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).