MagneticMediaFed

It’s been a month since new shows started popping up and my god has it been a rough ride. I was able to keep for the better part of two weeks, but lately I’ve had to throw my hands up and declare that once again, the television has won. Part of the problem, for me at least, is this fall seems to have more decent shows than season’s past. There are always one or two really good new programs, but typically the rest of it is just dreck. This year there have only been a small handful of shows I would consider abdominal, but with an unusually large amount resting somewhere in the middle. But how does one justify sticking with a series that is at its very best just OK. I think now would be as good a time as any to look at where we are and decide how to move forward.

Here’s how I’m thinking this is going to work. I’ll run down the list day by day, share some of my thoughts and then tell you which shows I plan on continuing to watch, to write about and those that I’m dumping in favor of an extra hour of sleep. Of course, I’m also willing to hear arguments about what I really should be watching. Feel free to hammer the comments.

MONDAY

Monday is the busiest night of the week. That being said it is also the night of the week where I have the most time to dedicate to television. Tuesday mornings we can expect posts covering the following shows: The Hills, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes — via Nate — (I call this the triple H block of programming) with occasional mentions to Aliens In American and The Boondocks. The big question is Chuck a show a like but do not love and have yet to see any proof that it would be anything more than a weekly distraction. I think as of right now I’m done with the series barring some significant buzz that is too good to pass up. Speaking of significant buzz, I bailed on Journeyman after one episode and have since heard that it is nothing but awesome (from a certain section of the populace obsessed with time travel and science fiction ) — certainly more entertaining than Heroes this season. If I can’t carve out some time this weekend, I might try to catch myself up. Last, we’ve only had two episodes so far, but Samantha Who? is entertaining enough to keep me coming back (and at 30-minutes, its low on the commitment scale).

TUESDAY

Now that Damages is over I’m going to attempt to jump into the new season of Nip/Tuck having never seen a single episode of the show’s previous four seasons. It’s hard to say if I’ll stick with it or not, but I’m going to give it a shot. I do intend on riding out Beauty and the Geek because it’s kind of the perfect reality show, but like Chuck, Reaper is seriously in question. The shows are just too similar to get particularly worked up over either one, though at this point I would say I’m leaning more toward Reaper than Chuck. I still haven’t seen this week’s episode but friends have said it moved the series in a positive direction. I’ll probably keep watching, but might not write about it unless there is something especially interesting that could provoke some debate.

WEDNESDAY

I’ve been a huge supporter of Kid Nation since it premiered, finding the series both hilarious and mildly troubling. That being said I’m now two weeks behind given scheduling conflicts and not exactly sure when I’m going to catch up. At this point it seems likely that the show falls off my radar despite the fact that I don’t want this to happen. Pushing Daisies and Gossip Girl have taken priority on Wednesday night with Gossip Girl reaching frightening levels of enjoyment from this 27-year-old heterosexual male. Hey remember Bionic Woman? Talk about losing buzz. I’m also curious about those Grey’s Anatomy fans what the reaction to Private Practice has been. I heard the show has gotten better despite its lackluster first couple episodes (it, along with Pushing Daisies and Gossip Girl have been given full season orders). Dirty Sexy Money is another one that I was excited about, but felt betrayed by early on (which beats being betrayed months down the line. One show that has fallen off my radar is The Sarah Silverman Program, which seems oddly placed on Wednesday nights (didn’t it start on Thursdays?), though I might almost blame this fact on Comedy Central completely eliminating itself from my regular television rotation.

THURSDAY

The Office and 30 Rock continue to get priority treatment on Thursdays, as does It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. I had told myself that I was going to watch My Name Is Earl this season, but never got past the season premiere. Perhaps the biggest surprise on my end is Ugly Betty, a show a really enjoyed last season, but this year simply didn’t have time to watch. That being said, I’m not too broken up about it. Now that Mad Men has come to an end, I’m not watching any dramas on Thursday nights (though Liz will be blogging about Grey’s Anatomy for us, and Geri is covering Survivor) which provides me a good opportunity to catch up on stuff I might have missed earlier in the week.

FRIDAY

Friday is Friday Night Lights and that’s about it. I’ll watch this show until it gets cancelled, but I’m not nearly as thrilled about it as it was just four weeks ago. Maybe it can course correct, but I fear the sophomore slump might ultimately kill it.

SATURDAY

Yeah, like I’m going to watch TV on a Saturday! says the guy who watched six episodes of The Wire last Saturday.

SUNDAY

Sunday is a tricky one. Every week I record The Simpsons and King of the Hill though I only end up watching them every other week or so. The priorities lie with Dexter on Showtime, which is close to be amazing this season, and Tell Me You Love Me which I continue to watch on behalf of the rest of America. The network fare like, Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters I’ve never checked out despite their continual popularity. Perhaps someone could make a case for me to check them out.

* * * * *

That’s basically it. All in all the new shows like Chuck and Reaper (hell, even Life, Journeyman and Cane) are decent enough, but are the worth watching week in and week out? Right now I’m going to say no. Luckily for every questionable series like the previously named, there is a Big Bang Theory, Cavemen and Moonlight reminding us that things could be far, far worse.

Tags: ABC, Aliens In America, Beauty and the Geek, CBS, Chuck, Damages, Dexter, Dirty Sexy Money, FOX, Friday Night Lights, FX, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Kid Nation, MTV, My Name Is Earl, NBC, Pushing Daisies, Reaper, Samantha Who?, Showtime, Survivor, The CW, The Hills, The Office, The Simpsons, Ugly Betty

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 at 11:08 am and is filed under Features, TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.