The television season that was – Mondays

Yesterday I started looking back at the 2010-2011 television season. While plenty has been said to paint the year as a bust, I found lots of stuff to enjoy laughing with … and at. In case you missed it, this is what I was doing on Sunday nights for the last eight months. I’ll give you a minute…. All caught up? Here’s my Monday night experience.

I checked out Harry’s Law for one reason: David E. Kelley. But even he — and the talented Nathan Corddry — couldn’t save a show that was just bad. An unexpected miss by a guy who will undoubtedly be back to try again once this series is inevitably put out of its misery.

I definitely was — and still am — carrying around a lot of bitterness following the miserable Lost series finale, but I don’t think that’s to blame for my experience with The Event. While I may have been looking for something to fill the void that Lost left, my problem with The Event was that I had no idea what was happening on the show … and I don’t think Jason Ritter did either. Huh?

Chase made a really bad attempt at trying to capture the magic of In Plain Sight … season one, while I found The Chicago Code so bland that the only memorable thing about it is Jason Clarke talking without a New England accent. Another one that put me to sleep? Hawaii Five-O. If it keeps Daniel Dae Kim employed, fine, but the show didn’t capture my attention.

One that inexplicably did was Mad Love. I only ever watched it On Demand, and I may still be waiting to laugh at one of its jokes, but Tyler Labine is Tyler Labine is Tyler Labine, and even Sarah Chalke can’t ruin that. Sock had me coming back.

Barney’s the one who has me coming back to How I Met Your Mother. It hasn’t been particularly good since season four, but Neil Patrick Harris is indisputably one of the greats. That outweighs even the miserable nature of 99% of this season’s plot lines.

Chuck’s been kind of boring for a while now, but as long as Casey, Morgan, Lester, and Jeff are around I’ll be tuning in. But can someone chase mom off again?

Rules of Engagement spent the first half of its season on Monday nights. It was okay this year, but nothing to write home about. I think the show’s gotten a bit complacent … Jeff and Audrey still rock, but everyone else phones it in too often.

Castle continues to be a great mystery show. I’d much rather Castle and Beckett keep far from the flirtation zone, but even a certain amount of will they/won’t they is tolerable with supporting characters like Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie.

Greek was wrong to call it quits this year. I know it wasn’t the show’s decision, but the series was structured in such a way as to allow for fresh blood to come in every season. Plus Rusty and the gang had two years to go before graduation … there were a lot of stories left to be told at CRU.

Best show on TV these days? Men of a Certain Age. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you’re not watching this finely crafted tale about three men coming to terms with middle age. Andre Braugher, Scott Bakula, and Ray Romano are all turning in some of their finest work yet, while Romano deserves ample kudos for a show well done.

Mondays may not be the strongest night for my viewing pleasure, but the best show on television certainly goes a long way toward balancing out even the most uneven of scales.

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

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on May 31, 2011 @ 13:00 EST5EDT