On a Wing and a Prayer

So, I'm finally caught up on all my shows. The DVR is at a modest 68% (gotta keep those emergency Sex and the City's and bad Lifetime movies I'll never actually watch stockpiled in case...well, I don't know, I just have a lotta crap on my DVR that I can't seem to delete. This is not unlike my closet, but I digress.).

I was all ready with my sweats and my ice cream, ready to watch the outcome of Edie's electrocution/car accident on Desperate Housewives tonight, and...a repeat? The knocking off of Nicolette Sheridan's character, I saw coming. The delayed second part, I did not.

Sigh.

With nothing but the aforementioned DVR fluff to pass the time, I started looking ahead to some of those remaining mid-season replacement shows coming up. After all, ER, for better or worse, is done this week. Mad Men isn't back anytime soon. And though I'm marginally interested in seeing if the producers on Grey's hate Katherine Heigl enough to make that brain tumor fatal, finale time will be here before you know it.

So even though soon there will be a 'good tv' deficit, at least there's a duo of mid-season replacements to consider to have on in the background while you're Facebooking for your viewing pleasure:

HARPER'S ISLAND
Premise: A bunch of people get together on an island and each week someone is killed off.
Good news: An island mystery to pass the time after Lost has its finale.
Bad news: Premise doesn't exactly bode well for a season 2. Also, lots of tinkering's been done since the pilot, including replacing Bill Pullman with, um, Harry Hamlin.
Premiere Date: April 9th @ 10pm






CUPID
Premise: Bobby Cannavale may or may not be Cupid, and has to (or thinks he has to) get 100 couples together to return to Mt. Olympus, all the while under the care of psychiatrist Sarah Paulson.
Good News: Who doesn't love a little romance? Plus, with new guest stars every week, employment for all the actors that aren't getting hired to lay on gurneys on ER anymore.
Bad News: The buzz isn't great and the original it was based on wasn't exactly awesome. Also, to me, Bobby Cannavale will always be the funky spunk guy from Sex and the City no matter how many shows he is on. Ew.
Premiere Date: March 31st @ 10pm

And I seriously still have a New Year's Eve Faith Ford movie on the DVR. A Kiss at Midnight may not be a Lifetime Movie, but it is Hallmark. It remains to be seen if they've sent their very best.

State of the Union

Hey, if the prez can do a little media blitz, why can't I?

I am not gonna lie, I'm woefully behind on my DVR. Like maxing out at 88% and starting to sweat it. The job that actually pays me (unlike this one) is sucking away all my time, and actually, my life, too.

It's bad when I have no time for TV. Recession jobs sure are a bitch.

I'm feverishly trying to delete and catch up. It's not helping the space issue that I have never been able to figure out how to get my DVR to tape Oprah just once a day, so her damn AHA moments are an extra jam up on the DVR superhighway.

Anyhoo, here's where I'm at:

Lost Still love it. Still genius. Still have no clue what's going on.

Desperate Housewives No one talks about this show anymore. Remember the good old days when everyone was talking smack about Teri Hatcher trying to hog the spotlight? It was a little fun, even if I never believed it. The show's still trucking along with some good eps, though I'm pretty sure Marcia Cross would win the Botox faceoff if she took on Nicole Kidman.

Put. The. Needle. Down.

ER Woefully behind on watching this. I snuck in the Clooney episode but there's like 3-ish episodes more looming that I have to cram in before the finale. Why do I feel like no one is having ER finale parties? Should I throw one? Bring your own CBC Chem 20 - stat!

Grey's Anatomy Just sat down to watch what I believe is last week's episode. Is that an Elvira stripe in Patrick Dempsey's hair? Is that meant to communicate McDreamy's angst?

How I Met Your Mother More Barney. Less Ted. Please?

And speaking of Ted, I still haven't checked out that new show, Better Off Ted. Oh the DVR pressure!!

Party Like It's 1999

I know, I know, where the hell have I been? Can't a girl go on vacation? Zeesh! Well, I'm back with some tv goodies for ya. It's all gonna be ok now. Don't worry.

So I was very skeptical about the Clooney comeback to ER, but dang, those producers got it right, don'tcha think? They just slid Dr. Ross and Carol Hathaway right in there like they'd never left. Benton and Carter, too. No trendy time warp or flashbacks needed here (which, BTW I have an EFFIN headache from watching Lost and that stupid time machine wheel of fortune gizmo, but more about that another time).

Anyhoo, I think ER did it right and it was almost as though it was 1999 again. Actually, it feels a little 1999-ish now, doesn't it? Look around...Dr. Ross is in the house. Who Wants to be a Millionaire is all the rage (Ok, Slumdog style. Whatever). And Britney Spears is on tour.

But I must confess I miss that 1999 rush-home-to-see-my-show feeling. DVR kinda nukes that. I mean, I love my DVR. I love that I can rest easy knowing that all my 30 Rocks are getting stock-piled, and my Oprah's are safe and sound.

And I love knowing that even if my DVR gets all fried up, which HAS been known to happen, I feel sure I can just find that coveted show on-line.

I love all this new technology, and I'm even starting to learn what Twittering is (though seriously, folks, I don't need to know every time you have a cup of coffee. You know who you are.)

And I know you live blogger types will say there are some shows we do still watch in real time, but it's just not the same. Not to me.

Sigh. At least some things stay the same. Ten years later, my VCR is still blinking.

Yes, I also still have my VCR. Baby steps.

Liar, Liar

*Spoilers galore!*

Last week, I was kind of pumped up after watching the Brothers and Sisters promo for their 2 hour movie. That show has followed a path of ok, awesome, who cares, and ok over the few seasons it's been on. But when their promo was touting a death? Well, in the world of dramas...deaths and weddings? We love 'em!!

But then I was feeling a little sad, cuz it looked like Rob Lowe's character, Senator McAllister, was a goner. I've loved that Rob Lowe ever since he was Sodapop Curtis! Why, oh why, would they kill him off? But when good 'ol Robbie survived the heart attack and all, I thought, OOOH, plot twist! Tommy is gonna get offed by Holly! That's gotta be it, I hope?! Those ads promised me a death, dammit!

Frankly, as the clock ticked on, I started to panic about who the grim reaper would send off to TV heaven...especially when Kitty put a loose blanket into that new baby's crib. Eek! Suffocation alert!

But here's the thing...no one bit the dust! That baby was as snuggly as a Snuggie one scene later, Tommy is just an embezzler, and the Senator is just ruthless, not dead.

What gives, ABC?

The show was actually one of the best I've seen in awhile. So why fake us out with the death promise? We would've been totally tuned in anyway if you'd just stuck with Cliffhanger 101 and kept it to the "Will he or won't he make it?" teases.

Cue the shot of the flat line. Duh.

And speaking of fake outs and ABC, by now you've all heard about the little switcheroo on the Bachelor Monday night. Maybe it's all legit: Jason's just a loser who dumped his fiance ON TELEVISION for the runner up. Not scripted by the producers at all.

Pull this leg and it plays Jingle Bells.

Finally, rounding out this week's trifecta of fakery, this poor dude Dane Patterson from The Biggest Loser...he lost like 100 pounds in 8 weeks, and now all anyone can talk about is the fact that even though he ran 23 of the 26.2 miles of a marathon, an overzealous producer in need of their all important finish line shot, like, NOW, drove him to the finish line.

Drove him. Like, get in the car and take a load off. Maybe we'll get a hoagie on the way.

Sigh.

Can we believe anything on TV anymore? Next thing you know, you'll tell me Trump's hair isn't naturally like that....

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