Sunday reading

... So we just returned from a run to Target where we looked at an amusing number of greeting cards that dealt with farting.

All things considered, it's been a good weekend. Temperatures in the 40s. The rain that forecasts were predicting never came, and we had nothing but sun. Almost all of our snow is gone ...

I got out a few times this weekend -- and didn't have to wear a jacket ...

This couldn't have come sooner. I've been suffering from a serious case of cabin fever the last couple weeks.

Here's some of the stuff that caught my attention -- and kept it -- the last couple weeks ...

Sports ...
a Super Bowl XLIII best ever? Let's not get carried away ... My thoughts exactly. Last year's battle was better than this year's, hands down.
a Positive Drug Tests in Bonds Case ... Just send him away already ... Ah, but then came this.
a Verdict on Bonds is already in ... By the way, not surprised by the news about A-Rod.
a Late-blooming slugger Kent definitely deserves spot in Hall ... The above stories do make Kent's case more compelling. But then again, who can you believe these days?
a Who will be the next Rays? ... Pitchers and catchers. Aw yeah.
a Torre’s Pinstripe Tales Lure Readers on Winter Day
a Citgroup considers backing out of $400 million naming-rights deal for the Mets' new stadium ... And people wonder why banks and corporations are in trouble. Because they've been sponsoring stadiums for millions of dollars the last 10 years! Sick.
a At Citi Field, Swinging for the (Higher) Fences
a A Manny-Pedro Reunion? ... Um, awesome.
a More insight into The Yankee Years

Music ...
a Despite iTunes Accord, Music Labels Still Fret
a Adele’s voice belies her age ... I never would've guessed she's only 20.

Entertainment ...
a Rise of Citizen Dave ... Some of the reasons I've enjoyed watching David Letterman more in these later years than ever before. The show he did after 9/11 and his post-jail interview with Paris Hilton are classics.
a Ferrell's Frat-Boy 'Bush' Freshens Broadway Show
a 'Big Bang Theory' has burst into an old-school hit comedy ... Kates and I have been watching this one since the very beginning, and it's become one of our favorites on all of TV.

Politics ...
a In the Spotlight, And Seared By the Glare ... Interesting stuff about the falls of Caroline, Palin and Blago.
a In Attack on Kennedy, Echo of a Spitzer Tactic
a Tough Times at Obama Inc.

Technology ...
a Can the Cellphone Industry Keep Growing?

Media & the Internet ...
a Dumped by Facebook? 10 etiquette rules ... Good stuff sent to me from my friend Raechel ... I don't know if I'll ever understand how some people fail to 'get' these rules.
a What's behind the '25 Random Things About Me' phenomenon? ... Another story about the random facts, this time from the Boston Globe. Obviously not everyone is so keen on the idea ...
a Oh, the Random Things We Do for the Sake of Facebook ... And here's the Washington Post's take.
a How to Friend Mom, Dad, and the Boss on Facebook...Safely
a All a-Twitter: You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder why - all in 140 characters ... I'm delving slowly into Twitter, which I call Facebook on crack.
a Marina City Web site draws board's anger with slate of news, scandal
a Oprah Winfrey, the Chicago Sun-Times' biggest fan, would be its best backer
a Editors and Publishers in a Revolving Door
a Ex-Journalists’ New Jobs Fuel Debate on Favoritism ... With newspapers flat-lining and companies laying off, why wouldn't you go for some of these jobs?
a Why Television Still Shines in a World of Screens

The Onion ...
a Action Figure Fights On Despite Loss Of Dragon Sword

Life & other stuff ...
a Octuplet Mother Also Gives Birth To Ethical Debate

Ready or not, here it comes

Here it is, that time of year when the new TV season rushes over us like a wave ... We get drenched whether we're ready or not.

Monday night … I skipped out on the two-hour “Heroes” premiere so Kates and I could get our laughs with the CBS shows. Monday night’s comedy lineup: Highly recommended! “The Big Bang Theory,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “Two and a Half Men” each returned strong. And “Worst Week,” the only new show that garnered any interest from me, had Kates and I laughing non-stop. We loved it!

… It was Thursday evening before I finally got around to watching “Heroes” …

Not bad. I’ve resigned to the fact it’s never going to be as fresh and gripping as its first season, but I remain a huge fan of the show. And like “Lost,” I’m sticking with it in hopes all the questions will be answered in the end …Now, it looks like we’ve got a whole new set of villains to watch. But Sylar could be, arguably, one of the creepiest characters on television; I’m not sure he’s done.

As for the premiere … I never guessed Peter being Nathan’s assassin at the press conference (Did they reveal that at the end of last season? If they did, I missed it.) … I didn’t like the way Claire allowed herself to be so vulnerable against Sylar in her house -- really, what was she doing hiding in the closet!? … And I really didn’t like suddenly-stoked-up-on-steroids-man Dr. Suresh. And the steamy scene with Maya? C’mon.

On the bright side, I’m gonna love that new speed demon chick.

Later Thursday night, Kates and I managed to split time between “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Office” -- which seemed to take a little of the hilarity out of “The Office,” on top of the sketchy signal for our NBC affiliate. Ahh! ... We caught the first half of “Grey’s” on our DVR, then went back to watch “Office,” before catching the second half of “Grey’s.”

But, “Grey’s Anatomy?” I totally called the whole dream thing with Meredith watching Derek die on the surgical table. Blah, blah, blah. … And why the heck was it snowing?!

Aside from those developments, I thought the first 45 minutes or so of the episode were uncharacteristically low-key for “Grey’s,” especially for one of their two-hour escapades … Then Christina went and got stabbed by a falling icicle. Ah yes, that’s the over-the-top “Grey’s” we’re used to. Meredith whines about her love life until tragedy strikes in front of them, they spend an eternity watching the icicle fall without making any attempt to avoid it and then waste the next 10 minutes figuring out what to do about it …

About the second half of the episode? Christina and Big Tough Soldier Guy are so hooking up. Not digging the whole Izzie-Karev vibe. Lexie and George are going to end up just being cute friends … Callie and Hahn, on the other hand, are so hooking up. I think that’s cool ... Bernadette Peters, Mariette Hartley and Kathy Baker were welcome guests to the episode, too. (Read EW's best and worst of Season Four)

On “The Office,” the whole weight-loss contest was pretty funny. Kelly nearly starving herself to death was hilarious … Jim’s proposal to Pam in the rain was pretty sweet … But perhaps the best kick I got out of the premiere was watching Angela dial Dwight every time Andy tried to pitch to her a wedding idea … (Read EW's Season Four recap)

Coming up, we'll be all over the premieres of "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters" on Sunday night. And we're looking forward to the long-awaited return of "Pushing Daisies" on Wednesday.

Talking TV

So I haven’t been much for talking about TV this fall. Sorry.

I blame it partly on getting so wrapped up in the postseason baseball. Then, I was racing to catch up with so many shows on the DVR that I hardly had time to soak up a lot of them. And now Hollywood is in a writer’s strike that’s halting our favorite shows and there's no signs of them resuming.

I also blame it on the fact I haven’t exactly been blown away by anything I’ve been watching this fall -- at least not the way I was always blown away by the hilarity of Friends, Fraiser, Raymond or Will & Grace. Or the soaring drama, action and charm of West Wing, or the early episodes of Lost and Heroes… Which is sort of surprising because it’s a rarity I don’t really like at least a handful of the new shows ...

This year has been a rarity … I was turned off by Caveman and Carpoolers in just five minutes. We stayed with Samantha Who for two episodes before cutting that one loose. And Reaper hung around on our DVR for about three or four episodes before we dismissed that one too …

Oh, and Private Practice? Yeah. Still boycotting it.

We’ve kept up with Big Bang Theory (I do really enjoy Sheldon …) and Back To You, but those are starting to wear too … Even How I Met Your Mother and The Office seem to have lost their edge (Although I must admit the first couple episodes of this season's Office, despite being an hour long, were pretty stellar -- Angela to Dwight, referring to her cats: “I don‘t want Garbage! I want Sprinkles!” And later during their breakup: “I will leave your toothbrush on your tire.”) ... That said, 30 Rock may be the sitcom I've most enjoyed watching this fall -- and that's something I never thought I'd be saying last fall ...

If a show has any premise remotely about crime and cops, or even smells of sleaze, I'm not getting near it. I don’t care how well it’s written or produced -- I get enough of that in my every day work …

There have been some signs of TV life lately, though … mostly in Daisies, a tornado and a favorite from last season that couldn’t have returned at more appropriate time.

Yeah. So how about that tornado on Wisteria Lane last night!? Captivating at times (Lynette's scream at the end), funny at others (Edie vs Gabby; Victor vs Carlos -- I saw Victor getting pinned with that fence post a mile away), and sometimes just dumb -- No one predicts a tornado hours before it's going to hit and then prepares for it. McClusky driving up in her car and yelling to the neighbors (who were standing under a sunny sky) at 9 in the morning that a tornado had hit Mt. Pleasant and they'd better get under cover for the 4 o'clock tornado was the worst. And c'mon, aside from the Scavo clan, why was nobody worried about Julie and the rest of the kiddos!? ... If you ask me, the Halloween episode was the best so far of a season that's almost reached First Season levels. Danielle playing Bree might have been the funniest thing I've ever seen on Housewives… Still, more recent Sundays have been like watching “a very special episode” of Desperate Housewives. Between Lynette’s cancer battle, Mike’s drug user/abusive husband persona and now Andrew moving out ... Seriously.

Keeping with the Sunday night lineup, Brothers & Sisters quietly endures as the new age thirtysomething … Sally Field. Rob Lowe. Calista Flockhart. A large, beautiful California family. Wonderful plots. A good wedding. I love the dynamic Rebecca adds to the family ... If B&S lost any points with me this season, it happened when they brought in that creepy Leena to sleep with idiot Tommy ...

On to Monday nights ... Heroes didn’t start out so hot, and I was beginning to doubt my draw to the show I fell so deeply in love with last year … Ah, but the last few weeks have turned almost as stellar as the high points of last season’s fight to save the world … With every new episode, new character and new power revealed -- it’s like one giant game of rock, paper, scissors! Seriously. It's like regeneration beats electricity, which beats flight and -- you get the idea … I'm comfortably on board again. Except, now it's over for a few weeks. (Who assassinated Nathan!?!)

As for Greys Anatomy, however, I've resigned to the notion it's never going to be as good as the pre-Super-Bowl bomb-era Grey's. … Our fearless, gonna-save-the-world interns are growing up; they're not so innocent anymore. They're more cynical and mean now. And these days they appear to be more concerned with who can have the most closet sex than they are with being chummy at the cafeteria table. I miss those days ... At least Bailey finally got to be a chief.

And that leaves me with the colorful and dazzling Pushing Daisies ... Why the buzz on this show is so subdued baffles me. (Kates was slow to warm to it too, but I finally got her hooked after a couple episodes) Did I mention how colorful it is? I love the straight-on camera angles of the characters during their conversations. I love the narration. I love the idea that Ned and Chuck are so deep into each other but it's impossible for them to touch, and the way your heart sinks for them every time they get close. And I love that each episode is a 40-minute fantasa-magical who-dun-it adventure with four people I'd love to spend my days with ...


Oh, and that show that couldn't have returned at a more appropriate time? I'm talking about Notes From the Underbelly, baby! The critics can and will say what they want about it. Yeah, so it's not the greatest premise ever, but it's darn fun and cute for a young couple that's sharing the same experiences -- and I'll watch anything with Rachael Harris ...

TV talk

Ok. So I just finished cleaning off the DVR and watching the first round of premieres. This is a rare year for TV: I haven't been overly impressed or blow away with anything I've seen this time around; Or maybe I'm just becoming jaded and more picky in my old age ...

Here's a rundown of the few highlights ...

Reaper. I never would have imagined watching this one. I saw it on a what-not-to-watch list. It looked terribly cheesy. And it's on the CW. But my friend Liz said she wanted to watch it and suggested I might actually like it ... The plot revolves around Sam, a 20-something guy who works with his buds at a Home Depot-like improvement store. He discovers that his parents sold his soul to the devil after he was born and now must do the devil's work by capturing the bad guys ... It turned out, the more I watched the premiere, the more I got into it -- and the more I caught myself laughing out loud -- although I could've done without the blood and gore of the guy getting sucked up by the Zamboni. But the writing is smart, the character chemistry is charged and the hilarity of Sam having to use a Dirt Devil as his "vessel" to suck up the fire-throwing arsonist, and then having to go to the DMV /"Hell on Earth" /The Portal to turn in the vessel, was beyond comical. The icing on the cake is Tyler Labine as Sock; loved him in the dearly-departed Invasion and I think I'm gonna love him in Reaper ...

The Big Bang Theory. Also didn't expect to be watching this one, but I figured CBS put it in with their Monday night sitcoms -- there has to be something to it. So I watched -- and I liked it ... It's about a group of science geeks and their trials and travails in life and relationships. The episodes are way overloaded with nerd talk and science-geek references (We get it! They're nerds!) ... But the chemistry and banter among the characters is strong enough to keep me entertained. I found myself doing double-takes at Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons -- his character is reminiscent of David Hyde Pierce's Niles on Frasier, and I love it! And Kaley Cuoco as Penny, the girl across the hall, is surprisingly good, mature and fun to watch, far from the eldest daughter she played on 8 Simple Rules ...

Pushing Daisies. Talk about huuuuuge expectations ... I'm a sucker for anything that's as wildly colorful and whimsical as this show -- it reminds me of "Big Fish" ... More great character chemistry! Lots of potential! I'm in ...

Cavemen. Call me crazy, but I expected a little more out of this one ... It was awful. I stopped after the first commercial.

Private Practice. Ok, so I said I was boycotting it ... But I had to watch the first episode, just to be sure. Yep. I'm sure now. It's nonsene. And I'm not watching it ...

And the old favorites? ...

Survivor ... Eh. I'm not really digging the whole China thing, or this season's cast for that matter ...

Grey's Anatomy. I've settled on the notion that it's never going to be as good as the first season ... But I think Lexie's gonna grow on me ...

Heroes ... It's still mystifying, but the lust is wearing off this one too ... especially after that anti-climatic season finale last May ...

How I Met Your Mother ... still good. Mandy Moore in the premiere?! I'm set for another season ...

Two and a Half Men. Sorry guys. It's been fun ... but after watching the premiere, I have to say the jokes are wearing thin, and Jake has grown beyond them. Kates and I have removed it from our DVR ...

The Office ... Jim & Pam are dating! Dwight killed Angela's cat. And Michael hit Meredith with his car. Good stuff!

But my thing with The Office is this: As a whole, I don't think it's consistently funny. Rather, it's individual scenes that make it so good; they're instant classics. So in honor of the HA-larious-ness that is the The Office, I give you my three favorite Office scenes of all time ...

Enjoy.