Best New Show of 2011

Out with the old and in the new!! That's what we say this time of year right? Well not sure how that applies here but it's time to reflect on 2011 and what better way to do that than pick the best new show of the year. As always there are a ton of shows to choose from but here's a sampling of my favorites:

 

• Homeland - Clearly one of my favorite new shows so I won't rehash my opinions but you read here.
• Game of Thrones - HBO absolutely nails their first venture into medieval fantasy
• 2 Broke Girls - Two very funny leads and the rest of the cast is blah, but still pretty funny.
• Boss - Entertaining show, sortof Sopranos meets West Wing
• Person of Interest - Not quite a cop drama but not exactly totally original either
• American Horror Story - a horror story on network TV, how exciting, but I'm not sure the execution lived up the premise.
• Terra Nova - same description as above but replace horror story with dinosaurs
• Up All Night - I'm basically at this point in my life so I was totally locked in. A bit over the top at times but still funny.
• The Killing - What would one Law and Order episode look like stretched out over at least 26 hour long episodes? This show will let you know.

What's your favorite new show of 2011?

Homeland Season One in Review

First and foremost let me just say, I thought this first season of Homeland, Showtime's newest and hottest series,  was amazing. It captured your attention from the very beginning and rarely let you off the edge of your seat. The storyline was believable, the characters were developed, the drama was intense and most of all, I thought the season finale did an almost near perfect job of wrapping up the season while still leaving enough grey area that future seasons can go a number of different directions.

• Will Carrie's controversial treatment work and if so, will she be able to get back with the agency?
• Will Saul continue to loop her in if she's unable to get her job back?
• What exactly is Brody? Still a terrorist threat or working to get out from under the control of Nazir?
• Which love of Brody's will win out, his love for his family or his love for Nazir (and in turn hate for the Vice President)?
• Who has the flash drive of his confession and how long until it's used to blackmail him (because you know it will eventually)?
• Does Dana trust her dad more or less after what happened?
• Who is the mole inside the agency?

Oh there's so much more, but I digress back to what's actually happened instead of thinking about the future. The season opened with side by side revelations that an American POW (Nicholas Brody played by Damian Lewis) who'd been captured in 2003 had been rescued, while at the same time CIA operative (Carrie Mathison played by Claire Danes) receives word from a CI who's about to be executed that an American POW has "been turned" by Al-Qaeda. I don't know about you but if that one sentence is all I know about an upcoming show, it's enough. Add in the fact that Brody's wife, after holding out hope for his rescue/return for years, is sleeping with his best friend and their on the verge of moving in together and that Mathison has hidden the fact that she's bipolar from the CIA and you've clearly got the recipe for an explosive and riveting series. Credit the writers, directors, cast and production crew for taking a solid set of ingredients and working up a masterpiece. There's no need to provide an episode by episode synopsis, you can get much better written versions elsewhere I'm sure, so instead I'll try to sum up this first season in my own special way:

Welcome to What's on Your DVR?

This is the place to come for reviews, analysis and discussions for some of your favorite shows on network and cable TV. I obviously don't have time to watch every show out there but I'm a pretty big TV junkie so hopefully we'll enjoy some of the same shows.

For a quick synopsis of what to expect, I'm not a professional film, acting or production critic. I watch TV primarily to be entertained and most would probably describe me as "easily entertained" so the bar for "critical analysis" might be low, if that's your thing. I tend to be draw more to whatever really captures my attention for the entirety of the show, regardless of whether it's action, drama or comedy that's doing the capturing. I very rarely watch shows live anymore, hence the name of the blog, and I absolutely love to let shows stack up on the DVR then knock out several weeks in one sitting or even try to squeeze an entire season in over the course of several days (thank you On Demand), as I just recently did with Boss on Starz.

I would like to think I have a fairly balanced mix of 30 minute sitcoms and hour long dramas, although I will admit I'm finding myself gradually more drawn to hour long dramas than I was even just a couple years ago. My current list of favorite shows would include (in no particular order) Raising Hope, Homeland, Parks and Rec, Justified, Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy, Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Person of Interest, Shameless and Dexter just to name a few (ok maybe more than a few).

And finally a quick disclaimer, I will not be writing about and/or reviewing any reality shows now or at any time in the future. I know they're popular but I refuse to jump on board that train to insanity.

Thanks for your time, hope you enjoy......