New TV Review
For days now I’ve been planning a indepth review on the new season of TV. I was going to review each show individually as a follow-up to my post on Fall TV Schedule. But tonight I realized either you watched the shows and made up your own mind or you didn’t and you won’t know what I’m talking about anyway.
I will list my top five favorites and bottom 3 from my list of shows I’ve watched. (Right now the only shows I haven’t seen off that list are either the ones that haven’t aired , Shark and Smith the last two are ones Michael plans to watch with me but we haven’t found the time.)
Top 5:
Veronica Mars - How could this not be my top one? I’ve waited months for this. OK on to only new shows.
Ugly Betty - I loved this. It was like so many romance novels I’ve read and teen comedies I’ve watched but it works. It was funny and I identified with Betty with the clumsiness and unfashionable dress. It was just great.
Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip - This is smart and funny. This a great idea and how can you not like Mathew Perry.
Justice - I’m a sucker for the law dramas. This one isn’t the tired old regurgitated Law and Order crap the other shows use. This is more like Matlock meets CSI. Weird combo I know but it shows all the high tech investigation work only it’s for the defense. It’s made me never want to watch another news cast or court tv opinion show again. No spin on my murder cases thank you, just give me straight facts. On one hand I hope to get lawyers like that if I ever need them, but at the same time I feel like they cheat the justice system with the “shadow juries and retried expert testimony”. Ah well it makes for good tv. The thing that I like best about the show is at the end they show what actually happened.
Heros - I admit that I watched this soley for Michael, but I’m starting to get hooked. I love Hiro from Japan and I’m really interested in what he’s going to do.
Men in Trees - It’s ok. It’s funny in places. It’s just not anything that will keep me long and when it comes to choosing between that and Crossing Jordan at the end of Oct. I will gladly give it up. For now it’s still one of my top 5 new shows.
Now on to the bottom 3 of my list
First is The Class- watched the first 10 minutes and turned it off it was just dumb.
Brothers and Sisters - I liked Ally McBeal and I realize Calista is not the same character but this time around she drives me nuts. The whole family drove me nuts. I’ll take my Sun. 9pm time slot and watch reruns of something else thank you.
Six Degrees - This one I will probably watch again. It was a little boring and the characters are so self absorbed. Heros is the same formula but written and played out so much better. I do like the concept for it.
With that being said I’m up for discussions with anyone on TV. I also have 2 new links to add to the links I’m watching. Look for them in the link spot.
October 4th, 2006 - Posted in TV | | 0 Comments
A Trek thought
I don’t have many of them. But this 40th anniversary business is getting me thinking about Matt Damon playing a “young” Kirk in a JJ Abrams-directed version of “Ultimate Trek” or whatever it’s going to be called.
Some facts for you (unless IMDB is wrong, which is always possible):
Damon: born 10-08-1970. he will be 36 (at least) when the new project films.
Shatner: born 03-22-1931. Unless my math is wrong, he was 35 in 1966 when Trek first started filming.
So to recap: We’re going to revive the franchise by showing “Young Trek” from before the original series happened. To do that, we’ve cast a guy as “Young Kirk” who is older than “Old Kirk” was in the original series.
I’m now done thinking about Trek, most likely until the 50th anniversary.
September 13th, 2006 - Posted in TV | | 0 Comments
Ammendment to TV Post
Michael pointed out that we can’t possibly watch that much tv. This is true. But with the help of TiVo and the internet we can watch what we want anytime we want without commercials. This means 40 minutes instead of an hour, even less if I skip over boring stuff or charcters I don’t care about and the theme song and the recap. So I guess that makes it more like 30 minutes. It also means we can save a season and watch it in June if we want. And we do. We just finished last season’s Lost. I will probably at least watch the first episode to see if it’s something worth the space to record. This means I watch it and tell Michael if it’s something he might like. And since the channels so nicely space out the premeres I can fit a weeks worth of new shows in before the next week. So anyway, none of you need to worry that I will be chained to the tv this fall just to watch all that stuff.
September 2nd, 2006 - Posted in TV, Uncategorized | | 0 Comments
Fall TV Schedule
Here it is. After a few busy days of reading reviews and making out my grid, I have it all ready for you. Here is a comprehensive list of the tv the Halls will be watching. I linked the show to the website for those of you who haven’t done your fall tv homework and want to learn more. I’ve also added the season premere date. I debated and debated about how to list them. I decided to go with days and times. You’re responsible for remembering which week they start.
SUNDAY
7:00 PM Simpsons (Fox) Sept. 10
7:00 PM Everybody Hates Chris (CW) Oct. 1
7:00 PM Flip This House (A&E)
7:30 PM American Dad (Fox) Sept. 10
8:00 PM Family Guy (Fox) Sept. 10
8:00 PM Desperate Housewives (ABC) Sept. 24
8:30 PM War At Home (Fox) Sept. 10
9:00 PM Brothers and Sisters (ABC) Sept. 24
10:00 PM It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (FX) currently rerunning
MONDAY
7:00 PM Prison Break (Fox) Aug. 21
7:00 PM The Class (CBS) Sept. 18
7:00 PM Deal Or No Deal (NBC) Sept. 18
8:00 PM Heroes (NBC) Sept. 25
9:00 PM Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (NBC) Sept. 18
TUESDAY
7:00 PM Dancing With The Stars (ABC) Sept. 12
8:00 PM VERONICA MARS (CW) Oct. 3
8:00 PM Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC) Sept. 19
8:00 PM Fridaynight lights (NBC) Oct. 3
9:00 PM Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) Sept. 19
9:00 PM Miami Ink (TLC) already started in Aug.
WEDNESDAY
7:00 PM Dancing With The Stars Results show
7:00 PM Justice (fox) Aug. 30
7:00 PM Jericho (cbs) Sept 20
8:00 PM Criminal Minds (CBS) Sept. 20
8:00 PM Lost (ABC) Oct. 4
9:00 PM Smith (cbs) Sept 19
9:00 PM The Nine (ABC) Oct. 4
9:00 PM Day Break (ABC) Nov 15
9:00 PM 30 days (FX) new season started in Aug.
THURSDAY
7:00 PM My Name is Earl (nbc) Sept 21
7:00 PM Ugly Betty (Abc) Sept 28
7:30 PM The Office (NBC) Sept. 21
8:00 PM CSI (CBS) Sept. 21
8:00 PM Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) Sept. 21
9:00 PM ER (NBC) Sept. 21
9:00 PM Shark (CBS) Sept. 21
9:00 PM Six Degrees (abc) Sept. 21
FRIDAY
7:00 PM Meerkat Manor (Animal Planet) on reruns new season Sept. 29
8:00 PM Crossing Jordan (NBC) Oct. 20
8:00 PM Men In Trees (ABC) Sept. 5
9:00 PM Law & Order (NBC) Sept. 22
9:00 PM Battlestar Galactica (SciFi) Oct. 6
9:30 PM Ace Of Cakes (Food Network) started in Aug.
SATURDAY
7:00 PM Porperty Ladder (TLC)
8:00 PM Flip That House (TLC)
2 other new shows to watch for:
Notes from the Underbelly (ABC) TBA
Travler (ABC) TBA
Here are a few more on every weekday:
5:00 AM Jimmy Neutron (Nick)
7:00 AM Sponge Bob (Nick)
8:00 AM Dora the Explorer (Nick Jr.)
9:30 AM The Backyardigans (Nick Jr.)
2:30 PM Code Name Kids Next Door (Cartoon Network)
3:00 PM Trading Spaces (TLC)
3:30 PM Fairly Odd Parents (Nick)
4:30 PM Drake & Josh (Nick)
Just to round out the list, here are a few of our favorite shows that are either in reruns or will be starting in the spring/summer season.
Theif (FX)
QI (BBC)
The Sheild (FX)
American Idol (fox)
Scrubs (NBC)
Kyle XY (ABC)
Windfall (NBC)
Good Eats (Food Network)
Boondocks (Cartoon Network [adult swim])
August 31st, 2006 - Posted in TV | | 0 Comments
Happy Dance time!
“Fall TV, Falll TV! I Love my Fall Tv” Sing it with me now—”FallTV…..” I’m so excited. The season premier of Prison Break was on tonight. That is a brillaint show. I admit it is frastrauting at times. But I love hanging on the edge waiting to see what will happen next. I think this will be a great season.
Soon Veronica Mars will be starting too. My other shows will be coming too. It’s just so wonderfull to start having all my old friends back.
On the subject of TV. I reccomend to everyone to watch Meerkat Manor on the Animal Planet Channel. We started that this weekend. The whole family loves it. It has everything, romance, comedy, suspense, it is just great entertainment. It’s a half hour show taken from three years of scientific footage that followed a clan of meerkats around out in the wild. It’s amazing the social infrastructure that makes up this meerkat clan. I have heard of ants dividing up jobs and everyone working together but the meerkats are just amazing. The family dynamics of the clan are so engaging. It is as interesting as watching a prime time tv show, reality or fiction. Everyone should check it out. Check your local listings for times. The new shows air Friday night at 8pm on Animal Planet. You’ll love it. I promise.
August 21st, 2006 - Posted in Homelife, Parentgeekness, TV | | 0 Comments
8/12/06 I Love TV
Wow, I feel like a little blogging junkie. Now that I’ve had a hit of it I can’t quit.
I know that one of the sections Michael has is for TV. Anyone who knows us knows that we are somewhat TV junkies. All of us are, me probably a little more than the rest. Michael always says I should turn it off and read more, but you know when the captions are on i am reading. (I do read my share, it’s house work that suffers.) Well I thought I would post a few thoughts about some of the show I’ve been watching.
August 12th, 2006 - Posted in TV | | 0 Comments
Tyveculus was right.
Another night of football practice for Yakko, followed by Who Wants To Be A Super Hero? Mom and I were sad to see Tyveculus go. We thought he was one of the stronger characters, even though (or maybe because) he was constantly finding himself on the short end of the stick, not living up to Stan’s expectations, but acutely aware of his shortcomings. For me personally, he seemed the most human character.
Stan keeps saying that honesty is the most important element of a super hero. But one of the tests tonight was failed by the heros who gave away their secret identity. I don’t mean to split hairs, but we’re talking about an entire identity that isn’t really who you are. Isn’t the very act of maintaining a secret identity just a wee bit dishonest? Is it dishonest to lie in pursuit of protecting that secret identity? I suppose it would be too much to ask to see these questions addressed on a show featuring real people dressed like super heros (run, no less, by Stan Lee–not exactly the thinking man’s comic book writer).
The final test of the night saw Tyveculus dismissed in what I thought was a grossly unfair display. Apparently what Stan was looking for in asking each hero to vote someone off was the trait of self-sacrifice. Tyveculus, while he didn’t seem to have a real reason for wanting Lemuria gone, at least had the guts to attempt to address a teammate’s performance. Under the circumstances, the characters who offered themselves up as scapegoats were merely catering to the obvious choice. It required no fortitude or leadership skill to offer to step aside, since it was fairly obvious (to the viewer, anyway) that this was what Stan wanted to see.
Offering to step aside at the first sign of trouble is not a character trait I want my children to pick up from super heros or anyone else. Some things are worth fighting for, and I would think the same would be true of wanting to win the contest.
While self-sacrifice can be noble, it seemed to me that Stan should have been looking for actual courageous leadership, which Tyveculus and Momma showed and everyone else seemed afraid of.
August 10th, 2006 - Posted in TV | | 0 Comments
Who wants to be a super hero?
Us, apparently. Two episodes made us laugh harder than we usually do at reality TV. The boys were bummed when the Iron Enforcer was sent packing, but that was fine with Mom and Dad. Our favorite is still Major Victory.
August 3rd, 2006 - Posted in TV | | 0 Comments
