A change of name for the post previously known as "The Weekly Round Up" to differentiate it from "The Shield Review Round Up".

More returning shows this week, I can't help but feel I should try to watch some other new show this season. But there's not much that interests me amongst the newer shows:

American Dad:
American Dad returns with a rather average episode based mostly around Steve as he hits puberty. Francine doesn't want to lose her baby while Stan wants Steve to hurry up and become a man. Cue some rather silly youth/aging antics which provide some great old person jokes. But on the whole the episode isn't great and they didn't take it in the direction I hoped they would.

Family Guy:
It's an age old story on family guy, dog meets woman, dog likes woman, viewer feels disturbed that people date dogs on Family Guy - even if they can talk (the dog not the people, I mean... ack, you know what I mean), baby gives dog bad advice, dog loses woman to friend, friend and woman nail each other everywhere dog goes, second friend nails woman, dog and friend make up again, everything goes back to normal.

Eh, that's pretty much all I have to say about the episode. I like Family Guy, but I really don't like the episodes which involve Brian falling in love with a woman. I know it's a cartoon, but I mean "Come On"! (I love referencing that show.)

Dexter:
I've already written about the first episode as it was leaked early. My thoughts on it haven't changed.

Boston Legal:
"My penis has Alzheimer's"
I watched the first two episodes of the final season as I'm playing catch up. Boston Legal has lost a lot of the spark that made it so good originally, the constantly changing staff has made it difficult for the viewer and the cast to develop attachments. I am a little saddened that this will be it's final season, but at least it's getting a chance to end on it's own terms. I do wish more networks would give a show a chance to do one final season before going (Yeah, I'm still smarting about the Arrested Development, Dead Like Me, Firefly, 4400 and Dead Zone cancellations.)

I digress, onto the episodes. It seems the cast has been paired down to a core group, containing the most interesting and effective characters of the previous season. Of course we have Denny and Alan back. But also we've kept Jerry, Katie, Shirley and Carl. I'm happy that they have been kept on because the relationships between these characters have been the strongest ones in recent times. I still miss Mark Valley mind you... The first episode revolves mostly around big tobacco, growing old and Denny's penis. It's an on pitch Boston Legal affair with almost all of the great moments in place; Alan's big speech, Jerry's sharp rant, Denny acting up because he's not the center of attention, Carl making surprising decisions. It's all there and it serves as a great return for the series, there's no innovation. Just more of what the viewer enjoys. The second episode had it's moments, truth be told it was very formulaic but there was the odd moment that really entertained. Especially the fourth wall references to this season being the last and talking about the end.

Oh and Tara Summers is as lovely as ever; one day, when I grow up I want to marry a lass just like her.

Heroes:
Jumped sharks much? Seriously, the show is really losing it's grip on it's own reality. It remains entertaining, but, well it's a little convoluted. I think I'm at the point where I just stop worrying about it all and start enjoying the nonsense instead. There are just too many errors and continuity issues to even start worrying. Fortunately they've not wasted Jamie Hector by just killing him off early, sadly he seems to have a pretty lousy ability as far as things go so it's just a matter of time before he's gone. I quite like the way that Parkman keeps getting called Pac-man mind you.

Enjoyable fluff, that's what the show has devolved into.


How I Met Your Mother:
This week gave us a fun and lighthearted episode centering around nostalgia, which is fitting for a show that is well... centered around nostalgia. It's not the best episode of HIMYM, lacking any truly brilliant moments but it does move the story forward for Marshall and entertain.

House M.D:
"Less creepy, more gay"
It may be utterly formulaic, but I can always forgive House for that because it's so damn entertaining. Normally I enjoy the whole "Who's going to get ill?" build up at the start of an episode, but this week it was very obvious as Breckin Meyer (Robot Chicken, King of the Hill) was in the scene - famous, recognisable person always gets ill. As for the episode, it was OK. There was some nice character development for Tau and Cuddy gets a little interest, both from House and Lucas. I'm still not sold on Lucas, he's a solid character but hardly deserving of his own series.

Supernatural:
I'm always a little cautious about any episode of a show that uses time travel, unless the principle focus of the show is time travel itself. Heroes is a great example of a show that's been screwed up due to the terrible influence fiddling with events can have. Continuity is a terrible thing to mess with, future or past. So once it became clear that the focus of this episode was going to be on time travel and Dean was intent on changing everything then things looked a little worrying. Fortunately the writers of Supernatural are not that stupid, the entire purpose of Dean's experience was not to change what happened but to see how everything unfolded. Now Dean is a little more aware of what's happened to Sam and the lines have begun to be drawn in the sand.

I do find watching Supernatural weekly to be an unusual experience, I watched the first three seasons entirely on DVD at my own pace. If I'm honest I preferred that experience over watching it each week. I'm tempted to stop watching and wait for everything to be released together because I prefer to see the show in blocks. But the story is so interesting right now that I don't think I could wait.

My Name is Earl:
"Don't forget to make a wish."
"I wish I was a girl."
There's another two episodes released this week, they're putting them out so fast there's going to be none left by the new year. We get a Joy and Darnell centric episode for the first of them which is always good, they're the most amusing characters in the show after Randy. It turns out Darnell gets migraines for one, not surprising considering how abrasive Joy is. The man better avoid any affairs then, having an affair if you're migraine prone can lead to strokes (according to the latest study anyway). We also get a return of the Earl/Randy bed scene at the end of the episode, they're always good. The second episode is a bit more heartwarming in nature, but has some pretty funny scenes involving incredibly dangerous old men and a not very British Randy.

The music on the show was just excellent this week as well.

(The Office did not air this week.)

I've also been watching Skins: Season 2 (DVD Review here), That 70s Show and Pushing Daises: Season One (I don't get on with Pushing Daisies, but I keep coming back to it and trying again. DVD Review coming soon, short version - I've finally gotten over the irritating narrator.)