The Only Fall TV Preview You'll Need to Read - Thursday

Shows I'm Already Watching: I got hooked on The Office earlier this year through the magic of borrowing the first season DVD from a co-worker, then Netflixing season two. I watched the summer reruns of season three to catch up with the rest of you and now I'm ready for the season premiere this week! So, this is what it's like to be one of the cool kids.

Anyways, I was a little disenchanted with the third season. While the cast and chemistry remain off-the-charts, the writing got a little lazy. The "love triangle" storyline that's been the anchor (double meaning!) of the show for its entire run was moved sideways by swapping out the useless "Roy" character with the similarly superfluous "Karen".

We've also established – quite solidly – that Steve Carrell's "Michael Scott" is an unintentionally insensitive idiot and his socially inappropriate behavior isn't as funny as it was the first 500 times. The rest of the show seems content to keep its characters stuck in neutral, with everyone taking a back seat to Scott and the never-ending adventures of "Pim". Or, is it "Jam"? See what I did there? I took the first names of "Pam" and "Jim" and, as the kids say, I made a "mash up". I mashed up them. Past tense.

Sorry…no, Ugly Betty, Survivor or CSI. But, I'd be remiss if I didn't shout out Grey's Anatomy as it's Mrs. Bootleg's favorite show. The best part is that on the Friday after it airs, without fail, I'll find her on the phone dissecting each episode with her girlfriends as if it were a military debriefing.

One of the greatest moments of our marriage came when I feigned all knowledge of the Isaiah Washington controversy-cum-canning. She meticulously explained every detail, with quotes, counter-quotes, etc. At the end of her presentation, I asked, "Wait, what show is he on?" The doctors said she suffered a mild stroke.


The One New Show That Will be TiVo-ed (for at least one week): Thursday's only new show is something called Big Shots. In the Entertainment Weekly write-up, it's described as a show where "women can see what guys really talk about". I'm inclined to ignore it based on that premise, alone, but now I'm curious. What does an hour-long ABC drama think men talk about? And, hey…an all-white cast! Way to incentivize me ABC.

I did watch a couple of episodes of 30 Rock last year and liked it. EW says the show ranked 137th for the 2006-07 season, which is like…yikes. Still, if I start watching, it'll be akin to a tacit approval of Tracy Morgan. He annoys me.


The One New Show I Ain't EVER Watching: Curiosity's cat-killing ways might get the best of me for a week as I give Big Shots a, uh…shot. So, instead of picking a new show I won't watch, how 'bout an old one? Law & Order: Criminal Intent moves to the USA Network this fall. Thanks to syndication, I've watched practically every episode of the L&O and L&O: SVU franchises. Criminal Intent is cast with unlikable characters, glacial pacing and a palpable Napoleon Complex. Enjoy playing third banana to Monk and the WWE, guys.