Channel Surfing with CT: TRUE BLOOD, BACHELOR PAD, AS THE WORLD TURNS & More!

What a difference a year makes! Last season, TRUE BLOOD’s main storyline — about a creature named Mary Ann who wanted to… um, well, do something bad that I didn’t really give much of a crap about. But this year’s various plotlines were compelling and humor-filled, turning this into the HBO show’s best-yet showing (both from a story-telling point and, perhaps not coincidentally, ratings wise). And what an amazing twist the finale offered, having Eric reveal that the attack on Sookie — which took place way back in the very first episode — was set up by Bill. While the various cliffhangers (Tara left town, Sam seemed to have shot his ne’er-do-well brother, Lafayette found out his beau is a witch, and Sookie caught the fairyland express) weren’t necessarily the kind of jaw-droppers one might expect of a show before its extended hiatus, they also didn’t feel forced. Season four won’t hit until next summer, but if it’s as great as the one which just ended, we’ll gladly wait.

Is it just me, or should someone snap up BIG BROTHER’s Lane and turn him into a reality star? That guy is sexy and funny as all get-out.

Given how often we’ve found ourselves saying “Shame on you, ABC” where BACHELOR PAD is concerned, it’s only fitting that the season finale earns our scorn yet again. How this time? By turning the episode into one long pimp of the network’s DANCING WITH THE STARS. As if that weren’t bad enough, they trotted out former BACHELOR Jake for yet another appearance, allowing him, Trista and Melissa to serve as the lamest, most complimentary judges since Paula Abdul. And if anyone out there thinks for one second they didn’t make sure to play upon Elizabeth’s nearly psychotic insecurities by throwing the gorgeous Edyta into his path, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn with your name on it that can be had for a very reasonable price.

Want to know who makes the final 3 in SCREAM QUEEN’s second season (airing September 27) without waiting to see the next couple of episodes, which have yet to air? No problem. Go to VH1.com and read the episode description for the finale, which tells you exactly who will compete in the last episode.

Why is MTV’s latest season of THE REAL WORLD heading back to Las Vegas? Could someone tell the folks at MTV that there are many cities out there yet to be exploited by… er, trashed by… er, exlored by the increasingly-moronic people chosen to  inhabit the house. This show has become less and less relevant over the years, and setting it at Sin City’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino isn’t exactly propelling it back into the realm of relevancy.

For soap fans, this is a sad week. Friday, AS THE WORLD TURNS ends its 54-year run, coming a year after GUIDING LIGHT — the longest-running dramatic series in television history — came to an end. This has, of course, led to a spate of stories in the mainstream media about the death of the genre. The irony, of course, is that those same outlets — most notably Entertainment Weekly — all but ignore soaps even as they give endless, breathless coverage to such flash-in-the-pan “celebs” as the Kardashians and Snookie. Even TV Guide — a publication supposedly devoted to all-things television — gives soaps (which, even in their greatly-reduced number, will, after ATWT ends, account for 27.5 hours of original programming each and ever week) less than a page of coverage per issue, and that’s downright pathetic.