Recently in TV Category

Spoiler warning: If you haven't seen Glee, there will be spoilers up to Episode 9. Also, if you haven't seen Glee, what are you doing reading this? Go watch Glee now and report back here afterward!

I'm ashamed to say that this post has been knocking around in my head for about a month, and it's taken me this long to finally write it out. Either way, from the very first episode, I wanted to label Glee a fantasy show, but that never struck me as quite right. It wasn't until I watched the fourth episode, "Preggers," that I realized Glee was not fantasy, but science fiction. Social science fiction, to be exact...

According to ABC, Flashforward is supposed to be the second coming of Lost. While J.J. Abrams has no hand in it, it will never escape the specter of Lost's success and the pressure of the hype machine. It's three episodes in, I'm feeling this show is much less Lost, and much more Heroes...

I have made Dollhouse my personal crusade. I haven't even seen a single episode of this show, and yet I am going to make every person I know watch this show because I feel guilty. Oh so very guilty.

Why? One word: Firefly.

Geek TV guru Joss Whedon's last ill-fated TV show was canceled after just 11 episodes were aired (of 14 produced), and caused an uprising of protest. On the back of strong DVD sales, Joss was able to get the money to create a bittersweet movie coda in the form of Serenity that proved just how amazing Firefly could have, should have and would have been.

I blame myself for it being canceled. I was one of those people who completely ignored the show, only to be later forced to sit through every DVD and came out of it 14 episodes later, angst- and guilt-ridden for not having gotten into the show earlier and thus, causing its untimely desmise.

And because of that I'm determined to see Dollhouse succeed, unless it really does suck, which isn't likely...

Thursday is actually packed with the "juggernaut" TV shows (Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock, Survivor, CSI, ER) none of which are specifically nerdtastic, though I will give The Office and 30 Rock some credit thanks to Dwight and Tina Fey's occasional fabulous high school flashbacks and Betty of Ugly Betty, is, well, she's special.

However, on the CW's prime time schedule, there are a couple shows (with those fantastically beautiful people playing characters roughly ten years younger than their actual age) worth mentioning on this blog.

Tuesday and Wednesday aren't particularly packed days for TV, but there is one particularly fascinating new contender on Tuesday from J.J. Abrams...

I watch a lot of TV. I mean, a lot, but because of everyone's favorite writers strike last spring, I was deprived of anywhere from 10-15 new episodes of many shows. Now that TV is coming back, I'm gearing up and mapping out my TV-watching week.

Even more significantly, thanks to the huge uptick in the public consciousness of all things nerdy or geeky, there are a ton of new and old TV shows that are bringing nerd pop culture to the forefront and taking over prime time. Some good, some bad.

This week we'll be looking at the fall lineup of nerd-inspired shows for each day.

First up, Sunday and Monday...