Heading Back This Way

Ok, so it has been way too long. So to my one dear reader, who still checks in to see if I have updated anything in the past year, I am coming back. There is so much TV to discuss: Glee, SYTYCD, Modern Family, New Adventures of Old Christine, and so many more. I will be here soon. Right now, I have to figure out a Halloween costume. Times tickin' away and I'm totally procrastinating. Anyway, hope to share my random thoughts with you soon.

Fang is the new Kota or Vice Versa? or better yet, I can't tell!

So last week I missed watching Survivor and had to watch the double elimination night (buh-bye Ace! Love ya, Kenny and Sug!) right before tonight's episode. Wow! Love the HD and what a great story arc to see both hours back-to-back.

Anyway, in tonight's episode, the tribes (minus Ace--heehee--and Dan--really too nice a guy for the game) thought there would be a merge. Mostly because Jeff and Co. made it look that way. They had a HUGE feast, strange new immunity idols that are inexplicably floating in the ocean now, Ugly Shirt* claiming he is king, and a bag for of something. Well, it turns out to be rocks that separated the group into 2 new tribes.

The "new" fAng: Matty (poor boy loves himself some red and the "ghetto"), Sugar, Charlie, Evil One**, and Ugly Shirt
The "new" Kota: Kenny, Crystal, Marcus, Bob, and Suzie

Maybe because I don't know the super old Kota 6 very well but I am really pulling for the beat-up Fang members. They took out Ace and actually seem cool now. Plus, Ugly Shirt and Evil One get on my LAST good nerve. My TV needs to thank Matty for winning immunity for them. Because had they gone to Tribal and one of them not gotten voted off, my 52" would have been shatter by my remote.

Alas, Kota lost. Crystal is still a weak player physically. (Does anyone have proof of that gold medal?) But she and Marcus have some sort of cousin connection. And Crystal promised to not write his name down. This is a similar promise given to Ace.


So when the votes are counted, outwitted, outlasted, and outPLAYED was Marc-ACE!!! Well, until next week, I must wonder how Charlie will feel knowing his buddy has gone to Jury hotel. Will he ask to be sent to Jury to get a wonderful vacation with Marcus?

ABC, CBS, Fox, and...NBC? AKA: What happened to the writing on my networks?

So I'm settling in to watch this week's Amazing Race. I just watched a repeat of Desperate Housewives from season one. This year, I have found DH to be incredibly boring...no beyond boring...just plain dull. There are no story lines that I care about at all. Not one! So I thought maybe DH's magic has worn off. It's just same old, same old and we are tired of it. But after watching tonight's syndicated repeat from the first season, I realize the DH magic isn't gone. The writing and the story lines are! Where is that quirkiness each character inhabits? Where is the back biting and sassy-ness? Where is the spark?

Unfortunately, for ABC, DH isn't the only show suffering this year. Ugly Betty has seemed to lost it's "Betty-ness". After last year's writer's strike, the producers said that they were going to get back to the true heart of Betty. I'm still waiting for that. Plus, all the great lines that Amanda, Mark, Willy, Christina, and many others used to have are gone. Now they are just charactures of the personas they used to be. Only Daniel's story so far has any meat to it and unfortunately, it does not include Betty.

So where does that live the other networks? I've all but written off NBC for good. Not even is SNL all that great and now that Amy Poehler is a mother and not returning, the writing is at it's lowest in many, many seasons. Amazingly, I am enjoying CBS's lineups the most. Except for Ugly Betty, Samantha Who?, and Brothers and Sisters, I'm a CBS loyalist. This year The Big Bang Theory is amazing. Yes, I've said it before, but wow! It's really good! How I Met Your Mother is coming back to its exceptional oddity. And really no one does reality like CBS.

Of course it's not "Fox season" yet. Fox season begins in January with American Idol and 24. But please remember to set those DVRs for 24's premiere in November! Ok, the race is on! Gotta go.

Look here later for thoughts on Brothers and Sisters. I promised a friend to keep up with it for her. She, too, knows it is THE BEST drama on TV this season. Lucky for ABC, they still do have some good writers.

Live from the 'Sugar Shack'

Tonight's Survivor was both entertaining and extremely frustrating. The perennial losers, Fang, truly have been cursed. They lost the snake-like reward challenge. Ultimately, losing the tasty danishes as reward. Crystal, the Olympic Gold Medalist--was it really for track? because girl hasn't shown much talent in way of running on this show--broke down and cried. Were her tears shed because she couldn't eat a sweet treat? Nope. Possibly because Sugar was going home to her shack and have a pineapple induced coma again? No-sir-ree-bob! She cried because she has only won 2 challenges since being out there! She is eating a grain of rice a day! Her tribe is inflicted with the pain of listening to Ace and Kelly all day/all night. Dang! I'm crying right now just thinking about that myself.

Meanwhile, over a Kota...oh wait! I don't know who that is. We never get to see them. They win! That's all we really need to know.

After an almost victory for Fang, things just go from bad to worse. Ace somehow convinces, yet never actually says anything, Sugar to give up the idol to him but she ultimately takes it back. At a rather honest Tribal Council, Kelly gets the fire blown out.

Here's my take on Fang:

• Matty is physically and mentally the strongest of the team. They need to rely on him.
• Kenny is still a gamer and knows when surprises are happening and where there are shortcuts.
• Ace is truly a snake and needs to be removed soon for the safety of all members.
• Crystal sees all but doesn't know how to insight and ultimately will let it ruin her game.
• Sugar is my favorite on this tribe and maybe my favorite of the season. Her cavalier attitude towards the Hidden Immunity Idol has thrown the tribe in a tail spin. They do not seem to know how to handle her when it's time to vote off another tribe member. Should they force her to use it? Should they blindside her? They have all wondered but never done anything about it. She has been too upfront without being upfront about it. It's refreshing and yet odd. So far, it's keeping her around the idol in her position. Time will tell.

The ACC is Upside Down

Ok, so watching college football was more enjoyable and much easier back when UNC was basically a "basketball school." Now that they can solidly play football, I'm a wreck on Saturdays. Before it was easy to pull for Virginia Tech to win the ACC and go the Orange Bowl. Even though they have been a member of the ACC for 5 years now, they are a part of "the new acc" and I don't have personal hatred for the team. The history of upsets and bitter rivalries are just not there yet.

However, VT is letting me down. Currently Boston College--anyone else tired of all things Boston?--is at the top of the Atlantic Division and Georgia Tech--who seems to be ESPN anaylsts' favorite ACC team--is at the top of the Coastal. There are a few weeks left. Here's hoping that the ACC flips once more and somehow UVA and GT start to lose games.

For current standings and all things ACC go here.

For the true Tarheel, this is you.