J: Week 6 (How I Took a Really Long Time to Meet Your Mother)

For various reasons, my TV-watching schedule has gotten increasingly spare over the past couple of years. I no longer have a problem dropping shows as soon as I lose interest -- even those that I was at one time completely engrossed in (I'm sad to say that I think I've pretty much given up on The Vampire Diaries) -- but for some reason I have not yet given up on How I Met Your Mother.

This topic has been pretty much been beaten to death, but it's pretty ridiculous how long they have been stretching this show out. Back in 2010, Mira wrote this post complaining that it had been five years without meeting the mother. Little did we know that it was actually going to take NINE years!

Thankfully, next season has been confirmed to be the last. But honestly, I'm almost setting myself up for disappointment. With so long of a buildup, there's going to be really a lot of pressure to cast the right actress with the right chemistry. I'm assuming that the writers already have to know this character, but they're going to have to be careful translating her to the screen. But part of me is still hoping that they'll reveal the mother at the end of this season and take next season to develop their relationship. I mean, Ted Mosby is definitely not the most interesting character on the show, but this is the point of the series! We've gotten to see so much of the Marshall/Lily and Robin/Barney relationships that I feel like even just one season of Ted and the Mother would be kind of unfair.

Last week's episode did tell the story of the last woman Ted dated before the Mother though, so there's hope? Maybe?

Anyway, the real question is, why have I stuck with this so long? Part of it is definitely that it's a half hour sitcom and a pretty small time commitment. I guess the other is that I do still like these characters. It's pretty impressive that the show has kept the core five this whole time (especially Neil Patrick Harris whose career has just blown up over the course of the series) and I have definitely enjoyed seeing Lily and Marshall go from dating to engaged to married to parents. That at least feels realistic. Barney will probably never not be funny, and actually I feel like Robin is the least annoying now that she and Barney are basically settled. The innovative storytelling that used to be a trademark of the show isn't so much there anymore, and there are a lot of episodes that are just plain stupid, but the tone of the show and characters have been pretty much been consistent over the years. There are some people who have all along claimed that they don't care about meeting the Mother and just enjoy the show for what it is so I guess I do kind of understand what they're saying.

But really, as Mira said like 3 years ago, C'MON, I WANT TO MEET THE FRIGGIN' MOTHER!

Mira: what i'm watching this fall -- mondays

Given the amount of TV I watch and all the new shows R and I want to watch, I had to make a spreadsheet to chart it all.  Haha, I'm still not quite sure logistically how I'm going to watch everything I want to watch this fall since my DVR can only handle two shows simultaneously... but in any case, here are the Monday night shows, old and new, that I am hoping to watch and enjoy this year!

How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 8:00-8:30PM): I cannot believe I am still watching this show. Or that we have not met the mother yet. In truth, this sort of fell off my TV watching schedule last season and I'm not sure if I am fully caught up.  Fortunately for HIMYM, the cast keeps the show funny and interesting enough that I enjoy most, if not all, of the episodes.  That's enough to keep me going back for more, but the story line better pick up its pace! 

Terra Nova* (Fox, 8:00-9:00PM): This show is actually on R's TV schedule but there's enough hype to get me to watch at least one episode. I'm not sure that I'm fully sold on watching a dinosaur show, which is how I interpret it (kind of the reason I am not that interested in watching the movie, Tree of Life, cuz there are dinosaurs in it??), but I'll try to keep an open mind... But I can't help but think it'll end up like all those other weird shows such as V and The Event...    

The Sing Off (NBC, 8:00-10:00PM): I love, love, love this show! I'm looking forward to what types of groups come together on the show this year and what songs they will put together. The talent and range of acappella is so wide, so I hope to be nothing short of impressed! I am looking forward to Sara Bareilles as the third judge, replacing Nicole S. from The Pussycat Dolls.  

Two Broke Girls* (CBS, 8:30-9:00PM): Definitely not interested in watching Whitney's other show, Whitney, but this one looks like it has potential to be fun.  I've got to say though, a sitcom has to be pretty darn awesome to keep me watching it, so the chances of me sticking to this show are slim. I do really like Kat Dennings (Raise Your Voice, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist), though. 

Hart of Dixie* (The CW, 9:00-10:00PM): Medical drama meets Sweet Home Alabama PLUS Rachel Bilson? I'm there! Only thing working against this show is that Scott Porter is supposed to play the love interest and I find him super annoying from his Friday Night Lights days. It's touted as being Everwood-esque, which isn't so bad. And it'll be fun to watch a southern-based primetime drama/soap; I'm still a little nostalgic for Savannah. 

Hawaii Five-0 (CBS, 10:00-11:00PM): This show was a surprise favorite of R and mine last year, kind of how The Good Wife snuck up on us the year before.  In any case, love the show, love the cast, and am looking forward to the second season!  Plus, need some resolution to the cliffhangers in the finale: McGarrett framed for the governor's murder, Kono arrested for stealing money, Chin Ho back on the police force, and Dan-o leaving for NJ... 

* New show. 

fall 2010

My life has been especially nutso this semester with school and work and, well, trying to keep my DVR percentage low enough to record all the shows in the coming week (it's a hard life!), so blogging has been difficult... But here's a quick little run down of my opinions on Fall TV thus far:

Shows I've already dropped:
- $#*! My Dad Says -- The comedic pauses are just awkward and annoying. Shatner is not the most annoying actor on the show, which already speaks volumes in my mind. One last thing, the show had one funny line and it was not shit said by the dad. Shatner is at the DMV taking the eye exam and is asked to read the large E at the top of the chart. Shatner: "I've never been rear-ended by a large letter E." DMV employee: "You've never driven on Sesame Street."
- Running Wilde -- I love Keri Russell but even she can't keep this show on my priority watch list.
- 90210 (though I dropped it halfway through last season) -- I know I already dropped this, but seeing the stuff going on and reading the spoilers on what is to come... Good riddance!
- Life Unexpected -- Jenn's entry sums it up perfectly. Forced dramatic story lines are just too much! Though it cracks me up that a Melrose Place (new, not old) reject has landed over here.

Shows I'm already committed to:
- Nikita -- Somehow this show became an immediate watch show for me, but I really like the complexity of each character and the fact that they all contribute layers of depth to the show.
- Hellcats -- I like peppy tv shows.
- Grey's Anatomy -- I forgot about the season ending with the shooting spree and the new season dealing with aftermath of that has been built up brilliant so far.
- Private Practice -- I still like the characters on the show enough to keep watching it, though the storylines aren't captivating.
- Parenthood -- This show just keeps getting better for me. The best family drama.

Shows I meant to watch but forgot about:
- Better With You -- Like Jenn, I really like Joanna Garcia.

Shows still sitting on my DVR:
- Lone Star
- The Event
- Hawaii Five-O
- Undercovers
- The Whole Truth
- My Generation
- Chuck

Shows I'm still looking forward to:
- No Ordinary Family -- But the stupid show is on at the same time as Glee and NCIS! Sigh, so this may end up going the route of Modern Family, where I mean to catch up online but forget to. Hopefully not!
- Glee, Episode 2 (cuz Episode 1 was a bit disappointing) -- Cannot wait for Brittany (my favorite character!) and BRITNEY (Spears)!
- The Good Wife
- Friday Night Lights, the final season! :(

On the cusp:
- Outlaw
- How I Met Your Mother -- We better meet the stupid mother this season. And that wedding in the season premier better be Barney and Robin's wedding.
- Gossip Girl

BTW, an awful lot of weddings in the season premier this year -- Grey's Anatomy had one, Private Practice had one, HIMYM had one!

M: how much more how i met your mother?!

I feel like this is said about How I Met Your Mother at the end of every season, but seriously, when are we going to meet this mother?!?! How much longer can this show possibly continue on without the mother becoming a part of the story? It's now FIVE seasons, FIVE years without meeting the mother. At this point we know she has a bright-colored umbrella, likes the same music as Ted, plays the bass guitar, has a really hot roommate (Rachel Bilson) and I think we saw her toes in one episode.

FIVE years.

Next season will be year 6. Ted's love life pre-mother is just getting boring and played out. Robin and Barney, Robin and Ted, Robin and anyone -- played out. Barney as a man whore, Barney pining over Robin -- played out. Lily and Marshall being cute -- well, that can continue. But even that will get old at some point. And perhaps Lily will spend part of next season preggerz, but that's only 2 out of 5 of the main characters having a storyline that goes somewhere, while the 6th (title) character hasn't even shown up! If they don't hurry and start moving this show and its storyline forward, I really do think I'm going to have to call it quits. :( And I really don't want to call it quits!

SO C'MON, I WANT TO MEET THE FRIGGIN' MOTHER!

Monday Madness

Shows I watch that air on Mondays:
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Chuck (NBC)
Gossip Girl (CW, currently on hiatus)
Life Unexpected (CW)
Make it or Break it (ABC Family)
Greek (ABC Family)
Castle (ABC)
Damages (FX)

Shows I watch that air on Tuesdays:
None

What the heck??

fall 2009 - initial thoughts

My DVR is still full of shows that I need to catch up on (both from last season and this season) but because it was getting so full, there were many shows I had to catch up on to open up space for more recording... :) In any case, I had a few initial reactions to shows, old and new, that I've been following this season.

Old:
-- 90210: So very angsty! I think it's because Darcy... or whatever her name is, Annie?, is so very angsty this season and she was all sunshine and optimism last season. I'm not sure I like it, but I do like the strong bond forged between Naomi-Adrianna-Silver. Actually I've gotta say that as a whole I kind of hate it, but there's something about high-school angst tv shows that draws me in... Oy.
-- So You Think You Can Dance: Having to watch audition episodes week after week after week is kinda getting sucky. Plus, it's so weird to have a new season of it SO SOON. Especially since last season, while it had its moments, for the most part it was underwhelming. But, I'm glad to see that there are breakers and well, non-contemporary and non-ballroom dancers auditioning! Plus I'm still waiting for Natalie to come back!!
-- How I Met Your Mother: This show is so reliably fun. I really do hope we finally get to meet the damn mother this season. I'm not sure how many more seasons of NOT meeting the mother I can go through. But I do love Barney. And it'll be interesting to see how Barney-Robin develop, but I really hope that doesn't become the focus of the show.
-- Greek: I caught up with all the old episodes right before this season started. SO much fun. This is my happy show of the moment.

New:
-- Melrose Place: Not really sure why, but I'm enjoying this show. Maybe it's just that I never get to watch soap operas anymore and this show is the perfect night-time soap opera: psychotic characters, tons of secrets, murder, betrayal, and good-looking people. Plus the character that's the most fascinating to me is Ella, who I sort of see as a new generation Heather Locklear. BTW, I didn't actually watch the original MP when it aired back in the day, though I've caught a few episodes of it here and there on Soapnet in the past few years.
-- Glee: I was expecting this to be my happy show of the moment, but no, it's definitely a lot darker than a happy show can be. I love the musical numbers and truthfully, I watch just in anticipation of those. I like the main teacher-guidance counselor romance undercurrent, hate the psycho wife, love the psycho cheerleader coach, and am very amused by the awkward football coach. I could care less about the kids, but the gay kid is the most interesting by far.
-- The Beautiful Life: This show has already gotten canned, thank goodness! Well, it's mostly a thank goodness because if it didn't get canceled, I would probably continue to watch it. So, I really am glad that the network is taking this off of my insane list of tv shows I watch. :)
-- Community: I had high hopes for this show but so far it's been amusing at spots, still has good potential, but hasn't really delivered. We'll see.
-- Accidentally on Purpose: One episode was enough, I do believe I have the willpower to stop watching this show.
-- Eastwick: Uh, I might continue to watch this, but mostly because it kinda satisfies the part of me that was sad to lose Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle (and yes, I may be the only person in the world that was sad to lose those shows).

Still waiting to be watched on the DVR:
-- Grey's Anatomy
-- Gossip Girl
-- Heroes
-- House
-- The Good Wife
-- Cougar Town
-- Modern Family -- have high hopes for this one!!
-- Flash Forward

How I Met Your Mother...eventually

So I guess it's official: Stella's not the mother.

I can't say I'm that surprised...I thought this season was definitely being written to point towards her not being the one. I mean, I'm not sure if it was intentional, or more just a result of Sarah Chalke's availability, but her absence in a lot of the episodes felt significant. Yeah, she had a child and lived in New Jersey, but I imagine Ted's eventual wife to be more someone who fits in with his gang and hangs out with them at MacLaren's. While I really liked Sarah Chalke and thought Ted and Stella were good together in a way, it just didn't feel completely right.

What I was surprised at though, was how it ended. I mean, I figured they wouldn't actually end up getting married randomly in the middle of the season, but I never expected that Stella would be the one to realize she was still in love with her ex and all but leave Ted at the altar. I did kind of love Robin's speech to Ted though...it was what should have gone in her intervention letter. And while not all of it was true (I don't see why Ted gaining a stepdaughter and moving to New Jersey would be "not him"), he was definitely rushing into it all. I don't think it necessarily meant that Robin was still in love with him though. I don't want to go down that road again, especially not with the Barney-Robin situation still developing.

You know, some people have been saying that at this point they don't necessarily care about when or even if we'll actually meet the mother. And while I kind of see their point that the show has become so much more than that, I do still want to meet the mother. And I don't want it to just be like a glimpse in the last episode. Admittedly Ted is often the least interesting character on the show, but I want to see the process in which he figures out that she's the one, whoever she is. I know that it's hard to plan these things in the American TV world of not knowing when the series is going to end but honestly, I don't know how much longer I want to wait! And it's not like once they introduce the mother the show will be over. Lily and Marshall were together from the very beginning and they still had story to tell.

I do wonder where things are going to go from here now though...I imagine Ted will be out of the dating game for a little while at least, so perhaps we'll get some more progress on the Barney-Robin front!

how i met your mother

best. show. ever!

I dunno, I keep expecting to be disappointed, but the show just keeps delivering and delivering! :) I know there are probably tons of people out there who aren't fans of Robin-Barney, but I love it!

At least for now.

So good!

jumping on the bandwagon...

Here are my entertainment favorites from 2007...

1. So You Think You Can Dance -- hands down my favorite reality tv show, EVER.
2. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows -- yay for closure!
3. How I Met Your Mother -- quickly becoming one of my FAVORITE tv shows. My favorite episode of Season 3: "Spoiler Alert"
4. The re-release of My So-Called Life on DVD!
5. Internet broadcasting of TV shows -- special thanks to ABC (Pushing Daisies, Samantha Who), CBS (How I Met Your Mother) and The CW (Gossip Girl). My DVR is already working overtime and I can't record all the shows I want to watch along with all the shows Russ wants to watch, so it helps to be able to catch the shows on the computer. :)

Honorary Mentions: Pushing Daisies (favorite new tv show of the 2007-8 season), Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse (favorite new series), the writer's strike (gives me a chance to catch up on tv)

blog may seem abandoned, but we're still watching tv... ;)

... at least until the shows start running out of episodes.

I'm probably in the minority, but I'm kinda glad this writers' strike is going on because it means I have a chance to catch up on all my shows. I'm still a few episodes behind, but here's what I'm still watching...

Every week:
* Heroes
* Chuck
* How I Met Your Mother
* Samantha Who?
* House
* Gossip Girl
* Pushing Daisies
* Private Practice
* Project Runway
* Grey's Anatomy
* October Road

Sometimes:
* Shark
* Dirty Sexy Money
* Las Vegas
* The Unit
* Numb3rs
* Friday Night Lights

Upfronts -- Another take

I think what surprised me most about this year's upfronts were how few returning shows I'm going to be sticking with this fall. There's only Brothers & Sisters, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Ugly Betty, the Office, Scrubs, Beauty and the Geek, and Friday Night Lights. There are plenty of new shows, though, and it seems that there are two trends: sci-fi twists, and glamorous rich people...

NBC

• So glad Friday Night Lights is renewed, but are they really putting it on Friday? I know, it's kind of fitting because of the title of the show, but Friday at 10PM? Not sure how that's going to work out.


• Chuck sounds like Jake 2.0, so I might like it.

ABC

• SO EXCITED for Pushing Daisies. I recently watched the full Wonderfalls series on DVD and I'm a huge huge fan of Bryan Fuller and I'm so happy to see Lee Pace back on TV. I'm still kind of worried though, because it really seemed like it could be too quirky for network TV.


• I'll probably check out Big Shots because Michael Vartan is in it, haha.


• Still can't really believe that they're actually doing the Cavemen show.


• Dirty Sexy Money might end up being a guilty pleasure?

CBS

• Really really surprised and pretty upset that Jericho was cancelled. More on that later though.


• Um, Moonlight is Angel. Is it not?

FOX

• New Amsterdam seems to be another version of Angel too. What the heck?


• Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsay. I am so there!


• The Search for the Next Great American Band. This seems to be an extension of American Idol, but is this for rock bands or just like singing groups? I'd much rather see Rock Star come back...


• The Return of Jezebel James, scheduled for mid-season. Amy Sherman-Palladino, Parker Posey, and Lauren Ambrose? Kind of sounds like the dream team, but early reports say that it was a bit disappointing. Will definitely check it out anyway though.

CW

• Pretty relieved that Veronica Mars was cancelled, because all the talk about the show coming back in all sort of different incarnations was just ridiculous and worrisome. I'm pretty eh about the state of the show right now, considering how much I LOVED the show first season. But more about that later with what's now apparently the series finale.


• Yeah, like Mira, I will not be able to resist Gossip Girl. Yes, I read some of the books. Yes, they're trashy. Yes, I'm too old for it. But yes, I will watch it. I also hear that Kristen Bell will be narrating the show as Gossip Girl. She's one of the few actors that I can take hearing voiceovers from, so that's a good sign.


• Life is Wild sounds like it's going to crash and burn like Runaway.


• Reaper could be good. Is this the return to teen genre TV that I've been waiting for?

Finale report, Part 1

Wow so I'm only gone a week and so much happens, although I guess I expected as much. I'm still catching up but here's the first installment of my season/series finale reports. I'll be commenting on the upfronts soon.

Gilmore Girls: Thanks to Mira for posting on this. Ditto to her entire post, really. I was really hoping that the show was going to end this season and was super relieved when it was finally announced, but I was still pretty sad as well. I was kind of getting a little choked up during some of the scenes, and surprisingly even during Rory's goodbye party, which I was dreading because I usually can't stand how everyone in Stars Hollow worships Rory. But I'm glad that they acknowledged that it was really as much about Lorelai as it was about Rory, and it really was great seeing all the crazy townspeople one last time. I was also really satisfied with where Rory ended up. The job was fittingly awesome of course, but I'm glad that it was for an online magazine and not something irritatingly perfect like the New York Times. And I really liked the last scene, which mirrored the last scene in the pilot and really brought the show full circle.

How I Met Your Mother: So glad to see this was renewed for next season! Especially since Ted and Robin are finally over (a long time coming) and now things are open to find out who the "mother" is. I feel like the writers/producers really have to introduce her next season. I believe the show's doing well, but it's not really a huge hit and I don't think they have the luxury of stretching it out for much longer with the risk of cancellation before getting there. Anyway, Lily and Marshall are finally married and it's really great to see a couple on TV that completely makes sense get married and not have to worry about the show or couple getting boring because of it. And I really loved the last scene with Barney and Ted. Really looking forward to next season!

2007 upfronts

Since Jenn's not around to blog about the Upfronts, here is my opinion of it in short:

NBC

• Yay for giving Zach Braff & co. the opportunity to end Scrubs right.
• Yay for giving Friday Night Lights another season, but they deserve a full one, not just 13 episodes!
• Yay for another season of Heroes, though that is no surprise.
• Boo for canceling The Black Donnelly's and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (though I know that perhaps I'm one of the few people that LOVED that show).
• Unsure what I think of Las Vegas without James Caan and with Tom Selleck instead, but we'll find out next year!
• None of the new shows particularly excite me. So... meh, we'll see.
  

ABC

• No surprise on the renewals of Ugly Betty (which I still need to catch up on), or Grey's Anatomy.
• Yay for them giving October Road one more shot. I really liked it, but it might be just cuz I like Jake from One Tree Hill.
• It's cool that the Lost creators decided to set a deadline for the show. But really, do they need 5 more years? I guess, I won't be starting that show anytime soon...
  
• Surprisingly I'm excited about the Grey's spin-off, Private Practice.
• So what happened to that Traveler show?
  

CBS

• Not surprised by How I Met Your Mother's renewal, but yay!
• Glad to see NCIS, Numb3rs, and Shark will be back.
• May give Cane and maybe Kid Nation a try.
  
• Sad but not surprised to see The Class is gone.

Fox

• Not surprised but glad to see House back.
• Kinda want Prison Break to be over already. Okay, okay, I like the show, it's just inane that he escaped prison in Season 1, he continued to escape prison in Season 2, and now he's captured and is going back to prison.
• Amy Sherman-Palladino making a new show? Yeah, I'm there. The Return of Jezebel James(working title apparently) will get at least a few tries by me.
• Ending The O.C. this past year was the smartest thing Fox could've ever done!

The CW

• One Tree Hill needs to go.
  
• Yay for FINALLY ending Seventh Heaven and Gilmore Girls.
  
• Boo for completely screwing up what WAS a great show (Veronica Mars) by going so back and forth on how many episodes it was getting this year. And now by not making a decision on whether it's getting renewed. UGH. I don't think I will be buying Season 3.
• I probably will not be able to keep myself from watching Gossip Girl, unfortunately.

Has anyone noticed the number of shows about three or four friends of the same gender who bond together to take on the world? Very Sex and the City.

• Lipstick Jungle(NBC)
• Bigshots(ABC)
  
• Carpoolers(ABC)
• Cashmere Mafia(ABC)
• Cavemen(ABC)
• Women's Murder Club(ABC)

Oh wait, it looks like it's mostly an ABC trend!

Shows that I watch but never seem to blog about:

1. Ugly Betty: I'm still really loving this, should definitely write about it more often.

2. How I Met Your Mother: Am super glad that Ted and Robin decided not to move in together. I'm not sure how long they're planning on dragging this relationship out, but the show has been extremely funny and innovative this season and the cast just has great chemistry that gets better every week.

3. The Amazing Race: All Stars. I was pretty thrilled when Rob and Amber got kicked off, not because I hate them with a passion like some people, but because it was just a great twist. Am not so thrilled that somehow Charla and Mirna have somehow taken their place as the frontrunners. I just don't understand their crazy antics and accents coupled with their eerily serene and controlled interview segments in which they seem convinced that they're the only nice and honest people on the show. I'm rooting for Danny and Oswald because they're funny and generally positive and pretty good racers on top of that. Also wouldn't mind seeing Dustin and Kandice do well...I didn't like them all that much last season but they've been floating under the radar this time around despite a few dumb moves.

4. Jericho: This falls into the category of not very good dramas that I watch because I want to know what happens. I still think the show has a great premise, it's just that the execution is kind of nothing special. It's in the same timeslot as Friday Night Lights and Bones, and I really feel bad for not watching Bones, but oh, well...

5. Heroes: So I like this show too. But I'm not super invested in it, like I am with Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars and Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Galactica (the shows I seem to be blogging about most this season). It's entertaining enough but a few things are holding me back. The first is all that Niki/Jessica nonsense. And the second is Sylar. I don't know, sure, he's creepy, but I don't find him to be all that great of a bad guy.

6. Brothers & Sisters: I've been meaning to do a "second chance" blog on this because I went back and watched the entire season to date on ABC.com and I've gotten really into it. I think I go through this sort of process with every Greg Berlanti show (Everwood and Jack & Bobby before this). I think the first couple of episodes are pretentious and sentimental but then later on I somehow get lured back to it and discover that it's actually really good.

7. Top Design: I know, I know, I said that I probably wasn't going to watch it anymore, but it's kind of interesting. No way near as good as Project Runway or even Top Chef, but it's still pretty watchable. I don't care who wins but the designs are fun to see.

8. The Hills: Ummm yeah. For some reason I just love this packaged reality stuff that MTV does. This season has focused a lot on Heidi and her beyond-irritating boyfriend Spencer, but I think Lauren's been growing up a lot and has started standing up for herself, which is really nice to see.

9. Wildfire: Yeah, even more ridiculous teen TV shows. I'm not sure why I subject myself to this one, considering I can't stand Kris anymore and Matt and Kris are boring together, but well, I blame the DVR. In fact, I blame the DVR for most of this list. I don't know if and when they're having a 4th season but I should really seriously consider not watching it. Enough is enough, right?

10. Instant Star: ....or not. It's official, I watch too many teen shows. Anyway, this season seems to be THE season for Jude and Tommy, since she's finally turning 18. It's still a bit ick when you think about it because Tommy's got to be in his mid-twenties at least, but they're kind of hot. Jude's always been pretty self-righteous and I feel like it's been getting worse lately, but the show is still fun.

11. Dancing with the Stars: Well, I watched the first two episodes this season. I don't know why, considering I didn't watch any of the previous two seasons. I'll probably drop it eventually now that a lot of other shows are returning after March hiatus.

Shows I've been neglecting to write about...

I think that I generally find it easier to criticize rather than praise, so there have been a bunch of shows that I've really been enjoying this season but haven't been writing about. Here are a couple of them:

Friday Night Lights - Who would have guessed that my favorite new show of the season would be about football? I haven't even been tuning out during the game sequences like I predicted. Maybe it's because I care about the players? In any case, I've really been loving nearly everything about this show. It somehow has the ability to get me choked up pretty much every week because it's just so dang heartfelt! The cast is made up of mostly newcomers but they're doing an awesome job. Kyle Chandler is doing his best work as Coach Taylor and I love his intensity on the field versus his dynamic with his family. I love how they're handling Jason Street's rehab storyline, although Lyla pretty much annoys the heck out of me. I seem to like Tyra, even though I'm usually not a fan of the bad girl. Tim and Smash are alternately endearing and aggravating but always true to life. And um, I totally have a crush on Matt Saracen. I realize this is pretty pathetic since I'm so far done with high school but at least the actor who plays him is older than me. And because no high school show can ever survive without some good ships to root for, consider me officially on the Matt/Julie ship. Tami should be grateful that at least it's the nicest guy on the team (and probably the whole school, he's so damn adorable) who's going after her daughter. Let's hope he keeps hanging out with Landry (who's hilarious) instead of taking too much advice from his teammates.

How I Met Your Mother - This show has really stepped it up a notch this season. Every episode has so many moments of brilliance, it's incredible. I think the change has been that they've stopped focusing on Ted and his search for love. I like Ted, but his dreamy romantic pinings were getting super boring. Now that he and Robin are together and somewhat stable (for now) the writers seem to be able to stretch their creativity a lot more. Barney's been in top form, and Marshall's been allowed to shine a lot more also. And Robin's teen pop star past was just awesome. That song was stuck in my head for days.

Bones - I watched this only casually up until this season but lately I've been really loving it. It balances the seriousness of the crimes with the quirkiness of its characters extremely well, and I guess it's just the nerd in me that likes seeing extremely smart people doing what they're good at. I love the dynamic between Brennan and Booth, and Hodgins and Angela are super cute.

Ugly Betty - Definitely the feel-good show of the year. It's shamelessly campy and sappy and clever all the same time and I love it. The stab at TomKat (baby Chutney??) in last week's episode had me cracking up like no other. Every character is super funny but they've taken time to make them all sympathetic too (except maybe Walter, can we get rid of him?). I still don't really care too much about the whole Fay Summers thing but everything with Betty's family is wonderful, Amanda and Mark and Justin are hilarious, Daniel's really endearing, and even Wilhemina has her moments. And Christopher Gorham's Henry has been upgraded to recurring!

The Nine - I'd actually been enjoying this show quite a bit, but ABC has shelved it and it probably won't be returning to the schedule. It's kind of bummer because things had just started getting interesting. The last aired episode gave a lot more background info on the characters and I really want to see where things go. Oddly enough I'm not really as interested in what happened at the bank. But I can see why the show didn't gain a terribly big audience. Kind of a shame.

Short takes

The Amazing Race: I don't why I've never watched this show before, considering I've watched almost every other reality show on the planet, but I finally checked it out and I can see why it's so popular. It's really fun and because everyone's running around the world (literally) I don't think there'll be quite as much time for alliances and backstabbing and all that stuff that competitive reality shows usually drum up. And since I'm not watching anything else on Sundays, I might stick with it. Sad that the Indian couple got kicked off so early though, they were so cute!

Survivor: It's obvious they came up with the whole teams-separated-by-race thing for ratings, and honestly it kind of worked because I haven't watched the show in years but I made time for the premiere of this one. It's just so ridiculously un-politically-correct that you have to be curious. It's horrible though, I feel like I can't really talk about any of the people without being afraid of drawing stereotypes. It was interesting though, especially seeing how they themselves reacted to the whole situation. I most likely will be dropping this from my schedule soon though, because Thursdays at 8 are a crowded timeslot.

The Class: I think this is from the creators of Friends, which I never really liked all that much. This one has one of the more bizarre premises I've ever heard of, but it's a sitcom and sitcoms are always full of contrived situations. I think this one is set in Philly though, which is fun because I got all the references to towns and stuff they were talking about. Anyway, Lizzy Caplan is always totally cool (I've like her in basically everything she's ever done) but I'm not sure about the rest of the cast. And I also have no clue what the show is going to be like because it wouldn't make sense for the people they called out as the main characters to end up all being friends....

How I Met Your Mother: I was getting a bit tired of this show last season mostly because I just didn't care about Ted and Robin. I'm not even so much bothered by the fact that Robin is not going to end up being Ted's wife. They just don't interest me as a couple, I guess. That said, I'm glad that the premiere was mostly about Marshall. But I'm not so sure about Lily and Marshall not being together because they were my favorite thing about the show.

Dancing with the Stars: This show is like crack. It's unbelievably cheesy and the B-list celebrities they always manage to get is hilarious, but somehow you just get sucked in. Mario Lopez kind of knocked it out of the park and I thought Emmitt Smith was really good too. But Ashly, my favorite professional dancer, got stuck with another dud partner, Aaron Echolls himself. (I'm never going to see Harry Hamlin as anyone else ever again.) These audience participation reality shows are too much of a commitment though since I generally don't watch much TV live anymore. But I'll watch it (when I remember) until my other shows kick in.