Thursday Night TV

30 Rock: Eh. 30 Rock, like most comedies, really needs writers on set to do punch-ups. The underlying story in this episode was there, but the things that really make the show sparkle weren't. Awkward musical number at the end...

Ugly Betty: Fun, but a little on the nose even by this series' standard. Why was Hilda at the Fashion Week show this year? School chaperone? The Amanda/psychic plotline was a hoot, though. Gotta love me some Becki Newton. And I wonder if Marc stroking Christina with the mannequin's arm (to comfort her, ostensibly) was a shout out to Pushing Daisies. Probably... right? Also, Justin is taller than Betty now.

Grey's Anatomy: Wait, this episode was about faith? Oh. Totally missed that...I honestly expected to care more about this episode. I think I've really reached the point in my relationship with Grey's where I really want it to be fun and entertaining again, but the show seems to think I want lots of melodrama and anvil-y metaphors. There's nothing new coming out of this show, it's running on fumes. I want the interesting patients and different facets of their lives that reflect various doctors lives in different ways. I want for the show, when it does go for grand, soap-operatic strokes, to do it in surprising ways and to surprising results (though I do understand that seeing George and Callie trying to make it work is too much repetition of the Derek/Addison/Meredith plot). Hopefully when the strike is over, the show will figure itself out. Now that Meredith seems to have, finally and at long last, broken things off with Derek (didn't she do that at the end of last season?????) maybe she'll have an appreciable, understandable, non-wishy-washy story that will help carry the rest of the characters' arcs... or at least give us a seasonal theme (that isn't George's "I want to be that guy again"). Although I'm intrigued by Callie/Hahn. Because despite Hahn telling McSteamy that if they didn't work together, they'd probably "y'know"... I, and I think everyone else, have my lesdar on high alert.

Big Shots: So the secret is out... Charisma Carpenter is Janelle, Brody's wife from hell. Thoughts?

Make Me A Supermodel: I'm not sure how I feel about the show, as far as whether I'm hooker or not... but DAMN that must be a bitch to produce. Filming and editing within the week of airing? Certainly more impressive than what America's Next Top Model does (filmed months in advance... and also, I think, much harder than slapping together a live show because of the time crunch... oh, those poor non-union story editor slaves). Still, that "throw a piece of yourself (aka your clothing) into the fire... and by the way I'm encouraging you to basically strip" thing reeked of fraternity hazing / initiation ritual. I really dig the weekly measurement taking thing. One, because I want to know what some of the males' measurements are (er, for comparison's sake...) and two because I think the show is actually going to make a point about being healthy (for instance, the photographer in the first shoot mentioned how Jacki was bone-y... yeah, she was!) I wonder if they'll post the measurements online. Not sure how I feel about the voting process... but that could be because I'm on the West Coast which means if I deigned to vote for anyone, I would have to watch the show within an hour of its first airing. I suppose we'll find out on next week's episode why they need it to be done so quickly (my guess is they wake the person up early in the morning and that person needs to leave ASAP... though at the same time I wonder if the show is going to spend any time with the models between when an episode finishes and when the results are announced... the production of this show is what really intrigues me).