TVSquad

(S02E04) I felt like I was watching a bizarro version of Ugly Betty this week. Betty was a cheater, Justin belched, and the guy from Dawson's Creek was an insensitive jerk! What's next--Hilda dressing conservatively? There were several unpleasant surprises in this episode, but Gio's absence probably made some of the viewers happy. It's always difficult to watch the episodes where obstacles are set up for each character, but how else can there be a happy ending later on? Still, it took a while to get over the shock of seeing Justin wearing his Dad's leather jacket and hearing him say things like "Whatevs."

(S02E01) Betty's back! The season premiere was an excellent bookend to last season's finale. While the finale ended on a sad note, tonight's premiere let the characters confront their problems and look ahead to the future. This episode was all about letting go of the past and starting fresh, something that many of the characters desperately needed to do.

It looks like the charming Illeanarama is coming to a close. The fifth and final installment of the online series, starring actress Illeana Douglas, will be posted on YouTube late this week. There is, however, word that a "special feature" edition with guest stars Sarah Silverman and Daryl Hannah will run the week after the final episode hits the internets. If you haven't caught Illeanarama yet, it's one of the best-produced and well-written little gems hiding in the YouTube morass.

What's not to love about Illeana Douglas - granddaughter of two-time Oscar winner Melvyn Douglas, Scorsese regular, indie filmmaker and brilliant-but-canceled Action co-star? Alright, I didn't love her hippy-dippy appearance on Lisa Loeb's #1 Single, but I'll give her a pass because she was so great in To Die For, which was written by one of my heroes - Buck Henry.

Illeana is making television news this week with the YouTube premiere of her show Illeanarama. The pilot episode features Douglas, Christopher Guest regular Jane Lynch and Justine Bateman as herself. The premise is cute so long as you're not offended by rich people finding humor in what it would be like for them to live among the great unwashed. Illeana dumps her Hollywood career for life as a grocery story clerk. Once word gets out that working for a living is the hottest fashion statement (like adopting a third world babies?), more celebrities appear on the scene. Future episodes will feature Gene Wilder, Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley Jr. For the time being, you can only see them online care of Zeitbyte.