Clark, if there's one lesson I've learned from you ...

See how quickly my plans dissolve? I'll try harder. Settling for some thoughts on what I'm watching lately.

I'm glad I tried out Last Man Standing, a new comedy on ABC Tuesdays with Tim Allen. I've only seen the pilot so far, but the parallels to his old show from the 90's Home Improvement were very apparent in the pilot.  3 girls instead of 3 boys, working at a man-friendly environment, having talks with the wife when his meddling isn't going right, and having tangents at work where he starts talking about life's problems.  I loved Home Improvement and if this show stays that way I will love this one. 

I'm all caught up on Merlin, and while I love the show and think it's been getting better with every new series/season and is at its very best, the one thing that annoys me about the show is how they seem to speed through story points.  Something they've done since the beginning, turning Morgana evil way too quickly (thought she never really developed a connection with Merlin or any of the cast really outside of what existed before the show), pushing Arthur/Gwen together before they could really explore any other avenues (pretty much killed the Lancelot possibilities) and now the situation with Uther.  Throw in the fact that while the show is "modeled" after Smallville, I got more satisfaction out of Clark saving the day before he was Superman than Merlin saving the day before he is revealed/outed.  I'm tired of Merlin barely doing anything while Morgana seems to be light years more powerful despite being newer to magic than he.  Also I really want some Merlin/Morgana interaction, one of the reasons I wish she hadn't been turned bad so quickly and why I hated during S2 when he and Gaius basically ignored her pain and need for help and let her turn to dark influences.

I love Psych and would like to marry it.  This is by far my favorite show to watch and it has only gotten better in S6. This show never isn't funny. The last one with Shawn, Gus, Lassiter and the Coroner having to figure out what they did the night before was hilarious.

I've only seen the latest season/series of Doctor Who (seen the first 3 with the ninth doctor) but I am such a big fan of Amy and the Doctor. My favorite episode is still "The Doctor's Wife" written by Neil Gaiman and while I tired of River Song over the length of the season all the complexities her character created in the show was a lot of fun to unweave, especially in "A Good Man Goes to War".  I would have been fine for the season to end there but the rest of the episodes had some moments. I especially liked the raving blue head in the finale. Perfect ending for a so-so episode.

Two of my favorite new shows have been Charlie's Angels & The Playboy Club, so of course both have since been cancelled.  I was disappointed more in TPC's cancellation than CA but both were enjoyable shows. I think the networks forgot that while Mad Men is critically acclaimed it is not exactly a ratings beast, and expecting new period dramas to do well immediately is shortsighted and they should have let them build an audience (ABC's Pan Am also seems to be in trouble - it is a good show but I've enjoyed CA & TPC more).  CA on the other hand I was more cautious after seeing the pilot, but the characters have grown on me and I really like how Bosley has a more active role in the missions and last week's episode with Erica Durance as Samantha Masters was a lot of fun despite not as much of a focus on the Angels.

 I don't think it's been properly portrayed here outside of my lack of updating lately but I've been dealing with more technology problems than I've needed in the last two weeks that were topped by a period of 4 days (Friday - Mon afternoon) where there was only a period of 4 hours (Sunday afternoon) that I was able to access my DSL internet connection.  Finally I had a breakthrough yesterday, and while the connection is fragile/shaky ... it is a connection and I think that deserves SNOOPY DANCE!

We're quickly stepping into the fall season of TV so I thought I'd leave some quick thoughts on my summer TV shows that have already or are coming to an end sometime this month.

( White Collar, Covert Affairs, Rizzoli and Isles, Sherlock, The Glades, Psych, Warehouse 13 )