Is TV rubbish in the autumn?

MSCL may be gone from the tv screen, but there are lots of good (and bad) new productions airing each week. Talk with other MSCL fans about your favorite shows or the shows you hate. Of course you can also discuss TV show DVD releases here.
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Is TV rubbish in the autumn?

Post by starbug » Sep 18th 2003, 5:10 am

Well, I'm sitting here, trying to think of a TV show I am watching with enthusiasm at the moment.

I can't. OK, I tune in to SATC but it's more to kill the time than out of the sort of obsessive freakishness I like to cultivate around my TV watching.

No Six Feet Under.
No 24.
No Good Life (OK, it's sporadic when they need to fill a gap in the schedule but that's no good).

There are no new shows which appeal. I don't have sky TV or anything but still... I want a series to get my teeth into.

A number of thoughts occur. Is this a conspiracy to get one to part with cash for DVDs of shows just so you can watch something good?
Is it just that all the good shows aren't shown in autumn? Why should this be?
Is it that I am missing some stonking new show that everyone is talking about? (I doubt that, I am usually glued to the TV guide, searching)

'Television bores me, in a hundred different ways'...

Is there something about autumn that makes people switch off their television sets?

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Post by mglenn » Sep 18th 2003, 9:46 am

Some suggestions:

Carnivale on HBO
Dead Like Me on Showtime
Gilmore Girls on The WB starts next week

I'm sure I'll think of some others later
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Post by Megs » Sep 18th 2003, 9:48 am

Hmmmm..... I don't know. I am looking forward to shows such as Smallville and Gilmore Girls, both of which are just about to start.

I never much got into Survivor, but I think the new "twist" they put on the show this season (throwing them overboard to start the game when they are doing press and they don't expect it) made me laugh so hard and just might make me watch it this season.

I don't know if I should admit this, but I have actually gotten roped into another teen drama, a la 90210: The O.C. :oops: *sigh* But it just went on hiatus and won't be back on until October.

I don't know if it has anything to do with autumn, even though it is my favorite season.
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Post by Megs » Sep 18th 2003, 9:49 am

I have Replay TV'd Carnivale (haven't seen the first epi yet) and my husband and I love Dead Like Me.
Last edited by Megs on Sep 18th 2003, 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by fnordboy » Sep 18th 2003, 10:31 am

I watched the first episodes of Sorority Life and Fraternity Life yesterday, not sure if I am into the new season of Sorority Life yet though. Other than that I am waiting for the new season of Real World/Road Rules Challenge to start.

Other than that there is nothing that I am especially interested in.

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Post by Sascha » Sep 18th 2003, 11:08 am

I don't know the tv schedule in the UK (maybe I'll get someday a Sky subscription - but it's legally difficult and overpriced here in Germany), but fall is always the time of year where I watch the most tv. Lots of new tv series are starting now and other shows come back from their summer break. And then there's the internet with all these new US series ;-)

As Mike mentioned, Gilmore Girls starts on theWB next week. I'm really wondering how the show will survive the "loss" of so many characters.

UPN's "jake 2.0" was quite funny - hey, I loved the "6 Million Dollar Man" back in the 80's :-) The pilot of NBC's "las vegas" was also very promising.

FOX' "Tru Calling" is something for fans of Faith ... err ... Eliza Dushku, but won't probably survive the first season. It's still FOX, after all...

"joan of arcadia" (CBS) could be the winner of the "My So-Called Life Legacy Award"(TM) for this fall season, but I've only seen the pilot so far. It's about a teenage girl who meets God. It's a nice concept, I just hope it doesn't turn into another "7th Heaven". Oh, and the pilot was shot at the same shool where MSCL was shot, so you'll see some familiar places.

"The Lyon's Den" (NBC) looks promising too, the pilot was obviously very expensive and story is very suspenseful. Feels like some Grisham novel. But it's too complicated for normal TV viewers - too many characters, too many storylines.

I've also seen the pilot of "Skin" (FOX) and "10-8" (ABC), both not very exciting. "10-8" is just another cop series and "Skin" is a lame "Romeo and Juliet" copy.

"Whoopi" was horrible, "Miss Match" (both NBC) not really funny. "Threat Matrix" (ABC) is IMHO just a lame show trying to copy the success of CSI and 24.

The only interesting new ABC show is IMHO "Karen Sisco". It's based on the Jennifer Lopez character in "Out of Sight". Just like the movie, the tv series features very good actors and powerful directing.

Oh, and I'm going to watch the first episode of WB's "Tarzan". Just to see how bad it really is :-)


But I'm going to miss "Dead Like Me". Only two episodes left - and then 10 months waiting for new episodes.
Last edited by Sascha on Sep 18th 2003, 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Nothingman » Sep 18th 2003, 11:13 am

Well I don’t have cable so I’m limited to ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS. But show’s that I’m looking forward too are: The up coming Survivor, CSI, CSI Miami, The West Wing, Everybody Loves Raymond, ER and Scrubs. I also want to check out Cold Case and Joan of Arcadia.
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Post by starbug » Sep 18th 2003, 11:24 am

Well, I don't have Sky. I'm limited to BBC1, 2, ITV, C4 and 5. Which as you can see here: http://www.ananova.com/tv , is mostly total tripe.

I am considering Sky but it's expensive and because I live in an old house where the person upstairs already has a dish on the side of the house, I have to get planning permission from the local coucil. Expensive, timeconsuming, slow and generally an arduous process.

However I am now so desperate that I am considering ignoring the regulation and just putting one up anyway. The worst that can happen is that they spot it and issue you with a notice to take it down. Only thing is that you have to sign up to Sky for a year so if that happened I'd be stuck paying the bills but having no dish...

Some of these shows you all mention sound really good, although I am fed up with 'reality' shows now. I want some well acted fiction with a complex storyline. Comedy or drama, I don't care...

perhaps I should submit my application to the BBC to become their director of programming :D

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Post by Sammi » Sep 18th 2003, 1:40 pm

Megs I was wondering if any one else was addicted to the OC. I'm also planning on checking out Miss Match, I've heard that it is pretty good. Of course I will be watching Gilmore Girls and probably One Tree Hill because it comes on after Gilmore Girls. Tru Calling and Skin look okay so I will probably watch at first. Las Vegas looks a little interesting, at least it is something to watch on Monday Night. Friday's I will probably record the last season of friends, scrubs, and The American Coupling (But I am very unsure that the american coupling will live up to the british coupling). I will now add Joan of Arcadia because Sab has me intrigued. And of course Last but Not Least Alias.

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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Sep 18th 2003, 2:05 pm

Megs, did you see this week's episode of the OC? It was on at 1am here because of the baseball game, but we stayed up and watched it. As someone who made many a trip to TJ, I found the episode hilarious. My boyfriend actually said, "Wow, that's what it looks like during the daytime?" :lol:

I love that there is always at least one really funny quote per episode ("Aren't you from Riverside?") and this week's (IMHO) was, "He hooks up with EVERYONE - girls from Mater Dei, girls from UCI, EVERYONE! And everyone KNOWS! And now YOU know!" I was laughing my ass off at that, maybe because I know people who went to Mater Dei and UCI or maybe because she was so oblivious until someone yelled this information at her. Now we have to wait weeks to see the aftermath of visiting our Aunt Jane! :(

I also love that TWoP is recapping the OC. Unfortunately, they aren't recapping Sorority Life or Fraternity Life anymore (the recappers threatened to kill themselves if they had to watch either show any more) which I think is sad because reading their recaps made the shows THAT much funnier.

I missed almost the entire SL episode, so by the time I tuned in at 10:25 the pledges were already selected and living in the house, which is funny considering that last season they took so much time to show the rush process and arguing about who would get bids and then moving into the house. Or maybe it just seemed longer because all of the DZO girls were annoying. Only watching the last five minutes of the first episode cuts down on that annoying vibe, so I may change my mind by next week. I couldn't believe that one girl was whining about getting behind in school and needing to get away and have time for herself - SHE JUST MOVED INTO THE PLEDGE HOUSE. I mean, she's been there all of a week at most? I did like the preview for next week because it always cracks me up that they feel the need to have pledge class officers but they have to choose them so early in the pledging process that they really don't know who they are electing. Next week's "who wants to be pledge captain?" followed by the "oooh ooh, me!" followed by the "they're going to start excluding me and I don't care" looks funny. After watching the first two seasons, I was waiting last night to see how long it would take for one of the actives to break out the "respect" crap and I wasn't disappointed. That is one of the words that I would like to be forbidden (along with "champion" on AtS).

The opposite happened on Fraternity Life - last season I think they did all the rush/lame interviews/bid process/moving into the house during the first episode and this time they're dragging it out. The really lame thing is that they showed stuff in the trailer that reveals some of the guys who got bids. Not that it was a nailbiting, edge of my seat kind of cliffhanger, but still. After seeing all the rushees and hearing what they had to say, I turned to my boyfriend and asked, "Is it just me, or is every single guy they have shown so far..." at this point he burst out laughing because he had been thinking the same thing. They are all idiots! One kid said he wanted to join because "I never had a brother, so like this would be a cool way to like have...a brother." Okay. And they made one of the actives pretend to be a rushee - ha!

I have never watched Survivor - I know, I'm weird. I did watch the second season of Temptation Island though. :oops: I was not really broadcasting this information to anyone, and then one night I sort of let it slip while I was talking to one of my friends and he said, "Omigawd, I have been watching it too but I've been too embarrassed to admit it to anyone!" That show was such a trainwreck. Let me get this straight - you agreed as a couple that it would be a good idea to go on a tv show and date other people, and NOW you're getting mad because you just found out that the other person is hooking up with other people? The guys were such hypocrites though. For the first few episodes, the girlfriends were mostly resisting temptation and watching video footage of their boyfriends getting drunken lap dances and making out with single girls. I remember the night that the boyfriends saw video footage of their girlfriends getting pampered by the single guys (each girl sat in a chair and three or four guys each rubbing a hand or foot) and the boyfriends lost their minds. Eh?

I meant to watch Jake 2.0 but our tv guide (the free one that comes with the Sunday paper) is usually wrong so I forgot when it was on.

I can't wait for AtS to begin again - only 13 more days! And when is Ed coming back? I think I need to buy an Entertainment Weekly :wink:
Last edited by Natasha (candygirl) on Sep 18th 2003, 3:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Megs » Sep 18th 2003, 3:02 pm

Of course I watched this week's epi of The O.C. :wink: I started to watch the show b/c of Adam Brody, who was my favorite character on Gilmore Girls (Lane's BF). He plays Seth on The O.C., and he cracks me up. He has the best lines ("You made out with my Grandma? That's kinda hot. How was it?" :lol: )!

My favorite part of this last epi was when he (Seth) said, "I get it. Blank rage." Or something like that to Summer. And it was funny that Marissa had no idea that Luke was getting ass from somewhere else this whole time. Girl, please. I did like how she found out, though. Ha! That skank sure didn't sugarcoat it! I appreciated how Summer stood up for Marissa to the skank. She won points there from me.

I <heart> The O.C. I didn't think I could get into another teen drama at my age, but, alas, I am too easy. :wink:
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Post by andrewgd » Sep 18th 2003, 3:12 pm

West Wing- definitely. I'm curious how it'll be without Aron Sorkin.

3rd Watch- who got shot?? I'm suprised more people don't watch this one. Especially with all the attention firefighters and police got after 9/11.

Joe Shmo Show- I thought this would be stupid, but its decent. The way they make fun of other reality shows is great. And they're not making fun of the guy as much as I thought they would, which is good. For those that don't know, its basically a real version of the Truman Show.

Survivor- Maybe they're actually doing it right this time. Make them actually try and survive. Either way, it'll be cool to have a pirate theme.

Not much else to look forward to.
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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Sep 18th 2003, 3:18 pm

Ack, I totally forgot about Third Watch! There was a commercial for the season premiere the other night and my boyfriend started yelling for me to come watch it. Honestly, I have already forgotten what happened in last season's finale :oops: but I can't wait to start watching again. Besides, there's nothing else on Monday nights. I think.

Megs, I heart the OC too - too many people tried to make it out to be the next 90210, but it's way funnier and all around better than Brenda and Brandon ever were. Except for the time that Val got arrested for prostitution.

:D
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Post by Sammi » Sep 18th 2003, 5:21 pm

I think with so many OC watchers here, we need to Start and "I Heart OC" in the other TV Shows Section.

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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Sep 18th 2003, 6:28 pm

And all three of us can nominate a quote of the week from each episode!

:D
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