Picturing the Upfronts

OK, turns out Vanessa is going to college (see previous post), NYU, in fact, same as Blair, Dan, and evidently Georgina Sparks (who somehow looks wrong for this show to me. Not unattractive, but lacking the delicate prettiness of the other girls). I completely forgot Nate helping her to take the SATs, and still don't remember the circumstances. No news on Serena and I guess Chuck is a little busy running an entire multi-billion dollar empire to consider college, though he has time to galivant around Europe, buying Blair gifts. But for the absence of Dorota, (surely she'd be at Miss Blair's graduation--she's not just in it for the money, right?) and my total confusion about Hazel, Nelly Yuki and the other nameless drones, who were totally seniors, since they were at Blair's SAT pamper party and Nelly got into Yale, caring about who high school queen would be, and Jenny's hair, that was a pretty darn good episode. I knew who the mysterious new NYU student was as soon as they showed him, even to getting a shiver down my spine.

But what I'm really thinking of today, and this doesn't help me with my smart girl stuff but is still important, is the Upfronts. I was just looking at photos of the new shows on ABC, and decided to do a little count. For every one of the fictional new shows (I'm leaving out some reality show with Shark in the title) they have a photo. In every one of those photos a white person is in front, with a second white person slightly behind in the case of all but family shows (where the tall people ((i.e. the parents)) are in the back, and in two of those cases the family is white). I counted 12 people of color, although I'm basing this by mostlty knowing which actor's name went with each face (because there are a lot of familiar faces on their slate, and the few others can be determined by gender-specific process of elimination), and either knowing they were of color or guessing by looking--nearly always at the people on the periphery of the picture. I already know that Sofia Vergara and Lourdes Bendedicto (who cannot act and was just awful on both ER and Dawson's Creek) is Latina, and Rochelle Aytes, who I've never seen before, may be (or Black or mixed), and Ian Gomez (who is great, but is on Cougar Town, a show I wouldn't watch just on the basis of the name) Latino. Lindsay Price (who is one of the three leads on Eastwick) and John Cho (who is toward the front of the photo for Flash Forward, the only one of these shows that remotely appeals) are Asian (or at least partially so), and Reiko Aylesworth is 1/4 Japanese, so I guess she might count,, and Courtney B. Vance is Black, along with, I assume, someone named Robert Wisdom on the show Happy Town. In the show in which Ed O'Neill is married to Sofia Vergara, presumably the kid in between them, Rico Rodriguez, is either her kid from a prior marriage or is supposed to be the product of both of them. That's the show that also features what looks like a "normal" family (i.e. all white), and a gay couple with a baby. At the same time, Ugly Betty, the only Latina led show on the main networks, is moving to death slot Friday (which is good for me because then it won't be up against 30 Rock).

Who cares, right? Boring. But it strikes me that for every step forward characters from formerly disenfranchised groups take, they take a step back. The networks keep trying Black (male) leads, every few years, but when these shows don't work, they won't do it. It's pretty clear from this lineup that when there are black characters, they need to be in the background, and that the order of "threat" from least to most goes, Asian, Latina/Latino, Black. This way, the networks can say they are adding representation from non-white groups, without making any real social strides in terms of actual race-blind casting. But, although by now most Americans have no problem with an Asian kissing a Caucasian character, and they're getting used to Latina/white mixing, Latino/white or Black/white is still very controversial and they are much less likely to go there, and if you have a Black man or Latino man that means you have to add same raced women, and that tips the balance of the show and threatens your viewer base. Most of the Black men on the upcoming shows seem to be older "chief" types who will be less involved in all the mushy kissing and stuff.

Semiotically, the photos are very important. The makeup of the photos is a clear indicator, for the most part, of the actor's place in the pecking order. As far as I can tell, television shows are more hierarchical than the military, with everyone fully aware that they're the "first lead" or the "third female lead." It's obvious that whoever is in front is the first lead (which is why some shows have everyone lined up evenly like Modern Family). The first lead makes more money, and the top four to six may have contracts that say they are in "every known episode," while others may only be in some episodes, which is why Navid can disappear for episodes at a time on 90210. It used to be that actors would get paid even if they weren't on, but I think that changed a few years ago, at least on some networks. I guess I need to look into how that all works.

Maybe I'm reading this all wrong. I've heard no protests about Dixon (who is Black) and Silver (who is white) on 90210, yet they just broke up and it looks as if the goal was to put Silver and Ethan (a white guy) together--except that actor was fired so it won't actually happen. I don't think the CW has put out such a release with yet, though I know they are picking up Vampire Diaries and Melrose Place, but I'll look into it. I'm pretty sure Girlfriends and Everyone Hates Chris won't be on it, taking the last "black shows" off the major networks. I'll try to write about this in the next few days.

Anyhow, I won't do every network--personally the only thing I ever watch on Fox is the occasional Simpsons, though they have a decent slate for next year, and on CBS only How I Met Your Mother, (yes, a show with all white characters--they haven't even bothered to make Josh Radnor or Jason Siegel's characters Jewish), and nothing new they've signed indicates to me that next year will be any different. But I will do NBC.

NBC has always been the liberal network, the highbrow/sophisticated network, but I'm sure they're going to be upping their average age significantly when Jay Leno takes the 10PM hour five nights per week. Chuck is saved, so my venom isn't as strong as it could be for that decision, which I still hope fails miserably, but with the budget cuts on Chuck, if they get rid of characters, or use them less, who will they be? My guess would be the Asian Anna (who face it was on about four episodes anyhow, though she's a fan favorite), the Indian Lester, or the Latino Morgan. Let's hope it's Jeff, though, not because he's white but because he's unpleasant.

Anyhow, due to that, they've only picked up six new shows. The picture of 100 questions shows four white people but someone named Amir Talai is on the cast list and IMDB shows a picture of someone not in that photo. So someone presumably with Middle Eastern Ancestry (the only thing IMDB says is that he was born in San Francisco.) Since I was thinking the cutting of the picures was the fault of the site I was on, not NBC so I did a search. Strangely, the photo on the NBC site includes the Asian looking Elizabeth Ho, off to the right and hence cut off of the original, but not him but two people of color in a six person show is interesting. Community (with John Oliver, yay, but Chevy Chase, boo) has Black actress Yvette Nicole Brown (in back of photo). Trauma, a doctor show I'm not terribly likely to watch, has Black Derek Luke and Latina Aimee Garcia. Only Zap2it has cut Derek out (he's in the way back). I thought the rest were white until I looked up Cliff Curtis, the front man--he's from New Zealand and is of Maori descent, so there's some extreme minority action for you. Parenthood has an actress called Sarah Ramos, but since it's about a giant family, and she's a teenager, and the character has the same last name as the rest of the family, I'm guessing she's playing the Martha Plimpton role from the movie, or Peter Krause and Maura Tierney's kid, hence white.

On Mercy, a show about nurses (which has Michelle Trachtenberg in it so I guess her tenure on Gossip Girl next year will be short), there seen to be three characters of color including Delroy Lindo, who is very cool. Jaime Lee Kirchner is new to me, and her ethnicity is unclear, but she's interesting looking, and Guillermo Diaz was very threatening on Weeds, so it'll be odd to see him on a medical show.

Oh, what do you know, despite the fact I am now officially in a hurry to get to other work, I decided to go ahead and look at Fox (the only other one that has photos yet) and Brothers is an all Black cast (in a sitcom, of course, not a drama), so I was wrong up above. I'm probably the only one who remembers that there already was a show called Brothers, about three white brothers, one of whom was gay. I just looked it up, and although I remember it coming and going, it was on for five years, from 1984-1989. It was not funny. Anyhow, The Cleveland Show (the spinoff of Family Guy) also shows an all black cast, though they are animated. Glee's photo shows a little bit of everyone, including a guy in a wheelchair, but that's no the photo I've seen before. Human Target has Chi McBride, who was so great on Pushing Daisies, (plus Mark Valley who is cool, and Jackie Earle Hailey who is good at being creepy) but no women? Past Life has Ravi Patel, cut off in Zap2it's photo, Sons of Tucson (which I definitely won't be watching) has a Latina woman, and some boys who could be. Wanda Sykes is getting her own late night show. So I guess Fox wins in this sweepstakes by far, which is appropriate as they started off serving "underserved audiences," but in the last few years have not been other than reality-wise. Maybe it's really just ABC that's falling down on the job.

Out of time to actually add the pictures, which wasn't the point anyhow. More tomorrow.

The Stealth Smart Girl

OK, so I've been very lax about keeping this blog, but now that it's summer (though you would never guess it since it's about 50 degrees outside), and I'm not teaching, I'm determined to do it more often. Not only can I get some thoughts out, but hopefully I can work on ideas that will become either an article or the revised conclusion of my book.



Normally I'd start out writing about last night's shows, but the less said about Desperate Housewives' season finale, the better. That was dead boring. Although yay, Chuck has been renewed! Only for 13 episodes, but hey, that has helped a lot of shows really focus, and I don't know what the budget cuts will do, but it's all better than not having the show.

I've written, as anyone reading this blog or who knows me in general may know about the Smart Girl character on television. I've tried to set a boundary between teen shows that took place between 1990 (when Beverly Hills, 90210 began) and 2006, when Gilmore Girls ended. In my dissertation I proclaimed the end of the teen show era after that, but I suppose I was premature.

What may have died out, however, was the brainy girl archetype. Neither Gossip Girl nor the revived 90210 has an Andrea Zuckerman, or even a Rory Gilmore type--driven, book obsessed, school oriented. Useless Vanessa on Gossip Girl is supposed to be a filmmaker, and is clearly intelligent, but is being home schooled (without actually living at home, so it's unclear how that works or actually where she lives at all) so definitely isn't the standard type. She's significantly less well fleshed out as a character than Blair, Serena, or even Jenny. Her job seems to be, for the most part, to be judgmental and to be "good" in the way Dan is. Unlike Blair and Serena, she hasn't mentioned college, so it's not even clear what year she would be if she were in school, or if she already graduated and just plans to make films or what (how's that for ringing academic prose?).














Blair, on the other hand, is what someone I know--and actually I'm sad to say I cannot recall who, so if you are reading this, please speak up,--called a "stealth smart girl." Although the most popular, best dressed, and one of the richer girls in school, she has had perfect grades (although I don't believe we've ever seen her study), and a high (if unmentioned) SAT score and earned entry into Yale. She isn't going to Yale, due to some bad actions on her part and because of ifwesendourcharactersawayhowwilltheshowcontinueitis, and may end up at NYU. Still a good school. Like Rory Gilmore, getting into the Ivy League (in the pilot Rory says Harvard, but later obsesses over Yale, which is much closer to Stars Hollow and from which she graduates), has been presented as Blair's be all and end all, along with becoming Audrey Hepburn (a goal after my own heart). It will remain to be seen how the story treats her at NYU, or whether it becomes Columbia after all (it would have made more sense to send Nate to NYU and Blair to Columbia), but it will be interesting to see if they have school challenge Blair.

The season finale is tonight and I'm "unspoiled" but I'm guessing Serena's recent arrest is what will torpedo her going to Brown. She's never been school oriented and it wouldn't be surprising or terrible if next year she didn't go to college but modelled or something instead. The final girl on that show is Jenny, who won't be ready for college for at least one more year (maybe two--these shows are so vague). As a fashion designer she is outside the realm of the "smart girl" no matter what her grades, which have never been mentioned--she is instead an artsy girl.

90210 also didn't include such a character. Andrea Zuckerman's daughter Hannah was introduced in the pilot as the anchor for the school TV news show Navid runs, but was barely seen and has never been mentioned again. Annie is the good girl, and the actress, but is much more Brenda than Andrea, only tons more annoying. Even when the world hated Brenda, Shannen Doherty was tons more convincing and good in the role than Shenae Grimes. Anyhow, as PK (Principal's kid), it seems likely Annie gets good grades, but we've seen no evidence of her stressing over anything other than boys and whether she's the lead in the school show or not. Silver is the blogger (like all smart people are), but mostly the rebel with problems and actress and druggie Adrianna and popular/bitchy Naomi are far from school oriented. So far no one is a stealth smart girl, but any of them could turn out to be a genius.

Friday Night Lights also didn't have such a character. Coach's daughter Julie is shyer than the other girls, but not flamboyantly brainy. Lyla got into Duke, but was more into cheerleading, then Christianity, and later boyfriend Tim than school while Tyra was the classic underachiever who ultimately did get into college, but through a great deal of struggle.


Finally, there is The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Unfortunately for me, despite having just completed a season, this will be back in July and I'm sure I will watch every minute of the total train wreck this show is. This show alone might include the brainy girl in the lead, Amy. She plays the French horn and, until shortly before the show began was of the "never been kissed" variety of girl I discuss in my sex chapter. However, by the time the show starts, not only has she been kissed, she is pregnant. Although frequently referred to by the actual words "smart girl" we never see her do anything particularly brainy, and in fact she, and most of the cast, come off as quite dim. An interesting character, however, is Adrian, a very stealth smart girl. Although clearly the sex pot (she sleeps with the father of the baby, another girl's boyfriend, and her new stepbrother), she is also determined to do well in school. She will admit it, but even her friends (and she starts off wanting few) are surprised to discover her devotion to school.

So, what does the stealth smart girl mean? Does this mean that braininess is now a less outsider characteristic? Given that some of these shows actually have characters of color (though Gossip Girl only does as recurring characters, including an Asian girl with gigantic glasses, and 90210 and Friday Night Lights have had only boys of color), is that enough? Are we supposed to see all the characters as so well integrated that they don't need obvious signs of smartness as glasses or huge piles of books around them? I'm not sure, but it's something I want to think about this week.

Happy New Year

It's my first post of the New Year. I've not been posting, in large part because many of my shows were on hiatus for the holidays. Many I watch will continue to be so. I know we're still due three more Pushing Daisies, and Dirty, Sexy Moneys, but the last I heard the rumor was these would be burned off, presumably on single Saturdays. NBC won't be showing Chuck or Heroes this month, starting its policy of all reality (or Jay Leno) all the time. On the other hand, Monk, Psych and The Secret Life of the American Teenager (unfortunately) are back, with Greek, Lost, and I think Big Love not far off, plus the ABC premiere of Scrubs and eventually the new Cupid, which I know I'll check out, and Dollhouse eventually, so I'll probably be watching pretty much my normal amount of TV, and presumably my new students won't watch any of these shows so I'll still be out of step.

It's amazing how much I can read when TV is not demanding my time, and I am not wrecking my eyesight all day on the Internet. I read five and a half books on my trip: Youth in Revolt , which was good and Bonk, which was very funny, both of which I got for my sister, When Will there Be Good News?, nicely British and enjoyable but forgettable, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which was very interesting and informative as novels go, gifts for my mom, half of A History of the World in 6 Glasses (got through all of beer and cola and most of wine), which I got for my dad, and wouldn't mind finishing at Borders someday, and Interred with Their Bones--bought at the San Francisco airport--sort of a mix of Possession, a book I love, and The DaVinci Code, a book I thoroughly hated. Of course there's going to be another book starring the same main character who serves as literary detective. If I wrote novels, that's what I'd focus on. I'm reading one more now--much more embarrasing, bought when exhausted at the Charlotte airport where I had a three hour layover: Trading Up by Candice Bushnell. Interred had a big allusion to Don Quixote, and the Charlotte airport bookstore had two copies with lovely Picasso covers, but I was just too tired to concentrate. As it happened Interred lasted until 10 minutes before landing, which is odd as Youth in Revolt did the same thing but was 100 pages longer, a bigger sized book, and I only had a 40 minute layover. Go figure.

Last night was a typically histrionic Gossip Girl. Chuck made me think of fun words like louche and dissolute as he smoked hash in the school lobby and was pleasured by two women at once at the once-again-his-Victrola burlesque club (the slow motion stage show was pretty gross, though). I'm not sure I'm liking Blair's whole self-sacrificing routine, but I'm glad she was there for him and these two really pep up the scene. For the first time I missed Nate, though, as he should have been part of the Chuck rescue along with Blair and Serena. Once again I didn't miss Vanessa. The Jenny/Erik story was mildly interesting but basically dumb. As usual, no one cares about Dan and Serena and even though I don't care about her, she can do so much better. Since I'm going to be writing about the retro sensibility of 90210, I think it's interesting that this show embraces 40s styles, timeless preppiness (though it was making fun of a Junior League type group last night), and the mean girl ethos of the 1990s, yet we've never seen anyone announce he was smoking hash TV (as opposed to pot) or have a teen character mired in Thai sex clubs--and we'll just forget that those girls are probably sex slaves. If I think too much about this I'll have to really hate Chuck Bass and I don't want to.

In any case, it's an actually fun show, unlike The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which is just plain ludicrous. For reasons I still don't understand--not sure if it was the network, or my misbehaving TiVo, but everything's fine now--after the first sequence, the sound completely disappeared. I always have the closed captioning on so I just kept watching but I can't imagine the dialogue or story could have been improved with sound and am not sure if it made it worse. It's still impossible to know when this show is trying to be funny and when it's being unintentionally hillarious, or when it's just insane, but I got to/had to watch two fifteen years olds and everyone in their age range (14-16 I think, plus however old Grace's autistic brother is) they know get fake IDs so they could either a. get married, b. witness the marriage, or c. have drinks at the nonexistent reception, even if they don't drink or their friends/girlfriends convinced them not to drink because "drinking stinks." And somehow the autistic brother got a girlfriend who didn't look autistic, but did seem crazy. Voice tone might have given me some indication. Anyhow, surprise, TiVo's description for next week says they find out the marriage isn't legal. Ya think? And why Ben and Amy ignored the huge red flag of her once happy parents fighting, or why Grace's mom, who was once married to Amy's dad and knew the kids were going to a wedding, or the bad girl's mom who had an affair with Amy's dad, didn't have the courtesy to tell Amy's dad, jerk that he is, I do not know. I'm not happy about this show continuing and I'm baffled and upset that it's up against Gossip Girl (though fortunately since it's on cable there are subsequent airings right after), much as I'm pissed they're putting House against Chuck, no doubt sealing the latter's demise.

Best jacket ever

One of the most fun things about Gossip Girl is the way Chuck Bass dresses. It's always something different--not fashonable, but locating him in some sort of era gone by, be it the 1930s or the 1950s. Last night at the Snowflake Ball, he looked like what I wish my Ken Doll had looked like and was wearing this jacket I need to own but definitely couldn't afford. I wanted to put a link here, but so far haven't found a picture, but I will when I do. Black and totally glittery, and looked, needless to say, fabulous on him. Anyhow, that was probably the best thing about last night's episode--too much emphasis on Dan, Serena, and Jenny, and not nearly enough on Chuck and Blair, though certainly more than in the last two or three. Just get them together already--it's so artificial that they aren't because "they're not that kind of couple."

I did wonder about Serena wearing a sparkly sweater that looks a lot like the one I just ordered (see above) to high school. It's what I'm planning to wear for New Year's Eve. Hers seemed to have actual pailletes on it, though. Anyhow, it made me feel very poor that something I'd spend birthday money on for special occasion wear would be everyday wear for her, but that's the show, isn't it. The rich are different from you and me.

It's sort of interesting to me that last year there were four Chucks in primary roles on network television. Back to You, featuring Kelsey Grammer as newscaster Chuck only made it through last season. Pushing Daisies (sob) has been canceled, so relatively soon we won't have Charlotte "Chuck" Charles to kick around anymore. I'm very worried that putting House up against the show called Chuck on clusterfuck Monday will doom it, despite the full season order, which leaves Gossip Girl, which I assume isn't going anywhere and Chuck Bass. I wonder what the next shared name will be?

Otherwise, I haven't posted here in while, in part because with Thanksgiving last week was a bit lighter on TV. The Monk and Psych Christmas episodes were not very memorable, except that Monk was unbelievably rude to some homeless men, calling them "bums." I did enjoy a whole BH 90210 marathon of "Kelly's Leftovers" that they were still having commercials for yesterday. It's definitely clear when the show gets darker and the dialogue gets more unbelivable. This happened about 3PM, but before that I was enjoying it, even if I already know what's going to happen well before it does.

President Obama!! It's a beautiful day!!

I was struck by a posting the other day and had a few thoughts. I never realized just how class-based my television decisions may be. I thought about all the television I watch on a weekly basis and nearly all of it is about the lives of upper-middle or upper class people, or those who aspire to be in those classes. Gossip Girl, 90210, Dirty, Sexy Money, Entourage, and 30 Rock are mostly about rich people. Everyone on Mad Men does quite well, even with income disparity. Desperate Housewives has a blend, but even when they struggle, they never lose their large homes in a well-manicured neighborhood or seem to be wearing old clothes (uglier, but not old). Project Runway, Top Design, Top Chef, America's Next Top Model, and the new Stylista are all about people who work in creative industries where there are a lot of people struggling, but where the best/luckiest can make tons of money. Pushing Daisies is in a universe of its own, as are Heroes and Lost, but none has its characters worrying about money. We are meant to believe that Chuck is slumming it, working at a big box store, but his sister, with whom he lives, is a doctor, and he works with spies who are certainly paid well. Only The Office and Life on Mars are about people who would seem to be solidly middle class.

There's a whole world of TV about lower middle and working class people too, of course. I loved Roseanne, and Grace Under Fire, but don't find any sitcom on these days really has that sort of powerful message about working people. I got sick of My Name is Earl, which makes fun of its trashy characters. I have a feeling that most of the working class people on TV are on reality shows I do not enjoy watching and actual poor people have never been anything but victims or criminals on any show, I don't think.

Anyhow, as I've mentioned, there's so much TV out there that it's really easy to find niches, whether in fiction, reality, or news, that reinforces our own sense of our selves, and the identity we've constructed, and only watch those shows and those channels.

Just resign already.

Last night's TV: Ugly Betty, The Office, the season premiere of 30 Rock, and Life on Mars, plus The Daily Show/Colbert Report.

I am very glad Lindsay Lohan is gone gone gone from Ugly Betty. Still hate that storyline and what Betty has become. I don't know why they can't give her a title, even if she has business cards, or why she has to dress like such a nightmare. Who wears a blue satin cocktail dress to work, even at a fashion magazine? Anyhow, it's old and the only thing I liked was Daniel's behind the scene machinations. And seriously just how bad were Betty's teeth that she still needs braces? I'd fire my orthodontist if I were her, or at least get Invislign (sp?). She has health insurance now, even if she didn't when she got them.

The Office didn't really do it for me. I laughed, but didn't chortle, though I did giggle at Andy biting a raw beet, but not being able to, and Dwight actually doing it. I don't really get why Angela didn't have a single line when Dwight and Andy were fighting, though the facial expressions were good. Michael and Holly are just tragic, and the singing was all pretty funny. But I really just plain didn't get the whole Jim/Pam/Jim's brothers thing. I get that the whole bunch of them like pranks, but the prank was so lame, which I know was the point, but still I'm not sure where they are going with this. It's very sad that a happy Jim and Pam is a dull Jim and Pam, but I'm starting to think that's the case. Though it is pretty funny that Jim just took off without even letting Michael know, and the lunatics were running the asylum. Maybe I was just in a mood, which is why it's still on TiVo because I imagine after I read zap2it and TWOP there may be something I am just forgetting this morning and maybe I'll watch again.

Yay! 30 Rock is back. That was overall pretty good. I don't see how Liz could bring up a baby, but it makes a certain amount of sense she might want to and it's not like that light fell down in her own office. Not terribly memorable, though, as I couldn't quote a line now. I've read that next week with Oprah is much better.

Life on Mars was about the same but the music was actually good stuff and not goofy. Between the Velvet Underground, T-Rex, and the Kinks, I would have been pretty happy to be at that disco, and would defininitely have been dancing, but none of those are songs that are going to be stuck in my head for a week like the last few have had. I also sort of wish that in the part where Sam is watching Nixon on TV talking about energy and George Bush fades in and out that it was Obama because I'd love for future DVD/syndication/online watchers to be able to forget this whole sordid 8 years, but Bush is also a lot more like Nixon so I guess it makes sense. But as I've said before, I don't like police procedurals or "guy shows" and I'm mostly only it it for the music and the hints about "what's going on" so this show runs the risk of losing me if it doesn't keep it up with that stuff. But hey, if it keeps me from watching ER, it's a good thing. Though I have to say if I went back to 1973 my first thought would probably be "everything is so ugly" between clothes, furniture and everything on TV, but then I might think it was kind of restful to have just a few channels, no cell phone, no internet, not so much advertising everywhere. But then I'd look at Nixon and, like Sam, say "Just resign already!" I also don't think people would get my ironic sense of humor too well, either, and god knows what I'd do with myself when work wasn't crazy, so I guess I'll stay here.

For reasons I don't understand, next week there is no Chuck, no Pushing Daisies (for at least two weeks, and the prognosis is really bad for any more being aired) and no Degrassi. My normal watching, between those preemptions, and all the stuff that ended in the last two weeks, will be pretty limited so I really need to get something good from Netflix. Maybe Six Feet Under, but it's just so heavy. Of course, I'll watch what I suspect is the series finale of Top Design (good riddance), and I'll be watching the Indecision 2008 Stewart/Colbert special on Tuesday! Oh, how I can't wait for this all to be over and to have a President Obama. Or not, but at least we'll know. Pu Pu Pu.

I could have had you.

Last night was the season finale of Mad Men. It felt very discombulating to have the commercial breaks there, but only one break. I felt like the Joan story got really short shrift, but the Don/Betty, Peggy/Pete, Peggy/Colin Hanks, and the story of the ad agency and a whole bunch of people who work there got covered, so I think I'm happy. Or at least I'm happy as long as Jon Hamm and Matthew Weiner get re-signed. John Slattery is very good but he would lift right out if need be but Jon Hamm wouldn't.

Anyhow it was a little surprising that Pete told Peggy he loves her, as I'm not sure the storyline bore that out all season. Certainly he's been impressed in the last few episodes, but only since she got her haircut, and before that he seemed to stare a lot so we knew he was intrigued, but I'm not sure selfish, closed-in Pete is even capable of love. And Peggy deserves better so I'm glad she burst his bubble. On the other hand, she got to confess and sleep the sleep of the just. Maybe she'll take the baby back from her sister? I have an interesting feeling, though, that when the show comes back, she'll be at least associate creative director if not creative director while Pete is head of accounts. Although it doesn't seem like Duck made much of a hit and if he isn't president then Pete is staying right at his same level. I don't even think he's 30 and just on that basis seems a poor choice for an executive position but there's that whole youth movement going on. I'm not sure if they'll get together or not but I'm sure that will be an ongoing story. Someone mentioned if he ever found out he might try to get the baby for Trudy and I suppose that's possible in which case I see an awful lot of crying in store for Peggy's sister.

Did they really bring on "the Smiths" just so the gay one could cut Peggy's hair? They weren't even in evidence last night, so it sort of seems like it. Anyhow I'm glad the show is coming back because Salvatore needs a lot more attention, and I suspect there will be something there. That's the problem with these giant-cast shows, there are always characters that we don't hear nearly enough about. Then again, it would be totally weird if only three people ever talked at the ad agency.

Anyhow, a whole lot of people are definitely going to feel stupid when the world doesn't end. I really don't understand the whole Cuban Missile Crisis thing--I tended to zone out in history class when it came up, which was mostly in the last few days of school when we covered everything from WWII on at breakneck pace. But I do know none of those people died or even were injured in it. Betty in particular is going to hate herself for her infidelity, as fair as it was and as good looking as that guy was. And I just realized that was Captain Awesome from Chuck! If I hadn't noticed the name I never would have guessed that, as it's a totally different character. Given that he doesn't have a contract, I guess Don won't feel really dumb for basically quitting, but I'm sure he'll be back. He'd better--otherwise there would be no show.

Speaking of Don, Jon Hamm was OK on SNL, but some of those sketches were clearly written by six year olds, and read "not even first draft." I was really glad they did not one but two Mad Men oriented sketches. They used to always do a sketch about whatever show or movie the guest is in, but in the last few years they rarely do so I hope they go back to it. It was so strange to see him really smiling, as Don almost never does. "Weekend Update" worked much better with only Seth Meyers. I've had about enough of Amy Poehler.

Desperate Housewives is still on TiVo as I was out last night. I'll get to it eventually.

Does Jason Jones wear lifts?

Last night I watched, as planned, Greek and The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, and also the prior day's How I Met Your Mother and Chuck. Obviously, I did not take the night off.

I was really hoping to let TJDMA go for good, because it had gotten so tawdry and awful with the whole model house concept. But a lot of this episode was devoted to Janice's realization that she really didn't like what LA wants from a modeling agency and her plan to move to NY and really open a high fashion agency. That I could get behind, although if things actually went like that, with models who were extremely disciplined about diet, exercise, drinking, drugs, and sex, and were totally devoted to making it, it would be a really boring show. And anyhow, Janice wasn't exactly a frail little wallflower herself in her heydey.

But the reason I originally started watching this, as well as America's Next Top Model, is that I just don't really get it. I'm not at all photogenic myself and am fascinated by the idea that some people know how to move their faces and bodies in just a certain way and it makes the difference between a gorgeous photo, and, well, my photos. I don't think I've learned a whole lot, though, in a lot of viewing. I need something more like What Not to Wear, only for photos. Only every time I watch WNTW, or the practically identical Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, I hate everything I own, not because I don't get the rules or I don't wear nice clothes because I do, but because I don't have a staff of tailors, steamers, ironers, makeup artists, and hairdressers hiding behind my mirror. No matter what I buy, after one wearing, or in my case, living as I do with a white cat and a multicolored one, after letting it hang in the closet for any length of time, I will never look that polished. In any case, I can't imagine real high fashion clients would use the JDMA-NY, after seeing any part of this show (which aside from showing the models as lazy, stupid, and riddled with eating and personality disorders, shows Janice herself as "batshit crazy" as they say--good for a reality show star, not so great for an agent I suspect) and I can't imagine the same viewers would be up for watching, if there is another season--and she made it seem like there would be.

I still love Chuck. Last night mostly took place at a class reunion and was riddled with allusions to a good many teen movies--everything from Risky Business to Heathers to Fast Times at Ridgemont High to 13 Going on 30. Too bad the title "Russkie Business" was already a Veronica Mars episode, as that would have been the perfect title here (the Russian Mafia was involved). Even Nicole Richie wasn't enough to wreck this.

I also enjoyed How I Met Your Mother--but it's so weird, I think of Jason Jones as tall on The Daily Show, and always think of Josh Radnor, who plays Ted on HIMYM as short-ish, only Radnor towered over Jones. Granted Jones was probably barefoot as he was in a Karate outfit, but he must wear some serious lifts in his normal shoes, then, or Radnor must, or it's just because Jon Stewart is so short and Jason Siegel is so tall, or something like that. I don't know . . . the ending was telegraphed slightly to me, or at least I suspected it and since Sarah Chalke is on Scrubs, and Scrubs is coming back, whether she was the mother never seemed to be at issue for me, only how they would spilt up. I'm ready for them to get on with it.

I was happy to learn that I was wrong, and that Greek was only airing its penultimate episode, which I figured as soon as I realized they kept talking about "two more weeks" in the term, and that Casey's latest love interest--who I'm sure came in second for the role of Chuck because Michael Rady looks a lot like Zachary Levi, down to the sideburns--wasn't even on, and nor was Rebecca, who is usually relatively important. The episode was just OK, as I really don't care who the new sorority president is, or who is pulling the strings and I mostly watch for the love stories, which were almost entirely absent this time, but it was still fun to watch.

Monday night is cluster&6%$ night.

Heroes almost made sense to me last night--there must be something wrong with me. I still watch mostly for Hiro and Ando's scenes, which I think are intriguing because they're funny, but we're reading subtitles. I really don't know where they are going with all this though, or why I care. I'd love it if they'd move Chuck to that time slot, so I could watch it in real time, but since they're both on NBC, that won't happen. I'm only caught up until last week on that show and How I Met Your Mother, so later this week I want to get to last night's episode. I hate Monday night at 8 for being so good.

Gossip Girl is still great, though I didn't love last night's episode. I promised myself I'd write this blog before I read any other commentary and forgot and already read the recap on http://www.zap2it.com/. The reviewer and I both agree Vanessa is pointless. As I said to emily the other day (and I don't know if that's one of the two emilies I know, or one I don't), I love GG, but if I had teenagers, I sure wouldn't want them watching it to learn about love but the Blair/Chuck scenes are definitely the hottest things I'm watching these days--not that there's much competition as most shows are more like Pushing Daisies, where no one actually touches or Chuck, where they can only have a fake relationship. I'm not sure that the portrayal of Lily as a totally neglectful mother holds true to what we know about her, but it does explain some of Serena's wild child rep that we also haven't seen much in evidence and maybe more of why Erik tried to commit suicide. But Vanessa and Nate and Jenny are all pretty boring characters--they need to spice someone up. But they're all more interesting than Annie on 90210--I'm not the least bit sad that's in reruns for the second week in a row.

This week three shows I watch come to an end for the season, Mad Men, Greek, and The Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency (which I don't watch on purpose, yet have managed to catch every sordid episode--and it's been much trashier this season in the model house). I assumed there would be a Project Runway reunion tomorrow, but it doesn't look like it, so I don't know if that's next week or never. I could then replace those shows with Privileged, Fringe, or My Own Worst Enemy, (I have episodes of the latter two on TiVo but haven't watched them) but Stylista is looking like it's going to make the cut instead. I need something that doesn't require constant attention. One of the reasons I like Greek, despite it being about fraternity/sorority people, who never interested me before, is that it's so relentlessly lighthearted. I don't think most TV is like that--nearly all hour-long series tend to get darker as they get older. The ads for Privileged make it look pretty sunny, though, and a friend at the conference I was just at said I'd really like it, so maybe next week I'll try catching up in the middle (something I hate doing) since that space will be empty, and that's right after 90210, which I'd have to keep watching even if I didn't know I'm unable to look away. Anyhow, god forbid I could pick a weeknight and say "that's my reading night." There's really no law that I have to watch things the night of and I could use my TiVo to better effect, particulary if I dropped a slot or two.

If I were a really good teacher, I'd check out shows my students watch--House, Fringe, John and Kate Plus 8, The Biggest Loser, Intervention, and Little People, Big World seem to be the leaders there. But I can't bring myself to do it, especially those last four. Drippy/Sentimental is just not in my vocabulary, and I hope I'm not coming off as too judgmental. Mostly I just ask those students questions. A lot of my students seem to exist entirely on reality shows and seem to think that only older sitcoms are any good, but not so old as to be in black and white (a few were shocked to actually love Lucy). I try to make it clear that I know that there's a lot of crap out there, but that there's good stuff too. But I don't think I'm going to have a lot of luck getting working adults who are going to college on top of it (which is most of my students) to invest the mindwork it takes for Mad Men and Lost, though I'm shocked none seem to love The Office. Too real maybe?