Lance Hardwood: Sex Architect

Seriously, this season of How I Met Your Mother has been outstanding. Marshall being seduced by a potential employer and the porn convention episode this past week featuring ‘the other Ted Mosby’ was excellent. Even all the double entendres were well played. If you are not watching this show, perhaps you should be. It is 22 minutes a week of solid 20/30-something entertainment. You have 22 minutes don’t you? Find it.

We have been talking a lot on this blog – and by we I mean me – about great self reflexive moments in television. This year alone we have had Carrie Fisher busting out Star Wars lines, and Jack Donaghy talking about his cousin Tim. And now comes this past week’s episode of Las Vegas. Now that Tom Selleck is running the Montecito, it only made sense that when his poker buddies showed up for the weekend that it would be his old castmates from Magnum. To make matters even more entertaining, the back story of how they made their money was selling a helicopter company. BAM. Good times.

I said I was done reviewing Rules of Engagement because it’s always the same. Well this week was no exception. I love Patrick Warburton, and his drunk rendition of ‘Get Into My Car’ was too good. As was the line:

“I can’t help it, she downloaded these ringtones into my phone”

“Well, see if you can download some nads into your pants”

More later…

NBC.com presents: How to Not Do Work Today

So I went their website today to see if I could watch me some Jack Donaghy highlights from last night. Low and behold, the brass at the Peacock were already well aware of the genius that was Tracy Jordan's therapy session and wrapped it up in a nice two minute video for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.nbc.com/30_Rock/video/#mea=172124

While you are there, feel free to check out the 35 other 2 minute 30 Rock clips they have thrown together...including an awesomely akward and just slightly explotative video of Cherie trying on halloween costomes for Kenneth - made especially for the website. When your ratings are in the can and your network is fighting to be relevant, that's when the real creativity comes out. Here is to hoping they never get back to #1.

Break Me Off a Piece of That.....

As good as it gets I think. Write down the date somewhere.
The Office and 30 Rock gave their two best performances of the year last night. I didn't get to Scrubs yet and I am sure Earl was very creative or something like that, but all in all, this is by far the best Must-See Comedy lineup across the board ever.
Somewhere Jonathan Silverman, Breckin Meyer, Brooke Shields, Kirsty Alley, Christina Applegate and 100 other brutal excuses for Thursday sitcom stars are wondering what went wrong. Although kudos to Applegate for getting her show picked up for the whole year by ABC - I won't be watching it, I prefer my Christina Applegate young, dumb, slutty, and poor - and I plan to keep it that way.

THE OFFICE
"We don't want to waste your time Michael"
"Don't worry, I don't get paid by the hour. I get paid by the year"

Throw that in with Dwight Shelman's second-second life, break me off a piece of that , Michael shouting out 'Light it Up Phyllis!', Darryl and team's awesome song/harmony, Michael's final commerical (with Kelly in India and Stanley as a prisoner) and it was just awesome. Awesome.

30 ROCK
I am getting to old to remember lines from all these shows, but this episode deserves a second look (and maybe a 3rd). All I am going to say is that if you didn't respect Alec Baldwin's work before this episode...well, I don't think it gets any better than Jack Donaghy helping Tracy with his daddy issues. Oh.My.God.

I have been told I missed some old Star Wars lines from guest-star Carrie Fisher like 'Save me Liz Lemon, you are my only hope' - which is funny because I just ranted to you earlier this week about how much I love that self reflexivity crap. Huh, looks like I was too caught up in everything else to even notice. That is how well done 30 Rock is. GE Followship Award..good stuff.

America is Sick...

Seriously, I watched the first three SVU episodes this season and I am offically disgusted. Maybe it is because my kids are a little older and I feel vulnerable as a parent, or maybe its that I am getting older and my tastes are changing, but suddenly sitting down to a 60 minute rape/incest/molestation/beating/torture/muder isn't doing it for me anymore. Everytime its over I just want to cry or re-enact the Jim Carey shower scene from Ace Ventura (which he pulled from the movie where that chick turns out to be a dude).

And here is the worst part - and don't worry America I am not judging you - ok, I am. But if you take this show, and throw in Numbers, Criminal Minds, and at least 2 of the remaining CSI-type shows each week - they all do boffo ratings, and they are all gross murders. Why is this so appealing to us? I am no shrink, but maybe we enjoy it because the crime is always solved and the bad guy always goes down -- but honestly, the killings get worse and more graphic every week.
I read an article which says from the censors standpoint, you can show more skin on TV with a dead woman than a live one - -and that is why a lot of these shows go with the half-naked prostitute corpse routine -- its sexy television. Wha? Excuse me why I hurl.

Moving on....

Gossip Girl. First three episodes great. Last three episodes S.L.O.Wwwwwww. Let's get a move on folks....
I am hearing the same thing for Reaper - I have them all TIVO'd, but every review says it lost steam after the first episode and its very boring. So at this time, Reaper is on hold.
'Back to You' got picked up for the whole season, so now Kelsey Grammer can afford to crash another six figure sports car into a wall.
'Big Bang Theory' officially sucks. As predicted, the same joke is played for yucks over and over and over again. But you know who finds this show funny? The laughtrack. I saw an episode that went down the double entandre path of 'sticking your bow in my cello' and 'I love your fingering'...are we really doing that on CBS? The home of Murder She Wrote?
'HIMYM" was solid again this week. We learned about the scale Barney uses to judge women on their crazy vs. hot quotient. That was very well played. He named his crazy scale after a girl named Mendoza - I thought that was funny and explained it to Lauren. She almost found it clever.
'Rules of Engagement' - I am not going to review this show anymore. Here is my final review and it goes for all episodes going forward:
David Spade as the single guy who gets all the chicks: still not buying it.
Oliver Hudson and the chick that plays his fiance: neither can act or have comic timing.
Patrick Warburton: one of the best sitcom actors of our time hands down -- can deliver even the dumbest line and make it sound funny. He kills me.

OFFICE TONIGHT AND THE RETURN OF SCRUBS!!!!!

3 Episode Waiting Period

With the advent of the Tivo/FauxVo/DVR comes the concept of waiting on high-concept shows. Waiting to see if they find an audience, waiting to see if they find a creative direction, and waiting to see whether or not the show is a go. If you were like me, then you got burned on 'Eyes', 'Reunion', and 'The Nine' in recent years. All three were good shows, all three had serious potential, and all three were yanked before they made it to Thanksgiving. WTF?
Remember 'Emily's Reasons Why Not'? Do you? One episode last year and it got the hook. I just don't get how a network can put in all that time and effort and money and give a show less than a month to find its way. Cheers was the lowest rated TV show on the Neilsons after its first year. Seinfeld was basically cancelled and sent to burn-off over the summer before people found it. Sometimes I wish they would just wait and see. The money has been spent and the marketing effort put forth - just relax and let it play out. Kind of like the Vikings with Tavaris Jackson -- ok, bad example.
Enter DVR and the '3 Episode Rule'. Just let them collect, see how it goes with the critics, ratings, and word of mouth - and if it makes it to four shows, then enjoy your mini- marathon!!! Good times for all.
Why do I bring this up now? CBS cancelled Viva Laughlin after 2 episodes in different time slots. High concept? Yes. Silly premise? Yes. But did you even give it a chance to catch on? No.

Weekend Rewind

At this point, I am like a political blogger not watching debates. I am a restaurant reviewer who has been making his own dinner, I am a gardener who put a sport court in the backyard, I am an auto racing writer on a bike ride.

I am just not watching any scripted TV right now. A lot of it can be blamed on the baseball playoffs and the NFL/College Football season. I am sure some of it can be attributed to age – I used to be able to stay up and watch TV until 2 AM, I can’t even come close to that anymore. Some of it is due to just general responsibility as some kids’ dad and some lady’s husband. Turns out clothes don’t wash themselves nor do houses clean themselves nor do lunches get made magically. Although growing up, I could have sworn that all the above was true.

But here is the real reason….is there anything compelling on TV right now? Is there a water cooler show that has to be watched in real-time, or at least that night?

There is only one in my world – The Office. It gets discussed, broken-down, quoted, re-quoted, and misquoted over and over again beginning Friday morning. I went to a party Saturday night and I think I talked about it for an hour. 30 Rock comes close, its fun to talk about that show too, but the urgency isn’t there.

What else is there? Heroes? Do people get all excited to talk about it? Is there a buzz around this show such that every move is documented in the USA Today and online news services the next day? Nope. There are really only a couple of these shows besides the aforementioned workplace situation comedy:

-Dancing with the Stars (reality, no thank you)

-American Idol (ditto, and not on TV yet)

-Lost (please come back soon!)

-24 (lost its way last year, but ye shall have faith)

I only watch the last two, and right now I cannot wait to start breaking down Jack Bauer and finding out what unbelievable, unfathomable, and utterly improbable scene is coming next. Same for Lost – you know if you miss it on Wednesday night you better stay off the internet until you do. USA Today usually leads with Lost information like its real news.

Anyway, all I am trying to say is that I still plan to knock out my current rotation of seven comedies and nine dramas – its just that none of them make me want to come home, put the kids to bed, turn off the computer, and sit down and watch TV.

Here is what I did see this weekend:
-'Til Death' - Haven't stayed awake through an episode yet. Didn't even make it to the second commercial break this week.
-'Curb Your Enthusiam' - Good as usual, always laugh out loud funny, always uncomfortable. I will miss this show when its gone, but I think at this point it has run its course.
-'Mad Men' - I am about 4 shows behind right now (anyone can catch up on AMC On-Demand). I really, really like this show. As I have said before - very stylish, well written, well acted, very interesting. Nothing ever happens really, but this week once Don Draper got busy with what I believe is his first Jewish sexual conquest, he subsequently began to open up to her about his childhood and get in touch with his feelings for the first time. Surprise, Surprise...

Two Offices and 30 Rock

Lets get right to it. I loved this episode of The Office - you know, the one where Ryan was asking Michael to do a PowerPoint presentation and he hadn't yet loaded it onto his laptop. Where Michael taught us all the "Power - POINT", and I can now repeat over and over, "Click the start button, pull up the tool bar (that's what she said)." I even enjoyed the uncomfortable humanization of Michael at his other job, "I wonder what I would have been back home?"...where they lost me was at the Shrute farm. Sorry, I like Dwight as the office nut, and I can only assume his home life is odd. To see it through the eyes of the loving Jim and Pam was filler for me. But give me more Power-POINT, more Daryl and Miss Kapoor, more Scrantonicity II, and more Creed any day of the week....

30 ROCK IS GENIUS
I knew they still had it in them. That whole episode was genius top-to-bottom. What I would like to focus on is one line. One perfect throw away line that shows how clever, how smart, and how awesome this show really is and can be....
First, some history...there is nothing I enjoy more on TV than a little self reflexivity. When a show or actor can make fun of themselves and who they are, or how the show is percieved, within the context of the show. The Simpsons are really good at this, The Family Guy has had its moments (like the Robot Chicken Star Wars parody conversation between Peter and Chris was very well done). The OC characters once met the stars of the show 'The Valley' which was their own parody of their own show -- they were very good at milking the 'Valley' bit. I wish I had more examples off the top of my head -- I will work on it this weekend. But any time an actor mocks a prior performance in a subtle way is good enough for me. I am not sure where to classify this 30 Rock line, but it was just so fast, so simple, and so self aware that I stood up in bed and applauded. OK, I did this in my head - but you get the point.
So what was it? Did you catch it?
When Steve Buschemi (great performance) is asking Jack Donaghy if he has any skeletons in his closet, or relatives with skeletons, he mentions quickly in passing that his cousin Tim got caught fixing NBA games.
Loved it. Genius. Great writing. Great Tracy Morgan this week too.

I also saw that the Big Bang Theory got picked up for a full season -- good luck to them. I have watched all three so far and can tell you for a fact - they are out of material. Good night folks, don't forget to tip your waitress.

TPIR and other thoughts....

Any daytimers out on OP-EDTV land seen the new Price is Right with Drew Carey? I am going to have to TIVO that thing to see whats going on. Do you think they left everything the same including the cheap set and long microphone? Or do you think they gave it the 'Millionaire/Deal' makeover with a dark set, big lights, and loud music? If someone has seen - let us know. We need to know.

I read an article where the author was commenting on how Olberman's show 'Countdown' on MSNBC which one could call the cure for 'The O'Reilly Factor' has been rising in viewers and has either caught up with, or passed, the once untouchable zone with no spin. The author concludes the reason must be the Countdown format - 5 top stories and worst person in the world segment. Yeah...that's the reason people are watching Keith -- the format. No one should ever call the media liberal ever again.

Can someone please tell me what the CW stands for? I don't think they have answered this one yet. Hang on, I am going to google it.....nope - they don't know either. The stock is worth $600+ and they don't know.

Tonight is The Office and 30 Rock. Color me fired up. This is the last 60 minute Office for some time. And hopefully the first funny 30 Rock.

A Week with No Drama

I am sure there have been some good shows this week and I am sure you don't want to hear about how I haven't watched any of them, but its been one of those weeks. Last night I went to bed at 10 for the first time since 9th grade - that was interesting. I have never actually been so awake in the morning that I think I realized I have been using the same razor since 1997. Anyway, Lauren watched Beauty and the Geek last night while I tried to sleep but instead listened to her go - "Oh Wow", "Wow", "Really?" -- yes folks, its that episode, the one where the geeks are transformed into hunks with a decent hair cut, some gel, perhaps some highlights, and more importantly my wardrobe of a decent pair of jeans and a non-tucked in button down. I know, I know, how could anyone else anywhere in America choose to do this to me and wear the same thing. In breaking news, I am not a fashion trendsetter.
I am sure they all came out looking nice because Lauren was talking back to the TV which she never does. We call this a 'Hoffman' - where Lauren thinks I am on the phone but in fact I am talking to either Jack Bauer or the writers of Lost, depending of of course on what I am watching. Do other people do this? I need to know. I like talking to Jack Bauer, I think it helps him. And I like telling the writers of Lost what I think as the show is going. Lauren just thinks I am fucking crazy.
I know a guy who is very close friends with a Lost writer. One time I told that guy to tell the writer something I thought, and then that guy told me that he told his friend and I believe him. Either way, it was a big day. Because I think they need to know that there are actually Lost fans out there that don't take to the internet and rip the show to shreds scene by scene all in the name of 'being a fan'. Please, just sit down and watch the damn show.
If we were all that involved in our shows, then we would be making crazy internet posts like this:
"On last week's Gossip Girl, I am pretty sure that when they were in the hotel elevator, it had buttons going up about 50 floors. But when they show the hotel from the outside, it couldn't have more than 4 floors. MY GOD? Are they in a different hotel, is there a time space continum issue? Did they die and are now in pergatory? We must break this down and start a seperate forum"
Anywho - we did watch How I Met Your Mother on Monday night and Rules of Engagement. I will continue to say this about Rules: Patrick Warburton kills me, I wish his show the Tick had made it, he was even better on that. I also still struggle with the casting of David Spade as the single ladies man.
HIMYM - solid show, better than the tricycle episode, good twist at the end, and I agree with Ted and Barney, Marshall has no game. I should know, I think I am him.

Weekend Rewind

Having spent the WHOLE weekend at a work conference in St. Louis, my total weekend TV time logged was about 2 hours - and all of that was on Sunday night when I got home.
The good news is I couldn't watch the Badgers go down in flames - its easier to deal with on BlackBerry refreshes of ESPN Mobile. The bad news is I missed Adrian Peterson's breakout performance on Sunday. In this case, refreshing on ESPN Mobile doesn't do his work justice. My hotel room TV had a brutal red tint to it, and I was pretty tired (read: drunk) to finish either late baseball game on Friday or Saturday.

For those of you scoring at home, here is what is piling up on the fake-TIVO:
Big Shots (3 episodes)
DirtySexyMoney (3 episodes)
Chuck (3 episodes)
Pushing Daisies (2 episodes)
Las Vegas (3 episodes)
My Name is Earl (4 episodes)
Law and Order SVU (2 episodes)
Sarah Silverman Program (2 episodes)
Womens Murder Club (1 episode)

RE: Womens Murder Club. My trusted reviewers said that as far as TV Murder mystery shows go that are not about collecting forensic evidence - this is the first one in years that didnt star Angela Lansbury or Dick VanDyke, and is also pretty good. I also enjoy the acting stylings of Angie Harmon, so by defualt this show goes on automatic 3 episode probation. Its a Friday show so I figure why not?!?

Friend.SDR told me not to get into Friday Night Lights until I watch the first season. So I plan to knock that out sometime before 2008 is over, then I will move onto season 2. One fear I do have though (as do all fans of FNL) is that its ratings this year can barely top 5 million people. This show (which everyone says is genius, brillitant, awesome, best-on-tv) cannot seem to find an audience and is probably not long for this world. I will place this show in the category with Studio 60, Eyes, and more that can't come to mind right now of shows that were too good for their own good, and for one reason or another, just couldn't get a large enough fan base.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS
I am now mentally checking out everytime Justin and his mom come on screen. "Take the pain meds, I won't take the pain meds, take the pain meds, I won't take the pain meds"....and scene. My god, give me the pain meds. Other than that I didn't enjoy this show at all this week.

GOSSIP GIRL (from Wednesday)
This is still my favorite show in the TIVO right now for some reason - maybe cause its just fun and I ask nothing else from it. Low expectations are the best kind of expectations I guess.
This week, Nate gets taken by some 21 year old hanging out with high school kids and Bair and Serena look hot in expensive outfits while Dan continues to blow the best chance he will ever get with the most popular girl on the upper east side. This show does need to get moving though a bit. I think it might be stuck in neutral.
"We'll see you next week for some continued slow moving plotless action, XOXO Gossip Girl."

THE OFFICE (from Thursday)
My brain is too-fried to remember much, I plan to rewatch it. But here is what I loved:
-Daryl and 'Miss Kapoor's' impending relationship
-The air horn underneath the pelts in the trunk
-The party invite to 'Chat Room', "does the address have a WWW in front of it?"
-The breakdown of the two pizza places by Kevin and Oscar, "one is like eating a garbage circle"
-Stanley dancing to the website
-Ryan's buzzword bingo breakdown of his work, "apples to apples/end of the day/from 30,000 feet"...it was all great stuff
-Angela and Phyllis
and of course....
-Andy's speakerphone version of 'Take a Chance On Me' was pure genius through and through.

Best.show.on.tv

The Office (Weekend Edition)

I am off to St. Louis for a 3 day work conference over the weekend. Uh huh. That's right. It's on the weekend. Business Casual attire required.

I am pretty sure they are having a breakout session in my hotel room on Saturday at 2:30 called "Managing Client Expectations while breaking down Badgers-Penn St". It should be a good one.

I will blog The Office when I return, but would love to hear your comments before you forget...hope it was a good episode, see you on Monday.

Brothers and Sisters Talk

We finished up Sunday's B+S last night. Again, very dramatic - my god they are going to drag out this Justin injury for all its worth I bet. They even threw in the 'is Justin dead' tease at the beginning of the show just for some overkill. What they don't realize is that TVguide or TIVO or whatever you have on-screen already told you in the mini-synopsis that Justin was coming home.

Do you think there is a way to turn off the on-screen program guide? I only want it to tell me what the show is, and if its new. The rest I would prefer to learn for myself. During 24, you could go out like three weeks to see what is generally going to happen. I refuse to try that trick with 'Lost'.

It's good to see Rob Lowe really streching as an actor. If anyone can point out to me anything different between his West Wing/Lyons Den/B+S character besides their names, I would be interested in hearing about it. So really, its just like a watching a Sam Seaborn dates Ally McBeal spin-off. Because really, Calista isn't really doing anything different either other than she can't see a dancing baby this time. I digress.

Terrible news to report....Per TVGuide.com, Chevy Chase has signed on to do a few episodes this year playing an old friend of Nora. I am surprised he was available. I wonder if he will be playing a former funny-man turned angry jackass.

The Tricycle

On a very special 'How I Met Your Mother', Ted and Barney have a championship belt for the man who can have the first tricycle. In French I believe it is called a 2 on 1. You see, they have mostly had bicycles, and Marshall had a unicycle that morning. It was all very clever -- and then the whole thing got really drawn out because Ted kept calling everyone to see what he should do and it got old. Yawn. Did he do it? Most likely, they left us hanging. I am surprised I was able to sleep. In other news, I was told last night I would not be having any tricycles.

On Sunday night we watched the Housewives program which remains on 3 episode probation (copyright Dave Cecchi). It wasn't so bad, but when it comes down to it - I am bored with Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman is bald, Teri Hatcher is so fucking annoying, and as I have said before, Nicolette Sheridan is not for me. That leaves Marcia Cross whose Bree character is great, but the problem is I keep waiting for her to pull off her hair to reveal and evil scar and then accuse Dr. Michael Mancini of trying to kill her. Its just one of those watershed TV moments of your life...one minute you are just sitting in the Towers innocently watching Melrose Place and out of nowhere Dr. Kimberly Clark reappears, back from the dead, to wreak havoc on the beach house. I don't think I got any work done that night.

Also viewed this weekend besides 19 hours of College and NFL football....Gossip Girl episode 3 which just keeps getting better. And what did NOSTRAHOFF tell you about 4 post earlier about Gossip Girl? Lets check....yep, he said at least you know it will last a whole season. And guess what is the first fall show to be picked up for a whole year? No, it's not K-Ville Anthony Anderson fans....its Gossip Girl. Call me 15 and Sally, but I like this show.

One of my many 10's of readers, a fine attorney in downtown Minneapolis, has asked me if I am planning to be reviewing a new MTV show called 'A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila'. I was unfamiliar with this show so I did some research. It turns out MTV has finally decided to merge the bachelor with the bachelorette and found a bi-sexual Hawaiian looking woman on the hunt for the perfect man or woman. Seriously -- what took them so long?
Here is the lovely Tila's bio:
Internet sensation Tila Tequila has clawed and scratched her way to fame. The bisexual beauty made a name for herself, on her own terms, and built a social network of more than 2 million MySpace friends. But getting to where she is today wasn't easy.

Wow, I am sure it wasn't. So no, I will not be watching this show unfortunately. And I am not being arrogant or elitest or even snobby - for shit sakes, I loved Lisa Loeb in '#1 Single' and didn't even spell half the words correctly in this posting -- I just don't think this show is for me. I do however leave the comments section to you fair reader -- if you like it, let us know - you know we're all reading this.

Thursday Ratings

Direct from TVGuide.com....

8 pm/ET
Survivor topped the hour with 14.06 million total viewers, which is on par with last week. Betty bungled 1.25 mil to deliver 9.78 mil. While NBC's Earl (eight mil) dipped 520K, lead-out 30 Rock returned to 7.38 mil, a 53 percent surge from its first-season finale. ("SeinfeldVision" does work!) Smallville (4.56 mil) was down 520 thou.

9 pm
CSI (20.8 mil, down 16 percent from its mondo premiere) again trumped Grey's (18.13 mil, -2.3 mil), albeit not in the key demos. The Office (8.49 mil) lost more than a mil, while Supernatural (2.97 mil) fell short of last season's opener by 800,000.

10 pm
Without a Trace won the race with 14.5 mil, albeit a 13 percent week-to-week drop. ER (8.99 mil) saw a mil check out, yet this week bested ABC's Big Shots, which due to massive second-half tune-out plunged to 8.66 mil.


Personally I hated Seinfeld vision, but 7.5 million turned out for it which is like 20 million to NBC these days...so hopefully they will come back next week when the show should be back to normal.

Must See Thursday

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TV Tidbits...

Here are some things I am hearing from my insiders over at TVGuide.com. Thought you might find them interesting so I am passing them along - all courtesy of Michael Ausiello:

BROTHERS AND SISTERS:
Steven Weber is coming.....Weber's character, Graham Finch, is a private consultant who is brought in to help expand the Walker family business. And although Sarah is initially resistant to the idea, she ultimately succumbs to his charms.

The rest of his insider info about upcoming shows and casting news can be found here:
http://www.tvguide.com/Ask-Ausiello
He has a lot on Grey's Anatomy and other shows I don't watch.

See you after The Office and 30 Rock.

Gossip Girl

I only watched one show last night - I think I am getting old.
Anyway, it was last weeks Gossip Girl and I like it. Maybe its because Blake Lively is pretty hot, maybe because it reminds me of 'Cruel Intentions' back when Sara M. Gellar was still a young up and comer who didnt get a huge ego, marry Freddy Prinze Jr. and blow off the greatest teen drama of all time for a movie career as Daphne on Scooby Doo or some torture porn whore in an haunted house.... or maybe its because it gave work to Kelly Rutherford who was totally underappreciated as Michael Mancini's hooker turned wife turned ex-wife turned girlfriend of Dr. Peter Burns on Melrose Place circa 1997. But its nice to see her acting again.
I also like this show because its on the CW which means even if only 15 people watch it, its still a hit and primed for a 3 year committment. You don't get that from any other network anymore.
Wouldn't it be nice to see a new show marked 'gauranteed' for at least a season? Then we wouldn' have the problem we had with 'The Nine' and 'Reunion' -- and this is also why I have trouble starting a lot of new shows that are quirky or have bad buzz or bad timeslots. If Brad Childress can still have his job for the rest of the year, then ABC can damn well promise me that Pushing Dasies isn't going to get yanked after 3 weeks. BTW - it starts tonight and I am very excited.

Also, someone asked me in the comments if I watch any shows with 'sexytime'. I haven't watched it yet, but some people are recommending 'Tell Me You Love Me' on HBO which chronicles the lives of three couples as they constantly fight and screw - all of it in your face in screaming hi-def. So, if that is something you might be interested in - you can find it OnDemand.

Sitcom Monday

As of now, the regular Monday lineup is going to include 3 CBS comedies and Chuck on NBC. 24 we will back back in the winter and by then I will down to 1 or 2 CBS comedies and Chuck will be long cancelled. But for now, this is how I am going to roll. I don't do Hereos - got to the table too late on that one, and to be frank, I am all sci-fied out right now.

Watching CBS is funny, because besides 90 minutes on Monday, I watch nothing else on this network. But from what I can tell, during any given week, there are at least 5 murdered prostitues, 3 missing kids, 2 battered spouses, and 1 child molestor all being hunted down by some combination of David Caruso, William Peterson, Mandy Patinkin (for now), Gary Sinise, and Mark Harmon. Couldn't they just make one show out of this? Like the Justice League?

Anyway, on to the night that was:

CHUCK - on the DVR schedule for tonight along with last weeks Gossip Girl and Dirty/Sexy/Money. At this point, all three Law and Orders are going to take a backseat until the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years break. Check back to the blog in December for nothing but Mariska Hargitay and Vince Denafrio breakdowns.

How I Met Your Mother - good as always, nothing special...I enjoy this show because as far as I am concerned, no other show has come close to HIMYM when it comes to showing the reality of life in your 20's -- except the bachelor party episode last year which was just stupid. Doogie Howser can do no wrong - Barney has got to be one of the better characters to come along in the last few years. Also, Ted's rant last night about how he would do anything to get laid, but he would NEVER GO TO NEW JERSEY was outstanding. I am sure my Manhattan readership loved that scene.

Big Bang Theory - I am opening this one up to the comment section. If you watched it, let me know what you think...I don't have an opinion yet. Seems like a one-joke pony to me.

Rules of Engagement - Pretty much anything Puddy says is funny to me.
Spade: "Did you wash your hands?"
Puddy: "Sign said employees must"
I don't even mind David Spade on this show. I could take or leave Oliver Hudson, but I can tell you that most of the acting talent in that family went to his sister. Last night Heather Locklear made a guest appearance. All women should look that good when they are 65.

Tonight is make or break on Beauty and Geek - that show has been very good for three seasons but the freshness rating is quickly expiring.
I am also getting excited for PUSHING DASIES tomorrow night - every critic seems to love it and the buzz is great, so I am hoping it is excellent. I hear its a bit quirky and maybe an acquired taste, but I am excited for some originality.

Sapster Night

First things first -- I updated the comments section so that anyone can post a comment. I didn't realize it was forcing you to register - that's stupid. So please feel free to provide your own opinions as well, this should not be a one-way street.

So Sunday night's are back. Thanks to a terrible, terrible Sunday night football game we sat down to the usual Sunday lineup a little earlier than usual. 15 loads of laundry goes perfectly with Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters.

We've decided to give DH three weeks to turn it around since last year was so bad following on a year that can only be described as even worse. The minute Lynette got out of bed with a bald head, I knew this was going to be a lot more serious and a lot less fun. Fun and campy was the whole point of why the show was great in year 1. The good news is, it was actually a pretty funny episode and that bodes well for experimental weeks 2 and 3. The bad news is, we have a possible molestation storyline on the horizon (again) and I am really sick of Carlos and Edie. I can see why Nicolette Sheridan and Michael Bolton seem to be perfect for each other.

Let me ask you this question about B+S? How good at driving are the Walkers? I can only assume each Walker drove seperately to the restaurant. I counted at least 2-3 Tequila shots per Walker (that they actually showed), and when the dinner didn't work out (they were all drinking on empty stomachs), they immediately headed back to the Walker house. What's more interesting is that they were stone sober when they got back -- so yeah, I guess storyline continuity isn't going to matter this year.

Anyway - I like this show. It's very sappy, very soapy, way overacted and very emotional to the point of being ridiculous...but its good. I have no logic to explain it, its just good. I will say this though - another season of the same old 'what else can go wrong to us' might become tiresome. We'll have to see. For now, I am still in.

Capped off the evening the only way any good night should end -- with some very solid, smart comedy. Larry David is a genius. A lot of people get frustrated by him, and I see that. But all I know is that he and Seinfeld point out the comedy and frustrations among the daily mundane, and Larry is still doing it brilliantly. Until last night, I never noticed that I cannot hold the phone to my 'other' ear, it just doesn't work. Surround that with some serious concerns about bathroom frequency and some classic Suzie and it was a great way to finish off the weekend.

Pretty excited to see if Chuck can keep it up (I liked the premiere) and I am also enjoying HIMYM as always.