Is The Office Coming Back to Life?

I don’t know that I’ve ever blogged about The Office, though I used to consider it one of my favorite shows, if not the favorite for a period of time. But sadly, despite my sincerest hopes, the post-Michael Scott era has not been a good one. In fact, three or four episodes in the middle of the season didn’t get recorded on my DVR, and I didn’t even notice. The episodes I have seen have been pretty lackluster.

However, last night’s episode, “Mrs. California,” was a shining beacon of hope, right from the very start. First, let me take you back a few years to season 2 (I think), with my favorite scene from The Office, ever [sorry for the low-quality; it was the best I could find.]:

This week’s episode opener was very similar, and brought joy to my heart. [I shortened the clip, so for set-up, Dwight spent the morning bragging about the benefits of standing over sitting all day, before realizing how badly his feet would hurt. Aaaand ACTION!]:

The episode only went up from there, showcasing what we have all come to love about Andy: his unwavering goodness and desire to please. Not this Michael Scott wannabe crap they’ve been pulling on him all season. But still, Erin had the best line of the episode [after being ordered to be mean to the boss's wife]: “I got it. I know exactly which stapler to give her.”

I know one good episode doesn’t make a bad season good, but if nothing else, it gives me renewed hope that the show can at least end on a high note. Fingers crossed!

I’ve Been Missing Out

My TV world has recently been turned upside down. Everything I once thought I knew—gone. For I have discovered two new-to-me shows that I’m positively boggled I wasn’t already watching.

First came The Big Bang Theory.

A couple weeks ago, as husband and I were winding down from a night of college football, we flipped to TBS, and caught the last few minutes of an episode. It was laugh at first sight: in just those few minutes, we both chuckled out loud several times. The episode ended, and we both looked at each other in amazement. Why don’t we watch this show?! We immediately set the DVR to “record all.” Since that fateful day, we’ve watched approximately 478 episodes of Big Bang, since TBS airs about 5 episodes a day, all of which landed in my DVR. Life = changed.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, my brother introduced me to another mind-blowingly hilarious show: Arrested Development.

Again, my first impression was, Why haven’t I seen this show before? I really have no excuse for this one; people have been telling me I should watch it for years. I just didn’t give it the chance. Sigh. Lucky for me, they’re all on Netflix, so I’ll be caught up in plenty of time for the last season and the movie, announced last month.

So, lesson learned: I need to be watching every show, all the time, so I can avoid this left-out feeling. Done and done.

Why You MUST Watch Once Upon a Time

Alright folks, I’ve covered other new shows over the past few months, and I’ve encouraged y’all to watch plenty. But this is the one to listen to me on. Seriously. Remember how excited I was for the New Girl premiere? Double it. This is my most anticipated show of the season: Once Upon a Time. Now, I haven’t seen it—so don’t judge me if it sucks—but there are a few things making me twitch with excitement as these last few hours before the premiere tick away.

1. The Writers
The writers of Once Upon a Time are from… (drumroll please)… LOST. I feel like I should be able to end this post right here, and that should be enough to convince you, but I know it’s not a selling point for everyone. For the Losties out there, though, it’s big. They’ve even thrown us a little Easter egg in the Once trailers (watch the clock tower in the trailer below, if you haven’t seen it yet), and I can only hope they’ll drop a few more into the series. Bottom line: if the people behind Lost’s genius are behind this, you know it’s gonna be good.

2. The Cast
Once also has a pretty strong cast behind it, which certainly never hurts. I’m most excited/hopeful to see Jennifer Morrison in a role I won’t hate her in, after suffering through her run on How I Met Your Mother. Aside from her, the show’s cast includes Ginnifer Goodwin, Lana Parrilla, and super-adorable Jared Gilmore.

3. The Story
Of all the shows on TV, this one’s plot is most accurately described as a “story.” The plot parallels between a modern-day town, aptly named Storybrooke, and the fairytales we all know and love. All wrapped up in a mysterious little bow. I’m not good at describing intricate plots (“there’s like, an evil queen, but she’s actually a lawyer or something, and, um, a little kid, who, um, knows stuff…”), so just watch the trailer below:

Once Upon a Time premieres tonight at 8/7c on ABC. Don’t miss it.

My Endless Love for Pretty Little Liars

I know I’m behind. We’ve already established that. But the special Pretty Little Liars Halloween episode was so darn good, that I don’t even care if I’m writing about it two days late. It even made my husband admit that PLL was his “least hated” of all my hide the remote shows. That’s practically love, folks.

I didn’t even realize how much I missed PLL until I started the episode this morning. The instant I saw my four pseudo-best friends, my heart went all pitter-patter. Spencer, with her nerdy little glasses, reciting the dictionary; Hanna, with her innocence and baby fat; spunky little pink-haired Aria; and genuine, still in-the-closet Emily. Oh, and evil, manipulative, not-yet-6-feet-under Alison. I just love them. And yes, I feel just about as pathetic as this paragraph sounds.

[spoilers ahead, consider yourself warned]

It was so interesting to Alison for an entire episode. Throughout the first few seasons, we’ve gotten mere glimpses of her interactions with the girls through flashbacks. This episode, we got to see some of those flashbacks connected together, and even found that A was torturing Alison pre-death, too.

So who’s A? We came really close to finding out—but we all knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Is A a group of people—Noel, Lucas, and a yet to be seen third party (cough*Jenna*cough)? I don’t know. I have my theory on who A is, and it was slightly validated in this week’s episode, but I’m keeping it close to the chest for right now. Mostly because it’s a big stretch, and you’ll all think I’m insane.

Anyone else have any good “A” theories?

I Don’t Hate The Walking Dead. And You Won’t Either.

I’m behind. Way behind. Like three days to a week (gasp!) behind on most of my shows—which is a lifetime in the TV blogging world. Unfortunately, my husband is the fairest of fair-weather Texas Rangers fans, so when they’re in the playoffs, he turns into a die-hard baseball monster who commandeers the TV every. single. night. Do you have any idea how many games they play? And how long they last? And how boring baseball is? Sorry, I probably just offended a lot of people with that last one—American past-time and all that. Anyway, the point of that ramble is, I haven’t been able to watch my shows in any reasonable time-frame these days, which is why I haven’t blogged in 10ish days.

So while I can’t currently blog about already-aired shows, I can blog about soon-to-be aired shows. And lucky for me, there’s a great soon-to-be-aired show premiering this weekend: The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead is everything I should hate about a TV show. It’s gory, violent, creepy, gory, bloody, gross, and did I mention gory? But at the same time, it’s intriguing, exciting, suspenseful, fast-paced and deep. It’s just good. And perhaps most importantly, it’s on Netflix. And the first season was only six episodes. Come on, anyone can watch six episodes in two days. So get on it. It premieres Sunday at 9 PM ET.

Dexter is Back to His Old Self

Ya know those shows that only air for a very small window of time each year, leaving you to spend the whole rest of the year thinking about and anticipating them? Actually, I should say, “ya know that one show that only airs…” because Dexter is pretty much the only one of those that exists for me. It’s probably the only show that I don’t forget about during its off-season—not for one minute.

And now, it’s back for season 6 in full action. And I do mean full. action. If my count is correct, he killed three people in a mere 50 minutes last night. Two of which were in the first 90 or so seconds of the episode. Now, there’s the Dexter I know and love!

Last night’s premiere was pretty much exactly what I’d hoped they’d do with this season. They brought the show back to its season one glory: all about the kills. It’s about Dexter finding his targets, following their movements, getting his proof, and then jabbing them in the neck with tranquilizer. And all the while, tracking an overarching serial killer that he can share conflicting feelings of admiration and disgust for. Oh, and, he danced to “Hammer Time.” What more could I ask for?

So far, the overarching killer is intriguing. Colin Hanks is involved, so it’s got that going for it. Plus, they’ve got a mythical/biblical thing going, which will inevitably get really complicated and intricate, which I’m always a fan of.

So what’d you think? Are you a fan of the return to Dexter-of-old?

At My Wit’s End with Glee

I remember the good ole days, when I used to looked forward to Glee each week. Those days are long gone. After last night’s episode, “I Am a Unicorn,” I’m seriously {thisclose} to giving up on it forever.

Maybe it’s me, maybe I’ve changed. Or maybe I’m not the demographic they’re going for anymore. Or maybe it’s just a show that hit the jackpot with a stellar first season and doesn’t know how to keep up. All I know is that I’ve had just about enough of it.

Brittany is about the only good thing left on the show, and even she’s fallen flat for me so far in season 3. The characters–and I mean every. single. one. of them–all annoy me, the 700 storylines each week make no sense and lose focus after the first five minutes of each episode, and the music has gotten progressively worse. In fact, I fast-forwarded through every single musical number last night.

It’s hard to pinpoint precisely what pushed me over the edge last night. Was it Quinn’s (who I used to love) sudden transformation into a psychopath, wanting to steal her daughter back? Was it the creation of a second show choir at McKinley for a new annoying character? Or was it just one too many Rachel Berry about-to-burst-into-tears singing faces? I don’t know. But I do know that I’m just about done trying to stay faithful to this show. Seriously ya’ll, I’m THIS close to deleting that series recording.

Terra Nova: Fine, You Win.

Yesterday, I posted a funny [or so I thought] tweet about husband making me switch Gossip Girl to a non-HD recording, so he could record Terra Nova in HD, pleading for help convincing him not to watch it. I know, I’m hilarious. But the rabid Terra Nova fans didn’t think so. I got more responses to that one tweet than any other—emphasizing not only the importance of me watching the show, but also the importance of its rightful HD-viewing status. After the fifth or so tweet, I caved, much to husband’s delight.

And… I sorta liked it. Sorta. Two hours was a lot of human-Earth-destruction, time traveling, family drama, dinosaurs and gunfire to take in; I was truly exhausted by the end of it.

The pilot had its good and its bad. Visually, it’s pretty awesome. FOX dumped a buttload of money into this, and it shows. The plot, while not entirely original, has potential, and even as brain-dead as I was by the time the mystery was introduced into the story, I was intrigued by it. However, the writing could use a little bit of work. Captain Taylor had some of the most laughable lines of all (“DAMNATION!”), but the teenage son, Josh, wasn’t given much to work with either. It wasn’t so terrible that I was instantly turned off to the whole show, though, which is a bonus.

Bottom line: I’ll keep watching, for now. If you’re into cool graphics, Spielberg, Avatar and Lost, you probably should too.

The Fall Sitcoms Have It

So far, this fall TV season is owned by the comedies. It’s no contest. First, there was Modern Family‘s absolute takeover of the Emmys. I’m convinced it could’ve beaten Mad Men for Best Drama, given the chance.

Then, there was New Girl‘s outstanding premiere night ratings (10.1 million!), actually gaining viewers after its lead-in, Glee. Told ya so.

Then, Modern Family’s one hour premiere stomped all over the much-hyped X-Factor. I’m so over these 4-hour weekly blocks that I’m supposed to dedicate to endless auditions, so I was obviously on the Modern Family bandwagon. Sorry, Simon! (Sorry I’m not sorry.)

Other comedies running the ship this season: Up All Night, Raising Hope and How I Met Your Mother—all had hilarious premieres and are off to a good start this season.

Of all the premieres so far (both new and returning shows), the only ones I’ve truly enjoyed have been sitcoms. Granted, I haven’t caught too many non-sitcom premieres, yet, but Ringer, The Playboy Club and Glee have all been less-than-inspiring.

Just embrace it, it’s time for the sitcom to shine.

Fall Premieres: New Girl Preview

New Girl is one of the new shows I was most excited about this season, mostly because I love, love, love Zooey Deschanel and her adorable awkwardness (A-dork-able, as Fox has deemed it). It gives me hope. So when a free preview of the pilot popped up on iTunes last week, I was all over it.

The premise: After a bad break up, Jess (Deschanel) moves into a new apartment with three dudes she found online. And it’s great. It’s funny, the characters are all likable (but with their own little quirks) and the ending of the first episode will make you say “awww.” Plus, the roommates have a douchebag jar. And that’s really all I can ask of any sitcom.

Check out the trailer, if my iron-clad recommendation isn’t enough for you.

I’m afraid to say it this early on, but I think New Girl could be on it’s way to being… *drumroll please*… my new favorite show! You’re shocked, I know. Just watch it—tonight, 9/8c, FOX. Then, let me know if you agree!