The TV Season scheduling continues to confuse me. It’s February and two shows are done already. And new shows are starting this week. I actually appreciate this rolling schedule because it means new shows instead of repeats.
So hey, networks, why not go all the way and just let the shows run for twenty weeks and then end. Stop showing reruns (or better yet, rerun them at like 2 in the morning so we can watch them if we miss them) and the introduce a new show for the next half a year. We wouldn’t have this six weeks off nonsense of Community and Glee or three weeks of repeats of other shows.
I’m picking this week to write this simply because of the ending of the two shows. We haven’t had a look at the new ones yet, so it’s a clean slate.
Somehow we don’t even have time to watch movies anymore, so the TV shows must be very good.
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
I understand they are planning to drag this series out for a few more years. The funny thing is that I don’t mind if they do it in terms of Ted’s storyline (I can wait to see who the mother is), but I’m not sure what the Marshall/Lily storyline will bring to the show. The suburbs were a cul de sac, but a mostly enjoyable one (and better than if it was permanent–they also don’t have to worry about Lily’s credit card debts since they have just been given two residences!). I rather fear what a baby will do to the show, however. Let’s hope they handle it with the disrespect the show has shown other topics.
2 Broke Girls (CBS)
The addition of Jennifer Coolidge has been a boon; I only wish it had gotten the girls out of the diner, as all of the show’s worst tendencies comes out there. I imagine the writer’s room like this. Okay, we need Max to make 8 obvious wordplay jokes about sex or being poor–go. We need 4 jokes with the word vagina in it–go. What’s another way we can make fun of short Asian people–go. The few jokes that work are really funny, but this show is majorly hit or miss.
New Girl (Fox)
New Girl is consistently the funniest show on TV, right now. I thought that Zooey’s quirky character was the best thing going, but now that the men have established themselves, the show is even stronger. Schmidt is slowly becoming my favorite character (from the douchebag jar to saying that “youths” defaced his car–he’s awesome). I like that the guest stars stick around for a few episodes, although I miss them when they go–which is a very good sign.
Glee (Fox)
Glee does one thing well–create emotional shows about being gay. For all of its inanity, Glee can really connect on an emotional level. The whole sequence with Karaofsky’s attempted suicide was amazing TV. However, the rest of the show is just getting more and more stupid. Jane Lynch isn’t really mean anymore? The club seems to have run out of good music? (Not that it was that good to begin with, but at least I knew some of it). There’s a new character added every week? The more time we spend with the glee kids, the more I think that maybe the rest of the school is right to Slushie them. And clearly they have just thrown the rule book of life out the window completely. I mean the first season with the fake baby was bad enough but now the kids are assaulted and the only law they consult is the Regionals rulebook? Please. It’s a bad sign when I couldn’t even remember in the season finale if they stopped the wedding or not.
Ringer (CW)
We are now 4 weeks behind on Ringer. I enjoyed catching up on it last time we were four weeks behind (it’s really not that good); I hope we enjoy it this time, too.
ANTM: British Invasion (CW)
This show has just started and we missed the first episode, although I’m led to believe that Pocahontas v John Lennon should be a viral meme (but not in the good way that Tyra tried to get those songs going in whatever season that was).
Parenthood (NBC)
This show just ended (apparently because the season was reduced from 22 to 18 episodes). What I liked about the show was its realism. There’s always a thing or two that are crazy but the people are totally believable. And then this season they came up with the stupidest plot lines–the whole adopting-the-baby thing was stupid from the get go and I cannot believe they dragged it out so long. The only good thing was that the woman who was the baby’s mother (I’m really attached if I can’t remember their names) showed amazing emotional range in the final scenes. Of course, now that they’ve added the “new” kid, I assume all of the plot lines for their family are set–he’ll get into fights at school, and then there’s the inevitable time when his mother shows back up again. Yawn. And what about their daughter? Why not just show her more? Second, even though I enjoy the symmetry of Crosby and Jasmine together for Jabbar’s sake, there is literally no reason that either one of them should want to be with the other–they could not be less compatible–it’s preposterous. And i really don’t want to see them fighting (or him cheating) in the next season. Oh and someone please give Adam’s daughter a decent haircut.
Are You There, Chelsea (NBC)
I watched this exclusively because I like Laura Prepon (go That 70s Show!) and since she is basically Donna in this show as well, I like it too. There’s a bunch of lame stuff here too (I don’t like dopey sex jokes from men or women, I guess), but Prepon’s a hoot. I was especially pleased by the guest casting of Fez in the last episode.
Modern Family (ABC)
Still funny. Still very funny.
Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Why does Leonard never take his coat(s) off in his house?
Community (NBC)
I was wounded when they took the show off the air. I’m incredibly glad that it’s back.
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
We just got into Parks and Recreation last year and I still like it. I like it so much more that Andy is not a “bad” guy anymore. And the rest of the cast is simply awesome.
30 Rock (NBC)
This has been my favorite season so far. The writing just seems fresher and more on target (and I think there’s been less Tracy and Jenna, who I dislike immensely).
The Office (NBC)
It’s hard to adjust to a show when it changes so drastically. It’s still funny, but in a very different way than it was. But I notice that I will choose to watch other things first, which I never really did before.
Up All Night (NBC)
I don’t understand this show. When it first started it was all about partiers who now have a baby (and Maya Rudolph didn’t know thing 1 about babies). Now it is a domestic comedy occasionally about babies, but mostly about work (it is nice that it is her work and not his work)–there seems to be one “baby” episode every three or four adult episodes. And now Maya Rudolph wants to be the godmother? I understand that shows get tweaked, but I miss the exhausted parents schtick, I don’t really need another workplace comedy. And why is the opening sequence so sucky? The original sequence sucked and this new one is worse). As for Maya Rudolph, I really just don’t like her character….
DIGRESSION: I was trying to figure out why there are certain TV characters that I just cannot stand who everyone else seems to love. Phoebe on Friends,Kenneth on 30 Rock and Maya Rudolph on Up All Night. I noticed that they are all NBC characters and they all fall into a category of zany people and “who knows what weird thing they’ll say next.” Now I love zaniness. The Kids in the Hall were the kings of absurd, but their characters all played by some kind of rules. Kenneth’s only rule seems to be that he can say literally anything and we just accept that he was brought up weird. He’s just not believable. And Maya Rudolph on Up All Night is so over the top that it doesn’t feel like a character, it feels like a laugh generator. And no one else seems to think they’re weird. Oh, ha, they’re just so wacky.
Project Runway: All Stars (Lifetime)
I hate these all-star shows. And I hate the new Lifetime format. It’s nice to see Mondo again, though. But honestly, how good a crop of designers could it be if Jerrel and Kenley made it to the top 4? (see my full PR bitch here)
Grimm (NBC)
This is a consistently excellent show. It has a very cool Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe–scary but funny and with an interesting arc that runs through it. I like all the characters and I’m glad the setting is somewhere unusual, like Portland.
Archer (FX)
Holy shitsnacks is this show funny. From the writing to H. Jon Benjamin’s delivery, this show never fails to make me laugh all the time.
Key and Peele (Comedy Central)
This is our new favorite skit show. We’ve only seen a few episodes but it is very very funny. They touch on mildly taboo subjects in a fresh and interesting way and damn if Peele’s impression of Obama isn’t perfect.
Tosh.0 (Comedy Central)
It’s hard not to like this show because there’s something different every minute. But I feel like maybe he’s running out of funny videos online (believe it or not!). And he’s really trolling for web redemptions. Still, I’m guaranteed a few belly laughs per show. And Tosh himself is quite offensively funny.
Comic Book Men (AMC)
I’ve only seen one episode and it was much better than it could have been. It’s an interesting look at a weird job, through the twisted eyes of Kevin Smith. 6 episodes is probably enough though,
Face Off (SyFy)
I can’t get over how much I like this reality show! It’s a contest for makeup artists, specifically for monster and prosthetic makeup artists. The challenges are interesting and it’s all really cool seeing how this stuff is done!
The Simpsons (FOX)
500 episodes. Amazing. And that 500th was pretty darn great.
Once Upon a Time (ABC)
I want to like this show. I really do. But I always fall asleep during it and then I have no idea what is going on. I feel like the storybook world and the real world don’t parallel as well as they should, or maybe they parallel more than they should–it’s just off. And why is Jinnifer Goodwin the lead star–shes hardly ever in it? It’s all about the blonde lady, who i don’t really like, and I don’t really care about the adopted boy/stepmorther story line, it’s not really compelling at all. But as always, Robert Carlyle is amazing, and he is absolutely worth tuning in for–the episode where we see his backstory was awesome.
Portlandia (IFC)
I so very much like this show. It’s often hilarious, but even when it isn’t, it will always raise a smile.
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (IFC)
I am ashamed to say that we didn’t watch this second season. We TiVo’d it and then they all got erased when it taped an HD version of some really long movie. Gasp.
Bob’s Burgers (FOX)
We watched one episode of this because of H Jon Benjamin. It’s a weird show and I’m still on the fence about it (it bugs me that so many of the women are voiced by men for some reason), but it won me over by the end.
Workaholics (Comedy Central)
This show is crazy. Crazy in a very good, very noiiice way.
And shows that are gone
Chuck (NBC)
At least it left on its own terms. And the final season was a good one!
Allen Gregory (FOX)
Yea, it was pretty disappointing.
And wait, what??
Breaking In (FOX)
This show was cancelled and now it’s back. Well how about that? I wonder if they’re going to tweak it and make it suck? I hope not.
I Hate My Teenage Daughter (FOX)
This show isn’t very good, but it made me laugh once in a while (and it has the woman from Wonderfalls in it!. I was sure it was cancelled, but lo, I see some new episodes coming out. Weird. Maybe FOX is just burning through what’s left.
I Just Read About That... 
Wow. I’ve never heard of some of these shows (I never watch the Emmys because I have no idea what’s going on). Next time someone gets on my case for watching too much tv, I’m sending them your way. 😉 But it’s really nice to have someone to talk tv with, who doesn’t sneer at me and tell me they like real life better than tv. TV is a reflection of real life, and I find it fascinating to see what’s popular. And scary, sometimes.
One by one:
How I Met Your Mother – I’ve tried to watch this a couple of times (I like Neil Patrick Harris a lot… this is his show, isn’t it?), but it baffles me.
New Girl – Based on your comments, I’m going to give this a second shot. I got really tired of the cutesy angle before the first episode was over, and the second wasn’t much better, but now that they’ve conveyed “Oh, look! She’s ditzy! How cute!” maybe it’s dialed back to 11.
Glee – This breaks my heart, because it means so well, and it falls so short. The first season was so cute, but it became a victim of its own success and started taking itself too seriously. I only hope some of the message is getting through. Are kids responding to the bullying storylines? If so, great, but it’s lost me. I don’t think the wedding episode was the season finale, was it? They still haven’t introduced the fourth Glee Project “not-winner” – Alex – and Samuel hasn’t done the six episodes he was supposed to do? Maybe they changed their minds? BTW, we didn’t get to the wedding yet, the car crashed. And BTW2, if you didn’t watch The Glee Project last year, try to catch it this year, it was sort of a mashup of PR and AI, but nicer. Of course, they’ll probably wreck that, too.
ANTM – I’ve already commisserated with you on the mess Tyra makes of everything. Including Pocahontas.
Parenthood – I keep following this but they lost me when Max and Jabbar grew out of their “awww, how cute” stages. I still say it’s Thirtysomething: The Next Generation. It was such a great movie, and I’m crazy about Mae Whitman and the guy from Six Feet Under, but the women annoy me. And I’m really sick of people having babies. Oh, and I liked the cellist so I’m pissed about that twist as well. Don’t know if I’ll watch again.
30 Rock – I watch the reruns, it’s a decent time-filler between Colbert and Jeopardy, but I’m not interested enough to figure out when it’s on in prime time. 😉
PR:AS – well, you know. We’re pretty in tune on our disdain for what they’ve done to the franchise.
Portlandia – so many people who tend to like cool things like this show. I’ve never seen it. I’m going to have to start making an effort to find it (most TV, other than my slate of competitive reality, I just kind of stumble upon).
The rest, I can’t really speak to. I’ve tried watching the Amy Pohler show once in a while, but I can never remember if it’s P&R or Community, and it bored me, even though I adore her. Like 30 Rock, it’ll make a fine filler some day. I’m still mourning The West Wing. There’s a message board on TWoP that’s still active, years after the last syndicated run, and nearly a decade after cancellation. And just about every week, someone posts something that’s happened in the political arena with an episode reference. I’d love to see Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming show but I don’t get HBO and can’t justify spending more on cable to see it.
Don’t we always become our parents? Remember them bemoaning Milton Berle and Sid Caesar, and we sneered at them while watching Laugh-In and the Smothers Brothers? Now I miss the old stuff – I watch a lot of almost-ancient syndicated stuff on the high channels. Because these kids today, they don’t know what’s good. 😉
I should start blogging commercials (the one I did still gets more hits than anything else), because often, those are my favorite part. The rapping hamsters? Priceless. I even sing cat food commercials sometimes.
But that would probably seem weird, huh?
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