I didn't think the show necessarily needed fixing, but season 2 introduced two female characters to balance out the three males. We're not caught up in watching, but I need to put these thoughts down after watching the first two episodes of the season.

Adding Mrs. Pucci seems okay - Winston is going to grouse about things anyway, and now he gets to have someone who listens to him. She's been somewhat useful without getting anyone in danger, and her money helps explain how Chance can afford what he's doing.

Ames, on the other hand, is a problem. I'm not quite sure what she's supposed to be doing in her role as a thief aside from a quick pocket pick in ep#2, but what she IS doing is diluting the fabulous character of Guerrero. Guerrero is so interesting because he's dangerous in a completely psychotic way while being smart and quiet and unexpected. Having Ames as his sidekick is pulling his teeth and making him look less effective, less unpredictable, and, well, almost cute. Bleah. I hope this gets a lot better in the next few eps.

A beautiful tribute to director John Hughes by a woman who was his pen-pal for two years:

http://wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com/2009/08/sincerely-john-hughes.html

Saturday, Sept. 12
8 pm/ET COPS
9 pm America's Most Wanted

Wednesday, Sept. 16
8 pm So You Think You Can Dance
9 pm Glee (series premiere)

Thursday, Sept. 17
8 pm Bones
9 pm Fringe

Friday, Sept. 18
8 pm Brothers (series premiere)
8:30 pm 'Til Death
9 pm Dollhouse

Monday, Sept. 21
8 pm House (two-hour premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 27
8 pm The Simpsons
8:30 pm The Cleveland Show (series premiere)
9 pm Family Guy
9: 30 pm American Dad

Monday, Sept. 28
9 pm Lie to Me

Tuesday, Sept. 29
8 pm Hell's Kitchen
9 pm So You Think You Can Dance (time period premiere; two-hour performance shows start Oct. 27)

Saturday, Nov. 7
11 pm The Wanda Sykes Show

Growing up, I enjoyed a lot of shorts from the National Film Board of Canada. Now they've put everything online! For free!
http://www.nfb.ca

Cartoon Network RickRolled the entire NBC television viewing audience this morning during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozzVdswvXdc

Absolutely wonderful SNL skit with "Palin" and "Clinton".
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/13/tina-fey-as-sarah-palin-o_n_126249.html

We are loving two new kids' shows that just started on PBS: Sid the Science Kid, and Martha Speaks.

Sid the Science Kid is a Jim Henson Co production, and the quality is is, as expected, very high. The format is computer generated animation with motion capture along with some added filmed segments of kids in school. In each episode, Sid starts out wondering about something and then talks to his friends, his parents, and his teacher about his questions. He learns about scientific process, critical thinking, and investigation using different resources, and has a great time doing it. There's also a segment called "Good Laughternoon" where Sid and his three friends tell jokes, which is helping Z to develop his sense of humor. We've seen three episodes so far: learning how to do estimates, using non-standard units of measurement, and different scientific tools. The kids are shown having fun learning about science together, and the family and teacher are shown as supportive and thoughtful, including not being afraid to say "I don't know - let's find out / ask for help". At the end of each episode, Sid incorporates his new knowledge into his life. The overall themes so far have been Investigate/Explore/Discover, and Observe/Compare/Contrast.


Martha Speaks has been developed from a children's book series with a lot of involvement of the author, ensuring that the show stays close to the original quality. Research has shown that kids with a larger vocabulary do better in school, so the goal of the show is to expose kids to new words or different definitions of previously known words through the premise of a talking dog named Martha. The animation is nicely done, and the characters are fun with good voice work (though Martha reminds me of Ellen de Generes' voice and delivery). The vocabulary is introduced in groups like words related to a job or law and order or a farm, and it's done in a fun way that holds up to lots of repeated viewings.

So both kids love these two shows, and DSR and I think the content is terrific and we are happy to remain in the room while they're on.

awesome costuming! and a funny photo story!

The voice of many, many movie trailers, Don LaFontaine, died on Monday from complications after a recent illness. He originated the "In a world where ..." phrasing, which he said was a quick way of bringing people into the mood and premise of the movie. I wonder if the industry will retire the phrase or keep using it as a tribute?

The official list of contestants and the professional dancers they will be paired with.

• Toni Braxton, singer, 40, and season one DWTS champ Alec Mazo
• Lance Bass, singer, 29, and Lacey Schwimmer
• Ted McGinley, actor, 50, and Inna Brayer
• Cloris Leachman, actress, 82, and Corky Ballas
• Warren Sapp, former NFL star, 35, and Kym Johnson
• Rocco DiSpirito, chef, 41, and Karina Smirnoff
• Kim Kardashian, TV personality, 27, and reigning DWTS champ Mark Ballas
• Maurice Green, Olympic gold medalist track and field star, 34, and two-time DWTS champ Cheryl Burke
• Misty May-Treanor, Olympic gold medalist beach volleyball player, 31, and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
• Susan Lucci, Emmy-award winning soap opera actress, 61, and Tony Dovolani
• Jeffrey Ross, 42, comedian, and Edyta Sliwinska
• Cody Linley, 18, actor, and two-time DWTS champ Julianne Hough
• Brooke Burke, 36, TV personality, and Derek Hough