overthinking the idiot box

January 30, 2006

Letter from the editor
Same Shows, New Year

So we had our hiatus, went home to see the family, watched a crapload of Project Runway. And now we're back, and it's like we never left. Literally. I mean, we saw the monster on Lost, and 24 killed off half of its regular cast in twenty minutes. But Desperate Housewives continues to be substandard, Battlestar Galactica is still the best show on TV, and everyone's still talking about Parnell and Samberg's mad beats (even though they should really shut up about it, already).

Which is why we're looking backwards and forwards: screw the present. We've gluttonous for D. Roberts' latest podcast about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and not just because it's a commentary on "Band Candy," our second-favorite episode ever — it's just fun to remember when Buffy was, you know, fun. In columns, Andreanna literally looks back at how crime dramas use the flashback and Michael Adams considers the year that was in terms of the business decisions made. Meanwhile, Adam considers a grim future without Teen Titans, Mike Celestino has high hopes that NBC's future Conan will not be Carson, and CJ warns America about the grisly fate that awaits us: at the hands of Celebrity Big Brother.

I guess this is all pretty typical of the new year, though. We look back at what's done, look forward to new possibilities. There's a whole half-season of television left, though. And Jack Bauer hasn't even really started killing dudes yet.

-Liz Shannon Milller

Return to Season 2, Episode 8.