TV

If there was any doubt, Tuesday night's final episode, announcing the ninth-season winner of Dancing with the Stars, made it clear: the emphasis is on the last word in the title, not the first.

The once charming, now controversial show Jon and Kate Plus Eight aired its series finale last night. The show followed Jon and Kate Gosselin, their eight children, and eventually, the dissolution of Jon and Kate's marriage.

Did you watch the finale? Were you glad to see the series end or were you hoping for more seasons? Share your thoughts in the comments section!

The opening night of Dancing with the Stars finals showcased three competitor archetypes. There's Mya, the R&B singer. She has lots of dance experience, making her this season's ringer. There's Kelly Osbourne. Zero dance background, but sweet and hard-working, making her this season's success story. And then there's Donny Osmond. Show-biz legend who knows how to play to an audience, making him this season's fan favorite. They all had high and low points during Monday night's three rounds. If this was a dance competition, Mya would be the easy winner. But popularity trumps talent, so figure Donny will be tonight's champion

The American Music Awards drew 14.2 million viewers, the largest audience for the show since 2002. The AMAs stand as the third-highest-rated awards show of the year, behind only the Oscars and the Grammys. (Courtesy thrfeed.com)

I think the ratings are due to the buzz worthy nature of this year's show. Going in, we knew the Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston performances would attract viewers. But after the East and Central viewers saw the crazy Lady Gaga performance, J.Lo fall on her most famous asset, Adam Lambert's outrageous performance and Taylor Swift beat out Michael Jackson for Artist of the Year - you can bet the West viewers tuned in full force.

Did you watch the awards last night? Leave your thoughts in the comments section!

NBC has announced that Chuck will return on Sunday, Jan. 10 with two back-to-back episodes before moving into its regular Monday 7 p.m. time-slot on Jan. 11. Chuck's anticipated third season has been upped to 19 episodes from 13.

ABC confirmed that Lost will kick off its sixth (and final) season with a two hour premiere on Tuesday, Feb. 2 from 8 -10 p.m. (As usual, there will be an hour long recap special that will start at 7 p.m.) The next week, Lost will move into its new time slot: Tuesday at 8 p.m.

(This is very exciting news for me, as a non-Idol watcher who has nothing to watch on Tuesdays except 90210.)

Anyone else pumped for these shows to return?

Last night's episode of The Office was like a Frankenstein's monster, made up of past episodes. Familiar, but funny.

Michael's been invited to be recognized at the bankrupt Dunder Mifflin's annual shareholder's meeting. (This was reminiscent of "Dwight's Speech" from season two.) Astonished at being able to take a limo instead of a town car or van (like in "Business Trip" from season five), Michael invites Andy, Dwight and Oscar along. Michael is shocked to discover that people aren't exactly thrilled with DM, as they protest outside and line up in the meeting to demand answers from the board. Always the showman, Michael promises a plan to get the company back on track, much to the delight of the irate crowd. The board, furious with Michael, sends him away.

Back in Scranton, Jim has trouble proving to the employees that he has as much power as Michael. When Ryan refuses to do even the smallest task, Jim takes action and moves his desk to the broom closet between the bathrooms. (This is similar to when Jim put Dwight's desk in the bathroom in "The Fight" of season two AND when Pam can't get Ryan to make copies in "The Michael Scott Paper Company" from season five.)

Even though its individual parts were all too familiar, the end result was hilarious. The Office still has a gift of producing relevant episodes while still staying true to its characters.

Thursday's episode of Parks and Recreation was another solid entry in a season that has cemented the show as one of the fall's best new comedies. I say "new" because it is drastically funnier than the few episodes presented last season. Parks has really found its footing and that was evident with this episode.

Leslie discovers that the guys are going on their annual hunting trip and demands that the women be allowed to come - except for April, who stays back at the office and bonds with the shoe-shining, piggyback ride-giving Andy.

Leslie's effective attempts at being one of the guys were hysterical. In order to avoid being pantsed, she uses suspenders to connect her bra and jeans. As she goes off with Ron to hunt, she's "ready to discuss college bowl game scenarios." And when Tom accidentally shoots Rom in the back on the head without a license, Leslie takes the fall, resulting in a hilarious montage of explanations she gives the inquiring park ranger.

In short, another funny episode from this up-and-coming comedy.

Once I realized last night's episode of Community was going to be a Senor Chang-heavy episode, I thought we were for sure in for a treat. However, with the exception of one hilarious montage, the episode fell flat and was one of the least enjoyable since the series' pilot.

Senor Chang (Ken Jeong of The Hangover) took his marital troubles out on his Spanish students by assigning mounds of homework, so Jeff tries to reunite him with his wife. Shirley enlisted Pierce to help her with a public speaking assignment. Troy and Abed had to find a rat named Fievel for their science class. As separate plotlines? Not funny. But somehow, put together in a montage set to Troy and Abed singing "Somewhere Out There" (a song my mom used to sing to me as a kid, FYI)... comic genius.

But you can't rely on my love of 1980s animation again, Community. Shape up!

First, the judges whittled the field down from three to two. Shockingly (at least to me), Carol Hannah was the one to go. They loved her "execution and meticulousness," as Heidi said, but that whole lack of a cohesive thread apparently did her in. Boo.
So then it was down to Irina and Althea, and seeing how they didn't exactly rave over Althea's final offering, the suspense was not killing viewers.
After an excruciatingly long and uncomfortable pause, Heidi finally said, "Congratulations...Irina!" Duh. But the shot of her dad crying with pride was unexpected, and very nice.
The take-away message from Irina's victory could be that designers shouldn't be there to make friends, because if you don't make friends you win the whole thing! But maybe we just didn't get to see the softer side of Irina, thanks to clever editing. Hey, anything is possible.

The panel wasn't tipping its hat to any one of the three during the critiques; everybody got some positives and negatives. While Heidi said she'd love to own several of Irina's pieces, for example, Nina Garcia questioned why all the black. (Hear, hear.)
As for Carol Hannah, Nina noted, "You work very well with these fabrics that are very difficult" while guest judge Suzy Menkes (fashion critic for the International Herald Tribune) gave a little shout-out to the skirt I loved, which she called "that upturned pyramid dress." Still, Heidi said she had a "hard time seeing it as a 13-piece collection."
But the harshest words were reserved for Althea. Nina said the last three outfits "were off; perhaps you tried to hit too many notes with your collection." And Michael Kors' praiseworthy comment was a bit forced: "You could buy a piece and add it to your closet and have your own spin on it." Oooh-kay. Whatever that means.

Her pieces are about New York, she told the onlookers. "It's about what it takes to sort of survive in this city as a woman. About being comforting and shielding yourself and just...going at it."
Here's what I saw: shiny black, tall boots, jaunty hats with feathers, a big sweater, ponytails, expertly torn leggings, more silly hats, black, black and more black.
Several former contestants said they liked her show best, so what do I know. (To answer my own question: Nothing whatsoever! Especially when it comes to fashion design!) But based on my eyeballs alone, I'm rooting for Carol Hannah.

Her collection (which was "very near and dear to her heart," as opposed to her soul), was immediately more interesting than Althea's. The first outfit, a short dress with interesting lines, was a winner, as was almost everything else that followed. One of the standouts: the silvery-grey skirt that Tim once worried over, fearing it would be too ice-skater-esque. It wasn't. Carol Hannah designed it to poof out and then in, but somehow in a flattering way. To me, it was a work of art.
As was the dress with hundreds of short panels that fluttered as the model walked. Speaking of walking, though, one woman's dress seemed a bit too tight to carry out that function. Otherwise, everything struck me as light and feathery, in a good way.
Oh, and the makeup? Smokey eyes. But of course.

Announcing that she was about to reveal "a piece of my soul" to the crowd, Althea said her collection was inspired by sci-fi movies from the '50s and '60s. This was evidenced by all of the silky, shiny, skin-tight pants. The collection also contained a jacket with super-duper long sleeves, lots of grey and black, and a final gown that was so long I feared for the model's strutting abilities in it.
Was this piece of Althea's soul enough to wow the judges? I'm thinking not. No offense.

The ladies got up at 3 a.m. on the day of the show to make sure everything was ready for the runway. But with 20 minutes to go, everything was still very much askew. "Designers!" Tim yelled, to which one nonchalantly replied, "Yes?"
"I am about to LOSE IT?" he said, both politely and panicky. (Polanicky.) "We should be lining up right now and we can't because maybe 10 percent of you are dressed!"
The designers seemed surprised by his harried state; apparently they weren't aware of an actual start time to the show.

Irina told Tim she wants her models to have a "almost muddy, dark, dusty eye." Seconds later, Althea revealed that her girls will be sporting "a bit messy, smudged/smokey, like she just slept on it."
Tim seemed surprised tha they both had the same general idea, but I thought this is what every designer says every week when they get into the Loreal makeup room. Everybody wants "smokey." Nobody ever says, "Make her eyes all neat and polished, like she's going for a job interview!"

Poor Carol Hannah; this is no time to be violently ill and sobbing from it. It's just not fair, really. If she ends up winning, it will be a modern-day miracle. Sort of.

In an interview with the L.A. Times this week, Tim Gunn let on that the finalists' fashion shows were "looney kajooney land." I have no idea what that means, but it sounds promising! It's high time this season gave us some looney. Not to mention kajooney.

The Internet is going crazy right now as news spreads that daytime queen Oprah Winfrey is ending her long-running talk show in less than two years.

WABC-New York, The New York Times, the Huffington Post and more all broke the story that Oprah will announce on Friday's show that the last episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show will air on Sept. 9, 2011. Next year will be the show's 25th season.

Deadline Hollywood reported this earlier this month, saying Oprah would move on to work on her new Oprah Winfrey Network. That all makes sense, but then fans will no longer be able to watch Oprah on TV for free over the air.

If anything besides the coming new decade has signaled the end of an era, it's this. My generation literally grew up with Oprah (Donahue who?), and while it's been discussed a little before, I don't see anyone truly capable of taking her place in daytime.

Ellen DeGeneres is awesome, but she's kind of got a full plate now with American Idol and all. And her show isn't more than a talk show like Oprah's, but what do you guys think? Plus, watch a video of what's arguably the most memorable moment in the show's recent years.

File this under the "random" category. TV Guide Network has announced that they'll be "celebrating one of Hollywood's most cherished and timeless film romances of all time, Dirty Dancing, with a 12-hour marathon premiering Friday, Dec. 25 at 12 p.m. ET/PT and running through midnight."

I like Dirty Dancing, too... but on Christmas? I'd rather be watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the animated one, not the horrific live-action abomination) or A Charlie Brown Christmas. I guess they think it might be a brilliant counter-programming strategy, but I know I won't be watching.

DD gets played enough on cable - I feel like it's on some channel at least once a week. I don't need a marathon, especially when there's food to be eaten and naps to be taken. Plus, nobody puts the Grinch in a corner. (Sorry. Had to get one in there.)

Sing along as Anthony Williams and I chat about last night's episode of Glee! "Ballads" saw the rise and fall of Rachel's crush on Will, Quinn get kicked out by her parents once they discover her pregnancy, Puck reveal his baby-daddy status to Mercedes, and Kurt attempt to woo Finn.