A Note About The Worst OTH Ever!

Darkness on the Edge of Tree Hill

So I finally got around to watching the Winter finale episode of One Tree Hill. Plain and simple, "Darkness On the Edge of Town" sucked. It may tie for the worst episode ever. things weren't this dumb and ridiculous since season 3 when Nathan's dad killed Uncle Keith and pinned it on Jimmy, the school shooter in "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept," (Moment of silence for Uncle Keith).

And the one where psycho Derek kept attacking Peyton were ridiculous, but at least there was a prom going on,and kinda the same with crazy Nanny Carrie trying to kidnap Jamie (a much-protested wedding)/ murder Haley and Jamie (Halloween-themed in honor of THE SHINING).

Ok, so these psycho murderer plots seem pretty common now that I think about it. But here's where things went from bad to worse- little Chuck- friend of Jamie walking down the street with a pool of blood on his head. (P.S. where did their makeup artist study? Ms. Lauren had the same pool of blood on her head).

Other common themes included:
Cars going over a bridge and into the water.
From season 3 "The Show Must Go On" into 4 "The Same Deep Water As You", Nathan's other uncle (Coop) and Rachel went off the bridge in a limo into the water. Nathan jumped in and rescued them (or did he? Maybe Uncle Keith used some divine power...) while Haley stood by screaming in her wedding dress.

Shooting someone at point-blank range.
Not only was it happening twice (Katie trying to shoot Quinn, and then Quinn shooting Katie), and a fairly well mirrored image of Season 7's finale, but it totally had the Dan shoots Keith theme written all over it [see last week's episode for some wrong information surrounding Dan murder of Keith (he didn't get a shovel and bury the body, he left it in the school to be found)].

Car tragedy on the road.
In the season 4 Winter finale "Songs to Love and Die By" and its precursor "Some You Give Away", Haley was pregnant (again) with Jamie and a jealous Dante ran her over after Nathan refused to throw the final score of the championship basketball game. Lucas saw the accident and his heart condition took over, sending him into cardiac arrest and a "Its a Wonderful Life"-style dream where life was different.

Small jokes only a true Hill-er can appreciate:
- The opening credits were back to the original Gavin DeGraw version.
- Nathan's comment about big moments in his and Haley's lives happening in the rain.
- Nathan threatening to make Jamie walk home in a joking impression of papa Dan.
- Nathan referencing "A Christmas Story." Odd choice, but a small attempt in acknowledging they weren't doing a Christmas themed episode??
- Ms. Lauren being in an episode. And Mouth, Clay, Alex, and Millie not (they are in the opening credits).
- And the fact that Jamie attends Tree Hill Grade School. How much in the middle of nowhere is this town?I thought they were slightly cosmopolitan.

I thought these characters were going to be dead at the end of the episode:
Chuck
Ms. Lauren
Brooke
Jamie
Psycho Katie
Quinn

I would have actually cared if these characters were dead at the end of the episode:
Ms. Lauren
Brooke
Jamie

There was a definite moment when I saw the masked words behind a recent comment by EP Mark Schwan about Lucas and Peyton not making it back to the show for Brooke's wedding.I saw them coming back for her funeral... I honestly thought about changing the name of the show to Naley Hill.

What really bothered me about this episode was that it came on the heels of a fantastic Thanksgiving episode "Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace" and a fairly decent "night out at tric" episode "Lists, Plans." Both of those were really character/plot moving, fun, and a true ensemble piece. It brought back the good feelings of the early seasons.

And most important, it made me remember why I love One Tree Hill in the first place. It's about friends, life, and the relate-ability of these characters [yes we're not all ex pro athletes going back to finish our degrees like Nathan (surprisingly interesting plot line)], but we've all have that jerky teacher we wanted to show up. We grew up with the kids in the Hill, and hopefully the last episodes this spring will honor the show's long legacy of being kick-ass (and sometimes thought provoking- I really miss Lucas's voice-overs. O Hell, I miss any voice-overs).

An Updated Note About Hawaii 5-0 Bingo

I got 5-0 BINGO!

After 4 weeks of playing, I succeeded during Monday night's Christmas episode of Hawaii 5-0.

The bingo spaces included:

5. Alex O'Loughlin runs really fast.

4. Car chase

3. Alex O'Loughlin breaks several police brutality laws.

2. The bad guys turn out to be terrorists.

1. Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan flirt shamelessly.

Note: There were 12 spaces covered during this week's game board.

Sidenote: Rules about the free space (I count this alternately as a Ford product placement or every time they show the gold Hawaiian warrior statue^).

Observation: If this was a drinking bingo game, and we counted each time they showed the Hawaiian warrior state outside of 5-0 headquarters, people would be very drunk by the end of an episode.

A Note About Christmas Time Again: PSYCH style

I call this episode "It's a Wonderful PSYCH."

I thought the Christmas episode of Psych was great.

Best parts:
The elf actor guy.
The scenes from movies and shows: Juliet as TJ Hooker, Lassie as Hitler.
Gus's life as a sitcom.
Snowman Gus- made of chocolate ice cream.
Gus diffusing a bomb at the last minute.
The acknowledgment that young Shawn is played by many different kids.
Shawn convincing the oppressed townspeople to testify against a crime lord.

A Note About Christmas Time Again: How I Met Your Mother style

Its time for a 12 days of Christmas list about my favorite parts of this week's Christmas-themed HIMYM episode.

12. NO ZOE IN THE EPISODE!
For obvious reasons.

11. Charity
The stripper, not the feeling of goodwill. Now Barney, take me off your e-mail list.
Barney's description of being charitable: the various types of women he sleeps with (sixes are real charity work).

9. A diamond-studded suit
"Attention criminals! You can retire on the pants alone." -Ted

8. The Return of Punchy
I love this guy more when he's on the phone with Ted. I also love Ted's plans to kick ass on the flower arrangements. But revelation time, Ted is probably giving the best man speech for earlier in the season at PUNCHY's wedding, not CINDY's, as we all thought.

7. Marshall and Lily trying to prepare for having a baby in one night.
"The nursery is painted blue."
"What if we have a girl Marshall?"

6. Ted's Christmas movie-themed snack
All it needs is some Gingerbread men.

5. Barney's favorite things
Matching track suits, remote control cars... could it be any better

4. Robin's classy description about being a "coin-flip bimbo"

3. Alex Trebek guest starring (see #4)

2. I've never seen that woman before in my life!
Barney's classic response to hearing a woman is pregnant.

1. Ted being his good old Ted self.
Putting everyone on the path they belong on and going to see "It's a wonderful life" alone.

A Note About Holiday Marathons- Vampire style

I'm so psyched about the Vampire Diaries season 2 marathon, which starts tomorrow. I might actually have a chance to catch up on the 2nd season (I've slowly been making my way through season 1 on DVD this Fall). All 10 episodes from this season will be on the CW from 8-10 from Monday to Friday.

A Note About Thanksgiving Leftovers: Buffy-Style

In honor of the late holiday of Thanksgiving, I present my favorite holiday cliches the 4th season Thanksgiving episode of Buffy.

3. Native Americans taking back their land.

2. Holiday guests being tied to their chairs.

1. Exes coming to visit.

A Note About Dancing and Stars

I can't believe Brandy got voted off dancing with the stars after receiving a perfect score. More importantly, I can't believe who is left- Cory and Bristol???

Team Jen Grey all the way. Because nobody puts baby in a corner.

A Note About The Prince (William) & Me

While I'm excited about the idea of a royal wedding (see huge photo of William and Kate) and the public insanity that has already begun, I've taken a pause for reflection. I'm not in love with Prince William or anything, and I wish he and Kate the best.

But am I the only one (aside from the UK SUN) slightly creeped out that Kate was given the ring of William's mother Diana, who seemed to find tons of tragedy? Not only did Diana's marriage go bust after receiving that ring (see photo of ring), but she had met a tragic and early death.

It's like being given a coffin as a wedding present... Ghastly and creepy.

And the prince for me will always be Luke Mably as Danish Prince Edvard in the 2004 film, The Prince and Me. But if you have the opportunity to see Prince and Me 2: Royal Wedding, pass. It was very dismal and Julia Stiles was not in it.

A Note About Shows Robbed in Their Early Stages

The recent EW post about underrated movies and the cancellation of NBC's Undercovers got me thinking. As far as UC goes, it was a great plot, with likable characters, but they spent way too much times setting up the bad guy plots and traveling aroudn the country. Crewatoe There have been so many shows that were whisked away too soon. I'm not saying some shows didn't need to be yanked off quick (see ABC's 2010 dud Romantically Challenged- honestly Alyssa Milano, what were you thinking??), (also see FOX's Running Wilde- how did it make it to December, that little girl had a grating voice that hurt as bad as Will Arnet's "pretty boy" persona), but some shows were shot down before their groove could be reached. Here are my favorites.

Maybe its Me (2000-2001)
This WB gem lasted a full season and was surreptitiously dropped. MIM was a half-hour comedy followed 16-year old Molly Stage and her insane extended family. Dad (Fred Willard) was her soccer coach, Mom (Julia Sweeney) was cheap. Her older brother Rick was dangerously handsome and total thief and con artist (he got them illegal cable in one episode) and her close in high school aged older brother Grant was in love with Jesus. Molly's best friend Mia (great Mia Hamm joke in the first episode when the frustrated dad is mourning the team's loss and mom offers Mia some more ham at dinner) is in love with grant. Throw in twin redhead little sisters whoa re cute but troublesome, and a grandma (the lady from The Wedding Singer)and grandpa (reverend from Little House on the Prairie) (not married, from opposite sides of the family), and it was sickly funny from Molly entering a town beauty pageant where contestants had to shuck clams, to the grandparents cranking up the heat while mom was gone, to mom giving the whole school food poisoning when she subbed as a lunch lady. Their theme song changed twice in the once season, from Lindsay Pagano's "All U R" to Simple Plan's "I'd Do Anything." Bad news: Grandpa got replaced in the middle of the season. GRADE: A+

Mr. Sterling (Jan. to Mar. 2003)
Mr. Sterling (NBC) made it to about ten episodes, all of which were splendidly written. What happened? Josh Brolin was the leading character, a CA-based lawyer that is called to be a senator when the current senator faces major scandal. He hops a plane to D.C., meets his staff, and sets out to get out from the shadow of his father, a former governor of California. The staff included Audra McDonald (Addison's bestie on Private Practice), Will Russ (the dad from Boy meets World).The best episode included Sterling give an all-night filibuster to change a law, complete with reading a copy machine manual. GRADE: B

Miss Match (Sept. to Dec. 2003)
On NBC, Alicia Silverstone is Kate, a divorce lawyer by day, and a matchmaker after hours. Great premise, plus the introduction of James Roday (PSYCH hottie) to television. Roday is a co-worker, and Ryan O'Neal plays her father and the owner of the firm. Kate's bartender best friend Victoria (played by Lake Bell), kept an eye on the matches and was a bit of a slut. Her "should be or shouldn't we" ex Michael (the husband on Ghost Whisperer)was interesting and his best pal Adam (Nathan Fillion, aka Castle) also kept the couplings interesting. The theme song was done by Macy Gray. I see a lot of parallels between this and the new USA show FAIRLY LEGAL. GRADE: B+

A Note About: Some Kind of (James Blunt) Trouble

     The day my pal and fellow music-lover, C, and I have been waiting for is finally here. For the last 6-8 months, we've discussed the need for some new music by James Blunt.

     Imagine my surprise when about three weeks ago, I found out he was releasing a new CD. Today's release, Some Kind of Trouble, has been a great listen so far. It's in some ways so different from Blunt's earlier albums int erm sof the sound. I love his earlier pieces, Back to Bedlam (2005) and All The Lost Souls (2007), but they both have a very low-energy, stop-the-pain , look-back-at-the-past vibe. This album has an overall more uplifting theme. As always, Blunt's beautiful guitar and hauntingly pained and at the same time gorgeously pure voice shine though.  He has worked with OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder and others for this new offering. Here are some of the highlights so far:

I'll Be Your Man
Catchiest line: "So come over closer.... from the edge of the sofa...."
Similar to below new single, this is a refreshingly lighthearted romp is a Tedder-influenced hit in the making about committing to your crush!

Stay the Night
The first song off the album is a balmy "Hey, Soul Sister"-style song about falling in love during a great party down at the beach. When Blunt says, "If this is what we've got/ Then what we've got is gold," I'm inclined to agree.

If Time is All I Have
Another breathtakingly beautiful balled from Mr. Blunt, similar to the wistful lost love of "You're Beautiful" with a touch of the sad-laded breakup song "No Bravery"

Calling Out Your Name
Blunt's soldier ballad talks about the downsides of war. Another weep-worthy ballad. I cry every time I hear it.

Dangerous
The cool, sexy vibe of Blunt's  "1973" carries through this song about a no-good girl that is all dressed up, stealing your heart, and not letting go anytime soon.

A Note About Dan and Nate: Frenemies?

Nate Archiband and Dan Humphrey dudes of GOSSIP GIRL are be definition, opposites.

Nate is the Upper-East Side preppy, Columbia 3rd generation legacy, lacrosse player, son of rich parents with political connections, and fully fine with mischief and manipulation.

Dan is from Brooklyn, he goes to NYU, the rock star dad, he's shy-ish, he's (generally with the exception of the last few weeks) not prey to the games of the Upper East Side, and he's brunette.

Then we have Serena, their love, their fair maiden. The free spirit, fashion maven, rich girl who just wants to be treated normal and stop appearing in page 6, even though she loves the attention.

Now that we know the players, we can discuss the twisted bromance/rivalry between Dan and Nate over the fair Serena.

While Blair and Serena's twisted love-hate-love friendship is a cornerstone of the show, showcasing the best and worst of friends who can get through anything, frenemies have come to the boys of GOSSIP GIRL girl as well. Nate and Dan didn't seem to get along. Then they gradually became friends (despite both dating Serena and both dating Vanessa (a whole other story)) and have a beautiful bromance going. But Serena's usual flip-flopped-ness has brought out a level of competition between these two relatively civil 20ish guys that makes Serena and Blair's fights look tame.

Is this what the modern day version of a duel has become? Both guys text their lady with the perfect date idea and decide who gets to be with her by her acceptance of the date? Not sure it works like that.

A Note About Tara and Elena: Soul Sisters

     In a recent viewing of True Blood (I'm just finishing season 1), I realized Sookie's sassy sidekick and best friend Tara is just like Felicity's chemistry buddy Elena.


Similarities:

1. parental issues
2. smart mouth
3. strong and caring for their best girl
4. troubled relationships

Differences:
- Tara is a bartender;  Elena is going to NYU in pre-med (Felicty's UNY wasn't fooling anyone).
- Tara is secretly in love with her best friend's sister; Elena goes after men like prey.
- Tara is southern and Elena is northern.

But really, they're very similar character types.
Watch Tara tell off a customer and Elena swallow embarrassment and sass a boy for giving her a present that could be a headband or a skirt (at 3:30).

A Note About Daisy and Sweets

Daisy and Dr. Lance "Sweets" from Bones have been a cute, albeit creepy couple on the show. Seeing their painful breakup and decision not to reconcile at the beginning of this season was tough on top of Booth telling Bones he was not going to wait for her to get over her issues any longer.

So once again, Sweets and Daisy find themselves together and struggling to find something in common besides each other. Whatever could it be? Dogs, Indian food, and travel were all fails of a common interest. But, SAVED BY THE BELL was clearly the thing that will bond them together? Although its odd, I think it was a sweet connection. Although I don't agree at all in their thought that Jessie and screech were meant to be together. Jessie and Slater had a perfect love...too bad she decided to go to college across the country.

A Note About More NKOTBSB NEWS!

As we enter day 5 (I'm counting from the day BSB appeared on OPRAH last week- by the way, a thank you to my DVR for totally messing up the disc that was recording on) of NKOTBSB mania, I really could not be more excited! NKOTBSB now have a website (another place to share my mania with others!) I repeat, I could not be more ready for their upcoming US tour dates at the beginning of next summer! I hope they will make a music video so I can watch it ten million times on Youtube! Oh wait, they did! The promotion video on their homepage is adorable, AND they're on twitter! Ok, I've gotten over my 11-year-old moment.

Further exciting news, KEVIN RICHARDSON was back with the boys on OPRAH! Back to being 11. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

A Note About Celebrating Halloween Part 5: OTH and Halloween

I promise this is my final discussion of Halloween. Due to a html/formatting problem, here is my remaining comments about OTH Halloween.

OTH Halloween honorable honorable mentions:

Season 7's 80s episode "Don't You Forget About Me"
Season 6's Nanny Carrie episode "You've Dug Your Own Grave, Now Lie in It"
Season 4's psycho stalker attack episode "I Love You But You've Chosen Darkness"
and
Season 4's prom stalker episode "Prom Night at Hater High"

A Note About The Magic of NKOTBSB

New Kids and BSB are taking the stage together next summer! I am so thrilled. I can't wait to see them on the 21st at the American Music Awards.

Check out my first discussion of the NKOTBSB phenomenon.

A Note About National Unfriend Day

Cut out the friend fat in your life!
- Jimmy Kimmel

I really agree with Jimmy's new declaration of Nov. 17th as National Unfriend Day. Some aspects of social networking- (they made a movie about facebook!) have taken over our way of life, most importantly the idea that we NEED to have all these virtual friends, and invite them to like our band, place of work, or class project. (No thanks kid I went to third grade with and haven't talked to since then).

And the girl he uses in his example is a perfect example of the many people who use facebook as their sole means of communication (I don't care what you had for lunch, that you're sad its raining etc...)

As my friend (real friend) CR once said, "Go read a book ho." Books sound like a good idea. Let's go with that.

A Note About Celebrating Halloween Part 4: A Final Note and More Teen Dramas

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
I have rescinded my blowing off Buffy season 6's Halloween episode "All the Way." This is a great episode! After re-watching it this past weekend, I have re-awakened my love for this episode. Its not all about Dawn. It's about Xander and Anya getting engaged, Buffy dealing with the lonely afterlife (by avoiding responsibility and leaving all the work to Giles), and the deterioration of Tara and Willow's relationship. This episode also sets up the wonderful (and at the time highly original) musical episode "Once More, With Feeling." -Remember this was about 8 years before GLEE.

CLASSIC QUOTES:
Anya: "This is the dance of capitalistic superiority."
Dawn: "Shiver me timbers."
Buffy: "Did anyone actually come here to make out? Aww that's sweet. You run!"

ONE TREE HILL
I always cite Season 3's "An Attempt to Tip the Scales" as the ultimate OTH Halloween episode. Haley is slutty Sandy, Nate is Batman, Luke is Tommy Lee, Peyton an Angel and Brooke- the Devil. Drama plays out at the Tric Halloween Bash. Mouth and Peyton also do the hustle in front of a supportive crowd. This (season 8's) Halloween episode also gets a shout out. Again, we find ourselves at Tric, where Haley is a pregnant cheerleader Brooke is an Orange, Nate is Don Draper.. it seems like we all got a little less creative. But again, drama plays out at Tric, and yes- it was drama-ful.
For more about OTH Halloween, read here.

GOSSIP GIRL
In a show where every episode has a themed or dress-up ball, it is tough to enjoy Halloween. Season 3's "How to Succeed in Bassness" had a Halloween theme. Season 1's "A Handmaiden's Tale" also had a Halloween-time masquerade ball.

THE O.C.
Generally when I think "holiday" and The O.C., I think of the annual Chrismukkah episode. But Halloween in the land of white beaches and palm trees is never so simple. Season 1's "The Best Chrismukkah Ever" has summer donning a Wonder Women costume. Not exactly Halloween, but pretty close.

VERONICA MARS
In season 3, Veronica goes to a Halloween party/casino night at her college. The episode, "President Evil," has Veronica solving a robbery at the casino. Runner up is a season (1- I think), episode where Veronica and Deputy Leo go to a 80's dance.

A Love Note About Grey's

Greys is back! I am really loving this season so far! And EW is too!

ADDENDUM 11.08.10
On the other hand, 90210 tried to pull a Meredith Grey-style thoughtful about life voiceover. Not cool. Meredith would denounce you. Imitation is not always the sincerest form of flattery. Don't try to pull a Meredith!

A Note About Fall Music I Can't Stop Spinning: Taylor Swift

CD: Taylor Swift: Speak Now
RELEASE: October 25th

Taylor Swift's new album SPEAK NOW has blown up. I'm happy with most of the tracks, but at the same time, I feel TS is a little TOO. TOO everywhere, TOO vengeful, TOO singing the love-or in this case- unlove song. Still, Speak Now is off to a solid start.

Most Addictive Song: The Story of Us
Reminiscent of FEARLESS track Forever and Always, this is the album's quintessential "time to breakup but not dwell and mope" song. It's got power and it could easily be the breakup of a love or a friendship. It emcompasses the discomfort of awkward situations, plus has verbal cues to move each "chapter" of the song along.

Bubbly Love Song: Sparks Fly
"Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain.." and fall in love with this song, which reminds me of the sweet Hey Stephen and passion of The Way I Loved You from Swift's FEARLESS.

Sweetest Song: Mine
It's already broken as a huge hit, and yes I do agree with the EW bullseye that Mine is very TS-"being together even though I've been hurt by love before," I cannot stop listening to it. It has a great pace, a sweet message, and its' secretly what all girls dream about (finding that guy that says he'll make all the sadness go away).

Song I Listen to to Contemplate: Dear John
Not sure what this is all about...

Best Revenge Song: Revenge
Who can compete with this "She's evil and you shouldn't be with her" rock song that has intensely catchy lyrics like "She's better known for the things that she's done on the mattress." Plus, the opening line where TS instructs the girl to go sit in the corner and think about what she's done is Pat Benetar-level badass.

Song That Sounds Like Another Song: Speak Now
Now this song sounds so familiar, I could have sworn it was called You Belong with Me, except we've moved from high school to the real world. And there's wedding that must be stopped. This song also wins honorable mentions for the Song I Could Pass On award for the reason above.

Song I Could Pass On: Innocent
I get it, Kanye is finally forgiven. But this song is so somber it has no magic of excitement that makes a Taylor song a TAYLOR song.

A Note About Running From Harry Potter

Confession: I've never been a fan of Harry Potter. That being said, I LOVE (read: take great pleasure) in making fun of HP. The newest Harry Potter and the hallows of the prince with half-snape- or whatever they're calling it these days - is trying to rip off the running through the woods with the vamp glamour of "Twilight." Ironically, Twilight hottie Rob Pattinson played Harry's school chum Cederic back in the day- or so I was informed.

Harry, Ron, and Hermoine are running through the forest, with possible blood splatter. See a photo and discussion of the poster on MTV's movie site here.

In other twilight/hp news, check out Jimmy Fallon's spoof videos here, where "Rob" and "Daniel" both verbally attack each other's films.

A Note About The Glee Picture Show

On Halloween, (how fitting!) I finally got a chance to watch the much-anticipated Halloween/Rocky Horror themed episode of "GLEE." It's too bad my cable was out during the actual episode airing because of a little event I've taken to calling foxvisiongate (Fox fought with my cable company and pulled programming for a few weeks). Bitterness aside, I really enjoyed the episode. With my long love/hate relationship with GLEE, I have to say this was one of the best episodes of GLEE I've seen in weeks. In a season plagued by unnecessary plots, secondary characters, and pretty boring musical numbers, this one was really a breakthrough.

This episode was great for several reasons. For one thing, the episode was an ensemble piece. It was not all about Rachel or Kurt or Mr. Shue. Everyone really got a chance to shine and to sing (even Ms. Pilsbury, and the love of my life - Mr. John Stamos). The success of the episode was based on each character's performances. For once, Sam didn't act too annoying.

Another thing that was crucial to this episode's success was to balance the musical aspect of the show and the storyline. All too often, shows get caught up in the "school play" aspect, like season 1 of 90210 and the painful episodes-long production of Spring Awakening. There were some nice story lines - the new kid (Sam) trying to use his physique to impress Quinn, Mercedes taking over the lead role (for once), and Mr. Shue trying to impress Emma (and her great rendition of "Touch Me." Plus, we saw the return of the cable news segment "Sue's Corner," where Sue says horribly offensive things in the name of defending small town Ohio. Most importantly, for once, I wasn't repulsed by a Rachel-Finn duet. I enjoyed hearing them sing "Dammit, Janet."

My favorite part was the cast-wide rendition of "Time Warp." It was not only a well-sung and danced number, but it made the viewer enjoy the music. In a season that has been lacking strong cast-driven musical numbers like season 1's "Don't Stop Believing," this episode brought me back to that singular moment when I first fell in love with GLEE.

The one nagging thing about the episode was the final message. I was okay with them cancelling the musical. Then, I was okay with the idea of the kids doing the show "for themselves" and not letting anyone push them around. I was NOT okay with their interpretation of the message of Rocky Horror. This musical is not all about breaking boundaries, like the GLEE folks claimed. The main theme of the musical is about giving yourself over to pleasure, and the multitude of corruption associated with pleasure. Its much more of a moral, or rather, anti-moral message. Rocky Horror is not perpetuating the "stick it to the man" and "believe in yourself" messages that GLEE first perpetuated in the "Funk" episode from last season, and continued to honor in this episode.

A Note About Enjoying the View

Once again, those ladies are at it again. Sadly on election day, nobody went running off the stage of "The View." But Sherri sure made Elizabeth sure come off as racist as she complained about not having to show id to vote. Clearly the S.A.T.-style "bubble-in" sheets didn't bother her. Or the scantron machines.... just the lack of identification.

A Note About Linus Van Pelt

Poor Linus. That kid stood out in the pumpkin patch all night waiting for the grat pumpkin and what did he get? Sally's sympathies, a few stray pieces of candy from Lucy, and a few "good griefs" from pal Charlie Brown.

Rock on Linus, for your continued speeches about hope and perseverance. I salute you this Halloween!

A Note About the Guts of Meredith Grey

Photo note: I created this list for my friend to use at Halloween a few years ago when she dressed up as Meredith Grey. Many of these things still apply today. In homage to our favorite miserable doctor, check out her to-do list above.

A Note About Sesame Street and Old Spice

I was so thrilled to finally read the EW bullseye, where I discovered there is a video of Grover doing the "Man your man could smell like" commercial. So enjoyable. I also highly recommend the video that shows both versions (the Old Spice commerical and the Grover one) with switched audio. Isiah Mufasta sounds so funny with the Grover voice!

A Note About Celebrating Halloween Part 3: Buddy Sitcoms

FRIENDS
Season 8's "The One With the Halloween Party."
Arm wrestling, Ross dressed as "poop" and Phoebe falling in love with her sister's fiancee. The only Halloween episode, unless you count Rahel dressing up as a cheerleader to impress "Joshua" and Monica's work at the 50's diner.
Will and Grace
Season 1's "Boo Humbug."
Karen and Jack are left with kids and meet drag queens on Halloween. Honorable mention for season 5's "It's the Gay Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

How I Met your Mother
Season 1's "The Slutty Pumpkin"

Ted invokes Linus as he waits for the pumpkin he loves before and Barney coins the phrase "Space Suit Up!" Season 5's "Revenge of the Slap" had a quick Halloween scene where Barney is dressed as Borat.

See more sitcom Halloween memories here.

ADDENDUM: Last week's Halloween episode of COMMUNITY. A zombie infestation takes over the Halloween dance and everyone ends up dosed by the FBI so they don't remember.
I also loved the new Halloween-themed How I Met Your Mother. Something about the morning after "Halloween Parade" drove me to laughter tears over and over again.
And COUGARTOWN's "You Don't Know How it Feels" was part sappy sitcom and part Halloween greatness. It gets my stamp of approval for guest star Ken Jenkins (lovingly known as Dr. Kelso from SCRUBS) and my costume stamp of approval for Lori and Ellie dressing up as each other (and Travis dressing up as a badly-tanned Andy at the end). Grayson also dressed up as Prince, the artist formerly known as...

A Note About Celebrating Halloween Part 2: Teen Dramas

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Out of the 3 Halloween episodes (and Buffy vs. Dracula, which I consider in the same league), it was a tough choice to choose the best. An oldie but a goodie, I went with season 2's "Halloween ", where Giles's old buddy Ethan Rayne comes into town and casts a spell, turning most of the characters into their Halloween costumes. Princess Buffy and Army Commander Xander offer plenty of humor as they are completely clueless to the whole "demons are real" idea. Best line is from Willow's, "You couldn't have dressed up as Xena?" Honorable mention to season 4's "Fear, Itself" where a spooky frat party is haunted by a 6-inch tall demon that feeds on fear. "All the Way" in season 6 was also nice but so Dawn-centric.

VAMPIRE DIARIES
Season 1's Halloween episode (yes there was also a season 2 one but I haven't begun season 2 yet) was a great and solid start for the diaries. "Haunted" unleashed newborn vamp Vicki on the Mystic Falls Halloween party, where Nurse Elena ended up covered in blood and regret.

ANGEL
In a show all about a vampire, the first and only Halloween episode came in season 5's "Life of the Party." Empathic Lorne is sleep deprived and everything he says begins coming true at the Wolfram and Heart office Halloween party.

CHARMED
The most clear Halloween themed episode of Charmed came in season 3's "All Halliwell's Eve." The sisters (Elvira, Butterfly Princess and Glinda) get transported back to the 1700's where they have to use old school magic (apples and brooms) to protect the birth of their great grandmother and the first witch in their family's line. Leo dresses in his old WWII army uniform as well! Honorable mentions to two unofficial Halloween episodes, season 5's "Sympathy for the Demon" where fear demon Barbaras attacks the sisters fears, and season 8's ep where Billie fights crime dressed as a slutty superhero.

FELICITY
Season 1's "Spooked" picked up with Felicity getting close to Ben because they were robbed together. Then Ben gets distant -I know what a shocker. COSTUME highlights: Julie as Catwoman, Elena comes dressed as a SUBWAY employee, Felicity is the Bride of Frankenstein, and Ben shows up as a duchey stockbroker. Honorable mention to the "Twilight Zone" themed "Help for the Lovelorn" in season 2 and the episode where Meghan wants Sean to go to a fetish club. Best line: I think I just saw Ben making out with the pink power ranger." -and not referencing Amy Jo Johnson's Julie- the actual pink power ranger.

DAWSON'S CREEK
The one, and only, Halloween episode of DC came in season 6. So be default, "Living Dead Girl" wins. Dawson throws a Halloween party and thinks he sees the ghost of a dead girl.

A Note About Fall Music I Can't Stop Spinning: Animalism in Music

I've noticed an increasing about of songs coming out that really relate to animals. Not the fuzzy love and uicorn types, but the bear your teeth, run throuigh the wind, howl at the night version. Here are my top 4 animal themed songs.

4. Animal Song- Savage Garden
It's an oldie (from 1999's Affirmation), but a very spiritual song about the free spirit. Running through the jungle with the wind in your hair and the sun at your feet never sounded so good. The rythmic drumming in the background takes on a tribal nature AND sounds like footsteps.

3. Feral Love- Wakey! Wakey!
From their recent album (Everything I Wish I Said Since the Last Time I Saw You- great title!), is more than a standard "lamenting about a former love track". It's got a dark and twisted "my love was taken away from me in a hunting incident" feel. Wakey! Wakey! frontman Mike Grubbs was also a guest star on One Tree Hill last season playing the Tric bartender. They played some really great tracks from the band during the later part of last season.

2. Portions for Foxes- Rilo Kiley
I didn't discover this fabulous song (from the 2004 More Adventurous release) until about four years after it was played in the Grey's Anatomy pilot (When Meredith drives through Seattle to the hospital), but I fell in love with it. Nothing like a bad romance (yes I went there) to leave you as as portions for the foxes.

1. Animal- Neon Trees
I went through a recent weekend of hearing this song over and over, but having no idea about the artist, song title, or most of the exact lyrics were. Try doing a web search for "Take a Bite of My Heart Tonight" and see what I'm talking about. After a lot of searching I finally found this track (from the 2010 Habits release), which is getting some great radio play. I'm pretty sure their song was on some CW show recently.

A Note A'bout the GREEK

First of all, strange weather going on...

That being said, happy belated birthday to Katy Perry and happy wedding to her and Russel brand. In a twisted kind of celebration, I finally saw "Get Him to the Greek" tonight. Interesting movie, although we turned on the subtitles because RB was "pre'ty bloody 'ard to 'ear," but then again, so was Diddy. This is definitely not a family movie,(even if you are forty) and other than the overall idea that Mr. Snow (Brand) needed to get on stage at the Greek theater, it wandered all over the place. The promos definitely hyped it up to look like more...

A Note About Post #50!

There have bene 50 posts realized (actually written and published) since that April night I started.

Cheers!

A Note About Celebrating Halloween Part 1: 90's Family Sitcoms

In honor of Halloween, I'm doing my most (and probably only) Halloween-themed event this weekend. Here are my five top sitcom Halloween episodes of 90's sitcoms. Check back for the five best Halloween drama episodes.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch
(Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - but not 7)

A show about a teenage with has tons of Halloween-themed episodes, which makes the selection tough. (While the WB-year episodes in the later season weren't always filled with the best of storylines, and Season 7 was again basically lost season, there is some great material). Season 2's "A River of Candy Corn Runs Through It" is the best, where Sabrina's first mortal Halloween party turns into a disaster, complete with possessed furniture and a river of candy corn. "Good Will Haunting" from season 3 is also a great episode, where another haunting happens at Sabrina's house, during a Halloween double-date (by a creepy possessed doll).

Boy Meets World
(1,2, 5, 7-only in theme)

Point of contention here because Season 5's "And Then There Was Shawn" is not actually a Halloween episode, it was done in February of season 5 on top of the the Halloween-themed "Witches of Pennbrook." but has always been discussed among my friends as the best Halloween sitcom episode. This is my choice, with its "Scream" "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "South Park References." During detention (and during the legendary Cory/Topanga breakup), Shaw, Cory, Topanga, Angela, and a guy named Kenny get sentenced to a horror of detention. Must see line: "We'll always remember he (Kenny) was that tall," where a pencil drilled a hole through Kenny's skull and into the wall and "It's against the Geneva Detention Convention." Jennifer Love Hewitt guest stars as Jennifer Love Fefferman (aka Feffy, who falls in love with Eric before death by library books. "Witches" gets an honorable mention for Jack dating a creepy witch girl (played by Candace Cameron (Bure) of Full House, and a guest appearance from Sabrina.

Home Improvement
(Halloween themed episodes in seasons 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8)

The Taylor clan was long known for elaborate holiday themed episodes including Tim's annual Christmas roof decorating and Halloween scare-offs. Season 3's "Crazy for You" is my favorite, where Jill takes a (successful) try at out-pranking her husband, the self-titled "King of Pranks." Tim believes he is being stalked at his Halloween party by an obsessed fan, Rose, who is actually Al dressed up like a woman. Jill recruits Al, Heidi, Wilson and others to pull off the elaborate prank. The Taylor boys also dress up as the Three Stooges, all as Moe. Great Jill quotes include "Death was a popular costume this year. Black is very slimming," and "The only costume that was left was this or Bob Vila." Honorable mention goes to season 7's "Night to Dismember," where Mark and a friend make a creepy film for school and worry his parents, playing the youngest of three sons on a killing spree.

Step By Step
(Halloween episodes season 4 and 7).

Season 4's "Something Wild" is one part Halloween and one part geek trying to be cool. Mark meets a punk girl (JJ Jenkins- the hottest girl in the 8th grade) that tries to turn him bad. He ends up leaving his family's party to throw eggs at a house (with a Mohawk). Cody also grows the world's largest pumpkin. Great Al line, "Great. Mr. Wizard is in heat." There's also a great scene where carol comments on her daughters' Halloween costumes, Karen the mermaid, and Dana the lady in a suit (she was dressed as Hillary Clinton). "Dream Lover" in season 7 (the lost season after it moved to CBS) was pretty lame. No honorable mention, just an acknowledgement.

Family Matters
(Halloween episodes seasons 2, 4, 6, 8, 9)

Now the season 8 "Steevil" episode gets a honorable mention for showing Laura cut up in the kitchen cabinets, but I'm picking the season 6 episode "Dark and Stormy Night" where Steve tells Little Ritchie a scary 1800's story about the Von Winslow Family. Check out Nana Winslow as Raggedy Anne and Eddie and Waldo as Siamese twins. Plus, Steve says "Didst I do that?"

A Note About Post-Teen Dramas

The more I watch OTH, the more I find myself thinking to the 2008 web/tv hybrid "Quarterlife." Like a much better and "real" version of My Generation (really??!!- that show only lasted three episodes?- shocker!- I was bored 45 minutes into the first of the one and a half episodes I watched.)

Back from that sideline, Quarterlife was one of those great shows about post-teen life that never got the potential to thrive. There was a scary sense of reality to that show that was so relate-able for me even though I was several years shy of the true quarterlife. AND it was created by the people who created Thirtysomething, which was in the 80s and was about people in a slightly older age bracket- but tackled the same themes and identity.

Now we don't all have those high and mighty One Tree Hill problems, like giving up a career in basketball or having your second kid at 24/25, trying to save your fashion empire, a parent that was sent to jail for corporate fraud, or recovering from a fatal shooting, but then again OTH has always taken the everyday problems and stretched them a little (Lucas's dad blackmailing him to move in because he has to lie to him mom about heart problems, Peyton dating Pete from Fall Out Boy, Uncle Keith getting shot by his brother, Brooke's parent moving out to Cali, starting Clothes over Bros- and really aside from Dan, Karen, and Deb, were anyone's parents really ever around)? But nonetheless, the issues deep down: love-sense of identity-family-friendships-and basketball, have always been relate-able.

Strangely, I've noticed the plots of Mouth and chase both being very real. Mouth losing his job and doing his sports podcast (like from treehillhoops.com back in high school), and Chase managing the bar and his relationships with Alex and Mia (it used to be an all ages club when Peyton started it). And Haley dealing with the death of her mom has also been real- for me- it got a little too real-(see the episode where she jumped in the pool- she was so out of character I thought she was being called Peyton!).

So the quarterlife crisis is alive and well . . .
And Thirtysomething was really the grandmother of all post-teen angsty drama (see example: Garden State)

A Note About Online Voting

I hate voting.

I hate blogger. Deleting two entries in the last ten minutes.

I hate voting for people's choice awards. There are too many nominees for nominations and too many categories.

A Note About Book or Movie

In my first installment of Book or Movie, I'm bringing up "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" and "Charlie St. Cloud."

But my post got deleted.. twice. So Basically I thought both books were worse than the movies.

PLAYLIST
The straight-edge wannabe punks from Nick and Norah were making my physically ill with their wanton sexual desire and indecisiveness. Where the hell did Caroline go? Norah is such an irresponsible friend. And the whole movie plot of trying to find the late night concert given by "Where's fluffy" was sadly lacking in the book's plot. In face, the book barely had a plot. Two kids like each other, pretend to date, and spend a whole night worrying if their hangups can get the best of them.

CLOUDY
The last five or so chapters of Charlie were unrealistic, dumb and way too in touch with one's inner sensitivity to be written by a dude. Sam the ghost shows up in adult form? He tries to use his wind-liness to help Charlie find Tess? Lord give me strength. And charlie became a paramedic and sat at Tess' hospital bedside for days and months. If I woke up form a near-death boating accident, I would want the weird dude to get out of my hospital room. Zac Efron made that movie have life.

A Note About Predictability and Games

Last night I played one of the most engaging tv-centered games I've seen in a long time. Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, I played Hawaii 5-0 Bingo. Filled with predictable and time-honored plot twists, I think I hit bingo about ten minutes into the show. Thanks CR for the great find!

Last night included these bingo scores:
1. Apple product placement
2. Book em danno
3. Grace Park undercover in a skimpy outfit
4. Scott Caan hates his demonic ex-wife
5. Morally ambiguous overweight Hawaiian fella
6. Scott Cann proclaiming love for his angelic daughter
7. Bad guys are part of terrorist cell - this is a pretty common plot twist
8. Daniel Dae Kim lurks in shadowy surveillance van
9. Alex O'Loughlin breaks police brutality laws
10. Alex and Scott flirt shamelessly

sadly there were no boat chases, helicopter rides, car crashes, or Danno saying "Back in Jersey." But surely, next week will cover those.

I really do love 5-0. But I have to ask, why is there no spot on the board for shameless chevy promotions?

A Note About Seeing the Footage on TV

This past Friday night, I saw the episode of Blue Bloods I watched being filmed! -Refer to my September 16th entry about seeing Blue Bloods filmed.

The episode was about an off-duty officer who is shot in a diamond heist. During her family's grief, the NYPD and the Reagan family's quick time frame to catch the criminals and bring them to justice. Commissioner Dad, officer Jamie, Detective Danny, prosecutor Erin, and even retired commissioner grandpa worked on the case.

Here is my horrible cell phone photo from the set.

A Note About Dancing with the Animals

First of all, I think theme nights on reality contest shows are completely overrated. Second of all, when they involve the theme songs of old tv shows, I am far more repulsed than nostalgic. There is a difference on American Idol (for example) of doing a theme "Songs from Musicals" rather than a narrow theme like "Songs from Jekyll and Hyde." Which, is beautiful music, but has no place on AI.

Back to Dancing's asinine theme of tv themes... While Bristol Palin is not the best dancer, and man, had she had her dirty laundry aired, she's been giving it a try. I personally favor Jennifer Grey (nobody puts baby in a corner), but I haven't been following all that religiously. Tonight, Bristol and her partner danced to the theme song to "The Monkees", and they wore monkey suits. Not only is that a cheap trick, but they looked ridiculously stupid.

And as expected, Florence Henderson, AKA Mrs. Brady, danced to "The Brady Bunch" theme song.

A Note About Why I Love Jimmy Fallon

While jonsesing for some new "Robert is Bothered" clips, I found a new jimmy Fallon video where he mocks the Bieb-ster. Love the dance moves and ignoring calls from Alan Greenspan.

A Love Note About Noah Puckerman

WHERE IS PUCK???

After last week's sweet rendition of "Only the Good Die Young," I was thankful Puck was given his due on Glee. But, false alarm, it may have been his swan song. Puck was sent to juve, as most juvenile delinquents are. This brings up the important question: What's happening to Noah
Puckerman. According to imdb.com, Mark Salling is listed for the 2010-2011 season of Glee.

I could not find any news about Salling leaving Glee, other than his second album just coming out (yay!).

On a related note, it was nice to see some of the lesser-sung Glee kids get a chance this week - Mike Chang, Santana, and Quinn - (hasn't sang a stand-along song since she auditioned for Glee club). Strangely, sue Sylvester was not in the episode at all.

A Note About Smelling the Subway

In recent weeks, I've noticed a spike in subway stations being show in TV. My fundamental position is that if you cannot smell the dinginess of the subway - the pee, the homeless people,- then you are not doing your due diligence to your pre-show research.


Blue Bloods- the second episode, which featured a gruesome string of subway murders, looked like a real subway. Ok, so they do actually film in New York, so they have that advantage. But the subway looked like a Subway. A dirty, urine-covered subway. Huzzah!

How I Met Your Mother- In the quintessential "New York" episode, I commend this show, which is not shot in New York (its outdoor streets are fake Hollywood sets) for its real-looking subway. When Lily deciphered the muffled subway conductor's voice, it was a true New York mement. And the subway did not look like it smelled like urine, but it had implications of being a real subway.

Nikita- The NY cat-and-mouse thriller had a subway scene in its second episode, a traditional shootout in the 34th street station. This station was real looking, but way too squeaky clean for Penn station, and it looked nothing like the real station. Props for the real wooden seats!

Covert Affairs- This was in D.C., but the pilot episode ended with another shootout in the subway. It had no implications of urine smell, a way-too-clean subway.

A Note About Why I Love iTunes

As of yesterday, iTunes is offering $0.69 downloads. Head to the music page and check them out.

Categories include 80's music, 90's music, rock, country, pop, alternative, one-hit-wonders, and classic songs.

A Note About Faith

In a GLEE episode directed the themes of religion and prayer, it was natural to expect songs such as "Losing My Religion" and "What If God was One of Us" (shout-out to the great show that was Joan of Arcadia). And of course there was the delightful version of Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young," sung by Puck (Mark Salling), who has been pretty quiet this season.

But in a crucial mistake, GLEE missed the most important song of all. Any guesses. Well, if the episode is all about faith, it might be a good idea to include a song by George Michael.

Any guesses now? No, not his delightful Wham! classics :Careless Whisper" or Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. Not the sweet songs of "Last Christmas." Not "Freedom" or "Father Figure," although you are guessing closer.

Drum roll please.......

FAITH. Remember Faith? The song was even redone by Limp Bizkit, and is one of the few Fred-Durst songs I can tolerate listening to today. And yes, the verses have little to do with someone being in the hospital, but the central message of the song is "I Gotta Have Faith." Kinda sings to the theme of the show, doesn't it?

A Note About I-Raining....

Again, I cannot believe I'm watching 90210. This epic episode has stolen cheesy plots from everything. and the dialogue?? appalling.

HERE IS THE WORST OF THE EPISODE:

NEWSFLASH: Teddy is gay.

OTH Boy Auction flashback: guys in fire uniforms dancing and being sold off to their classmates. Well, I think they wore basketball uniforms on One Tree hill, but close enough. They looked like they were posing for a 98 degrees poster circa 1999.

Liam has a half-black brother? Please no! No more fake half-siblings allowed.

Adrianna is still selfish? Nothing new here.

Fight in the school! Really? Saved By the Bell.

Teens selling their eggs for money cause mom is broke.

Creepy older women stalking high school boys.

The spread of the HIV.

At least the teacher is still somewhat hot..........

A Note About OTH Getting Real

In a shocking juxtaposition between what you get and what you see, One Tree Hill's promos have little to do (tone-wise) with the actual episode. Each episode is full of somberness and sorrow, the angst of your twenties with some soap-opera drama. Each promo is in the 90210-style "Ten Shocking Things that Happen This Week" method, which will need to stop if this show wants to continue with its integrity. And as much as I love OTH, let's agree that its integrity is definitely compromised this season. Not only was season 8 hanging by a thread, but both Clay and Quinn barely lived from that shooting.

Speaking of the shooting nobody should have survived (they were unconscious for like 30 hours), isn't anyone looking for that Katie nutcase that shot them? What happened to Tree hill Justice? Even though Dan wasn't convicted of Keith's murder for a while, they suspected he did it, and he did go to jail. They KNOW crazy Katie killed these people, and nobody seems to bat an eyelash...

But I do like Haley taking over as the narrator. Her bookend letters to Lucas are a cute way to narrate the show and get back to the roots,back when Lucas used to narrate the show. I miss those peroxide-heads. This show cannot go out without Lucas and Peyton coming back.

I'm undecided about how i feel about the new opening credits. I love the resurgence of the credits, but there's a new version of "I Don't Want to Be" every week. It's interesting, but its not comforting.

A Note About New Fall Music I Can't Stop Spinning: Maroon 5

Although cd's aren't really the big thing anymore, I like the idea of spinning discs. I'm dropping the newest cds and the songs I'm obsessed with.

CD: Maroon 5: Hands All Over
RELEASE: September 21st

First of all,I don't know why the cd got slammed in Entertainment Weekly. could it be the new-funk/rock vibe Maroon 5 has built up since its 2007 Release "It Won't Be Soon Before Long?" It would seem to be so. I love the rock/funk/pop/soul vibe. The important theme that holds through all of Maroon 5's work is passion. Songs about love, songs about loss, songs about longing, it all comes from the same amazing deep dark place. I Can't Lie (track 6) about how much I love this cd. It pumps you up, it cools you down, and it can also keep a party going.

Most Addictive Song: Get Back in My Life/ Give a Little More.
Over and over. Still can't stop listening to them.

Sweetest Song: Runaway
Very different from the Bon Jovi song by the same name.

Song I Listen to to Relax: Just a Feeling
A tortured song with a sweet gentle melody about the absolute crush and end of a relationship.

Song that Sounds like Another Song: Stutter.
The shivers that you give me keep me freezing all night .. sounds like the themes of the later "Songs About Jane" tracks (Shiver), but more of a sharp syncopated pop beat.

Best Duet: No Goodbyes
With LADY ANTEBELLUM. Enough said. Listen to it.

Best Bonus Song: Last Chance
"The last chance that I get to love you..." with a rocking funk beat? It's got the anger of older songs but the intensity and passion too. One moment is all about hot flesh and the next is completely jumped to

Best Re/Mix: Two of the three Misery mixes: mix 2, and the acoustic set.

A Note About the Lynchpin of the Group

Bones Is Back!

I'm so glad. Here's the most shocking moments of the episode:

5. Daisy running around in her underwear to thwart guerrillas.

4. Lance looking like Jason Mraz.

3. Wendell working on a bus.

2. Angela announcing she's pregnant.

1. The lab is gone.

Another Note About Opening Credits

THEY'RE BACK!

I'm finally catching up on the season premiere of One Tree Hill, which much to my surprise, totally played the cliffhanger of Quinn and Clay getting shot off as a dream until the last possible moment of the episode, and then what happens????? OPENING CREDITS

The One Tree Hill opening credits, which were first pulled in the season three episode where Jimmy shot up the school, have been missing surely for seasons 6 and 7, and possibly a good portion of season 5 (except for the 100th episode where they filmed Gavin DeGraw singing and playing piano with little Jamie).

As is customary, there were shout outs to departed characters Lucas and Peyton throughout the first few minutes. Plus shots of Lucas bouncing the basketball across the train bridge at sunrise and a shot of Peyton's curly mane in one of Brooke's shots.

In a side note, hellcats is eerily reminiscent of One Tree Hill. Could it be the cheer competitions? The fact that Aly (Marty) looks just like a young Hilarie Burton (Peyton)? Could it be the east-coast southern location? Could it be the two former one tree hill cast members (Quentin and Psycho Derek?)

A Note About Film in New York

I am excited to report that I saw Blue Bloods, new new CBS cop drama, filming in New York today. It was a scene involving police and a diamond center (fake). I am so excited to see this episode when it airs!

I looked up the cast in entertainment weekly. Tom Selleck (magnum or Richard from FRIENDS), Donnie Walhberg (New Kid OTB and brother of Mark), and Will Estes (JJ from American Dreams, and not related to Rob Estes) are in the cast! I may have a reason to watch tv on Fridays.

A Note About Teen Dramas with No Original Plots

AKA 90210.

As a note, I must say my interest in this show has downgraded from interest to 'passing interest- there's nothing else on tv.'

I caught the last half hour of the season premiere, just in time to see 90210 stealing a plot line from something besides its predecessor, the beloved Beverly Hills, 90210.

There was an earthquake that would change lives happening just in time to start off senior year, oddly reminiscent of the plot line of the Sweet Valley High books, yeah, the 90s popular book series, and the following series SVH: Senior Year.

Other bad plot decisions: apparently Teddy is suddenly going to be gay this season. And dad/principal Walker (Rob Estes) has moved out from home, (and hopefully off this sinking ship).

A Note About Tricking out my iPod

My now completely outdated 4th gen. iPod nano was in need of some TLC. I was looking for replacement headphones and a new case, because the current headphones had lost the rubber edging and the case was cracking along the snap-on edge.

Here's what I Learned:
- Headphones have gotten way more advanced. The only option I had was a $29.99 pair, that has a remote/microphone. Which, once i figure out how to use it, could be pretty cool.

- Some Apple stores are so cool and high tech, they don't even have cash registers. I paid on the helpful apple guy's iphone-like device.

- If you don't have the latest version, prepare to spend over an hour looking at cases.

- Not all cases are created equal.The first one I ordered was too snug and the back would fit on, but the front wouldn't stray closed in the corners.

- Cases from the Internet may take a while to ship.

- If you're lucky, you can get s similar case to the one you had. We'll see if it works when case #2 actually arrives. At least I've only paid about 9 bucks between the two cases.

Here's my Thought on the New Nano:
While the 6th gen. version is totally geared toward video, which I like, it's not a good shape. Remember the awkwardly-sized 3rd gen? This thing is so small that it looks like it could break at any moment. And its a square.

And a Final Musing about headphones in general:
Why are they made with so much slack? My headphones constantly get caught on the arms of bus seats, other people, myself. Once I woke up with it nearly choking me. Now, maybe they can sell them in two heights, one for amazons with big torsos that need the extra wire, and most other NORMAL people who have a very small torso-to pocket ratio.

A Note About My Boys, My Friends

Reading today's EW 5 top stories left me shocked. Sunday's My Boys finale is the last we're ever going to see of PJ and "my men," as the episode was loving called. I'm not thrilled. I was going to write a Haiku as Ausiello suggested, but I prefer lists to Haikus.

Some of the Best My Boys Moments
10. Crowleys
9. Kenny dates a pregnant woman
8. Making fun of Andy
7. A Winter heat wave
6. Stephanie and Kenny getting together
5. PJ inviting Bobby to Italy
4. The guys growing mustaches.
3. Getting to see Andy's home, Brendan's room, and Mike's apartments.
2. Brendan becomes one of Chicago's most eligible bachelors and everyone has to stop him from being a total d-bag.
1. Kenny, Stephanie, PJ and Bobby behave like teens and Mike and Brendan behave like gentlemen. With suits.

A Note With an Ode to the Opening Credits

I've been catching up on PSYCH lately, which is a whole other entry worth of an amazing show but somewhere near the opening credits I realized something. Who even has opening credits anymore?

While so many shows dropped their opening credits and settled for a quick flash of the show logo on screen (Greys, One Tree Hill, etc..), Psych is one of the few shows I can think of off the top of my head that still really does opening credits (and Royal Pains does too). I don't mean the credits with just the names of the actors (see True Blood- which has amazing and also creepy credits with a whole good/evil theme).

I mean honest to goodness - here is so and so, he plays a zany next door neighbor, look at him pet a puppy, then do a slow twirl type of credits.

Opening credits (and their amazing theme songs) used to define shows. When you heard the intensity of the ER sirens and pulsating music, you knew it was time for Clooney to save a life. When the friends theme song started, it was time to clap along and do your best impression of the Ross Gellar slow-walk. When "I Don't Want to Wait" pounded, you were prepared to scream at Dawson for being so self-centered. And when the schoolbell for Saved By the Bell rings - (yes rings- I still love watching Saved by the Bell like its 1990).

So PSYCH, which goes over and above the call of duty for credits, should be commended. There have been countless revisions to the song from Japanese to Western to 80s rock to "alien", there have been shortened versions and extended versions. It is the standard to which all opening credits should be held.

A Note About ...GOSSIP GIRL Quotes!

Some of my favorite one liners from the first episode of GOSSIP GIRL.

The only Beau Blair had this summer was on her headband. - Gossip Girl

Jenny looked so good I could see the color of her eyes.... - Mr. Humphrey

The food, the shopping, and the boys on the vespas... - Mrs. Humprey

Is it because you've become a hoarder?
- Vanessa

That girl slept with Tiger Woods for a year and all she got was a chicken wrap.
- Nate

Meet Milo. He's our son.
-Dan

Spotted: B riding shotgun.
- Gossip Girl

Cinderella did not Google Prince Charming.
- Serena

So what if my credit card is my fairy godmother?
- Blair

I'm not leaving. Models and champagne. Don't you remember I used to be a rock star?
- Mr. Humphrey

Looks like Lonely Boy has a baby boy.
- Gossip Girl

I love how it hasn't occured to you that people don't want to see you every day.
- Blair

What would Chuck Bass do in this situation?- Girl
Chuck Bass would never be in this situation. - Nate

The gateau du jour is now humble pie.
- Gossip Girl

Comments:
Chuck rescued by a Jenny look-alike?
Is the girl Nate met GOSSIP GIRL?
Is Georgina coming back? Is it really her baby? - NOT LIKELY

A Note About Distractions

Dear Blog,

Sorry I've been errant. Summer got busy. I went to the beach. I watched good tv. I watched bad tv. I saw movies (several, in fact), and I took in some live music shows and sporting events.


TIME TO SUM IT ALL UP!

Before Oprah can begin her #farewell tour, I'll be blogging about my favorite summer activities.


#farewell tour- a tour where a person appears to be retiring from their career but doesn't stop. See Cher, Bette Midler, Michael Jordan (circa space jam), and others.

And check out john mayer's live ustream concert from tonight, if they post it online. Fantastic!

A Note About 3-Movie Weekend

For the first time ever this summer, I went to the movies thrice in one weekend.

A Note About Christmas Bonuses

Mad Men is finally back. After last week's tense Thanksgiving episode, it's Christmas time at Sterling, Cooper, Draper & Price.

While Sally struggles with her first Christmas without dad, Freddy Rumsen comes back into the office. Throw in a big Christmas party and typical mad man drama ensues! Gifts, girls, and games- plus that amazing conga line-mambo led by Joan.

Ten most shocking parts of the episode:

10. Sally's letter to Santa (aka her father)
This somewhat heartbreaking letter from Sally showed how well she is not taking her parents' divorce.

9. Sally and Bobby running into old neighbor Glen
Glen, who is apparently living with his harlot mother and her new husband, starts giving Sally advice about divorced parents. Glen ransacks Sally's house, leaving her room untouched. Could this preteen hooligan be Sally's first love? And how did her get into the house? I could have sworn Bobby let him in, but it looked like the family just came home.

8. Roger playing Santa at the Christmas party
Obliging his guest, Roger dresses up like Santa and passes out cigarettes to everyone at the party. Even more shocking, Harry sitting on his lap.

7. The return of the Lee Garner Jr.
The head of Lucky Strike (brings back good memories of the first episode), Lee, plans a surprise visit to town, and his presence suddenly means the office Christmas party has to be less "convalescent home" and more "Roman Orgy." Since Lucky Strike is about 99 percent of their business, "Lee Garner ... can get 3 wise men from Jerusalem" in the words of Roger Sterling.

6. The return of Freddy Rumsen
Freddy is back, and he's 16 months sober! Plus his Ponds account could bring a much-needed 2 million dollars into the company. Still the same: Freddy is an old-fashioned jerk.

5. Peggy tells off Freddy
Peggy, who took care of Freddy time and again after he was drunk (and peed himself) at work, has finally realized that Freddy isn't a great guy,. Drinking or not, he's still sprouting out old classics like, "Girls who don't wear cold cream will never get married. If young girls used it (ponds), they would get married and they wouldn't be so angry." Classy, Freddy.

4. Peggy pretending to be a virgin
So nobody's caught on after all this time that Peggy had a baby? With Pete? At least Pete finally found out. (Speaking of Pete, it was so good to see Trudy again - she's now playing Annie on Community). Back to Peggy, who also had sex with Duck Phillips -ew- several times last year- has decided to play the good girl card with her new boyfriend, until the end of the episode, where she fake lost her virginity. Great line: "You're never going to get me to do anything Swedish people do." - which brings me to another important thing-

3. Don turned down by TWO women
Don's nurse neighbor (Reed from Grey's Anatomy), AND the consumer researcher both turned him down.

2. Don has sex with ANOTHER secretary
He leaves his keys at the party, then asks his secretary to bring them over. A few minutes later, he's all over her on the couch. So much for divorce changing a man...

1. And now she's in love with him
Heartbreaking to watch her open her Christmas bonus.

A Note About Lilo in Jail

Chelsea Handler did a great skit about Lindsay's mom and sister going to visit her in jail. http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/07/27/chelsea-lately-spoofs-lindsay-lohan-jail-visit-video/

It's worth it to keep watching the clips from the 4th hour of "The Today Show" about air travel and and "The View" about women choosing to become lesbians.

A Note About Vartan

Dear Michael Vartan,

Thank you for making "The Kilborn File" bearable. You are charming and show off KC's abrasive personality. Your five answers were sweet and when you said youbeautifully said you had to remove a boyle in french, my heart was stolen.

I need to watch HawthoRNe.

A Note About Pregnant Teens on TV

I'm so done with seeing pregnant teens on television, but since I've been reading more glee scoop, I can't help but think of the comical pregnancy of McKinley's former head cheerleader, Quinn Fabray. Here is list of the best pregnant teens on TV:

10. Amy Jurgens (Secret Life) The only reason Shailene Woodley's whiny and obnoxious is on this list is because her hysterics are so dramatic it's to the point of comedy. Next time the drummer in the school band hits on you, follow Nancy Reagan's advice and JUST SAY NO!

9. Adrianna Tate-Duncan (90210) Jessica Lowndes' trampy Beverly Hills teen might be the worst teen mom ever. she was taking tons of drugs during her pregnancy, drinking, and wasn't sure who the daddy was. By the time she got her life together and found sweet Navid, she was considering not giving up the baby for adoption. Looks like she's lost a lot of sleep over not keeping her kid since then. (NOT!)

8. Corey Conway (7th Heaven) Alicia Leigh Willis, known as Courtney from General Hospital, first brought attention to the plight of pregnant teen athletes when she befriended Mary Camden. Plus she married teen father Wilson much later on in the series.

7. Cordelia Chase (Angel) Not only was Cordy pregnant at 18 after a one night stand with a demon, but a few years later she gave birth to one of the ultimate evils and paid the ultimate price, slipping into a coma she never recovered from.

6. Jen Linley (Dawson's Creek) It happened in the five year forward jump of the last episode, but Jen finally completed Gram's worst nightmare, getting pregnant and left by some horrible dirtbag. Of course, BFF Jack was there to step in and help raise the baby.

5. Tess Harding (Roswell) Long before she played pregnant Aussie Claire on lost, Emilie de Ravin was ruining relationships by secluding alien leader (and apparently her husband/alien king from a previous life) Max. One night yielded baby Zan, and finally sent Tess out of Max's life and back to the home planet.

4. Andrea Zuckerman (Beverly Hills 90210) The original teen mom, played by Gabrielle Carteris, was top of the class at West Bev. College came, she got a little irresponsible, and she had to leave the show (and the Bev Hills area) after getting pregnant and married. She ended up divorced :-(

3. Quinn Fabray (Glee) Dianna Aragon's pregnant cheerleader continued to make quippy comebacks until her water broke at regionals. Plus she pitted babydaddy and bad boy Puck against her dumb but sweet boyfriend Finn.

2. Lane Kim (Gilmore Girls) Keiko Agnea's lovable Lane Kim showed that you can be a rock and rolling teen (ok, maybe 21-year old) and still be a parent. It took moving into a house with her bandmates to get Lane to break her mother's tight control over her life. Soon after falling in love with bandmate Zach, three wedding ceremonies and twin baby boys followed.

1. Haley James Scott (One Tree Hill) After a season-long romance with the star of the basketball team,"tutor girl"became "tutor wife" then by graduation she was married "tutor mom". Seven seasons later, she and Nathan are still together and expecting a second child.

A Note About Amazing Affairs

Just finished watching USA's new series"Covert Affairs." I can't say enough good things about this show. It is phenomenal. Covert Affairs is the 20-teens re-versioning of the beloved ABC classic "Alias." Piper Perabo could easily be a distant relative of Alias sweetheart Sydney Bristow, played by Jennifer Garner.

First of all, Perabo's Annie is human, easily making a slip-up on her first mission out of spy school, but coming back to save the day in the end (realizing her now dead contact faked his own death so he could assassinate a well-known Russian author). It's nice to see a character that isn't ashamed of talking about her bad past relationships, balks at the idea of impersonating a "call girl," then flawlessly pulls it off in front of the questioning but cute FBI agent, and has guys falling over her within minutes of entering the CIA office (the CIA office that has a Starbucks!) Annie's relationship with her sister Danielle is sweet and developing well.

Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty, Popular, Jake 2.0) is back in the "Marshall" role of Alias, playing Auggie, the CIA info guy and tech guru. It's nice to see an incredibly attractive man play a geeky guy without looking too geeky. Plus he's adorable, a total ladies' man, and he's blind. By my friend C's definition: he is HOT!

And to make it better, Annie's past lover, who vanished from her life one night in Sri Lanka, has come back, saving Annie from a Russian Assassin, only to jump on the subway and disappear into the night. What's going to happen with him? I can't wait to find out.

Plus, Peter Gallagher, affectionately known as Mr. Cohen to me, is one of the CIA directors! I love this man. Only two more days until the new episode... to see more about Covert Affairs, read the NY Times article.

Upcoming: Jennifer Love Hewitt stars in "The Client List"
Summer TV: Part 2!
John Mayer Concert review!
Mad Men debuts in a week!

News: Maroon 5 Live at the Beacon Theatre July 27th!- no public tickets, but it's on TV!

A Note About Moonlight

Back in the 2007-2008 TV season, CBS was ahead of the TWILIGHT craze with a show called "Moonlight." Private detective Mick St. James was the ultimate cool, and much like a former vampire private detective, Angel.

Moonlight was hot, intense, and tragically pulled after 16 episodes. Maybe the world wasn't ready for vampire mania at the time. (Over 6 months before the Twilight movie opened).

Image my delight and surprise when flipping channels tonight, I found Moonlight on the CW. (WB)/CW has decided to resurrect and air Moonlight episodes after The Vampire Diaries for the summer!

On a side note, I do love Vamp. Diaries, and have been remiss on keeping up with the season. Luckily, season 1 comes out on DVD at the end of August.

I jumped in tonight to episode 6 of Moonlight, where Mick uncovered a former flame of best friend Josif, (the wonderful Jason Dohring from Veronica Mars) that was killing other vampires and using their blood as a drug that kills humans if they ingest too much silver-yuck!

What a perfect match up. I see a lot of parallels between Vamp. Diaries and Moonlight (and of course Buffy): a young girl, an old guy with a past he's not proud of and the ability to kill her if he gets too close. It's a never-ending an irresistible plot line. Can't wait to re-watch more Moonlight!

And to see Eclipse tomorrow... can't wait!

This entry is for CR for putting up with all my vampire talk.

A Note About Summer TV, Update 1

I've been catching up the last few days on summer TV shows. Here's the lowdown:

Burn Notice
It's an been a great story with Michael having to deal with burning another spy. I like the character of Jesse, the renegade spy with nobody to turn to, but frankly, he's messing with the plans of the "dream team," (Mike, Sam, and Fi), more than I can really tolerate. He provides a nice foil to Michael's mother as he's become the most recent house guest.
Things I could pass on: Jesse doing a a Jamaican accent, hostage situations, Jesse going on missions with just Sam or just Fi(ona) and splitting the story...
Things I want to see more of: Sam as "Mike Finley", his great alter ego, Mike's southern low class accents, Fi outwitting dumb businessmen and bikers, Mike spending time with his mom

Royal Pains
AKA Hank Med, this show became a favorite of my family last summer. Paulo Costanzo is great as failing younger brother Evan, CEO of HankMed, and his classic "moonlighting"-esque repartee with Divya match the great scenes between Hank and hospital administrator Jill.
Things I could pass on: Jill's wanna-be McDreamy Husband Charlie-who has thankfully already left town, Hank's father dating, Dr. Emily Peck, Boris's ladylove, HankMed being broke...
Things I'd like to see more: Marcia Gay Harden as the cranky surgeon at Hampton Heritage Hospital, Dieter- butler of Boris, Boris- the mysterious benefactor of Hank- (who recently appeared on Damages), Andrew McCarthy's Marshall David Bryant IV and his son Tucker (hopefully they'll be back this season), the Fonz as Hank's deadbeat father...

Pretty Little Liars
The first episode of this show was like a WB-flashback: part One Tree Hill, part Veronica Mars, part Gossip Girl. It's good, it's bad, it's addictive. That dead Alison girl is like the second coming of Amanda from Melrose Place. I can't wait to find out what's going to happen with A's mysterious messages and what really happened to Ali the night she disappeared.
Things I could pass on: shameless promotion of the KIN, creepy Jenna, crappy father figures, the Maya and Emily "friend"ship, people in their late 20's playing high school students, girls constantly making out with everyone they meet- Aria and her adorable teacher, Spencer and her future brother-in-law, Emily and her neighbor Maya, Hanna and her pretty boy- Erik Von Detten wannabe boyfriend, Hanna's mom and the cop,
Things I'd like to see more: Ezra the cute teacher- in a relationship with someone who is over age 20- maybe Aria's mom, Hanna's mother getting some self-respect, Tobe and Emily's friendship, Aria's brother, lipstick on the mirrors, Spencer going completely "Jessie Spano", a.k.a. I'm so excited, I'm so scared...

Persons Unknown
I accidentally stumbled along this show, and I'm so glad I did. People trapped in a 50's style town, being watched by creepy cameras? It's like a ABC Saturday night movie that gets progressively better and creepier every week. Plus, a reporter somewhat hot on the trail of a creepy grandmother, it keeps you interested. Is it a military training camp/government experiment/purgatory? Is it a murderers colony?
Things I could pass on: beating up the guy from brother's keeper- he is such dead weight in this town, Tori turning up dead, the new prisoner, Chinese food every day,
Things I'd Like to see more: Joe and Janet's sexual tension, Joe taking down the people who he used to help out with this whole confusing experiment, the dad from charmed as the mysterious, ambassador in Italy, what happened to the soldier guy in Iraq