SYTYCD: Still Dropping Like Flies

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 6 Performance Show

• Deeley's finally bringing it fashion-wise tonight. It looks like she put on a beige slip dress and then kind of haphazardly tied a poofy red sheet around herself. It's awesome. She's balancing the strong look out with a smooth, low ponytail.
• ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! NOW WHERE'S BILLY!?! This is insanity.
• Guest judging tonight is Kenny Ortega of High School Musical fame.
• Billy has injured his knee and is sitting in the audience (wearing a very small pink tie). Doctors supposedly told him he could dance if he feels ok, but he doesn't feel ok today, so he's not dancing. They think he might be ok by next week, but they wouldn't tell us now anyway.
• Alex Wong's sitting in the audience, looking pretty cheerful.
• The SYTYCD costume designer has supposedly won an Emmy. Having seen some of the outfits on this show, I find that somewhat hard to believe.

Lauren with Twitch (Napoleon and Tabitha hip-hop):

• The featurette: It's a Wild West hip-hop routine. Ugh, I just cannot stand Napoleon and Tabitha. Them talking is even worse than them choreographing something.
• The dance: Twitch is wearing jean/chaps--it's really something. Ha ha, it looked like Twitch was trying to crawl through Lauren's legs and he couldn't fit. She's got some good hip-hop moves. And I liked the reverse somersault things she did (I don't really know what to call those.) The routine ends with Lauren riding Twitch across the stage.
• The judging: Adam: "Who are you?!" Didn't he ask someone that last week? Get a new catch phrase. I don't understand; how is she "not the same girl" who auditioned? Her attitude in this was similar to the attitude in the sexpot audition number. Mia thought she was good and says she needs to keep going hard because she's the only diva left. Kenny Ortega thinks it's an honor to be here and thinks that each season SYTYCD changes the field of dance. Kenny says, "Save a horse, ride a cowboy." Nigel tells Twitch that he really looks like he's been ridden hard and put away wet. Holy crap, Nigel, calm yourself. (Twitch is a little sweaty though, in all honesty.)

Jose with Allison (Sonya Tayeh contemporary):

• The featurette: Now we're going to see how good Allison really is. She used to make Ivan look pretty good, so I'm thinking she might be able to pull it off.
• The dance: I like Allison's dress, but the overall color scheme of their outfits is pretty drab. Ok, once again, we've got a choreographer going to bizarre lengths to cover up Jose's deficiencies. I could do a good contemporary routine too if 80% of it is sitting on the edge of the stage, moving my arms... That said, I did rather enjoy the routine and choreo. It was definitely something different.
• The judging: Adam thinks it was a beautifully conceived piece of material. But he recognizes that this routine made it hard to critique Jose's actual dancing. He thinks what Jose did do up there was perfect though. Mia thought the piece was conceptually genius. Mia says there's a difference between pedestrian contemporary (which most people can handle) and really "real contemporary." Mia says this was pedestrian contemporary. She thought it was really good, but would have liked to see more growth from the last time he did contemporary. Kenny thinks Allison is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful dancers. HIRE HER FOR SOMETHING, KENNY! Nigel thinks Jose was very committed to the piece. He knows, though, that Sonya covered up Jose's weaknesses. Nigel wants him to point his toes and straighten his legs. Uh, yeah, that does seem kind of important...

Robert with Lauren (Tyce Diorio jazz):

• The featurette: I'm getting uncomfortable with how much everyone's talking about Lauren's booty this season. This dance is all about seduction. They're trying to sell us on Robert and Lauren being all into each other... Really?
• The dance: Black S&M-inspired outfits. You know, Lauren's looking really good in this dance. Robert's doing ok too, but Lauren's kinda stealing the show. The routine's pretty cool too. Especially not bad considering it's coming from Tyce. It was a good routine because they were just up there flat-out dancing.
• The judging: Adam says Robert commands the stage and is started to lose himself more. Adam says Robert's "resting" hand position needs work. Mia says it's a breath of fresh air to see a strong, clean jazz routine with no concept and just good dancing. Kenny thinks this piece showed that Robert does "have bottom." Nigel loved the flow of movement.

AdeChike's solo: Shirtless. Oh no! He's dancing to "This Woman's Work." The Cancer Dance song. I can't handle it. If I never hear this song again, it's fine by me. Was so distracted by my distaste for the song that I kind of missed most of his dancing, but he did a nice series of karate-esque kicks.

Kent with Kathryn (Sonya Tayeh jazz):

• The featurette: Kathryn: "Sonya at 8 a.m. should not be legal." This routine is very exhausting and intense.
• The dance: Kinda looks like a summer barbecue or a beach party. Kathryn is just sick sometimes. The routine was fun. The did a good job performing it as well. Will we remember it forever? Probably not.
• The judging: Kent apparently gave a monologue in Vegas about how putting him on the show would make it something special. Adam thinks Kent kicked ass. Mia says we all know Kent's a strong dancer. Mia thinks that sometimes his face gets so animated that it takes the choreography to an immature level. Dance-wise, though, she thinks it was great. Kenny thinks Kent is the guy to beat. Well, duh. The other guy to beat detached his Achilles a few weeks ago. Nigel thinks Kent's almost out-danced the All Stars two weeks in a row now. Sorry, Nigel, I don't think anyone really ever out-dances Kathryn.

Robert's solo: In the featurette, those were some rather tight jeans Robert wore to the batting cages... For the solo, Robert's wearing his third shirt in like 5 minutes! Some cool stuff in the solo, but it could have used a little more time to develop. And it's Robert's birthday!

Lauren's solo: Lots of back bends and quick turns and hair tosses. It pretty much worked though, I guess.

AdeChike with Comfort (Tabitha and Napoleon lyrical hip-hop):

• The featurette: AdeChike's going back to hip hop. He's not going to be a nerd this time, though. And it's NappyTabs again. Ugh, what do we have to do to get Dave Scott around here?
• The dance: Comfort's packing a suitcase...not to be confused with the briefcase Mark carried around in "Bleeding Love." I don't think AdeChike's hitting his moves quite as hard as Comfort. Oh, and she just smacked him for it. Lol, it's not that big of a deal, Comfort.
• The judging: Wow, Comfort--and AdeChike--are both rather shook up. There are tears. Did she actually really hit him? Just kidding. Adam says they really made him feel the story and the emotions. Mia says that felt more real that any contemporary piece because it came from such a raw place. Mia thinks AdeChike let so much out on that floor and just gave us a really big taste of who he is. He really seems to get better reviews on hip-hop than he does on contemporary. Kenny Ortega says it was like if Wesley Snipes could dance (presumably not the Wesley Snipes who wants to marry Liz Lemon). Nigel says it's hard to critique the dancing because the routine moved to another level and compares it to "Bleeding Love" and "No Air." Yeah, yeah, yeah...

Jose's solo: Starts his solo with kind of a groovy on-his-feet dancing section. Then lies on the ground for a little while. Does a little breaking, then stands back up. Then goes back down to break for another second. Then seems very pleased with himself.

Kent's solo: Kent's bringing out the wife-beater tank top and the old-school Boys to Men. I really think he needs some help with figuring out what he should do during solos though. That seemed a bit disorganized to me.

Robert and Lauren (Dmitry Chaplin samba):

• The featurette: DMITRY!!! I love Dmitry. This routine is about a beach party too. This is the first ballroom routine done by two non-ballroomers this season, so it should be interesting.
• The dance: That's what Lauren's wearing to a beach party? It looks like a cocktail dress with the middle ripped off. Robert's made a few slight awkward stumbles. Lauren looks pretty good with the technique though. Their side-by-side "shaking it" was good. Ok, Rob just barely got her off the ground when he was supposed to be swinging her around in a circle. Uh, she can't be that heavy, dude.
• The judging: Adam, however, thinks that Robert's lines were "so crisp and clean" and he did good partnering. Ok... He thinks Lauren's retractions, etc. were great. Mia thinks Rob actually looked like a samba dancer. Mia thinks Lauren's in plie a lot, which brings a heaviness to her dancing. KENNY, HIRE DMITRY FOR SOMETHING! Kenny thinks Rob's partnering was "amazing." What was I watching then? Nigel says Robert's upper body reminded him of Dmitry. Maybe they just don't want to be mean to Robert on his birthday. Nigel thought Lauren was very good, but he's sure "people will attack her" for her technique. Well, whatever. I miss Mary Murphy.

AdeChike and Jose (Dmitry paso doble with assistant Legacy):

• The featurette: Legacy! Hey, maybe Legacy can show Jose some breaking moves while he's at it... If ever there were a time for a hip hop, it would be this pairing. There are two matadors in this paso. Why is Jose always fighting/hunting people?
• The dance: Uh, how long are we going to stand here swinging our capes, boys? Once they actually started doing stuff, Jose had moments where he actually looked pretty good, and then had moments where he looked pretty horrible. Actually, this whole dance had moments were it looked pretty terrible. I say this was a bad experiment. It would have gone better if Dmitry and Legacy had just danced it themselves.
• The judging: Adam loves how committed they were. Technically, they put their strength into it, but Jose needs to stretch his legs. Adam thinks AdeChike needs more abandon. Mia says she thinks they did ok in a very unhappy sounding tone. She says their focus was great, but their technique wasn't. Kenny thinks it was a valiant effort, and it was an interesting exercise. Lol. Nigel calls the other judges "diplomatic." Nigel thinks if you look at how ballroom guys do the paso, AdeChike have a lot to learn. Again, I miss Mary Murphy. I'd love to hear her kick somebody's ass over ballroom technique.

Kent and Billy/Twitch (Chuck Maldonado step routine):

• The featurette: Oops, no, Kent, you don't get to dance with Billy Freaking Bell. HA HA HA HA HA HA! SYTYCD does its first stepping routine and they give it to Billy Bell and Kent! That is too funny. Kent keeps hitting himself in the face.
• The dance: Stepping in for Billy is Twitch. Aww, I love their collegiate cardigans. Ok, Kent is definitely not out-dancing his All Star in this one. He's doing ok, but Twitch is good. Twitch is even doing the grunts and yelling. Kent looks like he's trying really hard, while Twitch looks like he's stepping.
• The judging: Adam pats SYTYCD to the back for introducing "new and different" dance styles to the world. Um, stepping is not new to me; I just saw some this past weekend. Booyah, Adam! Adam thinks Kent kicked the routine's ass. Mia didn't know Kent had it in him and she lives for the chemistry between Twitch and Kent. Mia confirms that Kent is the one to beat. Kenny says 12 years ago he and Chuck brought stepping to the Olympic Opening Ceremonies for the first time. In Nagano? Huh? I'm thinking he did his math a little wrong there. 2010 - 12 = 1998 = Nagano. Did I mishear him? I really don't think there was stepping in the Opening Ceremonies in Japan. Nigel says his "Five Guys Named Mo" routine was stepping and Chuck helped him choreograph it. Nigel says he would have loved to have seen Billy do the routine because he knows he would have nailed it and it would have been fun to see the two white boys kill it.

My favorites:

Robert and Lauren's jazz; Kent and Kathryn's jazz; Kent and Twitch's stepping

The dancers dance around a cake commemorating the 150th episode of the show. Twitch does some paso doble moves that totally school Jose and AdeChike.

Thursday Night Highlights

Ugly Betty: "Burning Questions"

I can't think of any particular one-liners that I loved, (at least not as much as last week's "We want her to be crazy, not thin and crazy!") but I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Daniel's dream sequence of Betty being in love with him was funny.

30 Rock: "Sandwich Day"

Kenneth: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for a good man to stand by and do nothing."

Tracy: "Please ask my permission before you quote me, Kenneth."

Liz: "I'll move to Cleveland when you get that IKEA... Never!"

I liked how last year's episode about Cleveland made it out to be a mythical, wonderful place, where as this episode made it seem a lot less cool.

Also, how cool/funny/weird is it that Liz Lemon got her hands on the same dress that Cameron Diaz just wore to her movie premiere?

Grey's Anatomy: "Piece of My Heart"

I thought the first two post-strike episodes were both pretty good. George and his funny comments were the highlights of the first ep. I was glad to see Izzy realizing how ridiculous she's become in the second ep. Also liked Bailey telling Alex to stuff his feelings back inside. I'm intrigued by what crazy, non-pregnant Ava is up to. I'm glad Meredith is (finally) seeing a therapist.

As for Addison, I could not care less that "it is killing her" that Meredith has let "Addison's husband" get away. I stopped caring about Addison's feelings when she moved to L.A. and started dancing naked around her house.

By far the highlight of these two eps (and the whole darn season of Grey's as far as I'm concerned) was this exchange, which reminded me how seriously funny this show can be.

Callie: "Does anyone ever think you two are a couple?"

Meredith: "No, because we screw boys like whores on tequila."

Christina: "And then we either try to marry them or drown ourselves."

(photo: nbc.com)

Premiere Watch '07: Round Up!!!

Well, I'm exhausted. Who knew that blogging about television could be so tiring ;-) It sure didn't help matters that there are now about a billion shows that I wanted to a least sample this season. Here are my rankings for the first episodes of almost everything a whole lot of new and returning shows (scale of 1 to 10):

Pilots:

• Pushing Daisies...............9.5
• Reaper..............................8.5
• Chuck...............................8.0
• Gossip Girl.......................7.5
• Dirty Sexy Money..........7.0
• Samantha Who?..............7.0
• Aliens in America............7.0
• Moonlight.........................6.5
• Kid Nation........................6.5
• Private Practice...............5.0
• Big Shots...........................2.5
• Viva Laughlin...................1.0

Returning Series:

• The Office.........................8.0
• 30 Rock.............................8.0
• Ugly Betty.........................7.5
• Grey's Anatomy...............7.0
• Brothers and Sisters........6.0
• Men In Trees....................6.0
• Heroes................................5.5
• Desperate Housewives....5.0

Whew. It seems like no sooner did we wade through all the premieres, than it's time for November Sweeps! Oh well, bring on the weddings, births, deaths, surprise pregancies, etc....

Thursday TV: Werewolf Bar Mitzvah, ABBA, etc.

Highlights from another funny night of Thursday television:
Ugly Betty:
Season 2, Episode 3

Amanda maintained that that if she and Daniel are half-siblings, them having sex was only wrong half of the time.

Stressed-out Henry yelled at Mark and Amanda, garnering an unintended response:
Amanda:"Did he just get really hot?"
Marc:"I've never been more attracted to someone in my whole life."

Daniel tried teaching Justin to play basketball: "Ok, let's try again. Maybe lose the bracelets, I don't know."


The Office: "Launch Party"
I enjoyed the group's avid interest in seeing whether the little box that moves around in the screen saver ever actually goes into the corner of the screen. I've definitely watched for that before too.

And, there's something so right in the world when Andy Bernard sings ABBA (with back-up singers via speakerphone no less). Angela should lock that down ;-)


30 rock: "Jack Gets in the Game"
Jack: "Oh, come on, what are we, back at college freshman year? Let's go to the common room and talk about Apartheid."

The Best Tracy Moment is a tie between his belief that his vanity license plate, "ICU81MI," is "hilarious," and the clip from his novelty party song, "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" (ha ha, "boys becoming men / men becoming wolves!").

Liz was also great in this episode, with: "You can't be a real women in this country. It's like those dove commercials never happened!" and defending Jenna's talent, saying, "This woman was a Mouseketeer, ma'am."

Premiere Watch '07: 30 Rock

A few weeks after its fantastic 1st season won the Emmy for Best Comedy, 30 Rock picked up right where it left off last year. The second season opener featured a guest appearance by Jerry Seinfeld, and if his appearance on the show can help to hook more viewers on 30 Rock, that will be a victory for us all.

30 Rock's strength is that, like The Office and Arrested Development, it has a great cast of kooky characters with very well-defined niches. Tina Fey is one of my heroes, I've previously documented my unnatural love for Tracy Morgan, Kenneth and Jenna are both perfect for what they are, and Alec Baldwin could not nail this role any harder.

My favorite Tracy moment of episode 1 was when he was explaining how he likes to help transvestite prostitutes better their lives (encouraging them to go to computer school, study to be a court reporter, etc.).

Best line: "You can be a freaky-deeky and still do data entry!"

In a season when several pilots (Big Shots, Dirty Sexy Money) are squeezing all the sleazy jokes they can out of transvestite hookers, it was wildly refreshing to see 30 Rock take the whole theme in an entirely different direction. Thank you, Tina Fey et. al., for having a fresh voice.

Other highlights:

• I enjoyed the computerized Jerry Seinfeld guest appearances in all NBC shows. It seems like everyone else has ended up in Heroes anyway, so why not him?
• Jack: "She needs to lose 30 pounds or gain 60. Anything in between has no place on television." (What's frightening is that, if you think about it, he's completely right.)
• Kenneth was so cute grinning at Jerry Seinfeld.
• Tracy: "Ask my wife if she's sleeping with D.L. Hughley." (Hmm, I'm thinking that this isn't a random mention since D.L. was on NBC's other 'sketch show' show Studio 60.)
• Jack: "Ha ha! You're going to buy NBC! Like you have $4 million just lying around..." (Ouch.)
• Jack: "There are no bad ideas in brainstorming, Lemon."
• Liz sounds like Jerry Seinfeld when she cries.
• Tracy (when he sees Liz in the white wedding dress): "Oh no! Did a Korean person die?"

This episode was a promising start to season 2. As far as I'm concerned, Tina Fey can take over the world.

Premiere Rating: 8 / 10

A Very Solid Monday

Wow. A solid 3-hour chunk of original television on a Monday night in July? Crazy! But thoroughly enjoyable.

Kyle XY:
So now Kyle can telepathically communicate with coma victims. Who does he think he is? Marlena from Days of Our Lives? ("Come to me in dreams, John! In dreeeeeeeeams!") Oh well. Anything that causes Kyle to wake up covered in pastel powder is fine with me.

I assume that I wasn't the only one who saw that it was Jessi who knocked Lori out and stole her necklace coming from a mile away. Next week looks interesting, as it seems the reprogrammed Jessi likes Kyle instead of Declan. So, I guess, "reprogramming" just means giving her some common sense. (Sorry, Declan and his frosted tips, vapid personality, and somewhat strange-looking eyebrows do nothing for me.)

I suppose the big news from tonight's ep was that Kyle and Amanda finally kissed. Not sure why the "timing wasn't right" while they were having the heart-to-heart in his bedroom earlier, but I guess it finally was in the gardens after talking about her dead father again. Those two are certainly a strange lot. The kiss was pretty hot--but would have been much better if ABC Family hadn't already been showing it in the promos all week.

Speaking of promos, next week they're touring through an underground metal maze. What happened: did they accidentally end up in an episode of second season Lost? Poor Lori. She doesn't get to have any of the boys, but she sure seems to have a lot of crap happening to her lately like getting beat up in the alley and locked behind weird automatic metal doors.

Greek:
Hmm. I'm definitely glad I gave this show another try last night. I enjoyed last night's ep much more than the other 1.5 episodes of it I've watched.

Cappie is growing on me. My major reservation about him is still that he makes me really miss his apparent role models, Hidden Palms' Cliff and Veronica Mars' Dick Casablancas. And missing those two makes me depressed because they are gone. But even though the kid playing Cappie is no Michael Cassidy or Ryan Hansen, he definitely didn't deserve the senator's daughter saying that he looks like Rob Thomas! Ouch! Seriously low blow.

Cappie definitely is the comedic highlight of the show. He has a tendency to over do it, but often he's very funny:

"We're down three goals, there's a minute left. There's only one thing to do: start drinking now."
and,

Quote of the Night:
"We may be puking, but the Omega Chis are not used to running on puke like we are."

My other favorite part of the show is Dale a.k.a. Clark of Clark and Michael. No surprise though: Michael Cera has good taste. Dale's a riot. I love whenever he and Rusty talk physics (because physics geeks really are that nerdy), his borderline-scary religiousness (going to "the most fantastic Left Behind party ever!" and pointing out that "the next one might be in heaven"), and his hot yellow shorts!

What I definitely don't like about this show is the senator's daughter pledge girl. She's so annoying. And are there really people like her in real life? I would recommend that the people in charge of Greek write her off the show and give all of her airtime to Dale.

Two final observations:

Whatever town this college is in is extremely lax in enforcing the underage drinking laws. Does no one ever card Rusty at the bar? He looks like he's 14.

ABC Family is a product placement whore. If it's not Sour Patch Kids, it's Andy Samberg movies... ("Hot Rod? Hilarious." First of all, I seriously doubt that, and somehow I really don't think Casey would find that movie funny either.)

My Boys:
This show is much better if you can somehow train yourself not to pay attention to the voice-over.

Highlights from the two episodes:

• Bobby's NASCAR sound effects
• A cameo from 30 Rock's Kenneth! He's so cute.
• "What am I, a heroin addict? How am I supposed to sleep in the chair?"
• "You put the lotion in the freakin basket!" (he he, what was she talking about?)

I personally didn't find P.J.'s performance on the talk show to be any worse than everyone else's, but whatever, it was funny.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (a.k.a. It's a Man's World)

Mad Men:

Hmm. Well, I've be reading and hearing such great things about AMC's first original series Mad Men that I was pretty excited to check it out tonight. And I don't know. It was very well made--the periodness was impeccable and the cinematography was lovely. But the whole thing just didn't suck me in as much as it apparently should have. I don't know. Could it be that watching people brainstorm about advertising campaigns just isn't the most exciting thing in the world? And that it's still not particularly interesting even if you make them all chauvinist jerks?

I guess considering all the hype, I was expecting the pilot to jump out of the screen and grab me, and it didn't. Watching it wasn't particularly enjoyable. I don't think I liked any of the characters and they weren't really the kind of "psychotic jackasses" that you love to hate either. Oh, and as soon as Dennis Martino/Gaby's mayor husband shows up in something, that's a huge strike in my book.

The big development at the end that the main guy had a wife and kids was not particularly surprising. And they were sure hitting the fact that the one guy was closeted and gay really, really hard. I would imagine that one would be better at hiding things like that if one lived in such an intolerant society. He was being so obvious that the other characters just looked stupid for not picking up on it. And women weren't considered equals and treated like crap. Ok, we get it.

I did want to like it. There were some good things: There were some moderately funny parts. (However, the "Freud, you say? What agency does he work for?" line would have been soooo much funnier if delivered in a Veronica Mars-like manner.) It was like a history lesson (wait, is that good or bad?). The opening credits were nice. The slutty secretary in the green dress had pretty hair.

Yep. That's all I got.

While I was watching it, I wished I was watching the Men In Trees rerun. Does that mean I'm shallow? Or does it just mean that I don't hate women? Or does it mean that John Tupper is just way hotter than all Mad Men's guys with suits and slicked back hair combined?

30 Rock:

Hahahahaha. The receptionist girl wants to name her baby "Bookcase."

The Office:

I love that even Michael Scott came to the conclusion that Ben Franklin is "kind of a sleaze-bag." That's what I've always thought.

The Best of the 2006-2007 TV Season!!!

Most Shocking Moments:
"Through the Looking Glass" Lost -- We find out that Jack and Kate both make it off the island in a "game-changing" flash forward.

"In or Out" Ugly Betty -- The mysterious veiled figure is revealed to be not Fey Sommers as expected, but Alex Meade, post gender reassignment surgery!

Funniest Moments:
"The Return" The Office -- Jim and Pam hide Andy's cell phone in the ceiling, causing him to freak out and punch the wall. "That.....was an over-reaction." Yes, Andy Bernard, but it was a hilarious over-reaction.

"Beach Games" The Office -- Andy Bernard falls into the river wearing a blow-up sumo wrestling suit and floats away. Physical comedy at it's best.

"Gay Witch Hunt" The Office -- In the season three pilot, we see a quick flash of Roy's DUI mugshot... and he's a huge mess.

"Swag" Ugly Betty -- When Bradford finds out that Wilhelmina has been charging personal expenses to the magazine like, say, her "butt lift," she responds, "Well, good luck returning my ass!"

Funniest Characters:
Andy Bernard, The Office -- He's just a Cornell graduate trying to take over the world using three sure-fire tactics: name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a hand shake. As he is responsible for two of my Funniest Moments of the season, it doesn't take a degree from Cornell to conclude that Andy belongs in this category.

Tracy Jordan, 30 Rock -- I have an unnatural love for Tracy Morgan. Everything that comes out of his mouth is hilarious, including: his belief that vampires are the best golfers but we'll never know it, his admission that he steals dogs and does the robot backwards into Starbucks, his discovery of anagrams, and "the manatee becomes the mentor."

Justin and Marc, Ugly Betty -- Both the youth who loves jazz hands and the cattiest personal assistant at Mode stole every scene they were in this season.

Dick Casablancas, Veronica Mars -- It's funny. In college I came across literally hundreds (perhaps thousands) of boys who act just like Dick Casablancas and couldn't stand them at all. Yet I love this guy. I love how he's an unapologetic himbo and always ready and willing to say something wildly inappropriate. How amusing people like this are when you personally don't have to deal with them.

Best Performances in a Drama:
Ellen Pompeo, Grey's Anatomy -- Although her acting chops aren't usually the ones people mention when talking Grey's, Ellen really brought it this season. She was especially fantastic in the episode where Ellis miraculously becomes lucid. Watching the look on Meredith face when her mother complains that she's ordinary is like getting kicked in the stomach and Pompeo nailed the confrontational speech and subsequent realization that her mother's Alzheimer's is back. And, showing her range, pre-appendectomy drugged-up Meredith was a riot early in the season and a breath of fresh air in the over-drama that was the third season of Grey's.

T.R. Knight, Grey's Anatomy -- T.R. may not have had the best material to work with this season (even though he leveraged his gayness to get better plots according to Crazy Isaiah Story #3), but he absolutely nailed what he got. His ability to thrive in the extremely drawn-out story line about Burke's hand and the torturous Gizzie scenes proves his value to this show.

Sally Field, Brothers and Sisters -- We like her! We really, really like her! Sally was spot-on throughout the season as Nora, the glue that held the Walkers and this show together. She excelled in both the dramatic moments of dealing with her late-husband's infidelity (the late-night swim comes to mind) and the comedic moments (like the food fight with the mistress) that were my favorite part of the show.

Best Episodes:
"Spit and Eggs" Veronica Mars -- Veronica solves the case and quickly becomes the target of the psycho-villain. It's a cliche on this show for a reason. Making this time even more exciting, Veronica ran frantically down a hallway to dance music, a la vintage Alias. If only all rapists got stabbed by a unicorn horn. Add a crazy Piznarski dance, Wallace talking about "pity balloons," some classic Mac, and Logan smashing a cop car to get in jail to beat the living daylights out of Mercer and you've got one of the best hours of TV this year.

"The Bitch is Back" Veronica Mars -- "After all these years, do you not instinctively fear me?" Veronica asks, and if we didn't, we sure do now. Do not mess with V. In the series' last ep, Veronica goes after the people who posted a sex tape of her on the web, and with friends like Wallace, Weevil, and Logan to mess up cars, go undercover into secret societies, and punch mobsters, she's going to take the bad guys down. And don't forget Keith, whose attempt to cover for his daughter results in the two of them becoming the outcasts they were when the series began. That's called coming full circle, kids, but it's a shame that the CW canceled this amazing show with so much story left to tell.

"Through the Looking Glass" Lost -- It's a flash forward! Whoa! And even though Future Jack seems even more depressed that Present Jack and Past Jack, this episode was one of the best of the year thanks to Sayid snapping an Other's neck with his feet, Hurley and his van saving the day, Sawyer avenging Walt, Charlie's Alias Season 1 finale-esque drowning, the obscured newspaper clipping, the funeral parlor anagram, the mystery man in the coffin, and Kate and Jack's clandestine meeting. Oh, the Alice in Wonderland reference in the episode title is pretty darn cool too.

"Company Man" Heroes -- Heroes really found its stride in this episode, narrowing its focus to the events taking place in the Bennet house as several heroes clash together. Some Lost-style story telling gives us new insights into Noah Bennet's character and he has the Haitian erase his memory to protect Claire Bear.

"The End's Not Near, It's Here" The O.C. -- I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The O.C. rocked it's series finale. The saying good-bye to the Cohen house, the Seth/Ryan hug, the new baby Cohen, the new old house in Berkeley, the few acknowledgements that Marissa Cooper existed and that we loved her, the Julie Cooper college graduation, the Seth/Summer wedding, and the architect Ryan helping out a kid all combined for the perfect ending to one of the coolest shows ever.

Best New Shows:
Heroes, Men In Trees, 30 Rock

Best Comedy:
The Office

Sweeps!

Television Sweeps is my favorite holiday. What other holiday is so awesome that it happens four times a year? And last night marked the beginning of May Sweeps 2007 (although yesterday was definitely still in April...I don't get it). I do tend to enjoy February Sweeps better than May Sweeps though, because with the May episodes comes the dreaded realization that these episodes are the last ones before another long, starved summer. But Sweeps are Sweeps and I'm still crazy excited!

Ugly Betty:
I honestly didn't make it the whole way through the episode yet. I watched the first half, and then took one look at Jim's Dwight impersonation and had to switch channels. It didn't help that I'm completely sick of Betty, Daniel, Hilda, Amanda, Willie, Alexis...... What I did really enjoy from last night was the flashback to Betty's anti-prom. Betty's pre-braces teeth were hysterical! They were gigantic! I laughed every time she opened her mouth--it didn't matter what she was saying.

The Office:
Jim's Dwight impersonation was fantastic. "Question! Which bear is best? False! The black bear." Oh, Jim Halpert, marry me. Please.

The first half of the episode was hilarious, especially the scene with everyone in the conference room: Pam intentionally prolonging the discussion about Michael's abbreviated speaking taking up extra time; Michael calling Ryan "sweet cheeks"; Andy's Dick-Van-Dyke-it's-a-jolly-'oliday-with-Mary-esque British accent followed by Jim's "I'm definitely going alone."

My only complaint is that I need some more Jam...as soon as possible. It's been almost a year since the kiss at Casino Night; it's time to make something happen, Beasley.

Grey's Anatomy:
"You're my penis fish." Wow. Just wow. If that doesn't become the next big TV-inspired catch-phrase, I don't know what will. It certainly could compete with, "Save the cheerleader. Save the world," by way of originality and versatility.

I do have to admit though that I am getting a little sick of how almost everyone who walks into Seattle Grace has one of the most bizarre medical conditions known to mankind. Conjoined adult twins, a pregnant man, a lady turning to stone, etc., etc., and now a penis fish? The O.C. was definitely on to something when Seth visited Seattle Grace and Dr. Roberts was called away because someone who appeared to be gorged by a unicorn was just brought in :-) Sigh. I miss The O.C.

Anyway, I realize that these medical conditions do/could actually exist, but the chances of all these people walking into the same hospital in the same city? Not good. And I find Grey's penchant for the absurd all the more unfortunate because I think that some of the most memorable and well written and acted patient stories are the more normal ones. The lady from Roseanne who was dying and gave her daughter life instructions comes to mind.

My other complaint was that this Addison stuff seemed to come on a bit fast. She had quite the day, what with finally ridding herself of Steamy, hooking up with Alex, getting 'dumped' by Alex, and deciding that she needs out of Seattle. Yikes. Very productive. Meanwhile, Christina and Burke, Izzy and George, and Meredith and Derek are all doing basically the same act they've done for weeks. Speaking of Derek, he is on my last nerve. He needs to suck it up. Yes, Meredith didn't swim, but she's changed. That's what that whole third part of the three-parter was about! He better watch it or pretty soon he'll have a new nickname like McWhiny or McMopey.

30 Rock:
Congrats to Tina Fey, etc. on finishing up a very solid first season! Tonight's episode was good--not my favorite ever though. The highlights for me were:

• Kenneth purposefully falling down the stairs so the EMTs would give Tracey a ride
• Liz and Frank (I think that's his name) asking the blond girl to dance in front of the band for like 10 minutes and then Jenna running up, saying, "I hear you're looking for people to dance in front of the band!"
• Tracey listing "having to brush your own teeth" as one of the pitfalls of not being famous
• Floyd marching the squirrel past his webcam while talking to Liz

I also found some uncomfortable similarities between the scene where Liz and Jack were yelling at Kenneth and Alec's now-legendary phone call with his daughter.

I'm bummed that Liz and Floyd are packing it in, but I guess the show is best when Liz is a romantically pathetic workaholic. And it's hard for a girl to complete with 'the Cleve'... I'm excited to see what Tina, etc. will have in store for us next season. (Yea for a good, quality show getting renewed!)