HIMYM brings us a flashback episode tonight. There's something so cheap and dirty about the fun of flashbacks. I always like watching them, but I feel all wrong about it. Usually flashbacks only show up once we've developed an attachment for the characters, so seeing them dressed funny/acting young/being ironic about their plans and their futures will always make us smile because we know better now, and the shows know that. But it's hard to find a flashback that's more than those easy jokes.

Everybody Hates Chris is like a series that's entirely a flashback. I'm okay with that, though. 

Who is this? No, really?

Jack has to go see EVIL PRESIDENT LOGAN tonight on 24. I can only hope this means that Martha Logan's just around the corner.

Heroes is being strangled, beaten, and ripped limb from limb by the NBC promo department. Please, please give it a rest, people. I know they're all excited that people seem to like it, but they are very close to ruining the show. Some stuff happens with Bennet tonight, as Dan pointed out.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming: The Black Donnellys premieres tonight in Studio 60's spot. I'm not going to watch it (ugh, Haggis), I'm just glad it's there. 

Tonight's episode of Heroes promises to be pretty HRG-intensive, as we find out how the whole Parkman/Radioactive Guy/Internet Woman hostage situation goes down.  This newfound coalition among the three heroes is kind of fun — I enjoy the motley assortment — but it is kind of weird how two of the three of them (Radioactive Guy and Internet Woman) have superpowers that are functionally useless except for very specific situations.

But I'm finding myself a little more obsessed with Internet Woman.  Now, I don't think she's quite as ridiculous as Nikki/Jessica (and I don't want to see her summarily killed like N/J), but as far as superpowers go: lame-o.  When they introduce new Heroes, I always use Nathan Petrelli as a yardstick for superpowers.  Are superpowers more, less or equally as awesome as the power of flight?  For instance:

• Invisibility - Equally awesome
• Invincibility - More awesome
• Bending time/space - More awesome
• Mind-reading - Equally awesome
• Melting metal - Less awesome
• Painting the future - Less awesome 

While being able to access the Internet is indeed a cool trick, as a superpower it's on par with "always has a pen when somebody needs one" or "makes unparalleled peanut butter cookies."

In terms of sheer practicality, this might be a kind of useful superpower to have for the layman.  I'd totally love to have technology implanted in my head.  You'd never be lost because you can just Mapquest it.  Movie reservations would be way easy.  You can be sitting in a boring-ass staff meeting and afterwards you can just say, "Well that was fun, I just posted ten pages of Lost fan fiction on a message board."

It'll be interesting to see how Internet Woman makes use of her gift.  I'm inclined to think that, realistically, having the Internet in your head all day would be pretty distracting.  Like, on the next episode, HRG will break away from Parkman, steal his gun and shoot Radioactive Guy (who, by the way, kind of looks like a homeless Michael C. Hall), and when Parkman asks why she didn't do anything she just says "Oh, sorry about that.  But guess who just won her eBay auction?!"

PS - I realize it's annoying for me to refer to these people as Internet Woman and Radioactive Guy — but I have some sort of learning disability when it comes to remembering character names.  If you recall my previous inability to remember that Matthew Perry's character on Studio 60 was named "Matt." 

Of course I'm happy The Departed/Marty won. But there were a few genuinely amusing moments during last night's Oscars that had little if anything to do with the films and people nominated. They're the reason the telecast was ohmygod four hours long, but they made me smile.

In particular, there was Will Ferrell and Jack Black on not being Oscar material. In song. 

I also liked the sound effects choir and Tom Hanks making fun of Chris Connelly. What do you think? Any other bright spots in the endless, pointless pageantry?

Also, we saw the suicidal robot ad again, and they changed the ending. Weak, GM. If you're going to have an extremely offensive suicidal robot, don't water it down. Just go for it.

Argh!  I'm cantankerous!

• Brian Austin Green will play the gay character in the new pilot based on Will and Grace creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan.  The premise is basically gay writer and straight writer are friends — have adventures with their gal pals.
• Tawny Cypress (who plays/played Simone on Heroes) talks to TV Guide about getting whacked.  She also says there's more death coming this season.
• 24's Chad Lowe interviews about the show and playing hockey with Jack Bauer. 
• Mary McDonnell interviews about stuff.  I don't know.  I don't know anything about Battlestar Galactica. 
• Amanda Peet had a girl. 
• J. Lo, Bon Jovi, Gwen Stefani, Tony Bennett, Diana Ross and (?) LuLu are going to be on American Idol this season. 
• I guess the Queer Eye guys are all doing their solo projects now.  Thom Filicia is going to have his own show on the Style Network. 
• Bravo's going to start airing Taxicab Confessions.