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!

Ugly Betty: The Perfect Ending

The series finale of Ugly Betty aired last Wednesday, April 14, 2010; and, if ever a TV show could be said to have aired its perfect ending, this is one shining example of that.

***SPOILERS AHEAD, if you haven’t seen it yet***

After 4 years, everyone on the show pretty much gets what he or she wants/needs, and so do the viewers.

Wilhelmina gets Mode, with Marc as her Creative Director; Amanda finds her father and is working on becoming a stylist; Christina (though she doesn’t appear in this episode) is an up-and-coming fashion designer; Hilda is happily married; Justin is out of the closet and has an adorable boyfriend; Ignacio still has his woman (even if she’s not in this episode) and is happy for his daughters and grandson; Alexis (though not in this episode) is living in Paris with her son; Gio (not in this episode) is getting married and Henry (not in this episode) seems happy with his son; Claire Meade is still running Meade publications and is happy to see her son Daniel growing up and becoming the man she always knew he could be; and then there’s Betty and Daniel themselves. Betty has taken a job co-running a new, up-and-coming magazine in London, and Daniel has given Mode to Wilhelmina so he can find a job that wasn’t given to him (by his father), so he can prove himself, make something of himself. There is the hint of a spark between Betty and Daniel at the end, as they run into each other in London, and I thought that was perfect. Don’t have them kiss and be in love; that wouldn’t be realistic. This was.

And the final words on the screen: “Ugly Betty,” and then “Ugly” drops out, and we’re left with “Betty,” as a crane shot shows Betty walking through a London crowd, Daniel obviously watching her leave, excited he has found her.

What’s implied is that there will be something between them but maybe not for a while. It will be something that feels right, something organic. Since the writers didn’t have the time to create the proper chemistry for a Betty/Daniel pairing at the end of the show (they had 4 episodes left to write when they got the news they were being canceled), this was the best option. And it really was the best! Love it!

Goodbye, Ugly Betty! You will be missed greatly, but you will live on forever in the form of DVDs. Especially on my DVD shelf. 🙂

Open for Friday?

Apparently, the University is going to be open tomorrow, officially, but liberal leave is in effect, so a lot of classes probably won’t happen (thankfully, I don’t have any classes after Wednesday anyway). Phase II of the Snow Emergency Plan for Baltimore City is still in effect for Friday, so cars will be towed if they are blocking snow emergency routes. Free parking for all University of Baltimore members at the Fitzgerald Garage “on Friday and through 8 p.m. on Sunday.” What that means is anyone’s guess; it’s kind of ambiguous.

So, seriously? We’re really going to open for one day?

And we’re supposed to get more snow next Monday. I wonder how that will go.

For now, I’ve finally started reading for Monday’s class, just in case, and I’d like to get most of it done by tomorrow so I can work on my writing for Monday and Wednesday. But on top of all that, I’m watching Ugly Betty, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, The Office, 30 Rock, and Smallville this weekend. And I’d like to get caught up on Nip/Tuck (I’m SO close!).