new and noteworthy tv: 8/13-8/19

I think I, and my TiVo, have survived the Olympics, now it’s time for fall to start trickling in before the big push…

Monday

  • Hotel Hell (Fox, 8pm) Series Premiere – Because we need more Gordon Ramsay.
  • Stars Earn Stripes/Grimm (NBC, 8/10pm) Series/Season Premiere – “Celebrities” in the military and the return off the irregular creature crime fighter.
  • The Closer/Major Crimes (TNT, 9/10pm) Series Finale/Premiere – Say goodbye to Brenda Leigh Johnson and welcome Captain Sharon Raydor to her new role.
  • United Bates of America/Big Tiny (TLC, 9/10pm) Series Premieres – Lots of kids and then dwarf siblings.
  • Blog Cabin (DIY, 9:30pm) Season Premiere – Redecorating.
  • Gallery Girls (Brav, 10pm) Series Premiere – Seven folks in the art world are followed.
  • Counting Cars (Hist, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – A car is restored.
  • Get to Work (Sund, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – A boot camp to get folks employable.

Tuesday

  • Top Gear (Hist, 9pm) Season Premiere – Drive challenge comparison.
  • Collection Intervention (Syfy, 10pm) Series Premiere – Hoarders meets collectibles.
  • The Week the Women Went (Life, 10pm) Series Premiere – South Carolina men are fending for themselves, well probably not all South Carolina men.
  • The Burn with Jeff Ross (Com, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – Comedians riff on popular culture.

Wednesday

  • Oh Sit (CW, 8pm) Series Premiere – Musical chairs!
  • Storage Wars Texas/American Hoggers (A&E, 9/10pm) Season Premieres – What’s in the lockers and how are the hogs?
  • Toy Hunter (Trav, 10pm) Series Premiere – In search of rare vintage items.

Thursday

  • The Next (CW, 9pm) Series Premiere – Celebs find and coach aspiring musicians.
  • Time Machine Chefs (ABC, 9pm) Series Premiere – Back to the basics of kitchen equipment.
  • Braxton Family Values (WE, 9pm) Season Premiere – The Braxton girls are back.
  • Run My Renovation (DIY, 9pm) Season Premiere – Viewers vote to determine next steps.
  • Bullet in the Face (IFC, 10pm) Series Premiere – Comedy series begins with a criminal getting a new face and a new job with the police.
  • Extreme Chef (Food, 10pm) Season Premiere – Dropped into a location and scavenge for ingredients, sounds yummy.

Friday

  • Teachers Rock (CBS, 8pm) – A tribute to US educators and a promotional vehicle for new flick Won’t Back Down.
  • Boss (Starz, 9pm) Season Premiere – The Mayor returns.
  • Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, 10pm) Season Premiere – Bill’s back.
  • Strike Back (Cin, 10pm) Season Premiere – Military drama?

Saturday

  • Renovation Realities (DIY, 9pm) Season Premiere – Renovate it.
  • 10 Kids, 2 Dads (OWN, 10pm) Series Premiere – A gay couple with adopted kids.

Sunday

  • All American Handyman (HGTV, 10pm) Season Premiere – Who can replace a toilet or build a dog house first?
  • Married to Jonas (E!, 10pm) Series Premiere – Yes, I believe they are old enough to be married.
  • Copper (BBCA, 10pm) Series Premiere – A cop in 1864 New York.
  • The Great Food Truck Race (Food, 10pm) Season Premiere – Ready, set, cook…
  • Lovetown, USA (OWN, 10pm) Series Premiere – Oprah ushers in some matchmaking.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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new and noteworthy tv: 7/9-7/15

Relieve to have the Tour as my only sports obligation, I mean it’s a fun obligation but it’s a lot of tv…

Monday

  • Tour de France (NBCSN, 5am) – Another week kicks off with the time trials, will Wiggins prevail?
  • Bizarre Foods in America (Trav, 9pm) Season Premiere – $750 cupcake?
  • The Closer/Perception (TNT, 9/10pm) Season/Series Premiere – Goodbye to Brenda and hello to Eric McCormack and his psychotically induced imaginary friends as he joins Rachel Leigh Cook to solve FBI cases.
  • The Bad Girls Club (Oxy, 10pm) Season Premiere – More bad.
  • Opening Act (E!, 10pm) Series Premiere – Picking a band from the online competition sounds like a recipe for success.

Tuesday

  • Destination Truth (Syfy, 8pm) Season Premiere – Bigfoots and Goblins oh my!
  • Hardcore Pawn (Tru, 9pm) Season Premiere – I’m sure there is a difference amongst the pawn shows but…
  • Trust Us With Your Life/NY Med (ABC, 9/10pm) Series Premieres – Celebrity improv and another visit to another hospital to see how the real healers heal.
  • White Collar/Covert Affair (USA, 9/10pm) Season Premieres – How Neal gets back into the FBI fold from his island escape is I’m sure one plot twist away and more CIA thrills.

Wednesday

  • Beverly Hills Nannies (ABCFam, 9pm) Series Premiere – Writing that title makes me physically ill.
  • Damages /Hit & Miss (DirTV, 9/10pm) Season/Series Premieres – Those crazy legal ladies are back, and then Chloe Sevigny as a contract killer who happens to be a transsexual, you bet.
  • Toddlers and Tiaras (TLC, 9pm) Season Premiere – More of this.
  • The Franchise (Show, 10pm) Season Premiere – A season with the Miami Marlins.
  • Picked Off (Hist, 10pm) Series Premiere – Throw team competition into a pawn show.
  • Restaurant: Impossible (Food, 10pm) Season Premiere – Steak and Seafood done wrong?

Thursday

  • Big Brother (CBS, 9pm) Season Premiere – Is this show still on?
  • Natural Born Sellers (HGTV, 9pm) Series Premiere – Too lazy to look up what they’re selling.
  • The Real L Word/Polyamory (Show, 10/11pm) Season/Series Premieres – NYC lesbians join and relationships multi partner style.
  • Property Wars (Disc, 10pm) Series Premiere – Battle on.
  • Top Spot (Trav, 10pm) Series Premiere – Your pick of the best of three.

Friday

  • Tyler Perry’s for Better or for Worse (TBS, 9pm) Season Premiere – I guess worse is more dramatic…

Saturday

  • Dark Matters (Sci, 10pm) Season Premiere – Looking into the dark?

Sunday

  • Leverage (TNT, 8pm) Season Premiere – I just can’t resist this fluffy con/heist show.
  • Breaking Bad/Small Town Security (AMC, 10/11pm) Season/Series Premiere – Walt and Jesse appear to have survived another season and the reality of private security.
  • Political Animals (USA, 10pm) Series Premiere – Word is good on this Sigourney Weaver as fictional not Hillary Clinton.
  • Strange Sex (TLC, 10pm) Season Premiere – More sexual irregularities.
  • 3 Days to Open with Bobby Flay (Food, 10pm) Series Premiere – Can he help in time?
  • Combat Pawn (Tru, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – How much pawn can we take?

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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new and noteworthy tv: 11/28-12/4

I’m still ending up with a backlog on weekends so I might be making a few more edits…

Monday

  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas/Shrek the Halls (ABC, 8/8:30pm) – Ho to the ho.
  • The Closer/Rizzoli & Isles (TNT, 9/10pm) Season Premieres – More of the ladies solving crimes.
  • Next Great Baker (TLC, 9pm) Season Premiere – Someone’s got a big old cake, oh yeah.
  • Diners, Drive-ins & Dives (Food, 10pm) Season Premiere – Chowder anyone?
  • Scouted (E!, 10pm) Series Premiere – I think it’s like ANTM but they didn’t seek it out, and don’t seem to live in a house together, and don’t have challenges, and no one is pretending the term ‘top model’ means anything.

Tuesday

  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer/The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (CBS, 8/10pm) – Rudolph and then lingerie and tunes.
  • America’s Supernanny/One Born Every Minute (Life, 9/10pm) Series/Season Premieres – Raising and birthing babies.
  • What Not to Wear (TLC, 9pm) Season Premiere – It’s time to step into the 360 mirror again.
  • Tori & Dean (Oxy, 10pm) Season Premiere – Apparently people are still interested in this couple.

Wednesday

  • Christmas in Rockefeller Center (NBC, 8pm) – Al Roker and Savannah host some holiday glow.
  • Baseball Wives (VH1, 9pm) Series Premiere – For people who can’t get enough of Basketball Wives.
  • Full Throttle Saloon (Tru, 9pm) Season Premiere – Back at the biker bar.
  • I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Fox, 9:30pm) Series Premiere – This new sitcom about two single moms raising mean girls is supposed to be bad.
  • Grammy Nominations Calendar (CBS, 10pm) – LL Cool J hosts the announcements and there’s music.
  • Hot in Cleveland/The Exes (TVL, 10/10:30pm) Season/Series Premieres – The ladies are back followed by some divorced gentlemen who aren’t supposed to be that entertaining.

Thursday

  • Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town/CMA Country Christmas (ABC, 9pm) – He’s comin’ and so is some country tunes.
  • DUI (TLC, 9pm) Series Premiere – Don’t be driving drunk in Oklahoma, I mean don’t be driving drunk anywhere but you might be filmed in Oklahoma.
  • Hostage (ID, 10pm) Series Premiere – A look at hostage situations.
  • Weed Wars (Disc, 10pm) Series Premiere – The latest docuseries about medicinal marijuana biz.

Friday

  • Game of Your Life (NBC, 8pm) – Oh look it’s an original telefilm… videogamer lands scholarship.
  • America’s Most Wanted (Life, 9pm) Season Premiere – The series moves from Fox.
  • Starving Secrets with Tracey Gold (Life, 10pm) Series Premiere – I think she’s actually trying to help women with anorexia.

Saturday

  • The Ambush Cook (Own, 12pm) Series Premiere – Winner of the OWN hosting competition wins her own show.
  • Would You Rather (BBCA, 11pm) Series Premiere – Celebrities are given hypothetical choices and probably try to be funny.

Sunday

  • Cupcake Wars (Food, 8pm) Season Premiere – Let the wars begin, or resume.
  • Alaska State Troopers (NGC, 9pm) Season Premiere – Whatever is worth investigating in Alaska.
  • Celebrity Rehab (VH1, 9pm) – Season 3 revisited.
  • Chef Roble & Co (Brav, 10pm) Series Premiere – Reality cheffing catering style.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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new and noteworthy tv: 12/6-12/12

TNT is bringing back some good stuff before we hit the new year, did I say new year?

Monday

  • American Country Awards (Fox, 8pm) – Trace Adkins hosts the country kids.
  • The Sing-Off (NBC, 8pm) Season Premiere – I actually kind of enjoyed this a capella glee-esque reality competition.
  • The Closer/Men of a Certain Age (TNT, 9/10pm) Season Premieres – Will Brenda’s business change with a new chief and how will the men fare in business and in pleasure?
  • Next Great Baker (TLC, 9pm) Series Premiere – Pastry chefs compete.
  • Tabatha’s Salon Takeover (Brav, 10pm) Season Premiere – Hairy business.
  • True Life/The Vice Guide to Everything (MTV, 10/11/11:30pm) Season/Series Premieres – A look at ladies without sex and then lots of sex.

Tuesday

  • Charlie Brown Christmas (ABC, 8pm) – Good grief.
  • Minute to Win It (NBC, 8pm) Season Premiere – More weird tasks for money.
  • Cupcake Wars (Food, 9pm) Season Premiere – Cakes, small but with wow.
  • Eureka/Warehouse 13 (Syfy, 9/10pm) – Holiday specials syfy style.
  • Ramsay’s Best Restaurant (BBCA, 9pm) Series Premiere – Because we need more Gordon Ramsay.
  • Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys (Sund, 10pm) Series Premiere – Reality with a gals and gays grouping.

Wednesday

  • Fashion Forward (CW, 9pm) – Fashion, designers, celebrities…
  • MANswers (Spike, 10:30pm) Season Premiere – Random dude stuff.

Thursday

  • Shrek the Halls/Prep & Landing/Barbara Walter’s Specials (ABC, 9/10pm) – Animation, Oprah, and… the 10 most fascinating people

Friday

  • Tom Brokaw Presents Bridging the Divide (USA, 7pm) – Civil rights, the economy, technology…

Saturday

  • Frosty the Snowman/Frosty Returns/The Flight Before Christmas (CBS, 8/8:30/9pm) – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
  • Video Game Awards (Spike, 8pm) – Get your joysticks ready.

Sunday

  • Ax Men (Hist, 9pm) Season Premiere – Alaska logging at its finest.
  • Basketball Wives (VH1, 9pm) Season Premiere – Will someone offend someone else?
  • Leverage (TNT, 9pm) Season Premiere – Let’s get our con on.
  • Midseason Preview (NBC, 9:30pm) – What, more television?
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new summer show roundup

Though the summer isn’t bringing any break out shows that are a must to Tune In for , there’s enough new fluff out there for almost everyone to find something to occupy their time or at least Stay Tuned to see if it comes into its own. For the rest of you there’s always Netflix, or I guess you could turn off your tv and go outside… crazy talk…

  • 18 to Life (CW) Tune Out – Next door neighbors, young love, totally opposite families does not always equal hilarity, there just isn’t anything fresh about the situation or characters.
  • The Big C (Show) Stay Tuned – Aug 16, always worth checking out a new Showtime series, though clearly cancer is depressing, that rarely stops good drama.
  • The Bridge (CBS) Canceled – This latest Canadian import tried to bring us a sweeping drama of a regular cop taking care of police corruption, almost an interesting show but the over the top presentation of our hero and his moral choices just didn’t quite gel.
  • Children’s Hospital (Toon/Adult Swim) Stay Tuned – A web series import, has lots of perfect over the top comedy mocking all things medical drama, but what’re moments of hilarity may or may not make a sustainable series.
  • Covert Affairs (USA) Stay Tuned – She may not be the next Sydney Bristow but she’s close enough for me to tune in to see the latest caper, her support team who we may or may not trust, and of course the mystery of the lost love.
  • The Gates (ABC) Tune Out – Pull every cliched device, vampires, werewolves, witches, and of course murder, into a private community with a new big city police detective in charger and… apparently I’ll stop tuning in, not good enough or good/bad enough to be cheesy fun.
  • The Glades (A&E) Stay Tuned – Another fish out of water detective show, big city cop hits Florida and tells us he doesn’t play by the rules, but he closes cases and has a smarmy charm that no one is sure whether to buy or not, I’m engaged enough with the characters and the detecting.
  • The Good Guys (Fox) Tune Out – The latest odd couple buddy cops are almost interesting enough to keep me watching but the cases and the characters just didn’t do it, and I have to say the fine line between bumbling and successful is hard to walk, do these simple cases really turn into the big mysteries that they solve each week?
  • Haven (Syfy) Tune Out – It may be based on Stephen King’s Colorado Kid, but what it is seems to be the supernatural freak of the week mystery, of course set in small town up state New England, and the lead isn’t quite charismatic enough for me to care about her personal slant.
  • Hot in Cleveland (TVLand) Tune Out – The ladies from sitcoms gone by aren’t delving into any new territory or cutting edge laughs, but it doesn’t sound like anything more than that is needed, and the laughs are reportedly from a genuine studio audience.
  • Huge (ABCFam) Stay Tuned – I caught the first show of this and it’s not a bad family show, and I have to give it some extra credit for trying to show more than one kind of ‘fat’ kid, but it wasn’t either good enough or cheesy enough to make me tune back in, not necessarily a fault for an ABC Family show.
  • Louie (Fx) Stay Tuned – Louis CK does a Seinfeld-esque show, where he plays himself as a stand up comedian, showing some comedy and some slice of life, the difference is that both are dirtier and much more awkward than Seinfeld, he’s funny but after each show I can’t quite love it.
  • Melissa & Joey (ABCFam) Stay Tuned – Aug 17, this kind of looks like Who’s the Boss.
  • Memphis Beat (TNT) Tune Out – I’m a Jason Lee fan, and I do think he’s got the charisma to pull off one of these quirky detective roles, but the characters here and the show overall just couldn’t keep me engaged.
  • Persons Unknown (NBC) Stay Tuned – This series of folks kidnapped and trapped in a fake town, and their less interesting counterparts in the outside world trying to find out more, will undoubtedly be a mystery that is unfullfillingly resolved, but with the summer miniseries format I’m just hoping they resolve it.
  • Pretty Little Liars (ABCFam) Stay Tuned – I’m a sucker for a good cheesy soapy teen drama, and this one is cheesy and soapy enough to make up for the fact that it’s maybe not all that good, even though only half of the teens look young enough to be in high school, I keep tuning it to see whose secrets will be revealed next.
  • Rizzoli & Isles (TNT) Stay Tuned – The summer trend continues with more detectives, one is tough as nails detective and the other is maybe pays too much attention to her nails coroner, though not elevating the genre, Angie Harmon gets enough to do to keep it interesting.
  • Rubicon (AMC) Stay Tuned – This conspiracy series set in the world of code cracking is intriguing but enough on the slow side that I’m not sure whether I want to keep seeing where things are going.
  • Rookie Blue (ABC) Tune Out – Dubbed the Grey’s Anatomy of the detective world, I feel less safe on the streets with these rookies and since I also don’t care who is sleeping with whom I’m taking a pass.
  • Scoundrels (ABC) Tune Out – I like a good con family, but this family is not, good that is, in either execution or interest, as they try to go straight after the patriarch goes to jail.

And if the new shows aren’t doing it here are the somewhat fluffy returning series on my summer schedule:

Burn Notice (USA), The Closer (TNT), Drop Dead Diva (Life), Eureka (Syfy), Leverage (TNT), White Collar (USA).

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critic’s picks – top tv of 2009

madmenWe’re wrapping up the year and critics and award shows are singing the praises of the best of 2009. Following is a consolidation of what I’ve found on folk’s best lists.

Who said which? Initials included after titles and full names and links below. Am I missing some? Post them in comments and I’ll make updates. What do I think? Stay tuned for my year end tv post.

  • Battlestar Galactica (Syfy) – JP, MR, Wat, TG, AS
  • Better Off Ted (ABC) – TG, AS, CNN
  • The Big Bang Theory (CBS) – AFI, MR, Wat, SA, AS, CNN, AF
  • Big Love (HBO) – JP, AFI, TG, SA, AF
  • Bored to Death (HBO) – TG
  • Breaking Bad (AMC) – JP, MR, WG, TG, KT, SA, AS, AF
  • Chuck (NBC) – Wat, AS, AF
  • The Closer (TNT) – TVG, SAG
  • Community (NBC) – TG, AS
  • Cougar Town (ABC) – TVG
  • Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) – TG, WG, SAG, AS
  • Damages (FX) – TVG, SA
  • Dexter (Show) – WG, SAG, TG
  • Dollhouse (Fox) – Wat
  • Flight of the Conchords (HBO) – TG, SA, AS
  • Friday Night Lights (NBC) – JP, AFI, TVG, MR, WG, Wat, KT, AS, AF
  • Fringe (Fox) – KT, CNN
  • Glee (Fox) – JP, AFI, TVG, MR, WG, SAG, TG, KT, SA, CNN
  • The Good Wife (CBS) – SAG, KT, SA
  • Greek (ABCFam)- TVG
  • How I Met Your Mother (CBS) – TG, SA, AF
  • Hung (HBO) – TG
  • In Treatment (HBO) – SA, AS
  • It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX) – TG
  • The League (FX) – TG
  • Lost (ABC) – JP, TVG, WG, Wat, TG, AS
  • Mad Men (AMC) – JP, AFI, TVG, MR, WG, Wat, SAG, TG, KT, SA, AS, AF
  • The Middle (ABC) – TVG
  • Modern Family (ABC) – JP, AFI, TVG, TG, MR, WG, Wat, SAG, KT, AS, CNN, AF
  • The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (HBO) – AFI
  • Nurse Jackie (Show) – AFI, MR, Wat, TG, KT, AF
  • The Office (NBC) – JP, TG, WG, SAG, AS, AF
  • Parks and Recreation (NBC) – JP, TG, Wat, SA, AF
  • Party Down (Starz) – AFI, Wat, AS
  • Sons of Anarchy (FX) – JP, Wat, TG, KT, SA
  • Supernatural (CW) – Wat
  • 30 For 30 (ESPN) – AS
  • 30 Rock (NBC) – TVG, TG, WG, SAG, SA, AF
  • 24 (Fox) – TVG
  • Torchwood: Children of Earth (BBCA) – MR, Wat, AS
  • True Blood (HBO) – AFI, MR, Wat, SAG, TG, KT, CNN, AF
  • Ugly Betty (ABC) – AF
  • United States of Tara (Show) – AS
  • Weeds (Show) – SA

AF – Ausiello Files, AS – Alan Sepinwall for Star-LedgerAFI, CNN, JP – James Poniewozik for Time, KT – Ken Tucker for Entertainment Weekly, MR – Matt Roush for TV Guide Magazine, SA – Satellite Awards, SAG – Screen Actor’s Guild (best ensemble), TVG – TV Gal, TG – Tim Goodman for SF Chronicle Comedies, Dramas, Wat – The Watcher by Maureen Ryan, WG – Writer’s Guild

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damn you cable

HDTPCubePaying money to watch television is something that I may still need some help in getting over. When NBC made its signal change eons ago I finally broke down and got ‘basic’ cable to get channels clearly. And when I say basic I don’t mean not premium, I mean cable to get regular networks clearly, something that a city dweller should not feel compelled to do. So when along with my basic cable I received one or two additional channels like VS. (formerly OLN) offering me access to things like the Tour de Lance France I felt giddy.

And then at some point I had a cable problem and my wonderful cable guy didn’t put the blocker back on. A whole new world opened up to me. The world that was normally reserved for visiting my parent’s house and watching cable (minus HBO). I was slowly sucked into show after show, The Closer, Breaking Bad, even Rock of Love… It was a world I always said wasn’t worth the cost but I was getting it for FREE. And even when cable problems arose at a later time I decided to wait it out in fear of inviting the cable guy back over and having him put the dreaded blocker back on.

And then one day, no call to the cable guy, I woke to find that I could no longer get Gillmore Girls reruns on ABC Family. I could no longer get Project Runway on Lifetime. I could no longer get the final season of Monk on USA. What is a person to do? Well, I could pay for more cable, $29.99 a month seems reasonable and when that expires after 12 months I could probably negotiate down from the standing $59.99, which is an amount that seem ridiculous. And then there’s always the reported triple play deal of packaging cable, internet, and phone. Or I could try to take better advantage of the posting of shows online (it’ll get me through at least some current missing episodes) and of course I can wait for the shows that I might really care about to release on dvd.

So what to do? At least for now I’ll leave it on my list of things to do, along with upgrading my tivo.

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summer lovin’

leverageSo we’re not quite ready for Fall season, I think we’re calling anything through August as ‘Summer’. We have had a few summer shows that have started, and now that we’ve had a chance to take a gander, what did we like (excluding reality for the sake of brevity)?

  • Burn Notice (USA, Returning) – The cheesy start won me over as I grew to enjoy the weekly capers, the MacGyver-esque tech, and the growing characters.
  • The Closer (TNT, Returning) – I like Kyra as this driven head of a special detective squad questioning suspects into submission.
  • Drop Dead Diva (Life, Premiere) – This ridiculous plot of a tiny model woman dropped into the body of a not tiny lawyer woman is somehow sweet in that Legally Blonde sort of way.
  • Eureka (SyFy, Returning) – This town of science geniuses turn out problems that apparently the only nongenius member of the town can solve as the town sheriff holds them all together.
  • Greek (ABCFam, Returning) – The light and silly tone paired with surprisingly complex characters and situations almost makes me miss college.
  • InPlain Sight (USA, Returning) – Appealing enough as the lead is as abrasive as she is caring as she tries to help her witness protection participants and her nutso family.
  • L&O: Criminal Intent (USA, Returning) – Goldblum adds a nice mix to the remaining partners as we see the criminals and the detectives.
  • Leverage (TNT, Returning) – I just love a good caper show, and although this isn’t the best, it’s pretty entertaining with the mix of experts taking down the bad guys.
  • Monk (USA, Returning) – The cases aren’t masterful but the quirky detective and his posse are amusing as the show reaches its final season.
  • Saving Grace (TNT, Returning) – Grace still has a great mix of thoughtful and just plain crazy drama and detective work.

Show that I’ve tried but just didn’t have that thing that pushed them onto the Tivo queue:

The Cleaner (A&E, Returning), Dark Blue (TNT, Premiere), Defying Gravity (ABC, Premiere), The Goode Family (ABC, Premiere), HawthoRNe (TNT, Premiere), Hung (HBO, Series Premiere), The Listener (NBC, Premiere), Make it or Break It (ABCFam, Premiere),  Mental (Fox, Premiere), Mental (Fox, Premiere), Merlin (NBC, Premiere), Michael & Michael Have Issues (Com, Premiere), The Philanthropist (NBC, Premiere), Raising the Bar (TNT, Returning), Royal Pains (USA, Premiere), Ruby & the Rockits (ABCFam, Premiere), Secret Life of the American Teenager (ABCFam, Returning), 10 Things I Hate About You (ABCFam, Premiere), Warehouse 13 (Syfy, Premiere)

And maybe I’ll catch these cable shows on Netflix:

Being Human (BBC, Premiere), Entourage (HBO, Returning), Mad Men (AMC, Returning), Nurse Jackie (Show, Premiere), Psych (USA, Returning), Rescue Me (Fx, Returning), Skins (BBC, Returning), Torchwood (BBC, Returning), True Blood (HBO, Returning), Weeds (Show, Returning)

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next week 6/8

New and notable in the week ahead… procrastinator picks are underlined.

Monday

  • The Closer (TNT, 9pm) Season Premiere – I missed Kyra and her snacking, hopefully the team is all back together.
  • Raising the Bar (TNT, 10pm) Season Premiere – All I remember about this not great legal drama was that guy from Saved by the Bell had bad hear, which he has reportedly now cut.
  • Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Brav, 10pm) Season Premiere – Her standing on the D-list may sometimes be in question but she’s keeping up the reality show.
  • Weeds (Show, 10pm) Season Premiere – And the pot dealing suburban continues.
  • Nurse Jackie (Show, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – Edie Falco stars as an ER nurse with some issues and some edge.

Tuesday

  • Basketball (ABC) – Check your local listings for the continuation of the championship series of the NBA (Tues, Thurs, and Sun if needed).
  • Food Party/Wrong Door (IFC, 11:15/11:30pm) Series Premiere – First cooking with puppets and then british sketch comedy with cgi.

Wednesday

  • Top Chef Masters (Brav, 10pm) Series Premiere – Actual chefs throw down some skills for charity not drama.

Thursday

  • Speeders (Tru, 8/8:30pm) Season Premiere – This looks like the one that’s like Cops but with speeders.
  • She’s Got the Look (TVLand, 9pm) Season Premiere – It’s like America’s Next Top Model for the oldsters, I mean for 35 plus.
  • Total Drama Action (Cart, 9pm) Season Premiere – I think some cartoon characters compete on a cartoon reality show, spinoff of Total Drama Island.
  • 16 & Pregnant (MTV, 10pm) Series Premiere – Every week it focuses on a new teen in this look at
  • Raising Sextuplets (WE, 10pm) Series Premiere – How many of these shows about couples with lots of kids do we have now?

Friday

  • Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (BBCA, 8pm) Season Premiere – An interview chat show with… Jonathan Ross.
  • The MOM show (We, 10am) Series Premiere – It’s a chat show, focusing on moms, coming from Canada.

Saturday

  • Primal Grill (PBS, 5pm) Series Premiere – Let the grilling begin.
  • Pushing Daisies (ABC, 10pm) Series Finale – Sadly this series wrapping up.

Sunday

  • True Blood (HBO, 9pm) Season Premiere – Is there another killer on the loose?
  • Hammertime (A&E, 10pm) Series Premiere – Oh yeah, the artist formerly known as MC Hammer has his own reality show.
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my schedule

Well another year of television and almost everything has started. Until they cancel more stuff, move stuff around, or we get to midseason changes here is where things seem to be settling in for me.  I wouldn’t recommend it all but it’s what I watch, or at least what I tend to tivo (I am still trying to narrow this down to no more than two shows per timeslot).

Monday chuck.jpg

  • 8pm: NBC – Chuck (CBS – The Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother) (CW – Gossip Girl)
  • 9pm: NBC – Heroes (CBS – 2 1/2 Men/ABC – Samantha Who?)

Tuesday

  • 8pm: Fox – House
  • 9pm: CBS – The Mentalist (CW – Privileged)
  • 10pm: NBC – Eli Stone (NBC – L&O: SVU)

Wednesday bones_main.jpg

  • 8pm: Fox – Bones (ABC – Pushing Daisies) (CBS – The New Adventures of Old Christine/Gary Unmarried)
  • 9pm: NBC – Life
  • 10pm: ABC – Dirty Sexy Money (NBC – L&O)

Thursday

  • 8pm: NBC – My Name is Earl
  • 9pm: NBC – The Office/30 Rock (ABC – Grey’s Anatomy)
  • 10pm: ABC – Life on Mars

Friday life.jpg

  • 9pm: CBS – The Ex List (CW – ANTM encore)
  • 10pm: CBS – Numb3rs

Saturday

  • Nothing

Sunday

  • 9pm: CW – Easy Money

But wait there’s more… known midseason and cable picks: Breaking Bad (AMC), Burn Notice (USA), Celebrity Rehab (VH1), The Closer (TNT), Dexter (Show), Eureka (SciFi), Flight of the Conchords (HBO), Greek (Fam), Lost (ABC), Project Runway (Bravo), Reaper (CW), Saving Grace (TNT), Scrubs (ABC), Sons of Anarchy (FX).

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