Malinda Lo's blog

Yes, folks, the time has come: Welcome to the last episode of The Lo-Down (before we go on indefinite hiatus). Sarah Pecora and I have really enjoyed sitting on the couch and talking to you all for the past year. We thought about going out with a star-studded musical episode, but unfortunately due to budget constraints you'll have to settle for our reminiscing over a bottle of champagne.

We also take a trip to San Francisco's women-owned and operated Black and Blue Tattoo, where Sarah is in the process of having her latest tattoo done by the fabulous Anne Williams.

So sit back, relax and enjoy our vlog! And if you miss us in the future, you can always watch previous episodes of The Lo-Down or drop by my website and say hi. We will miss you, and thanks for being the Best. Vlog. Viewers. Ever!

Author Sarah Waters' second novel, Affinity, which involves women in prison, spirits (as in the dead kind) and an ingenious mystery, has been adapted into a TV movie that just had its American television premiere on Logo, AfterEllen.com's parent company, and that movie is now available on DVD. Back in June, when the movie screened at Frameline in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to sit down with Sarah Waters in person. I toted along my trusty camcorder and videotaped our conversation for you to see. (That means don't expect anything too flashy! This is a straight-up interview, vlog-style.)

We talked about the movie version of Affinity, whether she feels pressure to write happy lesbian stories, and what she likes to watch on TV in her spare time. She also gave us a sneak preview of her next book, which she is currently writing. Meanwhile, you can read through lots of our previous coverage of Sarah Waters right here.

This week Sarah Pecora and I deliver a somewhat random Lo-Down, encompassing a whole range of Crock P.O.C. topics including whether chicks who ride motorcycles are by definition hotter than those who don't ride motorcycles, to what you should say when people ask, "What does your tattoo mean?"

Then we turned our attention to the hot topic of ... sports! Yes, it's true, neither Sarah P. nor I are particularly big sports fans, but given my fascination with the Olympics and the fact that we recently attended a sporting event together, we I thought this was a great subject for us to discuss. Plus it gave us a chance to drool over the deliciously tattooed Natasha Kai, the only out soccer player on the U.S. national team and a woman of color.

Speaking of tattoos, we were originally going to include video of Sarah P. getting her latest tattoo, but you're just going to get a sneak peek this time, because she's not quite done with the process (yes, it requires multiple sittings). Hopefully next time we'll have more to show you!

Last week on the last day of the TCA press tour, I joined a lucky batch of weary TV critics for a tour of the set of Joss Whedon's new show, Dollhouse. This was, hands down, the coolest part of my entire TCA trip — stepping onto a set is like getting an opportunity to actually enter a fictional world, which is always a trip. And the set of Dollhouse is, in a word, incredible.

The cast of Dollhouse in the dollhouse

Although Fox hasn't released any photos from the set itself, I put together this little tour of the set tour using images from the Dollhouse trailer that was released earlier this year. As you may have heard, Joss Whedon has decided to re-shoot the pilot (more about that further down), but I can't imagine that the impressive (and potentially expensive) set is going to change much. Without further ado, here we go!

When we arrived at the first of two sound stages on the Fox lot in Los Angeles, the interior was dominated by a huge, elevated room that we accessed by going up some stairs. Usually sets are built on the floor level, but this set — which is the office of Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams), the manager of the "Dollhouse" — is elevated so that they can shoot a floor-to-ceiling skyline through the windows. The dollhouse itself, which is a sort of dormitory/office complex for the "actives" — including Eliza Dushku's Echo — is all underground, and Adelle's office is the only part of it that is above the ground.

The office, like the rest of the set, has a vaguely Asian type of design style, with dark reddish woods and smooth, sleek lines. "What we were going for was ultimately sort of the perfect spa, but with just a hint of something a little bit darker, a little more corporate," Joss explained. The set was designed by Stuart Blatt, who was also the production designer on Angel.

Interestingly, Adelle's desk is facing away from the door and toward the windows, so that her back is to the door. "I didn't want to do the standard, come-before-me- and-my-desk thing," Joss said. "I found it interesting that she would be the kind of person who wanted to look at the world rather than into her own space. Also, it means that if you enter the room, she doesn't have to look at you, which is a power play."

Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) at her desk

But though you can see Adelle's computer screen when you enter her office, you cannot see the widescreen monitor in a niche to the left of her desk, on which she can observe everyone in the dollhouse. "Adelle is — she's not ruthless; she's ruth-deficient," Whedon quipped about the character. "She could use a little more ruth. She's pretty tough, but luckily she's British, so … somehow everything she says is nice."

On this week's episode of The Lo-Down I welcome a special guest co-host: Dara Nai, the fabulous writer behind "bad machine" as well as star vlogger from We're Getting Nowhere (not to mention Hottie No. 93). We shot this episode live from the Beverly Hilton, where I spent what felt like 10 years covering the 2008 Television Critics Association press tour.

I like to call this special episode the "All-Asian Episode," since I interviewed Dara (sort of) about what it's like to be a hot Asian lesbian. We also talked about the celebrities we encountered during TCA (yes, they really look that good), the strange swag the networks were handing out, and why stalking is a part of my job.

Next time Sarah Pecora and I will be back with another special Lo-Down that I'll call "The Tattoo Episode," since we record Sarah getting her newest tattoo. We will also take your questions, so keep on sending in your Crock P.O.C. topics!

Saturday night the 24th annual TCA Awards were presented at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., and I was lucky enough to find a seat in the back row (OK, that's probably because I spent too long trying to figure out what to order at the bar.) Guess who else was in attendance?

AfterEllen.com Hottie No. 1, Tina Fey.

Fey at the TCA Awards on July 19, 2008

Photo credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Knowing that AfterEllen.com readers would never forgive me if I didn't attempt to make contact with Ms. Fey somehow, I got there early and kept a lookout, foregoing many of the tempting hors d'oeuvres available (although I did quickly eat a bunch of dim sum) so that my mouth wouldn't be full if I had the chance to shout out "Tina! Over here!"

It seems that my Tina Fey Sensors were on High Alert, because while I was talking to my compatriot Michael Jensen, the editor of AfterElton.com, I spotted Tina out of the corner of my eye. I dropped the conversation in mid-sentence and zoomed over to her, rudely interrupting her conversation with whomever she was talking to and said, "Hi, I'm from AfterEllen! We'd love to talk with you sometime!"

I think Tina might have been a bit startled, but she did say "Thank you for all your support," and she shook my hand. Yes, folks, I shook the hand that wrote the script that brought Liz Lemon into life.

It's been a few days since my last TCA Diary, so I've got a lot to get through. In the interests of brevity (and so that you don't also feel like you've been trapped at this press conference as long as I have!) I'm only going to give you the highlights. They are: Lucy Liu, Lauren Lee Smith, Elizabeth Reaser, Toni Collette.

Although Cashmere Mafia has bitten the dust, Lucy Liu hasn't entirely gotten the shaft. "I got a call from Steve McPherson [ABC's entertainment president] saying that Cashmere Mafia was most likely not going to come back and that he still wanted to work with me and keep me in the family," she said. "And I told him that I was a huge fan of Dirty Sexy Money."

Liu then sat down with Dirty Sexy Money's producers and brainstormed about her character, who was created to fit in with some of the story lines the producers had been discussing. She'll be playing Nola Lyons, described in ABC's press materials as "whip-smart, overachieving and very fashionable." When asked whether her character will be romantically paired with anyone, Liu answered: "I hope so. I think I'll be romantically paired maybe with all — everyone that's up here, including the women."

Lucy Liu

Photo credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

We always appreciate a shout-out, Lucy.

In other news, former soup chef Lauren Lee Smith has traded in her apron for a microscope (and various other scientific instruments) as the newest crime scene investigator on CSI. CBS' president of entertainment, Nina Tassler, said that "this new character is also going to give to the other supporting characters and Marg [Helgenberger] an opportunity to sort of show parts of their character, show parts of their personality, that the audiences perhaps haven't seen ever before or at least in a while."

This afternoon at the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles, Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt announced that L Word creator Ilene Chaiken is currently developing a spinoff to the series, which will air its sixth and final season in early 2009.

Greenblatt said that shooting will begin on the spinoff directly after production wraps on Season 6, and it will star one of the actors from The L Word in a crossover.

Greenblatt also announced that Chaiken has decided that the end of Season 6 will include an open-ended component that will be carried onto the internet. If Showtime moves forward with the spinoff, that online story will segue into the new television series. The spinoff has not yet been titled.

Yesterday was my third day at TCA, but it felt like I'd been here for five years already. Small example: I don't drink coffee in the mornings; I drink tea. Well, this morning, I started drinking coffee. But never mind that; you want the news, right? Here's the short version: ABC is so gay and multicultural I feel like I walked into a parallel universe after the first two days of Fox.

Wednesday started off with a press conference with ABC's President of Entertainment, Steven McPherson. He was soon asked why they chose to renew some shows and not others, and he said, "There were certain shows that, you know, we didn't bring back that performed OK. It really, to us, is based on creative upside. Did we believe in the show runners? Did we believe in the shows? What was the performance? How did we think the audience was responding?"

Of course this got me thinking: Is he talking about Cashmere Mafia?

After the press conference I asked him that very question, and here's what he had to say — it's quite revealing:

Steven McPherson: Cashmere Mafia honestly was a decision that creatively we were disappointed in the execution. It did OK ratings-wise, but it never really to me fully realized its opportunity. I think there was never quite the insight about those kind of women and their lives and what it would be. It felt like it was kind of an outsider looking in at what that might be like, and I felt like Sex and the City was really such a very real, honest look at that, in an insightful way, and I just felt like we never got there with Cashmere Mafia.

So it sounds like ABC's head honchos just didn't wind up liking Cashmere Mafia. I'm not sure where along the lines the creative decisions got made, but I do recall that the original pilot was much more interesting than the one that aired, and whoever made the decision to change it made the wrong choice. RIP, Caitlin and her pregnant first girlfriend.

Next up was the panel for Eli Stone, a series about a lawyer who discovers that he's a prophet. Oh, and it's created by openly gay executive producer Greg Berlanti, who's also behind Brothers & Sisters and Dirty Sexy Money. Last season Eli Stone included one episode that aired in February 2008 about a lesbian custody battle; unfortunately I didn't see it so I don't know what happened (perhaps if you saw it you could enlighten me in the comments).

My second day at the TV critics' press tour could hardly be expected to measure up to day one, but here's a preview: Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Drea de Matteo, Bonnie Hunt and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men).

First up yesterday morning was a press conference with FX's president and general manager, John Landgraf, who announced that Nip/Tuck just finished production on Season 5, which will premiere in January 2009 (no word on whether any "lesbian" characters will be involved, although Katee Sackhoff will be there). FX has also ordered a 19-episode final season, which will air in early 2011.

He also noted that Marcia Gay Harden will be joining the second season of Damages, which was the first FX show to take to the stage on Tuesday. I absolutely loved Damages last year, and I can't wait till it's back (sadly not till early 2009). I've never really been a fan of lawyer shows, but this is the first lawyer show I've seen in which the lawyers seem both evil and totally sexy. That's due in no small part to this amazing woman:

Glenn Close

Photo credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Close said that she actually watched the first season of Damages on TV with her family in Montana, and the TV critics seemed shocked that she wouldn't have asked for screeners in advance. We were shown a few clips from the upcoming second season (minor spoiler alert!) and though most of it was vague, I can tell you this much: Ellen (Rose Byrne) joins a grief counseling group in the wake of her fiance's death, and she goes undercover to investigate Close's character, Patty Hewes.

Rose Byrne

Photo credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

After the panel I talked with series creator Daniel Zelman and asked him whether he and the other creators, Todd A. Kessler and Glenn Kessler, had any particular inspiration in mind when they (three men) began writing about this struggle between two women. Zelman said that the concept "was based partly on our lives, our own experiences."

Yesterday morning I arrived in Los Angeles for the Television Critics Association summer press tour, an annual rite of passage for TV critics nationwide. Basically, we gather together at the Beverly Hilton for two to three weeks of nonstop press conferences for pretty much every TV show currently on the air. I wasn't able to make it to the first week of press conferences, but I'm here for the next eight days to cover the networks and their affiliated cable channels, and as long as I don't pass out from too much off-the-cuff interviewing of random TV celebs, I'll be reporting my findings here every day. (To catch up on last week's gay-related TCA news, check out Michael Jensen's stellar blog posts at AfterElton.com.)

What happened on Monday? Here's the short version: Mia Michaels, Anna Torv, Lena Headey, Summer Glau, Olivia Wilde, Eliza Dushku and Joss Whedon, oh my! For the long(er) version, read on.

Left to right: Cat Deeley, Mia Michaels, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe

Today was the first of two days devoted to the Fox television network, and the morning kicked off with a press conference for the unscripted dance competition So You Think You Can Dance. Mia "hot damn she looks like a lesbian (too bad she ain't)" Michaels got grilled on why she's "being so mean" on the show these days. Here's what she said:

I don't think I'm being mean. I'm just being very honest, and we're in the fourth season, and I think as we go, we become more — our true selves come out, and we're comfortable. ... I'm not any different if I'm in a rehearsal studio with my dancers, and if they're not pulling up, they're going to know, and it's very much about tough love. ... I'm Mamma Mia, and they look to me for that tough love actually. So when I say it, America might go, "Oh, my God, that's so harsh.” They're cool with it. They know. They know I only want them to be brilliant.

I have always been an on-again, off-again viewer of SYTYCD, because it seems to repeatedly hammer home traditional gender norms through the judges' commentary that typically derides male dancers who are not macho (not to mention only having opposite-sex dance partners). This is particularly the case with judge Nigel Lythgoe, who always puts down men when he senses the least bit of "effeminacy" in them, while (excessively) praising women who are feminine and submissive. AfterElton.com talked with him after the panel, and Lythgoe essentially confirmed that he's stuck in the dark ages in terms of gender norms. Wake up, Nigel! It's 2008! Seriously, the guy kinda gives me the creeps.

Anyway, after SYTYCD was a panel devoted to the new series from creator J. J. Abrams (Alias), which is called Fringe. It stars Australian actor Anna Torv, whom British readers may remember from her stint playing a lesbian on the BBC's Mistresses. Torv unfortunately was in New York and therefore had to join the conference by satellite, so the stage was populated entirely with men — a theme that quickly came to define the day.

Anna Torv as Agent Olivia Dunham in Fringe

Photo credit: Michael Lavine/FOX

I caught a screening of most of the 90-minute pilot during lunch, and though it started off very promisingly with a mysterious plane full of dead people (think Lost meets The X-Files), around the 40-minute mark it started going off onto a seriously sci-fi tangent. Now, I'm a big sci-fi fan, but this just seemed odd. Like, things didn't connect up. I'm hoping that the pilot will be retooled before it hits prime time this fall to smooth out the rough spots.

On the plus side, Torv delivered what might be the best line of the day when asked to elaborate on her ass-kicking role as Agent Dunham: "I came to the kicking ass naturally."

After our last vlog, you guys submitted so many excellent Crock P.O.C. topics that Sarah P. and I decided to do an entire episode of topics selected by you, dear viewers.

Some of the things that come up: why liking someone is different than having a crush on them; whether Sarah's moving into cougar territory; trophy wives vs. age differences in dating; why Malinda would never date a musician. Hey, I think you guys have one thing on your minds: dating!

We hope you enjoy this episode, and be sure to leave your future Crock P.O.C. topics (non-dating ones also welcome!) in the comments.

To further stoke fan speculation about what's going to happen in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, which opens July 25 — and to reintroduce the series to those who may not have been X-philes when it was on the air — a "new" X-Files DVD is being released today. The compilation of eight episodes is called "Revelations," and as the cover itself proclaims, this is the "Essential Guide to the X-Files movie," with "8 critical episodes handpicked by the series creator."

Does it deliver? Yes and no.

The DVD's eight episodes span the first six seasons of the television series, skipping (wisely) the last three seasons entirely. At first this seemed a little odd, because if this DVD is supposed to be the essential guide to the movie, and the movie takes place after Season 9, don't we need to know what happens in those last three seasons? A short "series trailer" included on the first disc does give a rundown of the entire nine seasons, but I'm going to guess that what happened in the last three seasons just isn't that important. (Sorry, Annabeth Gish fans, but I never could get into the character of Agent Reyes.)

Each episode is certainly a classic — "Pilot," "Beyond the Sea," "The Host," "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," "Memento Mori," "Post-Modern Prometheus," "Bad Blood" and "Milagro" — and each one is introduced by series creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz. Their commentary, though, is limited to a couple of minutes each time, so they don't provide a lot of new information.

It is amusing to see Gillian Anderson stick her head over Chris Carter's shoulder in the commentary before "Milagro," and she is wearing the tan trench coat you've seen in preview photos for the X-Files movie, but very little is revealed about what's going to happen in the film. It does seem that Carter is shooting these intros on the set of the movie, though, because at one point a man in full surgical scrubs (an actor, I'm guessing) walks right behind him. I can't believe that wasn't entirely orchestrated, so, uh, spoiler alert? Man in scrubs will be in movie!

In this week's Lo-Down, Sarah P. and I give you our review of the new Angelina Jolie movie Wanted, which just opened last Friday. In the movie, Angie plays a deadly assassin with some fantastic tattoos and extremely large guns. These assassins used to be weavers. Yeah, like people who made carpets.

If you just said "Huh?" then you're right with us. We won't give away the ending of the movie or any of the key plot points, but we do have a lot of fun poking fun at this strange and comedic backstory.

But before we get into the movie, we have an exciting edition of the Crock P.O.C. in which we give advice on whether or not you should go topless at your local Dyke March, among other things. We hope you enjoy it, and please leave your Crock P.O.C. topic suggestions in the comments!

Last Sunday, much fun was had by all who attended the AfterEllen.com Meet-Up in San Francisco. Karman Kregloe, Bridget McManus, Malinda Lo and Sarah Pecora were in attendance, and a guest appearance was made by She Got Me Pregnant vloggers Dana and Helen. Here are some of the pictures from the meet-up to give you a taste of what went on (I'm leaving out photos of what happened after the Jell-O shots arrived!).

Apologies in advance if you were there and you don't see yourself. I tried to include as many different folks as possible but I know I missed a lot of you. Thanks so much for coming out and meeting up!

Sarah, AE reader AJ, and Malinda

Malinda's Asian posse! (non-Asians welcome)

Bridget, an AE reader, and her personalized autographs

 

This week on The Lo-Down, Sarah P. and I discuss a serious topic: race. We didn't exactly expect to get into such a heavy discussion, but in retrospect it seems inevitable since we talked about the low number of women of color on the Hot 100, as well as the use of labels in our lesbian community (suggested by Lo-Down viewer Ms. Ghana).

In the second half, we talk about the Australian documentary Searching 4 Sandeep, which follows Poppy Stockwell (a lesbian living in Sydney) and Sandeep Virdi (a closeted lesbian living in England), as they meet online and develop a long-distance relationship. Along the way, Sandeep comes out to her South Asian family, who is not entirely pleased with finding out that their daughter is gay.

I know that most of you probably have not seen the documentary (it has screened at several international film festivals and will be screening at Newfest in New York this Saturday; Poppy Stockwell will be there for a post-screening Q&A), but it raises a lot of issues that you've often asked me and Sarah to talk about. In particular, internet dating, interracial dating and coming out to your families. Sarah, in fact, talks about her own coming-out experience, which again touches on race.

So we hope you'll stick with us through this difficult subject, and please feel free to add your own thoughts on race, the Hot 100, and coming out in a more traditional family. But let's keep it civil and not take things personally — don't make me discipline you! (Unless you want me to ... )

After an unexpectedly long hiatus, Sarah P. and I have returned with a new episode of The Lo-Down. We're a bit rusty with the vlogging these days, but we hope you enjoy this new episode, in which we offer our review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull just in time for you to hit the theaters this weekend. If that's not enough for you, "Ashley" from Shot at Love 1 makes a guest appearance.

Plus, Sarah has a very special announcement! Thanks to all of you who wrote in and asked when we were coming back — we hope it was worth the wait. (But if not, uh, sorry!)

Last week's Battlestar Galactica episode, "Faith," rocked the house. This whole season, though, has been incredible, delving into complex, challenging issues such as religion, mortality and politics. This is not TV lite, therefore I rarely watch it on Friday nights at 10 p.m., since by then my brain is fried from the previous week's work and I can't concentrate with the appropriate amount of attention.

So, after watching "Faith" on DVR delay, I have a few observations to share with you about this most recent episode of BSG. (Please note: No attempt at synopsis has been made; for a synopsis, go here. This post is pure critique and conjecture.)

1. Starbuck has a fan base in the BSG world, too.

When Jean Barolay (Alisen Down) volunteered to go with Starbuck, Anders and Athena to the Cylon base ship to talk to the Hybrid, Starbuck told her she wasn't looking for volunteers. Jean countered that yes, Starbuck had asked for volunteers back on the Galactica, that Starbuck had been a super-hot badass leader since forever, and Jean would like nothing less than to be ordered around by Kara "Lesbian Icon" Thrace. (OK, maybe I'm paraphrasing a little, but didn't Jean seem to have a little crush on Starbuck? Too bad that crush got her killed.)

Jean Barolay (Alisen Down) in Episode 3.11, "Rapture"

Photo credit: Sci Fi/Eike Schroter

2. Six kisses Six.

After the Six who accidentally killed Jean Barolay was shot by Natalie, she confessed to Natalie that she had not been able to deal with the trauma of being killed by Jean on New Caprica. Natalie called her "sister" and kissed her before she died. I saw this as a grand, poetic statement of blood calling to blood, as well as a reflection of the fact that each Cylon model is so closely linked — closer than family, even — to the others of their model. Here's hoping most folks didn't see it as gratuitous girl-on-girl action starring hottie Tricia Helfer in a fantasy twin lesbians scenario.

Last night on the season finale of Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites, we were treated to one of the most dramatic jury panels ever — and I'm not just saying that. For the first time in Survivor history, the final four contestants were all women, and this women's alliance was led not by Ami Cusack, who unfortunately didn't manage to forge a useful alliance this season, but by the unlikeliest of castaways: 25-year-old Parvati Shallow, a "favorite" who previously appeared on Survivor: Cook Islands and was known primarily for being a flirt.

The final four (left to right): Amanda Kimmel, Natalie Bolton, Parvati Shallow and Cirie Field

All photos by Monty Brinton/CBS

This women's alliance held together because, I think, it had an entirely different feel than Ami's back on Survivor: Vanuatu, which ultimately failed. This alliance mostly flew under the radar, even though Parvati, Amanda Kimmel and Cirie Field had talked about it among themselves since the beginning. And they never labeled it as a "women's alliance" at all; this time, it was all about "the girls."

Warning: Spoilers for finale after the jump

Last year, RedEye's "Best Character on TV Tourney" crowned Kara "Starbuck" Thrace the ultimate victor.

Photo credit: Justin Stephens/Sci Fi

The first round of voting for this year's Tourney has just opened, but unfortunately they've decided to make last year's winners ineligible, so I you can't go there and vote repeatedly for Starbuck again this year. But there are some other good possibilities.

The tourney is divided into four regions: the George Costanza Region, the Carmela Soprano Region, the Smoking Man Region, and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer region. Guess where our favorite ladies are to be found? (Well, not in the George Costanza Region.)

In the Smoking Man Region, we've got Battlestar Galactica's Number Six (Tricia Helfer) vs. The Shield's Det. Shane Vendrell (Walter Goggins).

Photo credits: Sci Fi/Justin Stephens (Helfer), Prashant Gupta/FX (Goggins)

Well, Six is a super-powerful Cylon with the ability to seduce and manipulate pretty much anybody she wants — plus she plays for our team (half the time). Det. Vendrell is ... who is he? My money's on Six.

So remember that TV show about a bunch of quirky but lovable romantics living in Alaska, who approach the ups and downs of life and love with an affable sense of humor? No, I'm not talking about the long-dormant Northern Exposure; I'm talking about ABC's Men in Trees, starring Anne Heche.

Photo credit: ABC/Michael Courtney

Earlier this week, TV Guide's Michael Ausiello reported that ABC has officially canceled the series, which suffered from oft-shifting time slots. It has aired on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, at various times, over the course of its two seasons since it premiered in September 2006. It was also pulled from ABC's prime-time schedule several times (once to make room for October Road, and more recently due to the WGA strike), leaving large gaps between new episodes.

Not surprisingly, ratings for the show have been uneven. I admit, Men in Trees is not the most revolutionary show on television, but I found myself liking it and liking Anne's character, Marin Frist, a big-city relationship expert (she writes self-help books) who relocates serendipitously to small-town Elmo, Alaska.

Yes, there were some annoying (and sometimes offensive) characters on the show, but overall the episodes that I saw were heart-warming and cozy, and I mean that in the best possible way. I freely admit that I have a big soft spot for romantic comedy, and Men in Trees did it pretty well. The relationship between Marin's biggest fan, Annie (Emily Bergl), and Patrick (Derek Richardson) was a little bit odd and a little bit sweet.

In case you missed it in Friday's BLWE, we're giving you a chance to meet Leisha Hailey and Camila Grey while they're on tour with their band, Uh Huh Her.

Photo credit: Lisa Eisner

Here's how you can get two tickets a private meet-and-greet with Leisha and Camila:

1. Check out the complete list of UHH's shows on their official website.
2. Choose any show from May 7–31. (No other tour dates are eligible.)
3. Send your name, email address, phone number and the show you wish to attend to uhhuhherfans@nettwerk.com by Tuesday, May 6 — that's tomorrow!
4. One lucky contestant will be randomly selected on May 7 and awarded two tickets and a private pre-show meet-and-greet session with the ladies.

We'll announce the winner on AfterEllen.com later this week. We only ask that you give us a post-show update that we can share here on AfterEllen.com. Good luck!

Last week ABC's Lost returned for six new post-strike episodes, and I was certainly ready to get back on the island. Last week's episode (spoiler warning if you haven't watched last week's episode!) revealed that Sayid began working for Ben because someone affiliated with the dastardly Charles Widmore (whose British accent keeps going in and out) had murdered Sayid's long-sought-after true love.

It was interesting to learn a little more about Sayid, and I do like his story lines, but after thinking about what happened, I realized that slowly but surely all of the female characters on Lost have kind of faded into the background. At this point the main plot seems to be about the creepy, manipulative Ben Linus and his mysterious battle with Charles Widmore. All the women on the show are now either pregnant, being a mother, or busy mooning over a man (or two).

Kate (Evangeline Lilly), who was such a kick-ass character in the first season, has become torn between two lovers as if she were in a soap opera (complete with false pregnancy scares!), and honestly, both Jack and Sawyer have become somewhat annoying this season. I still have a fondness for Sawyer (yeah, he's smarmy, but at least he admits it!), but he seems to have been relegated to the role of a buffoon.

All photos by ABC/Mario Perez

What about the other ladies of Lost? Well, Claire (Emilie de Ravin) has been largely missing, and she never really had much to do besides take care of her possibly freaky baby. If the flash forwards are anything to judge by, she won't have much to do in the future, either. Sun (Yunjin Kim) has triumphed over adversity in the past, but now her whole story line involves getting off the island so she can give birth (and possibly fearing for the mortality of her husband).

I have to admit that I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Madonna's latest album, Hard Candy, but after downloading it on Tuesday, boy was I disappointed. The reviews have been almost across-the-board positive — or at least thoughtful, referencing Madonna's influence and stature in the pop culture world — but I found myself fast-forwarding through repetitive choruses ("get stupid get stupid get stupid" — argh! — on "Give It 2 Me") and, frankly, not quite getting the album.

Perhaps, as the Houston Chronicle noted: "As a sit-down listen (in the car, through headphones or via a computer), Hard Candy doesn't have the same immediate spark or insightful lyrics as 2005's gorgeous Confessions on a Dance Floor. ... Under the disco ball, however, Hard Candy proves a sparkling after-hours soundtrack."

Maybe my problem is that I've been listening to it while at the office rather than out at a club. If that's the case, it's gonna be a long time before I "get" this album, since my club-going days have dwindled down to, oh, a couple of times a year. I suspect that most of Madonna's die-hard fans also long ago stopped loving the night life (Madonna, after all, is turning 50 this year), and I'm not sure if those longtime fans will get this album, either.

I do like a few songs on the album, including "Dance 2night," which is way more of a disco track than a hip-hop one, and "Miles Away," a melancholy song that sounds like it belongs on Confessions on a Dance Floor.

Yesterday marked the first day of this year's TV Turnoff Week, which runs April 21-27. If you weren't aware of this, well, I didn't know either until Monday night, and by then I'd already made plans to watch Gossip Girl and my DVR-ed recording of last week's Battlestar Galactica. But I think that Tuesday, April 22, is a much better day to start TV Turnoff Week, because tonight is the premiere of a huge turn-off: A Shot at Love 2.

So instead of tuning in to whatever disasters await Tila Tequila during her second quest for "true love," here are a few suggestions for what you can do instead.

1. Go out to dinner with your girlfriend(s) and have some lively conversation. There are so many lesbian chefs these days that you can surely find a restaurant headed by one of them. If you're in Miami Beach, stop by Tantra to taste the cuisine of executive chef Sandee Birdsong. If you're in San Francisco, how about Elizabeth Falkner's newest restaurant, Orson? She was a guest judge on Top Chef last season and has been a contestant on Iron Chef, and she rocks some platinum blond hair.

If you're in Chicago, stop by Avec, where head chef (and recent Top Chef guest judge) Koren Grieveson presides. No, Grieveson hasn't come out to us officially, but as Dorothy Snarker noted in her recap, she's sports all the requisite lesbian paraphernalia; her Food & Wine profile notes that she was a soldier in the U.S. Army for nine years; and in this Time Out Chicago article she says that her place of inspiration is "My girl Frog's studio. ... We bounce ideas off each other, but really, just working next to her keeps me inspired." Hey, Koren: How about an interview with AfterEllen.com?