The Fall Television Schedule

With baseball season nearly over (for Royals’ fans), I always look forward to the fall. My bowling league starts anew, I read more books and life just seems to slow down.

During my downtime, I enjoy the fall television season. As is normally the case, some of the shows I like got the axe, a few of my shows are headed into their final season, and I’m going to give one new show a shot.

Got the Axe:

• Gary Unmarried: The final episode of second season, which turned out to be the series finale, couldn’t have been a worse place to end the series. Gary learned he was still married to Allison and the show ended with us not finding out whether he chose to stay with her or stay with Sasha, whom he had been dating. Yeah, it was a classic case of the hokey mix up that is common in sitcoms, but I still hate not knowing.
  
• FlashForward: Started with a great concept, and initially it made for some interesting character dilemmas, but producers began to focus so heavily on the convoluted plot, that it began to lose my interest. By the series finale this past May, I found myself not caring if the show returned or not. When I learned there would be another flash forward in the series finale, I knew I probably wouldn’t watch the show, even if it returned.
  

The Final Countdown:

• Friday Night Lights: The new and final season starts on October 27 on DirecTV. This is one of my favorite shows and I hate to see it go. I love the Friday night small town football atmosphere. I love the character arcs. I love the plot lines. I love the acting. How can this show possibly be heading into its final season?
• One Tree Hill: I watched the first two seasons on DVD and was really bummed when I caught up the episodes during Season Three. Much like FNL, I love the small town sports atmosphere. And I feel like I know these characters. Even with Lucas and Peyton no longer on the show, I’m still interested finding out what happens to Brooke, Mouth, Skills, Nathan and Haley and even some of the newer characters. I have a feeling this will be the final season. At this point, I’m just hoping the series ends well.
• My Boys: What’s not to like about P.J., Andy, Bobby, Brendan, Mike, Kenny and Stephanie? I love how close these characters are. I love the way they deal with modern technology (the Facebook episode was classic). And I love their traditions (poker night, their annual game decathlon). Sunday night may have been the series finale (no announcements have been made one way or the other) and if it was, I wasn’t ready for it to go.

Settling In:

• Parenthood: It’s back for the second season and I’ll watch it. I almost gave up while watching the pilot last season, but by the second episode the Braverman family dynamic reeled me in. I wouldn’t be too upset if it gets canceled after this season, but having said that, only shows I love get canceled, so this one should be okay for years to come.
• Men of a Certain Age: The second second starts in December. I’ve already written about this show. I’m just hoping we are allowed to follow the lives of Joe, Owen and Terry for seasons to come.

Newbie:

• Running Wilde: I don’t have high hopes for this one, but Felicity was one of my favorite shows and Keri Russell is in Running Wilde, so I’ll give it a shot. The way the trailers are portraying Steve – the son of an oil tycoon who doesn’t appear to have any concern for anyone but himself – seems too cliche, but if Emmy changes and grows as Steve does, then I’m in.