Hello Shows, I Missed You

The Fall Television Season officially kicked off this week. And oh, what a lovely week it's been. (Okay yes, I watch too much television. Whatever. Some people knit. I like to watch television. It's my hobby.) The summer was lovely but I've missed these characters over the past few months and somehow this is a little bit like welcoming back old friends. (Yes, one day I WILL get a life.)

I just have a few brief thoughts on some of the shows I watched this week. There are more than normal because I wanted to try out a couple of the new premieres. Over the next few weeks I will probably taper back down to normal television-watching habits.

Mad Men - This season has continued to be amazing. I really do hope that Don Draper is actually emerging from his self-induced state of misery and pathetic behavior and that it's not just the calm before the true bottom. Fingers-crossed. And same goes for his daughter Sally, perhaps the most tragic character on this show. She's a girl who's been given an awful mother and a man who can't even begin to figure out how to be a father.Why do I have the sinking feeling that the late sixties and seventies are not going to be kind to her? 

Boardwalk Empire - I very much enjoyed the pilot episode. The entire prohibition era is fascinating and has a lot of potential for storytelling. I think this is going to be another one of those shows along the vein of Breaking Bad where all the leads are despicable but endearing at the same time. I'm intrigued. And apologies to Michael Pitt but in my mind he will ALWAYS be Henry, the guy who was obsessed with Jen in the third season of Dawson's Creek. I'm sure he'd be just thrilled to know that. 

Chuck - Chuck, I love you. Never stop being adorable. 

How I Met Your Mother - Once again I don't really have a lot to say about this one. I do have to note though that I watched a couple episodes of Season One the other day and it made me realize just how much sparkle has been lost. Never mind though, I refuse to be a complete negative-nelly. I did very much enjoy the "looks" that Barney and Robin exchanged at the bar. Those two still have some great moments.  

Lonestar - I liked the pilot. Interestingly enough I found myself rooting for the lead character, despite the whole "cheating on this wife, leading a double life" thing. And hey, this show wins points for usage of several Mumford and Sons songs. Unfortunately, it got crap ratings so I suppose I won't get too attached. 

The Event - Meh. I felt like it was trying to hard to be LOST 2.0. Which, just isn't going to happen anytime soon. After the LOST series premiere (almost exactly six years ago!) I felt like my mind had been completely blown to pieces in such a good way. Here... again, meh. But I like Jason Ritter so I'll probably keep watching to see if it gets better. OH! And Luke Danes! LUKE DANES! 

Castle - Nathan Fillion you're adorable. Don't stop. 

Hawaii 5-0 - This theme song is an instant time warp back to my childhood. And Scott Caan is hilarious. Basically, these are my thoughts on this show at this time. Also, Jin and Boomer are cousins? WHAT? 

Glee - Things I liked: Mike Chang's abs, Brittany saying "Stop the violence," Jacob Ben Israel's blog video at the beginning, Empire State of Mind, anytime Puck was onscreen, Asian and Other Asian hooking up at Asian Camp. What I didn't like: Lea Michelle's bangs. Also, the entire "Finn tries to get Artie on the football team and then gets kicked off the team and tries out for cheer leading" debacle was stupid and pointless. All in all though, it remains a lot of fun. 

Raising Hope - I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would. It was actually pretty hilarious in an, "Oh no they didn't!" kind of way. I mean, THEY THREW UP ON THE BABY! That's something I've definitely never seen before on television. Oh, and it features one of The Goonies. So, bonus points. This one might get added to the rotation. 

Undercovers - Fun. But my spy-show quota might be filled already by Chuck. And Alias memories. 

Modern Family - This show warms my heart. I don't always laugh out loud as often as I do with say, Community but it's just such a sweet family show. And I think that's rare these days. The scene at the end of this week's episode where the Dunphy family was walking home and the kids were all making fun of their parents together made me feel all warm and squishy. And Mitchel and the bird! Hee! 

Terriers -I've only watched the first episode but so far I really like it. It feels like something more than a typical detective story. There's almost something "Veronica Mars" about it, which sounds like a weird comparison and I can't even begin to explain what I mean by that but there you go.  

Community - "We're back." From the opening montage of everyone getting ready for school (Troy as Spiderman! Naked Jeff!) to the closing Anthropology Rap with Betty White, I loved every moment. I can't even choose a favorite part so I'm just going to go with; every single thing that happened in the study room. Especially, " I better not smile at that wall outlet or you'll fry your tongue off!" Oh Britta "People's Champion" Perry, I love you a ridiculous amount.

I really enjoyed how they resolved the cliffhanger from last year and the "No, I love YOU more" competition between Jeff and Britta was inspired and resulted in one of the most disturbing onscreen kisses I've ever seen. June Bauer's "This is making me sick," in regards to the kiss while DRINKING HER OWN URINE made me laugh probably more than simple potty humor should. But whatever. I'm assuming that this is going to table the romantic entanglements for now and I'm completely fine with that. Annie's "I think you're kind of gross now" made so much sense and I still think she and Jeff are an adorable pair. They just need to grow up. A lot.

As for Betty White, I could take or leave her but I'm far more excited about seeing John Oliver's Professor Duncan take over the class.  Especially since Ben "I'll find a loop-hole and kill you" Chang will be in the class. Speaking of, I love this group and while I don't actually want to see Chang join them, his Gollum/Smeagol monologue at the end was perfect. If I don't say it enough, I really do love Ken Jeong.

Other notable moments: the @oldwhitemansays zinger at CBS, the George Clooney impersonator providing "razzle dazzle," Abed mining Jeff's life for sitcom scenarios, the return of "turning it into a snake" and of course, "Hey Toy Story... er, Britta." 

The Big Bang Theory - First, I'd like to say, "Efff you" to whoever it is that's responsible for keeping TBBT from being viewed legally online in any format. Second, I intend on finding a way around this. Until I do, I've yet to see the season premiere but I'll keep you posted. 

My Generation - I was kind of intrigued by this show because these people are basically my age ( I graduated high school in 2001 - close enough) and it was okay. I'm intrigued enough that I'll watch again. The format is interesting but I'm not sure how I feel about these characters yet. And can I just say this? I hate, hate, hate the the "girl has a one-night stand, gets pregnant, doesn't tell the guy and then shows up some-odd-years later and gets all uppity and self-righteous when the guy isn't instantly SuperDad" storyline. It's stupid and it makes me hate the female character for outright irrationality. /end rant. 

Fringe - SUCH a good season opener. And you have to realize what it means for me to be saying that considering that the Walter/Peter relationship is my favorite thing about this show and in total they only had about a minute of screen time. The time spent in the alt-world was intriguing and completely heartbreaking as we started to realize that Olivia's memories were being altered. I have no idea how they're going to continue this season or how she's going to get past this or if she even will. But I have to say, Anna Torv does an amazing job and playing the subtle differences between the two Olivias. I'm psyched for the season. 

The Office - I quite enjoyed this episode. The opening lip-dub was fun, Michael was understated (and therefore tolerable), the co-workers actually seemed to enjoy each other, Gabe was awkwardly adorable and Jim and Pam were Jim and Pam. The "spanking" scene was a little horrifying and yet hilarious and that's what I've always loved about this show. Here's hoping that the rest of the season continues being as equally fun.