Summer is nearly upon us and most TV shows have ended or are about to end for the year. I, like a lot of people, don’t watch much live TV anymore. I still watch but everything is recorded and time shifted. That means I get to watch what I want, when I want. I sure like it that way. Here is a recap of the shows I watched this season.
Law and Order – A show I still like after all these years. The cast changes all the time but this show is not about the characters’ personal lives. It’s about the cases. The formula it uses every week is relentless but a great example of how to use a formula. Law and Order: Criminal Intent is actually my favorite of the three shows and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit is my least favorite. I have a bunch of SVUs I still haven’t watched and I don’t know if I even will.
Life – A series that I enjoyed but it has now been cancelled after two seasons. Life is about a cop who was framed for murder, sent to jail for life, cleared after having spent twelve years behind bars, and now is a cop again. He’s a homicide detective so he goes around solving cases and trying to figure out who framed him. It had one of the best season/series ending shows. Too bad it’s gone.
How I Met Your Mother – A sit-com I’ve liked for its whole run. The lead character, Josh Radnor, is a little whiney and annoying but not always. The supporting cast is the show’s strength. Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel, and Neil Patrick Harris are standouts and get into lots of funny shenanigans. Cobie Smulders, who basically plays “The hot chick”, does a good job with what she is given but kind of has the least to do. How I Met Your Mother is a consistently funny show.
Big Bang Theory – I was ambivalent about the first season of this show but have really liked the second. Once they got rid of the annoying “Nerd has a crush on the hot popular girl” plot line things got funnier. Less moping around and more comedy is a recipe I can embrace. A solid funny season.
Battlestar Galactica – Here is a show I watched only because it was a favorite of so many people I know. It’s okay but not great by any stretch of the imagination. I thought that this, its final season, was the worst season of the show. The series ending episode was awful. It did so little to hold my attention that I actually started doing my taxes in the middle of the episode. There’s a bad sign for you.
Bones – Another cop/detective/mystery/find the killer show. I like that genre. This one is different because it involves scientists. The characters are pretty good and there is lots of scientific jargon. Maybe not the best season of it and I didn’t like the season ender but overall a solid show. I’l continue to watch it.
Burn Notice – My favorite new show that I discovered this year, its second season. It’s the story of a spy who’s been “Burned” i.e. fired and told to stay put in Miami or he’ll be killed. He goes around helping people in trouble, trying to find out why he was burned, showing us spy tricks of the trade, and being a bad ass. And he has a hot girlfriend. All in all a fun show.
Castle – A new show starring Nathan Fillion and another cop show. Fillion plays a famous crime novelist who is following around a NYC detective to get material for his next book. A fun show. Fillion plays the charming rogue well.
Doll House – The latest Joss Whedon show. It’s about secret underground programable people. The show started slowly got a bit better but was never really good. It’s okay. It’s coming back for another season so I’ll see how it is then.
Lost – This season started a bit slow and was annoying but finished strong. Anytime time travel is introduced to any story things can go very wrong. It almost did here but then they straightened things out a bit. I ended up really enjoying the second half of the season.
Mentalist – Another new cop show and another cop show that I like. A trend is appearing. The Mentalist is a former fake psychic who uses his powers of observation to help the cops solve crimes. He’s also the king of charm.
My Name is Earl – I think this was Earl’s funniest season ever. It’s a show about small town goof balls as opposed to TV’s usual big city goof balls. Another solid sit-com. I hear it might be cancelled which would be a shame.
The Office – A sit-com about medium sized city goof balls. This was I show I didn’t start watching until season two or three because I never thought I’d like it. I was wrong. It’s a funny show about all the weird characters that you’d find in the workplace. Well, their workplace at least. It was another funny season and shows no signs of weakening.
Everybody Hates Chris – I always enjoyed this show even if it was never a favorite. The cast is really good. I especially like Terry Crews who plays Chris’ father. This is a show that I also hear is cancelled. Too bad because it was good.
The Simpsons – A lot of people I know don’t watch this show anymore but I do. I think it is still funny and people just grow tired of things. Even good things.
Best new show of the year? Not to me. I’ll take The Mentalist or Castle over it.
THE DOLLHOUSE is the best new show of the year. Started out weak, but got progressively better as the year went on. THE SIMPSONS still rocks. Anyone who doesn’t like it can eat my shorts.