Quick Notes...

Quick Notes...

Apparently, the Joker action figures from The Dark Knight are vying for the status of collector's item. They all sold out in minutes, presumably to reclusive collector types or overgrown children who still live in their parents' basement ('best action figure ever'?). They are now allegedly going for as high as $60 on Ebay. I wonder if the figure will come with 'awesome insomnia action'?

Good to hear that ABC has finally rescued Scrubs for one last eighteen-episode season. It hasn't been in truly peak form since season four, and even its creator agrees. Bill Lawrence promises a return to the more dramatic and less zany days of seasons 1-3, when the show was a better, more heart wrenching and heartwarming drama than any would-be serious melodrama. For me, downloading the previous three seasons (before their release on DVD) and watching them all was just what I needed during a mediocre period in early 2005 when my Los Angeles adventures had hit a bump or two. I can't tell you the number of people that not only loved this show but claim that it cheered them up at just the right moment in their lives. At its best, it was one of the finest sitcoms ever aired, and it deserves to exit on its own terms.

It'll be funny (funnier?) to watch Smallville next year with nearly no one left on the show. Lex Luthor is gone, Lana Lang is gone, Pete Ross left back in season 3, John Kent died of a heart attack in season 5, Martha Kent is off serving out Dad's state senate term, and Lionel Luther just took a dive out a window. Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan are the only original characters left in any capacity. For next season, the big gimmick is the coming of Doomsday, because there's a villain that the fans always cherished. Seriously, put this one out of its misery.

It's interesting how various groups are trying to peg Barack Obama as somehow anti-Israel or anti-semitic for having the same levelheaded ideas about the Middle East conflict that most Israelis share. Seriously, the quality of debate regarding the Israel/Palestine situation is actually more varied and nuanced in Israel than it is in America. On the plus side, there is a brand new political action committee, J Street, that is trying to lobby for a less hard-right policy towards Israel. "Pro Israel, Pro Peace". Sounds sensible to me.

Scott Mendelson