Television Update 3: Fall Finales

As the year comes to an end, tons of shows I watch are going on hiatus until early next year. Here are some brief thoughts on how each of their current seasons are going so far.

American Dad! - It still doesn't have its sister show's popularity and most likely never will, but at the time I think it's the more consistently enjoyable program.

Battlestar Galactica - It's been a long time since they showed the first half, so I don't remember that much. I think I generally liked it, but watching a scene where two characters talked about "frakking" with my parents in the room was one of the most embarassing things ever. At first that stuff was a little clever but they overdid it.

Burn Notice - Fun spy show, not quite sure about its attempts at being more serious.

Chuck - I'm still conflicted on this show. It's often enjoyable, but often frustrating how much it loves dramatic cliches.

Family Guy - I'm not a big fan of the newest stuff at all. It's still usually funny, but the writing is gradually getting lazy and tired.

Fringe - Not really what I was hoping for. It has some interesting ideas, but everything's dumbed down for the average viewer and I'm not a fan of the run time - it's closer to 50 minutes than 40, and instead of spacing out a couple commercial breaks, there's the same number as usual and most are too short to actually do anything in.

Heroes - Bleugh. I can't even go into it, let's just say it's not the Writers' Strike's fault that season two was crummy.

Legend of the Seeker - Terry Goodkind's books don't have the warmest spot in the hearts of most serious fantasy fans, but what can I say, I think this is a fairly entertaining series so far. There should be more shows in a setting besides the modern USA.

My Name Is Earl - Still the same decent comedy that thankfully doesn't try too hard to be anything more.

The Office - I think we're all in agreement that the peak was around season three-ish, but it's still a great show most of the time and I like how they're handing Jim and Pam. Really easy thing to get wrong.

Prison Break - Continues to be a solid if not great thriller. It does a few too many things to make you roll your eyes, but at least the plotting is better than some other shows that air at the exact same time.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Not as bad as the movie, but that's like favorably comparing someone's skin to sand or something weird like that. The action's decent at times.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Some of the episodes are pretty smart, but there's something about this show that makes me not want to like it.