Fall 2011 Television

For us TV junkies, the Fall is the best time of the year. New shows to sample. Old shows returning.

Here are my Top Ten Television Shows I'm Looking Forward To - Fall 2011...

10. Grimm (New Show - NBC, Friday nights) - I've always been a fan of fairy tales. This show proposes that those tales were real - are running around New York City. It could be interesting; it could be very lame. I'll watch the first episode and decide.


9. Terra Nova (New Show - FOX, Monday nights) - Time travel. I'm hooked before I even see an episode. I love good time travel yarns - the 2007 TV series Journeyman, the 1989 movie Millennium, (though it seems everyone else hates this movie), the 1995 movie 12 Monkeys, the 1979 movie Time After Time - but will quickly turn against bad ones - 2003's Timeline, no matter how cute Paul Walker is; 2004's The Butterfly Effect or any of its sequels - so I'll watch this show just based on that one point.


8. The Amazing Race (CBS, Sunday nights) - My friend Debbie turned me onto this show about five seasons into its run. I'm not a huge fan of reality shows. Except for Survivor, I really don't watch reality TV - though I did watch The Real World through the first New Orleans season. As far as The Amazing Race, if I like the contestants, I stick around.


7. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (FX, Thursday nights) - Such subversive fun. The people remind me of my friends and I back in high school - if we ran an empty bar and were all sociopaths. Here's a typical scene from one of my favorite episodes:

6. The Big Bang Theory (CBS, Thursday nights) – The first season is still the best. (I think the show is on its fourth season now.) But it’s still the second funniest comedy on TV. The first? See further up my list.


5. The Good Wife (CBS, Sunday nights - moved from Tuesday nights) – Carlos and I sampled this show last season – the show’s first – and loved it. Bonus: Carlos can point out Julianna Margulies’s wig in every shot.


4. Survivor (CBS, Wednesday nights) – As with The Amazing Race, if I like the contestants, I stick around. With Survivor, however, I don’t think I have ever not liked the contestants enough to completely delete the show from my DVR – though certain seasons are definitely better than others.


3. Criminal Minds (CBS, Wednesday nights) - I also watch the reruns on Ion Television and A&E. According to my spreadsheet, I have seen every episode at least three times. I also talk with other fans via two different newsgroups. For those who watch the show, I'd like to tell you that there are two episodes that I refuse to watch again: 100 and Mosley Lane. They're just too disturbing. Sorry: No spoilers here for those who haven't seen the episodes, but if you're a fan of the series, I urge you to see those episodes – but only once. I have tried to indoctrinate Carlos into the show. He can't get past that much of the violence is against women. I can't blame him, but I look past it.


2. Modern Family (ABC, Wednesday nights) – Even when I’m home alone, I laugh out loud. By far, the best comedy on TV. This would be my choice as the best show on TV except for …


1. Supernatural (The CW, Friday nights) – I discovered this show in reruns on TNT during its third season. Until I caught up, I was watching older episodes – first through season five, then back around to season one – along with the newer season six at the same time. I even buy the monthly Supernatural magazine at Barnes and Noble.



Honorable Mention (in no particular order):

Two and a Half Men (CBS, Monday nights) - Just the first episode to see how Ashton Kutcher does. I've never liked this show. Maybe I will now. (Update: I watched the premiere last night. Nope, I still don’t like the show. Though the Darma and Greg cameo, a show also created by Chuck Lorre, was cute.)

Glee (Fox, Tuesday nights) - I have to like the show. It's in my Gay Agenda contract. But I've never really been crazy about it. Please don't turn me in. (Here are my past posts about Glee.)

The Vampire Diaries (The CW, Thursday nights) - I have seen exactly one episode, but Ian Somerhalder is one of my Top 20. Plus, he is from Mandeville - right across Lake Pontchartrain from me.

Bully Beatdown (MTV and MTV2, various nights) – Another reality show from Mark Burnett, the creator of Survivor. In each episode, show host Jason “Mayhem” Miller challenges bullies to fight against a professional mixed martial artist for a chance to win $10,000. The money they get depends on their performance against their opponent, with any money they don’t win going to the bully’s victims. It's great fun to see the bullies get their ass kicked.

1 Girl 5 Gays (Logo, various nights) – A Canadian talk show that premiered on MTV Canada in 2009 and on Logo in 2010. The female host sits down with a revolving cast of five gays to discuss love and sex. (Here is my past post about 1 Girl 5 Gays - from April 2011.) I used to love the show, but now that the novelty has worn off, I seek it out less and less.

Here are a few sample questions from the show:
Would you let someone go down on you if you hadn’t showered?
Is long hair sexy?
Describe your shortest-lasting sexual encounter.
Who would you do – John Stamos or Johnny Knoxville?

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What show are you most looking forward to this season?

Local Game Shows

My friends and I love to put together and play our versions of TV game shows.

Thanks to Jason, who started it all with Survivor Metairie I, we have played Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? (supposedly simple trivia questions), The Amazing Race (a scavenger hunt around the city), Jeopardy, Steet Smarts (our version of the game show Street Smarts, so called because of Jason’s creative sign making), and other game shows that I can’t think of right now.




Tangent - Here is the introduction to our Survivor Metairie I video. Debbie put this together.



Recently, I put together Steet Smarts II. For those not familiar with the show: Weeks before we all got together, I asked our six players – Bart, Carlos, Debbie, Jason, Jason, and Julie – the exact same 43 questions. The questions that everyone answered correctly or incorrectly, I threw out. The remaining questions were used for the game.

The game was played in three rounds: Who Knew It (not including yourself, who do you think knew the question’s answer), Who Blew It (not including yourself, who do you think did NOT know the question’s answer), and the finale (one question asked – who knew it or blew it, with money won during the first two rounds bet on the outcome).

Correct answers for the first two rounds were awarded Monopoly-style money that Jason created for Survivor Metairie II.


Here are some of the questions and the quite creative answers given by my friends.

What is a subordinate?
- An employee or city worker.

Finish this old saying: “Men seldom make passes at girls who _______________.”
- Don’t have asses.
…are married.

Skydivers use what billowy object to land safely?
- a trampoline or a cushion
- a pillow

What do the letters NIMBY commonly stand for?
- Not In My Something or other.
- National Institute of Male Body Yearning
- National Immigrants Mothers Boys and Yahoos
- National Independent Market for Black Youth

In the Bible, Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of what popular seasoning?
- Cayenne Pepper

What are sisters Mary Kate and Ashley better known as?
- Johnson

What is noshing?
- Vomiting

According to the nursery rhyme, Jack Sprat could eat no what?
- Crap
- Sprouts

What is 9,999 + 1?
- 1,000,000

The name of the song played during Graduation is called Pomp and what?
- Grow

How is a Sadie Hawkins dance different from a traditional dance?
- Requires three.
- Form

What is the name of the first book of the Old Testament?
- The Bible

What was the name of the first pope?
- Pope Pius
- Pope I
- John The Baptist
- John Paul
- St. Thomas (St. Who)

Which war was originally known as The Great War?
- World War II
- The War of 1812

How many stars are on the current US flag?
- 13

In the movie Gremlins, the three rules are no bright lights, don't get them wet, and ___________.
- Don't feed them Skittles.

A satellite radio service is named for a star. Name it. (Correct answer Serius)
- Onstar
- Sun

In literature, who was Tom Sawyer's best friend?
- Becky Allen. I mean Becky Thatcher.
- His dad.

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Thank you everyone who played. You all had some great, creative answers.

This Season's Tough DVR Choices

At the beginning of every TV season, I face tough choices. My DVR will record two and only two shows at once. Three times during the week, I have at least three TV shows that I'd like to record on at the exact same time.

Here are my choices and my decisions.


Wednesdays at 8 pm Choices:
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Glee (Fox)
Modern Family (ABC)

Decision: I would love to support Modern Family because it has a gay couple, but Glee is even more gay than Modern Family so I also want to support that show. As far as Criminal Minds, that's a must see. I have decided to DVR the first two and watch Modern Family via ABC's web site.


Thursdays at 7 pm Choices:
Survivor (CBS)
FlashForward (ABC)
The Vampire Diaries (The CW)
Bones (Fox)

Decision: Survivor is a must see. Bones is definitely the least of the four. That leaves FlashForward and The Vampire Diaries. I sampled episode two of The Vampire Diaries the week before FlashForward debuted. It's interesting only for the shirtless scenes of Ian Somerhalder, which I can find online. I have decided to DVR Survivor and FlashForward.


Sundays at 7 pm Choices:
Jonas (Disney)
Criminal Minds - repeat of earlier episodes (A&E)
The Amazing Race (CBS)

Decision: This is an easy choice. Jonas is immediately out. That leaves the other two shows. Done.

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What would you do? Do you have any similar dilemmas?

Survivor Metairie

Let me catch you up with my latest celebrity encounter. Here's the story from the beginning.

Last April, my friend Jason put together our own version of the TV show Survivor, calling it Survivor Metairie. Here's a link to some pictures from that day.

We videotaped the entire 10 hours. My friend Debbie - after six months of editing - put together a four-hour version for us to watch, complete with after-game interviews from each player. She hosted a party for all of us to see the video two Saturdays ago.

The previous day, Debbie's tenant Christine came by to see how Debbie had decorated for the party. Christine works at The Gap in Lakeside. Saturday afternoon, Lisa Keiffer and her husband Thomas came into the store to shop. Thomas mentioned to Christine that Lisa is a player on the current season of Survivor. (The show tapes months in advance.) Here's a link to Lisa's bio on the official CBS web site.

Christine said that Debbie was having a Survivor-themed party that night and they should stop by if they're in the area. Lisa and Thomas tried to call us that night, but Debbie didn't answer her phone because we were all busy watching our Survivor Metairie highlights. They decided to just pop in.

You have never seen a more funny sight than watching 14 Survivor fan's reactions when one of the people they watch weekly on TV walks into their party.

Lisa and Thomas ended up staying for three hours. Lisa answered all our questions about the show that she was not bound by her CBS contract to not answer, and then watched the remaining 30 minutes of our Survivor Metairie video with us.

She was having her own Survivor-watching party that next Thursday (October 14) and invited us all to her Mandeville home to watch the show with her. Debbie, Gina, Jason, and I went.

It was so much fun!

Lisa and Thomas had about 50 people there. Lisa introduced us to the entire room as "the people who I was telling you about. They put on their own version of Survivor and I went to their party last week." I have some pictures from that night too, but I have to get them developed.

Well, that's it for my latest celebrity encounter. For now. Pretty cool, huh?