Momentum: Day 4

Thoughts on today brought to you live from the best ride at any of the Disney parks.

The Surprise Assignment.

The Surprise Reversal.

Momentum: Day 3

Curbside report from Day 3 of Momentum 2009 in Orlando.

The infamous Barlowgirl intro.

Momentum: Day 2

A look at Day 2 of Momentum 2009

This is how I roll.

Momentum: Day 1

Video blog of my adventures in Orlando at the Momentum Conference. Here's what happened on day 1.

21 Hours of TV Fall Preview (Weekend and Final Tally)...

Thank God it's Friday. I've already packed the rest of my week with 18 and a half hours of TV, leaving just 2.5 hours of weekend viewing. The good news is that the networks are in the utterly ridiculous habit of using the weekend for a dumping ground of shows that are either A) lousy or B) a repeat of something from earlier in the week. It's all based on the theory that people are out doin' stuff on Friday and Saturday night and don't care to sit down and watch TV, which again, is all fine and dandy if your audience has never heard of DVRs or "the internets". Whatever the case, it's a nice respit for someone who is trying to squeeze everything into 21 hours. Let's see if we can make it happen!

Friday

The only thing worth mentioning on Friday night is the second season of Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse". Though it started off shaky at the beginning of it's debut season, it eventually caught momentum in the last handful of episodes and I now find myself pretty invested in the world of actives and dolls. There are some really interesting philosophical and practical conversations to be had at The Rossom Corporation and I'm anxious to see where they lead. With four kiddos in my home between 4 and 10, I've also briefly flirted with watching "Suppernanny"..... wait, I mean "Supernanny", though I suppose we could use a supper nanny as well..... point being, I imagine at the end of the day it would be like watching "The Dog Whisperer" where you marvel at the magic man who can communicate with dogs, and then as soon as you try his tactics, your miniature dachshund urinates all over the couch.

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 - Supernanny
CBS - Ghost Whisperer
CW - Smallville
Fox - Brothers

NBC - Law & Order

8:30PM

FOX - 'Til Death

9PM

ABC - Ugly Betty
CBS - Medium

CW - Top Model (repeats)
Fox - Dollhouse
NBC - Southland

10PM

ABC - 20/20
CBS - Numb3rs
NBC - (Can't believe it but yes once more it's) Jay Leno

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Saturday

This "repeats" show must be pretty amazing to have two networks airing it on the same night! It must be like a Presidential address or something....

Keep it moving...

Nothing to see here...

The color coded breakdown:

8PM

ABC - Saturday Night College Football
CBS - Repeats
Fox - COPS
NBC - Dateline NBC

9PM

Fox - America's Most Wanted
NBC - Repeats

10PM

CBS - 48 Hrs. Mystery

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Sunday

The two longest running prime-time entertainment shows of all time occupy my time on Sunday nights. The Simpsons is entering season 21 and AFV is crotch shotting it's way into it's 2oth. Both shows still make me laugh out loud (seriously, it's rare, but it happens) and I'm glad to see that some shows still embrace who they are enough to realize that sometimes evolution leads to extinction, and "if it ain't broke don't fix it" is the key to longevity. Speaking of not being broke, another season of "The Amazing Race" will be kicking off on Sunday nights and should be a blast. The race remains one of the only reality shows that includes "teamwork" as part of the equation all the way through. It's an added dynamic that makes for extremely compelling TV. Not much else here for me, I've never really gotten "The Family Guy" thing, and Extreme Home Makeover is great TV, but gives me too much trouble with commandment 10. I also gave up on Cold Case in the "great procedural purge of 2008" so there is no interest there either.

The color coded breakdown:

7PM

ABC - America's Funniest Home Videos
CBS - 60 Minutes
Fox - The OT
NBC - Football Night in America

8PM

ABC - Extreme Home: Makeover
CBS - Amazing Race
Fox - The Simpsons

8:30PM

Fox - The Cleveland Show

NBC - Sunday Night Football

9PM

ABC - Desperate Housewives
CBS - Three Rivers
Fox - Family Guy

9:30PM

Fox - American Dad

10PM

ABC - Brothers and Sisters
CBS - Cold Case

Weekend's Total: One hour drama, One half hour sit-coms, Two 1 hour Reality, 3.5 Hours

Final Total: 9 hours drama, 3 hours comedy, 9 hours Reality, 1 hour Musical = 22 hours

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DOH! 22 hours. 1 hour to cut before we can call it a day. "Modern Family" would be at the bottom of my list and would make an easy cut, but I hesitate to cut any new shows out of the mix and really there isn't much else in the half hour category to cut so I'd be off on my numbers. Plus I'm already running low on my comedy for the week so it makes more sense to cut something reality or drama. It might also be useful in this situation to see where my DVR is on overload (it can only record two things at once) and cut something there. The two slots where "three's a crowd" are Thursday (8PM, SNL/Parks - Survivor - FlashForward) and Monday (8PM, SYTYCD - Biggest Losser - Shark Tank). I'm not cutting any of the Thursday stuff (I'll catch SNL and Parks on Hulu) which leaves Monday.

Hmmmm....

I've got it. Here's what happened... uh, sorry... channelling Monk there for a second. Here's what I'll do. Since "The Biggest Loser" is already a bloated show (ironic, eh?) and nothing really exciting seems to happen until the weigh ins, I'll cut the first hour of The Biggest Loser, and bingo, we are in business. Of course then midseason hits with "Chuck", "Better off Ted", "30 Rock" and "The Celebrity Apprentice" and the process begins anew.

Until then, DVR away my friends!

21 Hours of TV Fall Preview (Thursday)...

Thursday continues to be the most compelling night of TV. Let's start with NBC who has had me locked into their Thursday night comedy programming since we gathered as a family 25 years ago to watch Cliffy, Claire and the kids lose things in the fridge and invent zrbtts. This year is no exception with "Community" easily looking like the best new comedy of the season. "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" continue to be very funny, and Seth Meyers on "Weekend Update" is one of the most underrated SNL cast members of all time. Add to this the most anticipated new show of the year, "FlashForward", the grand daddy of all Reality TV, "Survivor", and the two best new shows of last season, "Fringe" and "The Mentalist", and Thursday is inching me ever so close to my 21 hour limit with the entire weekend still to come. This is despite me having given up on CSI after the Fish took over for the Grish last year. Not only that but rumor has it there are people who enjoy Grey's Anatomy and Bones as well. Which brings me to my main question, why, in an age of DVRing and Internet downloading, is everything on the same night?! Move some of this stuff to Saturday night for Pete's sake. Pete has a DVR and he will set it and watch it another night when Pete is home, I promise.

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 - FlashForward
CBS - Survivor: Samoa
CW - Vampire Diaries
Fox - Bones
NBC - SNL: Weekend Update Thursday

8:30PM

NBC - Parks and Recreation

9PM

ABC - Grey's Anatomy
CBS - CSI
CW - Supernatural
Fox - Fringe
NBC - The Office

9:30PM

NBC - Community

10PM

ABC - Private Practice
CBS - The Mentalist
NBC - (Yes, really, it's even more) Jay Leno

Thursday's Total: Three 1 hour dramas, Four half hour comedies, one 1 hour reality, 6 hours

Overall Total: 8 hours drama, 2.5 hours comedy, 7 hours Reality, 1 hour Musical = 18.5 hours

21 Hours of TV Fall Preview (Wednesday)...

Only 2 days in and I'm almost half way to my weekly limit. I may have to do some pruning of the DVR tree after all. Wednesday seems to hold mostly cookie cutter comedies and Crime shows, which results in lots of red on my chart below. There really isn't much of interest for me except for FOX's pairing of the "So You Think You Can Dance" results show and new musical "Glee". I'm on record saying that Glee is lousy TV in every way except the musical numbers, but those musical numbers are soooooo good, that I just can't help wanting to see what the next one will be. It's like golfing, in that you walk around the course chopping holes in the ground and hitting the ball sideways, swearing you will never play again, then just as you are fed up, you nail a sweet 250 drive down the center and feel like it might actually be the greatest game every invented. The only other thing I will be watching midweek (for at least 3 episodes) is the comedy "Modern Family". The buzz is good on it, so I'll drop my anti sit-com bias just long enough to scoff at it a few times. I'll also try to keep my Christian judgometer at bay as the new parents at the right of the picture seem to be setting it off (must.... judge.... homosexuals.... can't.... help.... myself).

The color coded breakdown:

8PM

ABC - Hank
CBS - New Adventures of Old Christine
CW - America's Next Top Model
Fox - So You Think You Can Dance
NBC - Mercy

8:30PM

ABC - The Middle

CBS - Gary Unmarried

9PM

ABC - Modern Family
CBS - Criminal Minds
CW - The Beautiful Life: TBL
Fox - Glee
NBC - Law & Order: SVU

9:30PM

ABC - Cougar Town

10PM

ABC - Eastwick
CBS - CSI: NY
NBC - (Still) Jay Leno

Wednesday's Total: One half-hour comedy, One 1 hour reality, One 1 hour Musical 2.5 hours

Overall Total: 5 hours drama, .5 hours comedy, 6 hours Reality, 1 hour Musical = 12.5 hours

21 Hours of TV Fall Preview (Tuesday)...

The 21 hour challenge continues with what appears to have become "Reality Show Tuesday" for me this year. With House's move to Monday night, 8PM Tuesday now holds three of the best reality shows on TV, all of which worth a look. Shark Tank apparently will take up permanent residence in that slot after a stellar kick off on Sunday nights (I say apparently, because all online sources still have it as debuting on Sept. 29th, but unless it's a mass delusion I think I've already seen 4 episodes.) and The Biggest Loser remains compelling and features a returning contestant this season for the first time. The highlight, though, has to be the move of "So You Think You Can Dance" to a fall slot, where it can show that lousy "celebrity" dancing show what real dancing looks like. When you watch SYTYCD you don't ask frivilous questions like "Will Tom Delay manage to stay on his feet and sweat less than a contestant at the World Sauna Championships, you ponder things like the power of addiction or a friend's fight against cancer. Yeah, yeah, I'm getting a bit high and mighty for a guy who loves "Wipeout", but there is a lot of heart and depth to this reality show and it should be getting a little bit more attention than it does. The only other show that looks interesting is The Forgotten, if for no other reason than to see if Christian Slater can have back to back failed dramas in consecutive seasons (That would be a record, right?) It's also worth noting that CBS has apparently decided that they want to air nothing but procedural dramas from here on out, adding NCIS:LA to NCIS while continuing to run CSI, CSI:NY, CSI:Miami, and Criminal Minds. Enough is enough already, we get it. Now that I think about it, it's actually hard to believe that there is any make believe crime even left with all these brilliant investigators on the loose.

The color coded breakdown:

8PM

ABC - Shark Tank
CBS - NCIS
CW - 90210
Fox - So You Think You Can Dance
NBC - The Biggest Loser

9PM

ABC - Dancing with the Stars
CBS - NCIS: Los Angeles
CW - Melrose Place

10PM

ABC - The Forgotten
CBS - The Good Wife
NBC - Jay Leno (again)

Tuesday's Total: One 1 hour drama, One 1 hour Reality, Two 2 hour Reality 6 hours

Overall Total: 5 hours drama, 5 hours Reality, 10 hours