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I’m happy to report, and more than a little surprised to learn, that Nikita is still alive and kicking … kicking ass that is.  The finale aired this passed Friday and Nikita (Maggie Q) survived her date with Division.  While that was no small feat, it was only marginally more impressive than the fact that Nikita also beat the odds and will return next year to the CW line-up.

On a network over-run with teenage angst (but surprisingly little acne), Nikita skews a bit older than the standard CW fair (as in Gossip Girl, 90120, and even Supernatural).  Based upon the remarkably conclusive finale, I suspect the show runners for Nikita also feared their time was about up.  Watching last night’s episode, I could almost pinpoint the exact point where the script made a nice little jump to allow for the possibility that the show might continue.  It’s the moment when a now major character steps off the elevator … in case you want to take a look for yourself.  There is an equally pivotal moment when another member of the cast could easily have easily been killed instead of popping up alive and well before the end credits roll.

All’s well that ends well, right?  Especially if you also survive the up-fronts.

This was a very satisfying season for this show.  In fact, I liked this finale much more than the latest season-ender for Supernatural (which follows Nikita on Friday nights).  I enjoy Supernatural and, honestly, will put more effort into watching it than I will Nikita.  But the last few seasons, the writers appear to be in a disappointing rut.  It goes like this: Paint the Winchester boys into an impossible corner, have them barely survive–but at what cost?–then leave everyone with the clear impression that all that hard work and sacrifice probably only made everything worse.  Stay tuned for next season when the shit really hits the fan!

And they fucked up the Impala … again.

Both shows had a very solid run this season, better than I expected.  But of the two, Nikita left me filling more satisfied.  Both shows have been renewed for next season, with the Winchesters moving to Wednesday night to hang out with Oliver Queen (aka Green Arrow) and Nikita shifting to a later time on Friday’s.  Initially, Nikita will get the dubious honor of following America’s Next Top Model but eventually our super-spy gets teamed up with something a little meatier as Cult is slotted as a mid-season replacement.

Normally I like ridiculously tight short-shorts and tank tops, but seriously, how can you look at this picture and not want to hurl something in the general direction of your television screen?  The pretentious head-tilts and neck-cocks and vacuous looks …

I don’t feel so good … someone find my bucket!  Not that one … the one with the big CW on it!

In case you’re far luckier than I and it has never even crossed your radar before now, ANTM = America’s Next Top Model

… goes to (drum roll please): The CW!

Nevermind the mild guesswork involved in simply finding the site (cwtv.com if you’re curious) or the various shades of green liberally spread about … the heart of any network site has got to be the viewing experience.

So it comes down to several factors. How easy is it to get to the episodes? One link, possibly two at the most. Even though the button is that horrible green again, it gets you there easy enough. Select full episodes, find the show you want to watch, and click. So far so good.

Your episode starts up with no hassle … that’s the second requirement met. No video or streaming hassles please. So far so good.

The episode opens with your usual commercial intro, this one something fairly amusing from Trident. There’s a good bit of video before the next break comes, but come it does. A minute of commercial here and there … no problem really, we’ve learned to live with those. But don’t push it. The CW not only pushes it, they ram it down your throat.

We also expect to get the same commercial over and over again. But we’re usually talking about maybe 5 minutes of commercial for nearly 45 minutes of a show. That’s a nice trade-off.

Unless you’re the CW. Now, I didn’t actually time anything, but I did tally the number of commercials during one CW show … 34 commercials. That compares favorably (or unfavorably depending on your take) with watching the show on the television. Those 34 commercials included many, many repeats and at least one example of “commercial volume boosting” … the seriously annoying habit some commercials have of significantly increasing said commercial’s volume. You know who you are … Applebees.

The CW is also one of a handful of network sites that won’t let Hulu host their programming. I’m assuming it’s because Hulu’s advertising policy doesn’t include up to seven different freaking commercials during one break.

I know that the CW (and all the nets) would probably prefer that I watch their shows when their actually broadcast. But guess I what? I don’t. I don’t watch anything according to any network schedule. For the most part, the CW is the last on my list for DVR. Now they’re at the bottom for online viewing as well.