KT Update-Midseason Report Card

Hey Kids, its been awhile but I’m back some scoopage and a midseason report card for this season’s shows.

Before we dive into to all the fun stuff, I want to take a second to remember Pat Morita & Wendy Jo Sperber, who both passed away last week.

I’m sure most of you know Pat Morita, if not from Happy Days then as Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid. Those who knew him say he was a man of uncommon decency and good humor.

Wendy Jo Sperber is less known. I’ll always remember her as a part of my all time favorite tv show, Bosom Buddies. She had a slew of tiny roles in big movies, including Back to the Future as Marty’s sister. She died Nov. 29 of breast cancer.

Both will be missed.


Alright, I’m bringing myself down! Let’s talk tv!
In my absence a few more shows have gotten the ax. Including Threshold, Alias & Reunion. As far as I’m concerned Alias isn’t really an axing. I had a sneaking suspicion this would be it. Jennifer is busy with baby Affleck (she gave birth this morning to a bouncing baby girl) and as much as I love Balthazar Getty the new characters aren’t half as interesting at the original cast. Truth is, this show had 2 AMAZING seasons and 2 pretty good ones. I haven’t sucked in to this show since the 3rd season. And now it is just, well I guess out of loyalty that I watch it. Don’t get me wrong, it is still enjoyable, and I’m very excited for Sark-a-liscous to be back this week, but I definitely think it is time for the show to end. Oh, for the month of December Alias moves to Wed @10.

Threshold started off with such potential and I liked it while it was on, but truth be told, I’m really not too disappointed with its sudden departure.

Reunion is another story! I love this show. I love how bad it is! What the crap is Fox doing? Ok sure the show loses over half of The O.C.’s audience but I need to know who killed Sam! And…ooohhh! With last night’s big Craig reveal I am in even further! Luckily, Fox is giving the show a few episodes to (hopefully) wrap everything up. Maybe they’ll skip a few years so they can get up to present time and give me closure!!

In other tv news, American Idol has been picked up for 6 more seasons! Holy Snikes! That’s some love from Fox.

Oh, and this is so horrible that it actually made me laugh. The new show that will take Arrested Development’s timeslot is…..Skating with the Stars. Oh yeah, you read it right. Check out this list:

Nancy Kerrigan & Dave Coulier
Kurt Browning & Deborah Gibson
Tai Babilonia & Bruce Jenner
John Zimmerman & Jillian Barberie
Lloyd Eisler & Kristy Swanson
Jenni Meno & Todd Bridges
Host - Scott Hamilton
Co-host - Summer Sanders
Judges - Dorothy Hamill, John Nicks, Mark Lund

Ya know what hurts? That I love a lot of these skaters and I’m sure this show is so horrible that I’d love it, but I can not watch this show because I know what will happen. Fox will say, “See, the American public does not want fast, smart, quirky comedy, the American Public wants a reality show with beloved figure skaters from our past, teaming out with has beans! It is show so simple that only basic brainwaves are needed! And it is a monster hit!!!” I won’t do it, I won’t support the demise of quality tv….

And continuing with that thought, Brian Grazer was on the tv the other day and was dropping hints all over the place that Arrested Development will be picked up by another channel. Oh please Santa!!!!!

Ok kiddies, Sweeps is over and now (for the most part) and we will be faced with weeks of reruns (lost isn’t new until 2006) before the mid season premieres. Hold up!! NBC has just announced that SCRUBS WILL RETURN JAN 3! IT WILL AIR TUESDAYS AT 9 WITH BACK TO BACK EPISODES! HURRAY! Also, NBC will be switching its Thursday night lineup. Starting in January Thurs nights will be: Will & Grace, 4 Kings, The Office & My Name is Earl.

Ok, so to get back to what I was saying, sweeps is over, mid season is upon us. So below I have a report card for all the shows I currently watch, the grading may surprise you.


Arrested Development
God how I love this show. It is just so absurd…everything that goes on with the Bluth’s is absurd and I love every minute of it. I’ll always remember the mole vs. George Michael in the super pack. Please someone save my show!! Please!!!!! A


How I Met Your Mother
Biggest surprise of the year. I really, really like this show. I actually get a little excited when it comes on. I like all the characters (esp. Barney) and the show feels very easy and comfortable. A

Prison Break
At times this show has flirted with greatness and because of that I have tried with all my might to ignore all the issues with reality that this show has. If the “fall finale” had ended a tad differently this grade would be a lot better. But, as it stands, I feel used by the show. Up until now everything that has happened on the show has had to happen in order for the boys to successfully bust out of prison. But the way it ended on Monday, with the boys trapped underneath the infirmary, obviously the creators need to kill some more time because their episode order was extended. It just feels all off and cheap and there is no way they could escape when the show returns in March that could satisfy me (I’m willing to guess). I am seriously considering breaking up with this show. C+

My Name Is Earl
Ever since Mallrats I’ve loved Jason Lee and I think that he was born to play Earl Mackey. Can’t imagine anyone else in the role. I think the show is highly enjoyable though it is not a show that I can’t live without. B+

The Amazing Race
One Word: Lame. F

House
After the season premiere I thought the writers were getting a little too cute with Dr. House. But the show has done a good job of making House snippy & angry while not overdoing it. I’m very excited to see what will happen now that House has to answer to Foreman. B+

Lost
It has been an interesting season so far. I still like the show a whole lot but it has definitely lost something for me. Don’t know if its that I’m bored with Kate, that I can’t stand Anna Lucia (although she gets points because it was rad the way she killed her shooter), that Charlie has been really aggravating me or that I just really haven’t found the show to be as exhilarating at it once was. I still think it is high quality and I dig Mr. Ecko and how his presence will affect Locke, but it just doesn’t make my heart race like it use to. A-

Veronica Mars
This show had me totally engrossed last year, and it was definitely the show I was most anticipating in the fall. I am happy to report that the show has not let me down yet. I frikkin love Logan (although it was a dirty, dirty trick the show pulled in the premiere! Getting my hopes all up just so that Veronica could end up with Duncan) and there are so many stories going on that my head is spinning! Who rigged the bus? Who killed Felix? Who’s framing Logan? Why is Duncan so boring? When will Beaver & Mac get together? Wait, Meg’s pregnant!? Is it Duncan’s?? When will Wallace come back (my only issue with the show this year) and when will Veronica put the smack down on Wallace’s pseudo girlfriend? So many questions!!! I love every drop! A

Survivor
It has been a bit of an up and down year for me. At first I was excited about Steph & bobby jon but then they started to annoy the crap out of me. It was getting a bit predictable and in the last few weeks things have finally started to spice up. Not my favorite season (by a long shot) but a pretty solid one. B

Alias
It is so hard for me to grade this show. I do like seeing Amy Acker & Balthazar Getty. I think the show is hurting this season because Jennifer Garner is preggers and thus the focus has gone off of her onto to some new characters and because of the Vaughn situation. His death hasn’t really brought to much to the show, and I still think the way they wrapped him up in the first episode was a slap in the face to his fans. They need to kick it up a notch so the show can end with a bang! B-

Smallville
Ahh James Marsters…how I love thee! I’m watching this season because of him and I’m not too sure that the show has fully won me over. I’ll doubt I’ll watch next year if he is not on it. Still, I have enjoyed the episodes I’ve watched. Lord knows I’m a sucker for inside jokes! B-

Reunion
My guilty pleasure. Good times. It makes me a little sad that the show hasn’t taken full advantage of the whole 1 year=1 episode slant. They should have different hair and outfits every year! I’ve seen no zcaveriche, no big hair, no fun styles! Well, except for Craig’s Miami Vice outfit. Other than that it is has been so plain! Booo! I just hope the creators are nice and wrap everything up before the show ends. Must know who killed Sam. B

Everwood
I’m trying to think back about something important to say, but honestly, I don’t think anything exciting has happened this season. It has been good, but kinda of boring for lack of a better word. I heard someone is gonna bite it this year, so hopefully that will spice things up. B


Desperate Housewives
Ehh. This show is just ehhh to me now. Susan is such a joke, I can’t believe Bree would let things get that far with George, Gabby is completely unlikable and once again I find myself only enjoying Lynette (and Edie!!) I’m still watching but not enjoying like I use too. B-

So there it is boys and girls. Do you have any thoughts? Especially liked/hated anything this year? Before Xmas I’ll send out a new excel sheet for the midseason (things are moving all over the place) and! (oh happy day) Jack Bauer will be back in a month! (“How did you get this number?”) HOORAY!!!!

Mikey Look! It is Tom Lenk!!!

Hey boys and girls----quick update for you.

First off---Mikey!! You’re favorite boy will be showing up on House next week! That’s right, Tom Lenk will make an appearance (read: short) on the Nov. 15 episode of House as a flight attendant.

Tonight there are 2 big events at 9! Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. Should I watch Lost live to see which cast member (I already know actually) dies? Is anyone not spoiled for this one? Last week the cover of US Weekly said “Who will die on Lost?” with a picture of the doomed castaway! Or, I could be a nice girlfriend and wait for Jay to get home? Which means I can watch Veronica Mars which guest stars the Whedon tonight. Plus I think Veronica & Duncan are getting close to a breakup! Praise the Lord! He is so flippin boring!!

There are rumors that Aquaman will score a spinoff! I’d be all for that as long as they don’t hire the dork that played aquaman on Smallville. That dude was horrible. Really. And Smallville was superfun again last week as Tom Wopat arrived as an ol buddy of Daddy Kent. So funny, he showed up in the General Lee (except it was blue). I think that is the reason I like Smallville. Love. Inside. Jokes. Makes me feel so smart.

You guys are killing me! Arrested Development was ridiculously funny this week. RIDICULOUS. Watch it!

Casting News!
When Jake in Progress returns this winter Charlotte Ross will be the new love interest! Oh Charlotte, I remember when you were an evil, evil girl on Days of Our Lives. Then you were a hooker with a heart of gold. Soaps are so funny.

Brit Report!
Next week Brit will release a cd of remixes. But she’s not promoting it, she’s too busy taking care of baby k-fed because her husband is out trying to promote his “music”. Holy crap I read some of his lyrics the other day and I nearly wet myself, I was laughing so hard. Message to KFED: Do not attempt to rap. You have zero musical ability. Stay home and keep your meal ticket happy.

Finally, I just finished reading “Life of Pi”. This is the story of Pi, a boy who is trapped on a lifeboat with a bengal tiger after the cargo ship he and his family were on sinks. It felt long to me. And sometimes it was hard to get through and then after everything that happened, the end made me mad. I can see how some people take it differently, but really, I was like, BAH!!!! Next I’m reading “A Million Little Pieces” which is about some dude’s stint in rehab. It is an Oprah book but I’m reading it for my work book club. To be honest, I’ve liked most of the Oprah books I’ve read. “She’s Come Undone” was awesome.

Anyhoo that’s all for me. Next week I’m off to Miami for the thrilling conclusion of the nascar season. And hopefully while I’ away I’ll be able to catch up on some of the movies that are coming out that I want to see (Rent, Potter)….

Later!!!

KT Update-TV Bits & Pieces

Hello boys and girls. It has been quite a while (nearly three weeks!) since the last KT Update. I’ve been really busy at work and super tired at home….but enough with the excuses…let’s get on with the scoop!

I have lots of tv bits!

Oh! Warm my lil’heart…it is a pseudo sunnydale reunion on Veronica Mars! In an upcoming episode Charisma Carpenter & Alyson Hannigan will have a “bitch off’ scene. Sweet! I can hardly wait.

Mark Paul Gosselar has signed on to Commander in Chief. Not that I watch this show, but really, how can you pass up Zack Morris scoop?

On the HBO front, Six Feet Under creater Alan Ball has signed a deal to bring the cable network a new show about vampires. Interesting. The show will be based on the novels of Charlaine Harris. I’m not too familiar with the work, but from what I understand the show is based in the south…so I guess we’ll see. Doesn't really matter acutally, Alan Ball is one of those few people who have earned my loyalty and so I will definitely be checking this one out.

Darren Aronofsky who is best known for directing Requiem for a Dream, will direct a May sweeps episode of Lost. Yikes. I’ve never seen Requiem and that’s because 90% of people who have, say that it is THE most disturbing film they’ve ever seen. Yikes!

Many of you have been forwarding me emails about the fate of Alias. Truth is, I’m only 5% worried. It is pretty well known that this is the last season, J.J. & Jennifer Garner are bonifide stars & I heard from a reliable source that ABC is not too disappointed in the show’s performance. What you say? How can this be? Well apparently ABC knew the show would get clobbered in the Thurs 8 timeslot and probably expected a drop after the whole Vaughn incident. Still, some point to ABC’s removal of Alias during sweeps (when Pirates of the Caribean will be on) and January (when Dancing with the Stars airs). Ehhh. I’m pretty sure that Alias was pulled during sweeps every year…nothing new there. But what about the ABC press release that touted every show’s ratings except Alias? Um, you got me there. But in all honesty, I’m enjoying the show this year. I’ve accepted the fact that the show will never regain the power of seasons 1 or 2. Now I just enjoy it for what it is. Plus Balthazaar Getty is so fun to look at…and SARKALICIOUS will return soon!

I’ve got some very upsetting Arrested Development news. No, no the show hasn’t been cancelled…but they are taking a brief hiatus. Jason Bateman had to go in for emergency throat surgery yesterday and will need a few weeks to recoup.

What’s coming up on your favorite shows?

Show of hands, how many of you know who is gonna kick the bucket on Lost?
I’ve also heard that a major character will bite it on Everwood and Smallville!
And….apparently Pres. Palmer plays a prominent role in the plot of 24 this year. My bet, he finally gets assassinated. That would bring Jack back from his Incredible Hulk impersonation.

I’ve never been a huge smallville fan. When it first premiered I checked it out for a few episodes & I kinda liked superteen, actually, truth be told, I really liked Lex. Ugh. So predictable. Put a bad boy in front of me and I’ll start salivating. Anyhoo….it has been a long, long time since I’ve watched Smallville and I decided to check it out this season because of the James Marsters factor. Hmmm. More James Marsters is more gooder.
Anyhoo, I’m pretty surprised how much I enjoy the show. Sure the acting and the storylines are sometimes little sketchy but there are so many inside jokes. I love it. Take last week for example. The episode was about a sorority of vampires. Lana joins up gets bit goes all vampy. It was a campy, fun episode (although the special effects were wretched…sidenote: how does THIS show have wretched special effects?) but the best part was a) James Marsters telling Clark “There’s no such thing as vampires” and b) the head sorority chic was a blond name buffy sanders. Haha. And at the end lana slayed buffy the vampire.

As for the biggest disappointment of the fall season so far….Desperate Housewives. I still tune in but I really don’t care about any of these people and I.zzzzz.zzzzzzzzz.zzzzzzzz.zz oops! Dozed off there for a hot second. Sorry, what was I saying?

Before I go I just want to take a second to chime in on the whole Nick & Jessica thing. Two words. So Over.

I’ll be back after sweeps to sum up everything and let you know my thoughts. I’m sure we’ll want to have a Lost discussion. And plus…we are dangerously close to Jack Bauer Power Hour!!!!

Get Lost for $1.99!

Before I go to the tv season pickup news, let’s talk Itunes. You can go onto Itunes6 & download any episode of Lost or Desperate Housewives for $1.99. Shows from last season are available immediately, while this season’s episodes will be available the day after airing. I don’t know about you but I think that’s awesome! Imagine liking an episode so much that you wanted to buy it! Or if you had 6 shows on in the same timeslot you could just pay $1.99 an episode! Honestly, I probably would only do it for the shows I love, but I think it is an awesome idea!!!

Ok…more fall tv pickups:
The following shows have all been picked up for 22 episodes:
Prison Break
Everybody Hates Chris
My Name is Earl
Supernatural
Bones
The War at Home
How I Met Your Mother
Ghost Whisperer
Criminal Minds

And our latest cancellation is Barely Legal. Never heard of it eh? Exactly.

Arrested Development returns Nov. 7 with back to back episodes…whoa…that means that sweeps is 2 ½ weeks away! Sweet. Anyhoo I’m scared for Kitchen Confidential…it does not look good. But otherwise on the sitcom front I like “How I Met Your Mother” & “My Name is Earl” more & more every week. I still miss scrubs though.

Other than that…

Chris Klein was on Access Hollywood last night. He said that he & Katie Holmes broke up in March (one month before she got with Tom!!) because they realized they didn’t “light each other’s fires anymore.” I was hoping he would say something mean, but he didn’t!!! BORING!!!!

Wow. TV CRAZINESS!

Wow. Wowie, Wow, wow. Are tv producers trying to kill me? I thought the tv season was going rather well, I haven’t hated anything that I’ve viewed yet. Overall…enjoyable. Nothing too pulse raising, but still enjoyable. Well, that all changed on Wednesday.

Please be aware that what follows is a discussion of the Veronica Mars, Alias & Everwood premieres. If you haven’t seen either yet, and plan to, you might want to skip down to the NEWS portion of the update.

It is absolutely official. My favorite show on tv is now Veronica Mars. I know I’ve talked highly about the show for some time, but it really won me over with the last 6 episodes of the season and the premiere locked it up. Lost is still amazing and of course I love my Jack Bauer, but I haven’t been in this deep with a show since the buffyverse or the first season of alias. I know that some of you are still missing out on this show, WHAT IN THE CRAP ARE YOU WAITING FOR? UPN is rearing the premiere on Sunday, so if you hate football and have nothing better to do, I suggest you check it out. –Oh KT Update break----Sorry for the brief interruption, as I am typing this up Buffy is playing in the background. It was the scene where Willow & Xander are trying on their formal wear for the Homecoming dance and have their first kiss. That’s why I love this show. I’ve seen this episode 50X but it still pulls me away from what I’m doing. Hee Hee. Sorry, back to Veronica Mars.

When we last left Veronica she had outed her best friend’s killer, found out that her ex-boyfriend was not her step brother and opened the door to a new boyfriend. I have to say that the show kept me guessing throughout with lots of little twist & turns. My head was spinning for most of the show. They managed to make Duncan a little more endearing, but I still think he is a total snore. I think it makes sense that Duncan & Veronica would be together again since they never had resolution in their previous relationship. I’m much more of a Logan girl. Yes, yes, I fall into the bad boy category. Spike, Pacey, Sawyer; actually the only time I’ve pulled for the “safe guy” was Felicity. I love me some Noel! Ohh that reminds me, Amy Acker said that when the cast found out she was cutting cut from The Unit, Scott Foley really fought for her to stay. Ultimately, the producers chose to ax Amy but I thought it was sooo awesome that he really tried to keep her on. I love Foley. Sorry, back on topic. I’m really concerned about this whole Logan thing. I feel like they have pushed his character way back. By the end of last season he had progressed into a good guy, someone to root for, and you kinda understood why he was such an ass in the beginning of the year. Now, when he has lost everything, I feel like they are taking the less interesting character path and making him an ass again. I think it would be much more exciting to see Logan struggle to be a good man, to fight for Veronica, to fight against everything he has grown up with. I don’t know, that is the one thing that really concerns me about this show, I’ll be upset if Logan disintegrates into the real villain of the piece. So yeah, I’m hoping that eventually Veronica will realize that Duncan is LAME and Logan will redeem himself AGAIN but I love this show so much that I’m willing to have a little faith. And the new mystery, WHOA!!!! I had a feeling something was going to happen to the bus, but that was CRAZY!

The show was up 16% in the ratings and I think it held most of its America’s Next Top Model lead in. So, fingers crossed. Oh and one more thing. For any of you that watched the show, did you catch Logan doing “the shocker”? I had no idea what this was all about but everyone on the internet was going on & on about. I shan’t go into specifics, but suffice it say that “the shocker” is a “vulgar” hand gesture. Um, if you watch Rescue Me, I’m pretty sure that in the first season the boys had a big discussion of the “shocker”. It was something Tommy did.

I hadn’t recovered from Veronica Mars when Alias premiered last night. There has been a lot of talk about Michael Vartan’s impending departure. Rumors abound that Jennifer Garner decided it was too stressful to work with Vartan & thus he is gone…I hope that’s not true, I don’t want Jennifer Garner to be a bitch, I really like her. So yeah, I was watching last night expecting Vaughn to be kidnapped or put into coma or some other plot contrivance that would keep him out of the picture for a while without permanently eliminating him. Or ya know, start a storyline where Vaughn would find himself in mortal peril within the next few episodes. Wow. Was I off. They didn’t waste any time. They shot him full of bullets and BAM! funeral in the last 2 minutes of the show. It was a bit shocking. I’m torn on it. On the one hand, it hurts a bit when a main cast member is killed off so quickly. I mean, imagine if Nate from SFU died & was buried within 20 minutes. That really sucks for the Vaughn fans. He kinda got the shaft. I mean when Buffy’s mom died the whole next 2 episodes dealt with it and she was a supporting player. Plus it wasn’t very dramatic. I felt my eyes getting misty but only for a second. It wasn’t like when Fred died on Angel and I sobbed. So I can see how Vaughn fans might be upset.

On the other hand, Vartan & Garner had ZERO chemistry last year. Their scenes were painful at times and this event has jumpstarted a very interesting storyline. I think overall, it may be a good move for the show. Seasons 3 & 4 were not nearly as exciting, moving or fun as the first 2. Maybe this is what the show needs to finish on top, but based on the comments I saw last night, the show is losing quite a few viewers. So we’ll see, at this point, I’m too heavily invested to give up now. Need to know how it all resolves itself & hello Balthazar Getty! Amy Acker! Sark-a-liscious!

After Alias last night I hopped over to the WB for the premiere of Everwood. There was all this talk about a wedding and that we’d be surpised. Umm, I called that months ago. No surprise there. But, it was mighty enjoyable to see Hannah & Bright, Amy and her new hairdo and the resolution to Andy’s profession of love. That’s why I love this show, it does the opposite of every other tv show. The main character does not win the woman that he loves after a dramatic profession of love. So that was cool. And at the end of it all, we got a little ephram.

TV News Tidbits!!

Fox has give Prison Break a full season order. I’m interested to see what that means for the show since it was supposed to end in Nov. after 13 episodes. January=Jack Bauer.

The Office, Family Guy & American Dad have also received full season pick ups.

USA has picked up The 4400 for a 3rd season.

That’s all folks!

Is One Tree Hill In Trouble???

Uh-Oh my little One Tree Hill fans, I think your show may be in danger. A while back gossip starting leaking that Chad Michael Murray and Sofia Bush were headed to Splitsville. Now comes “official” word that the 2 will be ending their 5 month marriage. As Alias fans can attest, when a real life, romantic, show relationship goes kaput it causes the show to suffer. Hello, could Vaughn and Sydney be more awkward last year? And now rumors are spreading that Garner is the reason Vartan is getting booted from the show. And they weren’t even dating for a year! I can’t imagine the tension/screaming battles that will result from this split. If I were you a One Tree Hill fan I’d start praying.

On the opposite spectrum of celebrity couples is Demi & Ashton, who finally tied the knot. Demi’s previous marriage produced 4 kids and lasted about 7 years. How long will she last with Kutcher? I’m sure it is all fun & games now, but what happens when Demi starts to show the 20 years that she has on her new hubby?

In tv news, Forest Whitaker has joined the cast of The Shield.

And holy crap! Threshold was CREEPY. It was freaking me out. Honestly, halfway through the show I was seriously considering stopping. It was going to give me nightmares! EEEE! But, I really like Carla Gugino. Actually, the best part of the show is Peter Dinklage, who you probably know as the angry elf in Elf. He is awesome. So I made it through the 2 hour pilot and watched the second episode and now I think I’m going to stick with it. If you don’t know, the show centers around Gugino and her team. She is a Worst Case Scenario Planner. You know, tidal wave, terrorist attack, nuclear meltdown, alien invasion. She gets called in when her plan, which is called Threshold, is put into action after aliens show up. I think it is quality tv and you should check it out. Friday at 9 CBS.

ABC has their very own alien show, Invasion is the story of a FL town that gets hit with a big ass hurricane which also to brought in some body snatching aliens. I was mildly entertained. If you compare it to Threshold, it is crap. As its own entity, it was ok. Not half as creepy or gripping as Threshold. I’m going to check out episode 2, which airs Wednesday after Lost. Oh yeah that reminds me, if you want to re-watch the premiere of Lost, it will be on Wednesday at 8. I found some more bits of info: apparently the syringe the hatch-man used to inject himself had the “numbers” on it; the man that Jack let die in order to save his future bride does have the same last name as Shannon and if you play what Walt says backwards (holy beatles batman!) he says something about “pushing the button” and something “is bad”. I couldn’t really make it out. But it is creepy to listen to it. Everything is creepy!!!!

Finally, Desperate Housewives debuted on Sunday. I thought it was ok, nothing to get all insane over. Although that scene with Bree & the tie at the funeral was classic.

So yeah, tomorrow is the big Veronica Mars premiere! EEE! Oh and I heard that if you miss it on Wednesday that UPN will be re-airing it on Saturday! And, Everybody Hates Chris is currently playing on Google Video---did you know that it beat Joey last week? CRAZY!

That’s all folks!

Fall TV's First Casualty

It is always sad when you have to end a relationship, especially one that has lasted a few years. You go through a strong denial phase and keep out hope that things will improve. You think back on the old days when you were constantly surprised and full emotion. But then it hits you, it is not going to get any better and actually, you don't care. But last night I did it, I broke away. Oh relax, Jay is fine. But last night, I broke up with The O.C. I could have watched it last night but I figured what’s the point? Marissa & Ryan expelled, Jimmy back to his old ways, Julie broke, Kirsten with an alcoholic stalker….do I care? Ummm. No. And so ends my relationship with The O.C. Very sad, but there are too many other options available for me Thurs @ 8. Which brings me to the premiere of Everybody Hates Chris. Thanks to my trusty EW subscription I got to check out the pilot episode on dvd. I enjoyed it, the kid who plays Chris is amazing but his parents steal the show. I don’t think that it will make it into one of my 3 permanent Thursday night slots, but, hey there are always repeats...or the UPN could smarten up and move it.

Before I get into more premiere reviews, I have to tell you about the first fall casualty. This morning Fox cut Head Cases. Can’t say I’m too surprised but wow, shows are still premiering and Fox drops the ax! Man, that place wants some fast results eh! That makes me nervous for Arrested Development (which actually did worse on Monday than it did last year on Sunday) & Kitchen Confidential (which didn’t do much better than AD)…Granted there was some football on so maybe Fox will take that into account before it moves forward on any more axings.

Tuesday, My Name Is Earl topped the 18-49 year old demographic. I thought Earl was entertaining, but not laugh out loud funny. So far I have enjoyed all of the new sitcoms I have checked out. That being said, none of them are as funny as Scrubs or Arrested Development.

Ahh yes, and the big one. Lost. I thought the Lost premiere was good, they answered the hatch question, but I was a little disappointed that there was no word from the raft. Hello? Sawyer, Jin, Michael all in mortal peril. I didn’t like how the guy Jack met ended up being the guy in the hatch. Jay actually called it and I was like nah, that’d be too predictable. But, they did it. I think the most interesting bit of information was that it said “Quarantine” on the door leading out, not in. So one would guess that the Island is the quarantine, not the hatch. Walt was creepy and Shannon was annoying (as per usual). And from now I’m not erasing Lost off my tivo even if I watch it live because apparently the man brought into the hospital who died, was Boone’s father. That’s what they are saying on the message boards. If you still have the show, rewatch it and tell me if it is the same last name as Boone.

On the Whedon front, Amy Acker said that the Whedon approached her about doing the Spike/Illyria tv movie. Ohhhhh. Spike & Illyria. Fun times.

That’s all for now folks. Next week I’ll be back with reviews of Veronica Mars (that deserves a “fist in mouth”), Everwood, Alias, and Smallville ( Yayyyyy James Marsters!). I also have to watch Threshold & Invasion. So look out next week! Ooodles of reviews!!!

kt

Emmy Recap & TV Scoopage!

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Britney Has PMS!!

Yeah, I know, everyone and their brother already made that joke. Very funny. But come on, she had to realize what she was doing to that poor kid. At first I was proud of Britney, thought she had given her son a pass from the Hollywood Crazy Kid Name Game where clueless stars give their kids names like Apple and then act surprised when their little bundles of love are harassed at school. But PMS? That’s funny. It has just occurred to me that you may not know what I am talking about. How can that be! Britney welcomed her first (and her husband’s third) bundle of joy last night. The child’s name is allegedly Preston Michael Spears Federline, or PMS Fed. Hee Hee. Anyhoo, I’m glad to hear that Britney and baby boy are a-ok.

In other news, apparently my crack smoking has finally affected my brain. Threshold premieres THIS FRIDAY and the EMMY’S are THIS SUNDAY. I don’t know what the crap was wrong with me! Jeesh!

Anyhoo, the premiere of House kicked ass and was up 110% in the ratings from last year. My only fear is that Dr. House is going to turn into Seth Cohen. He gets just a tad too cheeky.

Prison Break was also up from last week’s episode even though it faced off against Monday Night Football. I’m still not quite sure how I feel about this show. I feel like it has lots of potential but I really am not emotionally tied to these characters. If Lincoln got shot and killed next episode that would suck, but it would be nothing like if anything ever happened to my beloved Jack Bauer.

Our fearless leader will be pre-empting our normal programming this evening for a speech on rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Ya know, I would like him a lot more if he wouldn’t interrupt my tv time with his stoopid speeches. Why can’t you just come on during news time? Between 5-8, that should be his time to make speeches. Once the clock hits 8, his booty should be kicked off! Anyhoo, because of all this Reunion will not air tonight. Instead, you can catch the next episode next Thursday.

So, this week’s premieres, uh, I guess that was House. I didn’t watch Bones, but brother said it had potential. Oh and I heard that a lot of people liked Supernatural. Too bad it is on vs. House and I shan’t watch it. Don’t forget to watch Threshold tomorrow night. Tonight is the big Survivor premiere. Will Bobby Jon & Steph be the former Survivors that join the cast? Since nothing else is premiering tonight, I’ll be tivoing The O.C. It is the show’s final chance to win me back. I also scored the premiere of Everybody Hates Chris from my new Entertainment Weekly. Sweet. I’ll give you an update on that real soon.

Next week’s premieres:
How I met your mother
Kitchen Confidential
Arrested Development
My Name Is Earl
Lost
Invasion
The Apprentice Martha Stewart
Desperate Housewives

2 More Premieres!

Happy Friday everyone! The tv season is easing its way in & I have some more reviews & previews for you!

As I have mentioned, Thursday is my big conflict night. 5 shows, 3 slots. Not good. But yesterday I received a bit of good news when my fine friend Shannon told me that you can watch The O.C. and Smallville online. NICE.

But, all of this drama may have been for naught. Last night The O.C. premiered and I’m pretty much ready to give up on the show. There is too much competition on Thursday for such a lame showing. How I use to love Seth Cohen, but now. Ehhh. My heart is just not into it. So there you go. One down. And if I can watch Smallville on the internet than I can tivo Alias, tape Everybody Hates Chris and watch Survivor with the Survivor fan club.

I did receive a happy surprise last night though, I thoroughly enjoyed Reunion. I’m not sure if it is the 80’s soundtrack or the stereotypical 80’s characters (Rich boy, Poor boy with heart of gold, dork who is in love with hottie that doesn’t love him, aforementioned hottie slut, the perfect girl and the sweet wallflower) but I was quite interested in the story & the characters. It is not a perfect show, it is DEFINITELY a guilty pleasure, the acting & the writing need work sometimes, but it is fun and I like it…so far.

In other tv news, Comedy Central has picked up South Park for another 3 years and 42 episodes. HOORAY!

Last week I mentioned that Charlize Theron would be joining Arrested Development for 5 episodes. Now comes news that Chachi himself, Scott Baio, will appear in at least one episode as the new Bluth family lawyer. This is a pretty interesting casting decision since the old Bluth family lawyer was played by Henry Winkler, who was Chachi’s cousin the Fonz. Another Happy Days connection for ya…the show is narrated by Ritchie Cunningham!!!!

Have you guys been watching Rescue Me lately? It has been ridiculously funny this year, up until this week. YIKES. That last 10 minutes was ROUGH. How in the crap are they going to clean everything up in the season finale? I’m afraid, I’m very afraid.

I thought summer series were strong this year. Entourage took it up a notch and was stellar most of the time. The 4400 was decent most of the year but finished with a big bang—Jordon Wha????? I thought Six Feet Under was infinitely better than last year and despite chatter to the contrary, I really enjoyed the finale. I thought it was very true to the show.

This Sunday night objects will be soaring towards my tv from 8-11PM. That’s right kiddies, it is the Emmy’s. Try as I might I still get so freaking mad. Plus, since this was the last year for Everybody Loves Raymond I’m expecting them to take almost everything. Bah. Hopefully there will be one surprise to light up my day. Like Hugh Laurie for House? That would be cool.

Of the shows premiering next week I’ll be checking out Survivor and House. If you have a tivo or no plans for this evening you should check out Threshold. It stars Carla Gugino and she got the shaft when Karen Sisco was so rudely cancelled. She deserves you to give this show a chance. Here is a little synopsis, courtesy of Zap2it.com:

A team of experts are assembled when the U.S. Navy makes a chilling discovery: an extra-terrestrial craft has landed in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Dr. Molly Anne Caffrey is a government contingency analyst whose job is to devise response plans for worst-case scenarios. When her plan (called THRESHOLD) is activated upon the news of the UFO, she and her hand-picked team of eclectic specialists get to work deciphering the intention of the craft and preparing for the possibility of a crisis situation -- an alien invasion.
Tonight, CBS, 9PM



Anyhoo—that’s all I have for today. If you want to sponsor me for the Philly AIDS Walk the link is below.

http://www.aidswalkphilly.org/Donate.aspx?Key=000000121290

KT Update-The Fall Season Begins!!!

KT UPDATE NEWSFLASH! As I’m finishing up today’s update, I’ve just learned that Gilligan’s Island’s Bob Denver has died at age 70 of complications from cancer treatments.


Hello my friends! Yikes! I’ve been trying to update for days but have not had the chance to finish!

Before we go into our fun, I just want to take a second to say how I sad I am about the current condition of New Orleans. Of course I feel for everyone affected by Katrina, but the only place I’ve been to that was affected was NO. It breaks my heart that a city that is so full of life---music, culture, food, dancing, and debauchery will never be the same. As most of you know we were planning a return trip this December and at this point, I have no idea if that will happen (If I were a gambling girl, I’d bet not). I hope that I will be able to return and contribute to the economy of New Orleans once the city is in a position to host visitors again. It is a wonderful city and I pray that it will be able rebuild the warmth & the love that I felt while I was there.

If you want to contribute to the Red Cross Relief Efforts:
http://www.redcross.org/

Also:
Habitat for Humanity will have a major role in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast.
http://www.habitat.org/

Ok, now on to the fun stuff.

Last Monday night was the official start of the fall tv season with the premiere of Prison Break. The one criticism that I had heard repeatedly that the show required a strong suspension of reality. Overall, I thought it was good, lots of potential. I need to rewatch it though because my Tivo was acting up and it skipped some crucial scenes originally I thought the show was skipping over things when really it was just my Tivo. I did fall into the trap of ‘That would NEVER happen!’, but I like the cast and I think the premise is original so I’ll continue to watch. Not the best premiere I’ve ever seen, but enough to keep me interested. (KT Update, last night was Monday and because of the stoopid Holiday I COMPLETELY forgot that Prison Break was on. So I have yet to see episode 3, I’ll give you my thoughts later)….

The show had 10.5 Million viewers on Monday night and I believe it did fairly well on the Thursday night re-airing. 10.5 million viewers is pretty good. I think in the fall American Idol averages 20 million while The O.C. hovers in the 10 million range.

And if you watch Prison Break in the fall you can also watch Arrested Development because it will be on an hour before hand, on the SAME CHANNEL! See! No confusion! Anyhoo, (thanks BDE) big casting news over on AD, Charlize Theron has been cast in a 5 episode arch as a potential love interest for Michael.

AND--more MONDAY NIGHT NEWS! 24 will return on Jan 8 & 9 with a 2 night-4 hour premiere! Holy Jack Bauer overload!!! I’ve heard that we will see some familiar faces at CTU and another hobbit is joining the Prime Time Ranks! Everyone’s favorite hobbit and Goonie Sean Astin will join the cast as the man holding down the fort at CTU while Jack Bauer is away. Wow. That’s kinda crazy. I can’t picture Sean Astin being a tough guy. I feel like he is always crying. A&E just aired a 24 marathon. I only got to watch snippets but wowie zowie Season 3 was AWESOME.

Premiering This Week:
The O.C. & Reunion

And so begins the Thursday night crunch. I know some boys who are very disappointed that Fox is premiering The O.C. & Reunion against the season opener of the NFL. I do not have that problem and will be enjoying some Seth Cohen. So, it is The O.C. this week, Survivor the next week, Everybody Hates Chris the week after that, and the last week of September, Alias and Smallville. So, I’ll have a few weeks to see how The O.C. & Survivor perform. Although, this new rumored-Survivor twist does have me interested. The only show that is guaranteed a spot is Alias. Everything else is up for debate. On the plus side, Alias shows a crap load of reruns so I’m sure I’ll get to watch most of Survivor because in December it will be repeat city for everything else. Man, if only James Marsters had got himself a gig on Alias, then everything would be fine.

Oh, yeah and Reunion. That debuts Thursday at 9. I’m not to sure about this one, I’m hearing the words “guilty pleasure” a lot. I’m gonna try it out and see how I like it. It is Dino from “life as we know it” and the kid from “American Dreams” and Gwen from “Angel” and Haley from “The O.C.” & “North Shore” and Janey Briggs from “Not Another Teen Movie” and Keith from “SFU”.

Hey did you guys know that the VMA’s were on the other night? You neither eh. Well apparently it hit an 8 year low in the ratings. The parts I saw were not very impressive. Actually, the best part was the pre-party when Suge Knight got shot in the leg and was on his cell phone as they carried him out on the stretcher. Hee Hee. Wish they would’ve shown that on MTV.

DVD News—Last week I told you that the Buffy the Vampire Slayer complete series will be out in Nov. Guess what else comes out the same day? Sex And the City The Complete Series! EEEE!!

If you need some Lost goodness to hold you over til the Sept. 21 premiere, check out OceanicFlight815.com. From E!: Go to “Explore" and then "The Hatch." Then click on the dots each time as they appear in order to connect them. Once you've seen all the clips for each dot (make sure you click on the virgin statue to break it), you'll get to see the new clip with Locke and Kate. You can also explore Rousseau's bunker and the Black Rock and get downloads, such as wallpapers and screensavers.

Finally, I’ll be doing the Philly AIDS Walk on Oct. 16, 2005. I’ll be setting up a page to accept donations soon, so expect lots of harassment.

I think that’s all for now. I’ll be back next week with updates on Prison Break, Reunion & The O.C. and previews of next week’s premieres:

Bones
House
The Biggest Loser
Gilmore Girls
Supernatural
Head Cases
Survivor
Threshold

Have I mentioned I *heart* Joss Whedon

Wow lucky you! 2 KT Updates, no waiting. And if you are super duper lucky you will get the conclusion of the KT/Mikey West Coast Adventure today too. So why have I decided to hit you with another update? Well first to give you the Fall TV listings (which you received via email) and secondly to tell you that I love Joss Whedon even more than I possibly could.

There is some serious buzz going around that the Spike movie is on the “front burner” and that Joss has asked good buddy Tim Minnear to write & direct. EEEE! Tim Minnear! You know him! Wonderfalls! Firefly! Angel! And yes, The Inside. So I’m very, very excited and hopefully as soon as Marsters finishes up on Smallville he will begin working on the Spike Movie. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!


Also, on Nov. 15 the Buffy Collection comes out! That’s all 7 seasons in a collector’s edition box set!!! Can’t WAIT!!! Hmmm, that means that one lucky friend will inherit my buffy dvds!!!!!

Hooray! Hooray!

Ok kiddies fall tv is here! Well a piece of it is here. Prison Break will debut on Aug. 29 on Fox. Hooray! But, just like last year, premieres are scattered all through September! Please refer to your excel sheet to find out when your show is returning.

And I have to tell you, I’m really torn about this whole Thursday night at 8 thing. How do I have no shows for Tues & Wed at 8 but FIVE for Thursday? My predicament:

Alias is not even a question. It ended all “My name is not Michael Vaughn”. On top of that I know for certain that 1 supporting castmember is leaving and probably one main one too. PLUS, Sydney is pregnant and BALTHAZAR GETTY is joining the cast! Not even a question.

Here’s where it gets tricky:
I have a decent amount of loyalty to Survivor and The O.C. Survivor is very hit or miss, if the cast sucks or they are LAME then the show could be a big waste of my time. In all honesty it has only been the past few seasons that I have watched in the show in its entirety, I usually just pop in a few episodes in and see if it is worth my time (so sorry survivor fanatics). Survivor premieres before 3 of the other Thursday night shows, so I think I may check it out and see how I feel about the cast.

The O.C is the first show to premiere so I can check that out too and see how it is progressing, plus, I’m reasonably sure I can find someone to tape that for me. Hey speaking of taping…if I hook up my vcr to the tv that my tivo is attached to can I tivo one thing and tape another? Cause that would help me out a lot.

Everybody Hates Chris is by Chris Rock and odds are that UPN will replay it during the week (or move it if it is doing reasonably well by UPN standards but getting clobbered by the other networks) so I’m not too concerned about that.

But, Smallville. Smallville, Smallville. How you lure me in with James Marsters and his 10 episode story arch. At least that means after 10 episodes I can stop watching it….or maybe they mean 10 episodes spread through the season? EEK. That would suck. Although then I could just check the tv listings and only watch the days that my Spike will be on. EEEEE!! TOOOOO MANY SHOWS!!!

Do you plan on watching any of these shows? Would you be willing to hook a sista up with a tape so that I can lessen my Thursday night stress?

That’s all folks!!
Oh, P.S. Audioslave just announced some tourdates for this fall. 10/28 in Philly and 11/4 in AC. No NYC though, that’s odd.

I *heart* Joss Whedon

Good morning everyone. I’ve been working on my Best Moments of 2004-2005 tv season which I will now share with you. But before I do I have some scoopage for you all.

Why I heart Joss Whedon. He posted this the other day on a board I frequent:

This is my attempt at posting my own thread. My peeps and I just
finished a crazed Veronica Marsathon, and I can no longer restrain
myself. Best. Show. Ever. Seriously, I've never gotten more wrapped up
in a show I wasn't making, and maybe even more than those. Crazy crisp
dialogue. Incredibly tight plotting. Big emotion, I mean BIG, and
charsimatic actors and I was just DYING from the mystery and the
relationships and PAIN, this show knows from pain and no, I don't care,
laugh all you want, I had to share this. These guys know what they're
doing on a level that intimidates me. It's the Harry Potter of shows.
There. I said it. People should do whatever they can to check out this
first season so the second won't be a spoiler fest. I'm nutty.

I'm a little calmer now. Oh God, no I'm not! Wait. Wait. Okay. Some of
you may already be all up on this, and some may disagree, but I'm urging
peeps to check it out, 'cause there is great TV afoot, and who doesn't
want that? Thank you for your time.

Still not calm! Wait... wait...


Love him. Coming out full support for a show that isn’t his, that he isn’t connected to in the slightest (although two of his former employees have/are employed there). Just. Love. The Whedon.

Want more reason to check out Veronica Mars? On the second episode of the season Kevin Smith will be appearing as a convenience store clerk!!!

Wow. Alias is casting happy! I guess this is to lessen Jennifer Garner’s airtime since she is preggers (and also to take up the airtime left behind by a rumored cast member exit). Anyhoo, I told you a few weeks back that the chick from “The Inside” had joined the cast and then some French chick and now….hooray, Balthazar Getty. I love him, oh Lordy, ever since Where The Day Takes You I have loved him. He is not a mainstream guy, but you might have seen him in Deuces Wild, Into the West (which was just on tv), Lost Highway, White Squall, Young Guns II or Lord of the Flies. He’s a hottie and I’m so excited that he’ll be on Alias next year!! YIPPEEEE!

And lastly, a bit of couple news. For those of you that watch Everwood, Amy & Bright are dating in real life!!! It freaks me out when tv siblings date in real life!!!!

The 2005 Emmy’s are a few weeks away and instead of guessing who will win and getting angry about those that were left out, I’ve decided to focus on the best of the tv season.

The Biggest Surprise: A lot of the shows ended with a bang. I think the biggest surprise of the season was on Six Feet Under and they were back to back. NARMM! And then the next week, Nate dies. Wowie. Most shows start to tidy up loose ends and head towards happy endings as they near the conclusion of their series run…not this show. They killed off one of their main characters, actually one could make the case that Nate was the center of SFU with 2 episodes to go. Next week is the season finale and I have absolutely no idea what the crap they are going to do!!!!


Best Story Arc: The final episodes of VM, where Veronica finds out why Duncan broke up with her, what happened at the 09er party, who killed Lilly Kane, who her real father is, and finds herself in an unusual love triangle. I haven’t had this much drama since Buffy!!!



Best New Actress: Kristin Bell, Veronica Mars. I was a little weary of this show in the beginning especially with all of the Buffy Comparison Hype. The one thing that these shows have in common is a strong female lead that is super likable and super relatable. When the show was finding its footing, it was Bell that kept me interested. Veronica’s had a lot to deal with in the past 2 years and instead of crawling into a ball she has become a strong woman who is determined to find out what happened to her best friend. Love this show, love the cast and I definitely think we will see Bell on the Big Screen sooner rather than later.



Best New Actor (This is a hard one so I’m gonna split it in two)
Best Actor on a New Show: Terry O’Quinn, Lost. I’ve seen O’Quinn around, most recently on Alias, but it wasn’t until he stepped into the shoes of John Locke that I realized what an amazing actor he is. I am constantly back and forth on Locke. Good? Evil? No clue. But I’m drawn to that character more so than any other on that island…(well, I do like me some Sawyer) He demands your attention and he is worthy of it.

Best New Actor on a New Show: Hugh Laurie, House. I’m sure Hugh has been around the block but this is the first I’ve ever seen of him and I think that he is OUTSTANDING as super cranky Dr. House. It is entertaining to see House grapple with all of these peculiar, rare medical cases and in between have to face stupid patients who have every day issues. On top of that, this man has severely lacks any people skills! And has extreme intimacy issues!!! Love it!!

Hmmm. Best shallow reason to watch a show: Josh Halloway, Lost. At first, I couldn’t stand Sawyer. But then he started to grow on me and I realized what a hottie he was. Delic!!!


Just When I thought I was out: 24. Wowie Zowie. It was almost over for 24. I was ready to give up the Jack Bauer Power Hour for good. But then it got good. I’m trying hard to remember a single episode that knocked me off my feat, but all I can remember is being on the edge of my seat every week and when I got back from 18 days of vacation the first show I watched was 24. And hello! Soul Patch Tony!!! (Although I’m really afraid that Tony & Michelle are going to pay dearly for the happy ending they got at the end of the season).



Best New Show: This is tough. I have to call tie. Veronica Mars ended so strongly…I seriously was dying from episode to episode…but Lost’s pilot was the BEST I’ve ever seen and every Wednesday I was excited at 7:59. Love both shows, can’t choose.


Rip My Heart Out!! This is definitely a 3 way tie.
Veronica Mars: When Veronica finds out who her father is, and when she confronts Duncan.
Lost: When Sawyer tells Jack about his dad.
Everwood: The moments between Ephram & Andy in NYC before Ephram finds out about Madison.

OMG Moment!!!! LOCKE WAS PARALYZED!!!!!



Most Upsetting & Realistic Breakup: Ephram & Amy; Everwood. Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show (besides buffy) capture the horrible awkward tension of two people trying have some semblance of a friendship after a breakup. I nearly lost it when Amy realized that Ephram couldn’t be with her anymore, that they were really done and he didn’t see them getting back together, ever. And then Ephram spoke the most horrible words ever spoken by a male. “You’ll always be a part of my life in some way.” Blech!!!



Best Entrance of the season: 24.Yeah Tony Almeda!!! Jack’s gotta call the one person he trusts!! SOUL PATCH TONY!!!!



Best Emerging Couple: Hannah & Bright. Awww. Understated girl falls for popular, jock boy who promptly tells her there is no chance in hell for them. Many months later she gets herself a little boyfriend and popular boy gets jealous!! It was priceless when Bright realized he was falling for Hannah. That kiss at the end of the season was AWESOME!!!


Best Chemistry: Kate & Sawyer, Lost. Kate & Jack are BORING. Kate likes her men with a streak of bad and Sawyer’s picture would be in the dictionary waving out from the definition of “BAD BOY”. Sawyer & Kate have some heat between them and I have to say I felt a little twinge of sadness when they both realized they weren’t going to get the chance to say goodbye.


Best Kiss: Logan & Veronica after he comes to pseudo rescue her. That was a moment oh WHOA!!!!!! KISSING!!! VERONICA & Logan…LIPS TOUCHING!!!

Future Husband: Gob Bluth baby!!!! Arrested Development. Funniest Man on television.

KT’s Endorsement: If I was only given one opportunity to introduce people to a show it would be Arrested Development. That show is frikkin hysterical and so twisted and I love every second of it.

Top Episodes of the season:
Lost: The Locke Episode & the premiere.
Veronica Mars: Finale.
24: The episode when I realized they were going to shoot down Air Force One.


Standouts:

There were many great scenes in Desperate Housewives, but the one that made me love that show was when Lynette breaks down at the soccer field and her friends come to her rescue (2nd place of course went to Lynette’s boys beating up the lady to protect their mom).

All of the sudden I love Julie Cooper. LOVE HER. Her 80’s Porno, her confession to Marissa that she had a stroll down lesbian lane in college, her falling in love with Jimmy all over again.

I just want to take this opportunity to again voice my opinion that Romber was robbed, robbed of the win in the Amazing Race. I’m sorry, once that gate is closed you are not getting on the plane!!!

In conclusion, this was a pretty successful tv season. Only 2 shows that I gave time to were cancelled (Pt. Pleasant & Life as we know it) neither of which really made me too upset. There are some interesting shows lined up for next year but my biggest wish is that Alias goes out on top this year. I feel like Seasons 1 & 2 were incredible and it has all been downhill from there. The show needs to get back to Jack Bristow kicking ass and making me care about these characters again. You hear me JJ!!! Alias must go out in style!!!!
That’s all for now folks, in a few weeks I’ll be sending out a fall preview letting you know where the buzz is…and as the premieres start, you’ll have reviews!!! YIPPEEE

Wine is good! MMMMMM

When we last left our adventuring twosome they had just completed a day of hip injuries, tension & musical outbursts!


Wednesday, May 25
Ahhhh! Today is wine tasting day! Yippeeeee!

Before we head off to Solvang we have to make a stop in San Luis Obispo to check out the Madonna Inn. I found the Madonna Inn online and we wrestled with the decision of whether or not to stay there. They have amazing rooms with all sorts of zany themes. Our favorite was the caveman room (check out the website www.madonnainn.com/). But at $225 a night, this didn’t fall into our budget and so we had to settle for a coffee visit.

The restaurant was P I N K. Whoa. It was pink and velvety. We did a little exploring and found some fun rooms downstairs as well. I vaguely remember a room that resembled a wine cellar. We were a little sad that we didn’t get to spend the night, but then again, $225 is a bit pricey.

Our next stop in SLO (which is a big college town) is Bubblegum Alley. Apparently people from all over stop in this alley and leave their gum on the walls. For some unbeknownst reason, I thought this would be a good idea to check out. What can I say, I had Willy Wonka visions in my head. I thought it would be all bright and fun. It turned out to be monumentally gross, and we didn’t even cross the street to get a closer look.
Bah! Why did we waste time on bubblegum when there is wine to be drunk?

We got into Solvang around lunchtime and decided to make another Star Wars stop at BK. These BK folks are a lot more accommodating than the first BK crew, but they do not have as much of a selection. I was scared for a hot second but, I ended up with darth maul (thank you mikey) so I am a happy KT. I almost forgot the funniest part of our BK trip! Michael dropped his BK toy under the table and had to climb underneath another person to get it! Hahahah! It was so funny!

Solvang was founded by a group of Danish immigrants in 1911. I have no idea why they came to California and set up camp if they liked Denmark so much, but anyhoo, they made a mini-Denmark and there are cobblestone streets and delicious pastries (Danish danishes) and windmills.

We check into Svendgaard’s Danish Lodge (our second motel of the trip) and head out for some wine! After a brief detour (we got a little lost by no fault of our own…badly labeled map!!) and a stop at an ostrich farm (FYI, ostrich jerky=bad. I should have known this since you are only suppose to order ostrich rare or medium rare) we finally make it to Sanford Winery.


Now I just want to officially note that I made the plan for a Santa Ynez Valley stop pre-Sideways. The region has been getting bombarded by tourists since the movie came out. But I do my research! Our plan was to hit 4 different vineyards in the afternoon and then stop at the Hitching Post for dinner….

We started off at Sanford Vineyard. http://www.sanfordwinery.com/winery/tasting.cfm For those of you that have seen Sideways, this is where Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church first stop at; where Giamatti teaches Church how to sniff wine. The tasting room is kind of a homey-shack. It is an old dairy barn. Anyway it is pretty amusing because it is stocked with Sideways paraphernalia and Chris, the guy who runs the tasting room played himself in the movie. He seemed pretty cool but I think the Sideways topic gets old for him after a while. Anyhoo you pay $5 to taste 4 wines and then if you decide to buy a wine you get $5 off. Hmmm. Tasty wines! A blush pinot noir! Craziness! And I like it! Even crazier! After tasting our wines (+5 for California wineries and hooking up visitors with more than a teensy taste!) we head off to Mosby!

Mosby is known for Cal-Italia wines. If I remember correctly, that means that the grapes are from California but are made into wine using an Italian style. http://www.mosbywines.com/new/mainpage.php
I wasn’t sure how to feel about Mosby, but Michael was a little apprehensive. What a surprise! Mosby turns out to be our favorite stop of the day! All the wine is tasty (I believe we tasted 5 wines) and then the dessert wine kicks me in the butt. Wow. I think I’m getting a little buzzed out here.

I can’t remember the woman’s name who worked at Mosby but she was awesome and she was married to Chris from Sanford! Hahaah. She took an awesome picture of us in front of the vineyard. I bought 2 more bottles of wine and Michael gave in and purchased one as well. Mikey also joined the wine taster’s club to get wine in the mail, but unfortunately there are a whole bunch of states (including MD & NJ) that don’t allow vineyards to ship wine directly to consumers. Bah! Hey ya know what, if you like wine and you think this sucks, go check out http://freethegrapes.org/index.html.

At this point, we’re feeling pretty good. We decide that there is no way in hell we are going to 4 wineries. Our next stop is our last stop. We head over to Sunstone Winery but they are packed and we like it better when we get lots of attention. So we bust out and head over to Kalyra which uses California and Australian grapes for their wine. http://www.kalyrawinery.com/ At this point it is getting HOT and we are tasting 6 more wines. We learn that KT does NOT LIKE Australian Riesling. I do however, like the breadsticks at Kalyra. Whatever Michael, I was drunk and I was hot!!!!

After our tasting (You know I’m drunk, I bought a white wine!!) we decide to head back to the motel so we can nap pre-dinner. After we sleep off our wine and decide to check out a little bit of Solvang. Too bad everything in Solvang closes at 4. What the crap! What kind of tourist trap town is this! Tourist trap towns should be open at least until 7. Anyhoo, it appeared to be a cute town, I wish we would have gotten to see some more of the shops.

By the time we got to the Hitching Post I was famished. Unfortunately, my wine drinking from earlier in the day has precluded me from enjoying my Hitching Post wine. Our meal was mighty tasty, the steak was cooked perfectly and was amazingly delicious. You get a lot of food for the money you pay. After our meal we go back to the motel and Michael watches American Idol crown Carrie Underwood as the champ.

The next morning I have a financial crisis. I have been keeping a running list of all the money I spent, taking daily deductions. Somewhere along the way I started to calculate my deductions in the opposite way that I had been doing it previously. So I am faced with the daunting notion that I have 3 days and about $75. Lovely. Michael decides that he is going to Damn the Man and he goes to the smack machine so that he can drain the remainder of his checking account before the bank catches on.

Hmm. What is the best way to forget your financial woes? A Danish danish of course. Michael kept yelling at me that all danishes are Danish but I disagree. Most danishes are not authentic danishes, so I was very excited to try some super tasty, super fattening danishes. We popped our heads into the Solvang Bakery and ordered a chocolate éclair and an apple danish to split. We also each ordered our own danishes. For me, strawberry and cheese, for Michael, cheese and powdered sugar. Hot Damn! Them danishes were delic!!!! We leave Solvang as we are stuffing our faces with tasty Danish treats. Now we are off to Santa Barbara!

Unfortunately it was an overcast day in Santa Barbara. We a drive by downtown, lots of shops line the streets and ohhhhh! Lots of expensive vehicles. We park next to the famous palm tree lined street and head over to the pier. Nothing especially exciting here so we grab some postcards and head off to SB’s #1 tourist attraction, the Santa Barbara Misssion.

OH. My. God. This is my worse nightmare. Children everywhere. Running around, wild and yelling and screaming and definitely not under control. So we take a picture if front of the Santa Barabara Mission's lovely fountain and we get the hell out of there. Maybe it would have been nice to go inside and check out the Mission, but most likely I would have committed mass murder.

As we make our way to LA something absolutely terrifying hits me. We are about to hit one of the most traffic clogged cities in America and Michael is driving! Dant Dant Dannnnnnnnnt!

It is not that I think Michael is a horrendous driver, but there is something about Maryland drivers, they are too leisurely, too pleasant. There is no sense of urgency in their driving, no aggression, no offense or defense…they are just happy to tra la la their way around town. Really, I’m not kidding. I lived in Maryland for six months and I was deathly afraid that the MD driver mindset would overtake me, thankfully I moved to Philly…hee hee..now that mindset I like…anyhoo…yeah, so Michael driving into LA was like that scene in the Lion King. Happy little Simba in the middle of a stampede. And then, we hit the LA parking lot traffic. It is 2:15! Don’t any of these jerks have jobs!!!!

I have to give Michael a lot of credit, he got us safe and sound to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel.


Ahhh the Westin Bonaventure! This hotel (which is massive) was in a number of movies including Forget Paris and True Lies. For me though, it is all about Midnight Madness. How can you beet Pabst Blue Ribbon and “Look Between the Two Giant Melons” and little angry teenage Michael J Fox? You can’t!!! So yeah, I was pretty excited about this joint.

The Bonaventure is in downtown LA so if you are ever going for pleasure you probably won’t stay here as downtown LA is BORING. If we were staying for longer than 1 night I probably would have coughed up the cash for Santa Monica or WeHO but since we were in LA for a total of 15 hours it really didn’t matter to much.

Westin Bonaventure

Water Pressure 3
Temp Control 4
Staff Helpfulness 5
Coffee 3
Noise Level 3
Beds 3.5
Décor 4.5 (We really really liked the décor of the rooms)
Facilities 4

+5 for moving us to another room because the AC unit was making crazy noises.
+2 For empty fridge!!!

After we are settled we decide to check out the huge food court the Bonaventure has. There are many choices and we go with Chinese. Unfortunately it is the end of the day so I’m not sure that the food is so fresh, but I’ve had worse.

I want to relay a little story that shows how in sync (tee hee hee) Michael and I are, even when I’m about to murder him.

After eating yucky chinese I was a little tired; Michael was finishing up his meal. For some reason I began to become irrationally annoyed by his entire existence. I started to stare at him while he was eating. It was like a scene from a movie. Watching him in slow motion shoveling food into his mouth and becoming more disgusted with him as the seconds went on…and then just as I was reaching my breaking point Michael looked up at me and smiled. “I feel like you are looking at me like we are in a movie and you are completely sickened by me and can’t wait for me to stop stuffing my face.”

A few hours later Nellie & Francine were at our door! Hooray! They told us a horrifying story in which they encountered a bear while camping just this morning! They are lucky to have escaped with their lives!!! EEEEE! Then Kim & Andy Green were in our room! EEE! What a wacky Rutgers Reunion! I get a hold of my West Coast Clone, Erin, and we decide to go for some Mexican! In further proof that she is in fact my west coast clone, Erin is sporting an “I love pirates” shirt and when I tell her about the mountain lions she asks if I "went all Parent Trap with two sticks"!!!! I heart Erin!!!! Dinner at El Choro was tasty, I enjoyed my margarita and then we headed over to the Irish Pub for a few beers. It was a very entertaining evening with friends that I don’t get to see as often as I like….(COUGH new Orleans hint hint)…
Stay Tuned for our thrilling conclusion…San Diego!!!!

Fall TV Casting News!!

The Fall TV Season is about a month away and there is all kinds of buzz and news flying around!

First off, the big news; James Marsters is joining the Smallville cast for a multi-episode arc. Hopefully Smallville will be on the WB’s Easy View on Sunday afternoons because my Thursday is already over booked. Anyhoo, Marsters will play Brainiac. That sounds vaguely familiar, but overall I’m just pretty excited about my little spikey getting some work. Also, the WB officially said that the ball is in Joss’ court in regards to the Spike Movie. Get on it Joss! In other Smallville news, Tom Wopat will also make a guest starring appearance. For those of you that don’t know, Tom Wopat was Luke Duke. Hahaha that’s awesome because Super Teen’s dad on the show is John Schneider who was Bo Duke!!! Plus Dean Cain may make a special appearance as well!!! Ingenious Casting Stunts over at Smallville!

Other WB casting scoop--Jason Lewis, who SATC fans will remember as Samantha’s beau Smith Jarred, will join the Charmed cast as a love interest for Alyssa Milano.

Guess what! Soul Patch Tony has signed on for the next season of 24! What will this mean for Tony & Michelle’s escape from CTU work at the end of last season? Will Tony make it through another season alive or will he be brought back just so we can see how happy he has been before he is killed. Ohhh Be Careful Soul Patch!!!

As I told you last week it seems that The Inside is done. Don’t feel too bad for the leading lady, she has signed on to play a rookie agent next year on Alias. And, I heard some gossip today…I won’t count this as spoilerish because it is just my guess. But today the E! Gossip Guru said that someone we all love is going to leave a show this year and it will leave us devastated. When asked for more information, she said “ You will be broadsided”. Which makes me believe that Mr. Vaughn is the one on his way out. Any other thoughts? I tell ya, I’m really scared for next year. Sydney preggers, Vaughn’s secret identity, Nadia comatose and gone for the season. Yikes!!!

At a Veronica Mars event (which you should all be watching TONIGHT at 9PM on UPN!!!) Charisma Carpenter said she’s working out twice a day because she wants to be WonderWoman!!! Maybe this is how Joss can make up for Cordelia’s downward spiral, give Charisma WonderWoman. I’m down with it.

In case you missed all of my subtle hints, Firefly is now airing on SciFi Fridays at 7.
Wonderfalls is airing Thursdays on Logo.
Veronica Mars airs Wednesdays at 9 on UPN but you can also check it out for 3 weeks on Friday nights on CBS.

Mini Movie Reviews Sponsored by Netflix:

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
I tried to go into this movie with a completely open mind, and I didn’t hate it. But I didn’t really like it too much either. I feel like I’ll have more of an opinion if I catch it on cable a few times, but I really have no desire to see it again. There were parts that I enjoyed but the oompa-loompas were annoying and you know there is a problem when you are looking at Johnny Depp but thinking about Gene Wilder. I wanted Burton & Depp to make a movie that would take me away from the original but I just kept thinking, I really want to go home and watch Gene Wilder!!

Wedding Crashers
Highly amusing. I’m not sure this one will stand have the repetition factor of other movies (i.e. Zoolander, Swingers, Napolean Dynamite) but I laughed heartily…mostly at Vince Vaughn. Someone mentioned to me that this movie could be what happens to Vaughn’s character, Trey from Swingers, if he started crashing weddings. I think this is a good assessment.

Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason
I was a bit scared of this one. The first Bridget Jones movie is one of my favorites and I knew that this one could measure up, and of course it didn’t. But it was entertaining for the most part. My biggest issue was that in the first film Bridget was a woman who was a mess, but a realistic mess. This time around she was a bit too cartoonish for my taste. Gotta love Hugh Grant though.

Up next on Netflix:
Dead Zone Season 1
Ed Wood
National Treasure
I’m halfway through Season 1 of 21 Jumpstreet and loving it! I’m keeping a running total of notable guest stars!

Mikey & KT have some tense moments in California!

Monday, May 23
We are very pleased to start our day this fine morning because we are on our way out of San Francisco and headed to the scenic town of Monterey. San Francisco has beaten us down a little bit and we are ready to head to the beach for some much needed relaxation. Actually, our morning was a little stressful because there was a gazillion people at the Budget Car Rental and obnoxious French men in front of us and we really, really wanted to bash the Budget clerk’s head against the counter. Miraculously we escape without indulging in our homicidal urges and when we see our sweet ride (yeah you know it Chevy Malibu…with a moon roof!) we finally relax.

First stop of the day is Santa Cruz! Such a sunny, wonderful day! Perfect for roller coaster riding!

We have come to Santa Cruz to ride the oldest wooden roller coaster in the US! Hooray! I like it here. It reminds me of a clean seaside. But what the crap are all these kids doing here? Don’t they have school in California?? Luckily it is early enough in the season that it is not packed and we bust a move to the Giant Dipper. I am a big wussy so of course I grab Michael’s arm and squeal during the entire ride. Fun Times.

After our coaster ride we check out the boardwalk and end up in an arcade. Holy Moly! They have Off Road! That was one of my favorite games back in the day! Ohhh! Donkey Kong! I choose Tetris (and perform most disappointedly) and Michael tries his hand at Frogger. Unfortunately he doesn’t fare much better, but we don’t have time to wallow in our arcade game failures, we must depart for Monterey!!!

We have a nice ride today, it is only about an hour from Santa Cruz to Monterey and before you know it we are pulling up in front of the Green Gables Inn http://www.greengablesinnpg.com/.

This was my first experience with a Bed & Breakfast. I have wanted to try one for quite some time and now I’m afraid I’ve ruined myself…I can’t imagine it getting much better. The staff was very friendly, the room was quite large and the view…wowie zowie! We are directly across the street from the ocean and our window points directly at the water. It was wonderful!

Monterey is known for an AMAZING aquarium. So as soon as we drop off our things we start our walk to the Monterey Bay Aquarium http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/. Ahhh. What a lovely walk this is! We stop for a few moments to gaze at the sea lions that are just hanging out on the beachfront. Wow. That’s awesome! Wildlife in the… wild!

The aquarium was pretty rad. They have a ginormous tank with all kinds of marine life…it was especially cool to sit and watch the anchovy schools moving in unison (just like in Finding Nemo). Michael’s favorite part of the aquarium was the jellyfish. Which is pretty funny considering they are not Michael’s favorite when HE is in the ocean. Anyhoo, we stand in front of the darkened tanks and watch the pink glowing jellyfish move about. Hmmmm relaxation. It is at this point that we decide that when sporto finally becomes famous (and I am his personal cruise director) we will have a jellyfish tank set up in his room and he will have allotted “tranquil time” that must not be disturbed!

After the aquarium we walk around the Monterey Cannery and buy some wine to go along with our Cowgirl Creamery cheese. Wait, what is that! Belly rumbling! Hungry! We consider a few options at the Cannery but we are getting short on money (we got a little over excited in Seattle and spend a tad bit too much)…Then Michael remembers that the B&B offers appetizers and wine from 4-6. EEEE! It is 5:15! We motor back to the Green Gables Inn and thank the heavens there is food left! It is not a huge spread but there is some crackers & bread along with some veggie sticks and a macaroni & cheese type dish. It is not amazing cuisine but it does the trick!

Technically we are staying in Pacific Grove. There is a path that goes around the perimeter of Monterey and Pacific Grove and finally into Carmel. After we finished eating we decide to explore Pacific Grove down this path. Maybe we’ll even catch the sunset!

It was a really fantastic walk, exactly what we needed. It was a laid back day, just walking along the ocean, climbing rocks (although Michael did risk injury by traversing the rocks with flip flops!) and watching the waves crash. Perfect. Looking back, it was definitely one of the best days of the trip. Probably in my Top 3. At one point, while we were walking along the path we saw 2 surfers. But as we got closer we realized that there was one surfer and a seal! How awesome is that!

Back at the Green Gables we decide to grab some hot drinks (courtesy of the Inn) and sit on a bench and watch the waves crash around us. It was sick! The tide was coming in and waves were clobbering all the rocks that we saw this afternoon. There was spray everywhere!

We ended the evening with a delicious Cow Girl Creamery Cheese Plate (professionally presented by Michael Wood) and some not bad wine. I fell asleep to the sound of crashing waves outside my window. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Tues, May 24
We are very, very sad to leave the Green Gables Inn. We have some complimentary breakfast and head out to Big Sur/San Simeon and Cambria!

After the hell drive on Rt. 1 to San Francisco we are, understandably, a little tense about the ride to Big Sur. For all we know it is 94 miles of perilous curves and terrifying drops! But our fears are eased almost immediately as we see the crystal blue water and (hooray) guardrails!!!

Again, I almost feel like my attempts at describing what we saw are futile. When I tell you this water was blue…I mean, you just have never seen anything like this. I suppose people who have been to the Caribbean or Hawaii have similar experiences but the only water I know is the Atlantic. I mean, yes, I did see the Pacific when I went to LA, but this was astounding. So blue. It was just gorgeous. CRAZY!!

We make our first Big Sur stop at Pfeiffer-Big Sur State park to see a waterfall. Allegedly it is a 2 mile walk to check this thing out. Fooled you! The path is closed (a tree is blocking the way) and we must detour on a longer (and more treacherous) hike! For the love of God! People do this for pleasure! As I huff & puff my way up the mountain I see a most disturbing sign! What! Mountain Lions! Oh, it says mountain lions are not likely, but they show up from time to time! And they are unpredictable and go for children first! EEEEE! As if the bears weren’t bad enough! And what is this park thinking, hiding the sign deep into the path so now I’m already committed to seeing this frikkin waterfall. For a moment, I considered going all Parent Trap and grabbing two wooden sticks and banging them together to ward off the mountain lions. EEEE! I hate nature!

Oh my god. I’m going to die. In this frikkin forest just because I wanted to see a frikkin waterfall. I’m going to die all sweaty and dirty and then a mountain lion is going to find me and chow down on my flesh!!!! I HATE NATUR…oh wait. There is the waterfall! Hallelauhia! Wow. I risked my life for that? I mean, don’t get me wrong. It is pretty. But if I had known that was what I was getting all sweaty for (and risking my precious life) I may have waited in the car.

Unfortunately I am only safe in the Malibu for a few moments before we see the entrance to Julia Pfeifer Burns State Park. Ugh. I can not take any more nature walks! Wait! Our trusty guidebook says that is a 5 minute walk to the waterfall. SWEET! We head out and Hooray! It is only a 5 min walk and there are no hills and no mountain lion warnings! McWay Falls is awesome! It is a waterfall that goes right into a crystal blue lagoon. I have to say I much prefer ocean-cliff-lagoon waterfalls as opposed to forest-rock-stream waterfalls.

After our waterfall excursion we head over to Nepenthe for lunch. Nepenthe is stuck in the side of a mountain and offers an amazing view of Big Sur. We had a very tasty, but a bit overpriced, meal. I had a super duper tasty portabella sandwich with fontina cheese and red pepper aioli. MMMM. So good!

After our meal Michael and I have our second dangerously close to an argument moment. I’ll try to be as unbiased as possible as I relay the story.

We feel a bit more comfortable driving because there are guardrails, but make no mistake, there are still cliffs and rocks and treacherous curves that can throw you off the mountain! So I got a little irritated when Michael (as he is driving) continually stole glances out the window, hoping to see a whale. I assured him that if I saw a whale I would notify him immediately, but I continued to catch him looking out the window!!! Luckily, we escaped the situation without a throwdown over whales. Although looking back, I’m sure it would have been highly amusing if (on day 13) we pulled the car over and had a knock down, drag out brawl over whale watching.

Although we dodged an argument, we were still on tension level red. So as the time started to tick by and I realized that we would most likely miss our tour time for Hearst Castle, I started to get a little jumpy. Thankfully, Michael didn’t throw me out of the car.

Have I mentioned Michael’s mysterious hip injury? (KT side note, Michael, have you gotten this examined yet? You have not mentioned it!) I’m pretty sure when we got off the plane from Seattle Michael’s hip started to hurt. If he was in one sitting position for too long, his hip would start to ache. Then we would have to slowly “walk it off”. For 99% of the trip this was not a big deal. But we pulled into San Simeon and Hearst Castle an hour late. I knew there was a later tour at 3:20, but wasn’t sure if there was room or if they would let us switch tours.

So when I busted out of the car and started toward the building I was not happy to see Michael hanging on the side of the car. Yes. It was a low moment. Poor sporto all injured and not able to move because of the mysterious hip injury. And I was yelling to hurry up.

We made it to the ticket window and everything was ok. Of course after the “incident” I was sure to be extra nice to sporto and we enjoyed our tour of Hearst Castle. I have to take this moment to give a little shout to the power of music. I definitely believe that if not for Britney and the Buffy Musical, Michael and I might have had some serious issues along this trip!!


Hearst Castle http://www.hearstcastle.com/tours/index.asp is where William Randolph Hearst lived. It is humongous. You have to take a tour bus up this crazy hill to get to the house. CRAZY!! The estate is so huge that there are 5 different tours!!! We went on Tour 2, which focused on The Guest Library, Gothic Suite and 4 guest rooms. We also saw the outside pool, which was amazing, and the indoor pool, which had gold in the floor! Wowie.

After our Hearst Castle tour we headed into Cambria. For some reason, Cambria is pronounced Came-bria. Weird West Coasters! Anyhoo, Cambria is a big adventure for us because we are staying at the Bridge Street Inn, which is a kind of B&B/hostel. http://www.bridgestreetinncambria.com/

The inn is run by Ann, who is a really nice hippie. Can’t escape the hippies on the West Coast. But Ann is a cool hippie and the house is very sweet. Most people don’t describe houses as sweet, but this place was very welcoming and home with a pinch of quirk. We drop our stuff and head off to the Main St Grill to try some Santa Maria Style BBQ (grilling over local red oak)! Oh wait, I totally forgot! Michael and I wanted to see Star Wars because we were supposed to see it in LA and someone *coughnelliecough* saw it and didn’t like and was against seeing it again!!! So after we dropped our stuff I asked Ann where the closest movie theater was. I figured we could walk to dinner and then the movie. The closest movie theater was 25 miles away! Holy Lord! How do you live in such a place!!!!

So yeah, the Main Street Grill. I think this was one of my favorite meals. It was no fuss, and so tasty and I find myself thinking about that sandwich every now and again. The Main St Grill is a huge restaurant that looks like a cafeteria, but really it serves the tastiest BBQ Tri Tip Sandwiches. HMMM So delicious. The meat is still a little red and with dripping bbq sauce. HMMM!

After dinner we decided to investigate Cambria, the town with no movie theater! We went to the Moonstone Beach Grill for a glass of wine and some dessert. http://www.moonstonebeach.com/mb-main.htm The Moonstone Grill is right next to the water and it was nice to sit and relax with a drink. Until… a bunch of seagulls harassed us! We tried to catch the sunset again, but our waiter was no where to be found and by the time we paid our bill….it was too late. Very sad.

The beach in Cambria was not too impressive but it was a very eventful walk. Why?

Let me tell you a little something about Michael. He is constantly singing little ditties about what he is doing. For example, if we were walking in Seattle Michael might sing something like, ‘We’re going to the market. Going to the market, bop, bop, gonna buy me a belt buckle…’. Anyway you get the idea. So I’ve been dealing with musical interludes for the last 12 days.

Michael and I were walking along the ugly Cambria beach when he broke out into the Cambria Song. Cam-BRI-AAAAAA! Cam-BRI-AAAA! Before I knew what was happening I joined in! And there we were, in the middle of California, trying to harmonize the Cambria song.
It gets better.
I was pretty disappointed with my performance so I said, “Ya know, I’m really a lower register. We should try that again.”

Now, I’m sure this is not 1/10000 as funny to you as it was to us. Michael literally was falling over he was laughing so hard. He had penetrated my brain and now I was singing little ditties too! And so serious about it that I wanted to try again so that it would sound good. Now I was concerned. What would happen to me when I was back in North Brunswick with Jay off to Shoprite? Would I break into song? ShoooppppppRiiiiitttte! Shopppppriitttteeee! It would not be good. (KT Update: Thankfully, my spontaneous singing outbursts seem to be a West Coast affliction).

After our musical moment, we head back to the Bridge Street Inn and call it a night. We’ve got a big day tomorrow. Santa Ynez Valley Wine Country!

Stay tuned for Solvang, a little town with a Denmark complex, tasty treats and lots of wine! Santa Barbara & Michael takes on the traffic capital of the world so we can meet up with some ol Rutgers friends!

TV SCOOPAGE!

Aloha everyone! I come to you with mounds of tv scoop! But, before I begin, I just want to say that I finished Potter last night. Wow. I still can’t speak of it, and even if I could I wouldn’t because I’m sure you aren’t finished the book yet, but when you do, shoot me an email and we will form a support group.

This week starts the TCA Press Tour, which means nothing to you, but for a big couch potato dork like me it is very exciting! The networks show off their shiny new tv stars and give us a little glimpse into what we can expect for next year. Look for extra scoopage next week!

I’ve been trying my hardest to get you guys to watch Veronica Mars. But still, you don’t listen. UPN has made 2 cast additions that I think may draw some of you in. First, for the scoobies out there, I’m sure you will be excited to hear that Charisma Carpenter is joining the cast. Even better, when asked what her role would be, she said, “I’m the bitch in a bikini”. Cordelia Chase, party of one? I think that Charisma plays an AWESOME bitch and I can’t wait to hate her guts next year!

In case you aren't keeping track that means that next season 5 buffyverse actors will be on the television (not including Amy Acker who was recast on CBS' The Unit..Booo). Xander will be on Kitchen Confidential, Willow will be on How I met your Mother, Lindsey will be on Close to Home, Cordie will be on VM and Angel will be on Bones. Also, hot gossip is that James Marsters is involved in something tv related that is super hush, hush. EEEE!

Hmm. Not a buffy fan? Not interested in charisma bitching it out? Not even if she is in a bikini? Well, how about this….Steve Guttenberg. STEVE GUTTENBERG! Come on! You know how I love when old mega stars from the 80s make a comeback on tv! I use to LOVE Guttenberg! Hello, Police Academy? Cocoon? Short Circuit? Three Men and a Baby? Don’t Tell Her its Me? Ok, maybe that last one wasn’t so great. But I’m mighty excited and I know that Guttenberg has already drawn Brother into the show! Hooray! So make sure you watch Veronica Mars Wednesdays at 9 on UPN. The show is running repeats right now and they are about to start the arc that finally solves the Lilly Kane murder. YOU MUST WATCH.

Serenity opens September 30. Everyone who has had the pleasure of my dvds loves the show. If you have not had the joy of my dvds you can tape, tivo or watch Firefly beginning this Friday at 7 on the Sci-Fi channel. I strongly recommend you watch the show. Although it is not required to know what is going on in the movie, I think the background info will make the movie more emotionally impactful. You know how the whedon works. Anyhoo, if you do watch it, just know that the first episode is a little difficult to get through but it is worth it. The rest of the season kicks ass.

I’ve really been enjoying Entourage this season. I love Ari, I love Ralph Macchio and Bob Saget and the commercial and I think Adrian Grenier is dreamy; so I’m super happy that HBO has already picked up the show for a 3rd season! Hooray!

HBO has also announced that the 4th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm will debut Sept. 25.

In other dvd news, Fox’s best show of last season, House, will be released on dvd Aug. 30. If you aren’t watching the reruns right now you should check out the dvds because this show is awesome. I didn’t watch it last year because it was in the over populated Tuesday 9 slot, but this year it is moving to Monday to precede 24. Sweet! A full Monday night of tv! Tonight’s episode is the one I’ve been waiting to see! Noel from Felicity (hmm) and Andy from the Creek are this week’s guest stars. That’s one thing I like about this show. Besides the super grumpy, arrogant, cheeky doctor, I like the all the familiar faces that show up each week. Not big stars, just tv stars that only couch potatoes know! Tuesdays 9 Fox.

In other Fox news, The Inside will continue airing at least until Aug. 3. So for everyone I told to skip your tivoed episodes, I guess you can watch them if you want, just don’t get too attached because I don’t think the show is going to continue much longer.

A teeny tiny Alias spoiler, skip if you want, Mrs. Affleck’s pregnancy is going to be written into the show next year. Have I mentioned yet that I’m a tad nervous about the final season of alias?

Wow. Isn’t it amazing how fast they are getting tv shows on dvd these days? If you missed Lost this year (MICHAEL) you can check it out Sept. 7 when it come out on dvd.

And our final bit of tv news. Spike tv has procured the rights to The Shield and will begin airing the show in March of 06.

Before we say goodbye for the day, I wanted to share some news that I’m not quite sure how I feel about. Rumor has it that a Smurfs movie is in the works and that it will be 3D/CGI. Hmm. Don’t know how I feel about that. I like the smurfs just the way they are. Anyhoo, the movie is planned to be released in 2008 to coincide with the 50th anniversary. Did you know that the smurfs started in 1958 as a Belgian comic strip! Crazy! It didn’t hit NBC until 1981.

That’s all for now kiddies! Next week we’ll have some TCA scoop as well as reviews of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory & the Wedding Crashers.