The first Beatles episode was interesting, mainly because Brooke's "Let It Be" had me clapping at the end. I thought it was a magical performance. The second Beatles night... some terrific performaces but a big overdose on the songbook.

My songbook pick for this season: Prince.

And I cringe at the songs they might make them sing as the season progresses. cla$$ic country, the American Songbook, cla$$ic soul, cla$$ic rock, etc. I would make the cutoff date the 80s. No songs older than the 80s! If we must go older keep it to one night of "Singing the cla$$ics!" and let them pick whatever $tyle they like. I want to see them really connect with the songs. I don't want to listen to them like they're running through the motions.

Some of last night's performances were way off but now that I think about it maybe that's fine. Jason was super kooky, and Ramiele worked the white hat. Brooke played the sunny card too heavily though and was boring and Simon was onto it. David Cook played the smug rock star too heavily and was predictable and Simon was onto it. But the judges were way off on some: Chikezie and Michael were far better than given credit, while David was in good voice but didn't really connect but the judges still loved it. The second half of Chikezie's performace was full of life. Michael tackled a tough song and pulled it off for the most part. And I loved Syesha's performance!

I'm busy today and tomorrow putting the finishing touches on TV.com's programming for our holiday break. As you may or may not know all of CNET closes down over Christmas and New Year's Day. We'll all be back Wednesday, January 2nd. I'm headed to Istanbul, Turkey for 10 days so I probably won't be checking in on anything work related. I'll be too distracted by the Aya Sofya, Blue Mosque, and Grand Bazaar, not to mention the food, people... I'm sure I'll watch a little tv though while I'm there.

I'm trying to keep the homepage as fresh looking as I can during that time but you'll probably notice a focus on the Top 20 or 40 shows. In addition to all the great community generated stuff, we have many updated photo galleries that are worth checking out. I'm finding a lot of new pictures that I'd never seen before. I'll also be pointing to a number of your recaps and episode guides. So anyway... Happy Holidays everyone! Thanks for everything you've done to make our site what it is. Here's to 2008!

I love Nip/Tuck and have enjoyed this new season a lot. Their move to L.A. is proving to be such a goldmine for great new material! And now that Julia, Matt, and Kimber are back in the picture.... I love how Julia stuck it to Christian, and then that last scene with Matt and Kimber - !!! And Olivia's daughter looks like she'll be playing this season's villain. She's so creepy!

I don't really have anything against Prison Break but I can't figure out why it still ranks as one of our top shows. It's been #1 again for two days in a row now. The program's not doing that well in the ratings, and plotwise it seems like it's rehashing Season One. Is it just because Wentworth and Dominic are so dreamy and we can't get enough of them? Or is it that our readers just like serial dramas a whole lot?

I've been watching a lot of new shows. I've liked some, not liked others, been lukewarm to a bunch.Life seems pretty cool; I'll definintely keep checking it out. Bionic Woman has potential. The Big Bang Theory will survive because its cast is good and the two leads have recreated Frasier and Niles. Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, and Carpoolers are all so ABC. You know what I mean. Dirty Sexy Money (I mean Big Shots.. thanks archangelcory16 for pointing that out. ABC's new shows all seem the same to me.. ) is Desperate Housewives with dudes. Cavemen could turn out to be a funny comedy - the actors in it are good. Journeyman seemed interesting, first episode. Reaper first episode was funny I thought.

My absolute favorite show right now though is Damages! Haven't missed an episode yet and watch it every Tuesday 10pm sharp. No putting it off until the next night.