It's Just A Jump To The Left

If you haven't seen certain shows, then spoilers people.

Glee - Well, the much hyped episode of The Rocky Horror Picture Show finally took place and it was definitely an entertaining episode for Halloween. Not the best of the five we've had so far but in terms of the actual songs, I don't think anyone put a foot wrong to be honest. Personally, There's A Light and Time Warp were my favourites (but no Planet Schmanet Janet - boo!) and the more cleaner Touch-A, Touch-A also worked pretty but the story wasn't the best from a plot point. Finn and Sam's body issues almost seemed to have come out of nowhere and Will's little scheming against Emma and Carl was uncalled for. Even Sue's attempts of bagging a local Emmy managed to blow up in her face - for now. Still, even this episode continues to show that the series isn't a one season wonder and Becky's line about threatening to cut Will if he didn't give her chocolate was the highlight of the episode.

The Vampire Diaries - I will catch up with the second season at some point but right now, the first one is getting better and better. I liked the flashbacks to the great vampire massacre but at the same time, I already know that Katherine didn't perish (or isn't entombed) and I certainly thought Stefan was a dolt for trying to get his vampire hating father on side as well. Stefan and Elena trying to hide things from Damon though wasn't a smart move on their part and I kind of wished that Jeremy would get the hint about Anna being more than a stalker. That being said, it'a actually a relief that Stefan is aware of Alaric being more than a historian though.

Desperate Housewives - Erm, not really all that fussed about the last two episodes I've seen. I mean, I like the dramatic implications of Gabby/Carlos's baby swap and Bree's pursuit of Keith is amusing enough but I still think Susan's main plot is dumb (even if we've seen some consequences from a rival girl) and her financial problems aren't being written realistically but both Lynette and Paul's plots are boring the shit out of me. And three episodes in and I still think that Renee isn't working out for the series, though she's marginally better than Paul's wife (who seems like a spy or something).

Smallville - Interesting finale. We've had better ones but I did like the fact that Tess has been seemingly rescued/revived by Granny Goodness, that Lois finally realised who exactly the Blur really is and that we got some lovely moments between Chloe and Oliver and the Justice team. I also liked the final scenes between Clark and Zod, which are more than enough incentive for me to watch the tenth season all the more.

The Event - I tried to watch both episodes of this last week on Channel 4, I really did but I couldn't stick it. I resisted Flashforward last year because I thought it was little more than a Lost rip-off and I wished that I hadn't bothered with this show either. It's dull, predictable, the overuse of flashbacks annoyed the heck out of me and none of the characters really stood out at all. Plus aliens - it's been done better on about seven different shows. I definitely won't be watching anymore of this one.

- Balthazar Getty will be returning to Brothers And Sisters for the show's 100th episode, due to air in 2011.

- Caprica has been cancelled by SyFy but another Battlestar Galactica spin-off is on the way.

- Sara Ramirez has teased that there's a "rough road ahead" for Callie and Arizona in Grey's Anatomy.

- Misfits second season begins on E4 from November 11th at 10pm.

- Merlin has been renewed for a fourth season but will only have 10 episodes, which are due to be filmed in March 2011.

- Zach Braff will appear in an upcoming episode of Cougar Town in animated form.

- ABC are developing a fairytale themed series, called Once Upon A Time which will modernise many popular fairytales and has a female protagonist with a unique background.

- Glee will release it's Christmas album on November 16th, three weeks prior to it's own Christmas themed episode. The album will have Kurt and Blaine doing a cover of Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Earthquake

Desperate Housewives - why I am nervous that both RTE2 and Channel 4 are airing this early? Oh, maybe because they did this before with Season 5 and that turned out to be rubbish. Might be premature to write off Season 7 though one thing I will say is that I'm not sold on Vanessa Williams's character, Renee Perry just yet. Too much like a watered-down Wilhemina for my liking and I just can't buy into her and Lynette's 'friendship' either. I'll need further convincing but on the plus side, it does look like the Paul vs. Felicia arc could be a lot of fun and the storylines with Gabby/Carlos lying to each other and Bree having the hots for her decorator, Keith have potentia. Susan's one involving cleaning in skimpy clothing for her landlady's website only seems to prove that the writers are struggling to come up with storylines for her nowadays. As for the first three minutes of this episode - some of the best/nostalgia fuelled ever.

Smallville - Martha Kent is Red Queen? What the hell? I'm all for seeing a bad ass side to Mrs Kent but not to this extent. I actually thought at one point that she was going to shoot Tess. After all, she had no problems using kryptonite on her own son, so shooting a morally ambiguous girl like Tess wouldn't have been a step too far but luckily, she didn't. I get that part of Martha's big plan was to protect her son/the world but I kind of wished she gone about it in a better way. Still, it was heaps better than the Clark/Lois stuff this week and I did like the return of Perry as well.

The Vampire Diaries - Memo to Damon, if you keep killing every person that wrongs you, eventually someone is going to get lucky and actually finish you off. There's only so many times that Damon will be able to save himself or require assistance from Elena or Stefan before meeting the end. I actually didn't blame Bree for setting Lexie's boyfriend on Damon and it's a shame that Damon killed her in this one because I'd rather see Gina Torres in this show than Gossip Girl. The stuff with Elena's adoption only served to prove how little versed I am in this world but I can already tell that Jeremy's new friend isn't what she seems. However the best stuff of this episode was the insight into Alaric's past and the Stefan/Bonnie interactions this week. I am definitely glad that I'm watching this show.

Modern Family - for a hyped episode, the earthquake episode was certainly interesting. Nathan Lane had an amusing cameo as an embarrassing friend of Mitchell and Cameron's and I certainly liked that Claire came to the realisation that she was turning into her mother but I'm beginning to think that Gloria is going a little overboard with her religious beliefs. Maybe she should accept the fact that Jay doesn't share them, instead of getting into a hissy fit over it, eh?

Lip Service - another overhyped new drama but I liked this one. Sure, it's pretty much The L Word in Scotland and certain characters here are similar to other (Frankie/Shane, Tess/Alice) but overall, this is a pretty decent series for BBC3 and while the sex scene in the funeral home won't be to a lot of people's tastes, I do think the show has the potential to be interesting enough without trying too hard to be shocking. Most of the characters are well rounded and the cast do seem to click well with each other. Even Roxanne McKee from Hollyoaks is working well on this one. Definitely one to consider.

- No Ordinary Family and Brothers And Sisters have both been commissioned four extra episodes each for their current season.
- It's looking more likely that Sam will now be a love interest for Quinn in Glee instead of Kurt. Oh, and Puck won't be pleased about it.

- Necar Zadegan has scored a recurring role as mystery character Isabelle on The Event. The series starts on Channel 4 on Friday at 9pm.

- V will return on January 4th on ABC and the series will be exploring more of the mythology behind the Visitors.
- HBO are developing a pilot for a fashion series with Tea Leoni called Spring/Fall. Six Feet Under scribe Kate Robin is writing the pilot for the series.

Oh For The Love Of Cheesus

Religion is a tricky topic on television and Glee certainly wasted zero time in getting their views across in last week's episode. I was happy that Burt Hummell was going to have more to do in the series but I wasn't expecting him to have heart problems and be the centre of a religious discussion. Here's my stance - I'm with the Kurt and Sue Sylvester's on the notion of religion and I found that people like Mercedes and Rachel, in spite of meaning well did force their opinions on Kurt too freely. Rachel herself also crossed a social line by singing Papa Can You Hear Me to a comatose Burt as well. In terms of the other song choices in this one - props for Kurt's rendition on I Wanna Hold Your Hand and the group's version of One Of Us but Finn's version of Losing My Religion left me cold as did his inane plot with a grilled cheesus sandwich. Some fans might not like the more topical of episodes on this show and while the religious arguments were pretty heavy handed, this was easily the strongest episode of the new season so far.

I like Modern Family and I pretty much dipped in and out of the first series, mostly enjoying it. Thursday saw the return of the series with the first two episodes airing back to back but it was the second episode that was the main highlight. It was the episode that the writers decided to tackle Mitchell's awkwardness with public displays of affection and finally give viewers an on-screen kiss with him and Cameron. Which the episode handled well but it wasn't the highlight of the first two episodes. I think the craziness with Claire's two daughters along with Gloria's insistence on her dead mother being in the room with them was somewhat more interesting. Overall, this remains a fun, feel-good series that for the most part doesn't try too hard to be too funny but still manages to get the right amount of laughs nonetheless.

There should be more episodes where Chloe and Tess have to spend time with each in Smallville. Tess might not be someone you'd trust with your life but her skills of deduction are certainly something that you'd wish would occassionally pass through both Clark and Oliver from time to time. We might not have needed Tess to point out how much Oliver is into Chloe but it certainly didn't harm the episode and their moments together were better than anything concerning Checkmate (Waller needs to get better) or Oliver's ham fisted attempts to take out Zod all by himself. Next time, Oliver, try to pay attention to the few times in which Clark is actually right about something. It helps, y'know.

That halfway point of The Vampire Diaries and whilst ITV2 viewers are enjoying the second season, I'm still with the first one. So, the last episode that I watched had Alaric staking Logan and Elena doing what every sensible girl would do when finding out that she resembled her beau's last girlfriend - fleeing. Every week, I keep getting surprised with this series and with Elena in dire straits at the end of the episode, I'm certainly looking to seeing her getting out of that one as well as learning more about the Glibert family tree.

Ugly Betty has been rather there for the last couple of weeks but because I've seen the episodes earlier in the year, I haven't been as anxious to rewatch them (that doesn't mean the series is bad, it's really not) but the Bahamas episode was a lot of fun. The Shakira appearance worked well in the show's favour and the varying hook-ups reminded me that this must've been a sweeps episode when it aired in the UK. Plus, it also brought the Wilhemina/Connor relationship to an end for now. Don't worry, folks, Grant Bowler will still appear later on in the series.

What is it with the CW and remakes nowadays? First there were 90210 and Melrose Place (which deservedly bombed) and now, Nikita? I've watched episodes of the original series and it was a wonderful precursor to Alias but this version, judging on the first episode alone is like the bastard child of Dollhouse and Battlestar Galactica. To say I was bored shitless would almost be a kind thing to say but Christ, this was certainly a wasted hour of my life. Maybe later episodes will be something interesting but overall, this was an incredibly dire start to a series that probably did not need resurrecting in the first place.

- Expect an infidelity plot with Kevin and Scotty in Brothers And Sisters as well as one of them briefly going missing. Sally Field is also an executive producer of the series now.

- Desperate Housewives Season 7 will air on Channel 4, Sundays at 10pm from October 17th.
- Modern Family actors, Jesse Tyler-Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet have appeared in a PSA in regards to teens being bullied. Mary Lynn Rajskub will also appear in an episode as a former girlfriend of Mitchell's.

- Glee will be tackling the nature of suicide in an upcoming episode as well as bullying. It's rumoured both stories will involve Kurt. Another episode will show us younger versions of Brittany and Santana.

- Christine Willes will be joining Smallville in the role of Granny Goodness. The character was briefly seen in the previous season but will have a bigger role this time around.

- Channel 4 have secured the rights to the new Camelot series for transmission in 2011. They'll also be airing The Event from October 22nd.

It's Brittany Bitches

And it came - the Britney Spears themed episode of Glee and despite the girl only popping up in three incredibly brief scenes (a good thing), the episode wasn't bad. The best ever - nah, but definitely fun. Having Brittany S. Pierce (yes, she has THAT surname) performing Me Against The Music with Santana and I'm A Slave 4 U were definitely stronger numbers as was Artie's take on Stronger, funnily enough. The group's rendition of Toxic, which sparked a sex riot was amusing but Rachel's Baby One More Time just didn't suit Lea Michele's vocals at all and The Only Exception from Paramore was tacked on at the end. In terms of actual plot with this episode - Beiste is still likeable, Sam/Sunshine aren't here, Emma works better with Carl than Will, Terri's appearance was a dead end, Sue getting injured when she pulled the fire alarm was amusing and anything involving Rachel and Finn was a snoozefest and the likes of Quinn, Puck, Mercedes and Kurt had naff all to do. Plus Jacob's level of perviness sky rocketed in this episode. Also the episode could've found a better reason for the Britney videos besides Carl's funky gas but overall, it was an enjoyable episode.

I do generally like lighter, comedic episodes of Merlin and after the rather darker two part opening to this season, I guess one was needed. The problem was that Goblin's Gold just didn't tickle my funny bones. I've watched the episode and I still didn't enjoy it. It was fun to see the goblin possess Gaius and it was refreshing that Arthur used his brain cells to realise that Merlin hadn't cursed everyone but overall, it was pretty much a disjointed and unengaging episode, though tonight's Gwen-centred episode does look promising.

Lois Lane popping out of a cake in a bunny costume? Haven't Smallville devised every excuse possible to get Erica Durance into skimpy attire? Probably but this was a mostly fun episode and it was interesting to see Lois give up the Blur for Clark as well, even if Clark did put her in danger by getting her to have a secret relationship with the Blur at the same time. Only two episodes and Season 9 is done on E4. Wonder if they'll speed up with Season 10.

I hate TG4 for airing The Vampire Diaries at an earlier time, especially on the same as another show I watch but I am getting more and more into the series. This week's episode was a gem for varying reasons - more screentime for Jenna, Logan's reappearance, the debut of Alaric and more importantly, Bonnie learning more about her ancestors, destroying a certain necklace and surviving being bitten by a rather incensed Damon. The only stuff that bogged down the episode was the Stefan and Elena but having Stefan and Damon taking the piss out of each other amended that for me. I'm starting to believe in them as brothers as this show progresses.

It's boot camp time at The X Factor and that only means one thing- the showe being on longer than it should be. There's only so much of this show that should be on and sometimes I do wonder if the increased amount of time is really a good thing. In terms of who wins the bloody thing, I still can't really decide. Cheryl Cole will probably bag it for a third year going.

By this time next week, I'll be talking about the UK and Irish versions of The Apprentice and it will be interesting to see which one is the better series as it'll be the first time that they've both been on at the same time. This week in the Irish had both Elev8 and Fusion having the unenviable tasks of trying to come up with an original diet menu for Unislim and when the lads lost, David predictably got the boot. I'm not liking the fact that so far, it's still male (with Ciara) versus females though. I think it's time the groups got mixed up now.

- Apparently Glee fans are pissed off that Gwyneth Paltrow will be appearing on the show. I know her site makes no sense and that she's a bit weird but I'm intrigued by her appearance.

- Sonia Braga has been cast to play Luc's mother in an upcoming episode of Brothers And Sisters. Her previous TV works have included Sex And The City and Alias.

- Mistresses actress Shelley Conn has landed a leading role in upcoming sci-fi series, Terra Nova.

- NBC have ordered a pilot from Jack Black and also are planning to do a remake of The Munsters.

- FX UK will be airing zombie series, The Walking Dead from November 5th.

- It's being heavily rumoured that Sky will be picking up Mad Men for next season while LivingTV will be airing the fourth season of Chuck from October 14th.

Katherine

The Vampire Diaries continues to get better each week. Last week, Elena copped onto the fact that something was amiss with Stefan and this week after learning about him and Damon's true nature, she elected to dump Stefan. Granted she'll probably be back with him in the next episode but I liked that her reaction to the supernatural world was done in a mostly realistic manner. Nina Dobrev however was a lot more fun donning the Katherine role of the episode, the vampire responsible for manipulating and making both Stefan and Damon into the vampires they are. Looking forward to seeing more of Katherine as well as the newly sired Vicki, whose struggles with her new unlife could be very interesting in the next few weeks.

Merlin, after a nine month wait finally returned to BBC1 on Saturday and it felt like it had never gone away. While the previous year had played it a little too safe for my liking, it does loo like this year won't be doing the same thing. It could be argued that Morgana might have revealed herself too early as a baddie but I am certainly enjoying the havoc that both her and Morgause are brewing up - driving Uther mad, invading Camelot and also leaving Merlin chained up in a forest with various nasties. Of course, the dragon appearing ensured that Merlin wouldn't meet a grisly end anytime soon but aside from that (and Gwen having nothing to do), this was a fantastic opening episode for the new series.

What is it with this Checkmate lot - don't they ever watch television? If Waller is that desperate to get superheroes on her side, why doesn't she just ask them for help instead of kidnapping them like she attempted to/succeeded with Oliver and Chloe this week? Smallville's ninth season is getting closer to it's end and after episodes involving Scottish entities and Lois still desperately needing a clue, last night's episode was a welcome change of pace. Tess is at something of a crossroads as a character and I have a feeling that she's going to lose out, regardless of what side she chooses to allign herself with. Shame because I like Cassidy Freeman and want her to stick with the show for it's last season at least.

Ooh, remember a time when Channel 4 did dramas? Sometimes it can be hard to forget because too often, it's makeover shows that seem to dominate the schedules too often and apart from Shameless and Skins, This Is England 86 finally gave us something gritty(ish) to gawp at. The movie isn't one of my favourites but there are some good actors on this show and the characters are mostly likeable. I might need to see another episode or two before I'm totally sold on this series though but it's a promising one.

- It turns out that Luc will become an underwear model in the second episode of Brothers And Sisters fifth season.

- Here's Glee's take on Empire State Of Mind ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfjv4IZFLUo and expect Barry Bostwick and Meatloaf in The Rocky Horror Picture Show episode.

- Both Michael Gladis and Kevin Alejandro are set to appear in the new season of Law And Order: SVU.

- Matthew Lilliard will be appearing in House, playing a bass player struggling for years. He's scheduled for one episode of the new series.

- John Schneider will be appearing in Desperate Housewives, playing the father of Brian Austin Green's character, Keith.

Standing Up For Nerds Everywhere

Five episodes into The Vampire Diaries and I'm having a lot of people telling me how great this show gets in later episodes and it's enough to make me want to speed up but I can't. However, I can see why friends of mine are loving this show. My niece last night described the cast as incredibly attractive (she might have made a supernatural allusion somewhere) and they are an incredibly good looking bunch. Plus the extraordinary thing isn't just the rivalry between Stefan and Damon, or the fact the latter managed to escape from his prison and this time more likely killed Vicki as a result. Heck, even Bonnie honing in on her powers wasn't the highlight this week but Elena finally realising that her new boyfriend isn't all he seems definitely was. So, here's to Stefan filling her in on the fact that he's a vampire in the next episode then.

As for Smallville, another middle of the road episode this week. I have looked into later episodes where things such as Checkmate and Zod's overall machinations actually go up a notch, so sitting through an episode where some guy tries to murder off Kandorians because they used extreme methods to save his life wasn't all that interesting. Slightly better was Chloe and Oliver banding together to prevent Tess from finding Chloe's stash of weapons for when the apocalyse arrives. An apocalypse I'd welcome now to be honest. As for Clark saving Zod's life - like hell that won't come back to bite him soon enough.

A show by MTV worries me. There's the US version of Skins next year, which may or may not be a steaming pile of turd and then there's the godawful Jersey Shore, currently clogging up the TV schedules. After all the excess promotion behind The Hard Times Of RJ Berger - a series where nerdy kid RJ's massive meat and two veg becomes public knowledge in high school after a disastrous basketball game, I really thought that MTV were getting desperate but watching the first two episodes of the series, I have to admit that it's actually an enjoyable show. Nowhere near as crass as the premise suggested and while all the characters fall into obvious stereotypes, I think this could become a guilty pleasure for me. Definitely something I want to see more and I certainly didn't mind RJ's attempts of standing up for nerds everywhere in the second episode even if he did lose the election to jock Max.

Ugly Betty's fourth season in my opinion comes close to being the best for the show since it's first year but it takes later episodes for that to really be driven home. Last Wednesday's episode wasn't the best, even with the amusement of seeing Betty and Marc dressed as a hotdog and Daniel thinking on his feet to stop a sexual harrassment lawsuit. The Justin plot in particular is definitely something to keep an eye out on.

I caught up with the last two episodes of The X Factor and yeah, while there's a few standouts (Mary Byrne, Cher?), I have to say that both Katy Perry (Dublin) and Natalie Imbruglia (Birmingham) were much better at engaging with the contestants than Geri Halliwell had been during the Glasgow auditions. However this year, the most memorable thing was horrid duo AbLisa, who added assault, abusing the audience and dissing the guest judge to their list of shortcomings. It's enough to make you forget about the auto-tuning incident, isn't it?

It's only three days away from the Big Brother franchise finally ending and Ultimate Big Brother has been busy enough. To be honest, I've sort of tired of the Victor/Nick double act and hope the latter's exited on Wednesday but it was rather sad to see Nadia make herself so unpopular in the last few days before her eviction. Davina's interview with her left a bad taste in my mouth and while Nadia did act like a bitch to the likes of Ulrika for little reason, I do think as a professional journalist/broadcaster, Davina should've acted maturely instead of the rent a mob that has ruined this show in recent years. As for the arrival of Vanessa Feltz - works for me. Anyone who can handle Nikki's tantrums with the patience she has clearly deserves to win but it's clear that Brian or Chantelle will emerge victorious on Friday though. Oh and the appearances of Glyn, Samanda, Rex, John Tickle and Anthony over the last few days for tasks has been fun. I knew the latter didn't have sex with Makosi.

- New girl Sunshine will perform Lady Gaga's Telephone with Rachel in a bathroom stand-off in the first episode of Glee's second season. Empire State Of Mind will also feature in the first episode.

- Desperate Housewives opening episode will reveal the baby swap plot in full in the first ten minutes.

- Both Shawn and Aaron Ashmore have been cast as twins in the new season of Fringe.

- Ali Larter has claimed that it's unlikely that a Heroes film will enter production.

- Ken Jenkins will play the father of Courtney Cox's character Jules in the second season of Cougar Town.

- Nicholas Brendon is the latest actor to sign on for Private Practice. Previous Buffyverse actors have been Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Amber Benson and Emma Caulfield.

- Jane Espenson will be writing three of the 10 episodes scheduled for the fourth season of Torchwood.

- David Marshall Grant has confirmed that all the characters in Brothers And Sisters will be in different places in their lives this season.

Look To The Stars

The last few days since the final five were announced for Big Brother have been interesting enough. Maybe not as exciting as what we've previously seen but credit to the show for trying to keep us entertained until tonight's winner is announced and Ultimate Big Brother takes off. I think at this point in the series, we've seen enough of Mario's meat and two veg but at least he's determined to be entertaining in the final throes of all this and his conversations with Andrew are better than Josie lamenting about John James or Dave's open dismissal of evolution when JJ tried to bring it up. Some of the highlights have been good - Andrew being the ultimate yes man and the perfect day as well. At this point, it doesn't matter who actually wins the show because in some ways, it seems clear that the show wants a Josie victory and she's the only one I could see fitting in with past housemates and celebs for Ultimate Big Brother as well.

In a lot of ways, I am glad that Mistresses is coming to an end because this dour as hell third season is testing my patience. I don't expect laughs a minute but it would be nice for at least one of these girls to crack a fecking smile. However, this episode just saw everything getting worse - Richard confessed to Trudi he loved someone else and died before trying to stop Katie from leaving. Siobhan apparently can't go on a date with a nice photograph because Dominic seems incapable of giving her the right message (which in turns is making me sympethetic with dippy Alice) and Jessica finds out that Mark borrowed money from Siobhan, kicked him out and then realised she was pregnant. I'm not having much hope for this final episode and you know something is wrong when Joanna Lumley herself is adding nothing of interest to the series.

Speaking of disappointments, it's a shame that after six seasons and 100 episodes that Nip/Tuck too has ended on such a low note. Maybe I've been spoiled with finales to the likes of Lost and Ashes To Ashes this year but I expected more from Nip/Tuck. Matt using his own child to get Ava to run away with him was horrid to watch and after all these years, you know there's something terrible about Sean and Christian's friendship when the best thing for it was for them to go their seperate ways. Still, I did like the last supper between most of the characters as well as Liz being made a partner in the business but for me, this was an extremely disappointing last ever episode.

Nine seasons in and it took Smallville this long to do an episode mostly based at a sci-fi convention? Ah well, it was mainly background anyways as well as another excuse to get Lois into a skimpy costume (like this show needs any) but it was also a good one for Chloe and the freak of the week who was a kid that became a superhero and then a monster as well. The stuff with Clark and Zatanna had more of a punch to it than the latter's previous appearance but overall, it's not the most engaging episode we've had this season.

I have to admit that I'm still mixed about The Vampire Diaries. It's enjoyable enough but I swear if I have to listen to Stefan wax lyrical about wanting to protect Elena, I'll start up a drinking game. Here's a tip - how about telling the girl that you're a vampire, Stefan and that your brother is nuts. Damon finally got a lot more interesting this week when he killed that jerk of a football coach, which was a nice way of showing us that he can be dangerous, rather than just implying it. Bonnie's still the best character on this show though and I want to learn more about her witchy ancestors more than I want see the Stefan/Elena/Damon triangle. Also the football related stuff in the episode held no interest for me.

The X Factor and it's hyperbole will be the source of media coverage for the next four months and one can only hope that a decent winner with a decent song can be picked this year. As first episodes went, Geri Halliwell really proved a lot, didn't she? She proved that a) citing that you're the one to discover Cheryl Cole does not make you interesting and b) that she can bloody talk. It also didn't help that her judging skills left nothing to be desired as well. I can only hope that Natalie Imbruglia, Pixie Lott, Nicole Scherzinger and Katy Perry are much better. As for some of the acts, if I never hear of Shirlena again, it won't be a moment too soon. As for the auto-tuning scandal, nothing surprises me anymore.

- John Glover will be reprising his role as Lionel Luthor in Smallville this year. Here's hoping that Michael Rosenbaum agrees to appear as well.

- True Blood's second season will air on Channel 4 from September 16th.

- James Remar will be appearing in the upcoming season of Private Practice. His character will have a connection with Pete.

- James Masters will be starring in a series for SyFy called Three Inches, playing Troy, a leader of unlikely superheroes. He's also in the 200th episode of Smallville.

- Jennifer Aniston will be appearing as a therapist in the second season of Cougar Town.

The She Devil Returns

The only other time I'll discuss this show and you've got to wonder about the power of same sex snogging for sweeps episodes in America. Except isn't it usually a heterosexual female character making out with another girl for ratings? Oddly, Gossip Girl decided to have the avowedly straight Chuck Bass make out with a guy in order to benefit Blair's insane attempts to become queen bee at university. Okay, the snog scene is pretty brief and there was interesting moment where Chuck alluded to the fact that he's had some past experience with men but given that Ed Westwick seems to whisper everything he says, it took me a while to make it out. As for the rest of the episode, I'm sure something happened but it wasn't interesting enough for me to pay attention to it.

After last week's triumphant first part of the Justice League saga, I thought Smallville was on fire in spite of the icy villain we got here. The second part was actually as solid as the previous one and I'm liking the plot involving Checkmate and Pam Grier's Amanda Waller. We've been lacking a decent villainess for a while now and Wallers has the potential to be a lethal force as well and it's nice that the ninth season isn't solely relying on Zod for obstacles with Clark stepping up to the hero template. However, I wasn't remotely shocked to see Tess being a part of Checkmate, though at this rate she's still veering between good and evil without picking a side. Also if Doctor Fate's words are anything to go by, can we hope that a) Lex isn't dead and b) that Michael Rosenbaum at some point will reappear in the series?

As Nip/Tuck continues to reach the end (last episode in two days, people), it seems that returning Ava is the way to go. Since Teddy met her end with a serial killer, the sixth season hasn't had any villains and Ava's probably the biggest success story the show's had on that front. Famke Janssen has barely changed that much since her last appearance and Ava certainly can tug all the strings going. She nearly got Sean to operate on her disease laden baby and even managed to manipulate Matt into bed and away from his own wedding. I do hope that she's more interesting in the last episode as well. As for Julia, um, yawn. I hated watching both Sean and Christian professing their love for her because she was getting married. At least she had the sense to tell them where to go on that one.

Okay, I am giving The Vampire Diaries a reasonable chance here but I am still being fairly hot and cold with it. Neither Damon nor Stefan are emerging as anything beyond caricatures and no offence to Ian Somerhalder, but I just don't find him remotely threatening/dangerous as Damon and the voice over stuff with Stefan and Elena was something I could've done without. Luckily though, there's a lot I do like. Elena's brother isn't that bad, Aunt Jenny is actually more likeable than expected, Bonnie's the most interesting character on the show, Matt's sympathetic and rightly suspicious of Stefan and the ending with Damon biting into Caroline was pretty effective. Still not a threat to True Blood however.

- Denis O'Hare has revealed that Russell will revert to Pagan way in the final four episodes of True Blood but that his storyline will not be wrapped up. Expect to see him next season then.
- David Tennant's abandoned pilot, Rex Is Not Your Lawyer has had a clip of it leaked online. I'll reveal it in the next blog.

- Greg Berlanti has revealed that his new series, No Ordinary Family will feature gay characters in it. The series debuts on ABC in September.

- Five actors have already been cast for Alan Ball's new pilot for HBO, All Signs Of Death, based on the novel by Charles Hueston. These include Mercedes Masohn, Ron Yuan, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali and and Kelsey Ford as well as previously casted Ben Whishaw and Clayne Crawford.

- ABC are developing their own version of Spooks. Given that they fucked up Life On Mars, you have wonder why they'd bother.

Tuesday, I'll cover Big Brother, Misfits, Mistresses, The Good Wife and Ugly Betty.