"Living is not for the weak."

I missed last week because I was in Philly for a few days and forgot to post my picks, but here are the episodes of television that I am most looking forward to for the week of November 3rd. As always, I warn you of potential spoilers ahead if you are not caught up.

Sunday: Masters of Sex - I am loving this new show on Showtime. Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan play Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson who pioneered the science of human sexuality. Bill's wife has just had a miscarriage and he blames himself because he was anxious about being a father. Virginia is still trying to figure out how to work and support her children  and their colleague Ethan is dating the provost's daughter. The acting and writing are fantastic and I look forward to each and every episode. 

Watch Live: Once Upon A Time, Homeland
DVR: The Walking Dead, The Good Wife, Witches of East End

Monday: The Voice - It is finally time for the live rounds! I do not have any favorites yet but, in general, I tend to root for Team Christina. The performances so far this season have been great and I really enjoy the chemistry between the original coaches. Shakira and Usher were fine, but I prefer Christina and Cee Lo and I hope someone from one of their teams wins this round and takes the crown from Blake :)

Watch Live:Castle
DVR: How I Met Your Mother, Hart of Dixie, Sleepy Hollow

Tuesday: New Girl - Three words: COACH IS BACK....also, Taye Diggs is guest starring. This is pretty much a no-brainer.

Watch Live: Agents of SHIELD, Trophy Wife, Sons of Anarchy
DVR: The Originals, The Goldbergs, The Voice

"Nothing makes a smart man stupid like a quest for vengeance."

I cannot believe that it is almost September. I feel like this year is flying by and I am a little sad that summer is already over. The only good thing about the start of Fall is that it also means my TV shows are back! Here is my list of returning and new shows that I will be watching...

Returning Shows:

Arrow
Castle
Elementary 
Grey's Anatomy
Hart of Dixie
Homeland*
How I Met Your Mother
Nashville
New Girl
NCIS
Once Upon A Time
Parenthood
Raising Hope
Scandal
Sons of Anarchy
The Carrie Diaries
The Good Wife
The Vampire Diaries
The Voice
The Walking Dead
White Collar

New Shows:

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Almost Human

The Black List

The Crazy Ones

Dracula

Enlisted
Hostages

Masters of Sex*

The Michael J. Fox Show
Mom

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland

The Originals

Reign

Sleepy Hollow

The Tomorrow People

Trophy Wife

I seem to add a ton of new shows to my schedule every year, but always manage to make it all work. Shows that I have dropped since last Fall include Blue Bloods, Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, Happy Endings, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Revenge and Suburgatory. Several of those were canceled and the others just lost my interest, but I have plenty more to check out!

"There you go, finding a hidden advantage in an unfortunate circumstance...

...using pain to take you to the next level. Those are the things that turn players into kings."
------------------------------------

I wanted to post this last week while I was home in Philadelphia, but my mother's computer has gotten so slow that it would have taken me all week to finish. So here now, only a little delayed, are my favorite episodes of television from the past year. As I remind you every year, I do not think that they are necessarily the BEST episodes from the year, just my favorites. Be forewarned, there are plenty of spoilers ahead.

So, without further ado...

Sons of Anarchy "Laying Pipe"
This episode completely destroyed me. I was literally in a ball on the floor crying my eyes out by the time it was over. All that really needs to be said is that Ryan Hurst is a warrior and gave an incredible and heart-breaking final performance as Opie Winston. His presence on the show will be sorely missed but he went out in stellar fashion. I really enjoyed the entire season, but this hit me harder than anything else this year and really intensified everything else that happened the rest of the season. It will really set the tone for who Jax ultimately becomes. I said it last year and I will say it again, Kurt Sutter is a crazy genius and he has a phenomenal and totally under-rated cast backing him up.

The Vampire Diaries "Memorial"
Another episode of television that made me cry. I loved the whole episode, but I especially enjoyed the end where they released the Chinese floating lanterns in memory of all the friends and family they have lost over the past four seasons. And then, of course, when Damon refused to participate, he went to the cemetery to rant at Alaric's grave and as the camera pans out we see ghost Alaric sitting beside him listening and he says the best five words of the whole episode: "I miss you too, buddy."  So good.

Parenthood "One More Weekend With You"
This show has really stepped up its game this season. Parenthood has always been a great hour of television, but season four has been absolutely amazing every single week. A breast cancer storyline and a new character who is an Iraq War veteran has upped the stakes this year and every single actor has risen to the challenge. Monica Potter, Peter Krause, Mae Whitman and newest addition Matt Lauria are all especially mind-blowing in their performances. I liked this episode the best because it showed Kristina going through her first chemo treatment and the reaction she has from it in an incredibly realistic way. It also shows us for the first time, the real struggle that Ryan is going through after having lost one of his military buddies and how Amber deals with him and his situation. I really love the characters on this show and all of the actors that portray them. There really is not one weak link. It just continues to make me wish I were a Braverman.

"Tell me you love me."

September is finally here and that means so is the start of Fall Television. Therefore, as is tradition, here is my list of all the new and returning shows for which I will be tuning in. As always, I have packed my schedule.

Returning Shows:

Blue Bloods
Castle
Community
Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23
Grey's Anatomy
Happy Endings
Hart of Dixie
Homeland
How I Met Your Mother
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
NCIS
New Girl
Once Upon A Time
Parenthood
Revenge
Scandal
Sons of Anarchy
Suburgatory
The Good Wife
The Vampire Diaries
The Voice

"Here's to God and football and, ten years from now, good friends livin' large in Texas. Texas forever."

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I watch a lot of television. However, my obsession did not really start until college. I watched a lot of TV in high school, but never really paid much attention to specific actors or directors. While it mostly started out as a way to avoid studying for my college courses, it eventually turned into something more than that. Once you start watching a lot of television, you quickly learn to decipher between good shows and bad shows. That is not to say that many bad shows cannot be entertaining, but you begin to recognize the different calibers and styles of acting/writing/directing/etc.

I eventually became the person that all my friends turned to when they wanted to know about new shows or when they recognized a guest star on Grey's Anatomy and could not figure out what else they had seen that actor on. There are more of us TV nerds out there than you probably realize and now we have some place to celebrate that, just like all you movie and music lovers :o)

This weekend I have the esteemed pleasure of volunteering for the first annual ATX Television Festival here in Austin. Beginning tomorrow night, June 1, and running through Sunday, June 3, this festival will bring together actors, writers, directors, producers, music supervisors, studio executives and fans to talk about the past, present and future of television. Operating similarly to a film festival, there will be screenings, panels, parties and live music with some of the industry's leading professionals.

To kick things off on opening night, ATX is screening the season premiere of USA Network's Royal Pains along with an episode from the first season of Suits. Also in attendance will be the executive producers from both shows, David Bartis and Michael Rauch, and Royal Pains cast member, Judy Greer. A few other shows screening this weekend are: Life Unexpected, Parenthood, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Firefly, Criminal Minds, a few Web series and even some Hasbro cartoons.

The panels throughout the weekend include Women in Television, TV Fantasy Goes Mainstream, a Love Monkey Retrospective, Music in Television and a final goodbye to One Tree Hill. There will be a discussion between Bill Lawrence (creator of Spin City, Scrubs and Cougar Town) and a few of his friends about what it has been like to work together over the years. Jason Katims will also reflect on his career, which started on My So-Called Life and also includes Boston Public, Roswell, Friday Night Lights and Parenthood. Moderators for these panels and screenings include Meg Masters from TVLine, Robyn Ross from TV Guide and Ben Blacker from Nerdist.

And if all that was not enough to make your head explode with excitement, the Alamo Drafthouse is hosting The Ultimate Children's Hospital Marathon on Saturday afternoon. Cast members Rob Corddry, Rob Huebel, Ken Marino, Erinn Hayes and Executive Producers David Wain and Jonathan Stern will all be in attendance.



However, the event that I am probably most looking forward to is the Friday Night Lights Outdoor Screening taking place on Saturday night at the Hotel San Jose. It is open to the public and includes a screening of the Pilot and Finale episodes and will showcase music from cast members Alicia Witt, Dora Madison Burge and Jesse Plemons. A few of the other cast members who will also be on hand for the event are Scott Porter, Gaius Charles, Michael B. Jordan, Matt Lauria and Louanne Stephens. It should be tons of fun and I cannot wait!

This weekend, there is really something for everyone and if you are not in Austin you are definitely missing out on what is sure to be a FABulous time.

Like I said, I am working for the festival Friday through Sunday, but I will try my best to update Facebook and Twitter with behind-the-scenes info and pictures. And if I manage to meet Kristen Bell, it has been nice knowing you all because, I will probably die of excitement :o)

xoxo
c

For more ATX  Festival information:
http://www.atxfestival.com/

For Children's Hospital Marathon information: http://drafthouse.com/movies/the_ultimate_childrens_hospital_marathon/austin
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"Sometimes there's honor in revenge."

And now I give you my favorite television episodes of the year. These also happen to be a few of my favorite shows on the air right now. Are there any episodes you think I missed? Please let me know in the comments section below!

Friday Night Lights "Always"
I was incredibly sad to see this phenomenal series come to an end. However, the finale was one of the best series finales I have ever seen. They wrapped everything up perfectly and you got to see where each of the main characters was heading in their future lives. The East Dillon Lions win the Texas State Championship, Vince is the captain of the new Dillon Panthers super-team, Coach and Tami move to Philadelphia for Tami's new job, Julie moves to Chicago to be with Matt, Luke heads off to the Army and Billy and Tim start building Tim's house. Over five seasons this show gave us a lot of heart and it will definitely go down as one of my favorite series ever. Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose.

Sons of Anarchy "Hands"
The entire fourth season of Sons of Anarchy was awesome, but this was my favorite because it was the biggest game-changer. The club does not know that Piney is dead let alone that Clay killed him, ATF has Juice in custody and Sheriff Roosevelt is starting to question their methods. By the end of the episode, Tara has lost her career and the only thing that kept her from becoming completely immersed in Old Lady-life, Jax is more determined to take his family and leave Charming and Gemma has lost faith in her husband and knows he must be killed because he cannot be saved. This show is so well-written and even better acted. It has become about so much more than a motorcycle club and every season it just keeps getting better and better. Kurt Sutter might be crazy, but he is a crazy genius.

Happy Endings "Spooky Endings"
It took me a couple episodes to get used to the humor of this show, but now I love it. In this particular episode, Jane and Brad spend Halloween in the suburbs house-sitting for friends and end up having to defend the house against mischievous teenagers. The rest of the gang go to a warehouse costume party where Penny and Max dress as a mother wearing a baby bjorn, Dave dresses as Austin Powers but keeps getting mistaken for Elton John and Alex dresses as Marilyn but is sick and gets mistaken for a man. This show is pretty awesome and I find it even more awesome after each episode.

"Gettin' knocked up and kidnapped kinda wipes the slate clean."

Sadly, my beloved Philadelphia Phillies have made an early exit from the post season. The only good thing about this is that I do not have to worry about catching up on all my TV shows because I am not watching any more playoff games, watching any baseball is just too heartbreaking :o(

But I digress...

Last week, I checked out American Horror Story on FX and I am not really sure what to say about this new show. Parts of it were interesting and parts of it were just weird. I cannot tell where the plot is going or how they are going to make an entire season out of it. I have not yet watched this week's episode, but I will give it another chance before I stop watching, if only because I really like Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott. As we all know, horror is not my thing, but if the story and acting are good, I might be able to enjoy this regardless.

Against my better judgement, and mostly only because I could fit it onto my DVR, I also tried to watch Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen. I could not even get through the first episode. I made it to the first commercial break and then I had to turn it off.

As expected, I am loving the new seasons of Parenthood, The Vampire Diaries and Sons of Anarchy. In fact, Tuesday night's episode of Sons of Anarchy totally blew my mind. I am ridiculously excited to see what Kurt Sutter does with the rest of this season.

And I think I can now officially say that Prime Suspect is my favorite new show of the season. Maria Bello is fantastic as New York City Detective Jane Timoney. I especially love the scenes when she is antagonizing the ex-wife of her boyfriend, played by Kenny Johnson. I also enjoy the other detectives in her office played by Kirk Acevedo and Tim Griffin because they make me laugh a lot. I can also now say that New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel, is my favorite new comedy and I am a little sad that it will not return until November because of the MLB playoffs.

"I know there's alcohol at high school parties. I've seen Friday Night Lights."

This week, I have watched the season premieres of Parenthood, The Vampire Diaries and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the series premieres of Ringer, Up All Night, Free Agents and The Secret Circle.

I get made fun of a lot for liking The Vampire Diaries, but it is mostly from people who do not watch the show. I know I have said this a lot, but it is so good and just when you think that it cannot possibly get any better, it does! The season three finale was fantastic. A few questions from last season's finale were answered, a few were made more confusing (in a good way) and some new questions were posed. I do not like to spoil things for people who do not watch the show yet, but what is going with Mrs. Lockwood?! I am intrigued and excited. This is one of the few shows that I need to watch the night it airs because I just cannot wait until the next day. I am serious, you really should be watching this if you are not already.

Parenthood is another awesome show that just keeps getting better. The relationship between each of the family members is always changing and always full of fantastic drama. Lauren Graham and Mae Whitman especially give great performances each and every week. It may sound a little crazy, but The Bravermans make me want to have a big family of my own. One can only hope that they will be as entertaining. :o)

"If you don't believe in even the possibility of magic, you'll never find it."

As I have done the last two years, and with the start of Fall TV upon us, I will now share with you the shows I plan to check out. There are a lot of new shows this year that appeal to me and many returning shows as well, so I am going to be very busy this year.

Returning Shows:
Blue Bloods
Castle
Community
The Good Wife
Grey's Anatomy
Happy Endings
Hawaii Five-O
How I Met Your Mother
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
NCIS
NCIS: Los Angeles
Parenthood
Sons of Anarchy
The Vampire Diaries
The Walking Dead

"Sometimes, you have to roll a hard six."

The main problem with it being so hot outside the past few weeks is that all I want to do is lay on a raft in my aunt and uncle's pool and read. This is a problem because then I do not get anything else accomplished...like writing this blog :o)

I have, however, managed to keep up with all my summer TV shows.

My returning shows that I have continued to love include White Collar, The Glades and In Plain Sight. They just seem to keep getting better and better. My favorite episode of White Collar so far this season has been "Veiled Threat," where the boys go undercover at a Manhattan Millionaires Bachelor auction, and I look forward to an Eliza Dushku guest appearance later this season. I have also quite enjoyed the continuing development in the relationship between Jim and Callie on The Glades and the pregnancy of U.S.  Marshall Mary Shannon on In Plain Sight. Highly entertaining all around.

The two new shows that I have enjoyed this summer are Necessary Roughness and Suits. I would not say that I love either of them just yet, but they are entertaining enough for me to stick with them through the end of their seasons. To be completely honest, I mostly watch Necessary Roughness because of Marc Blucas, but the storylines are good too :o)

"He is really hard to kill"

Since last April, I have added another 10 pages to my quote list word document. I have also started an additional document for Sons of Anarchy quotes and added to my list for The Vampire Diaries. So, I have decided to share with you a few more of my favorites.

The most recent addition was from last night's Castle season finale:
Captain Montgomery: There are no victories. There's only the battle. And the best that you can hope for is that you find some place where you can make your stand. If this is your spot, I will stand with you.

Guy: During the daytime people would want to hear songs that they know, just songs that they recognize.....

I play these song at night or I wouldn't make any money. People wouldn't listen.
Girl: I listen.

---------------------------------------------------

As part of my continuing quest to whittle down my Netflix queue, I have watched Once and Witness this week. I am hoping to be able to watch at least two movies each week, but we will see how that goes.

Once was a really cute movie. It is about a guy who lives at home and works in his father's vacuum cleaner repair shop during the day and plays his guitar on the street at night. One day, he meets a girl and they form a friendship based around their mutual love of music. The script is not anything spectacular but, it was a very sweet story. I also really liked that instead of using actors that could sing they used musicians and got them to act. It also had a more documentary feel to the cinematography. The director wanted it to look like something you made on your own over the weekend, which they definitely accomplished. If you are someone who enjoys different types of music, then I would definitely check out this movie. I am now officially a fan of Glen Hansard.

Witness comes from my list of Classic movies. As someone whose extended family lives in Amish country and has Pennsylvania Dutch in her bloodline, I am not really sure why it took me so long to get around to watching this movie. It is about a young Amish boy who witnesses a murder while in Philadelphia with his mother. When the detective on the case, played by Harrison Ford, discovers a police cover-up and realizes he and the boy are in danger he decides to hide out among the Amish. It was definitely an interesting movie, and I am sure at the time it was a look into a world that most people knew absolutely nothing about, but in general, I found the movie to be a little boring. I also thought that the love story was a little out of place and not very well fleshed out. I find it very hard to believe that an Amish woman would completely abandon her entire belief system like that, even for Han Solo. I think that it is a movie that everyone should see, especially if you are not familiar with Amish culture, but I would not say that it was one my favorite films.

A Lesson on Guns






Witness — MOVIECLIPS.com

There have also been a few awesome season finales on TV recently. Justified, Community and The Vampire Diaries to name a few. I am also very much looking forward to the finales for NCIS and The Good Wife. This is a bittersweet time of year for me because it means the end of the season for most of my shows, but they also tend to be the best episodes of the year. Luckily, there is more and more good summer television which is already starting to air.

As always, I love to hear from you, please let me know your thoughts below. And remember, you can also follow me on Facebook and twitter for daily updates.

xoxo
c
----------------------------------------- 

"The true outlaw finds the balance between the passion in his heart.....

and the reason in his mind. The solution is always an equal mix of might and right."

-------------------------------------------

As you all should have realized by now, I watch a lot of television.  I know that I have said this before, but I think you need to know that I know I watch...probably way too much television :o)  As such, I have recently been trying to weed out the not-so-good shows that I only really keep following out of habit.

One of those shows is Gossip Girl.  I went to my DVR a few weeks ago to watch the new episode and just realized that I had no interest in watching it.  The first season was pretty good and there have been some intriguing episodes here and there over the following three seasons, but overall, the plots are just getting more and more ridiculous and I cannot take it anymore.  There also happen to be two other good shows in that time slot on Mondays.  So instead, I will be watching Being Human on SyFy and The Chicago Code on FOX.  Both of which, I think you should all be watching as well.

One Tree Hill is another one of those shows that I pretty much just watch out of habit these days.  I have watched it from the beginning and while it was never a great show it was entertaining enough.  Then, after the fourth season and the characters graduation from high school, the show jumped ahead four years and all of a sudden it became more relevant to my life, so I kept watching.  However, the past two seasons have not been all that interesting, but I cannot seem to stop. I am kind of hoping it does not get renewed for another season.

On the other hand, The Vampire Diaries seriously just keeps getting better and better.  I know I have said it before, but I really feel like I need to say it again because, while it does have a huge following, it is on the CW Network and I think a lot of people my age rule it out due to that fact.  I am truly impressed at how they continue to keep things exciting each and every week.

Another show that I have recently become addicted to is Sons of Anarchy.  When it started in 2008, it did not really appeal to me.  It did not star anyone that really made me want to watch it and the motorcycle club angle was not something I cared about either.  However, three seasons later it is still getting a lot of good buzz from the critics, so I decided to give it a try.  I have to say, it is very good.  Even though I am not interested in motorcycles or motorcycle clubs, the smart writing, great acting and interesting story lines keep you invested in the characters.  Also, after further inspection of the cast, it does contain a lot of people whose names you may not recognize, but who have actually been in things you have probably seen: Katey Sagal - Married with Children and 8 Simple Rules; Maggie Siff - Mad Men; Charlie Hunnam - Undeclared and Cold Mountain; Tommy Flanagan - Braveheart and Gladiator; Kim Coates - Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor; Ryan Hurst - Remember the Titans; any several more excellent actors.  Season 3 just finished in November and is not yet out on DVD, so I have only seen the few episodes that are on Hulu, but I can already tell that it will be just as good as the first two seasons.  I highly recommend that you check it out.

I have also decided that, despite my aversion to most things zombie related, I should probably watch The Walking Dead.  I am not expecting to like it, but it has gotten such good reviews, that I feel like I cannot just ignore it.  I will let you know how that goes.


In completely un-television related news, my friend, Chris Despo, is releasing his first album at the end of this month and I CANNOT wait.  It will be on iTunes, and I will give you that link when it is available, but until then, I leave you with his "behind-the-scenes" video:

And, as always, if you have any thoughts, or feel there are any TV shows I should be watching, please use the comments section below!

xoxo

c

Damon: I took away your suffering once before. I can do it again, but it's your choice.

Jeremy: Look, I know you think you took it away, but it's still there.  Even if I can't remember why, I still feel empty...alone.  And making me forget won't fix it.  It won't fix what's really wrong.
-------------------------------------------------

So here they are, my favorite TV episodes of 2010.  It was hard enough to pick these, let alone put them in some kind of order, so they are pretty much just listed as I thought of them :o)

Community "Cooperative Calligraphy" While I did love "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" a few weeks ago and last season's "Contemporary American Poulty" and "Modern Warfare," I think this was my favorite episode this year.   Annie accuses someone of stealing her pen and the entire group goes on lockdown in the study room.  There is nothing flashy or fancy about the episode, it is just the actors in a room being funny.  Plus, there is a Puppy Parade at the end!

Dollhouse "Epitaph Two: Return" Joss really started to hit his stride in season two of this short-lived series.  Network executives should know by now not to mess with the genius.  Alas, it was canceled before it's time, but not before giving us an AWESOME finale.  What happens ten years from now when the tech gets out of control?  Hopefully not what happened on Dollhouse, as I am hoping there is no one out there wiping people's memories and imprinting them with new ones.  But you never really can be too sure :o)

Justified "Fire In The Hole"  In the series premiere, Federal Marshall Raylan Givens is reassigned from Miami to his childhood home of Eastern Kentucky.  The episode sets up the character of Givens perfectly as an old-school Marshall living in modern times where, even in Kentucky, his cowboy-look is out-of-place and his quick-draw is not always warranted.  He is not where he wants to be and he now has to deal with all the things that made him leave Harlan in the first place.  The new season starts February 9 and if you are not watching this show, you really should be.

The Vampire Diaries "Founders Day" or "The Return"  It is hard to say whether or not I liked the finale of season one or the premiere of season two better.  The finale was action-packed and tied up the story of the tomb vampires, leaving us with three possible-death-cliffhangers.  Whereas the first episode of the second season gave us the infamous Katherine in action.  When this show started, I really did not think that it was going to be anything special but it continues to get better every week and is never dull.  I know the thing a lot of TV critics point to is the amazing acting of Nina Dobrev, but she really is phenomenal in her dual roles and the show would not be nearly as successful without her.  It also does not hurt that the ENTIRE cast is gorgeous :o)

Grey's Anatomy "Death and All His Friends" The reappearance of Denny Duquette in season five made me wonder if I should continue watching Grey's Anatomy.  But, my girlfriends and I endured (with the help of a few margaritas) and were rewarded by a great season six and an awesome season finale.  With a shooter on the loose in the hospital we saw many shocking losses and some heart-wrenching acting performances.  Shonda Rimes said early on in the year that the season finale would be a "game-changer" and she was definitely right.  We are still seeing the repercussions in the current season and I am glad to say that the show has rebounded nicely from its tumor-induced-hallucination.

White Collar "Copycat Caffrey" Neil and Peter discover that there is a Criminology class at a local college that is studying Neil and the work of several other white collar criminals.  The problem is, they are not JUST studying them but copying their heists.  Neil goes undercover as himself, minus the FBI job, and tries to get in on the students next con in hopes that it will out the professor as the leader of the group.  I pretty much love every episode of White Collar, but this one really made me laugh.  The dynamic of the Peter/Neil relationship, the return of Alex and the always-lovable Mozzie make for a very good time.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia "The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods" This episode has guest appearances by Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.  Do I really need more of an explanation for why I love it?! :o)

Friday Night Lights "The Son"  Why this show has been nominated for so few awards is beyond me.  The whole series is phenomenal, but this is the best episode of this year.  It is not just about a boy whose father dies as a soldier in Iraq, leaving him to take care of his grandmother.  It is about a boy who struggles with the emotions of his loss and reconciling them with the fact that he hated his father for abandoning the family when he volunteered to go back to Iraq in the first place.  It really is a shame that more people, including myself, did not watch this show from the start and I will be sad when it is over at the end of this season.



Honorable Mentions: Spartacus: Blood and Sand "Kill Them All," Accidentally on Purpose "Speed," Mad Men "The Suitcase" and The Glades "Pilot"

What were your favorite episodes this year?!  Please let me know in the comments section!

I hope everyone has a very, Merry Christmas!

xoxo

c

---------------------------------------------

"I do believe in killing the messenger. You know why? Because it sends a message."

Just like I did last August, I have decided to give you a list of the TV shows on my schedule for this year. My list seems to be significantly longer than last year, so I either will not have much of a life or several shows will eventually get cut. Needless to say, my DVR will be a blessing, as usual...and who am I kidding, I do not have a life :o)

My Returning Shows:
The Vampire Diaries
Gossip Girl
One Tree Hill
Life Unexpected
Parenthood
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
How I Met Your Mother
Castle
Glee
NCIS
NCIS: LA
Community
Grey's Anatomy
Private Practice
Brothers & Sisters

New Shows:
Nikita
Lonestar
Hawaii Five-O
My Generation
Blue Bloods
No Ordinary Family

I am super excited about the start of The Vampire Diaries, Castle and Community. Grey's Anatomy, despite the AWFUL Thanksgiving/Christmas/NYE episode, was getting really good again last season, so I am hoping that trend continues this season. I am not sure that I will get into Nikita or Blue Bloods, but Nikita has been getting good reviews and Blue Bloods has Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg and Will Estes (who you may remember as JJ Pryor on American Dreams), so I will at least give them a shot.

Greek is also one of my shows that I will still watch this year, but it does not start again until January, so I have not included it on my list.  I also do not know when the second season of Justified is starting.

Tonight is the season finale of White Collar and my other shows will probably be wrapping up over the next few weeks. Nikita and The Vampire Diaries start this week on the CW and the rest of the premiere dates can be found at TV Guide.

What shows are you excited about this season? Are there any shows you think I should be watching that I am not currently watching? Let me know and maybe I will check them out.

I hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend! Happy Start of Fall TV!
xoxo
c
----------------------------------------

“Great movie quotes become part of our cultural vocabulary...

When you consider that any phrase from American cinema is eligible, you realize this is our most subjective topic to date. We expect nothing less than a war of words as we reignite interest in classic American movies.” --Jean Picker Firstenberg; CEO of the American Film Institute
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I keep a list of quotes in a word document on my computer. It is mostly things from movies and TV (obviously) but some of them are from books and some are from real people. It is single-spaced, size 10, times new roman and is currently 47 pages long.

I also have separate lists for Joss Whedon projects and Aaron Sorkin projects, and the TV shows Friends, Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, The Black Donnellys, Grey’s Anatomy and The Vampire Diaries.

The very first quote I ever saved was from Ferris Buellar's Day Off, said by Ferris to the snooty maitre d':
"It’s understanding that makes it possible for people like us to tolerate a person like yourself."

The most recent addition to my list was from last week's Private Practice, from Sam to Addison:
“You want to have your cake and eat it too, but you know what, you can’t because I’m the cake and from here on out, I’m taking the cake away. No more cake for you. I’m good cake too, double-chocolate, cream-filled with the little raspberries on top, so. No more cake for you, so just shut-up.”

And here are just some of my random favorites:

MOVIES:

Hook
Tinker Bell: You know that place between sleep and awake? That place where you still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you, Peter Pan. That’s where I’ll be waiting.

Empire Records
Gina: Attention Rex Manning fans, to your left you will notice a shoplifter being chased by night manager Lucas. This young man will be caught, deep-fried in a vat of hot oil and served to our first hundred customers. Just another tasty treat from the gang at Empire Records.

Liberty Heights
Ben: If I knew things would no longer be, I would have tried to remember them better.

Notting Hill
Anna: Happiness isn’t happiness without a violin-playing goat.

Ratatouille
Linguini: Ratatouille. It's like a stew, right? Why do they call it that? If you're gonna name a food, you should give it a name that sounds delicious. Ratatouille doesn't sound delicious. It sounds like "rat" and "patootie." Rat-patootie, which does not sound delicious.

Life As A House
George Voiceover: I’d always thought of myself as a house, that was always what I lived in. It didn’t need to be big, it didn’t even need to be beautiful, it just needed to be mine. It became what I was meant to be, I built myself a life, I built myself a house.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Sam: It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The one’s that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But, in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it’ll shine out the clearer. Those are the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But, I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now, folk in those stories had lots of chances of turnin’ back, only they didn’t. They kept goin’, because they were holdin’ on to somethin’.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fightin’ for.

The Boondock Saints
Priest: We must always fear the wicked. But there is another kind of evil that we must fear the most, and that is the indifference of good men.

The Hours
Laura Brown: What does it mean to regret when you have no choice?

Velvet Goldmine
Brian Slade: Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he'll tell you the truth.

Boys on the Side
Elaine: That’s what you get in life, you know? You get whoever you end up with. Whoever is willing to stick by you, and fight for you, when everyone else is gone. And it ain’t always who you expect. But you just have to make do.

Pirates of the Caribbean : At World’s End
Captain Barbossa: You have to be lost to find the places that can’t be found.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Penny: Sometimes people are layered like that. There’s something totally different underneath than what’s on the surface
Dr. Horrible: And sometimes there’s a third deeper level and that one is the same as the top surface level
Penny: Huh?
Dr. Horrible: Like with pie

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy: All I want to do is graduate from high school, go to Europe, marry Christian Slater, and die. Now it may not sound too great to a sconehead like you, but I think it's swell. And you come along and tell me I'm a member of the hairy mole club so you can throw things at me?

Serenity
Wash: This landing is going to get pretty interesting
Mal: Define interesting
Wash: [dead-pan] Oh God, oh God, we’re all going to die?
Mal: (on loud-speaker) This is the Captain, we have a little problem with our entry sequence so we may experience some slight…turbulence and then…explode



TV:
Good Morning, Miami
Jake: There’s something about your eyes and your smile. It’s not just that they’re beautiful and it’s not just that they light up a room. They’re like a gateway into a world that I want to be a part of.

My So-Called Life
Angela: This life has been a test. If it had been an actual life, you would have received instructions on where to go and what to do.

Battlestar Gallactica
Number Six: Life has a melody, Gaius. A rhythm of notes which become your existence once played in harmony with God's plan.

NCIS
Ziva: It’s like shooting fish in a pond
John: Haha, I think you mean a barrel
Ziva: Why would fish be in a barrel?
John: Uhm, I-uh, that’s a good point, I never really thought about it before

Accidentally on Purpose
Davis: Dude, you were born to be a chef, okay?! When the stork brought you, you grabbed that bird and cooked it into something delicious!

Ugly Betty
Betty: I’ve had to say ‘good-bye’ more times than I would have liked, but everyone can say that. And no matter how many times we do it, even when it’s for the greater good, it still stings. And though we’ll never forget what we’ve given up, we owe it to ourselves to keep moving forward. What we can’t do is live our lives always afraid of the next ‘good-bye,’ because chances are they’re not going to stop. The trick is to recognize when a ‘good-bye’ can be a good thing, when it’s a chance to start again.

How I Met Your Mother
Barney: (After blowing his nose) I’m fine. My nose is just over-flowing with awesome and I had to get some of it out.

The West Wing
President Bartlett: I was watching a television program before, with a kind of roving moderator who spoke to a seated panel of young women who were having some sort of problem with their boyfriends - apparently, because the boyfriends had all slept with the girlfriends' mothers. And they brought the boyfriends out, and they fought, right there on television. Toby, tell me: these people don't vote, do they?

Sports Night
Isaac: If you’re stupid, surround yourself with smart people. If you’re smart, surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you.

Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
Wes: Living where there’s free speech means sometimes you get offended

The Black Donnellys
Tommy: We’re gonna need some scotch, and a lot of it, but we’re not gonna be able to pay for it, you see
Store Owner: Get outta here
Tommy: I think you’re gonna wanna give it to us
Owner: Oh yeah, and why’s that?
Tommy: Because your daughter has a crush on Kevin, he’s gonna date her if you don’t

Friends
Rachel: C’mon, Daddy, listen to me. It’s like, it’s like all my life everyone has always told me, “You’re a shoe. You’re a shoe, you’re a shoe, you’re a shoe” and then today I just stopped and I said, “What if I don’t want to be a shoe? What if I want to be a-a purse, you know, or, or, or a hat”….No, I don’t want you to buy me a hat! I’m saying that I am a hat - It’s a metaphor, Daddy!

Gilmore Girls
Sookie: Jackson’s sleeping with the zucchini tonight
Lorelai: What’s that? Farm jargon?
Sookie: No, he’s sleeping with the zucchini
Lorelai: But what does that mean? “Sleeping with the zucchini”?
Sookie: It means he’s sleeping with the zucchini
Lorelai: Uh, Sookie, fill me in here. Where’s Jackson?
Sookie: Well, he checked the weather forecast today and there’s a potential cold front coming in from Canada and he knows how important the zucchini is for opening day menu, so..
Lorelai: Are you saying that “sleeping with zucchini” means…
Sookie: He’s sleeping with the zucchini
Michele: She said it four times, you are very slow tonight
Lorelai: Oh, my god!
Sookie: Well, you said to do whatever it takes to make sure we have fresh zucchini
Lorelai: Within the realm of reason!
Sookie: Oh, now you add that!

Grey’s Anatomy
Meredith: We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Giles: So we have a threat against the students on their big night. A hellhound trained to attack people in formal wear
Cordelia: Oh, are we all catching up now?
Giles: This Tucker is planning to attack the prom tonight
Oz: Once again the hell mouth puts the 'special' in 'special occasion'
Xander: Why do I even buy tickets for these things, I ask you!
Willow: I wonder if I can take my dress back
Buffy: Don't you dare!
Willow: But Tucker's gonna...
Buffy: No! You guys are gonna have a prom, the kind of prom that everyone should have. I'm gonna give you all a nice, fun, normal evening if I have to kill every single person on the face of the earth to do it!
Xander: Yay?

Angel
Angel: What’s going on?
Wesley: We’re being attacked
Angel: I thought you had double-protection sanctorium spells!
Lorne: I do and they work. It’s a thing with the door and the stairs and the world and a thing. Never mind!
Gunn: Apparently, you can be outside and chuck stuff in
Lorne: I just said that

Firefly
Mal: Zoe, why do I have a wife?
Jayne: You got a wife? All I got is that dumbass stick, sounds like its raining. How come you got a wife?

Dollhouse
Topher: I am obsolete. This must be what old people feel like…and Blockbuster

The Vampire Diaries
Tyler: Look, there’s Elena and her new boyfriend. Oh, what are they doing? Oh, they’re walking…walking…walking…yup, right into the sunset.

Veronica Mars
Veronica Voiceover: I think we all learned a valuable lesson about faith. You give it to the people you love. But the people who really deserve it are the ones who come through even when you don't love them enough.

REAL PEOPLE:
"During your life, everything you do and everyone you meet rubs off in some way. Some bit of everything you experience stays with everyone you’ve ever known, and nothing is lost. That’s what’s eternal, these little specks of experience in a great, enormous river that has no end." --Harriet Doerr

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen.” --Conan O’Brien

“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” --Robert Byrne

“We should never separate the lives we live from the words we speak. To me, the most important goal is to live a life consistent with the values I hold dear and to act on what I believe in.” --Senator Paul Wellstone


I usually save things that make me laugh or make me think or mirror things I am feeling at the time. It is one of the many reasons that I love my DVR because as soon as I hear a line that I want to save I can rewind it as many times as I need to get the words right.

I am not really sure why I keep the lists, I guess it just gives me something to do :o)

xoxo
c

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"The world would be a better place if more people weren't afraid to lose."

I apologize in advance if this blog is kind of all over the place. I have been watching lots of different stuff and this is the first post I have written in a while. I promise I will try harder to be more focused and write more often.

So here we go...

I have finally watched The Godfather: Part Three. It creeped me out a little that Sofia Coppolla had a kissing scene, that I almost thought was leading into a sex scene, in a movie directed by her father. And I was right about the movie not wowing me. I still do not understand the obsession with these movies. However, I have now watched them all, so no one can give me a hard time about not seeing them :o)

On my continuing quest to see everything Bradley Cooper, I have watched Jack & Bobby (which I discovered OnDemand and then on theWB.com), The Comebacks and New York, I Love You (which is in theaters right now).

New York, I Love You was a combination of several vignettes about love in New York City. I thought it was very interesting and had a stellar cast. Along with Bradley Cooper, it also starred Robin Wright, Natalie Portman (who also wrote and directed one of the segments), Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Shia LaBeouf, Ethan Hawke, James Caan, Andy Garcia and many, many more. The stories were separate yet interwoven throughout the film, some were sad, some were happy, but they all were true to life. I think it is definitely worth seeing.

The Comebacks was one of the worst movies I have ever seen and that is all I will say about that.

Jack & Bobby was a great show and I am sad that I did not get to watch it while it was on TV. It was really well written and very entertaining. Although, I have to admit my absolute favorite part of every episode is actually the opening credits - the theme from The Patriot, written by John Williams, paired with clips of famous presidential speeches - you really cannot go wrong with that combo. I turn up the volume every time to listen to it and never fast forward through it. It sounds corny but maybe you need to watch it to understand:



Another cool fact is that executive producer, Greg Berlanti, is now one of the the executive producers for Brothers & Sisters and I noticed several similarities between the two shows. I don't think it is a coincidence that the main character on Jack & Bobby was a kid named Robert "Bobby" McCallister who grows up to be a Republican Senator and then goes on to be President, and Rob Lowe's character on B&S is named Robert McCallister, who is a Republican Senator who wants to be President. Plus, Logan Lerman looks like he could be Rob Lowe's little brother. Love it! :o)

I think Bradley Cooper should do more projects like Jack & Bobby and less projects like The Comebacks, but that's just my humble opinion.

I also watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail last week. The Monty Python boys are always funny, however, I found I enjoyed Life of Brian more than the Holy Grail, mostly because during this one, I pretty much had no idea what they were talking about half the time :o) I tend to prefer their shorts as they are much easier to follow..."I always wanted to be a lumberjack!" Maybe I just need to watch the movie again.

There are now 219 movies in my Netflix queue...I MAY have added a few more since my lost post...but I am still slowly working my way down :o)

In the world of television, I have become increasingly obsessed with The Vampire Diaries. As you may remember (http://ayetortuga.blogspot.com/2009/08/when-youre-wearing-pantyhose-on-your.html) I was not super excited about this show before it started, but I am a sucker for hot vampires, so I watched. The first few episodes were good, so I kept watching, and now the episodes just seem to be getting better and better each week. Then they had to go and add Matthew Davis to the cast (think Warren from Legally Blonde or Matt Tollman from Blue Crush) as the new history teacher, Alaric Saltzman, so now I'm officially hooked.

I am also loving new USA Network show, White Collar. Matthew Bomer plays a white-collar criminal who makes a deal with the FBI to let him out of jail if he helps them catch other white-collar criminals. It is funny and extremely entertaining, and I am only slightly biased since a friend of mine is doing the marketing for the show ;o) The only downside is that it is on Fridays at 10pm, which is where my DVR comes in super handy.

I could not get into Cougar Town or Eastwick (which has now been canceled). I also stopped watching Modern Family. I thought the first couple episodes were funny, but I just have not been able to get into it. I watch enough television, so I think it is okay if I skip this one. I also stopped watching Flash Forward and never even started watching V because I decided I just was not interested in them.

Ugly Betty, Dollhouse, NCIS and Castle are having AMAZING seasons. Sadly though, the stupid FOX Network has already canceled Dollhouse, just as it was hitting it's stride, because viewership has been too low. But what do you expect when you put a show on Friday nights two seasons in a row and have it's lead in be totally unrelated sit-coms?!

Anyways, that's what I have been up to while currently unemployed. If you agree/disagree with anything I have said, feel free to leave comments below. I am really going to try to write more often, so stay tuned!

xoxo
c

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

I know I'll probably get yelled at a lot, but I am going to say this anyway, I don't really understand what the big deal is about The Godfather.

The first Godfather movie was well done...excellent acting and interesting story...but long. The second movie also had excellent acting and it was interesting to see the two stories side by side but was ridiculously too long and I ended up watching it in several sittings. Also, sometimes it was hard to follow what was going on. It must be a boy thing because I just totally don't understand why people are OBSESSED with these movies. Am I missing something? I mean, they were good, but I was definitely not blown away by them at all.

I prefer Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman or Angels in America.

I still have to watch the third one, but have heard it is not as good as the first two.

In between the Godfathers, I also watched The Soloist and Taken.

The Soloist had Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx and was good. I don't remember this getting very good reviews when it came out, so my expectations were pretty low, however, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a touching story and both actors gave awesome performances. I have not seen very many of Jamie Foxx's movies but I love Robert Downey Jr. My favorite Downey movie is Heart & Soul but I also loved him in Ally McBeal, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man. I am super excited about Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man 2.

Taken was pretty cool, action-wise, but did not excite me very much. Liam Neeson was totally bad-ass and I think the movie would have been worse without him, I just think the plot needed a little bit more...I really know what...just more of something. Maybe it was a movie better seen in theaters, but I just could not really get into it. I am looking forward more to seeing Neeson as Hannibal in The A-Team next June.

In the world of television, my DVR is definitely getting a work-out this year. I am loving new shows Accidentally on Purpose, Glee and The Vampire Diaries. NCIS: LA has been pretty good but not quite as good as the original. Last weeks Grey's Anatomy was probably the best one in a long time and Dollhouse has just been getting better and better as the season goes on.

Unemployment is helping me get through my Netflix queue and stay up-to-date on my TV shows. If only I had time to look for a job! Joking. I am capable of multi-tasking :o)

I have gotten my queue down to 215 and after watching the final Godfather movie I will move on to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I will also be watching my Philadelphia Phillies in the WORLD SERIES!!! Keeping my fingers crossed for a repeat championship :o)

xoxo
c