Please congratulate the winner of the Nip/Tuck Season Four DVD…

EMILY R.!

Emily mentioned that she discovered us during the TiFaux Madness Tournament and stuck around. Thanks, Emily, for not being one of the crazies that the TiFaux Madness seemed to attract. (Sometimes I have nightmares about TiFaux Madness. The horror… the horror…)

Thanks to all who entered. And don’t forget, you can still enter the Veronica Mars DVD giveaway. We’re getting some good fourth season pitches, but the free DVDs can still be yours if you drop us a line with your two-sentence idea at tifaux-at-gmail-dot-com.

The “pie-lette” of Pushing Daisies was as lovely as everyone said it would be: gorgeous, odd, unpredictable, and sweet. It’s the only show in my personal line-up without a strong sense of ironic detachment, which makes it a nice breather from the witty meanness of your Houses and your Reapers and even your deconstructionist Heroes. I’m deeply curious what the second episode will bring, because the pilot did not really try to establish a pattern for future shows — another thing that seems out of fashion nowadays (according to Jane, at least). And to all those worried about an early cancellation — it actually won its time slot last week. Fingers crossed for not too much drop-off.

Dirty Sexy Money, even with that hardboiled veneer of corruption and lies and selfishness that Pushing Daisies mercifully lacks, is still one of my favorite new shows. I heard some complaints about the drop-off in quality of the second episode, but I didn’t see it. The stuff with Brian and his illegitimate son? The depths of Donald Sutherland’s lying to preserve his life? Hiring a replacement for Juliet? There’s a lot of funny and emotionally interesting stuff happening. Check it out.

There’s something appealing about the embracing of trashiness in Gossip Girl, despite the fact that I’m growing to hate Penn Badgley with the fire of a thousand suns. It’s like Dirty Sexy Money Junior.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming: Bionic Woman is dead to me after last week’s uber-boring entry. And just watching Isaiah Washington makes my skin crawl.

The last time I came up to NYC to drink with the TiFaux crew, my trip was centered around a performance by Maria Bamford. A year later, the reason I finally got off my butt to make the trip up north was to see The Most Serene Republic.

The Most Serene Republic is a seven member army of Canadians who make dreamy, dense guitar pop. Their first album, Underwater Cinematographer, grabbed me enough to make it my favorite album of 2005. As wonderful as it was, it was also kind of all over the place. Layers of guitars, electronic beats, turn-on-a-dime mood switches — it was like when I was a little boy and made “stew.” Stew was made up of a little bit over everything in the fridge and pantry (baking chocolate, spicy mustard, milk, curry powder, rice, pepper, bay leaves, yellow mustard). Afterwards, I’d dare the kid down the street to eat it, and he did once. (yes, this is a tangent)

TMSR’s new album, Population, just came out last Tuesday and it is a lot more dramatic than their debut, but also more focused and melodic. It’s more cohesive and less experimental.

Here’s a clip of the band gallivanting about Europe. It makes me want to be young and creative and Canadian and in a band. And in Europe.

The song in the background is called “The Men Who Live Upstairs” and is my favorite track off the album.

It’s so melancholy and twinkly.

Would that be good for my energy level?

• T.R. Knight demands respect in a PSA.
• NBC bought Oxygen for $925 million [corrected].
• Survivor: China is the most-DVRed show.
• Jack Bauer’s headed to the slammer. For real.
• Judd Apatow is pissed at the guy who axed both his shows: Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared.
• Gossip Girl has been picked up for a full season.
• Bradley Cooper and Patton Oswalt are working on a show for HBO.
• A story about the creators of The Real World.
• Are there too many professionals in the new Project Runway?
• Which shows are in trouble?
• AfterElton talks to the Queer Eye guys.
• The dude from Brothers and Sisters, Balthazar Getty, has become a dad for the fourth time. I just think this is weird because I remember him from Young Guns 2.
• Finally, Battlestar fans, take a look at this: