New for the Week of September 24th

This week there are several premieres, but far fewer than there were last week.
There are only a few new shows debuting, but some returning shows have a lot to prove this year.

Sunday
On ABC Desperate Housewives returns after a mess of a year. Last year was awful, and I don't have much faith that they will return to Season One status.

There is also the premiere of Brothers & Sisters on ABC. This show marks the return of Calista Flockhart to network television, but this time in a drama. ABC thinks this show is the new Desperate Housewives complete with a "soapy" description. The show is literally based on the family uncovering lies at a birthday party, I hope the show isn't as depressing as its setup is.

Monday
Tonight we have the premieres of 2 new shows.
Heroes on NBC and Runaway on The CW, both at 8PM (Central)

Heroes should reveal itself pretty early as a premise that can work or will fail completely. The show has a rather large ensemble cast of ordinary people discovering extraordinary abilities. It sure sounds interesting but I am worried about the originality the show will have, seeing how the premise has been done before in comics, movies and tv shows. In a first for network TV there will be a Japanese character that will not speak english, but will instead be subtitled (you know like Jin from Lost)

Runaway will probably be bad, but also looks like that kind of show that could surprise you. Plus, you have to love supporting any member of the Wahlberg family.

Tuesday
I am aware that most people would question the fact that a guy my age would watch Gilmore girls, but I know for sure that it was a really good show. The show was really smart, quirky and very well acted. I say "was" because at some point they lost focus and the show just got mean. I didn't notice it for sure until late last year, but during a phone conversation between Rory and Lorelai, I just realized that these have become awful people. I hope the stories stop being quite so bitter, but with the creators now gone it may be too late.

Wednesday
What? It's a good show.
Yes, I watch One Tree Hill. I am aware that it may not actually be good but I will hold on until a show(any show) is able to recreate some Creek magic.

Thursday
Okay I watch pretty much all of the WB shows, which are now The CW shows, deal with it.
Both Smallville and Supernatural are good scifi shows.
I am assuming that everyone is familiar with Smallville and the story of a young Clark Kent.
But I feel most people haven't tried Supernatural.
Supernatual is basically a monster of the week show, which considering that X-Files started out much the same way isn't a bad starting point. But instead of a conspiracy theory-crackpot-friendly UFO and alien backstory, they have a demon that is for some reason after the main characters' family. The show is very well done and so far they have been able to keep the monster of the week idea fresh and interesting.

Why I'm here

I have a mild obsession with TV.
It used to be worse, but I have relapses just about this time each year.

Smartfile was really the beginning of it all. It was the videotape precursor to Tivo with an on screen guide and a menu of what was on the tape.
Up till this point I was really only able to watch 1 show in any given time slot. In the beginning, I would only record another show occasionally, then it got progressively worse. There once was a time that I had 4 VCRs recording at a time and even cataloged entire serieseses all on the inferior VHS format (beta rocked).
I have made a spreadsheet for my TV viewing for the last 5 years or so. One year I made personalized versions for some friends that highlighted shows I thought they should watch with comments on why they would like it.

But that was in the past, now I just have a mild obsession. This current level of TV interest doesn't let me watch every show, but I try and give every show that interests me at least 2 chances. I admit that I have unexplainable aversions to some shows or actors, but usually I did give it a chance.
Right now I am watching about 25 hours of primetime network TV, but that is down from about 35 hours 2 years ago.
I will eventually get down to around 20 hours of full season viewing, usually watching at least 2 bad shows for no good reason.
My current addiction fueling technology gives me the ability to record as many as 5 shows at a time with my Tivo and 2 Comcast dual tuner DVRs.

So that gets us back to why I am here. I would like to offer you guidance on your Fall 2006 Television viewing. I am not sure how I am going to go about it, but I will try and give my opinion on as many shows as I can.
Good Luck