Arrested Development is BACK, Baby!!

Grab your frozen bananas, people, because Arrested Development is coming back. . .sort of. It was floated out in a  "not official, but what we'd like to do" way that they are hoping to do a limited run of a half season of episodes leading up to the Arrested Development movie. There's still debate as to where these episodes are going to air, but it should probably be FOX. I halted my boycott of FOX after GLEE came on the air, and I'm kinda digging the New Girl show with Zooey Deschanel. But that's all I've knowingly watched since they took Arrested Development off the air. 

Here are a few things that I'd like to see play out in the upcoming episodes/ movie:

• George Michael and Maeby finally getting together, and it going disasterously. 
• Michael finally getting a good love interest.
• Bring back Bob Loblaw. If nothing more than Scott Baio could use the work and I just love that name. 
• I think Tobias needs to start a new band.
• Buster and Lucille 2 should elope.
• Gob should have an illusion showdown with David Copperfield and Tony Wonder (Ben Stiller).
• Larry David should be worked in somehow, just to round things out. 

What are you wishes for Arrested Development?

When Good Shows Go Bad

If only TV shows were like food and started to smell when they went bad. But no, instead the keep cranking out week after week of plot lines that make you wonder why you continue to waste your time and watch them. Here are my current top five that I continue to watch but each week question my own judgement:

• The United States of Tara: Love Toni Collette, but how many seasons can get out of watching Tara's alter egos wreak havoc on her life. She was molestered (yes, I meant to misspell that) by a stepbrother who she doesn't remember. That's it? That's the big reveal? Seems like a cop out and I'm getting less interested as the seasons click on.
• Weeds: It stopped being interesting when Nancy and gang left Agrestic. Mexican drug lords, homicide, prison life, more kids? It was better when the biggest tension, aside from getting caught, was whether Nancy was going to sleep with Conrad. Sometimes less is more. Two words on why I keep watching: Hunter Parrish.
• Law & Order: SVU: Double now that Christopher Meloni is going to leave, but I think I've previously outlined the depths to which the writers will go to weave three story lines together. One great case of this was a season finale entitled "Zebras" where Stabler famously tells Stucky not to look for zebras when he hears hooves. The whole show's premise is now one big zebra.
• Entourage: Last season was atrocious. Sasha Grey? Really? Drugs? I only kept watching (and will tune in this weekend) because its the last season. Sasha Grey made me miss the days of Mandy Moore and the AquaMan plot line.
• Glee: I admit it. I was originally a Glee-tard, but lately it's hard to defend. The plot doesn't move, songs are used as plot devices but the songs are only in the episode because they're featuring a particular artist, and I've been catching some of The Glee Project on Oxygen. Ryan Murphy thinks he's a God and that just bugs me. I'm fairly certain after Brittany "graduates" I won't watch any more.

Other shows that are on notice and a few words why:

• Trueblood: Fairies.
• Breaking Bad: Move it along.
• The Big C: repeatedly making bad decisions.

What shows can you not believe you still watch?

I'm A Teeter Totter

I realized this week that I've been a little more moody than normal. Or at least a little more susceptible to moodiness. I think it's a combination of all the things going on in my life. Here's are things that have gone up and down this week:

• My weight (thankfully, down a net 0.2 lbs right now)
• My anger with those who watch crappy stuff while I'm in the gym
• My happiness to watch SportsCenter while working out
• My annoyance with the cats for moving or dumping their water container
• My urge to kill Mila for scratching my face
• The scratch on my face's appearance
• My urge to kill Mila for pooping outside the litter box for no apparent reason
• My interest in Bowl games
• My nervousness for the Colts play off game tomorrow
• My anger in not being able to hear anyone who calls my cell phone (aka our only phone) while I'm in our apartment (this is getting fixed with a VOIP phone number and computer headset friends!)
• My enthusiasm about job prospects
• My enthusiasm for staying away from alcohol
• My willpower for anything
• My continued sleep patterns
• My disdain for whoever spray tanned Bob Barker for the State Farm commercial
• My loneliness
• My anger/jealousy over Chef's midday naps
• My belief that a teenager can lose 90 lbs in 90 days and it be healthy (C'mon MTV. I'm not sure "I Used To Be Fat" is a good example)
• My excitement over finding out that Glee's Brittany used to be a background dancer for Beyonce and was in the Single Ladies Grammy performance
• My love of being on the computer for 8 hours a day for working, job searching and pleasure

That's all I can think of right now, but as I am a teeter totter, I'm sure my love of the list will waiver and I'll add or delete more.

Glee, you're disappointing me

This season of Glee sucks. Remember when Glee was a show where the kids got together to sing against some other force--whether it was themselves or budgets or another Glee club? They sang because they were cast in a commercial or practicing for a contest? Yes, I remember the good old days too.

I'm afraid that Glee is going to become like Desperate Housewives or Grey's Anatomy or some other show that became insanely popular in the first year and then bought into it's own success only to flame out from bad writing. Here are things in this year's Glee that I'm already tired of:

• Kirk's homosexuality ostracizing him. We get it. It was done in Dawson's Creek. And One Tree Hill. And 90210. And every other teen based drama on television in the last 20 years. Add something new to the discussion, please.
• Rachel being an overzealous drama queen. Okay, really it's just all of the characters beginning to be caricatures of themselves. They've all veered a little too far forward from real people they seemed to represent.
• Nothing happening. Think about the story lines this season. Have any of them actually moved forward? Remember last season? Still was happening every episode. Will's wife was paying Quinn for her baby. Will and Emma's sparking romance. An almost wedding. There were lots of things. Not just breaking into song because it's "Boys vs. Girls" week.
• Lastly, I'm tired of Lea Michele. I saw the girl on Conan and have seen her do several interviews. She is talented, but the girl needs to get a grip on reality. Here's what I'd tell her: "You are not fascinating. Not everything you do or that is done relating to you is worthy of adulation or even notice. You have a good voice. You play a part well. You are not the cure to cancer. "

So, that's my Glee rant. Mostly because I keep waiting for this season to have some of the charm and charisma as last season. What really makes me mad is that I want the show to be well written again. I just think the songs are thought up first and then the story line goes in around them. It should be the other way around.

Vacation Day Two

It's Saturday. That means it doesn't really feel like vacation, because I'm normally off on Saturdays anyway (last Saturday notwithstanding). Slept in. Watched Alice in Wonderland. Wondered what it is about Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp that makes them want to scare the crap out of small children. Which lead me to think about Daniel Tosh's stand up where he points out that Johnny Depp is 47. Hard to believe he's 47.

Caught up on Glee. Why can't the show go back to actually moving forward and not just be a weekly lesson of a song that probably won't be used in their regional competition? Every week they practice for regionals but don't really make any progress. If I were Will Shuester, I'd be disappointed. Also, what happened to the Jesse kid? He just shows up whenever he wants to? Why isn't Quinn getting more pregnant each week? What happened to the magic that was?

Ate leftovers for lunch and am plotting taquitos for dinner. Maybe I'll go to bed at 8 p.m. or maybe I'll stay up until 4 a.m. There's something liberating about that.

Day Three - A Test and Triumph

Is it weird or self-fulfilling prophecy that I'm writing more in my blog about writing more in my life? Either way, I'm doing both. And today was the biggest test of the three days. I had to get up before the sun to get the writing and the running in. But I did it. And I still outlasted Chef, who is asleep on the couch as I type.

Of course, he has to be asleep on the couch to allow me to watch "Glee". He thinks it's funny, but hates the singing, which is kind of the whole thing. I mean it is based on a singing group of teens. But who doesn't love Jane Lynch? I also love the dimwitted blonge cheerleader. She has great one-liners. This week's fave "I think my cat is reading my diary."

My cat doesn't read my diary because it's online and Genghis's lack of opposable thumbs make navigating the web difficult. Turning pages aren't even an option. Oh. And he's a feline.