Check Out These Other Great Sites/Blogs!

For television fans, there are a ton of really good websites and blogs that will provide you the information you are looking for.

A really good, informative blog is OfficeTally. It is a great and really popular blog for fans of “The Office”. It is so popular that even cast members of “The Office” read it. The blog features episode descriptions, spoilers, and pictures. They also post videos such as, promos, cast interviews, and videos that appear on NBC.com. An episode discussion is also available right after an episode. There are also posts about where cast members are going to be appearing. A link to the newest episode on Hulu is usually also posted, as well as deleted scenes. The creator of the blog is always looking for people to send her news and links that may have been missed. I really like when there are set visit reports, though. The blogger has an opportunity to go to the set of “The Office” and always brings back great video, pictures, and scoop.

OfficeTally

Another blog that is a good source for TV scoop and news is The Ausiello Files on EW.com. Michael Ausiello used to work at TV Guide and would provide scoop on the current TV shows by answering questions that fans wanted to know. The Ausiello Files is kind of an extension of that, but now it is in blog form. He still provides the latest scoop, such as casting and casting changes, ratings, promos, exclusive behind-the-scenes information, and then has the fan-asked questions on spoilers. It is a great source that is always an enjoyable read.

The Ausiello Files on EW.com

FanForum is a great place to interact with fellow fans. The website is broken down into categories where you can even talk about your old favorites that are not on the air anymore. You can also talk about your favorite actor/actresses and even your favorite couples and episodes!

Fan Forum

TV Squad Blog

If you are looking for another TV blog, a really good one to look at is TV Squad. It is a blog that is associated with AOL television. It is run by 19 different bloggers, who are featured on a page called "Meet the TV Squad". TV Squad covers pretty much everything to do with TV. The blog offers TV news, reviews of episodes, top 10 lists, links to videos, links to other blogs, and so much more. The set-up allows easy navigation for visitors.

When you go to TV Squad, you realize that the site contains a lot of content. It would be easiest to start with the latest posts. The first thing you see are moving pictures that give you links to selected coverage that has be written in the blog. These are some of their main stories that they want readers to check out and comment on. For example, in honor of "Mad Men"'s new season, the blog provides a link to all the latest news and post on "Mad Men". Looking at the main page alone, TV Squad literally posts everything that is going on in television right now. A couple of reviews were posted, the latest news and scoop on some TV shows, and even a clip from "The Colbert Report".

The blog also contains "Featured Stories", which are different from your regular posts. They contain top 10 lists, which I love to read because I love to see what other people's favorites are compared to mine. Also contained in this section was an interview, which allow you to get a feel for what the actor is about and get scoop on a particular show. It also had an article written on a show gone to soon. I thought this was a great feature because there were so many fantastic shows on TV that were cancelled before they should have been. I want to have more of these kind of posts on my own blog. TV Squad even had extensive coverage of the Emmy's!

TV Squad is also very well-structured. The blog provides links to blogs written about certain genres. It is broken down into categories such as Features, Comedy Shows, Drama Shows, etc. It also features links to the blogs that were most commented on in the last 7 days. Obviously, people thought these posts were pretty interesting so it provides visitors with good posts to read. Links to other popular television blogs are listed, as well as some major network blogs like PopEater. At the top of the blog, visitors also have the option of visiting links to TV listings, celebrity news, info on hot shows, and more. It just provides visitors with so much to explore. I only wish my blog could be as good as this one.

I think TV Squad is a great source for television. If you need any information on TV, it is one of the top places to go. Plus, some of the other blog posts make very interesting reads and the blog is just very easy to navigate. Check out TV Squad!

"Bones" Spoilers Blog

My favorite show right now is “Bones”. It is great show that I think more people need to get in to. It is another crime show, but it is different. “Bones” follows Dr. Temperance Brennan, A.K.A. Bones, who works as a forensic anthropologist at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington D.C. She teams up with F.B.I. partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth, to solve murders. The reason I like this show is that Brennan only solves crimes with bodies where only bones are remaining. It is really cool how Brennan and her “squint squad”/team take human remains and analyze bone markings or materials left on the bones in order to solve a murder. I especially think it is interesting when they create a face for the victim in their high-tech computer system or the experiments they do. Also, the chemistry between the cast is amazing and Booth and Brennan are definitely two people you hope get together in the end. On top of that, it has its funny and heartwarming moments as well.

A blog that I always go on for some information about upcoming episodes, cast interviews, news, and filming updates is Bones Spoilers Blog. It is run by four different bloggers. It is a really good blog because they update everyday, several times a day. They always have the latest scoop and articles posted on the blog. They also post reviews of the latest episode of “Bones”.

One of my favorite parts of this blog is when they post pictures for upcoming episodes. It gives you a little taste of what is going on in a particular episode, but not enough to spoil it for you. Twitter updates about filming by actors, producers, and creators are also posted to keep fans up to date about how far into the season they are. I absolutely love that they post cast interviews and appearances. It is a great cast and they seem to really care about the characters. The blog also includes links to their affiliates, which includes another “Bones” blog, as well as links to multiple fansites. I thnk people should check out the fansites that this blog supports as well because there are some really good ones. Their labels also allow for easy navigation. If you need to find something specific, chances are you can find it. So check out Bones Spoilers Blog!

Modified Challenge

A couple days ago, I said that I was going to try to fulfill my challenge of watching every show of the new season. Unfortunately, I fell behind. Now, I am just going to recap the shows that I thought looked pretty interesting. Just because I thought they looked promising, doesn't mean that they are going to be good. I am going to give my thoughts on the following shows:

Community
FlashForward
Eastwick
The Good Wife
The Middle
Hank (maybe)
V
Three Rivers

With all my classes, I just have not had the time to watch a couple hours of TV a day, without the reviews being very delayed. I did not accomplish what I hoped to do, but I watched a majority of the new prime-time shows. My next review will be of "Community" and then "The Good Wife".

"Modern Family" and "Cougar Town"

So, I am now going to give my thoughts on "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town". Both are comedies airing on Wednesday on ABC.

"Modern Family" airs on Wednesdays on ABC. "Modern Family" follows what you think is three different families: an older man who has recently married a younger woman and adopted her son, a family with three kids, and a gay couple who have recently adopted a baby girl from Vietnam. I thought the show was great. I was laughing the whole time. One family followed is a mom named Claire, her husband, and three kids. She deals with her teenage daughter who is bringing a boy over for the first time. It brought a lot of laughs, especially when her mom races her daughter to answer the front door and then tries to nonchalantly burst in on her daughter and the boy. My only thought was "What mother lets their 15-year-old daughter have a boy in their room with the door closed?" Maybe it does happen, but not a lot. Claire's husband, meanwhile, tries to act like the cool dad and is very lenient on the kids. He tries to act like he knows all the current trends, but just ends up embarrassing his kids.

Jay Pritchett is an older man who recently married a younger woman named Gloria and adopted her son, Manny. My favorite part was when Jay and Gloria were at Manny's soccer game and someone asked if Jay was Gloria's father. The whole plotline around this storyline involves the age difference between Jay and Gloria and the antics of Manny. Jay sees things different from Gloria, since he is so much older than her and toward the end of the episode he tries to look younger by dressing in baggy clothes. Meanwhile, Manny is trying to woo an older girl while getting differing advice from Jay and Gloria.

Mitchell and Cameron are a gay couple who have just adopted a baby from Vietnam. They were just really entertaining together. For example, when they were on the plane back from Vietnam, a woman says " Oh, look at that baby with those creampuffs." Mitchell stands up and gives a whole speech about how gay men aren't creampuffs, but Cameron nudges him and shows the baby holding creampuff pastries. The big thing is that Mitchell hasn't told his family that they adopted a baby. When Mitchell's family shows up for dinner, Claire and Jay's families walk in the door. I guess I should have suspected that they were one big family, but I totally did not. When the families finally come together, you see that no matter how different they are, they really love each other. They are a really close family who enjoy each other's company no matter what their individual lives are like.

"Cougar Town" was a show that I wasn't sure I would enjoy. I ended up really enjoying it though. I thought it was hysterical. Courtney Cox-Arquette portrays a newly divorced woman named Jules Cobb, who is taking care of her teenage son. She is dealing with her younger co-worker who is trying to get her to start dating again, but is taking her to places with younger men. It is hilarious when she actually hooks up with a younger man and then her co-worker puts up signs for Jules' real estate business with a suggestive picture of Jules. Jules' son is embarrassed by the fact that his mom is out dating younger men and by the fact that guys he goes to school with are stealing his mom's real estate signs. I really feel bad for him, especially when his dad also comes into the picture and gets a job at his high school. Jules also wonders why it is so easy for her neighbor to get younger women when it is so hard for her to date. I am thinking "Possible couple in the future?" Who knows, but I am going to tune it to find out.

I thought both "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" were highly entertaining. I suggest you tune in or set your DVR because I think these ones are here to stay for a while.

Also, here's a great article that I found on both shows from Entertainment Weekly.

Update on Challenge

Okay, about the little challenge I gave myself. To remind you, I said I was going to try and watch every show of the new season. I am not backing out of this challenge, but a few reviews are a little delayed. Starting tomorrow, I will begin reviewing all the new shows. After tomorrow, I am going to have about 21 shows to watch over the course of the weekend. I really did not expect this to be this hard. But, nevertheless, I will try to review every show by Monday.

My posts are going to combine 2 or 3 shows at one time. If I wrote an individual review for each one, that would just be too much.

"Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" are the first shows up.

Wish me luck!

Check out My Site!

In addition to this blog, I also have a website! Exciting, right? Well, I am just getting started on the website so it is a work in progress. Hopefully in the the future it will be a great source for info on TV. However, I am still learning the ropes of building a website so it going to take some time. Right now, I have just a few things. I have some info on myself, some TV shows I recommend, as well as some of my favorite websites and some advice on how to pick which fall shows you should watch.

My hopes for the future of website are quite high. Here are all the pages I hope to have developed in the future.

1) First, I want to have a complete recommendations page. As of right now, it just includes a few links to my favorite shows. It will be a place, though, filled with links and hopefully more extensive show information. I cannot be an expert on all shows, although that would be cool if I was, but it will have quite a few. I will even include shows that are not even on the air anymore.

2) A few more informational/"How to" articles are in the works. It just comes down to me finding the time to write something that is meaningful and that I have a little bit of expertise. I want the articles to be helpful to people who visit my site.

3) Reviews/ Recaps of TV show episodes are something I also hope to do. I can have a conversation for hours with friends and family about TV episodes that we watched. I think it would be fun to give my thoughts on a particular episode of a show I watch.

4) Expect more pictures and videos to show up. I am hoping to have some links to sneak peeks of upcoming episodes, recap videos, episode clips, promotional pictures, etc. sometime soon.

5) I am also going to start adding some scoop/spoilers of shows. These will have to be read at your own risk as not everyone likes to read spoilers. If you don't, good for you. I only wish I was so strong. I also want to include links to articles other people have written that I think are interesting and relevant to what I am talking about.

Like I said, my website is a work in progress. It is getting updating a little bit everyday. I'm hoping to have some good content up over the weekend! It the mean time, check out what I have so far!

My Site: For the Love of Television!

And the Emmy Goes To....

Last night was the annual Primetime Emmy Awards, a night to honor the wonderful performances of actors and the shows that they are on. It is one of the biggest nights for television. I watch the Emmy Awards every year and the past couple of years have not been that great. Sure, they had some memorable parts, but the overall shows themselves were lacking something. Maybe it was set-up, like when they chose to have a circular stage so everyone could only see parts of the show or maybe it was the weirdness of having multiple reality show hosts hosting the show together. I have no idea what it was, but I think it may have had to do with both. This year the Emmy’s were hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, who is really talented. It is a shame that they didn’t have him host the Emmy’s sooner. I mean he is on the popular “How I Met Your Mother”, which he has been nominated for an Emmy three times. Also, he is especially hilarious in the “Harold and Kumar” movies and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog. He is a naturally funny, talented actor who can sing too. The show began with an opening number that showcased NPH’s vocal talent. I thought it was really impressive when he sang all the television network names. I can’t even imagine how much practice that took. The Stage set-up this year was also much better than previous year’s. They had a normal stage, but they had the show control room and the band actually on the main stage. It is nice to recognize and see the people who keep the show running.

The really interesting part of this year’s show was that they split the show into five different categories: Comedy, Reality, Mini-series/Made-for-TV Movies, Variety, and Drama. The show ran a lot smoother with this new structure and the show did not feel all over the place. They did, however, leave the awards for Best Comedy and Best Drama till the end of the show. Each show was able to have their moment that way and I thought it worked very well. One of the things I wish they would try to modify would be the presenting of the awards. Some of the banter between presenters is just so awkward that is uncomfortable to watch. I guess that is what is expected at these award shows though. I think the show was great overall. It was way better than previous years and I say that they should have Neil Patrick Harris host again in the future.

Here are my Top 5 Moments of the 2009 Emmy Awards:
1) The Opening Number – It was a lot of fun and showed off NPH’s talent
2) Kristin Chenoweth’s Acceptance Speech – She was so grateful and happy to win that award and it is about time someone got recognized for the wonderful show that was Pushing Daisies
3) Pro dancers Maks and Karina from “Dancing with the Stars” and former contestants of “So You think You Can Dance” performance – Just so much talent and really fun to watch
4) Dr. Horrible skit about how TV is dead and watching TV on the internet is in – If you haven’t watched the original, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, I highly recommend it
5) Neil Patrick Harris and the show changes – He was funny and the show was a million times better

For a list of winners check out E! Online at eonline.com.

What I Thought of "The Vampire Diaries"

"The Vampire Diaries" is a new show on the CW network that premiered on September 10, 2009. "The Vampire Diaries" is based on the popular book series by L.J. Smith. The story follows a girl named Elena (Nina Dobrev), who just lost her parents in a car accident. She comes back from a summer trip and comes back to school still mourning the loss of her parents. On the first day back, a mysterious new student shows up and runs into Elena. They have a connection and start hanging out together. When watching the premiere, my roommate and I both said that we could have felt more emotion from the Elena character. I mean, this is still a transition period for her and it does not seem to be affecting her as much as her younger brother, who has turned to drugs. Anyway, we learn that the new student is named Stefan (Paul Wesley) and he lives with his uncle. Mysterious attacks keep happening in the town of Mystic Falls, though, and people do not know what is causing these attacks. The viewer learns that Stefan is actually a vampire who came to town so he could meet Elena, who looks exactly like a girl from his past named Katherine. As of yet, you do not know who Katherine was to Stefan. Were they involved or did they have another kind of relationship? That was one of my big things about the pilot episode. I would expect a lot of unanswered questions. I am sure they will be answered throughout the season, but it is going to take them a while to hit all of them and develop the storylines.

The story also involves Stefan’s brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder). His trademark is a crow and he kind of has a thing for creepy fog. You learn he is behind the mysterious attacks that are occurring in Mystic Falls, due to said trademarks. Damon lives his life as a vampire a little bit different than Stefan. He does not understand why Stefan does not just give in and act like the average vampire. It makes me wonder what really went on in their past. Why is Stefan the way he is? I have no idea, but I kind of like that he is a “nice” vampire. I really can’t wait to see how the story unfolds, though.

I know the first episode was kind of laying down the foundation of the show, but it kind of left me a little indifferent. However, I loved the second episode. I just hope the show consistently makes me want to watch from week to week. I would check it out to see if it appeals to you. The first two episodes should be up on the CW network website right now!

Review of "Glee"

The challenge has already started, but I am little behind. Hopefully, I will catch up on the few shows that have aired this coming weekend. The first show I am going to be reviewing is “Glee”.

“Glee” first aired on May 9, 2009 after the American Idol season finale. It acted as a preview for the upcoming fall season. I remember seeing all the commercials for “Glee” leading up to the American Idol and thinking “That looks really good”. I did not watch the first episode until two weeks ago and I am glad I did. It was a breath of fresh air and much different from most of the other shows that have been developed. The music is also awesome. The music is one of the many reasons I got hooked on that first episode. The wonderfully talented “Glee” cast took on covers of “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse, “On My Own” from Les Miserables, and of course, “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey. The first episode introduced an interesting group of characters ranging from the vocally-gifted star quarterback of the football team to a guidance counselor who is a germaphobe. The premise of the episode was a teacher, Will Schuester, a former glee club member, wanted to create the glee club at the school once again. He tries to recruit people from the football team with no luck, until he hears the star quarterback, Finn, singing a rendition of REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling” in the locker room. Mr. Schuester also recruits a wannabe star named Rachel, a paraplegic electric guitar player named Artie, a gothic girl with a speech impediment named Tina, a diva named Mercedes, and a singer who is bullied named Kurt.

These kids come together and at first they have their differences and their performance is a little off. Mr. Schuester, after being put down by both the principal, the head cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester, and finding out his wife is pregnant, quits coaching the glee club. It is one of those moments where you know that is not what he really wants and thinks he is a jerk for abandoning this talented group of kids. The best part of the episode is when all the kids come together and keep the glee club running. It was so refreshing to see people from different backgrounds and cliques come together because they all share the same talent and vision of how far the club could go. The students came up with a brilliant rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” that leaves you with chills. The hard work of the students really paid off and you could see hints of a possible romance between Finn and Rachel. I guess we will see how that story ends up. Overall, I thought the first episode of “Glee” was really good and think the show is promising. It is a little different that I expected. Don’t watch it expecting an innocent, cute show. The story involves a lot of sex jokes and even an abstinence meeting that involves balloons.

I would really suggest watching “Glee”. The second episode was just as good as the pilot and it introduces new characters and rivalries that will unfold as the season goes on. If you missed the first couple episodes, I would suggest heading over to Fox.com or Hulu.com to watch them.

New Challenge

Over Labor Day weekend, I was thinking about how I could make my blog more current. I could not really come up with anything that would be different from other things posted on the internet. Over that same weekend, I went and saw the movie "Julie and Julia" with my mom. This woman, Julie Powell, blogged about how she was cooking her way through Julia Child's cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". She had a unique idea for her blog and she gained so many followers who were anticipating her feedback on the next recipe she tried. I started thinking that maybe I should try something different for a little bit. I came up with my own challenge.

The challenge is to watch each of the 19 new shows that are premiering this fall on the major networks. After I watch them, I will give a brief review of them and decide whether they are a hit or miss. I was a going to watch a few of these shows anyway and I think it will be fun. Most of the shows do not start for another week and a half, but a few have already premiered and I will write reviews about those as soon as possible.

The shows:

Melrose Place (CW)
Glee (FOX)
The Vampire Diaries (CW)
Community (NBC)
Cougar Town (ABC)
Eastwick (ABC)
Modern Family (ABC)
Mercy (NBC)
Flashforward (ABC)
Brothers
Accidentally on Purpose (CBS)
The Good Wife (CBS)
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
Three Rivers (CBS)
Hank (ABC)
The Middle (ABC)
The Cleveland Show (FOX)
Trauma (NBC)
V (ABC)

The first shows I am going to review are Melrose Place, Glee, and The Vampire Diaries, as they premiered last week. I will review as soon as possible.