"Okay, new plan: we’re gonna fashion a cow costume out of this gauze and then we’ll just mosey on outta here like a cow walkin’ out of a hospital."

TV schedules are not what they used to be. Shows used to premiere in the fall, usually took a break at Christmas and had their finales in the spring. Sometimes there would be a break for the Olympics or Sports Playoffs/Championships or Presidential speeches. Nowadays (I sound so old :o) shows take hiatuses at random times for no reason and each channel starts and ends their seasons at totally different times. The USA Network, especially, just seems to do whatever the hell they please ;o) For instance, the third season of In Plain Sight just started a few weeks ago and White Collar starts their second season this summer. Even though it is only April, shows on all networks are already airing their season finales. I guess it makes for more things to watch throughout the year, but it is mostly just annoying and confusing.

While I am not going to run-down the list of all the shows I am currently watching (it is a lot), I will tell you about a few I think you should be watching but probably are not.

Aside from Justified, Party Down is another awesome show that I have just discovered. I knew about it when the first season aired, but as I do not have Starz, I could not watch it until it came out on DVD. I am even thinking about paying for Starz if I cannot get the new season any other way. This show is awesome and completely under-rated. It is a show about a group of actors and one writer who live in L.A. but have not yet hit it big, so they are working as caterers. And if you also watch the show Greek then you will recognize the uniform from Evan Chambers' caterer days, an homage to Party Down. I mean, how could a show created by Paul Rudd, Rob Thomas, John Enbom and Dan Etheridge (the last three all from Veronica Mars) be bad?! Add to that the fact that it stars Ken Marino, Jane Lynch, Lizzy Caplan, Adam Scott, Ryan Hansen and Martin Starr and this show is nothing short of hilarious. (Jane Lynch, obviously, has left for Glee, but is being replaced this season with the equally funny Megan Mullally) AND THEN there are amazing guest stars in every single episode including Kristen Bell, Joey Lauren Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Begley Jr., Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring, Breckin Meyer, Rob Corddry, Steven Weber, and George Takei and Rick Fox as themselves. Seriously, watch this show if you want to laugh a lot :o)

Glee has just come back from its winter hiatus. As much as I love this show, I feel like whenever they come back from a hiatus, the episode always underwhelms me. Maybe my expectations are just too high and I get too excited about the show coming back that I think it is going to blow me away and it just does not. That is not to say that last weeks episode was not good I just thought it could have been better. This weeks Madonna episode, however, was AWESOME. The only thing that annoyed me was that stupid American Idol ran long which messed up my DVR and I missed the last five minutes of the show, and consequently, the best musical number of the episode. Luckily, Hulu had it up the next day and FOX is re-airing the episode tonight. This is actually one of my shows that most other people are watching, and rightly so.

I know most people think that Modern Family is the funniest new show of this past season. I have watched several episodes and, while I do think it is entertaining enough, I just cannot get into it. My favorite comedy has to be Accidentally on Purpose. Jenna Elfman plays a thirty-something movie critic who has a one night stand with a guy in his early twenties, played by Jon Foster, and ends up getting pregnant. I seriously love this show and it makes me laugh hysterically every single week. Unfortunately, it did just have its season one finale this week and may not get picked up for a second season, which would make me extremely sad.

Foster and Nicholas Wright, the actor who plays his best friend Davis, also have an online talk-show that is super funny. Here is the first episode:



I follow these guys on twitter (@LunchItUp) and requested that they dress like pirates for one of their episodes. Which they did last week just for me because they are awesome :o)

One of my favorite shows, Ugly Betty, has unfortunately been canceled and the season finale aired a few weeks ago. Over the past four seasons, there have been some down times, but overall Ugly Betty was an amazing show that I will very much miss. It was different than anything else on TV and was extremely entertaining. This season especially has been awesome and if it weren't for stupid ABC constantly changing its time slot, I really think it could have kept going at least another season.

I am still loving The Vampire Diaries, Castle, NCIS, NCIS:LA, The Good Wife and others. There is actually a lot of smart, quality television on that I think a lot of people are over-looking because of more "popular" choices. I just wish I had more power to keep these good shows from getting canceled for crappier ones.

xoxo
c

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"The world would be a better place if more people weren't afraid to lose."

I apologize in advance if this blog is kind of all over the place. I have been watching lots of different stuff and this is the first post I have written in a while. I promise I will try harder to be more focused and write more often.

So here we go...

I have finally watched The Godfather: Part Three. It creeped me out a little that Sofia Coppolla had a kissing scene, that I almost thought was leading into a sex scene, in a movie directed by her father. And I was right about the movie not wowing me. I still do not understand the obsession with these movies. However, I have now watched them all, so no one can give me a hard time about not seeing them :o)

On my continuing quest to see everything Bradley Cooper, I have watched Jack & Bobby (which I discovered OnDemand and then on theWB.com), The Comebacks and New York, I Love You (which is in theaters right now).

New York, I Love You was a combination of several vignettes about love in New York City. I thought it was very interesting and had a stellar cast. Along with Bradley Cooper, it also starred Robin Wright, Natalie Portman (who also wrote and directed one of the segments), Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Shia LaBeouf, Ethan Hawke, James Caan, Andy Garcia and many, many more. The stories were separate yet interwoven throughout the film, some were sad, some were happy, but they all were true to life. I think it is definitely worth seeing.

The Comebacks was one of the worst movies I have ever seen and that is all I will say about that.

Jack & Bobby was a great show and I am sad that I did not get to watch it while it was on TV. It was really well written and very entertaining. Although, I have to admit my absolute favorite part of every episode is actually the opening credits - the theme from The Patriot, written by John Williams, paired with clips of famous presidential speeches - you really cannot go wrong with that combo. I turn up the volume every time to listen to it and never fast forward through it. It sounds corny but maybe you need to watch it to understand:



Another cool fact is that executive producer, Greg Berlanti, is now one of the the executive producers for Brothers & Sisters and I noticed several similarities between the two shows. I don't think it is a coincidence that the main character on Jack & Bobby was a kid named Robert "Bobby" McCallister who grows up to be a Republican Senator and then goes on to be President, and Rob Lowe's character on B&S is named Robert McCallister, who is a Republican Senator who wants to be President. Plus, Logan Lerman looks like he could be Rob Lowe's little brother. Love it! :o)

I think Bradley Cooper should do more projects like Jack & Bobby and less projects like The Comebacks, but that's just my humble opinion.

I also watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail last week. The Monty Python boys are always funny, however, I found I enjoyed Life of Brian more than the Holy Grail, mostly because during this one, I pretty much had no idea what they were talking about half the time :o) I tend to prefer their shorts as they are much easier to follow..."I always wanted to be a lumberjack!" Maybe I just need to watch the movie again.

There are now 219 movies in my Netflix queue...I MAY have added a few more since my lost post...but I am still slowly working my way down :o)

In the world of television, I have become increasingly obsessed with The Vampire Diaries. As you may remember (http://ayetortuga.blogspot.com/2009/08/when-youre-wearing-pantyhose-on-your.html) I was not super excited about this show before it started, but I am a sucker for hot vampires, so I watched. The first few episodes were good, so I kept watching, and now the episodes just seem to be getting better and better each week. Then they had to go and add Matthew Davis to the cast (think Warren from Legally Blonde or Matt Tollman from Blue Crush) as the new history teacher, Alaric Saltzman, so now I'm officially hooked.

I am also loving new USA Network show, White Collar. Matthew Bomer plays a white-collar criminal who makes a deal with the FBI to let him out of jail if he helps them catch other white-collar criminals. It is funny and extremely entertaining, and I am only slightly biased since a friend of mine is doing the marketing for the show ;o) The only downside is that it is on Fridays at 10pm, which is where my DVR comes in super handy.

I could not get into Cougar Town or Eastwick (which has now been canceled). I also stopped watching Modern Family. I thought the first couple episodes were funny, but I just have not been able to get into it. I watch enough television, so I think it is okay if I skip this one. I also stopped watching Flash Forward and never even started watching V because I decided I just was not interested in them.

Ugly Betty, Dollhouse, NCIS and Castle are having AMAZING seasons. Sadly though, the stupid FOX Network has already canceled Dollhouse, just as it was hitting it's stride, because viewership has been too low. But what do you expect when you put a show on Friday nights two seasons in a row and have it's lead in be totally unrelated sit-coms?!

Anyways, that's what I have been up to while currently unemployed. If you agree/disagree with anything I have said, feel free to leave comments below. I am really going to try to write more often, so stay tuned!

xoxo
c

"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