I Hate Hiatuses

If you’re read my blog before you know that there’s one thing I really, truly hate: hiatuses.

Obviously, I completely support the fact that people in the television industry deserve holidays too, and I can even be persuaded that it makes sense for TV shows to not be on the air for a bit. After all, it would be pretty tricky for me to watch a show live if I was in an airplane flying to visit family. I’m assuming the same is true for all of us!

That being said, now that I’ve been back at work since the end of last week, it would be nice to have a favorite show to look forward to at the end of the long day. I wish that TV shows didn’t disappear from our screens for such an extended period of time (sometimes as long as three weeks!). Most people working average, run-of-the-mill jobs would never get that long off work.

Lucky for me (and you!), there are a few shows returning, and new shows starting, tonight:

CBS has new shows starting at 8/7C, so ‘NCIS’ and ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ are both new.

NBC is also new starting at 8/7C, with a brand-new season of ‘The Biggest Loser’ starting off the night (for two hours!), followed by a new ‘Parenthood’.

ABC starts with ‘Last Man Standing’ at 8/7C, followed by the premieres of ‘Work It’ and ‘Celebrity Wife Swap’ (Gary Busey, anyone?).

FOX is only airing re-runs.

In a weird sort of twist, just because four networks are airing new shows tonight, do not expect all of your shows to be back on this week. I’m not sure what in the world most of the networks are thinking, but for the next two weeks some days they’ll have all new shows, some days they’ll have all re-runs, and some days they’ll do (what seems to me to be) a random mix.

Tomorrow (Jan 4^th) and Thursday (Jan 5^th) NBC and CBS are both once again airing reruns, and ABC will be the only channel airing all new shows.

Friday (Jan 6^th) NBC, CBS, and ABC will all air new shows again, but FOX will still be showing re-runs.

Monday, NBC and ABC will be new, but don’t expect anything from CBS or FOX.

Finally, starting next Tuesday (Jan 10^th), almost all of the networks (NBC, CBS, and ABC) except for FOX (why do you keep holding out on us?) will have new episodes.

After which, on those channels at least, your shows are most back. Oh, except for Wednesday (Jan 11^th), when CBS shows the ‘People’s Choice Awards’ instead of their normally scheduled programming.

Thursday, January 12^th is really the day to look forward to: FOX finally has shows on the air again, and ’30 Rock’ returns to NBC from its extended hiatus.

Happy New Year!

which shows have new episodes tonight?

Shows Premiering Tonight

Now that we've entered the intense premiere week, if you have even one favorite television show you're probably excited.

Unfortunately I missed out on the premiere of 'How I Met Your Mother' yesterday, mainly because I was being responsible and actually looking after the child I was babysitting.

But there are no babies tonight! And that means I'm gearing up for a slew of shows:

'Glee' premieres tonight on FOX at 8 pm

'New Girl' premieres on FOX at 9 pm

'Raising Hope' premieres on FOX at 9:30 pm

'The Biggest Loser' premieres on NBC at 8 pm 

The second episode of 'Ringer' is on the CW at 9 pm

'Body of Proof' premieres on ABC at 10 pm

'Unforgettable' premieres on CBS at 10 pm

The second episode of 'Parenthood' is on NBC at 10 pm

This line-up actually creates a lot of controversy for me...mainly because I'm not a huge fan of any of these shows, but I like most of them. My best guess is that I'll probably watch 'Glee' live (because Facebook will ruin it for me if I don't), watch the middle part of 'The Biggest Loser', and then switch back to FOX to watch 'Raising Hope'. I've already see the pilot episode of 'New Girl', and I don't have any desire to watch it again (even though I'll probably give episode 2 a chance next week).

The biggest problem for me is the 10 pm time slot. In all honesty, the best move would probably be to forgo everything and go to bed instead. But since we all know that's not going to happen what I'll actually watch is pretty iffy. Probably 'Unforgettable', since this is the pilot, and if any of those shows is going to be ruined for me via social media it will probably be that one.

Of course, I'm not going to lie, I'm bound to watch almost every show on that list. I just hope the networks hurry up and post them online as quickly as possible.

My New Obesssion: Craig Ferguson

Apparently I've been missing a lot by attempting to be a responsible adult, and going to bed by midnight.

Most noteably, I've been missing 'The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson' on CBS!

I'm sure most of you know exactly what I'm talking about, and that I was the only one out of the loop. In case I'm wrong about that, let me tell you a little bit about this genius show:

Craig Ferguson is a hysterical late night show host who's not afraid to say what he wants, including dropping sexual innuendo right and left. His show has originiality that other late night shows lack. After all, what other show has a robot sidekick, no standard interview questions, hand puppets, and repeated appearances by Kristen Bell?

Ferguson famously tears up index cards (which hosts normally use for prewritten interview questions) the moment his celebrity guests begin to sit down. He doesn't bother asking much about what projects they're working on (though he does give them a minute to plug), and more often then not he gets them to reveal actual parts of their personalities. One reason I find the show so appealing is because you can really tell which celebrities are scripted, and which are intelligent enough to spar verbally without a script.

Because the show is based so much on humorous interactions between Ferguson and his guests, he often invites the same celebrities on again and again. Lauren Graham has been on the show numerous times, as has Emily Deschanel and, perhaps most famously, Kristen Bell. Rather remarkably Bell has been a guest on the show 17 times! If you want an introduction to the success of Ferguson's interview technique I suggest you watch him interviewing one of these guests:



Lauren Graham appears on 'The Late Late Show' so late tonight it's actually tomorrow (12:30 am) on CBS.

bubbles shows that might just go

"Bubble Shows"
a phrase indicating that a show may or may not be canceled. generally referring to a show that is "on the fence" because a network has not yet agreed to renew it, and its ratings are dismal enough that they might choose to abandon it instead.

Obviously lots of people are writing about Bubble Shows right now. After all, it's almost the end of the season, and soon networks are going to be deciding which shows they are kicking off the air forever until some other network comes along and picks them up, à la "Damages", FX, and DirectTV.

There are a lot of shows that may never appear on your television set again after the end of this season: "Brothers & Sisters", "Detroit 1-8-7", "Off the Map", "No Ordinary Family", "V" I consider this canceled, "Chuck", "Perfect Couples", "Outsourced", "Lie to Me", "Nikita", "Body of Proof", "The Chicago Code", "Mr. Sunshine", and "Parenthood".

Of these shows I think that 2 (or possibly 4) should be saved, and here's why:

1. "Brothers & Sisters": yes, it is the most soap opera-ish, melodramatic show to air on television since "Desperate Housewives" (and yes, I know that's still on, but no one really watches it anymore. I mean, name one person...) but we need a little ridiculous drama in our lives. I have to admit that "Parenthood" is starting to veer into the territory of "Brothers & Sisters", but even "Parenthood's" new melodrama (family doesn't like the ex-alcoholic boyfriend, daughter might be pregnant, wife is really pregnant, son has aspergers, dad loses job, other child doesn't get into college, other daughter gets into DUI-induced accident, mother presents award winning play, family decides to adopt) can't replace the truly enjoyable insanity that makes up the Walker family. Then again, Calista Flockhart seems ready to leave (she has barely appeared in any episodes this season), and I'm not completely sure the show can function without her. Still, I want "Brothers & Sisters" to stay on the air...at least for one more season!

2. "Parenthood": I'm not quite ready to let this replace "Brothers & Sisters", and Lauren Graham has started to grate on my nerves, but need I remind you: family doesn't like the ex-alcoholic boyfriend, daughter might be pregnant, wife is really pregnant, son has aspergers, dad loses job, other child doesn't get into college, other daughter gets into DUI-induced accident, mother presents award winning play, family decides to adopt. They clearly need one more season just to wrap up those loose ends.

3. "Outsourced": I agree that this show dealt with a lot of racist undertones early on but I think hope those can be fixed. And I'd be sad to see Pippa Black go. Plus it can be really funny. You know, when it's not being racist. So...keep the series/hire some additional writers?

4. "Body of Proof": I actually think very little of this show, as evidenced by my earlier posts.
Still, I like to use it as background television when I'm doing other more important things (like checking email). And other people seem to like it. So it could get another chance. Or not. Honestly, I don't care much either way.

And what about those other shows? I can sum my feelings about those shows up very quickly:

1. "Detroit 1-8-7": Never heard about it, except when I read a line in EW that said it was "good". Never seen it. Don't even know what channel it's on.

2. "Off the Map": Watched 1.25 episodes. Shrugged. Switched the channel. If it was a little more "ER", and a little less least-appealing-parts-of-"Grey's" I might be more interested.

3. "No Ordinary Family": Superheroes or something? Not really my thing. Seems kind of corny. Maybe someone is watching it?

4. "Chuck": My mom likes this show. I have impartial feelings about it.

5. "Perfect Couples": Bad.

6. "Lie to Me": Wait. This is decent! Except I don't know what time it's on. I think it's on Fox? Maybe bump this up to things that should be saved. If their marketing improves.

7. "Nikita": Spies? Huh. Never seen it.

8. "The Chicago Code": I like crime shows & I like Jennifer Beals. But I already watch "Law and Order: SVU" and "Bones". I'm sure they're not at all like this show, but there's only so much crime I can take in a week.

9. "Mr. Sunshine": Allison Janey! Otherwise, I don't really care. Sorry, Matthew Perry.

What do you think? Am I totally wrong?