My Week in TV

• I was bored, so I made my own version of TV University (a format I blatantly stole from something I saw on www.thetvaddict.com- please, no one sue me).

• This week I got the opportunity to participate in a conference call with Secret Life of the American Teenager actress India Eisley. Not being very familiar with the show, I thought the most interesting thing about this would be that her mother was Zeffirelli's iconic Juliet. But when I caught up with some episodes online to prepare for the call I quickly discovered that I would be speaking to the most interesting aspect of the show. Eisley's character Ashley is the beating heart and smart mouth of an otherwise lobotomized teen condescension fest. And when I heard what Eisley had to say on the call I quickly realized that it's her that gives Ashley the awesome factor. Smart, articulate, humble, sweet and honest, Eisley was thoroughly charming. And when asked what shows she watches and movies she likes I couldn't help but think about the Teen Choice Awards (currently accepting voting online). The nominees are all fluff, the sort of belittling stuff that tells teenagers that because of their age they are expected to actually consider Tristan Wilds (90210) the best actor in a drama on TV (not that I don't really enjoymany a CW show and think that the Emmys should get off their high horse and consider Ed Westwick next season, but still- Tristan Wilds?!). But when 16-year-old Eisley watches TV she chooses Weeds, True Blood and Nurse Jackie (much to the audible surprise of the reporters on the call); and her favourite movie? It's not Twilight, it's Bridge on the River Kwai. I was so impressed with the mature teen star that I may even begin to watch her show. (I'll post more from the interview in the coming days).

• After an uphill battle that's been raging since Christmas, I'm closing in on finishing The Sopranos as I finally embark on season 6. It's been somewhat unpleasant (least sexy show EVER, though I suppose that's the point) and I don't care much for any of the characters but I can see why it is considered so artistically meritorious. For every cartoon of a mobster that fills out the background there's a fascinatingly drawn character to counteract them. The whole affair reeks of filmmakers gone rogue on television: the blatant narcissistic rule-breaking works against the series more than one might expect but does lead to the occasionally inspired moment (like heads in bowling bags- for example!) That doesn't make it pleasant to watch, but it does make it interesting.

• This week I watched all of CBC's newest hit 18 to Life in one sitting. It was cute, it was sweet and I'll be back next season for more.

• When I finally watched CTV's weeks old TV movie Turn the Beat Around (starring forgettable So You Think You Can Dance Canada contestant Romina Something-or-other and awesome SYTYCDCcontestants Miles and Natalie in sadly smaller roles), it proved so unlikeable that I ended up fast forwarding to the dancing parts. Whose idea was it to make a Flashdance remake using disco?!

• Monday night trash TV continues to make me incredibly happy. I love to hate the horrible people on True Beauty (though I kinda actually like Taylor, go Taylor!) and am loving The Bachelorette (as shameful usual). Kirk is progressively becoming my new favourite, I still love Frank even if he is going crazy with jealousy, am counting the days until Craig and Chris N finally leave, still think it might be Roberto who breaks her heart and could not care less if people think Justin is evil, she's clearly not going to pick him anyway.

• So You Think You Can Dance kicked off the voting this week with a strong episode. The All-Stars create a mixed bag or results. Some, like Allison, Mark, Pasha and Anya, raised their competitor partner's game. Others, like Kathryn and Twitch, accidentally detracted by being so awesome themselves. One (namely Courtney) is a mediocre all-star who kinda got outdanced by her partner. Some showed off their partner nicely by supporting them and doing their intended job of just being a partner that won't leave the contestant undeservingly in the bottom 3 (Lauren, Neil, Ade and Comfort did exactly that). I'm not sure how this whole thing will play out but I do know that every new thing I learn about Alex Wong makes me love him even more.

• Drop Dead Diva continues to be amazing this season with an excellent second episode. Chad Lowe made a spectacular guest appearance, Tony and Jane each tore my heart out, Fred proved awesomeness once more, Kim is starting to bounce back as a non-villain and Jeff Rose started his arc as a lawyer in opposition to Jane's firm.

• My daily summer staples Jeopardy and The Daily Show continue to go strong (though I am tired of oil spill coverage- is that terrible?).

and

• I almost missed the Top Chef premiere until I noticed something on the ever-helpful (and sometimes sorrowfully spoiler-full) Facebook newsfeed. It's awesome to have that show back for the summer!

Thoughts on the Real Celebrity Jeopardy

- The questions are significantly easier, I could answer most of them (something that's just not true about the regular episodes of Jeopardy).

- Though I'm mad at him for beating the adorable (and apparently incredibly competitive) Neil Patrick Harris, I have to say that Cheech Marin is absurdly good at Jeopardy. Which surprised me, because he's mostly famous for being stoned, not being smart, not that the two are at all mutually exclusive.

- Jane Kaczmarek is entertaining. I like her, even if she is divorced from one of my favourite actors out there (Bradley Whitford).

- Just goes to show: comedians really are the smartest guys around. SNL's Michael McKean rocked his semi-final round against fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi and British actor Charles Shaughnessy and tonight's superb showdown featured 3 comedians toe to toe: Neil, Jane and Cheech (a strange mix of awesome).

- I'm sad to see you go Neil, you were surprisingly intense about the whole thing, but man Cheech is worth the watch.

Kelly's Week in TV

The Bachelorette finale and "After the Final Rose" special: The finale goes exactly as planned as Jillian chooses an ecstatic Ed and stomps on the hearts of Kiptyn and Reid (who returned to propose and finally declare his love). The "After the Final Rose" special, however, contained one of the more awkward segments I've ever seen. When Reid returned to face Jillian again, the reunion was filled with unasked awkward questions, unbearable silences and a creepily enthusiastic young woman who came to the mic to ask Reid if he would go out with her. As for the Jillian/Ed interview, they seem pretty happy and may eventually turn out to be one of the few couples who actually make it after the show. The highlight of the night came with host Chris Harrison's line "as a talented country singer [infamous bachelor/slimeball Wes] once said, 'you know love, it don't come easy'."

Dirty Sexy Money: I love this show and I'm so glad to have it back (however briefly). Saturday's episode was the first offering of this final batch (that started last week) that reminded me how great this show really could be.

Psych: I have no idea where the episodes that show up weekly on my PVR are from in the chronology of the series but I really love this show. Dule Hill is a god.

More to Love premiere: In theory, I like this show. I like the idea of a show in The Bachelor format that doesn't over-emphasize the need for a perfect bikini body. That said, for a show like this to work, it needs to not dwell on what it is that makes it different. After the first episode, all I took away from More to Love is that all these women, who swear they're looking for someone who can see beyond their exteriors, are inextricably caught up with their own weight; it's all they talked about. Sure the guy's kinda cute but he carried with him a bit of a douchy vibe and I can pretty much guarantee that the couple that comes out of this show at the end is not going to last. In fact, my guess is that some skinny girl watches the show and introduces herself to Luke when all is said and done and he leaves his chosen "big girl" for the prettier one. More to Love just seems like one of those shows that has the exact opposite effect than what it is striving for. I think the only thing the audience will take away from it is that girls who are overweight can be just as vapid and self-involved as the itty bitty ones on The Bachelor.

Better Off Ted: Veridian Dynamics goes green (without their knowledge); Ted invents a fake project called Jabberwocky; Portia De Rossi takes back the lead she lost after last week's SYTYCD in the epic battle of 'who's funnier: Portia or Ellen'; and corporate ignorance, the trend of flashy business presentations, employee fraud and the green obsession all get delightfully satirized.

Triple Sensation finale: Kaitlyn finally impresses, Hailey steps it up, Leah's acting chops (rightfully) snag her the win despite some rough notes in her song and my week brightens when I find that 2nd place finisher and My TV favourite Liam Tobin is sitting behind me during last night's production of BARE at Hart House Theatre. (Here it's worth noting how much I enjoy the fact that an old friend of mine made the top 12 in season 1- super proud to have once shared the stage with him).

Merlin: I'm about 3 episodes in. I'm still making up my mind but I think I like it so far.

Big Brother: Jessie further pisses me off by making exactly the right moves for his position in the game, further harming the side of the house that I was rooting for, perpetuating the Athlete rule and keeping the game's most annoying players around (aka Ronnie and Lydia). He may be driving me crazy but I may have no choice but to become a Jessie fan. Quite frankly, he's the best player in the house right now (though he does have a giant target on his back for when one of the few weak people who can and would put him up gets HOH) and that bizarre love triangle is the most entertaining thing going on this summer guilty pleasure.

The West Wing: I'm re-watching. Season 2 really is perfection.

Dawson's Creek: I'm re-watching. Season 2 is nowhere near perfection. Pacey, on the other hand, comes pretty close to perfection in his best season of the series (remembered fondly by me as 'the Andy season').

The Guild: On the grand scale of Joss Whedon's friendship circle, Felicia Day has never been a favourite of mine. But yesterday I caved after hearing her talk about her web series The Guild for the millionth time in an interview with Michael Ausiello at Comic Con. The sweet little webseries that she created, writes and stars in is a shoestring budget story about a group of gamers. Understated, amusing, boasting a colourful supporting cast and running only about 5 minutes per episode, The Guild is actually a nice way to spend your time. It's available (yes, even in Canada) at www.watchtheguild.com.

Jeopardy: Last week saw the reign of the most engaging champion in a very long time: a young video game tester/camp counsellor with long blond locks and a goofy grin. Against all expectations, Stefan won game after game with some seriously impressive skill. Not only is he surprisingly brilliant, but this nonchalant dude is always cracking jokes (adorably bad ones), never takes the game too seriously, often comes from behind to win big and has proven himself to be a big better on Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy questions (which always keeps the game interesting). Multiple times he bet between 4 to 6 thousand dollars on a single Daily Double question in the first round; and during one game he bet more than $20,000 on a Final Jeopardy question about food (which he then got wrong but had a score high enough to still win the game). He'll be back soon to kick off the show's 26th season as reigning champ, keeping things interesting. In the meantime, the Teen Tournament has been very boring.

This Week's Obsessions

Felicity's Haircut
Most people hated it when Felicity's response to getting her heart broken was to cut off her signature long curls. In fact, the change of hair in season 2 is (somewhat jokingly) charged with the decline in the show's ratings. I, on the other hand, love her haircut. I think if you've got Keri Russell's graceful neck and delicate feminine features why not show them off with a short haircut. Audrey Hepburn pulled it off, and so does Keri Russell.

Jason Robert Brown
The best contemporary musical theatre composer out there is a staple of my music collection. This week I've wailed alongside Cathy and sympathized with Jamie in The Last Five Years while baking a batch of cookies. I've wept for Leo while listening to Parade and walking home. I've examined "What it means to be a friend" while listening to a sample recording of 13 and been inspired by Songs for a New World. There's no one better than JRB.

Jeopardy
Seriously, it's surprisingly entertaining.

The Mole's Nicole
She may be crazy but has there been a smarter or bolder woman on reality TV in recent history? If she isn't the mole (which, if she is, she is doing an amazing job of hiding), I really hope she wins.

The Dr. Horrible Panel at Comic Con
I may not have been able to be there but from the audio recording I heard this sounds like the greatest panel in history. Then again, was there ever any question when the central forces of the project are 2 of the coolest men alive (Joss Whedon and Neil Patrick Harris)?