***SPOILERS***Well well well….here we go again. Another episode of ANTM and another batch of the same old comfort food dished out to us each week by the master chef herself, Tyra Banks. Bitchiness, embarrassment, and the judging showdown ensued once again, making Amis the unlucky lady to head home tonight.

First off, the ladies head to a firehouse where the always fabulous Miss Jay makes his entrance sliding down the fire pole, revealing that the ladies will be working on their runway walk. As usual, there are those fierce walkers (Claire and Katarzyna set themselves apart from the pack), and those whose walks just make you want to cringe. Sorry Lauren, I love you, but that walk has got to go.

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We all know that I’m a MASSIVE American Idol fan. Say what you will about that and me, but please don’t try and trash my show. It seems that with all the great singing and dynamite performances the internet blogersphere has still yet to really cover anything about the program other than the bull shit side chatter, tabloid gossip that runs on and on about the contestants.

The latest victim is the so far, very interesting prospect, David Hernandez. Apparently he was a sexy male stripper at a mainly gay dance club in a former life. Gay dancer or not the dude can sing. I’m not sure whether I care or not about his midnight cowboy dancer days, but I do care about whether or not he gets to the finals on AI.

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This week brings one classic to an end, a new show to the end of its first season, and some new shows that might or might not fill the void. There are some intriguing sports match-ups as well

What to Watch Live

The Wire (Sunday, HBO, 9 PM)

HBO’s cop show comes to an end after 5 seasons on the air. Although it has not enjoyed the commercial success of some of the other shows on the network, The Wire has been named the best show on television by a wide range of critics and has built up a big hardcore following.

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As any younger child can attest, it’s wildly unfair to make assumptions founded on an older sibling’s attributes. Yet in the case of Lipstick Jungle, the new TV series based on the Candace Bushnell novel, it’s hard not to make comparisons to the wildly successful Bushnell-derived series Sex and the City.

So maybe we should start by discussing the differences. SATC was a half-hour HBO comedy, Jungle is an hour-long NBC drama-with-comic-elements. While Carrie Bradshaw and her friends were successful career women, the three main players here hold high ranking titles among the upper echelons of Manhattan’s elite. Jungle makes it clear that the ladies got to where they are through hard work; in the first three episodes, the Jungle crew has logged more time in the office than the City gals did during their entire six seasons.

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Ever wonder what’s worth watching live on TV anymore? With thousands of channels there is only a handful of things worth watching. Here is your list of new shows, exciting TV debut’s and basketball games that you should be sure not to miss!

What to Watch Live

A Raisin in the Sun (Monday, ABC, 8 PM)

Sean Combs stars in this TV movie based Lorraine Hansley’s Broadway play. The movie features much of the same cast as 2004’s Broadway revival, two of whom, Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald, won Tonys for their performances. The success of the revival (it was the 2nd highest grossing Broadway play in history) and Combs’ star power led to ABC green-lighting director Kenny Leon’s project to make a movie out of the play. Watch to see if Combs’ acting holds up to his other talents and the excellent reviews he received on Broadway.

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While there may be many tuning into tomorrow night’s 80th Academy Awards, there are others who want no part of the glitz, glamor and incredibly long telecast the awards have to offer. Besides the actual show itself, tomorrow’s t.v schedule will be filled with pre-awards shows, post-awards shows and one unnecessary Oscar edition of “The Barbara Walters Special” right after the big show. Worry not, there are other television options (albeit limited) for you.

Top American Restaurants | FOOD Network - 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

If you’re a foodie, you’re going to want to tune into this one. Bon Appétit magazine’s picks for the best American restaurants are featured in this program.

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As pretty much all of you know because you’ve all been watching, blogging, and obsessing over it (how could you not), the latest season of television juggernaut American Idol is again underway, eating up 5 hours a week of post-strike air time for Fox. Idol, no matter what you think of the actual show, is simply a stunning institution - artful in the simplicity of its idea but also impressively diverse in its innovations and extensions.

For one, Idol is unique in that it is the rare television show that drastically changes its content midway through the season. The midseason shift from the show’s auditions to the top 24 performances (bridged by the now criminally short “Hollywood week”) is quite significant. Watching the auditions is essentially an exercise in making fun of the delusional and often strange fringes of American society. It’s a bit of a cruel exercise but it is undoubtedly a fascinating one, and it’s also a world away from the 2nd half of the season, where the show is almost entirely made up of performances by those who can (supposedly) sing. This is the equivalent of 30 Rock halfway through the season morphing into a docu-drama about inner city drugs.

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This weeks round up of what not to miss live, what to Tivo, and what sport games are on that are worth watching.

What to Watch Live:

American Idol (Tuesday & Wednesday, FOX, 8 PM)

With auditions finally over, the show goes to the next, less entertaining stage. 164 singers have been chosen to come to Hollywood. After Wednesday night, only 24 will remain. Watch to find out which ones will move on and to figure out your favorite for this season.

Big Brother 9 (Tuesday, CBS, 9 PM)

The show returns for its ninth season. It’s kind of amazing to think that Big Brother has really been on the air for that long, isn’t it? This season features a new gimmick – every house member is single and has been paired with someone else in the house as a potential “love mate.” Time will tell whether or not the potential love works out, but it is almost guaranteed to lead to at least one couple who are trying to tear each other’s throat out each week. Fun for everyone.

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Another impressive show can now be seen on HBO every week night. In Treatment is a look at a therapist, his patients, and exactly what that relationship means. Although psychiatric therapy has, and continues to increase in popularity, there are still some misconceptions about what it is and how it can be useful. In Treatment explores several scenarios in one doctor’s life, in which we sit in on a session everyday, each one completely different from each other, and witness how it these sessions effect his life, and consequently the lives of his patients.

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This week is a rather strange one for television. Because of the writers’ strike, many shows are at far different stages in their seasons and many shows still have not returned. However, it is still February sweeps, which means the networks are going to do their best to get you to watch with a number of premieres. This is also a strong week for sports, which might or might not be a coincidence.

What to Watch Live

Lipstick Jungle (Thursday, NBC, 10 PM)

Trying to create a new Sex in the City, NBC premieres Lipstick Jungle. In Brooke Shields’ return to television, three successful Manhattan women do their thing and have tons of drama. So it’s really more of a Sex in the City soap than a real copy. If you enjoy primetime soaps and Sex in the City, this show may be perfect for you.

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The typical complaint I hear about ABC’s show Lost is that “NOTHING HAPPENS”. What a crock of shit, how can anyone who watches come to that conclusion? If anything too much stuff goes down, with a plethora of characters it naturally takes time to establish the three-dimensionality and plot course of a given personality. Why can’t you people practice a little patience and just watch the damn show.

The new season has begun with the airing of last nights episode, I’m not going to break it all down, you can look some where else for your Lost insight, I just want to express my fondness for the program. Season 4 should be pretty cool; they’ve left the island, or did they? Is Charlie really dead? So much has the potential of happening I can’t understand where the Lost animosity comes from. It’s simply the most enjoyable show on regular TV.

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We’re only four episodes deep into season 7 of AI, and I’m still loving this shit as always. I can’t explain it; since the show began I’ve been enthralled with the roller coaster ups and downs these poor saps put themselves through in order to get a shot at superstardom. In a rapidly imploding music scene it seems a little odd to expect small town nobodies with no professional experience to compete with major artists like Alicia Keys or Justin Timberlake. Just this week Alicia Key’s new album spent its second week at #1 on the billboard charts, yet only sold a little over 60,000 albums. Those are pretty scary stats for record company folks to be looking at; I wonder what their next move will be. It’s because of this I have to ask, is American Idol really producing the most talented and explosive new artists in the world, or are they creating just another exciting TV star, that unfortunately has had their carrier decided on, and swept away with the changing of the seasons.

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