I’ve been digging around for information about the Fall TV schedule - what’s new, what’s good, and when does it all begin.  It wasn’t trivial finding decent sources of information that contained Canadian content.

First things first - for those of you who are in the Toronto area and are using Media Center you should be aware of some new channels available in high definition using just your antenna.  I plan to stop using the Buffalo channels now that the locals are pretty much all up and running (although most of them still come in nicely too).  With my antenna pointed at Toronto permanently, here are the local channels that are coming in with rock solid high-definition:

• Global TV (finally!)
• CTV
• City
• CBC
• E! (aka CH Television)
• SunTV
• Omni 1
• Omni 2

Now on with the programming.  I’ve stumbled across a site with a very nice day-by-day table of the network schedules, click here to go to their grid view.  They also have a nice sortable listing of the premiere dates and times broken out by channel, click here to go to their premiere dates.

Here’s what I’ll personally be watching for this fall, in chronological order:

Prison Break (Sept 1 on Global) - They’re dragging the premise out pretty far on this one, but it’s the first major drama to get back on the air so I’ll probably get hooked out of sheer need for new content.

Fringe (Sept 9 on CTV) - Give me a science fiction drama with what appears to be decent investment, and I’ll give it at least a few episodes.  This one could take over where X-Files left off, which I know is a good reason for many people including my wife to not watch it.

Til Death (Sept 10 on Global) - I get a kick out of Til Death as they probe into the reality gap that exists between newlyweds and a couple who has been married for many years.

House (Sept 16 on Global) - Jodie hasn’t gotten into House much, and I’m told by at least one real doctor that it is s frustratingly fake show.  But I just like it, and House is one of those TV shows that I take with me on plane trips to catch up on.

Survivor (Sept 18 on Global) - Keeping with the tradition of the last five years or so of Survivor, I will not be watching it.  However Jodie will be tuned in diligently every week, and I might catch an episode or two to see how it looks in high definition.  That’s their thing this year, it’s finally being filmed in HD.

Heroes (Sept 22 on Global) - Heroes has a tendency to move slowly, but otherwise is a very well put together sci-fi drama.  Too bad it was only a half-season last year, but I’m looking forward to its return.

Big Bang Theory (Sept 22 on CBS) - No Canadian network picked this up?  I’m surprised, as this is a fun and cute comedy that Jodie and I have grown to enjoy.  That said, if it ends up getting canceled I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. 

Two and a Half Men (Sept 22 on CBS) - Airs on A channel in Toronto, which is actually in Barrie so I’ll need to get it from the CBS feed.  Best sitcom on television, period.

NCIS (Sept 23 on CBS) - As many of the other cop shows have fallen out of favour in our household, NCIS has gained steam in the last two years.  Good balance of story and character development.

The Mentalist (Sept 24 on CBS) - This one has had some interesting/fun promos, so I’ll probably give it at least a couple of episodes.

Grey’s Anatomy (Sept 25 on CTV) - I’m still lukewarm on Grey’s Anatomy, but it’s one of the shows that Jodie convinced me to watch and it’s good enough that I keep watching it.  Doesn’t require much introduction, most people already know about this medical drama slash primetime soap.

My Name Is Earl (Sept 25 on E!) - I’m not much into sitcoms, but My Name Is Earl is really well done and “white-trashy cute”.  Been watching since it first started and not about to stop now.

The Office (Sept 25 on Global) - I had a hard time getting turned on to this series, but it’s now on my “record it and take it on the plane” list.  It’s really witty, but not enough so that I watch it regularly.

Ugly Betty (Sept 25 on CITY) - Ugly Betty is a fun show that defies description.  It is romantic drama that is produced tongue in cheek like a Mexican soap opera.  It is really silly, but intentionally so and neither the show nor any of its characters take themselves too seriously.

Desperate Housewives (Sept 28 on CTV) - This is another one that requires no introduction, everyone knows what Desperate Housewives is and either loves it or hates it.

Family Guy (Sept 28 on Global) - Not much from the adult animated comedy category is still on my list, but I can’t stop loving Family Guy.  It’s on my “watch it on the plane” list as well, mostly because Jodie can’t stand it.

The Unit (Sept 28 on CBS) - I barely made it through season one of The Unit, where they were trying way too hard to make it about the army wives.  They’ve since found a balance between really compelling special ops missions with just a little bit of army home life to humanize the characters.  This is a Pete-only show, Jodie’s not a fan.

Pushing Daisies (Oct 1 on ABC) - Pushing Daisies is the best new show from last year, but I don’t feel like it ever found an audience.  It looks beautiful, the writing is fast-paced and smart, and the premise wonderfully quirky.  How does one describe this show - about the best I can get is lighthearted mystery slash comedy.  It might get cancelled, and if it does I’ll hold a candlelight vigil.  Video below since I have a vested interest in getting more people to watch so it stays on the air.

Private Practice (Oct 1 on ABC) - This Grey’s Anatomy spinoff barely even started before the writer’s strike killed it.  I didn’t particularly like it, but will probably watch a couple episodes again before permanently taking it out of the schedule. 

The Ex List (Oct 3 on Global) - This could be interesting, basically a woman who is told by a psychic that her soulmate is someone she’s already dated.  She then goes back into her past to try to find her husband amongst all her old conquests.  I feel terrible to say this, but there’s something about the lead actress that I just can’t stand (nor could I when she was a bit character on Grey’s Anatomy).  I’ll give it a try.

Corner Gas (Oct 6 on CTV) - I really like Corner Gas in all of its cheesy Canadian comedy goodness.  Jodie however not so much, so this goes on my media player for watching on the plane.

CSI (Oct 9 on CTV) - Best drama on TV, and the trailer for this upcoming season has already got me on the edge of my seat.

My Own Worst Enemy (Oct 13 on Global) - I haven’t seen much about this, but it has some big names so I’ll probably watch.

Notably absent are several shows that I used to watch at one point in time, but now have fallen out of favour:

• Anything with a colon in the name (CSI: Miami, Law & Order: SVU, etc)
• Animated stuff that used to be good but is no longer funny (Simpsons, King of the Hill, American Dad)
• Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles - I watched this in its first season and it was a struggle to stay engaged.  So long Sarah!
• Chuck - You’d think I’d be the target audience for Chuck, but no.
• Knight Rider - Wow, talk about your bad pilots

There are several shows that will be starting mid-season including many that I’ll be eagerly awaiting:

• Scrubs
• 24
• Hell’s Kitchen

We made a special event of the Superbowl with the kids this year.  I have to admit, I was seriously considering throwing a superbowl party this year.  With the 61″ HDTV and the Buffalo feed coming on on the antenna, I figure that we make a pretty good spot to watch the game.  Even more important than the game, I’m probably the only house around that actually has the US ads coming in (Canadian cable companies substitute in their own commercials, even if you watch it on Fox) which would make for a great AdBowl party.  Alas, I decided not to do the party when I learned that Fox would be carrying the game this year.  Fox is about the only network that I don’t get reliably in high definition, and watching “so signal” for a few hours would be a decidedly unexciting party.

So we had fun with the kids.  Katlyn and I dragged the old deep fryer out of storage and put together a heart-stopping meal which we all ate in front of the big screen.  Chicken wings, sweet potato fries, falaffel, bean salad, and chocolate chip cookies.  Greaserific.

The kids didn’t make it to half time, so we took a pretty big break in the middle of the second quarter to put them to bed.  We’re back now, catching up from where we left off.  Surprisingly, the Fox antenna signal has been rock-solid tonight and I’m enjoying the American commercials more than the game.

This weekend we got very frustrated by the XBox 360 and DVD playback.  Once the 360 warms up, it refuses to read my DVD-R collection (which is significant, since I don’t want the kids to ruin their original discs).  So we get 15 minutes into a movie and all of a sudden the disc becomes unreadable.  Frustrating.

So we decided to get a new DVD player that would play all of our discs.  I trotted off to the local Real Canadian Superstore to spend some of my cache of PC points on a new gadget (feels better when it’s funny-money) and looked at the selection.  Turns out that the cost of an upconverting name-brand DVD player isn’t that much different from the HD-DVD kit for the 360.  As an external drive, I figured it wasn’t going to be affected by the same heat issues as the 360 itself, so I picked it up.

As to the primary need, something that will play my DVD-Rs reliably, it fit the bill.  As to the secondary cool factor, the ability to play HD-DVDs, of course that works as well but I was fairly unimpressed with the picture quality of the included King Kong disc versus a regular DVD.  I might rent a few more HD-DVDs just to try them out, but until this format war is over I don’t think I’ll be adding anything to my collection permanently

Hell’s Kitchen is back on the air, and we caught the feed from CityTV here in Toronto.  Near the end of the show there was a terrible, awful, horribly done product insert.  During a conversation in the condo between contestants there was a “Mr Sub” bag sitting on the table.  It was like a disembodied head floating on the table, an attempt at digital insertion gone horribly wrong.

I might switch to the Fox feed instead so that I can avoid silly stunts like that in the future.  I don’t mind them doing product placement at all, sombody’s gotta pay the bills.  Just don’t make it distract from the show.

The CRTC today announced changes to over the air broadcasting in Canada.  I for one am happy to see these changes and look forward to reading into some of the details once I get some time.  Analog shutdown in the US has been a real catalyst for over the air HDTV, and I expect it to do the same here.  While I get fantastic over-the-air HDTV coverage here in Toronto the same is not true in other communities across Canada.

Notably, the Commission has decided to:

• remove restrictions on advertising time limits after gradually increasing the amount of advertising allowed;
• establish August 31, 2011, as the date by which television licensees will only broadcast digital signals;
• require English- and French-language broadcasters to caption for the hearing impaired 100 per cent of their programs over the 18-hour broadcast day, with the exception of advertising and promotions; and
• deny a subscriber fee for the carriage of local conventional television stations on cable and satellite as its necessity has not been demonstrated.

I just came across a new ad for Orville Redenbacher while watching last week’s episode of Criminal Minds.  It is by far one of the creepiest ads I’ve seen in awhile, and might even put me off of popcorn for awhile.  They’ve resurrected Orville using CG, and not in a good way.  They tried to make it look as if he was there acting in one of his very own ads.  It’s not cartoony or happy, it’s like a photorealistic cryptkeeper in your kitchen or a reanimated corpse leaping out of a coffin after embalming.  Truly disturbing.

I’m just sayin’ is all.  Clearly the nuke is going to go off when they send in the black helmets and Jack goes somewhere else.  It’s been done before but it never gets old.

I was sucked in by all of the hype to watch Little Mosque on the Prairie, the little Canadian sitcom that is making international headlines.  It’s about a group of Muslims living in central Canada who are typing to set up a Mosque in the basement of the local  church.  I was going to give it a pass, but all the talk about the show got me wondering if it might be any good.  After all, I was very surprised by Corner Gas when it came out and became a loyal follower of that show.  But besides Corner Gas, I can’t really think of any CBC show, let alone any Canadian show that I really liked (okay, maybe Traders was good too).  So let’s see how it fared against my list of expectations as a CBC show:

• Every character is a caricature, with over-exaggerated traits that seem to have been designed for community theater.  CHECK.  Ugh, just give me a character who is a person instead of a cartoon.  The main characters are over-done, and the extras even worse.
• Production values of a highschool A/V club project.  NOPE.  Actually, this one seemed pretty well produced which is a pleasant surprise.  It’s even in high-definition.
• Stories, characters, and language designed not to offend.  CHECK.  Nursing-home residents from St.John’s to Victoria will be pleased. 
• Actors who over-do it.  CHECK.  I would guess that this is due to the small market here, forcing actors primarily into theater and not faring well with the transition from stage (where you pretty much have to over-do everything) to television.  The woman who plays the “white muslim wife” is the most guilty of this.
• After-school special like portrayal of issues as black-and-white, or of people as simply good or bad.  NOPE.  This is the bright spot with this show, it’s tackling a topical issue when it’s somewhat taboo to do so.  And it’s doing it, so far, in a very gray manner.  The main characters are aware of the controversy they represent, they are able to be both upset by it and poke fun at it, and I think that overall it will be a balanced look at the issue.

I’ll be tuning back in, although I highly doubt that this show will make it into my regular rotation.  They caught me at a vulnerable time during the holiday hiatus when nothing else is really on yet.  Once Prison Break, 24, CSI and the rest of the shows come back on I’d imagine that this one will have come off of the regular rotation.

I’ve been reading some of the Canadian press articles about the return of 24 tonight.  It’s amazing how different the launch has been north of the border for season 6.  I’ve been inundated with the launch promos in the U.S. while traveling last week, and impressed by their scope.  Up here though the hype is a little more subdued and most of the writers seem to focus on the Canadian-heavy casting, the history, and alot around Keifer Sutherland.
The biggest surprise to me is that this year’s big villain will be someone who I am familiar with, and at first blush seems totally miscast.  I saw Shaun Majumder first as a standup comedian who was working the university circuit when I was a freshman at WLU.  I then saw him popping up on comedy specials such as Just For Laughs, as the host of the CBC’s New Year’s Eve special several years ago, and most recently as a cast member on This Hour Has 22 Minutes.  He’s a funny guy, but being on the CBC has brought out the total cornball side of him.  For some the CBC is probably a great gig, but I find that for most that the CBC’s style it absolutely kills their career in the real world.  To succeed on the CBC, you need to be able to keep the elderly not only entertained but at bay lest they call their politicians and get your funding cut.  Goes over great in the state-funded nursing homes but not so much amongst the rest of us.
So now I have two things to watch for over the next two days of 24 premieres - how the plot will unfold on a show that I really love, and how Shaun Majumder will fare out of all of this.  I’m rooting for the guy, he seems like someone with alot of talent who has gotten typecast as a corny goof very early in his career.  I think that being a terrorist might just be the jolt his career needs.

I went to the movies this weekend to burn some time while in Regina.  There were a few options, and I was going to choose between The Prestige and Borat.  I decided to go with The Prestige first, and if I was up to it sneak into Borat for a nice double-feature afternoon.  In the end, that’s exactly what I did but then gave up on Borat pretty quickly.
I sat through about 10 minutes of Borat before walking out, and while it was no doubt funny it just wasn’t a big-screen experience nor do I want it to be.  The movie (at least the early parts that I saw) are shot in documentary style with a camcorder, which adds to the premise of the movie but really doesn’t make for a good cinematic experience.  To make matters worse, they were showing Borat on the biggest screen in the house.  It really looked terrible, and I felt like I was wasting my time.
Now I’m not saying that Borat is a bad movie; I haven’t seen enough of it to make that determination.  I am however saying that it is the kind of movie that I’d rather watch on my laptop during my next cross-country flight.  I don’t even think that I’d subject my home theater to the abuse that is Borat.