Watching The CW

We’ve already had a peek at the and chatted about some of the new and returning shows, so the question now is what are the exact dates and times when the shows I care about are coming back. Well, The Futon Critic has an amazing list that you should check out here. It’s an incredible list, which includes every show, new and returning (and even cancelled), when it airs, what network its on, and how many eps there are. Awesome!

As for the CW, returning this Fall are America’s Next Top Model, Everybody Hates Chris, The Game, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Smallville and Supernatural, with Reaper coming back as a mid-season show in 2009.

Cancelled shows from last season include Aliens in America, Beauty and the Geek, Crowned: The Mother of all Pageants, CW Now, Girlfriends, Life is Wild, Online Nation and Pussycat Dolls: Girlicious. Farmer Wants a Wife is listed as on hiatus or fate to be determined.

As mentioned, there is a full slate of new shows for Fall, which are 90210, Easy Money, In Harm’s Way, Privileged, Stylista, Surviving Suburbia and Valentine, Inc., plus one new show, 13: Fear is Real, scheduled for 2009.
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Also starting on Monday, September 1, 2008 at 9 pm ET is the sixth season of One Tree Hill.  The first promo is up on the CW site, and has surfaced on youtube.  It takes us back to the end of Season 5, when Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) has called one special young lady, asking her to meet him in Las Vegas to get married.  Who did he call?  Peyton Sawyer (Hilarie Burton), Brooke Davis (Sophia Bush), or Lindsey Strauss (Michaela McManus)? 

We catch a glimpse of each in the promo, having a moment with Lucas, and then we see Lucas running towards someone at the airport. Odds are not on it being Lindsey, as Michaela McManus has snagged a new job, on Law and Order: SVU as the new A.D.A. Pietta O’Mara, and most likely won’t be available for a protracted story line on One Tree Hill.

When One Tree Hill came back for it’s fifth season, they had actually carried the story liine four years into the future, ending Season 4 with the characters graduating from high school, and starting Season 5 with them having finished college. So who knows what they have in store for us this year.

The series also stars James Lafferty as Nathan Scott, Bethany Joy Galeotti as Haley James Scott, Lee Norris as Mouth McFadden, Antwon Tanner as Skills and Paul Johansson as Dan Scott.

Also, Chad Michael Murray was born in Buffalo, New York.  I only mention that, cause I live in Buffalo.  You know who else? Dossett March is also from Buffalo, and I know this, cause he’s my cousin.  Check him out (he’s the little one in the hat), he’s a doll, too!

Gossip Girl’s second season starts on September 1.  But between then and now, people are sure to be talking.  The new ad campaign features some pretty racy photos, as well as interesting headlines.  I remember seeing one ad myself, back in April, that consisted of four letters “OMFG.”  Now clearly, those letters could stand for anything, as some people are saying.  I guess it could stand for On My Feet Gently or Old Meaty Fungus Grout.  But I think we all know what it really means.  I thought it was a little disturbing.  I mean, if I wasn’t gonna let my kid watch the show before, as I know some parents won’t, then clearly I wouldn’t now.

Other headlines for the new ads, actually taken from negative quotes about the show, include, “Every Parent’s Nightmare,” “A Nasty Piece of Work” and “Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate.”  I’ll say.  Rick Haskins, of the CW marketing department, says they just want their ads to get noticed and to communicate with their target audience, women ages 18 to 34.  I’m not sure about that, because the only people I’ve ever spoken to that watch Gossip Girl were under 14. 

I may be off base here, but I wonder if this whole ad campaign doesn’t reek of desperation.  Its like they are so worried about getting viewers that they will go to any lengths.  I’m not sure that this is what the CW needs.  I guess we’ll see how well Gossip Girl does come September.  But I can’t help wishing that the CW would find some less salacious programming.  Or maybe I just miss Veronica Mars.

Recently, I was sharing about the cat who had kitties in our wood pile. Well, here’s the update. We managed to get the kittens and the momma cat, but not the daddy. Yet.

I’m glad we could get them all, so they can be together. We are still going to try to get the daddy cat, who was uncharacteristically hanging around the momma and kitties when they were in the crate after we caught them. The neighbor is taking them in to her home for now, cause she has several cats and she hopes to socialize them. Then, hopefully, next week we can find someone to adopt them. It would be awesome if we can find someone to take all of them, so they don’t have to be separated.

I have the names of several agencies, but most of them are pretty overloaded right now with kittens. I’m totally available for any and all ideas of where these guys can go, cause I want to make sure they get a good home. I definitely don’t want to just give them to the SPCA, cause I don’t want them to be put to sleep if no one adopts them. They are really, really adorable, even the momma and daddy, who both look like nice cats. They may even have been household cats at one time who got lost or something.

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in seeing the kitties and momma, so here are some pictures I took of them.

I’ve been watching through all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - yet again - and I realized a few things. I started watching in May and I’ve seen all 144 episodes (actually 145, cause I watched the unaired pilot, too) in just a few weeks, and I’ve come to the conclusion that we aren’t meant to watch too many eps in one day. Also, I learned something else.

Joss Whedon hates us. No, I mean it, he really, really hates us. He likes to smack us around, and rip our hearts out (with a spoon so it hurts more) and leave us bruised and bleeding on the ground. Then he likes to kick us in the head, just for fun. Like he’s an abusive boyfriend, and we keep going back for more.

Honestly, I think the great part of Joss’s appeal is his ability to really connect. To evoke feelings, good or bad, in all of us. He hates us and yet we love him. Joss can make us happy, sad, frightened, lonely, miserable, or, you know, feel like singing.

The reason I came to this conclusion, is cause while watching Season 6, the depressing, sex-filled season, I watched a string of shows, pretty much all within a day, that nearly made me suicidal.

The first ep (number 15 of the season) is “As You Were,” in which Riley comes back to Sunnydale to enlist Buffy’s help. Except, now he’s married to a wonderful woman and very happy. Buffy is working at a burger joint and has a cow on her hat. Plus, she’s sleeping with Spike. I never liked Riley that much, but it was hard to see him come back like that. It was also hard to see Buffy tell Spike she didn’t love him and never would.

The next ep is “Hell’s Bells.” Xander leaves Anya at the altar. It was just gut wrenchingly awful. I almost couldn’t believe it the first time I saw it. It still hurts to watch.

Then there’s “Normal Again,” where Buffy hallucinates between Sunnydale with her friends and being locked up in institution, except her parents are alive. She has quite a choice to make between which world she wants to be the “real” world. She tries to kill Dawn and all her friends. Plus, she cries a lot. Talk about depressing.

Following that are “Entropy” and “Seeing Red.” Anya tries to exact vengeance on Xander (that part is a little lighter), but then ends up seeking solace with Spike, and everyone sees them, hurting both Xander and Buffy. Then Spike tries to force Buffy to say she loves him and attempts to rape her. Also, Warren shoots Buffy and Tara, killing Tara.

Of course, then Willow turns evil and things really get bad.

So you see how I came to this conclusion and now, we never have to worry about feeling too cheerful ever again. Just watch Season 6.

By the way, if you’re interested in all things Joss Whedon, come on over to my other blog at FanaticSpace.com

Lots has been happening about 90210 this week. Some of it is a little disappointing. Well, no Luke Perry. How do they expect to have a show without Dylan McKay?? Apparently, Luke doesn’t want to get involved without Aaron Spelling, which make sense, and also, he doesn’t see how it can help his career, since he’s already been there, done that. But, honestly, Luke, what have you been doing since those days? I mean have you become a big international star and I missed it.

Also not returning, at least for a while, apparently, will be Tori Spelling’s Donna Martin. Its not lack of her daddy’s involvement that’s stopping her, but her recent C-section.

We will, however, be seeing Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth, though, as well as Joe E. Tata (Nat of the Peach Pit). Also new to the cast are Meghan Markle, who you may know as a case model from Deal or No Deal, as the school’s sexy vixen, and Kellan Lutz, as the star lacrosse player. (I remember him from Accepted, but that’s just cause I’ve seen the movie like a dozen times).

On the more bad news front, Horizon Media, in their annual report, has speculated that 90210 won’t have the zip (pun intended) to pull up the CW’s ratings and made it a real contender. Its possible that means the show itself won’t last, but maybe the CW will give it a chance. Either way, it will be fun to see the whole gang again, even if it’s just for a little while.

This is totally off topic, but I have a problem and I thought I’d throw this out there and see if anyone has any suggestions for me.

A stray - what they call feral - cat has had two little kittens in my woodpile. If I had to guess, I’d say the cat is only a kitten herself, about 8 months old, maybe. The kittens are maybe 3 or 4 weeks old now. Their eyes are open and they are just starting to walk around out of the wood pile. We just saw them for the first time on Friday, actually.

I’m not sure what to do. I don’t want those kittens to grow up and come back and have more kittens in my wood pile. For one thing, I’m pretty allergic to cats, so I don’t want to be the neighborhood cat lady. You know the one who has like 30 cats living in and out of her house. Secondarily, I have two little dogs and they don’t really care for cats.

I’ve been trying to win over the mama cat and the kittens, over the last few days, putting out food and water, and just sitting around quietly while they are out. But so far, although the mama doesn’t run away, she won’t come close. The kittens are so cute, they hiss at me a little if I get too close, but mostly, they just watch with big eyes.

The mother is a dark gray striped cat, and the kittens are a softer, lighter gray. The dad - at least the cat I think is the dad - is light gray with a white chest.

I’d like to try to trap them, at least the kittens and the mama, and to bring them somewhere, but so far no place around here seems to have room for them. I think all three cats would be adoptable, but only if I can find someone who wants them. I’m not even sure how one goes about trapping cats.

Any ideas?

This blog was written a week ago to be posted after the finale of Farmer Wants a Wife aired. Unfortunately, 451 Press was having some server issues and I was unable to post it sooner. I apologise.

So here we are at the finale of Farmer Wants a Wife. First up, they do a little recap of the previous eliminations. Christa and Brooke obviously don’t like each other, and Christa points out that they couldn’t be more different, which is true, so you gotta wonder what he’s thinking picking these two.

Matt starts them out with a list of farmer’s wife activities - some of it is weird stuff - that each one has to do today while he is at work. Brooke has to bring the chickens somewhere and pick up pies, Christa has to pick up a carburetor or something like that for Matt and pay his tab at the store. Christa does a little shopping while she is at the store. She asks for condoms and if there are any sex shops around there. There are not. She thinks she’s bring spice to the country. I think she means skankiness.

Some of the chores were a little gross, like Christa had to carry a dead deer head to be mounted. I could not do that. No man would be worth that. Seriously.

Brooke gets stuck behind a slow moving train and Christa beats her back to the house. Matt is almost starting to look cuter, except for that silly little goatee thingy. Matt has made lunch for them. I can’t imagine the tension at that table.

Matt is taking them each on a date. He tells Brooke he will pick her up in 30 minutes and to be very, very casual. He tells Christa he will pick her up at 7 pm and she should dress a little more formally. Of course, Brooke is thinking that he thinks she is just a fun friend-girl, and that Christa is the more datable chick. Christa is thinking that she has four hours to get ready so she’ll look so much better than Brooke.

Matt and Brooke go four wheeling, which looks like fun, and have a picnic meal. Matt wants Brooke to be less reserved so he can really get to know her. Brooke wants to tell him she loves him, but she is afraid of the rejection. I say, if you’re gonna do it, now is the time. She thinks she totally blew it, and I think so, too.

Matt picks up Christa in a horse drawn carriage for a romantic date. He calls her “princess” and he is wearing the sunglasses she bought him earlier. I was so hoping he would not pick Christa, but I’m afraid he is going to. But maybe that’s just what they want us to think.

Matt takes Christa to his house, which has deer heads on the wall, and lots of dead animal rugs. Yuck! Christa thinks so, too. They have a lovely dinner on the back porch out under the stars. I actually had to go back and rewind, since I realized that Matt and Christa were talking and talking, and I had no idea what they were saying. They discussed what their concerns were, Christa is wondering what she will do for a living there (I guess there isn’t a big call for hookers), and Matt is worried cause she beat him at fishing. He really seems to like her a lot. Why are men so stupid? She’s so phony and catty. Then they make out a while, and then Matt says he has to get her back home. They just don’t seem to be able to stop kissing, but I think its mostly cause Christa is a kiss slut.

Brooke is so depressed and pretty sure that she’s not going to be the one, that I am now starting to wonder if it could really be that obvious.

Just looking at their profiles, Brooke comes across as so much nicer and more real. Brooke puts her faith first in her life, Christa wants to hit every bar in New York City. Yikes!

So now the entire town has turned out to see who Matt picks. He tells them by tonight, someone will be going back to the city and someone will be going home with him. Um, Matt, aren’t you going to wait until after the wedding for that? Matt gets up on the platform, and talks about the girls. How fun “Miss B” is and how she wins all the challenges, how Christa is so spunky and ready to do it at any time. Yep, we know that. Then he corrects himself when people start to laugh, and says ready to have a blast at any time.

Matt chooses to announce his decision by having a crop duster fly over with a banner proclaiming the chosen girl’s name. Both girls are so nervous. So is Matt. I’m just ready for this to be over.

Here comes the plane . . . and the Farmer has chosen . . . (drum roll, please) . . . Matt hearts Brooke! Wow, I’m so glad. Then comes the uncomfortable part, where Matt has to say goodbye to Christa on the platform in front of everyone, while she cries. Then Brooke and Christa hug.

Matt says he felt a connection to Christa, but he felt love for Brooke. Matt and Brooke ride off down the road on a tractor with tin cans tied on the back. And they say romance is dead. Or maybe they just wish it.