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!