Greetings TV or Not TV readers! We’re now back after a brief intermission.

Now that the new TV season is back in full swing the first thing I have to talk about isn’t actually the shows themselves, but how to watch them. I know this may seem like  a simple enough concept, we turn on the television and we watch. This day and age, however, we have DVR’s assisting us in being able to record multiple channels at once. This leads to the wonderful vortex that is setting a “priority” for the shows that we watch, making sure that our DVR records exactly what we want to watch instead of the things that we may be less enthusiastic to watch. This is the scenario that I am in and believe it or not I am still not able to record everything I want to watch. How to get all of my TV in though?

Anything on FOX pretty much falls by the DVR wayside because of how well they use their online episode availability. The same can be said for ABC. Both networks provide great online viewing options with completely tolerable commercial interuptions, making the viewing experience almost as good as watching them on a TV screen.

I know a lot of people like utilizing iTunes for purchasing their television which would be beneficial for portable viewing, but for some reason I can’t stomach paying for shows that I may later end up buying on DVD/Blu-Ray. To each their own.

Enough of this prattle, let’s talk about what’s coming up on TV this week.

MONDAY

A lot of Monday falls in to the column I like to call, “Just how long do they think they can keep this going?”

NBC – 8:00 PM: Bryce is back on tonight’s episode of Chuck. This show is plucky enough to keep me wanting more each and every week even though it was one of last season’s concept shows that made me first start wondering how long they could keep it up. I didn’t get how a guy with info in his head that never gets any newer could be of use after a long while (kind of like the daily newspaper. Great on one day, less useful two months from now). Glad I was wrong.

TLC – 8:00 PM: Matt Roloff goes to Iraq to get medical attention for dwarf children on the season opener of Little People, Big World. Man, remember when this show was just about little people and a big farm?

ABC – 9:30 PM: Tonight Samantha, Who? returns and it is another one of last seasons contenders for “Just how long do they think they can keep this going?” The show is about an amnesiac who finds she didn’t like who she was and wants to live a better life with her new clean slate. The first season was entertaining, but just how long can you drag this concept out?

NBC – 10:00 PM:Christian Slater plays a man with two personalities: one a regular family man and the other a highly deadly assasin. If you feel like you heard this all before when you saw Total Recall then I’m right there with you. After the first episode how do you keep the ball rolling? We’ll just have to see how the first few episodes play out before we make a decision.

TUESDAY

FOX – 9:00 PM: We’ve had to wait two week’s to see how Olivia reacts when her supposedly deceased boyfriend and apparent traitor showed up at the end of the last episode. If the show has proven

ABC – 10:00 PM: Where will Eli Stone find himself now that his aneurysm has been removed? Apparently in psychiatrist Sigourney Weaver‘s care. Hey, at least it isn’t George Michael again.

WEDNESDAY

ABC – 8:00 PM: Olive enlists the help of the Pie Maker and the Detective to try to track down a killer in a convent. Have I mentioned how glad I am that this show is back?

ALL NETWORKS – 9PM E/6PM P: Another thrilling round of presidential debates. Too bad they won’t have Tom Brokaw squawking about time limits during this one. I’ve never seen a grown man make two presidential candidates look like bad school children so quickly.

COMEDY CENTRAL – 10:30 PM: David Alan Grier is the man behind the desk in the newest psuedo-news show on Comedy Central. The only thing that may be more cringe-worthy than actually watching the show is its titled: Chocolate News. Uh, ok… moving on.

THURSDAY

NBC – 9:00 PM: It’s Two Men and a Baby (well, kind of) with Michael and Dwight playing out birthing scenarios/techniques. How is Dwight going to fit in his quickie with Angela with so much else going on?

ABC – 10:00 PM: It’s the second week of Life on Mars and Sam tries to bring some 2008 policing skills to the 1973 crew. I know, I’m confused too.

FRIDAY

NBC – 8:00 PM: Crusoe kicks off it’s 13 episode run tonight. Action, adventure and adaptation. Check it out.

CBS – 9:00 PM: Bella continues looking up past loves on The Ex-List and I have to point out how this show is also another great member of the “Just how long do they think they can keep this going?” club.

E! – 9:00 PM: The E! True Hollywood Story is tempting fate and risking extreme anger of the entertainment gods as they look at Oprah. Considering her clout you just know this has to be more sanitized than Adrian Monk’s bathroom.

SATURDAY

CMT – 8:00 PM: Nothing says pure entertainment more than shuffling out the D-list celebrities and having them wail on each other. Todd Bridges, Nikki Ziering, Dennise Rodman, Tiffany, and Danny Bonaduce all grasp for the Championship (yeah right) Belt. This puts Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling on the must watch list for me (as well as winning this week’s aware for longest show title).

LIFETIME – 9:00 PM: Harry Connick Jr. and Angie Harmon tug at the heart strings in this recounting of one doctor’s goal of developing a drug for treating breast-cancer.

SUNDAY

HBO – 10:00 PM: I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the new season of Entourage. Still, I’m left to wonder if a line will be crossed tonight as Vince‘s studio exec nemesis is laid to rest and we know that Ari is trying to get him the part he wants in the film about firefighters. Just where does schmoozing at a funeral fall in the ettiquete guide?

SHO – 10:00 PM: The new season of Dexter is the freshest and most compelling yet. Tune in.

– I’m Will WIlkins and I approve of this column.

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