The Steve Greenwell TV Guide

[Left] The album title expresses my sentiments about television. And, by the way, did you know she's married to Nick Cannon? Seriously! Strange. She and him kind of fly under the radar, whereas everyone freaks out about Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher.

On the recommendation of frequent contributor Amanda Meyer, and from friends like Nicole and Kate, I finally started watching Lost. While I had always thought I'd like the show, I held off on watching it in the past because I was worried about adding yet another show to the weekly list I have to watch. Sure enough, I've burnt through 16 episodes in 24 hours, and unless something really distracts me in the next few weeks, I should be able to catch up on the past seasons by the new season's start in January 2010.

For my own benefit, and to generate some discussion on this here blog, here are the other shows I try to stay abreast of. Most of them will probably not shock you. They are ordered by their premiere dates; some have started already, while some start in a few weeks. The list:

- Dinner: Impossible, sixth season premiered in August on Food Network. I dislike Food Network shows a lot of the time because it can be such a pain to watch them, but this is one of the few that I'll go out of my way to watch. (For example, Brian Boitano's show has new episodes on Saturday and Sunday mornings, because I really want to wake up at 9 a.m. to watch a cooking show.) New episodes are normally Wednesday nights, with repeats on Sundays.

- Psych, fifth season premiered Friday, August 7 on USA. I'm really behind on the adventures of James Roday, unfortunately, but I do try to watch it whenever I'm home on a Friday night. That hasn't been a lot lately, which is sad, because it normally means I'm working somewhere. (I don't go out on Fridays; I'm no longer that cool.)

- Top Chef, sixth season premiered Wednesday, August 19 on Bravo. I missed a couple of the middle episodes, but I've caught the last two. So far, I think this has been a decent season, at least compared to the most recent ones.

- Community, first season premiered Thursday, September 17 on NBC. I'm hoping that this show, which features Joel McHale and Chevy Chase and John Oliver and Ken Jeong as recurring cast members, gets a chance to thrive on Thursday nights. I think it is a natural show to slow before or after The Office. It has only had one episode, which was a bit bumpy, but still showed plenty of promise. McHale (from E!'s The Soup) plays a sleazy kinda-lawyer who has to go back to community college to earn a degree to resume practicing law.

- Parks and Recreation, second season premiered Thursday, September 17 on NBC. Of all the shows on this list, this one has the greatest chance of falling off. While I love Amy Poheler, Parks and Recreation really does feel like a low-energy, dumber version of The Office. It might be saved because it is on the same note as two other shows on this list, so I'll be catching a lot of it by accident anyway.

- The Office, sixth season premiered Thursday, September 17 on NBC. This was a "Michael being silly" episode, but I still thought it was a decent start. I'm also the only person who seemingly likes that Pam and Jim are sweet and don't have problems. Why does every TV couple have to be miserable for people to like them?

- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, fifth season premiered Thursday, September 17 on FX. Unlike Lost, I didn't catch up on previous seasons before the show restarted this year. As a result, I'll probably try to play catch-up with the show when I get a chance. Judging from the rest of my list, it might have to wait until next year for me to get completely on its schedule.

- Saturday Night Live, 35th season premieres Saturday, September 26 on NBC. Hey, the quality really does ebb and flow, but I still catch almost every episode of a season live. There are still five to 10 great, "must see the next day" sketches per season.

- Family Guy, eighth seasons premieres Sunday, September 27 on FOX. While it seems like a lot of my friends have moved on from this show, I still get a kick out of it every week. Yeah, as South Park points out, a lot of the humor relies primarily on asides and non-plot gags. Who cares? It is still funny, even if it doesn't have the critical value. Their spoof of The Empire Strikes Back is also scheduled for this season.

- The Cleveland Show, first season premieres Sunday, September 27 on FOX. I don't think this looks great, but I'll at least give it a chance because it is made by the Family Guy, uh, guys. I really think that Quagmire would have been a much better choice for his own show.

- South Park, 13th season resumes Wednesday, October 7 on Comedy Central. Yes, I'm surprised as anybody that this show has made it to a 13th season. I really have no idea what they'll talk about when the season resumes, but that's part of the appeal.

- The Venture Bros., fourth season premieres Sunday, October 18 on Cartoon Network. This is my favorite animated series, even more than Family Guy and Futurama, because it is so bloody clever at times. For those who have never seen it, The Ventures Bros. basically spoofs old spy shows and cartoons, especially Johnny Quest. Underneath this layer of spoof, there hums some good characters and mysteries, though, which is neat. I'm especially excited because it hasn't had any new content for more than a year, and even that "season" was only 11 episodes. Apparently, only two guys write the scripts and the animation is done old-school style, so the production time is really long.

- Lost, sixth (and final) season premieres January 2010, on ABC. See the start of this entry for more information, but I'm confident I can catch up on the other five seasons by the time it restarts.

I'm sure I've forgotten a couple shows, so feel free to ask me about them in the comments section.