I, as much as I love TV and everything involved in TV, love color coding things more than I enjoy doing anything in the world. I like making charts just so I can get my markers out and color code it. I like to buy 25-packs of Sharpies, just to color code. My dry erase calendar in the kitchen? Arranged and organized according to colors.
So what does my obsession with markers have to do with TV and why do I bring it up now?
The (almost unhealthy to the point of obsessive-compulsive) addiction to charts and markers has crashed full on into my addiction to TV, and I’ve created a lovely (not-laminated-but-it-should-be) grouping of what I’m going to watch as the season goes on.
THE CLASS (8PM CBS, Debuts Sept. 18) The co-creator of FRIENDS (David Crane) returns to TV with THE CLASS, a comedy that follows a third-grade class reuniting after 20 years. Blessed with a talented cast, including Jason Ritter (JOAN OF ARCADIA), Lizzy Caplan (MEAN GIRLS), and Andrea Anders (JOEY), THE CLASS looks like it may actually be the show to end the FRIENDS curse. At least Crane thinks so, [when speaking to Entertainment Weekly], “Sometimes you do a show and think, ‘Oh my God, we don’t have this one.’ In this case, we feel like we have a show.”
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (8:30PM CBS, Returns Sept. 18) And speaking of FRIENDS… not since the ‘Central Perk Six’ have viewers enjoyed watching the adventures of smart, funny and good-looking twenty-somethings in New York City. Last season’s cliffhanger saw Lily (Alyson Hannigan) and Marshall (Jason Segel) break off their engagement and Ted (Josh Radnor) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) finally kissing. But enough about romance, all viewers really want to see is more Barney. Neil Patrick Harris finally casts off the shadow of ‘Doogie’ to portay the funniest sidekick on TV. As executive producer Greg Malins put it [to EW], “Barney is Barney, He’s the character you don’t want to change.”
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE (9:30PM CBS, Returns Sept. 18) The FRIENDS curse may still be going strong (sorry Matt LeBlanc, I really did enjoy JOEY), but with a recent EMMY win, star Julia Louis-Dreyfus may have finally ended that other Must-See-TV curse, the SEINFELD one (Jason Alexander, Bob Patterson didn’t do it for me either). In its sophomore season, Elaine… sorry Christine, will continue to deal with being a single-parent who tries to successfully juggle her family, ex-husband and live-in brother, all the while attempting to jump-start her dating life. No doubt hilarity will ensue.
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP (10PM, Debuts Sept. 25) He’s taken us behind the scenes of SportsCentre and the White House. Now with STUDIO 60, viewers will get a chance to see creator Aaron Sorkin’s much buzzed about take on the behind-the-scenes antics of a late-night TV show (not to be confused with Saturday Night Live). Says Sorkin [to EW], “It follows the SNL model, but SNL exists in the world of the show. The characters, like us, have a great deal of respect for SNL.” Not willing to risk failure, Sorkin has brought along an old ‘friend’ to star in the vehicle, hiring Matthew Perry (FRIENDS) as head writer of the fictional Studio 60. Joining Perry is an all-star ensemble including Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet, D.L. Hughley, Steven Weber, Nate Corddry, Sarah Paulson, Evan Handler and Timothy Busfield. With a dream cast and Sorkin at the helm, STUDIO 60 seems destined for success. Having seen the first episode, this TV addict is ready to declare STUDIO 60 his favourite show of the fall, let’s hope America agrees. 
With the fall season almost upon us, television’s publicity machine has kicked into high gear. Promos and billboards are blitzing the major media markets, ensuring that every man, woman and child knows that GREY’S ANATOMY has moved to Thursday night at 9pm and that it’s ‘cool to be girlie’ on the CW (Seriously, that’s the best the CW could come up with?)
As a loyal fan of PRISON BREAK, I’m prepared to suspend my level of disbelief for one hour every Monday night — But last night’s episode was definitely testing my limits.
