As promised, I offer you my picks for the new TV season. This is your guide to happy TV watching for the year. Shows with the little stars by them are my favorites already and ones with the number sign are new shows that I am excited about. Shows that my “pick of the night” have a money sign.


Top 5 Returning Shows
1. The Shield
2. 24
3. Alias
3. The Simpsons
5. Arrested Development

Top 5 New Shows
1. Lost
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Joey
4. Boston Legal
4. Kevin Hill



Sunday
7-7:30 King of the Hill, Fox
7:30-8 Malcolm in the Middle, Fox
8-8:30 *$The Simpsons, Fox
8:30-9 *Arrested Development, Fox
9-10 #Desperate Housewives, ABC (*$Alias, ABC, in January)
10-11 Boston Legal, ABC

Sunday is a special night. All these shows might take some time to get used to, but it is worth it.

King of the Hill is one of the best-written shows on television; the same goes for both The Simpsons and Arrested Development. Both Malcolm and Arrested Development offer up television’s funniest performances. What more can be said about The Simpsons, one of my two picks of the night. Fox offers the most unique and hilarious night on television, and there is no doubt you will hurt from the laughter by 9.

ABC’s new show, Desperate Housewives, comes in to fill the void filled by Alias’s, my pick of the night’s, hiatus. Do not fear though, because Housewives offers the best new cast of the season. Do not fear, Alias lovers, for the show will be back, and with no reruns, starting in January. Boston Legal is worth watching just because it showcases the absolutely brilliant James Spader, and features William Shatner. Yes, Captain Kirk is back in a main role on network TV, and he is nothing short of amazing.


Monday
8-8:30 Still Standing, CBS
8:30-9 Listen Up, CBS
9-9:30 Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS (*$24, Fox, 9-10, in January)
9:30-10 *Two and a Half Men, CBS
10-11 CSI: Miami, CBS

Though most critics dislike it, I find Still Standing to be quite funny. Listen Up stars Jason Alexander, so I’m looking forward to it. Raymond is winding down and the quality is not as high as it once was, but its still funnier then most shows on TV. Men is downright hilarious. Underrated, it has the potential to last a long time. Charlie Sheen is great, as is Jon Cryer. To be 100% honest, I normally don’t watch a show at 10 on Mondays, opting instead to watch sports. However, if I did watch something, it would CSI: Miami.

In January, 24 comes back and, much like Alias, will not be showing reruns. My pick of the night, it offers the most drama of any show on network TV, and is much more than just a “gimmick” show. Watch it. Be happy.


Tuesday
8-9 Gilmore Girls, WB
9-9:30 According to Jim, ABC
9:30-10 *Scrubs, NBC
10-11 Nip/Tuck, FX or 10-10:30 *Chappelle’s Show, Comedy Central
(*$The Shield, FX, 10-11, March)

Tuesdays suck, well, at least from 9-9:30. According to Jim isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either, not by a long stretch. While I have Gilmore Girls up there at 8, I won’t be watching. Hopefully it will rebound from last year’s mediocre season. Scrubs comes in at 9:30 though, saving the night. In fact, Scrubs, with TV’s most talented young cast, and with the wonderful Dr. Cox and very funny Janitor, would be my pick of the night if The Shield didn’t come back in march.

Now, the 10-11 hour gives a wide variety of choices. Nip/Tuck is one of TV’s most interesting series, while Chappelle’s Show might be its funniest. Either way, you can’t go wrong. Of course, as soon as The Shield comes back in March, watch it. It might take a couple episodes to get used to, but there is nothing like it on TV.


Wednesday
8-9 #Lost, ABC
9-10 *The West Wing, NBC, or #Kevin Hill, WB
10-11 *$Rescue Me, FX (season to end soon)
10-10:30 *South Park, Comedy Central
10:30-11 *Reno 911, Comedy Central

Lost excites me with its enormous cast and with Alias’ J.J. Abrams producing and writing. It will be the new show to watch this year.

If you have been a fan of The West Wing, continue to watch. If not, watch the DVDs of previous seasons and see what you missed before producer/writer Aaron Sorkin left. There is a huge difference. It would have been my pick of the night and my number show Sorkin was still present. Also, check out Kevin Hill on WB. I know what you are thinking, “The WB? C’mon, James.” Just trust me. It stars Taye Diggs and if that doesn’t ring a bell for you, it should. After seeing this show, he will be more than enough for you to watch the show.

Rescue Me is one of TV’s best show. Both funny and dramatic, this show about Firemen is nothing like you would think. Give it a chance, for it might take more than one episode to truly enjoy. Watch it before it takes time off. Then, catch South Park and Reno when it goes on hiatus. They’re funny.

Thursday
8-8:30 #Joey, NBC
8:30-9 *$Will & Grace, NBC
9-10 The Apprentice 2, NBC
10-11 Graham Norton Effect, Comedy Central


What used to be TV’s strongest night isn’t. Joey has potential, and we can hope it lives up to it. Frasier it won’t be, but it could be something very good. Will and Grace wins show of the night more by default than anything else. I hate reality TV, but The Apprentice is actually good reality TV. Graham Norton is not for everyone, but give it a try. It takes a couple shows though, that is for sure. Sorry, ER fans. It isn’t the show it once was, and I find Graham Norton to be more entertaining.


So, there you go, your guide to TV this season. Of course, it is only a matter of opinion, but mine is right. :P

Humans suffer from a lack of taste, or maybe it is an absence. They constantly make choices that fly in the face logic. They make what is quite obviously the wrong choice, over and over again, and they do it in droves.

If you don’t believe me, look at Britney Spears’ record sales. Check record sales over the summer? Ashley Simpson had a number one album. Defend that.

For a more in-depth view, I give you Sports Night. During the critically praised and award winning two-year run, people chose not to watch it. The second season, which is the superior of the two, averaged 7.78 million viewers per episode. Sighting low ratings, ABC cancelled the show. No show has yet to live up to its quality.

To offer some perspective on just how wrong people were about not watching this show, I offer the Top 20 television shows rating wise of this past season. All of these shoes got much better ratings than Sports Night:

1 AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
2 AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
3 CSI
4 APPRENTICE
5 SURVIVOR: ALL-STARS
6 SURVIVOR: PEARL ISLANDS
7 FRIENDS
8 NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
9 CSI: MIAMI
10 E.R.
11 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND
12 WITHOUT A TRACE
13 LAW AND ORDER
14 BIG FAT OBNOXIOUS FIANCE
15 TWO AND A HALF MEN
16 NFL MONDAY SHOWCASE
17 60 MINUTES 2
18 WILL & GRACE
19 BACHELOR, THE
19 COLD CASE

So, more people watched My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé than Sports Night. Now, I can understand, though disagree, a case about Friends being better than Sports Night, but 13 million viewers better? As funny as Ross trying to Mystic Tan was, does that warrant well over 10 million more people watch it than a Sports Night episode?

Now, in an effort to keep good shows on the air, I will soon be offering a night-by-night viewing guide to the newest television season. Well, every night except Friday and Saturday. Who watches TV on those nights anyway? Follow it to TV happiness. Hopefully, together, we can keep good shows on the air by watching them.

My TV guide will be up soon.

Note: Friends' average rating would have been much higher, if not for an unusually large number of repeats.

Waking up sucks. No doubt about it, getting up early is a pain. It really hit me how awful it was this morning.

Awaking from what was a beautiful slumber filled with luscious dreams, I could not bear the thought of getting out of bed. I could not imagine a woman that was attractive enough to entice me with a favor that would make rising out of bed worth it. I said to myself*, why am I getting up? If I would not roll out of my bed for a beautiful woman, then what would I get out of it for? I am damn well not getting up for a thirst of knowledge. Well, I guess I am. That is exactly why I got up, to go learn.

That is just ridiculous. Any knowledge I need I can get after 10 in the morning. One thing that I don’t have for it is a thirst, at least not anytime before at least 9. This whole idea of waking up, getting up, walking to class, to sit and learn is awful. I shall be wandering from class to class, sitting in different rooms and different buildings, to gain knowledge. The very least I could do for my body and mind is doing it at a reasonable time. That is not what us students do though. We get up early to go learn, most of us five days a week.

Studies show that we do not get enough sleep. Now, we could go to bed earlier, but studies also so that our minds work better at night. So, us students get little sleep, stay up late to study, and then get up early to learn. Are we fighting wars, curing disease, and helping the poor? No, at least not at the moment, but that does not mean that we do not deserve credit for what we do. Some of us will become doctors, some teachers. Others will find another way to be a helpful and productive member of society, that is, after all, why we go to school. We should be commended.

Commended? Some of you have to think that I am going over board, but it is the truth. We too often get looked down upon because we are college or high school students, when really; we are doing something that is difficult. Yes, we are offered a tremendous opportunity that many would love to have, but we are using out opportunity and working to make it worth something. That is something deserving of praise.

Will we get this praise? Very few of us will, and none of us will from anyone other then select family members. Regardless, it does not mean we don’t deserve. You don’t always get what you deserve, and this is unfortunate, but we’ll get used to it. Maybe that is what we really learn in school, how to deal with getting up early, going to work, and being underappreciated.