I had meant to do this in a more timely fashion, but life tends to put blogging on a very low priority of late. I'm going to attempt to do this chronologically, but I may get some out of order.

Jake 2.0 --I enjoyed the first episode. Fairly well-written. Nice tech and attractive cast -- that actually has a tiny bit of color in it!! If I were interested in yet another spy show, I'd probably watch this one. If you read his entry, you know boy loves it and will continue watching it.

two and a half men -- didn't have it on the calendar and missed the premiere. I hear it's a good show and I hope to give it a try soon. I've been a fan of Jon Cryer for years and he shines in this, according to reviews.

8 simple rules -- boy wanted to watch this last year, but we were usually watching something else at that time slot. He's a huge John Ritter fan and it was a terrible shock to him (as to many of us) when John died. We watched some of the memorial biographies and tributes and were reminded of just how talented this man was and how sad it was that critics tried to pigeonhole him as a comedic actor and resisted his attempts at drama series for so long. We did watch the premiere and were impressed. I usually avoid "parents & kids" sitcoms. But these parents were neither easily manipulated nor stereotypically strict. And the kids weren't insipid nor were they supergeniuses. The writing and direction were good, as was the editing. If I had more in common with the 3-children formula, I'd propably continue watching. boy will because he adores Katey Sagal as much as he did John Ritter.

Fraiser --I heard that the premiere was back to the quality of the good old days, so boy taped it and we watched the first half hour. I guess if Fraiser's strength in the past was his ability to be self-centered and pompous, then the show finally is back on track. I always thought the appeal was in the interaction between the core ensemble. When it degenerated into soap opera plots and everyone having separate storylines, I stopped watching (other than a few stunt casting episodes now and then). It was better than last year's finale, but not enough to make me watch again, or even to sit through the second half hour. Although, with Patrick Stewart scheduled for next week as someone courting Fraiser, I may have to watch. Patrick is hilarious when he does comedy -- whether it's well-written or not.

Less Than Perfect --I found this one about halfway through last season. Then boy found it and fell in love with it. We both prefer sitcoms that are about the workplace rather than families (same with dramas, actually). boy's a big fan of Andy Dick and we both like Sara Rue. The lead character would probably describe the show as "smart and sassy" (and, yes, I heard her voice say that in my head). I enjoyed how they resolved last season's cliffhanger. Even though I predicted the device used, the writers and actors still managed to make it funny. It's not "must see" to me, but little is this season. I'll probably watch every week, unless the quality drops.

Ed --I watched the first season of this show and then gave up. Too whiny and predictable. I decided to check out the premiere to see if it will be better now that Ed and Carol are together. I think I lasted about five minutes, if that. Still too whiny and predictable for my taste. In my mind "quirky" is not the same as stupid.

The West Wing --I skipped last season, but did tune in for the last ten minutes of the finale. When I learned that Aaron Sorkin was moving on, I figured I'd give the new creative force a chance. I thought John Goodman did a good job with this role. I know most people were surprised by the casting of him as Acting President. Most of the episode was compelling while it was on (mostly because I haven't seen the characters in a year and wanted to see how it worked with Rob Lowe gone and a substitute boss), but forgettable an hour later. The one thing that stuck with me was the final image. When, on television or even in the movies, have we witnessed a central character receiving communion from a catholic priest? Given the reputation of priests in the last few years, esp in the last six months, having such an image used as the culmination of a fast-paced crisis episode was stunning. But maybe that's just because I was raised catholic and even worked for the church at one point after I left the faith, so I'm hyperaware of the portrayal in the entertainment industry. I could write more on the subject of faith and religion on television, but I have more to recap. I'll probably watch next week to see how/if they resolve the kidnapping and transition of power back to Bartlett, but I don't see it as engaging me much beyond.

Friends --same old stuff. I still love the actors, but how do you combat predictibility when a cast has been together so long? About the only interesting part of the show was Phoebe having to break up with her boyfriend's current girlfriend. Oh, and a sexy african-american love interest for Ross -- though we all know the relationship won't last more than a few episodes because this is a white show. I'll probably watch more than I don't, as this is the final season and I am (mildly) interested in how it plays out.

Will & Grace -- gave up on this a few years ago when I realized they would never give Will a real relationship, and therefore, would have to turn him into some ridiculous non-character. I watched last year but didn't find much worth remembering and didn't care if I missed an episode. I did like the storyline where Will & Jack did the Pygmalion-bit on a newly out gay man. And it was honestly handled that although attracted to each other, he and Will weren't a match. Other than that, and, of course, my perenial favorite Minnie Driver in a recurring guest spot, it's just painful to watch. I respected in the early years that Will was an intelligent, professional gay man who was recovering from the breakup of a long-term relationship(because tv didn't acknowledge that homosexual have long-term, stable relationships) and that Grace was a creative businesswoman with the heart and spirit to provide emotional support to people as diverse as Will & Karen and even find things in common with Jack. It's very hard to see them all de-evolve and have more girl-on-girl action (between "straight" women) than we ever see boy-on-boy action when the show is supposed centered on a gay man. Shrill, frozen stereotypes are not my cup of tea. They've promised to give Will an actual romantic liaison that may grow into a relationship and to bring the show back to the core Will & Grace dynamic instead of the "Grace & Leo" show it was for much of last year. So I'll most likely continue to give it time. It's not like I'm into any of the reality or crime dramas that compete with it.

Coupling --Some background is needed to explain why I'd sit through this one. I've heard much about this series since it was announced last spring -- mostly about the British series of the same name. The premise sounded silly. The critics were out to crucify it before an episode aired, and the promos NBC used all summer were annoying. Then, two things happened: I found out Rena Sofer was a key character and we stumbled on the BBC version on PBS. I have adored Rena since her days on "General Hospital" and even sat through some of "Just Shoot Me" last season to see her (I'd given up on *that* series years ago). If she was going to be playing someone sexy and pivotal, maybe I'd watch. Then one Saturday night I was channel surfing before bed and found this interesting British sitcom on PBS. I realized it must be "Coupling" and saw that they were doing a marathon. boy and I were drawn in by the characters and timing, to say nothing of the writing. We watched a few episodes and taped a few more to watch the next day. And in each one there were moments of "how are they going to pull this off for American censors?" And just some very classic television moments --but I'll try to give the original Coupling it's own entry sometime soon. About the only thing I can say about the American version is that it gave me the chance to see how all these characters came together (we missed the first episodes in the marathon so didn't know the history). If I didn't already know the characters, these actors wouldn't have made any of them memorable. However, the thing that is troubling to me isn't that the show is being found a very poor copy of the original, it's that yesterday I read a review that described the entire premise as distasteful. Translation: sexually active single adults who can build a circle of friends based simply on the basis of who has alread slept with whom are bad, bad people. I'm sure the reviewer was also horrified at the thought that one of the relationships wasn't even a relationship, it was a weekly sex date, but he probably couldn't bring himself to mention that. I'm going to continue to watch this show, not as a comparison to the original (because it doesn't compare and we *are* watching the BBC version religiously), but to see how realistic they are in portraying sexuality to a society that's programmed to think adults interact the way they do on Friends and Seinfeld.

I'll take a break now. I have lots to say about last night's premieres, but I'm sure you're as tired of reading as I am of typing. I'll get back to them soon.

We're trying to keep track of what starts when, so we don't miss anything:

Whoopi & Happy Family-- Tuesday, Sept 9th
Enterprise & Jake 2.0 -- Wednesday, Sept 10th
Las Vegas -- Monday, Sept 22nd
Less Than Perfect & Good Morning Miami(?) -- Tuesday, Sept 23rd
Friends, Will & Grace, Coupling -- Thursday, Sept 25th
Miss Match & Joan of Arcadia, Hope & Faith -- Friday, Sept 26th
Smallville & Angel -- Wednesday, October 1st
Skin -- Monday, Oct 20th
Tru Calling -- Thursday, Oct 30th
Simpsons(?), King of the Hill, Malcom in the Middle --Sunday, Nov 2nd

Note: not all are shows both of us are interested in seeing. some are mine, some are boy's, though most are both. We're still finding out the dates of some returning shows, so don't think this is the last date. ....and we may have to correct for errors in memory!

Boy Meets Boy: we were right about Franklin and happy that James chose Wes.

Amazing Race 4: it was cool to see our hometown as the finish line -- though we had a hard time figuring out when they could have filmed that it was raining! As to the gay couple winning, that's a positive, but we didn't really have a favorite or hated team this season, so it wasn't as exciting as previous TARs.

Whoopi: what a waste of talent. Between the predictable jokes and the laugh track that trains viewers to laugh at every other sentence, it literally hurts. Not sure if I'm capable of giving the stereotypes time to dissolve into real characters and situations. It will just depend on what else I have to do.

Happy Family: arrggh...I adore John and Christine, but as I said to boy last night, John needs to be playing someone perverted or damaged, that's his talent. I couldn't even make it through the entire episode. I have more to say on the premise itself, but I have to get ready for work.

For Love or Money: we got sucked into this one late, but were pleased with the result. People need to learn to take that leap of faith for love and to trust bonds that happen, even if they happen in unusual situations or faster than we're taught to trust. As for the skill the producers used in editing, music, etc, I'll leave that to boy to expound upon at another time (we had discussions about it, so I know he has strong views).

I agree with those who argue that gay television can be about entertainment and not have any redeeming value. Of course, in this one, there is the "spot the straight guy" element that lets you play along at home....and so far we've picked most of the straight guys -- and only pegged one guy as straight who turned out to be gay.

So, who do we think the last straight guy is? Franklin -- but we're not willing to bet on it....not without reviewing some of the episodes more closely, should they decide to run a marathon or something.

Here's our reasons:

1. James made a comment that everything seems to add up to Franklin being a good match, but that he doesn't feel he could trust him or that everything feels wrong (something like that).

   
   

2. boy noticed that during a key question/comment by James in last night's one-on-one date, Franklin looked away. body language is usually very telling.

   
   

3. My theory about the way the eliminations are structures logically points to Franklin. Starting with the second elimination, James had to pick guys to elimate from pre-determined groups of three. I don't think this was just to make it harder for him to choose. I think this is how the producers ensured that at least some straight men made it to the next round. If there are two in a group, only one can be eliminated and one will survive to the next round. Last night, it was groups of two and given that Sean was the straight man eliminated, Franklin would be the straight who wasn't.

Watched the "season" finale of "Birds of Prey" last night. Some interesting camera shots and some hot scenes, but overall a yawner. My understanding was that the series is going bye-bye, so it should have been "series finale".

I'm still reeling from last week's "John Doe." I knew the series had some edge to it in terms of being non-traditional. I didn't expect them to kill off one of the main characters midway through the first season. Either this was a reaction to fans not liking her or they are just gusty enough to break some of the rules. I had started to get the blah feeling about the show. "So what if I miss an episode or ten?" But I'm glad it's waking up -- assuming it's not just a sweeps rating stunt.

My boi is joining me on this re-named blog. Now you'll get two sets of opinions & reflections!

My boi's mother died in November. So a few weeks spent in hospitals, preparing and attending a funeral, and helping her father regroup financially and emotionally left little time for writing about television. We gave up on taping and watching a few shows. We're still left with quite a number, though.

Over the weekend we got hooked on "Steven Spielberg presents Taken" on the SciFi channel. We're both bummed that there won't be a new episode of "Angel" until January. We trying to find the time to watch last week's episode of "John Doe" (which we did manage to get taped). And we're looking forward to the return of "Stargate: SG1" old episodes on SciFi channel (pre-empted for "Taken") as we're getting them taped in order for our personal library.

Tonight is the penultimate episode of "The Amazing Race 3" -- and I'm happy to know that CBS has committed to a TAR4. However, we were both happy to hear that "Birds of Prey" has been cancelled. It's the car wreck show of the season for us: we can't seem to stop watching even though we know how bad it is. Now we're just waiting for the last few unaired episodes and then we'll be out of our misery.

Aarrggghhhh! Sometimes networks make no sense. Yesterday, ABC spent all day advertising a new episode of "Alias" would air -- one that previews and spoilers indicated would be pivotal. I set my VCR and sat down to watch and THEY RERAN THE SEASON PREMIERE!! A quick visit to the Television Without Pity (TWoP) forums for the show indicated that this was not a glitch in the west coast satellite feed: No one got to see the promised new episode. Speculation is that ABC didn't want to compete with the 7th game of the World Series because Disney owns the Angels and if they won, Michael Eisner would be accepting the trophy. Wouldn't want people watching his network for an exciting piece of television when they could be seeing him gloating for two minutes with a trophy. By the way, does anyone even care whether he did or not?? Now we have to wait another week for that pivotal episode and the sweeps episodes will be off-schedule for maximum ratings. Grrrrrr.

At least we have the premiere of 24 tomorrow. Looking forward to that one.

We're getting deeper and deeper into "John Doe" and keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't get canceled. If you have a Nielsen box, please, PLEASE watch this show a few times.

The first two episodes of TE3 have held my interest. We'll see how much longer watching people learn the same skills as the previous seasons can keep me entertained.

TAR3 continues to rock. Though it sucked that the last five minutes were interrupted in my timezone by the stupid press conference about the sniper *suspects* being sought. Five minutes of a talking head who said only about 2 sentences of actual news and I missed the Harvard Law School grads interpreting "walk to the pit stop" as "take a taxi" and therefore getting eliminated by penalty time. It sucked. Luckily, the people in the TWoP forums gave me the recaps and the info I needed to understand every nuance of what happened.

"Buffy" rocked last week. Amazing payoff in long-term continuity for those who have been watching the series for years. I've only been watching since FX started airing it last year, but I managed to see all six seasons and feel validated now that things from five seasons ago *do* matter in a television show.

"Angel" has caught my boi's attention and I am also enjoying the improvement. We haven't watched the tape from last night's episode yet. However, I read some spoilers for the season a few days ago and I'm excited at where the show is headed for the season. I'm going to love watching how they make these things happen and what plays out as a result. I won't spoil here, but it's good stuff and worth watching November and February sweeps.

There's more gushing to do -- and disbelief at the success of certain shows-- but it's time to leave tv and return to real life.

Saw the premiere of "Birds of Prey" -- while it's nothing special, it's way better than "Firefly". We're willing to give it a chance. Bad acting seems to be a universal problem with the new series this season, but at least "John Doe" and "Birds of Prey" have a consistent storyline and interesting effects and camera work.

TAR3 hit the ground running and is living up to the quality I've come to expect after two seasons. Though I was annoyed that there wasn't a Roadblock in the first leg of the race. And when are they going to break down and have a lesbian on the show??? They've had gay men in every season, in fact they have had at least two in each of the three races and still not a single lesbian -- well, not an open one.

Tough Enough (TE) is starting their third season this Thursday night. We'll probably be out that night, so it will be taped. Our taping schedule is pretty full already: Buffy and that 70s show on Tuesday (decided not to tape Smallville); Enterprise, Twilight Zone, TAR3 and Birds of Prey on Wednesday; Will & Grace & Friends (if we're not home) and now TE2 on Thursdays; John Doe on Fridays; Alias on Sundays (and Angel if we're not home). Still have to check out David E Kelly's new show (I like Kathleen Robertson, not DEK) and 24 doesn't start for a few more weeks, so who knows what we'll end up taping.

Both Buffy and Angel seem to have improved greatly. I had stopped watching Angel about 2/3rds through last season (and I'd only started watching it last fall) and was sticking with Buffy out of loyalty rather than interest (though Evil Willow was worth seeing and I like James Marsters portrayal of Spike). Even my boi is getting into watching with me. The problem is she asks me questions about Angel that I can't answer. I have to remind her that I've only seen about a dozen episodes, but I have picked up some background from knowing the Buffy history of characters and reading forums and recaps online from previous Angel episodes. I think Buffy has me hooked until it ends. We'll see if Angel holds my interest after next week's Las Vegas episode.

And how is it that Alias is actually *better* in the second season (at least so far) than the first? Most shows have a sophomore slump after a good first season. Not complaining at all. Just wondering.

After most of the season premieres I can say TAR3 (tomorrow night!!) and BtVS are the only "must sees" on my list. I'll also be watching Alias, Enterprise, Twilight Zone, John Doe, West Wing, Friends, Will & Grace, Smallville, and Angel, but I won't be upset if I miss a week here or there due to actual living. I won't know about 24 for another month and there's still a few other new shows to give a trial period. Until Tough Enough 3 starts!

I'm running a poll on my main blog, My Journal. We're developing a new feature for our blogs and want some feedback before implementing it. If you're a regular visitor of this or any of our other six blogs (esp. if you read more than one!) please check it out.

Checked out both "Firefly" and "John Doe" on Friday. Not sure either of them is going to be worth watching, but there's nothing else on Friday nights and we're still not going out much. I think I liked JD better. Both shows are beyond predictable. I can already project half the season -- provided they last that long. Dramas on Friday nights haven't done much good rating-wise.

Tomorrow is Buffy and Smallville and the Fraiser wedding. We'll have to watch the tape after we get home from the boi's performance...or maybe we'll get around to watching it this weekend. After all, Wed is "Enterprise" and "Twilight Zone" Thursday is "Friends" and "Will & Grace" (yes, we like comedies too!) and then we're back to Friday again. We agreed to give Ff & JD a few weeks to hold our attention.

The Amazing Race 3 premieres on October 2nd!!!

My boi is devoted to "Enterprise" and I have watched a few episodes. Most likely she'll get me hooked on that with tomorrow's season opener.

As for new shows. We tried "Family Affair" last week and liked the first 30 minutes much better than the second. We concluded it was because in the first half of the premiere the adults outnumbered the children and in the second half the kids were in control. Given that the kids can't even pretend, let alone act, it's doubtful we'll watch again. A shame, since we both adore Tim Curry. We're thinking about giving "Firefly" a chance. Mostly because we love sci-fi, but also because I'm interested in seeing what Josh can do beyond the Buffverse. Also there's one or two new comedies we might check out.

It will all depend on scheduling of our current shows and the amount of time we actually have available to watch television.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- September 24th (Tuesday)
24 -- October 29th (Tuesday)
Frasier -- September 24th (Tuesday)
Alias -- September 29th (Sunday)
Smallville -- September 24th (Tuesday)
Angel -- October 6th (Sunday)
Enterprise -- September 18th (Wednesday)

with no new episodes of anything and a boi who keeps me from watching much tv at all (well, other than reruns of "Voyager" late at night before bedtime), not much to reflect. No movies or books either. My "cultural" life is a bit on hold as I work on building a primary relationship and merging two households into one home.

Gee, I ended up finding a boi who enjoys television as much as I do. If we ever get around to talking about TV I'll recap the thoughts here -- or maybe add her as a team member and let her write herself.

BtVS is done. Battle of the Seasons is done (except for the "live reunion"). TAR2 is over. TE2 has two more weeks. Whatever will I do with my time?

Just because I haven't posted, doesn't mean I haven't been watching. I've just been too busy to post :)

"First Wave" cycled back to the beginning, so I stopped the daily taping and watching. FK is approaching the end of the first season, but I missed a few episodes, so I'll have to catch them the next time around. TAR2 has been wonderful and I, like others on the TWoP forums, am already dreading the TAR-withdrawal that I'll face in three(!!!) short weeks. RW/RRC is dragging along. It's taught me that they really shouldn't throw in so many repeats on a reality show or we'll stop caring. TE2 has slipped in more soap opera crap than last year. It detracts from the actual demands of the competition. If it's not careful, I'll be left with only TAR3 to care about in the world of reality tv.

On the upswing, with the approach of sweeps, BtVS will return with some (finally!) compelling episodes -- at least that's what all the spoilers I've read suggest--and other shows will be pulling out the guest starts and cliffhangers to make things interesting. More importantly, PBS is following up "1900 House" with "Frontier House" and, I, personally, find this type of historical reality show incredibly compelling. Time to invest in some blank videotapes so that I don't miss anything!

Yes, I know I'm a mid-level television addict. It's not as bad as a decade ago when I religiously watched seven (yes SEVEN) soap operas a day in addition to watching nightly television shows and attempting to record every episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" AND "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" in order! Right now I am taping two shows on the Sci-Fi channel that are on while I'm at work(one just to watch because I missed it when the show was first run, the other because I have an incomplete collection of the episodes and it's not available on dvd-- yet). I watch three reality shows religiously (even taping them while I watch in case I need to go back and catch something I missed), and I don't miss a new episode of BtVS.

I'm sure that sounds like a lot. But a month ago two of those reality shows weren't on the air and right now BtVS is mostly reruns. A month from now, "First Wave" will have cycled through the entire three years of the show and I'll stop taping it and "Real World/Road Rules Challenge" will be over. In May BtVS will finish it's season and by July I'll have all of "Forever Knight" on tape and will be able to end that daily recording. Once TAR2 and Tough Enough are finished, I won't have any ongoing TV addictions. Just shows I enjoy when I happen to see them.

Hell, I even told my mom that she can use my TNG collection as blank tapes, because I don't think it's worth her shipping all those tapes to me out here. Seven years of episodes that I worked hard to get in order and I'm thinking just toss them. Of course, I did tell her not to touch anything with DS9 on it or the favorite episodes of "Highlander: The Series" that I collected. And there is the pesky fact that I'm working now to get "Forever Knight" on tape. Still, I think if something is good enough to hold my interest for 10+ years (I remember stumbling across the premiere of FK back in college in 1990) that it's likely to do so for another decade. As enjoyable as I find BtVS, TE, and TAR, I don't think I'll care five years from now. Maybe that's why I'm making a point to enjoy them now.

Someone on a discussion list posted that she hasn't watched tv in five years. I suppose if you have children, two jobs, and are busy running discussion forums and websites as well as having a significant other, tv may not be your first choice for entertainment. I just happen to be one who grew up on television -- and even wanted to write for television for a long time. I doubt I'll ever go five days without turning one on, let alone five years.