Sorry to have left you hanging yesterday, but there was sooo much on TV Sunday night that I needed an extra night to catch up!Which, of course, now leaves me behind on Monday night ...Anyway, let's begin with the Amazing Race (Sunday, CBS, 8 p.m.)! God I love this show!

Season 13 contestants
Eleven teams of two, each with preexisting relationship, started the race at the Los Angeles Coliseum for Season 13. First stop was Salvador, Brazil, where the teams had to choose a local vending cart, wheel it thru the narrow streets of Salvador to a popular plaza and deliver the cart to Indio in exchange for their next clue.After an overnight hold, the teams encountered their first Detour, choosing between the Hard Way Up and Soft Way Down. In the first, teams had to climb up a stone staircase on their hands and knees, while the second task revealed teams climbing to the top of a 240-feet building and climbing down a cargo net on the outside!Siblings Nick & Starr came out as Team No. 1, while older, hippy couple Anita & Arthur arrived at the Pit Stop last and were thus eliminated. This season is shaping up to be as controversial as past ones ... with Starr already putting the moves on Dallas (of the mother/son team). And tempers are flaring ... looks like next week will be pretty interesting ...To watch this episode or for a detailed recap, visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/
At 9 p.m. Sunday night I couldn't decide whether to watch HBO's vampire drama True Blood or Showtime's season 3 opener for everybody's fave serial killer Dexter. So I pointlessly tried to watch both (you know, just flicking between the two every so many minutes). While I love Dexter, the season opener was just basically set-up, and shortly into it, True Blood captured my full attention with an episode that finally got interesting!This week's ep featured heroine Sookie Stackhouse getting her vampire-love interest to take her to the local vamp bar "Fangtasia" so she could question some fellow bloodsuckers regarding the murder of her coworker. What made this interesting was the we finally got to meet the "leader" of the local vamps, hot, hot, hot Eric!

It was only just a short tease though, but Eric's brief performance was enough to keep me interested and coming back for future eps.
http://www.hbo.com/trueblood/
Back to Dexter - I think my sister (who hasn't watched before, but tuned in just to see Dexter's new boss, played by her fave Jimmy Smits) summed it up best ... "he didn't kill anybody this week. That was disappointing."http://www.sho.com/site/dexter/home.do
Following True Blood at 10 p.m. was another great episode of HBO's current biggest hit Entourage. Poor Johnny Drama, not only is his younger brother the "hot one" and he recently ruined his hot French romance, but now his costars on his first hit in ages made an ass out of him on The View! It was hilarious. Definitely a show worth tuning into. http://www.hbo.com/entourage/

Luckily, Showtime repeated the 10 p.m. season 2 debut of David Duchovny's Californication, so I switched over there at 10:30 p.m. for what was instantly a reminder of why I like this show! When we last saw Hank Moody at the end of the first season, he was driving away from his ex's wedding with their daughter, only to have Karen (his beloved ex) run out and jump in the car too.So Hank and Karen are back together, but things aren't all rosy. The episode started out with Hank getting a vasectomy and then having a hard time abstaining ... you know, till things healed ... it didn't help that during an evening out with his agent Charlie (Evan Handler) and his wife Marcy, they got invited to a sexually loose party in the Hollywood Hills. As usual with Hank, he means well, but things get hilariously out of hand and he ended up in jail by the end and Karen's not willing to bail him out this time ... For more information or to watch this episode, visit http://www.sho.com/site/californication/home.do
Yeah, I also watched Desperate Housewives and wasn't too impressed. But for now I'll stay tuned, mostly because it's all the talk on Mondays around here. At the behest of a coworker, I taped but didn't watch yet, Brothers & Sisters. I know it's a good show, but being that's it's already in the third season, I don't know if I can get into it at this point. Especially with so much else to watch.

And, I'm just about caught up on BBC America's popular new teen drama Skins. This racy British export is the perfect antidote to all the Gossip Girl, new 90210, One Tree Hill, Friday Night Lights dribble on American TV right now. I love it ... of course, you can probably look forward to some Americanized version of this one soon. But I recommend watching the original. Look for more information here http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/328/index.jsp
Still haven't watched Mad Men yet, maybe tonight ... probably not though, because I'm clearing the evening's schedule to watch the DVD of Iron Man. Saw it in the theater and loved it!! And I didn't know anything about iron man going into it. Maybe I'm just really pleased to see Robert Downey Jr. doing something good again!
So I pretty much missed Monday night television. Saw a little of the Lost marathon over on Sci-Fi. And I wouldn't miss The Big Bang Theory - love those guys (CBS 8 p.m.). I'm about done with Dancing with the Stars (taped it but couldn't bring myself to watch it this morning).

Everybody's Favorite Gladiator
However, one bright spot in last night's entertainment came later on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I had put a reminder on the TV that Russell Crowe was going to be on promoting his new Ridley Scott-directed Body of Lies with Leonardo DiCaprio (two of my faves, can't wait for this one!) Interestingly enough, it seems Crowe has a solution to all our financial problems in the US. Since the government wants to "lend" $700 billion to "save" the financial crisis, and there are roughly 300 million American citizens, Crowe's revelation would be to give $1 million to every citizen, allowing them to pay their mortgages and pump money back into the economy. I'm all for it. Shame he can't run for Prez.
On TV tonight: Back for another thrilling episode surely will be Fringe at 9 p.m. on Fox. Dancing with the Stars results show airs at 9 p.m. on ABC.
Over on Bravo at 10 p.m. an all new Rachel Zoe Project airs. I just got into this show over the weekend after a coworker recommended it. I like it! Rachel Zoe is a stylist-to-the-stars and its compelling to watch how her mind/business works. Most of the time, she's running (with her 2 assistants) all over Los Angeles, trying to find the perfect "hero" dress for some celebrity client. For more info visit http://www.bravotv.com/The_Rachel_Zoe_Project/season/1/index.php

And in the trainwreck category, MTV debuts Paris Hilton's New BFF reality competition at 10 p.m. I might actually have to check this one out. I admit, I'm a closet fan of VH1's Flava of Love and Rock of Love. I just can't seem to turn them off - like watching a trainwreck!

Well, the 17th season of the granddaddy of reality shows kicked off with an action packed 2-hr. season opener last night. Survivor Gabon got off on the usual foot, with the eldest players picking the members of the two competing tribes.
Unfortunately, the picking didn't turn out too evenly. The Fang tribe lost all three challenges, including both immunity trials, meaning that they're already in the hole two players. While the Kota tribe is already forming the Onion Alliance. Don't ask ... it's really too soon to tell.
Anyway, back over at Fang, Danny "GC" Brown is the first member of his team up the hill during the reward challenge, so he gets individual immunity. During the show's first Tribal Council, after much pushing from host Jeff Probst, GC decides to begrudgingly accept the role of leader of the tribe. This is always a bad move, hence no one else wanted it, because the early leader is usually offed early as well.
Michelle Chase, who was picked last by Fang, and sported major attitude, is the first one to go in an 8-1 vote. Poor Ken Hoang, the pro video gamer who swears he's not a nerd, despite stating that he hasn't kissed a girl in about 4 or 5 years, was desparately hoping to hook up with Michelle. I guess it might be a little longer waiting for that kiss ...
Randy Bailey, the videographer, didn't do much besides complain, "I'm gonna sit on my ass and watch 'em crash and burn." Crystal Cox, the Olympic medalist, didn't do much to prove her worth. And Dan Brown, the lawyer and only Fang tribe member who seems to have any brains, proved he's just as awful as the rest when he got sent to "Exile Island."
Poor Dan, he got the clue for the hidden immunity idol, only to miss out on finding it because he wasn't willing to look beyond the tiny hill in front of him. Just over the crest, in a small valley was the elusive sand pit that held the treasure.
Of course, when he got back to Fang before the second Tribal Council, his fellow idiots, I mean tribemates, all decided he must have the idol (even though he said he didn't, spilling all his belongings in front of them), and almost voted him off. And he's the best chance this whole tribe has! By the way, GC effectively gave up leadership. Stunner!
In the end, it was the older Gillian who got the boot, for apparently no reason other than her age.
Over at the Kota camp, the smart, beautiful people spent most of their time falling all over each other with affection. And thus, handsome Marcus Lehman, who appeared as Georgia's hottest bachelor in Cosmo; token gay guy Charlie Herschel; blonde and beautiful Jacque Berg, and hot brunette Corinne Kaplan formed the Onion Alliance. Go figure ...
My guess for the first one going from this tribe was pretty obvious -- Ace Gordon, the fashion photographer with the faux British accent! They can't stand this guy and on top of everything, he decided to lead the tribe in a session of yoga before their challenge! Bye-bye Ace!
The only thing he has going in his favor is that it seems the Fang tribe will never get their act together and that means we could have a repeat of the Stephanie-Bobby John experience.
Remember, a few season's ago, when one tribe dominated the challenges and the lesser tribe was whittled down to only Stephanie and Bobby John? After they lost yet another immunity challenge, they were put against each other in a fire-building challenge to see which one would merge with the 8-person-strong winning tribe.
Stephanie LaGrossa

Bobby John

Anyway, it looks like we could be headed this way again. For more information or to watch the season premiere visit
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/

Over on ABC, the shenanigans at Seattle Grace were in full swing on Grey's Anatomy. I'm not going into specifics here, because what I really want to say is I'm so over this show.

McDreamy/Morose Meredith
Same old, same old. Blah, blah, "what if after being together for 40 years I just decide to sleep with my best friend's husband," a whining Meredith declared to Dr. Yang, who is just as tired of hearing it as I am!
And then she hit the pavement! Dr. Yang, I mean. Seems that the ice storm left things a little slippery at the hospital entrance and after storming off away from morose Meredith, Yang slipped and landed flat on her back, only to be ridiculously impaled by a falling icicle! Are you kidding me???
I forced myself to finish the 2-hr. borefest, but I can't say the same for next week ...
In case you have trouble falling asleep tonight, you can watch the premiere over at
http://abc.go.com/primetime/greysanatomy/index?pn=index

Weekend Watch: Well there is the Presidential Debate on every channel tonight, but I'm sure that I can find something better to do ...

Sunday night brings the return of six-time Emmy award winning reality series The Amazing Race! And I'm sooo ready for it! My best friend begged me to watch this show from the very beginning but it took a little person named Charla to get me in on the action!
And I've loved it ever since, sparing the season with the "family" teams, that was awful!
If you're not familiar, the Amazing Race features 11 teams of two, traveling all over the world in a race against time. There are many challenges along the way and usually at the end of each "leg" of the race (at the end of the hour-long episode) the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is eliminated. However, built into the schedule are at least two Pit Stops that are non-elimination. You just never know which ones.
There's lots of arguing, conspiring and frantic rushing throughout and hottie New Zealand host Phil Keoghan adds some nice eye candy! If you like Survivor, I guarantee you'll love this show. The Amazing Race debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday on CBS.
For more info check out http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/

Over on ABC Sunday night it's all premieres all night -- starting with Ty Pennington's hugely successful Extreme Home Makeover 2-hr. event beginning at 7 p.m. Desperate Housewives stir things up five years later on Wysteria Lane at 9 p.m., followed by the season debut of Brothers & Sisters at 10 p.m.

But my real dilemma is the Sunday Night Showdown brewing between pay-TV giants HBO and Showtime!
Over on HBO, the carnage continues at 9 p.m. with the fourth ep of True Blood, and things are starting to get real interesting. At 10 p.m. Entourage brings us more of the adventures of my fave Hollywood boys, Ari, Vince, Eric, Turtle and the hilarious Johnny Drama!
For info on True Blood visit
http://www.hbo.com/trueblood/
For Entourage visit http://www.hbo.com/entourage/

Over on Showtime the season's debut for two shows that I absolutely love! Dexter, everbody's favorite serial killer, starts season 3 at 9 p.m., followed by the now-I-can't-wait-to-watch Californication at 10 p.m. I call it "can't-wait-to-watch" because, even though I totally enjoyed Hank Moody's wildings last season, with star David Duchovny checking into rehab for sex addiction, it gives this show a whole new reason to be intriguing!

I never thought I'd ever be able to see Duchovny as anyone other than my beloved X-Files' FBI Agent Fox Mulder, but he shines here as well!
As well as Hank's agent, played by Sex and the City's Evan Handler. Like Entourage's Rex Lee (Lloyd), sometimes he totally steals the show!
Californication Season 1 is available on DVD or you can watch eps here http://www.sho.com/site/californication/home.do

Anyway, Dexter Morgan spent last spring on CBS. Due to the writers' strike, Season 1 aired on Sunday night's. It's a good thing that Dexter is back at Showtime where he belongs, because there's too many people on shows on CBS that are looking for people like him! Dexter seasons 1 and 2 are available on DVD or you can check out previous episodes here http://www.sho.com/site/dexter/home.do

I'll let you know how it goes ...

Well, I got to Thursday and I'm still somewhat sane with my full TV schedule. This morning everyone was talking about last night's Project Runway. In case you missed it, our blue-highlighted boy Suede got the boot.

But everybody wishes it would have been newly-ordained Diva Kenley! She continued dissing everyone on the show, while making an absolutely ridiculous Hip-Hop ensemble. (It even has one of my coworker's wondering if they're just keeping her around for good TV. I wouldn't be surprised.)

Last night's challenge involved the contestants designing garments in various styles relating to music genres. And, after shaking up their designated models, the designers were told that they, themselves, would be modeling their rivals' creations.
As mentioned before, Kenley got to design a Hip-Hop outfit, and failed miserably. Even after being strongly warned by style guru Tim Gunn. Then she had the audacity to argue with Gunn in front of everyone else! And everybody who knows anything about Project Runway knows that you NEVER sass Tim! The fans just won't stand for it. I wonder what they're blogging about Kenley all over the 'net today?
Well, I wonder, even if Kenley does make it to the final, will Tim be as unbiased in his judging as he said he would be? Hmmmm... For more info visit http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/season/5/index.php
By the way, you can catch Tim tonight on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Over on yet another installment of Dancing with the Stars, Ted McGinley was dismissed from the lineup. I have to say that I'm really disappointed that it wasn't Kim Kardashian. I mean, really, she was bad, bad, bad both nights! But, afterall, it's not REALLY about the dancing is it? Like American Idol, it's all about who's popular and gets the most votes.
For more information or to watch the dancers visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars/index?pn=index

OK, on to bigger things ... like What's On tonight and my serious viewing dilemma!

First up, there's nothing more important to me than catching the season premiere of Survivor: Gabon. The 17th season of the granddaddy of reality show's starts at 8 p.m. and in an unusual move, is 2 hours! While I'm pretty happy about that, it still means that I'll be mising the first hour of Grey's Anatomy, which debuts tonight and airs for 2 hours from 9-11 p.m.

Survivor first: Tonight's show kicks off with 18 all new contestants journeying to Gabon, Africa, where they'll presumably break into two tribes and battle each other to "Outwit, Outplay & Outlast" and become the soul survivor, sometime before Christmas, to win $1 million!
This season boasts an Oympic gold medalist, a 22-year-old video-game champ, a middle-aged physics teacher and an actress who appeared on Gilmore Girls (loved that show)! (Of course, I'll miss Survivor's dumbest player ever, last season's Erik, whose occupation was "Ice Cream Scooper" -- need I say more.)

Can't wait to see who we'll hate first! I hope there's plenty of cheating, catfights and manupilating, 'cause that's what we really want to see. We all know that our favorite Survivor moments always involve someone doing someone else wrong! Remember Johnny Fairplay and his "dead" grandmother?

Survivor airs tonight on CBS from 8-10 p.m. For more information and bios on the contestants, visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/

Over on ABC the randy doctors of Seattle Grace will be dealing with trauma when a sudden ice storm hits! It's never a dull day over there is it?
Anyway, according to NY Post critic Linda Stasi, who gives the Grey's Anatomy premiere 3 stars, the episode will feature "one of the sexiest non-sex scenes on TV in years." Looking forward to that.
And a new hot doc makes his first appearance tonight (we can never have enough of those). Scottish actor Kevin McKidd, last seen starring in last season's short-lived drama Journeyman, and before that, in HBO's Rome, makes his debut as Major Owen Hunt, who we're told will be a love interest for Sandra Oh's character. And apparently the aforementioned scene involves the two of them.

Anyway, even though show creatr Shonda Rimes swears that McDreamy and Meredith are together now for keeps, we can still expect problems in their relationship. Rumor has it that the nurse he dated briefly last season may end up pregnant.
And Rimes also assures us that she's planning on keeping Katherine Heigl for the season, despite rumors to the contrary. I just hope she comes up with a better storyline for Izzy this season.
For more info on this show visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/greysanatomy/index?pn=index

And for those of you who couldn't care less about either Survivor or Grey's (who are you people?) , there is still plenty to watch tonight:

If all your coworkers are still taking about AMC's Mad Men and you want to get in on the action, the channel is having a Mad Men Season 2 marathon from 7-midnight. You can catch up on all th happenings at the Sterling Cooper advertising agency with handsome Don Draper and his cohorts.
Or if you just don't have the time, you can find an episode guide here http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/

HBO is also getting in on the marathon, airing three episodes of their new vampire series True Blood (only 3 have aired so far), beginning at 8 pm. http://www.hbo.com/trueblood/

Fox is showing two episodes of chef Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon will be revamping two restaurants tonight with all his usual belittling brilliance. Shows begin at 8 p.m.
http://www.fox.com/kitchennightmares/

Supernatural will continue to battle demons over at the CW at 9 p.m. http://www.cwtv.com/shows/supernatural

But the guilty pleasure I'll be tuning into at 11 p.m. will be a replay of the 10 p.m. episode of Tabatha's Salon Takeover over on Bravo! What a Bitch! It's basically the same show as Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, but switch him with, as The Soup's Joel McHale dubbed her, a middle-aged, Australian forrest pixie and substitute failing hair salons for failing restaurants.
Anyway, once you've met Tabatha, you'll never be the same. And just hope and pray that no one turns your salon into Bravo for this show!
For more, check out http://www.bravotv.com/Tabathas_Salon_Takeover/season/1/index.php

So I guess my evening's set, till tomorrow ...

As predicted, comedian Jeffrey Ross was sent packing during Dancing with the Stars second night of celebrity hoofing. The sound you have heard around 9:50 p.m. last night was millions of men turning off their TVs in response. That's because Ross' partner was the gorgeous, scantily-clothed Edyta Slawinska, a male fan favorite!

Alas, that's the down side of America's favorite dance show, even if you don't like the "celebrity," the pros have developed their own strong fan-bases, and there are more men (claiming to be forced to watch by their wives) watching the hot young female dancers than you think!
Tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC, the Dancing marathon continues for another hour and yet another celebrity will trade their dancing shoes for walking shoes.

In other Dancing news: Celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, who improved greatly in last night's peformance, has an upcoming serieso n A&E. Rocco Gets Real will premiere Oct. 4.

By the way, Monday's season premiere of DWTS averaged 21.3 million viewers to help ABC deliver its most-watched season-opening Monday since 1999.

Last night Fox offered up another intriguing episode of their new hit Fringe. The pattern and Massive Dynamics involvement have furthered the conspiracy. And I'm happy to pass on to you that last week's season premiere of Fox's proven hit House was just what the doctor ordered ... improving Fringe's (which follows House) ratings by over 4 million. According to TV Guide Fringe's primere garnered 9.1 million viewers and was up last week to 13.3, retaining 90 percent of House's audience. This is good news indeed.

And speaking of Fringe, don't you just love the way Fox let's you know, prior to every commercial break, how many seconds till Fringe returns! That really does come in handy. Kudos to Fox.

Haven't caught up on 90210 from last night yet ... although I can report that according to the NY Post, the CW has given a full-season order for the show. Whether they return for next season is anyone's guess at this point.

I have to tell you, Monday night while I was watching the LOST marathon, the Sci-Fi channel spent a lot of commercial time promoting a new series starting Friday, Oct. 3, at 9 p.m. Described in TV Guide as "A forensice psychiatrist follows the trail of an unusual boy who fled from a crime scene, and encounters a doctor with a unique proposition," Sanctuary looks pretty cool. You might want to save a space in your Friday night viewing ... http://www.scifi.com/sanctuary

And speaking of TV Guide, there's a pretty great article on Desperate Housewives new season in the Sept. 29-Oct. 5 edition, out now. There are lots of spoilers, but what I found most interesting was a sidebar on the show's creator Marc Cherry. In it, Cherry admits the inspiration for this season's 5-year jump forward came from the Season 3 finale of .... ready -- LOST!

For those of you who don't watch, during the last 5 minutes of the Season 3 finale, the audience found out that all the "flashbacks" we saw for those past 2 hours, were actually "flashforwards" and Jack and Kate were actually off the island!
According to Cherry, "Everyone on my staff was talking about it (LOST). The critics were rapturous. The fans were apparently ecstatic. This left me jealous and intrigued. I wasn't sure exactly what they'd done (I don't watch LOST, mostly because don't have the time, a little bit because I know it's so good, I'd just resent it), but I got the brilliance of it all. And I decided I had to make a bold move with my show."

On TV tonight: Well, I have a bit of a dilemma, there are 3 shows all on at the same tonight that I want to see. All at 10 p.m. What will I do?
I'll, of course, by starting with Project Runway on Bravo at 9 p.m. According to http://bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/ on tonight's episode, Tim Gunn promises us "the most unique show Project Runway has ever seen" as our five remaining designers battle it out in Rock N' Runway for a chance at the S5 crown. With an expected major model shake-up in the cards, the drama quotient should be high.
And we'll all be keeping an eye on the runway's newest bitch, Kenley, who over the last 2 weeks has gone from fan-favorite to villian! Who will she belittle tonight?

And following Runway at 10 p.m. I have to stay tuned for Top Design. While a tried to watch this show last season (its debut), I couldn't stand respected designer and show host Todd Oldham. Yes, I'm a fan of his designs, but his hosting abilities left something to be desired ...

Anyway, tonight's guest judge is none other than our favorite obsessive-compulsive house flipper, Flipping Out's Jeff Lewis! I absolutely can't wait. The promos for tonight's ep have Jeff saying "I thought the show was called Top Design, not over-the-top-design!"
For more information on Top Design, visit http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Design/season/2/index.php
For information on Flippin Out and Jeff Lewis visit http://www.bravotv.com/Flipping_Out/season/2/index.php

Also at 10 p.m. NBC's premiering Season 2 of Lipstick Jungle. I like this show, primarily because it was created by Candace Bushnell, creator of one of my all time faves, Sex and the City. While I wouldn't go as far as to say it's as good, it's held my interest. Tonight's premiere finds star Brooke Shields' character a high-powered film studio exec, dealing with a visit from her mother, played Mary Tyler Moore (might be worth watching just for that). For more info, click here http://www.nbc.com/Lipstick_Jungle/

And, of course, the show I'll actually watch at 10 p.m. (while taping the other two) will be FX's Sons of Anarchy. I'm liking this one more each week! For info visit
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/#Nav/Homepage

That's all for now, but coming tomorrow -- Survivor Gabon preview!

OK, so I'm guilty! Yes, I spent another LOST Monday with the Sci-Fi channel's 4-episode marathon of my favorite psychological thriller. I won't go into any details, just to say that if you ever wanted to get in on those LOST conspiracy conversations at work, Monday nights provide the perfect chance for you to get caught up for Season 5, debuting in January.

Back on over at ABC last night, Dancin' with the Stars made its season debut. I would say it was a loooong two hours, but I taped it and watched at 11 p.m. And although I said yesterday I could get thru it in about 20 minutes just watching the dancing and critiquing, it actually took about 35 minutes. Which is still way better than 2 hours of mostly filler and commercials!
All the contestants danced last night and one will go home during tonight's broadcast, another 2 hours, from 9-11 p.m. And the fun continues Wednesday night, with a 1-hr. results show at 8 p.m. during which another contestant will be voted off.

Anyway, here's my thoughts ... judge Bruno Tonioli was on fire last night -- where does he come up with those wacky euphemisms? He compared comedian Jeffrey Ross (who I think will be going home tonight) to the horrendous atrocity of Cloverfield in 3D. Cloverfield, for those of you who don't know, featured a gigantic monster lumbering its way thru New York City, knocking down everything in its path. And I think it was a correct comparison. Poor Ross, he seemed to be really trying, but some people just don't have it on the dance floor.
The Cloverfield Monster

I can't say much more for celebrity chef (is this guy still famous?) Rocco DiSpirito. He faired a little better than Ross, but not much.

82-year-old Cloris Leachman stole the show, not with her dancing, but with her antics at the judges stand. She slung her bare leg up and on the table right in front of a flabbergasted Bruno (the first person ever to leave him speechless), got on her knees and prayed in front of Len Goodman and practically sat in Kari Ann's lap!
I'll also put Susan Lucci in my bottom three. Don't get me wrong, she looked great! But she also looked incredibly uncomfortable performing her segment. I'm only hoping her strong fan base keeps her around for a while ... her partner, Tony Dovolani is delicious!

My faves from last night were the adorable Cody Linley (of Hannah Montana fame). He lucked out by getting 2-time champ Julianne Hough as a partner. She makes everybody look good.
Also, after admitting he was the "worst dancer in N'Sync, Lance Bass proved he can work it on the dance floor. I'm looking forward to his improvement in future episodes. His partner is newcomer Lacey Schwimmer.

Derek Hough
And the top vote getter from the judges was model/TV spokesperson Brooke Burke, who was lucky enough to land Julianne's bro, the super cute Derek Hough, as her dance partner.
My gut tells me that Maurice Greene is also one to watch this season. He was the last dancer of the evening and he has the other 2-time champ, Cheryl Burke, to guide him straight to the top. His dancing style was reminiscent of Season 3 winer and fave Emmett Smith!

My primary reason for watching, though, was the return of my fave pro -- Maksim Chmerkovsky! He's the hottest thing to hit the dance floor since Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever! Unfortunately, his partner is Olympian Misty May-Treanor, and he's really got his work cut out for him. The girl doesn't have any dancing experience, but she's an athlete, and athletes have a dedication that has been unmatched by other contestants so far (remember Apollo Ohno and last season's winner Kristi Yamaguchi?). Maybe he'll be able to turn it around to their advantage! We'll have to wait and see.
Overall, the show's contestants were not as impressive as previous seasons, with some even earning 4's from the judges. "I forgot we had a 4," quipped host Tom Bergeron of the low score. Overall scores ranges from 23-12 (Burke and Ross, respectively).
For more info visit the official website at http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars/index?pn=index

On TV Tonight: Australia's handsome Simon Baker returns to network TV on CBS at 9 p.m. as The Mentalist. He stars as the roguish mentalist, whoonce made his living fooling people into believing he was a psychic.

Though he cannot really read minds, he developed a keen intuition about people, leading him to his current occupation as a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation on murder cases. For information and full episodes visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_mentalist/

Over on NBC, the competition continues on The Biggest Loser: Families, with a special guest appearance. Fresh from his debut (and possibly last night) on Dancin' with the Stars, Rocco DiSpirito teaches the contestants to shop for and make healthy and affordable meals.

I'll be reluctantly tuning in to 90210 on the CW at 8 p.m. Only because E! News reported over the weekend that Luke Perry IS in talks to reprise his role as Dylan MacKay!! YAY! As I reported last week, Brenda revealed in a conversation with Kelly that Dylan is indeed the father of Kelly's son Sammy (my only reason to keep watching).

And, Fox is offering up another vexxing episode of it's new JJ Abrahms thriller Fringe! I'm really getting into this show. It's not too late to check it out. Tonight's episode will center on another occurance in "The Pattern" featuring a bus full of frozen commuters. For more information visit http://www.fox.com/fringe/
]
FX is rerunning last week's episode of Sons of Anarchy tonight at 11 p.m. It's not too late to get in on this fine show. Think of it as the Sopranos on Harleys.

So, against my better judgment, I actually watched The Hills last night, after completely missing last week's episode. It just happened to be re-airing at 11 p.m. last night, just when my LOST marathon was ending. And for something completely different, Lauren Conrad was MIA for most of the episode ... she was on some trip and only arrived back home at the very end and guess what? The show wasn't really better/worse without her. All these "characters" (I mean we all KNOW its scripted, right?) are so interchangeable that it really doesn't matter who's onscreen.
Unfortunately, next week's ep actually looks interesting with Heidi's mom coming to visit. And guess what? She's going to give Heidi a hard time about her fiance Spencer (does anybody LIKE this guy???)

TV on DVD: Well, not exactly, but it was one of HBO's most successful series. Sex and the City: The Movie bows on DVD today. And, yes, being a huge fan of the show, I ran right to the theater to see it last June. Although critics complained that it was like a 2-hr. episode, I loved it! I mean, that's what we the fans wanted wasn't it?

Anyway, if you're a fan of the show, I highly recommend the movie. If you've never seen the show, it doesn't make much sense to watch the movie. Enough said.

This is the week I lose my mind ... yes, that's right, tonight is the official beginning of TV's New Fall Season. I have so much to watch this week that I had to make a list night-by-night so I wouldn't forget anything. It's this way every year, returning faves and trying to decide which "new" shows are worth investing the time.

This week's tough, but if I can survive it will get better. Especially since a lot of the "new" shows get cancelled only a few weeks in.

But before getting into all that, I can't let last night's Emmy Awards broadcast pass without a few comments. The Emmys, or as I like to call it -- one of the most BORING awards shows on TV -- always kicks off the new TV season -- with a snore. And last night's 3-hour show was no different, in fact, it was the worst in years.

Thank God for British comedian Ricky Gervais! At least he was entertaining! He went off the monitor and did a funny schtick with Steve Carrell over Gervais' Emmy win last year. He wasn't in attendance to accept, so presenter John Stewart gave the award to Carrell, who apparently didn't give it back. So Gervais went into the audience to get it from him in one of the funnier moments of the evening.

The only other highlight for me was Josh Groban's medley of TV theme songs, from The Love Boat to South Park, The Jeffersons to Baywatch, Gilligan's Island to The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and more. He was great! Both moments can be seen in this 3-minute Emmy highlight reel available on youtube. Click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94JwhNAO8s

And in case you were curious, AMC's Mad Men made history becoming basic cable's first show to win a best drama award. Too bad season 2 is such a stinker so far...

NBC's 30 Rock scored four trophies, including its second consecutive nod for best comedy series. HBO's Entourage picked up a third consecutive win for Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold for supporting comedy actor. And, as expected, HBO's mini-series John Adams picked up a healthy five trophies.

And, although the five nominees for the first-ever Reality Series Host Emmy stunk at hosting the show, it was great to see Survivor's Jeff Probst win. I mean, afterall, wasn't Survivor the show that started network reality programming. (Yes, I know that MTV's Real World was before Survivor, but I said "Network"!) Congrats Jeff!! By the way, Survivor: Gabon starts this Thursday with a 2-hour premiere beginning at 8p.m. on CBS! YAY!!

Of course, I'm equally happy to see CBS' Amazing Race win its sixth consecutive Emmy for Reality-Competition Program. (AR starts its new season Sunday night at 9 p.m.)
Personally, I'm a little bummed that AR's host Phil Keogan didn't receive a nomination -- he's my favorite!


And, in the most bizarre Emmy nod, given out at the technical Emmys two weeks ago, Pirate Master: Episode 102 won for Original Main Title Theme Music. Who knew? I mean, I'll admit I watched this ridiculous ship-bound reality competition (until it was yanked from the schedule mid-way thru), but I didn't think anybody else did!


On TV tonight: Well, I'll probably be starting out the evening watching the Sci-Fi's four-episode LOST marathon as it continues beginning at 7 p.m. And I'll probably get all caught up in it again, so I'll be running tape on all the other programming. Tonight's line-up of episodes 5-8 include: White Rabbit, House of the Rising Sun, The Moth and Confidence Man.

Over on CBS, the sitcom lineup begins with my new favorite The Big Bang Theory. Leonard and Penny will deal with the aftermath of their first date. If you haven't watched this yet, do! It's very funny!


NBC will be running an entire night of Heroes. Sorry, I couldn't get into this show, which is strange since I like sci-fi. Anyway, from 8-9 there will be a catch-up and behind the scenes of season's past, followed by the 2-hr. premiere at 9 p.m.


Fox continues it's Prison Break at 9 p.m. MTV presents another vapid ep of The Hills at 10 p.m. (Why am I still watching this?) And over on E! you can check out the best and worst dressed at the Emmys on Fashion Police at 8 and 9 p.m. (I guess they think it'll be so good they had to air it back-to-back.) Actually it might be quite entertaining, guest commentator will be Project Runway's favorite pixie Christian Siriano!

And, finally, what kind of TV watcher would I be without mentioning the big premiere of Dancing with the Stars over on ABC at 8 p.m.? Yes, they're back! Bruno Tonioli, Len Goodman and Kari Ann Inaba will be critiquing every step for 2 hours tonight, tomorrow night and another hour on Wednesday night!

Kari Ann, Len and Bruno
Well, I can tell you now that I don't have all that time to put into this show. I love watching the dancing, but the filler drags on forever! Here's my little secret to making this more enjoyable. Tape it!! or DVR!! whichever. I find that I can get thru the entire 2-hr. broadcast in just about 20 minutes just watching the dancing and judges' reviews. It's pretty bad when I'm looking forward more to seeing the professionals than the actual "stars."
For more on the contestants and professional dancers visit the official web site at
http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars/index?pn=index&cid=rm+Fall08+google+Dancing_With_The_Stars

That's all for now, gotta go, lots to watch tonight!

In honor of Sunday night's Emmy Awards, I've included this link to a youtube video of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel holding a hilarious interview with the hosts of the upcoming awards show.
You can check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2752gfOlYp0
As I'm sure you already know the Emmy Awards are TV's biggest night. It's the highest honor of achievement a television actor, writer or producer can get. This year's show will be different in that instead of just one host, the duty will be split between the nominees for Best Television Reality Show Host. Which includes American Idol's Ryan Seacrest, Project Runway's Heidi Klum, Survivor's Jeff Probst, Deal or No Deal's Howie Mandel and Dancing with the Stars Tom Bergeron.


Frontrunners for the nominees include AMC's Mad Men, which garnered 16 well-deserved nominations (I haven't blogged about this show yet, but it's coming) and HBO's historical epic John Adams with 23 nominations. HBO, as usual, is expected to clean-up at the awards.
Preceding the show at 7 p.m. ABC will air Jimmy Kimmel's Big Night of Stars. Kimmel will interview Michael Phelps (like we haven't seen enough of him yet), Salma Hayek, Tracy Morgan and the aforementioned Emmy hosts, a la Barbara Walters-style. The Emmys will follow at 8 p.m.
In accordance with the broadcast, just about all the other networks will be showing reruns, because they figure everyone will be watching their fave TV stars at the Emmys.
Only HBO is brave enough to have original programming with the next episode of True Blood airing at 9 p.m., followed by former Emmy nominee Entourage at 10 p.m.
For a full list of the nominees and other information about the awards visit http://www.emmys.tv/

In other news, last night's season premiere of the CW's Supernatural was right on queue, picking up only four months after last season's finale. Demon hunter Dean literally dug himself out of his grave, and spent the rest of the episode trying to find out who brought him back from the depths of Hell. And, in "I didn't see that one coming," the explanation turned out to be that an Angel brought him back and has work for him to do. Interesting ...


Also, while watching Tabitha's Salon Takeover on Bravo last night, I was elated to see that next week's Top Design will feature guest judge ... wait for it Bravo fans ... JEFF LEWIS!! (Our favorite obsessive-compulsive house flipper)

Yes, the Flipping Out star will be on hand, so tune in Wednesday at 10 p.m. to see how he makes life Hell for the design contestants.
In the preview, he says, "I thought this show was Top Design, not over-the-top design!" Can't wait!
For info on Top Design visit http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Design/season/2/index.php
For info on Flipping Out visit http://www.bravotv.com/Flipping_Out/season/2/index.php

OK, sorry, I got my information a little wrong about last night's Project Runway. While designer Cynthia Rowley was the guest judge in a Mother-Daughter challenge, the returning contestants I mentioned yesterday were actually on the show following the Bravo hit -- Top Design, which aired at 10 p.m. My bad.

Regarding Runway, last night we said Auf Wiedersehen to Joe. I will admit I was a little nervouse for Suede, he's growing on me and I didn't want him to go yet. I think the judges feel the same way. I'm picking him, Jerell and Leanne for the finalists. For now we'll have to wait and see ... by the way, what was that feathered thing on challenge-winner Jerell's head last night?

For more photos of last night's challenge or more info on the Runway visit http://bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/

F/X delivered another great episode of Sons of Anarchy last night, featuring Carnies, castration and those motorcycle mavens with a heart. For X-Files fans, there was another treat -- Mitch Pileggi turned up from a rival gang. Pileggi played Mulder and Scully's boss, Agent Skinner. You can see more here http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/#Nav/TheShow/AboutTheShow

And Pileggi shows up this season on the CW's Supernatural, which has it's premiere at 9 p.m. Yes, demon hunters Sam and Dean Winchester are back for Season 4! When we last saw them back in May, evil demon Lilith trapped the brothers and sent Dean (Jensen Ackles) to Hell, fulfilling Dean's contract to sacrifice his life for Sam (Jared Padalecki).

Tonight's opener apparently has Dean literally digging himself out of his grave! Pileggi will appear in a future episode playing the boys' grandfather. But, if I have to be honest, although I love all things supernatural, the real reason I stick with this show is for the eye-candy -- the Winchester Bros. are hot!


And speaking of eye candy, I caught up on this week's 90210 last night too. I was just about to give up on this show, when Kelly Taylor (Jenny Garth) spoke the only word that would make me keep watching -- Dylan! As in former Beverly Hills alum Dylan McKay (Luke Perry)! (OK, so I would still have kept watching if she had said Brandon.) Yes, it seems that Kelly's young son Sammy is the spawn of my favorite 90210 hottie.

Before the new show started back in August, there was plenty of Internet rumors about Perry returning for a few guest shots, possibly as the father of Kelly's son. Perry's camp is quick to point out that at the moment the actor has no intention of returning. But we all know that can change ...

Also, I must admit I do enjoy seeing Rob Estes on 90210 (he plays West Beverly's principal and father of the main characters Annie and Dickson). I've always liked Estes, ever since he used to star in the upscale detective drama Silk Stalkings. I'll never forgive the USA Network for killing him off at the end of Season 5. And I'm not alone. The show quickly sank into ratings oblivion after that.


On TV Tonight: I'll be watching my favorite British chef in need of anger management -- Gordon Ramsay. His Kitchen Nightmares at 9 p.m. on Fox is one of my favorite guilty pleasures.

Say what you want about his management style, the guy knows what he's talking about. Just check out his bio on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Ramsay and I'm sure you'll be impressed. Anyway, if you're not familiar, Nightmares features a different failing eatery each week, which Ramsay makes over and turns into a profit maker. Check it out. It's very different from his signature cooking contest show Hell's Kitchen.


Also cake-maker extreme Duff Goldman is back with another new episode of his hugely popular Food Network show Ace of Cakes! This show truly is a joy to watch. Not only are the cakes amazing, the employees make up a cast of characters worth watching. So check out the jovial chef along with Mary Alice, Geof, Sherri, Anna, Adam and the rest of the gang at 10 p.m. Just Duff's boisterous laugh alone is enough to keep me watching.
Or if you just can't wait, you can visit Baltimore's Charm City Cakes at http://www.charmcitycakes.com/

Over on ABC at 9 p.m. last season's 2-hr. finale of Grey's Anatomy plays out again. So if you just can't wait until next week's season premiere, you can refresh your memory of the goings'-on of Meredith, McDreamy, McSteamy, and the rest randy doctors at Seattle Grace.

Till tomorrow ...

So last night the second episode of Fox's Fringe aired. And it did not disappoint. If you haven't yet, you need to start watching this show. It's full of intrigue, conspiracy, horror and humor.
You can actually catch up on their offical website http://www.fox.com/fringe/ You can either watch the episodes or read a detailed episode recap if you don't have the time to watch.
Last night's episode had Agent Olivia Dunham and father/son Walter and Peter Bishop investigating strange phenomena involving a baby grown to term in minutes, only to die four hours later from old age.
Somehow, it's all part of The Pattern, which is how Olivia's boss, Agent Phillip Broyles, describes the strange events the Fringe team will be investigating. John Noble as "mad" scientist Walter Bishop once again stole the show with his insane musings -- he likes the seat warmer in the car -- "it warms my ass." (Take that Jack M.)
And somehow, I'm sure if the show stays on long enough, we'll find out that the erie corporation Massive Dynamic was somehow responsible for the crash of Oceanic 815!
Check it out for yourselves ...

Taped 90210, didn't watch it yet. My enthusiasm is seriously waning for this show.

Tonight brings us another exciting episode of Bravo's Project Runway at 9 p.m. The contestants design window displays inspired by the show's creations. Guest judge is designer Cynthia Rowley. The episode will also feature guest appearances by former contestants Daniel Franco, Santino Rice, Sweet P, Andrae Gonzalo and Season 3 winner Jeffrey Sebelia.
As blogged about here on Monday, you can see the Bryant Park runway shows of the remaining contestants at http://bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/

Over on Fox tonight at 8 p.m., Dog Whisperer star and canine guru Cesar Millan guests on Bones. The episode centers on the discovery of the mutilated body of a veterinarian leading to an investigation that uncovered the deceased's gamblingaddictionand possible ties to an illegal dogfighting enterprise. By the way, National Geographic's Dog Whisperer will celebrate its 100th episode Friday at 9 p.m.


But what I'm most interested in seeing is on F/X at 10 p.m., the third episode of their new hit Sons of Anarchy. The series, if you haven't read this blog before, centers on a gun-running motorcycle club the Sons of Anarchy. Starring British actor Charlie Hunnam (looking pretty sweet), it also stars Ron Perlman as the current gang leader and Katey Sagal as Hunnam's hard-talking, over-bearing mom. Sagal shines in this part, like it was made for her. Peg Bundy would be so proud!

The show draws strong comparisons to The Sopranos, which is never a bad thing. For more info in this brilliant check out their website http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/#Nav/Homepage

In other news, Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair will mix it up tomorrow night with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. I don't know about you, but I find Blair extremely entertaining. I love his quick-witted, dry sense of humor.


Believe it or not: The Jerry Springer Show begins its 18th, yes 18th, season Monday! Shamelessly (shameless, Spring? who would've thought?) plugging for a Daytime Emmy on his website, www.jerryspringertv.com, fans can vote by clicking on "Why Jerry Deserves an Emmy."

Fox has suspended filming of Season 7 of 24 for a couple of weeks -- don't freak out yet. Sources say its because they've decided to retool the last six episodesand filming should begin again in two weeks. This will not cause any delay in Season 7's air-time schedule.

The same network has also halted production on Joss Whedon's new series, Dollhouse, for the time being. Apparently execs are not sure if the characters are "likeable" enough, and that the plot may be too confusing for viewers.

Dollhouse, starring Buffy alum Eliza Dushku, revolves around a group of people who've had their personalities erased and replaced with new personas.
Shooting is scheduled to resume next week.


And the ratings are in: HBO's True Blood, which didn't get stellar ratings in its debut, only went up a small percentage this week. Last Sunday's second episode came in at 1.8 million (not what I'd call good for an HBO original), while the premiere ep only garnered 1.4 million. In comparison, other recent HBO series' premieres scored much better -- Big Love with 4.5 million, Rome with 3.8 and Deadwood with 5.6.

TV Guide reports this week that Fringe (which I found is the best new show so far), opened last week with 9.13 million viewers, which put it behind America's Got Talent (11.61 million), in its time slot. So people, please, start watching this show!

In more disturbing news: Guess which pretty, vapid reality star just signed a 3-book deal with publishing giant HarperCollins? -- MTV's own Lauren Conrad, that's who. How does this happen? The Hill's star will be writing young adult fiction -- gag!


On that note, I'm done for today ...

Just for fun, I couldn't resist sharing this popular youtube video with you. It's from last Friday, somewhere in Texas where news junkie Geraldo Rivera was covering Hurricane Ike. Although he's off camera when the wave hits, watch him role thru the shot, a total wipe out!! Enjoy!

Well last night I took my own advice and decided around 7:30 p.m. to click on over to the Sci-Fi Channel and check out the pilot episode of Lost. Within minutes I was totally absorbed in one of my favorite shows and, since Sci-Fi was airing four episodes back-to-back until 11 p.m., I got totally lost in Lost and missed everything else on TV last night.

It looks like regular Monday evening programming may be off my schedule until further notice ... I mean, I even missed The Hills (horror of horrors!). It never even crossed my mind until this morning. Good thing MTV will continue to air the episode only about 1,000 more times this week. (Of course, I'm kidding, The Hills has really been going down hill, pardon the pun, this season, I'm sure I didn't miss a thing.)
I did manage to pry myself off the couch close to 9 p.m. to make sure I taped Prison Break on Fox. This is one of those shows that I used to love, but like many relationships, has been going on too long. If I didn't like the characters so much, I wouldn't still watch.

Prison Break had a great premise in the first season. Like it's name, the whole show centered around Michael Scofield getting himself sentenced to the same high security prison where his brother, Lincoln Burrows, was serving on death row, awaiting his final sentence for "murdering" the vice president's brother. I write "murdering" because the guy was alive all along.

Once inside, Michael hatched an elaborate scheme to break his brother out, over the course of the season. Along the way we met various shady characters, none more ominous than Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell, who could hold his own with Hannibal Lecter any day.

Season One ended with the big break-out. Season Two followed the escapees as they ran from the feds. Season Three had most of them imprisoned in a sleazy fortress in Panama, and guess what, they broke out in the finale. So far, Season Four has the group of escapees forced back together by the government to find "Scylla" some kind of electronic black book that details the inner functions of "The Company." Oh, and Sarah (who was beheaded last season) is back, alive and well. Like I said, this show has gone on long enough, give these guys a happy ending already.

TV on DVD Tuesday: Hurray, Torchwood Season 2 comes out on DVD today. If you haven't seen Torchwood, you don't know what you're missing. I LOVE this show!! Torchwood, which I discovered on BBC America (America's fastest growing new network), is a spin-off of another popular BBC show Doctor Who. In fact, the word Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who (go ahead, figure it out). The show centers on Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), who heads up the super secret government agency that finds and controls aliens coming thru a rift in time in Cardiff, UK. Darker and not nearly as whacky as Doctor Who, I always describe Torchwood as sort of X-Files meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For more information check out their BBC America website at http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/262/index.jsp

And speaking of Doctor Who, Dark Horizons says that British actor David Tennant held out for a Doctor Who movie deal when signing for a 5th season of the popular show. Can't wait for that! Also, I'm glad to see Tennant coming back as the Time Lord, when previous reports had The Doctor "changing" again with Robert Carlisle taking the lead.

House is back for its fifth season tonight at 8 p.m. on Fox, followed at 9 by Fringe, JJ Abrams new thriller about disastrous happenings in our world. I highly recommend this show. If you're a fan of Lost, Heroes or even Alias, you might want to check it out.

Big Brother 10 crowns a winner tonight at 9 p.m. on CBS -- as if anyone still cares. This was definitely the dumbest season with the dumbest contestants yet. What can I say, it's impossible to top last summer's scheming Evil Dick, his slutty daughter Danielle, and masochistic Jen.

DVR Alert: Tomorrow Ellen Degeneres gets a rare sitdown with Twilight Saga author Stephenie Meyer. They'll be discussing her latest book and final in the Twilight series "Breaking Dawn." Also, on her website, Ellen promises to try her best to get Stephenie to finish writing "Midnight Sun", the anticipated retelling of "Twilight" from Edward's point of view (all the books are written from Bella's POV). An unfinished manuscript of the book was leaked on the Internet a few weeks ago, and a devastated Stephenie has put the book on hold indefniitely. Also, hopefully, they might show a clip from the upcoming "Twilight" movie.

And for all you Nip/Tuck fans, the doctors are in. Julian McMahon and Dylan Walsh returned to the set yesterday to begin filming Season 9 of the popular F/X series. Nineteen episodes have been ordered for 2010/2011.But don't fret, there are still 8 or more unaired episodes from Season 8 that will debut sometime in January. Bad-boy Dr. Christian Troy, hey that rhymes, is one of my all-time hotties -- till we meet again ...

If you tuned in last night to Fox to watch the encore presentation of the pilot episode of "Fringe," you got some nice little extras along the way. First off, there was a 10-minute preview of the big-screen remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (opening Dec. 12). Looked pretty good, actually. Then we got a little peek into Tuesday night's second episode of "Fringe," followed by a glimpse into what the whole season has to offer.
But the real gem of the evening was just before 10 p.m., when Fox, after much teasing, finally gave us a 3-minute trailer for "24: Redemption." Airing November 23, just before Thanksgiving and during those all too important November ratings sweeps period, Jack Bauer returns to save the world again, this time in Africa. I don't know about you, but whenever Jack shows up and in his gruff voice speaks into the cell "Mr. President, this is Jack Bauer ...." (or in this case Madam President), my heart always skips a beat!
Of course, this is just a little peace offering for 24 fans, since we lost a whole season earlier this year due to the writers' strike. But I'll take it! "Redemption" is a stand alone 2-hour movie, and supposedly some sort of lead-in to the next season which will begin some time in January.
In case you missed it, you can watch the trailer here http://www.fox.com/24/trailer/

Ok, now on to HBO: Last night also saw the second episode of Alan Ball's (Six Feet Under) new drama "True Blood." Set in the present day in Bon Temps, Lousiana, True Blood tells the fictional tale of vampires walking/living among us. Due to a break thru new synthetic blood "drink" vampires don't have to hide in the dark anymore and the American Vampire League is all about getting vamps the same rights a humans.
And it wouldn't be drama without a love story, right? Lead vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) returns to town and meets girl-who-can-read-minds/waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin). Sparks fly and you know the rest.
Sounds silly right? Well, actually last night's episode was more impressive than the first one, even if it did include the generic girl-drinks-vampire's-blood-in-order-to-recover-from-her- injuries (eewww!). And the Internet is all abuzz today with comparisons between True Blood and that other current vampire-love-epic -- Twilight.
While I'm starting to like True Blood, I have to side with the Twilighters for now (I'll let you know for sure after Nov. 21 when the big screen adaptation of Twilight opens). Although both deal with the taboo Human-Vampire love, Twilight's author's Mormon values keep the story more about longing and resistance. True Blood's not afraid to go all the way, and I do mean ALL the way! There's a reason True Blood's on HBO and not Fox! This show's definitely adults only.
For now, I'll leave you with this -- who would you rather endanger your life with ...
True Blood's Bill Compton

Or Twilight's Edward Cullen?

I'll take my chances with Edward any day.

I was planning on catching up with the first season of the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles this weekend, since the second episode of the second season is tonight, but I got sidetracked by something a coworker passed on to me -- Season 1 of The Big Bang Theory.
If you haven't watched this brilliant sitcom yet, you can catch it tonight at 8 p.m. on CBS. And since it's a sitcom, you don't need a whole lot of background in order to start watching. In short, it's the story of two brainiacs, Leonard and Sheldon, who are physicists at a university and share an apartment together. Beautiful girl Penny moves next door, Leonard develops a huge crush, and you can pretty much figure out the rest.
Anyway, it's hilarious, well written and instantly entertaining. Not too many shows can pride themselves on the brilliant dialogue going on here.
I watched the whole first season in two nights on DVD. You may want to rent it.
Did I mention how much I love TV on DVD? It's the best! You can watch an entire season in a matter of days, without commercials!!!

And speaking of entire seasons, attention to all fans of LOST: The Sci-Fi Channel begins airing the whole series in chronological order beginning tonight at 7 p.m. Four episodes will air back-to-back from 7 to 11 p.m. tonight and every Monday until presumably, Season Five gets underway some time in January!!
So if you want to relive the perils of the passengers of Oceanic 815, or if you never watched and want to know what everyone's talking about, make it a date tonight!

And finally, or should I say finale? Project Runway taped the current season's finale Friday afternoon at Fashion Week in Bryant Park, NYC. Yes, I know I said this last week, but I have more news ... Guest judge Jennifer Lopez was a no-show! Yes, that's right, she left Heidi, Tim, Nina and Michael Kors in the lurch! Something about hurting her foot, but she's still training for a triathlon or something ...
Ever the gentleman, fan favorite Tim Gunn replaced Lopez as guest judge and promised to show no partiality. And as reported by www.nypost.com, the audience went ballistic for him! Also spotted at the show were previous contestants Sweet Pea, former finalist Jillian and last season's winner Christian Siriano.
According to http://bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/ Leanne, Korto, Kenley, Joe, Jerell and Suede all got to show their collections. Bravo did things similarly last season, allowing all the remaining contestants (that we knew of on-air) to show their collections, although only 3 were actually competing for the finale. That's to keep everyone in the dark regarding who the actual finalists are. Click on the link above and you can view the complete collections of the designers.

Till tomorrow ...

OK, so I was planning on blogging about one of my favorite guilty pleasures today, Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, but that will just have to wait until next week.

As I blogged yesterday, The History Channel had a special program on last night called "102 Minutes That Changed America." It was a first person account in real time of the events of September 11 and it was all too compelling to turn off. And being the compulsive channel-hopper that I am, that's saying something.

If you missed it, you can catch some clips of the show on the channel's website at www.history.com, but I couldn't find the whole show there. I also searched their schedule for more air-dates, but it doesn't look like they're planning on re-running it. It'll probably show up on DVD next week. I'll let you know ... it's definitely worth watching.

Watching it took me back, like it all just happened. I, like all of you, remember exactly where I was when I first noticed what was happening. My usual routine getting ready for work in the morning then was to have the TV on one of the morning shows, muted, so I could listen to Howard Stern on the radio. I was running late when I glanced at the set and saw the World Trade Center on fire. Turning the volume up, I soon learned that they were speculating the a small plane had hit the North Tower. At the time, everyone figured it was a small single engine plane, like the one that had hit the Empire State Building a few years back.

I called into the newsroom to let someone know I was going to be late (not too many people are in that early), and also said, "you might want to put the TV on, a plane just hit the World Trade Center." I got to work just in time to see the second plane hit.

Little by little, as they arrived at The Mercury, everyone in the building made their way over to the newsroom and the only TV set. We watched in horror with the rest of the country as the buildings burned. No one could've ever predicted the outcome. When the South Tower collapsed, we mostly only saw the debris cloud, not realizing what had happened. But it was impossible to miss the collapse of the North Tower, with a camera trained on its antenna-topped summit.

Usually a hard-core group of newspeople, as we have here, is a little desensitized when it comes to tragedy. We see it all, day after day, and their first instincts are to get the story. But not that day, everyone just stood around dumb-struck and heart-broken. What had just happened was completely unfathomable.

A phone call to a coworker from a friend who worked in Washington, D.C., where the Pentagon had also been attacked, finally broke up the crowd. It was time to get the story, but it took days for things to get back to normal.

Weekend Watch: Ok, so I'm really not planning on blogging over the weekend, unless something effects me strongly enough. My weekends are mostly for catching up on DVDs, but I do have a few favorites that I don't miss. Like E! televion's The Soup, airing tonight at 10 p.m. and various other times over the weekend. Joel McHale and his merry crew sarcastically offer up clips of various reality/talk shows moments, so you don't have to spend the time watching them. I never miss it!

I also indulge in BBC America over the weekend. Saturday nights at 9 p.m. is the sci-fi hit Primeval, about scientists gathering up prehistoric beasts that fall thru a time-traveling rift. Yeah, I know, it's sounds kind of cheesy, but I like it. Of course, it doesn't compare to BBC's new version of Doctor Who or my absolutely fave Torchwood (John Barrowman, I love you). In case you haven't guessed it from my profile, I'm a sci-fi geek.

Sunday nights at 10 p.m. is the controversial Skins, about British teens run amok, think Dawson's Creek with drugs and sex. Yes, they're aloud to get more raunchy in the BBC than we are here on TV. It's deliciously wicked.

Information about any of these shows can be found at http://www.bbcamerica.com/

Back on this side of the pond, CNBC is supposed to be airing The Apprentice: UK at 8 p.m. Saturday night. As a fan of the American version of the Apprentice, I might have to check this out.

And for those of you interested, ABC will be re-airing last season's Desperate Housewives 2-hr. finale at 9 p.m. You know the one where everything flashes ahead five years at the end. Can't wait to see next week's season debut and how they explain that. Overall I think it's a good idea, the housewives' storylines were getting soooo old.

Sunday night also brings more of HBO's original programming. True Blood's second episode airs at 9 p.m. It's a vampires-among-us story of forbidden love and lust. I'm waiting to comment on this until after the second episode, since I wasn't completely overwhelmed by the first episode. But that might just be because I'm a huge Twilight fan and Bill Compton (the lead vampire in True Blood) is no Edward Cullen! HBO must be worried too, because they're running 2-pg. ads in major newspapers promoting it today.

And Vince, Ari and the boys are back in Entourage at 10 p.m. This, I have to say, is one of my favorite shows! I love all the Hollywood stereotypes. Especially Lloyd, superagent Ari's boy-toy assistant doormat. Check out www.hbo.com for information on any of these shows.

For those who have asked, here's where you can get info on the new season of 24: http://www.fox.com/24/ I don't think they'll put the 3-minute trailer for the November movie up until after it officially airs (Sunday night between 8-8:30p.m. on Fox), but you never know ...

Ok, so as promised, last night I caught up on Fringe, J.J. Abrams latest attempt to drive us all crazy. And, I have to say, that after just one episode, I'm hooked.
The show features a flesh-eating disease, FBI agents looking for a cure, and, references to disasters happening around the world (classic Abrams), including plane crashes (sound familiar Lostees?). Not only that, but one of the main characters is portrayed by Lance Reddick, the same actor who played prominently as Matthew Abaddon in the last 3 episodes of LOST last season .... hmmmm, could there be a possible crossover episode in the future (maybe somehow connecting the Fringe storyline to the crash of Oceanic 815)? It's enough to keep me tuned in.
Also, it's nice to see actor John Noble portraying a "mad" scientist, instead of the insufferable Lord Denathor, steward of Gondor (LOTR/ROTK, look it up).
So, if you're a fan of LOST, Alias or even Heroes, you'll definitely want to check this show out. Fortunately, Fox will be broadcasting an encore presentation of the pilot episode Sunday night at 8 p.m. And you can also watch the episode and get more information on the show at
http://www.fox.com/fringe/
And here's another reason to tune in to Fox Sunday night -- how about a preview of the new 24 season prequel "Redemption"? According to www.nypost.com, although the new season of the popular Keifer Sutherland series won't be debuting until January, there will be a 2-hour prequel that will air in November. It's a roughly three-minute preview, so tune in early.
Also debuting will be a an extended scene from the movie remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still," scheduled for release in December.

Moving on to what was actually on TV Wednesday night: The Sons of Anarchy's second episode on FX didn't disappoint. I actually think the already good show got even better. In case you missed it, you can watch the episode and get any news about the show on FX's website
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/#Nav/Homepage Of course, I'm sure FX will be re-airing the episode over the weekend, but you'll have to watch the pilot on the Net.
Anyway, the show, compared to The Sopranos, about a gun-running motorcycle gang is really shaping up. Featuring British actor Charlie Hunnam in the lead role as Jax, son of the former, now deceased, gang leader, and Ron Perlman as Clay, the gang's current leader, it's Katey Sagal who is really starting to shine. Sagal plays Gemma, Jax's mom and girlfriend to Clay, who is trying to keep her family together as well as ensure her son's ascent as rightful leader of the gang. She's a stronger version of Carmella Soprano, if you can imagine. So much for Peg Bundy.

And it wouldn't be Thursday without bringing up who was asked to leave the Runway last night. I absolutely love Project Runway. I was late getting to the party, only picking up this show after friends begged me to half way thru the third season. We're now well into Season 5, and as I said yesterday, the finale is being filmed tomorrow at Fashion Week in Bryant Park, NYC.
This show continues to enthrall me, mostly because these people can take fabric and turn it into something beautiful (most of the time) in a matter of hours! Something I couldn't do in a matter of months, or even years!
Anyway, last night we said "Auf Wiedersehen" to two contestants this week -- Terry and our fave "holla atchaboy" Blaine. At least we still have Suede. In case you missed it, you can watch the replay this weekend on Bravo or at http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/season/5/index.php

On TV tonight: The History channel presents "102 Minutes That Changed America" in honor of the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by reconstructing the events in chronological order using footage from more than 100 sources, amateur and professional.

And in poor comparison to that one, I'll be tuning in to one of my guilty pleasures -- Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares at 9 p.m. on Fox. I find the show interesting in a way that makes me NEVER want to eat out at a restaurant again!

Hello fellow TV enthusiasts and welcome to "On The Set". For those of you who are curious, this blog will be dedicated to all things television. You know what I mean. The type of things you tend to discuss when you get into work in the morning.
Who did what to whom on TV last night, who got voted off the island, who was asked to leave the runway, who's fooling around with who on Wisteria Lane, what really happened to Oceanic 815, what happened to Mad Men, and how the hell is Jack Bauer going to save the world this time? All generally based on what I watch on TV.
Along the way, I'll share any info about upcoming TV moments and events, any new shows/castings I hear about, preview/review new shows and hope to share your opionions as well as mine. So feel free to add your comments to any postings or email me at kim.gardengal.toth@gmail.com
For those of you wondering about that address, I've spent this past spring and summer blogging as Garden Gal for The Mercury and will continue to do so, only as the weather gets colder, there's not as much gardening to write about.
And as the nights get longer, we'll all be spending more time indoors, and I'll be catching up on lots of TV. The new Fall season is just around the corner, but some new shows have already got the jump on them.
You can check out my profile for my preferences, but in general my TV tastes run from Reality to Entourage to Mad Men. I can always find something on TV that I like. My faves are LOST (yes, I'm one of those people), Survivor, Amazing Race, 24, Project Runway, Top Chef, The Soup (in case I missed anything) and just about anything on BBC America (my current fave channel).
So let's get started with what was on last night: I would've liked to start with J.J. Abrams newest, "Fringe," but, having taped it earlier to watch later, I fell asleep halfway thru. Not because the show was bad, actually it was quite interesting, I just started watching it too late. Abrams, for those of you who don't know, is the creator of LOST and Alias, and Fringe is supposed to be in the same vein. I let you know tomorrow.
Oh, and yes, I said "taped." I can't bring myself to pay for DVR yet, when there's nothing wrong with my 5 VCRs. Yes, I need 5 sometimes to get everything I want to see. And since my cable company charges a monthly fee for DVR, I'd rather use that money to pay for more channels!
So, on to what I actually watched: The CW's new 90210. Yes, I have to admit, I liked last week's show. I was a HUGE fan of the original from the '80s and the nostalgic value of the new show was hard to resist.
Anyway, unfortunately the new show jumped the shark (yes, I know that the phrase jumped the shark has effectively jumped the shark itself, but I didn't know how else to put it) about halfway thru when one of the young characters (it's too soon to now all their names) made a reference to The Hills' dastardly villian Spencer Pratt! Yes, I also watch The Hills, but I wouldn't say I'm fanatic about it. Then 90210 went on with the old show's typical formulas, parents wanting to have a "family night out", kids arranging for their friends to "meet" them there, one character discovers her father's having an affair and, of course, the alcoholic mother whose daughter doesn't know how to cope. Boring ... I'll give it another shot next week.
I also wasn't too impressed with the show that came after either. "Privileged" is about a woman who gets hired to tutor two insanely rich and spoiled teenage girls (think Paris and Nicky Hilton about seven years younger) in ritzy Palm Beach, Florida. I'm sure you can imagine all the stereotypes that played out in this show.
But that's what the new Fall season is always about: Trying out new shows and seeing if you want to stay with them.
One show I can definitely recommend is actually on tonight. Presented on the FX channel at 10 p.m. is the second episode of "Sons of Anarchy." Think The Sopranos, only with a gun-running motorcycle gang instead of the mob. Starring British actor Charlie Hunnan as Jax, the son of the former leader of the gang, and probable successor, last week's pilot episode was full of drama, guns, explosions, drug-dealing and, of course, rival killings. Don't get upset, I'm not condoning violence, it's just a TV show.

In TV news, www.nypost.com is reporting that Project Runway judge Nina Garcia is getting her own show. "Running in Heels" will feature Garcia and her staff at Marie Claire, and is set for a March premiere.
Also Project Runway, which is moving after this season from Bravo to Lifetime, will not be premiering in October as previously planned. (Still no word on whether any of the judges or my fave, mentor Tim Gunn, will be part of the new line up.) It's now going to start in early next year. The current season will be taping its finale Friday at New York's Fashion Week in Bryant Park and will feature guest judge Jennifer Lopez.
Stay tuned ...

On the Set will be viewing this new TV season's best shows with a critical eye. Is that new reality show worth it? We'll tell you and give you some added insight.