I’m thinking that I can count with my one hand how many books, or TV shows, or movies I’ve seen (or read) spoiler-free. I’m impatient like that. Or I rarely like something enough to want to be surprised by it. Man, that doesn’t sound too fun, does it?

Like right now what I know is that somebody’s going to need the best prenatal vitamins at Grey’s Anatomy. The who will be revealed in next week’s finale. Plus, somebody’s going to take a bullet and will most probably bite the dust. Smallville spoilers turned out to be a bit predictable, with the major couple breaking up (there’s only two) and one character death (which turned out to be two character “deaths,” both of whom will probably survive, or be revived, by the next season). I’m generally staying away from Fringe spoilers because that’s the one show I love. But I’m yet to watch The Vampire Diaries finale, which they all say was awesome. I already know what happened scene for scene, though. Spoiled, I told ya.

So all my favorite TV shows are going on a hiatus soon. Which pretty much means that all of their remaining episodes are going to be awesome, because it’s season finale … eekkk… season.

Well, I’m a bit sad with the news that FlashForward is most likely going to be canceled (but V isn’t? I prefer FF, ABC!). But I’m only too happy that Fringe is definitely coming back, and getting strong! As for the others, I’m going to have to make a list and codes (e.g., ls2208) because I’m following tons of other TV shows. At least I try to, whenever time permits.

P.S. Grey’s Anatomy is going to be season 7 already? Wow. That show is strong, though still cheesy. Who doesn’t love cheese, right?

The latest episode of Fringe, called White Tulip, took a page right out of The X-Files and made it its own – again.

Because I haven’t been recapping the show, I won’t go into the details. Simply that it’s about a man trying to go back in time to save his loved one, which ended in a an unexpected, poignant resolution. Parts of the episode are reminiscent of X-Files’ Monday episode wherein events go into a time loop  – they keep repeating, sometimes with a few alterations depending on choices made by the players in each specific instance. Both episodes touched on the concept of destiny, although Fringe’s is more about some person’s God-complex in light of his inability to let go. In both episodes, the “bad guy” isn’t really bad; in Fringe’s case, he even got himself caught through credit card processing transactions. One of the best things that these episodes bring, however, is the sense of questioning yourself at what lengths you’ll go to undo the past, if you can. Well, at least until after the euphoria of watching a compelling TV show sets in and you’re right back at reality.

It seems pointless to write about a show only to say that it’s boring, no? Besides Crystal Bowersox and her boots, this year’s much touted competitors turned out to be as entertaining as watching fishes out of the water. Well, one can argue that Crystal is merely consistent and talented but not so much on the “entertaining” scale, but that’s a matter of preference. At least Siobhan Magnus is interesting in her own very quirky way. If only she doesn’t rely on her “high notes” that are nowhere near Adam Lambert’s technically efficient ones.

So there are only two girls left, despite the judges’ saying that the girls are better. Tim Urban is still there, which is just idiotic if you don’t consider that this is a popularity contest after all. My interest is waning, but I’ll probably still watch anyway because it’s kind of amusing to see Simon bored out of his wits, Kara trying hard to be the constructive one, Ellen trying her jokes and not succeeding to mask her insecurity about not being a “music person,” Randy for whatever it is that he does, and Ryan for being lifted by Big Mike. Whoever wins this thing, eh I really don’t care.

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.