So them0rgue was all like, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T POST ABOUT GOSSIP GIRL. It was because I didn't really like the episode, and the parts I disliked, I disliked so much that it made me exceedingly nitpicky about the rest of it. But, whatever, it seems like a shame to break my GG blogging streak.

( Gossip Girl )

Things wot my friends have been up to!

+ wottie started the_swoop, which is a new TP comm. I think it's a great idea, especially because tortall is too busy, too big, and if there's another TP community aimed at discussion and fannishness, it's not on my radar. I think it would be fun if more old Dovers joined up, and it is always nice to run into people from the Dove that maybe aren't on our f'lists, you know?

+ lodessa and sainfoin_fields are rewriting (the basic gist -- it's not fic or anything) Veronica Mars, and as such, they rewrote the ending of S1. It is very interesting and fun to think about. Please ignore the blatant hypocrisy in my comments since y'all have patiently endured my cracky theories about Logan actually having murdered Lilly ever since he burned all that evidence. Lack of self-awareness FTL.

I also want to apologize for not cutting my American Idol post. I was just so amused about what happened, and I was posting from my iPod. I totally didn't even think about it until way after the fact. Sorry!

+ Remember when Jon Stewart had Ishmael Beah, who wrote a memoir about being a boy soldier in Sierra Leone, on The Daily Show? And Beah went on to sell hundreds of thousands of books and become a spokesperson for UNICEF? Well, now allegations have surfaced that he embellished his autobiography, James Frey style. I can't help feeling like I've seen this episode of television before.

+ The final Democratic debate was truly excellent last night, but all the cutaways to celebrities were distracting and unnecessary. When they caught Josh Lyman on camera, for two seconds I actually wondered which candidate he was working for.

+ Look at mailers the Obama campaign is sending out! They are just like the notorious "Harry and Louise" ads that targeted Hillary back in the 90s. (I'm also not a huge fan of his Committed Christian mailers, but at least I understand why he's sending those out. He said himself last night that his healthcare package is 95% similar to Hillary's, and these mailers are unfair and unhelpful.) So, you know, a politician is a politician, and it's not just the Clintons who play games. I would appreciate less sanctimony is all I am saying.

+ The Nation has posted a pretty persuasive case for Obama's nomination, from a liberal perspective.

+ The newest Gallup poll says Obama and Clinton are separated by a mere three points nationally. DailyKos says we might not know who our nominee is until as late as March 4th. This had better be the ONLY close part of this presidential election, you guys.

+ ( that make-your-fake-album meme... )

+ ( that top five songs of the moment meme... )

Fannish overlap just doesn't get any better ( than this! )

Seriously, Veronica/Chuck? GENIUS. Especially since we know she ends up at the FBI headquarters in L.A.! Chuck's already got the NSA, CIA and DEA using him for his brain; it's only a matter of time until the FBI decides they need him, too. Somebody should get on that fic post-haste, please and thanks!

Okay, somebody please tell me who Veronica's partner in the spinoff preview (part 1, part 2) is? Because I know that I know him from stuff, and it is seriously wigging me out. (ETA: Okay, is it the artist boyfriend from the "Girl Next Door" episode? A.K.A. the recipient of the straightest gay kiss ever, courtesy of Kerr Smith on Dawson's Creek? I know I have seen him before!)

Aaanyway. I was not terribly impressed. They were desperate not to be cancelled, and they couldn't have come up with something awesome? I get that Rob was basically trying to repackage the show into something that the CW wanted anyway; I didn't expect it to be a spinoffy spinoff, if that makes any sense. But I expected better!

Regardless, it is a tantalizing glimpse of a LoVe-free future for Veronica, which makes me happy. (Do not get me wrong, new friends. I loved them in the first season, but they don't work for me long-term, and I hated their whole star-crossed dance of destiny.) I approve of Veronica/Snarky Agent! I just wish he was Brendan, obviously.

Speaking of OTPs, did you notice how it TOTALLY jived with my awesome VM/Brick FBI picspam?

( Veronica, why does trouble follow you around? )

Today life generally sucked and was super unfair. Insert emo here.

+ Woooow, HP fandom. You are lame. I just do not even know where to start with regard to your complete and utter lamery. Instead of enjoying your canonical slash, please, continue to bitch about it incoherently like the bitter, paranoid twats you are. You do that. I will be over here having an awesome time reading the CANONICAL SLASH. Awesome times are the point of fandom, no? No? Well, that explains SO MUCH.

+ Avatar tonight was full of FAIL for the first time ever! At least it was unintentionally hilarious, what with all of the SECRET PAIN and emo hair. ( vaguely spoilery )

+ FNL is surprisingly better when you fast forward everything to do with Tyra/Landry.

+ Rob Thomas very nicely spoke to jujubee for a college project, and she very nicely decided to share the interview. It's very interesting, has some deets on the writer's strike (which I am dreading, although I fully support the writers guild) and some info on where the show would have been going in S4. Must say that the direction for the fourth season leaves me kind of cold, and that actually makes me feel a little better about the cancellation.

Hey, you guys! Look! Someone posted a comprehensive synopsis of the Veronica Mars: Special Agent Girl promo Rob Thomas filmed for the CW. I am pretending that the hot, profiling guy is Brendan.

Oh, man. Logan totally wouldn't have been in it. AWESOME. Admit it -- even if you wanted the show to be cancelled, you're still sorry you missed that wank.

Also, if you use your journal to post or discuss fannish things, I encourage you to join up real quicklike at fandom_counts, which is basically just an LJ census of fandom-related journals.

P.S. Did anyone watch Kevin Williamson's new show, Hidden Palms? PLEASE REGALE ME WITH STORIES OF ITS HEINOUSNESS IMMEDIATELY!

+ I went through my userpics today and deleted the vast majority of my Veronica Mars icons. STILL NOTHING. I'm not sure when it's going to finally hit me that my show is not coming back. I wish it was.

+ I wish that I could find a good copy of Beverly Cleary's Fifteen. I know it's super dated nowadays -- it was dated when I read it back in gradeschool. But I still love it, and my flea-market copy is destroyed.

+ I wish I could kick everyone involved with POTC3 in the shin. That stupid thing I've been bitching about? THE PLOT THICKENS. It sounds as if the director/producers purposefully cut out the pertinent lines and scenes. It could have been for time, but it might have been creative. So I'm not sure if I should go with the writers' special clarification or Verbinski's final cut. Even if we got confirmation that the writers' intentions were ignored, fans will never be able to settle on what's what. Honestly. Please allow me to offer a sincere FUCK YOU to everyone involved in this abject stupidity.

+ I like the new Nine Inch Nails CD. I just don't know if I want to buy it; I like some of the songs on it a lot, but I deleted several of them from my library after my first listen. I wish I wanted to buy it, because Trent Reznor is kind of awesome. And also, it changes colors!

+ The air is so smokey. I had to shower twice this evening because of it. It's because of the forest fires in South Georgia, and the forest fires are because of the drought, and the drought is courtesy of global warming. I so wish Al would run.

+ When the hell does Avatar come back? Is it coming back? WTF.

+ I still don't have a Wii.

I've been watching Veronica Mars since the second episode. As soon as I heard the girl detective premise, I was sold -- I grew up on Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. I knew this was a show I would like, but I certainly never expected to fall completely in love with it. The show has had its ups and downs thanks to a toxic combination of budget problems, studio/network interference, acrobatics to keep the show accessible to new viewers and a poorly executed S2 arc. But as a whole, Veronica Mars has been the most rewarding, most addictive, most frustrating and most fun TV-watching experience I've ever had. I have loved this show, and I only regret that it never found the audience it deserved.



( Weevils Wobble and The Bitch is Back )

I can't believe this is the last episode commentary I'll ever write about Veronica Mars. I'm not sure the cancellation has actually hit me yet, but at least the show made an awesome last stand.

I heard Veronica Mars was cancelled this afternoon, and while it was definitely expected it still really, really sucks. Especially because we're getting replaced with... Farmer Wants A Wife or The Search for the Next Next Pussycat Doll or something like that.

But it didn't actually hit me until I visited TWoP and saw that Couch Baron had locked the Hope Springs Eternal: Ratings and Scheduling thread. And pretty soon the whole entire forum will be gone. Which should make me happy, considering what a cess pool of crazy it's been. But then someone named the cancellation thread True Love Stories Never Have Endings, and all of these people have come out of woodwork to say Peace Out, and... yeah. One tear.

But, hey. I honestly never thought we'd even get a full season pick-up three years ago. And 64 episodes later... I can't complain.

( Veronica Mars / Cancellation Watch )

( American Idol )

( Y&R )

And, and, and! Last weekend I finished watching S2 of Grey's, which I got for my birthday almost exactly two months ago. There were actually episodes I somehow managed to miss! Crazy. I had stuff I wanted to say about the season in general, but I have mostly forgotten everything, except:

( Four extremely shallow things about S2 Grey's Anatomy )

In real-life non-news, I am sunburnt from gardening. On the bright side, come next month I will have LOTS of tomatoes and cucumbers. Unfortunately, come next week I am going to have the worst farmer's tan ever.

Hey, I was at Borders today with little miss NINE WHOLE YEARS to get the new Giada cookbook for my mom. And I saw Cassie Claire's book! It was much with the amusing, and it reminded me that it's only 68 days 'til Harry Potter! Two months and change! That's so close!

Word on the Interwebs is that VM is dead; allegedly the CW network would like to renew it but the corporate people aren't having it. Which is understandable considering how bad the ratings have been since it came back from hiatus. I guess we'll know for sure in a couple of days!

Ausiello says that VM's prospects are looking brighter, which fits with all the gossip on the Internets about VM looking good for a fourth season. According to Ausiello, the CW really liked the VM:FBI presentation, and they've asked for more details. Also, it would get a name change and possibly a major cast shake-up. If that means no Logan, I am so down.

Ausiello also says the mixed reviews for PP might mean it's no longer a lock. Which, whatever. Variety loved it. EW hated it, but they have been hating Grey's in general lately. A NYT critic gave it a shitty review, but then she gave an equally shitty review to the original Grey's pilot back in '05. TV Guide gave it a good review, but Matt Roush didn't like it. So who knows. All I know is that I reallyreallyreallyreally do not want to watch Grey's next season. But I also don't want Addison cancelled from my TV. But I also don't want to watch Addison run around in circles between Alex and the parasite that is Mark Sloan(e). Decisions, decisions -- none of which are mine.

American Idol was sooo terrible tonight. Everyone was awful, except for Melinda. And she wasn't all that great either. Worst. Theme. Ever.

House was so, so boring. The five seconds of Gilmore Girls I actually slowed down my TiVo to watch were also boring.

( Veronica Mars )

That new Georgia Rule movie looks terrible. And completely offensive. Please to be stepping into a small town or a Red State before you try making a movie about it, Hollywood. The new Hot Pockets commercials? RACIST. What is wrong with people?

HAPPY ADDISON'S ANATOMY DAY!

Dear TV Gods, PLEASE do not let this show suck. PLEASE. I am already a little nervous about the purpose of Addie's trip, and I watched the promotional clip, and it was not particularly Addison-ish (but very Kate Walshy). THIS SHOW CANNOT SUCK, OKAY?

A couple people who don't watch Grey's expressed interest in watching the spinoff, so if you're still interested, a two-hour episode of Grey's Anatomy starts at 9:00 EST tonight. As I understand it, the first hour will be a traditional Grey's Anatomy episode, though I expect people will wonder where Addison is. I believe the second hour will be all about Addison. I cannot vouch for the quality of the show, but at least everyone will be really, really hot, right?

How 'bout this Gilmore Girls snafu?! I sort of doubt I'll be watching an 8th season, whether it's shortened or not, but they really need to settle the contract dispute before the finale airs. The only thing showrunners owe their fans is respect, and I really think it would be unfair for GG to sign off without fans knowing whether such a long-running show is having it's series or season finale.

( Talk about TWoP )

I know that sometimes this show infuriates me, but I love it so much and I will miss it desperately when it's gone.

( Veronica Frakkin' Mars )

SO. There was other TV on tonight, but it was not nearly as good, so I have forgotten all about it. And, damn, but I forgot to vote for AI. I think I still have ten minutes, so I'm going to go rush and that. Jordin and Melinda!

ETA: OMG, I ALMOST FORGOT. George W. Bush and Laura showing up to thank American Idol for the IGB special was HILARIOUS. It's just like that American Dreamz movie where Dennis Quaid plays a president with epically low approval ratings who uses American Idol Dreamz to give him a boost. Satire truly is dead.

Ever since I heard about the extremely remote possibility that Veronica Mars might receive a fourth season as a "spin-off" focusing on Veronica's life as an FBI agent, I can't get the idea out of my head. Everything I (don't) know about the FBI I learned from The X-Files. And I've recently become obsessed with Brick (SEE THIS MOVIE, NOIR FANS! IT IS SO, SO GOOD!), and now I'm all over the idea of Brendan/Veronica because of their awesomeness and similar backstories. The result is that I have a this cracked-out fantasy version of Veronica Mars: The FBI Years that's a bastardization of Veronica Mars, X-Files fanon and Brendan/Veronica. And I'm kind of in love with it.

As much as this picspam is for my own amusement, it's also kind of an argument for the potential cracky awesomeness of a VM:FBI spin-off. Seriously, you guys, I think it could be tons of fun.

Also, it is important to note that the cracked-out futureverse in my head is largely the fault of themis, whose influence over the incoherence within should not be misunderestimated.



( Meet Veronica Mars, FBI Agent. )

Also, obligatory pimpage: vm_cross for all your Veronica Mars crossover needs.

Time to squash another Veronica Mars rumor that seems to be gaining traction this morning — this one claiming the enitire supporting cast has been let go. Not true. No one — not Jason Dohring, not Enrico Colantoni — has been released from their contract. -- TV Guide

LOLZ, VM FANDOM!

Someone on TWoP pointed out that it's ironic that Veronica gets so much shit for jumping to conclusions based on little to no evidence, and the fandom spontaneously combusted this week over NOTHING.

( Spoilery speculation for the final five episodes. )

WHY IS THE VERONICA MARS FANDOM SO MOTHERFUCKING UNHINGED?!

Seriously. Read this and then read the comments and tell me what the hell planet these people are from. I doubt that the VM:FBI show will get picked up, but if it does at least all of these people will no longer be watching.

ETA: Bahleeted Edited.

ETA2: And may I just reiterate that this is only a stupid rumor? The way fandom is carrying on, you'd think that Rob Thomas had killed Jason Dohring, pulled the still-beating, emo-bleeding heart from his chest and eaten it covered in cheese. Shut up, fandom. At least until we know something for real.

Thanks to the people who gave me the BitTorrent advice, I'm now up to 150 Kb/s. <3

The details about the Veronica Mars spinoff are becoming more clear. VM as we know it has been unofficially cancelled -- the cast and crew have been told they'll be out of a job come summertime. However, the CW is interested in a new procedural starring Veronica as an FBI agent. Mostly because they don't have a whole lot in development, and what they do have is winding down. A VM spinoff comes with free buzz and a ready-made fanbase, albeit a relatively small one.

I think that it's pretty cruel to dangle the possibility of a new VM show in front of fans, and I am not trying to get any hopes up about the CW picking up the spinoff, BUT. I have got to say that if they were to cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Veronica's partner, that would be MADE OF AWESOME. And then people would HAVE to write Brick/Veronica Mars crossovers!

And then you know that she'd eventually get in trouble for her awesomely evil ways and have to go work in the basement with Spooky get kicked out of the agency and have to go be a P.I. She'd revive Mars Investigations! I want to read this fanfiction.

P.S. I like Neon Bible a lot.