Monday: Gossip Girl (WB), Heroes (NBC), also The Closer (TNT) but that season’s ended (summer show).
Tuesday: House (Fox), Fringe (Fox)
Wednesday: America’s Next Top Model (WB), Project Runway (Bravo), Top Design (Bravo)
Thursday: Survivor (CBS)

Plus, it’s not just the tv watching. On Wednesday after I watch Project Runway, I try and read Tim’s Take on Bravo (although the formatting is terrible, and it didn’t used to be so bad), then I check Project Rungay throughout the week, and on Sunday or Monday I read fourfour for his take on America’s Next Top Model. By the way, even if you can’t imagine ever watching ANTM, you should read fourfour. He’s funny, and really, it’d be too bad to completely miss out on Tyra’s crazies. :)

I’m also looking forward to Pushing Daisies (ABC, starting Oct. 1) Lost, and Battlestar Galactica whenever they start. So am I missing out on any good shows? :)

BUT (and there’s always a but, no?), there was this one part where someone needs information from someone else and OF COURSE the way to get this information was to beat his fingers with a mug. I am starting to wonder if shows on Fox have a contract where they are supposed to show some sort of torture or physical duress and have it Save Lives at least once per season. In the last season of 24 there was a scene that was so gruesome I could not watch it, but Jack got the information he needed in the time available, so I guess I’m supposed to think it was ok. Yes in Fringe, it was just a mug banged a couple of times, but really? This is ok?

The difference between Fox and other stations is especially stark because when other networks broadcast instances of torture or brutality, there are usually consequences that show that this sort of behavior isn’t ok, or doesn’t work. Like (speaking of Star Trek), when Captain Picard was captured by the Cardassians (Chain of Command, parts 1 and 2): after they realized that Picard wasn’t going to give them any strategic information, the Cardassians nevertheless kept asking him how many lights were on a particular fixture, and insisting that there were five when there were really four lights. Despite the torture, Picard truthfully said that there were four lights every time. Towards the end of the episode, he was offered a choice: the torture could stop, all he had to do was to say that there were five lights or the torture could continue, if he was obstinate. He later admitted that, “I was ready to tell him anything he wanted… anything at all.” Picard had proven his own point, that “torture has never been a reliable means of extracting information. It is ultimately self-defeating as a means of control.” Even if Picard had given them information, it would have been useless — he was ready to say that there were five lights, even though there were four.

This episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation aired in 1992, but I remember it pretty well. And I think that’s the insidious thing about the shows that are airing on Fox. They are portraying torture as a legitimate means to an end in the case of an emergency, and in the instances that I can think of, there are NO consequences for these actions, or maybe even some amount of admiration for the people willing to get their hands dirty, and Do the Hard Thing to Save Lives. Yes, it’s just a tv show, but to some degree television is a reflection on our culture, which makes this trend disturbing.

But today was the season premiere! And I just watched the show! And I made many comments! And Yut said, “Uh huh” a lot! But he paid enough attention to turn on my computer! SO WHERE IS TIM’S TAKE?!

ZOMG!

Speaking of hunger though, the other day I was meeting misa for lunch, and I got to the place a little faster than she did, so I was waiting and looking down the (wrong) street for her when I realized I was kinda rubbing my belly thinking about what I was gonna eat! In public! Gah! Who does that!?

It’s like the woman who was auditioning for Beauty and the Geek and she kept unconsciously laughing nervously and it was kind of not so good.

Check around 8:25 into the clip.

But you know what’s the freakiest thing? I had a weird dream about Heroes this week too. I don’t remember the dream but I definitely remember it was about Heroes cos I woke up long enough to tell Yut. It’s premiering next week, so that must be why. Also cos I have excellent taste in TV. :P

But she keeps letting me root through her drawers and borrow things even though every trip I stain something. This time it was soy sauce on a white linen shirt. Oops. Truly it’s a talent. I’d just like to point out that I went with her to both Trader Joe’s and Costco in the span of ONE DAY!!! :p

Oh, this is unrelated but we’ve been watching So You Think You Can Dance again. It’s good fun! :)

Anyhows, Yut is like 30 episodes behind me, and I decided I liked Bleach enough to download all the episodes for archiving on DVDs, so I’m trying to download all 120 current (cos it’s an ongoing series) episodes. Mostly this means I’m leaving my laptop on, and bittorrenting during the day (work hours) and night (sleeping hours, duh!), which works out pretty well. Except today. I’ve been trying to unplug things in our room that are easy to reach before I leave for work in the morning — stuff like the tv, dvd player, phone chargers, that sort of thing. This morning, I unplugged the laptop too. Oops. (Yut: “Why can’t you do anything in moderation?!” Also, “hahaha!” )