Preseason Character Rankings

Honorable Mentions

Don Draper
Jon Hamm- Mad Man

Ari Gold
Jeremy Piven- Entourage

Ben Linus
Michael Emerson- Lost

Eric Northman
Alexander Skarsgard- True Blood

Matt Saracen
Zach Gilford- Friday Night Lights

Nathan Scott
James Lafferty- One Tree Hill

Top 20

20. Chloe O'Brian
Mary Lynn Rajskub- 24

19. Mark Sloan
Eric Dane- Grey's Anatomy

18. Johnny Chase
Kevin Dillon- Entourage

17. Alex Russo
Selena Gomez- Wizards of Waverly Place

16. Greg House
Hugh Laurie- House, MD

15. Jack Bauer
Kiefer Sutherland- 24

14. Morgan Grimes
Joshua Gomez- Chuck

13. Jack Donaghy
Alec Baldwin- 30 Rock

12. Julian Baker
Austin Nichols- One Tree Hill

11. Gabriel Sylar
Zachary Quinto- Heroes

10. Miley Stewart
Miley Cyrus- Hannah Montana

9. Michael Scott
Steve Carell- The Office

8. Cappie
Scott Michael Foster- Greek

7. Chuck Bartowski
Zach Levi- Chuck

6. Tim Riggins
Taylor Kitsch- Friday Night Lights

5. Dwight Schrute
Rainn Wilson- The Office

4. Patrick Jane
Simon Baker- The Mentalist

3. Larry David
Larry David- Curb Your Enthusiasm

2. Tracy Jordan
Tracy Morgan- 30 Rock

1. James 'Sawyer' Ford
Josh Holloway- Lost

Preseason TV Power Rankings

With the beginning of September comes the return of the Preseason TV Power Rankings.

Honorable Mentions

The Amazing Race
CBS- Sundays at 8:00- Premiers 9/27

Entourage
HBO- Sundays at 10:30- Finale 10/4

Gary Unmarried
CBS- Wednesdays at 8:30- Premiers 9/23

Gossip Girl
The CW- Mondays at 9:00- Premiers 9/14

Mad Men
AMC- Sundays at 10:00- Finale 11/8

Rules of Engagement
CBS- Mondays at 9:30- Premiers Midseason

Top 20

20. 90210
The CW- Tuesdays at 8:00- Premiers 9/8

19. Wizards of Waverly Place
Disney- Fridays at 8:00- Premiers 10/9

18. Heroes
NBC- Mondays at 8:00- Premiers 2/21

17. The Mentalist
CBS- Thursdays at 10:00- Premiers 9/24

16. Hannah Montana
Disney- Sundays at 7:30

15. Survivor
CBS- Thursdays at 8:00- Premiers 9/17

14. Greek
ABCFam- Mondays at 9:00- Premiered 8/31

13. Family Guy
FOX- Sundays at 9:00- Premiers 9/27

12. House, MD
FOX- Mondays at 8:00- Premiers 9/28

11. One Tree Hill
The CW- Mondays at 8:00- Premiers 9/14

10. American Idol
FOX- Tuesdays/Wednesdays at 8:00- Premiers Midseason

9. Friday Night Lights
DirectTV- Fall '09/NBC- Summer '10

8. True Blood
HBO- Sundays at 9:00- Finale 9/13

7. Big Brother
CBS- Sun/Tue/Thur at 8/9- Finale 9/15

6. Curb Your Enthusiasm
HBO- Sundays at 10:00- Premiers 9/20

5. 24
FOX- Mondays at 9:00- Premiers Midseason

4. The Office
NBC- Thursdays at 9:00- Premiers 9/17

3. Chuck
NBC- Mondays at 8:00- Premiers Midseason

2. 30 Rock
NBC- Thursdays at 9:30- Premiers 10/15

1. Lost
ABC- Wednesdays at 9:00- Premiers Midseason

Not Our First Rodéo (Part 8)

So my week long battle with the WMG has ended. Although I did slip an Eric Clapton song by them, they wouldn't allow me to pair it with any other song in the world (this is what tripped me up for so long). I am pleased with what I ended up with during the Animal kingdom section, as i went with a Boz Scaggs mini-medley. In the original movie another mini-medley is used, a fantastic blend of the Four Season's 'Walk Like a Man' and 'Let's Hang On.'

Big Brother- Week 9

After week three, I told Larry that I thought Kevin was the dark horse to win this whole thing, and he laughed in my face (of course I mean he said "haha, lol" through g-chat). Now that Jeff is out of the house, Kevin is the most athletic player and best game player. He might be aligned with the she-devil that is Natalie, but he has to be the favorite of the final four that remain (Kev, Nat, Jordan, Michelle).

Mags is the only one with two players left, but my Kevin and Lar's Michelle are the two that will win competitions from here on out.

Fantasy results

1st. Plate Boys (Lar)
Jeff- Nom (-5), Votes (-6)= -11
Lydia
Michelle- W9 (37), Nom (-5), PoV (15)= 47
Week 9= 36
Total= 302

2nd. The Babysharks (The Kid)
Russell
Ronnie
Kevin- W9 (37), HoH (12)= 49
Week 9= 49
Total= 245

3rd. Pizza Eaters (Mags)
Casey
Jordan- W9 (37), Nom (-5), Votes (-3)= 29
Natalie- W9 (37)= 37
Week 9= 66
Total= 232

4th. Gaydon's Misery (Jaydon)
Laura
Braden
Chima- Nom (-5)
Week 6 and 7= -5
Total= -34

Cable Fall Preview

Although many of these cable shows have already started, I believe they need their just due here.

HBO
Entourage
I thought I'd mention the two HBO programs that are finishing up their current seasons. Entourage has four episodes left and it has been as lackluster of a summer as ever for the entertainment dramedy. Lowlighted by Tom Brady's awful performance, season six has been less than stellar. Stop following E's love life. Nobody likes him. It's torture.

True Blood
True Blood, on the other hand, has taken as giant leap in the right direction in its sophomore season. What started out as a weak-charactered vampire show, has turned into a fantastic-storylined supernatural thriller. The 10th episode of this second season was one of my favorite eps of any show in a long time. After this past Sunday's penultimate ep, there is only one left this summer.

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm finally returns on September 20. After what was one of the two best seasons in the show's history, Larry David had a lot to live up to this fall. He found a way to get me even more excited. Prettttty, pretttttty, pretttttty excited. A Seinfeld Reunion. All four of the main actors from Seinfeld, yes Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and even Michael Richards, will be major contributors on this season of Curb. Not only that, but the premise of the season will be Larry and the gang putting a Seinfeld Reunion in the works.

Disney
After the DVD release of Hannah Montana The Movie this month and the television premier of Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie this past Friday, the Disney Channel's big three are picking up major steam. Joined by Sonny with a Chance, these three shows have gotten me hooked on the Disney Channel as I used to be with Even Stevens back in the day. They don't come without major success either, as the Wizards Movie recorded the highest viewership of the summer, with 11.4 million viewers. I'm assuming most of them are not 23 year old dudes.

Greek
I have yet to watch the season 3 premier of Greek that aired tonight (Monday) but I'm definitely excited for it to be back. Whether it's hating on Rusty's awkwardness, loving Cappie's wit, or crushing on Casey for some inexplicable reason, Greek always brings plenty of entertainment.

Mad Men
Mad Men is three eps in now, and it started up where it left off. Interesting, but not entertaining. I find myself a bit intrigued by the stories and historical elements of the show, but they don't manage to portray them in a way that gets me excited for the next episode. I'd much rather watch a show that can entertain without being smart (the late Las Vegas) than a smart show that fails to entertain (Mad Men).

CW Fall Preview

What we're excited for from The CW this fall.

View the entire fall lineup with recommendations here.

Gossip Girl
Hardly any of the characters are sweet and the story lines could be a lot tighter, but there is always enough drama on Gossip Girl to make it a good prime time soap. After a second season finale in which the voice of Kristen Bell got all of the main characters together and told them they were all Gossip Girl, we will now gear up for a third season where they all (or most) head off to college. Post-high school dramas can sometimes be made or broken after graduation, but since GG never spent much time in the classroom, I don't see many changes happening this season.

One Tree Hill
Finally! The loss of Chad Michael Murray and Hillarie Burton from the One Tree Hill cast has been a long time coming. Lucas could be dealt with, but Peyton was always one my least favorite characters on television. If this means more Nathan, Haley, Julian and Brooke, I will be very happy. Apparently, with Luke and Peyton leaving, they will do another time jump. Not of the five year variety, like last time, but I have heard a year or two. I liked the time jump last time, so I'm looking forward to seeing all of the changes that happened this time.

90210
After struggling through the first half of its inaugural season, the new 90210 started to turn itself around and came into its own down the stretch. As I've mentioned before, the link to the original Beverly Hills, 90210 brings the new version up a few notches, and without that link, I wouldn't have been watching it through the first 6 to 8 episodes. When we last left the Southern Cal crowd, Annie had hit someone with her car and there was a bit of a love triangle between Dixon, Silver and Ethan. The bad news is that Dustin Milligan's Ethan will no longer be on the show. The good news ist that Kelly Taylor will definitely back in the swing of things.

Melrose Place
The new 90210 did so well, wait did it? Anyway, The CW decided to bring back another 90s primetime soap classic, Melrose Place. Because I didn't watch any of the original, I'm not as excited for the start of this redux, but I'm still looking forward to it. The promo video spotlights a ton of drama. The problem to me is that none of the girls are that appealing. I hope the dudes step to the plate. I may be making this up, but I believe Michael from the original Melrose will be back in primetime. And that reminds me of an unbelievable Jerry Seinfeld quote. As the Melrose Place opening music plays and he just finished going through a lie detector sequence in which he tried to deny that he watched the show, he exclaims "Oh that Michael, he's so smug."

Big Brother- Week 8

At the beginning of the week, after Jeff won Head of Household for the week, he and everyone else were making a big deal about who was going to be nominated for eviction this week. How many houseguests, year after year, are not going to understand how this game works? Once you get down to six players, it doesn't matter who you nominate for eviction. It all depends on the Power of Veto.

This week's example: If Jeff nominates Kevin and Natalie, Russell or Michelle have to win PoV or one of the other four will take someone off the block and put Russell up and send him home. If Jeff nominates Russell and Michelle, those two still have to win PoV or Jeff will leave the nominations the same after the PoV competition. Whoever wins the HoH is safe, but other than that, it doesn't mean much. It's all in the Power of Veto!

Larry looks to take this fantasy league home unless Kevin wins the whole thing for me.

Fantasy results

1st. Working Title: Plate Boys (Lar)
Jeff- W8 (29), HoH (12), PoV (15)= 56
Lydia
Michelle- W8 (29)= 29
Week 8= 85
Total= 266








2nd. The Babysharks (The Kid)
Russell- Nom (-5), Votes (-9)= -14
Ronnie
Kevin- W8 (29), Nom (-5)= 24
Week 8= 10
Total= 196










3rd. Working Title: Pizza Eaters (Mags)
Casey
Jordan- W8 (29)= 29
Natalie- Nom (-5), W8 (29)= 24
Week 8= 53
Total= 166









4th. Gaydon's Misery (Jaydon)
Laura
Braden
Chima- Nom (-5)
Week 6 and 7= -5
Total= -34

CBS Fall Preview

What we're excited for from CBS this fall.

Full fall lineup with recommendations can be found here.

The Mentalist
As the only procedural show that I have been able to watch an entire season of, The Mentalist does it for me for one major reason. Patrick Jane. This guy is an unbelievable character. As a consultant to the California Bureau of Investigation, Jane uses his mentalist abilities to solve crimes. It is not his abilities, but his cocky attitude and charm that pop off the screen each week. The cast of characters around him put the show over the top for me. Kirsten's sister from The O.C. and the Asian guy from the AT&T commercials are two of the best supporting characters out there.

Survivor
Although still not nearly as good as Big Brother, which this summer's latest installment of the houseguest reality show has proved, Survivor is the next best thing. CBS is really promoting the coming season hard, exclaiming that this fall's version of the survival competition will introduce the biggest Survivor villain ever. Although I'm not quite sure what a reality show villain is, it gets me excited. Is a villain someone that the cast hates, or someone the audience hates? Is it someone that is really mean, but the audience loves? Is it someone that is really obnoxious that the audience can't stand, but because they are so ridiculous you kind of like them? Whichever it is, it sounds good to me.