Today's thoughts

Ashton Kutcher is not winning

I don't know my motivation, but I am trying really hard to like the new Two and a Half Men, sans Charlie Sheen.  This show just doesn't work without him.  And it seems like either Ashton Kutcher or the writers, or both, are confused about who his character is.  In the beginning he seemed like a very dark and sad character, but highly intelligent and successful.  Later it became more apparent that he's quite immature and almost child-like.  Now, it seems like he's a college frat boy. 

I get that they're trying to feel things out but it's kind of getting out of hand.  Top that off with Berta who they've kind of forced a larger role upon, but she's always only been good at snide remarks and one-liners.  Thrusting her into a more prominent role seems really forced.. there's no reason for her to be any more involved than before.  They should have started "Walden" as a dumb frat boy who inherited billions, rather than a self-made man.  

Minka Kelly should return to Parenthood

Clearly, the relationship between Crosby and Jasmine is never going to be fully reconciled.  Why not just bring back Gaby and give the guy a romantic interest?  Minka Kelly is way too good looking to not be on television.  Since Charlie's Angels directors/writers refused to take my advice, the show's been canceled and Minka needs a new job.  Do the right thing.

And the Oscar goes to..

After 5 seasons of LOST, I still don't know what the show is about.

I could not believe the drivel that was coming out of the mouths of the 4 judges on American Idol on Tuesday night. I truly believe their performance deserves an Oscar, in how they tried to say that everyone was good when in fact all 3 of them were only okay, if not bad. All in the name of boosting the ratings, I guess. They actually considered Adam Lambert's butchering of U2 and Aerosmith songs good, and thought he deserved to be in the final. Hearing Lambert shriek and scream as usual, and then have the judges applaud it has been mind boggling to say the least.

The only guy who can actually sing is Danny Gokey, but he was eliminated. You knew he was the next to go though, he was the last remnant of what was left of this so-called "singing competition" farce. It has been pretty obvious at this point that America (and the judges) had had enough of the actual singing part of this competition. I mean, let's be honest with ourselves -- if we were to rank the top 6 *singers* from this season, they would be:

1) Danny Gokey (eliminated)
2) Allison Iraheta (eliminated)
3) Anoop Desai (eliminated)
4) Lil Rounds (eliminated)
5) Adam Lambert
6) Kris Allen

But unfortunately this show isn't just about singing even though it pretends to be, which explains why Gokey lasted as long as he did. He had no chance once it was down to him, the Shrieker, and the pretty boy.

Speaking of which, there's Kris Allen. He's like the little engine that could, pretty much a complete longshot, the posterboy for this non-singing competition. Vocally he's in way over his head, but keeps plugging (strumming) away, selling his face and knowing (playing) his audience (young girls). He's like a poor man's Jason Mraz. But let's face it, in a year or so he'll be about as relevant as Justin Guarini.

This year's American Idol has been nothing but a disappointment.

I never thought I would say this, but if there is anything I have learned from this season of American Idol, it's that I've very likely lost touch with popular music and culture. I've reached that age in my life that I can no longer distinguish between what is "good" or "bad" in today's current music industry, and I put these terms in quotes because it's obviously extremely subjective. Perhaps it's also the same reason I think Twitter is a joke, and what's the deal with these kids connecting speakers to their cellphones and blasting music so the whole subway can hear? Am I wrong?

What Matters: WGA Strike is not one of them

From a software developer's point of view, here's how I would explain the reason for the strike from my understanding. Think of it as Oracle or Business Objects. They sell you their product for a few thousand (sometimes million) dollars , and then on top of that they charge you licensing fees per user or cpu. That's kind of what's happened with the writers. They want *more* royalties than before. To be precise, they are looking for 0.6% of DVD sales instead of 0.3%. And that's the gist of this entire 11 week strike.

The thing about the writers going on strike is that people are still getting scripts. If you watch CNN or any news, you'll see the anchor person is still reading his or her lines. Surely he or she didn't write all that herself, so there is still someone writing. If you take a look at the newspapers, you see no evidence of the strike. They are still coming out with pretty good articles, and I haven't noticed any change in the thickness of the papers.

Books as well continue to be published, unbeknownst to the striking writers who refuse to work. Just the other day we were at Mitchell's and there was a new book written by Brett Favre's wife about her struggle with breast cancer and her faith pulling her through. I guess she missed the memo about the strike.

It seems to me that the writers who decided not to come to work on November 5, 2007, are the ones who don't simply don't matter. No offense if you are a writer in the WGA, but in the grand scheme of things, you write about things don't matter a whole lot. I might not be able to watch my favorite TV show, or go see a movie actually worth the full $12, but life goes on.

These are people who write simply to entertain. They're sole purpose is not just to tell you something important that has happened, because if they did they'd be journalists. And they're not trying to tell you an important story, because otherwise they could have written a book. They are entertainers, nothing more.

While I'm not saying that it hasn't affect me -- I'll admit I like to be entertained -- the truth of the matter is the reason the strike has gone as long as it has, is because at the end of the day it doesn't affect you and me. I can do other things. I have options, like spending time with my future wife, reading a book, or playing video games. I could even.. work.

They've got a few actors on their side -- but again, no one cares. If you shave your head or have a run-in with the law, we'll read about you and laugh -- but generally we don't care about you either.

5 years ago public service in Toronto decided if they couldn't what they wanted, they would stop picking up garbage. Within a couple weeks, the public felt the full brunt. We were having a heat wave and you could literally smell the stench in the humid air. Every corner had one of those garbage bins filled to the brim and needless to say it was a germy disaster. We were days away from the Pope coming to town. That's the kind of strike people care about because it affects them directly.

This strike on the other hand, how does it really affect anyone besides the billionaire television network executives and movie moguls? So I have to watch American Gladiators instead of a confusing episode of LOST. I have to watch reruns of Two and a Half Men (I really like this show btw) instead of Heroes. Whoop-dee-doo, life goes on.

Heroes

One big problem with blogs I find is that if you don't write often, people stop reading your site and then when you finally have something important to say, no one reads it. This of course changes when you've got an rss feed, but not everyone has that.

Anyway.. Heroes.

Heroes has kind of been really crappy up until 2 episodes ago after creator Tim Kring came on and apologized for how crappy season 2 had been. Since then it's been pretty awesome, right back to how good it was last season. It's one of the few shows where Ina and I have an understanding that we just can't miss this show. Basically our schedules for Monday evenings is worked around the show to ensure that from 9pm-10pm, we are free.

I am really, really confused about Heroes these days. What confuses me is time travel. How one can go back into time, alter it, and what that means for the present day. How can two different times exist. With Back To The Future, Marty always carried around a picture and that would help him to figure out if his action had carried through to make a result in the present.

But with Heroes, because of the nature of the show requiring to show present time and past at the same time, things get confusing because you aren't always seeing the results right away, or even at all.

(Spoilers galore if you aren't caught up.)

Hiro traveled back to 1671 to the time of where his childhood hero, where a legend named Kensai existed. This was a story that his father told him when he was a boy. Circa 1985.

So he goes back and there he sees the coming of age of this hero, who discovers he too has an ability -- regeneration. So that explains how he was able to fight all those amazing battles and not die. He gets stabbed but the wound heals. Kind of like Wolverine without the adamantium. But during this time there is a girl involved and to make a story short, she falls for Hiro instead of Kensai.

Since Kensai is regenerative, his cells never get old and therefore he's immortal. But Hiro doesn't know this. Kensai vows to get Hiro back for stealing his girl.

So fast forward 400 years later, Kensai shows up a rooftop with Hiro's dad and pushes him over the ledge, completing quite possibly the longest lasting "grudge" in the history of the world. Imagine this guy waiting all those years, planning this one day that he could exact revenge on a guy who kissed his girlfriend 400 years ago. Turns out Kensai's name is now Adam Munro.

His role at this time eludes me but I'm sure it'll be answered soon.

But what happens now is even more complex. When Hiro returned to present time, he thought Kensai was dead and when he learned of his father's death, he tried to prevent it by going back a week in time and telling his father about it. But his father says basically that they shouldn't play God and just go with the flow. Fate, if you will.

So Hiro lets it happen, allowing the murder to occur, but he freezes time just before it happens so that he can find out who the killer was. Of course to his surprise it's Adam --err.. Kensai. And then later you see him at his dad's funeral.

You know what I'd do -- I'd teleport myself to NASA, steal an astronaut suit, then go back to 1671, grab Kensai, and teleport myself into space, somewhere near the Sun. Of course I'd be able to breathe and take the insane non-air pressure.. but Kensai would essentially implode on himself, and his body remains would burn into the sun. No more regeneration. Teleport back to 2007. Problem solved.

Or even better still, I'd travel back into time when I first met Kensai, not kiss the girl. Problem solved. Fast forward 400 years later to meet your good pal Adam, in a reunion of hugs all around.

Just doesn't make sense.

Rock

Rock, the executive chef, won Hell's Kitchen last night and order was restored to the universe. My brother and I were sitting there thinking, what would it be like if Bonnie had won. What a disaster that could have been. You walk into the Green Valley Ranch restaurant, and plop down $20 for a prawn fettuccine that even a nanny could have made.

Not to take anything away from Bonnie's signature dish, I'm sure it tastes great, but who would want to spend money on that when you can make it at home in less than 20 minutes? Where's the draw? What's compelling you to go to the restaurant at all?

Of course there was no way she could have won. I think Jenn was robbed a finals appearance and probably could have beaten Rock, but like last season, Ramsey put an obvious winner against a cutesy girl. Why does he do it? Is it for ratings? Me, I'd rather see the two best chefs go head-to-head. I don't need a "Cinderella" story in my book. Had Bonnie won the competition, Chef Ramsey would have lost all his credibility. It would have been a travesty and an embarrassment for the cooking world.

Jericho cancelled

Damn you all to hell, CBS. You canceled the only show I watch on your network, the only good show remaining out of a seriously pathetic lineup of crap shows. I mean come on, The Unit gets renewed? It's nothing more than militarized version of Alias with President David Palmer instead of Jennifer Garner! Isn't smoking pot illegal in the US? And how about these other crap shows like the Ghost Whisperer, Close To Home, The Class??? No one watches that shat! The New Adventures of Old Christine? I mean what the hell kind of name is that?!

If it weren't for NFL football I would block your channel altogether. Damn you, you stupid, stupid bastards! I spit on you.

Forward progress needed

I was having a conversation about the show Heroes with Kenric the other day, focusing on their writers. It seems that they have the ability that many other shows' writers seem to lack -- the ability to satisfy viewers with substance, while getting us to keep coming back for more.

It seems like every episode has a cliffhanger, and in the next episode they resolve it. The same cannot be said about another popular (though becoming less and less) show, LOST. LOST is a show where the writers fail to tie up loose ends, proving to the viewers that even they don't know the answers to the many questions that left unanswered about this show. This proves to be a prevalent problem in many of these serial shows that need to provide something to keep the viewer from changing the channel.

Shows like LOST, Smallville, The 4400, they lack writers who know how (or don't bother) to bring the show forward, to make progress in the storyline. If motivation is what they're looking for, take a look at a show like Alias. Alias was an amazing show at one point in time, before they started to drag the story along, throw in re-runs and recaps, until the fans lost interest and they had to can it due to poor ratings. Yet in its inception it was an *extremely* popular show. LOST too, was highly successful when it came out, even winning an Emmy for best new show. Their ratings have dropped significantly but the writers have yet to clue in.

Smallville has less to worry about because it's a CW show, a channel that only kids watch (and a few of us pretenders). They have made some progress, but for the most part, it's 3 episodes of "meteor rock freaks" for every good episode involving Clark learning a new power, development of Lex vs Superman, and etc.

The 4400 is a lesser known show that I won't comment on because I don't know anyone besides me and my brother who watch it. The show has the potential to be as good as Heroes, but ends up being worse than Smallville.

Lately, Battlestar Galactica, a highly-acclaimed television show that I have been keeping up with, has fallen off the deep-end as well. Again, the common notion is that you need to sit through 3 bad episodes before you get a good one. Season 1 of Battlestar Galactica was incredible, absolutely amazing. But season two has left much to be desired.

The only serial dramas that I can think of that have had constant "forward progress", are 24, Prison Break and Heroes.

Indianapolis Colts

I'd like to send out a big congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts for winning this year's Superbowl. This team has proved to me that exciting football can still exist in this league. After several years of Championship teams comprised of a "just enough" quarterback, heavily backed up by staunch defense, the Colts have bucked the trend and won it all with a pure offensive attack. Not since 2000 when the Rams took it, have we seen an offensive team win a Superbowl. It's about friggin' time.

Talk about injecting a little excitement into the league, similar to the new-NHL -- more offense, less defense approach. As I became tired of the Jersey's neutral-zone trap, I have grown tired of these just-enough teams. Hopefully this starts a new trend in football.

Anyway, again a big congrats to Tony Dungy and the Indianapolis Colts.

Post #1001

Firstly, I have updated the comments to haloscan so that anyone can comment. I think people have been having trouble commenting because of the new Google-login feature of comments.

Anyway, I've decided to make a non-Urbana post regarding all I did during my vacation that was un-related to Urbana. It will be in list form and not organized at all. Good luck.

-The flight was seriously boring because my brother slept the entire time so I had no one to talk to
-I watched the movie "Invincible". Pretty good feel-good, zero-to-hero story. 7/10
-The lady sitting beside us evidently never flew before, she was complaining incessantly at the flight, food (no meals), drinks, pilot, Americans.
-Went to In-N-Out burger. Very good. VERY GOOD.
-I bought a laptop at Circuit City, it's a Toshiba Satellite, M115. It's mostly Vista compatible, but then again, it's not like I'll be using Vista any time soon.
-Went to Carl's Jr. These burgers are amazing. AMAZING.
-Vegas is seriously boring unless you gamble, smoke, or have never been there before.
-Watched "Pirates of the Caribbean 2". Quite possibly one of the worst movies I have ever seen. 0/10.
-Watched "The Break-Up" again. What a depressing movie, although it does have its moments. 6/10.
-Went to a Japanese restaurant called Osaka, which is supposed to be ranked #2 amongst Japanese restaurants in Vegas. I'll admit, the food was good. But expensive beyond belief. I got a chirashi that costed enough for 4 people to eat at Sushi Bong.
-Are you still reading?
-I saw and played a PS3 at an EB Games. They had 3 available at the store, but everyone was asking about Wii controllers. Anyway, out of the 3 new consoles (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360), the PS3 has to be the biggest waste of money out there.
-The Colts defense is looking good, but the offense doesn't. How will they fair against the Ravens? The future isn't looking so bright.
-Big (lucky) win by Seattle. I can't help cheering for these guys after they got robbed of the Superbowl by the NFL officials last year.
-Urbana was awesome
-Went to Red Robin, yet another burger place. Burgers were huge. I was still burping up burger meat the next morning.
-Watched "Apocalypto". I've decided that Mel Gibson is a mad man. Pointless movie, but good action and very exciting. So much blood. The blood "cloud" was a neat effect.. 7/10.
-We went to Primm, NV, for their massive outlet mall. I walked through the door, took a right into BR and bought pretty much ALL the clothes for the day. Sales after sales after sales. It was great.
-When I arrived in St. Louis, I quickly texted Ina to see if she was still there, she was. Thank goodness, because I'm pretty sure I would have gotten lost without her.
-We (as in the non-student T3Cers) texted a whole lot throughout Urbana in order to track eachother down. I can't wait to see my cell phone bill. Telus is 15 cents per message.
-The hotel rooms were nice, at the Adam's Mark. Allan refused to share beds so we each had to take a turn on the floor.
-In fact, one night he decided to try sharing so I had to only use half the bed. When I woke up I found him on the floor again.. he couldn't stand the tiny space. Unfortunately I didn't know so I was scrunched up the entire night thinking he was still there.
-Allan called Mils every single night. I thought that was sweet and romantic (or just responsible?) of him.
-I have 4 weddings that I know of, to go to this year. This is surprising because I thought my group was finished. I guess this is the second wave.
-I can't believe you're still reading..
-We have a dog, named Dusty. He's a pug. He's soooo cute. I am proclaiming that Dusty is the cutest dog in the whole world. He knows he's cute. When you call him for a hug, he'll take his fine time coming out.. he'll yawn a few times, stretch his legs a bit and saunter over. It's the cutest thing (although also annoying sometimes because you just know he's taking his time on purpose).
-My mom refuses to set the temperature at home above 70 degrees. That's 21 C. Maybe I'm spoiled but that is really cold to me. Plus I think 21 degrees there is different from here because I have a relatively smaller area for the hot air to cover, and it retains the heat. For some reason, it always feels cold in the house at Las Vegas. Except of course in the summer when it was 37 degrees.
-A lot of people are getting sick. It's some kind of cold virus, that just won't go away. I hope I don't get it.
-Dexter's season finale was quite possibly the most surprising twist I've ever seen. There is no way I could have seen that one coming.
-Speaking of television, my brother and I caught up on Smallville and it is confirmed that this show is going down the drain. One really exciting (but since quashed) rumor was that there would be a spin-off of Smallville for a live-action Justice League. The prospects of this would be unbelievable, but think of the budget too. They recently attempted an Aquaman spin-off that crashed and burned before the pilot even aired.
-During my stay in Las Vegas, I watched and caught up for the show Battlestar Galactica. This is a great great show. I watched all of seasons 1 and 2, and then what's left of 3 so far. This show is so awesome..
-I watch way too much television.
-My mom told me that Rachel Ray won #2 for most influential female. #1 was that first female speaker in US government whatchmacallit. That one is impressive. But Rachel Ray? Really?!?
-I wonder if there are any naysayers of the TJ Ford for Charlie Villanueva trades left. Ford is a beast.
-My brother bought me Far Cry Vengeance for the Wii for Christmas. I haven't touched the Wii since I got back.. but then again I haven't really done anything period.
-I'm starting to get a little bit concerned that I may have bit off a bit more than I can chew, regarding my Perspectives project. Most people do these things in groups, of 3 or 4. I am doing it alone. 2 weeks left til the deadline..

So there you have it. A quick and brief update of my vacation.

Best Show

As some of you know, I watch a lot of television. But those who don't.. well many of you think I play video games all day long. I stopped playing. I now devote 40% of that video gaming time to television (the other 60% goes towards my Perspectives homework).

So, back to the issue of television. I've caught just about every new show this season and have been able to decide within an episode or two (or three or four) whether or not the show is worth watching, or rather, whether or not it deserves my undying week-in-and-week-out loyalty.

Some shows have already been cancelled, and in all cases, I whole-heartedly agreed with the networks' decision. Mind you there are still a few survivors (shows like Justice, Vanished, Studio 60, 30 Rock, The Nine, Brothers and Sisters, Men in Trees, Rumors), but it's only a matter of time. 30 Rock surprised me the most in its suckitude. Tina Fey is a wonderful writer, but she sucks as an actor. Her character is the most boring out of the entire show. Very disappointing. The latter 3 I have never seen before. I hate Calista Flockhart and Anne Heche so those were no-brainers (not that I really want to waste my time watching prime-time soap opera's anyway).

Out of the shows I do like:
- Prison Break (not new)
- Heroes
- House (not new)
- CSI (not new)
- Jericho
- LOST (not new)
- Standoff

Which of these would I classify as the best show? Well first of all, I only watch Prison Break, Heroes, Jericho and LOST. Standoff is a cop show, no continuation therefore no reason to tune in every night. Same for CSI and even though House is not a cop show, it is still different week-to-week and unless you really care about the recovery of his leg, there is no real edge to watching every single episode.

You may notice that Smallville is not on this list. The reason is that I've decided to put this show on hiatus and watch it with my brother in the winter/summer, whenever we're both free. Thursdays are a no-no for me since I have class, and well, I just hope Malice is able to hold off, if anything, to save himself time to study.

This leaves 4 shows, all of which are continuous.

LOST is on the brink of annoyance. With the writers not knowing where they are headed, I feel like I'm being cheated out of an hour each week because nothing has really happened. They ended last season in a cliffhanger that, 3 week later still has not been resolved. Keeping viewers in the dark is one thing, but I have the distinct feeling that the reasons they weren't resolved was because the writers are hoping we forgot about the details because they couldn't think of a good way to resolve them. Still, the mystery keeps me coming back, even though I know that the writers are just messing with us. LOST's ratings have taken a significant hit this season, they are well below their averages from last year. Hopefully that will encourage the producers and writers that they should have an episode where SOMETHING ACTUALLY HAPPENS.

JERICHO is a show about a small town that apparently may contain a handful of the few remaining americans alive after what appears to have been a nuclear attack on the US. What keeps me watching? I want to find out who did this to them. And in kind of a 'survivor' kind of theme, I want to see how they can make it, when they run out of fuel, electricity.. resources. There is heart to this show, and compassion, and also desperation and fear. I guess this show basically has a soul and it's very interesting and compelling to watch.

PRISON BREAK. The twists, the turns, the escape. Here is another show that keeps me coming back just because of the whodunit? aspect of the storyline. You want to see the government plot exposed, and you want to see the characters escape from the grasps of these bad guys (the FBI). Yea I kind of just spoiled it for you but what did you expect.

Which leaves finally the best show on television today -- HEROES.

HEROES is in my opinion, without a doubt, the best show on television. It has everything that I could ask for. First there's the superhero aspect of it. People trying to save the world but they are not from another planet. They're real people like you and me. Then there's the mutant/special abilities aspect to it. People discovering new things that couldn't do before, and testing them out. There's an evil villain.. you don't know what he wants or is trying to accomplish but boy he looks pretty mean and nasty. The show is well written and acted, and things ACTUALLY HAPPEN. There's a guy who can fly. Yes. Fly.

You know I've got nothing against the other shows, surely I would like Prison Break a lot if Michael Schofield could fly, but if he could, there wouldn't be much of an escape there. He'd be in Panama now and the story would be over.

The Verdict is in..

There's a number of new shows out there that I've checked out over the past couple weeks. Here's a brief overview/review of the shows.. they are in no particular order.

1. Justice

Justice is about a law firm that takes on high profile cases. The kink in the show is that they deal with the media and at the end they show what really happened (whether or not the person was indeed guilty or not). This show is all flash and no substance. It's pure crap. Ron Rifkin should have perhaps waited for a better role before jumping on this straight after Alias. He's too brash and arrogant (I know, he's supposed to be -- but it's just not believable) and frankly, I find him a little annoying, as in Wanda Sykes annoying. Yes, I went there. This show may last because stupid Americans really like their lawyer/cop shows. But in my opinion, it should be cancelled.. I'd give it a 2 out of 10. It shows at 9pm, which I believe will end up competing with LOST when that returns in October? Yea, this show is gonna die if that's the case.. but I think it would have died anyway, because it blows.

2. Standoff

Standoff is a show about hostage situations, and a pair negotiators who are really good at their job and happen to be having a romantic relationship with eachother. The guy is played by the Office Space guy, and he's actually okay, and the girl, I don't know where I've seen her from but she and him get together well and they have a pretty good chemistry going. I suppose you can credit the writing. Whatever the case may be, I find this show interesting and on a scale of 1 to 10, I give it solid 7. I'm not sure if this show is flashy or compelling enough that it will keep going. Standoff is on at 9pm Tuesdays, which gives it a decent chance because everyone watches House at 8pm.

3. Jericho

Jericho is a show about a town that survives a nuclear attack on US soil. I've only seen one episode of this show but I was pretty riveted throughout the hour. One of the mains, Jake, is played by someone I've seen before but I have no idea where. I think one of those old teenage angst actors. Anyway, so far Atlanta and Denver have been completely wiped out. It's an interesting show and at first glance I would give it a 9 out of 10, however if you think about it -- how far can they go with this show. Once the town uses their ham radio or whatever the heck they use to communicate with other nearby towns, then what? Either they go Adam & Eve cuz they're the last ones left, or there are other towns.. I just don't see where they could go with this. If it was terrorists, how can a tiny town defend themselves? This show is on at 8pm on Wednesdays.

4. Kidnapped

Kidnapped is a show about a high-profile man's son who is kidnapped. They've got that Delindo Roy or something, the black dude from Gone in 60 Seconds. And also, Bubba from Forrest Gump is in this too. Looks like the bad guy is that runt from The Green Mile, the bad guard named Percy? He plays a great villain. This show was also good, I'm pleasantly surprised by what TV has to offer on Wednesday's. I'm assuming LOST returns to Wednesdays which puts up somewhat of a bidding war for ebrian's attention. Plus Grey's Anatomy is also on Wednesdays (I don't watch Anatomy, but I'm very aware of it's popularity.) I would also give Kidnapped a 9 of 10. I just hope it ends like 24 does, a conclusion at the end of the season and not some stupid conspiracy show that drags on for several years.

5. Vanished

This is another high-profile kidnapping, this time the wife of a senator. I think this show will bomb, because it's crap. There's just nothing there for me to want to continue watching, even though I've seen 2 episodes and have learned about the characters and their feelings. There's too many conspiracies going on and too many characters to keep track of. I would give it a 5/10. This show is gonna go heads up against NBC's new show "Heroes" which is apparently about people who have superpowers. Vanished got a head start (3-4 episodes before Heroes premiere's next week), but I think it's gonna shrivel up and die.

6. Smith

Smith is about regular family people who get together occasionally to commit heists and other illegal activities. It has some extreme star power with Virginia Madsen, Ray Liotta and Amy Smart. I dunno about you guys but I find this show kind of disappointing. I don't like Ray Liotta as Bobby Smith. He's just not believable as a family man, nor a criminal. It's like he should have never signed on the show. Another thing is Virginia.. there's something about her, ever since Sideways I've had sort of had a crush on her. It's not like she's particular attractive, but when I think about her monologue about wine, there's just that bit of passion about her that I think is really cool. Anyway, as for the show it's just not that good. I have no idea what the show's purpose is. My assumption is that they're never actually going to get caught and the entire show is about each person's relationship with their "day job" acquaintances. 6.5/10.

7. Shark

In case you're wondering, I have no intention of watching this because I can't stand the sight of his face nor the sound of his voice. Of course I'm talking about James Woods. Plus I've had it up to here with lawyer shows. What's the point of lawyer shows? If you really think about it, it's quite possibly the most boring premise that any show could have. Okay, they're real people just like you and me -- we get it. Cases. Law. Judge. Jury. Guilty. Not guilty. Enough!

8. Studio 60 on Sunset Strip

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring. I think it's about a show similar to SNL that rehires ex-writers because they really suck and decide to go in a new direction. Amanda Peete and Matthew Perry are in it, and also one of dudes from Kings of Comedy. Judd Hirsch was on too but I think it was just a cameo. I like Matt though, for once he's not Chandler. I'm getting tired as it's 1am, but because I had coffee for the first time in a year, I'm totally wired. 6/10. This one could go the distance as they've got some writers from West Wing doing this, meaning it's actually quite well written. It's very different. I wonder if they'll show sketches from the pseudo-SNL, or will it just be about relationships between actors who are playing actors who are playing actors. That's new.

Reality shows!

1. Survivor

Survivor is about.. if I have to explain to you what Survivor is, you shouldn't be reading this post. This year they've pitted races against eachother. 4 teams of 5: the whites, the blacks, the asians and the hispanics. The Asians curiously have no chinese people -- a vietnamese, two koreans and two filipino's. If you're wondering why there are no chinese people, it's simple. Chinese people are too good to be on the show. If they had a chinese person on the show, they may as well just give them the $1M and the show would end. :)

Seriously though.. last week when they announced that there was going to be puzzles in the immunity challenge, how many people honestly thought the Asians *wouldn't* win? C'mon now. Give me a puzzle or math problem, I will solve it. Give me something heavy to lift, that's another story.

2. Amazing Race

No thanks. It's on Sundays. Football is on Sundays.

One day if they remove all the equalizer rounds from Amazing Race, I might tune in again. What I mean is, a team has a huge lead, like 12 hour lead. So, the next place that they arrive, conveniently they need to take a ferry that doesn't leave for another 16 hours. Hmm.. do you think everyone is gonna catch up? What they need is a non-stop race, none of these "let's let everyone catch up even though they screwed up badly and honestly should have been eliminated 8 weeks ago" rounds.

Also, it's getting a bit too repetitive.

"I think it's left."
"No, you're stupid, turn right."
"No, you're a fat cow, turn left!"
"I hate you. [turns left]"
[several hours later]
"I think you were right.."
"I'm always right. I want a divorce."
"[starts crying] Why do you have to be so mean? You're not a very supportive person. When I met you in the online dating system, you seemed so nice!"
"Just shutup and go back."
"I hate you."
"Finally, we agree on something."
[show ends, couple is eliminated]

"I'm so glad we went on this trip. We learned so much about eachother and we're stronger now than we ever were. Thank you LavaLife, thank you Amazing Race!"

New category.. comedies!

1. 'Til Death

This one stars Brad Garrett from Everybody Love's Raymond. He and his wife have been married many years and a newlywed moves in next door and Brad teaches the new guy the ins and outs of marriage. It's a pretty entertaining show. Thursdays are really, for me, a dead zone since I have my Perspectives class on Thursdays.. but I think this show will do well. I give it an 8.5/10. It's gonna make it.

That's all for now!