Monday, March 30, 2009

Sorry World...

Curly and I have once again gone AWOL, but so goes life. We've both been traipsing about creation and have thus not had much time to write. Today is no different, but I would like to mention a few quick things:

--E.R. is saying goodbye! Everyone in the world has written something about it, but a cyber moment of silence would be appropria--te here. Although it has fluctuated wildly in quality over the years, I feel like E.R. should get its credit for being one of the best (and last) scripted dramas of our time.

--Desperate Housewives is arriving at its end of season drama resolution. It's good as ever, but a tad formulaic no?

--Grey's...put it out of its misery already. Come oooooooooooonnnnnnnn.....

--Amazing Race continues, quicker than usual it seems, but remains interesting. Margie and Luke are totally my favorite team this year. One curious thing though, with Mel and his Dad making up the token gay contingent, one assumes Luke to be heterosexual. My question is: has anyone ever seen a heterosexual man cry like Luke did in India? Curiouser and curiouser

--Family Guy is still sliding into the abyss, which is sad considering how funny it used to be. It seems like now it is playing much more to the WOW crowd, and that's nothing I want to be a part of. Please please please watch American Dad. This kinda-copy of Family Guy is actually clever AND topical, something Family Guy can't claim to match.

--Finally, Curly and I are so far giving two big thumbs up to Kings. Nice visuals, both in landscapes and personages. Give it a try. You can watch on Hulu so there's no excuse.

Happy sweeps to all

Monday, March 2, 2009

Sweeping the Nation

Though our combined absence was actually due to Mo being South of the border, and Curly’s laziness/loneliness, we’re just gonna blame it all on February...er...March sweeps. Yes, it’s that time again. A few weeks later than usual, owing to the February 17th digital switchover, but it’s all the same to us. In technical terms sweeps refers to the four times a year Nielsen Media Research sends out surveys to households across the country to measure viewership in…blah blah blah. All we care about sweeps is that the networks blue-ball us for a week or so with repeats, then start whoring themselves out for ratings with new shows and ridiculous material on existing programs—extended episodes, plot twists, controversial topics, finales, etc. The dish…

Brothers & Sisters: A two hour special, hyped up by mid-Oscar commercials proclaiming “A BIRTH…A DEATH…” Fingers crossed it’s Tommy! (pretty sure it’s not)

Grey’s Anatomy: After two weeks of titillating (right) crossover episodes, Grey’s will be holding off till next Thursday, the 12th. They’ll continue to try and make us care again with the consequences from McD’s aneurysm snafu, and more ‘guess what illness is going to kill me like the ghost of my dead fiancĂ©e predicted’ with Izzie. Should be…uh…interesting. Or not.

Private Practice: Also off till next week, PP milks the seemingly never-ending Violet baby drama again. Who’s the baby daddy? Just tell us already so we can move on.

Desperate Housewives: You know it's going to be scandalous, and it's going to involve Bree/Orson. Let's leave it at that.

Survivor: Its existence is enough for the sweeps spike in ratings CBS needs, even after eighteen seasons. Go figure.

Nip/Tuck: Season finale, scandalous, shocking, yada yada.

Damages: Like this show needs any more plot twists. Business as usual.

Gossip Girl: Georgina (Michelle Trachtenberg) is back for more, are we excited? Maybe.

Life: A new case about a soldier in LA on leave, and (hopefully) some interesting/shocking info about the ongoing conspiracy.

Medium: More of me hating Allison (sorry), “conflicting evidence” (surprise, surprise), and a missing child (another shocker).

Lost: A whole new crash, a revealed murderer, resurrection, this show always knows how to (over)do it right.

The Office: Finally, a new episode! (March 5th) And with how this season is going, should be gReat. This episode is entitled “Blood Drive”…now think of 5 ways this could go wrong, and there you go, a preview.

The Bachelor: The finale, and a hot mess of an after-show. More on this to come.

Upcoming Series Premieres:
Castle (ABC) - March 9
Kings (NBC) - March 15
Better Off Ted (ABC) - March 18
Cupid (ABC) - March 24
In The Motherhood (ABC) - March 28
Unusuals (ABC) - April 8
Parks and Recreation (NBC) - April 9

NOTE: Because of the altered sweeps schedule, some shows will be repeats this week and next. Here’s a heads up.

Thursday, March 5 - Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Smallville and Supernatural
Monday, March 9 - Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill
Tuesday, March 10, 17 & 24 - 90210
Tuesday, March 10 - NCIS, The Mentalist and Without a Trace
Wednesday, March 11 - Scrubs and Lost
Thursday, March 12 - My Name Is Earl
Monday, March 16 - Chuck, Heroes and Medium
Wednesday, April 1 - The New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds and CSI: NY

Any shows we missed you wanna dish about? Let us know below…