ABC Thursday (3/22/07) Primetime Lineup: A Night of Montages

Apparently Thursday night was montage night for all the ABC shows. Typically I hate montages, because I feel that add nothing to the episode. But in Thursday's case, they weren't half bad. There is one exception to that statement, but I'll get more into that when I cover that show.

First off, Ugly Betty. What a fantastic episode! I don't think I have one bad thing to say about this episode.

I was really surprised by the outcome of Marc coming out to his mother. I think it was a good twist that his mother wasn't that accepting. So often, on TV, we see the parents being supportive of gay characters, when that isn't what typically happens in real life. It was refreshing to see a non-supportive parent. Granted, it was still heart-breaking to watch, but it seemed much more true to life.

Also, I found it hysterical that Marc's last name is Weiner. Marc didn't have much of a chance of being straight with that last name.

Wilhelmina was in fine form in this episode. She's definitely back to being a manipulative witch. She knows how to play both the Meade siblings quite well, without them even realizing that they are being played. The only one that was on to her was Claire Meade. (As an aside, how fabulous is it that Judith Light was in this episode, too?) Claire clearly doesn't suffer manipulation at all, and I was thrilled that she didn't fall victim to Willie. The end of that scene, with Claire struggling to get a sip of the vodka was hilarious.

I see now that Claire has put the clamp down on Wilhelmina running Mode, Willie's going to try to one-up her by becoming the next Mrs. Meade. Willie is definitely playing with fire here. She would do well to remember what happened to the last person to get in Papa Meade's pants.

I felt really horrible for Daniel. He's worked so hard to find his place in Mode, and Alexis is usurping all of that, just because she can. I'd love to see Mode readership going down from this issue, just to have Daniel be the one to beat Alexis for once. Daniel, though, seemed to slip right back into his old persona after not getting his issue of Mode into the presses. That makes me sadder, because he's worked so hard to throw off that image.

I was really wondering how the Marc/Betty angle was going to work out this week. It was brilliant to have Amanda be the one to throw them together, especially after the lies Marc told his mother about her. That was definitely a good arc, both funny and heartbreaking at the same time. I especially enjoyed the end, when Marc told Betty that he finally came out to his mom, and told her that she would always be his little chimichanga, but that doesn't mean he likes her. No matter how often Marc and Amanda say that, I have to think that they are getting won over by Betty. How can they not like her?

I felt really bad for Henry, too. Yes, he made his bed by sticking with Charlie, but he has major feelings for Betty. The fact that he knows so many teeny details about Betty shows how much he cares for her. Speaking of which, that is one thing I especially like on TV shows. They should show us how the characters are feeling, not tell us. So, kudos to Ugly Betty for that little scene.

The montage at the end was quite nice, too. Betty reading Daniel's letter was a nice touch to seeing all the scenes of the main characters. I especially liked the scenes with the Suarez family playing cards. They look like such a fun, happy family. It makes me wish I were a part of it. Not that I don't have a fun, happy family, but it's not quite the same thing. Also, that particular group of actors seem to really have gelled as a family, and I found it very heart-warming. A nice way to end the episode, for sure.

Next up is Grey's Anatomy. First of all, I have to yell at ABC's promo department. How dare they throw in a shot of McSteamy half-naked and sweaty jumping rope and not even include that in the episode they were promoting?!?!

OK, I'll get out of the shallow end of the pool now.

Mark's use of a "right now" plan for the hospital was a stroke of genius. The only thing that would have made that scene better was Bailey really going off on him. Maybe that will come in later episodes. I don't know. But I think it would be fun to see him verbally smacked around by the Nazi.

I also liked how Mark semi-used Meredith. It probably had a lot to do with winning points from the Chief, but I think it was good for Meredith to actually do something hard to get everyone to stop handling her like a piece of expensive art.

Alex and Jane Doe were so sweet together. They have certainly formed quite the bond. I'm excited to see how that will change and evolve when her face heals. I really liked how Alex helped her choose which face she wanted by giving them each a personality. I just really enjoy the depth they're giving to Alex.

Hector Elizondo was a brilliant casting choice! I can totally see how Callie came from someone like him.

I really like how George stood up to Papa Torres, too. Granted, he stood up to him as he was realizing what happened the night before, which put a damper on his gaining a backbone. Although, I think that's what helped him.

I'm worried about George, though. Everyone knows that secrets can't stay hidden for that long, and it's only a matter of time before Callie finds out George slept with Izzie. (I'm still mortified by that myself.) I don't see it turning out well for George and Callie at all.

I really liked the scene where George confronted Izzie about the night before. Having no dialogue heard made the scene even more powerful than if we would have heard them yelling and screaming. Kudos to the writer of this episode.

I thought this was a really good episode, although I'm frustrated now that we have to wait for a new episode again. I'm very interested in seeing how all the stories play out for the rest of the season. Even Burke/Cristina, because I thought they were cute in this week's show.

Finally, October Road. This is the show where the montages went wrong. The main thing to note is that I used the plural of montage. Having more than one montage in an hour show is just too much. It makes me think that the writers don't really know how to write enough of an episode for an hour-long drama. Plus, I didn't really see the point of either montage. It's hard to care much about the emotions of the characters when we don't really know the characters at all.

Given that I don't really care about many of the characters yet, I can't say I'm really enjoying the show. The good thing is that I really like the main character, Nick.

I'm not sure about him harassing the dean to get a job, though. That seemed a bit like overkill to me. I just can't imagine that would work in any school anywhere. But, I guess I can suspend my disbelief a bit for that.

Eddie (at least I think that's his name), the guy played by Geoff Stults, is still very poorly fleshed out. I can't believe that he really thinks that getting a girl that Nick likes into bed is getting revenge on Nick. Seriously, what is he, in high school? I found that whole arc to be awkward and completely unrealistic. Plus, I want to know what Nick wrote about Eddie that would make Eddie be so angry with Nick. That's a fairly major plot point to leave hanging.

The rest of the show was just kind of boring to me. I'm still going to give it a shot for at least a couple more weeks, though.

And as a final aside, I finally realized where I knew Bryan Greenberg from. I didn't watch whatever WB/CW show he was on before, but in his interview with tvguide.com, it was mentioned that he was in Prime. Then it all clicked. I knew he looked familiar, but it wasn't until I read that that everything came together for me.

Anyway, I wasn't incredibly thrilled with October Road, but it's not horrible either. Like I said, I'll give it a few more episodes to hopefully find it's groove.

What did you all think of Thursday's shows? Did I hit most of the major highlights?

Oh, and I know this is late, but I was busy Thursday night, so I couldn't watch the shows until last night, and today is the first chance I've had to blog about them since. So, sorry for the lateness, but hopefully my blog is still worthwhile to read.

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.

Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy 2/15/07

I know I'm really late for this blog, but as always, life gets in the way. :)

I'll start with Ugly Betty. First of all, how cute was Justin reenacting Hairspray to Santos on the subway when it broke down? I loved that so much, not only because I love Hairspray (the musical), but because it was just incredibly cute. I like how Santos is sort of turning around about Justin's tendencies, for lack of a better word. I would have loved to see Santos beat up that guy on the subway who critcized Justin. But that's just me.

You know, I want to hate Charlie because she's getting between Henry and Betty, but she's just so sweet and nice. The actress that played her reminded me of someone. And no, it's not because she was on Heroes (which I haven't gotten into). I'm not sure where else I've seen her before, though.

I also liked Amanda showing up in Betty's thoughts encouraging her to get rid of Charlie. Becki Newton needs to get more props.

I felt really bad for Christina. I didn't quite think that Willie was going to be that vindictive, even though I had no reason not to think that she wouldn't be. I do like, though, that Marc is sympathizing with Christina. That could be a very interesting friendship.

I also felt bad for Alexis. Here she thought that she was making headway in people believing that she's a woman and she gets her hopes crushed. Although I do think that she's pretty naive to think that people wouldn't have heard about her gender switch. But still, I felt bad for her. I did enjoy Willie punching that guy out to help Alexis. I guess Willie does have some loyalty to some people.

I also loved seeing Lucy Liu on TV. She was great as The Chin. She reminded me a bit of Ling on Ally McBeal, except a bit softer. Very enjoyable guest stint.

As a side note, I kind of liked that Daniel was playing The Chin by calling Becks all the time pretending to apologize these various women he's hurt. It seems very Daniel to do that.

OK, I've rambled on about Betty for long enough. So, on to Grey's Anatomy.

Three words for this episode: Oh my gawd! I'm having a hard time believing that they will actually kill off Meredith, although that would be quite a surprising ending to this arc.

I admit that I had read some other blogs saying that Dylan and Denny would show up in this episode, but I wasn't expecting it like that, at the very end. I got a little glee, even though Meredith was dead, to see both of them. I loved Denny, and have a thing for Kyle Chandler. (I know I should be watching FNL, but I already have way too many shows I watch.) So, it was great to see Dylan the bomb squad guy again. (As a side note, I was thrilled to see that ABC replayed the Super Bowl episode of Grey's on Friday.)

There was so much other stuff going on on this show that I don't know what to discuss, because the Meredith being nearly dead (where's Miracle Max when you need him? ;)) overwhelmed the rest of the show. Plus, apparently some interstates were closed in PA on Thursday night, so they had to interrupt several times during the 9pm hour to say either to find more details on a different channel, or have a ticker and a voice talking about the road closures. That's so useful because people watching TV at that time of night are clearly going to be driving around as well. ?:|

Of the parts that I did see, I liked Alex again in this episode. I hope Shonda and the rest of the writers continue to develop his character more.

I also enjoyed that Mark came and comforted Derek when he found out about Meredith. I know they weren't on the best of terms, but real friends do the comforting thing, even if they practically hate each other. It was just incredibly nice to see that the bond between them hasn't been completely severed.

I like that George found the kid he was looking for. I giggled when he was going on about how he was going to "thank" Callie, and she had to take control of the OR.

I loved Izzie bragging to Cristina about being a "rock star." That was hilarious.

I also completely understood what Cristina was trying to tell Burke about Meredith being "her person." Cristina has a lot of trouble expressing her feelings, which Burke should know already, especially if he wants to marry her, so it makes complete sense that she'd explain what she's trying to say using a dead guy as an analogy. So, I didn't understand why Burke was getting all huffy.

The one part I didn't really like was Izzie telling George that she thinks he made a mistake in marrying Callie so quickly. And that's more because of the timing of her statement than anything else. Izzie just isn't the type of person to say something like that during a critical time for a friend.

Anyway, great episode, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the resolution play out next week.

Betty and Grey's 2/8/07

I'm a little late in posting this, because life caught up with me, so I couldn't watch my Thursday night TV until this afternoon.

I'll go in chronological order and start off with Ugly Betty. The first thing I have to say is that I love Judith Light. She's a great guest star on this show. I loved how she told Betty to cut the crap with Walter and get rid of him. And the bumper car scenes were hilarious and poignant at the same time. It was a great way for Daniel and Alexis to work out their feeling and get everything out in the open.

How much fun was it when Marc was spying for Willie? Who knew that Willie had a hidden camera planted in a plant? I thought that was genius.

I love that we got to see more of Justin, too. It was so sweet that he got in that fight because he was defending his mother's honor. It made me love him even more. And I don't care what his father says, Hilda's totally doing the right thing by letting Justin be his own person.

I actually sort of felt bad for Walter in this episode. But, at least he realized that nothing was going to happen between him and Betty anymore. Of course, once Betty finds herself single, Henry's girlfriend shows up. She has to have the worst luck ever.

I was so excited to see Liz Torres on Ugly Betty this week, too. She'll always be Miss Patty to me, but seeing her work on another show was just wonderful.

I also must say that Ugly Betty is handling the transgender issue very well. They're not overloading us with information, but they're making it seem very real. They are definitely doing a better job that All My Children is doing.

And lastly, for this show anyway, was anyone not surprised that Daniel's mom was the one that killed Fey? I certainly wasn't. It's a nice twist, but I saw it coming before that last scene with her and Betty. In fact, I was mouthing the words with her as she said them. Maybe it's because I have watched soaps for a long time, so plot twists like that are common place. I don't know, but I wasn't all that shocked.

OK, I lied, I have to say one more thing about Betty. I don't know if what I'll be referring to is cinematography or not, but how all the scenes flowed together. For example, the split screen when Marc and Willie were talking on the phone and how the scenes faded into each other. It was just pure genius. If anyone can fill me in on who makes those creative decisions, I'd love to know.

Next up is Grey's Anatomy. I thought this was an extremely good episode. Yes, some of it seemed a bit unrealistic, but I can suspend my disbelief pretty well.

I was chuckling during the part where Cristina was trying to tell Meredith about her engagement, but couldn't because Meredith was being kind of bitchy. Sandra Oh's facial expressions alone were fabulous.

Facial expressions were key for Miranda too. I couldn't help but laugh when Sydney walked in and Miranda just made a face like she was thinking, "Oh *$%@." (Pick your own expletive to put in there.) And then when she blocked Sydney's way with her cart was just hilarious.

Speaking of Sydney, whom I like in small doses, I enjoyed the fight between her and Callie in the clinic. I really like when Callie is all assertive like that.

I love heroic Alex. That's all I have to say about him.

I was also incredibly amused by the elevator scene with the attendings and the chief. I felt bad for the chief. He's just doing something different because his marriage is over. It's perfectly normal, and Addison relating to him was a major plus. I also like how Mark told the chief that he needed highlights to make his hair more natural looking. I don't know why I chuckled at that. Maybe it was Mark's facial expressions. Of course, I do love McSteamy, so I may be slightly biased.

I thought the ferryboat wreckage was pretty amazing looking. And I liked how everyone had to go their own separate ways. I felt bad for Izzie. There's only so much she could do, and she's getting badgered by those other people to do more. At least she was staying relatively calm. I'd probably be freaking out, but I'm a big wuss when it comes to blood and disasters, which is why I'm not going into medicine.

I thought the end of the episode was fantastic. It was a very nice cliffhanger ending, with Meredith being pushed into the water by that guy. It was very chilling to see that little girl just walk away after that. I'm definitely tuning in next week to see what happens (not that I wouldn't anyway). I know they're not going to kill Meredith, since the show is named after her, but still, it should be exciting.

I also like how the ending of the episode was tied in directly to the beginning of the episode. Shonda Rhimes likes to do that with her episodes, though. She did the same thing with the Super Bowl episode. It is a fantastic way to tie up an episode very neatly.

Overall, another great night of TV on Thursday. ABC is definitely putting it all out there for sweeps!

Betty and Grey's 2/1/07

Well, let's start off with Betty for my Thursday night TV. I swear this show keeps getting better and better.

First of all, I loved the addition of Bailey Chase as Becks. He was great in that role. Of course, I've liked him since his days on Buffy. (He was Graham, an Initiative guy for those of you that don't remember.) Becks definitely seemed like the type of guy Daniel would hang out with in his playboy days.

How great was it that Justin and Henry were on this week as well? I love how Justin took over Marc's role as Willie's "seeing-eye gay." He's such a natural, and I could see him taking over Mode in the future. And Henry is just such a sweetie. He's such a dork, but in a cute, lovable way. I am really looking forward to seeing he and Betty get into some sort of relationship. He's a much better match for her than Walter.

I'm really liking Alexis. Yes, the transgender story is a bit hard to buy, but they're selling it for me. (It helps that I watch All My Children, too, which happens to be telling a similar story at the moment.) I'm very interested to see where her storyline is going to go.

I feel really sorry for Ignacio. I wasn't expecting that sort of relationship with his case worker. That's a bit creepy, yet intriguing enough to keep me interested.

I also really liked how they brought up the sibling rivalry between Hilda and Betty. It makes sense, and it was wrapped up quite nicely.

And last, but not least, Amanda and Marc were just hilarious. And Willie talking to a mannequin was just too funny for words.

On to Grey's. Talk about surprise when it was revealed that George and Callie eloped to Vegas. I totally didn't expect that, but it completely makes sense for them. I actually think their marriage may have a chance of working, regardless of George's slight ineptitude when it comes to talking to Callie in general. I think the thing I like most about them is their mini-fights, because it's all grounded in reality. I could totally see that happening with any random couple I'd meet on the streets.

I have to say poor Callie, though. Her parents were just cruel to give her so much name to drag around with her.

I couldn't help but laugh at how intensely Izzie was staring at the door to the free clinic trying to use telekinesis to get patients in. And I loved how everyone asked what was wrong with Izzie when they walked in. I had fun watching Izzie and Alex steal patients from the ER. They have a good chemistry, and I wouldn't mind seeing them together again.

Speaking of chemistry, there's quite a bit between Alex and Addison, too. Callie totally called it when she said Addison was staring at Alex like she was starving in a cartoon and he was a large steak. I think Alex is playing with her a bit, too. Of course, he just oozes sex appeal, so it's not surprising that lots of women swoon around him.

Mark certainly got some brownie points with the chief when he suggested they go visit Miranda in the free clinic while Derek and Burke were vying for his attention with really exciting procedures. Gotta give him some credit there.

As much as I like Miranda being a harda** in the operating room, I really enjoyed seeing her being maternal with her one patient. She was firm, but still caring, and I can tell that she was incredibly pleased that she got even one patient through the doors to the clinic.

I felt incredibly bad for Meredith. She has this chance to talk to her mother with her mother actually lucid enough to understand her, but it doesn't work out. It's just sad that they live such polar opposite lives. And I felt even worse at the end when Meredith came in to see her mom and her mom had already regressed again.

As for the main case, it was very interesting to me. I didn't realize that someone's blood could be toxic enough that the slightest contact with it can make you so sick so quickly. My only problem with that specific case is that it seemed like people were getting sick just from being exposed to the air around it, but when George was taking blood the patient's husband was in there and didn't have any adverse reaction to the blood. Was that just because it was a small puncture wound so it was more localized? I'm confused. (I know, I know, I'm getting bogged down in details, but I tend to be like that, so bear with me.)

Anyway, yet another great night of TV. If this is what sweeps starts with, I'm very excited to see what happens for the rest of the month.

Betty, Grey's, Scrubs, Psych (1/18-1/19)

I know I'm a bit late with this entry, but better late than never, right? So, instead of going into a full blown recap of each show, I'll just kind of highlight things on each of the shows listed in the title.

Ugly Betty: First of all, I knew the bandaged woman was going to turn out to be Daniel's brother (now sister) about halfway through the episode. This was only due to the semi-random mention of Alex and how he died. That made it pretty clear to me. It is a very out-there twist, and I'm actually excited to see how this plays out.

I felt so bad for Justin when he overheard Hilda was thinking about how life would have been if she didn't have a kid. I'm curious to see if that will lead anywhere.

I really like the friendship between Daniel and Betty. They have a really nice chemistry. I don't really sense the romantic sparks, though. I just think it's very nice to see a friendly relationship between a man and a woman that has no sexual tension in it where both the man and the woman are straight. It's not exactly a common occurance.

Grey's Anatomy: I felt SO bad for George when his dad died. I knew that his dad was going to die since last week, but that didn't make it any less heart-wrenching.

I must say T.R. Knight did a phenomenal job with all his scenes in this episode. There's not much more I can say about him. I've always thought he is great no matter what, but this week's episode should go on his Emmy reel.

I also liked how Cristina was the one to try to comfort George right away. This will go a long way to healing their friendship.

I must admit that the Burktina scenes lost some impact just due to Isaiah Washington. I don't want that to be the case, but I can't help it with all the drama swirling around him. It's just sad that the backstage drama is overtaking the drama on screen.

Scrubs: I usually don't make it a point to watch Scrubs because it's on at the same time as Grey's and I already tape three soaps every day, so I like to give my VCR a little break during the evening. This week was an exception, though, because it was the musical episode. It was very good, in my opinion. I even liked the reasoning for everyone spontaneously bursting into song. It's kind of wacky that it was all in the mind of a woman with an aneurysm, but considering the rest of the show, it made sense. I liked all the songs, and I have to say that Donald Faison has an amazing voice. I was very impressed by him. The rest of the cast sang well, too, but Donald stood out.

Psych: Well, I was going to say that I was psyched that this show is back on, but it just seemed a bit too corny, even for me.

The thing I love about Psych is that you can tell how much fun the actors are having, especially James Roday. How could anyone not have fun with that role? Everyone seems to enjoy playing their roles, too.

Sure, Psych has really thin plots with obvious endings (usually), but I don't mind it if the characters are well-acted and the scenes themselves are well-written. It's a great show, and those people that haven't seen it should really check it out.

The one thing I was curious about is what happened to the interim chief. She had a baby before the show went on hiatus, but I'm curious as to where she is now. Of course, it doesn't help that I have no idea what the timeline is for the show, so this past episode may be set sometime soon after the interim chief gave birth. I hope she comes back, though. She's a great foil for Lassiter.

Ugly Betty (1/11/07)

I know I'm late with commenting on this week's episode of Ugly Betty, but I've been busy with watching other TV and actually doing other things relative to my life, so here's what I think about this week's episode.

I think that Ugly Betty continues to get better and better each week it's on. This week was, by far, the best episode of their run so far. It surprised me, made me laugh, made me sad, and really expanded on many of the characters on the show.

If there is one thing that Ugly Betty has been doing really well is creating very real characters. Considering that this show has adapted from a telenovela and it started out as not much more than a odd comedy, I feel the characters on this show are very fleshed out. Especially the more secondary characters. Mostly I'm thinking of Wilhelmina here. When the show first aired I figured Willie to be just a classic bitch character, but as the show has moved on, we've seen more layers to her. She has a daughter that she really wants to have a relationship with and she was actually in love with someone this week. Her whole demeanor changed after spending time with her Texan. She was actually nice! Of course, that didn't last long because her beau decided to make it work with his family. The change in Willie's personality after that was shown really well. We didn't need to be told that she was back to her old self. The scene where she walks out of the elevator dressed in bright white with large sunglasses and her hair tightly pinned up clearly showed she was back to being a bitch. Her character was especially written well this week.

The main surprise to me was that Sofia was basically just playing Daniel to get a cover article for her new magazine. I'm not entirely sure if this is what was planned out Sofia's character arc, but it does make sense going back to everything. And it was a great way to force Betty back to Mode.

And I was actually feeling very bad for Daniel, too. Eric Mabius did a fantastic job showing Daniel's devastation that Sofia was playing him. I'm looking forward to where this story is going to go.

I also have to put in a little comment about Judith Light as Daniel's mom. Her reaction to Daniel being heartbroken on national TV (guzzling a bottle of wine) was priceless.

This was definitely an episode to see, and it really lays out good story for the rest of the season, so I'm looking forward to next week as well as the rest of the season.