'Mad Men': This magic moment

This episode, dare I say, was blessed, magical, sent from the stars.  I’m almost reluctant to blog about it in case I jinx the start of a winning streak.  If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re probably thinking that something big happened.  It didn’t, but that’s OK.  Sometimes the best TV is delivered in moments -- big, clever, imaginative moments. Funny, dark, odd moments.  So yeah, as far as plot stuff goes, last night was no big deal, but as far as style, scene and character development?  It was a beauty to behold.

Let’s talk about it moment by moment, shall we?

'Real World': Dunbar goes from hero to zero

Oh, Dunbar. He was presented first as the fratty hunk of the house in Sydney, admitting in this episode that when at school at Ole Miss he was the type who would fall in love every day with random girls he saw on the way to class. (He reveals this despite his frequent mentions of his girlfriend back home that he's soooo devoted to.)

So how did he manage to alienate two of his gal pal roommates already?

'The Hills': Where are all the men?

Because they were MIA during Monday's episode of "The Hills."

Instead, the series' resident guys were revealed to be a bunch of little girls.

Let's review the players:

Brody Jenner, the Whiner. Brody's complaints began early on in the episode when Spencer told him he had decided to forgo one of their many BBQ parties to fly to Colorado to meet Heidi's family. Brody, pictured, reacted like a jealous girlfriend. ("We've been planning this BBQ for two months!") He ragged on Lauren's attitude toward Heidi and Spencer last season, but it looks like Brody is just as clingy to his BFF.

Later, during the party, Brody got tackled by Lauren during a co-ed game of beach football. Somehow he managed to actually break a finger, kicking off Whining, Round 2. After telling everyone at the party that he'd gotten nailed by Lauren, he took off for the doctor's office. He returned shortly after with X-rays, an appointment for surgery and a full arm bandage. Lauren couldn't help but laugh at the sight of his entire arm wrapped up like a mummy for a finger injury. Brody later complained to Lauren that her laughter hurt his feelings. Cry me a river, dude. Good thing Lauren seems to be completely over their short-lived romance.

Justin Bobby, the Ditcher. Oh, Audrina. He left you in Vegas, and he's gone and disappeared again. This is what we call a pattern. And for a minute there, we thought you saw it too. "I'm done," you said after discovering that he had left your helmet and your heart at the party. And then we saw the preview for next week's episode, which told us that despite appearances, you're going to go back for more. We have no words. Anyhow, Lauren put it best: "Homeboy wore combat boots to the beach. I know you don't want that for a boyfriend."

Spencer Pratt, the Kiss-Up. Surprisingly, party girl Heidi seems to come from a grounded family. So needless to say, it didn't look like they bought Spencer's I'm-a-good-guy act. At least, not the way the episode was edited. They didn't seem the least impressed that in less than a year, he had convinced their 20-year-old daughter to move in with him and get engaged. Frankly, and I think Heidi's family really picked up on this, he's just creepy. Not too bright, either: That impression of a possessive Lauren? Scary, not to mention in poor taste. Mom and Stepdad made no secret of the fact that they liked Lauren and were concerned that the two were no longer friends. Stepdad came right out and told Spencer that in fact Heidi had a poor habit out of clinging too tightly to her boyfriends and as a result was without a core group of close friends. The idea that this might be bad for Heidi didn't seem to register with Spencer.

Ladies, I suggest restricting future boyfriends to the kind with, ahem, guts.

-- Denise Martin

(Photo courtesy MTV.com)

'My Boys': Full roster

It's never-ending!

The cast of characters, that is, on "My Boys."  One of the show's weaknesses in its premiere season last year was that it seemed to possess at least one too many boys.  Protagonist P.J. Franklin (Jordana Spiro) hung out with a circle of five guys: her brother Andy (Jim Gaffigan), cool hipster-type Brendan (Reid Scott), dorky Kenny (Michael Bunin), smarmy, conniving Mike (Jamie Kaler) and the other one, Bobby (Kyle Howard).  Plus, there's her best girlfriend, Stephanie (Kellee Stewart).  It was a little difficult to keep up with this large group, and even the writers seemed to have a hard time fitting everyone into the show.  Very often an episode would focus on P.J. and a few of the boys, and several others would have to grab some bench, to borrow some "My Boys" baseball parlance. 

It was the debut season, though, so it seemed plausible that the characters would get more settled in the second season.  That's a difficult task, however, when a guest character is introduced virtually every episode.  The season premiere, it was Nicole Sullivan, playing Kenny's pregnant girlfriend.  Last week, Jeremy Sisto made an appearance as an ex-flame of P.J.'s, whose temporariness became apparent the minute he announced that he was living in Seattle.  The city of Chicago is as integral to "My Boys" as New York was to "Sex and the City." 

'Big Love': Stumbling at the finish line

Let's call this the summer of HBO's head-scratching endings.  We started in June with Tony Soprano's sudden cut-to-black, then continued with the impenetrable conclusion of "John From Cincinnati," and now, just in time for Labor Day, we have the season finale of "Big Love," which was firing on all cylinders for most of its second season but came to a sputtering, half-hearted close.

The problem?  After a final episode filled with betrayals revealed, secrets unveiled, Bill's schemes against Alby thwarted and Roman jailed, the series somehow managed to steer itself back to something status quo.  Not exactly the sort of compelling stuff that leaves you breathless for more.

How, after episode and episode of Barb's increasing frustration with her place in the family did she come to Bill and reaffirm her stance alongside him?  This coming just moments after Bill made out with Ana (Branka Katic) in the family's pantry.  Barb was already upset with Bill over the revelation that Bill had dated Ana, and Ana's lustful reappearance would have been the perfect capper for Barb's ever-increasing list of grievances with polygamist living.  But no, instead the tryst went unnoted and Barb's increasing dissatisfaction seems to have been sated, at least until next season.  Our last shot of the show in 2007 was of the three sister wives, laughing and enjoying themselves as a family unit. Somehow that just didn't sit right.

All three wives developed as characters this year.  Margene began to learn how to assert herself, if only through the same methods a teenage daughter would assert herself.  Nicki revealed herself as a character to be pitied, admittedly suppressing her own desires and filling the void through gambling.  And then there was Barb, whose disapproving mother and sister have become a haunting specter over her home, and whose increasing inability to call the shots seemed to be the fatal bullet in her marriage. But despite Bill moving forward with Weber Gaming against her wishes, and Bill courting a possible fourth wife against her wishes, and Bill encouraging their son Ben to pursue a polygamist lifestyle against her wishes, she continued to stand by him without much complaint.  Will nothing make this woman pop?

In other developments, Bill's latest scheme to oust his arch-enemies Roman and Alby from the board of the UEB failed when Alby had his father arrested.  The inner-workings of the polygamist board members have been the least interesting aspect of "Big Love," and the events of the season-ender were no different.  The threatening phone conversations have been done to death.  Alby's intense stare has worn out its welcome, and Roman seems headed for an Uncle Junior-style slow fade-out.

After being shot in spectacular style by members of a rival polygamist family, Roman (Harry Dean Stanton) has spent the last few episodes in and out of a near-coma -- most of it induced by his son. But he finally came back to coherence in the season finale, only to be arrested.  In essence, Roman's place in the storyline didn't change one bit.  He started the episode absent and powerless, and it appears he'll be starting the third season in the same condition.  So why did we spend so much time with this feeble man who doesn't seem to be a threat to anyone anymore?

It seems as if the show's creators have grown just as bored with the constant power struggle between Bill and Roman, and seeking to change things up have brought Alby into power.  But Harry Dean Stanton is such an interesting actor, they can't rightly kick him off the show, so what do they do?  That seems like it will be one of the show's major challenges next year.

The other major challenge, and one that was made more difficult after the final episode, is how to make us believe that the Henricksons can continue to function as a family in a believable manner. How much more of this can Barb take?  For the show's sake, let's hope that it's not a lot.  Because in its second season, "Big Love" has discovered itself and successfully juggled the political and the domestic, the humorous and the melodramatic, and even, at times, the frightening.  When it's working as it should, it's dazzling to watch.  Let's hope the finale of the second season was just a minor stumble on the show's march to glory.

-- Patrick Day

(Photo courtesy HBO)

Jenna's 'baby' with Maher's bathwater

HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” returned Friday night, back with a vengeance (and technical difficulties).

Maher’s mike went out at the top of his monologue. On any other show this might be a conspicuous gaffe, but “Real Time” is kind of a messy show, anyway—a topical salon of the fast-and-loose opinion, interrupted by comedy bits that recall Carson’s more old-school, vaudevillian approach.

“Real Time” might not be as silky smooth in its rhetoric as Comedy Central’s “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” or “The Colbert Report,” but the show also comes down a little farther from a perch of above-it-all remove.

To wit—the somewhat painful sketch in the cold open Friday that had Maher riffing on missing U.S. weaponry in Iraq, playing a Crazy-Eddy-in-Sadr-City type, selling guns in a “back to surge sale.”

Mercifully, the bit was short.

The panel featured the liberal flame-throwing actor Tim Robbins (''the American people were suckered into this war with false information and with propaganda”), who was off-set by National Public Radio’s Michel Martin and The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes, the latter cast in that lonely, difficult “Real Time” role of the conservative whoever facing down the crowd-pleasing movie star.

Robbins and Hayes got into it on the specter of pre-9/11 ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda,  Maher finally turning the temperature down by bringing on another bit—a faux baby shower gift basket for President Bush’s daughter Jenna, set to be married amid speculation that she’s preggers.

I kind of liked the “Interrogate Me Elmo” doll and the little baby port-o-potty that reads “Mission Accomplished” when you lift the seat.

Later, new Republican presidential darling Mike Huckabee made a repeat appearance via satellite. Having finished a surprising second behind Mitt “Daddy Warbucks” Romney in the Iowa straw poll, Huckabee, celebrating a birthday Friday, seemed to be feeling his oats.

“How old are you, governor?” Maher asked.

“I’m 52 years old. Please say I look younger. Do me a favor, give me that birthday present and tell me I don’t look that old.”

Maher, for once, kept his tongue.

--Paul Brownfield

(Photo courtesy HBO)

'Mad Men': Strong women

The saucy, skittery women of Draperville don’t have it easy. They get mocked for going ga-ga over lipstick. Their bodies are seen as fresh meat for the vulturous Mad Men. They’re not taken seriously when their hands seize up (as in Episode 2). But this week’s episode gave them all a chance to shine. Even if it was just the mellow glow that might come off a rose-gold brooch, it felt good, slightly victorious.

The New Season: Now AFTRA will investigate 'Kid Nation'

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced Friday that it is investigating reports of abuse of children on CBS’ forthcoming “Kid Nation.”

The announcement follows a week of heavy media scrutiny of an unprecedented reality show in which 40 kids, ages 8 to 15, were placed in the New Mexico desert to build a town and society without contact with their parents. The mother of a 12-year-old Georgia girl who was burned in the face with grease while cooking filed a complaint with Georgia officials accusing the production of abuse and neglect.

CBS issued a statement earlier in the week in support of its show and production.

“We stand by the procedures we had in place and the response to all the minor injuries,” the statement said. “We will therefore not accept irresponsible allegations or any attempts to misrepresent and exaggerate events or spread false claims about what happened.”

'Top Chef': 'Chef' shocker! Ta ta, Trey

Well, I didn't see that coming. No one did.

Trey, the executive chef long considered a front-runner for the "Top Chef" title, was sent packing after Restaurant April turned in a lackluster second night, concluding Restaurant Wars.

Team April was demolished by the suddenly tight-as-ever team Quatre, formerly called the Garage. After a dismal first night -- vanilla-scented candles, in a restaurant, really? -- Dale, Hung, Sara and Howie found their collective groove. And it all started with the Quickfire Challenge.

The New Season: New Mexico to investigate 'Kid Nation'

The New Mexico attorney general’s office said Thursday that it is launching an investigation into whether CBS and the producers of "Kid Nation" broke state laws while the controversial reality show was filmed near Santa Fe this spring.

"Information is being evaluated now and reviewed in light of all the interest in this," spokesman Phil Sisneros said. "We are determining what our next move will be or even if there will be one. Even though it seems it’s kind of a moot point, there are a lot of things to look into that we could still address."

Among the issues the attorney general will review will be the production’s permit process, the contract between the parents and the producers and whether the production company illegally refused to allow inspectors on the property for routine inspections.