It’s the end of summer, and right on schedule my DVR menu is empty and I’ve been reduced to watching reruns of Friends on TBS and Big Brother on CBS three times a week.

Yes.  I watch Big Brother.  Stop judging me.

Anyway…

Fall TV Season is nearly upon us and it is that time of year when I need to decide which of the shows are “DVR Worthy.”  (This is similar to Seinfeld’s Elaine deciding which men in her life were “sponge-worthy”, but the  criteria and competitive processes are very, very different.)

Considering the fact that I don’t watch most shows immediately after I record them, sometimes saving them on my DVR for weeks or months, and the room on the DVR isn’t limitless, I need to make some hard choices at the beginning of every TV season.

Not quite Sophie’s Choice hard, but still…

Returning Favorites:

These are the shows that will always have a home on my DVR schedule:

• Supernatural:  If you have ever had a conversation with me that lasted more than 5 minutes, this is probably not a surprise to you.  I love the Winchester brothers.  The Winchester car. The Winchester friends. The Winchester enemies.  I especially love the Winchester’s Bobby.  On a related note, I miss Bobby.
• Modern Family, The Middle, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory:  Fun, well-written sitcoms with characters I really care about.  These shows will need to jump pretty far over the shark before I stop watching them.
• Elementary:  It isn’t the best written drama on TV (from what I hear, Revenge and Scandal probably fit those bills), but it feeds my Sherlock fix until Season 3 comes to PBS.   Another way to look at it is that Jonny Lee Miller is to Benedict Cumberbatch as methadone is to crack.  It fills a need even if it isn’t entirely satisfying.

Second Chances

These are the shows that I gave a chance once before, but they weren’t entirely to my liking.  For different reasons, I’ve decided to give each a second chance.

• The Mindy Project:  I was excited about this show last year because I love Mindy Kaling, but I watched the pilot and found it not to be entertaining in the least.  Kind of offensive, really.  They must have punched it up midseason, though, because I caught a few episodes this summer and really liked it.  I’m willing to give it another shot.
• New Girl:  I liked the first season enough, but eventually the fact that Zooey Deschanel likes herself enough that I don’t have to, got on my nerves.   I’m willing to give the show a second chance for two reasons.  (1)  Schmidt.  (2) Damon Wayans, Jr. is returning to the cast and I love, love, love him.

PS:  My list of “People Who Like Themselves Enough that I don’t Have to” is a real thing and will be an upcoming blog topic.  The list was originally created for Gwyneth Paltrow and post-Oscar Helen Hunt, but it’s gotten much longer over time.  Stay tuned.

Special Events

There are a few shows that I don’t plan to watch regularly, but I will be recording for a limited period of time.

• Glee:  I hate to admit it, but I have a dark side that wants to know how they are going to kill off Finn.  It’s morbid and wrong, but I’ll be tuned in to that one episode.
• NCIS:  (SPOILER ALERT!) I know that a major member of the cast will be leaving during the first half of the year, and I’d like to see how they’re going to write him/her out.  After that, I’ll stop recording and just wait for the reruns on USA.

New Kids on the Block

There are a few new shows that I’m looking forward to watching.  I really hope they live up to the hype.

• The Crazy Ones:  Robin Williams plus Sarah Michelle Gellar.  Mork and Buffy.  The acting chops are there, so let’s just hope the writing is top-notch.
• The Michael J. Fox Show:  Family Ties, Spin City, The Good Wife, Rescue Me (and that’s just TV – should we discuss Back to the Future?)  I’ve never seen Michael J. Fox in anything I didn’t enjoy and from the early reviews, this show will be no different.
• Sleepy Hollow:  A CW horror show based on an urban legend.  See “Supernatural:  The Early Years”
• The Night Shift:  This is kind of cheating, because it won’t be on until midseason, but I am a huge fan of the actor Eoin Macken.  He stars as a cocky but talented doctor (Hawkeye Pierce, perhaps?) at San Antonio Memorial Hospital.  I hear good things and I want it to be awesome so that when Eoin’s character is the new Dr. Doug Ross I can tell everyone I discovered him first.

Thanks for Playing

When adding new shows to the DVR, there are always a few that no longer make the cut.  Here are the shows I’m going to stop recording in the new season.

• Hawaii 5-0:  The location is pretty.  The actors are pretty.  Even the villans are pretty.  Eventually, though, you get sick of cotton candy and want a nice meat and potatoes meal.
• Bones and Castle:  You know the old wives tale about how shows jump the shark when the main characters finally get together and start a relationship?  It turns out that old wives are really, really smart.  Even when it comes to David Boreanaz and Nathan Fillion.
• Nashville:  Connie Britton is amazing in everything she does, but the storyline just didn’t hold my attention enough to watch it every week, and it is one of those shows where if you miss a week, you can’t catch up.
• White Collar:  I love the actors and I think this show has some of the most diverse and interesting characters on television.  The problem is that the stories are ho-hum boring.  Who committed the theft?  Who cares.
• Dallas:  I was so excited for the reboot and absolutely loved the first season, but the truth is that Dallas is the story of JR Ewing.  Without JR there is no Dallas.  At least not a Dallas that I want to watch.