To the five readers (and the rest of you looking for pictures of Heat Miser, Jon Hamm and Lauren Graham),

This is the 700th and final post for our humble little blog, edubTV.

We started this little blog in September of 2007. I was a few weeks into grad school and Kramer was a junior in college. The two of us both graduated from our respective programs just over a week ago. We’ve got jobs to do (yikes!) and we won’t be able to blog with nearly as much regularity as we’d like. This blog has meant a lot, and I’d rather give it a proper send-off than let it fade into obscurity.

On a final note: TV gets a bad rap, but it doesn’t have to. Find the good stuff. If you don’t have a Nielsen box, support the advertisers, write production companies and networks. Good shows aren’t always blessed with audiences. Mediocrity is cheap and easy to produce. If you want well-made television, you’re going to have to fight for it.

It’s been a wild and crazy ride kids. Thanks for letting us into your Google Readers and into your hearts!

Much love,

The ladies at edubTV

Ethan Zohn took home 1 Million bucks as the winner of Survivor-Africa in 2002. With his winnings, he’s been incredibly philanthropic, starting Grassroot Soccer, which combines soccer and fundraising to generate money for HIV/AIDS research. The guy is kind of a rock star, only humble and generous.

Now, he is surviving all over again; Zohn was recently diagnosed with Hodkin’s Lymphoma.

He told People magazine:

“You have to get spiritual about this [stuff]. I know I want to help people and inspire people. That’s my purpose in life. So I need to use this as a platform.”

Cancer sucks. Do your part to join Ethan and thousands of others in the fight against blood cancers. Support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society today!

Image: http://www.campuspeak.com/

I love stuff like this. St. Louis today put 200 sitcoms on the map…literally. With a little time, and a little help from Google Maps, they provided a handy illustration of where the shows are set.

I always forget One Day at a Time was set in Indiana. Now I’ll never forget.

Break out the celebratory cosmos: Sex and The City star Cynthia Nixon announced her engagement to long-time partner, Christine Marinoni over the weekend!

Nixon and Marinoni have been together for about five years.

The couple plan to wed in New York, pending legislation.

Kudos ladies!

Images: http://celebritybabies-celebfan.blogspot.com

I intended to write about Breaking Bad tonight. It’s been ridiculously wonderful lately. I flipped on the TV for some background noise and came across the season finale to Russell Simmons Brave New Voices

The show follows the 45 teams in the Youth Poetry Slam. These teens are ridiculous! Do you ever watch people that make you feel inadequate? The young people are honest, surprisingly confident, and fearless. Brave doesn’t begin to describe it.

They are some of the best slam poets in the country, age be damned. It’s impossible to watch them without being inspired, learning a thing or two, and challenging a few pre-conceived notions.

Invest an hour. Invest five or six. This show is impossible to describe, but a must see.

Here’s the first episode.

Well gees! We’ve been knee-deep in season finales this week. Here some snappy reviews:

• LOST: Whoa! What? Wait, what? We finally meet the mysterious, Jacob and lo and behold he’s handsome. Locke is dead but his body is alive an apparently inhabited by someone else. And did Juliet just ignite an H-Bomb? The season long pattern of providing more answers than questions is apparently over. These 8 months till the final season will be unbearable.

• The Office: I think my brother and I are the only people who were unimpressed with the finale. Why didn’t I like it? It was hokey as all get out. I don’t watch The Office for that. If I wanted adorable I’d watch Puppy Bowl and call it a day. The Office was on a serious funny streak and this kind of put the kibosh on that. I am curious as to where they’ll take this “new development,” though.

• Grey’s Anatomy: Speaking of Brother Bear, he’ll be writing a longer review sometime soon. I don’t watch Grey’s much anymore, but I read what happened. I’m not a fan of the show, but I am a fan of getting T.R. Knight and Katherine Heigl out of the entertainment news cycle. I would be completely okay with killing both of them off in one fell swoop. That would also leave some holes for new people, new stories, etc. (And have I mentioned how much I hate Meredith’s whining? This might finally shut her up.)

• Private Practice: Their finale was a few weeks ago but it was awesome! I know that crazy woman won’t actually kill Violet, but will they be able to save the baby? If the baby dies it could put her character on a collision course. Hopefully they’ll acurately portray the mourning period (if there is one). I’m optimistic.

• 30 Rock: Unlike The Office, 30 Rock has been a little uneven this season but last night’s finale was strong. If you liked the kidney song, you can download it from iTunes. Proceeds go to the National Kidney Foundation.

• The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency: This show won me over from the beginning. The season finale didn’t disappoint. I hope this is not the last we see of Note Makoti, I hate what he does to Precious, but I love the intrigue and complexity he provides to her character.

Next week we’ve got finales for Ugly Betty, American Idol, and 24 among others. May is such a wonderful time of year!

Image: http://blog.oregonlive.com/

It’s Wednesday and I’m two days into summer. Woohoo! Let the updates begin!

• If Jon and Kate get a divorce, I’ll be super-duper sad. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

• Wanda Sykes’ wife Alex gave birth to twins today! A baby boy and girl, Lucas and Olivia. Between this and awesome reviews from the White House correspondents dinner, Wanda is having the best week ever.

• I was just starting to really like Sit Down, Shut Up and now it’s probably canceled. Bummer.

• Lily Tomlin and Kathryn Joosten may get their own show. Both ladies are pushing 70. It’s going to be called Golden Girls 2: Broken-Hip Bugaloo.

• On a sad note: more kids are getting injured and some are dying after getting crushed by flat screens falling off the wall.

• Guess who’s joining the cast of  Weeds? Alanis freakin’ Morrisette!

• Lots of people are dying on season finales this year. Check out some possible spoilers about your favorites.

• Michelle Obama + Elmo = Why I Love America

I have nothing against Danny Gokey or Adam Lambert. They seem like swell guys, and for the first time in several Idol seasons, the Top 3 are all pretty talented performers.

But something hit me tonight: I’m a little bit over Adam Lambert. He’s got a killer “rock voice” so to speak, but the screeching is just getting old. Ya know what he reminds me of? That band, The Darkness. Remember them? They sang, “I Believe In A Thing Called Love.” The glam style, the voice, the over-the-top performances, but they kind of got old. Can you imagine listening to an entire album of Adam’s? Oh gees  I think I would crumble under the redundancy.

Now the musical taste is just this woman’s opinion, but I have another reason not to support Mr. Lambert tonight: He’ll do better on his own. He needs to be able to make a signature “Adam” album with strong producers and a label that can market him effectively. The folks at American Idol may not be able to do that. He has the talent to work with the best and he needs to find them. He won’t be able to once he’s locked in.

And Gokey has some nice pipes too. Maybe not my cup of tea but like Lambert,  I can understand the appeal. I think for a church boy out of Milwaukee, second place would be a pretty awesome finish. I hope he records a solid pop album and also has the freedom to get back to his roots and do gospel music, as it seems to suit his voice and his interests. Do I see him winning the competition? Not this one, but I think he might’ve pulled it off in a different season.

I’m throwing my three phone in votes behind Kris Allen tonight. He’s nothing too special, just a easy-on-the-eyes white guy with a strong voice, however, I think he’s the perfect “winner” for this show. He’s a marketer’s dream, his music will be radio friendly, Mom’s like him, teen girls want to hang him on the wall, and without this competition his music might have been relegated to coffee shops or the occasional birthday serenade for his wife. If the show is looking for an amateur to become a star, then I think they found him.

All that being said, I think it will be a great finale regardless of the results tomorrow. It’s nice to seem some stiff competition this close to the end.

Image:http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/

My mother taught me a lot and on her special day, I’d like to tell you about the things she taught me in respect to TV. It’s more than you’d think.

• Never be afraid to fall asleep in front of the TV. If the show is good enough, “It will be on again.”

• Every time The Sound of Music comes on, stop what you’re doing and watch. Singing along is highly encouraged.

• If you don’t know a celebrity’s name, just make something up. Apparently everyone’s mother does this.

• If Mom can’t follow it, it must not be good. (Sorry Lost.)

• Some shows are worth waking up at 4 in the morning for, even after your family gets you a DVR to prevent this. (Ryan’s Hope is better than one would think.)

• And finally, it’s okay to talk while the TV is on, so long as you’re asking “really important questions.” (Nope, still not.)

Oh Mom. I love ya. You’re may not have the best TV habits but that’s far from a dealbreaker, even with me. Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and mothers everywhere.

Image: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

I don’t know why you’d expect me to show any other clip, especially when I’m posting it the day before the big day.

To all the moms out there, this one’s for you.