Huge Weekly Wrap-Up; The Week In Pictures

Again, apologies for the lack of updates. Tomorrow is my last day of class...ever, so with the exception of studying for finals and trying to find a job, I have nothing to do in the next two weeks. Which is good, because sweeps/finale season is almost here, and we need TV blogs more than ever during that hectic time.

Since the last blog: We said goodbye to Carly, probably unfairly.

Then we said goodbye to Marlee. This one was deserved.

The Office attempted to un-cute Jim & Pam.

They were not successful. (Picture credit to pessimistreader) Also on The Office, we learned that Ryan has a cocaine addiction and Toby is leaving Scranton for Costa Rica. (Season finale title: "Good Bye, Toby") Also, here is an amazing countdown of the best Jim & Pam moments in the history of The Office. Oh, the memories.

This list of "Jump the Shark" moments was released. I could not agree more with the entries for Idol, Grey's Anatomy, and Heroes. Sanjaya was the jumping point for Idol. The fact that the judges put him in the top 24 was inexcusable. Grey's...I can't say anything that hasn't been said, but killing Denny (even though that's not the jumping point the writer uses) sent the show into unecessary melodrama, which culminated with the unfortunate Gizzy experiment, and apparently, they're still trying to drag on the business with Alex and Jane Doe. Seriously? Does anyone actually want them together? They had something with Alex and Izzie, or even Alex and Addison, and they blew it. I could rant for days about Grey's, though, so I'll move on.

The Heroes moment that Matthew Gilbert chooses (the first season finale), is the most obvious example I've seen of a show being unable to deliver on its premise. These are people with superpowers, and for the bulk of the finale, they are standing around, not using them. All season, they had built up to a super battle between Peter and Sylar, and it lasted approximately 15 seconds. I think I could actally hear the whoosh of disappointed sighs as the episode ended. To make matters worse, two days later, the Lost season 3 finale (a.k.a. the greatest episode ever) aired, and the difference in quality between the "grown-up" twisty sci-fi show and its spawn had never been more pronounced. You can trace Heroes' disappointing second season right back to its season one finale. Here's hoping that their new concentration on villans (bring Kensei back, you fools! He was the best thing about the second season!) will breathe new life into the show next fall.

In "better late than never" news, after four years of crappy sports teams, we Orange seniors finally have two sports teams we can feel good about: All hail the mighty power of Syracuse lacrosse. Yes, Katie Rowan is The Boss Of Everything. Just accept it now.

MADNESS!

That's right, the most wonderful time of the year is finally here -- and it has nothing to do with Christmas. Instead, the present that we get is hours upon hours of college basketball. And Gus Johnson, the best play-by-play guy in sports. Yes, it's sad that our beloved Orange aren't in the field of 65, but that won't stop me from skipping class to plop down on my sofa and watching basketball from noon to midnight.

For those, like my fellow blogger, who could care less about Xavier averting an upset this afternoon, there is Lost Madness, which is run by the Washington Post. Their bracket is made up of Lost characters, and they're down to their Final Four. Go here to cast your vote.

In case you missed it, the cast of Battlestar Galactice appeared on Letterman last night to read the Top 10 list. Clearly, the audience didn't have a clue what the hell the show was, but any fan will get a kick out of it:



Back to basketball. Lost recap tomorrow!

I don't believe what I just saw

ELI MANNING is your Super Bowl MVP. Jesus Christ on a cracker. I am not ashamed to say that there was some happy shrieking, and quite a bit of dancing. I could care less that I predicted a blowout, I'm happy to be wrong because it means THE PATS LOST!! Suck it, Massholes.

(...and that's an angry Yankee fan taking out four years of frustration on the Patriots.)

Moving on, let's give some credit to our fine university. David Tyree, Giants wide receiver, was drafted by the Giants in 2003 after graduating from Syracuse University. He caught Eli's first touchdown pass tonight, and then was on the receiving end of the play of the year, when he caught the ball WITH HIS HELMET during the Giants winning TD drive. See, our football team has produced something good in the past ten years.

And now to things that everybody cares about: the commercials. I thought that this was a pretty weak night overall, with a lot of fair-to-good commercials, but no real "holy crap, that was hilarious" standouts. Even the perennial favorite, Bud Light, seemed to have an off night, though they had two of my favorite ads.

I liked the new campaign that advertised new traits that Bud Light could give you, starting with the fire-breathing man. And I also really enjoyed the final ad with Will Ferrell, especially the final line: "Bud Light: suck one." But I find Will Ferrell endlessly amusing, so I could be biased.

Speaking of biases, I've already betrayed my healthy Justin Timberlake bias, so it should be no surprise that I loved his Pepsi ad. I don't drink soda, but if it got Justin to show up in my room, I'd be all over that. I also really enjoyed the Diet Pespi Max ad featuring the "Night at the Roxbury" send-up. It was really topped off by Chris Kattan's cameo at the end. The only other commercial that I laughed out loud at was Tide's "talking stain" one.

I'm also a sucker for movie trailers, so I loved that there were a lot of those, especially the new 'Narnia' movie, 'Iron Man,' the new Clooney/Krasinski comedy 'Leatherheads,' and the Angelina Jolie/James McAvoy movie 'Wanted.'

I thought the cutest commercial of the night was also a movie trailer, this one from the geniuses at Pixar. The trailer for their new movie 'Wall-E' included cameo appearances by Buzz and Woody and was absolutely adorable.

Worst commercials: salesgenie.com, with two nonsensical animated spots that made absolutely no sense, and were pretty offensive, even to my very low sensitivities. What a waste of $5.4 million.

Creepiest: Those e*trade commercials right at the end of the game. They were funny, but a talking baby is always creepy. Always. Especially when it talks with the voice of a 40-year-old man.

Commercial I had heart palpitations over: Lame commercial, but the Gatorade G2 spot featured two of my biggest sports crushes, Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning. Love.

Most inspiring: So this didn't air in our market, but it aired in a few areas around the country. It's Barack Obama's newest ad, entitled "Join." Not to endorse any political candidates (coughanybodybutHillarycough) but I watch this, and something manages to reach my cold, cynical (Republican) heart.

Still, not a banner night for the commercials. Make sure to pick up the USA Today tomorrow and see how their Ad Meter rated all 50-odd ads. I think Bud Light has won for the past 10 years or so, but maybe this year will end their streak.

Super Bowl Picks

Because we know that about three-quarters of America is watching the game (and the commercials) tonight, it's pointless to do anything but talk about the Super Bowl.

In between rooting for Tom Brady's knees to be taken out, I'll be paying close attention to the commercials, and I'll definitely be recapping them tomorrow on this very blog.

Right now, FOX is doing a package on how the Patriots are "America's Team." That's disgusting. Just gross. What ever happened to America rooting for the underdog?

Anyway, here are our picks for Super Bowl XLII:

Allie: Allie is wearing a Giants shirt to her party tonight, but only because her roommate provided her with one. She's really just in it for the food, and couldn't tell you who might win or what the score might be.

Jenn: Because I'm a Bills fan, and as a rule hate the other two "New York" teams, only truly bizarre circumstances could propel me to root for the Giants tonight. The thought of those Massholes having another reason to celebrate qualifies -- if they win the World Series, Super Bowl, and NBA Championship in the same year, I vote we nuke Boston. Is that too harsh?

I'm ranting. In short, this one looks like a blowout. And I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be. Patriots 38, Giants 21. Let the talking heads begin re-writing the history books. In the words of Kissing Suzy Kolber:

"Enjoy whatever boozy party you happen to visit. If you're gonna drive drunk, make sure to mow down any celebrating Pats fans you might see in the street. No worries; no jury will convict you."

I'm off to hope for the impossible. LET'S GO GIANTS!!!