Finally, we’re back at school with a new semester. And you know what that means a brand new schedule of television to occupy our day-to-day procrastination needs. After the long hiatus of fresh episodes over the holiday season, I’m happy to say that the next few weeks offer a variety of old and new shows to get us back into the swing of television scheduling.
Between returning favorites from the fall season such as ‘The Office” and ‘Gossip Girl,” series season premieres such as ‘Lost,” ’24” and ‘American Idol” and new shows like ‘Dollhouse” premiering for the first time, this winter is definitely going to keep my DVR occupied. So what should you be watching this semester?
Well, I can’t tell you for sure what you will like, but I can give you a look into what my TV schedule will be like this spring.
The first thing I have to say about television this semester is that network TV clearly has it in for me. There is one true way to drive me completely nuts and that would be scheduling not two, not even three, but seven quality television shows on the same night. That’s right, Monday nights are jam-packed with audience favorites in what seems to be an effort to make the first night of the week my own personal hell on earth.
What shows occupy this fun- filled night? Well, I’ve already made my love affair with the genius romantic-action-comedy ‘Chuck” clear through my rants and raves in the past. However, ‘Chuck” doesn’t return until Feb. 2, giving me plenty of time to catch up with other shows. ‘How I Met Your Mother,” ‘Gossip Girl” and ‘One Tree Hill” all return to their respective Monday night time slots with high ratings and what looks to be a promising second half of the season.
‘Heroes” returns the same night as ‘Chuck,” looking to redeem itself yet again after a sub-par first half of the third season. ‘House” makes its Monday night debut this semester, switching from the old Wednesday time slot to compete with ‘Gossip Girl,” ‘How I Met Your Mother” and ‘Chuck.” Since the fall television preview, I have watched the majority of the first four-and-a-half seasons of ‘House,” and it has captured a place on my prestigious list of favorite shows.
And speaking of favorites, Jack Bauer, my all-time favorite bad-ass crime fighter, has returned with season seven of ’24” at 9 p.m. on this crammed night. I’m happy to say that the first four hours have proven to be better than all 24 hours of season six combined. With the return of Tony, conspiracy theories and computer geek faceoffs, ’24” reclaims a well-deserved position on the top of the what-to-watch-Monday-nights list.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays offer a nice breather with only one show each night that is really worth watching that is, unless you are an ‘American Idol” lover. In that case, you’ve got one more show to watch. ‘Fringe,” the new science fiction thriller, returned on Jan. 20 with more questions to keep the audience intrigued.
Wednesday is the night of the week to really look forward to, with season five of ‘Lost” making its premiere last night. As we enter the second-to-last season of this cult favorite, we find the Oceanic Six safe and back in the real world, only looking to return to the island from which they escaped. The rest of the castaways are stuck on an island that appeared to have disappeared in the finale of season four.
As the Oceanic Six try to return to the island, the real question is not where is the island, but when is the island? And if that’s not enough to intrigue you, I don’t know what is.
After weak Tuesday and Wednesday night shows, Thursdays return full force with five popular shows worthy of earning a spot on my DVR.Critically acclaimed come
dies ‘The Office” and ’30 Rock” returned Jan. 8 with unsurprisingly fantastic episodes.
On the same night, ‘Grey’s Anatomy” returned only to disappoint me. With the dead ghost, Denny, still walking around the halls of Seattle Grace, I’m close to just dropping the show altogether. But I’ll try to stick it out for the next few weeks for the sake of closure.
‘Smallville” returned Jan. 15 with quite possibly the best episode of the series to date.
As this show has always been a little hot and cold for me, I hope this means that the rest of the season will live up to that episode, but I’ll keep my expectations low.
Finally, Thursday nights indulge my newfound television obsession, ‘Bones,” starring David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel.
The show explores the idea that the study of skeletons and bones can lead to the discovery of how a murder occurred.
In its fourth season, ‘Bones” is a fascinating show that allows viewers to jump in at any point while also keeping the long time viewers hooked.
And after a long week of television, believe it or not, Fridays do have a few shows that might be worth your time (even if that means watching them online later).
Friday nights should really be renamed Sci-Fi Geek night with ‘Battlestar Gallactica,” ‘The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Terminator” and newcomer ‘Dollhouse” all airing in what is known as the ‘graveyard” timeslot. In other words, the place shows are sent to die. Despite this glum title, these shows have captured the attention of a small (except in the case of Battlestar) yet dedicated fan base.
‘Dollhouse” is Joss Whedon’s (other shows include ‘Buffy the Vamipre Slayer,” ‘Angel,” ‘Firefly” and ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog”) new show about an underground association that wipes memories of people known as ‘Dolls” and has the capability of giving them any skill, personality or trait in order to be hired out for various jobs. While the show has received some negative press over the past few months, Joss Whedon has not yet failed to produce an intriguing show, so I will most certainly be tuning in.
Clearly, this winter offers a great array of television to occupy the hours we are not spending in the library or avoiding the cold outside. There are many more shows to look forward to airing or premiering over the next few months, and I’ll be sure to look out for what is worth watching. Meanwhile, take a seat in front of that TV and happy channel surfing!
Rosenberg is a member of
the class of 2012.
