Couch Potato 2007

I can feel it, can't you? It's almost that time. The bees are angry, my friends. The air is humid, and the skater punks are back to loitering in front of our house. Summer is coming to an end, kids will soon be back in school if they aren't already, and soon many of us will be back to evening worship of that glowing box thing in our living rooms.

I've had an interesting Summer to say the least. Though not my choice, I changed jobs and somehow landed on my feet. It was a challenging three months, with the usual band obligations on weekends and the usual late nights during the week, all the while getting closer to what I had been told would be my last day. I don't know how I would have found the time to go on interviews or even prepare for interviews if there was anything new on television. Sure, there were sacrifices, the occasional DVD I'd wait two days to watch, but in the end it was all worth it. Now when I get home from work, I can collapse in front of the television and have no concerns until the following morning.

I can't say I've heard a lot of buzz about the new season. Of the admittedly long list of 18 shows I plan to watch, only one of them is new. At some point I might try or at the very least during commercials flip to Cavemen, Pushing Daisies, K-Ville, Back to You, Chuck, and New Amsterdam, out of some curiosity, but I expect they either won't grab my interest or, the ones that do won't last. Every year I try to add fewer shows than were cut the year prior, but I've never had a clean slate. As much as I watch, people are always recommending things like Eureka or Psych: “I can't believe you don't watch ______! ______ is such an MCF show!” As it is, I'm only now catching up on Stargate SG-1: 15 down, 199 to go.

So, here's an alphabetical breakdown of what I'm looking forward to in the Fall, including a few shows that I'll have to wait until the beginning of 2008 to see new episodes:

24
Last season was so promising at first, then so uneven and at times unlikely. When Jack Bauer returns in January 13, 2008, things are supposedly going to be very different from what we've seen so far. I didn't think this concept would go beyond one “day”, so I can forgive the things that didn't work last season and hope they pull out all the stops for the next two seasons that are planned.

30 Rock
Tina Fey is brilliant. On paper, a show about people behind-the-scenes on a familiar looking sketch comedy show might not seem that interesting, but her witty writing and ideas along with a talented cast made for a great and funny new show last year. I can't believe some of the stuff they pulled off, especially a certain joke involving fireworks in lower Manhattan. October 4, 2007 brings the return of this show along with a very special guest.(Don't click if you don't want to be spoiled.)

The Batman
It is not, can not, and will never be Bruce Timm's rendition of the character. After 15 years and appearances or starring roles on five or six animated series, it's an untouchable legend. Still, The Batman was good enough, and over four seasons has carved out its own niche while gradually resembling elements that made the previous incarnation work so well. With the JLA unexpectedly introduced at the end of last season, I can't wait to see what season five unveils on September 22, 2007.

Battlestar Galactica
An insane cliffhanger leaves fans waiting until 2008 for the official start of the fourth and final season, but this Fall we'll get Razor, a two-hour flashback episode.

Bionic Woman
There hasn't been a decent action/fantasy/sci fi series with an attractive heroine since Buffy or Alias. I was a fan of the original Bionic Woman so I'm really looking forward to this new series, which debuts on September 26, 2007.

Family Guy
It's amazing to have a show literally raised from the dead by DVD sales. Clips of the sixth season premiere leaked a few months ago, and I'm giggidy to see them spoof Star Wars on September 23, 2007.

Heroes
Rey once wondered why Marvel couldn't make a good movie. Comic book movies got good after X-Men and Spider-Man were made with a simple formula: take the stories from the comics and set them in the real world, the world we know and not a four-color facsimile. Make it something regular people can relate to, and you'll reach a wider audience. Each week last year, Heroes' cast of characters, ordinary people with extraordinary abilities, succeeded with the same method. There were no costumes, no teams or secret bases with themed vehicles. Yet there were enough elements to make it our world but more interesting, and hold comic fans and non comic fans alike. Chapter 2 of the epic saga begins on September 24, 2007.

How I Met Your Mother
What can I say about the only sitcom with a laugh track that I still watch? Season 3 is going to be legen-...wait for it....September 24, 2007. Have you me me? Suit up!

Legion of Superheroes
Newsarama reported on some new heroes, and new character designs for the second season. I didn't expect to like this show initially, and was worried it would be another goofy anime treatment along the lines of Teen Titans. Thus far, it's managed to strike a balance, and though the simplified animation and character designs approaches Titans, it maintains enough complex plots and nods to comics lore to please older viewers. September 22, 2007 will see the return of this vast array of futuristic young heroes.

Lost
There are some exciting guest stars coming up and, as always, new mysteries to accompany the answers to old ones. I wish we could flash forward because February 2008 is a long time to wait for season four.

My Name is Earl
I might confuse this with another show further down this list, as our hero finds himself behind bars for most if not all of the third season. He'll still be going down his own list though, righting the various wrongs he's done in his life with hilarious results. Earl is back on September 27, 2007.

The Office
Buzz can wear me down eventually. Last year I finally caved and gave the show a second chance, marathon viewing the first two seasons while incorporating the third into my weekly schedule. I even watched the British series when I needed a fix at the beginning of the Summer. Season four of our Office starts September 27, 2007 with several one hour episodes.

Prison Break
After a second season with the characters on the run, the show reinvents itself again and sets up a situation in the third season to justify the name of the series. The new prison looked brutal and the one from the first season will seem like camp after a few episodes. Great characters and great writing have carried a premise for more episodes than I would have thought possible. Escape via escapism on September 17, 2007.

Scrubs
I've been watching the syndicated episodes every night from 11:30-12:30. It's amazing how the same show can be silly and funny and serious and heartbreaking all in the same 22 minutes. I'm sad that the seventh season is the last, glad they're wrapping up while it's still good, and I can't wait to see the resolution of last year's cliffhanger on October 25, 2007.

The Simpsons
The Movie was hilarious. At random moments I'll think of certain lines and just crack up. It's amazing that they've lasted 18 seasons, and even the average years were still worth a smile or two. I'll maintain a Sunday night tradition and tune in for the 19th season on September 23, 2007.

Smallville
I've had a love-hate relationship with this show for years. As bad as some seasons were, such as the fifth, every season had a strong start and a strong finish. Last season had an amazing first half and brought in plenty of other heroes to the mythos, while the finale was decent. Promises of the “real” Supergirl showing up(they had a fake one a few seasons ago) have piqued my curiosity, and I'm looking forward to seeing Helen Slater show up as a guest star. The seventh and final season begins September 27, 2007.

Supernatural
It's a solid, consistent series about two brothers and every supernatural foe imaginable. It's delivered for two seasons, and I'll be back for the third on October 4, 2007.

TMNT
I stopped watching halfway through the sixth season, mostly due to a scheduling conflict. The whole ”Fast Forward” saga, bringing the characters in to the future while making the show more kid-friendly, took away everything I liked about the new series, which up until then had been darker and truer to the comic book source material. I may give it another chance, and eventually catch the unaired fifth season which they skipped to get to the appropriately named revamp. Right now, it seems like those episodes may air beginning in January, 2008.