The television season that was – Sundays

Jimmy Kimmel had a great line at ABC’s upfronts. Talking to advertisers about the process of annually unveiling new series that seldom see the light of next year he said, “Remember those shows we were so excited about last fall? We cancelled all of them! And yet here you are again. You might have a gambling problem.” Funny but true, right?

At the same time I’d hate to think that the last eight months of television have been a waste. From new shows to old, it’s definitely been … an experience. And we’ve each had our own unique adventure. Here’s my Sunday night experience from this past year.

I get a big kick out of reading Michael’s posts, but I was so turned off by Bob’s Burgers that I couldn’t even bring myself to enjoy his reviews purely for the sake of their creativity. I did not understand that show at all.

I was never a big fan of The Simpsons, but a few years back I started recording it. Why not, right? But this season, sometime between Krusty getting a Nobel Peace Prize and another yawn-inducing “Treehouse of Horror” episode, I got tired of not laughing at the jokes, and I dumped Bart and Homer from my week.

Leverage is still falling far short of its first season success. The tough thing about qualifying that statement is that it’s all relative — I don’t think season one was as good as Debbie does, so maybe I didn’t find that season two fell as far as Ivey did (even though it was clearly much worse). But season three caused me to frequently question why I was still watching a show that wasn’t so much fun anymore … so far I haven’t decided to find out if I’d miss it.

Much of Family Guy is awkward — and at times painful — to watch, but I’ve never been able to give it up. Even when I’m recording two other things I always make sure to catch the show online or On Demand. Stewie and Brian are too good to miss, and they’re never better than when the two headline one of their adventures. But please tell me the awful Star Wars love fests are over with!

It goes without saying — because I review it every year — but I thoroughly enjoyed The Celebrity Apprentice this season. The drama was, as always, sometimes too much, but this season’s “celebrities” gave me plenty to laugh at.

This season I found myself coming back to Undercover Boss over and over again. I would never watch — or record — it on the night that it aired, but I always caught up a few episodes at a time On Demand. Don’t ask me why, because I do still find the show to be ridiculous … maybe I enjoy seeing how four employees make out like bandits every week?

Army Wives has been uneven for the last few seasons, but I’ll still take it over plenty of other shows that I regularly watch. The stories may sometimes be weak or stale, but the characters that have been created on the series are some of the finest on TV today.

We bid adieu to Big Love this year. I’m probably in the minority in thinking that last season was better than this one, and that the show would have been infinitely better without Nicki. That said, it was another monster hit from HBO that I’ll miss.

Californication wasn’t as strong this season as it was last — when Hank tried his hand at teaching — but the show is consistently one of the best on TV so it’s kind of all relative. As always I can’t wait for Hank to return.

Shameless came out of nowhere to blow me away. The first episode or two did just enough to get me to tune in the following week, but somewhere in week three the kids came front-and-center and I finally got what the show was all about. And, sorry to say it, but the series could do without William H. Macy. I understand the important role that Frank plays in the story, but can’t he be a presence while not being present?

I checked out Episodes for Matt LeBlanc but stayed for … well, Matt LeBlanc. The Brits are fun — John Pankow’s exec is not — but it’s LeBlanc who scores the most points on this show that desperately needs to air more episodes in a season than the typical cable twelve. It’s hilarious.

Best show of the night? Boardwalk Empire. I love Steve Buscemi, and everyone who failed to give him his own show for all these years should be kicking themselves. He’s awesome, the cast is awesome, and the show is awesome.

Sundays were a pretty good night for me. And, what’s this? Three new shows that gripped me … and got renewed? I realize that premium cable has an advantage over the networks, but fine work is fine work. What else really matters?

How did you experience Sunday night television this season? Share your adventure in the comments below!

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on May 30, 2011 @ 13:00 EST5EDT