2009 Fall TV Preview

The Fall TV Season is gearing up and I'm psyched! This is looking to be one of the strongest seasons in recent memory, with plenty of new shows I want to check out. Not sure how I'm going to fit it all, thank god for DVR and online streaming on sites like Hulu and Fancast! I'll break it down by day of the week and if I miss any of your favorites, let me know in the comments!

Monday
8pm: How I Met Your Mother (CBS). In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a big HIMYM fan. Last season was kind of lackluster, but I think that's more because they had to work around the double pregnancies of the leading ladies than the creative well running dry. I hope this next season will be a return to form.

Other notes: I gave up on Heroes long ago, but it's still got a pretty solid fanbase. Hopefully HIMYM can continue to gain viewers this season. Also, I love Chuck, but it's not coming back until March. So sad.

Tuesday
8pm: So You Think You Can Dance (FOX). Also, an obvious pick for me. I'm sad the Top 20 (the good part of the show) doesn't start until Oct. 27, damn you baseball! I'm also interested to see how the changes they've added pan out.

Other notes: I hope the ratings pick up once the Top 20 start, but it has the toughest competition its ever faced now that it's in fall. I hope it can keep up.

Wednesday - my busiest TV day of the week by far.
8pm: America's Next Top Model (The CW). Shorty season! So far this show is proving to be much of the same, despite this season's gimmick. It's also a show that's been on for so long now that the contestants seem to know what's coming, which is cutting down on the drama a bit. There have no breakdowns during the makeovers, or even during the topless shoot. The show's going to have to come up with something new if it's going to make these girl cry.

8pm: So You Think You Can Dance Results (FOX). See above. Love it!

9pm: Glee (FOX). I've been in love with this show since they aired the premiere after American Idol. It's so bubbly and infectious, and I have loved all the musical numbers they've done so far. Each week, my love for this show grows.

9pm: Modern Family (ABC). I saw the pilot at D23 and loved it! I had heard the good buzz before, but didn't pay much attention to since I'm not much of a sitcom person (other than HIMYM). This show won me over within the first 5 minutes of the screening.

9:30pm: Cougar Town (ABC). I'm mainly just checking it out because of Courtney Cox. And, even though the premise sounded dumb at first, the promos have won me over.


10pm: Eastwick (ABC). 3 women find their inner witches to get everything they ever wanted in life and romance. I'm a sucker for the supernatural with some romance thrown in. (Note: Buffy, guilty pleasure Twilight, Charmed, and the list goes on.) That is enough for me to check out this show for at least the first few episodes.

Thursday
8pm: Vampire Diaries (The CW). See Eastwick. Same reasons apply. Plus, Ian Somerhalder.

8pm: FlashForward (ABC). I saw the pilot at D23 and was impressed. This could be the show that fills the Lost void after its final season. Great cast, intriguing premise, and lots of potential.

9pm: The Office (NBC). I'm looking forward to all the Pam/Jim storylines that are coming up this season! As my favorite part of the show, I'm glad they're going to tackle a couple of big life milestones.

9:30pm: Community (NBC). It's the return of Chevy Chase! After his great turn in Chuck last season, I can totally see him succeeded in television. The show looks funny from all the clips and promos they've put out, and it's got a cast full of actors that have proven their comedy chops time and time again. My personal favorite: Ken Jeong.

Friday
9pm: Dollhouse (FOX). After a rocky start in its first season, this show got so incredibily, mind bendingly good. I'm surprised it got picked up for a second season, as I'm sure everyone else was. Joss shows always get better as they have more of their world built up and mythology to draw from. It's going to be a great second season.

and I think I've talked enough about TV. Whew, tired out. Well, what will you guys be watching?

Our President, The Jedi

You may have issues with Obama's political record so far, but on this blog, I focus on the fun. Check out these great pictures from the White House:



That last photo really lends itself to photoshopping. So some of the readers over at io9.com had some fun:
[I didn't create any of these images. All credit belongs to those at io9.com]

So You Think You Can Dance Playlist

So this weekend, I was looking back at So You Think You Can Dance clips and decided to make a playlist of some of the best songs from this season so far.

1. Missin You by Trey Songz - Hip Hop dance with Jason/Caitlin. The dance was pretty lackluster, but I really liked this track.
2. Halo by Beyonce - Hip Hop dance by Evan/Randi. Cute dance with a cute story.
3. Falling Slowly from Once soundtrack - The standout dance from Johnathon/Karla.
4. Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx - Contemporary dance by Ade/Melissa. Possibly the best dance of theirs.
5. Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes - Group number choreographed by NappyTabs.
6. What a World by Common - Hip Hop routine by Jeanette/Branden. Great mix of hip hop/rock. Plus, hot outfit on Jeannette.
7. Love Sex Magic by Ciara/JT - Hip Hop routine by Ade/Jeannette. I have no idea how Ade ended up in the bottom two after this awesome dance.
8. Love Lockdown by Kanye West - Hip Hop routine by Philip/Jeanine. My favorite routine by them, by far.
9. Creator by Santigold - Pop/Jazz by Caitlin/Jason. Odd dance, odd song, but it all worked so well.
10. Windowdipper by Jib Kidder - Ade's first solo, which was the best solo of the season. Again, how was he in the bottom two last week?!
11. If it Kills Me (From the Casa Nova Sessions) by Jason Mraz. Contemporary routine by Jeanine/Jason. My favorite routine of the season. Watched it at least 5 times since Wednesday.

So, that's my playlist. It'll just grow as the season wraps up, since it's only going to get better with the Top 8. you guys have any other suggestions?

UPDATED:
Now that the season's long over, I've been looking back and realized I missed a few of the great songs that ran closer to the end. Here are a few more tracks I've added to my playlist.

1. Battlefield by Jordin Sparks. Contemporary routine by Brandon/Jeanine. Great routine with powerful choreography.
   
2. They're Everywhere by Izza Kizza. Zombie Hip Hop routine by Kayla/Jason. This was by far my favorite hip hop routine of the season! Loved the routine, loved the story, and they danced it so well!
3. Gravity by Sara Bareilles. Heartbreaking contemporary routine by Kayla/Kupono. I didn't really appreciate this dance at first, but the more I see it the more it moves me. Any dance that can do that gets an A in my book.
   

(image courtesy of Fox)

Adam Shankman! and other Season 6 news

So You Think You Can Dance has a new permanent judge! I'm so glad Adam Shankman has been upgraded to a permanent judge! He was always my favorite of the guest judges. He's enthusiastic without being grating (like Mary Murphy), he's eloquent without being verbose (Lil C), and he's critical without being mean (Tyce D'Orio).

They'll still have guest judges, and maybe Paula Abdul will be one of them, which could make for a very crowded panel. I hope the guest judge isn't every week, otherwise the show will become more about the judges/judging than about the dances. They should learn from American Idol - they had 4 judges and it made the show run over, grating on viewers when it would interfere with their other television shows that night.

[via TVGuide]

Changes I found out from twitter:

HitFixDaniel Nigel says this "SYTYCD" finale will feature *six* dancers -- three men and three women.

I don't know how this is going to work. They already had timing issues with top 4 dancers in previous seasons. But, if they can work out the timing, I think this could make for a much more entertaining finale. My guess would be that they cut down on the dances of the top routines, which I would miss, but they would also start the eliminations earlier in the episode which would make the entire episode a MUST WATCH, rather than just the last 30 minutes.

HitFixDaniel ...because of baseball, the Top 20 doesn't start until Oct. 27. They had to expedite the run.

This is much later than I thought the Top 20 would start! But looking at it now, it makes sense because they're only airing 1 hour/week of the auditions. This could mean low ratings until the show starts, because everyone tunes in for the Top 20, not for the cast-offs that the audition weeks tend to focus more on. Hopefully the buzz will still be just as big at the end of October, so people remember to watch the best part of the show.

HitFixDaniel Nigel Lythgoe says a seventh season for "So You Think You Can Dance" next summer isn't guaranteed.

I hope this means they don't know when they'll start Season 7 and not the much more upsetting news that it may not come back at all. I can't see that being the case, since this show is the closest it gets to American Idol's success when its in its off season. Plus, it's a cheap show to produce, much cheaper than their other recent success Glee, simply because it's reality. Well, I guess we'll see what happens as this season develops and how the ratings go.

Well, that's all the news I've got today. Tune in tonight on Fox 8pm EST/PST for the Phoenix auditions!

..and The Goat

I posted earlier about the trailer for The Men Who Stare at Goats, and how much I really enjoyed it. I like the look of the film and its humor. Here's another example of it's tone within its marketing.


I'm also kind of surprised that Jeff Bridges gets second billing before Kevin Spacey and Ewan McGregor.

And the tagline cracks me up! "No Goats. No Glory."

[via Yahoo!]