Sunday
Allen Gregory- Jonah Hill animated as an obnoxious rich kid in a public school with a bunch of other people. If that doesn't sell it to you, then it can't win. I don't laugh, but at this point, I look forward to it more than 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad'.
The Simpsons- Still funny, even if I'm no longer laughing. It's that kind of satire where you admire them more than you express it. They keep making, I'll keep watching.
Family Guy- It's gotten painful to watch. But I just can't break off of it. They are no longer controversial enough to catch attention, so they are reduced to repetition jokes and catch phrases from their notable and well thought of character ideas. It's just boring now.
American Dad- Has only a little more originality than family guy, though I did enjoy its "Cee Lo Green, Little Jacuzzi of Horrors" Episode.
The Walking Dead- Mind-boggling and entertaining, the show manages to do a whole lot with the simple premise of a young girl getting lost from the pack of survivors this season. When it chooses to be a dark show, that's when it's most surprising, but in those small moments of light humor and emotion, you have hope and pull out for the survivors, no matter the things they have done in the past.
Dexter- You know, there was a time when Dexter intrigued me more than most shows on television, but that time has come to a slight end. I mean, for someone who doesn't look for anything new on their TV, Dexter won't change on them. Dexter always gets his man (sometimes lady, I'm not sexist or anything, jeez!), and his murderous identity always remains a secret. It's tiresome, even if Michael C. Hall and the rest of the cast rock their roles to the best of their abilities. There's just only so much one can take in this 6th season before complaining that something big has to happen. That hasn't happened for two seasons, though I obviously will keep watching because it's still entertaining. Just not really surprising.
Once Upon a Time- Honestly, it's surprising how enjoyable the show is. Its light fairy tale fluff is just enough to wet the tooth without getting boring, and even if it is a bit too cheesy, it's perfectly fun. My only concern is that the plot of the show screams an ending so obvious that it won't be able to sustain as a show past 2 seasons without getting over complicated or redundant.
Misfits- Simply one of the funniest and original shows I have the pleasure to watch in the fall. Maybe 'Heroes' wasn't your thing. That's okay. 'Misfits' is so much better. Just do yourself a favor and get up to the 4th episode of series 1 (probably my favorite episode of the series) and then you can try to quit. I'd like to see that.
Monday
Terra Nova- I can't fully give my opinion since I never got past episode 3. It kind of lost track of what I found so original about it in the pilot, so I'm not sure if I'm content with the show anymore. I'll probably wait until the season ends, catch up, and then further my opinion.
How I Met Your Mother- 'HIMYM' is the rare show that no matter how redundant it gets (humor or story), the writing is so fresh and fun that I still enjoy it on an episode to episode basis. I'm sure the wait of a week between episodes helps me fight that problem, but still, I'll keep with it as long as it keeps doing new things with the way it tells its stories. For example, last week featured Future Ted telling the story of his friends at the bar telling the story of the hurricane that hit NY, which frightened Marshall because Marshall imagines the dangers of the world. It's complicated, but makes so much sense when watching it.
Castle- I like the chemistry between Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion, but the lack of real character development (you can skip to beginning and end of an episode and skip the middle) really bores me. The show never does anything important until its finales and the crimes no longer really have to do with Fillion's Castle character's background in writing, so what makes this different from any other procedural. It's like 'Bones', except I hope Castle ends before it gets that far, at least for the sake of the story. It took a while for the writers of 'House' to realize that's what the audience wants. Hopefully it won't take 'Castle' writers that long. Don't Bother.
Tuesday
New Girl- I misjudged Zooey Deschanel's new sitcom. It's very funny, mostly because of its great cast. But I still don't care for her character. It's just too much for me. Good show, annoying character.
Raising Hope- It's surprising how much heart and laughs a show like this has, especially after 'My Name is Earl' lost so many of that by the end. Clearly, Greg Garcia (the creator of both shows) has a nack for representing blue collar lower class, and this show picks up the funny where 'Earl' dropped it.
Workaholics- Juvenile, stupid, and hilarious. To me, this is the "fratiest" show outside of 'Blue Mountain State', with characters so lovable and dumb that it becomes unique. Most of the humor comes from misfortune, stupidity, and pop culture reference mistakes (they always mistake one show/movie/actor for another), and the satire of the workplace and recent graduate type characters is perfect. This is an example of Comedy Central letting a comedy troupe write a show, and it just working on comedy, not big names. Who needs Jeff Dunham (though I do like puppets) when you have genius like this?
Wednesday
Suburgatory- Surprising one of the better television shows starting this season. It's a fun sitcom, well worth watching before 'Modern Family'. Sure, it portrays New Yorkers (where I'm from) as being too open-minded, i.e. the kind where you eat food out of the trash, and suburbanites (where I now live) as being too close-minded, i.e. ignorant about situations besides fashion and gossip, but hey, it's all done for the satirical joke and I can dig it.
Modern Family- One of the best comedy shows on TV, and it's perfect for the whole family. That's a rare thing. Despite the humor declining as it goes into it's third season, there is still plenty of reason to watch.
Psych- Every once in a while there's a great mystery, but most of the time, I'm just sticking around for James Roday and Dule Hill's great banter. Reason to watch, not really. But the plot doesn't matter on an episode to episode basis for the most part, so if you watch, pick a episode by the plot that interests you.
American Horror Story- Frustratingly confusing, but extremely intriguing, that's what 'AHS' is. It's one of the odder shows on television, and certainly heads less towards the 'From the Creators of 'Glee'' fare and more to the 'From the Creators of 'Nip/Tuck'' fare. After watching 'Harper's Island' when it aired, I wanted more television of the genre, so it's refreshing to see horror television becoming a trend again. I enjoy its style and look and look forward to the many copies that will be made in the future on other channels because of its success.
Blue Mountain State- It's the dumbest show I hate to love. I like to call it the Misogynistic 'Scrubs'. It's ridiculously overacted, and it's jokes rarely turn away from poop and sex humor. It makes me angry that it exists. But I can't help it. It's like watching a version of the Straight to DVD 'American Pie' movies, where you feel dirty for watching it, only funnier and a bit more clever. And sometimes it's nice to feel dirty, like a night to the clubs, so there's my thought process of it.
South Park- I still think it's one of the best animated shows of all time and it's as funny and memorable as ever, even if its references and satire are more topical. But I really want the show to end at this point, since it seems that Matt Stone and Trey Parker want to pursue other things, but because of audience's interest, and the money they are offered, they keep compromising. I just want them to be happy and do what they want. So just watch this online.
Thursday
Community- Funny and original, but not quite as brilliant as last year's season. The only episode that I truly enjoyed so far was the one where the go through the several alternate realities while rolling a dice and the 'Hearts of Darkness' parody episode. But I will still keep watching in hope of something better.
Park & Recreation- With Adam Scott and Rob Lowe firmly planted in the show, it seems like 'P&R' has reached its peak. It can't get much better. Hopefully it doesn't drop the ball, but obviously it's pretty fantastic at this point. I feel like Nick Offerman's Ron Swanson character might just make it to pop culture icon. Who knows? I'm pulling out for it at this point.
The Office- So blah. It was a recent episode where I realized that they stopped writing jokes for 'The Office'. The characters are supposed to be funny. I don't care if they are all in relationships. It's a zombie that just won't go down. Just my opinion.
Whitney- Not sure why I watch this. It's terrible, and the jokes are often flat. But I guess I have nothing to do sometimes and I bring it up on hulu.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia- While not every episode is a keeper, a few episodes have been some of the best of the show, so I'm going to have to side with it remaining awesome.
The League- Underrated and not watched enough. It is so consistently funny, but for some reason it hasn't caught on yet. At least not that much of an audience. Maybe it's the fantasy football aspect of it. They probably shouldn't advertise that way. It's the same way as 'Workaholics' except the party mentality for 'holics' is much easier to market.
Burn Notice- While I was right about to quit around the season 4 finale, I'm extremely glad I didn't, since season 5 has been some of the best arcs the show has seen since, well, since I first saw the show in season 1 and thought it was original. If there was ever a reason to continue the show, Matt Nix (the show's creator) is giving it. It feels like the end of the show, which is an exciting prospect, since anyone who has seen the show thinks "WOW, this is really cool, but he'll obviously choose his family over the CIA in the end". Keep it up and I might actually make it a season or two more.
Friday
Chuck- It's surprising how much more room there is left to tell in this show after most of the viewers' wants for the show have been fulfilled. It's still fun as ever, and it hasn't lost that originality that you hope a show can remain with after running through procedural-esque episodes for 5 years.
P.S. Creating this post makes me rethink quitting a few shows. So much television!
- Jeff Bassin
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