Sorry I haven’t kept up the blog this week, but aside from a few notable exceptions it has been mainly repeats, so not a whole lot to report. 

Tonight, however a Christmas tradition continues with the airing of “It’s a Wonderful Life” tonight at 8pm EST on NBC. Remember when this holiday classic played daily from Thanksgiving to X-mas? Well, these days we get it twice- once in mid-december and then again on Christmas Eve. And guess what? That’s right… I’ll be watching them both. It just is not Christmas without this movie. Yeah, it’s corny- but it still gives me the warm and fuzzies inside and gets me in the mood for egg nog and Christmas carols.

Next week they kick it into high gear with the holiday movies. “Home Alone” plays Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on FX; “One Magic Christmas” (a childhood favorite of mine w/ a very early role -and small- role for Sarah Polley) is on Monday the 17th and Saturday the 22nd on the Hallmark Channel; and how is this for cheesy- “A Very Brady Christmas” is on next Saturday the 22nd and Christmas day on the Family channel.

I know all of this makes me a dork, but I can’t help it… what are some of your favorite holiday movies??

Here is a list of the holiday specials and movies on from now thru Christmas:

Yay for Thursdays!! I fear that the Thursdays when I can look forward to new episodes of these shows are wearing thin, so I need to relish them while I can.

Tragically, I underestimated my family obligations on Thanksgiving and missed both of these shows (Note to self: always set the DVR, just in case!). Last week… repeats. But tonight there are 2 new episodes which makes me very happy. Watch while you can people, watch while you can.

I’m a big corny nerd and one thing I love as much as TV is Chrismas. I’m not religious at all… but the holiday season totally makes me all warm and fuzzy (told you- corny!).

Point being, I am extra excited about the 2-hour special tonight of “The Closer” which doubles as a Christmas special and Season 3 Premier (yay for TNT for coming out with a new season so soon!!). The episode is called “The Next of Kin” and is split into 2 parts, airing at 8pm and 9pm EST on TNT. When this show first aired I wanted to hate it. I was resolved to be completely annoyed by Kiera Sedgwick and her silly southern accent, but there is no denying that it’s an excellent show. If you don’t believe me, check it out tonight. And I believe they’re doing a marathon all day to lead up to it, so if you’ve got the time…

Kathy Griffin totally delivered last night. As hillarious as some of her previous specials? Not quite. Funnier than any other stand-up specials in recent memory? Totally.

And, unbeknownst to me- “Ugly Betty”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Office” were all reruns so it was definitely good to have something to watch. Speaking of reruns, I’m dreading what is in store with the writers guild strike that’s going on… but that’s a whole nother post in itself.

I don’t know if I mentioned this already, but I have JUST recently acquired a whole bunch of extended cable channels, including faves like IFC, BBC America, Discovery Times, etc. I am so loving it!

Tonight on IFC “The Human Stain” with Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman is on at 8pm EST, followed at 10 by “This Film is Not Yet Rated”, the documentary about the shady practices of the MPAA. I can’t even begin to say how excited I am- these are both films that I’ve wanted to see for a while.

What did I do without you all these years IFC??

“Pushing Daisies” first, let me just say, is a great show. I didn’t want to like it because I felt like it was one of those things where a network was trying to trick people into liking a show because it’s quirky. I do not appreciate quirky for quirky’s sake. That’s not this- this show’s got substance.

So why, you ask, is it killing me? Because- there are two female characters- both strong, both highly likable, and both in love with the same (great) guy. Who do I root for? Well, I’m rooting for Olive and here’s why: Ned and Chuck can never touch unless gloves or plastic wrap or some other barrier is involved. So they can’t consumate their relationship- leaving at least this viewer supremely unsatisfied. And I cannot think of a way that the writers could remedy this problem without destroying the integrity of the show. Then you have Olive who is the essence of a sympathetic character. Who has not been in that spot where you pine for someone who’s not interested? She’s cute and perky and just the right kind of weird- to top all this off, even though she’s green with jealousy of Chuck she is not vengeful or spiteful. How could you not love her and be dying to see her get her man? The writers have already tapped into this with their wicked tease of a nude Olive in Ned’s arms which, of course, was a dream. I can only hope that it is to foreshadow future events.

But then what of Chuck? We like her- we don’t want her to be sad! Although as I type this I’m realizing that my desire to see Olive and Ned doing the dirty trumps any affinity I have for Chuck. She can always find another guy who can actually touch her. All I can say is that someone better get some on this show before the end of the season!! Who’s with me?

How do I love the, Kathy Griffin? You are always outragous, always hilarious, and never disappoint.

Tonight on Bravo (9pm, EST) Kathy’s new stand-up special, “Straight to Hell” will air and I am totally excited. So much so that I’m giving up watching “The Office” to see it (you can only DVR two shows at a time people and I’ve gotta see “Grey’s Anatomy”). I have always loved Ms. Griffin- her stand-up, her reality show… she rules! But she reached legendary status for me in September when she accepted her Creative-Arts Emmy by telling Jesus he could “suck it”. This chick has some balls!

I’m hoping that she keeps it up with this newest show. Sometimes you get so good that there’s nowhere to go but down. We shall see…

I recently heard someone say that “It’s a great time in TV, for people who like TV,” and I think that about sums it up. With the networks stepping things up with shows like “Ugly Betty”, “Grey’s Anatomy”, and “Pushing Daisies” (way to go ABC!) and cable networks coming in with the likes of “The Closer”, “Monk”, and- my personal favorite- “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, not to mention premium channels like HBO and Showtime, there’s no shortage of things to watch on the ole boob tube.

Since I’m now a mom to a toddler and spend most of my nights at home while the little lad’s asleep, I find myself spending a lot of quality time with the tv. And I have a lot to say about the shows I’m watching. So rather than bore my friends (many of which are still in the closet in terms of their affection for the medium) I thought to start a blog for similarly addicted folks. Hopefully it will turn into something that people like to read. If not, it will be fun to keep up just for myself.