SYTYCD: Dancing in the Big Easy

So You Think You Can Dance: "Auditions #5"

First New Orleans auditions in SYTYCD history.


Day 1:

• Nigel was getting his honorary doctorate. Judges are Mary, Shankers and Lil C.
• Shelby "Skip" Skipper does New Orleans Bounce. His best friend (whose nickname is Big Choo, I believe) is the founder of this dance style. Skip teaches Cat how to do New Orleans Bounce in the lobby, and she did a good job. His audition was quite a rousing performance. Lil C looked like he was just eating it up.
• Mary's looking a little rough today.
• Mary makes an off-color joke about Shanker's doing "the New Orleans Bounce last night."
• Skip gets the "you're not going to choreography...you're going to Vegas!!!!" treatment and he's taking New Orleans Bounce to Vegas.
• Jonathan Litzler did some jazz hands in the hallway. He's a really good contemporary dancer and he's also a great tumbler. Shankers says that was one of the best auditions he's ever seen. Lil C says it was "a perfect blend of weight, energy, space and time," whatever that means. Jonathan is going to Vegas, and I'm glad because he's one of the dancers I've seen so far whose prospects for this competition I'm actually intrigued by.
• Alison N. kind of looked like Annie from 90210 when she was dancing but not when they showed her up close.
• Calvin Turner Jr. gave a beautiful audition.
• I missed the name of the dude in gray spandex shorts who did a barrage of straddle jumps.
• Eric Le Blanc drank six energy drinks today and he's acting like it. He makes "funny" sounds. Oh, great, now I'm having flashbacks to the extremely annoying kid who sat behind me in 10th-grade health class who insisted on talking like Daffy Duck. Ack!
• And, son of a gun, if Eric's not dancing to Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" too! If you drank a Red Bull every time someone on this show danced to Black Eyed Peas, you'd be more hyped up than Eric.
• Consumed by either benevolence or a bit of insanity, Mary and Lil C send Eric through to choreo.
• Justin Kenney is a b-boy who was in a nasty car accident but has mostly recovered (he still can't do some of the moves on his head that he used to do). He's got gorgeous blue eyes but his hair needs some work. He just did Morgan Hamm's Air Flair! (I bet b-boys don't appreciate me calling it "Morgan Hamm's air flair.") Even without the head moves, he's got quite the arsenal, and I like the music he chose--it didn't seem like a typical b-boy song. Lil C explains that Justin started in the Air Flairs and "dropped right into the babies." He's through to choreo.
• Big shocker that Eric isn't going to Vegas, but he is commended for his effort.
• Lil C says the judges are going to take a "huge, huge gamble" on Justin and send him to Vegas, which I think is the right decision! His attempt at the Anya/Pasha salsa wasn't any worse than Chbeeb's tango or some of Cedric's attempts at ballroom, so it's worth a shot to see how he is in other styles.
• I think Cat said 33 dancers in total are through to Vegas, which seems like a huge one-day total.

Day 2:

• Kimalee Piedad competes in Theater Arts' ballroom division, which is kind of like ice dancing with no ice. Her partner is not trying out. They can do some spectacular lifts. I think we might need this girl in the Top 20 so we can see some awesome lifts during the competition. Adam says choreo, Mary and Lil C say Vegas, so she's going to Vegas. (She's SYTYCD's first-ever Theater Arts contestant.)
• Micah Mixon was poor and rebellious as a youth. Now he's turned his life around. I guess he's a pop and locker; I don't know the finer points of style distinctions, but it looked Chbeeb-esque. He's had no formal dance training, so what he can do is rather impressive. Micah gets a yes to choreo from both Mary and Adam and "kind of a yes" from Lil C.
• Lloyd Ballard looks like he's trying really hard to be Travis Wall and not getting anywhere close.
• Also not getting good marks were Tierney and Christo.
• Mary reads off some rules of what not to do, including "hats pulled down over your eyes," "the never-ending reach," "self-worship," and "men's booty shaking." Awesomely, Shankers demonstrates all of the no-nos.
• Jakob Karr is crazy good with the leg extensions and strengh and pirouettes and control and leaps and everything. And, conveniently, he's adorable too. He looks a little like Penn Badgley in the face.
• Diana Drexler's grandfather just passed away the day before the audition. She's a good dancer; I like her a lot. She has really soft landings from her jumps and her aerial cartwheel. Aww, she says she feels like an old lady (she's 29). Diana's a trooper. Aww! Her father said that her grandfather "left just in time to get a front-row seat" for her audition. She's through to choreo.
• I love how Anya has no qualms about wearing green short shorts and black tights.
• Micah is not going to Vegas; he's not used to doing choreo.
• Diana is going to Vegas! Yea! (How horrendous would the judges have felt if they didn't take her?)
• Diana plus 17 unnamed others are going to Vegas.

I'm more optimistic about this season's dancers after this stop in New Orleans, where we met a lot of good dancers.


Next week: final audition stop in Salt Lake City with Nigel, Mary and Mia. Then we start Vegas week. Buck up, folks, Vegas is always an emotional roller coaster.

Greek: Professors and Pot Brownies

Greek:

"High and Dry"

Great episode! And the episode's title is genius.

Perhaps I liked this episode so much because I'm an Evan-lover when he's being cute and not acting like an ass. There were a lot of awesome Casey/Evan moments. Who knew those two could be so funny (when they're high)? I also liked Ashleigh finally giving in to Fisher's cuteness and forgiving him, Rusty attempting to get a professor to sponsor him and Calvin coming to regret his decision to wrap Grant's present with embossed wrapping paper. (Did everyone else already know that you only use embossed wrapping paper when you're trying to get in somebody's pants? Like Calvin, I was totally unaware of that fact, so I'm glad Rebecca brought that to my attention.)

After seeing episodes like this one, I think that if I ever had to live in the world of a current TV show, Greek would be one of my top choices. (I'd also consider The Big Bang Theory and Chuck.) It just seems like it would be so much fun at Cyprus Rhodes with all of these awesome/hilarious people around.

Highlights and my thoughts:

• Katherine (Panhellenic president): "I'm sorry, we're in a small room. Why do you think I can't hear you?"
• Cappie: "This is my first experience with nerd-on-nerd hazing."
• Ash: "He smells like cupcakes and man."
• Rebecca: "You have to get Ashleigh to forgive me. I've apologized, groveled, told her I liked though silly arm-warmer things she wears. Nothing's worked!"
• Dale: "I don't really need Nana's Crucifixion linens around right now or my Precious Moments baby angels. They're so judgy."
• Rusty: "I'm really trying to make a name for myself in this department."
  Professor: "You mean besides Anchor?"
  Rusty: "You know about that?"
  Professor: "I believe I started it."
• Ashleigh: "I'm pretending you're the lemon!"

  Casey: "Bitter's not pretty, Ash."
• I love this Panhellenic president girl. She's great.
• Rusty: "That's weird. My nana usually sends me money for my birthday!"

  Beaver: "Times are tough."
  Wade: "She must not love you anymore."
• Cappie: "Where do smart people hang out?"
  Wade: "Computer stores!"

  Cappie: "Ethnic restaurants!"

  Beaver: "The moon?"
• Aww, poor Calvin. This is an awkward situation for him to be in.
• Rusty: "I come from a long line of seamen."
• Oh nooo. Casey and Evan ate pot brownies. Not having ever had a pot brownie, I'm wondering if they taste strange. Would you know that there was something wrong with the brownie you were eating? I'm asking because this seems to come up a lot on TV shows. (90210's finale last year, for example.)
• Cappie: "By the time I'm down with Larson, he's going to name a star after you."

  Rusty (singing): "And that star will be called Rusty!"
• Aww, Beaver is so cute wearing glasses and a sweater!
• Rebecca: "No one uses embossed wrapping paper unless they want to get in someone's pants."

  Calvin: "Definitely should have used a gift bag."
• Ash is going to have a hard time getting a new boy if she insists on wearing that weird jump suit outfit.
• Ha at Casey grooving to the karaoke music. Evan and Casey are freaking entertaining while high. Evan's stoned voice in particular is hilarious.
• Casey: "Do you think cats put us on their pillows?"
• Hilary: "You're David Wong?!"

  Cappie: "Yes. Yes, I am. I was adopted by two gay dudes...from China."
• That sneaky Dale.
• Fisher: "They sat under that table in there for 10 minutes pretending to be shoes."
• Casey: "I used to have so much fun with you...before you cheated on me, hit Rusty with a pledge paddle, paid off a Lambda Sig and dated Frannie."
• Ha at Evan's gaggy face when Casey mentioned him dating Frannie.
• Evan: "Ok, that's it, I'm trying pina colada!!"

  Casey: "No, no, no, don't! I did it once."

  Evan: "Was it delicious?!"
• Evan: "We totally got this." (Bursts out laughing.)
• Casey: "We talked about our lives, our childhoods, ...time travel..."
• Evan: "And she may be afraid of trees, but when push comes to shove she doesn't let you drink the shampoo, no matter how good it smells."
• Aww. Ashleigh needs to kiss Fisher. He may be a cheat, but he's sooooo cute!
• If Cappie wants Casey, he's gotta move now, because adorable, shampoo-eating Evan is going to have her in a matter of weeks.

(photo: abcfamily.com)

Premiere Watch '09: 90210

90210:
"To New Beginnings!"

Ugh, for the first time probably ever, I'm so not ready for the new episode of network television shows to start up again. I'm rather enjoying the less demanding summer television season where there's not 2-5 shows I want to watch airing during every single time slot.

And the U.S. Open is still going on, people! And although all of my favorites (on the men's side anyway) are dropping like flies, I'm still obsessively watching. I don't have time for premieres when I've got to watch 6+ hours of tennis each day!

Anyway, 90210 started up its second season tonight (two or three weeks earlier than I would have liked). I can't say I was too impressed by this episode. It was about 97% style and 3% substance (when the appropriate ratio for 90210 should be more along the lines of 75% style, 25% substance). What made it worse was that all the "substance" was almost completely ridiculous. Sure, the show was over-the-top during the second half of last season when it hit its stride, but there was some value to it. The show did a fairly good job of handling Adrianna's baby storyline, Silver's struggle with bipolar disorder, Navid and Adrianna's sweet relationship, and even the Naomi/Liam/Jen stuff.

In this episode, however, the show shied away from the heavy issues (aside from some cursory coverage of Annie's post-hit-and-run downward spiral) in favor of showing us lots and lots of Naomi, Silver, and Adrianna frolicking in bathing suits and frolicking in tennis dresses and frolicking in a convertible and strutting around in their ridiculous school outfits. And, yes, there was even a choreographed group dance number for crying out loud!!! For a second there, I thought I was watching She's All That, and that is never a good thing! (Were the 90210 kids doing a dance from a music video or something? I'm sure I'm out of the loop on the group dances that are popular with the kiddies these days.)

Hopefully, this episode was just intended as a fun way to relaunch the show and things will pick up in the episodes to come. Here's my running commentary of the highlights and my thoughts:

• Who is that guy Naomi's kissing? He's like 40 years old! I mean, sure, Naomi's an old-looking high school student, but this is pushing it!
• So, Naomi, Silver, and Dixon were in summer school as punishment for attending the post-prom party with underage drinking. I'm a little fuzzy on the details from last year, but I think that's what's going on.
• Silver's hair looks cute.
• Adrianna looks beautiful. But she has no bangs, so I guess I can't call her Bangs anymore :-(
• This song by Slimy is awesome. Are we taking bets on what the most over-used songs in premiere/pilot episodes will be? I'm going to guess that there will be some Passion Pit, but I'm not sure what the ubiquitous song will be.
• Naomi: "He reads books!"
  Silver: "Like Lolita?"
  
• "Monica Lewinsky: The Movie Musical"... Yo, minus the musical part, Grosse Pointe did that joke 10 years ago. Grosse Pointe was an awesome show.
  
• Naomi: "Well, if it were up to me, over-50s wouldn't be allowed to wear sleeveless shirts."
  
• I hope Adrianna's excessive eye makeup is waterproof...
  
• Why is Navid carrying both boogie boards and Dixon's only carrying the towels? That makes Dixon look a little pathetic.
  
• Wow, that was a very enjoyable Annie-less opening 10 minutes.
  
• New neighborhood? Why did the Wilsons move? Just so they're not mooching off the grandma anymore? The finer points of last season are escaping me.
  
• Wow, there's a jazzy new opening title sequence. It's a bit less hokey than the one they had last season, I suppose. It being hokey was kind of the point though.
  
• Silver's tennis skirt with origami folds is lovely.
  
• Naomi: "I'm very possessive when it comes to balls."
  
• This guy is in high school? Yeah, right!
  
• Should I be embarrassed to admit that I recognize this guy from when he played Jeremy Horton on Days of Our Lives a couple summers ago? The dude was a total creep on DOOL and he's still creeping me out now.
  
• Ugh, Naomi, don't fall for this line of crap from your too-old boyfriend.
  
• Silver seems to have an entirely different personality this season. Is that a side effect of her bipolar meds?
  
• Last season's Silver was an angry blogger who didn't like the prom. Now she's willingly spending all of her time at the country club with Naomi? Not buying it.
  
• Are they seriously doing a synchronized group dance number?! OMG, this is ridiculous! I love it.
  
• BTW, the guy who is playing the front desk attendant also played a creep on DOOL. I really don' think it's the best idea ever for 90210 to be raiding DOOL's supporting cast for new talent. Unless they want to hire Nick or Chelsea or Max.
  
• Teddy and Adrianna did this sexy dance four years ago? Like when they were 12? That seems highly inappropriate.
• Wait, this is so the same song ("Koop Island Blues" by Koop) that Randi and Evan performed Mia's "Butt Dance" to on SYTYCD!!! !!! Ha ha! Ok, if Adrianna and Teddy were doing the "Butt Dance," I could understand why that would upset Navid.
• Ok, Adrianna's hair extensions need to go. They look really fake.
• Eew, what is Silver wearing now? Her legs look even skinnier than usual in this strange getup.
• Is it just me, or are the girls even more crazily dramatic than usual this season? I expect Annie to be over-the-top, but between Silver's "I can't breathe without Dixon" and Naomi's Liam speech, I can barely take it.
• How did Liam's hair get longer while he was in boot camp? Oh, wait, it was wilderness boot camp, so I guess they didn't have access to scissors while they were out there...
• Wow, things are going from really bad to even worse for Annie.
• I know the split focus between the "new class" and the returning characters (Kelly, Brenda, Donna) was sometimes problematic last year, but this episode sorely needed a little bit more maturity.

Premiere Rating: 6.0/10

**This is probably the least flattering photo in the entire set on the CW's 90210 Web site, but I couldn't resist posting it since it's from the choreographed group dance number.

(photo: cwtv.com)

90210: Labor Pains and Meltdowns

90210:
"One Party Can Ruin Your Whole Summer"


The first season of the second incarnation of 90210 bowed out with an entertaining episode. There was a lot going on, but I liked that the episode didn't seem to bite off more than it could chew (unlike the Gossip Girl finale, IMO). This episode of 90210 well-paced and no storylines felt overdone nor shafted. It also packed an emotional punch (Adrianna's decision about the baby) and some fireworks (Naomi reaming out Annie) and some comic relief (Mr. and Mrs. Wilson on pot). The episode also laid some interesting ground work for next season. As in, can we pleeeeeeease see Annie go to jail?

I also like the episode's title, because it's so ominous ;-)

Highlights and my observations:

• Jen: "You had me at trust issues."
• Tell her, Naomi.
• Naomi: "You look really, really good. Like a model. Like a really, really short model. Or a regular model standing in the distance."
• How dare this nurse sass Navid! Doesn't she know how rich he is?
• HA HA! The entertainment at post prom is a (dorky) a cappella group. These guys are funny. And this party is pathetic.
• So, one student goes into labor and all the chaperones leave the post-prom party?
• Bet Annie's glad she and Naomi became friends again just in time for her to have to clean up Naomi's house for her.
• Really, Dixon? When Silver's across the room, you miss her? Which is why you've been standing here complaining about her for the last 15 minutes?
• Brenda was supposed to be here for the birth of Adrianna's baby? I'd forgotten that.
• Whoa, that C-section decision was made really fast. Especially since the doctors didn't seem to be paying much attention to Adrianna at all before they made that determination.
• Liam's drawing of Annie is not very flattering.
• Ok, good. Ad and the baby girl are both ok.
• Ha ha ha! Mr. Wilson forgot what Annie's name is. Yes, it was because the brownies were laced with pot, but it's funny nevertheless.
• Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are a lot funnier when they're stoned than they normally are.
• I'm guessing post prom's about to get a whole lot wilder if the a cappella group ate some of the pot brownies.
• Poor Ethan. All he gets to do on his prom night is talk about Silver and Dixon's relationship.
• Hold on. What were Dixon and Ethan doing that led to them exchanging clothes?!
• Debbie: "Should I call one or should I put on the list to call one?"
• Debbie: "The nerds had pot brownies!"
• Oh, shut up, Jen! If you're going to mooch off your little sister, you should at least not actively try to ruin her life as well.
• Brenda! Dressed like Cleopatra!
• Oh, crap, they never showed us Adrianna playing Cleopatra! I really wanted to see that!
• Is Brenda really here or is this a figment of Adrianna's anaesthetic-tainted mind? Because Brenda is acting really strangely.
• Oh dear, Jim Walsh is dying? How come no one else seems to know about this? Wouldn't Kelly know?
• Brenda: "Have you met my dragon?"
  Ok, that confirmed that this is a dream sequence.
  
• Wow, Ethan needs to dial his Silver adoration the hell down. This is not the way make the poor kid act in his last episode.
  
• No wonder Ethan leaves after this debacle. Dixon's being mean.
  
• Hey, pretty boy actually showed up to sign the father's consent form. Aww, and he said thank you to Navid. That was nice.
  
• Ha! Liam's shocked face when he found out that Jen is Naomi's sister was pretty hilarious. I'm relieved that he actually does realize that hooking up with Naomi's sister was crossing a line. I wasn't sure if that behavior is cool with bad boys or not.
  
• BTW, how old is Liam? Why does Jen sleep with so many teenage boys? (She said she already slept with Ethan...before he slept with Naomi...and they are only 16 or 17 now...so, what, Jen slept with him when he was 15 and she was like 20? Eeew. Let's not think about this too much.)
  
• Whoa, everyone's turning on Annie. And it's kind of awesome. And now she's exploding in an extremely overly dramatic fashion. There were no Emmy nominees in that scene.
  
• Brenda adopted a little Chinese girl! That's great.
  
• So, um, how weird is it that Adrianna's dream sequence included that stuff about Brenda's dad (who is apparently actually fine)? I mean, his full name was on the door to his hospital room--how would Adrianna know that? (It was somehow in her subconsciousness.)
  
• Oh, what are they trying to do to me? Now they're playing "The Funeral" by Band of Horses while Adrianna gives up her baby! I'm going to be bawling in 10 seconds.
  
• Ha ha ha, Liam is being forcibly hauled off to wilderness boot camp! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't amused by this turn of events.
  
• Annie's pulling an epic Marissa Cooper impression. (I know Marissa was drunk often, but I don't recall her drinking while driving, so I guess Annie's taking it a step further here.)
  
• OMG, what did Annie just run over? And who was in the car that pulled up behind her? (Why'd we get a close-up of the license plate? Was that supposed to mean something to me and I wasn't paying enough attention?)
  

(photo: cwtv.com)

90210: Backlot Prom

90210:

"Zero Tolerance"

I haven't really blogged about 90210 since the infamous bowling montage of '08, but I have been watching every episode and I guess I should be embarrassed to admit that. I wanted, however, to weigh in on the show again now because it has actually turned out to be quite enjoyable lately.

I'd attribute the vast improvement to: more screen time for Adrianna (or "Bangs" as I fondly call her) and Navid, who have been awesome; less screen time for the Annie/Ethan/Naomi love triangle and subsequent fallout, which was insufferable; Silver's bipolar disorder storyline, which made her more sympathetic and less grating and showed that Dixon is one nice fellow; and Ryan Matthews occasionally acting like he doesn't have a stick up his butt. I've even been enjoying Naomi lately, specifically when she moved in with the Wilsons and was terrorizing everybody (especially Dixon).

Also, the dialogue has gotten a lot better. One scene in particular that sticks out in my mind took place a few episodes ago when most of the characters were holding simultaneous phone conversations about Silver making the sex tape and what kind of drugs she must be on. That scene was so well-written, well-acted, and well-edited that it was reminiscent of classic The O.C.

The show's lingering issues are that Ethan's character is still not interesting even when he's having a one-fifth life crisis (which will be remedied when they kick the poor kid to the curb completely next season) and that Annie is still all kinds of annoying. How are we going to remedy the Annie situation, folks? I think Liam might be on to something--if Annie turns into an unapologetic bad girl, she'll be a lot easy to take than she is as an annoying "nice" girl.

Now on to the prom:

• I hope Annie's getting a Chanel dress too for doing that silly anti-post prom party video. (Edit: Upon seeing the dress, I've decided that it was not worth it.)
• Liam is a major jerk, but he sure can draw one nice-looking fish.
• Naomi really wants to go to the prom with Liam? That honestly sounds like a painful experience.
• Silver already looks tanner than usual, I'm not sure she needs more spray tanning.
• This health teacher guy is pretty cool. Maybe Kelly should hook up with him.
• No, Annie, it hasn't occurred to anyone that you're "just a nice person."
• I do like Annie's shirt. That's the nicest thing I've had to say about her in a long time.
• Dixon's grin and then pleading face cracked me up when he and Silver were coaxing Ethan to go to the prom.
• Yeah, the pink poofy dress is not Silver at all. It's very Gwyneth Paltrow at the 1999 Oscars.
• Jen: "Anyway, how hilarious is it to wear couture to the sophomore prom!"
• If Jen was using all of Naomi's money to pay for her stuff, she could have at least bought a little less stuff.
• Jen and B. Sheep Chambers from Greek should start a support group for older siblings who mooch of their younger siblings. Or maybe Naomi and Evan should start one for the younger siblings.
• Silver: "Everyone's going to be staring at me!"
  Adriana: "Not if you walk by me. Hello, eight months pregnant!"
• Why is there paparazzi at the sophomore prom? Who wants to look at those pictures? It's not like you can sell those to US Weekly or something.
• Nice choice of a prom dress by Naomi. Emerald green gowns are awesome.
• Navid: "You know, there's a difference between false labor pains and fake labor pains."
• Annie's date: "[I guess you weren't nominated] because you're new."

  Dixon: "Hey! I'm nominated for prom king!"
• Ha ha, Annie's date told her off. I applaud when anyone tells Annie off.
• Principal Wilson needed to make his post prom party announcement in the middle of a song?
• Jen: "I think academics are terribly sexy. And I don't just mean teachers. When I was at Yale, I briefly dated someone in the registrar's office."
• If Yale took Jen, the "narcissist with no moral compass," they certainly could have taken Blair Waldorf. Apparently stealing term papers is ok, but spreading gossip about teachers is not.
• Wait, can Silver win prom queen even though she doesn't go to this school anymore?
• Does everyone at West Beverly really like Silver? I never got the vibe that she was all that well-liked before the breakdown, what with her mean blog and all.
• Oh, Silver's making friends now--calling people who like the prom "weird, zombie, prom-loving losers."
• That was a weird moment there when Silver made fun of spray-tanning and they cut straight to Annie's reaction. Because few people spray tan as much as Annie...
• Ugh, I hate it when Dixon acts mopey. It's almost as bad as when Annie acts...anyway at all.
• Gasp! Jen's married to someone named Olivier!
• A black orchid corsage? I've never even heard of a black orchid.
• Aww, Liam does actually like Naomi? I did not see that one coming...
• Are they suddenly edging toward a Mr. Wilson/Kelly romance? Because I've got a vibe from the two of them all episode. I'm hoping it was not intentional.
• Whoa, I thought Navid got over wanting to beat up the pretty boy who knocked up Ad since that story line disappeared for 30 minutes, but apparently he did not get over it. Navid and Ad have been kind of MIA during this prom. Booooo. The poor girl had to go into labor to get herself some screen time!
• Who turned on the snow machine over a street set that no one is shooting on? That seems like a waste of money.

(photos: cwtv.com)

Gossip Girl: A Wedding and a Funeral

Gossip Girl:
"O Brother, Where Bart Thou?"

Today my sister saw this in the Wall Street Journal:

"Stayin' alive. Buried in the tax law is a powerful incentive for many wealthy people who care about their heirs to stay alive at least until the dawn of 2009. The basic federal estate-tax exclusion, now $2 million, is scheduled to soar to $3.5 million next year. Thus, if someone survives until Jan. 1, an additional $1.5 million of that person's estate will be sheltered from the federal estate tax, where the top rate is 45% both this year and next."

So, do we think that the real reason Chuck Bass is so upset is that he would have gotten an extra $1.5 million tax free if Bart had just held off on succumbing to the fatal automobile accident for one more little month? Or is it because his unclassy skank of a step-mother marries people she doesn't love for money? A mixture of the two, perhaps?

I now hate both Rufus and Lily more than I hate Vanessa. Vanessa! Rufus is just smug and self-righteous and whiny. Lily is a terrible person. What the hell was she even thinking blaming CHUCK for Bart's accident (in the scene in Bart's office)?!? (She said that Bart wouldn't have been driving to the party if Chuck hadn't called him.) WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HER? Why would you say that to a grieving teenager? And then she freaking slapped him!!! Like I said last week, slapping a kid during his father's funeral just is not okay. Evil, crazy woman.

Poor, poor Chuck. The boy is not handling this well (as we would expect). Yea for Blair for doing her best to stand by him. And hurray for one of those two finally having the balls to say "I love you." How much better is it that she said it in a situation like this instead of as a ploy to get him in bed? Unfortunately, grieving Chuck is a hard nut to crack, and he could only accept her comfort for a short period of time. (Don't fall asleep when you're on Chuck-watch, Waldorf.)

Highlights and observations:

• Wow, so Bart's already dead, huh? No long, drawn out coma storyline or anything?
• Eric: "We know that's gin in your coffee cup."
• Lily: "We're doing comfort food! Nobody's comforted by a tuna tower!"
• Eleanor!
• Cyrus: "Because, my dear, in the midst of death, we are in life!"
  Eleanor: "Genius."
• Oh, so Dan's been a rock for Serena these last few days, huh? Speaking of rocks, Serena's wearing a whole mineral collection around her neck! At least she's not displaying her typical amount of cleavage to go to her step-father's funeral.
• Oh, Rufus is waiting for Lily this time, huh? So he's not going to start bedding random 23-year-olds a week from now?
• Oh, my freaking gosh, Chuck killed me in the first scene with the PI in the bar. He looks devastated.
• Do Dan and Aaron need to stand together? Awkward.
• Eric looks tiny compared to towering Jenny in her heels. At least Jenny's gothic, all-black wardrobe is finally appropriate.
• Blair: "Am I going to have to stick my finger down your throat? Nate will hold back your hair."
• Wow, Chuck is crazy mad at Dan! It's too bad Rufus didn't show up--I'd like to see him feel some of Chuck's wrath too.
• Is Jenny going to get kicked out too? I'd love to see Chuck turn on her now.
• Here's my proof the Ed Westwick would kill as a vampire. (He's even got the dark circles under his eyes.) No one should ever doubt my casting decisions again.
• Oh geez. Now we have to listen to whiny Rufus' stupid song?
• Blair: "I'm not maternal. I've just been spending too much time with Cyrus, and I'm turning Jewish."
• Eleanor really wants to get married in an outfit Jenny made? She must not have seen the dress Jenny made for Penelope to were the the Snowflake Ball...
• Geez, just go away, Aaron! Even Serena wants you to leave now.
• Ok, was Jonathan always this much of a dork? Is there a point to him coming back? I mean, it's nice that Eric has someone who cares about him, but I don't really care...
• Why did Blair and Nate leave Chuck alone upstairs?
• No, Nate, Blair should not just let Chuck go; he's a freaking wreck. Nice to know that Nate's still worthless in a crisis. Jenny dodged a bullet here.
  
• Blair: "But I am me and you're you. We're Chuck and Blair. Blair and Chuck. The worst thing you've ever done, the darkest thought you've ever had--I will stand by you through anything."
  Chuck: "And why would you do that?"
  Blair: "Because I love you."
• Aww, poor Blair; she started to cry when Cyrus told her he loves her.
• Blair: "Only a masochist could love such a narcissist."
• No, Lily, there are no subtle nuances to what you did (loving Rufus and marrying Bart anyway). You just suck.
• Nice use of an accent by Dan when he said "going off to Buenos Aires with Aaron."
• Jenny: "You still have feelings for her, right? Okay, do you think you can put them into words and speak to her out loud?"
• Geez, I hope Chuck takes every cent of Bart's money away from Lily. She is so beyond unclassy. Going away with Rufus the day after her husband's funeral? I think even Julie Cooper waited a little longer than that after Caleb's funeral to hook back up with Jimmy.
  
• Hmm, so Lily's mom wants the truth out there? Interesting. Because she knows it will break up Rufus and Lily?
• Dan: "I carried the garment bag."
• Blair's dress for the wedding is gorgeous. Probably because Jenny didn't make that one.
  
• Wow, Dorota looks fantastic! It looks like she got to wear one of Blair's headbands.
• I hope Dan beats smug Rufus and his turtleneck the hell up.
• Don't burn it, Chuck! You don't have to go public with whatever info is in the document, but I'd keep it around just in case.
• Awww, the scene with Blair holding Chuck was the sweetest thing I've ever seen.
• Biggest. Eye roll. Ever. I was hoping so much that Lily's big secret wouldn't be that she had Rufus' love child. Who couldn't see that coming from about 300 miles away? And, frankly, if you're Gossip Girl, it's embarrassing that the new 90210 beat you to this storyline.
• Oh no, the previews indicate that Chuck's going to continue to spiral out of control. I just hope the poor kid doesn't fall of the roof. There's no reason for him to go all Cassidy Casablancas on us.
  

Headband Monday: I wore the blue one with criss-crossed ribbons. Probably should have gone with black though since it's the color of mourning and poor Chuck is in pain.

(photo: cwtv.com)

My Take on Twilight's Casting

I know that everyone and their little sister have already weighed in on the Twilight movie adaptation's casting decisions, but I can't help but throw in my two cents as well.

Of anyone in the whole world, I think the person who best embodies the vampire's combination of excessive beauty and inherent scariness is Jonathan Rhys Myers. There's certainly something other-worldly about him. Unfortunately, Twilight couldn't really capitalize on Jonathan's clear vamp-ish qualities, because he doesn't really fit any of the book's characters. Perhaps one of the other myriad of vampire related films and shows will be able to take advantage of them at some point.

I'm not sure entirely which Twilight role they should have given him, but I'm convinced that Ed Westwick should have been in the movie. These photos prove that he's got the pale, beautiful, and brooding thing down. Masterfully.

Personally, I don't have a problem with the casting of Twilight's leads. Kristen Stewart is okay by me, and I think she fits Bella pretty well. And Robert Pattinson has certainly turned out to be quite the find. What confuses me is the supporting cast. And namely that several members of the supporting cast were featured in the sub-par season three of The O.C. I don't think Josh Schwartz even liked that season, so why would anyone look there for casting inspiration? And if you had to scavenge amongst The O.C. season three actors, why wouldn't you pick Willa Holland or Johnny Lewis or Eric Mabius, who were definitely the bright spots among the new cast members that year? Why would you pick Volchok and Sadie and Caitlin's boarding school boyfriend? The choices just seem bizarre to me.

Frankly, I imagine I'll always hold some sort of grunge against Cam Gigandet for playing the guy who killed Marissa Cooper and Nikki Reed for her stint as whiny Johnny's annoying jewelry-making cousin. Ick. It's been years, and I still don't even like to think about that whole debacle. What's especially weird about Nikki's casting is that she's playing Rosalie who is supposed to be tall and blond and Nikki is neither of those things. And it's not like tall blondes are rarities in Hollywood, right? I would think you could walk down the sidewalk and swing your arms around and hit 20 or 30 of them.

But this necessary hair dying thing seems to be a trend with the Twilight casting selections. The blond kid from 90210 (Kellan Lutz) had to dye his hair brown. Peter Facinelli had to dye his hair blond. It seems like they were trying to force certain people into certain roles whether they really fit or not.

Peter Facinelli, for instance. I like Peter; I thought he was great in Damages. But I don't think I'd necessarily classify him as "more handsome than any movie star," which is what Dr. Cullen is supposed to be. (And especially not when he's got this freaky blond hair and white makeup.) My suggestion for Dr. Cullen, and I'm pretty confident about this one, would be Ryan McPartlin a.k.a. Chuck's Captain Awesome! I cite his appearance in Mad Men as proof of his handsomeness. I mean, Betty Draper wouldn't put down her gimlet and have a tryst in the back room of a bar with just any guy, right?

Oh, and I've also been pretty turned off to Elizabeth Reaser in general by her messing with poor Alex on Grey's Anatomy and her love of combining Ugg boots and shorts in The Ex List.

I am kind of excited that Rachelle Lefevre landed a role in the film. She keeps popping up in various television shows I watch, and I always wonder what else I've seen her in before I remember that it was Big Wolf on Campus. Yes, I'm admitting that I used to watch Big Wolf on Campus.

So, anyway, my copious television watching has certainly colored my opinions about the Twilight cast. Will any of this stop me from going to see the movie at my earliest convenience? No, it absolutely will not.

(photo: Twilight Official Movie Site)

Greek: Star-Crossed Lovers

Greek:
"Gays, Ghosts and Gamma Rays"

Some highlights and observations:

• Casey's dream was both romantic and educational!
• Casey's fishing for Ashleigh to suggest that she get Max to help her was pathetic.
• Max's hair looks even worse than normal at times in this episode. But in other scenes, it looked okay. He needs to be more diligent about his hair maintenance routine.
• Casey: "Well, I'm big on second chances. Actually, I'm big on third and forth chances too."
• Of all the would-be TV couples in the world, right now I'm pulling for Casey and Max more than anyone else except for Blair and Chuck. Which is kind of funny, because while Casey does have her Blair-esque moments, Max is basically the anti-Chuck Bass.
• Rusty and Ben trying to crack the password was funny, esp. Rusty's prognosis that it would take him "between 2 hours and never."
• Wow, Max and Officer Leo in the same episode! (Unfortunately, Leo's character on Greek alternates between pushy and boring.)
• Of course Calvin has never been to a gay bar, he's 18! He shouldn't be in any bars!!!
• Max tutors football players too? Poor Casey.
• As soon as Joshua Whopper was mentioned, I guessed that he was really Cappie, which turned out to not be the case. I don't feel too bad though, because Rusty thought so too. I'm confused though. If Rusty got an official list of all the active members of Kappa Tau, shouldn't both Cappie's real name and Joshua Whopper's name have been on the list? So by process of elimination, shouldn't Rusty have been able to figure out what Cappie's real name is? It seems unlikely that the official list wouldn't have had the name of the fraternity president on it. Sorry if I'm thinking about you too hard, Greek.
• Ashleigh: "Oh, he's cute! Weird. But cute!"
• Rusty: "You're not joshing me?"
• Rusty: "Margaret Thatcher was one whopper of a prime minister, huh?"
• Dale helping Rusty study the info on the active Kappa Taus was funny.
• Dale: "What kind of parents name their kid Fairy?" (Did I hear that correctly? Ha.)
• Dale eaves dropping on Casey's conversation about liking someone on the honors physics floor was great. Rusty's expression when he caught him listening was hilarious.
• Casey: "I like Max."
• Rusty: "I should warn him. You date like Sherman's March, Casey. Scorched earth and broken spirits left in your wake." (Now try to imagine someone saying something like this on 90210, and you falling off your chair in surprise.)
• Dale (throws his headphones): "Max? Really? The guy's a freaking loser!"
• Max: "Dale, maybe you can answer me this: why do they always put the environmental awards on the wooden plaques?"
• Dale: "Nobody likes a show off, Max."
• Casey: "I don't get it. I asked him to tutor me; why didn't he just tell me he had a girlfriend?"
• The Kappa Taus (esp. Heath and Beaver) reading the gender studies literature was the funniest they've been for a while. I think it was the funniest KT moment since Beaver read The Great Gatsby aloud.
• Come on, Casey, stop being dense. We could all see the dead girlfriend reveal coming a mile away, but she kept yammering and making herself look very self-centered.
• Wait, Casey ran over Rusty's cat, and last week she was bellyaching about him crashing her car into a mechanical horse? That's like an extremely black pot calling a steel gray kettle black.
• Ashleigh will make a great campus tour guide! Yea for her finding her part-time employment calling!
• This is a little random, but how awesome is Amber Stevens as Ashleigh? She would be a shoo-in for my favorite character on Greek if I didn't already adore Dale, Rusty, and Calvin so much.
• Fancy astronomy lab they've got there.
• This was a good episode, but I didn't love it as much as I loved last week's Casino Night episode. At least we found out what Max's secret is. My horrific event theory from last week turned out to be on target. (I did a lot better at figuring this out than I did at figuring out what "bing" meant.) I'm not sure why his girlfriend dying makes him not want to talk about working for NASA though. I don't understand where NASA fits into the timeline.
• Casey and Max were so cute together! It will be interesting to see where they go from here. What will they talk about now that Casey doesn't need Max to teach her something (card counting, astronomy)? Seeing how this is Greek, it seems likely that Casey's new relationship will hit some major snags soon enough. I'm also excited to see how Cappie and Evan react to the new couple. And I'm holding out hope that super sweet Max doesn't turn annoying like Casey's other love interests have been known to do.

(photo: abcfamily.com)

Dislike of the New 90210 Unites People

Interestingly enough, today on Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch blog, Jennifer Armstrong's post about the new 90210 says almost the exact same things that I've been saying about the show (here, and especially here). Right down to the fact that the 90210 writers should cheek out Greek to learn how to write wittier dialogue (which is what I was just talking about).

In related news, I would love to work for Entertainment Weekly.

Premiere Watch '08: Privileged

Privileged: "Pilot"

After seeing some very sub-par clips from Privileged on the CW's YouTube account over the summer, to say my expectations were low for this pilot is an understatement. Fortunately, parts of the pilot were re-shot, rewritten, re-edited, or something, because I was pleasantly surprised by the final product that aired after 90210 on Tuesday night.

I think the best news to come out of the Privileged pilot is that Michael Cassidy is still all kinds of adorable. Unfortunately, his character here (Charlie) seems to be more like The O.C.'s Zach than Hidden Palms' Cliff. I'll take Michael Cassidy any way I can get him though.

Also being fairly adorable in this episode was JoAnna Garcia as Megan. I've been a fan of JoAnna's since seeing her in Reba, and I think it's fun to see her playing someone so different than Cheyanne (which is the nice way of saying that Cheyenne was dumb). I'm not really sure, however, why they made JoAnna dye her hair brown for this role (I'm assuming she did that for the show and not just because she felt like it). Can blondes not be smart, CW?

Highlights and other observations:

• Charlie: "Megan, you're sounding newscastery again."
• Any job Megan gets in journalism (at least at this stage of her career) isn't going to allow her to rake in the dough, as they were implying she would be doing if she got the writing job.
• Megan: "Everybody loves Lucille Ball, but nobody ever does anything about it."
• Debi Mazar is awesome.
• At least Megan was able to dye her hair back to brown quickly.
• They really seemed to be pushing Megan as "quirky." She's not that quirky.
• I had numerous problems with that taser scene, which was my least favorite part of the episode. First of all, I don't find someone getting tasered to be all that funny, and secondly, the whole scene didn't make a lot of sense: Megan has to go introduce herself to the girls while they're asleep? That huge house and the two spoiled girls share a room? Sage sleeps with a taser in her hand?
• Hmm, so Megan's from this area. And doesn't want her family to know she's back. That's kind of interesting.
• I thought that Charlie was supposed to be Megan's boyfriend, but I guess not.
• Megan (in response to Sage's suggestion that Jay Gatsby was gay): "Interesting theory. The man does own a lot of shirts." (Between this reference and Greek's Gatsby-themed episode, The Great Gatsby is getting a lot of play lately in the teen soap genre.)
• Why is Megan so surprised that Charlie has moves? How could Michael Cassidy not have moves?
• Megan: "But with great power comes great responsibility--shout out to Uncle Ben."
• Hey, just when you think that everything's about to be wrapped up in a nice bow, Lilly appears. That's a nice dramatic touch.
• Megan: "Is there any other Annie worth mentioning?" (Not the one on 90210, that's for sure.)
• Sage inviting Lilly to the party was definitely a Blair Waldorf move.
• The soundtrack was pretty good with Kate Nash, Ingrid Michaelson, The Bird and the Bee, and Nellie McKay, among others. No "Time to Pretend" though, which is a bummer, because it's not living up to my prediction of it being the "Young Folks" of the 2008 pilot season.

All in all, the show was enjoyable, but I wouldn't say that I was left with an overwhelming desire to see more. Also, the episode seemed like a long hour of TV, which probably isn't a good sign.

More importantly, if anyone knows any rich people who need tutors for their granddaughters, I'm totally up for the job.

Premiere Rating: 6.0/10

(photo: cwtv.com)

90210: Bowling Up a Storm

Well, when I promised that I'd come back this week to watch 90210, I hadn't realized that Fringe and Shawn Johnson's cameo on The Secret Life of the American Teenager were going to be airing in the same time slot. Ahhhhhh! Cue panic attack. I did finally crack this Tuesday night puzzle, and the way it worked out, I ended up watching 90210 live. Go figure.

After this episode, however, I'm not going to promise that I'll be watching next week. I'm losing patience with this show; I'm completely not captivated by any of it. I'm vaguely interested in the Kelly/Mr. Matthews stuff, and that may get more interesting next week if Brenda gets thrown into the mix. Let's hope so, because these high school kids are sleep-inducing.

Comments:

• Naomi does look about 40.
• Real life ages of Mr. Matthews (Ryan Eggold) and Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth): 23 and 36. That's veering into Nate and Duchess Catherine's territory. Not to mention that to play a parent on a teen soap, I think you only have to be about 13 years older than the kid.
• Oh, man, Naomi's denim jump suit (with shorts) is hideous.
• Ryan's such a cutie volunteering at the juvenile detention center every day.
• Pretty sure that "family night" was uncool in Wichita too.
• Kelly: "Doesn't it freak you out that I have a child?"
  Ryan: "Doesn't it freak you out that I am a child?"
• So Kelly's kid's dad is a guy from high school with lots of history with her, they lost touch, got back together, had the baby, had issues. Sounds like Brandon to me, but Jennie Garth concurred with me in an interview that the father will will be whoever (Brandon or Dylan) agrees to guest star on the show first.
• I'm impressed that Silver can bowl at all considering how skinny she is.
• Wait, we're watching a bowling montage? Has it come to this? Weren't we watching blow jobs in the parking lot just last week? Is there no middle ground?
• So, on Thursdays Naomi goes to night clubs and on Fridays she goes bowling? I find that hard to believe.
• Evan: "So, anyway, I'm going to save most of that emotional goodness for my audition for The Hills."
• First The Virgins, now Vampire Weekend. At least the soundtrack is enjoyable.
• So, to help Naomi deal with seeing her dad cheating on her mom, the other girl runs and gets the guy who cheated on Naomi to talk to her? It doesn't seem like that should work.
• Hmm, Ryan seems to have some money-related demons.
• If Silver didn't want to get caught sleeping in her car, she might have driven it a little further away from Dixon's house.
• I think Naomi looks as old as her mom...
• Wow, tour de force acting here from Dixon in the scene he reveals that he too had a rough home life ("You think I don't know what it's like?"), and I'm only being marginally sarcastic about that.
• Ugh, I'd be okay with telling Dixon's parents about my rough home life, but I wouldn't want to that annoying Annie girl to know...
• Eew, another terrible pair of shorts on Naomi!
• Naomi has a sibling? I'd forgotten about that... where is he/she?
• Wow, Kelly's mom really is a piece of work...
• Marissa's lifeguard station!
• Can they write Annie off this show? No? It's worth a try.
• In next week's promo, Mr. Matthews is looking a little homeless.

Premiere Watch '08: 90210

90210: "We're Not in Kansas Anymore" and "The Jet Setters"

Da da da da, da da da da (clap clap). Well, 90210 is back, or rather, the new 90210 is here. But is that a good thing? Let's discuss...

The show is all right. It's certainly not the complete disaster that it fairly easily could have been. It's also not a life-changing or ground-breaking foray into the teen soap world like The O.C. was. I also remember the original 90210 as having more of an edge.

One flaw I'm noticing out of the gate for the new 90210 is that is seems a little light. As in, the stakes don't seem that high. After two episodes into The O.C., Ryan had been in and out of the juvenile detention center a couple of times, there were several ass kickings, a house was burnt down, and the main character was abandoned by his family, among other major developments. During two hours of 90210 tonight, we had a couple break ups, a couple shoving matches, some groundings...nothing too heavy. Even on Gossip Girl, everything certainly feels important, even if it's ultimately not that big of a deal. People on Veronica Mars were freaking murdered. The point is, how long are we going to care about the relationships of high schoolers if nothing much else is going on?

One way to make us care about characters (no matter what their doing) is to make them ridiculously charismatic. The Seth Cohens, Chuck Basses, and Dick Casablancases of the fictitious world don't need to be involved in great story lines for us to love them. We just love them already. On the new 90210, there were a few characters with the potential to be lovable (Mr. Matthews, maybe Ethan, Silver), but I don't think any of them quite got there yet.

I'm nervous that many of the main characters (Annie, Dixon, Naomi) didn't give me much to like about them at all. Annie was over-the-top. Dixon was bland. Naomi looks like she's 35 years old.

The new 90210's ace in the hole: Jessica Walter. She's freaking hilarious, and any show could use a Lucille Bluth (and, let's face it, that's who she was playing).

I think the most interesting aspect of the pilot episodes was trying to piece together the back story of the original 90210 characters. I'm no doctorate-level 90210 historian, but I can remember some of it. Tonight's interesting developments: Silver is the child of David's dad and Kelly's mom (they got married during the original series) and Kelly has a 4.5-year-old son. The conversation between Brenda and Kelly seemed to suggest that the child's father is Brandon, which is a shocker since Kelly ended the original series with Dylan. So, I guess we're to believe that after the show ended, Kelly continued to flip flop back and forth between Dylan and Brandon, neither of whom ultimately stuck. My theory is that the new 90210's producers think they have a better chance of getting Jason Priestley to do a guest appearance than Luke Perry.

I think we could have done without both episodes tonight. I think the first one would have stood on its own quite nicely. However, I'll be watching next week to see how episode 3 goes.

Other observations on episode 1:

• I'm having some problems understanding Dixon a la Chris Brown's The O.C. season 4 cameo. I did get "Sucks. Bites. Blows." though.
• Jessica Walter is so awesome. I think she's considerably nicer on 90210 than she was on Arrested Development.
• Is MGMT's "Time to Pretend" the "Young Folks" of 2008 (in terms of ubiquitous plays in pilot episodes)? I hope so!
• Navid is cool. He's fast-talking like a journalistic Cappie.
• Hannah Zuckerman-Vasquez does the morning news... Mr. Matthews: "What is that girl, like 30?" (ha!)
• Mr. Matthews is adorable. (The actor was on one episode of Veronica Mars as Logan's real secret half brother.)
• The Kelly Taylor I remember would never have been a guidance counselor.
• Silver is amusing.
• Speaking as a former Writing Center instructor, I can diagnose Naomi as having a serious case of writing anxiety ;-)
• So which student is the hot teacher going to have a illicit affair with? My guess is Naomi (and I wouldn't have been too surprised if it was already going on).
• Grandma: "I say it was racially motivated!"
• It's nice that Annie and Dixon really seem to crack each up...because they might not end up with any other friends.
• It's gotta be beyond awkward to run into your (current) English teacher at a bar.
• Aunt Becky used to date a guy who lived in a tepee? Now he sounds like an interesting character.
• Grandma: "I won't tell the rest of the story, because I don't remember it."
• Silver: "Yeah, well, that's what blogs are supposed to do: cause problems."
• Since when do you have to read your term paper in front of the class? What would that take, like 15 minutes?
• Whoa, Dixon is already going to a dark place with his tipping Naomi off that Ethan is cheating via text message.
• Sorry, Annie's singing performance was just scary.
• Told you Dixon's revenge text was hasty.
• Dude, Naomi's crazy mom and Annie's dad have a son together! And she's all indignant about it. Even though he never knew about it. Not sure why she's still so mad.
• Was that Marissa's lifeguard station on the beach?

Episode 2:

• Grandma: "I need to finish my memoirs before my friend does. We've slept with all the same people!"
• Wow, Harry actually told Aunt Becky that he has a secret kid! Normally, it takes months for that kind of news to drop.
• Mr. Matthews: "Well, you're too easy. Anyone ever tell you that?"
  Kelly: "Not lately."
• These kids do actually remind me more of kids than the Gossip Girl "kids" do. They also seem more kid-like to me than The O.C. kids ever did, but that could be because I'm (shudder) getting older. Eek!
• It's Brenda! And Kelly and Nat are happy to see her! Really?
• So porn producers don't mind if their sons take their pigs and let them loose never to be seen again?
• So, Annie isn't allowed to have any more dates on school nights, but she's allowed to go hang out by the pool with Ethan right now? Come on, parents!
• My new guess for the student/Mr. Matthews hookup is Adriana.
• Anyone else getting a Mean Girls vibe from this Silver/Naomi "we used to be friends" stuff?
• Why did Annie take a match box from the San Francisco restaurant? What is this, 1947?
• A Kelly/Mr. Matthews/Brenda love triangle perhaps? We haven't seen anything like that before...
• Frankly, I think that Dixon not being allowed to text message is a good idea.
• Poor Ethan and his "pentapus."

Premiere Rating: 6/10

(photo: cwtv.com)

Ryan Hansen: Hot Step-Dad in 90210

Some interesting buzz in the TV world is that Rob Thomas, the creator of my beloved and revered Veronica Mars, has three different pilots picked up for next season: a reprise of Cupid, a spin-off of 90210, and a remake of foreign series Outrageous Fortune.

My take on this is that it's a good thing. It takes us several steps closer to my dream of someday having either Josh Schwartz or Rob Thomas create every show on television. My one reservation is that Rob is not going to have a whole lot of time to write us a Veronica Mars movie while he's writing three hour-long TV series. And, personally, I still want that movie.

Some of the best news of all is that Kristen Bell is in talks to star in the Outrageous Fortune show. That's great because KB is fantastic, and I know that Rob can utilize her talents in a much better way that Heroes has done/will do.

The good news about KB's possible casting made me think that Rob should focus on getting some of the other VM actors on his three shows. Surely there must be something for Wallace to do--my heart aches when I see him in Hot Pockets commercial. And I'd love to see Weevil resurface too.

But, my most awesome idea is that Ryan Hansen needs to have a role on 90210 as the really young, hot husband of somebody's mom. How great would that be? He could be the Ashton in an Ashton/Demi-type relationship. And, of course, all the high schoolers would be in love with him, and all kinds of inappropriate things would happen. It would be amazing.

Please, Rob, you know I'm right about this.