Was sent a link to an article about just how early on the Bush Administration knew that Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction, and didn't have ties to Al Queada, but the link doesn't seem to be working, so I can't include it this time. And I don't want to get off on a rant about that today, because I'm feeling kind of crappy anyway. (Post-travel crash, I'm thinking.)

Realization is setting in that several of my summer TV series are drawing to a close. The 4400 ends next week, as does The Grid. And then on Tuesday, there's the big, two-hour finale of Joe Schmo 2. Yes, it's actually on Tuesday again, because running it in the usual Monday time slot would run the second hour past midnight. Apparently, ratings for this season have been down. I'm guessing it's a combination of the summer, zero publicity (anyone seen any articles anywhere at all?) and changing the time slot to a really bad one halfway through. The show, on the other hand, has been fantastic. If you haven't seen it yet, Tuesday is your last chance. It's genius.

And, of course, all this means that the fall TV season is right around the corner. Too bad it mostly looks like crap. UPN (I now see their commercials during Amish in the City) has some show about a high-end corporate lawyer who suddenly has to take care of a child, and is forced to downsize his career to a small, low-rent law office dealing with human-interest cases guaranteed to warm the heart as he learns what it truly important in life. WB has The Mountain, which appears to combine extreme sports and soap opera, produced by McG, the genius director behind the Charlie's Angels movies. (Which prove that he's a perfect TV storyteller, because those films are all about the story, at the expense of the visuals...) Some network--couldn't even tell you which one--has Rob Lowe playing a doctor in Las Vegas, called (wait for it)... Dr Vegas. Apparently, he works in a casino. Really. Because, you know, there is nothing else in Las Vegas.

As usual, I don't have high hopes for anything, but I will definitely watch Lost, the new JJ Abrams show. After Felicity and Alias, I have to. And there's good buzz about Jack and Bobby, a WB series about two brothers, one of whom grows up to become president (only we don't know which one). Creator/producers include bestselling novelist Brad Meltzer, who I need to read, but I like his comics, and Thomas Schlamme, the director who defined the look of The West Wing, before he and Aaron Sorkin quit two years ago, leaving it in the hands of people who now make it look just like regular TV.