Bi-Monthly Power Rankings- Honorable Mentions

If you haven't noticed already, I have been extremely busy in the months of April and May. With the end of the baseball season, the end of the spring semester, and a couple of week-long pop-ins at my place, I have been beyond slow on the blog at times. That is no excuse to not put out a Bi-Monthly Power Rankings, though, so without further ado, here are the Quiet Pool Perspective Television Power Rankings for the month of May.

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

90210- (-) Mondays on The CW
Adrianna Tate-Duncan is absolutely killing it in the role of evil vixen on the season of the zip code drama.

The Borgias- (-) Sundays on Showtime
Jeremy Irons and the show in general may be a bit disappointing, but it is still worth a look.

Camelot- (-) Fridays on Starz
The re-imagination of the story of Arthur has been decent so far, if only for the work of Joseph Fiennes (or the dude from Flash Forward as I know him).

CMT's Next Superstar- (-) Fridays on CMT
Living in Music City this was a necessary watch for me, and if you like country music, it is for you too.

Game of Thrones- (-) Sundays on HBO
The only reason this isn't already in the top twenty is because there have only been three episodes. You will be sure to find it amongst the best come July.

Happy Endings- (-) Wednesdays on ABC
Pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy Happy Endings. Of all the new sitcoms as of late, I have it only behind Perfect Couples.

The Killing- (-) Sundays on AMC
Zzzzzzzz...oh sorry I was sleeping. Seriously though, this is well directed and acted, but the writing has left something to be desired, and it couldn't be less exciting.

Men of a Certain Age- (-) Wednesdays on TNT
I just received word that I will be reviewing the Ray Romano series for TV Fanatic this summer, so there is my shameless plug of the week.

Top Chef- (19) Wednesdays on Bravo
Maybe I am getting Top Cheffed out. As one season leads right into the next, it is getting a little tiresome.

The Voice- (-) Tuesdays on NBC
The first episode was fantastic! The new twist on the singing competition show was greatly welcomed. Then the second episode produced much worse talent, and a new format that already seemed a bit played out.

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.

The CW Upfronts- Gut Reactions

Not much to see here as The CW doesn't have that much programming.

Canceled: A couple of reality shows I never heard of and the new Melrose Place. This was never really any worse than the rest of The CW's dramas, but it got a terrible wrap early. It didn't help that it's actors weren't nearly as good looking as those on 90210, Gossip Girl and the like.

Returning: You got the three sci-fi joints in Smallville, Supernatural and Vampire Diaries. And then there are the four soap dramas. 90210 and Gossip Girl got renewed early but veteran One Tree Hill and newcomer Life Unexpected had to wait til the last minute to get word that they were back for another year. Life Unex had both good ratings (for CW) and good critical reviews, so I'm not sure why it took so long to make that decision.

New Shows

Nothing much here. Another reality show called Plain Jane? Then there is the fourth or fifth remake of Le Femme Nikita, titled Nikita. And finally we have another teen drama, this time about cheerleaders, called Hellcats. None of these sound good.

Bi-Monthly Power Rankings- Honorable Mentions

Well it's that time again. Along hearing myself talk, here at the Quiet Pool Perspective we like to let you know what tv you should be watching. Every two months I give you a few quick thoughts on the best television out there for viewing in what we call here at The Pool, the Bi-Monthly Power Rankings. As always I will rank the top 20 series on tv and then come up with 10 more as honorable mentions. Because of the sheer volume of great tv out there in 2010, the honorable mentions won't necessarily be 21-30, just the one's I want people to know about at the time being. For example, this time around Californication, House and Greek aren't on my list of Honorables, but that doesn't mean I don't like them more than those that are. They got a shout out last time so I'm making room for some newcomers.

Honorable Mentions

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

90210- (16) Tuesdays on The CW
The acting and writing continues to be terrible, but that's never stopped me before. 90210 is worth watching for nostalgia, atmosphere and Naomi Clark. She is still somewhat of a villain, but she's really the best on the show because she is just completely out there about every topic on earth.

Bored to Death- (-) Sundays on HBO
This dry, subtle comedy had only a short first season to wet my appetite, but I'm hungry for more. Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis are quite the trio. I'm still waiting for Zach's character Ray to throw some of his empty Schweppes cans down a tube into the basement.

Flash Forward- (20) Thursdays on ABC
They still haven't sold me with a lot of character development on this show, but the mystery keeps it a worthy watch. What's the deal with the blackout? Who's a bad guy? What will happen next? These are all questions that keep me involved in the plot of the show. Now if they could only get me to care about what happens to the characters, it might move up the rankings.

How to Make it in America- (-) Sundays on HBO
Another HBO series that got a short first season order. How to Make it, which was labeled as Entourage East early on, was much better than the LA dramedy this year. The way they use New York City as a character is fantastic, and it might be worth the watch just for the superb opening credits alone.

Life Unexpected- (-) Mondays on The CW
The first of two straight family dramas just finished up its first season run and still hasn't been re-upped for a second. Life Unexpected always give off a loving feeling, even if the given episode deals with some strange form of tragedy. I for one continue to want to see good things for this small family of three.

Parenthood- (-) Tuesdays on NBC
And then there is the big family drama. If you ever have enjoyed Brothers and Sisters, this is the show for you. Parenthood is basically a good version of it. Less stupid drama, more real life issues and comedy. Oh and there are actually characters on this show that are likable. One of them happens to be Dax Shepard's Crosby. I never thought I could like this dude, but he brings it here.

Party Down- (-) Fridays on Starz
Adam Scott is leaving the show for greener pastures at NBC next year so watch it while it's still around. Season two has opened with Adam's Henry Pollard as team leader of the catering company and he has a new outlook on life. It's much different than the down on life Henry we first met in season one, but Adam Scott can pull anything off in my book, even an acapella Sweet Child O' Mine.

Rules of Engagement- (-) Mondays on CBS
It always seems to get a half season order, but Rules is not only the only Monday CBS comedy that is good, but the only one that is tolerable. All five leads bring something good to the table. Adam, although he gets less air time than David Spade's Russell or Patrick Warburton's Jeff, is the highlight of every week for me. His combination of self-deprecation, loser attitude, and femininity bring about most of the laughs every episode.

Treme- (-) Sundays on HBO
As I mentioned in my first review of the series, Treme has gotten off to a good start. The quality of the writing and acting has been great so far. The only thing holding it back are story lines that don't give you much to hold on to. In the same way that Mad Men started out as a period piece about people working at an ad agency, Treme has started as the same in post Katrina New Orleans. If the new David Simon series can grow in plot the way Mad Men did over its second and third seasons, I'll be excited.

V- (-) Tuesdays on ABC
V has returned from its long hiatus, and done so in fine fashion. The battle between good and evil is on the verge of coming to the forefront. If there is a major downfall in V it is that they really haven't kept it a surprise that the Visitors are bad. Before the show started they made it seem like it was going to be a question of whether or not you should trust the Vs (not that different than The Others on Lost). Although many of the people in this universe may trust the Vs, there is no mistaking that they should not be trusted, and that just leaves a lot of mystery out of the equation.

90210- Splashing the Pot

Dixon Wilson- "Have a seat. It'll be a pleasure to take your money."

It's lines like this from the Brandon Walsh equivalent of the new 90210 that got me all riled up and ready to write a scathing review. I wanted to talk about how the show wasn't good at being bad a la Las Vegas. In a similar poker game setting, the main character in that show (the legendary Danny McCoy) acted all high and mighty pretending to know about poker. The genius was in the fact that he was making fun of people like Dixon who think they know what they're doing and come off like an idiot.

My mindset changed after the new semi-villain Mark makes a bet worth more money than Dixon has at the table. As in any poker seen on tv, the character doesn't have that much money. Instead of figuring out that you should only bet up to the amount that the other person has in a friendly game like this, Dixon asks if he can have a marker (again acting like he's some sort of professional) and says he's good for it. Oh what a surprise the jerk won with a four of a kind. The key was that his execution in the scene was great. He grabbed my attention and made the whole thing feel current and actually like something that would happen in real life.

"Unless...wait, do four queens...beat a full house?" in such a snarky and sarcastic yet subtle tone that it reminded me of something one of my buddies would say back in 2005 when poker was in vogue. This guy came and just showed how terrible Tristan Wilds is.

The combination of Mark coming back into focus and Naomi's evil sister Jen entering the picture at the back end of this episode make the future of 90210 a little more interesting. These villains and vixens are exactly what the show was missing in the recent episodes. All of the characters are too similar, and too good. They're all good kids and that just makes for bad television.

Line of the night

Teddy Montgomery- "If I wanna play professional tennis, I have to do it now."
-Yeah especially since you're a 30 year old high school student! There's no telling how many years those knees have left!

Bi-Monthly Power Rankings- 20 Through 11

Now that the Olympics are over many of our favorite shows are set to return. Plenty of new shows are also on the horizon. Let's see where The Perspective's Power Rankings stacks everyone up. January and February brought back plenty of series in the Top 20, including perennial number one LOST. I've also caught myself all the way up on a couple of cable gems (Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad) so things might look a bit different near the top this time around. A few shows that have missed the cut (Bored to Death, V, Eastbound) not because of failure to entertain, but for lack of episodes and too much time off. Without further ado here are the shows you should be watching, The Quiet Pool Perspective's March Power Rankings.

20 Through 11

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

20. Parks and Recreation- (HM) Thursdays on NBC
The Office copycat makes the top 20 for the first time due to the continued strength of Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer, the emergence of April Ludgate as a great female character, and a couple of great guest spots in Fred Armisen and Will Arnett.

19. Flash Forward- (17) Tuesdays on ABC
Most of the Poolie voters seem to like this catastrophic drama more than I or anyone else I read does, but it ideology and potential keep in in the top 20. After a long hiatus let's see if the switching of showrunners (twice?) points it in the right direction.

18. The Mentalist- (19) Thursdays on CBS
Still my favorite procedural out there. Patrick Jane all but matches Greg House step for step, but it is the quality of the minor characters and storylines that put it over the top.

17. Survivor- (15) Thursdays on CBS
It was hard to move up after the ending of last season, so Survivor drops a few spots. I'm more than sure that the original reality series will slide back up the rankings as Heroes vs. Villains continues.

16. 90210- (14) Tuesdays on The CW
They continue to shuffle in and out horrific actors and plots that aren't much better, but it is the nod to the original 90210 that keeps me hanging on. If anything, Annalynne McCord as Naomi Clark is worth checking it out all by herself.

15. Mad Men- (11) Sundays on AMC
The third of five straight shows that moved back in the rankings. Mad Men's move has more to do with the addition of Sons and Breaking than its own merits. The 1960s drama doesn't compare to all the critical praise it receives, but it's still a very good show.

14. 30 Rock- (7) Thursdays on NBC
Tina Fey and crew are really making me wonder if 30 Rock ever was as good as I thought it was. I guess it will have to wait until I check out a few eps from seasons past before I can make that judgment. I do know that this season has been lackluster at best.

13. 24- (6) Mondays on FOX
I huge fall for the real time action series. As was talked about in the second episode of the Quiet Poolcast, this season just isn't doing it for me. Yeah I know many people have tired of 24's ways, but I have enjoyed it throughout. Maybe it's just Dana that is ruining it for me.

12. American Idol- (12) Tuesdays on FOX
There might be only a couple of shows that I get as excited for as American Idol. It doesn't move up the rankings though, because it also has the tendency to let me down. The first week of live shows was a complete disaster.

11. Big Brother- (9) Summers on CBS
I wish that Big Bro got the two seasons per 12 months treatment that Survivor and Amazing Race get from CBS, but then again three episodes per week in the summer is also a pleasant way to spend July and August.

Bi-Monthly Power Rankings- 20 Through 11

As the winter hiatus is upon us, four months of the television season has passed us by. A lot has happened since The Perspective's November Power Rankings, so let's see where everyone stacks up at the beginning of 2010. These Bi-Monthly Power Rankings take into account both current and past performance. For example, although I have enjoyed Modern Family much more than 30 Rock this season, the NBC comedy stays on top of the ABC laugher because of its historical performance. Without further ado here are the Quiet Pool Perspective's January TV Power Rankings.

20 Through 11

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

20. Greek- (15) Mondays on ABC Family
This series has to be ending soon right? They can't continue it without the likes of Cappie, Casey and Evan. And they have to be graduating come this spring season. Greek will return this month and if they keep highlighting Cappie and Dale it should stay in the top 20.

19. The Mentalist- (16) Thursdays on CBS
The only procedural to make my top 20, The Mentalist succeeds on the performances of its cast. Sure Patrick Jane is one of my favorite leading characters, but between Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt you always get plenty of laughs in what is a crime drama. As the show loses Charles Logan, who will return to 24 this spring, I'm curious to see how the new boss at the CBI fits into things.

18. Wizards of Waverly Place- (12) Fridays on Disney Channel
The Russo clan took a bit of a drop here, but was mostly because I gave Wizards too much love last rankings. The recent rise of Jonas also made me dial back how much I liked Wizards. The start to the third season has been good, but the Frankengirl episode ruined a lot of things for me.

17. Flash Forward- (HM) Thursdays on ABC
Here's the thing. Everyone I trust who watches television (Poolie voters) loves Flash Forward. Everything I read, on the interweb and the blogosphere, says it isn't any good. My two cents are this. It could be really good, but misses out by a smidge and therefore critics are trashing it. It's still a quality mystery show with a good amount of action.

16. V- (-) Tuesdays on ABC
Anna and her friends have only been invading Earth for four episodes, but they have made an immediate impact. As opposed to Flash Forward, V has done a better job (in less time) at giving their characters some substance. I can relate to Juliet, the Father and T-time (or whatever their names are) more than I have with anyone on Flash.

15. Survivor- (HM) Thursdays on CBS
Although he failed to win this season of Survivor, he single handedly moved it up my power rankings. Without him what would this season of the show have been? Terrible is what I'd say. His skills in the game, his cocky attitude, and his ability to tell the camera exactly what the audience wanted to hear made him one of the greatest reality contestants in a while.

14. 90210- (11) Tuesdays on The CW
While other shows have moved ahead of it, there is no discredit to the the West Bev soap. 90210 is gaining steam in its second season, no doubt due to the creator/writing change. The storylines have been better and the acting has been better (if you don't take into account Tristan Wilds). Naomi Clarke is the best female in Beverly Hills since Valerie Malone left.

13. Community- (HM) Thursdays on NBC
The Greendale Human Beings made one of the biggest jumps in the rankings. I couldn't allow for it to be too far behind the other top sitcoms. It has been that good. Although it doesn't have a big gun, a la Michael Scott or Tracy Jordan, the ensemble as a whole has been as good or better than The Office or 30 Rock this season. Even though Abed and Pierce are my personal favorites, everyone brings something to the table week in and week out.

12. American Idol- (13) Tuesdays on FOX
As we embark on the next installment of Idol, beginning this month, everyone should be worried. Sure everyone made fun of Paula and her drunken comments, but wasn't that half the fun? Sometimes I surprise myself when I state that I think Ellen is funny, but I do. Do I think she'll be able to take the place of Paula? That I am not sure of. And after a season with the crazy but fantastic Adam Lambert, Idol could be in for a let down in 2010.

11. Mad Men- (17) Sundays on AMC
Another big jumper this time around. At the last rankings it was 17 with only one episode left in the third season. That final ep wasn't the sole reason for this jump, but it was a good majority of it. As much as I have claimed that I'm not that into Mad Men, and I only watch it because everyone in the world says it's awesome, I really think that it has resonated with me. The longer I have been away from the ad men, the better the show gets.

90210- Jasper's Safety Net

Although most people (myself included) have been pleased with the improvement of the second season of 90210, many have been disappointed with the recent story line of the Annie and Jasper relationship. The general view I've heard is that it's been boring and they've completely disregarded the fact that she ran over his uncle in last year's season finale. When they first met everyone thought that you were going to have to watch on the edge of your seat as you waited to see when Jasper was going to enact his revenge on her for what she did. But they went another route with the whole thing and I, unlike some, enjoyed it.

They put the story in the background and made you sort of forget about it for a bit, while the other plot lines grew. The Liam and Jen's saga, Teddy and Silver's budding non-romance, Adriana's second drug stint and Dixon's relationship with an older woman took center stage. As Navid and the others got closer and closer to outing Jasper as a drug dealer, Annie continued to not believe it (mainly because Jasper denied it to her multiple times). When Adriana finally comes forward and admits she has been buy drugs from Jasper for months, Annie believes her. In a crying fit, she gets Jasper to admit his short comings. He is surprisingly calm because he has, what he always knew he had, the safety net that is the truth about Annie's manslaughter drive.

The generic and obvious story line to draw out would have been to have this guy plotting his revenge on Annie. Have Jasper bring her into his life for the sole purpose of taking her down for what she did. Instead what I think they did was take a character that is clearly broken and has no friends, and figured out a new story that I haven't seen on tv before. Maybe he had a few moves that he could pull on Annie, but knew that at some point she was going to turn on him for his drug dealing habit. Therefore he used the dirt that he had on her, not to seek revenge, but to give himself a cushion that would land him this girl for a much longer time. Maybe she'll stay with him even after finding out the truth, because if she doesn't he will tell everyone that she killed his uncle. Very clever in my opinion. And very satisfying.

Tuesday Tidings- Silver's Half-Birthdays

90210
So Silver celebrates half birthdays because her mom always let her down on her birthday. I'm on board with this. I like that they have kept up with the history of the original show, in the fact that Jackie Taylor was always a mess. Here in lies the problem. They can't even go along with the history of the first season of the new 90210. Naomi complains that Silver doesn't want to celebrate her half birthday for the first time?!? All during season one, these two girls despised each other. I know for a fact that these two didn't have a half birthday party with each other during sophomore year. I'm just speculating but I believe their mutual hatred started a bit earlier than the first season. I bet there were plenty of half birthdays that Naomi wasn't a part of.

What a gut punch at the end of the episode. Is Jackie Taylor actually dead? It's been a long and winding road for Jackie on both Beverly Hills, 90210 and 90210. I'll be sad if Kelly doesn't get another interaction with her before her death. By the way, what the heck are they doing with Kelly on this show. She comes on once every five episodes? Pretty bootleg if you ask me.

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.

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.

Tuesday Tidings- Melrose Place Mystery

90210
Let's begin with the most important scene of this week's ep...Naomi's meeting with the guidance counselor. Umm, how come that wasn't Kellly telling Naomi what to do with her future? You have a perfectly capable guidance counselor that will bring in the viewers in Kelly Taylor, and instead you use some nobody. Interesting move. Are they getting rid of Kelly on the show? Because that would be a mistake. At least Jackie Taylor was back in full force this episode. But during Naomi's meeting with the no-name counselor there was a fantastic moment. When Naomi told her what she wanted to do after high school, she stated that she was going to go to the fictitious California University because she was a legacy. It doesn't get much better than that. The same made-up college that old gang all went to is getting some love in the new 90210. My only wish would be that this whole crew ends up going to the CU Condors' rival school, Southern California University instead. That would be a nice switch up.

Melrose Place
Another lackluster ratings night for Melrose (1.6 million), but it continues to keep my attention because of a couple of interesting characters and I nice murder mystery storyline. Ella continues to impress me with her charming personality towards her friends, as well as how scared she is and the lack of confidence she shows about where she was during the time of Sydney's death. Speaking of Syd's death...the murder mystery plot is a good way to keep the audience's attention until viewers get a relationship with the characters. My question is, what will happen after they figure this whole thing out? I hope it is not like what happened after the first season of Desperate Housewives. After season one of Housewives, it immediately went down hill because the mysterious aspect of it was completely gone. I feel like the lives of these characters may be able to hold up without the murder story, but it may not. Oh and it will probably be canceled by then anyway.

Tuesday Tidings- 90210's Bad Boy

Let's go people...Can we spread out the wealth here? I only have two shows on Tuesdays. Mondays and Thursdays are jam packed and I can't get anything else good on Tuesday? Come on.

90210
Finally! For the first three weeks of the second season the writers have taken their best male character and turned him into a little pansy. Liam came onto the scene in the first season as a bad boy, somewhat in the mold of Dylan McKay. Sure Dylan had his softer side, but he was never wasted by a storyline like Liam had just endured. For the beginning of the season Liam has done nothing but obsess over Naomi and whine about how Annie won't tell her they never slept together and Jen won't tell her that the two of them did. Come on dude, step your game up. Make something happen here! Either say, "it wasn't Annie I was with, it was your sister"...or do what you did at the end of this week's ep. He finally took a turn and did something he should have thought of a long time ago. The kid has had multiple conversations with Jen in which she has admitted that it was her. As the ep ended we see the dude Liam at his computer with his trusty recording device. I don't understand how this helps him at all though. Isn't the fact that it's her sister worse than her kind of friend? We'll see.

Tuesday Tidings

90210
It looks like the Annie Wilson/Shenae Grimes combo has jumped out of the basemented worst character/worst actor combo she held during the first season. In this week's episode I loved her rant at Naomi in which she lied about sleeping with her boyfriend and then continued to rub it in her face, saying that they would lie in bed and make fun of her. Through the entire episode I notice that Grimes' acting was much better than it had been in the past. Maybe she's just more comfortable playing a jerk than a sad sack of garbage. Dixon, on the other hand, is unwatchable. Why they gave the starring role to this kid is beyond me. He's mechanical, he's not funny, he doesn't seem sincere. All in all a great candidate for this year's Marissa Cooper Award.

Melrose Place
As Jerry Seinfeld said, "Oh that Michael, he's so smug." Although I never watched the original Melrose, I feel like I have a relationship with it because of the constant references to it from other shows (mainly Seinfeld and King of Queens). Through two eps I find that it's pretty different than what I expected. I didn't see such a dark, mystery aspect coming. All of the who-done-it stuff with the death of Sydney has kept my interest so far. Meanwhile, Michael Rady's Jonah Miller has me screaming at the television set. This guy is so unlikeable in everything I've seen him in. From his small part in the summer series Swington, to his stint on Greek and now the terribleness that is his Jonah on Melrose. This character is the epitome of lame and Rady keeps playing the same guy, so it is safe to assume that he's just playing himself. And finally, Katie Cassidy has yet to disappoint as publicist Ella Simms. She was great in last year's Harper's Island and may be better here.

Not Our First Rodéo (Part 11)

Not Our First Rodéo (Part 10)

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."

Not Our First Rodéo (Part 1)

After the "Whopper" trailer, another trailer starring JJ and The Bonz ensued. For undiscolsed reasons, it will not be posted here. "Not Our First Rodéo" began next and it starts off with a bang. There was plenty of popcorn, candy and soda going around. If you've seen "Home Alone 2," some parts may look familiar. Watch part one and enjoy.

CW Upfronts- Gut Reactions

What's Gone
Privileged, Reaper, The Game, Everybody Hates Chris

--Although I've never seen Reaper, I've heard great things. The biggest loss here is Privileged. A great show with a great star. There was a lot of room to grow and it's a shame it's getting dumped to take a chance on a new Melrose and a Vampire show.

What's Back
Smallville, Supernatural, Gossip Girl, 90210, One Tree Hill, America's Next Top Model

--The sci-fi twins return. The Gossip crew heads off to college, while the new kids in Beverly Hills make it to season two. It's a shame they're giving Ethan (Dustin Milligan) the boot, because he was one of the highlights of 90210. One Tree Hill does themselves a favor by letting Chad and Burton hit the road for better things. They were two of my least favorites on the show. Adding Julian (Austin Nichols) to main character status will help the cause.

What's New
Melrose Place, Vampire Diaries, The Beautiful Life, Parental Discretion Advised

--Melrose, a reboot of the original, will be worth a try, and I might check out this Vampire joint as well. No thank you to Micha Barton and The Beautiful Life and whatever this other thing is.

The Veronica Mars Award (2009)

The Veronica Mars Award for
Best Female Character in a Drama Series

Rank. Character (Show)- Total Points...(My Rank)
10th. Adrianna Duncan (90210)- 1 point

9th. Brooke Davis (One Tree Hill)- 2 points...(4th)

8th. Rebecca Harper (Brothers and Sisters)- 5 points

7th. Megan Smith (Privileged)- 5 points...(1st)

6th. Haley James Scott (One Tree Hill)- 6 points...(3rd)

5th. Betty Draper (Mad Men)- 9 points

4th. Remy '13' Hadley (House, MD)- 12 points

3rd. Blaire Waldorf (Gossip Girl)- 12 points

Runner-Up
2nd. Naomi Clark (90210)- 12 points...(5th)

The Poolie Goes To
1st. Julie Taylor (Friday Night Lights)- 16 points...(2nd)
And here is what I have to say about one Miss Julie Taylor...

Julie Taylor is the daughter of the football coach and principal at Dillon High. We are three seasons into Friday Night Lights and it has been a rocky timeline for this award winner. Early on, I enjoyed her character moderately. Julie was quiet but clever and defiant. She hated football and she hated Texas. It was when she began to fall for Saracen, the socially awkward quarterback, which allowed Julie to come into her own. She absolutely dominated the relationship, which was fun early but proved troublesome after she kicked him to the curb.

Something happened in season two which got me to genuinely dislike Julie. Whether it was breaking up with Saracen to date the two older dudes, or complaining non-stop, I definitely would’ve put her on the characters I hate list back in ’08.

But as the gang from Dillon, TX returned to the screen this past January, we got to witness a retro but improved version of Julie. She had lost her complaining attitude and has fallen back into place with Saracen. Jules has definitely turned the corner as a great character in season three, which was portrayed by her making fun of JD’s trophies with Matt, convincing Coach Taylor to try Saracen at wide receiver, and getting close with Gramma Saracen. I expect great things from Julie in season four.