As much as I enjoy Gossip Girl my favorite part of the show is the episode titles, which make fun use of wordplay and pop culture references like “Blair Waldorf Must Pie!”, “Hi, Society” and “The Blair Bitch Project”.

So today, it’s been annoying me to see TV sites describe last night’s episode wrong. “Pret-a-poor-J” is a pun, people — its supposed to sound like Pret a Porter, a fashion term much like how the episode was about fashion. It’s not “Pret-a-Poor-Jenny” or “Pret-a-Port-J” (huh?). Argh!

That is all.

You’ve probably heard about how the Barack Obama campaign has bought a half-hour of network time on the broadcast networks on the Wednesday before Election Day. I remember at the time those stories hit, that the buy didn’t seem to include ABC but later reporting gave me the impression that, no, ABC was a part of that massive ad buy.

Well, it turns out Obama didn’t buy time on ABC after all, which brings my theory into play.

See, when I started hearing about the purchase, I realized that the only program not being preempted was Pushing Daisies, the cult hit that’s been struggling in the ratings of late. That got me to joke that Obama was a Daisies fan and didn’t want to miss the show.

And then a few days later, came the speech where he mentioned pie 13 times in under a minute and a half. Sounds like a Pushing Daisies fan to me.

Now, the remaining unresolved question for me is: is the airtime buy meant to take Pushing Daisies‘ competition off the air for a week or just wanted to have something to watch while that special (which he’ll have probably watched a hundred times before it airs) hits the airwaves.

Eh, I’m guess I’m still testy about the analyst on my local ABC affiliate who described Gov. Palin as “folksy” in the V-P debate as if being folksy by itself is a point of victory in a debate. (Isn’t folksiness supposed to be a shortcut to communicating other debate qualities, like authenticity or a down-to-earth sensibility?) Anyway, Ron Howard delivers the folksiness for Obama, with the help of Andy Griffith:

I’ve gone on about Gossip Girl, a show that’s surprised me for duplicating the mix of trashy/substantive that I loved about Footballers’ Wives (both shows are also ones with fans that leave me wondering if I’m just fanwanking the depth I see in them). I was disappointed with the show’s post-strike episodes last season, but I’m happy that the show is back to its previous glory. Someday, I’ll have to get into what I love about this show in more detail.

Last night’s episode, gave a little bit of story to resident “barely there” gay but went off the charts in regards to the blatant homoerotism… even including a scene featuring an everyday phallic food.

Meanwhile, my adoration for General Hospital: Night Shift writer Sri Rao continues as I learn that he has a series ready for The N and is a big Degrassi fan. It’s a bit frustrating that Rao’s show, What Goes On, has been in scheduling limbo for about a year but maybe that his Night Shift work was good enough for soap fans to lean his name, it’ll finally make it to the airwaves.

• The Daily Show might also lose Rob Riggle to a CBS sitcom prompting Joe to look at which correspondents may have another gig coming.
• Star Trek: The Experience might not be dead after all, just demoted to downtown Vegas yadda
• Election night will see special shortened episodes of 90210 and Privileged, allowing the shows to air but giving time for news breaks.
• Zima, the clear malt beverage, is no more. Honestly, a small part of me will miss seeing those art deco bottles. Not the actual beverage, tho.

From the first moment when I heard of it, I’ve been looking forward to Lifetime’s new sitcom Rita Rocks. While Hot Properties didn’t destroy my affection for Nicole Sullivan, I was particularly excited that Degrassi’s Lauren Collins would be playing her daughter.

Well taking a look at the series’ web site, Collins seems to no longer be a part of the cast… which is too bad, considering the resemblance between the two.

That said, after watching the first episode of Rita Rocks online, I’m starting to wonder if Sullivan belongs on standard sitcoms. Her best work on MadTV involved mean, selfish characters like her Vancome Lady. She does a good job with likable characters, but her comic abilities would probably fit sharp-tongued sidekick roles better. Rita Rocks is an okay show, but not a show that captures the Sullivan that was such a stir on MadTV.

So. Remember David Frum the former Bush speechwriter who tried to take down Rachel Maddow (and failed miserably) as a guest on her show? You know, this guy:

Well, he’s scheduled to be on The Colbert Report this Wednesday. Think anyone warned him that facing Stephen is about as big a challenge as picking a fight with Rachel and convincing people that you’re the smarter and more serious one?

Last night NY Mag compared “Joe the Plummer” to Britney Spears… and now someone has parodied Chris Crocker’s infamous “Leave Britney Alone” video.

If that’s what being the surprise “winner” of a presidential debate gets you…

Precocious Youngster Sells Cookies To Buy Attack Ad

I haven’t been too excited about Vertical’s release of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack since I purchased a copy back when it was a $15 trade published by Viz. While I found it highly entertaining, I’m always hesitant about recommending the series because of one story that I found deeply offensive.

In that story (SPOILER warning, of course) Black Jack prepares to meet a man tells the story of a woman he loved. She eventually fell ill (as you would expect of any new character in a medical manga) and it turned out to be ovarian cancer. The doctor was able to save the life of his love with his incredible medical skills, but he had to remove her ovaries and uterus to stop the cancer. The twist is that the man Black Jack is meeting is the ex-lover he saved. After the surgery, she began living as a man because without ovaries or a uterus, she “was no longer a woman”.

Now, that’s how the story reads in my Viz copy. However, in reading TangongaT’s review, I see the story described as:

an episode showing Black Jack’s lost love has a surprisingly fluid take on gender.

That, at least, sounds like a more positive version of the story… I wonder if Vertical’s translation found a way to make the story a little less offensive.