Week In Reviews

In case you don't already know, I have a job that has nothing to do with watching television or writing about it on this blog.  Occasionally it keeps me so busy that I don't have time to either watch television or write about it on this blog.  Last week was one such time.  But I put my weekend to good use and got caught up so let's talk about things shall we?  


Two Broke Girls - This is a decently funny show.  Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs are winningly funny separately and a great combination together.  The supporting cast is less than useless and there are definitely some cringey things happening overall but the laughs out number the cringes which is enough to get it a season pass at my house. 


How I Met Your Mother - I'm still watching this show but I don't think I'll be discussing it here.  My problem with the show is that after 6 years, it still wants to be about Ted and the title of the show despite the fact that I doubt we'll ever actually meet the freaking mother and Ted is intolerable.  I love Marshall and Lily and Robin and Barney but I can't take Ted.  So I'll keep watching but then I'll keep my annoyed opinions to myself.


Ringer - The second episode was a vast improvement over the pilot but I'm still not entirely sold on the show.  There remains a significant delta between what the show thinks it is and what it's actually capable of being.  I will give it another episode or two to find it's footing but it's position on my fall schedule is far from safe.


Free Agents - If I like Suburgatory when in premiers this week, I don't think I'll keep watching Free Agents.  I adore Anthony Stewart Head and Kathryn Hahn but the show isn't that funny or that interesting. 


Up All Night - Remember how I said I liked it but it wasn't that funny?  The second episode was pretty funny and now I really like the show a lot.  Though the Maya Rudolf character seems sort of shoe-horned in and while she's funny, I'm not sure she's completely necessary.  Still, this show is a keeper. 


Modern Family - The thing I like about this show is that the interactions are mostly kind and they're all exactly how families act...but funnier.  The third season started strong with two funny episodes and I look forward to more all season.  And I love Phil Dunphy most of all.


The Big Bang Theory - I thought Priya was gone but the Skype technology has decided to ruin everything for us.  Fortunately everyone else on the show is awesome and there's still hope that Priya will be gone for good soon enough. 


The Secret Circle - There is a truly unfortunate difference in the acting abilities of the cast on this show.  As with Ringer, I'm going to give the show a few extra weeks to win me over but so far I'm underwhelmed.  And the sex eyes that Thomas Dekker is throwing off are starting to make me uncomfortable.


Nikita - I was a little worried about how the show would deal with Alex teaming up with Division against Nikita and Michael but it seems like it's going to be a great twist that opens up a lot of good stories.  And somehow, being out of Division has made Birkhoff tolerable.  It's a Nikita miracle. 


Supernatural - So far so good.  I don't mind where the sho went over the past few years but I haven't been a fan of how it got there, this episode seemed like a bit of a return to things that I liked about the show previously.  Then again, I'm not sure I buy that Dean, Sam and Bobby would take the "wait around for something to happen" approach to Castiel going off the rails.  Even if he is God.  I love Death and I hope he drops in a lot more often this season and Leviathan Cas seems like an entertaining fellow, but overall it was only a mild improvement over the past few years.


The Good Wife - When this show gets steamy, it usually does so without showing us anything at all.  Last night Alicia had what appeared to be some very satisfying sex with Will in the full upright position while we saw them only from the shoulders up from which angle they appeared to be fully clothed and it was one of the hottest sex scenes I've ever seen on television.  And meanwhile Peter seems pretty intent on showing Alicia who's boss in the courtroom so there will clearly be all kinds of additional drama cropping up this season.  This show is so fun.


Felicity - I watched about 1/2 of the second season over the weekend and so did Claire though we didn't watch together this time.  We had the following conversation via text last night:

Claire: THE BOX.
Me: Did you love it?
Claire: I thoroughly enjoyed it.  However, it seemed really random.  Like really REALLY random.  I wish they'd have given more explanation. I NEED to know what's in the box! I'm also thoroughly enjoying the new counselor.
Me: Dr. Toni Pavone! She is my very favorite non-regular character on the show!
Claire: She is awesome, just like the music she always plays in her office. On a related note, did Felicity just consider dropping out of college or is my hearing off?
Me: Your hearing is fine.  Don't worry, Dr. Pavone will fix it.
Claire: Thank God. And if Ruby is pregnant, i will not be a happy camper.  This show gives me stress. 
Me: All the best shows do.
Claire: It's true.  Ugh.  I don't know what I'm going to do if this show ends badly.
Me: 2.16 right now at my house. Two people I won't name just got into a fight. It was glorious.
Claire: Stop torturing me. I'm only on 13.
Me: Sorry. Keep an ear out for my favorite Ben quote of all time.
Claire: Will it be profound or noticeable?
Me: It will involve him calling someone a dick. I think you'll know it when it happens. 
Claire: RUBY IS A SLUT. Noel deserves so much better! Like Felicity.  Or me!
Claire: That was a great quote.  "63% of me thinks you're a dick!"  I was impressed.
Claire: That was the stupidest/best fight ever.  Ever.
Me: I know. And after it's over it somehow gets even more amazing. Those two are really entertaining as friends.
Claire: I've noticed that.  I love this show.
Me: That makes me ridiculously happy.
Claire: I'm so glad you showed me this. And that it lasts longer than My So-Called Life.  So much more to love.  It feels like it'll be complete.
Claire: I like that Meghan has sworn to kill Felicity over Greg.
Me: Aw! Giving Meghan more to do was the best thing about Greg! I love Meghan.
Claire: Everyone should love Meghan.
Claire: I love that Felicity had no boyfriends in high school and now has been involved with 5 guys since she started college a year and a half ago. 
Me: She really blossomed in college. 
Claire: She did! I loved the Star Trek reference from Richard. I love Richard.
Me: Hee! Me too. 
Claire: OMG, AWESOME: "The thing about Ben is that he's this sweet, dumb guy. But the twist is: he's not dumb at all." Javier just summed up how I feel about Ben.
Me: And that's why I love both Ben and Javier. Well, that and everything that happens in 2.21 (The Aretha Theory).
Claire: Your goal is to make me too curious about upcoming episodes thereby depriving me of sleep tonight, right?
Me: Sorry.

The second season has gets a little maudlin here and there.  Some people are given too much screen time and others not enough.  Bad romantic choices are made.  Fashion atrocities committed.  But I love Felicity's short hair, I love Ben and Noel being friends, I love "The Aretha Theory" and I love this show.

My Fall 2011 Schedule

I know that not everyone takes their TV viewing as seriously as I do.  I do my homework on this stuff.  I read up on every new show to determine what it's about, who's in it, who writes it, who produces it, what certain critics I tend to agree with thought about it, and what all of those things mean for my interest in it.  Once I know what shows look interesting, I lay out the night-by-night schedule and painstakingly make my own spreadsheet of not only which shows I'll keep watching from last year and which new ones I'll add, but also which of my 2 DVRs I'll program to record each show based on when I will likely watch them.  Setting my new fall schedule is serious business and sometimes I still miss things I end up really liking.  But this is what I'm starting with this year:

Sunday

Once Upon A Time - (New) 8:00pm/7:00pm Central, ABC
I'm not even sure I can accurately tell you what this is about.  There's a thing with a woman who goes into fairytales and maybe is a character in one herself but doesn't know it.  Yeah, it sounds ridiculous.  And the early buzz I heard was all kind of "eh, it's dumb."  But then they brought in some good consulting producers - Jane Espenson, Liz Tigelar and Damon Lindelof - and the reworked some stuff and then critics were like "ok, I mean, it's not terrible.  There might be something here."  I like Jennifer Morrison (despite the fact that I have strongly disliked two of her most identifiable characters) and Ginnifer Goodwin and now David Anders is filming episodes.  He may have been a son of a bitch on Vampire Diaries, but he earned a lifetime of goodwill as Sark on Alias.  If he whips out a British accent on this show, I will watch to the bitter end. 

The Good Wife - (Returning) 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, CBS
The marketing campaign would like me to know that their spicing things up this year.  They're working the sexy angle extra hard and I have no complaints about that.  Particularly if the sexy angle will involve Alicia and Will having a lot of sex.  I'd also like to see Cary get some action this year, as long as we're cranking up the steam.  Other things I'm looking forward to: Diane and Will scenes which just make me happy; Kalinda and Alicia mending fences; Cary becoming Kalinda's substitute BFF; Eli. 

Homeland - (New) Showtime
Claire Danes working Homeland Security is a thing I did not know I wanted to see.  But as it turns out, Claire Danes doing almost anything is something I want to see because the more times I watch My So-Called Life (I'm well into double digits now), the more I wish she were back on my TV every week.  I'm glad for the trend that's bringing actors and actresses to the small screen over the big these days.  I absolutely believe television is where most of the quality roles and stories are so it just makes good sense for quality actors to be there.

Pan Am - (New) 10:00pm/9:00pm Central, ABC
The part of me that expected to like Mad Men, really wants to love this show.  I love the aesthetic and the nostalgic quality of a show set in the '60s.  But while Mad Men lost me by focusing a whole lot on a dude sitting in his office smoking and thinking, Pan Am should keep the pace of things moving a bit faster just by virtue of being about the world's busiest and most glamorous airline (at the time).  Bolstered by a likable cast that includes Christina Ricci, Kellie Garner, and Mike Vogel, and a Tommy Schlamme directed pilot, and I'm hopeful. 


Monday

How I Met Your Mother - (Returning) 8:00pm/7:00pm Centeral, CBS
I don't care if I ever meet the mother and I'm now actively hoping that Ted gets hit by a cab, but there could be a return to the fun chemistry of the early Barney/Robin romance and Marshall and Lily will almost certainly be funny and adorable through some of it so I'll keep watching.  Unless Jennifer Morrison's show is cancelled and they try to bring Zooey back in which case I'm out.

2 Broke Girls - (New) 8:30pm/7:30pm Central, CBS
Kat Dennings is great but there's no way this would have made my schedule had it not gotten fairly good reviews from so many critics.  A few season's ago I'd gotten away from nearly all half hour comedies but they've been creeping back onto my schedule recently.  I'm not terribly confident they'll all have staying power but Monday's aren't too crowded so this one may not have to make too big an impression to get a pass. 

Hart of Dixie - (New) 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, CW
The adorable Rachel Bilson reteams with her OC showrunner Josh Schwartz and already I'm in.  Add Scott Porter and Cress Williams to bring that touch of Friday Night Lights, and Jaime King who I just think is adorable, and there's really no way this show wasn't going to get an automatic season pass at my house.  Whether or not I'll buy Bilson as a doctor is debatable but I never bought Chad Michael Murray as a novelist and I kept watching One Tree Hill so I don't think a silly thing like believability will deter me here either.

Hawaii Five-0 - (Returning) 10:00pm/9:00pm Central, CBS
I like bromances and the one between Danno (Scott Caan) and McGarrett (Alex O'Laughlin) is particularly fun.  They argue like my grandparents, you guys.  I'd watch an entire show of the two of them driving around arguing in the car.  Also, Danno has the shortest fuse and the biggest temper for a guy I could fit in my pocket.  I love it. 

The Playboy Club - (New) 10:00pm/9:00pm Central, NBC
Like Pan Am, this one has the period setting going for it.  It's set in the flagship Playboy club in Chicago in the '60s and will focus mainly on the bunnies, the club manager and one particular key holder whose day job appears to be as a cleaner for the mob.  Jeff Hephner was originally supposed to play the key holder but apparently a crossroads demon got involved and now Eddie Cibrean is the key holding enforcer and with that casting change, my interest waned.  I'll still tune in for the pilot, but now I'm pretty sure that'll be as far as it goes.


Tuesday

New Girl - (New) 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, Fox
You already know I enjoyed this pilot a lot.  There's much to recommend it including a pleasant cast, an adorable sense of humor and a premise that doesn't button-hole them into recycling the same jokes for years.  I hope it does well because I'd like to see this show make it. 

Ringer - (New) 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, CW
Sarah Michelle Gellar returns to TV where she has always belonged! My excitement and anticipation for this show were insane from the moment it was picked up last spring.  But over the past few weeks, as it's premiere has approached and more critics have seen it, I'm starting to worry that I will not enjoy this show.  The consensus seems to be that it's a bit of a try-hard which is not something I usually respond to.  Also, they are continually casting new roles on the show and so far they seem to all be men.  How many love interests does one show need?  I'm getting the distinct impression that it's bloated and all over the place and I'm less and less hopeful that SMG has the ability to pull it all together with her own tiny little hands.  Even if those hands did used to save the world.  A lot.


Wednesday

Up All Night - (New) 8:00pm/7:00pm Central, NBC
This wasn't on my original list but Mike asked me to watch it since he plans to and I'm a good friend (also he let's me make him watch stuff so I owed him).  I like Will Arnett, Christina Applegate and Maya Rudolf a lot so I want it to be good.  I have heard next to nothing about it though so I don't know what to expect.  Perhaps I'm in for a pleasant surprise.  If not, it's only 30 minutes a week, I can spare that to make my friend happy. 

Free Agents - (New) 8:30pm/7:30pm Central, NBC
On the other hand, I've heard quite a lot about this show and none of it is good.  If you're wondering why I'd watch it anyway, I can answer that in three words: Anthony Steward Head.  I can't let Rupert Giles return to television without at least saying I tried to watch. As further incentive, Katherine Hahn is the female lead.  Yes, this show is like the many things that Judy Greer keeps being cast in which are well beneath her talents, but until someone gives them something befitting their brilliance, I've got to do my part to help them earn paychecks. 

Suburgatory - (New) 8:30pm/7:30pm Central, ABC
Many critics have touted this as their favorite comedy of the new season and I'm intrigued.  When I first read that Jeremy Sisto was playing the father of a teenage girl in this comedy, I was offended on many, many levels.  Remember when he was rolling with the homies in Clueless?  Or dating Joey Potter?  Who said he was old enough to have a teenage daughter? He is TWO YEARS older than I am.  I hate everyone.  Ahem.  But good reviews are good reviews and Jeremy Sisto, while not as old as they'd like us to believe, is still Jeremy Sisto so I'm in.

Modern Family - (Returning) 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, ABC
If you need me to tell you why I'm watching this, I guess you haven't been paying attention the past two years.  It's a sweet, funny, silly, smart show that the whole family can watch and appreciate.  The entire cast is outstanding and I like the way they mix things up by pairing up all different combinations of people for stories each week - as it would be in a real family.

American Horror Story - (New) F/X
Did you notice that Glee isn't on my schedule this year?  That's because Ryan Murphy has a way of turning a fun show into something TERRIBLE with little or no effort at all.  Yet, I am going to set myself up for another round of disappointment because Connie Britton is awesome.  Still, I fully expect to hate this show - if not immediately, then eventually.

Revenge - (New) 10:00pm/9:00pm Central, ABC
I love this show.  I told you I loved it last week and I wasn't kidding.  The cast is amazing, the story is soapy and intriguing.  Kyle Valenti and Amy Abbott are totally going to hook up (power of positive thinking!) and the only thing better than two WB legacies hooking up is...no, there's nothing better than that.  This show is the exact right mix of everything I like about TV.  Now everyone needs to watch it so that it isn't cancelled.  Seriously.


Thursday

The Big Bang Theory - (Returning) 8:00pm/7:00pm Central, CBS
When the show added Bernadette and Amy last season, I was initially skeptical.  But both Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik have been great and fit in beautifully.  The same can not be said for the Priya character so I can only hope Leonard gives her her walking papers sooner than later.  It's still a fun show and I will never stop loving Sheldon. 

Parks and Recreation - (Returning) 8:30pm/7:30pm Central, NBC
I don't know if I've said much about this show but it's delightfully funny.  There is endless comedy in reaction shots.  Everything in the show seems small but it produces huge laughs.  If you haven't seen the show before, you need to seek out the season 2 episode "Hunting Trip" immediately.  If Leslie's interview with the park ranger doesn't make you laugh, you might not understand comedy. 

The Vampire Diaries - (Returning) 8:00pm/7:00pm Central, CW
Do I really have to tell you why I'll be watching The Vampire Diaries?  Are my EXHAUSTIVELY detailed recaps not hint enough that I like this show kind of a lot?  You want specifics, fine, here goes: amazing acting, the most intricately woven and meticulously complex plots I can recall ever seeing on television, and the most physically attractive cast anyone ever assembled.  If none of that seems like something you'd like to see, we really have nothing left to talk about.

Person of Interest - (New) 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, CBS
I've taken most of the procedurals off of my schedule because I've got so many serialized shows that I have no time left to worry about the ones I could catch up on during the next holiday weekend marathon on the USA network.  But this show seems like something a little more interesting.  A former hit man and a scientist trying to prevent crimes before they happen adds just the tiniest touch of Alias and Fringe to the crime procedural genre and I might just be interested in that. 

Secret Circle - (New) 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, CW
I watched the pilot last night (thank you, iTunes!) and I see promise in the show.  I'm not sure I love it yet but Brit Robertson and Thomas Dekker have good chemistry and Gale Harold is blowing my MIND with his creepiness.  I'm not entirely sure I see how this story goes long-term but I wouldn't have guessed all the places they'd take The Vampire Diaries either and that's worked out very well so I'm giving this a little runway to get off the ground. 


Friday

Nikita - (Returning) 8:00pm/7:00pm Central, CW
My first impression of this show was less than stellar but I gave it a second chance to win me over last spring and ended up really enjoying it.  They seem poised to change things up quite a bit this year with new allies and new enemies.  And I'm sure they'll still blow things up and kick people's assess and stuff just for good measure so that should be fun. 

Grimm - (New) 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, NBC
I have heard some truly bad things about this pilot.  I believe one critic said (via Twitter) that it looked like a particularly low-budget Canadian show from the '80s and that certainly paints a grimm picture.  (See what I did there?)  Still, I have a sense of morbid curiosity for it because David Greenwalt is executive producing and Silas Weir Mitchell is in it and I kinda dig Silas Weir Mitchell.  He can really bring "weird" to life. 

Fringe - (Returning) 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, Fox
Here's where I have to admit that I haven't watched the last 6 episodes of last season yet.  I know, I now.  But I do really like the show and I have every intention of catching up and keeping it on my schedule.  I mean, I heard that they killed Peter which is UNACCEPTABLE, but Josh Jackson remains on the show so I guess I can get over it.  Dammit, I really need to get up to speed on this show immediately.  Cough, cough...maybe I should go home sick right now.  Hmmm...

Supernatural - (Returning) 9:00pm/8:00pm Central, CW
My patience with the brothers Winchester has been wearing ever thinner over the past few seasons because I miss when they adhered to established personalities.  Also, I miss when Dean used to be funny.  Now they've gone and made Castiel a God who's drunk with power and I remain skeptical that this development will somehow bring back the fun show I used to so enjoy.  Still, I keep watching because even a downer Dean and a robo Sammy are better than having no Winchesters to ogle at all.  Being shallow is a bitch.

Catching Up On Reviews

Remember when I used to write something here every day?  Ah, memories.  I've already made my apologies and excuses for my neglect but what I didn't mention before is that it's not going to improve in the immediate future either.  Why, you ask?  Mind your own business, I say.  Or, I explain that the little sis is visiting on her spring break and I hope to be much too busy doing fun things with her to stop in and post.  But this week isn't over yet and I've still got stuff to talk about so here goes. 

Fringe - Caught up on three episodes over the weekend and holy MOLY does that show know how to creep me out and also make me wish that we could pick and choose people from each world to make one ideal world while the other be destroyed by that wacky contraption.  I'd want to keep Broyles and Walter and Astrid.  But then I kind of want Peter to pick Fauxlivia because she has better hair and I like her Alterna-World peeps so much.  The show gets more interesting every week.

Hawaii Five-0 - It isn't great art or anything, but this is a very fun guilty pleasure show and I could watch Scott Caan stomp around bitching about everything all day long.  The writers are all clearly in love with Alex O'Loughlin.  Every episode is like "he takes off his shirt and then is AMAZING at something that a mere mortal would DIE at the thought of!"  It's hilarious. 

Supernatural - In all honesty, I don't remember the last episode very well at all.  It was a perfectly good episode.  I recal that the wall of supressed torture memories that Death put up when he re-souled him is breaking down and Sam is having some issues.  I know that Ben tricked Dean into coming "home" and then they had a "father/son" talk about how Ben wants to be like Dean but Dean doesn't want that to happen and then I decided that Ben should totally do that and be the star of Supernatural: The Next Generation.  Other than that, I don't know what the case of the week was or anything.  Oh, but tonight is the meta ep where Sam and Dean meet Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles.  I'm cautiously optimistic about enjoying this one. 

Pretty Little Liars - I'll be honest with you, I don't give a shit who A is.  I just love everything else about the show so much that the identity of A is secondary and completely irrelevant to me.  Hanna is my fave, of course and I'm completely invested in her new relationship with Caleb who, despite his hair, does not suck at all.  I'm super sad for Em because she wants to be BFFs with Toby but he's gone all hos before bros on her with Spencer who totally wants to hook up with Toby now that he's got a hair cut and isn't a murderer.  I'd probably be super bored with Aria and Ezra if they weren't so attractive and Ezra if they weren't so freaking attractive.  Plus this new school play story is teriff. 

One Tree Hill - Last week, after Julian and Brooke spent an entire day engaged in role-playing sex games, Julian realized they had entirely too much time on their hands so they should probably adopt a kid.  This week, they lied to a birth mother who promptly found out that everyone they know has spent time in jail, drinks, used to do coke, attempted suicide, is unemployed and/or has been stalked and nearly murdered by a psycho.  Then she told them they could have her baby.  They should be parents by next week.  Meanwhile, Nathan and Clay hung out with a college pitcher whom I find good looking despite my concerted efforts to the contrary.  He's a douche and a dick and he's up to his ears in daddy issues so naturally he hires them to be his agents.  If OTH's series finale doesn't end with the phrase "...and they all lived happily ever after" on a black screen, I will gasp in shock. 

Glee - Last week was maybe the worst, most cringy episode of the series so far (and there have been some very bad, very cringy episodes) but then this week everyone got drunk and it was fun and awesome.  Drunk Rachel is the best version of her.  Turns out Brittany is the one thing that can make "Key-dollar sign-ha" palatable.  And when Will hangs out with Beiste, I don't hate him very much at all.  Win!

Hellcats - I'm going to tell you what you need to know about this episode, ready?  Dan Patch wore a tux.  Dan Patch has a dad who is every bit as awesome as Dan himself.  Dan Patch and Savannah got back together.  The end. 

The Good Wife - I found this to be a bit of a ramp-up episode.  The calm before the storm of "the vote" next week.  A fine episode but not anything that blew my mind clean out of my head.  But happiness awaits us next week, friends because they're calling for a vote and Bond is going to move that Diane get the boot and OMG, if Will and Diane's plan to turn the tables and bounce Bond comes together like they want, I will dance around with joy.  Y'all know I love me some Diane/Will scenes. 

Justified - I've tried to form coherent words and thoughts about the latest episode but every time I start to talk about it, all I can say is: Walton Goggins.  Walton fucking Goggins.  So I'm going with it.  If you aren't watching this show and you don't know who Walton Goggins is, you should remedy that RIGHT NOW.  The show is great and Walton Goggins is AMAZING. 

The Vampire Diaries - Spring hiatus starts now.  So the bad news is we have a five week wait for new episodes.  The good news is that I can be totally late with my recap due to my vacation but still get one up.  I have many things to say and some of them aren't even "MAAAAAATTTTTTT!"  So I'll see you back here in a week or so for that. 

How do I know Sam has his soul back?

Look at the furrow on his ginormo-brow?  Sammy No-Soul never furrowed.  He didn't care enough to furrow.  If the furrow is back, the soul must be with it. 

If you ask me...

I'm well aware that what I'm about to say is likely to result in the internet version of tarring and feathering, but it's been on my mind for a while now, and I have to say it - the problem with Supernatural (and make no mistake, that show has a problem) isn't Sammy No-Soul, it's mopey, humorless Downer Dean. 

During the first three seasons of the show, the Winchester boys' personalities were pretty clearly defined - Sam was sensitive, empathetic, smart, and desperate for a kind of normalcy that he never had growing up with a crappy, demon-hunting, wing-nut for a father; Dean was a smart-ass and a bad-ass who thought only about drinking, women, and hunting when he wasn't busy being emotionally stunted by the daddy issues that kept him desperately trying to gain the man's approval and respect.  Part of what made them a good pair was that they each had different strengths and weaknesses - Dean didn't have great people skills but he could handily dispatch most anything when things came to blows, while Sam was likely to get his ass handed to him in a physical altercation but could blink his puppy dog eyes at people and suddenly they trust him with their lives.  They...completed each other.  Plus, they were fun to watch.  Sam was the tiniest bit bumbling and Dean was all about the slightly inappropriate snarky jokes.  Sam was a little awkward around the ladies and Dean ate constantly.  Sam was afraid of clowns, Dean was scared to fly.  They had these silly, human, FUN qualities that they ribbed each other about and that gave us something to smile at through all of the killing and drama. 

Then Dean got dragged off to Hell and when he came back?  He was not fun.  He was the kind of not fun that their awful dad used to be before he was mercifully killed and sent to Hell himself.  He rarely made jokes, he was always crying and being all secretive about how he tortured souls and kicked off the apocalypse and stuff.  Yeah, I know, Sam was his own brand of no fun after his brother's untimely death - that demon blood subplot was straight from TV hell, I won't lie.  But Sam was always the straight man in the relationship so when he's no fun, it isn't as noticable.  That's when we came to rely on Castiel for our comedy, which is ok in it's own dry-as-a-bone way, but it would have been so much better as an addition, rather than a replacement.

It also wasn't fun the way the brothers spent all of their time lying to and keeping secrets from each other.  I've gone on about it here before but it really does seem ridiculous for two people who spent EVERY MINUTE together for three years and routinely put their lives in each other's hands, to suddenly become distrustful of one another.  To suddenly forget that having all the information is often their only hope of defeating whatever nefarious forces are working against them at any given moment.  But again, it makes a lot more sense to keep a secret like "I drink the blood of demons, I like it and I can't stop" than one like "when I was in Hell, I was literally tortured into doing some things I'm not proud of." 

I get it - burning in Hell is going to leave some emotional scars.  I just wonder why Dean didn't deal with it the way Dean had dealt with every other painful thing in his life up to that point - repressing, internalizing and snarking.  But he didn't, and I probably could have lived with the moping and the crying - Jensen is the king of the single, manly tear, after all - but then he started blaming his brother for the immanence of the apocalypse (which was patently ridiculous since it was DEAN who started that whole ugly mess in the first place) and that turned him all sullen and pouty and preachy and about 6 other unbearable dwarfs.  Humorlessness is bad enough but when all of your other personality traits are completely grating?  Ugh. 

That's all stuff that happened while they were dealing with Lilith's seals and the Angel Death Match though, theoretically, things were going to get better this season - funner, lighter.  They haven't.  At first, the creepiness of post-Hell Sam was really bugging me, not so much because of the creepiness itself, but more because I wanted to know why he was creepy.  Now that we know it's because he has no soul, it turns out that his laissez faire attitude toward all things life and death (not to mention human and emotional) is a little fun to watch.  Unfortunately for us, Dean's spending all of his time whining about how his brother is soulless (and maybe a little about how he misses his girlfriend) and none of his time being snarky and fun. 

To be perfectly clear, I think both Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles have always done the absolute best they could with what they were given.  I don't fault either actor for what's become of the characters they play.  But I do blame the writers who have taken well-fleshed-out characters and turned them into shaddows of the people we came to like in the first place.  It is the writers who made this mess, and it's the writers who need to clean it up and make watching Supernatural fun again.  The commercials for this Friday's fight to the death with fairies looks promising, but they've always been able to make funny one-off episodes.  What I'm looking for is a change in the general tone of the show that brings back the old, fun Dean and sends pouty Downer Dean back to Hell where he belongs. 

The Return of Fall TV

It’s that time of year again, time to make the tough decisions about what my TiVos will be busy doing for the next 9 months. It’s not just about which of the new crop of shows I’ll be giving a trial run and hoping to love, but also which of the shows I have watched in the past get a continued season pass and which are sent packing (Gossip Girl, I’m looking at you!).

Changing up the format from last year a little, I’ll note my returning shows with an R and the new ones with an N – clever no? And I’ll note the premiere dates if I know them.

Monday

How I Met Your Mother – CBS, 8:00p/7:00p C (R-Sept. 20)
They had an off season last year but the creators say that they’ll be getting back to what didn’t suck about the show and I’m willing to give them another year. Mostly based on my love for Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan. The cast is really good and most of the characters are plenty enjoyable. Everyone except Ted. Good Lord, I hope they make Ted more likable this year because he is just awful.

Chuck – NBC, 8:00p/7:00p C (R-Sept. 20)
After the best season yet last spring, I wouldn’t miss this one for the world. And now that the Buy More has been blown to smithereens I’m holding out hope that the Jeffster crap will be kept to a minimum and we’ll just have a show chock-full of Chuck, Sarah, Casey, Ellie, Morgan and Captain Awesome. Oh yeah, plus we’ll meet Chuck’s mom (Linda Hamilton!). It’s such a good show, if you aren’t watching, you should give it a shot this year. It’s never too late to fall in love with nerds, spies or Captain Awesome.

House – Fox, 8:00p/7:00p C (R-Sept. 20)
I’m not going to lie to you, I don’t even know what happened in the last few episodes of last season. My DVR list got very crowded and it got bumped a number of weeks in a row. I heard that House and Cuddy hooked up and while I wouldn’t categorize myself as a Huddy-shipper, I feel like it was about time. Still, I can DVR three things that air at the same time and if something else were to be shuffled into this timeslot at the last minute that looked good enough, I’d bump House. I can always catch it online if I really want or…I could quit it altogether and probably not miss it.

Lone Star – Fox, 9:00p/8:00 C (N-Sept. 20)
I’m a little worried that this one won’t be as good as the cast and premise would have me believe or that it won’t get good enough ratings and I’ll be disappointed one way or another. But a story of a wealthy family where the prodigal son is a con-man with two families – one of whom includes Adrianne Pallicki from Friday Night Lights – is just too good to pass up. Plus, the early reviews have been pretty decent.

Hawaii Five-0 – CBS, 10:00p/9:00p C (N-Sept. 20)
When I heard about this one, I was VERY skeptical. I’m not sure the original needed to be remade, I never saw it myself but I feel confident in saying that we probably didn’t need another version of it. However, I’ve seen the previews for this one and damn it if it doesn’t look quite good. I have high hopes here.

Tuesday

NCIS – CBS, 8:00p/7:00p C (R-Sept. 21)
What to say? I like the NCIS team. On a crowded night of TV, I’m still not giving this one up. But it’s likely I won’t actually watch it until the weekend. It’ll make a splendid Sunday morning routine though.

Glee – Fox, 8:00p/7:00p C (R-Sept. 21)
I really hope that the writers get a handle on the tendancy they have to keep the episodes self-contained with entire arcs beginning and ending in the course of a single show. But I’m still thrilled to have my campy singing and dancing back. Less rapping would be greatly appreciated.

One Tree Hill – CW, 8:00p/7:00p C (R-Sept. 14)
After 7 seasons, I’m not going to give up on it now. Not when the lives of Quinn and Clay hang in the balance. And when Julian and Brooke are finally engaged and Haley is expecting her second child. That’s good stuff, people!

NCIS: Los Angeles – CBS, 9:00p/8:00p C (R-Sept. 21)
I like Hetty a lot and the leads are pretty good but the stories tend to be less interesting than on its sister show. Still, it’ll make a fine Sunday morning companion piece to the original.

No Ordinary Family – ABC, 9:00p/8:00p C (N-Sept. 28)
Julie Benz and Autumn Reeser, how am I going to say no to that? Plus, it’s got an Incredibles-esque plot and reviews that say it’s like a better version of Heroes which intrigues me.

Running Wilde – Fox, 9:00p/8:00p C (N-Sept. 21)
This one worries me because as much as I want to love a show with Will Arnett and Keri Russell, I haven’t heard great things about it. I have to give it a shot but I don’t even find the premise – of a wealthy, egotistical millionaire who is reunited with his selfless, humanitarian childhood crush – all that interesting. Still, Keri Russell = automatic TiVo setting.

Life Unexpected – CW, 9:00p/8:00p C (R-Sept. 14)
My mixed feelings about this mid-season show from last spring are well-documented here but Cate married Ryan and Lux might be a bit less annoying this season and at the end of the day, I’m already hooked so it can keep the season pass.

Detroit 1-8-7 – ABC, 10:00p/9:00p C (N-Sept. 21)
I don’t know why I’m going to watch this because it sounds unbelievably depressing but I’m from Michigan and I like Michael Imperioli so I’m going to give it a go. But 9 shows on one night is a lot even for me so this one will probably have a short leash.

The Good Wife – CBS, 10:00p/9:00p C (R-Sept. 28)
It was one of the best new shows of last season and there was no shortage of good new shows last year so that’s a high compliment. I cannot wait to see what becomes of the relationship between Alicia and Will. And things should get very interesting with Carey in the prosecutors office now. A lot more good stuff from The Good Wife.


Wednesday

Better With You – ABC, 8:00p/7:00p C (N-Sept. 22)
It has such a likable cast – Jennifer Finnigan, Debra Jo Rupp, Kurt Fuller and JoAnna Garcia – that I just can’t pass it up. I’ve read mixed reviews but I’m hopeful.

Undercovers – NBC, 8:00p/7:00p C (N-Sept. 22)
I’ve heard raves and warnings not to get my hopes up based on the raves I’ve heard. I’m loyal to JJ Abrams so I’ll watch but I’m going into it expecting that it will merely make me miss Alias. If that’s the case, I probably won’t hang around because I don’t need to be reminded of things that I miss. Life is too short.

Friday Night Lights – DirecTV 101 Network, 9:00p/8:00p C (R-Oct. 27)
The final season of the most wonderful show on television. Matt’s gone to art school in Chicago, Landry and Julie are off to college, Tami left the principal job at West Dillon to be the guidance counselor at East Dillon and Tim has gone to prison for car theft. I tear up at the summation of where we left off last season, I can’t even imagine how much I’m going to cry when we finally say goodbye to the Taylors and the other denizens of Dillon, TX. God damn it, Academy! Recognize this show already! This will be your last chance to give them the awards they have always so richly deserved!

Modern Family – ABC, 9:00p/8:00p C (R-Sept. 22)
Hands-down the best comedy on TV last season. It doesn’t matter what’s going to happen this season because this show isn’t about what happens, it’s just about how crazy family can be. I can’t wait.

Cougar Town – ABC, 9:30p/8:30p C (R-Sept. 22)
It is funnier and more interesting than it has any right to be with a title like that. But it’s a fun show that’s worth watching. Stop judging it based on the stupid title and give it a shot, you won’t be sorry.

Hellcats – CW, 9:00p/8:00p C (N-Sept. 8)
As I write this, I’m about 20 minutes from the premiere of this show. I’m not hopeful for its quality but if you haven’t noticed, sometimes I like shows that are kind of terrible, as long as they’re awesomely terrible (OTH!) and I’m hoping this one fits into that category. Plus, Robbie Jones (OTH’s Quentin, whom I still miss).

The Whole Truth – ABC, 10:00p/9:00p C (N-Sept. 22)
I’m kind of a sucker for legal dramas. And this one seems kind of like Justice (you get the whole story) but instead of seeing what really happened but seeing only the defense’s case, we see it from both sides. Might be interesting. Then again, it might be boring. I’m willing to find out.

The Defenders – CBS, 10:00p/9:00p C (N-Sept. 22)
All the things I just said about legal dramas but in this case I’m curious to see how I’ll like a show about slimy Vegas defense attorneys. Especially when one of them is Jim Belushi. I also think highly of Jurnee Smollett and it’ll be kind of fun to see her in two very different roles on the same night.


Thursday

The Big Bang Theory – CBS, 8:00p/7:00p C (R-Sept. 23)
The second funniest show on TV right now, I enjoy this one immensely. And I am beyond excited that I’ll be going to a taping of this the very week after it premieres. Giddy…that’s what I am, I’m GIDDY!

Bones – Fox, 8:00p/7:00p C (R-Sept. 23)
Attractive people solving mysteries and being nerdy. You see how this is right up my alley right?

The Vampire Diaries – CW, 8:00p/7:00p C (R-Sept. 9)
This was my favorite new show last year. Brace yourselves for a lot of really long, really detailed recaps of every episode this year. My obsession with how brilliant it is has not diminished since the insanely perfect season finale.

Fringe – Fox, 9:00p/8:00p C (R-Sept. 23)
I’m a little worried that the Peter/Walter relationship is going to be uncomfortable and no fun now that Peter knows how Walter snatched him from Over There. But having Other Olivia impersonating Olivia should be really interesting. And as long as they keep having Walter be all weirdly and inappropriately obsessed with food during total gross-out moments, it’ll still be good. And it hurts not at all that the Ashmore twins are going to be popping up. They’re nice to look at.

Nikita – CW, 9:00p/8:00p C (N-Sept. 9)
Much like The Vampire Diaries last year, I’m giving this one a shot based on some good word of mouth. I don’t have high hopes for it and I’m not even sure if I’m interested but it doesn’t hurt to try. It might benefit from airing after TVD when I’m in a good mood from that hour of awesomeness.

Burn Notice – USA, 9:00p/8:00p C (R-November)
It’ll take some getting used to to incorporate my summer/winter series into my fall viewing schedule but I can hardly leave Michael Westin out in the cold, now can I?

The Mentalist – CBS, 10:00p/9:00p C (R-Sept. 23)
Attractive people. Mysteries.


Friday

Supernatural – CW, 9:00p/8:00p C (R – Sept. 24)
Sera Gamble promises to return to the fun years when they were more focused on a monster of the week than on this larger good vs. evil storyline that poor, well-meaning Kripke managed to turn into a stinking pile of no fun at all. I hope that isn’t a lie because I miss the days when this show was fun.


Sunday

The Walking Dead – AMC, 9:00p/8:00p C (N-Oct. 31)
Zombies. How could a show about zombies not be worth watching?

Stay tuned for my impressions of the new shows and how some of the old ones are holding up. I’ll try my hardest to get the new ones watched and reviewed in short order. I know you’ll be waiting on pins and needles to know what I thought.