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

cashmere mafia -- a differing opinion

Of course, I tend to have a lot more follow-through in staying with crappy shows than Jenn, especially overly drama-filled shows; So, it's not too surprising that I plan on sticking with it. But similar to Jenn, I really enjoy the 4 actresses they chose for the leading roles. And similar to Jenn, I agree that it's sort of a stretch to believe that such vastly different women (and so stereotypically different: a blonde, a brunette, a redhead, and an asian?! not even a repeat in hair color!) have been friends for 15 years. (Though, unlike SATC at least there's a brief explanation of HOW they met.) But what I have to say is the huge draw for me is the fact that these are four women who are wildly successful. It is really nice to see strong, successful women portrayed on tv. And they did not have to merely use their looks or their wiles (okay, so Lucy Liu's character does quite a bit) to get there. When I graduated from school, had I gone into the business world like many of my friends, the lives that these women lead would be the ones I would have dreamt and hoped for, but probably wouldn't have believed I could attain. In truth, especially in the large city of New York City, there are women like that out there (I hope), and it's nice to see it on TV (even if over-glamorized and over dramatized!).

In any case, I'm willing to see how this show plays out. And fortunately, with very little tv to watch due to the writer's strike, I have the time to! :)

Cashmere Mafia: um, whatever

Even though most of the fall shows have run out of episodes due to the writers' strike, thankfully the networks still have their midseason replacements ready to go. Whether they're worth watching is another story...and in the case of Cashmere Mafia, I think I'm going to say no.

I do kind of like the cast. I've always kind of liked Bonnie Somerville, I loved Frances O'Connor in that unfaithful but entertaining version of Mansfield Park from awhile ago (her American accent is a little distracting though), Miranda Otto is pretty awesome, and it's nice to see Lucy Liu back on TV. But I think it's just really hard to make the whole Sex and the City thing with groups of adult friends work. They try to make each of the friends different in order to keep things interesting but it's not always apparent why they're really friends. This show at least attempted to explain things (they met in business school) and I guess there's the networking/connections aspect to it, but the last scene of the pilot has Lucy Liu's character tearfully telling the others that she doesn't know what she would do without them, and it's just like...oy.

I did watch the second episode (slim pickings on TV lately after all) and there were definitely some amusing parts, but I should probably stop watching shows just because they're not completely terrible.

Lipstick Jungle, another show of nearly the same premise, with Brooke Shields, Kim Raver, and Lindsay Price, is coming in a couple of weeks, but at this point my expectations are pretty low...