It’s become an annual tradition in my household each year; Every fall we sit down with the TiVo remote and clear off all of the old Seasons Passes to make room for the new ones. We discard all of the cancelled shows (Farewell, Veronica Mars Seasons Pass!) as well as the summer shows (See you next summer, Greek and Big Brother!) and add every single new series we think we might like. Why seasons-pass all of the shows before we’ve seen them? Well, it’s just easier that way. Then we can dump the ones we don’t like after we’ve seen all of the premieres.
I was thinking I’d dedicate this week’s column to the shows we decided to keep but since there are quite a few of those, I figure you can just check the “What to Watch” section at the bottom to see what I’m watching. Instead, here are the new shows that we’ve decided to drop from our TiVo To Do list:
Private Practice
I’m a big fan of Grey’s Anatomy and despite not really loving the back-door pilot that aired last spring, I thought I’d give this spin-off series a chance. I liked Addison for a while on Greys but towards the end of last season, she went from being this bitchy, beautiful, amazing surgeon to a flirty, insecure, woman-child who lost any ounce of direction she had. Then they gave her her own show and that’s pretty much what Private Practice is about except add a bunch of other flirty, insecure grown adults acting like teenagers and some patients with ridiculous medical problems. Private Practice Seasons Pass – DELETED.
The commercials for this new CBS sitcom made the show look amusing and as I had a little crush on Johnny Galecki when I was a kid, I figured I’d check it out. Big Bang is full of canned laughter. Lots of one-liner nerd jokes cut with a laugh track that stood out way too much (probably because I wasn’t laughing at the jokes nearly as much as the supposed audience was). Seasons Pass – DELETED.
Big Shots
Another ABC show about a bunch of wealthy people with problems. The story centers on a group of rich men who lean on each other for support when their lives start to crumble. With the exception of Michael Vartan’s character, I found myself seriously not-caring about any of the people in this show. Their lives are riddled with things like infidelity, a sexual encounter in a public men’s room with a drag queen, over-the-top career problems, etc. Sure, people love drama but there’s already so much on Thursday nights that I just don’t have the time to keep up with this show. DELETED.
Life
I’m not going to trash Life because to be honest, I thought it was a decent show and I can definitely see why people would like it. With so many cop-dramas out there, this one takes that tired story in a new direction with the main character’s fresh Zen outlook on life. But with Wednesday’s packed line-up, I had to make some cuts and Life just didn’t hold my interest enough.
As shows like Cavemen and Carpoolers were never on my Seasons Pass list, I didn’t have to worry about deleting either of those. In addition to adding a pile of new series to my TiVo line-up, I’ve also decided to add Friday Night Lights to the list. I can’t remember why but for whatever reason, I stopped watching this series last season but have decided to give it another chance. To see what other shows I’m currently watching, check out this week’s “What To Watch” list.
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Life is Wild (The CW) 8:00 pm
Pilot - (New Series!) Gather the family around the TV set because this new series is kid-friendly and chock full of animals (and family drama). This new drama series centers on a blended family that moves from New York to Africa to run a lodge.
Desperate Housewives (ABC) 9:00 pm
Smiles of a Summer Night - (New!) Bree steals a recipe (gotta love suburban drama), Susan gets mistaken for a stripper and Lynette kicks Tom out of her chemo sessions.
Chuck (NBC) 8:00 pm
Chuck Versus the Tango (New!) – Chuck goes on his first undercover mission and learns to tango. In his “real’ life, he goes for the assistant manager position. .
How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 8:00 pm
Third Wheel (New!) – Two girls are attracted to Ted. His friends urge him to him to take advantage of the situation.
Heroes (NBC) 9:00 pm
Kindred (season premiere!) – Suresh finds one of Isaacs old paintings that depicts the death of one of his friends. Ando returns to Japan and two of the heroes from last season return.
Journeyman (NBC) 10:00 pm
Game Three (New!) – Dan goes back 18 years in the past when a huge earthquake hit San Francisco. His wife learns that he’s been in touch with Livia.
Reaper (CW) 9:00 pm
All Mine (new!) – Last week it was lightening. This week, it’s bugs! Sam has to go after a woman who’s sending bugs after the women who get too close to her former lover.
House (Fox) 9:00 pm
97 Seconds(new!) – House continues to work with the team-hopefuls. He has them divide into two groups to try and diagnose a patient who faints while crossing the street in a wheelchair.
Pushing Daisies (ABC) 8:00 pm
Dummy (New!) – This might just be my favorite new series this fall! In the pilot episode we learned that Ned has the ability to re-awaken the dead. He uses his power to revive murder victims and find out who killed them. In this episode, Ned suspects that the death of an automotive expert was in fact, murder.
Kid Nation (CBS) 8:00 pm
Bless Us and Keep Us Safe (New!) – The town council tries to organize a religious service that will appease everyone.
Bionic Woman (NBC) 9:00 pm
Sisterhood (new!) – Jaime’s next mission is to protect a defense contractor’s daughter. She also has to decide if she wants to help Sarah deal with her rage.
Dirty Sexy Money (ABC) 10:00 pm
The Italian Banker (new!) – A blackmailer claims to have a sex tape featuring one of the Darlings. And speaking of sex, Jeremy is sleeping with Natalie (Juliet’s nemesis) and doesn’t want his sister to find out about it.
My Name Is Earl (NBC) 8:00 pm
The Frank Factor (New!) – Michael Rapaport guest stars as Frank, a prisoner who encounters Earl. He has something to do with how Earl and Joy first met. Oooh, maybe we’ll get some hilarious flashbacks!
30 Rock (NBC) 8:30 pm
Jack Gets In the Game (Season Premiere!) – Jack faces off against his archrival when he learns that the head of GE (played by Rip Torn) might be retiring, leaving opening up a very desirable job.
Ugly Betty (ABC) 8:00 pm
Betty’s Wait Problem (New!) – The Mode crew anxiously await the annual Black and White Ball. Wilhelmina tries to get her wedding plans going and Amanda prepares to tell everyone who her biological parents are. Freddy Rodriguez guest stars as a sandwich vendor.
The Office (NBC) 9:00 pm
Launch Party (New!) Michael heads to New York for the big Dunder Mifflin website launch party. Angela arranges a Scranton party while Dwight attemps to out-sell the new website.
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) 9:00 pm
Let the Truth Sting (New!) The interns are all impressed by George’s skill but they don’t realize he’s been left back a year. Meanwhile, Meredith helps Lexie with an emergency patient and Sloan and Weber perform a radical surgery.
Friday Night Lights(NBC) 9:00 p.m.
Bad Ideas (New!) Tami finds it difficult to mother a newborn without Eric around. The kids return to school and Smash enjoys an onslaught of positive attention from fans, scouts and coaches.
Moonlight (CBS) 9:00 p.m.
Dr. Feelgood (New!) Beth now knows what Mick is. In this episode she helps him track down a vampire that cant control his murderous urges.
Borat (HBO) 8:30 p.m.
This is one of those huge movies that I never got to see in theater (or bothered to rent on DVD). In this mockumentary, Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) plays a journalist from Kazakhstan who sets off to meet Americans and marry Pamela Anderson.
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