The State of the TV

[billroper]

So here we are in a new TV season and the question around here is what to watch. This is where we're at so far this season.

Holdover Shows We Are Essentially Caught Up On

Castle -- well, of course we're caught up on this show. And it's been interesting.

Once Upon a Time -- essentially up to date, as we'll watch the second half of the two-parter tonight. We're only behind because of Windycon last weekend.

Hawaii Five-O -- caught up on our good mindless entertainment. Wondering where Grace has disappeared to. Realizing that Catherine is much easier on the eyes than Jerry.

CSI -- one episode behind due to Windycon again. The show was massively improved when Ted Danson joined the cast a few seasons back.

Elementary -- will watch tonight's episode over the weekend. It just started, so being caught up is easy.

The Big Bang Theory -- caught up. Wondering if Howard's mother will die on the show as she (sadly) just did in real life.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. -- caught up. This is making Gretchen a bit crazy, because of the level of conspiracy involved, but I think that's starting to clear up lately. The comics fan in me is enjoying this a lot.

Holdover Shows That We Are Behind On

Sleepy Hollow -- not started. Gretchen's quota of conspiracy theory is currently overfilled by S.H.I.E.L.D. :)

Mom -- barely started. The problem is that this is a half-hour sitcom that we will not watch where the girls can see it, so it tends to drift to the bottom of the list.

Mike & Molly -- starts December 8th, so I guess we're caught up in the sense that none have been shown.

New Girl -- still haven't finished last season. The problem is that Gretchen isn't that fond of the show, so I only watch it sporadically when she's busy with something else.

New Shows That We Are More Or Less Caught Up On

NCIS: New Orleans -- this is the prize of the new season in dramas. It's a very relaxed show in its own way, with an engaging cast headed by old favorite, Scott Bakula. This is a procedural show that we actually feel safe about watching when the girls might walk into the room.

A to Z -- we like this show a lot. One of the two leads is Cristin Milioti, a refugee from How I Met Your Mother. This is a lovely romantic comedy that took a few episodes to find its way. It is also a dead show walking, because the order is for 13 episodes and the chances for renewal are essentially nil at this point. Watch it anyway.

Selfie -- we were dubious about this show after the opener, but decided to give it a few more episodes as we continued the hunt for a new romantic comedy. It improved a lot. Sadly, it's deader than A to Z as ABC has pulled it off the schedule and has no known plans to show the other episodes that were filmed. That's a shame.

New Shows That We Are Way Behind On

Scorpion -- this show has been savaged by my tech savvy friends, for good reasons. It appears to be doing ok in the ratings, so it will probably hang around. We will probably watch it when we have run out of everything else to watch. It is, at least, marginally safe to watch if the girls might walk in.

The Mysteries of Laura -- Gretchen watched an episode and dragged me in, describing it as Castle if Beckett were the comedic lead. That's not a bad description and it's a reasonably funny little dramedy. I keep expecting it to be canceled, because, well, NBC.

Forever -- we're collecting this for later viewing. The reviews are good and it's been picked up for a full season, so I expect we'll eventually watch it.

That's the news around here in a reasonably spoiler-free fashion.

What are you watching?

Comments

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

The only one of the lot that I watch is FOREVER. I like it and am glad to hear we will get a full season of shows.

Since I spend evenings watching Hallmark Channel movies with my 90 year old MIL, I don't see it on-broadcast but I watch it at Abc.go.com/shows/forever . I have to wait a week, but it is worth it.

Not getting spoilery, but when I saw the trailer back in the summer, my reaction was "Judd Hirsch and Ioan Gruffudd? I'll look in at least once!"

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

Oh, and it is NOT one to be watching when the Little Girls are likely to wander in. The morgue scenes.

[madfilkentist]

You may be counting me as one of the tech-savvy friends who's ridiculed Scorpion, but aside from the ludicrous treatment of technology, I rather like it.

[tibicina.livejournal.com]

It's ridiculous, but fun. That does sum it up pretty well.

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

We're caught up on everything except last night's Elementary. Our joint list includes Once Upon a Time, Masterpiece Mystery, Castle, The Blacklist, NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, and Forever. And Doctor Who, but that's done for now.

The shows only I watch are Gotham, Sleepy Hollow, Jane the Virgin, The Flash, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Hot in Cleveland, The Big Bang Theory, Elementary, Haven, and, for now, Constantine.

Sharon watches "Paradise" on Masterpiece and The Artful Detective, as well as a couple of genealogy-based shows.

Of the new shows, we're both very fond of NCIS: New Orleans and Forever, and my current favorites are Jane the Virgin and The Flash. Of returning shows, yeah, Castle is still on top.

I'm eagerly awaiting the day when the Snow Queen is defeated, they put all the "Frozen" cross-promotion behind them, and Once Upon a Time moves on to the question of who wrote the book.

[qnofhrt.livejournal.com]

The only show I watch is The Good Wife. I have in past seasons watched Blue Bloods, usually in marathon mode when I'm bored but I haven't seen any of this season's shows.

I will watch NCIS reruns if Dave has them on. He started watching Castle this summer. Meh. Nothing that really grabs me but it doesn't annoy me.

I used to watch CSI but can't stand Ted Danson so that's not a reason to go back to watching it.

I don't watch much tv and that's ok.

[kevinnickerson.livejournal.com]

We watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Daily Show. That pretty much fills up my TV tolerance.

icyfeetofdeath is watching Sleepy Hollow, Once Upon a Time, and uh, is OUaT Storyville? (digs, ok Storybrooke, yeah) I can't stand that show, the writers obviously have no plan and are just throwing random shit around. SH is a bit uglier than I prefer so I pay it little attention. Not convinced they have a plan either.

Agents is good. They obviously have an actual plot to follow, and I'm liking the characters.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I'm only watching one show, and it's Star Trek Voyager. It's about all I can manage to watch a couple of them a week. It'll take me a couple of years to finish at that rate. Then I have at least a dozen other shows that finished up years ago to get through.

I'm in the late second season of Voyager. I was surprised to find out that the writing and the acting are getting pretty decent.

[tibicina.livejournal.com]

In addition to ones that you've mentioned, I highly recommend Madame Secretary. Oddly, not so much for the politics, though those are fascinating, but because it's one of the best depictions of a functional, loving, but not perfect marriage that I've seen on TV in a long time.