"Thank you for explaining it to me..."

° America's Next Top Model Cycle 9 (Mondays, Living) is all about Heather, isn't it? I know she probably won't win because she'll mess up on the Cover Girl commercial (if she gets that far) or she'll make a bad impression on the Go-Sees or something but c'mon...is there anyone else even slightly interesting? I admit I do like Jenah as well, but sometimes she reminds me of Princess from the Raggy Dolls and that's not a good look. Everyone else annoys me. Of course I still couldn't tear my eyes away if I wanted to.

° I haven't really changed my opinion of Reaper that much, but I will admit I'm enjoying it more. Recent episodes have been funnier, it's playing with the narrative structure a bit more and it feels like it's learning as it goes along.

° As much as I still enjoy ER (Thursdays, More4), I think I realised the other day that I'm starting to watch it like a soap, and that's not great news for a show I once considered to be the best on TV. To watch something like a soap means to watch without any real emotional investment in the characters because they've become too disposable, and thanks to ER's revolving door cast policy that's fast becoming the case. In fairness, a lot of this season's brightest moments have come from the new characters (love Zelinski, love Moretti, love Wexler) but all the stories left to sustain the central characters have been weak as hell. The priorities are skewed and it feels like it's because the writers are taking the easy road: client stories with the occasional sniff of serial drama when patently it should be the reverse. As a consequence all the longer story arcs have just felt scant and unsatisfying. Abby battling the bottle again, Pratt feeling unappreciated, Ray yawn yawn yawn, Sam offloading her son and...well, there's not much else, is there? It's still fun and I still care, but it never feels like there's anything really important going on any more. I'm just popping my head in on a place I used to know.

Oh, and also a big thank you also for the mildly offensive caricature of English people in the episode 'Coming Home' (s14e08). It's nice to finally know how an Asian person feels when they watch Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

° I've just started watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Thursdays, Virgin1) and, as expected, it's not generally offensive but it is kinda boring. I mean, this is going to sound unduly harsh, but sometimes watching it reminds me of Friday nights on Sky One in the mid-90's and shows like Renegade and Walker, Texas Ranger. There's just nothing in it to really get excited about.