JanetMacklin

There's a commercial - I believe it's for pantyliners. A woman is in a meeting and stage-whispers: "I love SAM. Sam is small but he can really take care of a woman. I have Sam in my pants right now." And Sam is an acronym for like, super-absorbent material. It is so incredibly cringe-worthy.

That "deeply emotive" crying(?) Lindsay filmed was terrifying. She looked exactly like a frog, or someone whose face just froze that way. I'm sure they agreed to let her film herself in hopes she'd speak honestly. Instead they got her walking around a dark room, looking like she'd accidentally left the camera on. Also, those tights in the tearful frog scene made her legs look gigantic. The photog whose expertise is natural light is not deficient, Linds. That's the aesthetic that the magazine wants. Which is their decision, not yours. Repeat: Their decision, not yours. I can't believe her glib remarks about being the stylist. If she hadn't screwed the magazine out of several shoot days, they'd have clothes to offer! I wish that photographer would have taken her squarely by the shoulders and said a firm "No way" to shooting on the street at night. Like they were at her beck and call. That Foxwoods "red carpet" was just...sad. And she spent all of two seconds there. Man, she has fallen far. Deservedly. . Watching her Russian guests I thought to myself:What do these people actually do that makes them worthy of friendship? At all.

Dance Moms - I can't understand why grown women would allow themselves to be portrayed this way. The same thing applies to shows like The Bad Girls' Club, Real Housewives of Everywhere Ever, etc. Granted, you are picking up a paycheck but strangers' only impression of you is that you act whiny, catty and immaturely. Oftentimes all three (as loudly as possible). Generally shows that go on forever because the creators/networks are all about more seasons rather than telling a concise story. Hannibal. It's not because I find the show too macabre, it's because I find the puns unfunny and constant. Parenthood. I think it's just emotionally manipulative.

Drunk Ben is the stuff comedic dreams are made of. I loved his realization that "other Ron" didn't help him at all. I loved "I was just telling Ron that my dog's Jewish!" I loved Andy's feigned patience at Land Ho guy (Jeff Tweedy) following that Karate Chop song. I also truly loved that the show didn't really emphasize the pregnancy reveal. I'm going to assume it'll happen off-screen. I also loved Donna being into April annoying the wine crowd. Craig still bugs a bit, but I like the way he's being absorbed into the group.

I'm currently working my way through The Amazing Maleeni. Orison took me awhile because I'm a bit of an easy scare. The final showdown between Pfaster and Scully was so chilling - as was Scully questioning herself afterward. This season is going much better for me than Season 6, as I'm more of a mytharc person. I don't care how convoluted it is, I just like knowing there are far-reaching mysteries coming. That way I appreciate the MotW episodes as sort of palate cleansers/breaks. I didn't mind Hungry, but Rush fell flat. The Goldberg Variation was outstanding - warm characters, nice M & S Scully rapport, heartwarming without overstepping the sentimental line. I keep hearing about First Person Shooter and Fight Club (the latter as "the worst episode the show ever produced") from the friend I'm watching it with. I am kind of excited to see what everyone is talking about, regardless of how crappy the episodes actually are.

I still get chills when Scully tells Boggs that if he's responsible for Mulder's injuries, that she'll be there just to throw the switch (and send Boggs to his death). I've watched it several times since my first viewing because it was such a surprise. I mean, it's coming from concern for Mulder but also real grief for her father and defense against Boggs' manipulation. I'd never seen GA in anything so I was impressed to say the least. She's pretty incredible when she's got that guy at gunpoint, en route to rescue Mulder in Deep Throat, too. Born Again was the absolute worst. I had to convince myself that the show could do better, because I'd already seen it do better. Space and Shapes and Ghost in the Machine were no prizes either. Miracle Man was instantly predictable and just left me feeling a bit sad. I loved Conduit because I saw real remorse in our agents for putting that family under such scrutiny. And the supposed abductee's little brother writing out binary code - which tied back later, I think, to s2's Little Green Men. I got this real sense in s1 that Mulder was sort of vulnerable. He wanted to think that he was ready to hear and see the real truth, but it shocked him and he sort of wrestled with it. It wasn't quite a quest yet (although that was clearly building). Maybe it was just where Duchovny was so young, but I really sympathized.

Discuss season 6 here.

I'm just talkin' 'bout...Season 5 discussion.

Discuss Season 4 here at your leisure.

The power of suggestion compels you to discuss Season 3 here.

Rehash, praise, critique and share your second season theories in retrospect.

Lost time may occur. First season chatter goes here!

This show is just fueling secondhand embarrassment, annoyance and disgust. A.J. the life coach was on my last nerve. She must wake up daily excited that there are new cliches to spout. Being a life coach seems alternately miserable and self-congratulatory to me. Like, you know you're working with people who have no self-awareness, or they would be able to do the things you're teaching them already. And they're employing you because you can be a functional person - out of all the functional people, you are the most functional! You have candles! Anyway, I had to laugh when A.J confronted Lindsay about the glass of wine. Uh, A.J. works for Oprah, sweetheart. You sure aren't paying her. And skipping the meeting in LA, taking us on that whole sleep-til-noon "journey"? If she knew that she was acting passive-aggressively toward AJ, why couldn't she cancel the meeting the day she arrived in LA? You don't do yourself any favors, Lindsay. Has anyone noticed that Lindsay talks so much that she loses any possible point in the sentence? She has to be using. I find it strange that assistant Matt never says "I'm sorry," when he's explaining why Lindsay won't let them film/insists someone scour the moving van for her sheets. I need to know someone in her midst recognizes that her behavior is deplorable.

I thought April's bit about "It reminds me that you had a million friends in high school (and I didn't) and had we gone to school at the same time, we wouldn't have dated," was very touching. As was Donna's reminder: "Andy loves a lot of things, but he loves you the most." When people question how these two opposites (April and Andy) can possibly work, this is why. Not just that Andy loves April, but April loves him as well, or else she would never approached the possibility of not being together with such fear. And Ben's heart-to-heart with Tom about successful adults don't have time to keep up with trends was so relevant. I'm reaching a point where I no longer know what young kids are into and it makes me feel sort of out of touch, so I needed to hear that. For me the funniest exchange was the one in the first five minutes, with Leslie and Ben. "I can't hear...and I'm dying." But there were so many other great one-liners.

Same here. I skipped G.I. Jeff last night because I had no interest in it at all. In season 3 I would have defended the concept episodes but they don't surprise me anymore or mean anything concrete for the characters involved. That and, whether it's fair or not, so many of the hiatuses make me forget what it is I love about the show. And the fact that the show fails to deliver is worse.