TV that's not on the radio

As regular readers of this blog know, there are only two current primetime television shows I watch every week (when possible): The Office and Scrubs.

I've tried to get into other shows in my three years of university (and two of blogging), some of which I've mentioned here. Dan turned me on to Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, and I watched that faithfully until its cancellation. The following year, I tried to watch Back To You, but I disliked it for the same reasons everybody else disliked it (Kelsey Grammer playing Frasier with a supporting cast much less able to gel with Frasier). And I liked Corner Gas while it aired, but frequent Monday night classes eliminated my ability to follow that show.

But this year is going to be different, and not just because I have a Five Star binder. My new roommates are huge movie/TV buffs, and it's rubbing off on me - I'm going to try to get into a few new shows.

Ground rule: these must be brand new programs. Yes, I'd probably like How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory and even Being Erica, but I steadfastly refuse to start watching a show in midstream. I'll catch up on the previous seasons and *then* start watching regularly, but that doesn't count for the purposes of this blog post.

So what shows am I going to try and watch this year? Here's the list:

Flash Forward: A science-fiction drama that I'm interested in for two reasons. One, its timeslot is right before The Office, so that's one less block I'll have to remember. Two, it's based on a novel by Robert J. Sawyer, and while I might have my complaints about Hominids (and, especially, its sequels), he does have good ideas, and presumably the television writers would have punched up the scripts. So it could be good.

Cougar Town: A Wednesday night comedy. Courtney Cox stars as a 40-something cougar living with her 17-year-old son. That part doesn't sound great, but I have faith in series creator Bill Lawrence (formerly of Scrubs), plus both Christa Miller and Ian Gomez have regular roles, so that's good.

Modern Family: Airing right before Cougar Town on ABC, it's a sitcom about a family being followed by a Dutch documentary crew. Apparently very well-received by focus groups, so it might have some staying power.

The Middle: ...okay, maybe I'm just going to try every new ABC sitcom. This one has its own Scrubs alumnus in Neil Flynn, which is pretty much the only reason I'm watching.

Hank: ABC's fourth and final new Wednesday night comedy stars Kelsey Grammer. Why not.

Hmm.

That's actually a pretty good grouping. Two hours of comedies on Wednesday, a drama and a comedy on Thursday. I might even be able to remember all this.

I'll check back in a few weeks and let you know what I'm still watching.

--Ryan