GENERAL HOSPITAL: NIGHT SHIFT actually makes it worth staying up past midnight and then coming into work bleary-eyed. And it always rewards both the new fan and the lifer.

There really is nothing to say about GENERAL HOSPITAL: NIGHT SHIFT other than this: Why isn't this show on in the afternoon? If you are a GH fan, you need to watch this series. Stay up and watch it live; tape it; DVR it; take a nap in the evening and set your alarm to wake up at 11 p.m. NS is worth the effort, and there are only two episodes left...

So I decided it's time to check in with TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (time…get it? Ah, never mind.) If I didn't know better I would think this show was taking cues from Sunday night's MAD MEN, with its mother fixation. Sarah had to act as substitute mom for Marty, a child she rescued from a terminator.

"The market took a turn for the worse." — Bud

Mothers assumed the spotlight on MAD MEN, even though the main plot concerned Betty's father suffering a stroke. That brought Don back in to escort her to the family homestead and expand on her conflict with her stepmother.

My very favorite new show from last fall was PUSHING DAISIES, a whimsical fantasy series that can only be described as a modern fairy tale. It's utterly unlike anything else on TV, and I was sorry its freshman season was truncated by the writers' strike. In this series, humble pie-maker Ned has the power to bring the dead back to life with one touch.

It's tough not to get spoiled with my job, but every once in a while it happens, and when it does, it's good. Exhibit A: Last night's installment of THE SHIELD. Imagine my surprise to see GENERAL HOSPITAL's Robin, Kimberly McCullough, wielding a shotgun in a garage as she reprised her role as car thief Deena.

The theme of last night's GOSSIP GIRL was secrets — from the cool (Lily revealed she once modeled for photographer Richard Mapplethorpe, prompting Serena to declare, "You just became the coolest mom on the Upper East Side") to the destructive (Rufus found out that Jenny has been skipping school). Anger and revenge were also central tenets of the episode.

I have been waiting for the return of THE AMAZING RACE, the Emmy winner for best reality series, because I find it the most genuinely exciting to watch. It's just like watching a sporting event; a true competition. Each team has to run like the devil because they almost never know where they stand in relation to any other team; they could be in first place or last.

"Any life that's worth living is always gonna be just a little bit dangerous." — Robert Scorpio

GENERAL HOSPITAL: NIGHT SHIFT's season isn't over yet (and there's that huge reunion episode waiting in the wings), but I'm still going to go out on a limb and brand the latest installment Best. Episode. Ever. And we owe it all to the timely arrival of Kathleen Noone (ex-Edna, PASSIONS) as Patricia Julian, otherwise known to Leo and Kyle as Momma.

On GOSSIP GIRL, it was the first day of school at West Beverly — er, I mean, the Constance Billard School for Girls and St. Jude's School for Boys — and Blair Waldorf was deciding who would live and who would die — er, I mean, who would be accepted into her ruling social clique. Hopeful candidates submitted application packages and submitted to personal interviews.