Tag: Numb3rs

Fall TV is Upon Us Again

On September 24, 2009

And my DVR begins its protests against abuse and overwork. I’m trying to cut down this year, really I am, but I think what’s going to happen (again) is I start off watching way too much and then shows will fall off as the season goes on. At least this year I already have a color-coded list of which shows are first on the chopping block. YES, color-coded. What? I’m a nerd.

So what’s on everyone else’s schedules? Let me know! I’m going to try to post more about TV this year – if only because I need to get into the habit of posting more, and TV is an easy topic to do.

Definitely Watching

Dollhouse

I was shocked and pleased when Fox renewed Dollhouse last year; I can’t wait to see where it goes this year. Hopefully far enough that I’ll soon forget the disappointment of the simultaneous (and probably related) demise of The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

30 Rock
30 rock
Doesn’t come back until the middle of October! Wah. But then it’s always late, isn’t it? Ah well, Liz Lemon and her crew are worth waiting for, always.

Mad Men
MadMenSeason3
This one started several weeks ago, actually. And I’m already four or five episodes behind. Way to start the season, there. In my defence, I was finishing up Season 2 on disc. But I really need to marathon it and catch up, because it’s one of the best shows on TV right now.

Fringe
Fringe
I spent all last year deciding whether to keep watching Fringe, because I didn’t feel any connection with Olivia, and had some issues with the narrative. But then the finale had like six WTF moments, and it turned out to be one of my most-anticipated returning shows. That could be because it’s sci-fi and I’m hungry for any sci-fi right now. Or it could be because alternate realities are the BEST EVER. We’ll see if the season bears out the promise of last year’s finale.

V
v_promo-1024x576
I haven’t seen the original series, I’m not going to. It’s sci-fi. I’m watching it, and I’m excited about it. And upset that it doesn’t start until FRAKKING NOVEMBER.

The Office

Poo-ball! Yeah, that’s what I took away from the season premiere. And also, Jim and Pam are still adorable. I remember being afraid that after a while their adorableness would wear off and the writers would be forced to break them up to keep interest, but I’m more confident now that they won’t do that.

How I Met Your Mother

Three words: Neil Patrick Harris. A few more words: I was such a huge fan of Ted-Robin that I fought Barney-Robin like crazy. But I give in. They’re good. There are so few sitcoms I can watch, and HIMYM keeps popping back near the top of my list.

So You Think You Can Dance

In the fall! I’m so excited! My wittle baby summer show gets a fall slot. I love everything about this show, except when people get eliminated. That part I don’t like. I could go on and on about how it kicks American Idol’s ass, but I did that years ago. Nothing has changed.

Family Guy
familyguy
Usually this is on my “watch when I have time” list, just because the episodes don’t depend on seeing them all or seeing them in order. But Family Guy gets quoted approximately 8,295,372 times every day at work, so I gotta keep up. Plus, it’s hilarious.

Project Runway

I’m not a fashion person, but Project Runway is some damn fine TV. Just seeing what the designers come up with to meet the requirements of the challenge is fascinating (and often the most outlandish challenges get the most remarkable results, go figure). The season is well underway, and thankfully the switch from Bravo to Lifetime doesn’t seem to have hurt it at all.

Survivor: Samoa
survivorsamoa
Yep, I got sucked into Survivor. I resisted for years, but I’m there now. Although so far this year, the one guy who thinks he’s all that is annoying me so much. I hope he gets voted off soonish.

FlashForward

I’m calling this one pseudo-sci-fi until I see more, though most people seem to be considering it a sci-fi show. Personally, I think everyone simultaneously blacking out and seeing a vision of their future is an interesting if somewhat gimmicky premise, but doesn’t guarantee actual sci-fi-ness. But it’s one of the few new shows I’m excited about, and it has Joseph Fiennes. So there you go.

Glee
Glee
I’m a little more skeptical of hyped-up music-infested high school-set shows than some of my friends, but it at least looks to be a good guilty pleasure show. Don’t get me wrong, I love music and musicals, but I’m not really a fan of the music they’ve had on the show so far. Too “High School Musical.” Which is, of course, the obvious comparison.

We’ll See

The Simpsons
Ditto what I said about Family Guy. I haven’t kept up as well with The Simpsons, though, in previous seasons, so I feel less bad if I get behind.

The Amazing Race
Usually TAR is at the top of my reality show list, but I’m starting to get a little bored with its formula. But I’m keeping it on my schedule because a) I like seeing all the places they go and b) honestly, some nights, reality tv is all I have the energy to watch, so I need a few options.

Top Chef
I enjoy Top Chef and always watch in the summer when it starts, but I don’t love it enough to keep it up if I get behind on other stuff. OTOH, the early start means it ends early.

Bones
I actually love Bones a lot, but I got behind on it last year and missed half a season. I watched the season opener last week, and I don’t think picking it back up will be an issue, but we’ll see.

Community
Really only watched this last week because it’s in 30 Rock‘s spot and I figured, why not. We’ll see if it has staying power once the schedule gets crazier and it moves timeslots.

The Cleveland Show
I’m going to start out watching this because a) Family Guy spin-off and b) I know the head animator. But the previews I’ve seen have not been promising. We’ll see.

Will Probably Drop

House
I love House, really, but I missed half of last season, and I was starting to get a little bored with House’s schtick anyway. I’m gonna try a couple of eps once they show up on hulu, but in a time crunch, I’ve got to say goodbye to the good doctor.

The Mentalist
Got behind on this one last year, too, but I enjoyed the episodes I saw. I’m going to try to pick it up again, but procedurals are usually the first to drop when I start running out of time.

Numb3rs
Procedural. I’ve been a fan for a long time, but the last year or so hasn’t kept me as interested.

NCIS
I missed a lot of this one last year, too. I think there’s something going on with Ziva that I know NOTHING about, so I’m not sure I can pick it back up without seeing the episodes I missed. Not sure I want to, either…I have one recorded and I’ll check it out, but I’ll probably drop it soon.

NCIS: Los Angeles
I gotta give any show set in LA a chance, but even the billboards look stupid, so no high hopes.

Criminal Minds
I love the cases on Criminal Minds, some of the more fascinating ones in any of the procedurals, but again, procedural. And I really didn’t watch it at all until last season, so I don’t have a lot invested in it.

Ugly Betty
This one kills me. I *love* Ugly Betty, but I missed so much of it last year. I don’t think I want to start it up again without watching the ones I missed, so I may put this down as a “watch on DVD later.”

Not Watching

Grey’s Anatomy
Big fan for years, even against my will at times, but I lost track last year (wow, last year sucked for me and TV, huh?), and I’d already fallen into a love-hate relationship with the show. I’ll probably be a happier person without it.

Desperate Housewives
My love-hate relationship with DH fell way more into hate last year, so I’m not really even half-way considering trying to pick it back up. Sorry, guys, you lost me somewhere around the time you stopped lampooning soaps and became one.

The Big Bang Theory
I’ve never been a Big Bang Theory watcher, but I’ve told people I would try it. I tried it. It’s not that funny, guys. Not against NBCs sitcoms and HIMYM. And the laugh track kills whatever jokes might’ve been funny.

Heroes
There’s not really any question with Heroes. I gave up middle of last season when it did not improve after the debacle of the previous season, and despite the fact that Bryan Fuller is back, I refuse to be pulled back into it again. This is probably the only show I’ve ever watched that I literally dreaded watching off the DVR every week.

It’s That Season Again…

By Jandy

On September 3, 2008

In Television

The new season of Bones premieres tonight, marking the beginning of this year’s TV season for me. Yay! My DVR is bigger than the one I had last year, which is a good thing. Here’s a little preview of everything I’m going to try to watch. Until I inevitably can’t keep up and have to drop some. Let me know what all you’re excited about!

There may be spoilers for previous seasons throughout this post.

Must-Watches

The Office

The Office

How long has it been since a half-hour comedy topped my must-watch list? It’s probably never happened. But The Office manages to be funny, real, fake, and heartwarming all at the same time. Going for three months in the summer without Jim and Pam and Michael and the rest of the crew is…not fun. I’m not sure what I want to happen this year – they kept the Jim-Pam storyline from getting too stale last season by having lots of other stuff going on, but I’m not sure how much longer they can do that. On the other hand, we’ve got the Dwight-Amanda-Andy triangle getting more convoluted all the time, not to mention Jan’s pregnancy. So we’re chock full of drama. Which will be handled most comedically, I’m sure.

30 Rock

30 Rock

How long has it been since TWO half-hour comedies topped my must-watch list? But I honestly look forward to 30 Rock every week at least as much as any other show. Sometimes even more than The Office, I’ll admit. The continuing adventures of Liz Lemon, producer of an SNL-like sketch comedy show, her boss Jack Donaghy, Jack’s assistant Kenneth, and others manages to stay fresh, funny, and wonderfully self-referential. (My favorite moment last year? After taking a conversation about a cellphone to an obvious extreme of product placement, Tina Fey turns to the camera and asks if they can have their money now.) My #1 request for this year: Give Jane Krakowski more to do.

Pushing DaisiesÂ

Pushing Daisies

The most enchanting new show last year made it through the network’s quirk-factor gatekeepers and somehow got renewed. And we all breathed a sigh of relief that it’s on ABC, not FOX, because I doubt FOX would’ve been so generous. Ned is a humble piemaker with a special gift – he can bring dead things back to life with a touch. But a second touch returns them to death forever; and if he lets them live for longer than one minute, someone else dies. Pretty much a catch-22, especially when he brings back Chuck, the girl who lived next door and who he now loves. As cutesy as the concept is, it’s also the only show on TV that continually greets me with a sense of wonder. Plus, the art direction and cinematography is delectable. My fear for Season Two is that it won’t be able to figure out how to keep the “they love each other but they can’t touch” premise from getting old.

The Amazing RaceÂ

Yeah, I’m putting a reality show fourth on my list of twenty shows I want to watch. You wanna make something of it? I love, love, love The Amazing Race. Why it took me until, like, Season 7 to figure this out, I couldn’t tell you. Seriously, racing around the world, to awesome places, doing awesome things (and some not-so-awesome things)…I’d do that even without a potential million dollars at the end of it. And watching it is the next best thing.

ChuckÂ

Another sophomore show, Chuck blends the things I like best in TV shows all together: geeks, spies, kick-ass women, action, comedy, awkward romances, etc. And it does it well. I almost literally can’t wait for it to come back. Will Chuck and Sarah move from fake dating to real romance? (I honestly can’t remember if they sort of did last year, or not…anyone remember?) And I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Julie Cooper in previews. Er, that is, Melinda Clarke – she played Julie Cooper on The O.C. (and became pretty much my sole reason for watching the show near the end, before I quit watching completely). So that’s very exciting.

How I Met Your MotherÂ

How I Met Your Mother

What’s this? ANOTHER half-hour comedy? That’s right. And if Arrested Development were still on, we could have a nice set of comedy tennis doubles. But it’s not. Boo. Anyway, How I Met Your Mother isn’t quite as innovative as The Office and 30 Rock, but it makes up for it by having characters I love to pieces. If Ted were real, I’d marry him in a heartbeat. And if Robin were real, well, I’d be her. In my dreams. And Alyson Hannigan. And Jason Segal (who I like much better on TV than in Judd Apatow films). And of course, Neil Patrick Harris, who is GOLD. What about this year, though? I miss Ted-Robin as a couple, but I’m starting to be curious as to who the mother is – the last few episodes of last season seemed to be moving closer and closer to revealing her, or at least dropping strong hints about her. On the other hand, the premise of the show sort of dictates that once Ted meets her, show’s over, right? And I’m fairly sure it isn’t Stella, as much as I like having Sarah Chalke on the show. And I’m not at all sure about Barney-Robin. But that could just be because I’m still, two years later, so attached to Ted-Robin. We’ll see.

Ugly Betty

Oh, Betty. I don’t care for the world of fashion (oh, right, except for Project Runway), and you keep dragging me back in. When a show has so many characters you love to hate, or hate to love, or love to love, how can you resist? Mark and Amanda are easily among my favorite supporting characters ever, even when I spend entire shows wanting to smack some sense into them. And there’s plenty of drama to go around…Wilhemina’s blackmail baby, Christina’s involvement in that, Gio vs. Henry…suddenly hoping all that didn’t get resolved last season and I forgot. What with the writers strike and trying to graduate, I got a little lost even on some of my favorite shows.

HouseÂ

House

House and Wilson are on the outs because of a little thing like House killing Wilson’s girlfriend, Heinous Bitch. Gotta admit, though, Heinous Bitch did bring a lot of interest to the show last year, so I think it’s going to miss her. But House seems to be able to come up with something (like the American Idol approach to hospital hiring) to keep me involved, so I’m trusting them. I wish Thirteen were a little less Cameron2. Even though I like Cameron. Oh, and Felicia Day, of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, The Guild and BtVS S7, and general all-around acting/internet/tech cool person, is going to be in episode 2, so watch for that.

BonesÂ

Bones

Zach!!! I’m still angry about that. I didn’t believe it, I didn’t like it, and I don’t like that Zach won’t be on the show as much this year. Yet I’ll still be watching, because I need my Boreanaz-Deschanel-fake forensics fix.

Dirty Sexy MoneyÂ

My favorite guilty pleasure show of last year. I honestly don’t remember much about the plot part, and I could really care less about the overarching thing with Peter Krause’s father. I’m all about the twins and whatever shenanigans they’re getting up to.

NCIS and Numb3rsÂ

These both fall into my “episodic procedurals that I love to watch but don’t obsess over.” They usually stick around on my DVR until I’ve watched everything else, or when I need something comforting to watch. Yeah, I find procedurals about murders comforting. I’m weird like that.

Will Watch

These shows I’m still interested in (or am checking out for the first time and expecting to be good), but I’m not wholly invested in anymore. Some of these may be surprising to those of you who’ve known me over multiple TV seasons.

FringeÂ

Fringe

I’m actually pretty excited about this one; it’s only down here because it’s new and hence an unknown quantity. Even being from JJ Abrams – I fear he’s spreading himself a little thin, what with this new show, and Lost (which I guess isn’t coming back until spring?), and the Star Trek movie, and I think there’s another movie he’s working on, too. But the concept sounds cool, and I’m hoping it’ll be awesome.

Grey’s AnatomyÂ

$Grey\'s Anatomy$

Two years ago I was a huge Grey’s addict. Then the debacle of S3 happened, and S4 didn’t pick up the pieces quite enough. So I’m there out of loyalty (although I don’t think I ever actually watched the post-strike episodes last year, so I’m a little out of the loop), but I don’t have the same blind hope that I did last year. Unless they turn it around quickly, I may have to regretfully let it go.

Desperate HousewivesÂ

Desperate Housewives

I think I missed the last episode of this, too, because I thought they stopped at the tornado one, but then I later heard they aired the next episode (where you find out that Tom and the kids aren’t dead, I guess). Anyway, this year they’re apparently jumping several years ahead, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. I guess they wanted something of a fresh start for the show, which admittedly stagnated a bit last year. We’ll see how it works out.

The Sarah Connor ChroniclesÂ

Sarah Connor Chronicles

I want to move this into the top section, but it never grabbed me last year as much as it did some people. Honestly, I think being busy with school and thrown by having a show start right when all the others were ending (off-season shows really throw me for a loop, unless they’re reality shows) might’ve contributed. But again, I’m always up for kick-ass women shows, and if Summer Glau is involved, even better, so my hopes are high that this will soon become a must-watch.

HeroesÂ

Heroes

What…even happened last year? I really don’t remember. I remember thinking what a blessing it was that the season was cut short by the strike. Not a great sign, honestly. And from what I’ve seen, I’m not alone in my ambivalence toward S2, so hopefully the writers will find some new direction that will be awesome. If not…

Family GuyÂ

Family Guy

I actually love Family Guy and have no beef with it. I just tend not to care whether I catch every episode or not, so it’ll get saved up on the DVR or I’ll watch it on hulu.com when I feel in the mood.

Private PracticeÂ

Private Practice

Addison was one of my favorite Grey’s characters, but I never got beyond casual like for her spin-off. I’ll keep it on the DVR for now, but it’s probably one of the first to go if I start getting behind. Unless it suddenly becomes awesome. But my hopes aren’t particularly high.

Tentatively Trying

Knight RiderÂ

Knight Rider

This could be pretty cool, or it could CRASH AND BURN. Chances about 30-70. Plus, it’s against two other shows I’m not missing (Pushing Daisies and Bones), so it’ll have to be really darn good for me to expend the effort to find and watch it.

Crusoe

(I can’t even find a promo pic for this; that doesn’t bode well)

An 18th-century period piece on primetime network TV? When has that ever happened and been successful? Don’t get me wrong, it’d be cool if it does work and does well, but I’m not scheduling my life around it just yet.

Kath & KimÂ

Kath & Kim

I wanna give this a shot because a) it’s Australian, b) Molly Shannon, and c) Selma Blair. But if the tone in the ads is actually indicative of the tone of the show, I might not be able to take it for long.

Fall TV – Two Weeks In

By Jandy

On October 10, 2007

In Television

Now that nearly all the shows I was interested in have premiered, and most of them have gotten a couple of episodes out, here’s what I’m liking so far. Pretty much in order of how much I like them. There’s going to spoilers for all of them, just fyi. The few shows that I’m planning to look at but haven’t premiered yet are Women’s Murder Club (which I won’t actually be able to watch unless ABC puts it up on their website, or I obtain it via, um, other means, because of scheduling conflicts) and The Next Great American Band, which is American Idol for bands, and which has one of the Australian Idol judges on it! I was really excited when I saw that in a promo tonight. I might try Cashmere Mafia when it starts in December (I think), because Lucy Liu is in it, but I decided against Christina Applegate’s amnesia sitcom Samantha Who?, because the more commercials I see for it, the stupider it looks.

LOVE/ADDICTED/OBSESSED

Ugly Betty
This show is so close to perfect right now, it’s not even funny. The very first scene of the opener, spoofing telenovelas? Loved. And the way they did Hilda dealing with Santos’ death was so great–they had me fooled, but it was niggling in the back of my mind that if they really had Santos recover from being shot in the chest from a foot away, it would be really bad from a narrative point of view. But what they did worked really well. And America Ferrera, as always, great (she won an Emmy, you know). And Mark, and Amanda, and Christina (apropos of nothing, I just discovered that Ashley Jensen is on HBO’s Extras, which you should totally watch), and Wilhemena…I had no idea how much I had missed the show over the summer. Please, please, watch it if you’re not.

The Office
I’m not hugely loving the hour-long format; I think that’s short-lived, though. Some shows are just half-hour shows, and that’s the pacing that works for them, and The Office is one of those shows. The opener was pretty good, but the second ep really hit the stride, as Ryan comes back fresh from his promotion and starts overhauling the business and being generally douchy while Michael complains that the changes represent ageism. Brilliant. And Jim and Pam. SO ADORABLE. Please let them be happy and adorable for a long time without making them angsty. Let others deal with the relationship issues for a while, and just let Jim and Pam be adorable.

House
First three eps this year were brilliant. House and Wilson getting into a kidnapping war, House bouncing ideas off the janitor, actually interesting cases, the search for the new team members is cracking me up… I honestly don’t mind if they keep Cameron and Chase off House’s team for a while–as long as they’re around somewhere–and some of the new team possibilities interest me. I like the really annoyingly pushy chick, because I can see some entertaining explosions coming out of the fact that she’s just as ruthless and pigheaded as House, and I like the old guy. And I also like the woman who ended up killing the guy this week (ooh, someone died on House! That never ever happens), but I guess the fact that she killed someone may not bode well. We’ll see. But I’m not sure about Foreman getting fired from his new job…that whole subplot wasn’t really well-integrated, and that leaves the door open for Foreman to come back or something, and he was the one of the team that I didn’t mind leaving.

Friday Night Lights
I finished S1 on DVD on Friday one hour before the new season’s premiere. Yay! There’s something so fresh about the show, even though it’s about a small-town high school football coach and his family and his team, which doesn’t seem like a very original, innovative subject. But the writing is really good, the characterization is really good, and the camerawork is uncompromising (though the handheldedness of it can get a little annoying at times). Mr. and Mrs. Coach are the best adult couple on television, no question about it. And if I can fall in love with a show about football, as much as I dislike sports, you can too. So come on. The premiere went a number of interesting directions, a few of which had me screaming at the TV, so really, this season could go anywhere.

30 Rock
There’s only been one episode so far this season, but it left me wanting more immediately. 30 Rock is sort of one of those shows that sneaks up on you with how good it is. I watched it for weeks last year before I realized that I didn’t just casually enjoy it, but I honestly loved it. And I say that about so few sitcoms. Seinfeld-vision is brilliant, like most of 30 Rock‘s other comic indictments of consumerism and mercenary motivations of television execs. And poor Liz Lemon with her wedding dress! And Alec Baldwin is better than he’s been in years.

Grey’s Anatomy
Okay, so I’m really mad at Grey’s right now. But it still legitimately counts as an obsession, since obsession includes the idea of being unable to let go of something that no longer really lives up to expectations. And I can’t let it go. I still love the characters, even though they’re being stupid, and I still love the music, and I still love the show. And every once in a while there are flashes of goodness, and for an obsessed person, sometimes that’s enough. Plus, Becky and I spent the whole show last week arguing through text messages over whether or not Lexie is annoying enough to merit Meredith’s bitchiness toward her, and anything that provokes logical argumentation has value, right? Right?

More after the jump.

Fall TV Planning

By Jandy

On September 15, 2007

In Television

The fall TV season is nearly upon us again, and I can’t wait! On the other hand, there are so many things I want to watch that I’m going to be overwhelmed within a few weeks. Thank goodness for DVRs, but there are still some timeslots that have three or four things I want to check out, and my DVR can only record two a time. (We’re not dealing with actually finding the time to watch all the shows…we’ll figure that out later.) Anyway, here’s what I’m looking at this fall. What’s everybody else watching? Anyone want to join me and Becky in chatting about the shows on YahooMessenger while we watch?

BTW, spoilers after the jump for all the returning shows I’m watching, especially: How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, House, Bones, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, and Desperate Housewives.

Early TV outlook

By Jandy

On September 8, 2006

In Television

Not all my shows have premiered yet, but a few have, and I think it’s about time I start obsessing, so here we go.

Premiered shows

Prison Break (Fox, Mondays at 7pm CST) – Prison Break started off a little slow for me this year, but by the third episode, it’s gathering itself a bit. I’m not sure I’m going to keep it on the schedule, but I’ve invested a year in it, so I’m less likely to give it up than some of the newer shows. Plus, I want to make sure Sara doesn’t get in too much trouble.

Vanished (Fox, Mondays at 8pm CST) – We’re three episodes into this new show, and I’m still figuring out what I think. I am getting drawn into the story to some degree, especially the conspiracy theory / secret society angle, because I’m a sucker for that. But I’m not sure the whole structure really works–there’s too many strands at one time, none of which are developed enough for me to really care about them. It’s one thing to keep watching it now, when there are only six shows that have premiered, but when it’s jockeying for my (increasingly limited) free time with 15 to 20 other shows, Vanished may vanish. (Sorry, had to do the easy pun. Series totally ask for it when they name shows like that.)

House (Fox, Tuesdays at 7pm CST) – One episode in, and it’s as good as ever. I think the conflict between what House wants to do and what Cutty will let him do is going to increase this year–and making it even more interesting is Cutty’s growing inability to separate what’s medically sound from House’s hunches. I just hope that it doesn’t devolve into familiar ground regarding House’s vicodin addiction. But it looks like a solid beginning to a good season of a great show.

Standoff (Fox, Tuesdays at 8pm CST) – This one’s been looking good all summer, and it wasn’t a bit disappointing. Hostage negotiating is always a very tense subject, and the suspense was kept up quite well. The only thing is going to be keeping up that intensity over a whole season, but hey. Procedurals do it all the time with crimes, so why not hostage situations? I like the characters, the writing isn’t bad, and I’m definitely keeping this one on my schedule.

Bones (Fox, Wednesdays at 7pm CST) – I have friends who deride Bones all the time, for writing, or poor forensics, or whatever. But you know what, I like it. I don’t care. I enjoy the interplay between Brennan and Booth, I like the goofiness of the team, I’m enjoying the tension that the new boss is bringing to the Jeffersonian. I know nothing about forensics, so I don’t know if it’s accurate or not, but it looks interesting to me, and that’s what TV is about…entertaining the ignorant, right? Just kidding. But it kept my interest all last season, and the first episode of this season was good, too. So I’m not letting it go.

Justice (Fox, Wednesdays at 8pm CST) – I’m not completely convinced by this one yet–high-powered defense lawyers and all that. I do love Victor Garber, though, and the young lawyer is hot hot hot. This week’s episode had Amanda Seyfried (Lilly on Veronica Mars) as the guest star, and she was great. The closing gimmick of showing how the crime really happened (i.e., whether the defendent really did it, independent of the verdict) strikes me as just that…a gimmick. And they’re going to have to lose some cases now and again, too. I hope they handle that well. Overall, I’m not done with it yet, but it’s not top of my “keep watching” list either.

New shows not premiered yet

Kidnapped (NBC, Wednesdays at 9pm CST, premieres 9/20) – I actually saw this premiere from Netflix. And between then and now, I’ve almost completely forgotten it. Even when watching it, now that I think back, it wasn’t terribly memorable. I may give it a shot for a week or two, but I doubt it’ll differentiate itself from the huge pack of new dramas this fall.

Six Degrees (ABC, Thursdays at 9pm CST, premieres 9/20) – I haven’t heard much advance buzz on this, either, but when I was making my fall TV schedule, I saw it on the ABC website and the concept looks interesting. I’m always fascinated by how people and events are connected together in unlikely ways, and ABC has done well on their dramas the last few years, so I’m going to test it out.

Heroes (NBC, Mondays at 8pm CST, premieres 9/25) – Now here we go. One of my two most anticipated new series of the year. Each otherwise ordinary person has some extraordinary power–I’m not sure where it’s going to go from here, but the cast is good (Greg Grunberg, yayness!–he was Agent Weiss on Alias, as well as the doomed pilot on Lost), and NBC’s relentless promotion of the show all summer has me very interested.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC, Mondays at 9pm CST, premieres 9/25) – And my other most anticipated new series. Aaron Sorkin, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, behind-the-scenes at an ailing-but-hopefully-recovering SNL-type show–I’ve seen the premiere, and it’s excellent. Great cast, great writing…if the rest of the series can keep it up, this will be great.

The Nine (ABC, Wednesdays at 9pm CST, premieres 10/4) – I don’t remember what this one was about. But whatever description of it I read interested me enough to throw in on my schedule, so I guess I’ll find out for a few weeks anyway. edit: Okay, reading TV Guide in the checkout line is sometimes helpful–this show is about nine people taken hostage in a bank robbery over the whole season arc. TV Guide was high on it, and it does sound like it might be good. The actress who plays Audrey Raines on 24 is in it, and she’s apparently quite the little firecracker.

30 Rock (NBC, Wednesdays at 7:30 CST, premieres premieres 10/11) – I’ll actually take bets on how long this can make it before being cancelled. I give it…five episodes. But I do like Tina Fey, so despite my overall sense that it’s going to totally suck, I’d like to catch an ep or two to confirm that. edit: TV Guide tagged this Best New Comedy. Heh. I’m still not convinced.

Returning shows yet to premiere

The Amazing Race (CBS, Sundays at 7:30pm CST, premieres 9/17) – I avoided TAR for a long time on the basis of being prejudiced against all reality-type shows. Then I was convinced to try it, and it’s actually quite interesting, if only for the travel aspect.

How I Met Your Mother (CBS, Mondays at 7:30pm CST, premieres 9/18) – One of the very few sitcoms I really like. It’s cute, and funny, and sweet, and GORRAM IT ROBIN AND TED NEED TO GET TOGETHER ALREADY. Sorry. I’m not usually much of a ‘shipper, but Robin and Ted are so awesome.

NCIS (CBS, Tuesdays at 7pm CST, premieres 9/19) – I didn’t watch this one from the beginning (bad me!), but I do enjoy it. But it’s more of a fun procedural now and again rather than an “I have to watch it every week!” kind of show. I intend on watching it all on DVD eventually to get the overall arcs down, but depending on time, NCIS may fall by the wayside.

The Office (NBC, Thursdays at 7:30pm CST, premieres 9/20) – I scoffed off the American version of The Office at first, but enough people have told me that it’s really good, and acclimated itself well to being American instead of British that I think I’ll give it a shot this year.

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, Thursdays at 8pm CST, premieres 9/20) – My watching or non-watching of Grey’s depends entirely on how quickly I get and watch the S2 discs from Netflix, which should be on their way to me soon. I watched the whole first season in about a week on DVD, and LOVED it, far more than I’d expected. So I’d love to be watching the current season, but I absolutely do not want to watch out of order.

Numb3rs (CBS, Fridays at 9pm CST, premieres 9/21) – Numb3rs is just fun. I do so enjoy good procedurals sometimes, and Numb3rs has characters that I like, even if they aren’t really so much into the relationship side of things. Sometimes that’s refreshing.

Desperate Housewives (ABC, Sundays at 8pm CST, premieres 9/24) – A lot of people thought the second season went so far downhill that they aren’t even planning to watch the current season. I don’t think it was as great as the first season, but it didn’t turn me off so much that I don’t want to keep watching. It’s just such a guilty-type pleasure, you know? They do need to settle down the try-it-and-see-if-it-works style of writing employed last year.

Gilmore Girls (CW, Tuesdays at 7pm CST, premieres 9/26) – Yeah, I probably won’t be watching GG this year either. My brilliant plan of watching seasons 3-5 on DVD and somehow scrounging S6 from somewhere over the summer and thus being caught up for the current season didn’t really work out. And I doubt I’m going to be able to watch four seasons in the next three weeks. No spoilers, okay everyone? Please?

Supernatural (CW, Thursdays at 8pm CST, premieres 9/28) – I know some people who really like Supernatural (because of the hot boys), and I thought I might check it out, but I probably won’t have time. And the one episode I saw last season didn’t really make me want to see more, so I’ll most likely save it for a rainy day on DVD.

Veronica Mars (CW, Tuesdays at 8pm CST, premieres 10/3) – Why, oh why, does Veronica have to premiere so late?! I WANT IT NOW!! Guys, seriously, if I gave up every other show on here, I wouldn’t give up Veronica. That’s how great it is. Watch it, love it, share it, talk to me about it. :)

Lost (ABC, Wednesdays at 8pm CST, premieres 10/4) – Lost isn’t my favorite show, as I know it is for several of y’all, but I’m in it for the long haul. No way am I quitting now, just when the world of the island is starting to open up. I wish I’d kept up with the Lost Experience online stuff better, but I fell so far behind I gave up. I really have to congratulate ABC, though, on the way they’ve handled this show.

And 24 and American Idol, of course, start in January. ;) Oh, and in case it comes up, I have officially given up on The O.C.. I’m really tolerant of my shows, really, and I can put up with a lot of suckitude, but last season was incredibly bad, and I’m so totally over it. The only temptation is that Rachel Bilsson has been excellent all through, and I’m going to miss Summer. But one good character isn’t worth giving up so much of my time to THE SUCK.