It's TV Time!

September is here...and that means it is time for all my favorite TV shows to return to the airwaves! I will go ahead and confess that I watch what might be considered way too much TV, but as I made pretty clear in yesterday's post - I'm very single. Once I come home at the end of the day, after I've gone to the gym and made supper, my evenings yawn open before me like a chasm; a chasm filled with nothing to do and no one to do it with. Thus, my TV and I have become very good friends.

I love stories in all forms. I read books in a way that would give others the impression that books were going away if I didn't finish them fast enough ; I need books like they are oxygen. TV is just another form of story-telling and so I happily delve into numerous worlds, plots and twists each week. I tend to gravitate toward three basic veins of stories: crime dramas, (Bones, Castle, Elementary) vampire shows, (The Vampire Diaries, Dracula, True Blood) and stories lifted from the pages of books, fairy tales and comics (Elementary, Once Upon A Time, Agents of Shield, Game of Thrones, The Vampire Diaries). I've got several shows that are oldies but goodies; regulars that have been on the line-up for years now and I've also managed to stumble onto three new shows that I'm going to check out when they premiere.

I love TV - what can I say?

Bones

Bones starts off the line-up...and it will start things off Monday night when the 9th (and final) season premieres. I stumbled onto this show when it was in it's second season, pausing my TV because I recognized David Boreanaz from the shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (which I watched...and still watch on DVD). I jumped into the series on what is considered one of the nastiest episodes to date - The Truth in the Lye - showcasing a man who'd been turned to human sludge in a bathtub full of chemicals. I watched one episode and was hooked. I've ridden the wave of will they/won't they with Booth and Brennan and somehow managed to cling to the hope that they'll justify their relationship here at the end - SPOILER ALERT - the wedding is in October. After 8 years and 166 episodes, I'll be sad to see it end but I can't wait to see how it ends!

How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother is the only show that doesn't fit my "bill". There are no vampires, it comes from no story books and there is (usually) no crime involved. It's just an awesome, thirty minute jaunt into Ted's memories as he recounts to his children how he met their mother. This show is also entering it's ninth and final season and just like Bones, I caught on to this show late in the game, but not late enough to play catch-up. This show provides me with my weekly dose of humor and I love (and identify) with Ted's unending quest for love and the struggles he faces while his friends find love around him. Ted's quest is going to end this season; we finally saw the mother after 8 years and this last season, Ted will finally have met his match. Boy, it sure would be nice if my life could parallel Ted's life, ha-ha!

Castle

Yet another crime drama/will they or won't they kind of show. Castle is heading into it's sixth season; which is mind blowing because I feel like I just started watching this one the other day! I still can't believe that the premise of a mystery writer tagging along with a detective has been able to spawn six seasons of pretty excellent television, but it has. This show is similar but not completely like Bones; granted this show acted on the will they/won't they vibes much sooner than Bones. I can't wait to see if Beckett accepts Castle's proposal (I'm thinking yes), it Esposito and Lainey ever get back together, if Alexis will get up to more college hijinks's and how the new(ish) police captain will continue to bond with the gang!

The Vampire Diaries

Yet another show I caught onto after the fact; I only missed the first season of this show and after prompting from a friend, I played catch-up during the summer and was all set by the time season two rolled around! I do love a good vampire show and this one is loosely based on books by the same name; which I read after I started watching the show. The books get a little more out there than the show does, so I'm glad the show keeps things a little less nuts - as "less nuts" as you can be when watching a show about all things supernatural. The show is driven by the love triangle between Elena and the Salvatore brothers; Damon and Stefan. I'm a big fan of both, but I do lean a little more to the side of Damon and finally, finally after 4 years of waiting...Elena has chosen Damon. So - I'm ready to see where this goes! Granted, I don't think Damon and Elena are end-game...but I can at least enjoy it while it lasts, right?

Elementary

Finally - a show I can say I jumped into the minute it premiered! I loved both of the recent Sherlock Holmes movies that have been made and when I saw that they were re-tooling the idea of Holmes and Watson for TV, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and see how it turned out. The premise: Holmes was/is a brilliant sleuth for Scotland Yard but after a failed romance, his overly analytical mind cannot handle the stresses and he turns to drugs - he moves to New York for rehab and (former) Dr. Jane Watson (that's right, Watson is a GIRL) is assigned as his post rehab counselor/live-in buddy. Crime solving brilliance and hilarity ensues as Holmes is taken on by the NYPD on a case by case basis. I've been told the show on the BBC is much better and with Benedict Cumberbatch helming that production, I've no doubt it's excellent. I don't have that channel though. Having said that, I can't wait to see what Holmes and Watson get into in season two; especially since that failed romance from Holmes past who masqueraded as one women, was actually Moriarty! Yep - Moriarty is also a woman. Bring on the fun!

Once Upon A Time

Okay - this is the last one for the oldie but goodie line-up! I watched the previews for this show with great anticipation and I haven't been disappointed in the two seasons they've spun out so far. This show is from the creators of Lost and they fill each episode with details and surprises that pay off in later episodes all the time! I have loved the premise from the beginning - what if fairy tale characters were transported to our world as the product of a curse and didn't know their true identities? Of course, that was the premise at the beginning and so much has changed now. The show is completely magical though and I know without a doubt that is why I love it. Because who doesn't; after a long and difficult day of work, like to imagine that just maybe they aren't really a "regular" person but Belle, transported to another place and time, just waiting for the right person to show up and break the spell? Plus - Ariel is coming around this season - and I love the Little Mermaid!

This is where the shows I've been a fan of for years now end and we wade into the murky waters of new shows; shows that are premiering for the first time and are on the chopping block from day 1. Getting invested in new shows is dangerous business; just because I get interested in  a show doesn't mean everyone will and when something doesn't do well in the ratings - well, it's lights out. I'm going to check out these next three shows and see if they're any good - hopefully I won't form any lasting relationships with shows doomed to end before their time!

Sleepy Hollow

Another show that finds it's roots in literature and is being resurrected (no pun intended) as a TV show. The basic synopsis from TV Line's early review: THE SET-UP | In what Fox is dubbing a “modern-day twist on Washington Irving’s classic,”  Ichabod Crane is here envisioned as one of General George Washington’s top soldiers in the Revolutionary War. During a fateful battle, Crane beheads a mysterious, masked man whose hand is branded with a bow-shaped mark. Having suffered critical injuries himself, Crane then… wakes up 250 years into the future, where he helps Sleepy Hollow police detective Abbie Mills investigate a trail of new treachery by the Headless Horseman, who apparently made the “time jump” with him. The reviewer said he was hooked; line and sinker. It's up against heavy competition but this show is right up my alley, so we'll see!

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Okay - this next show, I am beyond psyched to see it.This is a spin-off straight from the big screen and will both pick up where the movie The Avengers left off and tie into the other movies that are being made in the Marvel universe. This show is helmed by the amazing Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dr. Horribles Sing Along Blog and...The Avengers) and I have no doubt this show will be both amazing and have staying power. A synopsis from movieweb: Joss Whedon, the creative genius behind the feature film Marvel's The Avengers,  one of the highest grossing films of all time, and of the iconic television series; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has co-created Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.;  a dynamic, action-packed one-hour drama that brings back Agent Phil Coulson to lead a team of highly skilled agents to investigate extra-normal and super human people and events worldwide. So - Agent Coulson is back and so is Maria Hill; at least for the first episode. I'm ready - who's in?

Dracula

And...last but not least, Dracula. Yet again, we have classic literature reborn with a new spin. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is playing the classic Count and I know almost next to nothing about this one, except that it premieres on October 25th - they're trying to get it as close to Halloween as they can. Here's a synopsis from IMDB: The series introduces Dracula as he arrives in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who maintains that he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he hopes to wreak revenge on the people who ruined his life centuries earlier. There's only one circumstance that can potentially thwart his plan: Dracula falls hopelessly in love with a woman who seems to be a reincarnation of his dead wife. I'm thinking this one will be pretty fascinating too; I loved JRM as Henry the 8th in the Tudors, so I have no doubt he'll be an excellent Dracula!

See those little blue sticky notes? I'm trying to keep track of when things premiere. My DVR is about to get a work out!

My other shows...it'll be 2014 before my frenzy for these two returns. I think I've got plenty to keep my company till then.

Well - there you have it. My favorite shows! Only four days now until the fun begins and I can delve into new chapters of old favorites and dive into a couple new tales. I just can't wait to see what unfolds!