Winter TV - Back in Armchair Again...

Sure fall has the glamor of new shows premiering, but there are plenty of good ones that start in the winter as well.  Here is what I am watching and when all these shows come back on the air. As always, I will apply my 3 episode rule: if you can't grab me in 3 episodes, I am breaking up with you.  You've got three chances people - now ready, set, watch!

Mondays
8pm
How I Met Your Mother - CBS - January 14 - Watched since the beginning.  Will watch 'til the end.  Love these characters and have cried many times watching them progress through life.
Continuum - SyFy - January 14 - New show about a time traveling cop.  Could go either way, but I loved Alphas and Eureka, so I will check it out. UPDATE: This isn't bad, isn't great.  I don't think I will be upset if I miss one of these episodes, yet I am not deleting them off my DVR yet. 

9pm
The Following - Fox - January 21 - I really hope they do this well because the premise is great. A serial killer is in jail, but thanks to the internet, has developed a following of people who will act out the kills he wants. With Kevin Bacon, Natalie Zea and the hottie Shawn Ashmore, I am rooting for this one to be good. UPDATE:  First episode is good and the show has great potential for sure.  Worth watching. 

10pm
Deception - NBC - January 7 - I've had a crush on Tate Donovan since I was 10 or 11 and I saw him in Space Camp.  I know, I am a dork.  So I will watch this show.  It's about some murder or something.  Did I mention my dorky crush on Tate Donovan? OK actually it is about  an FBI agent who thinks the latest celebrity overdose is actually a murder.  It also has classy bad guy Victor Garber.  And Tate Donovan. UPDATE: Victor Garber is gay.  This show is OK.  I am three episodes in and would classify it as light priority tv.  It might take the place of Revenge - TV Soap Operas at Night. 
Bates Motel - A&E- March 18 - What was fun guy Norman Bates like when he was a kid?  What's his mom like when she is alive?  You can find out in this show.  Do I care?  Not really.  But A&E produces some high quality shows and I feel like I need to watch this just to see if I can learn to care.

Tuesdays
9pm
Happy Endings - ABC - January 8 - this show makes me giggle and I completely relate to always optimistic and pretty crazy Penny. Damon Wayons Jr is HILARIOUS.  Yes, all caps hilarious.
Cult - The CW - February 19 - So this show is about a cult.  Surprising, huh?  Alona Tall is in it and while I am sure you have no idea who that is, I love her and literally cried when her character died in Supernatural. Therefore I will watch this show and hope it is good.

9:30pm
Don't Trust the B in Apt 23 - ABC - January 8 - If you watched Dawson's Creek, you simply must watch this show.  James VanDerbeek makes fun of himself and it is fabulous.  Plus it's got Jesse's heroin girlfriend from Breaking Bad in it.  But mostly, it is Dawson who steals the show. Watch it and tell your friends, because I heard it is most likely going to get cancelled and that is a damn shame. UPDATE: This show was cancelled and this is a travesty.  TRAVESTY I SAY!  I am so upset about this fact I feel like starting a letter writing campaign.  SAVE THE BITCH!  

10pm (The Thank God For The Dish Network Hopper DVR That Allows Me to Record 4 Shows at the Same Time Hour)
Justified - FX - January 8 - This show is just great, bad guys you root for, good guys you love, intelligent stories, funny dialogue and the always awesome Timothy Olyphant as Raylan.  Watch this. 
White Collar - USA - January 22 - Yummy Neal Cafferty (Matt Bomer in real life) as a con artist gone good gone bad, sorta.  This is a cute, not so serious show, which makes for a great hour of escapism.
Cougar Town - TBS - January 8 - I was late to the party on Cougar Town coming in on season two, which from what I hear is when it grew into its own.  Ignore the title and give the show a chance. It's like a grown up, slightly more ridiculous Friends.  And make sure you read the subtitle each week.  It's a highlight.

Wednesdays
9pm
Supernatural - The CW - January 16 - Another show that I have watched from the beginning and will watch til the end, no matter what.  Cass, my favorite character is back so I am happy.
Suborgatory - ABC - January 9 - This is a cute show that chronicles a teenager in suburbia. It is not MUST WATCH TV, but it is cute and worth the time if you've got it.

10pm
The Americans - FX- January 30- This show about two KGB spies living as Americans in the 80s stars Keri Russel and Matthews Rhys (who you might know from Brothers and Sisters).  The premise could go either way but I will watch it though because Margo Martindale is in it and she was SPECTACULAR as Mags Bennett in Justified.

Thursdays
8pm
30 Rock - NBC - January 10 - you have one month to watch this show before it is gone forever (except for reruns being shown in sydication every 5 minutes on other channels for years and years to come.) UPDATE: The ending was sweet, funny and had call backs to some of the better inside jokes. Such a good show, catch one or twelve episodes in syndication.

NEW ENTRY: Zero Hour - ABC - February 14 - I had originally skipped this one because it seemed like a tv version of National Treasure. But I recently watched the first episode and I am intrigued.  I am not saying it is the best TV on right now, but it is good to see Anthony Edwards back on the screen and the show has a very movie like feel.  I will watch it again.

8:30pm
Parks and Rec - NBC - January 17 - this is such a fabulous show; funny for newcomers; sweet, great, hysterical, heartwarming and perfect for people who have watched these characters develop from the beginning. Watch and fall in love with the entire town. UPDATE: Yep, still the most perfect show. 

9pm
Person of Interest - CBS - January 3 - I am not current on this show, but when I did watch it, I loved it.  I will get this on DVD when this season comes out, catch up and be ready to go for next year. 

10pm
Suits - USA - January 17 - Another fun show highlighting a few lawyers and one that is just really good at taking tests.  The bad guy is so smarmy and weasly and misunderstood you can't help but love him. UPDATE: Now that it is back on, I remember just how much I love this show.

Fridays
9pm
Spartacus - Starz - January 25 - if you have this cable channel, check out this show. It's violent and people are naked and having sex about three quarters of the time, but it is a well written story.

10pm
Banshee - Cinemax - January 11 - I only have Cinemax for one more month but I am going to get started on this show anyway.  Filmed in Charlotte, and produced by Alan Ball, this show is about an escaped convict who moves to a small town in Pennsylvania and assumes the identity of sheriff.  Sound implausible?  Did I mention Alan Ball and Charlotte?  UPDATE: I had heard that while the show is good, it is still very "Skinemaxy" and that is accurate.  The first five minutes have graphic sex, murder and a transvestite. But the actual show is pretty good and how they work the character into the sheriff role is not AS implausible as it sounded at first. If you have Cinemax, check it out for sure. 

Sundays
(With 9 shows in two hours, it is another Thank God for Dish Network Hopper Day)
9pm
Revenge - ABC - January 6 - Season one was great.  Season two has been iffy at best.  (The one shining spotlight? Gabriel Mann as Nolan.) I don't really care but then again it I don't hate it enough to stop watching....yet.
The Good Wife - CBS - January 6 - Another great show having a sub par year. But I'll hang in, because I know this show can be great.
Girls - HBO - January 13 - Caught this show in reruns and for so many reasons, I love it. The lead character can be whiny and self obsessed but she makes me laugh and the entire ensemble is refreshingly honestly funny.
Shameless - Showtime - January 13 - When this first came out the previews made it seem like it is about Frank, a disgusting caricature of a man. Sure he's in it, but the drama is really about the eldest daughter Fiona and what she has to do to keep her family alive. It's sweet, scary, funny, rude, crass and addictive. Justin Chatwin is hot, Shanola Hampton is from Summerville, SC and Jeremy Allen White is a younger, hotter version of DeNiro.

10pm
House of Lies - Showtime - January 13 - Don Cheadle is funny.  Really funny.  He works in "management consulting" and leads a team of 3 others including Kristen Bell.  The show is rude and funny and kinda an upscale, corporate version of Shameless. Fun to watch for sure.
Happy Endings - ABC - So good they air two new episodes a week.

10:30pm
Don't Trust the B in Apt 23 - ABC - ditto Happy Endings. UPDATE: SAVE THE BITCH
Californication - Showtime - January 13 - Frank Moody is Back!  David Duchovny will forever be in my top 3 celebs of all time and his character in this is amoral, irresponsible and generally a  despicable human being, so of course I love him.  Watch him spiral down in the season where he hits the rock bottom of rock bottom.