(Season 2, Episodes 1-4)

In taking stock of season two, so far a few things became apparent. Veronica Mars really likes certain actors. In the slightly washed up popular actor from the ’80s category, they’ve replaced Harry Hamlin with Steve Guttenberg (The Goot!). I’m totally down with this. The former Buffy vixen is being played by (a very scantily clad) Charisma Carpenter this season, though I hope that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of Alyson Hannigan (was she filming How I Met Your Mother at this point?).

In any case, season two seems to be getting off to a good start. There were certainly some jaw dropping moments in the first few episodes, so let’s get right to it….

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(Season 3, Episode 3)

Saving Grace does family very well, from the family dynamic that has developed in the squad room to the extended family that Grace was born into. It’s the latter that took focus this week, as a criminal from Grace’s past targets members of her family. Church bombings to sniper fire, Grace’s family escapes for the most part unharmed, but one of Father Hanadarko’s (the brother the priest, and not, you know, Grace’s dad) congregation is killed in the blast meant for him.

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If you’re following our series of Blowing the Hatch posts, then you saw last week that Keith talked about Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The fun part of the Blow the Hatch moments is that they make for great debates. Keith thought that when Angelus popped back onto the scene in season two of Buffy the show took off, and my Blow the Hatch moment isn’t too different.

I think even the most ardent of Buffy fans will admit that the series really came into it’s own during the second season. I certainly have a fondness in my heart for a lot of the episodes from the first season (I still think I’m the only person who likes “The Puppet Show”), but the show kicked into gear during season two.

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(Season 1, Episodes 21-24)

Another fun guest appearance in these last four installments of Season One. And a welcome return. Doug Hutchison was truly one of the creepiest monsters of the week as Eugene Tooms (I’m still checking my vents every night before I go to bed), so it was great seeing his creepy performance again.

I was even more surprised, though, to see Zeljko Ivanek as a mentally challenged twin in “Roland.” He gave a stellar performance, so convincing that if I hadn’t already seen him elsewhere I might have thought they got a truly autistic man to play the role. It’s nice to know that he was just as good at giving the creepiest stares back then as he is now.

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I moved to new york exactly four years ago on July 1. I started out renting a room by the week from a nice Hispanic family in Harlem. I moved around several more times before ending up in Jersey City with a baby. My time in the JC was brief– maybe about 10 months. I still worked in NYC, so I never really considered myself a Jersey resident. However, I did take advantage of the few ways in which Jersey City totally wins over Manhattan: Target and a regular-sized grocery store. It was at that grocery store, the A&P to be exact, that I encountered a woman who just about made Sharon Osbourne poop her pants the other night on America’s Got Talent.

I didn’t know her name, but she was the serene grey-haired woman who would scan my groceries efficiently and gush over my newborn as I tried to dig my A&P card out of my cavernous and poorly-organized purse. I always liked getting in her line because she was fast and good at her job (plus, the baby-gushing didn’t hurt). What’s funny is I don’t remember a single other person who worked at that grocery store; nor would I be able to pick a single Target employee out of a line-up. Yet when I caught a glimpse of a woman dancing her heart out on television recently, I knew exactly who she was.

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Long-time commenter bsgfan2003 (or Rosie, if you prefer) is back guest clacking for us today….

True Blood, Moonlight, Reaper and the upcoming Vampire Diaries: I don’t doubt that these shows have clever writing, talented actors, and engrossing stories. In the case of Buffy and Angel, I assume the writing and acting are top notch, because I’m a fan of Joss Whedon’s other work. However, I have seen enough commercials, and read enough plot explanations to know that these shows are not for me.

I have many reasons for passing on EV-TV (Evil Television). Generally speaking, EV-TV muddles truths, twists things of beauty, and profanes what I find sacred. The frightening imagery also does not sit well with me. Even during a commercial for one of these shows, the distorted evil faces make me want to jump out of my skin. Being frightened is just not a feeling I would like to subject myself to on a regular basis.
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We’ve got your standard 30 Rock/ Office block, but tonight on the menu you also have your choice of the Royal Pains pilot or a Burn Notice marathon! It’s almost like TV is good right now, right? Just squint your eyes and you can see it, I swear.

• USA is airing a Burn Notice marathon all day today. It’s going on now! Turn and watch! Go go go!
• At 8:00, you can relive the episode of Bones in which Booth is suspected of murdering a rival ice hockey player with whom he has previously had a beef.
• NBC is playing The Office and 30 Rock all night, but in the 9:00 hour, there are great episodes of both. The Office is airing “The Duel,” in which Andy finds out about Angela and Dwight, and 30 Rock is airing “St. Valentine’s Day,” with the ever-dreamy Jon Hamm.
• After you’re finished watching Burn Notice, you can catch the pilot of Royal Pains on USA, in case you missed it the first time around.