(Un)Jazzed Hands

Here we go with the third list of the day. Returning shows about which I am less than jazzed. It's not that they aren't worthwhile, it's just that...well, I'm not totally over the moon.

1. Right out of the gate I've got a disclaimer. If I'd known what other shows I'd let on my first list of the day (Heroes) I wouldn't have bumped Castle. So, Castle is likely to be the best of this bunch. It's not exactly a procedural drama but sort of. Nathan Fillion is wonderful as Castle, a mystery novelist a la James Patterson (Patterson is actually a member of Castle's weekly poker game). Under the guise of research for a new series of novels he works with a Scully-like NYPD Detective. His skills as a story teller inform her real life detective skills (and closet delight in his work) and success in the whole crime thing ensues. The show has wit along with its grit. Nathan Fillion looks good not only as sexy, single, successful writer but also as beleagured son (Susan Sullivan plays the wayward mother to perfection) and doting, delicious dad.

2. House, M.D. is a bandwagon I regret not getting on immediately. As it is I thought I could live without it and now watch the occasional rerun as though I'm peeking through an ex's window with my night vision goggles. My Capricorn nature won't allow me to jump in and start watching new episodes right away. I'm going to have to start at the beginning soon and overdose on Hugh Laurie's brilliant addict.

3. One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl are both guilty pleasure shows that I stopped watching due to scheduling conflicts. I will probably gulp them down in syndication but the aforementioned Capricorn nature won't allow me to dip back in this season. Probably a lucky break given what I'm hearing around the internet about last season on One Tree Hill. It was already a show my dog could craft better and apparently it got worse. Yikes!

4. I love Tim Roth. I mean he is right in my snaggly toothed, cool accented wheelhouse. I saw him live in a small theatre once doing a show that I thought was not quite right somehow and I still melted right in my chair. So he's got this series called Lie To Me about a scientist/sociologist guy who can detect any sort of lie and I'm watching but, seriously, it's kind of boring. How can you make a show that distracts me from Tim Roth? I may be watching solely to find the answer to that question.

5. Two And A Half Men is a great show. It's well worth your time and with David Hyde Pierce on Broadway instead of TV Jon Cryer is probably the funniest man on television right now. I like it. I watch it. I just don't love it.

6. Scrubs is back, inexplicably. I tuned back in for it's "final" season last season. It was...OK. It's still a good show but I would venture that this is not its heyday.

7. 90210 is apparently quite a successful little soap opera. So successful in fact that the same people remade Melrose Place (see previous list). Um. Yeah. Not going to watch it.

8. I watched some of The Mentalist last season. It is a perfectly serviceable knock off of Psych and almost as funny. Too bad it's billed as a drama.

9. Supernatural is another show with a huge cult following. There is more Supernatural fanfic on the intarwebs right now than Veronica Mars and Dawson's Creek fanfic combined (just guessing), which is saying a lot. People still write fresh DC fanfic, and not crappy stuff either. I just never got into it. It's another one I suspect I'll watch in syndication or on DVD.

10. CSI is back but I have conflicts so I'm letting it go. I wasn't as rabid a fan the past few seasons and, while I think Laurence Fishburne is a wonderful choice to replace William Peterson, it's not enough to trump other offerings.

11. I stopped watching Private Practice due to a finite scheduling conflict. I thought I'd catch up with it via internet viewing. Unfortunately ABC's player is so bad the show was unwatchable on my laptop so I let it go. As with Grey's Anatomy my loyalty is largely to creator, Shonda Rimes. It's not a great show but it has good moments and I count her investigation of the abortion debate in a medical setting as one of the more thought provoking ones to see the light of network.

12. By all accounts Ugly Betty is the best thing since Dennis Franz showed his bare behind on NYPD Blue. I didn't get into it but think that's just a taste thing. I do love America Ferrara and hope the show has a long and prosperous run.

13. Oopsie Daisy! I didn't notice Dollhouse on the grid when I first went over it, despite being one of it's rabid cultish fans. This should really be on list #1 because my jazz hands are all over this one. Eliza Dushku is perhaps not the best piece of casting Joss Whedon has ever done but the rest of the show is solidly Whedonesque. The premise is essentially Best Little Whorehouse in Texas meets Fantasy Island. Clients purchase time with "dolls" (both male and female) to make their fondest dreams come true. The dolls, however, are humans with their memories repeatedly wiped and reprogrammed. I'm not doing it justice but that's because the creator of Buffy and Firefly tends to defy description. I beg you to tune in starting September 25th and to tell all your friends.

14. Numb3rs is back and I love this cast. I geek out over the fact that one of my acting teachers (Peter MacNichol) is getting his due on the show. Who doesn't love to see Judd Hirsch still doing his thing? And, smart people getting sexy with each other? Slurp. (Charlie & Amita 4 Evah!!!!!!!)

15. I quit Desperate Housewives, too, but clearly that hasn't hurt them any. They're still camping it up on Sunday nights. Enjoy!

16. Lost will be back in the winter for its final season. I'm just going to watch it in one big marathon on DVD some day.

I'm not done yet! I'm tired, but I'm not done yet. I've got at least one more list in me.