memememe76

To mention a character that surprised you, I would mention Elisha Cuthbert's Alex. Who knew she would have such awesome comedic chops? In terms of a show that I didn't expect to enjoy, I would add The Ghost Whisperer. Boy, I loved it. I think its greatest influence was to show a happily married young couple relatively free of angst.

Andre's reaction to his father's medical condition was very well portrayed by the actor. I found him initially thinking about how his father's condition affected the company realistic and sad. I wonder where the payoff will be wrt someone figuring out what Anika did to poor Elle (BTW, loved her song). I can't see it making me feel any better about it. I wanted her caught NOW. It sucks that Elle ended this episode falling on the bathroom floor. I'm a bit confused by Jamal's storyline. Did he "voluntarily" marry Olivia or did Lucious basically force it? And did Michael (or anyone else, for that matter) know about this marriage? I kinda like that Michael left so quickly. On another show, the significant other would've stayed on and on and on until Jamal (or whomever) did something *really* bad, ie. have a fake relationship with a female artist.

I did find Eddie a lot more interesting tonight. I can appreciate his yearning to be more popular. I didn't enjoy the sexual harassment storyline. The show has yet been able to create an episode where all the plots work.

As someone not all that well versed in Batman lore, I feel overwhelmed by all the supervillainey. For me, I am here for Gordon and Dr. Leslie. Love these two! I also enjoy the Wayne/Alfred relationship.

I feel the writers have tried to make Edith as sympathetic as possible in this mess by drawing Mrs. Drewes as broadly as they could possibly can. It's not so much I feel sympathy for Mrs. Drewes specifically, but I do feel sympathy for someone in her position.

A more multicutural version of Golden Girls would work well now. And I think Murphy Brown's daughter is old enough to fill her mom's journalist shoes. I think ABC should resurrect their TGIF lineup. In terms of genres, I think a network like NBC do well with a weekly tv movie of the week. Maybe on Fridays. I would love it if they did tv movies starring that network's biggest stars. I actually think CW would be perfect for that.

I actually think America would be great on Empire. She and Cookie would have some amazing scenes together. I wonder if cable will follow suit. Cable is a lot worse than broadcast TV.

I haven't liked Dre for awhile, and this episode didn't end the streak. The kids are far more likeable.

The only way I can understand the parents' thinking is that this is a small (I think--not sure) town east coast city. Asians are more prominent on the west coast. And most of the 90s sitcoms took place in NYC. Of course, the wife ends up serving stinky tofu. Not sweet n sour pork? Deep fried squid? Fried rice?

I am finding that I like everyone except the main character. His quest for a "hot girlfriend" wasn't doing much for me. I was actually more interested in the grunge-lovin' cousin. And I love the two younger boys. I know nothing about the real person's life, but I wonder if the restaurant will "evolve" over the years. Serving Western-Asian foods. All-You-Can-Eat asian restaurants become huge in the later 90s.

I can't see the writers "saddling" any of the sons with a young child. Maybe Andre, but not in this way. I wouldn't be shocked if Lucious ends up being the father. Is there a recent artist modeled after Courtney Love's character? I can't see someone like her to sell so many records in these times.

If possible, I will watch weekly. If I watched a show from the start, I will watch weekly. If I'm binging that show, I've lost interest by that point. In the summertime or other holidays, I will borrow dvds of tv series from the public library. I've binged through Parenthood, Downton Abbey, Fringe, and Homeland. I then watched those shows weekly--except Homeland, because I don't have HBO. One type of binge watching not yet mentioned is when I know the Food Network or HGTV is doing a marathon, I will record all the episodes and watch them in a row. Home Hunters, You Gotta Eat Here, Triple D, that type of thing. Usually, those marathons take place on a holiday or at a time when other tv options are slim, anyway. Also, when a major event or news story takes place, I will record everything I can about that event and then watch. A death of a major figure, a big game involving one my favourite teams, a weather story, etc.

I don't think I have ever had a problem with things like hair and clothes when watching an older show. I can easily accept how that was the way it was and so be it. As one who grew up in the 90s, I find it interesting how people view it as so extreme in their stylings. I suppose grunge was a very OTP style, but very few shows featured many grungy characters. I don't view the Rachel as being all that extreme a hairstyling--not like the huge bangs of the 80s or the awful shaggy haircuts of male adolescents these days. I don't think the cast of BH 90210 is that far off from your normal CW show. I do think that while I generally will like a show that I always enjoyed, I find that when it comes to less liked certain seasons or episodes of a show, I may not exactly loved them at the time, I now have no patience for. I guess it's me not having to be so defensive of my favourite shows anymore.

Spoilers are tricky. While I would agree that revealing plot points as soon as the episode airs is generally okay, I do think media outlets should take into account their audience. For instance, EW should be aware that people on the west coast still has to wait another 3 hours for the episode to air. And while I don't expect UK outlets to not reveal plot points in Downton Abbey, I would hope NA outlets would remember that North Americans don't get to see the episodes on PBS til months later. Forums like this one, twitter, facebook, reddit, imdb, etc. are a different matter. You can control the information that goes to you. Some UO's I have in the last few months: I never minded Miss Bunting on Downton Abbey. I like Laurel on Arrow. I dislike Rafael on Jane the Virgin. I prefer Michael. I like Anika on Empire. I'm indifferent to Penguin on Gotham,

In Jamal's defence, I would've punched Hakeem just for his indifferent reaction to the news that his brother was almost shot. Andre showed a lot more grief (although that easily could've been guilt). I also like how Jamal truly respects Cookie. He accepted all of her musical suggestions and celebrated with her when it works. I love Cookie and her sister. The scene with Cookie in the taxi solving everyone's problems was fantastic.

Oprah Winfrey & ‘Selma’s’ Ava DuVernay Team for OWN Original Drama I have never read or heard of the book, but there aren't too many mother/daughter shows starring African American actresses. Looking forward to it.

Ugly Betty featured a prominent AA character. On Empire, isn't Jamal's boyfriend...well, actually, I don't know. Cookie referred to him as "the Little Mexican", but not sure if Michael is from Mexico. The actor is from South America, I believe. Jane The Virgin features a female AA cop and the vengeful wife had an affair with one of the main character's best friend, who was AA. I haven't seen many promos for FOTB, but that's because I FF through commercials. I intend to watch. TBH, I won't care if everyone on the show is Asian, even the extras.

What I like about Empire is that all the characters have at least some knowledge or competence in the industry (varying degrees, of course). There is no "complete novice" on the show that needs to be explained how the industry works. Cookie may not know everything there is to know about the industry because she's been out of it for awhile, but it's not because she's stupid. Andre covering for his dad was a very interesting flashback. Makes sense--he already lost his mom, didn't want to lose his dad too.

I'm really enjoying/digging the show. I find the workplace drama interesting, and the family drama is fantastic (the best thing about the show). There is still so much to explore--Cookie's relationship with her other two sons, in particular. I hope we see more of Cuba. There was a gravity to the character that you don't normally see in Cuba's movie characters. I may have easily missed it, but does MIchael work? What does he do besides being Jamal's partner? The show could a better job of developing the characters' significant others. Rhonda, especially.

I found myself particularly focused on how Anika reacted to Jamal's performance and Lucius' reaction. I think (or hope?) that she is a lot more accepting of Jamal. She and Cookie probably (hopefully) have a similar view of Jamal's musical aspirations. I loved her "I know you were in prison for a minute" remark.

I wonder if that photo of a young Bonnie Bedelia and Craig T. Nelson was real or just photoshopped. I too found Kristina annoying (esp. when she's spent a lot of time and money running a campaign and now starting a school), but this is yet another time Adam does not discuss with Kristina his future with the Luncheonette--he didn't talk to her when he agreed to the partnership in the first, he didn't talk to her when he changed his mind about taking that offer from Dwayne Wayne, and he *again* doesn't talk to her when he decides to reignite the partnership.

If I knew anyone from high school who became the lead of a tv series that lasted one episode, I would think that would be *really* cool. While I can snark about it on a message board, I would be more than impressed if this was real life. "Home" was probably the best song since "The Scientist". The most joyous since "We Are Young", maybe? Mason is exactly what I envisioned Phil Dunphy from Modern Family would've been like in high school.

The bonfire scene did quite a bit to redeem that whole town. I found the population wholly unlikeable for most of the series' run. I'm generally fine with the resolution of the central mystery. Actually, I quite liked it...so much so, I would've preferred that this resolution occurred in the middle of the run, with the remaining episodes showing the aftermath (the trial, etc.). There was so much time wasted on other storylines (the affair, the reporters' relationship, the priest, Nick Nolte, etc). I have never seen the original version (and other versions), so I have no real comparison point. I didn't love Gracepoint but I didn't think I was wasting my time either.

The show has done a very good job this season with Fiona. I also think bringing back Leslie Bibb as a confidante for Fiona helps. I'm quite enjoying Fiona's journey. I like her career path, her romantic life, and even her travails as a single mom. As for Marcus, in the book, Marcus became more of a "typical" male teen. I don't think the writers will make him that "typical" for the show.

FINALLY, Beth finds out who her stalker is. I really need Maggie Q to kick some butt. With Beth finally knowing, I'm less certain whether the British friend is gonna be physically hurt or not. I was certain she would be dead in the next few episodes.