May 1, 2008 - Rosenbaum Leaving Smallville, 150th Episode, HIMYM, Big Brother 9 Ends, The WB Lives!!

Is it really already May??!!

Some big Smallville news to start with today. It looks like Michael Rosenbaum will not be returning next season as a regular on Smallville. The CW and Warner Brothers released this statement today: "It has been an honor and pleasure to work with Michael. He is one of the best actors on television and has never failed to bring a new layer to the character of Lex Luthor in every episode. While... we won’t have the pleasure of working with him on a weekly basis this fall, we like to think that we haven’t seen the last of Lex Luthor. Stay tuned." Rosenbaum released this letter today thanking everyone for his seven years on Smallville: Dear Smallville Fans, Well, it's been seven wonderful years. Your support is what has made Smallville so successful, and I appreciate you all more than you know. That being said, it is time for me to start the next chapter of my life and career. I hope that I gave you some enjoyment over the years, and that you found my portrayal of Lex Luthor to be satisfying. I am truly grateful, as Smallville fans are the best fans out there. I sincerely hope that you will continue to follow my career through my hair growth period and beyond. I'm very excited about what the future holds, but certainly, Smallville will always be a part of me. I will definitely miss the greatest crew in the world, and the wonderful cast that has been like a family to me. Thank you Al [Gough] and Miles [Millar] for creating the show. Thank you writers, producers, directors and editors. Thanks Tollin, Robbins and Davola for being there for the pilot. Thank you Peter Roth for employing me for ten years. Lisa Lewis, I miss you already. John Glover, thanks for helping me feel more comfortable touching other actors, while acting. Bizarre, but helpful. Mostly, I want to thank Greg Beeman for directing the "Oh Sherry" video, by Steve Perry, back in the '80s. Thanks crew. Thanks fans. Thanks Smallville. I love you all, Michael Rosenbaum
With Rosenbaum out of the picture as the major villain, there has been talk that Doomsday could be on the way to Smallville. It was pointed out that Doomsday is the only person to ever kill Superman. Definitely a HUGE loss for Smallville as Michael Rosenbaum is an INCREDIBLE actor. The way that he has been able to portray Lex over the years is amazing. I do notice that they keep saying back for the FULL season so I tend to think we'll see him sometime next season. That's just my hoping anyway.

Tonight was the 150th episode of Smallville and I really enjoyed this episode. The episode was a fantasy look at what would have been if Clark hadn't made it to Earth. How would lives be different? Would people be better off without him? Would the world be a much more dangerous place without him? Well, we got those answers and it was fun to follow. What happened? Well, I like the way that the episode started where we saw the good things that happened. Clark ended up at home but confronted by the now current Clark Kent and of course Jonathan is alive not having to deal with heart problems. It's a shame that we didn't get a John Schneider cameo in this episode. Chloe was doing great as she was engaged to be married. Clark was able to track down with what happened to Lana. Lana was married and had two kids but did not live in Smallville anymore. Interesting that Chloe and Lana never became friends obviously as Chloe said that they were in different social circles. Clark was very happy to find out that Lana was doing great. Lois was in charge of the Daily Planet but found herself arrested for having documents belonging to the US government. Who arrested her? That would be Kara who was recently moved into being in charge of the DDS. Lois escapes however from the help of Clark who literally sweeps her off of her feet. I loved the stuff with Clark and Lois tonight where we got to see Lois developing a liking to the man who would be Superman. We find out that Lex is now the President of the United States. Milton is his sidekick and he and Kara have done all that they could to get Lex to the power that he now has. With Clark gone, it was revealed that Lionel had died from protecting Kara's secret and that Lionel had been the one that found her ship. After Clark and Kara paired up in this episode, it was decided to stop Lex who was about to start a nuclear war and he and Milton were set to reform Krypton. Jor-El finally tells Clark that this alternate future had been revealed to get him to stop Brainiac. The showdown with Kara and Clark against Brainiac takes place back in time on an exploding Krypton. Having Clark looking at himself as a baby and then sending himself to Earth was an awesome touch. I loved what happened with Brainiac with the pose that he had when Kara stabbed him from behind. It was VERY reminiscent of James Marsters as Spike on Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Same pose and everything from that finale and I LOVED it. I wondered if they did that to perk up the Buffy fans and it worked with me. So, Brainiac is gone. Well, it sure doesn't look like it with the pain that Kara was in at the end of the episode. Lex revealed to Clark that the problems with Lana are irreversible and wants to know what happened to her before she fell into this state. How great was Clark appearing in the glasses at the press conference? Lois giving him the glasses was a GREAT touch!! Nice cameo by Sheriff Adams in this episode. Hey, did you notice that really nothing changed with Jimmy? He was the only one that stayed the same. LOL. Loved this episode. I've been very happy with this season!!

Tonight's Survivor saw more immunity idol craziness and also had two people going home. James had to leave the game due to his injured finger. He was able to stay at first but the doctor didn't want him to continue due to a fear that the infection could spread. That isn't the only walking wounded though as Alexis was also hurt due to a big fall where she hurt her knee. The reward challenge had the family members of the tribe show up. Alexis won it and was able to bring two others with her on the reward and she chose Cirie and Natalie. She also had to pick on who to send to exile island which had a immunity idol hidden again. Amanda volunteered and Alexis picked her. There was no doubt what Amanda's intention was and that was to find the idol. Amanda did find the clues and figured out that the idol was hidden at camp. The immunity challenge had Erik winning. Amanda went around to the tribe to get the news on whether she would be voted out tonight. They were honest with her but disappointed that they had to vote her out cause she was too tough of a threat. After talking to the tribe, she found the hidden immunity idol and played it at tribal council. The votes were of course for her to go and the next person with the most votes was Alexis who was sent out of the game. Wow. The look on everyone's face was great when she pulled that idol out. The jury was loving it!! I was too. Finally, the idol gets played. About time!! Looking over the list of who is left, I think I'm probably pulling for Amanda to win this thing. Other thoughts on the show tonight. That was very funny when Erik pointed out Jeff Probst to his brother and was all excited. Jeff then said "Erik, you're a freak". LOL. I'm disappointed to see James have to leave the game. It's always a bummer to see someone have to leave without being voted out. The lookalikes that they were hitting in the reward challenge was a fun touch to the competition and it got kind of vicious. Interesting that on the question of "who thinks that they're in control of this game?" that the majority was Parvati. She probably needs to watch her back cause she may be next to go. We also had the first jury member ever to bring an IV with them to tribal council. LOL. Never seen that before. Glad that James is doing good. So, we're down to Erik against all the girls. Should be interesting.

Big Brother 9 concluded this past Sunday night. No Big Brother withdrawal from me this season for the first time ever as I am thrilled that this season is over. The finale had the final two of Ryan vs. Adam for the winner of Big Brother 9. Let's recap from the beginning of the episode. The jury got their final member as Sheila joined the gang. All of them discussed their thoughts on the final two. It was about like you would expect. Some liked the game play, some were still bitter, and others were in between. The jury got to question the final two and that is usually heated. Some definite hard feelings in the questions. I liked that Sharon called out Ryan on being in on getting her out of the house. Chelsia definitely let her feelings be known on what she thought of Ryan getting the money. Some were pretty calm in their questions while others were ready to vent. The votes didn't go as I expected. I really thought Ryan had it won but I think his jury answers hurt him. The votes were 6-1 in favor of Adam to win. The votes for Adam to win were from James, Chelsia, Sharon, Sheila, Matt, and Natalie. The lone vote for Ryan to win came from Josh. So, Adam wins. My first thought was that I pondered if he was the worst Big Brother winner ever. My answer has got to be yes. I'm sure some will say others but that is my opinion anyway. I just didn't see much game play out of him and he panicked over everything. The topping on it was his out of nowhere plea to Sharon for a deal last week. It just came out of desperation. The jury was reunited with the previous evicted houseguests and we got the usual rush of questions. It's a shame that this portion of the finale is this rushed every season. I want to hear what the cast has to say about things that have happened and let the ones out of the house inform the jury and final two of things that don't know anything about. Jen and Allison still don't like each other. No surprise there. Natalie definitely got a big tease on what she is going to have to expect when she sees the show of Matt's stuff. The whole place reacted when they realized where Julie Chen was going with that question. Big Brother let the fans vote on their favorite juror to win $20,000. The vote was held throughout the finale and the result was not going to be surprising. I knew immediately that James would win that. I was surprised to see Sheila finish in second place though. So, that wraps up this season of Big Brother. Congrats to the show on finding some way to top season four as my least liked season EVER. I only liked one houseguest. I just thought this season was lousy and just classless most of the way. I know Big Brother isn't exactly the most classy show obviously but this season went way beyond it. Big Brother 10 begins on July 13th and I am just really hoping for the next season to be nothing like the one that just ended.

Excellent episode of How I Met Your Mother this week. Really enjoyed the possibilities of the stories that they set up this week which all based off of the ending of last week's episode. Barney and Robin slept together. How would the group react? Well, they didn't plan on telling anyone but guilt got the best of them. Barney told Marshall who of course told Lilly. Robin ended up telling Ted cause she felt guilty. On Ted's 30th birthday, Barney had an idea of taking Ted to Vegas to hang out and try to get him in a great mood before he had to break the news on breaking the "bro code". When told the news, Ted played it off at first that he was fine with it. However, he was anything but fine with it and proceeded to yell at Barney about it. Funny moment with Barney telling him that he could hit him anywhere as payback, well, except in the face. So, Ted proceeds to hit him in the groin. LOL. Barney was shocked and hurt obviously saying that no one ever does that. The episode ended with Ted saying that his friendship with Barney was over. A little news info at the end with future Ted talking about the goat story but revealing that Robin wasn't living there on his 30th birthday saying that it was instead on his 31st birthday. Unless I misread the whole thing, it sounds like Robin will be living with Ted one year from now.

Speaking of How I Met Your Mother, I watched some of season one this week which included one of my favorite episodes consisting of Barney hanging out at airports trying to hit on women. He ends up being flagged by airport security cause he keeps leaving bags around the airport as part of his plan with the women. Funny stuff.

I loved this week's episode of The Big Bang Theory which had Leonard pay $800 on an auction for the time machine from the movie, The Time Machine. This was a lot of fun and again we got the possibility of a bonding between Leonard and Penny ripped right from us. LOL. We had the kiss on the cheek at the end and then Penny's guy walks in. Lots of laughs in this episode.

After this week's American Idol, we're down to the final four. As the final five contestants walked out on the stage on Tuesday night, I just had this disappointment as a viewer. So many of my favorites had been eliminated including Carly last week. The contestants had to sing Neil Diamond songs this week and he participated in helping the contestants with their performances. I really wanted to like Brooke White's version of "I'm A Believer" cause I am such a huge Monkees fan but I just couldn't get into it. I really think that Syesha was great this week. She's really starting to get rolling here at the end. I liked David Cook's performances this week as well. The bottom two was Brooke White and Syesha Mercado. Going home this week was Brooke White. Brooke has brought a unique style to the show and it's a shame to see her go. At this point, I'm pulling for either Syesha Mercado or David Cook to win. Simon getting the question last night on the results show from a woman that he kissed when he was nine years old was very funny. She asked whether their kiss was better or whether the kiss with him and Paula was better.

No shortage on news of casting on the new Beverly Hills 90210 spinoff this week. First, there was talk that Hilary Duff was going to be on the show and then she decided to turn down the role. Instead, Shenae Grimes (of Degrassi: The Next Generation) has been picked for the role of Annie Mills in what will be like the Brenda Walsh character. The mother of Annie has been cast as well with Lori Loughlin taking the role. We're not done though. Annie's best friend, Silver, has also been cast as the role has went to Jessica Stroup. She was recently appearing on Reaper on The CW. This show is really loading up.

Britney Spears will indeed be returning to How I Met Your Mother this season.

This isn't going to be good news for everyone that is still annoyed with the last strike. Things are not going well so far with the SAG negotiations. Those contracts are up on June 30th. Let's hope that we don't end up with yet ANOTHER strike.

Movie box office numbers for last weekend. 1. Baby Mama - $17.4 million. 2. Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay - $14.9 million. 3. The Forbidden Kingdom - $11.2 million. 4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - $11 million. 5. Nim's Island - $4.54 million. 6. Prom Night - $4.50 million. 7. 21 - $4.0 million. 8. 88 Minutes - $3.5 million. 9. Horton Hears A Who - $2.4 million. 10. Deception - $2.3 million.

Warner Brothers Television officially made the statement that has been talked about for a few months now. They will be launching TheWB.com in August which will include streaming episodes of WB shows and also streaming new content as well. Not all of the shows that are streaming will just be exclusive WB network shows as other Warner Brothers show will be appearing as well. They have this listed as their mission statement of the website including telling shows that will be available: TheWB.com's mission is to allow you to find and enjoy iconic, dramatic video content when, where and how you want it. Whether it's the shows you know or the new ones that we'll introduce you to, TheWB.com is the premiere entertainment destination targeted to adults 18-34. You will be able to watch full-length episodes of TV shows such as The OC, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Smallville, Friends, All of Us and Veronica Mars, but in an entirely new way by combining it with the latest technology for video mash-ups, synched viewing parties, chat, search, quizzes and games. TheWB.com also offers a line-up of original series, never seen before and made exclusively for the web from some of the top producers in Hollywood. TheWB.com is free and ad-supported--available anytime in the U.S.
I have been excited about this for months since word got out. I loved watching The WB and having it back in some form will be great. The more that I watch or don't watch of The CW, the more that I miss The WB. I'll keep you updated of any new info.

Being a Rock fan, I had to check out The Game Plan. This was a movie that I have been wanting to see for a while but just got around to seeing it. I don't know if I ever really get caught up with seeing movies that I am wanting to see. The Game Plan stars The Rock as football superstar, Jim Kingston. Kingston is living the single life and living it to the max. All of that changes when he finds out he has a daughter. A little girl shows up at his door telling him that she is his daughter. Kingston now has to change his lifestyle to now deal with the little girl in his life. The movie is very predictable but is a lot of fun. Disney definitely has a star on their hand with The Rock and I hope to see them team up for a lot of movies in the future. I'd definitely recommend this movie as it is a lot of laughs.

I do this every so often so I thought I'd share my five favorite songs that I am liking right now in no particular order.
Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown - No Air
Duffy - Mercy
Gavin DeGraw - In Love With A Girl
3 Doors Down - It's Not My Time
David Gray - Babylon

I'm happy to see Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa get nominated for best talk show hosts once again for the Daytime Emmy Awards. I watch them every morning and they always get my mornings off to a good start.

If you're a fan of Iron Chef Japan, I got an email today on information about the show returning from hiatus. The show will begin airing every night at 10pm central time beginning on May 5th on Fine Living Network. For more info on the show, head to:
http://www.fineliving.com/fine/iron_chef_japan/0,3182,FINE_31256,00.html
Here is a link to catch some clips of the show over at You Tube:
http://youtube.com/user/FineLivingVideos

TV on DVD releases for Tuesday, May 6th. The 4400 (Season Four), Bewitched (Season Six), Crossing Jordan (Season One), That Girl (Season One - Volume One).

You Tube Video Of The Week: This is a great music video tribute for the Clark and Chloe fans of Smallville. Amazing editing work with this video. I'm a Clark/Chloe fan so I loved it.

Wishing everyone a great and safe weekend!! Take care and God bless!!