Falling Off The Chuckwagon

It's always depressing when a show lets you down, but when a show lets you down after you've fought so long and hard for it, it's even worse. After several seasons of finger-crossing, wishing, hoping, and enduring a near-unbearable slew of Subway ads, Chuck lives, but lately, my love for it does not.

It's always difficult for hardcore fans to admit when the object of their affection has flown off the rails, particularly when you spent all last season campaigning on the "SAVE THIS SHOW!" float, so it isn't easy for me to admit, but this season of Chuck has been bad, peeps. Really bad. I have quickly gone from being slightly underwhelmed to pretty bored to begrudging and we're only 10 episodes in. Seriously, watching these last few episodes has felt like a chore, not a pleasure, and I can't seem to stop myself from checking what minute we're at in the broadcast at least 4 or 5 times. Quite frankly, had I not been championing the show for the past several years, I think I'd have already broken up with it...

I guess I just keep hoping it'll get good again, but my confidence is starting to dwindle. Most shows take a few episodes of a new season to get things back in gear, but 10? After 10 episodes, we should be knee-deep in awesome, and with Chuck this year, we're knee-deep in... something else. Maybe it's the season 4 curse. For whatever reason (usually college), most shows seem to fall apart at the season 4 mark. Buffy, Angel, Alias, Gilmore Girls, Psych... the list goes on. Most of these shows managed to reclaim some former glory with season 5 (heh, Glory, season 5, Buffy, anyone?), but that's assuming I make it through season 4. We're only to the half-way point with Chuck and I don't know if I'm going to make it to the next episode... Let me count the ways...

1) The foundation of the show is gone.
What's worse, it wasn't replaced with anything else, really, let alone something awesome. Shows have to grow and evolve and sometimes that means that a fundamental change has to take place. I'm fine with that. Indeed, for the best of shows, the game-changer changes the game in the most awesome of ways. With Chuck, well... they pretty much just keep switching back and forth between overplayed conceits. It's hard to really explain, but I think any true fan of the show acknowledges that the magic of the show is mostly gone. The initial charm was that a regular guy got caught up in the spy world and was given knowledge and abilities he didn't know what to do with. Chuck had to keep his identity secret all while trying to be the spy he was never meant to be. I grant that over time, Chuck needed to become a better spy and that he couldn't play the dorky fish out of water forever. I'm totally fine with that. The only problem is that the show seems hell-bent on hanging onto a premise that no longer exists. The characters have moved past their original incarnations and the original concept of the show has disappeared. Again, that's fine so long as they replace the foundation with something solid. Instead, the team behind Chuck replaced the old foundation with... well... Morgan, basically... They've made Morgan the rookie in an attempt to retain the geeky non-spy angle to the show (as well as keeping the Buy More antics alive--more on that later), but it really isn't working for me. And yet, somehow, this angle that isn't really working for me is probably the most entertaining element of the show these days. Wow, not a good sign. I would have liked to have seen the show truly re-invent itself. With each previous season, the writers found a way to add more layers and possibilities for these characters, but with the current season? They've either run out of room or I've simply run out of caring. They seemingly replaced all physical and mental challenges with... relationship woes? Downgrade. If they really wanted to keep the show alive, they should have completely re-invented the premise not simply spun off into whineyville. After Chuck became a real spy, I had high hopes that they would truly change things up--move the characters to a new place, give them a new mission, and alter the working dynamic among the group. If they were so determined to make Chuck a real spy and bring him and Sarah together, fine. Change the vibe of the show. Take what made Sarah and Bryce such a sizzling spy couple and apply it here. Yeah, no such luck.

2) Same old characters, same routine.
Don't get me wrong, I have truly adored these characters for years now, but at some point, something has to change. I'm so sick to death of watching these same people do the same things for the same reasons every single week. I know a lot of fans out there were none-too-fond of the Sarah/Superman relationship last season, but I think most would agree that Shaw brought a lot to the show. Not only did he provide an obvious (and often heavy-handed) love interest for Sarah and a big bad for the season, but most importantly for me, he provided a new character for our regulars to interact with and play off of, forcing them out of their comfort zones. It's one of the main reasons I loved Bryce so much. Aside from being a great (and beautiful) character who made for a fair match for Sarah, he added a whole new vibe to the show and forced the other characters to adapt. Now it's down to the bare bones and every episode sees Chuck, Sarah, Casey, and Morgan doing essentially the same things with the same people. By season 4, viewers need something new... something other than Chuck's mother. Which brings me to my third point...

3) The mother of all fails.
I guess the writers actually did bring in a new element, a new character that should have shaken things up... Only problem? It didn't work. The show seems to think I should be really interested in Chuck's mother and the constant (and annoying) twists and reveals about whether or not she's good or evil. I genuinely don't care. I haven't cared pretty much since minute 2. I say minute 2 because when it was revealed that Mama Bartowski was alive at the end of season 3, I was honestly intrigued and excited for season 4. Minute 2, however, made it clear that this was going to be a season long story arc where the only real threat presented is that I might fall asleep. I can't decide how much of it's the writing and how much of it is Linda Hamilton, but Mama Bartowski has been nothing but a letdown. Chuck seems continually shocked that his mother is evil. No, good! No, evil! I, on the other hand, have no investment in this character whatsoever and just wish she'd fall down a mine shaft or something. Once a character has been shifted back and forth between good and evil 117 times, it stops being a shock and starts being a crutch. The show is spinning its wheels and Mama Bartowski is driving the bus. God, her line deliveries alone drive me crazy. It's like she takes too much medication the morning before shooting and then has to keep downing Red Bulls to stay awake and alert. Epic fail.

4) Who are we fighting? Oh, who the hell cares...
Okay, it's not like The Ring was all that stellar a big bad or anything, but Volkoff has me even less invested. Timothy Dalton is actually quite good in the role, and I think on some level, he could be an awesome baddie, but knowing that his only real connection is through Mama Bartowski takes all the suspense an intrigue out of the equation. I don't care about her, so I don't care about whatever enemy organization she may or may not be tied to. What's more, their missions in each episode seem more and more pointless with each passing week. maybe it's that I just haven't really been paying much attention, but the A-plots have been incredibly weak. I don't know, they need a microchip or something so they can... do something with the intersect... or whatever. Wow, so don't care. Basically any real semblance of an exciting A-plot has been replaced by Chuck and Sarah's relationship, which we all know I'm oh-so-fond of. Which brings me to my next point.

5) Chuck and Sarah. Period.
Okay, I know that I'm one of the proud, the few, who never really wanted to see them as a couple, but seriously, even you devoted Shuckers out there have to admit that their relationship isn't exactly gripping. I'm not going to blather on about why I don't think they make a good match (again), but even with my prejudices against them as a pair, I don't think I could have foreseen how annoying they'd be once they finally got together for real. Chuck is an emotional mess, always has been, always will be. I can accept that. What I can't accept is that the primary focus of this entire season has been him caterwauling about his insecurities and bringing Sarah down to his level. She's gone from badass spy to girlfriend and I hate it. With Bryce, she could play girlfriend and be the no nonsense CIA agent at the same time. With Chuck? Good lord, apparently to be in a relationship with Chuck you have to be as unstable as he is. Whenever she actually acts like herself, the strong, confident person who doesn't need to share her feelings with ever random person, Chuck basically tells her she's a bad girlfriend. Ugh. Man alive, in the episode before last, when Sarah treks through Thailand to save Chuck, Morgan actually tells her, "Don't be spy Sarah. Be girlfriend Sarah." Don't tell her that! I love spy Sarah. I miss spy Sarah. I find that I no longer find girlfriend Sarah simply annoying, I kind of hate her. Not as much as I hate boyfriend Chuck, but it's getting close. If the show really wanted them to be a solid couple, they should have done just that. I realize that no relationship is perfect, but Chuck and Sarah don't seem to have any redeemable qualities as a couple. They don't work together very well, Chuck doesn't trust Sarah to tell him the truth, Sarah doesn't trust Chuck to take care of himself, they aren't even really charming together onscreen these days, and now they're getting married? Thanks, but no thanks. Such an unholy union is the last thing the show needs... except for maybe more Buy More antics...

6) The Buy More
Okay, I used to love the Buy More. I used to love Jeff and Lester and Big Mike, and the whole crew. Nowadays? Groan. It just doesn't work anymore. The best part of the Buy More was when the writers elegantly and hilariously intertwined Chuck's spy life and his real life through the Buy More. That pretty much never happens anymore. The fact that the Buy More is now a CIA base should make that integration easier, but it really just makes it more absurd or non-existent. I don't even want to see Jeff and Lester anymore. Sure, they're good for the occasional laugh, but more and more, their presence on the show just makes for unrelated, lame B-plots to accompany the already weak and boring A-plots. This is yet more evidence of the writers trying to hang on to a concept that simply doesn't work anymore. Chuck the Buy More Nerd Herder no longer exists, so why the hell is that cover ID being retained? It just seems sloppy and unnecessary. I can see where the writers are trying desperately to hang on to the comedic vibe by retaining the Buy More, but I'd honestly rather see the show turn into a serious drama than have to watch it struggle so hard to be a lighthearted comedy. It simply isn't working and it's getting more and more irritating to sit through.

7) Subway
In years past, when the show was hanging by a thread, I was willing to tolerate the occasional Subway promotion. Indeed, they are a big part of why the show survived at all. But at this point, seeing the shameless product placement (usually accompanied by a groan-worthy recitation of the sandwich's ingredients) makes me never want to eat Subway again. Well, more so. I haven't eaten there since high school, and the more I see of it on Chuck, the less likely it is I'll ever return. Good lord, it's bad enough seeing the sandwich simply sitting on someone's desk or being eaten for lunch, but to have to endure Big Mike exalting the nutritional merits of such blessed cold cuts makes me want to kill someone. Someone named Jared.

8) ReIntersected + DeIntersected = Disinterested
I don't know how many more times we're going to have to pretend we care whether or not Chuck has the Intersect in his head, but I don't think I can take it anymore. There's absolutely no gravity to him losing the Intersect because we all know he's going to get it back. Again. Seriously, how many times have we done this? And how many times ago did I stop caring? Once again, the writers seem to only have one card to play here, so they're playing it again and again. Maybe it's that none of the events of the show have any real or lasting impact that has me not caring... Seriously, even when Chuck's entire memory was being erased, I could barely care because I knew full well nothing would come of it. In fact, the only reason I was even a little interested was because I hoped that his mind would be completely erased with no means of repair. Now that's a game-changer! Whether or not it would be a good one, I don't even care, at least it would be something different.

I keep trying to hang in there in hopes that it'll get good again, but my hopes are dwindling at this point. I think the show is just too set in its ways to make any big changes and too afraid of alienating its core of viewers. Well, I think their hesitation to mix things up is backfiring because Chuck just recently posted its lowest ratings ever. Granted, their still better than most of NBC's slate, but they're steadily decreasing. At this point, I find myself wishing they'd have simply wrapped up the series last season so that we could leave on a highish note. With the current season disappointing me at every turn pretty much, it's starting to taint my love for previous seasons retroactively. I hate it when that happens... I'm going to hang in there for a few more weeks to see if it shows any signs of improvement, but we might be breaking up for good. I honestly feel a little betrayed as a viewer. We fought so hard to save you... for this? Such a disappointment.

I honestly don't know that there's anything they could really do to save the show for me. The stunt casting is charming for about a minute, but quickly loses its knee-jerk appeal. Even River Tam's (er, Summer Glau's) guest stint in the rotation of Gretas (a running gag that makes me gag) fell a bit flat. Don't get me wrong, hearing Casey say that he didn't know what crew she used to be on gave me a giddy thrill (I do! I know what crew she used to be on! It was your crew, Jayne!!!), but it was ultimately a flash in the pan that has no real bearing on the story. Stunt casting in its purest and least satisfying form... Sigh. If you want to pay homage to Firefly without meaningless stunt casting, try Castle's approach. Upon hearing Castle speak Chinese, Beckett asks, "Semester abroad?" To which Castle responds, "No, TV show I used to love."

We loved it too, Mal. We loved it, too.

Way more than I'm loving Chuck these days.

The Three Faces of Glee

I think it's pretty safe to say that fans of Glee, even the most ardent among them, have a love/hate thing going for the show. Episode to episode, it's one of the least consistent shows on the air. There are a number of reasons for this, the basic conceit of the show being a hurdle that promotes a lack of balance, but the root of the problem is that Glee has three head writers.

I had always known that the show had three creators, but until I actually saw the episode credits listed for each, I could never really put my finger on exactly why the show was all over the place. I had a notion that the writing process was heavily collaborative, but after seeing the breakdown in episodes, it's pretty apparent to me that each writer has his own style, his own narrative focus, and a particular way of working with the show's foundation and characters.

My relationship with Glee is as inconsistent as the episodes themselves. It's hard to quantify exactly what makes this show a success to the general population, but for me, there are very specific aspects that make an episode a classic or an embarrassment. First and foremost, I love musicals, so even at its worst, I cut Glee a lot of slack. It's an incredibly difficult genre to work with at all, let alone week-in and week-out. The very fact that it isn't a crime procedural, medical show, cop show, or legal drama also wins it a ton of points. Glee doesn't have 50 years of predecessors to trade on and reference for pointers. They are making things up as they go along and are, by and large, doing a hell of a job. In terms of ratings, they are completely unbelievable. Their key demo ratings are insanely high and are consistent every week. It sends a good message to potential writers that a show that is so strange and would seemingly have a niche audience is such a success. To boot, the show has a more diverse cast than just about any other on the air with characters from a number of social, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, including characters with varying mental and physical ability levels. It honestly makes it hard to criticize. Throw in the show's recent focus on bullying, and its indictment of homophobia, and I'm willing to let weaker narrative points slide. The very fact that this show managed to make their Teenage Dream cover the biggest selling Glee single in history makes me smile. Not so much because of the song itself (but leave it to the darling Darren Criss to make a fairly nauseating song completely charming), but because it's essentially a love song that was sung by one boy to another. Something like that succeeding like it has sends a wonderful message and can't help but make me smile. (Word is Darren Criss is becoming a series regular, so maybe he can charmify other songs with equally horrendous lyrics. Yay!) I appreciate a show that has something to say even when it doesn't gel with my own ideologies, so when a show like Glee comes along that has a message that is in line with my own perspectives, I melt a bit.

That said, this show is wildly uneven, and of the three faces of Glee, I'm generally only fond of about 1 1/2 of them. It has honestly been a good long while since I've seen a lot of the season 1 episodes, but I can confidently say that Brad Falchuk is far and away the best writer on the show, beating out Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan by a considerable margin. Before I looked closely at the lists of episodes, I thought of my favorites. Almost without fail, the episodes I've enjoyed the most were penned by Brad Falchuk. "Dream On", "Sectionals", and "Preggers" from season one, and both of his season two outings thus far ("Grilled Cheesus" and "Never Been Kissed") are some of the best of the series, in my opinion. For me, musicals only really work when the story and the songs blend together seamlessly. I know a lot of people just enjoy a good musical number, but as far as I'm concerned, if there's no story behind it, I'm bored. Falchuk manages to integrate the musical numbers more organically than his fellow writers and includes the most coherent storylines. He also seems to pay more attention to consistency of character than Murphy or Brennan. The emotional impact of his episodes works because he tells a complete story. Murphy and Brennan seem more focused on music, music, iTunes sales, and more music than anything else. The funny thing is, the songs that are used for a clear purpose and that have narrative significance are the songs I like the best. Even when the songs are only important because they were performed at Sectionals or something, they're rooted in the story and are important to the characters. That makes them important to me. Even if it's a song I generally hate.

The show really falls apart for me when they don't even pretend to have a coherent storyline. On the one hand, I guess I have to give them some credit for being ballsy enough to not even try, but on the other, considerably larger hand, it annoys the hell out of me and is unwatchably dull. It's like musical pornography when there's just one shameless ploy after another to get us to the next song. I need meaningful connective tissue to really enjoy myself. There are certain episodes where I half expect a pizza boy to show up in class with something to sing about. All the non-singing is just a throwaway bid at loosely stringing together a bunch of songs. Ugh. A sub-genre of this kind of episode is the tribute episode. I have mixed feelings about these... While I grant that the lazy attempts at a story in episodes like the Madonna tribute, the Britney tribute, and the Rocky Horror theme episode are unengaging and mostly ridiculous, I do enjoy to the music to a certain extent. It should be noted that all three of these episodes are courtesy of show creator Ryan Murphy. The Madonna episode was probably the best of these three. Why? Well, it has the most actual story going on, even if half of it was totally absurd (Sue's hair woes, anyone?) But really, who can argue when Sue's Vogue appears on the screen. I reconcile myself to these kinds of episodes by not thinking about them as episodes of a TV show. These episodes are simply variety shows with a series of musical vignettes. So long as every episodes doesn't fall into this category, I'm okay with it. The only real problem is that when they're haphazardly stringing together songs with "story" they sometimes make some fundamental changes to characters or ongoing arcs and then casually forget about those changes next week. Look, show, I'm not saying every iota of the show has to be consistent, but a little continuity now and then would certainly be nice. Murphy's episodes do tend to have some of the more merciless dark humor on the show, and the songs are always solid, but his theme episodes aren't my favorites, to be sure... His non-tribute shows are a lot more successful for me, but overall, Murphy is really hit and miss for me, even within the episodes themselves.

Of the three head writers on the show, I'd say Ian Brennan is the weakest link for me. He has some strong episodes to his credit, but there's more bad than good. When I thought of my least favorite episodes ever, "Funk" was at the top of my list for about 87 different reasons. Thank you, Ian Brennan, for the only episode of Glee that I turned off halfway through, came back later, and then fast-forwarded my way through the rest of the pain and agony. Geez, if there's one episode I never want to see again, that's it. Even the songs were terrible. That episode left such a bad taste in my mouth that it may have tainted Brennan's other credits unduly... except for maybe "Hairography", which was no peach either. In Brennan's defense, most of his credits are middle of the road. He wasn't at the helm for any of my favorite episodes, but most of his are at least decent. I wouldn't be at all heartbroken if Falchuk and Murphy took over his share of the show though, that's for sure. He also seems to be one of the primary offenders when it comes to Mr. Schue rapping, so, you know, that's unforgivable.

All in all, I think Glee is going to go down in television history as one of the most aberrant successes on record. It really is a marvel that this hodgepodge of genres has some of the highest demo ratings on air. There's a lot of backlash for the show lately, and I can see where that would happen with such a popular show, but I'm hanging in there. By all accounts, this is a show that should have tanked. It doesn't fit into any of the standard genres and is a musical for god's sake. Just because it's a rollicking success doesn't mean it isn't a trailblazer, even at its worst. I'm hoping the show can keep up the momentum and I have my fingers crossed that Brad Falchuk will start writing more than his allotted third of the episodes. If not, at least I can theoretically count on every third episode or so being a classic. Quite frankly, with the exception of maybe a half-dozen network shows, that's a ratio to be proud of.

Flask from the Past

Another stellar episode of Terriers down, one step closer to the inevitable. As much as I hope and pray that Terriers gets another season, it's looking pretty doubtful. In spite of near universal critical acclaim, the ratings are still brutally low. It's truly a shame because this show just keeps getting better and better.

Wednesday's outing was yet another exciting, engaging, emotional, funny, raw episode of the best show no one is watching. Over the past several episodes, I've really grown to love these characters, especially Hank (played by, as it turns out, the utterly brilliant Donal Logue). Logue has been on my radar since the days of ER (he played Dr. Lewis' paramedic boyfriend, as I recall), and I've always enjoyed him. Even though he was woefully miscast in Life, which made his character a bit difficult to endure, he still made the best of it on yet another great show that was cut short. He has long been known as a comedic actor, and he certainly has the comic chops to keep me smiling throughout even the darkest of times, but what has really grabbed me with his role on Terriers is his dramatic talents. This last episode delved into the darkest recesses of his past and the hardest time of his life and put it all on full display. In short, wow.

Hank is the kind of character that you like immediately. While it was never a secret that he used to be an alcoholic, and that his drinking led to his divorce and his dismissal from the police force, it was always a little difficult to picture Hank as a total lush. He's rough around the edges, to be sure, but he had a deeply-rooted sense of morality that I could hardly imagine being overcome by booze. Well, leave it to Logue to show how a warm, funny, morally irreproachable guy can start out as an out-of-control trainwreck who affects others in the worst possible ways. Logue did a lovely job balancing the different levels of Hank's personality and transmuting them with alcohol abuse. You could still see the lovable rogue inside him, but it was buried deeper. He moral compass was still steadfast, but his level of control over how to handle his moral outrage was essentially non-existent. At his core, he's a good guy who looks out for others and tries to help people, but when alcohol was thrown in, it finally became clear how such a wonderful guy let his life fall apart. Most other shows would have had Hank being a reprehensible lush that everyone hated, but with Terriers, they truly understand the gray areas of life. In fact, they luxuriate in them. It's where the show is at its best. Life isn't black and white, and the characters on this show embody the grayness in an incredibly grounded way.

The flashbacks in this episode were masterfully integrated and managed to illuminate the reasons for Hank's problems with Gretchen, the case that got him booted from the force, and in a very nice surprise, how he met Britt. When I read the description of the episode, I expected a lot of things, but that truly caught me off guard and in the best possible way. Holding true to the characters themselves, the Britt of three years ago has the same basic core as the Britt of today, but is at a different stage of his life. Britt was still a thief and factored into Hank's investigation into a series of rapes in a coherent and consistent way. I have no doubt that Britt was about to rob the house of the would-be rape victim, but I would expect nothing less than for him to startle the rapist and call 911 for help, even if it meant he got nicked in the process. Britt lives in the gray area with the rest of them. The writers have a hell of a task on their hands in handling characters who are so variable in realistic and consistent ways, but they do so with surprising aplomb. Every character's actions are true to that character and even when they do unexpected things, in the context of who they are, it always makes some sense.

Case in point, Britt beating the shit out of Katie's supposed one-night-stand. I love Britt, and Britt loves Katie more than anything, so even after watching him cleaning his stuff out of the apartment and curtly leaving, I could still absolutely see him reacting to this guy with violence. Again, the moral compasses on this show are rooted in a certain place, but the character's actions are no where near as cut and dry. I knew Britt was going to confront the guy and probably have some sort of altercation, but I was shocked and a little repulsed by the fight. I honestly thought Britt might have killed the guy for a second. A lot of shows would have posited this situation as badass--a guy getting even with the man who slept with his fiance, but Terriers is more authentic than that. Beating a guy unconscious is not badass. It's brutal. And it carries some devastating consequences for those involved. I was dismayed by Britt's actions, but at the same time, I just wanted to give him a hug. He would never lay a hand on Katie, so he essentially took all his rage and pain and loss out of this guy's face. The only thing more devastating was seeing Britt's reaction to the truth. I wasn't sure Hank would tell him the truth, but when he did, it was hard to watch. Not only was Britt in deep shit for his actions, but he didn't even beat up the right guy. To boot, Hank has known about the affair since day one and he's the one who convinced Katie not to say anything. Ouch. Poor Britt. He really only has a couple of people in his life and now they've both betrayed him. At least he still has the dog? (Speaking of which, was anyone not crying when Katie said goodbye to the dog? Just heartbreaking.)

This show has so much going for it in terms of character that the A-plots should hardly matter, but with Terriers, even aspect of an episode is so well-integrated that every plotline affects every other plotline in some way. They all tie together seamlessly and it makes for a much more dramatic effect. The A-plot this week, with the rape case from three years ago was gut-wrenching and surprising. I watch a lot of TV and it has become harder and harder for shows to really fool me, but I have to admit, I didn't even kind of see it coming that one of Hank's fellow detectives was the rapist. God, that scene where the rape victim listened to the line-up of men read a sentence her masked attacker had said in hopes of making an ID was incredibly well-crafted. Having the victim ID the detective who filled in the line-up had the exact desired effect on me. I was heartbroken that the victim was unable to make a positive ID. I honestly thought the guy Hank had pinpointed was the perp, so when she asked for the detective to read the line again because, "It might be him... I'm can't be sure," I assumed she was just too shaken to remember. "You did very well" says Hank's partner, obviously thinking along the same lines as the audience. She simply can't remember. Or the guy simply isn't in the line-up. Never did I guess that he actually was. When it was revealed that in fact she was absolutely right, that guy #2 was the right guy, that a man who was supposed to protect and serve had raped countless women, I was truly surprised. What a great reveal. It's just so devastating to know that Hank's life fell apart over this and that he really had been set-up to take the fall. The A-plot here informs on the characters beautifully and it makes it perfectly clear how a guy we love so much came to be where he is.

I could gush on and on about this show, but I'm guessing no one who reads this blog watches this show, so it's largely moot. I think this show is superb, but it has a lot working against it in terms of generating viewers. The title alone is quirky, and if you already watch the show, it suits it perfectly, but if you don't already watch it, it sounds like a show about dogs (as Flavia excitedly asked me the first time I mentioned it). Also, this show is so layered and has so many wonderful qualities that it must have been hell on earth for FX to figured out a marketing strategy. They presented it as a buddy detective show, but that's really not it at all. This show is not Psych, plain and simple. It's way better, in fact. There are only a few episodes left of this season, and while I'm hoping for a miracle, I'm realistic. This show has been getting far more buzz lately than it's network cohort Sons of Anarchy, but sadly, it has far less viewers. I'm not going to lie, this wouldn't be the easiest show to jump into this late in the game, but in terms of quality, it's well-worth the effort to track it down. It's far and away one of the very few gems this fall in what is otherwise a complete waste was time.

And if all that's not enough, the theme song is catchy as hell... even if I can't quite understand most of the lyrics.

Speaking of Uzbekistan

So, I fully accept the fact that practically no one reads this blog and that those who do probably only watch a fraction of the same shows that I do, so many a post goes unread and unloved. I generally know one or two people who watch each of my shows, but at the moment, I find that I'm all alone in my adoration, particularly of my favorite shows. The day I run into one of the 9 people who watches (and loves) Terriers the way I do is the day I can die happy. At present, many of my loves are only viewed by my online peeps, which works, don't get me wrong, but there's nothing quite like talking about the ins and outs of a show with a fellow fan, in person.

Well, after several weeks of heralding Nikita as the only network show to grace my top tier, I finally found a kindred spirit this weekend. Missy, we need to talk more often. :) Granted, the other two people at lunch were bored to tears listening to us natter on about a show they don't watch, but I had to embrace the opportunity while I had the chance. (I generally try to keep discussion topics group-wide, but what can ya do...) And yes, we stumbled onto the subject of Nikita off Annie's mention of Uzbekistan (sort of). You know, because that's clearly the most likely segue.

Anyway, knowing that there's actually someone out there who's enjoying it as much as I am makes me more excited to write about it.

The show has its faults, but overall, it's an exciting spy thriller that leaves me genuinely excited for next week after each episode. After the pilot, I was pretty entertained and willing to keep it in rotation, but after a few weeks, I found myself kinda sorta giddy for each new episode. I wouldn't say it sneaked up on me, but it has certainly proven to be more addictive than initially believed.

It's kind of remarkable that the show works at all. There are more than a few absurdities along the way, but I'm having such a good time with the show that I'm willing to let a lot of things slide. The conceit has some inherent limitations that inhibit the story to a certain extent, but overall, the writers make it work surprisingly well. Seriously, when I first looked at the set-up, I never would have guessed that it could work. At its core, this show has its lead actress and heroine essentially all alone. Aside from internet communications with Alex, Nikita basically has no one to talk to for 43 minutes a week. That's a foundation that shouldn't work, but somehow, they make it work. That isn't to say that it's a dynamic that I hope persists. I have found that I enjoy the show the most when Nikita does have someone to work with or talk to. Maggie Q is absolutely delightful, charming, seductive, and playful, and when she's out in the cold, there's no one for her to play off of. As such, the episodes where she has a cohort are the ones that work the best. I'm thrilled to see that Devon Sawa will be back in the next episode and hope they make him a more permanent facet of the show. Essentially, she needs a team. Some Scoobies, if you will. Her interactions with Alex work well enough, but Alex has her own crew to play off of. And besides, if Division doesn't start noticing that Alex is casually instant messaging with their Enemy Number One at some point, I'm pretty sure they'll be extremely easy to annihilate... Seriously? They have no one monitoring internet traffic? Anyway...

This all brings me to the most recent episode. When I first saw that Shane West had been cast as her former handler, I was pretty underwhelmed. I've never had any real opinion of him (either good or bad), but he just seemed out of place and a bit miscast in the show. He has grown on me over the past several episodes, but with this mission to Uzbekistan with Nikita last week, I'm officially in his camp. It's been hard to tell thus far, what with Micheal's interactions with Nikita being limited and extremely fighty, but I was very pleased to see that they actually have a pretty steamy chemistry together. I've always had an affinity for the dynamic between old teammates (the unspoken understandings, the intimate knowledge of each other's strengths and weaknesses, and the ability to predict the other's moves) so the relationship between Michael and Nikita appeals to me on a number of levels. The fact they are ex-lovers (to what extent, we don't know yet), are ex-teammates, and are off and on enemies gives the writers and actors a lot of ways to play each scene and I totally loved it. The problem? Well, Michael kinda hates Nikita more than ever these days, so I'm afraid episodes like this are going to be pretty scarce...

Don't get me wrong, I love the cat and mouse of it all, and I really think that at some point, Division is going to do something to Michael that causes him to team up with Nikita officially, but until that happens... well, I've had a taste of what it's like for Nikita to have a teammate and I liked it. Their relationship onscreen was so warm and familiar that you get the impression that they're probably very close in real life as well. They genuinely seem to enjoy one another and that's something a show can't buy or manufacture. The show has always made the tenuous set-up work, but I now see that it's optimal when Michael and Nikita are working together. I found Shane West more attractive and engaging when he was playing off Nikita and I don't want to lose that. The two of them talking on the phone just doesn't quite cut it. After nine episodes, I'm loving the show, but I find myself wanting more... I don't even know what, exactly. Not more facial hair, I know that much, because holy hell, Shane West needs to lose the goatee for good. He looked SO much better in those flashbacks. Like, I actually found him attractive. Even when standing next to Mo Mo (as long as I'm making recommendations to shows, Dear Nurse Jackie, bring back Mo Mo!).

So yeah, this show keeps getting better and better, but I'm afraid this most recent outing marks a precarious turn in the show's development. Long story short, couldn't Michael and Nikita team up always? Pretty please? Um, no. Yeah, that bridge has been burned... like, Burn Notice-style, thermite-immolation burned. Okay, I can see where Michael is angry, but seriously, would it really be that much of a victory to kill the man who killed your family only to die seconds later? Sure, you'd have the satisfaction of taking out your arch enemy for a very brief moment, but shouldn't a trained operative have the capacity to assess the situation and decide that it wasn't the right time? I don't know. It sounds like he had a hell of a time tracking this guy down, so I suppose he felt like this was his only chance, but still. Maybe it's just the sadist within me, but I'd want the guy to suffer and I'd want to be there for it. Michael's plan, if he even managed to kill Mo Mo (I can't remember the character's real name), which is kind of unlikely on its own, would barely qualify for a Pyrrhic victory, let alone a flat-out win. I guess when this much emotion is tied up in a cause, it doesn't really matter if you live or die. The show did a hell of a job making their falling out as heartbreaking as possible. That last conversation between Nikita and Michael where she's begging him not to do it was surprisingly effective. I knew what Nikita was going to say, but Maggie Q brought enough desperation and despair that it was still pretty devastating. At the end of the day, she'd rather have Michael alive and hating her than dead and she was willing to destroy what they had in order to do it. Again, I could see how things were going to unfold, but that didn't lessen the impact. Well done, show. Well done.

Moving forward, it's hard to know what to expect. Michael is now more aligned with Division than ever and Nikita is back out in the cold again. I don't know what's going to happen in the second half of this season, but I suspect a major betrayal will test Michael's loyalties to Division in a way that he can't suppress. My guess is that Alex will get cornered, it will dawn on Michael that she's working with Nikita, and the situation will be such that only Michael can fix things. This show isn't as "What?!?!" as The Vampire Diaries, but it still manages to surprise me, so odds are I'm way off. The fact that I care enough to speculate, however, speaks to the show's appeal and entertainment value. There are certainly aspects of the show that I would change, but every time I start to think that an element shouldn't be working, I watch another episode where is quite simply does. This show has more than a few absurd aspects, but as long as you decided to just go with it, it's a hell of a lot of fun. Way to make Thursdays the best night on the air, CW. Keep 'em coming. :)

NBC aka The Biggest Loser

Now that the fall slaughter is basically complete, it's time to run down the networks and see how everyone fared. Oh, NBC... Seems they just didn't get rid of Zucker in time to save this fall development schedule. At this point, I'm honestly not sure how they're going to recover. They spent an obscene amount of money trying to revitalize the network with an unheard of number of high-profile, expensive new shows and what do they have to show for it? Chuck is one of their highest-rated scripted shows. Quite frankly, when titling this post, I had a hard time deciding between NBC shows The Biggest Loser or ER in terms of aptonyms. I thought about Lost, but that's another network that's currently in trouble.

Here's how the chips fell for the peacock this fall... (We'll start with the bad news--brace yourselves, there's a lot of it.) It's hard to know just where to begin when even the "successes" are failures, but here we go. Worst of the worst.

(When talking about TV success and failure, you're usually talking ratings. For a primer on TV ratings, go here. It'll probably make most of the ratings talk later on make a lot more sense.)

THE CANCELEDS

Outlaw
While it wasn't the very first fall show to get the axe, that has more to do with NBC's ever-lowering standards than with the ratings themselves. Even for a Friday show, the ratings were abyssal. At last glance, they were getting their asses handed to them by the CW in terms of key demo ratings. On any other network, Outlaw would have been toast even sooner than it was. Deservedly so, as luck would have it. This was a truly terrible show that should never have seen the light of day. This sucker was about dead right out of the gate with debut numbers that were embarrassing by nearly any standards. Jimmie, you made for the worst season of Dexter ever, and for that, I'm glad to see your career taking a hit. Let this be a word of warning to other shows... don't cast him! Boy, I don't remember hating him before Dexter, but seriously, if I never hear the name Miguel Prado again, it'll be too soon. Smits is forever tainted... as is the third season of Dexter, thank you very much.

Undercovers
Although this show was only recently given the passive-aggressive axe (rather than being flat out canceled, they simply opted to not pick up anymore episodes), I think it's probably the most devastating, most expensive blunder NBC has endured this year. Good lord, when a flashy, high-budget JJ Abrams production can't survive on your network, what can? Once again, however, this show was quite deservedly canceled. Its debut numbers were lower than expected and just kept falling from there. At last count, it scored a 1.3 in the key demo. For comparison's sake, that's only slightly better than Nikita's numbers. The Vampire Diaries most recently scored a 1.6. When you're getting trounced by the CW, you're in trouble, even if it's abundantly clear that their shows are awesome. Serious trouble. Fans of Undercovers might cry foul that that's an unfair comparison because the CW slate airs on a different night than Undercovers does. Yeah, they air on a much more competitive night. And they're still holding their own. NBC promoted the hell out of Undercovers, and scheduled it in one of the least daunting timeslots on the air. At the end of the day, it's just a terrible show. It's a shame to lose on of the few shows around to be helmed by faces of color, but as one commenter noted on a gossip blog, poor quality transcends race (or something like that). At the root of the problem for me was the lack of gravity. I realize the writers were aiming for a lighter farce, but they shot themselves in the foot. Hell, Psych has more suspense and more at stake and it's even more of a farce. Undercovers was just plain dull. when there's nothing to lose, there's little to gain. The espionage was about as suspenseful as the lame-ass catering B-plots. This show won't be missed by viewers, but I think NBC is about ready to cry. This was their ace in the hole going into this fall and it has proven to be one of their costliest misfires. Ouch.

THE SHOULD-HAVE-BEEN CANCELEDS

Chase
I still can't believe that they picked this show up for a full-season. I really think they simply didn't have anything with which to fill the gap, so they had to keep it. At last count, they were averaging a 1.5 in the key demo when they received the back nine order. For yet another comparison, Fox's Lone Star was unhesitatingly canceled after two weeks of scoring a 1.3--which is the same kind of numbers that led to Undercovers being canceled. 1.3 and 1.5 aren't that far apart, even in terms of TV ratings. Why did Chase get a pass? Well, it's a tough call. Aside from having little else to fall back on, Chase airs in one of the most competitive timeslots on the air. Based on the steep competition (I can't say I'd be happy to be pitted against Castle and Hawaii Five-0 if I were a show), a 1.5 might not be looking so bad to the suits at NBC. The most recent 1.2 that the show posted last night, probably looks pretty grim. Ouch. It managed to eek out of a full season order, but it won't be picked up for a second season. Quite frankly, if this trend continues, it'll likely get yanked before the year it out. It certainly won't survive the winter break. Good god, this is the first time since I started watching the ratings that the CW actually looks almost competitive! When compared to NBC, they really aren't that far behind. Sad. Fortunately, Chase is yet another horrible show, so it deserves the axe, but for NBC's sake, this is yet another colossal failure, and it's a purported success. Ha!

The Event
Yet another show that got a full-season pick-up, and yet another show whose ratings really don't warrant such a distinction. It's the best show of NBC's fall slate, however, so I'm glad they're giving it the old college try. Its ratings started out stronger than expected, but it's been hemorrhaging viewers ever since. I myself am one of those viewers. Well, sort of. Technically, it's been piling up in my DVR for over a month... I'm going to give it one more shot, but assume I'll bite the bullet and cancel it. It's really a pretty good show (as I recall from 5 weeks ago), but I just couldn't seem to get into it initially. Anyway, it managed the back nine, but with a 1.7 key demo rating last night, the slide continues into some seriously troubled waters. Of all the new shows on the network, I think this one will have the hardest time recovering from the winter break. As with FlashForward before it, I predict it will limp its way through sweeps, go on hiatus, and basically never really come back. I can't imagine this show will get a second season, so I'm honestly not all that motivated to give it another shot. The only way this show will be back next year is if NBC doesn't have any other options or simply can't afford to promote anything new. As one of the only new shows to even kind of step out of the box this year, it's a shame, but I can't say I'm surprised.

THE UNBELIEVABLY-LOW-BAR SUCCESSES

Chuck
Okay, this cracks me up every single time. This show has been struggling since day one, has almost been canceled three years in a row, and is now one of NBC's highest-rated and most consistent scripted programs. Ha! The really funny part is that the ratings aren't any better than they've ever been. In fact, they're worse. But with a steady 1.9-2.0 in the key demo, it's one of NBC's top shows these days. I honestly haven't been all that impressed by the current season (what can I say? I'm bored. Where's Bryce Larkin when you need him? Oh wait, that would be on White Collar), but it seems to be turning a corner (it always seems to take a few episodes to really get in gear). I'm happy for the little-show-that-could and do hope that they're all laughing their asses off at the NBC brass. Unless NBC someone finds a whole lotta cash (at this point, I'm thinking alchemy is their best bet), I don't know how they're going to put together a slate this fall that might result in Chuck getting the axe, so count on Chuck sticking around for the foreseeable future. With the new president though, I'm hopeful for NBC's creative direction in the coming year. It can't possibly get worse, right?

Law & Order: Los Angeles
Hi, broken record here. This show is averaging a 1.9 in the key demo, but for NBC, that makes it one of their pinch hitters. Man, that's bleak. I've never watched the show, but I hear it's pretty awful. I've heard that Law & Order : UK is actually quite good, however, so I'd suggest tuning into BBCA if you're really in the mood for this particular franchise.

Outsourced
Ugh. I tried to watch the pilot, I really, really did, but just couldn't do it. 7 minutes was all I could take. I hear it's actually gotten considerably better since then, but I'm in no mood to give it another go. I was pretty disheartened and embarrassed to hear that it received a full season order, but given that it's a half-hour comedy with decent ratings, I'm not surprised. It most recently scored a 2.7 in the key demo, which at first blush looks fantastic for NBC, but trust me, it's really not that impressive. When you take into account that its lead-in The Office scored a 3.7, that's a serious drop off, and leaves it in fourth for the time period. Not good. But, it's an inexpensive show that's easy to produce and that has to be paired with something else, so I'd be surprised if it doesn't get a second season. While its ratings should be better, they're pretty damn good by NBC standards, and have actually been fairly consistent, so assuming it stays above a 1.5, it should be a shoe-in for another year. How sad is that? Double ugh. Of all the shows to make my safe list, did this really have to be one of them? Really? Thanks for nothing, NBC. Once again.

Parenthood
It's honestly a bit difficult to decide exactly which category this one should be in. While it's been enduring a slow but steady slide in the ratings, and more than a few rumors that it's getting the axe, it still averages in NBC's safe zone, so I don't think viewers have much to worry about. It's generally in the 2.0 key demo range, which for NBC, is quite solid. Unfortunately, the show itself isn't. It has never been a favorite of mine, but it seems to be more grating than ever. The contrived drama and constant bickering is unbearable most of the time. I hang in there for Lauren Graham and Peter Krause, but it's getting tougher and tougher--especially when you take into the sheer brilliance of its main timeslot competitor, The Good Wife. Honestly, if it's one or the other for you, the decision is easy. I recently just started watching Sports Night on DVD, so my love between Peter Krause and Josh Charles should be evenly split, but overall, The Good Wife is simply superior in every possible way so even Sports Night can't level the field. As happy as I am that Lauren Graham has a steady gig (and that she and Peter Krause are reportedly dating--aww, well idn't that nice!), I wouldn't be heartbroken to see Parenthood get the axe at the end of this season. It has its moments, but it's mostly just shrill bickering. I'm sorry, but if this show is an accurate representation of family life for most people, I can't understand why anyone gets married, has children, or even speaks to other people. When there's nothing but conflict, it's unsatisfying. Who cares if one irrational fight gets resolved because you know there's another one right around the corner. Ugh. It's ratings have been in a downward trend, so it'll certainly be on the bubble come May, but if it can maintain a 2.0, it should be okay. The only other factor that might make that 2.0 not look so rosy is the cost of the show. It has a huge cast of names attached to it and it can't be cheap to produce. NBC doesn't exactly have money to burn these days, so if it comes down to Parenthood or a cheaper show with slightly worse ratings, it could easily be a toss up.

So there you have it. I didn't get into the nitty gritty of some NBC's returning shows, but odds are you're already aware of how they're performing. The Office and 30 Rock are tops, The Apprentice is a ratings disaster, The Biggest Loser keeps eating up more primetime (about 40 minutes of scales bonging a week, I'd say) and my darling Community continues to struggle a bit in a painfully tough timeslot. Creatively, it's better than ever, and NBC has even upped its season order to 24 episodes. Yay! Odds are it'll be fine come May, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. And then there's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. What an unmitigated disaster. For the first time ever, I believe, The Daily Show beat Leno (and Letterman for that matter) in the key demo the other day. Ha! A little Comedy Central fake news show is beating The Tonight Show. That has to be pretty gut-wrenching for the brass at NBC.

Speaking of the brass, as mentioned, NBC has finally, finally, FINALLY gotten rid of Jeff Zucker. I'm honestly not too familiar with his replacement, but I'm pretty sure a pet rock could do a better job, so it doesn't really matter who takes over. At least it's not Zucker. He managed to take the number one network on TV and turn it into a close competitor for the CW. Way to go, dumbass. You won't be missed.

It's hard to know really where NBC will go from here. They need to rebuild their schedule for real this time, get a few solid scripted programs on the air, and then build from there. One of the biggest problems with the fall pilots this year is that NBC doesn't have any heavy hitters to act as lead-ins for new shows. If they can manage to develop even a couple of solid performers, they can use that as a foundation to promote other new shows. Until then, they're going to struggle... more so.

Losing that Loving Feeling

As you probably surmised given the dismaying brevity of my shows-I-love list, this season isn't exactly bowling me over in most departments. In terms of news shows, never have I been so underwhelmed. Honestly, the only new network (heh, which I accidentally typed "newtwork"... must be Halloween hangover) shows that I kept (and that are still on the air) are Nikita, Blue Bloods, and Raising Hope. Technically, The Event made the cut, and lord knows NBC needs all the nuggets of encouragement it can get, but more accurately, it's been building up on my DVR and I just haven't been all the keen on getting caught up... Of those, only Nikita genuinely has me excited week-to-week. Blue Bloods is well-made and has a strong cast, but its cases-of-the-week aren't exactly breaking new ground here. Raising Hope is fun and enjoyable (and I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Garret Dillahunt the same way ever again--sorry Burn Notice, the menace is officially gone), but it isn't exactly appointment TV either.

That said, you'd think my older shows would be getting a lot more love, but no. They too have been fairly disappointing this year (with a couple of notable exceptions--namely Castle, The Vampire Diaries, and The Good Wife). My relationships with my long-term lovers has been strained of late... sometimes ending in flat-out divorce.

IN NEED OF COUPLES COUNSELING

CHUCK
Oh, Chuck. It's been a long, tumultuous road of near-constant worry about our future together. I don't think I've ever had a show that has been on the bubble so many years in a row. For a quick insight into how spectacularly screwed NBC is, ponder this. After years of having to beg for renewal and only barely scraping by, Chuck has suddenly become one of NBC's highest rated scripted shows. Sadly for NBC, this is not because Chuck's ratings have improved. On the contrary, it's really that the rest of NBC's programming has crashed and burned. Chuck was renewed at the end of last season with a tentative 13 episode initial order. I think NBC assumed that some of its huge slate of new pilots would catch on and they'd be able to axe Chuck sooner than later. Well, rather than axing the show, they've not only given it a full order, they've given it more than a full order. I believe their total episodes will be 24, which is two over usual. Ha! It's truly shocking how pathetic the network has gotten. It's been going downhill ever since Zucker got his hands on things, but this is just sad. Chuck regularly scores a 1.9 in the key demo. For any other network, that would absolutely be cancel-worthy (well, except for the CW, but that's a whole other story). But, on NBC, a consistent 1.9 is close to the best they could hope for and is among their highest rated shows. What does all this rambling have to do with our strained relationship, you ask? So here's the deal. Chuck has been picked-up for a super-sized season... and I don't really care.

In years past, this would have been cause for celebration, but now? I honestly would have been fine with the show wrapping things up. There are a lot of reasons why this show has lost most of its luster. First and foremost, the initial dynamics of the show, the dynamics that made it so fun and charming, have mostly been lost. I realize that after so many episodes that was inevitable, but that doesn't make it interesting. So far this season, I've been pretty damn bored. The show still has its moments, but on the whole, it's starting to feel like a chore to watch week-to-week. Chuck and Sarah getting together for real has been as boring as I suspected it would be. No, wait, strike that, it's been way more annoying than that. Seriously, that episode where Chuck spent the entire time bitching about his relationship was utterly cringe-worthy. What's that? You say can decide which episode I'm talking about because that sounds like a lot of them? My point exactly. Don't get me wrong, the will-they-or-won't-they antics needed to stop. But I think I'd greatly have preferred they stopped because one or both of them found someone else to be with. I'm sorry guys, I really don't like them together. It's boring and Chuck's whining has gotten untenable. I have never felt for even a second that Sarah would ever make a good match for Chuck and now it appears I was right. Is anyone really enjoying watching this relationship? I'm sure not.

On top of that, the Buy More has gotten ridiculous, and not in a good way. It's now a government base of operations but no one knows this but Morgan? O--kay. Third (I think), the whole story arc with Chuck's mom has been pretty lame so far. I was super-excited for it at the end of last season, but it just hasn't grabbed me the way I'd hoped it would. I genuinely don't care if she's good or bad or Russian or whatever. Fourth, the missions are dull. Seriously, the A-plots this year have barely kept me awake. Fifth, Casey's daughter? Really? Sixth, Ellie and Awesome are having a baby... because that's just what a show does after so many seasons, right? At least it gives them something to do? You know, like shopping... and stuff...

Sadly, I'm pretty sure I could keep going. I'm trying to love the show like I once did, but if a show is doing things right, I shouldn't have to try at all. Chuck is a show that generally gets cooking after a good ways into a season, so I'm hanging in there, but believe me, I find myself caring less and less with each passing episode. Sigh.

GLEE
Glee is an odd duck with which I have a love/hate kind of relationship. Last season, it was mostly love. There were rough patches (cough-"Funk"-cough), but overall, this show totally appealed to my love of musicals, my appreciation of good comedy, and above all, the pure satisfaction of seeing something that isn't crime procedural hitting it big. I've never been obsessive about the show and don't find myself eager for the next week. Don't get me wrong, I love the show a lot of the time. Seriously, if Joss Whedon could direct every episode, it would be all love all the time. But what Whedon's sensational episode "Dream On" had that the show is increasingly missing is a little thing called story. Throughout season 1, there were more than a few times when it didn't really make much sense to have a song at that particular moment, but I was happy to let it slide. Each episode had a small handful of songs that mostly related to whatever the theme of the episode is. Nowadays? They don't even pretend to have a story most of the time. This show has turned into a series of musical vignettes. It's essentially a variety show with very little variety. This is where the love/hate really kicks in. I love a good musical number, but I hate it when it's completely pointless to the overall story. Wait, no, that implies that there's a story at all... It's weird, because this show will have one episode that reminds me of why I love it ("Grilled Cheesus" and "Duets") but then have these ridiculous theme episodes that have entertaining musical numbers and all, but not the slightest semblance of coherent storytelling (the absurd and delusional Britney tribute, the unfortunately watered-down Rocky Horror send up... seriously, you're replacing "transsexual" with "sin-sational"? Really? Ugh.) It's wildly uneven and disappointingly hit or miss with the ratio getting more and more unsettling with each passing episode. Musicals work when the music and the story are so seamlessly and logically married that you don't think twice about it. Of course that person would break into song right now! With Glee? It's a bit of a mess most of the time... I have heard some good things about upcoming episodes so I'm hopeful they'll find a way to return to former glory, but I think the iTunes dollar signs are a little too distracting for them to really see the big picture these days. They seem so hell-bent on jam-packing every episode with as many songs as possible and not really caring what they have to sacrifice in the process. It's the kind of show I knew couldn't last, but I really hope it hangs in there longer than this... I'm loving this one more than Chuck these days, but they really need to base the show on story, not songs (songs which, increasingly, I've never even heard of--maybe I'm old or uncool, but seriously, half the songs they pick I either hate or have no knowledge of whatsoever... which is all code for: more Broadway!. (Quick note: Wondering where Puck has been? Rumor has it he is making a solo album and the producers of the show were pissed... apparently this is penance.)

HIGH TIME FOR A DIVORCE

BONES
Ugh. The only reason I kept this sucker for as long as I did was that it was in an uncrowded timeslot. Well, that's no longer the case, so it's time to make a clean break. Good god this show has gotten awful. It was never great, but back in the day it at least made for a nice rainy day distraction. Now? It's practically unwatchable. Oh dear lord, did you see their Jersey Shore themed episode?! Shudder... Awful. Simply awful. That was the moment I removed it from my DVR for good. Man alive, the will-they-or-won't-they keeps trucking along at a snail's pace, the constant rotation of interns keeps reminding me of the horrendous Gormogon storyline and Zach's confoundingly stupid dismissal from the show, the stories-of-the-week are lamer than ever (which for this show, is really saying something), and the interpersonal dynamics between the few characters that I actually like are as dull as dirt. Oh, and Bones' new hairdo is hideous and makes her looks like a frumpy housewife from the 50's. It's hard to look it, even on fast-forward... Strike 317. So long once-mediocre, now sucktastic show! You won't be missed. And I'm keeping the mass spectrometer!

HOUSE
Well, what can I say? I'm simply done with this one. I held on through last season, but just can't take it anymore. Seriously, I've always been a Huddy proponent, but them getting together came about two years too late. Had House and Cuddy hooked up a couple of seasons back, I think there would have been some definite sizzle, but now? Who the hell cares anymore? I was willing to give it a shot regardless, but actually seeing them together is unbearable. Oh god, see these two holding hands and taking about their relationship was so awkward. Yikes, yikes, yikes. I couldn't even make it through the premiere. Five minutes of watching them as a couple was more than I could handle. It all just seemed so forced and out of character for both of them. Add that to the fact that I've never really cared about the A-plot, the fact that the ducklings have been broken up and recast about 87 times (with diminishing returns each time) and you've got a show that just needs to stop. I didn't even intend on divorcing this one before the season began, but ten minutes in, I knew it wasn't meant to be. One more free space on my DVR. Now I just wish I had a quality new show to replace it...

Well, there you have it. I usually have to make tough choices about older shows so that I have room for new blood, but this year? I'm cutting old shows without a second thought and not picking up any new ones. Well, not anything on network TV anyway... God bless cable is all I can say. And god bless The Vampire Diaries. Speaking of which, here's a little something to soothe the disappointment with TV at the moment. It's Ian Somerhalder dressed up as Stefan Salvatore for Halloween.

Ha! Simply fabulous. :) Geez, he looks so different with the lighter hair! I wouldn't suggest he make it a permanent change or anything, but I'm pretty sure he could be rockin' Richard Simmons' unfortunate coif and make it work.

Here's hoping next season has something better to offer... At the very least, NBC is in different hands now so hopefully the creative direction will be better... not that there's any money left. Ouch.