Tonight's cuppa: decaf Irish breakfast tea

What's up with football players and "Dancing With the Stars?" What's up with me and football players and "Dancing With the Stars"? I like a good gridiron match-up as much as the next girl (OK, maybe a little more), but these guys are also scoring TDs in the ballroom and winning my heart.

In season two, wide receiver Jerry Rice was Mr. Smooth, stepping his way to second place with hard work and humility, and the patient instruction of pro dancer Anna Trebunskaya. I was very impressed.

In season three, running back Emmitt Smith surpassed Rice's performance and added the show's incredibly ugly mirror-ball trophy to his three Super Bowl rings, under the tutelage of the talented pro dancer Cheryl Burke. Judge Carrie Anne Inaba kinda fell in love (and so did I).

In season six last year, defensive end Jason Taylor stood tall with partner Edyta Sliwinska and showed off surprising grace and elegance to come in second (and only one spot above his bestest buddy on the show, actor Cristian de la Fuente). I know somebody won last year, but I only remember Jason Taylor.

That is, until this season, when defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who's a few inches shorter than Taylor (6' 6" vs. 6'2") but a few pounds heavier (244 vs. 300), blended Rice's work ethic with Smith's effortless charm and Taylor's statuesque presence to be a dance-floor powerhouse. On Monday, he did a "Matrix"-flavored paso doble with partner Kym Johnson that was at once strange, beautiful, powerful and sexy.

It so impressed the judges that Sapp and Johnson were asked to do an encore on the Tuesday-night results show. Sapp, of course, survived elimination, which fell instead on Kim Kardashian and her pro-dancer partner, Mark Ballas.

They may not always win on the show, but the men of the NFL (and, have you noticed, not a QB among them?) have done the league proud and proved that a guy who knocks other guys on their butts for a living still retains the sensitivity and class to show a woman a good time on the dance floor.

Now, when is the first quarterback going to step up and take the "Dancing" challenge? It's not as if they're uncomfortable in the spotlight. Maybe we can talk Brett Favre into it, if he ever actually retires for good, that is.

Today's cuppa: Darjeeling tea

As we learned from yesterday's bailout vote in the House of Representatives, with large numbers of Republicans and Democrats voting against the massive bill to stabilize Wall Street and the credit markets in the wake of a tidal wave of bad mortgage paper, lots of Americans were in no mood to hand over billions of dollars to investment bankers, financial titans and government officials.

Of course, when folks take a look at their IRAs and portfolios, they may have second thoughts, though I wouldn't dare to speculate what those thoughts may be. What we do know is that the House is due back in session on Thursday to take another swing at it.

I'll leave the analysis of all this to the political and financial big brains, but I do have some thoughts on what this might mean for the coming TV season -- not thoughts, exactly, as much as questions. You're the audience out there. You're the ones with the answers.

What does this mean for TV shows about the super-rich and the merely very well-off? Will we still be inclined to watch the adventures of the Darling family, the grand clan of New York City, in ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money?" Or will all that money just look dirty now?

Will wives and mothers be as sympathetic to the travails of the Manolo Blahnik-wearing, high-powered heroines of NBC's "Lipstick Jungle," or will they just dismiss these gals as overdressed whiners?

When people are feeling OK about their prospects, they don't mind aspirational programs that show them a world of wealth that, if their investments go right, they might one day inhabit. But when Wall Street threatens to torpedo Main Street, aspiration can turn to anger.

Of course, we aren't at the end of this particular money madness, and things may yet turn around. But, the House doesn't go back in session until Thursday, and "Dirty Sexy Money" starts its new season on Wednesday, Oct. 1 -- and this fall has been hard on all season premieres.

On the unscripted front, what does this mean for all those home-redecorating shows? With the housing downturn hitting big-box home-improvement retailers and furniture stores, it's evident that home-equity loans were fueling a chunk of the remodeling and redecorating boom. With that money drying up fast, how much interest are people going to have in high-end hardwood flooring, custom kitchen cabinets and stainless-steel appliances? Keeping food in the fridge may become far more important than just how many fancy bells and whistles the fridge has.

And obviously, these are hard times for house-flipping shows, such as TLC's "Flip That House," A&E's "Flip This House," and TLC's "Property Ladder." Some of them have adjusted in the last year, tacking on epilogues that made it clear that few flippers were breaking even in reselling their properties, let alone making a profit -- if, indeed, they could sell the property at all.

And TLC got proactive with "Hope for Your Home," a new show featuring "Property Ladder" host Kirsten Kemp Becker. It brings in cash and construction experts to help distressed homeowners improve their properties so that they can either sell or refinance.

But the collapse of the sub-prime-mortgage market, the tightening of credit and the decline in home prices may have done mortal damage to this TV business model. Will these shows become one more casualty? Can they even be shown in repeats without generating scorn and derision from the viewers?

Back in the late '70s, during another economic downturn, PBS came out with "This Old House," which focused on homeowners putting in "sweat equity" to remodel and renovate older homes, on a modest budget. Over time, the show changed its emphasis to high-end properties and top-of-the-line products, turning it from a program for do-it-yourselfers to a big-budget construction and design showcase. It may be time for "This Old House" to rethink its mission and return to basics.

At the same time, PBS also premiered "The Victory Garden," a folksy show that featured backyard gardening tips -- emphasizing fruit and vegetables as well as flowers and landscaping -- along with segments on cooking with your own fresh produce. During the '90s and beyond, it also got pretty fancy, talking about elaborate landscaping designs and traveling the world.

The show has not entirely abandoned basic gardening tips, but almost. Right now, a little advice on growing tomatoes and peppers next to the back deck might be a whole lot more useful than a discussion of exotic orchids or fabulous botanical gardens in distant lands.

Whatever happens in Congress, for all intents and purposes, the gravy train has run off the rails, and no one can predict when it will get back on track. It may be time for aspirational TV to become survival TV.

Today's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea (for breakfast. I've had enough excitement for a while)

Bad thing about the Writers Guild of America strike: We only got 13 episodes of the first season of "Chuck."

Good thing about the Writers Guild of America strike: NBC doesn't have enough new shows to fill a the passenger seat of a Smart car, so we got a 22-episode second season of "Chuck."

OK, it might have happened anyway, but you never know. In case your memory has wavered since the show last aired in January, you could click here and get reminded, or I could just tell you that the espionage comedy/drama is about Chuck, a repair geek in a big-box electronics store, the BuyMore, who winds up with a super secret computer called the Intersect downloaded into his brain. So, he becomes a super-secret government agent, while still keeping his day job.

He has a best friend and co-worker, the equally geeky Morgan; a loving doctor sister named Ellie; a future brother-in-law, Dr. Devon, a k a Captain Awesome; a CIA handler, the lovely Sarah, who works undercover near the BuyMore at a wiener shop; and an NSA keeper, the equally lovely Major John Casey, who works undercover at the BuyMore.

Bad guys come after Chuck; he eludes them with pluck, charm, super-secret info and dumb luck; Sarah shoots people; Casey shoots more people; Morgan plots geek world domination, or at least ownership of all the grape soda; and Ellie and Captain Awesome are, well, awesome.

When we last left "Chuck," Chuck was about to be put on government ice, but fate intervened, and he and Sarah now realize they are in luuurrrvvveee. Hence the title of the season premiere, airing Monday, Sept. 29, "Chuck Vs. the First Date," the subject of today's liveblog.

WARNING: If you're super-mega-clever or just a very good guesser, this could possibly be considered spoiler-ish. So, if you fancy yourself either of the above, run, do not walk, in the opposite direction.

High up in the air -- when the really big guy from "The Green Mile" wants to know who you are, tell him.

Time for series-describing exposition! Here's who Chuck is. Here's who Sarah and Casey are, with guns.

"It's never safe in the car." Truer words were ne'er spoke. The look of luuurrrvvvveee.

The Cipher. Pithy yet vague. Does the government keep a room full of unemployed photo-caption writers to think these things up?

Uh-oh, Chuck's been made redundant. "What happens now?" Time for luuurrrvvveee!

Uh-oh, Casey gets an exit strategy.

Welcome to the first day of the rest of your miserable existence, with Huey Lewis & the News. Uh-oh, that's gonna leave a mark.

Chuck almost has a Tony Robbins moment. BuyMore! It's the American Way! Go Green! It's the BuyMore Way!

Morgan has traded in bangs for a faux-hawk and has turned into Gen. David Petraeus. He's my new hero, too. Roger that!

The Marlin! The Marlin! Chuck don't need no stinkin' Tony Robbins, "The Sleeper has awoken!" Or not.

Morgan senses the luuurrrvvveee. They make frozen-yogurt sundaes at the Wienerlicious? OK. Didn't see that one coming.

In Jakarta in a knife fight with an evildoer -- John Woo, are you listening? Pick you up at eight!

Sexy getting-dressed montage, with one between the eyes for some very bad guys, but a wink for the Gipper -- that's my Casey! Uh-oh, Casey has performance anxiety.

Bromance before romance? Baby steps.

Casey gets the thing for the guy who puts on the thing and shoots the stuff. It's done!

Hey, Green Mile! No, Sarah, never leave home without it!

Mmmmm, dumplings. Deep fried, pan fried or steamed? I go for steamed, myself.

Awww, noodle luuurrrvvveee. Casey, dude, you look like the Joker! Good one. Owwwww!!! Whoah, glad I got my flu shot before I saw that.

She's leavin' on a jet plane...

Flashy things! Girl, knife, girl, guy. Bad girl, bad guys. She left home without it. Green Mile, did you bring the soy sauce? "I'm going for imposing." Heh.

Yep, it's a drive-thru now.

Drive, drive, drive! Casey takes one for the Gipper.

Uh-oh. Cancel Christmas.

Today is the first day of the rest of your miserable existence. Huey knows just what to say.

Chuck goes for the "Hail, Morgan" play.

What did she say?

Wet nap. Nice touch.

Wow, I don't even have a Wikipedia entry.

Casey is having a bad day.

Flashy things! Jewel-y thing, Green Mile...We need to talk. Four most terrifying words in the English language. OK, he didn't really say it, but it was implied.

Chuck explains it all, and there's a ... wait for it ... wait for it...WAREHOUSE! I knew there had to be a warehouse. There's always a warehouse. If they also go the docks, I'm definitely starting a drinking game. Maybe with grape soda.

Chuck lays it on the line. Casey won't cross that line. Chuck tries to get a line on what's up with Casey.

Stay home little Chuck.

Meanwhile back at the BuyMore -- two men enter, one man leaves. Plus bungees.

Chuck gets the call...no, not THAT one.

Warehouse, men in black, a whole lotta not much.

Uh-oh. That was easy.

Clear! Clear! Sorry, I just wanted to say that.

Unfortunately, Green Mile is kinda unforgettable.

Chuck sees the light. "Enough ammunition to orbit Arnold Schwarzenegger." Jees, now I have Irish breakfast tea on my keyboard (just kidding, boss). So, where was this ammunition during the budget crunch? Bet Arnie wishes he could have terminated a few legislators. Being the Governator is no fun without firepower.

Hah, made you look!

Ooh, Green Mile, don't do that again.

Poor Fritz.

Hah, made you look again!

Another day, another warehouse window in downtown Los Angeles. And this is where we came in, sort of.

Nooo! Good one, Casey! Sarah walks the Green Mile.

Uh-oh. "Do you find them imposing?"

Uh-oh. Do that again, and you'll have a bald bonsai.

Double uh-oh. It's just...no, back to uh-oh.

Does it work? Here he comes. Men in black. Chuck cooks. Tap tap tap. Pop. Sneak. Initializing...wow, it looks like morning roll call at CAA, or the "Matrix" sequel. Spinning wheels, pretty pictures, sneaking, thank you...big boomer.

Ding-dong. Uh-oh. Well, that was easy.

Morning over the City of Angels. The one man who left has arrived, and what's happened to his hair?

Chuck has a vision of the rest of his miserable existence. No Huey. Must leave Burbank.

Death by Twinkie? Works for me.

Today's cuppa: Iced Newhall coffee, Patriot Blend

I live in Los Angeles, where a fixer-upper cottage in Venice can cost over a million dollars (OK, I know it's over 2 million in the listing, but that was back in May), where the rent on a one-bedroom apartment on the Westside will get you a house with a yard and an above-ground pool in much of America, and builders have been throwing up half-million-dollar and up (and up and up) condos as if there was an endless supply of people making six-figure-plus incomes in search of starter homes.

Sadly, while L.A. is the poster child for the housing boom and bust, it's not alone in this, and we have all now learned how far, deep and wide the effects of irresponsible mortgage lending and borrowing can be. Hope may temporarily drown out reality, but reality always has the last word.

Speaking of reality, today's liveblog focuses on the winner and still champeeen reality-competition show, CBS' "The Amazing Race," which launches its 13th season on Sunday, Sept. 28. They've handed out six Emmys in the category, all into the hot little hands of producing partners, spouses and new parents Bertram Van Munster and Elise Doganieri.

(Click here for a link to a edited version of my syndicated feature story on the new season -- complete with target moose -- courtesy of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Click here for another version of the story, from the Brantford Expositor in Ontario, Canada, edited in a different way. Ah, the travails of a syndicated writer.)

So, as reality reasserts itself in the financial and housing worlds, perhaps it's a good time to head out into the real world and be reminded that there are places where granite countertops and travertine tile are not considered necessities, where teams of two can spend a month living out of a backpack, making do along the way and overcoming challenges -- all in search of a million-dollar prize that might come in very handy in the current financial climate.

And if home prices continue to fall, it might even buy the winners that Venice cottage with some to spare.

WARNING: If you're super-mega-clever or just a very good guesser, this could possibly be considered spoiler-ish. So, if you fancy yourself either of the above, run, do not walk, in the opposite direction.

We begin with, as ever, with America's favorite Kiwi, the lovely and talented Phil Keoghan (that man can rock a sweater -- or in this case, a snazzy black jacket -- like nobody's bidness).

Phil's on a skyscraper rooftop in Los Angeles. Wonder what the mortgage is on that thing. Phil's rockin' the brown leather; the contestants are motoring in classic cars to the L.A. Coliseum.

And here we go:

Mother and son Toni and Dallas, who are not from Dallas, but instead from Woodside, Calif. (Maybe if they were from Dallas, she'd have named him Fresno.) They make sammiches together.

Siblings Nick (actor) and Starr (cheerleader) from New York and Texas. Gosh, they're perky -- and they always get what they want. Could they then want a huge government housing bailout for Galveston? Even the Kuwait Times is concerned.

Separated Ken (ex-NFL, ex-cheater) and Tina, from Tampa, Fla., and San Diego, Calif.

Long-distance sweethearts Aja and Ty, from Los Angeles and Southfield, Mich. How will they deal with constant togetherness?

Pink-as-all-get-out Southern Belles Marisa and Brooke from Columbia, S.C. The gal pals are "very classy," and make cupcakes.

Phoenix frat brothers Andrew and Dan, grippin' those red plastic cups and eyein' the honeys.

Daters Stephanie and Anthony from Los Angeles. He's a mortgage broker. Boy, if he didn't win this, bet he's cranky now. She wants a ring. Good luck in this housing market.

Tie-dyed, hirsute-but-cute married beekeepers Anita and Arthur from Fall Creek, Oregon. The shirts are OK, but that Michael Jackson cap's an iffy choice, there, Art. Art chops wood; they have black-and-white dogs.

Blue-on-blue Kelly and Christy, Texas pals helping each other through bad breakups. They're both just 26.

Freshly minted daters Terence and Sarah from New York. She works on Wall Street. Yeepers. He's a faux-hawked free spirit, she's bespectacled and works her butt off.

San Diego comic-book geek pals Mark and Bill. Mark is the CFO of San Diego Comic-Con International. Don't forget to book now for 2009! Seriously. Do it. They play chess.

I think there should be some Vegas odds-makers working out whether people who dress alike win more often than those who don't. Just a suggestion.

You're going around the world -- but first you must run to the parking lot and try not to get lost on the way to LAX. (Hmmm, Coliseum,110 to the 10 to the 405, or the 110 to the 105? Number two would be my choice. Trust me, after getting to LAX from downtown, getting to Brazil will be the easy part.)

Oooh, Terence is taking surface streets. He's a native.

Hah, exit to the 105! I was right.

Just so you know, I don't plan to liveblog the boring highway and airport stuff (honestly, I've been known to fast-forward it all, and I may again). We'll catch up with our intrepid travelers in Brazil.

Brasilia! Take a taxi through Salvador, find a sandwich shop. Pretty airport, nice new taxis. Go, Brazil! No, cheated-on Tina, they don't speak Spanish in Brazil. Portuguese, my dear. Bet the tax driver heard that and now will go the long way.

Pretty city, but no sandwiches, just a clue for the geeks, who are wearing disturbing shades of orange. "Become a barista, old-school style." What is this, some kind of proto-Starbucks? Oh, you get to be a tippy cart vendor, which the geeks master in "a split second."

More with the Texas divorces and the matchy-matchy. Ooh, somebody speaks Portuguese? No, I'm not referring to Tina saying, "Yikey, schmikey." Oh, the carts are so cute, they have tiny big rigs on the front of them, so it's sort of like Cobblestone Street Truckers. Somebody wins and has a very good accent.

Starr gives huggies to the guy at the finish. Very nice, Starr. but Sarah plants one on the hot soldier.

Divorcees are confused. Mom and son are in red and lack sleeves. The frat guys and the beekeepers are stuffed in cabs. Pink Belles are worried about being in an unfamiliar airport in a foreign country. Um, what part of the briefing did you miss?

Stephanie of the L.A. Daters voices over about wanting money to get married and have kids. Did I mention that Anthony's a mortgage broker?

Baristas, round two, much like round one.

Baristas round three, mother and son lose it in the street. The frat guys don't hug the guy who gives the clue. He looks glad about that.

Go, go, go! Go, go, go! (Yeah, that always makes them go faster. Works about as well as "Stop, thief!")

Time for a nighttime picnic in the woods, and one of the girls starts macking on Dallas. Sarah yakks up the other teams, making Terence feel all alone. Poor Terence.

A bug! Dirty shoes! Eyebrow pencil!

More taxis, to a pretty church in a pretty square. There are places I may never want to visit after seeing them on this show, but so far Brazil is not one of them.

"You said go a million times." State the obvious, much?

Sarah regrets making the nice with Nick and Starr. Terence is antisocial. Poor Terence. Poor Sarah. Terence whines because Sarah runs faster. Did I mention that, along with being a faux-hawked free spirit, Terence is a running coach? Way to advertise the old fitness, there, Terence. Be nice, dude, she speaks Portuguese.

Pilgrimage up stairs on your knees, or climb 240 feet down a cargo net from an outdoor elevator. You decide.

Oops, Terence and Sarah. Down is popular for the moment. For heaven's sake, don't stand under the net without an umbrella, that's all I have to say.

Terence and Sarah start over. They're "spazzing." How do you say "no kidding" in Portuguese?

Pit stop at the battlement -- no pirates allowed.

They're at the docks! They go to the docks in reality shows, too. Can a warehouse be far behind?

Phil welcomes team number one, and they win a romantic trip. Not sure if a romantic trip is appropriate here. Hi, Travelocity gnome! (I held one at "Amazing Race" HQ. Pretty cute -- and kinda heavy.)

Sarah shows off that fancy accent again.

The second wave arrives -- and down is still more popular...except with the frat boys.

Geeks rejoice; frats climb;, drummers drumming; watchers watching, Spider-women descending; drummers drumming; climbing, ripping, drumming; Pinks may pee; drumming; happy mom; sad frats.

Beekeepers hold hands. Sweet.

Frats go for two; Phil makes blues happy; down, down, don't look down; long silver hair blowin' in the wind; more drumming, more ripping, more beekeeper love; Pinks didn't pee; it's an elimination round!

Up, kiss, down, drum, up...how many? Yes!

Applause! Slurp, run, taxi; puzzled Pinks realize this isn't America (again, what part of the briefing did you miss?). Back to the docks; Phil double-teams it.

Trudge; cross; cross the water; run, trudge; tired but happy.

We're here! But, you've been Philiminated! Phil has the sad face on, but it's OK. Awww.

Next week...geeks want charity, and an alliance goes pear-shaped. "They didn't even say hi to us!"

Today's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea

I have mixed feelings about entertainment-industry types -- writers, producers, actors, musicians -- making public pronouncements about their political views. They're citizens (and, on the whole, are probably no more or less informed than any other group of citizens that doesn't work in public policy) and have the right to express their opinions, but by nature of their jobs and the eagerness of the celebrity press to capture their words, they have an exponentially larger platform than many other equally worthy folks.

And many insist on expressing those opinions in venues not meant for that, such as awards shows. While, again, it's their First Amendment right to do so, it seems like a shaky business choice, since you're likely to irritate about half the viewing audience no matter what you say -- and the next day, you'll still need a lot of those viewers to keep your ratings and box-office figures up.

For that matter, if an entertainment-industry type expresses a political view at a political rally, it may be more appropriate to the setting, but it runs the same risk with the audience that sees it repeated on television or on the Internet.

After all, a celebrity may have the First Amendment right to speak out, but listeners also have the First Amendment right to disagree, sometimes loudly, or, and this is may be even worse in a commercial sense, they may shrug their shoulders and quietly decide their time and money are better spent elsewhere than patronizing that celebrity's work.

So, what do you Cuppers think? Do you support entertainment-industry types making political pronouncements, or do you not? Do you think it hurts them professionally with the audience (and if it does, should they publicly complain about it)? Or does it not matter to you at all?

Happy to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Today's cuppa: large fast-food coffee, one cream, one sugar

As Washington, Wall Street and all corners of the globe interested in both hash over the proposed bailout for investment firms choking on bad mortgage paper, we are still facing serious issues regarding energy costs and how we will fuel the future.

President Bush is making a primetime address tonight at 9 p.m. ET on the current financial crisis, and all the major broadcast networks and news cablers are expected to cover it live. This has caused a schedule change for CNBC, which announced a couple of days ago that it was airing a special tonight called "The Hunt for Black Gold." Originally scheduled to air at 9 p.m. ET, it's now been switched to 9:30 p.m. ET, after the conclusion of the presidential address, and again at 1 a.m. (ET)

In the special, correspondent Maria Bartiromo travels around the world to investigate the search for oil and natural gas, including the Gulf of Mexico -- a frequent target of hurricanes -- and the North Slope of Alaska, home to the controversial Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, also known as ANWR (pronounced "anwar").

The two presidential candidates -- Democrat Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona -- have opposed drilling in ANWR (though they have had different approaches on drilling elsewhere in the U.S., including offshore, and on energy strategies).

One person in favor of oil and natural gas exploration in a portion of ANWR is Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, named on Aug. 29 as the running mate to Sen. McCain.

But on Aug. 25, when Palin spoke to Bartiromo, she was still just the Governor of Alaska -- although her name was mentioned as a possible vice-presidential contender, something a CNBC spokesperson says the network knew at the time.

Bartiromo also talks with ConocoPhillips CEO James Mulva, whose company drills for oil in Alaska, along with political leaders, experts and others.

Since being named as the GOP vice-presidential nominee, Palin has not changed her views on exploring for energy sources in ANWR and has stated that she is "still working on" changing McCain's mind on the topic.

However the election turns out -- and however this financial crisis turns out -- our need for energy continues, as does the debate surrounding it.

A few weeks ago, I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon and evening in a total stranger's front yard in Torrance, Calif., talking to Ashton Kutcher and watching a game show in the middle of the street.

No, it wasn't a dream, it was a taping of his new ABC game show "Opportunity Knocks," which premiered tonight. Click here for my syndicated feature story based on that visit, courtesy of the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette.

Tonight's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea (full caf, because I need to focus)

I used to love "My Name Is Earl." Never missed it. And I hardly watch any comedies. But the plot meandered off Earl's attempts to pay karma back by working his way through a list of his misdeeds, and I began to drift. I lost the love for the "Earl." There was an "Earl"-shaped hole in my TV heart.

So it is with some trepidation that I try to fill that emptiness and allow "Earl" back into my life. I hear he's out of jail, out of the coma, out of a brief bad marriage and back on the list, so I'm willing to give us another chance by liveblogging the "The Magic Hour," the first episode of the two-episode season premiere, scheduled to air Thursday, Sept. 25, on NBC.

Don't hurt me, Earl.

WARNING: If you're super-mega-clever or just a very good guesser, this could possibly be considered spoiler-ish. So, if you fancy yourself either of the above, run, do not walk, in the opposite direction.

Earl and Randy, a kid playing a xylophone and Joy running a scam on Make-a-Wish. Sounds familiar, especially to Earl.

Churchill Downs won't be calling, Earl.

Sad, sad story. Earl feels bad. Can't help the dead, but...

Hi, Seth Green! You look good for a dead guy.

Tick-tock.

Ah, somebody wants to come to the Hollywood. Big squid, kid.

Hey, we can make a movie!

Dandy arm action, Seth.

OK, that's a fresh approach to horsepower.

Hey, you got a trailer, what more do you need to make a movie? Joy, of course.

Randy cleans up really ... nah, not really.

Seth rockin' the bowtie...Hey, "The West Wing" wants its set back!

Randy gets authoritative...Seth cleans up better than Randy.

Earl learns the true pain of being the one holding the clipboard.

Whooo! My favorite Tommy Lee Jones soliloquy from "The Fugitive"!

In case you don't know it:

"All right, listen up, people. Our fugitive has been on the run for 90 minutes. Average foot speed over uneven ground barring injuries is 4 miles per hour. That gives us a radius of six miles. What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area. Checkpoints go up at 15 miles. Your fugitive's name is Dr. Richard Kimble. Go get him."

Excuse me while I make a hard-target search of my living room...

Fire! Fire! Fire! (No, not in my living room, on the TV! Silly people.)

What president wouldn't want a '98 Civic with a spoiler?

We'll fix it in post! (The five lying-est words in showbiz.)

Boom! OK, "CSI: Miami" had a way better boom than that.

Brad Pitt or Eric Roberts -- not bad choices.

The lovely golden light is fading as a chair takes flight.

Suck donkey? That's a visual I could have lived without forever.

Joy gives my favorite answer ever to "Who are you wearing?"

Uh-oh. Seth has a secret sell-by date.

Mom comes through.

Hah, Jimmy Smits! Hah.

Movies, they're all about making dreams come true -- and he did fix it in post.

You're sushi, Big Boy!

I'd yell about names not being made plural with an apostrophe and an "s," but I have a warm spot in my heart, so for this once, I'll let it go.

Welcome back, Earl.

"Heroes" launches its third season tonight on NBC. Based on a set visit I did last month -- here's a link to a post about that -- I wrote a syndicated feature story. Courtesy of the Brantford Expositor in Ontario, Canada, here's a link to that story.

Of course, as I love the "Heroes," I've done a few other posts and stories leading up to the premiere, such as ...

...a liveblog of the first hour of the season premiere episode...

... Zachary Quinto and Kristen Bell on the possibilities of mixing "Heroes" DNA...

... and Milo Ventimiglia on his USO trip to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Today's cuppa: Newhall Coffee, Patriot Blend

There are many ways to know fall has arrived -- that nip in the air (everywhere but here in SoCal, where summer has a good couple of months yet), the wailing of kids forced to return to school, the cheering of their parents, the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, and the Emmy Awards.

Yeah, I didn't really mean that last one either, but if you're curious, here's Zap2it's photo gallery of the big winners. I hear the show was not great, but since I whacked it off the DVR, I'll take folks at their word.

It's not like I don't care at all -- big cheers to Glenn Close for winning best actress, drama series for FX's excellent "Damages"; for the always entertaining "The Amazing Race," which snapped up yet another award for reality-competition show and one for host Jeff Probst, in a new category of host for a reality or reality-competition program; and for all the honors heaped on HBO's deserving "John Adams."

So it's the first day of autumn, and thoughts can now turn to work and school, leaving behind hazy memories of summer. I actually took the picture below on a rainy May day last year at Shepard Park in Lake George, N.Y., but somehow it always says "end of summer" to me.

Tonight's cuppa: decaf organic free trade black tea

Since I'm in Pacific time, the Emmys have just started on TV here, even though, in reality, the awards show is either over or about to be over (depending how long it runs over).

I'm not there, and I'm not planing to watch the "live" broadcast on TV either. It's going on the DVR, and after I fast-forward through the boring bits, not-funny bits, really painfully not-funny bits and the pointless bits, along with the clip montages, musical interludes, self-congratulatory tributes and political infomercials, I'll probably zip through it later in a half-hour or less.

Or, I'll just read about it in the morning.

Instead, I'm turning my attention to liveblogging "Resurrection," the season premiere of my favorite guilty TV pleasure, CBS' "CSI: Miami," which airs Monday, Sept. 22.

WARNING: If you're super-mega-clever or just a very good guesser, this could possibly be considered spoiler-ish. So, if you fancy yourself either of the above, run, do not walk, in the opposite direction.

Previouslys, glasses come off, wet tarmac, Horatio goes down. Glasses shattered.

Sad faces. Zip. Bye-bye. Rolling away.

Lights, sirens, forensics! Ryan's in gray and lavender, Calleigh's in black and purple, Eric is in that unbelievably garish red-and-white flowered shirt from last season. I had hoped and prayed I'd never see it again, but, oh, well.

Angry Ryan pooches the forensics. It's those bad bullets again. Eric has doubts. Horatio has enemies (in a black-and-white montage). Cue the Who!

Ding-dong...Eric wants a peek. Don't do it, Eric. Oops.

Very mysterious...but he had the right credentials. All that remains, doesn't remain, apparently.

Sad Frank. Ah, THAT's who was on board.

Oh, Natalia, this is a crime scene, not a first date in a dimly lit bar. Put those things away.

Oh, brother, you are the luckiest forensics guys EVER.

The Unbelievably Advanced Computer Equipment That No Real Lab Could Ever Afford (a k a the UACETNRLCEA) comes through.

Bad guy in a lavender T-shirt with a black-and-white splash-graphic pattern? Really? Your gang buddies would murder you, if only for your bad fashion sense. I won't even mention the wussy goatee.

Oh, snap! Take a look, Orange Jumpsuit. Yeah, send him back to the lockup. In that T-shirt, he'll be real popular.

Getting perchy with it. Calleigh finds the good stuff.

Hi, Agent David Keith (a k a the nose-bleedy guy from "Firestarter").

Don't you be talking to Calleigh like that. Now who's shuttin' up? Don't get smirky with me.

The UACETNRLCEA strikes again. Ring, ring. Ryan?

Really? What? Who? What, you say? Exposition, exposition, flashback, flashback, montage, flashback, fused alloys, and a little movie magic.

Glasses, nod, squib!

"He could be anywhere." And there he is.

Like father, like son.

I see somebody got the purple/lavender memo.

Goin' underground. Swamp, croc, standin' in the road. Old friends are good friends, especially when they bring THAT.

Time to go for a little ride, Orange Jumpsuit.

Swamp ... now that's a red dress. Nice to have you back, Red Dress. He's always close by.

Prisoner transport, always dangerous. See, I told you. My only hope is Eric's shirt will be bloodied or catch on fire, and he'll have to change.

Bang bang, boom boom, Eric saves a girl who looks a lot like Calleigh, his secret love.

No-Longer-Orange-Jumpsuit's on the move. Duck, Frank! The shirt survives, but the truck, not so much. Bad bullets again.

Hello, Manhattan Beach Studios Parking Garage. How you been?

It's reunion time. Why not mmmeeeee? Because I love you too much! *sniff*

Frank explains it all to us, but Calleigh finds the good stuff.

Back to the UACETNRLCEA, with big snazzy music and meaningful looks. The Crypt Keeper? What? That can't be right.

Oh, crikey, now a bad guy is wearing a white tee with a delicate Asian-inspired floral design. Let him keep that on in prison and see what happens.

White Suit, meet Red Dress, in front of buff-colored building. How primary. Oh, honey, did  you wear those shoes to the swamp too? They're really not made for sand either.

White Suit tries to man up. Red Dress blathers, and he buys it.

Oh, White Suit, you think you're all that and a side of dirty rice, doncha? Red Dress gets all fakey flirty. Text me, baby. Come down to the water, that's where I'll be. Glasses...

Blue blue water, green green trees, green-white-and-orange cop cars. Either they saturated this color in post or my tea was stronger than I thought.

Non sequitur beach shot, then more UACETNRLCEA and sweet "Speed"-y graphics.

Off the grid -- you could just say you weren't that into her, Scruffy Fed Boy. You made our Calleigh sad. And BTW, the '80s wants its hair back. Calleigh implies exactly what you think she's implying.

San Pedro docks? Could be.

White Suit, blue van, bad guys that look like an '80s hair band. Is this a trend? Red Dress calls it in.

The boys meet once again in the middle of the hall. Jeepers, get a room already. But, Ryan has an idea -- it's UACETNRLCEA time once again.

The plane! The plane!

White Shirt, you're going down. Oops. Look who's here. Don't get those yellow bags too close to that shirt, Eric. I may have a seizure.

Looks like Agent David Keith and Ryan shop at the same men's suit outlet.

Scruffy can't help making our Calleigh sad, but he did bring her something she'd like better than chocolate or roses.

White Suit, you're a fool for the ladies. Or maybe you're just a fool.

Bang bang, BOOM! Good boom. Smoke on the water...

"You and me, Eric." *sniff*

Tonight's cuppa: decaf Irish breakfast tea

It's rare that a TV critic sits down with a presidential candidate, and I still haven't. But what I have done is interview someone who had been a presidential candidate five years before we talked, and who currently is the Republican nominee for president.

In 2005, A&E aired a movie based on "Faith of My Fathers," Arizona Sen. John McCain's autobiographical account of his early military career and years as a POW in North Vietnam. In January of that year, A&E brought Sen. McCain to the biannual Television Critics Association Press Tour to talk to the assembled reporters about the film.

I haven't yet had the pleasure of talking to McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, nor their Democratic opponents, presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.

But since Palin has had a book written about her, and both Obama and Biden have written books about themselves, it's possible that there could be TV-movies in the future of one or all of them, and I may yet get my chance.

But in the meantime, here's my story, "A&E Shows How 'Faith of My Fathers' Sustained POW McCain," as published the week of May 29, 2005.

The Vietnam War ended three decades ago, but in many ways, the memories of the conflict -- and the war of protest that raged at home -- always lie just under the surface, waiting to burst through.

"Now I believe," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says, "and I probably shouldn't say this, the Vietnam War will be with us as long as those of us who were in the Vietnam War are alive. I'm sorry to say that."

On Monday, May 30, Memorial Day, A&E Network premieres "Faith of My Fathers," a TV movie based on McCain's autobiography, which details his service as a U.S. Navy pilot in Vietnam and the 5 1/2 years he spent as a POW after crashing during a bombing mission over North Vietnam.

McCain says, "The 'Faith of My Fathers' is derived from a belief that we are all here to serve a cause greater than ourselves. There is nothing more noble than being involved in causes you can believe in."

Shot in the spring of 2004 in New Orleans, "Faith of My Fathers" is directed by Peter Markle from a script he co-wrote with William Bingham. It stars Shawn Hatosy ("Soldier's Girl") as McCain from his days as a 17-year-old at the U.S. Naval Academy -- the son and grandson of four-star admirals -- to his release in 1973 at the age of 36.

Also starring are Scott Glenn as McCain's father, Adm. Jack McCain; Troy Ruptash, Shea Whigham and Joe Chrest as fellow POWs; Erin Cottrell as McCain's first wife, Carol; and Chi Moui Lo ("The Relic") and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as two of his captors at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton."

"Faith of My Fathers" could stir up old arguments about Vietnam, but McCain would rather it serve another purpose.

"I would rather have it be a story of courage in action than part of the debate about Vietnam," he says. "One of the things about the prison experience is that we were in a vacuum. We didn't know what was going on (at home). The Vietnamese told us all this stuff, but we didn't know what was going on.

"We thought it was just propaganda. We had no concept that the anti-war movement had grown the way it did. In 1967, when I was shot down, the anti-war movement was minuscule. It wasn't until '68, and really the Tet offensive, that was the catalyst for the anti-war movement."

Rather than dwelling on the pros and cons of the United States' involvement in Vietnam, "Faith of My Fathers" focuses instead on how McCain survived the injuries he suffered in the crash and the subsequent torture by his captors. He was even broken to the point where he finally agreed to record a propaganda statement. Yet he survived.

"I'm the luckiest man that you will ever interview," McCain says. "I've survived plane crashes, I've survived the war, and I value every single day of my life."

McCain credits his continued existence to the help and support of his fellow prisoners, especially Bud Day (Ruptash), Norris Overly (Whigham) and Bob Craner (Chrest).

When he was first captured after his crash, the injured McCain, rescued from a bayonet-wielding mob by a nurse, was put in with Day and Overly, who looked after him. Later, put into solitary confinement, McCain is able to speak to Craner through a wall, the only American voice he heard during the rest of his imprisonment.

"They definitely helped each other survive," Hatosy says. "Part of the reason that McCain was put in with those guys when he first got there was because the North Vietnamese knew he was in bad shape. They knew he might die, and they really didn't want him to die. They needed him to be kept alive, because they knew his father was an admiral.

"They put him in a cell with Norris Overly and Bud Day. Overly had helped Day, who had been through a pretty rough time, too. From day one, Overly said to McCain, 'I'm not going to let you die.'"

McCain visited the set during shooting, seeing Hatosy sitting in a set of the Hanoi Hilton, dressed as POW McCain.

"Shawn is a very fine young man," McCain says. "I'm pleased that he is playing the role, and from what I've seen, I'm very impressed with his acting ability. The set is very realistic and eerily reminiscent of the prison in Hanoi."

While some might think revisiting such a scene would be too painful, it's something McCain already did in his mind while writing his book.

"You know, it had been many years since I had come home," he says, "and I had been able to put a lot of things into perspective. The book wasn't just a story about my prison experience as much as it was a story of my whole life and the people who have had the greatest influence on me -- people such as my father and grandfather, and of course, the friends who sustained me under difficult times in prison.

"I thought it was a story that people might like to share."

As far as reliving it on film, McCain is unruffled at the prospect.

"I put all this stuff behind me the day that I left," he says, "because, as I mentioned, I observed a thousand acts of courage and compassion and love. Some of the greatest, most wonderful experiences of my life were there. I don't want to forget them."

Asked what he wanted to make sure got into the film, McCain says, "That even if we have weaknesses and failings, with the help and courage and compassion of others, we can rise to heights that we didn't think we were capable of.

"I never thought I would be able to come back from some of the setbacks that I had in prison, but with the help of my comrades and their inspiration, I did."

Today's cuppa: Darjeeling tea (brewed for a leeeetle too long and therefore a real breakfast eye-opener)

It's not every day that a TV network sends one a Bible in a press kit, but that's just what The CW did last week for the fourth-season premiere of "Supernatural," airing tonight, Sept. 18. The book and DVD were encased in an ominous-looking box embossed with a strange symbol that just screamed "AND YOU THOUGHT LAST SEASON WAS SCARY, BWAH-HAH-HAH..."

A bookmark in the Bible (Protestant version) was set at the Apocalypse of John the Apostle, also known as the Book of Revelation, a poetical work featuring extravagant language and vivid symbolism talking about the end of the the world. I'm no Biblical scholar or theologian, but here's a link to someone who is, if you want to know more.

Anyway, because of its imagery and subject matter, Revelation has been a particular favorite of writers and filmmakers, from William Butler Yeats' oft-quoted poem "The Second Coming" to movies like "The Omen" and "The Seventh Sign" (which I always liked better than "The Omen," even if it's not as much bloody good fun).

As any fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" knows, threats of the Apocalypse were that show's yearly stock-in-trade (although usually of the more literal and less theological variety).

So, it's no that surprising that "Supernatural" should head down this well-worn path -- but do they find anything fresh along the way?

To find out, I return to livebloggery with a look at "Lazarus" (another Biblical reference, about a man Jesus raised from the dead. Don't think you have to strain too hard to make the connection, if you're a fan of the show).

WARNING: If you're super-mega-clever or just a very good guesser, this could possibly be considered spoiler-ish. So, if you fancy yourself either of the above, run, do not walk, in the opposite direction.

When we last left demon-fighter Dean Winchester, hellhounds were dragging him off to the bowels of, well, Hell. Let's hit Play and see what happens now...

Previouslys -- boom, crash, bang, Ruby, Lilith, blood, gore, etc, all to AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long." I do love the rockin' music on this show. "Saaaaammm!"

Scary "The Ring"/"Blair Witch" effects. Where am I? Are there ants? Sorry, that was "CSI," and Quentin Tarantino didn't direct this.

Upsy-daisy, big breath. "The Old Rugged Cross..."

Yikes, Holy Tunguska, Batman!

Anybody home? Dean, didn't you know plastic water bottles are the ecological spawn of hell. Hang on, I need a swig from one myself.

Pontiac...Michigan? No, Vancouver, Canada, silly!

Warm hands, indeed.

Shoplifty much, Deano? Glad to know you're still into the babes.

Petty larceny much, Deano?

See, I always knew the Debbil controlled the airwaves. Dean shows us the true meaning of the phrase "Salty goodness." Not that it helps much.

Dean finds a working pay phone in the middle of Pontiac, Vancouver. Hah, phone calls from the dead!

Shoplifting, larceny, auto theft -- boy, you're on a roll here.

Bobby's not having it. Bobby's still not having it. Not there, Dean, it's too near the brachial artery! Now Bobby's having it. Oops, spoke too soon.

Bobby thinks Dean looks too good. I agree. That's my new nickname for him "Chew Toy."

It's good to not have been salted and burned. And that's why Pharaohs preserved their bodies.

Sammy's on the lammy. Bad mojo! I agree. Hey, I thought that was on the other shoulder. Maybe I'm wrong. Let's rewind. Nope, I'm right. Continuity!

It's never good when someone's quiet. Don't make the deal! Don't you watch "Reaper"?

You did not just say "Wedge Antilles"!

Nope, Pontiac, Illinois. The people in Michigan won't like that.

Hi, "Wildfire" girl! Hi, Sammy Boy. Good news, no bangs. But, Sam's not having it.

Awwwww. The brotherly love. Girlfriend, you answered the door in that? Put on some clothes, already. What was her name? I'll just call her Wildfire.

Deal or no deal? "Demon's bitch boy"? That's a new one. Bobby was kinda hoping for the deal.

Beers all around ... lacking a shovel, it's psychic time. I don't know, Deano, that thing's a little Gothy for that whole Dickies look you got going on there.

Flashbacky!

She's back! The old girl doesn't look bad -- but she has gussied up a bit. Sam like wussy music.

Sammy's Teflon, apparently. No going down that road!

Wow, psychic chick looks a lot like Wildfire. This is going to get confusing. "Best damn psychic in the state" -- is there an independent agency that determines these things?

Somebody's got a "tramp stamp." Does that mean she was "Jesse's Girl"?

Table shaking? Really? That's cheesy. OK, the eye thing kinda convinced me. OK, she doesn't look so much like Wildfire now.

Third brunette in a tank top in this episode. That must be a record. And of course, the men have T-shirts and shirts over them and jackets over that. Wimmenfolk just never get cold!

I vote for Godzilla. Yeah, Belker used to threaten to rip out people's lungs all the time. Get a new one.

Come into the TV, come into the TV...it's dog-whistle time again, Chew Toy.

Wow, this thing's mighty hard on glass.

Did he say "peachy"? Hey, that's my word.

Off to get a burger, eh -- the sign says "Open 7 Days," not "Open 24 Hours."

Make a stand, Dean! I'm all for making a stand, unless it's the IRS. Then I crumple like a used tissue. Don't mess with the IRS, they got Al Capone.

Boom-whacka, whacka! Oooh, third brunette chick, that doesn't look good. Sammy, not the Vulcan mind meld! I know smoking is bad, but this is ridiculous.

Wildfire? What? Didn't see that one coming. Totally cosmic, dude.

OK, there's graffiti, and then there's you're weirding me out, Deano. And now with the Latin...when in doubt, there's always the Latin.

To feel good is to look good is to do good.

Boom-Boom-shakalaka!

He looks like an investment banker. OK, maybe that's appropriate. Down, little Bobby. Very dog-whispery there.

"We need to talk." Four most terrifying words in the English language.

Wow! Cool. Oh, Dean, really? That's a narrow view. You tell him, banker dude. I take back the "appropriate" crack. Nice shadow effect!

Talk about a voice that carries.

"Holy tax accountant"? Hah!

Deano, you're in the Big Leagues now.

Today's cuppa: English afternoon tea

Talked recently to "Heroes" star Milo Ventimiglia about his trip earlier this summer -- which included his 31st birthday -- with the USO to visit the troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. Ventimiglia first told me about it in late July, during the Television Critics Association Press Tour. Here's a quick link to the original post.

Sent out a syndicated story on the USO tour, and courtesy of the good people at the Arizona Republic, here's a link to it.

Photo: USO/Dave Gatley

Ventimiglia also produced a tribute video. Here's a link to that (warning: the language is a bit salty).

Today's cuppa: Darjeeling tea

Sometimes when I'm on a set visit, a strange thought comes up and becomes one of the themes of the day. Often it has nothing to do with the show's plot -- it's just something that tickles me. One visit to "Eureka" up in Vancouver, Canada, became about figuring out which female on the show Fargo (Neil Grayston) was going to date. (If you're curious, here's the link.)

On my recent visit to NBC's "Heroes," which opens up its third season -- and third Volume, "Villains" -- on Monday, Sept. 22, I was watching filming of a confrontation between Sylar (Zachary Quinto), who has acquired other characters' superpowers by slicing off the tops of their heads and doing something unspeakable to their brains, and Elle (Kristen Bell), who channels electricity.

Both exist on the shadow side of the "Heroes" universe (after a recent conversation with Cristine Rose, who plays Angela Petrelli, boy, does Sylar have a whopper of a storyline this year) and -- partly because of their unfortunate upbringings and partly because of their own internal darkness -- both often use their powers for evil.

It occurred to me -- what would happen if these two were to hook up and have a baby? (Of course, this presupposes that Sylar will not first slice off the top of Elle's head and do unspeakable things to her gray matter, and that Elle will not first zap him to a pile of crispy flakes -- which is probably asking a lot of both of them.)

So, here are Quinto's and Bell's reactions...

On the question of whether Sylar and Elle have a lot in common.

Quinto: They do have a lot in common, actually, and that's an exploration that we make this year. Elle factors prominently into Sylar's journey of the season at a certain point.

Bell: Oh, we sure do. I really like that they brought that together, because it's really interesting.

On the nature of any possible offspring:

Quinto: Oh, you mean (what would he pass on) to his son? I don't know. We'd have to see what would come of that. It's an exploration worth making, maybe.

Bell: What would happen? God only knows what would happen. It would either be the most angelic creature on Earth or the worst, the most evil demon ever created.

But would the child be blond like Elle (and Bell)?

Bell: Oh, let's hope so, although it's not a very strong gene.

So, there you have it. Of course, this is only one of several possible parental combinations on the show (and I hear that two of the other characters are going to be getting it on big time in short order).

Speculate away...

Just got this from ABC News:

September 12, 2008

Ratings Report for September 11, 2008

Ratings Information for ABC News Interview with Gov. Sarah Palin

"World News with Charles Gibson" Delivers Its Largest Single Day

Total Viewership Since February

"Nightline" Beats "Letterman" and "Leno" in Metered Markets

Surge in Traffic on ABCNEWS.com for Palin Interview

Last night's "World News with Charles Gibson" which featured the first of Mr. Gibson's three interviews with Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Gov. Sarah Palin, averaged 9.73 million Total Viewers and a 2.5/10 A25-54 rating/share, according to Nielsen fast affiliate, time period data. World News outperformed "NBC Nightly News" by 2.22 million Total Viewers and "CBS Evening News" by 3.57 million Total Viewers.

"World News" delivered its highest total single day viewership since February 12^th and its highest demo delivery since March 24^th. "World News" was up 24% among Total Viewers and 36% among demo viewers compared to last Thursday's broadcast (9/4/08).

"Nightline," which featured the second of Gibson's three interviews with Gov. Palin, outperformed CBS' "Letterman" and NBC's "Leno" according to Nielsen overnight metered market data. The program had a 4.2 Household rating; "Leno" had a 3.3 and "Letterman" had a 3.6.

On ABCNEWS.com there were nearly 3 million page views and 600,000 video views of the Palin interviews. These numbers reflect traffic from 5:00 pm on Thursday through early Friday morning.

EVENING NEWS (September 11, 2008)

 Total Viewers  Adults 25-54

ABC "World News" 9,732,000   2.5/10

NBC "Nightly News" 7,512,000   2.1/8

CBS "Evening News" 6,158,000    1.6/6

Late Night(September 11, 2008)

  Household Rating/ Share

ABC "Nightline" 4.2/ 10

CBS "Letterman"   3.3/ 8

NBC "Tonight"   3.6/ 9

Source for World News: Nielsen Media Research, fast affiliates, 9/11/08 

Source for Nightline: NSI, overnight household ratings and shares, 9/11/08

If you're interested in hearing more from the GOP vice-presidential nominee -- and the ratings indicate that many of you are -- this came in earlier today from Fox News. This ends the public-service portion of our broadcast. Thank you for your attention.

FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S HANNITY & COLMES TO PRESENT FIRST CABLE INTERVIEW WITH GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN

Interview to Run In Two Parts: Tuesday September 16^th and Wednesday September 17^th At 9PM ET

FOX News Channel (FNC) will present a special interview with Republican Vice Presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin.  The interview will be conducted by FNC's Sean Hannity and will be presented on Hannity & Colmes in two parts on Tuesday, September 16^th and Wednesday, September 17^th at 9PM ET.   This is Palin's first cable news interview.

An array of topics will be discussed in the interview including being the Vice Presidential nominee, her role in the McCain campaign, Iraq and foreign policy, amongst others.

Today's cuppa: Birdwing Blend coffee

Yesterday, commenter Britt asked whether I saw "Bones" stars David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel together at the Fox Eco-Casino party on Monday night. (Click here for earlier post or just scroll down)

I replied that I hadn't, but that I had seen each separately, adding that because I wound up in a few long conversations and didn't circle the room frequently, I was no good authority on who was with whom throughout the evening.

So, this morning, I checked with Hart Hanson, executive producer of "Bones," and he replied, "In fact, David and Emily were together at the Eco-Casino party. They were the same height! Emily was wearing shoes that brought her up to 6' 1", so David made a lot of jokes about having to look her in the eyes."

There you have it, from the Hanson's mouth. That's all for now.

Today's cuppa: Newhall Coffee Patriot Blend (roasted by a small company in Valencia, Calif., that has donated thousands of packages of Patriot Blend to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan through Operation Gratitude. Newhall Coffee, this Cuppa's for you!)

As this seemingly endless presidential election churns round and round through seemingly endless news cycles, it's tempting to wish that we could just get it over with in a more expeditious way (like appoint a dictator or a king or a Grand Poobah of some sort). But on this Patriot Day and 7th anniversary of Sept. 11, it's good to remember that the liberty that allows us to have a seemingly endless presidential election is no accident, and that it was won -- and is still being won -- at great cost.

It's especially good to remind the young of this, and on Sept. 23, that task gets a little easier as Disney DVD releases "Schoolhouse Rock! The Election Edition," a collection culled from the beloved series of animated educational interstitials -- featuring catchy tunes and clever lyrics -- that ran during ABC's Saturday-morning lineup between 1973 and 1986 and again in the early '90s.

The clips included focus on American history, civics and government, including "I'm Just a Bill," "Shot Heard 'Round the World" and "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College." There's also a new-to-DVD song called "Presidential Minute," with two surprise endings, along with an Election Tracking Kit with stickers to help viewers follow the vote in the 50 states.

In case you've never seen "Schoolhouse Rock," click here or here or here.

For more information on the entire "Schoolhouse Rock" series, click here.

For more information on the U.S. presidential election process, click here.

For a more kid-oriented guide to the U.S. presidential election process, click here.

Today's cuppa: Birdwing Blend coffee

In the "Fringe" pilot -- which aired Tuesday, Sept. 9, on Fox, and repeats on Sunday, Sept. 14 (with the first four minutes of the next episode included) -- Peter Bishop, the character played by Joshua Jackson, is in Baghdad, Iraq, negotiating in English with two unnamed men about building a pipeline, starting in Kirkuk. The two men begin to speak to each other in a language other than English. Bishop says, "I also speak Farsi."

As I said at the screening of the pilot I saw at the end of May, and then repeated in July to Peter Ligouri, head of Fox, and in early August to executive producer J.J. Abrams, they don't actually speak Farsi (or Persian) in Iraq. That would be Iran. Arabic is spoken in Iraq.

When I asked Abrams about this, here's what he said.

"There were two discussions. The people that he was meeting with weren't supposed to be Iraqi, but it was in Iraq. There were a couple of other discussions, that there was someone who actually asked when production was doing research ... they just got it wrong."

I then asked Abrams how likely it was that Iranians would be building a pipeline in Iraq (since the two nations fought a fierce war in the '80s and tensions are still high in the region).

"This is true," he said. "I'm not sure what we're going to do for the final version."

And, as my Zap2it colleague, Dan Fienberg, blogged about comparing the pilot he saw to an earlier draft of the script, "Another change, a small one, is that in an early scene Jackson's character is in Iraq negotiating with two shady businessmen who try talking behind their backs. As it is now, he informs them, after they've talked, that he speaks Farsi. This seeming cultural inaccuracy annoyed several people at the screening I was at. In the original script, though, he tells them he speaks Arabic, which makes more sense. Why was this change made, I wonder..."

So, there it is. Make of it what you will. If you want to discuss it further, feel free to comment here or to go to this thread at the "Fringe" Wiki.

As to my opinion of the show, I thought the pilot was fine. I like the cool 3-D graphics. I really liked the characters of Peter Bishop and his father, mad scientist Walter Bishop. I liked the cow. It was good enough that I'll watch again to see what happens -- which is one of the primary goals of any pilot. That's all I got for now.

Today's cuppa: English afternoon tea, in the morning. Maybe I'll have more in the afternoon, or maybe I'll have Irish breakfast tea. Or morning blend coffee. Depends how dangerous I feel...

Yesterday was a busy day, starting at the the dingy abandoned hospital in the Valley that is the longtime home of the former NBC -- now ABC -- medical comedy "Scrubs," watching creator Bill Lawrence direct the very, very last scene of the very, very last episode (yeah, I've heard this one before too). In it, the name of the Janitor may or may not be revealed. And it's ... nah.

Since the show doesn't come on until 2009, fans have a good long time to speculate.

Anyone who's ever left a longtime gig that they enjoyed knows what the mood was like on set. But I did learn some interesting things, like the special "Scrubs" term for a certain part of the female anatomy (nope, not sharing here), that the actors' gym is in the morgue, that there has been talk of ghosts in the hospital ( no one said they'd actually seen or heard one), and that 50 children have been born to cast and crew since the show began eight seasons ago.

But it was fascinating to watch Lawrence -- who may be mainlining the water from Dick Clark's Fountain of Perpetual Boyish Good Looks -- simultaneously direct a scene, rewrite the dialogue for the scene and plan camera angles for the next scene.

At one point, he asked star Zach Braff to pull focus for him. Braff quipped that at least part of the show would then be in focus, to which Lawrence replied, "Oh, no, he didn't!", to which Braff replied, "Yes, Bill, I believe he did."

I had the distinct impression that this exchange was not a first-time occurrence.

The "real J.D" -- medical consultant Dr. Jonathan Doris -- then arrived in the middle of shooting for the last scene. Lawrence asked me if I thought he looked like Braff -- and, not so much. They're about the same height and both have brown hair, but nope (although Doris admitted he was a bit skinnier when the show began). Each is good-looking, but not in the same way.

Along the way, I talked dogs with Ken Jenkins (he recently lost one to old age), shared hot-dog-cooking tips with Sarah Chalke and met her dog -- which co-workers acquired for her -- and made best pals with Braff's sweet, scruffy pooch (which immediately forgave me for nearly sitting on him on the couch in Braff's dressing room).

(Dogs are a theme on the "Scrubs" set, which is very canine-friendly.)

There will be a syndicated feature story to come and perhaps more, but it will take a while to get through my material and finish up some outstanding interviews.

I've been to "Scrubs" several times over the years and always encountered the same playful, genial atmosphere, apparently populated by people who enjoyed what they were doing and enjoyed each other -- even after eight seasons.

Say what you like about the virtues of combative, highly competitive work environments, but I often think that life's just too short to live in a place like that for too long. In the end, the damage to health and peace of mind will likely outweigh whatever financial or career benefits one may get.

On the other hand, financial and career benefits are very nice, so it's all a a trade-off.

Considering how long "Scrubs" has been on and how widely it's syndicated, the cast of this show just may be among the lucky few who wind up with the fun and the rewards -- and good for them.

Also there were Sprinkles cupcakes for all -- but I didn't indulge, because...

...I spent the evening atop the London Hotel in West Hollywood, at the Fox Eco-Casino Party (where the food was taaaasty, but I don't know if chef Gordon Ramsay, who has a restaurant in the hotel -- and two Fox shows, "Hell's Kitchen" and "Kitchen Nightmares," was responsible).

Among those I saw and/or chatted with (and I'm sure there were plenty more I didn't see, as I wound up standing in some long conversations -- lesson learned, if you plan to do that, don't wear new shoes) were executive producers Hart Hanson and Steven Nathan, and stars Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz and TJ Thyne of "Bones"; Jodi-Lynn Keefe and Robert Knepper (with dark hair and a mustache) of "Prison Break" executive producer Josh Friedman and star Garret Dillahunt of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"; Fox animation czar Seth MacFarland; and Fox Network honchos Peter Ligouri and Kevin Reilly.

(During the two political conventions, I live-blogged, among others, the season premieres of "Bones," "Prison Break," "Terminator" and "Kitchen Nightmares." Scroll back through the blog to have a look.)

A few people asked me what I thought of the new Fox series "Fringe," which premieres tonight. I've seen two versions of it -- one at a screening a while ago and another on DVD -- but I have yet to watch the final air version. I have one issue in particular which had yet to be resolved by the DVD version, but I'm not going to say anything about it until I see the air version (and even then, it may be more of an issue in my mind than in the minds of viewers).

I did a syndicated feature story on "Fringe," but had a bit of trouble locating it on the Internet (it was offered as a cover for Sunday TV supplements, and those covers aren't always posted on the newspaper Websites).

But thanks to the Brantford Expositor in Ontario, Canada, here's a link.

Today's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea

Last week, I headed over to Culver City to spend an afternoon at tapings for the five-day-a-week syndicated version of NBC's hit primetime game show, "Deal or No Deal," which recently crowned its first million-dollar winner. And, they were kind enough to let me take a few pictures.

The half-hour weekday version premieres today, Monday, Sept. 8 (check local listings for channel and time in your area).

BTW, the second link above leads to Hulu.com video of the winning moment, and when the case was opened -- mind you, I knew what was in it -- I jumped a little and gasped. It reminded me of the spontaneous reaction I had (without the actual shouting-at-the screen part this time) when I watched a DVD of the show's premiere years ago. I'm not a game-show fanatic, but you can't deny the power of one that really works.

So, you may not be surprised to know that there was cheering, gasping and moments of anxiety while watching the tapings of the syndicated version (and the cheering and gasping was not just because there was a whole bunch of firefighters there to compete. OK, that was a lot of it, but not all of it).

For a future feature story, I also sat down with two of the show's models (who do double duty in both primetime and daytime), the charming Patricia Kara (she's on the right in the picture below) and Tameka Jacobs (she's on the left). And down the line, I'll grab a chat with the man himself, host Howie Mandel.

Without further ado, the Hot Cuppa Pix of the week (click on images for a larger version).

Today's cuppa: PG tips tea

It's been a little over a week since Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was named as the running mate to the GOP presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona (BTW, I did a story on a TV-movie based on his book, "Faith of My Fathers," in 2005. Look for that later in the week), and within hours of her announcement, this moose-hunting mother of five and former small-town mayor has set off a firestorm of coverage in the traditional media and the blogosphere.

For one woman from Alaska, she's caused quite a ruckus (but then, many Alaskan women probably don't think more than one is needed).

Whatever you think of Palin's personal, professional or political views and situation, one thing's for certain, she's not the kind of character, not the kind of woman -- and definitely not the kind of politician -- usually portrayed on contemporary scripted American TV.

(For that matter, in many ways, the Democratic candidate, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, is not a standard TV type either, but Hollywood has largely embraced him, and we'll see what comes of that in TV terms.)

Despite creator Rod Lurie's assertions to the contrary, she bears only a superficial resemblance to the female president played by Geena Davis in ABC's short-lived 2005 drama "Commander in Chief." Yes, Palin, if elected VP, could become the first female president, but she's not an Independent, not a former university chancellor and she's not married to a former attorney general. OK, they're both brunettes (but so far, Palin's lipstick, thankfully, cannot be seen from space).

While the details of Palin's upbringing and family life may not seem that startling or unusual to a good number of TV viewers, you'd be hard-pressed to find many women on television who come from small towns and have large families plus successful careers plus membership in the NRA plus hunting experience plus glasses.

Of course, there are all sorts of people in America who are not customarily the subjects of TV dramas and comedies. Interestingly, reality and documentary shows cast a somewhat wider net, from "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" to "Deadliest Catch" to "Jon and Kate Plus 8" to "Nimrod Nation."

So why do scripted shows often have a narrower focus?

There are all sorts of advertising and demographic reasons, but there are also more subtle influences at work.

Scripted TV shows are scripted, which means they're written by writers, who draw on their own experiences, temperament and imagination. And they're not just any writers, they're writers who want to write TV, are able to write TV well enough to sell a pilot script and, in the case of writer/producers, have the determination, persistence and work ethic necessary to withstand the grueling pace of TV production. So, the initial subset of "writer" gets more and more specialized and limited, winding up with a fairly small group.

Most TV shows are produced in Los Angeles, with a smaller percentage produced in New York, Canada, Texas, etc. But among the shows produced elsewhere, many of those are still written in L.A. So, it's fair to say that most TV writers live in the same city, their kids go to the same schools, they shop in the same stores, drive the same roads and wake up to the same weather -- and they do it in a city that is not only the company town of TV, but a city that is not exactly representative of most cities in America (indeed, it's not exactly representative of most cities in Southern California, let alone America). As writers are only human beings, and the environment affects human beings to some degree, this is bound to have an impact over time.

I'm not saying a TV writer can't actively work not to be affected, but it would require a constant and concerted effort (and kudos to those who have the energy and tough-mindedness to manage it).

Also, any TV writer that grew up far from Los Angeles (and not in New York), and especially those who grew up in small cities, small towns and rural areas, must leave them to begin their careers. If you love your small city, town or rural area too much to leave it, you're just not going to be a successful TV writer. So however these TV writers feel about their home areas, they were willing to leave them to pursue their ambitions. That's not a good or bad thing in itself, but it is a reality.

And while attending a particular college or university is not a requirement for being a successful TV writer, there is an old-school-tie networking thing that goes on that undoubtedly works in the favor of those who attended the same schools as their predecessors and possible employers.

Finally, these TV writers must sell their scripts to producers and executives who are subject to the same business and environmental influences as they are, and who knows how much that insularity affects what does or doesn't get picked up?

So, it's not surprising that women like Palin are seldom seen in scripted TV, especially scripted network TV. The homogenizing effect of industry realities is hard to resist. But it can be done, and has been done, and it is done. The ability of cablenets to produce series geared to more niche audiences -- or produced by industry newcomers -- is a large part of that.

Oh, and Palin's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention -- an event that is normally far from a ratings blockbuster -- got over 37 million viewers, and her running mate's speech the next night totaled over 42 million viewers. That's a message from the audience that's hard to ignore, even in Los Angeles.

Tonight's cuppa: It's too warm tonight for a hot cuppa, so I have a cuppa cold grapes.

The Republican National Convention winds down tonight, as Sen. John McCain accepts the nomination of his party for president. Few describe the "maverick" politico as cute or cuddly -- except his family, of course -- and those are adjectives also generally avoided when describing the subject of tonight's season-premiere liveblog, "House."

Dr. Gregory House is cranky, irascible and misanthropic. If you're sick, he may not cheer you up, but he just may save your life. But not everyone survives, and the fallout from that fact is at the heart of "Dying Changes Everything," airing Tuesday, Sept. 16, on Fox.

WARNING: If you're super-mega-clever or just a very good guesser, this could possibly be considered spoiler-ish. So, if you fancy yourself either of the above, run, do not walk, in the opposite direction.

Big ant! Whap! Not so big ant. Wow, she looks kinda like Marg Helgenberger. More ants! Way more ants. Ants-o-rama! Ant Girl shocks the boardroom. Not-Marg is not impressed.

Seven hits! Good one, House. Hmmm, all is not well in the House/Wilson bromance. House says Ant Girl is nuts -- or hot. Cuddy says to make with the nice with Wilson instead. House would rather do that life-saving thing he does.

Ant Girl gets around. "Why is everyone leaping to conclude a strong career woman's been made sick by her strong career?" Transference much, Thirteen? (not to mention a bad case of passive-voice syndrome) House says, yes -- then he says a whole lot more.

Thirteen deflects. Ant Girl can't stay off the phone. Thirteen is not impressed. Uh-oh...really uh-oh.

House makes with the nice, in a mean way. Wilson has other plans. House nails the diagnosis. Wilson throws down. Thirteen interrupts. House and Wilson discuss books. Wilson recommends House read more.

Oh, Thirteen, the patients are always dying. How could that be more important than the bromance? Well, that wasn't informative -- but Kutner sure is. Cigars for all!

Needs were met. No explanation needed. Oops, the bunny had a near-death experience.

Back to the bromance. Insensitivity surprises you, Wilson? Everyone interrupts. House knows more than the bunny.

The bunny has a relapse, but not in the usual hutch.

Thirteen transfers some more. House signs the transfer notice and tells her to change buses again if she can't deal.

Ant Girl, not big with the angst.

From bromance to an old fauxmance -- Cameron lays it all out.

Uh-oh, maybe some angst would have been a good idea. Chase gets it under control.

Cuddy puts it all on House, who keeps wiggling out from under. Cuddy recommends lying.

Oh, dear. That doesn't look good.

It vibrates! Heh, it's a phone, silly.

House ditches lying for blackmail. Awww, what House said would have been nice if it didn't mean Ant Girl might die.

Thirteen wants to go it alone. Unified theories are for optimistic physicists. Thirteen forges on.

Cuddy has her arms crossed. House better watch out. Bromance means never having to say you're sorry. Doors aren't soundproof, House!

Ant Girl may be sick, but she's far from stupid. Thirteen transfers once again -- and lies like a rug. Whoops, spoke too soon.

Cuddy takes it to the next level. House may miss his "stories." Cuddy mediates the bromance.

The team watches something that is definitely not House's "stories." Chase!

Dr. Cuddy does Dr. Phil. House and Wilson do the Bickersons. Cuddy goes for the heart, but Wilson punts. And he's so not wrong.

Chase objects to the three-peat. Boy, the word "idiot" is getting a lot of mileage put on it tonight. Kutner wants to drink Ant Girl's -- and House's -- milkshake.

Oh, poor Ant Girl. Thirteen pulls the feminist card. Ant Girl reminds her that aspirations don't always translate into reality.

Ant Girl's got guts, I'll give her that. Oh, no, look away, Ant Girl!

Cameron gives Wilson the straight talk about the difference between moving on and running away.

Another thing that ends with -osis. Jacobson knows when he's outmatched.

Somebody's been packing. Foreman goes for the hail-Wilson play.

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Foreman gives Wilson the straight talk about the difference between pleasing everyone and pleasing yourself.

Ant Girl perks up. Thirteen opens up. Ant Girl may become Bird Girl, thanks to Thirteen.

Again with the idiot. House has an idea.

House doesn't take no for an answer, but he has a completely different answer. Back to square one.

So, the younger you look, the worse it is? That sucks.

Bird Girl molts.

This idiot thing could become a drinking game.

House and Thirteen have a moment.

House and Wilson have a moment.

Sometimes a moment isn't enough.

Empty shelves, full box, open door.

Well, Cuppers, we've come to the end of "Un-Convention-al" -- at least for the next four years. Now it's your turn to vote. Do you like the liveblogs? Do you hate the liveblogs? Do you not have the slightest idea what I'm talking about in the liveblogs? Should they continue, or should they be voted down?

As HCTV is not a democracy, I can't promise I'll abide by your decision, but my ears are open. I may not take orders, but I always take suggestions...

Tonight's cuppa: English afternoon tea, double-bagged in the big mug, not decaf -- livin' on the edge here!

There's was a lot of tough talk flying around the media and at the Republican National Convention today, real "red meat" stuff. Well, this kind of in-your-face give-and-take is the dish of the day for the subject of tonight's season-premiere liveblog -- British chef Gordon Ramsay (seen below at the New York Stock Exchange, for which he rang the opening bell).

He returns for a second season of "Kitchen Nightmares," forcing the owners, chefs and staff of failing eateries to face facts, recover their passion and strive for success.

The new year launches with a two-hour episode airing Thursday, Sept. 4, on Fox, following Gordon as he revisits a few of last year's restaurants to see if the dramatic makeovers went right to the bone or were just skin-deep.

Warning: The following is pretty spoiler-y. If you want to stay pure and untainted -- and if you were food, Ramsay would want you just that way -- go get a sandwich or a smoothie or a bag of chips now instead of reading this. Or, just print it out and save it to read with the show.

Previouslys: All of Ramsay's pain from last season in one place.

We're back with the fighting clan of Irish pub Finn MacCool's, the Old Stone Mill, the Mixing Bowl, the rat-and-cockroach haven of Dillon's (now known as Purnima), Italian disaster Campagna, and Peter's (home of one of the most egotistical blowhards on Long Island, who seems to have undergone a dramatic personality change).

Slash, crash, flying knives, must be our Gordon!

Starting at Hamptons pub Finn MacCool, with one sad dad, two battling sons, one unhappy daughter-in-law and booze in all the wrong places. Gordon vomited -- not a rare occasion but always an effective critique of the cuisine. Gordon gave them his family recipe for shepherd's pie -- but did dad Buddy survive? Did the boys kill each other? Did the bills get paid?

Gordon's back -- everybody looks happy. Oh, well, Brian's weird beardline is still there. "Yeah, he's an arrogant bastard, but he's my arrogant bastard, and I love him." *sniff*

No, Buddy had a glitch! Poor Buddy! But bulls were taken by horns. Buddy, don't mess with Gordon's knife hand!

Oooh, rare (formerly red) meat...yummm. Fresh produce. Yummm. Fresh fish. Eh, not a fish person, but yummm for many people out there.

St. Louis wants the shepherd's pie! And, the spring rolls??? You'll have to watch to find out about that one.

"Chefs are crazy." So true.

I want the shepherd's pie!

"That's my boy." Game over.

Next, the Old Stone Mill, with flashbacks to defiant owner Dean, Dean's sobbing wife and a chef who was told he sucks. It was a beautiful building, but a beautiful empty building. Nevertheless, Dean thought he was all that and a side of chili-cheese fries. Hah, I remember the funnel! Hah, baby's diaper...Dean, not so happy. Gordon decides that red meat is the only answer, so the place becomes a steakhouse.

Gordon's back, and Dean's still cranky. "I don't know whether I want to hug him or punch him." Are you still a half-million in debt? Your answer lies within, buckaroo.

Oooh, the New York Times likes Dean's place. Well, really, what more do you want than that?

Gordon plays a game of "Where's the funnel?"

"Numbers are up, and numbers don't lie." I vote for the hugging. Dean says he made stupid decisions. No, really? Way to deliver the grudging gratitude there, Dean. Time for a big-boy pill.

Dean gets an award from the New York Beef Industry Council. Red meat for all!

On to the Mixing Bowl, with a manager who says, "It's not my fault!" (is he channeling Han Solo from "The Empire Strikes Back?" But, to be fair, the hyperdrive malfunction really wasn't Han's fault. It was part of Vader's plan to prevent the escape of the Millennium Falcon from Cloud City...oh, sorry, geeked myself off topic there. Back to "Kitchen Nightmares," already in progress.)

Gordon told Billy he needed to get out more and not let Manager "It's not my fault!" Mike coupon and dopey-sign the place to death. Gordon wanted to put the poor thing out of its misery, Billy's wife concurred, but Billy was full steam ahead. Gordon shredded; Gordon planned to get healthy, no red meat this time, just pink salmon; Billy found his ... confidence; Gordon spruced up, and Mike sniffled; again, it wasn't Mike's fault; Mike sniffled some more; Billy saw the light of day; Mike sniffled some more.

Gordon's back, and there are no signs, but there are customers. Billy looks happy! Mike smiles and doesn't sniffle. Mike learns quality is better than coupon bribery, and word-of-mouth is effective...and free. Mike took the big-boy pill!

Billy's wife looks great! Like the hair. Even Billy's cuter. Gordon, aren't you going to eat anything? Aw, Gordon! That was nice of you.

Flashback to Dillon's, a k a the Roach Motel! Roaches check in, but they don't check out, because they just love it so much. Are they still in residence? General Manager Martin! Long time no see. Could have been longer. Lamb's vegetarian, right? The lamb ate vegetable matter. Does that count? Now, is that old lamb or young sheep? I hope I never have to find out. Gordon though, had to know. He went to the basement. The basement was a bad, bad place, unless you're a rat or a roach.

Gordon decided to turn this Indian restaurant into an Indian restaurant. Brilliant! Out went Martin, in came Vikas, the hot Indian chef.

We're back, and Vikas has turned it all around. Vikas can cook for me anytime.

Gordon descends to the basement -- and it's sparkly sparkly shiny shiny! Vikas can make my kitchen sparkly shiny anytime.

Money's coming in, life is good, carrots are peeled, peppers are chopped -- and have some lamb chops marinated in ginger and yogurt. Now I'm hungry. Hang on, I have to get my nightly Cheerios. *Pause*

*Play* I'm back. Gordon has a warm place in Vikas' heart. Awwww.

Flashback to Campagna: It was Italian and in New Jersey, but nobody was singing soprano. No, they were singing the blues. Owner Joe played it fast and loose; his staff just played; the creditors weren't in a playing mood. Joe was giving it away -- literally. Joe pitched a hissy fit, so Gordon did an end-run to the wife. Gordon passed his meatballs around -- but in a good way. But are they as tasty as Rocco's mama's meatballs?

The big return -- Joe's mom looks great. Like the hair. Hello, Red Hat Society Ladies! Joe's rockin' the BBall cap and lookin' cheerful. But what lurks in the walk-in fridge? Not overloaded! Best, creditors no longer want to turn Joe into marinara sauce.

Meatballs in red sauce for everyone ...and a little surprise. Ciao, Campagna.

Oh, dear, back to Peter's. That was stressful to watch the first time. Peter was "a 250-pound spoiled baby." Peter's was late, lazy, vain, loud and likely to start a fistfight in the street. And the food? "Baby food inside gum." It was hard to cook when the stoves didn't work, but Peter had a sweet ride. And more leaks and rot and fuzzy food. Sister Tina, the owner, had to lay down the law. Peter got the big-boy pill shoved down his throat -- and he manned up and swallowed. But did it stay down?

We're back, and Peter's still got a sweet ride, but he's not acting like a big jerk anymore

Money's coming in; Tina no longer looks ragged.

Peter switched it up in the kitchen and went for a Zen vibe. Oh, no, a guy's got Brian's beardline!

Peter not only swallowed the pill, he's got a full prescription.

Tina tells the truth, but it's not so bad.

Peter loves the Gordon. Bromance for all!

Tonight's cuppa: decaf free trade organic black tea

She hasn't even appeared at the Republican National Convention yet, but moose-hunting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is dominating the media -- in some ways she might like, and in others she almost certainly doesn't.

Since being announced last Friday as the running mate to presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, she's zoomed to instant icon status, even launching a Twitterstorm of "Little Known Facts," all stored here. (The site promises a live Fact-a-Thon during Palin's speech before the RNC on Wednesday night.)

One Little Known Fact says, "Sarah Palin will give birth to the man who will lead humanity's war against the machines."

This makes tonight's choice of a liveblog more than obvious. So from one gun-toting tough woman named Sarah to another, here's my free-form reactions to the season premiere of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," called "Samson and Delilah," premiering Monday, Sept. 8, on Fox.

WARNING: If you're super-mega-clever or just a very good guesser, this could possibly be considered spoiler-ish. So, if you fancy yourself either of the above, run, do not walk, in the opposite direction.

KABOOM!!!

Ow. That doesn't look good.

Wakey-wakey, rebooty kabooty!

Chip integrity compromised. That's better. I need a facial, but I'm gonna open up a can of whuparse instead.

No, no, he's got the whatchamajigger!

Smoking's bad for you. This is worse.

Bad boom comin'.

"If I had my way, I would burn this building down..."

Whoops. Didn't see that one coming. Run, run, fall down, run!

Now that's a sad-looking apartment complex, and it'll take a month to get that pool clean again.

Hi, Dean Winters! It's as violent as "Oz," but at least you get out in the sunshine.

Uh-oh, there's two of them. Hi, Garret! You've looked better, I must say.

Slick move, FBI guy.

Dang! That rattled my teeth from here. You're supposed to protect the kid, Sarah!

Does anybody ever come back when people in TV shows say "Come back here!"?

Comin' to get ya. Still need that facial.

Crispy critter...

You! Smooth move. Smooth chess move, that is.

"Homicide: Life on the Street" documentary guy! Glad you lost the hat.

Oooh, red-haired chick, go easy on the eyeliner. You're one lash short of a raccoon.

Baby wipes, next best thing to a facial.

Stapler, next best thing to a facial (after baby wipes).

Yeah, people tend to notice limpy bloody people walking down the street. OK, maybe not in New York.

When in doubt, just go into a church.

No, Padre, we always look this way.

The boys, together again.

Jeepers, red-haired chick, how do you walk in those? She sounds Scottish. Oh, right, that's the rock singer, Shirley Manson! Her ponytail's poofier on top than Sarah Palin's, but she doesn't have the bangs. Only John Connor can have the bangs.

"We need to talk." Are there four more terrifying words?

Oops, she rebooted.

Gees, FBI guy, you're not very helpful.

Seems they put Fox Mulder at the end of a much longer table at his FBI interrogation.

Careful, Padre...

Good one, Sarah!

Now she's gonna need a hot-oil conditioning along with a facial. And maybe a hat.

Wakey-wakey, head's all breaky.

Crikey, this woman drives worse than Booth.

If you go down to the river ... you'll crash on the concrete. It's an LA thing.

Somebody's having a very bad day behind the wheel.

Upsy-daisy, hell's a-raisey...

Oooh, that's gotta hurt.

A warehouse. Always with the warehouses. What would TV do without warehouses? If it was on the docks, it would just be perfect.

Hot-wire 101.

Duck, moron!

SSSSQQQUUUUUSSSSHHHH!

Somebody's having a better day behind the wheel.

Quit the HAL crap. You're not fooling anybody.

Attaboy.

The gang's all here!

John Connor, I'm harboring doubts about those bangs, 'cause they look kinda wiggy to me.

Yeah, what's love got to do with it?

Everything, it seems.

Wait for it, wait for it...that's a good girl.

Garret, you're looking better.

"I'll never do the Devil's work."

By the waters, the waters of Babylon, we lay down and wept, and wept, for thee Zion...

You gotta believe. One Resurrection's enough.

When in doubt, make a sandwich.

Hah! I thought those bangs didn't look right.

Oooh, that's really just not right.

Whoosh! You're dead.

Today's cuppa: Yorkshire Gold tea

With the Republican National Convention scaled dramatically down, and as the cable and network newsers concentrate on the effects of Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf Region -- see yesterday's last post for info and useful links on both the GOP convention and Gustav -- I'm suspending the "Un-Convention-al" livebloggery for a day and returning to regularly scheduled programming.

And since it's Monday, that means "Hot Cuppa Pix of the Week"!

Week before last, I spent a hot, sunny Friday in downtown Los Angeles at the historic (but sadly deteriorating) and beautiful Los Angeles Herald-Examiner building for a location visit to the last days of filming for the fourth season of FX's bawdy comedy "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," which premieres on Sept. 18.

When I visited the show in its second season -- on a day of high winds and torrential rain that, unfortunately, displayed how leaky the building was even then -- the set for the show's main location, the tatty Paddy's Pub, was in the Herald-Examiner building.

Update: Found a Newsday link to the story from my original set visit.

Now the show has shifted its chief sets to Culver City -- I'll blog again when I drop by there for a visit --  but returned to the old locale to shoot scenes set in a bank and a newspaper office (in a part of the building's second floor that has also doubled for a police HQ, which explains the still-existing interrogation room).

So here's a few of my pix from the production...(click on images for larger version)

The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Building from across the street. The architect was Julia Morgan of San Francisco, who went on to design San Simeon for William Randolph Hearst, who owned the newspaper syndicate to which the Herald-Examiner belonged.

Preparing to shoot a scene inside the old bank with the second team (close doubles for the actors who sit in during lighting and camera positioning). This was for a different episode than the one that I saw shooting scenes upstairs. It's not uncommon to shoot scenes in a single location that will be inserted in several episodes.

I spent days on location in New York City with "NYPD Blue" watching the cast and crew shoot scenes -- often rewritten by executive producer David Milch on the spot (and sometimes the spot was a director's chair sitting in a park) -- which the would be salted into episodes throughout the first half of the season.

(Left) Rehearsing the same scene with the first team of Charlie Day (left) and series creator Rob McElhenney. (Below) Star Glenn Howerton seeks a rubber-band-snap victim in the bank.

Charlie (left) and Rob get sexy on the second floor.

(Above) Charlie, Glenn, Kaitlin Olson and Rob chill between takes.

Guest star Fisher Stevens gets ready to shoot. In the episode, he plays a reporter who runs afoul of the Paddy's Pub gang. In each successive take of the scene in which the gang arrives at his office to complain, the violence level increased.

By the time I had to leave, the confrontation included stern words, insults, spitting in a coffee mug, whacking a clock with a hammer, clearing a desk with a hammer and pretending to defecate on the floor.

I couldn't stay for the addition of breaking the glass in the door's window.

Heaven only knows what will wind up in the final edit.