Recaps

['Big Brother 12' - 'Head of Household #10 Conclusion, Nominations #10']

In what seems to be the power move in the ratings ploy game, we had to endure yet another "to be continued" live Head of Household competition this week. It's not that I don't understand the concept of endurance competitions. I wouldn't have an issue with the continuation if indeed 'Big Brother' was doing endurance.

It seems like they believe the cliffhangers will bring in more viewers anxious to know the results. Yeah, that works ... especially on a holiday weekend. It should go without saying that folks will cancel their holiday plans just so they can catch the ending of the HoH comp. Wake up, CBS!

Welcome to the Soap Round-Up, our weekly recap of all the soap action this past week. Each week, we sum up all the best stories from each and every soap, from 'All My Children' to 'The Young and the Restless.'

If you don't want to know what aired already, consider this a SPOILER ALERT. ... Oh, one last thing, please comment and join the conversation.

For instance, did you watch 'As the World Turns' and how they handled Nancy Hughes' death? It was incredibly emotional, especially the classic clips from the 1950's and beyond. Helen Wagner was truly a soap legend. What did you think of how her death was portrayed on the soap?

['Jersey Shore' - 'Not So Shore']

Cat fight! Like a guidette-sponsored Sunday night dinner, this week's rough and tumble 'Jersey Shore' was well worth the wait -- and it packed more than just a JWoww punch.

Self-proclaimed tough cookie JWoww was on a tear. It's hard to tell exactly what set her off-Sam's poor me routine, Sam's inability to grow a pair, Sam's continual return to the roidy arms of her cheating beaux Ron-but if bets were being made, I'd say she's just as sick of this Heidi and Spencer crap as the rest of us.

['Futurama' - 'The Mutants Are Revolting']

"Fry, this is the stupidest, sweetest thing you've ever done." - Leela

The season finale snuck up on me. It wasn't until a couple of days ago when I pitched a feature idea to the editors at TV Squad HQ about how this season was shaping up to be one of if not the best of the entire series run.

Then it dawned on me, this IS the last show of the season. Not only that but it's the 100th episode of the entire series. This thing that has been on the air just by the sheer force of the will of the fans who helped breath life into it and then brought it back to life, has reached one of the holiest milestones of television.

How does a show about the insignificance that time imposes on man make me feel so alive?

[Project Runway - You Can Totally Wear That Again]

Without the hindrance of 'Models of the Runway' we can have a challenge on 'Project Runway' that has nothing to do with the models.

This week Heidi announced that the contestants would have to transform a bridesmaid's dress into something fashionable and hip, but not anything wedding related. Everyone was still reeling from the drama of last week, with Michael C. still wiping the truck tire marks off his face.

Since the contestants had to use most of the bridesmaid's dress in their new dress, they were given only $50 and a maximum of two yards of fabric. Obviously, the loophole was that they could grab as much trim, feathers, buttons and zippers that they needed. Interestingly, most of the contestants picked the two yards of fabric. Christopher got tossed a wrench almost immediately when his client was changed; ironically, we don't hear much from him the rest of the episode

[Big Brother 12 - 'Live Eviction #9, HoH #10] Another summer of 'Big Brother' is wrapping up as tonight's show gets us down to the final four hamsters. Who would have thought that the final five would be the Brigade minus one, Britney and Ragan?

It's time for all those remaining in the house to step up their game. In the Brigade, the guys have basically jumped in to win -- once they were up against the ropes. Well, now they're all up against the ropes and each one should be thinking of their own end game, not their friendships. That is, if they want to win the half-million.

Oh, 'Better Off Ted' and 'Party Down,' why did you have to be so good? You made most other comedies seem leaden and false by comparison.

Fans of 'Better Off Ted' had to put up with a lot during its two-season run, which ended in cancellation. The critically acclaimed show was mostly ignored by ABC, despite the fact that it developed into an increasingly hilarious workplace comedy.

You'd have thought the biggest indignity faced by Ted and the crew at Veridian Dynamics was ABC's cracked-out scheduling of the show (season 2 premiered in December, one of television's most fatal dead zones, and one episode aired on New Year's Day, which is almost the same as not airing at all).

But no, there were more indignities to come. ABC held on to the final two episodes of the show like a corporate executive clutching a bonus check. The network even teased us earlier in the summer by scheduling a tentative airdate for the episodes, which was of course rescinded.

['Top Chef' -- 'Gastro-Nauts']

Twelve episodes into this seventh season of 'Top Chef' and we're still being treated to little nuggets of info about the remaining cheftestants. Angelo, for instance, got divorced last year and has a son. (An interesting development since, in a recent episode, he talked about wanting to win the prize money so he could bring his fiancée over from Russia.)

And, Kelly, who seems to smoke at every possible opportunity, has never been away from her husband, Rick, for more than a few days. Whatever. There's no time to wallow here, folks: The last two challenges before the finale are upon you. Shake a leg.

Dana Cowin, the editor in chief of 'Food & Wine' magazine is waiting in the kitchen with Padma Lakshmi to explain the final Quickfire Challenge: The chefs have to choose a wine from the selection in front of them and create a dish to pair it with. As a bonus, the winner will win a trip to London. "Ten percent of pairings are awful," says Cowin wrinkling her nose, "Ten are inspired." Where these chefs' offerings will fall within the spectrum, we'll soon see.

(S05E28) "We had more standing ovations than ever before." - Nick

Last night's acts were so phenomenal (except three or four that were so-so) that it's almost impossible to 100 percent predict which acts will get a spot in the Top 10 this week. For sure, a lot of fans will be angry because some extremely deserving acts will not return next week.

Which acts did America voted for? Are your favorites returning for the Top 10? Read on for the answers as well as the list of the Top 10 finalists who will perform next week for a spot in the Top 4.

('Power of Veto #9') Only a few more weeks and 'Big Brother 12' will be history. Of course, many think it would be best to put it out of its misery now, but that's not going to happen. The hamsters are dwindling and we're down to five. Because of the low number of houseguests, CBS decided to up the count once again by forcing new sock puppet hamsters into the house.

Well, maybe there's another reason for the sock puppets. If only they could dance, this house might be entertaining once again.

['White Collar' - Company Man']

"No more secrets, Pete." - Neal
"No more secrets." - Peter

'White Collar,' like a lot of cable shows, splits their seasons into two parts. Next week is the summer finale of the show. Did you know that? I review the show every week and even I didn't realize that was the case. So I was expecting tonight's episode to be very Kate-centric, with a big lead-up to a cliffhanger, as we can go into the finale. But this was actually a case-of-the-week episode and only had a couple of scenes that had to do with the big picture plot.

But those were very important scenes indeed.

After watching 'So You Think You Can Dance Canada' for almost three weeks, I think I've learned a few things about how the viewers vote. First, they seem to like traditional dance styles (no Lady Gaga music mixed with foxtrot moves! Sorry, innovative choreographers). They also seem to hate jazz -- why, I can't understand.

Which could be why I wasn't really surprised by this week's bottom six dancers: Yonni, Jera and Edgar for the guys, and Claudia, Kirsten and Bree for the gals.

After some suspenseful (sarcasm!) pauses, we moved into the dance-offs where each dancer performed solo for the judges.

['Warehouse 13' - 'Vendetta']

H.G. Wells saved the day (again!) and was reinstated as a Warehouse agent. I guess it's time to start the death clock.

Seriously, there's no way she's gonna survive the season now. 'Warehouse 13' is an ensemble show, but that ensemble consists of Pete, Myka, Artie, and Claudia (and sometimes Leena!).

I'm not sayin' I object to Wells' new Warehouse role. Adding a smokin' hot time traveling literary figure to the team is actually a pretty cool idea. I just don't think it's gonna last.

Last night's episode of 'Louie' (Tue., 11PM ET on FX) was a weird one. There's no way to sugarcoat it. The show's been experimental in nature through the entire season, but last night it went off the comedy grid, so to speak.

Most of the episode involved Louis C.K. flashing back to his days as a kid in Catholic school, and how the battle ax of a teacher he had decided to demonstrate to Louie's class how Jesus died for their sins.

('Rescue Me' - 'A.D.D.')

What a strange journey this season has been, from beginning to end. I would have thought that after last year's sprawling 22-episode season, we would have had a much tighter run in these ten. But in most ways, this season felt disjointed, as if it wasn't sure what it wanted to be about. A hodge-podge of imagery and disparate situations leading to a finale that was, in many ways, much the same.

I didn't go into this finale expecting to be left with my jaw hanging on the ground the way I was at last season's explosive finale, with Tommy bleeding out behind the bar at Teddy's hands. But here I am, with this season's closing image in my mind, and I'm not quite sure what to think.