This Season on Nip/Tuck

So, Nip/Tuck's fourth season finale is tonight and I thought that before we know the outcome of this season I'd share a few comments. This season has been good, but not great. The excitement from last season is not there, but to some extent, that's to be expected, so I don't hold that against them too much.

The biggest problem I saw with this season was that it was a bit disjointed. One week we would see Matt and Kimber having one of the main stories and then not only is that story not mentioned in the next episode or two or three, but just we don't see Matt or Kimber at all. The same was true in many other storylines this year including Marlowe (Connor's nanny), Michelle (Sanaa Lathan), and the Brooke Shields' character. I thought the Brooke Shields' story should have been more prominent, because she was crazy with a capital "C" and it was very unexpected. I don't care that much for the Scientology storyline and Sean's constant pity party needs to end now. Michelle putting Wilbur at risk makes me want her gone as well. I didn't really care that much for the black market kidney storyline even though I liked Jacqueline Bisset in her role as James. One of the reasons I didn't care too much for it was that it was reminiscent of a past storyline, but as of the end of last week's episode we now know there was a reason for the similarity.

Despite these problems, the individual episodes themselves have been good, and the last few of this season have been bordering on excellent, with an especially hilarious episode featuring Sean as a drunken mall Santa Claus. Truly precious.

Tune in tonight for the season finale. Not sure what's going to be wrapped up tonight and what will carry over into next season, but if the previews are any indication it should be a rollercoaster ride.

All That's Wrong with the Gilmore Girls

Christopher is a bad idea. But we'll get to that later. But seriously, the Chris and Lorelai experiment needs to end.

1. What's with Sherilyn Fenn? She used to always be the attractive, almost oversexed woman in most things she was in, as she got older she was the hot older woman the guys still wanted. On Gilmore Girls, not only is her character just blatantly unlikeable, she doesn't even come close to giving Lauren Graham a run for her money in the looks department. It is great though, that Luke finally stood up to her and made her realize that April is not just "her" daughter, especially since Luke didn't abandon April, he never knew about her.

2. Rory's Friends. They have had years to give Rory friends besides Lane and Paris, and this is what they come up with? Two very annoying girls who we had a vague introduction to and now they're her new best friends who we're supposed to love. One girl calls her boyfriend "Boyfriend", and I am talking 6 times a scene she will say "and Boyfriend" - it is VERY annoying. Then we find out that "Boyfriend" is Marty, and guess what? The always likeable Marty now has a huge chip on his shoulder and is not the friendly guy we (or Rory) remembers at all.

3. Nix the Aerie Girls. So, this isn't really a commentary about Gilmore Girls, but it's related and desperately needs to be said and reiterated. I don't know who the Aerie girls are, but I know they are endlessly annoying, appear to be watching their first season of Gilmore Girls or aren't true fans of the show since they don't have anything good to say, and they need to be cut from the Tuesday night lineup. The word is that the CW knows that the Aerie girls are annoying to the viewers and last week may have been their last segment. Let's hope so. TV is paid for by advertisers, and hate to break it to you CW, but with your advent of this little segment, you have guaranteed that I never forget to change the channel during the commercial break just to make sure I don't have to hear the Aerie girls' annoying diatribe.

4. Christopher Go Home. Rory sees it, Suki sees it, they tell Lorelai over and over, and she still doesn't see it. Lorelai, what will it take for you to realize that your dream of Christopher will never be a reality and the two of you together is just not a good idea? Clearly more than that since Lorelai is now married, yes married to Christopher.

Is it not downright offensive for Lorelai to have moved on with Christopher so seamlessly since she claimed she was so in love with Luke? It was less than 10 episodes ago that she was engaged to Luke. It's insulting to viewers. They've forgotten who these characters are and that's not okay. Lorelai and Rory are people who would sneer and jeer at the girl who was dating seriously less than one month after their engagement ended, let alone remarried, and we love them for it.

I had actually come to like Christopher over the years, which is saying a lot for a basically deadbeat dad. But I only like him as Lorelai's friend and Rory's sometimes father, anything else is just too much. Like his parenting attempts with Gigi are just painful to watch. And this assumption that everyone will forget that he basically abandoned Rory is not okay. Christopher can be forgiven for mistakes he made when he was 16, but he never stepped up to the plate as Rory's father when he was old enough to know better.

He also does not fit into Stars Hollow, something Lorelai wants and needs from him, but something that will never truly happen. And it's not just about Christopher not being Luke. Christopher was throwing his money around last week to solve problems, in this case to help the town reach their goal in the Knit-a-Thon, and that more than most things showed that he just doesn't get what Stars Hollow, and more importantly what Lorelai is about.

So, obviously, there is a lot wrong with Gilmore Girls right now. Things have been off for some time, but not as far off as they have been this season. With the creator of the show now gone, it has clearly lost its way. There are still good things about the show, which is why I am still watching, but I have also watched since the first season, and will likely finish out the series. If you haven't been committed to watching this show for a long time, I can't say I haven't seen reason to bail. If you're still watching or you used to be a fan, now's the time to tune in, because despite what I said, and despite how ridiculous it may sound, this are about to change and it seems we may be on the path to Lorelai realizing what a colossal mistake she made by getting married and her and Luke getting back together to end the series.

I'm looking forward to tonight's episode where there appears to be a showdown of sorts between Luke and Christopher. Let's hope Luke gets in a few hits on the guy who slept with his fiance.

Five Ways to Fix Studio 60

As I am waiting for this much hyped show to realize it's potential, I thought I'd go over some of the things that would help to improve Studio 60.

1. Get Rid of Christine Lahti. Nothing against the actress whatsoever, but her character has no place on Studio 60. She is a Vanity Fair reporter doing a story on the show and Matt and Danny and we have seen her more than we have regular characters on the show, including those mentioned in the opening credits. This doesn't make any sense, and neither does her constant presence. Her character doesn't add anything to the show except for name recognition, and this show already has a lot of that, and we are still swimming in mediocrity.

2. Eliminate the Harriet is a Christian Storyline. It really isn't funny or even entertaining or moving to watch what ends up being very preachy rhetoric about Christians and their beliefs. Not only is this storyline unnecessary, it is very off-putting and I would think alienates many viewers.

3. Scrap the Sketches. Studio 60 can learn a lot from an excellent show that came before it, also created by Aaron Sorkin. Sports Night. On Sports Night, when they shot their version of "SportsCenter" as part of their show as they did almost every episode, except for a few times, the episodes were centered around the making of that show, the writing, story ideas, real news stories (all sports news, of course), and then Sports Night would end with Danny and Casey beginning the show and it would fade out to the credits. This change needs to be implemented pronto on Studio 60. They desperately need to cut their ubiquitous un-funny sketches. It has gotten rather painful to watch what they consider funny.

4. Re-Write D.L. Hughley's Character. D.L. Hughley has never been a great actor but he's never been this bad, and it's not him, it's his character. D.L. is really a stand up comedian and despite that, he hasn't made me laugh once on this show. His character brings nothing to the show besides possibly being the token black character. This needs to change. His character needs to be re-written so he is not carrying some sort of chip on his shoulder and becomes the star of the show within a show we are told he is. D.L.'s talents as a comedian have not been used in developing this character, even though they may think to the contrary. As one of the leads to the show within a show that is supposed to be a sketch comedy, they need to draw on the comedian's strengths to develop this character into a show asset.

5. More Amanda Peet. For whatever reason, Amanda Peet isn't always the most popular or well liked actress by some, but even people who usually were not big fans have liked her in her role as Jordan McDeere on Studio 60. She's funny, witty, brash, and underused on this show. She has great chemistry with Steven Weber and especially with Bradley Whitford, and both of those relationships should be spotlighted more than they are.

Hopefully NBC and Aaron Sorkin will take note of some of these things to help revamp this show. Last week's show was an improvement over the last several weeks, but still nothing spectacular. I'm waiting for those new scripts that were ordered to premiere, presumably that will be episode 14. If there isn't significant improvement by then, I doubt I will stick around to watch this show go down in flames.

ABC, Don't Break My Heart Again

I've had a long love-hate relationship with ABC. It has without a doubt created some of the best, most superb pieces of television in the last decade or so, but it tends to squander some of it's greatest treasures. ABC series that ended well before they should have include, just to name a few, My So-Called Life, Relativity, Cupid, and Once and Again. They have truly broken my heart with some of their cancellations and have a bad, but well deserved reputation of pulling the plug too early on some of their more exceptional shows (and keep around others too long like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire).

The best new show of this TV season, and just one of the best shows on television now in general, is the ABC show The Nine, and ABC has recently benched it until further notice. I hope this isn't the all too familiar territory of canceling their better shows too early.

While some may say, ABC is different now with critically acclaimed shows like Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and Lost, that really isn't the case. Desperate Housewives and Lost both started as ratings blockbusters. And for every Grey's Anatomy that ABC kept when the ratings were good not great there is an Eyes (a clever, critically acclaimed show also starring The Nine's Tim Daly) that has been canceled.

There is some concern that The Nine loses half of the lead-in audience from Lost, but the two shows are very different and wouldn't really draw on the same audience if looking for a similar show. The Nine is a drama, not an action packed show as ABC sort of billed it as even though the link of the group of people stems from a scary hostage situation at a bank. There are better shows that The Nine could be paired with, but besides that, ABC might just try advertising The Nine in its own right as a show to watch, not just a show that follows Lost, after all, Lost's audience has freefalled somewhat from last season to this one.

ABC might be upset about The Nine losing Lost's audience, but they have no one to blame but themselves. The Nine was a show they barely promoted, certainly not much at all besides commercials on ABC. In fact, the most you saw or read about The Nine was courtesy of it being on just about every critic's Must See TV list of the season. They have not used Bailey's (Scott Wolf) fame from Party of Five to help draw attention to the show. Any interview I have seen or read with Kim Raver centered more on whether or not she was returning to 24 to reprise her role as Audrey in the sixth season. It's hard to draw attention and an audience to a show that you don't promote.

Let's hope ABC learns from it's mistakes and sticks with the excellent freshman show it has in The Nine. This is a show that has a devoted core audience but has the potential to break out into a bigger hit and one that will have Emmy buzz because the writing and acting are superb. ABC says it will be coming back later this season, let's hope they aren't lying this time around.

Desperate Housewives - Is It Officially Back?

I watched Desperate Housewives faithfully the first season and was excited about the second. Then of course, the second season started, and it was so inferior to its first season, I got bored with watching it about 10 episodes or so into the season and like so many others I just stopped watching. I didn't go back to watching even though I am aware that the quality of the show picked up towards the end of last year, but it still wasn't of the same caliber as the first year.

Well, this week after watching a favorite of mine, Grey's Anatomy, a repeat of Desperate Housewives aired in place of the pre-empted Six Degrees. Well, imagine my surprise when I watched the entire episode and it was excellent! It was over the top, it was funny, quirky, it was like old times. I know I am not the only one who took notice, since I saw critics and several different week-in-review shows mentioning Desperate Housewives, which use to happen often and hasn't so much in the last year.

The episode had Jackie Conner (yes, as in actress Laurie Metcalf best known as Roseanne's sister) as a woman who just found out her husband was cheating on her. She takes her gun and goes down to where he works, a supermarket, so that she can talk to him. She takes everyone in the store hostage, which included several of the main characters, and those who didn't listen to her when she said to stay put, well, she was quick to pull the trigger. It may not sound funny, but if you're at all familiar with Desperate Housewives, you know it was with the way it was executed.

While the ratings for this show have never waned all that much, critical acclaim has for a very good reason, the show was not deserving of it. Plain and simple, they lost their way last year. I think people stayed around more out of habit than thinking the show was as good as it was in the first year.

Let's hope this episode signals a permanent change in the tide.

Bond, James Bond

I miss Pierce Brosnan.

Daniel Craig was miscast.

You've likely been seeing commercials for the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale. I keep seeing the same commercials and every time I think, why in the world did they cast Daniel Craig?

Apparently this 007 movie will be more violent than past ones, it is supposed to be good, and Daniel Craig does a good job. I don't doubt any of this, but I still maintain, Daniel Craig was miscast. It also seems like they may be changing the tenor of the movie to suit Craig. The most violent? James Bond movies are not supposed to be that violent, they should be action-packed, contain humor, and a little romance with a Bond girl. If you change the formula, you are no longer making a James Bond movie, just a movie, even if it turns out to be a good one.

James Bond is supposed to be "the guy that every man wants to be and every woman wants to be with." With Daniel Craig as James Bond, it's more like "the guy every man wants to be and some women want to be with." Craig's pull is not worthy of the 007 role. It's just not. He may have something very attractive about him in the role. I don't know. But I don't look at him and think women would fall over themselves to get to this guy, and you're supposed to think that. That is a very big part to this role. I've seen Daniel Craig in other movies and I also wonder if he can pull off the twinkle in the eye and quick smile that are also so much a part of this character and his ability to lure attract women. I have serious doubts.

I hope I am wrong about him, but I don't think I am. Even if the movie is great, I have a feeling it won't have the feeling of a 007 movie, and it should. I also have a feeling that during the movie and afterwards, I will miss Pierce Brosnan and I doubt I will be the only one.

Studio 60 Gets Full Season = Premature Pickup

For those who haven't heard Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was given a full season order by NBC. Now, as I wrote before, this show has a lot of potential, but it has yet to prove it has any sort of staying power, and it's quality has been sub-standard. They were originally given an order for additional scripts. This was a good move by NBC. It would be a shame to scrap a show with this sort of acting and writing talent. However, this news of a full season pickup comes very soon after the script order announcement, and before any of the new scripts have been implemented. Those scripts better have been worthy of an Emmy nomination to get a full season order. The show has not shown any improvement since my last posts (if anything, it has gotten worse), so it appears that this pickup is premature.

Maybe the new scripts came in and they were so spectacular, a full season was ordered on the spot because it was well deserved. But it seems like the reality of the situation is that the same people who called this show brilliant originally are the same people making the decisions right now, and it would have been better to see if the new scripts and the corresponding new episodes connected with the audience before ordering the entire season.

NBC is not doing nearly as well as they expected to do this year, and I think that is the real reason behind this premature full season order. In fact, the show they are finding the most success with, Heroes, is one of the shows they were paying less attention to, this alone should tell NBC they may be off their mark in deciding what audiences would love to see.

Studio 60 does have the makings of a great show, but having potential and realizing it and turning it into something special are two very different things. If you remember I wrote about how Heroes was a show that had a lot of potential and that if you stuck with it, you wouldn't be disappointed. I think very few of us have been disappointed since we decided to stick around.

Yea, Men in Trees, Nay, Six Degrees

The Good News - Men in Trees Has Been Picked Up for a Full Season

The Bad News - Six Degrees is on Hiatus until January

Men In Trees has been given the back 9 episode order, so it's officially been picked up for a full season. This is the best news, because shows like this have not been that popular in recent years, much to my disappointment, despite delivering a highly entertaining episode week after week. I am still mourning the loss of Miss Match (the NBC show that starred Alicia Silverstone).

This lighthearted romantic comedy stars Anne Heche, Abraham Benrubi, and I would say the relatively unknown James Tupper, who is very sexy in a Eric Dane (who you may know as McSteamy on Grey's Anatomy) sort of way, which basically means in every way possible. The other news that comes with it's full season pickup is that ABC will move the show to Thursday nights following Grey's Anatomy. This is great news for Men in Trees because it gives them the possible opportunity of getting some of Grey's viewers, and the two shows are compatible in many ways.

This good news for Men In Trees is bad news for Six Degrees, whose time slot it will be taking. I saw on a message board that I frequent that there was a question of why this decision would be made since Six Degrees gets more viewers than Men in Trees. First, I don't know that that statement is accurate. I think Six Degrees has gotten more viewers many nights, but Men in Trees has about the same level viewership and more importantly Men in Trees has that viewership on a Friday night with no real lead-in (repeats of Grey's' Anatomy tend to air in the 8 p.m. timeslot), whereas Six Degrees has an excellent lead in and hasn't been able to take advantage. As happy as I am for Men In Trees, I am not happy with ABC's decision for Six Degrees.

Six Degrees is a good show, not a great show, but still one worth watching. There's a lot going on with the characters right now and the decision to but it on hiatus until January seems like a very bad one. I see why pulling it from it's slot might make sense, but why not give it Men in Trees spot, or that 8 p.m. Friday slot that is basically an open time as well. This show has a great concept, good writing, very good acting, and it's pedigree isn't bad either (it was created by J.J. Abrams).

On the last episode of Six Degrees, we saw Laura (Hope Davis) being promoted and then being taken by surprised when her female boss kissed her, Cameron (Campbell Scott) messes up taking care of his son (when bones break it tend to count as a mess up, I would say), but being given a second chance by his ex-wife, Damian proposed to his girlfriend, who accepted, and then he confessed to her about his past misdeeds and she walked out on him and in the previews for this week we saw Laura threatening to sue Cameron for a photo he took of her without her knowledge which shows her grieving the loss of her husband, Damian may be able to deal with his past and get the chance to get his girl back, and Whitney's lying ex-fiance is back to wreck havoc in her life and Whitney (Bridget Moynahan) will try to make him jealous by having a fake date with Cameron. Does it really sound like a good time for a hiatus? I think not. There's a lot of momentum right now and they should build on that.

Word is that the show is being retooled to focus more on the Campbell Scott and Bridget Moynahan's characters. Let's hope the hiatus until January doesn't really mean it is not returning at all and us fans are left with no explanations or conclusions about what has happened thus far. ABC is legendary in its poor decision making cutting good shows, My So-Called Life, Relativity, Cupid, Once and Again, Eyes - just to name a few. This show isn't as superb as any of those, but it is worthy of a full season to find an audience.

Britney Has Come to Her Senses

Well by now, hopefully you've heard the good news. Britney Spears filed for divorce from that forever freeloading husband of hers, Kevin Federline. Hallelujah Brit! Finally had that wake up call, huh? Was it the constantly decreasing bank balance, the embarrassment for his lack of musical talent, his frequent casino trips, the strip club visits, or all of the above? Whatever it is, it's good you finally gave up on that lost cause. But make no mistake, Kevin clearly wasn't the only problem with this relationship, Britney should share the blame, because this couple was a train wreck from start to finish.

K-Fed, drop this pitiful name and your so-called rap career, and stick to dancing, which you've always been very good at.

Britney, don't think that just because you dropped Kevin you will all of a sudden rise to the top of the Pop Diva world again. Let's hope she can get back to the days of "Not that Innocent", "I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Overprotected". Not so sure that ship hasn't sailed.

Studio 60 - Hope the New Scripts Start Tonight

So, when is the change for the better going to happen on Studio 60? The show has basically gotten worse each week. In the last show, they proved that the two worst characters on the show are D.L. Hughley and Nathan Corddry. How boring was that last show? They portray D.L. as the disgruntled black man, who has yet to make me laugh. D.L. has never been an excellent actor, but it's the writing for his character that is the real flaw. They clearly don't know what to do with his character and the result is a stereotypical character. Nathan Corddry's character had his parents visit in the last episode, and honestly, they had him giving them a tour of the studio, history anecdotes and all. Yeah, that makes a good piece of entertaining TV. The only good news is that Nathan has been semi-funny in a few other episodes.

How is it that this sketch comedy show can only have one funny lead? Sarah Paulson. Who would have thought? If this show wants to survive, they need to rethink their approach. Saturday Night Live has always either sucked or been mediocre when only one or two of true stars. Studio 60 really needs to shine and make good on their potential.

The Nine, Studio 60, and Men in Trees = More Scripts Ordered

Finally, three deserving shows have been given the greenlight for additional scripts - The Nine on ABC, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on NBC, and Men in Trees, also on ABC. It's not a full season pickup but it is certainly better than getting the ax. After Smith and Kidnapped, two shows with some of the better actors and acting that the new fall season had to offer, were canceled early in their runs, it was unclear what the networks would do with these shows. I can safely say with these three, they have made the right decision.

The Nine, is well, without a doubt, one of the best shows on television right now and the viewership can only go up. This is one compelling drama and I hope everyone is as enthralled by this superb show as I am. The writing is top notch, every week we learn a new facet that makes us doubt the people we have sort of come to know and the bond between The Nine seems to stay so strong and they continue to remain close despite differences they encounter in one another or disagreements they may have. The show is doing an excellent job of exploring what happens to a group of people who share an unbreakable bond due to an experience that no one else who wasn't there can understand. As I said before, I am certainly enjoying Heroes (which already has a full season pickup), but The Nine should win the best new drama. It's that good.

Men in Trees is an adorable, lighthearted comedy that is really just too cute to miss if you enjoy romantic comedies at all. It is perfect Friday night fare, not too serious and makes you laugh and smile. This show is very deserving of a full season pickup and hopefully that will be announced next. ABC has had more than forgettable shows on Friday nights for years, so they definitely need to make sure this one doesn't get away. So many people wrote this show off before it even started, only to tune in, love it, and now they watch it weekly. That says a lot about the quality of the show.

Studio 60, which I have written about several times, is a show with an identity crisis in my opinion, struggling between whether it should be more of a drama or more of a comedy in its world of dramedy and also in desperate need of ditching the skits they seem oh so found of showing us each week. This is a show with a lot of potential, espcially given it's Aaron Sorkin, Bradley Whitford, and Matthew Perry pedigree, which I have no doubt played a huge factor in the show getting more scripts. It was also a critically adored show coming into the fall season, which has since faded a bit.

The ironic thing about the show getting more scripts ordered for those who actually watch the show, there was a scene a couple of weeks ago with Amanda Peet's character trying to convince Bradley Whitford's character of doing the Vanity Fair article. The reason she gave to convince him? She said that one Vanity Fair reader was worth 5 regular viewers because they were consumers who made more and spent more. Turns out the same may be true for Studio 60, the real show, not just the show within a show. I read an article just last week that said Studio 60 ranks 3rd amongst highest salaried viewers.
Could it be that life imitated art and one of the reasons Studio 60 has yet to be pulled despite declining ratings every week and losing close to half of their lead-in Heroes audience be that their viewers are deemed more valuable by advertisers? Seems highly likely.

Make sure you give all three of these shows a fair chance. Studio 60 comes on NBC at 10 p.m. after Heroes on Mondays but is on hiatus this week, The Nine comes on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. after Lost on ABC, and Men in Trees comes on Fridays at 9 p.m. on ABC. You won't be disappointed if you tune in.

Aaron Sorkin, I Hope You Watch Best Week Ever

I don't watch a ton of reality television because I can't stand watching people embarrassing themselves and I can't watch every show or read every magazine, but I do make sure I know what's going on, and a great way to do this is to watch the two best weekly recaps show on TV right now, Best Week Ever on VH1 and The Soup on E!. Now, hopefully you already watch one or both of these, if not, you really need to because they are consistently funny and catch you up on the ridiculousness that has happened in the world of entertainment that week.

I was watching Best Week Ever this weekend and they were talking about Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. They made the exact same observation I did before about the show, so Aaron Sorkin & NBC, you need to pay attention. They talked about how showing the development of the skits on the show is one thing but actually putting them on is another, since they're not that good. If you've watched the show, you know this is true, the skits are not Saturday Night Live or MadTV caliber, even if the ideas behind them aren't all that bad.

Studio 60 has not lived up to it's hype, which is actually odd. Many times shows will not connect with viewers but rarely is it because the quality that was guaranteed to be there is not. Many times we will wonder why in the world are people not watching this show. There's no mystery here this time. This show was billed as excellent and it isn't. In fact, the show is a disappointment given the hype that preceded it. The show has potential but you can't keep showing the skits. They're just not good. And as Best Week Ever pointed out, they show the skits on the show and then they're at an after party patting each other on the back like the skits we just saw were good. But they weren't.

On a side note, why in the world is Christine Lahti getting so much air time on a new show that should be introducing us to the show's main characters?

X-Men, Heroes, and The 4400

So, I was on a TV message board and came across a comment about isn't the new show Heroes on NBC the same as The 4400 on USA Network and wasn't it better when it was The 4400? The comment went on to talk about Heroes similarities to X-Men. Here's my take...

I really like Heroes and never really liked The 4400. I didn't dislike it, more like indifference, it just never grabbed my interest the way a show should. I watched a few episodes of the 4400 and something about it didn't work for me. Maybe it was too dark in ways? I can't pinpoint it right now. I can see them being similar in terms of being from the same genres, but my understanding of the 4400 is that something happened to a specific group of people in the future who all knew it and the show was about the after effects when they return to the present which somehow or another will affect the fate of the world. I see similarities, but not enough to say I liked this one better when...

Plus, Heroes is, hands down, the better of the two shows, the acting and the writing are superior.

The comment I saw on the message boards talked of a larger budget to produce Heroes, and while I have no doubt this is true, The 4400 wasn't coming on Crappy Cable Network at 2 am it is a USA network original show in primetime, their budget is no slouch. Plus, since it seemed to me that their cast was larger than the Osmond family, grandkids included, I don't see how their budget could have been that small.

Now, about the X-Men comparison, obviously many say this is X-Men on TV. I think Heroes is very similar to X-Men in some ways and in other ways different which why the show is good, it is not something you've exactly seen before even though it seems somewhat familiar.

So, this is how I described the differences to a friend. Here's how the convo went:

She asked me about Heroes and how they all became mutants. I said, they're not mutants, this isn't X-Men. She has never seen any of the X-Men movies (can you imagine - she at least admits that this is pitiful on her part). Anyway, I said that on the X-Men, the mutants are close to half the population and they have special powers and are seen as a threat to the "regular" population by some. The X-Men also has a very important message, one of the reasons it was such a popular comic, that people are all different but we should be accepting of all of them no matter their differences. Whereas on Heroes, there are several people with special powers, it seems that number is 9, and they don't know how they have these powers and it seems they may have been given these powers in order to save the world from a catastrophic disaster that is happening at a specific time in the near future.

I'm not saying all of these don't sound somewhat similar, but I think there are enough
differences to warrant a respect for the originality of each one.

Man of the Year? Wasn't This Movie Out 4 Years Ago...

So, this Man of the Year movie staring Robin Williams has been heavy promoted for weeks. Here's my problem with it - isn't this basically the exact same movie as Head of State starring Chris Rock from like 4 yeas ago? I mean I think Chris wasn't technically a comedian but give me a break, the premise was basically exactly the same because whatever his profession, he was an undercover comedian. They are advertising Man of the Year like this is the most original thought for a script ever in life. I don't get it. Head of State was not a small independent movie that no one will remember, so it doesn't make sense that they would do such a similar movie so soon after.

Have movies gotten so bad that we are recycling ideas from the same decade? Cause that's just sad. They need to come up with something better than this if they want me to drop $10 at the movie theater when Netflix costs $18 for the entire month.

What's Up With Izzie?

Just watched the Grey's Anatomy from Thursday. They have got to snap Izzie out of this funk or give her less airtime, she drains the energy out of the scene with her depression. I get that only a few days passed on the show and a few months passed for us, but give me a break, she was "in like", not in love, since she'd never seen him once to my knowledge outside of the walls of that hospital. This is becoming obvious, hopefully even to her, since she didn't know Denny as well as she thought she did with the whole parents situation. And they are taking no steps to make her get over the death, like a funeral. Plus, I think she's been in the same outfit since getting up from the bathroom floor. What's up with that?

Also, why the hell are these people still interns? You're only an intern for one year, your fourth year of med school, and then you go into residency. We're on the third freakin season of this show, and they're still interns? Exactly how slow does time move in Grey's world?

Paris & Nicole: A Simple Life or a Drama Filled One?

So, what all of a sudden prompted this reunion between Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie? I mean, is there a new season of The Simple Life premiering in the next couple of months and I don't know it? Possibly, since I haven't bothered to check being that I could care less about that show. Maybe E! told the two of them to resolve their issues pronto because ratings were down. Who knows? I do know that everything points to the reason for the year long fight being Paris was totally pissed that Nicole was the real star of The Simple Life and Nicole wasn't willing to play second fiddle as a few of Paris' other friends might be willing to, but that hasn't changed, so what prompted the reunion? I'm thinking Paris has not been in the news with the same frequency as she was when her and Nicole hitting the clubs every other night. And when she has been in the news it is one infraction after another. I'm sure Paris will be playing this up for all it's worth any way she can, so as always with this glorified media whore, the story is to be continued...

Why Oh Why Is Everwood Not on CW?

Were you an Everwood fan? I wasn't, not because I never wanted to watch but it was always on when something else I was already committed to was on (or more likely the case when two somethings I was committed to were on). Then last year, I thought I would start, rent the DVDs from prior seasons and catch up that way, and guess what? Of course, it got cancelled, which I knew never should have happened even having not been into the show, but when has that ever stopped them?

Anyway, I began watching Everwood the day it began on ABC Family and man, is this a good show. Definitely wish it was still on, unless the quality goes down, and from everything I hear, if anything, the quality goes up. Well, I hope others who didn't watch it the first go around will give it a shot this time since it is definitely worth your time. Comes on ABC Family at 6pm EST.

Note to CW - Think about bringing Everwood back mid-season. From the looks of things, your premiere year is going to be anything but stellar so why not bring back a show with a devoted fan base? Just a thought.

Studio 60 = Identity Crisis

The second Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was very good, better than the first episode as I suspected it would be. The biggest problem I see, is that this is Sports Night, plain and simple. Sports Night is a gem that should have been treasured more when it originally aired and lightning rarely strikes twice. Brilliance is hard to duplicate and Sports Night was indeed a brilliant show, can Studio 60 even come close? Let's hope so.

But, this show is having an identity crisis of sorts. Studio 60 is a comedy, saying it's a drama, which is problematic. Every scene on Sports Night wasn't laughs and giggles, give me a break, and neither is this, but there is too much inflection of comedy to pretend this is a drama. Besides that, you know how Sports Night ends with them starting on the show they've been working on throughout the episode and it always was a nice fade out. Here, they did the same thing control room and all, and they showed the first skit they'd come up with at the end of the show. Not bad. But it won't be good every week, last week's wasn't hilariously funny either, I think they'd do better to fade into the show without doing the skits, because you don't want it to hinge on whether people loved the skit. But it was good, they need to call themselves a comedy, and it's getting better.

The Nine

WOW! Now, this is show!!! Rarely do you see a premiere episode of such high quality, no wonder it was on most critics "Must See" lists. I can't wait to see what happens next.

How great is it to see Bailey (Scott Wolf) back on TV? And he comes on right after his big brother Charlie's show (that would be Lost, of course, starring Matthew Fox). If you're not familiar with my name references, you need to start subscribing to Netflix pronto because if you've never watched Party of Five, you are really missing out.

So, Scott Wolf's character Jermey, we now know has split up with his pre-robbery girlfriend Lizzie on the show, who is pregnant with his child. Why did she break up with him? We haven't been told yet, something happened during the bank robbery that caused her to break up with him. I am kind of thinking it is something along the lines of the gunmen were about to shoot or something else pretty objectionable and when Jeremy had the chance to protect or shield someone he got in front of Camille Guaty's character Franny instead of protecting his girlfriend at the time Lizzie (don't know her name yet - and the Imdb information on the show is surprisingly slim - they don't even list Scott Wolf, Kim Raver, or Tim Daly as being part of the main cast). Lizzie girl, if this is the case, I completely understand, it would piss me off too!

I am loving the chemistry between Audrey (played by Kim Raver - it will take some time for me not to refer to her by her name on 24) and Tim Daly on the show. I like where that is going for sure. I hope his life was changed enough by the bank robbery that he gives up his gambling addiction, but let's be for real, this is TV, so that is highly unlikely since it will make for good internal conflict for Tim's character, and it would also be unrealistic, gambling, like almost any addiction, is very hard to kick.

P.S. It is nice to see Tim Daly on a show that will likely be a hit. His other show, Eyes, which was an ABC mid-season replacement in 2005 and very critically acclaimed, never should have been canceled, so it's great to see him in a great new show. One of his co-stars from Eyes, Eric Mabius (for those who watched Eyes - that would be the guy whose ear was shot off), has also found a new home on Ugly Betty.

Heroes on NBC - Hope You're Watching

So, I really hope you watched Heroes on NBC (if you missed it, nbc.com has the last episode that aired online available to watch and the Sci-Fi channel also airs the repeats). This show has the potential of being much better than just good, possibly fantastic. The thing that worries me the most is that people will try it out and won't stick with the show as it develops the characters. Hopefully people will see the potential in this show instead of bailing immediately. It's like the X-Men movies. Most people will agree that X2: X-Men United was the better of the first and second movie, but I don't think they should be compared. X-Men was the introduction of the series where we get to know how or why these people we are watching realize that they are mutants and discover the strength of their powers, whereas, X2 we already knew the characters and we watched them be just them. Heroes has already been compared to X-Men, so I think this is a good way to think of the show. Stick around past the development of the characters and I have a feeling none of us will be disappointed.