TV season 2010-2011 recap

Last week was “upfronts”, where tv networks declared their fall plans, including what shows were officially canceled, and more prominently, what pilots they are picking up for next year.  Seems like a good time for me to review my plans for 2010-11 to see how it turned out.  I’ll do a post about what’s new on my radar and my full schedule as we get closer to the fall.  A great resource for upfronts is The Futon Critic: 2011-2012 Season Scorecard.

Here’s my list:

• Chuck: watched in chunks when E wasn’t around.  picked up for 13 eps next season as the “final season”.
• The Event:  first time I referred to it as “The Crappy Event” I knew I just was too far gone.  I really liked the idea, the actors, but they didn’t go fast enough to keep me interested.  Plus, a giant hiatus made it worse.  I hope Jason Ritter gets another show, he was the most interesting part of The Event for me.  canceled, but the whole season was shown.
• Chase: didn’t even watch the first ep, it got poor reviews and I had too much on my Monday.  canceled.
• House: watched all season.  Liked some storylines, towards the end I was less happy.  renewed for next season, probably as the final season and without Cuddy.
• Castle: watched obsessively all season.  SO GOOD.  renewed for next season.
• Hawaii Five-O: watched initial eps but later in chunks when E wasn’t around.  Pretty good.  renewed with good ratings.
• No Ordinary Family: watched 5 or 6 episodes and just wasn’t feeling the writing.  I liked the storyline idea, and the characters and the actors.  But it just wasn’t strong enough to keep me tuning in.  canceled with poor ratings.
• Running Wilde: watched and enjoyed.  It actually got better as episodes went on.  Watched all episodes (9).  canceled with 4 episodes unaired – hopefully can see these on DVD.
• Undercovers: watched and gave up after 4 or 5 episodes.  Actors were gorgeous and I really wanted the story to be as bright and shiny.  It was a poor fit for the timeslot and network, IMO – billing it as having sexploitations and then putting it on at 8pm really took away the option of sexy storylines. canceled with several unaired episodes
• The Whole Truth: watched and gave up when I heard it was canceled.  E didn’t enjoy it at all, but I really wanted to give the great actors a chance.  Seeing Rob Morrow in such a diff character than on Numb3rs was more hilarious to me than the storylines.  canceled very early on, 7 eps weren’t aired!
• Bones.  This season was not my favorite.  I mean, it’s still a good show, but I don’t jump and sit down to watch immediately anymore.  I left eps sitting to watch in bunches instead.  renewed for next season but with most likely a shorter episode order to accommodate Emily’s real life pregnancy.
• The Office.  Watched a few episodes and then deleted the season pass.  It got stupid, IMO!  renewed for next season.
• Human Target.  Watched and the writing didn’t feel as good as last season.  Music really drew me in last season and Bear McCreary’s absence this year really was felt.  Trying to bring in women wasn’t very successful either.  Too bad, I had high hopes.  canceled.
• V.  watched in a big marathon and enjoyed it.  A little more gimmicky than first season.  canceled but the whole season was shown.
• Mr. Sunshine.  midseason replacement and we felt it got better as it went along.  canceled with 4 unaired episodes.
• Big Bang Theory.  wasn’t on my list for last year, but we got caught up on DVD and then started watching.  Very great, totally our kind of show!  renewed for next season.
• Fringe.  wasn’t on my list for last year, but we got caught up on DVD and then started watching obsessively.  Very good show, I’m so happy we gave it a chance.  renewed (surprise!) for next season.
• Glee.  wasn’t on my list for last year, but I started watching without seeing any of season 1.  With friends to catch me up, I enjoyed this a lot and now am watching first season too.  renewed for next season.
• Leverage, Warehouse 13, White Collar. watched, loved, will keep watching.  The seasons are offset, so we’ll be watching these over the summer and into the beginning of the next year.
• Eureka.  wasn’t on my list for last year, but we are catching up on DVD to be caught up for next season when it starts this summer.