The Good, Bad, and Ugly: Fall TV

I've been thinking for a while about doing a "themed series" for my blog.  Nothing satisfied me for the longest time, no matter how hard I thought.  But today, I have finally found my series idea: Good, Bad, and Ugly!  And this is my premiere GBU post! Cue confetti and celebration.

September and October are loaded with the returns of our favorite shows, and the premieres of some brand new ones.  After a summer break, I'm ready for the new seasons of my two favorite sitcoms and my new favorite talent show.  I was interested in a couple of NBC's new shoes, because they were advertised like crazy during NBC's coverage of the Olympics.  My roommate is a huge Glee fan, so I watched last night's new episode with her, as well.

And now, with all of that said, I bring you my Good, Bad, and Ugly list of fall television.


The Good:

The Big Bang Theory: Last season ended with Howard and Bernadette's wedding and Howard blasting off into space shortly after, Leonard and Penny were still stuck in that awkward "what the heck is going on?" phase, Sheldon and Amy's relationship continued to develop (I'm at a total loss as to how she puts up with him, but more power to her), and Raj...well, Raj still had trouble talking to women without the help of alcohol.  With that ending in my mind and nothing but reruns to satisfy my nerd fix from May until September, I was giddy for the premiere of season six.  Once again, producer Chuck Lorre (also of Two and a Half Men fame) delivered a fantastic beginning to what is sure to be a hilarious season.  I love that Howard cannot escape his mother, even when he's in space; he is the poster mama's boy.  My favorite character on the show is actually Amy.  All of the characters play off each other very well, but Amy is just explosive, and I love her friendship with Penny.  They are two completely opposite personalities, and their contrast is hilarious. I admit I am becoming a little curious about Raj. The scene in the comic book store with Stuart was uncomfortable (but still well done and humorous, of course), and Stuart's comment when Raj left, "I could've done worse"...what was that all about?  I guess we will see what happens as the season progresses.  Welcome back, Big Bang!

The Voice: My new favorite talent show!  When American Idol started going downhill in terms of quality a few seasons ago, I knew it was time to find another talent search that would pique my interests.  I really like how The Voice is set up with the blind auditions, and how the contestant chooses a coach and "team" for the season.  It's a new twist on the standard structure of American Idol, The X Factor, America's Got Talent, and other similar programs.  The judges play off each other so well, and the rivalry between Blake Shelton and Adam Levine is fantastic.  I can't wait to see what Cassadee Pope, former lead singer of pop band Hey Monday (who I totally used to listen to, and had been wondering why they hadn't put anything new out lately), will do for Team Blake.  While the bad auditions can be entertaining, I'm really glad The Voice doesn't show them.  I much prefer to see the good auditions, because that's what we're going to see all season, anyway!  So basically, The Voice trumps all other talent-search shows.

The Bad

Two and a Half Men: It breaks my heart to list this as a "bad."  I have loved this show for years, and I'm reasonably sure I've seen every episode from every season.  The difference is the absence of Charlie Sheen.  Yeah, okay, he was, and still is, absolutely insane, but he is an incredible actor, and no one else could ever do that role justice.  I know Ashton Kutcher was not meant to replace Charlie Sheen's character, but there is no comparison.  Sheen's absence has affected all of the characters.  Jon Cryer's character was already annoying, but we could get past it because he was Charlie's brother.  Now he is almost intolerable.  The transition between Sheen and Kutcher was not smooth in the least, either.  The new set-up just isn't believable.   I can't imagine that a billionaire would just walk up to a house after trying to drown himself, buy the guy's house, and then offer the former homeowner to live with him.  It just doesn't make sense.  But I'm a devoted fan, so I will continue to watch until it fizzles out and Two and a Half Men ceases to exist.  I will watch reruns until the day I die.

The Ugly

I've never understood any of NBC's humor shows.  Plenty of my friends enjoy The Office, and a few of my other friends are fans of Community and Parks and Recreation.  I've watched a few episodes of each, and I just don't see the humor in them.  They're too dry for my taste, I think.

Yeah, I know..."How can you not like The Office?!"  Trust me...I can.

This summer, in between NBC's wall-to-wall coverage of the Olympics, they advertised a few new sitcoms that looked at least somewhat interesting.  Two of those are Matthew Perry's Go On and creator/producer/director Ryan Murphy's The New Normal.  I hoped that maybe I'd find an NBC show that fit my sense of humor, or that wasn't dry as a desert.  Unfortunately, my hopes were off.  I wasn't impressed with either show in any way.  The characters annoyed me, and I don't think I laughed once.  Oh well, I guess NBC sitcoms aren't my thing.  I'll stick with CBS for now.


CBS has one more show I want to check out, called Elementary.  Anyone know anything about it?  I'm going to need another show to add since I doubt Two and a Half Men will make it after this season, much to my dismay.  But until then, I will enjoy what is left, and The Big Bang Theory will definitely keep me entertained.


Bazinga.