Category: participate

September is awesome for many reasons. The start of fall, pumpkin spice lattes, my birthday, vacation week, camping, etc. But the week the TV schedule gets ridiculously busy with new shows kinda has my heart. I even print out a calendar with premier nights to post on the fridge.

It’s the return of my favorite characters and a chance to fill the void that shows like Ugly Betty and LOST left. I’m not apologetic about ignoring phone calls or strategically scheduling things around watching shows. And not having cable, DVR, internet or tons of free time means if I don’t catch it immediately,  chances are I won’t watch it.

So, here’s what’s on my radar this week:

Monday: This is the first fall in three years that I haven’t had something every Monday night. The only show on my MUST list is Lone Star (FOX, 9 p.m.), which in its simplest terms is about a man leading a double life. It seems like character development and writing is a premium from what I’ve read, so I’m already hooked. Plus, Tyra from Friday Night Lights is on it and I feel an obligation to support her and her sassy mouth.

Runners-up: HIMYM (CBS, 8 p.m.): I haven’t watched this show from the beginning, but I think I can watch it at the gym and be distracted from my ribs hurting. Hopefully they will be hurting from laughing and not me being out of shape. And I really think the Mother will be revealed this season and I don’t want to be left out of that moment.

Castle (ABC, 10 p.m.), Hawaii Five-O (CBS, 10 p.m.): I watch Castle when it’s on mostly because of Nathan Fillion’s awkward turtle moments, but it isn’t appointment TV. I’ll wait for my dad to call me about the Five-O to see if it’s worth having something to talk to him about.

Tuesday: Glee (FOX, 8 p.m.) is my show. Random breaking out in song is how my family really lives and Sue Sylvester is my hero. If I said half the things I wanted to, I’d wear a track suit and just work from HR.

Raising Hope (FOX, 9 p.m.) and Running Wilde (FOX, 9:30 p.m.): Both of these shows look good in traditional sit-com concept (Hope about a single dad living with his parents, Wilde about an environmental advocate living with in a mansion with her non-green counterpart), plus I think they could be brain-dead TV so if I miss one episode while I’m at County Council, I won’t feel like I missed out on something.

Parenthood (NBC, 10 p.m.): So, this is the show I hate to love. I originally started watching it because of Peter Krause and Lauren Graham. But the first few episodes were uneven and I turned it off until the last few snippets of last season and got sucked back in. I love Krause’s autistic son and how he’s the voice of reason despite being the kid I’d run over with a grocery cart at the store. I just wish the Erika Christiansen’s family would have that other baby and move away. Their stay-at-home dad/workaholic mom story line bores me.

Runners up: The Biggest Loser (NBC, 8 p.m.) Once I stop, I can’t seem to look away. Plus, I’d rather support them than fame hogging non-celebrities on other reality TV shows.

Giving up: Life Unexpected (FOX, 9 p.m.) You’re well, not unexpected. It’s the watered-down version of a never-ending Saturday morning special with better hair. My left big toe could write it.

Wednesday: ABC Comedy block, 8-10 p.m. (The Middle, Better With You, Modern Family, Cougar Town) I can take or leave BWY, but the rest fuel my quotable moments for the week. I wish more people watched The Middle so I can say “I’m lying” under my breath like Brick. They just think I’m nuts. And Cougar Town is what I imagine life to be like in 10-15 years – completely dysfunctional with lots of love and mid-day drinks.

L&O: SVU, (NBC, 9 p.m.): NBC needs to die a little bit for not putting this on at 10 p.m., but I’ll do what I can to watch during commercials of the other shows and catch during repeats. After skipping all of last season and jonesing for Benson and Stabler this summer, I’m ready for their return to my living room.

Runners-up: Um, no one. It’s already overloaded.

Giving up: L&O LA – I can’t support putting a sunnier version of the original on the air when the original was cancelled before the LA version was even cast or scripted. It’s every cliché of horses, carts and apples. And a rotten one at that.

Thursday: Also known as I don’t have a social life because I’m with my other friends.

The Big Bang Theory (CBS, 8 p.m.) I wish this show had been on when I was in high school so I could knock on my bathroom door relentlessly in the morning before school to get the siblings out. I’m just sad I didn’t think of it first.

Other than that, the rest is up for grabs. I’ve been unimpressed by Grey’s Anatomy, but I’m not gonna lie, my eyes were covered and I was squirming during the finale so I’m interested to see if the momentum carries over. 30 Rock is always good TV, but not appointment. One week I could need a Frank or Kenneth fix, but I’m not sad if something else strikes my fancy. The Office has to bring it. I don’t even remember half of last season or the finale despite the fact that I watched all the episodes. I don’t care if it’s Michael’s last season, I will abandon it like a baby on the doorstep if it’s doesn’t find a glimmer of its former self. Nikita (FOX, 9 p.m.) has gotten raves from critics. It’s another one I’m waiting on my dad to filter out for me. And I don’t put it past me to cheat on Jim Halpert with Shane West.

Sundays: Open. I might drop in to Desperate Housewives (the same place it’s been for 7 years), but eh. I’ll probably read instead.

What are you watching? Any non-cable recommendations?

Every Christmas I usually have most of my presents mentally chosen whether or not I’ve hit the store. But every single year I struggle to buy my brother something that isn’t a DVD.

At 16, there’s so much he could be into, but I just have no clue other than he really likes sci-fi. I usually break down and buy a season of Stargate or similar fare that is only shown on cable – which has always been non-existent in my parents’ house.

As we’ve gotten older, Christmas, while joyous in some sense, has gradually become a let down for my mother. When we were younger we knew she felt guilty that she couldn’t offer us these elaborate gifts, like it seemed with our friends’ received. I knew though, they had fewer children and more income, it just made sense that our Christmases wouldn’t be an even match.

But as the request for bikes and toys have become fewer and fewer, the practical presents of dorm room supplies and household needs have become more abundant. In return, my parents get a, “Thanks guys, I needed that” instead of the “Wow” face.

I never really understood her disappointment until I started struggling to buy for my brother. We’ve always butted heads, but when he was little, I loved hanging out in the toy aisle and getting the temptations that someone else hadn’t splurged on. In return, I got play time making Lego castles and pretend battles of Spiderman vs. Batman in our back yard. One Christmas he received walkie-talkies and we stayed outside all day sending Morse code to each other from different sides of the house.

The slippery no-present-idea slope started few years ago when I bought him Dick Tracey for his birthday thinking it was part of the comic-book type movies he liked but didn’t own. His reaction was, “I don’t like this movie, you guys do.” It broke me. As much as we don’t get along, I thought he would have at least feigned interest. On the other hand, we’re so honest with each other that his lack of tact shouldn’t have shocked me. He deserves a present he wants. But in my own gift-buying experience, the things I choose for others are always something I would kind of want for myself.

As the holidays and birthdays have passed, I keep thinking in the back of my head that if I even choose the wrong movie, it’s not going to be OK. It would be just another reminder of how close we aren’t.

What’s funny though, is without movies, I don’t think any of my family would be as close as we are now. Christmas mornings are no longer spent trying out new toys, brushing a doll’s hair or attacking army men with the new BB gun out back. Instead, we spend our day watching movies.

We ALL get each other DVDs of some kind. For my mom, it’s Elvis and Doris Day. My dad receives Westerns and modern-day shoot-’em-ups with humor that’s bold enough to downplay poor word choice from the actors. The three of us girls receive indie flicks or classics that we’ve come to adore in the last year. And for my brother, modern-day shoot-’em-ups to sneak past my parents and anything he should watch to be cool. The past few years, we’ve caught up on our blockbusters on Christmas Day: Iron Man, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 5 and 12, etc.

It’s how we bond. It’s not exciting on the outside, but memories of all post-high school Christmases for me include the couch, movies, coffee and all of us wandering in and out of the kitchen to sneak ham before lunch. We don’t talk, except to make fun of the same things and rewind the parts we laughed too loud at or to catch my brother up on the plot when he says, “What just happened,” because he was too busy paying attention to the technique of the fight. It’s also the one time that we can manage to share the space on the couch and our blankets that we’ve drug into the living room before opening presents. Whenever I view the movies later, I remember my family’s reaction and their commentary. Without them, Princess Diaries 2 wouldn’t be as funny, I wouldn’t notice the volume change during the first major fight sequence in Pirates 2 to make the audience sit up, and I wouldn’t know that my dad has a secret crush on Michelle Pfeiffer.

This year, I’ve settled on a gift to accompany a big-ticket item my parents chose for my brother in an attempt to avoid purchasing yet another DVD. While I know I’m not as close to him as I am my sisters, I really hope that when he pulls out a movie he received from me, that it reminds him of watching it with all of us so it ends up being more than just a movie, but a memory.