Untold Stories

I don't know what to think about this...

2009-12-18T21:04:36Z

I'm happy that we've finally caught a glimpse of Patrick Stump since FOB's Indefinite Hiatus of Doom kicked off, but...

He has shrunk SO MUCH, guys. He's SKINNY now. Patrick Stump! And WHERE'S THE HAT?!

On the one hand, I'm honestly pleased that he seems to have got control of the body issues that bother him so much. On the shallower, selfish hand, I'm really missing the softness of his usual chubby self. I have a comm dedicated to Patrick's belly on my flist ffs! It's just so weird (and a little scary, tbh) to see him so thin.

I mean, one of the reasons I don't find Colin Morgan attractive is how skinny he is. I like some meat on the bone lol.

As long my P.Stump's happy, though.

*perplexed*

hazyshade @ 2009-12-03T23:08:00

2009-12-03T23:08:45Z

Happy (belated) birthday to tillie1202! Sorry I was absent from the interwebz yesterday, sweetie. I hope you had a great day! :)
*love and hugs*

I couldn't resist..

2009-11-03T23:56:57Z

[07] Glee
[14] Merlin (spoilers for 2x06)
[07] Smallville (spoilers for 9x06)

Preview:

@ hazyhorizonsH E R E

;P

Gleeful

2009-10-20T19:38:10Z

So apparently Joss Whedon is going to direct an episode of Glee. Now, this is something I can get behind!

More here.

40 Smallville icons

2009-10-15T22:36:20Z

Because apparently when I have assignments due it becomes vitally important that I open Photoshop and procrastinate... :P Apologies for cross-posting.

[40] icons from 9x01 'Savior', 9x02 'Metallo' & 9x03 'Rabid'

Preview:

@ hazyhorizons H E R E

TRICK!SPAM

2009-08-28T22:28:12Z

A few of you know of my extreme love for Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy. For the rest, that name may be more familiar after his not-very-rockstar arrest made the internetz gossip sites a couple of days ago (driving without a valid Cali license). It's pretty much the most hilarious, ridiculous thing ever, except for how poor Patrick must be mortified. *squishes him*

Anyway, it's my bday very soon and this is my present to myself because I'm sad like that. I spent a stupidly long time putting together an EPIC trick-spam that presents a sort of chronological Evolution of Hot. Well, it's as chronological as i could get it without coming across as even more crazy. ;)

So, if you've ever wondered why I love this dude so damn much, take a look! :)

PStump's love of hats began at a young age... SO CUTE

Once a geek, always a geek <3

Now we're in dangerous 'is he legal yet' territory! He joined FOB when he was 15/16, guys.

I've decided that in the next two he looks a wee bit like Bradley James. Just me? :p

This photo slays me. In-a-van-just-woken-up-probably-by-Pete-Wentz!Patrick

Taken from the Take This To Your Grave sleeve. He's about 17/18 here? YUM

Patrick is a sweaty little dude and I love it.

'Nuff said.

He pulls the best faces.

SO PRECIOUS OMG

Hehe

Eeeee! His gloves!

Warped Tour '05. Taken from a clip where Pete gives Patrick a breast exam to promote awareness. 'See, this girl has very nice breasts' xx

His face!

I have a thing for his teeth, too..

Filming the video for 'Sugar'

Work it, gurl.

His habit of biting his lip when he's a bit nervous is so adorable it's not true.

Sometimes he's a vegan :)

One time, Pete dressed the whole band as Gryffindors.

Another time, it was furries. Actually, a LOT of the time it's furries. More on that another day. ;)

LULZ

Drunk with Gabe Saporta from Cobra Starship. I fear for his virtue here haha. (and so so tiny!)

With Gabe and Travis (Gym Class Heroes) at the 2006 MTV awards. SO SO TINY.

This photo was taken from an article where he said how, out of all his issues, his looks are top of the heap. Sometimes i want to slap him a little bit, ngl.

Not the most heterosexual pose out there...

Mmmm

My bb is often grumpy <3

But also, sunshine and puppies!

Smooth criminal (more on that later haha)

Case closed! I actually reckon that Patrick is a little bit of a koala - cute, tiny, but with claws.

With Travis McCoy again. Everybody loves Patrick. There have been many fics written about just that thing...

The infamous mushroom hoodie!!

Yeah, I feel like this a lot of the time.

There go my ovaries!!! he kinda looks like he's just given birth, tbh!

His mouth is one of his best features, obv.

With Cobra Starship..apparently at Prom?! TINY AND ADORABLE, y/y?

Dance, dance

This is, i imagine, a very common view of Patrick.

'I believe I can flyyyyyy'. Karaoke at Pete's bar Angels & Kings.

In the studio, his natural habitat.

Directing his short film (want to see it v. badly)

Unf.

I always imagine this to be his 'oh, Pete' face.

At the London Dungeons; ears placed by Pete

This pic of PStump was taken by Pete, and appeared as the bg to Pete's twitter for a couple of days lol.

Oh, to be a microphone..

Anger management!Patrick

Oops! Had to put this in since it's the most recent er, pic. I feel guilty for finding the arrest as funny as I do. Oh, Patrick.

So there we go. Have I beaten you all into submission?! Seriously though, I've met this dude and he's polite, friendly, awesome and even hotter and tinier in the flesh. I love you, bb <3

That's all folks!

Birthdays!

2009-08-12T21:34:08Z

Happy Birthday, fairyspell! I hope you have a wonderful day, love. :) You're one of the most inspiring, generous and lovely people I know.

And although she's travelling around Europe at the moment, birthday wishes for kinseymill, too. Thank you for all your support, sweetie - it's meant a lot to me. Hope you're having a good time! :)

*big hugs* to you both! ♥

Yeah, it was going to happen eventually...

2009-08-04T22:21:42Z

As you can imagine, I was extremely happy to see lady_razzle today. :) Of course, she didn't waste the opportunity to try and convert me to Merlin!

Yes, I quite liked it! I know, I know... I won't be dumping Mr. Stump to the wayside and fangirling Colin Morgan's ears anytime soon, but I definitely enjoyed it on its own slashy terms. Razzle said the first ep wasn't very slashy and after it had finished I asked: if that 'wasn't all that slashy', what the hell are the other eps like?! LOL.

At the very least, now I get to read the Merlin fics that Razzle and my other favourite flist authors write.

And Bradley James looks good in red. ;)

Interesting article..

2009-07-28T21:06:56Z

J sent me this link from afterelton.com:

Buffy vs Torchwood: which did a better job of [!SPOILER!] its gay character?

I pretty much agree, which is not to say I don't still want to kick Joss a little bit!

In other Whedonverse news, it appears that Jamie Bamber has been signed to appear in an ep of Dollhouse. Have avoided the series so far for a few reasons but this pretty much resigns me to watch at least one ep. Damn it!

-----

*big hugs* to all my girls who need it right now. <3

Torchwood day 4

2009-07-09T21:38:49Z

Well, we were all right.

I knew Ianto was a goner the minute he hooked up with Jack. There was no way the writers were going to 'tie' Jack down in a relationship for too long when they are always so eager to play up his 'have cock, will travel' image. And secondly, having Ianto die would of course mean more angst and loss for Jack.

Thirdly, Russell T. Davies is like Joss Whedon on speed. Difference is, Joss never killed his core Scoobies (well, there was Buffy that one time haha). For me, killing off another main character so soon after Owen and Tosh makes it mean less. Less affecting, less surprising. I do, however, feel like the intensity of this story arc did somehow warrant a death (if that makes sense). So yeah, in two minds. Meta-me sees the point, fangirl-me doesn't. ;)

I'm not going to stop watching if TW gets another series. It's well-written and involving and quite frankly, there's so little of that on TV at the moment. I'll take what I can get! BSG may have spat on the dead corpse of my pairing but what really made me lose my love for the show was the incoherent, contradictory mess it turned into - completely opposed to the story it started as. Torchwood is getting better as it goes on, imho.

And no, I don't think Merlin is going to be the answer for me LOL. Although feel free to cut and paste this if I end up with everyone else on the popular side of the fandom fence.. :P

Anyway, I've been feeling low all week and this isn't helping! Work has been suffering because I'm constantly distracted. I've been hating on Pete Wentz all week, too. Or maybe it's just that every little thing is irritating me and he does a lot of irritating little things? Bloody fandom.

Birthday!

2009-06-22T22:51:58Z

It's still the 22nd (just!), so I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to dissonant_dream!! I hope it was a good day, sweetie! :)
*hugs*

Icon post @ hazyhorizons

2009-06-18T20:26:57Z

[28] Star Trek XI
[04] Torchwood (Children of Earth promos)

Preview:

Icons H E R E

:)

Torchwood!

2009-06-13T22:13:31Z

Soooo I've been at work all day, but I'm still buzzing about last night.

I went to see the first ep of Torchwood season 3 at BFI Southbank with my lovely lady_razzle, courtesy of the awesome londinensa.

MY LIPS ARE SEALED.

It was great to see Russell T. Davies at the Q&A - like Razzle, I've been a fan since Queer As Folk. Eve was as adorable as ever, and it was funny to watch Barrowman try and tone it down for once. :P He and Eve are like giggling schoolgirls.

Afterwards, Razzle, Li and I went to Las Iguanas, where I had yet more cheesecake (although i did share it this time, honest!) and we cursed the BBC for not giving us an airdate for S3 yet.

If I was 8 I'd probably be writing the BBC a begging letter, like the time I asked them to move Dukes of Hazzard to earlier in the evening so it didn't clash with my bedtime. (They actually sent me a letter back, which i still have. Although they didn't alter the time, the bastards.)

It was such an awesome event to go to. Thanks so much, ladies! ♥

Girls Aloud @ Wembley Arena, 26-05-09

2009-06-11T19:43:47Z

Oops, this was over 2 weeks ago and I've only just got around to posting about it. But don't worry, I don't expect anyone on my flist to give a damn about GA - I just want to record it here. I've been into girl groups since I was little and adored Bananarama. Then it was The Bangles; now it's Girls Aloud. So now you know my dirty little secret. :p

Review, pics and vids under the cut.

The seats were surprisingly awesome as I was right on the aisle and so did not have annoying tall people in front of me like I usually do (and it's not like I'm short!). This helped me to not get too annoyed by the THREE support acts; instead I saw them as good opportunities for food and beer runs. Although really, none of them were bad at all.

Finally the girls arose from beneath the stage on pedestals to sing 'The Promise'.

Unlike an earlier gig, where Cheryl's pedestal emerged after the others - echoing Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap! - everyone emerged at the same time. The screaming was immense.

Then they shed their long skirts Bucks Fizz-style (ugh, am showing my age) and strutted around the stage for the first act. They performed 'Biology', my favourite GA song. *squeals a little*

Costume change! Legs! :)

You can't really tell here, but the video screens at the back of the stage during 'Rolling Back the Rivers' showed their dancers shirtless and swimming underwater. I very much enjoyed this. ;) Their dancers were awesome as well as being very hot, so I must mention them.

For the next act, another costume change. This time, there was a lot of billowing and a wind machine. :) Basically, the girls get on a platform and sing 'Untouchable' while being 'flown' above the audience to a B-stage near the back of the arena.

I think this is a great idea, since it means that even if you have shitty seats you get 4 songs performed right near you. It meant they were further away from ME, but oh well.

Then they get flown back, with their blindfolded dancers sprinkling gold confetti onto the audience as they went. As an aside: so much S&M in a supposedly kid-friendly show! Once safely landed, there's another costume change. Helloooo Nadine's gold bra.

During this act they perform 'Womanizer', meaning that both they and Fall Out Boy have covered it. I don't know why this makes me happy, but it does. Shut up. :p

This would have been my best picture of the night if some bastard hadn't put his hands in the way..

For encore they came back on with yet another costume change. Moar legs!

I love your curves, Kimberley! Shake it, girl.

So that's pretty much it. Cheryl got cheered the loudest everytime there was a close-up of her on the screens, which can't do the other girls' egos any good. :/ But I love Cheryl, so i can understand it. Not as much as I love Kimba, but close. I even got to see a cute little Chim (Cheryl/Kimberley) moment, but alas I didn't get it on camera.

I did get a ton of other stuff, though. And I mean a ton. My memory card was full to bursting. Here're a couple of clips; the shakiness is due to my involuntary dancing lol. Watch in HQ.

Love Machine:

Fix Me Up - featuring the stripper poles!

(But Patrick Stump is not to be outdone:)

Getting home was a bitch, as usual. Engineering works meant we had to change from the train to a replacement bus in Hitchin and so didn't get home until near 2. I'd set off for London at 7:30 that morning and had to be up for work 5 hours after I got home. But so worth it!

If you did read all this, thanks! xx

Birthday time!

2009-06-08T20:07:27Z

Happy Birthday, mellacita!! I know you're not the biggest fan of birthdays but I hope you have a good, stress-free day regardless. You're a great friend and I love spending time with you - and hopefully will again this autumn? hint hint! ;)

*big hugs*
♥

Fangs up, Cobra-style

2009-06-01T19:34:25Z

Decided to post in reverse, so Cobra is first up on the recap.

On Friday I travelled down to London yet again - this time to see Cobra Starship at ULU. A total bonus was meeting up with lady_razzle there; at the last minute she'd been able to get hold of a ticket. :D I had no idea she liked CS, but it turns out we have v. similar musical tastes (Girls Aloud aside!).

We got into the venue really early and proceeded to skip the three (yes, THREE) support acts in favour of sitting and talking haha. At this point I'm going to complain about the lack of alcohol at the venue. A gig at a student union and no bloody beer? What is this fuckery?! The support bands certainly had access to beer, if not food (most of them were so skinny it was frightening).

FINALLY, Cobra came on. We stood pretty much at the back but because the venue was tiny we had a great view. The stage was of course rather on the small side and it was amusing to watch Gabe trying to bounce about and sling his microphone stand around in the cramped conditions. Dude never stands still. The crowd were practically on the stage too, which really fed the energy.

For lady_razzle:

Suarez is so cute:

He got whacked around the head by Gabe and his microphone-acrobatics. So we can add that injury to poor Victoria's microphone burns. They do seem rather cursed as a band! Time for more of Wentz's voodoo, methinks.

Victoria plays with her hair a lot during gigs. I find this strangely adorable:

LOL tiny stage:

Fangs up!

I love Victoria's expression in this. If i were in a band with Gabe, I would wear this expression a LOT

For the encore, Ryland came on alone and amused us muchly. I ♥ him.

Then the rest of the band came back on, with Gabe looking all geek!hot:

Gabe then got knighted by Vicky-T's keytar, with Ryland officiating in his Guy Ripley voice. :P Someone posted a clip of that here. I thought I was recording it but it didn't come out.

Actually, I think my camera is better at videos than pics, tbh. Here are a couple I took - not the whole songs, just snippets, but enough to see the awesomeness. :) I recommend watching in HQ on the YouTube page.

Church of Hot Addiction:

Guilty Pleasure (encore):

Dreamwidth

2009-05-23T20:27:41Z

So, as usual I'm doing things about 6 months after everyone else, but I've now got a Dreamwidth journal (thanks to the lovely londinensa). It's not called 'friending' over there, right? Well whatever it's called, you can add me over there as hazyshade. ;) I think it's really just going to be a back-up for LJ once I, er, work out how to do that.

I also have 2 invite codes if anyone would happen to like one. :)

Today finds me reading Star Trek XI fic. It was really only a matter of time!

xx

hazyshade @ 2009-04-13T00:12:00

2009-04-12T23:15:07Z

Oh wow, it turns out I've been 'angry' for the past two posts.

Time for some more chocolate and mellowing out, haha

xx

Amazon = FAIL

2009-04-12T23:06:26Z

Amazon Rank

So it turns out Amazon.com are removing the sales rankings from gay and lesbian books on the basis that they're 'adult' and will upset a section of their customer base. Yet books of Playboy centrefolds or trashy Jackie Collins books full of crappy smut aren't deemed adult and have their rankings left intact. It's basically the equivalent of hiding the LGBT books on the top shelf.

The really idiotic thing is, most of these books are just textbooks on queer theory, or books on the history of homophobia (oh the irony), or books designed to help confused teenagers come to terms with who they really are. :( They've even taken the ranking off Stephen Fry's and John Barrowman's autobiographies.

Search for 'homosexuality' on Amazon.com and you get an array of books about 'curing' it with jesus and the like. That says it all, really. So much fail. :(

Here's a link if anyone wants to read more about it:

@ jezebel.com

------

In happier news, I've been to see my granddad today and he's doing a lot better. He's put on a lot of the weight he lost and is so much more like himself. :)

Thoughts on the last ever episode of BSG..

2009-03-21T18:43:00Z

Should probably sleep on it, but oh well.

The stupid thing is that I liked a good few things in the episode, but in the end I wanted resolution for my two favourite characters, Lee and Kara, and I got nothing. Zilch. Nada. :(

Things I liked (yes, really)
I'm a cauldron of emotions at the moment, but the overriding one is anger. It's been building up throughout season 4, but for the first half of this episode I almost thought it would be quelled. I think they did a pretty decent job (by season 4 standards) of handling a big cast and a big mission. I like that they used flashbacks from before the fall of Caprica, creating a nice bittersweet tension. I grinned at the old-school Centurions. My sense of nostalgia went through the roof at the weaving in of the original BSG theme. I thought that, while over-long, the resolution of the Opera House visions was handled well.

Hang on a second..
But my bullshit-o-meter went up when I saw how long the episode had to run once the mission was over and they'd found Earth version 2.0. After all, where was the massacre and the pointless deaths that I'd feared? Okay, there was Racetrack and Skulls, but I kept waiting for more..

All of this has happened before
Many years of watching Joss Whedon's shows told me this couldn't be good. That we couldn't finish the show without some angst. I actually like angst, as you can tell from my OTP's, but what I don't like is cheap storytelling that ignores the characters and their journeys. I was burned by that hack Chris Carter way back in my first fandom.

Happily ever after
So, the idea is that everybody gets a clean slate and can start over. All that optimism felt strange on BSG haha. And wasn't it nice that everyone got their own little resolution?

Except LEE AND KARA!

I don't care what anybody says - their relationship was central to the story that RDM's been telling for the past few years, and certainly central to the way the show's been promoted. I never expected for them to end up together, or even both survive the ending (again, I've been burnt before!), but I did expect some sort of resolution. Some sort of last moment that showed how much they've meant to each other. But no, we get that weird, disinterested to the point of OOC scene in the field where Kara just disappears. No hugs, no goodbyes, nothing. When you consider what RDM gave Kara and Sam, that's really nothing less than a deliberate kick in the teeth. I'm sure he thought he was being clever and terribly edgy. *rolls eyes* Bittersweet may have been what he was aiming for (if I give him the benefit of the doubt), but it would surely have been more bittersweet to have had them looking forward to a future together and then have her leave? At least that way there would've been a resolution to their relationship external to the will of God or whatever. To me, that was the journey they were on. To come to a place where they could be together - or at least decide that was what they wanted. If that wasn't going to be the case, why have Kara leave Sam on Galactica and come down to the planet?

And my poor Lee. The writers may try to fool us with that silly excitement about climbing mountains, but he's lost his father and the love of his life within a few minutes. Instead, he looks very au fait with it all. SO I GUESS WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE TOO. No chance, Ron.

If there's one thing that's been made clear to me it's that my (and Lee's) Kara DID die in Maelstrom and her absence has had a huge impact in how little I've come to think of this show. I'm sorry to say it, but I'd rather she'd stayed dead. Or that Lee had died at some point in the mission to save Hera. Anything but this sense of emptiness and the feeling that there has been no point in following this show these past years. I watched my post-Maelstrom K/L vid "Set the Fire" for the first time in a year last night, and it reminded me how much I used to be convinced of their journey and their connection and how death could not part them. But "See you on the other side" is now Sam's phrase apparently. If nothing else, it's really bad writing.

I mean, Romo as President?! Pandering. Ugh. And I'm SO glad that those engineers of genocide, Baltar and Caprica Six, got to live happily ever after. The whole thing is bonkers. Way to ruin it all, TPTB. :(

I need a drink, stat.

Icon post @ hazyhorizons

2009-01-18T22:48:38Z

Oops, I'd meant to post the link to this ages ago. Sorry for the spam!

[8] Smallville (inc. promos for 8x10 'The Bride')
[3] The Simpsons
[3] Torchwood cast @ The Hub, Oct' 08
[2] Sweeney Todd
[2] My Name Is Earl
[1] BSG cast
[1] Lord of the Rings
[1] Eva Green
[1] Angelina Jolie
[1] Tina Fey
[1] Eliza Dushku

Preview:

Over H E R E

BSG musings

2009-01-18T22:38:44Z

BSG 4x11 'Sometimes a Great Notion'

Not sure what to feel about this one...

Well, it was certainly intense - something that was much helped by the noteworthy direction. Since I seem unable to coalesce my thoughts, here are some random good things and not so good things:

~ The scenes with Kara discovering her own decomposing body and burning it were totally creepy and powerful. It almost meant I didn't snort in amusement at Leoben doing the whole 'backing away slowly' thing. She knows she's in trouble if Leoben thinks she's too creepy and foreboding to be around. :p

~ For some reason it made me pleased to see Baltar as a white-coated scientist again. Maybe it's because it counters the cult leader crap, or maybe I'm just nostalgic for season one!

~ Way to clue everyone in to Dee's upcoming death by including so much of her in the 'previously on'. *rolls eyes* I'm a bit annoyed at the way they rekindled the Lee/Dee ship in such an obvious way to set up the suicide (and to create more guilt and turmoil for Lee, of course). It was just bizarre to see them laughing and strolling around the corridors on their date while the rest of the fleet is in numb shock and a wrong word away from a riot. I thought the locker scene was well done though: it made sense to have poor Gaeta there, and it played out with a horrible creepiness (there's that word again). Those of us who come from Whedon fandoms know that happiness = ensuing death, so yeah.

~ But of course this all prevents Kara from confiding in Lee again. At least she was trying to, right?

~ Papa Adama wins the Worst Father In The Universe award for the 4th year running for that morgue scene.

~ I wanted more exploration of the fact that Dee had put so much stock in Adama to the point of hero-worship (and marrying his son, then trying to remake him in Papa Adama's image) and all that idealism was then proved to be false and empty. We got a little of it in Adama's breakdown with Tigh following the morgue visit, but I would have liked more with Dee herself. I guess it was just easier to have Dee act as a symbol of the whole fleet's devastation. It makes sense for it to be Dee as a steadfast follower of Adama, but the fall out from the death is going to annoy me with regards to Lee/Kara, I can tell. *sigh*

~ I definitely want to know what Gaeta's up to!

It was good to see these characters again - I've missed them more than I realised. But I'm still reserving judgement about a promising resolution to the show. It could go either way. Here's hoping!

Bday time!

2009-01-17T23:18:49Z

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAZZLE!!

I hope you had - and are still having - a great day. ;) I love you muchly! *hugs and kisses*

Goodbye 2008

2008-12-31T16:53:18Z

Apparently I've not been receiving comment notifications for over a week, so I apologise if I haven't responded to anyone. Am i the only one having this problem at the moment? Grrrr.

Anyway, I wish everyone a good evening tonight (or, for some on my friends list, last night *is confused*). And thank you to all those who have stuck by me this past year - you're true blue and I love you lots.

I hope 2009 is a great year for all of us!
*hugs* xx

Hazy's State of the TV Season (or something)

2008-12-30T23:47:18Z

Because I finally have time to jot down a few thoughts on the US Autumn/Fall TV season so far. Or, more specifically, the shows I've watched: Smallville, Heroes, Dexter and 30 Rock.

Smallville - Season 8, episodes 1-10

Conventional wisdom would have it that a show going into its 8th season without a) the iconic main antagonist, and b) the protaganist's epic love interest, would be in all sorts of trouble. But a confession: I've actually enjoyed this season, thus far, much more than some of the preceding ones. I'll admit that I love the Clois relationship, which we've got in spades this year, and that seeing Clark grow into the Superman role has always sent little shivers down my fangirl spine. It seems that the writers have fast-tracked both of these storylines with the end of the series in mind. This has the positive effect of an adrenaline rush, but the negative is that it's often felt TOO rushed. At times, characterisation has suffered. As for the supporting characters: I'm not sure where they're going with Chloe this year, but I've liked Sam Witwer's creepy/empathetic portrayal of Davis, and Tess Mercer has not been nearly as annoying of a Lex-replacement as I initially feared. Best of all, Oliver Queen keeps popping up with the hotness and those much-needed asides to the rest of the gang. ;)
A thumbs up.

Heroes - Season 3, episodes 1-13

Weirdly, for a comic book nerd, I was never as into Heroes as I imagined I would be - and certainly never as much as the hype seemed to demand. That said, the first season was an engaging piece of work and seemed to offer no end of opportunities for the series to run with into the future. But this never happened. Season 2 was comparatively weak, although it did pick up towards the (strike-shortened) end. Season 3 has been just terrible. Considering that Lost, BSG, FotC, 24 and Dollhouse all start in January, Heroes is, I'm afraid, on the chopping block for me. I've never seen such bad characterisation outside of a Chris Carter script! Characters like Nathan, Sylar, Elle and Tracy (and so on) have flip-flopped all over the place between good and evil for apparently no reason other than that the writers got stuck. Unless I find out Nathan is somehow being mind-controlled by his dead-again father, the deal's off Mr. Kring. What a waste of potential.
Thumbs down.

Dexter - Season 3

Ah Dexter, how I love thee. First up for this season: I miss Doakes, ngl. But! I was really pleased that Jimmy Smits was going to be in the mix this year. I thought he did a great job on the West Wing, and ditto here. One of the things I love about the cast of this show is that all the actors are so versatile. I've seen most of the main cast in other roles drastically different from their Dexter alter-egos and they pull them off perfectly. You basically forget that's the guy from Six Feet Under, or that's the girl from The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The same with Jimmy Smits. I loved the energy he brought to the role of Miguel. I know there were complaints that he dominated the season too much, but Dexter is a reacting character by nature, and is always the most interesting when in a one-on-one battle of wits with an antagonist (Ice Truck Killer, Doakes). What upped the tension this time was that Miguel was a friend - his first friend. I found myself touched that Dexter had a friend and confidant, even though I knew it would end in bloodshed (as everything on this show does)! It was interesting to see the birth of another monster; to see Dexter become his father as mentor. And in the end to find some peace with his father and his own impending fatherhood. Again, I know there have been complaints about the 'happy' finale, but it makes me roll my eyes and shout: have you guys ever SEEN this show before?
p.s. Did anyone else think Maria and Ellen were going to hook up? I really got that vibe from them. Just another way to pull the rug from under our feet, I guess!
Thumbs up, as always!

30 Rock - Season 3, episodes 1-6

I love Tina Fey, and, despite it probably squeezing Studio 60 off the air, I love this show. However, I'm not finding this season quite as funny as the previous two (although the last few episodes of S2 weren't entirely up to par either). I'm not sure what it is. Since I've only seen 6 episodes it may well be a temporary glitch - here's hoping! Despite all this it's still the funniest thing on US TV... well, until Flight of the Conchords returns in January. ;)
Thumbs sort of wavering in the up position :p

FWIW, my highlight of the UK Autumn season was C4's The Devil's Whore.