"I'm Comin' Up So You Better Get This Party Started"

Well, since I couldn't come up with a decent lyric with the number 19 in it for my annual happy birthday post to Ariel, I finally figured, why not go with the other half  of Alex's famous valedictorian speech?  After all, birthdays are for parties, right?

So, Happy 19th Birthday, Ariel!

"Even Children Get Older" (First Impressions - "Do You Believe In Magic" - Season 8, Episode 12)

My first thought when I saw in the press release that this episode was going to be a Valentine's Day episode was "Ugh".  Alex has rarely fared well in these episodes - at most she's been a non-factor, at worst she's been practically or entirely non-existent (she only showed up in the credit scene in the first one, "My Funky Valentine", and didn't appear at all in the most recent one, "Valentine's Day 4: Twisted Sister").

"And The Cat's In The Cradle"

OK, this had to be a bit awkward for Ariel, given she's a dog person:

Well it's not a lot, but at least there's something with Alex to look forward to.  I'm surprised they don't just use Larry (Lily's white cat) if they wanted an Alex and cat story.

"How Long Must I Wait 'Til I See You Smile?"

Well, there's no new episode coming on February 1st - "The Alliance" will re-air on that date.

There is actually a logical reason for this, as I found out later - the February ratings "sweeps" period doesn't actually start until February 2nd.  Understandably it would be a waste to use a new episode the day before that important period starts. 

(Of course, if I was as smart as Alex, I would have known to research this a lot sooner than I did.)

The period ends on March 1st, which still gives us up to four chances to get a meaningful Alex story during sweeps (but I wouldn't be surprised if we lose one somewhere).  If we don't...

“Let The Spinning Wheel Spin” (“Sarge & Pea” Recap)

Unfortunately for Alex, that spinning wheel is her life stuck in something.

“There's Always A Chance, A Tiny Spark Will Remain”

[9:13 AM Jan. 11 - Updated to revise my prediction about the Emotional Moment Potential.]

We've come up to the final episode of the first half (and the final episode until at least the start of February¹), “Sarge & Pea”. Alex is part of a story evolving at her coffee shop job as Haley and Cam visit (the latter with a huge chip on his shoulder which is at the moment the main focus of that story), but will she be more involved than the last time we saw her there (“The Alliance”), or is she destined to just be part of the scenery again?

"The P.R. Transmissions Will Resume"

I just got my ABC station back on DirecTV, so it looks like things will be back to normal for next week's episode.  Now let's just hope for something big (I'll even settle for medium for now) for Alex.

“Top Coat, Top Hat” (“Ringmaster Keifth” Recap)

So after having to wait until this morning to download last night's episode from iTunes, putting it on my iPod then having to go through a lot more hoops than I feel I should have to get Apple's new “TV” app to let me watch it, I finally got around to seeing this 12 hours after it aired. But was it worth the wait?

“So Let The Sideshow Begin”

It looks like I'll be left out in the dark for tonight's episode (and I'd bet next week's as well at this point) – there's been no indication that this dispute between DirecTV and my local ABC affiliate's owner is going to be resolved any time soon – both sides are slinging mud on each other (without giving anybody any idea whether they're even trying to settle things), and trying (badly) to convince us viewers that they are on our side in this matter (I call total bull on that – each side is just being greedy and only caring about lining their own pockets).

Anyway, “Ringmaster Keifth” does air tonight in spite of all this, so on with the preshow. At least here things are a little bit brighter than they were at the start of the week:

"Static In My Attic From Channel Z"

So, in case you were wondering why the heck there is a test pattern in the spot where I normally put a screen capture of Alex, well, it's because DirecTV and the owners of my local ABC affiliate (WCVB) are being a bunch of chowderheads: