What am I missing?

I hate days like today. Where ten in the morning looks like four in the afternoon. Days like today should have warnings on the local news, you know, like when the weatherman gives you the pollen count or the smog advisory. Days like today should be labeled for Seasonal Affective Disorder. The weatherman could say it's going to be 55 degrees, gray, with showers on and off through the afternoon, and with a Seasonal Affective Disorder rating of Absolute Misery.

So today is a good day to discuss the new television season, don't you think? I finally got my kid down for a nap, the shades are open and all the lights are on, I'm eating peanut butter (extra-crunchy) out of the jar and watching my first TiVoed episode of Dirty Sexy Money. So far? I love it. Especially Samaire Armstrong, who I hated in The O.C. and Entourage. I love her character in this new show, although maybe it's just that she finally has a hairstyle that doesn't look like Summer went after her with a weed whacker in a fit of jealous rage. (Is it true that Summer and Seth got married in the last episode of The O.C.? I stopped watching long before the end and didn't bother to catch the finale. Seth was very dead to me by then.)

Anyway, I was going to say that I am not so much impressed by TV 2007, although now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I am just not catching the good shows. You will have to let me know.

The one show that Phillip and I both look forward to is Heroes, although we're watching it with a slight wistfulness for last season and crossed fingers that it will get better. I'm not sure if it's slow or we don't care so much about the new characters or if one of us is really extra super annoyed that Hiro is stuck in freaking ANCIENT JAPAN (ahem, that would be me), but something is a bit off. Where did Niki go? Has Peter really joined an Irish gang? Horn Rims is going to the Ukraine? Huh? Whatever. While I'm wishing Claire still had her pretty curls and that Matt and Mohinder would just get married already, I'm writing letters of gratitude to NBC for getting Nathan Petrelli to shave, for Peter Petrelli hacking off his emo bangs and for the new evilishness oozing out of Horn Rims. I like him better when he's sneaky.

I'm also watching House which, in my opinion, definitely needed to shake things up with the Houselings. I was getting a little bored with the Medical Mystery Of The Week and the predictable reactions from the original Houselings. Now we've got the new pretty girl (who I think was Mischa Barton's girlfriend on The O.C., oh yes, I am so very sad to be correct) and the new snotty girl (who I love) and the old non-doctor dude and Kumar, who plays Comic Relief Houseling. And is it me or is Wilson showing a bit more backbone this season? I loved the kidnapping and ransom of the electric guitar. Anyway, even if every episode is often about the same thing, I think I would watch Hugh Laurie sleeping. Or typing. Or mowing the lawn. Or staring off into space. Or anything, really. Have you seen his Inside The Actor's Studio? He is amaaaazing.

We're still watching The Office, natch. So far my favorite has been the Ryan episode. Ryan's such a... well, you know. Also, Kelly? I wish there was more Kelly. Did Karen just disappear? Did she leave? Did they tell us? I thought Karen would be back for a few episodes, at least to kick Jim in the shins. And do you care about Angela's cat? I don't. I'm with Pam. I'm a dog person.

How I Met Your Mother is still on the schedule and I hear this is the season we will meet the mother! Finally! I was never a fan of Ted and Robin, so I'm loving this whole dating-other-people thing. Barney, of course, makes the show. I like Jason Segel and the dude who plays Ted (has he been in anything else?) but I never thought I'd be saying Doogie shows them all up. (Although I loved Doogie. How old was I when Doogie was on? I think it was on the mile long list of shows my mother didn't want me watching.)

My favorite thing about Ugly Betty this season is Justing The Intern (and his boss, Marc.) Fabulous! I'm watching Grey's Anatomy against my better judgment. Talk about stupid. We'll watch Lost when it comes back. Same with Scrubs. Of course I'll be watching Project Runway. With Veronica Mars gone and no more Gilmore Girls, I feel as though there are giant holes in my TV schedule. But!

As for new shows... oh, I had such hope. Alas, all the new shows I am watching are quickly going the route of Sounded Great But Got Incredibly Boring And Eventually Made My Eyes Bleed.

The first show I'm accusing of boring me to death is Chuck. Now, you'd think Chuck is my kind of show. Nerdy guy with a sense of humor. Spy action. Mysteries to solve. Unrequited love. Obnoxious older sisters. A character named Captain Awesome. But after the pilot (which I totally loved, by the way) things got really dull in Chuckland. Why is that? I thought it was just me but some friends last night said the same thing. Maybe I lost my patience with the "secrets downloaded into his brain" thing, because even I think that's stupid. The blond chick is not really anything else except blond. The two agencies vying for power thing is old. But you know, I'll keep watching. I love that Chuck works at a Buy More which is next to a Large Mart. That's hilarious! And I love Chuck himself, who is mostly just a watered down version of Jim Halpert. Even toothy Madison hasn't made me want to quit this show entirely, so we're keeping it on TiVo for now.

Enter Pushing Daisies, the show for which I had the highest hopes. And... meh. I love me some quirky, but boring quirky? No thanks. Again, I love the nerdy main character. I sort of love his quirky love interest. The pies, the knitting, the crazy aunts, the bright colors, the silly dead people- all good. Mere existence of Kristin Chenoweth? Super good. What I can't quite get over is the Harry Potter narration. You know Jim Dale reads the Harry Potter stories, right? That I listen to while I drag a stroller around the lake? So I'm watching this new TV show and all I can think about is HARRY POTTER. Which is usually a good thing, but not when you are trying to invest in a television show which is most decidedly not about Harry Potter.

Phillip has been recording The Big Bang Theory. I am not going to say anything about that. Except: MY EYES, MY EYES.

I did not even bother with Cavemen. Seriously? A whole TV show?

I do not want to talk about it, really, but I am kind of sort of watching Gossip Girl. When it is on. When I happen to catch it. What a stupid show. I feel the same watching Gossip Girl as I do when I'm watching The Real World. And yet, Kristen Bell is narrating! And it's very hard to tear your eyes away from the pretty people. Who are so very very pretty.

Speaking of Kristen Bell, I tried watching Moonlight. I really did. I wanted to like it. I felt sure I could like anything including the name "Jason Dohring". But: MY EYES, MY EYES. Even with Logan's holy presence, this show is unpalatable. Here's to hoping Moonlight is quickly canceled and Logan is snatched up by someone who will make him the star. Why couldn't Logan be a Houseling?!

I have yet to see Bionic Woman. We've got all the episodes stored up and Phillip likes it and keeps asking me if I want to watch the next one with him, but I'm having a hard time getting over the fact that it's a show about Bionic Woman. I just don't know. Should I be watching this?

I know I'm missing a whole bunch of shows, but the boy is waking up and I'm on track to slit my wrists by six. All the light has been sucked out of the sky by a giant swath of rain clouds and Phillip is working late tonight. This is not good for my psyche, people. And people ask me why I hate October.

Comments

[ren]

ok, I am soooo jealous of all the tv shows! Although a station here has started showing The Riches, which we are loving. Other than that, we are stuck with early seasons of Scrubs. And Laguna Beach (yes, I am 30 years old and I watch Laguna Beach. I have been sucked in - but even I can only watch seasons 1 and 2 of it and The Hills so many times. Give me season 3, dammit!) Ahem...anyway, I am totally with you on the seasonal thing. Back in Florida, fall was my favorite season - cooler weather, Halloween, etc. Here in jolly England, I can feel the darkness closing in. Most days we have gray skies with a side of rain...and wind. Yuck.

[Laura]

Well, I LOVE October but today we are under a tornado warning so yuck.

Love some office..but are they ever going to show Jim and Pam's date?? We wait years for them to hook up and now they are dating but we didn't get to see the lead up!

Love Big Bang Theory...it is so funny and smart.

I didn't want to like Bionic Woman. I felt like I was 'cheating' on Lindsey Wagner but I admit, I do like it : )

[Nessa]

That show with the Addison from Grey's. It's so bad I can't even remember the name. I love Addison, the Addison from Grey's, not this new wishy washy yucky California Addison. Blech. I could stare at the tv for hours on end and never be bored, however, prime time? has made me ansty. This is bad.

[ashley]

Office junkie here. :)

In the first episode, Jim said that Karen told him she wouldn't stop working at Scranton just because he dumped her. She had worked too hard. But then Jim said "When I got back, all of her things were gone. So I'm not sure what that means..."

I think she's going to come back mid season, personally :)

[Shelby]

Oh, I've totally been waiting for you to talk about fall tv! My husband and I have given up on Heroes. I was only so-so on it last year, and when they introduced the twins in the season premiere, I just couldn't be bothered to stay in the room. It felt like when Lost introduced new characters just for the sake of it. Boring. Although with Kristen Bell coming to Heroes, I may have to give it another chance.

Big Bang Theory -- we got to see the premiere on a trans-Atlantic flight before it aired on the network. I was SHOCKED when hubby added it to the TiVo. Ugh. I enjoy the nerdiness, but not the lame-o plot.

But the show I've been most eager to hear your opinion on is Friday Night Lights! Are you still watching? I'm very eager to hear what you think, and I won't share my opinions in case you haven't seen it yet . . .

[Christina]

I'm here with you on this Dreadful Dark Day. The dark is bad enough, but throw in wind strong enough to kill me and well, I'd just as soon go hide in my bed.
I still like Chuck, but the pilot was definitely the best part. Tried Reaper but it's just too devilly-cheesy. I don't like Bionic Woman but Husband loves it. (hot women fighting each other, what more does a man need?) I miss the old Bionic Woman of the 70's, sigh. Just caught "Samantha Who" last night and that was pretty good (Sookie from GG is the friend!). Also "Alien in America" makes me laugh, though the fake Wisconsin accents are annoying. (and Luke from GG is the dad!) There are others, but nothing that is standing out. But that might keep your tivo busy anyway. :)

[el-e-e]

oh, I can always comment about TV! Have you seen the promo on G4 (cable channel for gamers that my hubby watches) for their syndication of Heroes Season 1? It's hilarious. It goes super-fast through a "recap" of the season, and every few frames, the voice-over guy says "Peter flips his hair." And it shows Peter flipping his hair. HAAA! Over and over. Love.

The only thing I think SHOULD be on your list that isn't, it 30 Rock. I just love that show. Except right now, when they're talking about the Jenna character as "fat" and she looks like about a size 12. Rrr. I hope that story arc ends SOON. Otherwise, though, such a hilarious show. :)

[Angela]

Wow, we have almost the exact same tv lineup and even very similar opinions. No wonder I like you so much!