Not only do I apparently dine at the Peach Pit, but I used to hang out at the park where the characters in Privileged get their coffee (because it’s on the Paramount lot, where I used to work), the Buy More on Chuck is supposedly located near me in Burbank, which is also where John Connor was driving through on Monday night’s Sarah Connor Chronicles.

I love living in L.A. (I also love my two VCRs that allow me to stay up-to-date on all this shows.)

Aside from seeing my favorite places on TV, one of the things I like most about series television is that the writers get to tell so many different stories … so long as their show is successful and lasts more than two episodes. They get to explore different relationships, which brings new opportunities to the storytelling. What they did on Gossip Girl the other night is a prime example of why series television is so much fun. (Caution: If you haven’t caught Monday’s episode yet, you might want to skip the rest of this until you do.)

The writers took two characters that normally hate each other (Dan and Chuck) and stuck them together for an episode to try out an entirely new dynamic. The reasoning may have been a little forced for my tastes, but I can easily overlook that when it provides so much to explore for the characters and the actors. In much the same way, that’s how I approached (DRAMA! spoiler coming if you haven’t read the last book) the casting of Hope’s play in Entrances and Exits. It wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun if I had given Tasha a role in the play instead of Belle. For those aspiring writers out there, this is not just good advice for writing a book series or TV series. It’s something you can try in a standalone project too. If you have a scene that isn’t working, bring in a character who has absolutely no reason to be there. Someone who would change the entire plot of your story simply by walking in the room. It could be a horrible mistake that kills your story, but it could also be something that brings a fresh take on the idea and leads you off in a multitude of directions.

On the flipside, I think breaking up a pairing and making Blair and Serena enemies on Gossip Girl is going to make for much more exciting television. It’s already making for a much more exciting Serena. I just hope they tread carefully, move slowly, and don’t overdo it. Blair and Chuck are two of my favorite characters on TV right now. It’s such a challenge to create characters that you can love and hate all in the same sentence. And Serena had a wonderful moment of that in her speech to Blair that had Blair say something like “Can you even hear what you’re saying?” Obviously, I want Blair and Serena to be friends again in the end, but there are loads of different opportunities to examine before we get there.

In other news, to find out what I did on my end-of-summer vacation, check out the Ro Com blog.

By now, I think it’s pretty clear that I’m a pop culture junkie and TV addict. I suspect that some of you might be that way too. So I’m guessing you’ll understand my excitement when I say…

I hang out at the Peach Pit!!

I was watching 90210 the other night when I noticed something rather familiar about the Peach Pit set. Admittedly, The Peach Pit on this new version isn’t as retro cool as the original, BUT it’s still owned by Nat and it’s the place the regulars regularly hang. It appears to be filmed at an actual restaurant in Hollywood (or West Hollywood. I’m never sure where one ends and the other begins). And it’s a restaurant that I’ve been to several times. They just changed the signs, but it looks pretty much the same as when I dine there. To which, I repeat…

I hang out at the Peach Pit!!!

I do realize that there is a difference between real life and a fictional television show, but I’m totally going to be waiting for Dixon to take my order the next time I go there for lunch.

If I’ve learned anything from all the medical dramas I’ve watched over the years it’s that the governing rule of doctors is: “First, do no harm.” And that’s all I really needed from the new 90210. That it do no harm to the memory of a show I once raced back to my dorm room to watch immediately after intermission ended while ushering for a college production of Crimes of the Heart to find out which character was going to die a tragic death! (Even though we all knew it was going to be a cop out and be Scott who we hardly saw at all during the second season!!)

I loved the old pre-graduation 90210. All that I wanted was for the new one not to besmirch the memory. (Wow. I just used besmirch in a sentence.) To do no harm. And it didn’t. In fact, I kinda liked it. Didn’t love it, but it’s got room to grow.

What I enjoyed the most—aside from the shout outs to the original show (Andrea’s daughter!)—was that they kept the brother/sister angle. In the original 90210, Brandon and Brenda were freakishly close. Almost best friends, even. Which is kind of weird, but kind of the core of the show. At least in the early days. The new Brandon and Brenda (Dixon and Annie) have that potential. Again, it’s not there yet, but the writers are writing it in that direction and I’ll be tuning it to see how it goes.

Is it just me or is it beginning to look like a great time for the teen dramas? The season premiere of Gossip Girl made me absolutely giddy in the pure evil of Blair and her “mother Chucker.” Jenny’s slowly making her way back into the spotlight with Eric’s tentative help. Nate didn’t grate. In fact, he was the most fun I’ve ever seen him be. I can’t WAIT for Vanessa to get back into town to see what she brings to that mixed up mix. And Serena and Dan were kind of fun in their maudlin, whiny way. I love these two characters, I just wish they weren’t suffering from the dreaded curse of “Well, we got them together, now we’ve got to find ways to keep them apart” plot device (See: Roswell, Dawson Creek … any teen dramas, really.)

And then there’s Greek. I can encapsulate my love for this show in one line of dialogue from last week’s episode: “Help me Toby Kwan, you’re my only hope.”

Awesome.

I’m always wary when people go around saying one show is like another show. Like how they’ve been calling Privilege, “Gilmore Girls meets Gossip Girl.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was even going to watch it. Until I saw the first commercial for it during Gossip Girl. One clip in particular had me laughing out loud and immediately adding it to my TV viewing schedule. All I’ll say is that it has to do with a taser. I just hope the rest of the first hour lives up to that moment. If it does, I’ll definitely be back.

Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll be back even if it doesn’t.

The new fall TV season is almost upon us and after the strike abbreviated last season I am both thrilled and a little cautious. Some of my faves did not come back all that well with the few post-strike episodes last season. And we’ve got a lot to ask from shows that haven’t been seen for over nine months. Hmm … nine months. I think I’ll avoid any pregnancy parallels there. Feel free to make your own.

While we all wait for our old friends to return, (yes, I consider TV shows to be good friends … I suspect if you’re here, you’re of the same mindset) here are my top three most anticipated NEW shows:

90210: It’s either going to be a hit right out of the gate or flame out spectacularly. There’s really no in between here with public (or media) perception, which is kind of an unfair bit of pressure. One of the good things about The CW is they do give shows time to grow, but I’m hoping this one will open with a bang. In anticipation of the new show I netflixed the first season of the original this summer. Some of it holds up really well. Some of it, not so much.

Fringe: PACEY!!!! I mean, Joshua Jackson returns to series TV (though you’d hardly know this from the commercials) in a sci fi show from J.J. Abrams. It looks all kinds of dark and moody and mind-trippy. My kind of show!

My Own Worst Enemy: I’m intrigued. And “intrigued” is a good thing.

As for midseason shows … I want to love Dollhouse. I really, really want to love it. It has all the right elements: namely Joss Whedon & Eliza Dushku. But I’m still not getting what this show is about. Maybe when we get closer to the premiere I’ll be closer to understanding. Or not.

…You’ll love The American Mall. I mean, seriously … it’s a TV musical. Set in a mall! That’s even better than a movie musical set in a disco roller rink! (See: Xanadu. Seriously. See it.) This is exactly the kind of TV movie event that Bryan would throw a party for (and Holly Mayflower would have begged her dad to get her a role in!).

The American Mall is on Monday night at 9:00 on MTV. It stars Nina Dobrev from Degrassi, Rob Mayes, and Autumn Reeser who played the awesome Taylor Townsend on The O.C. And that oh-so-dreamy Neil Haskell from last season’s SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE is in it too.

Do check it out because it not only promises to be more fun than a town that outlawed dancing, but—and I love that I get to say this—the director’s a friend of mine. So tune in! Turn it up! And sing along! Or … dance along since you probably don’t know the lyrics yet.

As Robin Sparkles* would say … Let’s Go To The Mall!

*This is a reference to How I Met Your Mother … another show you all should be watching.

Last week I posted a fun little bit on the Ro Com blog about writing for TV tie-ins and the two series I would LOVE to write books for, so check it out…

But while you’re here, I wanted to mention a TV series that I HAVE had the chance to write about. I hinted at it a while back, but held back on the big reveal. Well, now that the book is on Amazon (not the cover, just the basic book info) I guess it can be told.

I recently completed an episode guide for the E! reality series The Girls Next Door. Actually, it’s more than an episode guide, it’s also a lifestyle book with beauty and makeup tips (from the Girls, not from me. You think it’s an accident that there are no author photos on this site or in my books?). There’s also party tips, beautiful full color photos, and a cookbook. I know! Crazy! And the best part is that the Girls themselves (and Hef) were heavily involved in this book so it’s really going to be chock full of fun stuff straight from the people the show is about.

I had a BLAST working on this book. It will be out in November, just in time for the holiday buying season. But check back here from time to time as I’ll be sure to blog more often when certain interesting events related to the book might come up.

In the meantime, I know the summer TV options are limited, but if you aren’t watching My Boys on TBS, you really should be. Granted, I’m biased because I know one of the cast members, but it really is a great sit-com in a TV universe that’s been kind of short on good sit-coms of late.

Whoops. Missed a day of blogging yesterday in the promised seven-days-of-blogging. Hmmm … maybe I need to come up with a name for this event. Unfortunately Blogfest is taken. I should have thought about this earlier. Either way, I’m surprised that I’ve been this good about posting considering my less than stellar track record around here.

I realize that recommending another book in the same week that my own book comes out is kind of a silly thing to do from a promotional standpoint, but I’m kind of a silly person. Besides, the book I’m going to recommend isn’t really my competition, but it does follow the theatrical theme (and it’s like three times the price, so Show, Don’t Tell is clearly the bargain here.)

During my crazy writing blitz of the past couple months I made sure that I read every night before bed. If I don’t do that, I’ll keep writing until lights out, which always results in me being unable to shut off my brain and actually fall asleep. And if I don’t get a good three to four hours of sleep a night you can’t do anything with me the next day. Nor would you want to. So reading is very important to me—and to those around me—in these crash periods.

One of the best books I read during this time was Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews.

First of all, it is almost sickening that one person can be this talented. She was blessed with a beautiful singing voice (that, tragically, a bad surgery has all but demolished) and is clearly a terrific actress, but I never knew what an incredibly talented writer she is. This book is stunningly written. It mainly deals with her childhood in vaudeville and the early part of her stage career. Though she certainly lived an interesting life, it’s the way that she writes about the mundane aspects of her world, her family, and childhood playmates (who tended to be adults) that kept me enthralled. This is not some scandalous tell all that seems to be all the rage in celebrity books. This is a sweet, simple story of a young girl in a more innocent time. And it is so NOT my usual reading choice, but I am really glad that I picked it up. So, after you get finished reading Show, Don’t Tell, I suggest you pick up this one too.

Oh, and on a unrelated musical theatre topic, the “Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber Night” on American Idol was nothing more than a series of huge mistakes. HUGE. Which, pretty much, everyone else has said as well. But really, Memory?

Doesn’t it seem a little unfair that Gossip Girl, Greek, Bones, and How I Met Your Mother are all on the same night at the SAME TIME!?! I mean, seriously … we have months with hardly any original television programming and then it all comes back at once? Where’s the logic in that? Good thing I took a break from Dancing with the Stars this season or I think my head would explode.

Seeing how those are some of my favorite shows, it got me thinking about my characters’ favorites (also because asking certain people about their “favorite things” is a tiny component of the super secret project I mentioned earlier). So, in honor of the release of Show, Don’t Tell tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to ask Bryan, Sam, and Hope what some of their favorites are. It turns out that they like some of the same stuff I do. What an amazing coincidence.

Favorite Movie
Bryan: There are so many. Let’s see. For classic movies, it’s got to be The Philadelphia Story, Stage Door, and His Girl Friday. But for movies that came out since I was born, I’d have to say, Mean Girls, Finding Neverland, and Hairspray.
Sam: Gone with the Wind and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Hope: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Sorry. I love Johnny Depp and all, but nothing beats the original.

Favorite TV Show
Bryan: Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, Ugly Betty, Gossip Girl … and because this list is a little short on testosterone … Battlestar Galactica (not that it doesn’t star some kick ass women, but at least it doesn’t have a girl in the title.)
Sam: Buffy, Lost, and Friday Night Lights
Hope: Television rots the mind … except for Buffy and Lost.

Favorite Singer/Band
Bryan: Sam
Sam: Aw, thanks Bryan. That’s sweet. You must want something. Okay, my favorite singers are Norah Jones and Heather Headley.
Hope: The Pierces

Favorite Musical
Bryan: Wicked
Sam: Wicked
Hope: Sweeney Todd and The Sound of Music.

Favorite Halloween Costume
Bryan: I was once a tube of toothpaste. Crest, I think.
Sam: Maleficent (the Disney character, not Blaine’s dog.)
Hope: Death.

Favorite Food
Bryan: All of them. I’m not picky. Well, except mushrooms. Not a big fan of eating fungus.
Sam: Pizza
Hope: My dad’s huevos rancheros.

Favorite Book
Bryan: Interview with the Vampire and Boy Meets Boy
Sam: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit) and the Dragonriders of Pern
Hope: Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and The Bell Jar

The television writers’ strike is over and we’re about to get four whole weeks of new television … before everything disappears for the summer. Not that original TV totally disappears anymore. There were some really great shows airing during the drought of the past few months—like Jericho and Eli Stone—and some truly awesome ones the will be starting up for the summer soon … Oh, how I have missed you, So You Think You Can Dance?

But television isn’t the only thing coming back. Bryan and his Orion Academy friends return on Tuesday with the release of DRAMA! book 3: Show, Don’t Tell. This time, they’re taking the show on the road and visiting a traveling Renaissance Faire, which is about as fun for Bryan as you’d expect it to be. But Sam and Hope are way stoked to get their Huzzah on. In honor of the release of Show, Don’t Tell, I promise to blog every day for the next seven to make up for my long absence. (I figure with a promise like that, I can probably make it three out of the seven days. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.)

First off, why have I been so scarce around here lately? Well, the thing about being a writer is, sometimes people expect you to write. And meet deadlines. Incredibly tight deadlines in some cases. And I had two biggies in the past two months.

The first was for DRAMA! book 4: Entrances and Exits. Not only did I turn that manuscript in, but my amazing editor turned it around so fast that it’s already been through edits, copyedits, and I just looked over the first pass pages (that’s when I get to see the book laid out in its almost final form). I am incredibly happy with how these next two books in the series came out and can’t wait for everyone to read them.

The other reason I’ve been MIA is that in the past couple months I accepted a book offer, researched the book, interviewed people for it, wrote it, turned it in, got my edits, and am finalizing the second draft right now. It’s a super fun, super exciting book project for a very popular TV show unlike any other I’ve written books on before. This new book is taking me to someplace I never though I’d go and I’m getting to meet people I never dreamed I’d meet. (Don’t get too excited. I haven’t left the L.A. area). Can’t say anything more since the book hasn’t been announced yet, but considering it’ll be out this fall, I should be able to share some more soon. And maybe I’ll drop a hint or two as my week of blogging continues. Who knows?

While you wait for my seven day blog-a-thon to continue, you can check out my friend, Randi Reisfeld’s new web site.

Be back soon!

I promise!

(I hope.)

My favorite new show of the fall season is … Gossip Girl! It is a true guilty pleasure, that I feel absolutely no guilt whatsoever about watching. Now, let’s hope it just stays on for the rest of the season. [E.T.A. Gossip Girl was just picked up for the full order of 22 episodes!]

I think the show has been brilliantly translated from the book series. It may not always be perfect—I mean, really? A stretch limo can follow a girl throughout New York City without her noticing?—But it comes pretty close to perfectly trashy. I especially love how they play with the format in the extended recaps and other little tricks to give the show the effect of gossip itself. Put it together with Dirty Sexy Money and you’ve got a night of high quality decadence.

And Kristen Bell, I don’t know why I ever doubted. You make a perfect Gossip Girl. Can’t wait to see you on Heroes.

I do find it funny that the main criticism of Gossip Girl is that we spend too much time with the parents. Usually on teen dramas, people are always complaining about the kids’ parents never being around. Now we finally have some folks and nobody wants them. Go figure.

Speaking of the parents … I feel an overwhelming urge to have some words with The CW’s casting department. Now, I’ve always loved the teen dramas on The CW, especially back when it was The WB (and, to a lesser degree, UPN). But watching these shows has never made me feel old … until now. Both Gossip Girl and Reaper feature moms I used to watch on other shows when I was younger. Coincidentally, they were younger too. Around my age, it seemed. Now, suddenly, they’re old enough to have teenage—or in Reaper’s case, 21 year old—children?! What’s with that? Okay, sure, mathematically speaking, I could have teenage children myself. But I’ve always hated math. I don’t need a fictional TV show forcing me to deal with that kind of reality.

Oh, and here’s the reason why you have to give a new show a chance. I liked Chuck when it premiered. I enjoyed the second episode. But I absolutely fell in love with it on tonight’s episode. AND it’s now got the best opening credit sequence on TV!

And finally, my TV Moment of the Week comes from Gossip Girl. Last week’s episode opened with the school choir singing Fergie’s hit song, “Glamorous.” This was perfect on so many levels that I can’t even see them all from where I’m sitting. The choice of song, the way it was adapted for a choral performance, the venue in which the song was performed, and how it reflected on the show itself … Pure Genius. I remember back when I was in my high school choir (oh, like this is surprising news) and my friends convinced the choir director that we should sing “Wind Beneath My Wings.” We thought that was such a major coup at the time. I now hang my head in shame when I realize we could have been singing “Toy Soldiers” by Martika.

Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We all fall down
Like toy soldiers

Sigh.