New-season episodes of "Ugly Betty" and "Brothers & Sisters" arrived today, along with letters from the producers that indicate how the shows think they stand with the press.

The "Ugly Betty" letter, signed by Silvio Horta and Marco Pennette, began, "On behalf of the producers and writers of UGLY BETTY, we'd like to thank you for your continued support of our show. Your critical endorsement is a big part of why we're able to come back for a second season."

(Well, not as big as good ratings, but the show's pilot did generate praise before it premiered.)

Ken Olin of "Brothers & Sisters" knows that his show was not greeted so warmly. And he neither ducked that in his letter, nor indicated that early criticism was wrong.

"As many of you know, at this time last season we were still finding our way," his letter says. "To those of you who patiently supported us throughout, I am truly grateful. To those of you who came to the show later, I sincerely appreciate your willingness to remain open to the show's potential. And to any of you who remain skeptical I offer up my hope that you will watch this episode and others this season and find in them the humor, drama and emotion that has defined the series."

I'm in that third group, by the way. I didn't see enough in the pilot to go back to the show, and my viewing schedule was pretty full without it. Now I'm wondering what I've missed. Should I devote some spare hours to the replays on ABC.com?

From FX today:

The fifth season of the Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winning drama series
nip/tuck will premiere on FX Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 10 PM ET/PT. The show will include several guest stars
throughout the 14-episode season, including Oliver Platt, Lauren Hutton, Bradley Cooper, Paula Marshall, Portia de
Rossi, Jennifer Coolidge, Craig Bierko, Daphne Zuniga, Tia Carrere and John Schneider. Rosie O'Donnell will also
guest star, reprising her season four role of lottery winner "Dawn Budge." Additionally, Leslie Grossman reprises her
season one role as "Bliss Berger."
nip/tuck revolves around the lives of Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon),
two plastic surgeons, close friends and business partners who run McNamara/Troy, an overwhelmingly successful
plastic surgery practice. The series' fifth season continues where season four left off: following the divorce from Julia
(Joely Richardson), Sean sold his half of McNamara/Troy and left Miami for Los Angeles. Christian, after ending his
engagement to Michelle (Sanaa Lathan), soon followed — thus re-locating McNamara/Troy to the West Coast. The
new season of nip/tuck will explore Sean and Christian's struggles for success in a city where they are professionally
unknown — and its residents yearn for fame.

You may have seen this gadget, a toilet paper holder that also includes an iPod dock. But here's the big question: What songs would you want to listen to while you're, uh, communing?

Would it really help to hear Green Day's "Waiting" ("I've been waiting for a lifetime .. I'm so much closer than I have ever known"), or is that just more pressure? Speaking of which, what about the Seeds' "Pushing Too Hard"? (Thanks to Bob Sherwin for the suggestion). Or, for sheer titular simplicity, the President of the United States of America's "Lump"?

The comment section is open.

Friday night we went to the Indians-White Sox game, saw the Indians fall behind, got chills when Kenny Lofton came in to pinch-hit (screams of "Kenny! Kenny!" filling the stadium), cheered when the Indians came from behind to win and generally had a swell time. Plus it ended our seemingly endless streak of going to games that the Indians lose, adding to our high-fiving. Even better: We got out of the parking lot.

Tonight it was back to Cleveland for the first "Patriot Bowl," in the Browns' stadium, with the University of Akron against Army. Not so easy driving, since the Indians were also playing at home tonight. As for football, both teams had their bad spots, but Army was especially sluggish and the Zips won.

The only thing that would have made today better would have been if Michigan lost.

Oh, yeah. Good times, good times.