Laura's TV Round-Up

1. House - I really wanted to like this one, but I just couldn't get myself to wrap my arms around it. I enjoyed the concept of House being in a psychiatric hospital, but I really don't think the episode accomplished its objectives. First of all, I was unhappy that the hallucinations were all wrapped up and solved two seconds after the credits rolled. Everything just seemed so inconsistent with the character they've written over the past few years. Like he had to have sex with that German woman in order to make a human connection? What about his relationship with Stacey? Or even really, his relationship with Cuddy? Why not explore the connections to people he (and we as the audience) already know, instead of creating some new character that no one really cares about? And the re-birthday party really didn't fit with him. It was far too soon for him to be so content. I honestly kept hoping that he'd wake up and it would have all been a hallucination again, that's how much I disliked it.

2. How I Met Your Mother - I'm really glad to have new episodes and this one was very funny, but I wish the writers would stop teasing us with the mother. If you're not going to show her, please stop saying things like "Well, your mother was sitting over here...but we'll get to that later..." - It's starting to get a little bit old to me, like that trick where you keep locking the car door the second someone puts their fingers on the handle. It's only funny to the person who's playing the trick.

3. Glee - I didn't really watch the entire episode, but I have a feeling I'll never get "Single Ladies" out of my head. Ever again.

4. Modern Family - Tim and I stumbled upon this show and it actually wound up being really funny. I liked the trick at the end where you think you're getting a sappy monologue to wrap things up (like Grey's Anatomy, or JD on Scrubs), but it turns out it was just the father making fun of a poem his son had written for his crush.

5. Flashforward - Okay, I missed the first fifteen minutes or so, but that's because I hadn't really intended on watching it. I had a wicked headache on Thursday and by 8:15 I just wanted to sit on the couch and put my head down, so I wound up seeing this show. Very strong cast and I really like the concept, I'm just not sure how they can drag it out without frustrating the audience by not letting them in on enough...Then again, it's worked for shows like Lost, Prison Break, and How I Met Your Mother (on a more comedic front of course and save my above grievances), so it'll probably work out for them too.

6. Fringe - I keep forgetting it's on. Fox was not smart to move it to 9 pm on Thursdays.

7. Grey's Anatomy - Really disappointing. Last season's finale was strong, but this episode fell flat. I wish they would have left us on the edge a little bit longer, regarding who was going to live or die. This is a show that has people meet up and talk in the inbetween and/or from the great beyond, so even if you're going to kill George, you could have had him spend a little more time around before we find out if Izzie lives. Also, having the episode span 40 days seemed like a cop-out to me. I'd much rather see how everyone progresses slowly over the season than have it crammed into two hours. Especially when those two hours didn't really give the character the goodbye he deserves. It can be done, which leads me to the list of....

TV Character Deaths that Were Way Better than George's:
1. Amber on House - She was a much more minor character and essentially got two quality hours devoted to her. Of course, in the first hour you don't know she's the dying person House is looking for, but that makes the revelation much better. It's a trippy episode and she often "wakes" up to tell House what he's doing wrong. And it never hurts to have Bon Iver and Iron & Wine singing you out.

2. Mrs. Landingham on West Wing - You get to see her in flashbacks and beyond the grave and the power of a repeated line never ceases to get me. Martin Sheen is absolutely amazing in it as well.

3. Most people on ER - ER usually does it right. Dennis Gant's maybe suicide was discovered in a fairly similar way to George on Grey's. Lucy's murder wasn't talked about a lot, but the repercussions of it went on for quite some time. Mark's episode never fails to make me cry (and we're talking an ugly cry), and Pratt's was touching as well. I refuse to acknowledge Gallant's because they pretty much brought him back just to kill him. Aside from him and Romano's ridiculous helicopter-on-top-of-me demise, they've pretty much gotten it right.

4. Oh yeah, and I wasn't watching West Wing when Leo died, so I can't make a comment on that.

5. Everyone on Six Feet Under - And I mean everyone. The series finale went through every character's death, and I thought it was a clever finale for a show set in a funeral home.

6. I think there were some good ones on Lost, but I stopped watching it and I honestly can't tell you if those characters stayed dead or not. People are always getting killed and reappearing later, so I'm not calling anybody's time of death