TV Tues. - Don't Todd Out About It

And the attrition through inattention continues! Have officially relegated Smallville and Reunion to "watch on DVD . . . maybe" status. And now, on to the shows that I haven’t given up on . . . yet.

How I Met Your Mother: The weakest ep so far; highlight of the show was this conversation:

Lily: Oh, just play it cool, don't Ted out about it.
Ted: Did you just use my name as a verb?
Barney: Oh, yeah, we do that behind your back. To Ted out: to overthink. Also see: Ted up: to overthink something with disastrous results. Sample sentence: Billy really Tedded up when he . . .

Seriously, change the vowel, add a consonant at the end, and I have a feeling that a new term will soon have entered into the CoIM lexicon. Now, if only the character that spawned this phrase didn't do such stupid stuff . . . that's nothing like me at all!

Arrested Development: So, I'm taping AD on one vcr and watching last week's Everwood on another while waiting for How I Met Your Mother to start (yes, I have an insanely complicated viewing schedule, and remember, this is after jettisoning at least 10 shows from my schedule) when I get an IM from Zinger saying that George Michael reminded him of me in this ep; I responded that I would be watching it later that evening, at which time I would decide whether to be amused or offended. Fastforward to me watching the sequences of George Michael and his dad talking about doing guy stuff, and George Michael not only being uncoordinated, but actually ducking and covering anytime anything was tossed to him, and thinking to myself that I might need to start a "Curse You, Zinger Stoneheart" page as well . . . Anyway, couple of great eps, with the highlight being the Mole vs. Rocketpants in Tiny Town sequence. Great stuff.

My Name is Earl: Randy cutting Earl's toenails while he's sleeping was one of those great, "Where the heck did that come from?" moments. Love comedy like that. Was also great to see Missi Pyle as the snooty contestant: "I haven't thought about how much better I am than her in years." Priceless. Almost as priceless as Joy doing a soft-shoe on the pretend ashes of her dead mother.

The Office: Best part of the whole ep was the opening sequence with the prank involving Dwight's desk, just brilliantly executed.

Bones: Still loving this show; don't know a thing about the legalities, and couldn't care less: it's all about the characters. Loved Bones' total obliviousness to the massive flirting aimed in her direction. Also loved the Blair Witch references. But I have to say that I knew who the killer was long before they did; not because of my keen powers of observation in regards to the plot; no, I was able to apply the "Oh, look, only one of the suspects is played by an actor I know, he must have done it" rule, which is usually most applicable on CSI or Without a Trace. "Oh, look, it's three unknowns and star of stage and screen, Zeljko Ivanek, I wonder which one did it." In this case, it was Alex Carter who's been on a couple of failed series (Point Pleasant, Veritas: The Quest), but would probably be most recognized for his recurring role as a detective on CSI.

Survivor: I like the hidden immunity idol idea, I'm just doubtful that it's ever going to play a factor, other than wearing the contestants out searching for it. Hated to see Brandon go this week, but at the same time, it increases the chances that Bobby John will finally snap and whup the tar out of Jaime.

Ultimate Fighter: I pretty much knew going in that Luke didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of beating Joe; my one hope was that he would be able to hold his own and not be submitted. In the first round I was afraid those hopes were about to be dashed, but Luke managed do an awesome job in the last two rounds of keeping Joe from taking complete control. I was a little less certain of the Brad/Rashad match-up beforehand; I was hoping Brad would take it, but was afraid that Rashad's experience would give him the advantage; looks like I was right. I think if Brad could have had a little more control in his striking, Rashad would have been out of it, but all of his punches looked so sloppy, it was no wonder he didn't connect more. Really, the deciding factor was that Rashad was able to rock him twice; I think if Brad had been able to knock Rashad down even once, the decision would have gone the other way. So, neither of the fights went the way I wanted, but at least Luke and Brad both fought their hearts out and made it a close battle. I didn't have much investment in the other two fights on the card; the first one was okay, but I was really impressed by the level of activity in the Diego/Diez fight; best grappling I've seen in quite a while. Gotta love Diego's comment on seeing the replay "Wow, that's a lot of action, look like two little lizards going at it."

The O.C.: Still dislike the whole "evil dean" thing, am glad it seems to be over *knock on wood*; on the flip side, still enjoying the evil Jeri Ryan thing, and am curious how she thinks she can get blood from the stone that is Julie Cooper. I also enjoy the fact that they're letting Seth and Summer stay together and act as the problem solvers, even if their methods made me very uncomfortable in a "this is all going to blow up in their faces, isn't it?" sort of way. Although the whole "Marissa falling for the new guy" storyline is so soap opera that it makes me cringe, I think it's all worth it for this exchange from next week's trailer:

Sandy: Where's Marissa?
Summer: Oh, she can't make it, she's at the beach with Johnny.
Ryan: *stunned look of rage*
Seth: Ryan, try not to punch Summer.

Well, it made me laugh, anyway.

Everwood: The scene of Hannah and Amy freaking out at the horribly disgusting state of the guys' apartment gave me flashbacks to my days rooming with Wrath, G'ovich, et al; man, were we pigs. Good times, good times. And I'd just like to say that I love Hannah, and am hoping that the rumors of her departure are just rumors, and that they go ahead and move her to a full-time cast member sometime soon. I also really like Ephraim's piano student; he's surly enough to remind you of early Ephraim, but different enough not to seem like a carbon copy.

The Apprentice: Listening to Marcus rambling on endlessly about how precious time is while effectively wasting everyone's time was high comedy; listening to him spouting off at The Donald after he got fired was even more so; what's sad is that I'm sure that in his mind, he was an incredibly effective communicator and productive worker, and you'll never be able to convince him otherwise. Hearing him stumble through his final speech going "I um er uh I, I, I, um, speak intelligently, er, um, uh" . . . hallelujah he's gone! The fact that his worthless behind had managed to skate through while other, much more deserving people have been cut loose, has been incredibly frustrating. The Donald's reaction to finding out the Clay was gay was priceless.

Unscripted: Just finished the first disc of this mostly-improvised HBO series about struggling actors. One of those shows that borders on "unbearably uncomfortable" at times, and yet has enough really, really funny stuff that isn't totally based on embarrassing situations to make it worth my while to suffer through the uncomfortable stuff.

And last, but most certainly not least . . .

Trapped in the Closet: pts.6-8: Not only is this the very definition of the term "unintentional comedy," I doubt there is much out there which can rival it for sheer "they can't be serious?" laughs. I mean, R. Kelly talking in an exaggerated Southern drawl which is being lip-synched by an overweight white woman in trailer trash gear? Priceless. The DVD containing the final 4 parts is currently the top of my queue on Netflix; can't wait to see just what other "shocking twists" are in store.