Textbooks have been purchased, classes have begun and hours spent in the library have commenced. In my book, that means one thing: a new season of television to procrastinate the time away. I’m what you might call a television addict; I watch far too much television for my own good and, half the time, I have three shows going on in one time slot. It’s times like those when I wish I had a time-turner. But time-turner aside, and without my beloved TiVo, the Internet and iTunes will have to serve as alternate ways to view my many shows. So as a start to the year, I have decided to give you a preview of what my television schedule is going to look like on a day-to-day basis.
Mad Mondays:
Monday happens to be the one day when there are at least five quality shows on, all clashing with something or another at the same time. It’s the one day a week where I will probably go slightly mad trying to keep up with everything without my TiVo. Why, oh why, didn’t I get the DVR when I had the chance?
First we have ‘Gossip Girl” facing off against ‘Chuck” in the 8-9 p.m. slot. Coincidentally, these two competing shows are both created by Josh Schwartz, creator of ‘The OC.” ‘I’ve never even heard of “Chuck'” is probably what many of you just said to yourselves. ‘Chuck” is probably one of the best shows that no one knows about on television right now.
This romantic-action-comedy series is about your everyday geek who gets government secrets implanted in his brain. It is one of the wittiest, most well-written shows I have seen in a long time, but its premiere season was cut short last year due to the writers’ strike. With an early ending in February, the team behind the show decided it would be best to continue with a fresh start in the fall. Personally, ‘Chuck” wins the slot in my book versus the ‘parent’s nightmare” drama, ‘Gossip Girl.”
However, interrupting this duel of the shows is the dark horse third competitor, ‘How I Met Your Mother” a sitcom focused around a group of five friends getting through their young adult years. The show is told through the narration of Ted the voice of Bob Saget as he tells his kids the long version of how he met their mother. There are few shows where the actors and characters have as much chemistry and flawless fluidity as these characters express each week. Although the show is focused around the character Ted actor Josh Radnor it is stolen by other characters, including Marshall, played by Jason Siegel (other credits include ‘Knocked Up” and ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), and Barney, played by Neil Patrick Harris. Barney’s character is without a doubt the funniest personality on television and worth watching at least one episode to see why.
Following the impossibility of three shows at once, we have ‘Heroes” returning after a rough second season in the 9-10 p.m. slot. In its first season, the show did well, with fast-paced plot lines that kept the characters moving and the audience holding on by the edge of their seat. The second season, however, proved to be a great disappointment, with much less direction and a slower story.
The writers of the show even admitted their mistake. In fact, fans were so upset by the sudden downfall of the show that Tim Kring, the creator, apologized in an interview with ‘Entertainment Weekly” halfway through the season last year. It was a comfort to know that he knew exactly why his fans were upset. Now, with a fresh start, the start of Volume Three: Villains should be interesting and, hopefully, more like their impressive first season proved to be.
And that’s just Mondays. (Shows I don’t watch but I’ve heard are worth watching include: ‘Terminator: Sarah Conor Chronicles,” ‘Two and a Half Men,” ‘One Tree Hill” and ‘Prison Break”).
Be sure to keep reading updates of the weekly television schedule, including ‘Typical Tuesdays,” ‘Woeful Wednesdays” and ‘Thrilling Thursdays.”Grab a few friends and some popcorn and sit down in front of the biggest TV you guys can get yourselves, to partake in some of the laughing, crying and gasping these shows may provide.
Rosenberg is a member of the class of 2012.
