Ugly, Grey's, October 3/15/07

This is the first time I've had to post about three shows that aired on the same night. I have a feeling this is going to be an extra-long entry. Of course, that should really surprise none of you.

Starting off with Ugly Betty, (bolding to make each section easier to see), I really liked last night's episode. There were so many classic lines flying all over the place. I think my favorite part of the episode was Amanda. She looked absolutely ridiculous wearing that beyond skin-tight silver dress. And the hat was just priceless. I was enjoying myself so much that I had no idea it would be the woman she shoved out of the way at the party that was setting her up to look so ridiculous.

I also loved how Amanda always makes herself out to look like the good person when she tells stories about her. Seeing the flashbacks was too funny! I think my favorite line came from Marc, when he said he was a little jealous that Amanda's dress didn't come in his size.

I always like the Christina/Betty scenes. She's definitely what Betty needs. Someone to tell her that she's needs to look out for herself, instead of getting trampled on by other people. I could use a Christina in my life, too.

I knew from the beginning that the whole orthodontist thing wasn't going to work out for Betty. She so clearly still had feelings for Henry. I think even Charlie could sense it, even though she's acting completely oblivious. I'm really glad Betty took Claire's advice to stop hanging out with Henry and Charlie. It was doing nothing but hurting her.

Speaking of Claire, how fabulous is Judith Light? I'm really hoping that she isn't going to disappear from our screens. I love her as Claire, especially her dry, snarky comments. I love me some snark! She even has her human moments, like when she told Betty not to do what she did. It's hard to believe that she hasn't been on the show for the entire run. She's definitely left an indelible impression on the show.

Lucy Liu was magnificent as always. I'm hoping that we see more of her, too.

Ignacio's immigration officer (whose name is not coming to me at the moment) is hilariously crazy. The actress that plays her is amazing. She just goes all out to make this lady obsessed. Hilda doing her hair was hilarious, too. I hate to say this, but I don't think Hilda's going to make it as a hairstylist. Also funny, immigrations officer's impersonation of Mariah Carey. I think I about rolled off my couch after seeing that.

Alexis and Daniel's fight about The Chin was well done. I figured Alexis would get all turned around by Willie (look what happened to Christina), but I'm glad Daniel was finally able to tell her the truth.

It was just an overall great episode of Ugly Betty, and the previews for next week, with Marc using Betty as a beard, look hilarious!

On to Grey's Anatomy. I can't believe that George slept with Izzie!!!! I really hope this doesn't mean the end of George and Callie. I like them together, and want to see them make their marriage work. They both need to work on their communication skills, though.

In a related note, was I the only one that found Callie being an heiress to come out of left field? I'm having a hard time reconciling that with her living in the basement of the hospital.

I'm glad that Meredith had dinner with her family. It was nice to see her bond with the new Mrs. Grey, and to even see her father in a newer light. I hope she continues to try to make that work.

Alex living in Meredith's house will bring an interesting new dynamic to the relationships in the house. That's part of the reason I'm hoping George doesn't break up with Callie. I'd love to see how Alex, Meredith, and Izzie living together works out. I am curious, though, where he lived before this. Clearly he lived somewhere, but we've never seen him outside the hospital or Joe's. I'd actually like to see his character fleshed out even more, and him living in the Grey house will help in that regard.

Speaking of Alex, I continue to be amazed by his soft side when it comes to Jane Doe. I like how he apologized to her for putting her baby in harm's way by encouraging her to go through with that surgery. It's really nice to see him have more human moments, instead of having the doctor demeanor on all the time.

I was surprised to see that Cristina had a long-term relationship before Burke. And I can't belive it was with the Sheriff of Nottingham, um, I mean a teacher at Stanford. (Sorry, whenever I see that actor, I think of Robin Hood: Men in Tights.) Cristina's whole blase attitude about marriage is why I've never really bought her sudden willlingness to be Burke's wife. She really doesn't seem like the marrying type to me. And for as much as Burke says he loves Cristina, he certainly made huge assumptions about her. Maybe he was blinded by love, I don't know. All I know is that that is one relationship I don't see lasting.

The attendings are all acting very childish lately. Even the interns seem more mature than the attendings, which isn't something I would have thought would happen. I'm almost getting the feeling that Richard is going to reverse his decision to retire, based on the antics of the attendings. I mean, the only reason he decided to retire was to get Adele back, but that's clearly not happening, so I could totally see him changing his mind.

Speaking of the attendings, there was this one reaction shot where we saw Mark's very pretty blue eyes that I just loved. Yes, we've all established that I'm shallow, so I had to mention that. Mark has a hot body, but eyes tend to really get to me, and the lighting was just perfect so we could see how blue they were.

My favorite line from the show is from Meredith. "Yeah, I had a near death whatever." That's so Meredith.

I liked this episode in general. I don't think it was as thrilling as the ferry crash arc, but it was still good, and it moved story in new directions, which is always a good thing in my book.

Finally, October Road. I gave this a shot because it looked pretty interesting to me. Plus, I don't watch anything at 10 pm on Thursdays anyway, and it's on after Grey's. So, I figured, what the heck?

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this show. I think there are elements that are quite compelling. I'm kind of a sucker for the returning to your roots story, like on Providence and other shows.

I also find the main character quite compelling. I definitely knew what he was feeling when he was up on stage and had tremendous stage fright. I've been there when I've taught a class, but I've never run off like that. But, I know the anxiety that can come with standing up in front of a large crowd.

The secondary characters, though, all seemed a bit like cliches to me. I'm not really enamored with any of them yet. I just don't find any of them to be all that compelling, or interesting. Maybe in a few episodes, I'll grow to like them, but right now, I don't really care all that much.

I'd really like to find out more of what Nick did while he was away for 10 years. I have the basic jist, but more details would be nice. I'd also like to know more about what he wrote in the book that ticked everyone in town off so much. There are a lot of things I'd like to know about him, and I'm hoping we get a chance to see that.

One question to soaps fans out there. Was Nick's editor played by Nicholas Pryor from Port Charles? I didn't catch all the credits, so I didn't notice his name. It looked and sounded like him, but I'd like some confirmation on that, if anyone can provide it.

So, I guess I'll give October Road a couple more episodes to really determine if I like it or not. The one thing going for it is a great main character. That's always a good start. I'll reserve further judgment until I see a couple more episodes.

What did you all think? Are you going to give October Road another chance? Did you like Grey's Anatomy this week? Did you find Ugly Betty as hilarious as I did? I'm looking forward to hearing from fans of all these shows.