The Morning After: Grammer, Gossip, Gordon

Missed them all. Why?

Because I'm watching Friday Night Lights' first season. I didn't watch at all last year, and hearing about it from so many friends made me decide I was an idiot.

The verdict? I am an idiot. One of the best dramas on television this past year (along with Lost, The Wire, and Dexter).

Everyone should start watching this show. It's not a "football" show - it's a powerful drama that happens to have some football scenes. Just amazing.

I didn't watch it because I was watching Dexter. Not that I was particularly looking at either show as interesting though.

Kitchen Nightmares USA wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. They do seem to have told Ramsey to continue with his amped up Hell's Kitchen personality instead of the less abrasive person he comes across as on the UK version of Kitchen Nightmares.

They also seemed to focus more on the personalities involved in the particular restaurant instead of how they fixed the food, which gets more play on the UK version as well. But with the over the top people involved in that fine slice of Babylon, Long Island I suppose I can't blame them.

Overall it's plenty watchable, but I still would pick the original.

The first part of Back to You, where it was a newsroom comedy, was not bad but not great. Then once it revealed the "twist" it took a turn for the worse. I'll probably watch another one, but I hope it gets better. (Also, your link to the Back to You review is incorrect - the URL is written twice.)

Gossip Girl was good, I thought. It fills the O.C.-shaped hole in my TV watching and I'm already interested in some of the characters.

I was pleasently surprised by how much I liked Gossip Girl. I really didn't want to watch a show full of rich people this year. But Girl works because the story is being told by an outside narrator. And the creators of the show seem to embrace this fantasy world and aren't taking themselves too seriously. Also, I like that the girl that's made out to be "the bitch" actually has a good reason to be one.

One of the things that annoyed me though was the prepy school uniforms and clothes that everyone was wearing. I wansn't able to take a break from the fact that these people have a lot of money. At least in The O.C., the rich kids dressed more casual. It may sound like a stupid complaint but it's easier to identify with characters that look more like yourself.

I loved Gossip Girl. As I said to my roommate, it's like televised chocolate- self-indulgent and unnecessary, yes, but just so damn GOOD.