TV Roster update

Summer 2009 - y'all know I've been busy watching summer movies, but I didn't neglect TV (are you wondering where I have the time for all this? Psssstt.... its a secret.)

Anyways, due to the sad, certainly untimely demise of a few shows I was watching this time last year, I've been left with some open spots on my list and it's been quite fun filling those up...

R.I.P:

• Eli Stone - nice finale I thought, with Eli finally getting some closure about his dad
  
  
• Samantha Who? - now this makes me S.A.D. Given, not the funniest show on TV today, but it was still very good... I'm ok with where the characters ended up. Sad its over, but ok
  
  
• Dirty Sexy Money - I'm all caught up now, I guess only a couple more (or maybe just one) ep(s) to go...

And here's what I've started watching now:

• Leverage - why didn't anyone tell me about this show? Lovin it! Its like an endless Ocean's 11. Well written, elaborate modern day Robinhood plots. And I'm totally geeked out watching Hardison with all that sweet gadgetry. This is on my must-list now. Definitely.
  
  
• How I Met Your Mother - I was gonna use the summer hiatus to get all caught up and I did - NPH - you're totally awesome. Totally.
  
  
• Friday Night Lights - Ok so I watched the first 2 seasons back to back on NetFlix instant. The cast is very natural & quite talented. I didn't expect to like a show centered around football so much...
  
  
• Sanctuary - ok before you say anything, you should know I was a big fan of Angel, Buffy , the X-Files etc. So this show fit right in. Some of the story lines were bit of a stretch, but the season finale with Nikola Tesla, James Watson, John Druitt, Magnus and Griffin's grand-daughter (in other words, the vampire, the 160 yr old inventor of Radio, Jack the Ripper, Magnus (what is her power anyway, apart from the fact that she's a 157?) and the Invisible man's grand-daughter), was simply cool. I mean, how many show can boast of story lines bringing these 5 historical characters together? And Dr. Z (Robin Dunne) still has that charming, wide-eyed I-can't-believe-this-is-so-real thing going on. Nice.
  
  
• Warehouse 13 - I said it before and I will say it again, the 'chemistry' between the lead characters feels like a pale imitation of Brennan & Booth's chemistry on Bones - and I'm really not a fan of the shove-it-in-your-face-so-you-notice forced banter. But Saul Rubinek & the purple goo (Ghostbusters anyone?) will keep me watching for a bit. Until Bones returns anyway ;)
  
  
• The IT Crowd - 'Have ya tried turning it off and on?' gets me everytime :D :D & thus my love of Brit comedy has been completely revived with this show. Geeks rule the world! There are talks about a Christmas special & a new season. Can hardly wait. I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time - it felt great... (Don't let the title mislead you, this show's funny enough to earn a couple of BAFTA & Emmy nominations...)
  

On a side note, I tried to start watching Party Down, but it didn't hook me right away, like Leverage did. Now these last 3 shows started just in 2008-2009 and I can't say this enough, but Leverage is good. All hail NetFlix instant/Hulu!

Pop-culture blind spot?

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think my pop-culture IQ is at the very least well above average, if not bordering on good. And that is something I definitely take pride in (all those hours spent on TV , movies and mags has gotta count for something, right?)

Buuut, I've recently it seems I am not exactly in step with the rest of pop-culture. Here's the evidence (feel free to gasp as many times as you need):

• I don't Tweet (although that lil idea's been running around in the back of my mind)
  
  
• I haven't watched a single episode of Lost (gasp, yes, I know) - so I have no idea why everyone's jaw dropped after the recent Lost finale or what the hoopla is about the statue's identity
  
  
• I don't watch Gossip Girl/One Tree Hill/The Hills - honestly, they all seem the same to me and I couldn't care less
  
  
• 24 is just a number to me - yeah, I know Keifer Sutherland is in it and all that. Beyond that, nothing. Zilch.
  
  
• I don't watch Desperate Housewives/ The Real Housewives of New Jersey (or whatever) - don't know, don't care. Although I was a touch offended when the creators of Desperate Housewives launched that lil show called Big Shots - course it got canceled and all, still. The guys in Big Shots were as messed up, if not more, than the women in Desperate...so there.
  
  
• Haven't watched Friday Night Lights - so my memory of Kyle Chandler from Early Edition is intact :)
  
  
• Haven't watched HIMYM (I know, shocking!) - but I am going to make up for it this summer - go NetFlix! Neil Patrick Harris has always been Doogie to me, but I'm sure that'll change soon
  
  
• I only catch random eps of SNL - but I heard JT rocks as the host
  
  
• Rescue Me, In Treatment, The Shield, Numb3rs, Chuck, Dexter, The Mentalist and Prison Break are strangers to me - I missed the train on these
  
  
• I haven't read a single Twilight book and I don't plan to. Ditto for the Twilight movies. Don't ask me why.
  

Now onto older pop-culture misses for me (in no particular order):

• Haven't watched a single LOTR movie in its entireity - don't blame me, the LOTR book found its way home too late.
  
  
• Apart from the original Star Wars and one of the sequels (whichever one it was that had Jar-Jar Binks introduced), haven't watched the others
  
  
• The only things I know about ER are that John Stamos is in the later seasons and George Clooney (insert mandatory swoon here) used to be on in earlier seasons
  
  
• I haven't watched Seinfeld - at max, a couple of random scenes. So I don't know why 'Yada, yada, yada" is the No. 1 funniest phrase in that list of 50 funniest phrases from TV sitcoms
  
  
• ET is a movie I have not yet watched - but I love the phrase 'ET phone home' :)
  
  
• Sharks scare me - Jaws (and only the first movie) is the only one I have watched even 10 mins of. None of the sequels. Sorry.
  
  
• I haven't watched any of the Godfather movies - but small consolation, I have read the first book
  
  
• Haven't watched Pulp Fiction or Scarface or any of the Kill Bill series - sorry, not one for excessive violence/gore

Now here's some TV I did watch growing up - I'll try not to make this list too snakin' long (and no, snickering is not allowed):

• Friends
• The Wonder Years
• Remington Steele
• Now and again
• the very first Survivor
• the very first Amazing Race
  
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Angel
• Mutant X
• JAG
  
• Dark Angel
• Will & Grace
• the 60's Star Trek on TV
• Lost in Space (the TV series, although I did watch the movie too, but only for Matt LeBlanc)
• Doogie Howser M.D
• Moonlighting
• Charles in Charge
• Who's the boss?
• Diff'rent Strokes
• Silver Spoons
• Early Edition
• Charmed
• Dawson's Creek
• Mind your language
  
• I Dream of Jeannie (the technicolor one, not the old, B/W one)

Now come on guys, enough with the snickering...

My movie list is waaaaaay longer - if anyone's interested, let me know and I will find a way to have you spend a nice, lazy afternoon going through my movie list...

Bored yet? No? Ok great - cos in spite of my apparent ignorance of all things in nowadays, I do watch my fair share of current TV and movies - proof is here and here. But seriously, has anyone of you out there watched all of this? If so, then do share - which ones are a must-watch? Something that would deserve a place on my 'before I die' list? Anything legendary? :D

More TV News...

It's Upfronts week and yes, its action-packed (so to speak)... As I'd mentioned in my Season finales post last week, my TV appetite is ginormous & is definitely being fed this week...

Shows that I watch that have been renewed:

> Bones - for TWO seasons, baby! yeah! (btw - for those of you interested, the whole amnesia thing in the finale - well, it doesn't seem to be amnesia anymore - I found this after days of trolling spoiler blogs & other sites - Hart Hanson has tweeted that "everything was done for a reason" - it better be good sir!)

> Fringe - whooohoo
> Grey's Anatomy - anybody doubt this?
> Castle - surprise, surprise - yes.
> Private Practice - thank god, I can't stand not knowing what happens to Violet
> The Big Bang Theory - also for two seasons. Live long and prosper.

Shows that I used to watch and are now canceled:

> Life - sad.
> Eli Stone - old news, still.
> Dirty Sexy Money - old news, still.
> Pushing Daisies - old news.
> Samantha Who? - what the frak?! I loved this show.

Shows that I used to watch that are now renewed:

> Brothers & Sisters
> Ugly Betty
> Scrubs
> House
> Smallville
> Heroes

Popular shows that I don't watch that are renewed/cancelled:

> How I met your mother (HIMYM) - I missed the train on this one, but will watch it at some point of time - thank god for NetFlix - renewed.
> Lost - renewed - only 13 episodes left, it's back in Jan 2010.
> Prison Break - canceled
> Sarah Connor - canceled
> The Office - missed the train on this one too - renewed
> Friday Night Lights - renewed
> Gossip Girl - renewed
> One Tree Hill - renewed

Ausiello keep his Fall TV Cheat Sheet continually updated - click here. You can also follow Ausiello on Twitter - in his own words "If you can't wait for the page to refresh, you can stalk me on Twitter."

It's funny how I remember the PR for a lot of the newer shows - Kings, Kath & Kim, The Unusuals etc. And now they're canceled - talk about 15 mins of fame!

I'm gonna miss Samantha Who? - really. It was hilarious. But the rest of my TV schedule for fall seems safe now. Fox is pairing Bones & Fringe on Thursday nights - talk about a double whammy. Also, given the fact that Grey's and Private Practice are also on ABC on Thursday nights during the same time slot - the competition is fierce!

Of course, a lot of fall premieres too - Peter Krause, Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Courtney Cox all have new shows coming out - we'll just have to wait and see...

Oh and also, soon Hulu will have content from ABC too - maybe that will help pass the summer...

Any shows on your must-list that you think I should watch? Sound off below! Later then, ta!