"I said COT."

Dammit, please tell me that was not the last episode ever of Arrested Development.

Seriously, if so that is just ridiculous, sad, pathetic, and wrong. Take away Arrested, give us Stacked. Fair trade, huh? Honestly, I don't understand why this show wasn't doing better in a somewhat cushy post-Simpsons spot in the lineup. I think, basically, people are stupid. I know, the truth hurts, but it just is so. How else to explain the success of the endless parade of crappy reality shows. How else to explain the fact that shows like Arrested and Veronica Mars, despite being among the best on TV, have found themselves near-death? Sure, Arrested D required a little effort on the part of the viewer, as it contained ongoing gags and a somewhat serialized plot (rare, I guess, for a comedy), but it's a lot easier to follow than, say, Lost, which seems to be doing pretty well. I think it's basically the Conan O'Brien vs. Jay Leno syndrome of comedy. Conan is funnier, wittier, edgier, smarter, and cooler than Jay, yet many older and even some younger viewers claim not to get Conan's humor and prefer Leno's boring, repetitive, yet comfortably predictable form of bland comedy. So while According to Jim, Reba, etc. continue on into eternal craptitude, Arrested D stands poised to die an untimely death, joining the TV heaven currently occupied by Andy Richter Controls The Universe, Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, My So Called Life, and Futurama.

As for the final (?) episode: great, great episode. If only things didn't have to be so condensed - it was obvious they were cramming A LOT of stuff into 22 minutes, even more so than usual. But the show was hilarious, and did a really admirable job of wrapping up / addressing a number of plot threads, even if many things are still left dangling. The George Michael - Maybe romance in particular, which started out last year as kind of a weird subplot, really stole the show. Buster's realization that Oscar was his father was great, and Michael, Gob, Tobias, Lindsay, and Lucille were in fine comedic form as well. The preview for "next season" was either just funny, or bittersweetly ironic, depending on if the show is renewed. If not, at least it went out with a bang. My grade: A

I also have to give some more kudos to Malcolm In the Middle, with another great episode. No, this show has NOT jumped the shark, and in fact is having a rennaisance of sorts this year. Cloris Leachman, as always, is golden as Lois' mom. Hal and Reese's bonding over horror movies was classic, and what other show is so cruel in its depiction of brotherhood that it has two siblings knowlingly CAUSE EACH OTHER TO BECOME DEAF? No other show, ever, has so reminded me, in a twisted, weird way, of what it is really like to grow up with brothers. I know that my own brother and me regularly inflicted plenty of harm to each other, from poked eyes to blows to the head to exceesive applications of the Sharpshooter. Haha oh man ... anyways, the fact that Dewey, upon realizing he was deaf, immediately blurted out "Mom's gonna KILL me!" made me cringe in recognition. Awesome, funny episode: A

Simpsons: Eh. Why do they insist on still doing these "potential future" episodes when they are never any good. Only the original attempt at showing a future version of the Simpsons stands as a decent episode. Now, there were some very funny moments here (something about seeing a jacked up yet still emotionally fragile Milhouse was inherently hilarious), but overall, kind of a weak effort. Still, it was kind of funny how they didn't even really try to realistically imagine the future this time and were just throwing stuff out there (like, how all the policemen resembled Robocop). Oh, nice Bender cameo (even if it makes no sense, really, since he lives in the year 3000 - I know, I know, just a cartoon ...). My grade: C+

King of the Hill: Pretty good episode. I was worried that they were somehow going to endorse smoking as being cool, but then they turned it around and did a nice little commentary on how teenagers will find anything cool. Good stuff. My grade: B+

Whoah I am watching Stacked as I write this and please ... tone down the laugh track. Oh Christopher Lloyd, how the mighty have fallen ... (although I admit he is kind of funny on the show ... still, Stacked? I mean, are they serious?).

What is this Malcolm in the Middle animated thing next week? Um, this better be a one time only deal. Screw you FOX and your Animation Domination crap.

END OF FOX SUNDAY NIGHT RANT.

- Well, I got a reclining chair from IKEA (where everything was tax free this weekend), so now my apartment setup is pretty much complete. Yes, I braved that Swedish maze of weirdly shaped madness and came out semi-intact, and I even assembled the chair myself in record time. That place though, whoever designed it obviously used to be one of those scientists that sends rats scurrying through mazes. It literally takes like an hour to walk from one end of that store to the other, and god forbid if you defy the arrows on the floor and turn around to walk backwards. And getting to the wharehouse area is like descending down into the earth's crust. Those wacky Swedes.

- This week it's all ticket office, all the time. I'm ditching my page uniform for business casual and trading walking the aisles of The Tonight Show for sitting in an office all week, 9 to 5, sorting mail and answering phones. Fun. Oh yeah, I am ticket office HEAD, so that means I am actually RESPONSIBLE for what goes on. Not good.

Well I seem to have gotten some writer's block (having Stacked on in the background for half an hour will do that to you) but don't worry, I'll be back with more soon. As always, stay tuned.