"Dude..."

And so, the fifth and penultimate season of ABC's Lost concludes tonight, and with it will end one of the more bizarre, frustrating, and, strangely entertaining stretches in the show's history. And for this show, that's saying something.

Throughout its history, Lost has never shied from its sci-fi tendencies, though it did manage to de-emphasized the mystical and paranormal stuff a bit by giving it equal screentime with human drama.

In the wake of Fox’s new reality TV show More to Love we, as sensible viewers, must ask the question: has television finally lost all credibility? A cross between ratings giants (pun intended) The Biggest Loser and The Bachelor, this show will capitalize on all the ingredients that help turn on a normal reality-TV audience. It will still have the Jacuzzis and sensual massages, but this show will toss in the extra twist of totally eradicating any eye candy what-so-ever.

According to the Smoking Gun, Vince Schlomi, a/k/a "Vince Offer," a/k/a "the Sham Wow guy," a/k/a #26 on this year's 100 Unsexiest Men list, was arrested last month for punching a woman he'd paid $1000 for sex. Charges were never filed, but in a police report obtained by the Smoking Gun, Schlomi admitted to cops (after being read his right to remain silent) that after forking over a grand in $20 bills to one Sasha Harris and taking her back to a hotel room, she "bit his tongue and would not let go," whereupon Vince "began to strike [Harris] numerous times in the face area." Nobody comes out of this one looking too good.

It could not be more perfect that Idris Elba, who so memorably portrayed Stringer Bell on The Wire for three seasons, will be starting his arc as the new suit from Dunder Mifflin's corporate headquarters tonight. After all, Stringer Bell went to business school, founded a co-op for Baltimore's drug dealers, and conducted meetings according to Robert's Rules of Order.

Lost's hotly-anticipated fifth season will debut in just over a month. Even though we're wondering how they could possibly top the fourth season, in which the show reinvented itself and refocused its storytelling approach, we aren't going to pretend not to be excited.

ABC has released a few promos for the season, and we can spare your ears the trailer set to a new song by the Fray because there's a more substantive one out that shows a scene from the season's premiere.

You know when TV is taking over your life when you can't even wait to get to a computer in order to program your TiVo, let alone be at home to program it. Yesterday, TiVo announced it will be launching a cell phone-friendly Web site, m.tivo.com, available for all cell phone browsers and users so TV worshippers can program their TiVos using their cell phones.

WEST ROAST
5 years ago
May 9, 2003 | Jay Jaroch mused on the bi-coastal lifestyle and the differences between West and East Coasters.
“Sure, it’s been new and exciting, but when you grow up East Coast you learn that you should never take yourself too seriously — unless, of course, you have a graduate degree. Take yourself too seriously, and you can be sure your friends will soon be mocking you right back down to earth: ‘Bill, you’re a systems analyst and you live in Malden.

NOT-SO-FOND FAREWELL
5 years ago
May 02, 2003| Joyce Millman bade adieu to the WB’s Dawson’s Creek.
“An era is about to end as one of TV’s most influential series says goodbye. And no, I’m not talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This Wednesday...on the WB, Dawson’s Creek will have its series finale, after six seasons of tortured love geometry, high-school (and college) angst, smart-ass dialogue, and bad film-school pretensions.

“Christian Soriano, signing out.”ce:office" />

It was a fitting way to end this season of Project Runway. Not because it was he who ultimately won it all. But because in my mind, it was sort of the Christian Soriano show from the beginning last night. From his wonderfully absurd description of what it was he was looking for in a model (“fierce tallness and walks for days”) to his kooky modeling of Jillian Lewis’s ridiculous looking hat prior to the runway show (all the while going “bring it back, bring it back”), Christian downright stole the proceedings.

American Idol always disappoints me; it's corny, too long, and I have never in my life felt prompted to buy one of the winner's CDs or even vote for the contestants I like best. But for some reason I have to watch it--if not for Randy Jackson's incessant clarion call of "yah dawg, yah dawg," Paula Abdul's incoherent but saccharine ramblings, and Ryan Seacreast's bronzed douchiness--then at least for Simon Cowell, the shining beacon of sanity whose cutting judgment is nearly always right.