Humming along

Our DVR has been positively humming the last few days. Like it or not, fall is here and so is a brand new TV season ...

Kates and I finally found time to watch President Obama's appearance on Letterman ...

Mr. Obama showed aces with his comment that he was "black before the election." Beyond that, aside from his eloquence and charm, I thought his answers to questions about healthcare and the wars we're fighting were on par.

Although, I do think there was some truth in President Carter's statements last week. My hope is that Obama doesn't get too caught up in the discussion and remains focused on his agenda while allowing the race debate to take place outside the White House.

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Now that we've almost completed the round of Fall Premieres '09, I can follow-up on my earlier list of new shows Kates and I planned to watch ... I can also report there have been some pleasant surprises ...

On Monday night, it was thoroughly enjoyable to get reacquainted with our old pals on CBS's comedy lineup. ("How I Met Your Mother:" Barney and Robin are totally a couple!) ... We're also quite intrigued with the possibilities of "Accidentally on Purpose."

After reading some not-so-great reviews beforehand, I had low hopes going in ... But I think one morning show DJ said it best: You've just got to buckle up and enjoy the ride!

I don't think any of CBS's Monday night shows made me laugh more than "Accidentally." And if you can make me laugh, you've won ... Sure the pace of Billie's and James's meet-up/baby news/moving in together was a little unrealistic, but I also thought the episode had about as much charm and wit as the stuff James showed in snagging Billie in the first place/wanting to stay with her/painting the baby's room, all by the end of the episode.

The pilot was hilarious. But only time will tell if the show can stand up beyond its first date.

On Wednesday ..."Modern Family" gets the prize as our favorite new show (I'm not counting "Glee," which technically debuted last spring) ... I love the premise, and I'm really excited to see Julie Bowen doing some comedy (sigh ... I miss "Ed."). ... The bit with the family looking over their appointment calendar to schedule a time that Dad could fire a BB gun at his son as payback for shooting his sister was beyond funny. And then, when the time came, the plan went haywire and Dad shoots his teenage daughter's senior class boyfriend ... It's also good to see Jesse Tyler Ferguson on TV again (sigh ... I miss "The Class." ... Here's an old, but still good read I dug up about it.)

"Cougar Town" also got our thumbs-up -- although I feel a little dirty saying that because the show is geared so tightly toward and about so-called cougar women ... Nonetheless, for me, Courtney Cox broke her Monica mold within the first two minutes of the show, and the casting is wonderful ("The Drew Carey Show," "Scrubs" and now "Cougar Town" -- Christa Miller, like Julie Bowen, gets me every time.)

(Here's a good read on "Modern Family" and the rebirth of the family comedy.)

Thursday night is stacked ... And it's looking like we'll be spending most of our time -- for now -- with "Flash Forward" and "Grey's Anatomy," while "The Office" and "30 Rock" get put off to Friday nights. ... We dropped "Community," deeming last week's premiere just plain dumb.

Starting with "FlashForward." ... Seriously!? There's a million questions going through my mind after watching the premiere. Like, why was a kangaroo jaunting through downtown Los Angeles after the flashforward? And who the heck was the guy in Detroit?! ... The acting, the "Lost"-like mysteries and the action-movie production are all factors that have me wanting more ...

But here's my beef: "Lost" has set the bar so high, and there will never be another show like it. I'm also skeptical of the glimpse of a future on April 29, 2010. Setting a specific date so near in the future -- not too mention the visions and the inherent desire to change circumstances -- reminds me too much of "Heroes." And those of us who fell so hard for that show during it's first season know how that turned out. What are we going to be left with when next April passes?

About last night's "Grey's" premiere ... Indeed, our roller coaster love affair with the docs at Seattle Grace will continue. Last night's episode succeeded again at pulling our heartstrings with real characters and raw emotions, with the laughter that's born from strong bonds mixed in. The twisted scene with the gang laughing hysterically at George's funeral is one that has stuck with me most. Yep, George died and Izzie lived -- the worst kept secret of TV's summer offseason.

Yet, my lingering thought on the episode is that it marked the end of an era for the show. With George gone and now the impending merger -- plus a handful of new characters (I do enjoy Arizona) -- "Grey's" is resembling less of its original self every season.

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The death notices just keep coming ...

Last week: Patrick Swayze and Mary Travers.

I pulled out my "Peter, Paul & Mary: Ten Years Together" album for a good listen the other night ... It's easy to get caught up in the tributes and emotions of another great loss, but I must admit now that I don't listen to that album as much as I should. I hadn't realize how good their songs are.

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While cleaning off our DVR, I also watched last week's "VH1 Divas" show. Is it wrong that I think Miley Cyrus gave the best performance of the show -- which was otherwise utterly boring?

On Tuesday, I did something I never ever thought I'd do. I downloaded a Miley Cyrus song. "Party in the U.S.A." from iTunes.

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I stumbled onto this video last week ...

Every time I watch it, I break out laughing ... Ha-larious.

TV check

When it comes to American Idol, I’ve been telling people this for weeks, and I’ll say it once more -- For the girls, I’ll take Lakisha, Melinda and Gina all the way to the end, and I’ll take Blake Lewis and Chris Sligh for the boys. And even if they aren’t finalists, all three of those girls should have recording contracts wrapped up …

And before this week, I would have been begging voters to get Sanjaya off the stage (How he’s still in it, I’ll never understand), but his Kinks performance wasn’t have bad …(Seriously. Who the heck was that crying girl!?!?) … Sanjaya finally brought the umph that made him seem like a true contender during his original audition …

As for the rest of the contenders, Haley’s “Tell Him” was good, but she didn’t sell it … Chris Richardson singing “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” was smooth, but the fact he doesn’t enunciate his words drives Kates and I crazy … Phil’s “Tobacco Road” rocked, but I seriously doubt he’s the next American Idol …

The dark horse of the night was Jordin Sparks singing “I (Who Have Nothing).” She just sang, which is all you need to do in this competition. She played herself. She didn’t overdo it. Her pacing was perfect. She hit the notes. She performed beautifully.

And that leaves Stephanie Edwards who was voted off and deservedly so. She sang “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me,” a beautiful song … and then she had to go and Beyonce-fy it. Yuck. She ruined the song’s perfect melodies with all her runs.

A good read: ‘American Idol’ has begun its decline

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Tell you what -- You promise to start watching The Class, and I'll try watching that other so-called endangered show titled Friday Night Lights. Deal?

Seriously people. It's the most underrated, under-appreciated sitcom on TV right now. Which is too bad because it has all the makings of a Friends-esque blockbuster. After all, James Burrows (Hello! -- Cheers, Friends, Will & Grace, Frasier) and David Crane (Hello! -- Friends) are behind it. What more cred do you need!?

The lowdown? The Class is a cast of characters who went through the second grade together, lost touch and were reunited as a bunch of twenty-somethings when Ethan Haas, played by Jason Ritter, invited all of them to a surprise birthday party for his longtime girlfriend, who actually dumped him at the party. Now Ethan is left scratching his way back into dating along with newfound pals like twin sisters Kat and Lina Warbler, Richie, Duncan and Nicole ...

Ritter, whose comedic abilities so closely resemble his father's chops, and Lizzy Caplan, who plays the sassy and sarcastic Kat, are a match made in sitcom heaven, and they're both on their way to becoming breakout stars. And Jesse Tyler Ferguson, as the clutzy, dopey, puppy-like Richie, isn't far behind. Often, his hard luck and deadpanned punchlines are the icing on the show ...

The sweet dynamic is rounded out by the storylines of gay school teacher Kyle (Sean Maguire), the budding romance between Duncan (Jon Bernthal) and Nicole (Andrea Anders, who deserves to work on a good show after the train wreck that was Joey), Nicole's hollow-headed husband and football legend Yonk Allen (David Keith), and Lina (Heather Goldenhersh) who is relentlessly optimistic while falling for Richie ...

It's a darn good show full of smart comedy, lovable and relatable characters, and some sweet, sweet moments. The big wigs at CBS would be fools to expel The Class ...

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I think my fascination and lust for Amazing Race has come to an end. I couldn't care less about any of these so-called All-Stars traveling the globe right now and I've been beyond bored ...

And this season's Survivor cast is nowhere near as cool as the last season's. Then again, I'm doubting any future Survivor cast will top last year's group...

I'll stick with Survivor, but I'm officially done watching Amazing Race ...

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So NBC's little stunt allowing America to pick the leads of a Broadway musical ended last night ...

Somehow, I stuck with it for every episode. I think I was the last one watching tonight ...

I couldn't have been happier seeing Laura win the part of Sandy. Yeah, yeah, so I said at the beginning that Ashley Spencer was my girl. But when it came down to it, Ashley had the look but she couldn't equal the talent Laura brought. As the weeks went by Ashley seemed to be only going through the motions; the last couple weeks she seemed robotic. Laura took her place the night she belted out "Jesus Christ Superstar" and never looked back ...

As for the Dannys, I was never very high on any of them. In fact, pretty boy Austin was in the basement of my list. For me, he was the Sanjaya of the Grease try-outs -- week after week, I didn't understand how he was surviving. Thank goodness, scrawny Max grew as a performer and came on strong to win the thing ... Sure, he doesn't have the Danny physique, but I'm pretty sure Kathleen Marshall can get him in on a weight training program to help him bulk up ...

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I think I'm with a good majority of Lost and Grey's Anatomy fans when I say: Thank god they've got their mojo back ...

Finally, Lost has been consistently good -- the way it was during its first season -- since it got off its whole let's-treat-Kate-Sawyer-and-Jack-like-zoo-animals storyline and the show returned from its mid-season hiatus a couple weeks ago ...

And Grey's is moving on from its latest cheese-fest that was Meredith's drowning ...

Just keep it real people.

Sunday reading

Some of the good reads I stumbled upon this week ...

Life stuff ...
a Awesome auto does 1,000,000 miles, retires ...awesome in deed.
a Don't be 404 about latest buzzwords
a When you reach the half-century mark, almost anything goes

Music ...
a Bye, bye, bye: Music scene no longer dominated by teens ... Thank goodness! ... Have I mentioned that I can't stand Rihanna?
a Ray LaMontagne, Finding His Place
a Going own ways brings Fleetwood Mac back ... Listening to Fleetwood today, I Googled the band and stumbled across this story from the jsonline. It's 3 years old and written prior to their Summerfest stop, but a worthy read nonetheless. I mean, c'mon, it's Fleetwood Mac! ...

The screens ...
a Animal house: Fanning navigates farm life in ‘Charlotte’s Web’
a 'Charlotte's Web' returns
a Need to sell? Hire a penguin
a Rx for Success: How 'St. Elsewhere' Influenced Today's Top Medical Dramas
a Teaching an old series new tricks ... I still don't get why people are so ga-ga over "Ugly Betty."
a Networks: Listen Up for New Year's resolutions ... I'm a strong supporter of "Brothers & Sisters" and "The Class." But I'm not buying the push for NBC's struggling shows ...
a On Wikipedia, Oblivion Looms for the Non-Notable
a Video Visionaries Meld Traditional TV and the Web

Baseball ...
a Who's the Evil Empire now?
a Incessant talk about money has him green around the gills ... me too.
a Spare the morality play: McGwire deserves induction ... Some good points here.

Fall TV

So I just finally got around to watching Wednesday night's premieres of 30 Rock and Twenty Good Years ... I doubt I'll be watching 30 Rock again, which is too bad for all the star power and talent involved. The premiere hardly made me laugh. The jokes were dumb. And Rachel Dratch's talents were wasted. The whole thing plays like Tina Fey said 'Hey, I wanna do a sitcom, I'm going to steal some people from SNL, we'll just mess around and see what we can do ..." ... Twenty Good Years, however, has some potential. Ok, so the jokes weren't much better. But the carpe diem plot is intriguing -- John Mason, the surgeon, is forced into semi-retirement, and judge Jeffrey Pyne is dealing with the death of his wife. And Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow seem to have the type of chemistry that could carry the show for awhile ...

And now my fall TV-watching schedule is a little bit clearer ...

... On Sunday nights, a lot has changed. Then again, not much has changed at all ... West Wing is gone. And three weeks in, I'm still trying to get used to the void that used to be the start-to-the-week-pick-me-up that was Grey's Anatomy (which is holding its own on Thursday nights ...) ... Kates and I still have Amazing Race. Love the ethnicity this season. And it wouldn't be Amazing Race without a trashy couple bickering in every show. The Beauty Queens, the Cheerleaders, Alabama -- they all drive me nuts at some point. And the coalminer and his wife -- well, it's all entertaining ... Glad to see Desperate Housewives has returned to its former self. Before the season started, I heard a radio interview with James Denton that had him talking about how messy and chaotic things were behind the scenes last year. Cast members were getting scripts handed to them as they were walking on the stage. Things were screwed up and the show suffered because of it. Denton explained how the writers and everyone involved knew the show had to be turned around. And they've delivered -- the quick wit is back. The deep mystery, the suspense, the tension -- all of it is back, mostly compliments of Orson, who gives me the creeps just looking at him ... Then you have Brothers & Sisters. Eh. The premiere was pretty decent, but ultimately it's probably going to be Sally Field, Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths and the interesting dynamic among the brothers and sisters that keeps us watching, plus the fact that it's on after Desperate Housewives ...

... Come Monday, Kates and are still attached to the CBS sitcoms ... The Class, a pleasant surprise, is charming and fun to watch with its cool and quirky ensemble of characters ...How I Met Your Mother -- Love it. As good as ever ... Two And A Half Men is still strong ... As for The New Adventures of Old Christine, I watched the first couple episodes last spring and barely watched much more. When it won an Emmy, I didn't understand 'Why?' But some of this season's episodes have had us laughing 'til we cry ... At 9 p.m., we're switching to NBC for Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. The cast is phenomenal and it's hard not to love Aaron Sorkin's racing, walking-the-halls dialogue ... But I think the best new show on television is, by far, Heroes! A sci-fi, comic book, X-men fan I am definitely not. But I've liked watching Hayden Panettiere since Remember The Titans and I was again drawn to the ensemble cast. I watched the first episode and I was hooked! I love the complex characters, although some a more than others (Hiro rocks!) and every twist and turn blows your mind more than one before ...

... on Tuesdays, there's nothing on. Whew! ... at least until According to Jim and Scrubs return mid-season ...

... Wednesday comes and we're all about Lost, dude. Kates and I had half my office over and hosted a Lost party to watch the premiere (... apparently I wasn't the only confused one...). It moves as slow as molasses, but it's a darn fascinating show. Classic story-telling. Fantastic character development ...

... Thursday night arrives ... Five years ago, Survivor didn't stand a chance of showing on my TV, then Friends went off the air, NBC tanked, the Survivor producers added some new twists, added the whole exile island and reeled me in last season. And here I'm back again for this season, even though the point of the racially-divided tribes was ... ? By merging the tribes, the producers rendered their little experience pointless. Either way, I've been rooting hard as heck each week for the Aitu tribe. Yul, Becky, Flica, Jonathan, Candice, Ozzy, Sundra -- what a likable group ... Then the marathon continues when we pickup The Office on the DVR at 8, followed by Grey's Anatomy and the ancient, but rarely dull ER ...

... And on Fridays ... we rest.

TV reads ...
10 fall tube tips
NBC Completely Revamps Fall TV Schedule
TV Commercials Move Beyond the Box
What’s new next fall? Shows to get your blood pumping