More TV Notes

:: Seriously, at what point did American Idol get so badly produced? I remember a time when having only five singers left meant that each one got two songs. Seriously, you can't do more than 20 minutes of music in an entire hour? And if you're going to keep cutting a judge off, make it Kara instead of Simon. Simon generally has something to say; Kara just loves to hear herself talk and thinks that everyone else is orgasming on stage to get the benefit of her wisdom.

Also, I was a little disappointed in Harry Connick Jr last night for not seriously talking to the remaining singers--well, Crystal and the remaining four contestants--about exactly what makes Frank Sinatra such a timeless singer. To me, it's always been his sincerity; he sang every song, even "Ol' Man River," as if it came from personal experience. Someone's got to tell these kids that it's not enough to sing a great song--it's not even enough to sing a great song well--it's about internalizing the song and singing it with the confidence and sincerity of experience. That's why it's so ridiculous to see Aaron sing "The Long and Winding Road": he doesn't have the experience behind him to sell that song. They're still too focused on technique and not enough on connecting with the song and with the audience. And audiences, on a subconscious level at least, will connect with a singer whose read of a song sounds sincere and confident. If you can't find a way to relate to a song and internalize it, don't bother singing it in a singing competition.

(And no, it doesn't have to have happened to you; a good deal of performing is acting, feeling, and empathy. I'm amazed how many people don't seem to get that. If you can't put yourself in the position of a guy who shot a cop, don't sing "I Shot the Sheriff.")

As far as last night goes, I was especially disappointed in Casey. I didn't care about him before, but he was good the last two weeks, and then his snoozy, pointless rendition of "Fly Me to the Moon" made me wonder why I thought so in the first place.

And judges, stop blowing smoke up Aaron's ass. You know he's awful just as well as I do.

:: I wish the producers of How I Met Your Mother could make it more interesting when people date outside the group. If this thing with Don is "real" for Robin, then we need to see Don interacting with the show more so that it becomes organic. That was, I think, the reason so many fans of the show hated Stella--after she and Ted started dating, she was usually only on the show just so she and Ted could have a fight about something. So she came across like a bitch, because we only ever got to see her when they were disagreeing about something. We didn't see them in love often enough. Same thing with Don; he's a funny character, and the few times we see him with Robin it seems like there's chemistry there, so instead of just letting Robin run off and not be around much anymore just because she's not dating Ted or Barney, let's see more of Don getting to know everyone. The mileage you could get out of watching Marshall and Lily try to do the couples' thing again with Robin would be worth it alone. Besides, it's a good counterpoint to Ted being single and wanting to be married, especially since Marshall and Lily are a given as a couple.

:: I really liked this last episode of The Big Bang Theory for making it about Sheldon's dilemma of whether or not he can keep being friends with Penny since she broke up with Leonard. Part of the problem with Penny was that she suffered--especially in the second season--as being little more than an unobtainable love object for Leonard. So it's nice to see that while this relationship is on hiatus, or whatever, that the writers can find ways to incorporate her without just being Leonard's girlfriend. Promoting her to Sheldon's caretaker is how it should be, because the funniest episodes of this show are the ones where Penny and Sheldon have to deal with each other.

Frankly, Leonard and Penny's relationship always felt forced to me. I'm sure they'll get back together, but I don't really care about it. Sheldon & Penny > Leonard & Penny

And we need a hell of a lot more Bernadette, guys.

:: Oh, man... Lost. Spoilers, etc.

Seriously, what a bloodbath that was. And does this mean we'll never find out why Dogen was so afraid of Sayid or why he wanted Jack to give him the pill? Is it another case of the island letting Sayid survive so that he could do what he did and save Jack?

(As an aside: I'm amazed how much I'm pulled into Jack's character arc right now, considering that Jack has been a character I've despised pretty much since day one. But his sudden changes--finally having faith, finally listening to Locke's advice, finally realizing his desire to fix everything has led to disaster time and again--make him very compelling. I can't wait to see what happens to him now.)

As for Sun and Jin, I saw this coming. There's been too much foreshadowing to be surprised, but that doesn't mean I'm still not incredibly sad. I think the writers lost track of them at some point as separate characters--particularly Sun--and I'm sad to see them go as a couple. I kind of hope Jin didn't live, as many are theorizing, because he's done this twice before already--first on Sawyer's raft, and second on Widmore's ship--that it would just take away from the power of their death scene if he were to live. But still, were you, like me, mentally shouting "Go and live so you can raise your daughter"?

I guess we're going to have to come to terms with some mysteries never being revealed, which I suppose is fine, since not many of the integral ones are left, and many of them--such as the destruction of the statue--have had pretty mundane answers. I assume the bigger mysteries will be dealt with, and we'll have to focus on those instead. We'll never know why Libby was in the mental hospital, but so be it, I guess.

The one lingering thing that's really getting to me, though, involves the flash-sideways: if Anthony Cooper was a loving father in this universe, and had a good relationship with Locke and didn't steal his kidney... who was Sawyer in this one? Was it still Cooper?

I am gripped to this until the finale.