Ready, Set, TIVO

Time to bring Tivo out of it's summer slumber! The Emmy's are this weekend and I'm probably one of the few people more excited about the start of the Fall TV season than I am about the start of the Fall Football season.

I've searched high and low and scanned through the new fall TV schedule. There are a lot of good shows out there. These are just my picks! I haven't gotten in to the vampire trend yet, so I know nothing about those. I'm also totally over most reality type shows. Even Dancing With The Stars doesn't interest me due to the totally lame line-up of "stars."

So here's my game plan.

Sundays
Mad Men on AMC at 10:00 pm
Mad Men already started their new season a few weeks ago. It's a total throwback of a show and has some major politically incorrect moments (by today's standards.) But it's a glimpse of the way things were and how far we've come. This may be my favorite show right now!

Brothers and Sisters on ABC at 10:00 pm
This family drama has become a favorite of mine over the past few years. The Walker's dysfunction makes you feel like your own family is perfectly "normal."


Mondays
Gossip Girl on CW at 9:00 pm
Gossip Girl has a later time this year (9 pm) and premiered on Monday night. In my very humble opinion, Season 3 may be in trouble! Something just wasn't right seeing Dan all materialistic, being chauffeured and waving money around, and Chuck all romantic. What is that about? Maybe once they all start school or Hillary Duff joins the cast, things will get better! Let's hope so!


Tuesdays
The Good Wife on CBS at 10:00 pm
Apparently CBS has a few other shows besides CSI. This could be my inner political junkie coming out, but it looks interesting. You know us South Carolinians can't seem to get enough of a good political scandal!


Wednesdays
Mercy on NBC at 8:00 pm
It's the new ER, I mean medical drama about nurses. I'll give it a try. Nurses are the new hot thing. I enjoyed Nurse Jackie on Showtime this summer.

Modern Family on ABC at 9:00 pm
Entertainment Weekly says it's the fall's funniest new show. And haven't we all missed the beauty of the 30 minute sitcom?

Cougars on ABC at 9:30
This stars Courtney Cox....not totally sold on this one, but will give it a try.

Eastwick on ABC at 10:00pm
I don't know why I think I can watch a show about Witches and not the ones about Vampires. But it intrigues me.

Thursdays
The Office on NBC at 9pm
The Office lost a little of it's luster for me last year. Maybe I just needed a break now that I could rest easy that Jim and Pam are finally together.

Project Runway on Lifetime at 10:00 pm
Runway's season is well on it's way to crowning another design King/Queen. I'm having fun watching Carol Hannah (from my hometown) compete each week. There's still a long way to go, but so far, so good. The jump from Bravo to Lifetime hasn't changed the show much at all.

Grey's Anatomy on ABC at 9:00 pm
Yes, I'm still watching, despite the terrible plot line a few years ago of Meredith drowning and then coming back to life. And I even held my nose and watched through Izzy's hallucinations of Denny last year. Grey's has at least one big change with the departure of George. Mer and Der are together, and everyone else is coupled up.

Private Practice on ABC at 10:00 PM
I wasn't the most devoted Private Practice watcher last year, but the season finale was quite a cliff hanger. This could possibly be way better and more interesting than played-out Grey's.


Whew, thank goodness for TiVo, who makes my TV watching much easier! I think these shows, will give me plenty to watch this Fall! Have I missed anything?

Weak

I've been waiting for some divine inspiration for something to blog about. When life gets busy and/or boring, I don't feel the need to share in a blog post. But, waiting around on something exciting to write about could mean a long hiatus so my trusty fall back is TV! There have been waaaaay too many reruns for my liking, and our cable has been acting up- preventing me from watching not one, but two weeks of Big Love! I'm hoping things will be running again soon and I can catch up.

With over a month of Gossip Girl reruns, and no Big Love and US of Tara (a new favorite), and DO NOT even get me started on the Grey's nonsense. So what have I been watching- you may be asking? I've done what I told myself I wouldn't do this year. I've been sucked in to American Idol. I haven't watched every season, I usually only get into it every other year. But those smart folks at Idol have a good idea to start the show when the others are showing repeats. I'm weak, I tell ya....fell right in their trap.

After a wierd "wild card" show last week, America now has it's top 13. It's an interesting group...but thank goodness the judges came to their senses and gave wierdo Tatiana the boot. I couldn't take watching any more of her. I have a handful of favorites after seeing them only perform once- Scott, Lil, Megan, Adam, Anoop, Jorge, and Matt. Maybe that's more than a handful.

There are way too many commercials in this show, Ryan really annoys me, and the judges are all over the place. Despite all of this, I'm looking forward to see what drama Season 8 has in store for us! Now, if only I can resist Dancing With The Stars (which starts tonight)....

Random Acts of Blogness

I have a backlog of things to blog about so this is another one of those random smorgasbord postings.

1. Fantasy Football- I AM THE CHAMPION! I would love to share with you all the wisdom and knowledge of how I did this. I have learned a lot in the three seasons of play in our girls league called "How to Beat a Guy in 10 Days." But the absolute truth is...all you need is luck! It felt really good to win, after a frustrating season last year.

2. Book Praise for Straight Up and Dirty- I've already told everyone that would listen that his book rocked my newly single world. It was like therapy. I wish I could afford to buy multiple copies and send it to all of my friends. Special thanks to my roomie who let me read it first! I literally didn't want the book to end. It's a true memoir by a author (and blogger) Stephanie Klein. There are some comparison's of Klein to Carrie Bradshaw, but to me, Klein is even more endearing than Bradshaw since she's a real person and all! Klein has captured her dating, break-up, and self-discovery experience in a witty, humorous and truthful way. She says all the things that we all think, but don't know if it's normal to be thinking. And most of us certainly don't know how to express it in the way she's able to. I was laughing, thinking, reflecting, and crying.

I know that books like this are all about what you're going through and how you can relate to it at the time. A few times I had to put the book down because it was like reading some of my own thoughts. I loved it. For me, this book gets an enthusiastic 5 on the Sweet Tea Scale. Just like some perfect homemade sweet tea, this is EXACTLY what I needed!

3. TV- I rented part of the first season of Mad Men over the holiday weekend. Is anyone watching this show? I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see more!

A new show called Wake Up Call by He's Just Not That Into You author and comedian, Greg Behrendt, starts up this Thurs. at 10pm on SoapNet. I read this book a few years ago and found my copy while I was home over Christmas. I've been flipping through and reading it again. At first, I was like- "if only I took this advice the first time I read it!" Then, I started getting angry because it makes me feel like, well...He's Just Not That Into Me. And that kinda stinks. The movie version of the book is coming out in a few weeks and the previews look funny. I really hate that I'm all about these cheesy chick flicks these days...but I can't deny it!

I'm sure that's all the randomness you can handle for now. I hope everyone is having a Happy New Year so far!

Dancing Recap

Maybe it's the gloomy tone in Washington this week with the economic crisis and Congress finally realizing they need to get something done before adjourning tomorrow. Or maybe it's the nasty presidential political games. Or even more likely, maybe it's because there are only 3 games left in the Braves season, but I haven't been able to think of anything positive to blog about! Work has been busier than usual and to make it worse, I have to work this weekend.

But enough of my pity party.

I turn to the always faithful, TV. With the exception of Gossip Girl, I haven't been glued to the tube like I thought I would be this week. But one highlight for me was Dancing With The Stars. Thanks to TiVo, I watched 5 hours worth of this show's marathon 3 night premier week in only 2 hours last night. It made me laugh and forget about the worries of the world. And that's the goal of TV, right? I haven't watched every season of the show, but I was a fan the two seasons that Apolo Ohno and Emmit Smith won. If you're not tuning in and are looking for a light hearted, fun show to watch, I highly recommend it! If you're interested and missed the first week, click here for a recap.

CHEERS- My favs after week 1:
Cloris Leachman - 82 years old and still moving, also she's hilarious.
Chef Rocco DiSpirito- He has so much heart!
Brooke Burke- She's had 4 kids and looks like that?
Warren Sapp- Smooth moves.
Lance Bass- Surprisingly fun to watch.
Misty May-Treanor- You can tell she's a fierce competitor, even out of her element.

BOOOOO- Least favs:
Susan Lucci- She's way too skinny and her self proclaimed "perfectionist" personality was annoying to me.
Kim Kardashian- I still don't understand why she's famous and why we're supposed to care about her. She was not impressive.

Is anyone else watching? What did you think?

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

I watch a lot of TV. It all started innocently enough with a daily dose of Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street on PBS. Then came The Cosby's, Must See TV and TGIF. In college, I may or may not have scheduled some classes around a few TV shows. TiVo soon followed and now-
I'm devoting an entire blog entry to TV shows.

As fellow TV lovers know, last year was tough with shortened seasons due to the writers strike. After the drought of the strike, we were led right in to the summer rerun season. Miserable.

No more suffering through America's Got Talent (because it really doesn't) and no more channel surfing. The new TV season is upon us! A few shows have already premiered, but most are getting underway in the next few weeks.

In case you're as excited as I am, here's a preview of my upcoming TV watching schedule:

Sundays:
Desperate Housewives on ABC (This show got a little kooky in the last 2 seasons, but started to redeem itself. This season will fast forward 5 years. Sure to be some changes. If nothing else, I want to see a slightly heavier Eva Longoria-Parker!)

Brothers and Sisters on ABC (This is one of my favorites. Just a good 'ole family drama!)

Mondays:
Gossip Girl on CW (Season premiered last week. It's getting good, can't wait to see what senior year has in store for these kids.)

Dancing With the Stars on ABC (I couldn't get in to this last season, but the new lineup looks promising. I'm rooting for the 80 year old, Cloris Leachman!)

Jon and Kate plus 8 on TLC (It never really has an off-season, but those kids are the cutest!)

Worst Week on CBS (I missed the boat on the other CBS sitcoms- they didn't live up to Everybody Loves Raymond. But I may give this one a shot. It's deemed as a Meet the Parents type comedy. We'll see.)

Tuesdays:
90210 on CW (This show has a lot to live up to. The premier was so-so. It made me want to watch the old B.H. 90210 reruns instead of the new show.)

Biggest Loser: Families on NBC (I'm a fair-weathered fan. But when I do tune in, it's inspiring and motivating.)

Law and Order SVU on NBC (An oldie, but goodie! Thanks to SVU marathons, I'm now hooked on this show.)

Wednesdays:
Private Practice on ABC (This started to loose me midway through last season. Maybe these writers really did need a break? I'll give it one more chance.)

Lipstick Jungle on NBC (I had a hard time keeping this one straight while watching Cashmere Mafia around the same time. Lipstick Jungle won out. It's good if you need a Sex in the City type fix.)

Thursdays:
Grey's Anatomy on ABC (To me, it's starting to get old. Hopefully the story line is revived. But I stuck it out through the endless Meredith/McDreamy drama, so I have to see them happy for a few episodes!)

The Office on NBC (Hilarious. It just makes me laugh!)

ER on NBC (Yes, it's still on. It's the last season though and Carter-aka the original Dr. McDreamy- is back.)

Fridays and Saturdays:
Are spent reviving my social life!


Whew. This should certainly scratch my TV itch for now.