Amazon.com: All Nominated Finalists for the 2009 Best Cover of the Year

WHY DISTRACTION MAY ACTUALLY BE GOOD FOR YOU: Amazon has compiled all sixty of the American Society of Magazine Editors' nominated Finalists in various categories for the 2009 Best Cover of the Year. You can also browse through every cover which was nominated in any category.

THERE'S A TRAIN LEAVING NIGHTLY CALLED "WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE": The WaPo's Patricia Sullivan reviews all the celebrities comprising 2009's Summer of Death.

TWO HITS. ME HITTING YOU, YOU HITTING THE FLOOR: There was a football game last night, and improbable powerhouse Boise State beat improbable powerhouse Oregon for the second straight year. After the game, Boise State's Byron Hout started talking trash to Oregon's LeGarrette Blount, and Blount sucker-punched him.

Blount, who according to reports and the video is a complete nutcase, is going to get a deserved suspension that hopefully will last a while. But admit it: it's kind of gratifying to see a knucklehead like Hout, who just can't shut his yap, get his yap shut (and his lights turned out) with one punch.

SHOW ME WHAT'S BEHIND DOOR NUMBER 2: The all new Let's Make A Deal, which replaces Guiding Light on CBS stations this fall, will originate from the (less-than-entirely) Fabulous Tropicana Casino in Las Vegas, NV. If for whatever reason you find yourself in Las Vegas dressed in a ludicrous costume, you know what to do (tickets available here). LMAD is a fascinating game, because unlike pretty much any game show save Deal or No Deal, there's fundamentally no skill involved other than the Monty Hall Problem.

This also gives an opportunity to reference cult game show classic Whew!, which, despite an elaborate opening sequence and a dramatic bonus round, suffered from perhaps the most complicated rules I've seen for a game show.

57 CHANNELS, AND NOTHIN' ON: With the first new TV of the fall season less than a week away (the premiere of the new Melrose Place, now with less Heather Locklear and more Ashlee Simpson-Wentz!), it's time to, with the aid of EW's handy cheat sheet, engage in two ALOTT5MA traditions:

1. Discussion of what we're excited for in terms of the new shows. For me, it's looking like Community and Flash Forward lead the pack, with a possible slot for NCIS: Los Angeles, though I'm concerned that we could have another CSI: Miami here--taking an original show that's enjoyable in large part because it's populated by a group of social misfits and dorks and trying to make it "cool and sexy," which seemed to be the direction the pilot was headed, though the casting of Linda Hunt gives me hope on that front.

2. The annual Death Pool. What show will get canned the quickest? I'm tempted to place my money on Fox's apparently execrable Michael Strahan sitcom Brothers, but given that it's Fox and Friday, I anticipate they'll have patience, but I'm going to stake my claim on Kelsey Grammer's latest attempted comeback--Hank, if just because ABC has Scrubs and Better off Ted ready to go into those slots if need be. The prize, as always, is fame and glory forever, or at least until you fall into the dustbin of ALOTT5MA history.

I THINK WE BOND ON A "FAT KID" LEVEL AS WELL: A second straight week on Top Chef Vegas featuring an institution in which gay Americans cannot partake equally -- and yet no complaints this time? Somerton's Jennifer Carroll had her chance to shine again in a particularly badass way, though the thing I was most amused by was the Judge's Table "you thought ours sucked -- what about the chowder?" cross-court diss. One of the better JT segments we've had in a while, in fact, as one question loomed larger than all others: "Why didn't you try to cook a winning dish?" Perhaps someone should have listened to Bart.

LIVE, FROM NEW YORK, IT'S TWO WOMEN WE KNOW ALMOST NOTHING ABOUT! Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad, welcome to Studio 8-H. Both new cast members are Upright Citizens Brigade alumni.

In addition, at least four new writers have been hired for the season -- UCB's Christine Nangle and Ryan Perez, and Chicago's Hannibal Burress (standup) and Michael Patrick O'Brien (Second City).

Finally, Darrell Hammond expects to come back for another record-setting season.