November Sweeps - Doing Some TV Blogging Clean Up in December

It's been a while since I've TV blogged so I'm doing some massive clean up with November Sweeps stuff and some of this week too. Yes, I know it's already December. Deal with it.

Pushing Daisies - Oh Oh Oh... It's Magic - Ep. 206, Robbing Hood - Ep. 207, Comfort Food - Ep. 208

More about the half-brothers, a dead Magician Fred Willard and Jennifer Elise Cox as a gold digging widow! Plus was it me or was there FINALLY an opening title sequence with wooshy names flying over the fields of daisies for Pushing Daisies, and just as the show gets cancelled (which I'm not even going to really accept or acknowledge right now or else I'm going to start crying, plus I'm hoping Ned can bring the show back alive with his special touch)?

And just as Chuck's little secret had been found out AND we dig up Charles Charles (Josh Randall! Ed)!

Then little Ned is baking a lot of pies for the all the hungry boys at school.

I'm really hungry for pie again now. I did have a craving for fried chicken until the Colonel started eating himself. Ew. But boy, Ned was super cute as he was seeking the secret recipes (of 500 herbs and spices! KFC beat THAT!). I'm going to miss seeing Lee Pace's super cute face on TV everyweek. BOO ABC.

Meanwhile, killing Dwight by keeping Charles Charles alive was almost as funny as anything Olive says. And brilliant plotting. (And I haven't even gotten to the "Eternal Flame" part!)



Holy, Lee Pace's hand is HUGE compared to Kristen Chenowith's.


Privileged - All About Insecurities - Ep. 109, All About Overcompensating - Ep. 110, All About Love, Actually - Ep. 111

For a cute fluffy show, things are advancing quite steadily with Charlie moving in with Mandy, Laurel finding her old flame Miles (and the true father to her daughter), Will gets a job, loses the job and makes and breaks up with Megan (wait, where did it end off again? Are they on or off? I lost track) and Rose cheats on her exam and Megan catches on and follows through. All that plus a new cook is in the kitchen and he's intriguing Sage!

Okay, it doesn't sound like much but leave it to Privileged to make it all wonderful to watch. Bonus for tending to go on the moral high ground without sounding preachy or being boring.


More on Bones, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock, The Amazing Race, Survivor: Gabon, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Gossip Girl, Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, Worst Week:


Bones - The Con Man in the Meth Lab - Eps. 408, The Passenger in the Oven - Eps. 409, The Bone That Blew - Eps. 410

Okay, the killer was so obvious on the airplane but still. Ew. But do airplanes really work that way? Why do shows and movies always show the galley downstairs?

I did love Bones reacting to the clapping for solving the case when Booth points out it's for landing the plane. Why DO people do that?

As for Booth's brother (the always hot and adorable Brendan Fehr from Roswell and CSI: Miami) showing up and kissing Bones? Awesome! Apparently some people didn't like him but I'm for his appearance and according to The TV Addict, will be back! Yay Dan for finding that out! Plus it's just all practice for the REAL Bones Booth kiss!


Ugly Betty - Tornado Girl - Ep. 308, When Betty Met Yeti - Ep. 309, Bad Amanda - Ep. 310

Still continuing to balance high camp with some actual depth of emotions, I'm still loving this season. So much goodiness and the Tornado episode felt extremely cinematical with some great camera shots. All the location shooting within New York is certainly helping.

Who knew Ralph Machio is looking so good these days? Loved that Marc got to bring the bad news to Betty that she got the Yeti slot because she was the token ethnic which brings a bit of harsh reality into the boldly coloured world of Betty. The hilarious turn as Betty and Amanda try to con their way out of a restaurant bill that switches over to the drama between the two new roomies is the whiplash in tone that makes this show work at its best.

Plus seeing Broadway's Aaron Lazar as one of the two Italian lotharios conmen is pretty wicked.

That and Justin. More Justin please! I mean, how could he even CONTEMPLATE not going to see Wicked when Randy blows him off. Yet still Justin is AWESOME! Along with Claire with Angela Bower... er. I mean Judith Light rocking the three lines she has each week. Like I've said time and time again, this show has excelled in throwing numerous stories and snappy lines to all its cast members except for poor Christina who at this point has become therapist to an Emmy-deserving Vanessa Williams as Wily.

Still, the ensemble is so strong that any pairings usually work wonderfully (though I still wish for more Justin and Wily). And while I love Amanda, Marc and Betty together, I thought the Amanda and Betty roommate seemed a little contrived, even by Betty standards, but it seems to be working and I'm totally loving it.


Grey's Anatomy - These Ties That Bind - Ep. 508, In the Midnight Hour - Ep. 509, All By Myself - Ep. 510

It's not even that I'm bothered by the unpopular storyline of Izzie and Denny making ghostlove. It bothers me most is that Denny Duquette is always used to save the show when the show is letting all the other storylines fall apart with loose ends (Callie and her disappearing girlfriend Erika, interns cutting up interns, pig patients, that I don't even know or care where in the relationship Mer and Der are in, that Dr. McSteamy seems like a glorified extra at this point as they try to usher in new cast members including a ridiculous Mary McDonald with Aspergers (the actress deserves better than leftover Boston Legal plots), the always unpopular Melissa George, the hot but at this point misused Kevin McKidd, all as they've just kicked off the well-integrated Brooke Smith). I mean, LOVE Jeffrey Dean Morgan and now that he's become a slightly bigger star thanks to his initial Denny run and that he's still willing to return just as The Watchmen opens early next year, he's becoming the crutch the show relies on to boost any emotional connection we have left with the show and to remind of us the better times of Season 2. Come on Shonda, you can do better than that (Or maybe she actually can't, especially considering how mediocre Private Practice is). Still, I'm willing to see where she plans to go with this Izzie and Denny thing since she apparently HAS a plan. She has a plan right?


The Office - Business Trip - Ep. 507, Frame Toby - Ep. 508, The Surplus - Ep. 509

Thanks to my friend Tony, the trip to Winnipeg wasn't filled with stereotypical Canadianisms. Actually, it was filled with barely any of Canada at all and basically one giant plug for hotel concierges, the modern day geisha!

And yay! As much as Michael hates it, Toby is back! Yay! I always loved Toby/Paul Lieberstein. Am I the only one that considers him cute and endearing?

Not as endearing as Pam putting lipstick on to win her way to new chairs with the new surplus. Love that Jim got the shivers as Pam bossed him around.

Okay, Dwight and Angela getting married all under Dwight's secret plan? Weird and shocking and creepy and kinda funny actually, especially since Andy was watching on. Creepy for sure but I had to admit I laughed.


30 Rock - The One with the Cast of 'Night Court' - Ep. 303, Gavin Volure - Ep. 304, Reunion - Ep. 305

This season has been pretty great so far but I just noticed, has Judah Friedlander or anybody from the writing crew been on at all?

Meanwhile, as they are stuffing every episode with a special guest star (Jennifer Aniston! Steve Martin! Janel Maloney! Okay, she's not so big but I liked her from The West Wing, some of the cast of the same NBC time slot owner from my childhood Night Court!), Kenneth is still making me laugh the most with his little bits (usually involving the elevator for some reason, with him crying with the girls reunion (with Aniston) and telling jokes outdoing Tracy and Jenna).

Though Jenna as the wolflawyer was pretty good. And Aniston was pretty good as Liz's crazed ex-roomate. Though I think I loved her crazed ex-high school classmates at the reunion even more for hating Liz for being the geek hater. Who knew Liz Lemon was the MEAN GIRL!?

I love/don't care for Steve Martin. I actually find his old SNL stuff usually bleh but I LOVE LOVE LOVE L.A. Story but I found him annoying here on 30 Rock and was more entranced by Liz and Jack's interplay. Though the twist was amusing for a moment. But the episode was really great (and this whole season for that matter) because of the great duo Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin have become. Who would have first thought way back when?


Survivor: Gabon - The Brains Behind Everything - Ep. 1708, Nothing Tastes Better Than Five Hundred Dollars - Ep. 1709, I Was Put on the Planet for This Show - Ep. 1710, The Good Things in Life Aren't Easy - Ep. 1711

Randy so had it coming and it was AWESOME!

I can't believe Kenny is still in the running. At this point, I'm almost hoping for Sugar to win. Or Bob if he makes it to the end and doesn't get blindsided himself.

I know the point is for the weaklings to outmaneover the strong players and usually I like the underdog but I've got no attachments to most of this sad lot. Corrine is annoying. Kenny is annoying. Crystal is annoying. At this point, doesn't the gang realize they need to blindside Kenny and vote him out? Seriously, I don't feel sorry for this lot.

Though I do feel bad for Matt. Until he proposed. Seriously, isn't he like only 24? I know he and his now fiancee look in their 30's but still. 24. So young. Really? (No offence Linz)

Boy. Corrine's post-elimination speech. Bitter a little? What did Sugar ever do to her? I liked her "team" but I never liked her. Still, I only feel bad about this because this leaves Bob alone out there now.


The Big Bang Theory - The Panty Piñata Polarization - Ep. 207, The Lizard-Spock Expansion - Ep. 208, The White Asparagus Triangulation - Ep. 209

Sara Rue! Oh yey!


And yes, we all know Sheldon IS the show but can I say that they have finally integrated Penny into the show really well? and her repartees with Sheldon are superb and hilarious right now. Even more than Sheldon and Leonard. Though maybe not as funny as Howard and Rajesh.


How I Met Your Mother - Not a Father's Day - Ep. 407, Woooo! - Ep. 408, The Naked Man - Ep. 409

Woooo! Jamie Lynn Sigler! In a role that seems a bit small for her but whatever! And WOOOO! Nakedness!.

The recent episodes seemed to have unified the gang and the show as a whole again so while it still isn't as funny as some of their best episodes, it seems to be floating in enjoyable territory.


Worst Week - The Vows - Ep. 107, The Cake - Ep. 108, The Wedding - Ep. 109

Okay, Sam's kissing mom was a little much but Fred Willard is always welcome and grandma Olympia Dukakis just simply kicks ass!

Still, they finally got to the wedding! Now what? I thought they would have milked it for a whole season (or show) like the failed Big Day but that's probably why I love this show because as one note as the show sounds, somehow it manages to move forward and seem reasonable. Okay, sometimes I smack my head at what happens, but still, I guess I do everything at home in my bare feet too so I guess I can't totally blame Sam for taking out the bags of broken crystal glasses and then spilling it EVERYWHERE.

But for all the outlandish things that can happen, it's still more likable, realistic and sympathetic than any Ben Stiller movie.


Gossip Girl - The Magnificent Archibalds - Ep. 211, It's A Wonderful Lie - Ep. 212

Never a fan of Vanessa's, she's only palpable when she's with Nate. Well, anyone is palpable when they're with Nate (see the Duchess). Still, how the heck is she with Nate again and we are to feel sorry for her when poor Jenny is left on the block?

I'm officially over Aaron and anything related to prolonging this silly game of keeping Serena and Dan apart which has become futile and boring.

On the other hand, using Bart Bass to keep Lily and Rufus apart just revs up the sexual tension and amps up the opportunities for spies, backstabbings and Chuck walking in on Serena so I'm all for it.

I'm also in full support of a guest star Emmy nomination for Dorota!


The Amazing Race - I'm Like an Angry Cow - Ep. 1308, That Is Studly - Ep. 1309, You're Gonna Get Me Killed - Ep. 1310

I almost teared up when Dallas and Toni were eliminated from the race. I almost teared up when Dallas talked about how great his mom is. Who knew Dallas would turn out to be the stud of the race and not the crazed Gino his hair first led us to believe?

So now that my favorite team is out, I'll throw my support back to Nick and Star. Even Ken and Tina aren't annoying me now but I can't believe Andrew and Dan are still in the race. What the?

Granted, Andrew and Dan's marching segment in Russia was possibly one of the funniest things I've seen all year.


Desperate Housewives - City on Fire - Ep. 508, Me and My Town - Ep. 510

Okay first I didn't see the Porter/Anne baby coming, then I didn't see the baby not coming... coming. THAT was a nice twist! I only wish we were more invested in guest Gail O'Grady's Anne to have made it an even bigger shock.

Ditto with the reveal of Andrew's new boyfriend doctor (Todd Grinnell). I know there's probably something with the doctor/patient confidentiality but it could have been a funnier reveal if Todd ranted about Bree and Orson and not just making it seem like they were just another random bickering couple. Still, yum for the future eps!

Eva Longaria's been on a role with Gaby who must get her groove back now that Carlos will probably be able to see again, and Marcia Cross is still rocking Bree. Even Teri Hatcher has been hilarious and enjoyable (loved her comment about her high metabolism when Gaby was feeling fat) but in the end Felicity Huffman is still turning in another emotionally fulfilling performance as Lynette as she tries to solve all of Porter's problems (and a slight reminder of Tilda Swinton in The Deep End).


Brothers & Sisters - Going Once... Going Twice - Ep. 308, Unfinished Business - Ep. 309

If I had one criticism with Desperate Housewives, it was the wasted opportunity to use Steven Weber properly. Well, he apparently just had to wait one hour later on ABC and return back to Brothers & Sisters to surprise Sarah and her new fratboy co-workers to close the business deal. Well, maybe not just business. More like "bidzness" ya know!?

On the other hand, I'm still not sure if Dave Foley was properly used here as Justin's anonymous friend who Justin tries to set up with Saul. That was awkward. I know they meant that on purpose but still. Awkward. Love the Kid in the Hall but he's also looking a little sad.

I'm always in support of a storyline that will bring in an architect so I'm actually liking Nora's new house purchase story more than I thought I would, but I'm SOOOO tired of the evil Holly at this point that even while she's justified at hiring Rebecca in the former Walker's family business, it still seemed to blatant to unnerve Tommy and gang that it just became unbelievable.