Oh Television. I am neither your advocate nor your enemy. There was that year, I lived without you and admittedly I didn’t miss you that much. When you are around, I have a nasty habit of wasting too much time with you and not enough time on other pursuits.
Though I watch television, I feel some disappointment that “reality” shows and competitions have taken over. I can’t deny that there are times I get sucked into watching some awful reality show while flipping channels. But watching reality television is like eating a Twinkie instead of a homemade cupcake. While the Twinkie may immediately taste good, it’s never has satisfying as a homemade cupcake and you are left wondering why you wasted the calories on it.
While reality shows spawn, I pray for some good sitcoms to save my weekday evenings. I miss the days of FRIENDS and Gilmore Girls. Or even some good dramas, like when Grey’s Anatomy was still good (sorry, I stopped watching even before Katherine Heigel decided she was too big for her breeches).
So the Fall TV Season has started up, and I feel a surge of optimism. So many sitcoms popping up. But I know that they all can’t be good. And often the ones I like the best will be likely be canceled.
I have watched the pilots for 3 new sitcoms: New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, and Up All Night.
New Girl is the latest project of Zooey Deschanel. The premise is that Zooey Deschanel is a geeky girl who was cheated on and now is starting life a new with three male roommates. While, I know Zooey Deschanel is quite popular, I do not see this show going very far. The plot of the pilot was transparent. And the way Zooey Deschanel plays geeky comes off as someone cool trying to pretend to be geeky. If Zooey was ever a geek in her life, she doesn’t bring the experience to her character. It comes off like someone who is cool pretending to be geeky. Basically, it seems like the show tries to cue us that she is a geek because she is wearing glasses. Lame. The supporting actors playing her roommates are stereotypes and have no depth to latch on to. I may watch another episode, if I remember or happen upon it but will not be going out of my way.
2 Broke Girls is a new CBS show about 2 young waitresses. One is a sarcastic working class girl and one that is rich girl who lost all her money due to her dad’s fraudulent activities. If you can suspend some issues of reality like why a rich girl has to get a job at a diner or if the two girls would actually become friends, it’s a cute show. I like Kat Dennings, who plays the sarcastic working class girl, though it seems she always plays a similar characters (see: Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist). There are some funny jokes and I like the concept. I will try and remember to add this to my DVR queue, but I am not making any promises. I also have a feeling this will be canceled after about 3 to 4 episodes, only because some of the jokes may be a little too hip for the average prime time crowd.
Finally, Up All Night is a show about new parents. As a new parent myself, the jokes in the pilot were funny because they were true. My husband and I watched this together and laughed while giving each other the look of “this is totally our life now.” Also, Will Arnett and Christina Appelgate have great comic timing. One-liners that may have fallen flat other wise shine because they know how to deliver them just so. I will watch more episodes but I am uncertain if other people will. It seems things I find hilarious don’t always make it.
Other shows I am watching that are starting back up this Fall are How I Met Your Mother, House and Gossip Girl. The season premier for How I Met Your Mother was great but if we don’t freaking find out who their damn mother is this season, I think a lot of people are going to picket. House starts back in October. The preview looks interesting with Dr. House in prison. My husband kindly reminds me that House has a tendency to start strong and finish weak. Also with Lisa Edelstein (Dr. Cuddy) leaving the show, I don’t know if I should get too excited for this season. I’ll still keep it on the DVR queue, regardless. As for Gossip Girl, this is my guilty pleasure. The show is ridiculous to the max, and I know it. This season starts with much of the cast in Los Angeles, which will be entertaining if only to see my beloved city through the eyes of GG, but I have a feeling this season is going to kind of suck and I would assume may be the final season for the show.
In the end, its all just TV, something to allow me to switch my brain off for an hour or so and at least the networks are trying some real shows