TV Rots Your Brain

I love this time of year, when all my favourite tv shows return for a new season, and new ones start airing too. I have stuff to watch pretty much every single day, which isn't necessarily a good thing, because I have so many other (more important!) things to do that have been put on the back burner. But there are just so many good programmes on! And some mediocre, but enjoyable ones too.


American Horror Story
This is a new one, and Cat recommended it, after I was talking on Facebook about the creep factor on The Walking Dead.

3 episodes in, and so far, only the first one really creeped me out. The second one had its moments, but now...I'm just watching to see how the story unfolds. What's creepiest about the whole show is the brief, almost subliminal flashes of...something. That's so psychological; glimpsing something that freaks you out, but not getting a good look at it, not being able to properly identity it. That's what plays on our minds, that's the way our mind plays with us. What helps to reduce the creep factor is turning down the volume. That's right, it's the music that creeps me out the most. And this show doesn't make for the best pre-bedtime watching!

My verdict after 3 episodes:
I'll give it a few more episodes before I stop wasting my time on it.


Chuck
Season was supposed to start last Friday, but it was postponed to this Friday. I'm looking forward to it, but am glad that it's the final season. They've dragged it on for too long, and the plot was getting a little too thin. Perhaps with a bigger budget, they could have pulled out more stops, but special effects can only bring a show so far. I have a feeling that this season might be the best one since season 1. Chuck will meet his final big bad this season, played by Angus Macfadyen, who's also guest starred in Criminal Minds and Psych.

Verdict:
Bring it!


Community
Funny as always. So many pop culture references, it's impossible to catch them all. This is one of the most genre-savvy shows I've watched, and I still love it.

Verdict:
3rd season still going strong, but how long before they graduate?


Criminal Minds
This one's in its 7th season, and while I'm so very glad that the family is back together (JJ, hurrah!), I'm kinda getting bored with it. Doesn't help that I can't marathon it, the way I did the first 5 season - my ADD allows for obsessive viewing, but keeping my attention when I have to wait a whole week? Not so good.

I've always enjoyed this show; the dialogue is good, the character development and interaction have always been interesting. I do like that they're focusing on each member of the team, that each of them gets their time in the limelight, but really, the plots for this season eps? Could we have fewer of the "obscure mental illnesses causes unsub to snap"plot , please?

Verdict:
I'll keep watching, but I'm hoping they pick it up a bit.


How I Met Your Mother
Another show in its 7th season. Barney Stinson is awesome, goes without saying. Everyone else, meh. It's just a pleasant way to pass twenty minutes, really.

Verdict:
Effing tell us who the mother is, already!


Psych
I didn't think much of last season's finale. The ending to the Yin-Yang arc was, in a word, lame.
This season, they seem to have brought back the ingredients that made Psych so lovable to start with.
I'm glad they're not placing too much emphasis on the Shawn/Juliet, but I suspect that might change. I do hope not though.

Verdict:
Shawn and Gus are the crime-solving duo that will continue to entertain me.


QI
How do I love this show? Let me count the ways. Stephen Fry in all his delightful geeky genius, how he gets excited over the nerdiest things. Alan Davies and his self-deprecating adokableness. The questions that make me question. The General Ignorance segment. The savvy contestants who try not to answer with the obvious, but unwittingly set off the klaxxon.

In its 9th series, now on the letter I. Still intelligent, inane, irreverent, insane, irresistible and of course, quite, quite interesting.

Verdict:
Isn't it obvious? I love this show! It makes Mondays easier to bear, knowing I have a new episode of QI waiting!


The Big Bang Theory
Season 5, and it's still quite watchable. I still don't get a lot of the nerdier jokes, but what I do get, I love. I'm glad the Leonard/Penny is over; that just annoyed me. It's still witty and amusing, it's only 20 minutes long, and the rapport between the characters is great.

Verdict:
My geeky little heart still adores this one. And Sheldon.


The Walking Dead
It's in the second season, just been renewed for a third, and it had better bring it. Several of the characters are grating on me, and some parts are just really really annoying. It's veered away from the comics, which I don't particularly care about, but it's kinda getting slow and annoying. And really, could Lori please get another facial expression? Bug-eyed horror is old.

I did like the way the 2nd episode ended. Now I HAVE to watch the 3rd ep to find out how they get out of that one!

Verdict:
I'll keep watching it, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to enjoy it.


To round up the number of shows mentioned to ten, here's one that's been going on for years and years, and I've finally decided to start watching.

Doctor Who
Doctor who? Doctor the Ninth, that's where I've started.  I'm only one episode in, and I love it already. Christopher Eccleston is brilliant. And and Billie Piper! I want a TARDIS of my own.
And I have David Tennant to look forward to!

Verdict:
OMG. Love it. LOVE IT. And I have SO MANY EPISODES to get through! Who needs sleep? I have Doctor Who!