Recesstop 5

5. Underwater Smallville. OK, American Idol alum and former model Alan Ritchson's stint as the ultimate fishy superhero didn't make for the best Smallville episode ever. But that's not stopping the show's creator from contemplating a spinoff starring the human amphian. Which is good news because when recess was growing up his favorite comicbook was Aquaman. Sigh.

4. The new metrosexuality, like the old metrosexuality. The latest craze to sweep America's heartland is metrospirituality, meaning Americans are yuppier and hippier than ever. If you're shopping for hybrid cars and organic cheeses, talking about wu wei and aromatherapy or adopting a new religion of celebrity persuasion, then you're just feeding into the trendy madness. You foxy Kabbalist, you.

3. Magical Year, book. Joan Didion, our favorite literary stylist, is back with her latest batch of memoirs in The Year of Magical Thinking. It's got a National Book Award nomination, a couple of comas, a death and a grief-stricken widow. No, it's not the plot of the latest Lifetime movie. It could be the book of the year.

2. Old 'it girl.' Overshadowed for years by Lisa Kudrow's caustic wit and Courtney Cox's cleavage (and perhaps Brad Pitt too), Jennifer Aniston is finally breaking out with four upcoming releases, including this weekend's Derailed. The TV-film crossover is a tough one though. Aniston is our pick for the next Kirstie Alley.

1. Real-life dolls. After recording the song of the summer ("Don't Cha"), the Pussycat Dolls have returned with sultry ballad "Stickwitu," which is already clawing up the charts. We have no Spice Girls. We have no TLC. We have no Destiny's Child. But we have the Dolls.