Poldark finale, Food Network Star goes live and Jon Stewart signs off from The Daily Show

The two hour finale of the first season of Poldark certainly had a lot of heartbreak but one good thing did come out of it; Verity ran off with Blamey and is now his wife! Good on her and to hell with Francis, who took it as well as you'd expect a whiny jackass like him to take it.

The rest is a mountain of bad news as Mark Daniels killed his cheating wife, Francis and family became seriously ill(even the servants were sick,so Demelza stepped in to help them out), passing that on to Ross' household where poor baby Julia Grace passed away and Demelza nearly joined her as well.

On top of that, the Warleggans were able to crush Ross' copper company by threatening his business partners who banked with them with financial ruin(along with buying up all of the available copper in the area).  Despite all of that, Ross and Demelza managed to hold on to each other in such troubling times:

Mind you, that love was strongly tested as Demelza revealed her role in helping Verity and Blamey. Ross really should not have blamed her for Francis ratting him out to George Warleggan; that was bound to happen, regardless of anything she said or did in that department.

It was good of Elizabeth to come over to nurse Demelza,especially after she got sick from taking care of that side of the family in the first place. However, Elizabeth needs to watch her step with George Warleggan, who is out and out pursuing her romantically. A little bold there, considering that she's married and while her husband is a jerk, he's far from ready to make her a widow anytime soon!

Fortunately, Ross was well distracted by a shipwreck that injured the purse strings of the Warleggans to calm his nerves until Demelza recovered. That relief was short lived,however, as the show ended with Ross being arrested and literally pulled out of his wife's arms. On a cliff, no less! A cliffhanger on a cliff, hard to beat that for a memorable finish. Well, this certainly leaves us wanting more and by next year, we'll be passing around the Poldark dish yet again with glee:

The four finalists on Food Network Star had a challenge that tested not only their individual presentation skills but their ability to work well with others.

The guys had to create dishes for a "Summer Live!" program and interact with each other during each demo, in front of a live audience. Right out of the gate, Eddie did great with a good dish and sharing his warm easy charms with his fellow contenders.

Jay and Arnold did well, although Jay's rather unfinished looking dessert was saved by a strawberry bourbon cocktail. Alex wound up being eliminated here, mainly for his choice of a bacon ramen soup as a summertime family reunion meal. It might have worked, if Alex had properly explained why he went with that but words failed him, along with the food.

He went off to Star Salvation and faced off against Dom and Rue, with the winner to rejoin the competition on this Sunday's episode. I truly hope that Rue is the one to return, as even the Star Salvation judges say she's really improved during her time there. I do like Eddie, Jay and Arnold but it would be nice to have a gal come back to the party:

Tonight is the final appearance of Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show, which is oddly appropriate as another political comedy of sorts will be airing live on another channel(let's be real,folks-most people are only going to watch that debate for cheap laughs, myself included).

Stewart's legacy is an impressive one, as his take on the news of the day, assisted by numerous talented comedians like Samantha Bee, John Oliver(who now has his own wonderful HBO show), Larry Wilmore(whose The Nightly Show is a must-watch) and one of my current favorites, Jessica Williams, was engagingly out of the box and then some.

From his lively challenges to the social norm to championing the cause of much needed reform to the VA's health care system along with support for those suffering from 9/11 related illnesses, Jon Stewart has done well with what his detractors would consider a bully pulpit.

 Granted, the man's not perfect but at least he does acknowledge his errors, something a few others in the field might want to consider doing themselves(yes, that means you, Bill Maher!).

I'm not sure when Trevor Noah will take over the hosting duties but I am looking forward to seeing what new direction he'll take TDS in. To Jon Stewart, thanks for the laughs and please feel free to stop by for a chat or two, as the crazy train we're all on is showing no signs of stopping any time soon:

SPECIAL BLOG ANNOUNCEMENT:  This is my last TV Thursday post for the remainder of the summer season,due not only to the dwindling amount of programming to discuss but some personal family issues as well. My mother is having surgery next week and will need some chemo follow-ups, so I feel that cutting down on a few of my online activities is a wise decision.

I'm not shutting down this blog or putting off any of my other writing projects altogether. Bad Movie Month will continue and there will be some book reviews, plus my bimonthly book preview post.  I'm just putting aside a couple of things that really don't need my full attention right now. Thank you all for checking into my TV Thursdays,which will resume sometime this fall. Have a good rest of the summer, folks but stay tuned for more TV talk in the near future: