Weekend Rant - Full Speed into the new season

Best.Show.Ever

The new shows are starting to appear on the viewing schedule, and before going on to what I am so hyped about for the new season, I wanted to finish off with one important thing:

Congratulations Jordan for winning So you think you can dance Canada! It was great to see one of my favourites from day 1 go all the way and take home the title.

Now back to the Weekend Rant.... this past week I took in the first episode of Radio-Canada's Il dansent, featuring SYTYCD Canada season 1 winner Nico Archambault. Although it is another dance show, there are no eliminations and it is more of a behind the scenes look at the training the dancers will do to make them more versatile and ready to take on all sorts of challenges. On this side of the border we also had the return of Rick Mercer and the scathing 22 Minutes, as well as Les Parent and Infoman.  Survivor got off to great start with the return of Ozzie (one of my faves) and Coach (whatever) coming back for redemption. I love this series and all the drama that ensues as they all try to outwit each other.

This week I am hyped for the return of Dancing with the Stars, Glee and Supernatural, The Big Bang Theory, and Modern Family. I will be checking out Charlie's Angels, and hoping it is as fun as the last films that were produced by Drew Barrymore.
Happy Viewing!

Weekend Rant - More on the Sparkle Bra Saga

Canada's Top 14 Dancers

So you think you can Dance has been monopolizing the viewing schedule 4 nights per week with 2 series playing at the same time.
On the Canadian side of things,  the Canadian production team was in super sneaky mode this week concerning the eliminations, so there was not a Sparkle Bra to be seen in the house, so there went my indicator for who was going to be sent home this week. I find it a little curious that a couple of the things that I mentioned here have been addressed on the show and am still waiting for some kind of performance from Tré.
I could not believe that most of the best performers were in jeopardy, and even more stunned to see Jordan and Joey (my 2 faves) in trouble. It is terrible to see great dancers under-appreciated and I hope that the voting public wakes up and votes for the best dancer and not just because he is kind of like Justin Bieber light.

American Top 4

Things are getting down to the wire with the American show, and besides the last episode being all about Melanie (well deserved, she is an astounding dancer and performer) it was full of great performances by some of the other dancers including my other favourite, Tadd. I love his energy on stage and have been really impressed by all the dances he has been doing out of his genre and he has been kicking butt. Sasha has been fierce and done some great stuff, as has Marko, but I am pretty sure that Melanie will win the season. At least our friends to the south continued the Sparkle Bra tradition and Caitlynn was sent home,along with the amazing Ricky but some one had to go. I am really looking forward to the finale this week and the chance to see some incredible dance numbers using all sorts of combinations of the final four.

Summer Fare

I can't really complain about the variety of TV shows available over the summer months, in fact, it is often one of my favourite times with some great dance shows, the return of some beloved series and some kick ass reality fun and games.

RuPaul's Drag U is one of the biggest highlights of the week and this season has been over the top fabulous. The last episode featuring a trio of down on their luck lesbians was more bitchy deliciousness that can only be found via Drag U, and the new additions of segments like "A word from RuPaul" have made the show even more fabulous, if that was even possible.

Eureka and Warehouse 13 have returned for new episodes and both are combining great sci fi stories with humour and sarcasm. The addition of Aaron Ashmore to Warehouse 13 was great casting and his ability to detect when someone is lying is a hilarious aid in his job. He nicely rounds out the team, and I really appreciate that his sexuality is such a secondary thing and was nicely dealt with in the past episode. Great writing in both series.

I have been enjoying seeing Roseanne back on TV after a long hiatus, and her new reality show Roseanne's Nuts, gives insight into her new lifestyle while treating us to more of her take no prisoners sense of humour. She looks great and so happy, yet retains her realistic view on things. Her presence has been sorely missed on the tube.

Torchwood: Miracle Day has gotten me to like Torchwood again after the last depressing series where they pretty much killed off all the supporting characters. I like the change around to the USA this time around and the storyline is fascinating watching the results of what would happen if no one died. Jack and Gwen are in fine form, and I am intrigued to see where all this will go.

Weekend Rant – Pre-Olympics Blitz

Things have been very busy and I haven't had the time to do much updating, and with the Olympics just around the corner it may be a while before I have time to rant, I love this kind of competition and since it happens only every few years I will be taking in as much as possible.

Here's a quick run down of the past while:

The Good:
I was surprised, shocked, confused, dazed and so pleased with the beginning of the last season of Lost, and really like the new alternate timeline that it has created. The writers were very smart with maintaining all of the plot line with the gang on the the Island, yet showing the results of their time ripple. This whole time-space continuum thing is very confusing and makes your brain hurt, but only in a good way.

The return of Project Runway to New York has brought back the right balance and the gang in the natural habitat. I think this is the last season I want to see Heidi pregnant (the woman is incredible the way she just keeps popping them out) and I hope to see more of the Challenges that take the designers way out of their comfort zone. It's nice to see Michael and Nina there each week.

RuPaul's Drag Race hit the airwaves with all it's ferocious fabulousness and if the first episode is only the tip of the iceberg then I can hardly wait for the rest of the season. As you can see from the image, the first challenge was quite a breezy one with that wind machine and not all the girls were ready to be blown that hard, all in good taste.

Burn Notice is right back on track and the first episodes of this season have been spot on with Michael playing all dark, mysterious, sexy and damn funny. Seeing the Cagney & Lacey reunion was hysterical, but the chemistry between Fiona & Michael is too hot for TV. I love this show.

Caprica has held my attention so far and I really like the story that is developing. Here's hoping that the writing remains strong and the plot development consistent, it could turn into another sleeper hit.

I am hitting myself for not putting Tracey Ullman's State of the Union on my Top Ten list as the show is so damn funny and well done that it deserves more accolades than it is getting. Tracy pulls out the most astounding characters and I love her imitation of celebrities. There should be more with her.

The Bad:
I hope Heroes ties up a lot of loose ends cause this may be their last shot. The writing has been choppy and the plot lines are too stretched and I just want it to end. Such a shame.

The Maybe:
Smallville has been doing some good work, but the JSA themed special was only so-so. The storyline was a tad too overworked, and for big name heroes you would think that people would remember someone like Dr. Fate or Hawkman. My biggest beef was with the Hawkman costume and the crappy effects as the other characters seemed better done. It was still good and I had tons of fun and geeky moments but it was unsatisfying. They really have got to get him into that costume soon.

The Human Target started off okay but I am not sure that I am hooked enough to hang around. I will give it a couple more episodes before making a decision. The character is not enough like the comic book one, and it is not really grooving with me.

Shear Genius started off okay but is still on probation with all the changes that they have introduced this year with a new host, main Judge and mentor. The contestants seem talented and there is attitude for days so it bears further investigation.

Coming Up:
This week I am hyped for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains and can hardly wait to see some of my favourites take another shot at the prize. I am pretty sure the Villains will fight amongst themselves and watch for big players like Russell to be eliminated early on. I am pretty sure the biggest threats will self implode early on.

As mentioned earlier, the Olympics are starting! I will be glued to the tube in my spare time watching all the incredible athletes and cheering for the home teams.

Enjoy the games!

Weekend Rant – Starting the New Year

The traffic on the Blog has been pretty high this past week after posting my Top Ten Lists of 2009, and I have to thank those vigilant readers who pointed out a spelling error (correction done –my bad) and who were questioning how and why a certain show (Dollhouse) was on my list yet listed as a disappointment – I have updated that listing with some of my reasoning.

I was honestly surprised by the number of comments that I received (and they are well appreciated thank you, but all comments are private only as I don’t want my Ranting Space turning into a bulletin board) and I was not the least surprised that some people disagreed with some of my choices, it’s pretty normal that what I like may not be your cup of tea. We are all different and I was glad to see that other Supernatural, Bones, Smallville, Better off Ted and Dollhouse Fans were happy to see their favourite show included on the list. All of this new social networking certainly gets word around fast and to repeat myself, I was shocked by the traffic that visited TV Rantings.

This week heralded the return of Chuck, and the first 3 hours this season have been so great that you can only use the word Awesome to describe it. I am really digging the new and improved Intersect V2 and how Chuck can now tap into different abilities and techniques along with all the information that the Intersect can provide. The comedy balance in this show, along with all it’s glorious geekiness makes it such a pleasure to watch and it was fun seeing pretty much all of the regular cast back. There were already a few twists and turns, including the execution of Emmett (RIP nemesis) and the fantastic episode with Captain Awesome getting in on the action and then being taken hostage at the end. I have to say that my heart jumped for a minute and I thought that they had killed Awesome off but then was quickly relieved when I saw the promo for the next episode. This show better get more of a pick up, it is way better than Heroes and I love how all the episodes are still following the original theme and this time around it was Chuck vs. The Pink Slip; The Three Words and The Angel de la Muerte. Great stuff all around and welcome back Chuck!

Here in the Great White North (aka Canada), we got treated to a new series by the hilarious Kids in the Hall, called Death comes to Town. All of the original cast is back and they are all doing multiple characters as Death visits the sleepy little town of Shuckton. Scott Thompson is hilarious as Heather Weather, the local weather personality trying to get ahead in her career before it’s too late, Dave Foley is playing Marilyn Bowman, wife of the sleazy Mayor and mother to a “special child” and is as hilarious as ever, while Mark McKinney is the most disturbing Grim Reaper that you have ever seen. Bruce McCulloch is playing the Mayor but is even funnier as Ricky, the morbidly obese ex town hero who is house bound and apparent target of the Grim Reaper, and Kevin MacDonald plays another bizarre yet memorable character with his fuzzy headed Marnie, who seems to be suffering from short term memory loss and is the local pizza delivery driver. All of the guys are doing an amazing job and I hope it is a sign that they may come back and do another series. Since this is Canada, there is some subject matter and words that would probably not make it by the censors (I think the  Free Kittens with every Abortion sign at the town’s Abortion Clinic would be raked across the coals down south) but I can only imagine that it will be not long before it is picked up by one of the American stations.There will be even some guest appearances by some of their biggest characters, and I can only hope to see Head Crushing Man, The Chicken Lady or Buddie Cole.  It’s great to see the Kids back after all this time and the first episode had really high ratings, let’s hope it continues.

Project Runway returned (already?) and is back in New York and feels more like old times than the last season in LA. It’s nice to see Heidi (pregnant again, the woman is a baby factory) and Tim back together with Nina and Michael and I hope they are all there for the whole season. The last run fell flat with the absence of the two Queen bitches, and if the first episode is any indicator of how good this season will be with the talent seen in the first round, then this will be a good season and I hope to see some kick ass designs. I have to admit that I was really impressed by the winning design (congratulations to Emilio) but some of the other designers fell flat. As far as favourites go, I have been smitten with Ben Chmura since he was a comic book artist, and that always gains points with me, and I just love Ping Wu, who is a way out of the box designer that is so different than the others that you can not help but be fascinated. Here’s hoping this is a better round.

I have caught the first few episodes of So you think you can Dance U.K.? hosted by Cat and Nigel heading the Judges. It’s is pretty much like the other versions, all thought the audition process was done quickly and there is an odd number of couples to start with. It is a bit odd that the results air the same day as the Vote, so it looks like voting is very limited and if I understand how the phones work over there very expensive if you are not with the right service. The dances have been good so far so I will be keeping that on my radar for the next while.

In this week of laughter, I enjoyed all of the show but have to say that I really enjoyed the latest episodes of Better off Ted, showing that a typo can lead to a very nasty workplace and that guilt is just another one of those annoying emotions that can be doused with other emotions like sugar or alcohol. The Veronica Palmer character is hilarious and Portia de Rossi steals the show with her deadpan delivery of script that is scathingly funny. I love those comedie noire characters.

This week I am looking forward to checking out Human Target as it was a comic book that I used to read and I loved the Christopher Chance character, and I would be silly to not see check out the new series Spartacus: Blood and Sand that will be airing on Friday and looks a lot like that slightly homoerotic but not at all gay film 300. I love me a Gladiator and am thrilled that Lucy Lawless is in the series. There is also the prequel to Battlestar Galactica, Caprica that looks worth checking out. I am not expecting it to be able to fill the void left by BSG, but if it is an interesting enough diversion it may sway me back towards my ScyFy Fridays. I haven’t been watching much from ScyFy since the Stargate series started to suck.

Weekend Rant - Wrapping things up for the Holidays

Things are slowing down on the viewing schedule as some of the shows fall into repeats or are off the air for several weeks or even months a the Winter Olympics will have some impact on the scheduling of a few shows. Things are wrapping up with a few of the mainstays such as this edition of Survivor (which has been one of the best seasons in years) and the Amazing Race. I was hoping for the gay brothers to win but doubt it will happen now as they have been tools the past couple of episodes. It looks like it could be another Chip 'n Dip fiasco, but you never know. So you think you can Dance is humming along, albeit not with all my favourite dancers, but a very fine bunch of contenders none the less. I am really hoping that Jakob will win, but the really talented dancers are not always those who win, as it is more of a popularity contest and sometimes the better dancers get eliminated so some one who is cuter or younger can win. Jakob has incredible technique, great extension ( his feet kill me) but may be a tad too gay for the general public ... time will tell.

Top Chef is finally down to the brothers Michael and Bryan (like I said from Day 1) and under dog and probable winner Kevin. The competition has been great and I was disappointed that Jennifer didn't make it to the Finale ( especially after the Judges were raving about her Duck and how ducky it was), but all the finalists have been great and it is pretty much any one's game at this time. I hope Kevin wins, I would take his home cooking style over the other two guys' any day, and he seems to make some very simple yet complex flavours.

Things will be sporadic over the next couple of weeks and holiday time -- more rantings to follow and some end of the year wrap ups.

Weekend Rant – Reality Round Up

There are quite a few reality genre shows on the Watch List, and this past week saw the Season Finale and crowning of Canada’s Favourite Dancer on So you think you can Dance Canada. Congratulations to Tara Jean for taking home the big prize. I was pulling for (and voted a ton for) her fellow competitor, Jayme Rae but glad that one of the girls won this time around. This season was another one filled with great dancers and some fantastic pieces of choreography, and I am ecstatic that it will be back again (soon) and they are already gearing up to start the audition process. We may have also have seen the last Mia Michael creation on a SYTYCD stage for the eminent future, as Mia has moved on to other things. I hope to see more of her work elsewhere.

Continuing is SYTYCD territory, the Top 20 performed on the American version sans my favourite, Billy Bell, who had to drop out due to illness. I am a tad more lukewarm about this crop of dancers and will have to see who catches my eye now that my favourite is gone. I hope he comes back next season. It is still early in the competition and I get more hyped once the herd has been culled down to Top 10 territory.

Battle of the Blades continues to perplex me with the strange voting system used by the Judges, the comments that don’t seem to always fit the performance and the continuing drama of eliminating one of the couples on elimination night after the big Skate Off. It’s all for charity so I try to keep an open mind, but things always feel slightly off balance. I still get a kick watching the Hockey Players figure skating and seeing how comfortable they can be and if they have any actual grace. I am pretty impressed with a lot of the lifts the guys are pulling off and all that strength is good for something.

Survivor is churning out a great season with our über winning Galu tribe dominating the Fao Fao tribe. Russell is turning into the biggest ego that Survivor has ever seen ( the guy is delusional in his perception of the game) and I can hardly wait until the merge and watch all his plans go down the drain. I love it when the merge happens and we get down to individual play and you can really see who the power players are. Let’s just hope the Immunity Idols are played this time around, I always laugh when I see them being hoarded and then their owner gets blindsided. It has happened to the best of players and it would be sweet irony to see that trick played on Russell. Just a thought… I would love to see Erik win it all (I love his tree house), and think he is playing a pretty decent game so far. Besides, he is not so hard on the eyes either.

The Amazing Race continues on it’s trip around the globe, and I love how we see the teams go into meltdown mode and it all hits the fan. Canaan & Mika paid the price for a fear of heights, and it was interesting to see one the other teams, the Globetrotters, break their friendly image and freak Mika out even more until she forfeited her place and quit the Challenge. I don’t think they played dirty (it was a bit mean) as they were waiting in line for her to finish. It was the first time I heard anything about a time limit for starting a Challenge, and they seem to be insisting on the rules this season. It’s always good fun but the Race is getting harder and there only a few teams left. I am hoping for the Gay Brothers, Sam & Dan, to win, but they haven’t been the smartest knives in the drawer so far so that may be just wishful thinking.

Top Chef continues to challenge our Chefs, and unfortunately, one of my favourites, Jennifer, is cracking under pressure and will be eliminated soon if this keeps up. I thought it was a given that one of the brothers would win (Michael or Bryan), but Kevin has been pulling off a lot of wins and feels like the front runner at this time. The Quick fire Challenges are always a ton of fun and I loved our TV dinner themed one this week, even if some of the Chefs completely missed the concept with their creation. There seems to be a lot of tension in the house, and I wondering if it something that they put in the water that keeps everyone on edge like that. I find the gang a tad too harsh on Robin, but I don’t have to spend all my time with her.

Weekend Rant – New Season Sensory Overload

The New TV season (and some killer work commitments) have kept the Couch Potato very, very busy over the past couple of weeks, but the new season is now in full swing and it’s been a huge juggling act trying to watch all of it. I am still catching up on a few new things and trying to re connect with some series of last year, it seems like they all started the same day this season!

If you sneak a peek at the Watch List, you might notice that some days have up to 9 different shows listed, which means that I have to record a ton of shows and catch up on them at different times. There are a few shows that I have been watching “live” for that thrill of seeing it happen the same time as everyone else, but the majority of shows are watched off the grid, and I save time by jumping the commercials. Technology has it’s advantages.

I can’t really complain, there is a ton of Dance related stuff airing at the moment, and I am like a kid in candy story watching the incredible Crews on America’s Best Dance Crew. I am really pulling for We are Heroes to win the big prize and be the first female Crew to do it. They have impressed the heck out of me over the past few weeks and I am looking forward to seeing the big Finale this week and see if they beat Afroborike. It’s cool that the finalists are from different genres this year and it won’t be a BBoy group winning. The numbers have been incredible and the show is such fun to watch.

Dancing with the Stars came back with a vengeance and a huge list of “Stars” that were challenged with 2 dances ( one latin and the other ballroom). It was no surprise that the very bland Ashly Hamilton was bumped (they should have taken Dean McDermott instead of this idiot, he would have gone farther), but I was surprised that it was Macy Gray that got the boot instead of Kathy Ireland. Macy had a cool presence and innocence that was way more interesting than our bland supermodel. The competition looks great and I am pulling for Lacey & Mark and absolutely love Mya & Dmitry. Some of the Stars have incredible potential, such as Donny Osmond and Joanna. Others like Debi (who I love) are finding it a bit harder and may fall to the side before catching their feet. Things have just started, and even if our Judges seem a tad cranky, I am pumped for another season.

So you think you can Dance Canada has finished up with sorting our dancers out and we are now in Top Ten territory. The final cuts of Daniel and Corryne were the hardest of them all, and I would have preferred to have seen Cody get cut instead of Daniel, but I voted and that is all that I could do.The Judges realized how popular Cody is with all the tweeners. The quality of dance is still incredible, and the show is really coming into it’s own with introducing a few styles that not appeared on other SYTYCD stages as well as being a tad more adult than the American version. Our censors seem more open to content such as crotch grabs and that can make all the difference in the world for some the numbers (mild sarcasm) but setting the choreographers creativity free turns out some astounding numbers and it’s is incredible to see how most of the dancers are thriving and expanding their vocabulary. It’s turning into a much better season than the first, and I am even finding it a tad more balanced with our hyperactive head Judge Jean-Marc. I do hate that he keeps wanting to put the dancers on his V.I.D List (very important dancer) but it just comes out wrong and you think that they all have some sort of sexually transmitted disease. I know that Jean-Marc means well but his translations don’t always come out as he would like them to, and they really need to have some one tell him that his whole V.I.D idea is stoopid. It was great that Mya was by again to help out with the Judging, and I am hoping to see her choreograph something for the show.

Our American friends are continuing with auditions for this season of So you think you can Dance? and there has been some phenomenal talent so far, but I am looking forward to getting into the Top 20.

Not that all the TV has been dance, but there has also been my new favourite show Glee, that pulled out a great Beyonce inspired – Kurt Centric episode that dared to do the unthinkable and pull our fabulous boy out of the closet and onto the football field. Not only did we get a ton of Put a Ring on it, but some great pregnancy storylines, more of über-Sue and dissension in the ranks and Rachel leaving. With a guest appearance by Kristin Chenoweth (last seen as Olive from Pushing Daisies) just around the corner this show is only getting better. At least it has already been picked up for a whole season so we will get a chance to see how the story will develop. If you haven’t checked this show out I highly recommend it.

Survivor has chosen an huge bunch of Type A personalities for this round in Samoa, and I have been laughing my ass watching the antics of our biggest villain (so far) Russell has been torturing his tribe and making life difficult for as many of them as possible. I am not quite sure that I follow his strategy as his team has been losing like crazy, but it makes for good TV and I have been rolling my eyes as he plays his game. I was in hysterics when Yasmin visited their camp and got everyone riled up, this show is great for showing a cross section of society and things are pretty scary so far. No idea who will win, but it will probably be one of the dirtiest rounds we have seen so far.

The Amazing Race kicked things off with a doozy of a 2 hour opener and the first elimination at the starting gate. I liked the new twist, and was not surprised that it was our 2 very cocky teams that were hung up before our radical Yoga teachers got Philiminated. They certainly didn’t have that Zen vibe that you look for in Yoga teams, and our Poker Players might have their bluff already exposed after only one episode. The gay brothers are just too adorable for words and I hope they do well. The locales and challenges are as fascinating as ever and I love the world view feel of this show, it’s no surprise that it keeps winning the Emmy for best Reality show year after year.

Supernatural is still kicking butt but getting a tad repetitive with our boys falling in and out of sync with each other. It now appears that Dean is the vessel for Michael the Archangel, and poor Sam looks to be the target of Lucifer, which means another big good vs. evil show off between our brothers. I am not sure if they are trying to pull some Cain and Abel references in to the show but the story is great and not missing a beat.

Smallville came back with Clark being all dark and brooding and the rest of the gang reeling from Jimmy’s death. It will be interesting to see who they develop this season, but I am already loving Lois (as usual) and hope to see more of our heroes back and in action. I still don’t get why they insist on calling it Smallville when most of the action is in Metropolis, and am praying the ratings pick up or it may be a short final season.

I love the first episodes of Cougartown and Modern Family, and hope to see them around for a while as well, I love a well constructed comedy and both have some great elements and characters. I love seeing a modern gay couple with their adopted baby and all the strife with their surrounding family.

The new season is off and running and I am trying to keep up!

Weekend Rant – Jumping into the New Season

The New Fall season jumpstarted over the past week with the debut of Wipeout Québec, the airing of a lightly extended version of the Glee pilot episode that aired earlier this year, and The Best of So you think you can Dance featuring 15 of Nigel’s favourite performances.

The Québécois version of Wipeout is a tad different than the American version that I am accustomed to watch, but featuring local folks and tons of weird (and sometimes questionable) scene takes give it a flavour all it’s own. Like the original, it features everyday people trying to win the pitiful Jackpot of $5,000. Yup, it’s dirt cheap as far as prizes go, but they try to milk the show for all it’s worth and it’s spread out as 3 half hour shows airing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The format is interesting, but I prefer seeing the whole competition from beginning to end and some of the filler is terrible. The show is new and I am sure they will fine tune things as they sort things out over there on the new station V (formerly TQS now Canal V for Vidanges –inside joke). The thing I like about the Hosts is their very retro 1970’s influenced Polyester suits and HUGE headsets, but not as much into their shtick (one of them down right annoys me), but am willing to give it a chance. It’s local redneck television.

I am so pumped for Glee, I loved the pilot and am really looking forward to seeing hot things develop with the series.It’s been awhile since there was a musical TV series, and I am crossing my fingers on this one that it attracts that High School Musical crowd (not to mention all of us who love Musical Theatre), and gets good ratings to stick around and be a success. I read that one of my favourites from Pushing Daisies (one of those Brilliant yet cancelled shows), Kristen Chenoweth aka Olive, is booked for a multi-episode arc and I can hardly wait to hear her belt out a few tunes.

So you think you can Dance Canada? is continuing the ritual culling of the herd and this week we lost Anthony and Melanie B. Things will be rough each week as all of the dancers are pulling out some amazing performances and really pushing themselves.

Mary Murphy was back this week, and she brings such big energy to the show it’s hard not to love her. I am pretty sure that Luther will be deaf if this keeps up, but I love hearing Mary gush and ooh and ahhh over the quality of dance here in Canada and how damn good these kids are. I am not sure if the same rules apply here in Canada as in the USA, but my Cougar Alert Indicator was running off the scale with the way Mary was responding to our slightly more naughty dance numbers that make it past the censors here. We are quite a bit more liberal here in Canada and the choreographers seem to know that.

I still have a huge weakness for the Bollywood numbers, and the results show had a great group number choreographed by Longinus Fernandes, the choreographer know for that little Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. It was an incredible number and has peaked my interest in seeing more of the genre.

I did enjoy Nigel’s Top Fifteen So you think you can Dance? Performances, even if a couple of my favourites were not on his list, and it has wetted my appetite for even more dance even though I feel bad that Jeanine will not have the title as America’s Favourite Dancer for a very long time with the new competition starting next week.Still, I can’t complain having all this great dance on TV, it’s such a treat.

America’s Best Dance Crew is still a fierce competition, but unfortunately Vogue Revolution got eliminated this week (too much diva for the public me thinks) after a good but not great performance. We are Heroes is still rocking the house and the competition has been as hard hitting as last year. The challenges have been fun, and I love seeing all these whack group numbers that incorporate some of the sickest moves seen on TV. I am always humbled by seeing how some of these dancers move and the way that they float around the floor as if weightless.

Dance your ass off finished things up with Ruben taking home the big prize after losing the most weight and dancing his ass off. I was happy to see our big gay guy do so well, and I am honestly surprised how well the contestants danced considering their considerable size. My opinion of big people has drastically changed and albeit the shock of some of the competition (and the exploitation), I still find it was an over all inspiring experience and I have to really congratulate all of them that participated. Shayla looked damn hot in her last performances with that big curvy figure, and Pinky brought it hard as nails for someone who was in so much pain. Job well done!

Project Runway is all you can ask for in a reality show and I am so happy it is back and true to form. This week’s Team Challenge produced a first, both the winner and the loser came from the same team and the claws are out this time around. Our Surf Inspired Challenge had 2 elements, a more traditional ensemble and then it’s avant-garde counterpart. Some of the teams did some great work but others completely missed the ball and there were some scary outfits. Although not an Judge pleaser (although I am pretty sure it’s up to Heidi’s standards), I thought Qristal’s avant-garde look was fashion forward and pretty hot.Anyways it all hit the fan when Mitchell fessed up to doing nothing for the Challenge and getting dumped for lack of talent, even though he was on the winning team. It appears that the mantra of this season of Runway is that if your are crazy or lazy you will not be hanging around for long. I just think that it’s all such catty goodness and so happy that the show is back. Models of the Runway continues to be a disturbing peek into the lives of the models, some of who seem pretty whack to be on TV. I guess it takes crazy to wear some of that crazy fashion and the show is a nice companion piece to Runway, but not strong enough to hold it’s own.

Coming up this week, I am completely pumped for the premiere of Melrose Place and I am crossing my fingers it will be the juicy kind of soap that will fill that niche in my viewing schedule that has been empty for quite awhile now. The nice thing with some of the new shows starting early, is that you have a chance to check them out and see if you want to follow them. If not, it’s easy to drop and fill in that part of the viewing schedule with another choice. I know that it can be a programming nightmare at times with multiple shows playing at the same time. Even having the ability to record 2 shows at the same time is insufficient with the networks vying for all the same prime time.

Those bad boy Winchester brothers are back on Supernatural this week (bless you CW) and it will be time to catch up and see what the hell (literally) is going on and considering how things finished up at the end of last season with Lucifer being released from Hell and our brothers having a huge rift between them due to all that big old nasty web of deceit and betrayal. It’s the start of the new season and it’s great!

Weekend Rant – Dance Fever

This summer has been absolutely fantastic so far with the competition on So you think you can Dance? This series seems to get better with each round, and the quality of dance (and dancers) just keeps getting better and better. I can only imagine the difficulties that our Judges are having deciding which guy and girl have to leave each week as we cull the herd down to the Top Ten as all of the dancers are very talented. At least the voting seems more proportionate to the talent and not based more on the cuteness factor of the contestants as so far there have been a couple of the really cute guys eliminated which was almost surprising considering the screaming going on in the audience at the broadcasts, and that was just Mary Murphy.

This week was extraordinary with an incredible number by Mia Michaels, that Randi & Evan did an amazing job with and Evan is really starting to grow on me. There is something damn sexy about those droopy eyes he has and he gets into character and inhabits each dance. Janette & Brandon did an amazing and very surprising Rock/Hip Hop number that showed how much talent Brandon has. The guy is not getting credit for his ability and I hope that Mia and ‘lil C have noticed his progression. I am still rooting for Kupono & Kayla and was happy with their new partnership. I was even happier when they didn’t have to Dance for their Lives and changed partners once again.

Once we got around to Elimination, I was happy that Jonathon was gone (too much gymnastics and mugging to the camera) and sorry that Asuka had to leave, but one of the girls had to go and she was the most limited. The next few weeks will be tough ones… there is some amazing talent.

I was more than pleasantly surprised with the first hour of Triple Sensation and seeing the first 6 Finalists for Toronto chosen for the Master Class part of the competition and the ultimate prize of the Middlefield Scholarship for the Performing Arts worth $150,000. I was astounding to see the performance ability in these young performers (they are between the ages of 16 and 26) and their stage presence. The judging panel is pretty high brow with Marvin Hamlisch as part of the crew (that’s a big name in musical theatre) and while it is much different than any of the American style competition shows, it was a fascinating watch and I plan on following it’s progress over the next few weeks.

Kathy Griffin has been becoming a tad more predictable with this season of My Life on the D List and her so called A List friends and their get together as part of Kathy’s grooming for the A List. It seems that all of these guests find Kathy abrasive and useless, so I am trying to figure out if Kathy wants to be the new Rodney Dangerfield and get no respect, or is she really trying to improve her image but resisting change. This season does have more of her mom (thankfully) and less of Team Griffin (which is not a bad idea) and tons of guest stars who add a different vibe. Paula Dee was funny (and it was a hoot to see Michael McDonald again) but the guests are overshadowing the star and that is not the smartest thing. It does seem that Kathy is learning more about schmoozing with the public and that is a good thing. It’s still not as fun as before… me thinks that Kathy is wearing out her welcome and I don’t expect to see an Emmy win this year.

The Fashion Show is boring me to pieces and I am only watching to see how it finishes off. I could not believe the whole Halston fiasco and Reco’s tears of shame, it was all stupid and pretty much like the other episode where the magical Honduran elf didn’t know what the whole Mean Girls thing. I still don’t think that Sumo Barbie will win either, and really hope that Daniella will win, she seems to have some of the best fashion sense so far and isn’t this whole show supposed to be about ready to wear? Some of the designs don’t look that user friendly to me… buh bye darling, I can hardly wait until Project Runway is back.

Top Chef Masters is a great competition, and the episodes are a great mix of nerves and ego as our Masters battle each other. I was laughing my ass off at our French Chef Ludo Lefebvre getting bleeped every 10 seconds for his time management issues. It would have been funnier for us if he as cursing in French and it getting past the American censors, but Ludo, like many French people, thinks that the F word can be used as an accent piece in conversation when it should only be used sparingly, like a rare spice. If the show was in French it would not have been edited for content, it’s just too funny.

Things finally ended with the I’m a Celebrity Get me out here ! experience and while I was surprised that Sanjaya was not in the Final 2, I was not surprised that Lou won as he played very well and seems to be a nice guy. I don’t think it will do much for his acting career but he seemed to be in it for his kids and the charity that he was playing for and not there to stroke his ego or be an idiot. The Reunion aspect of the show show was hilarious as you can feel the disdain between Janice and everyone else and there were tons of snippy comments being bantered back and forth.Heidi and Spencer are still the 2 biggest knobs that I have seen on the tube in aeons and hope that the San Andreas Fault opens up and swallows the Hills real soon. That would be poetic justice wouldn’t it?

Weekend Rant – Celebrity Madness

I don’t think that I have had as much fun as I have the past couple of weeks with the disaster know as I’m a Celebrity get me out of here and the 3 nights per week that it has been hitting the airwaves. Although I still have a problem with all of the Challenges involving live animals and insects, the show is so bad that it is good. Janice Dickinson is the best-worst player (I love how she steals from all the other contestants) and has her convenient illness that prevents her from doing the majority of the Challenges. The public seems to love her and want to see her do the wacky stuff, and I have to say that I was in hysterics with the Operation inspired Challenge that got our Celebrities shocked silly (although it appears that Daniel Baldwin has previous experience in this field as he knows beforehand that he can take a lot of juice – I wonder if it was shock therapy or did dude get tasered before?) and it was hilarious to watch Janice get zapped. It’s mean I know but it was damn funny and there were no animals harmed in the process.

I am pleasantly surprised with Sanjaya and his jungle fever, but feel bad for the guy for being treated like Janice’s slave (his words, not mine) and he is being eaten alive by the bugs. It’s hard to say who will last, but he seems better positioned to hang around than some of the others. I was happy that we were down a Baldwin after this week’s elimination, and was laughing my ass off as Janice kept screaming out to Perez Hilton and fighting back against Prop 8 as the Baldwin was eliminated. I know there was no love between the 2 of them and you can tell the a certain supermodel has those narcissistic traits that you come to expect with those model type people. What the producers of this show should do is get Tyra Banks to come out and join the party so we could watch her and Janice try to be the centre of the universe at the same time and watch the time space continuum fold in on it’s self and watch the Universe as we know it be destroyed.

I will say that I really hope that Spencer and Heidi are gone for good after their back and forth appearances on the show. Enough is enough and they should try to get some real stars for this show instead of someone with a tad of notoriety. Seriously. What a bunch of knobs.

  So you think you can Dance? was on fire this week and I really love how the choreographers are pushing the dancers this year. If you don’t like Mary Murphy you will absolutely hate this show but she is the real barometer of how the show is doing and how cute the guys are. Mary talks about her Hot Tamale Train, but the louder she screams means the higher the alert level on the Mary Cougar Scale. I was in literal hysterics when the whole Botox comment went over the airwaves and Mary fessing up to being part of the club (like almost all the women on TV) and watching Adam covering his scream. It was priceless, and this show would not be near as fun sans Mary. I don’t always agree with the Judges but I have a ton of respect for this show.

I thought the choice of the 3 couples in trouble was pretty spot on,but disagree on their choice of who went home as I really felt that Jonathon should have hit the road instead of Tony, but that point is moot as neither of them will make it to Top 10, the competition is fierce this year and Evan is a lot better than I expected… and it’s nice to see fan favourites back like Wade Robson, who pulled out a memorable crash-test dummy number that was as weird and wonderful as a Wade creation is. The man is a twisted genius and I loved all of it from the robot dog to the great performances by Ashley and Kupono. Amazing stuff… I can hardly wait to see Mia put some of the dancers through their paces.

The Next Food Network Star started off this week and you can tell there are a few front runners so far, Eddie may be damn fine but he is way too corporate, I really like Michael but think he may be a tad too flamboyant for the network, and think that Jeffrey is really charming the Judges. Not too be too stereotypical, but our contestants that resemble Michelle Obama and Margaret Cho seem to have a foot in the door (especially Debbie who bombed in the first challenge and there was that whole angel food cake fiasco…) and I don’t think that our nutritionist will be around for long. I hope we have someone interesting win this year, I didn’t really see last year’s winner appear that often after winning and wonder if he really did connect with the viewing public.

Kathy Griffin was back with My Life on the D-List this week and the season opener had Kathy in Vegas with the über fantastic Bette Midler. Things are different this year and Jessica is gone (rumours abound) and Kathy is more in A-List training mode than D-List it appears. There isn’t any real or interesting chemistry between Kathy and Bette (and I wonder how much she got paid to do this) and it feels contrived. If anything else, I really go the impression that Bette is not a big fan of Kathy and I love how she said that Kathy makes her look tame in comparison. Bette used to have quite the reputation for being vulgar and out there. There may be more big stars visiting this season but I think the D-List phase is finishing up for Kathy and she is just going to be know as a trash talking celebrity more than anything else unless she finds a balance. It’s bad when the rising star looses contact with their fan base and roots and is no longer grounded. I think the Emmy wins have gone to her ego …

Weekend Rant – The Week in Review

Things have already started finishing up for this season and this past week brought the end of the season (and possibly the end of the road) for Chuck and Heroes. Heroes has completely bored me this season and it really felt like the writers were grasping at straws before ending this season with a whimper and nothing that particularly interesting. I can not understand how and why they have decided to make the characters all caricatures of themselves, and the only bright spot in the last episode was the reappearance of Tracy (at least her story had an interesting twist) but I hate what they are doing with Hiro and the rest of the gang. Why have the big fight scene with Peter and Sylar if nothing was shown? The whole death of Nathan and resurrection via Sylar was stupid. What a waste of characters.

Chuck fared much better and I love the multiple storylines with the gang at the Buy More, Ellie and Awesome’s wedding and the whole Chuck/Sarah dynamic. I was in hysterics at the end when Chuck got all Intersect 2.0 and suddenly had ninja skills. It was a great way to continue the series and I really really hope that the show will be back for another season. There is way too much of a wealth of characters to ignore or to waste. Good writing – it’s just too bad that some of the viewing public has jumped ship.

Bones had another astounding episode with The Beaver in the Otter (and no it is not some new fancy food preparation) that delved in frat life and it has to be the scenes with Booth and Brennan that kill me each time. Temperance is so clueless (yet curious) and her dismissal and apparent fascination with Sweet’s methods of deduction had me on a roll. I still say that our psychologist is up to no good and I bet you that our dweeb that was helping out the Beaver with hacking into the database is a potential new acolyte for the Gorgoman, the guy seemed too impressionable and there is something about Sweets that gets the hair standing up on the back of my neck when he is on screen sometimes, I may sound repetitive but I am still convinced that he is up to no good. In our rotating intern position, the Muslim guy was hilarious and I loved his reasoning to why he was willing to work with Hodgins on his banned experiment. The episode was more brilliance and the whole Beaver was banging a Cougar was hilarious…. the writers do an amazing job. It was great seeing Booth’s brother again and Booth hit the nail on the head when he got Brennan to “Dine & Dash” in an effort to get her to lose some of her good behaviour and harden her frontal lobe. Booth has some pretty funny theories sometimes and I love watching Brennan’s head explode at the threat of non science. This show is so under rated it’s ridiculous.

Lost is blowing my mind with all the twists and turns that we are learning concerning our scientists that Widmore hired to come to the Island, and more information about Daniel (and his very cool mother) and the big revelation that Mr.Widmore is also dear old dad to our nerdy scientist. I am still not sure what the whole scoop is with the Hostiles and why Eloise left as well (it seems that many of the residents on the Island decided to leave at one point) and it looks like we might be getting more of a reveal to some of the big secrets as this season starts wrapping up. There is still a lot of unanswered questions and I am wondering how Mom shooting Daniel is going to work out.. the death tally on these scientists is stunning and I wonder if Miles will survive also.

Survivor Tocantins is as amazing as any of the good seasons of Survivor, and I am really digging how the game is coming together for some of the players. It’s a shame that the know Coach won immunity this round, but I have the impression that lots of the gang are getting tired of his yapping and I can’t believe how utterly disposable his morality is. All bark and no bite it seems, the way that things are going I am starting to get the impression that one of the more subtle players (like Taj) will win it all. The alpha players seem to be all about getting rid of each other right now and not looking at the more subtle threats. I was sad to see Sierra go, but it depends on how you play the game but I loved how she was fighting to the very end.

Smallville is prepping for the end of the season (and breathing a sigh of relief knowing that they are coming back for another season) and I can’t believe that after all this time that Clark is such a knob that he doesn’t realize that Chloe is trying to protect him. I don’t completely understand the dynamics with Jimmy and Oliver (seemed like filler to me) and Clark needs a super kick in the butt to realize what Doomsday is. It’s all going to hit the fan with only 2 episodes left this season and I am looking forward to seeing how it all ends. I still say that Clark and Doomsday bite the big one at the end of the season and we will have to wait for next season for the big resurrection. Time for more heroes!

Supernatural was quite the episode and explained more about Angels than previously know ( I had no idea that they used vessels while on our plane of existence) and the back story to Castiel was interesting. I am not sure if they are building up to the same kind of finale that we have had for the past couple of years, but Sam is in some big kind of trouble with that demon blood monkey on his back and his detox could be interesting. I am looking forward to the last 2 episodes of the season but finding that suddenly the season seems short and the ending snuck up on us. The storyline has not developed as clearly as I first thought and I almost feel like we have missed a chapter. I am glad that we already know the Winchester boys will be back next season, but I think that might have cheated us out of a more dynamic last few episodes.

Weekend Rant - The Week in Review

The past week was not bad with some surprising episodes of Lost and Bones, while a few shows fumbled the ball (Smallville - again) and Project Runway Canada is really beginning to get on my nerves, but there were shows like Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse that have really surprised and shocked me.

The Amazing Race is still as amazing as ever, and it was a shame to see Mike & Mel hit the road but you know that once one team gets way behind the others there is never that much of a chance to catch up. It's all about how you play the game and our 2 stunt men got perilously close to hitting the road after sabotaging the other teams. This game is really about fair play and you have to out perform to win -- not try to trip up the other teams. The teams are really pushing themselves and Tammy & Victor seem to be the leaders at this time.

Dancing with the Stars dumped Holly and the Woz (finally) and I hope that Steve-O gets his act together soon or he will be leaving soon.Lil' Kim was amazing and looks great, and you can really tell that Cheryl wants to win this year so she pulled out all the stops (and probably a roll of duct tape) to get her cleavage into that outfit and tangoed Gilles into a frenzy. Ty is still impressing me and Shawn is adorable.

Both Chuck and Heroes missed the boat this week with episodes that felt too repetitive (again) but I am looking forward to seeing the story arc with Chuck's dad. Heroes has completely lost it's way and feels like the same story done over and over.... I am just waiting for the next version of Ally/Niki/Traci to show up and get killed. My interest and hopes of a 3rd season are fading quickly, and I can't believe how the writers have dropped the ball on this series. What was once very promising has turned into an test of endurance.

Project Runway Canada has me waiting for Sunny to win and nothing more. This season was too dull for my taste and this crop of designers is too straight and bitchy. I can hardly wait until the US version returns (the legal issues are getting settled finally) and I will have to check out the new Bravo replacement The Fashion Show when it hits the airwaves. I need a Heidi and Tim fix.

The only thing that has been fabulous enough on TV recently was RuPaul's Drag Race (one of my favorite Guilty Pleasures this year) and I was like a little boy Christmas morning when I heard they have already booked a second season. The only thing as fun as that is this season of Make me a Supermodel, which has all the gorgeous people and the craziness of the Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency with out the psychopathic Janice and some astounding photo shoots. I think Jonathon has a great chance of winning and is really impressing me. The cast is less gay this time around, but as enthralling as ever.

Lost has my head spinning with possible temporal paradoxes and I absolutely love that Hurley asked the questions that we all had to know... and I was literally peeing myself laughing as he and Miles had their "nerd off" to see who had the right theories. I love how they are tying up some of the mysteries (what Sawyer whispered to Kate) while starting more and Ben being taken by Richard to be healed. Seeing our modern day Ben wake up to John Locke was a hell of an ending and I am literally on pins and needles waiting to see what happens next. One hour per week is not enough of this show.

Bones pulled off a surprisingly serious episode that was very Cam-centric, and was almost too different as it was not as humorous as the usual episodes. I was pretty sure that Cam's new adopted daughter is none other than Monica from Heroes, so I am glad to see her getting more work but wondering how this all fits into the series. I think I am just in shock because the episode was so different than the usual episodes of Bones and it was interesting to see one of the other characters in the spotlight. It was nice to see Tamara have the chance to show her acting chops.

Survivor: Tocantins is great and I love how we are getting up to the merge and the Hidden Immunity Idols are starting to come into play. I think that if anyone finds an Idol now they better be sceptical, because it seems that everyone who has found one of the Idols tries the Fake Idol fake out now (and it's a good idea) and it might keep people on their toes. Rule of thumb, they have to be played occasionally as well as it's great to have one but useless if never used. I would really like to see that tool Coach hit the road though, and hope that happens soon.

Smallville has me wondering why Clark is such a tool most of the time and why Chloe is still the poster girl for bad choices this season. I thought that after the previous episode she was being more proactive about things, but this Davis/Doomsday thing is getting out of hand. Tessmacher surprised me with blowing up Davis, and I saw an interesting twist on her personality that makes her psycho and dangerous, but nothing like Lex. Her idea of testing Clark is a good one and am waiting for the big fight at the end of the season. More adventure and less angst please.

Supernatural churned out another great episode and I loved the slant on the print version of Supernatural with our boys being all romance novel inspired. Angels, demons and prophets -- it seems the end of days is coming up and I expect an Apocalypse of a finale this year. I am glad that the show is coming back and feel better going into finale season knowing that there will be a follow up, but still wondering how they are going to try to tie up this major storyline in the next few episodes.The series has been even more thrilling this year and the writing has improved over last year.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles shocked me this week with the very unexpected death of Derek in a move that I really did not see coming. No one is safe on this show (except John) and it is really starting to tear him apart watching everyone die for him. There is some very interesting developments with the storyline and I am loving the tension. I just hope that next week is only the season finale and not the series finale. I expect a pretty big body count after the next episode and when the dust clears I hope to see Cameron still around. This show is not getting the credit or attention that it deserves.

Dollhouse is continuing to be another brilliant brainchild of Joss Whedon, and although I am having a bit of a problem getting past the whole "pet" angle of the Dolls (and am still not sure of the whole human traffic element of the show), the writing has been great and Eliza is as phenomenal as ever. I love seeing the Dolls bond, and the underlying story of our very hunky FBI agent Paul Ballard (loved our Canadian guy in Galactica) and the apparent chemistry between Echo and Ballard. Hot stuff... and the insights into what makes Echo, Victor, Sierra and November tick makes the show even more fascinating. Josh is all about writing great characters, and his work is shining here. I just hope that the ratings are enough to get another season, things are starting to get very interesting and this better not be another Firefly.

Weekend Rant - Mini-rant

Just a quick note as it has been an incredibly busy week and I have not had the time to catch up on all the Watch List nor have the time to rant about what happened this past week ... but here is a quick overview of what I managed to take in and what worked (and didn't) for me this week. This time around in will be in simple point form and the shows are rated from ☼ to ☼☼☼☼☼ . ☼☼☼☼☼ means it was absolutely fracking fantabulous and if something gets rated ☼ it means that I probably want that hour of my life back. Let the games begin!

Sunday I caught up with the Amazing Race (always high on my list ☼☼☼☼) and then that great episode of Desperate Housewives which was such a winner it got ☼☼☼☼☼. Edie still looks alive (or was twitching in her death throes at the end of the episode) so was this just some of the hype concerning the death of her character and her departure or was it only a publicity stunt or is there more to this story? I can hardly wait until the next episode to see how they tie things up.

Monday brought another great edition of Dancing with the Stars, but I am still bummed that Woz and some of the other pseudo celebrities are still there. I look forward to when the herd gets culled a bit more and we get into the Top 6 -- the competition is still great fun and always dependable. Tom Bergeron is hilarious -- and because of him I am giving the show ☼☼☼½. Chuck is disappointing me with too much repetition of the Chuck/Sarah relationship on again off again thing ( I hate angst) but redeemed itself with the live appearance of the tiny General and the nerd off between rival BuyMore stores. ☼☼☼ for this one, and the same thing for Heroes as they finally pulled out some action and oomphed up the story (finally) that redeemed some of this disaster of a season. Nice to see that my theories of Rebel turning out to be true, but hate that Daphne got bumped off. You win some and you lose some.

Tuesday brought the unexpected season finale of the
Rick Mercer Report ( ☼☼☼☼) and the Dancing with the Stars Results Show. I gasped when it was fellow E network Stars Holly and Denise were pitted against each other in the Dance Off and am bummed that Denise is gone, but only because she was partnered with Maks. Holly may be next if Woz keeps getting by. The guy must be buying votes or all the nerds have the voting on speed dial.

Wednesday brought Lost ( ☼☼☼☼☼) and an astounding episode that makes me question how much of this was destined to happen or are they changing history? This show is blowing my mind.

Make me a Supermodel is thrilling me with this year's crop of talent, and I love the photo shoots. It was too much fun to see the winners get to come to Montréal for Fashion Week. This season is just as fun as the first one, but with our little gay boy eliminated, there will not be the same kind of bro-mance as last year. Colin is too cute as our virginal boy - but will be gone soon, but probably after Gabriel who can only pout and look emo, Jonathan is turning the heat up and may be the first guy to win the competition. South Park has been even more scathing this season and their Margaritaville episode was a tour de force. Absolutely outstanding work and brilliant parody. ☼☼☼☼☼

Thursday was Smallville and the much lauded appearance of Zatanna that was okay (her costume was great but the character was not used very much) but I liked the development with Chloe. Watchtower online! ☼☼☼½. Supernatural was astounding this week and it was another great episode that had better continuity to the big storyline and the guys have such great chemistry together. ☼☼☼☼

I am still catching up on Friday -- more to follow later this week!