Tree Hill was boring to every and anyone who had to listen to it.

My review of last night's episode, "The Space In Between", is up over at TV Fanatic. This is an actual e-mail from my actual boss over at TV Fanatic:

"Sorry you had to sit through this...but it led to a solid review!"

He and I both! Honestly, I like reviewing One Tree Hill in addition to Chuck, Sons and Mad Men, because other wise I would have nothing but good things to say all the time. I enjoy taking my frustrations out on this show in writing, but M.L. House is correct in that everyone should be sorry for me for having to witness such atrocities.

Go check out my review over at TV Fanatic, or just jump to the comments to see that even the fans that go to the website to read about the show are really disliking it.

One Tree Hill 803 - "The Space In Between"
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Chuck 402 Review- I Don't Know How to Pack a Suitcase

Jeff (to Ellie)- "Rumor has it you're pregnant. Is there room in that womb for two?"

My review of last night's really fun Chuck went live over at TV Fanatic this morning. There wasn't much substance on the Mama Bartowski front, but we got a heck of a sweet cat fight between Sarah and this week's enemy. It was back to the status quo with Chuck and Sarah going out on a mission together, and Morgan and Casey handling their business at the Buy More.

We welcomed back Jeff and Lester, while also being graced by some big guest stars. Isaiah Mustafa, the Old Spice guy, impressed as a Buy More employee. Lou Ferrigno, the Incredible Hulk, failed to impress. And Bronson Pinchot, Balky or Serge from Beverly Hills Cop, was literally on camera for 1.5 seconds.

Check out the review, the Chuck Round Table, or just all the quotes over at TV Fanatic.

Chuck 402 - "Chuck vs. The Suitcase"
Review
Round Table
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Mad Men 410 Review- Panic Room

Only three episodes remain in this great fourth season of Mad Men. My review of the tenth episode, "Hands and Knees", is up over at TV Fanatic. I wrote about how a couple of the story lines were way too obvious, but a few others were pleasantly surprising.

Analogy of the week: "Meanwhile, Don is sweating through his shirts like he's Hugo Reyes staring down a bucket of ranch dressing."

Mad Men 410 - "Hands and Knees"
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Community 201- Batman and Shaft

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on last night's season two premiere of Community, "Anthropology 101". So watch the ep, save money on hats by wearing a yarmulke, then read what I had to say.

Jeff- "Why don't you take your cutesy, I can't tell life from tv, gimmick with you. You know it's very "season one."

First let us take a look at last night's ratings in the 8:00 PM time slot:

NBC- Community: 6.15 million
CBS- The Big Bang Theory: 13.95 million

What?!?! I don't understand what is wrong with tv viewers. I guess most people are morons. I mean some people eat blood sausage, so I guess watching a completely awful sitcom isn't that surprising. But watching instead of what I thought was the best comedic premiere of the season? Ridiculous.

When it was announced that BBT was coming over to Thursday nights, many a tv critic got worried that Community would be hurt because they had some crossover audience. At the time I thought this was crazy, and I was right. These two shows are so completely different, not the least of which being the Community is crazy good and Big Bang is awful. The fact that Community didn't lose any of its 6 million viewers from last year isn't surprising. That Big Bang continues to get 13 million, however, is.

At the risk of turning this entire post into a Big Bang bashing, I'd like to add that I viewed last night's premiere with the hopes that I was wrong about it when I shoved it aside after two episodes back in 2007. After Jim Parsons won the Emmy over the likes of Larry David, Steve Carrell and Alec Baldwin, and the critics didn't have a problem with it, I thought that maybe this show got a lot better. I was wrong. This season premiere was every bit as awful as the series premiere way back when.

And as I finally get to the subject, or what I set out to be the subject, of this post, I'll open with the fact that I'm really glad to have the Greendale Gang back in my life. Everyone of these characters returned in fine form, giving me a chuckle at one point or another.

I had some worries about the stunt casting of Betty White in this premiere. She has not been worthy of all of the ridiculous love in the past year, and I didn't want her to come in and cause a raucous for no other reason than having Betty White on Community. It's not only me: see this tweet by T-Time, "Just heard Betty White is going to Raven the season premiere of Community." Of course he's referring to Raven Simone destroying a recent episode of Sonny With A Chance, but in fact Betty White didn't.

The Community guys kept her in the background and didn't force her to make any jokes that would inevitably be less than funny. She didn't detract from the episode, but certainly didn't add anything to it. Thankfully with Jeff, Abed, Pierce and an ever improving Troy, we didn't need any extra humor.

With Abed continuing to go Uber-Meta, Pierece and Troy being completely oblivious, and Jeff basically hating everything this season should be just as good if not better than the first! Here's hoping.

The Office 701 Review- Nobody Can Do The...Spank!

Creed- "Everywhere I look it's Betty White this and Betty White that. Finally a kid who's not talking about Betty White. Of course I follow him."

The hate went way too far on The Office last season. I'm not saying that it hasn't slightly decreased in quality since season four, but it wasn't as bad as people were saying. Having said that, I think last night's premiere was an uptick in premise, while still getting me to laugh on a consistent basis.

Jim being Jim is something we lost last year. His return to prankster was welcomed back with open arms this week. And Michael Scott pulling off the second best spanking scene I've seen? Classic. If you don't know the top spanking scene, go watch Step Brothers immediately.

My review of The Office season premiere is up over at TV Fanatic, so go check it out for all the deets, or just click for the quotes to get a run down of what happened in Scranton this week.

The Office 701 - "Nepotism"
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30 Rock 501 Review- Hallucino-Ken

Toofer- "Did you ever see a UFO up there?"

Carol- "No but once when I was in the Air Force I saw Mr. T in a Pizza Hut."

After reviewing my first episode of 30 Rock, of which you can read over at TV Fanatic, I realized how many great lines this show has. I and many others might have trashed on it for having a not good year last season, but you can't say it doesn't have good one liners.

The premiere showed some promise for the coming season, and gave Matt Damon a lot of time to cry about it. Check out my review over at TV Fanatic, or just hit the quotes link to see all of the hilarity that came out of those 22 minutes.

30 Rock 501 - "The Fabian Strategy"
Review
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Survivor Week 2- Airing of Grievances

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the second episode of Survivor: Nicaragua. So watch the ep, steal one sock, then read what I had to say.

Tyrone- "Holly keeps getting stranger and stranger...and every time she speaks, it becomes more evident that she's crazy. So I'm gonna keep one eye on her, and one eye on my shoes."

People are going nuts really quickly on this season of Survivor. It's only the second episode. How long have they been out there, five days? You're going crazy after five days? It's amazing the amount of people that come on this show and then realize they're not cut out for it so quickly. How dumb are people? I know I wouldn't be able to handle being on Survivor, that's why I've never applied! Could I do Big Brother? Sure, that's why I almost applied.

Seriously though Holly, stealing Dan's shoes, filling them with sand and throwing them in the ocean? You were watching a little too much Russell for the past two seasons. Not every one can be Russell, as we witnessed by you admitting to what you did so quickly. If you are going to go out on a limb like that, you don't come clean! Holly should be next out the door for the Old Geezers.

Meanwhile, over at the Young Guns tribe, NaOnka has also gone completely nuts. She thinks somebody stole one of her socks, so she steals Fabio's pair of knee highs. Why do you have to cause so much trouble this early in the game? Is it that important to you to lose? Sure seems that way.

And then we got to one of, if not the most outrageous tribal council I have ever seen. Things have been getting closer and closer to this as the seasons have gone on, but last night everyone just flat out said exactly what they were thinking. What is that? It's mostly Probst's fault for trying to pry stuff out of them, but these contestants are all too idiotic. As much as I get mad about how the editing tries to trick us into not knowing how the vote will go down, it's still much better than seeing exactly how everyone feels moments before the vote. I knew exactly how that vote was going down after that conversation at tribal. Where's the fun in that?

I'm not upset that Shannon went home. He was a pretty sweet dude, but I love the strategy taken by the Young Guns. You see, normally you want to keep the strong contestants around early so that your team can win the challenges, but things are different now that it is Old vs. Young. The kids should be able to beat the old coots without a couple of the best competitors, so why not get them out early? I like it.

Fantasy Scores

Brigade Grenades

Sash- W2 (2)= 2
Chase- W2 (2)= 2
Dan- W2 (2)= 2
Jill- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Jane- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Week 2= 26 Total= 31

The Full Schilling

Jimmy J- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Benry- W2 (2)= 2
Kelly B- W2 (2)= 2
Alina- W2 (2)= 2
Holly- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Week 2= 26 Total= 31

Power Bottoms

Brenda- W2 (2), Votes (-12)= -10
Marty- W2 (2), Found Idol (10), Im (8)= 20
Tyrone- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Yve- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
Wendy
Week 2= 30 Total= 4

Studio Flow CEO

Shannon- Votes (-28)= -28
Fabio- W2 (2)= 2
Kelly S- W2 (2)= 2
Jimmy T- W2 (2), Im (8)= 10
NaOnka- W2 (2)= 2
Week 2= -12 Total= -7

Sons of Anarchy 303 Review- Porn Star Bar Fight

My review of last night's Sons of Anarchy posted immediately following the episode over at TV Fanatic. I didn't love "Caregiver" as much as it seems a lot of others did, but it was a Sons ep so of course I enjoyed it. Stephen King's cameo was ridiculously creepy and ridiculously funny all at the same time, which made it a great appearance.

With only one advanced screener left for this season of Sons of Anarchy, I'm getting sad. With any hope the next couple episodes will pick up steam and get the action started again. Critics keep saying that this season has a different feel to it and you have to allow it to develop. Well I loved the way season two jumped into everything, couldn't they have just stayed with that strategy? I know I wouldn't have minded.

Sons of Anarchy 303 - "Caregiver"
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One Tree Hill 802 Review- Killing Me With Near-Death

I really disliked last night's episode of One Tree Hill. As I was watching the episode I got really excited that I would have the opportunity to trash on it over at TV Fanatic. And so I did. My review of "I Can't See You, But I Know You're There", which I gave two out of five stars, is up over at the Fanatic.

The one thing I'm happiest about in reviewing One Tree Hill so far, is that the commenting over at TV Fanatic hasn't been ripping me for ripping the show. Most of the people reading agree with me that last night's ep was really bad.

One Tree Hill 802 - "I Can't See You, But I Know You're There"
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Chuck 401 Review- Budget Constraints

The premiere of what I fully expect to be the final season of Chuck premiered last night on NBC. It was really nice to have it back, and as I noted in this week's TV Fanatic round table, I'm just glad that I didn't have to eat a million Subway sandwiches to get it back on the air this fall.

As you all know, this summer I took my talents to TV Fanatic to do this whole tv reviewing thing on a professional level. Just a week before the Chuck premiere, the boss over there, M.L. House, asked me to add Chuck to my weekly reviews. Ummm yes? Sons of Anarchy and Chuck? Are you trying to cater to my every want?  Anyway, my review of last night's premiere, 'Chuck vs. The Anniversary', is up over there.

Even though I'm already worried that I will run out of new critiques of Chuck as the season goes on, I'm excited to write about it on a weekly basis. Like for Mad Men a few weeks back, I also participated in a Chuck Round Table for the premiere over at TV Fanatic. Check it out if you aren't into reading such a lengthy review.

The links for my Chuck stuff are down below, but don't forget to come back tomorrow for my Sons of Anarchy and One Tree Hill reviews tomorrow. Then it will be The Office and 30 Rock to end the week.

Chuck 401 - 'Chuck vs. The Anniversary'
Review
Round Table
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Quotes

Lone Star 101- What About Bob?

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on last night's series premiere of Lone Star. So watch the ep, put an elastic band around your second cell phone and wallet, then read what I had to say.

John Allen- "This is a house of cards. You don't get to live in it."

After reading and listening to previews upon previews of Lone Star from the likes of Alan Sepinwall and James Poniewozik, I kept getting the same thing: This premiere is great, but where do they go from here? After hearing that last night's episode had less than five million viewers, I realized they might not need to worry about that problem.

If Lone Star does stick around, I have high hopes. The premiere was great, but unlike the tv critics of the world, I think there's plenty of room to breathe in episodes to come. Why have I taken this stance? James Wolk. Tell me if I'm an idiot, but this guy seems great right? To me, he's a charming Coach Eric Taylor. Unlike Coach T, who I kind of like just because, Wolk's con man Bob Allen is a character I loved right out of the gates.

Bob is fantastic as a con man. Even his overbearing father thinks so; "I'd like to think that I've taught you everything you know, but son, you have moves that I have never seen before." We got to see Bob in action in this first episode, so it is easy to see how he's gotten himself into this predicament.

What makes Bob so easy to enjoy though, is this love that he has for the two ladies in his life. When prompted by the sexy stranger at his hotel to "Give me one good reason why we shouldn't continue this upstairs with more drinks and less clothes," the hopeless romantic simply replies "I can give you two." This is a love triangle like no other I tell you. He's in deep and I'm ridiculously interested to see how his two relationships play out.

Add the fact that he wants to stop being a con man and his father isn't at all happy about it, and you have a million different avenues to take these story lines in the future.

Mad Men 409 Review- Secret World of Girls

Last night's ninth episode of Mad Men's fourth season was just fine. It was absolutely nothing to write home about, but alas, I did. My review, fawning over the acting chops of Kiernan Shipka and loving the outbursts by Sally Draper, is up over at TV Fanatic.

Read my full review over there, and check back here tomorrow for my review of tonight's season premiere of Chuck at TV Fanatic.

As an aside, I caught the premiere of Boardwalk Empire from last night. It was great, but strangely I couldn't find the energy to write anything on it. Hopefully next week will be different.

Mad Men 409 - "The Beautiful Girls"
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The League 201- Strippers and Kickers

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on last night's season premiere of The League, 'Vegas Draft'. So watch the ep, try the veal...child, then read what I had to say.

Pete- "You can body cavity search me all you want, all you're gonna find is Tennessee running back Chris Johnson!!!"

A decent start to the second season for a show that got much better throughout season one. When chatting about The League on their Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, Alan Sepinwall and Dan Fienberg mentioned how they see promise in this show because it has funny people on it. I couldn't disagree more. By all means, many of these guys are occasionally humorous, but if I'm going to compare it to It's Always Sunny (which is easy because it airs right after it), none of these light a candle to the big three of Charlie, Frank and Dennis.

What makes this show work for me is, once again, the fantasy football elements. A scene like the one in which these five friends fight their way through the airport security line would have been nice and cute on its own. But add to it the fact that they're doing it for the number one pick of a fantasy draft makes it actually funny. Then throw the quote about finding Chris Johnson in the security's cavity search and it totally works as a hilarious scene. The fantasy football elements were much more prevalent in this season premiere than many of the episodes last year, and that is a good thing.

Although Chad Ochocinco didn't bring much to the table himself, his presence gave the other characters much more to play off of. If you're a fan of the Ochocinco or even the NFL, you're aware of his catch phrase, "Child please", so when Andre tries to use it over and over again, it was funny. To a common tv viewer, this wouldn't have worked, but the show is now catering to it's audience. Good work.

Another moment from the premiere that I liked was the fact that Andre used the term "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" and I didn't get angry. This phrase, like the other characters explain, is so played out I was ready to slap them for even integrating it into the episode. It worked though. Andre, much like Matthew Berry of fantasy football fame, is the type of guy that runs things into the ground. If anyone else had said it, it would have been awful, but in this case I actually got a chuckle out of it.

The draft itself wasn't very good and the rapping scene with Taco and Ochocinco almost ruined the entire episode for me, but overall it was a promising start to the second season. If you enjoy fantasy football, it's definitely worth watching again.

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia 601- Does This Marriage Make Me Look Gay?

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on tonight's season premiere of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, 'Mac Fights Gay Marriage'. So watch the ep, build a cold, calculated, heartless shell, then read what I had to say.

Frank- "Two dudes getting married, that doesn't seem very gay."

I was bombarded on many sides to start It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia last year. Thanks to the help from others I raced through the first five seasons and caught myself all the way up. It grew on me quickly and is currently in my top five comedies on tv.

Tonight's season six premiere, 'Mac Fights Gay Marriage', was no different. It had a little too much of the one aspect of the show I don't love, Mac, but everything else was great.

As always, the Charlie/Frank story killed. You put these two together and it's gold every time. It's especially good when we get to witness them in their fantastic living arrangement. It's always so nice and tidy when get to view their apartment. Once they start planning their gay marriage, all bets are off.

One of the things I love about Always Sunny is their ability to do awkward so well. What puts them over the edge is that they take the awkward and go so over the top. The conversation between Dennis and Dead Tooth Maureen about her father's death was a little strange at first. After finding out it was a suicide, and Dennis brushing the whole thing off like it wasn't a big deal made it laugh out loud funny (which is rare in awkward moments).

I'll be reviewing The Office and 30 Rock over at TV Fanatic this fall so I probably won't have time to write about Always Sunny again, but I'm sure I'll be tweeting quotes all autumn long.

Big Brother Finale- A Pair of Grenades

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the Big Brother season finale. So watch the two hour ep, don't get in between me and my man, then read what I had to say.

Enzo- "My decision's probably gonna be between who needs a haircut and who needs a shave."

Every summer a new Big Brother season starts and after first impressions, I think that I'm not going to like any of the contestants. This year was not any different. After finishing the two hour finale last night, I can say that Britney and Enzo were among my favorite reality contestants of all time. The final two house guests, Hayden and Lane, also grew on me as much as many past performers.

I thought this season was superior to last summer's version, if only because there weren't nearly as many people I wanted to slap up and down Broadway. Sure there was the annoyance of Rachel, Brendon, Matty and Ragan, but compared to Natalie, Chima, Lydia, Ronnie and Jessie from last season, it was a dream. Yeah Jeff and Jordan were great, but they had nothing on the Braaaa-gade.

So on to last night's events. The jury had their big discussion about the final three contestants and it was weird. This was the first time I've ever seen that none of final three were hated by anybody in the jury. It really is a testament to how good the Brigade was at working the house while staying friendly with everyone.

Everyone kept saying that Enzo played the best social game of all time (including the Meow Meow himself), but I didn't see it. I was watching the same show as Annie from home, but every decision I saw made in the house, was at least a joint effort by Hayden and Enzo. The only big move they ever even had to make was getting rid of Matty and all three of the Brigaders were in on that. Enzo was not some miracle mastermind. He did come up with nicknames, but he really didn't do much else in terms of planning.

The winner was obvious once it got to the final three. All three of these guys were together in social and strategical play, so Hayden stood out from the crowd in that he won many a competition. What else were people going to go by? Who they liked better?

Actually yeah. Some of them did. Britney voted for her man, while it seemed Brenchel still had some bad feelings toward Hayden from the Kristen episode, and voted for Lane as well. It was nice to see such a close vote, and to have it all come down to the third Brigader in the end. Congratulations Hayden. I don't know if you were such a great player, but you definitely deserved to win it this season.

Survivor Week 1- The Young Guns

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the first episode of Survivor: Nicaragua. So watch the ep, get a pep talk from Jimmy Johnson!, then read what I had to say.

Shannon- "I don't know about you, but I don't want another girl to win."

And that is one of the many reasons Shannon came out as my favorite contestant after the first episode. Sure one episode doesn't mean much, but he was pretty arrogant and could chat up the camera, so that usually bodes well for getting on my good side.

Lost was an ABC show, why is Survivor repping it by naming one of the tribes LaFleur? Oh it's La Flor? Not nearly as cool. Anyway, La Flor is the "Young Guns" while Espada? Is the "Old Geezers." Definitely enjoying the dynamic of the Young Guns early. These Old Geezers need to show a little more respect to Jimmy Johnson if they plan on getting me to like them.

The Medallion of Power could make things interesting this season. It's nice to get another change in the game, as they are always needed to keep things fresh.

Well the Young Guns won immunity in yet another puzzle contest so the Old Geezers hit tribal council. Wendy of course went home. She wasn't the last pick in our fantasy draft for nothing folks! This lady was the worst from the beginning and then that ridiculous rant at council? What was she thinking?

The biggest problem was that these crazies had the balls to even entertain the thought of getting rid of Jimmy Johnson at the first Tribal Council! Are you nuts? This is Jimmy effing Johnson. You let him stick around as long as you can.

Fantasy Scores

Brigade Grenades

Sash- W1 (1)= 1
Chase- W1 (1)= 1
Dan- W1 (1)= 1
Jill- W1 (1)= 1
Jane- W1 (1)= 1
Week 1= 5 Total= 5

Studio Flow CEO

Shannon- W1 (1)= 1
Jud- W1 (1)= 1
Kelly S- W1 (1)= 1
Jimmy T- W1 (1)= 1
Naonka- W1 (1)= 1
Week 1= 5 Total= 5

The Full Schilling

Jimmy J- W1 (1)= 1
Benry- W1 (1)= 1
Kelly B- W1 (1)= 1
Alina- W1 (1)= 1
Holly- W1 (1)= 1
Week 1= 5 Total= 5

Power Bottoms

Brenda- W1 (1), Reward (10)= 11
Marty- W1 (1)= 1
Tyrone- W1 (1)= 1
Yve- W1 (1), Votes (-4)= -3
Wendy- Votes (-36)= -36
Week 1= -26 Total= -26

Sons of Anarchy 302 Review- Baby Oiled

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on last night's episode of Sons of Anarchy, 'Oiled'. So watch the ep, don't recognize any bull sh*t mc, then read what I had to say.

Hale- "Cop and the outlaw brokered a deal 25 years ago. You expedite SAMCRO's criminal needs and they protect the town. Everyone knows, nobody cared 'cause it worked. It doesn't work anymore. Murder, kidnap, gang land shootouts. I'm afraid the 21st century has come to Charming."

I was shocked to hear that someone (Cough, T-time, Cough) didn't absolutely love the third season premiere of Sons. I mean it wasn't a season finale, but for a premiere I thought it was really good. My review of the second episode of Sons of Anarchy went live over at TV Fanatic just after it aired. While I didn't love this ep as much as the first, it's still Sons, and it's still awesome.

In my review, which I wrote so long ago that it's tough to remember (as all six of you know I'm getting advanced screeners: cue the smug bashing), I talked a bit about how some of the story lines are being overshadowed because nothing else really matters until Jax can get his baby back. It might also be that the Gemma/Mr. Alzheimer's story doesn't do it for me, but until the guys get to Ireland, the rest of this stuff is unimportant to me.

Speaking of...will they get to Ireland already? The build up is killing me. Once there, I hope they are in an out, but I want them to get there soon. While we're on the subject of getting in and out, why don't you get in and out over at TV Fanatic to read my review?

Sons of Anarchy 302 - "Oiled"
Review
Recap
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One Tree Hill 801 Review- Dream Machine

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on last night's season premiere of One Tree Hill, 'Asleep at Heaven's Gate'. So watch the ep, catch someone off guard like a three foot tall where do babies come from ninja, then read what I had to say.

Brooke- "I was just arrested and explored by a woman with a mustache and man hands! When you look up "bad" in the dictionary, this is it!"

Yes, I'm reviewing One Tree Hill over at TV Fanatic this year. I had a lot of fun with the first episode, because I was all ready to bash it, and then it was surprisingly decent. My slightly positive review has me excited for when the show turns to garbage again, and I can trash on it more.  You should head over to TV Fanatic now and trash on OTH or commend me on a stellar review.

The key demo at TV Fanatic is similar to that of The CW, so One Tree Hill is one of its biggest hitters. I'm glad that a good amount of people will be reading my stuff, but a bit worried that I'm gonna get chewed out when I continually berate some of the work of this show.

Last night's season premier was good though. Much better than the terrible stuff I endured in season seven. The sneaky move by making me think Quinn's shooting was a dream, and then finding out that the rest of their story was a dream, was very well done. It had me doing flashbacks to Inception both at one point in the middle of the episode and at the end, when the characters find out the whole thing was a dream. I'm not big on dream sequences overall, but I think they did this one well enough that they pulled it off.

Why Stephen Colletti has never been a series regular on this show is beyond me. Chase is easily my favorite character at this point, and Colletti might be the best actor. For a guy who started as a reality star on Laguna Beach, that is quite a statement. I have high hopes for the story line in which he is in a love triangle with Mia and Alex, but knowing OTH the way I do I wouldn't be surprised for it to sit on the back burner for a good five episodes.

One Tree Hill 801 - "Asleep at Heaven's Gate"
Review
Recap
Quotes

Mad Men 408 Review- A Changed Man

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on last night's episode of Mad Men, 'The Summer Man'. So watch the ep, stretch out like a skydiver, then read what I had to say.

Don- "I should've finished high school. Everything could have been different."

Last night, over at TV Fanatic, I reviewed the eighth episode of Mad Men's fourth season. Although it wasn't as good as last week's I still enjoyed it quite a bit. The voice over style might have thrown some people off, but I like the way that it was something different for the series.

In my review I talked a lot about the changes Don is trying to make in his life as he transitions from a mean drunk, to a functioning human being who gets treated very nicely in the back of NYC cabs.

It's really not acceptable to say, because everyone and their brother love Christina Hendrix, but I'm really starting to hate Joan. I don't care if her terrible human being of a husband is going off to Vietnam, and she has absolutely no friends at the office, that is no excuse for being exponentially easier to hate than Peggy. Stop crying like a little baby and do something useful.

In addition to my usual reviewing over at TV Fanatic, I also participated in a Mad Men Round Table conducted by the big boss, M.L. House. I thought I came up with some witty answers to the questions that were asked if I do say so myself. So head on over to check that out.

Mad Men 408 - "The Summer Man"
Review
Round Table
Recap
Quotes

Hung 210 Review- Hanging It Up

I'm not going to miss these reviews. Two reviews for TV Fanatic in one night is tough, but when one of them is Hung, it's like cutting through one of JJ's favorite pieces of steak. I'm so glad this season is over, and I'm not at all looking forward to what season three has to offer.

My review is up over at TV Fanatic if you are so inclined to tell me that I'm a stud for putting up with this series for an entire season. If you'd rather just share this post in your reader to make fun of me for being "so smug" then you have that option as well.

Hung 210- "Even Steven or Luckiest Kid In Detroit"
Review
Recap
Quotes

Big Brother- One Proud Cat

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the ninth week of Big Brother. So watch the eps, hide your money in a cereal box, then read what I had to say.

Ragan- "We don't share a common reality."

Just some quick thoughts on this week of Big Brother here as surprisingly not much happened. A lot of competitions and not much strategy makes for very little commentary.

We did, however, get one of the most memorable moments of the season this week. The scene when Enzo, Lane and Hayden broke the news to Britney about the Brigade was sheer enjoyment. "It was like in a movie," Jack Thomas said. The way Enzo was so blatantly building it up little by little made for a great sequence. I think it was funny to watch him talk about it because you could tell just how proud he was for getting this thing done. He came up with the Brigade, made up the nicknames, and helped guide the three boys to the final three. The Meow Meow wanted so badly to brag about it to someone, and as Britney was the only non-Brigader left, she got the brunt of it. Watching the tears drip down her face only took away from the hilarity slightly.

The only thing that viewing the happenings at the jury house has done for me, is that it lessoned my hatred for Brendon. He's been pretty decent in the footage we've seen. Ragan and Rachel on the other hand? Still terrible. Like Ragan said in the quote at the top, I don't think Rachel shares a common reality with anyone! This girl is a whole lotta wackadoo! I'm putting her in my top five of worst people of all time. I can't stand this chick. I'm just glad that she has no chance of winning any money.

Next Wednesday marks the best day of the year for reality competition. The two hour Big Brother finale follows the season premier of Survivor. Should be a great night of reality. Come back for my thoughts on who wins BB between Lane, Hayden and Enzo as well as initial thoughts and fantasy scores for Survivor: Nicaragua.

Sons of Anarchy 301 Review- That's Ma Boy

I recently received my first check for reviewing Mad Men over at TVFanatic. Now I will be getting paid to do it for my favorite drama on television? A joke right? Nope. I'm actually so legit now that I'm getting the first four eps of Sons of Anarchy on DVD to watch before they air? Pretty awesome.

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on last night's season three premiere of Sons of Anarchy, 'So'. So watch the ep, cruise for some widows, then read what I had to say.

Jax- "I'm trying to find some kind of balance, Piney. The right thing for my family, the club. Every time I think maybe I'm headin' in the right direction, I end up in a place I never even knew could feel this bad. What did I do man?"

I opened my review with the fact that writing about Sons of Anarchy will make me anything but a critic. I enjoy the show too much to trash on it, as I do on a weekly basis with Hung. It's of my opinion that sometimes critics critique an episode merely because they're called critics. If a show is great, why not commend all of the things it does so well. Sure I will find things here and there on SoA to complain about. Although Katey Sagal put forth a fantastic performance last season, I would have loved to hate on her character if I were writing about the series a year ago. But why not celebrate all of the good that Kurt Sutter and company bring to the table week after week?

I enjoyed this third season premiere a good deal. It was slow and methodical at times, but every moment had me on the edge of my seat. I talked about all of the inner turmoil the characters were going through in my review, and it's a credit to how great these actors are that sometimes the moments of silence are just as intriguing as the fantastic dialog.

How about that ending though? I thought Half-Sack's wake was going to make a great ending to this first hour of the season, but then they one-upped everybody by having those drive-by shooters roll through. I was not expecting that at all. Hale has to be dead right? After getting run over by that van, his brains looked like they were ready to be served to Indiana Jones and company. Can't come back from that right? If he doesn't what does that do to the Charming Police Department? Is Unser back on top or do they bring in someone new that might be an adversary to SAMCRO?

It might not matter much because the crew is about ready to head to Ireland to get Jax's baby boy back. I'm only slightly worried that the change of scenery might have a negative effect on the show.

Although I know some of my readers have already checked out my review at TVFanatic. Feel free to head over and check it out again. Leave a comment saying how awesome I am (or the show if you prefer). Or just click the link to pump up the site views.

Sons of Anarchy 301 - 'So'
Review
Recap
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Mad Men Review- Two Is Company

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on last night's episode of Mad Men, 'The Suitcase'. So watch the ep, solve the problem with a flask, then read what I had to say.

Don: It's your job. I give you money. You give me ideas.

Peggy: But you never thank me.

Don: That's what the money is for!

Although most of the time I disagree with what everyone else thinks about an episode, this week I'm on board with everyone who thought Mad Men was fantastic. This was my favorite episode of the season, which proves once again that I no longer hate Peggy Olsen. Both Elizabeth Moss and Jon Hamm gave stellar performances that should be unrivaled come next year's Emmys. The yelling match alone, between the two characters, was enough to make this episode great. I reviewed 'The Suitcase' over at TV Fanatic last night and you can check out the rest of my thoughts there.

On last week's podcast of Talking TV With Ryan and Ryan, one of the two Ryans, or maybe James Poniewozik, said that Mad Men is one of the funniest shows on television. While that is a completely ridiculous statement, it doesn't have its moments. Any drunk Don laughter gets me to laugh right away. This week it happened when he was listening to tape four of Roger's memoirs, Sterling's Gold. "Sometime in the summer of '48...no 1932...no 1939." Don can't get enough of it, and frankly, neither can I. More memoirs!

By the end of the ep, Don seems to come out of his at least five month drunken stooper. Hopefully the final six episodes will have him fully revive himself and do something great with SCDP.

Mad Men 407 - 'The Suitcase'
Review
Recap
Quotes

NFL 2010 Predictions

I'm not in the business of blogging about sports, but since the NFL is some of the best television out there, I'm gonna throw out my predictions on the upcoming season. Things get started when Brett Favre and the Sidney Rice-less Vikings travel to the reigning Super Bowl champion Saints on Thursday night.

NFC West
49ers, 13-3
Cardinals, 6-10
Seahawks, 5-11
Rams, 3-13

NFC South
Saints, 12-4
Falcons, 9-7
Panthers, 8-8
Bucs, 4-12

NFC North
Packers, 13-3
Vikings, 10-6
Bears, 7-9
Lions, 5-11

NFC East
Cowboys, 10-6
Giants, 9-7
Redskins, 8-8
Eagles, 7-9

AFC North
Ravens, 11-5
Steelers, 9-7
Bengals, 6-10
Brown, 2-14

AFC East
Jets, 10-6
Patriots, 10-6
Dolphins, 9-7
Bills, 3-13

AFC West
Chargers, 12-4
Raiders, 8-8
Chiefs, 6-10
Broncos, 3-13

AFC South
Colts, 13-3
Texans, 11-5
Titans, 10-6
Jags, 4-12

Wilcard Round
Saints over Falcons
Cowboys over Vikings
Ravens over Titans
Texans over Jets

Conference Semis
49ers over Saints
Packers over Cowboys
Chargers over Ravens
Colts over Texans

Conference Championships
49ers over Packers
Colts over Chargers

Super Bowl
Colts over 49ers

MVP: Drew Brees
Defensive PoY: Mario Williams
RoY: Ryan Mathews
CoY: Mike Singletary

Is there a chance that I don't pick the Colts to win the Super Bowl while Peyton is still on the team? Probably not. Also, for picks by guys that watch way more NFL Football than I do, go over to The JRP and Solomons Lines.

Camp Rock 2- We Be Jammin'

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jame. So watch the movie, switch over to Camp Star, then read what I had to say.

Jason on being a lead singer- "You are gonna need to buy tighter pants and learn how to play the tambourine."

Here's what was so good about the first Camp Rock: There was a nice emotional story line about Demi Lovato's character getting noticed as a good singer and falling for Joe Jonas's character. There were a few fantastic musical numbers that tied into the emotional content. And there was some God awful acting, music and writing, which made for great unintentional comedy.

Camp Rock 2: The Final Jame didn't live up to my expectations as a sequel to the original. The story line of a rival camp has been done so many times before (see HeavyWeights) and it just didn't pack the same type of punch. Because of that, the musical numbers didn't have nearly as much weight, and I was hardly moved by the final performance. Conversely, on average the music and acting was better so there wasn't as much to make fun of. To get to the point, there was no "Too Cool" song and dance to laugh at for hours on end.

It was definitely a plus to have bigger roles for Nick and Kevin Jonas this time around, but in the end it wasn't enough to make up for the lack of interesting story. Nick's song in which he shelled out a bunch of random information about himself to his new crush was extremely entertaining though. Kevin came on strong early with his patented dumb act, but it ran out of gas after the first 20-30 minutes. The addition of Frankie Jonas helped nothing, per usual.

Maybe I'm forgetting some of the unimportant numbers from the first movie, but it seemed like there were a bunch more random musical numbers in this one. A very musical-esque style of working songs in that I didn't think they had as much in Camp Rock. They were always singing at their various "jams" so they didn't have to have random singing break out where everyone knew the lyrics. It was a bit annoying at times.

To take a note from the B.S. Report's 90210 Awards, I'm going to award the Camp Rock Biggest Leap of Faith Award to the outright inability for others to recognize that Connect 3 is a hugely successful band. Honestly, Camp Star thought they would beat Camp Rock when they had this ridiculously popular boy band at Camp Rock. It's like if we were watching a random show on MTV where they had a contest of high schoolers against each other...and the actual Jonas Brothers were on one of the teams!!! Would the other camp get a single vote? No. I don't care how much marketing Axel did, every person would be voting for the big stars over some random people they never heard of.

Beverly Hills, 90210- The Holiday

The cast early on their long run of greatness

It only comes around once every hundred years, but yesterday was 90210 Day all across the country - September 2, 2010 is 9/02/10. The city of Beverly Hills threw a big bash and people all over the interwebs are posting stories to honor or sometimes tarnish the best teen drama of all time. It's a shame that I didn't think of this type of thing five years ago, because we could have had the party of century in my home town of Falmouth, ME on 04/1/05. Or my first year of college in Poughkeepsie, NY on 12/6/04.

Anyway, Alan Sepinwall, over at HitFix.com, did his best to degrade the great Beverly Hills, 90210 based on the fact that all of the characters were juniors for both the first and second seasons. Now I love this show as much as anyone, but that was the least of its problems. He quietly slid in that Friday Night Lights, a critically acclaimed series, maybe sorta had a grade issue, and then continued to rip on 90210 for the horrendous error in the series. My thought is at least they got rid of the problem in one fail swoop. FNL continued to have issues with its grades throughout the seasons. Riggins, Lyla and Tyra were seniors for three seasons! By the end of season three we are also told that Landry is a year behind Saracen?!? A much worse way to handle grades of high school students than what happened after season one of 90210.

And then there was my brother, Jack Thomas, who is still trying to figure out where to go with his new blog, and posted his top 10 lists of best male and female characters on the original Beverly Hills, 90210. A couple of good lists by all means, and unlike Bill Simmons, thank you that he didn't put Bruno the limo driver ahead of John Sears and DeShawn Hardell.

Speaking of Simmons. I commend him on the effort to do this two hour special podcast on the series. I listen to most of the Sports Guy's podcasts even though I can't stand him much of the time. I'm half way through his awards and although it's mostly enjoyable, I still get so mad that him and Matthew Berry have such little knowledge on the series. The number of names and details they screw up is amazing. Noah Drake?!? Was it "he's one of those Drakes"? No it was "he's one of those Hunters". He's Noah Hunter and he's one of the best characters of the later years.

The fact of the matter is that this was one of the first shows I grew up on, and it will always have a special place in my life. I remember when I was in third grade I used to watch repeats of 90210 and Saved by the Bell over and over again. Probably why I grew up fast, and probably why I got out of the tv game for a while. It was hard for anything else to measure up. So Happy 90210 Day everyone, and here's hoping the new series can turn things around and be half as interesting as the original was.

Bi-Monthly Power Rankings- Top Ten

The Gang from Sunny on Tricycles

And on to the top ten. This time last year we had a couple of shows that now go unranked in here (30 Rock and American Idol). We've got a couple of newcomers, but the top few all stay the same since none of them have aired since the last rankings. Once again, these are the shows you should be watching people.

Place. Show- (last time)...red=moving down, green=moving up

10. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia- (11) Thursdays on FX
It's Always Sunny should make the list for 'Dennis and Mac Break Up' alone. Just re-watched it and it gets better every time. You really can't beat the gruesome twosome of Charlie and Frank.

9. Dexter- (10) Sundays on Showtime
Lithgow has already won the guest actor emmy, and as I write this on Saturday, I fully anticipate Michael C. Hall to win the lead actor emmy on Sunday. It was a great fourth season and I'm looking forward to seeing where they go next.

8. Big Brother- (12) Summers on CBS
I've been writing about this season all summer and I have yet to have little to talk about. Every season brings me so much love, yet so much hatred. With only five contestants left, I only hate one of them, so the final weeks might not be as interesting. It's more fun to root against people than to root for others.

7. Breaking Bad- (7) Sundays on AMC
To paraphrase Alan Sepinwall, Breaking Bad looks really sweet on screen. Each episode has it's own lulls, but they continued to end the hour with a bang, and that will get you every time. It's sad that they're taking an entire year off before the next season.

Any excuse to post this picture

6. Community- (6) Thursdays on NBC
There's something nice about knowing that a cast of a show really likes each other. Sure they might say it in interviews and whatnot, but by following the actors on Twitter, you notice how much fun the Community people have with each other. That's pretty sweet.

5. Friday Night Lights- (5) Wednesdays on DirecTV
One season to go. I'm hearing faint rumors about a great finale. A lot of our old favorites are returning for the big going away part. I'm both excited and sad.

4. Modern Family- (4) Wednesdays on ABC
Again, writing on Saturday, here's hoping that Mod Fam took down some Emmys on Sunday night. If Glee tops them in all categories, like so many are conjecturing, it will be a real shame.

3. Sons of Anarchy- (3) Tuesdays on FX
Pumped to be writing about Sons this fall for TVFanatic.com. Ireland here I come.

2. Curb Your Enthusiasm- (2) Sundays on HBO
Aside from Parks and Recreation and Community, this was my favorite comedy of the season. Wait What? No I'm not Alan Sepinwall. This WAS the best comedy of the season as proven by the 2010 Poolie Awards. It's no surprise that it is the top ranked comedy in the Power Rankings.

1. Chuck- (1) Mondays on NBC
It's still the king of the triple threat, and now that Lost is off the air, Chuck holds on to the number one ranking until somebody makes a push for the title.

Big Brother- Strategy Sesh

Oh Ragan

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the eighth week of Big Brother. So watch the eps, shun a penguin, then read what I had to say.

Britney- "If you guys don't slow-motion what happened, I'm not talking to you anymore."

She's so great, isn't she? Of course she was talking about Enzo, who finally won a competition after laying out for the final cd in the PoV. It's the one he needed to, and now he's in the final four.

That's right Ragan was eliminated even though he did some of the best convincing I've seen on Big Brother. His convos with Britney and Lane were two of the best strategy sessions I've watched on this show ever. I might not like Ragan, but darn it do I completely respect his play after viewing that.

Everything he was saying made complete sense and it's a shame that it didn't work. Because of the editing it's tough to realize how much more chatter there was on this topic. If that was it, maybe I can understand why Lane didn't come around on the idea to go against Hayden and Enzo, but why would that have been all there was? If you're Ragan don't you belabor that point to no end? It's your only hope. It's a great hope, but it's your only one. Should have hammered it harder than that.

But I can't continue to praise Ragan without completely ragging on him for his Wednesday night performance. He cried and complained about being alone in the house for hours on end. "Oooo there's an all-guy alliance and a Brit-Lane alliance. I have no one." (I'm paraphrasing). Well maybe if you had made any attempt early in the game to get any kind of alliance, you wouldn't be alone right now. You backed your way into being friends with Matt, but that wasn't even an alliance, since he sold you down the river. Do something if you want to have people that are loyal to you. As Rachel would say, "floater, grab a life vest!"

We're down to the final four: Lane, Britney, Hayden and Enzo. Easily the best final four of the past four years. I would enjoy seeing any of them take home the trophy. It looked as if Hayden was going to win HoH. If he does, does he put up Britney and Lane? I'd guess so.

Bi-Monthly Power Rankings- 20 Through 11

Rick Moonen guest judges on Top Chef

Here we go with some of my favorite series currently on television. Here we have numbers 20 through 11 on the Quiet Pool Perspective's September Power Rankings. We have one new edition and a couple of big slippers. Enjoy.

Place. Show- (last time)...red=moving down, green=moving up

20. Top Chef- (HM) Wednesday on Bravo
This is just quality reality television. The contestants don't get as in depth a look as some of the other greats, so I haven't loved or hated any of them as much as Big Bro or Survivor peeps, but the challenges are great. Each week it's something new. Through two seasons of watching, I have never gotten mad at this show, which is the main reason it took American Idol's spot in the top 20.

19. Treme- (18) Sundays on HBO
Treme came out with a good first ten episodes last spring. I wasn't left that excited, but I enjoyed every hour that I watched. I'm looking forward to seeing if they introduce anyone new after the major character that we lost at the end of the first season.

18. Sonny With a Chance- (19) Sundays on Disney Channel
Without a doubt my current favorite on Disney. Demi Lovato has shot up the charts for best leading ladies on television. Her comedic moments are so much better this season. Add that to Sterling Knight and the improvement of fat Grady and you got yourself a ridiculously fun sitcom.

Hank Moody doin' work

17. Californication- (17) Sundays on Showtime
A pretty long hiatus for the David Duchovny dramedy. I'm looking forward to the appearance of Rob Lowe next season. There's no way he'll be as funny as in Parks and Rec, but he could just be in a groove right now.

16. Parks and Recreation- (16) Thursdays on NBC
Speaking of the NBC comedy...Parks won't be back until mid-season because they needed to leave room for the God awful looking Outsourced. The addition of Adam Scott and Rob Lowe have me extremely excited for its return.

15. Survivor- (14) Wednesdays on CBS
A couple of great seasons last year keep Survivor near the top. Can they continue this run? Will some people tune in just to see ex-Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson? I know I'm looking forward to seeing the hair get messed up in Nicaragua.

14. Justified- (15) Tuesdays on FX
Justified had a great first season, with the second half picking up steam to what was a fantastic finale. Timothy Olyphant, as Raylan Givens, has created one of my favorite characters on tv.

Russell with a beautiful vase

13. True Blood- (8) Sundays on HBO
And so we get to the biggest faller of the September Power Rankings. As Larry said to me a week or so ago, "they think that good tv is just the craziest sh*t you can think of." I mean I'm a fan of crazy, but to a certain point. When that's basically all you're giving me, I get fed up with it. My biggest problem with this season of True Blood is that every episode just runs together. I can't pick out a single episode by name, number or even event. Russell has been on and off for me, and in no way a decent replacement for Maryann as the big bad of the season.

12. The Office- (9) Thursdays on NBC
Another big dropped even though it hasn't been on since the last rankings. I'm having some residual bad feelings towards the last season of The Office. Maybe I didn't like it as much as I thought, or maybe it's because Alan Sepinwall and company repeatedly tell me that it was an awful year for the NBC comedy. Either way, this next season should be interesting as we watch to see who will take Steve Carell's place as the main man.

11. Mad Men- (13) Sundays on AMC
Mad Men is a show that can be extremely boring for some. As it was for me when I first started watching. Now whether it's because I'm writing about every episode, or it has just gotten significantly better, Mad Men is now so very interesting to me. There's something about writing about every little detail of a show that will cause you to either love it or hate it. In this case it is the former. The other thing is that after three and a half seasons, it's much easier to get involved in the goings on of these characters.

Bi-Monthly Power Rankings- Honorable Mentions

E vs. Vince take one

It's that time again. The Quiet Pool Perspective's Bi-Monthly Power Rankings are back for its second September version. I can't believe I've kept this up for an entire year. Before we talk about our honorable mentions, let's take a look back at where my head was in September of 2009. I obviously wasn't watching as much tv, because I only had six honorable mentions. Now I have to just rotate who gets a mention in this first post of the power rankings because there are too many that deserve a nod.

The six series were (in alphabetical order) The Amazing Race, Entourage, Gary Unmarried, Gossip Girl, Mad Men, and Rules of Engagement. Right off the bat I notice that the Jay Mohr comedy has been cancelled. Next there are those that I still watch but aren't on this month's edition; The Amazing Race, Gossip Girl and Rules of Engagement. Gossip Girl is the only one of the three that I feel got considerably worse over the course of last year. And Mad Men, as is noticeable by many of the previous rankings, has moved up the chart since this time last year. But that may be because I've catered to the masses.

Anyway, these are some of the shows that you might want to think about watching.

Honorable Mentions

Show- (last time)...red=moving down, green=moving up

American Idol- (20) Tuesdays on FOX
This time last year Idol was 10th. Just two months ago it was still in the top 20, but with the departure of Simon Cowell and the unknown of who will be judging come January, I can no longer rank this in the top 20. It is now out of my current top three for reality competition series. Which is that third series you may ask. Find out tomorrow.

Covert Affairs- (-) Tuesdays on USA
I posted on the new spy series last week, but I think it deserves another mention here. It's light but fun. The characters are great. There is definitely less serialization than I thought there would be at the start, but it's still worth it during the summer.

Entourage- (-) Sundays on HBO
Since it's my job to review Mad Men and Hung on Sundays, I have yet to speak about this season of Entourage. It has definitely been a marked improvement. Steven James Snyder wrote a nice piece over at TIME about how the story lines were much more interesting, and I couldn't agree more. Finally seeing Vince get punished for his foolish actions is a nice change. In a Don Draper-ish fashion we're watching to see how far he can sink this season. The addition of Scott Caan and the evolution of a much less irritating E has made for a good season overall.

Hannah Montana- (-) Sundays on Disney Channel
I didn't go out and buy The Last Song on Blu Ray, like some other people I know, but I love me some Miley Cyrus. Both the rise in effectiveness of Emily Osment's Lilly and the loss of Mitchell Musso's Oliver have been an added bonus to an already stellar comedy.

Hard Knocks- (-) Wednesdays on HBO
One of the best fringe benefits of getting six months of free HBO. I would have downloaded True Blood, Entourage and the like, but I probably wouldn't have gotten around to Hard Knocks. Having it on my DVR? Great! It's just a great inside look at the sport I love to watch most. It doesn't hurt that Rex Ryan is loud and cursing all the time, Antonio Cromartie can't remember his kids' names, and Mark Sanchez acts like a little baby during practices. All good stuff.

Ron and Sam fight

Jersey Shore- (-) Thursdays on MTV
As Bill Simmons and the Czar of Reality TV Dave Jacoby talked about, it's hard to find someone who watches a bit of Jersey Shore and doesn't like it. When I first heard about it, I was like "ehhh another reality show where the people are ridiculous but uninteresting. No thanks." Well after my boys in NYC talked it up, I started watching, and began to really enjoy it. Most of these people actually are interesting. My only problem with the second season so far is that every episode has dealt too much with Ronnie and Sammy. No matter what Simmons says, Situation is the MVP. Always has been, always will be. The dude is awesome and he needs to be the focus of every episode.

The League- (-) Thursdays on FX
With the start of football season coming up, The League needs to get mentioned here. A show that improved over its first season, I wouldn't be surprised to see it take another step forward. If it has more fantasy football plot in the second season (as is rumored by Alan Sepinwall) then I will be much more happy with it.

Rubicon- (-) Sundays on AMC
Here's a show that has taken advantage of the situation. It's the third original series on AMC. Coming after the critically acclaimed Mad Men and Breaking Bad, everyone assumes this is automatically going to be fantastic. I'm intrigued so far, but not overly excited about it. It's slow and none of the characters are interesting at this point. James Badge Dale is great, but he hasn't shown me anything good thus far in Rubicon.

Spartacus- (-) Fridays on Starz
Now that Mo Ryan and Ryan McGee have admitted to loving this show, I feel that I can actually write that I watched and enjoyed the first season. It is now socially acceptable. By no means is it great television, but there are moments of action and drama that are extremely watchable.

Ultimate Catch- (-) Sundays on VH1
I am not one to enjoy a reality dating show, but I'll make an exception on this. As a football fan, I'm enjoying watching Chad Ochocinco do his thing with the ladies. His taste and decisions are extremely suspect at times, but it's still interesting to see what he thinks in every situation.