I miss ED. That’s really all I have to say. It was a gem of a show that NBC abused and destroyed. Thanks to music copyright issues the DVD’s will probably never arrive and it’s YouTube presence is not big enough for my taste.

To say ED was a quality show would be an understatement. Every character had shining moments. The citizens of Stuckyville were crazy but not Stars Hollow crazy. The chemistry between Ed/Carol/Mike/Molly/Nancy was great, it really felt genuine. How can you beat a bowling alley lawyer? You can’t. Plus there was Warren, the antics of Phil and the $10 bets. It was brilliant. The show however ended up being destroyed by the one thing that kept it alive: Ed and Carol.

I was definitely one of those people that wanted Ed and Carol together and cheered when it happened at the end of season 3. Season 4 was incredibly wonky due to NBC’s influence in the writing. The network wanted all Ed and Carol. The show ended as naturally as it could have with Ed and Carol’s wedding.

Here’s hoping it makes its way to DVD one day, until then here’s the final scene of the show courtesy of YouTube:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha7ug6Ur3ZI]

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That’s my advice to Renee Zellweger. Curious as to why I’m telling Ms. Zellweger to say no? Rumour has it, and by rumour I mean intern fabricated story in a British tabloid, that Zellweger is thinking of reprising her role as Bridget Jones in a third film. The rumour isn’t surprising since Helen Fielding resumed her Bridget column for a brief time last year. The column is of course being turned into a book(that I will line up for like a 10 yr old does for Harry Potter) so a movie doesn’t seem to far behind. But the last movie was HORRIBLE. Not that the book was much inspiration but Bridget Jones is one of those stories that never should have had a sequel. The original film was pitch perfect as was Zellweger as Jones. The subsequent offering left a bad taste in my mouth.

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If you’re a regular to this blog you know I write about Studio 60 about as much as I do Gilmore Girls. You’d think by sheer numbers alone that I’d be enjoying watching it. Not so much. Like our good friends over at FOX News I’m attempting to make TvDork a ‘Fair and Balanced’ blog(note the irony). Enter Dan Zaiontz, who from this day on will be my partner in crime with all things Studio 60. You see Dan loves the show. He’s the yin to my yang. Therefore in the coming weeks Dan and I are going to debate what we love and what we hate about the show. Kind of like a pop culture crossfire(but entertaining). Hopefully you’ll enjoy our debate as much as we will. We really like fighting about tv. At least I do. Without further ado here is Dan’s first column on Studio 60. I won’t debate this one cause I kinda like it.

Tales of a Television Idealist by Daniel Zaiontz

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Why Sorkin’s Studio 60 is not only pleasing to the eye – it’s a glimmer of hope

By: Daniel Zaiontz

“IT’S NOTHING BUT REHASHED WEST WING,” says Diana Earle as she fervently types a response to me on instant messenger. Not one to regularly resort to Caps Lock when making her points, Diana is clear in terms of where she stands when it comes to matters of Sorkin.

“This is just horrible,” she writes the next Sunday of my new favourite show.
“It’s not!!!” I respond, with an impassioned plea. Three exclamation marks being the universal sign of “impassioned plea” in the instant message universe.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Tuesday has always been a great tv night for me. For years NBC had Frasier on Tuesday and then I migrated to The WB’s Tuesday night thanks to Gilmore Girls. Last year when it was announced Gilmore and Veronica would be together on the CW’s Tuesday night lineup I was ecstatic. Now I’m feeling like both shows are simply PVR worthy.

Gilmore Girls is slowly improving but that’s not saying much. The Lorelai/Christopher marriage has turned out to be a disaster for the show. Having a scene where Lorelai isn’t with Christopher is so rare now. Last night actually seeing her with the townies was jarring. Obviously the show is building up to what I can only hope will be a fulfilling end to this relationship and a jumping off point for the rest of the season but right now it’s painfully boring. Until that happens in Feb sweeps there is little incentive for me to stay tuned to the show, not even the return of Luke with a spine will do it. However Paris dancing with Doyle made me smile. Oh how I miss her crazy antics.

I didn’t have a problem last season with Veronica Mars, sure it was padded but no more than your average Lost episode was. Veronica is the type of show that picks up steam half way through the season and then hits it out of the park. This season is different. After the conclusion of the 1st of 3 mystery arcs I’m feeling unfulfilled. In previous years when I found out that the culprits were Aaron and Beaver I was more involved in storylines. The Hearst rape arc did nothing for me, neither did finding out it was the tag team of Mercer and Moe. Seriously, could Logan have worse judgement with people? The boy is a crazy magnet(and I include Veronica as one of the crazies). The highlights of the episode were the return of Mac(what felt like old school Mac with witty t-shirts in tow) and the return of pissed off Logan. I could care less that he dumped Veronica, she deserved to be dumped but when Logan bashed the car to get in jail with Moe and Mercer I was so happy. That’s the Logan Echoll’s I spent 2 seasons loving, not the stupid Duncan carbon copy he’s been most of the season.

Here’s hoping both shows pick up when they return in the new year(Gilmore has one new episode remaining). Veronica is still way better than Gilmore could ever dream of being but much like Gilmore this season it has been a pale imitation of its former self.

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When I was younger I fell in love with 90210. No matter how horrible it got I stuck it out to the very end. For some reason the show struck a cord with me even though I despised most of the characters. At the same time one of my friends was in love with Melrose Place. I had never seen the show and through it’s entire run I only watched one episode, the series finale because said friend forced me too.

It’s nearly a decade later and I finally understand what my friend saw in the show. A few weeks ago I bought Season 1 of Melrose Place on DVD. The first few episodes were definately rocky(and by rocky I mean HORRIBLE) but since then oh how it’s picked up. I’m addicted to the show. I’m 10 episodes in and I’m already starting to ration the remaining 22 episodes. SOAPNet isn’t available here in Canada so I’ll either have to wait until the later DVDs come out or find some other way of getting my hands on them. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

I’m so excited for the upcoming episodes. Kimberly and Amanda have yet to be introduced, Sandy’s still around and Michael and Jane are happily married. I can’t wait to see the show fulfill its true soapy potential.

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Studio 60’s back with another quality episode. Mark McKinney(Kids in the Hall) is introduced as the new story editor Andy. I’m really liking his character, especialliy his relationship with Lucy and Darius. Matt has little to do in this episode and I like that I get a week off from Matt saving the world. Martha’s also back but she does nothing. Jordan snaps at a reporter and it backfires horribly, once again her job is in jeopardy. The big reveal comes at the end of episode when Danny realizes that Jordan’s pregnant. Full recap below.
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This past summer I fell in love with a tv pilot. It was gripping, exciting and intelligent. I watched it 3 times and circulated it to everyone who I thought would give it a shot. That show was The Nine. Today ABC announced they’ve pulled the show from their schedule with no announced return date. It’s not surprising considering how low the ratings were and how expensive the show must have been to produce but it still hurts like hell. The Nine was one of the few shows in a very long time that blew me away.

Here’s hoping the remaining episodes(if they don’t make it to air) will make it online and then to DVD. There’s no doubt in my mind that The Nine will make it onto Brilliant But Canceled in the next few years.

I guess Raver can go back to 24 now. Damnit.

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Once again Studio 60 rebounds from 3 decent episodes with another boring preachy one. I really don’t know what to think about this show anymore. Just when I think it’s horrible they have a good episode and then just when I start to have faith they have a bad episode.

I honestly can’t think of a single highlight tonight aside from Lucy Davis. I applaud the Studio 60 crew for giving her an actual character rather than a cameo like the Ugly Betty folks did.

But who am I kidding, you don’t want to hear me bitch about the show.  Odds are you found this blog by searching Studio 60 so without further ado here’s the full recap of The Option Period:
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3 times. 3 freaking times. That’s pretty much all I can think of saying right now. If you’ve read online in the past few months you knew that Lorelai and Christopher were gonna get married. So yeah, that happened. But that’s not the big deal. The big deal is that Lorelai said ‘I love you’ three times. Never in a painful way, like her two ‘I Love You’s’ to Luke were in last years ultimatum. This was a different Lorelai. A gleefully happy Lorelai. A version of the character that just broke my heart.

We don’t see the wedding. We do however see Lorelai and Chris arriving home where he says what is destined to become an infamous line, ‘Welcome Home Mrs. Hayden.’ He leaves the room and Lorelai plays with her ring, suddenly looking different.

Also Lorelai does mention that Rory should be there when they get married but Chris quickly talks her out of it. This moment alone shows how not-Lorelai, Lorelai is right now. I hope there’s some serious angst on Rory’s behalf regarding this.

Here’s hoping the writer’s can dig themselves out of this one. Lorelai Gilmore doesn’t exist anymore. It seems fitting. Tragically so.

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