Pop Culture Curmudgeon

Thoughts on the new fall season so far

Perhaps my sights were set very low, but I have been loving my little teen soaps so far this season.

Two episodes in, Greek has been fun to watch, full of pop culture references, and even full of life lessons–sometimes you just need a new R.A. to remind you why you love Silly Putty, or something like that.

I enjoyed all the Chuck and Blair fun on Gossip Girl Monday night. But, what was up with the “British” dude? I found it interesting that Blair didn’t seem too hurt that he thought she was a lowly American when she obviously thinks she is our version of royalty. I guess she was too busy dealing with her hypersalivation to realize he had really challenged her personal sense of entitlement. His bad accent, after making me wonder why Chuck didn’t coach him, made me wonder if all British accents on American TV sound bad on purpose. People who aren’t British sound fake. People who are actually British sound fake even though they are actually British. Is there a special American-television British accent that actors strive for, even when they know better? Do they sound as fake when doing interviews in their native dialect?

I even thought Hilarie Burton killed it as the girl who finally got the man of her dreams. I always wish she had set her sights a little higher, but the heart wants what the heart wants.

I forgot to watch 90210, so I’m waiting until I can catch it online to have a judgment there. I will confess that although I was a casual viewer of Melrose Place, I’ve seen probably only three full episodes of 90210. The only time I watched regularly was when they played episodes in syndication on Sundays afternoons. I would catch about 15 minutes while I was waking up after a long weekend of partying in college. So I have no expectations. And I don’t think I’ll be regular viewer. I plan to watch How I Met Your Mother and Samantha Who? on Tuesdays from 8-9. This plan may change if 90210 ends up being a lot of fun to watch, but I’ve been struggling over the glut of programming on Mondays and Thursdays. We have two DVRs, but not in the main room I watch tv in. The plan is to watch Chuck and Heroes live on Mondays on the hi-def, DVR-less TV while recording How I Met Your Mother and Samantha Who? on (gasp) the VCR. Then, I’ll bring the tape out to watch on Tuesdays at 8, since nothing has become my go-to replacement for Gilmore Girls in that timeslot. (Even when Gilmore Girls was bad, it was still pretty good.) Hubby will record Sarah Conner Chronicles on his hi-def DVR for us to watch later, maybe over the weekend. I’ll also be recording Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill for later viewing on the non-hi-def DVR in my bedroom. Thank god for multiple TVs!