After telling Kevin that I really enjoyed the first season of HBO’s True Blood but that I doubt I will watch it next season, he exclaimed, “You always do that! It’s like you have one-night stands with tv shows.” Ha! It’s totally true, I do. After the first seasons of Big Love, Pushing Daisies, Chuck, and Eureka, just to name a few, I said the same thing. They were all good, but I couldn’t imagine the show going anywhere interesting. (Most viewers agreed with me about Pushing Daisies, and it was canceled. Sorry, Kev!) After only watching the pilot of Breaking Bad, which made most critics’ Best Of List, I was satisfied enough with the character arc to not even bother with the rest of the season.\
In conclusion, watch HBO’s Generation Kill!\
And How I Met Your Mother\
That is all.

We finally got DirecTV hooked up at the house, which means the Tivo is back and ready to record. Unfortunately, now I have to go through all the network shows, delete them and add them back (if it can find them). So, this morning as I groggily recover from an allergic reaction to last night’s scallops (the doctor didn’t say to avoid them and I’ve had them before without them doing anything, but for some reason, last night’s got me good), I’m going through the Season Pass Manager and fixing things while everyone else is at church.\
First, I wrote down all the shows, and I thought this would be an interesting list to post. A lot of these shows are Jen’s, but here are our network shows in “priority” order according to Tivo:

• Heroes (shared)
• Supernatural (Jen’s)
• Numb3rs (Jen’s)
• The Office (shared)
• Without a Trace (Jen’s)
• Lost (mine)
• How I Met Your Mother (Jen’s)
• Big Bang Theory (shared)
• Bones (Jen’s)
• My Name Is Earl (mine)
• Chuck (shared)
• 30 Rock (shared)
• Pushing Daisies (shared)
• Dirty Sexy Money (Jen’s)
• Friday Night Lights (shared)
• Criminal Minds (Jen’s)
• Life (shared)
• Reaper (shared)
• American Dad (mine)
• The View (so Jen’s)
• Family Guy (mine)
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (shared)
• Welcome to the Captain (Jen’s)
• Swingtown (Jen’s)
• Secret Life of the American Teenager (so so so Jen’s)
• Flashpoint (Jen’s)\
  The other 34 shows on the Tivo are all non-network shows spread out over the TV-viewing spectrum. I’ve been so busy, and we’re been in the middle of the summer TV doldrums, I almost haven’t missed having TV at all, other than Pardon the Interruption, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

Tell me you people are watching How I Met Your Mother. This week’s episode rocked! (Ha, literally.) Since I am a total spoiler-phobe, I was completely surprised at the many, many awesome surprises! Foshizzle, eh? Now I am off to check the Robin Sparkles videos that I have seen running amok on YouTube.\
And if you aren’t watching How I Met Your Mother (CBS, Monday, 8:30), I weep for you.

How I Met Your Mother was so funny last night I almost busted a gut and a lung. Even Kevin laughed out loud! How come more people aren’t watching and loving this show? It is really smart and funny, without being Sports Night level of smart, which apparently was too smart for the general tv viewer. And it loves continuity! I always have to give a big thumbs up for that. Come on, people, get on the good-tv train and check HIMYM out! (Mondays, 8:30 pm on CBS)\
For those who have already seen the episode: Clicky.

Dexter really messes with my brain sometimes. The show is so fascinating and yet the character is so self-involved, in a completely unattractive way, he could have been a regular on 30-something. I still find myself rooting for him. It’s crazy. Manipulative tv bastards make some good stuff, though, huh?\
Who else is watching this show?

I am 100% behind the writers in the strike, but also want the strike to end because tv is fun to watch. Except for reality tv; me no likey that. But regular tv? That I like a lot. The strike means no new tv. Boooo. If you’re wondering how to show support for the writers and put pressure on the other side to end this strike, well, I just happen to know:\
United Hollywood has organized a Pencils2Moguls campaign a la the peanuts to the network for Jericho.\
As stated by Joss Whedon on Whedonesque:

The campaign itself is fairly simple. We’d like to start it right away, and it goes like this:\
Point the fans to http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/, where there will be a banner or button allowing them to click through to buy boxes of pencils. The pencils are plain wooden \#2’s, and the company uses sustainable farming for the wood (seriously. They do.) The pricing will be “a buck a box.” (Sustainably harvested wood pencils + PayPal cost per transaction puts us a little higher than the cost of a box if you buy at Office Depot, sorry.) If there’s any money left over, it will be donated to the Union Solidarity Fund, which is a nonprofit for non-WGA members affected by the strike.\
When fans click to buy the pencils, they can choose to identify the show they are supporting if they want. (This will generate a database of fans by show – among other things, allowing showrunners to thank fans by group if they want to.)\
The pencils will be delivered in bulk, by trucks, like the peanuts were. The deliveries will be to the 6 CEOs of the 6 congloms (Disney, News Corp, Viacom, Time Warner, CBS, GE) one by one – we’ll probably start with GE. If we get enough to pencils to do all 6, then we will. If we don’t, we’ll concentrate on one or two.\
If the logistics can be worked out, showrunners who choose to can take part in a “load the pencils” photo op – unpacking the boxes of pencils and shoveling them into bins or boxes for transport to the CEO’s. The visual has the potential to be worth a thousand words – for the fans as well as the general public.\
We will suggest that the fans send a message similar to this: “We’re all on the same page. Make a fair deal.”\
This has the potential to be a historic moment in fan history – the first time that all fandoms band together to show that they are a force to be reckoned with to the corporate world. Given the passion and commitment the fans are already showing, this seems a good way to both show our appreciation and respect, as well as giving them the direction they’ve been requesting.\
We hope you’ll be willing to join us in this effort. It won’t be our last.\
Carol Barbee Jericho\
John Aboud\
United Hollywood\
Jane Espenson\
Buffy, Battlestar Galactica\
Jeffrey Berman\
United Hollywood\
Rob McElhenney\
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia\
Laeta Kalogridis\
United Hollywood\
Ron Moore\
Battlestar Galactica\
Marti Noxon\
Buffy, Private Practice\
Jaime Paglia\
Eureka\
Bill Prady\
Two and a Half Men\
Shonda Rhimes\
Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice\
Stephanie Savage\
Gossip Girl\
Joss Whedon\
Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse

Go ahead. It’s \$1.00 per box and it’s a way to be involved and show our support.\
Plus, I get to feel like the 12 year old fangirl I never was!! (Until I hit my 30s. Shhh, let’s keep that between you and me, ok?)

The writers’ strike starts tomorrow. Eeeep! I am not sure how long it will last, but let’s prepare anyway: Question: What television shows, available on DVD, are must-see?\
You all know my answer but I am going to post it anyway: Veronica Mars, Season 1. The best season of tv, ever. Don’t tell anyone I said this, but… you can skip the other seasons. Shhh, you didn’t hear it from me. But Veronica Mars Season 1? Rocks so hard core! Here are all of the reasons why. The show follows my favorite format: there are bad guys to catch each week but there is also a season-long mystery/Big Bad. Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer also worked this way.\
Other awesome shows I highly recommend: Firefly, Sports Night, The Office, Friday Night Lights, and Supernatural. For those of you living under a rock, and not just merely uninformed, The West Wing and Friends are must-sees as well.\
Hit me with all of your recommendations and we’ll get through the writers’ strike together and with the status quo intact: the scrapbooking incomplete, the quilting unfinished, and the great American novel unwritten.\
ETA- I know the strike won’t affect prime time tv for a couple of months, but how will I know what to ask Santa or the New Year’s Elf for if you don’t tell me now?