The Wizard of Oz

Remember that year (1994) the Detroit Red Wings lost to the San Jose Sharks in game 7 of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs? Sure you do... 21 year old Rookie, Chris Osgood was in goal and he basically lost the game for us by giving away the puck to a Sharks player, leading them to score? That was the very first time I found myself actually caring about a hockey game. Don't get me wrong, I grew up around hockey. My dad loved it. He had season tickets and was always watching it but I never had a reason to pay attention before. There was something about that baby faced, blond goaltender (who was crying in the locker room after the loss) that made me take notice of the game and become obsessed with it.

Seriously obsessed. It was the first thing I was ever truly passionate about; The Detroit Red Wings and Chris Osgood. Hockey made me happy and it was always something I could look forward to. I loved the flow of the game and just watching the players skate. I adored going downtown to Joe Louis with my dad and getting teased by some of the guys sitting around us for being an Osgood fan. I loved the smell of the ice and the excitement I felt when they would announce the starting line up. I knew every player, every statistic and anxiously watched every game. I would wear some type of hockey or Red Wing shirt every day, as well as my #30 charm (with other miscellaneous hockey charms), and best of all, my goalie pin. PIN as in button. Every. Single. Day. I even wore it in my senior pictures. My entire room was filled with Chris Osgood and Red Wing pictures. I had scrap books with my favorite newspaper clippings (which are still in my attic to this day). It would devastate me if we lost a game, especially if Ozzie was in goal. I took it to heart, as if I was the one playing the game (ask me about the 1995 playoffs, when we were swept by the New Jersey Devils some time. I was a mess).

But, win or lose, I was always Chris Osgood's #1 fan. On March 6, 1996 he became one of nine goaltenders in the NHL to score a goal. This game wasn't televised (boy, was I mad about that) and I was listening to it on the radio with my parents. I was so excited when they announced that he had scored, that I fell off the bar stool I was sitting on.  I was able to meet him a couple times, once while at a fan fest (see photo), It was a real quick, "hello, thank you, goodbye" but it made my year. And another time, 2 years ago in downtown Plymouth. My friends and I saw him at a bar and they were begging me to go talk to him. I couldn't do it. I was perfectly fine with staring at him from afar (creepy, I know) and I didn't want to bother him. Carrie made me talk to him and I couldn't be more grateful to her, haha. He was super nice and agreed to take a picture with me. He asked me how I was and probably would have talked to me for a lot longer if I hadn't been such a nervous freak and ran off so quick. It was a fantastic experience and I was on cloud 9.

I was really, really sad when he was put on waivers in 2001 and the New York Islanders picked him up. Even more sad because Dominic Hasek was replacing him and I couldn't stand him. I admit, my interest in hockey lessened quite a bit after that. I would still keep tabs on him though and when my dad would take me to a Wings Vs. Islanders game (or later on, St. Louis Blues) I would watch him in goal for the other team and secretly hope for a tie. In August, 2005 we got him back. I was ECSTATIC. It was like he never left and I had so much fun watching him play again.

Now, he's retiring (he'll be a goalie consultant with the Wings) and I am a sad girl. He was responsible for bringing a game into my life that I barely paid attention to before. It brought me joy and tears and most of all, it got me through high school. Every time there was a bad day (come on, it was high school, there were LOTS of bad days), I could always turn a Red Wing game on and see Ozzie in net, making a save and it would instantly bring a smile to my face. He brought me bonding time with my dad that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I love, love, loved going to games with him, watching them on tv with my family and just talking about the different players and teams.

Was he the best goalie in the world? Maybe not to some people, but to me he always will be. I will miss seeing him in his "old school" red helmet on the ice. I'll miss hearing the audio dudes at Joe Louis play The Wizard Of Oz clip after he makes an amazing save and I will miss seeing him on the bench, chewing gum and taking notes in the games where he was playing back up. Most of all, I will miss seeing him wear that #30, Red Wing jersey.

For now, I have my pictures, jerseys (4 of them!) and memories to make me smile whenever I miss seeing him play.

Chris Osgood:

• 17 NHL Seasons
• 3 Stanley Cup wins (2 of which he was starting goaltender)
• 401 Wins (10th in NHL regular season history)
• 1 goal
• 2 time winner of the William Jennings Trophy
• 2 time All Star Player

"You're a Wizard, Harry"

On July 8th, 2000 a little book called Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire by J.K. Rowling was released. I had no idea what it was. I was working at Lenscrafters in Westland Mall at the time and saw that people were lined up outside of both bookstores, eagerly anticipating the moment when the gates were raised so they could buy their copies. I had never seen such a thing for a book release! The whole thing had me so curious. As it turned out, one of my coworkers (Amber!) was a HUGE Potter fan. She gave me a summary of the story so far and it had me so intrigued I went out and bought Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone that very day. I was instantly hooked.

I've said it before, but this book series made me fall in love with reading again. The way the storytelling flowed, the creatiivity and imagination that went into every aspect of it was so captivating that it was like (pardon my pun) I was under a magic spell. When they announced that they would be releasing the first book as a movie I was ecstatic. Especially after I saw the cast for the first time. Every one of them completely fit the description in my mind. When Jeff and I went to see it on opening night (November 16, 2001), I remember having chills and tears in my eyes when the title flashed on the screen. Chris Columbus (who directed the movie, produced it and is also responsible for the casting of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson) did such a wonderful job of literally bringing that book to life. The great hall, the common rooms, the quidditch pitch, everything was spot on. I couldn't wait for the next one. It was so much fun to see the story progress and see the actors grow along with the tale that was being told.

***This is your usual SPOILER ALERT for everyone who has yet to see the film***

Almost 10 years later we are finally able to see the conclusion. And what an amazingly wonderful, emotional conclusion it was. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 was incredibly true to the book. I am so so grateful that they decided to split the final book into two separate movies. They were able to show every part of it that makes it so great. Daniel Radcliffe was superb. Seriously, superb. His facial expressions conveyed more than the dialogue did in some parts and I found myself completely riveted by him. This film was HIS shining moment and he did not disappoint. Everyone was good in it, of course but he was literally in almost every single scene and he owned them all.

Some of my favorite parts: when Neville brings Harry, Ron and Hermione to the room of requirement and all the other students are so happy to see them, they erupt in applause. I also loved the scene where Snape has all the students gathered in the great hall and is lecturing them on the consequences of helping Harry, when he (Harry) reveals himself, in his Hogwarts cloak and starts yelling at him, (as the Order of The Phoenix walk up behind him). It was so powerful, I jumped in my seat. They did right by the fans and left a few of everyone's favorite quotes in the script. Namely, Mrs. Weasley's, "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU B*TCH!". The theater broke into applause when that scene came on. While different from how it happens in the book, Ron and Hermione's first kiss was really sweet and very much in line with their characters. Oh, how I love my Ron Weasley (my Won-Won). I only really cried during one scene, which was the part in the Forbidden Forest with the resurrection stone (also my most favorite part of the book). Seeing James and Lily, Sirius and Lupin was SO comforting even though I already knew it was going to happen. It was so well done, I just loved it. The visual effects were very cool, particularly a scene near the beginning where they show tons of dementors looming above the castle.

I can't wait to see it again. I'm sad that it's all over but I'm so happy that it was created.

 So, thank you, J.K. Rowling for introducing this amazing boy to the world. Thank you for having such a creative imagination and giving people a world to escape to (quite literally if you go to The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter). Thank you to all the people responsible for creating this visual world that had only existed in our minds. Call me a nerd/geek/dork if you want for loving this series but I am proud to call myself a Potter fanatic. I am proud of what the series (books and movies) have accomplished, as well as all of the actors. I love the imagination that it instills in people and that I can show my own son that it's ok to make believe that you are boy wizard and have fun "casting spells". For anyone who doesn't get that, you don't know the art of playing make believe and using your imagination and I feel sorry for you. The amount of joy these books and movies bring me is priceless and I love that.

Thank you, Harry Potter.

Might I suggest...

That you don't see the movie Red Riding Hood, starring Amanda Seyfried and directed by Catherine Hardwicke? Yeah, yeah, I know... You are all asking "Sarah! Why would you watch that movie to begin with!?" Well, I was curious. Firstly, I wanted to see just how much like Twilight it really was and the answer is this: so much like Twilight you have no idea. The longing stares, the loud score, the choppy cuts, not one but two Edward Cullen look-alikes... Twilight 2.0, friends. Secondly, it had Gary Oldman and Billy Burke in it. I like them both a lot, so how bad could this movie be? Terrible. It was terrible. So terrible in fact, that Dawn said she felt like she owed me a dollar for having to sit through it. It is 90 minutes that we will not get back, however, we (Dawn, Jeff and I) had a great time making fun of it while we watched. It was one of those times that I wished we were recording ourselves because lots of laughs were had. So, yeah, don't see that movie and if you have already, I'm sorry.

That you go see Super 8 while it's still in theaters.  You all know my love for JJ Abrams. It's no secret how much I adore the man who gave me Alias and he absolutely does not disappoint with this film. He wrote and directed it (Steven Spielberg produced it) and he did such a great job. I'm not going to go into detail about the plot or anything because you need to be surprised, but it is a mixture of Stand By Me/The Goonies/The Sandlot and E.T. If you love anything about any of these movies, go see this film. The cast of kids is virtually unknown, with the exception of Elle Fanning (Dakota Fanning's little sister) and they were wonderful. Joel Courtney (who plays Joe Lamb, the main character) was so fantastic. I am interested to see what he does next. So, take me up on this. You won't regret it. Go see it and then tell me how much you loved it (or hated it, whatever) but promise that you'll stay for the credits. 

 That you check out Game Of Thrones (if you haven't already) when it comes out on DVD. I am not exaggerating when I say that this show was done phenomenally well. Is it disturbing? Yes, but that's part of what makes it so interesting. I am currently reading the first book in the series by George R. R. Martin, that the show was based on and so far, it is spot on. Normally, I am the type of person who will read the books first and then watch the show/movie. Not this time. I am SO glad that I watched the show first. The element of surprise that goes into the scenes and the shock value is so much fun to experience. I am going to try to do this with the rest of the series as well but I may not be able to wait that long.

That you have an open mind when it comes to this season of True Blood. ***Spoilers ahead if you haven't watched last night's premiere*** You know me, I am a huge, huge advocate of the book series by Charlaine Harris. I love the story (with the exception of the last few books) and I love the show. They are not one in the same. Each series is it's own entity. I know that when it comes to book adaptations and TV shows, people can be very picky. I admit, I can be that way too but this season, I am going to trust that Alan Ball knows what he's doing. After watching the season 4 premiere and having some time to process it, I have decided that I really enjoyed it. Is it like the book? Nope. Not at all. YET. I have accepted that not everything is going to be an exact carbon copy of the story from the book. Do I still compare the storylines? You bet your ass I do. Do I still pause the show in the middle of a scene to explain the differences  between the book story and the current TV story to Jeff (whether he wants me to or not)? You betcha! But that's OK because I am incredibly intrigued by every story they presented us with last night (except for Tara's. UGH, just go away, Tara!) Especially (surprisingly) Bill's. In the books his character is pretty much weeded out. She turns him into a straight edge, boring, computer geek. So, to see that he has the potential to be a badass, as the King of Louisiana?? I accept! The fairy stuff (which I actually do not care for in the books) has me completely interested. Of course, I look forward to seeing where the Sookie/Eric storyline goes (I cannot wait to see where that goes!!) but I am going to be open-minded. I urge you to be open-minded with me. Obviously, they are not following Dead to the World exactly. Obviously. But let's just see where they go with it. On a television show, they have a lot more room to play around and be visual and flesh out the characters. I'm going to (try) to be patient and see where they take us. Who knows? I may be eating my words come season finale time and I promise you, my gentle readers, that I will be the first to admit it if that happens as long as you promise to be patient and see what Alan Ball has in store. 

That if you partake in such festivities as a fireworks display, a carnival or a concert... anywhere that may have you stuck in a packed parking lot, waiting to get into the flow of traffic, that you are considerate of your fellow drivers? Typically the rule is; one car goes, then another car is let in, one car goes and so on. So many times, this is not the case. Why are you in such a hurry?? Everyone is stuck in the same place (and yes, I'm talking to you, Mr. Douchebag in the red mustang, from the Spree fireworks last night) and if drivers were more courteous, the flow of traffic would go a lot more smooth than if someone is being a giant hole. As you can guess, this happened to Jeff, C and I last night (after a wonderful evening of watching the fireworks with Dawn and Bill). Mr. Mustang actually took the time to maneuver his car so that there was no way we would be able to get in front of him. After clapping boisterously for him and congratulating him on his "big win" he proceeded to tell us that if his "F'ing daughter hadn't been in the car..." something would have happened? He would have let us in? He would have gotten into a fight with Jeffrey a' la' Jets vs. Sharks style? Who's to say? All I know is my CBear summed up the incident perfectly when he said "Mommy and Daddy, that guy is a baaaaaad boy!" Indeed he is. So don't be a "baaaad boy" when dealing with a parking lot clusterfrick. Chillax and be a nice driver.

"OMG, we're back again!"

So, two concerts at The Palace in one week is exhausting. FUN, but exhausting. This time we went to see New Kids on the Block (NKOTB) and The Backstreeet Boys (BSB) -Shout out to Carrie for getting the tickets!- I have never been a real big BSB fan, I was always more of an Nsync girl but I was very impressed with those boys last night.

The merch stand had the typical t-shirts for $40 and keychain's for $15. I wasn't crazy about any of the shirts. As I told Carrie, I could probably make them myself and I wouldn't even charge you $40 for it!

We didn't get to people watch a whole lot but we did notice the usual homemade shirts (with puffy paint!), girls wearing their original shirts from back in the day (even though they are all growed up now) and LOTS of sparkly tops. So sparkly! Oh, and I saw maybe 3 boys in the crowd.

The show began right at 730 with a blah opener, Ashlyne Huff. She was dressed in some sort of leotard/sparkly bathing suit thing and had backup dancers and her own DJ hyping her up to the audience. It was really weird and kind of chaotic. In the middle of her set, she just started dancing to songs from the 80's and 90's. It was strange. She wasn't on for long though and then Jordin Sparks came out. I was actually pretty impressed with her. Girl has got herself a really good voice and I was surprised that I recognized so many songs. She didn't have a band though. She was singing along to a backup track of music, I guess? And she had this really lame visual of a dude's hands (I am assuming it was a dude) playing guitar whenever there was the slightest bit of guitar in the song. It was odd. But all in all, I was happy with her set.

After LOTS of visuals on the screens of ALL the boys, they came out. I'm not going to lie, it was really exciting. With all the flashing lights and the background music (Coldplay's "Viva La Vida"??) it was very cool. They started singing and the ladies lost it. Screams galore, but not the high shrill screams of the Glee concert... regular screams of lust and "JOEY/NICK/JORDAN etc., I LOVE YOU!!!!!" It was a very entertaining experience. NKOTB came out and sang a few songs and then BSB would come out and do a few of their songs. The whole show was really organized and very well done.

NKOTB changed outfits no less than 7 times. I think it was 7. If it was more than that, I lost count after 7.  I love the costume changes though. It fit the show perfectly and oh my goodness, THOSE BOYS ARE HANDSOME. Seriously, they have been doing this for how long now and they all look amazing. Each band had their "ballad/serenading" set. I liked NKOTB's better than BSB's not only because I know their songs better, but because they didn't pull girls up on stage and sing to them. Oh yes, the BSB boys went into the crowd, each picked a girl, brought her up on stage, set her down on a stool (gave her a rose) and serenaded her. While hysterically funny (though it wasn't meant to be), I could barely look on stage because I was so mortified for the girls. I'm positive they loved it, but I couldn't help but think how embarrassed  I would be, had it been me. The whole thing was UBER cheesy but it was supposed to be.

When I was younger, I was always a Jordan girl. I had the big giant button that I would set up in my desk at school (still have it somewhere in my attic) and I thought he was the cutest. He's still cute and can wear a V-neck t-shirt like no other, but my heart belongs to Joey McIntyre these days. Remember when he was on the first season of Dancing With the Stars? That's about the time when I decided to switch. Anyway, that boy is insanely talented. For real. His voice sounded so so so fantastic and when he belted out "Please Don't Go Girl", my heart melted a little. It was that good. AMAZING. I can't find a video of it from our show, otherwise I would be posting it right now but trust me when I say he was nothing short of stellar.

The rest of the night finished with all the boys performing their hits. BSB rocked it with "Everybody" and "I Want It That Way" and of course, NKOTB did "Hangin' Tough and "Step By Step" as well as a slew of other hits. They each did their own finale and just when we thought the concert was never going to end (we really didn't think they were going to stop), they ended the evening with this:



Fun, right?

We closed our night out by rehashing the concert in the parking lot, while waiting for the traffic to clear.

Listen, whether you think these boys are overrated simply for being "boy bands" or because only teenage adult women like them and swoon over them, please know that they are seriously talented. They worked their asses off during every single number. The amount of choreography and stamina needed to make a show like that be successful is off the charts and they nailed it. Nailed. It. Their voices were awesome and the dancing was almost mesmerizing. Bottomline: if you have a chance to check out one of their shows, do it. I promise, you will not be disappointed. You will be fully entertained for two and a half hours and you will be so happy that you went. And then you will go home and pull out your NKOTB tapes (yeah, I said tapes) and your BSB cd's and you will rock out and relive the memories of the night, as well as your youth.

Finally, I leave you with this... Because you have to experience some version of it and see why I love it so much. This performance is from their Toronto show:

Good on you, Gleeks!

When I first heard that Glee Live was coming here, I was semi-interested but tickets were real, real expensive. I decided I wasn't going to pay a ton of money to see these kids sing live, when I can see them sing on my TV every week... BUT if they were free, I most certainly wouldn't say no. As it turns out, my work was offering 2 tickets to the June 13th show at The Palace. I decided to request them, never thinking I would actually get them. Guess what? this girl scored herself a pair of really great seats.

I decided to take my soulmate, Dawn, since we have had our year long tradition of "Glee Nights" (and because she's awesome). After sitting in horrendous traffic, we arrived at the show a little after 730pm (FYI: show started at 730). We were starving, so we decided to get food before taking our seats. While ordering our delicious sandwiches, we missed out on the "opening act" which was a dance crew of some sort. There were girls and boys dressed as MicKinley High cheerleaders walking around the concourse area trying to get everyone pumped up and that was kind of cute and kind of cheesy. They passed out "Barf Bags" before the concert started, courtesy of Sue.

We checked out the merch stand and it was all very expensive cool. $65 isn't too much for a sweatshirt, right? $40 for a tank top is a bargain, isn't it?? Crazy prices aside, the stuff was very fun. They even had shirts from the "Born This Way" episode, where each one depicted a trait that makes the person insecure (IE: "Likes Boys", "Can't Dance", "Trouty Mouth"). I would have purchased something if I was rich. Alas, I am not.

Naturally, while waiting for the show to start, we people watched. There were lots of homemade shirts, Warblers ties, tweens, moms with young daughters and quite a few boys. On the screens, they showed quotes from the season and pictures of the scenes in which the quotes took place. That was fun. The tweens would scream with excitement every time a steam shooter was tested or if there was the tiniest of movements behind the stage.

When the lights went down, they showed a video of Sue and Mr. Schuester bickering and introducing the Glee club. It was cute and clever and definitely put the crowd in the mood for the show. The Glee kids came out rocking with "Don't Stop Believing". They were full of energy and excitement and they sounded great. There were 2 stages: the main stage and then a smaller stage toward the back of the arena. Sometimes while they were finishing up a song on the main stage, they would be setting up for the next number on the smaller stage. There were tons and tons and tons of lights and visual effects and background pictures that would correspond with the songs. It was just plain fun!

I was most excited when The Warblers showed up and I got to see Darren Criss sing live. I have such a crush on that boy. He was so fun and sounded fantastic! He bounced around the stage like he owned it and you could tell he was having so much fun. I was most surprised by Chris Colfer. I find him annoying and whiny on the show but on stage, he was wonderful. It was so nice to see him sing without having a cryface the whole time. The only one missing was Dianna Agron. She tweeted this morning "Detroit! I'm terribly sorry I couldn't be at the show tonight, it was out of my power. I WILL be back tomorrow. Much love, Di". The only thing that would have made the concert better was if Jesse St. James popped out from behind the curtains. He didn't. Sad. They only performed one of their original songs ("Loser Like Me") and ended the evening with "Somebody to Love" by Queen.

The evening wrapped up around 950 and then we sat in the clustrfrick that was the parking lot for a real long time. On our way out, we noticed that stretching the entire length of the driveway (from the Palace entrance, all the way out to the street) were fans. Tons and tons of fans, waiting on the sidelines for the Glee dudes to come out. I have been to 47 billion concerts at The Palace and I have never, ever seen that. It was like they were waiting for a parade. We didn't stick around to find out if they were able to meet anyone because we were tired and already partially deaf from all the screaming that we had just endured, but it was kind of neat to see the effect that this group of kids, who do a television show and sing covers of songs has on people.

All in all, I was very impressed with the concert. Honestly, it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. After a really crappy season 2, I guess I had forgotten how much fun these people could be. They all stayed in character and played to the crowd really well and reminded me why I love the show so much in the first place. The fact that it was free made it even better, but they really put on a great show. We were constantly entertained and smiling and it was just a feel good experience. There was one teeny tiny moment where Dawn and I thought some of them may have been lip synching... but there was lots of dancing going on, so I suppose we can give them a pass for it. Maybe.

Here is one of my favorite performances from last night:




FYI: My next concert review will be none other than NKOTBSB...

Five by Five

I realize that I am one of the few people left on the planet (maybe) to hop on the Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel train and I am alright with that. I am just happy that I decided to hop on at all. I started watching Buffy in October, 2009. No reason really, other than I was bored and a lot of my friends loved it (and I had a deep adoration for David Boreanaz from watching Bones). Luckily at that time, Hulu still had the first 3 seasons (of Buffy) in their entirety on the site, that you could watch (they started removing them soon after I watched season 2). The first season, I mostly listened to while I worked and that was okay because come on now, the first season is pretty silly. I fell in love with it the second season and it grew from there. I pretty much became obsessed and decided to watch Angel in unison, so I could follow the show chronologically as it aired when it was actually on. THAT was a chore and made it take twice as long to get through, but I'm happy I watched it that way. I even had an episode guide that instructed me when to watch each episode. I crossed off the episodes on the list after I would watch one (ask Jeff. He would laugh at me every time I pulled out my little list/pencil to mark where I was in my journey). I have such huge respect for Joss Whedon & company for creating these amazing characters and stories. While cheesey at times and infuriating at others, these shows kept me intrigued and wanting more. Now that I am finally finished with them, I feel kind of lost. Nothing to do? I can always watch Buffy and Angel! Now I don't have that and it feels weird. Big thanks to Nichole for letting me borrow all of her Buffy DVD's and big thanks to Carrie for buying me the Angel box set (it was a goldbox deal of the day on Amazon!) for my 29th Birthday and an even bigger thanks to all the people who listened to me go on and on about these shows long after they had been finished. It was fun and I loved it.

For those of you who are left out there and have yet to experience these two awesome shows, I urge you to stop reading now. I'm going to list my top 5 favorite episodes (as well as some honorable mentions) from each series and there will be spoilers galore. Starting with Buffy (in no particular order)...

S P O I L E R   A L E R T !

1. Once More, With Feeling (Season 6)- This was the musical episode. Really, that's all you need to know. It was amazing. AMAZING. It was so well done and fun and revealed so much about every character and relationship. I could watch it over and over again. Such a great, great episode.

2. Passion (Season 2)- Jenny Calendar tries to do a spell that will restore Angelus's soul but in the end, he ends up stopping her. For good, so to speak. The scene where he kills her is so dramatic and eerie. It really drives the point home that Angel is no longer there and also, that Joss Whedon ain't playing around anymore. I love Angelus almost as much as I love Angel. He's fun and crazy and witty and it was so much fun to see that other side.

3. Enemies (Season 3)- Faith (blech) and The Mayor construct a plan to turn Angel evil again that involves her trying to seduce him. I was so nerved up throughout this episode. It was one of the only times I ALMOST spoiled myself on purpose, so I could know the outcome. I didn't though. I watched without knowing what was going to happen and loved the twist and turn the episode takes. I love the look on Faith's face when she realizes they tricked her. Who's "five by five" now, eh!?!? Ha.

4. Hush (Season 4)- Everyone in Sunnydale loses the ability to speak, thanks to demons known as "The Gentlemen". Aside from the score, the entire episode is silent. So fantastically well acted and incredibly well done. No one else would ever be able to pull something like this off and do it so wonderfully. I watched this episode late at night and had to get up early for work the next day. I was so incredibly creeped out by it, that I forced myself to stay up and watch another episode to make the heebie jeebies go away.

5. Storytellyer (Season 7)- Andrew films the gang and the "potentials" for a documentary about Buffy. This is how you know that Joss Whedon and his merry band of writers are so talented at what they do. They took a whiny, seemingly annoying character such as Andrew and turned him into one of my FAVORITES.  All in the course of a season. I love this episode because Andrew narrates it and he's funny and entertaining and heartbreaking all at once. I. Love. Him.

Honorable Mentions: The Prom (Season 3) Oh, how I love the end. The Body (Season 5) It was sad and heartbreaking and had zero music in the background. It was a very raw episode.

Least Liked Episodes: The Puppet Show ( Season 1) Remember my fear of dolls, stuffed animals, toys etc. coming alive at night!?!?!? Beer Bad (Season 4) Dumb.

Angel:

1. I Will Remember You (Season 1)- Buffy comes to L.A. to yell at Angel for being in Sunnydale the night before and not telling her he was in town. They argue while fighting a demon. After slaying the demon, Angel ends up getting it's blood mixed with his, which in turn, makes him human again. Angel and Buffy spend the "perfect" day together, totally content and happy until he realizes that he can do a lot more good as a vampire than as a human. So, in order to save the world, he has his humanity revoked and Buffy ends up forgetting everything about their "perfect" day. It was a bittersweet episode. Sigh.

2. When Good Vampires Go Bad (Season 2)- Angel is tormented by "visions" of Darla which causes him to remember the first time he met Drusilla, back in 1860 London. I love any of the episodes having to do with his flashbacks. When they include both Darla and Dru ( AND Spike!), I am a happy girl.

3. There Is No Place Like Plrtz Glrb (Season 2)- Stuck in Pylea (Lorne's hometown!), Cordelia is believed to be a Princess, Wesley and Gunn are fighting rebels, Lorne has his head chopped off and Angel works to save Fred from the hell dimension. With all the broodiness and grumpiness of the season, the finale was sort of lighthearted. And it introduced Fred, whom I heart, so yay.

4. You're Welcome! (Season 5)- I didn't realize this when I was watching it, but this was the 100th episode. I loved it. Cordelia mysteriously awakens from her "mystical coma", to set Angel back on his heroic path and to help him fight Lindsey. I love Lindsey! The whole episode had me smiling... until the very end, of course.

5. Smile Time (Season 5)- Who picks a goofy throwaway episode to be put in their top 5 list of best episodes? This girl does. A popular children's show is stealing the life force of kids. When Angel goes to investigate the studio, he ends up being turned into a puppet. Not a creepy puppet but like, a muppet. It's FANTASTIC. I loved this episode so much, I almost immediately re-watched it. Almost, but didn't. I'll re-watch it with the commentary soon. I want an Angel puppet. They are (at best) $150. Someone buy it for me, okay? Thanks.


Honorable mentions: Reunion (Season 2) After spending the episode looking for Dru and Darla, Angel locks them in a wine cellar with a ton of people from Wolfram & Hart and just walks away, knowing they will kill everyone in the room. A Hole In The World (Season 5) Just thinking about this episode makes me want to cry. Fred is infected with a mysterious, parasitic demon and they are unable to save her. I was in denial the entire time I was watching it. It ended and I was furious. THAT is why it's not in the top 5. I'm still too heartbroken over it. Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof were amazing. So so amazing. In the long run, it may end up being my favorite episode. Who knows?

Least Liked Episodes: Uhm, ALL of season 4. All of it. Why We Fight (Season 5) you follow up the episode where Cordelia dies with this nonsense crap about a submarine Captain? No.

I could go on and on about these shows. I could tell you my least favorite characters: Faith, Dawn, Connor (ugh, F'ing Connor), Eve. Or, how I have a weird crush on Giles and that I overreacted several times when I thought he was going to die, but I will stop now.

Next up: Jeff and I are going to start Firefly this week.

Let's talk TV.

Greetings, gentle readers!

A lot has been happening in the world of TV the last two weeks. All the networks have been showing off their potential pilots for the the Fall season. Last year at this time there was a whole lot of nothing to look forward to as far as new shows go. I can't think of one new show that held my interest this season. As it turns out, it didn't matter because I am pretty certain almost all of them were canceled. It was a really crappy tv season, friends. Not just for the new shows, but for my old favorites as well.  

Grey's Anatomy started off crazy good and went steadfastly downhill. So much so, that I am not really looking forward to watching the season finale. But I will. Out of some irrational sense of obligation I feel toward the show, even though I think Shonda Rhimes is an idiot. Glee had a rough sophomore season. Let's be honest here, their second season was chalk full of inconsistencies, stupid storylines and plots that made NO SENSE (cough-Emma/Carl getting married-cough). I was real close to calling it quits (maybe), but somewhere about 3 or 4 episodes back, it found it's groove again. Right about the time Gwyneth Paltrow exited (how's that for coincidence?). Ryan Murphy has a tendency to go a little balls-out crazycakes with his shows to the point where the characters almost become cartoons (Nip/Tuck anyone?) but he managed to reel things back in and bring the plot back which has made SUCH a difference. Not to mention they brought back the one and only Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff) for the last 3 episodes and Jesse St. James makes everything better, people. He really does.

Oh, I am also eagerly anticipating the Bones season finale this evening. I'll let you know if it disappoints me or not. I am trying not to get my hopes up too much for it because Hart Hanson has a way of reeaaalllyyy dropping the ball when it comes to important episodes on that show. I am optimistic though, especially because the season has been somewhat of a letdown all year.

The only shows that haven't let me down this year are Vampire Diaries and Modern Family. Both shows remained consistently fresh and so so entertaining all year. The Vampire Diaries season finale was subtle and awesome. I can't wait for next season. Modern Family is just fun, funny and heartwarming. I. Love. It.

Anyway, with all that being said, there are a billion new shows being premiered in the fall and here are the ones I am looking forward to the most (in no particular order):

The New Girl (FOX, Tuesdays @ 9:00)- Starring the ALWAYS adorable and charming Zooey Deschanel, as a (geeky) girl who moves in with three guys after she finds her boyfriend cheating on her. Any description I give it won't do it justice, so just watch the preview below. I am super duper excited for this show. SUPER DUPER.





Ringer (CW, Tuesdays @ 9:00)- This show marks Sarah Michelle Gellar's return to tv. Hooray! She plays identical twins, Bridget and Siobhan. After Bridget (a recovering alcoholic) witnesses a murder, she runs away to New York to make amends with her sister who is married and living a fairytale lifestyle. Siobhan disappears and Bridget basically takes over her identity.


 The Secret Circle (CW Thursdays, @ 9:00)- An ordinary girl (played by Britt Robertson) moves to a small town with her mother, only to discover she's a full blooded witch. This show is based on the book series by L.J. Smith and I looooved the books. They left out a lot of characters and the descriptions don't match those of the book but I am determined to keep an open mind about this. Kevin Williamson (of Dawson's Creek and Vampire Diaries fame) is in charge of this, so I have very high hopes.


Once Upon a Time (ABC, Sundays @ 8:00)- This one stars Jennifer Morrison (eh) and Ginnifer Goodwin and is brought to us by Lost executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. This one is kind of hard to explain. It has to do with a bail bonds enforcer, a son that was given up for adoption, alternate worlds and fairytales. Check it out.


Apt. 23 (ABC, midseason)- This is a shallow pick. I'm basically picking it because of James Van Der Beek. He plays himself.


Alcatraz (FOX, Mondays @ 9:00)- This midseason drama is brought to you by J.J. Abrams (duh, of course this one is on my list) and starring Jorge Garcia. This show is about the prison Alcatraz. Shocking, right? Oh, and there is some sort of time traveling involved. NO! Not in a J.J. Abrams show!? Anyway, it follows a detective (played by Sarah Jones) who teams up with an expert (Jorge Garcia), after a murder suspect turns out to be an Alcatraz prisoner who disappeared from the island about 50yrs ago.


Person Of Interest (CBS, Thursdays @ 9:00)- Also brought to you by J.J. Abrams and starring Ben Linus... I mean, Michael Emerson, this one is about a billionaire (Emerson) who hires a presumed dead CIA Agent (Jim Caviezel) to catch violent criminals in New York. Really though, all you need to know is that this stars BEN from Lost, people. The end.


There you go. Those are the shows I am most excited for. Hopefully they won't disappoint.

Also, I should mention (going back to current TV shows), I loved the Castle season finale. They did a really great job with it. I won't go in to detail because I don't want to spoil anyone but I really enjoyed it.

Another thing, I have been really lax in my viewings of The Office. I have yet to watch Steve Carell's last episode and we didn't record the last 2 episodes. I think my Office watching has come to an end. I am undecided on whether or not I want to watch the season finale. Can anyone convince me that I should??