TV or Not TV

There is another reason beyond football that I like this time of year. Fall also brings the new television season, and I watch more than my fair share of television. I usually pick out several new shows that look promising to watch, but this year I'm trying to limit myself. I already have enough shows to watch, I don't really need a bunch of new ones. At this point, I plan to only watch one new show –– My Name is Earl –– because I think Jason Lee is pretty funny. Here is the breakdown of what I will and will not be watching:

In

• The Simpsons – I can’t believe this is the 17th season! I’ve been with this show since the beginning. Sure, it’s getting a little long in the tooth, but it still causes me to laugh out loud every now and then, which is a good thing.
• Arrested Development – I’ve sung the praises of this show before. One of the funniest shows around once you get sucked into its strange little world. I can’t imagine this show lasting another year past this one due to its low ratings, so enjoy it while you can.
• The Office – I’ve also mentioned The Office previously. Again, another one you want to enjoy before it’s gone.
• Lost – One of the most movie-like shows I’ve ever seen. The large number of characters that can have shows centered around them tends to keep things interesting. Has a potential danger of falling into an X-Files or Alias-type trap if they string along some of the mysteries without paying them off well (and it's from the same guy who created Alias), but for now this is a keeper.
• America’s Next Top Model – Laugh if you want, but this show is strangely compelling. Hot chicks + crazy Tyra Banks = frequently entertaining train wreck. This is my only venture into ‘reality’ TV.
• Rome – I’ve seen enough to be interested in watching the rest of the season.
• Curb Your Enthusiasm – A lot of people don’t like this show because they don’t like Larry David. I think I like this show because I am Larry David. The awkward social encounters, the selfishness, the pettiness. There's something very humorous to me about the uncomfortable situations Larry finds himself in. I would be very interested to know how much of the TV Larry David is acting. I tend to think there’s got to be a lot of the real Larry David in there. If he’s not like that in real life, the man deserves an Emmy for acting. This and Arrested Development are the 2 funniest shows on TV.

Scrubs would be on the ‘In’ list, but unfortunately it’s not coming back until January.

In for Now

• Extras – It’s from the creators of the BBC version of ‘The Office’, which was genius, so this gets a chance from me with a fairly long leash.
• My Name is Earl – Like I said, I like Jason Lee. If this sucks, it’s gone from my rotation.
• CSI – I’m getting a little tired of this show. Occasionally it will rise above mediocrity and deliver a truly weird episode like the one with the convention of people who dress in furry animal costumes. I like the characters on this show, they need to show more character development. I’ll keep watching for now but I will re-evaluate at some point.
• Nip/Tuck – I liked the first season. The second season started to get on my nerves. This show is just too outlandish. They throw in everything plus the kitchen sink. It’s like they’re trying too hard to be unusual. I want to see what becomes of the cliffhanger from the end of last season, but after that this show needs to get better very quick or it’s out.

Used to Be In But Now Out

• Desperate Housewives – I watched the first episode last season and decided this show wasn’t that good and that I wasn’t watching it. Around this time, I dated a girl who watched this show. I thought it might give us something to talk about, so I started watching it again. After she kicked me to the curb, I kept watching the show partially because by then I wanted to see how the mystery was wrapped up, and partially because it still gave me a connection to this girl who broke my heart. Now that I no longer feel the need to connect with this person, I no longer feel the need to watch this show. To me, it’s just not weird enough. It’s faux weird. Another problem is that the tone of this show is strange. It can’t decide whether it wants to be a comedy or drama. It’s true that there have been shows in the past that have pulled this off, but this show is not one of them. Last year I heard people try to compare this show to Twin Peaks. These people are on crack. Desperate Housewives isn’t worthy to be a pimple on Twin Peak’s ass.
• Alias – I watched this until about halfway through last season. I just got tired of the ridiculousness. It started to feel like X-Files where you thought they were going somewhere cool with all of this stuff, and then you realize that they’re just making it up as they go along and the explanations aren’t very good. I hope this doesn’t happen to Lost.

May Be In If I Get Bored

• Veronica Mars – I heard this show was good but I have never watched it. I may just wait for the DVDs to come out some day.
  

Damn I need an editor. In a totally unrelated note, you could actually feel a little bit of Fall in the air today. Nice.