'Spooks' series 9, affirmative.

Via Partymania, series 9 of Spooks has been confirmed. Woot woot! If this intelligence is true, then we can count on Harry's return. Ros is definitely a goner, per tonight's series finale that just ended 12 minutes ago. At least I think. Haven't seen it yet. Surely Lucas will hang on because you can't knock off 2 leads in one go. Anyway, they've already offed 2 case officers plus Malcolm who took the cleaner route and walked off. Wonder who our new spooks will be next year.......(And Tariq is a cutie while we're on the subject.)

afterschoolspecial does Lady Gaga's 'Speechless'...

...and it is amazing.

The Times' Top 50 TV Shows of the 2000s.

So here's another end of the year, end of the decade list with which to stuff your stocking.......Top 50 TV Shows of the 2000s. These things never work really; it's always a genius or an idiot behind these, maybe the same person. I've only recently hopped on to the tv bandwagon, evidenced by my tendency to start shows after they're off air. But I'll throw my support behind some of these entries - West Wing, Life on Mars, Simon Amstell-era Never Mind the Buzzcocks. I'm sure once I watch The Wire, Mad Men, and Six Feet Under, they'll make my list as well. Meanwhile, commenters are crying foul over the omission of Top Gear and one funny guy bemoaned the absence of the dramatic Adrian Lester vehicle Bonekickers. (It was crap.) Of course I'm convinced something fishy's going down at The Times headquarters because someone forgot to add Spooks.

Jin flogs Vita lemon tea for 7-11.

This is how my little brother learns Cantonese. And this is what set me back $25 yesterday. All for bloody boxed tea, which I fundamentally object to for conservation reasons, and a promotional CD. Advertising works, bitches.

'Glee' + Wham! = heaven

Patrick Jane quote of the day...from November 5.

"Semper Fi, sissy bitches."

Rummaging through my unfinished posts and grabbed this classic from The Mentalist. Appears to be an episode from the second season in early November, Black Gold and Red Blood. Rigsby is on his way to interview a suspect or witness and Jane, from jail, phones the guy so that he'll get riled up. Love me some Patrick Jane, and the writers who put words into his mouth.

Cheryl Cole + JLS = Everybody Fight for This Love

I finally watched some of the auditions and performances from the show that brought us Girls Aloud, and in case we didn't know this already, Cheryl Cole cannot sing. But that's not going to stop her from being a star, dammit, or an artiste. Nevertheless, I have a weakness for bad pop, though I do have some limits and generally don't listen to people who are still going through puberty. Her new song, Fight For This Love, is generically catchy, just the way I like them. A more able singer might turn this into a decent pop song, but alas, the Divine Ms Cole must rely a super slick video to pull through. Really, it looks like it's been dipped in double layers of latex.

Also, I was watching Never Mind the Buzzcocks the other day, an episode with the dear Russell Tovey. He and Michael Ball were guesting and on the opposing team was the short, skinny, supposedly cute one from JLS. He's kind of charming in a 'maybe I'd fancy him if I was 10 years younger' kind of way. But I'm not, so I don't. But I'll listen to his music. Here is a video of their latest single, Everybody in Love. Nothing extraordinary as far as boy bands go, but oh, how it stirs that 15 year old in me.

An Al Gough tribute.

My friend said that this was gratuitous, or maybe 'disgusting' was the exact word he used. I think he's wrong.

'Spooks' marathon and series 2 of 'Merlin' concludes...thank you, British tax payers.

My internet's back. Well, it's been back for some time now but I've been busy with other affairs. Like overdosing on Spooks. Plowed through series 1 and 2, currently midway through series 3. Bloody amazing. I was gutted to see Tom Quinn forced out. It will be sad to see Zoe fly off to Chile. And I imagine Danny's death will not take well......In other BBC briefs, Merlin ended its series 2 run, and unlike it's misguided cousin Robin Hood, this show is maturing nicely. I'm definitely looking forward to the third series. The acting and writing continue to improve, and I admit, I readily teared up in the last episode. Previously, Merlin freed the dragon who returned the favor by attacking Camelot. The knights are useless against the dragon's superior fire power and need the talents of a Dragonlord to tame the thing. Unfortunately Uther killed the lot, save one - Balinor. Arthur and Merlin are tasked with finding this last Dragonlord, who Merlin discovers is his father. Cue sentimentality. It could have been a very weepy moment, but kudos to Colin Morgan who put his drama school training to good use......Many other backed up television posts to catch up on, and hopefully I'll get to them all seeing as most of my shows are either coming to an end or on hiatus until March (damn you, FlashForward and your shitty ratings).