Oooh, television memes make me happy.
Helpfully borrowed from leobrat:
5 Most Exciting TV Moments From This Season
1. Notre Dame v. UCLA
Oh my god, Irish, what are you DOING?! I knew the game against the Bruins could get sketchy, but most people seemed to expect ND to pull off a win. And since I'm still learning about this sort of thing, I went with the majority. But yeah, as the game went on, it just seemed to be going bad. Very bad. ND wasn't playing up to snuff, and UCLA was connecting on so much more. It got down to the last few minutes, and I thought "You need a touchdown....just a touchdown. You can DO this." At the same time, I was basically getting ready to pack up and call it a day. And then - they came through. Oh, Notre Dame, you give me freaking heart palpitations sometimes.
2. OTH, Peyton's brother is a fake.
I obviously have some issues with Peyton this season. (See below). But I did like the story of her brother being a fake. I think it was a good idea. And hopefully it's going to obliterate that damn webcam of hers. See what happens when you bring out the webcam? People get crazy! But seriously, aside from the heavy Lucas/Peyton propping (ugh), I thought it was a sufficiently creepy and dramatic story. My only complaint (besides, you know, Lucas/Peyton) is that it has been fairly rushed.
3.ER, season premiere
The season finale was so good, I didn’t imagine the premiere would be able to pick up on that, but it totally did. Maybe it wasn’t quite AS exciting, but it wasn’t the letdown I expected. I liked the twist of Sam choosing to shoot and kill her ex rather than take the chance on him entering their lives again. I loved the scenes with Abby and Luka. Yes, I was a little disappointed about the hysterectomy (ER is all about the tragic, right?) but I did understand that it upped the stakes for the next episode, where you didn’t know if the baby was going to survive. If they hadn’t done that, then you very well could have said “Well, it will be sad, but at least they can have another baby.” But you knew this time, they couldn’t. And Jerry survived! So, yes, good times.
4.My Name Is Earl, how Randy handles a breakup.
Oh my god, this was pure brilliance. It was one of those classic Earl moments that goes on almost TOO long, but the fact that it just keeps on going is what makes it so hilarious. For those who didn’t see it, Randy reacts to a breakup by carrying around a boombox everywhere and singing along to Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper. Even now, I can’t think of that scene without giggling.
5.The Office, as good as it ever was.
While the show’s pace is thrown off by Jim not being there, it is still as full of hilarious moments as before. I also like that - with a little less focus on Jim/Pam - we’re getting to see a tiny bit more of the other characters, like Stanley’s love of the free donut (it wasn’t a donut, actually…what was it?) and Ryan in general. Plus, without Jim there, Pam is forced to develop a friendship with Crazy Kelly, which actually really amuses me. And don’t get me started on the Dwight-vs-Michael episode. OH MY GOD. Brilliant.
5 Biggest Disappointments
1. OTH, Peyton in general
I admit that I am starting to warm up to her, but yeah, the first few episodes of this season were pretty rough. After everything they’ve been through, I refuse to believe that Peyton would once again give up her friendship with Brooke in order to have Lucas. Yes, I understand that Brooke is the one who walked away, but that was the moment where Peyton could have said “This isn’t worth it…and regardless of whether I get her back or not, I don’t feel right about it.” But she more or less shrugged and continued to make googly eyes at Lucas. That drove me up a damn wall. But at least there’s hope for the future…
2. Notre Dame's shittastic playing.
Notre Dame has pulled out some amazing endings, most notably against Michigan State and UCLA, but the fact of the matter is, they shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. If they had come in and dominated, instead of not connecting on anything and in general, being outcoached and outplayed, it wouldn’t have had to come down to the last minute. So yes, I’m a little worried about the rest of the season, if this is the kind of playing that is going on. One of these times, they won’t be able to make the last-minute save.
3. ER, the baby was supposed to have been a girl!
Seriously, this really bothers me. Susan had a boy. Kerry had a boy. Carter had a boy (okay, so the baby died, but he was still a boy). I fully expected Abby and Luka to have a girl. Come on! Does the ER just produce male babies or something? I think the last female baby was born back in the days of Mark Green. So yes, I realize that it is perfectly ridiculous, but it bothers me.
4. CSI: Miami, remember Horatio's wife? Yeah, me neither.
Why on earth would they marry off Horatio (to Delko’s sister, no less), then kill his wife….and then not DO anything with it? I understand that’s what the first episode was all about, but honestly, we should have more character development going on than this. Even in that first episode, Horatio was more or less making eyes at Yelina. It makes the whole Marisol arc seem irrelevant, which makes me very unhappy.
5. SVU, Connie Nielsen's character.
I hate to be one of those SVU fangirls who refuses to accept new characters coming in, but I’m having a hard time warming up to Dani Beck. And I think it’s because it is the SAME STORY ALL THE TIME. Seriously, you can set your watch to the minutes in the episode where she (a) acts brash and offends somebody, (b) doesn’t understand that SVU is different than what she’s used to, and (c) tears up because she Finally Gets It. EVERY DAMN EPISODE. I agree with Stabler that she’s not a good fit for the unit, but they need to pick an attitude and stick with it. I understand that logically, people don’t change overnight. That’s fine. But then don’t give her these moments of remorse and understanding just to revert back to the original behavior in the next episode.
5 Things I'm Looking Forward To
1. OTH, Brooke + Rachel.
I really like the friendship these two are developing. I’m still fairly negative at Peyton (as you can tell), but I do want Brooke to have someone in her corner. And I keep maintaining that the way to rehabilitate Rachel (as it were) is to connect her to someone the audience cares about. And most of the audience cares about Brooke. Plus, I buy that Rachel legitimately cares for Brooke. Sure, she goes about showing it in fairly odd ways, but I think that’s just how Rachel works. So I definitely want to see this continue. It’s much more fun to watch than the flat-out hatred of last season.
2. CSI continuing on its upward spiral.
I’ve heard people complain that CSI is going overboard to keep viewers from jumping ship to Grey’s Anatomy. And you know what? I think that’s good. So far, this season has been really interesting to me. I have a tendency with CSI to get bored fairly quickly. But this season has been very good at keeping my interest. Sure, some of the ideas are a little hokey (look, the corpses are chatting!) but it’s something different. They’re trying to NOT be your average crime procedural. I think it’s the shot in the arm the show needed.
3. The Office, Jim and Pam seeing each other again!
Come on, what Office fan ISN’T looking forward to this one? It was bittersweet enough to see them talking on the phone the other day, but when they actually see each other again…aww.
4. SVU, Mariska's return.
I know, I’ll eventually kick myself for this one, I’m sure. But I’m hoping a little bit that Olivia’s experience will change her. I’ve given up hope that Belzer and Ice-T are going to get to shine (even in Mariska’s absence, they’re still glorifed go-fers), so the most I ask for is that Olivia drops some of the saintliness and disregard for the rules. And I’d like to see the tension between her and Stabler return. Plus, as I mentioned, I’m not a big fan of the Dani Beck arc, so let’s move on.
5. NCIS, finally getting an explanation as to whether Tony and Ziva have been sleeping together.
Seriously, this is just bugging me. In the season premiere, the Mossad had pictures of Tony showing up at Ziva’s place “several times a week” and Ziva didn’t deny it. That led me to believe that there’s something going on there, but it’s never been mentioned again. And they don’t ACT like there’s something going on. In fact, Ziva made a comment about Tony dating a mystery woman or something. A part of me almost wants to think it’s Jenny, as crazy as that may sound. I’m just getting a weird vibe from them. But again, I just want some ANSWERS. Hopefully they’ll come about.
5 Most Exciting TV Moments From This Season
1. Notre Dame v. UCLA
Oh my god, Irish, what are you DOING?! I knew the game against the Bruins could get sketchy, but most people seemed to expect ND to pull off a win. And since I'm still learning about this sort of thing, I went with the majority. But yeah, as the game went on, it just seemed to be going bad. Very bad. ND wasn't playing up to snuff, and UCLA was connecting on so much more. It got down to the last few minutes, and I thought "You need a touchdown....just a touchdown. You can DO this." At the same time, I was basically getting ready to pack up and call it a day. And then - they came through. Oh, Notre Dame, you give me freaking heart palpitations sometimes.
2. OTH, Peyton's brother is a fake.
I obviously have some issues with Peyton this season. (See below). But I did like the story of her brother being a fake. I think it was a good idea. And hopefully it's going to obliterate that damn webcam of hers. See what happens when you bring out the webcam? People get crazy! But seriously, aside from the heavy Lucas/Peyton propping (ugh), I thought it was a sufficiently creepy and dramatic story. My only complaint (besides, you know, Lucas/Peyton) is that it has been fairly rushed.
3.ER, season premiere
The season finale was so good, I didn’t imagine the premiere would be able to pick up on that, but it totally did. Maybe it wasn’t quite AS exciting, but it wasn’t the letdown I expected. I liked the twist of Sam choosing to shoot and kill her ex rather than take the chance on him entering their lives again. I loved the scenes with Abby and Luka. Yes, I was a little disappointed about the hysterectomy (ER is all about the tragic, right?) but I did understand that it upped the stakes for the next episode, where you didn’t know if the baby was going to survive. If they hadn’t done that, then you very well could have said “Well, it will be sad, but at least they can have another baby.” But you knew this time, they couldn’t. And Jerry survived! So, yes, good times.
4.My Name Is Earl, how Randy handles a breakup.
Oh my god, this was pure brilliance. It was one of those classic Earl moments that goes on almost TOO long, but the fact that it just keeps on going is what makes it so hilarious. For those who didn’t see it, Randy reacts to a breakup by carrying around a boombox everywhere and singing along to Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper. Even now, I can’t think of that scene without giggling.
5.The Office, as good as it ever was.
While the show’s pace is thrown off by Jim not being there, it is still as full of hilarious moments as before. I also like that - with a little less focus on Jim/Pam - we’re getting to see a tiny bit more of the other characters, like Stanley’s love of the free donut (it wasn’t a donut, actually…what was it?) and Ryan in general. Plus, without Jim there, Pam is forced to develop a friendship with Crazy Kelly, which actually really amuses me. And don’t get me started on the Dwight-vs-Michael episode. OH MY GOD. Brilliant.
5 Biggest Disappointments
1. OTH, Peyton in general
I admit that I am starting to warm up to her, but yeah, the first few episodes of this season were pretty rough. After everything they’ve been through, I refuse to believe that Peyton would once again give up her friendship with Brooke in order to have Lucas. Yes, I understand that Brooke is the one who walked away, but that was the moment where Peyton could have said “This isn’t worth it…and regardless of whether I get her back or not, I don’t feel right about it.” But she more or less shrugged and continued to make googly eyes at Lucas. That drove me up a damn wall. But at least there’s hope for the future…
2. Notre Dame's shittastic playing.
Notre Dame has pulled out some amazing endings, most notably against Michigan State and UCLA, but the fact of the matter is, they shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. If they had come in and dominated, instead of not connecting on anything and in general, being outcoached and outplayed, it wouldn’t have had to come down to the last minute. So yes, I’m a little worried about the rest of the season, if this is the kind of playing that is going on. One of these times, they won’t be able to make the last-minute save.
3. ER, the baby was supposed to have been a girl!
Seriously, this really bothers me. Susan had a boy. Kerry had a boy. Carter had a boy (okay, so the baby died, but he was still a boy). I fully expected Abby and Luka to have a girl. Come on! Does the ER just produce male babies or something? I think the last female baby was born back in the days of Mark Green. So yes, I realize that it is perfectly ridiculous, but it bothers me.
4. CSI: Miami, remember Horatio's wife? Yeah, me neither.
Why on earth would they marry off Horatio (to Delko’s sister, no less), then kill his wife….and then not DO anything with it? I understand that’s what the first episode was all about, but honestly, we should have more character development going on than this. Even in that first episode, Horatio was more or less making eyes at Yelina. It makes the whole Marisol arc seem irrelevant, which makes me very unhappy.
5. SVU, Connie Nielsen's character.
I hate to be one of those SVU fangirls who refuses to accept new characters coming in, but I’m having a hard time warming up to Dani Beck. And I think it’s because it is the SAME STORY ALL THE TIME. Seriously, you can set your watch to the minutes in the episode where she (a) acts brash and offends somebody, (b) doesn’t understand that SVU is different than what she’s used to, and (c) tears up because she Finally Gets It. EVERY DAMN EPISODE. I agree with Stabler that she’s not a good fit for the unit, but they need to pick an attitude and stick with it. I understand that logically, people don’t change overnight. That’s fine. But then don’t give her these moments of remorse and understanding just to revert back to the original behavior in the next episode.
5 Things I'm Looking Forward To
1. OTH, Brooke + Rachel.
I really like the friendship these two are developing. I’m still fairly negative at Peyton (as you can tell), but I do want Brooke to have someone in her corner. And I keep maintaining that the way to rehabilitate Rachel (as it were) is to connect her to someone the audience cares about. And most of the audience cares about Brooke. Plus, I buy that Rachel legitimately cares for Brooke. Sure, she goes about showing it in fairly odd ways, but I think that’s just how Rachel works. So I definitely want to see this continue. It’s much more fun to watch than the flat-out hatred of last season.
2. CSI continuing on its upward spiral.
I’ve heard people complain that CSI is going overboard to keep viewers from jumping ship to Grey’s Anatomy. And you know what? I think that’s good. So far, this season has been really interesting to me. I have a tendency with CSI to get bored fairly quickly. But this season has been very good at keeping my interest. Sure, some of the ideas are a little hokey (look, the corpses are chatting!) but it’s something different. They’re trying to NOT be your average crime procedural. I think it’s the shot in the arm the show needed.
3. The Office, Jim and Pam seeing each other again!
Come on, what Office fan ISN’T looking forward to this one? It was bittersweet enough to see them talking on the phone the other day, but when they actually see each other again…aww.
4. SVU, Mariska's return.
I know, I’ll eventually kick myself for this one, I’m sure. But I’m hoping a little bit that Olivia’s experience will change her. I’ve given up hope that Belzer and Ice-T are going to get to shine (even in Mariska’s absence, they’re still glorifed go-fers), so the most I ask for is that Olivia drops some of the saintliness and disregard for the rules. And I’d like to see the tension between her and Stabler return. Plus, as I mentioned, I’m not a big fan of the Dani Beck arc, so let’s move on.
5. NCIS, finally getting an explanation as to whether Tony and Ziva have been sleeping together.
Seriously, this is just bugging me. In the season premiere, the Mossad had pictures of Tony showing up at Ziva’s place “several times a week” and Ziva didn’t deny it. That led me to believe that there’s something going on there, but it’s never been mentioned again. And they don’t ACT like there’s something going on. In fact, Ziva made a comment about Tony dating a mystery woman or something. A part of me almost wants to think it’s Jenny, as crazy as that may sound. I’m just getting a weird vibe from them. But again, I just want some ANSWERS. Hopefully they’ll come about.