• According to one poll, Hugh Laurie and Pushing Daisies’ Anna Friel are the Brits with the best American accents on TV. BuzzSugar wants to know who else does a good American accent. (BuzzSugar)
• Marcia and Fergus liveblogged Eurovision, the only music contest to feature Olympic ice skaters, knitting brides and pirates. Take that, American Idol. (Pop Vultures)
• Who’s the most overrated couple on television today? Meredith/Derek or Henry/Betty? You tell us. (RTVW Online)
• Scooter takes a look back at the fourth season of Lost and concludes it was better than the last two. (Scooter McGavin’s 9th Green)
• LOST. SO. AMAZING! (Vance is still gasping for air) (Tapeworthy)
• The highlight of Jace’s week? The jaw-dropping and brilliant season ender of Lost. The low point? Watching the pilot for the brutally awful US adaptation of Spaced. (Televisionary)
• The same-sex escapades continued on Work Out and our resident lesbians answered viewer questions about Jackie Warner’s taskmaster tendencies as well as the shameless hot tub scenes with Renessa and Greg. (TiFaux)
• Ashley picked her jaw off the floor long enough to reflect on the Lost finale and the season-ending shocker. (Tube Talk)
• The TV Addict offered up some summer viewing alternatives to help you get through the dark days of rerun/reality TV hell. [The TV Addict]
• Kate picked the top five summer shows she’s looking forward to this summer - and Wipeout wasn’t one of them, thank you very much. (TV Filter)

Hurley + baby = the cutest ever

Lost concludes its season tomorrow night, ending a pretty darn good season. It’s surprising, really, that the show would begin this upward trajectory at this point in the game when any series, much less a serialized one, would begin to seem a little long in the tooth.

Like any Lost finale, we know that big things are a-coming. It was just last year that my beloved Charlie kicked the bucket. And, as Daniel Dae-Kim says in this somewhat revealing LA Times article, there “will be casualties.”

For the record, my money is on at least one of the “rescue team.” Probably Red-Headed British Archaeologist Babe (so help me God, I can never remember character names) because the Lost team kind of has a thing for killing off its female cast members disproportionately. And, if they’re going to kill of a regular, I’m seriously going to go with Juliet. I’ve read that this finale will be a tear-jerker and I think killing Juliet would get the waterworks going. After all, in a series all about redemption arcs, Juliet has come full circle from being an Other to being a Valued Team Member of Oceanic 815. And it would also make Jack’s choice to go ahead and marry Kate a little less muddled.

Or, it could be Sawyer. But we’ll see. I’m basically just trying to list every character so I can say ‘I told you so’ on Friday morning.

Regardless, the Times article indicates that there will be another “game-changer” that will affect the way you watch future episodes. What could that be?

A few guesses:

• An original Oceanic survivor will have been an employee of Charles Widmore all along.
• Locke successfully moves the island, but at a price/with unexpected consequences.
• Castaways hijack the boat and set off into uncharted waters.
• Something with time travel that won’t make sense.

I’ve got my fingers crossed that Locke will die and Jin will survive, but I’m guessing both of those are long shots. Anybody else have some predictions?

Let’s revisit the old (olde?) TiFaux favorite Who Would Win in a Fight, shall we?

Now that I’m all caught up on Battlestar Galactica, I feel qualified to weigh in on its cast of characters — including everyone’s favorite accent-masking dreamboat Jamie Bamber as Lee “Apollo” Adama. Pit him against Josh Holloway’s twangy, nick-naming Sawyer and I think you’ve got a fairly even match — two pretty boy tough guys who are pretty and tough in completely different ways.

Let’s break it down.

Apollo

Strengths:

• Seasoned war veteran
• Tough boxer, as evidenced in that one boring episode in season three
• Big ole’ arms

Weaknesses:

• Easily exploitable emotional weak spots
• Not necessarily as formidable when he’s not in a plane
• Definitely the prettier of the pretty boys

Sawyer

Strengths:

• Scary stubble and tangled tresses
• Bad temper results in a lot of bold actions
• Vendetta against the world

Weaknesses:

• Needs glasses
• All talk, for the most part
• Undisciplined; general misanthropy doesn’t always translate to fighting prowess

Here lies Danielle Rousseau.

Like all the best French things, she was strange, mysterious and, most likely, smelly. Last week’s episode found her joining Mr. Eko’s “Well I Guess That Character Is Dead Now Club” of Lost folks who have experienced untimely and unceremonious demises.

Did anyone else feel like this was an unsatisfying end for a reasonably interesting character?  Especially since she’s been around since (pretty much) the beginning. I suppose half the point of killing her off so suddenly was the fact that it caught us all off guard, but for someone who’s been around so long I think I would have liked a little bit more hullabaloo.  When they killed Charlie, it was a whole half-season long arc and a final excruciating drowning scene. And Ana Lucia and Libby’s deaths were a hundred times more shocking because we never thought they were in danger to begin with.

In any case, Danielle.  We’ll miss you.  Your dirty hair. Your strange disappearances and resurfacings. Your mannish posture.

Au revoir.

Awww… it’s just like old times.  Want to bitch about Studio 60?

• Michelle Trachtenberg is joining the cast of Gossip Girl.
• Mr. Show’s Bob Odenkirk and David Cross are reuniting on a project called “David’s Situation.”
• In case anyone was wondering, The Bionic Woman is officially kaput.
• Things look good for a second season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
• A talk with Lost’s creator about last night’s episode.
• Michael from Lost talks to TV Guide.
• I can’t tell if this Lost/Battlestar Galactica comparison is annoying or profound.
• Rainn Wilson talks about Office spin-offs.
• Sock from Reaper talks to E! I have completely forgotten about that show.
• Looks like a few people actually posted the Spike graphic!  Take a look at Amuse Biatch, Wannabe Foodie and Cliffieland.

• Jezebel James did poorly, and rightfully so.
• The reviews are in: Rachael Rays SXSW party was decent, featured Raveonettes
• Joss Whedon decides not to direct an episode of Battlestar Galactica
• Mayor Bloomberg makes an appearance on 30 Rock
• Did Tim Kring of Heroes plagarize himself?
• Punky Brewster has a second kid and will be starring with Janine Garafolo in a gay nuptials comedy.
• Variety reviews Miss Guided, says it just OK
• Lost conspiracy theories - more than you want to know?
• Eddie Izzard talks about the Riches as well as being a non-cross dressing transvestite

• USA Today interviews the winner of Project Runway
• Friday Night Lights is almost saved
• The Office returns to work today!
• E! Kristin reminds us why 30 Rock rocks
• TV guide offers up spoilers on Grey’s, House, Lost, Terminator and more
• New show not to watch? FX’s Dirt
• There’s a story behind The Wire’s use of sheeeeeeet
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia gets renewed for a 4th season
• Rachel Ray is a hipster! Is that perky attitude just elaborate irony?
• Project Runway execs offer 8 simple rules of reality TV
• All of Sawyer’s nicknames in 6 minutes
• CBS unveils its Thursday plans, show about swinging couples in the 70s included
• CW announced some of their shows as well
• NBC announced it’s summer plans, mostly more American Gladiators and Last Comic Standing

Holy crap is Lost great this season! Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never been one of those “Lost got so boring” people. It had its share of filler episodes in the 2nd and 3rd seasons, but there was always something great to keep us going, like the spectacular season finales. Last season’s gradual realization that the “flashback” was really the future was one of the best TV show ideas in recent memory. Changing the time structure of the show and turning events on the island into flashbacks has really juiced things up. Now we know that something really bad is going down, and we know that 6 people get off the island. But of course, rather than settling things this just raises more questions. We know Jack, Hurley, Kate, and Sayid make up four of the six, but who are the other two? What the hell is Ben up to, and what was he up to in the past? Ben just keeps getting more and more interesting. It’s amazing to think that he was originally supposed to be a three-episode minor character. Big changes like that make it hard to believe the writers have had a master plan all along, but it makes me glad that they can adapt when the opportunity presents itself.

We don’t have many episodes left in this extra-abbreviated season, so I don’t expect to get any wheel-spinning. I expect nothing but forward momentum, and some real revelations. Maybe even about the smoke monster. But I’m not holding my breath.

• ABC gets fined for showing some ass like 5 years ago
• How legit is Lost’s satellite phone? Experts weigh in
• Come on in! I made some iced tea! An interview with the actress from To Catch a Predator. The laundry basket and swivel chairs in the kitchen declined to comment.
• WTF! Idol expands the already dragged out portion of the show, bumping the new series by Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino to a crappier timeslot
• Spoiler: Seems like everyone agrees who the winner of Project Runway will be
• Everyone’s shameful 90s obsessions are making a comeback: Saturday Night Live, Brian Austin Green, and Rita Rudner (OK, nobody obsessed over her but lets play pretend)
• Writer’s strike forcing people to yuk it up on teh internetz lol

Let’s finally talk Lost, shall we?

We’re two episodes into the new season and I think it’s going pretty well. The flash-forward trick is exactly what the show needed — after all, how many more “I hate my dad” Jack flashbacks could we bear? His were always the worst, am I right?

I have to admit, the “rescue party” is nothing like I expected it to be. I thought they would be much more malevolent — perhaps Dharma Initiative operatives sent to destroy anyone who would mess with their polar bear experiments. Who knows? In any case, seems like they just want to know what we all want to know — what exactly is Ben up to?

And I really like that they’re constantly kicking the snot out of Ben. I’m a sick bastard.

Guess what? Here are some list-y things about the new Lost cast members, including information you already know and my terse, knee jerk reactions.

Miles
AKA: The tempermental ghost buster (of course, with a soft center)
Played by: Ken Leung
You know him from: Uncle Junior’s sociopathic friend in the mental ward on The Sopranos
Interesting-ness (scale of one to ten): Eight. Miles has an interesting backstory, plus he seems to be the most motivated person on the island to do whatever they have to do.

Charlotte
AKA: Saucy English archaeologist (seemingly a celluloid staple)
Played by: Rebecca Mader
You know her from: Probably nothing, but she has been on Private Practice and she was in The Devil Wears Prada
Interesting-ness (scale of one to ten): Four. So far, Charlotte seems to be a purely functional character — “the archaeologist.” Call me when she gains the power of flight or something.

Lapidus
AKA: Barnacle Bill, the bearded pilot
Played by: Jeff Fahey
You know him from: Any number of awful-sounding thriller movies/TV shows. He was in Stephen King’s The Lawnmower Man (the one where the simple handyman turns into a diabolical genius/human computer). You might recognize him when he looks like this.
Interesting-ness (scale of one to ten): Six. He probably would have been five, but he’s got a great beard.

Faraday
AKA: The hyper-sensitive physicist
Played by: Jeremy Davies
You know him from: Saving Private Ryan, Secretary (the Maggie Gyllenhaal one)
Interesting-ness (scale of one to ten): Seven. The nervous line-readings and his general antsiness make me wonder what kind of basketcase he is.