BTW has anyone caught "Unforgettable". Maybe my standards dropped after seeing accidentally catching an ep of Taxi Brooklyn, but Season 3 (the only season I could find) was not bad. Never heard of it during seasons 1 & 2. It is yet another "neurologically atypical detective" show, this time with the lead being a woman with a perfect memory. But she is socially ept, with no tragic past that I can see, happy with her gift, and not an asshole. Not great, but I'd say slightly above Rizzoli and Isles on the fun scale - better written, less sentimental, and more charismatic leads. Again not Mentalist or Perception, but fun.

But she is socially ept, with no tragic past that I can see,

She does have a tragic past in that the one day of her life she can't remember is the day her sister was killed as a child, but they mostly dealt with that in S1 and then left it behind. There were significant cast changes between S1 and S2 after it was cancelled and the revived as a summer show. Carrie also has a bit of a gambling problem. I really do love the show though. It's a good procedural.

I guess HtGAWM is more of a procedural that Scandal if they are going to stick to a trail of the week format. I love having Liza Weil on a TV show again.

Yeah, me too. This looks like a way better part for her than Scandal was.

Definitely, -t.

It's interesting to have her back on TV again just as everyone on the internet seems to be doing a Gilmore Girls rewatch since it's netflix streaming release.

Oh, is that why there's Gilmore Girls all over Facebook? That makes sense.

Steven Weber is great in this super creepy role.

The twist in the case of the week was predictable, but I'm still loving this show!

In terms of "Unforgettable" - I stand by "socially ept". Her poker playing is a problem, but it is a flaw not an inability or unwillingness to get along with others. She loves making friends and flirting and is good at both. She does not piss off everybody she meets as a sport the way Jane in The Mentalist does. She is capable of poking at someone she really thinks deserves it; but that is a select few, not most of those she encounters.

Incidentally, I also like poker (I think it is poker rather than all gambling) as a flaw cause it fits her particular kind of competitiveness so well. She is super competitive and loves to win. But while she gets a kick out of taking people in friendly competitions she can't lose, she needs real challenges that her memory alone won't get through. But at the same time, she loves using her special talent. Athletics though something she is good at, is not enough. She needs challenges where she can use her special talent to the full, but that at the same time requires efforts from other parts of her, facets of herself where she holds no special advantage. Both her work and her addiction fit this.

Her perfect memory is a huge advantage in detective works, but would not make her a great detective is she was not also smart, good at reading people, well trained, athletic, good at playing a part when she needs to, and so.

Similarly, Poker requires three major skills. One is mathematically figuring out what the odds are of other players holding certain cards, and the odds of certain others being left in the deck. Someone might match her at that, but no one is going to be better. But the other two skills are reading the people you play against, and guessing from their tells what kind of hand they hold, and concealing your own tells, your own body language and habits that give away what you are holding. And while she is probably good at both, she is not as good as the best poker players who read and conceal tells every day , day in and day out.

Poker, like detective work, is a challenge she can't resists because it calls on her special gift, but challenges her other talents as well. If it comes to this, I would predict that if the choice is every forced upon her, detective work would beat gambling; detection requires a wider variety of talents than poker, including her physical strength, endurance and skill

Did not catch that about the tragic past.

That just made me interested in Unforgettable. Good work, TB.

I'm transferring to a new TiVo (thanks, donor!) and it's sad what I can't bring over (Daybreak), but it's nice to put shiny new shows on too.