Yes, I'm mixing my farming catchphrases a bit... The customer complaint line forms on your right, gift-wrapping to your left. The network nabobs (I do use that satirically, and a wee bit for the alliteration) have performed a feat this season I've not seen in years. There are whole nights with only one or two episodes to watch. It's sort of like a mini-vacation. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I can work on guides, catch up with friends, heck, if the spirit moves me, I can even leave the house to see a movie (gasp). All courtesy of a terrible pilot season and the brilliant programming wonks who usually leave me with horrific three-way programming choices -- "Which one do I cut? I can only record two." Speaking of courtesies, thanks to HBO and AMC, Sundays are jam-packed, Wednesdays are full because of my Top Chef fetish, and Fridays are just a fun-filled pleasure ride of no responsibility. So here's where I bore you with my viewing choices :D: Sunday: Boardwalk Empire has grown on me. It lacks the intensity of Deadwood, but on the plus side, the viewers will likely be rewarded with a final season. My personal surprise was the Walking Dead. So far the writing has been tight, the action good, and the direction superb. BBCA's Luther is almost done, although the whole of it is still waiting for me in the DVR, plus PBS has been busy lately with their various Masterpiece skeins, some I just watch, some to which I try to contribute here and there. Then there's Family Guy and American Dad. These have become almost a habit which I need to break, I think. American Dad was never that funny and Family Guy has gotten a little spotty. Maybe I'll begin the weaning with Dad. Monday: In Treatment has returned, but I missed the first week and have weeks two through four waiting in hopes that HBO reruns week one at some point. Well, House soldiers on, and as disgusted as I am by the whole "Huddy" debacle, it's still being recorded every week. I haven't figured out if this was a real creative choice or the writers bowed to outside fan pressure. If it's the latter, they all need to be fired. Lie to Me is probably just because I like Tim Roth and it's a fun hour of television with no responsibility. Continuing to watch it meant I gave up the Event (sorry, Paula), which, if it survives, will be picked up in reruns. Because I'm such a drama queen (well, I'm that, too, but I'm talking TV) I added Mike and Molly because I like Melissa McCarthy and I have to have one or two comedies on the schedule to break up all the seriousness. The night ends with Chase and Castle. Chase because I figure I better watch it while I can, and Castle because of Nathan Fillion. I have a long history of watching crap shows and movies (True Blood anyone?) because of actor loyalty or crushes. Although I have to say, this season Castle has improved a lot, along with Fillion's weight. I find myself caring about the mystery now, instead of just his interactions with his mother and daughter. Once Chase is gone I'll likely switch to Hawaii Five-0. CBS finally found the perfect place for O'Loughlin -- their pretty property who can't act. Tuesday: Tuesdays are a ghost town since I don't watch the NCIS franchise. I'm reduced to watching Glee during the season, and really, that show is better as summer reruns. I only watch for the musical numbers; the narrative is abysmal. I tried to watch No Ordinary Family, and I only managed to last two episodes. It's just dreck. Not even my affection for Chiklis and Benz could get me past this drivel. The Good Wife continues its pseudo-intrigue. One of the few surprises of the fall season was Detroit 1-8-7. I've only watched a couple of the episodes (the rest are waiting for me), but they were well on their way to a solid cast with good back stories and the casting was phenomenal, some of the best I've seen since Grey's Anatomy. No lazy falling back on a "star." No, this cast is a fine group of character and stage actors that some thought was put into, and you can tell the difference in the performances. I dipped into Running Wilde a couple times, but I've never been a huge voiceover fan or one of Keri Russell's, for that matter. Wednesday: Top Chef in one form or another is usually running now that there are two franchises to go with the original, although I'm only involved in two of them. (Be proud of me, I exercised great discipline with a friend's encouragement, and did not grab that third iteration.) Psych has begun its winter run, the Closer and Eureka will run some holiday episodes as well (which will be on Mondays and Fridays respectively). Then the evening rounds out with Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: LA. There's a spin-off for CM coming, as well. I've been impressed with LOLA. Once you get past the tiresome comparisons to the mothership, it stands on its own quite well. Wolf has brought back into the fold some writers who left the mothership such as Debra J. Fisher of Criminal Minds fame. Both Molina and Howard are excellent, but somehow the writers have really keyed into Howard's character and are writing for him very passionately, and Howard is delivering the lines quite nicely. Thursday: This is my other comedy night with the Big Bang Theory. Then there's Bones, of course, with everyone hoping that Hannah leaves town soon. Even my mother, who usually doesn't care about such things, said that they're messing with the point of the show which is the potential of the romance between Booth and Brennan -- not that she wants it to happen, you understand, that would ruin the show, too. Grey's Anatomy, which has taken some interesting plot turns this season. I dip into Private Practice every now and again. The Mentalist is just fun. I tried so hard with $..! My Dad Says, it just stinks. The only cast that's worth watching is Shatner and the waiter-cum-maid. The two sons stink and the daughter-in-law lives in the city dump she stinks so badly. I don't know who did the original casting for the show, but they ought to be shot. The writing is horrible; the story premises are unbelievable even in comedy world. Yeah, I hate this show. Nikita was interesting the couple I saw before the season started, so it's been flagged for reruns. Friday: The WB did me a huge favor by moving Supernatural to this night (I'm sure this was their sole reason for the move). There's no longer a conflict with Grey's, so I can watch it in season, rather than waiting for the reruns. The whole night is just throw-away fun shows for which I have no responsibilities, and it's a nice start to the weekend with the final season of Medium, a PBS Masterpiece and Bluebloods. That last one has been interesting. If they keep to the procedural part, it's a solid show. When they delve into the "conspiracy" part it becomes infinitely weaker. Saturday: Since the US Networks effectively gave up on this night; BBC America has filled in the gap nicely with their supernatural and sci-fi shows. Not always with the best programs, Demons was terrible after all, but Saturday usually had something to view. Recently, though, BBCA has been falling down on the job. This may be subjective, but it doesn't seem as though they are churning out the Matt Smith Dr. Whos as fast as the David Tennant's. Once Being Human wrapped, we descended into Star Trek: TNG reruns (who thought that was a good purchase?) or "Brit" movies which this month have included the execrable Robin Hood with Kevin Costner (I never forgave them for not casting Pierce Brosnan). I mean, please, at least Morgan Freeman attempted an accent. Costner was too good to even try (read incompetent). I'd be happier if they'd fill in this time with programs we've missed that for some reason they refuse to ship over here. Are you there? Have you fallen asleep yet? If not, there you have it. My somewhat reduced schedule this year and all the opinions you could ask for. Oh, you didn't? Whoops. My bad. It will be interesting to see if the mid-season replacements bring any improvements. I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend!