Mad Men 501 Review- Spring Cleaning the Carpet

Peggy- "Clients are right all of the sudden? I don't recognize that man. He's kind...and patient."

The times they are a changin'. Although it was only seven or eight months since Don went to California with Megan in the Mad Men season four finale, everything felt different in "A Little Kiss."

Don and Megan couldn't keep their hands off of each other, even as they walked into work together, Pete and Roger were nearly at each other's throats attempting to gain the advantage within SCDP, Joan was at home taking care of her new born, and Peggy was working day and night, managing very little success.

Okay, so maybe that last one was exactly what we've seen from Peggy for a few years now, but there was definitely a different vibe to start the season. The period we were watching only moved from October of 1965 to Memorial Day of 1966, but the 1950s feeling of previous seasons was almost entirely gone, which was no more evident than at Don's surprise party.

The lighting, the decor, the attitudes, and a certain performance by a former secretary made the event seem like a portrayal of the changing times.

To read the rest of my review of last night's Mad Mean season premiere, head over to TV Fanatic.

Mad Men 501 - "A Little Kiss"
Review
Recap
Quotes

American Idol Top 10- Erika Pelted With Boos

I changed the scoring system a bit so that those who are in the bottom three but make it through get extra points.  This inevitably helped people like Rizzo and Jack, and hurt my scores, so you are all welcome.

Survivor
Me: W1- Phillip, W2- Hollie, W3- Skylar
Jack: W1- Hollie, W2- Deandre, W3- Joshua

Predict the Bottom Three
Jack copied my bottom three for the second straight week (Erika, Elise, Deandre), but unfortunately for the both us, it was wrong this time.  Our choice of Erika going home was correct, but sadly Heejun was in the bottom three instead of Elise.

Fantasy Idol

Larry
Phillip Phillips: Safe (+8)
Skylar Laine: Safe (+8)
Erika Van Pelt: Eliminated (-10)
Adam Brock
Brielle Von Hugel
Top 10: +6, Team Total: 58

Tyson
Heejun Han: Bottom 3 (-5), Safe (+8)
Hollie Cavanaugh: Safe (+8)
Jeremy Rosado
Hallie Day
Chase Likens
Top 10: +11, Team Total: 57


Rizzo
Jessica Sanchez: Safe (+8)
Shannon Magrane
Elise Testone: Safe (+8)
Aaron Marcellus
Johnny Keyser
Top 10: +16, Team Total: 50



Jack
Deandre Brackensick: Bottom 3 (-5), Safe (+8)
Baylie Brown
Joshua Ladet: Safe (+8)
Chelsea Sorrell
Creighton Fraker
Top 10: +11, Team Total: 37




Me
Colton Dixon: Safe (+8)
Reed Grimm
Eben Franckewitz
Haley Johnson
Jen Hirsh
Top 10: +8, Team Total: 29

Survivor Week 6- Curled Up Colton

Take these scores and like it...

Champions League

Larry

Michael -35: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= -7
Kat -29: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= -1
Jonas +25: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +49
Tarzan +33: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +57

Last Week -6: Team Total= +98

Me

Jay -16: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +12
Chelsea -75: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= -47
Monica -5
Colton +45: Health Leave (-20)= +25

Last Week -51: Team Total= -15

Jack

Troyzan +14: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +42
Christina -28: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= -4
Kourtney -45
Bill -45

Last Week -104: Team Total= -52

Jaydon

Matt -100
Kim -45: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= -17
Alicia +36: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +60
Nina -24

Last Week -133: Team Total= -81




Free Agents
Leif +46: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +70
Sabrina +65: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +89

Developmental League

Marsh

Jay: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +28
Chelsea: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +28
Bill
Christina: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +24

Week 6= +80, Team Total= +236

Mags

Matt
Kim: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +28
Alicia: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +24
Tarzan: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +24

Week 6= +76, Team Total= +211

Tippy

Troyzan: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +28
Kat: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +28
Colton: Health Leave (-20)= -20
Monica

Week 6= +36, Team Total= +207

Rizzo

Michael: Reward (+4), Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +28
Jonas: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +24
Kourtney
Nina

Week 6= +52, Team Total= +99




Free Agents
Leif: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +24
Sabrina: Merge (+8), W6 (+16)= +24

30 Rock 613 and 614 Review- Off The Charts, Kimosabe

Liz- "I thought you said a man should never wear pastel unless he's a black guy on Easter?"

30 Rock treated us to a double feature of laughs with The Office taking the night off this week, and while both episodes had success in the joke department, one excelled because of its inherently funny stories.

"Kidnapped by Danger," the second half-hour of the night, gave us the making of Avery Jessup's TV movie, Liz as The Blocker, and Jenna and Tracy attempting to maneuver around Weird Al's evil brilliance... all of which allowed the laughs to flow freely.

The table read for the movie itself was worth the entire storyline. The introduction of William Baldwin - playing an actor that was playing Jack Donaghy, who is played by his brother Alec Baldwin - was brilliant. Said actor doing an exaggerated version of Jack made it even better.

Liz's script was hilarious, Cynthia Nixon's portrayal of Nancy Donovan was just as overacted as Julianne Moore's, and when Liz admitted that she thought all people from Boston sounded like that, I almost lost it.

To read the rest of my review of last night's episodes of 30 Rock, head over to TV Fanatic.

30 Rock 613 - "Grandmentor"
Review
Recap
Quotes

30 Rock 614 - "Kidnapped by Danger"
Review
Recap
Quotes

One Tree Hill 911 Review- I Can See Daniel Waving Goodbye

Dan- "I know where you're going, but what about me?"

Keith- "Don't worry little brother, you're my plus one."

Dan. Effing. Scott. Whether you loved him, hated him, or loved to hate him, it is nearly impossible to argue that he didn't have one of the most intriguing and divisive character arcs of all-time.

He tormented his sons, his wife and everyone else in town for that matter. He was hit by a speeding car, poisoned, lost out on a number of heart transplants and attempted to hang himself.  Dan Scott even murdered his own brother.

He also treated his grandchildren - we mostly witnessed this through his joyous moments with Jamie - wonderfully.  When it came down to it, and someone he loved was in extreme danger, he put everything (including his life on the line), saving Nathan Scott for his family.

We got to relive so much of his journey over the course of these nine seasons of One Tree Hill in "Danny Boy," whether through spoken word or visual flashback, and it created for one Hell of an emotional rollercoaster.

To read the rest of my review of last night's One Tree Hill, head over to TV Fanatic.

One Tree Hill 911 - "Danny Boy"
Review
Recap
Quotes

Justified 310 Review- Somebody's Poisoned the Waterhole

Quarles- "He slipped the hillbilly rug right out from under my feet."

Raylan- "I'm just gonna file that under who gives a shit?"

"Guy Walks into a Bar," tells a U.S. Marshal he is going to kill him, prepares for a duel, and then says "night, night" with his hand as if he had drawn a face on it. That entire scene in the bar, combined with the rest of what was going on with Robert Quarles, was absolutely fascinating.

The character has lost his mind, and Neal McDonough continued to do a fantastic job portraying this mad man in this week's Justified. It all started to turn in the wrong direction for Quarles two weeks ago when his plan to take Raylan down fell apart.

The downward spiral continued when Napier was disqualified from running for office. Quarles had already stolen the sheriff's office, and was ready to run the shit out of Harlan County, but Boyd outmaneuvered him, and the Detroit man silently walked away from the situation.

It was as if he knew it was all over. Watching him slowly chew on pill after pill in almost a curled up ball in his trailer was sad. Hearing the story of his childhood, however, was much worse. When that kid pulled on him, I knew a Robert Quarles speech was coming, but I never expected what actually came out of his mouth.

To read the rest of my review of last night's Justified, head over to TV Fanatic.

Justified 310 - "Guy Walks Into a Bar"
Review
Recap
Quotes

The Voice 208 Review- Let's Duet In Ways That Make Us Feel Good

The solid duets were flowing like wine in the Cougar Town cul-de-sac during Part Three of The Voice's Battle Rounds. Maybe nobody was quite as impressed as mentor and former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, who said "I wish they woulda done that on the show I was from" about the interesting semifinal format.

While they may force a few dissimilar contestants to fight through songs that don't quite fit their styles from time to time, the Battle Rounds have also given the audience an opportunity to not only watch these world famous coaches give in-depth instruction, but to get into it and perform with the contestants in order to help them interpret their respective song.

I absolutely loved watching Blake Shelton rip it up with ALyx on the mini stage in his barn, and I couldn't get enough of Xtina going toe to toe with Jonathas on "No Air." Those personal touches are something no other singing show really gives us at this point. Now let's get to the battles...

Team Adam - Pip vs. Nathan Parrett - "You Know I'm No Good"

The Battle: This was a matchup that was unfair from the get go. There has been a lot of Pip publicity, and he had all four judges turn around in his blind audition, so it would be tough for Adam to justify sending him home. Thankfully, the kid made it easy for Adam, and knocked this performance out of the park. He was powerful while seeming effortless. While Nathan was good, and had a nice tone, he couldn't compete with Pip here. The two of them sounded good together, making for the first of a number of great duets this week.
My Choice: Pip
Adam's Choice: Pip
Battle Grade: A-

To read the rest of my review of last night's The Voice, head over to TV Fanatic.

American Idol Top 11- Shannon's Migraine

I think this season's Fantasy American Idol has become a two team race, as Larry's duo of Phil Phil and Skylar and Tyson's duo of Heejun and Hollie will battle this out to the end.  I definitely give the edge to Larry, though, because Heejun will have an earlier exit than the other three if the judges get what they want.

A few thoughts on the performances...I keep wanting to love Colton Dixon, but he has yet to impress me.  Phil Phillips is the type of artist I like, but he has been pretty average thus far.  Jessica Sanchez is the best female contestant this show has seen in years.  What she did with "Turn the Beat Around" was fantastic, and if any other Idol had done that song it would have been karaoke hell.  Skylar Lane is 10 times the country star that Lauren Alaina tried to be last year.  People like Hollie but she hasn't done much for me thus far.  Heejun is funny, and his tone is nice, but he needs a lot of work.  Josh, Deandre, and Elise are all good singers, but none do it for me.  Erika needs to go next.

Survivor
Me: W1- Phillip, W2- Hollie
Jack: W1- Hollie, W2- Deandre

Predict the Bottom Three
Both Jack and I picked the Bottom 3 of Shannon, Elise and Erika perfectly, but he correctly identified Shannon as the eliminated contestant, while I had Elise going home.

Fantasy Idol

Larry
Phillip Phillips: Safe (+6)
Skylar Laine: Safe (+6)
Erika Van Pelt: Bottom 3 (-4), Safe (+6)
Adam Brock
Brielle Von Hugel
Top 11: +14, Team Total: 52

Tyson
Heejun Han: Safe (+6)
Hollie Cavanaugh: Safe (+6)
Jeremy Rosado
Hallie Day
Chase Likens
Top 11: +12, Team Total: 46

Me
Colton Dixon: Safe (+6)
Reed Grimm
Eben Franckewitz
Haley Johnson
Jen Hirsh
Top 11: +6, Team Total: 21

Jack
Deandre Brackensick: Safe (+6)
Baylie Brown
Joshua Ladet: Safe (+6)
Chelsea Sorrell
Creighton Fraker
Top 11: +12, Team Total: 26

Rizzo
Jessica Sanchez: Safe (+6)
Shannon Magrane: Eliminated (-8)
Elise Testone: Bottom 3 (-4), Safe (+6)
Aaron Marcellus
Johnny Keyser
Top 11: 0, Team Total: 34