Mid-October TV roundup

Ok, every show I wanted to watch, with the exception of Ugly Betty, has now premiered, so I thought I'd give you a summary of my thoughts. I'll go by night because it seems to work best that way.

Monday

Heroes-- This show is getting better and better and is actually fun to watch again. Too bad that I may be the only person still watching it!

Castle-- I love this show! Great mysteries and Moonlighting-like chemistry between the leads. What more could I ask for?



Tuesday

The Forgotten-- I know I'm not supposed to like this show, but something about it continues to appeal to me. It may be as simple as the Chicago locations and the fact that I still have a soft spot for that city. All I know is that I keep watching it every week!

The Good Wife-- This show is understated and shows more of the courtroom side of things than most mysteries these days. It kind of reminds me of Matlock. I think that my father would like it very much. I am not crazy about it, but it's well-done enough that I keep watching it for now.



Wednesday

Mercy-- I like this show. It reminds me of Grey's Anatomy in its first season, before it became entirely about sex and improbable diseases. The nurses' work and personal lives are well-balanced, and I like that their lives aren't totally intertwined. And James Tupper isn't quite as annoying as he was at first.

Glee-- This show continues to surprise me. But I really, really, really don't want the guidance counselor to marry the coach. I guess such a situation strikes too close to home to funny to me, even in satire.

Hank-- People seem to be beating up on this show for being an old-school sitcom, but there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself. I'm going to give it some rope to see if it finds its footing or not.

The Middle-- I don't want to like this show, but yet I keep watching it. I don't usually like this kind of sarcastic family comedy, but it is very well done.

Modern Family-- Now here we go! This show has the right balance of elements of the first two-- a hard and sardonic exterior shell, but with a sweet gooey center.

Eastwick-- I like this show more than I expected to. It's nice, escapist fun, and sometimes that's all you want.



Thursday

Vampire Diaries-- I think a part of me is still stuck back in high school and always will be. Maybe I'm like the vampire in this show, stuck in my teen years forever! At any rate, I do like this show, for the teen element more than the vampire element.

Fringe-- This show is finally hitting its stride! I love the risks they have taken, such as making Olivia walk around with a quad cane for several episodes. Heroes in these kind of action shows always heal impossibly quickly, and heroines hardly ever even get injured, so it's been wonderful to see them make her so human. Olivia Dunham is a real person, not some sex symbol, and it makes me sad that such a large part of the criticism of this show is that she's not "womanly" enough. What do you think a real-life FBI agent is like? And Dana Scully wasn't exactly all pink flounces and giggles either, you know. Another example of how much our culture has changed in the past 20 years.

FlashForward-- To be honest, I was about ready to give up on this show, but this week pulled me in again. Still, there's something about it that's not quite right, and the main reason I keep watching is in the hopes that one day we'll find out what happened.

Community-- Now that they've moved this show to 8 pm, it's in competition with both FlashForward and The Vampire Diaries for my attention. Since I've decided to stick with FlashForward for now, that means Community has to fall out of my line-up. I'm not sure if I'll watch it online or not. Somehow, I think I can live without it.

Parks and Recreation-- See above.

The Mentalist-- This show is as good as ever. Like The Good Wife, I watch it mainly because of the high production values.



Friday

Dollhouse-- This show reset more after the events of the season finale than I would have expected. I do like having Agent Ballard in the Dollhouse now. Since he's so drawn to Echo, it makes sense for him to be her handler. I'm just sad that we've seen so little of Victor and Sierra so far.



Sunday

Three Rivers-- Only one episode in, it's hard to make too many judgments about this show. Honestly, it struck me to be about on a par with Mercy. Do I really want to watch two hospital shows each week? If not, which one will win? Only time will tell!

Brothers and Sisters-- The first episode of the season left me concerned that they've run out of plot. They've found some sort of path since then, but I'm still not exactly sure how much more story this show has. It seems like they've already taken the characters everywhere they need to go.