TVSquad

One of our regular commenters, Jim, asked us a good question the other day, in response to Rich's post that answered other questions: "I want to know why you've stopped posting reviews of Saturday Night Live."

Others have asked us this question from time to time since the season started. And the short answer is that Jonathan couldn't do it anymore and no one else volunteered. But the long answer is: no one volunteered because they didn't want to write the same review every week.

OK, I know I'm about the 7,321st person to complain about this but...

Why on God's green earth does NBC insist on super-sizing its sitcoms during sweeps?

I thought they were done with this after Friends left the air two years ago, but it looks like it's coming back with a vengance, with Will & Grace, My Name Is Earl, and The Office all airing 40-minute episodes tonight.

We all know what super-sizing is for: pumping up ratings in fallow time periods (namely, the Thursday 8:30 black hole that NBC has had since, oh, around 1995) so the network can charge advertisers more money. But we also all know what we get with these "extended" episodes: five minutes of extra footage that has nothing to do with the plot and is easily forgotten when the episode is rerun at normal length, and five extra minutes of commercials. And, I'm sure this scheduling quirk is going to fool a PVR or two and completely screw up people who still -- heaven forbid -- still use VCRs (I mean, how many casual TV fans are going to remember that Earl begins at 8:40 tonight?)

So if the beginning or end of your favorite Thursday NBC show gets cut off, there are ways for you to voice your opinion; just make sure it's constructive. And ,no, "F U NBC!" is not a constructive message.

I've bitched before about how the networks seem to have given up on Saturdays. But tonight ... tonight's a little ridiculous. I'm watching ABC right now, and guess what it's playing? Pretty Woman! That's right ... a sixteen year-old movie, that TBS AMC won't touch because it's not fresh enough, is taking up a piece of a major network's schedule. And it's not even Christmas!

Of course, I'm watching the stupid thing (nothing else on ... maybe the NBA playoffs, but ... eh). Here's what I'm learning from this experience:

1. Julia Roberts is the least convincing hooker I've ever seen.
2. Early '90s double-breasted suits look kinda silly now.
3. Richard Gere never did anything for me as an actor.
4. Jason Alexander was actually thin once ... once.
5. This is the movie that inflicted "The King of Wishful Thinking" upon us.
6. This movie isn't nearly as funny as I thought it was in 1990.
7. I really, really need to get a girlfriend.

Remember way back in December of 2005 when Fox aired the episode of Reunion for 1994? OK, good. Now, remember how they showed the previews for the next episode of Reunion? Yea? Excellent. Well, I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but Fox sucks, and they never showed that one. In fact, they promptly canceled the show after that, leaving many loyal fans wondering just what our misfit crew of estranged friends' fates were. There were four episodes that had filmed, but Fox decided not to show them. Will there be an eventual DVD release of the episodes? I wish I knew, but I don't think it would really wrap up any loose ends, though. Luckily, Kristin over at E! has a rundown of the lost episodes. Head on over for a complete rundown of what was going to happen, and then come back here and vent your frustration with me. I believe Kristin has said in the past that she was going to give an overview of everyone's final fates as well, so we'll have to keep our eyes peeled for those.