Where Had I Gone, Joe DiMaggio??

Hey folks,

Been a while, no?

Sometimes life gets in the way of things we intend to do...and that's pretty much what happens with this blog every so often. Well...more than every so often...Actually, every so often I sit down and bang out an entry exclaiming why I haven't done this in a while and we go back to silence for a few months.

But I've kind of missed doing this on a somewhat regular basis. Sure, Facebook status updates seem to take it's place on a daily basis...but it's not the same.

So we start, like I have with a whole bunch of things lately, with baby steps. Slowly getting myself back into the swing of things. Today, we take a look at the last few days in TV watching and what's on the DVR.

I used to enjoy writing about the end of each TV season and giving quick "shout outs" to shows not returning and previewing shows that will be new in the fall. But honestly, did I really care to write about "Flash Forward" at the end of last season when I still had a backlog of five episodes to catch up on that I didn't care to watch (they finally got erased from both DVRs this week to make room for new episodes and quite frankly if I ever get a hankering to see the show again instead of reading Wikipedia to find out how it ended, there are other options).

So Monday night brought the first new episode of "House." What can I say about the show? It's still well written and well acted and it's gonna be interesting to see where they take the whole House/Cuddy relationship (I believe they're now referred to as "Huddy" in the press as if they were a fictional version of "Bennifer").

We recorded "Chuck" but haven't gotten around to it yet. Looking forward to it in spite of really hoping they'd cast Lynda Carter as Chuck's mom (not that it was ever mentioned or even rumored, it was just a wish of mine). I'm sure Linda Hamilton will be fine.

Since my CBS boycott ended with the premiere of "Criminal Minds" five years ago, we decided to test the waters on a few new shows. Because both my wife and I are struggling with weight issues, we watched "Mike and Molly". While there are lots of stereotypes and old fat jokes, the leads are really likable and engaging and I'm hoping the show will grow out of it. We'll see where it's at after 5 episodes (which is two more than my usual 3 episode tryout).

I also braved the waters of "Hawaii Five-O" myself. This remake feels more like they took some names and a theme song from an old show and blended it with the cliches of a bunch of other shows. One annoying thing is the way too fast-paced editing and dark lighting. I didn't notice until the end when they killed the bad guy that it was James Marsters. It was enjoyable enough and certainly something that can be "noise" in the background while I'm doing other things (like maybe writing one of these). We'll see what the next two episodes bring.

I did record "The Event" but haven't gotten to it yet.

Tuesday night brought a new episode of "Glee" and what has to be the funniest concept for a new character in a while, the new female football coach. I'm embarrassed to admit I thought it was a guy playing a woman, but apparently that's a female. The show's still as goofy as ever (for a Glee Club with no budget, since it keeps getting slashed, they seem to be able to break out into well lit and finely edited musical montages without getting weird looks from the other students) and remains a guilty pleasure for us.

We did record "Raising Hope" and "Running Wild" but have not gotten to them yet.

Wednesday brought back new episodes of ABC's sitcom triple threat of "The Middle", "Modern Family" and the unfortunately named "Cougar Town." All three shows started the season off on the same foot they ended last season -- the funny one. To have a good two hour block of comedy though, the network is gonna have to find a better show than "Better With You" which was little more than a cutesy, cliched and negligible show that has trapped some good talent in sitcom limbo. I'd like to toss out the idea of bringing back "Better Off Ted" which the network squandered for two seasons...not that it'll ever happen, but it would make a nice compliment.

I recorded the season premiere of "Criminal Minds" but I don't know how long it'll take me to get to it. I kinda fizzled out half way through last season and haven't caught up. No real reason for that beyond life getting in the way.

And while I also recorded "The Defenders" and "The Whole Truth" I don't think I actually care about watching them and will most likely delete them unless someone can give me good reason not to.

Thursday night was a long night as we went to see "1776" at Curtain Call (Stamford's Community Theater) and didn't get back until 11:30 since it's a three hour show. But we did unwind with the new episodes of "Community" and "30 Rock" and were much happier after all that funny. (I do wish Cablevision's DVRs would actually accept recordings to go over by a minute -- you can program it, but it never seems to stick -- cause we keep losing the very end of "Community" and the bits with Abed and Troy are hysterical).

We also caught "S*&! My Dad Says" which was funnier than it should have been since it's based on some guy's Twitter account (something that "Community" poked fun at nicely).

I caught up on "Fringe" and "The Apprentice" since my wife doesn't care for either show. "Fringe" is probably the best secret on TV. I don't know why I'm still watching "The Apprentice". I think doing so stops me from going out to look at car accidents.

The last thing I watch before going to bed every night is "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". It is as much "news" as any of the hour long talking head shows on any of the 24/7 cable noise channels, but with much more humor. And while Stewart does lean to the left, he is able to dish it out to both sides with ease. I'll probably tackle some political topics around Election Day for the hell of it since it seems like everyone else yaps about it 24/7 in other venues. So maybe I should make them feel the way I do when I read their one-sided, narrow-minded screeds?

Anyway...will report on/review the shows I've recorded but not seen as I watch them and will do the same with other stuff I'm planning on watching...

So until then...be seeing you.