Jimmy Fallon and the Case of the Missing Cockroach

There are few things I hate worse in this world than bugs. Whether it’s a moth, a harmless house fly, a spider – I’m a complete girl when it comes to the creepy crawlies. So much so that even watching this clip of LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON gave me the chills. But it was too good not to pass on.

Two nights ago, Jimmy had bug expert Jeff Musical on as a guest. During the segment Jeff let Brazilian Cockroaches on Jimmy, much to Jimmy’s displeasure. Later that night, while watching the clip online, a fan noticed that one of the cockroaches had escaped. Check out what happened when the disgusting roach was finally found.

So glad January Jones of MAD MEN, who was also a guest that night, wasn’t the one that found the bug. Little did she know she was sitting next to it all during her segment.

Once again…ew!

Who Went Home on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?

Last night you voted an according to a tweet earlier today from Uncle Nigel, at least one of the couples in the bottom three might be surprising to some. Who will it be?

I’ll be live blogging tonight’s elimination episode, so feel free to comment along until tonight’s tearful goodbye.

Tonight’s Top 16 opening number was an African inspired Hip Hop number choreographed by Dave Scott. It was intense and there was plenty for the eye to take in. And what about that leap across the other dancers that Legacy did. Crazy.

After a quick chat with the judges, Cat calls the first three couples to the stage to find out their fate.

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TV Bloggers Pick the Best New Fall Shows of 2009

About this time every year, fellow blogger Scooter McGavin hits up a few of his TV blogger friends to take the temperature on the new season.  What new shows are standing out as worthy of watching?

Here’s the top 10 new shows of the Fall season, as determined by a handful of TV bloggers.

1. Glee (5 votes) – Wednesdays @9pm on Fox
2. Modern Family (2 votes) – Wednesdays @9pm on ABC
3. The Vampire Diaries – Thursdays @8pm on The CW
4. Community – Thursdays @8pm on NBC
5. Cougar Town – Wednesdays @10pm on ABC
6. V – Tuesdays @ 8pm on ABC
7. White Collar – Fridays @10pm on USA
8. The Good Wife – Tuesdays @10pm on CBS
9. Mercy – Wednesdays @ 8pm on NBC
10. The Middle – Wednesdays @8:30pm on ABC

(Numbers in parenthesis denote first place votes.)

Well, it looks like Wednesdays are a popular night for new shows!

In full disclosure, here was my Top 5 favorite new Fall shows.

• Glee
• Modern Family
• The Vampire Diaries
• The Good Wife
• Cougar Town*

*If I got a do-over I would replace Cougar Town with White Collar.

(And of course my Top 5 matched Ducky’s Top 5…shocker!)

So now it’s your turn.  What are YOUR Top 5 new shows of the Fall.  Vote below!

Voters: Dan, Kath, Kim, Sandie, Scooter, TV Fan, Vance

HOUSE: Known Unknowns

House returned to Fox’s primetime lineup this week after a baseball-induced hiatus, a delay that grew even more tiresome as the New York Yankees celebrated their 27th world championship. (Go Red Sox!) Despite my enthusiasm for new adventures in the world of Princeton Plainsboro, I spent the first half of the episode wondering if it was being shown out of order. No progress on Chase & Cameron? Wilson coaching House on how to get the “woman of his dreams?” I simply could not place this episode in the context of Season Six.

All was forgiven, however, when P.I. Lucas Douglas showed up as Cuddy’s secret admirer/babysitter. Veteran viewers will remember Lucas from his four episode arc early in Season Five, contracted by House to investigate friends and foes alike. Actor Michael Weston gave Lucas a lovable dash of honesty and forthrightness, filling the friendship void left by Wilson’s resignation following Amber’s death. Lucas Douglas was a hard working, yet quirky guy, fascinated by the machinations in House’s head. It was fair to say that Lucas was equally intrigued by House’s boss, a detail left stranded until this week’s payoff.

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Tonight’s TV Spotlight…Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Happy Hump Day! Congratulations on making it to Wednesday, a fantastic night of television…usually. For me, Wednesday is all about the funny, but with MODERN FAMILY being pre-empted (boo), I’ll have to rely on  the return of GLEE to make me smile (btw, tonight’s episode is fabulous).

We’ve also got the first results show for SYTYCD. If you haven’t weighed in on last night’s episode, read my SYTYCD recap and tell us who YOU think will be going home tonight.

As for tonight’s TOP CHEF eliminations, I’ll be pissed if Robin isn’t asked to pack up her knives. How she’s made it this far is beyond me. She seems nice enough, but I don’t know if she realizes that she’s ruining her career by being on the show. Who wants to eat at her restaurant now?

All this and so much more, tonight…on your TV.  Share your Wednesday line up in the comments or on Twitter @gmmrtv.

43rd Annual CMA Awards | 8-11pm on ABC
Festivities honor excellence in country music; scheduled performers include Jason Aldean; Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker, George Strait, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban; Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood host.

So You Think You Can Dance | 8pm on Fox
“Results Show”
Two of the final 16 dancer, one guy and one girl, are sent home. The 3 couples with the least amount of votes will be asked to ‘dance for their life’ performing a solo in their own genre. The judges will then decide which two dancers will be leaving. When it hits the Top 10, the guy and girl with least amount of overall votes will go home.

Mercy | 8pm on NBC
“Destiny, Meet My Daughter, Veronica”
Veronica and Mike, estranged since her affair became public, are reunited by a Flanagan family crisis; Sonia’s snobby high school rival becomes her patient; things heat up between Chloe and her fireman crush; Dr. Sands moves on from his past romance.

The New Adventures of Old Christine | 8pm on CBS
“Nuts”
Max (Eric McCormack) tries to teach Christine to follow through rather than quit when things get too hard.

Gary Unmarried | 8:30pm on CBS
“Gary and Allison’s Friend”
Allison gets upset when her new friend, Sophia (guest star Nadine Velazquez), prefers to hang out with Gary.

(More of tonight’s lineup after the jump)
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So You Think You Can Dance: Top 16 Perform

So excited for SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE tonight. The anticipation has helped me get through a very long day.  Hopefully, if our schedules work out, Ducky and I will be able to podcast tomorrow about tonight’s performances.  But since our plans aren’t set in stone, I thought it would be best for me to also share my thoughts in writing.  And you know most of the fun from writing my weekly recap is hearing what YOU thought of all the dances.  Did you see what I saw or will you open my eyes a bit more?  Can’t wait.

Before we get to the dances, there has been something in my head all week that I wanted to share.  I don’t know how many of you are also PROJECT RUNWAY fans, but over on EW, they have an interview with the most recently auf’d contestants, Gordana. In her exit interview she mentions how she wished the judging on PR was more like that of SYTYCD.  She praised the SYTYCD judges for not just ripping apart the dancers, but providing critical judgment in a respectful way.  But more importantly, offering up constructive criticism that the dancers could take with them and use to improve their art.

I had Gordana’s statement in my head going in to tonight’s episode, and I really felt her sentiment tonight.  All three judges, and especially Adam Shankman, really gave each of the dancers something to work on.  Even if he loved the performance he gave them constructive criticism that will help them become even better in the future.  And for all the judges, even if they really didn’t like the dance, they voiced their opinion but also offered up a small bit of encouragement along the way. All of this really contributes to my love for the show so I just wanted to share.

The Dizzy Feet Foundation…
Speaking of the judges, tonight they let us know about the upcoming Dizzy Feet Foundation performance in L.A.  Sadly it’s not going to be televised, but those lucky enough to attend (and oh lord I am so jealous of those going), will see not only the S5 SYTYCD dancers perform, but they will also see stars from DANCING WITH THE STARS (eh), crews from AMERICA’S BEST DANCE CREW (hot damn), Alvin Ailey dancers, the best from the American Ballet company and dancers from all the of STEP UP movies including his hotness Channing Tatum and his wife/co-star Jenna Dewan. And as some of our past fave SYTYCD dancers like Twitch and Jailbait Ivan are in the upcoming 3rd installment of STEP UP, they might just make an appearance.  As will Mary Murphy.  Oh how I wish I could be there. It’s going to be an amazing night for dance.  Or as Adam Shankman called it “the trifecta of reality dance TV,” So amazing and for a great cause!

As for tonight’s performances. You know how this works.  Although it’s not live during the show, I always live blog my thoughts so as not to be influenced by the judges’ opinions.  They might give me something to consider or perhaps re-watch, but for the most part it’s about my initial, gut reaction.

Please keep checking back throughout the night and early tomorrow as I’ll be adding videos of each of the dances as they are available. But I want to get the post up now so you can all share in the discussion.

And finally…welcome to So You Think You Can Dance!

Karen & Kevin (1-888-TEMPO-02)
The Hustle by Maria Torres

Aw, in the pre-vid we learned that Karen and her husband have divorced since the time they both auditioned for the show.  Well, now that’s a bit of a bummer.  But Mary’s right, Karen is a hot tamale so I don’t think she’ll have any trouble finding a new man. As for doing her thing on stage, once again Karen was impossible to ignore. She owns the stage and demands your attention.  But I thought Kevin did very well in partnering her tonight.  I noticed more technical errors on his part, but on the whole he was better than I thought he would be.  They can call is The Hustle, but it’s Disco. On the whole I don’t like Disco, and I didn’t love this routine, but I thought they performed it well enough.  It was good, not great for me tonight.

The Judges: Adam said that not only did they make it work, but they made it work for him.  He saw Kevin for the first time in the competition. He said he could not be more proud of them. Mary was equally excited and impressed.  Nigel was absolutely delighted in the dance, and especially with Kevin’s growth. Good remarks all around.

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HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: The Rough Patch

“Daddy’s Home”

Hey kids. Today I’m going to talk to you about last night’s episode a little differently than usual. I want you to know that I am here for you during this time of grieving. We witnessed the end of something that began so beautifully and I understand if not everyone is able to cope.

The relationship many of us waited ever so patiently and cheered for last season came to a screeching halt last night. As a vocal supporter of Robarney last season, I have felt like I have been a hypocrite these past few months as I’ve been pointing out so many flaws in their relationship-centric episodes. There have been a few good episodes but for the most part, the ho-hum episodes have centered on Barney and Robin’s coupledom and how it has adversely affected the gang. Their relationship made Lily and Marshall’s marriage hard to stomach. Ted, the only single guy in the gang, was more focused on their relationship than finding his own (cue the title of the show). I know the show isn’t truly about finding the mother but rather the adventure leading up to meeting the mother but Ted only dated one girl this season, and it was someone he had already dated.

I have been saying for a while that the two weren’t truly happy. Maybe it was because they were too similar. It could have been because they are too independent (the nice word for selfish) and set in their ways. For whatever reason, it wasn’t working out. They were both crying out secretly (Barney’s case vocally too via VHS porn) and physically (Robin’s looks going to hell and Barney’s compulsive eating) and were too stubborn to see what their relationship was doing to them, their friends and to us – the audience. Upon seeing their reflection, quite literally, they were able to see that their relationship just wasn’t working. They didn’t need Ted, Marshall, Kraken: The Relationship Terminator (Lily) or even Alan Thicke to break them up. They were hurting themselves and each other and agreed amicably to go back to being friends.

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DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: Careful the Things You Say

Hey everyone, I hope everything is going well. Personally, I have a crazy week this week, which is why this review is a little late.

Lynette is the first besides Danny to find out about Julie’s affair with Nick. Nick threatens Lynette to keep the secret but Lynette knows better and, after talking to Julie, decides to go to the police. The police are understandably suspicious that Nick is the one who strangled Julie. Angie covers for him, however, but makes it clear that if Nick cheats on her again, she’ll make him pay.

Gabby is having trouble home schooling Juanita (never saw that one coming). Carlos is being a tool and refuses to allow Gabby to hire a tutor since she’s her mother and should be the ones teaching her things. Carlos’s logic on this one is completely ridiculous. Both Juanita and Gabby would benefit from someone qualified and patient teaching Juanita instead of Gabby. Which is what led Gabby to asking her maid to help. Who conveniently has a PhD in engineering. Something’s up with her.

Susan is trying to get the investigation into who strangled Julie moved along. She gets a new detective assigned to the case, only for it to be an old high school rival. Which of course ends with Susan being arrested after the detective befriends Katherine. The ending shot of Susan reading Crime and Punishment was a little confusing- I’m sure that will be touched upon next episode.

After an awkward dinner party with the Bolens Bree gets the idea to serve Italian for a catering job. After talking Angie into giving her her recipe Bree gets caught and is forced to hire Angie. I feel like this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

That’s it for today! Tell me what you thought below.

Tonight’s TV Spotlight…Monday, November 9, 2009

In the words of Jimmy Buffet “Come Monday, it’ll be all right.” And how right he was. It’s Monday and it is all right – especially if you are a TV fan.  Now that the pesky World Series is out of the way, we get HOUSE back tonight on Fox. And for you LIE TO ME fans, your show is back too.

My DVRs are quite busy on Monday nights.  I’ll be watching HOUSE, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, THE BIG BANG THEORY, GOSSIP GIRL and DANCING WITH THE STARS. (Nah, just kidding on the last one. I wanted to see if you were paying attention.)

For those of you who are night owls, there’s yet another new late night talk show joining the gazillion others. LOPEZ TONIGHT with host George Lopez premieres tonight at 11/10c on TBS.

Oh and if you’re an early riser, be sure to check out GLEE’s Chris Colfer on THE BONNIE HUNT SHOW.

What are YOU watching this Monday evening?  Leave a comment here or tell me about it on Twitter (@gmmrTV)

How I Met Your Mother | 8pm on CBS
“The Rough Patch”
Barney and Robin’s romance falters, and Lily comes up with a scheme to break up the unhappy couple that involves a little help from Robin’s celebrity friend, Alan Thicke (who appears in a cameo). [GMMR: Show me that smile again. Ooh show me that smile.]

House | 8pm on FOX
“Known Unknowns”
A teenage girl is brought to the hospital with severely swollen appendages after a wild night out; as her condition worsens, the patient is unable to distinguish fact from fiction; the doctors attend a medical conference. [GMMR: I just realized that I didn’t watch the last new episode of HOUSE. My DVR didn’t record it and I never got around to watching it online. Why am I telling you? You don’t care. Sorry.]

Dancing with the Stars | 8pm on ABC
“Performance Show”
Celebrities are paired with professionals in a ballroom-dance competition, with one pair typically eliminated each week.

Heroes | 8pm on NBC
“Shadowboxing”
Claire is determined to get to the bottom of the attacks; H.R.G. realizes he may be the source of Claire’s troubles; Peter’s new ability is the perfect fit for his job; Sylar’s battle at gaining full control of Matt’s body escalates. [GMMR: Is there anyone out there that lists HEROES as there can’t miss show of the week? I wonder.]

(the rest of tonight’s TV spotlight is after the jump)

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DEXTER: Slack Tide

The creative team behind DEXTER have always sought out ways, in varying degrees of success, to bring the audience inside the mind of Dex. It’s not always meaningful, but most of the time we get a peek at something truly fascinating. This week was full of those threads, with the last moments marking a significant event in the “Dexter” universe.

Dexter had too much to learn from Trinity to kill him this week. Therefore Arthur Mitchell’s spot on the table was taken by a photographer who was raping and killing young, undocumented models. After making some nasty comments to Deb on her first day back, the photog moved to the top of Dex’s list. Conveniently, Dex had to work late at night, on his mission to be a better father.

One thing we haven’t seen yet is how Harry feels about Dexter making Arthur this almost surrogate father figure. At least that’s how I’m seeing it. Dexter looked to Arthur for advice on how to be a father. This week, that advice was to push the kids out into the world, in part to give Dexter time for his “recreational activities.” I can’t help but think what Harry, a la Dexter, would say about this. Sure, Harry wasn’t the best father. Deb learned that all to well this week. But he was still a nurturing figure in both their lives and now he has been replaced by another serial killer. It’s an odd situation, but it works somehow.

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Who Went Home on THE AMAZING RACE?

It’s fair to say that I’ve been a little underwhelmed by this season of THE AMAZING RACE. While I enjoy the personalities of the teams more than in previous years, I’ve felt that the challenges and tasks have fallen short. There have been but only a few challenges this season that have really stood out as exciting and worthy of TAR.  With that being said, I’m surprising myself by saying that tonight’s episode, which featured a task we have seen in a previous season, was one of my favorite legs thus far.  Go figure.

Backing up to the start of the leg, the teams left Amsterdam and headed to Stockholm. The first three teams to arrive at the airport – Flight & Big Easy, Sam & Dan, and Meghan & Cheyne – boarded the first departing flight.  Gary & Matt and Brian & Ericka were stuck taking a flight that left three hours later.  Right away I knew that somewhere along the leg there would be a task that would help even the playing field.  The producers rarely give a three hour lead without making up for it at some point during the day.

The teams on the first flight were pretty neck and neck up until the last task. Upon arriving in Stockholm, Sam & Dan and Meghan & Cheyne got a bit of a head start on the Globetrotters, but the b-ballers quickly caught up.

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Tonight’s TV Spotlight…Sunday, November 8, 2009

Today is one of those Fall New England days that people write poems about. It’s so beautiful out, with the sun shining and the temperature just coming close enough to 60 that you can be outside without a jacket. I hope it’s nice out where you are too.

Enjoy the day, and then settle in for a full night of TV. Don’t forget that tonight is the (sniff sniff) season finale of MAD MEN. I’m sure people will be buzzing about this one tonight.  And if you’re a fan of THE FAMILY GUY then you’re in for a treat.  Tonight there are two new episodes as well as a special featuring Seth McFarlane.

The Amazing Race 15 | 8pm on CBS
“This is the Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done in My Life”
One team encounters a speed bump while racing through Stockholm; a team returns to the site of a roadblock.

Family Guy | 8pm on Fox
“Brian’s Got a Brand New Bag”
Brian falls in love with an older woman, and he takes flak from the rest of the Griffins for it. Meanwhile, Peter goes on a kicking kick (he kicks just about everyone he meets) after watching the movie “Road House.”

Family Guy | 9pm on Fox
“Hannah Banana”
Stewie gets to know Hannah Montana (voice of singer Candace Marie) when she arrives in Quahog for a concert, and discovers something surprising about her. And Chris finally meets the Evil Monkey, who has been bedeviling him, and finds that he’s not so evil after all. 

The Cleveland Show | 9:30pm on Fox
“Cleveland Jr. Cherry Bomb”
Cleveland Jr. takes a vow of chastity when Cleveland has “the talk” with Roberta; Rallo becomes a church greeter.

Desperate Housewives | 9pm on ABC
“Careful the Things You Say”
Susan believes that Katherine may be Julie’s assailant; Angie invites reluctant Bree and Orson to dinner; Gaby struggles to home school Juanita; Lynette has her own suspicions about who attacked Julie; Angie confronts Nick.

Three Rivers | 9pm on CBS
“Where We Lie”
Lisa witnesses a boy being crushed by a ride at the fair; David and Andy try to get a ventricular assist device for a patient.

More of tonight’s lineup after the break…

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Taylor Swift’s SNL Monologue Song (La la la)

Color me impressed. Songstress Taylor Swift did a fantastic job as SNL’s host and musical guest. That girl worked her ass off this week. She was in more sketches than Kristen Wiig. When’s the last time that happened?

Taylor started off the night on a high note (pun intended) with this hilarious monologue song that had a little fun at Taylor’s expense…and Joe Jonas (that was the ‘Joe’ she was singing about, right? I’m so not up on my celeb teen angst.)

Check out Taylor’s “Monologue Song (La la la)”

Follow me on Twitter @GMMRTV

Full lyrics after the break.
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SNL’s Twilight Spoof – Firelight

This one is for you Twihards. In case you missed it, check out SNL’s Twilight spoof, “Firelight”, which was featured as last night’s SNL Digital Short.  Funny stuff.

Follow me on Twitter @GMMRTV

SMALLVILLE: Kandor

On last night’s episode of Smallville we finally got to meet Clark’s biological father Jor-El! Appearance wise he wasn’t what I expected, or Clark’s freak out on Tess, but the story was still great. Talk about quick though. Chloe meets Jor-El first while Clark ends up reuniting with his father in the last few minutes of the episode before he dies.

And while Clark spends most of his time trying to track down symbols in the desert with Oliver, Tess has her own agenda with the Krptonians. She is using Jor-El as bait to expose Clark’s real identity and surprisingly it works! Where the writers will go from here is going to be pretty interesting. Now that Tess knows, what exactly is she going to do with all this information? Will Lex be coming back? It’s definitely a change for Smallville fans.

For years one of the main plots of the show was watching Clark try to keep who he really is from the super villains, Lex and now Tess. Usually something miraculous happened and no one knew the wiser but now with Tess in the circle I’m sure things won’t stay on the hush hush for long.

With Tess and Zod pairing up (when it’s convenient), Tess’ knowledge of the Clark/Krptonians and Zod’s mission to get Clark, the whole show seems to be shifting gears. I have a feeling Oliver and Chloe (who will have to put things aside) will be stepping up to the plate and we’ll be seeing some of CK’s superhero counterparts paying a visit to Metropolis. By the way, did anyone hear about a possible spin-off of Smallville titled Metropolis? Could be just a rumor but I would still give it a try if it did come to the small screen.

And with all this going on Clark can’t even catch a break with Lois. After kissing her last week she ends up leaving town to deal with her intimacy issues. I have a feeling when she returns the writers will back track the Lois/Clark storyline a few steps, zeroing in on the Zod/Clark plot. Just another way to yank our chains! The suspense is killing me. I’m in such a rush to see how all these conflicts hash out especially since where running out of time!

Alright Smallville fans, tell me where you think we are going from here? Are you still watching or have you given up? Next week we’ll see Zan and Jayna help Clark with a little Metropolis crime!

Sarah is from Massachusetts and currently writes for several TV and music websites. She loves Smallville, Heroes, Everwood, and of course Californication.

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