OK, sit back and relax, this is going to be a long post.
First off, if you missed it, you can watch here http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/video/?season=13/

Last night on CBS, season 17 of Survivor reached its exciting conclusion. Survivor Gabon: Earth’s Last Eden did not go out quietly, just as most of the season was played. How entertaining it was …
The show started off 30 minutes late, thanks to the NFL, and picked up on Night 36, just after Crystal was blindsided at Tribal Council. Sugar bragged about how she can’t believe she’s that powerful, using her immunity idol to protect Matty. Kenny blasted Bob for not giving him the immunity necklace, saying he was not a man of his word. Bob decided that because Ken outed him in front of the jury at Tribal Council, all bets are off.

The next morning Sugar tells Bob she wants to take him to the Final 3 and they should get rid of Susie and Ken next. She plans to get close to Ken and reassures him that Susie’s the next to go. Ken’s convinced Sugar wants him in the Final 3. (Side note: I’m not a fan of this Final 3 thing; I think it’s much better to just have 2 going into the final.)

Ken goes for treemail and finds garments, beads and makeup with instructions for each to dress themselves as warriors for the next challenge.

The Immunity Challenge involves a maze with traditional Gabonese huts placed throughout. Each castaway must dig under a wall to get in, navigate over planks, get a bag of puzzle pieces from each hut and assemble a hut-shaped puzzle. Bob wins again – 5th straight time.

Back at the Nobag camp Matty tells Ken Susie’s going and then lies to Susie, who’s becoming increasingly paranoid. However, Sugar’s on the fence and can’t quite decide who to vote for. She wants to get rid of Susie, but feels that Ken’s such a liar, he could influence Bob and Matty against her.

At Tribal Council, Jeff points out Bob’s fifth consecutive win, calling him the biggest threat. Ken starts whining about Bob backing out of their immunity deal at the last council. Bob counters Ken’s attack by making the jury aware that Ken and Crystal were planning to vote Bob out when he gave up the immunity necklace. (Backatcha Ken!!)


Kenny, the 22-year-old pro-video gamer, is blindsided 4-1 and becomes the 14th player voted out of Gabon, ending the broadcast’s first hour.

And then there were four …

The next morning, Susie’s convinced she must win the next immunity challenge or she’s gone. Duh?

Susie
The Final 4 take a hike around Gabon, in Survivor’s traditional homage to all the players voted out this season. Each is shown in the order they were voted out and the Final 4 collect a mask for each player to be burned at the site of the final Immunity Challenge.

The House of Cards: This was a new one! For the final Immunity Challenge, survivors were given 200 wooden tiles and tasked to build a House of Cards 10-feet high (anybody else thinking of The Brady Bunch?). After 30 minutes, whoever has the tallest house wins. (I think if Bob doesn’t win, he’s gone.)

Sugar shows talent in card house-building, however once she hits about 6-feet, they keep tumbling down, forcing her to start over. Susie takes the lead, then hers falls. Matty’s having the same problem. Bob, however, can’t seem to get any higher than 3 feet.

After many attempts, Matty scrambles during the last minute to try to take Susie’s approximately 8-foot lead, but just can’t get there. Sugar’s house falls again, and Susie gets immunity, effectively ruining the others’ plan.


Sugar
Sugar cries (literally) to the camera that since Susie won they have no choice but to vote Bob off. Back at camp, Matty tells Bob of his fate. Bob’s resigned to it, realizing that the others wouldn’t stand much of a chance at winning if he’s in the Final 3, and everyone hugs (more tears). Matty, surprisingly, keeps hold of himself and doesn’t cry.

Later on, Sugar tells Bob she’s thought of a way out. What if she and Bob vote for Matty, causing a tie and forcing a tie-breaker challenge. Winner stays, loser goes.

(Hint: If you’re ever going to be on Survivor, practice building a fire with flint for God’s sake. Remember, that’s how Bobby John lost.)

At Tribal Council, Sugar, crying, calls Matty a brother and Bob a father figure (Sugar’s dad passed away recently). Bob chokes up, crediting his own deceased father for making him a good man. Host Jeff relentlessly hammers away at the castaways’ emotions – great TV! Even the jury’s getting into it.

Vote time:

Susie votes for Bob.

Matty votes for Bob.

Bob votes for Matty.

And, Sugar votes for Matty.

TIE!

Guess what happens next? Yep – a fire-making challenge. First one to build a fire that burns thru a thin rope wins.

Bob gets fire first, but it goes out. Matty’s scraping away furiously, but Bob gets his fire going again and voila – Bob wins.


Bye-Bye Matty.

The Final 3 are sent back to camp for their final night in Gabon. The next morning they pack up and burn their hut to the ground.

And it’s Jury Time!! This is gonna be great! Ken’s ready to make trouble. Randy’s still VERY angry, dislikes them all, is "ready to rip Bob a new one" and says it’s about one word – REVENGE!

Oh, and Corinne’s loaded for bear as well.

First off, the Final 3 each get to make their case as to why they deserve the million dollars.

Susie: went on Survivor to teach her son and students that it’s important "to try."

Bob: played with his heart, strategy was to use his personality and survival skills to make life better for everyone. Says he "didn’t Outwit or Outplay, just Outlasted" the rest.

Sugar: thinks she played the perfect social game. Admits lying for the game. No one wrote her name down (to vote out) and thinks she played "a pretty darned good game."

Jeff hands the show over to the seven Jurors.

Charlie doesn’t have anything interesting to say, jokes about spooning with Bob. Bob calls Charlie "a hoot."

Crystal accuses Susie of riding coat tails to get where she is, and says Bob was remote-controlled by Sugar (Bob says he was riding coat tails). She demands to know why Sugar got her voted out, to which Sugar replied that she didn’t like the way Crystal talked to people or her bullying. (I don’t think Crystal’s voting for Sugar … )

Ken says Sugar really scarred him and wants to know why. Sugar said she had an alliance with Bob and Matty and truly thought he was a bigger threat. Ken doesn’t believe her.
Then, here’s a surprise, he brings up that deal with Bob and the Immunity Necklace – again! Bob replies, when "I became aware of your assassination attempt on me, I voted for you."

Corinne (worth the wait) goes after Susie first, guaranteeing her a vote if Susie will agree to have her vocal cords removed. Oh Snap!!
Then she asks Bob to make her believe he doesn’t like Sugar. He can’t.
But she saves her best for last attacking Sugar, calling her an "unemployed, uneducated leech on society" who needs antidepressants and, if that’s not bad enough, brings up her dead father, "if he even is" …. Hello – can you say be-otch?

Sugar gives Corinne the finger as she sits back down.

Marcus, unfortunately, had to follow that and didn’t really contribute much.


Next up is Randy, the Gary Busey of Gabon. Randy starts small and asks Susie to explain why she said she felt sorry for him.
Then he goes after Sugar, referring to her laughing at Tribal Council and making a jackass of him. To which Sugar replied, "I think you made a jackass of yourself." (POW!). "Is that your answer for a million dollars?" Randy retorts.
To Bob, he asks same question about the laughter at Randy’s last Tribal Council. "I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I apologize and I did tell Sugar about it," Bob sincerely replied. (I think Bob’s getting Randy’s vote.)

Matty asks Sugar to name one thing she did that was evil. "I broke Kenny’s heart, I’m sorry," she replied. Kenny roles his eyes. Then he asks Bob why Bob thinks the other two are more deserving. "I don’t think they are," Bob replied.

During the vote, Randy says loudly that "All three of you can kiss my ass." (I’m gonna miss Randy.)

Jeff takes votes and leaves, re-emerging magically at the start of the Reunion Show. Here’s how it went …

Vote 1 – Bob

Vote 2 – Susie

Vote 3 – Susie

Vote 4 – Sue (I’m freaking out at this point, thinking Susie may actually win!)

Vote 5 – Bob

Vote 6 – Bob

Vote 7 – Bob

BOB WINS! Yay! Justice! At 57, Jeff points out, Bob is the oldest winner in the history of the game.



During the reunion show we find out that had Matty made it to the Final 3, five jurors would have voted for him, thereby making the fire challenge a million dollar challenge. This is where Jeff stresses the importance of learning to build a fire if you’re ever cast on Survivor!

Jeff also announces that Randy was the deciding vote and asks why Randy picked Bob over Susie. Randy replied sarcastically, "that cookie didn’t matter much," referring to the food auction where Sugar snubbed Randy’s offer of a cookie, and I’m not sure what reference that was to Susie. But it turns out, it was a million dollar cookie as well.

We later find out that Randy’s not only got the second highest IQ of all the players (physician Marcus was highest), but he’s also a commercial pilot (think about that next time you fly), participated in Iron Man competitions and has an engineering degree. A self-described "bitter man," Randy brought six strangers to the reunion just because they were fans of the show. He applied for Survivor 15 times, and is currently a wedding videographer.

Then it was Corinne’s turn. Jeff called her comments to Sugar at Tribal Council "the worst thing ever said on the show" (Jeff, remember Sue Hawk?). To which Corinne replied, "I guess I just had a lot of anger," as the audience collectively booed her.

On the opposite end, Jeff called Charlie one of the nicest guys ever on Survivor. Crystal actually brought her gold medal to prove she is an Olympic medalist. She said the challenges were a lot harded than she expected, and her friends have been harassing her about her lack of performance on the show, saying "Crystal you suck."

Ace tried to clear up the origins of his faux British accent, saying he was born in Mississippi and raised in London (which didn’t really clean anything up at all).

And Matty’s still engaged.


The Cast of Survivor Gabon: Earth's Last Eden

Bob won an additional $100,000 from Verizon for being voted fan favorite online.

The show ended with a preview of Season 18 – Survivor Tocatinis in the Brazilian Highlands.

See you in Feburary!

Before I get into last night’s awesome episode of Survivor: Gabon, I just want to give a short shout-out. I was perusing the list of Golden Globe nominations last night and LOL when I realized that up for Best Supporting Actor in a Film, along with the late Heath Ledger, are Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise for their hilarious turns in Tropic Thunder!

Yes, that's Robert
Downey Jr.!
While I will be shocked if either wins over Ledger, it’s nice to see both recognized for taking what would normally be considered slapstick comedy characters into award-winning territory!
Downey Jr. famously plays an Australian actor who undergoes a controversial skin pigmentation process to play an African American sergeant. And Cruise (heavily made up in skull cap and fat suit) plays a firey studio boss very reminiscent of Harvey Weinstein.

And yes, that's
Tom Cruise between takes


If you haven’t seen Tropic Thunder yet, do yourself a favor and rent it this weekend. I highly recommend it.



OK, on to Survivor: As stated above, what an awesome episode it was!! The one I’ve been waiting for all season, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. If you haven’t watched it yet, stop reading and go watch it here http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/

We start out on Night 33 with Matty confronting Kenny, demanding to know why Kenny wrote his name on the ballot to be voted out. Kenny tries to defend himself saying that Bob lied to him, and it was all strategic. Matty’s not buying it. Ken and Crystal decide that Matty’s next to go.
Ken confronts Bob demanding to know why Corinne didn’t play the immunity idol at Tribal Council (the idol is fake, remember?), saying he put his neck on the line. Bob tells him the idol was fake, to which Ken replies that Bob played him. Bob feels bad and tells Ken that if he wins the Immunity necklace, he will give it to Ken (WTH is he thinking?).

Bob
The Reward Challenge offers the opportunity for the winner to take a helicopter ride to a gorilla sanctuary for food, drinks and a shower … oh and a chance to see gorillas up close. The first to get 3 balls in the basket wins, and also gets to send someone to Exile Island.
Despite Matty’s lead and best efforts, Bob wins again! Of course, we know they won’t make him go alone, and Jeff tells him to pick two people to go along. Bob strategically picks Ken and Crystal, and opts to send Susie to Exile.

Susie, knowing Sugar has the immunity idol, chooses to stay in the Sugar Shack and load up on fruit.

At the sanctuary, Bob, Ken and Crystal enjoy lunch and drinks, and the scheming duo tell Bob that Matty’s next. Then they all take a shower (separately folks, this is prime time afterall), don dashikis, meet with the gorilla rangers and go see gorillas. Crystal is grateful for the "African experience."

Sugar
Back at camp, Matty tries to get Sugar to vote off Kenny. She’s not buying it. Matty realizes he’s on his own and if he doesn’t win immunity, he’s gone.
When everyone gets back, Matty argues with Ken over their fallen alliance. Crystal chimes in, verbally attacking Matty over his friendship with Susie. Crystal tells the camera in a side monologue, "Matty, Karma’s a bitch!"
Sugar, watching what’s going on, has a change of heart. She doesn’t like the fact that Ken and Crystal are hassling Matty when they’ve already decided that he’s next. Essentially, she sees them as kicking Matty when he’s down and starts believing what Matty told her about Ken’s scheming (remember Ken convinced Sugar to vote out her bud Ace) and Crystal’s bullying.
Sugar gets Matty along and tells him she believes him. She also says he’s not going to go home – the tide is turning … finally!
Sugar tells Matty that Crystal is going next, and she’ll tell Bob to vote for her! (Yes, I’ve wanted Crystal gone for a looooong time. She so has it coming!)

Susie
The Immunity Challenge had contestants crawling through a maze to put together pieces of a mask – blindfolded! Crysal goes completely off course, and Susie gets lost, wandering away from the maze. Matty decides to get all three bags with the puzzle pieces first, while the others work one bag at a time.
Bob wins again! That’s four challenges in a row for the 57-year-old. Go Bob!

Before Tribal Council, Sugar confesses to Bob she wants to be with the "good guys" and suggests taking out Crystal. She also tells Bob she has a really big place in her heart for him. Bob hopes she’s being truthful.
Sugar then goes back to camp and lies to everyone else, saying she thinks Bob might be willing to give the necklace to Ken. Ken’s somewhat relieved.

This is gonna be great!!

Tribal Council: When the jury entered, one thing went thru my mind – WTH happened to Randy’s hair – Dude got a mohawk!! He’s certifiable … I’m counting on crazy Randy making the finale’s jury question session worthy of the build-up (who remember’s Sue Hawk’s famous verbal thrashing of Kelly Wigglesworth in season one? … oh the humanity!)

Anyway, at Tribal Ken takes the opportunity to out Bob over their pact. Bob refuses to give Ken the necklace, saying he doesn’t believe Ken’s in danger. Ken’s sweating …

Ken
Sugar is blatantly wearing the hidden Immunity Idol, and Jeff says that it is the last opportunity for it to be put into play, if indeed it is the real idol. To which Bob replies, "I didn’t make that one!" and gets a nasty glare from Randy (who, if you remember, played Bob’s fake idol and was humiliated).

After the vote, it’s make or break time for the hidden idol. Jeff calls for anyone who has the idol that it is time to play it before the votes are read and ….. wait for it ……

Sugar takes off the idol and says, "Matty take the cursed thing away from me!" giving the idol’s protection to Matty and cancelling any votes for him. Ken’s really sweating now!

Matty

First vote, Matty, doesn’t count.

Second vote, Matty, doesn’t count.

Third vote, Crystal.

Fourth vote Crystal – she looks at Ken, he looks at her, raising eyebrows in a "tough sh-t"
kinda way.

Fifth vote, "and the 13th person voted out of Survivor Gabon is" --- CRYSTAL!!!

Crystal

The tribe has spoken – and the jury nods in agreement. You were right Crystal – Karma’s a bitch!

And then there were five:
Bob, the physics professor whose the biggest threat.
Susie, whose flown under the radar.
Sugar, the sweetheart of the game.
Ken, the professional gamer, who wickedly schemed his way to the final.
And Matty, the physical threat – just don’t make him cry.

So here we go --- Sunday night at 8 p.m. on CBS it all ends on the Survivor: Gabon Finale, followed by the Reunion Show at 10 p.m. Don’t miss it, if it’s anything like the last couple of episodes, it should be pretty exciting!
For info visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/

Thanks to everyone for your comments on My 10 Most Fascinating People post. It’s great to know someone’s reading here! Sorry to have left you hanging over the weekend, I meant to post my Survivor recap sooner, but you know how things get away from you when you have time off.

Spent most of my weekend up to my elbows in Xmas decorations, climbing up and down steps from the basement to the first and second floors of the house with boxes loaded with the decor of the season. Yesterday was cool, though, I made the most of ABC Family’s Harry Potter marathon. I love it when I can put all the TVs all over the house and just go back and forth while decorating. And since it was sooooo cold out, yesterday was the perfect day for it.

I started out my weekend on the right note, however, and watched a rockin’ flick – Wanted. Totally loved it! I highly recommend. Based on a popular video game (and many video game-based movies suck), this one totally hits its mark. Great visual effects, tons of action, good story and Angelina Jolie too! Nice to see James McAvoy doing some action stuff, and Morgan Freeman is always good … nice twist in the middle that I never saw coming. Check it out.


The only new thing on TV I watched was last night’s season finale of the Amazing Race. Siblings Nick & Starr, separated couple Ken & Tina and frat boys Andrew & Dan raced from Russia to Oregon for the final leg of the race around the world and a million dollars …

It was exciting, as always, and being the last episode, I’m not going to go into much detail. In the end, as expected, Nick & Starr hit the finish line first and got the million. Ken & Tina were close on their tails, with Andrew & Dan bringing up the rear, way behind. The boys were quite gracious to their fellow competitors, admitting that even they didn’t believe they had made it to the end.

Congrats to Nick & Starr
One thing I always like about this show, when the players get to the finish line, all the other
players who’ve been eliminated are all there to cheer them on. Nice sportsmanship.
In case you missed it, you can watch it here
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/


The players of Gabon
Survivor Time: Yes, another tumultuous season of Survivor is coming to the end. There’s only Thursday’s episode before Sunday night’s 2-hour finale, followed by the reunion show at 10 p.m. Can you believe it? It seems not that long ago that we first met the competitors of Gabon, Africa. I for one, would’ve never guessed that Crystal would still be there (can't wait till they all find out at the reunion show that she's an Olympic athlete)! Or Bob, even though, Bob deserves to be there. I can’t say the same for Crystal.
But back to last week’s episode. Night 30 started off with Bob being ticked off at everyone’s laughter over the hoodwinking of Randy at Tribal Council. And he let Sugar know about it. Sugar apologized, but didn’t mean it.
Then Sugar and Corinne got into it over talking behind people’s backs.
As promo’d, the Reward Challenge featured a short video message from each players’ loved ones. Jeff, however, broke the bad news that the loved ones actually weren’t there, but the winner of the challenge would get to see their entire video over lunch as reward. Teams were chosen, and Corinne was odd person out, so had no chance of winning.
It all came down to a puzzle between Bob and Ken, with Bob easily winning. Ken decides Bob’s a threat. Bob leaves and get his reward and while enjoying some food and his video, his wife shows up to surprise him! Bob takes his wife back to camp, but not alone, he brings the rest of the players’ loved ones with him, much to their surprise! Lots of crying follows … really people, this part always gets me, it’s Survivor – it’s not like they’re never going to see them again!! It’s only been 30 days!
Actually, the contestants usually get to their host country a couple weeks early to get some “survival” training, so I guess it’s been a bit longer …
Back to the game – Ken brags to his friend that he took out five power players. Sugar’s sister brought their dad’s ashes, and Sugar spreads some out over the water in Africa. And Matty, oh Matty, crumbles into a pile of mush with his girlfriend and actually proposes!! Are you kidding me?
She says yes, of course – would have been better if she had said, “we can talk about it when you get home.” Never, never, propose on TV. Haven’t we learned anything from The Bachelor?

Shortly before the Immunity Challenge, Bob reveals another fake idol to Corinne. To which she replies, that one of them has to win immunity. The challenge had players answering Gabon-related questions via a cube with words on it (true, false, yes, no).

Favorite moment: Poisonous snakes are harmless to humans (true/false). To which Suzie and Corinne said false! Hello, ladies – poisonous? Even Jeff had to point out that one!

Physics Prof Bob, becoming quite the player
Bob won again, so he was safe from elimination. He and Corinne further schemed with the fake idol and decided to get rid of Matty. I would have gotten rid of him based on that blubbering proposal.
Corinne tells Kenny about the idol (not that it's fake) and Kenny suggests getting rid of Matty (Matty's quite the unpopular boy). Bob tells Crystal about the idol (again, not that it's fake). Crystal and Ken are thrilled about the new plan.
At Tribal Council, Bob, Ken and Corinne vote for Matty, while Crystal, Sugar, Suzie and Matty vote Corinne. Bye Corinne. Let’s see if Matty puts 2-2 together and figures out which one of his alliance voted for him!
Survivor airs Thursday at 8 p.m. on CBS. For info or to watch visit
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/

Tonight we bid farewell to one of my favorite shows. Although I haven’t blogged about it before, Boston Legal is a guilty pleasure I will miss!

The antics of Denny Crane and the closing arguments of Alan Shore are legendary TV schtick. And so well done that Shore’s James Spader won 3 Emmys for his portrayal, while Crane’s William Shatner garnered himself one too. I will miss their well-humored dialogues on the balcony of Crane's office that ended each show. I hope their Bromance goes on forever ...
Say good-bye on ABC tonight with a 2-hour episode beginning at 9 p.m.

And my Christmas season wouldn’t be complete without A Christmas Carol, my favorite holiday tale of all time! I’m sure it’s because it features ghosts (and you know what a horror freak I am).
Anyway, tonight the Hallmark Channel offers up my all-time favorite melodramatic retelling of this story – the Lifetime Channel’s Ebbie! Oh yeah, it doesn’t get any cheesier than this. Featuring Soap Queen Susan Lucci as Ebbie (get it?) Scrooge, the miserly owner of some department store in New York City, it’s usually the first Xmas flick I watch every year.
It’s not scary at all, laughable at all the right parts, and even a little sentimental, but I love it, with proper cheese, of course!
Check it out tonight at 9. That means you -- Elfman!! You still haven't seen this, but I know what a Lucci-fan you are. Here's a pic just for you!

Sexy Susan
I think she's channeling a little Padma here ... what do you think?

Last night’s Top Chef was ruined for me when Kathie Lee Gifford showed up!!! AAAHHHH! I can’t stand that woman!
Fortunately it wasn’t until near the end, so I got to enjoy the first 40 minutes or so.The chefs were tasked to createa breakfrast amuse-bouche for the Quick Fire Challenge, which was judged by Padma and celebrity chef Rocci DiSpirito (Fabio’s a big fan – no, not that Fabio, the contestant on Top Chef, whose quickly become the fan fave).
Amuse-Bouche – another on of those cool terms I’ve picked up watching this show. It refers to a culinary bite-sized starter (appetizer per se). Some chefs had trouble limiting their offerings to bite-size while others hit the mark perfectly. Leah was chosen the winner, gaining immunity for the Elimination Challenge.
This week’s Elimination Challenged gave the chefs $100 and 30 minutes to shop for ingredients to come up with a 2 ½ minute television presentation creating an original dish.
Fabio went right for the tuna and asked to cut it himself. Eugene and Hosea followed suit cutting their own fish. Eugene for sushi and Hosea for a tuna dish. Melissa, Leah and Jeff went for shrimp. Jamie and Ariane went for salads (salads? Usually the kiss of death on this show). Jamie a frise salad and Ariane a beef steak salad.
Daniel conjured up a ginger soy steak. Leah chose to sear some duck, while Carla and Stefan decided to dish out some soup (tortilla and minestrone, respectively. Alex was the lone holdout for some dessert – choosing to make crème brulee. Fabio immediately thought this was a mistake, due to the time constrictions (they were only given one hour to prepare).
All chefs got an opportunity to make a live presentation for the judges, who were amused when Daniel smoked out the studio. Disappoints wer Jamie, Leah, Alex and Carla, while judges were impressed with Fabio, whom Rocco called “A dream guest,” and Ariane, whose presentation was “perfect.”
Melissa, Alex and Jamie made the bottom three, while Ariane, Fabio and Jeff were chosen to go to the Today Show and present their dishes to the female hosts. This is where Kathie Lee showed up – Ugghh! – and proceeded to spit out Jeff’s shrimp dish. Kathie Lee, as usual, always has to be the center of attention.
In the end, the Top Chef judges chose Ariane as the winner and she received Rocco’s book and some culinary tools. She also got to do a segment on this morning’s Today Show, but I forgot to watch, anybody else see it? I’m sure we can find it on Youtube.
As foretold by Fabio, Alex’s crème brulee proved to be his undoing and he was sent to pack his knives and go … now he can devote all his time to his upcoming wedding. Good luck Alex.Just wanted to add that I’m totally luvin’ Fabio!! He’s definitely the break-out star of the group so far. What do you think? Who’s your fave?
Top Chef repeats tonight on Bravo at 8 p.m.Next week the contestants get to cook for judge Gail Simmon’s bridal shower.

Tonight on CBS at 8 p.m. is an all new episode of Survivor: Gabon! And from the looks of the previews, this is the episode where the family members are brought in. It's getting pretty nasty, can't wait to watch!

And WTH is going on over at Seattle Grace? Find out tonight at 9 on ABC with a new ep of Grey’s Anatomy. According to show creator Shonda Rimes, the Izzy-Denny storyline is leading to a conclusion we’ll never see coming, and it doesn’t involve Denny being there to take Izzy to the other side (remember, Denny a ghost, he died 2 seasons ago). Personally, I hope they keep him around awhile, I love Jeffrey Dean Morgan and have really enjoyed his return, no matter how ridiculous …

JD Morgan, nice

After Grey’s, at 10 p.m. stay tuned to find out who Barbara Walters finds the Most Fascinating People of 2009. Guests will include Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Sarah Palin, Tina Fey, Miley Cyrus, Thomas Beatie and Frank Langella. At the end of the show, she’ll reveal who the No. 1 Most Fascinating Person is …. I’d put my money on Barack Obama, an easy guess.



In Other News: According to today’s NY Post, Real Housewife of Atlanta and troublemaker NeNe Leakes and her husband Gregory have been evicted from the five-bedroom house they were living in when the show was being made. The couple is said to owe more than $6,200 in back rent from an owner who lived overseas, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. When asked by the paper where she was living now, NeNe replied via email: “It’s none of your business.”

Naughty NeNe

The Office has been granted that oh-so-important spot after the Superbowl on NBC Feb. 1.

Showtime has renewed David Duchovny’s hysterical Californication for a third season. You can expect it in late 2009.


And totally off the TV topic, but I have to give a shout out – J.K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter and the richest woman in the UK, is releasing a new book today.

“Tales of Beedle the Bard” hits the bookshelves with raving applause. It’s a book of tales from the wizarding world, including “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” which figured prominently in Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the best-selling book series in the world (over 400 million copies in 67 languages).
I’ll be picking up a copy!

Congratulations everyone! We've made it thru Fall Sweeps ... now on to Christmas TV repeat time. Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and went out and contributed to the failing economy on Black Friday. Once again, sorry to have left anyone hanging over the holiday weekend, just couldn't bring myself to blog when there was plenty of other stuff to do.

Top Chef judges Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshmi sample some food with Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl
For those of you who missed Wednesday night's excellent episode of Top Chef, it repeats tonight on Bravo at 10 p.m. For those of you that watched or managed to catch it on the many repeats this past weekend, let's discuss!
Special guest judges the Foo Fighters made for a particularly interesting ep. The Foos were brought in for the elimination challenge which consisted of contestants breaking into 2 teams and cooking a Thanksgiving feast for the band and their entourage before their concert. The winning team got to go to the show while the losers had to do all the clean-up. The catch, no kitchen. Everything was set up outside the arena with just microwaves and toaster ovens. How fun is it to make a turkey in a toaster oven? I couldn't tell you from experience, but apparently Arianne did an excellent job.
Team Sexy Pants went on to win and had a great time at the show. Team Cougars failed miserably with dessert and got stuck with the clean-up. Danny gave the finger to the winning team after the concert. (Nice, Danny)
At Judges Table, Arianne was complimented on her supreme turkey, Eugene got congrats on his pork dish and Carla and Alex were deemed safe too. Daniel's undercooked potatoes put him on the chopping block, along with Jeff, who tried to do too much and Richard, whose s'mores were "disappointing."
Disappointing enough to get him sent home. Bye-Bye Richard.
I will miss the token gay guy who had the BIG crush on top judge Tom Colicchio. What did you think?
Top Chef offers up a new episode, featuring cooking on the Today Show, Wednesday at 10 p.m. For more info visit http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/best_of/index.php

On last night's Amazing Race, the final four teams raced for a spot in next week's finale. So we're down to separated couple Ken & Tina, mother/son Toni & Dallas, siblings Nick & Starr (who I think are a shoe-in to win it all) and Frat boys Andrew & Dan (how have they made it this far?). And, as has become the norm this season, mistakes abounded.
Dallas couldn't differentiate between Stalin and Lenin (Tina helped him out and immediately regretted it). But that was nothing compared to what he did later ... leaving his bag in the taxi with his team's money and passports! Ken & Tina ran to the Pit Stop without first getting their clue. They had seen Andrew & Dan running and just followed them, causing Phil to send them back to get their clue before they could be checked in. Toni & Dallas and Andrew & Dan raced to the woman with the Shetland pony within seconds of each other, but neither team received their clue from her.
Nick & Starr easily came in first, followed by Andrew & Dan and Ken & Tina, all solidifying their place in the finale. Having to beg for cab fare on the street cost Toni & Dallas precious time, and it must have been a LOT of time, because Phil actually went to them to let them know they had been eliminated. For more info visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/

Sorry to see Dallas & Toni go ...

I know this is long overdue, so bear with me or just skip to the next subject. Those of you who tuned in Thanksgiving night to Survivor got what was to be expected ... the oh-so-boring catch-up show. The one where CBS says you'll see never-before-seen clips, but you never learn anything new.
However, I still haven't blogged about the great episode from the week before! If you haven't seen it, it's worth it to go to the website and watch.
Day 28 started out with Bob telling Sugar he made a fake immunity idol ... WTH? Why would you tell Sugar that, she has the real idol, afterall. This episode also featured the fan-fave Reward Auction, which generally consists of contestants getting a certain amount of money and then getting to bid on various food items. Randy won a plate of cookies and gave everyone one. Sugar refused, and Randy insisted she take the last one, which she promptly gave to Matty. Randy said Sugar could kiss his ass.
Matty, Sugar, Ken and Crystal conspired to get rid of Bob first, then Randy and Corinne. Randy wants Suzie gone 'cause she flipped and voted for Marcus, saying "The hell with her."
Crystal called Randy "a troll."Amazingly, Ken won immunity at a Domino challenge. Feeling desperate, Randy schemed to get the "fake" idol from Bob to save himself. Sugar said, "Randy is an ass and I loathe him," then told Bob to give Randy the fake idol just to make even more an ass of him.
The Cookie Controversy came up at Tribal Council. Crystal is still very angry with Randy. At the vote, Corinne cast Suzie saying, "Payback's a bitch." Sugar voted Randy, saying "Randy's a disgusting old chauvenistic, alcoholic bigot." Randy said, "Suzie, this vote is not strategic, it's personal." And, as expected, Crystal voted for Randy. Before the votes were read, Randy brought the fake idol into play and was told by Jeff that it was fake and would not count, causing an uproar of laughter from his tribmates.

Bye-Bye Randy
Randy left with his tail between his legs ... saying "The Hell with these freaking people!"
An all new Survivor airs this Thursday on CBS at 8 p.m. To watch last week's episode visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/

Tonight, Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, stops by for a sit down with James Lipton on Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio at 8 p.m. Can't wait to see this. You have to admit, there's just something about those Brits! I mean, just the fact that this kid is still so together, after being cast as the most famous boy-wizard in literary history at the tender age of 10, and he hasn't gone all Lohan on us, is pretty amazing.

Lipton chats up Harry Potter
And as long as we're on the subject ... ABC Family will be airing the first four Harry Potter movies this coming weekend, during which there will be exclusive sneak peeks of next July's Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince. Tune in.
Sorry, I couldn't resist ...
Harry Potter, then


And now


And now on to the Christmas Shows: ABC celebrates the season tonight with Shrek the Halls at 8, followed by the original animated Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Not to be outdone, ABC Family will air the live-action, Jim Carrey-starring movie of the same name at 8 p.m.

Sorry, I find this guy creepier than any horror movie I've ever seen ... I find this film unwatchable, literally, I walked out of the theater! And that's the only film I can remember ever walking out of! I'm sure some of you like it, but I'd rather watch The English Patient on a loop than suffer thru this!
I'll take my Grinch animated, please!

And get used to it ... 'tis the season for all your favorite and not-so-favorite Christmas show repeats. If it's not your thing, use this time wisely to get caught up on all those summer movies you missed. They'll all be hitting the DVD shelves before the end of the year.
The CW's Supernatural will be back Jan. 15. And my fave sexy surgeons return to FX Jan. 6 with the remaining eight eps of last season's Nip/Tuck!

I watched Will Smith's Hancock and Vince Vaughn's Fred Claus this weekend. Fred Claus is the usual ... nothing new here, but Vaughn's entertaining. I enjoyed it.
Hancock, I have to admit was a disappointment. It's one of those movies where we already saw all the good parts in the preview. It starts out fine, then tries to become a serious, emotional flick halfway thru ... I wasn't feeling it.

Cheers!

The Slingshot Golf Challenge
Survivor Recap: Things are getting dirty in Gabon, and I don't mean the lack of showers! Tonight's episode picked up on Night 24, right after last week's Tribal Council, which saw original Onion Alliance member Marcus go packing and become the first member of the jury.
Back at camp, Susie praised Ken for orchestrating Marcus' departure. Which prompted Ken to gush with pride, "So far, the last two Tribal Councils I've been to ...they've been blindsides because ... because of me." Bob's worried about being next.

Gabon's mastermind Ken?
On Day 25, the tribe's met up for their reward and Fang found out that Marcus was gone. Alliance member Corinne was visibly upset, saying Marcus didn't deserve to go. "Then who does deserve to go?" Ken asked?
Charlie, another member of Marcus' alliance, was devastated. Not sure if it was for his alliance loss or because of his crush on Marcus.
The reward challenge had the tribe's playing slingshot golf to achive the gift of a visit to a Gabonese tribe for another overnight stay that would offer dancing and a feast. It all came down to the last "hole," and Randy freaked out on Matty, barking orders about how far to stretch the slingshot (they were literally standing over the target). Matty was visibly irritated, and shushed Randy. Matty and Randy start arguing back and forth, and Matty finally listens to Randy and drops the ball in the sandpit, winning reward for Fang.
Fang decided to send Bob to Exile Island and went off to their reward.
Back at Kota, Ken gets hung up on a stick in the river, and can't help patting himself on the back for the great job he's doing running the game. (At this point I was convinced that Ken would be going home, since they usually feature the player that's going home on their last episode.)
On Exile Island, Bob finds all the clues, but no immunity idol (because Sugar already has it). So the physics professor decided to craft his own "idol" to see if he can fool anyone with it (and does a pretty good job, I must say).
Tribe's are given a hint to the immunity challenge involving starting a fire. Randy, still sour from the previous challenge, turns his anger toward his nemesis Crystal, whom he nicknames "sasquatch."

Randy's Nemesis, Crystal
When they arrive for the challenge, Jeff tells everyone that it is an individual immunity challenge and to "drop their buffs, you are no longer two tribes." Hooray, it's merge time!
The survivors get ready for the challenge and it's off to a slow start. Each has a knife and flint to make fire. Susie's the first to get a fire going, followed shortly after by Sugar. It's not long before their fires are growing in height, in order to burn thru a rope, thus ending the challenge. Susie wins easily, as no one else is able to get a fire started.
And this is when it gets really interesting ... from here on to the finale should be great. I don't like any of these people, and now they're all turning on each other. It makes for great TV!
On the way back to to the Kota camp, where they will live now and come up with a new tribe name, Randy vows not to return to camp after Tribal Council with Crystal, "She'll be gone or I'll be gone!"
After enjoying their first meal together, the tribe members quickly break into groups. Charlie, Corinne, Bob and Randy decide to get rid of Crystal (big surprise). While Matty, Susie, Crystal and Ken single out Corinne. Sugar is the obvious swing vote.
Corinne sucks up to Sugar, but still can't stand her, "she's such a moron." While Ken convinces the others that Charlie is the real mastermind of Kota. In reality, Ken just wants Charlie gone for taking the clue to the hidden immunity idol away from him at the Tribe Switch Feast on last week's episode. "I'll trade the idol for his life. Serves him right," Ken said.
The tribe manages to come up with Nobag for their new name.
At a very vocal Tribal Council, Randy's still ticked about the argument at the reward challenge. Crystal interrupts and wants to know why Randy has issues with her (oh no she didn't!). Randy has no problem telling her, saying she and GC ran Fang like it was their gang. He also accuses her of making his life hell and for being the reason that Fang lost nearly every challenge!
And then the voting began, with Randy casting his vote for Crystal, saying "See ya Bitch!" Sugar was the last to cast her vote with tears in her eyes ... everyone voted as planned, with Sugar casting the deciding ballot against Charlie! Stupid move Sugar ... it will come back to bite you later.
In his departure interview, Charlie gushed that at least now he'll be in the Jury Hous with Marcus. How sweet -- only Marcus isn't gay Charlie!

Sorry, Charlie!
Next week's preview had everyone talking about Randy, who seems to be even further in the deep end, literally, skinny dipping again.
For info or to watch visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/


Hottie Pattinson
Last night the Plaza at King of Prussia was overrun with tweens and their moms, waiting for a chance to catch a glimpse of their Twilight idol, Edward Cullen, aka Robert Pattinson. The British actor was on hand to sign autographs for those lucky enough to get one of 500 wristbands. A short (I think about 10 minutes) Q&A followed in the mall's concourse, but according to videos posted on youtube, like his other appearances, the screaming was so overwhelming you couldn't hear the man speak. And the film doesn't even open till Nov. 21.
Here's a link to Fox's interview with the handsome star http://www.myfoxphilly.com/myfox/

For more Twilight, check out MTV's new show Spoilers tonight at 7:30 p.m. Pattinson, co-star Kristen Stewart, and other actors from the film were on hand live last week at the Los Angeles taping, which promises to include 15 minutes of clips from Twilight.

Twilight Cast
Also, pick up a copy of Sunday's Mercury for an interview with the vampire. The USA Weekend magazine in The Mercury Sunday features an article and pull-out poster of the movie as well.

The Hollywood Reporter reports today that Summit Entertainment is giving the greenlight to Twilight sequels New Moon and Eclipse, and that screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg has already been asked with scripting them.
For more on Twilight visit the offical movie site http://www.twilightthemovie.com/

Weekend Watch: Tonight the Disney channel presents The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl at 9 p.m., featuring Taylor Lautner - yeah, another shout out to Twilight. Lautner plays Jacob Black in Twilight, a pivotal character in the second and third books.

Lautner as Jacob Black

Saturday on HBO is the debut of Ricky Gervais: Out of England at 9 p.m. The original Office creator and Bitish comic performs in New York City.

Elsewhere Saturday, the Hallmark Channel debuts an original movie The Accidental Friendship. It features Chandra Wilson (Grey's Anatomy's awesome Dr. Bailey) as a homeless woman who forms an unlikely friendship with some unfortunate canines and a local police officer who helps change her life. I'm a total sucker for dog movies!

Sunday night, the Desperate Housewives over on Wisteria Lane get caught in a nightclub fire! Last year it was the tornado, now this - maybe they should change neighborhoods! Anyway, somebody isn't supposed to survive - will it be Edie's creepy husband (who appears to be behind the fire), or Lilly Tomlin, who plays Mrs. McCluskey's sister (I mean, really, how many episodes do you think she really signed for?) Airs at 9 p.m. on ABC.

And don't forget Star Wars fans!! Sunday night at 11:30 p.m. the Cartoon Network presents Robot Chicken: Star Wars Pt. 2!

In other news: It's curtains for NBC's Lipstick Jungle and My Own Worst Enemy. The network isn't ordering any more new episodes. I should've saw this coming when they unceremoniously moved Jungle to 10 p.m. Fridays. Oh well, I guess I don't have to watch that anymore.
To bad for Christian Slater, though. Oh, who am I kidding, like I ever watched My Own Worst Enemy ...

Have a Great Weekend. I'll be off celebrating my B-day on Monday, so I probably won't be back blogging till Tuesday. Enjoy!

Top Chef got off to a fast start last night by eliminating a contestant for the first time after the Quick Fire Challenge. The Quick Fire Challenge is tasked of the chefs at the beginning of each episode and is, just as it sounds, a short-timed challenge where each contestant must create something to impress the guest judge.
Last night's challenge was somewhat different. As tasked by Top Judge Tom Colicchio, each chef had to complete the first of 3 technical challenges, beginning with peeling 15 apples with a knife (no peelers allowed). The first nine finished were safe, the rest had to do the second challenge - Brunoise the apples. This was another new culinary term for me, but basically Brunoise is just a fancy way of dicing the apples. Something the remaining competitors attested to as being difficult. Again, the first 4 finishers were safe from elimination.
The remaining four were tasked to cook something to impress Tom, who would make the final decision. Oh, and when will these people learn? Don't they watch the show before auditioning? Left for elimination were Lauren, from Savannah, Ga., whose hubby is in Iraq; Patrick, 21-yr.-old CIA student; Leah, a sous chef; and Rhadika, whose parents are from India. Rhadika impressed with her pan-seared pork with apple chutney, while Leah was saved by her scallops with apples.
However Patrick and Lauren both opted to make salads - SALADS! The judges never go for the easy-way-out salads! A salad is what single-handedly cost Marcel the title of Top Chef in Season 2!
So, it was curtains for Leah, who said disappointedly as she left, "I didn't even get to see the Top Chef kitchen."

The remaining contestants were paired up by choosing knives enscribed with different neighborhoods of NYC, each with a specific ethnic food type. After spending their first evening bonding, during which Stefan and Hosea had a heated fight over vinaigrette, everyone was sent to their neighborhoods to shop for foods. Each had to prepare a single entrée to compete against their neighborhood partner at Judges Table. They had two hours to cook.
Stefan beat Ariane for his Middle Eastern dish, Dan beat Pat in Chinese cuisine, Hosea trumped Carla for Russian faire, James bested Richard for Greek, Leah topped Melissa in Italian, Eugene beat Alex for Indian, Jill won over Rhadika for Jamaican and Jeff beat Fabio for Latin cuisine.
Each losing contestant was fair game for elimination. At Judges Table Eugene, Stefan and Leah were congratulated for being the judges' favorites, with Stefan being chosen as the winner. He receives immunity next week.
Ariane, Patrick and Carla weren't as lucky, making the bottom three. CIA student Patrick was told to pack his knives and go, apparently his black noodles were the judges' bane!
Unfortunately last night didn't provide any good comments from the judges (Judges' Table, like the judging on Project Runway, is usually my fave part), however, gay contestant Richard provided a little comic relief with his crushing on judge Tom Colicchio.
"Tom is cute!," he proclaimed, adding he'd like to take him out for a beer.

The Cute Colicchio
Important Note: As told by the judges last night, only once in the history of the show did the winner of the first challenge NOT go on to win Top Chef. If memory serves me right, that would be Season 3's Trey, who was ousted after the dreaded Restaurant Wars challenge. So keep an eye on Stefan - I'm also watching Eugene, he seems impressive.
Top Chef repeats tonight at 9 p.m. on Bravo, right after an encore presentation of this week's Real Housewives of Atlanta.For more on Top Chef, visit http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/best_of/index.php

BTW, last night's PBS season debut of Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work was really good. It told of the Queen's U.S. visit from the British POV, which is always interesting. Make sure to mark next Wednesday night for the second episode, featuring preparation for the Queen's birthday celebration! For info visit http://www.pbs.org/opb/monarchy/

On TV tonight: You already know what's at the top of my viewing list - CBS, 8 pm, Survivor: Gabon. The conniving and scheming is getting deliciously evil - who's going home tonight?

Jen Aniston
The next biggest thing, I guess, is Jennifer Aniston's guest appearance on NBC's 30 Rock at 9:30 pm. She'll be stalking Alec Baldwin's character. Aniston stops by The Oprah Winfrey Show today as well. Check local listings.

Another big one for NBC is tonight's episode of ER - Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards), who died in 2002, will make an appearance. No, don't think ghosts, it's apparently in flashbacks.
And, according to TV Guide, Noah Wiley says that he, Eric LaSalle and, are you sitting down?, George Clooney will all be back for the series finale in May. (Clooney, schedule permitting, of course.) For info visit http://www.nbc.com/ER/

Ooooohhhh Clooney!
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew continues at 10 p.m. on VH1. I have nothing new on this one, but I think last week's episode airs at 9 p.m. and features the Doc's interview with Rodney King about "the beating," if you know what I mean ...For more info or to watch visit http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/Celebrity_rehab_2_with_dr_drew/series.jhtml?source=globalnav

The Mean Girls
And remember back when Lindsay Lohan was a sweet, beloved actress (no? Think hard). Well I thought she was totally cute in the remake of Disney's The Parent Trap. Anyway, before she got all spoiled and went off the deep end (and got a girlfriend), she starred in a funny, teen flick called Mean Girls. Written by SNL alumn, 30 Rock star/creator and Sarah Palin impersonator-extraordinaire Tina Fey, and featuring a hilarious turn by Rachel McAdams, this little film is a gem worth watching. It airs tonight on ABC Family at 8 p.m.

Survivor Recap/Weekend Watch tomorrow

Survivor Gabon: Episode 8 - The aftermath of last week's dual Tribal Councils was weighing heavily on both tribes as the show opened last night.
At Kota, tension rose among the castaways as they aired their greivances about the voting plans. Although Dan was the one sent home, Corinne is still seething at Suzie!
Over at Fang, Crystal was upset with Matty for putting her name in contention. Matty defended himself, saying he had to keep his promise to Ace. Sugar said she trusted Kenny and had to get rid of Ace before he did her in.
Morning brought an invite to a reward challenge for the tribes. However, when they arrived at the designated area, there was what appeared to be the customary "merge feast." The tribes were instructed to enjoy the food and camraderie, and not to open the sealed box until they were finished, as opening it would end the feast.
Ken spotted a note with the box, offering up another hidden immunity idol. Randy quickly uncovered it and proclaimed himself "King of Gabon!"

King of Gabon?
As everyone stared at the new idol, they became aware that whoever picked it up would instantly become a target. Randy convinced the others that they didn't need the idol and it was thrown into the ocean (are they nuts?).
After opening the box, it was discovered that there wasn't going to be a merge, simply another change-up of the tribes. Everyone was quite surprised ... Crystal and Ken joined the Kota tribe, Randy returned to Fang and Corinne and Charlie also became Fang members.
Crystal and Ken were delighted to be in the Kota camp, since most members were formerly Fang. Crystal made a pact with Marcus, but later said it didn't mean much since she had the same pact with Ace.
At the new Fang, Matty told Sugar that Ace was on her side all along and wouldn't have played her. Sugar realized that she was duped into getting rid of Ace by Kenny and Crystal. Randy and Corrine talked about getting rid of Matty, since he is the biggest threat.
Back at Kota, Susie pleaded to Marcus that she desparately wanted to stay in the game longer ...
The Immunity Challenge consisted of each individual balancing a short pole on each outstretched hand, with the top of the pole being held under a loose board. Whomever was the last one standing won immunity for their whole tribe.
Oddly enough, as soon as Jeff started the challenge, Crystal dropped her pole (boy, she's really some Olympic athlete, isn't she?). For obvious reasons, this challenge didn't last long and came down to Bob and Matty. Bob dropped and Matty won for Fang.
Before Kota made the trip to tribal council, the plotting ensued (I swear, this is my fave part of the show). Marcus talked Crystal into getting rid of Kenny and Susie. Crystal wasn't falling for Marcus' plan. Then Marcus asked Susie to vote off Crystal (who would get my vote). Crystal asked Susie to vote with her and Kenny against Marcus. Susie suddenly found herself the swing vote, and aligned with Crystal and Kenny to vote out Marcus, who never saw it coming ...
Thus making Crystal the tribe's power player at least for this week. Stay tuned ...
For info or to watch visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/

Bye-Bye Marcus, and you were a cute one too!

As usual, Thursday night held a lot of new TV for me, so I didn't get to watch everything yet ... however, I did tune into Grey's Anatomy just in time to catch a glimpse of my favorite character - Denny!

Miss Ya Denny!
Yes, doomed Denny (played by handsome Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the love of Izzy's life, showed up in the OR just as Izzy was supposed to be calming down the heart surgery patient whose heart she had stolen a few season's back to save Denny. (It didn't work, of course, those of you who watch know - Denny's dead.) So I guess I'm back to watching this one, at least for now ...
For info or to watch visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/greysanatomy/index?pn=index


Griss and the Lady
Over at CSI (which is the show I actually watched at 9 pm), as foretold, Grissom visited the luscious Lady Heather after being assigned a case which featured a bondage victim. However, it wasn't strictly the case that had motivated him to visit. Lady Heather, who is actually legit now (she's a certified sex therapist), has always been at the forefront of Griss' fantasies, and last night's episode ended with our boy calling out to the Lady to come into the bedroom .... Oh, what would Sarah say?
For info or to watch visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/

In other TV news: Fox is switching up their line-up in January. Their super-successful doc-drama House will be moving to Mondays at 8 p.m. Jan. 19 to make room for the return of ..... wait for it ....

AMERICAN IDOL! (starts Jan. 13) -- EdM., hope you're reading this, I know how your winter/spring revolves around AI!

That officially makes House the lead-in to another of my favorite shows - 24! Mondays are going to be great!
Also shifting time slots are Bones, moving to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15; Hole in the Wall, moving to 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18; and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, moving to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13. (I have seriously got to start watching this, I have season one on DVD, but can't seem to find the time!)
Buffy creator Joss Whedon's Dollhouse is back on the schedule with a debut at 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13.
And Jack Bauer officially returns with 24 with a four-hour special premier Jan. 11 and 12 from 9-11 p.m. By the way, only two weeks till the movie - 24: Redemption (Sunday, Nov. 23, 8 p.m.). But if you can't wait, you can view the trailer at http://www.fox.com/24/redemption/
I guess that means Prison Break will end its current season sometime before Christmas (we can only hope). Anyone else feel that this latest season is becoming very tiresome?

Jack Bauer Returns!
This photo is for you Michelle!

Girls Next Door star and former Hef-love in Kendra Wilkinson is engaged to Philadelphia Eagles receiver Hank Baskett.
"I have given her my blessing and will be giving her away at a very special wedding ceremony at the Playboy Mansion this coming June," Hugh Hefner said.
The 23-year-old model-actress (don't you just love that combo, read with proper sarcasm) co-starred in the E! reality series while living with the Playboy founder and playmates Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt, both have also left the relationship.
Don't cry for Hef tho, the 82-year-old has moved on to 19-year-old twins Karissa and Kristina Shannon.
Can't wait to hear Joel McHale's take on all this tonight at 10 p.m. on E!'s The Soup! If you're a Soup viewer, you already know how much Joel digs Kendra (sarcasm, again).

Kendra, Hef & Bridget, Holly is seated

Not too much on the Weekend Watch this time. However, I will point out that Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd makes its TV debut on HBO Saturday night. I gave this film the No. 1 spot on my favorite flicks of 2007 list last year. It's classic Burton, dark and very bloody! Be warned, it features a LOT of singing (it's a Stephen Sondheim musical, afterall).
Johnny Depp's portrayal of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is completely mesmerizing and earned him another Oscar nom for Best Actor! If you're a Depp or Burton fan, don't miss it. If you don't have HBO - go rent it!

Even Ghoulish, he still looks good!

And last, but certainly not least, a public apology to the Elfman. I was the one who spelled the gorgeous Padma Lakshmi's name wrong the other day. Pardon. But at least I spelled Tom Colicchio right! -- don't send Joan Crawford after me, I don't have any wire hangers!

Here's your fave photo!

Have a great weekend!