Watching Sitcoms

I have to talk about Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Anyone who was reading this blog or my other blog at watchingcw probably saw some stuff about the show last season. It came on in January of 2008 and had a short first season - only 9 episodes - because of the writer’s strike. I watched each and every one of those nine episodes, but I did it in a spirit of penance. I wanted to love the show, but I pretty much hated it. I wrote several blogs, probably one for each episode and I basically trashed it. I think there was maybe one scene out of all the eps that I actually said something good about.

Well, I’m taking it all back. I’m officially and publicly apologizing (more…)

In my Internet travels trying to find out when the sitcoms, new and old, are starting back up, I came across lists of other shows. You know, the stuff that’s not sitcoms and not stuff I necessarily watch, but I thought it might be interesting to some of you, so here’s what I found out.

I’ve arranged the list chronologically, with the date, the show, the network and time (all times are ET).

March
4 - New Amsterdam - FOX - 9:00 pm
The Real Housewives of New York City - Bravo - 11:00 pm
5 - Destination Truth - SCIFI - 10:00 pm
High School Reunion - TV Land - 10:00 pm
9 - Keeping Up with the Kardashians - E! - 10:00 pm
11 - Gene Simmons Family Jewels - A&E - 10:00 pm
12 - Hotel Babylon - BBC America - 9:00 PM
Top Chef - Bravo - 10 pm
South Park - Comedy Central - 10:00 pm
Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil - Comedy Central - 10:30 pm
17 - Dancing with the Stars - ABC - 9:00 pm (and Tues 3/18 at 9:00 pm)
America’s Prom Queen - ABC Family - 9:00 pm
The Bachelor - ABC - 9:30 pm (moves to 10 pm on March 24)
18 - The Riches - FX - 10:00 pm
24 - CSI: Miami - CBS - 10:00 pm
Greek - ABC Family - 10:00 pm
28 - Battlestar Galactica - SCIFI - 10:00 pm
30 - Cold Case - CBS - 9:00 pm
The Tudors - Showtime - 9:00 pm
Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union - Showtime - 10:00 pm

April
1 - Hell’s Kitchen - FOX - 9:00 pm
2 - Criminal Minds - CBS - 9:00 pm
CSI: NY - CBS - 10:00 pm
3 - CSI - CBS - 9:00 pm
Without a Trace - CBS - 10:00 pm
Step it Up & Dance - Bravo - 10:00 pm
4 - Ghost Whisperer - CBS - 8:00 pm
Numb3rs - CBS - 10:00 pm
8 - Boston Legal - ABC - 10:00 pm
NCIS - CBS - 10:00 pm
10 - ER - NBC - 10:00 pm
11 - Moonlight - CBS - 9:00 pm
13 - Desperate Housewives - ABC - 9:00 pm
14 - Bones - FOX - 8:00 pm
24 - Ugly Betty - ABC - 8:00 pm
Grey’s Anatomy - ABC - 9:00 pm
Lost - ABC - 10:00 pm (new time slot)
28 - House - FOX - 9:00 pm

So there you have it. Live, watch, enjoy!

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.

Hallelujah!!!! It looks like the writers strike is almost over. At least I keep reading that something can happen this week. Here’s a link to the Ausiello report with his take on what looks like the end of the strike. Is it possible? Can this really be happening? Its like perfect timing. I mean, the holidays are finally and really over, they are just throwing out their last couple of new eps that were on the stockpile, and now, voila, new eps. Well, not that soon, but probably within a few more weeks, things will be back to normal.

I understand that most of the shows that were new last season, won’t return until Fall, but some of them might. I guess it just depends on what eps they had in the hopper and at what stage they were in when everyone walked out of the party.

I just hope its true. And I hope that all the of the stuff I’ve been reading about fall out from the strike is just lawyer babble. I mean, if we all went through this, and then the writers still end up the with short end of the stick, I’m gonna be unhappy. I’m just saying.

It seems like everyone wants this all wrapped up before the Oscars. At least, according to this article. Personally, I never watch awards shows cause I just don’t care. But apparently, it’s a big enough deal that they hope to have it all worked out. And can I just say that if Michael Moore is starting the penny drive, as much as I want to support the writers, I’m not taking part. He’s completely and entirely creepy, I can’t stand him, and the mere thought that we might be on the same side over an issue makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.

I just hope its really over.

So yesterday, I was at jury duty. Yes, that’s right, I was fulfilling my civic duty by sitting around all day in uncomfortable chairs reading a book in the basement of our county hall with 600 strangers. (And it cost me like $20 when you consider gas for the car.) It was quite the experience. I doubt anyone would put me on a jury anyway. I have 20 years of legal experience and I know too much!

I’m sure there’s some show out there with a funny jury duty scene it, I just can’t, for the life of me, think of one.

I was thinking that it would make a good sitcom, like The Love Boat, but you know, Jury Duty. Wait a minute, what was that from? I can hear it now, someone trying to sell their new TV show ideas and every one is a takeoff of The Love Boat. I remember, it was on Moonlighting (back in season 1, I think). David was singing the theme song for each show, like, Parking Lot . . . . Parking Lot, exciting and new, blah, blah. I don’t remember it all, but it was funny.

Back to my new sitcom (clearly, I have to write, produce and star in my own if there are going to be any new sitcoms), I picture it like this: The Court Clerk and the Office Clerk are the series regulars, along with at least one judge and a couple of attorneys. Then each week you have different plaintiffs and defendants, and different jurors. Although, you should have some regulars, too, cause that would be funny. The same plaintiff several times, and a bunch of regulars who hang out in the jury room every day cause they have nothing else to do.

So, who’s with me? Do you want to write our own sitcom and see who picks it up? Of course, we’ll have to wait until the strike is over anyway, cause I’m not crossing any picket lines.

sitcoms, writers strike, The Love Boat, Moonlighting

So I was messing around online checking things out. You know. Doing my serious research to write this informative blog. Actually, it was research for my blog watchingcw.com. But, anyway, I’m not sure how I missed these before, but I guess I’ve been living in a ditch since Thanksgiving. Possibly longer.

I found these youtube videos (part 1 and part 2) of Mutant Enemy Day at the strike. Wow, I had absolutely no idea. I didn’t realize that hundreds of people would show up from all over the world to support the strike. If I had given it any thought, I guess I should have known that Joss’s fans would rally en masse to support him.

I’ve been sitting around bemoaning what a nuisance the strike is cause I’m missing my shows and cause I need stuff to write about in my blogs. I don’t know if I’ve ever actually voiced an opinion one way or another, but I am in support of the strike. I’m not generally a big supporter of unions, mostly because I think a lot of people use the union to gain stuff they probably don’t need. I’m not trying to judge, just voicing an opinion. When you read about the beginning of unions in this country, with the advent of the industrial age, you can see that these people were fighting for something that was necessary. They worked 12+ hour days for very low wages that they then were forced to spend entirely in the company’s store, so that they were continually in debt to the company they worked for and they could never get out from under it. Nowadays, it seems like unions are fighting for stuff like half hour breaks every hour or whatever. OK, that was a generalization, but hopefully you get my point.

If I correctly understand what the writers want, its really just what they are due for the work they’ve done.

So I’ll just end this blog by asking you to visit unitedhollywood.com and repeating Joss’s final words on the video, “You people are causing a disturbance. Thank you so much for causing it.”

(Just so you know, we are having a little problem with comments. If you comment and it doesn’t show up right away, not to worry. I’ll try to make sure they get approved as soon as possible.)

writers strike, Mutant Enemy, Joss Whedon

I hope everyone had a lovely, lovely New Year’s. Mine was quite nice.

We’ve finally got the new TV and DVD player with surround sound all hooked up. My poor husband made the mistake of telling me I could have the big TV to watch whatever I wanted all day, since he’s been laid off for 6 weeks and has been watching TV constantly. Then he remembered the big hockey game (Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh Penguins) and was pretty unhappy. I let him DVR it so he can watch it later in HD. We lost anyway, which was a foregone conclusion. Let’s see, it’s Buffalo, in a ground breaking game that everyone in the world is watching. Do we win it or do we lose? Well, naturally, we lose. We’re the big losers - wide right, no goal . . . whatever.

I’m getting really excited about American Idol. I know it’s crazy, but I’m thinking of having an AI party at my house every Tuesday night to watch the show in HD on the big screen with surround sound. Woo hoo!!! Sometimes wishes do come true. We’ve been talking about doing this for ages and now we have it. I want to enjoy it and appreciate it and not just act like all ho hum about it.

American Idol is one of my fav shows, so look here for my reviews each week. I’m not as happy about the first few weeks of shows where they just make fun of people (I’m very easily embarrassed) but I love the real competition. Except for Country week, since I don’t like Country music under any circumstances. At all. But other than that, I even like all the awkward unhelpful celebrity mentors. Its a lot of fun and I’ve been blogging about it for years now. I look forward to sharing all that here as well.

Plus, it will give me something to talk about as this strike continues . . .

American Idol, NHL, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, country music, writers strike

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

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’ve been trying to keep up with what’s happening with the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) Strike. It’s only been a week, and already some sitcoms (just after the late night talk shows) are feeling the impact, which is sad.

One affected adversely is The Office, as Steve Carell is also a writer for the show. It makes me think I should go get the DVDs and start watching it. I know I’m weird. The show is off and now I wanna watch it.

I’m particularly unhappy about The Big Bang Theory, which I am really enjoying so much. I hadn’t realized that sitcoms were missing from my life until I started to watch it this year and now . . . I’m losing it so soon. Other stopped sitcoms include Back To You, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Rules of Engagement, Two and a Half Men and ‘Til Death. So what if I never watched them. Someone did, I’m sure of it.

Desperate Housewives is done and the premiere of 24 has been postponed. I believe I read somewhere that Lost was good, as all the eps had been written, which makes me a bit more happy knowing I have that to look forward to. Although some actors won’t cross the picket lines to shoot, so who knows.

The only up side I can see is that many shows go on a hiatus over the holidays for other programming anyway, so maybe we’ll all be too busy roasting turkey and making cookies to realize what’s gone until January. A girl can hope.

Writers Guild of America Strike, The Office, Back To You, Big Bang Theory, 24, Desperate Housewives, Lost

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that striking is a bad thing. I mean, just think about the word “strike.” It sounds violent. Doesn’t it? Really?

Think about meanings of the word “strike.” To hit, to strike a match (which causes fire, which can cause pain), to strike a tent (which is to take apart, also something that can be painful), to strike out, to be struck with an illness (or smote by God!!), to strike fear into the heart of someone, to have a stroke. There’s a lot of them, go check it out at Dictionary.com. (Some were good things, like to strike it rich or to strike gold, but that goes contrary to what I’m saying here, so I’ll ignore them.)

I do understand what the writers are doing. They really should get residuals for what they’ve done. I keep trying to think it through. They did the original work and it was their ideas that caused the success, so they should benefit at least as much as the studios. However, the studios put up all the original money and take the hit if something doesn’t go well. Whereas the writers get paid for their initial work even if something isn’t a success. Or am I wrong?

Anyway, one thing unions on strike never seem to take into consideration is all the little people who are effected by their actions. If shows stop production for weeks or even months, what about all the people who work on them that are neither actors, nor writers, producers or studio people. You know, the people who bring the food or dress the sets or clean the bathrooms? Those people are now also out of work, possibly for good, and what about the money they used to spend on stuff that they no longer have to spend, like at restaurants and the movies, etc. See how many people and businesses it can hurt?

On the other hand, I’m not sure I see what else they can do to make their point and be heard.

So many shows just don’t have enough in the pipeline to keep going for too long. Here’a great blog with a link to how specific shows might be effected. I just hope they pull it together soon, cause striking isn’t too interesting to blog about.

writers strike