TV

I know that, by now, no one is actually watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (especially since it’s on hiatus, with a return date as-yet unannounced). But they should! Because it is great! Content-wise, there is a lot of discussion while watching the show about what arguments Aaron Sorkin is trying to make politically, mostly because he’s usually not particularly subtle.

The last new episode, called 4 a.m. Miracle, has a number of plot lines, but the one I’m interested in is the one concerning the lawyer that shows up about a sexual harrassment claim. Throughout the episode, Matthew Perry’s character is questioned about whether he will be a witness for a case defending against a writer who claims that the nature of jokes in the writer’s room at Studio 60 constitutes sexual harassment. Outside of its general appeal as news in the world of sexual harassment law (fun!), this plotline is interesting because it almost exactly mirrors a situation that actually happened on the Friends set a few years back. After a protracted legal battle, the California Supreme Court ruled that “writers have the right to talk dirty and make lewd comments while creating a television situation comedy without having to worry about being sued.”

Now, there are a couple of differences between the actual case and Studio 60’s narrative. In the Friends case, the person alleging harassment was the transcriptionist, so she couldn’t very well just walk out of the room when discussion moved to graphic descriptions of Courteney Cox Arquette’s infertility or what the best way to have sex with Jennifer Aniston would be, and on the TV show, the womyn in question was a writer. Zap2it has a good explanation of the claims the plaintiff made, none of which were disputed substantively by the writers of the show.

I don’t know whether the California Supreme Court was wrong. They were unanimous, and deciding on a California employment law with which I’m not familiar. But I do have a couple of concerns with the notion that writers’ rooms are always protected speech, even when that speech is unquestionably misogynistic, perceived as harassing, and not relevant to any sketch or scene that will make it to air. I think that the idea that there are some places where anything goes, even though what always goes is jokes against the same groups of marginalized folks, is the same argument used to justify lower standards for sexual harassment at construction sites or oil rigs, which I find ridiculous. As this defense of the court’s action admits, the jokes are usually racist and/or sexist. The fact that they’re funny is the defense, which I think is good but incomplete. I mean, if the idea phase is so important, why was Amaani Lyle asked not to take notes at certain times? It just seems so much more complicated than to say that free speech means she should get over it, or that these jokes are “sexually coarse and vulgar language” but not sexist or overall demeaning to womyn. How you make that distinction in this situation is beyond me.

Given this knowledge, which I know not everyone would be aware of upon starting to watch the episode, I became skeptical as soon as the lawyer walked into the room. There were a couple of factors that raised my hackles right away, especially the snide way that everyone said “claiming sexual harassment” as though the person filing the lawsuit was probably lying, and the fact that Matt’s first reaction was to say that she was a bad writer because the boss before him would certainly not have done anything illegitimate even though he wasn’t there and doesn’t know the writer in question. There is a difference between saying that there is an obligation to prove one’s case and the implication that the filer of charges is a liar, and it is my experience that sexual harrassment/sexual assault cases are the ones in which the latter claim is most likely to be made.

As the rest of the episode played, I wasn’t surprised to find out that, despite being appalled by the slurs made at the love of his life, Harriet Hayes, that he said he would testify on behalf of the defense. He said that although it was no way to run a writer’s room, and he would never run a room like that, plenty of funny stuff comes out of rooms that he doesn’t run, so he’s their guy. Now, I have no doubt that obnoxious people are critical to the joke process, and it’s not like perfectly normal people don’t make offensive jokes. But why is that the only concern? Why is the only question whether or not the jokes produced are funny? If it were an unfunny writer’s room, influenced by the fact that all the jokes told were sexist ones, would it be sexual harrassment then?

I am hesitant to put controls on speech, because it’s free speech, and that’s good. But what happens when it’s harassing speech? Isn’t the point of things like the 1991 amendments to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (which classifies sexual harassment as discrimination and thus against the law) that not all speech should necessarily be protected? On the other hand, I want spaces for art to be as open as possible. But maybe I’m not surprised that there aren’t more female comedians when the rooms are all telling the same staid sexist jokes.

What do you think?

Image via Studio 60 Guide

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Studio 60, Sexual Harassment, Friends, Amaani Lyle

Well, you’ve only got about a half hour left to celebrate, but today is the tenth anniversary of the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is one of those shows that inspires a devoted cult following, eagerly awaiting a comic book that will explain what happened after the series went off the air. TV.com is celebrating with an article celebrating the ‘Buffyversary,’ and my favorite part of the article is this:

In part, Buffy was a joke. Every horror movie used to have that petite, cute blond girl who would (for no readily apparent reason) go wandering, alone, into a dark alley, deserted house, or spooky graveyard. The blond would then, of course, be killed. Well, Joss being a feminist at heart, he thought it would be hilarious if the big, hulking monster came up behind the little blond girl and then the cute little cheerleader turned around and kicked its otherworldly butt. And thus the seed was sown.
The idea of the pretty girl who can take on the big, ugly monsters struck a wonderful metaphoric chord. She was a perfect symbol of any of us who have ever had to face obstacles that seemed overwhelming. The Slayer was every woman who ever fought for equality, every scrawny geek who ever stood up to a schoolyard bully, every individual who ever fought city hall, every flop of a movie that ever got made into a successful TV series. She was everyone who was outcast, different, special, or downtrodden, and she demonstrated that all of us could still stand up and fight the good fight, no matter how hopeless it may seem from the outside.

It’s a good read, if for no other reason to read the word ’slayerbrate’ in a sentence.

Image via My Tribute to the Fabulous Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon, Sarah Michelle Gellar

Just recently, I started watching some of the old TV shows I enjoyed as a child. Since I don’t have cable or satellite, I’ve been purchasing my favorite sitcom box sets, and viewing them when I get the chance. I started off with the Beverly Hillbillies. This show was one of my all time favorites, growing up. After watching the first couple of episodes, I realized this show is just as funny now as it was 30 years ago. The Clampetts, who go from a poor Ozark family, to becoming millionaires in the oil industry, move from their dingy shack in the boonies, to Beverly Hills. After purchasing a beautiful mansion, the Clampetts must try and adjust to their new way of life. This along with their naivety, makes for good wholesome fun.

The Munsters, was also a personal favorite. After nearly watching the entire first season, I can truthfully say, this show also stands the test of time. The Munsters who consist of: Herman, Lily, Grandpa, Eddie, and their beautiful neice Marilyn, move into a nice neighborhood, and much like the Clampetts, must try to adjust to their surroundings. In The Munsters, Herman and the rest of the family are baffled by people’s reactions towards them, not understanding why they are looked upon differently. Every episode introduces us to many of their spooky habits, which land them in hilarious situations time and time again, making this a must see TV show.

I Dream of Jeannie, starring Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, is another one of those shows that I still enjoy watching. With only a few more episodes to view on the first season, I have thoroughly enjoyed the chemistry between Jeannie and Captain Tony Nelson. When Captain Nelson discovers a bottle on a deserted island, he releases a beautiful genie who has been trapped inside for two thousand years. Jeannie, who uses her magic to help her master in any way possible, usually causes more trouble than good, without realizing it. Tony Nelson, finds himself more often than not, trying to explain the unexplainable to his colleagues. The captivating technology and cleverness of this show, is pure magic.

This weeks’ episode started with the poor have-nots, our lovely Ravu Rejects, determined to put their egos aside and put the Tribe first. There was brief talk of choosing a leader, but in the end they decided it’d be fine if they’d just talk one at a time. Aw, Kindergarten rules! But, of course, they still don’t have water. Or food. Or a win. Maybe speaking nicely to one another will help that… we can hope, right?

The Haves, of Moto, are riding high on their undefeated laurels. They even have paint, of a bright blue, that they’ve decided to pain the floor of their shelter in hopes of keeping out the ants. One tribe member gleefully gloated, “It’s not even survival! It’s ‘Thrival’!” I hope they get whupped, but I fear I shall be disappointed, once again.

Little Michelle hits on an idea, though, and back at Ravu, she waits for the Fiji sun to raise high in the sky, at which time she uses a pair of glasses to start a fire. Hurray! Only took them 6 days without water to think of that! Whatever, necessity is the mother of invention and all that rot.

They’re delighted to find at the challenge that since they made their own fire, they now get flint. Gee. Thanks!

The challenge is a giant slip and slide, where they face off, head to head, run, slide, grab their numbered balls and make a basket for a single point, with the first team to six declared the winner. The rounds went to Moto, Ravu, Moto, Moto, Ravu, Moto, Moto, Moto. Another rousing win for the haves vs. the have nots. Sylvia is returned to Exile Island, and Moto chooses another set of fishing gear over their personal items or fresh fruit.

I really want to keep rooting for the underdogs here, but man, they aren’t making it easy!

While on Exile Island, Sylvia gets clue number three and is pretty sure she knows where the idol is. She’s also sure that she’s up for the boot at Tribal Council because of her terrible performance in the challenge. While others slipped and slid, she fell and stayed, before finally getting a move on. It was classic giving up, and quite stupid on her part as she’s been on the chopping block since the first Tribal Council. She’d better hope she gets to the idol!

Meanwhile, back at Moto, Papa Smurf (Gary) is having problems breathing, and the fear ranges from heart attack, to broken rib, to exhaustion. They call in the medics, who decided he should just rest, and see how he’s doing later. Of course, the tribe is willing to sacrifice Gary for the good of the tribe if needed. How nice of them! They did continue by suggesting it would be to make sure he’s healthy. Which we, of course, believe!

At the Immunity challenge, it’s a very welcome head to head eating contest! Well, mostly welcome, as they were treated to delicious native treats: Giant Clams, Octopus, Peanut Worms, Sea Cucumbers, Fish Eyes and Pig Snouts! Yummy! Ravu dives right in, eager to get SOMETHING on their stomachs besides coconut and pineapple. It was looking good, neck and neck, as first. Ravu, Moto, Ravu, Moto, Moto were winners for each individual challenge. Needing only four to win Immunity, it came down to the pig snouts, and Papa Smurf (Gary) vs. Anthony.

Anthony couldn’t even get one bite down, and whined like a little girl about it, while Papa Smurf proved his ability to pull through for his tribe as he chowed down as if it were bacon, dripping hot from the pan. In the end, Moto remains undefeated in every. single. challenge.

Despite some covert digging, Sylvia can’t come up with the idol, and though there was a last minute pull for Anthony to be voted off for his poor performance and whiny attitude, in the end, Sylvia is voted off the island at a Tribal Council that voiced the irritation and frustration of continued losses.

No Idol, so long Sylvia! She’s none too happy either, saying “I’ve been had and I’m not happy about it!” She explains in an interview that she’d have done everything differed from the get go, and though she’d performed badly in the first challenge, everyone told her Anthony was going because of the pathetic nature of his excuses for not eating the pig snout. “Oh yeah. I was had. Yeah I was stabbed…stabbed in the back.”

Three weeks down - tune in next week to see if the Ravu Rejects can FINALLY pull it together!

PS:
Way to go, Boo! A week with no injuries! Yay!
Snake Close-up Count: TOO MANY! STOP IT! GAH!

(images from Survivor Fever)

What do a vengeful spirit, an alien abduction, an alligator in the sewer, and a chainsaw madman have in common? They can all be seen on last week’s episode of Supernatural.

Sam and Dean investigate a college campus where strange incidents have been happening. It first starts with the death of a professor, whom the brothers find out had a quick fling on the night he died with a girl who supposedly died in the same building years earlier. Shortly after, they hear of another incident involving a college student who claims to have been abducted by aliens while walking across campus one night. Then comes the final straw — a research scientist who conducts animal tests is killed by something in the sewer. Sam realizes it was an alligator attack. All three victims had one thing in common: they weren’t angels, so to speak, and they seemed to get what was coming to them.

Baffled by three different incidents at the same campus, Sam and Dean turn to their hunting buddy, Bobby, for help. He quickly comes up with a theory that they aren’t dealing with three different creatures here, but only one: The Trickster. He looks human but he loves to put people into deadly spots. Their goal is now simple — find the trickster, dispatch him, and the college will be safe again.

But, of course, nothing is ever simple when it comes to the Supernatural. They locate and corner the trickster and after a grueling fight, which involves a couple of sexy demons in undergarments and a chainsaw madman, Dean drives a stake through the trickster and ends his reign. But as our heroes drive away, we are left to wonder: Did they really kill the trickster or was it another trick?

If you’re not watching Psych on USA, you should be. Obviously Dule Hill, previously Charlie on the West Wing, is great, and I’ve been surprised at how good James Roday, the dude who plays Shawn Spencer, otherwise known as Psych. But Maggie Lawson, the actress who plays Juliet, is my stealth favorite character on the series, and she looks eerily familiar. But then, when I look at her resume, I don’t see anything I would recognize. I didn’t watch Party of Five, so I can’t recall her guest turn as Alexa, and I have no idea what either “Crumbs” or “It’s all Relative” even are. I’m forced to go through my mind trying to recall her on Felicity, for one episode in season 1 where she played Rebecca. Maybe I saw her as Nancy Drew in the 2002 TV movie?

She’s good on the show, so that’s something.

Maggie Lawson, Psych

Not too long after we learned that she was going to start appearing on Scrubs, turns out that Keri Russell has way more going on in her life than television appearances! After a rush announcement that she and boyfriend Shane Deary, who’s a contractor, were expecting their first child this summer, she wasted no time in getting hitched on Valentine’s Day in New York City.

According to E! Online,

The erstwhile Felicity star married her longtime boyfriend, contractor Shane Deary, in a snowy ceremony in New York on Wednesday, her rep, Jill Fritzo, confirmed to E! News. The publicist declined to elaborate on details of the ceremony, but it was said to be an intimate wedding with only a few family members and friends in attendance. According to Us Weekly, the reception was held at the Harrison, a restaurant in TriBeCa.

According to the press release, Russell and Deary got engaged last year, and have been dating for several years. Most Felicity fans, however, are still sad that she broke up with Scott Speedman, who played Ben on the awesome WB show.

Photo via IMDB.

The CW is cancelling Rebaafter six seasons. I’m outraged. I love watching Reba every week. The show is cleverly written and downright funny. What is wrong with the TV execs at the CW? This show is doing well and producing high ratings. Apparently that doesn’t matter anymore.

The networks response on the cancellation is it doesn’t fit their “desired demographic”. What is their desired demographic? In the past the WB had great shows. They had something for everyone. But during the transition to the CW, the shows started disappearing one by one. Bye bye to The Bedford Diaries,Twins, Living with Fran, What I Like About You, and my personal favorites Related and Everwood. What do they replace them with? Great “family” shows like Friday Night Smackdown and America’s Next Top Model.

With Reba departing, followed by Seventh Heaven and potentially Gilmore Girls on it’s heels, I too will be saying goodbye to the CW. That is, unless they think up some good shows. Sadly that seems unlikely considering the current programming trend. So goodbye CW and you can say goodbye to a lot of other viewers, too.

Don’t forget to say goodbye to Reba on February 18th at 7pm.

This week’s Survivor: Fiji! opened with the have-nots, who still have no fire, and thus no way to boil drinking water, so thirsty they started licking the raindrops from the leaves of various fauna that surrounds the camp. Poor lil things! Guess they should have worked a bit harder on that there challenge last week, huh?

Meanwhile, the Moto Tribe - the Have’s, are living it up in their plush hammocks and pillows, the couch and plates, and declare this game “So vicious it’s delicious!” Of course, “Boo” and his flatulence made it a little less lovely.

The Ravu tribe was working hard, hard at attempting to start a fire rubbing sticks, but don’t have enough energy in the whole tribe to get it going. My man Yau-man worked his skinny lil butt off to fill a canteen with coconut milk. The boys, of course, started a competition to see who could chop them open the fastest. They’re so dehydrated they’re falling down, and exhausted, and poor Rocky, he’s eatin’ clams off the GROUND man, it’s CARAZY, they’s STARVIN man!

Then Moto Boo, the idiot, gets something in his eye, and then is a bigger idiot with the ax and cuts his hand and his knee. And the Hammock he’s resting on falls with a thud and dumps him on the ground. Prediction by Dreamz the Cheerleading Coach? Boo’s gonna hurt hisself outa the game! It is certainly a possibility at this point!

I do have to admit that I laughed out loud when the hammock dumped him on his ass though. Wonder if anyone untied it…

Day 5, and still no water. Ravu does get Sylvia back from exile island - and Yau-man does a quick peek to see if she has the immunity idol, by sneaking a peek in her bag. Says he was a little ‘nasty’ while giving her a hug to do so. How cute is he? She says she made fire and was all proud - until finding out they have none, and also finding out she’s too darn weak even WITH her water consumption, to crack a single coconut.

Commence plans to vote off the outsider!

Dreamz opens up and tells us his road to a cheerleading coach on Survivor started with his crackhead mama and how much the Haves got it easier then living on the streets. Aw, ain’t he cute?

Ravu finds food! They’d been looking all in the wrong places, and right in front of them was hundreds of pineapples. Go Erica! Earl loves ya, and is gonna propose since ya found him food - it’s the way to a man’s heart and all that. Pineapple! Go figure!

Dude - it’s thirty minutes in, no challenge, no tree mail? Bah Humbug! Bring on the competition! Man, I need Tivo. HD-DVR. Something!

FINALLY! A challenge! Again, there was only one, for both Immunity and reward. They were playing for Immunity, fishing gear, and for Ravu, flint. Ravu wants it really bad, and as they take off on the raft and start clipping their crates to the rope, they are ahead of the other Tribe and pulling away. Things look good, and it looks like the painted colors on Moto doesn’t seem to help their tangled cable and the mounting frustrations.

They pulled in the crates they’d clipped to the cable, all four, to the mat where they untie and open to find a 6 piece pole and flag they have to put together and raise. They hit the beach, and it all starts to fall apart for Ravu. Erica gets bossy, telling people the way it goes together, and they start ignoring her and she throws a hissy fit. They fall behind, and eventually lose, as Moto gets their act together, sniffing out the weakness of the other Tribe and busting ass. They raise their flat, and win Immunity and Reward!

They then send Earl to Exile Island and the backstabbing bitchery begins as Ravu has to figure out who’s getting the ax at Tribal Council. Though many had already agreed the exiled outsider Sylvia should be gone first, many think Erica’s freakout was way out of line. End result, Erica is voted out 5-2, and is naturally shocked! SHOCKED! After all, she found PINEAPPLE, people! PINEAPPLE!

THANK YOU, CBS, for the fewer shots of the snakes this time, though watching Earl kill one with the machete was a nice touch. *shudders* But seriously, less close-ups, ok? Only one view would have been fine! UGH! Earl spends his time muttering that the idol is back at camp, but enjoying fire and water. And the killing of snakes, I mentioned that, right? SLICE AND DICE BABY! (But please, don’t show me again!) (And he didn’t enjoy it, really. But I did! Sorta, in that “ew! EWEWEW! kinda way.)

Tune in next week, to see if Boo manages to actually sever a limb, or crack open his skull! Oh, and also, who is the next to get voted off the Island. So long to you, Erica, and to your screechy freakouts, too!

After an accident last spring involving a can of spray starch that ruptured, burst into flames, and started a fire that left over 18% of his body covered in burns, Mark Curry, the star of the 90s sitcom Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, says that the pain was so intense that he considered committing suicide by hoarding his pain pills.

According to an interview that will air Thursday on the Montel Williams Show, and reported by the Associated Press, Curry said that after he awoke from a medically-induced coma that lasted 3 days, “It was so bad … that pain was so excruciating that I just threw it out . . . I wanted to kill myself and, by the fourth day, I said, ‘I can’t do this.’ I felt less than a man. I couldn’t even look at my own body. I saw my hand with the peeling skin and threw up, and I didn’t look at myself again.”

Luckily, he was able to call some comedian friends, like Sinbad and Bill Cosby, and they convinced him to change his mind. This is great news; if only everyone could be so lucky.

Mark Curry, Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper

As any good fan of The West Wing would, I can keep track of the guest stars over the years in an almost alarming fashion, people who only appeared in one episode but were incredibly important to an overall point trying to be made by Aaron Sorkin. When you know the actors, it’s even more fun (Traylor Howard from Two Guys, A Girl and A Pizza Place, then Monk, as Sam Seaborn’s ex-fiancee, or how about Liza Weil as the aide who disclosed Leo’s alcoholism, Paris from the Gilmore Girls?).

Take Winifred Hooper. She was the one who read all of the reports that Sam wanted to get eliminated as part of an effort to cut down on wasteful government spending, in the episode “The Stackhouse Filibuster,” which is a truly excellent episode. The actress who plays her had a really distinctive voice, and I liked her.

So of course, today, I’m watching last week’s episode of Close To Home, which centers around the adventures of two female district attorneys prosecuting criminals. This particular episode was about a dude with a gambling problem who then ended up dead. And dude’s girlfriend? Who do you think that might be? Yep, none other than Winifred Hooper. She didn’t look exactly the same, but I’d recognize that voice anywhere, and when I looked it up, sure enough, it’s the same actress. Turns out her name is Cara DeLizia, and not only was she on Boston Public (which I didn’t watch), she was also on another show called Close to Home 5 years ago. Only that one starred Jared Padalecki instead of Jennifer Finnigan. Who knew?

Close to Home, The West Wing, Cara DeLizia

So I guess the Grammys count as Television. The funny thing is that I don’t ever watch award shows. I was bored Sunday night and stumbled upon “The Police” opening up the show. I had heard so much about Sting’s band gettin’ back together, so I decided to watch. Finding out who the winners are isn’t the best part of the show. It’s all about the nominee performances. Something may have been up with Christina’s hair, but her tribute to the Godfather of soul (James Brown) was flawless. Using some of his old microphone stand moves was a nice touch, although secretly I was hoping for her to put on a cape. Lets see who else, oh, that John Legend, Corinne Bailey Rae, John Mayer collaboration was pretty hot, but it would’ve been even better if they turned up the microphones on the Mayer song. Who am I leavin out? The Justin Timberlake set was alright, but I wasn’t sure if he was really playin’ the piano. I can’t forget about Gnarls Barkley. They classed it up singing “Crazy” with a slower military beat. They threw in a choir and an orchestra, it may have been the best performance of the night. I know they didn’t perform, but I was hoping to see Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder perform the song they won a grammy for, “For once in my life”. If you don’t know by now the Dixie Chicks cleaned up. I think they won 5 grammys Sunday night. What makes me laugh is that I think those are makeup awards. 2 years ago when they bashed President Bush, there was a huge media backlash. Now everybody bashes Bush, so the Dixie Chicks were really just pioneers. Anyways, congrats to the winners and losers from Sunday night.

Since the Simpsons came onto the air we have witnessed Homer get stupider each season. I believe most expected him to be confined to a chair, in the Simpson’s bizarrely shape shifting living room, drooling and possibly constantly bashing himself in the head with random objects. Amazingly Homer still can speak, barely, and the audience keeps tuning in to watch what stupid thing he does next.
Late into the Simpsons success another show emerged, got cancelled, and then re-emerged on television. Family Guy and with it was introduced the borderline retarded father Peter Griffin. There was an episode where they discovered that Peter was in fact legally retarded, this left me wondering why this hadn’t been discovered sooner but held my complaint because the episode was hilarious.
I have read a lot of discussion that Family Guy is a rip-off of The Simpsons. But if you take into consideration that today everything is a rip-off, that argument really isn’t valid. What really should interest people is who out of the two fathers’ is the stupider primate?
For this you will have to analyze the content of which both are depicted. Both are fat, which apparently is synonymous with stupidity; however Homer’s gluttony is thrown into greater expression than Peter’s. Both are alcoholics, literally mislabeled stupid juice, but Peter’s drinking is not restricted primarily to a bar like Homer’s. Both have to converse with their brains for bigger decisions in this they are equally bad are solving whatever problem they are stumped with.
When you get right down to things they aren’t all that different, which the reason for the idea of the rip-off probably exists. In true they are both equally stupid, fat, lazy, alcoholics. They depicted the left of that useless jerk we have all ran into at the bar. What the shows are really doing is making us laugh at what we consider a character that is below us in the social ladder. Typically giving permission to laugh at those seedy jokes normally saved for locker rooms and barracks. The silver lining is that we realize this eventually and it causes us to examine our personal character and discover the very stupidity of holding these stereotypes within our views.
Laughter is the cure for any lesser trait of mankind.

Kai Keindel

Let me preface this by saying I’m a huge Gilmore Girls fan. I have the box sets and watch the show religiously. With that being said, I’m not sure there should be an 8th season.

This has been the worst season of Gilmore Girls. The writing just leaves something to be desired. Every week I watch, hoping that the writing will improve. But every week I’m disappointed. I miss Daniel and Amy Sherman-Palladino’s clever writing and pop culture quips. Not only are the pop culture references missing, but so is all the fast talking funny moments.

Gone are the days when Rory and Lorelai talk faster than the speed of light. Gone are the days when Lorelai says something that causes Emily to ask how old she is or give her a dirty look. Gone are the days of coffee and junk food obsessions. Gone are the days of Luke’s long rants. The show is just not the same without the Palladinos’ writing. The new writers obviously don’t understand Amy’s vision of the characters. This season has shown us shells of our favorite characters or is it just me?

These are the things irking me…..

The 14th season of the powerhouse Survivor started Thursday night. As with millions of others, I was eagerly awaiting the premiere and the revealing of promised twists. After all, what Survivor would be complete without a few twists!

First things first - we started out with only 19 survivors. An odd number? But why! There was mention of a competitor bowing up before the game started, and a bit of savvy research (ok, so I knew where to look..) turned up the reasons why. Survivor Fever reveals that Melissa McNulty bailed before the actual came due to an abundance of Panic Attacks. She thought she was ready, as did her doctors, but apparently, it was too much even before they hit the beach. So the bombshell bails, and we’re left with 19. The producers decided to go for it without an alternate, and we were off.

Watching it - I was almost as surprised as the castaways to discover all the tools and supplies and of course, an architect castaway to help them build their shelters. It took me a lot less time then it took the castaways to figure out this would be short-lived, however. It’s the haves vs. the have-nots, naturally, which seems to be a reality TV theme this season. (The Apprentice is doing it too. I’ve heard. I don’t watch it. Heh.)

There’s still an exile island - but the at-home grumblings about the hidden immunity idol are quickly silenced when the first clue reveals the idol is hidden back at camp. Nice.

The bad thing about exile island? All the bloody snakes. I’m seriously phobic, so CBS - please, cut it out with all the close-ups, will you? It’s KEELING me. (reason number ONE why I’m not on a reality show!)

The challenge was cool - loved the whole chariots of fire angle was awesome. Poor Jessica Deben (fashion stylist). She sealed her fate way too early by not getting the knots undone fast enough. When everyone’s still feeling each other out, the victim of the first Tribal Council is always doomed by some little minor detail. Farewell, Jessica. We hardly knew you!