I keep meaning to update this blog, I have just been left with nothing to say. In short, this television season has overall left me uninspired. Last season there was a flurry of new and amazing shows; The Good Wife, Glee, Modern Family and Community to name a few. This season? I like Raising Hope, but I wouldn't be completely heartbroken if it were cancelled. I did thoroughly enjoy Boardwalk Empire and am eagerly awaiting its return. Otherwise? Ehh.
Glee hit a major sophomore slump. It's doing a fantastic job of touching upon oft ignored topics (homophobia and sex education among them), but it has become so self-aware that it seems like Ryan Murphy and the writers aren't putting the same amount of care into storytelling. They know that no matter what songs they include, no matter how relevant to the plot, will jump to the top of the charts, and the witty, sarcastic and at times touching dialogue has overall fell really flat. And enough with the stunt themes. Rocky Horror? Yeah, that added a lot (please note the sarcasm font). I know that this show can be good, it's just seeming like more of a chore to watch it weekly.
My DVR is much emptier than last year, when I was making painful cuts and sacrifices. Monday is all but completely open, save for How I Met Your Mother (which is currently on an upswing, but that's not saying much) and Castle (which is also more like background TV for me right now, unfortunately). House didn't make the cut. Neither did Lie to Me, which became tediously formulaic.
Another sacrifice which was a bit more painful to make was Private Practice. Even with the heartbreaking Season Finale (seriously, Shonda Rhimes knows how to kill off characters), I just couldn't bring myself to care enough- especially on Thursdays, where my DVR is already pulling double duty. Even with the buzz that some of the plotlines have gotten so far, it's not enough to make me pull up past episodes on Hulu. Still, it's not all bad. The Good Wife just keeps getting better, and Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi deserve every single award they receive for their roles. I don't know of a better show for actresses on network TV right now. Fringe is still soaring creatively, despite it's criminally small ratings. On a completely different note, Parks and Recreation just gets better and better. Community is bold, irreverant and completely fantastic. Even though The Office isn't as laugh out loud funny as it has been, it's a show with a lot of heart, and has even made me cry this season (once more than Grey's Anatomy has). Speaking of Grey's, this season has been leaps and bounds better than last year, and they've really revived the spirit of the show. Even though the musical episode wasn't the best episode ever (and I liked it the first time I saw it, when it was on Scrubs), it was a bold creative move that worked as a one-off.
In short, there's still plenty to occupy my time. But there were a lot of missed opportunities this season (I'm looking at you, Off the Map). Some of the pilots seem to be promising, but we'll see what gets picked up. In the meantime, I have some long overdue cable viewing (Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad...).
