TV Tues. - What a Twist!

I must confess some small disapointment that nobody commented on the change to the random quotes in the CoiM banner, but rather than dwell on that let's just dive right in to the reviews, shall we?

Top Chef: I want Stephen gone soooooooooooooooo much; was so glad to see him called in with the bottom three. Now, if only he had been sent home. *sigh*

Lost: I'm guessing the woman whose house Locke was inspecting is connected to someone somewhere; anyone know for sure? Still can't believe we haven't found out how Locke became paralyzed. J.J. Abrams, you're a tease!

Supernatural: another well done episode; I particularly enjoyed the practical joke war runner; its the brothers' dynamic that sells the show.

Sons & Daughters: Well, after giving up on the show the previous week, my mom gave it another chance, and was won back. Along similar lines, I was very glad that the latest two episodes backed off of the "everything's Cameron's fault" trope. As a matter of fact, the episode where he thought he caused his mom's heart attack seemed tailor made for that, and yet not once did his siblings jump on him; needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Right now this is probably #3 on my sitcom list, right behind Earl and The Office.

West Wing: Now that it's certain they're going to use John Spencer's death as a key point in the election, I have to wonder how it was going to play out beforehand. I still don't want Vinnick to win; the only member of his staff I find even remotely likeable was Patricia Richardson, and once her character threw herself on her sword for the campaign my last vestige of empathy for the Vinnick crew dissipated.

My Name is Earl: Was I the only one who had visions of The Toy during Earl's day of slavery to the kid?

Veronica Mars: I enjoyed the cameos by the kids from Arrested Development; now that AD is officially dead, I wouldn't mind seeing Michael "George Michael" Cera reprising his role next season (assuming it gets renewed . . . please let it get renewed!)

The Office: The best part of the whole episode was watching Ryan's reaction to Dwight and Angela's "cookie" conversation; that shell-shocked look of his in the interview sequence: priceless. Second favorite part of the episode: Michael's comment to Pam about needing to do breast exams because they were "ticking time bags."

The Loop: And we continue the "Sam screws up and the screw up winds up saving his butt" device; the show has flashes of brilliance, but then often falls prey to annoying clichés. So, maybe Matt Roush's mediocre review wasn't that far off base after all . . .

E.R.: I'm glad the Luka/Abby problem didn't get dragged out for too long; as much as I hated their relationship the first time around (back in the days when Luka acted more like a soulless automaton than a human), now both characters have grown enough that I'm hoping they can find some happiness with each other. Of course, this is E.R., so nobody will ever find true happiness.

Everwood: It wasn't until the previews for next week's episode that it dawned on me that Hannah and Bright hadn't been on last night's episode at all. That's a pretty good testament to how strong all of the other characters are on the show, if they can carry an ep so well that I don't even notice the lack of one of my favorite characters currently on TV. I'm really ready for someone to slap some sense into Amy; the blind hero worship of Jack Bauer's dead wife (yes, that's how I will probably always think of her) is a bit much, as is her instant "You disagree with my political views, and so we must now be mortal enemies!" stance. I know Amy's always been pig-headed, but c'mon!

Survivor: I was really hoping that they guys would be able to break the alliance and send Shane packing; he annoys me sooooo much.

Grey's Anatomy: I'm glad that George is starting to move forward; silent-treatment-George is no fun. And I didn't realize until this past week that his new squeeze if played by Sara Ramirez, who won a Tony for her portrayal of the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot; here's hoping she sticks around awhile.

The Apprentice: I couldn't agree with Bryce's comment at the end more: "It wouldn't hurt Trump to listen sometimes." Personally, I couldn't agree with the principles behind Bryce's decision more; no, it might not have been the best strategic decision in terms of the game, but it drives me crazy that anytime anyone in the board room demonstrates any sense of loyalty or honor, Trump and the others just stare at them like they've just killed and devoured their own young in front of them.

Wonder Showzen Disc 1: This parody of kids shows strives to be as offensive and politically incorrect as humanly possible, and is pretty danged successful in its goal. Unfortunately, just saying or doing the most offensive thing conceivable does not automatically equal great comedy. Not to say that there aren't some hilarious things on here; the "Beat Kids" segments with precocious kid reporters were usually pretty good (I liked the one where the little girl was going around Wall Street asking businessmen "How many people have you exploited today?"), as were the MST3K-style voiceovers of old educational films. But for quite a few skits I just felt that they were trying too hard to be shocking. Still, I don't know if I laughed any harder at anything else I saw in the past week than I did at their "Global Politics in 30 Seconds" cartoon.

Robot Chicken Season 1: Stop-motion animation series from the mind of Seth Green that is tailor made for people like me with its non-stop pop culture references and prolific use of action figures. It's a show that often struck me as more "clever" than "laugh out loud funny," but how can I not get behind a show that features a skit about movie twists that not only references Sleepaway Camp, but follows the reference with a character popping up to scream in astonishment, "Somebody remembered this movie and wrote a comedy sketch about it"? I mean, between that, lines like "Look, it's Joel Schumacher, history's greatest monster!", and a 7even skit starring the Smurfs, you know I'm hooked. Another favorite running gag was M. Night Shyamalan popping up after really lame reveals to shout "What a twist!" And speaking of really lame reveals . . .

SPOILER SPACE FOR PRISON BREAK and 24

Prison Break: People have been talking about last nights episode of Prison Break for months, and with good reason; the view into the pre-prison lives of the main characters was well done and engaging. However, I've also seen multiple comments about the big twist at the end: quoth this week's issue of TV Guide, "there's a twist at the end that will make you gasp." So, I watched the whole episode with baited breath, wondering what could get all the TV critics in such a tizzy. Then, the episode ends after we find out that this guy is the Vice President's brother and that he's alive, and my only thought is "why is that supposed to be shocking?" I mean, maybe it hadn't been actually stated for sure at any point, but I thought the fact that the V.P.'s bro was still alive was pretty obvious, especially in light of the whole "the body's not his" thing from last week. I don't know, I just felt a little cheated.

24: Now, while Prison Break left me feeling cheated, 24 left me feeling confused. So, the weaselly, whiney, ineffectual President is actually the great puppet master of it all? Seriously? I'm going to reserve some judgment until we find out the full story, but right now I'm having a hard time buying it . . . almost as hard a time as I've had buying that the bumbler was actually President in the first place, so I'm hoping that the backstory will help me deal with that cognitive dissonance.