Repost: "Television is Srs Bzns"

Those of you who have known me for some time will probably not be surprised, but those of you who have only recently become acquainted with me… well, it’s time you knew the truth.

I am very serious about television.

I’m an active viewer – I’ll yell at the tv, get emotional with the slightest provocation, and rant and/or rave on the internet as appropriate. I’ll critique everything from the acting to the writing to the cinematography, and I’ll sound – if I do say so myself – pretty damn intelligent while doing so. Television is a hobby for me in the same way that building model airplanes is for my father, or that knitting is for my friend Jan.

It is, in short, Very Srs Bzns.  [Use of macro-speak intended to inject some degree of sarcasm. But not too much. Heh.]

As such, tonight I spent a few hours – yes, hours – surveying the major networks’ fall schedules. I decided which shows from last year I’m keeping, which I’m dropping. I selected a few shows I won’t actually watch religiously, but rather as a normal person might – when I catch them, when the synopsis looks particularly intriguing, etc. And I perused the new offerings and selected the ones I’d like to give a try this year.
And then I put it all together in an excel spreadsheet. Which is color-coded. With two worksheets – one for the schedule grid and one for a list of premiere dates.

Yes, I am that nerdy awesome.

If you’re curious, here’s my schedule: On Google Docs

As you can see, Thursday is shaping up to be an extremely full evening for me, although I suspect I will be dropping The Vampire Diaries fairly quickly unless it surprises me.  Luckily, Friday is as ever a slow night for tv, and I can use it and Saturday to play catch-up.  Tuesday might also free up if NCIS and its spin-off don’t keep me invested, though I hear at least NCIS is gearing up for some dramatic happenings in the first few weeks.

I am particularly looking forward to Bones this year. After last year’s wtf-inducing real-universe last five minutes of a stunningly clever alternate universe story, things I’ve been hearing about where they’re taking the story have not only allowed me to make peace with last year’s finale but even to embrace it and get excited about where it will take the characters. Hint: I think it’s going to be AWESOME. I’ve been following @HartHanson on Twitter and he has had some interesting things to say/link to lately. I’m pumped.

My next tier of excitement includes new arrival Glee, whose pilot was screen last year after the American Idol finale. It was an hour of pure happiness for me (in a time before my anti-depressants no less!), so I’m definitely looking forward to that regularly gracing my screen. Along with Glee, I’m eagerly awaiting the return of shows like Lie to Me (I heard a rumor about a Bones crossover that made my heart leap), Castle (loves me my Nathan Fillion), House, How I Met Your Mother (WE ARE MEETING THE MOTHER, FOLKS), CSI: NY (mmm, Gary Sinise), The Mentalist (probably my favorite new show last year), The Office (OMG YOU GUYS JIM AND PAM ARE PREGNANT), and Dollhouse.

I’m also planning on keeping an eye on several returning shows (I heard John Barrowman might join the cast of Desperate Housewives; if he does, I intend to be there) and giving various newbies a try.

Finally, in the midseason I am thoroughly pumped for Lost’s final season (!!!!) and the return of Chuck (woohoo!).

So that’s some idea of the kind of tv talk you’ll be hearing from me in this blog. I’ll try to bring Catholic themes into things when I can (on Bones, for example, you’ll find one of the best Catholic characters ever to appear on primetime TV), but I can’t guarantee that there won’t be posts consisting largely of “DUDE HOW AWESOME WAS THAT?!”  I did warn you from the start that I’m a Catholic Republican fangirl, after all.