I should also mention "New Amsterdam," but I'm something like three episodes behind in watching it. But I did catch up with all of the above last night and this morning. Notes after the jump …

I keep tabs on "The Bachelor: London Calling" because Holly Durst, one of the contenders, is local. And since she got her rose in a one-on-one date, I could have just bagged the rest of the show at that point. Not to mention that the whole red-carpet "premiere" that she and Matt attended was promotional puffery of the worst sort, an obviously contrived bit of make-believe whose primary purpose was to promote the movie (which, conveniently, also had a commercial during "The Bachelor"). And not a very impressive contrivance at that: no crowd outside the theater, with just a few "reporters" along the red carpet. (Yeah, yeah. the show called it a "private premiere." Makes the trappings seem that much phonier.)

But I did eventually watch the rest of the show, which is just Catfight City at this point. And I have to think that Matt is turning into a big old horndog whose interest in love is not nearly as great as his interest in tub time and serial smooching.

I had high hopes for "How I Met Your Mother" last night. The blackboard theft was funny enough, and the Barney-brackets debate pretty good. And who didn't get a laugh out of the "Doogie Howser" homage at the end? But when we got to Barney's Final Four, it dragged, with too many predictable gags (the attempts at being inconspicuous, Barney thinking Robin's friend was the woman sabotaging him). Still waiting for the show to get fully back on game.

"Two and a Half Men," meanwhile, went to one of its most reliable sources of humor: filth. Herb's gardening jokes were fine, the seed payoff even better. Add in Jake's discontent at an R-rated movie (continuing his recent dogging of stuff he has watched with Charlie), the Judith-Herb clinches in every room and Berta's moments, and it's another gem.

Busy weekend with only a little TV, but some comments on "SNL," "Reaper," "The Bachelor" and the local digital-cable overhaul, after the jump …

Today the bride and I mark our fourth wedding anniversary, and a fine marriage it is. We celebrated with an overnight getaway on Friday night. A somewhat challenging getaway, as it turned out. For one thing, it was a dreary, wet, foggy night. And we had actually made reservations for Saturday, but somehow got Friday in our heads and so showed up a day early. Were able to get a room, though. Then, by the time we went out to dinner, it was pretty late for a Friday and every restaurant we stopped by was packed. Since the University of Akron was playing in the MAC semifinals, we decided to get takeout from Swenson's, go back to the room and watch the game on TV. The Swenson's part went as planned, but the hotel TV system didn't have the game. We ended up listening on the radio instead. And still, on balance, had a nice little batch of time together.

Saturday was house-cleaning day, and Sunday involved a couple of small but long-delayed projects, such as rehanging some pictures that had been taken down during a room rearrangement. But we managed to watch Akron in the MAC finals. (They lost, reprising some playing flaws we had seen in earlier games, but at least managed to get an NIT berth.)

Also on the TV side, I am not pleased with the way Time Warner is overhauling its channels lineup. At least where I live, the process is quite gradual — a channel here, a channel there — and so far consists of dropping channels and then making people wait for replacements, if any is coming. For instance, TWC has moved GAC out of the analog tier but has yet to put TV One on in its place. The HD version of Showtime West is gone for good, but Starz HD has not appeared yet. (Nor have the other promised new HD channels.) HBO West's HD feed is also gone, although that's supposed to be temporary.

This all strikes me as really stupid tactically. If you're trying to minimize the irritation that channel changing causes, you should at least have replacements up and running when you peel things out. Instead, I see channels dropped and wonder if TWC is trying to save a few bucks by cutting things out and then delaying the replacement. And it's annoying to have to keep track of a few little changes when I know that I'm going to have to relearn a lot more once the massive overhaul takes place.

As for things I cold watch, I recorded "Saturday Night Live" — Jonah Hill hosting, Mariah Carey the musical guest, a late replacement for an ailing Janet Jackson — and watched it piecemeal on Sunday. Hill makes me laugh, and he did that more than once on the show, notably in "What's Youu Situation?" and as an abrasive 6-year-old dining out with his father. But neither of those sketches had a good ending, and the show overall was flat. A couple of good gags in "Weekend Update" but nothing that I was dying to replay. And Carey's vocals looked, to me at least, as if they had been prerecorded.

Finally caught up with Thursday's telecast of "Reaper" on Sunday. Was glad to have the show back. It's uneven, especially considering its promising premiere, but I have found enough good in it to keep coming back. (Ray Wise alone is worth the hour.) And the romance with the devil's daughter still has possibilities. But I wasn't knocked out by the episode — and I have never been a Jamie Kennedy fan, although he was relatively subdued here.

Watched a preview of tonight's "The Bachelor" and have to say that the bachelorettes seem to include more extreme cases every go-round. Has someone at ABC decided that, oh, "Flavor of Love" has changed the rules on courtship shows? When one bachelorette stuffs her underwear into the bachelor's pocket on tonight's show, it was definitely a step beyond the arm-wrestling and singing.

"Brad Womack, 34, a successful, self-made entrepreneur, has been selected to star in the 11th edition of ABC’s popular romance reality series," says ABC. And he's a Texan. Full announcement after the jump.

The show returns Sept. 24. More from ABC:

For all his hard-earned accomplishments, there is one thing missing from Brad’s life: He is ready to find his soul mate, settle down and have the family life he has so long desired. But Brad’s heart, determination and commitment have already given him a good head start.

However Brad has had to overcome some obstacles on his way to his booming business career. Born in Atlanta, his family stayed there until he was 12 years old, and then the family moved to Livingston, Texas, where he went to high school. Growing up in a single-parent home, his challenging days as a youngster helped to instill in him a good work ethic, the importance of a stable family and the ability to be a good provider. Not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he is appreciative of what he has accomplished on his own. These strong values, coupled with great looks and undeniable sex appeal, make him the perfect catch. Brad is sincere about his search and optimistic that he will find the woman who could become his wife.

Who survived the first night of "The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman," after the jump…

First of all, Ohio's own Linda Malek did not make the cut, thereby diminishing my limited interest in "The Bachelor."

And, for reference purposes, here's a link to ABC's bachelorette rundown.

With that in mind, here's who got the roses:

Stephanie T. won the first-impression rose, and so immediate antagonism from all the other women.

Other recipients: Alexis, Amanda, Amber, Bevin, Danielle I., Erin, Kate, Nicole, Peyton, Stephanie W., Susan, Tessa, Tiffany W. and Tina.

Great post-rose meltdown by Lindsay.

Andy started and ended with the same name, from Stephanie T. getting the first-impression rose to Stephanie W. getting the last one in the ceremony.

Also, do Andy Baldwin's facial expressions remind anyone else of Thomas Haden Church?