Thursday, September 20, 2012

21 Hours of TV 2012 Fall TV Preview (Thursday)

Ahhhhh, Thursday night. The old faithful of network TV.  No night is as guaranteed to give my DVR the workout it needs to stay in shape. Actually, now that I think about it, the fall TV season makes my DVR work harder, but the result is that it gets MORE bloated.  Is there anyway I can be on the DVR weight loss plan where the less I work out the less I gain?  "Hey, I need to lose a few pounds, guess I'll have to quit that 5K training I've been doing."  Works for me.

The largest chunk of Thursday's ability to put heft on my DVR queue comes from NBC's comedy line-up.  Yes, "The Office" is becoming harder to watch, but it's completely made up for by how great "Parks and Rec" is becoming.  Which is good news, because it may be the only one of these shows that will even be around next season.  "30 Rock" has officially said it's going away and it would take a big year from "Up All Night" ratings to keep it around as well (a wonderfully underrated show by the way).

Elsewhere "Glee" makes a move to Thursday nights, "Person of Interest" tries to hold viewers' interest for a second season, and new shows "Elementary" and "Last Resort" try to break in to the Thursday crowd.  And that's not even mentioning "Big Bang Theory" or "50 Shades of Grey's Anatomy", two shows that have loyal, invested followers, even though I am not one.

Finally, and possibly most importantly, Thursday gives us "Rock Center with Brian Williams", which sounds completely amazing even though I have no idea exactly what it is.  Now, I know I could just Google it but instead I'd like to figure it out myself. Here are my top three uneducated guesses at what this show is about, based solely on it's title.

1) "Rock Center with Brian Williams" follows newsman Brian Williams and scientist Bill Nye as they travel the world learning about the geology of various climates through the pebbles, stones, and boulders they encounter.  Join Brian in his emotional reaction to the pervasive igneous formations of the ancient mayans and what it might mean for your future.

2) Don't miss "Rock Center with Brian Williams" a new reality show set in Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Contestants compete head to head with newsman Brian Williams in competitions involving KISS makeup, smashing guitars, and having "moves like Jagger".  The winner will ultimately be the one who can definitively settle the Elvis vs. The Beatles debate.

3) "Rock Center with Brian Williams" is a fast paced work out show where newsman Brian Williams teaches you the tricks he's used to form his legendary 6 pack.  Simply follow Williams through a variety of abdominal exercises as he continues to deliver important news and information.  The only place you can both learn about your political party's planks and do planks at the same time.

Actually, that last one is a killer show, you know you'd watch.  Plus, it would be nice fall back when that DVR diet plan fails to pan out.

The Rest of the Week:

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday (BELOW)
The Weekend

MUST:  Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock

The color coded breakdown:

8PM

ABC - Last Resort
CBS - Big Bang Theory
CW - Vampire Diaries
Fox - X Factor
NBC - 30 Rock

8:30PM

CBS - Two and a Half Men
NBC - Up All Night

9PM

ABC - Grey's Anatomy
CBS - Person of Interest
CW - Beauty and the Beast
Fox - Glee
NBC - The Office

9:30PM

NBC - Parks and Recreation

10PM

ABC - Scandal
CBS - Elementary
NBC - Rock Center with Brian Williams

Thursday's Total: Four 1 hour dramas, Four half hour comedies, one 1 hour reality, 7 hours

Overall Total: 8 hours drama, 4.5 hours comedy, 7 hours Reality  = 19.5 hours

2 comments:

  1. Watching TV for almost twenty hours a week is a part time job! Before I got a Hopper, I didn’t realize how much time I was spending with my finger on the fast-forward button because of the increasing number of commercials. I’ve noticed a huge difference in how much time I spend watching my recordings now that I use Auto Hop to avoid the commercials. One of my co-workers at DISH who uses the same feature admitted that he watches the shows he likes a lot quicker, and uses the extra time to watch shows he never had time to watch before. I definitely watch at least twenty hours a week of TV, but it makes me feel a little better to know that the time is spent on actually watching shows. I did watch half an episode of Rock Center with Brian Williams a while back, and I assure you, your ideas sound far more intriguing!

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    1. Here's the math: 21 hours of commercial TV equals 14 hours without them. It's crazy. I can't imagine having to watch commercials again. :shudder:

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