Okay, I'm updating! I had valid reasons for not updating before now. To be blunt, I was depressed. I didn't feel like writing anything. Even if I could've mustered an ounce of enthusiasm, I wouldn't have had anything productive or healthy to share. Sometimes you have to be in a hole. I dug in deep, wallowed, rolled around a bit, and I'm over it. I'm feeling pretty good now, thanks. I have perspective...and a burning desire to talk about television.
The fall season is upon us! Colored leaves in the trees, sweaters coming out of storage, hot apple something-or-other making the kitchen smell homey (or, in my case, a festive candle and apple linen spray, $10, courtesy of my local Avon representative). With all that comes the new TV season. I've gone whole-hog this year. I've been reading, researching, comparing, contrasting, and other appropriate adjectives in regards to what I need to watch this season. This year in particular is going to be challenging. There are a slew of interesting-seeming shows starting, and I have vested interests in several returning shows. Combine this with the magic of DVR and the fact that shows I've neglected thus far are coming out on DVD and I get to try them out for free, I'm going to be a bigger couch potato than ever. Because you unwittingly demanded it: here, in all its glory, is a list of what I'm tuning in for this year:
SUNDAY
1) American Dad (FOX, 8:30)- First and foremost, if you have an awesome theme song, you've already partly won the battle. Secondly, if your comedy style is excessively mean in a very smart way, I'll have your babies. American Dad has planted it's seed for the season.
2) Family Guy (FOX, 9:00)- I was just has happy as anyone when they resurrected this show. But I quickly became bored with it, and stopped tuning in. It felt like it was trying too hard. Apparently sometime between last year and last Sunday's season premiere, they fixed something. The funny was back! It's earned its series recording for the immediate future (unlike The Simpsons, which - I'm sorry - is a little too hit-or-miss these days. Not that I won't watch every once in awhile...I just won't be devastated if I miss it).
3) Desperate Housewives (ABC, 9:00)- Until last week, I had maybe seen three episodes of this show. And it was kind of fun...but I didn't really give a crap about it. Three out-of-order episodes from the middle of a season does not a viewer make! I took out the first disc of the first season, and it's still fun. But now I have the foundation on which to build more fun, which is resulting in amusement, even laughter! I have a shitload of episodes to catch up on before attempting the third season, but I'm not dissuaded yet.
4) Brothers & Sisters (ABC, 10:00)- New to ABC this season, in the time slot recently vacated by Grey's Anatomy. I've not been able to learn much about this show. I'm trying it out firstly for Calista Flockhart (because, in case anyone who reads this doesn't know better, Ally McBeal was an obsession for me), and secondly because of a combination of Rachel Griffiths and Sally Field. Why not, right? If it sucks, I'll just stop watching.
5) Sunday Night Football (NBC, 8:00)- haha, just kidding!
MONDAY
1) The Class (CBS, 8:00)- It's getting decent reviews. From the creators of Friends and Mad About You! It's a third grade calss reunion! People grew up into zany characters! What doesn't sound promising about that?! Plus, I need something to do until...
2) How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 8:30)- I'll never be sure if the change was in me or within the show itself, but my first impression of "this show is obnoxious" quickly changed into "man, these guys are entertainingly relatable!" It's so much more than just Doogie and the Freaks & Geeks guy now.
3) Heroes (NBC, 9:00)- I'm not expecting to like this. Not that it sounds bad, but it's not the kind of show I generally get into. It's got Greg Grunberg going for it, though.
4) Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC, 10:00)- Sometimes you KNOW you're going to like a show. Throw an awesome cast at me, an interesting premise, and then tell me that it's created and written by Aaron Sorkin. It's Christmas and my birthday and I won the lottery? Okay! Not to mention that Lauren Graham has a two-episode guest-starring story arc in October. You had me at hello!
TUESDAY
1) Gilmore Girls (The CW, 8:00)- Again, if you know me even slightly, you perhaps already know that I'm obsessed with how brilliant this show is. Last season wasn't exactly fantastic, but I haven't jumped ship yet. I want everyone to love this show. I will let you borrow my DVDs if it means you'll at least try it. Once you get into its groove, you'll find that there's not a smarter show on television.
2) Friday Night Lights (NBC, 8:00)- This show's being hyped by everyone and their brother (and Matt Roush, for whom I'd try any show once. Except Buffy. He was just plain wrong there). And it stars the guy who blew up in the post-Super Bowl episode of Grey's Anatomy. (the nicest looking pink dust on television, I say!)
3) Veronica Mars (The CW, 9:00)- Create a network expressly so you can schedule your show after Gilmore Girls to form a "cool girls' night" of television? I accept that. She solves mysteries, I hear. And her dad is the Just Shoot Me guy.
4) Boston Legal (ABC, 10:00)- David E. Kelley. Quirky law show. Provided I can catch up on what I've missed, I'm told I'll really like this show?
5) The Knights of Prosperity (ABC, 9:00)- Okay, so it's Donal Logue. That's not necessarily a bad thing. They're going to break into Mick Jagger's house...that's the plot. It was originally supposed to be Jeff Goldblum's house, which would've been great! Perhaps that was their first mistake? Entertainment Weekly says it might be the funniest new show of the season. That's worth a couple episodes of my time. I'm borderline optimistic.
6) Notes from the Underbelly (ABC, 8:30)- "One of the most surprising, sharpest pilots of the season" says Entertainment Weekly. Plus Rachel Harris. I'm going to have to stop watching something else by the time this show starts in November. I tell you now, it's not going to be Gilmore Girls.
7) The Unit (CBS, 9:00)- I didn't give a crap about this show until two things happened: 1) I learned the guy that created The Shield is the creator of this show too!!! and 2) the first season arrived at the store on Wednesday. So I'll watch the DVDs. We'll see what happens.
WEDNESDAY
1) Twenty Good Years and 2) 30 Rock (NBC, 8:00 and 8:30, respectively)- John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. Why not?
2) Kidnapped (NBC, 10:00)- Jeremy Sisto. Timothy Hutton. Delroy Lindo. Kidnappings. In my book, that warrants attention.
THURSDAY
1) Ugly Betty (ABC, 8:00)- I doubt I need to say much, since they're promoting the hell out of it. Of course I'm going to watch it!
2) The Office (NBC, 8:30)- Why not My Name is Earl, you ask? I don't love it. Plus, it'll give me something to watch next summer, when everything else is a repeat. The Office, on the other hand, is a no-brainer. Forget the first episodes where they were trying to mirror the British one. It's a whole new show. Funny!
3) Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 9:00)- In the last two weeks, I've watched all 31 episodes of the series* (I got a credit card and ordered both seasons at an extremely reasonable price). It's a guilty pleasure without guilt. Lorrie forced me to watch this show, and I'm glad she did.
FRIDAY
1) Men in Trees (ABC, 9:00)- It wants to be Sex and the City-meets-Northern Exposure. I want that, too. Starring Crazy Anne Heche!
If that's not enough to keep me busy, I'll be forced to finally start jogging. I'd like to thank Adelphia (they're Time Warner now) for allowing me to record these programs - special thanks to my television, which will allow me to experience most of them in high def.
*(I'm trapped in my apartment alone all day. Pathetic or not, TV marathons help make it suck less.)
