23 posts tagged “the office”

I think I got about four hours of sleep last night, so these might be interesting, and not in altogether good way, but rather a sleep-deprived, random, scattered way.

Anyway.

1.  I'm watching Regis and Kelly, and they've got this 11-year-old math genius. I'm all about fostering intelligence in one's kids and encouraging advanced education, etc. That's precisely why, if I have kids, I'm going to homeschool them. (Well that, and the fact that I don't want the liberal-choked teacher's unions to warp their brains.) However, I think the parents of kids such as this 11-year-old math whiz are doing them a great disservice by not teaching them social skills. I'm not saying they should be all pop-culturally oriented or whatever. However, they should be able to carry on a freaking conversation and be able to, I don't know, emote. Seriously. This kid was a robot. Jimmy Kimmel (guest-hosting) and Kelly were being friendly and funny and asking him different questions, and he barely responded. Never cracked a smile or really even changed expression. It was kind of pathetic.

2.  I watched Grey's Anatomy last night because I forgot to cancel my Season Pass and honestly, I can't believe that a couple weeks ago, I was absolutely raving about its post-strike return and yet last night was ridiculous and uneven and pandering and did I mention ridiculous? It's pretty sad when a show I used to revere for its characterization has painted normal, sweet, emotionally stable characters like Lexie and Rose as being somehow, I don't know, abnormal or, in Rose's case, almost villainous. Cristina behaved so out of character last night I almost didn't recognize her. Don't get me started on the stupid, unrealistic and insipid Callie-Hahn storyline. The writers ruined what was an awesome storyline -- and Emmy-worthy performance by Elizabeth Reaser -- when they took the Rebecca-Alex story down the  ill-fated soap opera path it's on. I'm so glad Reaser is getting her own show in The Ex List next season, and am even more excited that she'll be playing Esme Cullen in Twilight come December. Steve Betz and I commiserated on the decline of Grey's recently and he made a point that I whole-heartedly agree with: the decline started as soon as the writers started trying to tell the stories of too many characters. Sloane, Callie, the despicable Hahn, even the Chief and Bailey -- they're minor, supporting characters. Frankly, I could care less about their personal lives. Perhaps Steve's best point was that Bailey was always the rock and I loved her unshakable, "at work" mentality and how she was such a stabilizing force for the interns/residents. Now that isn't the case. I don't want to see her fall apart. Anyway, I find I just don't care about this show anymore. At all. And though there are no details forthcoming, if ABC president Steve MacPherson's comments (and the analysis of those comments) are to be believed, Shonda's planning some drastically different directions for the show next season that nobody is all that enthused about. I'm glad to be getting off the train before it derails.

3.  The Office finale was probably the best episode of its season, and maybe the best since "Casino Night." I loved it and didn't even notice that it was an hour -- and I'm one of those who believe super-sized episodes are too much of a good thing. The cold open was HILARIOUS, and my obsession love for Jim Halpert (and John Krasinski) has been heightened. If that is possible. (Is cloning really so immoral if it's used for good -- namely so that Cori and I can both have him?) I wasn't spoiled, but I figured that Jim and Pam wouldn't get engaged, only because we knew it was coming, and so how would it be a surprise or somehow shocking if it happened in the finale? I am so glad the writers have fixed Pam because as I've said before, my love for her has returned to Season 1 and 2 levels and I'm happy to forget Season 3 Pam. Also, how great is Amy Ryan as the very Michael-like Holly? I look forward to seeing more of her next season.

4.  The penultimate episode of Bones was beyond awesome. Best this season, and that's saying a lot, because Bones is one of those shows that -- almost non-traditionally -- has gotten better with each season. I am regularly amazed at how frakking funny David Boreanaz is. His comic timing is unbelievable. And it goes without saying that his chemistry with Emily Deschanel is fantastic. I am so excited that John Francis Daley has been brought on as a regular cast member instead of just recurring. It's so weird to see him all grown up after watching him as the tiny, adorable Sam Weir on Freaks and Geeks, and I now have a ginormous crush on him. He's so very Acronym-y.

5.  The first part of the House finale -- "House's Head" -- was phenomenal. As with Bones, best this season, even topping the awesome post-Super Bowl episode. Hugh Laurie is bound to get yet another Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for this performance alone, and gee, maybe he'll even win the Emmy this time. It's long past due. The man is brilliant. Also, as an unimportant aside, I can never call Thirteen by her real name. The first and last names don't go together. At all. And her first name is...weird. So yeah. Thirteen it is.

6.  No, I haven't watched the first part of Lost's three-part finale, because there's just the little matter of the four previous episodes I still have to watch. And I know, as always, I'm setting myself up to be spoiled -- and I already know a couple of things -- but I'm looking forward to diving face-first into, like, five (what better be) spectacular hours of the best show on television.

7.  If you didn't see my previous post, you must check out the bits of Fringe and Dollhouse that have leaked. They both look awesome -- especially Fringe -- and I expect Fringe alone to replace a woefully derailed Heroes as the sci-fi cult show of the moment. It could possibly reach Lost heights.

8.  And because I wouldn't be my obsessive self without a mention, I thought I'd post a yummy Edward Cullen picture. Because last night in my four hours of sleep, I dreamed that he turned me into a vampire. It was...lovely, and I definitely didn't want to wake up. Would that any boy (especially one this dreamy) look at me like this...

ETA: Dollhouse paired with 24? House paired with Fringe? Almost enough to stop me from rolling my eyes at the return of the show that WILL NOT DIE. (That would be Prison Break, in case you hadn't guessed.)

I'm sure I'm the only one that bothers putting in the time to compile stuff like this -- or even cares about it -- but whatever. It's my blog, and I want it available for easy reference.

Without further adieu, the network schedule for the 2008-09 fall TV season. Obviously, FOX hasn't had its turn at the Upfront presentations yet, so I'll be updating this with their schedule announcements tomorrow.

(all times CST; * denotes new show; red highlights indicates guaranteed Season Passes; green indicates shows almost certain to gain SP status; purple indicates shows on a trial basis)

(Yes, you're reading right -- I'm done with Grey's.)

Monday
ABC: Dancing With the Stars (7-8:30); Samantha Who? (8:30-9); Boston Legal (9-10)
CBS: The Big Bang Theory (7-7:30); How I Met Your Mother (7:30-8); Two and a Half Men (8-8:30); Worst Week* (8:30-9); CSI: Miami (9-10)
NBC: Chuck (7-8); Heroes (8-9); My Own Worst Enemy* (9-10)
FOX: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (7-8); Prison Break (8-9)
         [Midseason: Dollhouse (7-8); 24 (8-9)
CW: Gossip Girl (7-8); One Tree Hill (8-9)

Tuesday
ABC: Opportunity Knocks* (7-8); Dancing With the Stars (8-9); Eli Stone (9-10)
CBS: NCIS (7-8); The Mentalist* (8-9); Without a Trace (9-10)
NBC: The Biggest Loser: Families (7-8:30); Kath & Kim* (8:30-9); Law & Order: SVU (9-10)
FOX: House (7-8); Fringe (8-9)
CW: 90210* (7-8); Surviving the Filthy Rich* (8-9)

Wednesday
ABC: Pushing Daisies (7-8); Private Practice (8-9); Dirty Sexy Money (9-10)
CBS: The New Adventures of Old Christine (7-7:30); Project Gary* (7:30-8); Criminal Minds (8-9); CSI: NY (9-10)
NBC: Knight Rider* (7-8); Deal or No Deal (8-9); Lipstick Jungle (9-10)
FOX: Bones (7-8); Til Death (8-8:30); Do Not Disturb* (8:30-9)
CW: America's Next Top Model (7-8); Stylista* (8-9)

Thursday
ABC: Ugly Betty (7-8); Grey's Anatomy (8-9); Life on Mars* (9-10)
CBS: Survivor (7-8); CSI (8-9); Eleventh Hour* (9-10)
NBC: My Name is Earl (7-7:30); 30 Rock (7:30-8); The Office (8-8:30); SNL: Thursday Night Live* (8:30-9); ER (9-10)
FOX: Moment of Truth (7-8); Kitchen Nightmares (8-9)
CW: Smallville (7-8); Supernatural (8-9)

Friday
ABC: Wife Swap (7-8); Supernanny (8-9); 20/20 (9-10)
CBS: Ghost Whisperer (7-8); The Ex List* (8-9); Numb3rs (9-10)
NBC: Crusoe* (7-8); Deal or No Deal (8-9); Life (9-10)
FOX: Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader (7-8); Don't Forget the Lyrics (8-9)
CW: Everybody Hates Chris (7-7:30); The Game (7:30-8); Top Model repeats (8-9)

Sunday
ABC: Extreme Home Makeover (7-8); Desperate Housewives (8-9); Brothers & Sisters (9-10)
CBS: The Amazing Race (7-8); Cold Case (8-9); The Unit (9-10)
NBC: Football
FOX: The OT (7-7:30); The Simpsons (7:30-8); Family Guy (8-8:30); American Dad (8:30-9)
CW: rented to Media Rights Capital

Winter/Midseason plans:
ABC: Lost; According to Jim; Scrubs; The Bachelor
CBS: Rules of Engagement; Harper's Island*
NBC: Law and Order; Friday Night Lights; Medium; Office spin-off; Merlin*; Kings*
FOX: Dollhouse; 24; American Idol; Hell's Kitchen; Secret Millionaire; Sit Down, Shut Up; The Cleveland Show
CW: Reaper

Mondays used to be so sparse when it came to watching TV, especially after Prison Break became so ludicrous that I abandoned it. (Speaking of, the fact that they're bringing the supposedly-beheaded Sara back next season is kind of insulting to even semi-intelligent TV viewers everywhere.)

After a craptastic week and a weekend that saw lots of sleeping and lots of watching movies that make me somber (Atonement, Juno, Speak, In the Land of Women) and/or that are just plain depressing with no redemptive quality that I can think of, except for the Tracy/Chris storyline that was far, far too short (Into the Wild), I'm definitely looking forward to the return of the last of the shows affected by the writer's strike.

Except the schedule's been majorly shifted around.

Tomorrow alone brings brand-spanking-new episodes of Gossip Girl, Bones, and House, all three of which I watch, in addition to Dancing With the Stars (seriously, what is up with me and reality TV this season?) and Medium.

Tuesdays are less crowded now that House and Bones have jumped to Mondays -- other than American Idol, I watch NCIS and Women's Murder Club (which returns April 29).

Ditto with Wednesdays: just one non-Idol show in Criminal Minds.

Thursdays are jam-packed now that both Grey's and Lost have returned, because in addition to both of those, I still watch The Office, Scrubs, CSI and Without a Trace. Yeah. That's a lot of TV in one night. Thank God for TiVo (especially since Grey's, The Office and CSI are all on at the same time.)

I'm trying to get into Moonlight, which is on Fridays, but that's the only thing I watch that day after never being able to quite get into Ghost Whisperer and getting tired of Num3ers.

On Sundays is yet another (awesome) Bruckheimer criminal procedural in Cold Case. 

ETA: Well, crap. If I have LOST on the list, then I have to put Veronica Mars on the list. It just feels like VM's been gone a lot longer. Naturally, it ties with LOST.

So Kristin just posted her Top 10 shows of 2007 and because I am nothing if not a stalker follower (seriously, isn't there some saying out there about imitation being the best form of flattery or something?), I thought I'd post my list as well.

Except...it's really a lot harder than I expected. For one, we are in total agreement about our top show -- okay, it's #2 for her, but I don't have Showtime and when I did, found Dexter to be way too bloody for my taste -- but the little dilemma is that it hasn't aired this season. Technically, it did air in 2007, but if that's the case, then I'd have to move shows like Grey's Anatomy and Heroes higher, because they rocked the last half of last season. Not so much the first part of this season.

What to do, what to do...

Screw it, it's Damon and Carlton.

Okay, now that that dilemma's been settled, here's how I decided: obviously writing was the first factor taken into consideration. I mean, The Hills might be entertaining, but a) it's, er, "reality," and b) there's just not a lot of substance there. The second factor was the entertainment value, from the glitz and glamor and sophistication of Gossip Girl to the bonus of staring at John Krasinski for half an hour on Thursday nights. And finally, I took into consideration when I watched it. For example, Pushing Daisies is better written than Chuck, but I'd watch Chuck live or at least the night it aired every single week and sometimes PD got pushed off onto another day.

Finally, remember that these are my top 10 shows. I understand that there are some stellar shows out there, such as Battlestar Galactica and Brothers and Sisters, to name a couple, but somewhere along the way -- in the middle of Season 3, actually -- I lost track of BSG and I still have to finish Season 1 of B&S. And so I'm going with shows I watched regularly this year.

Top 10 Shows of 2007
10. Grey's Anatomy: Um, seriously? What happened this season? If it weren't for the excellence of last season -- say what you'd like, but last season was why this show stands out in my mind and hasn't been cast aside as just another Desperate Housewives -- Grey's wouldn't make the list at all. I swear, Izzie -- and the whole ridiculousness that was Izzie and George -- nearly ruined the entire show. If it weren't for the last two-parter, and more importantly, the awesomeness that is Bailey, I probably would've banished my Season Pass for good.
9. Heroes: That's right, it's at No. 9, when last year it probably would've been at No. 3 or 4. I just couldn't bring myself to care through most of this season, and the characters I didn't care about seemed to multiply. Also? Am I seriously the only one who just wants to yawn whenever Peter Petrelli is on the screen? Or, at the very least, shake him and implore him to use another expression -- or any expression at all? Still, the last three or four episodes, plus Matt's dad's power, plus Kristen Bell was enough for Heroes to remain as both a Season Pass and a candidate on my Best Of list.
8. Friday Night Lights: Writing-, acting-, and quality-wise, this show should be nearer the top. It really is one of the best shows on television. But the others above it scored higher in the other two categories, especially since I've only watched the first two episodes of this season and have been saving the rest to catch up on later.
7. House: Talk about night and day. I was so bored with last season -- and annoyed with the deterioration of the ducklings, primarily Cameron -- that I bailed with about four or five episodes to go. (And I still have no desire to see them.) I almost didn't tune in this season, but I am so glad I did. I loved the Survivor-style approach to House's finding his new team. It was fresh, it was entertaining, and hey, we were spared Foreman's glowering for most of the season. (I still wish he'd fall off a building and disappear forever.) Plus? Olivia Wilde is an excellent addition to the cast. I just hope Thirteen's real name is not what's circulating.
6. Gossip Girl: That's right, I'm ranking GG above the rest because it gets points in the entertainment and "When Jen Watches" categories. GG is fun and glamorous and...well, fun. Plus, it's well-written, well-acted, has a killer soundtrack, and there's even a surprising amount of substance and profundity underneath the glitz. (And before you roll your eyes, Kristin, Michael Ausiello, and Matt Roush have consistently talked about how much they enjoy it, too -- and it made Kristin's Top 10 list. I always suspected my taste was more in sync with hers.)
5. Criminal Minds: Usually I don't rank procedurals because of the very nature of the show, but I have to say, CM is not your usual procedural. There's a surprising amount of character insight and emotional payoff, and when combined with the angle -- delving into the minds of the most aberrant serial offenders -- and the execution, you get one excellent hour of television. I actually don't understand Matt Roush's hatred for this show. It's no darker than Dexter, which he loves.
4. The Office: Okay, so, it was definitely proven that The Office is better in a half-hour format this season, but what can you say about this show except that it is side-splittingly funny, even when you're squinting at the clock on your DVD player and wondering when the hour is going to end. And finally we get back the Pam from Seasons 1 and 2 and I could squee over Jim and Pam again instead of wondering when she'd been replaced by a cyborg. (Which is what I thought for much of last season.) And like I said above, 30 minutes of John Krasinski? Bonus points galore.
3. Pushing Daisies: Oh, Ned, you stole my heart from the first second you were on-screen. What a delightful, whimsical, and charming hour of television. This show from Bryan Fuller easily wins the Best New TV Show award. It is smart, funny, endearing and bittersweet, with an engaging and unique concept and one of the best ensemble casts I've seen.
2. Chuck: This is where my rating system comes into play. As I said, Chuck might not have been the best-written show on TV this season (although it came pretty close) but the premise and its execution, the exceptionally stellar cast -- most specifically the charmingly adorable Zachary Levi -- and the fact that you had a show that infused action with both heart and wit made this one of the few hours I scheduled around, TiVo be damned.
1. Veronica Mars: That's right, I have two No. 1s. Anyone got a problem with that? I can't talk much about it, because I think I've finally (finally!) gotten a handle on the Veronica-Mars-is-canceled depression I had going on there for a while, but like LOST, this is one of the best shows I've ever seen. Ever. And yes, I'm including Seasons 2 and 3, because as I have said an infinite amount of times, while Seasons 2 and 3 as a whole didn't compare to Season 1, their worst episodes were still better than 99.9% of what was on TV. Plus? Two words. Kristen. Bell.
1. LOST: It is simply the most sophisticated, complex, gripping, and intriguing television show I have ever seen. I actually pity the viewers who bailed, because obviously this is not a show for the attention deficit-inclined, and they missed out on seeing how some of those seemingly -- and frustratingly -- random details fit into the complexity that is the LOST mythology. And if that's not enough, the frakking flash-forward in the finale alone was mind-blowing enough to land it at the top of the pile.

There you have it. My choices are actually largely in keeping with the real columnists -- or at least the Big 3 -- with the obvious exception that I don't have Showtime or HBO (nor do I like The Wire or Dexter), find Ugly Betty a bit too campy for my taste (although their general consensus is that UB was off its game this season as well), and can count on one hand (with two fingers left over) the times I've laughed while watching 30 Rock.

I hope this frakking strike ends soon.

When all else fails and you can't think of an appropriate post title, just use a random-yet-fun line from a Good Charlotte song...

So, I haven't posted here very regularly lately. Originally I was going to wait till next weekend so anyone who wanted to could post scavenger hunt items, but I suppose I've gotten all that I'm going to get. Maybe I'll just shuffle around my filters and post the pictures for only those who commented with suggestions to see.

Anyway, I'm just checking in with some awesome TV tidbits before it's off to watch tonight's delicious episode of Chuck sans commercial interruption. I fraktastically adore this show. It is beyond amazing and Zachary Levi just makes me feel all warm and tingly inside.

1) Gossip Girl has moved to #1 on my TiVo list. Seriously. It might not actually be the best show on TV, but it is the one I absolutely without fail must watch every week and usually watch more than once. Following GG are Pushing Daisies and Chuck. Grey's has dropped to fourth, followed by, in order, Heroes, The Office, House, Bones, Friday Night Lights, Scrubs and Criminal Intent. Everything else I was watching has been punted because it either sucked (Private Practice), didn't hold my attention past the first episode (Journeyman, Women's Murder Club), or I really like but have no time for and will thus catch up on over the summer (How I Met Your Mother, Samantha Who, Dirty Sexy Money).

2) Looks like the Heroes PTB love Kristen Bell as much as those of us with intelligence do -- word on the street is that they are all working to make her a regular instead of giving her just a 13-episode arc.

3) Woohoo! Kal Penn and especially Olivia Wilde are indeed sticking around as two of House's newest ducklings. The third is that balding plastic surgeon guy. I kind of wish it was the Mormon dude House calls Big Love, 'cause I like him. I'm just happy that Cutthroat Bitch (House's nickname, not mine) was canned.

4) This week's Office episode introduces the Dunder Mifflin Utica branch, Karen's back (I loooovvve Rashida Jones), and Joss Whedon directs.

5) Kristin Chenoweth and Ellen Greene singing "Birdhouse in Your Soul" in last week's Pushing Daisies was simply divine. I love this show more and more every week.

6) Matt Roush published my email to him. (Scroll to the bottom -- it's the last one. If you haven't yet caught up on Season 2 of Friday Night Lights and plan to, don't read the included comment from another viewer because not only is she smoking crack and has no idea what good TV is, but it will also spoil you.)

Totally speaks for itself. Excuse me while I go clean up the drool (and my thoughts.)

So I logged on to post about last night's TV. I mean, we got an hour-long episode of The Office that was actually good for the entire hour for a change, and I don't think I once looked at the clock and wondered why it was still on. And then Grey's was great, as usual, in that Callie ROCKED.

That's what I was going to talk about.

And then SOMEONE (a former neighbor that I won't mention) had to go and post about Kristen Bell being overrated and how she supposedly sucked on Heroes, which I suspect is just some kind of mean joke, because this person doesn't read any type of spoilers, nor did this person watch Veronica Mars, and I just didn't feel like praising Jim and Pam and bashing Izzie anymore.

Fact of the matter is, I have never seen a critic who had nothing but praise for KB, even if they didn't like Veronica Mars. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse frakking created a role on LOST for her. She dropped one hint to the Heroes writers and was cast a week later. So anyone who thinks she's overrated, well, you're pretty much in the minority. The very small minority.

I know you all kind of laugh among yourselves about how much I talk about KB and all that, and that's fine, you can have your little fun. It's not weird, or obsessive, or anything but a heterosexual girl crush (which I suppose is redundant, since girl crushes are heterosexual), and Cori and I might use the word "stalk" in some form in a lot of our emails, but I am firmly against stalking. Even someone as delicious as John Krasinski or Lee Pace. Or Zachary Levi. Especially if he's wearing that red t-shirt from last week's Chuck.

Okay. I think I'm ready to go back to Thursday again.

The Office: I am firmly in agreement with, oh, I don't know, everyone about how NBC's arrogance really affected the first four episodes of this show. "Ooo, we think we're awesome. Ooo, we think we need to super-size our comedies to show everyone just how awesome we are." Yeah, I didn't like the super-sized episodes of Friends, and three of the four super-sized episodes of The Office should've ended at the half-hour mark. Those were some excellent episodes... until they kept going. However, last night's finished the trend very well. I enjoyed it immensely. Jim and Pam were so cute, although can someone tell me how following them to a beet farm is really vital for a documentary on the interworkings of an office? (Semantics, really, because of course, I like seeing everyone out of the office, but still...) Jenna Fischer was really on her game last night, which is a relief, because last season I might've yawned every time she was on screen.

Grey's Anatomy: Wow, I so didn't feel even remotely bad for Izzie. I nearly stood up and cheered when Callie coldly and succinctly put her in her place when Izzie had the audacity to attempt to apologize. She wasn't apologizing for any other reason than to make herself feel better. Once again, Izzie demonstrated her immaturity and selfishness -- her little performance in the cafeteria? What is this, junior high in the trailer park? -- but this time, Callie called her on it. Actually, at this point, I don't care if George and Izzie get together. They completely deserve each other. (And on another note, I was glad to hear Katherine Heigl call her character 'horrible' and say she hated her a little bit right now.)

What, I wonder, comes after neck-punching?

Hearing Richard Gilmore say "seriously" and "oh, crap" and "'sup" made me laugh. Hard. Edward Hermann is fabulous, and he will always be Grandpa Gilmore to me. I think Norman adds a bit of lightness, but also, despite the fact that he's an intern and basically incompetent, he still brings a bit of sageness and wisdom. That was evident in how he related with Meredith, even as she was trying to yell at him.

What Derek said to Meredith was amazing. And still, I couldn't get past how smug he looks. I suppose I'll just have to reconcile the fact that no matter what Patrick Dempsey does or says, he's always going to look arrogant. Maybe that'll make me like Derek better. I have to say, though, that there comes a point, Meredith, where you need to get over yourself. Derek's not going to wait forever.

I liked how he was with Lexie and how he is basically the only one who is treating her kindly. Meredith and Cristina have decided to join Izzie in wallowing at the junior high level. At the end of the day, Lexie is an intern who is trying to do her best in a new situation while trying to hold herself together the best way she knows how. Meredith should recognize her as a kindred spirit in that regard, but I suppose the constant pouting gets in the way.

Law and Order: Criminal Intent was good, too, and wow, I'm never going to the dentist again. Also, I squeed a bit when I saw Amy Acker. I wish someone would wise up and give her an actual TV series or something because I miss her.

Okay, not that I don't think it's been good. I mean, yes, I fast-forward through the Maya and Alejandro stuff, and the Niki/Micah/random relatives stuff (although Monica's power seems pretty cool), and Mohinder needs to stop whining already, but other than that...

That being said, when I saw Kristen Bell in the previews for next week, I grinned. It is about damn time. And you can already discern that charming little bit of insanity bubbling underneath Elle's surface.

I just caught up on a lot of TV. Way too much to devote much individual blogging time to, so I'm just going to sum everything up in five bullet points or less:

Grey's Anatomy

• For the LOVE. I have gone from general annoyance to downright hatred with regards to Izzie. Seriously -- Cori, I am dispatching you to Seattle Grace immediately to punch her in the neck. I so hope Callie bitch-slaps her next week.
• Kudos to Bailey and Meredith for finally -- if reluctantly -- reaching out to Callie and Lexie, and George? So glad you finally found the balls to tell Izzie to back the hell off.
• Cristina's manipulation game? So. Awesome. I died laughing when she told Alex he needed to go find his own pretend emotion.
• Mr. Gilmore's an intern! Who knew?

Pushing Daisies

• This show gets more adorable by the week. I, er, adore it, because apparently I am not creative enough to come up with a more unique verb.
• I rewound Kristin Chenoweth rocking "Hopelessly Devoted to You" three times.
• I would so make out with Lee Pace through a transparent plastic bag, and install a dishwashing glove in my car so I could hold his hand.
• I had no idea when Chi McBride was glowering through the halls of Boston Public and Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital that he had a really great sense of comic timing.

Chuck

• I, uh, don't think there's any doubt as to why the cast has taken to calling the actress who plays Sara Yvonne Strahotski. I need a copy of her fitness plan.
• I absolutely love Zachary Levi. And hello? At the end, when he's in that rather bicep-defining ringer t-shirt? I kind of forgot that he's supposed to be this lovable geek type. To quote Cori, Raar.
• I totally want to learn to do the tango now.

Gossip Girl

• I finally feel a bit of sympathy for Blair -- her mother is Satan. Ugh.
• The writers -- and Blake Lively/Leighton Meester -- have done a great job, particularly in this episode, at portraying the extreme differences between Serena and Blair, which basically highlight the many reasons Blair's so jealous of her best friend.
• That scene on the roof, where Serena goes to kiss Dan on the cheek and give him a little hug and he backs up because he's unsure of how to respond may have been really subtle, but it was spot-on. I'm SO glad the writers didn't duplicate the book version of Dan. Ugh.

House

• I need to reiterate how awesome Olivia Wilde is. I am totally rooting for Thirteen to make the cut as one of House's three new fellows, because she brings an interesting dynamic to PPTH -- she can go toe-to-toe with House, but she's still vulnerable. Kind of like Season 2 Cameron.
• Speaking of, where IS Season 2 Cameron? 'Cause this new Cameron is boring me. As are Chase and Foreman.
• What a really intriguing twist of the usual Mystery of the Week -- they had the diagnosis from the beginning, but because Thirteen didn't realize the patient hadn't ingested the required pills, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him before he died. Really interesting. And really well-played, especially the scene at the end between Hugh Laurie and Olivia Wilde.

Bones

• Um, pony play? Really? Gross. And yes, Oprah, I'm judging. Deal with it.

The Office

• OMG I can't wait until the hour-long episodes go away. Michael and Dwight are only good in small doses.
• Jim and Pam are still adorable.
• Was Ryan always this annoying?

Heroes

• The show seems to be starting out a bit over-ambitiously. Too many characters, not enough development.
• Claire is going to get her dad killed.
• I still am very distrustful of West, and that was true even before the eighth painting was revealed.

The Hills

• Heidi and Spencer are stupid, although I suppose they can't exactly confess on national television.
• I don't get how someone could spend $2500 on a purse. This is not a jealous statement. It's one comprised purely of bafflement.

Dirty Sexy Money

• Hilarious.
• I'm adding Peter Krause to The List. He's total acronym material.

Samantha, Who?

• Hilarious.

Other TV tidbits

• I've cut Journeyman and Women's Murder Club loose, and I've decided to catch up on the new season of How I Met Your Mother over the summer. Mondays are too crowded, especially now that Samantha, Who? has started.
• So I'm left with 12 shows (well, 11, really, since The Hills will end in a few weeks) to keep track of 'till The Return of Jezebel James, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and LOST start midseason.

Matt Roush was right, as usual -- tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy, "Love/Addiction," was fantastic.

Let's get one thing out of the way: Chandra Wilson may as well start writing her Emmy acceptance speech. Based on tonight's performance, it's hers to lose.

Okay. Now that that's out of the way....

As the episode title suggests, the plot centered on love and addiction. We had addiction in the literal sense -- the family whose apartment meth lab exploded and Nicholas Gonzales' character who didn't even experiment with drugs till he was 30, then got hooked and ended up dying because of it.

We had addiction in the figurative sense, although I suppose it could also be considered literal -- Derek is basically addicted to the trainwreck that is his and Meredith's relationship. The scene where Diahann Carroll's Mama Burke tells Derek he is an honorable man if he knows when to let go and when to not ask for less than he deserves was deadly accurate, and Derek knew it. In fact, by admitting his problem outloud to Mark and then making an excuse to not go home with Meredith, he was attempting to change. But as Meredith's ending voiceover so succinctly stated, sometimes it hurts even more to let the things that are hurting us go.

I also think the whole George/Izzie thing is mostly based on addiction. I'm sorry. I've never, ever bought their relationship. It came out of frakking nowhere. George is basically bouncing around in an emotional kaleidoscope stemming from what happened with Meredith, followed very closely by his father's death. It's how he ended up in a rebound relationship with Callie, and I'm glad he at least realized and voiced that realization tonight. It's still patently unfair to Callie, because George is her McDreamy, and she doesn't deserve any of it.

Izzie? Well, Izzie continues to annoy me. But hey, she's pretty much always annoyed me, and her annoying tendencies are completely in keeping with her character, so that's some good character development. I don't care what she says -- she doesn't love George. Not really. Love is selfless. Love is sacrificial. Love considers others' needs ahead of one's own. Izzie is selfish. She was only thinking of herself when she continually put down Callie in front of George, when she told a married man she was in love with him. George and Callie were always going to self-destruct -- anyone could see that. If Izzie truly, truly loved him, she should have just bit her tongue and bided her time, even if it was killing her inside. As his supposed best friend, she owed him that much. At one point last season, he point-blank told her so, and I nearly stood up and applauded.

I'm really anxious to see what happens next. As Shonda wrote in her blog after last week's premiere, what's coming is going to be sad and unexpected. The beginning of the end of George/Izzie will be once everyone finds out about their relationship. I won't be sympathizing with anyone but Callie because she's the only innocent party in this sordid threesome.

I feel horrible for Lexie. Poor Lexie, who's trying her best to stay positive and upbeat and reach out to her sister, is bluntly rejected and left to realize she's all alone in the hospital where her mother died. I'm glad Meredith was honest with her, but still -- it's not Lexie's fault that Mr. Grey abandoned Meredith and was Father of the Year to Lexie and Molly. I thought Chyler Leigh portrayed the conflicting emotions, which culminated in her heart-wrenching breakdown alone in the darkened locker room, extremely convincingly.

We also saw several examples of love featured prominently in the plot. Callie loves George. The Meth Dad loved his little son. Cristina loved Burke, as George termed it, "the best she knew how." Derek does love Meredith, and Meredith probably does love Derek, again, as best she knows how.

And in each case, it wasn't enough.

Love is not enough.

PS: I love The Office, but I'm ready for these hour-long episodes to end. The Michael/Dwight driving into the lake and crashing the law office was a little too over-the-top for me. I think this is a show much better suited to a half-hour.

Welcome to my first weekly recap. I have no idea what type of format I'm going to go with, which is pretty typical with me, so as usual, there will just be a lot of stream-of-consciousness-type babbling.

So without further adieu... (what does that expression literally mean, anyway? I mean, how does 'without further goodbye' make any sense?)

Mondays:
Chuck and Heroes: already raved about them here.

How I Met Your Mother: I have to say, I'm very glad that this is a show that lends itself to jumping back in after skipping a whole season. This is a funny, funny comedy. You'd think that "funny comedy" would be redundant, but sadly, no. Not when you've got series like According to Jim and King of Queens and that awful David Spade sitcom that keep getting renewed year after year. Anyway, Neil Patrick Harris is a comedic genius, and I have a crush on Josh Radnor's Ted and Jason Segel's Marshall. Also? It goes without saying that I'm a ginormous Alyson Hannigan fan. I thought I'd be sad that Ted and Robin broke up, because I thought they were so cute, and after all, Season 1 was all about Ted's undying love and Robin finally realizing she wanted to be with him, too, etc, etc, etc, and blue French horns. They've done a good job at hinting at Ted's wife and how she's out there with her yellow umbrella and it's only a matter of time before they cross paths. Guest stars Mandy Moore and Enrique Inglesias were hilarious, and I died laughing when poor drunk Ted ends up with a tramp stamp.

Journeyman: It was different, and a little slow-moving at first, but by the end, I really liked it. Kevin McKidd is engaging as Dan, and I'm interested in seeing more. I liked the twist the writers threw at us. All along I thought that the reason he kept going back in time was to save the businessman but it turns out he's actually supposed to save the man's son. His first trip back, he saves the man from killing himself, so he can, er, create the boy; the second time, he has a heart-to-heart with the man's girlfriend after she's found out she's pregnant and prevents her from aborting the boy; and the third time is where the twist comes in -- he stops the man from killing his wife and son because, as Dan finds out, the boy grows up and ends up becoming a hero and pulling a number of people from a fire. Pretty cool. Sadly, of the new shows I'm watching, this is probably the weakest, but I like it, I think it fits in well with NBC's Monday hero lineup, and I'll keep watching.

Tuesdays:
Bones: "The Widow's Son in the Windshield" started Season 3 off with a bang. As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I'd forgotten just how much I missed this show. I suspect that people dismiss this as simply another criminal procedural, but it is so much more than that. The chemistry between David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel is palpable, and the entire cast as a whole gels really well. I especially like Michaela Conlin, and TJ Thyne is so cute. (I am so glad he cut off the 'fro, though.) In the premiere, Booth and Bones get pulled into an odd ritualistic murder that turns out to be part of a centuries-old cannibalistic cult. They are very awkward around one another at first and Bones finds excuses to remain in the lab, mainly because when Angela and Hodgins abandoned their own wedding in the finale, they left Booth and Brennan standing at the altar, and Brennan found herself face-to-face with the very real feelings she has for Booth and vice-versa. By the end, however, they were back to their bantering, sexual tension-imbued awesomeness, although they were unable to find the true serial killer...which will continue throughout the season. I love a good season-long mystery.

House: I skipped the last six episodes of the season last year because I was a bit fed up with some of the character arcs -- namely, Cameron's. She was my favorite character besides House, and for a long time, the writers were doing an excellent job at exploring Cameron's insecurities and her growing steadily more confident, and her love for her boss. And then, somewhere in Season 3, she just...stopped being Cameron. She was annoying. I got bored, so I stopped watching. But I am so glad I watched the season premiere. I read the story the Mystery of the Week was based on in People last summer and I cried. It was so tragic. I really liked how the writers brought it into the Princeton-Plainsboro universe, although it wasn't any less tragic. House is alone for the entire episode and you can tell it bothers him, but, being House, he refuses to admit that he misses Cameron, Chase, and Foreman and that he needs a team. What Wilson said was right -- House became attached to them and was hurt when they left, and so he doesn't want to risk forming any more attachments. (I understand the feeling.) Anyway, I'm actually looking forward to this season, and I set a Season Pass when before it was just on a week-to-week status. Frak, I love Hugh Laurie.

Law and Order: SVU: I don't normally watch many first-run procedurals since they rerun on USA and TNT all the time (and all summer long), but I wanted to check out the premiere because I'd heard good things about Cynthia Nixon's guest-starring role. She was amazing. It was like my favorite Mary Higgins Clark book, All Around the Town, meets Primal Fear. Nixon played a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder and she rocked five separate personalities. She should definitely get at least considered for a guest-starring Emmy next year.

Wednesdays:
I wrote about Gossip Girl and how much I disliked Private Practice here.

Thursdays:
I wrote about Grey's Anatomy here.

The Office: I grinned when Kevin called Pam and Jim PB&J. In fact, I don't think that grin left my face for a second during the entire hour-long premiere. Finally the Pam I knew and loved from Seasons 1 and 2 is back. She and Jim are so adorable together. What an awesome hour of television -- from Meredith getting hit by Michael's car (and having more lines in one episode than I think she had in the past three seasons put together) to Michael obsessing over a disease that's already been cured and establishing a Fun Run to Dwight putting Angela's cat in the freezer...kudos to Greg Daniels and his writing team for a triumphant return of the funniest show on TV.

Fridays:
Moonlight: I don't have anything on the schedule till Women's Murder Club starts but I thought, just for kicks, I'd check out Moonlight since Jason Dohring is in it and I loved him in Veronica Mars. Um, yeah. For one thing, Dohring plays his new character like the undead version of Logan, complete with manic hand gestures and facial tics. I watched about 15 minutes before I turned it off. It was painfully awful.

Best show of the week: A really tough decision, but I'd have to go with The Office.
Banned from my TiVo: Private Practice
Newcomers to watch: Chuck's Zachary Levi; Gossip Girl's Blake Lively
Quote of the week: "I wouldn't let you take care of the magical kids I make up to score with single moms." -- Barney to Amy (Mandy Moore), How I Met Your Mother