Don't You Wish Your Middle Name Was "Cougar?"

- Now THAT was an episode of The OC. Huge improvement over last week's episode, and man, what an ending -- sure, in hindsight it probably could have been predicted, but it definitely caught me off guard. Business is picking up. My grade for tonight's episode: A -

Whoah ... I kind of jumped right into things there. Kind of sudden, I know. But hey, it's just been a really weird, random week like that. I mean let's be honest here - working three out of the past four days at Ellen is just about enough to drive one totally bonkers. So excuse the total random nature of this latest blog entry, but let's just say I haven't heard this much Vanilla Ice played since my brother bought some Vanilla Ice / MC Hammer Best Of CD and was playing that thing all the time. And the sights we must endure while at that show... People dancing that shouldn't be dancing, rolls rolling that shouldn't be rolling, jiggles jiggling that shouldn't be ... well, I guess you get the idea. It's enough to make one appreciate the comfortably uncomfortable lameness of Leno. Well, almost.

But yeah, today was another double-dose of Ellen, which basically means standing around and taking people to the bathroom. But for some reason all the waiting around while enduring terrible music makes the days seem so loooong. In reality we're not working that many hours but by the end of the day you drive home hungry, with tired legs, with a headache, and a pressing need to lie down.

I did see a ton of interesting celebreties on the show today, though. We had the return of CYNTHIA NIXON, who was one of the funniest guests from last season. We had the legendary (and seemingly on something) MERYL STREEP, who had a great segment where she and Ellen imitated various local dialects chosen at random. We had THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS, who bumped and grinded through a crowd-pleasing musical segment. And hey, even DONALD TRUMP showed up for an interview and to promote the latest season of The Apprentice. Oh yeah, Mr. Mad-About-You, PAUL REISER and former Columbo PETER FALK were on as well to promote their new movie. A loaded day, that's for sure. But the best Ellen moment I've seen in a whil probably happened yesterday, when the always charming LEAH REMINI was presented by Ellen with a mid-lifetime achievement award. As Leah pretended to be flattered and give an acceptance speech, she was cut off by blaring music ala The Oscars, and in anger, she spontaneously lunged at Ellen, and a full-on CATFIGHT ensued. It was all a joke, of course, but still ... hilarious, I tell ya. Also saw Mrs. Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood perform yesterday ... can't say it was my cup of tea, but hey, it's been a pretty packed few days. Did I mention that the last few Ellen episodes have been followed by interviews for Access Hollywood and a bunch of other local news programs? Fun, fun, fun. But hey, it's been some good times, so I guess I can't complain too much.

MORE RANDOM STUFF:

- Gotta give some kudos to pages Scott McF and Akhila for producing a Page Newsletter that was sent out over email and was hilarious (not sure if the humor was intentional or not, but either way, gotta love seeing a news item tellign everyone that I bought a wooden sword at Medieval Times this weekend -as if everyone needed to know that - bwahahaha ...).

- Saw a DVD of the pilot for the new UPN comedy EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS, based on the childhood of Chris Rock, which has gotta be the frontrunner for the season's best new comedy. This reminded me very much of early Malcolm in the Middle, and won me over from the get-go with endearing characters, Chris Rock's trademark satirical voice, a shrewdly integrated, underlying theme of social / political commentary, and a number of laugh-out-loud moments. I know, I know - you don't watch UPN. Well get with the program - UPN now has one of TV's best dramas, Veronica Mars, and one of its best comedies - Everybody Hates Chris. Now why does it have to be on at the same time as The OC and Smallville? Oh well, find a way to watch it. My grade: A

- Oh yeah - I've got to offer congratulations to my fellow NBC page Parneil, who had a brush with stardom last night, as she was featured in a sketch on The Carson Daly Show! Yep, if anyone saw the show last night (doubtful, I know ...), you may have seen Parneil showing Carson Daly around the NBC Studios in Burbank as he attempted, unsuccesfully, to be funny and witty. Hey, everyone's gotta start somewhere.

- My birthday is fast-approaching. Any ideas on how to celebrate?

- Met a family in the audience for Ellen today originally from BLOOMFIELD, CT! It's a small world, I tell ya.

- Tommorow: Danny's BIG DAY OFF.

So um, don't wake me up tommorow.