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Homeland…

Absolutely fantastic, with some of the best performances on TV today. It's going to be a real shame when Claire Danes gets robbed of her Emmy. Her slow descent into madness is pure brilliance.

***** (Out of Five)

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)