The TV Downturn

It's been a pretty depressing, yet somewhat liberating TV month or two or three. My season passes on the DVR have really diminished. Right now everything we watch is on Thursdays plus Top Chef on Wednesday. With finales already passed or upcoming we're really wound down to almost nothing.

I should probably take this opportunity to
1) up my reading
2) have drinks with my husband on our newly refreshed front porch (thank you dear
husband for putting down the flooring in there - it's a whole new world out there - not to
quote Princess Jasmine or anything)
3) play more scrabble and cards with my husband
etc, etc, etc

Alas, I have not and maybe will try to do so. Back to the TV though... Let's discuss what has been happening on TV lately.

Top Chef: Anyone that knows me knows that I reject all that is reality. Or, at least I say that and for the most part follow it regularly with 1 exception. Thanks to my sister forcing Top Chef on me at our beach house last summer, I'm officially hooked and LOVE this show. I don't know why I'm surprised really...I love to cook, my parents are chefs, I live and breathe food all the time. Makes sense really. I'm pleased with the results thus far (although I haven't watched last nights episode yet) and am bucking for Stephanie to win. That said, I'm pretty sure Richard will win and that's okay too. I may actually go back and try to watch the first few seasons. Can you do that with reality shows????

The Office: Couldn't have been happier with the season. They have handled the Jim/Pam thing perfectly. It's there, but it's background to the rest of the ensemble cast. Brilliant. The finale was so good...love the Jan surprise, the Kevin side-bar was great, thrilled to see Amy Ryan join the cast as Toby's replacement (although I will miss the dull and mousy Toby), and Andy was awesome as usual. There is never enough Kelly Kapoor. If you are also a Kelly fan, please see Mindy's blog which is one of my favorites.

Lost: Liking the season so far and really excited for the finale next week! You have to feel sorry for the writers of this show before they knew when the series would end. But, now that they have a finite number of episodes, I think they are doing a nice job building out the answers to questions people have had for awhile, filling in blanks, and over all seemingly writing towards the main "answer". It just feels like they are bulking up instead of constantly adding more questions and avoiding answers which used to annoy the shit out of me.

Scrubs, ER, Greys Anatomy: My other Thursday night faves. Still liking Scrubs and ER which is pretty amazing since both shows have really been on for quite awhile. Greys is getting a little less exciting, but everyone needs a good nighttime soap to look forward to watching. I'm still in.

HBO: What's going on here? I didn't get into John Adams at all after the Wire finished. I never finished In Treatment and it's off On Demand now (dammit). Shouldn't something else be starting??? Where's Entourage? Flight of the Concords? Big Love? Curb? Something new please???? This is my go-to Sunday night channel and they are not delivering right now. Update: Just read that they are filming 3 of the above 4 as of April. I guess summer or later then on the air. Bummer.

Showtime: I'm really liking This American Life. It's only a 1/2 hour and I always liked it on NPR so great that it's on TV now. I would like to watch Season 2 of The Tudors, but I just finished Season 1 on DVR and I have to get caught up through On Demand. As with Greys Anatomy, Joe does not watch with me so it's hard to find time to squeeze in an hour-long show on my own. Not happening right now. I'm definitely looking forward to next season of Weeds and Dexter, but I bet those will be awhile.

FX: Did I just read that Rescue Me was delayed??? Bummer. It has gotten a little tiresome, but I still love Denis Leary and it's a perfect cross of heavy drama and fantastic comedy. Tough to do, so I'll be back regardless. The last season of the Shield should be coming out soon. Yeah. Although I do think they should have stuck with ending it last season or even the season before, I'll watch it again. Great show.

I should probably work now...