Fall 2008 Television Round-up

Well, its hard to believe, but the fall TV season officially got underway 5 weeks ago! While I don't think we're quite at the mid-season point yet (that's when all the networks summarily yank a bunch of shows that you've been cultivating an interest in and replace them with a whole bunch of crap that wasn't good enough to make it into the first round of TV premieres) I feel the need to summarize the season thus far - perhaps more for my benefit than anyone else's interest. I find that I have a hard time keeping track of all my shows, especially since somehow this year almost all of my shows are on Monday nights in a 2-hour time range. Not having a working VCR, a DVR or Tivo, this presents problem. Anyway, here's what I think about my admittedly odd assortment of TV shows:

Prison Break: The ex-cons are still a good-looking bunch of guys, and the (finally!) budding romance between Michael and Sarah is great. But in all seriousness, why can't these guys just be done with breaking into and out of things?? I'm afraid the story lines are getting a bit predictable and boring. Although, I think when you initially create a new TV show and name it Prison Break, you might be creating a self-limiting story line. On the other hand, Michael's nose bleed thing intrigues me, especially in light of Lincoln's recent statement that when Michael had nosebleeds as a 13 year old, they were an indicator of some serious health issue. Hmmm. Maybe this condition will require the guys to break into a hospital...

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: This one is the show I would have guessed I'd be least into - I was NOT fan of the Terminator movies (in fact I've never seen them) and a lot of stuff blows up and quite a few people die pretty horribly. However, I am a sucker for stories that have a background story and a mystery, and each week you get another part of the puzzle. So this whole John Connor/time travel/world-wide apocalypse/Brain Austin Greene thing has hooked me. I really do look forward to this show every week.

Heroes: When this show first premiered a couple of years ago I LOVED it! Again, its not something I would have normally gotten into (its based a comic book. yeah, exactly.) but again the overarching mystery has me hooked. Last season got completely trashed by the writers' strike - it didn't make any sense and it was all smooshed together. This year I'm still pretty much confused by it all, but I'm enjoying the confusion. The best part is that at the end of last week, Hiro and Ando dug up Adam Monroe, which I assume means that that character will be returning to the show. Adam Monroe is played by David Anders. David Anders played the gorgeous but evil Sark on Alias, and I have never quite gotten over the fact that Alias was cancelled. To this day, I believe that had the show gone on for another season, it would have been revealed that Sark and Sydney were syblings. But anyway, Sark is on Heroes and that makes me incredibly happy!

Dancing With the Stars: Dear God, Cloris Leachman is still on the show. Really, what else is there to say??

Project Runway: Actually, this show is almost over for the year. The finale is coming up on Wednesday. I'm kinda eh about it. I like Kenley's clothes. I hope she wins, but if she doesn't I don't really care. I might not be the target audience for this show, though. My favorite part of every season is when they have to make an outfit out of produce. Its great just for laughs. However, they didn't have to do that this year, so it just wasn't the same for me.

Survivor, Gabon: There is something really wrong with that kid who's name might be Charlie, and is currently in an alliance with another guy who's name might be Marcus. I never know anyone's names at this point in the season. Anyway Charlie seems to have developed a serious stalker-esque crush on Marcus. That can only turn into serious reality drama before too long! Otherwise, I'm rooting for Bob. He was way too emaciated when the game started. and now he's literally a walking skeleton. Plus he's old. No one old ever does well on Survivor and so far he's doing really, really well!

Life on Mars: I've only seen one episode of this so far, and it was good. Not great, but good. I'm going to continue giving it a chance for a few more weeks.

Desperate Housewives: Neal McDonnough always plays the crazy guy. Anytime you see his name on a cast list, its like "Oh, this show must have a crazy person in it". And this season of DH is no different. Neal plays Dave, Edie's new husband. And apparently he's just been released from a mental institution. Well, that's not going to go well. Also, this fast-forward 5 years into the future was a little disconcerting at first, but now its hardly an issue at all. Except for the continuity questions, like if they moved forward 5 years in the story, is it now 2012 on DH, or were they in 2003 last season and have now fast forwarded to the present? In the end, it doesn't matter, but it kinda bothers me.

Brothers and Sisters: I love this show! I love everyone on it, and even though the stories tend to be a little repetitive, I just love the Walker family too much to not watch it! Kevin and Scotty are adorable together, and even though Justin and Rebecca kind of grossed me out initially, I think they're pretty funny too. This is another one that I really do look forward to each week.

I feel like I might be missing a couple, but in general that's my take on 2008 TV. Tonight (and of course its Monday) the Christian Slater show premiers, so I'll have to check that out. Stay tuned for a review of it next time...