random thoughts on the golden globes

Tonight kicks off Hollywood Awards season with the not-to-be-taken-too-seriously Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globes. I'll be live blogging the show live tonight with my random thoughts so keep refreshing the page if you care...

For once, I've seen almost all* of the nominated films way in advance of tonight. (Thanks bacterial throat infection that knocked me out for three days before Christmas!) And as I have cut down on TV the last two seasons, I've seen almost none of the nominated TV shows except OJ and Game of Thrones, so that should be interesting.
(*Still need to watch Hacksaw Ridge and I've never heard of Sing Street so...)

I'm making no predictions before the show starts ... other than that La La Land will win Best Musical or Comedy Film, and The People vs. OJ Simpson will win for Best Limited Series.

I am making a disclaimer though: Jimmy Fallon really annoys me lately, so my patience with him will be thin.

• Okay.. I liked Jimmy's opening number.. pretty clever flip of La La Land's opening number to the red carpet traffic jam. And big star power included in the taped piece (Hi JT!), although I kept waiting for Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone to appear. 
• Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds - most beautiful presenting team ever. 
• Okay, no one from Nocturnal Animals should win anything. Hated that film. Mahershala Ali from Moonlight should have won.
• Billy Bob Thornton just won Best Actor in a TV Drama over Rami Malik and Matthew Rys for a show I've never heard of. 
• Gee I wonder if Julia Louis Dreyfus will win Best Actress in a TV Comedy for Veep again?
• Nope! Yay! Tracee Ellis Ross for Black-ish. I watch that show sometimes.. 
• I've seen none of the nominated comedies except Mozart in the Jungle. Which reminds me, I still need to watch Season 3 of Mozart in the Jungle. 
• PEOPLE! The Electric Light Parade is coming back to Disneyland! I'm SO excited (And now I have that song in my head instead of "City of Stars" - yes!)
• Yeah, Hacksaw Ridge looks too violent. I can't deal with another Saving Private Ryan right now. That's why I haven't watched it yet.
• I WILL be watching Big Little Lies on HBO because I love Reese Witherspoon, who's now presenting with Nicole Kidman. Reese does the cutest Instagram stories. 
• Sarah Paulson won for People vs. OJ Simpson. Shocker. I wonder how this compares to her Emmy. (That's sarcasm people.) And she thanked Marcia Clark, instead of OJ like Jimmy Fallon suggested... because she's smart. 
• Look! The People vs. OJ Simpson won for Best Limited Series. Thank you. Thank you very much. 
• Bad comedy bit from Sofia Vergara intro-ing Sly Stallone's daughters as Miss Golden Globe.
• Yes Jimmy. Don't even try to imitate Sting. You will never even come close to succeeding because he is eons cooler, more talented and better looking than you, even though he's 25+ years older than you.
• Wow. La La Land won for Best Score. I agree with this choice. 
• Best Original Song. Rooting for JT. Fear that "City of Stars" will win.. then it will be back in my head again. 
• Dammit! It's not that I don't like "City of Stars." It's lovely. It will also stick in your head forEVER like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." But the composers were super cute. "This is for musical theatre nerds everywhere!"

Commercial break.. when in Rome... (but it's Prosecco, not Champagne. All the bubbles, no headache!) 

• Yeah, with the Michael Keaton intro, I'm now officially done with Jimmy Fallon. Wonder how much champagne he's had already tonight...
• Best Supporting Actress Drama. This is a tough category. Viola was great, but I would have given it to Michelle Williams. She was heartbreaking in Manchester by the Sea.
• Oh good! The Electric Parade commercial is back! Stick in my head Electric Parade theme, stick in my head!! Get that other thing OUT!
• Awww. The cute little kid from Lion. He was so good in that movie! If you haven't seen Lion yet, go see it. Such a good, true story! 
• I really hope this Goldie Hawn bit is a bit....
• Which Ryan will win Best Actor Musical or Comedy?
• Gosling! And thank you producers for not playing you know what!
• If anyone has ever wondered, day-old leftover Spicy Tuna rolls are still good. 
• Oh Felicity Jones. What are you wearing? This is not a 1960s prom...
• Best Animated Film...This is between Moana and Zootopia, IMHO. (But I'm rooting for Moana.)
• BTW, have you all seen this? Mind blown by this today!
• Kristen Wiig and Steve Carell should be hosting the Golden Globes. 
• Hmm.. Zootopia. AKA The USA in 2017. 
• We lost Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds within ONE day, Jimmy. Not "a couple of days." 
• Nice tribute video though....
• If you see Manchester by the Sea, be prepared to ball your eyes out. It's really good. But the most heartbreaking movie I've seen in a really long time. You've been warned. 
• So, anyone watching The Night Manager? Is it binge worthy?
• New Beauty and the Beast trailer? I'm really excited for that movie. I loved the animated version, and I think Emma Watson is so excellent at everything. 
• I feel like I should start watching The Crown. And I know I need to start watching Stranger Things. And I will no longer be watching Westworld....
• TV Series Drama. Come on GOT!! 
• Okay, I am now finally going to add a Streaming Plan to my Netflix. I hope my wifi can now handle it (although it crashed my Tivo watching Amazon Prime yesterday... but I made it through an entire 6 season re-watch of GOT on HBO Go in June.)
• Meryl Streep Lifetime Achievement time. 
• Love you Meryl.. great speech on the (not my) President Elect, the bully, and the role of the press going forward, and the role of all of us to act with empathy. "Take your broken heart. Make it into art" - the dear departed Princess Leia. :*(
• Best Director - Damien Chazelle for La La Land.... does this make it the Oscar front-runner? (And again, thank you GG producers for playing the opening number song instead of you know what.)
• There are a lot of actresses with small chests wearing very V-dipped-in-front dresses. Note Amy Schumer had to have a nude panel there on her V-dipped dress holding her girls in... yay for real-sized girls being famous too! 
• Yay Ben Affleck trimmed his beard from when I saw him before Christmas at a "Live by Night" screening. 
• So the new Lando Calrissian's show is cleaning up at the Globes this year....
• Matt Damon is here! If the good Jimmy (Kimmel) was hosting this show instead of annoying Jimmy (Fallon), there'd be a bit here. (Other than his comment on him winning Best Actor Musical or Comedy last year for... The Martian.)
• Think Emma Stone will win for Best Actress Musical or Comedy??
• YEP. 
• Brad Pitt looks GOOD for someone who's rep is being raked over the coals by a crazy anorexic lady. 
• Okay.. I just have to make it through this win without them playing you know what.. please producers, don't let me down!
• YES! "Another Day of Sun" again! Oh, and another correct prediction from me. La La Land = Best Musical or Comedy.
• Um, you have 15 minutes left for like 2 categories. That play off of the La La Land team was just rude!
• Love Bree Larson's dress!
• Ooh Viggo got nominated for Captain Fantastic. That was a great movie that no one is talking about! Go see that one too!
• Wow. They gave Best Actor Drama to Casey Affleck despite his personal controversy... Maybe the HFPA doesn't read US Press. (Casey needs to follow Ben's lead in the facial hair -- and normal hair -- trimming department though.) Despite all that, he was pretty amazing in this film. As I mentioned, it's a heartbreaking film and he was great. 
• Best Actress Drama -- aka who will compete against Emma Stone for the Oscar -- is....who? Isabelle Huppert? Um.. okay. A foreign film winner? I'm going to assume that Natalie Portman, Ruth Negga and Amy Adams cancelled each other out and she snuck in.  (OH! Or based on her speech, she's really good at kissing the HFPA's asses...)
• Yay, now I have the Rocky theme in my head.
• Moonlight is Best Picture Drama..... VERY interesting. I liked it. Didn't love it. Probably need to watch it again now. 

Well, that concludes the show. Can Amy and Tina come back next year please? Kthxbai. 

mad binge

As of this afternoon, I have officially completed my four-month binge of Mad Men.

Now what am I supposed to do?

What are the chances there is a third series out there as good as Mad Men and Breaking Bad for me to binge-watch?

I've been very spoiled by these two well-written, superbly acted and highly-addictive series flying out of my Netflix queue the last 16 months...neither of which I watched when they originally aired, coincidentally both on AMC.

I actually had no desire to watch Breaking Bad until it was over and had won every award imaginable. I had to know why. How could a show about a high school teacher who gets cancer and decides to cook crystal meth so his family will be financially taken care of when he dies be that good? Well, I was hooked by the end of the first episode. It won all the acting and writing and series awards because all of that was that good.

And with Mad Men, many people I know were addicted to it the last few years. (Some even had viewing parties and bought props in an auction after the show wrapped.) I knew I'd end up watching it eventually, but I was too far behind by the time I realized that. So I purposely avoided social media about it and even totally skipped the year-end TV wrap-ups last month so as not to have Don, Peggy, Joan, Roger and Betty's end stories spoiled.

Now that I've learned them, I'm kind of at a loss.

With Breaking Bad, let's just say the ending for most characters left little to the imagination. My questions (well except for one) were answered and there is nothing left to tell.

With Mad Men, while they showed the paths the main characters were headed down, I still want more...I want to see them in those next chapters... especially Peggy and Joan (aka the "Unmarried Professional  Women" of the DVD extras featurette). They were just heading into their "kick some major ass and take names" phase. That would be awesome to watch. But alas....

So I ask again, now what?

I added practically no new shows this fall because my quality gauge was set at "Is this show going to be more entertaining than another episode of Mad Men?" The answer was no. 

What is? 

If I don't start binging another show, I might actually get bored enough to read my book pile :p  Help!!

new tv show time

It's officially Fall, which means there are a ton of new TV shows hitting the networks, all vying for attention and ratings. Sadly, after flipping through my Entertainment Weekly Fall Preview last weekend, I wasn't that excited. And after recording two new shows this past week and watching them, I'm now officially not impressed.

Granted this year -- since I just started binge-watching Mad Men a week before the new TV season started -- there is a new standard all shows (old and new) must meet to earn a space on my Tivo One Pass list: Is this show SO good that it's worth NOT spending this time watching another episode of Mad Men?

The answer for these new shows sampled last week is no:

• The Muppets -- I gave it a shot for sentimental reasons. The sentiment is gone.
• Scream Queens -- Reminds me of American Horror Story: Coven, minus the good acting from Jessica Lange, Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates. And I don't like any of the characters, which is the kiss of death from me. 

The only other new show I'm giving a shot is Grandfathered, because it stars John Stamos, who I've loved since I was 9. I might also stick around after it to watch The Grinder with Rob Lowe and Fred Savage. But that's it. Tuesdays are the only night with space... which means I could get 2-3 episodes of Mad Men in that night (barring Kings games, concerts and Tivo backlog ;) 

Here's my current Tivo To Do List:

• Sunday: Once Upon a Time (maybe... not loving this anymore), The Good Wife, Homeland and The Affair 
• Monday: The Voice and Jane the Virgin 
• Tuesday: TBD based on Grandfathered/Grinder premieres this week
• Wednesday: Modern Family and Nashville 
• Thursday: TGIT! Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder (although I still don't love HTGAWM....this might get dumped) and Bones (I've watched it this long, I need to see it through to the end, which I hope is soon..)

What are you watching this season? Have you seen Mad Men and think there's a new show out there I should be spending my TV time on instead? Let me know! 

random thoughts on the emmy awards...

Rather than live tweet about the Emmys like everyone else did tonight, I decided to hold all (and I mean ALL) my commentary for the end of the show and have complied all the thoughts that ran through my head for the last three hours here, in one handy blog post for your reading amusement. Enjoy.... this has to be funnier than the show was :)

- While I love Neil Patrick Harris, I think this show would've be way funnier if Tina and Amy were hosting. (Note: the show started 4 minutes ago, and Amy and Tina just crawled up the stairs to present the first award after heckling NPH from the front row in 3D glasses.)

- Thank god Lena Dunham hasn't won't anything yet tonight. "Girls" is such an over-hyped icky (yes that's the word that describes it best: icky) show that needs to go away. Thank you Julia Louis Dreyfuss and female Modern Family director for beating her.

- Two tributes in, these special tributes to the chosen five performers who died this year are a real downer...and we're not even to the two really tragic deaths yet.

- Had I known Elton John was performing live I would have shelled out the $300 for a ticket in the balcony I'm allowed to purchase as a former winner/nobody member of the ATAAS...(plus a dress and shoes and ride...) Oh wait, he just sang just one depressing song? Nevermind.

- Just when I was gonna say "Yay Homeland won something!" They say the winner (Henry Bromell) died earlier this year and his sad wife comes out to accept Best Writing in a Drama on his behalf. Depression is starting to set in.

- What!?!?! Christine Baranski didn't win best supporting actress in a drama for The Good Wife?? This show is sad.

- I really wish it was next Sunday already. Then I'd be watching the season premieres of The Good Wife and Homeland instead of this. 

- Cory Monteith tribute. More depression, peppered with a "drugs are bad" PSA.

- Yes! The Voice is Best Reality Show! Finally something I watch won! Yay! And isn't this like the first or maybe only second time The Amazing Race has NOT won this category? Interesting...

- Wow. Jeff Daniels wins Best Actor in a Drama for The Newsroom. I watch that too but that's a real shocker. For him too: "Well crap. Didn't expect this." Tough category. Wonder if the top contenders cancelled each other out?

- I don't even watch Breaking Bad (yet), but I feel like I should say Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul were robbed tonight.

- Clip of Walter Cronkite tearing up as he delivers the news President Kennedy died, followed by Carrie Underwood singing "Yesterday." Anybody got a Prozac?

- Is the microphone moving up and down on Jimmy Fallon supposed to be funny? He's better than that.

- Best Lead Actress in a Drama? Claire Danes, suffering from Gwyneth Paltrow's "My Boobs Are Too Small for This Dress" syndrome, and talking about her writer who won earlier and died. Prozac? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

- Standing O for Bob Newhart. Finally an alive old person being acknowledged. Yay.

- NPH knows this is the Emmys and not the Tony's right? At least the Choreography segment wasn't depressing. And Derek Hough wins an Emmy to go with his 17 billion DWTS Mirrorball trophies.

- James Gandolfini tribute from Edie Falco. Okay, where are the tissues?

- James Cromwell wins best supporting actor in a movies/miniseries for American Horror Story, another show I will watch one day. All I'm thinking in my head is "That'll do pig, that'll do," while my mom is wondering aloud what happened to his hair.

- Steven Soderbergh of Behind the Candelabra wins for Best Director - Movie/Miniseries. That's a shocker. (And that's sarcasm.) Just like Michael Douglas winning for Best Actor and Behind the Candelabra winning for Best Movie/Miniseries in about 6-10 minutes will be. (More sarcasm.)

- Bryan Cranston congratulates Claire Danes on her win. She just looks at him sadly as he says he's still got his fingers crossed in his category. Sad. Then they present Michael Douglas with his Emmy. Oh my gosh! That's the most shocking win of the night! (Did that sound authentic? ;)

- Behind the Candelabra wins for Best Movie/Miniseries. Did I call that or what? (Zzzzzz.)

- I just told my mom I'm adding her quote about James Cromwell's lack of hair to my blog. She would like me to add that she also said he is very deserving and that it's great to see actors with such a large body of work, like him and Ellen Burstyn (who she would also like me to note "is very elegant"), win. Okay. Noted.

- Will Ferrell's outfit. Now that's funny.

- Steven Levitan just agreed with me that this is the "saddest Emmys ever" while accepting Modern Family's Best Comedy Emmy. WIN! (Oh, and Yay Modern Family!)

- Breaking Bad wins Best Drama. Good for them (I assume...I'll tell you for sure after I binge-watch it on Netflix during December rerun season).

And that's all folks!

19 years ago today Friends premiered. Nine years ago today LOST premiered. September 22 is apparently a good day to premiere excellent TV shows.

And to air depressing awards shows about TV shows.

things i'm looking forward to

Tomorrow is the official start of spring, so to celebrate let's look at all the cool stuff I'm looking forward to that is coming... along with the warm weather :)

1) Playoff hockey (assuming the LA Kings make the playoffs. Otherwise, we'll forget this entry) because once the playoffs start, anything can happen.... especially if you have a superstar baby goalie and a bunch of forwards who are finally beginning to score some goals ;)

 

2) May 4, 2012 so I can see this super-awesomeness on the big screen in super-surround sound with a giant bucket of popcorn as the Summer Movie Blockbuster Club kicks off its 2012 season :)



3) My summer TV guilty pleasures, including Game of Thrones (below) starting on April Fool's Day (I hate that Joffrey kid. I hope he gets his head chopped off too... karma's a bitch), True Blood (helllooo Alexander Skarsgard!) and the train-wreck known as Big Brother (I just can't not watch. I've tried, really I have!)

the only good part of this week

This week has sucked. Sick, tired, ticked off at people. But I had one bright spot on Wednesday night when I returned to the Saban Theatre for the final evening of PaleyFest 2012, featuring the entire amazingly awesome cast (well, minus Lily) and executive producer of Modern Family. 

They shared stories from the set, profusely (and rightfully) praised their incredible writing staff, and showed us an unfinished preview of the upcoming "Election Day" episode, where we find out if Claire wins her seat on town council and finally gets her beloved stop sign. Hi-lar-i-ous!

an adorkable evening

I've already raved on here about how much I love New Girl. And tonight, after spending an hour and a half at PaleyFest watching the cast and creators answer q's, make fun of each other and -- in the case of Jake Johnson (Nick) -- recreate awful dance moves to the show's theme song, I can say that I love it even more! 

Who's that girl? It's... Liz!?!? Jess seriously IS based on show creator Liz Meriwether (below, 2nd from right), who is a total dork. And watching her and Zooey Deschanel sitting next to each other, answering questions, giggling and picking on "the boys" was kinda freaky. 

The cast seems to get along awesomely and hilarity ensued as the evening wore on, with costars basically throwing each other under the bus in attempts to make the others sing, dance and strip. (Only the aforementioned dancing actually happened though. Boo!). They also took cash from their own pockets to fill up the "douche bag jar" when saying something, well, douchy. (And yes, Max Greenfield [Schmidt] put the most cash in ;). Overall, it was a great evening and one of the most entertaining TV panels I've attended. 

PS: They showed us a sneak peek at tomorrow's episode, titled "Injured." It was both hilarious and heartwarming. Watching TV shows in a theater full of people vs. at home in your living room alone adds a whole new level of entertainment. If you've never watched New Girl, tomorrow is a great one to start with. It gives a glimpse at each of the five main characters' idiosyncrasies, as well as the crazy yet loving dynamics that exist amongst "the fab five," as a fan called them tonight. 

once upon a beautiful sunday

Once Upon A Time...

 I went to PaleyFest at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills to see the cast and creators of a show about storybook characters cursed to live in small-town Maine talk about their awesome show. We got a sneak peek at tonight's episode (and part of next week's too!) and learned some tidbits of storyline secrets... in as much as executive producers who were also the head writers of LOST will share anything (ie: We'll learn what Snow did to so tick off the Evil Queen "soon-ish" and hints to how to break the curse have already been dropped, but no info on what they are. Argh.)

Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swam), Josh Dallas (David/Prince Charming), Ginnifer Goodwin (Mary Margaret/Snow White) and Ed Kitsis (Creator/EP) on the big screen

Robert Carlyle (Mr.Gold/Rumplestiltskin) 

Lana Parrilla (Regina Mills/Evil Queen)

... on a BEAUTIFUL Sunday

From Beverly Hills, I took the 10w to Pacific Coast Highway, which was packed with people hitting the beach to enjoy the 80-degree weather in March. But if you're going to sit in traffic, you might as well do it when this is the view to your left.

Then I took Malibu Canyon Road back to the 101 and to Thousand Oaks to visit my parents and their pups for dinner. 

Seeing (and being licked by) these two faces is a great way to end a great Sunday :)

enjoy the musical moment

So I'm once again sitting on the sofa watching stuff on TiVo. My current selection is the Jimmy Kimmel Live After Oscar special, which featured this year's celeb-studded viral wannabe Movie: The Movie (sorry Jimmy, it's no Handsome Men's Club) and a skit where Oprah actually allows herself to be made fun of. The show also featured a live performance from Coldplay, which is why I'm typing...

All throughout the crowd, there are hundreds of digital cameras and cell phones pointed at the stage, all with human beings attached, whose focus is clearly on the screen of their device, NOT the actual Grammy-Award winning band performing mere feet away from them for free.

I'm all for recording things for posterity and saving memories, but this practice has become far too common and addicting...especially when you are in the audience of a concert that is already being recorded... like for a national TV show you can watch and relive online whenever you want!

I'm totally guilty of it too. I spent most of U2's concert at the Rose Bowl in 2009 -- where I was lucky enough to have had a general admission floor ticket that enabled me to end up right in front of the catwalk surrounding the stage AND that was recorded for their 360 Tour Live DVD, btw -- with my camera out, recording video of my fave songs and trying to get perfect photos of Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. But I'm kinda bummed that I didn't experience more of the actual experience of being there... "stuck in a moment," if you will... in the FRONT ROW!

Luckily, the most recent concerts I've gone to -- specifically Foo Fighters at the not-so-fabulous-anymore-Forum in October -- have required that I focus on the music, not my camera. See, my camera broke at some point over the summer and refused to focus on anything. So any footage I would have attempted to film would have looked like a super-fuzzy mess. And while I wish I had clear video of Dave Grohl performing Everlong, I am kind of glad I don't. That concert was awesome and I remember huge chunks of the performances and how great the music sounded. I'm not sure that would have happened if I'd been too busy recording the show to actually enjoy the show.

breaking up with tivo season passes is hard to do

I admit it. I watch a fair amount of television (although not as much as some people I know (Hi [cough] Diana [cough]). And as I sit here watching Suburgatory, a perfectly charming sitcom that debuted this season on ABC, I am once again reminded of this, and the fact that I keep meaning to delete it from my TiVo season passes. I also need to delete the other shows I record every week but don't get around to watching for two-to-three weeks (Person of Interest, Hawaii Five-O, Californication). I could be reading a book or a magazine, or printing the photos off my computer I've been meaning to print for months, or -- here's a concept -- interacting with real human beings. But instead I'm constantly feeling pressure to watch tv shows I don't love that are taking up space on my TiVo hard drive.

So I hereby vow that if I don't love a show, and don't actually a) know when it's on and b) look forward to watching it every week, it's getting the boot. Time is too precious to be spent not being entertained :)

things that make me smile

I heard this weekend that my favorite Friend is joining my favorite drama!

Matthew Perry joins 'The Good Wife' cast

For those who have never seen Chandler's alter-ego in a drama, you're in for a treat. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was an amazing show that didn't get the chance it deserved, and he was amazing in it. And he's actually been nominated for three Emmy Awards for dramatic work on The West Wing and in The Ron Clark Story. I can't wait to see him go head-to-head with the amazing Juliana Marguiles, Josh Charles and Christine Baranski on The Good Wife. I love that show!!

my new obsession

So at the end of last season (like literally the last two weeks of the season), I started watching The Voice. I thought the talent was pretty amazing. But little did I know -- or learn in those two weeks -- that I'd missed the best part of the show! I'm now watching the beginning of Season 2, and these blind auditions are awesome!

The suspense of waiting to see who, if any, of the four coaches will push their "I Want You" button to turn their super-Star Trek chair around and keep the auditioning singer on the show is killer. It's heartbreaking when none of them buzz in. But it's hilarious when more than one of them do! If more than one coach buzzes in, the contestant gets to pick whose team he/she wants to join, as the coaches "campaign" for themselves/against each other. And I am now in love with Adam Levine and Blake Shelton! Watching them fight over contestants, insulting each other, and sometimes helping each other out against the other two coaches -- Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green -- is great television! The four coaches, while battling for contestants, actually seem to really like each other and being part of the show. And they appear (at least in the case of Adam, Blake and Cee Lo) really genuine. Christina Aguilera has always bugged me/seemed fake, and her sitting there flashing her big, fake boobs is doing nothing to change my opinion of her, but that's okay. The others make up for her. In fact, watching Adam pick on her, is quite enjoyable. ;)

Apparently, I'm not the only one who's loving the show. Last night, the show earned the biggest non-sports TV rating in six years as it premiered after the Super Bowl. Yay for it! (And NBC... they really need a hit ;)

adorkable overload

What's my fave new show this tv season? If you'd asked me back in October, I would have given some highfalutin answer like Person of Interest. And while I do enjoy that drama from the mind of the awesome JJ Abrams, I have to say the new show I most look forward to each week is the adorkable (yes, I just said that) New Girl, starring queen of the adorkables, Zooey Deschanel. It's not like it's ground-breaking TV. And it's never going to unseat Friends as my fave sitcom of all time. But New Girl makes me happy. From the cute theme song ("Who's that girl?.... Who's that girl?.... It's Jess!") to the totally stereotypical three guy roommates who all secretly crush on Jess in their own adorkable (yes I said it again) ways, the show just makes me smile. Maybe it's because I secretly wish I could be as cute, quirky and carefree as Jess... adorkable (yeah, yeah), if you will. Whatever the reason, I'm glad other people agree with me and love the show too. It's very in sync with my unwritten 2012 goal to surround myself with more positivity, so I'm glad it's not in danger of cancellation anytime soon.

Zooey also is co-founder of a cute, quirky, drowning in positivity blog with an adorkable (last time... I promise.) name, HelloGiggles. And while I think I'm probably not their demo (since I'm old now), I still enjoy checking it out every now and then. The Treats section has some good recipes. And the How To's section is always educational. Take this recent post titled How to Small Talk. I learned things you should make small talk about include BBC Masterpiece Classics and your favorite Goldie Hawn movies, and you should never make small talk about your job. This explains a lot about my social life (or lack thereof) and why I hate going to parties where small talk might be required. ;)

a day after-the-fact, but still awesome

"Friends" is, and likely shall forever be, my fave sitcom. Entertainment Weekly is, and likely shall forever be, my fave magazine. I am thankful for both of them coming together for this awesome walk down memory lane: 10 Thanksgivings with "Friends"

my two fave muppets become x-men

X-Muppets by ~Rahzzah on deviantART

okay, i'll admit it... here's how i spent my summer

Julie Chen blogs 'Big Brother' week 11.

And way to go Fan Favorite $25k winner Britney! Eye-rollers RULE!

oh how i've missed this show...

"God, Jesus, Mary Madeline, Allah, Confusion, Buddha, Scientology, aliens, that lion from Narnia... " LOL!

Minisode: Jason

to aide in your/my transition from the island...

An Idiot's Guide to "Lost"

"Lost" Redux: See You in Another Life, Brotha

EW's Totally "Lost" by Doc Jensen

8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...0:00

I just finished watching my last televised Jack Bauer hour. I'm kind of torn about how I feel now that the series is over. 24's final season was kind of ho-hum compared to previous ones. This season's story just didn't resonate that much with me, which, combined with some of the best characters of the series turning against their true selves (President Taylor listening to President Logan for like 6 hours of the season -- are you kidding me? Chloe going all corporate and running CTU -- LOL!), left me thinking maybe they should have ended the show last season. But the final minutes of the finale brought me back in and made me at least care it was ending. Jack and Chloe were back on the same side scheming to reveal the truth at all costs. And The Prez finally remembered her principles in time to save the man of the hours... 192 hours to be exact. That's a lot of time to spend on an adrenaline rush, running and scheming and killing bad guys to save the United States from six would-be annihilations. Poor Jack Bauer.... because this is 24, and Jack is the eternal tragic hero, he's still running. No happy ending for Jack. Nope. Not even peace (which I think he will only experience when he's dead). No, Jack is running away, out of the country, away from some pissed off Russians, into the sunset known as the Big Screen. Yep, if the series ended happily, how would they ever pull off "24 - The Movie"? What I really want to know is how they'll squeeze 24 hours of running and scheming and beating up bad guys into a 2-hour movie. Or maybe the movie will just be called "2" :p

Okay... I'm now officially delirious from lack of sleep the last 24 hours (ha! didn't even mean for that to happen) and need to sign off now. Imagine the final "boom-boom" ticking sounds of a "24" clock right now... 0:06...0:05... 0:04... 0:03... 0:02... 0:01... 0:00. Night night. 

"the end" -- my interpretation

I stayed up till 3am last night/this morning to watch the finale of LOST after my flight home from New Orleans was delayed on Sunday night. I was/am totally exhausted but I had to watch it for myself before I heard about it from other people... people who seem very divided over the ending to this amazing era of television.

I, for one, was totally satisfied by the finale. Yes, there were a ton of questions left unanswered. (What the heck IS the island? And did Desmond, who I grew to love more every episode, ever get off of it to reunite with Penny?) But answers to those questions were not the big secret. The secret was that those questions were just the frosting used to hook the sci-fi geeks of this world into spending six years watching a love story without realizing it. ;) 

Yes, that's my interpretation. LOST was a love story. It was about one character, Jack Shepherd -- who'd lost all meaning in his life -- finding love... not necessarily romantic love (although I do believe he and Kate loved each other that way, as did he and Juliet for a while), but love of life, of family, of community. He became a leader, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect and save those he had come to care about -- Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Rose, Benard, Desmond, even Ben Linus -- and in doing so, he found his redemption. LOST was Jack's story from the moment his eye opened in that bamboo field in the pilot episode, until the moment his eye closed in that bamboo field in the final scene of the finale, with loyal-till-the-end Vincent by his side. 

Jack was not the only one who found love though. Each of the characters on the show were either reunited with their true loves (Desmond with Penny, Rose with Benard, Sun with Jin) or found true love (Sawyer and Juliet, Charlie and Claire, Sayid and Shannon, Hurley and Libby) during their time on the island... which DID happen. People are wondering if it was all a dream of Jack's. It was not. It really happened... that's how all those strangers from Oceanic 815 became "the most important people in each other's lives," as Christian Shepherd explained to his son in the final moments. That time on the island happened to each of them, with some (Boone, Shannon, Libby, Charlie, Juliet) dying and heading to the Sideways world earlier than others (Hurley, Claire, Kate, Sawyer).... all of them waiting for everyone else to die/arrive in Sideways-ville. Once there, they had to remember their life together -- which beautifully happened when they were reunited with their love (Juliet and Sawyer in front of a broken vending machine; Sayid jumping in to protect Shannon after Boone's bar fight), or experienced a moment of familial love (Sun and Jin hearing their baby's heartbeat; Kate, Claire and Charlie experiencing Aaron's birth; Jack saying goodbye to his father's casket) in Sideways -- and then remember/realize they were dead. Once they remembered, they "were ready." (People like Ana Lucia, per Desmond, were not.) They were ready to move on... first to that church to reunite with each other and then, together, into the light of heaven... or whatever you believe in. Yeah, it was kinda corny and reminiscent of Ghost ("It's amazing Molly. The love inside, you take it with you."), but I was balling my eyes out nonetheless. 

The ending left me feeling at peace, knowing all these characters I'd spent six years with -- watching grow and change from a bunch of selfish strangers (remember Jacob's explanation to the final "candidates" last week: "You were all flawed. I chose you because you were like me. You were all alone. You were all looking for something that you couldn't find out there.") into a loving family -- were all together, in a good place. I didn't care about the electromagnetic force at the center of the island, or the Dharma Initiative, or the numbers. Those things were all just a mystical means to a spiritual end. I just cared that Charlie and Claire were together again, Sawyer really was a good guy, and Jack had finally found the peace he was searching for. 

It was a good end.