I have to say, we watched a fair amount of TV this year. More than I expected, really. Probably not as much most Americans, but we keyed in on several shows. What really changed is how we watched them this year. We watched a lot of shows on Hulu, especially during the beta period on Xbox (perk!). We DVR'd a select few shows as well, but most of what we watched was on Hulu. If they carried some of the basic cable shows, we'd drop cable TV entirely.
It was a good year for the dramas we like. Fringe got more interesting, and more weird. The writing for House just keeps getting better and better, and has moved beyond the simple freak-of-the-week formula it suffered from in earlier seasons. Less Olivia Wilde, however, was a negative. Parenthood delivered on all kinds of levels this year, and I can't get over how great the cast is. We also watched Castle, more Diana than me. I like it, but I'm not sure if that's because I think the lead is pretty or it's a good show.
The only new drama we watched this season was Harry's Law, and while it's not bad, it's just another David E. Kelley show. It doesn't really bring anything new to the formula. They even have an iteration of "Denny Crane" from Boston Legal.
The usual band of comedies were back for another season. Family Guy continues to be funny, and The Cleveland Show really hit a great stride this year. Modern Family is even funnier, but we let go of The Middle. We got behind on 30 Rock, but it's worth watching just for the chance that Brian Williams will be in it. Parks and Recreation got much better, but we got so behind on it that we kind of let it go.
Two new comedies this season. Happy Endings is Friends meets Scrubs, and it's f'ing hilarious. The cast is outstanding. The women include Elisha Cuthbert (Kim/The Girl Next Door), Casey Wilson (formerly of SNL) and Eliza Coupe (the hates-everybody doctor on the Scrubs reboot). I don't know the dudes other than Damon Wayons, Jr., and only because he looks like his dad. Regardless, they're funny, the writing is funny, and I was relieved to find out it will be back next season.
We also watched Outsourced, a show based roughly on the movie of the same name. The basic plot is that a call center manager for an American novelty company gets sent to India to run a call center there, and hilarity ensues. The plot lines borrow heavily from the movie. The only actor you'd probably recognize is Diedrich Bader, who has been around since the Drew Carey Show, among other things. The rest of the cast is mostly Indian and/or British, and they were fantastic. The show could have been completely offensive, or a bad caricature of Indian culture, but if it was, I didn't notice it. I thought it was beautifully shot, especially the finale, which covered a wedding of one of the main characters. Sadly, like any other good show NBC puts out, it was cancelled. Bastards.
I guess when I really look at it, we really didn't watch that much after all. There were some casualties the year before, like the end of 24 and cancellation of Trauma. And that's probably OK, because we've got endless entertainment coming from a little redheaded kid who has only been walking for a few months.
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