What's on our TiVo's these days - summer edition

Summer TV programming has really ramped up over the past few years. it used to be that the summer was a break from pretty much all of the TV shows that I watched. These days though there are a ton of good shows, and some really crappy shows that air during the summer TV hiatus. So, here's what's on my TiVo's these days:

Olympics - I still have about 6 days worth of the 2012 Olympics recorded. Unlike others that don't want to watch the events after they are over, I LOVE the sports - all of them - and don't mind one bit watching Usain Bolt make his run, or watching the swimmers break records, or the oldest gymnast on the planet compete (and compete well) on rings. I am all about sports, so this is the perfect thing for me.

Episodes - Matt Leblanc is eh, but the show has a great set of characters and is well written. Both Tom and I have enjoyed watching it and it's quirky enough that you don't take it seriously. Turns out that stalkers, producers, real conversations, and slightly crazy folks are very entertaining.

Political Animals - I dig the premise, but the show kind of wanders. It's a limited run series so I'm not sure if they are testing it out or what, but it's entertaining enough to keep it on the list for a bit. And I really like James Wolk. He was in Lone Star and I liked that one too but it was cancelled almost as soon as it began. Silly show and silly premise, but nice looking guy.

Dallas - I'm really up in the air on this one. They haven't quite captured the essence of the original, and that disappoints me. I was really hoping that they'd hit it out of the ballpark right out of the gate. The last episode that I saw was closer to the tension of the old series, but the rest of it is sub-par.  Some of the leads aren't southern-looking enough. Some of the characters are too obvious and shallow. And some of the characters are from the original series and are 800 thousand years old and look like they've been dragged in from the retirement home. That's a bit disconcerting and distracts from the show itself. I spend a good deal of time wondering if JR is going to have a heart attack, or wondering why Cliff Barnes is never shown walking. Or wondering where on earth Charlene Tilton has been hiding for the past 20 years.

Leverage - I have a crush on Christian Kane back from his Angel days. He is tough and manly and is certainly on my "list." The show itself is clever and decently written, so a mindless distraction with some eye candy.

Warehouse 13 - Sci fi fun that's light enough to watch while doing other things. A good match in my book. Miss an episode and you are good (except the one last season where the Warehouse was blown up - that was an episode that you needed to watch to understand pretty much all the rest of it).

A few others that I'm enjoying -
Burn Notice - LOVE Michael Westen!
Alphas - Good little Sci-Fi show
Royals Pains - Silly show, fluffy enough to have on as I'm doing other things
STHYCD - Great season of DANCE!!!
The Newsroom - Good show worth a look
Grimm - I'm digging the whole living amongst monsters and creatures and we have no idea
White Collar - I totally have a crush on Matt Bomer (even liked him in Magic Mike!)
True Blood - It's True Blood. Enough said.
Suits - Good legal show - fill the gap left by the Law and Orders but it WAY more snarky.
Necessary Roughness - I dig sports, and have a total girl crush on Callie Thorne. She's also been in White Collar, Royal Pains, Prison Break, Burn Notice, and was on several Law & Orders, so what's not to like!
Longmire - Still watching this one - I love Katee Sackoff but the show is kind of a one trick pony.

What's on your TiVo?

What's on our TiVos these days

We have two TiVos in the house - one is mine, and the other is really for the kids, but I occasionally park stuff on it. (Don't judge - I watch a LOT of TV but that's for another post.) All of these shows are in season now, and there's a whole host of cool shows that pop up in the off season for these that we really enjoy (Psych, Dr. Who, etc.). But it's been a long while since my TiVo was empty since they started showing various things at different times of the year. What's on your DVR?

Shameless - new favorite, definitely not for the kiddos but it makes you feel good about yourself and how NOT screwed up you are

Justified - reminds me of Texas crazy and Timothy Olyphant is easy on the eyes

Parenthood - LOVE this one but it makes me cry pretty much every episode

Grimm and Once Upon a Time - not 100% on either of these, and I assume one or both will be cancelled, but I like the idea

NCIS/CSI/Law & Order - All episodes of all of these guys and their spin offs - LOVE the crime dramas

Castle - speaking of crime dramas - MAJOR crush on Nathan Fillion

Robot Chicken - YEA! back on the air with NEW episodes, full of GREAT things to quote and VERY inappropriate (for some adults as well as kiddos!)

Glee/American Idol/The Voice/Smash - LOVE the music shows (mainly the singing parts, not so much the drama) and can't wait for the next one

White Collar - Crushing on Matt Bomer (Neil, of course) and enjoy the mindlessness of it

Raising Hope - LOVE this show - cheeky and irreverent

The Firm/The Mentalist/Fringe - Fun to watch but missing an episode isn't a big deal

What's on the kids' TiVo: (Most of these are clearly for Lucy - she wants to see all kinds of different things on a whim, and so we just keep them all around instead of tapes or DVD's)

LazyTown - Who doesn't love Sportacus (well, Lucy probably doesn't, but I could watch that man flip around all day)

Dora the Explorer - SWIPER NO SWIPING!

Octonauts - It's new and kinda cute

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - Gotta love the Mouse!

My Little Pony - It's the third incarnation of this horse fest and even more drippy than before

Yo Gabba Gabba - A favorite of hers and tolerable, sometimes even enjoyable for me

Bubble Guppies - Bubba bubba bubba guppa guppa guppa (Lucy's version of the theme song)

Max and Ruby - Ruby and Max (he he he)

Chuggington - It's not Thomas, by any stretch of the imagination

Blue's Clues - We love Steve more but Lucy seems to like them both

Frenemies - That's the boys - not a clue what it is

American Idol - This one's for Max

Pokemon - Most likely NOT for Lucy...let's see...Ian and Sam?

Various version of Zack and Cody/Shake It Up/Lemonade Mouth/whatever tween shows that Max grabs

What Tom watches: Soccer, oh, and soccer. Occasionally he catches a soccer game or two as well. I do catch him channel surfing, looking for soccer. And during football season? The kids shows get bumped as their TiVo mysteriously gets filled with my football games. Love that little TiVo guy!

SQUEE!!!

Can't believe that they are BACK! Aside from the fact that it's in Texas, on a ranch, with guys in tight jeans and boots, it's DALLAS! JR, Bobby, and Sue Ellen are back, all old and wrinkly, but back! Can't wait to see it next summer! Toss in Jesse Metcalfe, and I'm a fan already! And finally, an actual preview:

Thanks TNT!!! You have thrown me back 20 years and transported me right back to Texas!

Let's Play Blue's Clues!

Eight year ago Max's favorite person left. It wasn't me, it wasn't the cat or a stuffed animal, and it wasn't a Pokemon. Max was two, and his favorite person was Steve, from Blue's Clues. Max visited with Steve pretty much every day - singing and dancing, learning shapes, letters, sounds, and even some songs. Then Steve left for college on a hopscotch scholarship. Funny thing - Max didn't even notice. We all sat down as a family to watch the episode where Steve essentially handed the show over to his brother Joe, and while Joe was cute and funny, Max never watched again. He asked to see Blue's Clues or a few months after Steve left, and he occasionally watched the videos, but he never connected with Joe.

The other day, as Lucy sat down to watch an old episode of Blue's Clues, an low and behold it was THE episode. She plugged right in and said "TWO Steve's!" I told her "No, that's Joe and that's Steve." So I guess kid #4 is also taken with Steve as well. She went about her business and watched the same episode of Blue's Clues that her oldest brother watched, at almost the same age, eight years earlier. Pretty darn cool.

Can you enhance it?

"Tighten up on that."

"Freeze that."

"Run that back."

"Zoom in."

And my absolute favorite:

"Got an image enhancer that can bitmap?"

Want a giggle? You gotta see this for yourself:

LOVED IT!!!

Don't know why they didn't have a show like this before, but Glee is really hitting on all cylinders. Loved the Empire State of Mind in the first episode of this current season, and now this:

which I'll say might be even better than the original, and I simply adore Katy Perry. And yes, Darren Criss is dreamy too.

Chilean Miner Rescue

I am sitting here watching the miners in Chile come up from thousands of feet underground one by one - they are being rescued and are being returned back to their loved ones. It is striking me in an odd way - tension for those remaining, grief that they lost these past two and a half months and have had to endure such an event, and relief that at least three of them have been rescued. I can't even begin to imagine what they have gone through, what their families have gone through, or how this profound event will change their lives. I understand only a tiny bit of what the rescuers are discussing in Spanish - what they are sending back down as they prepare the capsule for the next descent into the cave that these miners have called home for 68 days. But what I do understand is how far we've come from writing these men off year ago - trapped so far underground. Technology has allowed us to not only rescue them, but discover that they were alive in the first place, then communicate with them from the get go. This has allowed professionals to help them at each and every step of the way, assessing and building plans for their safe return to the surface. This has allowed their family members to communicate with them as they are trapped down there, giving them hope. And this has allowed all of us to watch and wait and participate in a way that we never could before.

Yet there are 30 men still down there, and it will take hours, even days until we see them all emerge. I guess the feeling is a little overwhelming - technology has brought us right up to the rescue site and we will all sit and wait now to see the safe return of all of these men - these total strangers who have become a part of our lives. Safe journeys to all of you.

I'm on a horse

This has to be one of the best commercials ever. This is by no means an endorsement of Old Spice, but you HAVE to check this out:



This man has everything a woman wants - including two tickets to the thing I love...

VEEEEEEEEE!

It's humankind's last stand.

I am having flashbacks to when I was younger - much younger - and was finally allowed to watch this show on TV: I really hope that the new one has the same effect on me: