I Talk TV

I haven't watched television in months. Neither reruns nor Summer series interest me, and despite musing that I might use the Summer to introduce myself to House or The Office, I've made no attempt to watch either. I've gotten plenty of sun and fresh air, hitting the beaches and streets to run, walk, march, stroll and/or play some music, and I've spent a good amount of time watching DVDs and surfing the web. I’ve even seen a few movies in the theaters. I suppose if my folks had cable I might be watching things like Who Wants to be a Superhero? On the other hand, television seems to be like junk food: the longer I'm away from it, the less I miss it.

And yet, in a few days it will be August already. Now that temperatures have gotten into the upper 90s, it finally feels like Summer, when Summer is almost over. For some shows, the new season is just around the corner. For others, we still have a few months to wait. I thought I'd take a look around the internet and see what's on the horizon:

Joey
I know what you're all thinking. Yes, it was canceled. Due to conflicts with other, better shows as well as sporadic airings, I only watched about four or five episodes from the new season. It actually seemed like it was marginally improving, but an 82% drop in ratings said otherwise. All of the second season episodes have not aired though, and I read today that in August NBC plans to burn off the remaining episodes. Will I tune in and break my Summer hiatus? Will I even remember?

Lost
This, on the other hand, is a show I refuse to miss, especially after a cliffhanger that had three characters in captivity, three more possibly dead, and two leaving the island. How will our protagonists escape? Will there be survivors? And have we really seen the last of the island escapees? The third season promises to answer these questions, as well as a few things we've wondered since the series began. No spoilers here, but Lost returns on October 4, 2006. Also of note is that after six consecutive weeks of new episodes, it will go on hiatus for twelve before returning for seventeen straight weeks. I guess people didn't like all the repeats last year and watching the show in chunks of 3-4 episodes. I'm not sure about a three-month gap in the middle of the season, and my brain will surely explode with 17 weeks of new revelations and mysteries. And of course, I can't wait.

Supernatural
The show really picked up steam toward the end of the season. The stand-alone episodes started to incorporate sprinkles of continuous plot threads culminating in a heart stopping finale. This tale of two brothers battling supernatural forces has grown, and definitely fills the void left by shows like The X-files and Buffy. Supernatural will be back on September 28, 2006 on the new CW network.

Smallville
Smallville, also on the CW, will return also on September 28, 2006, probably as a lead-in to Supernatural. The sixth season will bring in not one but at least two more DC comics characters, including a hero who will finally make some real moves toward forming the Justice League. I won't reveal who it is, but I will hint that he doesn't have any powers and he's not who we've all been waiting for since season 1. I figure at this point that guy will show up in the final season, or not at all. While I didn't care for the show's version of Aquaman, I did like they way they handled The Flash and Cyborg. Potentially, they should be able to do a sharp job with the character appearing this season and be right on target.

Scrubs
This is the funniest sitcom on television. Will NBC make us wait until January again? How will the pregnancy plotlines play out? I'll certainly write about it as soon as I know more.

24
At least with 24, we know Jack won't be back until January. But will he be back? Rumors are circulating as to where Jack will be as he was bound for China in captivity at the end of last season. Most of what I've read is unconfirmed speculation and wishful thinking at this point, but in case any of it proves to be true, Rey will kill me or worse, so I'll keep what I've discovered to myself for now.

Prison Break
They're out! Aren't they? We'll find out on August 21, 2006 making this the first of my shows to return this season. Like Lost, it will probably disappear for a few weeks in the middle of the season before returning in the Spring.

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That's what's on the horizon for my television, arriving sooner than I think. I'm also looking forward to the returns of How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl, The Simpsons and Family Guy. Earl will be back September 21, 2006, The Simpsons and Family Guy return September 10, 2006, and HIMYM is back on Mondays, at an earlier time of 8PM, but no specific date has been announced yet. Since I've been television-free these last few flying Summer months, I haven't heard anything about any new shows, although a few people have told me about Heroes, a show about people with powers that includes Greg Grunberg(Alias) and Ali Larter(Final Destination). I've been watching some of the previews, and I'm definitely going to check this one out.

We now return to Summer, already in progress...