Laura's TV Round Up Week 17

TV Round Up

1. House - I'm really not sure why I watched this. I'm annoyed with Cuddy enough at baseline and I watch an episode centered on her? Maybe I changed the channel to Fox and forgot I could switch it? This season of House has been uneven and despite liking the Wilson-centric episode in the fall, I really don't like them changing up the format this late in the game. It's like they realized that they were doing the same formulaic crap week after week and remembered they had other characters. Unfortunately, I don't really like Cuddy at all. This show paints women horribly and every time Cuddy was overwhelmed in the stairwell or tearing up in her car, I just cringed. Yes, this is coming from a woman who cries inappropriately and can get over emotional, but just for once, I'd like to see a woman on this show kicking ass, taking names and not boo-hooing about it throughout. Not to mention the completely unprofessional over-the-top cheesiness of her screaming in excitement after she landed the deal. I almost expected her to dance around her dining room table singing in her hairbrush.

2. HIMYM - I really liked parts of this episode and really disliked others:

Like:
- Ranjit! Especially Ranjit knitting then later wearing his hat, scarf and gloves.
- Teddy Westside and Ted's reaction to Barney stealing his nickname. Actually, Ted was my favorite part of this episode.
- The mentions of Ted's former ladies - Trudy of the pineapple incident, Blah Blah and Natalie of the double break-up.
- The call back to the Naked Man, even if I didn't like the man who was naked
- The duck-rabbit argument. Though I really think rabbits are cuter.
- Robin's dress on Valentine's day. The wardrobe department was finally kind to her after making her look like crap for most of the season

Dislike:
- The addition of rabbit ears and a duck bill to Don. That was just awkward and dumb. We get what you're trying to tell us. Rabbit, then duck. We're not so stupid we need crappy animation
- I still hate how the writers are treating Robin. They humanized Don a bit, but it is not enough. Where's the Robin from the first two seasons? Hell, even the third?
- Ted's arranged Valentine's date. Lily would have never forgotten or resisted the opportunity to set him up with someone.
- I'd like to see Marshall and Lily separate from each other. Not separated, but interacting with the other characters individually and not as a pair. They're starting to remind me of the two-headed monster from Sesame Street.
- Barney. His whoring ways used to be a small part of this show, but now they seem to be front and center. Perhaps it would have helped if this episode hadn't run back to back with the perfect week, but I'm really tired of seeing Barney on the endless quest for hook-ups. I'm not advocating another relationship with Robin, but something needs to change because I'm sick of tasting vomit at the back of my throat. And furthermore, I'd appreciate it if Barney didn't continuously hit on women in front of Robin. You can argue that they had a clean break-up and Robin's always been pretty cool with this sort of behavior on Barney's part, but there's no way that Robin's that forgiving and there's no way that Barney (at least the Barney they showed us for the last season or so) is so oblivious and cruel. Either make Barney less of a man whore, or give him less screen time.

Sidenote: I just want to record a HIMYM related bet that Tim made with me. Despite all the evidence I've shown him to the contrary, he is still convinced that Robin is the mother and told me I owe him ten dollars if this proves to be true. So discuss what I should do with the ten dollars Tim will inevitably owe me when the mother is revealed and the woman that Ted referred to as "Aunt Robin" remains Aunt Robin.

3. Lost - Not as exciting as last week's episode, but still interesting. I initially thought it was a little odd that (1) Kate went back to give Claire her belongings and (2) Claire allowed the criminal who hijacked her cab to drive her around town, but after thinking about it, things make a little more sense. I think they're trying to show us that even though the characters in the alternate 2004 universe do not know each other, on some level they still have connections from the time their alter-egos spent on the island. We saw a little bit of this in Jack and Locke last week, and having Claire and Kate share this bond really makes sense because after all, Kate took care of Claire's son for a few years. 2007 Claire seems a little scary and I'm sincerely hoping she doesn't harm Jin in any way because (a) Daniel Dae Kim is so pretty and (b) Like Desmond-Penny, I really want Sun-Jin to remain intact.

4. Modern Family - Another really strong and funny episode. I love that pretty every character on this show is likeable despite their flaws. While everyone appearing while Claire's coat was stuck in the escalator was a bit over the top, I love that it ended with Gloria saving the day. The kid playing Manny continues to be hilarious (I should really find out his name) and I loved his declarations of the world being cold and loveless, devising a plan with Cameron and realizing that the girl of his dreams was crazy. I think Cameron and Manny should team up more often, and whenever possible, involve Lily because she is the cutest baby alive. Oh, and Clive Bixby is my favorite pseudonym, second to Patrick Glurger.

5. Grey's Anatomy - This episode was probably better than last week's but some things really need to change soon. I'm sick of getting dragged into a storyline only to have the writers change their minds about the entire situation. For instance, if you're going to kill George off, make it actually impact the cast and have us see the ramifications of these already stressed out people losing a close friend. The season premiere doesn't count to me, even if it spanned forty days. One could argue that Izzie's reasons for leaving included her grief over George, but it's difficult to buy that when you consider that she didn't really freak out until she was the one who was getting screwed over (at least in her opinion). Also, why did the writers ever have Alex and Izzie get married if they were going to piss all over it five seconds later? Alex and Lexie don't really bother me until I remember that he was supposed to have had a meaningful relationship with Izzie. Screwing the next thing that walks by is in character of Alex a few seasons ago, but not after he was so emotionally involved with Izzie. The character showed tremendous personal growth last season and this switch up is annoying and unfitting. I also wish that they would have never had Teddy declare her love for Owen. As much as I hate Cristina and Owen together, if you're going to keep them together, I'd rather not have this looming over them. If you have to give Owen issues with Teddy, why not have her be a past relationship of his? I'd much rather see the three struggling to be friends in the wake of a failed relationship instead of the possibility of a love triangle. I did not care for the love triangle of the restaurant collapse and really didn't appreciate the hammer hitting me over the head when the patient was talking about marriage being an every day choice. Gee, do you think this means that Meredith will be inspired to be by Derek's side at the brunch? That being said, I really did like Meredith/Derek's interactions and I liked them better as a couple than I have in the past. Mark's storyline was just sad, though I'm curious if they'll continue to explore Mark wanting to be a father. When Addison went on her baby quest, she pretty much quit when she found out that she was infertile and left it at that. I'm not saying Mark has to adopt a baby in the next episode, but it would be interesting to see him pondering the idea. Bailey's anesthesia boy is very cute and I hope they develop Bailey as friends with Arizona and Callie, because I think that would be fun.

6. Project Runway - I'm with Mike, they need to stop declaring things the biggest challenge in Project Runway history. Because this wasn't. Designing for Heidi is an interesting idea, but I was hoping for a celebrity who doesn't host the show every week. I really enjoyed all the outfits in the top three and while I thought that Ben's was the best dress overall (side note: I didn't know there was a guy named Ben until this episode), I think Anthony's was most appropriate for the challenge. His look fit in with the spring theme and matched Heidi's complexion a lot better. Emilio's was cute too, but a little too much like lingerie for me. I would be interested to see what Mila's dress looked like in different colors, but overall, I'm not really enjoying her much as a person or a designer. The bottom two were both pretty meh, and I think they made the right choice in elimination because Anna's been weak for awhile now.

My New Invention

My body continues to be attracted to black ice. This was possibly God's way of telling me I shouldn't go get ice cream, but damn if I didn't have a scoop of Graeter's cookie dough chip after Tim pulled me off the ground. Not only is the ice cream delicious, it also served as a makeshift ice pack for my hand. I may start marketing ice cream packs for fat asses who injure themselves. I could make a killing. A delicious delicious killing.

Honestly, the fall wasn't bad at all, it just hurts if I use my right hand too much (that's what she said) and I have a few scrapes. I just feel the need to remind everyone that I am clumsy and fall prone. As if you could forget.

Laura's TV Round Up Week 16

This week's TV Round Up features House, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy, Project Runway, and the Saturday Night Live Sports Special. You can thank my cold for the large amount of material reviewed because it made me too tired to get off the couch.

1. House - I missed about 15 minutes in the beginning and a couple minutes in the second half, so I'm going to say that maybe I liked this? I'd fill in the blanks online if their posting agreement wasn't so stupid. I should promise that I'd never again tell you how dumb it is for new episodes to be posted eight days after the original airdate, but I don't know if I can. I'm pretty sick of Cuddy at this point, and I don't like Lucas as her boyfriend. I loved Lucas the PI, but I still find the pairing of him and Cuddy off. I'm not usually a fan of Foreman, but I actually enjoyed a glimpse into his past and why he might be the way he is. Is his brother at a halfway house because of jail issues or is it a psych problem ( if so, my money is on schizophrenia at this point) and I'm interested to see more interaction between the two characters as long as it doesn't completely consume him, like Abby's family bipolar family members did on ER. They have my attention for the moment.

2. HIMYM - This is why I watch this show! This was a perfect episode to go along with Barney's perfect game. One of my loyal readers (okay, I don't really have loyal readers, but I like to say it and pretend I'm important) remarked that there was a continuity error in Ted being excited to have a beer with a Yankee. However, I think he was more in the spirit of helping Barney out, plus not all Indians fans light Yankees memoriabilia on fire like some of our mothers do. Not to mention that there was a major shout out to us Indians fans - While Ted was talking things out with Barney, the music from Major League was playing. I really appreciate that we have a fan on one of my favorite shows. My only nitpicks (1) I would have actually found it interesting to see Barney fired and in a different job, but I suppose this holds true to a statement that Barney made previously about how he could never be fired because he knows too much and is more likely to wash up dead on the shore than be let go and (2) as Tim put it, Barney really just needs to get VD at this point. Anyway, this was definitely the strongest episode of the season and I hope there's plenty more like it in the bottom half....Dude, how was there not a joke about playing in the bottom half?

3. Lost - I'm not a fanatic here, I was just lethargic on Tuesday night and I've found it enjoyable in the past. With the recap show, I was able to understand most of the premiere, or at least as much as anyone can understand an episode of Lost. I was convinced that it was going to be Charlie under the "present day" rubble and not Juliet, especially when those scenes were juxtaposed with Charlie's arrest (yes, there's double meaning to that word) on the alternate universe flight. I'm very curious about the alternate universe flight and really liked when Locke and Jack met. Even knowing Locke's fate in "present day," it was still sad to see him stuck in his plane's seat, with none of the confidence he displayed when the island healed him. I'm really hopeful that this show has a strong ending, because I really do find it inventive and typically interesting. It better not go out like Alias when they didn't really tie up loose ends so much as shove them into a box and even stole a scene directly from Indiana Jones Last Crusade...But that's a different rant for a different time.

4. Modern Family - I think this episode (and some past episodes, actually) have been hurt by the promo people at ABC. They tend to show commercials every five seconds with the same line, so by the time the episode rolls around, the joke has lost its flavor (this week's example is Cameron's "moon landing/splashdown" joke). Also, they gave away the fact that (1) Haley and Dylan reconciled and (2) Gloria crashed into the cupcake; the first wasn't that surprising, but the second was a joke that could have been a lot funnier if it hadn't already been revealed. Anyway, it was still a very funny episode and Julie Bowen (Clare) had some great lines during her rant ("fornicating on the stairs....No, MARIO!"). Manny and Mitchell interacting was awesome as well.

5. Grey's Anatomy - Not a bad episode, but not a great episode. I think I need to break it down:

-Derek as chief - I don't know why so many people think he threw him under the bus. Weber actually appointed Derek as chief back at the end of season 3; Derek turned it down and told him that this time around, the chief would know what to do. Since the chief took to drinking and making poor decisions, I think it's more than right for Derek to step in. I was a little suprised that he rehired April (resident from Mercy West) and Meghan (former Seattle Grace intern) but no one else - April makes sense because she was fired for a patient oversight that occurred because things were hectic, but I'm not sure why Meghan deserves to be brought back on unless it was proved that the sole reason for firing her was her pregnancy. Nice to see Meredith there for both Derek and the chief, and very happy to see that the chief accepted Derek's offer.

- The patient who woke up during surgery - I was too distracted by the bad acting going on by this patient to really care. Nice to see the interaction between Bailey and the anesthesiologist (if Taye Diggs can't be Bailey's boyfriend, I'll settle for him) and how she handled Meredith when the patient requested her as the solo surgeon.

- Mark/Lexie - I really don't care about them at this point. Mark's selfish and Lexie's dumb. Can't really root for them.

- Alex/Arizona - The case wasn't particularly believable for me, but I do like the idea of Alex as a pediatric surgeon. He's been very good with pregnant women and children in the past, so I really think this fits. I really hope he stays away from Reed, because I really cannot stand that character. Her hair makes her look like an elf, she's self absorbed, and has absolutely no redeeming qualities. She's basically Izzie in elf form at this point. Honestly, I don't really care for any of the Mercy Westers at this point, save Avery.

- Cristina/Owen - While I appreciate actually hearing them talk things out (rare for couples on this show), I am really startig to despise them together. Owen has become very hypocritical. He's yelling at her because she doesn't readily open up to him, but when has he opened up to her without being forced? She had to pry things out concerning his PTSD (and aside from one therapy session together, we have no proof that Owen has further explored this with her), he didn't tell her that he had been engaged till his ex actually showed up at the hospital, and he's intentionally trying to distract her from cardiac surgery. I'm sick of hearing that Cristina is closed off and has no people skills and blah blah blah blah. She has clearly grown since her early days on the show and I wish the writers wouldn't keep changing that fact at their conveinence. Relationship drama is inevitable on Grey's Anatomy, but I'd prefer a different brand.

6. Project Runway - Underwhelmed by this week's designs. I love the real woman challenges - It's one thing to design for another contestant's relative or women starting out in their first careers, but designing for women who have survived things like open heart surgery is something these designers could be really passionate about. There was barely any complaining about making dresses that aren't a size 0, but I still feel like the designers could have done a little better by their clients. I thought Maya's was very interesting, but overall agreed with the decision to let Amy win. I wasn't a big fan of Mila's stars, but I appreciate her branching out from the basic design. Jesus' dress was rather tacky and I wish it could have some of the elements taken off because he could have had a nice dress. I don't really care for Jesus, but him being on made me laugh because every time Tim Gunn said his name, I imagined Tim Gunn telling Jesus Christ that his garment had a whole lot of look and he shouldn't piss Nina Garcia off.

7. SNL Sports Special - To make a successful clip show you pick your funniest bits from the show's duration (which is thirty-five years at this point, I believe) and make it fit into a two hour time frame. It really doesn't seem that difficult, but SNL keeps failing. First and foremost, they need to realize that clip shows do not require a host, and if you really deem it necessary, then you need to pick a host who doesn't start to annoy you after two minutes. The reason many SNL characters work is because they're administered in small doses. That's the reason so many of the SNL movies have failed (Wayne's World, you are an exception). Typically you see a five minute sketch and then you don't see the character for at least two weeks, if not more. By doing the same bit repeatedly in a two hour time frame, you begin to grate even the most patient viewer. Gilly in the Christmas Special and Twinkle & Star in this special were not particularly funny and just became annoying. What's even more annoying is when you have a host and then you include a five minute clip featuring the hosts (and a fairly stupid one at that), so if you weren't sick of them by then, you certainly were about five seconds into it.

The writers seemed particularly confused as to what they should include - Is it okay to have sketches that have nothing to do with sports but feature an athlete (see the Sexual Harrassment video or Charles Barkley in MacGruber)? Is it okay to have sketches about sports that do not have an actual athlete in them (see the Tiger Woods sketch, the Bowling Sketch)? Is it okay to have sketches that really have nothing to do with sports at all but feature beer (see Schmitts Gay)? I honestly think they had enough skits over the years featuring athletes that they didn't have to pull from the impersonating sports stars bank, perhaps with the exception of Little Chocolate Donuts and the synchronized swimming sketch.

However, a lot of the sketches featuring athletes were really bad - Michael Phelps on the Charles Barkley Show and Derek Jeter's opening monologue, just to name a few. The worst part is that as a viewer, I can think of several things that merited inclusion and I'm not even a very avid watcher, not to mention that I wasn't alive till 1985 and missed a good chunk while I was too young to watch (not everything was caught up by reruns, clip shows and the occasional video). It is a crime that Michael Jordon was not included - His sketches with Stuart Smalley and the Bears fans are classics. And even if you're not going to include the Bears fans with Michael Jordon, at least give them a sketch. They're hilarious and it's a week away from the Super Bowl. I also thought that Derek Jeter dressed up as a Yankee wife (and uttering the line "Derek Jeter? He looks like the Rock had sex with a muppet") should have been on the list as well. NBC, please call me before you attempt this again.

Laura's TV Round Up Week 15

1. House - HIMYM was a repeat, so I watched House. Actually, saying that I multitasked during House is more accurate. I still have a hard time giving this season my full attention, but it was watchable when I was paying attention. I didn't mind Thirteen at all this week, so that's a major step forward. Having the psychopathic nature of the patient be related to her Wilson's disease was interesting, despite it being somewhat unbelievable. I'm really over the whole House-Cuddy drama and wish that they would just let it die a quick death. I know a lot of people out there think that the two of them are perfect for each other, and while I could have believed that seasons ago, House has done far too much damage to her. For her to accept him at this point, even if it is with massive groveling on his part, would make her look like a complete idiot with absolutely no self worth. At this point, House should wind up with someone he hasn't completely damaged in the past or should be left alone. Personally, I'd be fine with him on his own with the occasional get-together with his hetero life mate Wilson.

2. Last week's Project Runway - I still haven't seen the first episode of the season, but the second one was pretty good. It's quite possible that even the weakest link of this season is more talented, or at least more interesting than any of the contestants last season. I'm still struggling on names, but I really liked the designs of Emilio, Mila, and Amy. I love hearing Anthony talk, and his comments about how Mila can kiss his entire family's collective asses makes me want him to stick around for awhile, even if I can't specifically remember what he designed and whether it was worthy. Jay's design was good, but I preferred the futuristic look of Mila's and the airy quality of Amy's. Ping is straight up crazy town. She has a fun name, but I'm sorry, if your model's ass is hanging out, then you deserve to be gone. I don't know what she did last week, but is she this season's Mitchell, only with crazier ideas to back it up?

3. This week's Project Runway - I feel a lot better about this season. Continued love for Anthony, especially the noise he made when he found out that he was safe at the end. I thought it was an interesting switch to have the designers make a look for less based on another team's design, but it made for some confusion, especially since each team's garments did not come out consecutively. Overall, I was not that interested in the teams they considered to have the highest scores. I'm glad that Mila got some love because her dress last week was really good, but this week's dress looked like what Sue Sylvester might wear if she went high fashion. It's not exactly a diss, but it's not a compliment either. I thought their look for less was too much of a rip-off of the original design and could have been better. Regardless, I think she has talent and I'm happy she's sticking around. Personally, I liked the look of Anthony and Seth Aaron's outfits (especially the more expensive one), but I know that construction doesn't always translate through the television screen. Ping managed to keep her model covered, but in a nasty way. That girl has Andrae's tear ducts without any of his humor. She wasn't completely horrific, but I'm still happy that she's out. And just a note - Maya totally looks like the love child of Sara Ramierez and Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice.

4. The Pregnancy Pact - I was cleaning and I wanted something mindless to watch. Boy, did I find it. This movie was insanely bad, even by Lifetime standards, and really did very little to educate on teen pregnancy. Sure, one of the girls in the pact had a rough labor and needed an episiotomy and was worn out by her baby crying and her nipples bleeding, but they barely showed it. One of the pregnant girls made a passing mention of adoption, but you never saw if she actually opted to make that decision. The main girl who was obsessed with babies appeared to be deliriously happy with hers in the end with absolutely no negative consequences except for her baby daddy having a different girlfriend in the end.

It reminds me of the little bit I saw of "Secret Life of the American Teenager," which is worse than this because it goes on week after week and isn't over in two hours like the Pregnancy Pact. ABC Family took what could have been an interesting concept and just went psychotic all over it. They don't show the real consequences, you're either in the celibacy club or you're a complete slut, no room inbetween. One character was convinced that because she had sex, her dad died? What the hell is that? What kind of ideas are we giving teens about sex here? Ugh, my children are never ever going to watch crap like that.

Furthermore, I heard Secret Life described as a combination of Juno and 7th Heaven. If Juno herself were to see that, she would go up to 7th Heaven and kick each child in the genitals or danger zone, or whatever the parents on that show deemed that region. Granted, there are some issues in Juno, but it is nothing like and not in the same category as 7th Heaven. Juno managed to win the Oscar for best original screenplay. 7th Heaven featured an episode where one of the characters gave birth in an elevator and everyone was happy that her brother was the one stuck in the elevator with her to deliver her baby and hence glanced at her danger zone, and then she came off the elevator wearing her pants and boots, because the first thing you do after you give birth is put on your pants and boots despite the agonizing pain coming from the place where the baby ripped right out of you. And that’s just an episode I happened to see – I’m sure there’s more ridiculous crap going on up in that joint.

Where was I? Whatever, just use a condom.

Say Hello To Your Friends

Are crunchy M&Ms gone forever? They were pretty good, but I suppose I'd rather have them gone than lose peanut butter M&Ms. Don't bother trying the PB&J M&Ms, it's not that they were horrible, but I'd much rather use my calories on something else. You know what else was awesome? Milky Way Poppables. I haven't seen those bitches in years.

Yes, I've gone over to fat girl territory. In a way I never really left.

Remember in Baby Sitter's Club how Stacy had to remind the readers every five seconds that she was diabetic? I'm like that in my love for chocolate. I just remembered how Claudia was always hiding junk food all over her room. Was that because her parents didn't approve? Is junk food to Claudia Kishi as CDs are to Lane Kim?

(Speaking of Lane Kim, I saw a girl who looked exactly like her riding a bike, which made me think of this - Try to ignore the captions, I couldn't find one without)

Who was your favorite Baby Sitter? I know you're supposed to like Stacy because even though she's trendy and beautiful her parents are divorced and her diabetes made her wet the bed, but I couldn't get on the Stacy train. Claudia was too flighty. Jessie was too cocky. I liked Abby, but she was too new school. Mary Ann was too shy and she got the best boyfriend. I guess it's a tie between Kristy, Dawn and Mallory. I feel like they might have ruined Dawn with those spin-off books - What were they called? You know the ones where she moved back to California and she had a friend who was anorexia and the other one's Mom died?

Apparently it was "California Diaries" - which isn't creative at all, but then again, Baby Sitter's Club wasn't really pushing it either.

Laura's TV Round Up Week 14

1. HIMYM - This episode felt like the writers wrote it in about thirty minutes, then decided to go play paintball for the rest of the day. It's okay to have no plot advancement, but you have to do it in a way that is humorous. I laughed out loud about one or two times, but the rest of the time was just boring. I didn't really care for punch-them-out Lily, though at least it didn't go the way I expected (I thought that even with Jenkins' confession, Lily would still think Marshall was trying to trick her). Robin's character is such a shell of what it once was, Ted was barely present and Barney was even less so (Neil Patrick Harris directed this episode, apparently). I really feel like they even wasted Amanda Peet, who can be quite funny if given the proper outlet. I want my good show back. And on a medical note, why is Lily's school having a measles outbreak? Those kids should be immunized, I would have found a flu or staph outbreak much more believable.

2. Modern Family - I feel like I shouldn't even comment on this, because every week I just say that I love it and that continues to be true. I missed a little bit in the middle, something to do with the flowers but fortunately returned to see the bouqet go up in flames. I love that Manny's first "date" lunch was grilled cheese, tomato soup and ice cream (because Manny likes ice cream). I read an article complaining that you never see Mitchell and Cameron kiss at all, but really, I feel like that's in tune with their characters and the theme of the show and not some diss to the gay community. You see them show affection in their actions, especially in their interviews. Furthermore, I don't think it's really a huggy kissy show - I don't think we've seen Clare/Phil or Gloria/Jay kiss. There's been some references to their love lives, but I think that's true of Cameron and Mitchell as well (in the pilot, which just re-aired on Wednesday, Cameron mentions an incident with his mother walking in on them). I'm all for showing gay relationships, but as long as it's true to the characters and the show.

3. Fringe - Hey, why don't we walk into a building with a potentially contagious disease and not wear any protective gear whatsoever? Okay, that sounds great! That's my nitpick here - Peter could have just as easily been exposed by a hazmat suit tear or a needlestick, but they let them wander into a place where a guy spewed vaporized blood out of his mouth and died? Overall, this show is still enjoyable and I didn't have a hard time picking things up despite missing the rest of the season. Has any of the Peter is dead thing been explained? There was a mention by Walter to Astrid that she should leave things in the past, but I didn't know if the viewers were let onto anything. I'll look into it myself at some point, but I was just curious.

4. Grey's Anatomy - I think I like it better when everyone's pissed off at each other:



Meredith/Derek - I thought that she was in the wrong, but he didn't use the best means to convince her either. I'm not really concerned for them, but the writers do have the tendency of dragging fights out (see Meredith and Cristina last season). At the very least, the Chief's problem is out in the open. I just hope that Derek's not a snarky smarmy jackass when he's inevitably chief. And I want Meredith's bathrobe.


Calle/Arizona - Okay, they weren't really pissed off at each other, but I really like the two of them together and was hoping Arizona wouldn't be so superficial. At least she got over it in the end, and Callie got some funny lines to boot ("Please take off my gauze paws" was probably my favorite). So far the two of them seem to be getting over their arguments, etc quickly and believably and I hope that stays true


Lexie/Mark - Lexie had my favorite line of the night ("We've already had sex. It's like recycling, it's good for the environment"). I wish that Dr. Double Standard could get over himself and realize that Lexie was hurting too and he's not the only one who should get a free pass. She was dumb and drunk, but they were broken up and it's not like Mark hasn't assisted adultery before. I typically like these two together, but Mark's been a bit too much for me in the last two weeks, especially when he did his sudden "Why don't I move to LA" monologue.


Owen/Cristina - Once again, I hate this triangle, but at least it shows us how desperate Cristina really is to be taught. I'm not a huge fan of them together, but I'm hopeful that they can work something out. However, with hearing that Kim Raver (Teddy) is officially joining the cast, it's unlikely that everything will be sunshine and rainbows for them.


Alex/Izzie - If nothing else had happened this week, Izzie getting her ass dumped was enough to make this episode for me. I really miss season 1/2 Izzie - she was annoying at times, but she had a good heart. Ever since the writers decided that she and George had always been in love (see "Things I Pretend Didn't Happen" below), she's turned into this entitled bitch who stomps over everyone else's feelings. I don't think Alex was particularly smart in "cheating" on her, but she left him (and not for a very good reason), never returned his calls, ignored him the one time she did return to the hospital, and was gone for a fairly long time (not 100% of the exact time, but we know that she was gone from Thanksgiving through New Year's at the very least, and other things have suggested that it was longer than that). The fact that she came back expecting everything to be okay just because she snapped her fingers is proof enough that she's deranged. It's a shame because prior to her leaving, I really thought the two of them were good together - I wish they could have shown them dealing with the whole getting married to soon/Izzie almost dying thing while they were actually together. This is just something else that the writers have completely botched.

Things I Pretend Didn't Happen
Sometimes I find it more enjoyable to pretend that certain events on television shows didn't happen:
1. Izzie and George on Grey's - I might have been able to stomach this if George hadn't been married to Callie at the time. George cheating on a girlfriend is a stretch, but cheating on his wife (even if he was drunk) was a completely character assassination and even felt wrong to the actor playing him. I like to pretend that George and Callie just realized they were wrong for each other, they split up, and no one suddenly realized they were in love with Izzie out of the blue.
2. George dying on Grey's - I understand TR Knight wanting to leave Grey's, but they really did not need to kill him. There are a dozen ways to send a character off, and the show even provided two outs (1. He could have gone to the army as planned or 2. He could have been laid off during the merger), yet they still went with the option that most shows do. I like to pretend that George isn't really dead and he's being the sweet fun character he originally was and is kicking ass as a trauma surgeon somewhere out there.
3. Kutner killing himself on House - See above. Be a little more creative writers.
4. Cameron and Chase Marry/Cameron Leaves - If Cameron is going to leave the hospital, why does she have to leave her marriage too? This was just the dumbest way to have her leave.
5. Carter and Thandi Newton on ER - I think her name was Kem on the show? I'm all for having Carter fall for someone who's (a) not blonde and (b) doesn't work at the hospital, but they made her such a shrill person. Their future was left up to intrepretation in the finale, and not only do I choose to believe they break up for good, but I like to pretend that they never were to begin with.
6. Kerry's partner dying in a fire on ER - Sandy? I'm really rusty on the ER names here. The writers felt the need to kill off a character that we barely saw in the first place, and then they didn't really give Kerry enough screen time to show her suffering. Laura Innes is a great actress and could have done well with this, but instead it fell flat.
7. Barney and Robin on HIMYM - You know how I feel about this, so I won't elaborate.
8. Joey and Rachel on Friends - This was just stupid and very similar to the Barney/Robin situation to me.
9. Joey's Spin-Off vs. the Friends finale - There was no indication that Joey was leaving his NY friends for California in the series finale of Friends, so I just pretend that the spin-off didn't happen.

Lassitude

Have I always been this boring and bad at updating? Wait, it's better for my ego if you don't answer that. I'm pretty much grasping at verbal straws here because I've been avoiding writing for so long that I'm afraid if I don't write something now (even if it's just crap) I'll get completely out of the habit. So here it is: I feel kinda bleh. I shouldn't feel bleh, I know. There's way worse crap going on in the world, hell, even to people I know, I'm just in a bit of a funk. So I do puzzles and watch Law & Order SVU on Netflix and neglect housework. This is the new me, bitch.

Okay, so maybe it's not the new me, it's just Laura in a funk. Funky Laura. Does anyone else have "Funky Town" in their head right now? At least it's not....oh wait, "Black Velvet" is back. Kates and I heard it at kareoke (by an actually very good singer) and it's been following me around ever since.

Thoughts:
- I adore Netflix.
- I need to stop watching Law & Order SVU
- Work is still mind numbingly boring
- I think that the holiday Junior Mints shouldn't include white centers, only red and green ones.
- Did anyone else know they make coconut M&Ms?
- I need to look up the hours for the Cincinnati Zoo because I want to see the sand cat kittens that recently made their debut
- My mouth is so dry. I think it's related to the whole donating platelets thing yesterday.
- I got a new laptop. Now I just have to figure out how to get microsoft office on it.
- I need a haircut.
- My pinky finger is itchy.
- Luke Wilson needs to stop being in commercials.
- Did Owen Wilson once try to kill himself? If not, who am I thinking of?
- Apparently I have a paper cut on my pinky finger. And it's itchy. Son of a B.
- My cats keep sitting on my card table so I can't take it down.

See, this is the crap you get when you don't write too often. Or maybe this is the same crap you get when I do write more often, but you just have less of it? Whatever, you can't get rid of me that easily.