Good Wife lives up to the hype...

The Good Wife - CBS, Tuesday Nights 10PM

I was able to find some time this evening to hit my DVR and watch a couple more fall premieres, including CBS' The Good Wife. It airs opposite The Forgotten, and boy did I choose to watch the wrong one! This one has plenty of potential.

First, it would really have to be a stinker of a script for this cast to drop the ball: Julianna Margulies, Chris Noth, Christina Branaski, Matt Czurchy...hell, even Grams from Dawson's Creek is in this thing! Luckily the writing was good and the characters interesting. Plus Christina B. barley annoyed me at all. A miracle! I'm already planning to add this show to my must DVR list.

Here's the run down: "The Good Wife" is a drama about a politician's wife (Margulies) who pursues her own career as a defense attorney after her husband (Noth) is sent to jail on charges of political corruption - not to mention his extra-marital affairs. Margulies will not only have to deal with her career but also with keeping her family together by providing a stable home for her two children and a nosey, but caring mother-in-law.

Yes, it is a bit of a chick show...but fear not because at its root, the show is basically another court room drama. If you like those, you'll like this. Plus Margulies does a great job at showing vulnerability while still standing strong.

I want those 22 minutes back!

Accidentally on Purpose - CBS, Monday Nights 8:30PM

Horrible...horrible...horrible! I managed to make it through this entire hot mess - but just barely.

Jenna Elfman is a likable, good-enough actress - but she is just never going to find another vehicle on TV and she ought to stop putting us through the grueling nightmare of her "next big thing." Seriously!

How in the world this show got the plumb time slot between How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory is beyond my comprehension. Who is Elfman banging at CBS? Even my 12 year old daughter, who willingly watches such shows as Keeping Up With the Kardashians, couldn't manage to watch more than 5 minutes of this episode.

In the first episode, the "cougar" (Elfman) hooks up with the (questionable) hottie (Jon Foster), has sex twice and gets knocked up. Wait there's more...then her "boy toy" gets tossed out of his apartment and is living in a van - so she of course invites him to live with her. Since she doesn't want any complications however (too late!), they can't have sex anymore. Huh? Add to this mix his loser guy friends and her desperate gal pals and hilarity never ensues. Even the funny and talented Ashley Jensen (from Extras) is just a wash in this show.

If I haven't turned you away from the horror of this sitcom yet, let me add just two more words: Grant Show! Yes, Mr. 'Original' Melrose Place (hey...maybe he should wander over there) is also in the mix as Elfman's boss/sometimes lover. You know it's bad people.

Friends don't let friends watch this crap!

Easy to forget...

The Forgotten - ABC, Tuesday Nights at 10PM

The fall TV season unveiled another new show last night…The Forgotten. I was actually looking forward to seeing this one because it stars Christian Slater from (among other things) last season's prematurely yanked My Own Worst Enemy on NBC. Despite what the critics had to say about MOWE, I actually enjoyed it and found it getting better with each episode. I was very disappointed not to get to see where that all may have went (my take: Henry and Edward would eventually merge into one conscious being).

Besides, anyone who knew me 'back in the day' knows that I have adored Christian since his Gleaming the Cube days! Pump Up the Volume was an essential film in my adolescence. He was a genius in Heathers. So I swore one day I'd be Mrs. Christian Slater…well, that didn't happen and despite his rocky path in life, I still love him. That's why it is so unfortunate that he is associated with this easily forgotten Bones/Scooby-Doo knock-off.

Here's the basic plot - a group of every day people (Slater's character was once a police officer) belong to the Midwest chapter (Chicago) of a national organization whose members search out the identities of Jane & John Doe victims that the police have given up on. They also seek to solve their murders. Slater's character began working with this group after the unsolved abduction of his own daughter two years previous. Other people have their own reasons - some are simply bored with their everyday lives. The group has been successful enough that the police give them some cooperation - and Slater's ties to the department seems to come in handy.

There is little to say positive about this show. Most of the characters are cookie-cutter space wasters. The victim's voice-overs do not add to the show and are not very effective in producing empathy for them. The "artist" of the group seems to be the most realistic of the group, but his character is so similar to Angela on Bones that it should fall under some sort of copy-right infringement. Plus the guy reminds me of Heroes Milo Ventimiglia…but I like Milo. Everything seems to come pretty easy to this group - making one wonder how the cops couldn't figure it out as well. Some of it is far-fetched…like deciphering the brand of black nail polish from a photo of the victim's hand. Mainly I'm just amazed why anyone speaks to these people - they have no authority. C'mon!

I know this show underwent a major cast change and ultimately a change to the pilot…and plus the pilot is rarely a good indicator of what the show can be (remember the Friend's pilot?)…so I'll watch again next week. Everyone deserves a second chance…but if this gets aired past 6 episodes I'll be very surprised. Too bad - I love seeing Christian on TV each week.

Today I decided to take my afternoon break outside…and what a treat! Despite being in a huge corporate area, this building does have a very nice out door break area. It is like a little woodsy oasis. There are tall trees and plants galore. I love to sit there and watch the squirels bounce all over the lawn. When the place isn't over-taken by smokers, it really is a nice retreat. You would hardly know that we are right next to an off-ramp into Dublin from 270! Actually, I find the hushed whizz of the cars passing from behind our wall of trees soothing. Today there were leaves falling all around and one couldn't miss the distinct aroma of autumn in the air. Welcome to my favorite season of all….Happy Equinox!

The worst in us...

Today something sad happened…our neighbor was evicted. Having very closely been in his shoes several years back, we feel badly for him and his financial troubles. Although we rarely saw him and only exchanged a few friendly words when we did cross paths, we didn't really know the man - yet his life unfolded before our eyes.

First he was visited by some folks from the Children's Services Department…and soon his two boys stopped spending the weekends with their father. Then his work truck was fitted with a boot and an officer actually asked my kids to go get him a screw driver so he could take the plates too. Then the eviction notes began to appear on his door. Now all of his belongings are on his front lawn for the world to know his troubles.

Worst yet is the mob outside picking over his belongings like a bunch of vultures. I mean, the body's not even cold yet people! I don't even know if he knows they finally "set him out" and yet the whole neighborhood is outside taking their pick. Is the economy to blame? Or are we humans hard-wired to ignore our empathy and only look out for ourselves?

My child has eyed a few odds and ends that she might like for herself, but we have firmly told her that we won't be part of the pack out there. Of course her friends are in there hip deep like it is Christmas…so she doesn't get our hang-ups over the whole affair. What happened to common decency? Perhaps we are only able to be empathetic to this man's pain because we too are poor and have been unable to pay our bills from time to time. Our shared experience of trying our best but failing allows us to treat him with respect at a time when I am sure his own self-respect must be low.

I only wish my neighbors were so enlightened...

One Girl Revolution Does Not Endorse This Product...

Yesterday I was reading my new issue of Parenting "School Years" magazine when I came upon the "tipsntrends.com" page. The entire page is basically about 10 mini-ads laid out to look like an article. It is clearly marked "promotion" though - meaning someone paid them to include their 'hot' and 'trendy' product. Mostly I find these items to be harmless (Gummy Bear Vitamins) or even cute (a onesie that says 'iPood' on the butt). Then I came across:

Bach Kids Natural Remedies

For $12.95 a pop for a 10 ml bottle (plus shipping & handling) You can get Dr. Bach's Confidence Remedy. It promises that their "doctor created medicine" will instill a "greater sense of self-esteem when you feel inferior, fear failure or lack confidence." All of this without a drop of alcohol! That's right - step right up folks and just a few droppers full of Larch (a cone from a tree) will do the trick!

Got a kid with his/her head in the clouds? No worries - just a few droppers of Day Dream Remedy will set him/her straight. Clematis (a flower) will "help you live more actively in the present rather than in the future or your own dreamworld." Don't let the pharmaceutical companies who are pushing their ADHD medicines down thousands of kid's throats hear about this one!

Here's more good news about Clematis, also known as the "pepper vine": The entire genus contains essential oils and compounds which are extremely irritating to the skin and mucous membranes. The compounds in clematis cause internal bleeding of the digestive tract if ingested in large amounts and the plants are essentially toxic. (source: Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford, ISBN 0-87842-359-1)

I was amazed - no, astounded - that this product was being promoted by what I considered a reputable magazine that people turn to for sound advice and recommendations. Yes, it is a paid advertisement - not an actual article promoting the wonders of these magic potions, but by just having this advertisement in their magazine they are implying their approval of it. The publishers can turn away products like this and in my opinion they should have. You know the old saying about a sucker being born every minute? Well, I think that more than applies to whomever might decide to purchase these items.

Knowing I wanted to talk about this in my blog, I did some online research: The remedies, developed by Edward Bach an English physician and homeopath in the 1930s, contain a very small amount of flower material in a 50:50 solution of water and brandy. Because the remedies are extremely dilute they do not have a characteristic scent or taste of the plant. Vendors state that the remedies contain the "energetic" nature of the flower and that this can be transmitted to the user. Two reviews of clinical trials of Bach flower remedies found no support for effects beyond a placebo effect.

Apparently, rather than being based on research using the scientific method, Bach's flower remedies were intuitively derived and based on his perceived psychic connections to the plants. If Bach felt a negative emotion, he would hold his hand over different plants, and if one alleviated the emotion, he would ascribe the power to heal that emotional problem to that plant.

Feel any better about dropping that magical elixir down your kids throat yet?

Now, I am not some closed minded person when it comes to the occult and 'other worldly' phenomenon. I want to believe, like Mulder & I like getting my tarot cards read. I just don't think some traveling charlatan's 1930's snake oil should be advertised in a national magazine which influences parent's decisions on matters of health.

Attention future "Dr. Bach's"; a co-worker of mine, with whom I shared this advertisement with, sighed and said "I wish they had an elixir which created day dreams. I don't have those anymore."

Somewhere a new product line is being created...

Creamy Equality Goodness in Vermont...

Same-sex marriage is legal in Vermont as of today and to celebrate, Ben & Jerry's has renamed its Chubby Hubby ice cream flavor "Hubby Hubby" for the month.

In April, the Green State became the fourth in the nation to allow gays and lesbians to marry.

"From the very beginning of our 30 year history, we have supported equal rights for all people," Walt Freese, Ben & Jerry's CEO, said in a statement. "The legalization of marriage for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont is certainly a step in the right direction and something worth celebrating with peace, love and plenty of ice cream."

But the move by Ben & Jerry's is largely a symbolic one. There are no plans to produce pints of ice cream with the Hubby Hubby label.

Sean Greenwood, a spokesman for the company, told the Boston Herald it takes 18 months to revise a product label.

Hubby Hubby sundaes, though, will be sold at Vermont Ben & Jerry's all month long.