Again! Again, The Vampire Diaries kills off a main character. Now, before you go getting your panties all in a bunch about me putting a spoiler before the jump in my post, just relax. I won’t say another word about it until it’s safe.

A ton happened in this episode, which kind of sucks because we’re not going to see any movement on any of it until January 21. That’s a super-long hiatus, and I’m bored already.

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I’m just not sure that the ratio of OMGs to eye-rolls is favorable after this episode of The Vampire Diaries, but to be fair, I think we should tally it all up and see where the goodness falls. Just a few observations first, though.

Could Damon have turned a more irresponsible person? I’m thankful that the Vicki storyline isn’t going to become an ongoing saga, but it did account for several eye-rolls this evening (which we’ll get to). And speaking of Vicki, those open-toed boots will probably sit alongside the high-heeled sneakers in the annals of bad style choices.

Oh, a question: can anyone help me figure out who the actress is that plays Mrs. Lockwood? She’s nowhere to be found on Epguides or IMDb in association with this show, and I don’t know where else to look when I can’t remember where I’ve seen her before. I’m thinking a soap opera or something … anyone?

Now onto the tally….

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I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an expert on the Superman mythos. I’ve seen all of the movies, just about every episode of Smallville, read the novelization of The Death and Life of Superman, and well, am an “in-general” geek. Thus, I’m really not that familiar with the character of Metallo. His origin story (of sorts) that was told tonight was just a bit too similar to Iron Man (at least the theatrical version, of which I’m familiar).

It seems that the basic back story of the comic version of Metallo is that he was John Corben, reporter (slash thief) at the Daily Planet who was in an accident, and now lives as either a robot with Corben’s brain, or some kind of cyborg-ish creature. Both are powered, of course, by Supe’s one weakness, Kryptonite. This story, though, looked a bit familiar.

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All right, everyone! I hope you’ve cleared your DVRs and TiVos of all those Housewives of Atlanta episodes, the selective Daily Show programs from three months ago, and all the Eurekas you recorded during the Viewer Picks marathon of a few weeks ago. According to my sundial, the Fall 2009-2010 season begins in earnest tonight. And, if you only own one digital recording device that can only mean one thing: DVR Emergency!

Yes, once again you need to peruse the TV schedules and select only those shows that you will absolutely watch sometime in the next nine months. This week is particularly bad since 1) a majority of shows are premiering, and 2) many of these shows are offering extended premieres to kick off the season. Other than Saturday, you probably won’t get a break from DVR scheduling either, thanks in part to all the summer shows still running on cable. Needless to say, the term “hosed” seems adequate.

Take tonight’s schedule, for example.

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I have a life, I really do. Yet still I re-watched the pilot episode of The Vampire Diaries when it premiered tonight. It was a whole lot of set up with a lot of promise, but the scene I enjoyed the most was between Stefan and Damon.

You can read my preview post outlining the similarities between The Vampire Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and just about every other vampire show out there, but I think the strength in this show is going to be the tale between the two brothers.

If they develop the characters right, there will be some strong supporting characters and intriguing storylines, but right now, this show’s a tale of two brothers.

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To subscribe to the below schedule in iCal, copy this link and paste into the ‘Subscribe…’ menu item in iCal. You can also just click it to open iCal or even click to add to your iPhone calendar. The same link will work in a Google Calendar as well! Or see the calendar as a web page (also embedded at the bottom here). The calendar will update as new shows are added/changed and with links to our reviews as we publish them.

Welcome to CliqueClack’s guide for the 2009-10 fall season! Or, in the case of NBC, The Great Experiment. Now, if you didn’t realize it already, this fall season is going to be different from past years. First, there’s no ER, which will feel a little weird. Second, Lost will be ending its run in the spring of 2010. Third, American Idol will be without Paula Abdul. And finally, Jay Leno is going to come into your homes at 10 PM each night and try to convince you that scripted programming is dead.

Once this season pans out, that may or may not be the case on the big Four and a Quarter networks. With so many viewers moving to other venues of original, scripted programming like cable and the Internet, the networks are fighting for life … again. Well, NBC and ABC probably are: CBS and FOX are doing okay for the time being. So, the big question is whether or not they can come back with ambitious programs like Flash Forward, comedies like Hank and The Middle, which feature known stars, remakes like Parenthood and Melrose Place, and Chevy Chase? Read the rest of this entry »

I want to like Smallville more than I do. I’m not the biggest comic book geek in the world, but I can hold my own. I tried the show when it first came out, but it didn’t catch my interest. A couple of years I blew through five or so seasons of DVDs one lazy summer. These days, I try to watch, but Smallville has got to be one of the most inconsistent shows on television today.

Every summer, there’s enough buzz to get me interested again. Then, sometime around the fifth or sixth episode, I’m gone. Then, as the end of the season draws close, I’m somehow brought back in. Its been that way for a while now, but I don’t get it. Why do I fall into the same trap every year? Looking at the trailer for the upcoming ninth season (courtesy of Mike Ausiello over at EW), I’ll be giving Smallville another shot come fall.

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