I missed the premiere but it didn't matter. This week's second episode was just as gripping, and, in fact, recapped a lot of the first. Things got all nicely wrapped up at the end and made me ready for a new season of new drama.

John Stamos is one going to be a significant part of all that and I think it's okay by me. At first I was little jarred to see "uncle Jesse" as a paramedic on ER but by the end of the epoisode his character was really working for me.

Sally Field was a special guest again and it looks like she'll be popping in and out more this season, but I'm not so excited about that. Her character is super annoying (she plays it well) and I just feel like that drama gets a little too much play when there is so much else going on. We'll see how the show handles the balance.

They've left room for some new relationships and possibly even more new characters, but I'm not making any predictions just yet. No matter what happens, this season of ER is on my DO NOT MISS list. Thank goodness... I was afraid I would really have to start watching Grey's Anatomy.

- Judianne

Tonight's the kind of TV night I would have been stressing about back in the day. I'll be in Philly tonight for a concert, and it so happens that Thursdays are a busy TV night for me.  It's all good, though, because I don't even need to rush around setting anything up - all the stuff I care about is already on "season record."

It's funny just how quickly the DVR became an essential part of my TV watching habits.  The other day Judianne said something about flipping back and forth between two shows and I cringed.  I haven't lost a minute of a show I wanted to watch in months, and here she is talking about simultaneously watching shows by just tuning in for bits at a time. Blasphemy! I almost wept.

So I'll have a nice set of stuff to watch over the weekend when I'd normally be complaining about nothing being on TV. See? The DVR solves so many problems.

    -Tucker

I have officially hit TV nerd rock bottom.  It shames me to admit this, absolutely shames me...  But last night I watched a show on HDNet called Nothing But Trailers.  It's exactly what it sounds like: a 30-minute show that shows nothing but movie trailers.  I watched it, so help me god...  I watched it.

...and I liked it.

I know, I know, it's sad. There was just something mesmerizing about it.  They were all in full HD resolution with really awesome surround sound.  I have no interest in the movie Flyboys whatsoever, but I was riveted by the trailer - my neighbors must have thought the terrorists were attacking my living room, the explosions and gunfire were so awesome-sounding.

I also got to see a few trailers for movies I hadn't heard of yet, and I have to say it looks like there's some good stuff coming up.  Now, I'm not saying I'm going to become a regular watcher of this strange TV show, but it's definitely a cool way to get caught up on what movies are coming out. Here's a quick rundown of some of the trailers I saw with quick impressions:

Rocky Balboa - So they removed the Roman numerals from the title, but I am going to dare say it looks better than I thought it would. Looks like it has a new "running up the stairs" scene, so it might be worth seeing just for that.

Stranger Than Fiction - Wow, this one with Will Ferrell playing a guy with a narrator's voice in his head looks hilarious. There's nothing like watching him absolutely freak out, and it looks like we'll get plenty of it in this flick.

Eragon - Why, why, why is an actor of the caliber of John Malkovich in a generic "evil king/dragon" movie? This looks like it could be any other film with big, scaly, flying beasts. He has other projects in the works, why do this pile of crap?

Ghost Rider - I thought this movie with Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze was looking pretty awesome.  For about two seconds.  The ghostly motorcycle looked pretty sweet, and then my jaw dropped when I saw the worst computer graphics ever on the Rider himself. Seriously, it looks like it was done in 1983. They would have done better to use models or something, because this looks so hilariously awful there really aren't any words to do it justice.

The Pursuit Of Happyness - Will Smith plays a dad trying to get a Wall Street internship while homeless and broke. At first it looked like a cheesefest, but it looks like Smith does a damn respectable acting job. It might actually be interesting to watch, and they're definitely shooting for Oscars.

A Good Year - Speaking of Oscars, apparently Ridley Scott hearts Russell Crowe because they're teaming up again for this one about an Englishman who inherits a vineyard in France. It doesn't look overwhelmingly interesting, but I guarantee you'll be hearing "nominated for this" and "nominated for that" in a few months.

That's not all the ones I saw, and the saddest part is I tuned in to the 30-minute show late.  Good lord, if I keep doing this I hope someone smacks me in the face to snap me out of it.

    -Tucker

I was torn yesterday (being one of the few dorks that doens't have a DVR or the skills to use an existing VCR - I know, I know... that's another topic) over two TV shows I wanted to watch at the same time: Gilmore Girls and House.

Well, it turned out I was worried for nothing because I didn't get to watch either. A family issue and two back-to-back long phonecalls meant that I spent my evening in the back room pacing and trying to get a word in while my microwave dinner got cold.

UGH! So is anyone has reviews about these two shows from last night, post them in the comments so I can catch up.

- Judianne

Oh man, I'm saying this a little early, but this show looks like it's going to make a place on my favorites list. The scene with the clock ("yeah, but how did it *know*??") was hilarious. I haven't really watched a lot of Sorkin - and I'm pretty sure this is one of his signature things - but I found the long cuts absolutely outstanding. TV and movies have become so seizure-inducing with their quick cuts and angle switches that it's sad when a nice, long, unbroken scene stands out so much. Props to the director, I was very impressed with the cinematography, and that's something I typically don't even think about when watching a TV show.

I almost want to not like the show in the face of all the overwhelming praise it's gotten, but very rarely does a show completely live up to the hype. I'm kind of miffed about being on the bandwagon and all about the "trendy new show everyone's talking about," but I am - it's just too good to dislike out of spite.

    -Tucker

I wasn't feeling so great this weekend, so my Sunday consisted of planting myself on the couch and not moving at all.  Typically I would have popped in some DVDs for such an occasion, but as it happened I decided to flip around my HD channels.

I don't typically watch a lot of sports, but for some reason I was glued to the TV.  Maybe it was the alluring glow of the HD, maybe it was the medicine, but I was bouncing between various football and baseball games all day.  It was awesome, and I was enormously entertained.  There were a few rare occasions when all three or four channels were in commercials at the same time - I used those opportunities as bathroom/food breaks.

I don't know if I'll be turning into a sports nut any time soon, but I do know for the time being I'll probably be watching nothing else on Sundays.  It works out pretty well, because that means there's something to watch all day right up until it's time for Simpsons/Family Guy. If only all days had enough worthwhile TV to watch...

    -Tucker

Last night's new episode of Flavor Of Love caught up with Flav on two double dates - one with Krazy and Delishis and one with Bootz and New York. He ended up between the sheets with Delishis and New York (not at the same time although that's not a reach for this show), and Bootz got the boot in the end.

So, now it's down to three... two of which have seriously unstable mental issues (Krazy and New York). It's an easy choice from my perspective but he'll probably pick Krazy instead of Delishis just because he's Flav. What a loser. (I'm talking about Flav, not me for watching the show, just to clarify).

- Judianne

Toward the end of last season, I was getting a little disillusioned with Grey's Anatomy. Last night's premiere didn't make me feel any better.  I know the soap opera, romance crap is one of the big draws for the show, but that's become pretty much the only thing they focus on anymore.  I mean, that stuff used to always be there, but at least there was cool medical shit going on too.

Last night's episode had basically no hospital stuff.  There was the little story with Alex and Addison and the baby, but that was all.  I did like the flashbacks, since they help round out the characters' backstories a little (who was that chick Burke was macking on?) - but outside that I just wanted to change the channel.

I want to see another episode where, yeah, Meredith is mooning over Derek, but at the same time she's holding a live grenade. Or George pines for her attention while he's doing open heart surgery in the elevator.  Izzie can go spoon with a dead guy if she wants, but do it off screen and wearing normal close for god's sake.  Ugh.

Hopefully the rest of the season will get better, or I'm going to have a little extra free time on Thursdays.

    -Tucker

I was watching the hour pre-premiere show for Grey's Anatomy last night where they basically showed all the highlights from last season. I wasn't really following since I didn't watch last season but when they got to the one episode I did see, I knew the end was near, but there was more than I thought. Apparently the episode I saw was in fact NOT the season finale - there was another episode after that one that I completely missed. After trying to figure it all out and then watching the first 10 minutes of the new season, I just gave up. Too much soap opera drama to figure out. It's not a show I can just jump in and out on so I guess it's getting scratched from my list of Thursday night watching. Oh well - I had too much else to watch on Thursday anyway with Surivor, ER and The Office.

- Judianne

The new CW is finally here after all that hype. Personally, I'm not sure many people will really notice. It's just WB with a new look and a few new shows - all that matters is that we still have "7th Heaven" and "Gilmore Girls" and now it's got "America's Next Top Model."

I watched the entire two hours of last night ANTM premiere and I have to say that after all that I am starting to hate Tyra Banks. But I still enjoy the show so I'll be watching. The two-hour event went through the first couple rounds of cuts. First they cut the group in half (or maybe more) to make it 12 girls living in the house. Then, the first photo shoot was an outdoor nude session (interesting). Then another shoot the model stereotypes theme (lame). By the end of the second hour, the first model got the boot (Christian - pictured here). It doesn't really matter who it was at this point since I didn't really have enough time to come to any real conclusions about any of them yet... except... Monique is "the bitch," Melrose is "the idiot" and Jaeda could be a man. That's all I'm going to say about that... for now.

- Judianne