2008 TV Radar Recap…
So every year I take a look at the upcoming fall tv season. List all the new and returning shows that I am interested in. Now we see how well everything turned out.
Cuts:
Pushing Daisies: Never watched it this season. And now it’s canceled.
Dirty Sexy Money: I had such high hopes for this show. But it went to crap. I mean, it was already kind of crappy, but show just drove straight over the absolutely crazy line. It deserved to get canceled. Season score: *
Mid-Season Signing – Kings: Cool concept, but it got old really quickly. What is an America like country was ruled by a monarch? It’s more like…What if I remove it from my dvr schedule?
Marcus Banks WTF:
Heroes: Still sucking. I thought when Bryan Fuller came back things might change, but they didn’t change much. Toward the end of the season there were one or two nice episodes, but on the whole just a lot of crapola. Season score: *
The Bench:
Free Agent Signing – Smallville: I was sucked in last year when they introduced the “Justice League” this season for the most part continued to tease me with some superhero cameos and a drawn out Doomsday plot. It’s Superman, so it’s got built in longevity. Season score: *1/2
Fringe: It’s still on my dvr, but I watch it very sporadically. I enjoy it but I wouldn’t miss it if it went away. Season score: **
Knight Rider: I stayed with the show the entire time, but it was pretty bad. Yet despite all that I found it fun and enjoyable. It was my guilty pleasure after Dirty Sexy Money went to crap. Season Score: **
True Blood: Never watched outside of those 20 minutes, maybe some day. Please keep telling me it’s great.
30 Rock: This season has been hit or miss for me. Some of the eps were fantastic, others just so so. I usually let a bunch queue before watching them all. Not a good sign, since I usually can’t wait to watch stuff. Season Score: **
Dexter: It was like season two over again. The season was about 4-5 episodes too long. Still good, but frustrating. Season score: **1/2
Entourage: Just decent. The epitome of decent. Season score *1/2
24: This season has been just so so. Jack is still bad ass, but he’s slowing down. He constantly being berated for how he gets things done was extremely annoying. But he’s Jack and the show is still entertaining. Season score: **1/2
Saturday Night Live: The political stuff was good, and then it really started to sag. Some of the guess hosts were just horrible. Still some nice hits. Season score: **
Starters:
Californication: Season two was pretty good, a little drawn out, but still the same great formula. Season score: ***
House: Still not sure where this show is going. The original doctors under House are still around, but barely featured until recently, yet their names are still on the opening sequence. Was this just a little sabbatical for them? And what of the new ones? Kutner is dead, will something similar happen to Taub and 13? Season score: ***
Life: Great season, shame that it is it’s last. Nice that they were able to wrap up all the storylines. Season score: ***
Battlestar Galactica: The final season was soooo hit or miss. The first parts were great, then they started to stretch things out. The last couple episodes leading up to the finale were just painful. The first ¾ of the finale was fantastic then the last ¼ was just underwheleming. Season score: ***
Mid-Season Signing - Better Off Ted: Fantastically funny off the wall office humor. Even thought the jokes are so crazy, I can see most of them being rooted in my actual office life. Season score: ***
All-Stars:
Pysch: It’s still great and one of the funniest shows on TV. Season score: ***1/2
How I Met Your Mother: Fantastic. Best comedy on tv. Season score: ***1/2
MVP:
Chuck: My favorite show of the year. Really hope that it comes back for another season. Season score: ****
2008 Fall TV Radar…
Rookies:
Fringe: Yet another J.J. Abrams show makes my radar. Watched the pilot, it was ok, not great. Did not blow me away, hopefully it does not become another “freak of the week” show. If it does, it will certainly get the boot from my dvr.
Knight Rider: This is only on the list because the original is one of my favorite shows growing up. This has until December to win me over.
True Blood: Only saw 20 minutes, not sure what to make of it. Probably wait for word of mouth to push in one direction.
Free Agents:
30 Rock: Started watching this over the summer. Hilarious. Alec Baldwin is the man.
How I Met Your Mother: Discovered this show over the summer and watch all three previous seasons in a weekend. Funniest show on tv?
Returning Veterans:
24: TV movie in November returns in January. How much shit can still happen to Jack Bauer.
Battlestar Galactica: Best show on TV. No idea when it will come back. Sci-Fi channel sucks.
Californication: Season one was fantastic. Hope for a repeat on season two.
Chuck: This show grew on me every week, can’t wait for it to return.
Dexter: Season two dragged on and became annoying. Hoping for good things for season three.
Dirty Sexy Money: My guilty pleasure.
Entourage: Last season was a bit of a disappointment. Hopefully this season turns it around.
Heroes: Season two was a misstep, hoping they rebound strong.
House: One of the best shows on TV.
Life: Great concept, hopefully they don’t drag it out. Season one was good not great.
Pushing Daisies: This show is on thin ice for me. It grew on my nerves towards the end of the season, but ended before I gave it to the boot.
Pysch: Even though the season just ended it comes back in January, it’s still great and one of the funniest shows on TV.
Saturday Night Live: First episode of the season blew, how will they rebound?
Hooray HD…
EngadgetHD.com is reporting that Fios might be getting 26 new HD channels by July end. This could all be bull, but I haven’t even heard boo about Verizion in the past couple of months. I'll take a false rumor over nothing at this point.
Rumored HD channel additions to Verizon's FiOS TV lineup:
| 1. Animal Planet HD 2. TBS HD 3. ESPNews HD 4. Big Ten Network HD 5. The History Channel HD 6. MOJO HD 7. CNN HD 8. The Learning Channel HD 9. Showtime Too HD East 10. Cinemax West HD 11. The Science Channel HD 12. Showtime HD West 13. HBO West HD |
14. The Weather Channel HD 15. Starz Edge HD 16. USA HD 17. Versus / Golf HD 18. Starz Comedy HD 19. Bravo HD 20. CNBC HD 21. Starz Kids and Family HD 22. Outdoor Channel HD 23. SCI FI HD 24. Lifetime HD East 25. Smithsonian HD 26. Pay Per View HD (Events) |
8 weeks in…
So 8 tv weeks are in the books, with a 9th about to drop. I started the season watching a record number of new shows. Where am I now?
Rookies:
Tell Me You Love Me, stopped watching.
Chuck, one of my favorite shows on tv now. And yes Yvonne Strahovski has a lot to do with that.
Journeyman, Still haven’t seen, but still saved on my dvr.
Reaper, stopped watching.
Private Practice, stopped watching.
Pushing Daisies, I’m hanging in there, but not a whole lot is keeping me hooked.
Life, the individual episode plots are still good. But it’s beginning to wear on me. How long will I be able to maintain.
Bionic Woman, I question whether to watch each episode every week…
Dirty Sexy Money, this is the show I look forward to every week.
Kville, stopped watching.
Returning Veterans:
Dexter, great, just great.
Heroes, horrible season, but I’m still watching. Volume 3 must be better or this show will be lost to me.
House, started off great, now I am just plain tired of the intern angle. I so know that they are just going
to fire everyone and have the old crew get back together, but then what was the past 9 episodes for?
Grey’s Anatomy, last couple of weeks have been great.
Las Vegas, I really don’t know why I watch this show.
24, who knows when this will return
Lost, who knows when this will return
Battlestar Galactica, does not return until 2008. Will it still be the best show on tv?
4 Weeks In…
So 4 tv weeks are in the books, with a 5th about to drop. I started the season watching a record number of new shows. Where am I now?
Rookies:
Tell Me You Love Me, this is the newest show on HBO, known for its explicit sex scenes. Unfortunately the show has nothing else beyond that. And it’s at that point when you realize that you can see harder stuff from other places.
Chuck, so this show has grown on me each week. And I don’t know why, or maybe it’s just Yvonne Strahovski. This might be my new guilty pleasure, replacing Las Vegas.
Journeyman, I haven’t even watched this yet, I just have the episodes saved up on my dvr. I was just going to delete them all, but I watched about 10 minutes from last night and was intrigued. I’ll get to it at some point.
Reaper, so the pilot was great. And the rest has been exactly the same. This show better evolve or it might just evolve off my dvr.
Private Practice, turd a roo. I knew it going in, but thought I’d still give it a shot for completeness sake. Yep it’s a turd. Hopefully Kate Walsh is cashing those checks quickly.
Pushing Daisies, so this one is weird. Not what was I expecting. Very quirky. First 3 episodes have been funnyish and I’m coming back for more. But is that because of the show or Anna Friel?
Life, this is my word of mouth show. For the show synopsis it sounded interesting as a concept but silly as a show. Well I was wrong, but I say that cautiously. Yes the first 4 episodes have been good, but I still fear that it will wear thin if the overarching story line is dragged out.
Bionic Woman, this is the biggest disappointment of the year. Battlestar Galactica is soooo good, how could this be so boring. I am just watching week to week hoping that it gets better, but it never does. And the bionic woman herself could be better looking.
Dirty Sexy Money, this is my favorite new show and my second favorite show on tv at the moment. Completely surprise by this one, just pure fun
Kville, this revolutionary cop show was the same shit, just with an Anthony Anderson bow on top. This never graced my dvr and after 2 episodes my eyes.
Returning Veterans:
Dexter, great, just great.
Heroes, this is a mystery. So far it’s been slow to build. There are too many characters with too many stories, only a few of them interesting. I wish they would cut the number of characters featured in each episode, so that the ones that are shown can have more screen time. And the Mexican wonder twins, no mas.
House, last season was a complete waste of time. This season they got back to basics and it’s my favorite show on tv. Brilliant!
Grey’s Anatomy, last season was horrible, this season is only slightly better. This show is on life support but I fear it might have signed a DNR.
Las Vegas, James Caan out, Tom Selleck in, same shit different person. This show is like a guilty pleasure for me, but now I’m just feeling guilty about it. I may leave this show in Vegas and forget about it.
24, does not return until January
Lost, does not return until January
Battlestar Galactica, does not return until 2008. Will it still be the best show on tv?
