I haven't watched Joey at all, which received mixed to mostly positive reviews. I don't really miss Friends that much cause its on TBS all the time and I have four seasons of it on DVD. The ending was very satisfying for me, so I'm all good. With the absense of Friends, there were really only a few shows left on the air that I watch, TV shows that Angie calls "appointment TV." As follows:
Alias
Arrested Development
Gilmore Girls
Saturday Night Live
Will and Grace
(In addition to these, I still watch Roseanne in syndication as well as The X-Files. That's actually about all I watch on TV believe it or not. People always say I watch a lot of TV which I don't think I do. I digress. Also, I'm addicted to Great Hotels on the Travel Channel. I love hotels, but you probably already knew that!) 3 of the shows have already debuted new episodes. Arrested, like most of Fox shows, restarts in November and Alias returns in January. I do watch The Simpsons, but since it is not an arc-y show, I can watch random episodes. I will definately watch the episode where Patty comes out of the closet and marries a woman after Springfield legalizes gay marriage. Of the 3 shows that have premiered, how are they faring?
Gilmore Girls - B+ (so far for 2 episodes in season 5)
ABC Family just started running reruns since the show is now officially in that wonderful TV term: syndication. I caught several episodes today, but the show starts from the beginning weekdays at 5PM. Great. I hope they run it late nights, too. The season premiere of GG felt more like a season finale, and the second episode felt more like a season premiere. The first episode was fine, but when compared to the show's other episodes was kind of weak. The second episode picked up and was an improvement. Perhaps I just want Rory to get back to Yale so we get more of Paris. Paris is a cross between Reese Witherspoon's character Tracy Flick in Election and any classic Woody Allen character. I just love her. She's been MIA for the first two episodes. For those of you who love great writing, GG is probably the best written show on television. Yes, believe it or not, fake people have more interesting things to say than those bores/stereotypes on reality shows. The GG town of Stars Hollow is filled with so many loveably neurotic characters that it adds a whole new color to the lush New England town (filmed in Hollywood, damn it!) The show is heading in a good direction this season. Rory is a homewrecker, Luke and Lorelai are hooking up. The elder Gilmores are splitting up. It will create a very interesting, and always watchable show. If you haven't heard me rave like a madman about Lauren Graham before, here goes: Lauren Graham for the past couple of years has been the hottest non-Jennifer on TV. With Aniston gone and Garner not coming back till January, Lorelai Gilmore is the sexiest woman on television. She's hysterical. Give her an Emmy already. She's funny. She is probaby my favorite funny lady on TV this side of Tina Fey.
Saturday Night Live - C (so far for episode 1 of season 30)
SNL premiered this past weekend with an episode that while being superior to last year's horrid Jack Black/John Mayer opener was still a dismal effort. It had its moments, as ALL SNL's do. The "cold opening" - that's actually the official term for the pre-credits typically political sketch - was funny, a bit long though. The monologue was charming with an appearance by Alec Baldwin. Then they did exactly what they shouldn't have: Debbie Downer. It probably would have been best to let this one go as a butgusting flub, but you just knew they were going to milk it. Mistake! The next sketch proves why John Kerry should be president: Seth Meyers as him and better yet, Maya Rudolph as Teresa Heinz Kerry. (Hey, that's reason enough for me to elect someone.) After this was Weekend Update which is ALWAYS worth watching even if the episode isn't. First off, I read that Tina Fey was doing it solo this year, which would have been fine for me. I love Miss Fey. Her delivery is perfect. Imagine my surprise when a few hours before 11:30 I learned that Amy Poehler would be co-anchoring. I love Miss Poehler. I actually have no clue who I prefer more. It was my original hope that these two would do it (Update!) together, if not Seth Meyers. Because of Seth's Kerry duties, Amy was probably the ideal candidate. Her first stab at Update was a bit rusty, but she'll pull through. I remember the first time I saw Fallon and Fey. I thought it was awful. It seemed so bad. Then, I loved them. Poehler was adorable when she cheered herself on her first joke. The two look smoking together behind the desk, and with so many generic real newscasters poluting the airwaves with their seriousness, it is a joy to see Fey and Poehler's offbeat sexiness.
Plus, that Monster referenced floored me.
Fey: It'll be like that movie Monster.
Poehler: Does this mean you're gonna kill me?
Fey: No. It means I'm gonna kill other people. You get to be my girlfriend.
Poehler: COOL!
Will and Grace - C+ (for first 3 episodes of Season 7)
Last season was made up of about 67% dismal episodes and 33% episodes where I was laughing out loud. Since we are 3 episodes into this season, that ratio is holding up. The season premiere was great. I watched it twice and laughed very hard both times. The second yielded some laughs at the beginning but couldn't get much out even when Arrested Development's Gob (Will Arnett, Amy Poehler's real life husband!) showed up as Jack's competitor for a spot on Janet Jackson's dance team. The third episode saw the return of Molly Shannon as the insane Val, who Grace joined at AA meetings cause they had free food and Grace could talk all she wanted. The other storyline saw Will and Jack being used as test audiences to a gay network being put on the air. These sound like comedic gold, but something was lacking. It may be that the shows original producers sabotaged most of Season 6 and are now no longer part of the show at all. Who knows? This show is taking lots of flack from critics for its (over)use of guest stars. Personally, I love this show when it just goes completely over the top instead of when it is just a sitcom. The guest stars add to the former. See the episodes with Sandra Bernhard (Grace singing Midnight Train to Georgia makes me piss myself almost), Madonna, Minnie Driver, Michael Douglas, Glenn Close and my two personal faves: Matt Damon's gay chorus episode and the series best episode which finds Mira Sorvino playing the only woman Will has ever slept with. I love the characters on this show and think they are so perfectly played that when watching them struggle, it hurts. Here's hoping W&G finds its groove again.
So this leads up to the only new TV show I have seen this season:
Desperate Housewives - A- (for first episode)
Cheerily upbeat and tinged with some nasty acidic humor, Desperate Housewives is a delicious concoction of soapy serial and deviously comedic self parody. It manages to be campy and - get this! - well made, going after all the things we love about soaps: watching the rich screw their lives over and suffer. It does this with such witty writing and deadpan humor. The show contains at least a half dozen quote-worthy lines. I have no idea if this show will catch on, but I asked my mom what she thought of it afterwards and she smiled and said "that was pretty good" which in my mom's terms is a very high recommendation. I'm hoping it does catch on, as the show gives up a few deliriously cliched setups that you just can't wait to see what the creators will do. The cast is flawless. My favorite - no surprise! - is Marcia Cross. You know she's gonna do something crazy. She's that evil Stepford (hey! they even mentioned Stepford!) bitch, and Cross muc the same way she did on Melrose Place hits the role out of the ballpark. I also surprisingly enjoyed Teri Hatcher and her banter with her daughter. You don't have to be Desperate to watch these Housewives. Lame, I know.
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