New House Tonight!

The first glimmer of light in this dark, script-less void: House returns tonight with the first of three new episodes! (House airs at 8PM on Fox.) This Christmas-themed episode was displaced due to the strike, but don't let that stop you from revisiting the holiday spirit (or should I say scrooginess?) at Princeton-Plainsboro. Don't forget that the next episode of House airs this Sunday immediately following some silly football game.

TNT Knows Drama- and Bones!

Exciting news on the syndication front: TNT will begin showing episodes of Bones on Tuesday nights at 9 pm CST. This Tuesday, January 29, kicks off the show with the Pilot episode. For those of you who have not been blessed enough to see this show during its regular schedule on FOX, this is your chance to watch it in all its glory from the very beginning! I highly recommend this show for anyone who wants CSI without all that broodiness. Plus, David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel are much prettier to look at!

On a side note, TNT has also begun showing Charmed episdoes online! Yeee!

One Tree Hill and Other Strike Shows

It's been a winter of discontent for television viewers. As the second half of the season gets underway, we find the majority of our favorite shows missing from the lineup, only to be replaced with mind-numbing reality shows as like Celebrity Apprentice and a "new" American Gladiators. So, until my regular programming returns (Lost, please!)here is where I'll find relief from this TV rut.

One Tree Hill (the CW)- Don't get me wrong. I was as much a hater of this trite teen drama as the rest of you. After catching a few over-the-top episodes, I quickly added this show to the Do Not Watch list. But now that my TV schedule has been quickly demaciated, I decided to give this "new" version a try, especially after all the hype surrounding its 4-year flash-forward. And I must say, it was better than expected, save the unrealistic careers these kids found themselves in- basketball star, published author, fashion designer, record label assistant. However, the best change came in the form of 4-year-old Jamie, who proved to be more intelligent than all the main character's (now absent) parents put together.

Project Runway (Bravo) What more can you ask for than a bunch of society's outcasts thrown together to design clothes made from items found at the Hershey's store? Not much I say! These kooky kids sure make watching TV fun as they sew, swear, and struggle through the day. Not to mention Tim Gunn always manages to put a smile on my face.

Jon and Kate Plus 8 (TLC) So, most of you would probably think a show featuring nothing but screaming kids would be dreadful. But for some reason, this show is so addicting! I am right there with Jon and Kate as they try to understand their kids (6year old twins and 3-year-old sextuplets!). It's also interesting to see how these two young parents (Jon is only 30!) cope with such a massive amount of responsibility by staying patient and organized, as well as keeping their marriage going despite the 8 children constantly vying for their attention. And you think your day is unmanagable!

November Sweeps is Here!

It’s November, and that only means one thing: fall sweeps! As the first leg of the TV season comes to a climactic end just before the holidays, some shows will reign and others will be left behind. Some new shows have already been cancelled without even making it this far. Here’s my rundown of what new shows to watch, which to ditch (if you haven’t already) and which returning favorites have the most in store.

Top 5 New Shows:
Chuck
Pushing Daisies
Samantha Who?
Big Bang Theory
Journeyman

Worst 5 New Shows:
Bionic Woman
Big Shots
Cane
Cavemen
Carpoolers

Best Returning:
Bones
House
Heroes
Ghost Whisperer
How I Met Your Mother

Read Less, Know More?

I get an online newsletter at work with the tagline "Read Less, Know More." Not to be nitpicky, but doesn't that phrase contradict the entire purpose of a newsletter? They certainly aren't marketing their own publication very well with such an oxymoronic catch phrase. How do they suspect subscribers will actually come to "know more" by reading less? By reading less of their competition? By reading less of the National Enquirer? Or by reading less altogether? Are we receiving all of this knowledge through email osmosis? Are they anticipating delivering a newsletter that requires no reading? In any case, the whole concept of reading more to know less is just plain ridiculous. What a way to educate, there, online newsletter. I would unsubscribe you if I could.

Fall Premieres: ANTM, Gossip Girl, Kid Nation

Last night were the first fall premieres on my list: America's Next Top Model (Cycle 9), Gossip Girl, and Kid Nation

America's Next Top Model- While I was completely underwhelmed by last season's cast and ultimate winner, I still find myself drawn to this show. And not because I actually care about who wins, especially since the winner's only career is doing bad "My Life as a Cover Girl" spots during the ANTM commercial breaks. I think I am drawn to this show because I like watching the makeovers, the photo shoots, and the critiques. If they could cut the show down to 30 minutes, get rid of all of the house drama (this isn't the Real World), then I might like it even more. For now, I'll keep watching, if only to see what they'll do next.

Gossip Girl- I think I watched 2 episodes of the OC and One Tree Hill before I swore them off. I never got into these shows, about overprivileged teens with little supervision worrying only about their social lives and never about their homework. At least Dawson's Creek (which I didn't really watch either) spent some time inside the classroom. But despite these recipes for badly written and even worsely acted teen drama, I was compelled to check out Gossip Girl, starring Blake Lively, who has such a down-to-earth charm and such a natural look about her. Although her character, Serena, has quite a mature fashion sense for still being in high school. But her other actions--a one-on-one with Blair, skipping the party, and making a graceful exit when she inadvertently wound up there--are all a glimpse into the life of a girl who's had to grow up much too fast. In fact, everything in the show is a bit too mature for me to believe--the hotel serving them martinis (and the girls drinking them- wouldn't they prefer a wine cooler?), the sophomore-year "affair" between Seren a and Blair's boyfriend, even Chuck's desperate attempts to force himself on any blonde thing that moves. Maybe things really are different in the Upper East Side. But for now, I'll keep watching. There's a lot of things still left to unravel.

Kid Nation- I'll keep this one short. While the premise of kids running their own town is clever, they really aren't running anything. Their tasks are given to them, their leaders are chosen for them, and now they are only working to win a monetary prize. So the kids are camping out and doing chores- maybe this is really a parenting show in disguise. Aside from the "aww" moments and the laugh-out-loud moments that can only come from the innocence of childhood, this show seems pretty contrived and useless. Sorry Kid Nation, it's time to make room on the DVR for Pushing Daisies.

It's Still Just an MP3 Player...

Have you seen the new iPods? Frankly, I don't think there was anything wrong with the old ipods, but I guess Apple is losing steam on the iPhone. So what are these "terrific" new offerings??

*80 GB and 160GB iPods. Seriously, who even has access to that much music? Apple figures everyone who buys one will eventually spend a grand at the iTunes store.

*The new nano. It looks like a squatty version of the "classic" iPod. It's definitely not as sleek as the previous line. The big change is that the new Nanos play videos- but who wants to watch them on such a tiny screen? Want to watch a movie? Get a DVD player.

*The iPod Touch. Also known as the iPhone without the phone. I hope it comes with a free cleaning cloth to wipe off all those fingerprints.