'Survivor 13: Cook Islands' - East Coast Update - 11/16 - Immunity

Aitu won Immunity. In a new twist, the losing tribe (Raro) was given a sealed bottle which they must bring to Tribal Council. The cannot open it. It will be opened at TC after the votes have been cast.

'Survivor 13: Cook Islands' - East Coast Update - 11/16 - Reward

Aitu won Reward, sent Candice to Exile Island. They won a plane ride to a feast on a nearby island.

TV Newsy Bits - Thursday, November 16, 2006

It's another very stormy night here - high winds, thunderstorms, flood warnings - but I plan to post East Coast Updates as tonight's Survivor airs here in the NYC area (power and cable TV willing). Reward, Immunity, the boot and any other important happenings will be blogged real time and a review/recap should be posted late this evening. So, if you're West Coast, or just want to outcry an event as you watch, check for those entries. You may have to refresh the blog page or click on the Archive for this week (right sidebar on main page) to see the most recent entry.

In other Bits o' Blog Business, blog reader Sydney (hi!) missed Dancing With The Stars last night. I found that ABC doesn't seem to have the show in its entirety online, but has many video clips posted at their website. I haven't checked YouTube, but would guess clips are also there. If anyone has any other ideas, speak up! She knows who won, but would like to see the show if it's out there anywhere.

I received an email from a gentleman involved with the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston. He knows there are some Grey's Anatomy fans here. (Yay!) Kate Burton, who plays Ellis Grey (Meredith Grey's mother on Grey's Anatomy) will be appearing on stage in the Huntington's production of the play "The Cherry Orchard" from January 5 - February 6. Alas, I don't foresee a Boston trip in my future at that time. But if any of you are in the area and are interested, more details are available here. If you think you might want to go, please let me know! It would make for interesting discussion.

The thunder is getting louder here, so I'll call this an entry. All of those folks camping out in lines for the PlayStation 3 must be getting drenched. Since I can't beat Crash Bandicoot on my plain ol' original PlayStation, I don't see PS3 in my future - a trip to Boston would be more likely.

The Best Reruns You Aren't Watching

I'm usually not home on weekdays in the daytime hours. But when I am, I'm bored with a lot of the television programming. Since Ellen DeGeneres has moved to the afternoons here in the NYC area, the morning and noon hour is a bit of a vast wasteland of Jerry Springer and The Maury Show.

Now, nothing against those fine gentlemen - they've both made their mark in their genres and seem successful - but they're just not my cuppa tea, not at all. If I had children, I'd know who the father was and drag queens duking it out can only hold my attention for so long.

So, there I was, channel-flipping today. And there it was. I now have a new must-see 11 AM program on any weekdays I happen to be home. A series which ranks amongst my personal all-time favorites is regularly shown on Superstation WGN (cable). Perfect! And, today, the day I made the discovery, aired one of the most notable episodes from the series. I'm beside myself with the glee. Yes, truly I am!

The series is Homicide: Life on the Street. In my opinion, it remains one of the best police shows ever on television. I have the boxed DVD set of the first two seasons, but it doesn't include the show I (re)watched today. The show enjoyed a six-year run from 1993 through 1999, so my two-year collection is only a taste. Seeing today's show is going to make me hit up the boxed set again, but now I have Homicide fever once again. I may have to tape daily shows on WGN.

Today's episode was "The Hat" with guest star Lily Tomlin. I found her performance as Rose Halligan mesmerizing and chilling. The role garnered her an Emmy nomination and was certainly worthy of winning (although it didn't). Rose was a prim and proper opera fan and voice coach suspected of murdering her husband. Detectives Lewis (Clark Johnson) and Kellerman (Reed Diamond) were assigned to pick up Rose to transport her back to Baltimore for questioning, yet lose her on the way. They take a liking to the unusual, but oh-so-respectable murder suspect. After all, she could be a great aunt. She couldn't be a cold-blooded killer, could she?

Ah, but yes, she certainly could be. Rose escaped from them with the goal to return the hat of the woman who had an affair with her husband. It was the hat she wore throughout the episode. Well, that is until the end, when her friend and reason for killing her husband wore the hat - as she lay dead on the floor while Rose sat singing an opera tune outside on a porch swing.

This is one of the finest episodes of that season, but I never saw a "bad" episode of the show. And, it's one of the best reruns on daytime television that I haven't been watching. But I will be from now on.

TV Newsy Bits - Tuesday, November 14, 2006

For me, tonight wasn't a huge TV night. I'm a Law and Order fan, so the new episodes of SVU and Criminal Intent were on my watch-list. Both shows lived up to their standard fare of good writing, good acting, and the drama I want. (As if I don't have enough drama in my personal life. Oh, well... it's a different sort of drama, for sure.)

Criminal Intent finally showed Goren's mother, the one with the health and mental problems. I don't believe they've shown her before, or I missed it. Goren's going a bit off the edge once again. I like Vincent D'Onofrio in the role, but I found tonight's performance a bit more odd than usual. Whether it's acting or not, I don't know. He was almost stumbling pigeon-toed, but he was also scruffier than usual and stressed out by his mother. That doesn't explain him getting chubbier, though. At the end, he told them they could fire him if they wanted, he had to get to his mother. I guess we'll know more the next Goren episode - next week is a Chris Noth one.

Oh, one real complaint about the show. They film the show in the NYC area, which I love because I see places I know and have even seen them filming at times. But, dang, get the seasons right. The leaves are never green on the trees on Thanksgiving. Sheesh. The leaves are almost all gone, those which remain are brown or perhaps a bit of color, but that color isn't green!

It'll be coming before you know it! The sixth season of American Idol is set to premiere January 17 and 18. I mentioned in another TV Newsy Bits that Kellie Pickler has picked up a sitcom. The previous contestants have hit the news wires again with stories such as this one - Are ‘American Idol’ finalists quickly forgotten? - American Idol - MSNBC.com. I had wondered what's been going on with Taylor Hicks. I don't need to know what's going on with Justin Guarino. I really don't.

In other TV News Bits:

• Save the cheerleader, save the world! My new favorite must-watch show is getting a lot of press these days. Heroes Links I know I've mentioned it in passing and it's too far into the season to pick up blogging about it regularly, but I feel an article coming on.
• A Message in a Bottle Leads to a Twist This Week on Survivor: Cook Islands - Beware, mild spoilers.
• Mild spoilers for next week's Amazing Race episode.