As I stated in my introductory post, I plan on doing my TV posts a little more regularly throughout the week. However, I have a feeling that a lot of that will be devoted to particular episodes of shows that really spoke to me, so I think I'll probably wind up doing a "week in review" thing each week to do some pellet reviews of everything else. Still trying to find my sea legs on the blogging again, so bear with me if the reviews aren't quite as loquacious as promised yet.
Mad Men (AMC, Sundays 9:00): I am a relatively recent convert to the joys of Mad Men, having watched the first three seasons on DVD earlier this year. And as incredibly well acted and well written as those three seasons were, so far this season is blowing them out of the water, especially last week's episode "The Suitcase," which should net Jon Hamm that Emmy that's avoided him so far. Last night's episode wasn't quite as powerful, but still enjoyable.
Terriers (FX, Wednesday 9:00): First of my Must See TV Shows to debut, this drama about a couple of low rent Private Eye from the writer of Ocean's Eleven and the creator of The Shield definitely lived up to my expectations. I enjoyed the interplay between the two leads quite a bit.
The Venture Bros. (Cartoon Network, Sundays, 10:30): I think Chris Sims of The ISB summed up my thoughts on the return of the show pretty well on Twitter last night
Sons of Anarchy (FX, Tuesdays, 9:00): I have to admit I was feeling a little let down by the season premiere of SoA; after the crazy cliffhanger last season I was expecting something more engaging than watching Jax and Tara have yet another relationship breakdown or Jemma holing up in a hotel. True, there was Jemma's attempted car-jacking to add a bit of spice, but as the episode was winding down all I felt was sadness at the squandered potential . . . and then the funeral came around and kicked everything up several notches. Here's hoping it stays kicked up in the next episode -- I'm afraid this show can't sustain the quiet drama as well as Breaking Bad or Mad Men.
Hellcats (CW, Wednesdays, 8:00): Yes, I watched the new CW drama about college cheerleaders; no, I'm not proud of it. Mildly entertaining fish-out-of-water fluff that stretches viewer credulity to the breaking point at times.
Top Chef: Washington D.C. (Bravo, Wednesdays, 9:00): Earlier this summer I got sucked into a marathon of The Next Food Network Star at Squiggly's house, which reminded me of how much I had enjoyed the first season of Top Chef back in the day. Having seen several people mention the latest season on Twitter recently, I decided to check it out and discovered that there was a marathon of it running a couple of weekends ago, and got caught up just in time for the first part of the season finale this past week. I also caught mini-marathons of the 2nd and 3rd seasons; it's amazing how much I enjoy the show considering that almost every dish they make looks completely unappetizing to my incredibly limited palette. Am now looking forward to the debut of the next iteration subtitled "Just Desserts"
Nikita (CW, Thursdays, 8:00): Let me start off by saying that I have never seen the original La Femme Nikita film or the late 90s Peta Wilson TV show, so I was going into this fairly unhindered by preconceptions or expectations. Therefore, if you were a huge fan of either of those, then the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed the pilot of the newest version with Maggie Q in the lead role might not hold as much weight, seeing as how I have no clue how closely this hews to any other version.
I'm looking forward to Just Desserts as well. I've not heard of half of the shows on your list but I do enjoy hearing your reviews. It's good to see you back.
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