TV Tues. - Believe It or Not, I'm Walking On Air

I have two other shows to talk about in addition to those below, but one of them is getting an entry all its own at some point, and the other is closely tied to my Colorado trip and shall have to wait until I cover Day 3.


Gilmore Girls: While I was glad to see Rory and Paris reconcile, I hated that it had to come at the expense of the Rory/Logan and Paris/Doyle relationships; however, the fact that Matt Czuchry has signed up for next season as well gives me hope that the latest bump in the Rory/Logan ride won't be a permanent one. I'm not quite as hopeful about the Lorelei/Luke wedding at this point, though.

The Shield: I'm constantly amazed at how successful this show is in making me root for Vic and his strike team. When Kavanaugh threw his hissy fit and arrested Lem, I was outraged, up until the point I remembered that Lem actually is guilty. The issue has been clouded by Kavanaugh's slimy tactics and growing obsession with nailing the team but the fact remains that the team is dirty; they've extorted drug dealers, staged a massive robbery of the money train, and Vic and Shave were responsible for the murder of fellow cop Terry way back in the first episode. All of Kavanaugh's theories are true, with the exception of his paranoia about Aceveda; I have a feeling it’s that paranoia which will cause Kavanaugh's downfall. On a slightly different note, rumor is that before the month is over, two cast members will be leaving the show; right now it seems likely that Claudette and Lem will be the ones to go, but I'm hoping that's not the case, as they're two of my favorite characters on the show, right behind Dutch and Shane. I'd much rather see Julian and his rookie leave, as they both annoy the heck out of me, but I'm resigned to losing more likeable characters instead.

The Apprentice: Gotta love it when Trump starts calling people stupid for trying to be honest.

The Amazing Race: One annoying team down; several more to go.

Scrubs: The season has been a mixed bag; fearing that this might be their last season, they've amped up the absurdity, which has been both good and bad. Good in terms of some unexpected bits of comedy which took me totally off guard (e.g. raccoon in the shower) ; bad in terms of an increase in the level of slapstick (e.g. the rollerblading sequences). Still, the good is outweighing the bad for me, mainly thanks to the continued brilliance of stand-out characters Doctor Cox and The Janitor.

My Name is Earl: Possibly the weakest episode so far, but it was worth it for two things: Randy and Earl singing the theme from Greatest American Hero, and Randy shouting out "Ricola!" into the echoing water tower.

The Office: My favorite part of the episode had to be the opening sequence with the football; this might make some of you say "Hey, wait a minute, I thought you didn't like slapstick?" Well, in my mind there is a fine distinction between slapstick and physical comedy; basically, if things are moving in slow motion while people's limbs are flailing and faces are fixed into exaggerated grimaces of fear, followed by half a minute of crashing noises, then that's slapstick.

E.R.: I'm way past ready for John Leguizamo's character to go; he's pretty much annoyed me from the start, and it's just gotten worse with each week.

Survivor: Goodbye, Bobby, and good riddance. 'Nuff said.

Stargate SG-1: Was good to see Claudia Black back as Vala; I love seeing her playing such a fun-loving character. Was also good to see Tim Guinee of the all-too-short-lived Strange World as her new husband Tomin, even if he probably won't be on for long.

Stargate Atlantis: Once again, the majority of my enjoyment of the episode revolved around scenes with Rodney; his comic relief is almost always the high point of the show.

Battlestar Gallactica: First of all, let me just say that I barely recognized Dean Stockwell as the religious counselor; looking a lot rougher now than he did during his Quantum Leap days. As for the actual plot points, I don't have a lot to say about the first part of the season finale; however, the previous week's episode focusing on the reborn Cylons on Caprica was very interesting, in a "what the heck does it all mean?" sort of way. The fact that the reborn Six is seeing Gaius much like Gaius sees Six raises all sorts of questions; one might be tempted to just blow it all off as both of them being crazy, but you mustn’t forget that the voice in Gaius' head has provided info about the Cylons' beliefs that Gaius couldn't have possibly known otherwise. Still don't know what it all means, but I'm curious to find out.

Lost: Some questions answered, several more raised; in other words, business as usual for the castaways. I hate the on-going jerkification of Locke, who used to be my favorite character; the ease by which the captive Other manipulated him bugged me, although Zinger pointed out that Locke has a history of being easily manipulated; plus, after being trapped in a wheelchair, I can see how his ego might be easily shaken.

How I Met Your Mother: Okay, another addition to my own personal "slapstick" definition: clumsily destroying an object of great value after much ado has been made about the price of said object.

24: Boy oh boy, the melodrama here is so thick you can drown in it. Having Tony stumble out of bed and make it to a computer was bad enough; having the word DECEASED flash on the screen in bold caps was worse; having a picture of her dead body pop up after that was the height of bad taste. Add onto that the Three's Company style walk in by Mike Novik on the First Lady and Aaron, and the ongoing sturm-und-drang of the paranoid hobbit's no-good-sister and her skell boyfriend and you have the reason why 24 will never make it onto my "favorite shows" list. At the same time, it's things like Jack's willingness to go to extremes (like, oh, say, shooting his old mentor's wife in the leg) and the death of major characters (so long, Edgar; I'm sure The Mag and Rose Hips are wishing it was Chloe instead of you) that keep me watching.