Jiminy Cricket that was a flippin' FULL week of television. So much so that it took me a week and a half to write about it all. Hopefully I can blog about something else now that premiere week is over. Again, there was a lack on new shows for me to dissect for Sunday, but luckily Fox’s Animation Domination is back in full effect. Unlike Adult Swim’s weekend line-up, I don’t have to be completely stoned out of my mind to find it funny.
RETURNING FAVORITES
The Amazing Race – Like Survivor, I can never get enough of this reality competition show. Unlike Survivor, though, Amazing Race is really more about the dynamics between the pairs racing together rather than their conflict with other teams (although the editors always manage to “find” a rivalry or two). But like most reality shows, it takes me a while to really get into them and start rooting for or against certain pairs. There’s always a douche or two in the mix that treats his girlfriend or wife like crap, and this year is no exception. Still, the moment of the episode has to be the clip of the girl being hit in the face by a watermelon via slingshot-gone-wrong. While they may have played the clip a kajillion times in the promos, I still replayed that HIGH-larious moment a few times on my DVR. Schadenfreude at its best!
The Simpsons – For a show that’s been on for 22 years, I still find moments of joy although people have been saying that it’s well past its Golden Age. At this point, I view the Simpsons more like a pop culture establishment. Like SNL, there are definitely certain seasons that are better than others, but I’m a sucker for routine, and shows like the Simpsons provide said comfort. This year, a couple of Glee Club members lent their voices as well as those two zany New Zealanders from Flight of the Concords. Their nonsensical song made me miss their now-cancelled HBO show.
The Cleveland Show – I’ll say it from the beginning: I’m a sucker for Seth MacFarlane. Besides his incognito vocal prowess and undercover handsomeness, he knows how to build an animated program that speaks to the adolescent boy in me. Sure, I may be a white-wine-drinkin’ Bay Area homosexual now, but the 13-year old comic book geek that thinks farts are hilarious is very much alive and kicking in the depths of my soul. In their first episode of the season, Kanye West returned as Kenny West. In a fashion that was present throughout all of last week, many self-referential jokes were made. A year later and people still talk about T-Swift-gate. Unfortunately, as topical as some animated shows try to be, the lag time between writing the scripts and getting them on film is usually too long for them to retain its relevancy. Only South Park, with its no-frills animation based on paper shapes, can stay reasonably concurrent with the issues of the moment.
Family Guy – We got a one-hour-long murder mystery as our season premiere this year. I always appreciate a TV show that looks and feels differently than it usually does. From the opening sequence leading up the long panning shot of the ominous mansion of which said mystery would occur, Family Guy stuck with the theme for the whole episode. SPOILER ALERT: with all of the craziness that happened with Quohog’s news anchors, I’m very excited to see how things play out. I know it’s stupid to be this geeked out, but these developments remind me of when the Simpsons killed Moll Flanders.
Brothers & Sisters – Thank JEEBUS they skipped ahead a year. After the big ol’ car accident that ended last season, we meet the Walker clan again after some time had slipped. I don’t know if I could’ve done a whole year of Calista Flockhard stuttering through her depression of losing Rob Lowe’s character (although the whole he’s-in-a-coma thing is a very convenient way to bring him back for a guest spot during sweeps). To be honest, as much as I enjoy the family melodrama lead by the awesome Sally Fields, I’m starting to get a little bored with them.
THE NIGHT’S WINNER
TV Executives.

Congrats, bitches. You have stolen my valuable time and will continue to do so until everything is in reruns during the holidays.
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