Behind my back

So let's see... while I was at the ballgame, the CW flip-flopped its Sunday and Monday line-ups in an attempt to save Chris and the other sitcoms, NBC ordered the "Kidnapped" producers to wrap up the storyline in 13 episodes to avoid the "Reunion" problem (though I believe they'll air all 13 -- even on Saturdays -- when I see it), "Heroes" became the first new show to get a back nine order, ABC is going to slot "Big Day" in where "Knights of Prosperity" was supposed to go, Fox is moving "Justice" to Mondays and "Vanished" to Fridays post-baseball (which means neither show qualifies for the dead pool yet, and I fear that even my pick, "Happy Hour," ain't dead yet), and...

Geez, a fella goes to see his ballclub flail around at a bunch of 100 mph pitches, and the next thing he knows, primetime has been turned upside down. Apparently, I can never leave my desk again.

I'll catch up on Wednesday TV later, but spoilers on (in order), "Survivor," "The Office," "Ugly Betty" and "Grey's Anatomy" just as soon as I recharge my power ring. In brightest day, in blackest night...

Two weeks after Jeff Probst gave his own ruling on Brown v. Board of Education and bussed the tribes together, "Survivor: Eugenics Wars" has become just another season of "Survivor." And that's fine, I guess. I like some of the players (Yul, Nate, Jenny), hate some others (Parvati, Adam, Ozzy) and am entertained by but ambivalent about a few more (Cao Boi, Roller Girl). Arguably a more interesting start than Exile Island or Guatemala. But 13 seasons in, there are only so many different iterations of island strategery, of the young vs. old, productive vs. lazy, man vs. woman, freak vs. geek tribal schisms that you have to be a major "Survivor" junkie to still get excited about it all. Well-made season so far, but the racial stuff was by far the most compelling element, and that's been dropped, for now. Ah, well; at least that pompous granite block J.P. got kicked to the curb, and even seemed gracious in defeat.

Things are very amiss at "The Office," but intentionally so. Jim really was the glue holding the Scranton branch together in various ways; if he was still there, Dwight would be too busy wigging out over Jim's latest prank to even consider listening to Lady Angela MacScotttish's advice about a palace coup, Pam would feel too self-conscious to try dressing cuter in the office (that, or Jim would have steered Creed right the hell away from the reception desk), etc., etc. Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice -- er, I mean Stamford -- we discover that Michael's not the only branch manager who wastes valuable company time on his own frivolous obsessions. Hell, compared to the number of video game sessions that Jim seems to deal with in a single day, 30 minutes a week for a team-bonding movie (which nobody but Pam really seemed to mind) seems practically brilliant. Of course, that doesn't count the many, many other ways that Michael wastes time, but for all we know Josh is just as bad, just not as clumsy about it. Now that Daniels and company have laid their cards on the table about Jim and Rashida (which we all suspected was coming), I'm curious to see how the 'shippers react. Will they be burning the poor newbie in effigy, cussing out Jim, writing off the show altogether, or actually watching with an open mind to see what happens next?

Favorite moment of the episode: Jan telling Michael about her conversation with Dwight, followed by Michael immediately asking what she was doing at the dentist. Oh, Michael: so naive, so innocent, so stupid, so funny.

Seems a bit ironic that, in an "Ugly Betty" about a perfectly gorgeous actress who feels pressured to lose weight to look like all the other Hollywood lollipops, America Ferrera has clearly dropped a few dress sizes since the pilot. A good follow-up to the pilot, I thought, particularly the stuff in Queens -- a well-choreographed catfight (and by "well-choreographed," I mean "clumsy as hell, preferably with hair getting caught up in jewelry") is never not funny -- though my interest flags whenever we get into the soapiest elements with the dead/not dead former editor. That's my problem, though. Seems like every year I pick one soap opera that I like in spite of the soapy aspects. I used to like everything about "The O.C." except for Ryan and Marisa, I watch "Grey's Anatomy" in spite of Meredith and McDreamy... hey, speaking of which...

Another busy, fun "Grey's Anatomy." Allan Heinberg, the man responsible for Seth Cohen's comic book obsession on "The O.C.," has been on the writing staff all of five seconds and he already had George dropping Green Lantern references in an episode that he didn't even write. Does that qualify as a super power? I liked the indestructible girl storyline -- Abigail Breslin is the rare talented kid actor who still seems like a kid -- even though I kept waiting for her to stick her hand in an In-Sink-Erator, just to see what legal hijinks would ensue in the real world. Hell, I didn't even mind the love triangle storyline for once, since McDreamy was supposed to be acting like an ass this time. The only time I really got annoyed at all was when Bailey was meeting with the Chief about Izzy. I'm sorry, Shonda: you wrote yourself into this corner, then sealed yourself in with some brick and mortar, and I'm not buying any attempt to pretend otherwise.

What did everybody else think?