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Gilmore Girls has always been a quality program and the pride of the WB network. Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel are terrific together as mother and daughter and Graham continues to prove each week that she is one of the best actresses in all of television. The only problem we can see with this show are the constant liberal political references. ACLU and Pro Choice posters adorn the dorm room walls. Liberal politicians, authors, and columnists are frequently mentioned in adoring fashion. When a video tape of a Rosie O'Donnell TV movie is used as plot point this has reached an absurd level. Enough of this please. All this is of small concern when considering that last year in its fifth season the show enjoyed a cultural re-birth that was remarkable and beautiful. Lorelei and Luke moved their relationship ahead doing wonders for Luke's character. He has become less manic and more enjoyable to watch. But the best thing to happen to Gilmore Girls was the arrival of one Logan Huntzberger. Only very rarely does such a character come along. The producers and writers created Logan and Matt Czuchry brings him alive in a performance that is nothing short of magical to watch. The proverbial television jackpot has been hit here and the viewers are lucky recipients of the riches. Logan was a very rich, beautiful playboy with the women lined-up to get to him. Totally unapologetic he just went about enjoying all that the rich life could offer. Instead of being another spoiled, vapid rich kid the writers, however, also made him smart, sophisticated, well-read and interesting. Matt Czuchry is magnificent as Logan. Somehow this character can be rich playboy, extremely intelligent heir to a vast family fortune, and loving, caring boyfriend to Rory all at once. And it is all done with so much charm and class that we can't wait for Logan to appear in every episode. The fact that Czuchry is a superb actor is evident. He makes it all look effortless. Logan is always the smartest, coolest, most interesting person in the room. And he can more than keep up with all of the other fast-talking characters on this show. There have been so many wonderful scenes with Rory that show the great chemistry between Alexis Bledel and Matt Czuchry. If the chemistry between Lorelei and Luke is nice and relaxed the chemistry between Rory and Logan is electric and explosively charged. So thank you to the producers and writers for this great gift of Logan Huntzberger. And thank you to Matt Czuchry for bringing us what is now our favorite character on the show and now our favorite character on television period. He is that good. Note to producers and executives: This character has unlimited potential and is so much more interesting than procedural cops all over TV. If there is any justice in the entertainment world at all the viewers will continue to enjoy this character for many years to come. And Mr. Czuchry will enjoy a long and award-filled career in his chosen craft. He is remarkable and Gilmore Girls and all of the viewers are the better for it. Thanks.

FOX has done it again! The network famous for overhauling or even cancelling shows before they premiere has outdone itself this time. The original pilot that sold this show to FOX is not the episode we just watched. The pilot had a different (and much better) cast and was supposed to be a drama about the dynamics between the staff and guests at an upscale Hawaiian hotel. Then suddenly the dim 10-watt bulb that illuminates the FOX programming office flickered to life: Hey, we're FOX, it's summer! Let's make it a soap opera and maybe we'll get lucky like with "The O.C." Sorry, but "O.C." is state of the art and "North Shore" is stale and tired. Then FOX tried to promote their new show saying it was "The O.C. for the older, more sophisticated viewer" and it was the "Melrose Place" to the O.C.s "90210". What were they thinking under that 10-watt bulb? "The O.C." is witty and smart, charming, and classy. "North Shore" is none of that. "Melrose Place" was "Masterpiece Theatre" compared to N.S. All of the actors on Melrose and O.C. could give badly needed acting lessons to the cast of N.S. "North Shore" is slow, badly written, badly acted by some of the cast, and a complete disappointment. They ended up with "Baywatch" on FOX. Brooke Burns and Jason Momoa were actually "Baywatch" cast members. The lifeguard has bleached blonde hair and six-pack abs..just like well, you get the picture. Worst of all are Burns, who cannot act, and has a toothy smile that would shame the grill of a '58 Buick, and the horribly miscast James Remar. Remar obviously was added to play the older authority figure to all the youngsters just like David Hasselhoff on yes..."Baywatch" again. But he gave an eerie, weird take to his character like the hotel was in a "Twilight Zone" episode. His character is totally unlikable. So once again FOX has managed to mismanage a new show. The winners in all of this are the lucky former cast members from the original pilot who have now escaped this mess. The losers are the viewers and the current cast members. FOX will be a loser too if "North Shore" is swept away by a tsunami of viewer rejections....as it should rightfully be.

"10.5" managed to register a complete embarrassment for NBC. This is quite possibly the worst mini-series ever broadcast. The fact that it was on NBC, the supposed "quality" network, makes it even more unbelievable. The movie is corny, badly written, badly acted, melodramatic, and scientifically incorrect. There are too many absurd lines of dialogue and stupid scenes to count but here a couple of examples. In the middle of a national emergency the surgeon son of the FEMA director leaves his hospital to hunt down dad and argue about their poor father/son relationship. Another example is the FEMA director taking control of on-site remote operations at several different locations in an impossible time frame. The worst part of this movie was the President as played by Beau Bridges. Bridges is a fine actor but this was one of the worst portrayals of a President ever. Not one word, not one scene, not one facial reaction even comes close to looking realistic. In fact, all of the officials in this film, elected or otherwise, are cartoonish. The special effects are passable by television standards but the cliches and ridiculous situations in the script sink this disaster film fast.