Sunday, March 06, 2011

#227: Adventures In Television

I watch a lot of television. I do more than watch. I actually pay attention to the ratings and viewership to figure out if a show will be canceled. I've done this for years but with the Internet I've been able to get better information than reading the Nielsens in USA Today every Wednesday. I don't watch every TV show because there are shows out there that I just could not force myself to watch (re: 95% of show on the CW). There are shows I try to give a fair chance to: Grey's Anatomy I watched the entire first season (mainly because it took the place of Boston Legal) and it held my interest for the first season but then I decided that all the characters were unlikable and the storylines were unbearably over the top. I can either handle unlikable characters or crappy storylines, I can't do both.

Another show I gave a chance to is Rules of Engagement. I watched it because that was the one season I watched all of CBS' Monday night schedule. I didn't exactly find it funny or entertaining so while I kept it on, it would just be background noise while I went and did something else. Neither show apparently needed my viewership as they are now in their 7th and 5th seasons respectively. Despite all the TV I watch, there are only four series which I have watched beginning to end during their original run and three of the shows are still airing new episodes.

I often wonder why I still watch The Simpsons because it is just not as good as it was when I started watching it back in 1990. Maybe it's because I'm trying to see it through, or maybe a small part of me believes it will get better but after 22, 23 seasons I understand it may be hard to be original and funny. I am secretly hoping that next year is their final season. Matt Groening has often said that he hopes to end the show before they wear out their welcome. Their welcome ended back with season 17. Smallville is coming to an end after this season and I am kind of hoping next season is How I Met Your Mother's last season after a couple of lackluster seasons.

Starting with next season, I am going to review more TV shows and post info on the many network shows that are on TV. The reason I would rather focus on network TV is because no matter how bad cable shows are or how bad their ratings are, chances are they will get renewed and get some sort of a following. I would also rather wait for those shows to be out on DVD before I start watching considering there is usually only 6-13 episodes for each season.

I refuse to acknowledge ArmyWives as an actual series though...