Let me know what you’re watching. Maybe we can steer each other in the right direction.

I will also get my fall schedule up tomorrow so you can see what I’m planning on watching. Maybe we can have discussions on some of them here, who knows?

Anyway, it’s late and I’m pooped (from all that TV watching). ‘Night

• Bones – looking forward to the new season
• Numb3rs – a little disappointed it’s not coming back
• Glee – such a fun, great show!
• House – couldn’t keep my attention last year, I’ll give it one more shot
• Grey’s Anatomy – love all the story lines EXCEPT those with Meredith
• Private Practice – didn’t get to watch it last year, can’t remember why
• CSI – both NY and LV I still love; fell off the Miami bandwagon
• Criminal Minds – still really love it
• Lie to Me – I LOVE this show! but I don’t really know what the season is (did it just end?)
• Leverage – I like it well enough, but not into it too hardcore
• Flashpoint – I like this one too, but don’t stay on top of it like I should

And there are many others. We’ll see where it all goes. Watch along with me, share your loves and hates. I’m looking forward to it!

Today I spent a few hours in bed catching up on some of my shows I missed through last season (gotta get caught up before the new season starts) and watched the season finale of Rescue Me (one of my current obsessions). Part of why I wanted to write about this today is to voice my feelings on the show. They have so many strong characters and so many story lines, it gives them lots of ways to keep you guessing. You never know when they’re going to throw a twist in and completely shock you.

They did that last week. A character was injured and though I was semi-prepared, it just wasn’t a direction I expected it to go in or truly wanted it to. I was a little disappointed with the season finale, I must admit. I know not every show and every season will be great, but I just didn’t like the end of this particular one. And waiting as long as we did for the season to come back, it seemed short, rushed and honestly not their best work.

Hopefully next season will be better, and won’t be quite so far away.

Anyway, I know it may seem like a really weird thing for me to mention. I mean, I don’t smoke. Hubby does, but wants to quit. Da does, and doesn’t want to quit. But I don’t. So I wonder why it was so noticeable to me? I think the last time a really noticed someone smoking on a TV show it was X-Files with the cigarette smoking man. But just this week I have seen three instances of people smoking. The first was Numb3rs. The second was My Own Worst Enemy (fantastic show, by the way. LOVE Christian Slater.) The third was LA Ink.

LA Ink might not be too weird in the smoking arena. It is a reality show after all. But I don’t remember ever seeing anyone smoke before. I guess it has just always been edited out. Numb3rs and My Own Worst Enemy, the story lines had people smoking. I’ve been expecting people to be smoking in Life on Mars (they do in the British version, but not in the Americanized version, yet.)

I guess the reason I notice is because, as you can see by my reference of Life on Mars, I watch British TV. They are much more laid back regarding their television. There is cursing, smoking, partial nudity, strong intimation of sex, homosexual relationships, and more. And amazingly enough, the British are not a depraved people. The children grow up well-adjusted, and the onus for raising said children is on the parents. The government does not find it necessary to jump in at every off-color comment or alternative life-style choice.

This all kind of reminds me of the George Carlin bit with the (I think it was) 7 words the FCC won’t allow on air. But I don’t remember where the ban on smoking came from. And I remember hearing recently about not having smoking scenes in movies. I’m sorry, but pathetic. So maybe I see this is our finally coming of age and not being held down and paralyzed by the people telling us what to do. I won’t hold my breath, but just maybe…

Numb3rs has been quite good. The new dynamic of Charlie not having clearance to work on cases has been an interesting twist on what is a show full of interesting twists. The stepping up of Amita and Larry to fill his shoes, and not quite able to do it as well, not allowing Don and Charlie to learn to talk to each other, Colby and David have gotten over their issues, and Megan’s replacement. Sophina Brown I felt was the weakest link in Shark, so she will have to really step up for me to appreciate her in this role. So I’m around for another season. I want to see Don beat the jerky beaureaucrat who holds Charlie’s clearance in the balance.

CSI had a pretty good start. Warrick will be missed, and I’m not sure I like Gil leaving, but Laurence Fishburne will be quite the replacement, I’m sure.

CSI: New York is doing pretty well, but they have gotten a little too cheesy on some of their lines. They need to ramp back to their old level of cheese.

CSI: Miami I pretty much gave up on. I was the only one in my family who liked Horatio and I have 2 other shows I like better that come on at the same time, so they win. Sorry.

Criminal Minds is fantastic! I truly love this show. The actors all play well off each other. And the level of concern for them keeps me coming back.

Heroes is still going strong. I love the idea of the butterfly effect. I love the fine line drawn between being a hero or a villain. It’s so easy to become one and is it worth it to become the other?

Fringe is easily my favorite new show of the season. I love the dynamics, the just this side of insane scientific/fiction conspiracy theory story lines. I was very happy they finally took away Peter’s ability, if not his desire, to leave. That got old very quickly for me.

Bones is my favorite returning show. I love Booth and Bones together. The addition of Sweets full time. The revolving interns. I still don’t like the split between Angela and Hodgins and hope they eventually end up back together. And Zack still working from the asylum would be a great twist if they keep it going.

House is even darker than it was before. The tenuous relationship between House and Wilson, the medical mysteries and the paranoid craziness of the junior doctors along with the slightly less paranoid yet more narcissistic  attitudes of the previous junior doctors who have sort of moved on. Complex, amusing, dark and moody.

Prison Break is a show I can’t quite explain. I’m not entirely sure why I still watch it. It seems all very contrived. But week after week I keep coming back to see how they can get out of whatever crap they’ve gotten themselves into the week before.

Boston Legal is another of my favorites returning this year. It is pretty much the only Dramedy I watch. Though there are amusing parts of Fringe or Bones or even the CSI’s you’ll find my giggling at, Boston Legal’s characters really tickle my funny bone. The issues they raise and take on always make me think. And I know they are quite liberal, which suits me just fine. But even my most right leaning father loves the show, so I’m hoping eventually something will get through to him.

NCIS has been on for a few years now and I’ve never gotten into it. Until this year. The day of the tornado, which took out our back deck and left us without power for 14 hours, I was able to only watch  the battery operated television, and the only station I could coax in was CBS. I was hooked on what would happen now that the team was torn asunder. Now I am hooked, to the great enjoyment of hubby. I’m still learning the characters and dynamics, so bear with me while I catch up.

The Mentalist is another good first season show. The lead, Patrick Jane, is a complex, out there cat. I mean really. He sleeps under the calling card of the serial killer who took his family, his life, if you will. Yes, a smiley face drawn in the blood of his loved ones is the headboard of his bed. Messed up. But brilliant how he reads and profiles the cases he works on. Hopefully it will be around a while.

The Eleventh Hour I am still holding judgment on. I have not seen the British version of The Eleventh Hour, so luckily have nothing to compare it to. I’m afraid I ruined Life on Mars by getting hooked on the British one. But back to Eleventh Hour, it was okay. I’ll have to give it a little time, if I have the opportunity to do so. Again, the main doctor, Jacob Hood, is an out there cat (amazing how many of the shows I’m into I say that about…) Quirky, off-beat scientist, protected by a beautiful body guard. I don’t see it lasting too much longer. Then I’ll have to go check out the original.

Speaking of shows based on British TV, Life on Mars. I think I would have sort of liked it, except I watched the BBC America Life on Mars marathon last weekend. I LOVED it. Not so much the American version, unfortunately.  It is quite interesting to contrast the two and perhaps make a social commentary on the differences. For example, the scenes of Sam being pulled back to present day in the British version are compelling, full of angst and fear,  whereas in the American version I don’t feel that pull. It all seems very scripted and contrived. And the ending of the two first episodes… I guess we Americans are so used to paperwork being ignored when it comes to our liberties, that the scene where Sam finds the doctor’s note showing the criminal to be mentally ill and he fights with Hunt and himself as to what to do (if he turns the paper in to the judge, the man walks after 35 years to harm Maya in the future/present; if he hides/destroys the paper, the man goes to jail for life). But here in America, that just isn’t big enough. We have to create a twin brother of the suspect in the future/present. This then makes it an imperative to go after and kill the suspect while he is only 6. And aren’t we lucky that while talking to the child, the future/present changes and we here Maya over the radio, she’s okay. Thank the gods we don’t have to kill a young child. WTF!!??

The Unit is yet another return show I love. It pisses me off they have put it on Sunday nights when the scheduled is all fraked out and I miss the last 15 minutes of the show because football has pushed the schedule off by that much. I wish TiVo knew better and could adjust, but oh well. Anyway, about The Unit… I enjoy the super secret military group out there risking life, limb, and family to protect us. And if it is based on a true super secret military group who really is out there protecting us? You men just keep it up! I for one appreciate it. Again, back to the show… The interplay between these men, the intelligence needed to pull off the missions, the danger, the intrigue, the hotness. Sorry, they are some hot men. The women at home taking care of the families, trying to keep it all together, is yet another complex layer of icing on this cake. I hope this show makes it around the stupid time slot they were given and pulls out all the stops as they always do.

Chuck is another show I didn’t watch last year, but have enjoyed so far this year. I guess it too would be slated a Dramedy. It is amusing and makes me giggle, not as much as Boston Legal, but still I’m amused. Not sure it is something I would miss if it went off the air, but good for injecting a little humor into my decidedly dark TV experiences. I don’t know enough yet to really comment on the show, but we’ll see what happens. I presume each episode is how Chuck is protected from evil forces and the hilarity which ensues from these.

Grey’s Anatomy is one of my guilty pleasure soap operas. Hubby would hate me saying that as he likes the show. But come on, it is a soap. And a fairly cheesy soap at that. But I’ve been watching for a few years and I enjoy the characters, so I keep watching. It’s fluff and I have no excuse.

Private Practice falls into the same category as Grey’s, and not just because it is a spin off. It is absolutely a soap. And hubby will just have to deal with that. I don’t have as much time invested in these characters, but I like some of the actors. Taye Diggs, Amy Brenneman, Paul Adelstein and Tim Daly have all caught me up in characters in the past. Again, fluff and I have no excuse.

Ghost Whisperer is one I think I may just drop this year. I hated it when we lost Andrea, though Camryn Manheim’s Delia was an okay replacement. Then we lost the cute young Ned, for an older, cooler, One Tree Hill type Ned. Now we lose Jay Mohr’s Rick Payne to Jamie Kennedy’s Eli. Jamie Kennedy? Really? Ugh!!! I’ll watch a couple more and see where it leads me. But no promises.

My Own Worst Enemy premiered tonight. I haven’t watched it yet. I will probably watch tomorrow to see how it is. The premise sounds good to me. I hope Slater can pull it off. He is easily one of my favorite GenX actors, and I’ve been hoping to see him in something soon. I just hope this is the right vehicle at the right time. I’ll post after watching.

Crusoe is coming soon as well. I’m hoping that one is also a good one. I’d like a fairly epic show. And it looks a little like Pirates of the Caribbean 2. I’ll post about it after  I have the opportunity to watch.

Sorry for the epic post. But I didn’t think it would make sense to drag these out over days. Let me know about your shows and which ones you are enjoying and why. And remember, these are just my thoughts on the shows. I am not a TV critic, nor do I wish to be. I’m just sharing my opinions.

So, to escape from all this terror and frustration and sheer exhaustiveness of it all, I am throwing myself into my TV shows.

And I have many.

Every Fall I make a grid, usually in Excel, of all the shows I want to watch, what night, time and channel they come on, and proceed to program them into my TiVo. (I secretly think this is one of the main reasons my hubby stays with me.) Many of this year’s premieres have been staggered. Prison Break came on 3 weeks ago. As did Bones. And Fringe. House was last week. Most of the shows start this week.  Friday Night Lights (hubby) and My Own Worst Enemy (YAY Christian Slater!!!) come in a week or two. It kind of throws everything off. Sometimes the premieres are on at completely different times or days as the shows will be aired. At least TiVo is fairly smart. It usually keeps up with all that.

I just wish it would know when the blowhard “First Idiot” was on instead of one of my shows and adjust accordingly. Hmmf.

Thoughts on the beginning of the season:

• House – Love it. Angst filled and narcissistic as usual
• Bones – Love it. Not liking the breakup
• Fringe – Interesting. Big sci-fi fan and Beantown lover so good marks
• Heroes – Fan-effing-tastic!!!! Need I say more?
• Prison Break – I really like this show, but sometimes go weeks without watching
• CSI: Miami – One of the few people who likes Caruso. Pretty active first show

I’ll talk about the other shows as I watch them. Feel free to let me know about your shows. Likes and dislikes. I like to hear other people’s takes.

I found one such ad this evening.

Do you know the David Bowie song Major Tom? Do you remember the lyrics? Let me just remind you of a couple of them:

• Here am I sitting in a tin can
• Ground Control to Major Tom, your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong

So imagine the chuckle I got watching a new commercial for the Lincoln MKS with a cover of the Major Tom song accompanying it. Check it out…

heehee

Back to the movie… another fave of mine, David Strathairn, was Arthur Spiderwick. I try to catch him in as much as I can. Fell for him when he was on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. The movie was full of action and adventure, sadness and trust issues. Very well done! Makes you think to find the magic in all that’s around you.

Anyway, check out the movie, and check out MaryAnn’s website for any info on movies you are considering. Great, snarky commentary on all that’s showing on the big screen and some things on the smaller as well.