Okay. I’ll be honest with you. I barely recognized anyone one the “Favorites” tribe because I have tended to give up on a season 2-3 episodes in for the last couple of years. I just haven’t been intrigued or interested by any of the twists or contestants themselves. I definitely haven’t been excited about a season. But last night? As my husband and I watched some great gameplay unfold - I thought, “THIS is why I used to love this show.”

I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that when Chet failed that challenge so miserably - that he’d be out. Survivors like to choose the easy out that everyone can agree on. He would have required no strategy or convincing to the majority of the tribe. Easy choice. The end. Until Mike started trying to spearhead some safety measure to make sure that all bases were covered if Kathy found the other immunity idol. By holding those lectures he made Joel feel like he was trying to take the leadership role. This flagged dangerous to Joel because he wanted to be the leader. So, he spearheaded his own campaign to get Mary - Mike’s main ally - out of the game. AND IT WORKED.

Now - I think Joel could have been a little more gentle about convincing people. He might have been too, “We can’t let him control us! Rawr!” to give him much support later. I mean - if they didn’t like Mike controlling them - they won’t like Joel doing it either. But - if you paid attention at the end credits - Joel did NOT vote for Mary. He voted for Tracy. Now - is he hoping to be able to claim ignorance by doing that? Who knows. But it made an interesting finale to a great strategy. How will the fallout shape up and will Joel continually claim not to have voted for Mary and be able to be telling the truth? It’s interesting and we loved watching it all unfold.

Of course - I’m not really on Team Joel yet - something about him to rubs me wrong. But most of the time the interesting players are not the ones I like. And I’m okay with that. As long as they don’t make me hate them, I’ll still enjoy watching them play.

Last night’s tribal council was a perfect one for a team of fans. It shows that a true fan can recognize a dangerous leader before he takes complete control of a tribe, and knock him down a few notches in advance. I tribe of newbies might not have cared what Mike was planning and would have just written Chet down to keep things stable. These guys didn’t. Which means this could be an even more interesting season than I had predicted.

Let’s hope.

Once again - the results of this challenge surprised me. I was impressed with several of the designs. I say it every week, but the versatility of some of these designers impresses me. I mean - wrestling gear? Really? How did any of them not immediately panic and the mere thought of such a task?

I am not shocked Chris won, I thought his design for his client was perfect, but Jillian’s was my favorite over all. I know part of that is client-based, but I thought she managed unique detail and still gave the girl what she wanted. But my favorite part of her design was how flustered it made Michael Kors! Seeing him fumble about being out of his element was priceless. It made the challenge worth it right there.

I’m glad Ricky was sent home, to me he’s the least talented of the remaining contestants. However, I really thought Rami’s was the worst design. Yes - Ricky’s looked like a bathing suit - but something about Rami’s just screamed “Barbie Doll Costume” - and that’s not a good thing. Of course - I’m no fashion maven so these opinions could conflict with many - but from my couch in my pajamas, Rami’s ranked at the bottom for me.

Can’t wait for next week!

Entertainment Weekly put this show on it’s “Must List” a few issues ago and I couldn’t have been happier. It makes me feel a lot better about my obsession knowing that the professionals approve. “Make Me A Supermodel” is the show I really look forward to every week, and I could not be more surprised.

Now - considering I have no fashion background or interest - a week focusing on the catwalk is not my favorite. I have a hard time recognizing the “good” characteristics from the “bad” that the coaches and critics mention. I was - however - thrilled to see my boy Ben get rave reviews. On the other hand - I was very sad to see Ronnie in the bottom three. If American sends him home, I’m going to be very upset. I understand their view of him being a bit too All-American and not edgy enough for the catwalk - but I think that is something that can be fixed with styling. He’s such a natural I would hate to see him go, especially because that would mean Katy stays and I am ready for her to be gone. Even I, the non-expert, feels she is way out of her league with the others on this show.

Oh! Oh! Oh! It was soooo good. What did you think? Let’s get right to the meat, shall we?

Who will be the Oceanic 6? Obviously Hugo, Jack and Kate so far. Who else? Is the dead person Jack saw in the coffin at the end of last season one of them? I’m assuming, based on the Dead Charlie Visiting Hurley scene, that there are others still on the island that the Oceanic 6 are not talking about. But possibly will want to get back to? Did you get the same vibe? And I also get the impression that Hurley thought going with Locke was a bad idea, even though it felt like the right thing to do on the island. I wonder what will come of that. So - who made it off the island and who/why stayed. I guess those will be the big mysteries of this season. The flash-forwards are such an awesome touch because I’m already wondering who will be featured next week. Will it be a new member of the Oceanic 6 - or will they maybe flash forward to the island and show us what’s going on there in the future? That would be SOOOO cool.

What did you think? How did you interpret some of the clues?

I know a lot of fans have been criticizing this season, but can I just say - I’ve been really pleased with it. I was really worried that last night’s episode was going to end in a White Snake Video Disaster. But you know? I actually liked all three of the above dresses. I agree that the frayed edge on Chris’s dress was a little tacky, but the rest of the design was pretty good. The three dresses above show the versatility of these designers. They all used the same fabric, same shade, and even did similar shapes in their designs. Yet - somehow - we get three completely different results. I’m just impressed this year, to say the least.

I agreed with the booting of Victorya’s this week. I didn’t like her design - nor did I like the execution. I don’t think she has been very consistent, so I actually don’t mind at all that she’s gone. Last week, I thought Kit had a bad week, but she’s usually good so I didn’t want to see her gone. Victorya? I’m fine with her not being in the finals. And in reality - I’m glad Ricky had a good week. While I don’t think he’s consistent, when he’s good, he’s really good.

This show is tough, like any other talent-based reality TV show, I find myself torn between rooting for someone’s talent v/s against their personality. I really think Christian is amazing behind the sewing machine. But man - his attitude makes me want to ring his little neck sometimes. Same with Sweet P and Ricky. I don’t think they’re that talented, but I love their willingness to take advice and their modesty. I am torn between rooting for the people who are talented enough to win, or the people I’d like to see win. In the end - I always root for the talent (Rami, Christian, Jillian) - but I think I would be fine if anyone else won because I like the other contestants personality. I’m a soft-hearted fan, what can I say?

Okay. Let me start by saying that I am usually the one who argues against those reality TV contestants who try to be noble and say things like, “I played with character,” because if I were playing for a million dollars? Or even less? I’d throw character out the window. It’s all about the prize, baby! Screw morals and ethics!

But - in my opinion - this show should be different. The contestants on The Biggest Loser typically discuss how or why they deserve to be there. How this show saves their life. This show, to me, should be about more than the prize money. So, just like when it happened last season, seeing people throw the weigh-in angers me and makes me yell at the people I don’t know inside the television.

When the contestants first started talking about throwing the weigh-in to get rid of the Black team, I was so livid. I am not a huge fan of the Black Team, but they have been working their ass off and anyone who works that hard deserves to be there. In my opinion, they deserve to be there more than the people throwing the weigh-in. Now, I know this is all MY OPINION - but I get emotionally invested in this show! I felt awful for the Black Team.

And then immunity was on the table, and I knew that the Black Team would be safe. But what I also knew, was that the only people not safe from the Yellow Team were probably the teams who actually didn’t throw the competition. I knew it would be the Pink Team and that broke my heart. I have no problem with alliances, I understand those, but throwing the weigh-in? No way. To me that is where the line is, and now I’m rooting against Team Orange. And do we know FOR SURE who else threw it? I know the girl on Team Blue, but who else? I want to know who to be angry at. Bette Sue and Alli were my favorite team and I’m sad to see them go. Especially under these circumstances.

Do you know what I wanted the most out of last night’s episode? I really wanted to see Cameron place chess with Turk. I know that the plot didn’t require that kind of interaction, but I would have loved to have seen Andy’s face when a “human” beat his computer. Oh well. That is probably why I don’t write for the show. I’d spend too much time testing Cameron’s skills.

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From what I understand, Dance War is not the show that everyone is watching. It is a show that I am watching, for some strange reason. But - I may have to stop if they do a repeat of what they did last night.

First of all - the thirty minute recap was completely annoying and unnecessary. The remaining hour was filled with the typical Dancing With The Stars type of filler, so if I’m complaining about the first thirty minutes, you know it must have been bad. Cut the recap to five minutes and take out five minutes of the annoying behind-the-scenes footage in the last hour and you can easily make this an hour-long show. Luckily, I watch it recorded so I was able to fast-forward a 90-minute show to about 30 minutes. That’s the only way.

Thoughts on last night’s episode after the jump.

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Wow. The Amazing Race finale from this season may have been my all-time favorite of all seasons. Not only were there three teams I could root for, but the one that was my favorite WON. And I cried, but that’s not really a surprise.

My thoughts:

• The could not have picked a more beautiful set of challenges for the last leg of the race. Alaska is stunning and with the ice climbing and the boat rides and the helicopter views, the viewers got to enjoy that as much as the racers. Excellent choice.
• When Don and Nick forgot their bag, I thought I was going to cry right there. They were my second favorite team, so seeing them make that mistake about killed me.
• Luckily, TK and Rachel chose the slower task allowing Nick and Don to catch up with their efficient fish-gutting skills. But, TK and Rachel increased their lead in the ice-climbing task which gives an advantage to the younger, more able bodies. Great for my favorite team, not-so-great for Nick and Don.
• When Phil went into the details of that roadblock, and then ended it with “If you think that sounds easy…” I laughed out loud. EASY? Really? I don’t think so. It sounded near impossible. I had visions of the teams being there for MONTHS trying to figure it out. When Rachel finished first? I screamed. I felt they were safe for the win then.
• Of course, then there were A BILLION MORE STOPS. I expected the clue after the roadblock to read…”Go to the finish line!” But it took several more stops to get that clue. Luckily, they were still in the lead when they got it. Seeing them running to the finish line - with complete thrill on their faces - made up for the dozens of other finales of reality TV shows that have killed me over the years. Way to go, TK and Rachel. You were my fave from day 1.

Man. There were so many things about this week’s FNL that punched me in the heart, I’m surprised I made it through the entire episode without needing a tissue. I decided the best way to break down this week’s episode is into the various story lines that broke my heart throughout the hour.

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There are several shows I’m watching now that I would like to think I wouldn’t be watching if this strike was over. One of those is Bravo’s answer to America’s Next Top Model: Make Me A Supermodel. I actually got hooked after the first episode, and I think it’s because there are boys on this show. While ANTM might have more talent and knowledge pushing the show, I can’t overlook the power of the cute boys.

Unfortunately, the show does add the twist of the America Votes factor, which I tend to hate. I would rather not have America voting on any of my reality shows, but that’s because I kinda think America has bad taste. As demonstrated with the keeping of Dominic from last week.

Now - on to my thoughts on the show…

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Let me just say that I knew Rami was going to be criticized for not being avant-garde or even a stretch from his norm. I see this dress and I think the same thing I think every week for Rami: Great technical execution. He knows his talents and his styles and he executes those things very well - but it all kinda looks like it could come from the same runway. Like he’s just making pieces for a show each week and not really paying attention to theme or concept. On the other hand - I love, love, loved Sweet P’s ready-to-wear dress. If I were tall and thin I would wear that every day. In every color. I loved it.

I am sad to see Kit go, because she has interesting vision. I guess Rami is more skilled, but we see more range from Kit and I’m going to miss that. I really wish it could have been either of their team members on the block, even though they were not at fault for the poor results. I loved that Rami tried to blame the design on their bad team vibe. Sweet P even tried to step in and be all, “Um - yeah - we didn’t work well together. But I don’t think we can blame the bad design on that.” heh.

I’m very thrilled that Chris and Christian won. Although - what is up with the excessive use of that bone/ivory tone this season? I know nothing about fashion but I hate that color and it seems everyone loves it. While I thought Victorya’s design was cooler, Chris and Christian’s was simply amazing. I loved it. And I even liked the ready-to-wear version. I don’t like ruffles on me, but on her that blouse was…well…fierce.

Great episode. The Kit/Rami decision would have been tough for me. In the end, I probably would have eliminated Rami just to see Kit’s range develop, but I can actually side with either decision. What were your thoughts?

You know, the one thing I hate about The Biggest Loser is that a lot of times my favorite teams get booted because their too much competition. Or worse, my least favorite stick around because they are NO competition. And that was my biggest fear last night. As much as I loved Amanda, I just could not get past my feeling that Neill did NOT want to be there as much as everyone else. I just don’t think he honestly cares as much as the other teams. If he and his wife had stayed while the purple team went home, I would have been outraged.

Luckily - that didn’t happen. And honestly? Neill having only lost 48lbs total while his wife lost 43 kinda supports my thoughts that he was not as ready to change his life as the other contestants are. More thoughts after the jump.

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Last night was the final half of the premiere of Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles. I watched both parts because I’m a sucker for an action showing of any sort. I like seeing things get blown up. What can I say? Of course, it looks like I wasn’t the only one watching. 18 million people tuned into night 1. That’s a lot of people. Whether or not those numbers would be as good if the WGA strike wasn’t on, we’ll never know. Maybe people are desperate for fresh scripted programming, or maybe everyone was just excited about the possibility of one of their favorite movies converting to the small screen.

I really liked it.

I think Thomas Dekker did a great job as the reluctant hero: John Conner. His doubt of his future potential was very believable. I like that they didn’t make him entirely heroic and prepared for his future from Day One. I like that he’s still, essentially, a teenager. I also thought Lena Headey had done a great job so far as his Mom. Throwing in the wrench that she is destined to die of cancer, will add an interesting taste to the future seasons this show has the potential of having. She has a time limit now, John must be ready to be alone in six years. How will that effect their relationship? Will she ditch the mother role for the trainer role? Who knows.

The action and fight scenes were brilliant. I loved when Cameron gets hit by the car and immediately asks the occupants to “remain calm.” Some of the scenes were obviously gratuitous, but thats what I’m watching it to begin with. I don’t mind the gratuitous explosions or shootings. I’m not sure if the average viewer feels the same way.

I’m still not positive how I feel about Summer Glau playing Cameron. After two nights, I’m just not convinced she’s right for the role. I think this is partly because I don’t know the capability of her “version” of the Terminator. At first, I thought she was as close to “real” as a machine could get. She fooled John in the beginning and she pulled off “normal” very well. But then, she spent the rest of the premiere being robotic and stilted. Did she lose her adaptability or is that just bad acting? I’ll give it a few more episodes. My guess is that the dynamic of the relationships will be more interesting if she doesn’t adapt perfectly, but that they couldn’t have her be robotic when her and John first met. We’ll see.

Either way - I’ll be tuning in. I hope the FBI Agent starts to investigate the possibility that Sarah is NOT crazy since most of the evidence is supporting her lunatic ravings. I also hope they don’t have to keep moving around, because that story line gets annoying and boring. I’ll definitely watch this season, how about you?

I’ll be honest with you. I fast-forwarded through most of last night’s episode of The Amazing Race. I was so nervous for Rachel and TK and desperate to find out the final three - that I just couldn’t suffer through watching every second of the show. It was too excruciating.

Of course, the second I saw the CLOSED sign on the first stop, giving the teams a relative equalizer, I felt better. That’s one thing I’ve always praised the producers for, they make sure to always keep the race close, no matter who is in last. I’m always ticked off when it’s a team I hate, but last night? I was happy with the occasion. Although, seeing TK and Rachel wander around looking for the clue about gave me an ulcer, but I was very happy to see them catch up with the other teams in the immigration line.

I’ll say this - in seasons past I’ve dreaded the idea of a team that lucked out on a non-elimination round - winning the race. To me, that would be so unfair and no matter who the team was, I wanted them eliminated for the sake of the purity of the race. However, with the introduction of the speed bump, I really feel like it erases the advantage that luck gives a team for being last during a non-elimination leg. TK & Rachel had an extra task that put them in last, even when they weren’t in last before that task. So - they actually had to work their way back to the head of the race. And they did so with a clear head and a positive attitude. It wasn’t luck, so I feel like they deserved it.

And when Nate and Jen ended up in last place before the Jagged Rock Walk task? I thought I was going to cry, I was so happy. Granted, the editing tried to make it look like the taxi trouble would equalize the teams again, but I still felt secure. Nate and Jen - You are the last team to arrive. You have been eliminated. And I am very happy.

What a final three, huh? Three teams that I’ve been rooting for all season. Seeing each of my favorites hit that mat one after another, brought tears to my eyes. I need to get out more, don’t I? I don’t think I could pick a favorite between TK and Rachel or Nick and Don, so I guess I’ll be rooting against Ron and Christina. Not because I don’t like them, because I do, but I like them the least of the final three. In reality? I’ll be pleased with any of the final three teams winning.

And as an unrelated sidenote: How awesome did Phil look in that red shirt last night? If you don’t remember it, go to the CBS page and click on the “Phil: Behind the Scenes” and watch the “Taipei” video. First of all - that red shirt is awesome. Second - seeing him run across those rocks was adorably hilarious. Phil rocks! Um…no pun intended.

Well, last night’s episode of my new favorite guilty pleasure Gossip Girl sure was one for the history books. It had a little bit of everything: A pregnancy scare, a mutiny, preppy-boy street fighting, and picnics in the park. I couldn’t have asked for more. This show has really surprised me and really shows to have quite a bit of substance in this finale.

I loved the side-story about Rufus and his complete failure at entering the dating world. He seemed very sincere in his frustration with the whole situation as he watched his two chances at dates fall out of his fingers. I think last night’s episode showed just enough of the Rufus situation to appease those of us adults in the crowd, but not so much to alienate the younger fans. I hope.

The Jenny out-bitching Blair situation has not quite settled in my mind yet. Part of me wanted to scream, “She deserves ever minute of it!” But the other part of me doesn’t want to see Jenny turn to the dark side. I need more time to think about. But I did relish in seeing Blair get a little taste of her own medicine. Although the Chuck lecture at the end may have been a little much.

I’m going to miss that show. I have no idea if the writer’s strike getting settled would bring the show back this season or not, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it would. Of course, by the looks of the latest news from the front line, the strike has quite a long life left in it.