HIMYM and DHMD

I love How I Met Your Mother. The first time I wrote out its acronym - HIMYM - I thought it looked funny - and the person I wrote it to had no idea what I was referencing. Now - I know it and she knows it so we can abreviate when necessary. I'll admit the show has gotten increasingly more sexual than I like...but it also has a heart bigger than I thought could exist on a TV sitcom...and some of the stuff is so very clever...I find myself feeling proud that 1) I even watch the show. 2) I get it.

This season has been particularly charming and clever. Whether it be the saluting of any phrase with a military reference as in "That was a major pain." A salute would be due to "Major Pain". Maybe its hard to describe - but its brilliantly funny OR hearing that glass shatter when someone's annoying fault/quality is pointed out to you. Just like when one of the guys at works said - someone told me David Archuleta (of American Idol) licks his lips a lot...and without looking up I said, "Yeah, some call him "the lizard"' - I saw the glass shatter for a different guy...as I saw him getting annoyed with his lip licking right there and then. Okay - so maybe - its hard to explain - but the show has funny gags. AND - a heart of gold...the two minute date with Sarah Chalke? Come on. Sweet as ever. But, nothing. Absolutely nothing compares to the greatest moment of all...


Barney - blogging Doogie Howser M.D. style - same synthesized music and everything. I fell off the couch laughing. Of course Barney is played by Doogie Howser himself, Neil Patrick Harris - and really - it was, for me - last ep of Newhart-twist worthy. When Doogie premiered in 1989, Doogie was a 16 year old Doctor Prodigy - and I was a 16 year old smart girl - who wanted nothing more for the world to think smart was cool. Of course I loved Doogie Howser, of course I never missed an episode, Of Course! So any reference to it - especially a cleverly good one - is aces in my book.



It also had me thinking. I think Doogie was the original blogger. Back in 1989 - he was typing out his thoughts on a blue screen--just like all the rest of us nowadays. Back in 1989. I think he may have started it all. I think Doogie Howser MD - was way before his time. Doogie Howser M.D - the original blogger. Something to think about.

Finally!

Finally! Its over! Well, almost. Show runners are back to work tomorrow. All members of the WGA will vote on Tuesday and most likely be back to work on Wednesday. The two boards approved the deal today. Finally!!! The solidarity seems to have paid off and most seem happy. I'm glad for them - I really am. Today, though, I'm mostly glad for me and the reunion I will have soon with my TV friends. Soon, Meredith Grey, McDreamy, McSteamy, George, Izzie, Callie, Alex, Cristina and Co will be inviting me back to Seattle Grace. My new high school friends, Blair, Chuck, Nate, Dan and Serena will be back to school, the gossip is already swirling. Ted, Robin, Marshall, Lily and Barney will be back at the bar and it will be legend...wait for it..dary! But, reallyDunder-Mifflin gang, I've missed you most of all! When Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight, Kelly, Ryan, Andy, Angela, Creed, Stanley, Phyllis, Kevin, Meredith, Oscar, Jan and Toby head back to work all will be right with the world.

And - you know what this means...The Oscars are ON! On in a normal - red carpet, big stars - too long of a way. Yes - I'm smiling. Its all comin back!

Awards Season

Its award show season - and its all messed up. Its all messed up because of the dumb writers strike. I still get it - I still support the issues. I just don't like how its affecting my life. I usually send out a big Oscar e-mail on the morning of the big announcement - but, this year is different all around, and I didn't. I didn't have the umpfh...nor the time really - as mortgage rates have me working around the clock. I still got up and watched them live at 6:39am on E! I got only one category 100% right on my pre-guessing. Best Picture. Go figure.

But, before I get into them...first, a word about the Golden Globes. How sad that it was reduced to Entertainment Reporters being grateful that they could stand at a podium and announce winners. Sad that the bright spot of the "announcements" was Mary Hart. I love her. It was however, short, which was nice - a bit like the speed dating of award shows, however,it was all weird. Even the winners had me scratching my head - but really nothing these days is making sense in entertainment. Mad Men? Who knew? Extras? Really? David Duchovny? Are you kidding me? The only two categories that I celebrated at all were Tina Fey's win. 30 Rock has grown on me and she and Alec Baldwin are a riot - though I still didn't want Alec to win...even though he did and the other one - Glenn Close for Damages. She scared me and fooled me and manipulated me - she was amazing in that show. Though I was really sad that Rose Byrne didn't win - because she really held her own with Glenn. The very best thing about the Globes was this - it got me to watch a little HBO made and aired film called Longford - because it beat out my favs. And it was amazing. A haunting and horrible tale. Samantha Morton and Jim Broadbent were incredible. So, thanks Golden Globes for that.

The SAG Awards harolded at least a sense of normalcy- and got more attention than it would have any other year. It may be the only red carpet we see all year. Sad, sad, sad. The winners though...The Sopranos? Really? That seemed like another re-run in the re-run hell we are experiencing right now. I was happy that The Office won for best ensemble - but it just made me miss my TV friends more! I do love the SAGs though - because entire casts are nominated, so people like Zac Efron and Amanda Bynes are nominees (both for Hairspray). Sometimes, it cracks me up. AND because everyone went to the SAG awards this year, it was incredibly noticeable when winners didn't show up. Kevin Kline and Queen Latifah - what did you have to do that was so important you couldn't glam yourself up and show up for your award? Queen Latifah - I saw you a few weeks ago all glammed up hosting that heinous excuse for the Peoples Choice Awards...so, I know you are into it! At least that show actually looked like an awards show - complete with a way too long "Lifetime Achievement Award" to Charles Durning. Burt Reynolds is weird. Biggest shocker: Ruby Dee and the slap hear round the world. She may have even less screen time than Dame Judi Dench did in Shakespeare in Love and she won the SAG... She got mad - came in slapped Denzel and that is it and is winning awards. Nice.

Okay - now on to the biggie. First I must say, I'm completely in denial about the fact that the writers strike might still be on 3 weeks(almost down to the minute from now) from now and we will have a sham of show. I can't think about - I don't want to think about it - as far as I'm concerned..THE. SHOW. MUST. GO. ON. Please studios and the WGA - give me this one thing...just the Oscars. Give it back to us. Puh-LEASE! Thank You to ABC and its Oscar commercials airing already like nothing will be different.

Aside from Ruby Dee's screen time being close to the shortest in the history of the nominations...a few more fun facts about this years Oscars:

Cate Blanchett becomes the first female to be nominated twice for the same role. Its happened 4 times with the men(Bing Crosby, Paul Newman, Peter O'Toole and Al Pacino)...but Cate finally does it for the women with her roles in 1998 and 2007s Elizabeth. She's also the 11th performer to earn nominations in both the Best and Supporting Acting categories in the same year. (Fay Bainter in 1938, Teresa Wright in 1942, Barry Fitzgerald in 1944, Jessica Lange in 1982, Sigourney Weaver in 1988, Al Pacino in 1992, Holly Hunter in 1993, Emma Thompson also in 1993, Julianne Moore in 2002 and Jamie Foxx in 2004.) No performer has won awards in both acting categories in the same year.

Marion Cotillard is vying for the 5th Oscar for a foreign Language role. (Sophia Loren (1961 "Two Women"), Robert De Niro (1974 "The Godfather Part II"), Roberto Benigni (1998 "Life is Beautiful") and Benicio Del Toro (2000 "Traffic").)**You could also count Marlee Matlin's win here because it was almost entirely in American Sign Language.

This year set a record for most number of films with acting nominations: 18. One one movie had more than one acting nod: Michael Clayton. 3.

This year in the Original Screenplay category - 3 women are among the nominees - the most ever for this category. Add Sarah Polley's nomination in the Adapted Screenplay category - 4 writing nods for women is also a record.

Ratatouille is up for best original screenplay...Nice. A well-written cartoon - who'd have thunk it?

And as for all of the other stuff - I usually cover - yes, Sean Penn's INTO THE WILD - HUGE snub. No Angelina Jolie, Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, James McAvoy (sniff, sniff - I LOVE HIM) or Keira Knightley. It happens. The most nominated films are: No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood each with 8 nods and Michael Clayton and Atonement each with 7.

Now, let my predictions begin...

Best Original Screen: Diablo Cody all the way. I loved Juno. I loved the writing, the sarcasm and the heart. I understand the reasons why its criticized. I do not think it glamorizes teenage pregnancy - nor do I think it shows the whole story, but really - I'm just not looking at movies that way nowadays. I loved it. Ratatouille would be a funny win. And I wouldn't mind Michael Clayton - though I still don't get the stuff with the horses - I thought I did. But, I don't. The dialogue in that film is great. My Pick: Diablo Cody, Juno My prediction: Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton

Best Adapted Screenplay: I've only seen one of these movies (Atonement) and I'm not even picking it. I would love to see Sarah Polley win for Away from Her - woman writer/director - gonna have a Best Actress nomination - I'm pulling the feministic card - on this one. My Pick: Sarah Polley, Away from Her. My Prediction: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men

Best Original Song: I've seen all these movies, I've heard all these songs - and I like them all. I loved Enchanted and these songs are fun. My favorite of those is "That's How You Know" - which is my pick. But, I also love "Falling Slowly" - and I loved the song before I saw Once. I saw a recommendation of the film and the music and I downloaded them on Itunes months before I saw it. Quiet melodies - quiet movie. I really like both. My Pick: "That's How You Know", Enchanted My Prediction: "Falling Slowly", Once

Best Supporting Actor: Its been a while since 5 of the top 6 awards seem so pre-determined. Javier Bardem has won every award everywhere and the Oscar won't elude him. Its too bad too. I loved Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton. Hal Holbrook is a sentimental favorite. Philip Seymour Hoffman already has one - so...I'm glad he was nominated. And I love Casey Affleck. I love the Affleck brothers. I'm happy he was nominated, too. My Pick: Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton My Prediction: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men

Best Supporting Actress: This one is probably the only award of the big ones - that is really up for grabs - sort of. There is a general concensus that Cate Blanchett will win. Amy Ryan had early buzz winning all the early awards. Ruby Dee has a recent bit of momentum with her SAG Win. And I want one of the other two to win, though they won't. Saoirse Ronan was amazing as the confused and punishing young girl in Atonement. Tilda Swinton blew me away in Michael Clayton. My Pick: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton. My Prediction: Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis has it in the bag. Sweet of him to dedicate his SAG win to Heath Ledger, whom he had never met - but was moved by his work. I haven't seen his performance, but I will. I like him enough...but, he seems to be a pretty sure lock. George Clooney was great as Michael Clayton - if not for the fact that most of the movie is his face. Tommy Lee, Viggo - haven't seen their performance, but I like them both. Ah, but, Johnny Depp. I would love to see Johnny Depp win an Oscar, but he won't. My Pick: Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd. My Prediction: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Actress: No race here either. Julie Christie will win an Oscar for Away From Her. Okay, good. I love that Laura Linney was nominated, somewhat surprisingly here. Marion Cotillard and Cate Blanchett - I'm sure are great - but haven't seen them. Ellen Page as Juno - I loved her and thought she was hilarious and I love when comedic roles (yes, it was basically comedic) get nominated for anything. My Pick: Ellen Page, Juno. My Prediction: Julie Christie, Away From Her

Best Director: Seems to be a shoo-in for the Coen brothers. There is a very, very, very distant chance that Julian Schnabel could be an upset winner for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. But, it just doesn't really seem to be a competition this year...as the Coen brothers are the strong favorites. I wouldn't mind if Tony Gilroy took it. My Pick: Jason Reitman, Juno My Prediction: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men

Best Picture: No Country For Old Men will be the victor here...though, I'm so enamored with the fact that Juno was nominated - a comedy! - I would love for it to win. And really, Atonement haunted me for days and days after I saw it - the kind of epic Best Pictures usually are. Its a horribly tragic story - just the kind Oscar likes. And, I really was intrigued by Michael Clayton. Having not seen There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men is actually the last of these films I would want to win, but alas, it will win. My Pick: Atonement My Prediction: No Country For Old Men

Complete list of Nominations:
Best Picture
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

Actor
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"

Actress
Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Laura Linney, "The Savages"
Ellen Page, "Juno"

Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"

Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"
Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"

Director
Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Foreign Film
"Beaufort," Israel
"The Counterfeiters," Austria
"Katyn," Poland
"Mongol," Kazakhstan
"12," Russia

Adapted Screenplay
Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"
Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"
Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Original Screenplay
Diablo Cody, "Juno"
Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, "Ratatouille"
Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages."

Animated Feature Film
"Persepolis"
"Ratatouille"
"Surf's Up"

Art Direction
"American Gangster"
"Atonement"
"The Golden Compass"
"Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
"There Will Be Blood"

Cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

Sound Mixing
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"No Country for Old Men"
"Ratatouille"
"3:10 to Yuma"
"Transformers"

Sound Editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"No Country for Old Men"
"Ratatouille"
"There Will Be Blood"
"Transformers"

Original Score
"Atonement," Dario Marianelli
"The Kite Runner," Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton," James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille," Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma," Marco Beltrami

Original Song
"Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush," Nominees to be determined
"So Close" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz

Costume
"Across the Universe"
"Atonement"
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
"La Vie en Rose"
"Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Documentary Feature
"No End in Sight"
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience"
"Sicko"
"Taxi to the Dark Side"
"War/Dance"

Documentary (short subject)
"Freeheld"
"La Corona (The Crown)"
"Salim Baba"
"Sari's Mother"

Film Editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"Into the Wild"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

Makeup
"La Vie en Rose"
"Norbit"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

Animated Short Film
"I Met the Walrus"
"Madame Tutli-Putli"
"Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)"
"My Love (Moya Lyubov)"
"Peter & the Wolf"

There you have it, the longest blog post EVER. I'm still hoping I'll be tuning in on February 24th to see all the normal glitz and glamor and to find out how sure a thing all those sure things are!

The Good, The Bad and the So-So

Yay! I had a week (really 5 days) of movie watching. With kids parents in town, I took some time to do some movie watching... In 4 days I watched:

National Treasure: Book of Secrets - Guilty pleasure - I love it for what it is...movie bubble gum. Loved the first. This one is EXACTLY like the first - so I loved the second. Guilty pleasure GOODness

Waitress - Interesting, good performances - the pie names and creations were a riot. I love Keri Russell - so, this one is definitely GOOD

Juno - This is probably my favorite movie that I have seen all year. Fierce biting sarcastic wit with as fierce a sappy heart...the script rocked! The performances were stellar. This will make a Ellen Page a star. Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Michael Cera amazing. Indie all the way. I loved this film. This one is the Good-est.

27 Dresses - Caught this at a sneak preview. Let me preface my comments by stating two things. 1) I am a girl. 2) I really like James Marsden and Kathryn Heigl. This movie is Chick Flick Extraordinaire. Predictable? Yes! Cutsey? Yes! Over-the-top Relationship-y? Yes! From start to finish - it is 100% Girl movie. No hiding it - no masking it with manly characters (not a manly man to be found) or a sub-plot that could keep the husbands/boyfriends attention. All the men are sensitive types - all the women want to get married. I loved it. Please refer to item number #1 above if this confuses you. James Marsden has been one of my favorites since his Ally McBeal days - I just love that he can sing. And Kathryn Heigl is one of my favorites since her Roswell days, Knocked Up notwithstanding. Yeah, this one is all girly GOODness.

PS I Love You - Please remember item number 1 from above. Hilary Swank and the Phantom of the Opera and Harry and Denny...so much goodness. It is a little weird to have a scene in karoake bar with both Harry Connick, Jr and Nellie McKay - great and fabulous singers - not singing. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, you'll always be Denny to me. I like it. Its a chick flick that trying to be different - and I like that. Ireland looks beautiful in this film. Definitely a GOOD effort.

Amazing Grace - This movie was different than I thought. It is the story of William Wilberforce and his decades long attempts to abolish the slave trade in England. Very interesting..performances good. It is a little distracting to see the new Dumbledore do anything else - but Michael Gambon was still good. It is a slower movie - the pacing was fine - the storytelling good. It is just a movie about politics - so it feels "slower" than all of the other movies I saw in my marathon - even slower than Waitress - that was a pretty quiet movie. Still - such a good story - strong moral compass and my favorite line of my movie marathon: "I don't know that I found God, I think he found me." - or something like that. GOOD

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry - I like Adam Sandler. I like Kevin James. This movie made me chuckle - twice...and mostly I would say "eh" of this one. The gay gags didn't seem so funny to me. It wasn't that fun to me. All around: So-So

The Water Horse - perhaps it was my mood, perhaps it was the distracting children all around me, perhaps it was that this was one of the last viewed after so many - but I did not like this movie and it crawled along for me...and slower than a snails pace. You see the whole movie in the trailer - boy finds an egg with a magic water horse in it - he hides it from his mother - water horse grows to enormous size and is put in lake - people are mean to it and it goes a little crazy. This movie could not be over fast enough...and you couldn't pay me to watch it again - even if cute Ben Chaplin is in it. Left a BAD tast in my mouth

Bad News and Worse News

The bad news is that there is a writers strike going on...and my beloved TV is affected. I watched videos on the whole argument and I have to say - it seems like the writers deserve more. In fact, I can't see how the big networks can argue against it - after they took the cut in the 80s. The whole internet media thing - yes, I think the writers deserve a cut of the ad profits from their work being played over the internet. No, I do not believe it to be "promotional" as the networks state. I see the point. I don't know how this will resolve...if the networks think they can do it without the writers and the writers are sticking to their guns. It does certainly seem like they are at a stand still - and a Strike was necessary. That said. I hate it. Don't mess with my TV. I don't really care how much money any of the Hollywood types make - unless they are somehow paying me. I just want me little box to show my shows. That is very uncaring, I know. My fear is that the networks will start airing reality TV all the time...and the American public will watch it...in huge numbers they will watch it...and this mess will change the face of television. There are too many people who are not discerning in the television viewing...that just watch whatever is placed in front of them no matter what. I just want to scream...NOOOOOOOO! No resolution in site...I'm thinking I'll probably read more.

Now, the worse news. My beloved TV is changing...and..and, I can only go to kid movies- and kid movies are not that great. Bee movie was okay. It was Jerry...all Jerry. If you like Jerry, you like the Bee Movie, I like Jerry, so I liked it. The animation: good. The rest of it...okay. This weekend, I took the kiddies to see Fred Claus. Yikes. First I should tell you that I fell DEAD asleep. I mean DEAD asleep in the middle of it...good thing my sister was there to be the awake adult. Really? Paul Giamatti? Really? Wow. It just wasn't good -it was barely cute. I like Vince Vaughn..and really, he couldn't sell me that stuff. I'm so sad that this is what I'm paying for at the movies. One of my movies friends recently told me that this was the best year in movies in a long time - lots of quality - lots of films to love. When my friend listed the favorites/best of the year, I hadn't seen even one of them. I'm really not the pop culture freak I want to be.

So - TVs changing it up, can't enjoy the movies...its going to be all about the DVD rental and the after kid hours viewing. How depressing.

Happy Halloween

Halloween is today. Here is the treat for today. 5 Best Returning Shows of the season...

1. Friday Night Lights - Love, love, love it. Yes, was worried about the Tyra Landry storyline - I think its going to be okay - its playing out much more real than I could have expected. Plus, the cast is amazing. If Connie Britton doesn't get some recognition for her overwhelmed new mother this season - there is no justice in TVdom. Did I mention this show got an Emmy for best casting? There is a reason for that.
2. Bones - I love Bones. I love every character on this show...and everything they say. I even love the new ones - the new therapist is a riot. David Boreanez and Emily Deschanel shine and have perfected their on-screen chemistry. Plus, for a procedural - I like this topic best...the Jeffersonian...bones, bugs, particulates, 3-D sketch artists...this show is consistently on.
3. Brothers and Sisters - Okay. I love Rob Lowe. And I will always love Ally Mc..er Calista Flockhart and then there's Sally Field...and Amy...I mean Emily VanCamp..and Rachel Griffiths...and I love this cast and I love the stories they tell. I love their right and left wing arguments...and Justin...my boy Justin, its all so very good and family-y. The kind of family moments that I can definitely relate to.
4. Men in Trees - I want to live in Elmo. I want Marin Frist to be my friend, I want to meet Plow Guy and Jack and deal with the weather...and the warm people. I'd even hang out in that bar, but I still wouldn't drink.
5. Grey's Anatomy - I shouldn't put this one the list...but, I decided that I had to (Sorry, How I Met Your Mother - honorable mention to you). I was going to quit Grey's. After last season..ick. But, I watched the premiere...and it was good...and then they had that scene with McSteamy and McDreamy...and McSteamy said "I came to get you back" and it made me laugh out loud. Then Ava came back...and Lexie is nice. Its better, its healing. I like it. Its not Denny-days good - but its good.

****Special mention to the show that should top this list, but since only 1 episode has aired for the season so far, I felt I couldn't include it. SCRUBS is back and better than ever. I love this show - its wacky, zany heart will be missed - but I'm going to savor this last season all I can.


Other returning favorite notables.

-Criminal Minds can move forward without Mandy. Still works, I still like it and I still can't watch it at night.
-House could have made the list - but its being to mean to Mormons- can't support that- I almost had to on principle stop watching it altogether - but, I haven't yet. I really do like the new format with the new interns...but, man the Mormon comments, the Joseph Smith comment. I need to write a letter.
-Heroes makes my brain explode. It takes too much concentration for me to get through those episodes. I still have the last 4 on my Tivo.
-Desperate Housewives seemed like it was getting good there for a minute - and now its flopping out on me again. I'm already tired of the new neighbor and the gay neighbors.
-In reality news - Biggest Loser and Dancing with the Stars are proving to have more drama than some of the scripted shows on-air. Neil on Biggest Loser is evil. Marie Osmond makes me laugh on Dancing - but then she fainted...and I'm sort of having a fight with the show right now - having just voted off my favorite - Sabrina this week.

Fall TV: Best New Shows

Best new shows of the fall season:

Gossip Girl CW Wednesdays - as one of my favorite TV friends says..."Okay, I'm a 14 year old girl. I love this show." (And we are both about 20 years older than 14!) Writer, Josh Schwartz - he of The O.C. fame...has done it again with an over the top teen-angsty soapy drama - the kind I love. At this point- no one is all good. No one is all bad - and who knows what will happen next. It is all the drama of The O.C. without the Seth Cohen fun snarkiness...but, Dan...Dan, may just turn out to be a Seth Cohen, yet. LOVE it.
The Big Bang Theory CBS Mondays - This show makes me laugh out loud a lot. These geeks are hilarious. I wasn't even planning to watch this show and just happened to catch it. Leonard is my favorite. Try not to laugh at their video game playing, Superman marathon, Jenga playing lives.
Dirty Sexy Money ABC Tuesdays- The Darlings are a fascinating family. I've read lots of comparisons to the Bluths of yesteryear...but, I love me some Peter Krause...much more Casey McCall than Nate Fisher - which is good. I love the zaniness.
Chuck - NBC Mondays - Love that Zachary Levi. Love the premise. Great Anchor for the NBC Monday night lineup.
Pushing Daisies - ABC Wednesday -Thought it would be weird - and it was...but good weird. Any show that can have Tony Winner Kristin Chenoweth belting out "Hopelessly Devoted to You" is a winner in my book.
Life NBC Wednesday- For a procedural - this is a good one - I like his back story. I like that he has a mystery to figure out himself. Please watch this show. It needs more viewers.

**UPDATE: I hadn't seen Women's Murder Club when I wrote this. I really like it - Honorable Mention to it. Also - everyone loves Samantha Who?...but me. A REALLY likable cast...Yay Sookie! and Brian! and Jesse...but, I don't really like the writing and its grating on me. I just don't get it.

Photo: 2007 The CW Network, LLC