Thanks, But No Thanks

by Jo Robertson

Since Thanksgiving just passed and families and friends often comment on the things they’re thankful for during the year, I thought it'd be fun to share our "thanks” and “no thanks” for the year’s happenings.

First of all, a great big wahooooo thanks for Johnny Depp. Honestly, did you ever think when he was in "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "21 Jump Street" that he’d also be capable of such a variety of acting roles as “Sweeney Todd” and “Pirates of the Caribbean”?


No thanks to Angelina Jolie. Okay, okay, she’s apparently a fine actor, philantropist and mother, but those lips just give me the creeps. Oh, come on! I just said what everyone’s thinking!


Thanks to FX for “Sons of Anarchy.” That show is utterly amoral, inappropriate, and unfit for the ears and eyes of children of any age, but Jax Teller, played by Brit Charlie Nunnam, has got to be the cutest thing since, well, Johnny Depp, and I’d tune in to the Biker Gang, drug-running, gun-running show just to watch his cute self.

No thanks to the new Blackberry Storm. Really, do we need one more electronic device to engage people’s attention when they’re actually supposed to be listening to you?

On the other hand, it has so many features I think I can cancel my housecleaning service. It'll probably do that too.

Thanks to Pink’s “Wait.” Love the beat, love the music, love the sassy theme.

No thanks to Pink’s “Wait” video. One word: bleeeeeech!

See it here: http://www.mtv.com/videos/pink/266933/so-what.jhtml#artist=710231

Thanks for the cast of “The Mentalist." This is one of the most cleverly-written shows of the fall television season.

No thanks Sara Tancredi's return to “Prison Break.” I thought her head – and her acting – was better in the box.

And whatever happened to T.J.? (He's in the middle of the photo, right in front of Sara Tancredi.

Thanks to Tina Fey who played Sarah Palin so well on SNL that when the Alaskan governor actually appeared on the hit comedy show, many Americans thought Palin was the fake.

No Thanks to botox. Who wants to inject botulinum toxin Type A produced in culture to your face?

Thanks for wrinkles. I like to pretend they’re the verification that I’ve actually lived and have been around the block a few times.

Thanks for electronic mail, instant message, and especially, for writers, electronic contests. Do we really want to leave our grandchildren tree-less?

What about you, Banditas, Bandita Buddies, and visitors? What great big shout out of “thanks” or “no thanks” would you give?

Thanks for a new favorite TV show this year? A great movie -- Daniel Craig's James Bond, anyone? A new addition to your family? No thanks to something you're sick to death of seeing/hearing -- annoying commercials, drivers with cell phones, bad coffee? A new gadget that just plain doesn't work? A bad movie that was highly touted? Or something you could do without?