TVWhore.org TV is my drug of choice

This site is really dead. I could give a whole bunch of reasons, but honestly, the 2007-2008 season has been rather boring. If anything, the writer’s strike was probably the only drama worth following this entire season. And TiVo makes it too easy to feed the apathy — why sit in front of the TV if I’m not in the mood to watch something in real time?

The only show to which I was truly addicted was Bleach, a Japanese anime shown on [adult swim], but it ran out of dubbed episodes many months back. I had to resort to finding fan subs from the Evil Sharing Networks to get my fix. (I finished the Soul Society Arc, but I figure I’ll wait to start a new storyline when [adult swim] catches up.)

So between a lackluster season and disruptive labor disputes, I’ve had no incentive to blog about TV. That’s not to say I’m shutting down this site. No, I think instead I’ll wait to see what happens next season. For now, I’m sitting the rest of this television cycle out.

What little I had to say about this season can be expressed in various bullet points.

• Law & Order feels quite long in the tooth these days, but I have to say the cast this 2008 season is the strongest that’s come around in a long time. Alana de Garza’s Connie Rubarosa is the best second chair DA to inhabit the position since, well, Angie Harmon’s Abby Carmichael. (I don’t understand the Abby-hate.) I love how Jack McCoy is starting to channel Adam Schiff, and while it’s still discombobulating hearing Linus Roache don a New York accent, I do like the fact he comes off a bit green. I am sad to learn Jesse L. Martin isn’t coming back to the show, should it be renewed next season. Martin and Jeremy Sisto have a really good dynamic.

• It seems Adam Beach has been getting less screen time on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. If that screen time can be reduced to zero, the show will improve even that much more. Rather, said screen time should be reallocated to Mike Doyle’s Ryan O’Hallaran, the very pretty CSI tech who’s been scarce this season. But I’m just repeating myself.

• It’s not until I’m actually watching an episode of Ugly Betty, Chuck, Brothers and Sisters or Pushing Daisies that I remember why I like these shows. Good as they are, they don’t illicit the same kind of Christmas gift giddiness as a new episode of Battlestar Galactica, Lost or, to a lesser extent, Eureka and Burn Notice. At the same time, I don’t think any of them should mess up what they have to bring out that giddiness.

• Tim Gunn really fawned over the professional caliber of the Season 4 contestants of Project Runway. But really, I didn’t find them all that compelling. Christian is too much of a child to be a Jeffrey Sebelia-level villain. And no one had the mix of talent, class and personality as Laura Bennett or Uli Herzner. Rami? Full of himself. Jillian? Robotic. Sweet P was interesting if only because she managed to eek out some successful pieces through a lot of struggle. The most remarkable thing this season gave us were lots of nekkid pictures of Jack McKenroth. I hope next season Project Runway mixes the pros with some raw, hungry talent.

• I’m wondering if In Plain Sight is going to overextend the quirky detective comedy-drama format USA has been pretty consistent in delivering. Burn Notice was my favorite new series of last summer, and it served a nice substitute for Psych, which unfortunately indulged in more of the slapstick. But watching the commercials for In Plain Sight makes me think, "Again, USA?" And I actually like Mary McCormack and Frederick Waller.

• Boy did the The Closer Christmas special suck.

• Friday Night Lights kind of stumbled this season, and the truncated season didn’t do it any favors. Despite the contrived Landy and Tyra plot, I did find their courtship heartening. And damn did Adrienne Palecki and Jesse Plemons act the hell out of that storyline. But Riggins? Man, when is Tim going to get a break? I think I’m the only person who actually doesn’t see anything wrong with Julie’s bratty behavior. She was so unreasonably saint-like in the first season that I think the drastic change in character is realistic. I also liked Matt Czuchry when he was on Gilmore Girls, but his hair on Friday Night Lights doesn’t look very … Christian. (Yes, I really think there is some unspoken uniform code hair style for Christian men.)

• OK, Food Network, just when the hell do you actually air new episodes of Good Eats?

• Nobody seems to be calling Lost on ripping off Eureka in the episode titled "The Constant".

• Could Battlestar Galactica please start its fourth season already? I would very much like to start finding clues to who the fifth Cylon is. At this point, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s Benjamin Linus. (Yes, I’m up mixing my sci-fi shows.)

• TiVo Season Passes removed for: Desperate Housewives (fuck you Gabby and Susan), House (reality contest == boring!), The Boondocks (would rather watch Bleach instead), Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style (sorry, Tim.)

• TiVo suggested I watch Fooly Cooly. I tried. I didn’t get it.

• I’m sorry to see Journeyman go. I liked it far better than Life, which annoyed the fuck out of me. The story did drag at first, but it really picked up momentum toward the end.

• At this point, I don’t even remember what happened in the second season of Heroes, but here’s a case where the timing of the writer’s strike actually helped this show.