New Television

I am an old-timer. I can remember when summer tv was nothing but reruns of the previous fall and winter shows. Then came reality tv and the relatively cheap to produce shows and soon that dominated summer tv, spilling over into the new tv land. That actually made me watch less as I hate 99.9995 of reality tv as it 1) bears no resemblence to any form or reality, and 2) seems to focus on and cater to the worst qualities of humanity. I also find it boring. Anyway, eventually cable channels sort of came to our rescue although a and e, bravo, tlc, and discovery all seem to be going to the all reality crap programming, slowly. Hopefully the history channel and biography won't follow suit. Anyway, I have become addicted to some of the alternative programming out there. Eureka is a show I have come to love. The acting is good, full of goofy characters, it is primarily a comedy but with a bit of sci-fi and some action. The special effects are generally cheesy, but that never stopped Dr. Who. There is about 4 seasons of reruns you can find on the net if you are willing to prowl, check it out. Warehouse 13 is also worth hunting down, although only 1 season so far. It's a sort of modern steam-punk, scifi show with a good cast. Merlin is a britsh made program. I watched the first season when I had little else to watch, I did watch the first episode of this season, but the reimagining of the Arthur legend as teen drama is quickly reminding me why I stopped watching Smallville. Sanctuary wasn't really summer programming and it was often cheese in the extra sharp variety, but since it started as a net show, I watched it through and rather liked it. I am hoping it will have a season 2.

Now so far this season I watched House's premiere. Pretty good, but could you expect less from House. Bones was okay for the first 2 episodes. Bones character is getting to be a bit old to not have evolved a bit more. How could such a smart person not learn over time. Angela is still super sexy and the most appealing of the ladies. I still like Booth and Hodges and their interactions. Sweets and came are just there. The lady DA is only a recurring role, but she by far steals any scene they let her in, even if she is only a turbo-charged sassy black lady.

Criminal Minds season premiere was meh. It ended, as usual, on a cliff hanger that was sort of resolved, although to my mind not in a satisfactory way. It also started what, I would guess, is to be a season (or half season) long subplot.

NCIS had a pretty decent season opener. I like this series, it's a procedural that doesn't take itself too seriously, has predictible, but likable characters, and makes for good forget the world for an hour, television. It doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't. NCIS LA, the new spin off was on and it was watchable enough that I will get it a few more viewings to see if the characters come out. It looks like the team leader, former seal (LL Cool J), and Chris O'Donnell are going to be the show focus with everyone else filling the support roles. Instead of Ducky, we have a crabby, short accountant, unfortunately although she is made in the quirky stock character factory, so far she is the only one on the show with a personality.

I currently watch only 2 half hour non-animated sitcoms. Better off Ted and the new Modern Family.

Better off Ted was a summer filler that will probably come in mid-season. It has a good cast, is a very excellent parody of a big, completely evil business filled with quirky clueless characters. It's hilarious and well worth the time.

Modern Family is a new show, but based on the pilot, I plan to make it a regular show. It is done in fake documentary format. It follows 3 groups of people around. The first seems like a normal family, father (who thinks who is "cool"), mother, and 3 kids (stock teenage girl growing up fast, younger smarty, nerdy little sis, and bratty brother). Incidently the 15 year old girl is played by a 19 year old actress according to imdb, so those nasty fantasy's you may be having are legal. Second group is an older guy (Al Bundy or Popeye Doyle) who marries a much younger, hotter and more latin woman who has a pudgy 11 year old boy child from a previous marriage. Group three is a gay couple both of whom can be stereo typed, but neither is so over-the-top as to put you off, and there newly adopted vietnamese baby girl. At first I thought these people would all turn out to be neighbors which would tie them together, then I though maybe it was just that they were all part of a the same documentary. Then when the show tied them together in another way beyond the documentary it was a nice little twist. I love that Ed O'Neil is back on tv and the pilot was very funny and very well-made. It mixed all the elements up so I could identify will most of the characters and like them even while laughing at them. If the show holds up to the pilot, the sitcom may be coming back. Ed's hot latino wife is another reason to watch the show guys.

Supernatural has so far had 2 episodes this season and both have been strong if you watch the show, and both have been somewhat tied to the overall arc rather than a monster or the week episode. It's actually the only WB show I currently watch.

The Guild webshow is running again, so I plan to catch up on that when I get home. I am 2 epidoses behing, that's about 14 minutes.