Season's wrap up so far...

As the 2009-10 t.v. season draws to a close, I thought I'd briefly share my thoughts about the shows I watch and how they progressed during the 2009-10 season. If you have no interest in t.v., now is probably a good time to stop reading, lol.

Mondays

Chuck - What more can I say? I love this show! Season three was such a gift from the network that I completely forgive the show runners for taking it to a much darker place. While not a fan of the Agent Shaw story line, I enjoyed season 3 more than not and Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski continue to have amazing chemistry. Add in the Buy Morons (more Jeffster is always a good thing!), the Awesomes and Casey, and you have a truly enjoyable t.v. experience.

Castle - Nathan Fillion is charming and amusing as writer Rick Castle who rides along with Det. Kate Beckett on murder calls for inspiration for his novels. The supporting cast is entertaining and the cases are interesting. I especially enjoy Castle's relationship with his daughter and mother.

24 - it was time for it to be over. And, they completely wasted Katee Sackhoff.

House - I'm tired of House. All of the episodes are the same. A patient comes in with a crazy illness, they don't figure it out, they almost kill the patient and then save the day. And this season it seemed like House was a supporting character on his own show.

Life Unexpected - I wanted to like this show - I really miss the old school WB shows. I LOVED the pilot, tolerated the next five or six episodes and then gave up on it. It was very repetitive plot-wise and some of the characters grew more annoying each episode because of it.

Tuesdays

Let me just thank FX now for the amazing shows that are Sons of Anarchy and Justified.

When I first heard the premise for SoA, I was skeptical. Why in the world would I want to watch Hamlet on a motorcycle? Then I watched the first season on dvd and was hooked. The writing and acting are first rate and only got better with the second season.

I never would have guessed that Katey Sagel (Peg Bundy from Married with Children) would've had the chops to play such a meaty role. Ron Perlman, Charlie Hunnam, Maggie Sift and Adam Arkin all turned in excellent performances. If you don't mind violence and bad language with your drama, be sure to give this one a try.

Justified is the perfect showcase for Timothy Olyphant. It's about a throwback US Marshall that isn't afraid to draw his gun - until it starts to have serious repercussions on his career and personal life. It's based on a couple of Elmore Leonard short stories and the show writers do a good job of keeping his signature feel. The supporting performances are strong and there have been some interesting guest stars. As with SoA, give it a try if you don't mind violence and language.

Wednesdays

MODERN FAMILY IS AMAZING. Thank you, ABC, for bringing back some quality sitcoms. If nothing else, be sure and try the Fizbo the Clown episode. Halfway through the season, I'd have told you this was the best sitcom of the year. This one didn't drop in quality but two others had amazing improvement, so I'm no longer quite so sure.

Cougar Town is a victim of its terrible name which really has very little to do with the show as it is now. It did start the season as a show about a newly single 40something mom who was on the prowl for younger men. After about 4 or 5 episodes, though, the writers realized that wasn't really working and changed the focus of the show to the lead's relationship with family and friends. It's now hilarious and quite enjoyable. Overlook the name and try this one again if you haven't already.

Thursdays

Thursdays are so chock full of goodness that I don't know where to begin...

Supernatural - The apocalypse was a bit of a snooze but there were some fine individual episodes, all filled with snark, pop culture references, good v. evil, crises of faith, familial love/relations, etc. It is beyond me why Jensen Ackles hasn't been nominated for an emmy yet. This has been one of my favorite shows in the past and I hope season 6 will see it redeem itself a little.

The Vampire Diaries - I didn't even give this one a try at first. I hated the books - just couldn't get into them and gave up after the first 100 pages. A friend talked me into giving it a try and I was hooked - something major happens and the plot progresses EVERY episode. There are no filler episodes. It's also the first time where I've started to pull for both sides of a love triangle.

Ian Somerhalder is obviously having a great time playing elder brother (and self-proclaimed bad ass) Damon. He's a lot of fun to watch. Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley are also good as the other two leads. And, for trivia's sake, supporting actor Steven R. McQueen is the grandson of legendary bad ass Steve McQueen.

Community - This sitcom has really come into its own - and turned out to be my favorite sitcom of the year. It's filled with pop culture references and the relationships between the study group characters are interesting. I think it's one of those shows that you either get and really love or you watch and are bored to death. I love it and come close to peeing my pants just about every episode. If you're interested, try Debate 101 or Modern Warfare. Those are two of my favorites, but they're all good. And, unlike a lot of shows, the little codas at the end are just as funny, if not funnier, than the rest of the episode. Be sure to watch them.

30 Rock - still funny but more uneven than in the past. I will say though that the Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day episode where Liz has a root canal and hallucinates her past boyfriends and mistakes a ficus tree for Jon Bon Jovi cracked me up.

Bones - I've been a huge fan of Bones since the beginning but after the 100th episode and then the season finale, I feel abused by the writing staff and have decided to break up with the show. It's been FIVE YEARS. Enough is enough. That's all I have to say.

Fridays

Dollhouse came to an end. Parts of it were brilliant and I'm still amazed that the best episode was a dvd only selection. I guess I should just be grateful to Fox for letting Joss Whedon introduce Enver Gjokaj (Victor) and Diechan Lachman (Sierra) to the world. They're fantastic.

Friday Night Lights - It is with clear eyes and a full heart that I tell you that if you're not watching this show, you're missing out on something great. I've waxed poetic about it before, so I won't go on and on but in season four they've had to start all over, practically from the ground up. And it's just as good. Thank you, DirecTV, for rescuing this gem of a show.

What's your favorite show? Why? And, no, I haven't left Glee off - it's still running :)

I divorce thee...

Usually I'm loyal to my tv shows until the bitter end. I watched all 15 seasons of ER, all four seasons of The OC, stuck with Dollhouse even though I knew it was going to be cancelled at any minute, etc.

This year, though, is different. I'm on the verge of breaking up with two of my longtime favorite tv shows because I'm fed up.

I've been a fan of Bones from the start. As a Buffy/Angel fan, it was must see viewing when it premiered on Fox five years ago. It quickly became a favorite with the interesting cases and excellent character interaction. I loved that each of the main characters was a fully realized person, not just a caricature. And, David Boreanaz is so charming, I'd watch the show just for him - nevermind that his chemistry with Brennan is amazing.

However, after five years of will they / won't they, I'm ready to throw in the towel. Especially in the wake of the 100th episode where the writers have yet again driven a wedge between them. And this from someone who even enjoyed the season 4 finale with the dream sequence which most fans despised.

FIVE YEARS. I think that's long enough to wait, especially since they have been teasing them getting together since the beginning.

The other show that I'm most frustrated with is Supernatural on The CW. It's also in its fifth season and it's been a rocky one for me. Supernatural is about two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, on a quest to keep the Apocalypse from destroying the world. Individual episodes have been absolutely brilliant but as a whole the season has been the weakest of the five. Interesting storylines are mentioned once and then completely dropped. And for a show that's about two brothers trying to keep the Apocalypse from destroying the world, there's a whole lot of nothing going on.

Last week's episode introduced a very interesting character at the end and then they were completely left out for last night's. What the heck? There are only two episodes left at this point. That is not a lot of time to wrap things up. We really didn't need another "filler episode" at this point in the season.

I'm not really considering divorcing this show but I needed to vent. Even on a weak night, Supernatural is head and shoulders above most of what is out there. I have wondered, though, if it wouldn't do better with a shorter season like many of the BBC shows. A full order of 22 episodes is a lot of time to fill. Maybe they would fare better if they had to have a tighter, more cohesive storyline without all the extras.

And on a final note about Supernatural, Jensen Ackles deserves an Emmy for his work as Dean Winchester. He can do more with his facial expressions and body language than just about any actor I've seen on t.v.

Do you have a show you're completely frustrated with? Why?

My Love/Hate Relationship with TV

I love television - it's like you get to peek into a variety of individual, creative worlds. The best television makes you laugh, cry, think, dream. I often get caught up in my favorite shows and obsess endlessly over them until the next episode is on.

I hate television - I get completely caught up in a new story and wham! It's cancelled. Argh! Unfortunately, my favorite shows often get cancelled before their time because of low ratings: Wonderfalls, Veronica Mars, Deadwood, Life, Dollhouse, to name a few. (There are actually many more on this list.) Even my favorites that stay on air are constantly on the bubble of being cancelled (Chuck, Friday Night Lights, etc.). Supernatural has stayed on the air so long only because it's on the CW.

Then there are the other shows that I watch that are entertaining in the moment but not something I obsess over - 24, House, Castle, Royal Pains, Leverage. I enjoy these shows but if I miss a week I don't have to run immediately to Hulu to make it up. For the most part, though, these shows are successful and don't really rely on my viewership.

Lately I've been enjoying the Renaissance of the sitcom: Modern Family, Community, Cougar Town, are all shows I look forward to. It's a nice change up from the 100 versions of Law & Order or CSI or the latest medical drama.

DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON "REALITY" TV. I refuse to participate in the dumbing down of America and the destruction of an entire industry, all in the pursuit of saving money.

What about you? Have any shows you obsess over? Mourn any shows cancelled too soon? Any shows you despise?