TV Roundup

“How I Met Your Mother” is now my second favorite sitcom on TV, just behind “The Office” – but I won’t lie – it’s gaining ground. The episode that was on two nights ago ranks up there with ‘Swarley’ and ‘Slap Bet’ as one of the funniest episodes of the entire run of the show. I’ve watched it twice now (I LOVE TIVO!) and I think I laughed even more the second time around since I knew what Marshall was going to do. And don’t get me started on Barney, one of the funniest characters on TV Today. One of the great things about this show is that it’s so obvious that the actors WANT to laugh during filming.

“ER” may have lost me. I know a lot of people have stopped watching, and I’ve stopped being a regular watcher (I took it off my Tivo recording list and only watch occasionally). That being said I did see the Luka & Abby wedding episode and once again they kill off a character as part of the season ending (although the season’s not over yet). Now, I know that one reason is that Shane West is going to get his own show on Fox next season, but did they have to possibly KILL his character? Couldn’t they just have him leave Chicago?

“The Bachelor” was interesting this past week. Yes, I’ve been watching. Was this season of the show specifically cut in half compared to other seasons, or has this one just sped by? I’m not sure since I haven’t watched this show consistently since season two (although I did watch the trainwreck that is Charlie O’Connell because it was so absurd to have him as the Bachelor). Anyway, the guy (what’s his name – Andy? I think that’s right), the guy seems like he’s pretty decent. The other night he went to the hometowns of the four remaining girls. One of the girls (Amber) has to show Andy that she’s got a pretty messed up family. In the end, he opts to send her home. As she is about to leave they sit down for a quick chat, and she says, “I hope it’s not because of my family,” and he was so earnest in his response that I couldn’t help but think, “Wow – this guy is REALLY nice.” Editing? I don’t think so, because during that brief conversation when he assured her that it was NOT because of her family, it almost seemed like for a split second he forgot about the cameras completely. I actually rewound the Tivo so I could see his response again because it was so shockingly geniune. Of course, he then screwed it up a bit when he explained that “yes, we have amazing chemistry but I have MORE chemistry with the other three,” but his determination to make her understand that it was NOT her family was a very nice moment and I find that I like this guy. And yes, my pick for the final woman is Tessa. She rocks.

“Dancing With The Stars” finally let Billy Ray Cyrus go. Thank you!! The final four looks to be a good one, and I really want Apolo Anton whatever-his-name-is to win. He and his partner are AMAZING together and his Paso Doble from the other night was fantastic. His leap in the air looked completely effortless and graceful. And I’m LOVING what’s-her-name’s new haircut (Muhammad Ali’s daughter) – she also looks like she has thinned out a bit and doesn’t look so brutish. It’s a nice change and she looked lovely this week.

“The Office” was not that good last week (‘Women’s Appreciation’). I’ve seen the episode twice now and it’s not one of the strongest even though it has a few funny moments. However, tomorrow’s episode looks like it has potential.

“American Idol” – I thought Bee Gees week would ROCK. But only Jordin had good performances (although I did like Blake’s second song a lot). I think the bottom two will definitely be KiKi and Blake, but I think KiKi’s going home since Blake will have the fangirl base voting for him.

I suppose that’s it for my commentary right now. “Veronica Mars” was great last night (Paul Rudd was a guest star), and I’m glad that both Mac and Wallace are making regular appearances in the second half of the season since they were hardly around in the first half.

And let’s hope “Lost” improves now that it has an end date in sight.

Oh, and has everyone seen the commercial for a new show previewing tomorrow called “Traveler” – it looks REALLY good and I hope it lives up to the greatness of the commercial.

On a completely unrelated note – I think my shirt smells today. A few days ago I did laundry and forgot about a load that was in the washer. About 24 hours later I remembered and moved the washed items into the dryer. But I think it was too late by then. I think I should have just washed everything again. Because despite numerous dryer sheets, the clothes still ended up with a slight musty smell. And I think the shirt I’m wearing today was in that load of laundry because I keep getting random whiffs of “damp shirt smell” sitting here in my cubicle. *sigh*