Seeing Double

Sorry for the late posting. My laptop and I got into a huge fight last night. It won. Here are some highlights (and low ones) from Thursday:

"The Deep End" (ABC, 8:00): Definitely a low. I can't believe ABC put this poorly acted, poorly written and richly uninteresting story on the air. When I think a show is bad, it's really bad cause I'll watch pretty much anything. But I could barely get through this train wreck, which basically took the dialogue from the pilot episode of "Grey's Anatomy" and copied it almost word for word.

Pause it: The show has already been dubbed "'Grey's Anatomy' with lawyers". Why confirm that by copying every plot point right down to two characters who barely know each other having sex on the floor a la Derek and Meredith? Even the most original line referenced "Grey's": "I'd rather have a colonoscopy at a teaching hospital." The final straw for me was having Kate Burton, who played Meredith's mother, as a guest star. C'mon!

The show follows a group of recent Ivy-League law graduates who enter the working world as associates at a big law firm. The only reason I tuned in was because Tina Majorino, left, is one of the young lawyers. Most people may remember her as glamour-shot-picture taking Deb from "Napoleon Dynamite", but for me she will forever be Molly Singer from "Corrina, Corrina", one of my all-time favorite movies. Majorino plays Addy, the female version of George O'Malley. The show also has a Bailey-esque character, a not-so-McDreamy and an Izzie with red hair.

It's going to be hard for this show to establish itself as something new if they continue to pair it with "Grey's" and "Private Practice". I guess for now, ABC Thursdays will just be three hours of hot doctors and lawyers who care too much and speak too fast.

"Project Runway" (Lifetime, Thurs., 10:00): I missed the first few minutes but I was able to jump right in. Following the tradition of making functional garments out of unconventional materials, the designers had to turn a plain potato sack in to a party look for their models. To make matters worse, the models got to pick the designers instead of the other way around.

Some of the instructions must have been lost in translation because Jesus and Ping, right, struggled on the challenge. Jesus skirted (tee hee) around the rules by covering his sack with some crazy, sewn-together ribbon crap and Ping thought the models were dressing for a country pasture party. Her dress was bland and the model's booty was hanging out of the back.

Jay couldn't pull it together and was only half done with his dress at the end of day one. But he rallied and came up with a beautiful, black cocktail dress. Ben's produced a hot little number that you could see you any red carpet, but it was Amy's burnt burlap look that I wanted to see hanging in my closet. (And hang is what it would do because I have too many rolls to wear my back out like that).

On the runway, the judges call out Jay, Mila, Amy and Pamela, along with Jesus and Ping. They all loved Amy's dress, but the win went to Jay. I really wanted Amy to win because her dress looked expensive but you could still tell it was a potato sack. Ping made it through even though her dress came with a built-in air conditioner, leaving Pamela and Jesus in the bottom two.

Pamela's dress wasn't the best designed garment, but the denim dye job she put on it was fantastic. It really looked like a jean dress. Jesus, on the other hand, completely missed the point of the challenge but the judges kept him around for another week. He'd better churn out some awesome clothes next week or I'm revolting. It's his second time and we're only 2 weeks in!

Finishing touches: I'm really hating the way the camera cuts to the designers when the models hit the runway. The whole point of the show is to see these cool clothes! Who cares about the designer's reaction?

CHANNEL SURFING

• "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC, 9:00): I hope this was Izzie's last episode. I was glad to see Karev give her the heave-ho! Now if only Shonda Rhimes would do the same, that would be one giant step for "Grey's" lovers. Get rid of her already!!!!
• On "Private Practice" (ABC, 10:00), Maya announced she's pregnant - at the tender age of 15. Naomi wanted to force her into having an abortion, even though it's completely against her beliefs. Audra McDonald was phenomenal and I could feel her hand across my face when she slapped Maya. I'm hoping this storyline breathes some much needed life into this flatlining show.