Thursday Talk Week 3

J: Which shows have you given up on watching recently, and why?

Jennifer: I stopped watching Ugly Betty this season. There wasn't really any one thing or moment that made me stop, I just realized one week that I just wasn't enjoying the show very much anymore. The show has a lot of great characters, but somehow I just stopped caring about them, especially Betty, which is problematic since she's the main character. I've also stopped watching Scrubs (I tried a few episodes of the new incarnation but I think I'd really just rather leave it at last season's written-as-a-series-finale) and 24 (I didn't finish last season and I don't think I'll be bothering to start this season). Also this might not count but I also never really got enough into Flashforward and V and won't be watching when they return.

Mira: I gave up American Idol because I realized that I spent more time complaining about it than enjoying it. Except I cheated a little today and watched for 20 minutes to see Kristen Chenoworth (sp?). I've also unofficially given up 90210 and Melrose Place. The fake reason is because the shows are so stupid beyond description and I can spend my time watching better stuff. The real reason is because I fell behind and the episodes I missed aren't available on hulu/cwtv anymore. They're a very, very guilty pleasure but I'm sure with more time away from the shows I'll learn not to miss it anymore. (Kind of like when I gave up The OC.)

Catching up with...

Ugly Betty: Sometime last season I started to kind of dislike Betty. I mean, her optimism and such has always been a little annoying, but with the Henry-Gio love triangle thing, I started to just not care as much about her. I realize she's the protagonist and we're supposed to be rooting for her, but honestly I find her love life to just be uninteresting and maybe a little unrealistic. Yeah, she's spunky and good-hearted and all that but I think the three episodes of this season so far has been the longest we've seen her without a boyfriend. And they've already set up her new neighbor a potential new love interest. Geez! I'd like to see Betty do a little more with her career...all her attempts to move along with becoming a writer just get trumped by all the other stuff going on, like the flip-flopping of power at Mode. I'm glad things are more or less back to status quo with Daniel as editor and Wilhemina as creative director. We do need more Marc and Amanda though. Overall, it's still entertaining but I'm not quite so much in love with it like I have been in the past.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: This show gets like no buzz whatsoever which makes me fear for its survival. I thought the first two episodes this season were kind of boring, but then things started to get a lot more interesting. The episode with Charley's wife getting kidnapped was really gripping (and I kind of that Dean Winters), and then the one with Cameron recalling memories of the girl that she was modeled after was an interesting departure. Summer Glau did pretty well differentiating the machine Cameron from the actual human Allison and Cameron thinking that she was Allison. (And Leah Pipes from Life is Wild was in the episode! That girl needs to be in more stuff, I really like her.) And then this past week's episode with more of Derek's future with Kyle and John was really well done also.

I'm not sure why Sarah seems to be stuck in these more boring B-stories lately though. Spending time in the hospital with the pregnant neighbor (played by Busy Phillipps from Dawson's Creek, who actually was pregnant). Helping a little kid with a book report? I think Lena Headey is one of the more convincing female action heroes on TV of late so I guess I kind of like her kicking butt and not just sitting around. This show is like a total career-changer for Brian Austin Green though...he's GOOD. Who woulda thunk, right?

Brothers and Sisters: I'm still kind of annoyed that they de-Walkered Rebecca last season only to reveal that there's ANOTHER potential Walker out there. And I'm still having a little trouble with the Justin-Rebecca relationship. It's still a little creepy to me. And like, what do those two, um, DO? Is Justin still recovering? Does Rebecca have a job? Go to school? Does no one care? I'm glad that Kevin and Scotty are happy together and they seem to be laying off that relationship drama for awhile. And I'm also glad that Robert's no longer running for president. But the all-out family fights every week are getting a little old...

Bones: Sometime last season I started to really love this show. But then they kind of ruined it with Zack turning out to be a murderer. And then they continued to ruin it by randomly breaking up Angela and Hodgins for reasons I still don't really understand. But I guess the show is still essentially the same...Booth and Brennan are still entertaining, the different interns every week in Zack's spot are amusing, and the cases continue to be wacky and creative.

The Office: Jim and Pam are engaged!! I love that this show has managed to keep this couple really cute and natural and TOGETHER without adding unnecessary drama. I'm not so much a fan of the bizarre Andy-Angela-Dwight situation. I just...don't get it. And I kind of hate that Ryan is back as the receptionist. The direction they went with his character was funny, and we all know Michael still has a man crush on him, but giving him a reboot seems unnecessary. Michael and Holly are fun though, and it's funny seeing Michael try to take the Jim approach and become friends with her first. I thought the weight-loss episode was a bit dumb, but did like the ethics one a lot better.

Playing catch-up

I know, I know, I've been a bit delinquent with the blogging lately. So here's some random stuff on the shows I've been watching:

Gossip Girl: My favorite new show of this season, hands down. And I'm not afraid to admit it. New York Magazine loves it too, and their weekly recaps are totally hilarious. I'm kind of disappointed in what they did with the Vanessa character though. I might be completely making this up but in the books I thought she was a bit more...dark and sullen and edgy. The TV Vanessa is positively sunny, and she's not different enough from Serena to really be a good alternative for Dan. And the way they've set up Dan and Serena to be the like "it" couple for the series...I'm kind of not sure what she's even doing there besides giving random sage advice to Jenny. Oh well.

Friday Night Lights: I'm so glad Coach Taylor's back in Dillon. I thought the first couple of episodes of the season were just kind of too depressing but they've returned to more of a balance. I'm kind of meh on the whole Landry storyline...both Jesse Plemmons and Glenn Morshower are acting the hell out of their roles but I liked Landry better when he was the comic relief. And I'm sort of meh on him being on the football team...the episode where he saved the game and everyone was chanting his name was a bit much for me. I am glad that Julie has gotten over her heinous rebellious stage and apologized to Matt. But I'm also glad that Matt hasn't given into her. That new cheerleader is so just a random rebound though. Loved Smash inviting Riggins over for dinner, though I kind of wished we got some wisdom from Mama Smash. I don't really know what they're doing with Jason though...he keeps diving into things that he thinks will give his life meaning: first quad rugby, then coaching, but I guess he's still looking for something else. I did kind of like him as a coach though...

Ugly Betty: Soo....as much as I like Henry, all the Betty and Henry angst is getting kind of boring, and I almost want him to just go away so that Betty can get over him. I mean, that whole Wicked episode was kind of just terrible. (I'm actually still waiting to see Wicked on Broadway but I really didn't need to watch all those clips of the show.) Otherwise though, the show is still pretty awesome. I LOVE Marc and Cliff! It's just so cute and sweet and I'm just eating it up. And Victoria Beckham was actually pretty funny in this past week's episode. Oh, and did anyone else flash back to Caleb Nichol when Bradford keeled over at the altar??

The Office: I know that Michael's antics are kind of like the basis for this show, but I have to say that it's almost always the other stuff that I enjoy more. Sometimes the stuff that he and Dwight do is just so preposterous and stupid that I don't find it terribly funny. That said, I really liked the little tag at the end of this past week's episode where Michael and Jim have that really normal conversation. It was really refreshing to see that Michael's not insane all the time, and it was still funny.

Heroes: Finally got somewhere last week. And interestingly, Tim Kring, the show's executive producer has gone on record admitting that the beginning of the season pretty much sucked. Let's hope things get better from here on out. Although with the writers' strike thing there's a possibility of no new episodes after December...

Chuck: This show has really been growing on me these past couple of weeks. I don't know why nobody, including me, can stop comparing it to Reaper, but while Reaper's been suffering from bad pacing and repetitive storylines, Chuck's been getting more enjoyable by the week. Each episode has Chuck and Sarah and Casey going on some mission or whatnot, but the variety so far has been pretty great. Even the B-stories at the Buy More have been entertaining. This past week's episode we got to flash back a bit to when Chuck was at Stanford and how he got kicked out, which I really loved. I remember in the pilot I was having trouble buying Chuck as this socially inept person but now I totally see how he was really a pretty happy average guy at Stanford and it was him getting kicked out that just messed him up. I mean, I know that we've been told this all along but now I finally believe it.

The Amazing Race: It's back! I can't believe how long it took for me to get hooked onto this show...NINE seasons aired before I starting tuning in. This season has some interesting pairs, including those requisite bickering dating couples that you wonder how they ever decided that going on the race would be a good idea, and a pair of Goths who I wonder how long are going to keep up with their makeup. Fun times.

And finally, Project Runway Season 4 premieres this week! Am excited beyond words.

Sophomore slumping?

A bunch of the shows I'm watching are in their second seasons now, and that brings up the question, are they facing the sophomore slump? Here's my verdict so far:

Heroes: Definitely slumping. I think part of what was exciting about last season was that we were just meeting these characters in their separate worlds and there was this anticipation of their storylines converging and everyone meeting up. But now everyone's separated again and I don't get a sense of where things are going at all. Some of the stories still interest me, like Claire and her flying boy, West, and I'm actually liking Micah and his peppy cousin Monica. And thank goodness Mohinder and Matt and Molly in New York are actually doing something productive.

But Hiro? The thing with Kensei was amusing for maybe one episode but why are they dragging it out? And Peter in Ireland? Milo Ventimiglia does look kind of hot in all those shirtless scenes, but the whole memory loss thing is so not working for me. And I KNEW he wasn't going to want to open the box. Stupid Peter. And finally, our two new heroes, Maya and Alejandro...after watching them on the run for three episodes and having basically nothing happen to make us want to care about them, they run into Sylar. Whom, by the way, I despise. Yeah, he's the bad guy and I'm supposed to hate him, but bad guys should be entertaining to watch in some respect, and for me, he's just not. I don't want to watch him. I DON'T.

So...yeah. I mean, even last season I didn't think Heroes was as great as people hyped it up to be, but it more than held my attention. So far this season I've just been kind of bored. The promos are hyping Kristen Bell joining the cast in next week's episode but I don't know that I'm necessarily excited about that. Obviously I was a huge fan of Veronica Mars but I get the feeling her character is one of those smartass sarcastic chicks that I usually find kind of grating. We'll see...

Friday Night Lights: Umm...I hate to say this, but I'm worried. Things just aren't right with Coach Taylor not in Dillon with the Panthers. I know that this shakeup with pretty much every character is intentional but I can't say that I've been really enjoying it. I'm especially not enjoying the fracturing of what last season was one of the best families on the TV (the Taylors) and the end of my favorite couple from last season, Matt and Julie. I mean, when the scenes I enjoy the most involve Buddy Garrity of all people, something's got to be wrong. It looks like Eric will be back in Dillon pretty soon, but he's going to have an uphill battle getting things back to normal both at home and on the field.

Let's start with Julie. In my review of the premiere, I said that I was kind of okay with her and Matt breaking up and exploring other things, but I didn't want them to make her too unlikeable. But it's happened. I mean, even outside of her love life, she's just being HORRIBLE to her mother. Last night when she told Tami "your baby's crying" I pretty much wanted to kill her. And even though Tami slapping her was probably a little over the line, I'm kind of glad she did. I really hope this little rebellious stage of Julie's is going over soon because if it keeps going then she's not even deserve to have Matt back (assuming that's the plan...which I suppose it might not be). Although I don't know about Matt either now. I thought it was so cute how he was apologizing to Coach about the breakup when none of it was really his fault and Coach didn't even know about it, but then I'm really afraid of where they're going with him and Carlotta. What is up with these Dillon Panthers and older women??

I mean, it's not all bad. I was worried about the Landry-Tyra thing but oddly enough that's really been the least of the show's problems. I liked how Landry's father reacted in this week's episode. I thought he was going to confront Landry in some cliched TV parent way but instead he goes to see Tyra and asks why she's into his son. (BTW, Glenn Morshower aka Agent Pierce from 24, is so the perfect casting for Landry's dad...LOVE him!) Somehow I'm actually finding the Landry/Tyra dynamic to be pretty believable, but I kind of miss the old goofy Landry.

I don't know, I'm hoping that once Coach Taylor is back with the Panthers things will seem more right again, but that really remains to be seen. I want so badly for the show to continuing being as awesome as it was last season, but maybe my expectations are a little too high?

Ugly Betty: Definitely NOT slumping. I really consistently enjoyed this show last season although I never really blogged about it. But this season so far has just been AWESOME. There was a bit too much melodrama in the first episode for my taste but things since then have been back to all crazy wacky fun. This week's episode had a ton of incredible guest stars, including my favorite SpyDaddy Victor Garber as Betty's snobby writing teacher, John Cho as Henry's fellow accountant, and James Van Der Beek as one of Mode's top advertisers. Yes, James Van Der Beek. As you may know, I have this bizarre love/hate thing with Dawson's Creek but the sight of Dawson Leery himself cracked me up.

Also beyond awesome this season is Justin. First he's all fashion elf-y at Mode, then he asks Daniel to play basketball with him (totally classic), and now he's trying to be Santos, complete with sullen attitude, beer, and making out with a Queens girl! (I'm actually from Queens, but you can't really get offended by the stereotypes on this show.) And...Ugly Willy! And Alexis waking up from the coma not knowing she's a woman now! And Amanda and Marc! And Henry! I LOVE THIS SHOW!

Thursday night favorites

The Office: So how cute are Jim and Pam? (Or as Kevin has dubbed them, PB&J.) I was a little surprised at how the camera crew got involved to get them to reveal they were dating, but I liked how after awhile Pam just figured she had to admit it. I don't know where they're going with this, I read in some interview somewhere that it's not going to be exactly what we expect, but for now the shipper in me is happy!

Outside of all that, I think that what makes the Office so great is all the bits and details, but sometimes I'm kind of iffy on the main storylines, especially when it revolves around Michael doing something stupid and Dwight backing him up. So I really don't know about these hour-long episodes because they just kind of seem dragged out. Oh well. I can't possibly remember all the little things that made me laugh in the episode to recap, but I liked it. I am hoping that Darryl gets more screentime this season though because he really cracks me up.

Ugly Betty: During last season's finale, I thought it as pretty much a foregone conclusion that Santos was dead, so I was really super happy to find out that he was alive. I thought that it was a bit odd that Hilda and Santos were just like holing up in her room for weeks, but with Betty and Justin acting pretty much normal I kind of brushed it off. But then as the episode progressed...I knew it was a sort of dream sequence fake out thing, and man. That was sad. And I felt just a little bit manipulated...

I mean, it almost made the rest of the episode seem a bit...weird. Like Justin (the fashion elf, haha) was totally adorable as usual and I wonder if he's just not dealt with the fact that his father died just a few weeks ago. And all of Betty's moping over Henry...the little telenovela bit at the beginning was hilarious but the rest of it was a bit overdramatic, especially her little outburst at the fashion shoot. Shrug. I did love the parts with Amanda and Marc, of course, and I really always love the friendship bits with Betty and Daniel. And there was a classic Ugly Betty-esque twist at the end involving Alexis which should makes things interesting. But I hope we're done with the emotional wringer for a little while and get back to the wacky fun that we all know and love.

On a side note, I just discovered that Becki Newton (Amanda) and Michael Urie (Marc) host an official Ugly Betty podcast. They're completely awesome so I figure this podcast has to be as well. Are there any other TV-related podcasts out there that I should be listening to?

2007 Emmy nominations - surprisingly not horrible!

Sooo...every year I claim to not care about the Emmys but every year I pay attention to them anyway. This year, though, they changed the whole nomination process in hopes of fixing the problem of having all the same shows nominated every year and color me surprised but it kind of worked!

The awesome:

• Jenna Fischer for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series!!!
  
• Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series - Jeremy Piven, Kevin Dillon, Neil Patrick Harris, Rainn Wilson?! This is so the dream category!!!

The good:

• Nods for Sally Field and Rachel Griffiths on Brothers & Sisters.
  
• Writing and directing nods for Battlestar Galactica (and some other technical ones). Nothing in acting, but we'll take whatever we can get.
  
• Top Chef and Project Runway face off in the Reality Competition category!
  
• Tons of nods for Jane Eyre, which I totally fell in love with earlier this year.
  
• Haha, Mia Michaels and Wade Robson both got nominations for Best Choreography on So You Think You Can Dance!
  
• A bunch of nice Ugly Betty nominations. I wasn't really surprised by this though, the show is pretty Emmy-friendly.
  
• Everything Comes Down to Poo and Guy Love from the Scrubs muscial both nominated for Original Music and Lyrics

The bad:

• Grey's Anatomy for Drama Series, really? Even people I know who love the show agree that this season was pretty bad.
  
• At least Friday Night Lights got a directing nomination, but that's all. Sigh.

The weird:

• What is up with all the love for Boston Legal? I honestly didn't even know it was still on and people were actually watching it. And I mean really, Boston Legal over Friday Night Lights???
  
• Studio 60 got a few nominations as well. I mean, truthfully I did like the pilot but uh, talk about a show that lost steam.
  
• Ugly Betty for Outstanding Main Title Design. Um, if I'm not mistaken, don't they not have main titles? They just follow up an unattractive shot of Betty with a yellow screen and UGLY BETTY in huge caps. I mean, yes, it's extremely effective, but didn't seem like it was really a lot of work...

Finale report, Part 3

Ugly Betty: So obviously this show is not afraid to be totally ridiculous and since it's based on a telenovela, things are bound to be crazy. But somehow I wasn't too big a fan of the twists that the season finale brought. I mean, there was a ton to love in the episode, with Wilhemina trading Marc for a wedding date, Amanda and Christina getting stuck in the "love dungeon," Charlie turning out to be pregnant but then also a cheater, and Justin singing in his school musical. But Amanda being Fey's daughter? And Santos getting gunned down in a convenience store? I suppose the Amanda reveal could lead to lots of funny stuff, but the Santos thing is just horrible. Seriously, poor Hilda! I'm not really worried about the show next season or anything but I guess I just kind of wish they hadn't gone there.

Regardless, I know I haven't blogged much about this show, but it's been very consistently entertaining and has really had some of the best performances of the season. Nearly everyone on the show has been rocking it big time. My personal faves are Becki Newton, Michael Urie, Mark Indelicato, and of course Christopher Gorham!

Brothers & Sisters: This show was really grown into its own this season, and I'm beginning to think that the Walkers are really one of the most convincing TV families out there. As much as I like the action and sci-fi and gimmicky shows, I still definitely have a soft spot for the more standard dramas. I don't know that B&S has reached the emotional heights of say, Friday Night Lights, but it's definitely one of the most consistently satsifying shows on my plate.

Take the finale. Instead of brewing up some soap-opera cliffhanger, it ended simply and beautifully. By the Walkers' own admission, it had been a crazy year, and it was nice to end the season without a huge amount of drama (though there was plenty of emotion). The scene with Nora and Kitty saying goodbye to Justin at the airport was wonderful. I kind of wished that McCallister's family wasn't so crazy, but it was kind of funny to see the Walkers look somewhat sane in comparison. And loved Kevin and Jason! Eric Winter is everywhere nowadays. I remember back when he was Rex on Days of Our Lives, then he popped up on Wildfire, and hopefully he'll be sticking around on B&S next season (although I believe he's in a pilot that picked up also...). I'm glad they finally fleshed out Rebecca's secret about her affair with an older, married teacher. And I also like that while Joe and Sarah are separating for now, they haven't completely given up yet. I thought the kids' reactions were really well done. In light of all that, Sarah's toast at the engagement party was that much better. And Tommy...poor neglected Tommy finally got some screentime in the last few episodes, and Sarah Jane Morris also got a chance to shine after an entire season in the background. The choice they had to make with their twins was really heartbreaking and extremely well portrayed. And the final scene, with the entire family jumping into the pool was maybe a little cheesy but I thought it was a really fitting and nice to see everyone (even including Holly and Rebecca) in a moment of just pure happiness.

Evidently Greg Berlanti has two more shows coming next season: Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone. I'm starting to really like the guy. I always doubt him in the beginning but he's definitely talented. Yay for Brothers & Sisters.

Upfronts -- Another take

I think what surprised me most about this year's upfronts were how few returning shows I'm going to be sticking with this fall. There's only Brothers & Sisters, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Ugly Betty, the Office, Scrubs, Beauty and the Geek, and Friday Night Lights. There are plenty of new shows, though, and it seems that there are two trends: sci-fi twists, and glamorous rich people...

NBC

• So glad Friday Night Lights is renewed, but are they really putting it on Friday? I know, it's kind of fitting because of the title of the show, but Friday at 10PM? Not sure how that's going to work out.


• Chuck sounds like Jake 2.0, so I might like it.

ABC

• SO EXCITED for Pushing Daisies. I recently watched the full Wonderfalls series on DVD and I'm a huge huge fan of Bryan Fuller and I'm so happy to see Lee Pace back on TV. I'm still kind of worried though, because it really seemed like it could be too quirky for network TV.


• I'll probably check out Big Shots because Michael Vartan is in it, haha.


• Still can't really believe that they're actually doing the Cavemen show.


• Dirty Sexy Money might end up being a guilty pleasure?

CBS

• Really really surprised and pretty upset that Jericho was cancelled. More on that later though.


• Um, Moonlight is Angel. Is it not?

FOX

• New Amsterdam seems to be another version of Angel too. What the heck?


• Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsay. I am so there!


• The Search for the Next Great American Band. This seems to be an extension of American Idol, but is this for rock bands or just like singing groups? I'd much rather see Rock Star come back...


• The Return of Jezebel James, scheduled for mid-season. Amy Sherman-Palladino, Parker Posey, and Lauren Ambrose? Kind of sounds like the dream team, but early reports say that it was a bit disappointing. Will definitely check it out anyway though.

CW

• Pretty relieved that Veronica Mars was cancelled, because all the talk about the show coming back in all sort of different incarnations was just ridiculous and worrisome. I'm pretty eh about the state of the show right now, considering how much I LOVED the show first season. But more about that later with what's now apparently the series finale.


• Yeah, like Mira, I will not be able to resist Gossip Girl. Yes, I read some of the books. Yes, they're trashy. Yes, I'm too old for it. But yes, I will watch it. I also hear that Kristen Bell will be narrating the show as Gossip Girl. She's one of the few actors that I can take hearing voiceovers from, so that's a good sign.


• Life is Wild sounds like it's going to crash and burn like Runaway.


• Reaper could be good. Is this the return to teen genre TV that I've been waiting for?

2007 upfronts

Since Jenn's not around to blog about the Upfronts, here is my opinion of it in short:

NBC

• Yay for giving Zach Braff & co. the opportunity to end Scrubs right.
• Yay for giving Friday Night Lights another season, but they deserve a full one, not just 13 episodes!
• Yay for another season of Heroes, though that is no surprise.
• Boo for canceling The Black Donnelly's and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (though I know that perhaps I'm one of the few people that LOVED that show).
• Unsure what I think of Las Vegas without James Caan and with Tom Selleck instead, but we'll find out next year!
• None of the new shows particularly excite me. So... meh, we'll see.
  

ABC

• No surprise on the renewals of Ugly Betty (which I still need to catch up on), or Grey's Anatomy.
• Yay for them giving October Road one more shot. I really liked it, but it might be just cuz I like Jake from One Tree Hill.
• It's cool that the Lost creators decided to set a deadline for the show. But really, do they need 5 more years? I guess, I won't be starting that show anytime soon...
  
• Surprisingly I'm excited about the Grey's spin-off, Private Practice.
• So what happened to that Traveler show?
  

CBS

• Not surprised by How I Met Your Mother's renewal, but yay!
• Glad to see NCIS, Numb3rs, and Shark will be back.
• May give Cane and maybe Kid Nation a try.
  
• Sad but not surprised to see The Class is gone.

Fox

• Not surprised but glad to see House back.
• Kinda want Prison Break to be over already. Okay, okay, I like the show, it's just inane that he escaped prison in Season 1, he continued to escape prison in Season 2, and now he's captured and is going back to prison.
• Amy Sherman-Palladino making a new show? Yeah, I'm there. The Return of Jezebel James(working title apparently) will get at least a few tries by me.
• Ending The O.C. this past year was the smartest thing Fox could've ever done!

The CW

• One Tree Hill needs to go.
  
• Yay for FINALLY ending Seventh Heaven and Gilmore Girls.
  
• Boo for completely screwing up what WAS a great show (Veronica Mars) by going so back and forth on how many episodes it was getting this year. And now by not making a decision on whether it's getting renewed. UGH. I don't think I will be buying Season 3.
• I probably will not be able to keep myself from watching Gossip Girl, unfortunately.

Has anyone noticed the number of shows about three or four friends of the same gender who bond together to take on the world? Very Sex and the City.

• Lipstick Jungle(NBC)
• Bigshots(ABC)
  
• Carpoolers(ABC)
• Cashmere Mafia(ABC)
• Cavemen(ABC)
• Women's Murder Club(ABC)

Oh wait, it looks like it's mostly an ABC trend!

Shows that I watch but never seem to blog about:

1. Ugly Betty: I'm still really loving this, should definitely write about it more often.

2. How I Met Your Mother: Am super glad that Ted and Robin decided not to move in together. I'm not sure how long they're planning on dragging this relationship out, but the show has been extremely funny and innovative this season and the cast just has great chemistry that gets better every week.

3. The Amazing Race: All Stars. I was pretty thrilled when Rob and Amber got kicked off, not because I hate them with a passion like some people, but because it was just a great twist. Am not so thrilled that somehow Charla and Mirna have somehow taken their place as the frontrunners. I just don't understand their crazy antics and accents coupled with their eerily serene and controlled interview segments in which they seem convinced that they're the only nice and honest people on the show. I'm rooting for Danny and Oswald because they're funny and generally positive and pretty good racers on top of that. Also wouldn't mind seeing Dustin and Kandice do well...I didn't like them all that much last season but they've been floating under the radar this time around despite a few dumb moves.

4. Jericho: This falls into the category of not very good dramas that I watch because I want to know what happens. I still think the show has a great premise, it's just that the execution is kind of nothing special. It's in the same timeslot as Friday Night Lights and Bones, and I really feel bad for not watching Bones, but oh, well...

5. Heroes: So I like this show too. But I'm not super invested in it, like I am with Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars and Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Galactica (the shows I seem to be blogging about most this season). It's entertaining enough but a few things are holding me back. The first is all that Niki/Jessica nonsense. And the second is Sylar. I don't know, sure, he's creepy, but I don't find him to be all that great of a bad guy.

6. Brothers & Sisters: I've been meaning to do a "second chance" blog on this because I went back and watched the entire season to date on ABC.com and I've gotten really into it. I think I go through this sort of process with every Greg Berlanti show (Everwood and Jack & Bobby before this). I think the first couple of episodes are pretentious and sentimental but then later on I somehow get lured back to it and discover that it's actually really good.

7. Top Design: I know, I know, I said that I probably wasn't going to watch it anymore, but it's kind of interesting. No way near as good as Project Runway or even Top Chef, but it's still pretty watchable. I don't care who wins but the designs are fun to see.

8. The Hills: Ummm yeah. For some reason I just love this packaged reality stuff that MTV does. This season has focused a lot on Heidi and her beyond-irritating boyfriend Spencer, but I think Lauren's been growing up a lot and has started standing up for herself, which is really nice to see.

9. Wildfire: Yeah, even more ridiculous teen TV shows. I'm not sure why I subject myself to this one, considering I can't stand Kris anymore and Matt and Kris are boring together, but well, I blame the DVR. In fact, I blame the DVR for most of this list. I don't know if and when they're having a 4th season but I should really seriously consider not watching it. Enough is enough, right?

10. Instant Star: ....or not. It's official, I watch too many teen shows. Anyway, this season seems to be THE season for Jude and Tommy, since she's finally turning 18. It's still a bit ick when you think about it because Tommy's got to be in his mid-twenties at least, but they're kind of hot. Jude's always been pretty self-righteous and I feel like it's been getting worse lately, but the show is still fun.

11. Dancing with the Stars: Well, I watched the first two episodes this season. I don't know why, considering I didn't watch any of the previous two seasons. I'll probably drop it eventually now that a lot of other shows are returning after March hiatus.

Shows I've been neglecting to write about...

I think that I generally find it easier to criticize rather than praise, so there have been a bunch of shows that I've really been enjoying this season but haven't been writing about. Here are a couple of them:

Friday Night Lights - Who would have guessed that my favorite new show of the season would be about football? I haven't even been tuning out during the game sequences like I predicted. Maybe it's because I care about the players? In any case, I've really been loving nearly everything about this show. It somehow has the ability to get me choked up pretty much every week because it's just so dang heartfelt! The cast is made up of mostly newcomers but they're doing an awesome job. Kyle Chandler is doing his best work as Coach Taylor and I love his intensity on the field versus his dynamic with his family. I love how they're handling Jason Street's rehab storyline, although Lyla pretty much annoys the heck out of me. I seem to like Tyra, even though I'm usually not a fan of the bad girl. Tim and Smash are alternately endearing and aggravating but always true to life. And um, I totally have a crush on Matt Saracen. I realize this is pretty pathetic since I'm so far done with high school but at least the actor who plays him is older than me. And because no high school show can ever survive without some good ships to root for, consider me officially on the Matt/Julie ship. Tami should be grateful that at least it's the nicest guy on the team (and probably the whole school, he's so damn adorable) who's going after her daughter. Let's hope he keeps hanging out with Landry (who's hilarious) instead of taking too much advice from his teammates.

How I Met Your Mother - This show has really stepped it up a notch this season. Every episode has so many moments of brilliance, it's incredible. I think the change has been that they've stopped focusing on Ted and his search for love. I like Ted, but his dreamy romantic pinings were getting super boring. Now that he and Robin are together and somewhat stable (for now) the writers seem to be able to stretch their creativity a lot more. Barney's been in top form, and Marshall's been allowed to shine a lot more also. And Robin's teen pop star past was just awesome. That song was stuck in my head for days.

Bones - I watched this only casually up until this season but lately I've been really loving it. It balances the seriousness of the crimes with the quirkiness of its characters extremely well, and I guess it's just the nerd in me that likes seeing extremely smart people doing what they're good at. I love the dynamic between Brennan and Booth, and Hodgins and Angela are super cute.

Ugly Betty - Definitely the feel-good show of the year. It's shamelessly campy and sappy and clever all the same time and I love it. The stab at TomKat (baby Chutney??) in last week's episode had me cracking up like no other. Every character is super funny but they've taken time to make them all sympathetic too (except maybe Walter, can we get rid of him?). I still don't really care too much about the whole Fay Summers thing but everything with Betty's family is wonderful, Amanda and Mark and Justin are hilarious, Daniel's really endearing, and even Wilhemina has her moments. And Christopher Gorham's Henry has been upgraded to recurring!

The Nine - I'd actually been enjoying this show quite a bit, but ABC has shelved it and it probably won't be returning to the schedule. It's kind of bummer because things had just started getting interesting. The last aired episode gave a lot more background info on the characters and I really want to see where things go. Oddly enough I'm not really as interested in what happened at the bank. But I can see why the show didn't gain a terribly big audience. Kind of a shame.

Pilot reviews continued

Heroes - This was the show that I had been most excited about when word of pilots starting leaking out, but it's somewhat mixed reactions from upfronts and Comic Con and TCA press week made me sort of wary. But I really liked last night's premiere. I mean, yeah, a lot of the narration is laughably cheesy, although it helps that it's a voiceover from an actual character who I buy really just talks like that (and who's kinda hot). And the whole concept of the show isn't anything new at all (i.e. X-Men, the 4400). But I'm okay with all of that, because they introduced the characters so well. Masi Oka as the nerdy Japanese guy with the most appropriate name ever (Hiro) was my favorite (as I'm sure is the case with many others). Amidst all the angst, it's nice that they have one "hero" who's just really excited about his newfound powers (which I think are the coolest so far). His babbling and geeky references are incredibly endearing. Milo Venitmiglia as Peter is next. I'm a huge Milo fan (ever since that short-lived sitcom on Fox called Opposite Sex with Allison Mack and that chick from Saved by the Bell: The New Class plus Jess is still my big for Rory's soulmate) and I'm glad he has a new show. They set up the dynamic between him and his brother extremely well, and the twist at the end was AWESOME. Hoping that Peter really does has a power of his own too though. Ali Larter has the most intriging power, which I don't really understand, and Hayden Pannetierre was perfect as the popular cheerleader who's basically indestructible. Not sure about the painter dude but we'll see where that goes. And more characters are yet to be introduced (Greg Grunberg in a non J.J. Abrams show for once, and Leonard Roberts, who was Forrest on Buffy). I'm excited.

Brothers & Sisters - I didn't really enjoy this. There are a ton of really great actors in the cast (including a couple of Alias alums, my favorite guy from Reunion, Rachel Griffiths, and of course Calista Flockhart) but I don't know, I guess there just wasn't enough concept to hook me. I mean, I've watched my share of family dramas, but I think it was more because they were also teen shows. Now that I'm out of college you would think that this might be a logical next step, a family drama with all adult children. But somehow I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it's because even though I'm definitely not a teen anymore, but I still don't really feel like an adult yet. It was interesting that they made Kitty an active right-wing conservative, and made a big deal out of it. I guess it's supposed to drum up all sorts of drama, but all the political talk doesn't interest me either. There was some good acting, I guess, and the pilot set up quite a few storylines but I don't know, I guess I'm just not in the target audience for this show.

Ugly Betty - Ever since Gilmore Girls went off the deep end, I've been lacking a "happy show." You know, that show that's fun and a little ridiculous and just makes you happy. I think Ugly Betty might be it. Everything was really predictable and over the top and campy but that's what made it so fun. America Ferrara was adorable, Eric Mabius was hot (and a Jamie Bamber look-alike), and Vanessa Williams and Gina Gershon were hilarious. Also LOVED the fake telenovela with Salma Hayek. I know that this is going to be compared to the Devil Wears Prada, but it has a very different feel, and Betty is much more convincing as a misfit in the fashion world that Anne Hathaway could ever be. Also Daniel isn't anything like Miranda, it looks like he'll be trusting and leaning on Betty quite a bit, despite the disastrous situations she'll inevitably find herself in. Really promising. The only problem is that it conflicts with both the Office and Survivor (which I've found myself hooked on again). What to do??