Back by Popular Demand - My Fall TV Schedule

Yes!  You heard that right.  Back by popular demand!  What that translates to is, my mom asked me when I'm going to do my list.  So, here it is.  What I'm watching this fall.

I'm more excited about this season than I have been the last couple of years.  I'm adding 13 new shows, but two of them don't count because they've been on before:  Will and Grace and Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Looking forward to the return of both of those.  

Last season I added 10 new shows, and five of them lasted.  Insecure aired this summer and was great and Atlanta is coming back at some point.  For the fall, the others include This is Us, Speechless, and Better Things (love!).

The show I was most looking forward to (and just finished watching) is This Is Us.  It's such a good show.  

The show I'm most dubious about is Ghosted.  I'm watching because I love Adam Scott, but I read a really bad review of the show.  I'll give it a couple of rounds and then decide.  

Other new shows include Ten Days in the Valley, which I'll watch because, Kyra Sedgwick.  I'll be watching 9JKL to 1) figure out what the title means, and 2) Mark Feuerstein.  White Famous looks funny.  Law & Order - Menendez Murders is on my list because of Edie Falco.  I just saw a few minutes of it and see that Joel from Parenthood is in it too, so, BONUS!  Kevin (Probably) Saves the World has Jason Ritter--I really like him too.  The actors and actresses are really what is drawing me in this year.  Star power!

I'm disappointed that black•ish is no longer on Wednesdays and that they moved American Housewife to Wednesdays.  That was one of my new shows last season, and though I like the lead actress, I didn't care for the show.  BUT, it looks like black•ish will be a good lead-in for The Mayor which is about a rapper who runs for office to promote his album but then actually wins. It's gotten good reviews, so here's hoping it works out.  

The biggest surprise on my list is Young Sheldon.  I watched the first couple episodes of The Big Bang Theory when it first started, and it just wasn't my thing.  Something about Young Sheldon intrigues me though--a lot of it is 80s/90s nostalgia, and aslo, I like the little kid who was in Big Little Lies.

So, that's the scoop.  If there's anything else I should be watching, please let me know!

My Top 25 on iTunes - September 2017

I just revisited my Top 25 Most Played list on my iPod recently.  I created a Spotify list of those songs.  Some of the list isn't surprising to me at all because a lot of these are my favorite songs, but some of the songs are quite surprising.

Here are the Top 25--note that there are only 24 songs on it.  That's because "Rock with You" by Michael Jackson is on their twice, from two different albums.



The biggest surprise is Trent Harmon's "Falling" -- he was a contestant on Amercian Idol and this was his final song and I love it, but I haven't listened to it in a long time.  I clearly listened a LOT when I first downloaded it.  Another surprise is Madonna's "Keep It Together," because again, although I love the song, I didn't think I listened to it that frequently.  Most of the other songs are on a playlist I created called "Makes Me Happy" which I do listen to all the time--it includes "Mercy," "Love on Top," "Outstanding," "Love Never Felt So Good," and others.

I don't remember the last time I reset the count, but the range of "listens" on this list is from 137 times ("Drink You Away") to 285 times ("Can't Feel My Face").  "Love on Top" is second at 241.  That surprises me too, because based on how I listen to music, I would expect "Love on Top" to be #1.  I often listen to that song 3-4 times in a row when I hear it.

I'm going to reset the count on my iPod now and see how it looks after six months, just out of curiosity.  (I'm going to have to put this on my calendar, because otherwise I'll forget!)

Summer TV is ending

I'm looking forward to the new fall TV season, but until it starts, here a few things I've been watching.

Ozark - great show!  The finale was crazy.  I heard it was renewed for a second season, so I look forward to that.  It's in the show's description that Jason Bateman is playing a financial adviser who launders money for a drug cartel.  Things go awry and he moves his family to the Ozarks.  Besides starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney--both of whom I love--what I really liked about this show (and I don't think this is a spoiler, but maybe it is, so if you don't want to read it, skip to the next section) is that Jason was always completely honest with his wife about what was going on, so there was no part of the plot where he was trying to hide secrets from his family.  I feel like we have enough shows like that, so this one was a bit original.

World of Dance vs. So You Think You Can Dance

So a while back, I mentioned that I kind of liked World of Dance better than SYTYCD.  Now that SYTYCD is getting close to the finale, I can say that at least for this season, I like them both equally.  What I liked about World of Dance is that each week, the participants danced in their own style and were judged numerically, highest score wins.  It moved quickly, the judges were likable and the performances were great.  Last season of SYTYCD is the first season I didn't watch, and that was because it focused on young dancers, and I just wasn't interested.  I also get a little creeped out at young kids dancing ballroom--they remind of of Jon Benet Ramsey with the makeup and costumes.

Anyway, I digress.  What I've liked about this season is that they brought back 10 All Stars from previous seasons and during the audition process, they each select a partner to dance with.  So you get to see the new talent, and you get to see old faves.  Once they got down to the Top 6, I think, the contestants were paired with each other, but we still got to see them perform with the All Star.  It's been really good and there are so many great dancers this season.  My favorite personality of the group, Mark, was unfortunately voted off last week, but everyone remaining is so good, I'm rooting for all of them.  I think that Lex is in the running to win.

Dave Chappelle 

I had some friends over last weekend and because our weather was so crappy, we scrapped our plans to visit a few neighborhood haunts and instead ordered in Italian food and watched Dave Chappelle's two specials on Netflix.  We laughed SOOOO hard.  He is just a funny guy.  We thought the first special was funnier (The Age of Spin), but they both had us cracking up with tears streaming down our faces.  (The second special is called Deep in the Heart of Texas.)  I just called my dad and told him to watch, but also warned him that it's not appropriate for my mom.

My mom asked when my fall TV schedule will be posted.  I'm hoping my Fall TV Entertainment Weekly arrives tomorrow and then I'll be able to pull my list together.  Stay tuned!