I Will Always Love You

Looks like that season finale of "Gilmore Girls" on May 15th will be the series finale, as it has been cancelled. I sure hope that finale gives us some happy endings, because this season has had way too many downer moments.

In other news, I'm going to tomorrow's final S.F. Conan O'Brien taping, woo!!

State of TV: Tuesdays

Part two of my daily rambling about what I watch and why I watch it.

Tuesdays. 8pm. First and foremost is "Gilmore Girls," even though I completely hate the plot developments that happened last year. So many people bemoan the loss of the Palladinos, and I maintain that they were the writers that threw Luke and Lorelei together--something fans have been dying for for many years--and they were also the writers that totally fracked up that relationship by introducing April, Luke's out of the blue illegitimate daughter (and an ex-girlfriend as her mother), and turned Luke into a total asshole. If it was the intent all along to get Lorelei and Christopher together, they could have come up with a better plot line than that love child ridiculousness to separate Luke and Lorelei. In fact, why bother having them get together at all?

It gets me really worked up and, again, I blame it all on the Palladinos. If this season sucks, there's no one to blame but them. All that said, I still watch, just because I want to see if the show can pull itself out of the black hole. Also, the whole "Lane is pregnant" thing? I'll place the blame of that on the new guy. What a horrible way to treat a fun character. Have her marry too young, have a horrible honeymoon complete with unenjoyable (first time!) sex, and end up pregnant as a result. What has Lane ever done to deserve that?? *Sigh.* At least Jess is gone...for now.

I've already talked about giving up on "Friday Night Lights," which is also on at 8pm. I ended up watching the second episode while working, and remained just as uninterested. I don't think I can invest much more in it, since the ratings have been abysmal, and it's likely to get cancelled anyway.

The 9 o'clock hour brings us "Veronica Mars" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." I don't think I need to go into why I watch "Criminal Intent," but just in case, I'll reduce it to two words: Vincent D'Onofrio. The episodes with Chris Noth are just annoying filler.

As for "Veronica Mars," I continue to be more and more disappointed with the show. It has yet to reach the high bar set by the first season, and I've said before that I found the second season a bloated, confusing mess. It seems the series will be presenting more one-off storylines in an attempt to attract new viewers, but the underlying mystery of the on-campus, head-shaving rapist is a little grim (albeit not as grim as the first season's murdered girl mystery); it's just I don't like the idea of rape being a constant plotline. They've covered this area before with Veronica's first season rape (and horrible conclusion to the mystery last season) so I hope they conclude this arc soon. As for the mystery her father is involved in, I am hopelessy lost about that one. I have no idea what the hell is going on. Also? Having all the characters ending up in the same college is just so..."90210." What happened to Veronica getting into Stanford? Was that another second season plotline that got buried in the mess?

You'll probably be surprised to learn that I watch "Help Me Help You" at 9:30, and even more surprised to learn that I actually like it. It's the one starring Ted Danson as a group therapist, and it's...funny. Not uproariously funny, but not completely asinine either. The "Arrested Development" influences are obvious: single camera, no laughtrack, and hopelessly dysfunctional characters, but I can excuse the copycat aspects now that there isn't the real thing around to watch anymore. If you haven't already, I'd say give it a shot. Can't hurt ya.

Unlike watching an episode of "Nip/Tuck" this season. That can be really painful. In all fairness, it's better than it was last year, with the stupid "Carver" plotline, but I just think the show's outrageousness has played itself out. This year's recurring plot involves Christian fearing he might be gay, and Sean dealing with having a deformed child. And murder. And a psychopathic psychiatrist. And organ snatchers. And Scientology. And a dying man paying Christian to have sex with his wife. And Jacqueline Bisset. And a dwarf nanny. And naked Rosie O'Donnell. These aren't single-episode storylines, people, they're what this season is all about, so I think it goes without saying: It's all too damn much.

I Hate What They Did to "Gilmore Girls." I Love What They Did to "Gilmore Girls."

Alan Sepinwall has a good interview with David Rosenthal, the new showrunner for "Gilmore Girls," (and as an aside, is it just me, or is the term "showrunner" a new addition to TV lexicon?) in which he talks about what went down last season, and what he has planned for the coming season.

I've made it known before that I really, REALLY hated how things turned out last season, and I tend to blame the Palladinos for that. We'll see what this "showrunner" does with it. But on the other hand the show's suckiness, and potential for continued suckiness, will just make it that much easier to say good-bye when the inevitable cancellation comes. I continue to believe that shows should NOT got out while they're still good--that just makes the loss of the show that much harder. Isn't it better when the show starts to suck, and you stop caring about it to the point that its cancellation warrants nothing more than an, "Eh. Whatever."?

Proposal Interruptus

If you were one of the pissed off that watched the season finale of "Gilmore Girls" a few weeks back, and had the final minute--a CRUCIAL minute--cut off by your TiVo or VCR, well you can watch a re-run tonight at 9pm.

Do You Want Save This Program? Or Delete It? Or Pull Your Hair Out in Frustration?

I'm glad to hear many others were royally peeved by the WB's presentation of the Gilmore Girl's finale last night.

Fix it! Make it better NOW!

Spongeworthy

Perhaps this is not the forum to discuss contraception, but I think it is worth noting that the Sponge is coming back to the US market. I never used the sponge, but the fact that it was popular enough amongst women to inspire a Seinfeld episode, but was taken off of the market because the manufacturer didn't want to bother and update their production plant, really pisses me off. Women's contraception choices are pretty limited as it is, so taking a popular, easily accessible, and easy-to-use one off of the market because of, essentially, the company's stinginess...blows.

But in the interest of keeping this about TV let me just point out that the guy Elaine deems spongeworthy in that Seinfeld episode was played by Scott Patterson, who now plays Luke on Gilmore Girls. Spongeworthy indeed!

Maybe He's On the Show Because Marilyn Monroe Once Played a Character Named Lorelei

Or maybe he's just on it because it's a great show. In any case, Norman Mailer will be on tonight's episode of Gilmore Girls. I think that's the only stunt casting the show is guilty of so far (aside from the recurring appearance of Sebastian Bach as the oldest member of a local teen rock band.) If for some reason an appearance by Norman Mailer is enough to get you to start watching Gilmore Girls, then good. It's about damn time.