I have this love / hate relationship with television...

I really love watching television, but I hate that I waste so much time doing it.

While there is some intrinsic value in the enjoyment of a good program, I am so often troubled at the time that I spend watching TV that could be so much better applied to other pursuits.

Part of the value I get in watching TV is that it is typically time that I get to spend with Jeanie, and that it is a shared experience with her - at least, that's part of the rationalization I make to justify the time.  Part of the reality, I am afraid, is that it is just so easy - expend no effort and be entertained.  I think that there are similarities between watching TV and taking drugs, and I am afraid I've been addicted to TV for as long as I can remember.  As an aside, I had forgotten, but I posted very similar sentiments at the beginning of the 2003 season.  As another aside, the links to programs grids, etc. from this post last year are still valid.

Anyway, so much for philosophizing...

The new season is upon us, and so far, this is what we've watched and our initial opinions:

New Shows

Chuck - Premise is cute, could have potential.

The Big Bang Theory - We will watch a few more shows, but I think the nerds are a bit too far removed from social conventions and the humor could wear thin quickly.

K-Ville - Much better than I had expected from the previews.  We like the two main characters, and their back stories leave lots of room for interesting plots and twists.

Journeyman - We thought the ending of the first show demonstrated creativity so we will keep it on the DVR schedule for a while longer to see how fresh they can keep the stories.

Reaper - Definitely our favorite new show so far.  We enjoyed the first show and thought it was quite humorous.  It will be interesting to see how they can keep things interesting.

Cane - Jeanie enjoyed it.  I didn't watch it as it seems too sad and mean.

Back To You - We're already on the fence.  It's just not that funny.

Private Practice - It has a great cast, but will Shonda be able to do justice to this and Grey's Anatomy at the same time and keep the shows different enough to both stay interesting?

Bionic Woman - We both enjoyed the first show.  I must admit, I was somewhat surprised, as I didn't expect I would.  It's worth giving it a few more chances.

Life - Will it end up being just another episodic cop show, or will they focus on character development.  The fact that it appears they have a plan for a long term secondary story arc holds promise.

Big Shots - It wasn't as bad as I had expected, given that I thought it would be Desperate Housewives but with male leads, but, it might turn out to be another show that Jeanie watches while I do other stuff.  I'll give it another week or two as it does seem to have some potential.

Moonlight - I enjoyed it.  I thought it has an interesting premise.  Jeanie thinks it may be a bit too far out for her.

Returning Shows

How I Met Your Mother - Probably my favorite comedy at the moment.  My guess is it will continue to stay sweet and moderately humorous.

Prison Break - I thought I was going to cut this from our watch list, as it got so mean last year.  It still seems pretty mean, but we've watch two shows so far, and I'm not ready to cut it from the queue yet.

Dancing With The Stars - I must admit, "So you think you can dance" has spoiled me, but we will probably still record it, as we can watch the parts we like in twenty minutes or so.

Two And A Half Men - I wish they would tone down the laugh track - it is really annoying.  Many of the shows are just dumb, but every now and then, there's a really funny one still.

Heroes - Looks like this season may be just as good as last.

NCIS - It will continue to remain on our list of scheduled recordings.

Bones - It will continue to remain on our list of scheduled recordings.

The Unit - It will continue to remain on our list of scheduled recordings.

House - Jeanie still enjoys it, but I found House to be just a bit too annoying.  I guess that's what some people like about the show, but I think it is time for him to develop a bit more humanity and humility.

Boston Legal - I was concerned that the John Larroquette character was going to be too big an ass, but, maybe not.  If nothing else, we can always count on a few laughs, a thought provoking case, and some entertaining weirdness.

Eureka - Jeanie is bored with the show, and I must admit, they haven't done as good a job of character development or fleshing out secondary plots lines as I would like.  Probably good that the season ends this week...

Grey's Anatomy - This will continue to be our #1 couples show.  Some shows get recorded in the living room because we prefer to watch them earlier in the evening, or on the larger screen, some get recorded in the bedroom just because we already have two other shows recording in the living room at the same time a third (or fourth) is airing.  Some shows, like Grey's Anatomy, intentionally get recorded in the bedroom.

Ghost Whisperer - Jeanie and I had stopped watching about 1/2 way through last season.  The plots were getting repetitive and there was too much focus on the "bad guys."  We decided to give it another try this season and while I am guessing we won't make it through the whole season, we might watch a few more shows.

Las Vegas - Jeanie stayed loyal last season, I was hit and miss.  We watched the two hour season opener, and I think that with the cast changes, there's some room for the writers to add some interest.

Brothers and Sisters - this will remain another one of our bedroom favorites.

Shows on hiatus

Some of the shows we will look forward to coming back in the spring include:

Burn Notice - we both really enjoyed this show, and I think there's still lots of room to keep it interesting.

Psych - one of the few shows that generally manages to hold our interest, even without long story arcs or significant character development.

Monk - I get a bit tired of Monk's OCD, but I still enjoy watching it with Jeanie.

Side Order of Life - Jeanie enjoys it more than I do, but I enjoy watching it with her, and it is often sweet and occasionally funny.

Army Wives - A good mix of single episode stories and multi-episode story arcs, interesting characters with good character development, and lots of room to explore existing plot elements.

Lost - February can't get her soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

24 - Last season started wearing a bit thin in spots, but we'll sign up for another season with Jack.

October Road - It wouldn't break my heart it if didn't come back, but I think it will and we'll probably watch another season.

Shows we're sad got canceled

Raines - We really enjoyed this show.  Probably our biggest disappointment for a new show last season that didn't make it.

Crossing Jordan - Yes, it was probably time, but we still enjoyed it.

Day Break - We found it interesting, and they could have at least provided one last show to explain everything.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - This eased our "West Wing" withdrawal.  Oh well, at least they had the decency to tie up the series and provide closure .

General commentary

In general, it seems that Jeanie and I both tend to favor shows that focus on character development / growth and that have multi-episode (or longer) story arcs.  The story arcs don't need to be the main driving force of the plot, although that's okay, but they should serve as threads that tie one show to the next and provide some development of the character or secondary story elements.  Neither of us like shows with excessive, gratuitous violence (I am a bit more tolerant of this than Jeanie) or have characters that are too mean (Jeanie is a bit more tolerant of this than me).  If the show can have a mix of dramatic and comedic elements, so much the better.  A few laugh till your sides hurt shows would be nice, but alas, it has been years since I can remember one of those...

It's interesting to me how my memory works...

There was this TV show I remembered from my childhood.  I had what I thought was a fairly clear memory of the show as I had always liked this particular story.  I thought it was an episodic anthology series like "The Twilight Zone" or "The Outer Limits."  I remembered that the story had something to do with a man and his dog and going to heaven.  I remembered that the man was sitting on a bench in a foggy area with his dog laying at his feet, and another man came by and told him that he would lead him to heaven, but the dog was obviously distrustful of this other man, and when the first man agreed to go, but insisted that he be able to take his dog, the second man indicated that dogs weren't allowed in heaven, so the first man said in effect, if I can't take my dog, I'd rather not be there.  The man sitting on the bench in my recollection was an older, run of the mill, city type person - the type you might expect to see in a large office in the 1950's or 1960's.  Finally the other man left and then a short time later, yet another man came by and said he was there to lead the man to heaven.  The first man said that someone else had already offered to lead him to heaven, but that he wasn't going since he couldn't take his dog.  The other man says "of course you can take your dog," so they walk off.  Before they all go off screen, the other man pauses for a moment, and a look of realization appears on his face and he indicates that the first other man was the devil taking one last shot to lure the man into hell.

Well, as far as I can tell, I watched that show last night.  It was an episode from the old "The Twilight Zone" named "The Hunt."

The interesting thing to me was that I correctly remembered the major point of the story - that the man's loyalty to his dog (and the implication that a dog can sometimes have a better sense about people and things than a person might) saved him from being misled into hell - but I was totally mistaken on the setting and characterization of the main character -  an old country/mountain type person who had been out coon hunting with his dog.

Since I was young when I saw it, I guess I got the moral, but placed it in a context that was more familiar to a kid who had lived in the city his whole life and who's family worked in office environments.

After doing some internet seaching to see if there were multiple tellings of the same story using different presentations (as far as I could tell, there were not) I learned that the story was written by Earl Hamner, better known for creating, writing, producing and narrating "The Waltons."

A good summary of the key portion of the story can be found in this article from the University of Cincinnatti Magazine.

Three other sites that portray the story in slightly differing variants (although none correctly attributed) can be found here: 1, 2, 3.

I guess I am sentimental.  I enjoyed going back to my childhood memory, even if it was distorted, and I definitely enjoyed reliving the moral and the happy ending.

I found these a while ago...

So many shows, so little time...

I love my Kyocera 7135 phone, which is a combination of a cell phone and a Palm based PDA...

Oh my goodness. We had to wait quite a few weeks to get started with this season's 24, but oh my! ...

Finally, new shows!

Sort of...

Yea! 24 is back.

I've watched a few more episodes, and the verdict is in.

These are the shows that we make sure to tape if we're not going to be able to watch them in real time:

Jeanie left to go out of town yesterday, so I finally got to watch a couple of new TV shows that had looked interesting.

When I was growing up, such a question would never have crossed my mind.

I am so glad that Farscape has started its new season. The next episode should be really good, with the reunions with both Moya and Aeryn.