Short cuts.

The Hills: You have to love an episode that begins with Stephanie noting that she's "twenty-three, and been to jail twice," ("Like, who does that?") features Lo (who finally makes the opening credits) calling Kristin a "crackhead" (behind her back, of course) and Heidi's step-father commenting that her newest face looks "frozen" (or as Heidi says, "plastic"). None of these moments would have occurred in prior seasons, when the producers kept an air-tight lid on the actually interesting parts of the girls' lives. If Kristin and company (which laughably includes Audrina, as if they would ever hang out in real life) can finally save Heidi from Spencer's sick machinations, acknowledging their various substance abuse scandals on-camera will have been worth it.

The Hunger Games: In the first installment of a planned trilogy, Suzanne Collins transports readers to a dystopian future dominated by the Capitol, a lavish society obsessed with appearance, violence, and entertainment. Once a year, the Capitol stages the Hunger Games, a competition turned reality show, in which the surrounding Districts (there are twelve) must sacrifice two teenagers (a boy and a girl) to compete in a battle to the death. Premise aside, the most awesome thing about the book is narrator Katniss Everdeen, who possesses qualities seldom seen in young female leads. Katniss is smart, capable, and fiercely independent, as well as selfless, loyal, and a team-player. She does what she has to do (kill people), though refuses to submit her humanity in the process. I just love the idea of a teenage girl successfully (so far) navigating a dangerous world where everyone tries to fashion her in the image of their choosing.

Survivor: Goodbye, Amanda. I'm sorry you couldn't find an ally with even a shred of strategical insight (though giving the idol clue to Danielle was entirely your fault). I kind of wanted to see you and Parvati join forces, but she's trapped in an alliance with Russell (whose ego is losing him this game one day at a time). Thursday's episode could never match Parvati's big (brilliant) move two weeks ago, but all the stupid decisions everyone made didn't help. Why Candice thought it smart to flip alliances, when Sandra had already come along and offered to join the Heroes, I'll never know. Poor Sandra keeps handing people opportunities to seize control of the game, and they keep saying "no thanks." Also, Colby, do you plan on planning this game, like, at all? Your general disinterest and malaise has gone from boring background noise to outright annoyance.