and I'm certainly not suggesting that I had anything to do with it...

But over the past couple of years, I've had a lot to say (here, here and here) about New York Times television critic Ginia Bellafante's snippy and condescending tone when discussing soap opera. So the headline "‘Friday Night Lights' Watch: Soap Opera for the Ages," lead "Does it seem like overstating things to say that "Friday Night Lights'" is the greatest television soap opera of all time?" and substance of her comments on the return of Friday Night Lights, came as a lovely surprise, and pleased me beyond words.

Her comments come on the heels of Terry Stauton's Why Mad Men Is More Than A Drama: The Correct Use Of Soap in the British on-line music magazine, The Quietus, both of which I'll be discussing in a forthcoming post.

And speaking of The New York Times, a belated "thank you" to columnist Gail Collins: I had a few things to say about her tone here, but in the crush of media coverage I forgot to acknowledge her thoughtful comments about Guiding Light's cancelation.