May 27, 2011

TV Season Recap for Friday Fun(ny)!

I think I covered just about everything I watch this season, with a few minor exceptions that don’t really matter anyway!

So, without further ado, here is my 2010-2011 TV Recap!

Gossip Girl

I initially started watching this show because everyone was talking about it. I stuck around because I love good characters and even though some of them annoy me, the majority of the kids on the show make for great characters. Who doesn’t love Chuck Bass? He’s hot and charming and such an awesome bad boy. This season didn’t start off too well, the Juliet nonsense got to be a bit much after a while, but I liked how they tied it all into the Serena and Ben thing that “obviously” happened while she was in HS. I’m glad they got rid of Jenny, she was too much, and Vanessa, hopefully is on her way out too. The Thorpes were a nice addition half way through and their story took an interesting turn to say the least! Even though these people are rich and I don’t really relate to them, the family drama of it all is what keeps me watching, not to mention Blair is funny as hell, especially when she’s with Dorota.


Hawaii 5-0

This is probably one of my new favorite shows of the season. Of course, I started watching because Alex O’Laughlin and Daniel Dae Kim are hot, but after the very first episode I knew I would love it because the cast is amazing! Grace Park, yet again, in a man role…gotta love her! What I wasn’t expecting was to absolutely love Scott Caan. The chemistry between him and O’Laughlin is one of the best cop-duo’s I’ve seen in a while. From what I’ve read the season’s long plot closely mirrored the original and boy did they do a bang up job toward the end. I never saw the “accomplice” coming! They ended the season with a major cliff hanger, but we all know things will work out early on because the show is doing great and they aren’t going to mess with this cast!


The Event

It’s canceled. I really don’t even want to talk about it….but I will, for a minute. It was GOOD! I don’t understand why Sci-Fi has such a hard time getting attention! Watching it aggravated me too, mostly because a Sci-Fi Romance I’ve been working on has some similar plot points…and that always seems to happen to me. I do hope it gets picked up elsewhere, there are some loose ends I’d love to see tied.


Chase

A show about US Marshalls. I think they moved this show from Monday to another day, but I’ve been watching it on demand. It’s not great, but it is entertaining, and you don’t have to think too much. A few of the episodes were stellar; one of them even helped me with a novella I was writing, so I have to give it some props. Not sure if it’s canceled or not.

No Ordinary Family

Another canceled show! GRR. This show was fantastic! It had everything a Superhero-Sci-Fi show should have. Powers! Awesome Sidekicks! Drama! Laughs! Villains! I don’t get it, seriously…

The Cape

Oh yes indeed…Canceled! Not as good as No Ordinary Family, but I feel pretty much the same, it was finding its footing and getting there!

Harry’s Law
I didn’t finish watching the first season, but I plan to this summer. Great show, great cast, great premise. I hope they kept Christopher McDonald around, he’s brilliant.

Being Human (US)
I watched for five minutes and turned it off. Doesn’t even compare to the UK version.

Glee

You either love this show or hate it, I think. Being a choir kid myself (school and church if you can believe it), I had to watch this show. I was hooked from the first episode last season. The second season finale left me kinda empty, but overall I loved the season. The writers have a great way of getting very serious information across to young people without being preachy. A show like this should have been on the air years ago, but we all know what happened the last time they tried a musical show on TV…we got Cop Rock! AUGH! Thankfully, this is nothing like it and uses the musical aspect to its advantage. That Leah Michele can sing her ass off. ‘Nuff Said.

Biggest Loser

This may be the last season I watch since Jillian isn’t coming back, but I do love Bob, so we’ll see. Not much to critique on this one, I mainly continue to watch because I’m a sucker for before and afters and watching the show helps me stay on track with my own diet and exercise!

American Idol
I’m mad. Not talking about it. *pout*

Undercovers

Canceled. Not even going to bother…

The Defenders

Surprise, CANCELED! Don’t know why this one was canceled. O’Connell and Belushi had such great chemistry I was certain it was going to make it. When they brought Dan Akroyd in toward the end of the season I was in heaven…it was amazing. Oh well.

L&O: SVU

This is probably the last season of SVU I’ll be watching. Stabler isn’t coming back and I think BD Wong is leaving too. As much as I love the rest of the cast, I can’t see Benson partnering up with another else for the whole season and it being as good as it’s been. Damn shame.

Law and Order: Los Angeles

CANCELED! What the hell? Half the shit I watch this year is already gone! True, it wasn’t the best spin-off of the L&O franchise, but it was picking up steam. They killed off Skeet half way through the season and replaced him with Molina, it didn’t help much. Another oh well.

Survivor

I will always watch this show because I am a people watcher. Watching people in this game setting is a great way to observe personalities and interactions of people from different generations and backgrounds. I had a feeling Boston Rob was going to go all the way once he got his tribemates wrapped around his finger. I was right. Good job Boston Rob!

Human Target

Guess what? Canceled! I’m still bitter about this one. I think someone, somewhere, told the writers or executive producers to add girls or something to the second season to pull in the female audience. WHY? I was perfectly happy with the way it was and I’m a girl! Okay, I’m a tomboy girl but I’m still a girl and didn’t need those chicks on my show and often told them to get off my show while watching it. Guess they didn’t hear me. Grrr. You suck Fox.

Criminal Minds

The season began with one of the best JJ episodes I’ve ever seen….then they got rid of her, then they brought her back for an episode, let her go again, then brought her back the very last episode for 8.5 seconds. Glad they made up their freaking minds (haha) and decided to keep her. We fans were PISSED! When they got into the whole Prentiss back story, I found a new level of respect for her and loved how she turned into a badass toward the end. Not to worried if she doesn’t come back or not, though she’ll be missed. I’m super glad they are giving Garcia more face time outside of her office and I hope they continue to do so in the future, she’s my fave. And of course, Morgan is super yummy.

Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior

CANCELED! WTF? OMG? Okay, I’ll admit, it wasn’t great. I preferred Garafalo on 24, but Garcia was on the show so I had to watch. I’m really, really pissed off with it right now because of the stupid cliffhanger ending, so I’ll just shut up now before I start dropping the F-Bomb all over this blog.

Shit My Dad Says

Yep, you guessed it, CANCELED! It was FUNNY! Really, it was. I needed a few episodes to find its groove like any show, but half way through it found a nice balance, especially when Jean Smart came on board. I don’t normally watch Comedy shows, but I made an exception for this because it’s the Shat and he’s the man and the Priceline Negotiator…what’s not to love? Yet another oh well.

Big Bang Theory

Great show. Sheldon Rocks. That is all.

CSI
I still miss Grissom, but it keeps my interest. I love Greg.

Fringe

Probably the only network Sci-Fi show that has any chance of making it a couple more seasons. Boy did they mind-fuck us this year! What I loved most about this season, aside from the universe hopping was how they made the audience unsure who they should root for. Both sides seemed to be doing what they thought was best for their world under the circumstances and the reasons why said things had to happen made it even harder to pick a side. The entire cast did an outstanding job playing their prime and parallel characters with enough differences to really make you believe they were different people. I also love how they use the comments and feedback and names the fans gave to the characters and put them in the show! JJ Abrams (brilliant man, I love you!) did the same thing with LOST. It’s hilarious. I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do next year.

The Mentalist

Patrick Jane is one of my favorite police procedural lead actors right now. He’s quirky and smart, drives everyone around him crazy but usually gets his man (or woman) in the end with a Sherlock Holmes style wrap up. The hunt for Red John continued throughout this season with more focus on other cases and letting the main plot sink below the surface. The Van Pelt-Rigsby love fest worked for me and I really hated her new boyfriend…and with reason, he was an accomplice! I didn’t think he was Red John but I didn’t think he was in on it either, so good form, they got me. Casting Bradley Whitford was spot on…though I don’t think he was/is Red John either.

The Good Guys

Speaking of Whitford, he was AMAZING in this show. Why do TV networks spend so much time and money on new shows and give them NO chance to find an audience? Guess what? Not every show can be in the top twenty when there are 500 shows to pick from! Jeeze! This show had everything a comedy cop show should have and I love the way they presented the cases to the audience, usually with the end at the beginning and lots of rewinds and flashbacks. It’s a shame, Colin Hanks was a fantastic straight-man to Whitford’s funny man. Every time he said computer machine I almost peed my pants. I know TMI, deal with it.

Supernatural

First of all, Weekend at Bobby’s was one of my favorites of the season. I love how ALL the songs in that episode were country. Perfect. Second, I love Castiel. Third, considering the creator of the show jumped ship last season after he told the story he needed to tell, I think the writers did a great job of keeping the vibe of the show running smoothly. Parts of it felt like season one again but darker and more urgent like later seasons. The filler episodes were funny, especially the one where they jumped into reality world. I would have loved to see more of the old cast return, they did a great job bringing Ellen back. Papa Winchester would have been amazing, but I guess he’s too “famous” now.

Smallville

Ah, what a way to go. I had tears in my eyes for the last ten or so minutes of the series finale a few weeks back. I’ve never read any of the Superman comic books, so story wise, I can’t tell you how the show stacked up to the Superman Lore, but I enjoyed this final season tremendously. It was sad loosing Chloe for most of the episodes, though I’m glad she and the others came back for the finale. I was very sad to see the show end, however, it ended perfectly, exactly how it should have ended. Wish they’d made a movie. (I love you Papa Kent!)

Spartacus: Gods of The Arena

Not nearly as good as the Spartacus: Blood and Sand season, but still entertaining and hot.


The Killing

Still in the season, won’t comment for now, but it’s good…soooooo good. Michelle Forbes should get an Emmy.

Doctor Who
The first two episodes of this season were so good I didn’t know how they were going to top it…then they gave me The Doctor’s Wife! By far my favorite episode ever and I’m a 10th Doctor freak. That’s saying something. More to come, so that’s all for now!


DVD Shows:

Dexter

I just finished season 4. Wow, what an amazing show. Okay, I admit, I have a fascination with serial killers. No, I don’t want to be one, nor do I think they should be glorified by any means, but Dexter is different…and fictional, so it’s okay to love him. I haven’t read the books and probably won’t for various reasons, but I’m sticking with this show until the very end…it’s just that good.

Castle

I wanted to watch this one when it came out but the DVR only lets you record two shows, as you may or may not know, so I had to stick with the shows I love first. I got the first season on DVD for my birthday and watched them all on lazy Sunday afternoon. Instantly hooked! Season two is on its way via Netflix next week, so I hope to be caught up soon!

Whew.

I guess it’s a good thing half those shows are canceled…I don’t think there’s enough time next season to watch them all anyway. I tell my friends and my brother every season that I’m not going to watch any new shows and it never really works out that way. I’ve already said it once, but I know of at least two shows I will check out when they start. However, next season, I think I’m just going to stick with what I know. If I do like any new shows, I’m going to wait for the end of the season to see if they are picked up for a second, then I will go back and watch on DVD or On Demand. I swear! No, really! Okay, maybe…it really depends.

Summer TV is off to a great start! I’m looking forward to seeing some of favorites return. We’ll talk more about them later, sound good?

What did you love this season? What are you pissed about?

 By the way...have a great and safe holiday weekend! 





3 comments:

Larry Payne said...

Jenn, I feel your pain about The Event and Chase and also Chicago Code. After seeing the shows that got renewed,it leaves me scratching my head.I'm keeping my fingers crossed that another network picks them both up like they did with Criminal Intent and Ghost Whisperer.
Not being a fan of redos, I swore off Hawaii 5-0 and their eye candy cast. How can you redo a show as great as 5-0.Kono in a bikini? Give me a break. Not impressed.
I was sorry to hear about Stabler leaving SVU, but I could live with it if they team Finn and Benson.
Being a selective reality show fan, I did pick up Undercover Boss to go along with Survivor and Amazing Race.
The Killing rocks. Reminds me a little bit of Twin Peaks. Loved that one too.

My Winter TV watching by night:
SUN
Amazing Race,Undercover Boss,CSI:Miami and The Killing.
MON
Minute To Win It, The Event(cancelled,Chicago Code(cancelled), Harry's Law(Love Kathy Bates)
Tue
NCIS,NCIS:LA (The whole cast rocks on both shows)
WED
Survivor,Chase(cancelled), Ghost Hunters
Thur
CSI(I still think Grissom's coming back)L&O:SVU
Fri
Blue Bloods(Another Tom Selleck Hit),Camelot(Better than I expected)

Thank Goodness for DVRs, otherwise I'd never be able to watch everything. Looking forward now to my favorite summer shows.

Jenn Nixon said...

Hey Larry,

We have lots of shows in common...are you sure Chase got canceled? That sucks!

You know Finn and Benson might work!

And I'm looking forward to summer TV this year. I have a feeling it's almost better than regular now a days!

Larry Payne said...

I see that the second half of the season on L&O:SVU Benson is only going to be on part time. In the show she's taking a promotion and she won't be as prominent as she is now. Supposedly, Jennifer Love Hewitt has signed on as a new detective to replace Benson. If Stabler and Benson are gone, I may have to dump SVU.