The TV Addict Conquers his Everest [Six and a half hours of Thursday Night TV]

I knew going in that last night was not going to be easy. Thanks to the recent WGA Strike — like any good athlete — this TV Addict was out of practice. One hour a night, two hours, heck even three on a good Monday. But six and half hours of television. It was a TV Addict’s Everest! And even for this self-proclaimed TV Addict, I wasn’t sure I could do it.

So I decided to get some back-up/moral support. Enter fellow TV blogger and local Torontonian TapeWorthy. Figuring at the very least we’d help each other through the ‘dark times,’ also know as commercials, TapeWorthy was more than happy to drop by TV Addict Central for a few hours. Bringing with him a TV Addict’s best friend, Popeyes [Cue Homer Simpson, “Mmmmm…. Chicken Strips”] for sustenance.

Unfortunately, the night didn’t start off on the right foot. UGLY BETTY was an ugly disappointment. Henry once again gets called away by a scheming Charlie leaving the far cooler Gio to pick up the pieces. And by pieces, I naturally mean Betty.

Which leads me to this question. Why is Betty still with Henry? Love triangles only work when one of the lovers isn’t totally lame. And I’m sorry to inform all you Betty/Henry [or is it ‘Benry’] shippers out there — Betty/Henry is no Ross/Rachel. In other words, the entire series should not be built around their snooze-inducing relationship.

UGLY BETTY works best, and by best, I mean it’s at its funniest and most entertaining when Betty is at Mode, your classic fish out of water. Interacting with her hilarious foils Marc, Amanda, Daniel and Wilhelmina. It’s time to put the bitch back in Betty. Or, in this case Wilhelmeena back at Mode. Or this TV Addict may soon find himself shaving an hour off his busy Thursday night schedule.

Moving onto GREY’S ANATOMY. Shonda Rhimes wasn’t lying when she promised that she “came back to work after the strike with a whole new purpose, a new dedication. And a sense of hope.” Because hope, is exactly the vibe this TV Addict was getting while reveling in the return of GREY’s. It was as if I was transported back to the glory days of the first two seasons. For the first time in recent memory, Meredith, Cristina, Izzie and even Alex weren’t depressing and endlessly whining about their personal lives [Rest assured, George was still whining until episodes end!]. Rather they were competing to save lives and at the same time remembering that they’re all talented, smart not to mention not half bad looking surgeons. Nice to see that Shonda Rhimes recognized that it was time for a change. Let’s hope the trend sticks.

Two hours in, the TV Addict and TapeWorthy are both starting to show signs of weariness. Will we make it? Do we have what it takes? Is it possible fried chicken isn’t the healthy food we needed to get us through the night? [“Mmmmm…. Chicken Strips”] Stay Tuned….

Whenever Will Arnett returns to 30 ROCK it’s a mixed blessing. On the one hand, Will Arnett is hilarious — but on the other, he also serves as a constant reminder that ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT is never coming back to TV. Moment of silence please.

Finally, the night’s most anticipated return — LOST. I’m not sure what was more surprising. The fact that LOSTerminds Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse killed off Alex in such a cold-blooded and shocking manner. Or that Ben seemed to be genuinely affected by his daughter’s death. I mean think about it. Over the course of the show we’ve seen Ben lose countless ‘friends’, ‘colleagues’ and ‘Others without even batting an eye. Yet the eyeballs don’t lie. Ben is pissed about Alex’s death.

So pissed that he decides to confront the Holmes to his Moriarty, Valjean to his Javert, Ying to his Yang… get where I’m going with this…. the mysterious Charles Widmore. Turns out Mr. Widmore “Changed the rules.” And while this TV Addict has no idea what these rules entail, I can’t help but conclude that Ben and Charles have been playing this bizarre game of one-upmanship for centuries.

Is it possible the secret room Ben walked into is actually some sort of STARGATE like teleportation device? Does Ben have the ability to travel through time and space at will? Why else would he be so surprised that Alex didn’t die. It’s almost as if for the first time, things weren’t going according to Ben’s ultimate plan. Or more baffling still, that Ben didn’t see it coming.

And with that, I turn it over to you my fellow TV Addicts. For as much as myself and TapeWorthy tried, we could only get through three and half hours of television. THE OFFICE, SCRUBS, SMALLVILLE and SUPERNATURAL will all be watched this weekend. But feel free to post away with your thoughts.