It's The Afterbirth You Dickhead

Okay, this is probably the last TV jumble blog for 2010 and here are the end of a few shows I've been watching over the last few weeks.

Ugly Betty - Yes, Season 4 has finally finished up on E4 and while it continues to show us that Vanessa Williams was better here than in her new gig, I have to admit the last few episodes have been fun - Betty getting rid of her braces, Hilda getting married, Justin finally coming out, Wilhemina and Cliare burying the hatchet, Amanda finding her real father and of course, Betty leaving for London and Daniel going after her. The series wasn't perfect but it was a fun, feel-good antidote that will be missed.

Misfits - I loved the last two episodes of this show. The finale might have pulled something of a reset after the consequences of milk guy nearly killing everyone but it certainly made for a fun episode and it's incredible that even with a rubbish power, Brian could manage to be a fairly credible threat as well. As for the Christmas special, well, it certainly won't go down as too schmaltzy anyways. You had Marnie giving birth with Nathan stamping on the afterbirth for gore along with Nikki's swift death, a guy pretending to be Jesus, Simon and Alisha's reltionship developing and the gang losing their powers only to gain some new ones. Thank goodness this show is due for a third run.

The Vampire Diaries - Three episodes in a row and I've finally finished off the first season and it was fun. I liked learning more about Stefan and Damon first few hours as vampires, Isobel's brief entry into Alaric and Elena's lives was amusing enough and the writers have made sure I don't feel an ounce of compassion for John Gilbert. Heck, even when Katherine in the final minute chopped his bloody fingers off, I couldn't muster any empathy for the guy. Damon had some nice moments of decency, Jeremy lost another girlfriend with Anna and Tyler was also effected by the noise of that device, which can only mean there's something supernatural about him. Here's hoping TG4 don't waste too much time and air Season Two pretty sharpish.

Desperate Housewives - I was waiting for one episode this season to truly blow me away and I actually got it. Okay, so event episodes are all spectacle and I'm still not sure how Paul's storyline can be sustained for the rest of the season but at least someone had the freaking sense to shoot him. I'm betting it'll be someone like Mitzi or even Lee if they want to be a tad risky. As for the riot, it felt devastating enough and here's hoping that the remainder of the season will finally get the show back on track too.

The Apprentice - Irish/UK Versions - Ah, it's an all girl victory on both sides. Michelle predictably bagged it for the Irish and Stella (less predictably for me) won the UK one but either way, both versions had some enjoyable moments and sure, it won't be too long before the seventh series of Alan Sugar's version hits our screens again.

- Along with Caprica, SyFy have also pulled the plug on Stargate Universe. Wow, it's really not good to be a spin-off nowadays.

- The producers of Smallville have been trying to get Michael Rosembaum to reprise his role as Lex Luthor for the show's final run.

- Ian Somerhalder has revealed that Klaus in The Vampire Diaries will make Damon shake in his boots. Sounds like my kinda character, then.

- Damien Lewis, David Harewood, Mandy Patinkin, Claire Danes and Laura Fraser have all joined the cast for new Showtime series, Homeland.

- John Corbett has landed a multi-arc role on Parenthood.

You're A Bad One Miss Grinch

And here's another TV blog in the space of a week. I think I might be on a roll of some sort.

Glee - Christmas episodes are always going to be and should probably always been rather cheesy and this show made no exception to that long accepted rule. Here was an episode where a 16 year old Brittany still believed in Santa Claus and Sue herself actually dressed up as the Grinch when she did a spot of sabotaging at Will's expense. In terms of the songs, Rachel and Finn's rendition of Last Christmas and Kurt/Blaine's take on Baby, It's Cold Outside stodd out the most. US and Irish viewers will have to wait until February for the remaining episodes of the second season.
Misfits - With a finale and a Christmas special to look forward to in the next nine days, last night's episode was the oddest thing ever. Kelly finally nabs herself a bloke who adores her and he turns out to be a gorilla. Interesting to see that the storm affected animals along with humans but it was certainly the weirdest thing going. Less weird, however were Nathan and Alisha's attempts of protecting Simon from Jessica's psycho father while that mystery behind Curtis and Nikki's superhero encounter was finally resolved. The finale certainly looks like a bit of a game changer and while this episode was the weakest from the series, it still amused for the most part.

Desperate Housewives - I can't lie that I've been feeling widely disconnected from this series because even though this season isn't awful, it's just dawned on me that there's very little left it can actually offer. Paul's plot for the neighbourhood is tedious rather than terrifying and the potentially good plot with the baby swap is seemingly resolved, following the departures of Grace and her family. Oh and do I look like I care about Renee pining for Tom? On the plus, I am still enjoying Bree/Keith and the latter's parents for some reason. Hope their 'event' episode is much better though than these last two have been.

The Vampire Diaries - The good news is by December 22nd, TG4 will finally be finished with the first season. The not so great news is that there's no word as to when they'll air the second season but it'll be something to look forward to. As for the last two episodes I've viewed, well apart from the arrival of John Gilbert and the whole Miss Mystic Falls saga, things have felt a little quieter but from what I've read about the last three episodes, I am excited for events to come. Oh and while I won't ship Elena/Damon, they do look sorta good together.

The Apprentice - UK/Irish Versions - Ooh, things are getting good, aren't they? Liz Locke got the boot on the UK version of this show due to her tour guide team being bad and in the Irish version, it's a girl/girl final next with both Michelle and Niamh pitted against each other as Barry, Will and Panos all got the boot. So, who would I like to see win - Michelle for the Irish one, Jamie for the UK version.

- Skins will premiere on MTV from January 13th 2011. I'll be doing another blog in relation to the US version and one on the fifth series on the UK version.

- Glee will also be doing songs by Destiny's Child and Maroon 5 in the second half of Season 2, which premieres on E4/Channel 4 in January.

- Larry Hagman will be appearing in Desperate Housewives as a love interest for Lynette's mother, who's returning in the New Year. There's also rumours that Keith will have a child that he's unaware of.

- Look out for a proposal in an upcoming episode of Smallville.

- Brothers And Sisters could be doing another storyline about someone not being a Walker when an old flame (played by beau Bridges) of Nora's surfaces. Kevin and Scotty will also be adopting later in the season as well.

- MTV have announced that Bubba Lewis, Joey Pollari, Zack Pearlman and Mark L. Young will be the main cast for their version of The Inbetweeners.

It's A Fix It's A Fix

And here's a look at some of the programmes I've been watching over the last two weeks.

Glee - It's that time of year again - Sectionals! Last time we had set lists revealed and Emma's wedding become a non starter. This time around you've got Emma actually marrying Carl, Sam/Quinn doing Time Of My Life (wasn't Black Eyed Peas enough?) along with Santana belting out Valerie and Rachel/Finn coming to an ending for now. Elsewhere, Kurt's beginning to realise that the Warblers aren't that great, we've got a new member in Lauren and while I'm still not invested in Artie/Brittany, I didn't mind them this week. Oh, and no Sue along with Mercedes/Tina's rendition of Dog Days Are Over along with Rachel/Kurt's Don't Cry For Me Argentina certainly hit the musical spots.

Misfits - Last two episodes have for me seen this show go from great TV to must see TV. I know the whole Time Traveller's Wife arc with Future Simon and Alisha is hardly the most innovative thing on TV but damn it, it worked brilliantly and it's certainly improving both characters as well. Plus episodes with powered up tattoo artists, psychotic gamers and power tranfers through heart transplants shouldn't be this good but it's nice to see this show exceeding my expectations nonetheless though. Now if only Nathan and Kelly could just see sense with each other and I actually don't mind Curtis and Nikki as a pairing.

Merlin - For the most part I've enjoyed the last two episodes and while the series has still been worth watching, it's also been horribly inconsistent in places as well. At least with this story, we've got the Knights of the Round Table, Morgana temporarily defeated, Cenred and Morgause despatched and a brief reappearance of Freya along with some actual progression with Arthur and Gwen if not as much with Merlin (though I liked the last scene a lot). Here's hoping when the shorter fourth season returns that this level of progression will sustain itself.

I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here - Aww, when I got into, I actually liked this series again. Gillian provided some morbid comedy before she got the boot and I could empathise with Dom Joly's complete irritation with Kayla (what, she wasn't famous enough for the US version?) but overall it reminded me why I liked Stacey Solomon so much. The girl is utterly bonkers but so damn likeable that at the end, it only made sense for her to win the bloody thing. Maybe a certain other ITV show could take some tips.

The X Factor - Memo to Simon Cowell - this show is supposed to be decided by the public and while you and Cheryl Cole continue to prove how little you both actually know about music, someone with actual talent got sacrificed last night. I never thought for a second that Mary Byrne would win the show but she deserved to be in the final and the fact that Cher Lloyd got through after an abysmal performance of Everytime only proved two things - a) ageism is still alive in Britain today and b) Simon really needs to stop sucking to Cheryl, even if I do want Rebecca to win. I knew Mary Byrne was going but after last night, it should've been Cher. At least the Glee bit was fun.

- In news that won't shock at all, Dexter has been deservedly renewed for a sixth season. I still have to watch Season 5 but I hear I'm in for a treat.

- True Blood's third season will air on FXUK in January. Looks like they're promoting the werewolf aspect of the series as well.
- Stephan Amell is joining The Vampire Diaries for a two episode arc playing a character called Brady.

- Expect to see the return of both Susan's mother and her aunt in Desperate Housewives soon. Also in the last episode this year, someone gets shot.
- The CW are planning a series based on DC Comics character, Raven as a replacement for Smallville.

- Glee will be covering a Black Eyed Peas song in an upcoming episode. The Christmas one airs tomorrow on FOX.

Umbrella

And here's a catch up on some of the stuff I've been watching over the last few days ...

Glee - The last two episodes have certainly been interesting. The first one with Gwyneth Paltrow's Holly Holliday was a lot of fun and to be honest, auto-tuned or not, I did enjoy the mash-up of Umbrella/Singing In The Rain as well as Sue's pretty ruthless attempts of becoming principal, only to jack it in protest of Kurt being victimised by Karofsky in the next episode. It's nice that in the midst of Burt and Carole's wedding that the Glee club, Will and Sue finally stepped in trying to deal with Karofsky, even it backfired somehow. As for Sue's own wedding - um, weird but I did like seeing her mother and while it's nice to see more of Blaine and have Kurt transferred to Dalton, I only hope that Mercedes is due a storyline soon because protesting about tator tots is not good enough to be honest.
Merlin - I love this show, I honestly do and while I loved this episode, this show really needs to step up a gear. Tournaments aren't that exciting anymore and apart from the fact that Gilli wasn't a baddie and made some perceptive comments to Merlin about concealing his magic, this wasn't an episode that progressed much to be honest. Still though, the finale starts this weekend and that does look genuinely exciting.

Misfits - A fantastic second episode. I wasn't exactly in love with the idea of Nathan getting a brother out of nowhere but it certainly worked in helping him and his father overcome some of their own issues when said brother also died as well. It's also interesting that the influence of drugs has some pretty bad effects on the gang's powers as well but along with the ninja guy and mystery girl, Nikki, this show is definitely building up some interesting arcs this year. Oh and excellent choice in music at the start of this episode too.

The Vampire Diaries - One has to feel a little for Pearl. She's all about trying to start over in Mystic Falls and when she isn't having to deal with Anna's interest in Jeremy, she's got rebellious minions torturing the crap out of Stefan for fun as well. I suppose being emtombed for 145 years will do that to you though. On a serious note, these last two episodes have been good but not as good as previous ones, even if I do like Alaric being utilised into Stefan's rescue this week.

Desperate Housewives - Another two episodes which were interesting to varying degrees. Gabby's obsession with Grace is naturally causing problems with Carlos and Juanita but there were some amusing moments when Carlos and Bob hung out more and the latter reunited with Lee. Lynette and Tom's story with the latter's mum was far more affecting than Susan having to become babysitter after Paul made sure she was fired and I'm not sure if the casting was right for Keith's parents but I do like that him and Bree deepened a little more before going their seperate ways. Renee's still not working for me and Beth is only slightly more interesting than when she started. I knew she was a plant.

- Jessica Tuck has been promoted to series regular for Season 4 of True Blood. Janina Gavankar will play shapeshifter/school teacher Luna while Alexandria Breckinridge will play witch Daisy and Vedette Lim will play cage fighter Naomi.

- Grey's Anatomy are planning a musical episode in the second half of the seventh season.
- Calista Flockhart will not appear in the series 100th episode of Brothers And Sisters. Damn.
- Lucas Grabeel will be reprising his role as a teenage Lex Luthor in an upcoming episode of Smallville.

- Being Human US starts on Syfy from January 17th at 9pm. I'll be doing more spoiler blogs on it in the next month.

- The cast of Glee will appear at the semi-final of The X Factor next month. The series will also return in February after the last two episodes air in December.

- Teri Hatcher has denied reports that she's set to leave Desperate Housewives. Rumours did surface that she was due to quit her role in the series.

Let's Not Use The Beiste In That Way

Glee - Certainly the most eventful episode of the season so far. Kurt's bullying is something that's become out of hand in the last while and the constant fact that no-one seems to defend him against the closeted Karofsky is beginning to become increasingly frustrating. New guy Blaine definitely tried his damndest but it's the likes of Will and Figgins who really should be stepping up to the plate with this but hats off to Ryan Murphy for highlighting Kurt's plight all the more. In terms of the other storylines - I felt bad for Beiste being used by the kids as a source of 'cooling off' but I also wondered if it was wise of Will to give Beiste her first kiss as well. The song varied - liked the Dalton boys take on Teenage Dreams, our guys mash-up of Stop In The Name Of Love/Free Your Mind but wasn't overly impressed with the girls rendition of Start Me Up/Livin On A Prayer. As for Puck and Artie's friendship - it certainly has potential.

Lip Service - why haven't BBC3 confirmed a second season of this? It's becoming one of the best programmes they've done this year and this episode was certainly a corker and a half. Tess's birthday escalating from one disaster to another (bad botox, Chloe's engagement, Ed finally admitting his true feelings) were one this but the whole Sadie/Frankie/Cat/Sam quadrangle got interesting and messy all at once, especially given that Sadie left Frankie and Sam is becoming increasingly aware of how much closer Frankie and Cat have become. In terms of Frankie's own mystery, there wasn't much forwarding on that one and I wasn't too fussed about Becky finding out about Frankie and Jay either but overall, this was certainly a brilliant episode to watch.

The Vampire Diaries - The last two episodes I've seen have been fun ones to watch. Whether it's dealing with Matt's unpleasant mother or Elena becoming proactive in trying to track her own biological one, the show is certainly not sitting on it's honkers, that's for sure. While I had guessed that opening the tomb wouldn't give Katherine back to Damon, I am pleased to have Pearl around and I was pretty sad to see Bonnie's grandmother die but Alaric after being sidelined a little has become more interesting now that both Damon and Stefan are aware of who he really is. Why can't TG4 speed up with this series already?

Misfits - I fell in love with this series over the summer and I certainly wasn't intending on waiting for Channel 4 to air Season 2 in 2011 to see if it lived up to the first one. If this opener was anything to go by, then this season is going to be a lot of fun. Lucy the menacing shapeshifer caused chaos but evaded reprisals, the gang became aware of Nathan's immortality and Simon bumping off Sally all too quickly and there's a masked guy stalking the gang as well. More importantly the humour is still also pretty much intact as well, so overall, it's an almighty welcome back for this gang of troublemakers.

Desperate Housewives - I think apathy is beginning to set in because I'm just not loving this season as much as the last one. I don't really think Renee is fitting in that well as a character, I find Paul's attempts of trying to buy some of the neighbours houses not that interesting (even if he is trying to blackmail Susan at the moment) and seeing Lynette and Tom argue over and over again - this time over the latter's mother has gotten more and more repetitive than ever. The only bright sparks have been Gabby and Carlos coming to terms with meeting their biological daughter and Bree and Keith's fooling around. Five episodes in and this season needs to step up a gear.

- Rob Kazinsky has been cast as Dr Rick, the ex-boyfriend of Odetta Yustman's character, Annie for one episode of Brothers And Sisters.

- Courtney Ford has been cast as Andy Bellefleur's lawyer sister, Portia in the fourth season of True Blood. IDW will be releasing further comics of the series in 2011 as well.

- Teri Hatcher has revealed that she's done her cameo on Smallville as a gesture of respect for fans. How sweet!

- The younger versions of the Glee kids appears in next week's episode. Blaine is also not as confident as he appears to be as well.

- Kevin McKidd will direct an episode of Grey's Anatomy. He's the second cast member to do it this season.

Death Does Not Become Him

I know I'm late and I apologise but here's my highlights. More to come on Sunday.

Blimey, it's been a mixed few days in the Big Brother house. The house being flooded could be intepreted as a sign that maybe this show should end all the more or it could've been bad workmanship as well, which is the likelier option. Other highlights in the last few day? I'm not gonna say Jo's eviction but I will say that there's a certain glee in seeing virtually everyone in the last few days take John James to task over his treatment of everyone (particularly Corin) and the set of pointless tasks in yesterday's highlights with Sam as a butler and John James becoming crab eyes. I'm also liking that Mario and Corin seem to be getting some actual airtime as well as Josie being a lot more likeable than she has been for weeks. I won't be sad to see this series end but I do hope that John James and Dave are amongst the four gone by tomorrow night.

Now, that was a finale. Misfits has been brilliant to catch up on over the last six weeks and while it's a shame that Sally met her end and everyone else is seemingly none the wiser (except maybe Kelly), the episode had a lot of fun with a purity girl wanting to talk the hedonism out of everyone and pretty much did with Kelly, Alisha and Curtis. I liked that Nathan was the one who resisted it, even if it meant that he had to die, only to wake up in his own coffin. Images like that never stop being scary and I certainly didn't envy Robert Sheehan having to film that. The first season has been a lot of fun and I'm certainly going to be tuning into a second season when E4 airs it later on. Oh and Simon keeping Sally's dead body as a playmate really does prove how creepy that kid is.

The Good Wife has been something that I've been watching on and off for most of the year and has been pretty good. Hardly a series that can be accused of reinventing the wheel but the characters have been well formed, likeable and the plots mostly interesting. Plus the guest stars over the last few weeks, notably Carrie Preston and Alan Cumming have been enjoyable enough, especially as the latter's Gold character served as a reasonable thorn in Alicia's side. The finale seemed to further the Alicia and Will arc that's been dominent with the second of the season, furthered Kalinda's sexuality and also had Amy Acker playing the wife of a man killed because he was about to expose corrupt cops. I'll definitely keep with the series.

Out of the shows I'm highlighting in this blog, why does Mistresses have to be so gloomy? I get that it's probably wise to show the consequences of adultery but even in the first two series we got to see some of the characters have actual fun. With this final series, that's not been happening. Katie can't seem to tolerate her mother, showed anger when she learned her father was a cheat and even snogged Richard. How does Richard pull both Katie and Trudi when he's so bloody boring? Watching him whine and moan about Trudi not wanting to sell her business was a source of tedium and a part of me cheered that she actually got closer to her new business partner as well. As for Siobhan and Jessica, between engaged exes and unwilling to work to get out of debt hubbies, neither of them are having much fun either.

Good news people - Ugly Betty's fourth and final season is finally airing but the stinker is that it's been relegated to E4 and T4 screenings only. It's a shame because I've already seen most of the last year months ago and it's actually very good in places - Season 1 good even. The first two episodes aren't the series best but they did have some high points. Betty trying to settle into her new position was one of them, Daniel trying to get a new assistant was another and of course, the hints that the writers are also going to finally address Justin's sexuality as well. The next 18 episodes are going to be interesting.

- Andrea Bowen will be appearing in Desperate Housewives in the future as well as Joy Lauren, reprising her role as Danielle Katz.

- Anna Gunn has signed up for a guest role in the new season of Lie To Me.

- Anna Paquin, Alexander Skarsgard and Stephen Moyer have posed naked/covered in bood for an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Alan Ball has also mentioned that Hallow (a necromancer/were/medium/witch) will be the main villain for Season 4 of True Blood. The role has yet to be cast.

- An episode of Smallville will force Lois and Clark together in the future.

- Nurse Jackie actor Guillermo Diaz has been cast in an upcoming episode of new ABC series, No Ordinary Family. He'll guest star as Detective Cordero.

Absolute Justice Y'all

Another week in the Big Brother house and this time, they went all a bit Dickens. Plus points to Corin for actually trying to get into her Scrooge character but minus ones to John James who decided to quit his Mrs Havensham part of the task, simply because he couldn't bear to be stuck in a room with Rachel for a whole day. Rather her than some other people in this house's. Mario's magic routine wasn't the best bit we saw out of this task either but at least he got into the spirit of things and that's better than Josie vs. Sam, which dominated the first half of the week. Also, isn't it hyporcritical of Dave to moan about Mario putting him up for eviction during the Save And Replace task when he nominated Mario himself? Seriously, Dave change the record already. Unfortunately though, we're stuck with him for another week because despite both Dave and John James acting like morons, it was Rachel who got the boot. I really don't understand the mentality of people who vote sometimes.

Misfits took something of a dark turn this week. It was only a matter of time before Sally would get her evidence about Tony's death but even I thought things wouldn't go down like this. Are the writers setting Simon up to become a future threat because I can't see how he can come back from killing Sally? Yes, she used him and sure as hell didn't mind smacking his head off a mirror to get away from him but you have to feel bad for her a little though. Simon's always been a bit creepy and now he's a murderer. At least with Kelly it had been self defence but Simon wasn't going to let Sally escape, was he? Luckily though, there were some lighter moments in the episode such as Curtis's various attempts to break up with Samantha (quoting Spiderman did the trick) and realising that him and Alisha were getting serious as a couple. Oddly, the best moments of the episodes were with Nathan being manipulated by a baby and then spending time with Kelly. Not sure I want to see them as a couple but it was nice to see him acting like less of a prick in the latter of the episode than usual. I hope the finale is just as good as this one.

In terms of guilty pleasure, do I have to class Mistresses as one? Okay, so like the shows it's obviously influenced from (Sex And The City, Desperate Housewives), it's unlikely to win prizes for gritty realism but funnily for a show about adultery, it does heavily focus on the negative aspects of it. Katie being the classic example. In the space of the first two series, her adultery has cost her employment and a relationship and going by the growing closeness to the bland Richard in the opening episode here, it's likely that her friendship with Trudi will be shattered as well. I didn't need her mother, Vivienne (played by Joanna Lumley) to drill that home and this whole episode seemed to go out of it's way to show the signs of the core friendships shattering. Siobhan will most likely incur Jessica's wrath when it slips out that she lent Mark money for IVF and will anyone of them forgive Katie for going after Richard? Ending the series after three years isn't a bad idea and this opening episode was decent enough but I was hoping for something a little less gloomy to be honest.

For the next few blogs, I will talk about the final few episodes of Nip/Tuck. The show is clearly winding down and this episode drilled it home. Plastic surgery is so 2004, according to Joan Rivers, who appeared in Christian's dreams here and injectibles are the way to go. Sadly, Christian also had to go to painstaking lengths to prove a point about the relevance of a face lift and even used YouTube for popularity. Of course, it went wrong and him and Sean seem to be on the outs yet again. The dream sequence stuff was interesting - the appearances of Kimber and Christian's father having the most effect but after six seasons, can this show please give Liz a love interest? We got close with Danielle this week and she went back to her husband. Even Kurt on Glee has shown more progress in one year than Liz has in this show's duration.

Breaking news - Smallville pulled off an exciting episode. A really exciting one. Okay, it's the first of a two part story but the Justice League? Bring it on! I know a few of them are embittered and the like (especially with Oliver getting attacked by one of them) but this is definitely a masterstroke for the series and the final five minutes of the episode are wonderful. I really hope that the second part lives up to the great set up here.

After months of giving it a short shrift, I decided to actually watch The Vampire Diaries. I'm not gonna lie - it won't give True Blood a run for it's money any time soon but it's certainly less annoying than the Twilight franchise. The story is fairly predictable. Two sparring vampire brothers, nice but boring Stefan and bad boy cliche Damon have the hots for student Elena, who lost her parents recently and happens to look like a woman that both brothers loved and lost centuries ago. In terms of the characters, the brothers need improving on, Elena's not that bad but her seemingly psychic mate Bonnie is somewhat more interesting along with the mystery uncle of Stefan. The rest of the characters didn't really do much for me to care but I will watch further episodes and give this show a genuine chance to shine.

Don't Send In The Clowns Or Gruesome Twosome

Why am I still watching the last series of Big Brother? I blame the lack of decent summer telly and the fact that I have actually been enjoying the last weeks. The bitching might be as old as Corin's overt use of the words 'mint' and 'buzzin' but while the hyperbole surrounding the showmance between John James and Josie (I give it a month) has gotten tiresome, this week's task was genius. Ignoring the obvious certainly must be hard for housemates when you have spouses, best friends and grandparents all trying to get your attention and then there were the clowns, zombies, marching bands, strippers and Davina McCall all vying for your attention. Well, it was all fun until the producers decided to add Jedward into the mix. I think Andrew's look of pure, unabashed hatred conveyed the general feeling of having the gruesome twosome trying to sing. Just no, please. As for departures, I was surprised to see Laura walk and while Ben has been an irritant in the last few weeks, I would've taken another week of him over another of Dave. Not so sure on Sam though. He could be fun but he could also wear thin pretty quickly. There's only so much winding up of Josie that he'll be able get away with.

Keeping with the summer is dull for TV mantra, I decided to watch a few episodes of Gossip Girl's third season on TG4. While it's better than the limping One Tree Hill, it just further serves that teens shows aren't as good as they used to be. Both Dawson's Creek and Party Of Five have gone overkill on the melodrama but they were usually better written/acted shows and neither of them had either Hilary Duff and Tyra Banks trying to play 'modest' roles. Also neither of them had characters as truly insufferable as Blair Waldorf. Don't get me wrong - Leighton Meester is an okay enough actress but I just find her character so bleeding vile and the dumbass class system she tried to keep going in her former school because she wasn't ruling her college with an iron fist seemed a little pathetic to be honest. Still, this isn't a show aimed for people like and I'll probably watch the episode where Chuck pretends to be gay and ignore the rest of the series.

Onto a show for teenagers that I can enjoy - of course Misfits would have to do a big turn back time episode. When you've got a character like Curtis who can turn back time, there's no way you can avoid doing it. On the plus side, this episode gave us a look into Curtis's fall from grace. He wanted to save his girlfriend from prison and got her killed first time around before inadvertantly maintaining their relationship on his last try. It's also amazing that without Curtis's intervention, mad Tony would've managed to have killed all the gang, except for Nathan. I'm calling it right now that Nathan can't die. I could be wrong but I don't think I am. However the best part of the episode was the fact that Nathan actually did get done for stealing pick and mix. I did feel bad for poor Beverley who wanted to give the lad a chance. As for Simon, he creeped me out with his scenes with Kelly during Curtis's time travel and Curtis and Alisha get over the sex thing by wanking in front of each other? Now, that's something you wouldn't get on an American show. However, maybe Alisha should invest in some gloves. Might help with her crappy powers. Oh and can Sally get a move on already? She's going after the kids at a snail's pace.

I usually don't mind episodes of Smalville that centre on Oliver but this week's episode was a bit of a dud to be honest. I didn't need to see his former mentor show up to kidnap his protege and cite that Oliver had a dark side. I'm already aware of that. The show's had some great episodes this season but this wasn't one of them. On the plus side, I did enjoy the scenes with Clark/Lois/Zod and Chloe's her usual interesting self.

- Irish viewers will get to see The Vampire Diaries, Wednesdays at 8.30pm from August 4th on TG4.

- Ugly Betty's fourth season will air on E4, Wednesdays at 9pm from August 11th.

- Dexter's fourth season will air on FXUK, Fridays at 10pm from August 20th.

- CBS will be adding a gay character in The Good Wife's second season. The character will be the brother of Alicia.

- While Sky1 have secured the rights to HBO programming, FXUK will still be the ones airing True Blood first hand. It would be nice if they got a move on with it then.

- Sherlock has been picked up for a second run, following the ratings for the first episode. The second episode airs tonight, 8.30pm on BBC1.

- Jonathan Groff will reprise his role as Jesse at some point in Glee's second season. The actor is currently doing a play in London until January.

- The new cast for the fifth and sixth series of Skins will be revealed next week. Kelly Brook will also be guest starring in the new season along with Chris Addison.

I Wish Some People Would Stop Believing

Okay, losing two people in Big Brother sans eviction is pretty careless in the space of a week but there's always a bit of a bright side, isn't there? Except not really. Sure, I never really liked Caoimhe but she was getting more bearable without Shabby and Keeley at least won pointers for calling certain people out on things but it's still a little sad to see them both leave when we're still stuck with pompous Ben and religious nut Dave (WTF was up with that puritanical rant about Caoimhe in a wet shirt last weekend?). I'm not sure if adding more people was the right solution either, especially with the housemates choices. Other JJ's cute though I doubt Mario will get to get up and close with him and Laura and Jo just seem a bit meh to be honest. As for the Glee inspired task this week with Pineapple Dance Studios Andrew Stone (what, Louie Spencer too big to do the show?), can I sue for noise pollution because that version of Don't Stop Believing was horrible and that's being nice on the matter.

BBC3 are trundling through their Family Guy episodes and occassionally, I'll sit down and watch one. The one I ended up watching last time was Quagmire's war hero father coming out to his son that he was becoming a woman. As usual, it's largely played for laughs, mostly politically and Brian's reaction when he finds out that the mystery woman he slept with was formerly a man is far from great in one way but hilarious in another one. Also, who knew that Quagmire could really get mad that badly?

Catching up with the second and third episodes of Misfits first season and I can honestly that I am loving this show. I wish it wasn't airing on Saturdays but I'm glad that unlike Skins, Channel 4 are airing it in a 10pm slot. Nathan still doesn't seem to have powers but his sarky banter is providing some of the best moments in the episode and I felt bad for him when his liaison with Ruth resulted in her being revealed as way older than her years. The interpersonal dynamics are certainly interesting - Alisha's abuse of her powers, Curtis's attraction towards, Simon's increased isloation from the group and Kelly making peace with the girl she battered after said made her bald for a few days. I'm also liking the arc with Sally trying to find out who murdered her boyfriend, even though it's gonna be a long wait for that to bear fruit.

Smallville have been painting doomy futures for a bit of a while now, so why am I not surprised that an Earth ruled by Zod would be an unpleasant place? At least I don't have to feign shock that Tess would also be one of the few humans to willingly join up to his cause in order to save the planet. Yeah, Tess, you keep telling yourself that. The look into Lois's memories of a dystopian future certainly seems to have given Clark food for thought in regards to how to handle Zod but I'm not so sure that treating Zod like a friend is a good way of stopping him in his tracks. And you don't need to be Chloe to worry that once again that Clark is shutting people out to try and beat the bad guy.

- Joe Manganiello is being signed on as a regular for the fourth season of True Blood. Lara Pulver's Claudine is also appearing on the show soon and look out for the character of Holly.

- Kevin and Scotty's baby plans are being scrapped for Brothers And Sisters. They'll end up taking in a homeless kid instead.

- John Barrowman is rumoured to be appearing in the second season of Glee. New cast member, Charise also denied having a makeover for her role in the series.

- Indira Varma is joining up as new team leader Lisa for the next series of Human Target.

- Joss Whedon has blasted networks for not embracing serialised dramas.

- Emma Caulfield has landed a role on Life Unexpected. Why do ex-Whedon people keep signing onto shows I don't watch or want to watch?

- Weeds will not end after it's upcoming sixth season, according to executive producer, Victoria Morrow.

- Emily Bergl has been cast as Paul's wife, Beth for the seventh season of Desperate Housewives.
- The character of Cat Grant will be introduced into the tenth and final season of Smallville. John Schneider will also be reprising his role as Jonathan Kent in the new season.

- An upcoming episode of Family Guy will poke fun of Return Of The Jedi.