The New Television Season

Now that the baseball postseason has started, I might as well share my thoughts on some new shows because it might be November before I catch up with the rest of you television watchers.

Everybody Hates Chris
I love this show. I watch it with a big grin on my face that lasts the entire show. The Wonder Years mixed with Crooklyn is A-OK with me.

My Name Is Earl
I can't decide if I really like this show or I just like how different it is from other sitcoms. I liked the first episode more than the second but both were pretty good. I'm not sure if I'll keep watching it but for now, I'll give it a few more shots. The premise is really great and I like how Raising Arizona it feels at times.

Weeds
I loved this show over the first few episodes. But then the brother-in-law character made his first appearance and the show took a nosedive. But that character has grown on me slightly - or maybe I'm just used to him. At least, he doesn't kill the show in the way that AJ does to every scene he's in on Gilmore Girls. Mary Louise Parker is amazing. I can't get enough Kevin Nealon and the two kids are great characters as well. Even the Desperate Housewives type mom is growing on me. I've really begun to realize how much I'm liking this show because I've seen a few movies recently about teens and/ or family life (amongst them Thumbsucker) that pale in comparison to the wit and depth of this show.

Rome
Half the time, I have no idea who is doing what to whom but I'm fascinated nonetheless. HBO does soap operas really well and this is no exception. I'm three episodes behind so maybe I'll have all the backstabbings and maneuverings figured out better after I catch up.

Once again, HBO spares no expense to recreate history.

Over There
I was very excited for this show. The first few episodes were pretty good and one of them (The Roadblock Duty one) were incredible. But this show kept getting stupider and stupider. The stateside stuff is unbelievably lame and the war stuff seemed more and more contrived as the show developed. I understand that for dramatic purposes, the same unit is responsible for different duty every week (prison guards, overseeing contracting work, rescuing a captured journalist, staking out a village hiding an insurgent) but the scripts kept getting more and more silly. And when a female soldier (she was back in the States because of her son who had just been diagnosed with autism) ends up AWOL in LA and then finds herself in a hot lesbian shower scene, I decided to end my viewership of this show. Over There should/ could have been much better.

How I Met Your Mother
Not even Jason Segel of Freaks and Geeks fame could save this trainwreck. Again, I like the premise but the laugh track and one line zingers don't do it for me.

Somebody needs to get this comedic genius a real show to be on.

Invasion
The first fifteen minutes reminded me I never wanted to see dumb movies like Twister. The last forty five minutes looked just as lame on fast forward as the first fifteen minutes did in normal motion - but at least it went quicker. I will not come back to this show.

Prison Break
I love prison dramas. I wanted to like this and I knew that I shouldn't expect anything like Oz. The premise really intrigued me. But after 45 minutes, I couldn't deal with the show. Everything was so contrived and TV drama like. The only network TV DRAMA I watch is Lost (unless you count Gilmore Girls as a drama) which often overcomes its network TV origins. Prison Break didn't seem to be able to do the same thing. Many people seem to really like this show but I'm okay missing it.

Extras
I've only watched one episode so far but it was fantastic. Just like it is unfair to compare the American version of The Office to the original, it is unfair to compare this Ricky Gervais show to the brilliance of his last endeavor - a once in a lifetime kind of brilliance. Still, comparisons will of course arise. Gervais plays a similar kind of character in this one but so far doesn't seem to be quite an asshole. That is what I was thinking twenty minutes into the first episode but then he started making an ass of himself at a prayer meeting. This and Curb Your Enthusiasm offer up an incredibly awkward and tense hour of Sunday night television watching.