(I apologize in advance: this post is extra-long. In the future, I'm going to try and keep things short. Limits breed creativity, after all.)
I'll be the first to admit that I watch a crazy amount of television.
No really! I've been known to skip many school functions simply to watch an episode of can't-miss TV. It's a whole sordid relationship thing I have going on here with my boob tube.
This year, however, I've begun to write about some of the shows I watch. This is partly because I've always analyzed the TV I watch with the same fervor as a novel, film, comic book, or video game. I also just happen to love writing. (Studies tell me the two are correlated, but that doesn't always equal causation, so let's keep speculation to a minimum.)
The above two things -- my obsessive TV viewing and my writing about my obsessive TV viewing -- are now at odds because, in addition, I kinda have to finish school. To that end, I designed the blog to be a cross-section of personal views on television (Reflections), critical analysis of episodes of television a la Myles McNutt or The A.V. Club or TV Squad or etc. (Review), and a look back at shows long past (Retro, which I haven't yet launched).
Retro and Reflections can of course be done on a play-by-ear schedule (though I'll be making a schedule for Retro shows -- at least, that's the plan). However, I take Reviews a bit more seriously, cutting into the show with a fine-tipped pen and peering at its insides with a semi-trained eye. In order to balance myself out, I've decided to lay down, here in this post, the basic functions of this blog's sections, including what shows I would like very much to take a stab at reviewing.
So here's the breakdown:
-Reflections: these can pop up at any time. Usually, no matter what I do with any given TV show, good episodes and good shows tend to stick in my mind as I go about my daily routine. Sometimes, I pull a neat perspective on some subject (even television itself) from what the show did that week. That's what the Reflections will entail. I may also put reflections on current events in television (say, cancellations) in this section.
-Retro: I haven't posted this section yet because I'm still planning it, but the idea is similar to a Classic review on The A.V. Club. Particularly because I am a product of the Internet Generation, I have a new perspective on how past television shows were produced, marketed, and aired. With this in mind, I would like to turn toward shows long past, shows that are much-beloved by the people in my parents' generation, and watch them straight through, while doing some form of write-up on them. I'll have more details about this one soon, when I've had time to really sit down and plan the attack.
-Review: Pretty simple -- this is the critique part. This section is the reason I'm writing this post: I need to choose which shows I want to review so that the blog can function on a more-or-less normal schedule. I watch many television shows during the week, but only a few are the ones I would really take to writing about.
So here's what I watch and what I'll review:
Monday: With Lone Star's cancellation giving us Lie To Me back sooner than expected, and The Event's disappointing second episode, I'm going to be watching Chuck, Lie To Me, and Hawaii Five-0 live, and DVRing/Huluing House, How I Met Your Mother, and Castle (which I'm behind on, but not for long). In terms of reviews, expect a night-of review of Lie To Me and a day-after review of The Event (yes, I'm still hopeful. It's better than Flashforward, I promise!).
Tuesday: Until today, I was watching Glee and Parenthood live. Next week, however, is the return of my second-favorite current sci-fi show, Caprica. So starting next week, my Tuesdays will consist of Glee and Caprica live. On the recorded side, I'll be watching No Ordinary Family, The Good Wife, and continuing with Parenthood. Here, though, the only show I'm critically interested in is Caprica. Glee has enough attention as is, and while I would love to dive into The Good Wife, I'm coming in cold (as in, I've never seen an episode before, although my mom loves it) so I hesitate to cut in just yet.
Wednesday: No reviews here. I watch Cougar Town and The Defenders live, but the former is a show, like The Good Wife, that I'm cutting into on the second season, while the latter, though good, is a pretty straightforward procedural (I dig the setting, of course -- it's my hometown!). This is mostly my day to catch up on Monday/Tuesday shows, since I'm leaving a lot to watch in a non-traditional way on those days.
Thursday: Ah, the much-contested Thursday block. Unfortunately, it would take a lot to pry me from FOX Thursdays, which consists of my current favorite procedural (Bones) and my favorite sci-fi show not only currently, but in the last few years (Fringe). I will be jumping in on Community and continuing with The Big Bang Theory, as well. And though I'm behind on Nikita (thanks, CW, for delaying posting until the weekend!), I'll also be watching that. Expect a night-of review of Fringe and a weekend review of Nikita.
Friday: Human Target, Human Target, Human Target. I haven't seen Smallville or Supernatural, and I want to really get the full experience of Supernatural, so I'm going to let those restless dogs be and focus my efforts solely on reviewing Human Target.
Sunday: I won't be able to watch it live since my college doesn't provide premium cable, but HBO's Boardwalk Empire had such an incredible first episode that I definitely will want to do a write-up about it once the season is over. Watch for that in the future. That's otherwise it -- I've never been a big fan of the animation block on FOX (I'm a Futurama fan first, and that show's on Comedy Central and on break at the moment).
So that's the plan, at least for Fall 2010. There will definitely be some revisions once winter schedules start coming out (although you can right away expect me to review The Cape because I'm stoked about it), but this should get me -- and you, the reader -- through the tumultuous fall season.
So say we all!
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