Fall TV Preview, Thursday...

What is it about Thursday? Cosby Show, Simpsons, Seinfeld, CSI, Friends, Survivor, Smallville, and countless others all found there stride on the night before the weekend begins. It's actually somewhat depressing because my DVR can only record 2 things at once and Thursday is the one night of the week that I can almost guarantee a conflict which will leave one of my shows waiting at the restaurant for a date that will never arrive.

Which shows will be begging the waiter to hold the table for just five more minutes?

Thursday

Here's the story on Thursday. Of the 13 hours of primetime programming amongst the 5 networks, there are only 2 shows I have no interest in (Big Shots on ABC and Supernatural on CW ). The rest are all shows that I watch, have watched, or would be interested in watching on any other night of the week. The shows that make the cut are the king of Reality Survivor, NBCs comedy 1,2,3 punch (Earl, 30 Rock, and The Office), and the "still fresh after 10 seasons and 2 spin offs" original CSI (seriously, I'm amazed that this show is still so good). Shows I've given up on include Without A Trace (a man can only stand so many of these kind of shows), ER (about 8 years ago I decided it was too much soap and not enough rinse), and the quickly tired Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader (which I liken to doing a show called "Are You Smarter Than a Dog" and then competing against a bloodhound in howling, tracking an escaped convict by smell, and messing on the carpet). The shows that I would probably enjoy but just refuse to start watching are Ugly Betty, Grey's, and Scrubs (on second thought I'll give Scrubs a shot this season). And finally, the shows that I would absolutely watched if my DVR had that elusive third tuner include Smallville and the surely doomed "Don't Forget the Lyrics".

The color coded breakdown:

Green = Will be programmed on my DVR
Blue = Not for me, but feel free.
Red = Move along, nothing to see here.

8PM

ABC - Ugly Betty
CBS - Survivor
CW - Smallville
Fox - Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?
NBC - My Name is Earl

8:30PM

NBC - 30 Rock

9PM

ABC - Grey's Anatomy
CBS - CSI
CW - Supernatural
Fox - Don't Forget the Lyrics
NBC - The Office

9:30PM

NBC - Scrubs

10PM

ABC - Big Shots
CBS - Without A Trace
NBC - ER

Thursday's Total: One 1 hour dramas, Four half hour sit-com, one 1 hour Reality, 4 hours

Overall Total: Nine 1 hour dramas, Seven half hour sit-coms, Two and a half 1 hour Reality, 15 hours