Thoughts on the new TV Season [Archive]

Moonliner

09-21-2009, 11:52 AM

The seasons new shows are starting to crop up....

I have a new addiction. "Pawn Stars (http://www.history.com/content/pawn-stars)" - It's a lot like "American Choppers" but it follow a family that runs a pawn shop in Vegas.

I've not been impressed by the Leno show, but then again I never really liked Leno. The little bit I watched was a sad take off on the Australian show "Balls of steel" and Ned's Urban Sports.

I'm looking forward to the return of "The Big Bang Theory", hoping this season of Survivor is a good one and of course the Amazing Race returns soon.

Alex

09-21-2009, 12:02 PM

Wasn't not impressed with the 30 minutes of Leno I watched.

Wasn't super hot on Glee like a lot of people were but the first two regular episodes were subpar compared to that. Won't be watching more.

Liked the premiere of Community enough to keep watching.

I think that's the only new stuff I've seen so far.

scaeagles

09-21-2009, 12:16 PM

It takes a lot for me to pick up something new, but I'm planning on watching Flash Forward. Has potential, I think. Last new show I picked up was Heroes (premiere tonight!).

Morrigoon

09-21-2009, 12:31 PM

I haven't seen anything new that appeals yet, but I'm excited for a new season of House.

mousepod

09-21-2009, 12:35 PM

I'm a little frustrated by the Thursday night lineup. On every other day, there are almost no scheduling conflicts for me - at worst, there are two shows on at once (which my Tivo can handle). On Thursdays at 8pm, there's FlashForward, Survivor, Weekend Update (to be replaced by Community), Bones, and Vampire Diaries.

While I haven't yet watched The Vampire Diaries, I've been surprised by the positive reviews, so I'll check it out this week. I know I can download these shows from the interweb, but the Tivo option is so much easier. Argh.

Alex

09-21-2009, 12:40 PM

Ah, Bones. Forgot about that. If the season premiere of Bones was any indication then I'll be dropping that off the list. It has had a stupid goofy formula but I'm not in the mood for much more will they/won't they "romantic" tension.

Pirate Bill

09-21-2009, 01:05 PM

I enjoyed Community and will continue watching.

Survivor is looking to be interesting. But every season it takes me a few episodes before I really get into it. Probably because of the numbers.

Fringe started up again, and either I was just too tired or it was a boring episode, but I was nodding off so much I hardly even remembered I had watched it.

Curb Your Enthusiasm started last night but I haven't watched it yet. Looking forward to that.

Castle comes back tonight. I need to feed my Nathan Fillion man-crush.

Of course, also looking forward to How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory tonight too. (HIMYM more than BBT.)

I'll record Heroes just to give it one more shot. But the quality dropped so much in the 2nd and (even more) the 3rd seasons that I'm going to save it for when I have nothing else to watch or if I hear it's good enough to give it another chance.

I'm interested in checking out The Forgotten, only to try something new. Not sure it will turn out that great from what I read.

Flash Forward looks cool. Looking forward to that one.

Dollhouse...REALLY looking forward to that one. If I can only watch one show this season I'm picking that one.

The Amazing Race, of course, we never miss that.

The Mentalist - It was good in the 1st season. We'll see if it's interesting enough in the 2nd season to make it into my viewing schedule. I may just hold on to them until the next big hiatus.

Stargate Universe - I'm not super thrilled but I'll give it a shot. I was a very big SG1 fan, but grew tired of it towards the end. Atlantis was alright. Mostly "meh" but it actually got really good at the very end just as it got canceled. Things really could go either way with Universe for me.

Talk about a Thursday night pile-up. My DVR can record 2 shows at a time, but I've got CSI, Fringe, & Community all on at the same time. So, a little bit[*cough*]torrent[/*cough*] is needed to catch it all. Almost half of all the shows I watch or want to watch are on Thursday.

Moonliner

09-21-2009, 01:14 PM

Speaking of the Thursday pile up....

How much longer are we going to have to deal with network schedules? It's so last century.

With VOD why can't we watch ANY show ANY time we want after it's initial air date? Hulu is a step in the right direction, but I want it on my cable box because if I'm watching TV I'm (by definition) being lazy.

Surely the technology exists to insert updated commercials as needed into the shows on VOD.

katiesue

09-21-2009, 01:39 PM

I have two DVR's - problem solved :)

Alex

09-21-2009, 01:58 PM

Comcast VOD does have commercials in it (though not many suggesting the issue isn't so much the technology but rather not much interest from ad buyers).

It isn't universal but we do have several shows we watch from VOD rather than recording. Though VOD times out so I'd really like it if there were an option to "record" from VOD.

BarTopDancer

09-21-2009, 02:03 PM

Since anything I like gets canceled you can say goodbye to Glee.

Looking forward to House returning. Wondering what will happen to SVU now that Leno is on in its slot.

I will also be watching Sanctuary since it's now on its 2nd season.

I'm intrigued by SG-Universe but I'm not holding out much hope. At least the premier will have some familiar eye candy in it ;). I'm a huge SG1 fan (thanks to Keith and Cousin who made me watch the entire series over the summer - srsly, 10 seasons in 2.5 months equals overload) and I'm struggling through Atlantis. I hate, hate, hate the Wraith and it seems that episodes that aren't Wraith centered are completely random. Almost done with season 4 so I'll finish off the series.

I've found that more and more shows go unwatched when they are recorded on nights I have hockey games so I don't think I like them as much as I think I do.

Moonliner

09-21-2009, 02:05 PM

Comcast VOD does have commercials in it (though not many suggesting the issue isn't so much the technology but rather not much interest from ad buyers).

Given that our VOD (Fios) allows you to skip through commercials I suppose I can see where ad buyers are not flocking to support the technology.....

Alex

09-21-2009, 02:13 PM

Yep, that's what I figure too. Most of the time the ad is for the show I'm currently watching.

scaeagles

09-21-2009, 02:25 PM

It would seem as if ad purchasing wouldn't be too complex in VOD. In the same way that week to week ad rates are determined by ratings during sweep periods, I would suspect something similar could be done based upon conglomeration of data of how many households are getting the VOD of whichever program. Just as syndicated programs have ads that change with the times, so could these.

And skipping over commercials in VOD is no different than skipping over commercials of what is records on the DVR. In fact, I would suspect that if VOD replaced the DVR, skipping commercials would be less of a problem (for advertisers).

Andrew

09-21-2009, 03:18 PM

Since anything I like gets canceled you can say goodbye to Glee.

FOX gives 'Glee' a full season pick-up (http://www.hitfix.com/articles/2009-9-21-fox-gives-glee-a-full-season-pick-up)

Cadaverous Pallor

09-21-2009, 07:02 PM

Still love the Office, waiting for 30 Rock, worried about the Thursday-not-Saturday-not-Weekend-yet-Update taking jokes away from the real SNL (though of course I'm watching it), and have no real interest in anything new.

Ok, Community has me a little curious, but I have a real grudge against Chevy Chase and the commercials had me concerned. I do love Joel McHale...

Prudence

09-21-2009, 07:48 PM

Seriously - The Mentalist sucks. Psych does it better. (And got in a couple nice jabs over the past few months.)

Planning to check out Community, Bored to Death, and Flash Forward. Already watching Glee. First episode of Vampire Diaries left me seriously underwhelmed. It gets one more shot and then I'm voting it off the island.

Anxiously awaiting the Amazing Race, House, NCIS (which I save for when I'm cleaning and need fluff teevee), and my #1 guilty pleasure: CSI:Miami.

LSPoorEeyorick

09-22-2009, 07:33 AM

I basically have two nights I care about. Monday, for HIMYM (and House, I guess - which I quit watching last year, but they just cast a favorite writer/actor of mine as House's roommate, so I guess I'll watch as long as he's on there.) And Thursday, for an eventual lineup that I really love - Community, Parks & Rec, The Office, and my most favorite thing on TV, 30 Rock.

I guess we have stuff on Sunday too but it's not the top of my list. Mad Men, Simpsons, HBO/Jason Schwartzman's new Bored to Death. Oh, also Friday - Dollhouse and The Soup. But mostly it's Monday/Thursday; the other stuff I'll watch when I watch it.

Alex

09-22-2009, 08:57 AM

Do you mean his roommate in the psych ward? If so that appears to be a one-episode thing (I hope so anyway - not because of him but that's not a thread I want them to linger on).

Enjoyed the premiere of House last night. A lot of Cuckoo's Nest but they were perfectly aware of that. The unlikely cure at the end was a bit too out of left field. Curious how they'll reintegrate a less messed up House back at the hospital but I'm sure they will.

Was underwhelmed by premiere of How I Met Your Mother. The development of central focus is not one I've any interest in. Episode felt really flat.

Heroes and House being two hours overwhelmed my recording abilities since I also wanted HIMYM and Big Bang Theory. By the end of the evening skipped Big Bang Theory figuring I'll eventually see it as a re-run and it isn't like missing an episode of that show screws up the story arc.

Continue to enjoy Castle but in the way I enjoy other stupid murder mystery TV (Matloc, Perry Mason, The Mentalist, Murder, She Wrote -- but not Psych or Monk for some reason).

Alex

09-22-2009, 08:58 AM

Do you really love Parks and Rec? 30 Rock isn't my cup of tea but I understand why so many love it. Park and Rec just leaves me wondering who Lorne Michaels blows weekly to have had such a dog renewed.

BarTopDancer

09-22-2009, 09:35 AM

I forgot about NCIS, the original. Not into this spin off crap (yes, I know NCIS was a spin off of JAG, but it is a different premise. NCIS LA is just another NCIS, but in LA. Without Mark Harmon).

mousepod

09-22-2009, 10:04 AM

We also enjoyed the premiere of House last night, though I'm a sucker for the tug-at-your-heart stuff that was crammed into the final act. Heather looked at me and rolled her eyes. We're both looking forward to the diagnostic plot lines again.

As for Parks and Recreation, I watched all six episodes of season one and the season two premiere over the past few days. This show proves is a great illustration of a whole being less than the sum of its parts. Love the cast - the show bores me. Oh well.

Jazzman

09-24-2009, 12:49 PM

Community was hilarious (and sad, seeing how old Chevy Chase is now) so we'll definitely catch that again. Glee; meh. We watched Mercy last night, and had very high hopes, but they were completely broken. Total Gray's Anatomy rip-off, complete with overcooked dialog, mopey Frodo faces every two minutes, asinine situations, and a bar across the street to end the episode in. What a let down.

Thank Zeus So You Think You Can Dance is on again!

Moonliner

09-24-2009, 12:57 PM

Parks and Recreation, Community, Glee, and Accidentally on purpose : All one and done for me. Next.

I think I'll pass on "Fast Forward". I don't think I can take another Lost type show. Someone PM me when we eventually learn why everyone passed out for 2min.

I did enjoy the Big Bang Theory Premier.

Am I the only one watching Pawn Stars?

BarTopDancer

09-24-2009, 01:01 PM

Disappointed in the House premier.

Still enjoying Glee.

NCIS premier was good, need to watch it again because of my cold induced haze. I feel like I missed some crucial plot points though I loved the ending.

TiVO was recording SVU premier so I'll watch that this weekend.

I loved Leno at 1130 (yes, minority here) but I'm apathetic towards his new show. Mainly because I don't want to see TV continue to move away from serialized shows into reality/live TV.

LSPoorEeyorick

09-24-2009, 02:39 PM

Accidentally on purpose...

That show, from the advertising, seems like such a direct and watered-down ripoff of Knocked Up (which I loved.) How was it?

Moonliner

09-24-2009, 02:43 PM

That show, from the advertising, seems like such a direct and watered-down ripoff of Knocked Up (which I loved.) How was it?

Not for me. I would rate it as a clumsy version of "How I met your mother"

scaeagles

09-24-2009, 02:49 PM

I'm looking forward to a show called "The Middle". I LOVED Malcolm in the Middle, and this looks to have the same general feel....at least from the promos I've seen.

innerSpaceman

09-24-2009, 03:01 PM

What's this teigh vei thing y'all are on about?

katiesue

09-24-2009, 03:31 PM

That show, from the advertising, seems like such a direct and watered-down ripoff of Knocked Up (which I loved.) How was it?

It was exactly as advertised but it wasn't good. I may give it one more watch but that's it.

Anyone else watching Robin Hood on BBC America or Ruby and the Rockets on ABC Family?

I'm getting pretty bored with How I met your mother. Meet her already for gods sakes. Big Bang is still awesome. Waiting for Lie to Me next week.

SzczerbiakManiac

09-24-2009, 03:55 PM

I've enjoyed the past two seasons of the BBC's Robin Hood. I was really shocked when they killed off Marion on the season two finale, but I've liked the first two eps of season three.

Kevy Baby

09-24-2009, 10:10 PM

(and sad, seeing how old Chevy Chase is now)Weird to read this while I have Caddyshack on.

BarTopDancer

09-24-2009, 10:29 PM

TiVO was recording SVU premier so I'll watch that this weekend.

Exactly what I expected. Hate the new DA, hope she goes away. They got Stabler back on track and it looks like they are setting him up to go off the deep end again.

Morrigoon

09-24-2009, 10:29 PM

I think the House thing is interesting, because it allows them to take his character in different directions without it seeming to be inconsistent with the character.

RStar

09-25-2009, 06:59 AM

I thought Flash Forward was very interesting!

scaeagles

09-25-2009, 07:53 AM

I agree RStar, but I wasn't floored by it. I'll watch again.

CoasterMatt

09-25-2009, 08:22 AM

I like what I've seen so far of Pawn Stars.

Cadaverous Pallor

09-25-2009, 08:24 AM

Weird to read this while I have Caddyshack on.Chevy's all right
Don't nobody worry 'bout him

BarTopDancer

09-25-2009, 08:38 AM

Something ranking a higher priority on my TIVO is on at the same time as Glee and it didn't record. Sadness ensues.

Moonliner

09-25-2009, 08:55 AM

Something ranking a higher priority on my TIVO is on at the same time as Glee and it didn't record. Sadness ensues.

I think glee is avalible on Hulu.com

katiesue

09-25-2009, 09:08 AM

SM - me too I kind of wondered where it would go from there. But it seems to have worked out. I like that it's kind of sending Gisbon over the edge.

cirquelover

09-25-2009, 01:07 PM

Am I the only one watching Pawn Stars?

I love that show! It's truly amazing some of the things people bring into the shop. I'm also pretty good with the trivia questions in between. They obviously know an expert on almost everything. Of course it is Vegas!

Moonliner

09-25-2009, 01:30 PM

I love that show! It's truly amazing some of the things people bring into the shop. I'm also pretty good with the trivia questions in between. They obviously know an expert on almost everything. Of course it is Vegas!

We watched the show with the "Coke Machine" last night. We found it quite amusing. An HiDef freeze frame on the "new" vs "old" shot clearly showed that they were two entirely different machines. Everything right down to the hinges on the door was different, including the overall shape of the machine itself. I wonder who is putting what over on whom. Is the fixer-upper duping Rick, is Rick and the fixer-upper duping the History channel, is the History channel trying to dup us? Fun fun fun...

Edited to add: Looks like I'm not the only one (http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=148852&page=1)who thinks this....

FROM THIS:
http://retrothing.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/vendo39_1.jpg

TO THIS:
http://www.oldcokemachines.com/images/c-72__original.jpg

cirquelover

09-28-2009, 03:05 PM

I had noticed that they changed the front but I thought they explained that one. I wonder if I still have it recorded?!

Now my guys want a Kiss pinball machine, just like on the show.

Jazzman

09-28-2009, 06:14 PM

I love Pawn Stars! It's like Antiques Roadshow for normal people! :D My only dislike is the voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me to feel sorry for the customers because they're obviously hurting enough financially to be parting with important, sentimentally valuable items. But it's still a great show. Pops cracks me up. Chumlee is such a lovable dork, and Rick is often surprising in his knowledge of esoteric fields and items. The only one I don't care for is Rick's douchey son Corey, who is the biggest tool I've seen in a while. Some of the customers really crack me up. "The guy just said it's worth $1000! I want $1000!!!" Um, look around. You're in a pawn shop. They aren't going to pay you what they hope to sell it for. Kinda defeats the purpose of running a pawn shop.

Moonliner

09-29-2009, 11:54 AM

Going back on my word, I hulu'ed "Fast Forward" at lunch today...

The only interesting thing was the trench coat guy. I'll spoiler my speculations because as we all know, my divination skills are formidable.

So who is this guy?

He seemed fairly calm about the entire thing. I'd think an innocent bystander would react differently which implies he knew something about what was going on.

Still if he knew it was going to happen, why go to a ball game? There is not much to do there. If he's a good guy, and he knew this was going to happen he could save at least a few people by being in a better location, say next to a driver on a crowded bus. If he's evil why not be at a bank, jewelry store or some place else more opportunistic?

My guess is he was there to observe the effect of 'it'. Being at a major sporting event allows for the direct observation of the largest number of people commonly available. Perhaps "they" knew there would be some effect and went to see what percentage of people would be effected. Which of course implies this is a man made event and not the result of gamma ray bursts or the like.

Alex

09-29-2009, 11:58 AM

And what's worse is that not only did he know what was going on but he caused video to be taken from an alternate universe since the Tigers did not play a home game this year that would have been in progress at the time of the event (1pm local time. Earliest home game start in September was 1:05).

I was moderately intrigued by Fast Forward and will keep watching it but, unless they explain it later, there is one great big huge logical hole in what we know so far.

BarTopDancer

10-20-2009, 08:33 AM

Looking forward to House returning.

Really enjoying House this season. I like the new!nicer! House now-with-snark.

I will also be watching Sanctuary since it's now on its 2nd season.

Awesome awesome awesome show. I had a hard time getting into Amanda Tapping having a British accent but I'm sure that also had to do with just coming off the marathon run of Stargate. Which brings me to:

I'm intrigued by SG-Universe but I'm not holding out much hope.

Sucktactular. Which means it will be around forEVER.

No strong female roles. They have been regulated to pure helpless eyecandy. No male version of eyecandy either. And WTF happened to RDA? He looks terrible (old... and ill). I guess the writers forgot that smart and strong can be sexy (as shown in Carter, Weir and Tala).

I forgot about NCIS, the original.

Loving NCIS. I really like how they wrapped up the 'what Ziva did on her summer vacation' story arc leaving some residual awkwardness between Tony and Ziva - which should be there considering he killed her bf and she pointed a loaded gun at him. I hope we haven't seen the end of it though and see some residual fallout. Also liking the less angsty Gibbs.

SzczerbiakManiac

10-20-2009, 03:35 PM

[Stargate Universe]No male version of eyecandy either. And WTF happened to RDA? He looks terrible (old... and ill). I guess the writers forgot that smart and strong can be sexy (as shown in Carter, Weir and Tala).

I've heard SG:U referred to as Battlestargate. I admit, it hasn't totally hooked me yet, but I love the SG universe (lowercase u) and am willing to give them some time to find their groove. Both Star Trek TNG and DS9 took a while to find their way. I think both of those shows blossomed into something great.

As for guycandy, I think Brian J. Smith as 1st Lt. Matthew Scott (http://stargate.mgm.com/view/character/165/index.html) is quite enjoyable to look at.

As for RDA, well, that's kinda on him, don't you think? I saw him on SNL a year or two ago and almost gasped because he looks so different, so I don't think that's anything to do with SG:U making him look... the way he looks.

BarTopDancer

10-20-2009, 04:27 PM

I've heard SG:U referred to as Battlestargate. I admit, it hasn't totally hooked me yet, but I love the SG universe (lowercase u) and am willing to give them some time to find their groove. Both Star Trek TNG and DS9 took a while to find their way. I think both of those shows blossomed into something great.

I'm hearing references of LOST, Lost in Space, Voyager, DS:9 and BSG. I haven't seen any of those except LOST so I couldn't compare. All I know is that I can watched nearly all 10 seasons of SG1 without feeling bored and SG:U wandering off to do other stuff and not bothering to pause it.

As for guycandy, I think Brian J. Smith as 1st Lt. Matthew Scott (http://stargate.mgm.com/view/character/165/index.html) is quite enjoyable to look at.

Eh, he doesn't do anything for me. I much prefer Michael Shanks as Daniel Jackson (http://stargate.mgm.com/view/character/143/index.html) or Ben Browder as Colonel Mitchell (http://stargate.mgm.com/view/character/140/index.html) though as K will attest, the later took nearly a season and a half to grow on me. Though Daniel Jackson took a bit of time too.

As for RDA, well, that's kinda on him, don't you think? I saw him on SNL a year or two ago and almost gasped because he looks so different, so I don't think that's anything to do with SG:U making him look... the way he looks.

I didn't say SG:U made him look this way. He looks terrible (I saw him in the McGroober skit and thought it was fake so I GoogleImaged him and was very sad). But after SG:U I searched again because he looks... ill. He didn't look that good in Atlantis or the movies either, so it's just progression and I thought he was ill. It's a steroid (prednisone, not HGH) kinda puffy.

As of now it's on my TVIO and I'll watch it when I can. But it's certainly not anything I'm rushing home or staying up late to watch.

Deebs

10-20-2009, 04:57 PM

He looks terrible (I saw him in the McGroober skit and thought it was fake so I GoogleImaged him and was very sad).

I had to see what you meant, so I looked and found this. (http://hollywoodroaster.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/macgyver-film-scrapped-after-producers-realize-richard-dean-anderson-is-like-73/)

Poor RDA.

I didn't think he looked that bad, but I guess I am just old enough myself to cut everyone loads of slack.

SzczerbiakManiac

10-20-2009, 05:01 PM

I much prefer Michael Shanks as Daniel Jackson (http://stargate.mgm.com/view/character/143/index.html) or Ben Browder as Colonel Mitchell (http://stargate.mgm.com/view/character/140/index.html) though as K will attest, the later took nearly a season and a half to grow on me. Though Daniel Jackson took a bit of time too.Mmmmm. Daniel & Cam <drool>

I would be remiss if I left out the mega-delicious Joe Flanigan as Lt. Col. John Sheppard (http://stargate.mgm.com/view/character/149/index.html) and the surfer-dude-stud Jason Momoa as Ronon Dex (http://stargate.mgm.com/view/character/153/index.html) (though I could live w/out the dreads.)