dougo | Primetime television season roundup

Last fall, I asked what new shows I should watch. I didn't get much of a response, so I ended up trying out a bunch of new shows, and ended up with six that I liked enough to keep watching: Karen Sisco, Arrested Development, Two and a Half Men, The Handler, A Minute With Stan Hooper, and The Lyon's Den. (I'm not counting The Apprentice, even though I did watch the whole thing and I will probably end up watching it again next season. It's still more of a stunt than a show.) (I'm also not counting K Street, which was a thing on HBO with ten episodes but seemed more like a miniseries (midiseries?) than a regular show.) Well, only Two and a Half Men and Arrested Development made it through the full season, and it's still not clear whether the latter is coming back next season. TV Tome has the full roundup of how this season's new shows did. Not a good success rate.

Meanwhile, of the other shows I listed in that post, five of the fifteen won't be back next season (Friends, Frasier, Ed, Boomtown, Good Morning Miami), and I stopped watching 24 (after accidentally missing an episode, not being able to track a copy down, and realizing I really didn't care anymore about the plot's ever-increasing ridiculousness without the artiness that the show first drew me in with). And I'm pretty sure that That '70s Show and The West Wing will be ending after next season, as the '70s and the Bartlet administration both come to an end.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I heard from someone who heard in Variety that AD is coming back. It hasn't percolated further yet, though; and truthfully I don't trust the woman who passed it on, either...

I have to ask the obvious question: How's the dissertation going?

Also, I miss Boomtown.

Pretty well, actually. Well, I've been doing a lot of work on it, but there hasn't been much outward signs of progress. I'm hoping to make a new release of the software next week, though.

Really, all those weekly shows don't add up to much of a time commitment (and it'll go down to zero once reruns start). They're mostly stuff I watch while eating. The daily talk shows eat up more time, though. And lately I've been Tivoing a lot of movies, but mostly they just clog up my hard disk until I get around dumping to tape.

Cool.

I should restrict my TV watching to stuff I watch while eating, only, I'd gain a lot of weight.

Kill Your TV.

Why?

It's a waste of time and life is more enriching without it. I used to eat while infront of the television, but now I eat in front of the internet.

Television is a medium. It's not any more inherently a waste of time than movies, books, or the Internet. Actually I waste a hell of a lot more time on the Internet, reading mail and browsing the web (at least I don't mud anymore or play computer games). And Tivo makes TV almost as interactive as the Internet—I watch what I want to watch, when I want to watch it, skipping past the parts I don't want to watch. And yes, there is plenty of "enriching" programming available, but a lot of it I like just because it makes me laugh.

I used to eat in front of the computer! In fact that's what made me decide to eat in front of the TV instead. It gave me a reason to relax and stay away from the computer for a little while, otherwise I'd spend 12 hours straight sitting at the desk. It also keeps my keyboard a lot cleaner (yes, this was a serious issue-- I ruined one keyboard by spilling soda on it).

I used to have a TiVo and even said the same things: "I'm not watching more television with it, I'm watching better television." And, unless you're tapping into some unknown source, the "TV is a medium" argument doesn't work. Largely, the content on TV is mindless. I was even duped into thinking some of those hour long shows were "smart." Looking back, I regret only that I wasted so much money, and passed up so many great books.

Ah, reading... now that's a reason to relax and stay away from the computer.

I'm watching more TV than before I got the Tivo. I'm not under any illusions about that. But I'm certainly getting a lot more out of it than I used to.

Largely, the content on the Internet is mindless. Most books and magazines are stupid too. It really just sounds like pretension to say any and all TV is bad for you.

OK, I conceed the point that TV isn't bad for everyone. Descriminating PhD students asside, I think TV has largely lowered the quality of our epistemology.

Anyway, I ended up being happier without the TV. And a former roommate of mine started exercising and lost 70 pounds after we both stopped watching. (I will say that TiVo was fun, but the latency with the channel changing or other buttons being pressed on the remote was a little too high... maybe it's faster now.)

My main point is, without TV, you really aren't missing much at all.

Is Karen Sisco really coming back or not? I've only seen one new episode in the past few months.

I'm still watching 24 but it's mostly out of a sense of curiosity about how it'll all resolve. The plot is completely ridiculous and most of the characters have broken their personalities beyond recognition in the service of arbitrary plot twists.

One noteworthy high point (for me) is Mary Lynn Rajskub (formerly of the Larry Sanders Show and Mr. Show) as the prickly and socially inept techno-wizard Chloe. One of my favorite moments of the entire three seasons was recently when Michelle, fleeing from her kidnappers underground somewhere in L.A., managed to get through to Chloe on a cell phone with a bad connection. Michelle was yelling "CHLOE! CAN YOU HEAR ME? I NEED HELP!" and Chloe, hearing a garbled voice and static, said something like "Whoever this is, I can't hear you and I've got a lot of stuff to do" and hung up. Chloe isn't just nerdy; she's got serious emotional problems, and Rajskub's performance is terrific. It's a great example of the "we can't fire this person because she's vital to our operation ... but if she weren't, she'd be out the door yesterday."

Karen Sisco went on permanent hiatus back in February or so. They aired the rest of the episodes on USA, but I didn't find out about it in time to catch them.

I saw the "No One's Girl" episode on USA but didn't see either of the others. Perhaps they conflicted with something else in my TiVo to-do list.

My Tivo didn't catch any of the USA airings because it only records Season Passes by channel. Did they change this for Series 2 machines?

My Karen Sisco season pass is for the USA channel. Did they rerun them on USA last year? I don't remember. I think I set it up that way because the regular network airings conflicted with something so I had the USA version all along.

And, for the record, I have a series 1.

i've found myself, on occasion, watching Tru Calling, and really liking it. i forget to watch TV half the time, but this is one of the shows i actually made some effort to remind myself to catch if i can. i'm really hoping it comes back next fall.

i have also found myself trying to stay up to watch Touching Evil on USA. i must sheepishly admit i started tuning in purely for a Peter Wingfield fix, but i stayed because the series is serious wacky, but somehow less graphic than L&O: SVU, which i just can't watch.

other than that, the only thing i catch religiously (well.. before yoga) is West Wing. then again, Angel ending also cut into my watching this season - when i did remember to turn on the TV, i ent over to catch the last eps of that series.

and gee, was anyone else kinda disappointed with the finale? *sigh*

Primetime television season roundup

AD

no subject

no subject

no subject

I've said it before

Re: I've said it before

Re: I've said it before

Re: I've said it before

Re: I've said it before

Re: I've said it before

Re: I've said it before

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject