’08-’09 TV Shows: A Mid-Season Report Card
Some of these were summer and/or cable series which will not return until later next year, and other shows are only mid-season at this point, but here is how I would rate each of them right now:
- 30 Rock: B+
- The Amazing Race: B
- Bones: B
- Brothers & Sisters: B
- Dexter: A-
- Dirty Sexy Money: B-
- Eli Stone: B
- Entourage: C
- Fringe: A
- Grey’s Anatomy: C
- Heroes: C+
- House: B
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: B+
- Life: B+
- Life on Mars: B
- Lipstick Jungle: B
- The Office: B-
- Private Practice: B
- Pushing Daisies: B
- Samantha Who: B+
- Saturday Night Live: C
- Survivor: B
- Top Chef: B
- True Blood: B
- Ugly Betty: B-
I don’t have DirecTV so I haven’t been able to watch Friday Night Lights yet this season, but I certainly look forward to doing so when it airs on NBC beginning in January!
Other returning favorites which I am quite excited about include Damages, Flight of the Conchords, Lost and Medium. I will continue to enjoy the remaining episodes and then mourn the loss of Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Lipstick Jungle and Pushing Daisies.
As a huge fan of the small screen, it is very disheartening to see that kind of programming disappear, and alarming to note the number of ill-advised reality shows filling up the airwaves instead. Note to studio execs: there is a reason that The Amazing Race, American Idol and Survivor remain popular year after year- they feature actual competition, emotion and talent. Enough with the dating garbage (I’m talking to you, NBC, MTV & VH1). I realize that it is far less expensive to create and produce an allegedly unscripted reality series these days, but it is a shame that the television landscape (and audience) loses quality and creativity as a result.