The Amazing Race continues to be amazing. Sure, I skipped a number of seasons and I’m not even faithfully following every episode of those that I managed to watch, but when it’s on it’s always highly entertaining. I guess it started out as a very cool, and very expensive, concept – a race around the world. What it turned out into is a compelling reality show where you see people bring out the best of their competitive spirit, although the show also brings out the worst in their temperament. I can imagine that the lives of those who are lucky enough to join and go deep into the competition will be changed considerably by the experience. Not to mention the difficult tasks and the pressure would take away any need  to buy diet pills, at least for the moment. I wouldn’t dream of joining such a race, though, if only for the possibility of being faced with a task that would involve heights, which the show always features.

How cool is this?

The kids from the hit TV show Glee are a supertalented lot. They’re fresh, they’re great performers, and they seem to be genuinely having tons of fun playing their parts.  Singing, dancing, goofing around, jumping on a mattress? That’s got to be a dream job for any young actor.

It’s too bad that the show is going on a hiatus and will not be back until April of 2010 because Fox is giving way to American Idol. Those who haven’t caught up with the episodes will have plenty of time to get their Glee on.

It’s gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’till the end of the night

Don’t I just love that Lois Lane of TV’s Smallville has that Laura Branigan (or Bonnie Tyler?) song as a ringtone for The Blur aka Clark Kent aka future Superman. For several years, I’ve ditched watching this show because I couldn’t take one more second of Clark mooning over Lana Lang (I preferred Clark-Chloe) and them two having to make that should we-shouldn’t we (be together?) tango that stretched too long for my taste.

But now that Lois has finally taken over this show and Chloe is still there to be the loyal sidekick  (with uber hacker skills I think I’d like to have, if her netbooks and supercomputers maybe too much of a stretch) and CK’s identity keeper, I’m back on board! The show’s still a little dull, methinks, but maybe it’s just because I’m not too familiar with the entire Superman mythology. But I’ve always had a soft spot for Lois and Clark – and I’d probably love them as a couple whoever actors play them. I’ve been reading that a lot of viewers find Erica Durance annoying. Sorry folks, that’s Lois. I think she’s actually supposed to be a bit annoying. Remember Teri Hatcher?

I think Sue Sylvester is one of the funniest new characters on TV. Well, her lines may be a bit off-putting and even insulting and sarcastic, but let’s just take it within the context of the show, shall we? Glee is a silly, silly show. That’s kinda what makes it fun.

Well, if you had a glimpse of Glee, Sue is the one always wearing an Adidas track suit (nice brand promotion, by the way; I wonder if Sue got them past a Honeywell Barcode Scanner). She presides over the cheerleading group called Cheerios. She got her Ph.D. online.

Here’s one of Sue’s less socially demeaning comments:

“There’s not much of a difference between a stadium full of cheering fans and an angry crowd screaming abuse at you. They’re both just making a lot of noise. How you take it is up to you. Convince yourself they’re cheering for you. You do that, and some day, they will. And that’s how Sue Cs it.” (Episode 4: Preggers)

As it turned out, my weekend, instead of my planned  clean-up and organize days, became TV series marathon day. I’m not sure if I should regret it or not. It was pointless, but I had fun. Maybe it’s not so pointless, after all.

In between chatting with a friend about practice-driving in the U.S. and her need for an auto insurance quote because she’s having troubles adjusting with the speed limits, I was exchanging text messages with another friend about downloading the music from Glee. Up until that time, I’ve only watched the pilot episode and I haven’t formed much of an opinion about it yet, except that I’m glad Lea Michele’s in it because she was great in Spring Awakening. By the time Sunday is over, I have finished watching all eight episodes  and I’m thisclose to calling myself a Gleek (Glee geek), save for the fact that I’m not so taken with the storylines although the musical numbers are top notch.

But I’m not too hard to please. Enter the news that Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies, Wicked) is returning for another guest stint, Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse) is directing an episode, and Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening) is going to have a multiple-episode arc as Lea Michele’s love interest, and I’m declaring myself as an official Gleek. I can’t imagine a better fantasy cross-over than that. Well, actually, I can, but this one’s coming true so bring it!

I’ve written a short note about this new TV series called FlashForward here. It’s a science fiction drama in which the entire human race got a glimpse of the future and shows how they are living in the present, in anticipation of that future. And then there are those who didn’t have a vision and are now worried sick that there may not be a future for them. Will they stop living, pull out their Blue Cross NC plans or the like, and wallow while waiting for destiny? Or should they do everything in their power to prevent that turn of events? It’s a compelling concept; I just hope it won’t fizzle out soon. So today I’m downloading the latest episode, and let’s just say that my Internet connection is getting really, really slow and I’m not sure if its the fault of my ISP or its because of the router we’re using to split the connection between my desktop PC and my sister’s laptop. Anyway, Thursday, U.S. time, is TV heaven for me – Fringe, FlashForward, Grey’s Anatomy, Vampire Diaries, and 30 Rock. I’m really hoping that this thing will gather speed soon so I can start my weekly marathon.

I sometimes fall asleep watching the Crime & Investigation channel. Whenever I wake up in the morning to that cable channel’s eerie theme, my first thought is always that it’s fortunate I didn’t have a nightmare because of the scary real-life stuff they usually feature. I’m usually too tired to turn off the TV before I admit to myself that I am too  sleepy to pay attention to any show. Watching these programss can make one really paranoid; especially because, last night, I noticed an overcurious neighbor trying to look inside our apartment, over stained glass, at 3 a.m. no less. But they’re also compelling to watch, especially  when they show how law enforcers crack cases or how technology helps in solving crimes and analyzing evidence. Sometimes, though, I prefer CSI. At least with that,  despite their focus on flair and improbable situations, I have the luxury to think that everything that happens are fictional.

Real-life drama always make good television. Just this week, they featured a complicated case of missing Last Will and Testament Forms on the event of a supposedly natural death of a very wealthy individual. His California Will apparently shows that he has a sole major benefactor, a lover who swiftly took another lover upon his death and also ended up dead, with the new lover’s name appearing on the other dead person’s will. Stuff like that happens in real life, yes.

So did you watch this year’s Emmy telecast? Well, I haven’t but I’ll try to catch the replay or maybe watch online or download a copy, if it gets to that. I’ve been reading rave reviews about the successful stint of Neil Patrick Harris, aka Dr. Horrible and/or Barney Stintson, as host. I highly doubt that he had to undergo pre-employment screening to get that job, but I’m pretty sure he was awesome. That guy has some serious charms.

Today is the season 2 premier of one of the most exciting new shows on television – Fringe.  Next week will be Dollhouse. Well, I guess it’s time to check the fall TV schedule for all new episodes of some of the series that I follow.  I also better get one of those Citizen Watches online, so I won’t miss anything and I can set my time for all these awesome shows.

For now, I’m going through episodes of the Japanese anime Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X). I’m also about to start watching the cop show The Wire, for which I’ve heard and read so many good things from blogs and other media sources.  I still haven’t finished all episodes of the third season of 30 Rock, plus a few more movies I plan to watch at home, so there’s quite a backlog in my viewing schedule. I’m reading what I just wrote and it looks like I do not have any other use of my time except for being in front of the TV screen. It can’t be farther from the truth, but I do tend to spend a lot of hours watching movies and TV series.

The term couch potato may not exactly apply to me, mainly because I do not have a couch at home (awful statement, I know),  but in terms of watching too much TV hindering other more productive tasks, I can definitely say that it does. Very much so, if you’ll let it. And I won’t even justify my own habit of leaving the TV on till morning because I almost always fall asleep while watching TV.  I need to do something about it.

One more downside of watching too much TV is that you don’t get enough sleep. That’s why my alarm clock is one of the most essential utility at my apartment, although I have a tendency not to be awakened by its sound or to turn it off before falling into a stupor again. Sleeping late = coming to work late. Unless I adjust my habits, not even the best-looking ROTARY WATCHES can help clean up my attendance at work.  It’s all up to me.

OOT: But if you’re looking for a good watch, anyway, there’s this great site that offers a variety of Watches.

I didn’t realize until today that X-Files fans (X-philes in fandom terminology) are generally resistant of the new J.J. Abrams show Fringe.  Well, I was at first. Until I gave it a try and realized that it’s a totally different show. Sure, it’s another procedural with a strong female lead who happens to be an FBI agent; there are monster-of-the -week episodes sandwiched between a larger mythology. But there are no aliens here. And there’s no alternate universe in the X-Files. I’ll make a more coherent comparison later on.

What I want to share now is this piece of news that Scully and Mulder (I’m not clear if it’s going to be David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) will make a special appearance in the season 2 opener of Fringe.  I, for one, will watch out for that, as well as the entire new season of this awesome new show.  If it’s going to happen, I hope it’s going to be something grand, and not have the Mulder-Scully duo do something as mundane as bringing Walter Bishop some cattle supplies.