Thursday Thoughts- Tracy Jordan Wants To Guess Your Name

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

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

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

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

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

Survivor Samoa- Week 5

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

Fantasy Results

The Technotronics

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





Sweet Niblets


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





Canon Controversy

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






Freecell Makes Me Wanna

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

Wednesday Wisdom- Cougar Town's a Comedy?

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

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

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

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

Tuesday Tidings- Adrianna Gets Bored

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

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

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

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

Monday Musings- Rusty Cartwright's Awkard Comic-Con

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday Speculations- Disrespect by Don Draper

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

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

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

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

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

Poolies Watch- Sopranos Award

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

Top of the Heap
24
Chuck
Lost
True Blood

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

Middle of the Pack
Flash Forward
House
The Mentalist

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

Hanging On
Heroes
Spartacus
V

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

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

Thursday Thoughts- Jim and Pam's Big Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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