• About

LIVEdigitally

Thoughts on Fall TV 2006 – when did TV get this good?

Posted on October 22, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

For the past three years, my wife and I approach each Fall season with one thought in mind: let’s try not to pick up any new shows.  We have a DVR (Comcast HD – Motorola DCT6412), and have a dozen or so subscriptions, and we just don’t want to spend more time in front of the set than we already do.  Well, the Fall lineup appeared, and with it came a decent set of new shows.

Let’s start with last years’ subscriptions (not necessarily in priority order):

  • Saturday Night Live – sure, it’s 90 minutes, but with a DVR, it’s really about 25 minutes total
  • Grey’s Anatomy – not my pick, but the wife and all the friends love it
  • House – I can’t get enough of the “mysterious ailment drives patient into hospital, doctors wittily convince House to take the case, initial obvious treatment appears to work but almost kills the patient, side antics with some moron with a sexually-related issue that’s instantly solved in a derisive manner, main patient approaches death, inter-doctor conflict ensues, then 6 minutes before the end of the episode House stumbles upon the solution, fade out to cool classic rock music.”  Yeah, it’s formulaic, but I like it.
  • Boston Legal – Shatner and Spader. Nuff said
  • Criminal Minds – This is one of the shows I like to have on the DVR to watch via Slingbox when travelling.
  • The Apprentice – Its our guilty pleasure.  Each year since the first we keep meaning to remove it from the list, but somehow it never disappears.  Plus I auditioned for it once – yeah, it’s true, I admit it.
  • Scrubs – Great show with very underrated writing.
  • Globe Trekker – Nice to see the world we live in, even if it’s not in HD (Equator on Discovery Channel may replace it soon)
  • World Poker Tour – I still like watching TV poker, but this is the only one whose reporting is tolerable (can someone PLEASE replace the WSOP guys, they’re just horrid)
  • My Name Is Earl – Best new show from last year, Jason Lee has found his calling.  Unfortunately it’s a scummy guy-turned ethical, but he’s darn good at it.
  • The Office – Loved the BBC version.  Hated Season One.  Now it’s the best comedy on TV.
  • 30 Days – Of the whole list, this is the one I’d call a must-watch.  Morgan Spurlock’s “reality” show pitting individuals against very alienating situations is very eye-opening.
  • Arrested Development – So good I still watch it. Seen every episode. Willing to see them all again. 
  • Simpsons – It’s really here for nostalgic purposes, as it’s been lousy for a few years running.  I figure the whole season has about enough material for two entire episodes these days.
  • Family Guy – Not as good as the first two years, but has more individual LOL moments than anything else I watch.  Although I didn’t appreciate the so-called “Season Finale” last year, which was really just the Stewie movie divided into three parts.

See, it’s a long list!  Granted, a few of the shows (WPT, Simpsons, SNL) I/we don’t care if they get wiped when the DVR runs out of space, but there’s still just way too much television there. And, yes, there are new ones this year:

  • Psych – I really enjoyed Monk for a year or two before I got tired of the same routine (although Tony Shalhoub is just great). I find Psych is kind of a “Monk 2.0” with a different type of quirkiness.  Fun show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and has some clever moments.  Especially the musical numbers during the closing credits.
  • Studio 60 – It’s good, but not as great as we all want it to be.  The pilot was excellent, but it’s been a few notches below ever since.  Amanda Peet is completely unbelievable in her role, and we need to see a lot more of Timothy Busfield and a lot less Steven Weber.  But I’ll keep a-watching for now.
  • Standoff – The interaction between the couple is a wee bit, shall we say, nauseating, but everything else about the show is great.  I doubt it’ll make it, but I hope it stays alive.
  • Heroes – The best show on television today.  It’s like X-men lite.  Or a more serious Greatest American Hero.  Or Lost without an ever-expanding mystery (nope, I don’t watch Lost.  Why?  Well, I got burned by Twin Peaks, of which I was a huge fan back in the day.  When I have positive confirmation that the entire Lost storyline will make it to air, then I’ll go back and catch up with the DVDs.  Until then, I wait for the mist to clear up a bit).  Actually, it’s not like any of those – it is a truly unclassifiable show. I’d watch it for two hours a week if they’d make it that long. Other than a tiny bit of overacting by a few of the actors, it’s great. If you don’t watch Heroes yet, you are missing out.  It is the best show on television today.

That’s my list or now.  I watched two episodes of 30 Rock and I can’t figure out how such a good premise and cast can be so lame.  Twenty Good Years didn’t even have Twenty Good Minutes, and I felt like Tambor and Lithgow must’ve cringed every time they heard the embarrassing laugh track.  Didn’t want to bother with Brothers & Sisters, or Six Degrees, or The Nine – I hear they are okay, but I’m just saturated in each category they target.

UPDATED: for an excellent counterpoint on the health/quality of TV today, check out Steve Gillmor’s “TV is Dead” post.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Reddit

Related

Posted in General, Guides, Video/Music/Media | 2 Comments
« Carnegie Mellon turns planes into boxes
Checking out at shop.org »

2 thoughts on “Thoughts on Fall TV 2006 – when did TV get this good?”

  1. Emmanuel Huna says:
    October 23, 2006 at 9:05 pm

    Did you ever try “Lost”? Rent the first and second season DVDs, you’ll love it!

    Reply
  2. KJH says:
    October 31, 2006 at 6:18 pm

    Heh. Psych was/is my guilty pleasure. It just had these funny moments and the sidekick’s always incredulous reaction to the lead character was strangely amusing even repeated a hundred times.

    Yeah, real bummer about Arrested Development. Once in a while, it’d be nice to see a network keep a show just b/c it’s good.

    So I gotta tempt you here – check out How I Met Your Mother if only for the Barney character. Remember how a lot of people ‘renamed’ Perfect Strangers to Balky? Well, everyone I know that watches HIMYM calls it Barney now!

    Reply

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About

Jeremy Toeman is a seasoned Product leader with over 20 years experience in the convergence of digital media, mobile entertainment, social entertainment, smart TV and consumer technology. Prior ventures and projects include CNET, Viggle/Dijit/Nextguide, Sling Media, VUDU, Clicker, DivX, Rovi, Mediabolic, Boxee, and many other consumer technology companies. This blog represents his personal opinion and outlook on things.

Recent Posts

  • Back on the wagon/horse?
  • 11 Tips for Startups Pitching Big Companies
  • CES 2016: A New Role
  • Everything I Learned (So Far) Working For a Huge Company
  • And I’m Back…

Archives

Pages

  • About

Archives

  • January 2019
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • May 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • June 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004

Categories

  • Convergence (81)
  • Gadgets (144)
  • Gaming (19)
  • General (999)
  • Guides (35)
  • LD Approved (72)
  • Marketing (23)
  • Mobile Technology (111)
  • Networking (22)
  • No/Low-tech (64)
  • Product Announcements (85)
  • Product Reviews (109)
  • That's Janky (93)
  • Travel (29)
  • Video/Music/Media (115)
  • Web/Internet (103)

WordPress

  • Log in
  • WordPress

CyberChimps WordPress Themes

© LIVEdigitally
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.