TVSquad

I suppose we're lucky that this is a "season one" DVD and not a "complete series" set. The nut campaign aimed at CBS worked, and the second season of Jericho will start in a few months. It's only going to be seven episodes long, and then they'll look at those ratings and see if it warrants more episodes.

In the meantime, we have this season one set. You either like the show or you don't, which will help you decide whether you will want the DVD or not. And if you buy it, you're interested in the extras, and on this set they're actually pretty good.

(S04E03) "The heart can be a bitch." - Alan Shore

I cannot begin this review without addressing how shocked I was with the opening scene. The very idea of a fifteen year old girl who contracts HIV made my jaw drop. I was shocked that a school would teach children that abstinence is the only effective way to avoid unwanted pregnancy and STD's. When I was in school (many years ago) we were taught that while abstinence is the best way to avoid the pitfalls of teen sex, condoms are a close second, especially when it comes to avoiding disease. As a parent, it concerns me that my daughter's school might actually teach this sort of thing. Thankfully, Alan pointed out where the blame actually lies...in the lap of the U.S. government. In an effort to please the conservatives who elected them, the Republicans refuse to give schools an option that would teach teens a realistic way to have sex responsibly. I know it's only a TV show but only a fool would think this kind of thing isn't happening in some parts of the country.

Family Guy reaches a milestone on November 4th: 100 episodes. To celebrate, the animated series is having a special 'Best Of' episode. I'm hoping it will include moments from the first run of Family Guy, before it was canceled and then resurrected.

The actual 100th episode is about Stewie's quest to actually kill Lois when she and Peter leave him behind to go on a cruise. It airs at its normal time slot, 9 pm. The retrospective special airs at 8:30 pm on FOX on November 4th. That means it's replacing King of the Hill for one night.

Hmmm... best moments of Family Guy? Pretty much anything with Stewie gets my vote. What are your favorite moments?

(S01E03) It turns out that the episode title didn't just refer to Paolo Vova, one of the Darlings' many bankers. It is also a sexual position, demonstrated by one of the Darling children in a raunchy sex tape. At first I thought that there would be a lot of suspense surrounding the identity of the Darling on the tape, but it ended up taking on comedic elements. I loved the interviews between Nick and the Darling children after Patrick was ruled out. You can learn a lot about the Darlings in a brief encounter, and Nick certainly did. Jeremy "had" a sex tape featuring Buddy Ebsen, Juliet is a "real, total virgin" (the first major difference between her and Paris Hilton), and Karen still remembers that mixed tape that Nick made for her. There wasn't a huge payoff at the end of the tape plot, but it did bring Nick closer to the mysterious Simon Elder.

Ah, the world of TV, where everything old is new again. Failed sitcoms become cartoons, Adam West gets reimagined as a doddering cartoon mayor, and every old game show is remade into a new, more sparkly version.

Now the twirling-light, ominous music treatment has reached an old favorite: Password. According to Variety, CBS and Fremantle Media are teaming up to produce a new version of the word-association game show, redubbing it Million Dollar Password. And, not only will the old show will be recycled, so will an old host: Regis Philbin has been tapped to host his first prime-time game show since the ABC version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire breathed its last a few years ago.

(S01E03) Reese: You got a pest problem?

Crews: He's not so bad. (Charlie talking about Ted)

I am starting to feel the groove of this show and it is beginning to grow on me. While it is a fairly quiet program, the pace of the story is fast enough not to leave me bored. And, while it is a criminal procedural, there are enough light moments, particularly involving Charlie or Charlie and Reese, to mute the darkness that sometimes permeates these types of shows.

(S08I07) This issue starts out with the longest - and perhaps first - foray into flashback territory for this "season." I guess I could have gone through my well overplayed DVDs and checked the referred-to episode for accuracy, but it seemed pretty dead-on to me.

Y'know, I love Giles and all, and I especially appreciate that he's a presence in this series, but I'm not really digging how cookie-cutter he seems, particularly in these last two issues. Is it just me or does he drink tea and clean his spectacles way too (stereotypically) often?

My wife gave birth to our first son three months ago, so names have been on my mind recently. A name says a lot about a person: strong names help kids to grow up to be television news personalities or American Ninjas (Wolf Blitzer and Joe Armstrong, respectively). Weak names, on the other hand, lead to name calling in grade school and sad lives of quiet desperation in adulthood.

Television has given us a large catalog of super-cool names to choose from. Since TV is all about wish fulfillment, it's rare for a character to be given a truly terrible name. Sometimes, though, a terrible name slips through the network sieve and luckily for all of us, TV Squad is there to catch it. The five worst names in the history of television after the jump...

"Clusterf@#k to the White House": Actor and former senator Fred Thompson made his debate debut and we all learned that he is not so good with the talky-talk, especially when it comes to chatting about the economy. Also, I'm a big fan of the comedian Jim Gaffigan and everything said about "Manatee Pokers" was so very Gaffigan-y. In other news: Any reference to the Upright Citizens Brigade ("Uptight Citizens Brigade") is automatic gold, as is anything about Wilford Brimley. Bonus points if an impression of the way he says "diabeetus" is included.

(S09E04) Tonight's episode of America's Next Top Model had the potential to be the perfect storm of cycle 9.

From the title alone you could tell it was going to be the makeover show which is always an entertaining affair. You could also tell that one of the models was going to lose all of her hair which was certain to lead to uncontrollable sobbing, threats of suicide, and/or the assassination of a hair stylist.

It also ended up being the nude shoot where the uncomfortable models flash ample skin and the producers have to blur out multiple body parts to maintain the show's PG-13 content.

(S11E09) "One Katie Couric is approximately 2.6 pounds of excrement."*

*(Might not be the EXACT quote. Don't go Katie Couric on me.)

Randy Marsh takes a crap. A big one. The biggest one in history. It's so big that the European Fecal Standards and Measurements Board has to be called in.

(S01E03) "I don't fit here." - Addison

In my last Private Practice review, I mentioned that I didn't like Naomi much, mostly because she is always angry and rarely smiles. A little over 40% of the TV Squad readers who participated in our Naomi poll agreed that the character needed to lighten up while about 31% doesn't care for her at all. That's over 70% not liking her! I hoped that in time, I would start to at least tolerate her. But this week's episode didn't help me achieve that goal. She is just not an enjoyable character and I really don't relate to her. I'm starting to wonder if changing the actress to play Naomi was a mistake. This whole Naomi situation worries... especially when I add it to the other flaws the show has.

(S01E04) Following the recipe for controversy which has been a mainstay for this show since its inception, tonight's episode of Kid Nation threw religion into the fray. So, let's take a moment to count the controversies and brouhahas thus far -- we have the child labor issue, the scripted/acting kids issue, the contract issue in which the parents promised not to sue if their kid died, the kill two chickens on television issue, and so many more.

Adults created this world created by the children, so let's get them going on religion next! Will there be fisticuffs? Love-ins? Heathens run amok? Thankfully, in this case, the kids were smarter than the adults.

(S01E03) "$50 million and you didn't think we'd throw in a GPS?" - Jonas

OK, I have to admit it: with this episode Bionic Woman has me hooked for the long haul.

Where the first two episodes were way too heavy on the set up, this one was actually intriguing, lively, and jam-packed with witty lines. I'm actually beginning to think that the highlight of the show is Miguel Ferrer's Jonas character. Unlike Arvin Sloane over on Alias, Jonas is sarcastic and funny. And he's not the only one who had good dialogue in this episode. It's like the show was taken over by other writers or something after the first two episodes. The words were meatier, funnier.

(S01E02) OK, I am now ever so slightly worried about Pushing Daisies.

Oh, don't get me wrong: there was plenty to like about the second episode of the most praised new show of the season. But there were two things that got me and every person concerned about this show's long-term future: a) Would the show get too cute (or twee, if closet Brit Anna Friel was discussing it. Alan Sepinwall was the first critic to use the term for the show, and I think it fits perfectly) for its own good, and b) would Barry Sonnenfeld's rumored budget overruns sink the show in its later episodes?

After watching "Dummy," my answers right now are a) it might if it's not careful, and b) it's starting to look that way.