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.

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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.

Favorite episodes: Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design, Epidemiology, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Home Economics and Mixology Certification. Some tough calls were made in the determination of the above list. And you can probably infer that my season order would be two, one, three and four. Three had some really weak episodes for me - emphasis on Chang's wackiness, Jeff projecting his dad angst and so on. Least favorite episodes- 21st Century Romanticism, most of season 4 but particularly the episode where Dean Pelton desperately wanted a rich, spoiled student to enroll. Jeff spent the majority of the episode in a barber shop with Pierce. Not one laugh the whole time. Not even Magnitude could save it.

Jessica - Her voice is very interesting but occasionally she veers into something that sounds like a bleating goat. It's jarring. It's not vibrato. It's goat. CJ - That was all over the place. I recall Harry citing that CJ really listened to criticism about tone, singing on key etc. I thought, "Were we hearing the same song? Do you have your Ipod on to ease the suffering, HCJ?" Can't say I blame him. And I tire of the packaging "Oh, CJ's so nice!" I feel guilty because I find him bland. I don't need your guilt trip, show! Sam - Speaking of bland - can this guy get gone already? Come back when you develop a personality and some range. Should either ever happen. Malaya - Her high "notes" are wince-worthy. I am continually bewildered at the praise they heap on her. She completely mangles the lyrics. I understand that she has dental work but acknowledge that you're not singing clearly and work on it. When she said "Aretha Franklin" tonight, I heard "Ruth Frankel." Dexter - I liked it! For a ballad, it was nice to hear. Only, guy seems to suffer from an inability to open his mouth. He sort of has that panicked fish-face that Ben Briley had. Jena - Best performance of the night. I liked the arrangement and while I acknowledge the flaws and affectations in her voice, she's really quite good. Caleb - I am usually all for Caleb, but that was a train wreck for me. Alex - I would have enjoyed his song - had someone else sung it. Eliminated - CJ. Please, CJ. I would plead that Sam be given the boot, but as long as he's got the teenybopper vote, it won't happen

The friend of mine who convinced me to watch The X Files loves Musings Of A Cigarette Smoking Man, and I, well, didn't. I find it so strange that the man playing CSM in that episode is now (in the course of my watch) playing his son. That's just an odd choice, given that he's memorable in Musings and looks the very same. I know many in the series have been cast in different episodes, but really? One thing I dearly love about ol' CSM is that when he feels he's losing his foothold with his associates he sort of panics and immediately tries to assert his importance. It's sort of pathetic. And interesting, for such a sly antagonist. And I loved his exchange with (one of the) Jeremiah Smith(s) in s4 Herrenvolk, I think it is. One of the things that sometimes bugs me about Carter's writing is that there are giant chunks of dialogue that seem like a monologue as they go on longer and longer. CSM sounded convincing in the exchange. And in s2 One Breath, the line about having seen presidents die is chilling.

Krycek, weirdly, is a favorite of a sort. I can never figure out if the character is truly bad news or just long ago realized that he was in too deep and is acting out of self-preservation. I was totally behind the Corvarubbias and Krycek hookup of distraction. Since I finished SR 819 I have to say that Skinner keeps emerging as a favorite. Mulder and Scully really respect and have a caring rapport with him, and he with them. And I just love the way he handled CSM in the earlier seasons. Even the Skinner-centric episode (where he was working for CSM in order to secure Scully's cure) was fantastic. I just refer to that episode as "Smallpox Bees". And of course, The Lone Gunmen are favorites. It's almost worth seeing their spinoff series. I am kindly reserving judgment about D. Fowley at present. I just don't care for the way she was introduced. I didn't naturally pit her against Scully, until she herself did. Mileage variable, opinion subject to change. I will if I can come up with a clever title! As I've been slowly making my way through the series, I've noticed that The X Files has the most welcoming fanbase. Thanks for having patience with a newbie, everyone.

Hi y'all! I'm new to The X Files (er, in the middle of what will probably be the first watch of many). My parents were huge fans throughout my childhood and could never quite convince me to watch it. Finally I decided to take their advice and I wish I'd done so sooner. I do remember episodes that tiny me caught in passing that terrify me to this day - like Aubrey. I'm currently on episode 6.09 and the sixth season is a little shaky for me, given that season 5 was pretty much my favorite of those I've watched. And Fight The Future was incredible. I went in with low expectations - I've never seen a movie tie-in to a tv show - and it blew me away. A friend of mine is also a huge, longtime fan and he finds watching the show with me hilarious. I had so many theories about mytharc that turned out to be completely ridiculous. I'm also a champion at overreacting to characters in peril. So many times throughout the series I find myself worried for Mulder and/or Scully and I have to remind myself "you have (this many seasons left). They live. Probably."

I know nothing about veneers, but it seemed awfully suspect to me that she had to be that heavily sedated for the procedure. Her assistant, Matt, always seems like he's between wringing his hands with concern about her and being entirely over it. It cracked me up when Lindsay was complaining to the life coach about no one in her management company standing up for her, or she'd be getting roles right and left. She said something like, "after I do one film, the rest will come rolling in." Her reality must be a nice place to live. I wish they'd filmed Hollie being fired, or asked how Lindsay felt about her second assistant being gone. Chances are the accent lost its novelty for Linds and she didn't really mind. I know that people change their personal style, but she is so unrecognizable as the girl from her best roles. I thought that as she was doing the skit with Fallon. On set fits (and questionable talent) aside, that's probably hurting her in terms of roles. She looks like an addict. I could not get over the way she spoke of her community service at the morgue. "I wasn't helping people!" which smacks of "I wanted this and they didn't give it to me." She seemed so needy with the kids she helped, too. It was really off-putting.

Thinking back to the Thanksgiving episode the week before last, and all of those kids (plus parents and guests) naming what they're thankful for - all I could think is how long that would take! Especially given the fact that the youngest children are the first to be served food. That's quite a wait for their older siblings. How much do you want to bet Brady invited those extra guests? On top of sharing meal-preparation duties, I felt sympathy for the wives having to organize everything in one place. I know they have dinners weekly at one wife or another's home, but I can't imagine the crowding even then.