CBS 2008-2009 Video Previews

I realised I never posted this the other week even though I had prepared this post but as you can see from my promptness, I seem REALLY excited about these new shows don't I? Anyways, it's CBS. If I AM excited and actually like a show, they will probably cancel it anyways (and the bitterness of Love Monkey's cancellation continues).

Project Gary - I used to love Jay Mohr. What happened?




Worst Week - Um, on paper, this sounds terrible but I actually laughed and I like Kyle Bornheimer as the naked man that always seems to screw up around his girlfriends parents. Sounds like a one-note movie but seems cute if unsubstantial and could possibly be a good guilty pleasure. I do need a replacement for Reba.




The Ex-List - The show that seems the most anti-CBS and really should be on ABC or The CW, but also the one with the most potential (if only because its from one of the Veronica Mars writers).




The Eleventh Hour - "Science takes a deadly turn in this gripping new mystery drama from acclaimed producer Jerry Bruckheimer". It'll be a hit that no one talks about. I'm bored already.




The Mentalist - Simon Baker! In this? Crap. The title alone makes me want to run away.




Harper's Island (Midseason) - It's a limited series. It takes place in a cold looking watery mountained environment. It looks scary and spooky. Did Twin Peaks need to be remade? Still, I'm intrigued but ONLY because Bill Pullman is in this, and some hot looking actors who I'm sure will all be killed by the end of the series save for 3, one who will be the killer, and the other 2 the good guys that save the day. No? (Though I still think this might flame out big time).



For the FOX 2008-2009 Video Previews

For more on the 2008-2009 TV Upfronts:

Fox 2008
ABC 2008
CBS 2008
NBC 2008
The CW 2008

More After the Jump...

The Dark I Know Well - Adding Machine, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Misery, Spring Awakening - Theatre Reviews

Adding Machine: A Musical - Minetta Lane Theatre - Off Broadway, New York, NY
Original Music by Joshua Schmidt, Libretto by Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt, Based on the play The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice, Directed by David Cromer

Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Roundabout Theatre Company - American Airlines Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY
Written by Christopher Hampton, Directed by Rufus Norris

Misery - CanStage - St. Laurence Centre for the Arts Bluma Theatre - Toronto, ON
Adapted for the stage by Simon Moore based on the book by Stephen King, Directed by David Storch

Spring Awakening - Eugene O'Neill Theatre - Broadway, New York
Music by Duncan Sheik, Lyrics and Book by Steven Sater, based on the book by Frank Wedekind, Directed by Michael Mayer

I'll have a review of the uproarious Boeing-Boeing up soon, because I'll need to be reminded of laughter again.

So somehow I managed to see 4 dark shows one after another the other week and the glumness has kept me from posting about them so far. Many were good shows, just not exactly snap happy.

First off, the Off-Broadway show Adding Machine: A Musical that is getting major acclaim for sticking close to the dark surrealness of the original play. It's something that I think I would usually love, love for the twisted darkness of the story (about a loser with an annoying wife who kills his boss, ends up in the afterlife where more bizarre things happen) and how unrelenting it sticks to the original source material, but I just found it annoying and tedious the day I saw it.

Maybe it's because I was already having a morose moment, and secretly looking for something more happy and hopeful? (I like happy music when I'm depressed, depressed music when I'm happy. I'm a bit of a music masochist). There were some great surreal moments, like the office scene, the jail scene or the hilarious post-death sequence, and the finale was great.

Still, I found the songs and score to be mostly attempting at the "smart" Sondheim-like un-melodic Schoenberg-esque sound that adds layers to the musical but just added headaches in my head. The grating singing by the wife (while I know was on purpose as part of the "character") was just that, grating. I found the problem with the story was that the characters still played too closely like stereotypes, making me care very little if their miserable lives got even more miserable since they were making my life miserable. It was like watching The Honeymooners in a Twilight Zone episode.

I respected what it was trying to do and I could see why some would find it brilliant, but it just didn't do anything for me and I simply did not like it. It was too caricatured for me, even though I think that was part of story and production of Adding Machine.

Over at the American Airlines Theatre, The Roundabout Theatre Company presents Les Liaisons Dangereuses. I've never read the book or even seen the movie (or even Cruel Intentions) so I'm going in this blindly based on what I know from popular culture.

While the production is beautiful and luscious, it left me a little cold. While the tales of sex and seduction, with a terrific lead in Ben Daniels kept the production sharp and crisp, it lacked an emotional depth to really reel me in.

I came to really see Laura Linney, one of my favorite movie actresses of all time (so brilliant in You Can Count On Me, Kinsey etc. etc.), and she was good but I'm not sure it was great, especially next to Daniel's more flamboyantly perfect performance.

I was also confused by all the Counts and Madame's so got confused over who was seducing who for what reason but the final 10 seconds had a nice shocking effect that it helped resolve some of the problems I had with the play and made me rethink a lot of what I had just seen.

Back here in Toronto, CanStage ends the season with Misery, the stage adaptation of the Stephen King novel, later made iconic by the film with Kathy Bates in her Oscar winning role. Again, I had never read the book or even seen the movie, and while I'm not a fan of King's per se, I don't look down upon his stuff either. It is what it is which is fine by me.

I wish I could say more of the same for the play but it was funny when it shouldn't have been, and scary only in how hollow it all felt. Including the stilt house set that just looked cheap (or a giant origami frog if you include the roof) and made the suspenseful play seem thin and pointless.

It's almost embarrassing to watch good actors like Tom McCamus and Nicole Cavendish perform these roles that were so iconic, but they fail to add anything or even come close to fleshing out the characters in this two person play.

Thank goodness than that I got to see Spring Awakening once more with Jonathan Groff and Lea Michelle just before they finally left the show last week. While I already hear replacements Kyle Riabko and Alexandra Socha are great and have made the relationship even darker (so I'm going to have to see how that new hayloft scene turns out with the younger looking couple playing up the rape portion more than Groff and Michelle did), I LOVE Groff and Michelle in the roles and as always, they were fantastic in one of their last bouts as Melchior and Wendla.

It was interesting to see all the other new replacements (because at this point, we know Skylar Astin, Lilli Cooper and Remy Zaken are terrific). I LOVE Matt Doyle but I'm not sure if Hanschen was the best role for him, but considering that, he did a pretty great job. Blake Bashoff (Lost) has been surprisingly amazing as Moritz but Emma Hunton, while with pretty voice, wasn't quite as good as Ilse, though not bad.

Thank goodness Christine Estabrook was back as Adult Woman because no one has come close to her interpretation at this point, but it was too bad Stephen Spinella was gone because his replacement Glenn Fleshler doesn't come close, though he has improved a LOT since the last time I saw him.

I had Matt Shingledecker and Eryn Murman fill in for Brian Charles Johnson and Phoebe Strole that night, but they were pretty good. And Jesse Swenson, now famous for Jenny AND Eric's spring awakening on Gossip Girl, was sitting across the stage from my odd-numbered stage seats.

But what I loved about sitting in the stage seats was still noticing how enthralled and into the musical Jonathan Groff seemed. Even when he wasn't in on the action, he sat from the sidelines totally immersed in the story, looking like it was his first time seeing the show. I don't know if it's an act, but it was a good act and he will be surely missed (though I can't wait to see him in Hair this summer).

As for the show, you already probably know I love it since this was my 7th time. Here are the previous reviews for Spring Awakening - Original Review , My 2nd Review, My 3rd Review, My 4th Review, My 5th Review.

Okay, now I need to go watch a comedy before I go slit my wrists.

Adding Machine: A Musical - Minetta Lane Theatre - Off Broadway, New York, NY - ** (2 stars out of 5)

Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Roundabout Theatre Company - American Airlines Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - ***1/2 (3.5 stars out of 5)

Misery - CanStage - St. Laurence Centre for the Arts Bluma Theatre - Toronto, ON - * (1 star out of 5)

Spring Awakening - Eugene O'Neill Theatre - Broadway, New York - ***** (5 stars out of 5)


For more on Spring Awakening
For my original review
See also
One Jonathan Groff To Live
One More Jonathan Groff To Live
No More Jonathan Groff To Live
Broadway Marathon
I Only Stalk Celebrities (Like Jonathan Groff) on Broadway

More After the Jump...

Love Lessons from The Bachelorette

Season 4 - Ep. 1 & 2

Oh yes I did.

I couldn't help it. While I can't stand watching The Bachelor, I love the spinoff version, The Bachelorette. I don't smoke. I don't do drugs. And I'm too cheap (and Asian) to do alcohol. Give me this vice please.

For one thing, lets face it. Women really rule the relationships and they secretly control everything that happens, whether the guys knows it, admits it or not. (Plus, haven't the only successful relationship(s?) to ever come out of these series been from The Bachelorette?) So they seem to be better pickers from the pool of bachelors (mostly).

Plus, I love this spinoff game they keep doing, using losers from The Bachelor to feed the new Bachelorette (and I liked it when they picked the next Bachelor from the spurned pool on the Bachelorette. They really need to go back to that bounce back system).

Another reason why The Bachelorette is more entertaining than its male counterpart? Watching 25 guys competing for a girl is fun to watch. Let me rephrase that. It's funny to watch. Let me rephrase that, it's HILARIOUS to watch. Because while 25 girls competing will get bitchy and catty (and not really fun to watch), guys will become big dweebs and boobs and we get to watch in cringy embarrassment. It's awesome!

Of course, the last time I watched this show, the guys were generally older than me. Now I'm in that age range! Scary.

Alright, so who are the ones DeAnna should keep considering?

I like Richard the most so far, the geeky but beautiful high school science teacher. His gawkiness really doesn't match the way he looks but that makes him even more endearing. Seriously cute and he seriously seems awkward and shy and REALLY into his science stuff. If he doesn't win DeAnna's heart, at this point, I'm voting him for the next Bachelor. Can you imagine 25 women crawling over him? He would have a total spasm.

Something about Ron, the divorced barber store owner makes me like him, although he reminds me of an actor (or a melding of two) but I can't think of who yet. One might be George Eads from CSI but can't think of the other yet. Tuc Watkins from Desperate Housewives (Bob, the gay neighbour).


I like Jason, the single father. He seems sweet and genuine. Well, except for the not having told DeAnna about his child part so far but who am I to criticize his technique? Though DeAnna looked none too happy in next week's preview when he finally tells her.



Fred looks like the geek of the group but like Richard, seems quite endearing and adds to his whole cuteness. So far, adorable and no major faux-pas. Which after the first episode with the other guys, is a major achievement in this circle.


Um, did you see those guns on Brian's arms? Hot damn, I might have actually done something if he was MY gym teacher. Though like many of the guys, I can't believe he's the age he says he is. He's my age but looks probably 10 years older.


I'm still split on Robert. his cooking in the first night impressed me (uh, oh, and DeAnna which I guess is the important thing here... (gotta keep reminding myself of that) but he's sort of sunken into the background since then. Of course, that could possibly mean that he'll be in the finals knowing the editors of this show.

I'm also on the fence about Graham at this point. I don't mind Jeremy at this point but the guys really seem to hate the guy and I think there must be more than meets the eye, other than plain jealousy. 

And the boobs?

Well, DeAnna did a good job of weeding out most of them in that first cut after the first night date with all 25 bachelors. LOVE the NY Personal Trainer that rips his shirt off in the post-rejection interview. LOVED that. Dude, and you wonder why you didn't get a rose? Hilarious.

The Virginian that brought the Duck caller? Or his frenemy the abs guy? See ya losers!

As for the ones that slipped by and made it on, I have to say I'm so embarrassed that Paul is this seasons Canadian representative, especially after he jumps into the pool fully clothed after DeAnna's warning, then strips to his specially made swimsuit with DeAnna's name written on his butt.

Nice! Thanks for being our new national embarrassment. Stockwell Day must be relieved.

I'm still not sure about Jesse, the snowboarder who wore the colourful coat and the pink laced shoes. Bold move that might have worked, and he seems like a nice guy, but he's still got the whole 25 year old boarder thing going and I feel that he will never be really himself until he gets a good doobie.

Sean and his mullet and his karate kicking self CREEPS ME OUT.

Twilley hiding in the bush? Constantly pushing himself onto DeAnna? Future stalker in the making! Run DeAnna RUN!

Chris reminds me of Chuck a bit but has none of his charms. Something about him bugs the hell out of me. His laughably bad singing of the national anthem didn't help his case either. DeAnna must have caught that since he didn't make it past the second round. Neither did Eric or Ryan, both who I liked at first, but we never really got to know more about Eric, and Ryan just got less impressive the more I saw him.

About the only guy I can think of that I think she should have kept from the first rose ceremony/blood bath was Patrick C. who seemed a bit too goofy/immature but yet seemed to have charms to spare and nice eyes. The moptop seems to work for him too. I know, I keep having these things for the manboy when I really should be looking at the men.

I have much to learn from DeAnna. Or anybody really. Seriously, I'm about as socially retarded in the dating thing as anybody could be.

More After the Jump...

That Lil' Blonde Singing Pixie - Or How I'm Seeing Double

Apologies to A Blog Next Door

I know Duffy is all the rage right now but I just can't seem to get into the band. I think it's the lead singer, Aimee Duffy's nasally voice. I like the IDEA of her but I just can't get into her song "Mercy".

Plus is it me or does she look like a harder lived Kristin Chenoweth (Broadway diva, Wicked, Pushing Daisies)?

I seriously thought it was Kristin for a few seconds the first time I saw Duffy's video and it's still all I see. Like the bad naughty twin.




Okay, maybe not so much. Well, a little. No?

More After the Jump...

The TV Blog Coalition - And Summer Begins

It's Memorial Day Weekend, the official start to the American Summer season (we in Canada started it a week earlier thanks to ol' Queen Vicky) and the official TV season is winding down. So much for that all year round TV season eh?

There are still new episodes of Men In Trees (including the series finale) to come, and Lost finale is up Thursday, and of course, So You Think You Can Dance is just getting started, but now the networks clear their schedule so that we can focus on the summer cable series that we love, like My Boys, Burn Notice, Greek (already running), and Weeds.

In the meantime, here's what the TV bloggers were talking about:

Between Girlfriends, Jericho, Aliens in America and many others, there are plenty of newly canceled shows to mourn. Buzz wants to know: Which one bums you out the most? (BuzzSugar)

This week, Eric wondered how much you would pay to watch your favorite TV show. (Daemon's TV)

Mikey's infatuation with the fourth season of Desperate Housewives lasted until the final two minutes, which he worries might force the series back into a creative coma. (Mikey Likes TV)

Marcia picked the five new shows that you absolutely, positively can afford to miss. (Pop Vultures)

Examining what makes her stick with Heroes despite it's let-down of a second season but drop Brothers & Sisters over a disappointing storyline, Jody wonders what kind of fan you are: fickle or faithful? (RTVW Online)

Scooter takes a look back to see which of CBS's comedies had a better year, How I Met Your Mother or The Big Bang Theory, hint: it was the one without Britany Spears. (Scooter McGavin's 9th Green)

Vance thought Grey's Anatomy's season finale was rock solid! ABC is doing pretty well with the 2 hour finales so far, no? Desperate Housewives was great, can't wait for Lost now!(Tapeworthy)

This week, Jace put on his Pilot Inspektor cap and reviewed the pilot episodes for several new series, including FOX's new J.J. Abrams drama Fringe ("spellbinding television"), ABC's misguided US adaptation of UK series Life on Mars, and HBO's True Blood. (Televisionary)

Lost's flash-forward, Desperate Housewives' leap in time, Battlestar Galactica's skip to New Caprica -- it seems like more and more shows are shaking up their formats. Dan evaluates the new trend. (TiFaux)

Jennifer vented her anger about the shocking Bones finale, and for those of you who missed it, check out her exclusive interview with One Tree Hill’s James Lafferty. (Tube Talk)

Take a trip down memory lane with theTVaddict.com's tribute to TV shows that are no longer with us. Yes Moonlight & Men in Trees fans, we're talking to you. (the TV Addict)

Raoul talked with perfect 10 Whitney from America's Next Top Model. (TV Filter)

More After the Jump...

Ugly Betty - Pack It Up, Pack It In

Jump - Ep. 218 - Season Finale

Let Me Begin...

Betty and Gio are dating! Well, trial dating but whatev! Good enough for me!

Hilda is playing hard to get with the hard abs of Coach Diaz (Eddie Cibrian)!

Justin is fabulous as ever!

Oh, and The Lohan makes her first of 5 appearances on the show, and luckily it's kept to a minimum and it's actually quite funny. In fact, Lindsay Lohan actually reverts back to her Mean Girl days, and that's a good thing! Here's the clip in case you missed it.



Who would have thought The Lohan wasn't going to be the biggest mistake of this episode. (Nor Naomi Campbell's appearance later in the episode)

There's a possible Cousin Oliver situation/mistake when a french boy Danielle arrives claiming to be Daniel's son, and while Wily had nothing to do with it, she takes full advantage of the situation.

Wily uses the French boy to make Daniel look bad, and Alexis pulls rank again, giving the editor-in-chief job to Wily.

Meanwhile, Gio asks Betty to go to Rome and in a nice thematic set up, she learns to take some risks and says yes. Oddly touching since I had resounded to the same thing this week.

Then Henry returns and asks for her hand in marriage. Oy!

There's some nice tender and funny moments between Daniel and Betty, each dealing with their own futures while they attempt to help each other out, but really, let's get to the REALLY good stuff, when everything culminates in a work baseball game. Cleats with heals! The Mode way!

It's Mode magazine vs. Elle magazine!

Amanda and Marc are cheerleaders of course! Rhyming, pom poms and all! (And using Betty as a jumping pad).

Wily throws her balls hard and fast.

And Naomi Campbell plays for the opposing team. Loved that they could make fun of her phone throwing habit when everyone ducks in horror as she gets a call. She's a bitch but she sure knows how to milk her image!

Betty must decide between Gio (YES PICK HIM PICK HIM) or Henry.

Sadly, we see Betty packing up and saying goodbye to the Suarez clan but we don't see who is behind the door (GIO GIO GIO!??) as they pull another Veronica Mars cliffhanger. Is she off to Rome with Gio? (Uh, it better be YES and she better be eating Pasta by the Coliseum) or Tucson with Henry (uh, whatever, I'm sure it's lovely but it's dry and the city can't even spell itself the way it sounds).

Daniel accepts his new found responsibility as father, trying to connect with the boy and trying to improve on his own father's fatherly performance. There's been WAY too much of Daniel reverting back to being a boy, and then learning to be a grown up again, but on the other hand, Eric Mabius sure does pull off that befuddled face awfully well, and is awfully cute when he does it.

And meanwhile, Hilda finally realizes there's no time to waste and no more games to play, and goes to kiss a shirtless Coach Diaz in a scene I thought would be longer than it was, but that showed lots of goodies. If you need proof, here are more pictures:

On the negative side, other than the fact that the above scene didn't play out longer, was the complete disappearance of Christina who apparently is still locked up in Wily's apartment. Not enough of Marc and Amanda especially now that they were finally together again, and a less snappy first half of the episode.

There were some nice emotional moments, but for the finale, I was hoping for zippier (especially after last weeks terrific return to the full energy of what Ugly Betty should really be about) and not just in the final montage moments set to Madonna's "Jump", just as the show is about to jump coasts to start filming the show in New York next season (which I still think is a good thing. Yeah, so 300 jobs are lost in Hollywood, now 300 jobs are gained in New York, a much cooler city anyways, plus now they can load up their guest stars with more Broadway actors who would fit PERFECTLY into the gay and campy show).

So, see you next season, on the east coast, with Betty hopefully returning from Italia after feasting on pasta and gelato and Gio!

More After the Jump...

So You Think You Can Dance - It's Time To Put On Those Dancing Shoes Again Kids!

Season 4 Premiere - Auditions - Los Angeles - Ep. 401

Welcome back Cat Deeley and welcome back jidges! (And some guest appearances from Travis Wall! Dominic! and Hok!)

Another summer, another start to the most awesomest dance competition! So You Think You Can Dance is BACK! WOOHOO!!! Time to put on those dancing shoes, start that music, and shake your booty! And that's just me at home in anticipation! Wait till the REAL dancers compete on TV!

I will say this upfront, I usually watch the auditions but I never really posted about it before, because I don't enjoy the bad dancers anymore (it's funny in year one, it's not by now, much like the Idol's bad auditions) and then I get too attached to some folks that never make it to the Top 20. I can't do this to myself anymore!

Plus, there's still far too much time spent on "characters" (like Mask and Sex who are both back... oh god...) while the actual "good" dancers usually don't get as much screen time and we don't really know any of the dancers that usually make it to Vegas so there's still little too few to get excited about.

Still, I'm excited, but due to technical difficulties and the fact that I'll be traveling a lot in the next few weeks, my coverage may be sporadic but I'll do what I can do for the love of Travis Wall or Neil Haskell or Pascha or Dimitri or Sabra or Heidi or... whoever will be next this year.

So we start of in La La Land, and the music starts and the dancer just stands there face to the back wall. I'm thinking. OH NO. Not another one of "those" crazzies trying to get on TV and make their own statement.

Oops. Wrong music. In the end, Devin was a beautiful contemporary dancer and we're off to a great start!

Then there's Jonathan Anzalone, an egotistical hottie with sporadic weird dancing, yet he's not bad in some of the stuff he does. He's hot, and not. And Mia doesn't think he's going to be successful but does think he's sexcessful. Oops. Freudian slip.



No Vegas for him, back to the pole.

There's a blind girl that tries out but her technical skills aren't up to snuff.

Twitch is back, he who lost the last slot to Hok last year, (who lost his slot the previous year to Benji). He gets to try again in Vegas.

There's a kid trick artist Philip Chbeeb who is pretty cool. Off to Vegas he goes!



A few more contestants of note after the jump below:

Erica Gee gets through on her 3rd try, and she's pretty good though there's something about her I don't like.

Aliona Vetrenko and Leonidas Proskurov. Um, they're pretty good at what they do, and points for performing to US3's "Cantaloup" though something bugs me about them. Maybe it's the look straight out from Grease. The bad one currently on Broadway. Or something, but that's based on snap bitchy judgements (cause I'm still in a foul mood from the PVR acting up):



Victor Kim representin' the Asians yo! (Um, did he just bounce onto his elbows? I'm wincing just watching it. That doesn't hurt?). He's studying Business and Economics. Wow, he really IS representin' the asians yo:


Sadly, Victor doesn't make it to Vegas after the choreography rounds.

Robert Morraine is one of those poppers that looks cool for a few seconds and then it either gets tired or creepy. Still, it's a little insane:



Rijiy Ames performs and shows some skin and renders me, the judges, and I'm guessing most of America, a little bit speechless in possibly the unsexiest almost nude dance:



Kherington Payne. She's cute. Maybe a bit too cute. She's the soccer player/dancer. Here's the pretty jock. I'm sure Hollywood is salivating. The big smile on the moody contemporary piece (to OneRepublic's "Stop and Stare" seems a bit at odds though:



Asuka Kondoh and Ricky Sun. More Asians! Cute though I didn't love it as much as I hoped and thought it was good, but not great. Maybe it was the JLo song:



UPDATE:
Here's a new clip that I just found of those that made it to the Top 20:

Stephen "Twitch" Boss:



Wiliiam Wingfield:



Next week: Salt Lake City and Texas.

For More So You Think You Can Dance:
Check here for the most Recent current postings and Latest News on SYTYCD

So You Think You Can Dance - Season 3:
Live Tour - Toronto, Pasha's Solo Video, Neil's Solo Video
Finale - Winner Result
Top 4 Performances - Finals
Top 6 Performances, Top 6 Results
Top 8 Performances, Top 8 Results
Top 10 Performances, Top 10 Results
Top 12 Performances, Top 12 Results
Top 14 Performances, Top 14 Results
Top 16 Performances, Top 16 Results
Top 18 Performances, Top 18 Results
Top 20 Performances, Top 20 Results

For So You Think You Can Dance Season 2:
Favorite Video Clips
Song List
Live Tour 2006 - Toronto
Live Tour 2006 - Buffalo, Pics, More Pics

More After the Jump...

Grey's Anatomy - Rock Solid

Freedom - Ep. 416 - Season Finale

3 Major Cases this week.

The continuation of Rebecca/Ava and her delusions.

The other two all sported adorable young people in bad situations.

There's Beth (Jurnee Smollett) and Jeremy (Marshall Allman, TJ on Prison Break), who met because they were sick, want to get it on much to Beth's parents disapproval. All while Beth must decide on experimental surgery, just as Jeremy is to go into his own life threatening surgery.

Then there's Andrew, who in a stupid dare from bullies as he's trying to impress a girl amongst that group, jumps into quick dry cement at a construction site which is hardening, expanding and thus crushing his body and burning his skin.

The cases were finally front and centre again with Mer and Der's continuing saga floating around, again being reiterated at Meredith's therapy sessions as Beth and Jeremy's love and devotion to each other kept needling and reminding Meredith and Derek of the emotions they were hiding from.

Rock boy was a strangely powerful and affecting case, and while the cute boy cast as the outsider that became stuck in the concrete rock in order to impress the cool group was probably a quick and easy shameless way for us to automatically identify with, it worked. Everybody has a different take and concern on the saviour procedures and Richard, Bailey, Callie, Sloan and Hahn slowly fight to save the boy (with some help from Christina).

Bailey is amazing trying to calm the boy down, outing herself as a sci-fi fan and generally being the awesome Bailey we came to love from the start.

When the boy is finally cut out from the rock, he ends up going unconscious due to the rush of chemicals that are allowed to flow now, and Christina saves the day against an angry Hahn in the surgery room.

Meanwhile, the cool group bullies are jerks and Callie and I just want to smack them. What's WRONG with these people? The sad thing is, there are tons of kids out there like that. What's WRONG with them? What's WRONG with their parents for letting them turn out that way? ARGH.

Meanwhile, the girl hints at being secretly friends with rock boy Andrew but refuses to show it for fear of public humiliation until Callie continues calling her out.

Andrew survives, thanks to Christina, and Hahn is annoyed. Meanwhile, Bailey gives a good talkin' to the stupid girl and she finally comes to see Andrew and give him the kiss he so wanted.

He's too good for her, but whatev, it was sweet in the end and it was rewarding to see him so happy (even though we know he deserves better).

Izzie is still trying to protect Alex from Rebecca. Izzie is Rebecca's doctor and tries to keep her in the hospital, but Alex insists on taking care of the sick Rebecca. He opens up about his past when he already took care of his mom when he was a boy, but he'll do a better job now as a man. It's possibly the first time we've heard about his past, no?

Lexie ends up stealing everyone's files from Richard's office after George had been tempted, but the information that George had failed by a single point only disturbed George more than it helped.

Bailey gives up the clinic to Izzie, because Bailey loves everything else more, loves her family more, and she thinks Izzie is ready to take it on.

Meredith figures out that her mother's attempted suicide was not real, just a ploy to get Richard back. It was also a veiled lesson for Meredith to chase after her man, and not a lesson about surgery.

Alex loses Rebecca to the psychiatric docs and seeks comfort in a kiss from Izzie.

Actually, everyone kisses.

Callie kisses Hahn. Sloan looks on proudly. Ha!

Richard begs Adele to take him back. She does. They kiss.

George gives a quick kiss to Lexie when he decides to retake the intern exam after the info she found for him, and she likes it, unbeknownst to him.

Meredith sets up a big romantic gesture, using candles to draw up plans for their future house, but then yells at Derek when he finally arrives late. They kiss. Then Derek leaves. To break up with Rose.

See ya next season!

I'm shocked! Shocked that they actually wrapped up all the storylines into fairytale endings. Yeah, we'll get the happily ever after aftermath next season, but they didn't really leave any shockers, anything hanging, but after the tumultuous years they've had, it's actually nice to have a bit of stability as we leave for the summer!

It was a rock solid finale, and while the previous few episodes mixed the humour and drama better, it moved along smoothly right to the end with some interesting and heartbreaking cases that helped teach our favorite doctors at Seattle Grace some valuable lessons. Lessons that finally led to all the kissing at the end.

It's been a good week for 2 hour ABC finales hasn't it? Desperate Housewives was brilliantly good and Lost continues next week!
Photos courtesy Michael Desmond/ABC

More After the Jump...

When Technology Attacks My Perfect Plans

You know, PVR's are so great (or some know it as DVR, not as fancy versions of Tivo's). It allows us to watch everything on Thursday night TV. Like being able to first watch the So You Think You Can Dance premiere, then the Ugly Betty finale, then the Grey's Anatomy finale, and still get to bed at a reasonable time. How great, on the night I was already debating about (and skipping the premiere of Indiana Jones for a later date). So great!

At least WHEN IT WORKS.

WHY OH WHY does it choose TODAY to keep screwing up, crashing constantly and rebooting itself every 5 minutes when I tried to watch anything on record?

This is a big deal. Um, my blog is CALLED Tapeworthy. That would presume I tape things to watch.

ARGH...

stoopid technology.

I know I know, there are typhoons, earthquakes, starvation, the Chinese government and the Republican party out there so life could be worse.

But THURSDAY NIGHT TV! ON ABC FINALE NIGHT! SYTYCD PREMIERE NIGHT! WHY OH WHY TONIGHT?

I'm so pissed off. Plus my Internet has been spotty too. I hate Rogers (the company that provides both cable TV and cable Internet here) even if it's not directly their fault. I'm that angry and irrational right now. I work long hours okay, and I usually get back after primetime starts, so I NEED this.

Murphy was out to spite me for having everything just too perfectly arranged right?

(You know my life is pretty good when this is the big catastrophe for the day).

So in the end I had to watch things live and catch up on the rest with the West coast feed. And skip sleep.

More After the Jump...

Will John McCain Walk Ellen Down The Aisle?

Why I'm reminded that I should love Ellen and watch her show more when I can:


Thanks to Towleroad for the clip and tipoff.

Never cared for her dancing but she's with Portia! That's just cool!

Also, ModFab tipped off this hilarious, if not downright frightening site:

Things Younger Than John McCain

Towleroad had also transcribed the Ellen clip of her interview with John McCain where she nicely grills him on his anti-gay marriage stance.

MCCAIN: I just believe in the unique status of marriage between man and woman. And I know that we have a respectful disagreement on that issue.

ELLEN: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think that it is looked at and some people are saying the same that blacks and women did not have the right to vote. Women just got the right to vote in 1920. Blacks didn't have the right to vote till 1870. It just feels like there's this old way of thinking (that) we are not all the same. We are all the same people. All of us. You're no different than I am. Our love is the same. (applause) To me what it feels like just, you know, I will speak for myself...it feels when someone says you can have a contract and you'll still have insurance and you'll get all that. It sounds to me like saying well you can sit there (points in one direction), you just can't sit there (points in another direction). That's what it sounds like to me. It doesn't feel inclusive. It feels isolated. It feels like we aren't owed the same things and the same wording.

MCCAIN: Well, I've heard you articulate that position in a very eloquent fashion. We just have a disagreement and I, along with many, many others wish you every happiness.

ELLEN: Thank you. So you'll walk me down the aisle? Is that what you said?

(laughter)

MCCAIN: Touché

More After the Jump...