REB #12: “She’s not going to have premarital sex until she’s married.”

– Bright Abbott on Everwood

If you don’t know me very well, you may not know this, but I watch TV like it’s my job; I watch entirely too much TV.

Which means that this past week has been amazing and yet stressful for me. On top of homework, class, and work, I now have to add a large pile of TV shows to my to do list. Thankfully, True Blood is over for the season, and Mad Men will be over next month. That’s two shows down for the season, at least 13-18 to go (depending on how you count them).

I wouldn’t have it any other way. 🙂

Sundays, I’m watching Brothers and Sisters (ABC) and Dexter(Showtime) – and, for a few more weeks, Mad Men (AMC), which I am relieved to say did a complete 180º, going from a terrible season 3 to an awesome season 4.

Mondays, I have nothing for now, but I plan to watch Lonestar (FOX) at some point, even though I’m 98% sure it’s going to be cancelled. I saw the pilot, and I really liked it. Anyway, in the spring, my Monday show will be The United States of Tara (Showtime).

Tuesdays, I’m watching Glee (FOX), Life Unexpected (The CW), and Parenthood (NBC). Unfortunately, the critically acclaimed Life Unexpected will probably be cancelled after its initial 13-episode second season order, due to low ratings. Parenthood didn’t exactly rock the ratings house either. In November, V (ABC) premiers, and if it stays in the same timeslot, it will air on Tuesdays; honestly, I don’t expect it to be renewed for a third season. I’ve seen the pilot to No Ordinary Family(ABC) and will likely be watching that as well, and I want to watch Raising Hope (FOX) at some point, but it’s going to have to wait.

Wednesdays, I have no commitments, but I am mildly interested in Undercovers (NBC). I might watch it when the season is over. Also, in the spring, Glee and Raising Hope will be switching to Wednesdays to make room for American Idol.

Thursdays, I’m watching The Vampire Diaries (The CW), 30 Rock (NBC), and The Office (NBC). I was actually impressed with The Office’s premier, as I did not like last season and fully expected this one to be terrible as well. They’ve got me for at least a few more episodes. Also on the potentially watch list is Nikita (The CW). I’ve seen the pilot, and for a CW remake, it was actually pretty good. And surprisingly strong in the ratings.

Fridays, I’m watching the final season of Smallville (The CW) – which started off amazing, by the way – as well as the shouldn’t-even-exist sixth season of Supernatural (The CW). It’s not that I didn’t want Supernatural to be renewed; it’s just that I wanted the producers/network to stick to the original five-year plan that the show’s creator had. This surprise renewal resulted in a bit of a cop-out for the season five ending, which should have been amazing but instead was a little too miraculous for my taste. That said, the premier left something to be desired, but I’ll continue watching out of loyalty and to see if it gets back to the high-quality episodes I know the show can produce. Anyway, in the spring, I’ll be watching the spinoff/second season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand (Starz). I’m so sad for Andy Whitfield and wish him the best in his cancer treatment. I hope he’ll be better in time for season three, but obviously, it’s not about the show. Best wishes, Andy. Get some rest. Take your time. ❤

*NOTE: This blog entry is syndicated from a blog I had to start for my Electronic Publishing class at U.B. this semester. I may or may not delete the extraneous blog when the class is over, but I thought I would at least give my readers the opportunity to read the contents of that blog indefinitely.

Announcing the Summer 2010 to Spring 2011 Television Season

First, I want to say that I just updated the Favorites page with the latest information on my TV shows. I haven’t updated it in a while, and there was a lot to change. I added the new shows that I am considering watching this fall, made changes for all the canceled shows, and made changes for the shows that are coming back in the fall.

That said, of all the TV series that I followed this season (for more than 1 episode), the following will be/will have been canceled by the end of the season: The Beautiful Life (CW), Dollhouse (FOX), Eastwick (ABC), FlashForward (ABC), Heroes (NBC), LOST (ABC), Nip/Tuck (FX), and Ugly Betty (ABC). LOST was not canceled in the traditional sense, though, as it was planned for this 6th season to be the final one about three years ago; thus, we might say it is ending vs. canceled).

Although I have yet to watch it, Happy Town was canceled as well (I do plan on watching it this summer, though, just because of Amy Acker’s involvement). The NBC series Day One was downgraded to mini-series, then 2-hour movie, and then it was canceled; as such, I have never seen it, nor will I. Heroes was canceled, but there are ongoing discussions about doing a limited-run series next season (mini-series consisting of around 4 episodes) or a 2-hour movie, to wrap things up. With one of the most successful international audiences in the history of television, Heroes sure is getting star treatment here; most shows don’t get a wrap-up like this, and such a thing wouldn’t even be considered. On a similar note, the cast and crew of Ugly Betty have also shown interest in making an Ugly Betty movie somewhere along the line, whether on TV or the big screen. I would enjoy it, I’m sure, but the series finale was actually quite satisfying for me. So I would be okay if the movie never surfaced.

Moving forward, the broadcast television networks have announced their fall 2010 plans, and the following series are currently of interest to me: Lonestar (FOX), Nikita (CW), No Ordinary Family (ABC), Raising Hope (FOX), and Undercovers (NBC). I’m still debating on a few others, but there’s little to no chance I’ll actually be able to add any, and I may not even get to watch these that I’ve listed because of school, etc. If you’d like to check any of these out, you can find promotional videos on YouTube. I wasn’t expecting to like Raising Hope, but I was pleasantly surprised by the promos. Ditto Lonestar.

Currently, I’m just waiting for Glee, FlashForward, Parenthood, Breaking Bad, and The United States of Tara to wind down for the season (or forever, in FlashForward‘s case), and then I’ll be ready for the highly-anticipated third season of True Blood, beginning Sunday, June 13th! Mad Men starts season four on Sunday, July 25th. And although I have watched the first seasons of the aforementioned Breaking Bad and United States of Tara, I have yet to see any subsequent episodes, so I’ll be getting caught up over the summer. I also plan to watch the first season of Parenthood this summer so I can be ready for season two this fall; I’ve heard great things about it, and since it teams actress Lauren Graham with producer/writer Jason Katims, I’m sure these things are very true indeed. 🙂

Classes won’t begin again until August 30th, so I won’t have them to worry about until then. Couple that with the fact that I don’t have a real job at present (although I do have a work study position at UBalt that I can continue until June 30th), and we can see the makings of a very productive summer in terms of reading and TV/movie watching. 😉 I’ve already read/finished four books since the semester ended (Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol). I’m making a dent in my ever-expanding library of books that I have bought and not read. I’m going to re-read The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy soon, because it’s short and I loved it in high school, and then I think I’ll read another mindless Koontz book. And then who knows what!

But I do need to find another job soon. I saw on the Financial Aid calendar that loans for the fall semester won’t be dispersed until August 30th, which means I won’t get my refund until September 10th at the earliest. Although I have gotten, or will soon get, some help from my family this summer, I still won’t have enough money to last until August/September.

Back to the drawing board!

I think I’m going to heat up some spaghetti and watch a few episodes of Sliders. I’m almost done with the fourth season, and then it’s on to the last one, which I’ve heard is terrible, but I’m sticking with it because Sliders was one of my favorite shows, growing up, and I’m glad I can finally watch the episodes I never got to see. Thank you Netflix streaming!