Saturday, September 26, 2009

Fall TV

I'm a happy camper because the fall TV season is getting into full swing. Old favorites are coming back with new episodes, and I'm trying a few new series. I can remember when I was a kid and living in the country, we had three TV stations. So whenever the Fall TV Preview issue of TV Guide came out, it didn't take long to figure out what you were going to watch when. If two things happened to be on at the same time, you had to choose which one you'd watch and resign yourself to not seeing the other unless you could convince a friend to tape the other show for you on their VCR.

But now, thanks to the wonders of my TiVo, I can record two things at once on one TV and watch something else on the other TV. I only have to do this during the first hour of primetime on Thursday nights. TiVo also comes in handy if I'm traveling, as I will be next week to the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference in Atlanta, or when I'm on deadline and TV is a big no-no. Shows are so different now too. Instead of weekly episodic offerings, there seem to be more that have big arcs, ones where you have to pay attention to each episode or you miss something crucial. LOST kind of got this trend started in a big way, and one of the new programs I'm watching, FlashForward, is taking this concept and running with it. I'm already intrigued. For those who don't know, the premise is that everyone in the world passes out at the same time and all wake up 2 minutes and 17 seconds later. No one knows why. So we're going to be following not only the investigation, led by main character FBI Agent Mark Benford (played by Joseph Fiennes), but also how people deal with what happened when they passed out -- they all saw the future, specifically what they'd be doing on the same day six months in the future. Some liked what they saw, others not so much. And one guy thinks he'll be dead since he didn't see anything. Can you imagine how you'd react if this really happened? Also intriguing is the fact that video footage of a ballgame in Detroit shows that there is one guy, mysteriously dressed all in black, who is up walking around while everyone else is out cold. Hmmm...

Here's my viewing lineup:

Monday:
Heroes
Castle (love me some Nathan Fillion; I need to base a hero on him.)

Tuesday:
The Biggest Loser (to help inspire me to stay fit and healthy)
V (starts in November; a remake of the sci fi show/mini-series from when I was a kid)

Wednesday:
Glee

Thursday:
Bones (a good show to watch if you want to see sexual tension)
The Vampire Diaries (appeals to the YA write side of myself)
Fringe
Supernatural (my favorite show)

Friday:
Smallville
Dollhouse
Stargate Universe

Saturday:
Nada. This will be movie night. Remember when there actually used to be shows on Saturday night? I can remember watching The Love Boat and Fantasy Island when I was a kid.

Sunday:
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Hey, what's a week without Ty and the gang making me cry?)

See any of your favorites here? Trying anything new this season?

11 comments:

MJFredrick said...

You know I love my TV.

Monday's the same for me, adding in Big Bang Theory.
Tuesday is The Good Wife, which I enjoyed.
Wednesday is Glee, Cougar Town and Eastwick. I really like the first 2. The third one has to win me over.
Thursday is Vampire Diaries, FlashForward, Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural, The Mentalist, and then The Office and Fringe on Hulu, since my Tivo only records one show at a time.
Friday is Dollhouse.

Dang, that's a lot of TV! But I love it!

Linda Henderson said...

I'm glad the new season is here too. Although it's been a little better for me since I had Direct TV installed in June. My very favorite show is NCIS. I'm so glad it's back and better than ever. Also love Castle, Dancing With The Stars and I'm trying to decide whether I want to get involved with Ghost Whisperer again. I haven't watched it since they killed her husband. I know he's back in someone elses body, but so far I haven't been able to get interested in it again.

Anonymous said...

Well, I don't watch a whole lot of tv. . . ah well, I should say that when the physical set it on, it's glued to the news. So other than that, I really don't watch a whole lot of stuff. At 10am, I did watch Guiding Light, but now that's the news too. LOL Primetime, well, just got done watching last night's Smallville. Way better than last season's finale. But I don't know yet; just seems to be getting so complicated or something. LOL

Lois

Marcie said...

I watched Eastwick Wednesday night instead of CSI:NY. It was interesting.
My weekly list of must-see:
Monday - Castle
Tuesday - NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles
Wednesday - Eastwick for now
Thursday - Bones and CSI
Friday - Law and Order - I missed the first half hour! I thought it started at 9! Used to be 10, now it's 8 EST.

Lynn Cahoon said...

Ok, I could share a television with most of you! LOL
Monday - Castle, Heroes, Big Bang Theory
Tuesday -Biggest Loser, NCIS, NCIS LA, Hells Kitchen
Wednesday - Criminal Minds, Glee, Top Chef
Thursday - Grays Anatomy, Bones, Fringe, Project Runway, The Mentalist, Vampire Diarys
Friday - Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Numb3rs
Saturday - watch all of the DVR stuff... LOL
Sunday - Brothers and Sisters. I might watch the amazing race.

Too much TV. But I also want to see what they do with V!

Lynn

Trish Milburn said...

MJ, my sister in TV! :)

Linda, oddly I've never watched Ghost Whisperer. I've seen bits and pieces here and there, and even I was surprised they killed off her husband. And you're not alone with liking NCIS. Again, I've only seen tidbits, but I plan to go back and watch it on DVD at some point. For the past couple of weeks, I've looked at the weekly ratings in Entertainment Weekly, and after you take out sports and reality shows, NCIS has been the top show.

Trish Milburn said...

Lois, I had a little chuckle that you talked about Smallville when your name is Lois. :) I haven't seen last night's episode yet. Even though I've been a fan of the show, I do have to admit that it's probably reaching the end of its lifespan.

Trish Milburn said...

Marcie, hmm, methinks you like police shows. :)

Lynn, I'm curious, what are your impressions of The Biggest Loser so far? Any favorite contestants? BTW, we talk about it each Wednesday over on the Healthy Writer blog that I started to chronicle my efforts to get into better shape.

Lynn Cahoon said...

Trish -- I really loved the last episode. I think putting them togeter as one team changed the dynamics of the group hopefully for the long hall.

I think it could turn into a division between the younger and older contestants. The first vote was totally on that line. My favorite I guess is Abby. To go through what she did and still have a positive attitude on life, it pretty amazing.

I'll have to drop by the other blog. I'm part of a Biggest Loser group at work - 1.7 pounds in a week. Not amazing, but solid. And that's what I'm looking for.

Trish Milburn said...

Lynn, I really like and admire Abby too. I just can't imagine going through what she did.

And huge congrats on your weight loss!

Rebecca Winters said...

Loved your post!
I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I do, it's late at night to see the British Comedies. Allo, Allo and As Time Goes By are the ones on at the moment.
Becky