Thoughts on the new TV Season
 

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

I have a new addiction. "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.

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.

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!).

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

I have two DVR's - problem solved :)

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.

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.

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.....

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

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).

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...

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.

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.

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).

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.

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).

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.

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!

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?

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.

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"

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.

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

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.

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

Weird to read this while I have Caddyshack on.

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.

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.

I thought Flash Forward was very interesting!

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

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

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

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.

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 who thinks this....

FROM THIS:


TO THIS:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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:

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).

Loving NCIS. I really like how they wrapped up the story arc leaving some residual I hope we haven't seen the end of it though and see some residual fallout. Also liking the less

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 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.

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.


Eh, he doesn't do anything for me. I much prefer Michael Shanks as Daniel Jackson or Ben Browder as Colonel Mitchell 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.

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.

I had to see what you meant, so I looked and found this.

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.

Mmmmm. Daniel & Cam <drool>

I would be remiss if I left out the mega-delicious Joe Flanigan as Lt. Col. John Sheppard and the surfer-dude-stud Jason Momoa as Ronon Dex (though I could live w/out the dreads.)

I am completely in love with Sanctuary. I think it may be one of the best shows on TV right now.


The actor who plays Tesla lost his daughter, niece and nephew. :(

I've pretty much given up on TV this season. Even my two mainstays Survivor and the Amazing race are not holding my interest.

On the plus side I'm reading more...

We have been watching a fascinating series on the Travel Network called Meet the Natives: USA. It is about five natives from Tanna meeting Natives from different tribes around the US. Right now we are watching them with the WASPs from NYC. The first episode was with the Cowboys from Wyoming.