The Fall Season is Upon Us

Primetime TV programming, that is.

New and returning primetime shows start premiering next week. To help us all out, EW.com's Michael Ausiello - with a little help from EW intern Aly Semigran - posted a fall premiere schedule.

Here are the ones that matter to me:

September 9, Wednesday - Glee - 9 PM on FOX
September 10, Thursday - The Vampire Diaries - 8 PM on The CW
September 17, Thursday

• Fringe - 9 PM on FOX
• The Office - 9 PM on NBC

September 21, Monday

• House - 8 PM on FOX
• How I Met Your Mother - 8 PM on CBS
• The Big Bang Theory - 9:30 PM on CBS
• CSI: Miami - 10 PM on CBS

September 22, Tuesday - The Good Wife - 10 PM on CBS
September 23, Wednesday

• The New Adventures of Old Christine - 8 PM on CBS
• Gary Unmarried - 8:30 PM on CBS
• Criminal Minds - 9 PM on CBS
• CSI: NY - 10 PM on CBS

September 24, Thursday - FlashForward - 8 PM on ABC
September 27, Sunday - The Amazing Race - 8 PM on CBS
October 9, Friday - Ugly Betty - 8 PM on ABC
October 15, Thursday - 30 Rock - 9:30 PM on NBC
November 3, Tuesday - V - 8 PM on ABC

Obviously, I am most excited about the return of Fringe, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, Glee, and 30 Rock. I am also looking forward to the series premieres of The Vampire Diaries (Ian Somerhalder! Paul Wesley!), Flash Forward (Joseph Fiennes! Sonya Walger! Dominic Monaghan!), V (Elizabeth Mitchell!), and The Good Wife.

Obviously, LOST will be my top priority once it comes back in 2010. So, assuming it will come back on Wednesdays at 9 PM, I will have to say goodbye to either Glee or Criminal Minds. There's always iTunes and reruns.

By the way, The Futon Critic also has a colourful grid for the Fall 2009 schedule. Check it out, if you'd like.

Which of the new and returning shows are you watching?

"Televisionary" J.J. Abrams

LOST and Fringe made EW.com's list of 17 classic TV shows from four "televisionaries" - Aaron Spelling, Aaron Sorkin, Joss Whedon, and J.J. Abrams.

LOST (2004 - 2010)

The most successful of Abrams’ TV creations, Lost follows the adventures of a group of plane-crash survivors on a bizarre tropical island. The characters’ stories also are told through flashbacks and flashforwards. Beware of polar bears, a nutty French woman, and time-travel flashes. Will we get all the answers to our burning questions when the show concludes in May? Fingers crossed.

Wow. Classic TV show. I'm a proud geek!

Fringe (2008 - present)

Starring Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, and John Noble, this Fox drama chronicles the stories of an FBI division that investigates a burst of creepy events that are referred to as “The Pattern.” Hope you can stomach skin-dissolving contagions and strange parasites wrapped around hearts.

Classic after only a season? Awesome.

By the way, what is a "televisionary" anyway? According to Urban Dictionary, a televisionary is "a 'born to be on TV' visionary who appears on television regularly, delivering messages that fall into her (his) mind from the dead." Hmm... Not quite. The Wikipedia entry defines the word as the concept "used to describe television and communications network operators who are developing services that provide consumers with more control over when, where and how they consume video and other multimedia content." Still not it.

Based on the examples - Aaron Spelling, Aaron Sorkin, Joss Whedon, and J.J. Abrams - I can say the word pertains to a smart person who creates something (in this case, a TV show) that has unique elements, setting it apart from others in its genre.

Obviously LOST and Fringe are great examples. The other shows on the list - great examples as well - are Aaron Spelling's 7th Heaven and Beverly Hills, 90210, Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing and Sports Night, and Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.

An Evil, Evil World

I just learned that an old friend of mine from grade school was shot dead last Sunday, August 16th.

According to my classmates, he was shot in the torso somewhere in Antipolo City, Rizal Province (which borders my birthplace). I guess that someone got himself or herself a gun and decided to shoot someone. Or the killer was probably having a psychotic episode and mistook him for someone threatening. Either way, it was unfortunate that my old friend was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

He was a generally nice, soft-spoken guy. He was this tall, mestizo hottie and many girls had a crush on him. (Yes, that included me. ) I do not remember him getting on the periodic Top 10 in class, but I think he got decent grades. He was also a lot of fun.

So, the world just lost a decent guy because someone made the wrong, wrong, wrong choice. Is that unfair or what?

*Sigh*

I know God has a reason for letting a nobody (my grade school best friend's words, not mine) take my old friend's life. He may have completed his mission here on earth. His death may help change gun laws in the Philippines (keep your fingers crossed!). I don't know why God let him die, but I do know that God will punish the killer either in the culprit's lifetime or on Judgement Day.

My friend's senseless death makes me wish that Judgement Day would come soon. I cannot take any more of this evil, evil world.

What Kind of Book Am I?

You Are Mystery

You are a natural problem solver. You like figuring out the best way to do something. You are very intuitive. You are good at picking up on people's moods and predicting the future. You can't help but being a bit of a detective and a snoop. You always want to know what's going on. And while you may have the scoop on everyone you know, you're not a gossip. You're a pro at keeping secrets.

What Kind of Book Are You?

Interesting... Aside from Stephen King's Wolves of the Calla and three issues of Writer's Digest, I am reading Kate Atkinson's Case Histories. I've just started the book, but I already love it. :)

Fancy a Cup of Tea?

The Brits have been doing it right all along: a cup of tea can calm you down more than any other food or beverage after being in a stressful situation.

A psychologist at City University London, Dr. Malcolm Cross and his team gave 42 (OMG, one of The Numbers!) volunteers a mental arithmetic exam. Afterward, they gave half of the volunteers a cup of tea and a glass of water to the other half. The latter group's anxiety levels, comparable to those before the exam, rose by 25 percent. On the other hand, the former group's anxiety levels were four percent less than before the exam!

Whoa.

I used to be a mainly coffee and pop drinker, but I have started drinking herbal and green tea. There are even times when I prefer tea over coffee.

I just had a very stressful week: I got tons of filing to do - work orders, old progress billing folders, and all that crap - while I was still doing the month-end A/R entries for July. Very overwhelming and I was tempted to just pack my bags and go home more than once.

I should probably bring a mug or start bringing a thermos to work so I can have tea when I'm stressed out (which is most of the time). Unfortunately, I am way too busy to take both my morning and afternoon coffee break. I just have no time!

Hmmm... Maybe I can just drink tea after dinner? We'll see about that...

How Do I Paint the World?

You Paint the World with Interesting Colors

You are a true enigma. You are very mysterious. Your friends can always count on you to be reserved. You are a person of few words. You are truly a hard nut to crack ... though you'll reveal more when you're comfortable with someone. You tend to be a subtle person. You are honest, but you aren't blunt about it.

How Do You Paint the World?

I only chose this one because it's my favourite colour. I had no idea it was gonna be so darn accurate.

Self Magazine Goes Photoshop-Happy

Rumour has it that Self magazine Photoshopped Kelly Clarkson's image on the cover of the September issue a tad too much.

Here's the pic I got from the Stop The Presses! blog from Yahoo! Music:


Look at this pic from her Good Morning America guest appearance. Whatta difference, eh?

So, either the photographer made her pose a certain way to appear that she drastically slimmed down for the shoot or she was Photoshopped too much. If I were a betting woman, I'd put my money on the latter.

While Kelly herself doesn't have any problems with her weight or her figure, it seems that a lot of people are concerned about it. I've come across blog posts or photo commentaries that are harsh about her weight gain. Is the old female-stars-should-be-skinny-as-a-twig mentality rearing its ugly head?

The worse part of this whole controversy is the magazine's issue theme: total body confidence. Well, if you're removing the cover girl's curves, then you're sending the wrong message. If you're not even confident enough to show Kelly Clarkson's natural curves, then who's going to believe your "total body confidence" articles?

*Sigh* When will the media - and the general public - accept that real women have curves? Tsk tsk tsk...

LOST Makes Best TV Ensemble List

EW.com readers picked 10 TV shows they think have the best ensemble cast. Read on for a few of the praises...

Reader Sarah says, "Hands down, Arrested Development. Every guest appearance, every regular cast member made that show spectacular."

Rachel K says, "While I am a huge BSG fan I have to go with The West Wing on this. Even during the later years, when Mary McCormack, Alan Alda, and Jimmy Smits joined that cast, it was superb."

Jon says, "While it wasn't the first show to pop into my head, The Shield made me a fan of so many actors that I can't ignore it. I will try any show and watch any movie for Chiklis, Goggins, Karnes, and Pounder."

(Pic taken from DarkUFO.)

Finally, a reader with the handle LadySolitaire wrote this...

"How about LOST? Its cast is made up of veteran actors and rookie actors alike. They are all talented. They can all have a long career in Hollywood. Sure, several actors (and their characters) stand out, such as Michael Emerson, Terry O'Quinn, Henry Ian Cusick, Elizabeth Mitchell, Josh Holloway, Yunjin Kim, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, and Naveen Andrews. But overall, the diversity and the collective and individual talent of the LOST cast makes it a great ensemble."

*Clearing my throat*

Yep, that's me.

I had forgotten about this little survey on the PopWatch Blog back in June. I forgot about my little comment about LOST right after I hit Post Comment - that would be after 2:50 PM of June 12th.

Thank you, EW.com, both for picking the LOST cast as one of TV's best ensemble and for picking my little comment.