Stana Katic vs Felicia Day - DGOW Regional Final

This week, AdamReisinger.com will spotlight a regional final match-up in the 2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament. Today's match-up is Stana Katic vs Felicia Day.

	Stana Katic	Felicia Day
Date Selected	May 18, 2010	March 23, 2010
Road to Quarters	Def. Sarah Lancaster, Alyson Hannigan	Def. Jen Friel, Zoe Saldana
Born	April 26, 1978	June 28, 1979
Home State/Province	Ontario, Canada	Alabama
Hair Color	Brown	Red
Known for	"Castle", "Heroes"	"Dr. Horrible", "The Guild"
Six Degrees of Joss	Co-stars on "Castle" with Nathan Fillion ("Buffy", "Firefly", "Dr. Horrible")	"Buffy", "Dollhouse", "Dr. Horrible", take your pick.

Analysis: This is a showdown between two hotties who've proven to have strong fan bases so far. While Day managed to pull the upset over Saldana in the last round, I'd be surprised if she can beat Katic, only because the Katic fans who've latched on to this contest have been strong in supporting their girl.

#BritneySpearsGlee Videos: The Musical Performances

I already reviewed each of the musical performances on this past episode of "Glee", but what fun is it just to read about them. Now you can see them all and judge for yourself. Here they are, each of the Britney Spears songs performed on "Glee", complete with commentary by Miss Britney Spears herself!

I'm A Slave 4 U - Brittany (Heather Morris)

I know how hard it is to dance with that snake!  Nice job....Wed Sep 29 03:10:49 via webBritney Spears
britneyspears

(hit the jump for the rest of the videos)

No Ordinary Family "Pilot" Review

After watching last night's premiere of "No Ordinary Family" I'm not sure what to make of the show. There were plenty of moments that had me engrossed in the episode, but there were just as many moments that seemed to drag on endlessly for no reason. I think the next three or four episodes will be critical for setting the tone of the show and determining whether this is a must-watch or relegated to the depths of the DVR.

Michael Chiklis was outstanding as Jim, the husband/father of the titular "family", and the best thing about the pilot episode. His genuine enthusiasm for his powers showed the kind of emotion the show needs to focus on more. All the other characters just seemed so mopey all the time, and Chiklis even went into that mode when dealing with his marital issues.

I thought the show did a good job acknowledging its comic book references directly -- having Jim insist on calling his quarter-mile jumps "bounds" was a particular highlight -- and having Jim and George (his D.A. friend) get so into the whole thing was just uplifting.

On the other hand, Julie Benz's Stephanie was a disappointment. She seemed to come straight out of the book of "Clichés for the Modern Working Woman", and the special effect used for her super-speed was kind of mediocre. I did enjoy the scene where Stephanie was running on a track and having a co-worker check her speed, and the co-worker kept asking all the kind skeptical questions regarding how super speed works. Again, when the show was up front about acknowledging, then subverting, its roots, it was good.

I haven't even mentioned the kids yet, but they were mostly forgettable teenage clichés. The less we see of them, at least when not making use of their powers (which aren't even active powers in the traditional sense), the better. In fact, if the show focuses more on the "No Ordinary" and less on the "Family", I think it can succeed. We got a glimpse of that with a super-powered criminal and shady organization behind him, and those are the storylines the show should focus on. Not family disharmony and marriage counseling.

Grade: C+

For more coverage of the 2010-11 television season, visit the AdamReisinger.com TV Reviews home page. 

How I Met Your Mother "Cleaning House" Reaction

Coming into this season, I would have argued that there were three major outstanding issues to be resolved on "How I Met Your Mother":

1. The meeting of the mother (obviously)

2. Robin finding true love

3. Barney growing up

Whether or not 2 and 3 are linked is still a matter of debate, but what's not up for debate is through two episodes this season, they're really addressing #3. We saw a bit of a "Barney growing up" moment in the first episode, when he genuinely complimented Robin on how nice she looked (again, hinting that 2 and 3 are in fact leading toward the same resolution), but this episode, "Cleaning House", was a major step forward for Barney.

Because of all the lies his mother told him growing up (lies with good intentions, as we learned, but lies nonetheless), Barney's grown up kind of... well, weird, to put it lightly. And while watching suiting-up, drinking, womanizing, awesome-being Barney has been fun for five-plus seasons, at some point the character has to mature.

In this episode, Barney finally admitted that Bob Barker wasn't his father (and if you haven't been watching the show, that probably made no sense to you), but then talked himself into another delusion when his half-brother James found his real dad. However, by the end of the episode, Barney had come around to reality -- not just on the matter of his father, but in all the aspects of his childhood -- thanks to a very touching scene with his mother.

What I liked best about the scene was that it was sentimental without drifting into "very special episode" territory. And I liked that Barney could have a real moment of growth, without making the whole episode about that. But what I liked most about the episode was the credit-scene gag where James and his father are singing at the piano, and Barney interrupts, as he had earlier in the episode, but this time with an auto-tune machine. It was easily the most I've laughed at a HIMYM episode in awhile.

For more coverage of the 2010-11 television season, visit the AdamReisinger.com TV Reviews home page. 

#BritneySpearsGlee: Video: Britney as a Cheerio

 

As I mentioned in last night's review, this was my favorite part of the episode. A dream sequence by Artie, in which he envisions Miss Britney Spears herself as part of the cheerleading squad at McKinley High. I'll have more videos from last night's "Glee" later today (after catching up on some other TV reviews), but I wanted to post this one ASAP.

Blake Lively vs Erica Durance - DGOW Regional Final

This week, AdamReisinger.com will spotlight the four quarterfinal match-ups in the 2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament. Today's match-up is Blake Lively vs Erica Durance.

	Blake Lively	Erica Durance
Date Selected	March 2, 2010	April 27, 2010
Road to the Quarters	Def. Leighton Meester, Christina Hendricks	Def. Erin Karpluk, Kate Mara
Born	Aug. 25, 1987	June 21, 1978
Home State/Province	California	Alberta, Canada
Hair Color	Blonde	Brown
Known for	"Gossip Girl", "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"	"Smallville", "House of the Dead"
Six Degrees of Joss	Co-starred in "Sisterhood..." with Amber Tamblyn (Janice from "Buffy")	Appeared in Smallville with James Marsters (Spike from "Buffy")

Analysis: I still can't believe Blake Lively got this far. I miss Christina Hendricks already. Putting that aside, I think Lively will actually win this matchup. She's drastically increased her profile with her role in "The Town" (the critically acclaimed Ben Affleck movie), while Durance is still slaving away on the zombie-like "Smallville" (seriously, why won't that show die).

Glee "Britney/Brittany" Reaction/Song Review

Before I get to this episode itself, let me provide a public service announcement to the producers of "Glee", who are reportedly considering having another Britney Spears episode this season:

There are more than 120 Britney Spears songs available in her catalog, which means at five songs per episode, you could have an entire season of Britney Spears episodes and still not run out of music. I'm not saying you have to do this, I'm just saying you should consider it.

OK, it's pretty obvious from browsing my archives that I'm a huge fan of all things Britney Spears, so there was almost no way I wasn't going to like this episode. Combine that with my love for Heather Morris's Brittany, and this episode, as anticipated, was the greatest thing since Peanut M&Ms were invented.

Also, let me get this out of the way: the scene where Britney Spears was dressed in a Cheerios outfit, well, that's definitely replacing the picture above as my computer desktop as soon as I can get a high resolution version of it. I didn't even hear a word any of the characters said, I was too busy staring at Britney. MMMM... Britney.

OK, on to the key parts of the story: making Brittany's name "Brittany S. Pierce" and giving her a complex about Britney Spears? That was amazing. Having Kurt organize a Facebook campaign to get the Glee club to perform Britney Spears? Amazing. I even liked the weird ass Will-Emma-Carl-Terri love quadrangle, and the addition of John Stamos is pretty good (and hopefully we'll hear him sing later this season).

I wasn't sure about Will's early objection to the glee club performing Britney songs, but it was necessary for the writers to tie his change of heart into his "loosening up" to try and win back Emma. Oh, and Sue, everything you said about Britney Spears is wrong. I understand your hatred, and that it likely comes from jealousy and your failure to recognize the awesomeness that is Britney.

Speaking of the awesomeness that is Brittany, let's get to her best one-liners of the episode, since she was particularly on point this week:

Regarding her habit of drinking soda rather than brushing her teeth: "I was pretty sure Dr Pepper was a dentist."

In Carl's office, waiting to be put under for dental surgery: "This room looks like the one on that spaceship where I got probed."

To Rachel in the hallway (after Santana had insulted her): "Also, I'm more talented than you." [Oh, snap! It is ON!]

Touching Jacob's hair as Jacob stared down the dressed-as-Britney Rachel: "It looks like a Jewish cloud."

"I thought I was the only one getting the solos from now on. Next week, I'm going to be performing a musical number by Ke$ha." Oh, God, no. Please, no.

And now, to the long-overdue song review, and I think it's safe to say I failed to be objective here.

Gossip Girl "The Undergraduates" Reaction

OK, I'm going to make this short and sweet, since I'm in something of a love-hate relationship with "Gossip Girl" right now. I want to talk about two things that happened on last night's episode.

First, as you can see from the picture above, Georgina's back! Well, sort of. After everyone pretty much caught on to her scheme (thanks to a little help from a picture of her at the beach in St. Bart's on the upgraded Gossip Girl site), she showed up at Dan's door with the craziest story she's ever come up with. The weird thing is, she seemed so sincere in telling the story that you can't help but believe her. And in the end, she took Milo, because, as she put it to Dan, "he's not your son."

The moment was packed with emotion, because it marked a reversal for both of them. Dan had come to the realization that Milo wasn't his (well, he was pushed in that direction by Rufus), but was ready to raise him like he was, with the help of Vanessa, who agreed to move in with Dan. Meanwhile Georgina is finally telling the truth (we think) but somehow comes across crazier than ever, to the point that Dan was ready to keep Milo away from his mother.

As for the other thing I wanted to address in last night's episode, it was the evolution of the Blair/Serena relationship, complete with an assist from the still unseen Gossip Girl herself. When the two frenemies started literally fighting, I assumed this was going to be the same S&B antics all over again, as did pretty much everyone watching on the Gossip Girl site. Only it turned out that Serena and Blair had worked out their differences, and used everyone's expectations of them to expose Juliet. It was a nice way for the show to subvert its own frequent rehashing of that storyline, and hopefully move the characters forward in a meaningful way

It seems like increased maturity will in fact be the status quo, at least after the Serena-Nate interaction that happened later in the episode. Sure, Blair didn't exactly take the high road when it came to Eva (who is now moving in with Chuck, despite some angry interactions with Chuck, Rufus and Eric), but I feel like for the first time in awhile, all the key characters are really ready to grow past their petty differences in the past.

Well, all except Juliet that is. We got a little more insight into her secrets at the end of the episode, and even if you keep your secrets behind bars, they have a funny way of getting out. you know you love me... xo xo

For more coverage of the 2010-11 television season, visit the AdamReisinger.com TV Reviews home page. 

2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament Quarterfinals

The second round has come and gone, but not without some surprises. Prohibitive favorite Christina Hendricks has gone down, and there's a significant voting fanbase that could produce an upset winner for the entire tournament. Before we get to this week's matchups, let's review the results from the second round. And remember, you can always get the latest on every matchup at the DGOW 2010 home page.

"Jean Grey Region"
- Blake Lively def. Christina Hendricks, 58%-42%
- Erica Durance def. Kate Mara, 53%-47%

"Emma Frost Region"
- Stana Katic def. Alyson Hannigan, 61%-39%
- Felicia Day def. Zoe Saldana, 51%-49%

"Betsy Braddock Region"
- Scarlett Johansson def. Darby Stanchfield, 94%-6%
- Katy Perry def. Elizabeth Banks, 59%-41%

"Kitty Pryde Region"
- Emma Caulfield def. Deborah Ann Woll, 67%-33%
- Joanna Garcia def. Amanda Bynes, 61%-39%

Hendricks going down in the second round has to be the biggest upset of this tournament. I didn't even expect Lively to win her first-round matchup with Leighton Meester, much less advance to the quarterfinals.

Then there's the strange tale of Stana Katic. In consecutive matchups, she's fallen behind big early, before surging after her spotlight post. Her fan base seems to be more supportive than I could have imagined, and she could prove to be this tournament's George Mason.

OK, here are your regional finals:

Jean Grey Region: Blake Lively vs Erica Durance
Emma Frost Region: Stana Katic vs Felicia Day
Betsy Braddock Region: Scarlett Johansson vs Katy Perry
Kitty Pryde Region: Emma Caulfield vs Joanna Garcia

Hit the jump or click here to vote.

Chuck "Chuck Versus the Suitcase" Reaction

OK, rather than straight up review last night's episode of Chuck, I want to take a look at the three guest stars, each of whom played something of a key role in making the episode as good as it was.

Karolina Kurkova
The former runway model played on her own image, playing a spy posing as a runway model to smuggle key weapons technology out of Italy. Kurkova's character also managed to create some friction between Sarah and Chuck (who were already having relationship issues), just by being hot. I thoroughly enjoyed Kurkova's appearance, not just physically (though, damn, she was hot) but in creating a foil for Sarah. "Chuck" has always done a good job of giving Agent Walker worthy foes, and Kurkova lived up to that standard.

Lou Ferrigno
The former Hulk played Kurkova's bodyguard, who secretly pined for her. I'm a huge fan of Ferrigno's, and he didn't disappoint, balancing action and comedy in a perfect mix. Ferrigno pouring his heart out to the love of his life, only to turn around and find out it was Sarah (right before she punched him out) was hilarious.

Isaiah Mustafa
Look at Morgan. Now back at "Greta". Now back at Morgan. Now back at "Greta." Look down. Now up. Where are you? You're in the Buy More with the spy your spy could smell like! OK, enough of that. But seriously, how awesome is this guy? I'm actually glad he's not on any specific show as a regular, because that frees him up to go from show to show in amazing cameos. Look again, the cameos are now diamonds! (OK, really, I'll stop this time). After last week, I wasn't sure how the "Greta" thing would work out, but it seems like they're going to use it to spotlight the difference between "real" spies and Morgan, which I'm fine with. Oh, and next week, it's Stacy Keibler -- my fellow Towson alum -- so I'm extra fine with that too.

Sometimes "Chuck" overdoes it on the guest stars (just look at next week, when Nicole Richie and Steve Austin come back), but at least for this week, it was just right.

Also, even though this review is guest-star focused, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the return of Jeffster. Seeing Lester and Jeff back in the Buy More just felt right, even if I did kind of want to vomit when Jeff made his open-shirt glamour walk.

For more coverage of the 2010-11 television season, visit the AdamReisinger.com TV Reviews home page. 

Desperate Housewives "Remember Paul?" Reaction

Last night's "Desperate Housewives" Season 7 premiere picked up pretty much where last season left off, give or take a week or so. Rather than recap the episode as a whole, let's go Desperate Housewife by housewife to get you up to speed.

Bree-cap (yeah, I went there): Orson is leaving Bree, filing for divorce because of her revelation that Andrew (unseen in this episode) ran over Mrs. Solis all those years ago. Bree isn't sure how to handle this, so Orson tells her to "find a project". She decides to make that project tearing down her wallpaper by hand, then making a move on the hot new painter.

Re-Gaby (hmmm, that kinda works): Bree tells Gaby about Andrew killing Mrs. Solis, and she's pissed. Not because of what happened, but because if a newly clean-shaven Carlos finds out, he's going to kill Andrew, and then go to jail, and then Gaby will be poor again. Meanwhile, Carlos gets the news from the hospital that Juanita isn't really their daughter. Independently, Gaby and Carlos decide to keep their secrets from each other.

Amanda Bynes vs Joanna Garcia - Second-Round Showdown

Each day (twice on Saturday and Sunday), AdamReisinger.com will spotlight a second-round match-up in the 2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament. Today's match-up is Amanda Bynes vs Joanna Garcia.

	Amanda Bynes	Joanna Garcia
Date Selected	June 29, 2010	August 3, 2010
Born	April 3, 1986	Aug. 10, 1979
Home State	California	Florida
Hair Color	Blonde (natural brown)	Brown (natural blonde)
Known for	"The Amanda Show", "What I Like About You"	"Reba", "Privileged"
Six Degrees of Joss	Voiced an episode of "Rugrats" with Ron Glass ("Firefly")	Appeared in "How I Met Your Mother" with Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris

Analysis: So Bynes is a natural brunette who has been blonde for the better part of a decade. And Garcia is a natural blonde (allegedly) who went red for "Privileged" and is now showing off an even darker 'do on "Better With You." I'm definitely backing Garcia in this matchup, and it appears the voters agree, since with just a few hours left to vote, she's got an almost insurmountable lead.

The Simpsons "Elementary School Musical" Reaction

Before I get to the review of last night's episode, a little perspective. I recently bought "The Simpsons" Season 13 on Blu-ray and re-watched the whole thing. Season 13 was right in the group of seasons where people started to ask if "The Simpsons" had lived on past its prime, and it shows on re-watching (there's a lot of humor in there that is very much "in the moment", plus possibly the worst Simpsons clip show ever).

Still, I enjoyed most of Season 13 way more than I enjoyed last night's Season 22 premiere, "Elementary School Musical." A quickie recap: Krusty gets named a Nobel Peace Prize winner and decides to take Homer (and Bart) with him to the ceremony since Homer is the easiest laugh in the world. However, it turns out that Krusty is actually being taken to the Hague, where Bart and Homer must prove he's made one positive contribution to society or he'll be found guilty of crimes against humanity. Back in Springfield, Lisa attends one week of "Art Camp", falls in love with the idea of being an artist, then discovers the life of an artist isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The Krusty storyline was just stupid, and the less said about it the better (it strains credulity, even in the flexible world we allow "The Simpsons" to exist in). The Lisa storyline felt like a bunch of old Simpsons storylines slapped together in a wrapper of updated references. I never watched "Flight of the Conchords", so maybe some of those references worked better for fans of that show, but that's not what The Simpsons should be about. The Glee cameos (from only three of the cast members) were pretty much wasted too, and just seemed like an excuse to get more Fox synergy in there.

In the end, I just found myself asking how many times can they do an episode where Lisa finds a new place where she "really belongs", only to have her reject it in the end?

For more coverage of the 2010-11 television season, visit the AdamReisinger.com TV Reviews home page. 

Jersey Monday: Devin Hester

The 2-0 Bears are facing the 2-0 Packers tonight on Monday Night Football, so I figured now is as good a time as any to spotlight one of my two Bears jerseys. In this case, it's my Devin Hester "authentic" that I bought back in 2007.

Why do I put "authentic" in quotes? Well, I bought this jersey off eBay for $40. If you weren't aware, an authentic Bears jersey from NFL.com costs $229 (and that's actually one of the less expensive authentic jerseys available). This is a bootleg authentic, but nearly indistinguishable from a real one, and at less than 20% of the cost.

I got the Hester jersey because my best friend is a Bears fan, and it was kind of embarrassing that the only jersey I had from such a storied franchise was Curtis Enis (oh, and it'll be a sad day when I have to spotlight that one on Jersey Monday). It's still kind of sad that the only jerseys I have from this franchise are Enis and Hester, so I may have to look into getting something like a Payton or Singletary at some point in the future.

Meanwhile, this has become one of my favorite jerseys to wear, mostly because it's an "authentic" (again, no one but real jersey experts can tell the difference) but it's really lightweight. Plus, in recent years, a lot of my best authentic jerseys have been rendered unwearable either by retirement (Marvin Harrison) or team changes (Michael Vick, LaDainian Tomlinson), so as that's happened, this moves up the rotation.

Jersey Monday will continue every Monday until I run out of jerseys to spotlight. And since I’ve got more than 150 of them, that could be awhile.

Welcome to the (kinda) new AdamReisinger.com

OK, if you were paying attention over the weekend, you might have noticed some changes around here. It's nothing too jarring (it's not like we've suddenly become a right-wing propaganda website), but aside from the visual differences, there are a couple of little tweaks to help you use AdamReisinger.com a little bit better.

First, if you look a couple inches up from here, you'll probably see that neat tab bar. That replaces the link list that used to sit in the sidebar, and helps you navigate between the blog (this page) and all the various sub-sections I've set up in the past seven months. You may notice that the Buffy collection page is missing -- that's because that's not a Blogger-integrated page. I'll try and figure out how to get that page its own tab sooner or later.

There's also a collection of "share" buttons at the bottom of each post:

Those buttons allow you to e-mail, blog, tweet, Facebook or Buzz any post on AdamReisinger.com (but, really, if you "buzz" a post, I'd be shocked).

Finally, you'll notice I've pulled the RSS feeds from the sidebar, because no one was clicking on them -- and one of them was for AdamNPooZ.com, which PooZ and I never use anymore -- and replaced them with a "popular posts" widget.

Blogger added internal stat tracking awhile back (though I still use two outside tracking services along wtih Blogger's tracking) and recently created this widget. This will show the most-viewed posts in the past 30 days. To be clear, that's any post published at any time which has received the most traffic in the past 30 days, not the posts published in the last 30 days that have received the most traffic (for that, I'll continue to do my month in review posts at the beginning of each month).

I'm sure this won't be the last time that the look, feel and functionality of AdamReisinger.com changes, especially since there are still more pieces of my digital life I'd love to integrate directly into the site (for now, you can always get to them by clicking on that Links tab above). I'm also considering changing the background image. Aqua Blue has served me nicely for about three years now, but it's getting long in the tooth. I may go with something like I have on my Twitter page, which I'm also now using on my YouTube page.

If you've got any suggestions on changes you'd like to see me make to the site (visually, not content-wise, though I'm sure you've got suggestions on those too), then drop them in the comments.

Emma Caulfield vs Deborah Ann Woll - Second-Round Showdown

Each day (twice on Saturday and Sunday), AdamReisinger.com will spotlight a second-round match-up in the 2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament. Today's second match-up is Emma Caulfield vs Deborah Ann Woll.

	Emma Caulfield	Deborah Ann Woll
Date Selected	June 22, 2010	July 13, 2010
First Round	Def. Amy Acker, 60%-40%	Def. Anna Camp, 100%-0%
Born	April 8, 1973	Feb. 7, 1985
Home State	California	New York
Hair Color	Blonde	Red
Known for	"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"	"True Blood"
Six Degrees of Joss	Played Anya for 5 seasons on "Buffy"	Appeared on "True Blood" with Aisha Hinds ("Dollhouse")

Analysis: It's the 1200-year-old former demon against the immortal virgin vampire. This is a hard one for me to pick, since Caulfield was one of my favorites on "Buffy" (and her new movie "TIMER" is a n under-the-radar good watch), but Woll is baby Jessica, easily my favorite character on "True Blood". Plus, Woll is a redhead, which is always a bonus in my book. Still, Caulfield has a significant lead so far in voting, and it'll be tough for Woll to overcome that in the last 27 hours of voting.

Elizabeth Banks vs Katy Perry - Second-Round Showdown

Each day (twice on Saturday and Sunday), AdamReisinger.com will spotlight a second-round match-up in the 2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament. Today's first match-up is Elizabeth Banks vs Katy Perry.

	Elizabeth Banks	Katy Perry
Date Selected	June 1, 2010	June 8, 2010
First Round	Def. Dianna Agron, 67%-33%	Def. Kristinia DeBarge, 72%-28%
Born	Feb. 10, 1974	Oct. 25, 1984
Home State	Massachusetts	California
Hair Color	Blonde	Black
Known for	"Zach and Miri Make a Porno", "30 Rock"	Her Music
Six Degrees of Joss	Appeared in "Slither" with Nathan Fillion	Will do a voice in "The Smurfs" with Neil Patrick Harris ("Dr. Horrible")

Analysis: Both Banks and Perry rolled pretty easily in the first round, setting up a key second-round match-up, since the winner draws Scarlett Johansson in the next round. Fresh off her "SNL" appearance, Perry has a slight lead, while Banks -- who was conspicuously absent from this week's "30 Rock" -- could still make up the difference. In fact, I'm kind of rooting for her, even if the Elite 8 is already skewing very blonde.

This Week in Buffy History: September 26-October 2

September 26
2000 - Episode 5.01 “Buffy vs Dracula” airs on The WB
2000 - Angel Episode 2.01 “Judgement” airs on The WB

September 29
1973 - Brad Kane born (played Tucker Wells on Episode 3.20 “The Prom”)
1997 - Episode 2.03 “School Hard” airs on The WB (debut of James Marsters)
1998 - Episode 3.01 “Anne” airs The WB

October 1
2001 - Angel Episode 3.02 “That Vision Thing” airs on The WB
2002 - Episode 7.02 “Beneath You” airs on UPN
2003 - Angel Episode 5.01 “Conviction” airs on The WB

October 2
1967 - Tom Kiesche born (played vampire in episode 5.01 “The Gift”)
2001 - Episode 6.01/6.02 “Bargaining” airs on UPN

Remember, you can always get your Buffy anniversary updates at The Ultimate Buffy Calendar (now featuring the release dates of the Buffy: Season 8 comics)

Scarlett Johansson vs Darby Stanchfield - Second Round Showdown

Each day (twice on Saturday and Sunday), AdamReisinger.com will spotlight a second-round match-up in the 2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament. Today's second match-up is Scarlett Johansson vs Darby Stanchfield.

	Scarlett Johansson	Darby Stanchfield
Date Selected	May 4, 2010	May 11, 2010
Born	Nov. 22, 1984	April 29, 1971
Home State	New York	Alaska
Hair Color	Blonde	Red
Known for	"Lost in Translation", "Iron Man 2"	"Jericho", "Mad Men"
Six Degrees of Joss	Will be in "The Avengers"	Appeared in a Season 2 episode of "Angel"

Analysis: Back in the first round, I wrote of Stanchfield, in her matchup with Rebecca Mader, "I kind of wish I'd placed her somewhere else in the bracket, since whoever wins this matchup doesn't stand much of a chance in the second round." That is proving to be true, as through four-plus days of voting, Johansson is crushing the redhead. Now, I'm not asking you to vote any differently, since I think ScarJo has a good chance to win this whole thing. I just want you to take a moment to look at them side-by-side and be impressed at how hot Stanchfield looks even though she's more than 13 years older than Johansson.

The Big Bang Theory "The Robotic Manipulation" Reaction

After having watched the first three seasons of "The Big Bang Theory" over the summer, Thursday marked the first time I watched an episode live on TV, and I'm still not sure what to think about that episode. It felt like half of one of the best episodes ever and half of one of the worst.

Let's start with the bad half first: the Wolowitz robot arm situation (the literal robotic manipulation in the episode). Look, as soon as that stolen robot arm showed up, you knew what was going to happen, and it did. That didn't bother me at all. What bothered me is how idiotically Wolowitz, Leonard and Raj dealt with the situation. We're talking about two people with Ph.Ds and one with a masters in engineering. They've also shown in the past to be VERY proficient with computers. Their VERY FIRST inclination should have been to turn the arm off, then back on. I know that wouldn't have made for a very funny episode, but you can't take three geniuses and force them to carry the idiot ball in a field in which they are beyond proficient. It's just insulting to the audience.

Fortunately, the other half of the episode was so amazing that it makes up for the robot hijinks. Penny finds out that Sheldon has a "girlfriend" (Mayim Bialik's Amy) but they've never been on a date. She convinces Sheldon that he can't have a relationship (much less "progeny") just via text messaging, so he decides to go on a date with Amy... and drags Penny along because he needs a driver. The date -- Sheldon's first ever -- is filled with all kinds of awkward silences and Penny trying to encourage conversations that go nowhere until Sheldon and Amy (who, in case you don't remember from last year's appearance, is basically a female version of Sheldon) start mathematically determining Penny's dating and sexual history.

The ability of Sheldon and Amy to bond over something like this while being completely oblivious to the inappropriateness of it is the kind of humor this show was built on, and it totally works. What sold it for me was when, after estimating the number of sexual partners for Penny (30.96... rounded up to 31), Amy said to Sheldon, "This is very interesting. Cultural perceptions are subjective." Then she turned to Penny and added, "Penny, to your mind, are you a slut?"

The last staircase scene between Penny and Sheldon sold the entire episode, and made up for any missteps with Wolowitz and co. However, I think because of that weak subplot, the episode loses re-watchability, which is unfortunate, because episodes that feature heavy Sheldon-Penny interactions are usually great.

For more coverage of the 2010-11 television season, visit the AdamReisinger.com TV Reviews home page. 

Felicia Day vs Zoe Saldana - Second-Round Showdown

Each day (twice on Saturday and Sunday), AdamReisinger.com will spotlight a second-round match-up in the 2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament. Today's first match-up is Felicia Day vs Zoe Saldana.

	Felicia Day	Zoe Saldana
Date Selected	March 23, 2010	April 6, 2010
First Round	Def. Jen Friel, 61%-39%	Def. Morena Baccarin, 54%-46%
Born	June 28, 1979	June 19, 1978
Home State	Alabama	New Jersey
Hair Color	Red	Brown
Known for	"The Guild", "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"	"Avatar", "Star Trek"
Six Degrees of Joss	"Buffy", "Dollhouse", "Dr. Horrible", take your pick.	Was in "The Losers" with future Avenger Chris Evans

Analysis: As of the moment I'm posting this, Day and Saldana are dead even in the voting. They both have serious nerd cred in their own way, but I think when it comes to any kind of Internet voting, I expect that Day's "Guild" fans will show up and carry her to victory. Plus, she's a redhead, and redheads are always hotter.

Alyson Hannigan vs Stana Katic - Second-Round Showdown

Each day (twice on Saturday and Sunday), AdamReisinger.com will spotlight a second-round match-up in the 2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament. Today's match-up is Alyson Hannigan vs Stana Katic.

	Alyson Hannigan	Stana Katic
Date Selected	March 9, 2010	May 18, 2010
First Round	Def. Amber Benson, 86%-14%	Def. Sarah Lancaster, 51%-49%
Born	March 24, 1974	April 26, 1978
Home State/Province	Washington, D.C. (I know it's not really a state	Ontario, Canada
Hair Color	Red	Brown
Known for	"Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "How I Met Your Mother"	"Castle", "Heroes"
Six Degrees of Joss	Played Willow on "Buffy"	Co-stars on "Castle" with Nathan Fillion ("Buffy", "Firefly", "Dr. Horrible")

Analysis: Either I drastically underestimated the power of Willow or I gave Alyson Hannigan some really favorable matchups, because for the second consecutive week she's dominating the voting. Also, is it weird that if you asked me which of these women was older, I wouldn't hesitate to respond with Katic, despite the fact that she's four years younger than Hannigan? Maybe it has to do with the relative maturity levels of their characters on Monday nights.

Shit My Dad Says "Pilot" Reaction

If you don't know the story behind "Shit My Dad Says", you might be confused as to why a show this bad exists. If you DO know the story behind "Shit My Dad Says" (unemployed 20-something moves in with his 70-something dad, creates Twitter feed to share the random inappropriate shit his dad says, Twitter feed becomes popular, gets turned into best-selling book, then becomes sitcom), you're probably not surprised that the show isn't any good.

There were definitely some laughable lines during last night's premiere of "Shit My Dad Says" (I'm not using CBS's lame censorship, nor will I call it "Bleep My Dad Says" like CBS's even lamer promos), but that's to be expected. The whole show is built around one-liners, and it shows, because those one-liners connect to a flimsy premise and often come with no set up or follow up.

Even within the 22-minute episode, I found myself tiring of the one-liners. The show tried to set up some depth, adding a layer of "son connecting with his father, who he never really knew growing up" on top of the general comedy, but that fell even flatter than any of the jokes delivered by anyone other than William Shatner (seriously, the cast they've surrounded him with is pretty bad).

I think if "Shit My Dad Says" proves anything, it's that you can't take a one-joke concept and turn it into a successful sitcom. It's a lesson TV executives should have learned years ago (most recently with the failure that was "Cavemen", the sitcom based on the Geico cavemen), but for some reason, people keep trying. I can't imagine "Shit My Dad Says" will be with us long, no matter how funny Shatner is (and don't get me wrong, he almost makes the show watchable. I loved the meta joke toward the end of the show where the son was doing an impression of him and Shatner said "Why can't anyone do a good impression of me.").

For more coverage of the 2010-11 television season, visit the AdamReisinger.com TV Reviews home page. 

Kate Mara vs Erica Durance - Second-Round Showdown

Each day (twice on Saturday and Sunday), AdamReisinger.com will spotlight a second-round match-up in the 2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament. Today's match-up is Kate Mara vs Erica Durance.

	Kate Mara	Erica Durance
Date Selected	April 8, 2008	April 27, 2010
First Round	Def. Rooney Mara, 52%-48%	Def. Erin Karpluk, 86%-14%
Born	Feb. 27, 1983	June 21, 1978
Home State/Province	New York	Alberta, Canada
Hair Color	Red	Brown
Known for	"We Are Marshall", "Shooter"	"Smallville", "House of the Dead"
Six Degrees of Joss	Appeared in "24" with D.B. Woodside (Principal Wood from "Buffy")	Appeared in Smallville with James Marsters (Spike from "Buffy")

Analysis: Well, it's been all of 24 hours since I mentioned my preference for redheads, so let me bring it up again as I advocate for Kate Mara in this matchup. Also, you have to love someone that comes from a football background (even if half that background is the New York Giants). Plus, the longer that Durance is alive in this tournament, the longer I have to care about "Smallville", and you don't want to inflict that kind of pain on me, do you?

Modern Family "The Old Wagon" Reaction

Before I get to my review of last night's "Modern Family", let's all enjoy this animated gif of Gloria (Sofia Vergara) mixing up some chocolate milk:

Mmm... milk.

OK, on to the review.

QUICKIE RECAP: Claire wanted Phil to sell their old station wagon, which was taking up room in the garage, but then had second thoughts because of all the good memories they had in there. So Phil got it up and running so they could have one last family outing in it before selling it, which went disastrously. Meanwhile, Jay and Cam were building a princess castle for Lily while Mitchell was trying to help, but mostly endangering everyone's lives with power tools. And Gloria, when not mixing chocolate milk (scrolls up... scrolls back down, OK good now) was clashing with Manny's "friend" because of her overprotective Columbian nature.

QUICKIE OPINION: This wasn't the best episode of "Modern Family" ever, but it wasn't the worst either (and it was a lot closer to the former). I tend to prefer the episodes where the stories overlap literally (not just thematically) and this one didn't really do that. Still, each story on its own was solid, but there's no doubt that the Mitchell/Cam story carried the day (even if the episode seemed to spend more time on Phil and Claire). Mitchell trying -- and failing -- to prove he could be a Man's Man by helping build something, while failing to realize the non-manliness of building a princess castle was hilarious, and his utter inability to do any kind of handiwork without destroying things was a good touch of physical comedy for someone that normally is funny through snark.

Also, the Mitchell/Cam story led to the line of the night (unless you count Sophia Vergara's horrible mispronunciation of Shia Labeouf), when Jay recounted his experience building a bookshelf with Mitchell: "That was my Vietnam... and I was IN Vietnam."

I also thought everything about the Gloria-Manny story worked, with the exception of Gloria's obvious additional comments in the couch confessional scenes. They added nothing to the narrative that we hadn't already figured out ourselves, and took away from more potential Manny one-liners. I loved when Manny came back from his failed date and said "Besides, I think there's a girl I'd rather spend time with", making Gloria all happy for a second, before busting out his cell phone and calling Alicia, the "other girl". The rant that ensued from Gloria (a rant that got Jay yelled at for no reason whatsoever) was classic.

For more coverage of the 2010-11 television season, visit the AdamReisinger.com TV Reviews home page. 

Revisiting my "Better With You" Review

About six weeks ago, I reviewed the pilot episode of "Better With You" after seeing it at Lilith Fair. I watched the episode again tonight when it aired on ABC, and I actually think I liked it better. More importantly, my feelings on the long-term prospects for the show have improved. 

Back in August, I felt like the show needed to break beyond the typical sitcom format to succeed, but now I actually think it can succeed by being itself (but better! I'm sorry! But I mean it!). Mostly, I think it can succeed because of the sheer force of will of Joanna Garcia, who is beyond adorable. Looking back on "Privileged" (one of my guilty pleasure shows from a few years back), Garcia was stuck in a tough situation, being the lead character in an ensemble cast where so many of the other characters appeared contemptible. But "Better With You"'s ensemble has a lovability that's right on the surface, which should make the show more accessible (it also helps that it's on ABC, rather than The CW, which has a built-in bias to overcome). 

I'm definitely interested to see an episode of "Better With You" that I haven't already seen (and one that doesn't have to spend so much of its time establishing the characters), but I enjoyed this one more on second viewing, which bodes well for the series. Casey, the fiancé of Garcia's Mia, actually seemed kind of funny, rather than stupidly annoying like he did when I first saw the episode. As I wrote back in August, the show's not perfect. But, from what I saw tonight, I'm not sure it needs to be perfect to be good. 

Being Erica "The Rabbit Hole" Reaction

I started watching "Being Erica" because of the sci-fi elements in the show (the "Quantum Leap"-esque time travel, the mysterious "Doctors", even the guy from the future in Season 2) but I fell in love with Erica, the character. So I have mixed feelings about last night's Season 3 premiere, "The Rabbit Hole", because it introduces a new level -- or Phase -- of therapy that takes the focus off of Erica.

The episode starts off right where Season 2's cliffhanger left off, and when Erica goes through the door, she finds herself in a room with five chairs. Other people soon filter into the room and explain to Erica that she's entering "Phase 2" of therapy, a form of group therapy. Erica seems kind of surprised that Dr. Tom even has other patients. Honestly, I was too. Sure, it makes total sense that Erica wouldn't be Dr. Tom's only patient when you actually think about it, it just felt weird. It also felt like something like that would have come up in these past couple of years, so I can see how Erica would have felt hurt (and I loved her scene with Dr. Tom near the end of the episode elucidating exactly that).

This Phase 2 represents a shift for the series, and they jumped right into it, with Erica not going back to a moment in her life, but tagging along with Adam, one of Dr. Tom's other patients, on one of his regrets. Sure, the lesson of the regret applied to Erica just as much as it did Adam, but I already miss the familiar faces from Erica's life. I understand why we're not going to see Kai anymore, and sure, she broke up with Ethan at the end of Season 2, but it was weird to only see Julianne and Brent from Erica's personal circle.

Speaking of Julianne and Brent, it seems that they're going to be just as duplicitous with each other as they were when they were working together, possibly more so now that they're adversaries. And as much as I'm rooting for Erica and Julianne's company to succeed -- and I love the idea of putting their office in the back of Goblins -- I don't see it working out, for many of the same reasons that Erica and Julianne clashed in this episode.

As for the other big revelation this week -- Phase 3 -- I'm actually fine with that. It seemed like from about halfway through the first season, the show was building to having Erica eventually become a Doctor (with all the magical time-altering powers that encompasses), and I really hope that we get to see Erica playing the role of Doctor before the series ends. Also, the little scene at the end between the non-Tom Doctors added another layer of intrigue to how this all works, and I'm always up for a little more sci-fi mystery in this show.

For more coverage of the 2010-11 television season, visit the AdamReisinger.com TV Reviews home page. 

Christina Hendricks vs Blake Lively - Second Round Showdown

Each day (twice on Saturday and Sunday), AdamReisinger.com will spotlight a second-round match-up in the 2010 Hottest Desktop Girl Tournament. Today's match-up is Christina Hendricks vs Blake Lively.

	Christina Hendricks	Blake Lively
Date Selected	Feb. 16, 2010	March 2, 2010
First Round	Def. Kaley Cuoco, 68%-32%	Def. Leighton Meester, 52%-48%
Born	May 3, 1975	Aug. 25, 1987
Home State	Tennessee	California
Hair Color	Red (natural blonde)	Blonde
Known for	"Mad Men", "Firefly"	"Gossip Girl", "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"
Six Degrees of Joss	Appeared on "Angel", "Firefly"	Co-starred in "Sisterhood..." with Amber Tamblyn, who played Janice on "Buffy"

Analysis: For the second consecutive round, Christina Hendricks finds herself fighting off a young, popular blonde in a matchup that is closer than it should be. I know I'm not exactly impartial here, but really? Is there any reason these two should be tied through the first day of voting. I mean, we're talking about Christina Hendricks here. Forget getting past Blake Lively, if Hendricks doesn't get to the Final Four, I'm going to be very disappointed in my readers.