The New York Post's NYPD March 3 blotter includes the following little gem:

Brooklyn

He just wigged out.

Despite the fact that I'm in my mid-twenties and headed toward my late twenties soon enough, I still watch the CW. I came of age when the network did (back when it was the WB): Buffy started when I was 13; Dawson's Creek premièred when I was 14. We have a bond. It's usually called"hotties."

I went into Melrose Place Tuesday evening expecting nothing and got the same in return. It doesn't seem like it will be the endlessly fun camp-fest of the original, and virtually none of the characters attract attention. Katie Cassidy, known to some as original recipe Ruby (Supernatural) and others as doomed Trish Wellington (Harper's Island), is the lone stand out as the truly bitchy Ella Simms, a.k.a the new Heather Locklear (compete with jokes about bad dye jobs). They've upped the ante by turning the character bi, but she's still hung up on some guy who's only got eyes for someone else. As much love as I have for Cassidy, she's not enough of a reason to stick it out. Final Verdict: Good enough when there's nothing else to do and you are bored our of your gourd. Not good enough for any other reason.

Though the Vampire Diaries books are older than Twilight and True Blood, the success of the latter two no doubt secured Kevin Williamson's adaptation a place on the CW's schedule. Fortunately for us viewers, it's just the right blend of soapy, campy, and violent. Also fortunately, no one's used the word soulmate yet. After one episode, all the characters are more vivid and interesting than everyone in the Twi-verse. Sadly, because of a little thing called "censors," they will never be as "vivid" (read: naked) as the good people of Bon Temps. But hot vampire brothers locked in a centuries long battle over a woman whose doppelgänger is already interested in at least one of them? There are worse things.
Final verdict: Assuming I never have to hear the s-word again, a full season order would do me fine.