Tuesday recaps (11.24)

Gilmore Girls (The Great Stink)

This episode was basically a cutesy wootsy episode with lovey-dovey Chris and Lorelai and lovey-dovey Rory and Logan. Their situations and relationships were very parallel this episode, as the folks at GG like to do. Both couples start out on good terms, both hit a scuffle in the episode, and then make up at the end.

Lets start with R+L: Rory is excited because Logan made a surprise visit to town. Unfortunately it was a business trip, and only 48 hours at that. He brings her dinner on the roof of her building, and then they cuddle under the stars. All together now: "Awwwwwww." Logan is booked up with meetings so he has to leave very early.

Can i interject that this is the most cute and realistic that Rory and Logan have been together? I think Alexis may be getting more comfortable with the R+L relationship, or more comfortable with Matt. Either way, i think her time apart from Milo may have done her some good! Ok, back to the recap.

Logan calls Rory to meet up for dinner. (He interrupts her mediation of a very heated debate involving Paris mentioning gerund phrases. I think the writing may be back up to par!) When they meet up for dinner, Rory expects it to be just the two of them. Instead she is surprised to find all of his colleagues including Bobby, the hot British girl who says "loo." Rory is jealous through the whole dinner and is annoyed at Logan - but really, she just misses him. All together again: "Awwwww."

Meanwhile, Lorelai is packing up all of Paul Anka's things for a sleepover at Chris's. While she is there, Chris tells her that Sherry wants Gigi to come to Paris and live with her for a while. Chris thinks its a good idea, Lorelai thinks it isn't, but of course, in true Lorelai fashion per the last season and a half, she says nothing and lets the negative energy pent up. After a heart to heart with Sookie, she finally admits that is what she is doing, and that she should talk with Chris about her feelings because he isn't Luke.

This of course all comes to a head in the most appropriate of places, Friday Night Dinner. After a heated debate in the car, and another in the powder room (not to mention the glares across the table) they finally decide to both take Gigi to Paris to see Sherry. Emily is oblivious to the tension and keeps talking about doubles tennis. Typical.

And to throw a bit of Stars Hollow into the mix, they are having a pickle conundrum because Taylor is too stubborn to pay for cleanup of a pickle car derailment. Therefore the whole town smells like rotting pickles. MMMM.

Overall this was a good "moving the plot along" episode, but too cutesy and not nearly as funny as it normally is. The pickle thing was just sort of funny. Eh, it was just ok for me.

Veronica Mars

review coming soon

ON DECK TONIGHT:

Lost

monday recaps

How I Met Your Mother

All i'm going to say is:

Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman + Doogie Howser = bending of the space/time continum

Marshall's constitutional law professor (i.e. Dr. Quinn) gives grades based on her sex the night before. So of course, Barney thinks he can conquer "the cougar." No such luck, Barn-ster! Hilarity ensues when he went so hard he ends up in the hospital with a broken hip.

I thought this storyline was frickin hilarious. Barney was brought down! I loved it.

The rest of the show was fairly uneventful. Lily tries a whole bunch of new careers including becoming a secretary at Ted's architecture firm. She ultimitely decides that she wants to continue her career as a kindergarden teacher. On a personal note, where the fuck is this architecture firm that ted works at? Being an architect myself, clearly the writers haven't been in an office lately. Everything, especially in NYC, is computerized. Models, renderings, drawings, etc. I haven't seen someone paint trees in years! I'm sure this is true when all professions are portrayed on tv, but this one just hits home for me, so I had to mention it!

Heroes

This week, the heroes started coming together. The show started out where we left off last week, with future Hiro encountering Peter on the time-frozen subway. He tells Peter to go back to Isaac's and that present-day Hiro will be calling for directions. Also, he tells Peter to save the cheerleader.

Hiro and his friend get in a fight, and the friend ends up walking off on their waffle breakfast. Just as he is walking out, Hiro sees Nathan Petrelli who has just crash landed after he evades the captor of Claire's dad and his large scary sidekick. Hiro confronts Nathan, and through broken English, he conveys that they are both "Special." Hiro and Nathan then share a ride back into the city. Meanwhile, Hiro's friend goes off to find Nikki.

Nikki found herself waking up alone in a bed in a posh hotel room. She has no idea how she got there. Nathan's people awake her and ask where he is. She, of course, has no recollection of the event. The people trying to blackmail Nathan, however, seem very pleased with her (or her alter ego's) performance, and she is therefore "forgiven" of all her debt.

Claire's attempt at killing Brody the quarterback was unsuccessful, as she finds them both in the hospital. She confesses to her shady dad about what Brody did to her and the other girls. Claire's shady dad then goes to Brody with his large scary sidekick to threaten him and then "hollow him out." After this incident, he seems to have developed a case of "amnesia."

Matt, the cop, has been using his mind reading power to read his wife's thoughts and save his marriage.

When Peter returns to Isaacs place, Isaac is disheartened because he is throwing his life away to paint the future. Isaac has no money left for heroin, so he can no longer paint. Peter, on the other hand, who seems to absorb the powers of the people around him, amazingly starts to paint and finishes a half painted canvas with an image of the cheerleader. Afterwards, they receive a call from Hiro and his friend, who have reunited and are back on their mission.

This was my least favorite episode of the season thus far. I'm not sure if they gave away too much in the previews, but this didn't seem as exciting. After all the episodes so far, i have been left with a "What the eff" moment, and this episode lacked that cliffhanger element (Claire in the morgue, Nathan flying, future Hiro stopping time in the subway, etc.). I am really bored with the Matt storyline this episode, and it seemed like fluff in a show where there is no need for fluff. The whole thing is a little too "What women want" and i am anxious to see him encounter other
people with powers.

ON DECK TONIGHT

Gilmore Girls

Veronica Mars (the Logan vs. Logan epi.)

Two consecutive hours of Matt Czuchry - what more could a girl ask for!

sorry, so far behind

I'm really behind in my TV reviewing (though I have managed to keep up with the watching thanks to TiVo) so I'll try to keep up this week.

Last night...Amazing Race

The teams raced from Eastern India to Kuwait City , and they were all on the same flight which is never exciting. Because WV got in last on a non-elimination last week, they had to get in first this week or risk incurring a time penalty. While I'm partial to taking away all the clothes instead (if only for the pure hilarity of seeing Americans walking around foreign countries with their underwear outside their pants) this new rule is a little less wacked-out.

WV took the fast forward and got to do some fire fighting. The rest of the teams headed to some very phallic towers to climb around their 200' balls. yikes. They had to grab a satchel filled with puzzle pieces (ok, survivor) and head down to the ground to put together a puzzle which spelled a street name in Arabic. Since they all seemed to have forgotten their Arabic alphabet translation cheat sheet (wasn't that on the pack list?) they had to ask a local to direct them to the street. Once they found the street they received a detour clue - manual or automatic. Several teams headed to the manual to fill bags with grain and pile them on a pallet. Two teams (prosthetic leg girl and the buff dudes I believe) both went for automatic where they had to put a robot on a camel's back which forced them to run (does this seem like cruel and unusual punishment to you?) Unfortunately this task was much harder to find, and put both of those teams at the end of the pack. Peter and Sara (prosthetic leg girl) came in waaaaay last (way after dark) and were eliminated.

The previews stated that next week we would be treated to a cat fight between the two remaining all women's teams. So, should be entertaining.

ON DECK TONIGHT:

How I Met Your Mother
Heroes (my new BFF show)

tuesday night recaps

Tuesdays are turning out to be pretty...fraktastic! It was three solid hours of good TV last night - lets get to it.

Gilmore Girls (ep.2)

Lets start out by saying, there are a lot of people thoroughly pissed about the whole Luke/Lorelai breakup and the future Chris/Lorelai hookup. I'll start by saying that i am in the minority - I'm not one of those people. I have always been a big Chris/Lorelai fan. Yeah, his timing was never right, and yeah he never wanted to try to make it work right, but the chemistry and attraction were always there. I enjoy David Sutcliffe and Lauren together on screen - I'm sold a lot more on them then with Lauren and Scott. I thought that the Chris/Lorelai thing should have always been played out - give it a shot, see where it goes, if it doesn't work out then move on.

So now the relationship will finally get its chance. I'm not naive enough to think that it is going to last, despite rumors of eloping. It just needs to happen so Lorelai can move on. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the on-screen chemistry while it lasts. So onto a quick summary:

First off, Luke goes to find Christopher and punches him in the face. Freakin' awesome! Nice scene--very well played. Rory is bummed because Logan hasn't planned for her to visit until Christmas. She is trying to be a "grown-up" about it, though, even though she now has to miss out on the Asian vacation. Lane returns from her honeymoon not having enjoyed it - the food, the accommodations, and the sex. Meanwhile, Lorelai goes out to buy Asian party supplies to decorate the house with the hopes of cheering up Rory. On her way home she has a not-so-nice encounter with Luke on the street. gah. Luke is fixing up the gaping hole in the diner (thanks to Kirk) with the always reliable TJ. Luke finally admits to TJ that he and Lorelai broke up. Lorelai throws Rory a "party" complete with a poster of Sandra Oh and dessert sushi (i would expect nothing less from Lorelai Gilmore). Chris leaves a message on the machine because neither can get to the phone on time, and Rory hears that Lorelai had slept with Chris. A big argument ensues and Rory is super pissed. Rory storms out to Lanes, where Lane admits to Rory that she is Preggo. eeee - kinda hard to play the drums with a baby hump, eh? Meanwhile, Luke goes to Liz and TJ's for dinner. Then Lorelai goes out to get ice Cream and has another encounter with Luke in the frozen foods section of a supermarket. This time it was a bit more civil. Luke said they were never right for each other and said that she should be with Christopher - he would go back to being the guy to pour her coffee (sad, sad). Lorelai goes home and cries, and Rory is there for comfort. The End.

now for my opinions - I'm not a big Alexis's acting fan, but I thought the scene where she discovered Lorelai slept with her dad was great. And great writing, too. Very turn-the-tables from 5.21 (the yacht heist) with the "When you are mad you go out and get a haircut, not sleep with dad" and also 4.22 (raincoats & recipes) where Rory slept with the married Dean (and subsequently broke up with him and now he is chasing zombies on another show. Nice going, Rory.)

I thought Lauren's acting was fab, as well (in both this and the season premiere). The writing has been ok so far, but I do notice a bit of the banter and the majority of the obscure pop-culture references are gone. With ASP we heard about Howard Roark and The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. With DSR we hear about posters of Sandra Oh and Rory says things like "Let's blow this popsicle stand" (ASP would never have let that in the script). I just feel like the show was dumbed down slightly--only because ASP has this inordinate wealth of (probably useless) cultural and historical knowledge, and a replacement for that is hard to find. So to David R - thanks for trying but to ASP - you can never be replaced.
Veronica Mars (Season Premiere)

This is my first time watching VM ...like, EVER. So I don't want to give a true commentary, but I'll tell you my thoughts from a virgin perspective. I L.O.V.E Kristen Bell. LOVE HER. She clearly carries the show, she can pull off words like "frak" and she's gorgeous, and basically she kicks ass. Veronica may be my new fave. TV character. I haven't warmed up to Logan yet, and after 1 episode, I fail to see why they're together. She seems way to good for him. I haven't decided about Mac, either, but I think I will end up liking her. I'm a big Tina Majorino fan (remember when she was in When a Man Loves A Woman when she was like, 7) so its nice to see her on TV. I was sort of bored by the scenes with Veronica's dad - I actually tivoed through a bit of it. But I am def a fan of the show so far, and will enjoy getting into it.

Smith (ep. 3)
I totally enjoy this show, too. Amy Smart plays such a hoe-bag and i love every minute of it. I was a little disheartened to see that Ray Liotta's character was sleeping with her, because I thought that he was keeping his secret life from his wife for the sole purpose of protecting her--not to cheat on her. But she knows something is up, so it will come out eventually. The cops don't seem very hot on the trail of this group, so they don't seem threatened by the good guys, yet. I was confused about the fact that they stole used coupons - is that what actually happened or was the radio station misinformed? So the heist was a bust? I like that not every episode is predictable, so that will keep me watching.

On deck tonight:

Jericho
Lost (I heard the opener is awesome!)

Early week recaps

So I have been a little behind. In writing, that is--not watching. I'll go over the early week shows and talk about last week's show if it seems relevant.

Amazing Race

Last week the teams were in the boonies of Mongolia. This week they trekked to Vietnam. So far, they have been on a full-blown Asian vacation. So far, I haven't picked a favorite team. I do enjoy the Coalminer/wife for their hilarious naivete ("I've never known a gay person") and they are like out of a real-life My Name is Earl.

The gay dudes got a penalty this week for riding on forbidden vespa-like contraptions for which they received a 30-minute penalty. I actually didn't think that was harsh enough. Though considering the closeness of the race at this point, it set them from 2nd place to 2nd to last. Which brings me to a complaint.

I would like it if they structured the game to allow people to have a little more of a lead and be able to keep it. This week, they all flew on the same flight. I like it better when people are spread out and forced on different flights (though I'm sure the flight selection out of Mongolia is slim). Since they are all only a half hour apart, its anyone's game. I want someone to break out and be the leaders...And then get slowly taken down by the underdogs. The whole giving everyone a chance to win seems a little, well, pee-wee soccer. I wanna see bloodshed, people!

oh, and just for the record - this week the dad/lesbian daughter got voted off, and last week it was the cheerleaders.

How I Met Your Mother

ok, so I loved this show last year. LOVED.IT. But this year I'm not feeling it as much. It's too coupley this year with robin and Ted together and lily and Marshall trying to work it out, too. The only reason I watch it is for Barney. Lets reminisce back to last season a bit - remember when Ashley Williams guested as Ted's gf for a few eps - when they met at the wedding...That was so cute! They could have kept that up longer.

I mean, I'll still watch the show, but if something else came on, it would totally be dropped form the season pass list.

Heroes

So far, this show has been amazing!It is definitely living up to all the hype. I want to find out what is going on with all these people and how they eventually interconnect. And what the hell is Nikki's evil twin doing? And what's up with Claire's dad?

I'm really liking all the actors - I mean we have Milo (need I say more, Jess Mariano?), Greg Grunberg (from the fabulous Felicity), Hayden Pannettaire (remember her as the little girl in Remember the Titans? And how she tried to be a singer for, like, .3 seconds and it sucked? Stick with acting Hayden). I had also seen the actress who plays Nikki elsewhere but couldn't place it so i had to IMDB her. Yeah, it was Legally Blonde. Anyway...

my only fear for this show is that i can't see how this could go on for multiple seasons. A movie? Oh yeah. A mini-series? Definitely intriguing. One TV season and saving the world? Yes. But once they save the world, is this really going to still be exciting? I guess that remains to be seen.

On deck tonight...

Gilmore Girls - tomorrow I'll talk about the season premiere and see if I'm still liking the writing after episode 2

Veronica Mars - I have never seen this show but from what I've heard it is well written and Kristen Bell is awesome, so I'll give it a whirl.

Smith - I am starting to seriously love this show. Amy Smart (another Felicity alum) is my hero.

Another quick note - I have now season-passed Everwood reruns on ABC family. I started watching this show way back when, but i was in college and didn't watch much TV. Now that the series is starting from the beginning i am really looking forward to getting to know what I've been hearing about for so long. Yay, Everwood!

Thursday night on American Network Television - more goodness than oneself can bear.

Ok, I know I'm a bit behind, but Thursday nights? What a great night of TV. Lets start with the 8-9 hour. I was watching Earl/Office on NBC. We also have survivor on CBS, Ugly Betty (as of next week) on ABC, and Smallville on CW. I would watch any one of these shows, but I have to prioritize.

EARL - Now I have to admit I haven't seen every ep. Of this show, but I thought this season opener was fantastic. Hilarious. I felt it even hinted at a possible reconciliation between Earl and Joy could possibly in the cards down the road. My favorite quotes:

"You sound like a gay kermit the frog"
"Son of a bitch Ferris Bueller-ed me!"
I could easily incorporate either of these into my daily conversation.

The Office - So I was actually GIDDY with anticipation of this premiere. I never have felt that way about a show - even Idol. (Now that's saying something). Aside from the fact that the "flashback" seemed a bit forced, and it didn't match the Finale EXACTLY (because I am a freak and watched the JAM kiss like 784 times), I thought the JAM situation was handled well. It actually turned out pretty much like I thought it would happen. I mean, they can't have them hook up right away, because that would JTS (jump the shark). Keep the tension--that's good.

The Michael/Oscar scene (Moscar?) seemed a little over the top even for Michael, but the other scenes were good. They can't have him act completely ridiculous all the time, because as my husband pointed out, if this was for real, he would have gotten fired by now. Especially at a company that isn't doing so hot.

I don't think I'm going to like this whole "Scranford" thing. It won't be the same, but I anticipate a fair number of interactions between Jim and Scranton, and that will just make us all anticipate Jim's inevitable return even moreso.

Show stealing moments/Quotes:

1. Kevin laughing at the camera in his talking head. After the 10th time watching it, it still makes me laugh out loud.
2. "It's possible a man may have slipped in. There's no way of knowing."
3. Roy's mug shot.
4. "Kids - sometimes it pays to be gay."
5. Queer as F*ck.

Survivor - I did not watch because I have to prioritize. Sure I could have watched survivor and tivoed the office and just watched it later, but I needed to know NOW. Sorry. But I hear that I didn't miss much.

GREY'S - Now this is a show I am just getting into. I'm a little behind, so sorry. I did watch the finale so I'm all caught up. There was a lot of Izzy on the floor in a prom dress (one of the most beautiful prom dresses ever, btw...I loved it). Derek chose Meredith, so now it's Meredith's turn to choose. I'm a little biased to Chris O'Donnell personally, but I guess McDreamy is pretty hot, too. I really enjoy the whole George and Callie relationship, and probably more than any other couple, I'm rooting for them. I wish was more insightful -- you'll have to give me a few weeks to get into this one.

CSI - Again - I have to prioritize. I wish I could watch. Ugh THURSDAYS ARE TOO FULL!

ER - Second hospital drama of the evening. The biggest event of the evening OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE SAM SHOT STEVE! I mean he completely deserved it. Not only did he walk out on them, abandon his kid, but kidnap them and hold them hostage, kill his two companions, and practically rape Sam on the ground at some type of old refinery. ew. She was just going to drive off, but instead she shot him. What will the police say? Will she go to jail? What will her kid do? SO MANY QUESTIONS! I thoroughly enjoy Linda Cardellini on the show and I hope they don't write her off. Spoilers have not indicated this is the case yet, but they have sure set it up that it could happen easily.

In other goings on, Abby had her baby via C-section way premature due to a rupturing of the uterus from her fall during the shootout. They named him Joe. Poor Luca has had really bad family luck in his life and is noticeably upset as he throws a trash can into a mirror. yikes. Also, Jerry gets some monster surgery, which is good.

Notable Quote:

Neela (to Abby): "I'll ride up with you and we can play who had the worst day." I dunno Neela. Jerry getting shot and Sam getting kidnapped probably both beat either of you guys.


Later I'll be talking about weekend and Monday shows including my thoughts on the premiere of Heroes.

Survivor, AR, HIMYM, and Smith

Well, It has been an exciting week in TV Land. Lets summarize what has been going on in a little ode to CBS post.

Survivor: Cook Islands
Survivor started last week. To be honest with you, I'm not too impressed thus far. The thing about the early eps of survivor (and AR, which i will address in a sec) is that i can't keep track of everyone. The whole dividing people by race thing seems to help me keep track of the tribes, but i still don't know everyone's name. So for the first few weeks i'll refer to people as "That guy" or "the tall blonde girl" etc. My apologies. Continuing on, the most interesting thing that happened in the whole episode, is when the hippie asian man got rid of the ripped asian man's headache by kneading at his head. Eastern medicing never ceases to amaze me, i guess.

I was, however, impressed with the creativity of the challenges. A boat that is a puzzle? Genius. Their creative team is always top notch.

Amazing Race 10
On to Amazing Race. I have the same problem by not being able to keep track, but the team nicknames (the cheerleaders, the gay dudes, etc.) help. This week began in Seattle and ended in Beijing. So first question: is it really necessary to have a team of Beauty Queens AND a team of cheerleaders? Seems like a little overkill on the dumb blonde end. I was sad the Indian couple was eliminated, because i took a liking to them right away. Prosthetic leg girl was already losing hydrolic fluid on day two - that cannot be a good thing on a 39 day race.

I think one of the big reasons i like this show is because i love to live vicariously through the people on the show, becasue of any reality show on TV this would be my game. I would so win this show. Additionally, they went to Beijing this week, which is on my top 5 cities to visit before i die list. so, way jealous.

I don't know about this new sunday time slot - my husband likes his sunday night football, and with one tv, it can get a bit dicey. I may tivo it and watch the next day.

How I Met Your Mother
Now, onto some non-reality shows. How I Met Your Mother season premiere on Monday - It was an ok ep, but not a season premiere calibur ep. There was really no resolution with the whole Lily breakup thing. Also, I don't know how i feel about the Ted/Robin togetherness. She was always very adamantly against the relationship with ted and now they are all gushy gushy - that can't last for long.

But honesly, who even watches this show for that - most people watch it to see what politically incorrect statement will fly out of Barney's mouth. NPH should get an emmy next year for best supporting actor - he friggin rocks.

Smith
And last but not least, Smith. I watched last night and it was fairly enjoyable. It is basically like Oceans Eleven...only with six (and after last night, five, cuz one dude dies). To be honest, i turned this on because of Amy Smart - I have loved her since her Felicity days. And i knew my husband would like it being a Ray Liotta fan, so we can agree on this one.

The story was told out of sequence: they showed the big bank heist, then flashbacked three weeks and showed the prep, then showed the bank heist from a different perspective. My problem with this though, was that you didn't get that much more insight when you watched the bank heist again. In fact, they repeated some of the same shots as before, so really, what is the point of that? It was almost as if they were telling a story out of sequence, just for the sake of being "cool," not because it made a huge point (except that it was a hook to the show). I like the concept and storyline of the show, so i'll stick with it for a bit, but I hope the storytelling gets better as time goes on.