A bunch of my favorite TV shows have been renewed for new seasons – here is a quick round-up.  (Yes, some of these are old, but so what?)

Fringe was just given the go-ahead for a third season, which is fantastic news.  The show’s ratings have been down thanks to its hyper-competitive timeslot, but the stories this season have been phenomenal, and the show is really coming into its own.  If you’re not watching it, you should be!

Smallville, which has seen every season since #7 potentially be its last, has gotten a pick-up to continue for a Season Ten.  As a fan of the show, I have been hoping for years that it would come to an end; it’s not that I don’t love it, I just think that based on the concept of the show – Clark Kent growing into the hero he will be – needs to eventually come to its logical conclusion.  For years, the show seemed to be dragging its feet, but no more.  The show still has its issues, but it has proven that it still has legs, and I am excited that they will continue for another year.  I still stand by my assertion that the show does need to come to a satisfactory conclusion, and that the showrunners should negotiate an end that will leave them and the fans happy.

NBC picked up the three Thursday night shows we watch, The Office, 30 Rock, and Community, for additional seasons.  Similarly to Smallville, The Office, as much as I love it, needs to end at some point as well.  What on earth is this documentary crew still doing in Scranton?  Are they *ever* going to take all of this footage and make it into something?  Or are we supposed to now think that the cameras are there as an ongoing reality series?  Has that ever been established?  I still like the show, and I’ll keep watching it, it just seems like it’s gotten a little too silly for its own good.

Community is also pretty funny, and while I can’t see it staying on the air forever (community college is only for two years, right?), another season is good news.  And 30 Rock is pure brilliance, and they need to keep that show going as long as they can keep Alec Baldwin on it.

How I Met Your Mother got a green-light for a sixth season, which is also great news, but once again, the show is going to need to come to an end based on the premise of the series.  Eventually, Ted’s gonna have to meet the Mother, and all of the story lines will have to pay off.

Big Love was given an order for a fifth season, which isn’t terribly surprising given that the show pulls in pretty solid numbers for HBO.  This season seems to be moving at a breakneck pace, which is a nice change from a lot of the other scripted shows on the air that seem to plod along.

And for what it’s worth, here is my official opinion on these shows that are still “on the bubble:”

24 – I could go either way on this one.  The show is still entertaining, but the formula has gotten a bit stale.

Heroes – Yeah, I have stuck with this show despite swearing off it several times.  I didn’t finish this past season, but now with the last few episodes on FiOS’ On Demand, I am planning on it.  The show is also past its prime, so I wouldn’t be heartbroken if it went off.

Scrubs – They never should have brought Scrubs back from the dead after last season, but to cancel it now would just be extra insulting.

V and FlashForward – Both of these shows have potential to live for a few seasons, if the writing can stay strong.  I personally have a little more faith in V, but I’m looking forward to seeing how both shows play out their seasons.

Every December, a ton of “Best of the Year” lists pop up everywhere, and they can get old pretty quick, but I’m digging the “Best of the Decade” lists that I’ve been seeing lately. So I figured I’d jump on that particular bandwagon, and so I now present my list of some of the best pop culture trends of the past ten years.

Funny Music from Artists Besides Weird Al
Don’t get me wrong – my obsession with Weird Al Yankovic, the king of parodies and musical comedy, is still strong as ever. And he had a great decade in his own right, with the fantastic albums Poodle Hat and Straight Outta Lynwood, as well as his several Internet Leaks songs and videos. But he also had some competition in the funny music department. Tenacious D’s first album is side-splittingly funny. Though the movie and its soundtrack were less hilarious than they could have been, the genius of their first batch of songs more than makes up for it.

Then there’s Andy Samberg and his Lonely Island crew. The videos for Lazy Sunday, D*ck in a Box, I’m On a Boat, and others are brilliant in their lyrics and their visuals, and the digital shorts have been some of the best stuff on Saturday Night Live in recent years.

And who could forget the brilliance of Flight of the Conchords? Their two seasons on HBO, their two albums, and their EP were full of catchy, quotable, fantastic, and hysterical songs. I cried a little bit (on the inside) when I heard the show was officially done. Hopefully they’ll keep putting out music into the next decade.

The Renaissance of the Serialized Drama
The aughts may be remembered as the decade when hour-long, serialized dramas came back with a major vengeance. The best of the bunch has to be Lost – a show that not only blows your mind every week, but it has you obsessing in between episodes, talking over theories and trying to guess what it all means. The season 1 and 3 finales are two of my personal favorites in a standout series.

While the writing may not be as strong at 24 as it is on Lost, it’s still an extremely entertaining show, and it’s made Jack Bauer an instant kick ass pop icon. Sure, it’s cheesy when he screams “Dammit, we’re running out of time!” yet again, but it’s hard to resist the show’s real-time Die Hard feel. Then there’s Smallville, which has gotten much better at telling long stories over multiple episodes instead of just relying on freak-of-the-week episodes. And Fringe straddles the line of stand alone episodes with a greater mythology, and so far has been doing a great job of both. I also have high hopes for FlashForward and V, but it will remain to be seen how well those shows pay off long arcs, but they’re both off to good starts.

Even when theses kinds of shows haven’t worked all that well (Dollhouse, Terminator, Heroes) or when they were good concepts that were canceled too soon (Eli Stone), it’s still good that network executives are giving their audience some credit, understanding that we have patience, and can appreciate the kind of story-telling where everything isn’t all wrapped up in a tidy package in 42 minutes.

There is a great, albeit very long article about this topic at GQ.com with the guys from Bad Robot – I recommend it if you have a half-hour to kill.

Sit-coms Are Amazing Again!
It wasn’t just hour-long dramas that rocked the decade; the sit-com was reintroduced as a medium of clever comedies, and not just full of pratfalls and one-dimensional characters. Arrested Development was able to use bad puns, sight gags, kissing cousins, and The Final Countdown to great effect for powerful belly laughs. The British version of The Office gave us an amazing new brand of painful and awkward humor that would live on in the American series, as well as Ricky Gervais’ show Extras. 30 Rock is written so brilliantly and the jokes come so fast I find myself having to constantly rewind back to listen to jokes again. How I Met Your Mother gave a new twist to the story of urban singles looking for love. And we got 8 great years of Scrubs – even if Season 9 leaves a little to be desired.

The Superhero Is Cool Again
It seems like ages ago, but there was a time in the not-so-distant past that superhero movies weren’t really anything to get that excited about. Then in a single decade, we got four fantastic films in the genre: Superman Returns, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man. (I know I’m going to get mocked for making those the ones I single out… but I just can’t get behind Spider-man. I tried, really, I did. And I enjoyed X-Men and X2, but I don’t know if they were amazing.) Too often, superhero movies were considered formulaic drivel, and could be released, hated, and forgotten about quickly. But the aughts made them not only bankable hits, but films that both nerds and critics agreed were actually good. I’ve defended Superman Returns so many times I’ve lost count, so I’ll just make this quick – it had its fans, and its share of people who hated it, but I loved it, so it goes on *MY* list, OK? The rebooted Batman films were also incredible, and they made that world so dark and believable it’s hard to not be foaming at the mouth for more sequels. And even though I knew nothing about Iron Man, I thoroughly enjoyed that film as well. Sure there have been some bad superhero movies in the past ten years, but the good ones were so great, it almost doesn’t matter.

The Apatow Movie Method
If some strange pop culture villain put a gun to my head and demanded I name the funniest movie of the past ten years, it’s a safe bet that I’d answer Superbad. I was laughing out loud a lot when we first saw that flick, and every time I’ve watched it since, I have the same reaction. That’s impressive considering I know the jokes that are coming. I also feel similarly about Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up, and The 40-Year Old Virgin. And Anchorman and Talladega Nights and Walk Hard and any movie that had Apatow’s name attached to was guaranteed to be at least funnier than your average comedy. Of course, Judd himself didn’t always have much to do with every all of the above movies, but his influence can be felt in them – and others where he had no involvement whatsoever, like I Love You, Man; there are outrageous moments, painful moments, and things that are ridiculous enough to make you laugh so hard your stomach hurts, but they still keep themselves grounded in such a way that you buy what’s happening. Movie comedies will probably continue to evolve, but these movies will always make me laugh.

The Pixar Streak
So much has already been said about the brilliance of the Pixar movies, but here it goes anyway: The folks at Pixar are geniuses, and each and every one of their flicks have been funny, beautiful to watch, and full of great characters and stories. Two of the greatest films of the decade in my humble opinion are WALL·E and Up, neither of which sounded like a home-run concept, but were both executed flawlessly. Sure there are other companies doing similar kinds of animation, but those movies always just fail to impress me with their stories, and often times they are so full of timely references that the jokes will be out dated in a few years. Courtney and I have been watching a DVR’d collection of Pixar shorts, and even the company’s short films are crafted with amazing precision and humor. I sure hope my kids love these movies, because I know I’ll enjoy watching them too.

Nintendo Changes Video Gaming
I’m a Nintendo fanboy – always have been, always will be. And I loved the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance. But what Nintendo pulled off with the Wii and the Nintendo DS is truly incredible. Video-gaming is no longer just associated with nerds playing alone in dark basements – it’s now something that the whole family can do together, something that parents don’t dread if their kids want to do, and it’s even something that women actually enjoy. (And are not just pretending to enjoy for the sake of their boyfriends or husbands.) Wii Sports isn’t my favorite game personally, but I love watching people who have never held a game controller pick it up and play with ease. Wii Fit is a really fun way to exercise at home. The latest iterations of the classic franchises have all been fantastic: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Paper Mario, Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Galaxy, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii are all incredible games, as are their counterparts on the DS. (I just beat the first dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks this morning – it’s really fun so far!)

Sure Nintendo has room for improvement – better online capability, HD graphics, etc. But the fact of the matter is what they are doing now works, and it works well, and it works well for a huge chunk of the population.

Better, Clearer, Faster
High definition television. DVR. Portable players that let us watch movies, TV shows, and carry tons of music and photos, too. It’s pretty amazing that when we started this decade, those things weren’t common, and now it’s hard to imagine life without them. It sounds like a sweeping statement, but it isn’t, really. Try to go through a week without using your DVR. Or switch back to a standard definition TV. You’ll be going out of your mind in a week. What are you going to do, record your favorite shows with a VCR? Seriously.

And remember when you had to carry a discman with you to listen to music on the go? You looked strange wearing headphones, and you could only listen to one album at a time! Now you can carry thousands of songs in your cell phone.

And remember dial-up? When it would take a half hour to load a 30 second video clip? Now you can watch entire episodes of TV shows or whole movies on your laptop – or even on your TV – that load in seconds.

It’s hard to imagine so much has happened in ten years, and it’s even crazier that in December 2019, we’ll be looking back at all of this stuff as quaint and old-fashioned.

So, I guess that means he managed to survive at the end of last season, huh? Well, that was one heckuva shocker. Though I gotta admit the lines about Jack not looking like a grandpa got me sort of excited for the new season.

Of course, I am most excited for the upcoming and (definitely) final season of Lost. There’s a new teaser trailer, and even though it shows absolutely no new footage, it’s still sort of cool to get amped up about Lost again:

The new trailer does NOT make up for the fact that the show won’t be running uninterrupted in 2010 – ABC will force the show to take a break during the 2010 Winter Olympics. That’s just super lame. First of all, I can’t imagine that there is a ton of overlap between Lost fans and figure skating fans. And even if people are truly torn between finding out the secrets of The Island and seeing who takes home the gold in Curling, they can just DVR one, and not screw with the rest of us. (Although now that I think about it, a February 2010 hiatus might be a good thing for the Noah family…)

Like 24, Smallville is another show that may or may not be ending, but now there’s word that the Smallville producers are pushing hard to go for another year. This is sort of just par for the course at this point, considering that pretty much the last few seasons have all been considered likely to be the show’s last. Hell, I had been saying the show should have ended long ago as well, but I gotta admit, the show has been pretty cool lately. Sure, it still has its flaws (like last week where they were back to ripping off movies for plot ideas, this time it was “The Game”) but the show has gotten better at long arcs, and they seem to know what they’re doing and where they’re going. Hell, the simple fact that they are even planning ahead to know how to end this season and lead into next year speaks volumes about their “big picture” plans, which I can appreciate.

And last piece of news: the new Scrubs (which, like Smallville, just keeps coming back for “one more” season) is set to return on December 1st. It’s an odd time for a show to come back on the air, and I was really hoping they would at the very least change the title, but who am I kidding, there’s no way I’m not going to watch it.

And just in case anyone missed it/wants to watch it again, here’s Cartman singing “Poker Face” while Stan hunts Japanese whale hunters.

Super fast recap of the non-Lost season finales of the year:

Smallville – Super disappointing battle between Clark and Doomsday. They built up all season for 1 minute of a fight? And Jimmy Olsen wasn’t thew real Jimmy Olsen? Lame. And Chloe didn’t know that her husband had a brother? And she didn’t even try to use her healing power on him? Lame lame double lame.

24 – Tony was sort of kind of a little bit redeemed – he did have somewhat of a motivation for his actions, although he was willing to go to some awful extremes. And Kim in trouble was a tired way to end the season – there was way too much talking and not enough action in a finale where we knew Jack wasn’t going to die.

Fringe – A great end to a great first year. I really think this was one of my favorite new shows of the past season. The twists about Peter and where William Bell holds his alternate-universe meetings were great moments.

The Office – The best moment of the show was Dwight stalling for Pam and Jim. How many people have to get hurt before we do something? One? Two? Three? … FOUR?

Scrubs – What a great way to end the series, except that they’re not really ending the series. On the one hand I’m happy to have more Scrubs, but they did such an amazing job tying everything up, it could feel like overkill. And how wil they top the next series finale they have to do?

Another TV season has come and gone… Now I can begin a summer of watching baseball!

So after I was able to brag and boast and say “I told you so” when it was revealed that Tony was good, it turns out that he’s really evil? I didn’t believe it at first, and it still really pisses me off. For one because I loved the character and he’s been around for so long, but also because it doesn’t make a ton of sense – if he and his anonymous buddies wanted a full scale attack, why did they stop Jonas? He was a loose cannon because he wanted to attack too much too soon, but now they’re doing the same thing? Huh?

This week’s Lost was good, but it was really all set-up for the finale next week, which I am totally psyched for. Can Locke kill Jacob? What is Jacob? And why the hell did the Others appoint Locke as their leader and not bother to explain the rules to him? How can he lead when he doesn’t know what’s going on around him? (Attention bleeding hearts: Insert Dubya joke here…) And now all of a sudden Kate loves Jack so much that she’s willing to allow tons of people to die (Charlie, Boone, Shannon, Libby, everyone else) just so she can hold on to a few happy memories with her ex-fiancée? Oh, and Chang’s questioning of Hurley? Brilliant.

And speaking of shows coming up on their season finales, perhaps Smallville will break it’s recent run of huge buildups to disappointing final episodes. The promo didn’t really sell it, but I’m cautiously optimistic. It’s gotta be better than the Heroes finale at least. They just. Keep. Making. The same. Damn mistakes! Show us a decent fight with Sylar! Let Ali Larter’s characters stay dead! Ugh. I don’t think I’ll be watching next season – they just haven’t given me any reason to in so long.

Before I get to, Lost -one ultra important note: WATCH BRINK TONIGHT!  There is a very special cameo about three minutes and change into the show.  So don’t miss it!

Anyway, a lot has happened since my last Lost post, but to recap a few key points:

• Holy crap, they shot a kid at close range!  Yeah it was Ben, but still, how many TV shows can claim to have shown a kid getting shot like that?
• What bothers me more than the fact that Rose, Bernard, and the rest of the 815′ers are missing is the fact that no one has mentioned them at all.  The following simple exchange would have appeased me. Jack: “Where’s everyone else?  They OK?” Sawyer: “We all split up, and we tried to find them, but we couldn’t!” Just that would have showed that the other folks haven’t forgotten about them…
• I LOVED that we are getting to see what turned Harry Potter Ben into Evil Ben, and that it wasn’t just Sayid shooting him, it was also the fact that Jack refused to help him out.  Wrap your brain around that!
• I didn’t love that what Sawyer said to Kate on the chopper and what what Kate did with Aaron were both exactly what I suspected, but oh well.  And Sawyer must be a fast whisperer to give Kate Cassidy’s name and address so quickly!

Smallville has been really decent this year, but I have to say that I am a little bummed that the show is going to continue for another season.  I mean, at some point, Clark needs to embrace his destiny, and that point has just been dragged out for so long already it is hurting the show.  But as long as the show can keep up it’s momentum, I guess it’s a good thing.

And I am still very close to giving up on Terminator, but I have to say even that show has picked up slightly in the past few weeks.  Dammit, I’m trying to cut back on the amoutn of TV I watch – why won’t more shows let me quit them?

First up as always is Lost: I really and truly love this show, but I have to say that I get a bit disappointed when the big “reveals” in the show are things that most fans have already guessed – like that Jack and Claire were related, or that Locke’s dad was the original “Sawyer,” or that Faraday’s mom was the white-haired lady in the church and who told to Desmond he had to go to the Island. I mean, those were all great twists, and I’m sure less-obsessive fans thoroughly enjoyed them, but when you see them coming, they lose a bit of their “HOLY CRAP” factor.

That said, it was nice to see Rousseau take out her team, and see that apparently, Smokey made them go sort of crazy, somehow, and not just by ripping off that one dude’s arm. So what exactly is the nature of “the sickness?” Why does Smokey sometimes rip people limb from limb, sometimes kill them instantly, and sometimes make people go insane? And more importantly, what is the Temple? Ben mentioned it in Season Three as a place that the Others needed to go to hide from the Freighter people. Are some Others still there? Is that where the kids from 815 are? What is it a temple to? And why does Smokey venture so far away from it at times?

The reveal by creepy Christian that Locke was supposed to move the Island and not Ben was fascinating – did Ben know that he was tampering with the plan? He said he has gone through so much for the O6 and they don’t appreciate it – why did he move the Island then if he thought it would cause such heartache for him? Ben said that he had to move the Island because Jacob wanted to banish him – but was he right? Or was he lying? And does Ben not know that Desmond is shacking up with Penny? You’d think he would have been happier to see Des if he did, since he did in fact promise to Widmore that he’d take out Penny. And why is it that ALL of the Oceanic Six had to go back, but now seemingly it was all right if it was just Jack and Sun?

OK, my head hurts, so enough of that. Man, isn’t Flight of the Conchords amazing? I absolutely love them, and I can’t wait for this season’s songs to be released on CD so I can memorize all of them as well. The past few episodes have been stellar, and Murray’s quest to become friends with Bret and Jermaine was absolute pure genius.

And what’s up with Heroes? I only saw Volume Four’s first episode, but I couldn’t help but notice that the show still sucks. Volume Three was supposed to fix all of Two’s mistakes, and it didn’t. Four was supposed to really right the ship, and so far I don’t see it. I never give up on a show, even when the quality goes down. Like, ever. But I am really temped with Heroes. I’m thinking I’ll let the rest of this season play out, but if it doesn’t pick up, I’m done.

And speaking of shows I haven;t given up on, way to go Smallville for finally doing the Clark-Lana story some justice! Although the “wrap-up” (???) of the Lex story left a lot to be desired. Like, really – he’s dead? Yeah, sure. Lex Luthor can’t be dead, but it seems like he may be dead for the purposes of Smallville – which is all well and good, but the character deserved a much better exit than the one he got.

And Dollhouse premieres tonight – on a Friday night. Not a great time-slot, but now with DVR’s and TiVo, who cares about time-slots, anyway? Also tonight is a special Valentine’s Day episode of Brink – watch it with your honey!

On to my other shows:

I know it has become rather vogue to rag on Heroes, but I have to jump on this fanboy bandwagon here. Seriously, what is up with this show lately? In Season One, the revelation that Claire was a Petrelli was shocking. Now Sylar is a Petrelli, too? Come on. And then there are more sisters that look just like Niki Sanders? Ugh. Niki was a terrible character in the first two seasons, and though they made a wise move in killing her off, the show runners should have let the actress go altogether. No offense to Ali Larter, but none of these sisters have added anything worthwhile to the plots, and Claire is better eye-candy anyway. And the whole time-traveling plot device has become moronic – Hiro sees a bad future, and doesn’t understand what’s happening, why doesn’t he go to a few days before the world ends and do some digging? Future Peter decides that Nathan’s revealing the Heroes is a bad move so he goes back in time to shoot him. Why not go back an hour before that and talk to his brother? And after F.P. figures out that shooting Nathan was a bad idea, why not go back again and stop himself? In The Eclipse Part 1, Noah rushes a lightly injured Claire out of the house, but doesn’t finish off Sylar and Elle. Why not? Sure he’s worried about his daughter, but how long does it take to shoot some suddenly powerless villains? There are way too many plot holes like these, and it’s just getting infuriating. I appreciate that the plots are moving faster, but sometimes it feels like they are moving too damn fast, and the stories aren’t given a moment to breathe. The flashback episode, like the season’s theme of finding a hero in every villain and a villain in every hero, is so full of potential, but the show has completely squandered every chance for greatness.

Now, on to my love-hate relationship with Smallville. Despite the incredibly noticeable absence of Lex, the show has been doing all right this year, looking like they are finally ready to have Clark accept and embrace his destiny as Superman. But then I have to go and read that the CW is looking to keep the show around for yet another season. Oh dear Lord, why? Well, the reason why is that Smallville’s numbers are still respectable, so they might as well keep trying to get blood from the stone. The problem with the show going on forever is that the very concept of the show was set up to establish Clark’s journey from a boy with superpowers to a man who is to be the world’s greatest superhero. And it’s a great concept for a show, but it needs to have a set end. By allowing the show to drag on for year after year, the series is basically making the character of Clark Kent less and less likeable because he just keeps putting off the inevitable. The show worked very well in the high school years, and even into Season Five, but after that point, Clark has been dragging his feet, and it hurts the overall tone of the show. This season, the Lois and Clark romance feels incredibly rushed to me, and there are so many nitpicky things that drive me crazy week after week. Like, for example, the fact that Chloe was given away at her wedding by Clark and not her father. Where the hell was he? And Martha couldn’t have taken a moment out of her schedule to attend the wedding at her family farm? What? All that said, I was glad they (finally) tied up the Kara storyline, and I have enjoyed the way the show has introduced Doomsday as a real badass with some frightening Kryptonian heritage.

Eli Stone has been great so far this year, and I am terribly bummed that the show will likely not live past halfway through this season. This is a really entertaining show that enough people just haven’t caught on to yet, which is a real shame. The musical numbers are fun, the characters are well-written, and the hot chick from Species is in the show. Why wouldn’t you watch it? With it’s themes of a higher-power making a guy set things right, the show has a very Quantum Leap feel, which is probably one of the reasons I like it. Hopefully ABC will give the show another chance.

The Office is back with a vengeance, which isn’t particularly surprising, but they continue to set the bar very high for themselves. Of course I loved the episode where Dwight mocked Andy by applying to Cornell, since it was chock full of references to my beloved alma mater, and the show has continued to handle the Jim and Pam storyline masterfully, and they remain one of the best couples to watch on TV. The Andy and Angela arc is still great, and the moment when Andy drunk dials his fiancée while Oscar watches was fantastic. Repairing Ryan and Kelly has reminded me how much I had watching them together, and I am convinced that for the series finale, whenever that may be, Michael and Holly will be reunited.

30 Rock has also been on a roll this season. I will admit to being one of the nerds who grumbled about all of the big name guest stars the show was bringing in, as it seemed like a ratings ploy. But the writing is so good, it doesn’t matter what star is playing the zany characters the show brings in, because it always works. And hell, I hope they do get more viewers with their special celebrity appearances, although Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impression likely had much more to do with the ratings spike than an appearance by Megan Mullalley. My only complaint with the show was the way they abandoned the cliffhangers from last season’s finale. I know the Kenneth in China thing was a joke, but Jack being stuck in D.C. got a mention of how he was able to get out, and I would have liked a similar nod to the Page. But it’s a small quibble for a great show.

On the animated front, I am greatly enjoying The Simpsons and American Dad this year, while Family Guy just feels stale. The Clone Wars is great, even though the Jar Jar episode was, well, a Jar Jar episode. Robot Chicken’s second Star Wars parody was, like the first one, spot on with it’s great reimaginings, and I love the ultra-fast jokes for the super obsessed, like Lando commenting that he loves Boba Fett’s ship, but that he isn’t so crazy about the name. Brilliant. South Park had an amazing second half, and even though I thought the High School Musical and vampire kids episodes weren’t hysterical, they still had enough funny moments to make me happy. And the guinea pigs in their little outfits were simultaneously brilliant and adorable.

And a few other thoughts/news items:

The Girls Next Door remains a guilty pleasure, but the show has lost a little bit of its believability now that Hef has shed two-thirds of his girlfriend group. Eh, I always liked Bridget the best anyway, and I’m curious to meet these new twins.

And yay, Scrubs comes back on the air on January 6!

And could it really be that an Arrested Development movie is actually going to happen?

Even the mini-reviews are getting to be too much (hey, I watch a lot of shows here), so I think I’m just going to stick to general impressions/thoughts on recent shows, skipping here and there as I go.  Hope you enjoy.

The Simpsons’ twentieth (!) season kicked off with a bang, and I found myself laughing a lot. Despite South Park dedicating an entire episode to “Simspons Did It!”, The Simpsons seems to be a bit behind in parodying things that South Park has already done: First 24 and now Dog the Bounty Hunter, but both times the different shows went in such totally different directions it didn’t matter. And both episodes have been good, and that’s what really matters. The erotic bakery storyline wasn’t hysterical, but it served its purpose in delivering some random laughs.

True Blood is finally starting to pick up, probably because they no longer have to worry about annoying things like set-up and establishing characters, but they seem to have gotten the knack of who these people are, what’s going on in their world, and the stories have started to pick up some traction.

Little Britain USA didn’t win me over immediately, but I loved the dog “suggesting” its owner strip and stand in garbage was great, and the show proved its worth with the line, “In America there are more fat people than there are people.”

Heroes still feels like they’re recycling plot points; now there’s another guy who paints his visions?  Can’t they come up with any new powers for people to have?  And next week we’ll see evil Claire and good Sylar?  I don’t know, I just want more from this show.

Fringe is getting better and better, and I like the fact that they try to pack in one “eww” moment per episode, like a guy getting holes drilled in his head or someone being tortured with electric shocks through their nostrils.  I’m not quite sure how the show is going to turn out less complicated than Lost with so many unexplained tidbits happening in each episode, but whatever, I’ll keep watching.

Smallville’s season is young, but I already really miss Lex. He really was one of the best parts of the show, and Tess Mercer just isn’t working for me as a replacement. The introduction of Davis was also incredibly yawn-worthy. This is the guy who will eventually kill Superman? Really? And how the hell did Clark get hired at the Daily Planet – he’s a college dropout that wrote a couple of articles in his high school paper, yet he was given a reporter job at one of the biggest newspapers in the country? And how has there been no mention of Kara still being trapped in the Phantom Zone? I get that she’s no longer a cast member, but shouldn’t Clark care that his cousin is trapped in a floating prison in space? And what’s with Lois suddenly being smitten with Clark? She never noticed him before, and even though this show has already taken many great liberties with Superman continuity, isn’t she supposed to continue to be apathetic towards him only to then fall for his alter-ego? Having Lois be interested in Clark kind of hurts that eventual love triangle. But to the show’’s credit, I am intrigued by the possibility that Tess is creating an army of super-villains, perhaps a Legion of Doom in training?

I’m starting with last week’s HBO shows; I didn’t get to watch last night’s due to the Emmys, but fear not, I’ll get to them…

True Blood: The First Taste – This show ain’t getting any less cheesy, but I’m still enjoying watching it. And apparently, I’ll enjoy it for a second season as well, if I so choose. I find it a little odd that the show got renewed after its second episode, but hey, HBO has gambled successfully before. So far, I’m liking Sookie and the vampire Bill, and I wish the show would spend more time on them than on the jerky brother and the sassy best friend.

Entourage: Unlike a Virgin – Johnny was obsessive and Turtle made fun of him, which always makes for good comedy. The more serious side of Vince and Ari, as they discussed the reality of his future as an actor, made for a nice contrast. I was surprised to hear Ari speak so candidly about Vinny’s so-so acting ability, though – it kind of seemed odd that he would be so invested in someone he didn’t really believe in.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Automatic for the People – What the hell is going on here? I am seriously confused. So everyone is a Terminator? Did the Terminators want the reactor to open and for it to poison people? Or was it just prepared that, if that plan should have been foiled, the T-1000 would find a way to buy and automate the system? This whole multiple timeline and multiple people and machines altering destiny thing is getting a bit confusing for me. It might be that I’m just over analyzing, but hey, that’s what good geeks do.

Fringe: The Same Old Story – I love that the whole baby-turning-into-an-old-man bit didn’t go anywhere near where I thought it was going to.  The show is still sort of finding its footing, but it has tons of potential.  I wasn’t that crazy about the “seeing the last thing the dying person saw” bit, especially since last week’s episode introduced the concept of questioning dead people.  There are plenty of paranormal concepts out there that they don’t need to repeat themselves, and I’m hoping that was a one-time lapse in judgment.

Smallville: Odyssey – My expectations were so low – how was I still able to be disappointed?  Well let’s start with how Jor-El allows someone to “control” Clark – he loses his powers.  Yawn.  How many times has that happened already?  Then Clark manages to escape to Russia from the North Pole without any special powers?  All of the scenes with him in captivity were just blatant attempts to get him in a wet T-shirt.  It was cool to see (half of) the Justice League going to find Clark, but I’m not so sure I want Green Arrow coming to rescue me, when if a couple of armed guards enter a room, he is so slow that he couldn’t fire off a single shot.  And the whole “spinal fluid kryptonite that controls you” thing was totally shoe-horned and under used.  And without powers, an arrow through the heart doesn’t kill Clark right away?  Huh?  The show ended with the potential of Clark *finally* accepting his destiny, leaving the farm, and moving on to the Daily Planet, but it was still a weak premiere.  Oh, and why does Tess look exactly like Lois?  Awkward.

The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards – Cons: Five lame reality show hosts that talk too much, everyone spewing their politics, and hokey TV show “sets.”   Pros: Ricky Gervais vs. Steve Carell, and 30 Rock getting its due.