An Update on the Frenzy That Is November Sweeps

Happy Thanksgiving, all! As always, I am incredibly thankful for my television shows and how they continue to bring such great joy to my life. Everything has started to wind down as the end of November draws near. Sweeps have been going on for the past few weeks, which has meant more pivotal storylines, and now the shows are in the process of airing their last episodes until January- the month which will signal not only the return of all of these Fall shows, but also the premieres of Season 5 of LOST, Season 4.5 of Battlestar Galactica, Season 7 of 24 (I remain hopeful for the upcoming season, especially based on this exciting promo, but Jack Bauer could be decidedly less badass after the disaster that was Season 6), and Season 1 of Dollhouse.

Friday Night Lights concluded with Episode 8, "New York, New York," in which Riggins took Jason Street to New York so that he could try to find a job as a sports agent and reunite with his son and girlfriend. Knowing that his "6," his best friend in the world, was leaving Dillon for a new life brought tears to Tim's eyes, which brought tears to mine. Jason's last words to him: "Texas forever." The same words Tim said to him back in Season 1, Episode 1, back when all that mattered was football. Things have changed so much, bringing us to these young men- one of whom has become a fully functioning paralytic with a baby boy and woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and the other of whom who is in his first mature relationship with a girl he loves and has colleges trying to recruit him. I am very much looking forward to seeing what the future holds for the Panthers

when FNL comes back in January.

Also finished is Bones, which ended on a not-very-spectacular note, with the episode, "The Bone That Blew." Even though the murder case was unremarkable, it was nice to see Ryan O'Neal again, who Dr. Saroyan hired to be a

science teacher for kids at the Jeffersonian. Bones came up with many reasons why she wanted him to be fired (which Sweets tried to psycho-analyze, of course), but when it came down to it, she said he could stay because she could see how much it mattered to Booth that Parker have smart people around him who could inspire him to learn things.

Heroes has had a run of very good episodes. We've had glimpses into the past, especially the Petrelli family. Sylar has quickly become the coolest character. He and Elle make for a fun team to watch. Hiro and Ando are using the wisdom of comic books to help them on their quest. Peter and Nathan have gone off to find the Haitian, who might be the only person with the power to stop Arthur Petrelli from taking over the world with the power serum that he has acquired. Except the eclipse has taken everyone's powers away, which has had the greatest effect on Claire, who was shot by Elle and is feeling pain that she never thought she would have again. So you know HRG is out for revenge on Sylar and his electric lady friend.

Chuck has been causing me no small amount of anxiety over my favorite geek and the return of his former girlfriend, Jill (played by Jordana Brewster). How quickly he forgot about his love for Sarah! But, of course, Jill turned out to be evil, Chuck realized that his trust was misplaced, and now things are back to fake-relationship normal. Next week, we meet Captain Awesome's parents, and I recently discovered that his father is played by Bruce Boxleitner! Lee Stetson, formerly of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, my first tv love.

Desperate Housewives went with their token, seasonal disaster. A fire, oh no! The only thing valuable that we learned from that was that Dave Williams' plan involves Mike. Revenge about something related to his time in prison, perhaps. Susan is back with Jackson, which I'm really curious about because of the aforementioned Gale Harold accident. Katherine is sleeping with Mike, which I think is lame because, as Bree perfectly put it, women don't do that to each other. Gaby has been dealing with a rich old lady who wants to control the Solis family with her money. I saw a preview in which a doctor told Carlos that his sight may be restored and Gaby doesn't want him to open his eyes and see her diminished attractiveness, which I am very intrigued to see.

Dexter rocked my world with this past episode. I thought I had pegged Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits), and then I had the rug pulled out from under me. Dexter feels very betrayed, which cannot end well for the instigator of that betrayal... The wedding is fast approaching. Deb has been working tirelessly on the Skinner case was driven to solve it out of desperation when her new boyfriend, Anton, was taken and about to be killed. Do I see a shield coming her way? Harry has become incorporated into the story in a new way- Dexter no longer remembers the lessons of his father in flashback form, he envisions him in fantasy form as a sounding board for ideas in his head.

The Office. Pam is back so she and Jim can have happy in-love moments again. That's the only thing important to mention.

Grey's Anatomy has understandably been weirding people out with its Izzie-Denny love story. I am slightly ashamed to say that I have enjoyed it, but I admit that I'll take Jeffrey Dean Morgan in whatever way I can get him. There was some drama with the interns performing surgeries on each other to learn the procedures. Cristina and Dr. Hunt are slowly but sweetly being drawn together.

And, finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to honor Pushing Daisies, which is definitely at an end. Such a beautiful, heartfelt little show that presented love in a unique way that will never be replicated. I will miss the Private Investigator and Digby and adorable Olive Snook, but most of all I will miss the Piemaker and the way he loved the girl named Chuck. I hear the 13th and final episode concludes with frustrating ambiguity, but thanks to showrunner Bryan Fuller, we have the reassurance of satisfaction with a possible comic book series and feature film.

I'm not quite sure what my next tv plans are. Obviously I'll watch the last episodes of everything before the December break kicks in fully. I'm sure I will watch 1 or 2 new shows. Most likely The Wire and something else. My sister is pushing me to watch True Blood, but I don't know if I can resist comparing it to my already beloved vampire show. We'll see. 'Tis the season, for enjoying new television shows and all sorts of wonderful things.