Catching up with the midseason shows

Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles: Confession: I've never watched any of the Terminator movies. I know, I know, I've been meaning to watch at least the first two for years now but they've just been buried deep down on my Netflix queue of 150+ (getting trumped by things like Avonlea and various BBC productions) and I just haven't gotten around to them. That didn't stop me from watching this show though...and with a little help from wikipedia, I think I sort of know what's going on? And so far, I've been enjoying it, though maybe not blown away. Lena Headey is much more convincing at the ass-kicking than say, Michelle Ryan of Bionic Woman, and I always love Summer Glau. Thomas Dekker as John is kind of the weak link for me, although it seems like they've been trying to show more that he's going to grow up to be a hero. I'm not that interested in the FBI part of the show, and the time travel part kind of confused me, but overall it's been a pretty entertaining show.

Eli Stone: I'm not that much of a legal drama fan (although I was really into The Practice for a few seasons during its earlier seasons) but two things attracted to me to this one: Greg Berlanti and Jonny Lee Miller. Thanks to Everwood, Brothers & Sisters, and Dirty Sexy Money I am officially a huge Greg Berlanti fan. And I kind of have a thing for Jonny Lee Miller. Anyway, the gimmick with this show is that Eli, the main character, learns that he has an inoperable brain aneurysm that's causing him to have hallucinations that seem to be pointing him towards taking on cases to help everyday people rather than the big corporations that his firm usually defends. The visions are really kooky...the first episode featured George Michael, of all people, and it seems that he'll be making more appearances. It's all pretty amusing, and it's made even better with Victor Garber, another favorite of mine, who plays Eli's boss, and a funny acupuncturist who thinks Eli is a prophet. I'm not too sure about Eli's fiance, Taylor, though, and whether we're supposed to like her or not...she's been kind of blah so far. Also in the cast is Julie Gonzalo (Parker from Veronica Mars but with brown hair now), who might end up being competition for Taylor? But overall the show is definitely being carried by Jonny Lee Miller, who I think I now love even more. He's awesome!

Lipstick Jungle: A comparison to Cashmere Mafia is inevitable because the two shows are just stupidly similar. People seem to be divided on which they like better although most think both are generally pretty bad. Maybe because I've already seen a few episodes of Cashmere Mafia now but I think I liked that one better. Part of my problem with Lipstick Jungle is that I've never been a big fan of Brooke Shields, and I completely cannot buy her as the head of a big movie studio. I guess her character, Wendy, is supposed to be "nicer" than your stereotypical businesswoman, but she seemed so frazzled in the pilot that I didn't get any sense of power at all. And I mean, do head of movie companies really work in New York? Plus, the deal she was trying to work with Leonardo DiCaprio and a Galileo movie? Just random. I also have a problem with the Lindsay Price character. Victory is kind of a terrible name and she seems like she's at least 10 years younger than the other two so I don't get why they're all friends. And her little storyline with the Andrew McCarthy character is really terrible. I've never been a big fan of Andrew McCarthy, even back in the Pretty in Pink days, and his super billionaire here is just annoying. Their stupid banter with Victory not wanting to be rescued by his money, and him saying that he's losing $20,000 by talking to her in person...blech. I thought the only bright spot here was Kim Raver, but she really deserves to be on a better show...