Watching Sitcoms

So I bit. Pun intended. I saw the trailers for the new HBO show True Blood and, being a vampire fan, I decided to watch. I’m still not exactly sure what I think.

Afterwards, I saw one review - I think it was TV Guide - that called it “sexy and scary.” That I completely disagree with, at least for the ep I saw. There was nothing scary about it at all. As for sexy, I guess it depends on your definition of the word. While there was some sexy, there was also lots of sex, which is not necessarily sexy in and of itself. Actually, it was more like porn, or what I imagine porn must be like, random naked strangers banging away at each other. For me that was more uncomfortable than sexy, although I guess others may disagree. I just happen to think that showing everything takes away the sexy part of sex. I’d rather have some things left to my imagination, thank you.

Another thing I didn’t like was how the characters looked. I know that sounds strange, but here’s what I mean. Anna Paquin, who plays Sookie, is an adorable actress, but somehow, they made her look not so cute. But not just her, it was everyone, they all looked too real, as though their makeup was highlighting their flaws rather than their good points. Maybe that’s just me  being picky, but it bothered me.
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As this season is drawing to a close once again (didn’t this just happen a few weeks ago? No, wait, that was a strike) and most of the shows I watch are going into hibernation for the summer, I did a little sleuthing to see what was what. So here’s a really, really, really (and I mean, really) comprehensive list of all the shows on TV right now, what’s coming soon, and what’s never coming back, from the Futon Critic. I’m amazed at this list. It must have taken forever to put that together and I’m glad all I have to do it link to it.

Anyway, I’m pretty disappointed about a couple of things. First of all Moonlight. They promised me it would be back. Well, maybe not promised, maybe I just assumed it would be back. But it was cancelled. Also, Fox kept Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and cancelled New Amsterdam. It’s like no one even listens to me when I talk.

As for sitcoms, Back To You was cancelled, which is no surprise to me. It had been going downhill ever since it came back after the strike. Also cancelled, and no surprise, were Miss/Guided, Welcome to the Captain, Cavemen, Carpoolers, The Return of Jezebel James and Unhitched. I kinda liked Miss/Guided.

Of all those new sitcoms that came out way back last Fall, we did get to keep my fave, The Big Bang Theory. The last few weeks have seen me laughing out loud, not something I do often, and I’m looking forward to the show coming back even funnier next Fall.

So you’ll want to to check out the list to see if your fave shows are returning or if they are going the way of Moonlight. *sigh*

Now that the absolute end of the strike is in sight (yay!!!), here’s some news about when shows are gonna be back on the air. I love Michael Ausiello, don’t you? He always has all the answers.

So I checked out his list for all the shows I’m watching, and I was interested to see that some shows still have pre-strike episodes that haven’t aired yet. Somehow, I thought everything that was out there had already aired, with the exception of those few shows that are presently airing new eps, like Lost, Smallville, Supernatural and whatever else there is . . . they know who they are. For instance, I didn’t realize that there are still eps of Back To You and Bones that haven’t aired. So that’s fun. Hopefully, those will air before Spring.

It was sad to see that both Chuck and Moonlight are not going to be back until Fall. I love those shows. Along with Big Bang Theory, they were my favorite new shows of the past season. At least Big Bang will be back by April or May. I guess it gives me something I can look forward to. I have some questions about those shows, though. When will the first season DVDs come out? And when they do, will it be just these few episodes? I mean, they won’t hold off on putting out the DVDs until after new episodes air next Fall, will they?

Well, the exciting news is some of the shows we’ve come to know and love will be back soon. And right now I’m busy pretty much every night of the week watching American Idol anyway.

Finally, new episodes of Moonlight are back (we’ve had none since November) and I was so excited to watch TV on Friday night. Probably just because it was something new, something that I hadn’t already watched like twelve times before, and it wasn’t reality TV.

Also, it was the first ep of Moonlight I got to watch on the big screen TV and it was in HD. So amazing. They do this little segue (much like what was done on Angel) where they start with a blurry image and then sorta zig zag back and forth and into LA, showing all the lights and colors, all crystal clear and very cool in HD.

Oh, and the story was good, too. If you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want to be SPOILED, don’t read any further. (And don’t forget, if you haven’t seen it and you want to, you can watch full eps on the site.)

The ep itself was pretty bloody and poor Josh dies. But it was fast-paced and interesting. I did think, for minute, when Mick was standing over the dying Josh, with his hands all covered in blood, that he was gonna vamp out or take a little nip. Or at least lick his fingers. (Can I just say “ewwwwww?”) It was in that moment that I realized that Mick is much more human than the vampires I’m used to seeing. He’s not Angel or Spike. Not that Angel would lick his fingers, but they would have shown his weakness, call it lust, around all that blood. They did show Mick having an issue with being in the sun for so long, but just briefly. The real story was his refusal to turn Josh, even though Beth begged him to do it. He didn’t really even try to justify himself. Not really. He did a bit later, but not at that moment. Which I think makes him less monster and more man than either Angel or Spike. They would have whined more.

I did find myself wondering how they would explain it if Mick had turned Josh. I mean, what would that have told the cops?

I loved that Mick dealt with the bad guy on his own without letting the cops get involved. That was cool. But I do wonder, what did he tell Carl later? I mean, they’ve got to think that either the bad guy lied to him or that he lied to them. So will they trust him next time? Just me thinking too much.

Moonlight

Alright, I’m tired of this now. I just want my shows to come back on so I can watch them. The strike has gone on too long to be interesting anymore. And what’s more, I was trying to think about it, and I can’t even remember everything I was watching. Honestly. I’ll have to go look it all up just to make sure I don’t miss any of the shows when they do come back on. If ever.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve found out so far (all times are ET):

Tuesday, January 1
10 pm - Law and Order SVU - NBC

Tuesday, January 8
9:30 pm - Carpoolers - ABC

Friday, January 11
9 pm - Moonlight - CBS
9 pm - Monk - USA
10 pm - Psych - USA

Sunday, January 13
8 pm - Sarah Connor Chronicles - Fox

Tuesday, January 15
8 pm - American Idol - Fox

Saturday, January 26
Torchwood - BBC America

Wednesday, January 30
9 pm - Lost - ABC (I also saw somewhere that it wouldn’t start until Feb. Although, Jan 30 is pretty close to February, isn’t it?)

Friday, February 22
8 pm - Bones - Fox

I understand that The Big Bang Theory won’t be back until next season, since they have aired all the shows they had that were shot and they don’t have any new eps written, nor will they have until the strike ends. *sigh* I believe January 11 is also the last ep they have for Moonlight until next year as well.

I couldn’t find out anything about House, Supernatural, Reaper or Back To You.

So if anyone has any info I’m missing, please share.

Christmas has been keeping me really busy. I’m sorry I haven’t updated in a bit. In any case, I decided it was a good time to take a look into news on the strike - although, honestly, I’d rather not know.

One thing I uncovered that was kinda cute is this blog with the text of a letter from the writers of How I Met Your Mother. Clearly, they are just as unhappy as the rest of us.

Further investigation uncovered some exciting news for me. Apparently, on December 4, 2007, while I was shopping or baking or something, Les Moonves, President of CBS, announced that both The Big Bang Theory and Moonlight, possibly my two favorite new shows, will be renewed for a second season! Of course, that’s provided that the writers strike does eventually end and they can go on with the present season. I’m pretty happy, though, cause I really was worried. Not so much for Big Bang, cause that seemed like everyone liked it right away, but definitely for Moonlight, which definitely has a much smaller target demographic.

One of my other very fav new shows is Chuck, which was picked up for the rest of this season. (You know, the one that’s not really happening right now?) So that was more good news.

Checking out the other couple of sitcoms I’ve been watching, Back To You will be back to us in late March and finish out the season. There’s been no word on a second season. As for Carpoolers, it was greenlit for 13 eps and 6 aired. But there’s no word on whether or not we’ll ever seen any of the remaining 7 episodes. Or any others for that matter.

Well, at least I’ve still got my DVDs. (Except my DVD player has been starting to skip . . . but Christmas is coming, so you never know.)

How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Moonlight, Chuck, Carpoolers

Last week was kind of sad, with lots of reruns. I was pretty busy, so it wasn’t terrible, but still, I could have been happier. So I did a little research to check out the shows I’m watching and to see what’s happening over the next couple of weeks. Here’s what I found out:

For Mondays, NBC’s Chuck has new eps for at least the next two weeks. Yay!! And as I mentioned before, The Big Bang Theory on CBS is done for now. Sigh. Samantha Who is still on going with new eps at ABC, probably cause it started so much later, but I don’t care anymore. I didn’t even bother to watch last week.

On Tuesday, Bones and House (Fox), Reaper (the CW) and Law and Order: SVU (NBC) are all new eps this week; but only Reaper and SVU get new eps next week. So that’s both good and bad.
Carpoolers has fallen right of ABC’s schedule. It’s being replaced this week by Charlie Brown Christmas and next week by America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Back to You, Fox on Wednesday, is already into repeats, as we know. But I actually watched it again last week anyway, which even surprised me. America’s Next Top Model is, obviously, still showing new eps. But they’re down to the last few weeks as well.

On Thursday, both Smallville and Supernatural on the CW are repeats for the next two weeks. Boo!

And for Friday, my new fav, Moonlight isn’t even on, not even for repeats over the next two weeks. Other programming is just taking over the CBS Friday night lineup entirely.

Just for fun, here’s an Ausiello report of the 20 things He’s Thankful for this year. It’s worth it, just for the link to the Veronica Mars trailer, so check it out.

Chuck, The Big Bang Theory, Samantha Who, Bones, House, Reaper, Law and Order: SVU, Back To You, Smallville, Supernatural, Moonlight, Ausiello Report

Moonlight had me on the edge of my seat last night. Very creepy. I was looking forward to it all week and it didn’t disappoint. I would like to have seen a little more interaction between Mick and Beth, but still and all, it was a good ep. I couldn’t believe that the ep was over when it was, it just seemed to fly by and I wanted more. Totally a good sign.

I was so on edge from it, I was actually a little afraid to let the dogs out afterwards. Its not like I thought a vampire cult leader serial killer was gonna be in my back yard or anything. Not really. Or at least probably not. It was even worse cause my neighbor, who lives across the street, kitty-corner to my back yard, and usually has these big, bright lights on in his front yard that keep the night from being too dark, didn’t have his lights on. For the first time ever. So the night was super dark. Especially so, since between us is an empty overgrown lot that tends to be a hangout for lots of wild animals. Usually little things like mice, squirrels, chipmunks and stray cats, but also skunks and the occasional fox. We also get a ton of deer in our yard at night. So I never know what will be out there when I open the door.

Plus, for some reason that particular doorway out to the dogs area seems to attract a certain breed of large black hairy spiders. Although, its generally only in the Spring. But you never know. And I totally believe in spiders way more than I believe in vampires. I think I may be even more scared of spiders actually. Once, I opened the back door and one of the spiders fell and hit my hand. I twitched for days. And I’ve been known to not open that door for weeks at a time, until I’m sure that the spiders have all moved on.

Of course, there were no vampires out there, or spiders, or, actually, anything but the dogs. This time.

I just hope there are more people like me out there that feel the same way as I do. About Moonlight, not spiders. I am getting a little panicky over how the writers strike is going to effect the show. There are still a couple more eps in the pipeline, I believe, but then what? Obviously, no one is going to be ordering more eps if there are no writers. So will it just fade away? By the time the strike is over, will anyone care about this show and want to see that more eps are written and shot??

Moonlight, Alex O’Loughlin, spiders, vampires, cults, serial killers

All is not lost. I might have been panicking too soon. Here’s today’s Ausiello Report. It has a pretty complete list (which is what I was looking for yesterday, actually, but couldn’t find anywhere) of how many episodes different shows still have in the pipe line. It appears that many shows still have anywhere from 4 to 8 more eps to air, which, by my count puts us to at least the end of the year. I mean, Christmas is only 6 weeks away. Not even, actually, as six weeks from today is December 26 and that’s the day after. Plus, as I already mentioned, many shows go on hiatus during the holidays anyway.

Of the shows I care about: Back To You has 3 more eps to air; Reaper has 2 to 4; Supernatural 4 to 6; Bones, Chuck and House each have 5; SVU has 7; Carpoolers, Samantha Who and Lost have 8. I don’t see anything here about Big Bang Theory or Moonlight, but I would imagine they are at around the same, maybe 4 more. Which, if you don’t count next week (cause its a holiday week and the networks will probably be showing stuff like Charlie Brown Christmas instead) means that most of the shows I like will be airing through at least mid-December and beyond. I’m actually OK with that. I get much busier as it gets closer to Christmas anyway and then I have all these tapes of shows I don’t have time to watch.

Also, I’ll probably get some full-season DVD sets for Christmas (they are on my list and Santa loves me cause I’m such a good girl) so I’ll probably be busy for a few weeks just with those. Actually, this whole thing isn’t really upsetting me as much as I thought it would. I’ll still try to keep you all updated though, cause I have to have something to blog about.

Ausiello Report, Writers Strike, Back To You, Reaper, Supernatural, Bones, Chuck, House, Law and Order:SVU, Carpoolers, Samantha Who, Lost, The Big Bang Theory, Moonlight

I know this show isn’t a sitcom, but I have to talk about this somewhere. Moonlight. It’s becoming the show I think about too much. It still has some things I don’t care for, like the dialogue is nowhere near as crisp as I’d like it to be, but still. There’s just something about thet show that makes me want more.

I knew for sure that I had a problem last Friday night. We had some company over for dinner, but even so I felt compelled to run upstairs a couple of times during the hour just to make sure it was taping. I even turned it on briefly, cause I just had to see it for a minute. Just a moment to make sure it was really on and was really being taped.

Then after everyone had left and I had cleaned up, even though it was well after midnight and even though I knew we had to get up really early on Saturday, I came extremely close to turning it on and watching it. The thought of my husband’s incredible annoyance if I were to do so is what stopped me. But only just.

As soon as I possibly could, I watched it. Then, almost immediately, I watched it again. Its like a sickness. I’m not sure why I get so obsessed about shows like this. I haven’t been this obsessed with a show in a while, though. I was almost this way about Supernatural, but then not.

By the way, I am trying to keep this obsession to myself for now, so don’t tell anyone, OK?

Moonlight, Alex O’Loughlin, Sophia Myles, obsession