"The true outlaw finds the balance between the passion in his heart.....

and the reason in his mind. The solution is always an equal mix of might and right."

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As you all should have realized by now, I watch a lot of television.  I know that I have said this before, but I think you need to know that I know I watch...probably way too much television :o)  As such, I have recently been trying to weed out the not-so-good shows that I only really keep following out of habit.

One of those shows is Gossip Girl.  I went to my DVR a few weeks ago to watch the new episode and just realized that I had no interest in watching it.  The first season was pretty good and there have been some intriguing episodes here and there over the following three seasons, but overall, the plots are just getting more and more ridiculous and I cannot take it anymore.  There also happen to be two other good shows in that time slot on Mondays.  So instead, I will be watching Being Human on SyFy and The Chicago Code on FOX.  Both of which, I think you should all be watching as well.

One Tree Hill is another one of those shows that I pretty much just watch out of habit these days.  I have watched it from the beginning and while it was never a great show it was entertaining enough.  Then, after the fourth season and the characters graduation from high school, the show jumped ahead four years and all of a sudden it became more relevant to my life, so I kept watching.  However, the past two seasons have not been all that interesting, but I cannot seem to stop. I am kind of hoping it does not get renewed for another season.

On the other hand, The Vampire Diaries seriously just keeps getting better and better.  I know I have said it before, but I really feel like I need to say it again because, while it does have a huge following, it is on the CW Network and I think a lot of people my age rule it out due to that fact.  I am truly impressed at how they continue to keep things exciting each and every week.

Another show that I have recently become addicted to is Sons of Anarchy.  When it started in 2008, it did not really appeal to me.  It did not star anyone that really made me want to watch it and the motorcycle club angle was not something I cared about either.  However, three seasons later it is still getting a lot of good buzz from the critics, so I decided to give it a try.  I have to say, it is very good.  Even though I am not interested in motorcycles or motorcycle clubs, the smart writing, great acting and interesting story lines keep you invested in the characters.  Also, after further inspection of the cast, it does contain a lot of people whose names you may not recognize, but who have actually been in things you have probably seen: Katey Sagal - Married with Children and 8 Simple Rules; Maggie Siff - Mad Men; Charlie Hunnam - Undeclared and Cold Mountain; Tommy Flanagan - Braveheart and Gladiator; Kim Coates - Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor; Ryan Hurst - Remember the Titans; any several more excellent actors.  Season 3 just finished in November and is not yet out on DVD, so I have only seen the few episodes that are on Hulu, but I can already tell that it will be just as good as the first two seasons.  I highly recommend that you check it out.

I have also decided that, despite my aversion to most things zombie related, I should probably watch The Walking Dead.  I am not expecting to like it, but it has gotten such good reviews, that I feel like I cannot just ignore it.  I will let you know how that goes.


In completely un-television related news, my friend, Chris Despo, is releasing his first album at the end of this month and I CANNOT wait.  It will be on iTunes, and I will give you that link when it is available, but until then, I leave you with his "behind-the-scenes" video:

And, as always, if you have any thoughts, or feel there are any TV shows I should be watching, please use the comments section below!

xoxo

c

"I do believe in killing the messenger. You know why? Because it sends a message."

Just like I did last August, I have decided to give you a list of the TV shows on my schedule for this year. My list seems to be significantly longer than last year, so I either will not have much of a life or several shows will eventually get cut. Needless to say, my DVR will be a blessing, as usual...and who am I kidding, I do not have a life :o)

My Returning Shows:
The Vampire Diaries
Gossip Girl
One Tree Hill
Life Unexpected
Parenthood
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
How I Met Your Mother
Castle
Glee
NCIS
NCIS: LA
Community
Grey's Anatomy
Private Practice
Brothers & Sisters

New Shows:
Nikita
Lonestar
Hawaii Five-O
My Generation
Blue Bloods
No Ordinary Family

I am super excited about the start of The Vampire Diaries, Castle and Community. Grey's Anatomy, despite the AWFUL Thanksgiving/Christmas/NYE episode, was getting really good again last season, so I am hoping that trend continues this season. I am not sure that I will get into Nikita or Blue Bloods, but Nikita has been getting good reviews and Blue Bloods has Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg and Will Estes (who you may remember as JJ Pryor on American Dreams), so I will at least give them a shot.

Greek is also one of my shows that I will still watch this year, but it does not start again until January, so I have not included it on my list.  I also do not know when the second season of Justified is starting.

Tonight is the season finale of White Collar and my other shows will probably be wrapping up over the next few weeks. Nikita and The Vampire Diaries start this week on the CW and the rest of the premiere dates can be found at TV Guide.

What shows are you excited about this season? Are there any shows you think I should be watching that I am not currently watching? Let me know and maybe I will check them out.

I hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend! Happy Start of Fall TV!
xoxo
c
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"When you're wearing pantyhose on your head, never wear control top."

As the fall season approaches, I thought I would share my fall TV schedule with everyone. I forewarn you, if you have not figured it out on your own, that I watch a lot of television. I usually try out a few new shows but do not necessary follow them all season. I also sometimes stop watching old shows that have jumped the shark.

My Returning Shows:

Greek

One Tree Hill

Gossip Girl

Castle

How I Met Your Mother

NCIS

Grey's Anatomy

Dollhouse

Brothers & Sisters

Ugly Betty

New Shows:

Glee

NCIS: LA

Cougar Town

Community

Accidentally on Purpose

Eastwick

Vampire Diaries

V

I am super excited for Greek, Castle, HIMYM, NCIS and Dollhouse to begin again. Grey's, B&S and Ugly Betty I just kind of watch out of habit now. They were not all that fabulous last season and I am hoping they can get back on track this season.

I am a little nervous about One Tree Hill returning without Hilarie Burton and Chad Michael Murray and the addition of several new characters, but I will at least start the season watching. I am also interested to see how Gossip Girl addresses the issue of their characters starting college. I always find it a little illogical that an entire group of friends would all end up at college in the same city, or even all at the same college, but sometimes the writers can make it work. It did not go well on Dawson's Creek, but worked out on Veronica Mars, so we'll just have to wait and see.

I am not particularly excited about Eastwick, Vampire Diaries or V and they may be the casualties of my over-scheduling, but I will give them a shot.

Anyways, there is it. Greek starts tonight (ah woo hoo!) and then it's about two more weeks until everything else starts up.

xoxo
c

Veronica Mars is smarter than me.

So, I've already told you how I found my favorite actor, Ryan Gosling. Now it's time to talk about my favorite actress, Kristen Bell.

I had seen her in the one episode of American Dreams that she did in 2003, but had no idea who she was at the time.

Then, about three and half years ago, I was visiting some high school friends in New York City. They had started watching this new show called Veronica Mars on UPN and said it was awesome. It was the middle of the second season and they had the first season on DVD. I watched the first episode, really liked it and by the end of the weekend, had watched the first four episodes and could not wait to watch the rest of the season.

I came home from NYC and literally drove all over town looking for the DVDs. None of my local rental places had it and neither did the two Border's or the Barnes and Noble near my apartment. Defeated, I went home and ordered it online. When I got it in the mail, I watched the entire season within a matter of days...and then proceeded to watch the whole thing at least two more times.

UPN was in the middle of airing the second season and at first I was not going to watch it because I had no idea what was going on. Then I found the website marsinvestigations.net and it gave awesome episode summaries. It also had character descriptions (even for the obscure people who were only in one episode), a time line of events, quotes from every episode, cultural references, mystery speculation and much much more. This is probably the best fan site I've ever seen, and I was soon brought up to speed on what was happening in season two.

Unfortunately, even though it was a brilliant show with an amazing cast (I heart Sheriff Lamb), it was canceled after the third season due to lack of viewers. There is a very slight possibility that they will make a movie, but it's not looking too good at the moment. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though that Warner Bros will do the right thing (wink wink, nudge nudge).

The creator of Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas, has a new show called Party Down, which she has guest starred on, and is about a group of aspiring actors who move to L.A. and end up working as waiters. Sadly, I don't get Showtime and have not yet seen it. Although, I have heard very good things about it, and plan to watch it when it comes out on DVD. I mean, how can you go wrong when the main cast includes Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen, Jane Lynch, Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan?! Most people (at least my friends) are probably going, "Who are those people?" But if you check them out on imdb.com you should recognize at least a few of them...because they're awesome.

But I digress....

After becoming hooked on Veronica Mars, I watched her in Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical which is an awesomely hilarious adaptation of a 1920's anti-marijuana propaganda film. It also starred Neve Campbell and her brother, Christian, as well as, Steven Weber, Alan Cummings and Ana Gasteyer. This actually came out during the first season of Veronica Mars but I don't think it was ever in theaters...or at least only in limited release.

She was hilarious in Forgetting Sarah Marshall which was written by and starred Jason Segel as well as Mila Kunis and Russell Brand. And, of course, every fan boy needs to see Fanboys :o) She's also the voice of Gossip Girl, which I love, and was on Heroes for a short while. I was already watching Heroes when she joined the cast, however, I was starting to lose interest and actually stopped watching before she left the show.

I've also seen Fifty Pills and Pulse and then the few things I have not seen are in my Netflix queue...of course :o)

The next couple movies she has coming out are:

Astro Boy - an animated film about a young robot (voiced by Freddie Highmore) created by a scientist in the image of the son he has lost.

Serious Moonlight - written by Adrienne Shelley (who wrote Waitress) and directed by Cheryl Hines. It's about an attorney who duct tapes her cheating husband to the toilet just before their home is invaded by burglars. It also stars Justin Long and Meg Ryan and should be out at the end of the year.

Couples Retreat - written by Vince Vaugn and Jon Favreau. A comedy about four couples who go on vacation together and, while one couple is there to work on their marriage, the other three don't realize that the resort's therapy sessions are not optional. It stars Vaugn and Favreau along with Jason Bateman, Malin Akerman and Kristin Davis.




When In Rome - She plays a talented real estate agent who is unlucky in love. She travels to Rome to visit her sister and steals some coins from a supposed "fountain of love" and is consequently pursued by a band of wannabe lovers, including Josh Duhamel (not too shabby if you ask me).


When Veronica Mars ended her career totally took off. Which made me a little sad only because I feel like if people had been paying better attention, they would have discovered her earlier and VM would still be on. But I am glad that people are noticing her now because she's an amazing actress and, though I don't know her personally, I really do believe she deserves all the attention and success.

Now if only Kristen Bell and Ryan Gosling would do a movie together...

xoxo
c

ps. i started using the "xoxo" to sign all of my emails thanks to Gossip Girl