More links

Coverage of the Dr. Horrible panel at the Paley Festival (wow, that got like NO coverage this year... last year, I remember linking to about 12 different TV show panels), and Kristen Bell (who just earned her own tag on my blog) starring in another wedding movie.

Remember me?

In an attempt to rehabilitate this blog, I thought it might be nice if I posted once in a while. Sorry I've been superbusy in work, but it doesn't really seem like it'll let up any time soon. I seriously, seriously need a vacation, but that's not going to happen when I'm trying to find a new job and move to DC.

Anyway, I watched Dollhouse last week. (If you'd like to read about it, Whedonesque has links to about eleventy billion interviews with Joss and/or Eliza.) I was not impressed. I really don't think Eliza can pull off this role, and I'm still iffy on the premise. I'll give it a few more weeks, but just the fact that it's Joss isn't enough to make me want to watch.

On the other hand, several of my favorite shows are coming to an end, either for good or for the season. We're up to the last five episodes of Battlestar Galactica (ever!) and I think my head might explode (in a good way). The Psych season finale is tomorrow (wow, that came up fast), and Leverage ends on Tuesday. I've really been a fan of Leverage (enough that I just gave it its own tag), so I recommend you all catch up during the break, as they've been renewed for a second season.

On the other-other hand, My Boys is coming back March 31st. Also, Kristen Bell is guest starring on Rob Thomas' Party Down, which means I'm wishing even harder than I got Starz.

Rainy afternoon

I'm sitting here listening to a 3.5 hour conference call, so I'll probably be posting a crapload of links, trying to catch up after posting kind of sparingly since the election.

I can't remember if I linked to this article or not, but much rending of garments and angry fist-shaking was happening on the internet last week due to Dollhouse being bumped to the death slot on Friday nights. On the plus side, Bones will NOT be on Fridays, and Fringe, which I'm still watching, has a good lead-in with American Idol.

Life has gotten a full season pick-up, which I'm very happy about. Like Bones, it's a procedural with a fun twist, and it centers around a really interesting main character.

The prodigal Darling returns on Dirty Sexy Money, as Juliet is set to make a guest appearance. (She was mostly written off the show after the actress had drug problems, I think.)

Damages is returning in January! Gosh, it seems like such a long time since this show was on (due to the writers' strike), and I've missed it so. Speaking of shows I haven't seen in forever (but have missed somewhat less), Kiefer Sutherland talks about filming the 24 movie in Africa.

My Own Worst Enemy has been canceled. I feel a little bad for Christian Slater, because I like him and wanted his show to do well, but it was pretty sucky, and I didn't watch past the first episode, so it's not terribly surprising.

And finally, the writers of The Daily Show talk about their jobs, and Kristen Bell talks about... a lot of stuff.

Counting down...

...till I get out of here. Spent most of the weekend packing, although it feels like I spent it on a Stairmaster. Sheesh, you'd think I'd be in better shape for hauling 3 loads of laundry up and down 10 flights of steps. (Note to self: Never do laundry when elevators are out of service.) I also managed to get stuck in the elevator, which was my main reason for taking the stairs, so that was a lot of fun.

Anyway, the increasingly negative and false statements from the McCain campaign are generating more buzz. They're also generating more humor, as is Sarah Palin.

But I know what we really care about is what Kristen Bell's up to on Heroes. In other TV news, I watched Fringe last night, and I'd say it won me over enough that I'll be disappointed to miss the next three episodes. My teenage crush on Josh Jackson has apparently not gone anywhere, particularly as he was spouting some of the best lines in the episode. But God, a 2 hour premiere seems long, even with limited commercial interruptions. I noticed that with the Bones premiere, too.

So, I counted it up, and I'm going to be missing approximately 15 hours of television while I'm away. Dude, that's a lot of television. Okay, it's like 5 hours a week, which is one hour per weekday, which doesn't seem like a lot. But wow, I wish I had Tivo.

I should start drinking coffee...

Well, I'm almost recovered from the weekend (and yes, I realize it's Tuesday). No need to go into my adventures on Friday night (Kelly was scandalized). Despite evidence to the contrary, I really didn't drink all that much, but I only got about 3 hours of sleep, so I was ridiculously tired all weekend. And this after an entire week of saying, "I need a day to just catch up on sleep."

Kelly came to sleep over on Saturday, and I put my "get people addicted to BSG" plan into action. We also watched "Chance" (OMG James Marsters in a dress!) and I finally broke out the Angel DVDs (OMG puppet Angel!), which I've owned almost a year and still hadn't watched.

Anyway, today is Dr. Horrible Day! So go watch it. Now. I'll wait. (I don't have comments on it because I can't watch in work. Rest assured I will be singing through my lunch break.)

Okay, so, in other exciting news, Kristen Bell is definitely returning to Heroes. Yay! Love her.

The Mole was back last night and I was completely proven wrong when Alex got executed. I kinda had a suspicion when he was the only one to earn money in the bungee jumping game (which would have been really easy to sabotage without being noticed), but I still physically flinched when he got the red screen. I'm undecided as to who my next suspect is. I'm thinking I might go with Clay, since he was on my list until he got in a fight with Paul. But then again, it's hard NOT to get in a fight with Paul. I'm still going on the assumption that the super-obnoxious people (Paul and Nicole) can't be the mole, because they draw too much attention to themselves, but maybe Clay finally got into it with Paul to make people think he wasn't the mole for that very reason. I'm definitely ruling out Craig, because of his almost dying, and also Mark because you just can't fake that much neurosis (or if you can, he's the best actor ever). I have a suspicion that bitchy Nicole is gonna win the whole thing... unless she's the mole.

Uh, let's see... I also started watching My Boys yesterday. It's decent, although not on par with the other comedies I watch (How I Met Your Mother and The Office). Definitely a summer show, because if I had a full schedule, I don't think I'd waste my time on it. I've still got two more discs of season 1. Next up I think will be Arrested Development.

This is a really nice, nostalgic article about Billy Joel. I think he was my first real musical interest, so listening to his songs is like remembering my childhood. Both my parents were fans - my first experience was listening to their old records of Songs in the Attic and The Stranger. Not to mention that I stuck with playing the piano as a kid mostly so I could learn to play Billy Joel songs.

And finally, this may seem a bit hypocritical in a post where I talk about The Mole, but you all know my general position on reality shows. And seriously, one isn't bad. One hundred seventy-two new reality shows, on the other hand, is what's wrong with television in this country. The mind boggles.

What a day

Well, Chelsea’s sleeping in bed with me now… except she’s decided that it’s HER bed and so she gets to lay in the middle, and I have to sleep off to one side, which usually ends up with me accidentally rolling over on her. She likes to play for a couple hours after I go to bed, so I got smart and started taking away the toys with bells at night, so she can’t make noise.

We’ve already lost two mousies, one of which ended up so far under the refrigerator, I couldn’t even see it with a flashlight. (That was about 10 minutes after I gave it to her.) Chelsea was very adamant I get it out, but I couldn’t find it. No idea what happened to the other one.

In other news, I desperately want to see Recount, the Danny Strong (yep, that'd be Jonathan from Buffy) TV movie about the 2000 election. It aired on HBO this weekend, which I don't get, and I wanna know when it'll be on DVD so I can watch it.

Also, props to Scott McClellan for his new book, which has the longest title ever (the short version is "What Happened"). I cannot tell you how badly I felt for this guy while he was standing up there doing Bush's spin. He looked unbearably uncomfortable, and it was so painfully obvious that the words coming out of his mouth were utter bullshit, but there wasn't a thing he could do about it. Considering the way he was pushed out of his job, I guess this kind of thing was to be expected, but I really have to laugh at the Bush staffers calling him disgruntled. As though he's saying anything the public doesn't already know or suspect about the administration.

And, apropos of nothing, Kristen Bell is a Red Wings fan.

Missed my chance...

Man, yesterday was April Fool's Day, and I didn't try to fool anyone! I should've posted something wacky on my blog to see if anyone believed me, but I didn't think of it until today.

Anyway, first I want to direct your attention to TedMosbyisajerk.com. Of course it's a real website - would you expect any less from HIMYM? Seriously, listen to the song.

Also in HIMYM news, James Van Der Beek is going to be guest starring in the upcoming Robin Sparkles episode, possibly as Robin's crush. Oh, Dawson.

E!'s Kristin is a fount of information this week, as she also has news that Kristen Bell may appear on one of Rob Thomas' many pilots, most likely the "Outrageous Fortune" remake. It'd be a shame for her to leave Heroes, as she's one of the few characters I still like, but I'll watch KB in pretty much anything.

And finally, while season three of BSG is blowing my frakkin' mind on DVD, here's an update on the Caprica prequel. Sounds interesting.

Craziness!!

First and foremost, since Megan mentioned it, here's a report from John McGinley that Scrubs has been picked up by ABC for another full season. They start filming again March 24th. (And that's why Sarah Chalke is too busy for more than one episode of HIMYM.)

This is kinda weird - they're making another spin-off of Beverly Hills 90210, and Rob Thomas might be writing it. Not really what I expected from the creator of Veronica Mars, but okay. I never watched 90210 or Melrose Place, so I doubt it will interest me.

Billy from BSG auditioned for Joss' new show, Dollhouse. Yay! I love Billy, I miss Billy. I wish he hadn't died. (Sidebar: WHEN are the season 3 DVDs coming out?? I'm about to chew my arm off.)

Oh, and in further awesomeness, Spike is getting his own After the Fall comic! I don't know if you've been following the Whedonverse comic developments, but After the Fall is the continuation of "Angel" set a couple months after that rainy battle in the alley. They're doing an arc called "First Night," which flashes back to tell the story of what happened during/immediately after the battle. One issue of that arc focuses on Spike and Illyria, and the Spike: ATF series apparently spins off from that. Whee!!

Also, just a random shout-out for the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which comes out April 18th. It was written by HIMYM star Jason Segal, and also stars Kristen Bell (!!!) and Paul Rudd. I'm super-excited, though I still probably won't see it until it's on DVD. I'm just like that.

Everybody back to work!

The writers' strike is OVER! *cheers*

So, what does that mean for your favorite shows? Michael Ausiello comes through as usual with a comprehensive list. Highlights:

1. 24: Expected to return this fall or January '09.
2. Bones: Four pre-strike episodes left. Unclear whether additional episodes will be produced for this season
3. Chuck: No new episodes until fall.
4. Friday Night Lights: No new episodes expected for this season. Future TBD. (see below for more info)
5. How I Met Your Mother: Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May
6. The Office: Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

The news on the FNL front is troubling. There's talk of moving the show to USA or Bravo (NBC-affiliated cable networks), but nothing is definite yet. I really, really hope that Friday's episode doesn't end up being the series finale. It was a good episode, but an incredibly unsatisfying ending (think of the greatness of season 1's "State"), particularly since the show was just starting to get back to its season 1 level of awesomeness after the shaky start to season 2. If you love the show as much as I do, and you're interested in a "save the show" campaign, Pop Candy has a few suggestions.

In other news, my favorite girl, Kristen Bell, is starring in what looks to be a Disney romantic comedy. I think we can pretty much guarantee that she will neither taser someone nor shoot electricity out of her fingers, but hey, maybe she'll be good even without electrocuting someone. :)

Also, my high school celebrity crush, Joshua Jackson, is starring in a new J.J. Abrams TV show called "Fringe." Yay! Oh, Josh, how I've missed you.

I also have a big political post coming (I've been saving up links, but never seem to find the time to talk about them), so don't think I've forgotten about the primaries!

Short week!

God, I love holidays. Three-day week this week! Are you all preparing to eat mountains of food and be annoyed/embarrassed/infuriated by various relatives? Good.

But first, do you know what tonight is? Slap bet!! According to the Slap Countdown, we're going to get the third slap tonight on How I Met Your Mother. I'm so excited! I never used to get this excited about physical violence... did I?

Also, here's a hilarious interview with Hayden Panettiere and Kristen Bell. It's almost as great as the interview KB did with Piz from Veronica Mars. I was gonna quote my favorite line, but I couldn't decide. Just read the whole thing.

Joss Whedon wants YOU (think of that Army poster) to participate in a pencil-mailing campaign to support the writers' strike. Also, he sings Newsies.

Kittens come in sizes

I was on the Harrisburg Humane Society website the other night, looking at kittens (I'm totally getting one), and I noticed the funniest thing - they're listed by age, breed, and SIZE! Yes, that's right, kittens now come in small, medium, large, and x-large. I want this one. Or this one. Or all of them.

Are you right-brained or left-brained? I turned out to be right-brained, which I thought was odd. I've always thought of myself as the logic/order/math and sciency brained, not the creative/imaginative side. Also, the spinning dancer kinda made me woozy when I stared at it too long.

Kristen Bell on Heroes! Kristen Bell on Heroes! Yes, the reason I started watching the show in the first place shows up next week. Here's a little info from KB on her character. I am having a serious brain shortage trying to think of her as a "bad girl" but I'm sure that'll change once I get Veronica out of my head.

Why I Don't Like "Heroes"

...even though I have never watched it.

I will admit, I do have a slight aversion to the uber-popular franchises, Harry Potter being top of the list, simply because everyone goes so friggin' nuts over them. I don't know why, but the more people gush about HP, the less I want to watch the movies or read the books. I much prefer the charm of a little-known show like Veronica Mars or Psych. The kind of show that feels like you just discovered something awesome, rather than just blindly following the mass of people into the movie theater.

That's how I feel about Heroes. I didn't watch it at first, because the idea of a whole bunch of superheroes doesn't interest me. But people said it was good, so I thought, "Maybe I should check it out." I didn't get around to it, though, and then the momentum started to build and I ran in the other direction. Every time I heard "save the cheerleader, save the world," it only strengthened my resolve to avoid it. The more people freaked out about the OMG!supercrazy cliffhanger endings, the less I wanted to watch.

I think it's the over-marketing that turns me off. It's tiresome. And Heroes' marketing has only gotten worse in the run-up to season 2. I mean, seriously, how many cast members can you possibly add? Every day, there's a new cast member. They really could be recognized as their own country. And then there's the merchandise. And the spin-off series. And the world tour. Seriously? A world tour? Is that really necessary?

And yet, even with all of that, I will be sucking it up and renting the season 1 DVD, so that I'll be all caught up for season 2. For one reason, and one reason only. Damn you, Kristen Bell.

"You know how to use this? Point and shoot."

Okay, I'm a little grumpy because this is the third time I've tried to write this post, and Mozilla keeps deciding to quit before I can finish it, so let's see if we can get through it, shall we?

So I spent much of yesterday watching the tape of all my shows from last week, which my mother so kindly mailed to me. It seems there was a "how to fire a gun" theme - including the quote in the title from 24, in which Jack learned exactly how dysfunctional his family really is. How about his father calling him a "civil servant" with such disgust? If Jack Bauer isn't a good enough son, what could that man possibly want? Jack's only saved the city of LA, the President, and the country like five or six dozen times.

And of course, I must add the obligatory, "Logan?? What the hell?" comment. I'm actually kind of glad to see him, since he's the President we love to hate - as opposed to Palmer II, the President we just hate. For more 24 news, here's 24 hours on the set of 24.

This week was the last episode of Studio 60, possibly for good. Starting tomorrow, it's being replaced by The Black Donnellys, and there's no word on it returning. Even though I tuned in faithfully every week, I can't say I'll really miss it. It was kind of just background noise for writing my 24 comments... Although I do feel compelled to point out that in this week's episode, the lawyer said she was from Gage Whitney. Would that be the same Gage Whitney that Sam used to work at before he joined the Bartlet campaign? Oh, Aaron Sorkin...

And now we return to our theme with Veronica Mars, in which this exchange took place:

"I don't even know how to use a gun."
"You pull the trigger."

Yes, thank you, Keith, but Jack Bauer took care of that already. Anyway, I was excited to see lots of Cliff - and Wallace! But sadly, Wallace had to be used for that bizarre "Lamb is a friend of Dorothy's" thing. What? Okay, is there a reason we needed to reference a bad joke from the pilot there? I did think it was hilarious when Lamb shot his own reflection, but then I felt bad about it because of him getting all dead later on.

Speaking of which - holy whoa! Totally didn't see that coming. Although apparently, I'm not the only one. I really don't understand why they killed him, except so that Keith could be the sheriff again. I mean, it wasn't even a cool death like he blew up trying to diffuse a bomb or in a major shoot-out or something (okay, I've been watching too much 24). He just got conked on the head. It just seemed like they could've done so much more with it, and they kind of threw it away. Wondering what "I smell bread" was all about? Yeah, me too.

What is Logan doing with Parker? This cannot lead to good. Don't stand in the way of the LoVe, Parker! Speaking of LoVe obstacles, I missed Piz this week, but you can get your Piz fix from this interview as well as this hilarious video in which he and Kristen Bell interview each other. Seriously, they are too cute.

Jericho is back - finally. I really can't decide if it's better or worse. This episode was mostly flashbacks to before the bombs, and while it explains a lot of things, it also made some things much more confusing. It was about average for the number of "ridiculous things that would never happen or would only be done by idiots" per episode.

Here's the one thing I don't understand (okay, there are a lot more things I don't understand, but this is just the one I'm gonna talk about right now) - what the hell are Roger and Emily doing together? I mean, Roger is obviously a big-city business man, and Emily's like, never left small-town Kansas. So how the hell did they even MEET? Even disregarding that - because I suppose it's possible that Emily ran into him on a random trip to Chicago or Roger had a sudden urge to take a vacation in the middle of a cornfield - I still don't understand how they live together. Roger cannot possibly have a job in Jericho. They're like, 30 miles from friggin Wichita, let alone an actual city. Where the hell does he work, and how the hell does he commute?

Okay, that's the end of my rant, even though there are many many plot points for which I could give rants just like that one. Now, onto tonight's episode of The Dresden Files, which I think was its funniest one yet - maybe on par with one of the lesser Buffy episodes (which is still pretty good). I had several laugh-out-loud moments - especially with Bob. When he was crying at the French film... and the silent exchange between Bob and Harry! OMG. Frankly, I loved Bob this whole episode.

This ep was also rife with book references - the scorpion and the frog story that Bob mentions came up in the fourth book (except it was a faerie queen who said it to Harry), and the Third Eye drug is from Storm Front. I wonder if they're still going to use it in the Storm Front episode, or if they'll drop that plotline to simplify the mystery (they had to cut it down from an 8 hour audio book to a one hour episode somehow, I suppose).

Bianca is another thing that comes from Storm Front - and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I liked the episode well enough, but I think I liked Bianca better when she and Harry were enemies rather than... whatever the hell they were on the show. It also makes me wonder if Bianca will still turn Harry's girlfriend into a vampire... since she's not trying to kill him and all.

Ancient Mai was pretty awesome, too. She comes in much later in the books, and I don't actually remember much about her character, but she kicked ass and was funny, so it works for me. When she slaps Harry and he's all "What was that for?" and she's like "I didn't know I needed a reason." - HA!

Did anyone watch Nicholas Brendon's movie Fire Serpent last night? It was better than that horrible Gryphon that poor Amber Benson was in (in that I managed to get through the whole thing without changing the channel) but Nicky was miles ahead of anyone else in that movie in terms of acting skills. Please! Can't these people get GOOD roles? What's wrong with Hollywood?

Speaking of our favorite vampire-fighters, if you can describe how Buffy has changed your life in 250 words or less, you can be in the Buffy comic! I am so winning this contest. The New York Times has an article about the Once More With Feeling singalongs. Who wants to go when the national tour comes to our area? And if anyone's looking to buy me a birthday present, I recommend this book. (Just don't ALL of you do it, or I'll be forced to sell the extras on eBay.)

Brrrrr!

I am FREEZING cold right now. I keep periodically sitting on my hands or putting them on my computer battery (which probably shouldn't get this hot...) just to stay warm. Oh, I'm also wearing layers and layers of clothes and am currently buried under the covers in my bed. Why is it so cold? Don't we have heat?

Anyway, I had a job interview yesterday in Harrisburg. It was for a legislative assistant position at the Department of Education. It sounds like a pretty good job and I think I'd be happy with it, even though my first choice is with the Office of Health Care Reform (so I can do everything Christi says, even though she's too cool to hobble down to the auditorium on her crutches to see the Gov talk about his reform plans). Hopefully I'll hear something soon, since I'm really getting antsy to move (although I kind of like the vacation, minus the not getting paid part).

Speaking of not getting paid, today was my goodbye lunch with Michelle and Anne (even though I stopped working last week, Michelle was away so our lunch got postponed). Sadness. I will miss that office.

Okay, I'm going to post some links and then go back to sitting on my hands.

• This is what happens when you don't watch 24. But now you can buy Jack Bauer's gear. I'm so ordering the gun.
• Tommy Schlamme (West Wing, Studio 60) talks about the walk and talk.
• Kristen Bell wants Sarah Michelle Gellar to guest star, and talks about VM in this interview.
• More on Joss Whedon's Buffy season 8 comic, a blog post about a Once More With Feeling sing-along, and a reminder of why we loved Buffy to begin with.
• For those who missed the first two episodes of The Dresden Files, you can catch them on Sunday (as long as you're not Super Bowling it) starting at 9pm on the SciFi channel.