Okay, Now I'll Talk About 2008 TV

The Amazing Race: Pretty obviously a non-elimination round (since they spent like 5 minutes on TK and Rachel as they did the various activities from behind instead of just skipping them to the pit stop...) I almost brought myself to rooting for Nate and Jen to come in first place because they way the show has been edited together, I get the feeling that, if they don't come in first in the penultimate leg, that they're destined to win... which, ugh). When's the finale? Is it really in two weeks? Or three (given a potential super-leg)?

Desperate Housewives: Mrs. McClusky comes out swinging at Negative Nancy Edie (telling her that when you get to be her age, prayer is actually quite comforting, and Edie will know that in a year or two!) Anyway, Lynette's entire family is alright and everyone is happy... and the other old lady who apparently had a name, but I'll remember her as the Penis Demon Lady from the Buffy episode Doublemeat Palace. A respectful, solemn title card (first time I think the show has used it without any of the Danny Elfman score). Hey, look! Despite the fact that they weren't in the last episode, the Gay Couple is back! And their ugly fountain was destroyed! Hah, I totally forgot that. A bit weird that they cut to "3 Days Later" without so much as showing Gabby. But that's "last-minute pre-strike script, no rewrites" for you. Ugh, not loving the "Bree's contractor is gay, and the gay residents' friends are 'nines' and the contractor is 'a three' so they can't set him up with someone after his break-up, so Bree's house will remain roofless" thing. Not because of the plot, but because I enjoy Bob and Lee, but don't really like the "preening, judging, superficial gay" angle (and I swear to God, if Bree is thinking of setting that guy up with Andrew... oh, we're gonna have a fight about that... I mean, pimping her son!) I'm surprised Gabby didn't kill Carlos with that much morphine. And surprised that she continues to surprise me with her self-centeredness... I mean, you'd think I'd know better than to be let down by her behavior. Hah! Andrew totally called Bree on pimping her out. Awkward! "You can raise a man's hopes without satisfying them, I've done it all my life," Bree says. I don't think that means what she meant it to mean. And now Susan's trying to undo the "pimp my son" action to keep Bree as her kind-of-live-in-maid... and she brings up Justin the Gardner. What happened to Ray Carnes? Anyone? Anyway, Susan's foot should be firmly in her mouth in about ten seconds. Wow. Wow. The title is DESPERATE Housewives. And that scene with Bree and Orson (and Andrew) begging the contractor to parade Andrew in front of the contractor's ex certainly lived up to it. "He's got a mesh tank-top that will bring your ex to tears." You know... it just became not funny. Way to go too far, Orson. Hearing Gabby say "for richer or poorer" was almost believable. Carlos saying "in sickness and in health" says to me that he's blind (hence the wrap around his eyes). Um... yeah, unless they're planning another Lynette-styled cancer-remission with Carlos' eye-sight, don't they kind of have to write him off? And just as she's starting to exhibit growth! Sad, really. The scene between Katherine and Adam was okay. Too bad the season is getting cut short, but at least there's some twist and movement on the "What happened to Dylan?" mystery. Oh, Katherine, I hope whatever you did that it's forgivable enough that Dana Delany can stay on the show when it comes back! Not a season-finale by any means, and I don't think it fair in any way to judge it on that standard. Would've been great way to start off a new string of episodes, though. At least this way, when the strike does end, the DH writers can regroup, come back, and not suffer a mid-season quality slump.

The Simpsons: "Meh" political episode, but the ending was great (Ralph Wiggum is running for POTUS and as he sits on the Lincoln Memorial Statue's lap asking for presents for a political ad, he sticks his finger up his nose and the tag line reads "Ralph Wiggum: Pick a Winner").

American Dad: Total "meh". I really don't know why I still watch the show (oh, wait, it's because of the one brilliant half-hour they've managed to do, but that was in 2006...)

Cashmere Mafia: So this aired pilot was reshot and almost complete different than what I saw in May. I will say this... they did make it sleeker. They got rid of the cloying Mia (Lucy Liu) voiceover narration, AND dressed her better (one of my major gripes was that she's supposed to be the Second Coming of Carrie Bradshaw but she dressed like Ty Tai – thanks Mike – pre-Cher intervention). Seriously, at least through the first commercial break, I'm actually liking her wardrobe. Mia's e-mail thing was a decent way to introduce the other characters... though it might've gone unnoticed that in her e-mails, for whatever reason, she had their company names and positions. Subtle! *cough* So the "mafia" gathers and we see the Desperate Housewives our main characters together... a white brunette, a white blonde, a white red head, and a pleasing-to-look-at non-white ethnicity? Do go on, Marc Cherry. And they all, naturally, have square-jawed white men in their lives (yes, I know, Bonnie Somerville's character's story is the adventure into lesbianism... with Eva from The Nine!) By the way, the men are all surprisingly unattractive when shirtless. I know they shoot the series in NYC... there have to be better looking, decent actors. It's not like they're leads. They're accessories. And I still don't understand the "Mafia" part of the show's title. But whatever. Finally, my god, can there please be an hour-long show on ABC that isn't flooded with plucky, bouncy, "dramedy" score??? Someone needs to tell these women that there's more than one restaurant in Manhattan... and that they need to learn a thing or two about business lunches.

American Gladiators: Recorded the second hour (FauxVo was busy recording two things until 10pm). It's camp, of course, but I wonder if it's too slick to be appreciated as camp. It's so campy that it veers on being serious. And I'll have none of it. I would rank the return of this 90s series as among the worst crimes committed on television this decade... perhaps ever. Right up there with The Swan.