TVSquad

Episodes 101 & 102 - Believe it or not, this is a funny show with potential. John Stamos is your standard likable rogue of a hottie guy. A mover and shaker PR agent, Jake is trying to quit his womanizing ways and find a more lasting relationship. The interesting thing is, he's not doing this to woo any particular woman, as has been tried in the past. He seems honestly ready to change his life. Forget the unlikely idea of a straight male publicist and focus on the fact that Stamos is a likable guy. I mean, c'mon! Wasn't Uncle Jesse the only adult on Full House with any kind of cool at all?

Granted, I've only seen the first two episodes and Mädchen Amick's delightfully loony character is only in the pilot, but still, if the writers can keep the premise fresh...yeah, I know. That's a tough one, especially since the "one date per episode" premise was scrapped after the pilot.

Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) is growing up. Watching her plan the attack on the fuel mine was great to see. She's been so frightened, hiding behind her bravado, it's nice to see her take some major responsibility. The "double decoy" plan was pretty cool, and the standard trick of cutting away to another plot line when the "secret plan" is discussed never fails. However, on a network ad-scheduling note, cutting from a chilling scene where the Galactica listens to sounds of their pilots dying into a Budweiser ad was jarring as hell. Talk about breaking up the drama and ruining the moment. Another false and upsetting notes was at the end of the episode when the surviving pilots return after a successful mission, they act like they just won the war. The fact is, many pilots died. I doubt the celebrations would have been so unrestrained.

According to Saturday's New York Times (free registration required),  Jay Leno now has license to make fun of Michael Jackson during his trial on child molestation charges, as long as the "comedian" doesn't mention specific areas of the case on which he might be called to testify. So this is a great victory for the first amendment, right? Well yes, it is. But can we all sit back at take a minute, here? Leno's first amendment rights were never really at risk. It's pretty clear that and any judge who blocked him from joking about the trial would be over-turned. What the lawyers were making sure of, was that Leno could, in front of tens of millions of people, make fun of Michael Jackson every night.

MI-5 is, bar none, the greatest spy show in the history of television. Think I'm joking? I dare you to go out and rent the first season and tell me it's crap. No. Scrap that. Buy it. Look at the Google Ad Words on this page, click on them and buy the MI-5 discs. If you don't like them, I'll wash your car. I'll windex the top of your kitchen cabinets and clean out your vegetable bins that haven't seen the light of day since the Johnson administration. I'll spay your cat for free. Oh, you silly, silly person! I won't do any of those things for you. But if you think 24 is sharp, well-paced and clever, this will knock your socks off. In fact while watching that admittedly innovative Fox show, I find myself constantly thinking things like "What would Tom Quinn do?" Granted, MI-5 (or Spooks, its original UK title) has the "advantage" of being able to show characters relaxing at home, having personal lives, etc. and I do genuinely like 24. It's just that, well, MI-5 is better. Like, a $15 bottle of Bordeaux can be perfectly good, but a $40 bottle is, well, better.

This series is one of the most intelligent and quirky (yet not cloying, go figure) series on TV and it keeps getting better. Rory's growing up and that brings a little more of an obvious sexual element to the show, although I am willing to bet there are those of you out there who while admitting to crushing on Rory (Alexis Bledel) are starting to feel a little Luke-like protectiveness! This episode included a plan that was doomed to fail from the beginning. We all know the "let's see other people" speech and we know it doesn't work. One of the fantastic thing about Gilmore Girls, something that was in evidence when Lorelei (Lauren Graham) and Luke got back together so quickly, is that the producers apparently don't seem into stringing us along for ever and ever with each character development. Logan and Rory have a deal to see other people and it took about 10 minutes for Rory to play host to the green-eyed monster when she sees him out on a lunch date with another girl. Later, when Rory and Logan each take dates to a Quentin Tarantino-themed party, Mr. Jealousy pops up again, with Logan clearly irked that Rory has come to the party with his poker buddy, Robert. The party also contains the episode's best line between drunken birthday-boy Finn and Colin:
Finn: "Who's as drunk as I am?"
Colin: "No one since Spencer Tracy died."

WARNING: Spoiler's Ahead!!

This episode runs the gamut from fantastic whimsy and brilliance (Tigh's drunken whore of a wife, Starbuck literally catching Baltar with his pants down, a Cylon detector that doubles as a paperweight) to really silly red herrings (Adama a Cylon? Give me a break!). It's also nice to see Starbuck handling some responsibilities and someone other than the Chief getting a little piece, but I am having a little trouble believing that Billy is such a stallion in the sack that Dualla would start spilling tales out of school so quickly. "Ooooh, Billy! Adama's been making secret phone calls! Touch me there....Adama's been going on secret flights!" Bollocks.

 For those of you who haven't seen the March 1st episode of Gilmore Girls, too bad, it's been like a week already! This isn't as much of a recap as it is a 130 word exhale of relief. All is right with the world. Well, the TV world, anyway. Sure, Lane and Zach had a romantic dinner and Lane realized that she didn't want to have sex until she was married (Zach, dude! Sorry, mon.) and Sookie falls asleep at the dinner table but what's really important here is, Lorelai and Luke are back together! I couldn't be happier, even considering  the fact that the writers of this episode actually copied one of the plotlines of an episode of Northern Exposure called "Spring Break" that I was actually in! Well, maybe it was an homage, rather than a copy. Either way, they make a great (if "duh!") couple and I'm glad we were spared a half-season of "will they/won't they" garbage.