Welcome to TV or Not TV where I’m excited for the fall.
Every year when Labor Day rolls around I start to get excited. Yes, there is some initial dread because I know that the morning road ways are going to start to swell slightly with the congestion that comes from the freshly school bound (as well as my other working class brethren who’se summer vacations are well behind them). For the admitted TV addict, however, one of the thoughts that can get them through the early days of September is the knowledge that there will be new TV to watch.
With the inevitable onslaught of new shows and returning favorites I find myself one DVR short of being able to record everything that I find interesting . This is probably a good thing becuase curing this situation woud lead to weekend upon weekend of me living the life of a reclusive shut-in and would lead to the inevitable alienation of my wife and daughter. I’m also not going to be the only one alone in this boat looking at the schedules for the fall shows especially on Monday and Thursday nights.
Mondays this year are an all out ratings face off that starts on September 21st. In the 8 PM slot CBS tries to come out swinging with How I Met Your Mother up against ABC‘s Dancing with the Stars. FOX also tries to stick one of their best up front with House. No matter what way you look at it though I’m sure that NBC will be licking it’s wounds when it rolls out the latest season of Heroes, which is a show that I know more people that have given up on watching rather than bitterly sticking with it.
Thursdays are also going to push your DVR into overdrive starting this week when FOX rolls out Bones followed by Fringe to try to duke it out with Survivor: Samoa. I think NBCÂ once again shows it’s weak programming strategy when it puts up SNL Weekend Update Thursday against this first powerful hour on other networks, especially when the following week ABC turns out the heir apparent to LOST called Flash Forward. The Office may be good but it won’t fair well against CSI next week.
After that superficial analysis of those two days of the week I just have to say that FOX‘s Glee did a pretty good job of keeping my attention with it’s official season premiere last week. Even though the show’s pilot was all the rage when it premiered last year the important thing that many an avid television viewer knows is that there can be leaps and bounds of difference between a shows pilot episode and the actual series episodes. The pilot of Glee was a well told and tightly put together package that did a great job of introducing us to the characters and the dynamics that they lived in. We were given a solid set up of the story and in the same vain of the late great John Hughes we were shown a nice story of underdogs and seperate clique members coming together and coming into their own.
The season premiere of Glee had some similar elements that made the pilot so endearing and it also had some awkward moments as the show trancends from that one hit wonder to a series that is telling us a much longer and more complex story. The coach of the Cheerios, played by Jane Lynch, once again stole every scene she was in and her character has gone from tough drill sargeant to that of the show’s major villain now that her reign as the main attention grabbing activity is being threatened.
Yes I admit that in watching it there were some hiccups for me but overall the show was almost as entertaining as the pilot and has the potential that can make it a show that carries itself well for the remainder of the season.
One final thought on this week: Kanye West truly is a self-absorbed moron.
With all of that said let’s see what the grid has up its sleave for us to enjoy.
MONDAY
NBC – 8:00 PM: It’s the final week of America’s Got Talent. Something already to be thankful for and Turkey day is over two months away.
ABC – 8:00 PM: If you haven’t seen Dreamgirls yet (like me) than you can finally tune in to see just what happened to make Jennifer Hudson the mega-star that she now is.
NBC – 10:oo PM: Well, the moment we’ve not been waiting for is here with the premiere of The Jay Leno Show. His first guests are Jerry Seinfeld b plus Jay-Z, Rhianna and Kanye West perform. Wait, maybe Kanye isn’t an idiot, he’s just on the take from Leno for a gangbusters first night guarantee.
TUESDAY
FOX – 8:00 PM: One lucky lady gets a proposal tonight on More to Love. Maybe the one not chosen will be a future contestant on…
NBC – 8:00 PM: I freely admit that one of my favorite shows that I just don’t follow the advice enough from is The Biggest Loser. Maybe this year I’ll stop watching it while eating chili cheese fries.
TLC – 8:00 PM: OK, seriously, does anyone else find Jon & Kate Plus 8 just all kinds of awkward to watch now?
WEDNESDAY
ABC – 8:00 PM: Two of the obstacles this week on Wipeout are called the Banana Split and the Onion Ring Hurdles. Sounds like they’re picking up the leftovers from The Biggest Loser.
FOX – 9:00 PM: I’m sure if I told you that this week on Glee singer Josh Groban drops in for a cameo that I might lose you. Here’s what will get you back. Male singing group called the Acafellas. Am I right?
THE CW – 9:00 PM: If you haven’t heard about the new drama The Beautiful Life, it is set in the world of high fashion models. Yeah, another show that I probably won’t watch.
THURSDAY
CBS – 8:00 PM: The player count is way up and for the first time in a long time I’m considering watching with the premiere of Survivor: Samoa.
FOX – 9:00 PM: If you didn’t catch the finale of Fringe last year we left Agent Dunham in an alternate reality where the Twin Towers were still standing. Yeah, I’m so gonna watch the premiere tonight too.
NBC – 9:00 PM: Herc from AICN says that Ed Helms steals the premiere of The Office. When you consider the insane box office of The Hangover I’m surprised they didnt’ give him his own show already.
FRIDAY
I’m not going to write a single recommendation for tonight. It’s my 15th wedding anniversary and the only thing I want you to know about tonight is that I’ll be with the love of my life. That’s all.
SATURDAY
ENCORE – 8:00 PM: Fast Times at Ridgemont High followed by Point Break and Scream? I was originaly going to say there’s nothing on to watch tonight, but if you have this movie channel there’s six hours of check your brain at the door quality viewing.
HIST – 8:00 PM: If you just didn’t get enough out of the movies you can take in Beyond the Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons Decoded.
SUNDAY
SPIKE – 1:00 PM: If you are willing to sit and watch the original Star Wars Trilogy played one after the other you probably already own them, so why put up with commercial interruptions? I guess you need to have something on in the background to write your television column instead of past seasons of LOST.
CBS – 8:00 PM: After seeing the amazing job he did on the Tony Awards I freely admit that I’m only watching The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards for Neil Patrick Harris. There, I said it. Go ahead, judge me.
HBO – 9:00 PM: Larry David is back for another seasnon of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Does this mean I have to get caught up on the three seasons I’ve missed?
– Will Wilkins wrote this while having the first season of LOST running in the background.
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