The Office 824 Review- You Down With M-O-P?

Phyllis- "What's he doing?"

Dwight- "He's searching out younger gays."

"Free Family Portrait Studio" was the last episode of The Office this season. It was the final half hour with James Spader in the cast. It might have been the last we see of Kelly Kapoor and Dwight Schrute. Heck, it might be the last episode ever.

With all of those factors on the table, I couldn't help but be disappointed. This wasn't one of the show's worst efforts of the year, albeit that is a difficult feat to achieve, but nothing about it felt like a finale.

Was that supposed to be a send off for Robert California? I know he was only here for one full season, but it sure felt abrupt. He's getting paid by David to travel the world with hot gymnasts? It's strange.

When it comes to Andy Bernard, I have had more quarrels with the character lately than can be imagined, but I was enjoying what B.J. Novak for Ed Helms to start the episode. The fake, down-on-his-luck, drunken janitor bit was kind of working for him.

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

The Office 824 - "Free Family Portrait Studio"
Review
Recap
Quotes

30 Rock 621 Review- Soccer. Jazz. Infidelity

Liz- "I could dip into my 401 K...is something I've heard old people say in commercials."

On the heels of the announcement that the series was picked up by NBC for a seventh and final season, 30 Rock aired a staggeringly average episode in "The Return of Avery Jessup."

The originality and creativity involved in recent outings such "Live From Studio 6H" and "Queen of Jordan 2" make them inherently divisive. People will either respond well to such comedy... or hate everyone for putting it on their televisions.

On the other side of the spectrum is an episode like "The Return of Avery Jessup," which seemed impossible to love or hate, because it was just so run of the mill. If you enjoy watching 30 Rock, you probably thought this was fine. If you don't like 30 Rock, why are you reading this review?

As I've said a number of times before, 30 Rock is such a great show because even when it doesn't fire on all cylinders creatively, there are always enough jokes to make it a worthwhile 30 minutes.

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

30 Rock 621 - "The Return of Avery Jessup"
Review
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Survivor Week 13- Just The Girls Now

Just as I posited, this game has become boring with all of these lame people remaining.  Therefore, I have nothing to say this week.  All I need is Chelsea to make it one more week, so I can pass Larry, and not be sent down to the Developmental League.  Let's go!

Champions League

Jaydon

Matt -100
Kim +282: W13 (+79)= +361
Alicia +317: Immunity (+20), W13 (+79)= +416
Nina -24

Last Week +475: Team Total= +653

Larry

Michael -17
Kat +179
Jonas +9
Tarzan +298: Votes (-20)= +278

Last Week +469: Team Total= +449

Jack

Troyzan +208
Christina +241: W13 (+79)= +320
Kourtney -45
Bill -45

Last Week +359: Team Total= +438




Me

Jay +71
Chelsea +230: Reward (+10), Votes (-4), W13 (+79)= +315
Monica -5
Colton +25

Last Week +321: Team Total= +406




Free Agents
Leif +146
Sabrina +350: W13 (+79)= +429

Developmental League

Mags

Matt
Kim: W13 (+79)= +79
Alicia: Immunity (+20), W13 (+79)= +99
Tarzan: Votes (-20)= -20

Week 13= +158, Team Total= +1,166

Marsh

Jay
Chelsea: Reward (+10), Votes (-4), W13 (+79)= +85
Bill
Christina: W13 (+79)= +79

Week 13= +164, Team Total= +981

Tippy

Troyzan
Kat
Colton
Monica

Team Total= +553




Rizzo

Michael
Jonas
Kourtney
Nina

Team Total= +49

Free Agents
Leif
Sabrina: W13 (+79)= +79

The Voice Finale Results- Live Blogged

From complaints over Christina Aguilera, to a few truly impressive performances, season two of The Voice has offered viewers ups, downs, high notes and lows. And it comes to an end tonight.

In two hours, following Monday's final performance show, the NBC competition will crown its second winner. Seems like the perfect time for a live blog, doesn't it? Comment along with me below as The Voice names a winner and Christina tries not to alienate any more fans...

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9:00 Here. We. Goooooooooo!

9:03 As we watch a recap of last night, I am reminded that I didn't like Jermaine's solo performance nearly as much as everyone else, and Christina really hates Tony Lucca.

9:06 Oh my goodness!  How many times are we going to listen these coaches wax on about how great these contestants are? We get it. They're awesome.

9:10 Jermaine Paul is hitting the stage again, and he's bringing Jamar Rogers, James Massone, and Pip with him!

9:12 With his first solo, Jamar proves he deserves to be in the finals over Jermaine. Oh, and Pip is still wearing a bow tie.

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

The Voice Finals Review- 99 Problems But The Pitch Ain't One

The final night of competition on the second season of The Voice featured a variety of performances that mostly impressed, which will make things difficult for America over the course of the night. The champion will be crowned Tuesday, but for now, let's try not to take any cheap shots like Christina when we look back at what went down in the finale.

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Jermaine Paul - Solo - "I Believe I Can Fly"
Throughout this season he has made some of the most clichéd and passé song choice of all time, and this wasn't any different. Everyone is going to have their own reasons for who they think deserves to win The Voice, but for me, that performance was the exact reason Jermaine should not be the champion. He hit a really long note in the middle, and he did the R. Kelly thing near the end where he went up, and down, and up, and down, but the whole thing was way too lounge-esque.  He has a great voice, and he probably does extremely well as a backup singer, but I'm sure he will continue to do so after the show ends.
Grade: C+

Juliet Simms - Tribute - "Crazy"
This was a nice tribute to her Coach. It's tough to compete with Cee Lo when she was sick, and even normally she wouldn't be able to hit some of the notes that he does, but this was pleasant enough to get by.
Grade: B

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

Mad Men 508 Review- Death Is The Only Adventure

Megan- "I felt better failing in that audition than I did when I was succeeding at Heinz."

Rory Gilmore, Mr. Belding and the end of Megan Draper's run as a copywriter highlighted the eighth episode of Mad Men's fifth season, "Lady Lazarus."

One stanza in the Sylvia Plath poem that this episode gets its title from reads:

Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.

Just as the lady of the poem wants nothing more than to finally die after being revived time and time again, Megan Draper wanted nothing more than to finally get out of the advertising business.

She was great at her job. Like the above excerpt reads, Lady Lazarus was exceptional at everything, and like Peggy so astutely commented to Joan, Megan is good at everything...she's just one of those girls.

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

Mad Men 508 - "Lady Lazarus"
Review
Recap
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The Borgias 205 Review- Sex and Death 101

Rodrigo- "Know your enemy, Cardinal. Know him better than your friend."

Following four episodes that had me singing the praises of The Borgias, the fifth installment of season two - "The Choice" - was markedly worse in terms of episodic entertainment.

The hour continued to drag on and drag on until Catherina turned down Cesare and Pope Alexander's offer to come to Rome willingly.  The best moment of the entire episode was probably watching Catherina toy with the Cardinal after pleasing him many a time in the bedroom.

Her simple way of skirting around the subject, and continuing to mention how much she was enjoying her duck, was irresistibly charming. The fact that we had just watched the two of them enjoy each other's company so much, and then do so again after dinner, made Catherina's eventual "no" that much more intriguing.

She was fun to watch, and could make for a great foe in the future. Unlike her cousin Giovanni, who was never interesting to see on screen and will be doing nothing in the future thanks to the amount of times Cesare stabbed him in the gut and neck.

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

The Borgias 205 - "The Choice"
Review
Recap
Quotes

American Idol Top 5- Ledeted To The Judges

I like Phillip Phillips.  I would probably enjoy his music when he comes out with a record.  Phil is probably well on his way to winning this entire competition, but he was God awful this week on American Idol.  As bad as Joshua Ledet?  No, but still bad.  You have to give the judges credit.  They decided that they wanted Josh to make it to the end for some ridiculous reason, and they have done as much as possible to make that happen.  He was in the Bottom 3 guys the very first week of the finals!  He has passed a ton of people on his way to now being voted as one of the Top 3 overall this week.  With their constant praise, and non-stop standing ovations, Jennifer, Steven, and Randy have triple-handedly advanced Joshua to the Final Four.  That is a feat worth celebrating, because he is the absolute worst.

Fantasy Idol

Larry
Phillip Phillips: Safe (+45)
Skylar Laine: Eliminated (-22)
Erika Van Pelt
Adam Brock
Brielle Von Hugel
Top 5: +23, Team Total: 287

Rizzo
Jessica Sanchez: Safe (+45)
Shannon Magrane
Elise Testone
Aaron Marcellus
Johnny Keyser
Top 5: +45, Team Total: 221

Jack
Deandre Brackensick
Baylie Brown
Joshua Ladet: Safe (+45)
Chelsea Sorrell
Creighton Fraker

Top 5: +45, Team Total: 182

Tyson
Heejun Han
Hollie Cavanaugh: Bottom 2 (-11), Safe (+45)
Jeremy Rosado
Hallie Day
Chase Likens
Top 5: +34, Team Total: 158

Me
Colton Dixon
Reed Grimm
Eben Franckewitz
Haley Johnson
Jen Hirsh
Team Total: 58