Project Runway Returns to Form

I can't keep up with how long Project Runway has been on Lifetime, but I recall enough to know that this is the best season since it changed cable networks. As with any competition show such as Project Runway, the success of the show depends almost entirely on their contestants. Yes, they have to have good hosts, etc., and challenging projects for the contestants, but if the contestants are dull, so is the show.

This season, we've had a number of very talented designers, such that the last two eliminations were almost as difficult for me as for the eliminated contestant. As I watched the most recent episode (the first half of the finale), I just about had to reach for a Kleenex. But we've also had characters with...well, character. Some have been good, and some have not. We even had a hometown contestant in Peach Carr, who has a shop in the northern suburbs of Chicago. She was the oldest contestant, and was a favorite. I didn't think she'd win, and I'm spoiling nothing here when I comment that she didn't, but she fit in well with the group and was genuinely a nice person. (I know, you can argue that I have no idea if she's really a nice person of if she's the beneficiary of good editing. Leave me alone!).

Mondo Guerra is another contestant, and my favorite at this time to win. He dresses uniquely, and is extremely talented, especially at mixing patterns and using colors. I didn't think he'd make it at first, given that he felt disconnected from the other contestants. But he was the first to notice that Michael C (discussed below) was actually not a bad designer.

Let's not forget Casanova, from Puerto Rico, who made one of the most god-awful outfits in the first episode that I wouldn't have been surprised had he been auf'd. (He was, much later). His English was iffy at best, but he was quite amusing and appeared to be loved by all. He certainly smiled a lot.

Much of the drama centered around Michael Costello (called Michael C to differentiate from Michael Drummond). No one thought Michael C had any talent or skill. Yet he won challenge after challenge. At one point, the contestants had to rely on another to execute their design, and Mondo found himself partnered with Michael C. Mondo wasn't happy at first, but he later acknowledged that he had been a bitch for no reason. Michael C made it to the final four.

Ivy was a contestant I couldn't stand. An excellent seamstress, she didn't seem to have any real talent for designing, but she did for stirring up trouble. She told the other contestants that Michael C was calling her names, and when brought back for a challenge after being eliminated, accused Michael C of cheating earlier. I was never so proud of Tim Gunn as when he basically said that no producer or camera saw anything, and since it occurred a while ago, the incident was closed. I'd like to add that no camera caught Michael C calling her names either.

Next week the show is having its first reunion in a number of seasons. With this cast of characters, the reunion should be exciting.

Season Finale of Mad Men

For the first time in a long time, B and I are actually caught up with Mad Men. Last night we watched the episode only 30 minutes behind the actual airing. It was an enjoyable and thought-provoking episode.

The entire season was focused on the question "Who is Don Draper?" Haughty and hostile when asked that in the first episode in the season, he ended the season telling Sally and Bobby that he was once called "Dick", even as he minimized the importance of the name. It was a tough season for Don: the woman who knew him better than any other died, his company nearly went under, and his drinking led to a "lost weekend" for him.

Don's divorce left him adrift. He sought solace pretty much in the arms of anyone in a skirt and as already noted, took his drinking to all new levels. His love interest for the season, Dr. Faye Miller, refused him at first, but eventually became his lover, an equal. He even cost her her job when he announced to the world at large that he gave up cigarettes (actually, they gave him up). So, who wasn't surprised when he proposed to Megan?

Megan was his beautiful secretary who agreed to travel to California with him to watch his children. She was gentle and caring with the kids, and gentle and caring with him. When the juice spilled, ruining the perfection of the family, she thought nothing of it, mopping it up and refusing to let it ruin her day.

Why Megan? B read a post on Salon that Don's proposal was another attempt by Don to buy into the perfect, shiny happy family. The first attempt with Betty was an utter failure, of course, and his children are far from perfect, especially Sally, but clearly Don isn't quitting. But I don't know that I agree. Don was devastated by the death of Anna Draper, the real Don Draper's widow. And Megan's gentle demeanor could be very appealing to Don after the brittle Betty. That said, Megan is certainly not Don's intellectual equal as Faye Miller could have been.

Perhaps we'll learn next season what the meaning of Don's choice is. Some other thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed Peggy griping about Don's engagement with Joan. Peggy continues to grow into her own at the office, certainly putting various male co-workers in their place when needed. I'm not quite clear on her relationship with Don, and why each is so important to the other. But he's certainly pushed her all along to stand on her own two feet. Unless, of course, he wins an advertising award, when he takes all the credit! Her personal life brought her new friends and a new lover (who isn't glad that her icky relationship with Duck is over?). And leave it to Peggy to bring the first new business into the firm after the pull out of Lucky Strike.

Pete became a father (again), and nearly destroyed his relationship with his father-in-law. Having just recently given birth myself, I was amused that Pete was essentially run out of the hospital by his in-laws. B would have been killed had he tried. Pete also has an unusual relationship with Don, which cost him a new client when NASA started a background check on Don. Don, however, made it up to Pete by paying his part of the firm assessment to pay for salaries.

Never a fan of Betty's, it was a hard season for those who are. Betty could easily win worst mother in TV Land for her interactions with Sally. Sally cuts her own hair; Betty slaps her. Sally hangs around with Glen; Betty finally decides to move out of Don's house. She even fired Carla, her housekeeper and just about the only stable presence in the Draper children's lives, for allowing Glen to say good bye to Sally. Even her new husband was exasperated by her smallness.

Joan reignited her affair with Roger Sterling this season, resulting in a pregnancy. Roger made all the arrangements for an abortion, and it seemed that she followed through on it. But the biggest surprise of the finale was her revelation that she hadn't yet. Her husband believes the child is his, and appears to be thrilled. Her affair with Roger is over, and his handling of the Lucky Strike withdrawal may have cost him her respect.

Ken Cosgrove is back, buying himself into the new firm with his client list. I'm not sure how long the relationship will last, though, after he refused to use his future in-laws to land a client. I loved it. Go Ken!

Roger had a terrible time this season. He was humiliated by his Lucky Strike client, Lee Gardner, Jr., who then left the firm unceremoniously (I'm sure I'm not the only viewer who thought that everyone is better off without Gardner in their lives). His firm tried to woo some Japanese clients, despite Roger's obvious antipathy toward the former enemy. I think that Cooper said it best. The tragedy of Roger is that he never took himself seriously, so no one else did, either.

Sally Draper was the break out character of the season, and my heart broke for her. Sally was a sweet girl, but she was also rebellious. As such, she was not the perfect daughter that Betty expected. The entire season pitted the two against each other, with Sally losing every time. But Sally's time with a therapist seemed to make a difference, if only to teach Sally to keep her unhappiness to herself.

There's so much that happened this season that I just can't address. Don's lost weekend. Sally's running away to live with her father. Mrs. Blankenship's untimely demise. Bertrand Cooper leaving the firm carrying his shoes. Ted Chaogh's antagonizing of Don. As always, so many layers to contemplate, and only so much time.

Buffyverse fan alert: Danny Strong joined the cast as Danny Siegel. Danny joined the firm as a cousin of Roger's new wife, and left after Lucky Strike pulled out. He grew on Peggy.

The Fall Season

I must say I'm sadly underwhelmed by the new season this year. For the first time in I can't tell how long, I'm not adding a single show to my "must see" list. Some thoughts:

I don't know why I wasn't interested in The Event, touted by many as the next Lost. As you know, I like me some Lost, but nothing about the show interested me in any way. I'm happy that Jason Ritter (from Joan of Arcadia), ER's Laura Innes, and go-to guy Blair Underwood have found work, but their presence is not enough to make me want to watch. I saw a half hour the other day. As you may recall, I didn't start Lost from the first episode. But I caught part of an episode later in the season, and I found myself enthralled and wanting to know more. That's not the case with my glimpse into The Event. None of the characters jumped out at me, and I'm totally not interested in knowing why some characters will do anything to get Jason Ritter's character.

I did watch a full episode of the revamped Hawaii Five-O, solely to watch Daniel Dae Kim's new show. The powers-that-be have been desperate to find a vehicle for Alex O'Loughlin. His first show, Moonlight, was a cult favorite that was cancelled too soon (full disclosure: I never watched it). His second show was the abysmal Three Rivers, which found itself on the chopping block pretty quickly. I think he's found a successful show, however, in Hawaii Five-O, in which he takes over from Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett. He's joined by Scott Caan as Danno, Kim as Chin Ho Kelly, and Grace Park as the now female Kono. I watched the premiere, and will watch no more. I found the dialogue to be cliched, the characters to be cardboard, and the villain (played by the former Spike, James Marsters) to be dull.

I have on a season pass of sorts Undercovers, a new show by J.J. Abrams. I've yet to watch a single episode. That tells me I'm not looking forward to it, and I may just have to cancel the whole thing. I never watched Alias, so maybe I just don't like the genre?

I also tried to watch No Ordinary Family, starring the former Darla and Dexter's Rita Morgan, Julie Benz. She's joined by Michael Chiklis and one of the Panabaker girls. You would think the show is right up my geek-girl alley. The family takes a trip, the plane crashes, and each has a special power afterward. But I found nothing new or unusual in the pilot, just a family drama filled with cliches, in which the family just happens to develop powers. It doesn't help that the show has one of the worst cliches of all time: the stereotypical troubled teenager.

Lost and Buffyverse fan alert: Daniel Dae Kim (Jin and Gavin Park) plays Chin Ho Kelly in the revamped Hawaii Five-O.

Buffyverse fan alert: James Marsters, Spike, played a villain in the premiere episode of Hawaii Five-O. Does Marsters just not want a series or do producers not recognize his charisma? Granted, his charisma was not in evidence in this episode... Also, Julie Benz, Darla, plays Stephanie Power in No Ordinary Family.

Watching TV During Maternity Leave

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. For a while there, the only posts I had were all about dead celebrities. This got on my own nerves, so I stopped.

Why such rare posts? Well, that's what happens when you give birth to twins, prematurely. Well, when you give birth to twins, period. Newborns take up a lot of time. It's hard to take the time to get on the computer and write posts about the television one is watching. At least, it was for me.

I ended up watching more television than I thought I would, mainly during the day. The nice thing about newborns is that they sleep a lot. Swaddle 'em, feed 'em, hold 'em, they'll be more or less happy.

So, what did I watch? Well, sadly, a lot of Wife Swap. I had actually seen some before I gave birth, and I have to admit, I feel ashamed that I watched as much as I did. The premise of the show is simple: two women trade families. The families are opposites in major ways, resulting in a lot of drama as each family adjusts to the new addition. One family might be uptight overachievers while the other might be easygoing free spirits. Conflict always ensues, and sometimes the parents (and children) actually learn something. But I tired of the show pretty quickly, as the families never seemed to have any tolerance for the differences between them. The transplanted wife never wanted to learn about the family she joined, instead, judging them for their chosen lifestyles.

The most interesting episodes centered around the family of the Balloon Boy. Remember them? Richard and Mayumi Heene were in two episodes, and I have to say, I was not impressed by either. He's a hostile loud-mouth and she's a flake. Their children are doomed.

I watched a lot of "retro" television, including Hawaii Five-O and The Streets of San Francisco. Of the two, I think that I liked the latter better. Mike Stone, played by Karl Malden, was a compassionate cop with a wry sense of humor. I liked him. I also enjoyed seeing the guests stars on both shows. Wow, I can't believe they aired over 30 years ago.

Finally, the one show I watched that surprised me was Grey's Anatomy. My husband once told me he'd divorce me if I ever watched it. I figured the show was silly, so his ultimatum never bothered me. But it airs on Lifetime, and I've seen few episodes, so it was perfect. And better than I thought. Yes, some story lines were annoying. Anything with Callie Torres was sure to elicit eye rolling. But I found myself actually like the characters of Meredith and especially Miranda Bailey. And I even liked McDreamy. Who knew?

I also watched my soap opera, As the World Turns, which was canceled and ended its run in September. It was nice to see the story lines all wrapped up. I'm sorry to see it go, though, as Guiding Light was canceled last year. I spent many summer days with my mother, watching these two hours of soap operas during the hottest part of the day.

Now I'm back at work, so I'm back to mostly watching prime time. I'll be back soon to share my thoughts about the new shows this fall season and my returning favorites.

'Designing Women,' 'Desperate Housewives' Star Dixie Carter Dead at 70

'Designing Women,' 'Desperate Housewives' Star Dixie Carter Dead at 70

I watched Designing Women - of course I did! How could I not? It took place in Atlanta, and starred four very interesting actresses. I found all the characters interesting, but Julia Sugarbaker was a little different from the rest. She shared her opinion, always articulately, always passionately. And her opinions were not ill-informed; indeed, she was one of the smartest characters on TV, male or female.

It turns out that Dixie Carter was not as liberal as her character. Whenever the liberality of Julia's opinions would get too much for the actress, the producers would arrange for her to sing a song. A compromise, of sorts.

I saw her a few times in Desperate Housewives - she was just as good in that as she was in Designing Women.

Goodbye, Ms. Carter. You brought a lot to popular entertainment.

Cable Drama Finales

Well, I must apologize. It's been a long time since I've posted. There hasn't been a whole lot going on in the world of television, but that's not my excuse. Here's some unsolicited, un-television-related advice for you. If you find yourself pregnant with twins, don't decide to buy a house. Stupid. Just stupid!

Because of all that, I'm way behind on my television. But this past weekend, I finally saw the final finale of three of my cable shows. I thought I'd give my impressions.

Leverage

Leverage is new for me. I didn't see the first season, except for a couple episodes. Those episodes impressed me so much that I put Leverage on my DVR schedule. As you know, the relationships between characters is often what draws me in to a show. It's one of the things I love about Lost and about Bones. If the relationships aren't true, or are forced, I will eventually lose interest. Heroes is one show that lost me because of their failure to develop characters who could grow.

Leverage has a host of interesting characters. Nate Ford is a former insurance investigator who quit the business and sank into a drunken rage when his son died after the insurance company refused to pay for treatment. For reasons I don't understand, seeing as I never saw the pilot, Nate decided to help someone, but he needed skills he didn't possess. So, he found a grifter, hitter, thief, and hacker. All four of these characters were basically amoral who used their skills to help themselves, not others.

Sophie is the grifter. She's also an actress, but a terrible one when on stage. She fabulous when working a con. She works the most with Nate, and a romance of sorts is brewing between them. She humanizes most of the other characters who are somewhat socially limited. Sophie left to travel for a number of months "to find herself". The real reason is that Gina Bellwood, the actress who plays Sophie, was on maternity leave.

Eliot is the hitter. He's the hitter because he doesn't really like using weapons, though he can if he must. Skilled in martial arts, he mostly protects the group. He's often assumed to be a dumb jock, but he's actually smarter than he looks. He likes being underestimated.

Parker is the thief. No one knows if that is her first or last name. Raised in a number of foster homes, she is socially backward and relies on Sophie to help her with social skills. She is an extremely skilled thief, and is probably the most amoral of the group.

Lastly, Hardison is the hacker. He was also raised in foster homes, though it sounds like his childhood was more stable than Parker's. He's a self-professed geek who is able to hack into just about any computer system. However, in a funny joke, he did point out that he cannot "hack a hick."

But that doesn't tell you what the relationships between the characters are. Sophie and Nate are attracted to each other, but, of course, they keep fighting it. Hardison is attracted to Parker, but she doesn't recognize his flirting for what it is. Eliot is protective of the team, though he gets frustrated when Nate doesn't give them all the information he believes he needs. The group broke up at the end of the first season (for reasons unknown to me), but the four thieves found that they couldn't return to their normal lives. They liked helping people too much.

Nate changed the most in the second season. He sobered up during the break between seasons, but relapsed during a job. Although he tried to curtail his drinking, he never quite gave it up. He made it clear that, unlike his cohorts, he was not a thief. All he was doing in setting up his cons was helping the downtrodden get what was rightly theirs from the rich and powerful. He always maintained an aura of superiority over his colleagues, which they did not fail to note. But in the final episode, Nate lost control over his con and his own actions, partially due to alcohol and partially due to other reasons too long to discuss here. His team confronted him on a few occasions, but he insisted he was fine. What his team didn't know was that he had been caught.

In exchange for his assistance, Nate would go free, but his team was not. After all, they were thieves, Nate was not. There appeared to be no way out. But, as usual, Nate outsmarted the officials. The only evidence to convict a truly evil dude was Nate's testimony. And the price for his testimony: his colleagues go free. His team was not grateful, however. Sophie even slapped him. As they took off in a helicopter, Nate pronounced to the world, "I am a thief."

I guess they'll have to get the team back together in the first episode next season.

White Collar

White Collar has been essentially mind candy. The only reason to watch it, other than the impossibly handsome Matt Bomer, is the bromance between Bomer's Neal and Tim DeKay's Peter. Peter was the only FBI who could capture Neal (which he did, twice), but is hesitant when Neal suggests that Peter allow him to help solve white collar crimes. You know, an "it takes a thief" kind of thing. Have you ever noticed that thieves are all terribly handsome?

Despite his reluctance to work with Neal, and despite the differences in their character, Peter finds himself appreciating Neal's skill and enthusiasm. He finds himself relying on Neal's advice on their cases and in his personal life. He even moves in with Neal when his home is being wired (that didn't work out so well).

But as Neal got involved in a plan to steal a music box to free his girlfriend, Peter becomes suspicious. He tries to talk Neal out of the theft, even promising to arrest Neal if he attempts the crime. Peter's no fool, though, and he realizes Neal will go forward with his plans regardless. What Neal didn't anticipate was the effect this would have on Peter - Peter's wife was accused of various crimes (clearly bogus), and Peter was suspended for two weeks.

Of course, Neal stole the music box, and Peter couldn't arrest Neal because Peter was on suspension. Neal is promised to be reuinited with his girlfriend with a new identity. He says good bye to everyone, except Peter. Peter find him, and Neal acknowledges he didn't say good bye to Peter because Peter was the only one who could talk Neal out of escaping with his girlfriend. Frankly, I thought Peter was doing a bad job of convincing Neal to stay, but it turns out his intervention saved Neal's life, as the airplane containing the girlfriend (allegedly) exploded.

Burn Notice

Michael Weston has spent three years trying desparately to find out why he was burned from the CIA. In this season's finale, we finally learned why. A rogue agent was so bad that he was placed in a remote jail. Because a power that is needed someone like this rogue agent, they altered Michael's file so that it appears Michael committed the horrible acts of the rogue agent. Both the rogue agent, Simon, and Michael protest they want their lives back. But Simon, who has escaped from his jail, is a true psychopath, and doesn't care who he kills to get what he wants. He even bribes Michael into helping him by putting explosives in a Miami hotel. If Michael doesn't help, the bomb goes off.

The FBI are onto Michael and his activities, and they believe what his CIA file contains. They try to find him, interrogating his mother, Maddy. Despite their attempts to convince her that Michael is a killer, she refuses to give her son up, and is eventually arrested by the FBI. But she's devastated. Michael managed to stop Simon, but was captured by the FBI. Within 2o minutes of his capture, another "suit" took custody of Michael. We last saw Michael being led in chains with a hood over his head to a meeting. But Maddy has no idea where her son is. Her distress was palpable.

Buffyverse fan alert - Christian Kane, Lindsey McDonald on Angel, plays Eliot on Leverage. The two characters are not all that alike. Lindsey was amoral, yes, but he committed his evil as an attorney for the soulless (literally) Wolfram and Hart. Eliot, on the other hand, prefers to use his fists, and has discovered that he has a desire to help people.

Deadwood fan alert and The 4400 fan alert. Garret Dillahunt, Francis Wolcott and Jack McCall on Deadwood and Matthew Ross on The 4400, played Simon on Burn Notice. I wonder, is Dillahunt as disturbed as the characters he plays?

Lost fan alert - Marsha Thomason, Naomi Dorrit on Lost, plays an FBI agent on White Collar. She is apparently joining the cast for the next season. Although she has an American accent on White Collar, she really is from Manchester, England, just like Naomi.

'Mission: Impossible' Star Peter Graves Dead at 83

'Mission: Impossible' Star Peter Graves Dead at 83

For some reason, I thought he would live forever.