(1/12 – 1/18)

Yes, of course, the big story this week was the return of American Idol. It didn’t disappoint, from a numbers perspective. Both installments easily won their nights. We all expected that though, right? The more interesting bit of the Idol story was the effect the show had, or didn’t have, on the ratings of other shows. While J.D. and the kids over at Scrubs were probably shaking their fists in the general direction of Idol, the CBI, and their pals at NCIS hardly even noticed. In addition to all the Idol shenanigans, CSI said goodbye to Grissom. Read the rest of this entry »

(1/05 – 1/11)

TV for 2009 started spinning up the turbos last week, and will be at full boost when Idol comes online this week. That will, of course, send numbers in all kinds of crazy directions. It should anyway, unless I got the animal sacrifices and the Gregorian chanting right this time. Once I find the formula, Idol will be finished! But we’ll talk about Randy, Simon, Paula, and that new chick, next week. This week, there were a few surprises on the schedule. Superstars Of Dance and True Beauty debuted to better numbers than I expected. Flashpoint looks to be a perfect fit for the CBS Friday. And, apparently, Old Christine fans are g0ing to watch anyway, new or repeat. Read the rest of this entry »

(Season 2, Episode 13 – “La Vie En Pose” )

This was a bittersweet episode of Lipstick Jungle — bitter because everyone and their mother were fighting about one thing or another, and sweet because the ending was a compilation of scenes from previous episodes. It’s clear that they don’t think we’ll be seeing any more of the girls.

While this wasn’t my favorite episode of the series, I’ll still be sad if this is the end. Brooke Shields, Kim Raver, and Lindsay Price are dynamic actresses who work well together. They’re fun to watch, even if the storylines in this episode seemed a bit forced, as if the writers decided they’d better ring every last fight and argument they could out of it. They sure know how to suck the life out of a dying series.

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(12/30 – 1/04)

Christmas and New Years are now in the rearview, so we can finally start getting back to something that passes for a regular television viewing schedule. If someone could just make this damn snow stop, I’d be a happy guy. Before we rejoin some of our favorite shows for the beginning of 2009 though, we’ve got one more really slow week to talk about. The hits were few and far between, but there were a couple interesting bits hidden away in there.

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This week’s edition of See Jane Clack features my favorite characters of the Fall 2008 TV season. While some new shows tanked out of the starting gate, a few great new characters emerged, as well. My favorites:

Sookie Stackhouse. The spunky waitress in HBO’s True Blood has guts to spare! Even though you know she’s scared stiff, this girl pushes through her fear and does what most of us would cringe from: fall in love with a vampire, go to the nearby vampire bar, and wander around at night with all sorts of supernatural creatures lurking. Most of all, she lives in the house where her grandmother was murdered and she had to clean up all that blood (week after week, it seems). I want to be Sookie Stackhouse when I grow up.

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(Season 2, Episode 12 – “Chapter Nineteen: Lovers’ Leaps”)

This episode set things up nicely to move forward with the lovely ladies. Too bad there’s only one episode left! The season finale airs next week, and I’m preparing myself to be left hanging in limbo for the rest of my life. Maybe a miracle will happen, and we’ll get another season of Lipstick Jungle.

I’ll map things out via my favorite scenes:

Nico and Griffin in the elevator. When last we left Nico, she was shooting hormones with the hopes of having a baby solo. She’s still thinking along those lines, but things are progressing sweetly with Griffin. After he impulsively hires an online editor for Bonfire without first discussing it with Nico, she says he should have played hard to get. “Not my style,” says Griffin. “When I know what I want, I go for it.” Then he moves in for the smooch and plants one on Nico, right there in the elevator. You know, this stuff never happened to me when I worked in the corporate world. When Griffin looks at Nico, it just makes me woozy.

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(Season 2, Episode 11 – “Indecent Exposure”)

I’m seriously ready to start one of those lame write-in campaigns to save Lipstick Jungle. I say lame, because do they ever really work? Hey, if it didn’t work with Moonlight, I’ve got serious doubts it would work with Lipstick Jungle.

Anyway, the show continues to get better and better, even in the Friday Night Death Slot. They ramped up the sex factor by having Victory get naked for an advertising campaign, and here’s the thing: She was all for the idea, until she realized it was HER who would be getting naked, then she freaked out.

I’ve said before that Victory seems like the most normal person on the show, and tonight she proved that once again. First of all, she has a kick-ass body, but she’s still scared shitless about having to get naked. I think most women would identify with that. No matter what we look like, it’s never good enough.

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