TV.com

show: Life On Mars

The Bottom Line: "Superb"

Yes, NBC's ill-fated Journeyman looked much the same, but having been a fan of all 13 episode of that show and now this one, I find Life on Mars is unique in its own right. Considering it was adapted from the 2006-7 British series of the same name and premise, it's certainly not a rip-off of Journeyman.

First of all, I'd like this show a whole lot more if I knew what the hell was going on...then again, maybe that's why I like it so much to begin with. I do, however, thoroughly enjoy this series, inside and out. The cast is one of the most charming and witty I've experienced on network television and Sam's story is intriguing at the very least. ABC seems to like it as well, putting it behind their highest rated scripted show, Grey's (though it moves behind their next highest rated show, Lost, in January). I can't wait for its return next year!

show: The Office

episode: Weight Loss

The Bottom Line: "Perfect"

Top 10 favorite moments of the premiere:
10. The obesity speech. Michael to Angela: "If you gain weight, you will die." Michael, continued: "I'm asking each of you to lose five pounds. That, plus Jim's 65, gives us a very good chance of winning this thing." What does Jim weigh? Probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 165.
9. Oscar/Holly gay/lesbians exchange. Oscar's great. "What's the joke?" "Oh, you think it's a choice."
8. Andy. "Every little boy fantasizes about his fairy tale wedding." "That's where my parents decided NOT to get divorced." "I'll marry you in the eye of a hurricane, in the middle of a snowstorm, on the top of a monsoon."
7. Michael didn't have sex for 28 years...and then again for 7 years.
6. Dwight tricking Phyllis. Not so much that he pushed her out of the car and made her walk five miles, but that he first bargained for a 60-40 commission split on his fake "two-man job, sure-fire sale".
5. Jim/Michael "Holly's butt" exchange in/near restroom. What has Michael learned about Holly? Among other things, that "her but refuuuses to quit!"
4. Holly learning Kevin is in fact NOT retarded. "But...Dwight...said..."
3. The first weigh in. From Dwight distributing last minute eclairs (telling none other than his "monkey" to "Hold it in your mouth if you can't swallow") to Kevin thinking Pam weighs 226 lbs. "Math is haaard." "Yeah."
2. Jim's proposal! Total squee!! moment! I honestly didn't see that coming. I took Jim on his word that they weren't getting engaged for at least three months! I guess we were supposed to be just as unassuming as Pam.
1. Wet, smiling Jim. :D Need I say more?

Top 10 most awkward moments of the Season 5 premiere:
10. Michael giving Jim condoms. Reason: "I don't want you to end up with a surprise pregnancy, like me."
9. The goatees. Now you see them, now you don't. "We are the goatie-less brothers." Cut to Dwight's scraggly-looking facial hair.
8. Michael leaning in to kiss Pam goodbye. It was awkward the first time. Still is.
7. Andy's "Ange-ella" theme set to Rhianna's "Umbrella".
6. Dwight and the bug spray. Did I miss something? What was his goal?
5. Dwight obliterating Stanley's birthday cheesecake. You can see the other actors trying their hardest not to crack.
4. Michael ripping up Holly's tickets like a bully. Michael's entire non-pursuit of Holly was uncomfortable to watch, but this was the most cringe-worthy moment of them all.
3. Holly & Michael rapping. "Wicka wicka wicka wha?" is right.
2. Michael Klump. If Michael Scott makes people feel uneasy during his usual "motivational speeches", how does his "making fun of fat people character" make people feel?
1. Ryan returning...as receptionist. Aside from the priceless "I don't need a judge to tell me to keep my community clean" moment with Jim, he was bland, uninteresting, and forgettable as usual.

show: Grey's Anatomy

episode: Dream a Little Dream of Me

The Bottom Line: "Superb"

Beginning: Weird. End: Weird.

I get that the title of this episode was "Dream a Little Dream of Me," but come on, Shonda. Mer dreams of Derek's death? I thought this was going to be Meredith standing on that hill top with the dimming candles going through scenarios of why Derek wasn't back yet. Instead, Shonda didn't really clue us in as to how exactly that went down and I was a little disappointed. As for the end. I'm still perplexed as to what that Izzie/Denny scene was all about. Shonda really needs to overcome her JDM syndrome (although, I do get it). Those two scenes on top of the elderly Mer & Cristina scene had me scratching my head, wondering what our dear Ms. Rhimes was "on" while writing this ep.

Overall, I think the show is starting to gain back its charm. By the end of the two hours I felt like I had just watched a brand new show. The writing felt different. The usual connections between the medical cases and personal lives seemed different, if not incomprehensible. It seems like Shonda & co. are attempting to start over. Meredith and Derek are starting over by living together (?). George is starting over by showing no interest in becoming romantically involved with his roommate. Cristina is starting over (hopefully) with the (soon-to-be?) new guy who I am going to call "McSo". Alex is starting over by going back to his old womanizing ways. And Izzie thought she was starting over by believing in Alex's humanity, but came up short by no fault of her own.

Bravo to casting for giving Kevin McKidd a job on good television (I was devastated with the cancellation of "Journeyman"!). Please, please, PLEASE (!!!!!!!) keep him around for a VERY long time! I mean, seriously, his last name begins with "Mc"-- hello? Destiny?!

show: The Tudors

episode: Episode 2-10

The Bottom Line: "Perfect"

As always, spectacular acting all around. Anne's execution didn't "move" me as much as Thomas More's, but I'm partial to Jeremy Northam, and probably the reasons for which More was even more unjustly executed. That's not to say Natalie Dormer's performance was anything less than moving and sympathetic. I was always back and forth with Anne. I favored her over Katherine for about the first half of season 1. When Anne turned for the worst and sought to destroy the Queen, I no longer sympathized with Boleyn. But these last few episodes, taking into consideration Anne's apparent innocence on all charges (if I understood them correctly), I once again felt for her. I think the scene in which Thomas Boleyn is leaving the castle/tower and looks back and up at his imprisoned daughter almost apathetically completely humanized Anne for me. It brought me back to the realization that she was not the cancer in the King's court, it was her father. Anne was merely the tumor Thomas and George Boleyn had planted there to manipulate howsoever they pleased. It made me sad for her that Henry VIII & Co. either didn't realize it or refused to accept it in the end. Charles (Henry Cavill) had the best line in the episode that summed up practically the whole season, to Thomas Boleyn, "Was it all worth it?" That was exactly the question on my mind when the inquisition started a few episodes back. The elder Boleyn has been my least favorite character since day one. I was sad to know he lived, but relieved to know he was reduced to nearly a lowly peasant.