Holy crap

Whoever did Penelope’s eye makeup on Gossip Girl needs to become my best friend, stat. That girl looks amazing tonight! If I find a decent screen cap, I’ll append this post with the picture.

Found two pictures, thanks to the dedicated and slightly terrifying people over at Gossip Girl Gallery. I’m using larger images than I usually do in order to convey the cosmetic awesomeness.

It was the best of times

Today I realized that Chuck was back after the longest month and a half on record. There was much excitement in my world, and possibly even some jumping and clapping. But then I realized that it kind of sucked, because Chuck was 3D. What’s with all the 3D stuff lately? I mean, I understand the appeal of My Bloody Valentine 3D, because even I thought that watching a naked 3D woman run away from certain death was pretty entertaining.

Watching this episode gave me a bit of a headache, but that’s not to say that I won’t save the program and watch it again once I borrow my friend’s 3D glasses that he stole from a showing of Bolt. Although there were some gags that were fun to watch, on the whole, I think the 3D thing was a cheap and unnecessary stunt.

NBC is rocking my world right now

AAH! This week’s Chuck and Life were so excellent, I almost cannot even stand it. I’ve loved Life all along, and so I was surprised when I recently realized that I may actually prefer Chuck to it right now. Of course, that’s like saying I can’t decide between filet mignon and broiled lobster, and really, the one that I choose at any given moment has more to do with my mood than with the object’s innate awesomeness.

I’m really happy that NBC is giving these fine shows a chance, and hopes that it will continue to do so. How good have these programs been lately? TOO GOOD. They have great drama, interesting situations, humor, and not a little moral ambiguity. They don’t tell the audience what to feel, and seem to think that we’ll be smart enough on our own to come to our own decisions (Do you hear that, Heroes??), which I greatly appreciate. I think that maybe in terms of acting chops, Damian Lewis and Yvonne Strahovsky have an advantage over their counterparts (Zachary Levi and Sarah Shahi), but again, when things are this good, quantification isn’t necessary.

I’m just worried about how I am going to be expected to last until freaking February. These shows are really really really really good, and I am going to miss them so much.

Jeez

I go away for a few days and WordPress goes and changes everything…including my avatar, which was formerly a photo of my adorable nephew. Weird. I’m still angry with the Mets right now, and do not prefer to have their logo represent me on WordPress.

I haven’t been doing too much lately. Except for knitting. I’ve been doing a lot of knitting. And frogging. I’m never so OCD as when I’m knitting, and then I get this perfectionist streak that is completely at odds with the fact that I still don’t pay as much attention as I should to what I’m making. That’s because I need to watch something when I’m knitting.

Recently, I’ve seen 27 Dresses, Enchanted, Step Up (I’m a bit ashamed about that one), and I started Made of Honor, but I find the pratfalls a bit much and haven’t yet resumed from Dempsey’s second face plant in a single scene. I finished up the third and final season of Veronica Mars, and I’ve now moved on to Cupid, which I just learned is on youtube. How awesome. I remember loving that show, but the details are blurry at this point. I’m pleased that it’s as smart and funny as I remember, and that the wardrobe and hair isn’t so dated as to be a total distraction. I’ve also been really into Chuck lately, and it’s gotten so good that I even watch it before Gossip Girl! Heroes is still stupid, but not as single-mindedly moronic as it was earlier in the season, so I’ve resumed watching it on Monday, instead of allowing several episodes to pile up and then watching them all at once.

I’m about to be single single again (as opposed to mostly single), so that should leave me even more time to 1) make socks and 2) not make any of the Christmas presents I intended to knit.

I cannot believe how quickly summer/autumn happened, and that it will be winter in just a couple of weeks.

What’s next? Furries?

I’m watching Private Practice right now, and I understand that this show isn’t doing as well as the network would like, but I think that the current crop of storylines is really making me question (as Nina Garcia would say) the taste level of the writers and producers. So far this season we’ve had patients in the practice who have engaged in incest, bigamy, pedophilia. Also, Addison has had problems with other patients because of their religious beliefs, and has given some questionable medical advice based on her disdain for what people believe (at least suggest another doctor, if you’re that conflicted, right?).

I watched this show on a trial basis last night year, and although I did find some things that i liked, I never really connected with this show. I may have to give it up entirely.

Some good news!

I was worried about Life’s prospects when I heard that NBC had canceled My Own Worst Enemy and Lipstick Jungle, but apparently I wasn’t paying enough attention to the news coming down the wire. Before axing those two shows, NBC had already given Life a full-season order. Awesom! Let’s hope the show can do well enough in its timeslot to come back for a third season! I love Damian Lewis and Sarah Shahi to bits, and want their show to succeed!

I’m enjoying a lot of things this season, but many of the things I don’t like all fall into one category: romance. I don’t know if this show just doesn’t need it at all, or if I just think all its attempts up until now have been pretty unconvincing. I don’t believe that Charlie should have anything to do with Jennifer, his ex-wife. At the very least, she is just one more person who wasn’t there for him when he needed her. Also, I kind of suspect her of being evil and somehow related to what happened to Charlie (although she did warn him when that teacher posed as a reporter and asked her questions about Charlie). Anyhow, just going on what we know up until this point, I do not think it’s realistic to believe that Charlie’s remarried ex-wife has his best interest at heart, or that anything between the two of them is going to end well.

Also, I think that Reese should stay 100 feet away from Tidwell at all times. 1) The man looks like he does not bathe (Dear Donal Logue: please make your character less vile); 2) He is her boss and that cannot be a good idea; 3) He is ridiculous (the tics, the rudeness, the stunning callousness); 4) Sarah Shahi is as hot as the fire of a thousand suns, and should be with a similarly awesome guy (what’s Bradley Cooper doing these days? A little Alias reunion would be sweet).

Finally, what the hell is going on with Ted and Olivia, Charlie’s dad’s fiancée? I will admit that Christina Hendricks and her impressive bosom are pretty sweet, but what is this storyline all about? We know nothing about Charlie’s dad, and haven’t even met him yet, but we’ve seen said missing father’s intended how many times now? Okay, so Charlie is avoiding her. But wouldn’t that make her even less likely to come around? You can’t change the mind of somebody you can’t pin down. But then what’s the story with Ted? I guess a romance between these two is not entirely implausible, seeing as she obviously has a thing for old dudes, but because I don’t understand Olivia, the whole thing seems suspect. I guess I can understand why Ted just come out with, “Hey Charlie, I kissed your dad’s fiancée during that earthquake,” but why would he have neglected to mention her presence at all? And lied about how the pencil got out of his hand. Was Ted always this bad at lying? Maybe that’s why he ended up in prison. Plus, even if I did finally understand and maybe support a Ted-Olivia, Christina Hendricks is kicking ass and taking names over at Mad Men, and how often could we really expect her to show up on Life?

Sydney Tamiia Poitier: I love you, but I hate your…

In this, the first ever edition of “I love you, but I hate your…”, I will tackle the conundrum of people I like doing or participating in things I hate. Our inaugural subject is Sydney Tamiia Poitier.

Sydney Tamiia Poitier, I love you, but I hate your show.

There are a lot of things to love about this actress:

• She basically has the easiest job ever of mooching off her father’s fame, due to having his name and all.
• She’s gorgeous, successful, and has boobs and hips!
• She was on two of the best shows ever to appear on television: Veronica Mars and Joan of Arcadia!!
• Her initials are the same as the Stone Temple Pilots, a fabulously awesome band.

There are at least as many things to hate about her show:

• She’s appearing in a remake of Knight Rider. My childhood weeps.
• Life is up against this show, and is not necessarily expected to emerge the victor.
• I’m scared of a world where the 2008 version of Knight Rider is a ratings juggernaut.
• Why are people still interested in a program about a talking, crime-fighting car? This show makes me think less of people.
• Thinking about her means that I think about Knight Rider, which means I think about David Hasselhoff. Please, don’t make me think about the Hoff.

Burn!

(Why do we use extreme temperatures to illustrate that something that is really bad? At first, I almost called this post “That’s cold.”)

So it turns out that maybe the Weinsteins and Lifetime had a point, and NBC Universal/Bravo didn’t want to pick up the option on the new season of Project Runway. So why the delay, then? Um, maybe because Bravo has a Project Runway knockoff in the works and is using this injunction to get a leg up on their competition? Machiavellian. Bravo, indeed.

The Axe has fallen

Poor Elizabeth Reaser. I hated Jane Doe/Ava/Rebecca, her character on Grey’s Anatomy, but never had a problem with her as an actress. I watched her new show, The Ex-List, since it premiered. I thought it was worth watching, even though Bella, her character did some boneheaded things and didn’t always make smart decisions. I was interested in most of the characters (except for Cyrus, who seemed superfluous), and wanted to see where things were headed. Even though I wondered how long the conceit of Bella always dating a guy from her past could be maintained (and what would happen if the show lasted longer than a year), I was willing not to let my skepticism ruin the experience. So too bad CBS canceled The Ex-List already. The show didn’t even last a month. Boo!

In other tv news, Life, one of the shows that I most enjoy, has (maybe) been given a new lease on…life. Sorry. It’s been moved out of the Friday night ghetto, into a prime Wednesday night time spot. Of course, this means that the show will actually have to earn better ratings, but I hope that the change in night will draw in viewers. Damian Lewis and Sarah Shahi are amazing in their roles, and even though I loathe the part that Donal Logue is playing (what purpose does Tidwell serve?), I always welcome the chance to watch him on tv.

Project Runway Withdrawal

Despite the fact that Season 5 of Project Runway was not as compelling as earlier cycles, I miss the show. I miss ragging on Kenley, disdaining Suede’s overuse of the third person, oohing over Korto’s colors, and being completely blown away by Leanne’s visions. I am sad that there’s no more Top American Designer Michael Kors to make jokes about “Becky Home Ec-y” and whatnot, and Nina to be so unimpressed that she had no words. Now that the show is over for an undetermined amount of time, what’s going on in the PR universe?

• NBC Universal’s lawsuit against Lifetime TV has moved to federal court!!
• Entertainment Weekly does a Q&A with Leanne Marshall, Season 5 winner
• Chloe Dao (looking HOT), showed her new collection, seemingly to great approval