Fall's Alive with Casualties

So far the season has been so-so for my viewing pleasure. With some really complicated and nasty timeslot fights at hand how was one to juggle the onslaught of visual euphoria? Thursday nights were just going to be miserable but luckily Fox's "The OC" began earlier than the rest of the fall shows, giving me a chance to get engrossed before "Survivor" or "Alias" kicked in. These were the dilemma's facing many tubers. Here's how the season is working out so far:

Sunday:
9pm Desperate Housewives
10pm Grey's Anatomy
10pm *Curb Your Enthusiasm
10:30pm *Extras
- "Housewives", while soapy and delish last season just really isn't holding my attention so far this fall. The premiere was okay at best. I'm glad they are moving on with a new mystery though I wish that also meant moving on and away from old characters. Susan and Gabrielle need to go. "Grey's" on the other hand has just been getting better and better. The characters continue to be flawed and multi-layered. Just look at Alex! He's almost human now! This is soapy and fun but there are still "Felicity" like moments each week which keep me wanting more from these depressive docs. *"Curb" and "Extras" can be caugh ON DEMAND so I don't really worry about catching them each week, I'll watch at my leisure.

Monday:
8pm Arrested Development
*8:30pm How I Met Your Mother
9pm Prison Break
- "Arrested" continues to juts make me laugh my ass off week after week. Though the plotlines are as thin and drawn out as a piece of linguini the insider jokes are just genius. *"How I Met" is pretty good, it has the most potential from a standard sitcom format that I've seen in years. Neil Patrick Harris is great, "Have you met Ted" and it actually is interesting to watch how this will all play out. I can only assume Ted ends up with Alyson Hannigan's character in the end but until that time comes, I will gladly go for the ride. A wonderful cast and funny writing that makes me want to watch even though I've yet to make it a recurring FauxVo recording. "Prison Break" though it faltered in its second or third week has come back with a vengence! It's incredible to watch the twists and turns as Michael Scofield tries to deal with being imprisoned and trying to mastermind an almost doomed escape plan.

Tuesday:
9pm Amazing Race - Family Edition
- I will whole heartedly admit that I did not want to watch this edition of TAR. Kids, ugh! But in truth there are only 2 families competing with actual small children, the others are at least 16 and can fend for themselves. I've really grown to like and immensly dislike some of the families and it really is just the same old race, just more faces and names to remember. A surprise!

Wednesday:
8pm Still Standing
*8/9 Martha Stewart's Apprentice
9pm Lost
9pm Veronica Mars
- I still love "Still Standing"! I know its classified as a low ranking sitcom, but Bill and Judy Miller are comedic genius parents and they make me laugh out loud each week. I need that! "Martha" is a welcomed change to the "Apprentice" format. Its the same show but somehow she is much more appealing to watch. She actually speaks to the contestants, calls them on her own (from the barn too), and talks about having been in prison. Let's see the Donald do that! 9pm is the tricky time of night because both "Lost" and my recent fave "Veronica Mars" are on against each other. And now, it looks like NBC is moving "Martha" to the same time slot so Wednesday is the new Thursday folks. UPN airs "Veronica Mars" on Saturday night so I think it will be a FauxVo record on Saturdays from now on!

Thursday:
8pm Survivor
9pm Everwood
- "Survivor" is always good... always! Add in Steph from last season and a howler monkey at its the best television viewing at 8pm period! I really did some thinking and dropped 2 of my most liked shows, "Alias" and "The OC." I know, it's the fifth and last season of "Alias" how do you just give it up? Easy, just don't record it. Eventually it will be on DVD and until that time, I can wait. "The OC" was just easy to lose. I love it, but nothing pressing ever happens on that show. It's not as engrossing as a "Lost" or as funny as "Arrested Development" so I'm dedicating more time to regular life. At 9, "Everwood" is back with a vengence and I couldn't be happier, I love this show and the inhabitants of Everwood, CO! This really is one of the best written and acted shows on television.

Friday:
8pm Degrassi