TV Shows - Fall 2011

Every season there's a slew of new shows, many of which will die a quick death, some will have a stellar first season and then fade away, and some will become hallmarks of the medium. Here's a quick rundown of what we'll be watching in the new season, and my prediction for how it will fare. And by "quick rundown" I mean I wrote it rather hastily, as this evolved from a rather long-winded comment I was leaving on Shanella's blog-post about TV.

New Shows

"Person of Interest" - it has Michael Emerson (Ben from Lost) so it gets a chance, which it wouldn't normally (since, honestly, it sounds kind of hokey). I expect the ratings for this to be high to start, and then it'll kind of fade out as it turns into a routine "here's this episode's problem, solve it in 44 minutes pls k thx".

Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson), a mysterious billionaire, has developed a computer program that predicts the identity of people connected to violent crimes that will take place in the future. However, the program has its limitations: for example, it cannot predict whether the person will be a victim, perpetrator, or witness, nor can it predict when or where the crime will take place. Unable to stop the crimes on his own, Finch hires John Reese (Jim Caviezel), a former CIA agent who is presumed dead, to help stop the crimes from taking place.

-- Person of Interest on Wikipedia.org


"A Gifted Man" - Wifey's top pick for new show. I have the feeling this one ends with me swinging from the rafters. I expect it'll do badly to start, and won't last long, as it's a one-trick pony.

A Gifted Man is an upcoming American television series about a talented but self-absorbed surgeon (Patrick Wilson) who starts questioning his purpose in life when he is visited by the spirit of his dead ex-wife (Jennifer Ehle).

-- A Gifted Man on Wikipedia.org

New Shows We Won't Be Watching

As a long-time lover of sci-fi and all things related, I really want to watch "Terra Nova" ( Terra Nova on Wikipedia.org ) but I'm afraid we can only record two things at a time with our ancient DVR, and this conflicts with several other things we're recording on Monday nights, so we'll have to catch up with it in reruns. Unless I upgrade my DVR before next week! Stay tuned! I suspect the show will last at least 2 seasons, regardless of ratings, because there's so much invested in it.

Returning Favorites

"Eureka" - just had the season finale last night, the final season returns next year, so not really eligible for this list, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention it as one of the top picks of the year. Second best sci-fi/comedy series (first, if Firefly wasn't a sci-fi/comedy).

"Warehouse 13" - we watch it, grudgingly, even though wifey hates the girl and the show really is kind of silly. That this got renewed while Eureka got cancelled is a travesty against TV sci-fi.

"Alphas" - My Alpha ability is that I can tolerate this show, so we watch it, otherwise it would be a waste of my ability.

"Fringe" - A shining beacon of television in an otherwise mostly dank and expressionless expanse of TV.

There's also the comedy shows: "The Middle", "Big Bang Theory", and "Two and a Half Men".

Keep watching TV!
-Tom

Revivified!

Hi there! It's been over two years since I last posted here, but I'm back. This is intended to be my personal blog, and I promise to post here fairly frequently. Nothing specific yet, just musings about junk that interests me.

See you soon!
-Tom

Back in New York

So we're back in New York for a few days. Monday is the closing on the apartment, after which we shoot down in my wife's car, back to Dallas, back home.

It IS home now, and we miss it. Isn't it funny: only a few days in Dallas, and we're ready to call it home. I've never been so quick to settle in somewhere, but only those few days, and I'm sleeping more regularly, eating better and more, and drinking a lot more water, for some reason.

My wife suffered from headaches a lot in NY (pretty much daily), but they had tapered off and towards the last few days before we came back to NY she was fine, no headaches, all day. I think it's the air down there. Look around and you'll find statistics on the air quality in New York, and it's terrible. Down in Dallas it's fresh and clean, or it seems like it is. I haven't done the research, but I'll bet good money it is.

I'll be back home on Wednesday morning, I hope. I'll post more soon.

We Arrived

We arrived in Dallas on Saturday afternoon around 2:30 pm, which gave us enough time to hit a bank and get a safe-deposit box, which gave us some peace of mind.

The moving truck is late: because of the ice storm and its effects on routes 78, 80, and 81, the driver was considerably delayed and STILL hasn't arrived. He should be here tonight, he'll spend the night, and then tomorrow morning we'll unload it, partly into a self-storage bin, and partly into the apartment. Then we'll be set, more or less.

The movers have been the biggest pain in the ass so far: they came a day late, didn't bring hand-trucks or dollies (we had to run to a hardware store and buy them). They were supposed to be here on Saturday morning, we had lined up a few guys to help us unload, but that fell through. We have to wait until the morning, and see if we can get a few people to help us with this.

But Dallas is beautiful. The weather is in the high 50's F, supposed to be in the 70's on Thursday. There's other things about Dallas that we love, but I'll save that for subsequent posts.

On the road in Virginia.

Dang it

I sent a few pictures to my blogger account, but they didn't post, unfortunately. I will try again, since I still have them on the phone, but now they are no longer timely.

We're in Little Rock, Arkansas, after driving the length of Tennessee.

We'll be in Dallas tomorrow late morning or early afternoon.

Somewhere in Tennessee...