The Fall Season is Back, or How to Lose a Wife in Five Days

People who are even casual readers of this blog (and really, how many of you out there aren't "casual" readers?) have seen that I am a devotee of television. Between my dedication to Lost and my other random postings on The Office, game shows, Survivor, and the like, it is clear that I love the boob tube and almost everything that is on it. Well, the holiday season has begun for me again, as the new television season has begun. So, like I did for the past spring season, here is what I am planning on watching this fall (new shows in italics):

Sunday: The Amazing Race, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Desperate Housewives, Bored to Death

Monday: How I Met Your Mother, House, Heroes, Lie to Me, Trauma

Tuesday: The Biggest Loser, So You Think You Can Dance, The Good Wife, Shark Tank

Wednesday: So You Think You Can Dance, Glee, Modern Family, Eastwick, Top Chef

Thursday (The Hell Day): Flash Forward, Survivor, SNL Thursday Update, Parks & Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, Community, Fringe, The Mentalist, Project Runway

Friday/Saturday: Nada

Obviously, there will be a lot of time-shifting/DVRing going on. Part of the reason I get to entertain myself with this much programming is that my wife is not usually home at night, as she is a Broadway actress (as I mentioned below). What complicates matters now is that while she has off on Monday nights while she is still in Billy Elliot, she will have ALL of her nights off when she goes to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Now, of course, I love my wife and enjoy every minute I get to spend with her, but as she doesn't enjoy the TV as much as I do, well, I might be doing a lot of catching up on Saturday afternoons.

That said, I might try to pick up The Big Bang Theory. I keep hearing how amazing it is, but I've never seen it. I may have to pick up the DVDs so I can catch up. As far as the time conflicts above that my DVR can't handle (can only tape two different programs at once, and you have to watch one if you have the TV on), on Mondays I'm going to tape/watch House, and tape How I Met Your Mother, then catch Heroes on Hulu.com later. CBS holds their episodes a week before releasing them online, so not taping HIMYM is out of the question. Heroes will be up immediately the next day on Hulu. For Thursdays, I'm planning to tape/watch Flash Forward (promising to be the breakout show of the fall) and tape Survivor (my wife actually looooooves this show and we have gatherings with friends to watch it). SNL and Parks & Recreation will get the Hulu treatment too. I'm not sure how NBC will be shifting its Thursday night comedies in a couple weeks when SNL is over and 30 Rock returns, so this may change. Besides these situations, I think I'm clear as the cable shows are always rerun later at night so I can tape those out of conflict with the network programming.

So, there you have it. I will be posting about these shows as they unfold, probably leaning towards Flash Forward (as it is sure to be full of Lost-ian mysteries), The Office and probably Survivor. A number of these have already started (NBC Thursday comedies except 30 Rock, Survivor, Entourage, Biggest Loser, So You...Dance, Glee) so get online and catch up! Please drop comments into the post about what you are watching and what you'd like to talk about. It's sure to be a great season.

Enjoy.

Lessons from Dr. House

"You spend only one day on your deathbed. It's the other 25,000 days you should worry about. You should end every day happy."

That quote is from last week's episode of House, "The Greater Good." I don't know, something about that really struck me. As some of you know, I have a pretty large fear of death, and like the doctor expressed before the patient responded with the above, I don't want to look back on my life and think I didn't do anything important. Perhaps the most important thing I'll ever do for society is that I'll be a great husband and father -- maybe it will be my kid that cures cancer or something. I should be happy with that. I don't know if I am though. These Tough Economic Times® have got everyone feeling down, I know, but I just feel lost. I'm 31, went to law school late, didn't follow the correct path, am now foundering in defining and pursuing my career, and realized that I don't really want to be a lawyer! At least not in the most traditional sense. Anyway, this is all to say, that quote got to me. I need to figure out a way to truly be happy at the end of every day.*

*Should my wife read this, I am VERY happy with my marriage. The above really addresses my career and doing something special with my life outside of my marriage. No worries dear!