Community, Grey’s Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother, Smash, New Girl, Secret Circle, and Make It or Break It end their seasons.

Community: Leeard loved the last three episodes of Community, particularly the first and third episodes. Ern was less enthused about them, believing them to not be the show’s best. However, this is a show you should be watching. It’s uneven to most fans, but we think it’s at least consistently worth 22 minutes a week. This season has been pretty strong. The stand-out episodes were "Pillows and Blankets" and the one with the multiple timelines ("Remedial Chaos Theory"). Oh yeah, and the Christmas special ("Regional Holiday Music"). Those three episodes were classic Community. We can’t wait for season four. 
Season grade: A-

Grey’s Anatomy: We are so angry at this show for killing off that character. That was not the character who needed to go. Out of all the annoying people on this show, they took that character? We were very surprised. We like Jackson and April together. We always hated her, but she is way less annoying when she is with Jackson. Clearly, Owen and Cristina need to get back together, if only because we love seeing a TV couple fight that hard for a marriage that has every reason to end. The fact that this show is still churning out episodes we care about is a feat in itself. It is a soap opera in its eighth season. So, bravo Grey’s. Since Cristina and Alex are staying for next year, so are we. 
Season grade: B+

How I Met Your Mother: We did not hate the two-part season finale. It was predictable that Robin and Barney were going to get married, but we like that twist anyway. Marvin is a horrible name, but “Wait for It” IS the best middle name ever. It’s time for us to meet the mother. We love Victoria (especially Leeard), but the show needs to stop dawdling with her. This season was mostly unfunny with a few gems. We will stick with it until the bitter end, because that’s how much we want to meet Mrs. Mosby. But unless the show steps up the actual humor next year, we won’t be happy about it. 
Season grade: D+

Smash: Oh God, this show. We are so addicted to it, but friends, it isn’t good. It lost its last shred of realism when Karen took the stage on opening night instead of Ivy. We want to hear Ivy’s version of that last song, because it’s a really good number and it deserves to be sung by NOT boring, average Karen. Derek is a moron. We like that Julia and Frank are back together though, if only so that next season the world might get to hear that man sing. That’s really what we are holding out for. Knowing this show, Smash will give him a song that won’t show him off properly. We are entertained by this show, but why isn’t it as good as its pilot was? We may or may not return for a second season. It depends on how we feel in the fall. We hope they scrap Bombshell and work to create an entirely new show that's not based on Marilyn. We're not getting our hopes up for that though. The great thing about next season is that Dev and Ellis will not be season regulars. We've never liked Dev and most people don't like Ellis (we thought he brought good drama) and we are sick of hearing them complain. 
Season grade: C-

New Girl: We have rarely seen a stronger first season from a comedy. This show criticized its own flaws in that great Lizzie Caplan court episode and found its voice early on. It also moved its focus from just adorkable Jess to its loveable ensemble. We like every character on this show and their interactions contain a chemistry mostly seen in casts that have been together longer. The finale was cute and funny. We love that Nick didn’t end up with Caroline in the finale. We thought the show might do some cliffhanger where he actually left and the gang would have to get him back next year, but the show chose not to annoy us. Isn’t that nice? We will absolutely, gladly watch this show’s second season. No question. 
Season grade: A

Secret Circle: We will always be mad that this show was cancelled and we will refuse to believe it for a while. Breaking In was brought back!? Can’t the CW save this one? The series finale was more satisfying than we thought it would be. The death of Cassie’s dad was great. The set up for a nonexistent second season was good, yet the finale had a definite ending. We liked seeing Diana take control of her life and ditch the circle. We liked seeing previews of Adam’s dark side. Charles had started to redeem himself. There was lots of action and a magic crystal skull and everything!!! Ugh, why show? Why? For anyone who has read the books- should we? Will they fill that void? 
Season and series grade: A- and we don’t care what anyone says to the contrary.

Make It or Break It: We enjoyed this season and liked that ABCFamily tried to give a little more closure….but this season was not what we wanted. No Emily, very little Sasha, no Peri Gilpin, no Olympics, a redeemed Lauren Tanner (when all we wanted to do was hate her), and Jordan. Stupid, stupid Jordan. The actress playing her was not good and we could not have cared less about her being molested (a “twist” that was not difficult to guess early on). The premiere of the season was cheesy as all-get-out. The tension and backstabbing drama was toned down. We liked the season, but it was nowhere near as good and entertaining as seasons one and two. We feel like the network let fans down with this shortened, cutesy series of episodes that did not resemble the tension-filled, almost powerful seasons that preceded it.
Season grade: B- 
Series grade: A-

Mad Men, Smash, The Good Wife, Game of Thrones, The Voice, Make It Or Break It

Game of Thrones- Garden of Bones

Catelyn tries to get Renly and Stannis Baratheon to band together against the Lannisters. Then she has to see Ned Stark’s remains in a box. GROSS, LITTLEFINGER. She should have just stuck with the mental image of him alive. Now she has the mental image of him rotting, and a nice smell to go along with it. Joffrey becomes even more of a jerk than usual, but at least this leads to the best line ever (“There’s no cure for being a ****). Daenerys finds a city to take her in, and Tyrion continues to be awesome. Arya ends up a cupbearer for Tywin Lannister who hilariously realized she was a good as soon as he saw her. Gendry barely escaped with his life. We’ve heard of that rat torture before, and we have to say, that must be one of the top ten worst ways to die. GROSS. We ship Robb Stark and random healer girl. Melisandre gives birth to a smoke thing. She’s so eccentric.

Episode grade: A-

Smash- Publicity

Rebecca Duvall starts inviting Karen out. Paparazzi follow. Jerry and Nick meet, and Jerry is not happy about it. You know, Nick is way too cute for Eileen. We just have to throw that out there, because we are shallow. But we love the way he handled Jerry. Leo thinks his parents splitting up gives him a blank check to just be a dick. He runs away from home and allows his parents and the cops to worry about him for days. Turns out, he’s sleeping on his friend’s floor. He comes home and apologizes, but seriously dude? Plenty of parents split up and many kids think about running away just to get away from it all and build a wall between yourself and parents who hurt you, but you don’t do it, because it’s mean and it helps nothing. Except in this case, it brought Leo’s parents close enough for a hug, because it’s this show and it’s unrealistic. Hear that kids? Just run away and your parents will unite to look for you. The emotion will bond them!

The Bollywood number was weird. And isn’t A Thousand and One Nights an Arabic story? The show seems to be saying, “Hey, they are all brown and exotic, so what’s the difference?” It was pretty fun though. We like this show a little ridiculous rather than just boring. It’s time for Dev to go, and we are glad that Ellis got stuck on smoothie duty, where he belongs. Ivy’s plot to steal Karen’s dull solo was pretty clever, but she has to know that she will be found out. It’s on again. We like Rebecca Duvall. She tells it like it is and wants some control over her projects. Yeah, she can’t sing, but she’s not going to end up an empty puppet like Marilyn Monroe. Uma Thurman brought life back to this show.

Episode grade: B+

Make It Or Break It- Dream On

It’s semi-qualifications time, so there are cuts. The main cuts victim is Kelly Parker. Fortunately, Kelly is now strong enough to tell her mom to get out of her life. She has a room waiting for her at her dad’s, knows that she will be ok, was strengthened by Kaylie’s friendship, and is ready to discover that there is more to herself than gymnastics. She even admitted that she peaked at World’s and her progress has been stagnant. So yeah, she took it well. It made us like KP more. We’re sad to see her go, but we know that someone important had to be cut this episode. Lauren Tanner’s dreams have been halted since Payson told Coach McIntire about her health problems. Lauren hates Payson now, but we suspect that Lauren will be right back at the training center in a few episodes. Also, Wendy is the mole. Meh. Why do all the girls on this show except for Payson, Kaylie, and Emily have to turn out to be secretly underhanded and bitchy? Come up with a new plotline, show. We’ve decided that the actress playing Jordan is not very good. Leeard hates Jordan with a  fiery passion, but Ern kind of likes her. This episode was really touching with the KP stuff. It felt like old MIOBI. 

Episode grade: A-

The Good Wife- The Penalty Box

Cary is back! CARY IS BACK! Yeeee! Also, Kalinda and Alicia are hanging out in bars again! Friends! Friends forever! Those things are awesome. The rest of the episode was ok. Alicia defends a judge who is in hot water for actions during his time as a prosecutor. We liked her questioning her role and the law at the end of the episode. We couldn’t care less about Kalinda’s FBI business or Will’s new fling. If we could only take two famous people to a desert island? Ern would probably take Tim Keller and Stephen King. Leeard would probably take Donald Glover and Jenna Marbles.

Episode grade: B

The Voice- We are sad to lose Pip and Mathai this week. Pip was versatile and had a genuinely good voice. He just hadn’t found his niche yet. The loss of James Massone was fine. We don’t know what Adam sees in Katrina Parker over Mathai. We don’t need a less good ADELE, and Mathai’s singing was consistently good. Cee Lo continues to make mostly excellent choices. Keeping Juliet Simms over Cheesa was a good call. We didn’t like either of the songs Juliet sang this week, but we liked her voice so much during the first live show last week that we think she needs to stay around so that we can hear more of that. Tony Lucca’s Baby One More Time was a great cover and an even better idea, so he deserved to stay. We think Jamar Rogers was voted saved by the American public partly due to sob story factor, but he has a good voice. Contestants we are rooting for now: Juliet Simms, Lindsey Pavao, Chris Mann, Erin Willett, and Tony Lucca.

Mad Men- Far Away Places

This show finally gave us someone to love. Yeah, Peggy is a nice person, but she started out so timid and she occasionally shows that she has no self-respect. Peggy gave a handjob to a stranger in this episode as a way to forget work and her relationship problems. Megan, on the other hand, is not only interesting but incapable of taking crap from Don Draper lying down. Scenes with her are never boring, and we love the way she’s not afraid to tell Don when he’s being a chauvinist pig, even if it devolves into a melodramatic fight. These two are hilarious. We actually laughed when Don was chasing Megan around the room. Don really loves Megan and we think she’s the best thing for him (at least for now). We used to think that was Faye, but it looks like it’s Megan. As for Roger’s tripping balls, we just kept thinking, “Take those big earrings out before you take LSD.” Try couples therapy with drugs! 

Or not. It just gave Roger permission to leave his wife even if it also gave him some clarity and courage to be honest. That guy is a 15-year-old wreck. At least Don shows a little growth sometimes. But get back to work, Don. This was one of the more entertaining episodes so far this season. The LSD sequence was inspired. We loved the lack of Pete and the format of three short stories with a common theme. It wasn’t your average Mad Men episode. Sometimes the jumping around between characters in this show causes us to be unable to engage with one particular story. This episode stayed with characters until their story was told and it really sucked us in. On a more technical note, this was visually great. We liked the camerawork and many of the shots.

Episode grade: A

Make It Or Break It- Growing Pains

What Happened- The US Training center hosts a weekend exhibition open to parents of the athletes. Payson’s dad, Lauren’s dad, Kaylie’s parents, and Kelly Parker’s mom show up. No one shows up for Jordan, so Coach McIntire makes sure to give her extra support during Parents Weekend. Kelly Parker’s mom tries to brive Coach McIntire into not only putting KP on the Olympic Team, but making her team captain as well. The coach tells her where to stick it and KP’s mom leaves.

Payson takes Lauren to a doctor’s office to check out her fainting spells. Lauren comes out of the testing room telling Payson that it is nothing; she only has to eat more Potassium. Payson is smarter than the average bear and stealthily calls the doctor posing as Lauren. Payson discovers that Lauren has an irregular heartbeat and needs more tests.

Kaylie and Austin have dinner with Kaylie’s parents, and Alec starts planning to market the two as an Olympic “golden couple.” Kaylie is annoyed by this…and she is further inconvenienced when her parents sleep together but still decide to remain apart. Kaylie does not return Austin’s first “I love you” until her mother gives her a talk about how love is never perfect but it is worth it anyway. Payson hears that her family is moving and that she will have to live with Kaylie when she trains at the Rock after the training center stuff is over. Payson comes around to it and asks her dad if she can live with Lauren instead. She is still mad at Kaylie for not telling her about the doctored video.

Comments- We guess we just have to accept that Lauren is growing as a person and we are not allowed to hate her as much anymore. We have Kelly Parker’s mom to hate instead. She is absolutely hideous. She’s like one of those moms on Toddlers and Tiaras, only she’s playing with higher stakes. We’re glad Kelly told her to take a hike for her managerial, lame tactics. Then Coach McIntire told her off as well. Our lives are complete. Now we never need to see her again…right?

This week gave us a return of the rest of the parents from The Rock, yay! We’ve been missing the adult characters from the first two seasons. We guess Peri Gilpin is either too busy or too expensive to appear in this episode as Payson’s mom, but we missed her. This episode made us like Kaylie’s parents more. It takes a lot for a divorced couple to be friends, eat together, and treat each other with respect, rather than the normal sidelong glares and snide, passive aggressive comments. Most divorced couples shouldn’t have sex after the divorce, but the overall sentiments were nice.

We were really annoyed when Lauren lied to Payson about her prognosis and thought that it would be weeks before we would find out what is wrong with Lauren. But Payson proved awesome this week when she called the doctor, posing as Lauren/Rachel. Payson, it’s time to call Lauren’s dad. We loved the way the coach handled Jordan in this episode. The girls on Make It Or Break It sure get the best coaches. Payson needs to forgive Kaylie. This rift is new, but it’s already annoying. One thing we liked is the news that Payson will have to train at The Rock just before the Olympics. Does that mean we will get to see more of the parents AND Sasha and Summer? We can only hope. That would make the season perfect.

Episode grade: B

Make It Or Break It- Time is of the Essence recap/review

What Happened- When Payson is interviewed by a reporter, she fails to talk up Coach McIntire and is embarrassed when the reporter asks her about kissing Sasha. Kelly Parker has her mom find out which person from The Rock leaked the video of Payson kissing Sasha to the NGO. It was Lauren, if you forgot (how could you forget). Jordan hears Kaylie and Kelly Parker talking about it. Payson and Rigo struggle to find the time to catch a date, but Rigo is still able to get a first kiss from Payson.

NGO representative Marcus visits Coach McIntire to observe how training is going. Marcus is unimpressed with how Coach McIntire handles training girls for the first time. Payson goes to Marcus and tells him that she is concerned with the coach’s training methods. Marcus tells the coach that a girl came to him, complaining that Coach McIntire was employing arbitrary methods and failing to inspire the team.

Coach McIntire responds by inviting the girls to his home to bond, watch training videos, and watch Remember the Titans. He leaves the room and the girls take the opportunity to fight. Payson finds out that Lauren leaked the tape, but she pretends that she knew all along so that Jordan wouldn’t get the satisfaction of telling everyone the news. Payson tells Lauren that they are no longer friends, but they make up later. Lauren tells Payson that she is still having dizzy spell and the two agree to go see a doctor together.

Coach McIntire returns to find the girls have turned off the awesome football movie. He comes clean, asking to know who went behind his back to complain to Marcus. Lauren takes the blame. The girls tell the coach that he needs to approach training them in a gentler, more positive way. The coach tells the girls that his pairings and rankings are not arbitrary, but necessary. The coach is able to turn things around and treat the girls better, and Marcus notices.

Comments-  Rigo has so much game. So much more game than the guys in our schools. That’s right, a teen boy on an ABCFamily show has better moves than 25-year-old law and business guys. That was the perfect first kiss. This guy is smooth. Too smooth. There has to be something wrong with him, right?

We love the coach saying, “An athlete is an athlete. Gender doesn’t even play a part.” Of course, the episode would prove that wrong, but we like that the way Coach McIntire thinks. We love Payson, but she really should have threw in a good word for her new coach in the interview, even if just to be classy and grateful. Later, her confession that she doesn’t think the coach knows what he is doing illuminated that she was just trying to be honest and nice at the same time, reserving judgment. But still, it wasn’t smart.

Payson feels like the kiss is going to haunt and embarrass her for the rest of her life. We feel her pain, because we remember the sting of humiliating moments from our teens. Teens reading this: You will always remember how miserable you were, but everyone else will forget and won’t care. Your bad moments won’t follow you unless you let them and keep thinking about them. In five years, the worst thing you ever did will be long gone even if it doesn’t feel that way now. If you don’t let mistakes define who you are, they won’t shape your life.

We like the girls getting along with Kelly Parker. We also liked Lauren saying, “Jordan, you’re dead to us.” The worst thing is when girls pretend to be your best friend when they don’t like you. We will take an upfront bitch any day over that. We totally forgot that Kaylie and Payson didn’t know that Lauren released the tape of the kiss. We have been waiting for Lauren to get her due for that!

We didn’t like when Payson stupidly talked to Marcus about the coach. Bad idea and very cowardly. Always go to the person you have a problem with first. We like Coach McIntire and will only accept a replacement if it’s Sasha. We wish they could coach together, but we do not run this show. Remember the Titans is an awesome movie! Why don’t the girls want to watch it? After watching this episode, WE want to go watch Remember the Titans.

Lauren’s apology worked for us, for the most part. It veered off into Excuses Land when she started talking about how much she wanted to keep Summer and how nobody stays in her life. Lauren kind of made things up for us by lying for Payson. We still don’t love her, but if she really is a new person, then maybe we will come around by the time they put her on the Olympic Team though. We hope karma kicks in and boots Lauren out of the running though.

The girls are upset because the coach criticizes them and doesn’t compliment them. Well, tough titties, we say. Being able to handle and enjoy getting good criticism from a knowledgeable person is one of the keys to life. One of us took eight years of Japanese karate, going three to five days a week for two hours a day. You know how many compliments that blogger got from her sensei in eight years? Four. That’s life and that’s sports. If you need someone to baby you, get off the gym/sparring floor. So the lesson of this episode is that guys are tough and professional, but girls need a bunch of coddling. Nice.

Episode grade: B

Make It Or Break It - Smells Like a Winner + It Takes Two

What Happened - Kaylie, Payson, and Lauren (ugh) are accepted into the US Training Center. There, they will be vetted and trained for the Olympics for the next eight weeks. They have a new coach, Coach McIntire, and he’s pretty hardcore. Coach McIntire will pick five girls for the Olympic team and ranks all of the girls daily. On campus, Austin shows Kaylie a bust of a man named Otis. The Otis statue is good luck, so every year a team steals him and other teams try to steal him back. Whoever has Otis at the end of camp always medals at the Olympics. The girls try to steal Otis back from the wrestling team who has him, but they are thwarted and someone rats them out to the coach. The coach tries to get the girls to let go of their devotion to The Rock and their little Rock clique, so he makes them burn their Rock jackets. It’s really depressing. Payson gets a letter from Max breaking up with her. She later finds out that he is bisexual and didn’t think Payson could handle that. Payson is so upset that she lets her sad romantic life affect her performance and her ranking drops.

Lauren starts experiencing dizziness and fainting spells. Like an idiot, she hides her condition and blames the new perfume she is developing. Yes, Lauren has her own fragrance and should call it “Stankest Bitch of All Time.” Or something like that. Meanwhile, Payson receives a letter from Max asking to end their relationship. She is so distraught by the break up that it affects her performance at practice.

We meet a young, small, and annoying gymnast and junior champion named Wendy Capshaw. She always rubs the fact that she is young into the older girls’ faces. We also meet Jordan Randall, another junior champion, who hitchhiked to camp and convinced Coach McIntire to let her into the Training Center by showing him a tape of herself doing a hard trick on the uneven bars. Leeard is pretty sure she's the worst and only there to distract the audience from the fact that Lauren is also the worst.

In the second episode, Coach McIntire pairs all the girls with a partner who will room and train with them. He tells them to choreograph a floor routine for their partners that will showcase their strengths. The pairs are Wendy/Jordan, Kelly Parker/Kaylie, and Payson/Lauren. Kaylie has trouble trusting Kelly, and Kelly won’t admit her gymnastics weaknesses to Kaylie. They don’t take each other’s advice and end up dropping in the rankings. Afterward, they have a talk and decide to start fresh.

Lauren attempts to raise Payson’s spirits by secretly setting her up with a cyclist named Brad. Brad’s BMX-riding friend, Rigo, steals the date for himself. Payson and Rigo hit it off, but Payson is furious when she finds out that Lauren orchestrated a setup. Rigo makes it clear that the setup wasn’t with him and Payson forgives Lauren. Lauren is still having secret dizzy spells. Austin loses an endorsement and seeks a career in broadcasting. He doesn’t get one, but Kaylie is able to make him feel better.

Comments - This is balls, you guys. First, we miss Emily Kmetko, and we think it’s weird that no one on the show talks about her or knows what happened to her. They should bring her back so that we have some closure (but they probably won't). Second, the premiere was too happy and cutesy. The second episode was a little back to form, but the show still isn’t the soapy, melodramatic guilty pleasure it was in seasons two or three. There was also too much of that Christian-sounding girl pop they play.

Finally, we miss the parents and Sasha. We got as attached to Sasha as we did to the girls in the first two seasons. The move from The Rock makes sense, story-wise, but it still bums us out. Are Sasha and Summer still dating? We want all the parents, Summer, and Emily in the series finale or the penultimate episode. Can we see Emily’s baby? Pretty please? Can we just hear news about her? Can we know if she's alive even?

We like that there are new girls on the show and we also like the addition of Kelly Parker to the US Training Center. Wendy is growing on us, but she annoyed in the first episode. We thought Jordan Randall would be Emily Kmetko 2.0, but she is kind of an Emily Kmetko meets Lauren Tanner, only not as bitchy as Lauren. Ern admires Jordan and hopes that the main girls make friends with her soon, but Leeard can't stand her. We don’t like her as a villain, but it’s good for her to start out as one so that she doesn’t just become an Emily replacement.

Why are Kaylie and Payson close with Lauren? Have they forgotten that Lauren is the ever-loving worst? We haven’t. Hopefully she is dying or something. We are quicker to forgive Kelly Parker than Lauren. Kelly has a horrible mother. Lauren is just horrible. We LOVE watching Lauren be horrible because it infuriates us and stirs up drama. Hopefully she goes back to being an enemy. She's a character we love to hate. We like the new coach's strong marriage to the nutritionist, especially because we fell for the adultery trick in the first episode. This show knows how to show people with integrity without coming across as cheesy or lame.

Payson is a really bad crier. She needs one day of acting lessons for that purpose only. It’s good to have her single rather than hooked up with Max. Keeping her single adds plot possibilities. Rigo isn’t our type, but you can’t deny that he has more game than anyone his age should have. That’s some nice confidence and gumption. We loved when he stole the date and rode Payson around on his bike.

We want Payson to get the gold medal at the Olympics. Normal, reasonable people would leave Otis alone, but if it will really help Payson win, the girls need to steal it. One thing they don’t need to do (Lauren) is WebMD symptoms. That website always convinces us that we are dying every time we use to find out what sicknesses we have. Everyone should just go straight to the doctor, if they can. Complaints and nostalgia for The Rock/adult characters aside, we are glad this show is getting this short third season to wrap things up. We know it will entertain.

Episode 1 grade: C+

Episode 2 grade: B-

Today is the the Most Blessed of TV Days since..well, the TVD premiere, but still

Make It or Break It was renewed for a season three!

Go here for info on the character Emily and the chances that she will be back.

With Emily or without her, we can't wait to watch more of the soapy sports show.

Why We Both Like "Make It Or Break It"

Sometimes, Ern likes to binge on a show that she has never seen right before the finale, in order to be caught up for the big day. Living up to our blog title, Ern watched two seasons of Make It or Break It in three days, and she was thoroughly entertained the whole time. Leeard was surprised. Leeard’s most trusted channels are AMC and ABC Family, so she’s been watching the gymnastics show for a while. But that kind of thing isn’t really up Ern’s alley. But it’s made the list of faves.

Here’s why we like the teen gymnastics show:

1) Make It Or Break It has actual substance and life lessons. We would seriously make our teenage girls watch this show, if we had them. There are lots of good, but not cheesy, plotlines about perseverance, honor, honesty, loyalty, leading, the obsession with success, the struggle for perfection, and self-respect. Example: Payson realizing that there is more to life than gymnastics and that she should keep trying and dreaming, even without her sports career.

2) On this show, as soon as someone does something wrong or has a secret, our first thought is, “It will be interesting when that comes out.” Because it always does on this show, more often than on other shows. But this “truth always comes out” mentality that the show fosters in its viewers is realistic. It is best to fess up, in your own time, rather than have someone like Lauren Tanner tell someone first…and make it sound worse than it is.

3) The tension can be horrifyingly thick for a teen soap. You really care, and during competitions, you are on the edge of your seat.

4) The villains. Lauren Tanner, a gymnast, is the most infuriating villain we have ever seen. She’s more evil than just about anyone we’ve ever seen on TV, followed closely by gymnastics big shot Ellen Beals. But sometimes the baddies are sympathetic. Within two episodes, you will be screaming at the screen at Lauren, desiring her slow death, but the next episode will have you tearing up on her behalf. Most shows with sympathetic villains don’t let them do truly unforgivable things. Not so with Lauren. She goes too far, all the time. And we love to hate her. You understand why she does what she does, but what she does is SO bad. We really can’t think of many characters more horrible and backstabbing than this girl…and it creates a lot of drama.

5) Like most teen shows these days, the show gave one of the girls a crush on her teacher. When looking at the fan sites, we saw that the teen girls, after watching the episode where the young gymnast kissed her coach (that ended on that cliffhanger), just assumed that the romantic relationship was on. They started debating the two as a couple. Rather than having him reciprocate and make the audience root for an abuse of power, the show had him react correctly and he even smoothed over the awkwardness with the student, restoring their working relationship. Aaaand that’s how it’s done, LUX and Pretty Little Liars.

6) Let’s get real here: Most Christians on TV or in movies are either simple, childlike, African-American angels or white, holier-than-thou monsters. We think that’s a little weird and racist toward both groups, but it goes overlooked most of the time. And those who practice abstinence are mocked and painted as having unrealistic views of how things work. We don’t think that’s fair. So it’s refreshing to see this show has an abstinent, white, kind, Christian adult woman. We kept waiting for her to turn into a two-faced stereotype, but she never did.

7) The gymnastics is fun to watch.

8) Cute boys, good parents, and lots of the men who are really good guys who respect the women on the show and act unselfishly, killing off yet another stereotype for young viewers.

9) The show’s tone is fast-paced, but its relationships aren’t. This isn’t like Glee where Finn breaks up with someone eight times a season. The couples stay together a while and take a while to get together.

Is this show immune to mockery? Absolutely not. In fact, we look forward to mocking it next season when we start covering it more often. Is it a work of art? No. Is it soapy? Oh yes. For instance, we both HATED the pregnancy storyline and we hope it ends soon. The best way to handle that on a show like this is to just have the girl miscarry. Can’t that happen, already? Leeard is upset that the show had her, a Catholic, kind of rooting for an abortion. Also, a lot of the twists and lines are incredibly predictable. And too many bad things happen on the show. If something can go wrong, it will, and it’s a little like watching that movie The Pursuit of Happyness. It’s mostly pursuit with little happiness. But it makes the happy moments all the more rewarding. In short, we recommend this show to teens, gymnasts, and young women, and maybe even their moms if they want to watch it with them. It’s a fun show, with more genuine drama than Gossip Girl and 90210 combined.

Finale Grade: B

Season Two Grade: B+

Season One Grade: A

TV's Most Dateable Guys Part 1

A list for the ladies....
· Seeley Booth, Bones – He … We just … Yes. This man is everything.

· Smith Jerrod, Sex and the City—How great was this guy with Samantha? She cheats, he understands and takes her back. He sends her flowers, holds her hand, is super hot, doesn’t drink, and sticks by her through cancer (and shaves his head, making him look even hotter). Then she gave him up so she could spend more time focusing on herself. Ummm, we will focus on you forever Smith.

· Neal Caffrey, White Collar – There is nothing about Neal Caffrey that isn’t perfect. He’s charming, works with the FBI, knows his art, and is ridiculously attractive. As long as you can accept that pesky tracking anklet, he’s 100% dateable.

· Desmond Hume, LOST—Sawyer can be unstable, and unless you’re Juliet, he’s not gonna commit. Jack was hot, but he cried too much. Daniel looks like a hobbit (and science drove him crazy). Jin was controlling. Charlie was annoying. Who does that leave on LOST? Desmond, who looked awful nice in season 5 when he went to Oxford looking for Daniel in his scarf.

· Shawn Spencer, Psych – Can drop the most obscure, amazing reference whenever appropriate. Even if he weren’t cute, which he is, that would be enough.

· Jim Halpert, The Office—This is the "duh" choice of this list. We are pretty sure every female Office fan ever has said, "I would date Jim Halpert."If he weren’t so great with Pam, we'd want him with one of us. He’s funny, laid back, and loyal.

· Lane Elenburg, Big Brother – He’s amazing. Easily the most attractive and amusing (male) houseguest this season, and he genuinely seems like a good person. And hey, he might be $500,000 richer in a few days…

· Jon Stewart, The Daily Show—Witty, self-deprecating, and spewing more truthful takes on what’s going on than most news stations. And we don't discriminate against older hotties. This guy is married, but if he was not, we would date him. One of the bloggers' moms has said multiple times that this is the sort of man the blogger should end up with. We could argue with him all day… (the writers are a tad more conservative than Mr. Stewart.)

· Chuck Bartowski, Chuck – Super adorkable and very reminiscent of The O.C.’s Seth Cohen … If Seth had been a spy.

· Albie Manzo, The Real Housewives of New Jersey – We would honestly marry this man. Caroline Manzo, if you’re reading this, one of the bloggers is a well-educated, (part) Italian who would be an awesome daughter-in-law. Just thought we'd put it out there.

· Finn Hudson, Glee – Not the smartest guy on this list, but very sweet and generally means well. Definitely dateable.

· Damon Young, Make it or Break it – A cute, passionate rock star who supports his girlfriend? Yes please.

Characters Most in Need of Being Killed in a Horrible Fashion

Here is our list of characters that should be killed off their show. Whether it’s because we hate them or because they’re just plain useless, our TV screens would be a lot better off without having to show these characters:

• Aunt Jenna, The Vampire Diaries – Katherine is in the kitchen, chopping Uncle John’s fingers off, and you don’t notice? Horrible, useless guardian.
• Lauren Tanner, Make it or Break it – Honestly the worst human being on TV right now. I get that she IS the drama for the show, and therefore necessary, I really do. But when you’re HAPPY that a 16 year old girl’s mother died (because the girl kind of deserves that kind of misery)? Lauren Tanner needs to go.
• Henry and Alice, The Secret Life of the American Teenager – These two serve no purpose, except to tell the audience statistics about teen sex/pregnancy. A pop-up bubble would do the job just as well. Maybe even better.
• Mona, Pretty Little Liars – She’s mean to Lucas. She can go die.
• Everyone except Baze (and maybe Ryan), Life Unexpected – Baze is the only reason I’m going to watch this show in the fall. Lux is a whiny, ungrateful child, and Kate is a teenager living in a grown woman’s body. They are both bad people; Baze is too, but at least he can own up to it sometimes. Baze and Ryan both deserve better.
• Booth’s love interest, Bones – Stop it. Just let them be together already. After five seasons of will they/won’t they, we’re all sick of it. Give the audience two years of Booth and Bones being happy together and then end the show.
• Kate, White Collar – Oh wait, they did kill her off! Thank goodness!
• Derek, Grey’s Anatomy – I know many people would scream over this, but it the idea of Derek dying has its merits. What a whiner! And you can’t say it hasn’t been foreshadowed (premiere of season 5). And with most of our star players coupled up, it would free up the center of the show, Meredith Grey, to get back into the game. She took a back seat last season. Grey’s Anatomy was at its best before she was tied down. Bring back the drama.
• Vanessa, Gossip Girl – Time spent on Vanessa is wasted. We have a more interesting “nice girl,” Serena.
• Lily, How I Met Your Mother – No one should really die on this show. That’s not its tone. But if we were to pick a main character to snuff it, it would be her. Sometimes she is weird and sometimes she is a spoiled brat. The others are easier to describe. Her characterization is weak. And since they got rid of her cute red hair after season one, she looks fake.
• Artie, Glee – He’s boring. Well, maybe HE isn't boring, but his episodes and stories are. Every episode with him as a focus is a bummer. Plus, they give him lame songs. We can't even tell if he can sing.
• Kenny, South Park – Why did they stop killing him? That was a great gag. I miss it.

We’re not doing any reality shows because, well, that would be mean.