In case you've been hiding under a rock labeled "dreary and boring real life" and you'd want to escape into TV-landia, here are thirty highly recommended stops you should include in your itinerary. Enumerating 1,000 TV places may just be more suited for a book, not a blog entry.

Road Trip Needs:
1. Work Bench in Washington State - Wish to buy some outdoor gear for your cross-country trip? Sam Oliver and his lazy pals Sock and Ben can help you out.
2. Buy More in California - Your iPod or celphone suddenly acting up while you're on the road? Chuck Bartowski and the Nerd Herd are ready to serve.

Accommodations:
3. The Dragonfly Inn in Stars Hollow, Connecticut - I'm sure Michel will have a cozy room ready for you. The food's amazing courtesy of Sookie!
4. Kent Farm in Smallville, Kansas - I hear the view of the sunset from the Kent barn is breathtaking.
5. Any house in the town of Jericho, Kansas - I wouldn't expect much. The town's low on supplies and high on crime rate.
6. Walker Residence in Los Angeles, California - Just remember, you have to stay for family dinner!
7. Cohen Residence in Orange County, California - Bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, anyone?
8. Agrestic in Los Angeles California - Oops! Little boxes on the hillside were burned to the ground.

Breakfast & Snacks:
9. Luke's Diner in Stars Hollow, Connecticut - Hot coffee and the Gilmore Girls -- what better way to start your day!
10. Central Perk in New York City - If some weird blonde girl's singing something about a stinking cat or if a goodlooking Italian guy asks you how you're doing, then you're in the right place.
11. Karen's Cafe in Tree Hill, North Carolina - You might just catch Gavin DeGraw or Sheryl Crow performing. But I think they've converted this to a clothing store.
12. The Pie Hole - Where pies are to die for!

Nightcap:
13. Tric in Tree Hill, North Carolina - The Wreckers, Jimmy Eat World, Kate Voegele, and Fall Out Boy are but a few of the artists that have performed here.
14. McLaren's Bar in New York City - People say this place is legen... wait for it... dary!
15. Stuckeybowl in Stuckeyville, Ohio - The lanes are good. The legal services are even better.
16. Crane, Poole, & Schmidt Law Office balcony in Boston - Don't forget to bring scotch and cigars!
17. Local bar beneath Cage, Fish, & Associates in Boston - Barry White, Josh Groban, Vonda Shepard, Macy Gray, or Elton John will sing your blues away.

Guided Tours:
18. CSI Lab in Las Vegas - If you're into toxicology, DNA, blood splatter, fingerprint, and trace analysis...
19. Sunnydale High in Sunnydale, California - Its library boasts of a huge literary collection on demonology and witchcraft. Oh, and it stands just above the mouth of Hell itself.
20. Neptune High in Neptune, California - There's one particular chick you absolutely have to meet... especially when you need to track someone down.
21. CTU Field Office in Los Angeles, California - People with heart conditions may not enter the premises.
22. Daily Planet Office in Metropolis - Chloe Sullivan will fill you in with the goings-on with the non-brief-over-legging-wearing superhero.
23. Dunder Mifflin Branch Office in Scranton, Pennsylvania - Don't leave your valuables lying around. You might just find them inside a plate of jelly.
24. Fox River State Penitentiary in Illinois - This part of the tour was more exciting two years ago prior to the escape of the infamous "Fox River Eight".

Medical Needs (Places you need to see in case you are actually dying):
25. Dr. Brown's clinic in Everwood, Colorado - The renowned neurosurgeon-turned-family-doctor also has remedies for aches of the heart.
26. Sacred Heart Hospital in San DiFrangeles, California - Indeed, laughter is the best medicine.
27. Seattle Grace Hospital in Seattle, Washington - Rumor has it a hot neurosurgeon was recently seen inside an elevator with his ex-wife, neurotic ex-girlfriend, and nurse girlfriend.
28. The Oceanside Group Bldg. in Santa Monica, California - They provide alternative health care and a more personal and holistic medical service.
29. Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey - When all else fails, look for Dr. Gregory House. I liked this place better before they hired the new residents.

30. Fisher & Sons Funeral Home in California - Now, this is the most important TV place you need to see before you die. The Fishers, aside from having dysfunctional issues, have a wide array of caskets and urns one can choose from.

So there you have it -- 30 TV places to see before you die. I really wanted to include that popular mysterious South Pacific island on this list, but I'm afraid there's no coming back from that one.

What are you still doing there reading this entry? Go get your chips, and have a safe trip!

LAST UPDATED: 05/01/2008

A. GENERAL GUIDELINES

1. Supplementary Guidelines
2. Comments Section
3. Copy/Paste Material
4. Spelling and Grammar
5. Formatting
6. Hyperlinks
7. Rejections
8. Trusted Contributors
9. Other Contributions
10. Open Communication

B. SPECIFIC GUIDELINES

1. Person Summary
2. Trivia
3. Quotes

C. FINAL WORDS


A. GENERAL GUIDELINES:

1. Supplementary Guidelines. Consider the guidelines below as an addendum to the existing TV.com Person Submission Guidelines (PSG) and TV.com's article on Star Trivia. Although the guidelines indicated by TV.com are for submitting new material to editorless person guides, I will apply those to submission of edits, deletions, and additions to all the person guides I edit. Any clarification and additional specific rules can be found here. If a question on your potential submission does not fall under TV.com PSG, the Star Trivia article, or the guidelines here, please PM me before proceeding with your submission.

2. Comments Section.

• Source. Always provide a verifiable source for the information you are adding, changing, or deleting. Write down the full URL for online sources. Wikipedia as a primary source will not be accepted.
• For Edits and Deletions. Indicate exactly what you are doing and why. (Ex. replacing broken hyperlink, closing italics tag, combining related trivia, deleting false info as per verifiable source, deleting duplicate entry, etc.)

3. Copy/Paste Material. Use your own words when submitting trivia and biographies. If the bulk of at least one sentence can be found on another site using a search engine, the submission will be rejected (as per PSG).

4. Spelling and Grammar. Any mistake in spelling and grammar will be subject to rejection. There are several ways to check spelling and grammar (i.e. Microsoft Word, browser plug-ins, online resources, etc.).

5. Formatting. Always use the existing format on the guide you are contributing to. If there is an inconsistency in the format on the guide, use the more commonly-used format on that guide, and either inform me of the inconsistency via PM or make the necessary edits to the inconsistently-formatted blurbs. In general, these are the formatting rules that I follow:

• Italicized. Titles of movies, theatrical productions, TV shows, music albums, magazines, periodicals, newspapers, books, video games, and context for quotes
• Bolded. Person's name in quotes (excluding the colon)
• In Quotation Marks. Song titles, episode titles, magazine/newspaper/online articles, poems, and all titles found in the context for quotes
• Hard Returns. These are to be used only for separating paragraphs in biographies (two hard returns between paragraphs) and in formatting for trivia lists such as awards, favorites, and list rankings. Any submission with a hard return other than indicated above will be subject to rejection.
• Extra Spaces. Any submission which contains extra spaces between words and/or sentences will be subject to rejection.

6. Hyperlinks. If you decide to include a hyperlink (with the full URL) in your submission, make sure it is accurate and uses only the CNet sites indicated below:

• Movie Titles – www.movietome.com
• TV Show Titles – www.tv.com
• Episode Titles – www.tv.com
• Person Guides – www.tv.com
• Music Album Titles – www.mp3.com

7. Rejections. Any rejection will be accompanied by a rejection PM stating why the submission is denied (ex. Incorrect format. See Supplemental Person Submission Guidelines (General Guidelines, Item No.5) in Person Guide Forum). Ignorance of these guidelines is not an excuse. In cases where a submission does not comply with the guidelines and still gets approved, one of two things may have happened:

• I mistakenly clicked the Approve button instead of the Reject button. This is a very rare occurrence. Consider it a freebie. I may need to edit or delete the wrongly approved submission.
• I intentionally edited the submission (especially when a minor error exists) to comply with the guidelines. However, DO NOT expect this will always be the case nor use the particular case to argue a subsequent rejection for a similar scenario. Any submission which does not comply with the guidelines is always subject to rejection. An approval in this scenario must not be viewed as inconsistency in my moderation process. It is an extension of courtesy on my part to the contributor.

If you do not receive any PM accompanying the rejection, the site may be experiencing a glitch with the automatic PM system. Treat any rejection as a way to improve your future submissions. Often, rejections are received due to ignorance of policies, refusal to follow guidelines, or careless mistakes. Always double-check your submission before hitting the Submit button.

8. Trusted Contributors. I give out trusted status to users. You do not need to ask me for it if I think you deserve it. A maximum of two trusted users is allowed. A retired editor can be assigned trusted status as long as he/she is not banned and he/she is among the Top 5 contributors in the guide.

9. Other Contributions. There are other means to contribute to a guide aside from submitting person summaries, trivia, or quotes. You can always submit informative news links, open interesting and relevant discussions in the forums, or make reviews about the person.

10. Open Communication. For any questions, suggestions, comments, and/or complaints, please feel free to PM me anytime. Except for extended days when I will be unable to check my queue and inbox (as will be indicated in a blog entry and in the Editor Special Circumstances Thread in the Ask the Editors Forum Board), you can expect a reply within two (2) days of sending your PM. Of course, this is barring any technical bug the site is experiencing during that time.

B. SPECIFIC GUIDELINES

1. Person Summary.

• Follow the rules as stated in the TV.com Person Submission Guidelines.
• Birth Place. Do not abbreviate. Submit complete birth place (when available) in the following format: town/county/city, province/state, country.
• Alias. When adding an alias, click Add link beside the field before hitting the Submit button.
• Preview. The preview does not always work. Sometimes, it will not show you hard returns or extra spaces. Always copy the biography prior to previewing. Sometimes the changes disappear when you go "Back to Form" after previewing.
• For Groups/Bands. The only fields which may be edited are gender (for all-male or all-female groups), alias (if they are known or credited for any other name), and biography. Please do not fill in any of the other fields in the form.
• Biography. Unless the change is a correction in formatting, spelling, and/or grammar, please PM me prior to submitting a new or edited biography. Approving or rejecting biographical material is a very subjective decision, and I would require the contributor to contact me first before making the submission.
• Discography. The list of released albums (excludes singles released) is found in the biography. Do not add an album prior to its release. Do not submit album information as trivia. Do not submit track listings.

2. Trivia. I will just reiterate that although the TV.com Person Submission Guidelines apply to new material submitted to editorless person guides, I've adopted those to apply for new material submissions and edits in the guides I handle as well.
Additional guidelines:

• Existing Related Material. Always check if the information you are submitting is related to an existing trivia blurb. If it is, edit that particular blurb to incorporate your new information (ex. physical description, movie appearances not listed in movietome, theatrical credits, magazine cover appearances, awards & nominations, favorites, etc.). These may appear as lists or in sentence form.
• Duplicate Entry. Always check if the information you are submitting already exists (rephrased or exactly the same) on the guide (either as Trivia, as part of the biography, or in the form of a Quote).
• Lists. Sometimes, the guide contains lists such as Awards & Nominations, Favorites, and/or List Rankings (ex. FHM 100 Sexiest Women, Maxim's Hot 100, etc.). Follow the existing format when adding similar information.
• Numbers. Please follow these submission tips on "Numbers and You" when submitting trivia with numbers in them.

3. Quotes.

• Format. Again, the hard rule is to follow the existing format on the guide. If the context is found after the colon (which is always the case except for guides which have been passed on from retired editors), format your quote the same way. If the bolded person name is only his/her first name, then do not submit a quote with a bolded full name.
• Quoted Titles in Context. Unless formatted differently on the guide, please place titles found within the quote's context in quotation marks ("") to separate the title from the rest of the italicized context.
• Italicized Context. Context for quotes must be placed inside parenthesis. Include the parenthesis within the italics tags.
• Duplicate Entry. Always check if the information you are submitting already exists on the guide (either as a Quote or in the form of Trivia).
• Source. If the source of the quote is an online video interview (ex. youtube), please provide the timestamp on when the specific words were said. If a time indicator is not available on the video, please provide an estimate (ex. 1/3 into the interview, towards the end of the interview, etc.)
• Number of Quotes. TV.com has set a ceiling on the number of quotes that can be submitted to an editorless guide to ten (10). I've set mine to fifteen (15). If you think your potential quote submission is more interesting and/or more up-to-date, PM me first before replacing any existing quote.

C. FINAL WORDS

If in case I left out an item which you have a question about, please do not hesitate to contact me thru PM. Read through the guide you wish to submit to in order to get a feel of what is acceptable and what is not. These guidelines may change as TV.com policies change or if issues not previously covered arise. Kindly check these guidelines on a regular basis. On top of the page, you will find the date on when these guidelines were last updated. Good luck and happy contributing!

BACK TO TOP

I got to watch this great foreign (Spanish) film (El Orfanato, translated as The Orphanage). It's supposed to be a suspense-thriller, but except for a couple of peek-between-my-fingers moments, I found it as more of a family drama. A friend on the site recommended the movie and compared it to The Others. I'd recommend it to anyone too and it's so much better than the Nicole Kidman thriller.

The story is about a couple who adopted a terminally-ill boy (Simon) and who was planning on restoring and operating an old orphanage not far away from the sea. Simon can see and talks to "invisible friends", but his parents don't listen to him until something that happened during a party changed her mother's beliefs.

When a movie uses objects/elements like a big old house, creepy dolls, a dark cave, a broken lighthouse, and eerie noises, you're sure to get your dose of scares and suspense. But more than being a ghost story, El Orfanato is ultimately a tale of a mother's undying love for her son.

Since we're into the topic of orphanages and adoptions, I'll throw in my latest adoptions into this blog entry. At least half of these faces may be familiar to you from their regular roles on TV.

• Donald Faison. Turk in Scrubs. Murray in Clueless.
• Eddie Kaye Thomas. Jeff in Til Death. Finch in American Pie.
• Gina Holden. Patricia Swann in Smallville.
• John Krasinski. Jim in The Office. Lancelot in Shrek the Third.
• Jorge Garcia. Hurley in Lost.
• Keeley Hazell. in the Top 3 of FHM's Hottest Women List (2006-2008).
• Lauren Cohan. Bela in Supernatural.
• Sean Gunn. Kirk in Gilmore Girls. Rooster in October Road.
• Terry O'Quinn. John Locke in Lost. Dir. Kendall in Alias.

In a totally unrelated matter, my doctor friend (dunno if you still remember her from my previous blogs), let's just call her Keira, is in Maryland right now. She and her neurology resident partner are reporting on a paper which will be published in the American Heart Association Journal.

Anyway, it's one of the papers I helped her with. Though obviously I couldn't help her with the medical aspect of her report (my knowledge of the medical field extends as far as my understanding of House, Grey's Anatomy, and Scrubs medical cases), I did all the charts and tables (on Excel) for their statistical analysis. As small as a contribution that may be, I'm still proud and glad that their work made it to one of the prestigious publications in medicine. Keira will be back this Sunday, hopefully with some treats for me and our friends.

That's all from me today. Have a great day, people!