Summer TV: What I'm Watching

I have a confession. I'm a TV junkie. So what's a junkie to do during the summer when most shows are in hibernation? Well, in CO that means hiking, learning to play golf, and eating dinner out on the deck... and sneaking in a few summer network shows and some "back burner" shows on Netflix of course. 

Here's what I'm watching:

So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) on Fox, Wed/Thurs 8/7c.

They've really changed it up for season 7. This time around they only took the top 11 (supposed to be top 10 but they added another last minute) from the Vegas auditions and paired them with SYTYCD all-stars. I wasn't sure if I was going to like the new format, but I think I do... mainly because I get to see my past favorites dance again (Lauren, tWitch, Dominic, Ade). The picture above is of this season's contestants. ***SPOILER*** Alexie (the girl on the far right) was the first to be eliminated, and then Christina (1st girl, bottom row) was eliminated last week. Tomorrow the top 9 perform.  I think my favorite contestant this season is Lauren (far left)... and Jose the B-boy, and Alex... or Robert. Hmm. This is one of my favorite shows, and I'm so glad it's back this summer. Actually I wish it'd stay a summer show... I was worried they were not going to have it this summer because Season 6 was last fall.

Friday Night Lights on NBC Fridays 8/7c.

OK. So... I never thought I'd ever be a fan of this show. Back when it came out 4 seasons ago I had zero interest. None. I mean come on... it's about a HS football team in small town Texas (sorry, no offense just wouldn't think it'd be my cup of tea).  Then my sweet younger cousin F convinced me that I needed to give it a try because it was her favorite show, and the characters and story lines were so good. Months later (this past winter) I saw that the first 3 seasons were on Instant Netflix, so I gave it a go. And I got hooked! I fell in love with the characters, and basically Coach Taylor's family. That may have had something to do with the fact that I watched all three seasons back to back in about 6 weeks. Hey, don't judge... it was winter in CO and I was new here, unemployed, didn't know anybody, and sadly didn't have much of a life (i.e. I didn't have anyone to go snowshoeing with... but that's all changed for next winter!). So anyway, I am psyched that this is a summer show! It's Season 4 and I have to admit I miss a lot of the main characters that moved on (graduated from HS) that were in seasons 1-3. I'm slowly getting into the new characters and settling into East Dillon.

The Gates on ABC Sundays 10/9c. 

This is a new show that just premiered a couple of weeks ago.  It's Desperate Housewives meets Vampire Diaries... or something along those lines. It's an entertaining summer show, and I think it's a fun addition to my line-up.

Losing it with Jillian on NBC Tuesdays 8/7c. 

What no break from Jillian now that the Biggest Loser season is over? Of course not! She doesn't know it, but she's my personal trainer... well when she's in my DVD player anyway. For this reality show, Jillian moves in with a family for a week, and basically gets their butts in gear. I don't like it as much as the Biggest Loser, but I do like that it shows all the different aspects of a family and how they transform their daily lives. It covers relationships, family hardships, dealing with work, and how to live healthier and and happier. 

Rookie Blue on ABC Thursdays 9/8c. 

I just watched the season premiere today on hulu. I'm not sure what I think yet... it didn't seem realistic to me but it was entertaining. It was kinda Grey's Anatomy-ish with the rookies sleeping with the detectives - but not as good Grey's (just to be clear). I added a season pass to my TiVo so I'll think I'll keep watching. Gregory Smith from Everwood (loved that show!) plays Dov... but I had a hard time thinking of him as a cop, even a rookie. They all just seemed really young and too pretty to be cops. With that said, I'm still interested enough to watch a few more episodes and see how it goes.

Well... that's it for my network TV lineup... pretty light weight! Can you believe it? I guess it helps that we don't have cable/satellite anymore (just over the air HD). 

But we do have Netflix and instant play on our TiVo... so I've been working through my queue of movies that piled up during the fall/winter when all my regular shows were in full swing. Right now, on instant play we have been catching up with 24. We stopped watching it after season 3, and then a couple of months ago I started watching season 4. Season 6 sucked John back in and now we're on season 7.


So, what are you watching? Are there any shows that you love that are missing from my list?