Rocket Man

I gotta admit, as the season premiere of Gilmore Girls rolled around, I was less than excited. And usually I'm all geared up for more Gilmore. But the creators of the show really took the show off course, in my opinion, and wrote Lorelei into a corner I was dreading to watch.

As you recall, the season ended with the ridiculous storyline of Luke "choosing" April over Lorelei. In reality, it was apparent even then under the old writers, that Luke doesn't take ultimatums. And the thing that is so annoying is, that Lorelei knows this. But still, she ran off and claims they were broken up and sleeps with Christopher.

Now, the new writers have to take over this stupid storyline and run with it. And I think by the end of the show, I'm finally buying what they did and am back on board with this show.

First I had to sit through Lorelei making excuses for what Luke did to her - in her mind she's the victim here. I just don't buy that the character of Lorelei would do that to herself and Luke after the past two seasons but whatever. It's what we are stuck with. So she rids her house of everything that reminds her of Luke - that means everything. She's really hurting. At least they had to sense to make it seem like she was hurt by what's going on.

Meanwhile, Luke had the crazy Kirk and Taylor storyline that ended up with his diner being trashed by Kirk. Typical Stars Hollow silliness. It was in this though that Luke realized he doesn't make decisions well, or quickly.

In the end, he shows up at Lorelei's, ready to elope, not ready to give up on them. As the show ended, Lorelei told him she slept with Chris and Luke silently drives off. I'm all sad.

But then the scenes from next week - those are what are making this ok. Because bring on the saucy Luke!

The side storyline was that Rory is dealing with Logan and the big joke there is that he left for London without the two of them discussing their relationship status and she assumes they are still together but last time they were apart and she thought they were together, Logan slept around on her. He left her a rocket and that was supposed to say it all. Rory had the perfect puzzled look till she figured out it meant he loved her because it was like a Twilight Zone episode he loved. But that's not all! She thinks this means she should run off to London for the summer - but he buys her a ticket for a Christmas visit. Still, their storyline should be good. Logan so obviously is moving on with life as a grown up with a job and Rory is still in school. It should be interesting watching them figure this out.

Wanted more of Paris and her SAT Prep course though.

Amazing Race..Car Trouble

The single moms got what they deserved by tempting the gods of The Race and refusing to stop and leave the models their jack. It was inevitable that they'd have car trouble themselves. Doh!

I'm too tired to put together a coherent summary...but I love the race so far. The tasks are NOT SIMPLE like they have been for a few seasons in a row (go to the gas station and ask the clerk for your clue?!?!?! UGH). No, this year they have people falling off wild horses and tasks that actually take time and effort to complete.

Another week gone by and I'm not sure I have a favorite yet. But the unmarried couples are definitely my least favorites. They bicker and bicker and it's annoying.

The Comeback

Being blessed that I am with Digital Cable, I have the ability to watch certain programs "On demand." There are a variety of shows, from various channels, that have already aired stored for my viewing pleasure. Through this I was able to catch up on back episodes of "Shalom in the Home." The best thing about this so far is that I was able to watch the entire (and unfortunately only) season of "The Comeback," starring Lisa Kudrow. HBO cancelled the show after one season and this makes me sad.

It is available on DVD and I really recommend that you check it out.

Kudrow plays Valerie Cherish, a woman who had a hit TV show in her 20s. Now in her early 40s, she has been cast on a (really bad) sitcom called "Room and Board," where she plays "Aunt Sassy," clad in awful track suits. She is also simultaneously filming a reality show called "The Comeback," which chronicles her return to television. At the beginning of each episode, we are told that this "raw footage" of the reality show. This means that rather than the carefully edited reality shows we are used to seeing, we get all the behind the scenes action and find out people'e true feelings.

This show is so clever and funny. It really pokes fun at the television industry and reality television especially. Kudrow is great and morphs so much into Valerie Cherish that I don't think of her as Phoebe. In addition to the camera crew that follows Valerie around, they have cameras all throughout the house she shares with her husband. This makes for some funny scenes.

I wish there were more episodes for me to watch.

Let Me Try Brookstone

I forgot how funny The Office is until I watched the new episode tonight and ended up with tears in my eyes.

It's several months after The Kiss and Jim's transferred to Scranton. That doesn't stop him from tormenting Dwight though.
Pam and Roy broke up but Roy's trying to win her back. Ryan's got Jim's old job so he's not an intern. And Dwight and Michael. They discover that Oscar is gay and that's what the episode is mostly about. Michael of course deals with homosexuality in the most correct terms possible. Yeah right.

Best Joke: Dwight and Michael remember Jim saying you can get a Gaydar on the web somewhere. They call Jim up but he tells them they can get it at Sharper Image and he'll check for them -- "Oh, it's sold out."

Then at the end of the episode, Dwight receives a package from Jim. It's a Gaydar. It has "homo" and "hetero" labels on each end and comes with headphones. Dwight tries it out on Oscar by scanning over his body and when he gets to his belt, the beep goes off. So Dwight says "It works!"

Then he tries it on himself. It goes off on him, too.

Crying. I was crying I tell you.

Random Thoughts on Wednesday Evening

Why do women go on America's Next Top Model and then balk at being nude? How many seasons has it been on? Have they not watched and figured out they'll have to be naked at some point??!??!??!?!?!?

Who else wants to dance with Emmitt Smith?

Rachael Ray

Wow. So I really liked the new Rachael Ray show. It was more than I expected and the hour flew by completely.
She started by showing off her set a bit and it includes a rotating studio audience area, so that they can be turned to face her when she does the various segments all over the studio.

Then she sat and had coffee at a table with the audience and then she taught a 60 second snack - and passed it out to the audience. I so want to be in her audience now. They get snacks y'all!

She had a clip of her overcoming a fear with an audience member.

Had her celebrity guest and they discussed favorite thing, including food. It was Diane Sawyer. Tomorrow it's Oprah.

She cooked a little more - a 7 minute meal. And apparently, you can download the grocery list the day before so you can cook with her if you'd like.

I already really like Rachael Ray but this show was really entertaining and different than others on right now. It's less awkward than Martha (she's just warmer, I guess) and isn't crafty or anything. Just cooking segments and every day stuff.

Watch it, tape it, TiVo it.

The Race! It's back!

Well the fall season kicked off for me tonight with the Amazing Race. There was quite the diverse cast of characters this time around and many surprises.

Like the cheerleaders aren't bugging me. They are making me laugh. You have to laugh at two women cheering on a pedicab driver as he pedals them through the streets of China. And then the token gay team who is following and joins in the cheer.

Things got off to a fast start with the 11 teams in Seattle and about half of them couldn't figure out where to leave the car at the airport. Then they got on flights and bottlenecked pretty much. But the big shock of the season came when a team was eliminated at a task, not the pit stop. Thus the Muslim Fathers were shortlived in the Race. That's too bad because I was really looking forward to seeing them figure out how to pray on the side of the road and stay in the Race. (I'm not being snarky. I'm serious. I was hoping to see them balance it somehow).

The tasks are more difficult and so far not sponsor driven. I love they've already had a gross eating contest (fish eye balls) and had to scale a wall at the pit stop.

Impressions? I love the single moms so far. They have true spirit. When the one struggled to get up the wall, she cried as she made it and said "I hope my daughter gets to see this." Damn right. That was awesome. And at the fish eye ball task one of the moms turned to the other and insisted she had to do it because she liked Chinese food more. Too funny.

We've got a coal miner and his wife who really needs self esteem classes. She honestly claimed that she couldn't believe she'd gotten him because he was so cute. It's a matter of taste, we'll say, and leave it at that.

The Korean brothers proved once again that going to Harvard doesn't mean you'll win the Race. Common sense and bad luck play a part too.

I'm sad to see the husband and wife go so early that left today. They seemed to truly respect each other and didn't yell at each other like the OTHER couples on the trip.

Survivor: Racial Islands

So I admit, I fell into the intrigue of the "controversial" segregated tribe dealie on Survivor. I tried to watch (but was distracted by my Rockette Baby a few times. I didn't see the Latino tribe at all. Barely saw the Asian tribe. Saw the Whites lose their chickens (DOH!) and saw the Black tribe discuss how they were urban kids so they didn't know how to camp. I wasn't surprised when they lost because it seemed to be showing them the most in the early parts of the episode and the one formula Survivor can't seem to break is its editing pattern.

I will try and watch some more but next week the Office starts and that's my show. I can't leave it for this silliness.
I am still intrigued.

This one is understandable.

Remember how before I moved I was sad because my new cable did not have the WE channel, and, thus, no Bridezillas? Yeah, well I was wrong. It is all the way up in the 500s, but it is there. There have not been too many interesting episodes, though, so I haven't had much to post.

I watched an episode last night in which the woman (who was fairly bossy and unfriendly for most of the episode) had a wedding day catastrophe. Her florist did not show up. No, her florist wasn't late, she never showed up. I can understand why the bride was upset in this instance (although I wasn't with her the night before when she thought people weren't paying attention to her at her rehearsal dinner).

She had already paid for all the flowers and we had seen her meet with the florist in person and on the phone to confirm everything. There was no indication that the florist would not show up.

In a sweet gesture, the groom and his groomsmen collected flowers from around the restaurant where the wedding/reception was at and made the bride a bouquet. She really should have let it go at that point, but she remained distracted by the whole thing. When she later messed up during her vows, she said, "Sorry, I am still thinking about my flowers."

There was an update at the end that said when the bride went to confront the florist, the police had to be called. Yikes.

Cable!

Having spent the weekend at my parents' house, I was exposed to cable for the first time in a long time. MTV recognized this and ran a few episodes of My Super Sweet 16 for me. Aw, thanks MTV!

That show is even scarier now that I'm a parent. I'm not worried about raising a kid that way; I'm worried about my kid having to deal with spoiled brats like that. Of course, our income will never allow such things anyway so what's the worry?

Fall Lineup!

Ok, tonight it was pretty much decided that my husband has one measly tv show he can't miss this upcoming season. (The Office in case you care...).

Begging the question, what shows are we watching this fall?

I'm upset that What About Brian is on against the Studio 60 Sunset whatever show (though once I watch it, I may not like it and it'll make life easier for me I suppose).

7th Heaven is coming back (I'm kidding. I mean, it's coming back but I'm not planning to be near it).

What else is out there?