February, 2010
February 1st, 2010, 10:08 p.m. - You know what I want to know?
How are they going to explain why they can't show Walt on Lost?
February 2nd, 2010, 10:13 p.m. - I have a feeling I used this same title the first time around, but I don't care
February 6th, 2010, 12:04 p.m. - Dear Bailey, hit that
Desperate Housewives - "The Glamorous Life": I'm sorry, there's a couple on TV who are not only in therapy, they're also making progress? Lynette and Tom, you're a TV rarity. I'm only familiar with Julie Benz from Buffy and Angel, so I spent the whole episode waiting for her to bite M.J. That's probably not a good thing. Rating: 4 correctly sorted recyclables
House - "Moving the Chains": Pretty much a typical House episode, but I don't mean that in a bad way. But haven't they done that prank storyline before? Like, more than once? Can we try something new? Rating: 3 possums
How I Met Your Mother - "The Perfect Week": This episode got a lot of laughs out of me. The toothbrush thing was hilariously gross, the sports metaphors were done perfectly, and the two guest stars were used really well. A very solid episode with a lot of great moments. Rating: 5 toothbrushes
American Idol - Denver and catchall auditions: Memorable: Jessica Furney, who I really liked last season, and Haeley Vaughn, who I LOVE and want to see go all the way. Talk about having a total package. Everyone else can go away, because I don't remember any of their names anyway. Rating: 3 bikinis
Lost - "LA X": Here we are at the very beginning of the show's last season, and I still don't know what's going, but I'm enjoying everything anyway. I'm not one of those people who gets all upset because of some twist or surprise (I was sure the Internet would explode from people complaining about Sayid's death, but I figured he would be okay); I'd rather just watch and see what happens. If I like it, I like it. If not, it's just a TV show. With so many things going on, something will happen that I like. Rating: 4 unnecessary uses of guitar cases to deliver lists
Grey's Anatomy - "State of Love and Trust": I love that Cristina finally talked about Burke. He was a major part of her life for a long time, and she never talks about him. I also like that she and Owen actually try to work out their problems, rather than breaking up with each other and sleeping with other people. Next to Arizona and Callie, they have one of the better relationships on the show. Oh, and on a shallow note: Jason George. YUM. Rating: 3 copies of Architectural Digest (didn't I use a magazine for rating a few weeks ago?)
The Office - "Sabre": I was going to give this a 3, because it was mostly so-so, but I bumped it to a 4 because of the completely random and hilarious appearance of Christian Slater as himself, and because of the tag with David and his son performing the Suck It song. Awesome. Rating: 4 scanned teddy bears
Project Runway - "Design Your Heart Out": Challenge-wise, this is shaping up to be a great season (even with the stupid product placement). The diversity of the designers is easy to see with challenges where they're simply told to make a red dress and each comes up with something completely different. I have a feeling Jesus was the only person who was surprised that he went home. He was in the bottom three 75 percent of his time on the show. That's AWFUL. And I have a feeling he only stayed out of the bottom last week because he was paired with Amy. He should've been gone over Pamela. Rating: 5 gaudy rhinestone necklace strap...things
7:39 p.m. - Gladwell fails to make me glad
6. What the Dog Saw (Malcolm Gladwell)
Up next: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)
February 9th, 2010, 10:06 p.m. - It goes Haeley, then Crystal, then...a bunch of other people
"It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day..."
February 11th, 2010, 7:59 p.m. - I'm sure every one of my predictions is dead on
Survivor roundtable predictions
February 13th, 2010, 4:02 p.m. - Shut up, Mary Powers
House - "5 to 9": Easily the most boring episode of any TV show ever. Why did they think we would care? Rating: 1 container of breast milk
How I Met Your Mother - "Rabbit or Duck": I came close to giving this a 5, but there were a couple moments that fell flat to me, so I just couldn't do it. I absolutely loved the huge rabbit/duck fight between Robin, Marshall, Lily, and Ted. But a lot of the other Ted stuff was dull for me. And I don't care about Don. And I thought the ending was dumb. But other than that, good stuff. Rating: 4 optical illusions
American Idol - Hollywood, part 1: Rooting for: Haeley (still, even though I didn't think she was that great this week), Crystal, and Janell. If Mary isn't gone in the next five seconds, I'm going to scream. Same with Maddie and her annoying fake glasses. You are not Twitch Boss, Maddie. You will never be Twitch Boss. Even Twitch is, like, "I have fake contacts now." Rating: 4 failures to get a second chance by begging
Lost - "What Kate Does": I'm sorry, Claire asked for Kate to stick around and then gave her her credit card after Kate kidnapped her? No. Just...no. I did like how Claire reappeared, though. I'd totally forgotten that I read she would be like Rousseau this season. I find most Kate-centric episodes worse than the other episodes, and this was no exception. I also didn't like that we didn't see Locke and his group at all this week. I'd much rather find out what's going on with them than listen to Kate be annoying yet again. Rating: 3 green capsules of poison
Survivor - "Slay Everyone, Trust No One": Good, one annoying player is already gone. That was easy. Can Russell go next? Rating: 3 shiver-inducing conversations between Jerri and Coach
Grey's Anatomy - "Valentine's Day Massacre": I was going to give this a 3 because the plots weren't all that interesting, but the acting alone made me bump it up to a 4. Sarah Drew did a great job with the emotional stuff, and the last scene between Callie and Mark was perfect. A very nice demonstration of the talents of such a big cast. Rating: 4 cribs
The Office - "Manager and Salesman": The Michael/Jim stuff was kind of predictable, but I loved the Dwight/Ryan scenes. I'd almost forgotten about them teaming up. Nice follow-through. Oh, and Kelly was hilarious, as always. Rating: 5 Valentine's cards
Project Runway - "Run for Cover": At first I thought Anna should have stayed over Janeane, but now that I've thought about it...yeah. Shorts. Sorry, Anna, but the judges made the right decision. Rating: 3 too many colors used by Ben
February 14th, 2010, 10:17 p.m. - These dummies were all my valentines (oh, and Phil, of course)
February 16th, 2010, 11:41 p.m. - Who should be more embarrassed by the events of Hollywood Week, Jessica Furney or Mary Powers? Discuss
"Three Rooms, Some Gloom, and THE CHAIR OF DOOOOOOM"
February 20th, 2010, 1:12 p.m. - Angela Martin gets screwed again
The Amazing Race - "Nanna is Kickin' Your Butt": What can I say that hasn't already been said about these bozos? At least they're entertaining. This looks like a good cast. Can't wait to see which of them wind up driving me crazy. Rating: 5 ladders
American Idol - Hollywood, part 3, and announcement of the semifinalists: The list of the top 24 was leaked a few weeks ago, so I wasn't surprised by any of the announcements (except Tim instead of Chris, since that was a last-minute change). Other than the exclusion of Angela Martin YET AGAIN, I'm pretty much fine with everyone. Except I think poor Joe got screwed by being shown exactly once before the announcement, while everyone else was featured more than that. Though it's impressive that we've seen everyone in the top 24 at least once. That never happens. Rating: 4 minutes too long that Jessica talked
Lost - "The Substitute": Locke episodes are almost always good simply because Terry O'Quinn is so fantastic. I loved seeing Helen again - I always liked her - and knowing that in this alternate world, she and Locke are still together. I hope we can see more of Ben the history teacher, because that guy must be pretty awesome. Question, though: why wasn't Kate's name on the cave ceiling? Rating: 4 more minutes I CANNOT WAIT until Sun and Jin are reunited
Survivor - "It's Getting the Best of Me": BORING. James is a jerk. Let's hope Stephenie's allies take him down sooner rather than later. Who cares if he's helpful in physical challenges? Isn't your sanity more important? Rating: 3 chickens
Grey's Anatomy - "The Time Warp": So Gunn from Angel used to work for Logan Huntsberger's father? All right, then. I liked the Webber and Bailey flashbacks, but Callie's was just meh (it only went back about two years), and I just don't buy the retcon that she slept with Alex. I just think that would've come out sometime in the past. By the way, is anyone at all surprised that Ellis turned Webber into an alcoholic? Yeah, I didn't think so. Rating: 4 glasses of vodka
Project Runway - "A Little Bit of Fashion": Another great challenge! And call me crazy, but simple or not, I liked Janeane’s dress for her girl. I thought it was really cute. Still, between her and Amy, Janeane deserved to go. And not just because she was turning into Ricky with all the crying. I don't know what Amy was thinking with those pants, though. That was like a drug trip. Rating: 5 minutes Anthony could barely go without talking
February 21st, 2010, 11:02 p.m. - Those cows need anger management
February 23rd, 2010, 11:04 p.m. - Welcome to the part of the season where Tyler and I start to go crazy
February 26th, 2010, 11:18 p.m. - By the way, it took me three tries to actually read this book, which tells you how slow it starts out
7. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)
Up next: The Girl Who Played With Fire (Stieg Larsson)
February 28th, 2010, 1:03 p.m. - "Does it say anything on your arm about the door being jammed?"
The Amazing Race - "When the Cow Kicked Me in the Head": Was anyone not pulling for Jody and Shannon? I didn't think so. It was sad to see them go, but not unexpected. Even with Jody being awesome, she was still the oldest person on the race this season, which meant there was no way she was going to make it too far. Which is unfortunate, because she's much less objectionable than some racers I could mention. Who are brothers. Who won't shut up. (Not you, Jet and Cord. You're kind of awesome.) Rating: 4 condor costumes
Desperate Housewives - "Lovely": Yeah, I buy Katherine as a lesbian about as much as I bought her with Mike. By which I mean, not at all. Rating: 2 years Robin would serve in jail for sleeping with that Scavo kid
American Idol - Top 24 perform and four go home: What was up with the performances this week? So many people were bad! Lilly, Katelyn, Siobhan, and Crystal really stood out for the girls, but the guys were mostly awful. Though I thought the judges were way too hard on Andrew. I really like him, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him at least make the final four. I think Casey and Crystal have a good shot at being there with him, but I'm not sure who the fourth would be. Also, if I ever meet someone who voted for Lacey or Alex to stay, we're going to have words. Rating: 2 ways Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta showed up this year's contestants
Lost - "Lighthouse": I look forward to Lost every week because I know I'm always going to get a good story. I like the story the writers have given Jack in the "sideways world," mostly because it's so different from the Jack we've seen these past few years. On the other hand, part of the reason I'm not liking Claire the way she is now is exactly because she's so different from the Claire we've seen these past few years. Really, she'd be willing to kill Kate for taking Aaron off the island? You know, the island where people get killed by smoke monsters and Others and other weird stuff? Whatever, you Rousseau wannabe. Rating: 4 broken mirrors
Survivor - "That Girl is Like a Virus": Another yawner. But I did appreciate Rob's note that you can tell who's aligned by who's sleeping together. Rating: 3 Red Sox caps
9:42 p.m. - In retrospect, the title is pretty dumb, but you try being creative with titles for four years and see how good you are at it
Disappointing, especially after his three previous books. I just found a lot of the essays boring.
The beginning and end dragged, but I liked the middle, so...win?