Honourable Mentions Part 1

And here's the first of two Honourable Mentions list for some of my favourite TV characters. In order of show, alphabetically of course ...

Nora Montgomery (Lily Rabe) - American Horror Story

This show might not be teeming with sympathetic characters but apart from Moira, Nora is one of them that came pretty close to it. I might not have liked what her and husband were doing to make extra money but I did feel for her losing her child and she was one of the nicer ghosts on the show. Plus I'm pleased the show has secured the wonderful Lily Rabe for the second season, even if she'll be playing a different character.

Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) - Dexter

I could've kicked myself for not including Dexter in my 40 rundown, which is partly why I'm doing an Honourable Mentions list. How I love this complicated serial killer so much. Michael C. Hall certainly knows how to make Dexter both menacing and sympathetic in equal measure that you almost hope he would never get caught. Then the end of Season 6 happened.

Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) - Friends

Friends has always been a strange show for me because while I always/mostly watched it, I was never actually addicted to it. It was fun and had a great series finale but I never was that obsessed with it compared to a lot of shows. In terms of characters, I did find Chandler to be the most consistently amusing of the bunch so he makes the list here.

Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) - Grey's Anatomy

Yeah, the usual 'I have a love/hate dynamic with this show' spiel from me but the one consistency is that I love Callie and I've loved her evolution throughout the last few seasons. Plus her relationship with Arizona is wonderful to watch. Definitely one thing that Shonda Rimes has nailed perfectly with this show.

Ian Gallagher (Gerard Kearns) - Shameless

I'll admit it - with the exception of Frank and Monica, there isn't a Gallagher I dislike but Ian was wonderful for the seven series he was on the show. A wonderfully written, consistently interesting character not overdefined by his sexuality but neither was his sexuality underplayed either. We need more gay characters like Ian on UK telly right now.

Part 2 of the Honourable Lists will be up on Friday.

Going Underground

It may be St Patrick's Day but here's a TV blog for you ...

Desperate Housewives: Why is it when Susan has good intentions she seems to make matters worse? Of course it would take her to go and visit Alejandro's family and draw more suspicion on the girls. Still, Bree's method of dealing with things doesn't seem to be much better either, thanks to Renee's advice being taken the wrong way. At least Lynette and Gabby actually acknowledged some of their shortcomings and it seems we're finally getting close to meeting the person who has been sending Bree the mystery letters.

Grey's Anatomy: My love/hate relationship with this show is still pretty prominent and the most recent 'what if' episode cemented that. Granted it was one of the show's better episodes and the idea of a world with Meredith/Alex and Callie/Owen as couples is interestingly bizarre but usually these type of episodes have some kind of a point to them but the only thing I got from this is that Meredith's mother is irritating in any reality and no-one wants to see a meek and timid version of Bailey. Still, nice that Addison made her annual visit though she was wasted in this one.
Homeland: I am loving this show. Maybe not on the same level as Obama apparently but it's certainly delivering on the hype it's generated with Carrie's methods for trying to find out if Brody has been turned taking some interesting steps. Now that there's an interaction between the pair of them, I can't wait to see what happens next.

Shameless: Ever since Mickey and Carl's respective exits from the show, I've become a little less interested in this but I did catch the finale where most of the cast were stuck underground and it was a decent episode. That being said, it still feels like this show is just going through the motions nowadays and while characters like Ruby, Gloria and Dominic have been decent additions, I still think it's time for this show to come to it's natural end.

Skins: Okay, talk about an improvement. Even with Alo's episode having the plot of him being charged with sleeping with a minor was better than what we've had in previous weeks. However, Liv's episode hit an all time high in terms of quality that even the plot where she imagined being seriously ill made some narrative sense. On the flipside, Franky is becoming increasingly detestable and the return of Matty isn't helping matters. It'd also be nice if Mini told Alo that he's going to be a father as well. Here's hoping the last two episodes are a belter.

The Vampire Diaries: Again, this season is packing in some of the best moments of television. I loved the backstory for the Originals and while I predicted that even Michael wouldn't be enough to take Klaus out during homecoming, I did massively enjoy the turnaround with Stefan getting his own back on Klaus for using him as a puppet for the last few months. If Klaus still has to be on this show, it's nice to see him get outsmarted every now and then. As for the growing bond with Damon and Elena - eh, not a shipper but it's not bothering me as much as the growing distance between Tyler and Caroline.

Upstairs Downstairs: I'm struggling with this show to be honest. The characters aren't strong enough, storylines like Blanche/Portia's affair petered out too quickly and the war backdrop doesn't seem to work here as well as it did in Downton Abbey and I couldn't care less if either Hallam or Agnes cheat on each other because it's so bloody hard to care for them as a couple. I'll watch the last two episodes but if this gets a third run, I don't think I'll be watching.

- Revenge has finally snagged a UK broadcaster. E4 will air the series later in the year.
- Grimm has been renewed for a second season, while Luck has been cancelled due to the death of three horses.
- Desperate Housewives have revealed that it's Mike who was the unfortunate casualty.
- Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell will play a spy couple in The Americans, an FX program based during the Cold War.
- Once Upon A Time will premiere on Channel 5 from April 1st at 9pm.
- Freema Agyeman has been cast as Larissa, the mentor of Carrie Bradshaw in the upcoming series, The Carrie Diaries.

A Geek Joke Too Far

Sorry, I know I was meant to get this done during the weekend, but I ended up getting caught up with some other things but here's my second TV jumble.

Grey's Anatomy: I've always had a love/hate relationship with this show - the actors are brilliant but the characters are often badly/inanely written and most of the time, this show comes across as chick-lit set in a hospital. If the first few episodes of the eighth season are anything to go, by maybe it's time ABC decided to bring this show to an end because the episode where a bunch of geeks attending a sci-fi conversation had every offensive cliche chucked out for any geek's belittlement. Thanks, Shonda Rhymes. You really are the producers who keeps on giving - rubbish!

Him And Her: This show has started to improve quite massively, despite the fact that apart from Steve and Becky, I actually don't like most of the other characters. Laura and Paul especially are two horrible individuals, who I wouldn't mind chucking in front of a bus and Dan is the type of person I hope I'd never have for a neighbour. Actually, only poor Shelly seems the most sympathetic character from the entire show and she seems to be belittled (mostly by Laura) at nearly every turn. Still, the episodes surrounding Steve and Becky's parents and a fight between Paul and some unseen fella does show that the quality of the show has picked up from it's less than impressive first year.

Pan Am: This show can't seem to do right for doing wrong. Not only does it look like it's going to be a one season wonder for ABC, but most critics seem to be taking joy in pointing out that it's not as good as Mad Men (I can think of 20 shows more enjoyable than that one). The last two episodes centring on the girls antics in both Berlin and Jakarta were amusing though. I'm going to enjoy this show while it lasts. I have to catch up with episodes five and six on Thursday.

The X Factor: Damn it, Janet. You leave and I feel bad for you. I blame Twitter. Some people are a bit too nasty (and no, Alan Sugar, contestants aren't axed because you don't like them) on there but like Craig the week before, Janet messed up and unfortunately for herself got the boot in the process. So I guess, it's gonna be a Marcus or a Little Mix win. Misha B might be talented but I can see her going next week and I'm not sure if Amelia can win (though she's a dead cert for the last week).

- Justin Hartley will be guest starring in the same episode of Castle as Hilarie Burton, playing her character's boyfriend.
- Hart Of Dixie will air for UK viewers on Really while Alcatraz will air on Watch. Both shows will air over here in early 2012.
- Will Young, Jessie J, Will I Am and Tom Jones are rumoured to be the judging panel for the UK version of The Voice, set to air in January 2012.
- Jennie Garth will star in ABC Family pilot, Village People, playing a career woman who adopts a baby.
- Frances Sternhagon will be appearing in Parenthood, playing the mother of Zeke.

Grey's Anatomy Goes Musical - Spoilers

This is not an April fools joke, the show actually went there and gave us a musical episode named, Song Beneath The Song. As titles go, it's one of Grey's Anatomy's better ones.

I'm not really sure what the logic was supposed to be behind this particularly episode, apart from coming up with a way of dealing with Callie and her unborn baby post truck crash with Arizona but doing the episode in the context of a musical was strange? Does Grey's Anatomy really lend itself to do one? Does any show that's ever attempted one? Perhaps not but given that music is rather instrumental to this show, this was an episode that worked in some parts and didn't engage in others. The parts where it didn't engage was the hamfisted ending with Callie surviving (glad as I am, we have seen other characters die in lesser circumstances), a wasted appearance from Addison and Mark being a jackass even if Arizona did start on him at first.

The cast themselves can mostly sing and pulled off the selection of songs used in the episode - Chasing Cars, How To Save A Life, The Story, Cosy In The Rocket to name a few of the songs the show has made big over the last few years. In particular, Chandra Wilson, Kevin McKidd, Chyler Leigh and Sara Ramirez were pretty stunning and while some of the music choices were odd, tonally they made sense for Callie's predicament and speedy resolution and visually, it was one of the best looking episodes as well. I could criticise it for being cheesy but this show is cheesy 99% of the time anyways and it was also one of the season's better episodes. Plus, as a Callie/Arizona fan, I am pleased the baby survived and Callie said yes to Arizona's proposal. UK viewers will be able to see the episode on SkyLiving in May.

Red Rain

And here are some more highlights over the last few weeks ... V: I watched most of the first season on and off because after a rather good start, this show kind of became a little middle of the road. The first episode of Season 2 that aired last Thursday served well enough catching people up with the basic premise of lizard alien creatures Visitors pretending to be of peace but at the same using healing centres, blue energy and now red sky and rain as weapons for turning the Earth into a breeding ground. Erica and the 5th column really do need to get off their backsides and be a little more assertive in trying to tackle Anna and her race but the most discussion worthy of this episode was obviously the return of Dianna from the original series, imprisoned in this one as Anna's mother. Here's hoping Jane Badler gets some good moments to shine. Grey's Anatomy: Season Seven has also been something I've been watching off and on and to be honest, I've never been the biggest die hard fan of this show. It can be entertaining but it also be damn frustrating and this episode that aired on ABC and RTE2 within the last week maintained that. This has been a season devoid of Izzie, no baby for Meredith and Derek, a speedy marriage for Cristina and Owen, more developing for Jackson, April and Teddy and their various love interests and apparently one where Alex wants to date a snarky girl named Lucy and Bailey's screwing a sexist nurse named Elijah. Even more frustrating is that Callie/Mark/Arizona have become a source of tedium now that Mark has gotten Callie pregnant and Arizona's mission on the show is to look pissed off all the time. The girly baby shower aside, who didn't see both Callie and Arizona winding up in a car crash? This week's musical episode should be interesting or disastrous. Desperate Housewives: Ah, now there's some needed improvement. The last two episodes saw Bree and Keith breaking up as the latter grappled with becoming a father, Lynette gaining and losing a father in law in a short space of time as well as the show reminding us for the billionth time how pathetic the men in her life are, Carlos and Gabby trying harder to deal with their loss of Grace, Susan gaining a stalker but no kidney and some development on Paul, Zach and Beth but not nearly enough sadly. Still, there's some improvement. Skins US: While I side with most people criticising this show, I actually thought the last two episodes of this were rather decent. Tea finally faced up to her responsibilities with both Tony and Betty, Abbud and Daisy's relationship deepened, Stanley and Cadie did a great version of Shout and there's a mildly interesting triangle with them and Michelle while Tina and Eura got decent centric episodes, with Tina actually having to suffer consequences for her relationship with Chris, thanks to a spiteful Dave. Only Chris and Tony didn't seem to fare as well from these ones though. I still can't warm to Tony and I've been somewhat put off Chris in this one too. Being Human US: It's taking me longer to watch the episodes and when I do, I'm liking them but I'm not being impressed by them. Which is odd, because the writing has gotten better, the acting is definitely tighter and the shows attempts of fleshing out Bishop, doing the dog fights and dealing with Bernie's death have all been handled nicely but I don't have the same emotional connection to any of these characters as I do with the UK series. Maybe it's time I realised that this version isn't for me. White Van Man: Another week, another BBC3 comedy series being dolled out. It's not a bad one but it's not a great one either. Will Mellor is good enough in the role of a guy taking on his dad's business and lusting after a woman who is literally the Doctor's daughter and soon to be wife in real life but I guess it's just not my bag, show wise, though some of the supporting cast show promise.
- AMC have confirmed that Mad Men will not return for a fifth season until 2012.
- Glee's April 26th episode on FOX will be a 90 minute episode that will feature Lady Gaga's Born This Way in it. An Adele song may also appear in the second season's last few episodes.
- Both Elizabeth Mitchell and Jeremy Irons will appear in an upcoming episode of Law And Order: SVU.
- Fringe has been renewed for a fourth season.
- John Rothman, Cristine Rose have been cast as Cooper's parents while Tess Harper has been cast as Charlotte's mother as they all take part in the couple's upcoming wedding in Private Practice.
- Shonda Rhimes has promised that this season's finale to Grey's Anatomy will be a more quiet affair compared to the previous year.
- Balthazar Getty and Sonia Braga will be both back for the finale for Brothers And Sisters.

The Tree Is At Arms

Yeah, I've been getting into the last season of Big Brother for some reason. I mean, it's not like it used to be but it's an improvement on the last few years. I could do with less of Shabby and John James strops and the unrequited attractions between Sunshine/JJ, Shabby/Caoimhe and Mario/Ben are a bit depressing but I am beginning to like the tasks and Ben does seem to be unintentionally hilarious. For a guy who perceives himself as being so smart, he can be a little dense at times. How hard is it to organise an arm wrestling match? I did get a laugh out of the Tree Of Temptation calling him Brideshead at one point. Eerily timed as well, given the comments about Caoimhe and Ife were making about his sexuality. As for Dave's 'drunk on the Lord' spiel, has he ever considered going cold turkey? I suppose until he does, I should be grateful for the mute button.

Okay, so Spartacus: Blood And Sand has been airing for the past month on Bravo (who watches that station?) and last night, TV3 decided to air the first episode. I'll admit that it's actually better than I expected and that some of the sexual content/violence isn't any more shocking than Rome. I even love Andy Whitfield in the title role and any show with Lucy Lawless is worth watching alone. I'll be keeping more of an eye on this show as it progresses.

Ah, Grey's Anatomy, of course you'd do a miserable finale. Last year, you went and killed off George and left Izzie in dire states. This season, it's a madman shooting up the hospital and injuring/killing as many main characters as humanly possible. Both Alex and Derek got shot, Reeds was killed and Meredith had to miscarry. Really, Shonda Rimes? Meredith couldn't actually be happy for a few minutes. On the plus side, it does seem that Callie and Arizona seem to have made a compromise on the issue of children and Teddy's been less annoying in the last few episodes than she was at the beginning of her debut this season.

Sky 1 sure as hell do love their Terry Pratchett adaptations, don't they? The latest one, Going Postal aired over a month ago and it was actually a pretty good one as well. Richard Coyle made for a good Moist Van Lipwig and he was backed up with an able cast comprising of Claire Foy, David Suchet, Charles Dances and Steve Pemberton. It'll be interesting to see which other Pratchett story gets adapted next.

Southland - I've never heard such hype for a show that's been cancelled before. Also, why did More4 take so bloody long to air it? Anyways, I caught the first episode last night and I did like it. I even thought Benjamin McKenzie was convincing as the rookie cop of the piece and Michael Cudlitz's John Cooper is certainly a promising enough character as well. It's certainly got nothing on The Wire but it's got a grittiness that instantly makes it preferable to the slick and overpolished CSI franchise but given the show's fate, I don't know if I want to stick with it, get attached and then annoyed when I realise that there's no more to follow.

- Kevin Alejandro has promised that there will be some raunchy content between his character Jesus and Lafayette in True Blood.

- Lacey Turner and Robson Green will both be appearing in the third season of Being Human. Lacey will play a character called Lia who forms a bond with Mitchell and Robson will be playing a werewolf.

- Dexter's fourth season will air on FXUK from August 27th. Maria Doyle Kennedy and April Lee Henderson will be appearing in the series fifth season.

- Futurama have done a spoof of Susan Boyle in a recent episode.

- Russell Brand is the latest celebrity to be featured in an episode of The Simpsons.

- Sandra Oh will be appearing as Det Sarah Chen in Thorne: Scaredy Cat with David Morrissey for Sky1.

- Vanessa Williams character in Desperate Housewives is called Renee Filmore-Jones, a former work colleague of Lynette, who has a secret. Oh and Harriet Samson Harris will be reprising her role as Felicia Tillman for the new season.

Time Warps

I don't know about everyone else but I've been divided about Rachel Berry on Glee for some time now. Sure, Lea Michele can sing excellently but there are times when I wish that more characters were given bigger numbers than just Rachel. This week, in a homage to all things bad, Rachel/Finn/Puck/Jesse got to do both Run Joey Run (never heard of it) and Total Eclipse Of The Heart. And while Rachel probably should've informed all three that she was using them in the video for the former, I do think they overreacted a tad. Why was Puck so narked? He doesn't even fancy her all that much and as for the Glist, it did make sense that it was Quinn. Nice to see that Quinn still can be a bitch. Wouldn't want her getting all soft on us. Other highlights from this one included Emma calling Will out on his crap, any moment between Sue and her sister and Kurt/Mercedes/Brittany/Artie/Tina's failings to be bad-ass. The Olivia Newton-John appearance and Physical remake with Sue however didn't work that well and please stop Will rapping, it's painful.

You can tell that we're towards the end of Lost forever because more characters are dropping like flies. This season we've had Juliet's death linger on for two episodes, confirmation that Locke is totally gone, Illana blown to smithereen and now this episode delivered four big death and for this show, that is an achievement. Will anyone be alive by the time we get to The End? Jin, Sun and Frank all died inside a bloody submarine and when Sayid came back from the brink, he had to go and sacrifice himself, didn't he? And this week's episode, featuring The West Wing actress Alison Janney features none of the main cast.

I've been missing Grey's Anatomy for a bit but after reading about The Time Warp, I made the effort to go and watch it for myself and you know what? I actually enjoyed it. Sarah Paulson and J August Richards did a good job as the younger versions of Ellis and Richard and this is coming from someone who's never been that interested in anything involving those characters at all but am I really supposed to believe that Ellis drove him to drink? The whole series of lectures in this episode was brilliantly done out. I liked seeing a reserved Miranda who learned to stand up for herself by having such a bitch for a resident and even the reveal of Alex/Callie sleeping with each other during Season 2 didn't bother me, though it seemed to nark Arizona for some reason.

Desperate Housewives is another show beginning to reach it's conclusion. Introducing John Barrowman's Patrick Logan was much needed at this point. I've been bored shitless of seeing the actor in rubbish Saturday night game shows so it's nice to see him a role as removed from Jack Harkness as humanly possible. That being said as good as the Patrick debut was, there are some still rubbish plotting - Susan and Gabby competing with their kids again, Lynette's hatred in Porter's fiance Irina, Bree favouring Rex's kid Sam over her own. No wonder new couple Katherine and Robin decided to leave Wisteria Lane.

Every time BBC3 say there's a new series of Family Guy, I should cop on to the fact that they're usually a season behind. Season Eight started in double bill form last night on the digital channel and it was a fine enough opening episodes. Stewie and Brian's jumping back and forth into different realities certainly hit a funny bone or two, though Peter's brief dalliance with a fecking cardboard cutout of a supermodel was less funny.

- Katee Sackhoff turned down the role of Debbie Pelt in True Blood. Okay it's not the best role but I thought any actor would want to be on that show nowadays. And Lafayette's fella in the third season will be supernatural.

- Paul Young is the main mystery for the seventh season of Desperate Housewives. Mark Moses will reprise the role in this year's finale and become a regular for next season.

- Brothers And Sisters will be time jumping, so expect Robert out of the picture (along with Ryan), Kevin and Scotty to be parents and Justin and Rebecca to be geographically seperated as well.

- The producers of Glee want Victoria Beckham on the show. Why?

- Irish viewers can catch the final season of The Tudors tonight at 10pm on TV3. BBC2 will air it later in the year.

- The future of One Tree Hill is left uncertain. Why not cancel it? Hasn't it ran long enough?

- Damages has been cancelled by FX. Damn.

- NBC have picked up three new shows - Love Bites, Outsourced and The Event.

Will Schuester, I Hate You

Yes, I know I desperately need to catch up on some stuff but I will get there. After all, here are some recent bits I've seen watching. As River Song would say: spoilers ...

I enjoyed the first series of Charlie Brooker's You Have Been Watching, so I was delighted to see that Channel 4 had wisely decided to renew it for a second run. The guests on the first episode included the likes of Liza Tarubuck and David Baddiel as they delved into the week's television. The highlight was probably their dissection of porny looking new series, Spartacus: Blood And Sand and the unusual critique section of Brooker's weird culinary dishes. Okay, so a Mars bars rearranged but it looked rather odd, didn't it?

Irish viewers still have the advantage of being ahead of their UK rivals with the sixth season of Desperate Housewives but the stories have been mostly okay to unremarkable in recent weeks anyways. The Bolen mystery still has yet to be really advanced and episodes where Susan and Gabby witter on about their kids academic progress is hardly riveting stuff. Still, the current plot between Katherine and ex-stripper Robin is a lot better than you'd expect to be as well. Maybe I'm biased because it's Julie Benz but it's certainly the strongest plot right about now.

I keep going on and off with Grey's Anatomy but it's always been that sort of show for me anyways. Watching Teddy and Christina compete for Owen isn't riveting, I've never cared enough about Richard to care about his alcoholism and do I have to talk about Meredith/Derek or even Mark/Lexi either? Even Callie/Arizona seem to be going through a rough patch on this show and Izzie basically returned to get the all clear and dumped by Alex. That I won't criticise because Alex was in the right and we know Izzie is leaving anyways but other than that, the stories need to step up a gear already and fast.

Lost is hurtling towards it's conclusion and the episodes are certainly getting a little stronger. Okay, apart from maybe Hurley and Libby getting their first proper date in the latter's flash-sideways, I still don't the point of them. Neither do I see how SmokeyLocke shoving Desmond down a well is going to deter Widmore for longer. And the deaths continue with the recent of episodes blowing Illana to bits. There's only six episodes left and while this season has been good, I don't know how satisfied I'm going to be with the last episode of this.

I wish I could say that I've been watching Heroes religiously this season but I seriously have not. In fact the last episode I did watch was the one where Nathan was finally dead and buried and Claire tried to expose Samuel for the dodgy little cretin he is with no success. BBC2 are nearing towards the end of the season in the next few weeks and with a renewal yet to be confirmed from NBC, this could be the series last season. If so, it really is going to go out on a whimper.

And I've caught up with all of Glee. No, I did not buy the first season on DVD but I have watched the episodes that I've missed and UK viewers, tonight you get the first episode of the second half of the season, so spoilers beware. Right, I wasn't all that bothered with neither Will/Emma or Rachel/Finn breaking up, I loved Sue's version of Vogue and her callous way of getting reinstated as well as encouraging Rachel to pursue rival club fellow, Jesse. And yes, I totally saw from a mile that this new coupling was doomed to be ill fated. The episode airs tonight at 9pm on E4. Sue Doing Vogue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CWtiKjat6c

All This For A Mattress?

Okay, so South Park aren't renowned for their intelligent insight into the world of celebrity scandal. Their style of lampooning is crass to say the least but even I got a kick out of the recent episode where Tiger Woods sex addiction was royally taken the piss out of. Yeah, so there was too much emphasis on Butters obsession with a certain lady bit and the idea of aliens being responsible for men's growing sex addiction was silly. Still made for an entertaining 30 minutes though.

There are ways to end a generation of kids stories on Skins but the way chosen for the second batch left a bad taste in my mouth. Is it me or have the finales on this show gotten worse since the first one (which was excellent)? Last season's Cook-centred bore fest almost seemed better by comparison. Okay, Emily and Naomi made up and I could be less bothered with Thomas and Pandora but Cook found out that Effy's nutter of a shrink killed Freddie and the bloody thing ends, failing to detail whether or not nutty shrink bumped off Cook or got his just desserts. Thanks a bloody lot!

It's been a while since I've watched Family Guy and I know the episode I'm highlighting isn't recent but damn it, it's actually made me like Lauren Conrad a bit. Much as I despise The Hills and the idiots on that fecking show, at least Lauren had enough humour to allow the show to send her up in a way. Too bad that her brief fling with Brian ended up giving her worms. And Peter stooped a new low by killing Quagmire's cat. I'm recovering from the fact that a dog got killed in the new Lady Gaga video, I didn't need to see that.

I've caught up with recent episodes of Glee and yeah, I'm still here, I still like it. I'm not a Gleek but I have no disdain for the series either. That being said, I'm finding myself sympathising with characters like Terri and Sue more than the likes of Will, Rachel or Finn and I like Quinn and Puck all the more as the series has progressed. More interersting stuff than the race to the Sectionals has been the Mattress ad, seeing Sue's sister, the episode where they did the routine on wheelchairs and Artie and Tina's dynamic.

Another show I've caught up with - Grey's Anatomy. Do I miss the missing Izzie? Er, no, actually I don't. I also could do without seeing the Chief that much either or yet another triangle, even if it is with Christina/Owen/Teddy or Mark's somewhat annoying kid. I did however love seeing Miranda giving her father what for when he made the mistake to criticise her over the Christmas dinner table. And anything involving Callie and Arizona is better than most of the straight relationships on this show.

- Jennifer Beals has landed the lead on FOX drama, Ride Along.
- The next season of The Hills will be it's last. Thank fuck for that.
- There will some deaths in the season finale of Desperate Housewives. Also, expect another on screen appearance for Mary Alice in an upcoming episode.
- Matt Smith will be on Jonathan Ross tomorrow night on BBC1. The BBC have also revamped their website for the new series of Doctor Who.
- Katherine Heigl is leaving Grey's Anatomy this season, which makes me wonder why the writers just didn't kill Izzie off last year given that she's had naff all to do this year.
- The series finale of Lost will be called The End, according the series producers.