Anyone who doesn't believe that Gossip Girl and The Hills are the best shows on television just isn't as smart as I am. Yeah, I said it.

Last week, I found The Hills season premiere a little underwhelming. But after last night, I'm reconsidering my initial reaction. It wasn't you, The Hills, it was me. You were gone all summer and we drifted apart. I was doing my own thing, and it's not that I forgot about you, but when you came back it felt sort of sudden and I guess I just wasn't ready. At first, all I could do was enjoy you on a shallow, superficial level. But I could tell that something was missing and I was so arrogant that my first instinct was to blame you. When I saw you again last night, though, I realized that it was my fault all along. I just wasn't emotionally prepared to appreciate you in the way that you deserve to be appreciated. You're amazing, and I'm so sorry for failing to recognize that for a minute. I won't let it happen again.

As for you, Gossip Girl. Wow. Just...wow. You blew my mind last night. It's like you spent the entire summer pondering your cultural relevance and then said to yourself, "Okay. If that's really what people want, that's what we'll give them." There were some questionable moments and yes, you were "slightly off-tone." But that's okay with me because I think I understand what you were going for and I like it. The new star of Gossip Girl is the aesthetic sensibility, and I think that's fucking awesome. I could barely concentrate on the actual story because I was too busy just gazing at the pretty pictures. If the second season premiere of Gossip Girl were a fashion spread in W magazine, I would tear out all the pages and hang them on the walls of my apartment. Be as stylized and ridiculous as you want, Gossip Girl, and I will just love you more and more.

Last night's onslaught of awesomeness totally overwhelmed my critical thinking abilities. I need to watch both episodes again before crafting a more thoughtful and specific response. (Ed and I are currently looking for a new apartment. After we move, we're going to get a flat screen television and DVR and it will totally revolutionize my blogging.) In the meantime, for more Gossip Girl discussion I highly recommend the New York recap, which is invariably fabulous. And for The Hills, if you haven't already come across Songs About Buildings and Food, you absolutely must check it out immediately. Somehow, I only discovered it last week, and I haven't had time to really delve into it yet, but it's basically the most thorough and wonderful blog about The Hills that I could ever imagine.