Fall TV season is in full swing so I thought I would run down the shows I watch.
Monday
Chuck, NBC – A spy comedy that usually doesn’t take itself too seriously. The character dynamics are great and there is a lot of subtle humor mixed in with the obvious slapstick. Shows typically are self-contained with an overall main plot (any readers of this blog will know this is often important to me). I keep watching because it tends to be light hearted comedy-action that puts me in a good mood no matter how shitty my day was.
Heroes, NBC – A show about superheroes. I reluctantly watch Heroes having previously sat through 11 mediocre episodes of season 2. The high production values, fantastic cast, and great special effects tend to make up for the complete lack of direction the show seems to have. I am getting sick of new characters (and powers) being added nearly every episode. I keep watching because of the original greats (Syler, Hiro, Claire, and Peter).
Top Gear, BBC America – British TV show about cars. It might sound dull, but the show is fucking hilarious. The host’s outrageous stunts, bloated egos, and resulting mishaps make this one of the best series on television.
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, FOX – I want to love this show but I cannot. I still watch it each week because there are elements that really appeal to me, but in the end nearly every show is a disappointment because each show must be about Sarah Conner and John Conner escaping robots and after a while this gets a little old which is why they keep coming up with awfully wacky subplots to try and keep us entertained.
My Own Worst Enemy, NBC – I had my doubts about how good this split personality spy show could be, but the pilot was actually not that bad except for the horribly obvious Chevy product placement. Christian Slater does a decent job making each personality distinct (at least in the pilot episode).
Removed from my Monday night lineup: How I Met Your Mother should really be called “How we can extend the same joke for six more seasons”, Samantha Who was kind of funny the first season, but again, how much longer can you make amnesia funny? The answer was apparently just one season.
Tuesday
The Mentalist, CBS – This is a bit of a rip off of Monk but I am definitely intrigued by the main character and his back story. I hope I can get past his smarmy looks and make this a regularly watched show..
Removed from my Tuesday night lineup: Fringe is a terrible pseudo science show that insults viewers at every level 2014 update: Fringe is awesome and 2008 me is an idiot , House while interesting in the first season started to lose my interest – I especially hate how House is pitched every damn week as an epic conflict/drama/battle/whatever (probably the same reason I stopped watching ER).
Wednesday
Pushing Daisies, ABC – I love this slightly-supernatural detective comedy show. It is creative, funny, quirky and filled with great stories, characters, and visuals. The second season had a bit of a rough start but all was redeemed when the police pulled dead clown after dead clown out of a wrecked car in episode three.
Bones, FOX – Another favorite show of mine. The dynamic between Bones and Booth is fantastic as well as many of the supporting characters. Plots are well thought out and they do not insult you with oversimplified detective work or science.
Mythbusters, Discovery – Busting myths is fun and funny. If only they could make more episodes each year.
South Park, Comedy Central – An adult cartoon show that still manages to be funny after 12 seasons.
Thursday
Life on Mars, ABC – I have high hopes for this show (especially considering how much it has been hyped), but I have not seen the first episode yet.
Removed from my Wednesday night lineup: Eleventh Hour is a terribly stupid show that CBS possibly sunk $50 million into and will soon realize was a giant waste of money. It is worse than Fringe, and that is saying a lot.
Friday
The Ex List, CBS – A woman is told she has already met her future husband by a psychic, but not which past boyfriend so she embarks on a life mission to figure out who her future mate is. I am almost embarrassed to say I record this show, but I was kind of entertained by the pilot so it stays on my list for now.
Life, ABC – Another favorite that I was ecstatic to see return for a second season. If you have not watched since season one I highly recommend renting the DVD or you will seriously miss out on a lot of what makes this show so great. The music select for Life is typically amazing, and the actors all-around are brilliant. The Friday time slot usually means death for any show so I hope Life pulls an X-Files and stays on the air.
Sanctuary, Sci-Fi – I doubt I will continue to watch this webisode turned real TV show since everything cool that ends up on Sci-Fi seems devolves to crap by the 8th or 10th episode of the first season (there are exceptions). Hopefully they can turn around the excessive camp, mediocre effects, and acting after a few episodes.
Sunday
Dexter, Showtime – Now in season three Dexter, the sympathetic serial killer, continues to impress me with top notch acting and new story line twists. The shocking premise of the show has worn off a bit so the main story has become more complicated to compensate but this is not a bad thing.
True Blood, HBO – Vampires, blood, sex, violence, foul language, comedy, and often really fucked up and always interesting. True Blood convinced me to subscribe to HBO.
Other: Daily Show, Good Eats, random History Channel, Discovery, and science shows.