"This would work on Ugly Betty."
First, a GIP, courtesy of awmp! This one and a similar icon for BTVS are share-able at her LJ.
Yesterday's spoilers poll was really interesting; thanks for participating, folks! Must say that I was amused that 37% of you thought we should wait until the end of the current season before eschewing cut-tagged spoilers... yet only 13% of you felt the same about using spoilery icons. I don't quite get the discrepancy, since *I* find certain icons just as spoilery as meta. Go figure. :)
I think the flu might be coming back. GAH. I shall ignore it and talk about TV instead. Spoilers only for the latest episodes of ...
30 Rock
Halfway through, I realized that we saw very little of Liz this week. I liked the focus on the secondary characters, though I missed Liz as the heart of the show (in the same way that Michael Bluth played the straight man amidst all those eccentrics.) While I also liked the little flirtation with the random guy at the end, I'm glad that they're not clearly trying to pair Liz with any of the men. I *love* her chemistry with Jack, but she deserves better! In the early episodes, I thought they were setting up an eventual Liz/Pete pairing, but he's married with a kid, and I don't see Tina writing an affair/breakup anytime soon. All the others? Nope. Though I would love to see Dennis come back, just because Dean Winters was so damn hilarious.
Isabella Rossellini has been a lot of fun. I can easily see Jack marrying her and buying an Arby's franchise in Telluride. If she ever returns, I want to see her eating one of those Beef 'n Cheddars (my favorite Arby's sandwich too!). One of my favorite things about the episode was actually quite subtle. Watch Jack's hands during the montage of him talking about Bianca -- the object in his hands leads into the next location. Very, very clever.
I still haven't quite warmed to Tracy Jor/gan as much as I want to. Jenna's "Vagina Day" speech was hilarious, but she's still too much of a weak link. I'd love to see more of Twofer and Cerie, especially given her distaste for the Greek Orthodox Church's stance on Cyprus. ;) And Kenneth Ellen will always be a delight -- his face-licking and "underpants" thing were almost as hilarious as "I think it's like Dr. Pepper." BTW, Whitney over at PopCandy just did an adorable interview with Jack McBrayer. I'm rather delighted that he starts half his replies with "Well". :)
I also really love that the show films in New York City. Though I've only visited there a few (too few!) times, I really bristle when shows try to fudge it on some Hollywood backlot. The location shoots in 30 Rock really give it that added edge.
Ugly Betty
Even without his Halloween costume, I still think of Clark Kent every time I see Christopher Gorham in those glasses. Guess that makes sense, given that he's rather like Betty's Superman. I didn't like his ex-girlfriend's appearance (and who else noticed that she was also Hiro's girlfriend on Heroes?) because it felt like too much of a contrivance. Then again, this *is* a soap opera. He and Betty are ADORABLE together. That's one of the many factors standing in the way of Betty/Daniel -- getting them together (which would be wrong) would mean that something happened with Henry... and I don't want anything to happen to those two. They're too damn cute.
Justin brings me much joy. I liked the twist with his fight coming from him defending his mother, rather than the boys cruelly bashing him. And I really appreciate that Hilda is so hardcore about supporting him. I hope he gets to see Wicked with Betty.
Not enough Amanda and Marc this week. Seeing Wilhemina get her comeuppance was a bit of fun, though I felt strangely sympathetic toward her. I liked seeing Daniel and Alexis quasi-bonding, since I assumed they'd be hardcore adversaries for a while. Claire's bombshell about Fey didn't surprise me at all -- except that I didn't expect it so soon. Also loved Alexis and Betty chatting about mustache bleach.
I'm so glad Tim Gunn came back -- he's a perfect fit for the show, both in subject matter and his wry/bemused demeanor. The show's fabulous visual/narrative style is one of its strongest elements. Silvio Horta, his writers, and his cinematographer all have such a strong concept of how the show should feel, and it really comes through onscreen in the camera, set design, and editing quirks, enhanced by the snappy and melodramatic dialogue and storylines. This strength of theme reminds me of the very noir-ish S1 of Veronica Mars (er, before that style fell apart in S2.) Given the difficulty of pulling that off so seamlessly, I really appreciate this about Ugly Betty. I have a great respect for Silvio Horta and his strong vision and commitment to his series. I just hope he can maintain that for multiple seasons!
Oh, and Alexis sauntering in to the tune of "I Know What Boys Want"? BRILLIANT.
24
Honestly? I don't even have much to say anymore. It's still wildly hilarious, but I'm handwaving too much this season. On the plus side, Jack torturing Graem was fantabulous. So I'll leave you with two words: "MORE CC'S!" ;)
Scrubs
The baby plot is over? Yay! Though, of course, it's not really over. The idea of JD spawning has been giving me hives. That said? WOW. What a shitty thing to do to JD, and I'd *liked* Elizabeth Banks's character.
I did appreciate how the road trip forced some unexpected interaction among JD, Carla, Keith, and Ted. Scrubs is greatly diminished this season, and though JD-as-lead has been a weak link for a while, I'm nervous about where they'll go next season (which is apparently going to happen.) I'll keep watching unless something better comes along, but I'm still rather sad about how things have been lately.
And now some linkspam.
-- sarmoti gives us a heads-up to video of Timberlake and Samberg performing "Dick in a Box" live at Madison Square Garden.
-- 24 meets Aqua Teen Hunger Force. That mash-up was just begging to be made. And Maureen Ryan interviews Mary Lynn Rajskub.
-- Courtesy of half my blogroll and flist: Anthony Bourdain delivers the smackdown on The Food Network.
-- zorb linked to every episode of House, in Yahoo!Mail emoticons.
-- PopWatch talks about the Smart Cycle: "a mini-stationary bike for 3 to 5 year olds that only lets the rider view the TV screen and play games when in motion." I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry... or just hope they made one of those for us grown-ups.
-- Time snarks a bit about Gen X'ers navel-gazing -- and blogging -- about parenthood.
-- I've spent much of the morning getting caught up on the Commercial Thread on the TWOP boards. If you're into snarking about commercials, this board provides hours of fun.
-- And finally, drewcypher posted promo pics for BSG 3.18. I do have one spoilery observation, which I've white-texted so that my spoiler-free friends can still read/reply without fear! [Spoiler: Highlight to read.] So... Lee chooses to commemorate Capt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace at the Memorial Wall by leaving ... a bottle of Amaretto? That's beautiful, man. [End spoiler!]
Yesterday's spoilers poll was really interesting; thanks for participating, folks! Must say that I was amused that 37% of you thought we should wait until the end of the current season before eschewing cut-tagged spoilers... yet only 13% of you felt the same about using spoilery icons. I don't quite get the discrepancy, since *I* find certain icons just as spoilery as meta. Go figure. :)
I think the flu might be coming back. GAH. I shall ignore it and talk about TV instead. Spoilers only for the latest episodes of ...
30 Rock
Halfway through, I realized that we saw very little of Liz this week. I liked the focus on the secondary characters, though I missed Liz as the heart of the show (in the same way that Michael Bluth played the straight man amidst all those eccentrics.) While I also liked the little flirtation with the random guy at the end, I'm glad that they're not clearly trying to pair Liz with any of the men. I *love* her chemistry with Jack, but she deserves better! In the early episodes, I thought they were setting up an eventual Liz/Pete pairing, but he's married with a kid, and I don't see Tina writing an affair/breakup anytime soon. All the others? Nope. Though I would love to see Dennis come back, just because Dean Winters was so damn hilarious.
Isabella Rossellini has been a lot of fun. I can easily see Jack marrying her and buying an Arby's franchise in Telluride. If she ever returns, I want to see her eating one of those Beef 'n Cheddars (my favorite Arby's sandwich too!). One of my favorite things about the episode was actually quite subtle. Watch Jack's hands during the montage of him talking about Bianca -- the object in his hands leads into the next location. Very, very clever.
I still haven't quite warmed to Tracy Jor/gan as much as I want to. Jenna's "Vagina Day" speech was hilarious, but she's still too much of a weak link. I'd love to see more of Twofer and Cerie, especially given her distaste for the Greek Orthodox Church's stance on Cyprus. ;) And Kenneth Ellen will always be a delight -- his face-licking and "underpants" thing were almost as hilarious as "I think it's like Dr. Pepper." BTW, Whitney over at PopCandy just did an adorable interview with Jack McBrayer. I'm rather delighted that he starts half his replies with "Well". :)
I also really love that the show films in New York City. Though I've only visited there a few (too few!) times, I really bristle when shows try to fudge it on some Hollywood backlot. The location shoots in 30 Rock really give it that added edge.
Ugly Betty
Even without his Halloween costume, I still think of Clark Kent every time I see Christopher Gorham in those glasses. Guess that makes sense, given that he's rather like Betty's Superman. I didn't like his ex-girlfriend's appearance (and who else noticed that she was also Hiro's girlfriend on Heroes?) because it felt like too much of a contrivance. Then again, this *is* a soap opera. He and Betty are ADORABLE together. That's one of the many factors standing in the way of Betty/Daniel -- getting them together (which would be wrong) would mean that something happened with Henry... and I don't want anything to happen to those two. They're too damn cute.
Justin brings me much joy. I liked the twist with his fight coming from him defending his mother, rather than the boys cruelly bashing him. And I really appreciate that Hilda is so hardcore about supporting him. I hope he gets to see Wicked with Betty.
Not enough Amanda and Marc this week. Seeing Wilhemina get her comeuppance was a bit of fun, though I felt strangely sympathetic toward her. I liked seeing Daniel and Alexis quasi-bonding, since I assumed they'd be hardcore adversaries for a while. Claire's bombshell about Fey didn't surprise me at all -- except that I didn't expect it so soon. Also loved Alexis and Betty chatting about mustache bleach.
I'm so glad Tim Gunn came back -- he's a perfect fit for the show, both in subject matter and his wry/bemused demeanor. The show's fabulous visual/narrative style is one of its strongest elements. Silvio Horta, his writers, and his cinematographer all have such a strong concept of how the show should feel, and it really comes through onscreen in the camera, set design, and editing quirks, enhanced by the snappy and melodramatic dialogue and storylines. This strength of theme reminds me of the very noir-ish S1 of Veronica Mars (er, before that style fell apart in S2.) Given the difficulty of pulling that off so seamlessly, I really appreciate this about Ugly Betty. I have a great respect for Silvio Horta and his strong vision and commitment to his series. I just hope he can maintain that for multiple seasons!
Oh, and Alexis sauntering in to the tune of "I Know What Boys Want"? BRILLIANT.
24
Honestly? I don't even have much to say anymore. It's still wildly hilarious, but I'm handwaving too much this season. On the plus side, Jack torturing Graem was fantabulous. So I'll leave you with two words: "MORE CC'S!" ;)
Scrubs
The baby plot is over? Yay! Though, of course, it's not really over. The idea of JD spawning has been giving me hives. That said? WOW. What a shitty thing to do to JD, and I'd *liked* Elizabeth Banks's character.
I did appreciate how the road trip forced some unexpected interaction among JD, Carla, Keith, and Ted. Scrubs is greatly diminished this season, and though JD-as-lead has been a weak link for a while, I'm nervous about where they'll go next season (which is apparently going to happen.) I'll keep watching unless something better comes along, but I'm still rather sad about how things have been lately.
And now some linkspam.
-- sarmoti gives us a heads-up to video of Timberlake and Samberg performing "Dick in a Box" live at Madison Square Garden.
-- 24 meets Aqua Teen Hunger Force. That mash-up was just begging to be made. And Maureen Ryan interviews Mary Lynn Rajskub.
-- Courtesy of half my blogroll and flist: Anthony Bourdain delivers the smackdown on The Food Network.
-- zorb linked to every episode of House, in Yahoo!Mail emoticons.
-- PopWatch talks about the Smart Cycle: "a mini-stationary bike for 3 to 5 year olds that only lets the rider view the TV screen and play games when in motion." I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry... or just hope they made one of those for us grown-ups.
-- Time snarks a bit about Gen X'ers navel-gazing -- and blogging -- about parenthood.
-- I've spent much of the morning getting caught up on the Commercial Thread on the TWOP boards. If you're into snarking about commercials, this board provides hours of fun.
-- And finally, drewcypher posted promo pics for BSG 3.18. I do have one spoilery observation, which I've white-texted so that my spoiler-free friends can still read/reply without fear! [Spoiler: Highlight to read.] So... Lee chooses to commemorate Capt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace at the Memorial Wall by leaving ... a bottle of Amaretto? That's beautiful, man. [End spoiler!]